Chapter XLII: Conclusion (3)

Prof. FITZGERALD holds Butler to have fallen into the mistake adverted to by Mills; and quotes the latter author in a way which seems to make him say that such is his opinion also. I do not so understand Mills, nor do I see that Butler has confounded these meanings; but the very contrary. He expressly affirms, and most truly, that the strongest presumption may lie against “the most ordinary facts _before the proof_ which yet is overcome by almost any proof.” Butler’s position here, may be thus illustrated. Suppose a hundred numbers to be put in a box, and it is proposed to draw out the number 42. Now there are 99 chances to 1 against drawing that, or any other _given_ number. But suppose a child tells you he put the hundred numbers into a box, and drew out one, and it proved to be 42; you at once believe, for that was as likely to come as any other.

The proof of Christianity from prophecy becomes amazingly strong, thus viewed. There are many predictions, for instance that Christ should be born at a certain time, and place, and under certain very particular circumstances. The probabilities against such a _conjuncture_ of events are almost infinite; yet they happened exactly as foretold.]

[169] [For instance, a mass of ice or snow, may imperceptibly accumulate for an age, and then suddenly fall and overwhelm a village. Or a planet, or comet, may have been gradually nearing our earth for a million of years, without producing, _as yet_, any effect on our orbit; but in process of time, its proximity may work great changes in our condition.]

[170] P. 208.

[171] 1 Cor. i. 28.

[172] See Chap. vi.

[173] See Chap. vi.

[174] [See note, page 218.]

[175] P. 220.

[176] [It is not to be understood that Butler would not have the ordinary rules of interpretation applied to the Holy Scriptures. Because the interpretation, “if not gathered _out_ of the words, must be brought _into_ them.” We cannot interpret them as if we knew beforehand, what the Holy Ghost meant to say; as SPINOZA proposes to do, in his Philosophia Scripturæ Interpretes. The student will do well to consult BENSON’S Hulsean Lectures on Scripture Difficulties: KING’S Morsels of Criticism: STORR, Exertationes Exeget.: MICHAELIS, Introd. ad. Nov. Test.: and FEATLEY’S Key.]

[177] Pp. 207, 208.

[178] [See 1 Cor. xii. 1-10: xiii. 1: and xiv. 1-19.]

[179] [“The power of healing, or working miracles, is, during the whole course of its operation, one continued arrest or diversion of the general laws of matter and motion. It was therefore fit that this power should be given occasionally. But the _speaking with tongues_, when once the gift was conferred, became thenceforth a natural power; just as the free use of members of the body, after being restored, by miracle, to the exercise of their natural functions. In healing, the apostles are to be considered as the workers of a miracle; in speaking strange tongues, as persons on whom a miracle is performed.”--WARBURTON, Doct. of Grace, b. i. ch. iii.]

[180] Heb. vi. 1.

[181] Acts iii. 21.

[182] [The doctrine of “development” has of late been popular in some quarters. Butler here shows the only _safe_ notion we may entertain on that subject. “Exact thought, and careful consideration” may show us how to confute specious heresies, expound embarrassing passages, dissipate painful doubts, and remove many prejudices or misapprehensions. But revelation is complete as it stands.

We may hope for progress in theology as in other sciences; not in the development of new facts or faith, as Papists and Socinians pretend, but in the increase of sound wisdom, aided by a more perfect interpretation of God’s word.]

[183] Chap. vi.

[184] Chap. v.

[185] Chap. vii.

[186] Chap. iv. latter part, and v. vi.

[187] [This pregnant paragraph should receive very full attention. We know much of men, little of God. What men are likely to do, or say, in certain circumstances, is often very clear; and generally may be guessed at. But what God would do or say in new contingencies, who shall attempt to prescribe or predict? We are poorly qualified to assert that such and such declarations could not have come from infinite wisdom; but we are quite competent to affirm that such and such things could not have come from human contrivance or enthusiasm.]

[188] In the foregoing chapter.

[189] Part I, ch. vii., to which this all along refers.

[190] [“It is the last step of reason to know there is an infinity of things which surpass it.”--PASCAL. “The wall of adamant which bounds human inquiry, has scarcely ever been discovered by any adventurer, till he was aroused by the shock that drove him back.”--Sir JAS. MACKINTOSH. “Of the dark parts of revelation there are two sorts: one which may be cleared up by the studious; the other which will always reside within the shadow of God’s throne where it would be impiety to intrude.”--WARBURTON. “A Christianity without mystery is as unphilosophical as it is unscriptural.”--ANGUS.]

[191] John xi. 52.

[192] 2 Peter iii. 13.

[193] 1 Peter i. 11, 12.

[194] Phil. ii. [6-11.]

[195] [The influences of the Holy Spirit are not only “given to good men,” but are sent upon many who live unmindful of eternity, quickening their consciences, enlightening their understandings and arresting their passions, and thus it is they are converted unto the truth in Christ.]

[196] John xiv. 2.

[197] John v. 22, 23.

[198] Matt. xxviii. 18.

[199] 1 Cor. xv. 28.

[200] 1 Tim. iii. 16.

[201] P. 174, &c.

[202] 1 Cor. i. [18-25.]

[203] Pp. 178, 179.

[204] Pp. 180, 181.

[205] P. 172, &c.

[206] [“Providence hurries not himself to display to-day the consequence of the principle he yesterday announced. He will draw it out in the lapse of ages Even according to our reasoning logic is none the less sure, because it is slow.”--GUIZOT on Civilization, Lect. I.

How impressively is this sentiment sustained by modern geology, and astronomy!]

[207] [“Philosophers make shameful and dangerous mistakes, when they judge of the Divine economy. He cannot, they tell us, act thus, it would be contrary to his wisdom, or his justice, &c. But while they make these peremptory assertions they show themselves to be unacquainted with the fundamental rules of their own science, and with the origin of all late improvements. True philosophy would begin the other way, with observing the constitution of the world, how God has made us, and in what circumstances he has placed us, and _then_ from what he has done, form a sure judgment what he would do. Thus might they learn ‘the invisible things of God from those which are clearly seen’ the things which are not accomplished from those which are.”--POWELL’S _Use and Abuse of Philosophy_.]

[208] 1 Tim. ii. 5.

[209] [The interposition of a man of known probity and worth often saves the thoughtless or the guilty from punishment. Mediation is seen in a thousand forms in the arrangements of social life; and the common sense of all mankind approves of it. The release of the offending, by the intercession of the good, and all the benefits of advice, caution, example, instruction, persuasion, and authority, are instances of mediation.]

