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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44644 ***
+
+Transcriber's Note
+
+There is a small amount of Hebrew, e.g. קדש and Greek, e.g. ἅγιος in
+this book. If this text does not display correctly, you may wish to
+adjust your font or browser settings.
+
+
+
+
+            PHILOSOPHY
+              OF THE
+        PLAN OF SALVATION.
+
+       A Book for the Times.
+
+
+      BY AN AMERICAN CITIZEN.
+
+
+     _A NEW EDITION REVISED._
+
+
+   THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY,
+       56, Paternoster Row;
+  65, St. Paul's Churchyard, and
+         164, Piccadilly.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+I. OCCASION OF THE WORK.
+
+During some of the first years of the writer's active life he was a
+sceptic; he had a friend who has since become well known as a lawyer
+and legislator, who was also sceptical in his opinions. We were both
+conversant with the common evidences of Christianity. None of them
+convinced our minds of the Divine origin of the Christian religion,
+although we both thought ourselves willing to be convinced by
+sufficient evidence. Circumstances, which need not be named, led the
+writer to examine the Bible, and to search for other evidence than
+that which had been commended to his attention by a much-esteemed
+clerical friend, who presided in one of our colleges. The result of
+the examination was a thorough conviction in the author's mind of the
+truth and Divine authority of Christianity. He supposed at that time
+that, in his inquiries, he had adopted the only true method to settle
+the question, in the minds of all intelligent inquirers, in relation
+to the Divine origin of the Christian religion. Subsequent reflection
+has confirmed this opinion.
+
+Convinced himself of the Divine origin of the religion of the Bible,
+the author commenced a series of letters to convey to his friend the
+evidence which had satisfied his own mind beyond the possibility of
+doubt. The correspondence was, by the pressure of business
+engagements, interrupted. The investigation was continued, however,
+when leisure would permit, for a number of years. The results of this
+investigation are contained in the following chapters. The epistolary
+form in which a portion of the book was first written will account for
+some repetitions, and some varieties in the style, which otherwise
+might not have been introduced.
+
+
+II. REASONS FOR PRESENTING THE WORK TO THE PUBLIC.
+
+Book-making is not the author's profession. But after examining his
+own private library, and one of the best public libraries in the
+country, he could find no treatise in which the course of reasoning
+was pursued which will be found in the following pages. Dr. Chalmers,
+in closing his Bridgewater Treatise, seems to have had an apprehension
+of the plan and importance of such an argument; and had he devoted
+himself to the development of the argument suggested, the effort would
+have been worth more to the world than all the Bridgewater Treatises
+put together, including his own work.
+
+Coleridge has somewhere said that the Levitical economy is an enigma
+yet to be solved. To thousands of intelligent minds it is not only an
+enigma, but it is an absolute barrier to their belief in the Divine
+origin of the Bible. The solution of the enigma was the clue which
+aided the writer to escape from the labyrinth of doubt; and now,
+standing upon the rock of unshaken faith, he offers the clue that
+guided him to others.
+
+A work of this kind is called for by the spirit of the age. Although
+the signs of the times are said to be propitious, yet there are
+constant developments of undisciplined and unsanctified mind both in
+Europe and America, which furnishes matter of regret to the
+philanthropist and the Christian. A struggle has commenced--is going
+on at present; and the heat of the contest is constantly increasing,
+in which the vital interests of man, temporal and spiritual, are
+involved. In relation to man's spiritual interests, the central point
+of controversy is the 'cross of Christ.' In New England, some of those
+who have diverged from the doctrine of the fathers have wandered into
+a wilderness of speculation which, were it not for the evil
+experienced by themselves and others, ought, perhaps, to be pitied as
+the erratic aberrations of an unsettled reason, rather than blamed as
+the manifestations of minds determinately wicked. The most painful
+indication connected with this subject is, that these guilty dreamers
+are not waked from their reveries by the rebuke of men whose position
+and relations in society demand it at their hands.
+
+The west, likewise, is overrun by sects whose teachers, under the
+name of Reformers, or some other inviting appellation, are using every
+effort to seduce men from the spiritual doctrines and duties of the
+gospel, or to organize them into absolute hostility against Christ.
+These men are not wanting in intellect, or in acquired knowledge, and
+their labours have prejudiced the minds of great numbers against the
+spiritual truths of the gospel, and rendered their hearts callous to
+religious influence. These facts, in the author's opinion, render such
+a volume as he has endeavoured to write necessary, in order to meet
+the exigencies of the times.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+*** The present edition has been carefully revised; and has been
+slightly modified on one or two minor points, to which exception had
+been taken, or which appeared obscure in expression.--1881.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                                     PAGE
+      I. Man will worship--he will become assimilated to
+          the character of the object that he worships--
+          Character of heathen deities defective and
+          unholy--From this corrupting worship man has
+          no power to extricate himself                          9
+
+     II. The design and necessity of the bondage in Egypt       21
+
+    III. Miracles--particularly the miracles which
+          accompanied the deliverance of the Israelites
+          from bondage in Egypt                                 25
+
+     IV. What was necessary as the first step in the
+          process of revelation                                 34
+
+      V. The necessity of affectionate obedience to God;
+          and the manner of producing that obedience in
+          the hearts of the Israelites                          36
+
+     VI. The design and necessity of the Moral Law              41
+
+    VII. The development of the idea of holiness, and its
+          transfer to Jehovah as an attribute                   45
+
+   VIII. The origin of the ideas of justice and mercy, and
+          their transfer to the character of Jehovah            53
+
+     IX. The transition from the material system, by which
+          religious ideas were conveyed through the senses,
+          to the spiritual system, in which abstract ideas
+          were conveyed by words and parables                   61
+
+      X. The medium of conveying to men perfect instruction
+          in doctrine and duty                                  66
+
+     XI. Some of the peculiar proofs of the Messiahship of
+          Christ                                                70
+
+    XII. The condition in life which it was necessary the
+          Messiah should assume in order to benefit the
+          human family in the greatest degree, by his
+          example and instructions                              75
+
+   XIII. The essential principles which must, according to
+          the nature of things, lie at the foundation of
+          the instruction of Christ                             81
+
+    XIV. Faith, the exercise through which truth reaches
+          and affects the soul                                  82
+
+     XV. The manifestations of God which would be necessary,
+          under the new and spiritual dispensation, to
+          produce in the soul of man affectionate obedience     89
+
+    XVI. The influence of faith in Christ upon the moral
+          disposition and moral powers of the soul             117
+
+   XVII. The design and the importance of the means of
+          grace--prayer--praise--preaching                     133
+
+  XVIII. The agency of God in carrying on the work of
+          redemption, and the manner in which that agency
+          is exerted                                           146
+
+    XIX. The practical effects of the system as exemplified
+          in individual cases                                  150
+
+
+
+
+PHILOSOPHY OF THE PLAN OF SALVATION.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+INTRODUCTORY.
+
+
+MAN WILL WORSHIP--HE WILL BECOME ASSIMILATED TO THE CHARACTER OF THE
+OBJECT THAT HE WORSHIPS--CHARACTER OF HEATHEN DEITIES DEFECTIVE AND
+UNHOLY--FROM THIS CORRUPTING WORSHIP MAN HAS NO POWER TO EXTRICATE
+HIMSELF.
+
+There are three facts, each of them fully developed in the experience
+of the human family, a consideration of which will prepare the mind
+for the investigation which follows. When considered in their relation
+to each other, and in their bearing upon the moral interests of
+mankind, they will be seen to be of exceeding importance. We will
+adduce these facts, in connection with the statements and principles
+upon which they rest, and show how vital are the interests which
+depend upon them.
+
+
+THE FIRST FACT STATED.
+
+There is in the nature of man, or in the circumstances in which he is
+conditioned, something which leads him to recognise and worship a
+superior being. What that _something_ is, is not important in our
+present inquiry:--whether it be a constitutional instinct inwrought by
+the Maker--whether it be a deduction of universal reason, inferring a
+first cause from the things that are made--whether it be the effect of
+tradition, descending from the first worshippers, through all the
+tribes of the human family--whether any or all of these be the cause,
+the fact is the same--_Man is a religious being: HE WILL WORSHIP._
+
+In view of this propension of human nature, philosophers, in seeking a
+generic appellation for man, have denominated him a "religious
+animal." The characteristic is true of him in whatever part of the
+world he may be found, and in whatever condition; and it has been true
+of him in all ages of which we have any record, either fabulous or
+authentic.
+
+Navigators have, in a few instances, reported that isolated tribes of
+men, whom they visited, recognised the existence of no superior being:
+subsequent researches, however, have generally corrected the error;
+and, in all cases, when it has been supposed that a tribe of men was
+found believing in no god, the fact has been stated as an evidence of
+their degradation below the mass of their species, and of their
+approximation to the confines of brute nature. Of the whole family of
+man, existing in all ages, and scattered over the four quarters of the
+globe, and in the isles of the sea, there is scarcely one
+well-authenticated exception to the fact, that, moved by an impulse of
+nature, or the force of circumstances, man worships something which he
+believes to be endowed with the attributes of a superior being.
+
+
+THE SECOND FACT STATED.
+
+The second fact, connected as it is, by the nature of things, with the
+preceding, assumes the highest degree of importance. It may be stated
+in the following terms:--_Man_, by worshipping, _becomes assimilated
+to the moral character of the object which he worships_. This is an
+invariable principle, operating with the certainty of cause and
+effect. The worshipper looks upon the character of the object which he
+worships as the standard of perfection. He therefore condemns
+everything in himself which is unlike, and approves of everything
+which is like that character. The tendency of this is to lead him to
+abandon everything in himself, and in his course of life, which is
+condemned by the character and precepts of his god, and to conform
+himself to that standard which is approved by the same criterion. The
+worshipper desires the favour of the object worshipped, and this,
+reason dictates, can be obtained only by conformity to the will and
+the character of that object. To become assimilated to the image of
+the object worshipped must be the end of desire with the worshipper.
+His aspirations, therefore, every time he worships, do, from the
+nature of the case, assimilate his character more and more to the
+model of the object that receives his homage.
+
+To this fact the whole history of the idolatrous world bears
+testimony. Without an exception, the character of every nation and
+tribe of the human family has been formed and modified, in a great
+degree, by the character attributed to their gods.
+
+From the history of idolatrous nations we will cite a number of
+familiar cases, confirmatory of the foregoing statement, that man
+becomes like the object of his worship.
+
+A most striking instance is that of the Scythians, and other tribes of
+the Northmen, who subdued and finally annihilated the Roman power.
+Odin, Thor, and others of their supposed deities, were ideas of
+hero-kings, bloodthirsty and cruel, clothed with the attributes of
+deity, and worshipped. Their worship turned the milk of human kindness
+into gall in the bosoms of their votaries, and they seemed, like
+bloodhounds, to be possessed of a horrid delight when they were
+revelling in scenes of blood and slaughter. It being believed that one
+of their hero-gods, after destroying great numbers of the human race,
+destroyed himself, it hence became disreputable to die in bed, and
+those who did not meet death in battle frequently committed suicide,
+supposing that to die a natural death might exclude them from favour
+in the hall of Valhalla.
+
+Among the gods of the Greeks and Romans there were some names, in the
+early ages of their history, to which some virtuous attributes were
+attached; but the conduct and character generally attributed to their
+gods were marked deeply with such traits as heroism, vengeance,
+caprice, and lust. In the later history of these nations, their
+idolatry degenerated in character, and became a system of most
+debasing tendency.
+
+The heroism fostered by idolatry was its least injurious influence.
+Pope's couplet, had he thrown a ray or two of light across the
+background of the dark picture, would have been a correct delineation
+of the character of pagan idols--
+
+    'Gods partial, changeful, passionate, unjust;
+    Whose attributes were rage, revenge, and lust.'
+
+In some cases the most corrupt attributes of human nature, and even of
+brute nature, were attributed to objects of worship, and while men
+bowed down to them, they sank themselves to the lowest depths of vice.
+The Egyptians might be named as an instance. The first patrons of the
+arts and sciences were brute-worshippers; and it is testified of them
+that bestiality, the lowest vice to which human nature can descend,
+was common amongst them. The paintings and sculpture of their
+divinities, in the mummy catacombs, are for the most part clusters of
+beasts, birds, reptiles, and flies, grouped together in the most
+disgusting and unnatural relations; a true indication that the minds
+of the worshippers were filled with ideas the most vile and unnatural.
+
+The ancient Venus, as worshipped by almost all the elder nations of
+antiquity, was a personification of lust. The deeds required to be
+done at her polluting fane, as acts of homage, ought not to be named.
+
+In the best days of Corinth--'Corinth, the eye of Greece'--the most
+sacred persons in the city were prostitutes, consecrated to the
+worship of Venus. From this source she derived a large portion of her
+revenues. The consequence was, that her inhabitants became proverbial
+for dissoluteness and treachery.
+
+To the heathen divinities, especially those placed at the head of the
+catalogue as the superior gods, what theologians have called the
+physical attributes of deity--omnipotent and omnipresent power--were
+generally ascribed; but their moral character was always defective,
+and generally criminal. As one of the best instances in the whole
+mythology of the ancients, the Roman Jupiter might be cited. Had a
+medal been struck delineating the character of this best of the gods,
+on one side might have been engraved _Almightiness_, _Omnipresence_,
+_Justice_; and on the reverse, _Caprice_, _Vengeance_, _Lust_. Thus
+men clothed depraved or bestial deities with almighty power, and they
+became cruel, or corrupt, or bestial in their affections, by the
+reaction of the character worshipped upon the character of the
+worshipper. In the strong language of a recent writer, 'They clothed
+beasts and depraved beings with the attribute of almightiness, and in
+effect they worshipped almighty beasts and devils.' And the more they
+worshipped, the more they resembled them.
+
+These testimonies concerning the influence of idolatrous worship, and
+the character of the idols worshipped, are maintained by authorities
+which render doubt in relation to their credibility impossible. Upon
+this subject the wiser men among the Greeks and Romans have borne
+unequivocal testimony. Plato, in the second book of the Republic,
+speaks of the pernicious influence of the conduct attributed to the
+gods, and suggests that such histories should not be rehearsed in
+public, lest they should influence the youth to the commission of
+crimes. Aristotle advises that statues and paintings of the gods
+should exhibit no indecent scenes, except in the temples of such
+divinities as, according to common opinion, preside over
+sensuality.[1] What an affecting testimony of the most discriminating
+mind among the heathen, asserting not only the turpitude of the
+prevailing idolatry, but sanctioning the sensuality of their debauched
+worship!
+
+    [1] Aristot. Politica, vii. 18, ed. Schneider.
+
+As Rome and Greece grew older, the infection of idolatry festered,
+until the body politic became one mass of moral disease. The state of
+things, in the later ages of these nations, is well stated by a late
+writer of the first authority.[2] 'We should naturally suppose,' says
+this writer, 'that among so great a variety of gods, of religious
+actions, of sacred vows, at least some better feeling of the heart
+must have been excited; that at least some truly pious sentiment would
+have been awakened. But when we consider the character of this
+superstition, and the testimony of contemporaneous writers, such does
+not appear to have been the fact. Petronius' history of that period
+furnishes evidence that temples were frequented, altars crowned, and
+prayers offered to the gods, in order that they might render nights of
+unnatural lust agreeable; that they might favour acts of poisoning;
+that they might cause robberies and other crimes to prosper.' In view
+of the abominations prevailing at this period, the moral Seneca
+exclaimed--'How great now is the madness of men! they lisp the most
+abominable prayers; and if a man is found listening they are silent.
+What a man ought not to hear, they do not blush to relate to the
+gods.' Again, says he, 'If any one considers what things they do, and
+to what things they subject themselves, instead of decency he will
+find indecency; instead of the honourable, the unworthy; instead of
+the rational, the insane.' Such was heathenism and its influence in
+the most enlightened ages, according to the testimony of the best men
+of those times.
+
+    [2] Tholuck on the Influence of Heathenism.
+
+In relation to modern idolatry, the world is full of living witnesses
+of its corrupting tendency. We will cite, in illustration, a single
+case or two. The following is extracted from a public document, laid
+before Parliament by H. Oakley, Esq., a magistrate in Lower Bengal.
+Speaking of the influence of idolatry in India, he says of the worship
+of Kalé, one of the most popular idols, 'The murderer, the robber, and
+the prostitute, all aim to propitiate a being whose worship is
+obscenity, and who delights in the blood of man and beast; and without
+imploring whose aid no act of wickedness is committed. The worship of
+Kalé must harden the hearts of her followers; and to them scenes of
+blood and crime must become familiar.'
+
+In China, according to Medhurst, the priests of Buddha understand and
+teach the doctrine of the assimilation of the worshipper to the object
+worshipped. They say--'Think of Buddha and you will be transformed
+into Buddha. If men pray to Buddha and do not become Buddha, it is
+because the mouth prays, and not the mind.'[3]
+
+    [3] For a succinct statement of the universal prevalence of false
+    religions, and their corrupting influence, see Ryan on the Effect
+    of Religion upon Mankind, _passim_.
+
+Two facts, then, are philosophically and historically true: First--Man
+is a religious animal, and will worship something as a superior being.
+Second--By worshipping he becomes assimilated to the moral character
+of the object which he worships. And (the God of the Bible out of view
+for the present) those objects have always had a defective and unholy
+character.
+
+Here, then, is one great source which has developed the corruption of
+the family of man. We inquire not in this place concerning the origin
+of idolatry; whatever or wherever was its origin, its influence has
+been uniformly the same. As no object of idolatrous worship was ever
+conceived to be perfectly just and benevolent, but most of them no
+better than the apotheosis of heroes, or the deification of the
+imperfect faculties and impure passions of human or brute nature, the
+result followed, with a certainty as unerring as cause and effect,
+that man, by following his instinct to worship, would becloud his
+intellect and corrupt his heart. Notice how inevitable, from the
+circumstances of the case, was the corruption of man's powers:--He was
+led to worship by an instinct over which he had no control:--The
+objects of his worship were, whether he originated them or not, all
+of them of a character that corrupted his heart; thus the
+gratification of his instinctive propensities inevitably strengthened
+the corruption of his nature.
+
+Now it is not our design to inquire whether, or how far, man was
+guilty in producing this evil condition of things. In considering the
+facts in the case, the inquiry which forces itself upon the mind
+is--Were there any resources in human nature, or any means of any
+kind, of which man could avail himself, by which he might save himself
+from the debasing influence of idolatrous worship? In reply,
+
+
+THE THIRD FACT IS STATED.
+
+_There were no means within the reach of human power or wisdom, by
+which man could extricate himself from the evil of idolatry, either by
+an immediate or by a progressive series of efforts._
+
+This fact is maintained from the history of idolatry, the testimony of
+the heathen philosophers, and the nature of man.
+
+1. Instead of man acquiring the power or the disposition, as the race
+became older, to destroy idolatry--idolatry, from its first entrance
+into the world, gained power to destroy him. Amid all the mutations of
+society, from barbarous to civilised, and amid all the conflicts of
+nations, and the changes of dynasties and forms of government, from
+the first historic notices which we have of the human family down to
+the era of Christ, idolatry constantly became more evil in its
+character and more extended in its influence. It is well ascertained
+that the first objects of idolatrous homage were few and simple, and
+the worship of the earliest ages comparatively pure. Man fell into
+this moral debasement but one step at a time. The sun, moon, stars,
+and other conspicuous objects of creative power and wisdom received
+the first idolatrous homage. Afterwards a divinity was supposed to
+reside in other objects, especially in those men, and beasts, and
+things which were instrumental in conferring particular benefits on
+tribes or nations of men. And finally, images of those objects were
+formed and worshipped. Images, which subsequently became innumerable,
+were not so in the earliest historic ages. In some nations, they were
+not allowed until after the era of the foundation of Rome.[4] As the
+nations grew older, images, which were at the first but few and
+clothed with drapery, became more numerous, and were presented before
+the worshippers in a state of nudity, and in most obscene attitudes.
+And, as has been before stated, their character, from being
+comparatively innoxious, became, without exception, demoralising in
+the extreme.
+
+    [4] Plutarch says that Numa forbade the Romans to make statues of
+    their gods.
+
+2. During the Augustan age of Rome, and the age of Pericles and
+Alcibiades in Greece--those periods when the mind had attained the
+highest elevation ever known among heathen nations--the mass of the
+people were more idolatrous in their habits, and consequently more
+corrupt in their hearts, than ever before. The abominations of
+idol-worship, of the mysteries, and of lewdness, in forms too vile to
+name, were rife throughout the country and the villages, and had their
+foci in the capitals of Greece and Rome. Jahn says, in relation to
+this period, 'Deities increased in number, and the apotheosis of
+vicious emperors was not unfrequent. Their philosophers, indeed,
+disputed with much subtlety respecting the architect of the universe,
+but they knew nothing about the Creator, the holy and almighty Judge
+of men.'
+
+Some of the more intelligent of the philosophers, perceiving the evil
+of the prevailing idolatry, desired to refine the grossness of the
+popular faith. They taught that the facts believed concerning the gods
+were allegories. Some endeavoured to identify the character of some of
+their deities with the natural virtues; while many of them became
+sceptical concerning the existence of the gods and of a future state.
+Those were, however, but isolated exceptions to the mass of mankind;
+and had their views been adopted by others, they would only have
+modified, not remedied the evil. But a contemporary writer shows how
+entirely unavailing, even to modify the evil, was the teaching of the
+philosophers. Dionysius of Halicarnassus says, 'There are only a few
+who have become masters of this philosophy. On the other hand, the
+great and unphilosophic mass are accustomed to receive these
+narratives rather in their worst sense, and to learn one of these two
+things, either to despise the gods as beings who wallow in the
+grossest licentiousness, or not to restrain themselves even from what
+is most abominable and abandoned, when they see that the gods do the
+same.' Cicero, in one sentence, as given by Tholuck, notices both the
+evil and its cause; confirming, in direct language, the preceding
+views. 'Instead,' says he, 'of the transfer to man of that which is
+divine, they transferred human sins to the gods, and then experienced
+again the necessary reaction.' Such, then, is the testimony of the
+philosophers in relation to the idolatry of their times. A few gifted
+individuals obtained sufficient light to see the moral evil in which
+men were involved, but they had neither wisdom to devise a remedy, nor
+power to arrest the progress of the moral pestilence that was
+corrupting the noble faculties of the human soul.
+
+3. It was impossible, from the nature of man, that he should extricate
+himself from the corrupting influence of idolatry. In this place we
+wish to state a principle which should be kept in view throughout the
+following discussion: _If man were ever redeemed from idolatrous
+worship, his redemption would have to be accomplished by means and
+instrumentalities adapted to his nature and the circumstances in which
+he existed._ If the faculties of his nature were changed, he would not
+be man. If his temporal condition were changed, different means would
+be necessary; if, therefore, man, as man, in his present condition,
+were to be recovered, the means of recovery, whether instituted by God
+or man, must be adapted to his nature and his circumstances.
+
+The only way, then, in which relief was possible for man was, that an
+object of worship should be placed before the mind directly opposite
+in moral character to those he had before adored. If his heart was
+ever purified, it must be by tearing his affections from his gods, and
+fixing them upon a righteous and holy being as the proper object of
+his homage. But for man to form such an object was plainly impossible.
+He could not transfer a better character to his gods than he himself
+possessed. Man could not 'bring a pure thing out of an impure.' The
+effect could not rise higher in moral purity than the cause. Human
+nature, in the maturity of its faculties, all agree, is imperfect and
+selfish; and, for an imperfect and selfish being to originate a
+perfect and holy character, deify it, and worship it, is to suppose
+what is contrary to the nature of things. The thought of the eloquent
+and philosophic Cicero expresses all that man could do. He could
+transfer his own imperfect attributes to the gods, and, by worshipping
+a being characterized by these imperfections, he would receive in
+himself the reaction of his own depravity.
+
+But if some men had had the power and the disposition to form for the
+world a perfectly holy object of worship, still the great difficulty,
+as we have seen in the case of the philosophers, would have remained,
+that is, a want of the necessary power to arrest the progress of
+idolatry and substitute the better worship. To doubt the truth of the
+prevailing idolatry was all that men, at the highest intellectual
+attainment ever acquired in heathen countries, could do. And if they
+had had power to convey their doubts to all minds in all the world, it
+would only have been to place mankind in the chaotic darkness of
+atheism, and leave them to be led again by their instincts into the
+abominations of imperfect and impure worship.
+
+The testimony, then, is conclusive, from the history of idolatry, that
+the evil became greater every age--from the statement of the wisest of
+the heathen, that they had no power to arrest its progress--and from
+the nature of man, that it was not possible for him to relieve
+himself from the corrupting influence of idolatry, in which he had
+become involved.
+
+From the foregoing facts and reasonings it is plain that the high-born
+faculties of the human soul must have been blighted for ever, by a
+corrupting worship, unless two things were accomplished, neither of
+which it was in the power of human nature to effect; and yet both of
+which were essentially necessary to accomplish the elevation of man
+from the pit into which he had fallen.
+
+The first thing necessary to be accomplished was, that _a pure object
+of worship should be placed before the eye of the soul_. Purity of
+heart and conscience would be necessary in the object of worship,
+otherwise the heart and conscience of the worshipper would not be
+purified. But if an object were presented, whose nature was infinitely
+opposed to sin--to all defilement, both physical and spiritual--and
+who revealed, in his example, and by his precepts, a perfect standard
+to govern the life of man under the circumstances in which he was
+placed, then man's mind would be enlightened, his conscience
+rectified, and the hard and corrupt feelings of his heart softened and
+purified, by assimilation to the object of his worship.--As, according
+to the nature of things, an unholy object of worship would necessarily
+degrade and corrupt the human soul; so, on the contrary, a holy object
+worshipped would necessarily elevate and purify the nature of man.
+
+The second necessary thing in order to man's redemption was, _that
+when a holy object of worship was revealed, the revelation should be
+accompanied with sufficient power to influence men to forsake their
+former worship, and to worship the holy object made known to them_.
+The presentation of a new and pure object would not cause men to turn
+from their former opinions and practices, and become directly opposed
+in heart to what they had formerly loved. A display of power would be
+necessary, sufficient to overcome their former faith and their present
+fears, and to detach their affections from idols, and fix them upon
+the proper object of human homage.
+
+It follows, then, that man must remain a corrupt idolater for ever,
+unless God interpose in his behalf. The question whether he would thus
+interpose, in the only way possible, to save the race from moral
+death, depends entirely upon the benevolence of his nature. The
+question whether he has done so may be answered by inquiring whether
+any system of means has been instituted in this world, characterized
+by sufficient power to destroy idolatry--revealing at the same time a
+holy object of worship--and this revelation being accompanied by means
+and influences so adapted to man's nature as to secure the result.
+
+To this inquiry the future pages of this volume will be devoted. The
+inquiry is not primarily concerning the truth of the Bible; but
+concerning the only religion possible for mankind, and the only means
+by which such religion could be given consistently with man's nature
+and circumstances.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE DESIGN AND NECESSITY OF THE BONDAGE IN EGYPT.
+
+
+There are certain bonds of union, and sources of sympathy, by which
+the minds of a whole people may be united into one common mind: so
+much so, that all hearts in the nation will be affected by the same
+subjects, and all minds moved by the same motives. Any cause which
+creates a common interest and a common feeling, common biases and
+common hopes, in the individual minds which compose a nation, has a
+tendency to unite them in this manner.
+
+Some of the causes which have more power than any others to bind men,
+as it were, into a common being, are the following:--The natural tie
+of consanguinity, or a common parentage, is a strong bond of
+affiliation among men. And there are others, which, in some cases,
+seem to be even stronger than this; among these may be named a common
+interest; a common religion; and a common fellowship in suffering and
+deliverance. Any circumstance which educes the susceptibilities of the
+mind and twines them together, or around a common object--any event in
+which the interest, the feelings, the safety, or the reputation of any
+people is involved, causes them to be more closely allied to each
+other in social and civil compact.
+
+The more firmly a people are bound together by these ties of union,
+the more strength they will possess to resist opposing interests and
+opinions from without; while, at the same time, everything national,
+or peculiar to them as a people, will be cherished with warmer and
+more tenacious attachment.
+
+From the operation of this principle originates the maxim 'Union is
+strength;' and whether the conflict be mental or physical, the people
+who are united together by the most numerous and powerful sympathies
+will oppose the strongest and the longest resistance to the
+innovations of external forces. On the contrary, if the bonds of moral
+union are few, and easily sundered, the strength of the nation is soon
+broken, and the fragments easily repelled from each other.
+
+According to this principle, in all cases in which a whole nation is
+to be instructed, or prepared for offence and defence, or in any wise
+fitted to be acted upon, or to act as a nation, it would be necessary
+that the bonds of national union should be numerous and strong; and
+that, as far as possible, a perfect oneness of interest and feeling
+should pervade the nation.
+
+So long as the human mind and human circumstances continue what they
+are, no power in heaven or on earth could unite a people together,
+except by the same or similar means as have been stated. If,
+therefore, God designed to form a nation, either to be acted upon or
+to act as a nation, he would put in operation those agencies which
+would bind them firmly and permanently into one mass.
+
+Now, mark the application of these deductions to the case of the
+Israelites. About the period when the corruptions of idolatry were
+becoming generally prevalent, Abraham, the Bible record states, was
+extricated by Divine interposition. He was assured that his
+descendants should suffer a long bondage, and afterwards become a
+numerous nation. Abraham was their common ancestor, one whom they
+remembered with reverence and pride; and each individual felt himself
+honoured by the fact that the blood of the "father of the faithful"
+circled in his veins. The tie of consanguinity in their case was bound
+in the strongest manner, and encircled the whole nation. In Egypt
+their circumstances and employments were the same; and, in the
+endurance of a protracted and most galling bondage, they had a common
+lot. Their liberation was likewise a national deliverance, which
+affected alike the whole people, the anniversary of which was
+celebrated by distant posterity with strong and peculiar national
+enthusiasm.
+
+Now, it has been said that the events of our colonial servitude, and
+the achievement of American independence, are points in our history
+which will ever operate upon our national character, impressing clear
+views of the great principles of republicanism, and uniting all hearts
+in support of those principles: how much more affecting and indelible,
+then, was the impress made upon the national heart of the Israelites
+by their bondage and deliverance! They were bound by blood, by
+interest, feeling, hopes, fears, by bondage, and by faith.
+
+And how firmly did these providences weave into one web the sympathies
+and views of the Jewish people! It is a fact which is the miracle of
+history, and the wonder of the world, that the ties which unite this
+people seem to be indissoluble. While other nations have risen and
+reigned and fallen; while the ties which united them have been
+sundered, and their fragments lost amid earth's teeming population,
+the stock of Abraham endures, like an incorruptible monument of gold,
+undestroyed by the attrition of the waves of time, which have dashed
+in pieces and washed away other nations, whose origin was but
+yesterday, compared with this ancient and wonderful people.
+
+In this manner was this nation prepared for peculiar duties, and to
+discharge those duties under peculiar circumstances. Many of the
+nations by which they were surrounded were more powerful than
+themselves; all were warlike, and each had its peculiar system of
+idolatry, which corrupted all hearts that came within its influence.
+Hence the necessity that this people should be so united as to resist
+the power and contagious example of surrounding nations, while they
+were fitted to receive and preserve a peculiar national character,
+civil polity, and religious doctrines; of all which they were to be
+the conservators, amid surrounding and opposing heathenism, for many
+ages.
+
+Other facts might be added to the induction, which would make the
+design, if possible, more apparent. If the Jews were to be the
+recipients of new instruction--to obey new laws, and to sustain new
+institutions, it would be desirable that their minds, so far as
+possible, should be in the condition of new material, occupied by
+little previous knowledge, and by no national prejudices against or in
+favour of governmental forms and systems. Now, in the case of the
+Jews, the habit of obedience had been acquired. They had no national
+predilections or prejudices arising from past experience. In relation
+to knowledge of any kind, their mind was almost a _tabula rasa_. They
+were as new material prepared to receive the moulding of a master
+hand, and the impress of a governing mind.
+
+Now, as this discipline of the descendants of Abraham was the result
+of a long concatenation of events, and could not have been designed by
+themselves to accomplish the necessary end; and as the whole chain of
+events was connected together and perfectly adapted, in accordance
+with the nature of things, to produce the specific purpose which was
+accomplished by them, it follows, as the only rational conclusion,
+first that the overruling intelligence of God was employed in thus
+preparing material for a purer religious worship than the world then
+enjoyed; and, second, that a nation could have been so prepared by no
+other agent, and in no other way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+CONCERNING MIRACLES--PARTICULARLY THE MIRACLES WHICH ACCOMPANIED THE
+DELIVERANCE OF THE ISRAELITES FROM BONDAGE IN EGYPT.
