BV 4501 .D8A ^ Duffield, George, 1794-1868 Spiritual life, or. Regeneration SPIRITUAL LIfE: OR, ^^ ILLUSTRATED IN A SERIES OF DISQUISITIONS, RELATIVE TO ITS JiUTHOB^ SUBJECT, NATURE, ME^NS, "ISTnT ArtiOy.; THEM, TO EXPLAIN THE GREAT FACT OF A SINNER'S REGENEBJITION, 7?T THE AID OF A PIIILOSOPE!Y IMBIBEB IN HIS THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION, AND INTERWOVEN IX ^IX^T OF HIS ESHTElTIO>-S OF SCniPTTJBAL TRVTH: BUT FOR 7'EARS PAST REPUDIATED, BY THEIR MUCH ATTACHED PASTOR PREFACE. ' Whoever will carefully inquire, into the means by which he arrives at the knowledge of truth, not immediately falling under the cognizance of his senses, will presently discover, that he is entirely destitute of any original /u/?/- ilive perceptions. All our knowledge, is, at first, derived through the avenue of our senses. The impressions made from sensible things, the mind combines in endless forms, and rising into loftier spheres, emjdoys the ideas originally thence obtained as the representatives of unseen and spiritual verities;— and this it feels at liberty to do, bv vir- tue of some assumed analogy between them. It is in this way, we, obtain our ideas of God, and of His perfections, and indeed of all the grand truths and facts of our religion. These are all as perfect realities as if they were perceptible through the medium of our senses. It is the great business of religion to bring us to the right apprehension of them. The right apprehension of them is necessary, — to counteract and overcome the influence of sense, which binds us to earth and time, — and to connect us with the grand scenes of Heaven and Eternity. Human reason here impertinently volunteers its deductions, to lead us away into the regions of abstraction; and we shall not have pursued this flattering guide far, till we shall be lost in labyrinths and worlds of our own creating. But faith affords a light, as much safer, as it is summarily, and more satisfactorily, given. The living God has in various ways reported to us the reality of His own existence, the attri- butes Ox^ His character and all that it is important, and ne- cessary for our happiness here or hereafter, to know with regard to things unseen, spiritual and eternal. The Vi PEEFACE. glories and faithfulness of His character, stand pled o;ef| for the truth of His communications, Itisourduty and hlcssednessto believe what He says. But, in so belicvinf;;, we arc, from the very depravity of our na- ture, constrained to take our ideas of the things He reports to n% according to tlie plain nnd natural import of the language in which He addresses us. In doing so, we are not aware of jiny obligation to believe things are literally and formal- Jj/y as, His expressions, taken from sensible objects with ^vhich v;c arc familiar, would, at firi^t hearing, ijitimate. Our minds are so constituted, and such is the law by which Ood is pleased to govern them, in our presentcomplex state, VLS that, while we apprehend as realities, the things He states, we apprehend them not as clearly and perfectly understood, l>ut as bearing some analogy to those sensible things, from which we ourselves originally took the ideas by means of whicli we have formed conceptions of what we can neither «ce, hear, laste, touch, nor smell. The vuip:;ar, or commonly received acceptation of terms^ is the tsnly true one, v/hen they are transferred to a Being, 'whose intrinsic attributes are as incomprehensible by us, TxS His essence, and to a world which lies too remote for our intuitive cognizance. And yet to understand them UteraUy, and 7;/*o^?/Cr/y, as we do, in reference To beings like ourselves, and to things in this world, who does not see how egregiously we shall err? For example, we com- TTionly talk of the Life of God; but who will say that it is of the same kind with ours, which consists in the circula- tion of blood through our veins and arteries, and of breath through our nostrils, and lungs, and in other well known actions of our animal frame? Yet do we believe ihr..' there is some incessant activity in God, suitable to His own ineffable essence, which bears a resemblance, suf- iiciently striking to our life, to be thus denominated. \n like manner we do not conceive of the Life even of our own PREFACE. Yii inimoriai spiritjj, as of the same kind with that of our bo- dies;— but still we assume, that there is a resemblance, sufBciently striking to justify us, in analogically oon- ceiving of the former by means of our idea of the lattar. If this he so, — and our knowledge of the spiritual realities reported to us by God, and received by faith, is had by means of analogical conceptions, — it will be at once appa- rent to every intelligent reader, that in order to the best, and most approximated ideas of the latter, we must have clear and accurate ideas of those sensible things which we employ as their representatives. It has been under the influence of such views, that the following pages — a great part of which was originally in- tended to facilitate the author's own private studies, — were prepared. The sacred scriptures represent the change produced by the Spirit of God, and called Regeneration^ under the idea of a Neio Life, Now it is manifest, that if we have mistaken views, as to what Life is, in its more ordinary forms, and as it presents itself to the inspectiori of our senses, we shall necessarily be led into vague, mj^s^ tie, and indefinite notions of it in spiritual things — which lie beyond the sphere of our senses. Any and every false, or imperfect view of life, in the former, must and will even- tuate in analogical error. It is well that the vulgar appre- hensions on this subject, are practically correct. Com- mon sense, invariably associates the idea,of action and en- joyment w:ith that of life, in its more obvious and imposing forms;— and following these, as its guide, it will never be found far from the truth, in that high and wondrous exhi- bition, viz. the life of God hi the souh Philosophy however has here done incalculable- mischief. .It has come with one, and another theory, and with one or more asso= ciated, and having laid a false m.etaphysical or philosophi- cal basis in its definitions of life, has reared amass of empti-> ness and mysticism only to bewilder and perplex. Viii PREFACE. In the early period of his Iheologidal studies, the-authoi' felt the extreme perplexit}^ of this subject; but, having im- bibed the philosophy of the schools, for several years after the commencement of his ministerial life, was wont to de- fine and illustrate Regeneration, according to philosophical views, which he is now persuaded were incorrect. They were never Tully satisfactory to him, but he comforted him- self, as he had learned to do, from the authors whose views he had embraced, by identifying the mist of that philosophy, with the scriptural facts in the case, — which, like all other facts, he was prepared to believe, in their intimate nature, to be inexplicable. He regrets deeply the influence which they had on his early ministrations among the people of his charge, — being convinced tliat they seduced him from that simple testifying to matters of fact, and contemning the theories and deductions of philosophy, which should characterize the preaching of him who desires to be blessed by the Spirit of truth. And for this he knows no more suitable atonement that he can offer, than to give to them, in a volume, the result of investigations which he is con- vinced, are not appropriate to the pulpit. In adventuring, some things to aid their researches, he regrets that a state of things should have arisen in the Presbyterian church, entirely unforeseen, at the period when he consented that they should pass into the printer's hands. The spirit of party prevalent at the present day, is exceedingly prejudicial to candid investigation; — and this is the more to be regretted, because the contention is not so much for the facts of revelation, as — if not for something still worse — for the philosophical theory employed in the explanation of those facts, — a theory, so consecrated in the theological writings of former days, and so interwoven in their technics, as to be mistaken^ by those who have had access to none other, for the very truths of Scripture it- self. All agree as to the facts of the reality and necessity of PREFACE. ix Regeneration and of the Spirit's influence to secure it. Here then, let brethren caress each other, and co-operate in giving their testimony to the truth. Why should any follow the light of philosophy, which beguiles from the simplicity of faith, and causes christian ministers and peo- ple to diverge further and further from each other? If the following disquisitions will, in any measure con- tribute to heal divisions, — to correct suspicions, — to pro- mote the unity of the Spirit, — to lead any to see the essen- tial accordance in faith, of those who are at war with each other in philosophy, the author will consider himself am- ply rewarded. They have been Submitted to the press as they were prepared, in moments redeemed from many pressing engagements; — and they have Ijccii oo«L'. ^.j? iJ VJ v^ i ^v.' -i-i. -^ >♦ ' iiVTRODlJCTORY REMARKS. Some peculiar life, as produced by the Spirit, spoken of by Christ and the propliets — The design of the work stated — The chai-acter and source of proof to be adduced — Illustrations drawn from the analogy of nature leg-Itimate — God's moral and physical constitutions not at variance — ?4ode of interpreting" stripture — The divine testimony paramount evi- dence— The biblical student should not violate the principles of sound philosophy — The principles to conduct the investig-ation avouched — The author's liopes expressed. It was long since predicted, that .^o/ne divine energy vshould be exerted to produce life in the souls of men. '^And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live,'^* said "the Lord God" by the mouth of Ezekiel. Whether this language is wholly metaphorical, will be seen in the progress and result of the discussion contained in these pages. The prediction relates particularly to the conver- sion of the Jews. That event shines conspicuously in prophetic story, and we are directed to it, as to the bright morning star which immediately precedes, and even shines resplendent in the rising glory of millennial day. What shall be the circumstances connected with their na- tional regeneration, time alone will disclose. The opera- tive and efficient agent wi'I be the Spirit of God, and the immediate effect and proof of His influence, will be the possession of life in their souls. However the circum- stances conducive to the conversion of the Jews shall differ from those ordinarily employed by the Spirit, the charac- * Ezek. xxxvii, 14. I INTKODLGTOin CHAP. I ter of the agent and of His influence shall not. The re- generation of a sinner is life from the dead \\\ every in- stance, whether the suljject be Jew or Gentile. The preaching of the gospel is indeed the means most fre- quently employed, and rendered most efficacious in pro- ducing this life; but it possesses no power to this end, except as it may be the ivord of God. ''The hour is coming and now is," said the Lord of life, "when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall //I'e."* The language, both of the prediction, and of Christy implies that there is some other life, to be had by men, than that which all in common possess as creatures com- posed of soul and body. And the allusions ia the scrip- tures, both of the Old and New Testaments, to a life peculiar and distinguishing, as imparted by the Spirit of God to some, and not to all, prevent the supposition that it is altogether imaginative, and the language merely meta- phorical. "But Gody who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened\ us (made us alive) together with Christ." It is the object of the following work to inves- tigate, and illustrate that great moral renovation,, of which the scriptures speak so decisively, according as it is repre- sented under the idea of life troduced by the spirit OF God. The inspired writers employ a variety of terms in treat- ing of this subject, and present it under almost endless aspects. At one time it is called regeneration, at another being born again, one while a raising frorn the dead, and again creating anew; one while the taking away the hard and stony heart, and at another the giving an heart of flesh; one while the renewing of the Holy Ghost, and at another the law of the Spirit of Life, besides others of * .Tohn vi, 25. j Epli, ii. 4, 5. CHAP. 1. REMARKS. 3 the same general import. It is unnecessary to examine the meaning, or inquire into the reason of each expression. We have selected the idea of life, as the simplest and most comprehensive, and design, by means of it, to sub- ject the whole subject of regeneration, or the new BIRTH, in all its grand and important relations, to a careful and candid analysis. In announcing this design, it may not be improper to apprise the reader of the source and character of the proofs and illustrations to be adduced. The sacred scriptures are assumed to be the infallible word of God. Its revela- tions are not reputed mere abstractions, but simple mat- ters OF FACT. So far from the idea being admitted, that the bible is a mere guide to opinions, and calculated to induce theory and speculation, it is affirmed that the dis- closures which it makes are solemn declarations of fact, and not the less interesting because originally beyond the sphere of human reason. They affect the character, the condition, the hopes, the destiny of the ruined race of man, and have a most important and essential bearing on individual happine^^s and expectation. In the interpreta- tion of these words of truth, it is deemed impertinent to ask, ''can such a thing be,'^ or ''is it compatible with our notion of the Divine Being." It is from God's own dis- closure of himself — from His revelation of His own mind and will — that we are to form our ideas of Himself. If we imbibe them from another source, we shall err; for natur- ally we ''walk in the vanity of our mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in us, because of the blindness* of our heart.'' If God has been pleased to speak — it is assumed as, unquestionably because most de- monstratively, true, that He has — it is for us to hear, and not ask impertinently how or why is this or that which He *'Eph. iv. 17, 18. i:n;tiioductory CHAP. r. declares to be the fact. They that will reserve to them^ selves this liberty, and judge of the revelations of the scriptures accordinj^ as they may meet or favor their pecu- liar prejudices and feelings, or as they are pleased to dig- nify them — their reason, had better act consistently, and proclaim themselves infidels at once, rejecting the authori- ty of the word of God. However common it may be for men to allege they will not believe this or that, because it does not commend itself to their judgment, because it does not comport with their views of God, because they reserve to themselves in all cases the right of private opinion, be- cause they cannot understand it, it w^iM not for one moment be conceded that with such the bible is accounted of para- mount authority. Our discussions are with, and for those who feel that "thus saith the Lord" is like the oath among men, and must *^put an end to all strife.'^ All others, though they may pretend to believe in a divine revelation, are mere hypocrites and unbelievers. Yet, in illustrating the facts which it has pleased God to make known to us in the sacred scriptures, we shall deem it perfectly lawful to avail ourselves of all the light which may be obtained from the analog)' of His works. While Vie magnify revelation, as an authority from which there is no appeal, and insist, that our minds and consciences bow to its decisions vvithout a moment's hesitancy, we are neverthe- less far from exalting it as contrary to the established order of nature. There is a beautiful harmony between them, as being alike the oifspring of the same bounteous, parent, and they serve often to illustrate each other. For, although the kingdoms of nature and of grace may be as perfectly distinct as two distant worlds can be, yet, as they both are established in the same, it is perfectly reasonable to expect that the same God who presides over both, and is the author of both, should have maintained an essential concord be- tween them. He does not frame His moral constitutions CRAV.l. REMARRS. .5 at variance with His physical. We may have occasion frequently to trace the beautiful analogy between them, and be led to admire the divine original of both. But in doing so we must still claim supreme authority for the written word: and that we may not be misunderstood, or our whole subject, and sources of proof rejected as mysti- cal, we shall devote a chapter explicitly to the character of the objects v^^hich form the materiel of our knowledge, and the mode by which it is obtained. Should there be any obscurity in the language in which it has pleased God to speak, the previous question as to what He actually does say, must be carefully and accurate- ly determined. And in determining this, we shall not perplex ourselves, or our readers, with any learned or labored applications of the rules and principles of Flermen- euties as it is called. Common sense, a knowledge of the original languages in which the scriptures were written, and of the customs, manners, and history, &c. which may be necessary to understand the rationale or allusions of its terms, are of principal importance. If criticism becomes necessary, and a demand is made on our philological re- sources, the reader who is unacquainted with the Hebrew and Greek, shall not be offended by the introduction of things on which he can pass no judgment; but the result of inquiry shall be given in its proper place, while the mode of obtaining that result, or the reasons for main- taining it, shall, to such as may be able and disposed to investigate them, be furnished in notes subjoined. In all controversy, or doubt about the meaning of a passage oi scripture, the appeal must be to the Ydvy words which the Spirit of God himself has employed, and the signification of those words must be determined by comparing the passages in which the}^ occur, and the manner in which they are used by classical authorities, or those with whom the lan- guag;e was vernacular. Having ascertained the meaning of 6 INTRODUCTOllY CHAP. I. the words, and relieved the text from obscurlt}^ so that the mind and will of God has been discovered in the plain import of the passage, we shall hold ourselves bound to receive His testimony, without making or entertaining a solitary objection. Whatever is asserted by God claims credence from us, in despite of all imaginations and rea- sonings to tlie contrary. It must be assumed as indisputa- ble/ac/, wjiich, whether we can understand it or not, whether we can unravel its perplexities nnd solve its diffi- culties, or must leave it involved in its own native mys- tery, cannot be rejected or denied, except at the peril of taking from iJie ivord of God, and impeaching Him with falsehood. The testimony of Him that cannot lie is evi- dence, in every case, conclusive and overpowering; and it is more trian our souls are worth to doubt, wheth-er it is or can be true, after that God has declared it to be the fact. Nor s'nall we admit, for one moment, that tiiere is ground of reproach against us as weak and credulous, though we thus SDcak. Vv-^e plant ourselves upon the same solid ground on which the votary of sound philosophy essays to rear his system. He asks not, like the incredulous Jew, '^how can these things be?" but his first inquiry is, is it indeed the fact? Afterwards he labors to solve the phenom- enon. Should he fail to do so, he chronicles the fact and waits for further light to aid iiis investigations. Should he have ransacked the vast store-house of science, and found nothing that would enable him satisfactorily to ex- plain the mystery, and should theory after theory be framed, and then disc^irded, and not one ray of light beam, upon the dark bosom of his theme, yet does he not feel himself authorized to disbelieve what upon sufficient tvi- dence he is convinced is the fact. However it may seem to be at variance with the established laws of nature, or to involve matters altogether novel or inexplicable, he admits the phenomenon, adn^irino; and ndonno- t:be vastneps ;iiAP I. REMARKS. and mystery of Nature's works. Il is tlius, too, that the firm believer in revelation — the biblical philosopher de- ineans himself. He is jicrfectly convinced that the bible is the word of God, (and he that is not, has not yet half explored the proofs that crowd upon the subject), and being satisfied that God the Holy One a^^d true has spoken, not all his perplexity can make him for a moment reject the fact. Theorise and speculate he may, and though wearied with his devices to pr}' into the mystery of the fact, he bows submissively to the majesty of trutl) — tlie word of an undeceived and undeceiving God — and lifts his heart in de- vout and adoring admiration, *^0, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How un- searchable are his judgments, and his ways pasi finding out."* No more shaH he be reproached for credulity and -weakness than the loftiest son of science, who, like the comet, "Takes his ample round • Thro' depths of ether; coists uiinuiiibered worlds, Of more than solar glory." Both may soar on fancy's airy wings, and climb among the higher spheres of God's exalted sway; but both must cease from proud imaginings, and, as they value peace and knowledge too, learn to rest on simple, sober fact — the only difference discernible between them being, that be- fore the one, God spreads the mighty efibrts of his creatrve power, and bids him "look and learn," while to the other He speaks in terms direct and plain, and bids him '•'hear and know." But the eye's seeing is not balf such satisfying and luxurious evidence, as the heart's believing. Such are the principles by which it is proposed that our investigations shall be conducted. Vv'e may perhaps occa- sionally find it necessary to refer to them; but after this avowal, such references need not be frequent or prolix - * Roui. xi. 33. S iNTiiODUc roia ghap. i. Our readers may expect a liberal use of the lively oracles, and the)^ are solicited to come with us to the consideration of a theme of infinite moment to us all; and to come with docile minds and humble hearts. We desire no higher honor than to be instrumental in leading them to the foun- tain of truth, and inciting them to inquire of the Great "Teacher sent from God," what He is willing w^e should know of "the life hid with Christ in God,"* And^ should it please the great and sovereign Lord of all, to guide any humble and anxious mind, through our feeble efforts, into clearer and admiring perceptions of His own most won- drous work in quickening those who were "dead in tres» passes and in sins," and thus creating them anew His workmanship unto good works, t to Him shall be ascribed all the glory. Our own hearts rejoice in every survey of the new creation. Its glory shines with dazzling radiance on our dciiglited minds, and we long that hundreds and thousands, now in the grave of their corruptions, should waken into life, and come forth to swell the anthems of praise that ascend to ^'Him that liveth and was dead and is alive for evermore, amen, and hjs the keys of hell and death. "J The utm.ost we purpose, is, by the light of di- vine truth, to trace that blessed agency, and that influence of the eternal life-giving Spirit of God, on the mind and heart of man, which are designed to qualify him, alike for usefulness in this world, and glory in the world to come. In attempting so to do, it will not, we hope, be thought strange or uncongenial with our subject, if we take a de- liberate and coa;prehensive view of the characttr of the glorious agent by whom the life of which we speak is pro- duced, and of the original and peculiar structure of the creature man, who is the subject of it. If any of our readers should think, that we escape into the regions of met- apbysicai philosophy, we hope it will be remembered that * Col i; ■ T KpL, 1!. 5, 10. * Rev. i. 18. CHAP. T. REMARKS. it is only because our subject necessarily leads us there, and, we think that, holding in our hand the torch of truth divine, we need not be afraid "Of wandering in airy mazes lost." The very topic of a change of heart, requires some know- ledge of man's rational and sensitive soul, in order to its faithful exhibition. And it may be profitable for us to trace the influence which a mistaken view of the human mind — a ^^philosophy falsely so called," has had in shaping and determining men's notions and practice, on a subject of such high concernment. We ask the patient and candid attention of our readers, and praj' that the Spirit of God may guide botli us and our readers, into the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. CHAPTER IL THE PERSOK^ALITY OF THE SPIRIT. The life-giving' influence of the Spirit peculiarly cliaracteristic of the evau- g-elical dispensation — 'i'he Spirit a personal ag'cnt — A two-fold source of objection against this — Proofs of His personality — 1. The power of spon- taneous action, and the actual voluntary exercise of it — 2. The Spirit per- forms ac^w??s peculiar to a personal agent — 3. Operates, &c. — 4-. Is affected, &c. — 5. Exercises the functions of various q^ccs — 6^ HsLsysaiouspersowul attributes. "The Lord is that Spirit,"' said the apostle, when speak- ing of the influence necessary to remove the prejudices of the Jews against Christ. He had been contrasting the Mosaic and Evangelical dispensations, and extolling the latter as possessing richer glory, because of its being ac- companied with the life-giving influences of the Spirit of God. The comrpunications of God, under the former economy, vi^ere made by menus of Moses, and the law en- graved on tables of stone. It was indeed a glorious reve- lation, but comparatively little more than the knowledge of the letter was had by its votaries. There was no pro- vision made for an especial, powerful, and enlightening influence of the Spirit of God on the minds and hearts of ancient worshippers. Whatever influence the Spirit vouchsafed, it was adapted to the sensible ordinances, and appalling rites celebrated in the temple of Jehovah. There was a veil of darkness and mystery thrown around the whole system, so ''that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished.''' 1 2Cor. iii. 17. 2 2Cor. iii. l:^. CHAP. ir. ^i'HE TERSOXALITY OF THE SPIRIT. H But under the gospelj there are ministers of Christ com- missioned to teach, and enforce, the great truths of religion, whose efforts are accompanied with a convincing and iUum- i Dating a«;ency of the Spirit of God. This Spirit, the apostle declares is Jehovah — -the Lord. His influence is represented as giving life in ojr>osi"'on to the killing sentence of the law of God, which was engraven on the tahles of stone, and which formed as it were the grand central g^ory of the whole system of types and shadows. "Who also," says he, ''hath made us ahle ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth Life."^ In con- templating an exposition of this, His peculiar work, there- fore, it becomes necessary for us to clear away all the ob- scurity and perplexity wjiich hang around our subject, in consequence of the objections and doubts expressed by some in relation to the existecee and personality of the. Spirit of God. \Vherefore, we have quoted the assertion of the apostle, with a view to present distinctly for dis- cussion the two following propositions, which his lan- guage evidently involves: I. That the Spirit of God is a personal agent, and n. That tie is possessed of a divine nature or is in reality God. It is objecied, b}^ the enemies of our faith, that the v/ord PERSON is not to be found in the sacred scriptures as designating any distinct or separate subsistence in the di- vine essence. This is freely admitted. But it does not, therefore, follow, that there are no distinct or separate siibsislenccs in the divine nature, to which severally and respectively are attributed, an understanding and will and power to exert them. The translators of the New Testa- ment have used the term pe7'S07i in the first chapter of the epistle to tlie Hebrews, no doubt because it is the best 1 2X'o:-. iii, 6. 12 '-^^^ PERSONALITY CHAP. H. they could employ, and approximates most to the idea ex- pressed hy the original. All that is meant, however, when personality is attributed to the Spirit of God, is, simply, that there is sone distinct subsistenca in the eJivine na- ture, possessed of an understanding, and will, and such other intellectual and moral properties, as authorise us to believe him to be, and to speak of him as, a personal agent, who is represented by this appellation. We would not be very tenacious of the English term, but we claim the privilege of using it till a better can be substituted. We are aware that objections are urged against it in a two-fold form. It is alleged that the idea of there being three distinct personal subsistences in the divine essence, is incompatible with that of the unity of God — ^a fact most plainly asserted in the sacred scriptures; and that, as for the Spirit of God so frequently spoken of, nothing else is meant by it than an attribute of Deity: wisdom, for in- stance, or more frequently, perhaps, the divine power. The first objection is by no means admissible. That there may be, and is something altogether unintelligible in the fact of three distinct personal subsistences dwelling in the same divine essence, is not to be denied: but this is by no means a sufficient reason for rejecting it, since the evidence which establishes it is most unquestionable. We daily ad- mit and believe many things, which we cannot, and do not even attempt to explain. We believe that we are possess- ed of two natures, or perhaps three, according to Paul's philosophy, bodij, soul, and spirit, perfectly distinct and dissimilar, and yet that they are resident in one moral being, which we call man. The thing is inexplicable, and yet the fiict is undeniable. Does any one allege the two natures in man as an objection against the unity of his per- son? Where then is there any greater ground of objection against the unity -of the divine nature from the plurality of divine persons? We are not at liberty to urge objections CHAP- IT. <^^ '^^iE ^'^^^^- IS from what appears inconsistent and may be inexplicable to us, provided the evidence sufficiently establishes the fact, xind that such is the fact, that there is a pluralit}^ of personal subsistences in the divine esaeace. cannot be suc- cessfully disputed by any one who acknovvk-dges that there is evidence in testimony, and that the sacred scriptures, as being the word of God, are q( paramount authority. Of this we shall be more convinced presently. As for the attempt of tiiosc who allege that the Spirit of God is a mere attribute, spoken of, in a bold personifica- tion, according to the highly figurative stj-ie of the sacred scriptures, it may be remarked, that such a figure of speech is indeed sometimes employed by the inspired writers, but only in the lofty strains of eloquence, or in their sublime flights of poetry, not in the plain, sober, historical narra- tive. In the much admired instance of the personified wisdom in the eighth chapter of Proverbs, it is, to say the least, very doubtful whether it is not the Lord Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom, who is spoken of. At all events, the figure of speech occurs in the rich imagery employed by our inspired poel, and therefore cannot furnish any thing conclusive on the main question. For, as we shall now proceed to shew all the peculiar and appropriate acts of a person are attributed to the Spirit of God, or, as He is often called, the Holy Spirit. It v.'ould be unnecessnry to notice all the passages in which the Spirit of God is spoken of as a personal agent. Our attention niust be confined to a fevv which we shall classify under the following heads: 1. The power of spontaneous action, and the actual VOLUNTARY EXERCISE of it, are attributed to the Spirit. Thus, He is said to 7?iove. ^'The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."^ It is true that some understand by 1 Gen. i. 2. Merahepheth, in the Hithpael which has the force of a re- flexive veHj — motitans se, ir.olii fbtu incubans.— Clav. pent. p. 4. 14 THE PERSONALITY CHAP. II. the Spirit in this passage, a mighty wind, according to the idiomatic import, as they allege, of the Hebrew phrase. The term translated Spirit, it is confessed, does primarily signify breath, or wind, and also, that the name of God, among the Hebrews, was, and as a mode of comparison, being designed to express the superlative degree: but this method of resolving tiie plirase cannot be correct; for the wind has not the power of spontaneous motion. By what- ever causes its motions may be originated, the air is ah^ays entirel3^ passive. We do, indeed, personify th3 wina in ordinar}' speech, but it is in a manner perfectly intelligible by sM, and never as thuiigh it possessed life, and was capa- ble of spontaneously affecting other things. The Spirit OF God, however, in the place referred to, is spoken of as originating his own actions. Strictly and literally the ex- pression may be rendered moved himself,^ as the fowl {)oes over her nest when she is hatching her young. The motion described by the term, is totally dissimilar from that of the wind. Beside, there are many passages in which the phrase, the Spirit of God, cannot possibly, by an}^ licentiousness of criticism whatever, be conceived to inean breath or wind, though they are so translated. For example, the breath of the Almighty hath given me life:"" ^'by the breath of God frost is given:" *'by the word of the Lord were the heavens made: and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth:"'^ ''Behold the name of the Lord cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy, his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire, and his breath as an overflowing stream.""^ "For Tophet is ordained of old, and the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it:'*^ "Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy son of man, and say to tliC wind, thus saith the Lord God, 1 Job, xxy.U'i. 4. 2 Jol), 5:5:xv)i. 10. 3 Psalms, xxxiii. 6 4 liul-uu XXX -27, 2S. 5 Isa-ah, xxx. 33. CHAP. n. ^^^ '^Ht: sPiRrr, i 5 como from the four vviads, Oh, breathy and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. '^^ The Spirit of God also is said to speaJc, which is another voluntary action. The Spirit spoke to Peter- and to Philip,^ &c. He is also said to lead: -'as many as are led by the Spirit of God"'* — to guide— ^'lle will guide vou Into all truth"^' — to help — "the Spirit helpcth our infirmities"*^ to hear — 'Hvhatsoever he shall hear that shall he also speak,"- and other things of the same nature. Now it is certainly personifying too much if all these things are affirmed, and that in the midst of sober narra- tive or didactic discussion, of an attribute. Surely it is too absurd to gain the credence of any individual that an attribute should move itself, Sjjeak, lead, guide and heli} our infirmities. 2. The Spirit of God is represented as performin'>- THOSE ACTIONS WHICH CAN BE PREDICATED ONLY OP SOMS INTELLIGENT PERSONAL AGENT. ThuS, He is Said TO IIS- VEAL — '-as it is now revealed to his apostles and prophets by the Spirit"^ — to teach — -Hhe Comforter shall teach you all things"^ — to testify — '^Ihe Spirit itself heareih ivitness'^'^ — "when the Comforter is come, even the Spirit of truth, he shall testify of nie"-^ — to receive and sheiv — "he shall receive of mine and shall shew it unto you"" — to search — '"the Spirit searchefh all things"^^ — to have a mind — "He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the viind oi \\\q Spirit"^^ — to prophesy'^ — "He shall shew you things to come''^^ — to intercede — "the Spirit niaketh intercession for us,'"" and to know — "even 1 Ezekiel, xxxrii. 9. 2 Acts, x. 19. 3 Acts, viii. 20 4 Rom. vl'ii. 14. 5 Joiiii, xvi, 1:1. 6 Rom. viii, 26, 7 Epli. iii. 5. 8 John, xiv. 26 9 Xir.w. vui. 16. 10 John, XV. 26. 11 John, xvi. 14. 12 1 Cor. ii. 10. 13 Rora. viii. 27- 14 John, xvi. 13. 15 Uo:n, viii. 2a„ 16 THE PERSONS ALITY CHAP. II. SO the things of God knoweth no one, but^the Spirit of Now is it possible tliat sucli things can with any shew of reason or propriety be said of an attribute? Would it not be an outrage upon common sense thus to personify? By what imaginable license of speech would any one ven- ture to declare, that an attribute — the wisdom or the power of God for example, should reveal^ teach, testify, receive, shew, searcli, prophesy, intercede and know? Knowledge is itself an attribute — one of those essential to God. Who can conceive that knowledge 0.2.^ with any meaning be predii;ated of the divine ^^ot^'er, or even of the divine icis- dom. God Himself is undoubtedly wise and powerful and omniscient, but shall we afiirm these things of any one of Wis perfections? Can power know? These are the mysteries — Vv'e should rather say the absurdities, that ip.wst be adopted by those who reject the scriptural doctrine of iliQ pjersonality of the Spirit. 3. The Spirit of God is represented as operating in such way as necessarily to imply the existence of an INTELLIGENT PERSONAL AGENT. ThuS, He is Said tO WOrk miracles — "^through mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God^'^ — to confer gifts — "to one is given by His Spirit the word of wisdom'^^ — to sancti- fy— ^'ye are sanctified by the Spirit of God'^'* — to give life — "it is the Spirit that quickeneth'^^ — to reprove — "He will reprove the world of sin"^ — to strive — "My Spirit shall not always strive with men.''^ Such are some of his operations. If working miracles, conferring gifts, sanctifying, giving life, reproving and remonstrating do not indicate personality, what can? 4. The Spirit of God is represented as being affect- 1 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11. 2 Rom. xv. 19. 3 1 Cor. xil. 8--14 4 1 Cor. vj. 11. 5 John, vi. 63. 6 John. xvi. 8. 7 Gen. vi. 3. CHAP. II. ^^ 'l'^^^ SPIRIT. 17 ED, AND THAT BY MEANS OF VARIOUS EXPRESSIONS WHICH Denote the passions and affections of an intelli- gent AGENT. Thus, He is said to he pleased — "it seemed good to the Holy Ghost ;"^ to be vexed — *nhey rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit ;'*~ to be grieved — ' 'grieve not the Holy Spirit of God ;"^ to be resisted— ^'ye do always resist the Holy Ghost ;'''' to be quenched — '^quench not the Spirit.''^ Can all these things be predicated of a mere attribute. 5. There are various offices attributed to the Spirit of God, and He is represented as operating IV the discharge of the same, which are things perfectly unintelligible and absurd on the supposi- tion OF his being a personal agent. Thus he is said io teach: ^'But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you ; and ye need not that any man teach you ; but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him."° By this anointing every one must admit is meant the very same thing with what is elsewhere called the Spirit of God. John said of Christ that *'God giv- eth not the Spirit by measure unto him,"^ but in an illimitable degree, which thing in the poetic style of the Psalms, is represented by an unction!^ from the Holy One, as an Apostle has infallibly declared. ^'Unto the Son he saith, God, even thy God, hath anointed thee Vv^ith the oil of gladness above thy fellows. ^^^ Whatever the Spirit of God may be, it is the same with the anointing which is said to teach. The Spirit also, is said expressly, or by evident implication in other passages, to teach. ^'^ This is a work that is peculiarly attributed to Him, and may there- 1 Acts, XV. 28. 2 Isaiah, Ixiii. 10. 3 Eph. iv. 30. 4 Acts, vii. 51. 5 1 Thess. v. 19. 6 1 John, ii. 27 7 John, ill. 34. 8 Proof to the same effect is to be had by comparing 2 Cor. i. 21, 22, '■.^t\i Epii. 1. 13, 14,-1 John, ii, 20, with 1 C'or. ii. 12, 5 Hefe. i. 9: Psalm, xlv. 7, 10 Luke, xu. 12: John. xlv. 26: 1 Cor, ii. 13, 3 IS 'i'HE PERSONALITY CHAP. ll. fore be considered His oftlcial business. If the blessed Saviour is represented as teaching, and is thence to be con- gidered as an official teacher^ having been sent from God for this puyyose, according to the true saying of Nicode- mus/ so ought the Holy Spirit to be, for He is sent expressly by the Lord Jesus Christ to teach, and thence takes the distinctive and official title of the Cowforter. If the one is a true person, and if it is at all lav/ful to argue that He is, from the office attributed to Him and His dis- charge of its duties, so also must be the other. Why must we believe it mere personification in Ihe latter instance, if it be not in the former? Every reader of the scriptures, who has not, by his prejudices or attachment to some fa- vorite theory, been com.pelled to sacrifice his common sense, sees, at once, how absui'd a thing it is to deny the real personality of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet it is not more so than to deny that of the Spirit. Was the former an attribute of Deity, or some attribute making manifes- tations of itself? How utterly absurd! No mystery can be half as absurd ; yet this absurdity must be maintained by him that denies the personality of the Spirit of God ! The argument drawn from this source might be amplified by a reference to another very peculiar class of effects wrought by the Spirit of God, which the sacred scriptures contemplate as pertaining to Him officially — we mean those connected with the sanctification of believers, on account of whose agency and influence in the production of which, they are said to ^'walk in the Spirit, ^^" to be ''led by the Spirit, ^'^ to '^live in the Spirit, ^'"^ to be ''after the Spirit,''' to be "in the Spirit,''^ to be "Jilled ivith the Spirit,'''^ to have "the fruits of the Spirit,''^ &c. ; but we deem it unnecessary, as every reader can readily do it for himself. What mean such expressions, if there is na 1 John, iii, 2. 2 Oal. v. 16. 3 Gal. v. 18. 4 Gal.v. 25. 5 Rom. viii. 5. 6 Rom. viii, 9. 7 Eph. V. 18. 8 Gal. v. 22: Eph. v. 16. CHAP,. II. OF THE SPIRIT. 19 such blessed agent as the Spirit of God exerting an infliN ence in and with the believer's efforts to lead a holy life? Why are they especially called "the temple of God," and is it said that "the Spirit of God divelleth in"^ them when their personal holiness is alluded to, if there is no such. Being as the Spirit of God, and that holiness is not an effect of His agency and influence? Must the phrase or phrases as above, be understood to mean the influence of human reason and conscience in opposition to the animal appetites? How then without violating an idiom of speech can believers be said to be ^'sanctiJiedV^ And how is it that we read of '^sanctijication through the Spirit, ^^ as though the personal holiness of the believer is to be attri- buted to some other than the influence of their own rea- son? Verily language could not have been more vague, or more calculated to deceive, than that which the sacred scriptures hold vvith respect to the sanctification of be- lievers, if the influence of human reason is its source, and if there is no such Being as the Spirit of God. 6. It may yet be added that there are various attri- butes GIVEN IN THE SACRED SCRIPTURES TO THE SpiRIT OF God. Thus, Truth is attributed to Him, 'Hhe Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive"^ — Holiness also, whence he is called "the Holy Spirit" and "the Spirit of Holiness^^^ —YxkewhQ Goodness — "Thy Spirit is Good'^ "Thy Goofl? Spirit"'' — and Grace — "hath done despite to the Spirit of Grace^^'' — and Glory — "the Spirit of Glory and of God resteth on you"*" -and Etei^ruty — "who through the Eternal Spirit"'' — and Omnipresence — "whither shall I go from thy Spirit"^ — and Omniscience — "The Spirit searcheth all thi?igs.''^ Can we suppose, without absurdity, that all these things are attributed to a mere at- trii)Ute? Shall w^e personify the power of God, and in the 1 1 Cor. ill. 16: vi. 19. 2 John, xiv. 17, &c. &c.. 3 1 Cor. Hi. 16:Rom 5.4. 4 Psalm, cxliii. 10: Neh. ix. 20. 5 Heb. x. 29. 6 1 Peter, iv. 14. "■ Heb. ix.vl-i. 8 Psalm, cvxxix. 7. 9 1 Cor. ii, 1^. 20 THE PERSONALITY OF THE SPIMT. cHAP. n. boldness of lofty conception weave around it the other perfections of Deity? Then what are we to make of the attribute of power itself, which is given to the Spirit of God, as we read of ^'rnany signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God?"^ Is it at all conceivable that truth, holiness, goodness, grace, glory, eternity, omnipresence and omniscience should be attributed to power, — and potr- er too? Is it not absurd to talk of the power of the power of God? So far from the Spirit of God being identical Vv'ith the power of God, they are accuratel)^ distinguished in the sacred scriptures, ^'not by might nor by poicer, but hy My Spirit saith the Lord.'^^ When therefore we survey the different parts of our argument, we contidently challenge any and every man who can divest his mind of prejudice, and who will ration- ally and coolly consider the import of language, to say, whether there is not the most overwhelming proof of the vSpirit's personality^ or real personal existence. If He possesses the power of spontaneous action, and actually and voluntarily exerts it ; if He performs those actions which can be predicated only of a personal intelligent agent—speaking, testifying, searching, shewing, and the like ; if He operates, and is affected in such way as to imply personality — -working miracles, conferring gifts, being vexed and grieved, &c. ; if He discharges the functions of various offices — teaching and sanctifying; if He is posses- sed of various attributes of a personal intelligent agent — - truth, holiness, goodness, grace, power, &c., ought we, can we for one moment doubt with respect to His real per- sonal existence? If these things do not prove personality what else can? It is just as impossible to prove the per- sonal existence of Jesus Christ, or even of God the Father, as it is of the Holy Spirit, if there is no conclusiveness ii: the arguments that have been adduced. 1 Rorn. XV. 19. 2 Zech. iv. 6. CHAPTER III. THE PERSOJVALITY OF THE SPIRIT. CONTINUED. An attempt to understand the Unitarian doctrine concerning the Spirit — . Quotation from Faustus Socinns — Quotation from Dr. Channing- — From Leshe — The Unitarian's alternative — His notion of the spirit examined — Put to the test of common-sense interpretation of scripture, John xiv, 24 26 — Another supposition with regard to the Spirit examined — Its falsity exposed, when put to the test of scripture, Heb. ii. 4: Acts, xiii. 2 : Acts, viii. 28: xi 19, 20: xv. 28; xvi. 6 — If Unitarian views are true, the sacred writers liable to a sericus charge. Acts, vi. 3: John, i. 33: Acts, v. 3, A — ■ The Unitarian notion of impiration examined — Nature of inspiration — An argument thence deduced in favour of the dirine personality of the Spirit ■ — Unitarian view of inspiration — Quotation from Priestley and Belshara, 2 Tim. iii. 16; Mark, xiii. 11 — Dr. Bancroft's idea. Mat. xii. 31. Perhaps it will be objected that we have not faiih- fully and accurately represented the opinion of those against whom we have been directing our arguments: — that \nq have taken advantage of expressions, and attributed to them sentiments which thoy disavow: — that they do not mean ta intimate any such absurdity as that a mere abstract perfec- tion of Deity, apart and separate from God Himself, should be represented as endowed w^th the attributes of personali- ty. We confess that it is exceedingly difficult to tell what they mean, and that we find it much easier to understand the proposition setting forth this great mystery, that the Divine Being— the One God exists in three distinct per- sonal subsistences, than the assertions and explanations they advance relative to God and the Spirit of God. Let them speak for themselves. The Holy Spirit of God, shey say, jjiust be understood in the same sense as wlieii C22 THE PEPcSOXALITV CHAP. III. we speak of the Holt/ ivisdom, or the Holy will, or more especially the Holy'power of God. Hear a great Socinian, or as he would be called in modern parlance, a learned Unitarian on this subject. We shall translate his language for ©ur English readers, but his own words may be con- sulted in the note. "^ ^'BrieOy, every Divine power and * Breviter omnis divina vis ct efficacia Dei spiritus appellari potest, et idcirco Deus ipse dicit, se replcvisse Dei spiritu Bcseleel filium Uri; [Exod. xxxi. 3.] quia videlicet eum implevisset scientia artis niechanica;, qua opus crat ad ea omnia fabricanda, qus ad sui eultum ut fierent, Mosi prseceperat. V'erum quia vis ilia et efficac.a divina, qua aliqua ratione res sanctificantur, aiiis loiig-e praestat estque Dei maxime propria, eamque et ipse frequentis- sime ac plurimum exerit, et sacrss litterse commemorare nccesse habent ; propterea factum est, ut Dei spiritus, aut etiam simpliciter Spiritus nomine vis ista significetur, qus, ut diximus, peculiar! nomine Spiritus sanctus ap- ])ellatur. Estautemh?ec Spiritus pro vi et efficacia appellatio per meta- ]jhoram a vento et flatu ducta ; quo res nimlrui/i qualitate aliqua facile replcntur, et simul commoventur atque ag-itantur. Siquidem ea vox, quve jndivinis litteris reddita est Spiritus apud Hebraeos et Groecos, ut etiam in- terdnm apud Latinos vox ipsa Spiritus, ventum et fiatum significat. Eadem- que prorsus metapliora in eadero ipsa re, de qua loquimur, apud Latinos obtinuit. Pro eo enim, quod sancts: Ltter?e Dei spiritum dicunt, ipsi divi- iiura affiatum nominant, et quempiam Dei numine afflari aiunt vel etiam, ut Cicero (a) de poetis dixit, divino quodam spiritu afflari. Quaraobrem non erat, cur quisquam Dei spiritum in sacris litteris perso- Tiara aliquam sig'nificare existimaret, etiamsi quaedam illi attributa inveniret, fiua: pevsonarum sunt propria. Sive enim vis ista atque efficacia divina, quatenus Deus per eam agit, consideratur, et Dei spiritus nominatur, meto- TivmiK sane et prosopopcejae aptlssimus est lochis ; Metonymise quidem, ut rpiritus Dei nomine ipse Deus, qui spiritu suo agit, significetur,: prosopo- ]-!a;joe vero, ut quando per spiritum suum Deus agit, ipsi spiritui actio tribua- tur. Sive. eadem ista vis atque efficacia divina, quatenus res, in quibiis Deus agit, ab ipsa afficiuntui', consideratur, ac Dei spiritus appellatur, nulla est causa, cur similiter vci per metonymiam is, qui ab eo spiritu affectus •aliquid agit Spiritus Dei nomine intelligi non possil, vel per prosopopoeiam, quandoquidem is, qui ita affectus est, per eum spiritum agit, actio ilia ipsi 3)ei spiritui ascribi nequcat. D frado Animadversiomtm Faustl Socini tSe7iensis, in asserfiones Theologicas Collegii Posnauiensis de Trino ct uno Deo ; adversus Ckabrielem Eutropium CanonicuFO Posnaniensem, ab eodera Taus. Soc. c. xi. p. 291, ?92. { nj Cic. pro. ipeh. CHAP. III. *^^' ™t: SPIRIT, 23 virtue can be called a Spirit of God, and therefore God Himself says, that he had filled with the Spirit of God, Bezeleel the son of Uri; because, forsooth he had filled him with the knowledge of a mechanical art necessary to his making all those things as they should be, which he had prescribed to Moses in relation to His worship. But be- cause that Divine power and virtue, by which, in some way, things are sanctified, is especially proper to God, and which He both most frequently and most of all exerts, and the sacred Scriptures find it necessary to mention, is by far more excellent than others ; therefore it has hap- pened, that that power is denoted by the name of Spirit of God, or even simply the Spirit, which, as. we have said, is called by the peculiar name the Holy Spirit. But this name of Spirit for power and virtue is metaphorically taken from a wind or breath, (^atu,) by which things_, that is to say, of some sort, are easily filled, and at the same time mixed up and agitated. Inasmuch as that word, which in the sacred Scriptures is rendered Spirit by He- brews and Greeks, as also sometimes by Latins, that very word Spirit signifies a wind, a breath, (flatum.) And generally the same metaphor, in the very same thing of which we speak, obtained among the Latins. For that which the sacred Scriptures call the Spirit of God, they denominate a Divine breath (afflatum^) and say that one \s inspired (afflari) by the impulse (numine) of God, or even, a« Cicero said of the poets, by &ome Divine Spirit to be inspired," "Wherefore it does not follow that one should think the Spirit of God in the sacred Scriptures signified any person, though he should find some things attributed to it which are proper to persons. For whether that Divine power and virtue in so far as God acts by it, is considered and is called the Spirit of God, that is truly the fittest occasion for metony- my or persoailication (pro.supieiije} — of metonymy indeed^ 24 THE PERSO:nALITY eHAP. III. 3S by the name of Spirit of God may be signified God liimself, who acts by his own spirit; but of personification, as when God acts by His own Spirit, the action may be attri- buted to the Spirit itself. Or if that same Divine power and virtue is considered, in so far as the things on which God acts are affected by it, (abipsa,) as it is called the Spirit of God, there is no cause why, in like manner, either by metonymy he, who affected by that Spirit does any thing, might not be understood by the name of the Spirit of God : or, by personification, seeing that he who is so affected, acts by that Spirit, that action canoot be ascribed to the Spirit of God." Now if tiiere is not mystery liere, we leave it to the common sense of our readers to say, whether there is not a great deal of mysticism, or learned subtlety. It is indeed exceedingly difficult to tell ivhat those, who deny the personality of the Spirit of God, do really believe in relation to him. One talks of a powerful influence of the Deity (a vis et ef^.cacia) in general ; another of a special influence, enabling its subject to work miracles ; another of an '^extraordinary power or gift of God, first to our Lord Jesus Christ himself, in his life time, and afterwards to the Apostles and many of the first Christians, to empower them to preach and propagate the Gospel with success. '^^ At one time we are told it is an attribute, at another a figure of speech, a metonymy, a metaphor, a proropopceia, at another a gift, a grace, the knowledge of some mechani- cal art ; at one time, the chief of the Heavenly spirits, at another supreme minister of God ; at one time the energy or Spirit (temper probably) of God ; at another God Him- self : now something different from God, and then againi the very God himself. There is no uniformity or consis- tency in their opinions,^ Surely it is not half spvitfficult to 1 Lindsey's Memoirs, p. 212. 