64 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF A FUTURE STATE. 



sion s, would be, to reduce him to something like 

 a mere machine ; and would imply a subversion 

 of all the established laws which regulate the 

 operations of matter and intellect throughout the 

 Universe. 



We know, likewise, that truth is gradually 

 developed even to superior intelligences. The 

 manifold wisdom of God in reference to the 

 church, and the plans of his grace in relation to 

 the Gentile world, were, in some measure, veiled 

 to the angels, till the facts of the death and re 

 surrection of Christ, and the preaching and mir 

 acles of the Apostles were exhibited to their 

 view ;* and hence they are represented as &quot; de 

 siring to look into,&quot; or prying with avidity into 

 the mysteries of redemption ; which evidently 

 implies, the active exertion of their powers of 

 reason and intelligence, and their gradual ad 

 vancement in the knowledge of the purposes and 

 plans of the Almighty. And, if beings far su 

 perior to man in intellectual capacity, acquire 

 their knowledge in a gradual manner, by reflec- 



Ephes. Hi. 5 11. 



tion on the divine dispensations, and the e.xer- 

 cise of their mental powers, it is unreasonable 

 to suppose, that man, even in a higher sphere of 

 existence, will acquire all his knowledge at once, 

 or without the exertion of those intellectual en 

 ergies with which ho is endowed. 



In short, were the saints in heaven to acquire 

 all their knowledge as soon as they entered on 

 that scene of happiness, we must suppose them 

 endowed with capacities, not only superior to the 

 most exalted seraphim, but even approximating 

 to the infinite comprehension of the Deity him 

 self. For the range of investigation presented 

 to intelligent beings is boundless, extending to all 

 the objects and moral dispensations of God, 

 throughout the immensity of his empire. And 

 could we suppose finite minds capable of em 

 bracing the whole of this range of objects at one 

 comprehensive grasp, their mental energy would 

 soon be destroyed, and their felicity terminate ; 

 for they could look forward to no farther expan 

 sion of their views, nor to a succession of a new 

 range of objects and operations through all the 

 future ages of eternity. 



PART III. 



ON THE AIDS WHICH THE DISCOVERIES OF SCIENCE AFFORD, FOR ENABLING US TO FORM 

 A CONCEPTION OF THE PERPETUAL IMPROVEMENT OF THE CELESTIAL INHABITANTS IN 

 KNOWLEDGE AND FELICITY. 



ON the subject of a future world, and the exer 

 cises and enjoyments of its inhabitants, many 

 foolish and inaccurate conceptions have prevail 

 ed, even in the Christian world. We are as 

 sured, that the foundation of the felicity to be 

 enjoyed in that world, rests on the absence of 

 every evil, and the attainment of moral perfec 

 tion that the principle of depravity must be 

 destroyed, and the affections purified and refined, 

 before we can enjoy &quot; the inheritance of the 

 saints in light.&quot; These are principles which 

 are clearly exhibited in the Scriptures, which are 

 accordant to the dictates of sound reason, and 

 which are generally recognised by the various 

 sections of the religious world. But the greater 

 part of Christians rest contented with the most 

 vague and incorrect ideas of the felicity of heaven, 

 and talk and write about it in so loose and figu 

 rative a manner, as can convey no rational nor 

 definite conception of the sublime contemplations 

 and employments of celestial intelligences. In 

 stead of eliciting, from the metaphorical language 

 of Scripture, the ideas intended to be conveyed, 

 they endeavour to expand and ramify the figures 

 employed by the sacred writers still farther, 

 leaping metaphor upon metaphor, and epithet 

 upon epithet, and blending a number of discord 

 ant ideas, till the image or picture presented to 



the mind assumes the semblance of a splendid 

 chaotic mass, or of a dazzling but undefined me 

 teor. The term Glory, and its kindred epithets, 

 have been reiterated a thousand times in descrip 

 tions of the heavenly state ; the redeemed have 

 been represented as assembled in one vast crowd 

 above the visible concave of the sky, adorned 

 with &quot; starry crowns,&quot; drinking at &quot; crystal 

 fountains,&quot; and making &quot; the vault of heaven 

 ring&quot; with their loud acclamations. The Re 

 deemer himself has been exhibited as suspended 

 like a statue in the heavens above this immense 

 crowd, crowned with diadems, and encircled 

 with a refulgent splendour, while the assembly 

 of the heavenly inhabitants were incessantly gaz 

 ing on this object, like a crowd of spectators 

 gazing at the motion of an air balloon, or of a 

 splendid meteor. Such representations are re 

 pugnant to the ideas intended to be conveyed by 

 the metaphorical language of Inspiration, when 

 stripped of its drapery. They can convey noth 

 ing but a meagre and distorted conception of the 

 employments of the celestial state, and tend only 

 to bewilder the imagination, and to &quot;darken 

 counsel by words without knowledge.&quot; 



Hence it has happened, that certain infidel scof 

 fers have been led to conclude, that the Christian 

 Heaven is not an object to be desired ; and have 



