288 Nattiral Theology. 



has spoken to man at all, these very questions that 

 we need to ask respecting our higher relations and 

 interests, are the questions He has answered. 



We should desire to know more than we can learn 

 from the world itself, of its origin and of the creation 

 of man. We should desire to know in what relation 

 we now stand to the Creator, and what He requires 

 of us in return for the benefits we are receiving at 

 His hand. Above all, we should wish to know some- 

 thing more of the future ; something of what lies 

 beyond the grave. All these inquiries are answered 

 in the Bible, which comes to us claiming to be the 

 Word of God. It is not our design to enter into 

 any extended argument to prove the inspiration of 

 this book, but briefly to show that it meets the re- 

 quirements of man's nature, and thus has a claim 

 founded on the argument from design and adapta- 

 tion, to be considered the work of God. Although 

 it claims that it was given to man by supernatural 

 power, as the first fruits of the earth were also pre- 

 pared for him, the Bible is a natural provision for 

 man's moral nature, as the fruits of the earth are a 

 natural provision for his physical wants. 



Let us then trace the actual coincidence of the 

 moral instincts and desires of man with the moral 

 law and the teachings of the Bible. God is set forth 

 in the Bible not only as a Creator, but as our con- 

 stant Preserver, Benefactor, and moral Governor ; or 

 as blending all these characters in one, our Father 

 in Heaven. We are assured that in His hand our 

 breath is, and His are all our ways ; that even the 



