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Experience, too, teaches that a merely natural religion is not suited to be the religion of the people at large. It has far too little evidence and power; and soon becomes corrupt, even among civilized nations. Let a merely natural religion, independent of authority, once become the religion of the great mass of mankind, and social order and morality are at an end.

Since the necessity of a direct revelation is felt so universally; the bestowment of it by God, in condescension to our wants, cannot appear to the unprejudiced inquirer, either inconsistent or incredible. We shall hereafter inquire, whether there is one, among all the pretended revelations, which is really of divine origin. This is a question of fact. In the mean time, so much we may boldly assert, that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament have a decided preference to the sacred books of all other nations and religions. The best among these is the Koran, to which our Scriptures are certainly superior. We may, therefore, establish this as an axiom: if a divine revelation has ever been committed to writing, it is contained in our Holy Scriptures.

3. All will admit that God has, as a matter of fact, made use of the doctrines contained in the Holy Scriptures, and of the Holy Scriptures themselves, in the benevolent work in which he is engaged of extending the knowledge of truth, and of diffusing over the earth just ideas respecting his character and our destination. Many of the truths contained in these books are, indeed, perfectly discoverable and demonstrable from nature. But these same truths were discovered sooner, and were diffused more rapidly, than they would otherwise have been, by means of these books, possessing, as they do, the authority of a divine revelation. This is proved by the example of nations unacquainted with these books and the doctrines contained in them. How ignorant and unenlightened on religious subjects were the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, in the midst of all their intellectual cultivation! The peculiar privilege of the Israelites, that which made them, in an eminent sense, the people of God, is represented by Moses and the prophets to be this; that God had taught them his word, his statutes, and judgements, as he had not taught any other people at that time, Deut. 4: 7, 8. Ps. 147: 19, 20. So the New Testament every where: as, Rom. 3: 2, coll. 9: 4, and 1: 19, 32, which shows how the light of nature given to the heathen, had been misimproved by them.

The studious and learned among the Greeks and Romans, retained almost the sole possession of all that was valuable in the schools, and in the writings of the enlightened philosophers. Resting, as their doctrines did, upon long, artificial, speculative, and abstruse reasonings; they accomplished very little for the religious and moral improvement of the most numerous class of society; though this class stood most in need of instruction. Add to this the observation, that it is easier to find proofs for a truth when once discovered, than to discover the truth itself in the first instance. The nations of Europe and other parts of the world, were destitute of just ideas of religion before they embraced Christianity. But no sooner had they learned the truths of religion from Christianity, than they began to prove and establish them by reason; which they could now do in a more convincing manner than any of their predecessors could have done, without the light of revelation. Hume said very justly, that the true philosophy respecting God was only eighteen hundred years old. Respecting the partial diffusion of divine revelation, vid. § 121. Cf. Morus, § 8, sq. pp. 4-6. Vid. Reimarus, Abhandlung von den vornehmsten Wahrheiten der natürlichen Religion; Ziegler, Theol. Abhand. Num. I, über Naturalismus und positive Religion, Gött. 1791, 8vo; and Stäudlin, Ideen zu einer Kritik des Systems der christlichen Religion, Gött. 1791, 8vo.

4. But although natural religion must appear, from what has been said, to be defective and imperfect; it should not be despised or undervalued. Notwithstanding all its imperfections, it is, in itself considered, a true religion. As Paul teaches us, Rom. 1: 20, we acquire even from nature a knowledge of the invisible things of God. In v. 19 of the same chapter, he says: God has revealed himself even in nature, i. e. in the wise constitution which he, as creator, has given to our minds and to the external world. Vid. supra, No. 1. Through this wise constitution, according to the express testimony of Scripture, God addresses himself to all men, from without and from within. He is not far from any one of them, and leaves himself without a witness in none, Acts 17: 27, coll. 14: 17.

Genuine and pure natural religion can, therefore, never contradict revealed religion. Such a contradiction would prove clearly that the religion pretending to be revealed, was not so in reality. God cannot contradict himself, nor exhibit himself in one light in nature, and in an entirely different light in revelation. The knowledge of

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God acquired from nature is recommended and honorably mentioned in the Bible. Vid. Ps. XIX, where vs. 1-6 treat of the knowledge of God derived from nature; vs. 7-11, of that derived from revelation. Cf. Acts 14: 17. Rom. 1: 19, sq. coll. 2: 12, sq.

5. It pleased God, as the Bible represents, to give men, from time to time, such direct instruction as they needed. He taught them, in this way, many things which they might never have discovered of themselves; and which they would not, at best, have discovered for a long time; and many things in which, perhaps, they had already erred. By this immediate revelation, he confirmed, illustrated, and perfected that revelation of himself, as the invisible creator, preserver, and judge, which he had already made in the external world, and in the conscience of man. By this immediate revelation, he thus causes the revelation of himself in nature, which is commonly too little regarded, and often wholly neglected (Rom. 1: 21. Acts 14: 16), to become intelligible, impressive, useful, and welcome to man. Ps. 19: 7-14.

