The religion of philosophy, as contra-distinguished from modern French philosophy; and as an antidote to its pernicious effects, lately so evident in the prevalence of assassination & suicide

Introduction

X he following Treatise was originally intended to be left in manuscript to my children; being an appeal to their matured judgment, without any attempt to influence through the deference expected from a child to a parent. Finding it, however, too laborious an undertaking to multiply copies for a numerous and increasing offspring, and for some few select friends who also requested to have it, I have had recourse to the press for the purpose of a limited distribution.

IV INTRODUCTION.

I do not deny that I feel a strong excitement to publish it for general circulation; but I am not sufficiently confident of its merits as a literary production, to risk such an ordeal: I wait, therefore, until it has stood the test of this minor trial. The excitement I allude to, springs from a desire of contributing all in my humble power towards suppressing the alarming dissemination of French atheistical philosophy, which, sapping the foundation of virtuous principles, threatens destruction to all religion and morality; the tendency of it being to deprive man of the cheering and endearing hope of an immortal existence: a philosophy too suitable to those who are prone to evil, and therefore likely to be encouraged by them.

To what height this lamentable evil may have extended in the more elevated ranks of society, or how considered in the higher walks of literature, I do not pretend to know. I hope to many the assertion may appear extraordinary, the truth of which in my public path of life, where I am continually led to a knowledge of the fact, I have but too frequent opportunities of ascertain-

INTRODUCTION"-. V

ing, viz. that, among the lower and middle orders of society, the doctrine of this atheistical philosophy is spreading to a most alarming degree. There are, among them, those who openly aver their belief that death will close the scene of their pleasures and pains for ever; and therefore their worldly wisdom is to take care of the present moment for the sensual enjoyment of all they can possibly grasp, utterly regardless of consequences. To these, death is less a terror than immediate temporary punishment, their hearts being hardened by the belief of a total annihilation. The common encouraging argument among noted culprits is, " It is but a momentary pain, and there is an end/' Proofs of the existence of such belief, and consequent actions, are innumerable in the recent history of the French revolution; and it is not possible to conceive that men could have become such monsters of cruelty and wickedness, had they not previously fortified their minds by a persuasion that they were not to be accountable in a future existence. Nor are proofs wanting of a similar depravity in this country: murders committed without

a 2

VI INTRODUCTION.

provocation, in cold blood, and with but slight expectation of advantage, have greatly increased of late: the English character seems changed. A mono; instances of minor note, within the last few years, the case of the monster Williams stands conspicuous. A man of some education, apparent mildness of character, in the prime of life, and without any other incitement than the obtaining a little money to lengthen his sensual enjoyments awhile on shore: this miserably deceived and inhuman wretch could deliberately undertake, no matter with or without accomplices, to massacre and destroy, in an indiscriminate horrid manner, two families, in the whole seven people, with all of whom he was on a friendly footing; and then, to confirm the infernal atheistical doctrine he had imbibed, as soon as he found himself charged on suspicion, could as fearlessly as wickedly launch himself into eternity; so heavily laden with guilt, with sins of so deadly a nature, as to preclude the hope of divine mercy, but by ages of suffering repentance. I do most assuredly believe, therefore, that the misguided wretch Williams

INTRODUCTION. VI*

could never have become so inhumanly depraved, a monster, but from the pernicious tendency of the modern infidelity respecting a state of future rewards and punishments, consequent on the good or ill conduct of mortals in this life. The cool premeditated murder of Mr. Perceval, with other recent assassinations, all tend to prove the prevalence of such destructive infernal doctrines.

Books on religious subjects are mostly confined, in the reading, to those within the pale of the writer's faith, or to controversialists. Those who are of a different faith, generally speaking, when they hear of a publication on the subject of religion, inquire whether the author is not a clergyman, and, if so, will too often exclaim, " He is a hired interested writer/' whatever sect he may belong to, " engaged to defend a system, which he dares neither discuss nor rectify/' Now I ail), a mere practical man, and in the present instance can have no other interest to serve, or any wish, beyond that of doing all the little good I am able; and, with the blessing of God, I hope this may be productive of some.

