PRACTICAL HINTS ΤΟ UNIVERSALISTS. CHAPTER I. THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. THE wonder has often been expressed, why there should be so much controversy in the world on the subject of religion. This wonder, however, would have been lessened, had religious partisans, on all sides, instead of wrestling with their utmost strength to sustain their own doctrinal creeds, applied themselves diligently to the work of searching out the best principles to operate on the human heart, following them up to their great source, and ascertaining how they should be disseminated among men to the best advantage. After all that learning can suggest, and deep wisdom utter, the good practical sense of mankind is able to judge in relation to these subjects; and had it been duly consulted in past ages, there would not have existed so much selfishness, bigotry, and persecution in the ranks of Christian professors, nor so much secret and open opposition to the cause of the Redeemer, by the ignorant and unbelieving. A religion, that is not equally good in practice as in theory, cannot be a reasonable or useful one, whoever may defend it, and however great may be the number of those who profess and believe it. It must exist somewhere else besides in a name; and in order to test its utility, men must be drawn to embrace it by some more powerful inducement, than merely its antiquity or its outward associations of greatness. How then shall the strength and virtue of a religion be tested? The answer is, by its practical effects. Here is something of which men can judge, if their reason is free, and judge correctly, too. When any religious system is presented to them, they have only to examine its pretensions, and ask themselves what would be its natural effect were it carried into practice; and having found that which meets, in the best manner, the nature and wants of the human race, they need not hesitate to pronounce it the safest to adopt. We pronounce Christianity the best of all moral systems for adoption among men. We do thus, because we have been educated under its influences. Yet we would not let this consideration be the only one in support of our opinion. We would call for the test, so that others, as well as its professed friends, may give us their views of practical Christianity. We revere this above all other systems, because it is so completely adapted to mankind. No matter where they may be found, or under what circumstances; whether they be Greek or Jew, bond or free; whether they have certain objects of worship, or whether they are destitute of all. If in darkness and ig norance, here is a spirit which can enlighten and instruct them; if partially moralized, this will aid them in a clearer advancement; and if enlightened and refined, this will appear still more attractive and exalting. And herein do we perceive an insurmountable evidence of the divine origin of Christianity. The words of a bitter and hardened opposer of the Christian faith are, doubtless, true. "No good and amiable heart could for a moment think of yielding its assent to so monstrous an idea, as that error could possibly be useful, that imposture could be beneficial, that the heart could be set right by setting the understanding wrong, that men were to be made rational by being deceived, and rendered just and virtuous by credulity and ignorance."* To remove all scruples from the minds of those who examine Christianity, we have a rule given by which even the most unlettered individual can be satisfied in respect to its genuineness. The great Teacher himself declares, ፡ If any man will do God's will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." No reasonable mind can object to this. Jesus was willing to rest the claims of his religion on the ground of its practical utility; a course not usually adopted by impostors. Hence, in the light of this direction, we say to the world, let the religion of Jesus Christ be judged of in this manner; let him who would know of God's doctrine, do his will, as that will is revealed in his Son; and then, if he is not wiser, better, happier, and far more exalted in the scale of being than he otherwise would be, he may consider Christianity a delusion, and its author some other person than an inspired messenger of the Most High; but not till then. "Imposture shrinks from light, And dreads the curious eye; But Christian truths the test invite, * Taylor's Diegesis. As religion is the subject of our present inquiries, it is well that we understand the meaning of this term; for it has been used with equal sincerity, "by saint, by savage, and by sage." The Pagan is religious; the Mahometan; the Christian; that is, according to the convictions of their consciences. The word religion signifies, an obligation by which men are bound by their feelings to some superior power, and their convictions of certain requirements and duties demanded of them. Whatever men think of the being they worship, and his requirements of them, this, theoretically speaking, is their religion. But all religion is not pure. In illustration of this, the reader will observe one remarkable trait in the character of that people to whom our Saviour first came as a teacher from God. They were extremely religious. Their tythes of mint, anise, and cummin, were all punctually paid, their phylacteries made broad, their faces disfigured, and their prayers repeated with scrupulous precision. Yet they were justly condemned as hypocrites by the Saviour. For, with all their religion, they could despise the Gentiles, devour the substance of the widow and fatherless, bind heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, and draw near unto God with their lips, while their hearts were far from him. "They trusted in themselves, that they were righteous, and despised others." They "omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith." Their religion was vain. The apostle Paul, previous to his conversion, possessed this religion. He says, "I profited in the Jews' religion above many of my equals, being exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers." His zeal prompted him to persecute the disciples of Christ by all means in his pow er; being, as he says, "exceedingly mad against them," and following them with imprisonment, torture, and death. Those who possessed this religion crucified the Son of God, after rejecting him as their king, and turning a deaf ear to all his faithful instructions. His religion was too simple, too void of ostentation for their approval. It was not sufficiently connected with popularity, as the world understood this term; because it sought not the honor that cometh from men. It levelled all distinctions, made the Gentiles equal with the Jews, brought down the wall of partition between them, and declared the salvation of God to the whole world. The vanity of the corrupted Jewish religion is plainly seen in its forms and ceremonies, while true benevolence and mercy had no place in it. How then does the Christian religion differ from this; and in what does it consist? Let us consider. It should be known by all who pretend an acquaintance with Christianity, that its religion is not confined to professed Christians only. There may be those who have never heard the name of Christ, and who believe not in his holy mission to the world, who are, nevertheless practising the very principles which he laid down as necessary to govern the children of men. Such instances are found in the New Testament. Cornelius, though a heathen, is commended as 66 a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway." And Lydia, a seller of purple, though neither a Jew nor a Christian, is said to have been a worshipper of God, and one whose heart God had opened before she had heard the preaching of Paul. The truth here set forth teaches us the nature of |