THE CORRUPTIONS OF CHRISTIANITY, &c.
A SERMON.

OF the many artifices which infidels have em⯑ployed in their attacks on the Chriſtian reli⯑gion, neither the leaſt common nor the leaſt diſ⯑honeſt is their availing themſelves, for disfigur⯑ing its beauty and undermining its truth, of all the corruptions which the weakneſs or the wick⯑edneſs of men have aukwardly intermixed with it or ſuperadded to it. Againſt the religion of the New Teſtament, they have repeatedly urged objections for which it gives not even a pretence, and which can affect only human ſy⯑ſtems, [2] totally abhorrent from its real nature and prevailing genius.

It is with a more ſpecious appearance both of fairneſs and of penetration, that they have attempted to infer its falſehood from the very exiſtence of theſe corruptions; arguing, that, if God really gave the goſpel as his beſt gift to mankind, his providence would have certainly preſerved its purity, and prevented its being vitiated, ſo as to become unfit for anſwer⯑ing its important end, or even in ſome reſpects ſubverſive of it.

INSTEAD of enlarging on the ſeveral topics from which it might be evinced that this argu⯑ment is wholly inconcluſive, let us remark, what is more extraordinary, That the very cor⯑ruptions from which it is deduced, afford evi⯑dence of the truth of Chriſtianity. Unfavour⯑able to the defence of this religion as, in one light, they ſeem to be, yet, viewed in other lights, they are a real proof of its divinity.

That corruption which has taken place, was foreſeen and ſoretold by the firſt publiſhers of the Goſpel; and is therefore an irrefragable de⯑monſtration of their divine inſpiration. It was [3] in the very beginning of Chriſtianity, while, as as far as human eye could ſee, it yet remained untainted, that the Apoſtle of the Gentiles ſaid, in my text, ‘Now the Spirit ſpeaketh expreſs⯑ly, that in the latter times ſome ſhall depart from the faith.’ In the context, and the other paſſages which relate to this ſubject ^*, he deſcribes, as has been often inconteſtibly prov⯑ed, even in its moſt ſingular, unprecedented, and characteriſtical features, that grand apoſtaſy in the church, which did already work, though ſo covertly as to be decernible only by a divine⯑ly illuminated eye; but which early diſplayed itſelf in the ſubtilizing and impoſing ſpirit of Chriſtians, and was completed in the abſurd theology, the ſuperſtitious and idolatrous wor⯑ſhip, the impure morality, the domination, the inſolence, and the cruelty of the papal church. He deſcribes it with ſuch accuracy and preci⯑ſion, as could proceed only from the inſpira⯑tion of the Omniſcient, and therefore demon⯑ſtrates, that HE is the Author of that religion which the Apoſtles taught, as revealed by him.

[4] IT is, I think, equally true, though not ſo obvious, that the ‘departure of ſome from the faith,’ the corruption of Chriſtianity which has prevailed, conſidered in itſelf, with⯑out regard to its having been predicted, far from indicating the falſity of this religion, is a ſtrong preſumption of its being a true religion. For it will appear, on examination, to be one mark of diſtinction between true and falſe religions, That always the former are corrupted, and the latter improved, by lenth of time. Both the parts of this propoſition are ſuſceptible of the fulleſt evidence: And, in purſuing the argu⯑ment, I ſhall ſtate the evidence of both, and then deduce the concluſions which they war⯑rant.

I. FIRST, I ſhall ſhew, that univerſally and invariably true religions have, in courſe of time, degenerated and been corrupted. They are only three, the primeval religion of man⯑kind, the Jewiſh, and the Chriſtian.

1. I BEGIN with the primeval religion of mankind. But what was this? The generali⯑ty of infidels will eagerly anſwer, Pure natural [5] religion. If it was, they will certainly ac⯑knowledge that this was a true religion: and that it was early and univerſally corrupted in a miſerable manner, they cannot deny.

One of them, however, far ſuperior in pene⯑tration to the reſt, is ſingular in aſſerting, that ‘polytheiſm or idolatry was, and neceſſarily muſt have been, the firſt and moſt ancient religion of mankind ^*;’ and he endeavours to ſupport the aſſertion both by reaſonings, and from hiſtory.—On ſuppoſition, that the firſt men were left to ſearch out their religion by the powers of unaſſiſted Nature, his reaſonings would perhaps be ſolid: and, by producing them, he has exploded the favourite poſitions of his more reſerved brethren, concerning the ſuf⯑ficiency of reaſon, the plainneſs and perfection of the law of Nature, and the inutility of revelation. Indeed, concluſively as the whole of natural reli⯑gion may be proved by reaſon, yet natural reli⯑gion, diſcovered by reaſon, was never in fact the religion of any age or nation.—In proving his aſ⯑ſertion from hiſtory, he has carefully omitted the expreſs teſtimony of the hiſtory unqueſ⯑tionably the moſt ancient in the world. How⯑ever [6] fair, it was doubtleſs prudent. For, in contradiction to the far later hiſtories which alone he chooſes to quote, the Bible clearly teſ⯑tifies, that the firſt and moſt ancient religion of mankind was, not polytheiſm or idolatry, but the worſhip of the one true God.—At the ſame time, it invalidates all the reaſonings by which he would prove that it muſt have been otherwiſe: for it ſuppoſes not that circumſtance, on the reality of which their whole force de⯑pends; but eſtabliſhes quite the reverſe. It ſuppoſes not, that the firſt rude and ignorant ge⯑neration of men diſcovered this pure religion by the force of reaſon; and therefore is not af⯑fected by any of the improbabilities of this hav⯑ing happened, which he ſo anxiouſly enume⯑rates. On the contrary, it accounts for this: It affirms that they were not left to themſelves; that they were taught by God; that, from the very beginning, he inſtructed them by revela⯑tion; and that revelation was not only the mode of conveying to them all their religious principles, but the ſole ſoundation of ſome of them.

It is not neceſſary for our preſent purpoſe, to deſcribe the religion of the ſtate of inno⯑cence. [7] From the lights held out by Moſes, we may, I think, collect, that the primeval religion of the lapſed world included the great princi⯑ples of natural religion, as far as the rudeneſs of the earlieſt men qualified them for appre⯑hending them, One perfect God, the Creator and Governor of the world, the object of their worſhip and obedience; together with the in⯑ſtitution of the Sabbath, in memory of the creation ^*; an intimation of the redemption of the world ^†; and the rite of ſacrifice ^‡, both as a mode of worſhip, and as typical of the ap⯑pointed method of redemption. And, ſo far as we know, this continued to be the form of the true religion throughout the patriarchal age, with the addition only of informations concerning the line from which the Redeemer was to ſpring, the new promiſe of the land of Canaan to Abraham and his ſeed, and the rite of circumciſion as the ſign of God's covenant with them. But it is not neceſſary, on account of theſe ſew acceſſions, to conſider the Abra⯑hamic as a new religion.

[8] THIS religion, of divine original, was in all its parts very early corrupted. Not to inquire into the antediluvian defections from it, we are certain, that before the calling of Abraham it had been very generally relinquiſhed; the one true God forſaken; falſe gods introduced; the memory of the creation loſt; the memorial of it, the Sabbath, neglected; the promiſes of redemption forgotten; and ſacrifice, the type of it, abuſed. This corruption formed pa⯑ganiſm, of which every ſucceeding ſpecies was worſe than the preceding, and every ſpecies be⯑came worſe in time than it had been at firſt.

FROM all the accounts which we have either of ancient nations or of rude nations latterly diſcovered, it ſeems evident, that the worſhip of the heavenly bodies is the ſpecies of idolatry into which mankind every where firſt declined. The ſun is the moſt glorious of all ſenſible ob⯑jects, the fountain of light and heat, the ſource of fertility, the cauſe of the revolutions of the ſeaſons. His ſplendour and his uſefulneſs natu⯑rally attracted the attention of men. While they kept in mind the principles of true religion, they regarded him only as the ſenſible repreſen⯑tative [9] of the one God. But, forgetting them by degrees, loſing all memory of the creation, and ſinking deeper into ſenſe, they began to a⯑dore him for his own ſake, and reſted in ‘the work,’ without ‘acknowledging the work⯑maſter ^*.’ We know from hiſtory, that ſome nations held the ſun to be the only lord of heaven; and it is probable that he was the firſt object of idolatry in every nation. But he continued not long to be the only object of it. Other parts of Nature came to be "deemed" likewiſe "gods which govern the world ^†:" the leſs ſplendid luminaries, the moon and the ſtars; the earth; the elements, fire, wind, and thunder; whatever either promoted or ob⯑ſtructed men's enjoyment of the productions of Nature; became gradually the objects of their adoration. Thus, degenerating continually, they multiplied their gods, till at length they numbered among them almoſt every thing uſe⯑ful and every thing hurtful.—In the beginning of this idolatry, their ritual was ſimple, expreſ⯑ſive only of their reverence ^‡. It was neceſ⯑ſarily increaſed with the number of their gods; [10] they came to be worſhiped by artificial ſymbol̄s, or by fire; and into the ritual of every god, many ſilly ceremonies were introduced: from trivial they grew abſurd; they degenerated in⯑to cruelty; they terminated in human ſacri⯑fices.

