The Philosophy of religion : or an illustration of the moral laws of the universe

Preface

To delineate the Moral bearings of the Christian Revelation, — to display the reasonableness and the excellence of its precepts, and the physical and rational grounds on which they rest, — and to exhibit a few prominent features in the moral aspect of the world, — were some of the principal objects which the Author had in view, in the composition of the following work. He is not aware that a similar train of thought has been prosecuted, to the same extent, by any preceding writer; and is therefore, disposed to indulge the hope, that it may prove both entertaining and instructive to the general reader, and to the intelligent Christian.

It may not *>e improper to remind the reader that the Author's object simply is, to illustrate the topics he has selected as the subject of this volume. As he has taken his fundamental principles from the system of Revelation, he was under no necessity, as most ethical writers are, to enter into any laboured metaphysical discussions on the foundation of Morality, and the motives from which moral actions should proceed. — The truth of Revelation is, of course, taken for granted ; and all who acknowledge its Divine authority, will readily admit the principles which form the basis of the system here illustrated. But, although it formed no particular part of the author's plan to illustrate the evidences of the Christian Revelation, he trusts, that the view which is here given of the benignant tendency of its moral requisitions, will form a powerful presumptive argument in support of its celestial origin.

The Christian reader may also be reminded, that it is only the Philosophy of Religion which the Author has attempted to illustrate. It formed no part of his plan to enter into any particular discussion on the doctrines of Revelation, or on those topics which have so frequently been the subject of controversy in the Christian church. It is not to support the tenets of Calvinism, Arminianism, Baxterianism, Arianism, or any other ism which distinguishes the various denominations of the Religious world, that these illustrations are presented to public view ; but to elucidate an object which it appears to be the grand design of Revelation to accomplish, and in the promotion of which, every section of the Christian church is equally interested, and to which they would do well to * take heed.'" — In his illustration of this subject, the Author has kept his eye solely on the two Revelations which the Almighty has given to mankind. — the system of nature, and the sacred records just as they stand, — without any regard to the theories of philosophers, the opinions of commentators, or the systems of theologians. He is disposed to view the Revelations of the Bible, rather as a series of important facts, from which moral instructions are to be deduced, than as a system of metaphysical opinions for the exercise of the intellect.

PREFACE.

On the leading topics which have divided the Christian world, the Author has formed his own opinion, and has adopted those which he has judged, on the whole, to be most correct; but it is of no importance to the reader what these opinions are, or of what system of speculative theology he is inclined, on the whole, to support. He sets very little value upon purely speculative opinions, except in so far as they tend to promote the grand mo*al objects of Christianity ; and while he assumes the unalienable right of thinking for himself on the subject of religion, he is disposed to allow the same privilege to others. He believes, on the authority of Scripture, that 4t God is the Creator of heaven and earth ."— that "he is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works;" — that hois good to all, and that his tend;: m.3r_;es are over all his works:" — that " he so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him might not perish, but have everlasting life that" Christ died for our sins, that he was buried, and that he rose again from the dead according to the Scriptures;" — -that " he is the propitiation for our sins, and that he ever lives to make intercession ;" — together with all the other facts and doctrines with which these are essentially connected. But he views the recognition of such doctrines and facts, not as the end of religion, but only as the means by which the great moral objects of Christianity are to be promoted and accomplished.

In illustrating the Moral state of the world, the Author is sorry that he was obliged to compress his details within so narrow limits. Few readers, however, will appreciate the labour and research he was under the necessity of bestowing, in order to select and arrange the facts which he has detailed. He has occasionly had to condense a long history or narrative, and even a whole volume, into the compass of two or three pages ; and to search through more than twenty volumes, in order to find mate rials to fill a couple of pages. With the same degree of research, (except ing the mechanical labour of transcription,) he might have filled several volumes with similar illustrations; and he is convinced that a work of this description, judiciously executed, would prove highly instructive, as well as entertaining, not only to the Christian world, but to readers of every description.

Various topics connected with the Philosophy of Religion, still remain to be illustrated. These shall form the subject of discussion in a future volume, should the present work be received with general approbation.

Perth, January

THE

PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION.

