Imagini ale paginilor
PDF
ePub

though the superficial observer, who is probably unacquainted even with their language, may be unable to discover in men so untutored, any traces of the moral principle, there can be little question that it exists, and might presently be called into action, should their mental faculties become better cultivated.

Again, it may be remarked, that persons are sometimes led by a misapprehension of duty, not only to adopt practices which the law of God does not require, but even fearfully to break that law; as Saul did when, under the influence of" a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge," he persecuted the unoffending Christians. But such facts afford no proof whatsoever

[ocr errors]

not even any fair presumptionthat the law is not written on the hearts of all men. For although a man's conscience may be so perverted, that he will commit a bad action, under a notion that he is doing his duty, no example has ever been adduced of a man's conscientiously approving an action, because of its badness; for example, because it is treacherous, cruel, or unjust. It may be safely af firmed, that all men, every where, approve of truth, justice, and benevolence. There is a

moral principle in every man's heart, which compels him to acknowledge that, abstractedly, these qualities are right and good. And what is this principle but the law of God made manifest in the soul?

It appears then, that what we know and feel of the constitution of our nature, and of the working of our own minds, affords an unquestionable evidence that our Creator is on the side of virtue, and that when the sacred writers call upon us to lead a life of holiness, integrity, and charity, their voice is in perfect unison with the voice of God, heard in the secret of the heart.

The more the conscience is enlightened by this inward monitor, the less it will respond to certain parts of the moral systems of the ancient heathen philosophers- those parts for example, which encourage the pride of man, and make allowance for ambition, suicide, and revenge; and the less it will sanction that false prophet Mahomet, in fanning the violent and voluptuous propensities of our nature; but between the law written on the heart, and the law written in Scripture, there is a perfect accordance. Not a single article can be found in the code

of Christianity, to which the most enlightened conscience can refuse its assent. Yet while the inward and the outward law go hand in hand, justifying and confirming each other, it is always to be remembered, that Christianity develops our moral duties to a much greater extent, than does merely natural religion.

The Scriptures make known to us the attributes of Jehovah with a fulness and precision, to which our unassisted reason could never have attained; and with an equal completeness, they describe the behaviour towards Him, which those attributes demand. They reveal the new relations of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and insist on our corresponding duties; in short, (as we have already remarked,) they unfold the law of God in all its strength and spirituality in all the glorious variety of its details.

Now I conceive that in the agreement between the law written on the heart, and the law written in the book, and in the extension of the latter beyond the natural limits of the former, we have two cogent and distinct evidences, that the Scriptures are the book of God.

II. Furnished as we are by the Author of

our being with a moral principle, it is impossible for us to conceive that God will reward and punish mankind in a future world, by any other than the moral rule. We should be utterly at a loss to account for the contrary, which would be directly opposed to that sense of right and wrong, which He has so graciously interwoven with our very nature. But that God, in the eternal future, will reward virtue with happiness, and punish vice with misery, may be safely inferred from the fact, that in various respects he does so now, in such a manner and degree as must lead us to expect the completion of this his righteous government, in the world to come.

In the first place, every one knows, that many breaches of the moral law are followed by punishment in the way of natural consequence. The liar finds his punishment in perplexity; the miser, in the terrors of apprehended poverty; the dissolute, in the wreck of his fortunes; the sensualist, in the debasement of his intellect; the drunkard, in the destruction of his health. Folly and imprudence also are closely connected with vice, and partake of its nature; and that they are punished with suf

fering and distress in the present life, is a fact which most men know from their own experience. On the other hand, virtue, and her sure allies, wisdom and prudence, are undoubted promoters of sound health, mental tranquillity, and substantial prosperity; and these surely are no despicable rewards.

Secondly that representative of God in our bosoms, conscience, is not only appointed to be the judge of our actions, but is charged even here, with the office of rewarding and punishing; and the more that faculty is brought under the influence of the Spirit of God, the more rapidly and vigorously it performs this office. He that is of a good conscience, like him that is" of a merry heart," hath" a continual feast;" and no man can deny the apostle's doctrine, Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God." On the other hand, how painful, how tormenting, is the feeling of remorse the intelligible, unwelcome forerunner of the worm which dieth not!

[ocr errors]

Thirdly — that very moral sense which leads

[ocr errors]

men to condemn vice and to approve of virtue in themselves, compels them also to estimate others by the same rule; and since, for our

« ÎnapoiContinuă »