WISDOM OF THE DEITY. 



29 



extraneous substances, are known to him whose 

 presence pervades all space ; and that all the 

 atoms requisite for the construction of the Re 

 surrection body will be reassembled for this 

 purpose &quot; by the energy of that mighty power, 

 whereby he is able to subdue all things to him 

 self.&quot; If we suppose that a number of human 

 beings, amounting to three hundred thousand 

 millions, shall start from the grave into new life, 

 at the general resurrection, and that the atoms 

 of each of these bodies are just now under the 

 special superintendence of the Almighty and 

 that at least an equal number of worlds are 

 under his particular care and direction the ex 

 ertion of power and intelligence, in the former 

 case, cannot be supposed to be greater that what 

 is requisite in the latter. To a Being possess 

 ed of infinite Power, conjoined with boundless 

 Intelligence, the superintendence of countless 

 atoms, and of countless worlds, is equally easy, 

 where no contradiction is implied. For as the 

 poet has well observed, 



&quot; He summons into being, with like ease, 

 A whole creation, and a single grain.&quot; 



And since this subject tends to strengthen our 

 hope of a resurrection from the dead, it is also 

 calculated to inspire us with confidence in the 

 prospect of those eternal scenes which will burst 

 upon the view, at the dissolution of all terrestrial 

 things. Beyond the period fixed for the con* 

 flagration of this world, &quot; a wide and unbounded 

 prospect lies before us ;&quot; and though, at present, 

 &quot; shadows, clouds, and darkness rest upon it,&quot; 

 yet the boundless magnificence of the Divine 

 empire which science has unfolded, throws a 

 radiance over the scenes of futurity, which is 

 fraught with consolation in the view of &quot; the 

 wreck of matter and the crush of worlds.&quot; It 

 opens to us a prospect of perpetual improvement 

 in knowledge and felicity ; it presents a field in 

 which the human faculties may be for ever ex 

 panding, for .ever contemplating new scenes of 

 grandeur rising to the view, in boundless per 

 spective, through an interminable succession of 

 existence. It convinces us that the happiness 

 of the eternal state will not consist in an unva 

 ried repetition of the same perceptions and enjoy 

 ments, but that new displays of the Creator s 

 glory will be continually bursting on the asto 

 nished mind, world without end. And as we 

 know the same beneficence and care which are 

 displayed in the arrangement of systems of 

 worlds, are also displayed in supporting and 

 providing for the smallest microscopic animal- 

 culae, we have no reason to harbour the least 

 fear, lest we should be overlooked in the immen 

 sity of creation, or lost amidst the multiplicity 

 of those works among which the Deity is in 

 cessantly employed ; for, as he is Omnipresent 

 and Omniscient, his care and influence must ex 

 tend to every creature he has formed. There- 

 fre, though &quot; the elements shall mell with fer 



vent heat, and the earth, and ail the works there 

 in be dissolved, yet we, according to his promise, 

 look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein 

 dwelleth righteousness.&quot; 



SECTION III. 

 On the JVisdom and Intelligence of the DKITV. 



IN surveying the system of nature with a 

 Christian and a Philosophic eye, it may be con 

 sidered in different points of view. It may be 

 viewed either as displaying the power and mag 

 nificence of the Deity in the immense quantity of 

 materials of which it is composed, and in the au 

 gust machinery and movements by which its 

 economy is directed \ or, as manifesting his 

 Wisdom in the nice adaptation of every minute 

 circumstance to the end it was intended to ac 

 complish ; or as illustrating his unbounded bene 

 ficence in the provision which is made for the 

 accommodation and happiness of the numerous 

 tribes of sentient and intelligent beings it con 

 tains. Having, in the preceding section, endea- 

 vured to exhibit some of those objects which 

 evince the Omnipotence of Deity, and the pious 

 emotions they are calculated to excite, I shaU 

 now offer a few popular illustrations of Divine 

 Wisdom, as displayed in the arrangements of 

 the material world which shall chiefly be con 

 fined to those objects which are most prominent 

 and obvious to the vulgar eye. 



Wisdom is that perfection of an intelligent 

 agent, by which he is enabled to select and employ 

 the most proper means in order to accomplish a 

 good and important end. It includes the idea of 

 knowledge or intelligence, but may be distinguish 

 ed from it. Knowledge is opposed to ignorance, 

 wisdom is opposed to folly or error in conduct. 

 As applied to God, it may be considered as com 

 prehending the operations of his Omniscience 

 and benevolence, or, in other words, his know 

 ledge to discern, and his disposition to choose 

 those means and ends which are calculatvd to pro 

 mote the order and the happiness of the aniverse. 

 The Wisdom of God is, doubtless, displayed 

 in every arrangement he has made throughout 

 all the provinces of his immense and eternal king 

 dom, however far they may be removed from the 

 sphere of human observation. But it is only in 

 those parts of the system of nature which lie open 

 to our particular investigation, that the traces of 

 this perfection can be distinctly perceived. The 

 Heavens declare the glory of God s Wisdom, as 

 well as of his Power. The planetary system that 

 portion of the heavens with which we are best 

 acquainted displays both the magnificence and 

 the skill of its Divine Author, in the magnitudes, 

 distances, revolutions, proportions, and uses of 

 the various globes of which it is composed, and in 