+
+
+There has been so much false philosophy written concerning the subject
+of miracles, that it is difficult for those conversant with the
+speculations of writers upon this subject, to divest their minds
+sufficiently of preformed biases, to examine candidly the simple and
+natural principles upon which are based the evidence and necessity of
+miraculous interposition.
+
+The following statement is true beyond controversy: _Man cannot, in
+the present constitution of his mind, have sufficient reason for
+believing that religion has a Divine origin, unless it be accompanied
+with miracles._ The natural inference of the mind is that, if an
+Infinite Being act, his acts will be superhuman in their character;
+because the effect, reason dictates, will be characterized by the
+nature of its cause. Man has the same reason to expect that God will
+perform acts above human power and knowledge, that he has to suppose
+the inferior orders of animals will, in their actions, sink below the
+power and wisdom which characterize human nature. For, as it is
+natural for man to perform acts superior to the power and knowledge of
+the animals beneath him, so reason affirms that it is natural for God
+to develop his power by means, and in ways, above the skill and
+ability of mortals. Hence, if God manifest himself at all--unless, in
+accommodation to the capacities of men, he should constrain his
+manifestations within the compass of human ability--every act of God's
+immediate power would, to human capacity, be a miracle. But, if God
+were to constrain all his acts within the limits of human means and
+agencies, it would be impossible for man to discriminate between the
+acts of the Godhead and the acts of the manhood. And man, if he
+considered acts to be of a Divine origin, which were plainly within
+the compass of human ability, would violate his own reason.
+
+Suppose, for illustration, that God desired to reveal a religion to
+men, and wished them to recognise his character and his benevolence in
+giving that revelation. Suppose, further, that God should give such a
+revelation, and that every appearance and every act connected with its
+introduction were characterized by nothing superior to human power;
+could any rational mind on earth believe that such a system of
+religion came from God? Impossible! A man could as easily be made to
+believe that his own child, who possessed his own lineaments, and his
+own nature, belonged to some other world, and some other order of the
+creation. It would not be possible for God to convince men that a
+religion was from heaven unless it was accompanied with the marks of
+Divine Power.
+
+Suppose, again, that some individual were to appear either in the
+heathen or Christian world--he claimed to be a teacher sent from God,
+yet aspired to the performance of no miracles. He assumed to do
+nothing superior to the wisdom and ability of other men. Such an
+individual, although he might in gaining proselytes to some particular
+view of a religion already believed, yet could never make men believe
+that he had a special commission from God to establish a new religion,
+for the simple reason that he had no grounds more than his fellows to
+support his claims as an agent of the Almighty. But if he could
+convince a single individual that he had wrought a miracle, or that he
+had power to do so, that moment his claims would be established, in
+that mind, as a commissioned agent from heaven: so certainly, and so
+intuitively, do the minds of men revere and expect miracles as the
+credentials of the Divine presence.
+
+This demand of the mind for miracles, as testimony of the Divine
+presence and power, is intuitive with all men; and those very
+individuals who have doubted the existence or necessity of miracles,
+should they examine their own convictions on this subject, would see
+that, by an absolute necessity, if they desired to give the world a
+system of religion, whether truth or imposture, in order to make men
+receive it as of Divine authority, they must work miracles to attest
+its truth, or make men believe that they did so. Men can produce doubt
+of a revelation in no way until they have destroyed the evidence of
+its miracles; nor can faith be produced in the Divine origin of a
+religion until the evidence of miracles is supplied.
+
+The conviction that miracles are the true attestation of immediate
+Divine agency, is so constitutional (allow the expression) with the
+reason, that so soon as men persuade themselves they are the special
+agents of God, in propagating some particular truth in the world, they
+adopt likewise the belief that they have ability to work miracles.
+There have been many sincere enthusiasts, who believed that they were
+special agents of Heaven, and, in such cases, the conviction of their
+own miraculous powers arises as a necessary concomitant of the other
+opinion. Among such, in modern times, may be instanced Emanuel
+Swedenborg. Impostors also, perceiving that miracles were necessary in
+order that the human mind should receive a religion as Divine, have
+invariably claimed miraculous powers. Such instances recur constantly,
+from the days of Elymas down to the Mormon, Joseph Smith.
+
+All the multitude of false religions that have been believed since the
+world began have been introduced by the power of this principle.
+_Miracles believed_, lie at the foundation of all religions which men
+have ever received as of Divine origin. No matter how degrading or
+repulsive to reason in other respects, the fact of its establishment
+and propagation grows out of the belief of men that supernatural
+agency lies at the bottom.[5] This belief will give currency to any
+system, however absurd: and without it, no system can be established
+in the minds of men, however high and holy may be its origin and its
+design.
+
+    [5] Mohammedanism is no exception: as the wonders reported by the
+    false prophet, though unseen, were _believed_. 'The Koran,' he
+    said, 'is itself a miracle!'
+
+Such, then, is the constitution which the Maker has given to the
+mind. Whether the conviction be an intuition or an induction of the
+reason, God is the primary cause of its existence; and its existence
+puts it out of the power of man to accept a revelation from God
+himself, unless accompanied by miracle. If, therefore, God ever gave a
+revelation to man, it was necessarily accompanied with miracles, and
+with miracles of such a nature as would clearly distinguish the Divine
+character and the Divine authority of the dispensation.
+
+The whole fulness and force of these deductions apply to the case of
+the Israelites. The laws of their mind not only demanded miracles as
+an attestation of Divine interposition; but at that time, the belief
+existed in their minds that miracles were constantly performed.
+Although they remembered the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, yet
+they likewise, as subsequent facts clearly attested, believed that the
+idols of Egypt possessed the attributes of Divinity. The belief in a
+plurality of gods was then common to all nations. And although this
+error was corrected, and perhaps entirely removed, by succeeding
+providences and instructions, from the minds of the Jews; yet, before
+the miracles in Egypt, while the God of Abraham was, perhaps, in most
+cases acknowledged as their God, the idols of Egypt were acknowledged
+as the gods of the Egyptians, and probably worshipped as the
+divinities who had power to dispense good and evil to all the
+inhabitants of that land. And in common with all Egypt, they, no
+doubt, believed that the acts of jugglery, in which the magicians, or
+priests of Egypt, had made astonishing proficiency, were actual
+miracles, exhibiting the power of their idols, and the authority of
+the priests to act in their name.
+
+In view, therefore, of existing circumstances, two things were
+necessary, on the part of God,[6] in order to establish belief in any
+revelation to the Israelites:--First, that he should manifest himself
+by miracles; and, Secondly, that those miracles should be of such a
+character, as evidently to distinguish them from the jugglery of the
+magicians, and to convince all observers of the existence and
+omnipotence of the true God, in contradistinction from the objects of
+idolatrous worship. Unless these two things were done, it would have
+been impossible for the Israelites to have recognised JEHOVAH as the
+_only living_ and _true GOD_.
+
+    [6] When we speak of a thing as necessary on the part of God, it
+    is said, not in reference to God's attributes, but to man's nature
+    and circumstances.
+
+It follows, then, that by the miracles which God wrought by the hand
+of Moses, he pursued the only way that was possible to authenticate a
+revelation in which his presence and power would be recognised. The
+only point of inquiry remaining is, Were the miracles of such a
+character, and performed in such a manner, as to remove false views
+from the minds of the Israelites, and introduce right views concerning
+the true God, and the non-existence of factitious objects of worship?
+
+With this point in view, the design in the management and character of
+the miracles in Egypt is interesting and obvious. Notice, first, the
+whole strength of the magicians' skill was brought out and measured
+with that of the miraculous power exerted through Moses. If this had
+not been done, the idea would have remained in the minds of the people
+that, although Moses wielded a mighty miraculous power, it might be
+derived from the Egyptian gods, or if it were not thus derived, they
+might have supposed that if the priests of those idols were summoned,
+they would contravene or arrest the power vested in Moses by Jehovah.
+But now, the magicians appearing in the name of their gods, the power
+of Moses was seen to be not only superior to their sorceries, but
+hostile to them and their idolatrous worship.
+
+Notice, secondly, the design and adaptedness of the miracles, not only
+to distinguish the power of the true God, but to destroy the
+confidence placed in the protection and power of the idols.
+
+The first miracle, while it authenticated the mission of Moses,
+destroyed the serpents which, among the Egyptians, were objects of
+worship; thus evincing, in the outset, that their gods could neither
+help the people nor save themselves.
+
+The second miracle was directed against the river Nile, another object
+which they regarded with religious reverence. This river they held
+sacred, as the Hindoos do the Ganges; and even the fish in its waters
+they revered as objects of worship. They drank the water with
+reverence and delight; and supposed that a Divine efficacy dwelt in
+its waves to heal diseases of the body. The water of this, their
+cherished object of idolatrous homage, was transmuted to blood; and
+its finny idols became a mass of putridity.
+
+The third miracle was directed to the accomplishment of the same
+end--the destruction of faith in the river as an object of worship.
+The waters of the Nile were caused to send forth legions of frogs,
+which infested the whole land, and became a nuisance and a torment to
+the people. Thus their idol, by the power of the true God, was
+polluted, and turned into a source of pollution to its worshippers.
+
+By the fourth miracle of a series constantly increasing in power and
+severity, lice came upon man and beast throughout the land. 'Now, if
+it be remembered,' says Gleig, 'that no one could approach the altars
+of Egypt upon whom so impure an insect harboured, and that the
+priests, to guard against the slightest risk of contamination, wore
+only linen garments, and shaved their heads and bodies every day,[7]
+the severity of this miracle as a judgment upon Egyptian idolatry may
+be imagined. Whilst it lasted no act of worship could be performed;
+and so keenly was this felt, that the very magicians exclaimed--"This
+is the finger of God!"'
+
+    [7] Every third day, according to Herodotus.
+
+The fifth miracle was designed to destroy the trust of the people in
+Beelzebub, or the Fly-god, who was reverenced as their protector from
+visitations of swarms of ravenous flies which infested the land,
+generally about the time of the dog-days, and removed only, as they
+supposed, at the will of this idol. The miracle now wrought by Moses
+evinced the impotence of Beelzebub, and caused the people to look
+elsewhere for relief from the fearful visitation under which they were
+suffering.
+
+The sixth miracle, which destroyed the cattle, excepting those of the
+Israelites, was aimed at the destruction of the entire system of brute
+worship. This system, degrading and bestial as it was, had become a
+monster of many heads in Egypt. They had their sacred bull, and ram,
+and heifer, and goat, and many others, all of which were destroyed by
+the agency of the God of Moses. Thus by one act of power Jehovah
+manifested his own supremacy, and destroyed the very existence of
+their brute idols.
+
+Of the peculiar fitness of the sixth plague (the seventh miracle),
+says the writer before quoted, the reader will receive a better
+impression, when he is reminded that in Egypt there were several
+altars upon which human sacrifices were occasionally offered when they
+desired to propitiate Typhon, or the Evil Principle. These victims
+being burned alive, their ashes were gathered together by the
+officiating priests, and thrown up into the air, in order that evil
+might be averted from every place to which an atom of the ashes was
+wafted. By the direction of Jehovah, Moses took a handful of ashes
+from the furnace (which, very probably, the Egyptians at this time had
+frequently used to turn aside the plagues with which they were
+smitten), and he cast it into the air, as they were accustomed to do;
+and instead of averting evil, boils and blains fell upon all the
+people of the land. Neither king, nor priest, nor people escaped. Thus
+the bloody rites of Typhon became a curse to the idolaters; the
+supremacy of Jehovah was affirmed, and the deliverance of the
+Israelites insisted upon.
+
+The ninth miracle was directed against the worship of Serapis, whose
+peculiar office was supposed to be to protect the country from
+locusts. At periods these destructive insects came in clouds upon the
+land, and, like an overshadowing curse, they blighted the fruits of
+the field and the verdure of the forest. At the command of Moses
+these terrible insects came--and they retired only at his bidding.
+Thus was the impotence of Serapis made manifest, and the idolaters
+taught the folly of trusting in any other protection than that of
+Jehovah the God of Israel.
+
+The eighth and tenth miracles were directed against the worship of
+Isis and Osiris, to whom and the river Nile they awarded the first
+place[8] in the long catalogue of their idolatry. These idols were
+originally the representatives of the sun and moon; they were believed
+to control the light and the elements, and their worship prevailed in
+some form among all the early nations. The miracles directed against
+the worship of Isis and Osiris must have made a deep impression on the
+minds both of the Israelites and the Egyptians. In a country where
+rain seldom falls--where the atmosphere is always calm, and the light
+of the heavenly bodies always continued, what was the horror pervading
+all minds during the elemental war described in the Hebrew
+record--during the long period of three days and three nights, while
+the gloom of thick darkness settled, like the out-spread pall of
+death, over the whole land! Jehovah of hosts summoned Nature to
+proclaim him the true God--the God of Israel asserted his supremacy,
+and exerted his power to degrade the idols, destroy idolatry, and
+liberate the descendants of Abraham from the land of their bondage.
+
+    [8] Against the worship of the Nile, two miracles were directed,
+    and two likewise against Isis and Osiris, because they were
+    supposed to be the supreme gods. Many placed the Nile first, as
+    they said it had power to water Egypt independently of the action
+    of the elements.
+
+The Almighty having thus revealed himself as the true God, by
+miraculous agency, and pursued those measures, in the exercise of his
+power, which were directly adapted to destroy the various forms of
+idolatry which existed in Egypt, the eleventh and last miracle was a
+judgment, in order to manifest to all minds that Jehovah was the God
+who executed judgment in the earth.
+
+The Egyptians had, for a long time, cruelly oppressed the Israelites,
+and to put the finishing horror to their atrocities, they had finally
+slain, at their birth, the offspring of their victims; and now God, in
+the exercise of infinite justice, visited them with righteous
+retribution. In the mid-watches of the night, the 'angel of the
+pestilence' was sent to the dwellings of Egypt, and he 'breathed in
+the face' of all the first-born in the land. In the morning, the hope
+of every family, from the palace to the cottage, was a corpse. What
+mind can imagine the awful consternation of that scene, when an
+agonizing wail rose from the stricken hearts of all the parents in the
+nation? The cruel task-masters were taught, by means which entered
+their souls, that the true God was a God not only of power but of
+judgment, and as such, to be feared by evil-doers, and reverenced by
+those that do well.
+
+The demonstration, therefore, is conclusive, that in view of the
+idolatrous state of the world, and especially of the character and
+circumstances of the Israelites, the true God could have made a
+revelation of himself in no other way than by the means, and in the
+manner, of the miracles of Egypt; and none but the true God could have
+revealed himself in this way.[9]
+
+    [9] In accordance with the foregoing are the intimations given in
+    the Bible of the design of the miracles of Egypt. By these
+    exhibitions of Divine power God said--'Ye,' the Israelites, 'and
+    Pharaoh shall know that I am Jehovah.'
+
+    Miracles, moreover, were the evidence that Pharaoh required.--Ex.
+    vii. 9, God said to Moses, that when he should present himself as
+    the Divine legate, and Pharaoh should require a miracle, he should
+    perform it accordingly.
+
+    In relation to the destruction of idolatry, the design of Jehovah
+    is expressly announced (Ex. xii. 12), 'Against all the Gods of
+    Egypt I will execute judgment: I am Jehovah.'
+
+    See also Ex. xviii. 11.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+WHAT WAS NECESSARY AS THE FIRST STEP IN THE PROCESS OF REVELATION.
+
+
+By the miracles of Egypt, the false views and corrupt habits of the
+Israelites were, for the time being, in a great measure removed.
+Previously they had believed in a plurality of gods; and although they
+remembered the God of Abraham, yet they had, as is evident from
+notices in the Bible, associated with his attribute of almighty power
+(the only attribute well understood by the patriarchs) many of the
+corrupt attributes of the Egyptian idols. Thus the idea of God was
+debased by having grovelling and corrupt attributes superinduced upon
+it. By miraculous agency these dishonourable views of the Divine
+character were removed; their minds were emptied of false impressions
+in order that they might be furnished with the true idea and the true
+attributes of the Supreme Being.
+
+But how, to minds in the infancy of knowledge respecting God and human
+duty--having all they had previously learned removed, and being now
+about to take the first step in their progress--how could the first
+principles of Divine knowledge be conveyed to such minds?
+
+One thing, in the outset, would evidently be necessary. Knowledge, as
+the mind is constituted, can be communicated in no other way than
+progressively; it would be necessary, therefore, that they should
+begin with the elementary principles, and proceed through all the
+stages of their education. The mind cannot receive at once all the
+parts of a system in religion, science, or any other department of
+human knowledge. One fact or idea must be predicated upon another,
+just as one stone rests upon another, from the foundation to the top
+of the building. There are successive steps in the acquisition of
+knowledge, and every step in the mind's progress must be taken from
+advances already made. God has inwrought the law of progression into
+the nature of things, and observes it in his own works. From the
+springing of a blade to the formation of the mind, or of a world,
+every thing goes forward by consecutive steps.
+
+It was necessary, therefore, in view of the established laws of the
+mind, that the knowledge of God and human duty should be imparted to
+the Israelites by successive communications--necessary that there
+should be a first step, or primary principle, for a starting point,
+and then a progression onward and upward to perfection.
+
+In accordance with these principles, God, in the introduction of the
+Mosaic dispensation, revealed only his essential existence to the
+Israelites. In Exodus iii. 13, 14, it is stated that Moses inquired of
+God, 'Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say
+unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they
+shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God
+said, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the
+children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.' In the Hebrew text,
+the simple form of the verb is used, corresponding with the first
+person present, indicative, of the English verb _to be_. Simply, 'I
+am,' conveying no idea but that of personality and existence. WHAT HE
+was, besides his existence thus revealed, was afterwards to be
+learned. This was a revelation of Divine BEING--a nucleus of essential
+Deity, as a foundation fact of the then new dispensation, upon which
+God, by future manifestations, might engraft the attributes of his
+nature.
+
+Thus, at the outset of the dispensation, there was thrown into their
+minds a first truth. God revealed his Divine existence; and the idea
+of God, thus revealed, was in their minds, without any other attribute
+being connected with it than that of infinite power--an attribute of
+the Godhead which all men derive from the works of nature--which was
+known to the patriarchs as belonging to the true God, and which was
+now, by the miracles manifesting supreme power, appropriated to I
+AM--Jehovah--the God of the Israelites.
+
+Thus were this peculiar people carried back to the first principles of
+natural religion--their mind disembarrassed from false notions
+previously entertained, and the true idea of the supreme God and Judge
+of men revealed. By these providences, they were prepared, in a manner
+consistent with the nature of things and the nature of mind, to
+receive a further revelation of the moral attributes of Jehovah, whom
+they now recognised as the Supreme God.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE NECESSITY OF AFFECTIONATE OBEDIENCE TO GOD; AND THE MANNER OF
+PRODUCING THAT OBEDIENCE IN THE HEARTS OF THE ISRAELITES.
+
+
+The following principles in relation to the affections will be
+recognised by consciousness as true in the experience of every man. As
+they lie at the foundation of the moral exercises of the soul, and as
+they relate to the sources and central principles of all true
+religion, it will be necessary for the reader to notice them, in order
+that he may see their application in subsequent pages.
+
+1. The affections of the soul move in view of certain objects, or in
+view of certain qualities believed to exist in those objects. The
+affections never move--in familiar words, the heart never loves,
+unless love be produced by seeing, or by believing that we see, some
+lovely and excellent qualities in the object. When the soul believes
+those good qualities to be possessed by another, and especially when
+they are exercised towards us, the affections, like a magnetised
+needle, tremble with life, and turn towards their object.
+
+2. The affections are not subject to the will;[10] neither our own
+will nor any other will can directly control them. I cannot will to
+love a being who does not appear to me lovely, and who does not
+exhibit the qualities adapted to move the affections; nor can I, by
+command, or by any other effort of will, cause another being to love
+me. The affections are not subject to command. You cannot force
+another to love, or respect, or even, from the heart, to obey. Such an
+attitude assumed to produce love would invariably produce disaffection
+rather than affection. No one (as a matter of fact) thinks the
+affections subject to the will, and, therefore, men never endeavour to
+obtain the affections of others solely by command, but by exhibiting
+such a character and conferring such favours as they know are adapted
+to move the heart. An effect could as easily exist without a cause as
+affection in the bosom of any human being which was not produced by
+goodness or excellencies seen, or believed to exist, in some other
+being.
+
+    [10] We state the facts in the case, of which every man is
+    conscious in his own experience, without regard to the theories of
+    sects in religion or philosophy.
+
+3. The affections, although not governed by the will, do themselves
+greatly influence the will. All acts of will produced entirely by pure
+affection for another are disinterested. Cases of the affections
+influencing the will are common in the experience of every one. There
+is probably no one living who has not, at some period of his life, had
+affection for another, so that it gave more pleasure to please the
+object of his love than to please himself. Love for another always
+influences the will to act in such a way as will please the object
+loved. The individual loving acts in view of the desires of the loved
+object, and such acts are disinterested, not being done with any
+selfish end in view, but for the sake of another. So soon as the
+affections move towards an object, the will is proportionably
+influenced to please and benefit that object; or, if a superior being,
+to obey his will and secure his favour.
+
+4. All happy obedience must arise from affection. Affectionate
+obedience blesses the spirit which yields it, if the conscience
+approve the object loved and obeyed, while, on the contrary, no
+happiness can be experienced from obedience to any being that we do
+not love. To obey externally either God or a parent, from no other
+than interested motives, would be sin. The devil might be obeyed for
+the same reasons. Love must, therefore, constitute an essential
+element in all proper obedience to God.
+
+5. When the affections of two are reciprocally fixed upon each other,
+they constitute a bond of union and sympathy peculiarly strong and
+tender:--those things that affect the one affecting the other, in
+proportion to the strength of affection existing between them. One
+conforms to the will of the other, not from a sense of obligation
+merely, but from choice; and the constitution of the soul is such that
+the sweetest enjoyment of which it is capable arises from the exercise
+of reciprocal affection.
+
+6. When the circumstances of an individual are such that he is exposed
+to constant suffering and great danger, the more afflictive his
+situation the more grateful love will he feel for affection and
+benefits received under such circumstances. If his circumstances were
+such that he could not relieve himself, and such that he must suffer
+greatly or perish; and, while, in this condition, if another, moved by
+benevolent regard for him, should come to aid and save him, his
+affection for his deliverer would be increased by a sense of the
+danger from which he was rescued.
+
+7. It is an admitted principle that protracted and close attention
+always fixes the fact attended to deeply in the memory; and the longer
+and more intensely the mind attends to any subject, other subjects
+proportionably lose their power to interest. The same is true in
+relation to the affections. The longer and more intensely we
+contemplate an object in that relation which is adapted to draw out
+the affections, the more deeply will the impression be made upon the
+heart, as well as upon the memory. The most favourable circumstances
+possible to fix an impression deeply upon the heart and memory
+are--First, that there should be protracted and earnest attention;
+and--Second, that at the same time that the impression is made, the
+emotions of the soul should be alive with excitement. Without these,
+an impression made upon the heart and the memory would be slight and
+easily effaced; while, on the contrary, an impression made during
+intense attention and excited feeling will be engraved, as with a pen
+of steel, upon the tablets of the soul.
+
+Now, with these principles in mind, mark the means used to fix the
+attention and to excite the susceptibilities of the Israelites, and,
+while in that state of attention and excitement, to draw their
+affections to God.
+
+The children of Israel were suffering the most grievous bondage, which
+had arrived at almost an intolerable degree of cruelty and injustice.
+Just at this crisis the God of their fathers appears as their
+Deliverer, and Moses is commissioned as his prophet. When the people
+are convened and their minds aroused by the hopes of deliverance,
+their attention is turned to two parties: one, Pharaoh, their
+oppressor and the slayer of their first-born; and the other the God of
+Abraham, who now appeared as their Deliverer, espousing their cause
+and condescending personally to oppose Himself to their oppressor.
+Then a scene ensues adapted in all its circumstances to make a deep
+and enduring impression upon their memory and their hearts.--The God
+of Abraham seems, by his judgments, to have forced the oppressor to
+relent, and to let the people go. At this point hope and encouragement
+predominate in their minds. Now their oppressor's heart is hardened,
+and he renews his cruelty; but while their hopes are sinking, they are
+again revived and strengthened, by finding that God continues to use
+means to induce Pharaoh to release the captives. Thus, for a
+considerable length of time, all the powers of excitability in their
+nature are aroused to activity. Towards that being who had so
+graciously interposed in their behalf they felt emotions of hope,
+gratitude, love, and admiration. Towards their oppressor feelings of
+an opposite character must have been engendered; and this state of
+exciting suspense--the emotions vacillating between love and hatred,
+hope and fear--was continued until the impression became fixed deep in
+their souls.
+
+Keeping in mind the fact, that the more we need a benefactor and feel
+that need, the stronger will be our feelings of gratitude and love for
+the being who interposes in our behalf--notice further: When, through
+the interposition of the Almighty, the Israelites were delivered, and
+had advanced as far as the Red Sea, another appeal was made to their
+affections which was most thrilling, and adapted to call by one grand
+interposition all their powers of gratitude and love into immediate
+and full exercise.
+
+The army of the Israelites lay encamped on the margin of the Red Sea,
+when, suddenly, they were surprised by the approaching host of
+Pharaoh;--before them was the sea, and behind them an advancing
+hostile army. If they went forward, they would find death in the
+waves; if they returned backward, it would be to meet the swords of
+their pursuers. A rescue, by earthly means, from death or bondage more
+severe than they had ever borne, was impossible. Just at this crisis
+of extremity, Jehovah appears as their Deliverer. The bosom of the
+pathless sea is cleft by the power of God. The stricken waters recoil
+upon themselves on either side. The Israelites pass over in safety.
+The Egyptian host enter, and are overwhelmed in the waters.
+
+Now, it may be affirmed, without qualification, that, in view of the
+nature and circumstances of the Israelites, no combination of means,
+not including the self-sacrifice of the benefactor himself, could be
+so well adapted to elicit and absorb all the affections of the soul,
+as this wonderful series of events. That this result was accomplished
+by these means, is authenticated by the history given in the Bible.
+When the people were thus delivered, they stood upon the other side of
+the sea, and their affections, in answer to the call which God had
+made upon them, gushed forth in thanksgiving and praise. Hear the
+response of their hearts, and their allusion to the cause which
+produced that response:
+
+'I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the
+horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my
+strength and song, and he is become my SALVATION. He is my God, and I
+will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt
+him.'--Ex. xv. 1, 2, etc.
+
+Thus was the attention of the whole nation turned to the true God. An
+impression of his goodness was fixed deeply in their memory, and their
+affections drawn out and fastened upon the true object of worship. Now
+this, as was shown in the commencement of the chapter, was necessary,
+before they could offer worship either honourable or acceptable to
+God. The end was accomplished by means adapted to the nature of the
+human soul and to the circumstances of the Israelites; and by means
+which no being in the universe but the Maker of the soul could use.
+The demonstration is therefore perfect, that the Scripture narrative
+is true, and that no other narrative, differing materially from this
+in its principles, could be true.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE DESIGN AND NECESSITY OF THE MORAL LAW.
+
+
+At this stage of our progress it will be useful to recapitulate the
+conclusions at which we have arrived, and thus make a point of rest
+from which to extend our observations further into the plan of God for
+redeeming the world. This review is the more appropriate as we have
+arrived at a period in the history of God's providence with Israel,
+which presents them as a people prepared (so far as imperfect material
+could be prepared) to receive that model which God might desire to
+impress upon the nation.
+
+1. They were bound to each other by all the ties of which human nature
+is susceptible, and thus rendered compact and united, so that
+everything national, whether in sentiment or practice, would be
+received and cherished with unanimous, and fervent, and lasting
+attachment: and, furthermore, by a long and rigorous bondage, they had
+been rendered, for the time being at least, humble and dependent.
+Thus, they were disciplined by a course of providences, adapted to fit
+them to receive instruction from their Benefactor with a teachable and
+grateful spirit.
+
+2. Their minds were shaken off from idols; and Jehovah, by a
+revelation made to them, setting forth his name and nature, had
+revealed himself as a DIVINE BEING, and by his works had manifested
+his almighty power: so that when their minds were disabused of wrong
+views of the Godhead, an idea of the first, true, and essential nature
+of God was revealed to them; and they were thus prepared to receive a
+knowledge of the attributes of that Divine essence.
+
+3. They had been brought to contemplate God as their Protector and
+Saviour. Appeals the most affecting and thrilling had been addressed
+to their affections; and they were thus attached to God as their
+almighty temporal Saviour, by the ties of gratitude and love for the
+favour which he had manifested to them.
+
+4. When they had arrived on the further shore of the Red Sea, thus
+prepared to obey God and worship him with the heart, they were without
+laws either civil or moral. As yet, they had never possessed any
+national or social organization. They were therefore prepared to
+receive, without predilection or prejudice, that system of moral
+instruction and civil polity which God might reveal, as best adapted
+to promote the moral interests of the nation.
+
+From these conclusions we may extend our vision forward into the
+system of revelation. This series of preparations would certainly lead
+the mind to the expectation that what was still wanting, and what they
+had been thus miraculously prepared to receive, would be
+granted--which was a knowledge of the moral character of God, and a
+moral law prescribing their duty to God and to men. Without this, the
+plan that had been maturing for generations, and had been carried
+forward thus far by wonderful exhibitions of Divine wisdom and power,
+would be left unfinished, just at the point where the finishing
+process was necessary.
+
+But besides the strong probability which the previous preparation
+would produce, that there would be a revelation of moral law, there
+are distinct and conclusive reasons, evincing its necessity.
+
+The whole experience of the world has confirmed the fact, beyond the
+possibility of scepticism, that man cannot discover and establish a
+perfect rule of human duty. Whatever may be said of the many excellent
+maxims expressed by different individuals in different ages and
+nations, yet it is true that no system of duty to God and man, in
+anywise consistent with enlightened reason, has ever been established
+by human wisdom, and sustained by human sanctions; and for reasons
+already stated,[11] such a fact never can occur.
+
+    [11] See chap. i. p. 9, _et seq._
+
+But, it may be supposed that each man has, within himself, sufficient
+light from reason, and sufficient admonition from conscience, to guide
+himself, as an individual, in the path of truth and happiness. A
+single fact will correct such a supposition. Conscience, the great
+arbiter of the merit and demerit of human conduct, has little
+intuitive sense of right, and is not guided entirely by reason, but is
+governed in a great measure by what men believe. Indeed, faith is the
+legitimate regulator of the conscience. If a man has correct views of
+duty to God and men, he will have a correct conscience; but if he can,
+by a wrong view of morals and of the character of God, be induced to
+believe that theft, or murder, or any vice, is right, his conscience
+will be corrupted by his faith. When men are brought to believe--as
+they frequently do believe in heathen countries--that it is right to
+commit suicide, or infanticide, as a religious duty, their conscience
+condemns them if they do not perform the act. Thus, that power in the
+soul which pronounces upon the moral character of human conduct, is
+itself dependent upon and regulated by the faith of the individual.
+It is apparent, therefore, that the reception and belief of a true
+rule of duty, accompanied with proper sanctions, will alone form in
+man a proper conscience. God has so constituted the soul that it is
+necessary, in order to the regulation of its moral powers, that it
+should have a rule of duty, revealed under the sanction of its Maker's
+authority; otherwise its high moral powers would lie in dark and
+perpetual disorder.
+
+Further, unless the human soul be an exception, God governs all things
+by laws adapted to their proper nature. The laws which govern the
+material world are sketched in the books on natural science; such are
+gravitation, affinity, mathematical motion. Those laws by which the
+irrational animal creation is controlled are usually called instincts.
+Their operation and design are sketched, to some extent, in treatises
+upon the instincts of animals. Such is the law which leads the beaver
+to build its dam, and all other animals to pursue some particular
+habits instead of others. All beavers, from the first one created to
+the present time, have been instinctively led to build a dam in the
+same manner, and so their instinct will lead them to build till the
+end of time. The law which drives them to the act is as necessitating
+as the law which causes the smoke to rise upwards. Nothing in the
+universe of God, animate or inanimate, is left without the government
+of appropriate law, unless that thing be the noblest creature of
+God--the human spirit. To suppose, therefore, that the human soul is
+thus left unguided by a revealed rule of conduct, is to suppose that
+God cares for the less and not for the greater--to suppose that he
+would constitute the moral powers of the soul so that a law was
+necessary for their guidance, and then reveal none--to suppose,
+especially in the case of the Israelites, that he would prepare a
+people to receive, and obey with a proper spirit, this necessary rule
+of duty, and yet give no rule. But to suppose these things would be
+absurd; it follows, therefore, that God would reveal to the Israelites
+a law for the regulation of their conduct in morals and religion.
