admire the riches and skill of Thy right-hand *;" often viewing with attention Thy wonders, and, while we view them, frequently crying out with the divine Psalmist, O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! In wisdom hast Thou made them all. The earth is full of thy riches! Psal. civ. 24. From everlasting to everlasting Thou art God, and besides Thee, there is no other. Psal. xc. 2. And with Hermes, "The Father of all, being Himself understanding, life, and brightness, created man like Himself, and cherished him as His own son. Thou Creator of universal nature, who hast extended the earth, who poisest the heavens, and commandest the waters to flow from all the parts of the sea, we praise Thee, who art the one exalted God, for by Thy will all things are perfected t.” The same author asserts that "God was prior to human nature.” In vain would any one endeavour to evade the force of our argument, by substituting Nature in the place of God, as the principal and cause of this beautiful order. For either, by Nature, he understands the particular frame and composition of every single thing; which would be saying nothing at all to the purpose in hand, because it evident, that this manifold nature, which in most instances is quite void of reason, could never be the cause of that beautiful order and harmony which is every where conspicuous throughout the whole system; or, he means a universal and intelligent Nature, disposing and ordering every thing to advantage. But this is only another name for God; of whom it may be said, in a sacred sense, that He, as an infinite Nature and Mind, pervades and fills all His works. Not as an informing form, according to the expression of the schools, and as the part of a compounded whole; which * O! immensa, opifex rerum sapientia! dextræ Divitias artemq.; tuæ miremur in ævum. † Ὁ πάντων πατὴρ ὁ νοῦς ὤν ζωη καὶ φῶς απεκυήσε ἄνθρωπων οὗ ηράσθη ὡς ἰδίου τόκου, Πάσης φύσεως κτίστης ὁ πήξας τὴν γῆν καὶ οὔρανον κρεμάσας καὶ ἐπιτάξας το γλυκό ὕδωρ ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἀκεανοῦ ὑπαρχειν, ὑμνῶμεν σε τό πᾶν, καὶ τό ἐν, σοῦ γὰρ βουλουμένου παντα τελεῖται. is the idlest fiction that can be imagined, for, at this rate, He must not only be a part of the vilest insects, but also, of stocks and stones, and clods of earth; but a pure, unmixed Nature, which orders and governs all things with the greatest freedom and wisdom, and supports them with unwearied and almighty power. In this acceptation, when you name Nature, you mean God. Seneca's words are very apposite to this purpose. "Whithersoever you turn yourself, you see God meeting you; nothing excludes His presence; He fills all his works. Therefore, it is in vain for thee, most ungrateful of all men, to say thou art not indebted to God, but to Nature, because they are, in fact, the same. If thou hadst received any thing from Seneca, and should say, thou owed'st it to Annæus or Lucius, thou wouldst not thereby change thy creditor, but only his name, because, whether thou mentionest his name or his surname, his person is still the same *.” An evident and most natural consequence of this universal and necessary idea of a God, is, His unity. All who mention the term God, intend to convey by it, the idea of the first, most exalted, necessarily existent, and infinitely perfect Being: and it is plain, there can be but one Being endued with all these perfections. Nay, even the polytheism that prevailed among the heathen nations, was not carried so far, but that they acknowledged one God, by way of eminence, as supreme and absolutely above all the rest, whom they styled the greatest and best of Beings, and the Father of gods and men. From Him, all the rest had their being and all that they were, and from Him, also, they had the title of gods, but still in a limited and subordinate sense. In confirmation of this, we meet with very many of the clearest testimonies with regard to the unity of God, in the works of all the heathen authors. *Quocunq.; te flexeris, ibi Deum vides occurrentem tibi, nihil ab illo vacat; opes suum ipse implet: ergo nihil agis, ingratissime mortalium, qui te negas Deo debere, sed naturæ, quia eidem est utrumq.; officium. Si quid a Seneca accepisses, et Annæo te diceres debere vel Lucio, non creditorem mutares, sed nomen, quoniam sive nomen ejus dicas, sive prænomen, sive cognomen, idem tamen ipse est. SENECA, 4. de Benef. That of Sophocles is very remarkable: "There is indeed," says he," one God, and but one, who has made the heavens, and the wide extended earth, the blue surges of the sea, and the strength of the winds *." As to the mystery of the sacred Trinity, which has a near and necessary connexion with the present subject, I always thought it was to be received and adored with the most humble faith, but by no means to be curiously searched into, or perplexed with the absurd questions of the schoolmen. We fell by an arrogant ambition after knowledge; by mere faith we rise again, and are reinstated. And this mystery, indeed, rather, than any