THE CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHER. 



bute which he now displays. But, had only one 

 solitary intelligence been created, and placed in 

 the infinite void, without a material substratum 

 beneath and around him, he could never have 

 been animated with a sentiment of profound ve 

 neration for his Creator ; because no objects ex 

 isted to excite it, or to show that his Invisible 

 Maker was invested with those attributes which 

 he is now known to possess. Accordingly, we find, 

 in die sacred writings, that, when a sentiment of 

 reverence is demanded from the sons of men, 

 those sensible objects which are calculated to 

 excite the emotion, are uniformly exhibited. 

 &quot; Fear ye not me ? saith the Lord. Will ye not 

 tremble at my presence ? who have placed the 

 sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual de 

 cree, that it cannot pass it ; and though the waves 

 thereof toss themselves, yet they cannot prevail ; 

 though they roar, yet can they not pass over it.&quot; 

 &quot; &quot;Who would not fear thee, O King of nations ? 

 Thou art the true God, and an everlasting 

 King. Thou hast made the earth by thy power, 

 thou hast established the world by thy wisdom, 

 thou hast stretched out the heavens by thy discre 

 tion. When thou utterest thy voice, there is a 

 noise of waters in the heavens, thou causest the 

 vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth, thou 

 makest lightnings with rain, and bringest forth 

 the winds out of thy treasures.&quot;* 



But, however enlarged and venerable concep 

 tions of God we may derive from the manifesta 

 tions of his power, they must fall infinitely short 

 of what is due to a being of boundless perfection. 

 For there may be attributes in the Divine Es 

 sence, of which we cannot possibly form the 

 least conception attributes which cannot be 

 shadowed forth or represented by any portion of the 

 material or intellectual world yet discovered by us, 

 or by all the mighty achievements by which hu 

 man redemption was effected attributes which 

 have not been yet displayed, in their effects, to 

 the highest orders of intelligent existence. And, 

 therefore, as that excellent philosopher and di 

 vine, the honourable Mr. Boyle, has well observ 

 ed &quot; Our ideas of God, however so great, will 

 rather express the greatness of our veneration, 

 then the Immensity of his perfections ; and the 

 notions worthy of the most intelligent men are 

 far short of being worthy the incomprehensible 

 God the brightest idea we can frame of God be 

 ing infinitely inferior, and no more than a Parhe- 

 &mf in respect of the sun ; for though that meteor 

 is splendid, and resembles the sun, yet it resides 

 in a cloud, and is not only much beneath the sun 

 hi distance, but inferior in bigness and splendour.&quot; 



Jerem. x. 713. 



t A Parhelion or Mock-Sim, is a meteor in the 

 form of a very bright lisht, appearing on one side of 

 the sun, and somewhat resembling the appearance 

 of that luminary. This phenomenon is supposed to 

 be produced by the refraction and reflection of the 

 sun s rays from a watery cloud Sometimes three or 

 four of these p:\rhelia.all of them bearing a certain re- 

 em Diance to the real sun, have been seen at one time. 



In short, were we habitually to cherish tn* 

 profound veneration of God which his works are 

 calculated to inspire, with what humility would 

 we approach the presence of this august Being 

 with what emotions of awe would we present 

 our adorations ! and with what reverence would 

 we talk of his inscrutable purposes, and incom 

 prehensible operations ! We would not talk about 

 him, as some writers have done, with the same 

 ease and indifference, as a mathematician would 

 talk about the properties of a triangle, or a phi 

 losopher about the effects of a mechanical en 

 gine ; nor would we treat, with a spirit of levity, 

 any of the solemn declarations of his word, or the 

 mighty movements of his providence. We would 

 be ever ready to join with ardour in the sublime de 

 votions of the inspired writers, &quot; Great and mar 

 vellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just 

 and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who 

 would not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name ? 

 Let all the earth fear the Lord, let all the inha 

 bitants of the world stand in awe of him.&quot; 



Lastly, the views we have taken of the om 

 nipotence and grandeur of the Deity are calcu 

 lated to inspire us with HOPE and CONFIDENCE 

 in the prospect of that eternal existence which 

 lies before us. The period of our existence in 

 this terrestrial scene will soon terminate, and 

 those bodies through which we now hold a corre 

 spondence with the visible creation, be crumbled 

 into dust. The gradual decay, and the ultimate 

 dissolution of human bodies, present a scene at 

 which reason stands aghast; and, on a cursory 

 survey of the chambers of the dead, it is apt to 

 exclaim, in the language of despair, &quot; Can these 

 dry bones live ?&quot; A thousand difficulties crowd 

 upon the mind, which appear repugnant to the idea 

 that &quot; beauty shall again spring out of the ashes, 

 and life out of the dust.&quot; But, when we look 

 abroad to the displays of Divine power and intel 

 ligence, in the wide expanse of Creation, we 

 perceive that 



-&quot;Almighty God 



Has done much more ; nor is his arm impaired 

 Through lensth of days. And what he can, he will 

 His faithfulness stands bound to see it done.&quot; 



We perceive that he has created systems in 

 such vast profusion, that no man can number 

 them. The worlds every moment under his su 

 perintendence and direction, are unquestionably 

 far more numerous than all the human beings 

 who have hitherto existed, or will yer exist till 

 the close of time. And, if he has nor only ar 

 ranged the general features of each of these worlds, 

 and established the physical laws, by wnich its 

 economy is regulated, but has also arranged the 

 diversified circunistances, and directs the mi 

 nutest movements of the mvriads of sensitive and 

 intellectual existences it con ains, we ought neve* 

 for a moment to doubt, that the minutest poli 

 cies of every human body, however widely sepa 

 rated from each other and mingled with other 