2 See Dr. ChaRuing's remarks on Dr. Worcester's letter to him,. CHAP. III. ^^ THE SPIRIT. 25 believe that the Spirit of God is a distinct personal subsis- tence in the Divine Nature, or, that the Divine Being subsists in a personality distinct from either the Father or the Son, as it is to understand all this jargon. The propo- sitio7i at least is intelligible, whatever of mystery there may be in the fact. This cannot always be said of those who claim to be rational divines. Hear Dr. Channing, *'The Unitarian believes that there is but one person pos- sessing supreme divinity, even the Father" — ''In fact, as the word Trinity is sometimes used, we all believe it" — *'Some suppose that Trinitarianism consists in believing in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But we all believe in them ; we all believe that the Father sent the Son, and gives to those that ask the Holy Spirit. ^'^ These are taken at random. Reader can you understand them? Many other specimens of discrimination and precision might be furnished from these rational divines, and especially this most popular of Anierican Unitarians. But it is unnecessary to perplex our readers or to crowd our pages. The proposition we stated above, or this other, that there is one God who subsists and acts in three distinct persons has no vagueness in it. If the thing or fact, the mode of this subsistence, is felt to be utterly incomprehensible what then? It is affirmed distinctly and positively that ''there are three which bear record in Heaven, and that these three are one."^ And do we not meet with resemblances to this in nature, and that not a few? Light, heat and electricity are perfectly distinct, and yet, if the philosophical views of some be correct, they all agree in one. We shall find occasion to refer to this subject more at large hereafter, and at present only add that what Virgil fpora the Platonics says of the Infinite and Divine 1 See Dr. Channing's remarks on Dr. Worcester's letter to him, p. 38, 39. 2 1 John, V. 7. 2Q THE PERSONALITY CHAP. ill. Mind is strictly and literally true of the human soul and body. Spiiitus intus alit, totamque infusa per artus Slens agitat Molein. *'We sa}^,'' observes a profound scholar, ^/that the soul is all in all, and all in eve}y part of the body ; yet, that the soul is neither multiplied nor divided among the several niemhers of the body. It is impossible for us to explain this or to deny it; for w^feel it to be so, though it is wholly unconceivable to us hotv it can be. Now if the soul, which is but an image of God at an infinite distance, can communicate itself to several members without breach of its unity, why should it be impossible for the Eternal and Infinite Mind io communicate itself to several joer- sons without breach of its unity. '^^'^ The Unitarian cannot but acknowledge that the Father, the Word and the Spirit are three: but he maintains that God is one — one person. Now if the Father, the Word and the Spirit are one per so 7i they cannot be three. Yet are they three in some sense. But in what sense? Let us hear. The Son or the Word is a manifestation of the Father — *'He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. '^^ ^'The Spirit is an extraordinary power or gift of God," uncertain which says one. *'He," viz., God, "gives to those that ask, the Holy Spirit," says another, but other than that he is a gift says not. This is enough. Now if Christ be the manifestation of the Father is He the Father? Must He not be a different person from the Father? And if the Spirit be a GIFT of God, must He not be different and distinct from God? How then are these one? Are my image, or representation, and gifts one with me in any sense? Can they be called such by any usage of correct speech ! Either the Father, and the Word and the Spirit must all be the one God — the one person 1 Leslie's Soc. Trinitv explained, p. 20. 2 John xiv. 9. CHAP. in. OF THE SPIRIT. 37 of the Father, dispensing and acting in different manners, or they are three Beings, or substances, totally distinct and different — the personal Father, the image Christ Jesus, and the gift the Holy Spirit. One or other of these alterna- tives the Unitarian must sdopt. We give him his choice. If he takes the first, that the Father, the Word and the Spirit are the one personal God, differently acting or mani- festing Himself, then is he not th^ee — there can be no di- vision or distinction of His one person. The thing is a contradiction! If he takes the second, that the Father is one person, and the man Christ Jesus another person or another thing, and the Holy Spirit something different from both, then are they not 07ie. Three different beings cannot be one and the same nufnerically. It is a contra- diction! A person, an image and a gift can, in no sense, be said to be one, except that the person is the image of him- self, and is himself his own gift, which, if it be not utter- ly unintelligible, reduces us to the necessity of believing that the Father and the Son and the Spirit are one and the same person, so that we are driven to the necessity of adopting and maintaining this monstrous absurdity and con- tradiction, that the Father, the Son and the Spirit are three and one in the self-same respect. Such is the legitimate result of the Unitarian's vague and ill-defined assertions with regard to his Father, Son and Spirit. By attempting to get rid of mystery^ he involves himself in mysticism and contradictions. But it is not so with those who main- tain the doctrine of one God — -one divine nature subsisting in three persons. It is admitted that there are difficulties and mystery not to be unravelled, but these are not con- tradictions. The Father, the Son and the Spirit are not one and three in the same respect. In respect of their nature or essence, they are one. In respect of iheiv persons they are three. Until we assert them to be one and three, in the self-same respect, we cannot be charged with teach- ing either absurdity or contradictions. 28 THE PERSONALITY CHAP. III. But to return from this digression: The Unitarian says, the Spirit of God is the power and virtue of God. What, then, we ask, is this power and virtue? Either it is God Himself, or it is different from God — that is, stripping it of all rhetorical drapery, it must be either an attribute, an accident, or quality of God; or, it is a substance or some- thing different from God. When the justice of God, the wisdom of God, and other perfections of the Divine Being are spoken of, we do not deem it necessary to resort to the rules of rhetoric to understand the meaning of such phrases, no one dreams t'^at there is any thing more meant than that such are the perfections or attributes of God. That personification obtains in reference to the most of them, we will not deny, but no one is at a loss to under- stand the manner in which this figure of speech, in such cases, is employed. When a quality or attribute is personi- fied, that is, when personal actions are ascribed to qualities, the implied idea always is, that it is by, or in accordance with, such particular qualities, that some personal ageut performs such particular actions. This is the plain and common understanding among men in this use of prosopo- poeia. To ascribe personal actions to qualities in any other way, is absolutely unintelligible. Now, to apply these remarks to the sul)ject before us. When we personify the power of God, the virtue of God is too utterly vague an idea for us to grasp — we mean, if we mean any thing at all, that God, that is some intelligent personal agent, by or according to His attribute of power, performs the actions spoken of, so that ultimately we identify God and His power. If we do not, then, must we make God and His power to be different. We here again give the Unitarian his choice, and propose to bring his explanation of the Spirit, as being the power of God personified, to the test of common sense, as the interpreter of some passages of scripture. We shall not consent to his escaping from the CHAP. III. OF THE SPIRIT- 29 dilemma into which we design to place him, by alleging that the power of God is rather a Tnode of action, or of inaiiifesting action. A mode of God^s actions, is but another phl-ase for, God acting after a pariicidar man- ner. The truth is, we cannot, in our ceneeptions, separate the power of God from God himself. Are then, the Spirit of God, that is his power and God Himself, identical? What, therefore, can we make of such passages as the following? *'Howbeit, when the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak /'^ The Spirit is here represented as speaking, but not speaking of himself, as hearing, and speaking what he hears. On the supposition of the distinct personality of the Spirit, this is all plain and perfectly intelligible, and what man of com- mon sense would not, on the very reading of this passage, most naturally thus suppose? It is stretching personifica- tion much too far, to represent a quality or attribute, as speaking and hearing, and not speaking of itself. But say that the Spirit is the power of God, and substituting this phrase for the other, let us see what we shall have? Surely this is lawful, and we shall find, as the judicious Leslie has remarked, that "there is nothing better to confute a Socinian than plainly to set down hi^ paraphrase and shew how it fills the words of the text.''^ When the power of God is come, the power of God will guide you into all truth, for the power of God will not speak of the power of God, but whatsoever the power of God shall hear, that shall the power of God speak. Is not this absolute nonsense? Now this power of God is either God Himself, or it is not. If it is God himself, as must be the case, if it is the one per- sonal God operating, then have we this absurdity and con- tradiction, that God does not speak of Himself, but hears what Christ says, and speaks that — thus God the Father is 1 John, xvi. 13. 30 iiiF. i'r;RS(>NAi.ir\ chap, in made reporter from Christ the image, the latter dictating, and the former repeating. Yet Christ says, *'the word which yc hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent ?/?.e,"^ exactly tlie reverse of the Unitarian explanation. Equally absurd and contradictory is the following declara- tion of the Saviour, according to this explanation of the Spirit of God: "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall leach you all thinp;s."" That is, according to- the Unita- rian paraphrase: The power of God, which is the power of God, whom the power of God (for the supposition is that God and His power are identical) will send in my name, this power of God shall teach you all things. Then God sends himself, and that in the name of (i. e. commis- isioned hy or from) Christ. And yet Christ says, *']3ut when the Comforter is come, whom Iioill send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceed- cth from the Father, he shall testify of me,"^ exactly the reverse oi' the Unitarian explanation. But this last quota- tion must itself be subjected to the paraphrastic alembic. But, when the power of God is come, whom I will send unto you from the power of God, (the supposition still being, that God and llis power are identical) even the power of God which jiroceedeth from the power of God, this power of God shall testify of me. The power of God •sent by Christ from the power of God ! The power of God proceeding from the power of God!! Is there any thing more incomprehensible in tiie whole mystery of the Tri- une God? nay, rather let us ask can we conceive of greater absurdities? Other passages might be quoted, which would be found to be rendered just as unintelligible, and nonsen- sical, by applying the Unitarian paraphrase, as the fore- going, but these may suflice. We remark, however, that if the power of Qoi\ be the same witli God Himself, ac- 1 John, xiv. 2t. 2 John, xiv. 2'>. T.^John. xvi. !.,> CHAr. III. OF riiE sriRiT. 31 cording to the terms of the supposition, then is the Spirit of God (for the Spirit of God, according to the Unitarian, is the power of God) the same with God — God Himself — the very God. This is the result to which the adoption of the first alternative leads. What then are we to make of those passages where they are distinguished? But, perhaps, the other is preferred. Be it so then, and let it be fairly understood, that by the power of God, that is Mis Spirit, is meant something different from God. It cannot be an attribufe of God personified or not per- sonified, nor can it be a mode of God's agency, for then must it be, as we have already seen, God Himself, it being a sort of axiom among divines that the attributes or properties of God are God. What then is it? Must we he compelled to travel through the endless detail of hy- potheses which men have framed on this subject? Their number and variety are proof that they have nothing solid and satisfactor3> among themselves. Let them once depart from the plain scriptural declaration that the three in Hea- ven, distinct and separate persons — Father, Word and Spirit, are One essence, and they arc afloat immediately on a wide and boundless ocean of conjecture, where, though they may think themselves to be "ever learning,'^ they are '^never coming to the knowledge of the truth." There is only one among them all that we deem worthy of notice, viz., that the Holy Spirit is Xhe^. gift of God. But here we are again perplexed with doubt and uncertainty. W^hat is that gift? One tells us the power of working miracles im- parted to the apostles and early Christians: — another, the power of preaching the gospel with success, given to Christ and his disciples: — another, any power, whatever, even so low as skill in a mechanical art, as in the instance of Bezaleel, whom tlie Lord ^'filled with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to devise cunning works. 32 THE PERSOxNALITY CHAP. Ill, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stones to set, and in carving of timber to work in all manner of workmanship.'^^ Knowledge, wisdom, skill, and ability, to do something or other of consequence, are these the Spirit of God? We presume it is admitted by our opponents. Assuredly we do not wish either to misunder- stand or misrepresent them. Well, then, whose is the skill and ability or the power? Is it God's? By no means; for the supposition is that the Spirit of God is something different from God. It must then be that of the individual who has received the gift.^ Now let us bring this idea to 1 Exod. xxxi. 3 — 5. 2 We confess ourselves utterly unable to understand even tliose Socinia?i writers who seem to have been aware of the diiticulty under which we labor, of determining- ^rmse/z/ what is tlie Spirit, according- to their scheme, and who have undertaken to explain themselves much more minutely than most of our modern Unitarians- We subjoin an extract from J. Crellius, the CoryphcEus of Socinians, who attempts to illustrate his views of the Spirit of God, by magnetic attraction, and the influences of the stars upon terrestrial bodies, the seminal virtue of plants, the notions prevalent in his day about the animal spirits, the fruit of the tree of knowledge, light, heat, color, odor and what not. If electricity had been as well understood in his day, as it is now, it would have afforded him a much better idea of h'cs Holy Spirit than all the rest put together. He could not have desired a fitter illustration of the virtue which went out of Christ, according to his view of it, than the electrical state of one on the insulated chair. The truth is, that if he has any distinct conceptions at all on the subject, they are, that the Spirit is an emanation from God, which can be accumulated and concentrated in a creature, so as that, like the radiation of heat, that creature shall give out the virtue Vv^hich originally was derived from God. Non est autem mirandum, ex efficacia divina quoe in Christo habitavit, quoeque a virtute d\\\\VA. promanavityiiernva aliam virtutem atque efficaciam quodam modo manasse. Nihil enim prohibet quo minus ab eo calore, quern calor ignis in alio subjecto excitaverat, iterum vis aliqua in alia corpora di- manet, etiniis sese exerat et quidem tanto major, quanto major est ille ipse calor, qui ab igne proxime fuerat profectus. 90, — asserltur Christum dis- cipulos suos baptizaturum spiritu sancto et igne, hoc est spiritu sancto qui eft ignis, seu vim habet similem virtuti et efficacia ignis. Hane autem for- mam (lingiioe ignis) assumere spiritus sanctus non potuit, si suhstantia aliqua per se subsistens non fuit, p. 75. And yet elsewhere he says, respondemus CHAP. III. ^^' THE SPIRIT. 33 the test of a few plain passages of the sacred scriptures. *-They of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured the gift of the Holy Ghost. ^^^ Why did they not say the Holy Ghost, for that was the gift, and thus relieved the Unitarian paraphrast who must read it the gift of the gift, or the power of the power, or the skill of the skill, or something else equally absurd. He cannot say that^?y?, here denotes the act of giving, or God's grant, for that is denoted by the previous expression poured: it must denote the skill or ability, whatever it was, conferred upon the Gentiles. But that very ability or skill is the Holy Spirit, as the Unitarian affirms. There is no relief for him. He must speak absurdity. Let us try him with another. '*God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his oivn (the Holy Ghost's own) wdll.'* The gifts are the ability imparted as in the former case; but it is not the power of working signs and wonders and miracles, for this is distinguished from it. It must then denote some other abilities and skill. Whatever they are, liowever, they are the Spirit; and here again is the same absurdity. Our readers who are not acquainted with the Greek, need to be told that even may sometimes be used for and,^ so that the gifts, wonders, &c. are the same, ac- cording to our paraphrast even the ^*gifts"^ being only the spirltum sanctum quidem perse et (ut in scholis loquuntur) abstracte sump- tum, qualitatum revera esse non substantiam, earn tamen qualitatem in ma- teria quadum quoe perse subsistat recipi posse, et ei iter imprimi ut per earn deferatur eo quo a Deo destinetur et homini communicetur, p. 80, 81. We candidly, confess this to be beyond our philosophy — a quahty subsisting; by itself, distinct from substance and yet not a substance! And this utterly unintelligible theory, after all, is the Socinian's Spirit of God. — Trad, de- Sp. Sand. J. Cbellio Fra^tco. 1 Acts, X. 45. 2 Ileb. ii. 4. auTcv. 3 The reader acquainted with the origina], may see examples of this sort in Matt, x. 30: xv. 16, John, vii. 19: xv. 20: Rev. ii. 13. 34 THE PERSO.VALITY CHAP. III. general classification. But this will not do, for the sigiis andioonders, &c. which the skill or ability of Christians EFFECTED, are his Holy Ghost. And still more is he em- barrassed for the Apostle says, these wonders, &c. are God's testimony — God hearing witness^ that is, God Himself speaking as it were in these very things. Mere human skill or ability, that is, the skill or ability of a man^ can never be God witfiessing. If the apostles had worked miracles by their oivn skill or ability, it would have been no proof that Christianity was from God. But, if these miracles were wrought bi/ the direct agency and mighty power of God, there can be none better. This the apostle says was the fact, signs, wonders and divers miracles were wrought by God. They cannot, then, be the same with the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Our paraphrast is compelled to abandon his own criticism. It cannot help him. Nor does his embarrassment cease here, for the apostle attributes distinct velleity to the Holy Ghost, and these gifts are imparted according to his (the Holy Spirit's) own luill, which, if it is not as plain a distinction between the power or skill in man, and the Holy Spirit, and as plain a testi- mony to the personality of the Spirit as can be, we knov/ not what can. We invite our paraphrast to explain how Luke, the learned and inspired historian, can be rescued from the charge of speaking utter nonsense, if the Unitarian's Holy Ghost, (viz. gifts — power in men,) be what he alluded to when he said that 'Hhe Holy Ghost said, separate me, Barnabas and Saul for the work v/hereunto I have called them."^ It is natural to believe that as an historian, and writing an historical narrative, Luke here states simply a a matter of fact. There was no call or occasion for j-hetorical display. What reader would not at 'first sigh.t 1 Acts, xiii. 5- CHAP. III. OF THE SPIRIT. 35 take it for granted, that the Spirit was a person when He is represented as speaking — iPiCntioning two individuals by name, and directing that they should be set apart from the rest of their brethren for a specific mission. But how utterly astonished would he be when told, you are alto- gether mistaken; it was these men's gifts. To personify the power, or skill, or gifts of men in this way is a license of speech which the most stupid and ignorant could not brook. Who ever heard of a qualify speaking, appointing its plenipotentiaries, directing as to their commissions, and saying not A B or C D, but E F and G H, are to be set apart to this work? If ever personality is implied or can be, it must in such a case. It is the very manner in which some of the sovereigns of earth would speak when ^bout to appoint their charge d' affaires. Nor is this a singular instance. ^*The Spirit said unto Philip go near and join thyself to this chariot"^ — ^^^ While Peter thought on the vision the Spirit said unto. him. Behold three men seek thee. . Arise therefore and get thee down and go with them doubting nothing, for /have sent them"^ — "It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay on you none other burden"^ — and **take heed therefore to your- selves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers" — "Now when they had gone through- out Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the words in Asia. "'' Now in ail these passages the inspired v/riter, let it be remembered, is reciting historical facts, and if the Holy Ghost is not a ^person who is represented as giving instructions, as ap- pointing to offices, as naming individuals, and giving direction as to their movements, and expressing his coun- sels or will, we might, with as much propriety, suppose 1 Acts, viii. 28. 2 Acts, x. 19, 20, 3 Acts, XV, 28, 4 Acts. xvi. 6. 36 THE PERSONALITY cHAP. III. Peter, and Philip, and Barnabas, and Saul to be qualities too — mere personifications! How ridiculous would be such a speech as this! The power or gift of God said, that is, Philip's and Peter's skill and ability! it seemed good to the gifts and skill of the Apostles. But it cannot be the skill and knowledge or will of the Apostles, for it is added *^and unto us,^^ dist.i.iguishin;^ their judginent ia the case from that of the Holy Ghost. Shall we suppose that it was the skill and ability, the gifts of the Bishops of Ephesus which elevated them to their stations or office? And that after the Apostles had preached in Phrygia and Galatia, they lost their skill and ability to preach in Asia? Yet such absurdities must we believe if our paraphrast is worthy of confidence, who will tell us that the Holy Spirit is not a person — not God Himself, but something different from Him, the skill and ability or power to do this or that, which He imparts to men. But we have not yet done with him. The distinction between the Holy Spirit and human wisdom or skill, is very clearly made by the Apostles when describing the qualifications requisite for their apostolic office. ''Where- fore, brethren," said they to the disciples, "look ye out seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom."^ Were they so stupid and incapable of speaking correctly, as thus to express themselves, if the spirit and skill or ability in men — for that in the present instance is the same with wisdom — were not perfectly distinct? It is saying very little indeed for their "extraordinary gift of power," if they talked in such a confused and unintelligi- ble manner. Our paraphrast must vindicate their reputa- tion, and shew that they were not absolutely unfit to teach, notwithstanding their "extraordinary gift or power," if they could speak at this rate. And he is particularly 1 Acts, vi. 3. CHAP. III. ^^ l^^E SPIRIT. 37 concerned with tbat^of Luke, scholar as he was, and accus- tomed to observe the phenonnena of matter and of mind, who declares most positively as an historical fact, that at the baptism of Christ, "the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape, like a dove upon him."^ We will admit that it is ill a mistake, to suppose as many do, that the Spirals form, assumed on that occasion, was that of a dove, and that the resemblance which Luke notices regards only the manner of descent. But then, the Holy Ghost de- scended in a bodily "shape, whatever shape that was. It was some material substance. It is only by the assump- tion of some material vehicle or substance, that God can render himself visible, and it is said by John that on this occasion ^'he satv/^ as it had been before declared he should ''see, the spirit descending and remaining on him."^ It was not, and could not have been an optical illusion, for it was not vivid and rapid like the lightniag's 1 Luke, iii. 22. 2 John i. 33. The following extract is given from Leslie's Socinian controversy, in corroboration of the view which has been given in the above passage in relation to the descent of the Holy Ghost. •'It does not appear that there was any shape of a dove at our Saviour's baptism. Though it is I think ^a vulgar error. For which reason I will speak a little of it here. There was a bodily sliape appeared; else the peo- ple could not have seen it. But what was tlie shape or appearance? It was a fire q{ glory that descended from Heaven and lighted upon the head of our Saviour. Bat how did it light? Was it like 2t.jiash of lightnings quick and transient? No. For then, in so great a multitude the people could not have discerned for what particular ^erso/i it was meant. Did it come down sw'ft as a bird of prey stoops to its game, like an arrow out of a bow? Jso. It descended leisurely and hovering as a dove does when it lights upon the ground, that the people might take the more notice, and to express the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. And it not only lighted upon the head of our Saviour, but it a5oc?e and remained upon Him, as it is said, John, i. 32, 33. Now ttmt the expression in the text, likf a dove, does refer to this 3S ■ 'i'H^ PEKSONALITY CHAP. TTI, flash. Its shape was distinctly seen, and its manner of descent was slow and hovering, like a dove! before it lights^ and it rested and remained on Christ. Was it an attribute of Deity assuminga bodily shape? Absurd! But our para- phrast must be attended to.; it v/as *'the extraordinary gift or power" given to Christ, &c. Strange! Ability or vskill in man assuming a bodily shape! Who ever heard of such a thing? Who can conceive of such a thing? It was nat zn him hwion him. Monstrous! what absurdity! Our readers will excuse us if we detain these ''rational manner of the descent of that glory upon our blessed Saviour, and not the sliape of it, appeiu-s from the grantmaiical construction of the words in our text, which is better distinguished in the Greek and Latin than in the English, where the cases of nouns are expressed by particles and not by their termination. Now if these words, Itlce a dove, had referred to the shape, then the word c?oi'£ must have been in the genitive case, the shape of a dove. But It is not so either in the Creek or Latin. It is said in the Greeks t^^^t the Holy Ghost descended c-cofxctrix'^ «'<^" in a hodily appear- ance, aa-it (or w; as the Cambridge copy of Beza reads it) ^gg/f«gav, but if it had refeiTed to the shape it must have been acru Tn^tgi^ctc of a dove. Thus the Latin, descendit corporali specie, sicut columba. That is, sicut columba descendit. As a dove descends. It can bear no other construc- tion. Btit if it had referred to the shape, it must have been descendit corpor- ali specie, sicut columba', the shape q/" a dove. Which is not in our English. It is not said in our English the shape of a dove. But that the Holy Ghost descended (in a bodily shape) like a dove, that is as a dove descends. If it had referred to the shape, it should have said i-n a bodily shape, as of a dove, or like as of a dove. Besides, if that glory which appeared had been no bigger than a dove, (which is not to be imagined, when it is said the Heaven was opened. And the people had taken so much notice, if the appearance had been no bigger than a dove, it might have escaped the sight of many; but suppose it,) how should they know it to be a dove, more than any other bird or thing of the like bigness i* Especially considering that it uttered no voice, for it is ex- pressly said that the voice came from Heaven, then not from that which abode or remained upon our Saviour. I have said thus much of it because of the too comi^ion practice of paint- ing the Holy Ghost hke a dove, which gives countenance to the usage in the church of Rome, of painting God the Father like an old man, &r ' ' i eslie's Dialogues, iii. ^ng--'' 1 «. 19. CHAP. III. <^F THE SPIRIT. 39 divines,'' — these learned commentators on scripture, to examine thena a little further as to one or two passages which, on their principles, we find ourselves utterly at a loss to know what they can mean. The Apostle Peter asked, '^Ananias why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost.''^''^ What! Lie to an attribute, a mere personification! Or was it to Peter and the Apostles, vvdiose skill and discernment, whose ability and pov.'er, whose '^extraordinary gift" Ananias had' called in question by keepingbackpartof the proceeds on the sale of his property? Peter says ''Thou hast not lied unto men but unto God.''^ It could not have been to the gift itself which Peter and the other Apostle's possessed. We never talk of lying to men's talents, or skill or knowledge. It must be diperson or percipient being, whom the liar intends to deceive. But let the Unitarian explain himself. This gift was the inspiration of God (the afflatus) in the Apostles, and therefore was it said that Ananias lied to the Holy Ghost. Not to notice the singularity of the expression lying to an inspiration, or, the identity between the gift and inspira- tion, we remark, that although the Spirit of God is som.e- times put for God Himself, yet it is rather daring to put it for an Apostle. W^hen was Peter before or afterwards called the Holy Ghost? And how comes it to pass that lying to Peter was called lying to God, especially, when Peter says the lie was not to him, but to God. What figure of speech can help him here to say, thou hast lied to the Holy Ghost, that is to us Apostles, who have the Holy Spirit and inspiration of God in us? For the suppo- sition is, that the Spirit of God, call it inspiration of God in the Apostles if you please, is something different from God. If it be different from God, then Peter erred in saying that Ananias lied to God. If it be the influence or f Acts, V. 3. 4, 40 11^^^^ PERSONALITY' CHAP. III. agency of God who inspired,, then was the lie indeed to God, but that God, according to Peter's own shewing, is the Holy Ghost, and a person. One word, as we pass, on the subject of inspiration. The sacred scriptures are '^'given by inspiration of God." The inspiration of God, is God inspiring, revealing and teaching men to speak and declare his will. It is not a physical or metaphorical afflatus — not a boldness of speech in reference to the perceptions or conceptions of the human understanding. A Newton and La Place, possessed of '^extraordinary gifts," endowed with superior talents, have astonished the world with their discoveries in science, and a Homer and Milton have gained the admiration of millions by the sublimity of their thoughts, but they cannot therefore be said to have been inspired of God, There was nothing preter-natural in their knowledge and lofty conceptions. The objects and subjects on which their minds and imaginations were employed, all lay within the sphere of human observation and research. But the inspi- ration of God taught its subjects things entirely unknovv'n and inconceivable to man, as Paul says/ and as we shall have occasion to see more fully in the succeeding chapter. It was God Himself, in some mysterious way, giving infor- mation to the minds of the prophets and other sacred writers, on themes and matters beyond the sphere of hu- man ken. But this very thing — this very God-inspiring, the Apostle Peter says, is the Holy Ghost. '^But holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy. Ghost. ''2 It is not the effect wrought in their minds — not their actual knowledge which constituted their inspi- ration ; but the direct agency of God in giving that knoivledge. It is this divine agency which identifies in our minds this knowledge with God, as we cannot separate the agency of God exerted in the comniunicaiion of this ? X Cor. ii. 7— 10. 2 2 Peter, i. 21. CHAP. III. OF THE SPIRIT. 4i knowledge from God Himself. And it is that same divine agency which gives to the sacred scriptures all authority and infallibility, demanding our full and unwavering assent, as to the very word of God. It w^as as such the Apostle Paul declares tiie converts at Thessalonica received the gospel preached. *-The word/'' says he, '^vhich ye heard of us, ye received it, not as the ivord of men, but as it is vi\ truth the ivord of God.^^^ But this same Apostle else- where, as explicitly as above, attributes the inspiration of tiie sacred writers to the agency of the Holy Spirit. ^'Now we have received, not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth."- From all which the follow^ing positions may unquestionably be maintained, viz., that the inspiration of the Apostles and sacred writers is not the knowledge or wisdom possessed by the men themselves ; that it is knowledge communicated directly and preternaturally by God Himself to the minds of the Apostles, &:c.; and that this God is the Holy Spirit. To this conclusion we are inevitably led by all who admit that the inspiration spoken of in the sacred scriptures was through the direct and preternatural agency of the Divine Being on the minds of the Apostles — impressing as it were with the seal of entire and infallible certainty all the communications made through them. But from it the Unitarian seeks to escape by denying such inspiration. Hear Dr. Priestley — ^'The scriptures were written ivithout any particular inspiration, by men who wrote according to the best of their knowledge. "^ Hear a later writer of the same school, ^'They, the scrip- 1 1 Thess. ii* 1:1 2 1 Cor. li. 12, 13. 3 triestley'sHistpry of Early Opinions, vol. iv. pp. 4, 5. 6 42 THE PERSONALITY CHAP. III. tures, are not themselves the word of God/ nor do they ever assume that title-/ and it is highly improper to speak of them as such, as it leads inattentive readers to suppose they are written under a plenary inspiration, to tvhick they make no pretensions.''^ We reserve a more minute examination of such a denial to the next chapter. At present we only remark, that if the Unitarian view of this subject be correct, it is folly to talk of inspiration at all. There is, in fact, no such thing. All human knowledge, all discoveries of human reason are alike an inspiration. Why then call any thing an inspiration of God^ by way of distinction? Wliy use the word at all? Talk not about a particular inspiration and a plenary inspiration. We cannot understand you: most unquestionably some- thing more is meant than the general agency of God in the support of their mental powers, which they had in common with all rational beings, when it is said that 'Hhe holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost,'' and that * 'all scripture is given by inspiration of God. "^ If not the scriptures are pre-eminently calculated to deceive. The above remarks are made to guard against an evasion of the argument for the personality of the Spirit, urged 1 The reader may make his own comments on such assertions, when he has referred to Heb. iv. 12: 2 Cor. iv. 2: 1 Thess. ii. 13. 2 Belsham*s Rev. of Wilberforce, &c. Letter 1. 3 2 Tim. iii. 16. '7rcL(TAyg^ct<^y) 6eo7rvgv?oc axi ui<^i\tfAGQ. Every Greek scholar mast see that there is an elipsis here which must be supplied by inserting the copula of existence £f/v either before QtoTvivso^ And a>pi\i,uoc both in the trans- lation in our English bibles, or before BioTrvivcog only, according to some of the Latin tianslations, or by inserting the words » ta-rtv after x^cLipn according to Beaiisohre, Tonie ecriture qui est impirce. Whatever method of supply- ing the ellipsis however, is adopted, it does not invalidate the assertion which claims inspiration for the sacred scriptures, thotigh we much prefer that of the Trench commentator, as being most consonant with the Apostle's design, and assuming it as fact, that some writings — the writings of the holy men of God, are inspired, (fiso^rvevfo?) in this thing difiering essentially from any writings of men. CHAP. III. OF THE SPIRIT. 43 from Ananias' lying to the Holy Ghost. The inspiration of the apostles was the direct preternatural agency of God in their u.inds making known the truth to them luith infallible certainty. On no other supposition can Ananias be said to have lied to God. But our Unitarian paraphrast maintains that inspiration is not God operating: but something distinct and different from God. Thus does he make Peter lie most egregiously, in endeavoring to convict Ananias of falsehood!!!^ There is yet anothxsr passage on which we desire to ex- amine the Unitarian comment. ^'When they shall lead you and deliver you," said the Saviour to his disciples, 'Hake no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate; bu-t whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak j^e: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. ^^^ Hero the Saviour evidently distinguishes between that which might have been excogitated by the disciples, and something to be impressed on their minds, or communicated suddenly to them, from some source foreign from themselves. ''Not i/e;" "but the Holy Ghost." If by the Spirit is meant the "extraordinary power or gift" — the skill or abilit)^ of the apostles^ then does the Saviour actually speak unintelligibly and falsely. It was the disciples that spoke. There was no communi- cation made to them; the very thing that they should speak was not give?! to them; but by virtue of iheiv gifts a pM skill it was, at the moment excogitated by them. If this was his meaning, did he not actually deceive as well as speak unintelligibly? For who upon hearing such lan- guage would not have understood him as assuring them, that some communication should be made directly to their 1 Our readers perhaps will be surprised if we tell them that rather than abandon their filse and ruinous notions, far greater liberties tlian this have been taken with Peter's conduct in this transaction. — See Kuinoel adlvc 2 Mark. xiii. 11 44 '^^^'^^ VERSOXAIJTY CKAP. III. minds, by that glorious personal agent wiioni He called the Holy Ghost? "Take no thouf;ht beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye preineditate — whatsoever shall be ,s;iven yon, that speak, for it is not ye that speak but the Holy Ghost. "^ Extraordinary language, indeed, if all he meant was ''do not be solicitous about answering your enemies, your talents and skill, your extraordinary gifts will suggest to you instantaneousl}^ what to say!" The idea of Dr. Bancroft, that the Holy Ghost denotes only the means'^ of intellectual and moral improvement, is too litter]}^ ridiculous to deserve serious attention. It cannot at all apply here. It is even viore absurd than the suppo- sition, that the Saviour means the actual illumination of his disciples, or their minds actualhj improved. The sup- position all along is that the Holy Ghost is sometliing dif-' ferent from God. Here it cannot mean the disciples for it is distinguished from them. If it is these extraordi- 7iary gifts or the tneans of improvement they had, then it may be any thing, or nothing, just as you please! We candidly confess, that from such instructors we cannot learn what it means, and if they are to be our guide, we must abandon the study of the scriptures in utter despair of ever getting any distinct and intelligible idea, wliatever, from them. No wonder that these learned divines are so perplexed, and talk so contemptuously of the sacred scrip- tures and their inspired penmen.^ 1 Mark, xiii, 11. 2 «'These terms (Spirit, Spirit of God, Holy Ghost) are all used in tlie bible to express the means with which God has been pleased to favor men, to enlighten their minds and improve their dispositions." — Bancroft's Ser- ■r)ions,p. 87. 3 We give a few specimens. The Evang-clical histories contain gross and irreconcilable contradictions. — Evansoyi's dissonance, "p. 1. I think I have often shewn that the apostle Paul often reasons inconclu- sively,— Priestley's His. Cwrup. Christ, vol. ii. p. 570. Like other men they were subject to prejudice, and m'g-ht be liable to CHAP, III. ^r THE srmiT. 4o One more passage and we liave done. *'AU manner of sin and blasphemy," said the Saviour, '-shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.''^ Sin against God may be for- given, but not against the Spirit. But if this Spirit is skill and ability in men, ^'the extraordinary gift or power" be- stowed on Christ and the apostles, what then gave such a sacredness to them? Were they more holy than God? Did their gifts and powers render them superior to God? Or did He feel more indignant with those that spoke against them, than with the bold blasphemers of Himself? But here our learned commentator will tell us, that the Holy Ghost does not mean the apostles' gifts or ability, but the power of God. Strange! What a vague thing this Spirit is! It is ever eluding our grasp, like some ignis fatinis. ■ We can never be sure that we have his meaning. This moment it is power in the apostles, the next it \s power in God, But let it be so. What does the Saviour mean? Can it be, that he means to say a man may blaspheme God Himself-— with one breath speak against his whole Being and attributes, and yet may be forgiven, but that if he speaks specially against His power, there is no forgiveness for such blasphemy? Why should he be more tenacious and jealous of his power than of other of his perfections? And why so indignant when that is singly spoken against, but ready to forgive though it be blasphemed along with others? Is there not something monstrously absurd in the adopt a hasty and ill-grounded opinion concerning things which did not fall within the compass of their knowledge.— Pms^^'^ His. early Opinion^^, vol. iv. pp. 4, 5. • The epistle to the Hebrews is said to contain "some far-fetched analog.es and inaccurate reasonings.— /m;3roi'e^ version of the New Testament, p. 531. ^ We are very free to say, that our views of the nature of the sacred wri- tings, and of the use we are to make of them differ from those of our or= thodox hvitiXweji.— Unitarian Miscellany, Sept. 182K p.««. Mat. xii. 31, 46 THE PErxSONALiTY CHAP. III. idea? Would we not be disposed to laugh at that man as a very idiot (we speak with reverence) who should say — you shall not speak against my power — you may blaspheme line, speak against my whole character and my power too, as much as you please, along with my other virtues and faculties, and I will forgive you, but if you say a word against my power alone, it shall never be forgiven? Oh, exclaims our commentator, you are greatly mistaken. By the Spirit of God, is not meant the power of God merely, hut God Himself. It is a mere Hebraism, as when we are required not to *^grieve the Spirit of God," it is God Him- self that is meant. We object to this evasion here. The supposition is tliat the Spirit of God is different from God, not God Himself. We have already disposed of the explanation attempted in the supposition that God and the Spirit are identical. But let us see whether either supposition will help him. 'The Spirit is God Himself Then the text asserts palpa- ble falsehood, v^ll 77ianner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men; but the blasphemy of God shall not. Is not blasphemy one sort of sin? Indeed such an explanation is no better than saying it shall, and it shall not. The Spirit and God then are not identical. But it is alleged the Spirit is different from God, as a man's spirit may be said to be different from himself, as it is said of the chil- dren of Isreal when they excited the anger of Moses, that ^'they provoked his spirit, ''' a very common mode of speech. Are we then to understand by the Spirit of God His irascibility and temper? The thought is too shocking. What then? Will our paraphrast say v/hat? We cannot. But v/as not the Spirit of Moses, Moses himself in a state of excitement! Or if you prefer it, his meek spirit, was it not Moses the meek — Moses manifesting meekness, or act- ing meekly? What then sliould we think, of such a dcclara- J Psslm, c\] 0.3. UHAP. III. '^^^ ^'^^^ SPIRIT. 47 tion? They did not provoke IMoses, bat they provoked his spirit; or this other, you may provoke Moses, but you must not provoke his spirit. Every one sees the absolute absurdity of such nonsense. And yet it is precisely the Unitarian comment, stripped of all its learned and subtle disguise, on the unpardonable sin. You may blaspheme God and be forgiven, but if you blaspheme his Spirit you cannot, that is, (we shudder as we pen the thought) you may blaspheme God with impunity, provided He is not in a state of excitement — His Spirit is not roused, but if that should be the case, there is no hope, no forgiveness for vou. Oh, where will this wild and reckless expositor of scripture lead us? He is not satisfied witli one absurdity after another, but attacks the very character of God, and represents him as an irascible Being, merciful when not excited, but when excited of most im.placable spirit! If we have compelled him to speak plainly what he means by the Spirit of God, and he has become alarmed, retreating into his accustomed and cherished vagueness and obscurity of speech, we can only say, that whatever he here means by the Spirit of God, whether gifts or means, intellectual and moral improvement, it must be identical with God Him- self, or he attaches greater sacredness to that which is not God, than he does to Him. And if by the Spirit of God he means the one personal God, he admits the personality of the Spirit, but he does it by making the Saviour speak both falsehood and contradiction. We have gone thus at length into the examination of the Unitarian notions about the Spirit, that our readers may see how utterly vague and incomprehensible, and subver- sive of the authority and obvious meaning of the scrip- tures, are their views who deny His personality. They liave no rallying point, no landing spot, but are driven into the utmost wildness of conjecture, and become the mere sport of their unbridled imaginations that moment they 4S '-^'^'^E PERSONALITY OF THE SlTmT. cHAP. Ill reject the plain doctrine of the Spirit^s being a distinct per- sonal subsistence of the one Divine Nature. We have felt the more solicitous on this subject, because it forms the very basis of all future discussions. Disprove his person- ality, and our whole v/ork is founded in falsehood and elaborated in folly. But we have thrown ourselves into the impregnable fortress of divine truth, and we fear not the assaults of scepticism and error. We are fixed on the eternal rock, and can thence hurl back on our assailants, the envenomed darts of their hatred against the truth. Not one inch will we concede. Every charge of inconsistency, absurdity and contradiction, which they make against us^ recoils with tenfold force against themselves. CHAPTER IV. THE PERSOT^ALITY OF THE SPIRIT. CONTINUED. The more general modes of evading the proof of the Deity of the Holy Spirit— His proper Deity asserted— The general character of proof to be adduced— Same mode of argument in reference to the divinity of Jesus Christ— An admission— Proofs, I.