174 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. 



Dermit me to do little more than simply to allude 

 to a few prominent dispositions displayed by the 

 different sections of the Protestant church. We 

 nave already seen some of the pernicious effects 

 which flowed from the divisive and contentious 

 spirit of Christians, under the reign of the Chris 

 tian emperors, and during the middle ages, when 

 ignorance and intolerance so extensively pre 

 vailed. 



The present state of the Christian world 

 affords abundant proofs that this spirit is far 

 from being extinguished. Christians are at pre 

 sent distinguished by the peculiarity of their 

 opinions respecting the person of Christ, and 

 the attributes of which he is possessed the 

 means by which salvation is to be obtained the 

 measure and extent of divine benevolence the, 

 Government of the Christian church and the 

 ceremonies connected with the administration 

 of the ordinances of religion. Hence the reli 

 gious world appears arranged into such sects 

 and parties as the following : Arians, Socini- 

 ans, Unitarians, Sabellians, Necessarians, and 

 Trinitarians ; Baxterians, Antinomians, Ar- 

 minians, Calvinists, Lutherans, Sub-lapsarians, 

 Supra-lapsarians, Sandemanians, Swedenborgi- 

 ?ns, and Moravians ; Roman Catholics, Pro 

 testants, Huguenots, EpiscopalianSj Presbyterians, 

 Independents, Seceders, Brownists, Pasdo-Bap- 

 tists, Anti-Ptedo-Baptists, Keilamites, Metho 

 dists, Jumpers, Universal ists, Sabbatarians, Mil- 

 lennarians, Destructionists, Dunkers, Shakers, 

 Mystics, Hutchinsonians, Muggletonians, the fol 

 lowers of Joanna Southcott, &c. &c. Most of 

 these sectaries profess their belief in the existence 

 of One Eternal, Almighty, Wise. Benevolent, and 

 Righteous Being, the Creator and Preserver of 

 all things ; in the Divine authority of the Holy 

 Scriptures ; that God is the alone object of re 

 ligious worship ; that Jesus of Nazareth is the 

 true Messiah, and the Son of God ; &quot; that he 

 died for our offences, and was raised again for 

 our justification ;&quot; that there is a future state of 

 rewards and punishments ; that there will be a 

 resurrection from the dead ; that it is our duty 

 to love God with all our hearts, and our neigh 

 bour as ourselves ; that the Divine law is 

 obligatory on the consciences of all men ; 

 that virtue and piety will be rewarded, and 

 vice and immorality punished, in the world to 

 come. 



Yet, though agreeing in these important arti 

 cles of the Christian system, how many boiste 

 rous and malignant disputes have taken place 

 between Calvinists and :Arminians, Episcopa 

 lians, Presbyterians, Independents, and Metho 

 dists, respecting the speculative points in which 

 they disagree ! While controversies among phi- 

 osophers have frequently been conducted with a 

 certain degree of candour and politeness, the 

 temper with which religious disputants have en 

 countered the opinions of each other, has gene- 



raiiy been opposed to the spirit of Christian love, 

 to the meekness and gentleness of Christ, and 

 even to common civility and decorum. The 

 haughty and magisterial tone which theological 

 controversialists frequently assume, the indig 

 nant sneers, the bitter sarcasms, the malignant 

 insinuations, the personal reproaches, they throw 

 out against their opponents, the harsh and un 

 fair conclusions they charge upon them, the 

 general asperity of their language, and the bold 

 arid unhallowed spirit with which they apply the 

 denunciations of Scripture to those whom they 

 consider as erroneous, are not only inconsistent 

 with every thing that is amiable and Christian, 

 but tend to rivet more powerfully in the minds of 

 their opponents, those very opinions which it was 

 their object to subvert. To gain a victory over 

 his adversary, to hold up his sentiments to ridi 

 cule, to wound his feelings, and to bespatter the 

 religious body with which he is connected, is 

 more frequently the object of the disputant, than 

 the promotion of truth, and the manifestation of 

 that &quot; character which is the bond of perfec 

 tion.&quot; And what are some of the important 

 doctrines which frequently rouse such furious 

 zeal ? Perhaps nothing more than a metaphysi 

 cal dogma respecting the sonship of Christ, abso 

 lute or conditional election, the mode of baptism, 

 the manner of sitting at a communion-table, an 

 unmeaning ceremony, or a circumstantial puncti 

 lio in relation to the government of the church ! 

 While the peculiar notions of each party, on such 

 topics, are supported with all the fierceness of 

 unhallowed zeal, the grand moral objects which 

 Christianity was intended to accomplish are over 

 looked, and the law of meekness, humility, and 

 love, is trampled underfoot. 



The following are some of the ideas entertain 

 ed respecting the rights of religious disputants, 

 as assumed by the disputants themselves : &quot; The 

 Controversialist,&quot; says Mr. Vaughan, in his 

 &quot; Defence of Calvinism,&quot; &quot; is a wrestler; and 

 is at full liberty to do all he can, in the fair and 

 honest exercise of his art, to supplant his anta 

 gonist. He must not only be dexterous to put 

 in his blow forcibly ; but must have a readiness 

 to menace with scorn, and to tease with derision, 

 if haply he may, by these means, unnerve or un 

 man his competitor. I know not that he is under 

 any obligation to withhold a particle of his skill 

 and strength, whether offensive, or defensive, in 

 this truly Spartan conflict.&quot; In perfect ac 

 cordance with these maxims, he thus addresses 

 his adversary: &quot; Why, Sir, I \\i\\Jightyou upon 

 this theme, as the Greeks did for the recovery 

 of their dead Patroclus ; as Michael the arch 

 angel, when, contending with the Devil, he dis 

 puted about the body of Moses ; as the famed 

 Athenian, who grasped his ship with his teeth y 

 when he had no longer a hand to hold it by. It 

 shall be with a loss not less than life, that I re- 

 sign this splendid attestation (Rom. viii. 28- 



