132 



ON THE GENERAL DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE. 



and among the inhabitants of the earth.&quot; &quot; He 

 hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his 

 kingdom ruleth over all.&quot; &quot; When I consider 

 thy heavens what is man, that thou art mind- 

 full of him ?&quot; It. would be easy to show, were it 

 expedient in the present case, that all such ex 

 pressions and representations, embody in them 

 the idea of a plurality of worlds, without which 

 they would appear either inexplicable, or as 

 a species of bombast, unworthy of the character 

 of inspired writers. So that, to whatever de 

 partment of nature we direct our contemplations, 

 we perceive its correspondence with the senti 

 ments expressed in the sacred writings, and find 

 in these writings the most sublime and appropr - 

 ate language in which to express those emotions 

 which the diversified scenes of the material world 

 are calculated to inspire. 



We may now ask, if such an assertion can be 

 made, in truth, with regard to any other writ 

 ings, ancient or modern, whose sentiments have 

 not been derived from the sacred oracles ? Can 

 we find in the writings of all the poets, philoso 

 phers and orators of Greece and Rome, senti 

 ments so dignified, appropriate and sublime, in 

 relation to the objects to which we have alluded ? 

 Do not such writers frequently misrepresent and 

 even caricature the system of nature ? Are not 

 their descriptions of the gods, and the actions 

 they attribute to them, in many instances, mean, 

 ridiculous, unworthy of the character of superior 

 beings, and even in the highest degree immoral 

 and profane? And, if we turn to the literature 

 and the sacred books of the Chinese, the Per 

 sians, the Hindoos or the Japanese, shall we find 

 any thing superior? And is not the circumstance 

 to which we have adverted, a strong presumptive 

 evidence that the Scriptures of the Old and New 

 Testament were written under the inspiration of 

 the Almighty ; and consequently, that they are 

 &quot; profitable for doctrine, for reproof, and for in 

 struction in righteousness, that the man of God 

 maybe made perfect, and thoroughly furnished 

 unto all good works ?&quot; 



Such is a brief view of some of the advanta 

 ges which may be derived from history and gene 

 ral science in the study of the Scriptures. 

 There is, indeed, scarcely a branch of useful 

 knowledge, of whatever description, but may be 

 rendered in some way or another, subservient to 

 the elucidation of the sacred oracles, and in ena 

 bling us to take a wide and comprehensive view 

 of the facts and doctrines they declare. Were 

 the great body of mankind, therefore, instructed 

 in general knowledge, and accustomed to ratio 

 nal investigations, they would be enabled to study 

 the Scriptures with much greater interest and 

 intelligence than they can now be supposed to do. 

 They would perceive ihe beauty and sublimity 

 of their language, the dignity and excellence of 

 the sentiments they contain, the purity of their 

 loctn^es, and the beneficent tendency of their 



moral precepts ; and, by familiarizing their inindt 

 with the numerous and multifarious facts they ex 

 hibit, and comparing them with the history ofna 

 tions, and with passing events, they would gra 

 dually acquire an enlightened and comprehensive 

 view of God s superintending providence. The 

 study of the Scriptmes, in their native simplicity, 

 with the helps now alluded to, and without inter 

 mixture of the technical language of theologians, 

 and of party opinions, would be of vast import 

 ance in religion. It would convince the unbiass 

 ed inquirer how little foundation there is in the 

 Scriptures themselves, for many of those nume 

 rous disputes about metaphysical dogmas, which 

 have rent the Christian world into a number of 

 shreds and patches, and produced jealousy and 

 animosity, where love and affection should have 

 appeared predominant. He would soon be ena 

 bled to perceive, that the system of Revelation 

 chiefly consists of a series of important facts, 

 connected with the dispensations of God towards 

 our race, and interwoven with a variety of practi 

 cal and interesting truths ; and that the grand 

 design of the whole is to counteract the effects of 

 moral evil, to display the true character of Deity, 

 to promote love to God and man, to inculcate the 

 practice of every heavenly virtue, and to form 

 mankind into one harmonious and affectionate 

 society. He would find none of the technical 

 terms and phraseology \\hich the schoolmen and 

 others have introduced into their systems of the 

 ology ; nor any of those anathemas, which one 

 sectary has so frequently levelled at another, ap 

 plied to any one, excepting to those &quot; who love 

 not our Lord Jesus in sincerity.&quot; He would 

 naturally be led to the conclusion, that what is 

 not clearly and explicitly stated in the Scriptures, 

 or but obscurely hinted at, in reference to the 

 external government of the church or any other 

 subject, cannot be a matter of primary import 

 ance, and consequently, ought never to be the 

 subject of virulent dispute, or the cause of dis 

 sension or separation among Christians and 

 that those things only are to be considered as the 

 prominent and distinguishing truths of religion 

 which are the most frequently reiterated, and ex 

 pressed with such emphasis, and perspicuity, that 

 &quot; he who runs may read them.&quot; 



Again, such an intelligent study of the Scrip 

 tures as would accompany the acquisition of gen 

 eral knowledge, would have a tendency to pro 

 mote the union of the Christian church. Ignorance 

 and distorted views of the truths of revelation 

 are almost uniformly accompanied with illiberal- 

 ity and self-conceit ; and where these prevail, 

 silly prejudices are fostered, and party opinions 

 tenaciously adhered to, and magnified into undue 

 importance. But an enlightened mind, the 

 farther it advances in the path of knowledge and 

 in the study of the Sacred Oracles, the more will 

 it perceive the limited nature of its facuMes, and 

 the difficulty of deciding on certain myster ou* 



