II 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. 



far less on that of the unthinking multitude. 

 Where do we find, in any of the philosophical 

 schools of Greece and Rome, a recommendation 

 of such precepts as these, &quot; Love your enemies ; 

 do good to them who hate you ; and pray for 

 them who despitefully use you and persecute 

 you ?&quot; In opposition to such divine injunctions, 

 we can trace, in the maxims and conduct of the 

 ancient sages, a principle of pride insinuating 

 itself into the train of their most virtuous ac 

 tions. It has been reckoned by some a wise and 

 a witty answer which one of the philosophers 

 returned to his friend, who had advised him to 

 revenge an injury he had suffered ; &quot; What, 

 (says he) if an ass kicks me, must I needs kick 

 him again?&quot; Some may be disposed to consi 

 der such a reply as indicating a manly spirit, 

 and true greatness of soul ; but it carries in it a 

 proud and supercilious contempt of human na 

 ture, and a haughtiness of mind, which are alto 

 gether inconsistent with the mild and benevolent 

 precepts of Him, who, in the midst of his severest 

 sufferings from men, exclaimed, &quot; Father, forgive 

 them, for they know not what they do.&quot; 



It appears somewhat preposterous to waste 

 our time, and the energies of our minds, in la- 

 ooured metaphysical disquisitions, to ascertain 

 the foundations of virtue, and the motives from 

 which it is to be pursued ; whether it consists 

 in utility, in the Jitness of things, or in the regu 

 lations of states and political associations, and 

 whether it is to be prosecuted from a principle 

 of self-love or of benevolence, when every useful 

 question that can be started on this subject may 

 be immediately solved by a direct application to 

 the revejations of heaven, and an infallible rule 

 derived for the direction of our conduct in all 

 the circumstances and relations in which we 

 may be placed. Even although the moral philo 

 sopher were to reject the Bible,, as a revelation 

 from God, it would form no reason why its an 

 nunciations should be altogether overlooked or 

 rejected. As an impartial investigator of the 

 history of man, of the moral constitution of the 

 human mind, and of the circumstances of our 

 present condition, he is bound to take into view 



every fact and every circumstance which may 

 have a bearing on the important question which 

 he undertakes to decide. Now, it is & fact, 

 that such a book as the Bible actually exists 

 that, amidst the wreck of thousands of volumes 

 which the stream of time has carried into obli 

 vion, it has survived for several thousands of 

 years that its announcements have directed 

 the opinions and the conduct of myriads of man 

 kind that many of the most illustrious charac 

 ters that have adorned our race have submitted 

 to its dictates, and governed their tempers and 

 their actions by its moral precepts that those 

 who have been governed by its maxims have 

 been distinguished by uprightness of conduct, 

 and been most earnest and successful in promot 

 ing the happiness of mankind that this book 

 declares, that a moral revulsion has taken place 

 in the constitution of man since he was placed 

 upon this globe and that the whole train of its 

 moral precepts proceeds on the ground of his 

 being considered as a depraved intelligence. 

 These are facts which even the infidel philoso 

 pher must admit; and, instead of throwing them 

 into the shade, or keeping them entirely out of 

 view, he is bound, as an unbiassed inquirer, to 

 take them all into account in his researches into 

 the moral economy of the human race. In par 

 ticular, he is bound to inquire into the probability 

 of the alleged fact of the depravity of man, and 

 to consider, whether the general train of human 

 actions, the leading facts of history in reference 

 to all ages and nations, and the destructive effects 

 of several operations in the system of nature, 

 have not a tendency to corroborate this important 

 point. For the fact, that man is a fallen intelli 

 gence, must materially modify every system of 

 ethics that takes it into account. Should this 

 fact be entirely overlooked, and yet ultimately be 

 found to rest on a solid foundation, then, all the 

 speculations and theories of those moralists whc 

 profess to be gi taed solely by the dictates of 

 unassisted reas-ow, iwy p -ove to be nothing more 

 than the reverios cf a vai imagination, and tc 

 be built on &quot; tlw Ws^ss &J)&amp;lt;-KS :~f a vision.&quot; 



