4 
NATURAL THEOLOGY CONSIDERED WITH REFER- 
ENCE TO MODERN PHILOSOPHY, By Rev. G. 
Henslow, M.A., F.L.S., F.G.S., M.V.I. 
Introduction, 
1VTATURAL THEOLOGY, or “ the Discovery of Evidences 
1 1 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/'’ f 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 
the 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 Brahmali ; 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 resulting 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 Bridgewater Treatises. 
i Quoted in Holwell’s Events relative to the Religion of the Gentoos of 
India. 
