The Religious Sentiments.
"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth."—Eccl. xii. 1.
here are few subjects so generally uninteresting to the youthful as Religion. The great majority prefer to have their attention called in any other direction, and to be addressed on any topic, rather than this, which, in fact, is the most important of all. There is evidently a defect somewhere in this matter, which should be corrected. Where shall we seek for it? Not in any natural, inherent aversion to the subject of religion, resting in the hearts of the young. It is neither reasonable in itself, nor respectful to the Creator, to insist he has so constituted the human soul, that it is naturally and necessarily indisposed to a topic which is most vitally connected with its happiness, and which should receive a large share of its attention.
This indifference is to be attributed chiefly, I think, to improper impressions in regard to the nature and objects of religion. The young look upon it as something gloomy, saddening, and distasteful—something that forbids enjoyment, chains in dire bondage the free, glad spirit of early life, and casts dark and cheerless shadows on the sunshine of youth's bright morning! They imagine it to stalk forth from a dark cell, arrayed in hood and cowl, to frown upon them in their innocent pastimes—to curdle their blood with severe rebukes, because of the buoyancy of their hearts and to drive them back with scowling reprimands, when they would walk in the sunny paths which God has kindly opened for their elastic footsteps. Hence they close their ears to its invitations; turn away from its instructions, as something designed to impose a heavy yoke upon them; and postpone its claims, to be attended to among the last acts of life.
That these views and feelings should widely prevail, on a subject so important as religion, is a matter of deep regret. They are erroneous and deleterious in the extreme. Let the young strive to become acquainted with the true nature of the religion of Christ, and they will learn that such are not its requirements, nor its fruits. It is not the purpose of its Divine Author to sadden the heart, or fill the mind with gloom; but to cheer and gladden the soul, and lead it to the highest and sweetest enjoyments of existence. It is not the aim of religion to deprive the young of any real enjoyment—any recreation proper to their age or their nature, as intellectual, moral, and spiritual beings. But it would assist the young to distinguish between permanent happiness, and those hurtful and wicked gratifications which corrupt the heart, and plunge the whole being into the dark pool of sin and woe. Religion is the friendly Guide sent from our Father in heaven, to lead his creatures away from peril and woe, and direct their footsteps into the most beautiful and happy paths of existence.
"Through life's bewildered way,
Her hand unerring leads;
And o'er the path her heavenly ray
A cheering lustre sheds."
What sight can present itself to the eye more pleasing than a religious youth. By this I do not mean a gloomy, downcast, sorrowful young man, or young woman, whose countenance is overcast with shadows, and whose presence chills every beholder. It is a darkened superstition, a cold, cheerless asceticism, and not the Christian religion, which gives this unnatural and forbidding appearance. A religious youth is one who is cheerful and happy—whose countenance is pervaded with an expression of benevolence, a smile of contentment—who is constant in attendance on public worship—who respects the Scriptures, and makes their daily perusal one of the fixed duties of life—who loves God, and strives faithfully to keep his commandments—who reverences the Saviour of man, and takes him as a pattern in all things—who is honest, industrious, economical, and strictly temperate. Behold the fair picture! Is it not goodly to look upon? Can earth furnish a spectacle more beautiful? Such a youth is beloved of all men. Angels, Christ, the Father, smile their approval on every one treading this high pathway
"Sweet is the early dew
Which gilds the mountain tops,
And decks each plant and flower we view
With pearly, glittering drops;
But sweeter far the scene
On Zion's holy hill,
When there the dew of youth is seen
Its freshness to distill."
Is there a youth in the audience who does not desire to occupy a position so elevated and so honorable? Do not imagine it is beyond your reach. Every one can attain to it by proper exertion. It is not difficult of accomplishment. With pure desires, and right intentions, nothing is more feasible. In fact, so to conduct as to secure such a character, and attain to such a position, is the most easy, pleasant, and happy path in which the young can walk. All others are full of difficulty, vexation, trouble, and wretchedness. All others yield fruit the most bitter and poisonous—fruit which, however luscious and tempting it may appear to the eye, like the apples of Sodom, will turn to ashes in the hand.
If the young are looking simply for a peaceful and happy life, where prosperity will be the most likely to attend them, and where the richest and choicest blessings will be showered on their pathway, they will find it in the practice of religion. So far from being a heavy burthen, a grievous cross, it is the lightener of all burthens, the easiest of all yokes, the kindest, truest friend, to help along the rough spots, and smile and cheer in the darkest hours of man's earthly pilgrimage. Listen to the representations of religion found in the Word of God: "Wisdom is more precious than rubies; and all things thou canst desire are not to be compared to her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace."[5] "Come, ye children, hearken unto me. I will teach you the fear [reverence] of the Lord. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good. Seek peace and pursue it."[6] "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate, day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither. And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."[7] There is nothing sad and gloomy in these views; but everything pleasant and inviting.
Prov. iii. 15, 16, 17.
Ps. xxxiv. 11-14.
Ps. i. 1, 2, 3.
I would disabuse the young of the idea that religion is needed only by the aged, the sick, and the dying; and that it can be of no essential service at other times. It does indeed become the hoary head, more than the jewelled diadem. It is the comforter of the sick—the supporter of the departing spirit—giving it a sustaining power which all earth's riches cannot purchase. But religion is quite as appropriate and essential to the youthful as to the aged and sick. It is equally as important that men should live right, as die right. There is no way so effectually to insure a peaceful and happy death, as to live a good and useful life. Religion leads to such a life, and prepares the way for such a death. Hence the necessity that the young should give themselves up to its influences in the morning of their days, that their meridian may be fruitful of good, and their evening sunset calm and serene.
Away, then, with the supposition, that religion is not adapted, nor necessary to youth. "The flower of youth never appears more beautiful, than when it leans towards the Sun of Righteousness." Religion is the brightest ornament with which the young can bedeck themselves. The fragrant blossom which crowns the tree, is not more beautiful, or hopeful of coming fruitfulness, than is religion to the freshness of youth. Indeed, as the blossom is necessary to insure the rich and golden fruit, so is early religion requisite to a useful and prosperous career. It is the best preparation the young can secure for after life, whatever calling they may pursue. There is no occupation, no pursuit, no profession, which they will not be far better prepared to enter, by the influence of an enlightened, cheerful, enlarged Christian faith and practice. These will interfere with no useful enterprise, no honest business, no laudable calling; nor prevent the prosecution of any of the many projects among men, which comport with the public good, and are executed on principles of integrity. Religion will make its possessors better and more successful laborers, mechanics, manufacturers, agriculturists, merchants, and more respected and useful members of any of the learned professions.
If there is any pursuit, any business, which you cannot prosecute with the sanction of religion, avoid it at once and forever. You had better do anything else than engage in it. I would have the young strongly impressed with this view. It would be far preferable to suffer poverty and obscurity, in an honest and useful calling, than to obtain the possession and fame of great riches, in a pursuit which the pure and enlightened principles of Christianity would condemn. Although you may succeed in hoarding up mountains of gold in such a pursuit, and in possessing broad domains and "the cattle on a thousand hills," yet all this will not afford you one throb of genuine enjoyment. There would be that in the manner of obtaining these possessions, which would utterly deprive them of all power to impart happiness. Wealth secured by extortion, fraud, or any practice or business of a corrupting nature, injurious to the morals, and destructive to the well-being of community, will be of no more value to him who thus obtains it, as far as his happiness is concerned, than so much dust. It is the consciousness of having obtained riches in honest and useful pursuits, that gives zest and relish to the enjoyments they procure. Without this consciousness, the man of wealth has less of pure peace and happiness than the poorest honest man in the wide world. In the very nature of things, as a wise and holy God has constituted us, this must inevitably be so. All past history and experience furnish indubitable proof of the correctness of this position. If I can impress this single truth on the hearts and memories of the youthful, I shall do them a service of a value beyond all human computation.