Introduction

The objects of human knowledge may be reduced to two classes— -the relations of matter and the relations of inivd; or, <n other words, the material and the intellectual universe. Of these two departments of science, the intellectual universe is, in many respects, the most interesting and important. For, in so far as our knowledge and researches extend, it appears lighly probable, if not absolutely certain, that the material universe exists solely for the sake of sentient and intelligent reings — in order to afford a sensible manifestation of the attrioutes of the Great. First Cause, and to serve as a vehicle of thought and a medium of enjoyment to subordinate intelligences. So intimately related, however, are these two objects of human investigation, that a knowledge of the one cannot be obtained but through the medium of the other. The operations of mind cannot be carried on without the intervention of external objects; for if the material universe had never existed, we could never have prosecuted a train of thought;* and

* The whole train of ideas which passes through our minds on any subject may be considered as the images of external objects variously modified and combined. These images we receive through the medium of our senses, by which we hold a communication with the material world. All our ideas of God, and of the objects of religion, are derived from the same source. The illustrations of the attributes of the Deity, and of his moral administration, contained in Scripture, are derived from the external scenes of creation, and from the relations of human society consequently, had the material world never existed, we could have formed no conceptions of the divine perfections similar to those which we now entertain, nor have prosecuted a train of thought on any other subject ; for the material universe is the basis of all the knowledge we have hitherto acquired, or can acquire, respecting ourselves, our Creator, or other intelligences. Any person who is disposed to call in question this position, must be prepared to point out, distinctly and specifically, those ideas or trains of thought which are not derived through the medium of the external senses, and from the objects on which they are exercised.

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the beauties and sublimities of external nature can be perceived only by thinking beings, without the existence of which, the material universe would remain like a mighty blank, and might be said to have been created in vain. Hence it appears, that, previous to our inquiries into the nature and relations of mind, it is necessary, in the first place, to study the phenome* na of the material world, and the external actions of all those percipient beings with which it is peopled ; for the knowledge of the facts we acquire in relation to these objects must form the ground-work of all our investigations.

We are surrounded, on every hand, with minds of various descriptions, which evince the faculties of which they are possessed, by the various senses and active powers with which they are furnished. These minds are of various gradations, in point of intellectual capacity and acumen, from Man downwards through all the animated tribes which traverse the regions of earth, air, and sea. We have the strongest reason to believe, that the distant regions of the material world are also replenished with intellectual beings, of various orders, in which there may be a gradation upwards, in the scale of intellect above that of man, as diversified as that which we perceive in the descending scale, from man downwards to the immaterial principle which animates a muscle, a snail, or a microscopic animalcula. When we consider the variety of original forms and of intellectual capacities which abounds in our terrestrial system, and that there is an infinite gap in the scale of being between the human mind and the Supreme Intelligence, it appears quite conformable to the magnificent harmony of the universe, and to the wisdom and benevolence of its Almighty Author, to suppose, that there are beings within the range of his dominions as far superior to man in the comprehension and extent of mental and corporeal powers, as man is, in these respects, superior to the most despicable insect ; and that these beings, in point of number, may exceed all human calculation and comprehension. This idea is corroborated by several intimations contained in the records of revelation, where we have presented to our view a class of intelligences, endowed with physical energies, powers of rapid motion, and a grasp of intellect incomparably superior to those which are possessed by any of the beings which belong to our sublunary system.

To contemplate the various orders of intelligences which people the material universe, and the relations which subsist among them — the arrangements of the different worlds to which they respectively belong—the corporeal vehicles bv

INTRODUCTION.

rtrhich they hold a correspondence with the material system — the relation in which they stand to other worlds and beings, from which they are separated by the voids of space — and the excursions they occasionally make to different regions of that vast empire of which they form a part ; — to trace the superior intellectual faculties and the sensitive organs with which they are endowed — the profound investigations they have made into the economy of the universe — the trains of thought which they pursue, and the magnificent objects on which their faculties are employed — the emotions with which they view the scenes and transactions of such a world as ours— the means by which they have been carried forward in the career of moral and intellectual improvement— the history of their transactions since the period at which they were brought into existence — the peculiar dispensations of the Creator, and the revolutions that may have taken place among them — the progressions they have made from one stage of improvement to another — the views they have acquired of the perfections and the plans of their Almighty Sovereign — the transporting emotions of delight which pervade all their faculties— and the sublime adorations they offer up to the Fountain of all their felicity — would constitute a source of the most exquisite gratification to every holy, intelligent, and inquiring mind. But, since we are at present confined to a small corner of the universe of God, and surrounded by immeasurable voids of space, which intervene between our habitation and the celestial worlds, through which no human power can enable us to penetrate, we must remain ignorant of the nature and economy of those intellectual beings, till our souls take their flight from these w tabernacles of clay," to join their kindred spirits in the invisible world. While we remain in our sublunary mansion, our investigations into the world of mind must, therefore, of necessity, be confined to the nature and attributes of the Uncreated Spirit, and to the faculties of our own minds and those of the sensitive beings with which we are surrounded, These faculties, as they constitute the instruments by which all oui knowledge» both human and divine, is acquired, have employed the attention of philosophers in every age, and have been the theme of many subtle and ingenuous speculations ; and they, doubtless, form an interesting subject of investigation to the student of intellectual science.