— Certain works are attributed to the Holy Spirit, which none other than God can perform— 1. Creation— 2. The giving of L'^fe—o. rmpiration—4. The resurrection of the dead body and its reani)nution— 5. The working of miracles— 6. The power of speaking in an unknown tongue and of delivering predictions— r. Regeneration— II. The very honor due to God ascribed to the Spirit— 1. His titles: the God of Israel: Jehovah; the Lord of hosts, he. &c. : the Most High— 2. His worship— 3. Rights of sovereignty— III. The attri- butes of Deity are ascribed to Him, viz., Ubiquity, Omniscience, Omnipo- tence—IV. The style in wliich He is spoken of in the sacred scriptures- Unitarian and infidel charges against the doctrine— Thomas Jefferson's sentiments— Texts that involve allusions and references to three distinct agencies— The objection of mystery out of place— The charge of arith- metical contradiction false— Atheistical tendency of infidelity and Un'.ta- rianism— I'he scriptures our only security, and that as they are legiti- mately interpreted by plain common sense. The eternal Deity of the Holy Spirit can be much more forcibly and conclusively argued, after the proofs which, in the preceding chapters, have been adduced of His per- sonality. For, that He is frequently, both called God, and spoken of as intimately associated with God — on a perfect equality with that great Being denominated in the scriptures the Father — every one who reads his bible attentively must clearly perceive. The modes of evading the proof of His Deity, are in general two, and may be tlislinguished by the epithets /i?gh and loiv^ as they were 50 'I'^IK PERSONALITY CHAr. IV, applied to different branv-Jnes of Arianism, and are now to those, in other controversies, who push their principles to their full extent, or moderately assert them. Some, with the Arians, maintain, that the Holy Spirit is a creature, de- nying His divinity in any and every sense. While others, with the Socinians, assuming the name of Uni- tarians, prefer the idea that He is a divine energy, metonymically denominated God. Tlieir bond of union, however, consists rather in what they profess not to believe, than in what they do. For, denying his divine nature, and maintaining His personality, or denying His personality, and asserting his intimacy with God, they find themselves greatly at a loss, and differing widely from each other, as to what He really may be — whether the prince of angels, a principal spirit, a gift of God, a power of working miracles, a vis et e.fficacia, a divine efficacy, or a means of moral and religious improvement, &c. &c. Having in the two preceding chapters shewn that the Spirit of God is truly a personal agent — that the sacred scriptures, in many passages, do absolutely speak nonsense and absurdity on any other supposition, we now proceed to shew; I. That the Holy Spirit is truly and properly God — POSSESSED op the divine nature equally with THE Father. To prove that He is God, is all that is now actually necessary, for we have already shewn that He is a person distinct from God — the Father: but, that the sub- ject may be fully before our readers, we shall first shew that he is, in the sacred scriptures, contemplated and spoken of as truly God, and tlien notice some passages where the distinction of His person, from the Father and the Son, is clearly maintained. Our readers will have observed^ that in these discussions nothing has been said in relation to the divinity of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And the reason is, because it is deemed unneces- sarv. Our subject does not reanire that we should partiru- CHAP. IV. ^F 'A'HJ^ SPIRIT. 51 lariy discuss this topic. It is tht SpiriVs wide and glori- ous range of operation that we have selected as our theme, and with His character that we are principally concerned. The eternal pergonal divine glory of the Son of God, who assumed human nature into union with Himself, appearing and acting on earth as the man Jesus, of Nazareth, and yet the Lord from Heaven, we take for granted, as it is capa- ble of the most satisfactory demonstration, and is a truth which sparkles on every page of the bible, there having, from the very beginning, been allusions made to the fact, both of His personal existence, official destination and cha- racter. It may suffice here to remark, that the very same argu- ments and mode of reasoning adopted in relation to the Spirit's personality and deity, will as conclusively demon- strate the personality and divinity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Word, the Logos, is a person, no more a jnere energy of wisdom or power than the Spirit, and that <^Word was God, and the same was in the beginning, (a phrase which Grotius admits to be equivalent in the sacred scriptures \V\i\\ from eternity) with God."^ In undertakin"g to prove the Holy Spirit to be God, w^e will readily admit, that it is not enough to shew that he is called God, for so are they which confessedly are not God. But if we can make it appear, that every thing distinctive in God, ^wd peculiar to Him, or which He claims exclu- sively as His, is attributed to the Spirit, then certainly the term God must be acknowledoed to have more meanins: as it designates Him, than when it is appropriated to those which by nature are no gods — yea, must be considered as implying His divine nature, as truly as it can do, when applied to the infinite and acknowledged Supreme. This we shall do, remarking L There are certain works attributed to the Holy Spirit X John, i. 1, 2. 52 ' 'Ifl^ PEKSONALllY CHAP. IV. which none other than GoH can perform, and the power of doing which, it does not appear has ever been conferred upon a creature, 1 The first that we notice is creation* That creation is a work peculiar to God is plainly asser- ted. **He that made all things is God,''^ says the sacred word, and the utter fruitlessness of every attempt of man who may have vainly imagined such a power could be attained, is itself sufficient to prove it a work at least super- human. The work of creation is especially claimed by God, as the work of the absolute Lord — Jehovah. ''Thus saith God the Lord (Jehovah,) He that created the heavens and stretched them out, &c., lam the Lord (Jehovah,) tliat is my name, and my glory will I not give to another. ^^"^ "Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, the everlast- ing God, the Lord (Jehovah,) the Creator of the ends of the earth. "^ But this work is attributed to the Spirit. *'By the word of the Lord were the Heaven's made, and sll the host of them by the Spiynt, (breath; of his mouth. "^ '•by his Spirit hath he garnished the Heavens."^ "The^ Spirit of God hath made me.'"^ "Thou sendest forth th}" Spirit, they are created."^ The inference is plain. The Spirit is God. 2. The givi)ig of life is another work peculiar to God. He is called "the living and true God"^ —"the living one,"^ as possessing life essentially in Himself, and as being the source of life to all animated creation. And the power of giving and preserving life, He claims exclusively as his own. "See now that I, even 1 am He, and there is no God with me, (no creature or idol associated with him in this matter,) I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; neither is there any that can deliver out of ni}'- hand."^^ Yet this work is attributed to the Spirit of God. 1 Heb. ili. 4. 2 Isaiah, xlli. 5 — 8. 3 Isaiah, xl. 28. 4 Psahn, xxxiii. 6. 5 Job, xxvi. 13. 6 Job, xxxiii. 4. 7 Psahn, civ. 30. 8 1 Thess. i. 9. 9 Bev. i. 18. c F r^^ SPIIIIT. 67 are our only security. Let them be rejected, or, what is equivalent with their rejection, let the spirit of "philosophy, falsely so called,^' and the alleged decisions of human rea- son, be made their interpreter, and the standard by which their revelations are to be judged, and imagination will soon become the expositor of truth. The fancy will run wild, and, in the reveries and triumphs of fiction, every thing distinctive, and of value in the bible, the very life and soul of Christianity, will evanish. This the Christian knows, and therefore guards, with ever-wakeful jealousy, against the proud and sceptical exposition of the sacred oracles, where men, of unbelieving minds and hearts, and, not imbued with the spirit of truth, undertake, by their ^^oppositions of science," to explain away the grand pecu- liarities of our faith. He will not consent, who has re- ceived the bible as the word of God, to be taught by 'Hhe perverse disputings of men.'' Wliat this man, or the other of lofty aspirings, may, in the vanity and scepticism of their unbelieving heart, tell him is meant by the Spirit of God, he heeds not, but yields, most cordially and impli- citly to the impressions of the word, in its plain and ob- vious import. Nor does he this unwisely; for he has, in his own soul, an attestation of the truth. He feels that there is more than metaphor, or a figure of speech, in the language of the scriptures, as to the living Spirit of Godo He apprehends Him to be the very sum of all the moral and spirtual blessings he enjoys, and, as life is imparted to his soul; — as his affections, which once were dead to God, become tender and lively towards divine things; — • as his moral sensibilities are purified, his heart expatiates in the joys of fellowship with God, and his whole soul is drawn upward in sublimest anticipations. As his faith and hope and love, the powerful principles of human ac- tion, are transferred from earth and earthly things, and ma^e to act v/ith more effective energy in reference tc (3S THE FElJSONALiTV OF TIJE L-l'IHil'. ^ IIAI'. IV, God and lieavcnly things, he feels perfect!}' convinced that there is a mighty agent within him accomplishing all — and that mighty agent, none other than God Himself, in the person and character of the Holy Spirit — the Spirit gf life and puritv. CHAPTER V. THE OFFICE OF HUMAN REASON TV IHK TXTET^riU:TATIOX OT TTIK SAniKD SCniPTURES, The difference between scriptural and scientific truth— 'i'lic sul)jcct of th(^ chapter stated— The scriptures assumed to he the word of God— An appeal to the reader w] JO may doubt— Infallibifity claimed for tlie oraclesof God— The common infidel objection against this claim— The sentiments of a \vriter of the seventeenth century —Kemarks upon them— The meaning of the terms human reason settled—Erroneous assumptions of the rationalists- Examples of false reasonini^ — The folly of rcasoningasto other worlds from assumptions as to this— No mysticism in the languaf,^e employed by the Spirit of God — The facts revealed in scripture essentially different from the phenomena of nature— Thence a superiority claimed for the knowlcdg-c of the former— The Spirit's revelations essential to that knowledge— Per- fections in God probably not yet revealed— Mysteries in His government that will perhaps never be known by us — The very limited extent of hu- man science— Thence the folly of proud and arrogant demands with regard to the knowledge of God inferred— We cannot reject facts when substantiated by evidence— Tlie testimony of God as suflicient evidence as that of sense — The folly of demanding evidence not appropriate to the nature of the subject— Mathematical evidence liable to exception— The folly of applying the data which this world affords as tests of what is truth in others — The Divine testimony satisfactory and decisive — The danger of neglecting it illustrated in the eariy history of the Corinthian church— The character of Paul's preaching— lleason cannot legitimately act as umpire in matters of faith— Its proper oflice. There is that, in the truths of the sacred scriptures, which makes them to differ from the doctrines of human science. So far as they are exhibited in propositions, ex- pressed in dofmite hnguagc, they resemble each other. And 70 INTERPliETATION OF CHAP. V. SO far as human reason is concerned, in the apprehension of them, no difference can be discerned. One proposition is just as intelligible ac another, provided, that the /«?i- giiage employed in both is equally perspicuous. Yet does it not follow that the fads involved in these propositions are of equally easy apprehension. Some things are, in their very nature, inexplicable, while others are intelligi- ble at first sight. Inattention to this has led to much, and very serious mischief, in the interpretation of the sacred scriptures. That the mind of rational man, which we have above designated by the popular phrase of human reason, has some important office m the apprehension of scriptural truth, every one feels. What that office precisely is, it is the design in this chapter to unfold. The exposition of this subject is rendered necessary, alike from its own intrinsic importance, from the very fatal results which have flowed from its not being well understood, from the proof and illustration of the subject in the preceding chapter, and from the intimate connection which it holds with the entire dis- cussions that we propose. It must be obvious, that it is of very great moment, in itself, as well as in relation particularly to the subject in hand, we should be able to determine, whether human rea- son is to sit as judge and umpire, deciding as to what is truth, or whether its entire office is not io pci'ceive, receive and enforce truth not originally excogitated in the human mind. On the decision of this question depends the use that we shall make of the sacred scriptures, and the benefit we shall derive from them. It is assumed that they are the ivord of God. If any reader doubts on this subject, we request him to resort to the proofs so abundantly and so invincibly demonstrative to every unprejudiced mind, of the fact that the things spoken and written by the inspired penmen were delivered CH\r. r. '^'^^^ SACPeED SCRIPTURES 71 '^not in the words which man's wisdom teaclieth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth."^ His mind must be dark in- deed, and his heart most wretchedly depraved, who can carefully examine the arguments drawn from the miracles performed, and predictions delivered by the apostles and prophets, not to mention any other, without being convin- ced that what Paul said of himself is true of all. ^'I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, nor was I fcmght it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."^ The subject is undoubtedly deserving of the most serious and interested attention of every rational man, and we adjure the reader, if he has the least doubt as to the fact, to lose no time, and spare no pains, to bring this very impor- tant question, involving his own eternal interests, to an issue. Let him dismiss prejudice, and read, and weigh, both sides of the question, and decide according to the amount and force of evidence, after a full and impartial examination. We shall not fear the result in his mind. It is nothing but obliguity of heart that can resist the overwhelming power of the demonstrations in the case. The claims of the sacred scriptures are so high, and their asseverations affecting man's personal and eternal interests, so bold, and appalling, and uncompromising, that no man, pretending to act as a reasonable being, can dismiss this subject with a trivial attention. Assuming the scriptures to be the word of God, as we do, it is obvious that we claim for them the infallibility oi infinite and immulable truth. Thence it is conten- ded, there arises an obligation, on our part, in reference to them, which applies not to any other species of evidence. Believing them to be the word of God, we are bound, by all the authority that God can assert, to receive them ^^not as 1 ICor. ii. 13. 2 Gal. i. 13, 12. ^2 IN'rERPRETA llOiN OF ^.^ap. v . [he word of man, but as they are in truth the word of God.''^ This no one can deny. But some will ask, what is the word ol God, and how are we to determine as to it in any and every case? Here and there are passages of scripture, which are differently understood by different persons and sects. The Christian world is full of contro- versy. One party asserts this is the word of God, another it is the Vv'ord of the devil, and by a summary process they appeal to their respective creeds and confessions of faith, which, after all, are the production of fallible men, and pass sentence of approbation, or of condemnation, according as opinions accord or are discordant with the set form of words. The avowed and practical infidel have alike em- ployed this objection to bolster uj) themselves in their con- tempt or neglect of the oracles of God. But if *'they have 2*ejected the word of the Lord what wisdom is there in them?"^ While they profess to act a rational part, they do act irrationally; and while they boast of being under the guidance of human wisdom, and claim to themselves the name of philosophers, or of philosophical or rational di- vines, they only furnish melancholy specimens of human folly, and prove that neither common sense or reason will sanction their claims. A writer of the seventeenth centur}^, in a treatise entitled '^Rational Religlo7i,^^ supposes that there are but three modes^ in which the truth, or true sense of the word of God itself can be ascertained, viz., by llie author i- 1 1 Thess. ii. 13. 2 Jer. viii. ?. 3 Deus quidem Optiraus, maximus, absque controversia est judex supre- mus, inefrag-abilis; sed is nunc inter litigantes speciale decrttum vore sua propria loquendo non, prcnunciat: sicut nee Filius ejus unig-enitus judex vivorum ac mortuorum ab eo constitutus. Verbum autem Dei scriptum nobis relictuni, non est proprie judex: nam id est norma secundum quam aliquis judicare debet. Sicut lex ipsa non judicat proprie, scd secundum leg-em alicra'-J ab aiiqvio iudicatur. CHAP. V. THE SACRED SCRIPTURES. 73 iy of the. church, or its visible head on earth — the Pope of Rome, or a council, according to the opinion of the Roman Catholics; or by the. dictation of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the elect, as he alleges the protes- tants, who call themselves evangelical or reformed, and the enthusiasts called quakers affirm; or hy judgment of sound reason in every man, legitimately and strictly examining the word of God. As to \\\q first, we deem it unnecessary to remark. The authority of Popes and councils is no lon- ger respected by the Christian world, whatever may be their aspirings. As to the second, it may suffice to state, that we contend not for preternatural revelations, since the code of scripture is completed, and that, although we acknowledge the agency of the blessed Spirit to be necessary, in order to our arriving at the knowledge of scriptural truth, yet we are not of those who affirm that agency to be by any afflatus, or impression inconsistent with, or not made through the appropriate exercise of our rational powers. Mr. Locke, in his essay concerning the human understanding, has v^^ell remarked that ^'no proposi- tion can be received fof divine revelation, or obtain the assent due to all such, if it be contrary to our clear intuitive knowledge. Because this would be to subvert the princi- ples and foundatfons of all J^nowledge, evidence and assent whatever,'-'^ and fanaticism must inevitably assume dominion Videtur igitur non posse aliter fieri, quam ut in controvcrsiis fidei seu religionis, Veritas, et ipsius verbi Dei seu sacra: scripture verus sensus, hoc tempore, per aiiquem istorum trium modorum habeatur: nempe, aut per EcGlesia; ejusve capitis visibilis in terra, scili cet pontificis Romani, sive Conciiii, authoritatem ; ut volunt pontificii, qui sibi Catholicorum Roma= norum appellationem vendicant: aut per spiritus sancti in cordibus dectorum dictamen, ut statuunt plerique protestantes qui Evang-elici vel Reformati nominari volunt; ac aliquatenus similiter ii qui Enthusiastze atque Quakeri nuncupantur: aut denique per ratiotiis sanac, in unoquoque homine verbum Dei legitime expendentis judicium; utexisthnantaliij aliqui Christiani.— -i??%?o li'itimalls'—A. iVissowatio, pp. 4, 5. 1 B. ir. c. 18. § 5. 10 74 IN TERl'UF/l A HON OF CHAr. V. * where an influence or revelation of the Spirit, inconsistent with the jiroper and judicious exercise of our rational minds is made the arhitcr of truth. This remark, however, is not intended to apply to any original revelation which God was pleased to make to the mind of man; but only to that standard of truth found in the impressions which those divinely inspired have communicated to us in words, the ordinary mode of conveying thought from one to another. He that suspended the exercise of the senses in some of His propliets. and gave ideas of objects and subjects, previously unknown and inconceivable, is not to be limited, as to His power and ways of access to the human mind. Paul un- doubtedly obtained ideas when *'hc was caught up into paradise, and heard nnspeakablc words," which he could not communicate to others, because imparted to him iti «)ome sublime m3"sterious way, *SvIielhcr in the body or out of tlie body he could not tell, God knoweth.'^^ Such revelations however have ceased, and the communications addressed to us by God, arc through the medium of the sacred scriptures, an intelligible language, adapted to the ordinary modes of human Ihoudjht. Whoso pretends to have received a communication in any other way from God, must first work a miracle before we can receive his testimony as the word of God. . • The render has perhaps already inferred, that the third gild last method of arriving at the knowledge of the truth or true sense of the word of God, viz., by the judgment of sound reason carefully examining and determing what is the word of God, is the only available mode. The truth of this conclusion will depend very much on the meaning attached to the phrase human reason. If by it is meant tlie regular process of argument, wliere, by comparing one idea with another, wb elicit a third, more correctly called reasoning, the conclusion is untenable. But if nothing \ '.X^or. \ii- M , ,1 M . \ I 111'. sA(:iu.:i) ^^i uiri 1 1 ijr.s - , more is nieanl, tlian (hal l.lii' j)()\v(r, oi- ;i.s liOclaMldinrs il , 1l)(^ "faculty whcrt.^l)y man is .supposed (o Ix' «lis(ii^vnisluMl iVoiu lli(^ Ix-asls/" tin; mind ilscH" ;is (•a[);d)U' ol" p(M-c('i vinu; and rrc.iMvinir truth, is the modium dT our Unowlcdjre of the word ofdod, \vc do not ol)ject. All truth, of \vhat(>v<'r kind, ami supp(;rt('d \)y whalcver ('vldencr, niukcs ils ap- peal dii-fc.tly lo man's rational natnit\ nnil it is tin* peroi- pi(.Mit thinkinu; ]>rinciplc itsidf that, ici.'civcs or rejects. Hut this is not \\\\\ idea which is ntliudjed to the phrase hv many. VViien it, is contended hy souk.', that human reason is tiu' iudj;e id" truth — that, tjje scrijdures ai(^ l)nt the; law (the 7i()rnnf) of jud<;m(MU, and not ^/(^("/expresdng his decisions, tliey mean, that there are certain intuitive; piinci|)les ur axioms, which the miijd apj)reheniLs to he immntahly tiue, and hy means of which it forms a judfj^ment, whether the rendatioiis of tin; sc.ri|)tures are to hi; r hep,innin<;' of existence, the JMost Jligh (loci and man are uneijual, every inxfi/ is Unite, Gvery tiue man is a trui; person, '.rhesu proj)ositions, and many other of a like; (;haract<:r which mijjht he sug^;ested are appreh(;n(h;d as ahsolutc truisms. Now it isall(;j:;cd hy our oj)ponents, that to the test of such postulates and axioms wo are to sul)j(;ct the revelations of sciipturi;, in ordc^r to discover their tiaith or to decide whether they aie or are not thi; word of (lod. Accordinji;Iy, they go lo work and throwing the different iloctrines of faith into this yiendiic, thoy quickly resolve them into mere vaj)0ur, and j)ronounce tluMU altogether d(;void of truth. J low spurious are; such argtmM;nts! Ev(;ry fath(;r is jirior to his son: hut (iod is the /'V////cr of Jesus ('hrist: — therefore Jesus Christ vva.'j not IVom all eternity with (lod. Kvery generation has some; heginning of existence; hut Je.^ns ('hrist wus he^(d,f».'n f)f the Fatlu i": tlierefrtre ,lcMUS 76 IXTERrRETATION OF CHAP. V. Christ is not God, who is without beginning of days or end of year's. The Most High God and man are not equal. Jesus Christ was man: therefore Jesus Christ was not equal with God. Every body is finite. But Jesus Christ had a body: therefore He was not infinite. Every true man is a human person: but Jesus Christ was truly man: therefore He was not God, but a human per- son. Against such an use of reason we solemnly protest. We . do utterly deny, that the axioms, which the human mind receives as self-evident truths in referonce-to the things of this world, are to be made the test of truth in reference to those of another. No position can be more tenable, more undeniable than this, that it is only by means of the five senses a knowledge of the external world around us can be had. But who would jeopard his reputation as a philoso- pher by affirming there are not inhabitants of other worlds provided with more or difterent means of intercourse with material things around tliem?^ The truth is, every rational man cannot but feel the force of the dramatist's assertion. There are more things in Heaven and Earth — Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. It would be absurd to reason, because we have only five senses, therefore there can he no other means of inter- course with a material world, and therefore the inhabitants of Jupiter innst be human beings. We feel how utterly false it is to apply the axioms and reasonings which are true of the things of this world to those of another. Now, the sacred scriptures are the word of God, disclo- sing scenes and objects, entirely different from what we meet in this world. Tlie source of our information, is the 1 Voltaire, in one of his romances, has happily illustrated this idea, and a£;a",n?t it assuredlv the infidel will not obiect. CHAP. V. i'HE SACRED SCRIPTUIIES. 77 ieHhnony or communication of God Himself, both me- diately and directly. "God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake, in time past, unto the fathers, by the prophets, hath, in these last days, spoken, unto us, by His Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he hath made the worlds."^ In such evidence we may rest satisfied, for the witness is from the unseen world; and, that there should be no doubt, and no mistake about receiving his testimony, the whuie established order of nature Acre is interrupted, suspended, controlled, and changed. The God of nature, whom in this world v/e adore, is thus proved to be the Lord of the invisible state, and the sensible proofs of His power thus furnished become strong confirmations of the truth of His communications, as the apostle aifirms of the gospel, '^which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him: God also bearing them witness both with signs, and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his will."^ It would be absurd to imagine, that the things communicated from such a sou7xe would be demonstrable by the principles and axioms that apply to this world. Philosophy may have much to do in the application, and prosecution of the great principles of nature's operations as men call it; but certainly she can have nothing to do with disclosures made by the most competent witness, with regard to things spiritual. Faith, or the belief of testimony, is the medium of know- ledge in reference to the latter. And if there should be any thing mysterious, and to us inexplicable in the facts made known with regard to the spiritual world — if they follow not the order and principles of things in this world, that is no reason why they should be rejected, but rather presumptive evidence of their truth, since, even here phi- losophy herself fails in applying her own favorite and 1 Heb. i. 1. ?. 2 Heb. ii. ?>. 4. 78 INTERPRETATION OF CHAP.V^ peculiar data to the solution of many phenomena occurring. The two worlds differ essentially in their nature, and so must the respective phenomena they present. On the ground of the essentially differing character of the facts reported in the scriptures, and of the phenomena which this world presents, we claim a superiority for the knowledge obtained by faith, above that derived from sys- tems of philosophy. On the same ground, too, we affirm, exists whatever difficulty there may be with respect to our apprehension of them. There is no vagueness or mysti- cism in the language which the Spirit of God has employ- ed in delivering His testimony. There is, indeed, an im- perfection in human language, which renders it difficult to convey precisely our ideas: and this arises, no doubt, out of the very nature of things, it being by no means probable that all will attach the very same leaning to the same expression. But, therefore, as it has pleased the Spirit of God to speak to us in human language, to use our own words, we must expect that there will be different and even erroneous impressions sometimes made on different minds. The only effectual guard against this thing, is to * 'compare spiritual things with spiritual"^ — not to put our 'meaning on any term, but to ascertain, previously, in what sense the Spirit of God employs it. Here is an appropriate sphere for the energies of the human mind to be displayed. But such an office of reason is very differ- ent from that of judging and deciding, whether the facts and truths made known, are entitled to credence. If there is any other difficulty in apprehending the meaning of scripture, it may be traced entirely to a different source, eitlier to the circumstance, that the facts or truths they dis- close are such as, from the very nature of the case, could not have been discovered, or excogitated by the human niind, and could only be communicated by expressions bor- 3 1 Cor.il. 13. CHAP. V. Aii^ SACRED SCRIPTURES. 7\) rowed from tilings analogous to ihem in this world. They are ''Ihe things of God,^^ — things pertaining;, and peculiar to the infinite Supreme, which were hid in the counsels or purposes of the eternal mind, and, therefore, could only become known by us, either, as He should see fit to de- clare them, or develope them in His providence. Accord- ingly, the apostle declares the source of his knowledge of divine things to have been the communication of God Him- self, and not the principles and deductions of the world's philosophy. *'Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God."^ We are aware that such distinctions are repudiated, by those who affirm human reason to be competent to the dis- covery of all man shall ever know; and, that, to speak of things beyond its k^n, is, in their estimation, to rave ia the delirium of an enthusiastic and distempered fancy. But such votaries of reason, seem to have taken a very partial and limited view of the various objects and extent of human knowledge. God and His government compre- hend the utmost of what exists, and can be known by the most exalted and intelligent of creatures. Yea, with rev- erence be it said, the knowledge of God Himself can ex- tend no further. But where, let us ask, is the man that can tell the extent of either the divine excellence or oper- ations? As to the perfections of Deity, who will affirm there may not be soir.e, yea, many, of which we cannot even conjecture? There was a period when but a very few of the leading attributes of God were known to men. But it has pleased the Most High to reveal others, of which human reason, in her loftiest flights, and most entranced reveries, had never thought or dreamt. The experience of the world, from the beginning, authorises the belief, that many attributes of God, yet lie concealed from the 1 1 Cor. u. 12. 80 INTEllPRETA TION OF CHAP. \% notice of poor, frail, and falliWe man, which may, in ano- ther and nobler world, be disclosed. And the sacred scrip- tures confirm the belief. "Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the^lmighty to prefection?*'^ And as to the government of God, comprehending, alike his created universe — teeming with life in every part, and the order and operation and agencies of his holy provi- dence, can any presume, that he either knows, or shall be ever able to know, the whole? We look abroad upon the works of the Almighty hand, and are apt to think, that if we can discourse a little about tiie laws according to which bodies affect each other, or their properties and mu- tual action, we are versed in natural philosophy. We look a little into the constituent, elementary, parts of material objects, and their mutual afiinities and action, and think^ that if we can but analize them, we Ifnow them altogether. We look a little into the operations of our own minds, and are apt to think that we know somewhat of the character of spirit, and the laws which govern human thought. And, in like manner, a transient view of every other branch of human science, serves but to inflate our vanity and per- suade us that we know v.uch. But when we begin care- fully to investigate the mechanical laws wdiich govern the material universe — the various, complicated and vvonderous combinations of atoms, by means of the chemical laws, which regulate the structure and properties of bodies, and the conflicting elements associated in our own being, which are preserved in admirable harmony; and when, in addi- tion to this, we inquire into the essential nature of what we see and feel and think, we find that ^11 our science and philosophy teach but the same humiliating and mortifying lesson, that we do indeed know nothing. If such is the fact in relation to objects, v/ith which we are most familiar, which greet and cheer and refresh us at 1 Job- Ai. ^ CHAP. V. THE SACRED SCRIPTURES. - Si every turn, need we be at all surprised, at being ignorant and incapable of discovering those things which are pecu- liar to God? It is owing to the pride, perverseness and rebellion of the human mind, that men are so willing to remain ignorant of those things which do properly consti- tute the inateriel of human knowledge — which are the legitimate field for the research of human reason, and yet insist upon knowing and comprehending every thing, which in its very nature rises far above the reach of human thought. We must be content to believe many things which we shall never understand. We have, indeed, learn- ed to be so in reference to the most common objects of hu- man knowledge. Every thing which meets our eye, or is perceived by any of our senses, is in its intimate nature incomprehensible. Our very sensations are themselves a mystery. There is something in all we see and hear and feel, that evades the grasp of human reason. Yet, will any one affirm, that to talk of such things — things beyond hu- man ken, is to rave in the delirium of an enthusiastic and distempered fancy? Is it delirium? By no means: — but the fact is directly the reverse. He that suffers himself to doubt, and disbelieve, in relation to the objects which ad- dress his senses, who will not admit their reality, because he cannot comprehend their nature, or have any idea of the essence of matter, is, by the common consent of man- kind, pitied or ridiculed as insane. The truth is, men universally, in reference to matters of this world, act upon the principle, that the evidence, which substantiates the fact, even out-weighs their own per- sonal and peculiar difficulties, or embarrassments, as to its explication. They believe, that the innumerable inexpli- cable things around them do exist, because their senses report to them the fact. Let them act on the evidence j^'ibmittcd, and believe, as implicitly, that '*the things which d.ro^ given to us of God,^' do really exist. Is not 11 S2 INTERPREIATION OF CHAP. V. His testimony in this case, as good evidence as that of our senses in the other? In both it is obviously our duty to believe the report — to let the evidence which either the testimony of God, on the one hand, or that of our senses^ on the other, out-weigh all the perplexities and difficulty we may have in the explication of the things reported. But this is not the spirit of the world. The pride of human reason— the vain v^isdom of a false philosophy — the natural aversion of the human heart from the things that are of God — and the high value at which men practi- cally hold the evidence of their senses, lead them to reject and disbelieve the great truths and facts which are based exclusively on a "Thus saith the Lord." This is the spi- rit of the world — a carping, captious, cavilling, unbeliev- ing spirit, which demands the demonstrations of science, to force conviction, or the soft silver tones of a flattering eloquence to seduce the heart into faith. It must be wooed and caressed by "the words which man's wisdom teacheth," or it will spurn the testimony of God. It must subject the declarations of Him who cannot lie, to the inquisitorial torture of its hoivs, and tvhi/s, and wherefore, and receive ample satisfaction in all, or it will make a merit and a boast of its scepticism, while it is content to receive with each passing hour, things utterly inexplicable, without a mo- ment's thought, and on evidence, by no means as conclu- sive as that of the testimony of God. Every one pronounces h'm to be guilty of great foolish- ness, who demands evidence on a subject utterly foreign from the nature of such evidence. Would not all the w^orld laugh at the judge, who would require the barrister mathematically to demonstrate his positions, and refuse the testimony of his witnesses? Equally foolish and absurd, is his conduct who demands mathematical evidence in sup- port of moral truth. Who does not see, that the relations, and ratios, of forms, and quantities are essentially different,, CHAP. V. '^^^^ SACKED SCRIPTURES. §3 in their nature, from the operations of mind, and must therefore be demonstrated by evidence essentially different? The Epicureans are justly censured for rejecting every truth that would not be supported by the evidence of tlie senses. And so must they be, who laud the evidence of geometrical ancdi/sis as superior to that of consciousness* or of the testimony of a competent and credible witness. Dr. Barrow, in his profound admiration and extravagant praise of m-atliematical science, may have probably, though unintentionally, contributed to fortify the sceptic in his rejection of the evidence available in the support of moral truth, wlien he said, "the mathematics eflfeotually exercise^ not vainly delude, nor vexatiously torment, studious minds, with obscure subtleties, but plainly demonstrate every thing within their reach." — ^'They wholly deliver us from a credulous simplicity, and most strongly fortify us against the vanity of scepticism; they effectually restrain us from a rash presumption, most easily incline us to a due assent, and perfectly subject us to the government of right reason. ^^ These assertions are too bold. The mathematics have their subtleties,and they demonstrate what common sense at once perceives to be absurdities. An infinity of infinities, each infinitely less than the otht*r — curves infinitely approxi- mating fixed lines, but never touching— m^nzVe spaces generating by rotation — solids oi finite capacity — varia- ble l^spaces continually augmenting and yet never be- coming equal to certain finite quantities, these are subtle^ ties and mysteries as perplexing as any that can be cited in moral science. The truth is, that there is no subject oa which the human mind may not, by the aid of its appro» priate evidence, be led on, by regular processes of demon= stration, till it is lost in the absolute incomprehensibility of its own deductions. It is, therefore, highly erroneous, and mischievous, to extol one species of evidence above another, and thus contribute to shake men's confidence in 84 INTERPBETATION OF CIIAP. V the reality of what may have been legitimately demon- strated by its appropriate evidence. Consciousness, intui- tion, intellection, deduction, geometrical analysis, moral certainty, all deserve respect in there proper sphere. Let reason be employed in her appropriate province, but when God speaks let man believe. His testimony is ample and decisive proof. On all subjects to uhich it appropriate- ly applies, it is, in its very nature^as conclusive as mathe- matical demonstration can be, and far more than the deduc- tions of reason, or the testimony of the senses. Why should we apply the rules and principles of reasoning, founded on the data which this world affords, to that whicli is unseen and cannot be explored by us? If God Himself, a competent and credible witness, has made report to us — delivered His testimony, let us rebuke the spirit of the world, and learn with reverence and gratitude ta receive the revelations which He makes of His own will. The spirit of the world, when indulged to the rejection of the divine testimony, is the arrant pride of the rebellious mind. Its suggestions are madness, and its ascendant in- fluence on the mind, is death to all its immortal hopes. It was this Spirit which characterized and disgraced many who professed the religion of Jesus Christ in the church of Corinth. Accustomed to the profound disquisitions of their philosophers, and to the flowing strains of their oi'a- tors, and fond, as were the Greeks generally, of rich and polished style, of accurate and ornamental language, of close and energetic argument, in short, of all that could please the imagination and satisfy tlie understanding, they soon perverted the ministry of reconciliation, and the sacred scriptures, from their grand original design, and sought to make them subservient to their literary gratification and improvement. xVware of this state of feeling, in the first instance, when Paul preached among them, he purposely laid F»«ide v/hatpver 7T)ia;ht be thoug;hi: to be i.ni^ended fj? a CHAP. V, Ttii^ SACKED SCRIPTURES. §/; <]ispay of wisdom, or eloquence, or mere human reasonins;. He employed not the enticing words of man's wisdom — he came not among them with excellency of speech or of wis- dom; but trusting to the powerful influence of the Spirit, who revealed the truth to his own mind, he told again and again, his simple and affecting story of ^^Chr^ist and Him, crucijied.''^ "For I brethren," says he, '^when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech, or of v)lsdo7n, declaring unto you the tesiiviony of God; for I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. . And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and much trembling: and my speech and my preaching w^as not v/itli enticing words of men's wisdom, but in devionstralion of the Spirit^ and of power; that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."^ Here the true reasoii of our conviction of the truth, as revealed by God, is dis- tinctly stated — the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. It is the powerfully convincing evidence of truth, had, in ^Hhe testimony of God," which the Holy Spirit has delivered to us by the mouths of holy men and prophets, and which he urges on tlie mind, that sivays it into faith. This, Paul wished to be the basis of their faith, and none other, and as he unfolded the truth, which God had reveal- ed, he claimed their unhesitating assent. His style of preaching does not seem to have pleased all. Some -pre- ferred Apollo's gentle and persuasive strains, while others were enamoured with Peter's ardent and vehement delive- ry. Their factious and contentious spirit, Paul utterly contemned; and he was careful to apprise them, that the gospel which he preached differed in its very nature, from all the dogmas or demonstrations of their philosophers. The ministry of reconciliation was not to be prostituted, and the high functions of that holy office, v/hir,h unfolds 1 \ Cor. ii. ^'^. Se INTERPRETATION OF CHAP. V. and urges the word of God on the consciences of men^ were not to be discharged as were tlie professional lectures of their admired scholars. He did not profess to have made any magnificent discoveres, or to have adopted any new philosophy or to have elicited truth hy the pov/er of his own loo-ical mind. He resorted not to the schools of the philosophers for his information, nor did he even dream of quoting Pythagoras or Plato, Aristotle or Socrates as his authorities. He took it from the moulh of God Himself, and as he bowed in submissive belief of its truth, so did he require the same faith from his hearers. ' **I certify you brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me, is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.''^ He spake by the Holy Spirit of God, and not according to the wisdom and judgment, the reasonings and convictions of the world. This fact he assigns as a sufficient explanation of the au- thoritative character and style of his preaching — as a satisfactory reason for his claiming the full unhesitating assent of his hearers. *'Now we have received, *' says he, *«^not the spirit of tlie world but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God."^ It was bi/ the revelaiion of this Spirit, that /j5 obtained his knowledge, and in 7io other way. For the things that he declared were what ^^Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered the heart of man — the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."^ The whole scheme of redemption, by the eternal Son of God, crucified and slain in the nature of man, was originally beyond the power of human conception. It never coulcl have been excogitated by the human mind. And there- fore in undertaking to speak on themes so novel, so extra- ordinary, so amazing, so inconceivable, however some might deem them extravagant and wild, or others, evincive 1 Gal 1. 13. 12. ^ > Car. v.. 1?. " ^ ^or. ii, 9. CHAF. V. i^^ SACKED SCliiPrrLKES. 87 of the loftiest intellect, yet did Paul make no high preten- sions to human wisdom, nor even defend his claims in this respect, but sini])!}' "declared unto them the testimo- ny of God," putting honour on the Spirit who had revealed them unto him, Paul's idea of inspiration was essentially difTerent from that of the rational divines, or he has expressed himself in the most bungling ond unintelligible terms. So far from supposing that his thoughts, excogitated in his own mind, were the revelation of God, he leads us to believe, that he derived them as certainly and directly from an imme- diate communication made from God to liim as we may be said to derive our thoughts from another when we attend to v/hat he tells us. He did not preach to his hearers the result of his own reasonings. The things he taught were gratuitously communicated of God, and therefore^ were of such character as to have forever eluded discovery by human reason. They were things which none of us had a right to expect would be, and which man, if left to himself, never could have ima- gined. Nor should w^e be surprised at this. For, if v/e cannot look into the nearest planet, or penetrate into the essence of the smallest atom, is it to be expected, that we should be able to explore the eternal mind? "Touching the Almighty we cannot find him out."^ *^Who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his counsellor,''^ To divine what it might please Him to give, when we cannot eoniecture the purposes even of our nearest and most intimate friends, is entirely beyond the power of man:-— especially so, when, instead of anticipating a favour, con- scious guilt suggests that all we have any right to expect is ^'indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish."^ From the above remarks it is obvious that reason can- not legitimately act as umpire m matters of faith. The 1 Jcb, xxvii. 23. 2 Rom. xi. 34. 3 Rom. ii 8, 9. a^- IXTEliPriETA l'It?X OF CHAP. Y. revelalion of God, claims assent on its own appropriate evidence, and is not dependent on the deductions or de- monstrations of reason. The early Unitarians did not presume in this matter to push their principles as far as their modern successors have done. The}^ acknowledged a revelation from God in some immediate and supernatural way, not through the natural excogitations of the human intellect, and therefore did not presume to exalt reason ta the office of judging, and determining what it is in the sacred scriptures we are bound to believe and what not. If they did extol it, they gave not to it the paramount authority. In regulating the distinctive doctrines of reve- lation, they rather tortured their ingenuity to explain away the obvious meaning of terms, than took the bold infidel and deistical ground of rejecting them as mysteries of which reason could not approve. Hear one of the most celebra- of this school, *'As regards reason, this truly is a fallacious way in a matter which is dependent on Divive revelation as is the Christian religion." Another and as great a name adds, ^'Mysteries do indeed overcome reason; but they do not destroy it. They do not extinguish its light but they perfect it. Nay, reason alone, which could not of itself discover mysteries, both perceives, and embraces, and de- fends them ivhen revealed to it "Truly," says a third, speaking of those too, whom he called Unitarian Chris- tians, *'these Christians confess that the appropriate mys- teries and dogmas of the Christian religion themselves, are by no means excogitated, or discovered by human reason; but delivered by the revelation of God Himself, through His Son Jesus Christ." And a fourth admits that neither can philosophy itself reveal the Christian religion, nor can our reason ever prevail to try it at law, entirely on philo- sophical principles; but it behoves it altogether to know it from a Divine revelation.