Evidences of the Christian Religion;: Briefly and Plainly StatedA. Strahan and T. Cadell, London; and W. Creech, Edinburgh., 1786 - Apologetics |
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againſt alfo alſo anſwer antient apoſtles becauſe believe beſt cafe candour caufes cauſe charity Chrift Chriſtian Cicero confequences confider confiderable corrupted debaſe defire difpenfations divine doctrine eafy evil exifted faid faith falfe falvation fame father feem fenfual fhall fhould fhow fincere fingular firſt folar fome fometimes foon friendſhip ftate ftill ftudied fuch fuffer fuperftition fuperiour fuppofe fupport fyftem gion gofpel goodneſs happineſs heart higheſt himſelf Holy honour human affairs ignorant impoffible induſtry infidels inquiry intereſted itſelf Jefus leaſt lefs mankind mind morality moſt muft muſt nature neceffary obferved occafion oppofition paffions perfon philofophy pleaſe poffible prefent purity purpoſe raiſe reafon reafon to think religion reſpect Saviour Scripture ſee ſenſe ſpeak ſtandard ſtate ſtudy taught Teftament teftimony thefe themſelves theſe thing thofe thoſe thoufand tion true truth tural underſtand underſtood uſeful virtue Voltaire whereof whofe wiſdom worſhip
Popular passages
Page 17 - In a word, the heathen morality, even in its best form, that is, as two or three of their best philosophers taught it, amounts to little more than this : Be useful to yourselves, your friends, and your country ; so shall ye be respectable while ye live, and honoured when ye die ; and it is to be hoped ye may receive reward in another life. The language of the Christian lawgiver is different. The world is not worthy of the ambition of an immortal being.
Page 3 - He was the son of a carpenter's wife, and he was himself a carpenter. So poor were his reputed parents, that at the time of his birth, his mother could obtain no better lodging than a stable : and so poor was he himself, that he often had no lodging at all. That he had no advantages of education, we may infer from the surprise expressed by his neighbours, on hearing him speak in the synagogue : 'Whence hath this man these things?
Page 148 - In this our first period of existence, our eye cannot penetrate beyond the present scene, and the human race appears one great and separate community; but with other worlds, and other communities, we probably may, and every argument for the truth of our religion gives us reason to think that we shall, be connected hereafter.
Page 24 - ... justice, and to love him as the father of mercies, and the God of all consolation ; to trust in him as the friend, the comforter, and the almighty guardian, of all who believe and obey him ; to rejoice in him as the best of beings, and adore him as the greatest : — we...
Page 129 - ... invaded, enslaved, or exterminated ; that, for the amusement of a few young soldiers, two or three thousand poor, unarmed, and innocent men may be murdered in one night, with the...
Page 130 - Lipsius affirms (Sat., bic 12), that the gladiatorial shows sometimes cost Europe twenty or thirty thousand lives in a month ; and that not only the men, but even the women of all ranks, were passionately fond of these shows. See Bishop Porteus...
Page 111 - if any provide not for his own, <£ and efpecially for thofe of his own " houfe, he hath denied the faith, and is
Page 98 - ... lips, but without hearing what he said, it was not unnatural for them to conclude, as the combination against him seemed now to be universal, that both the robbers reviled him ; which yet Luke, or some other person from whom Luke received his information, might, by being more advantageously situated, and hearing the words of the penitent robber, know to be true of only one of them. At any rate, we may with confidence affirm, that if the Evangelists had been to invent a fable, and obtrude it on...
Page 23 - What an elevation must it give to our pious affections, to contemplate the supreme Being and his Providence, as revealed to us in Scripture ! We are there taught, that man was created in the image of God, innocent and happy ; and that he had no sooner fallen into sin, than his Creator, instead of abandoning him and his offspring to the natural consequences of his disobedience, and of their hereditary depravity, was...
Page 16 - Christians are taught to look for, but also to prepare us, by habits of piety and benevolence, for a reward, which none but the pure in heart can receive, or could relish. The duties of piety, as far as the heart is concerned, were not much attended to by the heathen lawgiver. Cicero coldly ranks them with the social virtues, and says very little about them.