HI! INTRODUCTION.

Good men, of all religions, must be equal in the eye of Omnipotence, if mercy, justice, and integrity, are the leading principles of their conduct; for it is not in the power of a conscientious good man to coerce his faith: to say that he changes, against conviction, is declaring himself a hypocrite and not to be trusted. If a good man is so unfortunate as to entertain notions repugnant to the established doctrines of the country he is born in, that, not depending upon his will, can never be imputed to him as a crime. In- truth, religion may be comprised in few words; gratitude to God and love to our fellow-creatures .

In bringing up my ow^n children, I have contented myself with inculcating on their minds a strong pious sense of obligation to their Almighty Creator, and the beneficial effects of performing their moral duties with rectitude in this life, without disturbing their minds, while } f oung, with controversial doctrines concerning faith, which might have perplexed them with doubts and unfitted them for performing the moral duties. To persuade them to act aright, has been my

INTRODUCTION. IX

chief aim, and I am well satisfied with the produce of fruit from the seed that was sown.

On men of serious reflection, of all denominations of religion, it is also a duty to endeavour, by sound rational argument, to stop the progress of so alarming an evil as the modern atheism or French philosophy. Strong, however, as my desires are to contribute my mite towards so great a good, the inadequacy of my abilities for arranging and composing any thing like a Treatise to meet the public eye, on a subject of such infinite importance, would have deterred me from the undertaking, had I not, in the course of my extensive travelling opportunities, made minutes and taken extracts from manuscripts and books whenever I have found my sentiments comprised in better language than my own. My desert is chiefly the having, in my researches, noticed and gathered some flowers, particularly in America, that probably might have bloomed and died unnoticed, had I not thus transplanted what I thought most deserving. In like manner, I have culled sentences and paragraphs from authors

X INTRODUCTION.

at home, when, in the small circle of my reading, I have found my thoughts explained in stronger language than I was master of, which I copied at the time for the purpose of improving my own scanty knowledge of composition; and now, in a work of this serious nature, I rejoice in having recourse to such strength. At the same time, I regret that I cannot, owing to my neglect in not minuting the works, render the respective authors, from whom I have taken such extracts, their just due, by naming them, though but for a single sentence; more especially, as I am persuaded that the arguments would have been strengthened by their authority. If I could save a fellow-creature's life, by the aid of another person's boat or vehicle of any kind, I would cheerfully acknowledge such assistance, nor conceive that I depreciated my own exertions in the work of salvation, by mentioning the owner or person who originally built it.

I am well aware, that this account of my compiling the Treatise will be no recommendation to the learned, should it ever come into their hands for perusal; but, if the ar-

INTRODUCTION. XI

guments are rightly stated, and the inferences justly drawn, they will stand the test of truth; and truth, though humbly clad, if conveyed in language that may be the easiest understood by those whose intellects have not been so highly illuminated by learning, is, I conceive, likeliest to produce the desired effect which I have humbly contemplated, being better calculated, by its plain simplicit}^, for the meridian of common understandings. It may probably be said, that I have not advanced all that might be adduced in proof of my positions. This I readily admit; but I have done my best; let others do better; and I earnestly solicit the aid of more able advocates in so good and great a cause as proving the Religion of Philosophy, or in other words the Wisdom of Religion; and, whilst I confine myself to the light of Nature, as the guide of my reasoning, it will become the scholar and divine to exert their greater abilities, by advocating from scripture and adducing aid from revelation.

The better to obtain this desirable end, and shun giving offence to any, I have cautiously

Xll INTRODUCTION.

avoided mentioning or even alluding to any of the various systems of religion prevailing, more or less, over the face of the dobe. The Treatise is written on general principles of sound reason, and is addressed to mankind generally. It is founded on that rock on which every subordinate faith is and must be built, and it is accordingly hoped that liberal well-meaning men, of all persuasions, may read it without finding any thing in it to offend, notwithstanding the argument may not have been extended sufficiently to gratify each in their own particular faith; and, having maturely considered the rationality of the arguments, they may deduce every possible consolation from the contemplation of God's gracious providence, which holds forth to all mankind the great endearing hope of a blessed futurity.