But, of all the views we can take of the world of mind, the moral relations of intelligent beings, and the laws founded on (hese relations, are topics by far the most interesting and important. This subject may be treated in a more definite and

THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION.

tangible manner than the theories which have been formed respecting the nature and operations of the intellectual powers. Illustrations, level to every capacity, and which come home to every one's bosom, may be derived both from l^ason and experience, from the annals of history, and the records of revelation. It is not involved in the same difficulties and obscurity which have perplexed the philosophy of the intellect ; and there are certain principles which may be traced in relation to this subject, which apply to all the rational intelligences that God lias formed, however diversified in respect of the regions of the universe which they occupy, and in the extent of their intellectual powers. Above all, this subject is more intimately connected with the present and future happiness of man than any other which comes within the range of human investigation ; and therefore, forms a prominent and legitimate branch of what may be termed 44 The Philosophy of Religion."

That the moral relations of intelligent minds, and the tempei and conduct corresponding with these relations, are essentially connected with the happiness of every rational agent, might be made to appear from a variety of cases, in which the reversing of certain moral laws or principles would inevitably lead to disorder and misery. I shall content myself with stating the following illustration : — We dwell in an obscure corner of God's empire ; but the light of modern science has shown us, that worlds, a thousand times larger than ours, and adorned with more refulgent splendours, exist w 7 ithin the range of that system of which we form a part. It has also unfolded to our view other systems dispersed throughout the voids of space, at immeasurable distances, and in such vast profusion, that our minds are unable to grasp their number and their magnitude. Reason and revelation lead us to conclude, thai all these woiids and systems are adorned with displays of divine wisdom, and peopled with myriads of rational inhabitants. The human mind, after it has received notices of such stupendous scenes, naturally longs for a nearer and more intimate inspection of the grandeur and economy of those distant provinces of the Creator's empire; and is apt to imagine, that it w T ould never weary, but would feel unmingled enjoyment, while it winged its flight from one magnificent scene of creation to another. But, although an inhabitant of our world were divested of the quality of gravitation, endowed with powers of rapid motion adequate to carry him along 44 to the suburbs of creation," and permitted by his Creator to survey all the wonders of the universe, if a principle of love and kindly affection towards fellow-intelligences did not animate

INTRODUCTION.

his mind, if rage and revenge, pride and ambition, hatred and envy, were incessantly rankling in his breast, he could feel no transporting emotions, nor taste the sweets of true enjoyment. The vast universe, through which he roamed, would be transformed into a spacious hell ; its beauties and sublimities could not prevent misery from taking possession of his soul ; and, at every stage of his excursion, he could not fail to meet with the indications of his Creator's frown. For there appears, from reason and experience, as well as from the dictates of revelation, an absolute impossibility of enjoying happiness so long as malevolent affections retain their ascendancy in the heart of a moral intelligence, in whatever region of universal nature his residence may be found.

Hence we may learn, that the highest attainments in science to which any one can arrive, though they may expand the range of his intellectual views, will not ensure to their possessor substantial and unmingled enjoyment, while his heart is devoid of benevolent affections, and while he is subjected to the influence of degrading and immoral passions. If it be possible that any one now exists in the literary world, who has devoted his life to the sublimest investigations of science, and has taken the most extensive views of the arrangements of the material world, and yet, who remains doubtful as to the existence of a Supreme Intelligence, and of an eternal state of destination ; who is elated with pride at the splendour of his scientific acquirements ; who treats his equals with a spirit of arrogance ; who looks down with a haughty and sullen scowl on the inferior ranks of his fellow-men ; who is haughty, overbearing, and revengeful in his general deport ment, and who is altogether indifferent as to the moral principles he displays, — I would envy neither his happiness nor his intellectual attainments. He can enjoy none of those delightful emotions which flow from the exercise of Christian benevolence, nor any of those consolations which the good man feels amidst the various ills of life ; and, beyond the short span of mortal existence, he can look forward to no brighter displays of the grandeur of the material and intellectual universe, but to an eternal deprivation ot his powers of intelligence in the shades of annihilation- It must, therefore, be a matter deeply interesting to every intelligent agent, to acquire correct notions of the fundamental principles of moral action, and to form those habits which will fit him foi the enjoyment of true felicity, to whatever region of the universe he may afterwards be transported. — In the illustration of this subject, I shall pursue a train of thought 2 which, I am not aware, has been prosecuted by any previous writers on the subject of morality, and shall endeavour to confirm and illustrate the views which may be exhibited, by an appeal to the discoveries of revelation.