^ It is too bold a pretence to 1 Quod enim ad rationes attinet, bxc nimis fallax via est, in re qiiJe ex CHAP. V. THE SACRED SCRIPTURES, 89 exalt reason as the supreme authority, and make it both judge and law in matters of faith. They that claim for it this office, and receive, and reject the revelations of the word of God, just in so far as they accord with, or are approved by the judgment of their reason are infidels of an high order. It is not slanderous to call them such, nor are they thus malignantly denominated by us, for it is their most appropriate appellation, and it is the most arrant hypocrisy for them to claim and wear the title of Christians. Admitting however that faith is bound to receive the revelations of God, on t^'^eir appropriate evidence, and not because reason may approve of their mysteries, a question arises as to ivhat may be that evidence. On this subject there has been strong and learned controvers}'', having the renowned names of Locke on the one side and Halyburton on the other. We shall not enter into this controversy, but content ourselves with exhibiting a iQ\Y facts from which we may be led to a proper conclusion. The sacred scriptures are demonstrably the word of God, so that whoso will be at the pains of weighing this matter, may arrive, by a process of invincible reasoning, at this convic- tion. It is a truth, supported by intuitive evidence, that what God says, is and must be true. It might be supposed that where these two convictions are had there the indivi- dual must believe. That he ought indubitably to believe divina patefactione pendet, quails est Chrisllano religio. — Faust. Soc, in Tradde authoritate Jac. Scnp. cap. 1. S'lperant quidem ratio nem my steria^ sed non evertunt: non exting-uunt ilia hujus lumen; sed perficlent. Imo ratio mysterla quae per se invenire non poterat, sibi revelata, et perclpit sola, et amplectitiir, etdefendit. — Cul- luis de Uno. Deo. Patre Lib. sub Jinem. At vero isti Christiani, confitentur, ipsa rellgionis Christiana; propria mysterla, seu dogmata, nequaquam esse et ratione huraana excogltata, sive inventa; verum ex Dei ipsius revelatione per filium ejus Jesum Christum tradlt^. — Heligio JiaiionaUs Mid. Wi-ssowal. p. 9, 12 90 mTERPRETAliON OF cHAP. V- none wlii den}^. But it is not the fact. Many profess, and no doubt have both, and yet do not believe. Now whence cames this? Is it not the nature of the human mind to be determined in its convictions, by the force of evi- dence? A man cannot believe a proposition which he thinks is not true. Let him however be convinced of its truth, and it is just as impossible for him not to believe. It is obvious therefore, that there must be some other evidence to produce faith than what has been stated. But what can this be? We apprehend that it is to be found in^ the nature of the second conviction stated above, viz.^^^that what God sa3's is true. There is something more necessary to induce confidence, than the mere intellectual conviction, that a man speaks the truth. Thei^ must be some feeling of approbation, some love for the character of that man, if not of his person, V/e often misplace our confidence, and believe implicitly the falseho&d which some unworthy object of our friendship may assert: while, on the other hand, through prejudice or improper feeling entertained towards another, his testimony is rejected though he speaks the absolute truth. It would seem then that the heart is the great scat of that perplexity and difficulty un- der which any one may labour, as it respects believing the word of God. Let the heart — the sensibilities of man^s nature, be brought into unison with the convictions of his understanding, and there will be no difficulty. The fact of such difficulty however is not to be questioned, and for its removal some divine influence is in reality as necessary as were the ccmniunications of God in making the orignal disclosure of the facts themselves. The remov- al of this is attributed to the same great agent that revealed men the Spirit of God, who exerts an influence designed to counteract the depraved perceptions of the mind and vitiated taste of the heart. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness CHAP. V. THE SACRED SCRIPTURES. 91 unto him, neither can he know them for they are spiritual- ly discerned," ^ In exerting this influence the Spirit of God is spoken of in the saered scriptures, as producing a new life — awakening the mind to new perceptions and energies, and bringing the heart und^r the power of new emotions. So Paul speaks of his own perception of the truths of the gospel, and of his successful exhibition of them to his hearers. ^*Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the ktter killeth but the Spirit giveth life.''^ While therefore it is conceded that human reason or the mind of man is the percipient principle, in the appropriate exercise of which alone, we can have any knowledge of divine things, we are far from granting that it is possessed of original and indepen- dent powef to discover the things which the Spirit of God has revealed, or is placed in circumstances and found af- fected so as rightly to perceive and appreciate those things while uninfluenced by the same Spirit. The life-giving influence of the Spirit of God in the human soul, is essen- tial to right and clear perceptions of the truth, so that it is utterly extravagant and absurd to claim for the unrenewed mind of man the right to sit as umpire and judge of what can or cannot be, of what is or is not the revelation of God. The character of the facts, and the discordant state of the human mind seem alike to require an influence of the Spirit, in order to aright apprehension of them. This subject will again occur, when it must receive a more minute examination. It is only referred to at present with a view to urge the necessity, and importance, of laying aside every thing like the pride of human reason, and an overweening conceit of our own worth, and *'re- eeive with meekness the ingrafted word which is able to 1 1 Cor n. 14= 2 2 Cor. iii. 5, 6.- 32 INTERPIIETATION, &c. CHAP. V. save our souls.'^^ We must bring our minds to the con- templation of divine truth, unbiassed by any precon- ceived opinions, unaffected by any dislike of the character of God, or of the matter of his testimony. That testimony is indeed humiliating to us. It writes % did literally consist the Spirit of God; nor, that at that time, any miraculous or extraordinary power was bestowed on them; but simply, that by this symbolical act He in- tended, as God had done when He created man in the first instance, to announce to His followers, distinctly, the source of that new vivifying influence, which under the gospel dispensation was as certainly, and as efficiently to be exerted, as was the influence of the spirit of life when man became a living soul. We are aware, that the phrase breath of life is under- stood, by some commentators, to denote the different kinds of life which man possesses, animal, intellectual, and spi- ritual, and not to designate the Spirit of God. With them however we arc constrained to disagree. That it is a dis- tinctive appellation conferred on the Spirit, we think must be apparent, from the consideration, that however true it is that man is a compound being, possessed of difierent kinds of life, yet the inspired writer seems only to regard the life of Adam's animal nature, for he adds ^*man be- came a living soul,"' that is, according to the import of the original term, a living frame. The expression shew3 plainly, that regard was principally had to the animation of Adam's body, and if so, the phrase the breath or sjnrit of life becomes appellative, and designates the Spirit of God, who is the great author of our animal life, as well as of every other species of life, and is, on this account, some- times explicitly called the sjririt of life, or, literally ren- dered, the spirit of lives. 1 John, XX. 22. 2 Gen. ii. 7, NEPHESHhas various signification. In Lev. xi. 10; it evident- ly denotes a mere corporal existence—significat propria id quo animal vivit et velut primario instrumento agit, quod caique in suo genere agere conve- mt^Roh'^U. Th.es. j). 607. 104 THE SPIRIT 01' GoD, oHA?. Vi But we have still more satisfaclory proof of this. From the testimony of Job, of David, and of Moses, we have shewn, that the life of viands animal nature is produced by the Spirit of God. He is also distinctly recognized, and asserted to be the author of life in all its numerous varieties. On this subject, we think the scriptures afford proof sufficient to satisfy every reasonable inquirer. No one certainly can demand, or expect, that, inasmuch as they are not intended to furnish us with a system of zoology, tliey should enter into minute details, and assert of this and that particular mode of existence, that its life is origina- ted and supported by the Spirit of God. If we can discover that it is true in relation to several different classe.? of animated being, we may with certainty, infer it to bo true in relation to all. But when we explore the scriptures, we shall be surprised to find such a vast mass of information in natural history, that very interesting de- partment of human science, in a book by no means design- ed to serve the purpose of mere scientiiic dissertations. The natural history involved in the bible has given birth to numerous and valuable scientific works. What a mass of facts, and what glowing descriptions do we meet with in the book of Job. We shall not cite them, but refer the reader to that beautiful ode the 104th Psalm, which gives as rich a sketch, as it opens an extensive range in natural history. It com.mences with a view of the forma- tion of the heavens, and of the foundations of the earth, as ordered by that illustrious Being whose glory in impas- sioned strains it extols. It introduces to us the highest order of living creatures, the ministering angels of God. It un- veils the whole of that stupendous system of veins and arteries, if we may so call them, by which the waters cir- culate through the body of the earth, and preserve it from putrescence and decay. Aerial, terrestrial and marine ani- mals, with the whole kin^-dom of ve2;etable life, crowd in CHAl'. VI. Aii^ AUTHOR OF LIFE. 105 upon our view, with here and there a prominent or con- spicuous species. And the whole Psalm concludes with a distinct avowal of the Spirit of God as the great author of this teeming and endless variety of life. ^'Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, tliey are created, and thou rcnewest the face of the earth. ''^ No further, nor any more explicit proof can he desired. The seraph, glowing in the full ardor of Jehovah^s glory, is as absolutely dependent for his life, on the agency of the Spirit of God, as is man, formed of the dust of the ground. Nor does dependence cease here. He is the great opera- ^tive and efficient agent tliat quickens, sustains and promotes the life oi all — from man, the image of his maker, to the invisible animalcule. "The eyes of all wait on Him, and He giveth them their meat in due season. He openeth His hand and satisfieth the desire oi ever^y living thing.^^^ What a charm does this fact give in the christian's eye to the whole subject of natural history! With what a rich zest of spiritual enjoyment too may he pursue its study! In all that contributes to the beauty, and order of the inorganic kingdom, whether he looks into the air, the v/aters, or the earth, he may trace the footsteps of the blessed Spirit of God, the Comforter^ who dwells in his own heart. It was under impressions of this sort, the holy Psalmist, as he lay by his flocks in the open air, gazing on the vaulted heavens and the unnumbered and innumerous worlds that sparkled on his view, burst forth, in these expressions of amazement and delight, mingled with the deepest self-humiliation: *'When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers: the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?''^ It is indeed well calculated to excite the most powerful emotions. As we roam through the wide expanse of creation, and on fancy's rapid wings, 1 Tsalm, civ. 30. 2 Psalm, cxiv. 15, 16. 3 Psaim, viii. 3. 4. 14 106 THESPIBIT OF GOD, cHAP. VI. visit world after world, and systems of worlds are seen woven together, and all in harmonious motion, obeying the Creator's will, and think, as we are authorized, both from the word of the faithful God and the experience of our own souls — this lofty Being, whose glory fills immen- sity, dwells in the midst of us, has chosen Zion for his holy habitation, yea takes up his peculiar and special abode in our hearts, dwelling within us, walking with us, and filling us with life and joy. Oh, how are we lost in wonder and delight! As we sink into utter insignificance in our own estimation, we feel an holy impulse within, that lifts us up on high, and causes us to soar above the skies. How exquisitely blissful is it, to hear the voice of this mighty Maker of heaven and earth — of Him that thunders in the sky, and roars in the tempest, and spreads to the utmost verge of space — rebuking the elements, and marshalling His universe, in sweetest, sofest accents of love, as from the inmost and most retired recess of our spirits, accost and comfort us, *'Fear thou not, for / am with thee; be not dismayed, for /am thy God; /will strengthen thee ; yea, / will help thee; yea, / will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness,"^ Oh, there is a communion thus had with Him 'Hhat created the heavens and stretched them out,"' of which, the man, who views these things with merely a philosophic eye, can form no idea. The chris- tian may *'joy in the Holy Ghost" when he gambols o'er creation. And when we look into the minuter wonders of organized bodies, and scan the delicate organs, and admirable texture of vegetable beings, or the almost miraculous functions of animal life, and survey the mechanism of our own bodies, how "fearfully and wonderfully" we are made; and the im^ mortal energies of our minds — how lofty are their aspira- tions? who is not ready to exclaim, 1 Isaiah, xU. 10 2 Isaiah^ xlii. 5. *;HAP. Vio THE AUTHOR OF LIFE. 107 Helpless immortal.'' insect infininite! A worm! A God! — I tremble at myself. And in myself am lost! But every rising fear is hushed, and the heart is lulled to rest, as we reflect; all these are but exhibitions which the ever-living and operative Spirit makes of his wisdom, and power, and benevolence. If our minds are overwhelmed, and we feel lost, the heart rejoices to know, that we are lost in God. We can pity while we fully comprehend the feelings which led the more philosophic heathen^ to deify the heavens, and the earth, and regard all life, as the soul of the divinity, and bless and adore God, for that bright and steady light of his word, which guides us through all the mazes of nature directly to Himself. Every form of life does indeed introduce to us a present God. We trace the movements of that wonderous Being who in another than the poet's sense, Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees. Lives through all life, extends through all extent. Spreads imdivided, operates unspent; Breathes in our soul, informs our mortal part. As full, as perfect, in a hair as hearty As full, as perfect in vile man that mourns, As the rapt seraph that adores and burns. But it is in a much sublimer and more delightful aspect the christian beholds Him, than that in which He is con- templated in the cold and heart-chilling philosophy which proclaims All are but parts of one stupendous whole. Whose body nature is, and God the soul. However we may admire the production, we are not satisfied unless we know something of its cause. It is but 1 Estne Dei sedes nisi terra et pontus, et aer Et coelum, et virtus? Superos quid qucerimus ultra? Jupiter e'st quodcunque vides quocunque moveris. Lite. Phor. I 9v, 578 - 108 THE sripar of god, chap. vr. cheating the mind and heart to present the effect as absor- bed in, or as being part of the cause. Philosophy never satisfies the heart;^ but guided by the scriptures, we pass Irom every living thing directly to God the Holy Spirit, the great vivifying agent; and in the agency of One, infi- nite in wisdom, power and benevolence, we rest as a cause most ample, and satisfactory to account for all that we ob- serve. We apprehend His presence; but confound Him not with His productions. We discern an intelligent Spirit in all the living creation, breathing life into all as at the first. And when the thought rolls in upon our minds it is ''in Him we live and move and have our being" — this living and life-giving Spirit dwells in me, and sustains, supports, strengthens and sanctifies all my powers. How rich and ennobling is the delight! Let no one then say, that our ideas, of God, and of his government of grace, and of the method of salvation through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, His son, who died the just for the unjust, and the renewing and sanctifying influence of His Spirit, shut out from our view the beau- ties of creation, and render the heart insensible to their charms. Redemption is indeed a loftier theme, and the wonders of redeeming love do indeed surpass the whole grandeur of creation. But the introduction, as. is done in the plan of redemption, of an ever-present and operative agent in the person of God the Holy Spirit, to impart and sustain life in all its endless varieties, who is the very same that ministers to our highest and most ennobling life, enables us, throughout the whole extent of what are so sadly misnamed Nature's works, to hold communion with living intelligence, and that in most endeared friendship. 1 Tliis has been inadvertently confessed by the great apostle of modern infidelity, whose remark is as true in its full extent as in reference to the particular circumstances of distractioii that induced it. ^'^I n' en tira ftus dss ktmicfesj ct t>* en Te<:ut aucura spul^gement,'^ CHAP. VI. '1^'^^ AUTHOR OF LIFE. i09 Our God is not a vague abstraction. The study of nature with such views promotes a blessed fellowship with Him, and does not debauch the mind. With other views, it has often led to atheism. Do we ask why? The reason is, that scepticism and infidelity, which too often conceal them- selves in science, and proudly arrogate its name, will not apprehend an ever-present operative Deity. They attribute to general laivs, what can only be referred to His imme- diate agency, and thus they exclude from the view, and thrust from the thoughts, the infinite, every-where present God. Like thoughtless, inconsiderate children, they play about the threshhold, but enter not into the palace, to hold communion with the king. The blessed Spirit of God, who dwells wherever life is found, is not known, and the 2-nind wanders as through a desolate and dreary universe. Take God from nature, nothing- great is left; Man's mind is in a pit, and nothing sees; Man's heart is in a jakes and loves the mire. CHAPTER VIL THE NATURE OF LIFE. The difficulty in arriving- at a correct idea of Life — Our ignorance of the essence of matter — The reason of our belief in its reality — False use made of this mode of reasoning- — General classification of substances — Different opinions of the general nature of life — Not the play of chemi- cal affinities — Nor the mere properties of sensibility and contractility^ Definition of Life — Difference between mineral and vital org'anization — Between mere motion and vital action — Life does not consist in the mu- tual action of bodies on each other — The meaning of organization — Life not organization — Not ^property — Not a state — Not 2i principle — Gen. ix. 4 — Lev. xvii. 11 — But a series of relative actions appropriate to the de- sign of the Creator in the individual being. If life, as has been shewn in the former chapter, is the result of the Spirit's agency, we may expect some difficul- ty in attempting to arrive at a correct idea of it; for there is mystery in all His operations. Some things pertaining to it, will, doubtless, remain forever inaccessible to human research; but we may, nevertheless, approximate it in some general idea of its nature. This is perhaps all we should attempt. But in order to this, it will be necessary for us to institute a careful examination into the whole sub- ject of Life. Like all other terms used in spiritual mat- ters, it is oris^inally taken from material objects, and by virtue of some assumed analogy between them, becomes a fit representative of what we cannot subject to the scrutiny of our senses. And, doubtless, much of the confusion and perplexity in which this subject is involved, arise from a disposition to transfer our philosophy in matters of sense, and the sciences dependent on material things, to those of morals and the mind. Wp nrp is^norant of tho essence of nuaffer in all its com- CHAP. VII. ™E NATURE OF LIFE. m binations. It is only by inference that we can prove its real existence: for, those things, which strike our senses, and which contribute, so essentially, to our idea of any body, such as shape, color, texture, weight, solidity, and the like, are mere properties, not the body itself. We feel, that we may legitimately infer the existence of some substratum, in which these, or other properties are com- bined. To this we give the name of matter, and talk of it with the utmost confidence, as a thing really existent; for we cannot easily persuade ourselves, that the great Creator would have communicated to us such organs of sense — been at sych pains to prepare their complicated ma- chinery, and adapt them to the mere purpose of reporting falsehood. The common-sense of mankind will not tole- rate a doubt on this subject. He that denies the existence of matter, is thought to be bordering on derangement. Yet some have doubted, and, with no little acuteness of reasoning, denied that there is a material world. The apostle says, '^hy faith we under- stand (but not by reason) the worlds \vQ\:ef rained by the word of God; so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."^ With such proof of the reality of matter, we can rest satisfied and allow our- selves to think and speak of it, though our knowledge of it extends no further than to its properties. This mode of reasoning has been applied to the subject of life, and it lias been thought perfectly conclusive as to the reality of its essence. That there is a subtle material principle which is the cause of those phenomena to which we give the name of life, has been inferred from the existence of w^iat have been called vital properties. Whether this is a correct mode of speaking, in reference to the vital pheno- mena, will appear in the course of this chapter. All material substances may be divided into two general 1 Heb. xi. 3, 112 'HIE NATURE OF LIFE. CHAP. Vlio^ classes. They are eitlier animate or inanimate — living or dead. The latter exhibit certain physical properties, and are subject to certain physical laws: which things are true of the former also, to a certain extent. Living bodies^ however, exhibit what are sometimes called properties too, but of a different kind, and which often seem to be in con- trast with those of dead matter. These supposed proper- ties are sometimes termed lifp, at others the vital force,, or the vital properties and powers. By some it has been de- scribed as an effect, produced by the action of certain im- pelling causes, and to be nothing but ^forced stale of ex- istence— the result of organization. By others it has been called a cause, itself controuling organization. The reader will at once perceive hov^r perplexed and intricate is the theme of this chapter. It is requisite, however, that we attempt to unravel it. We perceive a scries of phenomena having a constant relation to each other, and succeeding each other in a con- slant and uniform order: as, for example, in the animal frame, we discover the various processes of respiration, circulation, nutrition, secretion, digestion, growth, &c. We give the name of life to these phenor?2ena, and freely admit that there is an agency of the Spirit of God, the great author of life, in their production, which we never can comprehend. It "is in God we live and move and have our being.'' Some, indeed, have endeavored to soh^e the phenomena of life, and tlie theory of elective affinities among the molecules or elementary parts of living bodies, has been supposed satisfactory. But the fact is, that the vital phe- nomena, and the chemical affinities, are direct antagonists. We perceive the fair and beauteous form of lovely woman. What graceful movements! What generous warmth! What delicate organization! What exquisite sensibilities! All combine to constitute a most fjscinating ^ovm- The cheeks CHAP. VII. '^"^ NATURE OF LIFE. 113 are crimsoned with a ruby blush. The eyes are brilliant with the fires of genius, or sparkle with the animation of delio-ht, or dazzle with the lustre of thought, or shed the mild rays of love. The countenance beams with intelli- gence, or glows with passion, and the soft tones of sympa- thizing tenderness drop in mellifluous accents from the rosy lips; — can these be the mere play of chemical affinities? They spring from some vastly superior cause. For let but death intervene; — in an instant sense and motion cease. A clammy coldness takes the place of generous warmth — beauty gives way to hideousuess — the eyes lose all their lustre, and, with a frightful glare, shrink into their sockets^the mouth stands horribly gaping, and emits a foetid odor — a livid hue creeps upon the crimson cheeks, and ruby lips — the flesh becomes blue, then green, then black, and the once elegant and voluptuous form evaporates in infectious exhalations, or dissolves into a putrid sanies, and leaves but a handful of earth and dust. It is death which awakens the elective affinities, and they rapidly ac- complish the disorganization, dismemberment, and dissipa- tion of the whole frame. <^The human body," says a medical writer,^ ^'maintains a successful warfare with, and effectually resists the inces- sant and combined attack of all the forces of the elements, often, for more than an hundred years, and then, when the divine principle does at length retire and yield up its for- tress, it is in consequence of subjection to a cause widely different from that of being expelled by the triumphant power of its assailants. But when the soul has once fled, then, indeed, the chemical affinities come into play, and the rapidity of their devastation is terrible. In a few days all traces of organization are destroyed, and in a few years two or three gaseous substances distributed through the at- 1 Dr. \yar.r!5 Introductot-v Lect.u-e. 15 114 THE NATURE OF LIFE. CHAP. VII. mosphere, some saline solutions as widely diffused among the waters of the earth, and a few particles of earthy mat» ter, are all that remain of the proud fabric of man," The theory of sensibility and contractility, as constitut- ing vital 7J?'o/?e?'//e,s, though apparently solving many more of the phenomena of life, and much more satisfactorily than that of the chemical affinities, will be found also to fail in some important respects. What are called vital properties may be distinguished into voluntary and involuntary. The involuntary may be admitted as properties of matter, but what are the voluntary? What is the will that creates the difference? It is surely something different from the pro- perties themselves: so that more is necessary to the solu- tion of the phenomena of life, than merely to predicate sensibility and contractility of particular modifications oT matter, and to make life consist in them. It is unnecessary to notice all the different theories of life. Each one has had its admirers and its day, but has given place in due season to some more imposing and successful rival; so that, at this hour, notwithstanding all the discoveries that have been made with regard to the more hidden operations of nature, the subject of life re- mains exceedingly perplexed. And we venture to assert it will never be entirely extricated from this perplexity. In general, theories on the subject have been partial, com- prehending but a small portion of the innumerable varie- ties of life. In treating of such a general subject, it will not do to refer its origin to particular causes which apply only to one, or at most, to few species. We have already traced the origination of life to God the Holy Spirit, the common fountain of all animated be- ing— the unit of this interminable series. Not presuming to search the mind of the Spirit, nor to know how He exerts His energies, we are content to remain ignorant of life in CHAP. VII. THE NATURE OF LIFE. H5 SO far as it is connected with His agency, and believe that its precise nature is beyond the reach of human scrutiny and cannot be subjected to the investigation of human fa- culties. Yet is it of importance, as far as it is practicable, to have precise ideas on the subject, and not be liable to the charge of utter and absolute ignorance. Life is a term which is in every one's mouth, and a thing, of which every one, at first, is disposed to think he has sufficient knowledge: but when asked to define it, who does not find himself greatly at a loss? Some definitions are too limited — others too general. Some describe only particular modifications of it — others generalize too much. It is not presumed that, on a subject where so much time and thought have been expended, we should have any thing new to communicate, or be more successful in attempting to give a definition of life. We feel that the utmost we can do is merely to approximate the truth. We hope none will accuse us of vanity, if we venture to define it, and say that II. LIFE CONSISTS IN THE REGULAR SERIES OP RELA- TIVE APPROPRIATE CHARACTERISTIC ACTIONS IN AN INDI- VIDUAL BEING. INIotion of some sort is essential to our i dea of life. Mere organization — understanding by this term the regular ar- rangement of the particles composing any body, so as to give it its specific character — does not imply life. The whole mineral kingdom is subject to certain determinate rules, according to whichj the particles in any mineral sub- stance are arranged ^xi^ associated — in some assuming the form of cubes, in others of rhomboids, in others that of a six'sided prism terminated by twelve scalene triangles, and in others of a different dodecahedron with pentagonaj faces. None, nor all of the innumerable phenomena of crys- •tallij^ation, presuppose or suggest the idea of life. The 116 'fHE NATURE OF LIFE. cHAP. Vil. particles that compose minerals are at rest, maintaining, except when subjected to external violence their relative positions. Whatever motion among them is'excited by solvents or in the crystallizing process, is referred to the play of chemical affinities, without the idea of vivification; so that all motion does net imply life. Neither does that motion which is simply appropriate to a body convey this idea. The whole planetary S3'stem is kept in perpetual motion, exhibiting to the eye of the astronomer the amazing phenomena of gravitation, but life is not predi- cableofMe^e motions. Even what may be termed the actions of bodies, do not always imply the existence of life. One object acts upon another, and produces certain motions, and this action, with its corresponding motions, is as various as the differ- ent species of attraction whose phenomena arrest the eye of the natural philosopher. The asceiit of water by capil- lary attraction, the motions of the magnetic needle, the electrical excitement. &c.,do not not convey the idea of life. - The motions of which we predicate life, are confined to bodies of peculiar structure, those only which, strictly speaking, possess organization. By organization here we understand the combination and union of solid and fluid matter in a state of perpetual action, tending to the pre- serving of an individual being, and its reproduction. In the primary and more popular sense of the term organiza- tion, it is synonymous nearly with that of arrangement, conveying the idea of some juxta-position of the parts of a body as visible to the eye, and depending simply upon the mechanical structure of its particles. In another and higher sense, it denotes a system composed of parts, possessing appropriate powers and functions essential, or at least con- ducive to the existence and preservation of the whole. These different parts, are called organs, each having its CHAP. VII. '^^^^ NATURE OF LIFE. 117 specific mode of action, but all combining to resist external violence, and promote the well-being, and perpetuate the existence, of the individual being or system uniting them. It is of these series of varied and relative actions that we predicate life. Whether organic action, or tlie actions ' appropriate in an organized being, be life itself, or the result of life, is a question that has agitated and divided physiological in- quirers. It is of some moment, in order to understand and ascertain the correctness of our definition of life, that we should determine whether it is the result of organization, or a principle having a primary and controling influence on organization itself, or the totality of that series of ac- tions or motions observable in an organized bod}^ This differs from the inquiry whether life is dependent on or connected with organization. We can conceive of organi- zation and life being so connected, that the destruction of the one must secure that of the other, and the one cannot exist without the other, and yet of their being entirely dis- tinct. But while we distinguish carefully between them, we cannot be legitijnately accused with maintaining that life is itself an essence involved in organization. If life be not identical with organization, it must be either ^j)^'operty^ cr a. stfftc, or 2i principle, or a series of actions and motions. It is not a property of organization, for it will be admitted that death eventuates where organiza- tion is yet perfect. Perhaps it is preferred, to represent life under the idea of a state, and to describe it as that state of an organized body, in which there is eventuating a process of characteristic actions. We must confess that we are less inclined to object against this view of its nature than the former ; but still we deem it objectionable, because however it might do in common parlance, it is not phi- losophically correct to call it a state, when it is more properly that which characterizes (he stnfp or condition. 118 'I'HE NATURE OF LIFE. CHAP. VII. If it be said tiiat it is di principle, we must inquire what is meant by the term in this connection. We use the ex^ pression, commonly, to denote something which has a determining or regulating influence on action. This is its meaning in morals, and thus we speak of faith, hope, and love as principles of human action, which, though a vague phrase is well enough understood to denote the determining or regulating influence on human conduct exerted by abelief of testimony, an expectation of good, or an approbation of excellence — all of them feelings, which incite the voluntary being to action. We should not therefore make any very serious objections to the use of the phrase '^a principle of life,^' in this general moral sense. But when we speak of animal life, and use the term principle in relation to it, as designating something which has a determining or regulating influence on the actions of the animal, or is their original, if we mean any thing very precisely and do not speak altogether in a vague sense, we must mean to desig- nate some essence^ some 7^eal substance which has power to originate action, or is their appropriate cause. For the existence of such a substance or essence some have zealously contended, while others have as zealously denied it. The arguments in support of the Idea, that life is an es- sence or substance do not appear conclusive. They are generall}^ drawn from our ignorance, or from analogy, or from scriptural expressions. An example of each may suf- fice. Dr. Copland remarks, ''we are not contending for the existence of a principle which is material according to the received notions repecting matter. ^^ This is un- questionably taking refuge in ignorance. The argument from analogy is little better. '-If we are not furnished with powers adequate to the detection of life in its essential form, does it therefore follow there is no such thing? It would be just as correct for the blind man f.o .deny the existence and materiality of light, because he £11 AP. ?1I. 'A'^^^ NATURE OF LIFE. 119 had no delicately formed organ of vision by which to dis- eern it, as it is to conclude that life is not an essence, be- cause we have no sense so delicately formed as to discern this more sublimated form of matter." Yet does not this prove that there is such an essence or substance as is con- tended for by some who denominate life &. principle. Nor does the language of scripture when fairly interpre- ted, afford more in support of it. It is true that God prohibited the use of blood for food^ assigning as a reason that "in the blood is the life thereof," which circumstance has been supposed conclusive as it regards the fact of life's being an essence. We can understand the declaration in these words, and the design of God in making it, without resorting to the supposition, that life is a principle per se, or essence. The words of God are, "But flesh with the life thereof, [which is] the blood thereof shall ye not eat."i The words, "ivhich is,'' in brackets, are supplied by the translators, and the construction of the original would seem to exhibit the injunction as prohibiting men from cruelty, in taking a piece of flesh from a living animal for food. But if this interpretation be rejected,, neither the declaration in this verse, nor in the parallel one in Leviti- cus, will sanction the idea that the blood involves any essence which is life per se. Indeed the latter passage favors the idea for which we contend. "The life of flesh is in its blood,"^ is an assertion equivalent with this, that the blood of an animal is the basis and nourishment or sup- port of its life, which is physiologically true. The authori- ty and name of Dr. Hunter, and his theory on the subject of the blood having life in itself, do not shake our confi- dence in the plain common-sense interpretation of the words of scripture. We subjoin a note which we must take the liberty of saying is a fair specimen of that sort of obscurity which invariably attaches to their specuhtion?^ 1 Gen. ix. 4. 2 Lev. svii. U- 120 A'HE NxVTURE OF LIFE. CHAP. VII, who make life to consist in an essence or principle anterior to and irrespective of those actions and motions appropriate to the being in which they are found. ^ When Paul speaks of man as compounded of ^'bod)', soul (or life) and spirit/^^ we can very well understand his ex- pressions without supposing that he meant to teach us, that life is an essence, and exists in man distinct from those ac- tions and motions which are appropriate to the great de- sign of God in his construction. Universally, mankind instinctively conceive the idea of death, and that imme- diately when absolute quiescence takes place in any organi- eal existence. Syncope, and hybernation, and some other affections of animal existence, may cause an approximation to a state of absolute quiescence, and that so near as to ren- der it difficult, by mere inspection, to ascertain whether all the processes or motions in which consists the life of the animal have absolutely ceased or not, but physiological researches have proved that they do not. Paul, whatever may be said about his Grecian philosophy, appropriately distinguishes between the '^body,^^ or the bone and mem- brane which form as it were the vegetable basis of our being, the (^^souV^ ) or life, all that relates to spontaneous motion or sensation, which is properly our animal exist- ence, and the ^^spirif,^^ the deathless soul, which is the intelligent percipient nature superadded. There is nothing 1 "When all the circumstances attending" this fluid," says Dr. Hunter, *«are fidly considered, the idea that it has life within itself may not appear so difficult to comprehend; and, indeed, when once considered, I do not see how it is possible we should think it to be otherwise,- when we consider, that every part is formed from the blood, that we grow out of it, and if it has not life previous to this operation, it must then acquire it in the act of forming-; for we all give o'.ir assent to the existence of life in the parts when once formed. Our ideas of life have been so much connected with org-anic bodies, and principally those endowed with visible action, that it requires a new bent to the mind, to make it conceive that these circumstances are not inseparable. — Hunter on the Bloody pari 1. c. 6., p. 58- 2 i Thes. '% 23. CHAP. VII. "^'^^ NATURE OF LIFE. 121 in the phraseology of scripture to sanction the idea, that life is a principle of itself, if the phrase is to be literally understood, and is not metaphorically used. God is said to have life in Himself, yet we cannot think there is in Him a vital principle distinguishable from His own holy volitions and actions, nor can we admit it, in reference to the human soul, and we see no reason why we must believe it to be a substance or essence in the human body distin- guishable from the actions that are appropriate in it. The Stahlian doctrine, which makes the rational soul the vital principle in the human body, renders the language of scrip- ture unmeaning and tautological, as well as introduces con* fusion into the whole subject of vitality. We are therefore compelled to adopt the last supposition which indeed is most accordant with the common-sense, and the ordinary parlance, of men, that life consists in a se- ries of actions and motions, appropriate to the design of the Creator in the formation of the individual being in which they are found. It is unnecessary for us to apply the definition, in any minute details, in order to ascertain its truth. But we would simply inquire, when we say a tree has died, in what consisted its death? Not in the destruction of the essential substance of the tree, nor in the absence of all motion whatever in it, for there takes place the process of putrefaction or decay; but simpl}^, that there is the cessation of the circulating and assimilating processes necessary for the sustenance and growth of the tree. Does not its life then consist in that series of relative actions and motions appropriate to the design of the Creator in making it? In what, we would inquire, consists animal death? It is not in the destruction of the essence of the animal frame, nor in the cessation of all action and motion, for the process of decomposition is carried on in it. But the sensations and spontaneous motions appropriate to the d^- 16 122 '^'HE NATURE OF UFE, CHAP. VII. sign of the Creator in the formation ot the animal, have ceased. And hence our idea of its life is easily inferred. As to the life of the intellectual man — the life of the thinking and percipient spirit, the reader will have discov- ered that we understand it to consist in those actions ap- propriate to the design of the Creator in its original consti- tution. We reserve for another place the illustration and confirmation of this view of its nature. CHAPTER VUI. THE CHARACTER OF THE SPIRIT'S AGENCY. •Whether the Spirit's agency in the production of life is immediate and con= tinuous, or consists in the establishment of certain laws — Gen. ii. 1, 2: Psalm cii. 21.— The creating and preserving agency of God not identi- cal— Quotation from Boston— False assumption— Human language inca- ;pabie of representing the precise character of the divine agency- Examples in illustration taken from the laws of natiu-e- Re-production attributable to the Spirit's agency rather them to fixed laws— the infidel objection against particular providence — Common sense of more value m understanding this subject than atheistical philosophy— The false as- sumption of the objection — Testimonies from scripture — Uses to be made of the great truth confirmed in this chapter— To beware of impertinently prying into the mysteries of the Spirit's agency — To learn how rich a zest it gives to the providence of God — How it illustrates the fact of elec- tion— And reminds us of the uncertainty of hfe, &c. Perhaps it will be admitted, by some of our readers, that life flows from the Holy Spirit's agency, while it i^ affirmed that His agency is not immediate; but only ex- erted in the establishment of certain laws according to which it is preserved and propagated. This starts a ques- tion which has been ably handled by metaphysical writers. Whether conservation be a continual creation, was the form in which the question was once stated, it being contended, on the one hand, that the same agency of God which originally produced the material universe is necessary every momerit for its preservation, so that if for one in- stant it should be withheld, the whole creation must relapse i'nto its primitive non-entitv; — while, on the other haodc 124 THE CHARACTER OF CHAP. VIII. this was denied, by those who seemed to think that God^ when he originally created matter, endowed it with cer- tain properties or powers which enabled it to preserve it- self. We can see no reason for supposing that the one or the other must necessarily be the fact. The sacred scriptures certainly represent God as having ceased at the close of the sixth day to exert his creative power. *'Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made. • "^ And the Psalmist says, '^ Of old hast thou laid the foundations of the earth. "^ The great reason or recommendation of the observance of the Sabbath, is represented to consist in the divine exam- ple in the work of creation — God operating six days and then ceasing to operate, or resting, on the seventli. We certainly, from these facts, must conclude that the agency of God in creating, during those six days, was different from that which he exerted on the seventh. Yet, it is most true that God has an agency, in pj^eserving and sup- porting all things which He has made. It does not how- ever follow that the agency is of the same character. It is the agency of the same Being, we admit, but differently exerted ; for we do not concede, that the agency of God can only be exerted in positive creative acts, which we must believe if we identify creation and conservation. In one of the posthumous works of that excellent dir vine, Mr. Thos. Boston, he has undertaken to shew that these things are the same, and by the following mode of reasoning: ^' There is no necessary connection betwixt the creature's moments of duration: Ergo, ^o.. It follows not because I am this moment, therefore I shall be the next, for so I should be an eternal necessary Being, which is proper to God." But although we admit his first position it does not follow that every successive act of God in sus^ 1. Gen ii. 1,2. ?. Psfxlms en. 26. €HAP. VIII, 1^"^ SPIllIT'S AGENCY. U5 taining my being is a creative act. The following is a fair sample of metaphysical sophistry: ^'Nothing can give what it has not, we have not our being next moment: Ergo, &G. Exception our being is still the same in all moments. Jinswer. No otherwise than the water of Et^ trick is the same it was this morning. Those things which may be separated are not the same; but my being in the moment A, may be separated from my being in the moment C, being annihilated in B, and created again in C. Now there is the same reason of all. My being this moment is necessary; for quicquid est quando est, necessario est; my being next moment is not necessary, for I may be an- nihilated: ergo, they are not the same." The whole force of their reasoning who maintain that creation and preservation are the same specific acts of God, is derived from this assumption, that every positive act of God is the same. We cheerfully admit that the up- holding all things by the word of the divine power, is a series of positive acts on the part of God ; but does it therefore follow there is a new creation springing into being every successive moment? By no means. For can- not God diversify his acts and agency ? Creation is the result of one volition on the part of God, that volition being accompanied with an exercise of his power. Pre- servation, at any moment, is the result of another volition, it being accompanied with another and correspondent ef- fort of the divine power. If it seem inconceivable to us, and beneath the dignity of the divine Being, to suppose that he would be thus incessantly exercising His energies, we must remember, that human language cannot express accurately the fact in this case. We can have no idea of the mode of the divine existence, which is not hy suc- cession, but AN ETERNAL NOw: uor of the mode of the divine operation, which is, and must be, in some other way than according to the impulses of confimied distinct 126 THE CHARACTER OF cHAP.VIIl. momentary volitions. What we therefore contend for, is, that creating and sustaining agency on the part of God, are different — the former being indeed instantaneous, but the latter continuous, and both exerted in some mysterious way, adapted to His own mysterious nature. In thus af- firming we are not to be understood as making mere gratui- tous assertions. For what, we ask, are the laws of nature as they are ordinarily termed ? We talk, of gravitation, of various species of attraction, and of all the physical laws of nature, as of certain prop- erties or powers inherent in different modifications of matter themselves. But who does not feel, that this is not satisfactory ? When we say that the load-stone attracts iron, what do we mean? Do we mean that one piece of inert matter operates spontaneously on another? Or, that any material thing can have an influence, and effective operation, beyond itself — that some substance at the mag- netic pole operates on the needle, which oscillates in my theodolite, hundreds and thousands of miles removed from 3t — that it can be in two different places at the same time t Certainly not. Some indeed may attempt to explain the influence of one material object on another, and va- rious have been the theories to account for the magnetic, electric, and galvanic, &c. energies which it is altogether unnecessary to cite here; but, whether the laws of fluids tending to an equilibrium resolvable into gravitation, or any one of the meclianical powers, be made the means of solving the phenomena, we must pronounce them all un- satisfactor}^. For, suppose that all the different modes of action ob- servable among material substances be resolvable into grav- itation, still we wish to know what is gravitation? Why do all bodies tend towards the centre of the earth, and mutually towards each other, according to their respective densitips nnd volurn^'.'