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lation, have been already answered; and, therefore, little more remains to be done, than to refer the reader to those parts of this volume, where these answers may be found.

The first objection, (namely)" that the idea or belief of a word of God existing in print or in writing, or in speech, is inconsistent," has been, I trust, satisfactorily removed on pages 123-127, where it is shown, that so far from this objection being valid, the word of God can no where else be discovered than in rewelation: no other medium can be conceived; no other word can be understood. That "the want of a universal language" has not been an objection, and cannot be an objection to the existence of such a word; nor the mutability of language; nor the errors to which translations are subject, is also proved on page 125. "The possibility of totally suppressing such a word," is a dream of Deism. What power less than the power that promulged it could suppress it? Was not the power of Rome opposed to it; which was equivalent to the opposition of the whole world; and did that suppress it? When the procurators complained of the depopulation of cities on account of the executions of their christian subjects, did Christianity perish? no! It was endowed at its birth with immortality. "The probability of altering it" is answered, page 127. "That of fabricating the whole" is proved to be impossible. See page 260-265.

I now come to the second paragraph. "That the creation we behold, is the real and ever-existing word of God in which we cannot be deceived," is completely exploded. See pages 5-12, 170-174, 195, 215, et passim. "If it proclaimeth his power, demonstrates his wisdom, and manifests his goodness and beneficence;" it does not explain why man is surrounded by such a multitude of evils, as he evidently is; why plagues and famines, and earthquakes &c. are permitted to exist; why, in fine, life is more exposed to calamity than provided with enjoyments. "That the moral duty of man consists in imitating the

moral goodness and beneficence of God manifested in the creation towards all his creatures" is a deistical vision, as may be seeen by referring to page 195 &c.

I hope the candid reader, in justice to himself, will consult the passages here referred to; and thus acquit me of negligence for not reproducing them in this place.

"I trouble not myself about the manner of future existence. I content myself with believing, even to positive conviction, that the power that gave me existence is able to continue it in any form and manner he pleases, either with or without this body; and it appears more probable to me that I shall continue to exist hereafter than that I should have had existence as I now have, before that existence began."

Here we have a full display of deistical apathy; of that cold indifference which accompanies the disciples of Deism through this life. They "trouble not themselves about the manner of future existence" Why? The answer is obvious. They have no guide to lead them through the night of the grave to the morning of eternity. Where then is their authoritative morality? Why should man bend his appetites to the ordinances of man? Why, when he can secretly obtain some good by the spoliation of others, should he scruple to do it? Human laws may frighten him into virtue, morals or habits may keep him in obedience to it, but when these are overcome, what restraint does he feel upon his conduct? In this world, the murderer is not struck down by a bolt from heaven, or the plunderer visited with disease, or any calamity consequential to crime. See page 268.

"It is certain that in one point all nations of the earth and all religions agree. All believe in a God. The things in which they disagree, are the redundances annexed to that belief; and therefore, if ever an universal religion should prevail, it will not be believing any thing new, but in getting rid of redundances, and believing as man believed at first. Adam, if there was such a man, was created a Deist; but in the mean time, let every man follow, as he has a right to do, the religion and the worship he prefers .''

That the first period of this paragraph contains a falshood, is clear from what has been already said. See page 5-10, 24, 33, 94, 165, 171, 235, 250, 274. All nations do not believe in a God, and no nation, except the Jews, ever pretended to deduce its morality from the will of one God. What Mr. Paine calls " the redundances annexed to that belief," are truths derived from the same evidence that establishes the existence of a God; Revelation.

It is equally false what Mr. Paine says concerning Adam. "Adam was not created a Deist." Adam had personal communion with God; received express laws from God; understood the obligation of his moral and religious duties; knew what penalty would follow their violation. Whereas, of all these the Deist is completely ignorant. The difference is fundamental.

That "every man has a right to follow the religion and the worship he prefers," is true of liberty of conscience only. Every man is bound in duty to himself to ascertain which religion and which worship is most acceptable to his Maker; and, having discovered that, to "prefer" it before all others.

Before I take leave of the Reader, I will here briefly recapitulate the principal conclusions drawn in this volume.

First, then, Deism, which is founded upon the belief of one God, has no evidence of that truth; no evidence of it can be deduced from nature; no evidence has been deduced from nature; no fact, no reasoning can disprove the eternal existence of those laws by which the universe is now governed. If we revert to the remotest records of man, we discover nothing of change; nothing to indicate an origin; nothing that manifests decay.

Secondly. If man could prove the existence of a God, still there is no evidence by which he can infer that that "God is a moral Governor of the world;" that man is obligated to worship him, or to practice moral duties; or, consequently, that the observance of such duties will procure reward, and the violation of them provoke punishment.

How dreadful a profession is that which is independent of an authoritative religion or morality!

Thirdly. Deism has no proof of the immortality of the soul. To the Deist every thing certain is bounded by the grave; he has no hope of existence beyond that of the beasts that perish.

Fourthly. He can find no solution to that intricate and anti-deistical problem---the cause of moral and physical evil. Whilst he acknowledges that God is good, he is constrained to admit, that he himself is surrounded with unavoidable calamites.

All these difficulties are completely answered in Revealed Religion. Man there learns, that there is a God, and one God only. That that God is to be worshipped, and the manner in which he is to be worshipped. That man has duties to discharge to his fellow-creatures, and what those duties are; and the penalty annexed to their violation. That the soul is immortal, and what is the manner of its future existence; and the dependance of that future upon the present; and, finally, he clearly understands the cause of his imperfection, and of the varied calamities that surround him. These all flow from Revealed Religion-these which no Philosophy ever taught, no spe

culation ever established.

Thus I have gone through the several charges contained in this work of Mr Paine; to the best of my belief, neither perverting the meaning, nor shrinking from the examinationof any one of them. If there be some of them not so fully answered as to particular persons may appear necessasary; or if others have been too tediously replied to, I shall have an opportunity to correct them both in a future edition, should the public approval of this, demand it.

Finis.

WELLS:
Printed by H. Neville.

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