Were I born in Turkey, and to announce myself of the Mahometan faith, with all the zealous strength of argument arising from beins: born and educated in such faith, it is not to be expected that either Christians, Jews, or heathens, would deign to look at the Treatise. And even among the Maho-

INTRODUCTION. Xlll

metans themselves, who are divided into as many different sectaries and are as much at variance with each other as the Christians, &c. were it known that I was a believer in Mahomet as a sectarist and follower of peculiar doctrines, I may venture to assert, that fifteen if not nineteen out of twenty would refuse acknowledging me as a true Mussulman believer, and therefore would not consider me as deserving attention. It would be the same among Christians, Jews, and heathens, and still more so among the atheistical infidels* mid wicked of all denominations, who fail not in decrying whatever absurdities are to be found in any particular sectary, to strengthen the ground of their infidelity; and who are desirous of crediting that hereafter they will not be accountable for their conduct in this world. For these reasons, I consider myself justified in withholding any declaration as to the particular tenets of my own religion, which to those who know me well is hot wanted, and to those who know me not is unnecessary; for fear that it might tend to prevent and defeat my purpose, that of obtaining an unbiassed attention to the argu-

XIV INTRODUCTION.

ments, proving the prevailing doctrine of French atheistical infidelity to be most wickedly erroneous, and fraught with incalculable destructive mischief to all mankind. I hope, therefore, it will suffice for me to declare, in general terms, that I rejoice in being a Christian, a true follower of Christ, as I read, and do flatter myself that I understand the doctrine of Christ, as taught by himself.

I am now fast approaching the verge of that bourn from whence no mortal has returned to tell his tale of wonders, but where 'every thing like doubt will vanish: it is an aweful, hopeful, joyful expectancy after travelling through a long probationary existence, which I trust and hope will be accepted at the throne of mercy. I consider it as a sacred duty and obligation in me to leave my most serious contemplations on the providence of God, to my children, for them to profit by; and, as it is my duty not to withhold those contemplations, it will be theirs to consider them well.

Among the nations of the earth, in every quarter of the globe, I have sought to read the mind of man. I have likewise sought,

INTRODUCTION. XV

with reverential attention, to study and understand the will of the Almighty Creator, as revealed to man in his works of creation, which he has given to all alike to contemplate. Consonant to this grand display of the Almighty Power and Providence, revealed for the mind of man to studv, whether savage or philosopher, I have observed among all nations one uniform principle, in which all agree; a firm belief in a God. This is the rock on which all men build their hopes of an immortality; a faith, which no earthly power can shake from its foundation, or make a conscientious godly man swerve from, whether Christian, Mahometan, Jew, or Gentile: it was the rock of the Royal Psalmist, to whom Christians, Jews, and Mahometans, bow with reverence : good men may possibly be induced to swerve from one subordinate faith to another, but never from their faith in God Almighty. To this grand universal truth, all Nature speaks aloud; all that comes within the scope of man's limited power to discern; all that man can conceive of the planetary system of worlds beyond worlds in the infinitude of space; all, all,

XVI INTRODUCTION.

tend to confirm the great incontrovertible truth, the existence of an eternal, omniscient, and beneficent Mind, whose power is unlimited in his nature as God.

It is this uniform consonance between the finite mind of men of all religious persuasions, intuitive, as it were, in the universal belief in an infinite Being who governs the universe, which induces a hope that a Treatise like this, founded on general principles, should it hereafter be deemed deserving of general publication, may be acceptable to all religious good men, and may tend to convert the atheist; leaving him, then, at perfect liberty to follow such other points of doctrinal faith as his conscience and reason may dictate.

I trust that there is not a sentence of an immoral tendencv to be found in the following pages, and I hope there may be found abundance of rational argument to convince and satisfy those who have been led astray by the destructive philosophy of modern infidels, that there is a righteous just God, to whom we are to look for judgment, and to be accountable for the good and evil of our

INTRODUCTION. XV11

free agency of conduct in this probationary life; and that there is every rational certainty that the soul of man, when separated from the mortal man, will enter into a state of immortality.

