AND PHYSIOLOGY, 429 



810. That he is thus liable, we need not attempt to prove, 

 because all will acknowledge it. But why should he be so 

 exposed under the government of a Being of Infinite Benevo- 

 lence, if there were not something in his character which de- 

 manded this severity of discipline ? What can that be but an 

 alienated, rebellious heart, which no milder means will subdue? 



811. Evil incidental to every Function, — 3. Evil is 

 incidental to the functions of every organ in the body. Vision 

 exposes us to be witnesses of many most unpleasant scenes 

 and objects, hearing to sounds most grating, taste and smell 

 to odors and solids disgusting and poisonous ; locomotion 

 makes us liable to fatigue and bodily injuries, and disease es- 

 pecially assails every organ. We can not conceive these in- 

 cidental evils to be necessary in a world of perfect purity and 

 happiness. But they are wisely adapted to a fallen being, and 

 therefore the presumption is that man is in such a fallen state. 



812. — Universality of Dcatli.— 4. The existence and uni- 

 versality of death lead to the same conclusion. 



813. It may indeed be made probable that in such a state 

 of things as the present, death is a blessing even to the inferior 

 creatures. But it would not be so in an unfallen paradisaical 

 state. It must be an immense drawback from the happiness 

 of such a state. It is, however, a fit and probably an inevit- 

 able concomitant and consequence of sin. Where it is uni- 

 versal, therefore, the presumption is that it is a fallen state. 



814. Condition of Slan not without Bright Prospects. 

 — 5. But though anatomy and physiology present so many 

 proofs of man's fallen condition, yet the evidence already ad- 

 duced that benevolence vastly predominates, affords to the 

 student of natural theology a strong presumption that it is 

 not a hopeless condition. For if there was no such thing as 

 recovery, why so many tokens of kindness ? Why not give 

 up the offender at once into the hands of justice, and let the 

 work of retribution commence ? How the recovery might be 

 effected revelation alone could show. 