[210] [MR. NEWMAN notices a distinction between the facts of revelation, and its principles; and considers the argument from analogy more concerned with its principles than with its facts. “The revealed facts are special and singular, from the nature of the case, but the revealed principles are common to all the works of God; and if the Author of nature be the author of grace, it may be expected that the principles displayed in them will be the same, and form a connecting link between them. In this identity of _principle_, lies the analogy of natural and revealed religion, in Butler’s sense of the word. The Incarnation is a fact, and cannot be paralleled by any thing in nature: the doctrine of mediation is a principle, and is abundantly exemplified in nature.”--_Essay on Developments._]

[211] [The student will find the inadequacy of repentance to cancel guilt, beautifully exhibited by WAYLAND, Mor. Science: MAGEE, Atonement: HOWE, Living Temple.]

[212] P. 232, &c.

[213] John iii. 16.

[214] It cannot, I suppose, be imagined, even by the most cursory reader, that it is, in any sort, affirmed or implied in any thing said in this chapter, that none can have the benefit of the general redemption, but such as have the advantage of being made acquainted with it in the present life. But it may be needful to mention, that several questions, which have been brought into the subject before us, and determined, are not in the least entered into here, questions which have been, I fear, rashly determined, and perhaps with equal rashness contrary ways. For instance, whether God could have saved the world by other means than the death of Christ, consistently with the general laws of his government. And had not Christ come into the world, what would have been the future condition of the better sort of men; those just persons over the face of the earth, for whom Manasses in his prayer[A] asserts, repentance was not appointed. The meaning of the first of these questions is greatly ambiguous: and neither of them can properly be answered, without going upon that infinitely absurd supposition, that we know the whole of the case. And perhaps the very inquiry, _What would have followed, if God had not done as he has_, may have in it some very great impropriety: and ought not to be carried on any further than is necessary to help our partial and inadequate conceptions of things.

[A] [The “prayer of Manasses” is one of the apocryphal books of the Old Testament, which next precedes “Maccabees.”]

[215] John i., and viii. 12.

[216] Rom. iii. 25, v. 11: 1 Cor. v. 7: Eph. v. 2: 1 John ii. 2: Matt xxvi. 28.

[217] John i. 29, 36, and throughout the book of Revelation.

[218] Throughout the epistle to the Hebrews.

[219] Isa. liii.: Dan. ix. 24: Ps. cx. 4.

[220] Heb. x. 1.

[221] Heb. viii. 4, 5.

[222] Heb. x. 4, 5, 7, 9, 10.

[223] Heb. ix. 28.

[224] John xi. 51, 52.

[225] 1 Pet. iii. 18.

[226] Matt. xx. 28: Mark x. 45: 1 Tim. ii. 6.

[227] 2 Pet. ii. 1: Rev. xiv. 4: 1 Cor. vi. 20.

[228] 1 Pet. i. 19: Rev. v. 9: Gal. iii. 13.

[229] Heb. vii. 25: 1 John ii. 1, 2.

[230] Heb. ii. 10.: v. 9.

[231] 2 Cor. v. 19: Rom. v. 10: Eph. ii. 16.

[232] Heb. ii. 14. See also a remarkable passage in the book of Job, xxxiii. 24.

[233] Phil. ii. 8, 9: John iii. 35, and v. 22, 23.

[234] Rev. v. 12, 13.

[235] John vi. 14.

[236] P. 188, &c.

[237] Eph. iv. 12, 13.

[238] John xiv. 2, 3: Rev. iii. 21, and xi. 15.

[239] 2 Thess. i. 8.

[240] Heb. ix. 26.

[241] [Consult MAGEE, on Atonement: STAPFERI Institutiones: TURRETIN, De Satisfactione: CHALMERS, Discourses: OWEN, Satis. of Christ.]

[242] P. 194, &c.

[243] [This objection is ably urged by TINDALL. The answer of our author is complete. We should remember, that twice in the history of mankind, revelation _has been_ universal. The first pair, and the occupants of the ark, comprised the whole population. But how soon was light rejected! Christianity is universal, in nature and intention; is to become so in fact; and according to a very probable construction of prophecy, will continue to be universal, for three hundred and sixty thousand years.]

[244] [May not this be a principal object of the Apocalypse? As the book of Daniel furnished a constant and powerful support to the faith of the Jew, by the constant development of prophecy, so the Apocalypse, rightly studied must powerfully, and through all time, support the faith of the Christian by the continual unfolding and verification of its predictions.]

[245] 2 Cor. viii. 12.

[246] Introduction.

[247] Part I. chap. v.

[248] Part I. chap. iv. and pp. 156, 157.

[249] Pp. 156, 157.

[250] Dan. xii. 10. See also Isa. xxix. 13, 14: Matt. vi. 23, and xi. 25, and xiii. 11, 12: John iii. 19, and v. 44: 1 Cor. ii. 14, and 2 Cor. iv. 4: 2 Tim. iii. 13; and that affectionate as well as authoritative admonition, so very many times inculcated, _He that hath ears to hear, let him hear_. Grotius saw so strongly the thing intended in these and other passages of Scripture of the like sense, as to say, that the proof given us of Christianity was less than it might have been, for this very purpose: _Ut ita sermo Evangelii tanquam lapis esset Lydius ad quem ingenia sanabilia explorarentur_. De Ver. R. C. lib. ii. [So that the Gospel should be a touchstone, to test the honesty of men’s dispositions.]

[251] Pp. 100, 257, &c.

[252] [See WITSII Meletemeta, Diss. IV.: PFAFII Disput.: CAMPBELL on Miracles: DOUGLASS’ Criterion: FARMER’S Dissertations: PALEY’S Evid.: TAYLOR’S Apol. of Ben Mordecai: TUCKER’S Light of Nat.: WATSON’S Tracts, vol. iv.: JORTIN’S Sermons: Bp. FLEETWOOD’S Essays: BOYLE Lectures: LARDNER’S Credibility.]

[253] [“The miracles of the Jewish historian, are intimately connected with all the civil affairs, and make a necessary and inseparable part. The whole history is founded in them; it consists of little else; and if it were not a history of them, it would be a history of nothing.”--BOLINGBROKE, Posthumous Works, vol. iii. p. 279.]

[254] [An admirable work on this recondite mode of proving the truth of the New Testament narrative, is PALEY’S Horæ Paulinæ. The same department of evidence is ably handled by BIRK, in his Horæ Evangelicæ, and Horæ Apostolicæ: GRAVES on the Pentateuch: and BLUNT in his “Undesigned Coincidences both of the Old and New Testament.” GROTIUS, De Veritate, has some excellent passages on the same subject.]