These considerations, I trust, will tend to convince the young of the vital importance of obtaining now, at the commencement of their career, the direction and influence of well-grounded and enlightened religious views and principles. I would have them become neither fanatics nor bigots; but would urge them to place themselves under the pure and divine light of the gospel of Christ, that they may be exalted to the highest and noblest principles of human action, and to the summit of human enjoyment.
To what sources should the young apply for correct religious doctrines and principles? While they should give due heed to the instruction and advice of the learned, the wise and good, within whose influence they may be thrown, yet they should not depend wholly upon these sources for the attainment of truth. The wisest and best among religious teachers, differ materially on fundamental points. To rely solely on the convictions of others, however exalted their talents or sincere their opinions, would be injustice to yourselves, and to the truth you would obtain. Let no man think for you. He who would persuade you to allow him to do so—who would have you distrust the convictions of your own reason, throw aside the decisions of your judgment, and allow him to judge and decide for you, in religious matters, does in fact assume to be your master, and would reduce you to a poor and pitiable spiritual bondage.
Let not the young overlook the fact, that they have been endowed by their Creator with the faculties of reason, judgment, and discrimination. These must necessarily be exercised in forming enlightened religious opinions. Those who fail to do this, fall an easy prey to every error that will but commend itself by something novel and startling. Christianity is pre-eminently, a reasonable system of doctrines. There is no topic claiming the attention of man, in the investigation of which it is so important to exercise with all deliberation, the highest capacities of reason and reflection, as religion. From the great multiplicity of opinions which prevail, those who are distrustful of their own judgment and reason, and who are more disposed to receive the ipse dixit of others, than to depend on the convictions of the good sense with which they have been endowed, will speedily become involved in a labyrinth of errors, from which it will be difficult to extricate themselves. Let the young, in all their religious investigations, hesitate not to appeal continually to the highest and noblest capacity of their nature, and give all due weight to its decisions. Freely, abundantly, your Maker has bestowed a reasoning capacity upon you. Freely, unhesitatingly, always should you appeal to its directing light.
Whoever counsel the young against the exercise of reason in regard to religion—whoever warn them to beware of its decisions on a topic so momentous—lay themselves open to a just and legitimate suspicion, of being the abettors of error. Is not this self-evident? Error is born in ignorance. It burrows in darkness, and draws all its vitality from stupid credulity. Enlightened reason strips away the false garbs by which it deceives the thoughtless, reveals its deformities, and holds up its absurdities naked and repulsive, to the gaze of the passer-by. In view of such an unwelcome office, it is natural that error should dread the eye of reason, should shrink away at its approach, and cry out mightily against its scrutiny.
Not so is it with truth. It cultivates no apprehension of reason. It courts, invites its approach, and smiles in conscious strength at its most critical investigations. Truth has everything to gain, and nothing to lose from the researches of reason. The clearer and keener the eye of the one, the more beautiful the appearance of the other. Truth and Reason are twin sisters, born of God, and despatched from heaven, to guide and bless earth's children. They are linked together inseparably. The one is never found except in the presence of the other. Their blended light is all that gives value and beauty to Christianity, and all that makes it of any more importance than the merest heathen fable. Mutually they co-operate with, and strengthen each other. All Truth is reasonable, and all the legitimate deductions of Reason are true. Truth forms the vital atmosphere which Reason inhales. Reason is the very sunlight in which Truth bathes its beauteous form.
Remember, O youth, religion does not require you to separate these heaven-born guides to men. Never expect to find religious truth, without beholding it radiant with the light of reason. Reject without hesitation, whatever is presented to you as truth, unless reason throws its divine sanction around it. In all your investigations, let Reason direct your footsteps; and, guided by revelation, it will at last, and unerringly, lead you to the glorious abode of Truth.
It is readily allowed, there are truths in Christianity which reason cannot fathom. Not because they are opposed to reason, but because they are beyond its reach. They are infinite, while man's reason is finite. But it is only by the light of reason that man can see any consistency or propriety in the assertion of such truths. Reason may sanction what it cannot fully grasp, as the boundlessness of space, or the endlessness of time. One thing may be above reason, another thing may be opposed to reason. The former it may approve—the latter it will peremptorily condemn. This is an important distinction, which should never be overlooked in its bearing on religious tenets.
In all researches for an enlightened religious faith, there are but two sources of information, on which reliance can be placed with entire confidence, viz. the Works of Nature, and the Revealed Word of God. Both are equally the productions of the Infinite Mind, and can be studied with the highest profit.
Nature's works are but an "elder Scripture," written by Jehovah's finger. In glowing suns and stars, we read its brilliant and instructive lessons. These all teach us aright of the perfections of the Sovereign Creator. They are "golden steps," on which the mind ascends to a clearer view of the great Creator. Behold the o'erarching canopy with which God has adorned our earthly abode. See how it glitters with burnished worlds, more numerous than the dust of earth. All are in motion. With a velocity which outstrips the wind, they wheel their flight around their vast orbits, with a precision which astonishes and confounds the beholder. Yonder rolls the planet Jupiter. Could I put my finger down at a certain point in its orbit, as it rushes past, it might exclaim—"Although the journey around the orbit in which I revolve, is two thousand nine hundred and sixty-six millions six hundred and sixty-one thousand miles, yet in four thousand three hundred and thirty-two days, fourteen hours, eighteen minutes, and forty-one seconds, I will pass this point again!!" And away it flies to fulfil the grand prophecy. I watch with intense interest for more than eleven years. At length they have expired. The days also run by—the hours pass—the minutes. And as the clock ticks the forty-first second, lo! old Jupiter wheels past the given point, without the variation of the thousandth part of a moment. Thus it has been journeying from the morning of creation. Thus perfectly revolve all the heavenly bodies.
"Mysterious round! what skill, what force divine,
Deep felt, in these appear! A single train,
Yet so delightful mixed, with such kind art,
Such beauty and beneficence combin'd;
Shade, unperceived, so softening into shade;
And all so forming an harmonious whole;
That as they still succeed, they ravish still."
In the magnitude of the heavenly bodies, and the precision of their movements, we behold the most glorious and convincing evidences of the omnipotence of God's power, and the perfection of His wisdom and skill. In the splendor of the starry dome of night—in the thousand attractions of our earthly abode—the loveliness of its summer landscapes—the beauty of its flowers, and the balmy fragrance they distil upon the air—in the warmth of the precious sunlight, which floods hill, valley, field, forest, and ocean—in the refreshing influences of the evening dew, and "the early and latter rains"—in the grateful breeze which bears life and health to our nostrils—in the rich productions of the ever-bountiful soil—in these, in all nature's wide departments, we read, with rejoicing eyes, the witnesses of the impartial goodness and boundless beneficence of the Father of spirits!
"My heart is awed within me, when I think
Of the great miracle that still goes on,
In silence, round me—the perpetual work
Of thy creation, finished, yet renewed
Forever. Written on thy works I read
The lesson of thy Eternity."
Nature furnishes a thousand evidences of man's immortality—that greatest of all truths asserted by revelation, and sustained by religion. We see a corroboration of this momentous fact, in the transformation of the loathsome caterpillar into the beautiful butterfly, by the process of an actual death—in the dying and reviving of the vegetable kingdom—in the luxuriant plant and golden harvest, springing from the dead body of the seed—in the numerous forms and processes in which life springs from death all around us.