THE ſecond ſpecies of idolatry, the worſhip of dead men deified, was early introduced by the paſſions of men. Eſteem of a revered pa⯑rent ſwelled into adoration: affection led to ‘honour as a god the child ſoon taken a⯑way ^*.’ The eſtabliſhment of civil ſociety and the ſucceſſive inventions of arts gave it a rapid progreſs: veneration, gratitude, admiration, raiſed the founders of ſtates, the authors of uſeful diſcoveries, public benefactors, illuſtrious kings, rulers, and warriors, after their death, into divinities.—This ſpecies of idolatry was in every reſpect worſe than the former. It did not all at once baniſh that, but was ſuperadded to, or incorporated with it: to beſtow plau⯑ſibility on the worſhip of their conſecrated hero, they gave him the name, and inveſted him with [11] the government, of ſome of the celeſtial bodies; Oſiris by the Egyptians, and Belus by the Aſ⯑ſyrians, was called the ſun; by degrees, the planets, the earth, the ſea, the air, moun⯑tains, rivers, almoſt every part of Nature, had ſome deity attached to it. Their falſe gods were therefore multiplied: and, by being con⯑ceived, ſometimes as a part of Nature, and ſome⯑times as its preſiding god, confuſion and in⯑conſiſtence were introduced into the character and attributes of each.—The moſt ſtupenduous parts of Nature, though unworthy of our wor⯑ſhip, are deſerving of our higheſt admiration; were they animated, they muſt be deemed far more glorious than human creatures: but, mi⯑ſerable is the abſurdity of ſuppoſing dead men to be immortal gods.—The former were uni⯑verſal deities: the latter only local, contracted⯑ly limited in their attachments and their opera⯑tion.—The introduction of them accumulated ſuperſtitious rites of worſhip: it required nu⯑merous and complex ceremonies, expreſſive of the character, the exploits, or the benefits of each hero god.

This form of polytheiſm, bad at firſt, ſtill grew worſe.—The number of their gods was [12] continually increaſed, till, in every nation, it became enormous. The firſt gods had pro⯑bably poſſeſſed conſiderable merit in their mor⯑tal ſtate; and, in their immortal, were conceiv⯑ed watchful, for promoting virtue, in their ſeve⯑ral provinces: but afterwards, multitudes were deified without a pretence to any merit; and many whoſe vices rendered them infamous and execrable. Heaven was crowded with aban⯑doned wretches unfit to be tolerated on earth. Additions were made to the hiſtory of each god, till their mythology became a huge maſs of in⯑conſiſtencies and indecencies. The characters and deeds of their divinities would have diſ⯑graced humanity, and held forth examples and patrons for every crime. With thoſe whom they ſuppoſed removed into the heavens, they at length proceeded to aſſociate ſome of the moſt worthleſs of the living; raiſing altars and paying divine honours, with the moſt abject a⯑dulation, to thoſe at whoſe cruelty they trem⯑bled, and whoſe profligacy they could not be⯑hold without abhorrence.—For ſome time their devotion was directed ſolely to their inviſible gods; Homer gives no hint of the uſe of images, and for ſome ages the Romans had [13] none: their worſhip conſiſted wholly in pray⯑ers, hymns, and ſacrifices. But growing ſuper⯑ſtition ſoon demanded ſtatues of the gods, and plunged its infatuated votaries into the ſhame⯑ful folly of adoring the works of their own hands, ‘falling down to the ſtock of a tree ^*, ſpeaking to that which hath no life, calling for health upon that which is weak, praying for life to that which is dead, and for a good journey aſking that which cannot ſet a foot forward ^†.’ Their religious rites were mul⯑tiplied and complicated: ſuitably to the imper⯑fection of their gods, they were ſometimes meanly flattering, ſometimes outrageouſly abu⯑ſive; and ſuitably to their different characters, many of them became madly riotous, abomi⯑nably impure, or inhumanly barbarous.

THE laſt degeneracy of the primeval reli⯑ligion, was the worſhip of brutes and inani⯑mate things, which prevailed chiefly among the Egyptians and their colonies. That it was the moſt deteſtible form of Paganiſm, it is unne⯑ceſſary to ſpend time in evincing: And it pro⯑ceeded [14] from evil to worſe.—It ſeems to have ariſen from the hiſtory of their hero-gods be⯑ing recorded in hieroglyphics; in which the fi⯑gures of brutes and vegetables were employed as the marks or ſymbols of their ſeveral attri⯑butes and exploits. Fond of their hierogly⯑phics, they ſubſtituted theſe ſymbols of their divinities, in place of the images of them in hu⯑man ſhape, which had been uſed formerly. The ſymbolical repreſentations were engraved in their temples; and by being conſtantly in their view while they worſhipped their god, they became cloſely aſſociated with him in their imaginations, and ſhared in their worſhip: they engaged the readier and the greater vene⯑neration by being conſidered as inſtituted by the god himſelf.—Accuſtomed in this manner to venerate the figure of a plant or animal, they came by a very eaſy ſtep to hold the real one ſacred, as at leaſt a ſymbol of the god: And next, forgetting that it was but a ſymbol, they adored it as itſelf divine.—Each ſymbol had different ſignifications; and each attribute was repreſented by different ſymbols: in con⯑ſequence of theſe two circumſtances together, their animal and vegetable deities were multi⯑plied, [15] till they comprehended whatever had any quality remarkable enough to fit it for being an hieroglyphic. For expreſſing complex no⯑tions, in this kind of writing, they had unit⯑ed the parts and members of different ſpecies; and hence monſters and chimeras were added to the number of their gods.

INSTEAD, therefore, of ‘finding mankind the more plunged into idolatry, the farther we mount up into antiquity; and no marks, no ſymptoms of any more perfect religion,’ as has been confidently aſſerted^* to be clear from the teſtimony of hiſtory; we are aſſured by the oldeſt of hiſtories, that in the remoteſt antiquity a more perfect religion, the acknow⯑ledgment and worſhip of the One God, did prevail: and not only from it, but from the writings ſtill extant in every kind, we learn with certainty, that from this religion mankind deviated only by degrees, and were not plung⯑ed into the loweſt degradations of idolatry but in the courſe of ages. In Greece, the polythe⯑iſm of the heroic times was, for its purity and [16] moral influence, venerable in compariſon with the maſs of ſuperſtitions, which compoſed its religion in its moſt civilized and enlightened periods.

2. THE next true religion given to the world, was the Jewiſh. It may be viewed in two different lights; as the religious ſyſtem of the Hebrew nation; and as a preparation for the Chriſtian diſpenſation. In reſpect of both it was, by the Jews, gradually corrupted from its original purity: but with circumſtances ſo different, that it will be neceſſary to mark them ſeparately.

CONSIDERED in the former light, it contains that ſyſtem of belief and that body of laws and worſhip, which Moſes delivered to the Iſ⯑raelites: and it was completed by the digeſt which he gave them; all ſucceeding prieſts and prophets and rulers being only the guardians, the interpreters, or the executioners of it, but having no authority to alter or to add to it. The Moſaical religion, viewed in this light, was, The acknowledgment of the One God, as both the God of the univerſe, and their peculiar God [17] and righteous Governour; and the worſhip of him by a multifarious ceremonial, accurately determined by his authority.

