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NATURAL THEOLOGY CONSIDERED WITH REFER- 

 ENGE TO MODERN PHILOSOPHY, By Rev. G, 

 Henslow, M.A., F.L.S., F.G.S., M.Y.I. 



Introduction. 



ATURAL THEOLOGY, or " the Discovery of Evidences 

 of Design attesting to the existing attributes of the 

 Deity collected from appearances of Nature/^ * or the con- 

 sideration of the Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God as 

 manifested in the Creation/^ t is a subject which has engaged 

 the attention and interest of devout men of at least the Jewish 

 and Christian faiths from the earliest periods until now. 



That God has created all things, as well as ordained all the 

 circumstances of the universe, was the firm belief of probably 

 the most ancient writer whose works have come down to us in 

 tlie Book of Job. It forms the basis of the Mosaic dispensation. 

 The Psalms and Proverbs, as well as the Book of Ecclesiasticus 

 and others, breathe the same spirit. And if we turn to Gentile 

 writings, we find exactly the same views embodied in the Shastah 

 of Brahmah ; for what could be nobler than the following ? J — 



" God is One : Creator of all that is. God is like a perfect sphere, without 

 beginning or end. God rules and governs all creation by a general Provi- 

 dence residting from first-determined and fixed principles. Thou shalt not 

 make inquiry into the essence and nature of the existence of the Eternal 

 One, nor by what laws he governs. An inquiring into either is vain and 

 criminal. It is enough that day by day and night by night thou seest in his 

 works his Wisdom, Power, and Mercy. Benefit thereby ! " 



Again, if we pass on to later times — the early days of Chris- 

 tianity — we find S. Paul making it an express point of his 

 argument wherewith to convince the heathen Greeks at Athens 

 (see Acts xvii. 22 — 25) ; and again, in his Epistle to the Romans 



Archdeacon Paley's Natural Theology. 



f See the Bridgewatcr Treatises. 



X Quoted in Holwell's Events relative to the Religion of the Gcntoos of 

 India. 



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