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him, on account of the high character which he sustains, and the duties which, in consequence of it, his creatures universally owe him, will be inculcated upon all men. If, therefore, a revelation professing to have come from God, contains, according to this rule, a correct account of him, it is a strong presumptive evidence of its truth: but if the contents of this professed revelation are in opposition to these principles, it is in that case, on the ground of reason and common sense, to be rejected as false, because it is contrary to what God evidently appears to be in the creation and government of the world; and also contradicts the testimony of natural conscience, or the law of nature written on the heart of men, by which their conscience bears witness, and enables them, in the exercise of thought, to accuse or excuse one another. Rom. ii. 15.

SECTION 2.

The Consistency of the Account which the Bible gives of the Divine Character and Government, and its Harmony with this distinguishing Principle of moral Evidence.

I shall now proceed to show, that the Bible contains a correct and consistent account of God, agreeing with the foregoing statement. The sacred penmen were not selfguided, but, according to their own testimony, wrote under the immediate influence and direction of the Spirit of God. It is therefore reasonable to conclude, that the Bible exclusively is a true revelation from God, in opposition to the claims of those Shasters which dishonor him by a contrary description of his character. The truth of this assertion I shall endeavour to establish, by exhibiting the account of the character and attributes of God, the honour which is due to him, and the worship he requires, which is contained in the Bible; and then shew its superiority to what is contained on the same subject in the Shasters of the Hindoos.

In the Bible, we have a correct and consistent account of the existence and unity of one supreme, glorious, and self-sufficient God. This God is the Creator, Preserver, Governor, and Judge of all men: he therefore asserts his

own exclusive and supreme authority, and requires all men to worship, honour, and reverence him, according to his high and exalted character.

THE UNITY OF GOD.

Isa. xlv. 21. There is no God else beside me ; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.

Mark xii. 32. There is one God; and there is none other but he.

Jer. x. 10. The Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king.

THE GLORY AND POWER OF GOD.

Isa. xxviii. 29. The Lord of hosts is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

Isa. xl. 13. Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him? Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. All nations before him are as nothing, and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

GOD IS THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS.

Gen. i. 1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Isa. xlv. 12. Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their hosts have I commanded. Jer. x. 12. The Lord hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.

PRESERVER.

Psalm xxxvi. 6. O Lord, thou preservest man and beast. Psalm cxlv. 14. The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. The eyes of all wait upon him, and he giveth them their meat in due season.

Acts xvii. 24. God that made the world and all things

therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is

worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; for in him we live, and move, and have our being.

GOVERNOR.

Psalm xcv. 3, 4. The Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places

of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.

Psalm lix. 13. God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth.

Dan. iv. 25. The Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

JUDGE.

Eccles. xii. 14. God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.

Matt. xii. 36. Every idle word that men shall speak,

they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Acts xvii. 31. He (i. e. God) hath appointeth a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained.

According to this high character which God sustains, he is to be honoured and exclusively worshipped, in opposition to the claims of all false gods, whose worship he has declared is an abomination to him, and has therefore forbidden it.

Deut. vi. 4. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Exod. xx. 4.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.

Isa. xlii. 8. I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

Matt. iv. 10. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Deut. vii. 25. The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, for it is an abomination to the Lord thy God; neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it; but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it, for it is a cursed thing.

The holiness of God, his hatred to sin, and the purity of worship which he requires from all his creatures, is fully stated in the following passages.

HIS HOLINESS.

Psalm cxlv. 17. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.

Exod. xv. 11. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

HIS HATRED TO SIN.

Jer. xliv. 4. Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.

Hab. i. 12. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment, and O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity.

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THE SPIRITUALITY OF WORSHIP WHICH HE REQUIRES.

Lev. x. 3. I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. Psalm lxxxix. 7. God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.

John iv. 24. God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

By quoting these passages from the Bible, I have made the Bible speak for itself; and the account of the character and attributes of God, and the honour which is here, as well as in various other Scriptures, described as due to him, are, beyond all doubt, strong internal marks of its truth. This account is in short so reasonable, and must commend itself so forcibly to the judgment of every can

did man, that he cannot with any degree of propriety dispute the divine authority of the book which contains it. In order, therefore, to shew the strong probable evidence which is derived from it, that the Bible is the exclusive revelation which God has given, I shall proceed to shew in the following section the reasonableness of this account, and its superiority to what is contained on the same subject in the Shasters of the Hindoos.

SECTION 3.

The contradictory Account of the Divine Character and Government which is contained in the Shasters of the Hindoos, and its Opposition to the afore stated Principles. In some of the Hindoo Shasters, the existence of one supreme and self-existent God is clearly recognized*, and a departure from his service represented as foolish and vain; yet the duty of exclusively worshipping and honouring him, according to the high and exalted character which he sustains, as Creator, Preserver, and Governor of the universe, is not universally inculcated in any of those Shasters. On the contrary, by a variety of false gods† and dumb idols being set up in opposition to him, he is greatly dishonoured, and generally neglected; and to

* যোমা” সৰ্ব্বেষু ভূতেষু সন্ত মাত্মান মীশ্বর হিত্বাচা, ভজতে মৌচ্যাৎ ভস্মন্যেৰ জুহোতি সঃ ।

কাষ্ঠলোষ্ট্রেষু মূর্খান৷ যুক্তস্যাত্মনি দেবতা ।

মৃচ্ছিল। বাতু দাক্বাদি মূৰ্ত্তাবী শ্বর বুদ্ধয়ঃ । ক্লিশ্যন্তি তপসা মূঢ়া: পরা শান্তি• ন যান্তি তে ৷

+ ন পূজয়তি যো মোহণ দ্দেবী দুর্গা• মহোৎসবে। দম্ভাদ্বা প্যথা লস্যাৎ কামানিষ্টান্নিহন্তি বৈ। মূদ্রম্ম গোশকৃৎ পিগুৈস্তথা বালু করা পিবা। কৃত্বা লিঙ্গন্তু সংপূজ্য বসেৎ কল্পাযুক্ত দিবি। বরং প্রানপরিত্যাগঃ শিরসোবাপি কৰ্ত্তন। নত্বনভ্যা ভুঞ্জীত ভগবন্তমবোজং, শিবলিঙ্গ তিষ্ঠাতা বসেৎ কল্পাযুক্ত দিবি। বিষ্ণুপূজা বিনা যোহি ভুক্তে বিপেণ দিনে ২। অভক্ষ্য ভক্ষয়েন্নিত্য যতো চণ্ডলিতা বুজেৎ কাঞ্চনী পুতিমান কৃত্বা নানা রত্নময়ী• শুভা• পূজয়ে দাস্তু বিধিনা সমাতি পরম পদ । রাজতী তাম্রময়ী, বাপি মাহেয়ী বাপি ভাবিনী, কৃত্বা মূৰ্ত্তিময়ী দেবীর পূজয়িত্ত্বা বিধানত ইহলোকে সুখেস্থিত্বা পরে মোক্ষ মবাপুয়ান তত্র গ্রামে দুর্ভিক, নচ মারী প্রবর্ততে। শুদ্ধয়ারাধিতা যত্ৰ পতিয়া চ গৃহে সদা ।

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