far as they go, true, lights ;) fhould any thing be found which is vicious, immoral, and finful, oppofite to his very being; we may and do fafely conclude, that it could not proceed from Him, who is the author of good and not of evil. On the contrary, if the whole religious difpenfation, both doctrinal, and moral, betray that fuperabundant mercy and goodness, and good-will to, men, which exceed all human conception, and which must be divine, it affords a moft ftrong prefumption, almost amounting to a full and pofitive proof, that it affuredly came from him.

Founded, as they are, in the unfearchable Wisdom of the Godhead, (to judge of which attribute of the divine nature, the whole order of intellectual beings and their relations are to be taken into the account,) many of the doctrines of our religion are tranfcendently fublime, and fome of them above the highest reach of our understanding to compafs, or our imagination to conceive; but to determine of the great Mercy and Goodness which they accord to the human race, the only relations to be considered are those between God

and

and man and thefe attributes, fhining upon the face of the whole Chriftian difpenfation with the benigneft influence, betray to natutural reafon confpicuous marks of its divine extraction; holding out" a bright and shinડ ing light," by which we fee in its conftitution the hand of an immaculate original. This is a fpecies of evidence which is mixed and interwoven in the vitals of our religion, and inherent in its very fubftance-" And the "Word was made flesh and dwelt among

66

us, and we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of Grace and "Truth h."

66

Thus that MORAL VIRTUE, which is to form the crown and confummation of a justifying Faith, is made its first credential and foundation fo much order, beauty, harmony, and confiftence, pervade the whole of God's moral government, and confpire to the perfection of the heavenly fyftem.

By this INTERNAL EVIDENCE of his Word addreffed to the hearts and confciences of

See Warb. Div. Leg. b. ix. p. 26.

h John i. 17.

men,

men, Chrift was one who bore witness of himself."

II. But, however neceffary and fundamental this fpecies of Evidence may be to a religion which affumes to have come from God, it is not fufficient of itself alone to evince the authority of a divine commiffion. Our Lord,

In reverence to Truth, I hold myself obliged to own, that, in my opinion, the REASONABLENESS of a Doctrine ⚫ pretended to come immediately from God, is, of itself alone, no PROOF, but a PRESUMPTION Only, of fuch its divine Original: because though the excellence of the Doctrine (even allowing it to surpass all other moral teaching whatsoever) may fhew it to be worthy of God, yet, from that fole • excellence, we cannot certainly conclude that it came im• mediately from him; fince we know not to what heights ⚫ of moral knowledge the human understanding, unassisted by inspiration, may arrive. Not even our full experience ⚫ that all the Wisdom of Greece and Rome comes extremely short of the Wisdom of the GOSPEL, can fupport us in concluding, with certainty, that this Gofpel was fent immediately from God. We can but doubtfully guefs, what excellence may be produced by a well-culti•vated Mind, further bleffed with a vigorous temperament, and a happy organization, of Body. The amazement into which Sir Ifaac Newton's Difcoveries, in Nature, • threw the learned world, as foon as men became able to ⚫ comprehend their Truth and Utility, fufficiently fhews,

• what

Lord, therefore, appeals to another, though not more effential, more obvious and convincing, teft, which stamps an irrefragable feal on the heavenly embaffy. "And the Fa

"ther that hath fent me beareth witness "of me."

To call the attention of men to this other Evidence, as more obvious to their apprehenfion, and in itself more palpable and direct, he uses this ftrong and figurative language *. "If I bear witnefs of myself, my witness is "not true," (being only the " teftimony "of one," and infufficient of itself), pro

<

what little conception it had, that the human faculties ⚫ could ever rife fo high, or fpread fo wide.

On the whole, therefore, we conclude, that, ftrictly speaking, there is no ground of conviction solid and strong ⚫ enough to bear the weight of fo great an interest, but 'that which rifes on MIRACLES, worked by the first Mesfengers of a new Religion, in fupport and confirmation of their MISSION.

That is MIRACLES and MIRACLES ONLY, demonftrate that the Doctrine, which is feen to be worthy of God, did, indeed, COME IMMEDIATELY from him.' Warb. Div. Leg. b. ix. c. 5.

શું.

* That he speaks figuratively is obvious from another paffage in St. John's Gofpel, where fpeaking directly he contradicts these words" Though I bear record of my"felf, my record is true." viii. 14.

5

ceeding

ceeding in the fame fublime and pointed ftyle, "There is another that beareth witness of 66 me, and I know that the witnefs which "he witneffeth of me is true: for the WORKS "that the Father hath given me to finish; ; "the fame WORKS that I do bear witnefs "of me, that the Father hath fent me;

--

and the Father himfelf which hath fent 66 me hath borne witnefs of me.". " If I "do not the Works of my Father, believe me not. But, if I do, though ye believe

66

not me, believe the WORKS: that ye may "know and believe that the Father is in me, " and I in him "."

m

After

This fecond witness of his miffion to which Christ appealed, which he calls Works, were the most plain and obvious Facts, intimately connected with his Doctrines and Precepts, as collateral vouchers of their divinity. eftimating the Internal or Moral Evidence, the next office of Reafon is to canvass the pretenfions of Revelation upon the GROUND of these external concomitant facts.

The nature of Facts, as a fpecies of truth, was analyzed in the first volume of this work,

1 John v. 31, 32, 36.

m

"John x. 37, 38.

to