It was by the intermixture of idolatry, that the Iſraelites corrupted the purity of this reli⯑gion. They began with worſhiping God by an image; and that very early: the golden "calf," the Egyptian repreſentative of Oſiris, they pre⯑vailed on Aaron to "faſhion" for a viſible re⯑preſentative of Jehovah ^*. They did not long diſcontinue the impiety. When the mother of Micah had founded ſilver into images, ſhe re⯑garded this as "dedicating it to Jehovah ^†:" when Micah had got "a Levite" to officiate as "prieſt" before his images, he confidently pro⯑miſed himſelf, on that account, the favour of Jehovah ^‡. By this prieſt, the children of Dan "aſked counſel of Jehovah: ^§" they after⯑wards carried him away with the images, and ſet them up; and "Jonathan" the grandſon of Moſes, "and his ſons," continued for a long time the "prieſts" in this idolatrous ſer⯑vice ^‖. This worſhip of the true God by [18] images, was eſtabliſhed in the kingdom of Iſrael, by the "calves" which, for preventing the peo⯑ple from going out of its territory to worſhip, were "ſet up at Dan and Bethel ^*:" and it continued as long as that kingdom ſtood.—The introduction of images brought along with it the uſe of other forbidden modes. Co-eval with it was their worſhipping in forbidden places: ‘the houſe of the Lord was at Shilo, all the time’ that ‘Jonathan and his ſons were prieſts’ to the tribe of Dan ^†: the temple was at Jeruſalem, when the ten tribes ſacrificed to their idols in the two extremities of their country: their "high places," their "mountains," their "groves," and their "green trees," are frequently mentioned with cenſure. In time they adopted likewiſe "rites" diſallowed by their law, mixing with their wor⯑ſhip of the true God, ceremonies which their neighbours uſed in ſerving falſe gods.

They were not content with theſe corrup⯑tions: they took falſe gods into partnerſhip with Jehovah, and worſhipped them in conjunc⯑tion with him. While they were yet ‘in the [19] wilderneſs, they joined themſelves into Baal⯑peor, and bowed down to the gods of Moab, and did eat of their ſacrifices ^*: yea they took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the ſtar of their god R [...]mphan, figures which they made to worſhip them ^†.’ The very next generation after Joſhua, ‘followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themſelves to them, and ſerved Baal and Aſhtaroth ^‡.’ Into this ſpecies of idolatry they thenceſorth were conti⯑nually revolting: they practiſed it with little in⯑termiſſion: many inſtances of it are recorded in their hiſtory: and many judgments are de⯑nounced againſt it by their prophets. Yet they went forward in it, till at length ‘accord⯑ing to the number of their cities, were the Gods of Judah, and according to the num⯑ber of the ſtreets of Jeruſalem, their altars to burn incenſe unto Baal ^§.’ They ceaſed not, till they placed their images in the temple itſelf "to defile it ^‖."—They multiplied their idolatrous ceremonies of worſhip, in full pro⯑portion [20] to the multitude of their idols. They ſtudiouſly collected and eagerly adopted the moſt abominable rites of all the ſpecies of po⯑lytheiſm, practiſed by any of the nations with which they were acquainted; uniting together their moſt diſcordant uſages, ‘ſlaying the chil⯑dren in the vallies under the clifts of the rocks ^*; cakes to the queen of heaven, and drink-offerings unto other gods ^†, cutting themſelves ^‡, making their ſons and daugh⯑ters to paſs through the fire to Molech ^§; every form of creeping things and abomi⯑nable beaſts, weeping for Tammuz, worſhip⯑ing the ſun towards the eaſt ^‖.’

Nay ſo depraved they had become, that a little before the captivity they ſeem to have thought of renouncing the true God altoge⯑ther, and conſining themſelves to the worſhip of falſe gods; for they ſaid, ‘We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to ſerve wood and ſtone ^¶.’

By their captivity in Babylon, they were in⯑deed cured of their propenſity to idolatry, and [21] brought back to their original theology.—But what was conſequent on this, gives a new con⯑firmation of our propoſition: for this renovat⯑ed religion they ſoon began▪to corrupt, and have perſiſted in progreſſively corrupting, though in a different manner. While the Sadducees ſprung up, ſceptics or infidels with reſpect to important articles of faith, the reſt plunged themſelves into ſuperſtition or fanaticiſm. They magnified their ceremonial law, and reſted in it more and more: they incumbered it with new rites, and additional circumſtances of ob⯑ſervance. They ſubtilized on their moral pre⯑cepts, till they explained them away, and ren⯑dered them compatible with every vice. They ſet themſelves to invent traditions, they in⯑creaſed them r apidly, and they yielded them higher and higher reverence, till they ‘made the commandment and word of God of none effect, by their tradition ^*.’ They became acquainted with the learning and philoſophy of the eaſt; they intermixed its ‘fables and genealogies ^†’ with their religion, and by the [22] intermixture ſophiſticated the doctrines and perverted the morals which the ſcripture taught.

CONSIDERED in the ſecond light, as a pre⯑paration for the Chriſtian diſpenſation, the Jew⯑iſh religion, beſides the types involved in its ce⯑remonial, and the notices of the deſign of re⯑demption which had been given before the time of Moſes, comprehended a long ſeries of prophecies concerning it, was gradually reared by their unfolding more and more the nature of that diſpenſation, and was completed only when Malachi the laſt of the prophets had written. It is from that period, that the cor⯑ruption of this part of the religion of the Iſraelites commenced: and it has become ex⯑treme.

Miſunderſtanding their ſcriptures, and over⯑looking many prophetical intimations, they per⯑ſuaded themſelves that their religion was per⯑fect, and in all its parts unchangeable and per⯑petual. Poſſeſſed by this idea, they could con⯑ceive no uſe for a Meſſiah, but to extend it to all nations: and warped by worldly paſſions, they ſuppoſed that he would effectuate this, as a [23] glorious and triumphant prince, exalting them to the ſummit of temporal proſperity, and bringing the whole earth into ſubjection to them. Miſled by theſe falſe notions, by them explaining whatever ſeemed reconcileable, and neglecting whatever was repugnant, they were led into greater miſconception of the prophe⯑cies. They found not in Jeſus the character which they expected; they rejected and they cruciſied him.

They have remained ſtubborn. They were early accuſed of eraſing ſome predictions; they have been often charged with wilfully falſify⯑ing ſome paſſages. The charge has been car⯑ried too far: but that in a few inſtances they have attempted it, that in more they have purpoſely preferred falſe readings caſually in⯑troduced, to ſuch as are unqueſtionably ge⯑nuine, but more favourable to Chriſtianity, there ſeems to be evidence. It is certain that Daniel, whom their fathers ranked among the prophets, and from whom alone they learned the name MESSIAH, they have, only becauſe his predictions are the moſt preciſe, for many ages denied to be a prophet.

[24] In perverting the meaning of the prophecies, they have been indefatigable. The cleareſt predictions concerning the Meſſiah and his kingdom, and by the Jews before his coming owned to be clear, they ſoon after began to deny, and have perſiſted in denying to have any relation to him; many which even their own early traditions refer to him, their later writers wreſt from their intent: And they ap⯑ply them to other perſons and events, concern⯑ing which they cannot agree among themſelves, but in none of which imagination itſelf can find them verified; nay to events forged on purpoſe to ſerve as an accompliſhment of them, and which may be diſproved from their own traditions.—Having deviſed ſuch ſemblances of their accompliſhment in others, they deny that they give any intimation of the Meſſiah. While in the plaineſt parts of Scripture, hiſtory and precept, the nature of which can admit no⯑thing beyond the obvious literal meaning, they are licentious in deducing myſteries, the moſt chimerical and ridiculous, from letters, and points, and caſual or capricious modes and cir⯑cumſtances of writing; they obſtinately deny that in prophecy, the nature of which admits [25] and even invites it, there are any ſecondary ſen⯑ſes, any intimations, under types, of a higher archetype; nay, they inſiſt on interpreting lite⯑rally expreſſions evidently figurative and meta⯑phorical, the import of which is clearly aſcer⯑tained by the whole analogy of ſcripture lan⯑guage. In the predictions of the Meſſiah's glo⯑ry, they can perceive only worldly greatneſs; but neither the important object of his firſt co⯑ming, nor the majeſty of his ſecond. They deny that his kingdom can be ſpiritual, becauſe its whole nature was not as preciſely and as ex⯑plicitly predefined by the prophets, as it could be delineated by himſelf.