+
+But physical law or necessitating instinct would not be adapted in
+its nature to the government of a rational and moral being. The
+application of either to the soul would destroy its free agency. God
+has made man intelligent, and thereby adapted his nature to a rule
+which he understands. Man has a will and a conscience: but he must
+understand the rule in order to will obedience, and he must believe
+the sanction by which the law is maintained before he can feel the
+obligation upon his conscience. A law, therefore, adapted to man's
+nature, must be addressed to the understanding, sanctioned by suitable
+authority and enforced by adequate penalties.
+
+In accordance with these legitimate deductions, God gave the
+Israelites a rule of life--the Moral Law--succinctly comprehended in
+the Ten Commandments. And as affectionate obedience is the only proper
+obedience, he coupled the facts which were fitted to produce affection
+with the command to obey; saying, 'I am the Lord thy God, which
+brought thee out of the land of Egypt, and from the house of
+bondage'--therefore, love me and keep my commandments.[12]
+
+    [12] Deut. v. 6, _passim_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE IDEA OF HOLINESS AND ITS TRANSFER TO JEHOVAH AS
+AN ATTRIBUTE.
+
+
+As yet the Israelites were little acquainted with any attribute of the
+I AM--Jehovah--except his infinite power and goodness; and his
+goodness was known to them only as manifested in kindness and mercy
+towards themselves, as a peculiar people, distinguished from other
+nations, as the special objects of the Divine favour. They had a
+disposition to worship Jehovah, and to regard the rights of each other
+according to his commandments; but they knew as yet little of his
+moral attributes. Of the attribute of holiness--purity from sin, and
+opposition of nature to all moral and physical defilement--they knew
+comparatively nothing. After the law had been given, they knew that
+God required worship and obedience for himself and just conduct
+towards others, but they did not know that his nature was hostile to
+all moral defilement of heart and life. And to this knowledge, as we
+have seen in the introduction, they could not of themselves attain.
+
+At the period of the deliverance from Egypt, every nation by which
+they were surrounded worshipped unholy beings. Now, how were the Jews
+to be extricated from this difficulty, and made to understand and feel
+the influence of the holy character of God? The Egyptian idolatry in
+which they had mingled was beastly and lustful; and one of their first
+acts of disobedience after their deliverance showed that their minds
+were still dark, and their propensities corrupt. The golden calf which
+they desired should be erected for them, was not designed as an act of
+apostasy from Jehovah, who had delivered them from Egyptian servitude.
+When the image was made, it was proclaimed to be that God which
+brought them up out of the land of Egypt: and when the proclamation of
+a feast, or idolatrous debauch, was issued by Aaron, it was
+denominated a feast, not to Isis or Osiris, but a feast to Jehovah;
+and as such they held it.[13] But they offered to the holy Jehovah the
+unholy worship of the idols of Egypt. Thus they manifested their
+ignorance of the holiness of his nature, as well as the corruption of
+their own hearts.
+
+    [13] Ex. xxxii. 4, 5.
+
+It was necessary, therefore, in order to promote right exercises of
+heart in religious worship, that the Israelites should be made
+acquainted with the holiness of God. The precise question, then, for
+solution is, How could the idea of God's holiness be conveyed to the
+minds of the Israelites? If it should be found that there is but one
+way in which it could be originated, according to the nature of mind,
+then it would follow, necessarily, that God would pursue that way, or
+he would have to alter the human constitution, in order to communicate
+a knowledge of his attribute of holiness. But, as it is matter of
+fact that the constitution of the mind has not been altered, it
+follows that that method would be pursued which is in accordance with
+the nature of mind, to convey the necessary knowledge. Now all
+practical knowledge is conveyed to the understanding through the
+medium of the senses. Whatever may be said about innate ideas by
+speculative philosophers, still all agree that all acquired knowledge
+must reach the mind through the medium of one of the five senses, or
+upon the occasion of their exercise. Through the senses the knowledge
+of external objects is conveyed to the mind, and these simple ideas
+serve as a material for reflection, comparison, and abstraction.
+
+The etymology of the Hebrew language, as written by Moses, and spoken
+by the Israelites, furnishes an interesting illustration of the origin
+of the few abstract terms with which their minds were familiar. The
+abstract ideas of the Hebrew tongue may even now, in most instances,
+be traced to the object or circumstance whence they originated. Thus
+the idea of power, among the Hebrews, was derived from the horn of an
+animal; and the same word, in Hebrew, which signifies horn, likewise
+signifies power, and may be translated in either way to suit the
+sense. The idea was originally conveyed through the eye, by noticing
+that the strength of the animal was exerted through its horn. The
+force thus exerted, especially when the animal was enraged, was the
+greatest which fell under their observation; and sometimes, in its
+effects, it was disastrous and overwhelming. Hence, the horn soon
+became a figure to denote power, and when the idea was once originated
+and defined in their minds, they could apply it to any object which
+produced a strong effect either upon the bodies or the minds of men.
+An idea of power likewise originated from the human hand, because
+through it man exerted his strength. The same word in Hebrew still
+expresses both the object and the idea derived from it--'Life and
+death are in the power of the tongue,' reads literally--'Life and
+death are in the _hand_ of the tongue.' Sunshine, in Hebrew, is
+synonymous with happiness, the idea being originated by experiencing
+the pleasant feelings produced by the effects of a sunny day; and when
+thus originated, it was applied to the same and similar feelings
+produced by other causes. The abstract idea of judgment or justice is
+derived from a word which signifies to _cut_ or _divide_; it being
+originated by the circumstance that when the primitive hunters had
+killed a stag, or other prey, one divided the flesh with a knife,
+among those who assisted in the pursuit, distributing a just portion
+to each. Thus, the act of cutting and dividing their prey, which was
+the first circumstance that called into exercise and placed before
+their senses the principle of justice, was the circumstance from which
+they derived this most important abstract idea.
+
+Other instances might be mentioned. These are sufficient to show the
+manner in which the abstract ideas of the Hebrews were originated. And
+so, every new idea which found a place in their understanding had to
+be originated, primarily, by an impression made by external objects
+upon the senses.
+
+Further, all ideas which admit of the signification of more or most
+perfect, can be originated only by a comparison of one object with
+another. More lovely, or more pure, can only be predicated of one
+thing by comparison with another which it excels in one of these
+respects. By a series of comparisons, each one exceeding the last in
+beauty or purity, an idea of the highest degree of perfection may be
+produced. Thus one flower may be called lovely, another more lovely,
+and the rose the most lovely; and the idea of the _superior_ beauty of
+the rose would be originated by the comparison or contrast between it
+and other flowers of less beauty. It is not said that the rose would
+not appear lovely without comparison, but the idea of its _superior_
+loveliness is originated by comparison, and it could be derived in no
+other way.
+
+With these principles in mind, we return to the inquiry, _How could
+the idea of God's holiness, or moral purity, be conveyed to the minds
+of the Jews?_
+
+First, mark the principles--(1.) There was not an object in the
+material world which would convey to the mind the idea of God's
+holiness.--(2). The idea, therefore, would have to be originated, and
+thrown into their mind, through the senses, by a process instituted
+for that express purpose.--(3.) The plan to originate the idea, in
+order to meet the constitution of the mind, must consist of a series
+of comparisons.
+
+Now mark the correspondency between these principles, founded upon the
+laws of the mind, and that system devised to instruct the Israelites
+in the knowledge of God.
+
+In the outset, the animals common to Palestine were divided, by
+command of Jehovah, into clean and unclean; in this way a distinction
+was made, and the one class in comparison with the other was deemed to
+be of a purer and better kind. From the class thus distinguished, as
+more pure than the other, one was selected to offer as a sacrifice. It
+was not only to be chosen from the clean beasts, but, as an
+individual, it was to be without spot or blemish. Thus it was, in
+their eyes, purer than the other class, and purer than other
+individuals of its own class. This sacrifice the people were not
+deemed worthy, in their own persons, to offer unto Jehovah; but it was
+to be offered by a class of men who were distinguished from their
+brethren, purified, and set apart for the service of the priest's
+office. Thus the idea of purity originated from two sources; the
+purified priest and the pure animal _purified_, were united in the
+offering of the sacrifice. But before the sacrifice could be offered
+it was washed with clean water--and the priest had, in some cases, to
+wash himself, and officiate without his sandals. Thus, when one
+process of comparison after another had attached the idea of
+superlative purity to the sacrifice--in offering it to Jehovah in
+order that the contrast between the purity of God and the highest
+degrees of earthly purity might be seen, neither priest, people, nor
+sacrifice was deemed sufficiently pure to come into his presence; but
+the offering was made in the court without the holy of holies. In
+this manner, by a process of comparison, the character of God, in
+point of purity, was placed indefinitely above themselves and their
+sacrifices.[14]
+
+    [14] It is not argued that no other end was designed and
+    accomplished by the arbitrary separation of animals into classes
+    of clean and unclean. By this means the Jews were undoubtedly
+    excluded from partaking in the feasts of the heathen around, who
+    ate those animals which were forbidden to them. An excellent
+    writer observes that it is characteristic of the wisdom of God to
+    accomplish many ends by a single act of providence.
+
+And not only in the sacrifices, but throughout the whole Levitical
+economy, the idea of purity pervaded all its ceremonies and observances.
+The camp was purified--the people were purified--everything was purified
+and re-purified; and each process of the ordinances was designed to
+reflect purity upon the others; until finally that idea of purity formed
+in the mind and rendered intense by the convergence of so many rays,
+was, by comparison, referred to the idea of God; and the idea of God in
+their minds being that of an infinitely powerful and good Spirit, hence
+purity, as a characteristic or attribute of such a nature, would
+necessarily assume a moral aspect, because it appertained to a moral
+being--it would become _moral purity_, or _holiness_. Thus they learned,
+in the sentiment of Scripture, that God was of too _pure_ eyes to look
+upon iniquity.
+
+That the idea of moral purity in the minds of the Israelites was thus
+originated by the machinery of the Levitical dispensation, is
+supported, not only by the philosophy of the thing, but by many
+allusions in the Scriptures. Such allusions are frequent, both in the
+writers of the old and of the new dispensations; evidencing that, in
+their minds, the idea of moral purity was still symbolized by physical
+purity. The rite of baptism is founded upon this symbolical analogy:
+the external washing with water being significant of the purifying
+influence of the Holy Spirit. St. John saw in vision the undefiled in
+heart clothed with linen pure and white; evincing that, to the mind of
+the Jew, such vestments as the high priest wore when he entered the
+holy of holies, were still emblematical of moral purity. In the
+Epistle to the Hebrews, which is an apostolic exposition of the
+spiritual import of the Levitical institution, so far as that
+institution particularly concerns believers under the New Testament
+dispensation, we have the foregoing view of the design of ceremonial
+purification expressly confirmed. 'It was, therefore, necessary,' says
+Paul to the Hebrews, 'that the patterns of things in the heavens
+should be purified with these (that is, with these purifying processes
+addressed to the senses), but the heavenly things themselves with
+better sacrifices than these.' The plain instruction of which is, that
+the parts and processes of the Levitical economy were patterns
+addressed to the senses of unseen things in heaven, and that the
+purifying of those patterns indicated the spiritual purity of the
+spiritual things which they represented.
+
+There is, finally, demonstrative evidence of the fact that the idea of
+perfect moral purity, as connected with the idea of God, is now, and
+always has been, the same which was originated and conveyed to the
+minds of the Jews by the machinery of the Levitical dispensation. The
+Hebrew word קדש _quadhosh_, was used to express the idea of purity as
+originated by the tabernacle service. The literal definition is,
+_pure_, _to be pure_, _to be purified for sacred uses_. The word thus
+originated, and conveying this meaning, is employed in the Scriptures
+to express the moral purity or holiness of God.[15] In the New
+Testament this word is translated by the Greek term ἅγιος, _hagios_,
+but the Hebrew idea is connected with the Greek word. In King James's
+version this Greek word is rendered by the Saxon term _holy_--the
+Saxon word losing its original import (_whole_, _wholly_), and taking
+that of the Hebrew derived through the Greek. So that our idea of the
+holiness of God is the same which was originated by the Levitical
+ceremonies; and there is no other word, so far as I have been able to
+examine, in any language which conveys this idea. Nor is there any
+idea among any people that approximates closely to the Scripture idea
+of holiness, unless the word received some shades of its signification
+from the Bible.[16]
+
+    [15] קדשי שם 'my holy name.'--Lev. xx. 3.
+
+    [16] One of the principal difficulties which the missionary meets
+    with, according to letters in the missionary reports, is, that of
+    conveying to the mind of the heathen the idea of the holiness of
+    God. They find no such idea in their minds, and they can use no
+    words in their language by which to convey the full and true force
+    of the thought. The true idea, therefore, if communicated at all,
+    must be conveyed by a periphrasis, and by laboured illustration.
+    This obstacle will be one of the most difficult to surmount in all
+    languages; and it cannot be perfectly overcome, till the Christian
+    teacher becomes perfectly familiar with the language of those whom
+    he wishes to instruct.
+
+Here, then, the idea of God's moral purity was conveyed by the Mosaic
+economy in a manner in accordance with the constitution and the
+condition of the Jewish mind. This same idea has descended from the
+Hebrew, through the Greek, to our own language; and there is, so far
+as known, no other word in the world which conveys to the mind the
+true idea of God's moral purity, but that originated by the
+institution which God prescribed to Moses upon the Mount.[17]
+
+    [17] Ex. xxv. 9.
+
+The demonstration, then, is conclusive, both from philosophy and fact,
+that the true and necessary idea of God's attribute of holiness was
+originated by the 'patterns' of the Levitical economy, and that it
+could have been communicated to mankind, at the first, in no other
+way.[18]
+
+    [18] The foundation principle of that school of scepticism, at the
+    head of which are the atheistical materialists, is, that all
+    knowledge is derived through the medium of the senses, and that as
+    God is not an object of sense, men can have no knowledge of his
+    being or attributes. Now these deductions show that the truth of
+    revealed religion may be firmly established upon their own
+    proposition.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE ORIGIN OF THE IDEAS OF JUSTICE AND MERCY, AND THEIR TRANSFER TO
+THE CHARACTER OF JEHOVAH.
+
+
+Although holiness and justice convey to the mind ideas somewhat
+distinct from each other, yet the import of the one is shaded into
+that of the other. Holiness signifies the purity of the Divine nature
+from moral defilement; while justice signifies the relation which
+holiness causes God to sustain to men, as the subjects of the Divine
+government. In relation to God, one is subjective, declaring his
+freedom from sin; the other objective, declaring his opposition to
+sin, as the transgression of the Divine law. The Israelites might know
+that God was holy, and that he required of them clean hands and a
+clean heart in worship, and yet not understand the full demerit of
+transgressing the will of God, or the intensity of the Divine
+opposition to sin. God had given them the moral law, and they knew
+that he required them to obey it; but what, in the mind of God, was
+the proper desert of disobeying it, they did not know. They had been
+accustomed, like all idolaters, to consider the desert of moral
+transgression uncertain and unequal. Now they had to learn the
+immutable justice of the Supreme Being--that his holiness was not a
+passive quality, but an active attribute of his nature, and not only
+the opposite, but the antagonist principle to sin.
+
+_In what manner, then, could a knowledge of the Divine justice, or of
+the demerit of sin in the sight of God, be conveyed to the minds of
+the Jews?_
+
+There is but one way in which any being can manifest to other minds
+the opposition of his nature to sin. A lawgiver can manifest his views
+of the demerit of transgression in no other way than by the _penalty_
+which he inflicts upon the transgressor. In all beings who have
+authority to make law for the obedience of others, the conscience is
+the standard which regulates the amount of punishment that should be
+inflicted upon the disobedient; and the measure of punishment which
+conscience dictates, is just in proportion to the opposition which the
+lawgiver feels to the transgression of his law; that is, the amount of
+regard which he has for his own law, will graduate the amount of
+opposition which he will feel to its transgression. The amount of
+opposition which any being feels to sin is in proportion to the
+holiness of that being, and conscience will sanction penalty up to the
+amount of opposition which he feels to crime.
+
+If the father of a family felt no regard for the law of the sabbath,
+his conscience would not allow him to punish his children for
+violating, by folly or labour, a law which he did not himself respect.
+But a father who felt a sacred regard for the Divine law, would be
+required by his conscience to cause his children to respect the
+sabbath, and to punish them if they disobeyed. The penalty which one
+felt to be wrong, the other would feel to be right, because the
+disposition of the one towards the law was different from that of the
+other.
+
+The principle, then, is manifest, that the more holy and just any
+being is, the more opposed he is to sin, and the higher penalty will
+his conscience sanction as the desert of transgressing the Divine law.
+Now God being infinitely holy, he is, therefore, infinitely opposed to
+sin; and the Divine conscience will enforce penalty accordingly.
+
+This is the foundation of penalty in the Divine mind. The particular
+point of inquiry is, _How could the desert of sin, as it existed in
+the mind of God, be revealed to the Israelites?_
+
+If the penalty inflicted is sanctioned by the conscience of the
+lawgiver, it follows, as has been shown, that the opposition of his
+nature to the crime is in exact proportion to the penalty which he
+inflicts upon the criminal. Penalty, therefore, inflicted upon the
+transgressor, is the only way by which the standard of justice, as it
+exists in the mind of God, could be revealed to men.
+
+The truth of this principle may be made apparent by illustration.
+Suppose a father were to express his will in relation to the
+government of his family, and the regulations were no sooner made than
+some of his children should resist his authority and disobey his
+commands. Now, suppose the father should not punish the offenders, but
+treat them as he did his obedient children. By so doing he would
+encourage the disobedient, discourage the obedient, destroy his own
+authority, and make the impression upon the minds of all his children
+that he had no regard for the regulations which he had himself made.
+And further, if these regulations were for the general good of the
+family, by not maintaining them he would convince the obedient that he
+did not regard their best interests, but was the friend of the
+rebellious. And if he were to punish for the transgression but
+lightly, they would suppose that he estimated but lightly a breach of
+his commands, and they could not, from the constitution of their
+minds, suppose otherwise. But if the father, when one of the children
+transgressed, should punish him and exclude him from favour till he
+submitted to his authority, and acknowledged with a penitent spirit
+his offence, then the household would be convinced that the father's
+will was imperative, and that the only alternative presented to them
+was affectionate submission, or exclusion from the society of their
+father and his obedient children. Thus the amount of the father's
+regard for the law, his interest in the well-being of his obedient
+children, and the opposition of his nature to disobedience, would be
+graduated in every child's mind by the penalty which he inflicted for
+the transgression of his commands.
+
+So in the case of an absolute lawgiver: his hostility to crime could
+be known only by the penalty which he inflicted upon the criminal. If,
+for the crime of theft, he were to punish the offender only by the
+imposition of a trifling fine, the impression would be made upon every
+mind that he did not, at heart, feel much hostility to the crime of
+larceny. If he had the power, and did not punish crime at all, he
+would thus reveal to the whole nation that he was in league with
+criminals, and himself a criminal at heart.
+
+So in relation to murder, if he were to let the culprit go free, or
+inflict upon him but a slight penalty, he would thus show that his
+heart was tainted with guilt, and that there was no safety for good
+men under his government. But should he fix a penalty to
+transgression, declare it to all his subjects, and visit every
+criminal with punishment in proportion to his guilt, he would show to
+the world that he regarded the law, and was opposed directly and for
+ever to its transgression.
+
+In like manner, and in no other way, could God manifest to men his
+infinite justice and his regard for the laws of his kingdom. Did he
+punish for sin with but a slight penalty, the whole universe of mind
+would have good reason to believe that the God of heaven was but
+little opposed to sin. Did he punish it with the highest degree of
+penalty, it would be evidence to the universe that his nature was in
+the highest degree opposed to sin and attached to holiness.
+
+Now, whatever may be said in relation to the application of these
+principles to future rewards and punishments, one thing will be
+apparent to all, which is all that the present argument requires to be
+admitted, that is--the mind of man would receive an idea of the amount
+of God's opposition to sin, only by the amount of penalty which he
+inflicted upon the sinner.
+
+Having ascertained these premises, we return to the inquiry, _How
+could the demerit of sin in the sight of God, or the idea of God's
+attribute of justice, be conveyed to the minds of the Jews?_
+
+The people had now, in a good degree, a knowledge of what sin is. In
+addition to the light of natural conscience, which might guide them to
+some extent in relation to their duties to each other, they had the
+moral law, with the commentary of Moses, defining its precepts, and
+applying them to the conduct of life. Their minds were thus
+enlightened in relation to sin in the following particulars. First,
+those acts which were a transgression of the positive precepts of the
+law; Second, omissions of duties enjoined in the law; and, Third, many
+acts which the spirit of the law would condemn, but which might not
+be defined in any particular precept, would now be noticed by
+enlightened conscience, as sin against Jehovah, their holy benefactor,
+and the giver of the law.
+
+Having thus been taught what was sin of commission and omission, one
+obvious design of the institution of sacrifices,[19] and one which has
+been perceived and understood, both by the Jews and Gentiles, was to
+convey to the mind the just demerit and proper penalty of sin.
+
+    [19] The question whether the sacrifices, and the particular
+    regulations concerning them, were of Divine origin, does not
+    affect the argument. Whether they were originally instituted by
+    Divine command, or whether Moses, acting under Divine guidance,
+    modified an existing institution and adapted it to the Divine
+    purposes, both the design, and the end accomplished, would be the
+    same. There are good reasons, however, for the opinion, that
+    sacrifices for sin were of Divine appointment.
+
+There were three classes of sacrifices in the old dispensation in
+which death was inflicted. The first, which Gentiles as well as Jews
+were permitted to offer, was the holocaust, or whole burnt-offering,
+which was entirely consumed by fire. Sacrifices of this description
+seem to have been offered from the earliest ages. They were offered,
+as the best informed think, as an acknowledgment of, and atonement
+for, general sinfulness of life. They seem to have had reference to
+the fact that men constantly violate known duty, and do many things
+which the light of nature and conscience teaches them not to do.
+
+After the whole burnt-offering, was the sin-offering, sacrificed for
+an atonement, when the individual had transgressed any specific
+precept of the moral law.
+
+The trespass-offering differed only from the sin-offering, as the
+learned suppose, in this, that it was a sacrifice for sins of
+omission, or for the non-performance of duty, while the sin-offering
+was made for a violation of the specific precepts of the moral law.
+Whether the design of the different classes of sacrifices was as above
+specified or not, is not material, further than it shows how nicely
+the forms of the Levitical economy were adjusted to meet that varied
+consciousness of sin which the precepts of the law and an enlightened
+conscience would produce in the human soul. The material point to
+which attention is necessary, with reference to the present
+discussion, is that by which the death and destruction of the animal
+offered in sacrifice were made to represent the desert of the sinner.
+
+When an individual brought a sacrifice, he delivered it to the priest
+to be slain. He then laid his hands upon its head, thereby, in a form
+well understood among the Jews, transferring to it his sins; and then
+the life of the sacrifice was taken as a substitute for his own life.
+He was thus taught that the transgression of the law, or any act of
+sin against God, was worthy of death; and that the sacrifice suffered
+that penalty in his stead.
+
+Further: the Jews had been taught that the blood of the sacrifice was
+its life; or rather the principle upon which the life of the body
+depended. Upon this subject they had the following express
+instruction--'For the life of the flesh is the blood: and I have given
+it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it
+is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.'[20] Now, this
+blood, which the Jews were thus taught to believe was the life of the
+sacrifice, was repeatedly sprinkled by the priest upon the mercy-seat
+and towards the holy place; thus presenting the life of the sacrifice
+immediately in the presence of God (the ineffable light, or symbol of
+God's presence, rested over the mercy-seat between the cherubim);
+signifying--as plainly as forms, and shadows, and external types could
+signify, that life had been rendered up to God to make atonement for
+their souls.
+
+    [20] Lev. xvii. 11.
+
+Thus the idea was conveyed to their minds through the senses, that the
+desert of sin in the sight of God was the death of the soul. And while
+they stood praying in the outer court of the tabernacle, and beheld
+the dark volume of smoke ascending from the fire that consumed the
+sacrifice which was _burning in their stead_, how awful must have been
+the impression of the desert of sin, made by that dark volume of
+ascending smoke! The idea was distinct and deeply impressed, that
+God's justice was a consuming fire to sinners, and that their souls
+escaped only through a vicarious atonement.
+
+As a picture in a child's primer will convey an idea to the infant
+mind, long before it can be taught by abstract signs, so the Jews, in
+the infancy of their knowledge of God, and before there were any
+abstract signs to convey that knowledge, had thrown into their minds,
+through the senses, the two essential ideas of God's justice and
+mercy: His justice, in that the wages of sin is the death of the soul;
+and His mercy, in that God would pardon the sinner, if he confessed
+his sin, acknowledged the life of his soul forfeited, and offered the
+life of the sacrifice as his substitute.
+
+In this manner an idea of the desert of sin was conveyed to the minds
+of the Jews; God's law honoured, and the utter hostility of the
+Lawgiver to sin clearly manifested; and God's mercy was likewise
+revealed as stated in the preceding paragraph. Thus, in a manner
+accordant with the circumstances of the Jews, and by means adapted in
+their operation to the constitution of nature, was the knowledge of
+God's attribute of justice, and the relation which mercy sustains to
+that attribute, fully revealed in the world; and in view of the nature
+of things, it could have been revealed in no other way.[21]
+
+    [21] Inquiring readers of the Old Testament often find many things
+    announced in the name of God, which must seem to them inconsistent
+    with the majesty of the Divine nature, unless they view those
+    requirements in the light of the inquiry, 'What impressions were
+    they adapted to make upon the Jewish mind?' There are but few
+    readers of the Old Testament who read on this subject
+    intelligently. In this remark we do not refer to the historical or
+    preceptive portions of these writings, but to the elements of the
+    Mosaic institution. In order to see the design of many items of
+    the system, we must consider those items as exhibitions to the
+    senses, designed chiefly, perhaps only, to produce right ideas, or
+    to correct erroneous ones then existing, in the minds of the Jews.
+    The inquiry ought not to be, What impressions are they adapted to
+    produce upon our minds concerning God? but, What impression would
+    the particular revelation make upon _their_ minds? An instance or
+    two will illustrate these remarks.
+
+    The adaptation to accomplish a necessary end is apparent in the
+    scene at Sinai. The Israelites had been accustomed to an idolatry
+    where the most common familiarities were practised with the idol
+    gods. The idea of reverence and majesty which belongs to the
+    character of God had been lost, by attaching the idea of divinity
+    to the objects of sense. It was necessary, therefore, that the
+    idea of God should now be clothed, in their minds, with that
+    reverence and majesty which properly belong to it. The scene at
+    Sinai was adapted to produce, and did produce for the time being,
+    the right impression. The mountain was made to tremble to its
+    base. A cloud of darkness covered its summit, from which the
+    lightnings leaped out and thunders uttered their voices. In the
+    words of a New Testament writer, there was 'blackness, and
+    darkness, and tempest.' It was ordered that neither man nor beast
+    should touch the mountain, lest they should be visited with death.
+    The exhibition in all its forms was adapted to produce that sense
+    of majesty and awe in view of the Divine character which the
+    Israelites needed to feel. To minds subjected to the influence of
+    other circumstances than those which affected the character of the
+    Israelites in Egypt, such manifestations might not be necessary;
+    but in the case of the Jews, accustomed as they had been to
+    witness a besotting familiarity with idols, these manifestations
+    were directly adapted to counteract low views of the Divine
+    character, and to inspire the soul with suitable reverence in view
+    of the infinite majesty and eternal power of the Being with whom
+    they had to do.
+
+    The testimony of the Bible in relation to the design of the
+    exhibition at Sinai corroborates the views that have been given.
+    'When the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off. And they
+    said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not
+    God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people,
+    Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be
+    before your faces, that ye sin not.'--Ex. xx. 18-20.
+
+    The scene which occurred afterwards, evinced the necessity of this
+    exhibition, and developed the result of the proof [trial] that was
+    made of their character. In the absence of Moses, they required an
+    image of Jehovah to be made, and they feasted and 'played' (this
+    last word having a licentious import) in its presence. Thus, after
+    trial of the strongest exhibitions upon their mind, some of them
+    proved themselves so incorrigibly attached to licentious idolatry,
+    that they desired to worship Jehovah under the character of the
+    Egyptian calf. They thus proved themselves unfit material, too
+    corrupt for the end in view; and they were, in accordance with the
+    reason of the case, destroyed.
+
+    Another conviction necessary to be lodged in the minds of the
+    Israelites, and impressed deeply and frequently upon their hearts,
+    was faith in the present and overruling God. This was the more
+    necessary, as no visible image of Jehovah was allowed in the camp.
+    There were but two methods possible by which their minds could be
+    convinced of the immediate presence and power of God controlling
+    all the events of their history. Either such exhibitions must be
+    made that they would see certain ends accomplished without human
+    instrumentality; or they must see human instrumentality clothed
+    with a power which it is not possible in the nature of things it
+    should in itself possess. The circumstances connected with the
+    fall of Jericho will illustrate the case. The people were required
+    to surround the city, by a silent procession during seven days,
+    bearing the sacred ark, and blowing with rude instruments which
+    they used for trumpets. On the seventh day, the people were to
+    shout after they had compassed the city seven times; and when they
+    shouted, according to a Divine promise, the walls of the city fell
+    to the ground. Now, here was a process of means in which there was
+    no adaptation to produce the external effect, in order that the
+    INTERNAL effect, the great end of all revelation, might be
+    produced--that they might be taught to recognise Jehovah as the
+    present God of nature and providence, and rest their faith on him.
+
+    If the Israelites had, in this case, used the common
+    instrumentalities to secure success--if they had destroyed the
+    wall with instruments of war, or scaled its height with ladders,
+    and thus overcome by the strength of their own arm, or the aid of
+    their own devices, instead of being led to humble reliance upon
+    God, and to recognise his agency in their behalf, they would have
+    seen in the means which they had used a cause adequate to produce
+    the effect, and they would have forgotten the First Cause, upon
+    whose power they were dependent. Second causes were avoided in
+    order that they might see the connection between the First Cause
+    and the effect produced--human instrumentality stood in abeyance,
+    in order that the Divine agency might be recognised. Thus they
+    were taught to have faith in God, and to rely upon the presence
+    and the power of the Invisible Jehovah.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE TRANSITION FROM THE MATERIAL SYSTEM, BY WHICH RELIGIOUS IDEAS WERE
+CONVEYED THROUGH THE SENSES, TO THE SPIRITUAL SYSTEM, IN WHICH
+ABSTRACT IDEAS WERE CONVEYED BY WORDS AND PARABLES.
+
+
+Human language has always advanced from its first stage, in which
+ideas are acquired directly through the medium of the senses, to the
+higher state, in which abstract ideas are conveyed by appropriate
+words and signs. When an idea is once formed by outward objects, and a
+word formed representing that idea, it is then no longer necessary or
+desirable that the object which first originated the idea should
+longer be associated in the mind with the idea itself. It is even
+true that the import of abstract ideas suffers from a co-existence, in
+the mind, of the abstract thought with the idea of the object which
+originated it. Thus the word spirit now conveys a distinct idea to the
+mind of pure spiritual existence; but the distinctness and power of
+the idea are impaired, by remembering that the word from which it was
+derived originally signified wind, and that the word itself was
+originated in the first place by the wind. So in other cases, although
+the ideas of abstract and spiritual things can be originated,
+primarily, only from outward objects, yet when they have been
+originated, and the spiritual idea has been connected with the sign or
+word conveying its proper sense, it is desirable, in order to their
+greater force and perspicuity, that their connection with materiality
+should be broken off in the mind.
+
+In all written languages this advancement from one stage of perfection
+to another, by the addition of abstract ideas, can be traced; and
+experience teaches, incontrovertibly, that the advancement of human
+language, as above described, and the advancement of human society,
+are dependent upon each other.
+
+The preceding principles being applied to the subject under
+consideration, it would follow that the Mosaic machinery, which formed
+the abstract ideas, conveying the knowledge of God's true character,
+would no longer be useful after those ideas were originated, defined,
+and connected with the words which expressed their abstract or
+spiritual import. It would follow, therefore, that the machinery would
+be entirely dispensed with whenever it had answered the entire design
+for which it was put into operation. Whenever the Jews were cured of
+idolatry, and had obtained true ideas of the attributes of the true
+God, then the dispensation of shadows and ceremonies, which 'could not
+make the comers thereunto perfect,' would, according to the reason of
+things, pass away, and give place to a more perfect and more spiritual
+dispensation.