[255] [Clem. Rom. Ep. 1. c. 47.] CLEMENT, who is here quoted, lived in the first century, and is mentioned Phil. iv. 3. His epistle to the Corinthians, written in Greek, contains the passage here referred to, which may be thus translated: “Take the letter of the blessed Paul the Apostle. What did he write to you, in the first beginning of the Gospel? Truly he sent you a divinely inspired letter about himself, and Cephas, and Apollos.”

[256] Gal. i.: 1 Cor. xi. 23, &c.: 1 Cor. xv. 8.

[257] Rom. xv. 19: 1 Cor. xii. 8, 9, 10-28, &c., and xiii. 1, 2, 8, and the whole 14th chapter: 2 Cor. xii. 12, 13: Gal. iii. 2, 5.

[258] See the Koran, chap. xiii. and chap. xvii.

[259] [MAHOMET expressly declares that he worked no _public_ miracles in confirmation of his mission, “because the former nations have charged them with imposture.” He claims, however, to have had private miraculous assurances of his mission, and most preposterous they were.

WHATELY, in his Christian Evidences, has handled this aspect of miracles with great ability. See also PALEY’S Evidences, sec. 3: and GIBBON’S Decline and Fall, chap. 1.]

[260] [ALEXANDER, in his Evidences, and several other writers have placed this argument in a very convincing light. ARNOBIUS, one of the earliest Christian writers, asks, “Shall we say that the men of those times were inconsiderate, deceitful, stupid, and brutish enough to feign having seen what they never saw? and that when they might have lived in peace and comfort, they chose gratuitous hatred and obloquy?”

The _rejection_ of Christianity by so many in the first age was the result of the continued action of personal and hereditary prejudice and depravity, capable of resisting any supposable evidence. The _reception_ of Christianity by multitudes, under the same evidences, and to their immediate personal damage, shows strongly that there was enough evidence to produce those effects. Thus the rejection by some does not countervail the acceptance by others.]

[261] P. 294, &c.

[262] [Compare BUTLER’S Sermons; on Balaam, and on Self-deceit.]

[263] See the foregoing chapter.

[264] [“Whenever a general scheme is known to be pursued by a writer, that scheme becomes the true key in the hands of his reader, for unlocking the meaning of particular parts, which would otherwise not be seen clearly to refer to such scheme. The inspired writers had one common and predominant scheme in view, which was to _bear testimony to Jesus_. Whatever passages occur in their writings, which bear an apt and easy resemblance to the history of Jesus, may, or rather must in all reasonable construction, be applied to him.”--HURD on the Proph., p. 117.]

[265] [Consult on this point, GULICK, Theologia Prophetica: VITRINGA, Observationes: HENGSTENBURG, Christologia: HORSLEY’S Tracts and Sermons: KING’S Morsels of Criticism: WAUGH’S Dissertations: LYALL’S Propœdia Prophetica.]

[266] It appears that Porphyry did nothing worth mentioning in this way. For Jerome on the place says: _Duas posteriores bestias--in uno Macedonum regno ponit_. And as to the ten kings; _Decem reges enumerat, qui fuerunt sævissimi: ipsosque reges non unius ponit regni, verbi gratia, Macedoniæ, Syriæ, Asiæ, et Ægypti; sed de diversis regnis unum efficit regum ordinem_. [“The two latter beasts he places in one of the Macedonian kingdoms.” “He reckons up ten kings who had been excessively cruel and these not kings of one country, as Macedonia, for instance, or Syria, or Asia, or Egypt; but makes up his set of kings out of different kingdoms.”] In this way of interpretation, any thing may be made of any thing.

[267] P. 189, &c.

[268] John i. 3.

[269] Eph. iii. 9.

[270] Acts iii. 21.

[271] Rev. x. 7.

[272] Dan. ii. 44.

[273] Dan. vii. 22.

[274] Rev. xi. 17, 18; xx. 6.

[275] Dan. vii. 27.

[276] Chap. ii. iii. &c.

[277] Deut. xxviii. 64; xxx. 2, 3: Isa. xlv. 17.

[278] Isa. lx. 21: Jer. xxx. 11; xlvi. 28: Amos ix. 14, 15: Jer. xxxi. 36.

[279] Isa. viii. 14, 15; xlix. 5; chap. liii.: Mal. i. 10, 11, and chap. iii.

[280] Isa. xlix. 6, chap. ii., chap, xi., chap. lvi. 7: Mal. i. 11. To which must be added, the other prophecies of the like kind, several in the New Testament, and very many in the Old; which describe what shall be the completion of the revealed plan of Providence.

[281] [See DAVIDSON’S Disc. on Proph.: BLANEY on Daniel’s LXX. Weeks: HURD’S Introd. to the Study of Proph.: JORTIN’S Ser. at Boyle Lect.: FULLER’S Gosp. its own Witness, part ii.: WAUGH’S Diss.: APTHORPE’S Discourses.]

[282] P. 250.

[283] [Hundreds of instances might be adduced, in which profane historians corroborate the statements of the Scriptures. The following are merely specimens: DIODORUS SICULUS, STRABO, TACITUS, PLINY, and SOLINUS, speak of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The lives of David and Solomon are given in the remains of the PHŒNICIAN ANNALS, in DAMASCENUS, and EUPOLEMUS. MENANDER describes the carrying away of the Ten Tribes by Salmanasor. SUETONIUS, TACITUS, PLINY the younger, and NUMENIUS, speak of Jesus Christ. His miracles are owned by CELSUS, PORPHYRY, JULIAN, and Jewish writers opposed to Christianity. SUETONIUS, TACITUS, PLINY, JULIAN, and others describe his being put to death; and TACITUS says that many were put to death for adhering to his religion. PHLEGON mentions the miracles of Peter; and Paul is enumerated among eminent authors, in a fragment of LONGINUS.]

[284] [This thought is elaborated with skill by WHATELY in his “_Historic Doubts_.” He takes up all the popular infidel objections as to the life of Christ, and applies them with undiminished or even increased force against the evidences that such a man as Buonaparte ever existed.

JOHNSON in a lively sally once said--“‘It is easy to be on the negative side. I deny that Canada is taken. The French are a much more numerous people than we; and it is not likely they would allow us to take it.’ ‘But the Government have announced the fact.’ ‘Very true. But the ministry have put us to an enormous expense by the war in America, and it is their interest to persuade us that we have got something for our money.’ ‘But the fact is confirmed by thousands who were at the taking of it.’ ‘Aye, but these men have an interest in deceiving us: they don’t want you should think the French have beat them. Now suppose you go over and find it so, that would only satisfy yourself; for when you come back we will not believe you. We will say you have been bribed.’”--BOSWELL.]