For eluding the force of prophecy, they have ſtuck at no expedient. To reconcile to their ideas, predictions of ſufferings and death, ex⯑preſſed in the plaineſt terms, deſcribed in the moſt circumſtantial manner, and unequivocally pointed to the Meſſiah, they ages ſince deviſ⯑ed the fiction, contradictory to traditions pre⯑ſerved by themſelves, of two Meſſiahs. All the predictions concerning the reception of the Gentiles to equal privileges with themſelves, they have diluted into notices that the nations were to be their ſubjects. They have liſtened [26] to one impoſtor after another, without a ſingle feature of the true Meſſiah: they have fixed aera after aera for his appearance: Diſappointed in them all, they contrive unſubſtantial reaſons for its being delayed: and while they convert the abſolute predictions of his coming into con⯑ditional promiſes, they miſinterpret the promiſe of their being bleſſed in him, clearly ſuſpended on the condition of their receiving him, and ac⯑companied with intimations, owned by their early doctors, that but a ſmall part of Iſrael would be actually ſaved by him, into abſolute predictions of their univerſal ſalvation; the failure of which they hold forth as a demonſtra⯑tion that he is not yet come.

To fortify themſelves in unbelief, they have not ſcrupled to extenuate the idolatry of their anceſtors; to pronounce outward ceremonial worſhip more excellent than inward piety and moral virtue; to affirm that the Meſſiah was promiſed ſolely as a king, not as a law-giver, nor ſo much as to reveal any thing new; to deny that they are required, in order to their ſalvation, to believe in him when he comes: and indeed they leave ſcarcely any foundation in the prophecies, for themſelves or their fa⯑thers [27] ever expecting that a Meſſiah was to come.

3. THE third true religion is the Chriſtian. The New teſtament exhibits it in its purity. That it has been grievouſly corrupted, infidels glory in proclaiming, and Chriſtians are no⯑wiſe concerned to diſſemble. Every hiſtory of the church bears teſtimony to the fact, and diſ⯑cloſes the nature and the progreſs of its depra⯑vation. In a caſe of ſuch notoriety, a very brief ſketch will be ſufficient.

By being blended with the ideas and ſpecu⯑lations of falſe philoſophy, the ſimple doctrines of the Goſpel began very early to be adulte⯑rated. From that philoſophy, ſubtileties were borrowed for defining them with preciſion, and hypotheſes for explaining them; and new ones were continually invented. Diſcordant defini⯑tions were adopted, and tenaciouſly maintained. Controverſies concerning them were agitated with heat, and debated with all the arts of miſ⯑applied acuteneſs. Every controverſy produc⯑ed contradictory deciſions by thoſe who equally uſurped authority to fix the faith of Chriſtians. Every deciſion engendered new controverſies, [28] and inflamed ſiercer contentions. Inveſtigation was ſtretched to inquiries above the reach of man, and proſtituted to frivolous queſtions and logomachies unworthy of his notice. By ſuch deciſions as had the good fortune to predo⯑minate, new creeds were continually fabricated; new terms of diſtinction conſecrated▪ the heads of doctrine, the articles of faith, unreaſonably multiplied; many falſe doctrines eſtabliſhed. To give them ſupport, divine authority was more and more attributed to human writings; and all the jargon of ſcholaſtic metaphyſics, and all the ſophiſtry of dialectics, were laboriouſly employed.

In proportion as the doctrines of the goſpel were tortured from their original ſimplicity, in⯑to endleſs intricacies of frigid refinement, they became unſit for touching the heart or influencing the practice, for ſerving as motives to holineſs, as roots from which piety and vir⯑tue might derive nouriſhment and vigour. The precepts, likewiſe, of the Goſpel, whoſe ſim⯑plicity gives them a venerable dignity and a commanding authority, were explained and analized with a dry minuteneſs, better calculat⯑ed for perplexing the underſtanding, than for [29] impreſſing them on the conſcience. They were avowedly evaded by maxims of looſe ca⯑ſuiſtry; and their obligation ſuperſeded by ſu⯑perſtitious commutations, penances, indulgences, and diſpenſations. Perfection was placed, not in ſubſtantial goodneſs, but in celibacy, mona⯑chiſm, voluntary auſterities, and unnatural mor⯑tifications.

The ſimple worſhip of Chriſtianity was ſoon deformed by the admixture, firſt of Jewiſh, and next of Pagan ceremonies. Baptiſm and the euchariſt were adminiſtered with empty pa⯑geantry and idle mummery; they were trans⯑formed into terrific myſteries; new virtues were aſcribed to them; new pomp was em⯑ployed in ſolemnizing them; the corruption of the latter iſſued in the monſter, tranſubſtantia⯑tion. To the few rites enjoined by the Goſ⯑pel, many were added; and from unneceſſary, they became abominable: from ‘glorying in the croſs of Chriſt ^*,’ they paſſed to uſing the ſign of it, as a charm, on all occaſions; from praying for the dead, they proceeded to pray to them; from commemorating the mar⯑tyrs, [30] to worſhip them; from reſpecting their relics, to adore them, and to indue them with the power of miracles; from tolerating pictures and images, firſt to place them in churches, and afterwards to fall down before them. Faſts and feſtivals without number were ſucceſſively inſti⯑tuted. Prayers, in the beginning ſhort and artleſs, were extended into complex liturgies, infected with all the niceties and errors of their faith.

The genuine ſpirit of Chriſtianity has been no leſs wofully depraved. The Apoſtles, though inſpired, claimed no "dominion over faith ^*;" they inſiſted on the reception only of what was clearly revealed; they gave indulgence to hu⯑man weakneſs in whatever affected not the very eſſence of religion ^†; they reſerved their ana⯑themas for obſtinate wickedneſs. But they who came after them, from almoſt the earlieſt time, have impoſed upon others their own precarious opinions, their determinations concerning what is not revealed; their far-fetched deductions from Scripture; and even the technical terms which they had coined for expreſſing them. [31] They have ſeparated from, and excommunicated, one another for the moſt trifling, nay for ver⯑bal differences; and, while they were indulgent to crimes, denounced damnation againſt what⯑ever they were pleaſed to denominate hereſy.—As ſoon as the converſion of the emperors put it in their power, the leaders of the church graſped at riches, dignities, and political influence. Cle⯑rical orders were multiplied: the biſhops aſſum⯑ed a high rank: archbiſhops and patriarchs ex⯑alted themſelves above them: each ſee was not only ſcrambled for with indecent ambition, but purchaſed by the baſeſt arts; and one ſee contended with another, for pre-eminence to flatter pride, and power to domineer.—In all the churches theſe evils grew, till the dexterous and perſevering efforts of the biſhop of Rome raiſed him to ſupremacy over moſt of them, ſub⯑jected the kings of the world to his nod, made him the vicar of Chriſt, a god upon earth, and veſted him with abſolute dominion, which he moſt aſſiduouſly exerciſed in tyrannizing over all, in diſturbing the peace, and diſſolving the laws of ſociety, in authorizing all former cor⯑ruptions and making great additions to them in enforcing them by perſecutions, maſſacres, [32] and wars, in degrading religion into an engine of the moſt unrighteous policy.

In a word, from ſmall beginnings, number⯑leſs corruptions, aided by centuries of igno⯑rance, grew up into that ‘myſtery of iniqui⯑ty ^*,’ which formed the predominant reli⯑gion at the Reformation, the total depravation of which is ſo well known, and ſo explicitly confeſſed by popiſh writers themſelves, that I may ſpare myſelf the pain of attempting the odious portrait.

THUS every religion that has any claim to truth, has been in time corrupted.

II. THE SECOND part of our propoſition, That all falſe religions have, in time, been a⯑mended and improved, is equally true; and, ſo far as our preſent deſign requires it, may be more briefly evinced. Each of the deprava⯑tions which we have mentioned, having at length acquired a determinate ſhape, became a falſe religion, for ſome time prevalent, eſta⯑bliſhed, and unqueſtioned. But in the progreſs [33] of inquiry and knowledge, they have been all examined, cleared in ſome meaſure from the groſſneſs which they had gradually contracted, and reduced to a leſs exceptionable form.

1. TO begin with paganiſm. The Egyptian worſhip of brutes and vegetables aſtoniſhed the inquiſitive: it ſhocked the idolaters of other ſects; it was oftener than once legally proſcrib⯑ed by the Romans, who gloried in adopting the gods and the rites of all nations, as a token of their piety and the cauſe of their proſperi⯑ty: it could ſcarcely fail ſometimes to ſtag⯑ger its own votaries. They extenuated its ab⯑ſurdity, by reſolving the ignoble objects of their adoration into mere emblems both of hero⯑gods and of the celeſtial bodies, the divinities acknowledged by all idolaters. Emblems they had originally been: but by ingenuity in illuſtrat⯑ing their ſignificance, they were rendered more plauſible than at their introduction, and repre⯑ſented as even more refined and expreſſive images of the gods, than the idols ſet up by other pagans.

