evidence of the being of God, are innumerable". The whole of the sacred volume is in fact built on the foundation of a belief in God. But the Bible takes for granted, rather than proves, the existence of the great First Cause of all things. And to attempt to prove the being of God from the word of inspiration, would be to argue in a circle: in other words, it would be to ask, if there be a cause, when you see the effect.

Open the sacred record in almost any page, what first strikes your eye? The name of God. What truth is most apparent? There must be a God.

Q. Have you any other testimony to offer in support of this great, this fundamental truth? A. We appeal to nature. All nature cries aloud there is a God. We appeal to reason. Reason, universal reason, exclaims, with the consent of all nations of all ages, there is a God. We appeal to conscience. Conscience, which is

y Gen. i. 1. iii. 8. Exod. iii. 14. Job v. 8. Psal. xciv. 9. Rom. i. 20. 1 Corin. ii. 7, &c.

- Pearson on the Creed, Art. i. p. 36. See also Barrow, vol. ii. Serm. viii. " on the Being of God proved from universal consent." Grotius observes, "Alterum argumentum quo probamus Numen esse aliquid, sumitur a manifestissimo consensu omnium gentium apud quas ratio et boni mores non plane extincta sunt inductâ feritate." De Verit. Rel. Christ. lib. i. § 2.

the voice of God speaking within us, re-echoes the same truth 2.

Q. Should we not then with heart and soul adore this great Being, this Lord of lords, and God of gods?

A. With the profoundest humility we should acknowledge his existence, inasmuch as he is the Almighty Author of our being, the Sovereign Lord and Ruler of our destinies. With the liveliest gratitude we should laud and magnify his goodness and mercy, inasmuch as, though he could in one instant destroy that life he has bestowed, still he graciously vouchsafes to watch over and to preserve us. With ceaseless anxiety we should study to propitiate his favour, by our piety and devotion, by our lively faith and Christian zeal, inasmuch as our fate, through endless ages, is in his hands. And happiness or misery, beyond our power to imagine or describe, will be our lot, according to his good pleasure.

Q. Is it equally necessary that we believe in the unity of God?

A. It would be in the highest degree derogatory to the dignity, and honour, and majesty of that all-wise, all-powerful Being, whose exist

⚫ Pearson on the Creed, Art. i. p. 38. Witsius on the Creed, Dissertation iv. p. 73. 78.

ence we have proved, and whose attributes we have described, to imagine, he could share in a divided empire". Our reason revolts at the idea of two first causes, two necessary existences ©. And our piety, as well as our reason, is shocked at the bare supposition of two co-ordinate, co

b Lactantii Institut. lib. i. cap. iii.

"The nature of God consists in this, that he is the prime and original cause of all things, as an independent Being, upon which all things else depend, and likewise the ultimate end or final cause of all: but in this sense two prime causes are inimaginable, and for all things to depend of one, and to be more independent beings than one, is a clear contradiction." Pearson, Art. i. p. 41.

"The unity of God," says Dr. Samuel Clarke, " evidently follows from his being necessarily existent. For necessity absolute in itself is simple and uniform, without any possible difference or variety. And all variety or difference of existence must needs arise from some external cause, and be dependent upon it. For to suppose two or more different natures existing of themselves, necessarily and independent from each other, implies this plain contradiction; that each of them being independent from the other, they may either of them be supposed to exist alone, so that it will be no contradiction to imagine the other not to exist; and consequently neither of them will be necessarily existing." Clarke on the Attributes, Prop. vii. p. 48. Waterland, vol. iv. Dissert. on the Argument a priori, chap. ii. in a letter to my revered Grandfather, remarks, that the words necessary existence should be used with great caution. In the same chapter he explains the uses and abuses of the term.

existent principles, one good, one evil". A good being, and he alone, we are assured, could originate this harmonious system of things; in which one object only is apparent,-the benevolence of God; one purpose only is manifested,the happiness of his creatures.

Let us then give unto the one true God the honour due unto his name: not dividing the substance, so as to destroy the unity of the Godhead, and distract also the unity of our faith and hope: still not confining the participation of the essence of the divinity within narrower bounds than Scripture has done; that thus, we may worship, whom God would have us worship, and honour whom he would have us ho

nour.

Ex duobus enim pugnantibus inter se, destructio sequi potest, ordinata constructio non potest. Neque vero sicut aliquod est per se bonum, ita aliquod esse per se et omni modo malum potest: cum malum defectus sit quidam, qui esse nequit nisi in re existente ipsum autem existere jam boni est aliquid. Grotius, de Verit. Rel. Christ. lib. i. § 9.

e Man indeed is placed on earth as a scene of trial, and is now subject to pain and misery, but this does not invalidate our assertion, that God willed the happiness of man (Paley's Philosoph.); for originally man was created innocent and happy, and himself brought sin and death into the world by transgression.

SECTION II.

The Father.

Q. In what sense do you call God the Father? A. The idea of father, though in strictness it is confined to generation, is used in Scripture, and elsewhere, with greater latitude to signify creation or production.

Thus, First, We call God the Father, as he is the Creator of all things inanimate, and the Giver of life to all things animate". More particularly as he is the cause of existence to all rational and intellectual beings. In Luke iii. 38, Adam is called the son of God, and in many places we are styled his offspring, and the sons of God.

Secondly, We call him Father, as he exerts the authority of a Parent in our government; as he manifests the solicitude of a Parent in our preservation", and all the love of a Parent in providing us with whatever is for our good.

As for instance, "These are the generations of the hea vens and of the earth, when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens," Gen. ii. 4. "Hath the rain a Father, or who hath begotten the drops of dew?" Job xxxviii. 28.

Acts xvii. 24. Psalm cxlvi. 6. h Psalm xxxvi. 7. civ. 24. 30.