[285] P. 267, &c.

[286] P. 270, &c.

[287] Deut. xxviii. 37.

[288] All the particular things mentioned in this chapter, not reducible to the head of certain miracles, or determinate completions of prophecy. See p. 263.

[289] [Butler states this argument with more than his usual brevity, and its force is not seen without reflection. “If contrivance or accident could have given to Christianity _any_ of its apparent testimonies, its miracles, its prophecies, its morals, its propagation, or [the character of] its founder, there could be no room to believe, or even imagine, that _all_ these appearances of great credibility, could be _united together_, by any such means. If successful craft could have contrived its public miracles, or the pretence of them, it requires another reach of craft, to adopt its prophecies to the same object. Further, it required not only a different, but a totally opposite art to conceive and promulgate its admirable morals. Again, its propagation, in defiance of the powers and terrors of the world, implied still other qualities of action. Lastly, the model of the life of its founder, is a work of such originality and wisdom, as could be the offspring only of consummate powers of invention, or rather never could have been _devised_, but must have come from real life. The hypothesis sinks under its incredibility. Each of these suppositions of contrivance, being arbitrary and unsupported, the climax of them is an extravagance.”--DAVISON, on Prophecy.]

[290] 1 John iv. 18.--[“There is no fear in love,” &c.]

[291] [Obedience from dread, if it continue to be the only motive, precludes advance toward perfection; for “He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” But obedience from a discernment of the reasonableness and beneficence of religion, and of the perfections of its Author, increases love till it “casteth out fear.”]

[292] [See a discussion of this subject, in BAYLE’S Historical and Biographical Dictionary: art. XENOPHANES: notes D, E, F, G.]

[293] See Dissertation II.

[294] [It is remarked by DEAN FITZGERALD, that “It is not inconceivable that the Almighty should apply such a test of men’s candor and fidelity, as should require them first to act upon a thing as true, before they were so fully satisfied of its truth as to leave no doubt remaining. Such a course of action might be the appointed, and for all we know, the only possible way of overcoming habits of thought and feeling, repugnant to the belief demanded, so that a fixed religious faith might be the reward, as it were, of a sincere course of prudent behavior.”]

[295] By _arguing upon the principles of others_, the reader will observe is meant, not proving any thing _from_ those principles, but _notwithstanding_ them. Thus religion is proved, not _from_ the opinion of necessity; which is absurd: but, _notwithstanding_ or _even though_ that opinion were admitted to be true.

[296] P. 141, &c.

[297] Prov. xx. 27.

[298] Serm. at the _Rolls_, p. 106.

[299] John iii. 16: Heb. v. 9.

[300] P. 258, &c.

[301] Locke’s Works, vol. i. p. 146.

[302] Locke, pp. 146, 147.

[303] Locke, p. 152.

[304] See an answer to Dr. Clarke’s Third Defence of his Letter to Mr. Podwell, 2d edit. p. 44, 56, &c.

[305] [“One is continually reminded throughout this dissertation, of what is called _The common-sense school_ of Scotch metaphysicians. Nor can there be any doubt that REID, in particular, was largely indebted to Butler, of whose writings he was a diligent student, for forming that sober and manly character of understanding which is, I think, his great merit.”--FITZGERALD.]

[306] This way of speaking is taken from Epictetus,[A] and is made use of as seeming the most full, and least liable to cavil. And the moral faculty may be understood to have these two epithets, δοκιμαστικὴ and ἀποδοκιμαστικὴ [applauding and condemning] upon a double account; because, upon a survey of actions, whether before or after they are done, it determines them to be good or evil; and also because it determines itself to be the guide of action and of life, in contradistinction from all other faculties, or natural principles of action; in the very same manner as speculative reason _directly_ and naturally judges of speculative truth and falsehood: and at the same time is attended with a consciousness upon _reflection_, that the natural right to judge of them belongs to it.

[A] Arr. Epict. lib. i. cap. i.

[307] Οὐδὲ ἡ ἀρετὴ καὶ κακία--ἐν πείσει ἀλλὰ ἐνεργείᾳ, [Virtue and vice are not in feeling, but in action,] M. Anton, lib. ix. 16. Virtutis laus omnis in actione consistit. [The whole praise of virtue, depends on action.] Cic. Off. lib. i. cap. 6.

[308] P. 145.

INDEX TO PART I.

REFERENCES TO THE EDITOR’S NOTES ARE IN BRACKETS.

Abstract reasonings may mislead, 162
fitness of things, _note_ 166

Actions
distinguished from their qualities, 111
manifest character, 156
rewarded and punished, 98
this world a theater of, 156
what sort exercise virtue, 152

Active and passive impressions, 140

Advantages of virtue, 113
may never recur, 101

Affections, excited by objects, 145
need control, 166
part of our constitution, 147

Affliction, a discipline, 150
chiefly of our own making, 100

Agent, the living, not compounded, 81

Alienation of parts of our body, 84

All things made double, 137

Allurements, use of, 151

Analogy
answers objections as to a present state of trial, 135
as to modes of existence, 78
carrying the force of positive argument, [105
deals only with facts, 171
indicates future punishment, 101
may amount to proof, 168
objections which it cannot answer, 171
the only proof of some things, 79

Antiquity of religion, 167

Atheists not argued with, in this treatise, 181

Beginnings of a righteous government seen on earth, 107

Bible, teaches the existence of general laws, [99

Bodies
not necessary to us, 82
not ourselves, 83
only instruments, 85, 86
their solid elements, 88

Bodily and mental habits, 134

Brain, does not think, [89

Brahminical notion of death, 92

Brutes,
are they immortal?, [88
may have greater strength than man, 119
under man’s control, 119

Capacities,
state of in infancy, 88
not destroyed by death, 89
not dependent on the body, 79

Causes and ends incomprehensible, 172

Changes compatible with identity, 78, 83

Character
manifested by probation, 156
not given but acquired, 155
what it means, _note_ 163

Conscience,
how it acts, 164
implies government, 115
a rule, 164
authority, 164
future retribution, 165
may be impaired, 168
perverted, 168

Consciousness an indiscerptible entity, 82
presupposes identity, [77

Consequences
may sometimes be avoided, 102
may be foreseen, 98
show a moral government, 98

Course of nature constant, 97

Creatures finitely perfect, 147
may fall, 148
have each a way of life, 137

Danger of wrong doing, how increased, 132

Death
and birth similar, 91
enlarges our sphere, 92
has no power over matter, [91
is not a suspension of our powers, 91
is not our destruction, 80
what it is, 80

Decay of vegetables, inference from, 92

Definitions of identity, 77

Delivering up of the Lord Jesus Christ, [111

Destruction of seeds, 153

Different states of human existence, 89

Difficulties belong to all subjects, [96
exercise the virtuous principle, 152

Disadvantages of virtue temporary, 126

Discipline, its true nature and use, [148

Disease not destructive to the soul, 90
sometimes remedial, 177

Disorder produced by sin, 148

Distress excites passive pity and active relief, 140

Distributive justice a natural rule, 110

Divine government a scheme, CHAP. VII.