^ ? How does the sun. at 5uch ?n im- CHAP. VIIl. '1'*^^ SPIRIT'S AGENCY. I07 mense distance, operate on the earth to hold it in its orbit? Who, on mere physical principles, can answer these ques- tions satisfactorily ? To say that it is the p7'operfy of one body, thus to affect, and another thus to be affected, is raying just nothing. To say that God originally gave it this property, and that it still possesses it by virtue of his creative power, is saying no more. For the inquiry is how one piece of matter, destitute of spontaneity and in- tellio;ence. can operate without the sphere of its own ex- istence? We may labour and theorise forever, but shall never be able to solve satisfactorily the phenomena produced by the regular action of what are termed the laws of nature, if we exclude the agency of God — the prime mover, the first cause, the supreme intelligence, the only independent Being. It may do in the structure of a dramatic poem to observe the rule of the poet, Nee Deus intersit nisi, nodus Vindice judex — — but if we exclude the agency of God in the support of material things around us we cannot proceed one step, tiil we are lost in utter and inextricable perplexity. Although we may not be able to understand the precise mode of that agency we attribute to God, yet we feel, that an adequate cause is assigned, in ihQ fact of such agency: for all the effects we observe to be transpiring and the diversified modes of His agency, only serve to give us a more exalted idea of his power and resources. To say, that the continuity of that agency militates against the dignity of His charac- ter, is altogether a mistake, for with God there is no suc- cession. **One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day," so that, inasmuch as eternity with Him is an ever-present now, if v;e attribute to him at any one period of our existence, any particular agency, we need not fear^ that we &hall derogate from bis 128 THEOHAKACTER OF cHAP. VIII. dignity, if we believe that agency to be continuous through the whole, and by a like mode of reasoning, of all other things. These remarks may prepare the v/ay for a reply to the inquiry from which we have digressed, whether the Spirit's agency, in the production of life, consists merely in an ef- fort of creative power at the commencement, introducing all the different forms of life, which, by laivs then or- dained, should have power to propagate themselves in all varieties; or whether, there is still and continuously, an agency of the Spirit for the preservation and support of life. The laws of re production are indeed established, and continual developemer.ts of life are conducted according to them, and have been from the very first period of crea- tion. The fishes, the reptiles, the feathered tribe, the ani- mals, and man, were all created in the full vigour and perfection of tlieir being, not in an embryo state ; and the trees and herb:;, &:c. were all planted in the ground, after they had been created, with the seed already formed, the germ of future growths distinctly organized and ready ta commence the evolutions of life in a new individual.^ But it does by no means follow from these admissions, that the Spirit's agency ceased on the establishment of the laws of re-production. The whole developing process is under His immediate care. For, as what are called the laws of nature, are but modes of the divine agen- cy— different indeed from the creative energy, but as real ; so the laws of re-production are but modes of the Spirit's agency — different indeed from that originally exerted in the formation of the first living creatures, but not the less real. In the one instance, the agency is direct, and the effect produced without the interven- tion of means — in the other through the instrumentality 1. Gen. ij. 5- CHAP. VIII. THE SPIRIT'S AGENCY. 129 of what are termed second causes. These causes derive all their efficiency from the divine agency. III. The developing process, however pursued, IN THE PRODUCTION OP NEW LIVING BEINGS, OWES ALL ITS EFFICACY TO THE spirit's AGENCY. He presides over this immense and interesting; dej)artment of the Creator's works. *'He giveth to all life and breath and all things." That there is some divine care extended to the works of the Creator's hands, must be admitted by all who ac- knovvledge the truth of the sacred scriptures. Yet are there not a few, who profess to believe, that the provi- dence of God must be administered onli/ b^ general laws; for to suppose that his care extended to the minute crea- tures, and every individual form of life, and living substance, they think would derogate from his dignity. They can con- ceive of God's providence extending tu systems, or of its being concerned in great signal revolutions in the affairs of men, but as to any thing further they are incredulous, " The first Alm'glity cause ** Acts not by partial but by general laws." But these are vain and ignorant objections. They are founded alike in ignorance of God and of his work. The infidel admits the providence of God in general, that is, it may extend to systems, and by general laws. But what are systems? What too is here meant by general and 2?i- dividual? Is there any being which is not a system with respect to some others? Man unites in himself several. One system of living beings is involved in another. The whole creation teems with life, and where to begin, or where to end, in our researches, we know not. In fact there is no such thing as absolute magnitude save in God. All greatness, of which we have knowledge, is relative. We estimate the magnitude of one object by comparing it with another. And shall we adopt a standard of our own, and extend or restrict the agency of God according to out 17 ISO THE CHARACTER O? CHAP, vm. decisions as to what is great or small? There is a world in the worm on which we tread, and yet our earth, thfi sun and planetary worlds^ are but a point compared with Orb above orb ascending without end ! Circle in circle without end enclosed ! The eye of the astronomer peers through immeasurable and uncomprehended space, and losing sight of earth, and its associate worlds, he exclaims in utter overwhelming amazement, What extent! What swarms Of worlds, that laugh at earth ! Immensely greats Immensely distant from each other's spheres, What then the wond'rous space through which they roll '' At once it quite ingulphs all human thought: *Tis comprehension's absolute defeat. If then the agency of God extends to systems only^ where shall it begin ? And where shall it end ? But how 5hall the whole system be preserved, if the different parts are neglected? The truth is the objection is altogether a rash one, and if it be carried out, and the principle be fully admitted, that individual beings are too low for God to notice, we must land in Atheism. For if it be beneath Him to preserve it is equally beneath Him to create. Let the objector who perhaps is not prepared to run with his objection to this extent, but who scoffs at the idea of God's care over the individual parts of his creation, tell us why He made a flea or even a philosopher. The whole force of the objection lies in this absurd assumption, that small things have a power to preserve themselves, and need no particular care and agency of God, but that great things have not. It is rather singular that human pride should have be- trayed itself so completely! The real secret, however, of all this opposition to God's intimate concern with the things of this world, is not, that these men have in reality CHAP. VIII, THE SPiniT^S AGENCY. 131 any greater reverence for the Divine Being, nor that they are more jealous of his honour than others, nor that they do design to exalt his character and excellence. Far from it; but because they do not ^* like to retain God in their know- ledge. "^ It is rather an unwelcome and painful thought that He is ever and every where present, ''beholding both the evil and the good." Therefore they endeavour to impose on their own consciences, and persuade themselves, with the old Epicureans, that He has withdrawn from the earth, and left, v/ith all his creatures, what is called a plastic nature, to regulate and preserve them. Thus, for ease of mind they take refuge in practical Atheism, and dignify it with the name of philosophy. ''The fool hath said in his heart there is no God."^ " How doth God know, and is there knowledge with the Most High."^ The Psalmist will be found right, for whatever system men have devised, let them call it philosophy, or science, or rationalism, or what they choose, if they exclude the immediate cognizance, and care of God, from the affairs of this world, and deny any concurring co-operative agency on His part, giving efficiency to second causes, it will be found on a candid and careful examination to be mere folly. Common sense will discover absurdity marked and glaring, where the jaundiced eye of the Atheis- tical philosopher cannot detect it. The idea does not seem to have entered the mind of these infidel philosophers, that there can be any particular provi- dence, on the part of God, without a miracle or departing from the general laws of nature. Shall burning ^tna, if a sage requires. Forget to thunder, and recall her fires' On air or sea new motions be imprest. Oh blameless Bethel! to relieve thy breast.* When the torn mountain trembles from on high, Shall gravitation cease if you go by ? 1, Bom. i. 28. 2. Psalm xiv. 1. 3. Jlgalm kxiii- U- 132 THE CRARACTER OF cHAP. VIXI, Thus ignorantly asks the unbeliever! But let us ask — - cannot God, previously, direct that the sage shall not re- quire,norbeendangered by Etna's fires? Shall not his steps be so directed, as not to pass by the trembling mountain? The objection seems to take it for granted, that a particular providence is a providence in emergencies which may require the control or suspension of some established law. But there are no emergencies with providence. ^'He work-? eth all things after the counsel of His own will."^ *'The steps of a good man are all ordered of the Lord."^ *'The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous; but the way of the ungodly shall perish.'" What men may purpose in evil, God oft times means for good, as Joseph said to his brethren, "But as for you ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass as it is this day to save much people alive. ''^ The whole language of scripture teaches a steady and efficient care and agency, on the part of God, in the preser- vation of the world and its inhabitants. "Upholding all things by the word of His power. "^ ^'By Him all things consist."^ "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing, and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father."^ "In Him we live, move and have our being."* These may suffice, and they are so plain as to need no comment. The agency of God, and that continuous It/, in the support of ail things, is a fact most clearly asserted in the sacred scriptures. To God, in the person of the Spirit, we have already seen belongsthe whole department of life, and it is therefore to His continuous agency, that we are to attribute the preservation of the vital functions and energies of all that lives. It was to this Spirit^s agency that the Psalmist attributed his con= 1 Eph. i. 11. 2 PsaliTi, xxxvii. 23. 3 Psalm, i. 6 4 Gen. 1. 20. 5 Heb. i. 3. 6 Col. i. 17. 7 Mat. X. 29, 8 Acts, xvii. 28, OHAP. VIII. 'i'HE SPIRIT'S AGENCY. 133~ tinuous growth in his mother's womb, and all his subsequent existence. And it is directly in reference to this efficient ever operative agency that he speaks when he exclaims **Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the utmost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me."^ Let us then cease from useless inquiry. "Our life is hid with Christ in God.''^ We need never expect to unravel the mysteries of His agency in its production or perpetuation, nor to understand its nature. How he operates and excites the different parts and faculties of our being, and preserves them in appro- priate action it were folly for us to inquire. That His agency however is directly and continuously exerted in relation to those characteristic actions which constitute the phenomena of life, is a truth plainly taught in the word of God. There is nothing to sanction the idea, that his agency consists merely in ordaining the laws, which are to regulate those actions, or in creating an essence or princi- ple per se, which is the immediate cause of the phe- nomena. Here for a mom.ent let us pause. We feel as if we owed the reader some apology for the train of remarks into w^hich we have fallen. They are designed to prepare the way for an illustration of one of the most interesting facts developed in the plan of redemption, viz., the regenera- tion of a sinner. It is the important use we intend to make of them, that must be our apology for attempting to define life, and illustrate the definition of it. The highest authority has required us to *'prove all things,'' and al- though such proof be not the reason of our faith, yet for 1 Psalm, cxxxix. 7—10. 2 Col. iii, 3. 134 1'HE CHARACTER OF CHAP. VIII, full confirmation in the faith of an essential fact, and doc- trine, we have allowed ourselves to take an extensive range in our investigation, being thoroughly persuaded that there will be nothing tGund,in the kingdom of grace, at war with the great and fandamental principles established in the constitution of nature; and that they who reject, and treat with ribaldry this important scriptural tenet, as being mys- terious or absurd, acta most unphilosophical part, and shew that they know not of what they speak, nor whereof they a-ffirm. We cannot, however, dismiss the topic which has in this chapter engaged our attention without adverting to some salutary uses which in our daily walk may be made of it. If life, in all its varieties be the effect of the Spirit's agency; then let us beware how we attempt, with rash and impious hand, to draw aside the veil in which He has inwrapped the mystery of His operations. It has sometimes affected us with the greatest astonishment, to see how presumptuous and self-confident have been the philosophic inquirers who have looked into this subject. They have discovered a few phenomena of life merely, and ventured to proclaim, that they could unravel all its mysteries. If observation and experiment were conducted with a view to ascertain facts, it would be well; but it, when one or two circumstances of life are discovered, men proudly presume that they under- stand the whole subject, and lose sight of God the fountain of all life, they are greatly to be pitied. Thus to hear men talk of sensibility, and contractility, and irritability, and other phenomena of life, may both interest and profit; but we lose all confidence in the soundness of their judgment, when they undertake to tell us that these things are the mere effect of organization, and not dependent on the Spirit of God. They assign a cause totally inadequate to account for the effect. We object not to the minutest, and most curious scrMtiny, Let us push our investigations as far as possible; THE SPIKIT'S AGENCY. 135 but when we reach the boundaries of human knowledge, where the wonder-working God inwraps His operations in the mystery of His own being, let us, with adoring minds fall prostrate at His feet, and acknowledge his infinite wis- dom and almightiness. Let us also learn from the same general fact of the Spirit's intimate agency in the production and support of life, what a rich zest it gives to the providence of God. The poor heathen thought that Go4 had withdrawn from earth and left things here to direct themselves, or, not feeling satis- fied with a God afar off, they attributed in all the extrava^ gance of their polytheism, a deity to every thing that lives and moves. But thanks be to God for the revelations of His word— while we adore Him, as in heaven the One Infinite Supreme, we can recognize His presence on the earth, and trace the operations of His Spirit in. ourselves, and in every living thing around us. No dread fatality, no unmeaning chance, no absent God affect us with dismay. We see the directing and sustaining hand of God— of our covenant God, in all that we sufi'er or enjoy, and can dis- miss all fears, and painful anxieties and dread forebodings, from our minds, being assured that He knows our way, and directs our steps, so that with pacifying confidence we can appeal directly to Himself, "Thou wilt guide (us) with thy counsel, and afterward receive (us) to thy glory. "^ We may also notice how this general fact of the Spirit's agency in the production of life serves to illustrate a doctrine so very obnoxious to many, so little understood by those who oppose it, but so unequivocally taught in the sacred scrip- tures, viz., the doctrine of election. We use this term because it is the technicality employed in the scriptures, and generally by those who advocate or oppose it. But we are not tenacious of terms. They are things, or facts for which we contend. Miserable indeed are the contests 1 Psalm, Ixxiii. 24. I3G 'I'HK CHARACTEH OF chaP. Mil. which agitate the world, in which mere abstractions are the occasions of strife. Infidel men denounce all theologi- cal controversy as such, and many speculative and scientific religionists afford them too much pretext for it, by their **doting about questions and strifes of words whereof com- eth envy, strife, railings, evil surmises, perverse dispu- tings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth."^ Mere technicalities should be abandoned if they prove the occasion of controversy, but the truth cannot be by those that love it. He cannot certainly be accounted a skilful defender of the truth, who finds it necessary al- ways to make use of the technics of the schools. If it be fact as declared by the best authority, even that of God Himself, we must not only be bold in affirming it; but it concerns us to see to it, that it has its appropriate influ- ence on our character and conduct. Now by election in the sacred scriptures, is meant nothing else than the actual selection of a certain portion of men, from the great mass, by their being made the subjects of a new species of life, viz., spiritual life, and which is not possessed by the rest. It is the actual exercise and display of God^s sovereignty/ in making believers alive from the dead, or quickening them from the death of trespasses and sins, in which they in common with all mankind were lying. What is this but God's producing new life in individual cases? And will you say that He shall not exercise His sover- eignty in this matter? Then you must say that He shall not exercise it at all in the production of life in a7iy form, and that He is bound to confer the same kind of life ia every instance. But how does this accord with the fact? Is not the sovereignty of God remarkably displayed in His production of life? He has not made His creatures all angels nor all animalcules, all men nor all mules, all birds nor all beasts, all insects nor all fishes, nor all of the different 1 1 Tim. vi. 4, 5. CHAP. Vlli. THE SPIRIT^S AGENCY. 137 orders and classes of the same form, appearance or species, and will you say, that in the production of spiritual life, which is bringing the powers and capacities of rebellious man into appropriate action and enjoyment, He shall not consult His own good pleasure? As well might man upbraid, and find fault with God, that he was not made a seraph, or a toad that it was not made a philosopher, as that thou, oh, 5zn72er, who hast no right to any thing what- ever but the damnation of hell, shouldest upbraid God for having made thy friend or nei2;hbor a subject of spiritual life. When nothing as yet had been created, had not God a right to produce whatever creatures he saw fit? Had non- entity a claim, '^ -vd n.'iy use such expr^ssiona, to be made into anv parlinular creature? Much less has the sinner any claim on God for spiritual life. Tne whole mass of men with respect to this life are precisely in the condition of non-entity with respect to being. Their situation is even worse, if we may so speak, for if by wilful rebellion, they act altogether inappropriate to the design of the creator in their original formation. He certainly can be under no obligations so to influence and affect them, as to bring them to those actions and enjoyments which constitute the life of one in favor and fellowship with God. And thus'the apostle reasons on the subject, '*0 man who art thou that repllest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour and another unto dishonor?"^ No fact can be more distinctly stated than this of God's sovereign will determining the spiritual life or existence of the believer, "Of His own will begat He us."^ *'Who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. "^ This is election, and it is impossible for any 1 Rom. ix. 20, 21. 2 James, 1. 18. 3 John, i, 13. IS I3S THE CHARACTER OF cHAP, VUl. one to deny the fact that believers are indeed elected of God, who admit that they have received influences and are brought to actions and enjoyments differing essentially from unregenerate sinners. We have assumed for the present the fact, that believers are made the subjects of a new life, anticipating, for the sake of illustrating a great doctrine of our faith, what we hope to establish fully in the prosecution of this work, and what is cordially admitted and zealously advocated by some who nevertheless oppose and take alarm at the very thought of election. The communication of spiritual life to believers . is called election, because they as moral agents^ having been previously existent,, are thus selected from the great mass of mankind and made to differ from them. Predestination differs from election only as it is the purpose of God before- hand to do what in time he actually does, and whoso de- nies the one must deny the other, or else maintain that God has no purpose, and does not know what he intends to da, till the very moment he does it, which is utterly at wai' with the declarations of his word, which exhibits believers as ''being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own wilL"^ We cannot dismiss this interesting topic without noticing how forcibly it reminds us of the uncertainty of life and the necessity of being prepared for death. We have seen, that all life depends on the good pleasure of God the Holy Spirit, both as to its kind and continuance. Now it is impossible for us to search the mind of God, and therefore it must be impossible to determine the duration of our life. Whether it may be his will to stop the current this hour, or the next, or at a later period who can tell? Think not frail dust! to say the organs of life must first be deranged or decayed. If this be necessary, it can be done instanta- 1 Eph, i. IL CHAP. VIII. ™^ ^P™'^'^ AGENCY. 139 neously. It has often been. But this is not necessary. Life may cease and yet the organs remain entire. The wheels of a mill will cease their revolutions the moment you confine the water, their moving power, to its head. So the moment the Spirit withholds His agency our life shall cease. It will inevitably, although the organs may remain entire. Boast not of health and vigour-your life depends on God, and what He may choose to do this day or to-morrow you know not. How utterly foolish there- fore to neglect the interest of the immortal being, and at any moment be unprepared for death! Can any such be found? Ah me, their number is almost beyond the power of computation. I see an immense crowd of triflers whose eyes are fast closed, and yet are dancing on the brink of an awful precipice. One and another are dropping fast from their midst, while none perceive that their numbers are diminishing. The warning voice is never heard, the shrieks of falling companions die upon their ears, while all "drive headlong towards the precipice of death." Oh, for a voice like thunder to burst around them with terrific peals! Oh, for an arm almighty to snatch them from the brink of ruin! Reader, art thou a stranger to Christ and unprepared to die? Thy breath is in thy nostrils, and thou knowest not what a day or an hour may bring forth. Already dost thou reel upon'the mountains of vanity, but mercy prevents thy fall. Why trifle? Why an hour's delay, when the next moment eternity may close around thee and envelope thee forever in the horrors of despair. Fly to the Lord of Glory, who gives the spirit of life, and resolve to live forever. May that good Spirit save thy soul from death, and guide thee from the brink of ruin to the realms of dayt CHAPTER IX. THE IMMATERIALITY OF THE HUMAI^ SOUI^. The right understanding of a smner's regeneration requires a correct know- ledge of m.ii'3 original nature — Scriptural account of the creation of man — Gen. i. 26, 27: ii. 7 — The image of God consisted not merely in tlie spiritual nature of man, nor in his lordship over the creatures, nor in his moral qualities peculiarly and exclusively, nor in any designed re- presentation of the form and appearance, but in the three-fold character of life united in one moral being — Inquiry as to what constitutes the life of the rational soul of man — The immateriality of the soul does not pi'e- vent us from all knowledge of it — All our knowledge of God analogical — 2 Gor. xii. 4 — The properties of the human soul not those of matter — Thought is not a qxiality of simple matter— Nor the result of chemical action — Nor motion — Nor oi-ganic action — Nor a secretion of the brain — Nor a superadded quality of especial organization — Dr. Pi'iestly, Dr. Hush, Mr Jefferson's false mode of reasoning — Priestley's argument based on vague ideas of the properties of matter — Di . Cooper — Inconsistency of the advocates of materialism— Thought and vibration distinct— Perception and thought, acts, not qualities— Spec-men of sophistry-»No alleged inca- pacity of spirit to act on matter a vahd objection against its existence — Two monstrous absurdities — Simple method of refuting the errors of the materialist — The naturalist boimd to account for the imity of human con- sciousness— Mfere mechanism totally inadequate to account for the phe- nomena of thought — Objections met. Having given a general definition of life, and shewn that the Spirit of God is its immediate author and sustainer^ it becomes necessary, IV. Before we can consistently and satisfacto- BILY treat of the REGENERATION OF THE SINNER, TO INQUIRE INTO THE PRIMITIVE FEATURES OF MAn's SPIRI- TUAL NATURE-. We shall in vain attempt to examine a TUE I MM AT ERIAl.lT Y, &^c. 141 CHAP. IX. life Te-imparted- without some knowledge of it as origi- nally given. Where shall we look for this knowledge with such evident prospect of success, as to the first man when he sprung into life, in all the perfection of his being, direct- ly from the plastic hand of his great Creator? ' The account given in the sacred scriptures of the original formation of man, is brief, but nevertheless abundantly satisfactory. That philosophy which rejects the light of revelation can assign no satisfactory cause for the produc- tion of the first man. The speculations of some are almost too ridiculous to be even referred to. But the sure word of God, in two or three sentences, gives us the most inter- esting and satisfactory information. -God said, let us niake man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image^of God created He him; male and female created He them."^ «^\nd the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul."^ Hence we learn the following facts with regard to man's original, viz., that, he was created in the image and like- nest's of God; that his body was made out of pre-existent materials, the dust of the ground; that the breath of life, which is the Spirit of God, was communicated to his cor- poral frame, and he became a living soul or frame, that is that his life is the direct result of the Spirit's agency. ^ We have already seen, that the expression in the original is the breath of lives, which, whether it be understood as designating the Spirit of God, or as the life of the creature man, amounts in the end, precisely to the same thing, viz., 1 Gen. i. 26, 27. 2 Gen. ii, 7, 142 THE IMMATERIALITY OF CHAP. IX. that man is a compound being, or unites in himself several distinct kinds of life. The Spirit of God would most proba- bly be designated the breath of lives, from the circumstance of His being the author of several forms of life in man, rather than from the fact of His being the universal auihov of life; for it is common in the scriptures for God to be de- signated from the particular occasions, or relations, or cir- cumstances under wliich He is at the time contemplated. If, as some will contend, it is m.an's life, and not the Spirit of God, which is denoted b}' this expression, then it cannot be denied that man was originally the subject of several kinds of life. We have already seen that there are fivo distinct kinds of life united in man, viz., that which consists in the ap- propriate action of the organic parts of the human body — the vegetable, or as it is technically called the organic life; and that which consists in the appropriate action of the superadded and complicated machinery of nerves and muscles, so essential to sensation and voluntary motion — the distinctive peculiarities of animal life. These are in entire accordance with two of the great classifications which the apostle Paul has made of the constituent parts of man, viz., body and soul. The term which our translators have rendered ^'soul,"^ as has been seen, conveys the idea of anim.al life. This remark may be of use to the reader of the scriptures in more instancps than one. It is obvious, that both these parts of man's being are material — formed of the dust of the ground. There is however another, which the apostle calls ^'•spiriV^" and which he designates by the very term which he em- ploys to denote the Spirit of God. It is in this, that theo- logians generally consider, we must look for the traces of the divine image in which man was created. As to what nonstituted that resemblance however, they are notgener- ^j^^y^ 1^ THE HUMAN SOUL. 143 ally agreed. Some allege that it was mere spirituality, others the lordship or sovereignty over the creatures with which he was invested, and others again the moral quali- ties of his nature, knowledge, righteousness and holiness. It is perhaps safest to adopt neither opinion exclusively ; but to trace the likeness in every respect in which true resemblance can be discerned. It is not in one feature only in which we are to trace a likeness, but in the toule e?i- senihle. - There is, however, we apprehend, one important respect in which this resemblance in man to God may be seen, which indeed is generally overlooked, but which, we are disposed to think, is of principal consequence. It is not one person of the Godhead only who is represented as speaking at the formation of man, but the whole three. Jehovah, the ever-blessed Three in One, said, *'let us make man in our image" — not in the image of any one person, nor of each distinctly, but of all conjointly. How admirably are the distinct personality and essential unity of the Godhead represented or imaged in man possessing three distinct kinds of life, and yet constituting but one moral being. In him are united the vegetable, the animal, and the moral or spiritual life, each having and preserving its distinct character, but all combined in one responsible individual. Ill support of this explanation of the likeness in which man was originally created, v/e merely observe, that from the consultation which is represented to iiave taken place among the persons of the Godhead about his creation, it is obvious this image must have been something different from any thing which had as yet been exhibited in the ■creatures. It could not have been the spiritual part of man's nature, for '*ile maketh His angels spirits,"^ and man's spiritual nature was greatly obscured by his body, which was formed of the dust of the ground. 1 Heb. 1. 7. 144 THE IMMATERIALITY OF CHAP. IX", It could not nave been the mere lordship which He ex- ercised over the creatures, for this was made a matter of special grant, after that he had been already created in the divine image. It could not have been exclusively the moral qualities with which he was endowed, for kriowledge, righteousness and holiness are the attributes of the angelic, as well as of the human nature. It could not have been merely as a designed representa- tion of the form and appearance which it was intended the son of God should assume, for He is himself styled ^'the image of the invisible God," and man, in this respect, would have beon not so much the image of God, the three in one, as of Christ the second person. We are therefore compelled to conclude, that man was created the image of the great Threi: in One, as he was characterized by this peculiarity among the creatures, that he alone unites in one moral individual the three great orders of life, viz., vege- table, animal and spiritual. There is therefore abundant proof it would seem, from the very account of man's primitive formation, that there were associated in him several distinct kinds of life. Of the two inferior kinds, the organic or vegetable, and the animal life in man, there is no dispute; nor do they here require explanation . Sufficient has been already advanced in illustration of them. But this cannot be said of the third — tlie life of the spirit or immortal soul of man. This forms the governing and distinguishing part of human nature. It is the tie which binds man to other worlds. It is the immediate seat of all the higher and ennobling attributes of humanity. In the other parts of his nature, he is directly dependent on and connected with this material world. His body is a part of the earth. But his spirit is dependent on God, and in its appetites and cravings, he aspires after the bliss of his communion. It CHAP. IX. THE HUMAN SOUL. 145 is in this part of his nature he has sustained the severest shock. Here too the ravages of death are most appalling; but here the energies of the Divine Spirit are exerted to impart the life of God. *'That which is born of the Spi« rit is spirit."^ Inasmuch therefore as regeneration is pre- dicated particularly of the soul of man, and, as authorized hy the language of the scriptures, it is contemplated as being the re-commencement of life in that soul, it becomes necessary to iiiquire as to what constitutes the peculiar appropriate life of the rational soul of man. Here, however, as in every other case, when inquiring into the essence of a thing, we must confess our ignorance. We use the term soul or spirit, to denote an existence that is not material; but this is the chief account that we can give of its nature. Our blessed Lord himself has done no more. *' A spirit," said he to his disciples, "hath not flesh and bones. "^ Whether He is here to be understood as declaring the immaterial nature of spirit, or merely cit- ing the vulgar opinion on the subject of apparitions, it is of little consequence to determine ; for flesh and bones constitute the material part of man, and when to spirit they are denied, the presumption rises that it is immaterial. This however is a point which is much disputed. If the soul be immaterial, perhaps it is asked, how can we ever have any knowledge of it ? We have no senses so delicately organized, as to be capable of perceiving spi- rit. Our senses were all made for the perception of a ma- terial world around us. How then can we know that there is such a thing ? And is it at all possible for us, to have any knowledge of it whatever ? In reply to such inquires, we might ask, whether the testimony of God is not as sufficient evidence as that of our senses, and if He has told us, that we have a soul, that there is such a thing as spirit — Is not that enough ? And :, John lii. 6. 2. Luke xxiv. 39. 19 146 THE IMMATERIALITY OF CHAP. ix. as to our having any Idea or notion of what cannot be per- ceived by means of our senses, we may ask whether much of our knowledge is not of this very character? What are all our abstract ideas and general truths? Are they not knowledge, which the mind itself has excogitated from, and by means of, the ideas originally derived through the medium of sense. ? What too is our knowledge of God ? '^No man hath seen God at any tinie;"^ yet how few have reasoned themselves into a notion that there is not a God? Let the objector declare himself, and say whether God must be a material Being in order to our having any knowledge of Him. The scriptures say ^' God is a Spirit?"^ How then is He known ? It will not do to say that our knowledge of Him is intuitive, innate, and such like. Intuitive is a figurative expression, and as to innate, it is not necessary, at this late day, to expose such an absurd pretence, as that man is born into the world with the knowledge of God, or of any thing els^. The truth is, that all our knowledge of God is analogi- cal. We employ our conceptions of things originally ma- terial, to represent in our minds God and divine things, in consequence, not of a mere apparent but true i^esemblance, in the nature of things. In lii^e manner we talk of our own souls, and the operations of our own minds, although we have no direct or immediate perception of them. *^ We cannot" says a profound writer, "■ with our utmost inten- tion of thought, and greatest energy of abstraction form to ourselves any original and purely intellectual ideas of the workings of our own minds. And the reason of this is, because the most abstracted and exalted operations of the human mind are actions of both matter and spirit in essential union, and not particular to either alone. We have indeed an immediate consciousness of the operations themselves, without the intervention of any idea of them; but no perception of them by such abstract or separate 1. Johni. 18. 2. Johniv. 24 CHAP. IX. I'HE HUMAN SOUL. 147 idea of any sort."^ It is by virtue of a real correspon- dence or true resemblance between some things in spirit, and what w^e discern in material things, that our ideas and language taken from the latter class, become certain and satisfactory representations of that, which in the former cannot be directly apprehended by mere intellect. Such is the mode of obtaining knowledge, which God has or- dained for us, while in our compound state uniting in our persons both matter and mind, and they mutually depend^ ent. That pure and disembodied spirit must have other modes of knowledge, we doubt not ; but in our present state we Jvnow not what they are ; nor can we, while mind is made to depend on body. Paul "was caught up into para- dise, and heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter;" but whether he was ^'in the body or out of the body,"^ he could not tell. Yet his ignorance oi the mode of his knowledge did not destroy his convic- tions of the truth and certainty of what he knew. When speaking even of that knowledge, communicated in some sublime mysterious way, he is compelled to make use of language borrowed from sensible things. He heard un- speakable WORDS. No man could make him doubt the reality of what he was made to know by other means 'than through the mind's sensible perceptions, and conse- quent and correspondent excogitations. Why then should it be objected that we can have no knowledge of spirit, because w^e have no direct, imme- diate or purely intellectual perception of it ? Is all our lan- guage, when we talk of perceiving, discerning, comparing, abstracting, comprehending, inventing, intending, &c., where the subject is not material a mere delusion? These expressions denote sensible acts, and are derived from sensible objects, but when employed to denote the acts and ? Dime A nalog-y, p. 23. '2. Cor. xii, 4, 148 THE IMMATERIALITY OF CHAP. x:j^. operations of the mind, are mere pictures, or shadows, or representations of something analogous, transacted by pure intellect or spirit. Is all this falsehood? Has God formed us 90 as to be perpetually busied in framing and playing with the mere imagery in our own brains, while there is nothing at all in existence, correspondent with what we apprehend these imrges to represent ? He that denies the reality of spirit, and of a spiritual world, because his con- ceptions of them are only through the medium of sensible ideas, must either deny that God exists, and has created us, orimpeach Hischaracter ina vital point, by asserting thatHe has so constituted us, as to be perpetually gathering, ar- ranging, classifying, and acquiring ideas by which we ap- prehend as fact, things that sever had an existence, or, in . other words, that he has made us the mere sport of our self-deceivings. That be far from us. If God, who can- not deceive, has so created us, we rest as perfectly satisfied of the reality of what is thus indirectly and analogically, as of what is, directly and sensibly, perceived. It is no objection, therefore, against the immateriality of the hu- man soul, that we have no direct immediate perception of its nature and operations. The very same objection would lead to the denial of our materiality ; for we have no more direct and immediate knowledge of the essence of matter, end its modus operandi, in any c-ase, than we have of spirit. But there are other grounds on which men have under- taken to deny the immateriality (and substantiality) of the human soul. It may be necessary therefore to advert to the principal opinions maintained in opposition to the doc^' trine, that the soul of man, or spirit, is a simple, immate- rial, uncompounded substance, capable of very peculiar acts. They may be distributed into two different classes — the one class maintaining that man differs in nothing from ma- terial ewbstonce, but in his modification and its effects-'^ CHAP. IX. TIffi HUMAN SOUL. I49 the other that his intellectuality consists in a mere suc- cession of ideas and exercises. Of the former class some are wilful and obstinate infidels — ''who believe not the truth because they have pleasure in unrighteousness," and who, to escape from the menaces of conscience as it for- warns of the wrath to come, persuade themselves that mind, conscience, body, all perish at death; — while others admit the immortality of the human soul, or perhaps more properly, the future existence of man, though they be- lieve him to be altogether a material being. Whatever may be the essence of the human soul, its properties are demonstrably not those of matter. These properties it is not of moment accurately to enumerate. We shall, for the sake of brevity, comprise them under that of thought. Thought is not a quality of simple viat- ter. For atoms do not think, either in their original state, or in any accumulated mass, or in any organized combina- tion, or in any attenuated substance. If therefore atoms, as such, do not think — and that they do not common sense and observation declare — then thought cannot be derived to them by virtue of any aggregation, organization, at- tenuation, or other relative position whatever; — for, ulti- mately, in all cases, the character and qualities of a body, depend on those of th6 original atoms combined in it. In like manner we agree, that thought cannot result from any play of chemical affinities, for their entire operations may be resolved, ultimately, into a change of relative position, which can have no miOre efficacy in enabling matter to think, than the breaking of stones, or the melting of lead, or the burning of earth, can have. Neither can motion, whether produced by chemical ac- tion, or mechanism, originate thought. Change of posi- tion we have seen cannot produce it, and into this is me- chanical impulse, as well as chemical action^ ultimately 150 THE IMMATERIALITY OF CHAP. IX. resolvable, so that the or.e is as incapable as the other of enabling matter to think. As to organic action, thouo;h it may give rise to the most diversified and complicated operations, yet is it but the combination of a few simple motions, none of which approach nearer to thought than the flight of a cannon ball, or the play of lightning. Elasticity and vibration are the principal kinds of motion, by means of which the advo- cates of materialism, account for the production of thought — but the researches of physiologists have proved that the nerves are not tense and solid bodies,^ fixed at their extremities to hard substances, v*'hich it is essential to this theory they should be. As to the notion of the nerves being tubes, filled with the animal spirits, through which liquid substance, impressions are conveyed to the encephalon, the change of relative position must ultimately be adopted as the solution, if thought be a quality of matter. Mere motion is not thought, vvheth- er it be mechanical, chemical, or organic, for every man feels that there is some conscious power within him, observing and attending to the relative changes which take place there. The absurd theory of a modern French physician that thought is a secretion of the brain, scarcely deserves no- tice, but like every other scheme of materialism, must be resolved into the change of relative position, which ws have seen can never account for the origination of thought. Should it be said that thought is a quality not resident in all matter, but only superadded to certain organic portions of it, it will be sufficient to remark, that to talk of a quality being superadded to matter, and not inherent in it, is a perfect absurdity, and that if the evidence of conscious- ness is to be at all relied on, so far from thought being a 1. IIalI<-r= CHAP. IX. 'I HE HUMxVN SOUL. 151 property, it is an act, or operation, of something quite dis- tinct from matter. Among the principal and most ingenious advocates of the materiality of the human soul, was Dr. Priestley, who boldly maintained, that revelation is in perfect accordance with what he supposed to be conclusions authorized by just reasoning. Dr. Rush too has been supposed, in his trea« tise, on the influence of physical causes upon the moral sense, to have favoured the same idea. But whatever may have been his private views, which, to do but justice to liis memory, we are persuaded were controled by his faith in the written word of God as to all its facts and doctrines, there is nothing in that interesting tract wdiich necessarily implies such a belief. That physical causes have an in- fluence on the moral sense or conscience, is a fact which cannot be denied ; but, it by no means follows, that, in order to such influence, man must be wholly, conscience and all, a material being. The reasonings of those who advocate materialism, will be found alike unphilosophicai and unscriptaral. Thomas Jefferson has, in his posthum.ous writings^ ap- peared among the boldest, and we must be allowed to say, the most reckless of modern preachers of materialism. "I can conceive thought, says he, to be an action of a par- ticular organization of matter, formed for that purpose by its Creator, as well as that attraction is an action of matter, or masjnetism of load-stone." His mode of confirming: such an idea, is a specimen of the argument from igno- ranee and begging of the question. *' To talk," continues he, ''of immaterial existences, is to talk of nothings. To say that the human soul, angels, God, are immaterial, is to say they are nothings, or that there is no God, no angels, no soul." Who does not see that this is actually begging the question, and yet he candidly confesses in the very next sentence— '-' I cannot reason otherwise.-' and to anolo- 153 'i'HE IMMATEKIALITY OF CHAP. IX, gize, in some measure, for his having thus confessed his imbecility, he observes, "But I believe I am supported in my creed by the Lockes, &c." and having, as he thought, defended himself with the authority of so great a name, he as ignorantly and impudently brands the doctrine of immaterialism, with the charge of ''masked Atheism," and refers to the fathers of the three first centuries, and even to Christ Himself as opposed to such heresy!!!^ Locke says distinctly, "perception and knowledge, in that one eternal Being where it has its source, it is visible, must be essentially inseparable from it ; therefore the actual want of perception in so great a part of the particular parcels of matter, is a demonstration that the first Being from whom perception and knowledge is inseparable, is not matter,^'* Speaking of the soul he says "it may be proved that it is to the highest degree probable that it is iininaterial.'*^^ There can be no excuse for such ignorance, or deception,, and of one or the other is Mr. Jefferson guilty, in citing Locke as a materialist. A man that can believe and cite authorities at this rate is not worthy of respect ; nor are arguments such as he has employed, deserving of atten- tion. Dr. Priestley rejects the idea that matter is an impene* trable inert substance ; and because he finds that sensation and thought in man have ever been found in connection with an organized system, infers, that those powers ne- cessarily exist in, and depend on such a system. How they result from organization he will not pretend to say, but presumes, that if sensation and thought be not incom- patible with the properties of matter, it is quite unphilo sophical to suppose that there is any substance, in the hu- man constitution, essentially difierent from matter. Who does not see, that the argument here is based on a vague 1. Letter to President Adams, in 1830. 2. See his controversy with the Bishop of Worcester. CHAP. IX. THE IMMATERIALITY OF 153 idea with respect to the nature and properties of matter — as though it were something, quite contrary to the commoa apprehensions of mankind — not possessing solid extension, and therefore having no relation to space, and in this res- pect resembling spirit rather than body. In attempting to maintain his denial of the existence of spirit, he does in fact convert matter into spirit. His ar- gument amounts to little more than a begging of the ques- tion. Besides is it not altogether a false inference, to con- tend, that matter and thought are the same, because they are found connected and dependent? Were the principle adopt- ed what endless confusion would it introduce? There is a connection and dependence between the strings of an in- strument of music, and the sounds produced by them when struck; but does it follow that the strings are the sounds? So while we admit (and no advocate for the existence of mind ever denied it,) that there is a connection between the brain and thought, and that even certain vibrations, or motions of the former, may give rise to the latter, it by no means follows that the brain is thought. The advocates of materialism seem to be aware, that this inference is altogether untenable, and they have there- fore asserted, that these vibrations themselves are thought. And so confident and unblushing is Dr. Cooper, that he hesitates not to declare, that whosoever is not convinced of the truth of materialism, now that Collins, and Hartley, and Priestley have thrown such immense light on the sub- ject, is not to be reasoned with. The Doctor himself, af- ter distinguishing between sensations and ideas, making the former to consist in the motions of the brain produced by external impressions transmitted through the nerves, and the latter the motions of the same '^arising, or produced without the impressions of an external object,''^ thinks it demo lis tr able that these motions are vibratory, . 