+
+We find, accordingly, that the machinery of the tabernacle was
+gradually removed, it never having existed in perfection after the
+location of the tribes in Palestine. They sojourned in the wilderness
+until those who had come out of Egypt died. The generation who
+succeeded them had the advantage of having received their entire
+education through the medium of the Mosaic institution, and thus of
+being freed from vicious habits and remembrances contracted in
+idolatrous society.
+
+Afterwards the Prophets held an intermediate place between the
+material dispensation of Moses and the pure spirituality of that of
+Christ. In the prophetic books, especially the later ones, there is an
+evident departure from a reliance upon the external forms, and an
+application of the ideas connected with those forms to internal states
+of mind. Their views of the old dispensation were more spiritual than
+the views of those who lived near the origin of the institution. And
+in the dispensation of the Messiah, the Prophets evidently expected
+clearer light and purer spirituality.
+
+The state of the case, then, is this: The old dispensation was
+necessary and indispensable in itself, and in its place; but it was
+neither designed nor adapted to continue. The knowledge of Divine
+things which it generated was necessary for all men, but as yet it was
+circumscribed to a small portion of the human family. The point of
+inquiry now presents itself: _How could this essential knowledge
+concerning the Divine Nature and attributes be extended throughout the
+world?_
+
+There would be but two methods possible--either the same processes,
+and the same cumbrous machinery (which were a 'burden' that an apostle
+affirmed neither he nor his fathers were able to bear) must be
+established in every nation, and kindred, and tribe of the human
+family, and thus each nation be disciplined and educated by itself, or
+one nation must be prepared and disciplined, their propensity to
+idolatry destroyed, the ideas coined in the die prepared by Jehovah
+thrown into their minds, and then, being thus prepared, they might be
+made the instruments of transferring those ideas into the languages of
+other nations.[22] If the Almighty were to adopt the first method, it
+would exclude men from benevolent labour for the spiritual good of
+each other; and besides, the history of the process with the Jews, as
+well as the reason of the thing, would indicate that the latter method
+would be the one which the Maker would adopt.
+
+    [22] There is a common, and to some minds, a weighty objection
+    against the truth of revealed religion, stated as follows:--If God
+    ever gave a religion to the world, why did he not reveal it to all
+    men, and reveal it at once and perfectly, so that no one could
+    doubt? If this had been possible, it might not have been
+    expedient; but the nature of things, as we have seen, rendered it
+    impossible to give man a revelation in such a manner.
+
+But, in order to the diffusion of the knowledge of God by the latter
+method, some things would be necessary as pre-requisites, among which
+are the following:
+
+1. That the Jews, who possessed these ideas, should be scattered
+throughout the world, and that they should be thus scattered long
+enough before the time of the general diffusion of Divine knowledge to
+have become familiar with the languages of the different nations where
+they sojourned. This would be necessary, in order that, by speaking in
+other tongues, they might transfer into them their own ideas of Divine
+things, by attaching those ideas to words in the respective languages
+which they spoke, or by introducing into those languages words and
+phrases of Hebrew origin conveying the revealed ideas. Whether the
+different languages were acquired by miraculous or by human
+instrumentality, there would be no other way possible of transferring
+ideas from one language to another, but by the methods above
+mentioned.
+
+2. It would be necessary, before the Jews were thus scattered, that
+their propensity to idolatry should be entirely subdued, otherwise
+they would, as they had frequently done before, fall into the
+abominable habits of the nations among whom they were dispersed.[23]
+
+    [23] Idolatry is one of the most unconquerable of all the corrupt
+    propensities of the human soul. Miracles under the new
+    dispensation had scarcely ceased--the apostolic fathers were
+    scarcely cold in their graves, before idolatrous forms were again
+    superinduced upon the pure spirituality of the holy gospel; and in
+    the papal church the curse continues till this hour.
+
+3. The new and spiritual system should be first propagated among
+those who understood both the spiritual import of the Hebrew language,
+and likewise the language of the other nations to whom the gospel was
+to be preached. It was necessary that the new dispensation should be
+committed, first to the Jews, who were scattered in the surrounding
+nations, because, as we have seen, they were the only individuals
+immediately prepared to communicate it to others.
+
+Now the following facts are matters of authentic history.
+
+1. By instruction and discipline the Jews were entirely cured of the
+propensity to idolatry--so much so that their souls abhorred idols.
+
+2. They were, and had been for many generations, dispersed among all
+nations of the Roman world; but still, in their dispersion they
+retained their peculiar ideas, and multitudes of this peculiar people
+assembled out of all countries, at least once a year, at the city of
+Jerusalem, to worship Jehovah; and it was while the multitudes were
+thus assembled that the gospel was first preached to them; and
+preached, as was proper it should be, by power and miracle, in order
+that those present might know assuredly that the dispensation was from
+heaven.
+
+3. The new dispensation was likewise introduced, in the first place,
+among the Jews who continued to reside in Palestine, and when a
+sufficient number of them were fully initiated persecutions were
+caused to arise which scattered them abroad among the nations; and the
+Gentile languages not being known to them, they were miraculously
+endowed with the gift of tongues, that they might communicate to
+others the treasures of Divine knowledge committed to them.
+
+Thus, when the old dispensation had fulfilled its design in
+disciplining the Jews, in imparting first ideas, and thus, as a
+'schoolmaster,' preparing the people for the higher instruction of
+Christ; and when the fulness of the times had come that the means and
+the material were prepared to propagate the spiritual truth of the new
+dispensation, then the Mosaic cycle would appropriately close--it
+would not be consistent that it should remain longer, for the plain
+reason given by Jesus himself, that new wine should not be put into
+old bottles, nor the old and imperfect forms be incorporated with the
+new and spiritual system.
+
+Therefore it was that so soon as the new dispensation had been
+introduced, and its foundations firmly laid, Jerusalem, the centre of
+the old economy, with the temple, and all things pertaining to the
+ritual service, was at once and completely destroyed, and the old
+system vanished away for ever. It would not have been expedient for
+God to destroy the old system sooner, because it was necessary to
+engraft the new system upon the old; and it ought not to have remained
+longer, for the reasons above stated.[24]
+
+    [24] It was necessary that the old system should be destroyed at
+    this time in order to throw the Jews upon Christ as the sacrifice
+    for their sins. Under the old dispensation the sacrifices for sin
+    were allowed to continue to the end. From this sacrifice they were
+    taught to hope for pardon. An idea had been, by the process which
+    God himself instituted, originated in their mind, that death must
+    ensue for sin; but by transferring their sins to the head of the
+    sacrifice, it died as a vicarious expiation, and they lived. It
+    had become a part almost of the Jewish mind, that they could not
+    hope for pardon, unless the sacrifice was offered. They felt that
+    their life was forfeited by sin, and they were unpardoned until
+    the sacrifice was made, and it could be made nowhere else but at
+    Jerusalem. Now God destroyed Jerusalem, and caused the offering
+    for sin to cease, and entirely annihilated the possibility of
+    their ever again expiating their sins by the bloody sacrifices;
+    they were therefore shut up to the doctrine of Christ's sacrifice
+    for sin. By the destruction of Jerusalem the alternative was
+    presented to the Jews--Accept of Christ's sacrifice, or you have
+    no propitiation for your sins.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE MEDIUM OF CONVEYING TO MEN PERFECT INSTRUCTION IN DOCTRINE AND
+DUTY.
+
+
+The knowledge which the old dispensation was designed to generate had
+been transmitted into the minds of the Jews; and the Jews had been
+prepared to transmit the abstract import of those spiritual ideas into
+other languages. The Mosaic institution, having accomplished its
+design, was about to 'vanish away,' and give place to the new
+dispensation, which would end the series of God's revealed
+instructions, by giving men a perfect system of religion, accompanied
+by those aids and influences which would be adapted to develop and
+perfect man's moral powers, and render him, in his present condition,
+as perfect as his nature and his circumstances would allow.
+
+At this point of our progress the inquiry presents itself--_What can
+we learn, from the present constitution of things, concerning the
+medium or instrumentality that God would adopt in giving mankind a
+perfect system of religion?_
+
+When the ideas that conveyed the knowledge of God were understood by
+the people, human language would then become the proper medium of
+communication. The very fact that the ideas were generated and thrown
+into language, evinces that language was designed eventually to be the
+medium through which they should be transmitted to the world. When the
+ideas were prepared, as has been stated, then all that would be
+necessary, in order to the further and more perfect communication of
+knowledge, would be, that men should have a teacher to use this
+language--to expand, illustrate, and apply these ideas; and by these,
+give definitions, and illustrate and spiritualize other ideas when
+necessary.
+
+Further: man's senses are constituted with an adaptation to the
+external world; and his intellectual constitution is adapted to
+intercourse with his fellow man. The delicate bony structure of the
+ear, which conveys sounds from the tympanum to the sensorium, is
+nicely adjusted by the Maker to appreciate and convey the tones and
+modulations of the human voice. Human gesture, likewise, and the
+expression of the countenance and the eye, are auxiliary to human
+language in conveying instruction. The nature of man, therefore, is
+adapted, both physically and intellectually, to receive knowledge by
+communications from one of his own species. If God designed that an
+angel should instruct the human family, one of two things would have
+to be done--either the human constitution would have to be elevated
+and adapted to intercourse with a being of a higher order in the scale
+of creation, or that being would have to let down his nature to human
+capacity, and thus adapt himself to intercourse with human natures.
+And it would even be requisite that the teacher should not assume the
+highest condition of humanity in order that his instructions should
+accomplish the greatest general good; nor should his communications be
+made in the most cultivated and elevated style of language. If he
+would instruct the common mind in the best manner, he must use common
+language and common illustrations; and if God (blessed be his name)
+were himself to instruct human nature, _as it is_, the same means
+would be necessary.
+
+Another step--Man is so constituted that he learns by example better
+than precept. Theory without practice, or precept without example,
+does not constitute a perfect system of instruction. The theory of
+surveying, however perfect it may be taught in college, never makes a
+practical surveyor. An artist may give a most perfect theory of his
+art to his apprentices or those whom he wishes to instruct in a
+knowledge of his business; but if he would have them become practical
+artists themselves, he must, with tools in hand, practise his own
+instructions before the eyes of the learner. In the language of the
+trades, he must 'show how it's done.' Such, then, is the nature of
+man, that in order to a perfect system of instruction there must be
+both precept and example.
+
+Now there can be but one perfect model of human nature. And man could
+not be removed to some other planet, nor out of his present
+circumstances, to be instructed. If the Almighty, therefore, designed
+ever to give a perfect and final system of instruction to mankind, it
+could be done only by placing in this world a perfect human nature--a
+being who would not only give perfect precepts, but who would practise
+those precepts before the eyes of men. If such a being were placed
+among men, who, amid all the perplexities, difficulties, and trials
+which affect men in their present condition, would exhibit perfect
+action of body, heart, and mind in all his relations of life, and in
+all his duties to God and man--that would be a model character,
+practising the precepts of the Divine law in man's present
+circumstances. The example of an angel, or of any being of a different
+order from man, would be of no benefit to the human family. Man must
+see his duties, as man exemplified in his own nature. Human nature
+could be perfected only by following a perfect model of human nature.
+But, with the rule of duty in his hand, and a model character before
+him, man would have a system of instruction perfectly adapted to his
+nature, and adapted to perfect his nature. If God, therefore, designed
+to give man a final and perfect system of instruction, he would adopt
+the method thus adapted to the constitution which he has given his
+creatures.--Now, Jesus Christ is that model character. He assumed
+human nature--came to the earth, man's residence--expounded and
+illustrated the law in human language; gave it its spiritual import,
+and applied it to the different circumstances and conditions of human
+life. He removed the false glosses which the ignorance and the
+prejudices of men had attached to it; he modified or rescinded those
+permissions or clauses which were accommodated to the darkness of
+former times, and the imperfections of the Jewish system: and then, by
+applications the most striking and definite, he showed the bearing of
+the rule of duty upon all varieties of human action.
+
+And further: the law being thus defined and applied, in order that the
+world might have a model character, he conformed himself to all its
+requirements. And in order that that model might be a guide in all the
+varied circumstances in which some of the family of man might be
+placed, Jesus placed himself in all those circumstances, and _acted_
+in them. Is man surrounded by a sinful and suffering world? So was
+Jesus. Does he desire to know how to act in such circumstances? Jesus
+ministered occasionally to the temporal wants of men, and laboured
+continually to promote their spiritual good. Is man popular? So was
+Jesus; and he used his influence to purify his Father's house. Is man
+forsaken by his last friend? So was Jesus; and he upbraided and
+murmured not, but sought consolation in communion with the Father.
+Does man visit and dine with the learned and the religious formalists
+of the age? So did Jesus; and in his conversation he maintained the
+claims of spiritual religion, and reproved man's hypocrisy and
+formality. Does man sit down in the cottage of the poor? So did Jesus;
+and he encouraged and comforted the inmates with spiritual
+instruction. Is man present when a group of friends are assembled on
+an occasion which warrants innocent enjoyment? So was Jesus; and he
+approved their social pleasures. Is man called to sympathize with
+those in affliction? So was Jesus; and '_Jesus wept_.' Thus by land
+and by sea, in all places and under all circumstances, wherever any of
+earth's children are called to act, Jesus--the model Man--is seen
+living and moving before them: and his voice falls upon their ear with
+the mingled cadence of authority and encouragement, 'FOLLOW ME.'
+
+The demonstration, then, is manifest, that, through the medium of
+Jesus Christ, man has received a perfect system of instruction; and a
+final and perfect revelation of duty to God and man could be given in
+no other way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+SOME OF THE PECULIAR PROOFS OF THE MESSIAHSHIP OF CHRIST.
+
+
+We have now arrived at a point in our subject where the light of
+history will aid in our investigations. The facts which history
+furnishes, and which will elucidate the present point of inquiry, are
+the following: First, the Jewish prophets lived and wrote centuries
+before the period in which Jesus appeared in Judæa. This fact is as
+certain as any other item of human knowledge.
+
+A second fact is--The Jews, about the time of Christ's appearance,
+expected with more earnestness and desire than usual the appearance of
+their Messiah, who, they supposed, would deliver them from subjection
+to Gentile nations, and place the Jewish power in the ascendant among
+the nations of the earth. They generally supposed that as a king he
+would reign with great dignity and power, and, as a priest, preside
+over, not abrogate, the ceremonial law. Although some of the common
+people may have had some understanding of the true nature of the
+Messiah's kingdom, yet the prominent men of the nation, and the great
+body of the people of all classes, were not expecting that the kingdom
+of Christ would be purely spiritual, but that it would be mainly
+temporal. And, indeed, it was necessary that they should not have a
+clear conception of the worth and spirituality of the Messiah's
+dispensation previously to his coming; because if they had had such a
+conception, the imperfections and darkness of their own dispensation
+would not have been borne. It is contrary to the nature of mind when
+it is enlightened, to delight in, and employ itself longer about, the
+preparatory steps that lead it to the light.
+
+The facts in the case, then, were, first, The prophets lived and wrote
+centuries before the era of Christ; and, second, On account of
+intimations, or supposed intimations, in their prophecies, the Jews
+were expecting the Messiah about the time that Jesus appeared in
+Judæa. With the question concerning the inspiration of the prophets,
+we have just now nothing to do. Whether they were inspired or not,
+their books contained the matter upon which the Jews founded their
+expectations of the appearance of the Messiah. With the question how
+the Jews could mistake the character of the Messiah, we have also now
+nothing to do; although the solution of the question would not be
+difficult. The simple facts which require attention are--The
+prophecies existed; and in those prophecies a Ruler was spoken of, of
+most exalted character, whose dominion would be triumphant, universal,
+and endless--whose doctrines would be pure and spiritual; and whose
+administration would be a blessing, not only to the Jews, but also to
+the Gentiles--and yet, his life would be humble and not suited to the
+feeling of the Jews--his sufferings extreme; and that he would
+terminate the old dispensation, and die for the sins of the
+people.[25]
+
+    [25] Isaiah liii. Dan. ix. 24-27. Micah v. 1, 2. Mal. iii. 1-3.
+    Zech. ix. 9, 10. Isa. ix. 1-7.
+
+Now, in view of these facts, _In what character would the true Messiah
+appear, when he assumed his duties as the Instructor of mankind?_
+
+If he had appeared and conformed to the views which the Jews
+entertained of a temporal Messiah, it would have been direct evidence
+that he was an impostor; because the Jewish views of his character and
+reign, as all can now see, were selfish, ambitious, imperfect, and
+partial. Now, a teacher sent from God to give the world a perfect
+religion could not conform to such views; but an impostor, from the
+nature of the case, could have conformed to no other standard than the
+views of the people. If an impostor wished to pass himself upon the
+Jews as their Messiah, he must assume that character and conform to
+that conduct which he knew they expected in their Messiah. For an
+impostor to assume a different character from that which he knew the
+nation expected their Messiah would bear, would have been to use means
+to frustrate his own plans, which would be impossible; because man
+cannot have a governing desire for attainment of an end, and at the
+same time use means which he knows will frustrate the accomplishment
+of his own object. An impostor, therefore, in the state of expectancy
+which existed at that time in Judæa, could not do otherwise than
+conform himself to the character which the nation were expecting
+their Messiah would possess.
+
+Mark the two points. The prophets gave a delineation of the character,
+life, and death of the Messiah. This delineation the Jews
+misinterpreted, or applied to several individuals; so that they were
+expecting in their Messiah a character entirely different from that
+described by the prophets.
+
+Now mark the application of these points. If Christ had conformed to
+the views of the Jews there would have been three direct testimonies
+that he was not from God. (1.) Because their views were partial,
+prejudiced, wicked. (2.) He could not have conformed to their views,
+and sustained at the same time the character of a perfect
+instructor.[26] (3.) He would not have fulfilled the predictions of
+the prophets concerning him. But, on the other hand, if he conformed
+to the prophets, and assumed the character of a perfect teacher, his
+rejection by the Jews was absolutely certain.[27] It follows,
+therefore, legitimately and conclusively, that Jesus Christ was the
+Messiah of God, because he pursued that course which would, from the
+nature of the case, result in his rejection by the nation; which
+conduct, in an impostor, would be impossible--but in the true Messiah
+it was the necessary course.
+
+    [26] See chap. x.
+
+    [27] The fact that Jesus conformed to the prophets, established
+    the truth of the prophecies; because, by conforming to them, he
+    suffered death; while by his death, in accordance with the
+    prophets, the world gained the evidence that he was the true
+    Messiah. To give life as a testimony to falsehood, is impossible,
+    either in a good or in an evil being.
+
+But further: it was necessary that Jesus should establish his claim as
+the Messiah by miraculous agency.[28] But owing to the peculiar state
+of the Jewish nation at that time, there would be great difficulty in
+doing this, for the following reasons.--If he, as Moses did, had come
+publicly before the nation at Jerusalem, and by miracles of great
+power, frequently repeated, and extending their influence throughout
+all the land, had forced conviction upon the minds of all the Jews
+that he was the true Messiah, the immediate and inevitable result
+would have been, that they would have raised one universal revolt
+against the Roman power, and would have hurried the Saviour of sinners
+into the office of the King of the Jews; and then bowed down to him as
+the temporal sovereign of the Jewish nation. But, notwithstanding this
+error of the Jews, and the results to which it would directly tend,
+still it would be necessary in order to meet the constitution of
+things, that Christ should manifest, by exhibitions of miraculous
+power, the credentials attesting the Divinity of his mission. The
+inquiry then arises, _How could Jesus perform miracles, and at the
+same time prevent revolt in the nation?_
+
+    [28] See chap. iii. On Miracles.
+
+The circumstances of the case would render it necessary that his
+miracles should not be attended by that publicity and power which
+would lead those who had the influence of the nation in their hands,
+and who were blind to the true design of his mission, into revolt and
+destruction. It was likewise necessary, on the other hand, that they
+should be sufficiently frequent, and of sufficient power, to convince
+the candid who witnessed them that they were the seal of heaven to the
+mission of Jesus. When Christ wrought miracles, therefore, he would
+have to aim at one end, and endeavour to prevent another--the end
+aimed at, that the impression might be made on honest minds, that he
+was the true Messiah; the end avoided, that the rulers of the nation
+might not, on account of his mighty miracles, rally round him as their
+temporal king, and thus hurry themselves and their nation to premature
+destruction.
+
+Now, the character and conduct of Jesus accord entirely with the
+foregoing deductions, made out from undoubted historical facts. That
+he performed many miracles, and yet suppressed their extensive
+publicity, is frequently noticed in the New Testament. Jesus,
+therefore, had the peculiar marks of the true Messiah; and, in view of
+the peculiar condition of the Jewish nation at that time, the true
+Messiah could have assumed no other character, and pursued no other
+course of conduct, than that exhibited in the life of Christ.[29]
+
+    [29] Another item might be added to this demonstration, showing
+    that in order to the ultimation of the plan of salvation, it was
+    necessary that Jesus should so manifest himself and manage his
+    ministry, that a part of the Jews should receive him as the
+    Messiah, and a part reject him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE CONDITION IN LIFE WHICH IT WAS NECESSARY THE MESSIAH SHOULD ASSUME
+IN ORDER TO BENEFIT THE HUMAN FAMILY IN THE GREATEST DEGREE, BY HIS
+EXAMPLE AND INSTRUCTIONS.
+
+
+Selfishness is a fundamental evil of human nature, the existence of
+which is acknowledged by all men. It is not an evil which belongs to
+any one class of human society. It is generic; and moves all ranks;
+each individual looks upon those who stand next or near him in
+society, and desires equality with, or superiority over them in
+wealth, or popularity, or power. The law of reason and of God requires
+that men should endeavour to elevate those below them up to their own
+condition; selfishness is the opposite principle, which urges men to
+elevate themselves over others. If the militia captain could follow
+the desires of his nature, and ascend from one condition to another
+until he stood upon the floor of the senate chamber, he would find
+that the desire which led him to take the first step, had only
+increased its power by gratification, and was still goading him on to
+rise higher; and he would stop nowhere while life lasted, until he
+perceived further efforts useless or dangerous. This selfish pride and
+desire for self-aggrandizement is detrimental both to the individual
+and to the social interests of men. Wherever selfish ambition exists
+in any degree of strength, it generates misery to the individual and
+to others about him. There are not, perhaps, more miserable men in the
+world than are some of those who have gained to some extent the
+object of their ambition, and are seated in the halls of legislation.
+Their minds are constantly anxious in making some effort, or devising
+some plan, by which they may promote the schemes in which they are
+engaged. And every time the hopes of one are realised, the stings of
+envy, and jealousy, and concealed hate, rankle in the bosoms of some
+others. In the humbler walks of life, the evil exists, perhaps in a
+less degree, but still it exists; and its existence is the bane of
+human happiness, and the cause of human guilt.
+
+Now, this wicked desire of human nature to aspire after elevated
+worldly condition, rather than after usefulness of life and goodness
+of heart, would be either fostered or checked by the condition in life
+which the Messiah assumed among men. In proportion as his condition
+was elevated, pride and the desire of elevation would be fostered in
+the hearts of his followers. In proportion as his condition was humble
+and depressed, pride of heart would be checked in all those who
+received and honoured him as their Master and Teacher.[30]
+
+    [30] See chap. v.
+
+Suppose that the Messiah had presented himself in the condition
+anticipated by the Jews; surrounded by the pomp and parade of a
+powerful temporal prince; sustaining the earthly dignity and splendour
+of the ancient monarchs of the dynasty of David. Now, had such a
+Messiah appeared in Judæa, it is perfectly certain, from the character
+of human nature, that his earthly circumstances would have a tendency
+to cherish in the people, as a nation, and as individuals, the bad
+principles of pride and ambition. Worldly pomp and circumstances would
+have had the sanction of the highest authority in the person of their
+Messiah; and it would have induced the desire in all hearts to elevate
+themselves as nearly as possible to his temporal condition. The pride
+of the human heart would have been fostered and not humbled. Instead
+of causing the middle walks of life to be grateful and contented in
+their condition, it would have produced in them an anxiety to stretch
+themselves upwards. And instead of causing those already elevated to
+benefit the worthy poor, it would have caused them to have no sympathy
+for any of the human family in low estate; because theirs was a
+condition the opposite of that assumed by the great model which they
+loved and admired. And instead of causing the poor to feel a greater
+degree of contentment, and to avoid repining at their lot, the
+circumstances of the Messiah would have deepened their dejection, and
+rendered them less happy in their depressed condition; because their
+condition would hinder them from approach to, or fellowship with, the
+Heaven-sent Instructor. A teacher, therefore, believed to be from
+heaven, who should assume an elevated condition in the world, instead
+of being a spiritual blessing to the whole family of man, by promoting
+in their bosoms humility and sympathy for each other, would have been
+a spiritual curse, by producing haughtiness and hardness of heart in
+the rich, ambition in the middle classes, and hopeless dejection in
+the poor.
+
+Suppose the Messiah had come in the character which the Greeks
+admired; that, assuming the seat of the philosophers, he had startled
+the learned world by disclosing to them new and sublime truths.
+Suppose he had, by the power of far-reaching intellect, answered all
+the questions and solved all the difficulties which perplexed the
+minds of the disciples of the Porch and the Academy. In such a case
+his instructions would have been adapted to satisfy the minds of a few
+gifted individuals, but they would not have been adapted to benefit
+the minds of many, nor the heart of any of the great mass of mankind.
+Vain of their wisdom already, the character of the Messiah would have
+been adapted to make the philosophers more so; and instead of blessing
+them, by humbling their pride, and giving them a sympathy with their
+fellow men, it would have led them and their admirers to look upon
+those who were not endowed with superior mental qualities, as an
+inferior class of men.
+
+But, if the Messiah could not have appeared in the condition desired
+by the Jews, nor in that admired by the Gentiles, the inquiry
+arises--What condition in life would it be necessary that the Messiah
+should assume, in order to benefit the human family in the highest
+degree by the influence of that condition? In view of the foregoing
+deductions, the solution is obvious: _In that condition which would
+have the most direct influence to destroy selfishness and pride in the
+human heart, and to foster, in their stead, humility, contentment, and
+benevolence._
+
+Now, in view of this result, deduced directly from the acknowledged
+character of human nature, turn your attention to the earthly
+circumstances of Jesus, and see how he brought the whole weight of his
+condition in life to bear against selfishness and pride of heart.--He
+was born in the lowest possible circumstances. His life was the
+constant rebuke to every ambitious and proud feeling of the human
+heart; and his death was one esteemed by men the most ignominious. No
+one who openly acknowledged and had fellowship with Jesus of Nazareth,
+as his Teacher and Master, could do so until the natural pride of his
+nature was subdued. It was impossible for a man to find fellowship
+with Jesus unless he humbled himself, because in no other state could
+his feelings meet those of Christ. 'Take my yoke upon you,' said
+Jesus, 'and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye
+shall find rest unto your souls.'
+
+Thus did Jesus place himself in a condition which rendered humility
+absolutely necessary in order to sympathy with him--in the condition
+directly opposed to pride of heart, one of the most insidious enemies
+of man's happiness and usefulness. And as it is an acknowledged and
+experimental fact that the soul finds rest only in meekness, and never
+in selfishness and pride of mind, therefore, the demonstration is
+perfect, that Christ assumed the only condition which it was possible
+for him to assume, and thereby destroy pride and misery, and produce
+humility and peace, in human bosoms.
+
+Profane history and the New Testament Scriptures confirm the foregoing
+views. Tacitus, speaking of the primitive Christians, alludes to them
+with marked contempt, as the followers of one who had been crucified.
+His manner evinces clearly not only his own feelings, but it is a good
+index to the feelings of a majority of the people of that proud and
+idolatrous age; and it establishes, beyond all controversy, the fact,
+that no one could declare himself a follower of Christ until, for
+truth and for Christ's sake, he was willing to be considered base in
+the estimation of the world. The elegant Pliny likewise bears direct
+testimony to the humility and integrity of life which characterized
+the early disciples of Christ.
+
+A great number of passages in the New Testament confirm the preceding
+views. It is only necessary to say that the apostles understood not
+only the effect of their Lord's circumstances, in life and death, upon
+the minds of men, but they understood likewise the philosophy and the
+necessity of the case. Says Paul--'It became (or was expedient for)
+Him, from whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing
+many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect
+through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are
+sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call
+them brethren.'--That is, the humble and self-denying life and death
+of Jesus was necessary, because it would have a sanctifying effect in
+counteracting the evils in the hearts of men. It was necessary for him
+to become their brother man, and assume a certain character and
+condition, in order that, by their becoming one with him, they might
+be sanctified and made happy and useful.
+
+Thus, while the Jews required a sign, and the Greeks sought after
+wisdom, the apostles preached Christ crucified; understanding the
+philosophy, the efficiency, and the necessity of their doctrine. And
+so long as the world lasts, every man who reads the New Testament,
+whether saint or sinner, will be penetrated with the conviction that a
+vain, aspiring, selfish spirit is incompatible with the religion of
+Jesus.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES WHICH MUST, ACCORDING TO THE NATURE OF
+THINGS, LIE AT THE FOUNDATION OF THE INSTRUCTION OF CHRIST.
+
+
+The Messiah having come in the proper character, displayed the proper
+credentials, and assumed the necessary condition, the question arises,
+What may we learn from the character of God and the nature of man
+concerning the fundamental principles which would govern the teaching
+of Jesus?
+
+God is righteous and benevolent; it therefore follows that he would
+connect happiness with righteousness and goodness in his creatures.
+Were he to do otherwise, it would be causing the happiness of man to
+arise from a character different from its own, which, as God is good,
+would be impossible, because it would be wicked.
+
+Further, man is so constituted that, as a matter of fact, his true
+happiness depends upon righteousness of life and benevolence of heart.
+When his will accords with his knowledge of duty, or when he acts as
+he knows is right towards God and his fellow men, there is peace and
+even complacency of conscience. Peace and complacency of conscience is
+the happiness which, according to man's moral constitution, arises
+from righteousness, or right acting, in life. And when man exercises
+benevolent feeling--has love in his heart to God and men, this
+exercise of benevolent affection produces happiness. Now there can be
+no such thing as happiness of spirit except it arise from these
+sources. And when these sources are full and flowing, and thus unite
+together--when there is perfect love and a perfect life, the soul is
+rendered happy. A single unrighteous act of will or malevolent feeling
+of heart will destroy this happiness; a single emotion of hatred or
+ill-will, or a single evil act, known to be such, towards any of God's
+creatures, will destroy the peace of the soul. Even hatred to an
+enemy, or the desire of revenge, or any emotion but good-will, injures
+the soul's happiness.
+
+Thus, in constituting the human soul, God, in accordance with his own
+character, has caused its happiness to depend upon righteousness and
+goodness.
+
+Now, then, a teacher sent from God must recognise these fundamental
+principles, and give him instruction in view of them. The happiness of
+the human soul, which is its _life_--its first, and best, and only
+good, could be produced in no other way. The whole force, therefore,
+of Divine instruction would be designed and adapted to accomplish this
+necessary end. The legitimate development of God's nature, exercised
+towards man, would produce such instructions and such an example; and
+the best good of the human soul rendered it necessary that they should
+be given.
+
+It is not said that, as in the schools of philosophy, the constant
+inquiry and search should be for the 'greatest good.' The very effort
+to obtain happiness in this way would destroy its existence. Happiness
+is not objective but subjective; no direct effort could gain it; it is
+the result of the right action of the moral powers. It would not be
+necessary, therefore, that those instructed should even understand the
+principles which governed their instructor. It would be sufficient if
+the instruction were designed and adapted to promote righteousness and
+goodness: the happiness of the soul would follow as a result, whether
+or not the recipient of the instruction understood the principles
+which governed his teacher.
+
+Now the whole power of Christ's instruction was directed to this
+point. It was distinguished in this respect from all other instruction
+ever given to mankind. I say unto you, Love your enemies. Do good to
+them that despitefully use you. Be anxious about no worldly good. The
+weightier matters of the law are righteousness and the love of God.
+Love and obey God, and love and do good to your neighbour: this is the
+law and the prophets. Seek first the kingdom of heaven and its
+righteousness, and all other things will be added to you. That is,
+seek first righteousness and the love of God, and the necessary result
+will grow out of these exercises--happiness, or life, will be added as
+a consequence.
+
+Thus was the whole force of the Saviour's teaching and example
+designed and adapted to produce righteousness and benevolence; and as
+these are the only exercises from which man's true happiness can
+arise, it follows that the principles involved in the instruction of
+Christ, connecting happiness with holiness, are the only principles
+which can, in accordance with the character of God and the
+constitution of man, produce the greatest good of the human soul.