Imperfections in the work, as a literary production, I have no doubt may be found; for which, I have no other apology to offer than the inability to make it better ; and the paramount desire of doing good must be my shield against the shafts of criticism.

THE

RELIGION of PHILOSOPHY

Chapter I

A knowledge of the Being, Perfections, Power, and Providence, of God, most desirable.

1 he desire of knowledge has ensued the attention of the wise ancfc curious among mankind, in all ages. This has extended the arts and sciences far and wide in the

B several quarters of the globe, and excited the mind to explore Nature's laws, in a gradual series of improvement, until philosophy, astronomy, geography, and history, with many other branches of science, have arrived to a great degree of perfection.

It is nevertheless to be regretted, that the bulk of mankind, even in those nations which are most celebrated for learning and wisdom, are still carried down the torrent of superstition, and entertain very unworthy conceptions of the being, perfections, power, atad providence of God, and of their duty to him. It becomes, therefore, the philosophic friends of human nature, to exert themselves by all lawful, wise, and prudent means to enlighten the minds of men with those great and sublime truths concerning God and his Providence, as well as to impress upon them their obligations to moral rectitude, which, in this world and that to come, cannot fail greatly to affect their happiness and well-being.

Though, "none, by searching, can find out God, or the Almighty, to perfection/' yet I am persuaded, that, if mankind would

<lare to exercise their reason as freely on those divine topics as they do in the common concerns of life, they would in a great measure rid themselves of their blindness and superstition, gain more exalted ideas of God and their obligations to him and to one another, and be proportionably delighted and blessed with the views of his moral government ; that they would make better members of society, and acquire many powerful incentives to the practice of morality, which is the last, best, and greatest, perfection that human nature is capable of, and appears to be the grand design of our probationary state of existence.

Jb'tctfott 2.

Of the Being of a God.

The laws of Nature having subjected mankind to a state of absolute dependence on

b2 something out of, and manifestly beyond, themselves, or the compound exertion of their natural powers, gave them the first conception of a superior principle existing; otherwise, they could have had no possible conception of a superintending power.

But this sense of dependency, which results from experience and reasoning on the facts which every day cannot fail to produce, has uniformly established the knowledge of our dependence in the minds of all who are rational, necessarily enforcing the idea of a ruling power, or, that there is a God.

This gives the first idea of a Deitj^, and powerfully attracts the rational mind to make farther discoveries; which, through the weakness of human reasonings, opens a door for errors and mistakes respecting the divine essence; though there is no possibility of our being deceived in our conceptions of a superintending power.

The globe, with all its productions; the planets in their motions ; and the starry heavens in their magnitude ; surprise our senses and confound our reason, in their munificent lessons of instruction concerning God; by

THE RELIGION OF PHILOSOPHY. O

means of which we are apt to be more or less lost in our ideas of the object of divine adoration ; though, at the same time, every one is truly sensible, that their being and preservation is from God. We are too apt to confound our ideas of God with his works, and to take the latter for the former. Thus, some barbarous and unlearned nations have imagined, that, inasmuch as the sun in its influence is beneficial to them, in bringing forward the spring of the year, causing the production of vegetation, and food for their subsistence, it is therefore their God ; while others have selected other parts of creation, and ascribed to them the prerogatives of God ; mere creatures and images have been substituted to be gods by the wickedness or weakness of man, or both together. It seems, that mankind, in most ages and parts of the world, have been fond of corporeal deities, with whom their outward senses might be gratified ; or have as fantastically been diverted from a just conception of the true God, by a supposed supernatural intercourse with invisible and mere spiritual beings, to whom they ascribed divinity, so that, through one means or other,

THE RELIGION OF PHILOSOPHY.

the character of the true God has been much neglected, to the great detriment of truth, justice, and morality, in the world : nor is it possible, that mankind can be unif orm in tb religious opinions, or worship of God, accords' to knowlec. xcept they can form a consistent arrangement of ideas of the divine character; this, thereto: all be the great

object of our pursuit.

