PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. 



INTRODUCTION. 



THE objects of human knowledge may be re 

 duced to two classes the relations of matter and 

 the relations of mind ; or, in other words, the ma- 

 lerial and the intellectual universe. Of these two 

 departments of science, the intellectual universe 

 is, in many respects, the most interesting and im 

 portant. For, in so far as our knowledge and re 

 searches extend, it appears highly probable, if not 

 absolutely certain, that the material universe ex 

 ists solely for the sake of sentient and intelligent 

 oeings in order to afford a sensible manifestation 

 of the attributes of the great First Cause, and to 

 rferve as a vehicle of thought and a medium of 

 enjoyment to subordinate intelligences. So in 

 timately related, however, are these two objects 

 of human investigation, that a knowledge of the 

 one cannot be obtained but through the medium 

 of the other. The operations of mind cannot be 

 carried on without the intervention of extern&quot; 

 objects ; for if the material universe had never 

 existed, we could never have prosecuted a train 

 of thought ;* and the beauties and sublimities of 

 external nature can be perceived only by thinking 

 beings, without the existence of which, the ma 

 terial universe would remain like a mighty blank, 

 and might be said to have been created in vain. 

 Hence it appears, that, previous to our inquiries 



The whole train of ideas which passes through 

 our minds on any subject may be considered as the 

 images of external objects variously modified and 

 combined. These images we receive through the 

 medium of our senses, by which we hold a com 

 munication with the material world. All our ideas 

 of God, and of the objects of religion, are derived 

 from the same source. The illustrations of the 

 attributes of the Deity, and of his moral adminis 

 tration, contained in Scripture, are derived from 

 the external scenes of creation, and from the re 

 lations of human society; consequently, had the 

 material world never existed, we could have form 

 ed no conceptions of the divine perfections similar 

 to those which we now entertain, nor have prosecu 

 ted a train of thought on any other subject; for the 

 material universe is the basis of all the knowledge 

 we have hitherto acquired, or can acquire, respect ing 

 oursels-es, our Creator or other intelligences. Any 

 person who is disposed to call in question this posi 

 tion must be prepared to point out, distinctly and spe 

 cifically, those ideas or trains of thought which are 

 not derived through the medium of the external 

 enses, and from the objec s on which they are 

 exercised. 



into the nature and relations of mimd, it is neces 

 sary, in the first placejto study the phenomena of 

 the material world, and the external actions of all 

 those percipient beings with which it is peopled ; 

 for the knowledge of the facts we acquire in rela 

 tion to these objects must form the ground-work 

 of all our investigations. 



We are surrounded, on every hand, with 

 minds of various descriptions, which evince the 

 faculties of which they are possessed, by the va 

 rious senses and active powers with which they 

 are furnished. These minds are of various gra 

 dations, in point of intellectual capacity and 

 acumen, from man downwards through all the 

 animated tribes which traverse the regions of 

 earth, air, and sea. We have the strongest rea 

 son to believe, that the distant regions of the 

 material world are also replenished with intel- 

 *cctual beings, of various orders, in which there 

 may be a gradation upwards, in the scale of 

 intellect above that of a man, as diversified as 

 that which we perceive in the descending scale, 

 from man downwards to the immaterial princi 

 ple which animates a muscle, a snail, or a mi 

 croscopic animalcula. When we consider the 

 variety of original forms and of intellectual ca 

 pacities which abounds in our terrestrial system, 

 and that there is an infinite gap in the scale of 

 being between the human mind and the Supreme 

 Intelligence, it appears quite conformable to the 

 magnificent harmony of the universe, and to the 

 . wisdom and benevolence of its Almighty Author, 

 to suppose, that there are beings within the 

 range of his dominions as far superior to man in 

 the comprehension and extent of mental and cor 

 poreal powers, as man is, in these respects, su 

 perior to the most despicable insect ; and that 

 these beings, in point of number, may exceed all 

 human calculation and comprehension. This 

 idea is corroborated by severa intimations con 

 tained in the records of reve/ation, where we 

 have presented to our view a class of intelligences 

 endowed with physical energies, powers of rapid 

 motion, and a grasp of intellect, incomparably su 

 perior to those which are possessed by any of the 

 beings which belong to our sublunary system. 



