66 



THE PHILOSOPHY OP A FUTURE STATE. 



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to iead their hearers into a maze of error and ex 

 travagancy, to prevent them from thinking sober- 

 beriy and rationally on the scenes predicted in 

 Scripture, and to excite the sneer of philosophical 

 infidels. 



The only passage of Scripture which, at first 

 view, seems to militate against the position I 

 have endeavoured to establish, is that contained 

 in Psalm cii. 25, 26. &quot; Of old hast thou laid the 

 foundation of the earth ; and the heavens are the 

 work of thy hands : they shall perish, but thou 

 shall endure ; yea, all of them shall wax old like 

 a garment ; as a vesture shalt thou change them, 

 and they shall be changed : but thou art the same,&quot; 

 &c. Some commentators, as Mr. Pierce and 

 others, suppose, that by &amp;lt;( the earth and hea 

 vens,&quot; in this passage, are to be understood, go 

 vernments, or civil and ecclesiastical states, as 

 these words, in their figurative sense, sometimes 

 denote. But this does not appear to be the sense 

 in which they are here used. Taken in their 

 literal sense, they may refer to the same objects 

 and events alluded to by the Apostle Peter, in 

 his Second Epistle, chap. iii. 7, 10. formerly ex 

 plained ; namely, to the dissolution of the earth 

 and the aerial heavens, at the close of time. But, 

 supposing that the words were taken in their 

 most extensive sense, as denoting the whole fa 

 bric of the material universe, it would not in the 

 least invalidate the proposition I am now sup 

 porting. The main design of the passage is to 

 assert the eternity and immutability of God, in 

 opposition to the mutable nature of created be 

 ings. All material things are liable to change ; 

 but change does not imply destruction or annihila 

 tion. When it is said, &quot; the righteous perish and 

 no man layeth it to heart;&quot; and &quot;they that 

 are far from God shall perish, 1 it is not to be un 

 derstood, tKat either the one or the other shall 

 be blotted out of existence. So, when it is said 

 that the heavens and the earth shall perish, a 

 change or revolution is implied, but not an en 

 tire destruction. It is farther said, &quot; As a ves 

 ture they shall be folded up,&quot; &c. This appears 

 to be spoken in allusion to the custom which ob 

 tains in the Eastern nations, among the grandees, 

 of frequently changing their garments as a mark 

 of respect ; and seems to import, the ease and ce 

 lerity with which the Divine Being can accom 

 plish important changes in the universe. He can 

 accomplish the revolutions of worlds and of sys 

 tems with an ease similar to that of a prince 

 changing bis apparel, or laying aside his vest 

 ments. But his changing any particular system 

 from its original state, implies only his opening a 

 new scene, and varying the course of his dispen 

 sations in relation to a certain order of his crea 

 tures. Nor does the passage under consideration 

 lead us to conclude, that the changes alluded to 

 shall all take place throughout the whole universe 

 at the same period but they may be considered as 

 happening at different periods throughout the 



lapse of infinite duration, according to the df 

 signs which his wisdom has determined to accom 

 plish. 



That all material objects are subject to decom 

 position and changes, we have abundance of 

 evidence in every department of nature. With 

 respect to the earth on which we tread, we per 

 ceive the soil in the higher grounds gradually 

 washed down by the action.of winds and rains, 

 and carried by the rivers to the bed of the ocean, 

 Banks are accumulating at the mouths of rivers, 

 and reefs in the midst of the seas, which are the 

 terror of mariners and obstructions to navigation. 

 In every pit and quarry, and on the face of every 

 crag and broken precipice, we perceive the marks 

 of disorder, and the effects of former changes 

 and convulsions of nature ; while around the 

 bases of volcanic mountains, we behold cities 

 buried under a mass of solid lava, orchards arid 

 vineyards laid waste, and fertile fields transform 

 ed into a scene of barrenness and desolation. 

 Observation likewise demonstrates, that even the 

 luminaries of heaven are not exempted from re 

 volutions and changes. The law of gravitation, 

 which extends its influence through all the celes 

 tial orbs, has a tendency, in the course of ages, 

 to draw together all the spacious globes in thn 

 universe, and to condense them into one solid 

 mass; and, were it not for the counteracting and 

 sustaining hand of God, this effect, at some dis 

 tant period in duration, would inevitably take 

 place, and creation be reduced to one vast and 

 frightful ruin. Many of the stars are ascertained 

 to be subjected to periodical changes, varying 

 their lustre, and appearing and disappearing at 

 certain intervals ; while others, which formerly 

 shone with superior brilliancy, have gradually 

 disappeared, and their place in the heavens is 

 no longer to be found. Other stars, unknown to 

 the ancients and to preceding observers, ha.ve 

 made their appearance in modern times ; and 

 various nebulous spots, in the distant regions of 

 space, appear to be increasing both in lustre and 

 extent. These, and many other similar facts, 

 indicate changes and revolutions as great, and 

 even much greater than those which are predicted 

 to befall the earth when its atmosphere shall be 

 dissolved, its 1 * elements melt with fervent heat,&quot; 

 and a new world rise out of its ruins. It is pro 

 bable, that, in the lapse of infinite duration, all 

 the systems which now exist, some at one period 

 and some at another, will undergo changes and 

 transformations which will astonish the intelli 

 gent creation, and open new and sublimer scenes 

 of divine operation to an admiring universe. 

 But such changes will be altogether different 

 from annihilation or utter destruction altogether 

 different from the ideas embodied in the language 

 of poets, when they tell us that not one atom 

 shall be left in the mighty void,&quot; and chat &quot; earth 

 and firmament will be sought in vain.&quot; Those 

 stars which appeared, the one in 1572, and the 