Although a sense of dependency disck to our minds the certainty or s upreme Being, yet. it does not point out to i object, nature, or perfections, of tl this belongs to the province of reason. As far as we understand Nature, so far are

become acquainted with the character of God ; for, the knowledge of Nature is the elation of God.

If we form in our imagination a compendious idea of the harmony of the universe, it ime as calling God by the name of harmony, for there could be no harmony without regulation, and no regulation without a regulator, which is expressive of the idea of a God : nor is it possible that there could be order or dborder, except we admit of such a

tin* as creation* and creation contains in it the idea of a creator, which is another appdlation for the Divine Being, d%tmgaklimg God own Ins creation. Furthermore, there coold be no proportion. figure- or motion, without wisdom and power: wisdom to plan, and power to execute: and these an? perfections, when applied to the works of Nature. which dearly signny the agency or snperintendency of God. If we consider Nature to be matter, figure, and motion, ^e indude the idea of God in that of motion: for motion implies a mover much as creation does a

creator. It- firom the composition, texture, and tendency of the universe in general, we farm a complex idea of general good resulting therefrom to mankind, we implicitly admit a God, by the name of good, induct ■ die idea of his providence to man : and brum hence arises our obligations to lore and adore God. because he provides for and is beneficent to us : abstract the idea of goodness firom the character of God, and it would caned all our obligations to him.

For mankind to hate truth, as it may bring their evil deeds tc light, and be attended with punishment, is very easy and common ; but to hate truth as truth, or God as God, which is the same as to hate goodness for its own sake, unconnected with any other consequences^ is impossible even to a diabolical nature itself. If we advert to the series of the causes of our being and preservation in the world, we shall commence a retrospective examination from son to father, grandfather and great grandfather, and so on, to the supreme and self-existent Father of all ; and, as to the means of our preservation or succeeding causes of it, we may begin with parental kindness, in nourishing, succouring, and providing for us in our helpless age ; always remembering it to have originated from our Eternal Father, who planted that powerful and sympathetic affection in the bosoms of our earthly parents.

By extending our ideas to a larger circle, we shall perceive our dependence on the earth and waters of the globe which we inhabit, and from which we are bounteously fed, and comfortably clothed ; and next, extending our ideas to the sun, whose apparent fiery mass darts its brilliant rays of light to our terraqueous globe, with amazing velocity, and whose region of inexhaustible fire (according to the general conception of mankind) supplies it with fervent heat, causing vegetation, and providing the various seasons of the year with ten thousand charms. This we are conscious is not the work of man, but the workmanship and providence of an Almighty God. But how the sun is supplied with materials thus to perpetuate its kind influences, we know not; yet will any one deny the reality of those beneficial influences, because we do not understand the manner of the perpetuity of that fiery world, or how it became such a body of fire, as our sensations seem to convince us it must be? Or, will any one deny the reality of nutrition by food, because we do not understand the secret operation of the digestive powers of animal nature, or the minute particulars of its nourishing influence? None will be so stupid as to do it. Equally absurd would it be for us to deny the providence of God, by " whom we live, move, and have our being, yi because we cannot comprehend it.

The evidence of the being and providence of God is so full and complete, that we cannot miss of discerning it, if we but open our eyes, and reflect on the visible creation. The benefit accruing to us from reflection, reasoning, and argument, as it respects our knowledge and practice, is to explore the truth of things, as they are in their own nature; this is our wisdom, all other conceptions of things are false and .imaginary ; we cannot exercise a thought on any thing that has a positive existence, which will not, if we trace it thoroughly, centre in an independent cause, and give evidence of a God. Thus, it is from the works of Nature that we explore its great Author: but the very best and most inquisitive of mortal minds are all lost in their researches into the immensity of the divine fulness, because, the infinite mind of the Creator has ordained, thus far shall the finite mind of man go, and no farther.

&ttttott 3.

The Manner of discovering the moral Perfections and natural Attributes of God.

