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PART III.

THE

DOCTRINES

OF

REVEALED RELIGION.

S

As the Jewish and chriftian religions have been

Α

proved to be founded on a series of revelations of the will of God to man, the hiftory of which is recorded in the Old and New Teftament, it behoves us to examine these books with care; taking it for granted, that they contain truths of the greatest importance to our happiness.

In this part of my work, therefore, I propofe to exhibit, with as much fidelity and diftinctness as I can, all the general knowledge that can, with certainty, be collected from these books, which are ufually, and very defervedly, termed facred. I shall be careful, however, to keep as far as poffible from all controverfy, and fimply recite what appears to me to be contained in the fcriptures, just as I think I should have done if I had never

heard

heard of any controverfy upon the fubject. Every thing that has been the fubject of much conten tion and debate, I fhall referve for another work, which will be appropriated to a view of the corruptions of chriftianity.

As I divided the subject of natural religion into three parts, the first containing what we are able to learn from thence concerning God, the fecond concerning our duty, and the third concerning our future expectations, I fhall adhere to the fame general divifion in this part of my work alfo; by which means it will be more eafily and diftinctly feen what additional, what fuller, and clearer knowledge, we receive on thefe important fubjects from divine revelation.

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CHAPTER I.

WHAT WE LEARN FROM THE SCRIPTURES CONCERNING GOD.

This first chapter I fhall fubdivide into two others, the first re fpecting the unity, as alfo the natural perfections, and providence of God, and the second his moral perfections.

SECTION I.

Of the unity, the natural perfections, and providence

ON

of God

NE of the most important of all the truths concerning God, as that invifible being, who is the object of our fupreme reverence, and to whom we addrefs ourselves in prayer, as our immediate inspector, and moral governor, is his unity. That there is but one God, we have feen to be a truth deducible from the obfervation of the works of nature; but it is not so easily and clearly deducible from thence, but that mankind have always been prone to fall into idolatry, or the worship of more gods than one; which feems to have arisen chiefly from the very low and imperfect ideas that men entertained of the knowledge and power of God.

Judging

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Judging of all other intelligent beings by themfelves, they had no conception of one fuperintending mind only being sufficient for all the purposes for which the prefence and agency of the deity was supposed to be requifite; and therefore they ima gined, that there muft, of neceffity, be a multiplicity of beings of that character, each superintending his respective province in nature. If they retained the idea of one fupreme God, which feems to have been the belief of all mankind in the earliest ages (handed down, I believe, by tradition from Noah and his immediate defcendants) they ftill did not think that this one fupreme being could go. vern the world without the assistance of other subordinate beings, of an intermediate nature between himfelf and man. Thefe fubordinate agents they would therefore confider as the beings with whom they had immediately to do, and whom their religious worship and homage would refpect; while the worship of the fupreme being would be in danger of being neglected.

This was the actual progrefs of things in the heathen world. Mankind began with the worship of one true God; but, having afterwards affociated with him various inferior beings, as objects of divine worship, they, in time, loft fight of the fupreme being altogether; fo that none of the objects of the popular worship among the Greeks or Romans were any thing more than either the fun,

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moon, and stars, the fouls of dead men, or their images, fymbols, &c.

With thefe general ideas, which are the foundation of all idolatry, mankind would naturally, in the first place, pitch upon the moft illuftrious objects in the creation, as inftruments in the hands of the fupreme being of communicating bleffings to them, or infli&ting judgments upon them; and thefe they would confider as the most proper to be placed in the order of gods. Accordingly we find, that the fun, moon, and ftars, were univerfally the first objects of idolatrous worship, as those beings from which it was fuppofed that men had the moft to hope or to fear. And being fenfible that intelligence was neceffary to their office of fuperintending the affairs of men, they either imagined. them to be animated by fome intelligent minds, or to be the habitations of fuch beings.

Imagining alfo that there must be fomething in man befides what is vifible, they conceived that a fpirit, capable of being feparated from him, animated him alfo; and, fuppofing that the powers of this animating spirit might even be enlarged after death, they made the moft illuftrious of their princes and heroes the objects of divine worship likewife. Afterwards, imagining that various parts both of the animate and inanimate creation bore a peculiar relation to thefe gods, with refpect to their

names,

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