Instruction given by God to men on subjects of which they are ignorant, and incapable of discovering the truth by reasoning, is called positive (arbitraria) instruction; by which is meant simply, that we cannot show the necessity of the truth revealed, by the principles of our own reason; and not, that God proceeds capriciously and unreasonably in this case; which is not supposable. Morus, p. 7, § 1. When God thus imparts to men the knowledge of those religious truths of which they are, and must remain ignorant, if left to their own reason; he is said in the Scriptures, to reveal the mystery of his will, the deep things of the Deity. Morus, p. 8, § 3.

But revelation (φανέρωσις, αποκάλυψις) is used, even in the Bible, in a wider, and in a more limited sense. Morus, p. 9, § 4. (1) In the wider sense, it is the annunciation of such truths, as were, indeed, unknown to men, but at the same time, within the reach of their minds. Thus gavepour is used in respect to the knowledge of God derived from nature, Rom. 1: 19, and aлoxaλúntel, Phil. 3: 15. (2) In the narrower sense, it is instruction respecting things which are not only unknown, but undiscoverable by the human mind. (3) In the narrowest sense, it is divine instruction on the truths of religion concerning the salvation of men, which neither have been, nor can be taught by natural religion, and which cannot be derived from reasoning on the nature of things.

Revealed religion, then, is not opposed, but added to natural religion. It repeats, confirms, and illustrates many of the precepts of natural religion; and at the same time brings to light much that was before unknown.

All this admits of an easy application to the Christian religion. Although the doctrines of the Christian religion must not be contradictory to reason, they need not be precisely the same as the doctrines of natural religion; as many at the present day contend. Although the Christian religion is perfectly reasonable, it is still a positive religion; because it rests on positive instruction. That it is a revealed religion cannot be doubted, as long as the yet uninvalidated miracles of Jesus, and other proofs, are sure evidence of his immediate divine mission. To exhibit the great and peculiar doctrines of Christianity, as constituting a system of revealed truth, is the object of the present work.

NOTE. It is false to conclude, that because positive religion must be consistent with reason, it can contain only such truths as are deducible from reason. Positive religion must, indeed, embrace such doctrines, and such only, as we are capable of understanding, and as correspond with the laws of our minds. But from this it does not follow, that it can embrace only such truths as unaided reason clearly teaches. The works and the will of God contain mysteries, which men are incompetent, of themselves, to explore. Vid. Ernesti, Opuscula, Vindicia arbitrii divini in constituenda religione.

The positive part of religion promotes the moral part of it, as much as religion in general promotes morality.

The positive part of religion, is that which contains the instructions which God has given us respecting those subjects in religion which are not demonstrable, or which cannot be reasoned out and made evident by argument. Positive doctrines require belief and assent. But they do not require an acknowledgement or proof of their essential truth, from principles of reason. The doctrines, that there is a God, and that he loves men, and the other doctrines of natural religion, are not positive. But the doctrine, that God has revealed himself to us through Jesus Christ, in and through whom he will bless us, is positive; for it cannot be proved from the common principles of reason.

What is positive (positivum, Jɛtɩzór), is that quod ponitur, sive docetur sic esse; non quod demonstratur geometricè. The following is the origin of this term. The Greeks say, róμovę tidévat, i. e. præscribere, præcipere; for a law is laid down and imposed, and not demonstrated. This phraseology was transferred to doctrines (dogmata) which were prescribed or established without being proved.

6. Any one who would attain to a settled assurance of the divine origin of the Christian religion, must begin his examination with

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39 the moral system of Jesus. He will find, on an unprejudiced inquiry, that this system is more exalted and reasonable, and more decidedly useful, than any other system of morals. But when he comes to put it into practice, he will soon find that he is no more able to obey its requirements, although he acknowledges their excellence, than he is to obey the requirements of a merely philosophical system of morals. Vid. § 2. No. 4. In short, he will experience the same difficulties which Paul did; and find the account, Rom. 7: 7-25, copied as it were from his own soul.

How then can we, who are so weak, attain the strength which is requisite for the practice of virtue? Jesus, and the writers of the New Testament every where answer: by believing on the person and whole doctrine of Jesus Christ; and in no other way. But those only really believe on him, who are convinced that he is the very person, which the Bible represents him, and which he himself every where claims to be. Now the Bible represents him as a direct messenger from God to men; as the greatest among all who have been sent by heaven to earth; as the Saviour,-the Christ. If we are convinced of this, we shall (a) believe that Christ and his doctrines are the means appointed by God for the moral improvement and happiness of men; and shall (6) make use of these means for the purpose for which they were given, and in the manner prescribed by Christ. Doing this, we shall not want strength to practise the moral system of Jesus.

We see here, what an intimate and necessary connexion there is between Christian morals, and Christian doctrines or theology; and what a mistake it is to separate them. Christian morals are supported by Christian doctrines. Christian theology teaches us where we can obtain the strength which we need in order to obey. the moral precepts of Christianity. Whoever, then, preaches the morals without the doctrines of Christianity, preaches not the gospel of Christ, and preaches Christ in vain. When any are convinced that Christ is a messenger sent from God, and their moral lawgiver and judge, but are at the same time conscious that they are unable to obey his moral requirements; their duty obviously is, to follow the directions which he has given them, and to proceed in the manner which he has prescribed, in order to attain to a full certainty, that he and his doctrine are the means appointed by God for the real moral perfection and consequent salvation of men. Vid. John 7:

2.