THE worſhip of dead men, however implicit⯑ly and extenſively practiſed, could not, naked [34] and undiſguiſed, eſcape condemnation as ſoon as it had excited the curioſity of thinking men. Even the ſymbolical images of the Egyptians, it has been ſpeciouſly ſuppoſed, were contrived on purpoſe to veil the objectionable genealogies of the gods. To give that worſhip the ſairer appearance, ſpeculative men deviſed the diſtinc⯑tion of ſouls, into human, heroic, and demo⯑niac: when the gods were conceived, not as or⯑dinary mortals, but as Superior Beings who had deigned to viſit the earth for the ſake of man⯑kind, and lived only to heap bleſſings on them, there was a ſhew of reaſon in paying them reli⯑gious honours. This hypotheſis was, however, contradicted by their mythology, which proved their gods to have been mere men, often not of the worthieſt kind; and the authority of their admired poets had early rendered this too ſa⯑cred to be rejected: but they explained it away, and repreſented the popular hiſtories of the gods as only ingenious allegories, ſhadowing forth moral or phyſical truths.

AT an early period, in the moſt civilized na⯑tions of the eaſt, the more enlightened worſhip⯑ers of the celeſtial bodies reformed the received [35] idolatry, ſo far as to confine their adoration to the ſun, and, reprobating images, to addreſs him by no other medium but fire.—When, in other nations, the elements, and even the moſt ſplendid luminaries were, by the reſearches of philoſophers, aſcertained to be inanimate, the worſhip of them required a vindication: and it was attempted by the refinement of re⯑ferring it, not to the material maſs, but to the intelligent divinity who inhabited and govern⯑ed it.

BUT none of the forms of paganiſm, how⯑ever each of them might be diſguiſed, or how⯑ever the abſurdities of them all might be ſhuſſled out of ſight by involving them in confuſion, blending them together, and deriving ſupport to one from another in their turns, could bear the ſcrutiny of enlightened minds. Without entering into the controverted import of the myſteries, we may remark that the ſpeculations of the old philoſophers of Greece forced them to acknowledge One ſupreme God, diſtinct from all the vulgar deities, though along with him they continued to admit theſe. But the luſtre of religious truth diffuſed by the goſpel, [36] conſtrained the later philoſophers to acknow⯑ledge him as the Only God; and, determined as they were not to relinquiſh the popular re⯑ligion, to endeavour by a new refinement to render it conſiſtent with that acknowledgment. Even the brute-gods of Egypt were made only emblematical of his ſeveral attributes; the fables of their hero-gods, but parabolical hiſtories of his providence; the deiſied parts of nature, no more than his ſenſible repreſentatives; all their rites, a varied ſervice to him under different names, or different ideas. Their idolatries thus explained away by a reference to the true God, gave paganiſm the moſt unexceptionable form of which it was capable.—In ſome countries, this refinement reſted not with philo⯑ſophers. Whether in an early age, by means of the Jewiſh ſcriptures, or at a later era, by the publication of the Alcoran, the Magian re⯑ligion of the eaſt was much reformed; one ſu⯑preme and eternal God introduced; the wor⯑ſhip of him alone eſtabliſhed by books account⯑ed divine; and eſtabliſhed ſo firmly that its vo⯑taries, though full of ſuperſtitions, continue to deteſt idolatry, and proſeſſedly worſhip before the fire or towards the riſing ſun, only as the [37] pureſt types of the Divinity. Nay in almoſt all the popular religions of Aſia, we are in⯑formed that, amidſt numberleſs abſurdities, and idolatrous uſages, One God is ultimately adored.

2. THE religion of the Iſraelites ſophiſticated as it was by idolatry, before the captivity, may juſtly be called falſe. From that idolatry, it has ever ſince been completely purged: and their preſent ritual, with all its deformities, is far preferable to the heatheniſh inventions of their anceſtors.—Whether, or how far, the doctrine of the Jews concerning the Meſſiah, has been amended ſince their rejection of him, it is unneceſſary to examine. As their unbe⯑lief is founded on the moſt rooted prejudices and the moſt determined miſunderſtanding of the prophecies, it is only from very extraordi⯑nary events that their converſion can be expect⯑ed; and till it take place there can be little al⯑teration in their ſentiments concerning Chriſt. For this, the predicted time is not yet come▪ but when it comes, their converſion will be perfect; all their errors will be relinquiſhed; as national, their religion will ceaſe; as divine, [38] all of it that was intended permanent will be reduced to the purity of the ſcripture: and even to the Chriſtian world, ‘the receiving of them will be life from the dead ^*.’

3. WHEN from the accumulated corruptions of Chriſtianity, through a ſeries of ages, po⯑pery had ſprung up, and reached its maturity, the abſurdities and abuſes with which it abound⯑ed, began at length to be diſcovered. By the revival of learning, and by the application of it to an examination of the eſtabliſhed ſyſtem, its errors have been much corrected.

Even by thoſe who ſtill adhered to the pro⯑feſſion of it, it has been in ſome meaſure re⯑fined. Some of its doctrines have been expli⯑citly renounced; ſome of them explained a⯑way; many of them ſoftened. Some of its ſu⯑perſtitions have been diſclaimed; ſome ſuffer⯑ed to fall into diſuſe; others ſtript of part of their pageantry. The ſaints have been repre⯑ſented as not invocated for the benefit of their merits, but only entreated for their prayers; images, as not themſelves objects of worſhip, [39] but merely helps to a lively conception and re⯑membrance of the perſon whom they portray. Indulgences are more ſparingly dealt out, leſs eagerly ſought after, and their efficacy is leſs extolled.—The ſpirit of popery has been melio⯑rated. The reading of the ſcriptures has been more freely permitted to the people; and by vernacular verſions and expoſitions, means are ſupplied for their better underſtanding them. Every where the horrors of the inquiſition have have been mitigated; in ſome places they have ceaſed. Among the moſt bigotted nations, diſ⯑cuſſions which once would have been repreſſed by the executioner, begin to be ventured on with impunity, and liſtened to without ha⯑zard: and in nations more enlightened, free inquiry is encouraged and purſued with ar⯑dour. A liberal toleration has been, not only recommended by the learned, and granted by diſcerning princes, but approved by the multi⯑tude, practiſed by prieſts, and even indulged by popes. Their authority, both ſpiritual and temporal, has come to be very faintly ſubmit⯑ted to, and very cautiouſly exerciſed. Some religious orders, uſeleſs or noxious, have been ſuppreſſed, and others reſtricted, or reformed.

[40] But among thoſe who ſeparated from the church of Rome, a far more important reſtora⯑tion of pure Chriſtianity has taken place. By the firſt reformers, the ſcripture was recogniz⯑ed as the only rule of religious faith and prac⯑tice: and to the inveſtigation of its genuine ſenſe they applied all the means of which they were poſſeſſed, with ſucceſs in their cir⯑cumſtances aſtoniſhing. They exploded all the groſſeſt errors; and the purity of the doctrine, worſhip, and morals, which all of them eſta⯑bliſhed, though not untainted, was ſufficient to put to ſhame the church which they forſook. That they ſhould accompliſh ſo much, is won⯑derful; that they ſhould have effected a perfect reformation would have been miraculous.—They could not rid themſelves of every preju⯑dice: to ſome errors they remained attached; by their deteſtation of others they were driven into an oppoſite extreme. They were deſtitute of many advantages for interpreting the ſcrip⯑tures: and their opinions were biaſſed by a falſe philoſophy. They attempted too preciſe definitions of ſpeculative tenets; they dogma⯑tically decided dubious points of doctrine: they were unreaſonably tenacious of their ſeve⯑ral [41] deciſions; they were too eaſily and too deeply irritated by contradiction to theſe: by aiming at an impracticable uniformity, they broke that union which they ought to have preſerved. By an abuſe of liberty, to which they who have newly acquired it are ever prone, crude conceits, wild notions, and ex⯑travagant practices were ſometimes vented; and ſects founded on them, ſome of which, after flaſhing for a while, vaniſhed away, and ſome, throwing off the groſſer matter, have aſſumed a more decent form.—All the defects of the firſt reformation are not yet ſupplied; many cauſes have concurred in preventing it: but ſome of them have been in part removed; and for the removal of them all, there ſeems to be a hap⯑py preparation. New means of elucidating ſcripture are every day diſcovered and employ⯑ed: there is a very general diſpoſition among proteſtants to examine with impartiality what it really teaches: the fallible determinations and deductions of men are leſs implicitly revered: ſome doctrines have come to be explained more ſoberly: many frivolous controverſies are ex⯑ploded, and the more important queſtions are often debated with coolneſs and candour: leſs [42] ſtreſs is laid on the minute diſtinctions of par⯑ties; and many of every party have learned to judge equitably of others, and to converſe ami⯑cably with them. Though this be not univer⯑ſally the ſtate of things in the proteſtant churches, it is ſo in a conſiderable degree: and though the extenſion of it may be checked at times, there is reaſon to believe that it will not be finally ſtopped. In the courſe of free in⯑quiry, errors cannot but be broached; the infir⯑mity of men, it may be, can never permit their exemption from every miſtake, or prevent eve⯑ry difference of ſentiment: but by the unre⯑ſtrained progreſſion of ſuch inquiry, we truſt that all the really important truths of our reli⯑gion will in time be irrefragably aſcertained and unanimouſly acknowledged; that Chriſtians will harmoniouſly acquieſce in theſe; and that, diſregarding other things, they will concur in conſidering and uſing Chriſtianity, as a ſyſtem of ſimple principles revealed for the ſanctifica⯑tion, the conſolation, and the ſalvation of man⯑kind.