"Oh, listen, man,
A voice within us speaks the startling word,
'Man, thou shalt never die!' Celestial voices
Hymn it round our souls; according harps,
By angel lingers touched when the mild stars
Of morning sang together, sounds forth still
The song of our great immortality;
Thick-clustering orbs, and this our fair domain,
The tall, dark mountains, and the deep-toned seas,
Join in the solemn, universal song.
O, listen, ye, our spirits; drink it in
From all the air! 'Tis in the gentle moonlight:
Is floating in day's setting glories; Night,
Wrapped in her sable robe, with silent step
Comes to our bed and breathes it in our ears.
Night and the dawn, bright day and thoughtful eve,
All times, all bounds, the limitless expanse,
As one great mystic instrument, are touched
By an unseen, living Hand, and conscious chords
Quiver with joy in this great jubilee.
The dying hear it; and as sounds of earth
Grow dull and distant, wake their passing souls
To mingle in this passing melody."[8]
Dana.
Still more valuable resources for the attainment of religious truths are found in the holy Scriptures—the revealed word of the Most High. In forming their religious opinions, let the young fail not to make these sacred pages their constant study. Nor should they dream they will find there any contradiction to the lessons read on the broad pages of Nature's book. These are but different methods in which the same God reveals himself to his creatures. He will not contradict himself. His revealed word as plainly asserts his power, wisdom, and goodness, as his works shadow forth these glorious perfections. While the Scriptures do not contradict the voice uttered by nature, they lead us to higher departments of religion, and to clearer revelations of God and his character. They represent him as a Father, exercising a parental government over man—a government characterized by benevolence, justice, mercy, and truth, and administered for the promotion of his own glory, and the highest good of those called to obey. The Scriptures, moreover, bring to our knowledge the Son of God and his gospel—presenting us in the life of Jesus Christ, a beautiful example of truth, purity, righteousness, and love, and imparting, in his teachings, the most perfect rules of human conduct, and the brightest anticipations of life and immortality beyond the grave.
In perusing the Scriptures, let reason be your guide. Reason should not be elevated above the Scriptures; yet they cannot be understood without its aid. The Creator, in the Bible, addresses himself directly to man's reason: "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord."[9] Without the exercise of reason in reading the Bible, it will be as a sealed book. How else can man comprehend its truths, and be instructed by its rich lessons of wisdom? In the exercise of this highest capacity bestowed upon us, the word of God will appear harmonious in all its parts—beautiful and sublime in all its truths—instructive in all its lessons—inspiring the brightest, broadest hopes the mind can conceive. But lay reason aside, in its perusal, and it will be involved in inextricable confusion, and impenetrable darkness.
Isaiah i. 18.
The young should not lose sight of the fact, that we have the Bible only in the form of a translation by uninspired men, from the original Hebrew and Greek, in which it was penned by the inspired writers. Hence it should not seem surprising that there are some inaccuracies connected with this translation; nor that certain words, allusion, and forms of speech, appear obscure and unintelligible. There is a plain and simple rule by which all obscure and disputed words and passages should be understood. Give them such construction as will most perfectly correspond with the attributes and character of God, as revealed in his word and works, his omnipotence and omniscience, his wisdom and goodness, his justice and mercy—and as will best accord with the grace and love which moved the Saviour in his divine mission to the earth.
For the following excellent suggestions in regard to the study of the Scriptures, I am indebted to a popular writer of the present day.
"On the Sabbath the Bible should be studied. Every person, old or young, ignorant or learned, should devote a portion of time every Sabbath to the study of the Scriptures, in the more strict and proper sense of that term. But to show precisely what I mean by this weekly study of the Bible, I will describe a particular case. A young man with only such opportunities as are possessed by all, resolves to take this course. He selects the Epistle to the Ephesians for his first subject; he obtains such books and helps as he finds in his own family, or as he can obtain from a religious friend, or procure from a Sabbath-school library. It is not too much to suppose that he will have a sacred Atlas, some Commentary, and probably a Bible Dictionary. He should also have pen, ink, and paper; and thus provided, he sits down Sabbath morning to his work. He raises a short but heartfelt prayer to God that he will assist and bless him, and then commences his inquiries.
"The Epistle to the Ephesians I have supposed to be his subject. He sees that the first question evidently is, 'Who were the Ephesians?' He finds the city of Ephesus upon the map; and from the preface to the Epistle contained in the commentary, or from any other source to which he can have access, he learns what sort of a city it was—what was the character of the inhabitants, and if possible, what condition the city was in at the time this letter was written. He next inquires in regard to the writer of this letter or Epistle, as it is called. It was Paul; and what did Paul know of the Ephesians? had he ever been there? or was he writing to strangers? To settle these points, so evidently important to a correct understanding of the letter, he examines the Acts of the Apostles, (in which an account of St. Paul's labors is contained,) to learn whether Paul went there, and if so, what happened while he was there. He finds that many interesting incidents occurred during Paul's visits, and his curiosity is excited to know whether these things will be alluded to in the letter; he also endeavors to ascertain where Paul was when he wrote the letter. After having thus determined everything relating to the circumstances of the case, he is prepared to come to the Epistle itself, and enter with spirit and interest into an examination of its contents.
"He first glances his eye cursorily through the chapters of the book, that he may take in at once a general view of its object and design—perhaps he makes out a brief list of the topics discussed, and thus has a distinct general idea of the whole before he enters into a minute examination of the parts. This minute examination he comes to at last—though perhaps the time devoted to the study for two or three Sabbaths is spent in the preparatory inquiries. If it is so, it is time well spent; for by it he is now prepared to enter with interest into the very soul and spirit of the letter. While he was ignorant of these points, his knowledge of the Epistle itself must have been very vague and superficial. Suppose I were now to introduce into this book a letter, and should begin at once, without saying by whom the letter was written, or to whom it was addressed. It would be preposterous. If I wished to excite your interest, I should describe particularly the parties, and the circumstances which produced the letter originally. And yet how many Christians there are, who could not tell whether Paul's letter to the Ephesians was written before or after he went there, or where Titus was when Paul wrote to him, or for what special purpose he wrote!
"This method of studying the Scriptures, which I have thus attempted to describe, and which I might illustrate by supposing many other cases, is not intended for one class alone; not for the ignorant peculiarly, nor for the wise; not for the rich, nor for the poor; but for all. The solitary widow, in her lonely cottage among the distant mountains, with nothing but her simple Bible in her hand, by the light of her evening fire, may pursue this course of comparing Scripture with Scripture, and entering into the spirit of sacred story, throwing herself back to ancient times, and thus preparing herself to grasp more completely, and to feel more vividly the moral lessons which the Bible is mainly intended to teach. And the most cultivated scholar may pursue this course in his quiet study, surrounded by all the helps to a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures which learning can produce or wealth obtain.
"I hope the specimens I have given are sufficient to convey to my readers the general idea I have in view, when I speak of studying the Bible, in contradistinction from the mere cursory reading of it, which is so common among Christians.
"Select some subject upon which a good deal of information may be found in various parts of the Bible, and make it your object to bring together into one view all that the Bible says upon that subject. Take for instance the life of the Apostle Peter. Suppose you make it your business on one Sabbath, with the help of a brother, or sister, or any other friend who will unite with you in the work, to obtain all the information which the Bible gives in regard to him. By the help of the Concordance you find all the places in which he is mentioned—you compare the various accounts in the Four Gospels; see in what they agree and in what they differ. After following down his history as far as the Evangelists bring it, you take up the book of the Acts, and go through that for information in regard to this Apostle, omitting those parts which relate to other subjects. In this way you become fully acquainted with his character and history; you understand it as a whole.