+Jesus, therefore, was the Christ of God; because the Christ of God
+could found his instructions on no other principles,--the principles
+which are fundamental in his teaching being those which alone can
+produce the happiness of the soul in accordance with its own moral
+nature, and in accordance with the moral character of God.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+FAITH, THE EXERCISE THROUGH WHICH TRUTH REACHES AND AFFECTS THE SOUL.
+
+
+When Christ, man's perfect and spiritual Instructor, had come, and
+introduced the great doctrines of the spiritual dispensation, the next
+necessary step in the process was, that those truths should be brought
+to impress the soul, and influence the life, and so produce their
+proper effects upon human nature. The inquiry then presents itself:
+_In what way could the truths of the gospel be brought into efficient
+contact with the soul of man?_
+
+There are but two ways in which truth can be brought into contact with
+the mind. The one is sometimes called knowledge; the other, faith, or
+belief of testimony. In the earlier and ruder ages, men were
+necessarily moved more by knowledge, derived from their own
+observation and experience, through the medium of their senses; but
+as mankind increased in number, important truth was conveyed by one
+man or one generation communicating their experience, and another man
+or another generation receiving it by belief in their testimony.
+Perception and faith are the only modes by which truth can be brought
+into contact with the soul; and their effects are nearly the same upon
+man's conduct and feelings, with the following remarkable exception:
+Of facts which are the subjects of personal observation, every time
+they are experienced, the effect upon the soul grows less; while, on
+the contrary, those facts which are received by faith, produce, every
+time they are realised, a greater effect upon the soul. By constant
+sight, the effect of objects seen grows less; by constant faith, the
+effect of objects believed in grows greater. The probable reason of
+this is, that personal observation does not admit of the influence of
+the imagination in impressing the fact; while unseen objects, realised
+by faith, have the auxiliary aid of the imagination, not to exaggerate
+them, but to clothe them with living colours, and impress them upon
+the heart. Whether this be the reason or not, the fact is true, that
+the more frequently we see, the less we feel the power of an object;
+while the more frequently we dwell upon an object by faith, the more
+we feel its power. This being true, it follows that faith would be the
+method best adapted to bring the sublime truths of the new
+dispensation to bear upon the souls of men. And further, as the
+dispensation is spiritual, and has relation to unseen and eternal
+things, faith becomes the only medium through which they can be
+conveyed to the soul.
+
+Furthermore, man is so constituted that his faith, or belief, has an
+influence not only over his conduct in life, but, likewise, over the
+character and action of the moral powers of the soul.
+
+Faith governs the _conscience_.
+
+We have said, in another place, that a true conscience depends upon a
+true faith. No proposition in morals is more plain. It is not our
+design to inquire what leads, or has led, men to a wrong faith.
+Whatever may be the cause of any particular belief, it is
+incontrovertible that, if a man believes a thing to be right,
+conscience cannot condemn an act performed in view of that belief.
+Conscience is so modified and guided by a man's faith, that it will
+sanction and command an act in one man which it will forbid and
+condemn in another. A Roman Catholic believes that he ought to pray to
+the Virgin Mary to intercede for him with God; and if a good Roman
+Catholic were to neglect his worship to the saints, his conscience
+would smite him, until, in some instances, he confessed his sin with
+tears. Now, if a good Protestant were to pray to saints, or to any
+other being but God, his conscience would smite him for doing that
+which the conscience of the Roman Catholic smote him for not doing. So
+the heathen mother will conscientiously throw her infant into the
+Ganges, or under the wheels of Juggernaut, while the conscience of a
+Christian mother would convict her of murder were she to do the same
+act. Conscience seldom convicts those whom Christians call impenitent
+persons for neglecting to pray, while the moment a man becomes a true
+believer, he will be convicted of guilt if he neglects the duty. So
+certainly and so clearly is it true, that a man's conscience is
+governed by his faith.
+
+Faith governs the _affections_.
+
+As man is constituted, no power in the universe can move his
+affections to an object until he believes that the object possesses
+some loveliness or excellency of character. The heart is affected just
+as much by the goodness of another, if we _believe_ that goodness to
+exist, as it would be if we _knew_ that it existed. No matter, in the
+case of the affections, whether the object in reality possesses the
+good qualities or not, if they are fully believed to exist, the
+affections will act just as certainly as though they really did exist.
+The affections are constituted to be governed by faith. And they act
+most powerfully, as was demonstrated in a previous chapter, in view of
+good qualities existing in another, who, under certain circumstances,
+exercises those qualities towards us. The fact, then, is apparent,
+that the conduct of man's life is influenced by what he believes; and
+especially that the character and action of the moral powers of his
+nature are governed by the principle of faith.
+
+Another most important fact in connection with this subject is, that a
+man's interests, temporal and spiritual, depend upon what he believes.
+The nature of man and the nature of things are so constituted, that
+the belief of falsehood always destroys man's interests, temporal or
+spiritual, and the belief of truth invariably guides man right, and
+secures his best and highest good.
+
+Perhaps the most absurd and injurious adage that has ever gained
+currency among mankind, is 'that it is no difference what a man
+believes, if only he be sincere.' Now, the truth is, that the more
+sincerely a man believes falsehood, the more destructive it is to all
+his interests, for time and eternity. This statement can be confirmed
+in every mind beyond the reach of doubt.
+
+First, _The influence of believing falsehood on temporal and social
+interests_.
+
+We will state some cases of common and constant occurrence, in order
+that the principle may be made obvious.
+
+A gentleman of property and the highest respectability, in the course
+of his business transactions, became acquainted with an individual,
+who, as the event showed, was a man destitute, in a great degree, of a
+conscientious regard for truth. The persuasions and false
+representations of this man led the gentleman referred to, to embark
+almost his entire fortune with him in speculations in which he was at
+that time engaged. While this matter was in progress, the friends of
+the gentleman called upon him, and stated their doubts of the
+individual's integrity who solicited his confidence, and likewise of
+the success of the enterprises in which he was asked to engage. The
+advice of his friends was rejected--he placed confidence in the false
+statements of the individual referred to--he acted upon those
+statements, and was, consequently, involved in pecuniary distress. In
+this case, the gentleman not only sincerely believed the falsehood to
+be the truth, but he had good motives in relation to the object which
+he desired to accomplish. He was a benevolent man. He had expended
+considerable sums for charitable and religious uses, and his desire
+was, by the increase of his property, to be enabled to accomplish
+greater good. In this case he was injured likewise by believing what
+others did not believe. The individual who seduced him into the
+speculation, had endeavoured to lead others to take the same views and
+to act in the same way; they did not believe the falsehood, and were,
+consequently, saved; he believed, and was, consequently, ruined.
+
+When the English army under Harold, and the Norman under William the
+Conqueror, were set in array for that fearful conflict which decided
+the fate of the two armies, and the political destinies of Great
+Britain, William, perceiving that he could not, by a fair attack, move
+the solid columns of the English ranks, had recourse to a false
+movement, in order to gain the victory. He gave orders that one flank
+of his army should feign to be flying from the field in disorder. The
+officers of the English army believed the falsehood, pursued them, and
+were cut off. A second time, a false movement was made in another part
+of the field. The English again believed, pursued, and were cut off.
+By these movements the fortunes of the day were determined. Although
+the English had the evidence of their senses, yet they were led to
+believe a falsehood--they acted in view of it; the consequence was,
+the destruction of a great part of their army, and the establishment
+of the Norman power in England.
+
+How often does it occur that the young female, possessing warm
+affections and being inexperienced in the wiles of villains, is led to
+believe falsehood which destroys her prospects and her happiness while
+life lasts! Under other circumstances she might have been virtuous,
+useful, happy. By false indications of affection her heart is won--by
+false promises of faithfulness and future good her assent to marry is
+gained; and then, when too late, she discovers that her husband is a
+villain, and she is forsaken, with a broken heart, to the cold
+sympathies of a selfish world. No matter how many hearts, besides her
+own, are broken by her error; no matter how sincere, or how guileless,
+or how young; she sincerely believed the falsehood, and is thereby
+ruined. Nothing in heaven or on earth will avert the consequences. If
+she had doubted, she would have been saved. She believed, and is
+consigned to sorrow till she sinks into her grave.
+
+Secondly, _The belief of falsehood in relation to spiritual things
+destroys man's spiritual interests_.
+
+It is an incontrovertible fact that the whole heathen world, ancient
+and modern, have believed in and worshipped unholy beings as gods.
+Now, from the necessities of the case, as demonstrated in the
+introductory chapter, the worshipper becomes assimilated to the
+character of the object worshipped. In consequence of believing
+falsehood concerning the character of God, all heathendom, at the
+present hour, is filled with ignorance, impurity, and crime. As a mass
+of corruption spreads contagion and death among all those who approach
+it, so certainly does the worship of unholy beings taint the soul, and
+spread moral corruption through the world. 'Can a man take coals into
+his bosom, and not be burned?'--Neither can the soul hold communion
+with beings believed to be unholy, and not itself become corrupt. The
+fact is so plain that it is not necessary to detail again the
+impurities, the vices, the tortures, the self-murders, and the
+unnatural affections of the heathen world, in order to show the deadly
+evils, both to the body and soul, which arise from the belief of
+falsehood in relation to spiritual things. It must be obvious to
+everyone that, if the heathen believed in one holy and benevolent God,
+their abominable and cruel rites would cease. It follows, therefore,
+that it is the belief of falsehood that causes their ignorance and
+corruption.
+
+Thus it is invariably and eternally true that the belief of truth will
+lead a man right, and secure his temporal, spiritual, and eternal
+interests; and on the contrary, the belief of falsehood will lead a
+man wrong, and destroy his interests in relation to whatever the
+falsehood pertains, whether it be temporal or eternal.
+
+The preceding premises being established, the following conclusions
+result:
+
+1. The entire man, in his body and soul, his actions and moral
+feelings, is governed by what he believes; and that, in relation to
+things that should have a constantly increasing influence over the
+spirit, faith is a more powerful actuating cause than sight, because
+the one gains while the other loses power by repetition.
+
+2. That the belief of falsehood, concerning any human interest, is
+fatally injurious; while the belief of truth is eternally beneficial.
+And that the more sincerely any one believes error, the more certainly
+he destroys his interests, whether temporal or spiritual: while, on
+the contrary, the more sincerely a man believes truth, the more
+certainly and powerfully are his interests advanced. The living God
+has connected evil with the belief of falsehood, and good with the
+belief of truth; it is a part of the constitutional law of the moral
+universe; and there is no power in existence that will stop the
+consequence from following the antecedent.
+
+Mark it--That doctrine which rectifies the conscience, purifies the
+heart, and produces love to God and men, is necessarily true; because,
+as it has been demonstrated that righteousness and benevolence are the
+greatest good of the soul, and likewise that the greatest good must
+depend on the belief of truth, therefore the conclusion is inevitable
+that that doctrine which, being believed, destroys sin in the heart
+and life of man, and produces righteousness and benevolence, is the
+truth of God. No matter whether men can comprehend all its depths and
+relations or not, if it destroys sin wherever it takes effect by
+faith, and makes happiness grow out of right living and right loving,
+from the constitution of things--from the character of God--from the
+nature of man--that doctrine is the TRUTH OF GOD. And that doctrine
+which hinders this result, or produces a contrary result, is the
+falsehood of the devil.[31]
+
+    [31] John viii. 44.
+
+4. Therefore Christ laid at the foundation of the Christian system
+this vital and necessary principle, 'He that believeth and is baptized
+shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned,'--saved in
+accordance with the moral constitution of the universe, and damned
+from the absolute necessities existing in the nature of things.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD WHICH WOULD BE NECESSARY, UNDER THE NEW AND
+SPIRITUAL DISPENSATION, TO PRODUCE IN THE SOUL OF MAN AFFECTIONATE
+OBEDIENCE.
+
+
+Man's mental and moral constitution was the same under the New as
+under the Old Testament dispensation. The same methods, therefore,
+which were adapted to move man's nature under the one, would be
+adapted to do so under the other. The difference between the two
+dispensations was, the first was a preparatory dispensation, its
+manifestations, for the most part, being seen and temporal; the
+second, a perfect system of truth, spiritual in its character, and in
+the method of its communication. But whether the truths were temporal
+or spiritual, and, whether they were brought to view by faith or
+sight, in order to produce a given effect upon the soul, or any of its
+powers, the same methods under all dispensations would be necessary,
+varied only to suit the advancement of the mind in knowledge, the
+differences existing in the habits and circumstances of men, and the
+character of the dispensation to be introduced. For instance: under
+one dispensation--it being in a great measure temporal, preparatory,
+and imperfect--love might be produced by making men feel temporal
+want, and by God granting temporal benefits: while under a spiritual
+and universal system, men must likewise feel the want, and receive the
+benefit, in order to love; but the want felt and the benefit conferred
+must be of a spiritual character.
+
+Under all dispensations, an essential requisite, after the way for its
+introduction was prepared, would be such manifestations of God to men
+as would produce love in the human heart for the object of worship and
+obedience. 'Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,' is the first
+great law of the universe; and God cannot be honoured, nor man made
+happy, unless his obedience be actuated by love to the object of
+obedience.[32] Now the manifestations of mercy, under the old
+dispensation, were mainly temporal in their character, and limited in
+their application to the Jews. But God's special goodness to them
+could not produce love in the hearts of the Gentiles. The
+manifestations in Egypt were, therefore, neither adapted in their
+character, nor in the extent of their design, to the spiritual and
+universal religion of Jesus Christ. But one part of the Mosaic economy
+was universal and immutable in its character. The moral law is the
+same for ever in its application to all intelligent beings in the
+universe. It is plain to reason that, whatever means may be adopted to
+bring men to rectitude of conduct or to pardon them for offences, the
+rule of right itself, founded upon the justice and holiness, and
+sustained by the conscience, of the Eternal, must be immutable and
+eternal as its Author; and the means, manifestations, and influences,
+under the different dispensations, are expedients of mercy, designed
+and adapted to bring men to act in conformity with its requirements.
+
+    [32] See chap. iv. on Affectionate Obedience.
+
+How, then, under the new dispensation, and in conformity with its
+spiritual and universal character, could love for God be produced in
+the human heart?
+
+We will here, again, as the subject in hand is most important, notice
+some of the conditions upon which affection for an object may be
+produced in the heart.
+
+The will is influenced by motives and by affection; and all acts of
+will produced entirely by pure affection, are disinterested acts.
+There is, probably, no one living, who has attained to maturity of
+years, but has, at some period of life, felt affection for another, so
+that it was more gratifying to please the object of his affection than
+to please himself. Love for another always influences the will to do
+those things which please the object loved; and the acts which proceed
+from affection are disinterested, not being done with any selfish end
+in view, but to conform to the will and meet the desires of another.
+The moment the affections are fixed upon an object, the will is drawn
+into union with the will of the object loved; and if that object be
+regarded as superior, in proportion as he rises above us in the scale
+of being, to obey his will and secure his regard becomes a spontaneous
+volition of the soul; and the pleasure that arises from affectionate
+compliance with the will of a worthy and loved object, does not arise
+because it is sought for, but from the constitution the Maker has
+given to the human soul; it is the result of its activity, produced in
+accordance with the law of love.
+
+All happy obedience must arise from affection, exercised towards the
+object obeyed. Obedience which arises from affection blesses the
+spirit which yields it, if the conscience approve of the object
+obeyed. While, on the contrary, no being can be happy in obeying one
+whom he does not love. To obey a parent, or to obey God, from
+interested motives, would be sin. The devil might be obeyed for the
+same reasons. All enlightened minds agree to what the Bible confirms,
+and what reason can clearly perceive, without argument, that love for
+God is essential to every act of religious duty. To tender obedience
+or homage to God, while we had no love for him in our hearts, would be
+dishonourable to the Maker, and doing violence to our own nature.
+
+When an object presents itself to the attention, whose character
+engages the heart, then the affections flow out, and the soul acts
+sweetly in this new relation. There is a bond of sympathy between the
+hearts of the two beings, and those things which affect the one affect
+the other, in proportion to the strength of the cherished affection.
+One meets the desires and conforms to the will of the other, not from
+a sense of obligation merely, but from choice. And in thus giving and
+receiving affection, the soul experiences its highest enjoyment, its
+greatest good; and when the understanding perceives, in the object
+loved, perfections of the highest character, and affection of the
+purest kind for those that love him, the conscience sanctions the
+action of the heart and the obedience of the will, and all the moral
+powers of the soul unite in happy and harmonious action.
+
+We return, now, to the problem--Under the spiritual dispensation of
+Christ, how could the affections of the soul be awakened by faith, and
+fixed upon God their proper object?
+
+The principle has been stated, which everyone will recognise as true
+in his own experience, that the more we feel the want of a benefactor,
+temporal or spiritual, and the more we feel our inability to rescue
+ourselves from existing difficulties and impending dangers, the more
+grateful love will the heart feel for the being who, moved by
+kindness, and in despite of personal sacrifices, interposes to assist
+and save us.
+
+Under the Old Testament dispensation the affections of the Israelites
+were educed and fixed upon God in accordance with this law of the
+soul. They were placed in circumstances of abject need; and from this
+condition of suffering and sorrow, God delivered them, and thus drew
+their hearts to himself. Now the Jews, as has been noticed, supposed
+that the Messiah would appear, and again confer upon them similar
+favours, by delivering them from their state of dependence and
+subjection as a nation. But a temporal deliverance of this kind, as
+has been shown, was not consistent with the design of Christ's perfect
+and spiritual dispensation, which was designed to save men from sin
+and spiritual bondage, and restore them to spiritual happiness by
+restoring them to affectionate obedience to the only living and true
+God.
+
+The inquiry, then, presents itself, as a feeling of want was
+necessary, in order that the soul might love the Being who supplied
+that want--and as Jesus came to bestow spiritual mercies upon
+mankind--_How could men be brought to feel the want of a spiritual
+Benefactor and Saviour?_
+
+Allow the thought to be repeated again--According to the constitution
+which God has given the soul, it must feel the want of spiritual
+mercies before it can feel love for the Giver of those mercies; and
+just in proportion as the soul feels its lost, guilty, and dangerous
+condition, in the same proportion will it exercise love to the Being
+who grants spiritual favour and salvation. How, then, could the
+spiritual want be produced in the souls of men, in order that they
+might love the spiritual Benefactor?
+
+Not by temporal bondage and temporal suffering, because these would
+lead men to desire a temporal deliverance. The only possible way by
+which man could be made to hope for and appreciate spiritual mercies,
+and to love a spiritual deliverer, would be to produce a conviction in
+the soul itself of its evil condition, its danger as a spiritual
+being, and its inability, unaided, to satisfy the requirements of a
+spiritual law, or to escape its just and spiritual penalty. If man
+could be made to perceive that he was guilty and needy, that his soul
+was under the condemnation of the holy law of a holy God, he would
+then necessarily feel the need of a deliverance from sin and its
+consequences; and in this way only could the soul of man be led to
+appreciate spiritual mercies or love a spiritual benefactor.
+
+Mark another fact, in connection with the foregoing, which is to be
+especially noticed, and which will be developed fully in subsequent
+pages--The greater the kindness and self-denial of a benefactor
+manifested in our behalf, the warmer and the stronger will be the
+affection which his goodness will produce in the human heart.
+
+Here, then, are two facts growing out of the constitution of human
+nature--First, the soul must feel its evil and lost state, as the
+pre-requisite condition upon which alone it can love a deliverer;
+Secondly, the degree of kindness and self-denial in a benefactor,
+temporal or spiritual, graduates the degree of affection and gratitude
+that will be awakened for him.
+
+Now, in view of these necessary conditions, mark the means which God
+has used, and the manifestations which he has made of himself, in
+order to secure the supreme love of the human soul.
+
+In the first place, _The soul is brought to see and feel its evil and
+lost condition, and its need of deliverance_.
+
+At the advent of Jesus, the Roman world was in precisely the condition
+which was necessary to prepare it for his doctrines. The Jews had the
+moral law written in their Scriptures, and recognised it as the will
+of Jehovah; and the Gentiles had its requirements, concerning their
+duty to each other, and their duty to worship, written upon their
+hearts. Both the doctors among the Jews, and the schools of philosophy
+among the Gentiles, especially those of the Stoics, taught the
+obligatory nature of many of the important moral duties which man owes
+to man. No period in the history of the heathen mind ever existed
+before or since, when man's relations to man were so clearly
+perceived.[33] The Jews, however, had these advantages, that while the
+few intelligent Gentiles received the instruction of the philosophers
+in relation to morals as truth, it was truth without any higher
+sanction than that of having been spoken by wise men, and therefore it
+contained in itself no authority or weight of obligation to bind the
+conscience; while they had the Moral Law as a rule of duty, sanctioned
+by the authority and infinite justice of Jehovah. Thus the moral
+virtues assumed the sanction of religious duties; and they had not
+only the moral precepts thus sanctioned, but, having been taught the
+true character of God, their religious duties were likewise united in
+the same sacred decalogue.
+
+    [33] For the views of the different schools of Grecian and Roman
+    philosophy at this period, and the amount of their indebtedness to
+    the Jewish Scriptures, see Enfield's History of Philosophy.
+
+There was, however, in the application of the law, one most important
+and vital mistake, in relation to what constituted human guilt. The
+moral law was generally applied as the civil law, not to the acts of
+the spirit, but to the acts of the body. It was applied to the
+external conduct of men, not to the internal life. If there was
+conformity to the letter of the law in external manners, there was a
+fulfilment, in the eyes of the Jew and the Gentile, of the highest
+claims that God or man held upon the spirit. No matter how dark or
+damning were the exercises of the soul, if it only kept its sin in its
+own habitation, and did not develop it in action, the penalty of the
+law was not laid to its charge. The character of the spirit itself
+might be criminal, and all its exercises of thought and feeling
+sensual and selfish, yet if it added hypocrisy to its guilt, and
+maintained an outward conformity to the law--a conformity itself
+produced by selfishness--man judged himself, and others adjudged him,
+guiltless. Man could not, therefore, understand his own guilt, as a
+spiritual being, nor feel his condemned and lost condition, until the
+requirements of the holy law were applied to the exercises of his
+soul.
+
+Now, Jesus applied the Divine law directly to the soul, and laid its
+obligation upon the movements of the will and the desires. He taught
+that all wrong thoughts and feelings were acts of transgression
+against God, and as such would be visited with the penalty of the
+Divine law. Thus he made the law spiritual, and its penalty spiritual,
+and appealing to the authority of the supreme God, he laid its claims
+upon the naked soul. He entered the secret recesses of the spirit's
+tabernacle; he flashed the light of the Divine law upon the awful
+secrets known only to the soul itself; and with the voice of a God, he
+spoke to the 'I' of the mind: 'Thou shalt not will, nor desire, nor
+feel wickedly.'
+
+When he had thus shown that all the wrong exercises of the soul were
+sin against God, and that the soul was in a guilty condition, under
+the condemnation of the Divine law, he then directs the attention to
+the spiritual consequences of this guilt. These he declared to be
+exclusion from the kingdom and presence of God, and penalty which
+involved either endless spiritual suffering, or destruction of the
+soul itself. The punishment which he declared to be impending over the
+unbelieving and impenitent spirit, he portrayed by using all those
+figures which would lead men to apprehend the most fearful and
+unmitigated spiritual misery.
+
+Before the impenitent and unpardoned sinner there was the destruction
+of the soul and body in hell--consignment to a state of darkness,
+where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched--cursed and
+banished from God into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and
+his angels--agonising in flame, and refused a drop of water to
+mitigate the agony. Now, these figures, to the minds both of Jews and
+Gentiles, must have conveyed a most appalling impression of the misery
+that was impending over the soul, unless it was relieved from sin, and
+the consequent curse of the law. Jesus knew that the Jews, especially,
+would understand these figures as implying fearful future punishment:
+he therefore designed to do, what was undoubtedly accomplished in the
+mind of everyone that believed his instruction, which was, to produce
+a conviction of sin in the soul, by applying to it the requirements of
+the spiritual law of God, and by showing that the penalty consequent
+upon sin was fearful and everlasting destruction. We say, then, what
+everyone who has followed these thoughts must perceive to be true,
+that the instruction of Jesus would necessarily produce, in the mind
+of everyone that believed, a conviction that he was a guilty and
+condemned creature, and that an awful doom awaited his soul, unless he
+received pardon and spiritual deliverance.
+
+Thus, then, by the instruction of Jesus Christ, showing the spirituality
+and holiness of the Divine law, and applying it, with its infinite
+sanctions, to the exercise of the soul, that condition of mind was
+produced which alone could prepare man to love a spiritual deliverer;
+and there is no other way in which the soul could have been prepared, in
+accordance with truth and the constitution of its own nature, to
+appreciate the spiritual mercies of God, and love him as a spiritual
+Saviour.
+
+The law and the truth being exhibited by Christ in the manner adapted
+to produce the condition of soul pre-requisite to the exercise of
+affection for spiritual deliverance--now, as God was the author of
+the law, and as he is the only proper object both of supreme love and
+obedience; and, as man could not be happy in obeying the law without
+loving its author, it follows, that the thing now necessary, in order
+that man's affections might be fixed upon the proper object of love
+and obedience, was, that the supreme God should, by self-denying
+kindness, manifest spiritual mercy to those who felt their spiritual
+wants, and thus draw to himself the love and worship of mankind. If
+any other being should supply the need, that being would receive the
+love; it was therefore necessary that God himself should do it, in
+order that the affection of believers might centre upon the proper
+object.
+
+But, notice, that in order to the accomplishment of this end, without
+violating the moral constitution of the universe, it would be
+essentially necessary that the holiness of God's law should be
+maintained. This would be necessary, because the law is, in itself,
+the will of the Godhead, and God himself must be unholy before his
+will can be so. And whatever God may overlook in those who know not
+their duty, yet, when he reveals his perfect law, that law cannot,
+from the nature of its Author, allow the commission of a single sin.
+But, besides, if its holiness were not maintained, man is so
+constituted that he could never become holy. Every change to a better
+course in man's life must be preceded by a conviction of error; man
+cannot repent and turn from sin till he is convicted of sin in
+himself. Now, if the holiness of the law, as a standard of duty, was
+maintained, man might thus be enlightened and convicted of sin, until
+he had seen and felt the last sin in his soul; and if the law allowed
+one sin, there would be no way of convicting man of that sin, or of
+converting him from it; he would, therefore, remain, in some degree, a
+sinner for ever. But, finally and conclusively, if the holiness of the
+law was not maintained, that sense of guilt and danger could not be
+produced which is necessary in order that man may love a spiritual
+Saviour. Jesus produced that condition by applying to the soul the
+authority, the claims, and the sanctions of the holy law. It is
+impossible, therefore, in the nature of things, for a sinful being to
+appreciate God's mercy, unless he first feel his justice as manifested
+in the holy law. Love in the soul is produced by the joint influence
+of the justice and mercy of God. The integrity of the eternal law,
+therefore, must be for ever maintained.[34]
+
+    [34] The preceding views are confirmed, both by the character of
+    the moral law, and by its design and exposition, as given by the
+    apostles of Christ. The moral law, or the rule and obligation of
+    moral rectitude in the sight of God, which is revealed in the
+    Scriptures, and interpreted by Christ as obligatory upon the
+    thoughts and feelings of the soul, is not only in its nature of
+    perpetual and universal obligation, and adapted to produce
+    conviction of sin in every soul that is sensible of transgressing
+    its requirements; but the Scriptures expressly declare that it was
+    designed to produce conviction of sin in the soul, in order to
+    prepare it to receive the gospel.
+
+    The moral law is set forth in the Scriptures as holy, just, and
+    good in its character; and whatever may be its effects upon the
+    soul itself, that its character is such no intelligent being in
+    the universe can doubt, because it requires of every one perfect
+    holiness, justice, and goodness; it requires that the soul should
+    be perfectly free from sin in the sight of God: and, as we have
+    seen, God ought not to allow one sin; if he did, the law would not
+    be holy, nor adapted to make men holy. But the more holy the law,
+    the more conviction it would produce in the mind of sinners. If
+    the law extended only to external conduct, men would not feel
+    guilty for their wrong thoughts, desires, or designs; and if it
+    extended only to certain classes of spiritual exercises, men would
+    not feel guilty for those which it did not condemn; but if it
+    required that the soul itself--the spiritual agent--the 'I' of the
+    mind--should be holy, and all its thoughts and feelings in
+    accordance with the law of love and righteousness, then the soul
+    would be convicted of guilt for a single wrong exercise, because,
+    while it felt that the law was holy, just, and good, it could not
+    but feel condemned in breaking it. When Christ came, therefore,
+    every soul that was taught its spirituality would be convicted of
+    sin. One of two things men had to do, either shut out its light
+    from their soul, and refuse to believe its spiritual and perfect
+    requirements, or judge and condemn themselves by those
+    requirements. And while the law thus showed sin to exist in the
+    soul, and condemned the soul as guilty and liable to its penalty,
+    it imparted no strength to the sinner to enable him to fulfil its
+    requirements; it merely sets forth the true standard, which is
+    holy in itself, and which God must maintain; and, by its light, it
+    shows sinners their guilt, condemns them, and leaves them under
+    its curse.
+
+    Now, the Scriptures declare that this is the end which, by its
+    nature, it is adapted to accomplish, and that it was revealed to
+    men with the design to accomplish this end, and thus lead men to
+    see and feel the necessity of justification and pardon by Jesus
+    Christ. The Scripture says, 'It is easier for heaven and earth to
+    pass than one tittle of the law to fail.' 'The law worketh wrath:
+    for where there is no law, there is no transgression.' 'Moreover
+    the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin
+    abounded grace did much more abound; that as sin hath reigned unto
+    death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto
+    eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.' Mark the following--'Now
+    we know that what things soever the law saith it saith to them who
+    are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the
+    world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the
+    law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law
+    is the knowledge of sin.'
+
+    The argument of the apostle in vindicating the holiness of the
+    law, while it, at the same time, produced conviction and
+    condemnation, is conclusive. 'What shall we say then? Is the law
+    sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I
+    had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet;
+    (that is, I should not have felt covetousness to be sin, except
+    the law had condemned it as such;) for I was alive (that is, not
+    consciously condemned) without the law once; but when the
+    commandment came, sin revived, and I died; and the commandment,
+    which was ordained to life, (that is, which required the soul to
+    be holy and therefore alive to God,) I found to be unto death. For
+    sin, taking occasion by the commandment, (or acts shown to be sin
+    by the commandment,) deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the
+    law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was
+    then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin,
+    that it might appear sin, (that is, sin which did exist in the
+    soul, was made to appear in its true evil character,) working
+    death in me by that which is good; (that is, the holiness of the
+    law showed the evil of sin;) that sin by the commandment might
+    become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual:
+    but I am carnal, sold under sin.' And then, for deliverance from
+    this bondage, he looks to Christ--'For the law of the Spirit of
+    life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
+    death,' etc. And mark again--'Is the law then against the promises
+    of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could
+    have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law
+    (that is, while the law showed the soul unholy and condemned to
+    spiritual death, it provided no means for the relief of the
+    sinner--no influence by which love and holiness could be produced
+    in the heart). But the Scripture (that is, the revelation of law
+    in the Scriptures) hath concluded all under sin, that the promise
+    by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But
+    before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the
+    faith which should afterwards be revealed; wherefore the law was
+    our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be
+    justified by faith.'
+
+    Now, from the above Scriptures it is evident that the apostle
+    understood the law not only to be adapted, but designed by its
+    Author, to show the soul its guilty and lost condition, its
+    inability to free itself from the condemnation to which it was
+    liable, and to prepare it, at the proper time, to love and trust
+    in Christ for salvation from sin, and spiritual death, the
+    consequence of sin.
+
+How, then, could God manifest that mercy to sinners by which love to
+himself and to his law would be produced, while his infinite holiness
+and justice would be maintained?
+
+We answer, in no way possible, but by some expedient by which his
+justice and mercy would both be exalted. If, in the wisdom of the
+Godhead, such a way could be devised, by which God himself could save
+the soul from the consequences of its guilt--by which he himself could
+in some way suffer and make self-denials for its good; and, by his own
+interposition, open a way for the soul to recover from its lost and
+condemned condition, then the result would follow inevitably, that
+every one of the human family who had been led to see and feel his
+guilty condition before God, and who believed in God thus manifesting
+himself to rescue his soul from spiritual death--everyone, thus
+believing, would, from the necessities of his nature, be led to love
+God his Saviour; and mark, the greater the self-denial and the
+suffering on the part of the Saviour, in ransoming the soul, the
+stronger would be the affection felt for him.
+
+This is the central and vital doctrine of the plan of salvation. We
+will now, by throwing light and accumulating strength upon this
+doctrine from different points, illustrate and establish it beyond the
+possibility of rational doubt.