4. THERE is another falſe religion, the Ma⯑hometan impoſture; which claims our atten⯑tion [43] the more, becauſe it ſeems at firſt ſight unfavourable to our poſition, but on inſpecting the peculiarity of its origin and ſtructure, will turn out a remarkable confirmation of it. We had no occaſion to mention it under the former head; for it was not a natural and gradual de⯑pravation of any one true religion. It was a ſtu⯑died compoſition from Judaiſm, Chriſtianity, and the heathen ſuperſſitions of Arabia, pro⯑jected and formed by one man, and fixed by a written ſtandard. Being in its original a mix⯑ture from religions true and falſe, its progreſs, as might have been expected, has participated in the fates of both.

Since religions wholly true have always been in time depraved, what this impoſture had in common with them, already in the firſt deli⯑very tainted, could not but be liable to farther depravation. Having a definite ſtandard, diſ⯑putes naturally aroſe about its meaning, and produced a ſeparation into ſects which ſtill ſub⯑ſiſt. Including principles of general truth, there came of courſe ſpeculations, diſcuſſions, and queſtions concerning them; and theſe would have been more frequent if its votaries had abounded more in curioſity or ingenuity. [44] Mahomet had borrowed from the ſcriptures; many moral precepts in tolerable purity; but ſome of them have been debaſed by his follow⯑ers. In the beginning, he claimed a right only to admoniſh and perſuade; but he ſoon ſtript his religion of this gentle ſpirit, by declaring himſelf authoriſed to compel aſſent and exter⯑minate all oppoſers, and commanding his diſ⯑ciples to do the ſame. Their hatred of Chri⯑ſtianity has ſometimes led them to deny things favourable to it, which he admitted. Many parts of the Alcoran are corruptions of ſcripture hiſto⯑ries: if theſe have been more corrupted ſince; if multitudes of fables have been added to them; or if tenets originally falſe, have been rendered more abſurd; if, for example, a ſenſual paradiſe has been deſcribed in more diſſolute terms; this is only that declenſion from bad to worſe, which has happened in all falſe religions during the prevalence of ignorance, and gone on till they reached the extremeſt point of their dege⯑neracy.—Mahomet alleged no open miracles in ſupport of his miſſion, and appealed not to any clear prediction of him in the extant ſcrip⯑tures: ought we to reckon it a deteriora⯑tion, or a melioration of his ſcheme, that his [45] followers have marked his birth and early life with prodigies and preſages, aſcribed to him thouſands of miracles, and attempted to diſco⯑ver intimations of his coming in the bible as it ſtands? Being fictions, they add to the fal⯑ſities of Mahometaniſm: could they be made plauſible, they would ſupply its total want of evidence.

But ſome real amendments it has unqueſtion⯑ably received. They were begun even by its author: having employed more than twenty years in completing the Alcoran, he corrected errors in what had been firſt written, reſolved difficulties, and obviated objections; and ſalved the practice from the charge of inconſiſtency, by giving the reſult of his maturer reflection or growing experience, as new revelations revok⯑ing the former ones. His followers have la⯑boured to reconcile ſome of the contradictions which were left remaining in it: they have ſoftened or explained away ſome of its moſt glaring abſurdities, as its excluſion of women from paradiſe. They have ſupplied many de⯑fects in its laws, and in many caſes the inter⯑pretations of the doctors are better than the text. Mahomet enjoined his followers to [46] extirpate all other religions by the ſword, and for ſome time they executed the mandate in its utmoſt rigour: but even the ferocious Sara⯑cens ſoon adopted leſs bloody maxims; the Perſians lay other religions under very moderate reſtraints; and the Turks have indulged tole⯑ration ſo far that, in the very vicinity of their capital, a Chriſtian church has ſubſiſted for ages, oppreſſed indeed, though even this more from avarice than from religious zeal, but ſuf⯑fered to retain its conſtitution and its worſhip, and to regulate its own concerns; nay, by ſome of their conqueſts, proteſtants have re⯑covered the liberty and eaſe, of which the bi⯑gotry of papiſts had before totally deprived them.

That this falſe religion has not been more extenſively reformed, during ſo conſiderable a length of time, may be eaſily accounted for. Its very nature tends to depreſs and contract the underſtanding; and the deſpotiſm which has conſtantly accompanied it, aggravates its effect. The powers of its votaries thus degrad⯑ed, they can have little propenſity to inquiry or examination; and from this they are, though not abſolutely prohibited, yet ſtrongly diſcou⯑raged [47] by the maxims of their prophet and his ſucceſſors. They have been always involved in the profoundeſt ignorance, not only neglect⯑ing knowledge, but deſpiſing it; and they are utter ſtrangers to thoſe parts of learning parti⯑cularly, the leaſt ſmattering of which would expoſe the ſables, the ſalſities, and the blun⯑ders of the Alcoran. Glimmerings of know⯑ledge have led ſome of its adherents to detect its groſſeſt faults; and a general diffuſion of even the ſainteſt dawn of literature would lead them either to attempt reforming it, or to re⯑nounce it.

Founded as this religion is in impoſture, and contaminated as it is in its compoſition, it has already, by the unſearchable wiſdom of God's providence, been over-ruled to produce many good effects; to put an end to idolatry in the country where it ſprung up, to improve the religions of Aſia, to ſpread far the doctrine of the divine unity; as well as to chaſtiſe the diviſions, the ſuperſtitions, and the vices of Chriſtians. True knowledge and learning will ſcarcely try to mend it; they will more pro⯑bably diſcover its total falſehood, and explode it. And when we conſider, that it ſtrenuouſly [48] inculcates the firſt principle of true religion, One God; that it in ſome meaſure owns the the divine miſſion of Moſes, and of Jeſus Chriſt, and the original inſpiration of our ſcriptures; and that the ſlendereſt acquaintance with hi⯑ſtory and criticiſm will demonſtrate the impoſſi⯑bility of their being falſiſied, as well as the ab⯑ſurdity of its own fictions: On theſe grounds, without prying into the ſenſe of prophecies yet wrapt up in obſcurity, is it preſumptuous to indulge the hope, that this falſe religion will in time pave the way for the general reception of Chriſtianity by its numerous profeſſors, and that its having been permitted to overſpread ſo large a proportion of mankind, will in the end contribute to the bringing in of ‘the fulneſs of the gentiles ^*,’ and to all ‘the king⯑doms of the world becoming the kingdom of our Lord and of his Chriſt ^†?’

IN this world, nothing goes on with perfect equability; there are unevenneſſes and breaks in the moſt regular proceſſes of nature, and in the moſt connected ſeries of events; and every [49] proceſs, every ſeries requires a certain ſpace of time for the completion of its courſe. It can⯑not be expected that it ſhould be otherwiſe in religion: its motion, towards either corrup⯑tion or improvement, muſt be ſometimes pro⯑greſſive, ſometimes interrupted, and ſometimes retrograde; ſometimes accelerated, and ſome⯑times checked or retarded, by a variety of cauſes: and it is only by tracing it through a large period, that we can determine its iſſue. But with theſe reſtrictions, neceſſary to be ad⯑mitted in judging of every caſe, it has, I think, been ſufficiently evinced, that true reli⯑gions are made worſe, and falſe religions bet⯑ter, in a conſiderable length of time.

