84 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. 



-ate. To illustiate its operation in detail, and 

 to trace its progress in all its diversified bear 

 ings and ramifications, would be, to write a Body 

 of Practical Morality, which would fill several 

 volumes a work which is still a desideratum in 

 Christian literature. I cannot conclude this 

 chapter more appropriately than with the fol 

 lowing excellent passage, extracted from Dr. 

 Dwight s &quot; System of Theology.&quot; 



&quot; The divine law is wholly included in two 

 precepts : Thou shall love the Lard thy God 

 with all thy heart ; and thy neighbour as thyself. 

 These are so short, as to be necessarily included 

 in a very short sentence ; so intelligible, as to be 

 understood by every moral being who is capable 

 of comprehending the meaning of the words God 

 and neighbour ; so easily remembered as to ren 

 der it impossible for them to escape from our 

 memory, unless by wanton, criminal negligence 

 of ours ; and so easily applicable to every case of 

 moral action, as not to be mistaken unless through 

 indisposition to obey. At the same time, obedi 

 ence to them is rendered perfectly obvious and per 

 fectly easy to every mind which is not indisposed 

 to obey them. The very disposition itself, 

 if sincere and entire, is either entire obedience, 



or the unfailing means of that external condoo&amp;gt; 

 by which the obedience is in some cases com 

 pleted. The disposition to obey is also confined 

 to a single affection of the heart, easily distin 

 guished from all other affections, viz. love. I^ove, 

 saith St. Paul, is the fulfilling of the law. The 

 humblest and most ignorant moral creatures, 

 therefore, are in this manner efficaciously pre 

 served from mistaking their duty. 



&quot; In the mean time, these two precepts, not 

 withstanding their brevity, are so comprehensive 

 as to include every possible action. The arch 

 angel is not raised above their control, nor can 

 any action of his exceed that bound which they 

 prescribe. The child who has passed the verge 

 of moral agency, is not placed beneath their re 

 gulation : and whatever virtue he may exercise, 

 is no other than a fulfilling of their requisitions. 

 All the duties which we immediately owe to 

 God, to our fellow-creatures, and to ourselves, 

 are, by these precepts, alike comprehended and 

 required. In a word, endlessly varied as moral 

 action may be, it exists in no form or instance 

 in which he who perfectly obeys these precepU 

 will not have done his duty, and will not finr 

 himself justified and accepted by God. 1 



CHAPTER III. 



ON THE MORAL LAW AND THE RATIONAL GROUNDS ON WHICH ITS PRECEPTS ARE 



FORMED. 



Iw the preceding chapters, I have endeavoured 

 to illustrate the foundation of love to God, from 

 a consideration of his attributes, and the rela 

 tions in which he stands to his creatures. I 

 have also illustrated the rational grounds of love 

 to our neighbour, from a consideration of the 

 natural equality of mankind, of the various rela 

 tions in which they stand to one another, and of 

 their eternal destination. The dismal conse 

 quences which would result from a total subver 

 sion of these laws, the beneficial effects which 

 would flow from their universal operation, their 

 application to the inhabitants of other worlds, 

 the declarations of Scripture on this subject, 

 and the various modes in which benevolence 

 should display its activities, have also been the 

 subject of consideration. 



The two principles now illustrated, may be 

 considered as two branches proceeding from the 

 same trunk, and spreading into different ramifi 

 cations. The first four commandments of the 

 moral law may be viewed as flowing from the 

 principle of love to God, and the remaining 

 fix as ramifications of the principle of benevo- 

 cnce, or love to man. In the following brief 



illustrations, I shall endeavour to show the 

 reasonableness of these moral laws in relation to 

 man, from a consideration of the misery which 

 would necessarily result from their universa. 

 violation, and of the happiness which would 

 flow from universal obedience to their requi 

 sitions. 



These laws were published in the most solemn 

 manner, to the assembled tribes of Israel in the 

 wilderness of Horeb. While Mount Sinai was 

 shaking to its centre, and smoking like a furnace ; 

 while flames of fire were ascending from its 

 summit, and thick darkness surrounding its 

 base ; while thunders were rolling in clouds 

 above, and lightnings flashing amidst the sur 

 rounding gloom ; and while the earth was quak 

 ing all around, and the voice of a trumpet waxing 

 louder and louder, in the midst of this solemn 

 and terrific scene, God spake the commandments 

 with an audible articulate voice, in the hear 

 ing of the trembling multitude assembled round 

 the mountain. A combination of objects and 

 events more awful and impressive, the human 

 mind can scarcely conceive; compared with 

 which, the pretended pomp of Pagan deities, 