"Jerusalem is another good subject, and the examination would afford scope for the exercise of the faculties of the highest minds for many Sabbaths: find when the city is first named, and from the manner in which it is mentioned, and the circumstances connected with the earliest accounts of it, ascertain what sort of a city it was at that time. Then follow its history down; notice the changes as they occur; understand every revolution, examine the circumstances of every battle and siege of which it is the scene, and thus become acquainted with its whole story down to the time when the sacred narration leaves it. To do this well, will require patient and careful investigation. You cannot do it as you can read a chapter, carelessly and with an unconcerned and uninterested mind; you must, if you would succeed in such an investigation, engage in it in earnest. And that is the very advantage of such a method of study; it breaks up effectually that habit of listless, dull, inattentive reading of the Bible which so extensively prevails.
"You may take the subject of the Sabbath; examine the circumstances of its first appointment, and then follow its history down, so far as it is given in the Bible, to the last Sabbath alluded to on the sacred pages.
"The variety of topics which might profitably be studied in this way is vastly greater than would at first be supposed. There are a great number of biographical and geographical topics—a great number which relate to manners, and customs, and sacred instructions. In fact, the whole Bible may be analyzed in this way; and its various contents brought before the mind in new aspects, and with a freshness and vividness which, in the mere repeated reading of the Scriptures in regular course, can never be seen."[10]
Abbott's Young Christian.
In connection with this general subject, I would make a few suggestions to the young, in regard to those who differ from them on religious doctrines. That there should be a diversity of opinions in respect to a subject so purely speculative as religion, should not be a matter of surprise. Indeed, when the disparity in strength of mind, intelligence, discrimination, early instruction, and educational bias, which prevails in society, is taken into consideration, it would be singular if religious differences did not exist. Our civil institutions and laws, guaranteeing unto every individual unlimited freedom of opinion, encourage investigations which tend, for a definite period at least, to produce these differences.
There are not a few who view with alarm the multiplicity of religious doctrines and sects, which prevails in our day. They are disposed to look upon it as an imperfection in our institutions, or as a token of the degeneracy of our age; and they fear that the most disastrous consequences will flow from it to Christianity. I cannot but view these apprehensions as groundless. They seem to grow out of a singular want of knowledge of the organism of the human mind. Moreover, they indicate an erroneous conception of the inherent power of truth; and a marvellous lack of confidence in the self-sustaining capacity of the Christian religion. If Christianity cannot exist and progress among men without chaining the human mind in bondage, stifling all research, and forbidding a critical investigation of doctrines put forth in its name, then it must at length become extinct. Men will and must think, reason, investigate, on religious subjects, as well as other topics, whatever result may follow. I cherish, however, none of these fears. The multiplicity of denominations, and the diversity of opinions, can work no serious injury to religion. The discussions, researches, and critical examinations, which necessarily grow out of this state of things, will but sift error from truth; and result, ultimately, in laying broader and deeper the foundations of pure Christianity in human society; bringing out its highest excellencies and beauties to the admiration of men, and elevating it far above the poisoned arrows of scepticism. It is the errors engrafted on Christianity, in dark and ignorant ages, that have given the infidel all his weapons of attack. When these errors shall at length all be detected and expunged by candid research, and faithful investigation, the shafts of the sceptic will fall harmless at the base of the graceful and glorious temple of Christ's religion. In the words of John Milton—"Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so truth be in the field, we do injuriously * * * to misdoubt her strength. Let her and falsehood grapple. Who ever knew truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter?"
What line of conduct should the young adopt towards those who differ from them on religious doctrines?
In the first place, let it never be forgotten that others have the same civil, moral, and religious right to differ in sentiment from you, that you have from them. This right is recognized by our republican government, and is sanctioned by the gospel. One of the directions of the Saviour is, that men should "search the Scriptures."[11] There would be no propriety in this commandment, had not individuals the right to understand the teachings of the Scriptures, according to their best judgment, with the light they possess. Moreover, Protestantism allows among its first principles, the legitimate right of individual interpretation of the Scriptures, and private judgment in religious matters. It was for this right that Luther and Zuinglius, Melancthon and Calvin, and all the Reformers, contended against the arrogant assumption of the Roman Church. That Church insisted that the people were not to understand the Scriptures for themselves, but were bound, to receive, unquestioned, such interpretations as the bishop or priest should teach them. Whoever deny freedom of opinion, in regard to religion, to all men, clearly violate the spirit of the gospel, the recognized rights conferred by the Protestant religion, and the sanctions of our political institutions.
John v. 39.
Admitting then, as you must, the privilege of others to differ from you in religious sentiment, you should not allow that difference to be a matter of offence. It should be no disparagement in your view, nor lessen them in your estimation. However great you may consider the errors of your neighbors, if you are satisfied they are sincere, you should respect them for their sincerity! Hypocrisy, in every form, should be denounced. Those who profess to believe what they do not, or to be what they are not—who assume the Christian name when they are in fact, but bitter and narrow-minded bigots—are only worthy to be heartily despised.
Let me caution the young, also, against a spirit of exclusiveness. In our age and country, a religious aristocracy is no more to be acknowledged than a political. All denominations stand on an equality, in their rights and privileges, and in the estimation in which they are to be held as public bodies. No sect can put on airs, and assume to lord it over others, in any respect whatever, without subjecting itself to the severest censure. Among the rights belonging equally to all, is the Christian name. Every denomination which receives the Scriptures as the inspired word of God, and believes in Jesus Christ, as the Son of God and the Saviour of men, is justly entitled to the name of Christian, and to be acknowledged and treated as such. This is the only test laid down in the New Testament, as a careful examination will satisfy the candid mind.
For any one sect to attempt to monopolize the Christian name, and assume that all the piety, godliness, and virtue in the land, is to be found in its borders alone, is to place itself in a most ridiculous position. A pretence so arrogant and groundless, in our enlightened day, can have no other effect than to excite a smile of pity on the countenance of sincere and candid Christians. I would have the young give no countenance to these pretensions; but seek to attain to higher and nobler principles. Let them place sectarian bitterness and prejudice beneath their feet, and imbibe enough of the Christian spirit to acknowledge freely, that, in all denominations, good and pious people can be found.
In estimating those of other views, the young should avoid denouncing a whole denomination, and condemning their doctrines as demoralizing, because some corrupt men may have been found in their midst. If this rule of judging was generally adopted, where is there a class of Christians which could stand? Were there not among the chosen twelve of our Saviour, a Judas to betray him, and a Peter to deny him with oaths? Shall we, therefore, insist that Christianity is false and corrupting? There are few sects in the land, which have not had both clergymen and church-members guilty of the most corrupt practices. Are we to conclude from this, that the doctrines of those who have had these unworthy members, are false and licentious? Who are willing to adopt this test? A denomination cannot consistently apply a test to others which they are not willing to abide by themselves.
Candor will lead all upright minds to acknowledge that corrupt men will find their way into every sect, and that it is manifestly wrong to judge of the whole body by this class. To decide of the practical tendencies of different and conflicting doctrines, seek to understand their effect on the great mass of those who receive them. Do they influence them to honesty, industry, benevolence and neighborly kindness? Do they inspire respect for the rights and interest of fellow-beings? Do they open the ear to the cry of poverty and want? Do they lead to a love supreme to God, and to our neighbor as ourselves? These are the legitimate fruits of Christianity. Where they abound, you need not doubt the spirit of Christ prevails, and that the truths of his gospel are in the midst of such a people.
I would exhort the young to respect religion, in whatever form they find it, and to have a high and just regard for the rights and feelings of professing Christians of every class. In this, as in all things else, be governed by the Redeemer's golden rule—"All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them."