III. LET us next point out the concluſions fairly deducible from the facts which we have eſtabliſhed.

THAT all the corruptions which have been introduced into Chriſtianity, cannot warrant the ſlighteſt ſuſpicion of its truth, is a conſequence ſo clear and obvious, that it needs no illuſtra⯑tion. If the Jew attempts by them to vindicate his rejection of the goſpel, he muſt admit that [50] his own religion never came from God; for he cannot deny that it too has been at times cor⯑rupted. The deiſt cannot urge the objection without exploding natural religion; for it de⯑generated into paganiſm: If it be true, though God, far from preſerving its purity, permitted this ſhameful degeneracy to overſpread the world, why may not Chriſtianity be alſo true, notwithſtanding the like ſeeming neglect of pro⯑vidence? Had the objection any force, it would neceſſarily infer that there never was a true re⯑ligion in the world, and that atheiſm is the on⯑ly tenable and conſiſtent ſcheme.

But from our detail of the fates of differ⯑ent religions, we venture farther to conclude, that the very fact objected, Chriſtianity having been corrupted, yields ſome real preſumption of its truth. It is one feature which it has in common with all religions that have any claim to truth, and by which it differs from all reli⯑gions indiſputably falſe. This ſingle feature is not ſufficient for abſolutely aſcertaining, but it ſurely gives ſome indication, to which of the two families it belongs.

The indication, however ſlender when we attend to the mere fact, will become ſtronger [51] and more unequivocal when we examine the reaſons of the fact. For we ſhall find that the contrariety of the fates of true and of falſe re⯑ligions, ariſes from the very nature of the thing.—True religions are the work of God, all whoſe plans, proceeding from his infinite perfection, muſt be pure and complete. It is therefore impoſſible that they can be improved by the wiſdom of man. But the weakneſs of his rea⯑ſon, and the power of his paſſions, ſcarcely ſuf⯑fer him to adhere to them, preciſely as God gave them. Every deviation from them muſt be to the worſe; and it muſt, by biaſſing rea⯑ſon and increaſing the impulſe of the paſſions, contribute to farther deviations; till they ſink into the greateſt degree of corruption which the vitiated faculties of their votaries can bear.—But falſe religions are the contrivances of men; and therefore, partaking in the errors and depravations of thoſe narrow and polluted conceptions from which they ſpring, they muſt be always capable of amendment. Every al⯑teration of men's ſentiments and views, though not implying conſiderable improvement, will diſcover ſome blemiſh which they find it need⯑ful to remove from their religion. In propor⯑tion [52] as their underſtandings are improved, cul⯑tivated, and enlightened, they will advance to an ampler detection of its abſurdities, and en⯑deavour to correct them by progreſſive refine⯑ments; till at length the unſucceſsfulneſs of all their efforts determine them to abandon it. Ar⯑rived at the point of its extreme degeneracy, every falſe religion deſtroys itſelf.—If it be thus▪ in the nature of the thing, inevitable that true religions are gradually corrupted into ſuch as may be denominated falſe, and that theſe, after having been for ſome time ſtagnant, throw off their dregs and refine themſelves, is it not a real preſumption of the truth of Chriſtianity, that it has had theſe revolutions?

If theſe concluſions be, as they appear to me, legitimate, the argument which I have ſtated will make ſome addition to the proofs of the truth and divinity of our holy religion. Slen⯑der as it may be, taken by itſelf, it is not un⯑deſerving of our regard: for the more nume⯑rous the proofs, eſpecially when they are educed from circumſtances untoward and unfavourable, the more irreſiſtibly they compel our aſſent, and ſix us in tranquil reliance, in ſpite of ſub⯑tile [53] cavils, on ‘the certainty of thoſe things wherein we have been inſtructed ^*.’

BUT though our concluſions ſhould, in the judgment of ſome, have little force, no harm can, and ſome good may, ariſe from their hav⯑ing been propoſed. For all the great evidences of Chriſtianity continue unimpaired: and the facts in the hiſtory of religion, which have fal⯑len under our notice, may, without our conſi⯑dering them as inferring the truth of Chriſtia⯑nity, lead us into reflections far from uſeleſs; a few of which I beg leave to ſuggeſt.

In the whole hiſtory of religion, we cannot fail to obſerve, that all the corruptions of it have proceeded from the ignorance and the evil paſſions of men; and that every emendation of it has been produced by the diffuſion of knowledge, partly in conſequence of the diſco⯑veries of reaſon, but principally owing to the ſuperior light of divine revelation. The obſer⯑vation implies at once a ſtrong recommendation of learning and ſcience, and a convincing proof of the great utility and importance of re⯑velation. [54] And will it not warrant us in ſaying, that, ſince reaſon by itſelf was able to do ſome⯑thing in religion, much may be expected from the free and ſober exerciſe of it, illuminated and guided by revelation, and acting in ſubor⯑dination to it?

Zealous have been the efforts of ſome, to baniſh Chriſtianity from the world. Suppoſe it poſſible that they ſhould ſucceed, what advan⯑tage would they gain? Say ſome, the extirpa⯑tion of ſuperſtition, a name which they chooſe to give to all religion: But, not to inquire whe⯑ther this would be truly an advantage, the project is impracticable; for the conſtitution of man, and the whole hiſtory of mankind, con⯑ſpire to prove that univerſal atheiſm never can take place, and that human creatures will put up with the worſt form of religion, rather than have none. Others promiſe a happier conſequence, the introduction of natural religion in perfect purity. A ſyſtem of it, I ſhall not diſpute but they might compoſe; though it is only by the help of that revelation to which they return ſo little gratitude, for the wiſeſt of the ancients never could accompliſh it: But by what means are they to qualify the bulk of mankind for en⯑tering [55] into all their reaſonings? Or by what art will they induce them, without this, impli⯑citly to adopt their concluſions? Suppoſe it, however, introduced and univerſally eſtabliſhed; ſtill it could be only for a moment. The ex⯑perience of paſt times demonſtrates that it would quickly degenerate into polytheiſm and idolatry: though the acknowledgement of the One God was, in the primeval religion, forti⯑fied by a memorial of all other things being created by him, it did not long reſtrain them from worſhipping theſe as gods; and from this worſhip, the theiſm of the beſt philoſophers was not able to recover them. The nature of the thing corroborates the illation from expe⯑rience: Reaſon, it is juſtly obſerved by one of the acuteſt inſidels ^*, can eſtabliſh the be⯑lief of one God, only by careful attention to the ſignatures of his power and wiſdom in the works of nature; but the opinion of many gods ariſes from the paſſions naturally excited by feeling the effects of inviſible power in the varied and contrary events of human life: the latter are always more obvious, and more in⯑tereſting [56] than the former; and conſequently muſt create a continual propenſity to polytheiſm, which reaſon alone will be unable to curb. A project, therefore, to explode revelation, is in fact a project to bring the world back to the worſhip of ſtocks and ſtones: and whether it betrays greater narrowneſs of underſtanding, or defect of benevolence, it is not eaſy to deter⯑mine.

From the detail of facts which we have giv⯑en, it is plain that religion, in the hand of weak and fallible men, is always in danger of being corrupted. A reformation from the cor⯑ruption which it had once contracted, affords no ſecurity againſt its being again contaminated. No ſooner almoſt was Judaiſm purged from idolatry, than it degenerated anew by a mix⯑ture of infidelity, myſticiſm, and ſuperſtition. Into the proteſtant religion, with which we are moſt nearly concerned, conſiderable ble⯑miſhes have ſometimes found their way. Though the reformers began with declaring ſcripture to be the only rule of faith, teaching what they thought agreeable to it, and calling upon all men to exerciſe their own judgment; yet to this fundamental principle of the reformation [57] neither they nor their ſucceſſors have uniform⯑ly adhered. They were upbraided, by the po⯑piſh writers, with the uncertainty of their doc⯑trine, and importuned for a preciſe expoſition of their faith: they yielded to the clamour, and reduced their theology into formal ſyſtems. At firſt they propoſed them only as an anſwer to the demands of their opponents: but they quickly erected them into ſtandards of faith, and exacted a ſtrict conformity to them as a condition of communion. They conſiſted not of a ſeries of propoſitions clearly revealed in ſcrip⯑ture: but too often included definitions reſtrict⯑ing its words to the one ſenſe which they approved, far fetched and diſputable deductions from it, ſubtile explications of its ſimple prin⯑ciples, and precarious hypotheſes for ſupporting them. The diverſity of theſe human ſyſtems occaſioned controverſies; the authority aſcribed to each of them inflamed the ſpirit of conten⯑tion; the ſierceneſs of contention produced ſchiſms: and both attachment to a particular party, and abhorrence of it, biaſſed the minds of men from impartiality in ſearching the ſcrip⯑tures. In the colliſion of ſects and parties, ſome, from exceſſive deference to human au⯑thority, [58] reverted nearer to the degenerate church which they had forſaken; ſome affected too much a contrariety in every point; ſome conſe⯑crated dogmas evidently unſcriptural; ſome ex⯑plained away tenets really founded in the bible; and many laid greater ſtreſs on the diſtinctive notions of a ſect, than on active faith in the ſimple practical principles of the goſpel.

