tianity, both in themselves, and as they respect the persons who advance them ?

On the topics of FAITH, INTERPRETATION, and OBLIGATION, 29 I say nothing; because they are involved in every step we have taken, and cannot be denied, without overthrowing all trust and confidence amongst men; all honesty and fair dealing in the intercourse of society; all that moral sense and conscience which distinguish men from the inferior creation much more than the barren possession of reason. In short, he that enters fully into the preceding arguments, will be the first to yield to the inevitable consequences flowing from them.

But I advert to a subject, interposed amongst all these the TENDENCY of Christianity 30-which I have reserved for the purpose of making one reflection. For, if in addition to all the above evidences, there is in Christianity an innate and strong direction and bias towards human happiness in the highest sense of the term; if the known hindrances are capable of being enumerated; if those hindrances are gradually being overcome, and are now daily lessening; if the good effects of the religion have uniformly burst forth, as a mighty river, in proportion as the hindrances have been removed, and have fertilized the face of the adjacent lands; if the religion itself foretells the chief impediments to this tendency, and points out the causes of them in men's abuse of the divine mercies, whilst it limits their duration; if the same records declare an ultimate and glorious consummation as about to take place, when all the tendencies of Christianity shall be turned into effects, and the whole world be a scene of light, and peace, and holiness; and if every sincere Christian feels in himself this tendency, and is engaged in removing obstacles out of the way of it, and hastening its progress in himself and others;-if

29 Lects. XXIII. XXIV, and XXV. 30 Lect. XXIII.

this be so; then, I say, the crown is placed on the brow of the Christian evidences, and every species of proof is accomplished by this finishing point; then, I say, the tendency within Christianity runs on parallel with the predicted course of divine prophecy, which forms one of the most remarkable of the external proofs from without it-and the only demand upon man's reason, is to acknowledge his own ignorance, as to the origin and permission of evil, and the designs and will of the incomprehensible God-reposing his faith in the wisdom, justice, and mercy of the almighty and most glorious Judge of the world-a demand so natural, that it is surprising it should ever have been questioned.

3. And this touches upon that PROBATIONARY AND IMPERFECT STATE in which man confessedly is, and with which the general nature of the internal evidences of Christianity remarkably corresponds. Undoubtedly, the sceptic may, if he please, reject all this mass of evidence; undoubtedly he may refuse to obey the Christian Revelation; undoubtedly he may magnify petty difficulties, and lend himself to speculative reasonings. That is, he may act, with regard to Christianity, just as he acts with regard to God's natural providence, or his moral government of man; he may pretend that all is involved in darkness, and that he can see no clear path before him. Thus the youth may also conduct himself in human life. He may refuse to take precautions, to form habits, to look forward to future scenes of difficulty, to act with prudence and self-restraint; he may spurn any moral subjection to the claims of the Almighty, or to the checks upon the appetites, which his natural law imposes.

But does he, or can he, escape the consequences of that righteous retribution of the great moral Governor which involve and surround him? Can he elude the sanctions of the general religion, resting on the faint traces of Revelation, and the moral nature of man,

VOL. II.

DD

which inclose the transgressor, as in a net? Can a careless, incautious youth escape a miserable and disgraceful age can negligence, imprudence, and want of foresight be always repaired by any after-repentance -can the indulgence of pride and self-importance be separated from inward torments and outward contentions—can an irreligious contempt of moral restraints insure itself against self-disapprobation, disease, weakened faculties, a disturbed conscience, remorse, anticipations of judgment, dread of eternity, despair?

Apply this to Christianity. The lives and deaths of infidels demonstratively show that the very same moral and judicial punishments are inflicted on the objector against Revelation. And all this so agrees with the probationary state of man, as to form a strong additional confirmation that the whole system of government in natural providence, in essential and primeval religion, and in Christianity, proceeds from the same divine hand, is governed by the same general laws, and conspires to the same end ? 31

4. Let the humble inquirer, then, COLLECT ALL THE SCATTERED RAYS OF LIGHT, flowing from the several branches of the divine argument, and let him remember that these series of proofs, which are necessarily considered in separate parts, for the purpose of a better investigation, form but one uniform, candid, and inseparable body of testimony; which, like the light of the sun, thongh separated and divaricated into the various colours of blue, and green, and red, and the other colours of the prism, whilst passing through our mind, and being subjected to our examination; is yet, in itself, one and the same effulgent glory, shedding light and warmth from its mighty orb.

32

Yes; the whole of the Christian evidences form one argument, one attestation, one inseparable and irresis32 Warburton.

31 Butler.

tible appeal to the human understanding, conscience, and heart. From the simplest proof of the authenticity of our books, to the last evidence of the inspiration of all their contents; and from the first point of the adaptation, to the closing topic of the indispensable moral obligation of receiving the religion, all constitutes one undivided chain of reasoning, the most indissoluble and most binding ever offered to an accountable being.

And the grand probation of man now is, whether he will obey this Revelation and submit his reason and heart to God; or whether he will follow his pride and passions, and dare the authority of the great Lord of all.

God grant that every reader of these Lectures may so weigh the moral obligation under which he lies, as to be WISE IN TIME; as to follow the directions of the Bible, and obtain THE GRACE NECESSARY for welcoming it with humble faith and cheerful obedience; that thus all THE BLESSED ENDS of the Christian Revelation may be accomplished in him here and hereafter !

404

And

LECTURE XXVI.

CONCLUSION OF THE ENTIRE COURSE.

JOHN XX. 30, 31.

many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

AFTER the statements made in the last Lecture, on the obligation of receiving the Christian Revelation, and the review there taken of the result of the argument from the internal evidences, nothing now remains for us but to retire back from this minute inspection, to such a comprehensive survey as may allow us to take in at once the distinct outlines of all the divisions of our subject, and observe how they severally harmonize, both in their various component parts and with each other; and then to conclude the whole of the great argument, by an address to the different classes of persons who may be supposed to be most interested.

But where shall we take our station to seize this point of view? After we have examined at so much length the different branches of the stream, and have paused at each examination to survey the scenes before