Amid the multiplicity of sects and doctrines, let every youth search for religious truth, as the "pearl of great price!" Be careful that your researches are in the right direction—not downward to the dark and mysterious of past and ignorant ages, but upward to the bright, the simple, and glorious. Ever seek for expansive and enlightened conceptions of God, his character and purposes—of Christ, his gospel and its results—of man, his nature, his high relationship, his duty and destiny. The more elevated and comprehensive your views on these subjects, the more exalted will be your feelings and principles of action; and the better will you be prepared to live a life of purity and usefulness, and to die triumphing in the brightest and sweetest hopes of immortal light and happiness.
In concluding this subject, I would call attention to the following suggestions of several able writers, in regard to Religion and its influence on its possessors:—
"In the great and universal concern of religion, both sexes, and all ranks are equally interested. The truly catholic spirit of Christianity accommodates itself, with an astonishing condescension, to the circumstances of the whole human race. It rejects none on account of their pecuniary wants, their personal infirmities, or their intellectual deficiencies. No superiority of parts is the least recommendation, nor is any depression of fortune the smallest objection. None are too wise to be excused from performing the duties of religion, nor are any too poor to be excluded from the consolations of its promises.
"If we admire the wisdom of God in having furnished different degrees of intelligence, so exactly adapted to their different conditions, and in having fitted every part of this stupendous work, not only to serve its own immediate purpose, but also to contribute to the beauty and perfection of the whole; how much more ought we to adore that goodness which has perfected the divine plan, by appointing one wide and comprehensive means of salvation: a salvation which all are invited to partake; by a means which all are capable of using; which nothing but voluntary blindness can prevent our comprehending, and nothing but wilful error can hinder us from embracing.
"The muses are coy, and will only be wooed and won by some highly-favored suitors. The sciences are lofty, and will not stoop to the reach of ordinary capacities. But 'wisdom (by which the royal preacher means piety) is a loving spirit; she is easily seen of them that love her, and found of all such as seek her.' Nay, she is so accessible and condescending, 'that she preventeth them that desire her, making herself first known unto them.'
"We are told by the same animated writer, 'that wisdom is the breath of the power of God.' How infinitely superior in grandeur and sublimity, is this description to the origin of the wisdom of the heathens, as described by their poets and mythologists! In the exalted strains of the Hebrew poetry, we read, that 'wisdom is the brightness of the everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of his goodness.'
"The philosophical author of 'The Defence of Learning,' observes, that knowledge has some thing of venom and malignity in it, when taken without its proper corrective; and what that is, the inspired St. Paul teaches us, by placing it as the immediate antidote—'Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.' Perhaps it is the vanity of human wisdom, unchastised by this correcting principle, which has made so many infidels. It may proceed from the arrogance of a self-sufficient pride, that some philosophers disdain to acknowledge their belief in a Being who has judged proper to conceal from them the infinite wisdom of his counsels; who (to borrow the lofty language of the man of Uz) refused to consult them when he laid the foundations of the earth, when he shut up the sea with doors, and made the clouds the garment thereof.
"A man must be an infidel either from pride, prejudice, or bad education; he cannot be one unawares, or by surprise; for infidelity is not occasioned by sudden impulse or violent temptation. He may be hurried by some vehement desire into an immoral action, at which he will blush in his cooler moments, and which he will lament as the sad effect of a spirit unsubdued by religion; but infidelity is a calm, considerate act, which cannot plead the weakness of the heart, or the seduction of the senses. Even good men frequently fail in their duty through the infirmities of nature and the allurements of the world; but the infidel errs on a plan, on a settled and deliberate principle.
"But though the minds of men are sometimes fatally infected with this disease, either through unhappy prepossession, or some of the other causes above-mentioned, yet I am unwilling to believe that there is in nature so monstrously incongruous a being as a female infidel. The least reflection on the temper, the character, and the education of women, makes the mind revolt with horror from an idea so improbable and so unnatural.
"May I be allowed to observe that, in general, the minds of girls seem more aptly prepared in their early youth for the reception of serious impressions than those of the other sex, and that their less exposed situations in more advanced life qualify them better for the preservation of them! The daughters (of good parents I mean) are often more carefully instructed in their religious duties than the sons, and this from a variety of causes. They are not so soon sent from under the paternal eye into the bustle of the world, and so early exposed to the contagion of bad example: their hearts are naturally more flexible, soft, and liable to any kind of impression the forming hand may stamp on them; and, lastly, as they do not receive the same classical education with boys, their feeble minds are not obliged at once to receive and separate the precepts of Christianity, and the documents of pagan philosophy. The necessity of doing this perhaps somewhat weakens the serious impressions of young men, at least till the understanding is formed; and confuses their ideas of piety, by mixing them with so much heterogeneous matter. They only casually read, or hear read, the Scriptures of truth, while they are obliged to learn by heart, construe, and repeat, the poetical fables of the less than human gods of the ancients. And, as the excellent author of 'The Internal Evidence of the Christian Religion' observes, 'Nothing has so much contributed to corrupt the true spirit of the Christian institution, as that partiality which we contract, in our earliest education, for the manners of pagan antiquity.'
"Girls, therefore, who do not contract this early partiality, ought to have a clearer notion of their religious duties: they are not obliged, at an age when the judgment is so weak, to distinguish between the doctrines of Zeno, of Epicurus, and of Christ; and to embarrass their minds with the various morals, which were taught in the Porch, in the Academy, and on the Mount.
"It is presumed that these remarks cannot possibly be so misunderstood, as to be construed into the least disrespect to literature, or a want of the highest reverence for a learned education, the basis of all elegant knowledge: they are only intended, with all proper deference, to point out to young women that, however inferior their advantages of acquiring a knowledge of the belles-lettres are to those of the other sex, yet it depends on themselves not to be surpassed in this most important of all studies, for which their abilities are equal, and their opportunities perhaps greater.
"But the mere exemption from infidelity is so small a part of the religious character, that I hope no one will attempt to claim any merit from this negative sort of goodness, or value herself merely for not being the very worst thing she possibly can be. Let no mistaken girl fancy she gives a proof of her wit by her want of piety, or that a contempt of things serious and sacred will exalt her understanding, or raise her character even in the opinion of the most avowed male infidels. For one may venture to affirm, that with all their profligate ideas, both of women and religion, neither Bolingbroke, Wharton, Buckingham, or even Lord Chesterfield himself, would have esteemed a woman the more for her being irreligious.
"With whatever ridicule a polite freethinker may affect to treat religion himself, he will think it necessary his wife should entertain different notions of it. He may pretend to despise it as a matter of opinion, depending on creeds and systems; but, if he is a man of sense, he will know the value of it as a governing principle, which is to influence her conduct and direct her action. If he sees her unaffectedly sincere in the practice of her religious duties, it will be a secret pledge to him that she will be equally exact in fulfilling the conjugal; for he can have no reasonable dependence on her attachment to him, if he has no opinion of her fidelity to God; for she who neglects first duties, gives but an indifferent proof of her disposition to fill up inferior ones; and how can a man of any understanding (whatever his own religious professions may be) trust that woman with the cares of his family, and the education of his children, who wants herself the best incentive to a virtuous life, the belief that she is an accountable creature, and the reflection that she has an immortal soul?