1. Cooper's memoii's of Dr. Priestley, p. 334, oZS. 20 154 1'HE IMMATEmAUTY OF CHAP. XI. We cannot help rennarking here with regard to the con- sistency of the advocates of materialism. At one moment they tell us, that thought is a quality of matter, and in the next that it is motion! No doubt they were compelled to this by noticing, what could not possibly have eluded their observation, that perception is an act^ an event, a phenomenon, something that takes place, and does not lie like a dormant qualit}^ unmoved and undisturbed in matter. Admitting that motions do take place in the brain, and even give rise to thought, does it thej'cfore follow that motion is mind? The vibrations of the cords of an instru- ment give rise to sounds, but thev are not the sounds. But on the principle referred to, that connection and depend- ence imply identity, they must be the same. The truth is that notwithstanding those who deny the ma- teriality of the human mind are not to be reasoned with, ac- cording to Dr. Cooper, we must take the liberty of saying, that this assertion of thought being mere vibratiunculce, is al- together unintelligible. For to use the language of an acute writer, ''there may be little shakings in the brain, for any thing we know, and there may even be shakings of a dif- ferent kind accompanying every act of thought or percep- tion, but that the shakings themselves are the thoughts or perception, we are so far from admitting, that we find it absolutely impossible to comprehend what is meant by the assertion. The shakings are certain throbbings, vibra- tions, or stirrings, in a whitish half-fluid substance like custard, which we might see perhaps, or feel, if we had eyes and fingers sufficiently small or fine for the office. But what w^ould wx see or feel, upon the supposition, that v/e could detect, by our senses, every thing that actually took place in the brain? We should see the particles of this substance change their place a little, move a little up or down, to the right or to the left, round about, or zig 2ag, or in some other course or direction. This is all that ,HAP. IX. 'l'"E HUMAN SOUL. 155 we could see, if Dr. Hartley's conjecture were proved by actual observation ; because this is all that exists in mo- tion, according to our conception of it, and all that we mean when we say that there is motion in any sub- stance. Is it intelligible then to say, that this motion, the whole of which we see and compreiiCnd, is thought and feeling; and that thought and feeling will exist wherever we can excite a similar motion in a similar substance?''^ The thing is altogether beyond our comprehension. That there is a material m.achinery, capable of being moved and operated on, by certain impulses, for the production of thought, we will not deny — but that these impulses, and the movements of this machinery, are thought and feeling we do. They may be the occasions of these things, but must not be confounded with them. For there is no con- ceivable affinity between them, however intimately they may be connected. Am I but what I seem, mere flesh and blood? A branching- channel and a mazy flood ■ I'he purple stream that throug-h my vessels g-lides. Dull and unconscious flows like common tides: The pipes, thro' which the cu-cling juices stray, Are not that thinking 1, no more than they, This frame, compacted with transcendent skill, Of moving- joints obedient to my wil]. Nursed from the fruitful glebe, like yonder tree.. Waxes and wastes: I call it mine not me. New matter still the mouldering mass sustains. The mansion changed, the tenant still remains. And from the fleeting stream repaired by food, Distinct as is the swimmer from the flood. As to the idea that thought is a quality of matter, a little reflection will convince every one that perception itself must, according to this theory, be a quality. But this is an abuse of terms. Perception is an act of which the per- cipient being is conscious. It cannot therefore be intelli- gibly called, a quality of that which it perceives. All the 1- Edinburgh Rev. vol. ix. p. 152. 156 THE IMMATERIALITY OF cHAP. ix\ qualities of matter may be divided into primary and es- sential, and secondary or accidental. To the first class be- long extei s.on, solidity and figure. To this class thought cannot belong, because many modifications of matter are destitute of it. If it be said to resemble the accidental qualities of matter, such as heat or colour which are not inseparable or permanent, we reply that heat, and light which is essential to colour, are themselves material sub- stances. Should we call thought a material substance as we do light, and heat, we must expect the laws of the ma- terial world to operate on it, and that it is liable to attrac- tion, repulsion, condensation, or reflection, as are light and heat which is absurd. AVhatever view then we take of the subject w-e are con- vinced that the theory of materialism is alike unintelligi- ble and absurd. What can we make of it, when it con- founds the act of perceiving, with the qiialitles perceived, and makes the very objects of perception the faculty or act by which these objects are introduced to our knowledge, and especially, when it confounds the motions of the brain with the effects which they produce, and makes mind to be the mere play of vibratiunculce, produced alike by im- pressions from without and certain undefined and unorigi- nated motions from within? To deny the existence of spirit because of any supposed want of relation to space, is certainl}^ unphilosuphical. When it is contended that matter must always have some relation to space, it is supposed that the advocates of im- terial existences maintain, that spirit possesses no such re- lation, and therefore that it can exist noivhere. 'SVho does not see the sophistry of this reasoning? It is not main- tained that spirit exists without reference to space, but, that its relation to space cannot be understood or estimated by us as we do that of matter. God exists everi/ where. He has ^orrip relation to infinite space. A profound wri- CHAP. IX. 'i'ilK HUMAN SOUL. 157 ter has supposed infinite space to be the property of Deity. Time and place are necessary to the existence of all crea- ted being. The assumption of Dr. Priestley, therefore, is not true that the advocates of spiritual existence deny its relation to space. If it is asserted to be regulated by differ- ent laws, that authorizes not the denial of such relation. For to do so would be to assume the point in dispute that there can he no existence which does not follow the law by which material substances are bound to space, that is, that no other than material substances exist. We know that God does exist, that He is a Spirit, and that He is related to space, and is it therefore absurd, and un- philosophical to suppose that there can be created spirits too, not regulated by the laws which govern material ex- istence? The same mode of reasoning will expose the fallacy of the argument against immaterial existence from the alleged incapacity of spirit to act on matter. When it is admitted that spirit and matter are essentially different, devoid of common properties, it is with as much want of philosophy as of truth inferred that therefore, the one cannot act upon the other. Since if this proves any thing, it proves too much. For it is admitted, that God is a most pure spirit, and yet He does operate on matter — yea, and has created the world and all things out of nothing, between which and Himself there are no common properties. The whole force of this argument depends on the assumption, that unless substances are possessed of common properties, they cannot act on each other. This must be proved before the argument is worth any thing. But such proof cannot be adduced, as we have already shewn, that God, in two respects, furnishes a proof to the contrary. If there is any truth and force in the argument, it must prove these two monstrous absurdi- ties and falsities, that it w^as impossible tor God to create 158 THE IMMATERIALITY OF CHAP. ix. the world cut of nothing, and that God Himself is a mate- rial being. And indeed this, though denied by Dr. Priest- ley, is affirmed by others, which, if adopted and followed out to its legitimate results, will lead us to blank atheism; and the infinite intelligence and wisdom, the Divine Mind will become nothing else than the mere motions or v. bra' iiunculse of a concatenated universe, and must be confned to some locality correspendent with the human encepha- lon!!! We cannot dismiss this topic without submitting to our readers the following very short and simple method of re- futing the error of the uiaterialists. If thought be a prop- erty or quality of matter, it must be, either resident in the original elementary undivided atoms that compose a body, or it must be superadded to some organized body. It can- not be a quality of simple matter, for there is a unity in our consciousness, which proves, most satisfactorily, that all the atoms composing our bodies do not tliink. There ought to be as many consciousnesses as there are atoms in our bodies, if thought, of which consciousness is but one form, is a property of simple matter. ' It remains for the materialist who affirms this, to account for the entire unity of our consciousness and mental acts. Should this be attempted, and we be referred to the organic structure of the human body, as a sufficient solution of the inquiry, we may remark that if matter be not essentially conscious, ihat is, if every atom does not think separately and independently, no .system of atoms in any possible composition, or attenuation, or division can be an indi- vidual conscious being. Suppose, for example, a line of telegraphic communica- tion, the parts or particles of which system, let us say, are arranged each at 10 or more miles distant, and spreading over a space of 100 or 1000 miles; is it at all possible or CHAP. IX. '^'HE HUMAN SOUL. 159 conceivable, that this system, adapted to the transmission of intelligence most rapidly from one extreme to the other, is one individual conscious being? Yet why not on the materialist's supposition? Are the particles too far apart from each other? Then what is the degree of proximity requisite? Suppose that all these different parts be brought together into such close contact and be connected by such mechanism as that, when one part is moved, it shall transmit its motions from the one end to the other throughout the whole line? Does this juxta-position render the parts less distinct indi- vidual beings, or communicate a capacity for thought to the whole connected series? How can their being disposed in such or any" other possible system, make them one indi- vidual conscious being? Is it not utterly absurd — at warwith the common sense of mankind, to attribute thought to the mill, or steam engine, or any other piece of complicated me- chanism? Yet if mere mechanism, or the composition and arrangement of parts into one general system so that their motions shall be adapted and communicated to each other, -and be transmitted from or to one common centre, is suffi- cient to account for the productionof thought, why do not the mill and engine think? May not the human body as fur- nished with its admiraWy adjusted system of nerves, be justly styled a line of telegraphic communication? The impression is transmitted from the surface or extremity, to the encephalon or centre, or other extremit}^ Does the capability of transmitting such impression constitute the body a thinking substance? No more surely when the ap- paratus is material nerves, or cords, or tubes, whatever they be, than when it consists of boards, or blocks, or lights, or sounds. A modern projector of telegraphic communication-, b}^ means of rods, v.hich he proposes to have sunk in the earth ijjO THE IMMATERIALI I V OF CHAP. IX. and sea, leading from London to Paris, or Constantinople, and we may add, to all the other cities of the globe, whether his idea was conceived from the structure of the human body or not, would operate just as certainly on the mate- rialist's plan, to constitute the globe, or the ball of this earth a thinking substance, as the mere material mechanism of the human body, bound together by a system of nerves, transmitting impressions from one point of its surface or part of it to another, constitutes man a thinking conscious being. But here the materialist will allege, that to the particles of matter united in the human body, God has superadded the power of consciousness. But we may add, that inas- much as these particles though united in one body are nevertheless as really distinct as before their union, they themselves cannot be the subject in which that individual consciousness inheres. That consciousness, or thinking unit can only be the intelligent percipient being at the one end, if we may so remark, of the telegraphic series — something superadded to mechanism, or the human body, which, in all its particles, if we must make use of the expression, is still, itself butone individual conscious being. It follows therefore legitimately that inasmuch as the power of thinking, what- ever that power may be, is one individual consciousness, it cannot possibly be a material substance. If the brute creation should be cited as a proof to the contrary, we would reply that as it regards the character- istic acts of the human mind, there is nothing similar in them, and that even if we should admit the existence of spirit, in connection with the bodies of animals, that will not impose on us the necessity of maintaining their immortality or even inteilectuallity. For the immor- tality of man we affirm is not to be inferred from a mere supposed indestructibility of spirit, but from the constitu- CHAP. X. 'i'"^ HUMAN SOUL. 161 tution or will and agency of God the Creator, and who that admits the existence of spirit, will undertake to say that there may not be endless modifications of spiritual exist- ence, as there are of matter. Undoubtedly angelic and human minds are and must be characteristically as different as are the mind of man and ^Hhe spirit of the brute." 21 CHAPTER X. THE SUBSTANTIAT.ITY OF THE HUMAN SOUJL, The human soul not a chain of exercises — The objection agahist its sub- stantiality drawn from tlie want of definite conception of its nature not valid — Frightful consequences resulting from the scheme of the exerci- sists — Destruction of personal identity — Scriptural facts — 1. Appearance of Moses ?iT.1 Elias — 2. The dying thief— 3. Dives and Lazarus — 4. Vi^ sions — Of Peter — Of Cornelius— 5. Inspiration— 6. Scr-ptural facts — 7. ijCiVpt 'ral assertions — Job, xxxiii. 18: Eccles. xii. 7: 2 Cor. v. 1: 2 Con V. S: K 0 xii. 23: Mat, xxti. 22 — 32 — Reflections — ^The common sense of mank'n!; and the scriptures in accordance — What a noble and illus- ■ ti\:.i.i lAng must man originally have been. , There are others beside the materialist, whose views seem :o militate against the doctrine for whici: we contend,, With some it is a favorite idea, that the soul is a mere sue- cessian or chain of Lleas and exercises. The principal arg!.'*iiRnt in support of this scheme is altogether fallaciouSc It !s alleged, by its advocates, that we are, and can be, con- sci.>us only of our acts and exercises, and that, of anysub- stance in wnich they are immanent, or by which they are origii ated, we can have neitiu^r knowledge nor conception. But, admitting a]] this, it does not therefore follow, that u . is not in reality some substance or base, appropriate tb thougnt, — some real existence the peculiar seat or sub- ject of ideas and exercises. For, should we allow ourselves to pursue the assumption in the above objection or argu- ment, viz., thit OTJ) rag exists of which we have no con- ception, we should doubt, and disbelieve the existence of every cause^ agent and eobstance Whatever. CHAP. X. THE SUBSTANTIALITY &c. l(iS The advocates of this scheme, assuredly, do not mean to maintain the absurd and stale objection of the rationalists in religion, that what we cannot understand, does not ex- ist— is not true. Their meaning must be, that they have no appropriate or sufficient evidence of the existence of any thing, beside their own ideas and exercises, inasmuch as they can form no conception of spirit al)stracted from such ideas and exercises.^ If so, then do we ask what evi- dence have they of the existence of God? Can they form any distinct conception of His Being? What evidence can they have of any of His attributes? Can they hav.e more Who can gauge the full and overflowing mind of the first parent of our race, as enriched and stored with know- 1. 2 Cor. X. 4. 5. 1S4 IHE SL'BSTAN ilALirV UF CHAP. X. ledge vvhicli Go:l iiimself hath put into it? No darkness brooded over it. No disease of heart deranged the medium of itS/perceptions. With sensibilities attuned to the lofty- pitch of heavenly devotion, and nature sparkling in all the glory of her Creator, how must man have gamboled over all her beauties, and searched into her wonders, and been refreshed with the traces of her maker God! If we are no\;- surprised at the attainments of a Nev»^ton or Bacon or La Place, vv'ho, by severe process of study and research, have unfolded the volume of nature, and deciphered its characters, so illegible to multitudes, what should be our wonder, when w^e contemplate man — bright and orient in the very beams of the divinity — throwing the lustre of his own illumined mind upon the objects around, and at the first glance discerning their uses and value! The whole trea- sury of nature lay open before him, and from the inciden- tal account which the Spirit of God has given of his nam ing tlie beasts of the earth, and an examination of the names wliich he at first imposed, we are led to the belief, tliat originally his knowledge was as extensive as the ob- jects which God had so bountifully scattered round him. He was created in knowledge — not mei'ely with the capa- cities for it, but with knowledge in actual possession. But if we are filled with admiration of the resources of man, and the elevation of his being, as we look back to the great exemplar and parent of our race, how much inore should we be as we look forward and discern the new world, and its thickening wonders which God in the method of redemption especially, has unfolded to us? Whatever knowledge, innocent man may have had of the glories of the Divine Being, as displayed in nature, they fall far short of those sublime mysteries, into which the minds of redeemed sinners are conducted by the blessed Spirit of God. Who is not filled with amazement, when he thinks of the iiiimense capacities of man, and that he, OHAP. X. THE HUMAN SOUL. 1S5 of all the intelligent creatures, is destined to arrive at the grandest, and naost extended, and ex Hed, conceptions of the Infinite Supreme. Tiiis poor imbe.^ile and almost inert and unconscious existence, wrapped u o, at its first forma- tion, in a little organized body, totall / dependent on the sympathies of a mother's soul, is to be raised to immediate communion, and most endeared intimacy, with the high and mighty Ruler of the universe! Oh! who can under-value the soul of man? That noan is an enemy of his race, who would persuade us there is no other principle in our nature than what is destined to rot in the grave. Shall we give up the hope of immortality, and quietly prepare for an eternal slaep? — the hope of glory for the dark, cheerless hope of annihilation? The mind sickens and revolts from the thought of its own des- truction. And, blessed be God, the volume of his word affords the choicest cordial to refresh its drooping and sinking spirits. There is a deathless soul in man, shut up for a season indeed, iii the casement of this mortal body, but destined, to an emancipation both wonderous and bliss- ful— and to become the eternal friend and companion of Jehovah of Hoats, or the wretched slave and dotard of Hell. The spirit within is capable of indefinite improvement, and exaltation, or deterioration and misery. Whether the progress shall be towards bliss or woe, depends upon our faith. Reader, do you consult .sense, and reject faith? Are you skeptical and unbelieving? You are exchanging, the only hope of a lost world, for the horrors of Tophetc You have a soul that must dwell forever in the presence of God, or be the companion of devils and damned spirits. Your speculations are vain! Your philosophy may prove your ruin. Oh your soul is of value too immense thus to be endangered, or thrown away. The joys of sense may allure and blunt the powers of perceiving truth — wealth xmy make her boastful promises and load thee with her f?4 186 THE SUBSTANTIALITY &c. CHAP. X. cares — ambition may fire thy spirit and urge thee on to deeds of vengeance or of desperate daring — but thou must die. And '* what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give ii^ exchange for his soul.'^^ 1 Mark J viii. 36, 37. CHAPTER XI. 1:HE lilFE OF MAN'S RATIONAL. SOUL. The subject of the chapter— The hnportance of accurate knowledge with • regard to it — Psalm xxx. 5 — The hfe of the rational soul does not con- sist in the mere circumstap.ce of its perpetuity — No more reason to infer any thing as to the life of the soul from its perpetuity than as to the life of tlie body, from the permanent existence of the elementary particles which enter into its composition — The life of the soul does not consist in its spirituality — But in those actions which are appropriate to its capaci- ties— What those capacities in general are — Col. iii. 10: Eph. iv. 24 — A description of the condition of our first parent, as originally created — in knowledge — righteousness — and hohness — The loss of life consequent on the first act of rebellion — Regeneration defined — Contrast between sensual and spiritual men — The scriptural phraseology on the subject — Not metaphorical — A caution. It has been shewn that man is a complex being, and unites, in himself, the three orders of life —vegetative, animal, and intellectual or spiritual: — that he is possessed of a rational soul, which is immaterial in its substance, and not necessarily dependent on organization, nor a mere chain of ideas and exercises, but is capable of exis- tence in a separate state, and is the immediate author of thought and volition, and the subject of consciousness. The nature of life too has been illustrated, and a definition given which it is intended shall be applied to the elucida- tion of the leading subject of this treatise. These things, it is expected, will be kept in view by the reader, while we proceed to inquire, in this chapter, in ivhat consists the life of the immortal spirit. The language of the Psalmist is ordinarily quoted on l«b I'HE LIFE UF iHAl-. XL. this subject, and it is apprehended by many, that when he says, in reference to God, ^' In His favour is Hfe,"^ there is a sufficient explanation given of spiritual life. But, though the heart, which has had experience of the divine favour, may practically, and sufficiently for all the purposes of a walk with God, know something of the life that is ^*hid with Christ in God;" yet it is desirable to have, as far as possible, clear ideas on a subject of such deep and eternal interest. It is highly probable, that tlie sentiment of the Psalmist, as expressed in the terms quoted above, was widely dif- ferent from that which they are commonly employed by Christians to represent. The inspired writer had been greatly beset, and persecuted by enemies. His very life had been in danger from their malice and menaces. Their opposition and power, their provocations and prevalence against him, he had interpreted, as proof of the displeasure of God v/ho had permitted him, in His holy providence^, thus to be afilicted and assailed: and in this belief, he would not fail to be confirmed by the proverb of his day, and no doubt applicable still, that ^^when a man's ways please the Lord He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him"^ A change however had taken place in this respect, in the Psalmist's circumstances. The Lord had rescued him from the hands of his foes, and as his heart overflowed with gratitude for such deliverance, he exclaimed " I will extol thee, 0 Lord, for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.''^ This interposition of pro- vidence on his behalf^ he felt to be an immense favour = He attributed it entirely to the grace of God, and felt that to it he was indebted for the preservation of his life. Such we apprehend to be the original, and legitimate import of the Psalmist's words. But, although they primarily direct our attention to the- 1. Psalm XXX. 5. 2, Pi-ov. xvi, 7. 3.- Psalm xxx. 1. CHAP. XI. mortal life cf believers, as protected and preserved by the gracious provider^ce of God, yet we think, that the language does as appropriately intimate the general nature o that life which is peculiar to the immortal soul, of which, the reader will judge, when he shall have carefully con.iaered tlie remarks which follow. 1 The life of the rational soul does not consist in the mere circumstance of its immortality or indestructibility. Immortality is a quality attributed to the human soul m contradistinction from what eventuates in the perishable body, and it rather denotes the perpetuity of its existence than the nature of its life. The very phrase ^Hm^wrtal lUe » so commonly used, shews evidently a distinction be- tween life and immortality. The body possesses an ap- propriate life, which does not consist in the presence of a %W.U.\ principle in it, as we have already seen The son is not the life of the body. Its life is peculiar and dis met but of a temporary continuance and liable sooner or later to extinction by means of that process of dissolution wi.icu destroys the entire organisation. Hence the lite ot tne . body is called a mortal life But the soul is not ..able .o such a dissolution or separation of its parts. And bc.ng devoid of and unaffected by the properties of matter it ... destined to continue to all eternity uainnuenoed by aecoy. It is therefore said to be immortal. AVe cannot indeed speak with the same precision, and certainty of the immortal spirit, that we do of the morta body; for we do not and cannot know what is its essential nature, and whether there is any thing in it answerable to or-ranization, or whether it is susceptible of variety in the modiftcation of its essence, so that when we attribute per- petuity, and the absence of decay to it, we take it tor granted that its essential being remains unaltered and un- affected. For any thing we know to the contrary, the p,rr,etuitu of the human soul is as entirely distinct Ironu 190 '^'HE LlFii Ui-- (;HAP. XJ- and no more necessarily connected with, that In which con- sists its appropriate life, as is the existence of the material atoms which compose the human body with its appropriate life. These do not perish: — it is demonstrable, that not a particle of matter has been annihilated sinc£ the creation. Incessant changes and combinations are going on, but there is no such tiling as the absolute destruction of the least portion of the Creator's works. Nature abhors annihila- tion. The particles which compose our bodies may indeed be separated, and resolved into their primary elements, and be assumed into new productions by entirely new com- binations;— yea they may even enter into the composition of other living creatures, but they will not by such pro- cess be destroyed. And when death has deranged the entire organization of the human body ; and in the alembic of the grave, it has been resolved into its simple elements — these elements still remain. There is, strictly speaking a perpetuity attributable to the body. The particles of which it is composed may lie dormant in the grave, or pass through a thousand successive changes, but shall be re-combined and re-organized in all the bloom and beauty of immortal youth. Of this no one can doubt who admits the truth of the sacred record. That record is short and decisive. ^'The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil to tlie resurrection of damnation. ^*^ No one how- ever thinks of identifying the essential existence of the elementary dust with the life of the body. Wherefore we conclude that as the life of the body consists in something distinct from the mere existence of the material particles of. wliich it Is composed ; so the life of the soul does as certainly consist in something distinct from the mere existence of its spiritual essence. It follows as a corollary from this ^. That the life of tlie soul docs not consist in its spirit- 1 John, V. 29. xJHAP. XI. ' MAX'S EATIONAL SOUL. 191 iiality. Spirit is but one mode of being, as matter is another ; and with equal propriety might it be said, that the life of material beings consists in their material essence, as of spiritual beings in their spiritual essence. The life of the body we have already seen consists in its appropriate action. It is not now necessary to refer to the proof and illustrations by which we attempted to establish the cor- rectness of this definition. Our business here is to apply it to the rational soul of man by which we shall obtain some definite ideas on a subject exceedingly intricate and ^perplexed. Wherefore we conclude that V. The life of the rational soul consists in the BEGITLAR series OF THOSE ACTIONS WHICH ARE APPRO- PRIATE TO ITS SUSCEPTIBILITIES AND CAPACITIES. To understand this, it is necessary for us to inquire what ac- tions are appropriate; and this can best be done by a refer- ence to the primitive constitution of man. It cannot be expected however, nor is it at all necessary that we should undertake any minute analysis of the capacities of the human soul, which fit it for various action. It will be enough for us to adopt some general classification, as suggested by the character of the actions themselves. It is said that man w^as created in the image of God, and n'hatever may be our opinion as to that image's being the combination in man of the different orders of life, thus consti- tuting a trinity in unity, certain it is that a resemblance may be traced in the moral qualities of his rational soul to perfec- tions of the divine nature. These may be all classed under the three following heads, which it is not a little remark- able are designated as the perfections more especially man- ifested by the three persons of the Godhead, viz., know- ledge corresponding with the purposes, and plans, and revelations especially attributable to the Father, who is the great source of all: — Righteousness corresponding with the peculiar perfection of the Son, who is denominated the 192 THE LIFE OF CHAP. xr. righteoiis one and the Lord our righteousness, as he ap- peared and acted fulfilling all righteousness: — Holiness, corresponding with the more especial attribute of the spirit who receives the denomination oi the Holy One, the Hol}!^ Spirit. The regenerate sinner is said by the apostle to be ^'renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him,"^ and in another place to have *"put on the neiv m^xi which afto" God is created in righteousness and true holi- ness,*'^ as though regeneration secured the restoration of properties originally characteristic of man. Without venturing into any thing like minute investiga- tion with regard to tlie import of these expressions, it may suffice to remark, tliat they are properties appropriate to the different capacities of man's moral nature. Knotuledge implies, and is appropriate to the power of perceiving and understanding the truth — his intellectual capacities: Right-^ eousness to his active powers or capacities for voluntary action: and Holiness to his sensitive powers or capacities for feeling and emotion. Where there is knowledge, there must be truth or fact, and a mind to perceive and apprehend it. Where there is righteousness, there must be a law or standard of right and actions conformed to it. Where there is holiness^ there mast be some sensitiveness to take alarrrj at the approach and presence of any thing improper, and impure, and to preserve the harmony of all the powers, passions and aflections of the soul. When man therefore was created, he was possessed of a mind capable of perceiv- ing, and ::iored with the knowledge of, truth; he was strictly and perfectly conformed to the law of God both in letter and in spirit, in outward act and inward volition; and he was so sensitive to every thing that concerned the honor and glory of God — so fully under the influence of love to Him, as to be devoid of any of those selfish, sordid and 5 Col iii. 14. o Epi^, j^, 24. CHAP. XI. MAN'S RATIONAL SOUL. 193 morbid passions and affections which now oppose them- selves to the truth and justice and purity of God. Our first parents, unlike their progeny, were created in full possession of all the powers of their being, and that in a state of perfection. They were created in knowledge. Nature spread forth her rich treasures to their enraptured attention, and immediately on inspection they understood their use and character. The Lord brought the beasts of the field to Adam, to receive their names ; and the names he gave them — if, as it is mostprobable, the Hebrew dialect approaches nearest to the first language spoken by man — are to this day most appropriate, and plainly show, that he understood their nature. His skill in language, therefore, must have been equal to his acquaintance with natural his- tory. Nor should we conclude that he was ignorant of God and spiritual realities. It was his great employment, and, while he continued innocent, his great enjoyment to rise From nature up to nature's God. He knew God, not by any abstract process of reasoning ; but by intuition. The whole creation, m all the bright- ness of its primitive glory, stood forth as the polished mir- ror, to reflect the perfections of Deity ; and man had but to behold, admire and adore. At every turn he met the ever, and everywhere present God. In every plant and shrub he traced the workings of His hand. His converse with nature, was his communion with the Divinity. And while his mind was exercised, in those contempla- tions, and with that knowledge, by which a blissful inter- course, and communion with God were maintained, his outward actions,, and inward volitions, were in exact con- formity with the will of God, or law, which he had given for their regulation. Being created in righteousness^ his powers were adapted to that law^, or, the law was adapted to them. At all events, the adaptation was reciprocal and 25 194 1'HE LIFE OF CHAP XI complete. Man inclined to obedience, and till tlie mo- ment of his fall, perfectly conformed himself in all the ex- ercise of his varied powers, to the equitable precepts of God's most holy law. No thought of rebellion entered his mind. No act of rebellion ever appeared in his deport- ment. No feeling of rebellion, lurked in his heart. He was also created in holiness, with powers so attuned, if we may thus speak, as to be pleasureably affected with the knowledge of God, and obedience to his will, and pain- ed and distressed with the contrary. Thus knowing, act- ing, and being affected, man was the object of the divine favour, and did certainly and continuously apprehend that favour, as the means of his highest and most ennobling bles- sedness. Such was the design of his being. Such was the appropriate exercise of his intellectual, active, and sen- sitive powers. Such was his life. // consisted in the ac- tings of his mind and will and heart toward God, as his supreme good and chief end. VI. This life, man lost immediately on his giv- ing PLACE TO THE TEMPTER. His belief in the testimony of the prime apostate obscured his perceptions of the truth of God, deranged his conceptions, destroyed his rectitude, and disordered his affections^ so that he died, in a spiritual sense, as really, the moment he yielded to the seducer, as he did, in a natural sense, when several cen- turies after his body dropped into the grave. His peace- ful and blissful intercourse with God was interrupted, and instead of rejoicing to hear His voice — that voice which he was wont to hear with delight— and of wishing to meet His benificent Creator, and receive His gentle embrace, he shrunk amazed, appalled, and flying, vainly thought to shun His presence. Communion with his God, was no longer blissful. The source of that happiness, for which all the susceptibilities and capacities of his being had been ada,pted, became the fruitful spring of misery. The object CHAP. Xf. MAN'S RATIONAL SOUL. I95 he had chosen as his supreme good, was avoided and rejected ds his supreme misery. God and His glory was no longer his chief end, but were lost in the absorbing influence of supreme selfishness. He shuddered at the very thought of drawing nigh to God. Instead of basking in the sun- shine of the divine favour, and absorbing the mild rays of the divine glory, to invigorate and enliven his soul, he felt the wrath of God to be like ''a consuming fire." Oh, it was a death horrible and agonizing, that eventuated in the soul of man, when first he violated the command of God. "By one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin. "^ The rational soul, where every blissful emotion was wont to play, in all the delights of heavenly benevolence, became the foul den of thieves, a cage of un- clean birds, whence issued every hateful passion, the vile progeny of Hell. All v/as lost, and man was instantly transformed, from the delightful friend and lover of God, into his dark and malignant foe. The pestilential breath of Hell, had sullied the fair mirror, from which had been reflected the very glories of God, and on it, now might be traced, in fixed characters, the resemblance of the first rebel. See the hideou-s portrait — Love was not in their looks, either to God, Or to each other, but apparent guilt ; And shame, and perturbation and despair. Anger and obstinacy, and hate and guile. Having seen in what the life of man's rational soul con» sisted before he rebelled, we are now prepared, in a few words, to state in what consists his regeneration. As it is essentially, but making alive again, as the apostle has styled it — restoring a forfeited life; and as the life of man's rational soul consisted, as we have shown, in the appropri- ate exercise of its various powers or capacities, so, VII, Regeneration is the recommencement op the I^IFE THAT HAS BEEN LOSTJ THE RATIONAL 90VL OP MAN Jt. Horn. V. 12, 196 THE LIFE OF CHAP. XJ. BEGINNING TO ACT APPROPRIATELY IN THE EXERCISE OF ITS MORAL POWERS OR CAPACITIES, HIS MIND AND WILL AND HEART BEING DIRECTED TO GOD AS THE SUPREME GOOD AND CHIEF END. There are spiritual as well as sensible realities. Of the former, we have as real and satisfactory information, as of the latter. The testimony of God, is better evidence than our sensible perceptions. But the testimony of God, which, as it were, draws aside the veil of sense and dis- closes to our minds, the wonders and realities of the spirit- ual world, affects not the great mass of men. ^-They are earthly, sensual, devilish." They are absorbed in the scenes oithis life, intent on the objects that arrest the atten- tion of their senses. Yea, many are disgusted and pain- fully affected with the little they do learn from the testi- mony of God, with respect to spiritual things. Others, however, are filled with delight in the contemplation of them, and feel their minds and hearts swayed by their in- fluence. For, says an apostle, *'We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen."^ That there is some essential difference between them, is obvious. That difference consists in the want, on the one hand and in the possession on the other, of spirit- ual vitality. The rational soul perceives, enjoys and acts in view of spiritual realities, as disclosed by the testimony of God. They control the currents of feeling, and influence the flowings of thought. The spiritual world rises into view in all its wondrou;^- glory, and at no time, however they may vary in the degree of their impressiveness, do they lose the power of reaching and affecting the man, and rousing him to some appropriate action. The whole mind and heart and soul and in all their strength, flow forth to God, as the object of highest deliglit. "Whom have I in Heaven but Thee, and there is none on earth that I de- 1, 1 Cor. )▼. \i^. vaAP. XI, MAN'S JIATfONAL SOUL. 197 ^ire beside Thee. My flesh faints and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever/' is the language of the living soul. It lives in God— -mind and heart dwelling on his love. It will readily be admitted, that the language of the scriptures, favours this general view of the nature of Re- generation. It is not in one or two places only, but fre- quently ; yea, uniformly, that life is predicated of the renewed man. This life commences with his faith, or belief in the testimony of God, the first in the series of those acts and exercises in which it consists. The Saviour says, that '' Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you."^ As the great object promotive of that life. He calls Him- self the ''bread of lifc;''^ "The resurrection and the life;''^ ^'The way, the truth and the life;"^ "The prince of life.'-'^ They that believe on Him, are said to be partakers of life, while those on the other hand who refuse to believe, ?{re spoken of as dead, or devoid of life. "These things" says the Evangelist John, "have I written untoyou,that ye inio;ht believe upon the Son of God, and that believing, ye might have life through His name.'^'^ *'He that believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life."^ The unrenewed and unbelieving, are represented as re- fusing to come to Him, who alone can impart life. "Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life,'"' and as being actually dead. ''The time is coming, and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.''^ The transition from an unbelieving to a renewed state^ is described by various expressions, but all involving the idea of life. "We know that we have passed from death 1 Johii Ti. 53. 2 John vr. 48. 3 John xi. 25. 4 John xiv. 6 5 Acts iii. 15. 6 John xx. 31. ** Jr.hn ;ii 36. 8 John v. 40. 9 John v. :e.'. 198 THE LIFE OP chAP. XI. unto life/'^ ^'But God who is rich in mercy for the great love wherewith he hath loved us, even when w^e were dead in smSyhaih quickened us together with Christ;"^ ^^Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who, ac- cording to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again un- to a lively (living) hope;*'^ '*Which were bor7i, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God ;"^ ''Ye must be born again ;"^ "Your life is hid with Christ in God;"^ ''I will put my spirit within you, and ye shall live;"^ ''He that hath the Son, hath life/'« It is unnecessary to multiply passages. The abov^ will suffice, to show how commonly the sacred scriptures attri- bute life to the renewed man, as connected with, or pro- moted by his faith. Paul says, distinctly, "The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me;'" and "the just shall live by faith. "^'^ Will any one say that all this is metaphorical? We admit that occasionally some metaphys- ical allusion may be made, by the term life, to the great moral transformaiion which is effected in guilty sinners by the Spirit God. But it is an outrage upon language to say that in all the passages quoted, life is metaphorical. With equal propriety might we say that life itself is a metaphor ; that in fact there is no such thing. We have already seen in a general point of view, from a strict and careful examination of the nature of life, as far as •we can approximate it, that there is a state of things indu- ced in the human mind, by the Spirit's agency, which cor- responds exactly and literally with our definition of life. Why then shall we reject the idea of life, and persuade our- selves, that as applicable to our moral nature, the term is 1. 1 Jolin iij. 14. 2. Eph. ii. 4, 5. 3. 1 Peter i. 3. 4. Petei- i. 3. 5. John iii. 7. 6. Col. ii. 3. 7. Ezek. xxxvii. 14. 8. 1 Jchn v. 12. 9. Gal. ii. 20. aO. Romans i. 16. €HAi*. xr. MAN'S RATIONAL SOLL. 199 merely metaphorical? Must we take it lor granted, that there cari be no real life, but what we find associated with, and dependent on, material organization? Who does not see that the supposition is altogether unphilosophical and gratuitous? God is a spirit, and yet He is ^Hhe living and true God/' The blessed Saviour, too is called em- phatically, '^The living one ;"^ *' I am he that liveth (o ^^y) and was dead ; and, behold I am alive for ever more. "^ And it is expressly stated, that -'^As the Father hath life in Him- self, so hath He also given to the Son, to have life in Him- self."^ Is all this metaphor? But if not, and if life is predicable of a pure spirit, as is God, why should we deem it necessary to believe, or suspect for one moment that there may not or cannot be such a state of things induced in the human soul, such acts and emotions elicited, as may be best understood by accepting in its obvious import the language of scripture, which speaks of a believer's life. Thething is unquestionably possible. No one can success- fully contend for the restriction of life to the narrow limits of the material creation. If he admits that God lives, really and truly, and that His life is not metaphorical, then must he admit that there may be a real life peculiar to the hu- man soul. But in so saying, we are not to be understood as teach- ing, ov admitting for one moment, any more in reference to spiritual tha.n natxcral things, that life is an essence^ si principle, or a substance, existing per se, and being itself the cause of those actions we denominate vital. Let the reader bear in mind the idea and definition of life already advanced, and not attribute to us the mistaken assumption which pervades tlie writings of some, that life is an essence, or principle 7?e?" 6'e. In this very thing, we honestly be- lieve is to be found the origin of much of that dispute which is now tending to sunder brethren, who ought to be 1 Kev. i. 18. 2 Jelm. v. 26. 200 1'li^ L^^^ <^i' CHAP. XI. united inheartand efibrt for the salvation of souIs,as well as the source of a vast deal of that obscurity which has enwrap- ped in almost impenetrable mist, the subject of a sinner's re- generation, and we doubt not, contributed to bewilder, per- plex, ensnare, and ruin the souls of many. If any will re- present regeneration as the creation of a new principle of spiritual life, we call upon them previously to prove that life is a principle at all. This must be done before any in- ference, with regard to the nature of regeneration, as being the communication of a principle of spiritual life can be an- alogically deducible. But this subject deserves more par- ticular consideration, and is reserved to the next chap- ter. CHAPTEK XII. HEGEXERATION NOT A PHYSICAI^ CHAIVGE. Man not naturally possesed of spiritual life — Beginning appropriately to act he begins to live — This beginning the new birth — Regeneration not the infusion of a new principle of spiritual life — Ignorance and erroneous views of some Theological writers with respect to the nature oflife-Thence erroneous and vague language with regard to regeneration — Quotations from Skepp — AVitsius — Charnoclc — flopkins — A late attempt to screen old Calvinistic writers from Dr. Cox's charge that they held and taught . the doctrine of a physical regeneration — Quotation from Turretine — Dr. Owen's explanation— Dr. Witherspoon's admission— An example of strange discrepancy between them — Quotations from Dr. Owen — The influence which his false physiology had on his philosophical views of Regenera- tion— Also of Greenhill — Boston — The Stahlian doctrine and Hunterian theory of life both lay false foundations for analogical illustration — A particular examination of the attempts to repel the accusation with regard to a physical regeneration — Quotations from Dr. Edwards — No new sense — Nor holy principle— Nor spiritual instinct suflicient explanations of the nature of regeneration — All liable to objection — Some objections against the doctrine. — 1. It exceedingly obscures the grace of God — 2. renders the apostle's declai*ation difficult to be understood, Heb. vi. 4, and 5 — ■ 3. robs the Spirit of the glory of being the immediate author of christian graces — 4. has a deleterious influence on personal piety — 5. destroys a sense of moral obligation — 6. is based on a false assumption. The life of the rational soul, it has been seen, consisted originally in the relative series of those actions appropriate to its necessitibilities, and capacities, in the perception, approbation, pursuit and enjoyment of the divine favour, 3s its true and supreme felicity. This life has been lovr.. 202 REGENERATION NOT CHAP. xil« Men are naturally opposed to God, as shall be shewn more fully hereafter. Regeneration is the commencement of spiritual life. That life must have its commencement in some actor exercise which is the first in the new series. Faith, which is simply belief of the truth as made known byacredible witness, is that act orexerciseof which, where God is the witness, life in the sacred scriptures is predi- cated. ** It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God.'^i It will not be questioned on the one hand, that till a man believes he is destitute of spiritual life; nor, on the other that he no sooner believes than he lives. *^He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; andhe that be- lieveth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."^ It is certain that there is and must be, in the very nature of things, a point of time when the ra- tional soul first believes the testimony of God, with that sort of faith which causes those acts appropriate to the design of God in its creation » This is not found to be co- temporaneous with the very first actings of our intelligent nature. They are directly contrary to the will and conse- quently to the design of God, so that man is not naturally or according to the mere developements of nature, posses- sed of spiritual life. Nor will he ever be without some in- fluence and agency of the Spirit of God, other than that which He exerts as He is the God of nature. **You hath He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world. "^ Whenever the Spirit of God excites and secures in the mind and heart of man, those acts and emotions which are appropriate to his rational soul, i. e. when they are direc- ted to God, as his supreme good and chief end, he is re- 1^ Mat. iv. 4-. 2. John iu. 36, 3. Epli ii. 1, 2. CHAP. xir. A PHYSICAL CHANGE. 