To ſome depravation, our religion will be ever liable by reaſon of the infirmities of its pro⯑feſſors. While they think that they are maintain⯑ing it in its purity, they may be only holding faſt ſome error from which it has not hitherto been wholly purged. While they mean only to caſt off the remains of error, they may be in⯑troducing new errors. Our duty is, to employ the beſt precautions for eſcaping from the dan⯑ger to which we cannot ceaſe to be expoſed. However much Chriſtianity may be at times depraved, it always carries along with it the means of its reſtoration. As the ſun has in himſelf unvaried brightneſs, and power to diſſi⯑pate the clouds which often obſcure his light in its tranſmiſſion to the earth; ſo the ſcrip⯑tures, always pure and always the ſame, exhibit genuine Chriſtianity, and afford the means of [59] rectifying the groſſeſt miſconceptions of it. To them let us always have recourſe; to their ſole authority let us bend. Let us honeſtly and di⯑ligently ſeek the truth, as it is in them; let us reſt ſatisfied with the plain and ſanctifying views of the great principles of religion, which they preſent; let us give no indulgence to falſe in⯑genuity in refining on them. Let us deſpiſe all frivolous and unedifying queſtions; let us labour, only by the "doctrine" of the goſpel to cheriſh that "goodneſs ^*" which is its end. Purſuing this courſe, our religion will be as pure as the weakneſs of our faculties permits; and, notwiſtanding its defects, will be accept⯑ed through Jeſus Chriſt, by him who ‘know⯑eth our frame ^†.’ Would all purſue this courſe, the religion of the Chriſtian world would aſſume a better face: it would be re⯑garded, not as a ſubject of diſputation, but as the art of holy living; each man, ſenſible of his own fallibility in applying the inſallible rule of faith, would give ready indulgence to the opinions of others; the diſcontinuance of ſpe⯑culative diſcuſſions would unite all more nearly [60] in the ſame faith; they would renounce invi⯑dious names of diſtinction; they would glory only in the name of Chriſtians; and under this name would form a great ſociety ‘like⯑minded, having the ſame love, of one ac⯑cord, of one mind ^*,’ ſtriving together to render their "converſation" ſuch ‘as becom⯑eth the goſpel of Chriſt ^†.’

I MAKE no digreſſion from the ſubject on which I have all along inſiſted, when I now turn my diſcourſe to the preſent occaſion, the meeting of the Society in Scotland for propa⯑gating Chriſtian Knowledge. The very object of its inſtitution is, at once to bring thoſe to the knowledge of Chriſtianity, who before had no opportunity of learning it; and to impart it in greater purity to thoſe who poſſeſſed only the moſt adulterated form of it. This noble ob⯑ject, the plan of the Society leads them to pur⯑ſue by the only legitimate and proper means, inſtruction. They have wiſely directed their firſt endeavours to what promiſes the beſt ef⯑fects, inſtilling religious principles and good [61] habits into the ſuſceptible minds of the young: but they have not neglected what they had it in their power to do, for recovering thoſe who had long been enſlaved by error and ſuperſtition. By procuring tranſlations of the ſacred books, into the only language generally underſtood in many corners of the kingdom, they have given to multitudes an opportunity of drawing reli⯑gious knowledge from the unpolluted fountains of truth, and of continually improving in it by their own application. They have extended their views to the propagation of the goſpel, by the like proper means, in remote regions of the earth, wherever the vicinity of fellow-pro⯑teſtants gave any favourable opening. It is by ſuch means only, that true religion has ever been ſpread, or corruptions of it effectually re⯑moved: it is by ſuch means only, that theſe events can in any caſe be reaſonably expected. God forbid that they who wiſh, or who exert themſelves, for the prevalence of true religion, ſhould at any time ſo far miſtake their way, as to approve or aid a reſtraint on the profeſſion of of the falſeſt, by the terror of civil laws, or the ſmart of penalties. Nothing could more ob⯑ſtruct the accompliſhment of their wiſh or the [62] efficacy of their exertions. Such engines may impoſe ſilence or force a feigned compliance: but they often irritate to ſtiffer oppoſition; and they never can produce conviction or conver⯑tion. No, Chriſtians: ‘the weapons of our warfare are not carnal;’ their temper is from heaven: and if we do not hurt it by the baſe alloy of human policy, they will be ‘migh⯑ty through God to the pulling down of ſtrong holds ^*.’ When the good ends are an⯑ſwered, for which the inſcrutable providence of God has permitted ‘the man of ſin to exalt himſelf, the Lord ſhall conſume him by the ſpirit and words of his mouth ^†.’ To this happy event, there are every where clear and quick advances: and the efforts of this So⯑ciety are well calculated for accelerating it, ſo far as their influence extends.

On the manner in which the Society have employed the legitimate means of promoting the knowledge of the goſpel, it is unneceſſary for me to expatiate. Of the uniform integrity of their intentions, the regular publications of their proceedings, ſtating the ſimple facts, mark⯑ing [63] the miſcarriages as well as the ſucceſſes of their plans, evidence the fulleſt conſciouſneſs in themſelves, and give others the faireſt opportuni⯑ty of judging. On the prudence and rectitude of their management, the continual and growing encouragement with which they meet, is the beſt encomium. The pious perſons who plan⯑ned the inſtitution ſaw ‘multitudes fainting and ſcattered abroad▪ as ſheep having no ſhepherd;’ and in the ſpirit of their divine maſter ^*, they were ‘moved with compaſſion on them. The harveſt truly was plenteous, but the labourers were’ very "few." With pray⯑ers to ‘the lord of the harveſt, that he would ſend forth labourers,’ they united their own zealous exertions to procure them. The funds which they could command for this purpoſe, bore no proportion to the greatneſs of the de⯑ſign: and from the nature and ſituation of the country, from the rude ſtate of ſociety and manners, from prejudices both political and religious, numberleſs obſtructions aroſe in the execution of it. Yet their earlieſt attempts were not fruitleſs. The exertions of thoſe who [64] came after them have been perſerving; they have had extenſive ſucceſs; and there is rea⯑ſon to hope for ſtill greater ſucceſs. Some of the obſtructions are removed, others are much diminiſhed; and for ſurmounting the reſt, con⯑ſiderable advantages are obtained. Society has advanced to a more improved ſtate; the laws every where operate with becoming energy; peace, ſecurity, and order are introduced; the political prejudices are extirpated, and the reli⯑gious mitigated ^*: Induſtry has taken place of idleneſs, partly by the meaſure which the So⯑ciety has long proſecuted in ſubordination to its principal object, the education of young per⯑ſons in the moſt neceſſary and uſeful arts of common life, and partly by the ample encou⯑ragement and aſſiſtance which Government has given to the improvement of the Highlands; and means have been projected, which promiſe fair for carrying it forward with rapidity. Every [65] degree of ſucceſs which has attended the exer⯑tions of the Society, removes ſome obſtruction, and leaves the leſs to be accompliſhed. For accompliſhing what remains, there are at the ſame time more abundant means: the accu⯑mulation of ſmaller donations, which are fre⯑quent, is far from inconſiderable: there have been, and there will ſometimes be, large be⯑queſts: the munificent gift recently beſtowed, in a manner which precludes acknowledgments from men, but will not miſs reward from that God whoſe higheſt approbation attends the unoſten⯑tatious exerciſe of pure benevolence and piety, gives the immediate means of extending the uſefulneſs of this inſtitution far beyond its pre⯑ſent limits; and will doubtleſs be faithfully and wiſely employed for that purpoſe. A purpoſe ſo important, let the rich promote by willing communications from their treaſures, thoſe whoſe ſituation admits it by their aſſiſting la⯑bours, and all by their fervent prayers. To God muſt be aſcribed all paſt ſucceſſes; on him muſt ultimately depend all future ſucceſs. May he ever direct thoſe to whom ſo great a truſt is committed, grant a bleſſing on their endea⯑vours, [66] and provide the means of propagating truth and goodneſs, till his ‘way be known upon earth,’ his ‘ſaving health among all nations ^*.’