"Cicero spoke it as the highest commendation of Cato's character, that he embraced philosophy, not for the sake of disputing like a philosopher, but of living like one. The chief purpose of Christian knowledge is to promote the great end of a Christian life. Every rational woman should, no doubt, be able to give a reason of the hope that is in her; but this knowledge is best acquired, and the duties consequent on it best performed, by reading books of plain piety and practical devotion, and not by entering into the endless feuds, and engaging in the unprofitable contentions of partial controversialists. Nothing is more unamiable than the narrow spirit of party zeal, nor more disgusting than to hear a woman deal out judgments, and denounce vengeance, against any one who happens to differ from her in some opinion, perhaps of no real importance, and which, it is probable, she may be just as wrong in rejecting, as the object of her censure is in embracing. A furious and unmerciful female bigot wanders as far beyond the limits prescribed to her sex, as a Thalestris or a Joan d'Arc. Violent debate has made as few converts as the sword;—and both these instruments are particularly unbecoming when wielded by a female hand.
"But, though no one will be frightened out of their opinions, yet they may be persuaded out of them; they may be touched by the affecting earnestness of serious conversation, and allured by the attractive beauty of a consistently serious life. And while a young woman ought to dread the name of a wrangling polemic, it is her duty to aspire after the honourable character of a sincere Christian. But this dignified character she can by no means deserve, if she is ever afraid to avow her principles, or ashamed to defend them. A profligate, who makes it a point to ridicule everything which comes under the appearance of formal instruction, will be disconcerted at the spirited, yet modest rebuke of a pious young woman: But there is as much efficacy in the manner of reproving profaneness, as in the words. If she corrects it with moroseness, she defeats the effect of her remedy by her unskilful manner of administering it. If, on the other hand, she affects to defend the insulted cause of God in a faint tone of voice, and studied ambiguity of phrase, or with an air of levity, and a certain expression of pleasure in her eyes, which proves she is secretly delighted with what she pretends to censure, she injures religion much more than he did who publicly profaned it; for she plainly indicates, either that she does not believe or respect what she professes. The other attacked it as an open foe; she betrays it as a false friend. No one pays any regard to the opinion of an avowed enemy; but the desertion or treachery of a professed friend is dangerous indeed!"
"A desire after happiness is inseparable from the human mind. It is the natural and healthy craving of our spirit; an appetite which we have neither will nor power to destroy, and for which all mankind are busily employed in making provision. This is as natural, as for birds to fly, or fishes to swim. For this the scholar and the philosopher, who think it consists in knowledge, pore over their books and their apparatus, light the midnight lamp, and keep frequent vigils, when the world around them is asleep. For this the warrior, who thinks that happiness is inseparably united with fame, pursues that bubble through the gory field of conflict, and is as lavish of his life, as if it were not worth a soldier's pay. The worldling, with whom happiness and wealth are kindred terms, worships daily at the shrine of Mammon, and offers earnest prayers for the golden shower. The voluptuary gratifies every craving sense, rejoices in the midnight revel, renders himself vile, and yet tells you he is in the chase of happiness. The ambitious man, conceiving that the great desideratum blossoms on the sceptre, and hangs in rich clusters from the throne, consumes one half of his life, and embitters the other half, in climbing the giddy elevation of royalty. All these, however, have confessed their disappointment; and have retired from the stage exclaiming, in reference to happiness, what Brutus, just before he stabbed himself, did in reference to virtue, 'I have pursued thee everywhere, and found thee nothing but a name.' This, however, is a mistake; for both virtue and happiness are glorious realities, and if they are not found, it is merely because they are not sought from the right sources.
"1. That religion is pleasure, will appear, if you consider what part of our nature it more particularly employs and gratifies.
"It is not the gratification of the senses, or of the animal part of our nature, but a provision for the immaterial and immortal mind. The mind of man is an image not only of God's spirituality, but of his infinity. It is not like the senses, limited to this or that kind of object; as the sight intermeddles not with that which affects the smell; but with an universal superintendence, it arbitrates upon, and takes them all in. It is, as I may say, an ocean, into which all the little rivulets of sensation, both external and internal, discharge themselves. Now this is that part of man to which the exercises of religion properly belong. The pleasures of the understanding, in the contemplation of truth, have been sometimes so great, so intense, so engrossing of all the powers of the soul, that there has been no room left for any other kind of pleasure. How short of this are the delights of the epicure! How vastly disproportionate are the pleasures of the eating, and of the thinking man! Indeed, says Dr. South, as different as the silence of an Archimides in the study of a problem, and the stillness of a swine at her wash. Nothing is comparable to the pleasures of mind; these are enjoyed by the spirits above, by Jesus Christ, and the great and blessed God.
"Think what objects religion brings before the mind, as the sources of its pleasure: no less than the great God himself, and that both in his nature and in his works. For the eye of religion, like that of the eagle, directs itself chiefly to the sun, to a glory that neither admits of a superior nor an equal. The mind is conversant, in the exercises of piety, with all the most stupendous events that have ever occurred in the history of the universe, or that ever will transpire till the close of time. The creation of the world; its government by a universal Providence; its redemption by the death of Christ; its conversion by the power of the Holy Ghost; the immortality of the soul; the resurrection of the body; the certainty of an eternal existence; the secrets of the unseen state; subjects, all of them of the loftiest and sublimest kind, which have engaged the inquiries of the profoundest intellects, are the matter of contemplation to real piety. What topics are these for our reason, under the guidance of religion, to study: what an ocean to swim in, what a heaven to soar in: what heights to measure, what depths to fathom. Here are subjects, which, from their infinite vastness, must be ever new, and ever-fresh; which can be never laid aside as dry or empty. If novelty is the parent of pleasure, here it may be found; for although the subject itself is the same, some new view of it, some fresh discovery of its wonders, is ever bursting upon the mind of the devout and attentive inquirer after truth.
"How then can religion be otherwise than pleasant, when it is the exercise of the noble faculties of the mind, upon the sublimest topics of mental investigation; the voluntary, excursive, endless pursuits of the human understanding in the region of eternal truth. Never was there a more interesting or important inquiry than that proposed by Pilate to the illustrious Prisoner at his bar; and if the latter thought it not proper to answer it, it was not to show that the question was insignificant, but to condemn the light and flippant manner in which a subject so important was taken up. Religion can answer the question, and with an ecstasy greater than that of the ancient Mathematician, exclaims, 'I have found it: I have found it.' The Bible is not only true, but TRUTH. It contains that which deserves this sublime emphasis. It settles the disputes of ages, and of philosophers, and makes known what is truth, and where it is to be found. It brings us from amongst the quicksands and shelves, and rocks of skepticism, ignorance, and error, and shows us that goodly land, in quest of which myriads of minds have sailed, and multitudes have been wrecked; and religion is setting our foot on this shore, and dwelling in the region of eternal truth.
"2. That a religious life is pleasant, is evident from the nature of religion itself.
"Religion is a principle of spiritual life in the soul. Now all the exercises and acts of vitality are agreeable. To see, to hear, to taste, to walk, are all agreeable, because they are the voluntary energies of inward life. So religion, in all its duties, is the exercise of a living principle in the soul: it is a new spiritual existence. Piety is a spiritual taste. Hence it is said, 'If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.' No matter what the object of a taste is, the exercises of it are always agreeable. The painter goes with delight to his picture; the musician to his instrument; the sculptor to his bust; because they have a taste for these pursuits. The same feeling of delight attends the Christian to the exercises of godliness: and this is his language, 'It is a good thing to give thanks, and to draw near to God. O how I love thy law! it is sweeter to my taste than honey. How amiable are thy tabernacles.' Religion, where it is real, is the natural element of a Christian; and every creature rejoices in its own appropriate sphere. If you consider true piety with disgust, as a hard, unnatural, involuntary thing, you are totally ignorant of its nature, entirely destitute of its influence, and no wonder you cannot attach to it the idea of pleasure: but viewing it as it ought to be viewed, in the light of a new nature, you will perceive that it admits of most exalted delight.