+
+
+_1. The testimony of Jesus that it was necessary man should feel the
+want, in order to exercise the love._
+
+Jesus uniformly speaks of it as being necessary that, previously to
+accepting him as a Saviour, the soul should feel the need of
+salvation. He does not even invite the thoughtless sinner, or the
+Godless worldling, who has no sense of the evil or the guilt of sin,
+to come to him. Said Jesus, 'I came not to call the righteous, but
+sinners to repentance.' 'They that are whole need not a physician, but
+they that are sick.' 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
+laden, and I will give you rest.' 'If any man thirst, let him come
+unto me and drink.' 'Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after
+righteousness for they shall be filled.' Thus, the points which have
+been shown to be necessary, from the constitution of things, in order
+to the soul's loving God, are presented in the same light by Jesus
+himself; and upon the principle which they involve, he acted during
+his ministry.
+
+
+_2. The testimony of the Scriptures that God did thus manifest himself
+as suffering and making self-denials for the spiritual good of men._
+
+'God was in Christ,' says the apostle, 'reconciling the world to
+himself;' that is, God was in Christ doing those things that would
+restore to himself the obedience and affection of everyone that
+believed. Christ represents himself as a ransom for the soul, as
+laying down his life for sinners. He is represented as descending from
+a state of the highest felicity; taking upon him the nature of man,
+and humbling himself even to the death of the cross, a death of the
+most excruciating torture; and thus bearing the sins of men in his own
+body on the tree, that through his death God 'might be just, and the
+justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.'
+
+It was thus, by a self-denial surpassing description, by a life of
+labour for human good, accomplished by constant personal sacrifices,
+and tending at every step towards the centre of the vortex, he went on
+until, finally, life closed to a crisis, by the passion in the garden,
+the rebuke, and the buffeting, and the cruel mockery of the Jews and
+the Romans: and then, bearing his cross, faint with former agony of
+spirit, and his flesh quivering with recent scourging, he goes to
+Calvary, where the agonised Sufferer for human sin cried, 'IT IS
+FINISHED;' and gave up the ghost.
+
+Such is the testimony of the Scriptures; and it may be affirmed,
+without hesitancy, that it would be impossible for the human soul to
+exercise full faith in the testimony that it was a guilty and needy
+creature, condemned by the holy law of a holy God; and that from this
+condition of spiritual guilt and danger, Jesus Christ suffered and
+died to accomplish its ransom--we say a human being could not exercise
+full faith in these truths and not love the Saviour.
+
+
+_3. The atonement of Christ produces the necessary effect upon the
+human soul, in restoring it to affectionate obedience, which neither
+philosophy, law, nor perceptive truth could accomplish._
+
+The wisdom of Divine Providence was conspicuous in the fact that,
+previously to the introduction of Christianity, all the resources of
+human wisdom had been exhausted in efforts to confer upon man true
+knowledge and true happiness. Although most of the great names of
+antiquity were conspicuous rather for those properties which rendered
+them a terror and a scourge to mankind; and although society, among the
+ancients, in its best state, was little better than semi-barbarism, yet
+there was a class in society, during the Augustan and Periclean ages,
+and even at some periods before the last-named, that was cultivated in
+mind and manners.
+
+From this class, individuals at times arose who were truly great--men
+distinguished alike for the strength, compass, and discrimination of
+their intellect. In all the efforts of these men, with the exception
+of those who applied themselves exclusively to the study of physical
+phenomena, the great end sought was the means or secret of human
+happiness. All admitted that human nature, as they found it, was in an
+imperfect or depraved condition, and not in the enjoyment of its chief
+good; and the plans they proposed by which to obtain that happiness of
+which they believed the soul susceptible, were as various and diverse
+from each other as can be imagined. No one of these plans ever
+accomplished, in any degree, the end desired; and no one of them was
+ever adapted to, or embraced by, the common people. The philosophers
+themselves, after wrangling for the honour of having discovered truth,
+and making themselves miserable in the pursuit of happiness, died; and
+man was left unsatisfied and unhappy, philosophy having shed only
+sufficient light upon his mind to disclose more fully the guilty and
+wretched state of his heart.
+
+There are, perhaps, two exceptions to these remarks as applied to the
+great minds of antiquity: those are Socrates and his pupil Plato.
+These men, with a far-penetrating insight into the constitutional
+wants of man, contemplating the disordered and unhappy condition of
+human nature, and inquiring for a remedy adequate to enlighten the
+mind, and give the heart a satisfying good, perceived that there was
+not in the resources of philosophy, nor within the compass of human
+means, any power that could reach the source of the difficulty, and
+rectify the evil of human nature, which consisted in a want of
+benevolent affection.[35] Inferring from the nature of man what would
+be necessary, and trusting in the goodness of the Deity to grant the
+requisite aid, they expressed their belief that a Divine Teacher would
+come from heaven, who would restore truth and happiness to the human
+soul.[36]
+
+    [35] That Plato had some idea of the want, and none of what was
+    necessary to supply it, may be seen in the fact that in order to
+    make men love as brethren, which he saw to be necessary, he
+    recommended a community of wives to the members of his ideal
+    republic.
+
+    [36] In Plato's dialogue upon the duties of religious worship, a
+    passage occurs, the design of which appears to be, to show that
+    man could not, of himself, learn either the nature of the gods, or
+    the proper manner of worshipping them, unless an instructor should
+    come from heaven. The following remarkable passage occurs between
+    Socrates and Alcibiades:--
+
+    _Socrates._--To me it appears best to be patient. It is necessary
+    to wait till you learn how you ought to act towards the gods, and
+    towards men.
+
+    _Alcibiades._--When, O Socrates, shall that time be? and who shall
+    instruct me? for most willingly would I see this person, who he
+    is.
+
+    _Socrates._--He is one who cares for you; but, as Homer represents
+    Minerva as taking away darkness from the eyes of Diomedes, that he
+    might distinguish a god from a man: so it is necessary that he
+    should first take away the darkness from your mind, and then bring
+    near those things by which you shall know good and evil.
+
+    _Alcibiades._--Let him take away the darkness, or any other thing,
+    if he will; for whoever this man is, I am prepared to refuse none
+    of the things which he commands, if I shall be made
+    better.--_Platonis Alcibiad._ ii.
+
+It is strange that among philosophers of succeeding ages there has
+not been wisdom sufficient to discover, from the constitutional
+necessities of the human spirit, that demand for the instruction and
+aid of the Messiah which Socrates and Plato discovered, even in a
+comparatively dark age.
+
+There are two insuperable difficulties which would for ever hinder the
+restoration of mankind to truth and happiness from being accomplished
+by human means. The first, which has been already alluded to, is that
+human instruction, as such, has no power to bind the conscience. Even
+if man were competent to discover all the truth necessary for a
+perfect rule of conduct, yet that truth would have no reformatory
+power, because men could never feel that truth was obligatory which
+proceeded from merely human sources. It is an obvious principle of our
+nature that the conscience will not charge guilt on the soul for
+disobedience, when the command proceeds from a fellow man who is not
+recognised as having the prerogative and the right to require
+submission. And besides, as men's minds are variously constituted, and
+of various capacities, there could be no agreement in such a case
+concerning the question, 'What is truth?' As well might we expect two
+schoolboys to reform each other's manners in school, without the aid
+of the teacher's authority, as that men can reform their fellows
+without the sanction of that authority which will quicken and bind the
+conscience. The human conscience was made to recognise and enforce the
+authority of God; and unless there is belief in the Divine obligation
+of truth, conscience refuses to perform its office.
+
+But the grand difficulty is this:--Truth, whether sanctioned by
+conscience or not, has no power, as has been shown, to produce love in
+the heart. The law may convict and guide the mind, but it has no power
+to soften or to change the affections. This was the precise thing
+necessary, and this necessary end the wisdom of the world could not
+accomplish. All the wisdom of all the philosophers in all ages could
+never cause the affections of the soul to rise to the holy, blessed God.
+To destroy selfish pride, and produce humility--to eradicate the evil
+passions, and produce in the soul desires for the universal good, and
+love for the universal Parent, were beyond the reach of earthly wisdom
+and power. The wisdom of the world in their efforts to give truth and
+happiness to the human soul, was foolishness with God; and the wisdom of
+God--Christ crucified--was foolishness with the philosophers, in
+relation to the same subject;[37] yet it was Divine philosophy: an
+adapted means, and the only adequate means, to accomplish the necessary
+end. Said an apostle, in speaking upon this subject: 'The Jews require a
+sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified,
+unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness: but
+unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of
+God, and the wisdom of God.' The Jews, while they required a sign, did
+not perceive that miracles, in themselves, were not adapted to produce
+affection. And the Greeks, while they sought after wisdom, did not
+perceive that all the wisdom of the Gentiles would never work love in
+the heart. But the apostle preached 'Christ crucified,' an exhibition of
+self-denial, of suffering, and of self-sacrificing love and mercy,
+endured in behalf of men; which, when received by faith, became 'the
+power of God, and the wisdom of God,' to produce love and obedience in
+the human soul. Paul understood the efficacy of the cross. He looked to
+Calvary and beheld Christ crucified as the sun of the Gospel system. Not
+as the moon, reflecting cold and borrowed rays; but as the Sun of
+righteousness, glowing with radiant mercy, and pouring warm beams of
+life and love into the open bosom of the believer.
+
+    [37] From an observation of one of the Fathers, it would seem that
+    after the Gospel had been preached among the Greeks, many of them
+    perceived its adaptedness to accomplish the end for which they had
+    sought in vain. 'Philosophy,' says Clemens, of Alexandria, 'led
+    the Greeks to Christ, as the law did the Jews.'
+
+    Concluding paragraph of the apology of M. Minucius Felix in
+    defence of Christianity, A.D. 250:
+
+    'To conclude: the sum of our boasting is, that we are got into
+    possession of what the philosophers have been always in quest of;
+    and what, with all their application, they could never find. Why,
+    then, so much ill-will stirring against us? If Divine truth is
+    come to perfection in our time, let us make a good use of the
+    blessing; let us govern our knowledge with discretion; let
+    superstition and impiety be no more; and let true religion triumph
+    in their stead.'
+
+
+_4. Analogy between the moral and physical laws of the universe._
+
+The laws which govern physical nature are analogous to those which the
+gospel introduces into the spiritual world. The earth is held to the
+sun by the power of attraction, and performs regularly its circuit
+round the central sustaining luminary: maintaining, at the same time,
+its equal relations with its sister planets. But the moral system upon
+the earth is a chaos of derangement. The attraction of _affection_
+which holds the soul to God has been broken, and the soul of man,
+actuated by selfishness--revolving upon its own centre only--jars in
+its course with its fellow spirits, and crosses their orbits; and the
+whole system of the spiritual world upon earth revolves in disorder,
+the orbs wandering and rolling away from that centre of moral life and
+power which alone could hold them in harmonious and happy motion. Into
+the midst of this chaos of disordered spirits, God, the Sun of the
+spiritual world, came down. He shed light upon the moral darkness, and
+by coming near, like the approaches of a mighty magnet, the attraction
+of his mercy, as manifested in Christ crucified, became so powerful,
+that many spirits, rolling away into darkness and destruction, felt
+the efficacy, and were drawn back, and caused to move again, in their
+regular orbits, around the 'Light,' and 'Life,' and 'Love' of the
+spiritual system.
+
+If free agency could be predicated of the bodies of the solar system,
+the great law which governs their movements might be imposed on
+them--_of attraction to the Sun, and mutual attraction among
+themselves_. Similar is the great law of the spiritual world: 'Thou
+shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, and thy neighbour as
+thyself.' Now, if a planet had broken away from its orbit, it would
+have a tendency to fly off for ever, and it never could be restored,
+unless the sun, the great centre of attraction, could, in some way,
+follow it in its wanderings, and thus by the increased power of his
+attraction, as he approached nearer to the fallen planet, attach it to
+himself, and then draw it back again to its original orbit. So with
+the human spirit; its affections were alienated from God, the centre
+of spiritual attraction, and they could never have been restored,
+unless God had approached, and by the increased power of his mercy, as
+manifested in the self-denial, sufferings, and death of Christ, united
+man again to himself, by the power of affection, that he might thus
+draw him up from his misery and sin, to revolve around him, in harmony
+and love, for ever.
+
+If this earth had, by some means, broken away from the sun, there
+would be no way possible of recovering it again to its place in the
+system but that which has been mentioned--that the sun should leave
+his central position, and approach the wandering orb, and thus, by the
+increased power of his attraction, draw back the earth to its original
+position. But the sun could not thus leave the centre of the system
+without drawing all the other planets from their orbits by the
+movement to recover the lost one. The relations of the system would be
+broken up, and the whole solar economy sacrificed, if the universal
+and equal law of gravitation were infringed by the sun changing his
+position and his relations in the system.
+
+Further, the established laws of the physical universe would render
+it impossible that any other planet should be the instrument of
+recovering the earth to the sun. If another planet should approach the
+earth while thus wandering, the increased power of attraction would
+cause the two globes to revolve round each other; or if the
+approaching planet was of greater magnitude, the earth would revolve
+as a satellite round it. But this would not be to restore the earth to
+its place in the system, nor to its movement round the sun, but to fix
+it in a wrong position and a wrong movement, and thus alienate it for
+ever from the central source of light and heat. It follows, therefore,
+that in accordance with the established laws of the solar system, the
+earth could never be recovered, but would fly off for ever, or be
+broken into asteroids.
+
+There would, therefore, be no way possible for the recovery of the
+earth, unless God should adopt an expedient unknown to the physical
+laws of the universe. This, all who believe that God is almighty, and
+himself the Author of those laws, will allow that he might do. That
+expedient must not destroy the great laws of the system, upon which
+the safety of all its parts depends, but an augmented force of
+attraction must be thrown upon the earth from the sun itself, which
+would be sufficient to check the force of its departing momentum, and
+gradually draw it back to its place. If a portion of the magnetic
+power of the sun could be thrown into the earth, an adhesion would
+take place between it and the earth, and then, after the cord was
+fastened, if that body of attractive matter could ascend again to the
+body of the sun, the earth would receive the returning impulse, and a
+new and peculiar influence would be created to draw it back to its
+allegiance to the sun. If, as has been said, the power came from any
+other body but the sun itself, or attracted towards any other body,
+the earth would lose its place in the system for ever.[38]
+
+    [38] These illustrations are not to be applied to the mode of
+    existence, or subsistence, in the Godhead; but as God is the
+    Author of both the physical and moral laws, and as the attraction
+    of gravitation in physics corresponds with the attraction of
+    affection in morals, an analogy of what would be necessary under
+    one, is taken to what was accomplished by Christ under the other.
+
+So in the moral world: God's relations to the moral universe must be
+sustained. The infinite justice and holiness of the Divine law must
+not be compromised. The end to be gained is, to draw man, as a
+revolted sinner, back to God, while the integrity of God's moral
+government is maintained. Now _affection_ is the attraction of the
+moral universe. And, in accordance with the foregoing deduction, to
+reclaim alienated man to God would be impossible, unless there should
+be a manifestation of the Godhead in the world to attract to himself
+man's estranged affections; and then, after the affinity was fastened
+by faith, by his ascending again to the bosom of the Deity, mankind
+would thus be gradually drawn back to allegiance to Jehovah.
+
+
+_5. Illustrations from nature and the Scriptures._
+
+The plan of salvation is likened to a vine which has fallen down from
+the boughs of an oak. It lies prone upon the ground; it crawls in the
+dust, and all its tendrils and claspers, which were formed to hold it
+in the lofty place from which it has fallen, are twined around the
+weed and the bramble, and having no strength to raise itself, it lies
+fruitless and corrupting, tied down to the base things of the earth.
+Now, how shall the vine arise from its fallen condition? But one way
+is possible for the vine to rise again to the place from whence it had
+fallen. The bough of the lofty oak must be let down, or some
+communication must be formed connected with the top of the oak, and at
+the same time with the earth. Then, when the bough of the oak was let
+down to the place where the vine lay, its tender claspers might fasten
+upon it, and, thus supported, it might raise itself up, and bloom and
+bear fruit again in the lofty place from whence it fell. So with
+man--his affections had fallen from God, and were fastened to the base
+things of the earth. Jesus Christ came down, and by his humanity
+stood upon the earth, and by his Divinity raised his hands and united
+himself with the Deity of the everlasting Father: thus the fallen
+affections of man may fasten upon him, and twine around him, until
+they again ascend to the bosom of the Godhead, from whence they fell.
+
+It was thus that prophets, evangelists, apostles, and the Son of God
+himself, presented the Divine scheme of human redemption. Christ is
+the 'Branch' by which the vine may recover itself from its prone and
+base condition: he is the 'Arm of the Lord' by which he reaches down
+and rescues sinful men from the ruins of the fall: 'through whom,'
+says Peter, 'ye believe in God' [that is, believe in God manifested
+through Christ], 'that raised him up from the dead, and gave him
+glory, that your faith and hope might be in God.' Says Paul, 'Your
+life is hid with Christ in God.' Jesus himself proclaimed that the
+believer should have within him 'a well of water, springing up into
+everlasting life'--that is, he that believeth in Christ crucified, the
+hard heart within him will be struck by the rod of faith, and in his
+soul there will be a well of pure and living affection springing up to
+God for ever. And again: 'Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on
+me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me, and he that seeth me
+seeth him that sent me'--that is, Christ was _God acting_, developing
+the Divine attributes through human nature, so that men might
+apprehend and realise them. God might have been as merciful as he is
+if Christ had never died; but man could never have known the extent,
+nor felt the power, of his mercy, but by the exhibition on the cross.
+His mercy could have been manifested to man's heart in no other way.
+And men cannot love God for what he truly is, unless they love him as
+manifested in the suffering and death of Christ Jesus. 'I am the Way,
+the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.' 'If
+ye had known me, ye would have known my Father also; and from
+henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.'
+
+
+_6. The preceding views established by reductio ad absurdum._
+
+It is necessary that man should know the character of the true God,
+and feel the influence of that character upon his mind and heart. But
+human nature, as at present constituted, could not be made to feel the
+goodness of God's mercy unless God--blessed be his name!--should make
+self-denials for man's benefit; either by assuming human nature, or in
+some other way. And is it not true that God could make self-denials
+for men in no other way than would be plain to their apprehension,
+except by embodying his Godhead in human nature? Mercy can be
+manifested to man, so as to make an impression upon his heart, in no
+other way than by labour and self-denial. This principle is obvious.
+Suppose an individual is confined, under condemnation of the law, and
+the governor, in the exercise of his powers, pardons him: this act of
+clemency would produce upon the heart of the criminal no particular
+effect, either to make him grateful, or to make him better. He might,
+perhaps, be sensible of a complacent feeling for the release granted;
+but so long as he knew that his release cost the governor nothing but
+an act of his will, there would be no basis in the prisoner's mind for
+gratitude and love. The liberated man would feel more gratitude to one
+of his friends, who had laboured to get petitions before the governor
+for his release, than to the governor who released him. To vary the
+illustration: Suppose that two persons, who are liable to be destroyed
+in the flames of a burning dwelling, are rescued by two separate
+individuals. The one is enabled to escape by an individual who,
+perceiving his danger, steps up to the door and opens it, without any
+effort or self-denial on his part. The other is rescued in a different
+manner. An individual, perceiving his danger and liability to death,
+ascends to him, and by a severe effort, and while he is himself
+suffering from the flames, holds open the door until the inmate
+escapes for his life. Now, the one who opened the door without
+self-denial may have been merciful, and the individual relieved would
+recognise the act as a kindness done to one in peril; but no one would
+feel that _that_ act proved that the man who delivered the other
+manifested any special mercy, because any man would have done the
+same act. But the one who ascended the ladder and rescued, by peril,
+and by personal suffering, the individual liable to death, would
+manifest special mercy, and all who observed it would acknowledge the
+claim; and the individual rescued would feel the mercy of the act,
+melting his heart into gratitude to his deliverer unless his heart
+were a moral petrifaction.
+
+What are, in reality, the facts by which alone men may know that any
+being possesses a benevolent nature? Not, certainly, by that being
+conferring benefits upon others, which cost him neither personal labour
+nor self-denial; because we could not tell but these favours would cease
+the moment they involved the least degree of sacrifice, or the moment
+they interfered with his selfish interests. But when it requires a
+sacrifice, on the part of a benefactor, to bestow a favour, and that
+sacrifice is made, then benevolence of heart is made evidently manifest.
+Now mark--any being who is prompted, by benevolence of heart, to make
+sacrifices, may not lose happiness, in the aggregate, by so doing; for a
+benevolent nature finds happiness in performing benevolent acts.
+Self-denials are, therefore, not only the appropriate method of
+manifesting benevolence to men, but they are likewise the appropriate
+manifestations of a benevolent nature. Now, suppose God is perfectly
+benevolent; then, it follows in view of the foregoing deductions, in
+order to manifest his true nature to men, self-denials would be
+necessary, in order that men might see and feel that 'God is love.' It
+is clear, therefore, that those who reject the Divinity of Christ, as
+connected with the atonement, cannot believe in God's benevolence;
+because God is really as benevolent as the self-denials of Christ
+(believed in as Divine) will lead men to feel that he is: nor can they
+believe in the mercy of God in any way that will produce an effect upon
+their hearts. To say that the human heart can be deeply affected by
+mercy that is not manifested by self-denial, is to show but little
+knowledge of the springs which move the inner life of the human soul.
+Man will feel a degree of love and gratitude for a benefactor who
+manifests an interest in his wants, and labours to supply them; but he
+will feel a greater degree of grateful love for the benefactor who
+manifests an interest in his wants, and makes self-denials to aid him.
+To deny, therefore, the Divine and meritorious character of the
+atonement, is to shut out both the evidence and the effect of God's
+mercy from the soul.
+
+In accordance with this view is the teaching of the Scriptures. There
+is but one thing which is charged against men, in the New Testament,
+as a fundamental and soul-destroying _heresy_, and that is, not
+denying the Lord, but 'denying the Lord that bought them.' It is
+rejecting the purchase of Christ by his self-denying atonement which
+causes the destruction of the soul, because it rejects the truth which
+alone can produce love to the God of love.
+
+But further: the facts have been fully proved, that God Jehovah, by
+taking a personal interest in the well-being of the Israelites, and
+labouring to secure their redemption, secured their affections to
+himself; and that his acts of mercy produced this effect was
+manifested by their song after their final deliverance at the Red Sea.
+'I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the
+horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my
+strength and song, and he is become my salvation.' In like manner,
+Jesus Christ secured to himself, in a greater degree, the affections
+of Christians, by his self-denying life and death, to ransom them from
+spiritual bondage and misery. The Israelites in Egypt were under a
+temporal law so severe, that while they suffered in the greatest
+degree, they could not fulfil its requirements: they therefore loved
+Jehovah for temporal deliverance. The believer was under a spiritual
+law, the requirements of which he could not fulfil, and therefore he
+loved Christ for spiritual deliverance. This fact, that the supreme
+affection of believers was thus fixed upon Christ, and fixed upon him
+in view of his self-sacrificing love for them, is manifest throughout
+the whole New Testament--even more manifest than that the Jews loved
+Jehovah for temporal deliverance. 'The love of Christ constraineth
+us,' says one: thus manifesting that his very life was actuated by
+affection for Jesus. Says another--speaking of early Christians
+generally--'Whom [Christ] having not seen, ye love; in whom, though
+now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and
+full of glory.' The Bible requires religious men to perform religious
+duties, moved by love to Christ: 'And whatsoever ye do, do it
+heartily, as to the Lord and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye
+shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord
+Christ.' Mark--these Christians were moved in what they did, what they
+said, and what they felt, by love to Christ: love to Jesus actuated
+their whole being, body and soul. It governed them.
+
+Now, suppose that Jesus Christ was not God, nor a true manifestation
+of the Godhead in human nature, but a man, or angel, authorised by God
+to accomplish the redemption of the human race from sin and misery. In
+doing this, it appears, from the nature of things, and from the
+Scriptures, that he did what was adapted to, and what does, draw the
+heart of every true believer--as in the case of the apostle and the
+early Christians--to himself, as the supreme or governing object of
+affection. Their will is governed by the will of Christ; and love to
+him moves their heart and hands. Now, if it be true that Jesus Christ
+is not God, then he has devised and executed a plan by which the
+supreme affections of the human heart are drawn to himself, and
+alienated from God, the proper object of love and worship: and, God
+having authorised this plan, he has devised means to make man love
+Christ, the creature, more than the Creator, who is God over all,
+blessed for evermore.
+
+But it is said that, Christ having taught and suffered by the will and
+authority of God, we are under obligation to love God for what Christ
+has done for us. It is answered, that this is impossible. We cannot
+love one being for what another does or suffers on our behalf. We can
+love no being for labours and self-denials in our behalf, but that
+being who voluntarily labours and denies himself. It is the kindness
+and mercy exhibited in the self-denial that moves the affections; and
+the affections can move to no being but the one that makes the
+self-denials, because it is the self-denials that draw out the love of
+the heart.
+
+It is still said, that Christ was sent by God to do his will and not
+his own; and therefore we ought to love God, as the Being to whom
+gratitude and love are due for what Christ said and suffered. Then it
+is answered: If God willed that Christ, as a creature of his, should
+come, and by his sufferings and death redeem sinners, we ought not to
+love Christ for it, because he did it as a creature, in obedience to
+the commands of God, and was not self-moved nor meritorious in the
+work; and we cannot love God for it, for the labour and self-denial
+were not borne by him. And further: If one being, by an act of his
+authority, should cause another innocent being to suffer, in order
+that he might be loved who had imposed the suffering, but not borne
+it, it would render him unworthy of love. If God had caused Jesus
+Christ, being his creature, to suffer, that he might be loved himself
+for Christ's sufferings, while he had no connection with them, instead
+of such an exhibition, on the part of God, producing love to him, it
+would produce pity for Christ, and aversion towards God. So that,
+neither God, nor Christ, nor any other being, can be loved for mercy
+extended, by self-denials to the needy, unless those self-denials were
+produced by a voluntary act of mercy upon the part of the being who
+suffers them; and no being, but the one who made the sacrifices, could
+be meritorious in the case. It follows, therefore, incontrovertibly,
+that if Christ was a creature--no matter of how exalted worth--and not
+God; and if God approved of his work in saving sinners, he approved of
+treason against his own government; because, in that case, the work of
+Christ was adapted to draw, and did necessarily draw, the affections
+of the human soul to himself, as its spiritual Saviour, and thus
+alienate them from God, their rightful object. And Jesus Christ
+himself had the design of drawing men's affections to himself in view,
+by his crucifixion: says he, 'And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
+will draw all men unto me.' This he said, signifying what death he
+should die: thus distinctly stating that it was the self-denials and
+mercy exhibited in the crucifixion that would draw out the affections
+of the human soul, and that those affections would be drawn to himself
+as the suffering Saviour. But that God would sanction a scheme which
+would involve treason against himself, and that Christ should
+participate in it, is absurd and impossible, and therefore cannot be
+true.
+
+But if the Divine nature was united with the human in the teaching and
+work of Christ--if 'God was in Christ,' [drawing the affections of
+men, or] 'reconciling the world unto himself'--if, when Christ was
+lifted up, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, he drew,
+as he said he would, the affections of all believers unto himself; and
+then, if he ascended, as the second person of the Trinity, into the
+bosom of the eternal Godhead--he thereby, after he had engaged, by his
+work on earth, the affections of the human soul, bore them up to the
+bosom of the Father, from whence they had fallen. Thus the ruins of
+the fall were rebuilt, and the affections of the human soul again
+restored to God, the Creator, and proper object of supreme love. Oh
+the length, and the breadth, and the depth, and the height, of the
+Divine wisdom and goodness, as manifested in the wonderful plan of
+salvation! 'Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in
+the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
+Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.' Amen.
+Blessing and honour, dominion, and power, be unto Him that sitteth
+upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever. Amen and amen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE INFLUENCE OF FAITH IN CHRIST UPON THE MORAL DISPOSITION AND MORAL
+POWERS OF THE SOUL.
+
+
+It has been demonstrated that the teaching and atonement of God the
+Saviour would draw to him, by faith, the affections of the human
+heart. We will now inquire what particular effect that faith in Christ
+which works by love has upon the moral disposition, the conscience,
+the imagination, and the life of believers. Would faith in Christ, as
+a Divine, suffering Saviour, quicken, and regulate, and harmonize the
+moral powers of the soul?
+
+_1. The influence of faith in Christ upon the moral disposition of
+the soul._--When its disposition is affected, the soul is affected
+to the centre of its being. By disposition is meant the desires or
+predilections of the heart, which influence the choice of the will
+to do good or evil. The radical difference of character in spirits
+depends upon their disposition. The spirit that has a settled love
+for sin and hatred for holiness is a devil, whether it be in time or
+eternity--embodied or disembodied. And that spirit which has a
+settled love for holiness is a benevolent spirit, in whatever
+condition it exists. A devil or malignant spirit is one that seeks
+its gratification in habitually doing evil. A holy being, or
+benevolent spirit, is one that finds its gratification in habitually
+doing good. Whatever, therefore, affects the moral disposition of
+the soul, affects, radically, the character of the soul. It becomes,
+therefore, a question of the deepest interest--What effect will
+faith in Christ have upon man's moral disposition?
+
+The solution of this inquiry is not difficult. Is Jesus Christ holy?
+All Christendom--sceptics and believers--answers in the affirmative.
+Now the love of a holy being will, as a necessary result, counteract
+unholiness in the heart. Holiness is the antagonistic principle of
+sin. The soul cannot love a holy being, and at the same time cherish
+those principles and exercises which it is conscious are offensive to
+the soul of the beloved object. From the nature of the case, love to
+holiness will produce opposition to sin. Love is the fulfilling of the
+law, and sin is the transgression of the law; so that, while the soul
+is entirely actuated in all its exercises by pure love to Christ,
+those exercises of the heart cannot be sinful.
+
+When the heart is attached to any being, especially when that being is
+lovely and pure in his character, it becomes averse to everything
+which, from its evil nature, causes suffering to the object of its
+affections. There are few things which will cause one to feel so
+sensibly the evil of sin as to see that his sins are causing anguish
+to one that he loves.
+
+It is said of Zeleucus, a king of the ancient Locri, that he enacted a
+law, the penalty of which was that the offender should lose both his
+eyes. One of his sons became a transgressor of that law. The father
+had his attachment to his son, and regard to the law he himself had
+promulgated as righteous in its requirements and in its penalty. The
+lawgiver, it is said, ordered his son into his presence, and required
+that one of his eyes should be taken out, and then, in order to show
+mercy to his son, and at the same time maintain the penalty of the
+law, he sacrificed one of his own eyes as a ransom for the remaining
+eye of his child. Now we do not refer to this case as a perfect
+analogy, but to show the moral effect of such an exhibition of justice
+and self-sacrificing mercy. As man is constituted, it is perfectly
+certain that this transaction would produce two effects; one upon the
+subjects of the king, which would be to impress upon every heart that
+the law was sacred, and that the lawgiver thus regarded it. This
+impression would be made much more strongly than it would have been if
+the king had ordered that his son should lose both his eyes; because
+it manifested, in the strongest manner possible, his love for his son,
+and his sacred regard for his law. If he had allowed his son to
+escape, it would have exhibited to his subjects less love for his
+law; and if he had executed the whole penalty of the law upon the son,
+instead of bearing a portion of it himself, he would have manifested
+less love for his son. The king was the lawgiver; he therefore had the
+power to pardon his son, without inflicting the penalty upon him, and
+without enduring any sacrifice himself. Every mind, therefore, would
+feel that it was a voluntary act on the part of the king; and such an
+exhibition of justice and mercy, maintaining the law and saving his
+son by his own sacrifice, would impress all minds with the deepest
+reverence for the character of the lawgiver, and for the sacredness of
+the law.
+
+But another effect, deep and lasting in its character, would be
+produced upon the son who had transgressed the law. Every time that he
+looked upon his father, or remembered what he had suffered for his
+transgression, it would increase his love for him, increase his
+reverence for the law, and cause an abhorrence of his crime to arise
+in his soul. His feelings would be more kind towards his sire, more
+submissive to the law, and more averse to transgression.
+
+Now this is precisely the effect necessary to be produced, in order
+that pardon may be extended to transgressors, and yet just and
+righteous government be maintained. If civil law had some expedient
+by which, with the offer of pardon, some influence could be exerted
+upon the heart of the transgressor which would entirely change his
+character; an influence which would make him love the law he had
+transgressed, hate the crime he had committed, hate himself for
+committing it, and implant within him the spirit of an obedient and
+faithful subject--if such an effect could be produced by pardon, then
+pardon would be safe; because there would be some means, or some
+moral power, connected with it, that would, at the same time that the
+pardon was granted, change the moral disposition of the criminal from
+that of a rebellious to that of a faithful and affectionate subject.