20- newed, regenerated, born again. And such he must be regar- ded simultaneously with the very first or commencement of them, at whatever period in the history of his being that may take place. He may have existed for years previous- ly : but his acts, in the days of his unregeneracy were not appropriate to his moral relations, or to the design of God in his creation. Till he begins thus to act, i. e. to act 7ught, he has no life : but as he thus begins, he begins to live. This beginning to live, or first going forth of the soul in appropriate actings towards God, is with great propriety and beauty, denominated the new birth. For what is birth? Is it not the commencement of a new series of processes or developements in the being's existence ? It is not the commencement of existence: nor of life absolutely; but of those actions and motions— that life which God design- ed should be developed in man in this world. Entirely new processes and actions take place simultaneously with the infant's entrance into the world. Its transit from its mother's womb, is the date of its life ; but not of its absoi.ite living existence. Cotemporaneously with this transit, new characteristicactions and emotions, or processes commence ; it is therefore said to live. As the air immediately on ex- posure rushes into the infant's lungs, which had been in a collapsed or shrivelled state, while it lay in its mother's womb, new charrcteristic actions commence. The cellu- lar spaces of the lungs are dilated ; the bosom heaves; the cavity of the chest is enlarged ; the blood flows; the oxy- gen or vital part of the atmospheric air is absorbed by the blood as it passes throu^li the lungs ; heat is disengaged by this process ; the heart begins to propel the blood ; circula- tion com.mences; and thence in regular series proceed the processes of digestion, absorption, nutrition, &c. whose ag- gregate, constitute the life of the animal being. No one imagines that when the air inflates the infant's 204 REGENERATION NOT chaf. xu. lungs, and it begins to ciy, as it struggles into birth, there is introtluced or infused mio it, a new principle of life. Yet have all its characteristic actions and processes been sud- denly changed. Birth is the very first which originates and secures all the rest in the great aggregate of vital phe- nomena. If therefore, we cannot so understand birth in physiology, as originating a new principle, or as being a new creation, we cannot lawfully infer any thing of this sort as to spiritual life, when we run the analogy. All that we can infer from the expressions Regeneration ^being born again, renewed, &c. which are terms employed to denote the change that takes place in the rational soul, is, that they denote its beginning to live, or commencing its appropri- ate life. If natural birth is not in reality a new creation, neither is spiritual birth. As our terms are necessarily taken from material and sensible things, we must beware that we do not attribute more meaning to them than the)' can in truth bear. As the infant passes from one state or mode of its being to another, when it is born, so does the new born soul pass from under condemnation, into favour with God. Birth in both cases is the mere transition. It is going altogether beyond the analogy in the case, to assert that there is in Regeneration the injection, infusion, or implantation or creation of 3.new pri7iciple of spirit- iial life. If the expressions are used in a vague meta- phorical sense, ^'s, we suppose they are b}' multitudes, we shall not object very strenuously against it. But if it is employ- ed, as it is unquestionably by some, to unfold to us the philosophy of Regeneration, or to explain the ifninediate effect of the Spirit's operations, we do unhesitatingly and unequivocallj^ denounce it as unauthorized by the language of Scripture, the analogy of nature, and the deductions of seience. Perhaps the reader may be startled at the boldness of %his declaration, and may at first sight, be disposed to think OfTAP. XIT. '^ PHYSICAL CHANGE. 205 that the above account of regeneration involves essential error. But wherein lies the essential error ? Is it essen- tial error, to affirm that the expressions, 7iew creature, cre- ated aneiv, His workmanship, are metaphorical ? Th^y most undeniably cannot be literally interpreted : for tocre- ate, is to produce something out of nothing, to give that a being which had none before, and w^hich in the nature of things, none can do but God. If they must be literally interpreted, then do we err, as will be seen, along with one of the^reat father's of the Presbyterian church, and whose fame will long be dear to the hearts of the American peo- ple, and then it will certainly follow, that Regeneration is the result of an effort of physical power, on the part of God. But more of this presently. The writings of many Theologians contain expressions which betray at one time, utter ignorance, and at another erroneous vieivs with regard to the nature of Life, It seems to be taken for granted by not a few, i\id.i physiolo- gically. Life is a created essence, and itself a causeoiihos^ actions and processes in our animal frame, which we call vital ; 3ind speaking a?ialogically, ihevefove as our terms are borrowed from material things, the impression is al- most indelibly made, that they considered regeneration literally to be the infusion, implantation or creation of some inherent principle, essence or substance which is specifical- ly the cause of those actions we account spiritual or holy. Regeneration, accordingly, in their estimation, consists in a simple effort of God's physical or creative jjower, produ- cing this essence, substance or principle of spiritual life, which itself becomes and is designed to be the immediate cause of those actions and exercises denominated holy or spiritual. The falsity of the idea that life physiologically consider- ed, is an essence or principle, has been already exposed. The reality of its existence has never been proved. The 206 REGEXERATION X'OT CHAP. XII. most specious of all the arguments in support of its being a real essence, "a first principle in nature,'^ is but an ap- parent influence which in fact is a mere hypothesis or a begging of the question. i The whole philosophy, " therefore, which would explain Regeneration as the injec- tion, or creation of a new principle or essence of spiritual life, being based on a false theory as to natural life, must be erroneous, and must lead to consequences both dangerous and heretical. \Ye\\ therefore did the apostle charge us to beware of a false philosophy. It is true that when the subject is presented in this way, and the advocates of what we must pronounce a false phi- losoph?/, 3Lve charged with maintaining the docrine of a j)hysical Regeneration^ ox Regeneration by the physical 1. "It is no evidence," says Dr. Copland, "of the non-existence of this principle, tliat it does not become visible to our senses, in an uncombined form : it is, however, sufficiently demonstrable by its effects, in alliance witii matter, in which state it presents proofs of its beiiig equal to those from which we infer the existence of matter itself " Ridicrand's Elements af Physiology — Appendix, p. 2. Who does not see that he takes for granted the existence of the cause, which is the very thing to be proved, for he •calls the phenomena of life, effeds of a vital principle ? If they are called •effects, we have shown tliat their cause is something different from a crea- ted essence "a vital principle which «//fec? to matter controls its changes and forms." The phenomena of life are the results of the divine Spirit's agen- €}', according to established laws or modes and not of a created essence wh'.ch possesses in itself a controling influence over all the properties of matter, with which we are acquainted. The following while it furnishes a specimen of the same mode of false reasoning just noticed, will serve to il- lustrate in its fullest extent, the false physiology v.hich hes at the basis of false theolog}^ "As however we can form no just conceptions of such a principle, but by its eflects, and as we have no experience of these effects unconnected with matter, so we are warranted in the conclusion, that the vital influence is as- sociated with the molecules of matter, forming the impregnating secretions, and the sensible bulk of the ovum. This is its lowest state of activity or energy and its influence is chiefly manifested, under such circumstances, in preser- ving the elements of matter with which it is associated from entering into the combinations to which the chemical aflinities of these elements dispose them," — Idem. €HAP. XII. ^ PHYSICAL CHANGE. '207 power of Godj tliere are those who utterly disclaim such an idea. But either their language is utterl^^ and absolutely unia- telligible, or it does imply the idea oi 7i real creation hy an act of mere physical power on the part of God ! We S2iy physical in the proper meaning of that term •, — not ma- terial but as real and substantial, as in the ^r^^ production or creation of the human soul. We must certainly mistake the obvious meaning of words, if some theologicial writers do not use the word create in reference to the regeneration of a sinner, in its plain and literal import, and conceive of life as being an essence or substance, possessing the power of a cause in and of itself. We cite a few quotations for the reader to examine. ^'Second instance of the Spirit's work upon the soul in effectual calling, in which the soul is ivholly passive ; and that is, in the act of quickening the soul by giving and ef- fecting a real vital union to Christ, as the head and root of all spiritual life and grace; from whom every member of his body, being thus spiritually and vitally one in him^ re- ceiveth all the necessary supplies o^ nourishment ^nd edillca- tion suited to the new creature life and motions: and as the Spirit of God and Christ knits or ties this vital Jinot of ev- erlasting union betwixt the soul and Christ ; so he himself becometh the eternal vital bond hy which the two being ^'joinedto the Lord become one spirit," as truly aindprop- erly as the union between husband and wife, by God's or- dination make them one flesh." "As there must be life in the principle or habit, before it can be in the act; so there must be union to Christ as a head before there is life in tlie member: for as well may we imagine a branch cut off from the old wild olive to have good juices in it, received from the root before it is grafted in, as to pretend that any have a life of grace or faith before spiritual vital union to Christ. How this is effected, and exactly when it beginneth 1 will not pretend to be positive 208 REGENERATION NOT CHAP. Xir. in, it being much more hidden and mysterious than the way of the spirit of man, in its first entrance into and qaick- ening the body before it is born into the world, the whicli^ whatever men pretend, is to mortals inexplicable," *^'We are sure we are passive in our being quickened by and from our life-giving head and spiritual Adam as we were in our first union to, and quickening in our na- tural parent: for as a life-giving Spirit he first co?zz;e^e//j lifefro^n himself into us by his Spirit which he giveth to us; and this very life is our union, even as life is the bond uniting and tying soul and body together, so life and unioa are coeval." Who does not feel bewildered after passing thro' such a labyrinth of perplexity? There is such a confounding of literal and metaphorical expressions, and at the same time such false physiology and false philosopjhy suggesting the analogical illustrations, that we are glad to escape. Nor are we to be deterred from the rejection of such ^^vain phil- osophy"^ by an appeal to the tnystery of the Spirit's ope- rations, for this is too often done to prevent the exposure of mere mysticism and obscurity in the conceptions and lan- guage of those who discern not where the mystery lies. Witsius defines Regeneration to be ^*a supernatural act of God by which a new and divine life z5/>t^/ into (inditur) an elect man spiritually dead, and that from the incorrupt- ible seed of the word of God impregnated by the mighty power of the Spirit." *'It is that intrinsic constitution of the soul, in which by virtue of the Spirit's uniting it with God it is born fit to put forth those actions which are pleasing to God inChrist; whether actions of this sort may follow from that principle, or, as fruit in the seed, may even there for a little while lie hid."2 1 Skepp's Divine Energy, pp. 238, 239, 240. 2 Reg-eneratio est actio Dei hyperphysica, qvia homini electjt)^ stiiritualiter CHAP. XII. A PHYSICAL CHANGE 209 The same vagueness of speech is here observable, and it seems to us very clearly to be the result of an attempt, phy- siologically to explain the nature of regeneration, and ex_ press some mystic notion about the infusion of a vital jjrinciple into the soul. He speaks of a life put into the soul, of the intrinsic constitution of the soul, of its being impregnated while a germ and there for a while lying hid, and that too, not when he might have been expected to abound in metaphor, but when theologically and philoso- phically defining regeneration. Dr. Charnock says that ''the new cvedXnvQ is ^ vital powerful principle, naturally moving the. soul to the service and obedience of God, and doth ani'inate the fa- culties in their several motions, as the soul doth quicken the members of the body." *''Tis the form whence the perfection both of understand- ing and will do flow; 'tis not therefore placed in either of them but in the essence of the soul. 'Tis by this the union is made between God and the soul: but the union is not of one particular faculty, but of the whole soul. He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit, 'tis not one particular faculty that is perfected by grace but the substance of the soul.^'' The above is capable of but one construction. We see in it clearly the philosophy of this celebrated divine. It is impossible to employ terms more expressive of the idea of Regeneration's being a physical change. He talks of grace operating in the essence of the soul, and perfecting the sub- moi'tuo, nova ac divina vita indltur, idque ex, semine incorruptibili verb! Dei, fcBCundati per immensam spiritus virtutem. Est ilia intrinseca animas cunstittit/o, qua virtute Spiritus cam cum Deo unientis, apta nata est eas exscrereas actiones, qus Deo in Christo gratae sunt: sive actiones ejusmodi mox ex isto principio consequantur, sive in jbi uti frudus in semine, aUquantisper delitescant. Wlisius de (Economia Feed. Die. lib. III. cap v. 1 €harnr)dys works fol. ed. vol. ii. -pp. 51, 8c 46, QjQ REGENERATION NOT CHAP. XIE Stance of the soul as though grace were itself a creature in_ jected by the power of God into the soul! ! And yet, else- where, this same writer contradicts himself; as indeed it is not uncommon to find such contradictions, when faith and. common sense, in some moments of inadvertence, make war upon and triumph over a vain philosophy. He says that this new creation ''is not a destruction of the substance of the soul; but that there is the same physical being and the same faculties in all men and nothing is changed in its substance as far as it respects the nature of man: 'tis neces- sary therefore that this new creation consist in gracious qualities and habits which beautify and dispose the soul to act righteously and holily.'^^ The inconsistency and contradictions in the language of tiis writer, can only be accounted for on the supposition just stated, viz: his faith and common sense occasionally get- ting the better of, and breaking through the mysticism of a false philosophy. It is plain that he considered Regenera- tion to be something done in or upon the soul by the Spirit of God, and that by the mere exercise of His physical pow- er, which, though he could not say it changed the sub- stance of the soul, nevertheless being introduced into the soul anterior to, and irrespective of its voluntary exercises, becomes the immediate cause of holiness or spiritual ac- tions, as really as the creation of the substance of the soul precedes, in the order of nntiire and of time, and proves the cause of those actions which // performs. This is unques- tionably a physical Regeneration, i. e. a change produced on or in the soul — we care not whether by addition or substraction, injection or extraction — something done to the soul back of its thoughts and feelings or voluntary ex- ercises, and which, as Witsius intimates, xndiY fecundate it and fit it for doing those things which are pleasing to God^ though for a little while it may lie hid. 1 Ckarnock's works, fol. ed, vol. ii. pp. 51, 41. CHAP. XII. A PHYSICAL CHANGE. 211 Dr. Hopkins expresses himself much to the same effect. '^The divine operation in Regeneration," says he, '*of v,^hich the ?ieiv heart is the effect, is immediate; or it is not wrought by any Tneans as the cause of it; but by the immediate poioer and energy of the Holy Spirit. ^ It is called a creation; and the divine agency in it is as Tnuck without any medium as in creating something from no^ things ^^ An attempt has been recently made to vindicate Char- iiock, Owen, Turretine and others from the charge alleged against the old Calvinistic divines by Dr. Cox, that they be- lieved and taught the doctrine ot a physical Regeneration, ^ But it is as we humbly conceive altogther a vain attempt They do indeed speak of Regeneration as a moral change, and describe it oft times with great accuracy, when speaking of the moral exercises. Here their faith and piety tri- umphed over their philosophy: — but whatever may have been their declarations and illustrations, as long as they did assert and teach that Regeneration is a literal crea^ tion — something done in or upon the soul by an immedi- -ate exercise of physical power on the part of God, thus and there producing an effect, which is anterior to any holy exercises, and becomes itself the direct cause of such exercises, we cannot possibly see how they are to be ex- culpated from the charge. Their language frequently ia» volves the idea of physical Regeneration, or they have ex- pressed themselves most awkwardly, and without any de- finite meaning. Speaking of the first moment of conversion, Turretine represents the man as perfectly passive, as is the ewer inta which water is poured. And he compares the regenera- tion of a sinner, not to natural birth but conception, ob- ■serving that, ^^as in natural generation the children them- selves cannot beget themselves, nor confer any thing to their own nativity, but are merely passive: so in superna- 1- TToplnn's System of Divinity, voli. p. 536. 2 See Bib. Rep, voL ii. 212 IJEGENERATION NOT CHAP. XI 1% tural regeneration, no one can regenerate himself."'^ The idea of an infusion or injection of gracious qualities into the soul, his language evidently implies when he teaches^ that the orthodox make the man that is to be regenerated, mere- ly a passive subject of the regenerating spirit and of the new qualities, which by Him are ii^fused, though after- wards, these neiv qualities being already injected, the man demeans himself as the proactive instrument of his own actions.^ Dr. Owen writing on the subject of regeneration, makes the following remarks: '^This (i: e. the new creature,) is produced in the souls of men by a creating act of the power of God, or it is not a creature: and it is superin- duced into the essential faculties of our souls, or it is not a new creature; for whatever is in the soul of power, dis- position, ability or inclination unto God, or for any moral actions, by nature, it belongs unto the old creation, it is no new creature, and it must be somewhat that hath a being and subsistence of its own in the soul, or it can be neither new nor a creature.''^^ Of Dr. Owen we have an exalted opinion, and acknowl- edge ourselves much indebted to his writings, especially in having early imbibed from them a taste for the study of the Scriptures, in preference to tomes of theology in matters of 1 Sed de pimo moraento, quo primum convertitnr, et novam vitam per regenerationem accipsit, in quo mere passive se habere ad modum subjecti recipientis, non veri principii agentis contendiraus. Et ut in generatione natural!, liberi ipsi s&\t^?,os gi gnere non possunt, nee quicquam conferre ad sui nativitatem, sed mere passive se habent: ita in regeneratione supernaturali nemo seipsum regenerare potest. Turret. Inst. Vol. ii. pp. 592, 595. 2 Hominem vero regenerandum facient subjectionem mere passivum Spiritus regenerantis, et novarum qualitatum, quae ab ipso infunduntur Quamvis postea infusis jam novis qualitatibus, se habeat ut instrumentum aQtivumllberum suorum actiomun. Tun-et. Inst. vol. ii. p. 592, ♦3 0^uen on the SpiriU vol. i. p. 349, 350. OHAP. XII. "^ PHYSICAL CHANGE. 2l3 faith. But we cannot defer even to him, where his lan- guage is wrapped up in the folds of a false philosophy, or conveys no definite idea to the mind. In the passaga above quoted, he clearly and zealously insists upon the phrase new creature^ being literally understood. Dr. Witherspoon on the other hand in his valuable practical treatise on Regeneration, at the very commencement, pro- nounces the scriptural phrases ''being born again," "the new creature," *'his workmanship," &c. to be inetaphor- ical, thus evidently denying there is a literal or real cre- ation. He does indeed speakof an ''inward andessential change," but it is very evident, that he does not by these terms de- note any other change than may be traced in the volunta- ry exercises : for he considers that it may be as appropri- ately designated by repentance as by regeneration. "It appears," says he, "that regeneration, repentance, conver- sion, call it what you please, is a very great change,"^ aiid that change he describes in detail, in the actual develope- ments of character ivhich take place, i. e. zVi those feel- iiigs and actions, which constitute the character. He does not pretend to prove, or assert, the existence of ^principle of life, or any thing else back of the voluntary ■exercises themselves, as the cause, or origin, of that holi- ness, without which no man shall see the Lord. But this Dr. Owen does, as the above quotation proves, and to inti- mate that the expressions, "new creature," "being boru again," and "His workmanship," are metaphorical, the latter denounces in the severest terms, saying that it '^is but a way to turn the whole into a fable, or at least to ren- der the gospel the most obscure, and improper way of teach- ing the truth of things, that ever was made use of in the world. "^ Thus widely and radically did those two excel- 1. Witherspoon's works, vol. i. p. 102. ?. Owen on the Spirit, vol. i, p. 351. 214 KKGENEKATION NOT CHAP. XTI. lent men differ in their philosophical views of Regenera- tion, while nevertheless, they both were agreed as to the scriptural facts in the case. But we have not yet clone witli the views of Dr. Owen, and the proofs, that the language of some old Calvinistie writers implies an assumption, that the agency of the Spir- it in Regeneration, consisted in producing, creating sorne- ihing in the soul, which something, is itself the cause of holy and vital acts and exercises, ^^Allow," says he, ^*a new spiritual principle, an in- fused habit of grace, or gracious abilities to be required in and unto Regeneration, or to be the product of the work of the Spirit therein, that which is born of the Spirit be- ing Spirit, and this part of the nature of this work, is suffi- ciently cleared. '^^ ^'This B-iA 046 THE FACT AND GENERAL NATURE chAP. XIII. any proof that he is recovered from the dominion of sin^ till he finds his selfishness destroyed. Whatever he may think^ the death of Christ has taken none effect on him. His selfishness is proof of entire depravity. The dominion of selfishness is deemed, by some, alike the proof and essence of human depravity. But here we venture to ask, why is it? God aims at His own glory, and for it all things are and were created. He demands the homage of his creatures, and will have every knee bow, and every tongue confess to Him. We are not disposed to think that this is sin in Him. And why not? God is holy, benevolent, just and true; and in seeking His own glory, can never injure, or be guilty of injustice to others. Were he a capricious, fickle, tyrannical and ma- lignant Being, such a design in him — we speak it with rev- erence— would become as morally wrong as it is in us. His seeking his own glory would be apprehended as evin- cive ot those traits of character, which tend to destroy all confidence in the Being possessing them, and are destruc- tive of the peace and happiness of the universe. As it is now, however, we are inspired with the most delightful con- fidence, by means of the very circumstance — that all things are ordained and ordered for the glory of God. The whole difference would lie in the nature or character of God; not in the mere exercise of his volitions. In like manner we may reason of man. The mere cir- cumstance of his desiring his own happiness, is not in itself necessarily evincive of depravity. Many of the appeals which God makes to us, are based on the assumption, that man will, and may legitimately do so. But God has sub- ordinated our interests to His glory, and has made it in- cumbent on us to prosecute them, in entire and absolute submission to His will. ^'Whether, therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."^ I 3 CoK X. .•: ..x^,> vTTT . OF HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 247 When we inquire into the matter of fact, the melancho- ly discovery is quickly made that man is found at war with the constitution of God. He substitutes his own selfish in- terests, wishes and will, for God's, and thus madly attempts to ascend Jehovah's Throne, and impiously disputes the equity of His constitution. He is under the all-command- ing, and controling influence of a purpose of rebellion. It may not indeed be his conscious intention to resist the God whose existence he admits, and whose character he imper- fectly apprehends, but in point of fact there is the feeling of dislike for, and opposition to, His claims, which deter- mines and regulates his thoughts and purposes and actions. He seeks his gratification and happiness, in ways and thino-s directly at variance with the requisitions, and pro- hibitions of God. Whenever the latter are opposed to the dictates of his selfishness, they must give way, and thus God Himself must be subordinated to his will. It is this subjection of man's feelings, purposes, affections, thoughts, desires and acts, to his selfishness, that consti- tutes the depravity of his nature. Every act and emo- tion, evincive of it is sin. By selfishness we do not understand the instinctive de- sire of the man after happiness. God has ordained it, that by the mere impulse of instinct, we have respect to our well-being. It is the law of self preservation, enstamped on the universal creation. .Some have seen fit to denomi- nate it self-love, and others diff'erently. We are not tena- cious of terms. It is the fact of which we are in quest; and leaving disputed and ambiguous phrases out of view, we presume our readers will generally admit, that the mere longing of the soul after bliss, when it does not fix on any specific or forbidden and dangerous objects, is no more si?7ful in itself, than is our mere craving of food, when we think not to gratify it, by appropriating to our use any iioisonous or other substance. ^'There are certain character- 248 THE FACT AND GENERAL NATURE cHAP. XIII. istics of human nature," says Dr. Dwight, "which consid- ered by themselves, are innocent. Such are hunger, thirst, the fear of suffering and the desire of hoppiness; together with seT^ral others." *'The desire of happiness, and the fear of suffering, are inseparable from the rational and even the percipient nature."^ The desire of happiness, consid- ered abstractly from every object on which it may be al- lowed to terminate, is. not in itself sinful; nor is it neces- saril}^ selfishness. It is in letting this instinctive desire ter- minate on, and impel us to the choice and pursuit of, any thing improper and inconsistent with the will of God, that we are to discover the proof and workings of our own de- pravity. The impelling and controling influence of this desire, as it terminates Oii sinful objects and becomes the merest sel- fishness, has been variously designated, and its origin refer- red to various efficient causes. By some it has been called ^he bias of our nature, and by others the inclination of the heart, the temper of the mind, 2i principle, the dispo- sition, the tendency, the habit, the propensity of the soul.^ Much of the dispute which agitates the christian community on this subject, v/e think will be found to grow out of different ideas, attached to such very vague and indefi- nite expressions. They are manifestly all analogical expres- sions, and therefore ought to be employed with great cau- tion, and, as far as practicable, with great precision. One man understands by disposition, something laid in the very structure of the soul or constitution of our being, which possesses, anterior to all acts and exercises, efficient jjoiv- er to secure and produce acts and exercises of a particular character; and accordingly he employs such loose metaphors as the source, the fountain, &c. when speaking of moral ac- tions. Another understands, by it, an immanent choice, the ^;^.re*i purpose or preference, d^ permanent st?te of mind, i. Dr. T)\vig-:.t'.sThc-o], vol i. p. 402. CHAP. XIII. OF HUMAN DEPUAVn V. 249 which results, according to the very laws hy which God governs the mind, from the first decisive act of the will, denying that there is any thing in the essence or constitu- tional properties, or nature of the human soul, apart from its established modes of action, which possesses efficient power to secure acts of depravity. Here lies the main ground of dispute, as we suppose; and it is one of such a very serious nature, as to require the mi- Kutest and most interested attention. For it inyolvQS the character of God, and the responsibilities of man, and that most vitally. It will not do to dismiss the subject with a cry of philosophy or metaphysics, and retreat into the refuges of ignorance. A vain and false piiilosophy m.ay be ingraft- ed on the facts of revelation, and some may find it difficult accurately to discriminate between them. Where men have identified their philosohy with the facts of scripture, and are unable or averse to discriminate, it is as natural as it is com- mon, to denounce the rejection of the former, and raise the cry of metaphysics, philosophy, when, in truth, it is but an effort to separate what have been improperly united. That there is some appropriate cause of human depravity, all admit. 0[ the precise nature of tliis, it is obvious that we must be ignorant, as we are of all causes whatever. This is not, >in itself however a suiiicient reason for our denying that there is, or may be such a thing. When we see effects uniformly resulting, we attribute them to the influence and operation of some efficient agency. We begin with God Himself, and apprehend His divine agency as the prime cause, and thence proceed, through all the different uniform phenonema, or results arising, which fall under our observation, apprehending some immediate efficient agency, which remains uniformly the same. This we call by various names, sometimes a law, sometimes a constitW' 32 250 '11^^ FACT AND GENERAL NATURE ciIAP. XIII. tion of God, sometimes di principle: — It is indeed of little consequence which. We find the human mind, in its exercise, following cer- tain general regular modes of action. Tiioughts rise spon- taneously there, according to certain laws of association. We cannot prevent our minds from being thus affected though we may counteract the impressions, which thoughts arising, may make upon us. Now we may call this fea- ture of our nature, a law or constitution of God, or what we please; still we cannot doubt, that there is something which'has determined and established these modes of action. God created the human mind, and in the first instance adap- ted it to specific modes of action. These are the laws by which He governs mind. He gave us the power of thinking and feeling and acting as we do. Ou7' modes of thought are not those of angelic minds. Shall we say, that there is no appropriate cause of this difference.'' that there is no law, or reason, why the mind should act in particu- lar modes? In other matters we will not consent thus to act: nor is it proper to dosohere. Wherever we discover uniform results— a series of correspondent actions, all stan- ding in the same relation to one specific substance, we insensibly assume the existence of some unvarying cause. We see the phenomena of attraction,for example, in pon- derous bodies, and attribute them to gravitation, as their immediate cause. Is there no such thing? Who would believe the metaphysician that would tell us so? Soms power is apprehended by us, almost instinctively. This, power, we have already seen is the agency of God Him- self into which all our inquiries on this subject, ultimately conduct us. If in the operations of mind, or its modes of actioft, we are led to the same result, what then? We ars not at all startled by it; but, on the contrary, disposed more to admire and adore the every-where present and operative /' CHAP. XIII. f>F HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 251 Supreme. His agency in our minds supporting and invig* orating them for their appropriate action, we will not pre- tend to scrutinize, — no more than we will His 'agencv in the action of one material substance on another. But that there is some sustaining and suppoi^ting agency of God in the human mind, by virtue of which it performs certain actions, according as He has been pleased in His sovereign- ty to ordain, we cannot deny. The varied modes of that agency, we appropriately call the laws of mind; and when its operations are conducted, in accordance with the mu- tual dependence and subservience of those laws, there is an harmonious action, as indicative of purity, as productive of felicity: — Just as the operations of nature, following with- out perversion or distortion, the laws which God has or- dained, exhibit the excellence of the divine constitutions. We admit that the parallel is not complete, and that there is this essential difference between the agency of God in sustaining mind and matter, that, in the former instance, there is a power of voluntary action, which, it is re- quired shall be exerted in accordance with the divine will. We are aware, also, that it may be objected, according to the view^s just expressed, that human volitions themselves, are as much the result of a divine agency, as other mental acts. But we are persuaded that the objection originates in a misapprehension of the nature of that divine agency, which is conceded in the operations of created mind. It is not such an agency as to make the act, distinctly and exclusively the act of God; but such a sustaining, and uniformly co-operating agency, according to certain estab- lished modes of thought, as gives energy to the voluntary being, but at tlie same time, does not affect or destroy the voluntariness of his acts, nor immediately originate them. Thus, for example — itis a mental act to attend — the mind possesses a power to bring its thoughts to bear and fix tliemseives on a particular subject: that is, God co-operate's 252' 'I'HE TACT AND GENERAL NATURE cHAP. XIII. by His sustaining agency, while the mind acts. It is ani&ther mental act to perceive or take up an idea of that which is presented to the consideration of the mind; — it is a third to compare together different ob- jects, and different ideas, so as to elicit some result or con- clusion, or make a selection and choice from among them, not to mention others. Now Wiq power of created minds to do these things, is resolvable only into the concurring co-operating, or supporting and sustaining agency of God. This ao-ency is uniform, and entirely irrespective of the ob- jects that present themselves or the moral character of the acts. But man is not only capacitated for certain mental acts, but also, for being impressed or affected from various sources and by various means, and in a great variety of modes, which impressions or affections have an exciting and im- pelling influence on the mind. Thus, if a man is affected with a love of moral excellence, or a desire for the glory of God, the current of his thoughts will take a correspon- dent course. His mind will act itself in all the varied modes of thought in attending to, perceiving, comparing, and choosing those objects and ideas, that are holy and con- ducive to the glorification of God. On the contrary, if he is affected with a love of sin, and a desire to proinote his selfish interest and glory, the whole current of the thoughts will be turbid and impure. The different capacities and powers of the man will be exercised on objects, and in ways, quite foreign from the design of God in his crea- tion, and made knovv'n to him in His law, and cannot fail to present a melancholy specimen of moral derangement, that is, in other words, in all the established modes of ac- tion, through which God imparts His energy in supporting the mind of man, man will be found, as the immediate ori- ginator of his own acts, to be perverting the constitution of God. and acting altogether inappropriate to the, great CHAP. XIII. OF lU'MAN DEPRAVITY. 053 design for which he was created, making God to serve ivith his sins. Such is actually the exhibition which every unrenewed man makes. He acts under the influence of aversion from God, of hatred of holiness, and of love of sin. The current of his thoughts, the words of his mouth, the feelings of his heart, as well as the deeds of his life, all shew that there is no friendly and cherished intercouse between God and his soul. *^The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God, — God is not in all his thoughts."^ ''The carnal mind is en- mity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, niether indeed can be."^ Here lies the proof and essence of human depravity. There is a deranged action of all the moral powers in man — they are all under the dominion of an absorbing selfishness, which has consigned God and His claims to forgetfulness and contempt. *'The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek af- ter God — God is not in all his thoughts. '^^ Oh wretched, frightful state of human debasement! 1. Psalm xiv. 1. 2. Rom. viii. 7. 3. Psalm x. 4. CHAPTER XIV. GOD IS ^"OT THE AUTHOR OF SI¥. Ax Inquiry vvlutaer God is the author ofsln — Influence of theoretical prin- ciples on human belief — Should be carefully resisted when conflicting with plain scriptural statements of fact — Scriptural account of the nature of sin and testimony as to its immediate origin — Some agency on the part of God, in the sinful conduct of men admitted — Infidel objection against the purit}'^ of God from His permitting men to sin — The possibility of sin incidental to the giving of a law does not imply it must actually ex- ist— Fearful results that may transpire in the Government of a Being who cannot prevent sin — The injurious implications to which the admission subjects God — Some suggestions as to God's permitting sin — The rich array of motive to induce obedience thrown around man — Sin a.n occasioii for amazing revelations as to the divine character — And of thus multiply- ing motives of obedience — This does not imply that it is the necessary means of the greatest good — No impeachment of the purity of God for His agency in sustaining and supporting the sinner. Whether God is the author of sin, is a question, often ask- ed, by those whose views of the divine nature and excellence, it might have been supposed, would have effectually guarded against even a momentary doubt or suspicion on the subject- But, it is by no means uncommon, for theoretical and philo- sophical principles, to be so pertinaciously and zealously ad- vocated, as to blind their votaries, and engender notions at war with the plainest revelations of the word of God. "God is light, and in Him there is no darkness atall. If we say that vs-c have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, wc lie, CHAP. XIV. ^^^^ IS NOT THE AUTHOR OF SIX. 255 and do not the truth. ^'^ It is utterly impossible, ihd^t a Beino; of infinite and spotless holiness, should in any way, be the author o/ rebellion against His own right- eous and equitable sway. The idea indeed has been en- tertained, and it is one which the unrenewed and depraved heart, secretly cherishes, and tries to believe. But human conscionsness resists all theory, and every man, till blinded by his prejudices and false reasonings, is practically convinced, that he himself is the immediate au- thor of his own voluntary acts of disobedience. We say voluntary acts of disobedience, for this is the idea which the scriptural account of its nature gives us of sin. "Sin is not imputed where there is no law." ^ "Where no law is, there is no transgression."^ The violation, in tliought, in word, or in deed, either by acts or refusing to act, of any precept of God, is sin. This is the uniform view which the scriptures give us of its nature; and, at the same time, they as uniformly teach what human consciousness every day and hour confirms, that we are ourselves the imme- diate^ efficient authors of our own volitions. God does not by any creative or direct positive efficiency produce them, for then would He be the guilty cause of all rebel- lion against Himself. Such as are bold in their rebellion, and devoted in their attachment to sinful pleasures and pursuits, liave not hesi- tated to lay tlie blame of their sins on God. But there sounds forth from tlie very mouth of God Himself, this solemn and adm.onitory word, charging man with the wil- ful perversion of His established constitution and modes of agency. "Tiiese things hast thou done, and I kept si- lence. Thou thoughtest that I was aUogetlier such an one as thyself, but I will reprove thee."'* "Thou hast made Me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine 1. 1 John 1. 5, 6, ?-,. Kom. iv. 15. 2. Horn. V. 1.;, 4. Psalm 1. '21. 256 GOD IS NOT THE CHAP. XIV. iniquities."^ Nor will any one, who has right apprehen- sions of the divine excellence, and whose heart entertains the least feeling of approbation or respect for God, allow it even to be insinuated, that He can be the author of sin. '*Let no man say when he is tempted, lam tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away with his own lust and enticed. Then, when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. "^ When it is said that "God did tempt Abraham,'"^ it is ob- vious the inspired writer meant only to sa)^, that God made trial of him^ having, by the arrangements of His provi- dence, the words of His promise, and the precepts of His mouth, put the faith of Abraham to a very severe test. But, in all this, God was not the author of sin; nor did He solicit Abraham to sin; so that, the apostle James' word does not, in the least respect, conflict with other testimonies of the sacred scripture ; while, it does, most amply and satisfac- torily repel the charge, and vindicate the character of God from the aspersions of those who would teach, that He is the author of sin. *'Shall the throne of iniquity have fel- lowship with Thee?''"* These, and such like testimonies, ought to sway our faith .^ so that, whatever philosophical principles would lead us to a result so entirely inconsistent with them, we ought at once to discard them as false and dangerous guides. Such a result however, we do not apprehend, can be le- gitimately deduced from the principles advanced in the former chapter, with regard to the agency of God. It is not to be questioned, that while the scriptures vindicate the character of God, and will not for a moment, admit the idea that He is the author of sin, they nevertheless attribute to 1. Isaiah xllii. 24 2. James v. 13 — IS. ' 3. Gen. xxii. 1. 4. Psalm, xciv. 20. CHAP. XIV. AUTHOR OF SIN. 257 Him, some agency in relation to It. ^^Shall there be evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it?''^ asks God by the moutii of the prophet, which, although it may be under- stood of physical evil, yet, as such evil is often brought about througli tlie sins of men, there Is so ??ie agency of God in tlie matter. Moreover, that tlie counsel or will of God, takes cogjii- zance of sinful acts, that will hereafter he done by men, and that, long before the events, or even the agents had any being, cannot be denied. In proof of this, are those predictions, which regard the guilty conduct of men. We select the instance of Joseph's being sold by his brethren, and the accompanying and consequent transactions. ^*As for you, ye meant it for evil, but God meant it for good, to save much people alive, as it is this day."^ Another, yet more decisive, and marked instance, is that of the cru- cifixion and death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It was, without doubt, the purpose of God, that His Son should die a cursed death, and yet, that purpose was effec- ted through the guilty agency of men. *'Him being de- livered according to the determinate counsel and fore- knowledge of God ^ have ?/c taken and with Zi;/c/j:1> I"^ NOT THE CHAP. XIV. benevolence, and so- orders and over-rules all, as to bring about a greater good. Such are the daily developments of His providence. This idea may be carried to the utmost extent, and it furnishes a satisfactory answer to the carj^sing, cavilling ob- jections of the infidel, v/ho thinks, and alleges, that if God could have prevented men from sinning, it necessarily im-. plies some moral turpitude in Hirn, to permit them to do so. That they do sin, is not to be denied. Nor will it be disputed, save by some raving Atheist, who has lost the power of discerning between right and wrong. Now sup- pose, to shield his reputation from the infidel slander, we admit that God could not prevent men from sin, is there anv thing gained in this respect by the admission? For we may ask ^vith unanswerable pertinency and point, can he then subdue or control it ? It is m.uch easier among men io prevent crime, than to reform the criminal. Assured- ly, if God could not have prevented sin, we cannot confi- dently expect that ever sin vv^ill be subdued, and nothing presents itself to our view, but dread uncertainty in this matter, or a dark and dismal prospect of eternal scenes of rebellion and revolt in the government of God. lihc possibility of sin being committed by moral beingSy must be admitted to be incidental in the nature of things to the giving of a lav/, designed to regulate their voluntary conduct. '*Where no lav/ is, there is no transgression," nor can there be. But the actual existence of sin is a very different matter. It does not follow that because it is inci- dental^ therefore it must exist. Whether voluntary be- ings shall not be allowed to sin; i. e. whether there shall be such a powerful array of motive, and such an influence thiH)wn around them at all times, and all circumstances of temptation be so carefully prevented from arising, as that they shall always choose to obe)^, is a question, which we think it would be presumptuous in us to resolve in any CHAP. XIV. AUTHOR OF SIX. ' 259 other way, than as God Himself has been pleased to do. Some voluntary beings have persevered in their obedience, and kept their first estate. Others have sinned and fallen. If God had determined to prevent the latter, who will say that He had not sufficient skill and power to do so? Ad- mitting that He had, we cannot see that He was under any obligations of benevolence to do so: but denying that He had fills us with dread forebodings, as to the final issues of His government. Of the apostacy and fall of two orders of intelligent crea- tures, we have knowledge; and one seduced the other. Shall this thing spread? Shall the contagion of rebellious example extend itself to other worlds, and decoy from their allegiance the happy innocents, that now adore and love? Or shall the new orders of creatures, which God, in the plenitude of His wisdom and benevolence, may see fit to create, fall from their steadfastness and felicity, and the mighty empire of Jehovah become a vast amphitheatre of woy? Wmo can contemplate such an idea with composure? It is shocking to all the sensihilities of the heart! And yet, if God cannot prevent sin, what security have we, that eternity shall not be one frightful series of rebellion, and that world after world shall not, like this wretched earth of ours, become the theatre of crime, requiring floods and flames, and even the very annihilating efforts of Om- nipotence, to stay the progress of revolt? If, in this way, we seek to defend the divine character from the malignant aspersions and insinuations of infideli- ty, do we not impeach it in others? Our confidence in the government of God will be destroyed, and we may as read- ily repose in the lofty professions of some rebellious prince, that rears the standard of revolt, and anticipate success in resisting the commands and counsels of Jehovah, as in the declarations of a God that cannot so administer his govern- ment as to prevent rebellion. The vr-ry admission implies? Ofjo (,()D TS NOT THE iHAP. XIV. an imbecility or imperfection of character, or paucity of re- sources, which might tempt to rebellionj or at least inspire distrust. But no such admission is necessary. The vin- dication of the moral character of God requires it not. For there is a view which can be given of the whole subject, calculated to exalt both the divine chiiracter and govern- ment. If He can, as He will, without doing vio- lence to the voluntary agency of man, subdue his rebellious heart — if he has so adapted the miotives and inducements to subordination and submission, as to reach, effectively, the hearts of his enemies, how. much more easily might He, in the first instance, have so established the principles of liis government, and adjusted its administration, as to have prevented revolt among innocent creatures? JMust we believe that this was impossible? But if God could have prevented sin, liow comes it, it Vv^ill be quickl}^ asked, that a Be'ng of boundless benevo- lence, who delights not in the misery of his creatures, and of infinite holiness, who abhors all workers of iniquity, should have allowed it to gain entrance, and to spread such wretchedness among his creatures? In reply to this inqui- ry, we remark, that the government of mind is essentially clifferent from that of matter. To moral agents, God has been pleased to grant the power of discerning between right and wrong, and to choose and act, according as their minds and hearts shall be determined and affected by con- siderations and motives presented. Such is his divine con- stitution. S.ich power is essential to moral agency. Hu- man beings are moral agents. To act for them, or io force, them to act against their will, would be contrary to His own infinitely wise and sovereign constitution. All that is necessary to vindic:ite the divine purity in this niatter, is, to shew tliat he has presented in the universe around, in the circumstances and condition of man's being, and in the provir?ion« of his moral government, a sufficient array of CHAP. XIV. AUTHOR OF SIN. 261 materiel for motives and inducements to obedience. Who can doubt this, that will, for one moment, allow his mind to contemplate the richness, vastness, wisdom and benevo- lence of the Almighty INIaker of heaven and earth? Throughout the whole of animated and vegetable nature, we may range with delight, admiring and adoring the %visdom and goodness of God, wdio has made all, and adapted them to the purposes of human comfort and fe- licity. Nor is inanimate nature silent in the praise of the Most High. Every wdiere and in every thing, we may see reflected the sparkling glories of His wisdom and good- ness and might. And as it regards the law which He has giv- en to regulate our hearts and lives, it is wondrously adapt- ed to the nature and circumstances of man, in all his varied interests and relations. The observance of its precepts is conducive to felicity. The violation of them is productive of misery. '^The law is holy, and the commandment is ho- ly, just and good,"^ ^'The law of the Lord is perfect, con- verting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, mak- ing wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, en- during forever; the judgments of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold; yea, thaii much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honey comb. Moreover, by them is thy servant w^arned; and in keeping of them there is great reward. ^'^ These things are not mere speculations, but matters of fact, continually proved and illustrated before our eyes. "The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest; whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, &aith my God, to the wicked.'" '*Evil pursueth sinners. ''"* 1. Rom. vii. 12. 