96 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF A FUTURE STATE. 



sified modes of his administration, as the Gover 

 nor of the universe. We have reason to believe 

 that the material creation exists solely for ihe 

 sake of sentient and intelligent beings ; and that 

 it has been arranged into distinct departments, 

 and peopled with various ranks of intellectual 

 natures, chief&quot; for the purpose of giving a dis 

 play of the nval attributes of God, an*d of de 

 monstrating t.iC indispensable necessity and the 

 eternal obligation of the moral laws he has enact 

 ed, in order to secure the happiness of the whole 

 intelligent system. And, if so, we may reason 

 ably conclude, that a certain portion of the divine 

 dispensations towards other classes of the intel 

 ligent creation, will ultimately be displayed to 

 our view. This position may likewise be argued 

 from the fact that other intelligences have been 

 made acquainted with the affairs of our world, 

 and the tenor of the dispensations of God towards 

 our race. The angelic tribes have been frequently 

 sent on embassages to our terrestrial sphere. On 

 such occasions they have indicated an intimate 

 acquaintance with the most interesting transac 

 tions which have taken place among us ; and we 

 are informed, that they still &quot;desire to pry into&quot; 

 ihe scheme of redemption, and &quot; to learn&quot; from 

 the divine dispensations towards the church &quot; tho 

 manifold wisdom of God.&quot;* Some notices of 

 ihe history, the employments, and the destination, 

 of these celestial beings have likewise been con 

 veyed to us. We know that they hold an eleva 

 ted station in the kingdom of Providence ; that 

 they are possessed of great power and wisdom, 

 of wonderful activity, of superior intellectual 

 faculties, and of consummate holiness and recti 

 tude of nature ; that they are employed on cer 

 tain occasions as ambassadors from God to man, 

 in executing his judgments upon the wicked, and 

 ministering to the heirs of salvation ; and that a 

 certain number of them fell from the high station 

 in which they were originally placed, and plunged 

 themselves into a state of sin and perdition. We 

 have therefore reason to believe, that, it is one part 

 of the plan of the government of God, to disclose the 

 history of one species of intellectual beings to an 

 other, in such portions, and at such seasons, as 

 may seem most proper to Infinite Wisdom, and 

 best suited to the state and character, and the 

 gradual improvement of his intelligent offspring. 

 In conformity to what has been now advanced, 

 we find the saints in heaven represented as utter 

 ing a song of praise to God!, in consequence of the 

 survey they had taken of his moral administra 

 tion, and of the admiration it excited. &quot; They 

 sing the song of Moses, and the song of the 

 Lamb, saying, Just and true are thy ways, thou 

 King of saints&quot; And, in proportion as the dis 

 pensations of Providence towards other worlds 

 are unfolded, in the same proportion will their 

 views of Jehovah s &quot; eternal righteousness&quot; be 

 expanded, and a new note of admiration and 



* See Ephes. ill. 10. 1 Peter i. 12. 



rapture added to their song of praise. The 

 knowledge of the saints in heaven is represent 

 ed as being very accurate and comprehensive- 

 Hence it is declared, that, in lhat siate of per 

 fection, &quot; they shall know, even as also they are 

 known.&quot; This expression certainly denotes a ve 

 ry high degree of knowledge respecting the works 

 and the ways of God ; and, therefore, most com 

 mentators explain it as consisting in such an 

 intuitive and comprehensive knowledge &quot; ab 

 shall bear some fair resemblance to that of the 

 Divine Being, which penetrates to the very cen 

 tre of every object, and sees through the soul, 

 and all things, as at one single glance ;&quot; or, at 

 least, that &quot; their knowledge of heavenly objects 

 shall be as certain, immediate and familiar, as 

 any of their immediate friends and acquaintances 

 now have of them.&quot;* And, if such interpreta 

 tions be admitted, this knowledge must include 

 a minute and comprehensive view of the dispen 

 sations of the Creator towards other worlds, and 

 other orders of moral and intelligent agents. 



In regard to the manner in which information 

 respecting the structure, the inhabitants, and the 

 history of other worlds may be communicated, 

 our limited knowledge affords no certain data on 

 which to ground a definite opinion. We may, 

 however, reasonably suppose, that an intercourse 

 and correspondence will be occasionally opened 

 up, by means of celestial beings endowed with 

 faculties of rapid motion, who may communicate 

 particular details of the intelligence they acquire 

 in the regions they are accustomed to visit. 

 Such correspondence has already partially taken 

 place in our world, by means of those beings 

 termed, in Scripture, &quot; the angels,&quot; or &quot; the 

 messengers of Jehovah ;&quot; and, it is highly proba 

 ble, had man continued in his state of original 

 integrity, that such angelic embassies would 

 have been much more frequent than they have 

 ever been, and we might have been made ac 

 quainted, in this way, with some outlines of the 

 physical and moral scenery of other worlds, par 

 ticularly of those which belong to our own sys 

 tem of which we must now be contented to 

 remain in ignorance ; and must have recourse to 

 the aids of reason, and science, and observation, 

 in order to trace some very general outlines of 

 their physical economy. This is, doubtless, one 

 deplorable effect, among others, of the apostacyof 

 man that intelligences endowed with moral per 

 fection can no longer hold familiar intercourse 

 with the race of Adam, but in so far as they are 

 employed by their Creator in communicating oc 

 casional messages, which have a respect merely 

 to their moral renovation.f We may likewise, 



* See Doddridge s and Guyse s paraphrase on I 

 Cor. xiii. 12. 



t It is probable that the celestial beings who have 

 occasionally held a communication with our race, 

 are not all of the same species, or inhabit the same 

 regions : since they are distinguished in Scripture 

 by different names, as Seraphim, Cherubim/Thronea, 

 Dominions, Angels, Archangels, &c. 