Domestic government, 114

Dreams, what they prove, 86

Earthly satisfactions attainable, 183

Effects of actions on the actor, [143

Ends often produced by unlikely means, 180

Enjoyments in our own power to a great degree, 95

Error, how spread, [96

Evidence of natural religion, 166

Evil, may possibly be useful, 177
its possible origin, 147
not a necessary part of probation, [128

Exceptions to the happiness of virtue, 108

Experience indispensable, 141

Faculties, human, not perfect at first, 141

Fall of man, 133, [148

Fallacy in fatalism, 169

Fallen creatures require discipline, 150

Fatalism,--see _Necessity_.

Fear a proper motive to obedience, 154

Folly, destructive, as well as crime, 132

Formal notion of government, 99

Foundation of moral improvement, [108

Future advantages, how proportioned, 93

Future existence probable, CHAP. I.
of brutes, [79

Future interest dependent on conduct, 95

Future life,
a solemn subject, 95
not an inactive condition, 144
reconcilable with atheism, 94
this life preparatory to it, CHAP. V.

Future punishment credible, 103

Future retribution, how proved, 125

Future state
different from the present, 78
brings us into new scenes, 93
may have temptations, [145
social, 144
will not require such virtues as does the present life, 154

General laws
govern the world, 177, [99
produce punishment, 103
wisdom of them, 178

General method of God’s government, 97

General system of religion, 124

Gradual improvement, a wise arrangement, 141, 142

GOD
an intelligent governor, 106
determined by what is fit, [166
governs by human instruments, 111
governs justly, [108
has a will and a character, 163
his aims incomprehensible, 97
his attributes inferred from our own, [115
his general government, 97
his government just and good, 176
his indirect commands, 165
moral government of, CHAP. III.
natural ” , ” II.
necessarily existent, 159
not indifferent to human actions, 125
not simply benevolent, 106
rewards and punishes, 169
the only necessary being, 159

Good actions, how punished, 111

Good habits necessary even to the virtuous, 149

Good men befriended as such, 112
cannot now all unite, 121

Good not forced upon us, [134

Government,
civil, an ordinance of God, 111
considered as a scheme, CHAP. VII.
of God, CHAP. II.
not perfected in this world, 107
the formal notion of it, 98
the perfection of, 106

Habits,
how formed, &c., 139
necessary to us hereafter, [145
of resignation, 155
often ruinous, 101
of virtue an improvement in virtue, 147
passive, 138
shape the character, 141

Happiness
not always the _immediate_ reward of virtue, 108
not given promiscuously, 138
requisites for, 137
the result of virtue, 118

Helplessness of man, [138

Higher degrees of retribution probable, 127

Hinderances to virtue, 121

History of religion, 169

Honest men befriend the honest, 112

Hope and fear appeal to self-love, 153
are just principles of action, 154

Human life preparatory, 144

Hume’s wonderful discovery, [162

Human powers may be overtasked, 152

Identity
does not depend on the sameness of the body, 83
of living agents, 77, 78
not explicable, [77

Ignorance
acknowledged on all subjects but religion, 174
answers objections, 175
the argument from, 180
total, destroys proof, 178

Illustration of the modification of an action by its intention, [111

Imagination a source of discontent, 154
produces much error, 81

Immortality of brutes, 88

Improvement
by discipline, 144
by habit, 147
of our faculties gradual, 141
wisdom of this, 142

Incomprehensibility of God’s plans, 97

Inconsiderateness destructive, 102

Inferiority of brute force, 119

Infidelity unjustifiable, 105

Insignificance of our knowledge, [174

Interest coincident with virtue, 154
not a sufficient restraint, _note_ 146

Interpositions to prevent irregularities, 177
would produce evil, 178

Intentional good rewarded, 114

Irregularities perhaps unavoidable, 177
seeming may not be such, 176

Inward peace attends virtue, 112

Kingdom, idea of a perfect, 123

Knowledge of man insignificant, [174

Liberty does not account for the fall, 147
implied in our present condition, 162

Life a probation, 128
one part of it preparatory to another, [142
what is it intended for, 137

Living agent not subject to death, 79

Living powers, see _Death_.

Locke on human identity, [77

Maimonides, his similitude, [173

Man
an inferior part of creation, 133
a system of parts, [98
by nature social, [93
capable of improvement, 145
connected with present, past, and future, 181
dealt with as if free, 162
has a moral nature, 115
his fall not accounted for by his free agency, 147
his helplessness, [138
knows nothing fully, 173
may become qualified for new states, 137
not a competent judge of God’s schemes, 174
requires moral culture, 145

Mania often produced by moral causes, [85

Materialism, its philosophical absurdity, [81

Matter and mind not the same, [83
affect each other, 85

Means
learned by experience, 176
man not a competent judge of the fitness of them, 178
not always agreeable, 176

Men often miss possible temporal good, 129

Men’s temporal interests greatly depend on themselves, 131

Might of unarmed virtue, [121

Mind
influenced by the passions, 131
is the man, [87
its effects on the body, [85
may survive the body, [89
the only real percipient, 85
uses the body as an instrument, [87

Miracles, properly speaking, not unnatural, 94

Miseries as contingent as conduct, 135
generally are avoidable, 100

Mixture of suffering and enjoyment in this world, [128

Moral and natural government of God similar to each other, 184

Moral attributes of God may be inferred from our own, [115

Moral discipline, CHAP. V.

Moral government of God, CHAP. III.

Moral improvement, basis of, [108

Moral world, its apparent irregularities, 176

Mystery of God, finished, _note_ 102

Natural, the true meaning of the word, 94

Natural government of God, CHAP. II.

