denies the divine existence, as far as this error will

that truth, and that is into the bottomless gulf of atheism, Should the time ever arrive when the church at large, or any considerable portion of her ministers shall become capable of uttering, even inadvertently, sentiments fraught with such extraordinary errors as his observations thus involve, it will, indeed, need the baptism of a better spirit, and a far mightier intervention from above to arrest the evil, than the gift of an Edwards or Whitfield could require.

His readers of course neither will nor can in justice regard him as having designed to express all the exceptionable sentiments which his representations thus convey, nor as having had any clear apprehension of their import. They doubtless will feel authorised however, to judge from them of his qualifications for the task of criticism and denunciation, which he has taken upon himself to discharge, and to determine to what degree of weight his opinions are entitled. They will deem it to have been at all events the part of wisdom, if not an essential requisite, for one who felt himself called on to utter such a philippic against the "apathy to truth" and "ignorance" of the church, to see that his own sentiments were free at least from all such fundamental objections. But I turn to the more grateful topics, presented by the Discourses, and reflections they are adapted to suggest.

It does not fall within my object to notice minutely the peculiarities of each Discourse, nor to dwell at large on the excellencies of reasoning, sentiment or style with which they abound, or opposite defects from which they are not ex empt, but rather to glance at a few general traits that dis tinguish them, and give them a title to regard.

I. They recognise and urge it as a fundamental law of the theological profession, that the business of the religious teacher, whether in the pulpit or professorial chair, is simply to develope, illustrate, and enforce the knowledge that is revealed and sanctioned in the word of God; and that accordingly all doctrines and speculations put forth under the name of christianity, should both have their foundation in the volume of divine truth, and lie within the certain and clear limits of inspiration.

"Our merciful Creator who has undertaken to be our teacher gives us instruction by his works and by his word. By his works in the material and in the spiritual world, he teaches us those truths which constitute Natural Theology. By his word contained in the scriptures of the Old and New Testament, he casts a clearer light on the truths of Natural Theology, and in addition to this, teaches those doctrines which constitute christianity, relating chiefly to the sin and ruin of man, and to the character and work of the Redeemer," The proper employment of reason in matters of religion' is 'to learn what God teaches; to obtain the knowledge of the facts and doctrines which he exhibits, particularly those which he exhibits in his word; to arrange them in a suitable order, and to apply them to their various uses.' 'And as our chief concern is with the truths of revelation, our chief business is to apply ourselves, in the proper use of our rational powers, to the study of the holy scriptures.'

"The position which I take on this subject will require that two things in particular should be set aside, as not falling within the province of reason."

"The first is, attempting to originate truth. All the elements of our knowledge, all the materials on which our reason is to act, are furnished for our use in the works and in the word of God. These simple elements we may combine together with almost endless variations; but we can never increase them, and should never attempt in any way to change them. To originate any fact or any doctrine, is what does not belong to us, and what human reason, however strong may be its temptation, ought never to undertake. In regard to many parts of the christian religion, the simple doctrines and facts which we learn from the word of God, may prove insufficient to sat

isfy the cravings of curiosity or of pride, or they may be liable to objections which we cannot obviate. In such cases, after trying in vain to discover in the sacred volume the additional truth we wish for, we may be inclined to give another direction to our intellectual powers. and to make an effort to originate or produce something, which shall afford the relief we desire. The fertility of the imagination, instead of being directed as it should be to the illustration of truths already known, may be put to the unnatural task of originating some principle, of producing some notion, which may supply or seem to supply the mortifying deficiency of our knowledge."-" After venturing thus beyond the province of reason, the next step is, to meditate often and with complacency, on the imaginary principle, till it assumes the appearance of a reality, and then believe it. And the next step is, to contend for it, though a mere fiction, as a fundamental truth, and to expend immeasurable zeal in support of that which owed its existence to mental fermentation. Now every thing like this, every attempt to produce a new moral or religious principle, or to make any addition to the simple doctrines and facts which God has taught us, carries us at once beyond our bounds."

66

The other thing which must be set aside, as not belonging to the province of reason, is, silting in judgment upon any of the doctrines or facts, which God makes known." Dr. Woods.

This great law obviously lies at the foundation of all authorized theological instruction. To reject it, is to discard the volume of inspiration as the rule of faith; and to transcend it, is to attempt to pass off the devices of human folly, under the sanction of divine wisdom.

Whatever then is put forth as a doctrine of God, should be either expressly revealed, or clearly authorized in the volume of inspiration; and whatever does not enjoy that sanction, should either not be taught at all, or only exhibited in its proper character as a dictate of reason, a logical probability, or a mere conjecture, that has no pretence whatever to support from the word of God. There are indeed innumerable truths and facts that are presented to us

through the works of creation and providence, or immedi ately conveyed to our consciousness, which are assumed and recognized as already and necessarily known to us, rather than formally taught in the scriptures; such as that we are intelligent beings, and of a nature that fits us to be subjects of such a government as is established over us; and it is indubitably the province of the theological teacher also, to recognize, unfold and enforce these facts and truths, in their natural connexions, with those which are announced by the voice of inspiration. There is an utter difference, however, between thus recognizing, on the one hand, and tracing out these involved truths, without transcending the limits of divine authority, or the certain facts of consciousness, and attempting on the other, violently to crush the truths that are plainly revealed in the sacred word, into the mould of unauthorized theories. The one is the legitimate use of the works and word of God—the other a fatal abuse of them. It is in truth in determining where the line that separates these opposite methods lies, that frequently the first, and often the chief error is committed; and according as they have erred here, one class has transcended the bounds of revelation, and put forth the fictions of their philosophy as the doctrines of God; and another circumscribed those boundaries themselves, and denied truths that are clearly recognized and plainly declared in the volume of inspiration. In the one instance, they have endeavoured to outspread the representations of the divine word, over the artificial surface of their theories; in the other, to narrow down its import to the dimensions of their ignorance or wishes. And these are indeed the only modes in which false doctrines are produced. It is never by the developement of truths that are assumed or implied on the pages of revela

tion, or the exhibition in their proper connexions with those or other truths of the sacred word, of facts that are taught us by consciousness, or the existence and phenomena of the external universe, that the legitimate bounds of theological instruction are overpassed and error committed. It is not by the intermixture of knowledge derived from any other parts of the ways or works of the Most High, with the teachings of inspiration, that his will is misrepresented and the aspect of his government disguised; but solely by substituting ignorance in place of knowledge, and superseding his wisdom by our presumption and folly.

Had this great rule, which thus clearly cannot be disregarded with any safety to religion, been rigidly observed, how different would have been the history of theology? How many of the systems which have been put forth as the certain dictates of revelation, at most would only have enjoyed the rank of probabilities or conjectures; and how many more, that through long periods have fatally dazzled and misled the church, would never have gained even a mischievous publicity, but been abandoned at their birth as the hideous offspring of presuming ignorance or daring impiety? How have they disfigured and perverted christianitymaking her at one time to disown her author, and at another to deny herself; here to contradict her most peculiar and momentous truths, and there to transgress or abrogate her holiest laws; now to become the forward sanctioner and fosterer of her deadliest enemies, and now the relentless persecutor of her friends. And with what a deluge of evils have they overspread the church; perplexing the path of piety, obscuring or obliterating the truths that are the guide and support of faith, perverting the affections, adding force to temptation, and misdirecting hope. And what