3. Isal. h'li. 30—31. 2 Psl. xix. r— n. 4. Prov, ^62 <''>^> '^ ^^>'" ''i^K CHAP. Xix:. No one can have lived long in the world, or looked care- fully on the conduct of divine providence, without having found, that just as men depart from the commandments of God, do they involve themselves in misery. '*Woe to the wicked, it shall be ill with him ; for the reward of his hands shall be given him.'^^ Here, then, is an ample array of motive to induce obedience. But all this has been exceed- ed— infinitely exceeded, by the displays of mercy and grace, of righteousness and truth, through Jesus Christ. It would seem that to innocent beings, a much more lim- ited development of the excellencies of the divine charac- ter lias been made, than is through the plan of redemption, as devised by inliiiite wisdom, and executed through Jesus Christ. The angels of heaven are represented as desiring to look into it.^ We have, therefore, ample ground, on which to vindicate God from the infidel objection against Tne benevolence of. His character, drawn from the fact of His having permit- ted sin. It is not that the Lofty Sovereign of heaven and earth is cnpricious and tyrannical, and delights to sport vrith the misery of his creatures. It has afforded occasion far the richest, fullest, and most amazing and affecting ex- iiibitions of the glories of His character; for tlms increasing and giving intensity and energy to those motives, by which He operates on the rational mind, and binds it in wil/iug' subjection to his sway. Suppose that sin had never exist- ed; v.'e should not have known that there is mercy with God, nor any thing of that benignity and grace which prompt io forgiveness. Some of the most amiable features of the divine character, would have been forever concealed from the view of his creatures. On the supposition that God could not have prevented sin — i. e. that its actual exi.ste:>ce, is necessarily inciden- 1. Isa". ^i;. U. 2. Pet. i. 12. ' iiAP. XIV. Al'THOlt OF SIX. 0(j3 tal in a moral system, tJie plan of redemption seem.? to bs nothing more than :x jrrcssnt expedient of His divine wis- dom, to perfect His moral government. God appears in it to be rather labouring to remedy the defects of His previous plan, than as overwhelming His rebellious creatures with new and surprising demonstrations of His excellence, Nor ean we have any confidence that His system of moral gov- ernment \syet perfect. For if sin is necessarily incidental to a moral system, and God's fu'st plan proved so defective as that rebellion qulcklv arose among his creatures, what security have we, that his second plan will prove much bet- ter? It may, indeed, be the result of experience, and be somewhat improved; but whether that experience is sulTi- cient to enable God to guard against all future contingen- cies, is a question that might excite some painful solicitude among his creatures. And if, according to tlie view some take of that improved plan of God's moral governmerjt, we are to learn that He has relaxed from the rigour of His law. He certainly \\\\\ stand convicted of rashness and cruelt}*, in having, in the first instance, gjiven such a law; so tliat the motives to rebellion would rather be increased tl^an di- minished. All confidence in His character, as a moral -n they incidentallv undertook to define or to describe it. CHAP. XV. "^^^^ df:pravity. 277 lution of these inquiries shall be attempted in the remain- ing of this, and several succeeding chapters; inasmuch as the subject of depravity, when understood, serves indirect- ly to illustrate the natare of Regeneration. It is strange that ever it should luave been made a ques- tion, whether sin ma)- be predicated of being or simple ex- istence, since sin is undeniably an act of a moral charac- ter, and, therefore, can only be committed by one, who is possessed of moral powers; i. e. one who is capable of act- in"- according as the law requires or prohibits. So far as personal unholiness or sin is concerned, we mean that which is contracted and exhibited by the individual person of whom it is predicated, the truth of this remark is ob- vious. For the very nature of sin implies an exercise of will. There can be neither obedience nor disobedience, where there is not an exercise of will. That will may be secured through the impulse of various feelings and mo- tives, and they may determine its character; but all person- al holiness or unholiness — i., e. the holiness or unholiness which characterizes a moral agent, involves, in its very na- ture, an exercise of will. It is indispensably necessary, that we pay particular re- spect to the general characteristics, as a creature, or consti- tution of the being, when holiness or unholiness is predi- cated of it. An ox, or goat, as set apart and slain, accord- ing to the rites of Levitical sacrifice, was accounted holy. So also were the pots and vessels of the sanctuary. Other things were accounted unholy or unlcean. But no one will pretend, that the holiness or unholiness which is pred- icated of such things, is the same in character with that of rational, moral creatures, such as man. Nor will it be affirmed, that the holiness which was predicated of Israel, - collectively as a people, set apart from other nations, is of the same character with that, which is attributed to the saints personally, as individual moral agents. 278 THE ORIGINAL OF CHAP. XT. The holiness or unholiness of an individual moral agent, which we have called j?;g?\yo??«/, has respect to the exercises of the will, as induced hy the feelings of the heart, and the influential motives. These are the things which properly fall under the cognizance of law, and which the law is de- signed to regulate. Law, in general, is the declared will of a legitimate sovereign, designed to regulate the conduct of his suhjects. It addresses itself directly to the capaci- ties of their rational and moral nature, and requires from them a voluntary compliance with its demands. Its char- acter is not changed, where God, our Creator, is the law- giver; so that it is obvious, to every intelligent reader, that holiness, or sin which is its opposite, has a direct and im- mediate reference to those voluntary acts and exercises, wbiich the law is designed to secure or prevent. The law has neither respect to, nor is designed to regu- Lite. simple being or created existence; hni py^esujjposes the existence of moral agents. How very absurd, therefore, is it, to predicate sin of that which does not fall under the cog- nizance of law at all! Simple existence, cannot, in the very nature of things, be sinful; for there is no law designed to prevent existence. And such is the common sense of mankind. No one ever thinks or feels, that it is a sin, that he exists, or that he was born, or that he was conceiv- ed ; for these things, being beyond the control of man's will, and being properly the results of God's agency, if they are sinful, the sin must be his, — which is a thought too im- pious to entertain. But while this will perhnps be admitted by the most zealous advocate of what is * ''commonly called origin- al sin," tliere are forms of speech, and modes of illustra- tion, adopted by some, which, if they do not imply that mere human existence or being is sinful, do certainly, that there is in the very soul of man ^^something," which has the power to originate acts of a sinful nature., and conse- CHAP. XV. HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 079 quently, being their appropriate cause, may be itself de- nominated sinful, 3Lnd viewed as affecting, by its very pres- ence, the moral purity of the soul. Whether this cause of sinful acts, lodged in the very soul, is to be traced up to any defect of physical constitution, or to the actual inbeing or inherence of any habit, principle, bias or taiiit, which is . the appropriate and immediate cause of sinful acts, or both, it is difficult precisely to determine, from the language and illustrations employed. Dr. Owen evidently speaks of sinj'^'is d^jjj^incijjle, or some- thing which has the efficiency of a cause, and which exists in men anterior to any acts performed by them. He calls it ^^Indwelling sin,'' and has written an interesting prac- tical treatise, which, where it is not rendered absolutely mys- tical, and unintelligible, through the influence of false phi- losophy, may be found profitable in the experience of chris- tians. His remarks are founded on the figurative expres- sions of the apostle Paul, who, when speaking of his con- tinual warfare with sin, personified it as siii that divtlleth in him, and represented its influence as a law in his mem- bers. Such expressions the Dr. seems to have understood, and interpreted in iheir literal sense, which can in no way be sustained, but on the supposition of a physical depravity. We give the reader his current comment on the apostles' language. *'Sin that dwelleth in me. It is present with me. It is in my members ; yet it is so far in a man, as in some sense it is said to be the man himself. 'I know that in me, that is in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing.' The flesh which is the seat and throne of this law^, yea which indeed is this law, is in some sense the man himself, as grace also is the new man. Now from this considera- tion of it, that it is an indwelling law, inclining and moving to sin as an inward habit or principle, it has sundry advan- 2S0 THE OKlGiNAL OF cHAP. XV. tages increasing its strength, and furthering its jjower. As, First it a\\x^,ys abides 172 the soul, it is never absent. '^^ It IS obvious to every reader, that from the above quota- tion, Dr. Owen, unders'oud what he called *'indwel- ling sin,'' lobe itself an operative principle, having power to determine and control the acts of the soul, and in this respect, to be the very opposite of the vital, or holy princi- ple, which he taught, is implanted in regeneration. This is rendered perfectly indisputable, from the definition which he has given of ^'indwelling sin," considered as a law. ''It is," says he, ^^3l 2^owe7'ful, effectual indwelling prir.ciple, inclining and pressing unto actions, agreeable and suitable unto its nature."^ But while, in one place, he speaks of &m positively as an indwelling law or principle^ something operative — having power to produce actions * 'suitable unto its nature," which is unquestionably, ?l phys- ical depravity) in another place, he contemplates it nega- tively, as a72«/?«r«/impotency, or defect in our being, thus also maintaining a physical depravity. He denominates it a natural impotency, "because" he says "it consists in the deprivation of the light and ])Oiver that was origi- nally in the faculties of our minds or understandings, and because it can never be taken away or cured, but by an immediate communication of a neio sjnritual power and abilily, to the mind itself, by the Holy Ghost in this renovation, so evincing the deprivation of the fa- culty itself."^ Language more appropriate could not be employed to teach the doctrine of physical depravity. It is unnecessary to quote any further from him on this sub- ject. We add some things to the same purport from other of the old Calvinistic writers. "Every person" says Bos- ton, " that is born according to the course of nature, is 1. Owen on Indwelling Sin, chap. ii. p. 29. 2. Owen on Indwelling' Sin, chup. i. p. 15. 3. Owen on the Spirit, vol. i. Book iii. chap. iii. p. 418 CHAP. XV. HUMAN DEPRAAJTV. OSI born unclean: if the root be corrupt, so must the branches be: neither is the matter mended, though the parents be sanctified ones; for they are but holy ix part, and that by grace, not by nature; and they beget their children as men, not as holy men: wherefore as the circumcised parent begets an uncircumcised child, and after the present graia is sown, we reap corn with the chaff; so the holiest parents beget unholy children, and cannot communicdte their grace to them, as they do their nature.'''^ Hereheevidently predicates sin of simple existence, as pro- pagated by natural descent. Elsewhere he speaks of ^^ the sin of our nature," in contradistinction from voluntary acts of transgression, and describes it in terms plainly expressing a physical depravity. *' Of all sins" he says, ''it is the most extensive and diffusive. It goes through the v/hole man, and spoils all. The corruption of nature, is the poison of the old serpent, cast into the fountain of action; and so infect? every action, every breathing of the soul. It is the cause of all particular lusts, and actual sins in our hearts and lives. It is virtually all sin: for it is the seed of all sins, which want but the occasion to setup their heads: be- ing in the corruption of nature, as the effect in the virtue of its cause. The sin of our nature is, of all sins, the most fixed and abiding. It remains with men, in its full power, by night and by day, at all times, fixed as with bands of iron and brass. It is the great reigning sin."^^ *'A11 of every man is corrupt; it is a leprosy that has overspread universally; a leaven that hath leavened the whole lump. It has overspread, 1. The soul in all its faculties, 2. As for the will, call it no more will, but lust. It is free to evil, but not to good. 3. As to the af- 1. Boston's fourfold state, pp. 39. 40. 2. Boston's fourfold state, pp. 105, 106, . 36 282 THE ORIGINAL OF cHAP. XV. fections they are quite disordered. Further, this corrup- tion has spread even to the body. "^ The above are specimens of the wliole school, and they do, if language has any definite meaning, plainly teach the doctrine of physical depravity. This is manifestly the doctrine Calvin taught; and the view he took of original sin, when he defined it to be, *' an hereditary depravity and corruption of our nature, diffused through every PART OF THE SOUL. Yet from him, (Adam,) hath not punishment alone marched upon us as a pestilence, (grassata est,) but i\\z pestilence (htesj instilled from him, resides- in iiSr^ov which punishment is justly due.-'*^ Still more decisive and pointed are the following, when commenting on the x\postle's declaration, '' that all have sinned." "That is," says he, " they are involved in ori- ginal sin and polluted with its spots, and fof this reasoh^ infants also themselves, while they, bring their own dam- nation with themselves from their " mother's womb, are obnoxious, not for another^ s but their own especial vice. (suo ipsorum vitio. ) For although they may not have pro- duced the fruits of their own iniquity, yet have they the seed included in themselves: yea, their ivhole nature, is- some such seed of sin; so that zV cannot but be odious and abominable to Godo''-^ 1. Boston's body of Divinity, vol. 1, pp. 307, 308, 309. 2. Videtar ergo peccatum orig-inale hoereditaria naturx nostrse pravitaset corruptio, in omnes animspartes difFusx: Ab illo tamen non Sola in nos poena grassata est, sed in stillata ab ipso, lues in nobis residet, cui jure poena debetur. Calvini.Instit. Lib. ii. cap. 1. Sec. 8. 3. Et apostolus ipse disertissime testatur, ideo mortem in omnes perva- gatam, quod omnes peccarint, id est, involuti slnt originali peccato, et eju3 maculis inquinati. Atqui ideo infantes quoqiie i{)si, dum siiam secum dam- nationem a matris utero afferunt, non alienio sod suo ipsorum vitio sunt ob- stricti. Nam tametsi suoe jniquitatis fructus nondum protulerint, habent, . t^men in se inclusum semen imo tota corum natura, quoddam est peccati CHAP. XV. HUMAN DEPRANITY. 2QS VixK, in his sermon published in the morning exercises, entilled " Original sin inhering," has given exactly the same view which Boston after him and many other theologians of that day have done. We select a. few passages: he says, " 1. 'Tis called original si nne, because 'tis in Qvery one from his original; it may say to every one, as soon as thou tvert I am: er 2. Because it is de- rived ixQm. Adam the original of all man-kinde, Oi^/ ^ whose blood, God hath made us all: or 3. Because 'tis the original of all other sinne; it is the seed and spawn, out of which they all grow; this is that lust, which when it hath conceived, bringeth forth sinne. This sin runs parallel with our being men, or partaking of man's nature in this world. This sin, and our nature in us, are twins, in life and death. Oar whole fabrick is so overspread with this leprosie, that it can never be sufficiently cleansed, till it be wholly taken down. 1. This sin cleaves to the soul: and 2. It infects the very body also."^ It is unnecessary to crowd our pages with other extracts.^ Those adduced, shew plainly, that original sin is spoken of, by some old Calvinisti<3 writers, as an operative or efficient cause of sin, which is lodged in the very soul of man, from the very first moment of his origin, anterior to all voluntary acts whatever, and therefore can only be physical; i. e. must consist in son^e constitution of sim- ple nature or created being, which is the appropriate, im- mediate, and necessary cause of sinful actions. This is semen: ideo non odiosa etabcminabilis Deo esse non potest. Cal. Inst. 1. ii. c. 1. Sec. 8. 1. See Morning Eiercise, at Giles in the fields, pp. 155, 156, 157, 158. 1. The reader may find many in the first volume of a work entitled-, yiews of Theology published in New York, in which the author has under- taken to prove tliat in some theories and reasonings of divines, depravity is exhibited as a physical attribute- v>«4 i-'iiF> *niGlNAL OF CHAP. XV= philosophy. It is an inference drawn from certain facts, and sustained by false analogies. Who does not see, that it as deeply implicates the character of God, as it certainly relieves the sinner from obligation? If simple created na- ture, or EXISTENCE IS sinful, then is God the direct and immediate author of sin, for it is His exclusive preroga- tive to create. This however, He cannot be. Nor is it sufficient to vindicate the purity of God in this matter, to say that Adam, having corrupted himself by his own act, propagated to his progeny a corrupt nature, and that by virture of fixed and established laws, ordained to regulate tbe agency of God, in the production of succes- sive creatures. For it does not appear, that Adam lost or acquired any physical property by his rebellion: nor that his nature, consisting simply of his created substance and its constitutional properties, sustained any phys- ical change by his sin. His voluntary exercises were sad- ly deranged, and became awfully depraved, but that de- pravity formed no part of hi^ substance, nor belonged to his constitutional jjropertics. It attached to his charac- ter, as a moral agent. How then could he transmit, by natural generation what did not inhere in his own constitu- tion. It does not appear that Adam's sin, produced in his own soul, any p)hysical defect, or lodged there any new efficient 2^f'inciple or j^hysical being, possessing power to control his voluntary actions. We shall have occasion presently to trace the influence of certain great wiora/ principles, as they operated to regu- late his actions, and to shape his character: but certainly, no one will affirm, that the first sin of Adam, iifheredin him, changing his very pthysical constitution, and becom- ing an efficient cause of all his subsequent sinful actions. For tl^.at sin was an act, not a substance, and had no other existence, than as an event which transpired in his history, CHAP. XV. HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 285 but which changed his moral relations, ond rendered those exercises in which his holiness consisted, morally impos- sible; and if to him physical depravity accrued not, from him it cannot be derived. If such a thing were possible, and actually did take place, who can undertake to blame m.en for sinning? Their sins would be the proper, and necessary result of their very constitution, in the produc- tion of which they had no agency. They would sin of necessity, and could no more be criminal for their sinful actions, than for craving food or any other act which results from an established law of nature. Let men believe this to be the fact, and what dreadful practical results would follow! How does the voluptuary grasp it with delight, as the sop to quiet his conscience! And where might it not be practically plead as an apology for the worst and vilest deeds? If the cause of men's sins lies in an ''indwelling principle,'' as Dr. Owen calls it, '' inclining and pressing unto actions agreeable and suitable unto its nature," it pos- sesses the precise character of a law of nature^ as he himself has defined it. And if men sin according to a law of nature, the divine agency is implicated, and human obligation is destroyed. If, therefore, we cannot predicate sin of simple created existence; \{ mQV^ physical being is not sinful; and if there cannot be found, in any physical defect of our being, or in the presence of any positive principle of our constitutional nature, the immediate cause of sinful actions, it may be asked, whence do they originate? We have already shewn that their immediate and appropriate cause, is to be assign- ed to the will of the sinner, who chooses and acts contrary ,to the requisitions of God. ' To this, the common sense and 1. The principle that is in the nature of every thing", moving" and cany- ing" it tov^ards its own end and rest, is called the law of nature. Owen on ijK.lwelline:s;n. p. 15. 236 THE ORIGINAL OF CHAP. XV- conscience of mankind give full assent. The authoi'ity of Dr. Owen, on this point, is explicit and satisfactory. "The will," says he, *'is the principle, the next seat and cause of obedience and disobedience. INIoral actions are, unto us, or in us, so far good or evil, as they partake of the consent of the will. He spake truth, of old, who said, Omnepec- catum est adeo vohiniarium, vt non sit peccatnin nisi sit volu7ifcirium. "Every sin is so voluntary, that if it be iiot voluntary it is 7iot sin."^ The present inquiry, however, carries our attention to the more rem.ote, or prime origin of our sinful actions. It must be o]}vious to every one, that the rise or origin of ail sinful actions, as committed by men, is to be dated in the fii^st sin of Adam. That some connection there- fore exists between that sin, and the transgressions of his offspring, none are disposed to deny, as to the charac- ter of that connection however there is much dispute. It is of moment to determine whether, our sinful actions are the legal, or only natural results of Adam's sin. And in order to tliis, we must inquire — whether our sinful actions fiow from any or)ersi{ive principle o^ our physical nature, or any constitutional properties derived from Adam by the process of natural generation — whethe;r they are to be con- sidered diS penal results, \. e. the specific punishment pro- vided by law for crime committed — or whether it became morally certain, that, from the established constitution of God, our great primogenitor having sinned, his descend- ants would do the same. The first inquiry has been already disposed of. As to the second, it may be proper to remark, that there is a differ- ence between a constitution, a covenant, and a law. A law* requires or prohibits conduct, and determines the suffering or consequences — or, to speak more technically, the pen- 1. Owen on indwellings sW\. p. 174. CHAP. XV. HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 237 alty that shall follow or be inflicted for its violation. A covenant is a forrnnl ngreement between two or more con- tracting parties. A constitu'.ion determines the grand prin- ciples which shall restrain, direct, and characterize the whole administration of a government. The transaction of God with our first parents has been variously designated — ■ some accounting it a law, others a covenant, and others ^ constitution. When God prohibited our first parents from eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge, under penalty of death, He would seem to have done no more thaii to have enacted a law. But as it is obvious it affected tlie condition of their descendants, and is explained in the sa- cred scriptures, as a transaction that was to have a bearing on them, it assumes a character somewhat difTerent from that of a simple law. It was a constitution, which God, \n His adorable sovereignty, ordained, for the administration of his government over men. This, we presume, will not be denied, even by those who prefer to call it a covenant. Had our first parents stood the test, and obeyed, we have reason to believe their ofTspring, after them, would have been confirmed in holines?, and in the enjoyment of ever- lasting life. This they did not; and through their failure, death and corruption are the results which follow, in every age and generation, among their descendants. It is certain that the death of Adam, both spiritually and corporally, was the penalty inflicted on him for his first transgression. Now that which in him was unquestion- ably the punishment of hissm, does actually eventuate in the history of his offspring. Death and corruption affect them all. No one will pretend to say, that in such cases, God has departed from the original constitution which He ordained, or that He acts in violation of His own law'. Most undeniably, it is agreeable to the constitution which He ordained with our first parents, that their act of rebel- i2SS "IHE OmClNAL OF CHAP. XV. lion against Himself, sliould be followed with the death of all their progen}^ A parent is punished most severely in the snOerings of his children, especially where he sees that suffering will be secured by his own improper conduct. And this tremendous result, which it will not be said was incompatible with the rectitude of the great moral gover- nor, was held forth to x\dam as that state of things which would be induced by his sin. The death and depravity of his offspring therefore may be very appropriately called tiie suffering of his sin, or the penalty annexed to that great moral constitution, which God had ordained with him as the head and parent of the human family. It is not necessary to transfer the act of Adam to his offspring, and account them personally crhninal for it, in order to ac- count for their suffering: nor is it necessary to attribute to their created nature^ anterior to, and irrespective of all moral exercises, some physical depravity, or inherited LUES, which is offensive to God, and provokes His wrath personally against the babe unborn. All that we think it of importance to know, or incjuire after here, is, that by virtue of the relation which God constituted between Adam and his offspring as their head and parent, as well as the great principle which He ordained should mark the administration of his government over them, the sin of Adam, rendered the death and depravity of his descendants not physically necessary, but 7norally certain. Those principles w^e descry in the great laws of reproduction and assimilating development, which characterize his univer- sal providential agency in this world. We desire not to perplex our readers by introducing terms, which have been the occasion of doubt and alter- cation, and would perhaps, through their varied significa- tion, be misunderstood.^ We aim, in our investigation 1- 'A> tnis+ the candid di)^idianvt^(l^i\ \y\\\ give us credit for sincerity. CHAP, xv; HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 2S9 simply at tlie knowledge of facts; and however Intricate and involved this subject may be accounted by many, yet some things are sufficiently plain. That we inherit from xldam an animal frame, which is subject to disease and liable to dissolution, from the very first moment of its existence, cannot be denied. His body was the root from which according to the law of reproduc- tion, established by God, have sprung the bodies of all his oOspring. The mortality of those propagated from him, is the result of his sinning against God. Had he obeyed the command of the Most High, lie would not only have lived himself, but all his descendants would have inherited from him an animal frame adapted to immortality. As it is, disease and death are our inheritance. Here it is mani- fest, that the act of one man has been followed by its le- gitimate or ordained results on others. Evidently there- fore, his conduct has served, at least in respect of our viaterial being^io sha!?e our character and condition. The thing is not put to our choice, nor made dependent on our actions. We are born into this world a dying race. "Death reigned over them that has not sinned afrer the similitude of Adam's transgression.'^^ Does any one object to this sovereign constitution.'* Ob- jection would be vain and foolish, for we are under it, and die we must. The sentence has gone forth, and we may even feel the ministers of death already creeping in our veins, and giving tokens that they are prepared, at any moment to execute it, and turn us to the dust. It would be miserable consolation for vain man to persuade himself, in this derlaration. It is greatly to be lamented, that a refusal to employ technicalities, should be denounced as Jesuitism, and a studied effort to conceal heresy. What can be expected from the exercise of ecclesiastical authority, by those who are ready to denounce an honest desu'e, and en- deavour to unfold the truth, by such epithets i* 1. Rom. T. 14, 37 290 1'HT- ORIGINAL OF CHAP. XV. that^God has acted unjustly in establishing such a constitu- tion. But few, if any, have the hardihood even to venture the thought, that the divine Being is blameworthy, for having created man mortal — nor for having made that ntor- tality to depend on the conduct of the parent of all our race. They see, in som^e measure, a reason for the thing, in this universal law of God^s providence, that the developments of the first man; i. e. those that emanate from him, must bear an essential resemblance to himself. It is the univer- sal law which regulates the developments of life in this world. Throughout the interminable ranges of vegetable and an- nimal life, the seed and ovum developed in a new and in- dividuated being, has first been a part of the body of its parent, and the offspring, in due season, exhibits the image of the parent. Shall we object to this constitution of God, and say, that when He creates, he ought not to make one being dependent on another, but givs to each one an orig- inal, separate, independent existence. *'Vain man would be wise, though man be born like the wild ass's colt."^ Such is the sovereign constitution of God, and to it we must bow. The derivation of our mortal bodies from Adam, consti- tuting the whole human race but one vast series of being, individuated by regular process, and developing the first pair of our progenitors, is so unquestionably matter of fact, that there can be no denial, that in so far, at least, as our iDodies are concerned, we have not only been begotten in the likeness of Adam, but also, that as their condition, and the circumstances of their origination, depended on his own character and acts, so he has transmitted to us an animal nature, that is liable to disease and death. %., Job xi. 12. CHAP. XV. HUxMAN DEPRAVITY. 291 We can trace this law, or process of reproduction, almost in every thing. So obvious is it, that persons, entirely un- acquainted with medicine, will talk about diseases, inherit- ed from generation to generation. The physician unhesita- tingly affirms, that the state of animal health in the parents, affects the condition of the child, descending from them. The same diseases are developed in parents and children, and when they disappear in one generation, re-appear in the next. Our Saviour has noticed the principle in the vegetable world. ^^A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit; nei- ther can an evil tree bring forth good fruit. "^ '^Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrqpt, and the fruit corrupt : for the tree is known by his fruit. ^^^ But all this is met, most unphilosophically, by saying, that the principle applies only to our material nature. This, however, cannot be proved. The whole force of analogy is against it. Will it avail any one to allege, that as the human soul is immaterial, and as moral corruption is properly and only predicable of our rational and moral nature, we are not to imagine, that the same principle will apply to it ? And why not ? If we discover any grand principle, pervading all the other parts of the divine government in this world, running alike through the animal and vegetable creation, is it not presumable to suppose, that it extends to and embraces the other parts? Is it not the business of philosophy to gener- alize ? To trace the operation of general laws and princi- ples, in their various applications? Is it not the boast and glory of the Newtonian philosophy, ^hat, by means of a few acknowlo;]gcd principles, a thousand varied phenomena can be explained? How does it illustrate and elevate the wisdom of that philosophy, which, having determined the 1. Mat. vli. 18. 2, Mat. xii, 33. i cause of the falling of an apple from a tree, took it as a guide, and starting into the immensity of space, explored the universe, and saw it all moving, and preserved in har- monious order, by virtue of the same law — systems after sj^stems, whirling, with all their suns, and planetary, and satellitical, and cometary, and astroidal worlds, with as un- erring certainty, as the apple tended to the earth, and then returning, unfolded the mysteries of the tides, the motions of the winds, the oscillations of the pendulum, and a thou- sand other phenomena, that present themselves around this globe? When we have ascertained a principle of divine govern- ment, we should not fear to pursue it in all its legitimate applications; nor through any of those grand illustrations, which, as it were, stand forth in bold relief, in the prov- idence of God. Such a principle, we think, is discern- ible in the great law of reproduction, and of assimilating development, which marks tlie providential agency of God. Its bearing, on the subject of human depravity, we shall endeavour to trace. But, in the mean time, w^ould caution the reader, against supposing that w^e advocate the idea of any seminal principles, physically innate or latent in the soul, which are derived by natural descent. What the Confession of Faith says of our first parents, viz : that ''They being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this fthe first) sin was imputed, and the same death in sin and cor- rupted nature, conveyed to all their posterity, descending from them by ordinary generation,"^ is sufficientl}' intelli- gible, without resorting to the supposition of there bei. g, in our very constitutional properties, an operative principle, which is the efficient cause of sin, and renders it physical- ly necessary. 1. \Ycstminstcr Confession cf iVith, c vi. sec. 3. CHAPTER XVI. THE DERIVATION OF DEPRAVITY An inquiry as to the origination of the human soul— The Idea of all human souls being concreated with Adam's examined— Does not relieve the doctrine of Adam's representation, and the imputation of guilt- The facts in the case as-far as they are ascertainable— The creation of the human nature of Adam, of Eve, and of Christ throws no Tght on the subject— The law of development observable in the production of human be- ings-Various analogical illustrations of this great principle of the divine government— Its apphcatlon to the circumstances and condition of hu- man beings— 1. A constitutional nature is derived from Adam, which is subjected to a forfeiture of privileges and immunities that could have been secured by his obedience— Subject to disease and death— Inquiry whether eternal life is included in that forfeiture— 2. Men come into ex- istence, under circumstances which render it morally certain, that they universally will sin, as soon as they are capable of moral agency— An inquiry whether there is in man's nature, an efficient cause, whose oper- ation renders it certain, that men will sin— Quotations from Rivet— Owen— The distinction between natural and moral inability— Some re- marks on the whole subject. It may perhaps be thought extravagant, and tresspassing into the regions of conjecture, to treat of tl e origination of the human soul. Yet as men have speculated on this subject, and there is reason to suspect, that some of their speculations have been assumed as verities, and have ex- erted, both a practical influence on their conduct, and a con- troling influence on their belief in some important mat- ters, it cannot be pronounced presumptuous, to attempt, as far as reason and scripture, and the observation of facts may aid, to ascertain the truth. 2.91 'HIE DEia VATION CHAP. XVI. The idea that all liinnan souls were created sbniiltane- ously ivith J2dam''s, and are introduced into human bodies according as they are prepared for them in ordinary gene- ration, as indeed, all the schemes with regard to pre-exisi- ence and transmigration, v/hether adopted by ancient phi- losophical heathen, or advocated by more modern authors, scarcely deserves attention. There is no proof, as to the mutter oj fact^ to be drawn, either from human consci- ousiies.'^, from tlie history of the world, or from the decla- rations of scripture. Analogy would lead us to a very op- posite opinion. Nor are the reasons assigned for the/;ro- bahiUty of its being the fact^^X. all satisfactory. It is unsafe to reason from our ignorance. Because we do not know a thing is not so, therefore it may be; and be- cause, we do not know but that such a tiling may be, there- fore it is, is a most fallacious species of argument. And, as to the d'ifficidties, in which, the successive production of rational creatures, confessedly depraved, seems to involve th^ divine agenc;/, and the occasion which it is supposed to furnish for animadversion on the divine character, they are not at all obviated b}'- the supposition of the^re- f-i'islence and simidtayieoiis creation of human souls. Nor can it at all relieve the theory of representation and the consequent imputation of guilt. In the ordinary af- f^iirs of life, we do indeed act on the principle, ihat the constituents and representative, are boih in being; yea, and that the latter has been constituted such by the will of the former. If, in the relation between parent and offspring, ihere seems to be^a departure from the principle recognized in other repesentative relations, a very satisfactory reason can be assigned for it, in the circumstance, that the gif- spring are brought into existence, through the instrumen- iniity of the parent, and are, for a considerable portion of their exisience, dependent on his care. The act of the re- presentative or agent in ordinary cases, affect s Wiq aon^lii- dHAP. XVI. OF DEPRAVITY. 295 uents; and, it is admitted justly enougli, because the latter have employed, deputed, or, if we may so speak, by their own selection and commission, and instructing of him, have, as it were, identified themselves with him. No one however, pretends that the act of a parent affects the child, because of any consent or instruction, actual or im- plied, given by the child previously. The law however, guards carefully, against the parents being affected — save in those moral respects, which human law cannot obviate — by the act of the child, except in those cases where it was done by the authority or with the consent and approbation of the parent. To contend therefore, for the pre-exist- ence of human souls, in order to vindicate the conduct of God, as the great moral governor, in making the character and condition of human beings, dependent on the act of tddam, the primitive parent, and thus to account for the derivation of depravity, will be of no avail. It is push- ing the idea of representation too far, and does indeed se- cure nothing in the respect for which it is mainly inteiided. There is no proof, nor can there be, that the world oF human souls, supposed by some, to have been created when God breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of lifey and he became a living soul, consented to, and approved of the act of God, in making him their great representa- tive to act for them, in the high concernments of their eternal destiny. It will not do, it is not safe, to run anal- ogies too far. They may illustrate, and shadow forth, or help to some conception of, a thing of the full and accurate apprehension of which we are incapable. To press them further, is dangerous: and it is perhaps, more than mere conjecture, that not a little of the obscurity and mysticism, on the subject of human depravity, arises out of confused notions of Adam's representative cliaracter — his represen- tation of the human race, being viewed as essentially the »ame with the various forms and modifications o^ it. with 29G nil: DERIVATION CHAP. XV J. which \vc meet in common lite, and vvliich are sometimes a(.](hiced in illustration of it. Unquestionably there must be some features in the re- lation which existed between Adam and his progeny, which are not to be traced in those resemblances of it occurring in ordinai-y life, and we therefore ought not to allow our- selves to conceive of it entirely by what we see, but carefully endeavour, by an observation of facts, and the great principles which mark the government of God, to ascertain it. Suppositions, resorted to, or necessary to susiain a theory^ might safely, in every instance, be ques- tioned. Undoubtedly they may be safely rejected, and such is the character of the suppjosition which we at present contemplate. It is recommended mainly, because it is tliought to throw some light on the representative charac- ter of Adam, and relieve the doctrine of derived depra- vity, from the apparent ground which it affords, to object against the purity of God the Creator. In [Ills latter respect, it fails as entirely as in the former. For. if it cannot be supposed that God creates a being p;\ysically impure, and that therefore^ all human souls, must have been created before the fall, and that they he- come impure hy virtue of their being introduced into bodies propagated from the guilty parents of our race, liow is the justice or purity of God relieved? Are they not as deeply implicated, as upon the supposition of their jn'ogressive formation, if not more so? As rational be- ings, they must have been under the government of law; and if the}^ were, the justice of God could not have re- mained unimpaired, had He, by an arbitrary constitution, made the future cliaracter and condition of innocent creat- ures already existing, yea, and their eternal destiny, de- ])endent on the conduct of one being, differently situated, ■ftnder a different moral constitution, and subjected them because of his rebellion, to misery and degradation, by CHAP. XVr. OF DEPRAVITY. 3.97 means of their being brought into connection with diseas- ed and dying bodies procreated from him? This we c an- not do. If it be alleged, that the same objection can b© urged against the idea of the soul's being created, after the formation of the body, in a pure state, aod in that state being introduced into it, it may be replied, that much if not all, of the perplexity on this subject, arises out of the false assumption, that the soul itself is physically de- praved. It will not be affirmed that the body, simply as a body, is in itself sinful; and if not, why must we sup- pose the soul as soul, or any modification of mere be- ing whatever, to be so? Should we admit that the soul or- iginates, like the body, according to some fixed law of God^s providential agency; so that the father may be said to beget a son, in his own likeness, as truly in reference to the spiritual, as to the material' part of his nature. If there be nothing sinful in simple created nature, the agency of God in the production of a human being, body and soul, though it is morally certain, that the being will sin, does not make Him the author of sin. \isi7nple created nature how- ever, is sinful, then it does certainly follow that He is;^ which is a result so palpably erroneous, that we must prompt- ly abandon every theory or supposition, from which it le- gitimately flows. It is, perhaps, safest and best, in a question of this na- ture, to confine ourselves strictly to matters of fact, so far as accurrae observation will teach us what they are. What then are the facts? The following cannot he denied; viz: that the human soul acquires all its knowledge, and acts, exclusively, through the intervention of its material ve- hicle, the body — that we are not conscious of any know- ledge or recollections, derived from a previous state of ex- istence,^ independent of our bodies — that there are certain susceptibilities of the human soul, which are in unison with 2SS '^^^^ DEinVATION CHAP. XVI. various animal affections, possessed by us, in common with irrational creatures — that the affections and actings of the human soul are displayed in tiie developments and growth of our animal bodies; — and that these affections have a povv- ferul influence, and are, indeed, invariably, in some of their modifications, involved in the origination or production of sinful acts. Further, wlien v^e trace back the growth o{ the human hody, we find that it is impossible to determine the period at which it became a separate existence = For a long period, it existed in the body of its parent, yet was it capable of certain actings, distinct from those of its parent; although its existence was altogether dependent. Its growth, which, in a state of dependence, was gradual, and even its material organs, for the origination of thought and for those actings, requisite to accomplish ffurposes and obey volitions, w^ere progressively developed. ''My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my sub- stance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my mem- bers were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.''^ There is here distinctly recognized the agency of God, as extending to the wbole of man's being— not his body on- ly, but also his immortal mind, in \}ci^ production of both which, God is explicitly recognized by the Psalmist as being concerned. *'Th6u hast possessed my reins,'^^ says he, * 'and hast covered me in my mother's womb."^ The expression "reins" is most frequently employed in the Psalmist's v^^ritings, to denote the rational mind. ''My reins instruct me in the nigbt season.*'^ "The righteous G-od trieth the heart and the reins.^^"^ jfs, therefore, the 1. Pslam cxxxix, 15 — 16. 2, Psalm cxxxix, 13. 3, Psalm xvi, 7. 4 Pialm vii, 9. CHAP. XVi. OF DEPRAVITY. 299 agency of God is extended alike to the production of both body and soul, and both are gradually developed mMefr etc- tings, it is certainly not so evident, as to be assumed with- out dispute, that the human soul is created, instantaneous- ly, by some insulated and immediate, or independent effort of divine power, and brought, with all its various capac- ities, into connexion with the human body. The presumption, arising from analogy, is against this idea; whether we suppose that that eflfort of divine power, in creating the human soul, is simultaneous with concep- tion, Avith quickening, or with the first inspiration. The process of the divine Being, in creating the first man, can afford no light here. Adam's body was at once moulded fron? the clay, into the perfect stature of a full grown man; with the entire development of all the organs requisite for animal action. And his soul in full possession of all its capacities, was also formed and communicated, sim- ultaneously, with the very first inflating of his lungs, so that he came into being with all his animal, intellectual and mo- ral powers, in a state of full development — with actual knowledge, righteousness and holiness; i. e. acting from the first with intelligence, conformably to the law of recti- tude, and under the influence of benevolent emotions. This can be said of no other of the human family, save of Eve, ^nhe mother of all living. ^^ The fact therefore seems plain- ly to be, that, w^hatever agency God is pleased to exert in the production of human beings, it is according to some established laiu, ordained at the very creation of our first parents, which law remains unaltered by their fall, and which agency would have been exerted in the very ^ame way, had they continued innocent. The production of the human nature of the Son of Godj was a departure from, and in opposition to the established law of procreation, and, consequently, being as perfectly miraculous as was the translation of Enoch and Elijahs 300 THE DERIVATION cHAP. XVI. that they should not see death, the sacred scriptures have been very careful to let us know lohat was the mode of the divine ageiicy in if, and by what proof the /ac^ of its tniraculous origination has been established. Miracle upon miracle attested the extraordinary character of that ehild, which had been spontaneously conceived in the womb of Mary, and was brought forth by one, that expres- ed her own astonishment, saying, "How shall this be, see- ing I know not a man."^ Now the agency of God, which is ordinarily exerted in the production of human beings, proceeds or is exerted up- on this principle, universally characteristic of His govern- ment in this world, that, in the development of one being, there is originated another and a separate being, who, by regular process of growth shall exhibit essential resem- blance, and that this development shall take place in the actual exercise of appropriate appetites and capacities. Throughout the v^hole of animal existence, the law obtains, that the voluntary exercise of appetites and functions, on the part of the parents, leads to the evolution of an off- gpring, jjossessing the same constitutional, and acquir- ing the same characteristic properties. We may discern some analogical illustrations of this, in those creatures, to which we do not attribute volition. So uniform is the agency of God, in the propagation of vege- tative life — for the law of vegetative procreation is but an- other expression for the divine agency — that the horticul- turist can, with unerring certainty, predict the properties of a fruit, the embryo of which he has taken care to impreg- nate. The seed or germ does not possess, in itself, any pow- er, which has efficiency to cause its own developments. Some men talk about a vital principle in it; but they talk unintelligibly to us. All that we can venture to affirm, 1 . I";uke i, 34. CHAP. XVI. OF DP:pRAYrrY, 301 from an actual observation of facts, without Introducing in- ferences, which may be false, is, that the seed is a modifica- tion of bein