Natural religion,
its evidences not affected by the doctrine of necessity, 166
proof of, 166
teaches the doctrine of punishment, 102

Necessary agents may be punished, 169

Necessary bulk of one’s self, 84

Necessary existence of God, 159

Necessary tendencies of virtue, 118

Negligence and folly disastrous, 132

Necessity
consigns us to a fallacy, 169
contradicts the constitution of nature, 170
destroys no proof of religion, 170
different kinds of, [157
does not exclude design, 160
doctrine of, CHAP. VI.
not an agent, 159
not applicable to practice, 163
not in conflict with religion, 160
our condition indicates freedom, 162
reconcilable with religion, 168
the doctrine absurd, 157
what it means, 158
writers for and against, [170

New scenes in the next world, 93

Obedience, reluctant, useful, [152

Objections,
against a proof and against a thing to be proved, 179
against the scheme of Providence, 174
analogy of plants, 92
Christianity not universal, 169
course of nature, 97
destruction of seeds, 153
difference between temporal and eternal things, [135
discipline might have been avoided, 156
God simply benevolent, 106
good and evil may be mixed in the next world, 124
gratification of appetites natural and proper, 98
ignorance, the argument from invalidates the proof of religion, 178
immortality of brutes, 87
incredible that necessary agents should be punished, 169
irregularities of the moral world, 176
necessity destroys the proof of religion, 165
our powers may be overtasked, 152
probabilities may be overbalanced by probabilities, 169
punishments are only natural events, 99
rectitude arising from hope and fear, sordid, 153
rewards and punishments, 95
sin need not have entered the world, 177
society punishes good actions, 111
special interpositions might prevent evil, 177, 178
to the doctrine of necessity, CHAP. VI.
to the doctrine of future punishments, 100-103
virtue sometimes punished, 111
virtues of the present life not wanted hereafter, 154
world disciplines some to vice, 153

Obligation certain, when proofs are not, 179

Occasional disadvantages of virtue, 117

Occasional indulgences in wrong-doing awfully dangerous, [143

One period of life preparatory to another, [142

Opportunities once lost irrecoverable, 143

Organs of sense mere instruments, 89

Our moral nature proves a moral government, 115

Pain, no contrivance for it in man, [110

Partial ignorance does not destroy proof, 178

Passions
carry away the judgment, 131
make our condition one of trial, 130
may account for the fall of man, 147
may be excited where gratification is impossible or unlawful, 146
may remain in a future state, 147
should be subject to the moral principle, 145
the bare excitement of, not criminal, 145
but dangerous, 146

Passive habits, 138

Passive impressions weakened by repetition, 139

Passive submission essential, 155

Peace of the virtuous, 112

Perception, instruments of, 85
possible without instruments, 86

Perfection of moral government, 106, 107
of an earthly kingdom, 123

Persecution unnatural, 111

Philosophy never arrogant, [174
what it cannot teach, [87

Pleasure
not a sufficient reason for action, 98
and pain mostly depend on ourselves, 95
the distribution indicates moral government, 105

Powers
may be improved by exercise, 138
may be overtasked, 152
may exist and not be exercised, 80
no reason for supposing that death will destroy them, 81

Practical proof, what, 168

Present existence unaccounted for by atheism, 94

Presumptions that death will destroy us, 81
that it will suspend our existence, 91

Presumptuousness unjustifiable, 105

Private vices not public benefits, [111

Probabilities in favor of religion may be overbalanced by
probabilities against it, 169

Probation, CHAP. IV.
applies to the present life as well as the future, 130
does not necessarily imply suffering, [128
implies allurements, 129
is more than moral government, 128
requires severe discipline, 150

Proofs of natural religion, 166
of religion not affected by the doctrine of necessity, 160

Propensions necessarily create temptations, 146
are excited by their appropriate objects, 147

Proper gratification of the appetites, 98

Prosperity of a virtuous community, 123
may beget discontent, 154

Providence, objections to God’s, 140, 174

Public spirit a fruit of virtue, 120

Punishment
an alarming subject, 105
especially considered, 100
greater hereafter than now, 127
in a future state credible, 103, 125
is God’s voice of instruction, [108
is sometimes capital, 102
not unjust, 163
often long delayed, 101
often overtakes suddenly, 101
of virtuous actions, 111
religious and natural similar, 100
results from folly as well as crime, 132
the result of general laws, 103

Quotations.
Aristotle, [152
Chalmers, [131, 138, 148
Cicero, [82, 86
Clarke, [97
Fitzgerald, [145
Robert Hall, [118
Hume, [162
Maimonides, [173
Mandeville, [111
Plato, [87, 113
Son of Sirac, [137
Strabo, [92

Rashness, consequences of, 96

Reason
an incompetent judge of means, 178
gives power over brute force, 119
needs experience, 141
not dependent on bodily powers, 89
requires a fair opportunity, 119-121

Recapitulation of the whole argument, 180

Rectitude, is self-interest a proper motive to it?, 153

References to other authors.
Bates, [128
Baxter, [88
Bayle, [88
Beattie, [170
Belsham, [170
Berkeley, [111
Bonnett, [89
Bramhall, [171
Brown, [111
Bryant, [171
Butterworth, [107
Calcott, [128
Capp, [109
Chalmers, [77, 79, 148
Charnock, [158
Cheyne, [88
Clarke, 82, [81, 97, 171
Colliber, [88
Collings, [158, 170
Compte, [170
Crombie, [170
Crouse, [170
Davies, [109
D’Holbach, [170
Descartes, [88
Ditton, [88
Doddridge, [109
Dodwell, [81
Dwight, [109
Edwards, [88, 170
Fabricius, [128
Fichte, [170
Gibbs, [171
Grove, [171
Haller, [89
Harris, [171
Hartley, [170
Hegel, [170
Henly, [128
Hobbes, [170
Holtzfusius, [128
Holyoake, [170
Horseley, [109
Hume, [88
Hunt, [109
Jackson, [171
Konnicott, [128
King, [98, 171
Law, [98
Lawson, [171
Le Clerc, [128
Leland, [109
Leroux, [170
Liefchild, [109
Locke, [88
Manton, [128
Martineau, [170
Martinius, [119
Milman, [142
Morgagni, [89
Morton, [109
Musæus, [128
Palmer, [171
Pearson, [128
Polignac, [88
Porteus, [109
Price, [158
Priestley, [142, 170
Reid, [170
Rutherford, [109, 158
Search, [88
Seed, [109
Selden, [128
Shaftesbury, 108
Sherlock, [109
Shuckford, [128
Son of Sirac, [137
South, [109, 128
Stapfer, [128
Strabo, 92
Toplady, [128
Topping, [109
Twisse, [109
Wagstaff, [88
Warburton, [111
Watts, [77, 88, 171
Whately, [142, 158
Willis, [88
Wisheart, [109
Witsius, [128
Wittichius, [109

Reflection not dependent on sensation, 91

Reformation is attended with discomfort, 108
may not prevent penalties, 102

Relation between us and our bodies, 85

Relations of things, limitless, 173

Religion
a question of fact, 165
historical evidence of, 168
professed in all ages, 167
its proofs not affected by the doctrine of necessity, 170
nor by our ignorance, 178