other, seems to be a tree of knowledge, prohibited to us while we sojourn in these mortal bodies. This most profound mystery, though obscurely represented by the shadows of the Old Testament, rather than clearly revealed, was not unknown to the most ancient and celebrated doctors among the Jews, nor altogether unattested, however obstinately later authors may maintain the contrary. Nay, learned men have observed, that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are expressly acknowledged in the books of the Cabalists, and they produce surprising things to this purpose out of the book of Zohar, which is ascribed to R. Simeon, Ben. Joch, and some other Cabalistical writers. Nay, the book just now mentioned, after saying a great deal concerning the Three in One Essence, adds, "That this secret will not be revealed to all till the coming of the Messias +." I insist not upon what is said of the name consisting of twelve letters, and another larger one of forty-two, as containing a fuller explication of that most sacred name, which they call Hammephorash‡. Nor is it improbable, that some dawn, at least, of this mystery had reached even the heathen philosophers. There are some * Εις ταῖς ἀληθεναισιν, εἷς ἐστίν Θεός, + Hoc arcanum non revelabitur unicuique, quousq.; venerit Messias, Maim. Mor, Nev. part, i. c. 16. who think they can prove, by arguments of no inconsiderable weight, that Anaxagoras, by his vous, or mind, meant nothing but the Son, or Wisdom that made the world. But the testimonies are clearer, which you find frequently among the Platonic philosophers, concerning the Three subsisting from one*: moreover, they all call the self-existing Being, the creating word, or the mind and the soul of the world. But the words of the Egyptian Hermes are very surprising: "The mind, which is God, together with his word, produced another creatingmind; nor do they differ from one another, for their union is lifet." But what we now insist upon, is, the plain and evident necessity of one Supreme, and therefore, of one Only Principle of all things, and the harmonious agreement of mankind in the belief of the absolute necessity of this same principle. This is the God whom we admire, whom we worship, whom we entirely love, or, at least, whom we desire to love above all things; whom we can neither express in words, nor conceive in our thoughts; and the less we are capable of these things, so much the more necessary it is to adore Him with the profoundest humility, and to love Him with the greatest intentness and fervour. LECTURE VIII. Of the WORSHIP of GOD, PROVIDENCE, and the Law given to MAN. THOUGH I thought it by no means proper to proceed without taking notice of the arguments that serve to confirm the first and leading truth of religion, and the general consent of man * Περί τριῶν ἐξ ἑνὸς ὑποστάντων. * Τό ἀυτό, ὀν τον δημιουργον λογον, seu νοῦν, καὶ τὴν του κόσμου ψυχην. † Ὁ νοῦς Θεὸς ἀπεκύησε λόγῳ ἕτερον νοῦν δημιουργὸν, ἀλλ ̓ οὐ διίστανται ἀπ' ἀλληλῶνα ἕνωσις γὰρ τούτων ἐστίν ἡ ζωή. kind with regard to it; yet, the end I chiefly proposed to myself, was, to examine this consent, and point out its force, and the use to which it ought to be applied; to call off your minds from the numberless disputes about religion, to the contemplation of this universal agreement, as into a more quiet and peaceable country; and to shew you, what I wish I could effectually convince you of, that there is more weight and force in this universal harmony and consent of mankind in a few of the great and universal principles, to confirm our minds in the sum and substance of religion, than the innumerable disputes that still subsist with regard to the other points, ought to have to discourage us in the exercise of true piety, or in the least to weaken our faith. In consequence of this, it will be proper to lay before you the other propositions contained in this general consent of mankind, with regard to religion. Now, the first of these being, That there is one, and but one Eternal Principle of all things; from this it will most naturally follow, That this Principle or Deity is to be honoured with some worship; and from these two taken together, it must be, with the same necessity, concluded, That there is a providence, or, that God doth not despise or neglect the world which He has created, and mankind, by whom He ought to be, and actually is worshipped, but governs them with the most watchful and perfect wisdom. All mankind acknowledge, that some kind of worship is due to God, and that to perform it is by all means worthy of man; and upon the minds of all is strongly impressed that sentiment which Lactantius expressed with great perspicuity and brevity in these words, "To know God is wisdom, and to worship Him, justice *.” In this worship some things are natural, and therefore of more general use among all nations, such as vows and prayers, hymns and praises; as also some bodily gestures, especially such as seem most proper to express reverence and respect. All * Deum nosse, sapientia; colere, justitia. |