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ON THE GENERAL DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE. 



of the leading views which may be taken of this 

 subject. 



1. The dignity and majesty of the style in 

 which many portions of the Scriptures are writ 

 ten, and the sublimity of many of the ideas and 

 tentiments they contain, are strong presumptions 

 of their divine original. This is strikingly ex 

 hibited in all those cases in which the perfections 

 and operations of the Deity are brought into view, 

 as in such passages as the following, &quot; He 

 hangeth the earth upon nothing ; he bindeih up 

 the waters in his thick clouds ; he hath compass 

 ed the waters with bounds, until the day and 

 night come to an end ; the pillars of heaven 

 tremble and are astonished at his reproof. He 

 divideth the sea by his great power ; by his 

 spirit he hath garnished the heavens. Lo, these 

 are only parts of his ways, but how little a por 

 tion is heard of him, and the thunder of his power 

 who can comprehend ?&quot; &quot; By the word of the 

 Lord were the heavens made : he spake and it 

 was done, he commanded and it stood fast.&quot; 

 &quot; Great is Jehovah and of great power, his great 

 ness is unsearchable, his understanding is infi 

 nite ; marvellous things doth he which we can 

 not comprehend.&quot; &quot;The heaven, even the 

 heaven of heavens cannot contain him ; he hath 

 prepared his throne in the heavens, and his king 

 dom ruleth over all. He doth according to his 

 will in the army of heaven and among the inha 

 bitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, 

 or say unto him, what dost thou ?&quot; &quot; Who hath 

 measured the ocean in the hollow of his hand, 

 and meted out heaven with a span, and com 

 prehended the dust of the earth in a measure, 

 and weighed the mountains in scales and the 

 hills in a balance. 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 thine. All nations before him are 

 as nothing, and they are counted to him less than 

 nothing and vanity.&quot; These, and many similar 

 passages to be found in the sacred writings, far 

 surpass, in dignity of language and sublimity,.of 

 sentiment, every thing that is to be found in the 

 writings of the most celebrated poets and philo 

 sophers of Greece and Rome. If we take the 

 most animated poems of Homer, Virgil, or Ho 

 race, and read them in a prose translation, as we 

 do the Scriptures, they appear flat and jejune, 

 and their spirit is almost evaporated ; and the 

 words they put into the mouths of their deities 

 and the actions they ascribe to them, are fre 

 quently both ridiculous and absurd, calculated to 

 fixcite hatred and contempt, instead of adoration 

 and reverence. But the Scriptures preserve 

 their sublimity and glory even in the most literal 

 translation, and such a translation into any lan 

 guage is always found to be the best; and it has 

 uniformly happened, that those who have pro 



sumed to heighten the expressions by a poetica. 

 translation or paraphrase, have failed in the at 

 tempt. It indicates an utter want of true tasie 

 in any man to despise or undervalue these writ 

 ings. Were it not that the sacred penmen lay 

 claim to the inspiration of the Almighty, and, 

 consequently, set themselves in direct opposition 

 to pride, lasciviousness, revenge, and every other 

 unholy principle and passion, the bible, in point 

 of the beauty and sublimity of its sentiments, and 

 the variety of interesting information it conveys, 

 would be prized more highly by every man of 

 taste than all the other writings either of poets, 

 philosophers or historians, which have descended 

 to us from the remotest ages of antiquity. 



2. The Christian religion exhibits the most ra 

 tional, sublime, and consistent views of the Divine 

 Being. It represents him as self-ex islent and 

 independent, and as &quot; the high and lofiy One 

 who inhabited eternity,&quot; before the universe 

 was brought into existence, in whose sight &quot;a 

 thousand years are as one day, and one day as 

 a thousand years.&quot; It represents him as filling 

 the immensity of space with his presence, as 

 having the most intimate knowledge of all crea 

 tures and events throughout the vast creation, as 

 the Creator of heaven and earth, as possessed 

 of uncontrollable power, infinite wisdom and in 

 telligence, boundless benevolence and mercy, 

 perfect rectitude and holiness, and inviolable 

 faithfulness and truth. It represents his provi 

 dential care as extending to all the creatures he 

 has formed, and to all their movements, however 

 numerous or minute ; animating the vegetable 

 and animal tribes, setting bounds to the raging 

 billows, &quot; thundering marvellously with his voice, 

 sending lightnings with rain,&quot; having &amp;lt;; his way 

 in the whirlwind and the storm,&quot; making &quot;the 

 earth to quake at his presence,&quot; shining in the 

 stars, glowing in the sun, and moving with his 

 hands the mighty worlds which compose the 

 universe. It represents him as governing the 

 universe of minds which he has formed, as hav 

 ing the &quot; hearts&quot; and purposes &quot; of all men in his 

 hand,&quot; and as directing all the mysterious and 

 wonderful powers of knowledge and moral action 

 to fulfil his purposes throughout the whole extent 

 of his immense and eternal empire. Snch a 

 being, when properly contemplated, is calculated 

 to draw forth the love and adoration of all rational 

 beings; and wherever Christianity lias imparted 

 a knowledge of these attributes of the divinity, 

 idolatry and superstition, with all their absurdi 

 ties, abominations, and horrid cruelties, hava 

 gradually disappeared. 



3. Christianity has given us full assurance of 

 the immortality of man and of a future state of 

 punishments and rewards. Nothing can be of 

 more importance to every human being than to 

 be assured of his eternal destination. Without 

 the discoveries of Christiar.ity, we can attain to 

 no absolute certainty on this momentous subecti 