"3. Consider the miseries which it prevents.
"It does not, it is true, prevent sickness, poverty, or misfortune: it does not fence off from the wilderness of this world, a mystic enclosure, within which the ills of life never intrude. No; these things happen to all alike; but how small a portion of human wretchedness flows from these sources, compared with that which arises from the dispositions of the heart. 'The mind is its own place, can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.' Men carry the springs of their happiness or misery in their own bosom. Hence it is said of the wicked, 'that they are like the troubled sea which cannot rest, which is never at peace, but continually casting up mire and dirt.' In contrast with which, it is affirmed that 'the work of righteousness is peace; and that the good man shall be satisfied from himself.' Would you behold the misery entailed by pride, look at Haman; by covetousness, look at Ahab; by malice, look at Cain; by profaneness and sensuality, united with the forebodings of a guilty conscience, look at Belshazzar; by envy, and a consciousness of being rejected of God, look at Saul; by revenge, look at Herodias writhing beneath the accusations of John, and thirsting for his blood; by apostasy, look at Judas. Religion would have prevented all this, and it will prevent similar misery in you. Hearken to the confessions of the outcast in the land of his banishment; of the felon in his irons, and in his dungeon; of the prostitute expiring upon her bed of straw; of the malefactor at the gallows—'Wretched creature that I am, abhorred of men, accursed of God! To what have my crimes brought me!' Religion prevents all this: all that wretchedness which is the result of crime, is cut off by the influence of genuine piety. Misery prevented is happiness gained.
"4. Consider the consolations it imparts.
"Our world has been called, in the language of poetry, a vale of tears, and human life a bubble, raised from those tears, and inflated by sighs, which, after floating a little while, decked with a few gaudy colors, is touched by the hand of death, and dissolves. Poverty, disease, misfortune, unkindness, inconstancy, death, all assail the travellers as they journey onward to eternity through this gloomy valley; and what is to comfort them but religion?
"The consolations of religion are neither few nor small; they arise in part from those things which we have already mentioned in this chapter; i.e. from the exercise of the understanding on the revealed truths of God's word, from the impulses of the spiritual life within us, and from a reflection upon our spiritual privileges; but there are some others, which, though partially implied in these things, deserve a special enumeration and distinct consideration.
"A good conscience, which the wise man says is a perpetual feast, sustains a high place amongst the comforts of genuine piety. It is unquestionably true, that a man's happiness is in the keeping of his conscience; all the sources of his felicity are under the command of this faculty. 'A wounded spirit who can bear?' A troubled conscience converts a paradise into a hell, for it is the flame of hell kindled on earth; but a quiet conscience would illuminate the horrors of the deepest dungeon with the beams of heavenly day; the former has often rendered men like tormented fiends amidst an elysium of delights, while the latter has taught the songs of cherubim to martyrs in the prison or the flames.
"In addition to this, religion comforts the mind, with the assurance of an all-wise, all-pervading Providence, so minute in its superintendence and control, that not a sparrow falls to the ground without the knowledge of our heavenly Father: a superintendence which is excluded from no point of space, no moment of time, and overlooks not the meanest creature in existence. Nor is this all; for the Word of God assures the believer that 'all things work together for good to them that love God, who are the called according to his purpose.' Nothing that imagination could conceive, is more truly consolatory than this, to be assured that all things, however painful at the time, not excepting the failure of our favorite schemes, the disappointment of our fondest hopes, the loss of our dearest comforts, shall be overruled by infinite wisdom for the promotion of our ultimate good. This is a spring of comfort whose waters never fail.
"Religion consoles also by making manifest some of the benefits of affliction, even at the time it is endured. It crucifies the world, mortifies sin, quickens prayer, extracts the balmy sweets of the promises, endears the Saviour; and, to crown all, it directs the mind to that glorious state, where the days of our mourning shall be ended: that happy country where God shall wipe every tear from our eyes, and there shall be no more sorrow or crying. Nothing so composes the mind, and helps it to bear the load of trouble which God may lay upon it, as the near prospect of its termination. Religion shows the weather-beaten mariner the haven of eternal repose, where no storms arise, and the sea is ever calm; it exhibits to the weary traveller the city of habitation, within whose walls he will find a pleasant home, rest from his labors, and friends to welcome his arrival; it discloses to the wounded warrior his native country, where the alarms of war, and the dangers of conflict, will be no more encountered, but undisturbed peace forever reign. In that one word, HEAVEN, religion provides a balm for every wound, a cordial for every care.
"Here, then, is the pleasure of that wisdom which is from above; it is not only enjoyed in prosperity but continues to refresh us, and most powerfully to refresh us, in adversity; a remark which will not apply to any other kind of pleasure."[12]
Christian Father's Present.
"In many persons, a seriousness and sense of awe overspread the imagination, whenever the idea of the Supreme Being is presented to their thoughts. This effect, which forms a considerable security against vice, is the consequence not so much of reflection as of habit; which habit being generated by the external expressions of reverence which we use ourselves, or observe in others, may be destroyed by causes opposite to these, and especially by that familiar levity with which some learn to speak of the Deity, of his attributes, providence, revelations or worship.
"God hath been pleased (no matter for what reason, although probably for this,) to forbid the vain mention of his name:—'Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.' Now the mention is vain when it is useless; and it is useless when it is neither likely nor intended to serve any good purpose; as when it flows from the lips idle and unmeaning, or is applied, on occasions inconsistent with any consideration of religion and devotion, to express our anger, our earnestness, our courage, or our mirth; or indeed when it is used at all, except in acts of religion, or in serious and seasonable discourse upon religious subjects.
"The prohibition of the third commandment is recognized by Christ in his sermon upon the mount; which sermon adverts to none but the moral parts of the Jewish law: 'I say unto you, swear not at all: but let your communication be Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.' The Jews probably interpreted the prohibition as restrained to the name JEHOVAH, the name which the Deity had appointed and appropriated to himself; Exod. vi. 3. The words of Christ extend the prohibition beyond the name of God, to everything associated with the idea:—'Swear not, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is God's footstool; neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.' Matt. v. 35.
"The offence of profane swearing is aggravated by the consideration, that in it duty and decency are sacrificed to the slenderest of temptations. Suppose the habit, either from affectation, or by negligence and inadvertency, to be already formed, it must always remain within the power of the most ordinary resolution to correct it: and it cannot, one would think, cost a great deal to relinquish the pleasure and honor which it confers. A concern for duty is in fact never strong, when the exertion requisite to vanquish a habit founded in no antecedent propensity is thought too much or too painful.
"A contempt of positive duties, or rather of those duties for which the reason is not so plain as the command, indicates a disposition upon which the authority of revelation has obtained little influence. This remark is applicable to the offence of profane swearing, and describes, perhaps pretty exactly, the general character of those who are most addicted to it.
"Mockery and ridicule, when exercised upon the Scriptures, or even upon the places, persons, and forms set apart for the ministration of religion, fall within the meaning of the law which forbids the profanation of God's name; especially as that law is extended by Christ's interpretation. They are moreover inconsistent with a religious frame of mind: for as no one ever either feels himself disposed to pleasantry, or capable of being diverted with the pleasantry of others, upon matters in which he is deeply interested; so a mind intent upon the acquisition of heaven rejects with indignation every attempt to entertain it with jests, calculated to degrade or deride subjects which it never recollects but with seriousness and anxiety. Nothing but stupidity, or the most frivolous disposition of thought, can make even the inconsiderate forget the supreme importance of everything which relates to the expectation of a future existence. Whilst the infidel mocks at the superstitions of the vulgar, insults over their credulous fears, their childish errors, or fantastic rites, it does not occur to him to observe, that the most preposterous device by which the weakest devotee ever believed he was securing the happiness of a future life, is more rational than unconcern about it. Upon this subject nothing is so absurd as indifference; no folly so contemptible as thoughtlessness and levity.