Reluctant obedience profitable, [152

Remedies often very disagreeable, 176

Repentance may be too late, 104

Requisites to the superiority of reason, 119
of virtue, 120, 121

Resentment of injuries, 114

Resignation
a temper consonant with God’s sovereignty, 155
essential to virtue, 154
the fruit of affliction, 155
the habit necessary hereafter, 155

Retributions are divine teachings, [108

Revelation,
antiquity of, 167
not improbable, 167
not universal, _note_ 107

Rewards and punishments, how distributed, 126

Satisfactions of virtue, 108

Scheme of God incomprehensible, 172

Self-denial, its relations to present happiness, 134
not essential to piety, 152

Self-discipline, what, [148

Self-love
a just principle of action, 154
appealed to, 153
how moderated and disciplined, 155
not a sufficient restraint, _note_ 146
reasonable and safe, 130

Sensation not necessary to reflection, 91

Senses not percipients, 85

Severe discipline necessary, 150

Similitude of a historical painting, [174

Simplicity of the living agent, 83

Sin, why not kept out of the world, 177

Skepticism does not justify irreligion, 105

Social, our nature essentially such, [93

Society
must punish vice, 110
natural and necessary, [93
sometimes punishes the good, 111

Soul
a simple substance, 82
not destroyed with the body, 79
not naturally immortal, [81

Souls of brutes, 88

Special interpositions of Providence, 177, 178

Stages of existence, 78

State of probation, CHAP. IV.

State of discipline and improvement, CHAP. V.

Submissive temper necessary, 155

Subordinations exceedingly beneficial, 142

Subserviencies in nature, 173

Sufferings may be avoided, 95
not necessary to the cultivation of virtue, [128

Temporal and religious probation similar, 132

Temptations
increased by bad examples, 132
and by former errors, 132
intended for our improvement, 136
involve probation, 129
may improve or injure us, 153
security against their evils, 146
sources of, to upright beings, 147
the necessary result of propensions, 146

Tendencies of virtue, 118
hindered, 121
essential, not accidental, 126

Terms “nature” and “course of nature”, [97

Theorizing no aid to virtue, 139

Thoughtlessness often fatal, 101

Transmigration of souls, [87

Trials
manifest character, 156
may exist in a future state, 147
produced by our propensions, 131
qualify for a better state, 144
unreasonable ones are not inflicted, 133
why we are subjected to them, 136

Ultimate design of man, [98

Understanding may be perverted, 168

Uneasiness produced by former sins, 109

Union of good beings, 122

Unjustifiableness of religious indifference, 105

Upright creatures may fall, 147
need good habits, 149

Universe and its government immense, 123

Vice
actually punished by society 110, 111
must produce uneasiness, 112
never rewarded as such, 116
not only criminal but depraving, 149
often increased by trials, 153
punished as such, 114

Vicious men lose their influence, [121

Virtue
a bond of union, 122
as such, rewarded on earth, 111
“brings its own reward”, [118
has occasional disadvantages, [117
hinderances accidental, 121
how and why rewarded, 111
improved by trials, 151
its benefits to a community, 123
natural, not vice, 116
not always rewarded in this life, 108
on the whole happier than vice, 113
secures peace, 112
tendencies essential, 126
tends to give power, 118, [121

Virtuous beings need virtuous habits, 149

Virtuous habits a security, 147
how formed, 139
improve virtue, 147
necessary in a future state, [145

Voice of nature is for virtue, 117

Waste of seeds, 153

Wickedness may produce some benefits, 177
voluntary, 136

Will and character
of God, how determined, _note_ 166
what they mean, _note_ 163

Wonderful discovery of Hume, [162

World
a system of subordinations, 173
a theater for the manifestation of character, 156
disciplines some to vice, 153
fitted for man’s discipline, 150
governed by fixed laws, 110

Youth
a determining period, 101
if lost, not to be recovered, 143
its beneficial subordinations, 142

INDEX TO PART II.

REFERENCES TO THE EDITOR’S NOTES ARE IN BRACKETS

A common absurdity, 243

Abstract truth distinguished from facts, 305, [186

Absurdity of some objections to Christianity, 245

Abuse of our natural endowments, 217

Accidental, what events are so called, 226

Accountability gradually increases, 251

Actions,
definition of, in morals, 261
distinguished from things done, 261
their bad consequences sometimes escaped, 232
virtue and vice consist in them, 261

Advantage, as proper a consideration in religion as in temporal
affairs, 298
variously bestowed, 249, 312

Analogy
a confirmation of all facts to which it can be applied, 306
affords no argument against the scheme of Christianity, 203
nor against miracles, 203
answers presumptions against miracles, 207
does not prove the wisdom of God, 301
does not teach that the _whole_ of God’s government is like that on
earth, 204
easily cavilled at, but unanswerable, 306
between natural information and that derived from inspiration, 212
between the remedies of nature and those of grace, 219
between the gospel and human discoveries, 219
between the light of nature and of revelation, 218
between the use of natural gifts, and miraculous, 217
between the government of God and that of a human master, 261
its small influence on men, 303
how used in this treatise, 306
may show our duty, but not the design of the requirement, 246
objections to this mode of arguing, CHAP. VIII.
shows that there may be infinite reasons for things, with which we
are not acquainted, 188
the only ground for some of our knowledge, 306

Antidote to heresies, [191

Apocalypse, its principal object, [249

Appearances of men and things deceptive, 248

Arguments proper as to human writings, are not so as to Scripture, 214

Atonement,
how held by the ancients, 241
makes the innocent suffer for the guilty, 243

Author of nature taken for granted, 298

Authoritativeness of revelation, 189

Baptism
a test of obedience, [199
commanded and important, 194
why the form of words, 194

Bible, how to be interpreted, [202, 215

Brutes, their great sagacity, 216

Boundary of human inquiry, [223

Candor necessary in judging of Christianity, 302

Chance, really no such thing, 226

Characters drawn in Scripture evidently unfeigned, 287

Christ
a mediator, CHAP. V.
a prophet, 240
a priest and king, 241
his history, as given in Scripture, 285
his pre-existence taught, 282
his satisfaction, 239
his sufferings voluntary, 243
manner of his interposition, 238
not merely a teacher and example, 242
offered himself a propitiatory sacrifice, 241