We have an abundance of ponderous volumes on the subject of moral philosophy; but the different theories which have been proposed and discussed, and the metaphysical mode in which the subject has generally been treated, have seldom led to any beneficial practical results. To attempt to treat the subject of morals without a reference to divine revelation, as most of our celebrated moral writers have done, seems to b^ little short of egregious trifling. It cannot serve the purpose of an experiment, to ascertain how far the unassisted faculties of man can go in acquiring a knowledge of the foundation and the rules of moral action ; for the prominent principles of Christian morality are so interwoven into the opinions, intercourses, and practices of modern civilized society, and so familiar to the mind of every man who has been educated in a Christian land, that it is impossible to eradicate the idea of them from the mind, when it attempts to trace the duty of man solely on the principles of reason. When the true principles of morality are once communicated through the medium of revelation, reason can demonstrate their utility, and their conformity to the character of God, to the order of the universe, and to the relations which subsist among intelligent agents. But we are by no means in a situation to determine whether they could ever have been discovered by the investigations and efforts of the unassisted powers of the human mind. The only persons who could fairly try such an experiment were the Greeks and Romans, and other civilized nations, in ancient times, to whom the light of revelation was not imparted. And what was the result of all their researches on this most important of all subjects? What were the practical effects of all the fine-spun theories and subtle speculations which originated in the schools of ancient philosophy, under the tuition of Plato and Socrates, of Aristotle and Zeno ? The result is recorded in the annals of history, and in the writings of the apostles. " They became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts were darkened. They were filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness., maliciousness, envy, murder, deceit, malignity ; they were backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without natural affection, implacable and unmerciful." Their general conduct was characterised by pride, lasciviousncss, and revenge ; they indulged in

INTRODUCTION.

the commission of unnatural crimes ; they were actuated by restless ambition, and they gloried in covering the earth with devastation and carnage.

It is true, indeed, that some of the sects of philosophers propounded several maxims and moral precepts, the propriety of which cannot be questioned ; but none of them could agree respecting either the foundation of. virtue, or the ultimate object toward which it should be directed, or that in which the chief happiness of man consists ; and hence it happened, that the precepts delivered by the teachers of philosophy had little influence on their own conduct, and far less on that of the unthinking multitude. Where do we find, in any of the philosophical schools of Greece and Rome, a recommendation of such precepts as these, " Love your enemies ; do good to them who hate you ; and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you ?" In opposition to such divine injunctions, we can trace, in the maxims and conduct of the ancient sages, a principle of pride insinuating itself into the train of their most virtuous actions. It has been reckoned by some a wise and a witty answer which one of the philosophers returned to his friend, who had advised him to revenge an injury he had suffered ; 44 What, (says he), if an ass kicks me, must I needs kick him again ?" Some may be disposed to consider such a reply as indicating a manly spirit and true greatness of soul ; but it carries in it a proud and supercilious contempt of human nature, and a haughtiness of mind which are altogether inconsistent with the mild and benevolent precepts of Him who, in the midst of his severest sufferings from men, exclaimed " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

It appears somewhat preposterous to waste our time, and the energies of our minds, in laboured metaphysical disquisitions, to ascertain the foundations of virtue, and the motives from which it is to be pursued ; whether it consists in utility, in the fitness of things, or in the regulations of states and political associations, and whether it is to be prosecuted from a principle of self-love or of benevolence, when every useful question that can be started on this subject may be immediately solved by a direct application to the revelations of heaven, and an infallible rule derived for the direction of our conduct in all the circumstances and relations in which we may be placed. Even although the moral philosopher were to reject the Bible, as a revelation from, God, it would form no reason why its annunciations should be altogether overlooked or rejected. As an impartial investigator of the history of man, of the moral constitution of the hdman mind, and of the circum*