Having offered what appear to be indisputable reasons to evince the certainty of the being and providence of God, and of his goodness to man through the intervention of the series of Nature's operations, which are commonly described by the name of natural causes, we come now more particularly to the consideration of his moral perfections : and, though all finite beings fall as much short of an adequate knowledge of them, as they do of perfection itself, nevertheless, through the intelligence of our own souls, we may entertain something of a perspective idea of the divine perfections ; for, though the human mind bears no proportion to the divine, yet there must be some resemblance between them : for instance ; God knows all things, and we know some things, and in the things we do understand, our knowledge agrees with the divine, and cannot fail of necessarily corresponding with it. To know a thing is the same as to have a right idea of it, or ideas according to truth ; and truth is uniform in all rational minds, the divine mind not excepted. It will not be disputed, but that mankind in plain and common matters understand justice from injustice, truth from falsehood, right from wrong, virtue from 'vice, and praise-worthiness from blame-worthiness, for otherwise they could not be accountable creatures. This being admitted, we are capable of forming a complex idea of a moral character, which, when done in the most deliberate, wisest, and most rational manner in our power, we feel convinced bears some resemblance to the divine perfections. For, as we learn, from the works of Nature, an idea of the power and wisdom of God, so, from -our own rational nature, we have an idea of his moral perfections.

But mere power and wisdom, abstractedly considered from justice, goodness, and truth, are not necessarily connected with a moral character, as applicable to man; as many tyrants have demonstrated, who have been wise to plan and powerful to execute unjust wars, to the ruin and destruction of their species. But, on the other hand, when power and wisdom are in the possession of patriot governors, they subserve mankind. But as God is unchangeably and infinitely just and good, as well as infinitely wise and powerful, he can therefore never vary from the rectitude of his moral character, and consequently, his power and wisdom, though not included in his moral perfections (being his natural attributes) cannot act in opposition to his moral character. For, of all possible systems, infinite wisdom must have eternally discerned the best,, and infinite justice, goodness, and truth, approved it, and infinite power effected it. This conclusion is meant in respect to the creation and providence of God only, and not to affect the liberty of man in making his choice of good or evil, which God, in his infinite wisdom and inscrutable designs, has left free.

Prom what has been observed, on the moral perfections of God, we may infer, that all rational beings, who have an idea of justice, goodness, and truth, have at the same time either a greater or less idea of the moral perfections of God. It is by reason that we are able to compound an idea of a moral character, whether applied to God or man ; it is this which gives us the supremacy over the irrational part of the creation ; and it is that by which we may truly be said to be -"made after the image of God."

Of the Eternity and Infinity of God.

To ask, how God came to be, implies a contradiction to his being, as God, inasmuch as it supposes him to have come from, and to be dependent on, some pre-existing cause, which holds up to our view the character of a finite and dependent being. But if we extend our minds retrospectively on the chain of pre-existing causes, as far as human nature can extend, still we are at as great a remove from a God, as when we first attempt the order of pre-existing causes; for a mere succession of causes cannot extend them ad infinitum. If we conceive God to have existed from eternity, and that he will exist to eternity ; in this conception, we form an idea that God existed in time, and that in time he will cease to be; viz. from a certain era called eternity, he existed to a second era, called by the same name, that is from one epocha to another ; and on this position, there would have been an eternity preceding his existence, and another succeeding it, as it is often expressed from the desk, " from eternity to eternity, thou art God," which is diametrically inconsistent with a just idea of eternity. God did not come to be, but was, nor did he exist from eternity, but eternally existed, and will eternally exist. Though eternity includes an idea of existence or duration, as applicable to God, without beginning or end, yet it is necessary, in discussing the subject of eternal existence, to divide it into the preceding and succeeding eternity, as they may be considered separately by the mind; but to consider it complexly, it is but one entire eternity, without beginning or end; and the idea of existence without beginning or end, contains in it an idea of self-existence and independence, of any pre-existing cause ; but an existence from eternity necessarily implies either from a certain time, or from a certain pre-existing cause, called by the name of eternity, which runs into the absurdity of the derivation of a God, from the chain of supposed pre-existing causes, which, it is hoped, has already been sufficiently confuted.