Christianity
a fearful curse, if it give no more light than natural religion, [196
a question of fact, 301
a remedial system, [193
an authoritative republication of the religion of nature, 188, 189
a particular scheme under a general plan, 194, 224
a scheme imperfectly comprehended, CHAP. IV.
a scheme revealed but in part, 226
brings life and immortality to light, 190
could not possibly be a contrivance, [222, 294
demands attention, if barely probable, 253
has evidences besides miracles and prophecy, 263
in what degree remedial, [193
is a real revelation, 213
is conformable to the constitution of things, 295
its benefits require the use of means, 197
its establishment and prevalence, the most conspicuous and important
event in history, 286
its evidences, CHAP. VII.
its good effects not small, 192
its precepts plain and obvious, 218
its proof historical, 304
its proofs liable to objection, 260
men bound to examine its evidence, 197
miracles and prophecy its direct and fundamental proofs, 263
must have mysteries, [223
no objection to the morality of it, 214, 220, 222
not merely a republication of natural religion, [196
not primarily designed to remedy the defects of nature, [193
not the discovery of reason, 188
objections to its evidence, 210
objections to its nature, 210
offered to some in a corrupt state, 250
prescribes new duties, 194
preserves natural religion in the world, 191
propagated against all obstructions, [294
rashness of treating it lightly, 194, 196, 197
requires means to accomplish ends, 225
reveals a particular dispensation of Providence, 194
reveals important facts, 196
some of its dark parts may be cleared up, others cannot, [223
teaches more than natural religion, 194
the evils ascribed to it, are not its evils, 192
the one great question concerning it, 213, 214
the only religion professedly confirmed by miracles, 268
to be transmitted by Christians, [190
universal, in nature and intention, [248
what alone could disprove it, 295
why not remedial to a greater degree, 193
why not sooner promulgated, 219

Christians
bound to spread Christianity, 190
primitive, their testimony, 267

Church
men bound to support it, 193
preserves a knowledge of religion, 191
visible, its design, 190, 191

Circumstantial evidences of Christianity, 263, 281
often as convincing as direct testimony, 294

Clemens Romanus, testimony of, 266
his letter to the Corinthians, [266

Climax of infidel extravagance, [294

Coincidence of natural and revealed religion, 211, 218

Coincidences of Scripture, 266

Comparison, how it may mislead us, 201

Compassion distinct from goodness, 233
visible in the constitution of the world, 233

Consequences of infidelity; more dangerous than those of faith, 294
of sin, often averted, 233

Conversational objections to revelation, 295

Conversion, how produced, [225

Course of nature
different from what we might have supposed, previous to experience, 211
none at the beginning, 205
our total darkness as to its causes, 208

Creation
Mosaic account of, referred to by John, 282
a different exertion of power from government, 205
why Scripture describes it, 281

Creatures of like moral qualities placed in different religious
situations, 251

Credulity of mankind acknowledged, 269

Cumulative proof of Christianity, [207

Daniel
his book had more evidence of authenticity than has come to us, 279
his predictions a support of Jewish faith, [249
quoted by Christ, 279

Dark parts of revelation, [223

Degrees of evidence have degrees of weight, 255
require nice examination, 258

Deistical explanation of Christ’s miracles, [206

Deists, why do they oppose Christianity, [196

Depravity of man obvious, 238
doctrine of, [218

Desert of good and ill, the notion of, 305

Development, of truth, 218
modern, doctrine of, [218

Differences of religious advantages may have like reasons as those for
different temporal advantages, 251
would remain if revelation were universal, 252

Difficulties
absurdity of requiring them to be all removed, 297
as to the evidence of religion, analogous to those attending the
practice of it, 256
cannot be solved by analogy, 296
speculative, may be the chief trials of some, 257
the discernment which can see them, might suffice to see through
them, 260

Direct and circumstantial evidence must be taken together, 280

Diseases of body and mind, analogous as to their remedies, 220

Disobedience, without possible excuse, 253

Dispensations, preparatory one to another, 310

Disregard of religion a great profligacy, 233

Distinction between moral and positive obligation, 198, [198
between acts and principles, [235
between temporary, individual, and universal commands, [188

Doubt
affords scope for probation, 262
exercises our virtuous principles, 256
implies some evidence, 252, 254, 283
involves some obligation, 263
puts us upon probation, 253

Doubtful evidence should have _some_ influence, 255

Duties arising from revealed relations, 195
moral and positive, 194

Earth, its appearances confirm Scripture, 238

Effect of Adam’s transgression, 238
of combined probabilities, 294, [294

Efficacy of repentance, [190
not taught by the light of nature, 190

End, God’s not known, 246

Enthusiasm
is not peculiar to religion, 272
impairs no testimony for Christianity, 271
may often weaken testimony, 271
sometimes mixed with knavery, 272
the absence of all sign of it in Christianity, a presumptive proof
in its favor, 222
will not account for the spread of Christianity, 270

Enthusiasts make as great sacrifices as Christians, 270

Epistles of Paul, proof from, 266

Eternal retribution not taught by natural religion, [190

Ethics of natural religion distinguished from its objects, [194

Events expound Scripture, 219

Evidence
of Christianity impregnable, 295
collateral and direct to be viewed together, 294
from miracles and prophecy, 267
imperfect, should yet influence practice in proportion to its
degree, 255
of circumstances may be most direct, 294
of religion, open to all, 260
of religion, the same in kind as that which controls us in
temporal things, 258
much lower than satisfactory often determines us, 303
not only increased but multiplied by a combination of
probabilities, 294, [294
reason the proper judge of, 221
requires careful sifting, 256
candor in judging, 302, [303
safety always in admitting it, 294
why liable to objection, 257

Evil, remedies provided for it, 219, 232

Exaggeration practised by many who will not lie, 272

External manner of heart worship, 195

Experience
affords no presumption against Christianity, 203
corroborates Christian doctrines, 245
teaches the effects of actions, 246

Extravagance of some objections, 187, 188

Facts
analogy the only proof of some, 306
distinguished from abstract truths, 305
of revelation distinguished from its principles, [235

Fall of man, assumed as a fact, 236
confirmed by appearances, 238

Falsehood, its degrees and inducements, 272

False miracles have deceived many, 273
have some historic evidence, 273

Fatalists, their principles argued upon, 304

Fear cast out by love, [301

Fitness, moral, 304, 305

Flippant objections to Christianity, 295

Folly, a real vice, 280

Foresight of brutes, 216

Future punishments,
all the reasons for them not known, 234
not arbitrarily appointed, 232
natural sequences, 231, 232
rendered credible by temporal punishments, 300

Genealogy of mankind given in Scripture, 283

General laws
a wise arrangement, 227
do not render miracles incredible, 227
control the Christian dispensation, 226
few events can be traced up to them, 226
miracles may be their results, 226, 227
the ground of believing there are such, 226
things called accidental governed by them, 226

Geology, its impressive lessons, [229