"The knowledge of what is due to the solemnity of those interests, concerning which Revelation professes to inform and direct us, may teach even those who are least inclined to respect the prejudices of mankind, to observe a decorum in the style and conduct of religious disquisitions, with the neglect of which many adversaries of Christianity are justly chargeable. Serious arguments are fair on all sides. Christianity is but ill defended by refusing audience or toleration to the objections of unbelievers. But whilst we would have freedom of inquiry restrained by no laws but those of decency, we are entitled to demand, on behalf of a religion which holds forth to mankind assurances of immortality, that its credit be assailed by no other weapons than those of sober discussion and legitimate reasoning;—that the truth or falsehood of Christianity be never made a topic of raillery, a theme for the exercise of wit or eloquence, or a subject of contention for literary fame and victory;—that the cause be tried upon its merits;—that all applications to the fancy, passions or prejudices of the reader, all attempts to preoccupy, ensnare, or perplex his judgment, by any art, influence, or impression whatsoever, extrinsic to the proper grounds and evidence upon which his assent ought to proceed, be rejected from a question which involves in its determination the hopes, the virtue, and the repose of millions;—that the controversy be managed on both sides with sincerity; that is, that nothing be produced, in the writings of either, contrary to or beyond the writer's own knowledge and persuasion;—that objections and difficulties be proposed, from no other motive than an honest and serious desire to obtain satisfaction, or to communicate information which may promote the discovery and progress of truth;—that, in conformity with this design, everything be stated with integrity, with method, precision, and simplicity; and above all, that whatever is published in opposition to received and confessedly beneficial persuasions, be set forth under a form which is likely to invite inquiry and to meet examination. If with these moderate and equitable conditions be compared the manner in which hostilities have been waged against the Christian religion, not only the votaries of the prevailing faith, but every man who looks forward with anxiety to the destination of his being, will see much to blame and to complain of. By one unbeliever, all the follies which have adhered in a long course of dark and superstitious ages, to the popular creed, are assumed as so many doctrines of Christ and his Apostles, for the purpose of subverting the whole system by the absurdities which it is thus represented to contain. By another, the ignorance and vices of the sacerdotal order, their mutual dissensions and persecutions, their usurpations and encroachments upon the intellectual liberty and civil rights of mankind, have been displayed with no small triumph and invective; not so much to guard the Christian laity against a repetition of the same injuries (which is the only proper use to be made of the most flagrant examples of the past,) as to prepare the way for an insinuation, that the religion itself is nothing but a profitable fable, imposed upon the fears and credulity of the multitude, and upheld by the frauds and influence of an interested and crafty priesthood. And yet, how remotely is the character of the clergy connected with the truth of Christianity! What, after all, do the most disgraceful pages of ecclesiastical history prove, but that the passions of our common nature are not altered or excluded by distinctions of name, and that the characters of men are formed much more by the temptations than the duties of their profession? A third finds delight in collecting and repeating accounts of wars and massacres, of tumults and insurrections, excited in almost every age of the Christian era by religious zeal; as though the vices of Christians were parts of Christianity; intolerance and extirpation precepts of the Gospel; or as if its spirit could be judged of from the counsels of princes, the intrigues of statesmen, the pretences of malice and ambition, or the unauthorized cruelty of some gloomy and virulent superstition. By a fourth, the succession and variety of popular religions; the vicissitudes with which sects and tenets have flourished and decayed; the zeal with which they were once supported, the negligence with which they are now remembered; the little share which reason and argument appear to have had in framing the creed, or regulating the religious conduct of the multitude; the indifference and submission with which the religion of the state is generally received by the common people; the caprice and vehemence with which it is sometimes opposed; the frenzy with which men have been brought to contend for opinions and ceremonies, of which they knew neither the proof, the meaning, nor the original: lastly, the equal and undoubting confidence with which we hear the doctrines of Christ or of Confucius, the law of Moses or of Mahomet, the Bible, the Koran, or the Shaster, maintained or anathematized, taught or abjured, revered or derided, according as we live on this or on that side of a river; keep within or step over the boundaries of a state; or even in the same country, and by the same people, so often as the event of a battle, or the issue of a negotiation, delivers them to the dominion of a new master;—points, we say, of this sort are exhibited to the public attention, as so many arguments against the truth of the Christian religion;—and with success. For these topics being brought together, and set off with some aggravation of circumstances, and with a vivacity of style and description familiar enough to the writings and conversation of free-thinkers, insensibly lead the imagination into a habit of classing Christianity with the delusions that have taken possession, by turns, of the public belief; and of regarding it as, what the scoffers of our faith represent it to be, the superstition of the day. But is this to deal honestly by the subject, or with the world? May not the same things be said, may not the same prejudices be excited by these representations, whether Christianity be true or false, or by whatever proofs its truth be attested? May not truth as well as falsehood be taken upon credit? May not a religion be founded upon evidence accessible and satisfactory to every mind competent to the inquiry, which yet, by the greatest part of its professors, is received upon authority?
"But if the matter of these objections be reprehensible, as calculated to produce an effect upon the reader beyond what their real weight and place in the argument deserve, still more shall we discover of management and disingenuousness in the form under which they are dispersed among the public. Infidelity is served up in every shape that is likely to allure, surprise, or beguile the imagination; in a fable, a tale, a novel, a poem; in interspersed and broken hints, remote and oblique surmises; in books of travels, of philosophy, of natural history; in a word, in any form rather than the right one, that of a professed and regular disquisition. And because the coarse buffoonery and broad laugh of the old and rude adversaries of the Christian faith would offend the taste, perhaps, rather than the virtue, of this cultivated age, a graver irony, a more skilful and delicate banter is substituted in its place. An eloquent historian, beside his more direct, and therefore fairer, attacks upon the credibility of Evangelic story, has contrived to weave into his narration one continued sneer upon the cause of Christianity, and upon the writings and characters of its ancient patrons. The knowledge which this author possesses of the frame and conduct of the human mind must have led him to observe, that such attacks do their execution without inquiry. Who can refute a sneer? Who can compute the number, much less, one by one, scrutinize the justice of those disparaging insinuations which crowd the pages of this elaborate history? What reader suspends his curiosity, or calls off his attention from the principal narrative, to examine references, to search into the foundation, or to weigh the reason, propriety, and force of every transient sarcasm and sly allusion, by which the Christian testimony is depreciated and traduced; and by which, nevertheless, he may find his persuasion afterwards unsettled and perplexed?"
"But the enemies of Christianity have pursued her with poisoned arrows. Obscenity itself is made the vehicle of infidelity. The fondness for ridicule is almost universal; and ridicule to many minds is never so irresistible as when seasoned with obscenity, and employed upon religion. But in proportion as these noxious principles take hold of the imagination, they infatuate the judgment; for trains of ludicrous and unchaste associations, adhering to every sentiment and mention of religion, render the mind indisposed to receive either conviction from its evidence, or impressions from its authority. And this effect, being exerted upon the sensitive part of our frame, is altogether independent of argument, proof, or reason; is as formidable to a true religion as to a false one; to a well-grounded faith as to a chimerical mythology, or fabulous tradition. Neither, let it be observed, is the crime or danger less, because impure ideas are exhibited under a veil, in covert and chastised language."