+This expedient the civil law can never have. Such an expedient was
+that of Zeleucus, the self-sacrificed lawgiver and father. Such an
+expedient, in some respects, in the moral government of God, is the
+atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 'He,' says the prophet, 'was
+bruised for our iniquities;' says the apostle, 'He bare our sins in
+his own body on the tree;' says himself, 'This is my body broken for
+you.' Now two effects would follow this exhibition of the
+self-sacrificing love of Christ. One in the heart of the believing
+sinner; every time he realized by faith that the Divine Saviour
+suffered the rebuke, the scorn, and the cross, as a sacrifice for his
+sins, he would regard the Saviour with greater love; and sin, which
+caused the suffering of his Divine Benefactor, he would regard in
+himself and others with greater abhorrence. Another effect which
+would result would be that all the holy beings in the universe, if
+they had knowledge of the self-sacrifice of God the Saviour, as an
+atonement to maintain the law and redeem sinners, would be inspired
+with greater reverence for the eternal law, and greater aversion to
+sin. Thus would the faith of Christ affect the moral disposition of
+believers, and of all holy beings throughout the universe; drawing
+the believer back to holiness and obedience, and adding a new motive
+to confirm holy beings in happy allegiance.
+
+The language of the apostle confirms this view: 'What the law could
+not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own
+Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the
+flesh'--that is, the law, although it had power to show to the mind
+the evil and the guilt of sin, had no power to produce in the heart an
+aversion to it; but Christ coming in the body, and dying for sin, in
+that way reaches man's moral feelings, and creates a sentiment of
+condemnation of, or aversion to, sin in the heart of every believer.
+
+A feeling cannot be manifested by intellect or will. A communication
+of knowledge, or law, does not manifest feeling so that it produces
+feeling in others. The moral feelings of God were manifested by the
+sacrifice of Christ; and that manifestation, through the flesh,
+affects the moral feelings of man, assimilates them to God, and
+produces an aversion to sin--the abominable thing which God hates.
+Blessed faith! which, while it purifies the heart, works by the sweet
+influence of love in accomplishing the believer's sanctification.
+
+_2. The influence of faith in Christ upon the moral sense, or
+conscience of believers._--To a mind endowed with the higher qualities
+of reason, there can be no more interesting thought than that noticed
+in a previous demonstration; which was, that a man's conscience is
+guided by his faith. Conscience is the highest moral faculty, or
+rather the governing moral power of the soul; and this governing
+faculty is regulated and controlled by faith. Man's conscience always
+follows his religious belief, and changes with it, and grows weak or
+strong with it. Now, as God has so constituted the world that the
+affections, and likewise the conscience, are affected and controlled
+by faith; and the purity of the one, and the integrity of the other,
+and the activity of both, depend upon what man believes: this being
+true, no mind can avoid the conviction, that the principle of FAITH,
+which Christ has laid at the foundation of the Christian system, is
+from the nature of things, the only principle through the operation of
+which man's moral powers can be brought into happy, harmonious, and
+perfect activity. But this happy effect, as has been shown, can be
+produced only by faith in the truth; and besides, it is an intuition
+of reason, that God certainly would not make the soul so that its
+moral powers would be controlled by faith, and then cause that faith
+in falsehood should perfect and make happy those powers. Such a
+supposition would be a violation of reason, as well as an impiety. In
+searching, therefore, for the answer to the inquiry, What is truth? as
+it concerns the spiritual interests of man, the direct process of
+solution would be, to inquire what effect certain facts, or supposed
+facts, would have upon the moral disposition and moral powers of the
+soul; and that faith which quickens and rectifies those powers, as we
+have noticed, is necessarily truth.
+
+We come now to the inquiry, _What effect has faith in Christ--in his
+Divinity, in his teaching, and in his atonement for sin--upon the
+conscience of believers?_
+
+The answer is plain. In those who received Christ as possessing
+supreme authority as a Divine Teacher, their faith would so affect
+their conscience, that it would reprove for every neglect of
+conformity to the example of Jesus. The moment faith recognises Christ
+as a Divine instructor, that moment conscience recognises his
+instruction and his example as obligatory to be received and
+practised. To the believer, the teachings and example of Christ have
+not only the force of truth, recognised as such by the understanding,
+but they have likewise the authority of supreme law, as coming from
+that Divine Being who is the rightful Lawgiver of the soul. Now, then,
+if faith in Christ would regulate the conscience according to his
+example and precepts, the only inquiry which remains is, Were the
+example and precepts of Christ a perfect rule of duty towards God and
+men? This inquiry has been the subject of examination in another
+chapter, in which the fact was shown--which has been generally
+admitted by all men, believers and sceptics--that Christ's example of
+piety towards God, and kindness towards men, was perfect. When this is
+admitted, the consecutive fact follows, whether men perceive it or
+not, that in the case of all who receive him as their Lord and
+Lawgiver, the conscience would be regulated according to a perfect
+standard, and guided by a perfect rule.
+
+But further--While it is true that a knowledge of duty guides the
+conscience, and a knowledge of the Divine authority of the lawgiver
+binds it, by imposing a sense of obligation, it is likewise true that
+faith in Christ's atoning sacrifice has peculiar efficacy to
+strengthen this sense of obligation. Two men may have an equal
+knowledge of duty, and yet one feel, much more than the other, a sense
+of obligation to perform it: whatever, therefore, increases the sense
+of obligation, increases the power of conscience, and thereby promotes
+in a greater degree active conformity of the life to the rule of duty.
+
+The atonement of Christ increases the sense of obligation, by waking
+into exercise gratitude and hope in the soul of the believer.
+Gratitude gives the conscience a power in the soul where it exists,
+which could arise from no other source. Conscience reproves for the
+neglect of known duty; but to neglect duty, when it involves the sense
+of gratitude to the kindest of benefactors, is to arm the moral sense
+of the soul with a two-edged sword. When the lawgiver is likewise the
+benefactor, conscience rebukes, not only for wrongdoing, but for
+ingratitude. One step further--
+
+When the being who claims our obedience is not only our benefactor,
+but the object of all our hopes, the power of obligation is still
+further increased. To disobey a being whom we ought to obey, would be
+wrong; to disobey that being, if he were our self-denying benefactor,
+would be ingratitude added to the wrong; and to disobey that being, if
+from him we hoped for all future good, would be to add unworthiness to
+wrong and ingratitude. Thus, faith in Christ Jesus combines the sense
+of wrong, of ingratitude, and unworthiness, in the rebuke which
+conscience gives to the delinquent believer; and obedience to the
+Redeemer's example and precepts is enforced by the united power of
+duty, gratitude, and hope.
+
+Further, and finally--Conscience recognises the fact that our obligation
+of gratitude is in proportion to the benefit conferred. If a benefactor
+has endured great sacrifices and self-denials to benefit us, the
+obligation of gratitude binds us the more strongly to respect the will
+and feelings of that individual. Conscience feels the obligation of
+gratitude just in proportion to the self-denials and sacrifices made in
+our behalf. If a friend risks his interest to the amount of a dollar, or
+an hour of time, to benefit us, the obligation of gratitude upon the
+conscience is light, but still there is a sense of obligation; but if a
+friend risks his life, and wades through deep afflictions, to confer
+benefits, the universal conscience of man would affirm the obligation,
+and would reprobate the conduct of the individual benefited, as base
+and unnatural, if he did not ever after manifest an affectionate regard
+for the interests and the desires of his benefactor.
+
+Thus, by faith in Jesus Christ, the conscience is not only guided by a
+perfect rule, but it is likewise quickened and empowered by a perfect
+sense of obligation. Christ is the Divine Lawgiver; therefore it is
+right to obey him. He is our Benefactor; gratitude, therefore,
+requires obedience. But as our Benefactor he has endured the utmost
+self-denial and sacrifice for our sake, therefore we are under the
+utmost obligation of gratitude to return self-denial and sacrifice for
+his sake; or, in the words of an apostle, 'He died for all, that they
+which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him
+which died for them, and rose again;' and, added to this, our hope of
+all future good rests in the same Being that right and gratitude
+require us to obey and love. Thus does a perfect faith in Christ
+perfect the conscience of believers, by guiding, quickening, and by
+producing a perfect sense of obligation.
+
+_3. The influence of faith, in Christ upon the imagination._--There
+are few exercises of the mind fraught with so much evil, and yet so
+little regarded, as that of an evil imagination. Many individuals
+spend much of their time in a labour of spirit which is vain and
+useless, and often very hurtful to the moral character of the soul.
+The spirit is borne off upon the wings of an active imagination, and
+expatiates among ideal conceptions that are improbable, absurd, and
+sinful. Some people spend about as much time in day-dreams as they do
+in night-dreams. Imaginations of popularity, pleasure, or wealth
+employ the minds of worldly men, and perchance the Christian dreams of
+wealth, and of magnificent plans of benevolence, or of schemes less
+pious in their character. It is difficult to convey a distinct idea of
+the evil under consideration, without supposing a case like the
+following:
+
+One day, while a young man was employed silently about his usual
+pursuits, he imagined a train of circumstances by which he supposed
+himself to be put in possession of great wealth; and then he imagined
+that he would be the master of a splendid mansion surrounded with
+grounds devoted to profit and amusement--he would keep horses and
+conveyances that would be perfect in all points, and servants that
+would want nothing in faithfulness or affection--he would be great in
+the eyes of men, and associate with the great among men, and render
+himself admired or honoured by his generation. Thus his soul wandered,
+for hours, amid the ideal creations of his own fancy.
+
+Now, much of men's time, when their attention might be employed by
+useful topics of thought, is thus spent in building 'castles in the
+air.' Some extraordinary circumstance is thought of by which they
+might be enriched, and then hours are wasted in foolishly imagining
+the manner in which they would expend their imaginary funds. Such
+excursions of the fancy may be said to be comparatively innocent, and
+they are so, compared with the more guilty exercises of a great
+portion of mankind. The mind of the politician and of the partisan
+divine is employed in forming schemes of triumph over their opponents.
+The minds of the votaries of fashion, of both sexes, are employed in
+imagining displays and triumphs at home and abroad; and those of them
+who are vicious at heart, not having their attention engaged by any
+useful occupation, pollute their souls by cherishing imaginary scenes
+of folly and licentiousness. And not only the worthless votaries of
+the world, but likewise the followers of the holy Jesus, are sometimes
+led captive by an unsanctified imagination. Not that they indulge in
+the sinful reveries which characterise the unregenerate sons and
+daughters of time and sense; but their thoughts wander to unprofitable
+topics, and wander at times when they should be fixed on those truths
+which have a sanctifying efficacy upon the heart. In the solemn
+assemblies for public worship, many of those whose bodies are bowed
+and their eyes closed in token of reverence for God, are yet mocking
+their Maker by assuming the external semblance of worshippers, while
+their souls are away roaming amid a labyrinth of irrelevant and sinful
+thought.
+
+It is not affirmed that the exercises of the imagination are
+necessarily evil. Imagination is one of the noblest attributes of the
+human spirit; and there is something in the fact that the soul has
+power to create, by its own combinations, scenes of rare beauty, and
+of perfect happiness, unsullied by the imperfections which pertain to
+earthly things, that indicates not only its nobility, but perhaps its
+future life. When the imagination is employed in painting the beauties
+of nature, or in collecting the beauties of sentiment and devotion,
+and in grouping them together by the sweet measures of poetry, its
+exercises have a benign influence upon the spirit. It is like
+presenting 'apples of gold in pictures of silver' for the survey of
+the soul. The imagination may degrade and corrupt, or it may elevate
+and refine the feelings of the heart. The inquiry, then, is important.
+How may the exercises of the imagination be controlled and directed,
+so that their influence upon the soul shall not be injurious, but
+ennobling and purifying? Would faith in Christ turn the sympathies of
+the soul away from those gifted but guilty minds:
+
+            'Whose poisoned song
+    Would blend the bounds of right and wrong;
+    And hold, with sweet but cursed art,
+    Their incantations o'er the heart,
+    Till every pulse or pure desire
+    Throbs with the glow of passion's fire,
+    And love, and reason's mild control,
+    Yield to the simoom of the soul?'
+
+When the conscience had become purified and quickened, it would be a
+check upon the erratic movements of the imagination; and when the
+disposition was corrected, it would be disinclined to every unholy
+exercise; so that, in the believer, the disinclination of the will and
+the disapprobation of the conscience would be powerful aids in
+bringing into subjection the imaginative faculty. But, more than this,
+faith in Christ would have a direct influence in correcting the evils
+of the imagination. It is a law of mind, that the subject which
+interests an individual most, subordinates all other subjects to
+itself, or removes them from the mind and assumes their place. As a
+group of persons, who might be socially conversing upon a variety of
+topics, if some venerable individual should enter and introduce an
+absorbing subject, in which all felt interested, minor topics would be
+forgotten in the interest created by the master subject;--so when
+'Christ crucified' enters the presence-chamber of the believer's Soul,
+the high moral powers of the mind bow around in obeisance; and even
+imagination folds her starry wings around her face, and bends before
+Immanuel. When the cross of Christ becomes the central subject of the
+soul, it has power to chasten the imagination, and subdue its
+waywardness by the sublime exhibition of the bleeding mercy in the
+atonement. The apostle perceived the efficacy of the cross in subduing
+vain reasoning and an evil imagination, and alludes to it in language
+possessing both strength and beauty, as 'casting down imaginations,
+and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of
+God, and [mark] bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience
+of Christ.'
+
+That these views are not idle speculations, but truthful realities, is
+affirmed by the experience of every Christian. When the imagination is
+wandering to unprofitable or forbidden subjects, all that is necessary
+in order to break the chain of evil suggestion, and introduce into the
+mind a profitable train of thought, is to turn the eye of the soul
+upon the 'Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.' By the
+presence of this delightful and sacred idea every unworthy and hurtful
+thought will be awed out of the mind.
+
+Thus does faith in the blessed Jesus control and purify the imagination
+of believers.
+
+_4. The influence of faith in Christ upon the life: leading man to
+such conduct as would eventually accomplish the salvation of the whole
+human family._
+
+It is certain that men have all the faculties which, if rightly
+directed, would be necessary to enable them to benefit and bless each
+other. Suppose one individual did all in his power to do others good
+and make them happy, who can limit the amount of consolation which
+that man might impart to the children of want and sorrow; or the
+amount of light he might shed upon the minds of the ignorant; or the
+rebukes and warnings he might sound in the ears of those who persisted
+in sin? Suppose a whole community of such individuals, denying
+themselves the selfish ease and worldly pleasures which the children
+of this world seek after, and devoting their lives to spread around
+them the blessings and benefits of the gospel--should individuals or
+communities desire thus to devote their lives to benevolence instead
+of selfish effort, it is certain the Creator has endowed them with
+every faculty necessary to the accomplishment of such a work. They
+have hearts to love their fellow-men; they have reason and knowledge
+to learn themselves, and then to instruct others. They can travel to
+where the ignorant and the needy dwell, either at home or abroad; or,
+if they feel disqualified personally to do this, they have hands to
+labour for the means to send others on errands of benevolence
+throughout the world. That men have been created with the faculties,
+therefore, to diffuse the blessings which they possess, throughout the
+world, no one can doubt.
+
+But, secondly--Men are so constituted, that the exercise of those
+faculties, in a manner that would bless others, would likewise produce
+a blessing in their own souls. It is a fact in experience, as well as
+philosophy, that the exercise of any power of the soul, gives
+increased strength to that power. By exercising their selfish and
+malevolent feelings, men become continually more selfish and
+malevolent; while, on the contrary, by exercising self-denial and the
+benevolent feelings, men become continually more benevolent.
+Selfishness, all admit, is an evil in the heart. Self-denial is its
+antagonist principle; and it is by invigorating the latter by
+exercise, that the former evil principle is to be eradicated. It
+would, therefore, be the greatest benefit to those who possessed
+blessings, to induce them to exercise benevolence by communicating
+them to others.
+
+It follows, therefore, that not only the greatest good of the guilty
+and the ignorant requires self-denying benevolence in those who have
+the means and the power to enlighten and guide them to truth and
+happiness; but likewise, that the greatest good of those possessing
+blessings is, to impart them to others. 'It is more blessed to give
+than to receive;' because, by the exercise of self-denial to do good,
+benevolence is strengthened in the soul; and from benevolent exercises
+arises the blessedness of the spirit. Men are constantly making
+sacrifices to advance their own aggrandizement, and thus, by
+increasing their own selfishness, they make themselves more miserable:
+the great end to be gained, is to lead them to make sacrifices for
+others, and thus, with others, bless themselves.
+
+Now, no one doubts that the whole human family, in the days of Christ,
+needed the blessing of an enlightening and purifying religion. And no
+one doubts that the ultimate end of a religion from heaven would be
+the greatest ultimate good of the entire race. Three things, then, are
+obvious: 1. That a religion from heaven would be designed ultimately
+to bless the whole world. 2. That the best good of mankind, as a
+family, required that they should be the instruments in disseminating
+this religion among themselves. 3. That the principle of self-denial,
+or denying ourselves the ease and pleasures of selfishness, in order
+to perform acts of benevolence, is the great principle by which the
+operation of spreading this religion would be carried on.
+
+Now, Jesus Christ professed to give a universal spiritual religion;
+one which encircled in its design, and was to bless by its influence,
+the whole family of man; and faith he set forth as the great
+motive-power of the whole plan. The question then is--Would faith in
+Christ lead men to that method of living and acting, and to the
+possession of those views and feelings, which would make them
+instrumental in benefiting each other, and which would destroy
+selfishness and promote the happiness and interest of the whole
+family of man, in accordance with the three principles above
+specified?
+
+1. It has been shown that the example and precepts of Christ become
+the guide to conscience, and the rule of faith and practice for all
+believers. What, then, has Christ said and done, to induce men to do
+each other good, and to unite the race of man in one harmonious and
+happy family?
+
+The gospel of Christ possesses all the characteristics of a universal
+religion. _It is adapted to human nature: not to any particular
+country or class of men; but, as has been shown, to the NATURE of the
+race._ Its truths are intelligible, and may be understood by all men,
+and transferred into all languages. It is spiritual in its character;
+designed to affect the mind and heart of man; so that wherever
+intelligent beings are to be found, there it may be introduced into
+the heart by faith, to correct the spiritual evils of their nature,
+and produce happiness in the soul.[39]
+
+    [39] See Reinhard's Plan: sect. 17, 22.
+
+The precepts and teachings of Jesus are designed and adapted to
+harmonize the race of man into one happy family. Instead of the
+abominations and folly of polytheism, he presented before the minds of
+men one common object of worship; and so exhibited the character of
+that object, by presenting before the world a grand spectacle of
+self-denying mercy, that the exhibition was adapted to attract the
+attention of all, and draw all hearts to one centre of affection.
+
+In all his instructions to regulate the conduct of men, he viewed them
+as brethren of the same great family, and taught them to consider
+themselves as such. No retaliation was to be offered for injuries
+received, but the injured child was to appeal only to the great Parent
+of the family. No one might treat another as his enemy: and no one was
+to cease in efforts to do good to another, unless he perceived that
+those efforts were treated with contempt, and instead of benefiting,
+had a hardening effect upon the heart.
+
+2. Their lives were to be spent in efforts to impart those blessings
+which they possessed, to their brethren of the human family who
+possessed them not. Instead of the unhallowed and anxious struggle
+which worldly men manifest to raise themselves to power over their
+fellows, their efforts were to be directed to the opposite end--to
+raise the ignorant and the needy to the enjoyment of the blessings and
+privileges which they possessed.
+
+This active and constant effort to extend the blessings which they
+possessed to others, and to relieve men from their vices and
+ignorance, was not to stop with their own kindred, or nation, or
+tongue, nor to be restricted to the grateful, or the deserving; in
+this respect, their philanthropy was to be modelled after that of
+their heavenly Father, who causeth his sun to shine upon the just and
+the unjust. It was to continue during life, and to extend to the ends
+of the earth. And in proportion as men were found in a condition of
+ignorance and want, in the same proportion they were to make
+benevolent exertions to elevate and bless them.
+
+Now, every one can see, that if these precepts were obeyed, strife
+between individuals and nations would cease, and the glorious process
+of benevolent effort would go on, until the last benighted mind was
+enlightened, and the last corrupted heart purified by the power of the
+faith of Christ.
+
+_It was necessary, in connection with these precepts, that some motive
+should be presented to cause men to deny themselves, in order to act
+in accordance with them._ Now it has been shown that the believer acts
+in view of the character and will of Jesus. Christ, therefore, in
+order to give these precepts moving power upon the souls of men,
+identified himself with his needy creatures, and sanctioned the duty
+which he prescribed to others, by conformity to it himself; so that
+these precepts, given to govern men's conduct in this life, he made
+the rule of judgment in heaven's court of equity, and by them the
+decision will be made out, which will settle, finally, the spiritual
+destiny of men. 'Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of
+these my brethren, ye did it not unto me.' Thus Christ identifies
+himself with the most needy of mankind, and receives an act of
+kindness done to them, as done to himself. When the love of Christ,
+therefore, constrains men, he has so exhibited his will, that it
+constrains them to act for the good of each other. Those that love
+Jesus, therefore, and expect his favour, must serve him by doing good
+to others.
+
+Moreover, Christ has sanctioned these precepts by his own example.
+His life was a life of self-denying labour, for the benefit of our
+race; and his command to everyone is--'Deny thyself, take up thy
+cross, and follow me.' Thus, by Christ's precepts, by his example,
+and especially by his identifying himself with those in need, that
+method of life is sanctioned which alone could make man the
+benefactor of his fellows--unite the human family in one happy
+brotherhood--and make them blessed in doing each other good, in the
+faith of Christ.
+
+Those that love Jesus will desire to do his will--will find their
+happiness in obeying him; and that will is, that they should labour to
+benefit his creatures. Those who believe in and love Jesus will have
+their conscience regulated by his precepts and example. Thus, the
+conscience of believers is set (if I may so express it), so that it
+will regulate the movement of their life in such a manner, as finally
+to work out the salvation of a world lying in wickedness.
+
+It follows, therefore, that faith in Jesus Christ is directly designed
+and adapted to strengthen men's benevolent affection, and to produce
+in believers that active desire and effort for the good of others
+which will necessarily produce the dissemination of the light and love
+of the gospel throughout the whole habitable world.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE DESIGN AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MEANS OF GRACE.
+
+
+1.--PRAYER.
+
+It has been shown that, constituted as we are, the manifestations made
+of the character and attributes of God in the Scriptures are adapted
+to produce the greatest good in the human spirit; and in order that
+that good may be effected, it is necessary that the truths of the
+Scripture be brought into contact with the soul, that it may be
+impressed and influenced by them. The truths and manifestations of
+revelation are the elements of moral power, which, apprehended by
+faith, are effective in purifying the fountain of life in the soul,
+and in rectifying and regulating its exercises; it follows, therefore,
+that the requirement to bring those truths before the mind in a
+particular manner would be a duty necessarily connected with the
+revelation of the doctrines, as directions for taking the medicine are
+connected with the prescription of a physician into whose hands a
+patient has submitted himself. Now, prayer, or worship, is one method
+by which the truths and manifestations of revelation are directly
+brought before the contemplation of the soul. Prayer brings the mind
+to the immediate contemplation of God's character, and holds it there,
+till by comparison and aspiration the believer's soul is properly
+impressed, and his wants properly felt. The more subtle physical
+processes and affinities become, the better are the analogies which
+they furnish of processes in the spiritual world. The influence of
+believing prayer has a good analogy in the daguerreotype. By means of
+this process, the features of natural objects are thrown upon a
+sensitive sheet, through a lens, and leave their impression upon the
+sheet. So when the character of God is, by means of prayer, brought to
+bear upon the mind of the believer--that mind being rendered sensitive
+by the Holy Spirit--it impresses there the Divine image. In this
+manner the image of Christ is formed in the soul, the existence of
+which the Scriptures represent as inspiring the believer with the hope
+of glory.
+
+In the introductory chapter it was shown that the impulse which leads
+men to worship proves a curse to the soul, where the objects worshipped
+are unholy, and that the only remedy for the evil was the revelation of
+a holy object for the supreme homage of the human soul. So soon as a
+righteous and benevolent God is presented before the mind, then prayer
+becomes a blessing instead of a curse to the soul. Look at the subject
+in the form of a syllogism:
+
+Man, by worshipping, becomes assimilated to the moral character of the
+object that he worships:
+
+The God of the Bible, as manifest in Christ Jesus, is the only
+perfectly righteous and perfectly benevolent Being ever worshipped by
+man.
+
+Therefore, man can become righteous and benevolent in no other way but
+by that worship which will assimilate him to the God of the Bible.
+
+And further, as it has been demonstrated that righteousness and
+benevolence produce the rectitude and the happiness--the greatest
+good--of the soul, man can gain the great end of his being only by
+that worship which assimilates his nature to the moral image of God.
+
+It follows, therefore, that prayer is a necessary and most important
+means of grace--a duty growing out of the nature of the case, and a
+duty upon which depends, in a great measure, the well-being of the
+human spirit. The apostle understood the philosophy of this subject
+when he said: 'But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the
+glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to
+glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.' Therefore it is that the
+commandment that men should pray is presented in the Bible in every
+variety of language; and it is constantly repeated by the inspired
+writers and by the Son of God himself, who commended, by his precepts
+and example, private, social, and public prayer; and who taught by a
+parable that 'men ought always to pray, and not to faint.'
+
+
+_The importance of strong desire and importunity in prayer._
+
+It is impossible to produce grateful feelings by granting a benefit
+for which the recipient has no desire. If a child asked for bread when
+it was not hungry, and if, while the child had no feeling of want, its
+unfelt request was answered by its father, it could neither appreciate
+the gift nor be grateful for it. The soul is so constituted, as has
+been fully shown, that it must really feel the need of the benefit
+before it can appreciate its importance, or be grateful for the favour
+received. So it is in the case of the suppliant in prayer: if he has
+an anxious desire, a spirit of importunate solicitude, for the
+blessing which he asks, when he receives it, gratitude and praise
+will, as the consequence of gratified desire, spring up in the heart.
+Now, mark, if there were not a feeling of importunate desire in the
+mind of the suppliant, God could not be glorified, nor the creature
+benefited, by an answer to prayer. God could not be glorified, because
+his goodness would not be felt and acknowledged in the answer. And the
+creature could not be benefited, because it is the feeling of
+gratitude and praise in his own heart which constitutes the spiritual
+blessing, so far forth as the suppliant himself is concerned; and this
+exercise is produced only so far as it is preceded by dependent and
+anxious desire for the blessing sought. When the supplication is for
+spiritual blessing upon another individual, two minds are blessed by
+the answer, the individual prayed for and the individual who prays.
+And if a thousand individuals desired spiritual mercies for that soul,
+God would be glorified by a thousand hearts, and a thousand hearts
+would be reciprocally blessed by the answer. The time may come when
+all the angels in heaven, and all the saints upon earth, will be
+blessed by mercy bestowed upon a single individual; when the last
+unregenerated sinner stands in solitary and awful rebellion upon the
+earth, should tidings be circulated through earth and heaven that he
+had submitted himself to God, and that his affections began to take
+hold on Christ, every being in the universe who had strongly desired
+the conversion of the last sinner would feel the thrill of 'glory to
+God and good-will to men' arise in his soul. It follows, therefore,
+that a fervent, importunate state of mind is, from the nature of the
+case, necessary, in order that God may be glorified, and man blessed,
+by the duty of prayer. It was in view of these constitutional
+principles that Jesus constantly taught the necessity of desire and
+importunity, in order that mercies might be received in answer to the
+supplication of saints.[40]
+
+    [40] Matt. vi. 6; Luke xi. 5-10, and xviii. 1-14.
+
+
+_The importance of faith and a spirit of dependence upon God, as
+concomitants of acceptable prayer._
+
+The necessity of faith, as a primary element in all acceptable
+religious exercises, has already been noticed. A feeling of entire
+dependence upon God for spiritual mercies is the only right feeling,
+because it is the only true feeling. As a matter of fact, the soul is
+entirely dependent upon God for spiritual mercies; truth, therefore,
+requires that our dependence should be acknowledged and felt.
+
+But further, without faith in God as the immediate bestower of mercies
+in answer to prayer, he could not be honoured for blessings received.
+Suppose two individuals desired with equally strong feelings the same
+blessing, and that both received it: each would rejoice alike in its
+reception; but suppose there was this difference in their state of
+mind--one regarded the blessing as coming immediately from God in
+answer to prayer, the other did not: the result would be that the one
+who had faith in God would be filled with love to his Maker for the
+mercy, the other would rejoice in himself, or, at least, he would not
+rejoice in God. In the one case, God would be honoured and praised for
+his acts of grace; in the other, he would neither be honoured nor
+loved for his goodness. We do not present this illustration as
+applicable in all its bearings--because we do not suppose that the
+unregenerate ever truly desire spiritual blessing till they are
+convinced of sin--but it will make the point clear to the reason of
+everyone, that God cannot be honoured without faith; and, therefore,
+'without faith it is impossible to please him.'
+
+It is necessary, according to the foregoing view of the subject, in
+order to offer acceptable prayer, that men should possess a spirit of
+faith and dependence upon Christ. The principle upon which Christ
+acted in relation to this subject, as well as his instruction
+concerning the duty of prayer, fully confirm the preceding thoughts.
+He seldom performed an act of mercy, by miracle or otherwise, unless
+those who received the mercy could see the hand of God in the
+blessing:--'If thou canst believe, thou mayest be cleansed,' was his
+habitual sentiment. As if he had said--Your desire for the blessing is
+manifest by your urgent requests: now, if you can have faith to see
+God in the blessing, so that he will be honoured and praised for
+conferring it, I will grant it; but if you have no faith, you can
+receive no favour.
+
+And, again, in order that the believer might be brought into a state
+of dependence, and have his faith quickened every time that he
+presented his supplications to God, Jesus said, looking forward to the
+time when he would have perfected his ministry and atonement--'In that
+day ye shall ask me nothing,--whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my
+name'--that is, depending on me, the atoning, interceding Saviour--'he
+will do it;' and in another place he promised, 'Whatsoever ye shall
+ask in my name, that will I do.' Thus does the instruction of the
+Saviour make the believer entirely dependent upon Christ himself when
+he approaches the mercy-seat of the Most High. As the Jews were
+constantly to call to mind the deliverance from Egypt, in order that
+their feelings might be moved to love, dependence, and faith towards
+their temporal deliverer, so Christians are to call to mind the
+deliverance from spiritual bondage by the sacrifice of Christ, in
+order that they may realize their dependence, and be inspired with a
+spirit of faith and love towards their spiritual Deliverer. And
+because believers can thus depend upon Christ, and feel the mercy of
+God as it is manifested in the atonement, they are constituted priests
+'to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.'
+
+
+2.--PRAISE.
+
+The truth which has been demonstrated in previous chapters is again
+assumed, that the manifestations of God, in Christ Jesus, would, when
+brought into efficient contact with the soul, produce that active
+holiness in the heart which is man's greatest good. And as the end to
+be accomplished depends, under God, on those truths which are
+developed in the great plan of mercy being impressed upon the mind and
+the heart, it follows that those means would be used which, from their
+nature, are best adapted to give influence and impressiveness to the
+great truths of revelation.
+
+The influence of music upon the emotions of the soul is well known to
+every one--
+
+    'There is in souls a sympathy with sounds;'
+
+the soul is awakened, and invited by the spirit of the melody to
+receive the sentiment uttered in the song. Sweet, affecting music--not
+the tone of the piano, nor the peals of the organ--but a melodious
+air, sung by strong and well-disciplined voices, and accompanied by
+the flute and viol--such music reaches the fountains of thought and
+feeling; and,
+
+    'Untwisting all the links that tie
+    The hidden soul of harmony,'
+
+it tinges the emotions with its own hues, whether plaintive or joyous;
+and it fosters in the heart the sentiment which it conveys, whether it
+be love of country or of God, admiration of noble achievement, or of
+devoted and self-sacrificing affection.
+
+The power of music to fix in the memory the sentiment with which it is
+connected, and to foster it in the heart, has been understood in all
+ages of the world. Some of the early legislators wrote their laws in
+verse, and sang them in public places; and many of the earliest
+sketches of primitive history are in the measures of lyric poetry. In
+this manner the memory was aided in retaining the facts; the ear was
+invited to attend to them; imagination threw around them the drapery
+of beauty, dignity, or power; and then music conveyed the sentiment,
+and mingled it with the emotions of the soul. It was in view of the
+power of music, when united with sentiment adapted to affect the
+heart, that one has said: 'Permit me to write the ballads of a nation,
+and I care not who makes her laws.'
