OBJECTION OBVIATED. 



every faculty, to cultivate every branch of celes 

 tial science, and to increase in the knowledge of 

 God. In corroboration of these views, we are 

 told in Scripture, that the reward bestowed on 

 (hose servants to whom talents were intrusted, 

 was in proportion to the improvement they had 

 made ; and that, at the close of time, the saints 

 will present an appearance analogous to that of 

 the spangled firmament; for &quot;as one star dif- 

 fereth from another star in glory, so also is the 

 resurrection from the dead.&quot; And the reason of 

 this difference is intimated by the prophet Da 

 niel, &quot; They that excel in wisdom shall shine as 

 the brightness of the firmament ; and they that 

 turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever 

 and ever.&quot; 



If the remarks row stated have any solid foun 

 dation, it will follow, that what is generally term 

 ed human science, ought not to be indiscriminately 

 considered as having a relation merely to the 

 present world. Such an idea would tend to 

 damp our ardour in the prosecution of scientific 

 knowledge, and immensely to lessen its value. 

 He who prosecutes science as a subject of specu 

 lation merely in reference to the contracted span 

 of human life, acts from very mean and narrow 

 views, and may be considered, in some points of 

 view, as little superior to the avaricious man 

 vhose mind is completely absorbed in the acqui 

 sition of the perishing treasures of this world. 

 The Christian philosopher, who traces the per 

 fections and the agency of God in every object 

 of his investigation, ought to consider his present 

 pursuits as the commencement of a course of 

 improvement which will have no termination 

 as introductory to the employments and the 

 pleasures of a higher state of existence and as 

 affording him a more advantageous outset into 

 that better world than happens to those who are 

 destitute of his enlarged views. For the more 

 we know at present of the wonders of infinite 

 power, wisdom, and goodness, in the material 

 works of the Almighty, it is obvious, that the 

 better prepared we shall be for more enlarged 

 contemplations of them at a future period, and 

 the greater pleasure shall we feel in beholding 

 those objects and operations, which are now hid 

 in obscurity, unveiled to view. 



In throwing out the preceding reflections, I 

 am far from pretend ing to determine the particu 

 lar arrangements which the Almighty has form 

 ed in relation to our future destination, or the 

 particular circumstances which may exist in 

 other worlds. These things lie altogether be 

 yond the range of our investigation, and must, 

 therefore, remain inscrutable in our present state. 

 But there are certain general principles or re 

 lations which necessarily flow from the nature of 

 things, which must be considered as included 

 within any particular arrangements which may 

 be formed; and, it is such general principles 



only to which I refer. Nor should it be consi 

 dered as presumption, to endeavour to ascertain 

 these general principles or necessary relations ot 

 things. The Creator evidently intended we 

 should know them ; since he has exhibited such 

 an immense variety of his works before us, and 

 has bestowed upon us faculties adequate to ex 

 plore their magnitude and arrangement, to in 

 vestigate the laws which direct their motions, 

 and to perceive their connection and dependency, 

 and some of the grand designs for which they 

 were intended. 



To every thing that has just now been stated 

 in relation to the prosecution of science in the 

 celestial world, I am aware it will be objected 

 by some, that such knowledge, if it be requisite 

 in a future state, will be acquired by immediate 

 intuition, or communicated in a direct maner by 

 the Creator himself. For such an assumption, 

 however, though frequently reiterated, there is 

 no foundation in any passage of Scripture when 

 rationally interpreted ; and it is repugnant to the 

 clearest dictates of reason. It is contrary to eve 

 ry regular mode with which we are acquainted, 

 by which rational beings are conducted to know 

 ledge and happiness ; it would imply a continued 

 miracle it would supersede the use of the intel 

 lectual faculty and it would ultimately detract 

 from the felicity of intelligent agents. For, 

 a great part of the happiness of finite intelli 

 gences arise from the gradual evolution of truth, 

 in consequence of the exercise of their rational 

 powers. Were all our knowledge in a future 

 state to be acquired by immediate intuition, or 

 by direct supernatural communications from the 

 Deity, our rational faculties would, in many 

 respects, be bestowed in vain. It appears to be 

 one of the main designs for which these faculties 

 were bestowed, that we might be directed in the 

 prosecution of knowledge, and led to deduce, 

 from the scenes of the visible universe, those 

 conclusions which will gradually expand our views 

 of the plans and perfections of its Almighty Au 

 thor. Adam, when in a state of innocence, 

 (and his condition in that state, as a moral agent 

 was precisely similar to the state of good men 

 in a future world, except his liability to fall) 

 was not acquainted, in the first instance, with 

 every object in the world in which he was 

 placed, and their various relations to each other. 

 He could not know, for example, the peculiar 

 scenery of nature which existed on the side of 

 the globe opposite to that on which he was 

 placed. He must have exercised his senses, his 

 locomotive faculties, and his reasoning powers, 

 and made observations and experimental re 

 searches of various kinds, before he became 

 thoroughly acquainted with the structure, the 

 order and beauty of his terrestrial habitation. 

 For to suppose man, in any state, a mere pas 

 sive subject of intellectual and external jmpres- 