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stances of our present condition, he is bound to take into view every fact and every cirumstance which may have a bearing on the important question which he undertakes to decide. Now, it is a, fact, that such a book as the Bible actually exists — that, amidst the wreck of thousands of volumes Which the stream of time has carried into oblivion, it has survived for severa/ thousands of years — that its announcements have directed thr opinions and the conduct of myriads of mankind — that man} of the most illustrious characters that have adorned our ract have submitted to its dictates, and governed their tempers and their actions by its moral precepts — that those who have been governed by its maxims have been distinguished by uprightness of conduct, and been most earnest and successful in promoting the happiness of mankind — that this book declares, that a moral revulsion has taken place in the constitution of man since he w r as placed upon this globe — and that the whole train of its moral precepts proceeds on the ground of his beingconsidered as a depraved intelligence. These are facts which even the infidel philosopher must admit; and, instead of throwing them into the shade, or keeping them entirely out of view, he is bound, as an unbiassed inquirer, to take them all into account in his researches into the moral economy of the human race. In particular, he is bound to inquire into the probability of the alleged fact of the depravity of man, and to consider, whether the general train of human actions, the leading facts of history in reference to all ages and nations, and the destructive effects of several operations in the system of nature, have not a tendency to corroborate this important point. For the fact, that man is a fallen intelligence, must materially modify every system of ethics that takes it into account. Should this fact be entirely overlooked, and yet ultimately be found to rest on a solid foundation, then, all the speculations and theories of those moralists who profess to be guided solely by the dictates of unassisted reason, may prove to be nothing more than the reveries of a vain imagination, and to be built on " the baseless fabric of a vision."

CHAPTER JU

ON THE MORAL RELATIONS OF INTELLIGENT BEINGS TO THEIR CREATOR.

SECTION L

On the primary or most general idea of Morality.

I conceive, that the first or most general idea of Morality is, Order, — or, that harmonious disposition and arrangement of intelligent beings, which is founded on the nature of things, and which tends to produce the greatest sum of happiness.

Physical Order, or the order of the material universe, is that by which every part is made to harmonize to the other part, and all individually to the whole collectively. Thus, the adaptation of light to the eye, and of the eye to light ; the adaptation of the structure of the ear, and of the lung ? , to the constitution of the atmosphere, and its various undulations ; the adaptation of the waters, the vegetable productions of the field, the minerals in the bowels of the earth, the colours produced by the solar rays, and all the other parts and agencies of external nature, to the wants and the happiness of sentient Deings ; the adaptation of day and night to the labour and rest appointed for man ; and the regularity of the motions of the planetary bodies in their circuits round the sun — constitute the physical order, or harmony of the visible world ; and it is this which constitutes its principal beauty, and which evinces the wisdom of its Almighty Author.

Moral Order is the harmony of intelligent beings in respect to one another, and to their Creator, and is founded upon those relations in which they respectively stand to each other. — Thus, Reverence, Adoration, and Gratitude, from c.eatures, correspond or harmonize with the idea of a self-existent, om nipotent and benevolent Being, on whom they depend, and from whom they derive every enjoyment, — and love, and good-will, and a desire to promote each other's happiness, harmonise with the idea of intelligences of the same species mingling to-

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gether in social intercourses. For, it will at once be admitted, that affections directly opposite to these, and universally prevalent, would tend to destroy the moral harmony of the intel ligent universe, and to introduce anarchy and confusion, and consequently misery among all the rational inhabitants of the material world.

The following brief illustration, by way of contrast, may, perhaps, have a tendency more particularly to impress the mind with the idea of order intended to be conveyed in the above stated definitions.

Suppose the principle which unites the planetary globes in one harmonious system, to be dissolved, and the planets to run lawlessly through the sky — suppose the planet Jupiter to forsake his orbit, and in his course to the distant regions of space, to impinge against the planet Saturn, and to convulse the solid crust of that globe from its surface to its centre, to disarrange the order of its satellites, to shatter its rings into pieces and to carry the fragments of them along with him in his lawless career, — suppose the sun to attract his nearest planets to his surface with a force that would shake them to their centres, and dissolve their present constitution,— suppose the moon to fly from her orbit, and rush towards the planet Venus, — the earth to be divested of its atmosphere, the foundations of its mountains to be overturned, and to be hurled into the plains, and into the ocean ; its seas and rivers to forsake their ancient channels, and to overflow the land, and its human inhabitants swept promiscuously along with the inferior animals, into dens and caves, and crevices of the earth, and into the bottom of the ocean: — in such a scene, we should have presented to our view a specimen of physical confusion and disorder ; and it would form an impressive emblem of the state of rational beings, whose moral order is completely subverted.