Of the Belation of Tradition to Palcetiologt/. 261 



Yet this view is beset by no small difficulties. The full de- 

 velopment of man''s moral faculties ; — the perfection of his na- 

 ture up to the measure of his own ideas ; — the adaptation of 

 his moral being to an ultimate destination, by its transit 

 through a world full of moral evil, in which each has his share ; 

 — ^are effects for which the economy of the world appears to 

 contain no adequate provision. Man, though aware of his 

 moral nature, and ready to believe in an ultimate destination 

 of purity and blessedness, is too feeble to resist the tempta- 

 tion of evil, and to restore his purity when once lost. He 

 cannot but look for some confirmation of that providential 

 order which he has begun to believe ; some provision for those 

 deficiencies in his moral condition which he has begun to feel. 



He looks at the history of the world, and he finds that at a 

 certain period it offers to him the promise of what he seeks. 

 When the natural powers of man had been developed to their 

 full extent, and were beginning to exhibit symptoms of decay ; 

 when the intellectual progress of the world appeared to have 

 reached its limit, without supplying man's moral needs ; we 

 find the great Epoch in the Providential history of the world. 

 We find the announcement of a Dispensation by which man's 

 deficiencies shall be supplied and his aspirations fulfilled : we 

 find a provision for the purification, the support, and the ulti- 

 mate beatification of those who use the provided means. And 

 thus the providential course of the world becomes consistent 

 and intelligible. 



4. The Sacred Narrative. — But with the new Dispensation, 

 we receive, not only an account of its own scheme and history, 

 but also a \vritten narrative of the providential course of the 

 world from the earliest times, and even from its first creation. 

 This narrative is recognised and authorised by the new dispen- 

 sation, and accredited by some of the same evidences as the 

 dispensation itself. That the existence of such a sacred narra- 

 tive should be a part of the providential order of things, cannot 

 but appear natural ; but naturally also, the study of it leads to 

 some difficulties. 



The sacred narrative in some of its earliest portions speaks 

 of natural objects and occurrences respecting them. In the 

 very beginning of the course of the world, we may readily be- 

 lieve (indeed as we have seen in the laat chapter, our ecientific 