+
+When the effects of music and poetry upon the soul are considered, we
+can perceive their importance as means of fostering the Christian
+virtues in the soul of the believer. They should be used to convey to
+the mind sublime and elevating conceptions of the attributes of
+Jehovah; to impress the memory with the most affecting truths of
+revelation, and especially to cherish in the heart tender and vivid
+emotions of love to Christ, in view of the manifestations of Divine
+justice and mercy exhibited in his ministry, his passion, and his
+sacrifice.[41]
+
+    [41] 'The proper drapery for music is truth. It is its only
+    apparel, whether as applied to God, or as used for the cultivation
+    of man.'--_Erasmus._
+
+There cannot be found, in all the resources of thought, material which
+would furnish sentiment for music so subduing and overpowering as the
+history of redemption. There is the life of Jesus--a series of acts
+Godlike in their benevolence, connected at times with exhibitions of
+Divine power and of human character, in their most affecting aspects.
+And as the scenes of Christ's eventful ministry converge to the
+catastrophe, there is the tenderness of his love for the disciples,
+the last supper, the scene in Gethsemane; the Mediator in the hall of
+judgment, exhibiting the dignity of truth and conscious virtue amidst
+the tempest of human passion by which he is surrounded. Then the awful
+moral and elemental grandeur of the crucifixion; the Saviour, nailed
+to the cross by his own creatures, crying, 'Father, forgive them, for
+they know not what they do;' and then, while darkness shrouds the sun,
+and 'nature through all her works gives signs of woe,' he cries, 'It
+is finished, and gave up the ghost.' Thus did the dark stream of human
+depravity roll,
+
+    'Till a rainbow broke upon its gloom,
+    Which spanned the portals of the Saviour's tomb.'
+
+Such exhibitions of sublimity and power, when clothed with the
+influence of music, and impressed upon a heart rendered sensitive by
+Divine influence, are adapted to make the most abiding and blessed
+impressions.
+
+    'My heart, awake!--to feel is to be fired;
+    And to believe, Lorenzo, is to feel.'
+
+It follows, from the preceding views, that in selecting the means to
+impress the mind with religious truth, and the heart with pious
+sentiment, music and poetry could not be neglected. There is not in
+nature another means which would compensate for the loss of their
+influence. We do not mean to say that their influence is as great as
+some other means in impressing the truths of revelation upon the soul;
+but their influence is peculiar and delightful, and without it the
+system of means would not be perfect.
+
+We see, therefore, the reasons why music and poetry were introduced as
+a means of impressing revealed truth, both under the old and the new
+dispensations. Moses not only made the laws, but he made, likewise,
+the songs of the nation. These songs, in some instances, all the
+people were required to learn, in order that their memory might
+retain, and their heart feel, the influence of the events recorded in
+their national anthems.
+
+Music held a conspicuous place in the worship of the temple; and under
+the new dispensation, it is sanctioned by the express example of
+Jesus, and specifically commanded by the apostles; the example is
+given in connection with the institution of the eucharist, which was
+to commemorate the most affecting scene in the history of God's love;
+and the command is in such words as indicate the effects of music upon
+the heart: 'Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual
+songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving
+thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, in the name of
+our Lord Jesus Christ.' Upon this subject, as upon some others, the
+apostolic churches fell into some abuses; yet the high praises of God
+and the Lamb have always been celebrated in poetry and music by the
+church of Christ. One of the first notices of the Christians by pagan
+writers speaks of them as 'singing a hymn to Christ, as to a God;'
+thus showing that the principles established in the preceding views
+were recognised by the early disciples, who used music as a means of
+fostering in their hearts love to the Saviour.
+
+As in the case of the primitive Christians, so every regenerated heart
+delights in such spiritual songs as speak of Christ as an atoning
+Saviour. And those only are qualified to write hymns for the church
+whose hearts are affected by the love of Jesus. On this account some
+of the hymns of Cowper, Charles Wesley, Watts, and Newton, will last
+while the church on earth lasts, _and perhaps longer_. Thousands of
+Christian hearts have glowed with emotion, while they sang,
+
+    'There is a fountain fill'd with blood,
+      Drawn from Immanuel's veins;
+    And sinners plunged beneath that flood
+      Lose all their guilty stains.'
+
+Or,
+
+    'Rock of ages, cleft for me,
+    Let me hide myself in thee.'
+
+Thousands have been awakened to duty and to prayer, by that solemn
+hymn,
+
+    'Lo, on a narrow neck of land,
+    'Twixt two unbounded seas I stand,
+      Yet how insensible!'
+
+And it would not have been possible for any but a Christian poet to
+have written the lines,
+
+    'Her noblest life my spirit draws
+    From his dear wounds and bleeding side.'
+
+
+3.--PREACHING.
+
+It has been said that the truths and manifestations of revelation are
+the elements of moral power, which, being brought into efficient contact
+with the soul, are effective in rectifying and regulating its exercises.
+A medicine may be prepared in which are inherent qualities adapted to
+remove a particular disease; but in order to the accomplishment of its
+appropriate effect, it must be brought to act upon the body of the
+patient. And if the disease has rendered the patient not only
+unconscious of his danger, but has induced upon him a deep lethargy of
+mind, it would be necessary that the physician should arouse his dormant
+faculties, in order that he might receive the medicine which would
+restore him to health. So with the moral diseases of the soul; the
+attention and sensibilities of men must be awakened, in order that the
+truth may affect their understanding, their conscience, and their heart.
+Whatever, therefore, is adapted to attract the attention and move the
+sensibilities, at the same time that it conveys truth to the mind, would
+be a means peculiarly efficient to impress the gospel upon the soul.
+
+There are but two avenues through which moral truth reaches the soul.
+And there are but two methods by which it can be conveyed through
+those avenues. By the living voice, truth is communicated through the
+ear; and by the signs of language it is communicated through the eye.
+The first of these methods--the living voice--has many advantages over
+all other means, in conveying and impressing truth. It is necessary
+that an individual should read with ease in order to be benefited by
+what he reads. The efforts which a bad reader has to make, both
+disincline him to the task of reading, and hinder his appreciation of
+truth. Besides, a large proportion of the human family cannot read,
+but all can understand their own language when spoken. In order,
+therefore, that the whole human family might be instructed, the living
+speaker would be the first, and best, and natural method.
+
+The living speaker has power to arrest attention, to adapt his
+language and illustrations to the character and occupation of his
+audience, and to accompany his communications with those emotions and
+gestures which are adapted to arouse and impress his hearers.
+
+It is evident, from these considerations, that among the means which
+God would appoint to disseminate his truth through the world, the
+living teacher would hold a first and important place. This result is
+in conformity with the arrangements of Jesus. He appointed a living
+ministry, endowed them with the ability to speak the languages of
+other nations, and commissioned them to go into all the world, and
+preach the gospel to every creature.
+
+In connection with this subject, there is one other inquiry of
+importance. It concerns not only the harmony of the gospel system with
+the nature of things, but likewise the harmony of apostolic practice
+with what has been shown to be necessary in order that the truths of
+the gospel might produce their legitimate effect upon the mind.
+
+It has been demonstrated that a sense of man's guilt and danger must
+exist in the mind before there can be gratitude and love to the being
+who removes the guilt and rescues from the danger. It has likewise
+been noticed, as a self-evident principle, that before repentance
+there must be conviction of sin. A sense of guilt and error must
+necessarily precede reformation of life. A man cannot conscientiously
+turn from a course of life, and repent of past conduct, unless he sees
+and feels the error and the evil of that course from which he turns.
+To suppose that a man would turn from a course of life which he
+neither thought nor felt to be wrong or dangerous, is to suppose an
+absurdity; it follows, therefore, that the preacher's first duty, in
+endeavouring to reclaim men to holiness and to God, would be, in all
+cases, to present such truths as were adapted to convict their hearers
+of their spiritual guilt and danger. As God has constituted the mind,
+repentance from sin and attainment to holiness would for ever be
+impossible on any other conditions.
+
+But the same truths would not convict all men of sin. In order to
+convict any particular man, or class of men, of sin, those facts must
+be fastened upon with which they have associated the idea of moral
+good and evil, and concerning which they are particularly guilty.
+Thus, in the days of the apostles, the Gentiles could not be convicted
+of sin for rejecting and crucifying Christ; but, it being a fact in
+the case of the Jews that all their ideas of good and evil, both
+temporal and spiritual, were associated with the Messiah, nothing in
+all the catalogue of guilt would be adapted to convict them of sin so
+powerfully as the thought that they had despised and crucified the
+Messiah of God.
+
+On the other hand, the heathen, upon whom the charge of rejecting
+Christ would have no influence, could be convicted of sin only by
+showing them the falsehood and folly of their idolatry; the holy
+character of the true God, and the righteous and spiritual nature of
+the law which they were bound to obey, and by which they would finally
+be judged. The first preachers of the Gospel, therefore, in conformity
+with these principles, would aim first, and directly, to convince
+their hearers of their sins, and in accomplishing this end, they would
+fasten upon those facts in which the guilt of their hearers more
+particularly consisted. And then, when men were thus convicted of
+their guilt, the salvation through Christ from sin, and its penalty,
+would be pressed upon their anxious souls; and they would be taught to
+exercise faith in Jesus, as the meritorious cause of life, pardon, and
+happiness.
+
+Now, the apostolical histories fully confirm the fact that this
+course--the only one consistent with truth, philosophy, and the nature
+of man--was the course pursued by the primitive preachers.
+
+The first movement, after they were endowed with the gift of tongues
+and filled with the Holy Ghost, was the sermon by Peter, on the day of
+Pentecost, in which he directly charged the Jews with the murder of
+the Messiah, and produced in thousands of minds convictions of the
+most pungent and overwhelming description. At Athens, Paul, in
+preaching to the Gentiles, pursued a different course. He exposed the
+folly of their idolatry, by appealing to their reason and their own
+acknowledged authorities. He spoke to them of the guilt which they
+would incur if they refused, under the light of the Gospel, to forsake
+the errors which God, on account of past ignorance, had overlooked. He
+then closed by turning their attention to the righteous retributions
+of the eternal world, and to the appointed day when man would be
+judged by Jesus Christ, according to his gospel.
+
+The manner in which the apostles presented Christ crucified to the
+penitent and convicted sinner, as the object of faith, and the means
+of pardon, and the hope of glory, is abundantly exhibited in the Acts
+of the Apostles, and in their several epistles to the Churches.
+
+Thus did God, by the appointment of the living preacher as a means
+of spreading the Gospel, adapt himself to the constitution of his
+creatures; and the apostles, moved by Divine guidance, likewise
+adapted the truth which they preached to the peculiar necessities
+and circumstances of men.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE AGENCY OF GOD IN CARRYING ON THE WORK OF REDEMPTION, AND THE
+MANNER IN WHICH THAT AGENCY IS EXERTED.
+
+
+God having thus devised the plan, and manifested the truth, and
+instituted the means of redemption, the inquiry naturally presents
+itself: In what way would he put the plan into operation, and give
+efficiency to the means of grace?
+
+We cannot suppose that God would put his own institution beyond his
+power, or that he would leave it to be managed by the imperfect wisdom
+and the limited power of human instruments. God would not prepare the
+material, devise the plan, adapt the parts to each other, furnish the
+instruments for building, and then neglect to supervise and complete
+the structure. God has put none of his works beyond his power; and
+especially in a plan of which he is the Author and Architect, reason
+suggests that he would guide it to its accomplishment. The inquiry
+is--By what agency, and in what way, would the power of God be exerted
+in carrying into efficient operation upon the souls of men the system
+of saving mercy?
+
+In relation to the character of the agency, the solution is clear. The
+agency by which the plan of salvation would be carried forward to its
+ultimate consummation would be spiritual in its nature, because God is a
+Spirit, and the soul of man is a spirit, and the end to be accomplished
+is to lead men to worship God 'in spirit and in truth.'
+
+In relation to the mode of the Spirit's operation, some things belong to
+that class of inquiries upon which the mind may exert its powers in
+vain.--The mode by which God communicates life to any thing in the
+vegetable, animal, or spiritual world lies beyond the reach of the human
+intellect. But although man cannot understand the _modus operandi_ of
+the Divine mind in communicating life, yet the manifestations of life,
+and the medium through which it operates, are subjects open to human
+examination. Whether the influence of the Spirit be directly upon the
+soul, or mediately by means of truth, the end accomplished would be the
+same. The soul might be quickened to see and feel the power of the
+truth; or, by the spirit, truth might be rendered powerful to affect the
+soul. The wax might be softened to receive the impression, or the seal
+heated, or a power exerted upon it, to make the impression on the wax;
+or both might be done, and still the result would be the same. It is not
+only necessary that the metal should be prepared to receive the
+impression of a die, but it is likewise necessary that the die should be
+prepared and adapted to the particular kind of metal--the image and the
+superscription of the king put upon it--the machinery prepared and
+adapted to hold the die and apply it to the metal; and after all these
+things necessary are done, the coin can never be made unless power is
+exerted to strike the die into the metal, or the metal into the die. So
+it is in the processes of the spiritual world; the material [mankind]
+must be prepared. The die [the truth of the gospel system] must be
+revealed and adapted to the material; and the image to be impressed upon
+human nature [the Lord Jesus Christ] and the superscription [glory to
+God and good-will to men] must be cut upon the die. Then the means of
+bringing the truth into contact with the material must be provided; and
+after all these preparations and adaptations, there must be the power
+of the Holy Spirit to guide the whole process, and to form the image of
+Christ in the soul.
+
+The foregoing is a complicated analogy, but not more complicated than
+are the processes of the animal and spiritual world. Look at the human
+body, with its thousands of adaptations, all of them necessary to the
+system, the whole dependent upon the use of means for the supply of
+animal life, and yet deriving from God its rational life, which operates
+through and actuates the whole. In like manner the Spirit of God
+operates through and guides the processes of the plan of salvation.
+
+The Scriptures reveal the truth clearly, that the Spirit of God gives
+efficiency to the means of grace. And not only this, but he operates
+in accordance with those necessary principles which have been
+developed in the progress of these chapters. Christ instructed his
+disciples to expect that he would send the Holy Spirit; and when he is
+come, said Jesus, 'He will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness,
+and of judgment;' that is, the Holy Spirit will produce conviction of
+sin in the hearts of the unsanctified and impenitent:--the office-work
+of the Spirit of God in relation to the world is to convince of sin.
+In relation to the saints he exercises a different office. He is their
+Comforter. He takes of the things that belong to Jesus, and shows them
+to his people.[42] That is, he causes the people of God to see more
+and more of the excellency, and the glory, and the mercy manifested in
+a crucified Saviour; and by this blessed influence they 'grow in
+grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.' Christ, by his ministry
+and death, furnished the facts necessary for human salvation: the Holy
+Spirit uses those facts to convict and sanctify the heart. Paul, in a
+passage already noticed, alludes to the influence of the Spirit
+operating by the appointed means of prayer, or devout meditation. 'But
+we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,
+are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the
+Spirit of the Lord.'
+
+    [42] John xvi. 7-14.
+
+Further: At what juncture, in the progress of the great plan of
+salvation, would this agency be most powerfully exerted? We answer, at
+the time when the whole moral machinery of the dispensation through
+which the effect was to be produced was completed. Whatever is
+designed and adapted to produce a definite result as an instrument
+must be completed before it is put into operation, otherwise it will
+not produce the definite effect required. An imperfect system put into
+operation would produce an imperfect result. Here a special effect was
+to be produced; it was necessary, therefore, that the truth should be
+revealed, and the manifestations all made, before the power was
+imparted to give them effect.
+
+Under the new dispensation the greatest and most imposing manifestations
+were the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus: had the system
+been put into operation before these crowning manifestations were made,
+the great end of the gospel would not have been accomplished. It
+follows, then, that the material would be first prepared, the
+manifestations made and adapted to the material, the appropriate means
+ordained, and then the agency of the Spirit would be introduced to guide
+the dispensation to its ultimate triumphs, and to give efficiency to its
+operations.
+
+These deductions harmonise with the teachings of the Scriptures.
+
+First, they expressly teach that without the agency of God no perfect
+result is accomplished.
+
+Secondly, they everywhere represent that the Divine agency is exerted
+through the truth upon the soul, or exerted to awaken the soul to
+apprehend and receive the truth.
+
+Thirdly, the Spirit was not fully communicated until the whole economy
+of the gospel dispensation was completed. The apostles were instructed
+to assemble at Jerusalem after the ascension, and wait till they were
+endued with power from on high. On the day of Pentecost the promised
+Spirit descended. The apostles at once perceived the spiritual nature
+of Christ's kingdom. They spoke in demonstration of the Spirit, and
+with power. Men were convicted of sin in their hearts. Sinners were
+converted to Christ by repentance and faith; and under the guidance
+of that Divine Spirit, the plan of salvation moves on to its high and
+glorious consummation when 'the kingdoms of this world shall become
+the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ.' 'Amen: even so, come
+Lord Jesus.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+CONCERNING THE PRACTICAL EFFECTS OF THE SYSTEM.
+
+
+The evidence which the Lord Jesus Christ proposed as proof of the
+Divinity of the gospel system was its practical effect upon
+individuals who receive and obey the truth. 'If any man will do his
+will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God.' If a sick
+man calls a physician, who prescribes a certain medicine, which, by
+his receiving it according to the directions, cures him, he then knows
+both the efficacy of the medicine and the skill of the physician.
+Experience is evidence to the saints of the Divinity of the system;
+and its effects, in restoring the soul to moral health, is evidence to
+the world of the Divine efficacy and power of its doctrines: 'By their
+fruits ye shall know them.' In closing our volume, therefore, we have
+now only briefly to inquire what are the ascertained practical effects
+of faith in Christ?
+
+We shall not refer to the moral condition of man in countries under
+the influence of the gospel, compared with his condition in pagan
+lands. We will not dwell upon the fact which, of itself, is sufficient
+to establish at once and for ever the Divine origin of evangelical
+religion, and the truth of the distinctive views developed in the
+preceding chapters--that the most holy men and woman that have ever
+lived have been those who exercised most constant and implicit faith
+in Christ. Passing these facts, important in themselves, we will close
+our volume by a statement of facts concerning the present influence of
+faith in Christ upon individuals now living, and subject to the
+examination of any one who might be sceptical upon the subject.
+
+The following is a true statement of the influence of the religion of
+Jesus upon several individual members of a village church in one of
+the United States. It is composed of members of common intelligence,
+and those in the common walks of life. Other churches might have been
+selected in which, perhaps, a greater number of interesting cases
+might have been found. And there are other individuals in this church
+that would furnish as good an illustration of the power of the gospel
+as some of those which are noticed below. This church has been
+selected, because the writer had a better opportunity of visiting it
+in order to obtain the facts than any other in which he knew the power
+of the religion of Christ was experienced.
+
+With the individuals spoken of I am well acquainted, having frequently
+conversed with them all on the subjects of which I shall speak. Their
+words in all cases may not have been remembered, but the sense is
+truly given.
+
+CASE 1.--An old man who has been a professor of religion from early
+life. He was once a deacon, or elder, of the church. Twenty years ago he
+was struck with paralysis, by which he has been ever since confined
+almost entirely to his room. His situation is one that, to a mind which
+had no inward consolation, would be irksome in the extreme. His books
+are the Bible and one or two volumes of the old divines. He is patient
+and happy; and speaking of the love of Christ almost invariably suffuses
+his eyes with tears. He delights to dwell on religious subjects; and to
+talk with a pious friend of the topics which his heart loves gives him
+evident delight. Recently, his aged wife, who had trodden the path of
+life with him, from youth to old age, died in his presence. She died,
+what is called by Christians, a triumphant death; her last words were
+addressed to her children who stood around--'I see the cross,'--a gleam
+of pleasure passed over her features, her eyes lighted up with peculiar
+brightness; she said, 'Blessed Jesus, the last hour is come: I am
+ready;' and thus she departed. At her death, the old man wept freely,
+and wept aloud; but his sorrow, he said, was mingled with a sweet joy.
+How desolate would have been the condition of this poor cripple for the
+last twenty years without the consolations of faith in Christ! And when
+his aged wife died, who had for years sat by his side, how appalling
+would have been the gloom that would have settled upon his soul, had not
+his mind been sustained by heavenly hope! His case shows that the
+religion of Christ will keep the affections warm and tender even to the
+latest periods of old age, and give happiness to the soul under
+circumstances of the most severe temporal bereavement.
+
+CASE 2.--A converted atheist. I knew that there were those in the world
+who professed to doubt the existence of a God; but I had met with no one
+in all my intercourse with mankind who seemed so sincerely and so
+entirely an atheist as the individual whose case is now introduced. The
+first time that I met him was at the house of his son-in-law, a
+gentleman of piety and intelligence. His appearance was that of a
+decrepid, disconsolate old man. In the course of conversation he
+unhesitatingly expressed his unbelief of the existence of a God, and his
+suspicion of the motives of most of those who professed religion. I
+learned from others that he had ceased in some measure to have
+intercourse with men--had become misanthropic in his feelings, regarding
+mankind in the light of a family of sharks, preying upon each other; and
+his own duty in such a state of things, he supposed to be to make all
+_honest_ endeavours to wrest from the grasp of others as much as he
+could. He used profane language, opposed the temperance reformation, and
+looked with the deepest hatred upon the ministers of religion. His
+social affections seemed to be withered, and his body, sympathizing, was
+distorted and diseased by rheumatic pains.
+
+1. This old man had for years been the subject of special prayer on the
+part of his pious daughter and his son-in-law; and he was finally
+persuaded by them to attend a season of religious worship in the church
+of which they were members. During these services, which lasted several
+days, he passed from a state of atheism to a state of faith. The change
+seemed to surprise every one, and himself as much as any other. From
+being an atheist, he became the most simple and implicit believer. He
+seemed like a being who had waked up in another world, the sensations of
+which were all new to him; and although a man of sound sense in business
+affairs, when he began to express his religious ideas, his language
+seemed strange and incongruous, from the fact that, while his soul was
+now filled with new thoughts and feelings, he had no knowledge of the
+language by which such thoughts are usually expressed. The effects
+produced by his conversion were as follows--stated at one time to
+myself, and upon another occasion to one of the most eminent medical
+practitioners in this country:--One of the first things which he did
+after his conversion, was to love, in a practical manner, his worst
+enemy. There was one man in the village who had, as he supposed, dealt
+treacherously with him in some money transactions which had occurred
+between them. On this account, personal enmity had long existed between
+the two individuals. When converted, he sought his old enemy--asked his
+forgiveness--and endeavoured to benefit him by bringing him under the
+influence of the gospel.
+
+2. His benevolent feelings were awakened and expanded. His first
+benevolent offering was twenty-five cents, in a collection for
+charitable uses. He now gives very liberally, in proportion to his
+means, to all objects which he thinks will advance the interests of
+the gospel of Christ. Besides supporting his own church and her
+benevolent institutions, no enterprise of any denomination which he
+really believes will do good fails to receive something from him, if
+he has the means. During the last year, he has given more with the
+design of benefiting his fellow-men than he had done in his whole
+lifetime before.
+
+3. His affections have received new life. He said to me, in conversation
+upon the subject: 'One part of the Scriptures I feel to be true--that
+which says, "I will take away the hard and stony heart, and give you a
+heart of flesh." Once I seemed to have no feeling; now, thank God, I can
+feel. I have buried two wives and six children, but I never shed a
+tear--I felt hard and unhappy; now my tears flow at the recollection of
+these things.' The tears at that time wet the old man's cheeks. It is
+not probable that, since his conversion, there has been a single week
+that he has not shed tears; before conversion he had not wept since the
+age of manhood. An exhibition of the love of Christ will, at any time,
+move his feelings with gratitude and love, until the tears moisten his
+eyes.
+
+4. Effect upon his life. Since his conversion he has not ceased to do
+good as he has had opportunity. Several individuals have been led to
+repent and believe in Christ through his instrumentality. Some of
+these were individuals whose former habits rendered a change of
+character very improbable in the eyes of most individuals. One of
+them, who had fallen into the habit of intemperance, is now a
+respectable and happy father of a respectable Christian family. He has
+been known to go to several families on the same day, pray with them,
+and invite them to attend religious worship on the Sabbath. And when
+some difficulty was stated as a hindrance to their attendance, he has
+assisted them to buy shoes, and granted other little aids of the kind,
+in order that they might be induced to attend divine service. Since
+the first edition was issued, a most remarkable fact concerning this
+old man has come to the knowledge of the author. When converted, one
+of his first acts, although he had heard nothing of any such act in
+others, was to make out a list of all his old associates then living
+within reach of his influence. For the conversion of these he
+determined to labour as he had opportunity, and pray daily. On his
+list were one hundred and sixteen names, among whom were sceptics,
+drunkards, and other individuals as little likely to be reached by
+Christian influence as any other men in the region. Within two years
+from the period of the old man's conversion, one hundred of these
+individuals had made a profession of religion. We can hardly suppose
+that the old man was instrumental in the conversion of all these
+persons, yet the fact is one of the most remarkable that has been
+developed in the progress of Christianity.
+
+5. Effect upon his happiness. In a social meeting of the church where
+he worships, I heard him make such an expression as this: 'I have
+rejoiced but once since I trusted in Christ--that has been all the
+time.' His state of mind may be best described in his own characteristic
+language. One day he was repairing his fence. An individual passing
+addressed him: 'Mr. ----, you are at work all alone.' 'Not alone,' said
+the old man, 'God is with me.' He said that his work seemed easy to him,
+and his peace of mind continued with scarcely an interruption. I saw him
+at a time when he had just received intelligence that a son who had gone
+to the south had been shot in a personal altercation in one of the
+southern cities. The old man's parental feelings were moved, but he
+seemed, even under this sudden and most distressing affliction, to
+derive strong consolation from trust in God.
+
+6. Physical effects of the moral change. As soon as his moral nature had
+undergone a change, his body, by sympathy, felt the benign influence.
+His countenance assumed a milder and more intelligent aspect. He became
+more tidy in his apparel, and his 'thousand pains,' in a good measure,
+left him. In his case, there seemed to be a renovation both of soul and
+body.
+
+This case is not exaggerated: the old man is living, and there are
+a thousand living witnesses to this testimony, among whom is an
+intelligent physician, who, hearing the old man's history of his
+feelings, and having known him personally for years, the obvious
+effects which the faith in Christ had produced in this case, combined
+with other influences by which he was surrounded, led him seriously to
+examine the subject of religion, as it concerned his own spiritual
+interest. By this examination he was led to relinquish the system of
+'rational religion' (as the Socinian system is most inappropriately
+called by its adherents), and profess his faith in orthodox religion.
+
+CASE 3.--Two individuals, who had always been poor in this world's
+goods but who are rich in faith. Many years ago, they lived in a new
+settlement where there were no religious services. The neighbourhood,
+at the suggestion of one of its members, met together on the Sabbath,
+to sing sacred music, and to hear a sermon read. Those sermons were
+the means of the conversion of the mother of the family. She lived an
+exemplary life, but her husband still continued impenitent, and became
+somewhat addicted to intemperance. Some of the children of the family,
+as they reached mature years, were converted; the husband, and
+finally, after a few years, all the remaining children, embraced
+religion. From the day of the husband's conversion he drank no more
+liquor, and, he says, he always afterwards thought of the habit with
+abhorrence. The old people live alone. The old woman's sense of
+hearing has so failed that she hears but imperfectly. When the weather
+will allow, she attends church regularly, but sometimes hears but
+little of the sermon. She sits on the Sabbath and looks up at the
+minister, with a countenance glowing with an interested and happy
+expression. She has joy to know that the minister is preaching about
+Christ. The minister once described religion possessed as a spring of
+living water, flowing from the rock by the way-side, which yields to
+the weary traveller refreshment and delight; the old lady, at the
+close, remarked, with meekness, 'I hope I have drunk, many times, of
+those sweet waters.'
+
+Except what concerns their particular domestic duties, the conversation
+of this aged pair is almost entirely religious. They are devout, and
+very happy in each other's society; and sometimes in their family
+devotions and religious conversations their hearts glow with love for
+God. They look forward to death with the consoling hope that they will
+awake in the likeness of the glorious Saviour, and so 'be for ever with
+the Lord.'
+
+CASE 4.--A female was early in life united with the church, and
+conscientiously performed the external duties of Christian life. She
+had for many years little if any happiness in the performance of her
+religious duties, yet would have been more unhappy if she had not
+performed them. She married a gentleman who, during the last years of
+his life, was peculiarly devoted. During this period, in attending
+upon the means of grace she experienced an entire change in her
+religious feelings. She felt, as she says, that 'now she gave up all
+for Christ. She felt averse to everything which she believed to be
+contrary to his will.--To the will of Jesus she could now submit for
+ever, with joyful and entire confidence.--She now loved to pray, and
+found happiness in obeying the Saviour.' She made, as she believes, at
+that time an entire surrender of all her interests, for time and
+eternity, to Christ, and since then her labours in his service have
+been happy labours. Before they were constrained by conscience, now
+they are prompted by the affections. She does not think she was not a
+Christian before. She had repented in view of the law, but she had
+not, till the time mentioned, exercised affectionate faith in
+Christ.[43] She now often prays most solicitously for the conversion
+of sinners and the sanctification of the church. She loves to meet
+weekly in the female circle for prayer, and labours to induce others
+to attend with her. Her little son, nine years of age, is, as she
+hopes, a Christian; and her daughter, just approaching the years of
+womanhood, has recently united with the church. Two years since her
+husband died under circumstances peculiarly afflicting. She prayed for
+resignation, and never felt any disposition to murmur against the
+providence of God. She sometimes blamed herself that she had not
+thought of other expedients to prolong, if possible, the life of one
+that she loved so tenderly; but to God she looked up with submission,
+and said in spirit: 'The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I
+not drink it?' Her husband she views as a departed saint, whom she
+expects to meet in a better world. She cherishes his memory with an
+affection that seems peculiarly sacred, and the remembrance of his
+piety is a consoling association connected with the recollections of
+one now in heaven.[44]
+
+    [43] Are there not many in all the churches who have been
+    convicted of sin, and who have perhaps repented, but have not
+    exercised full faith in Christ?
+
+    [44] That the marriage bond becomes more sacred, and the
+    reciprocal duties of affection more tender, between two hearts
+    that both love Jesus, I have no doubt. The feelings of this pious
+    widow favour the supposition; and the facts recorded in the
+    biographies of Edwards, Fletcher, and Corvosso, fully confirm it.
+
+A single incident develops the secret of that piety which gives her
+peace, and makes her useful. One of the last times that I saw her she
+stated, in conversation upon the subject, that a short time before she
+had read a Sabbath school book, which one of her children had received,
+in which was a representation of Christ bearing his cross to Calvary.
+While contemplating this scene, love and gratitude sprang up in her
+heart, which were subduing, sweet, and peaceful beyond expression. How
+is it, reader, that the contemplation of such a scene of suffering
+should cause such blessed emotions to spread like a rich fragrance
+through the soul, and rise in sweet incense to God? It is the holy
+secret of the cross of Christ, which none but the saints know, and
+even they cannot communicate.[45]
+
+    [45] Thomas à Kempis endeavoured to give expression to the
+    consciousness of the Divine life in the soul--'Frequens Christi
+    visitatio cum homine interno, dulcis sermocinatio, grata
+    consolatio, multa pax,' etc. ['The frequent presence of Christ in
+    the inner man is sweet converse, grateful consolation, much
+    peace,' etc.]
+
+
+
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+
+Allow the author to say, in closing, that it is his opinion that, in
+view of the reasonings and facts presented in the preceding pages,
+every individual who reads the book intelligently, and who is in
+possession of a sound and unprejudiced reason, will come to the
+conclusion that the religion of the Bible is from God, and Divinely
+adapted to produce the greatest present and eternal spiritual good
+of the human family. And if any one should doubt its Divine origin
+(which, in view of its adaptations and its effects as herein
+developed, would involve the absurdity of doubting whether an
+intelligent design had an intelligent designer), still, be the
+origin of the gospel where it may, in heaven, earth, or hell, the
+demonstration is conclusive that it is the only religion possible
+for man, in order to perfect his nature, and restore his lapsed
+powers to harmony and holiness.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+BILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD AND LONDON.
+
+
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+Transcriber's Note
+
+Variations in spelling are preserved as printed.
+
+Minor punctuation and typographic errors have been repaired.
+
+The Hebrew text of the footnote on page 51 has an error where it appears
+that a samech has been used instead of a mem (final). On the assumption
+that this is a printer error, it has been fixed: שס amended to שם.
+
+The asterism in the preface is represented with *** in this version of
+the e-book.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation, by 
+An American Citizen
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44644 ***