Here, then, all the parts of this extraordinary scheme bang rightly together; and we may add its perfect consistency as a farther recommendation to our acceptance of it, as a plan devised by God.
Some have alleged that we know so little of the nature of God, that it is presumptuous in us to say what kind of revelation he might be expected to give, and of course all arguments founded on inter rril evidence, which go, in effect, to measure the ways of God by our conceptions of fitness, must be precarious or fallacious. We do not assent to this conclusion. We do not say what kind of revelation God might have given ; we only presume to judge of that which he has given. It appears that some of the wiser heathens were led to expect, or, at least, to desire a revelation. They judged it neces sary on account of the hopeless ignorance of men. Had they speculated on the nature of that revelation, we may be perfectly certain that they never would have anticipated that which was actually given. It rested on deeper principles than the light of nature could discover. But this does not prevent us from passing a judgment respecting it, now that it is known ; and the beauty and excellence of the Chris tian revelation is this, that it has not fettered but improved our faculties, and made them capable of passing a decision on its adaptation to the wants and circumstances of men.
There is not ,one precept, and scarcely one doc trine of the gospel, that does not rest on other grounds than mere authority. As the Almighty requires of us a reasonable service, lie suggests reasonable motives for the performance of it, and has made us capable of discerning that his demands are not founded in wanton despotism, but in the tenderest regard to the happiness and improvement of his creatures. Admit but this, and who can doubt the competency of human reason to pro nounce on the nature and tendency of a scheme professing to come from God? It may be said that the miracles performed are sufficient to command our assent to the doctrines which they were wrought to inculcate, although we should be totally unable to understand them. But how few doctrines are there of this kind in the Christian revelation? We believe there are none but the divinity of Christ, and his appointment to redeem mankind. These points could not be established by reasoning; they lie beyond the sphere of its natural operations. But these points being established by the power which the Saviour possessed, they become proper subjects of reasoning; and we are entitled to in quire whether there is any thing in them contradic tory to the general analogy of nature, to the known character of God, as manifested in his works, or to the ordinary course of his providence. And if
we shall find that there is here no contradiction, but, on the contrary, a beautiful harmony and addi tional illustrations of the divine nature and govern ment, extending, connecting, and methodizing our knowledge, we have then internal proofs that the doctrine is from God. Here, as in every other in stance, the revelation itself supplies the means of judging of its nature and character; and we have so much the greater reason to conclude it to be from God, when it furnishes the most important information in a way that the mind or man would not have devised.
We are far from presuming to say that the mys teries of heaven must be made obvious to our ap prehension. These mysteries we are bound to be lieve when established by unequivocal miracles. But a miracle never was displayed to establish a mystery unconnected with the life and hopes of a Christian. The most mysterious parts of the Christian creed have a direct bearing on faith and practice. The Trinity, for instance, forms an es sentia-I article of belief; for without it we could have no idea of the Father who sends, of the Son who saves, and of the Holy Ghost who sanctifies. In short, no mystery is revealed in Scripture but what is intended to have an influence on the faith, and consequently on the duties and the hopes of men. On these latter points we can judge; and if a doctrine were announced, as enjoined by heaven, but which is found to contradict the first principles of reason, and to militate directly against human happiness, we might justly hesitate about admitting its truth, even though miracles were wrought to support it. What we mean to affirm is this; that even a miracle could not establish a general princi ple at open variance with those clear intimations arising from the light of conscience and reason, and from the visible ordinations of providence. The evidence could not be stronger on the one side than on the other; and the result could only be an entire suspension of our faith on the point in ques tion; as the means of determining would be utterly destroyed by the contradictory intimations of our senses and our reason.