8. I do not believe that God has ever become incarnate, or that he has a celestial spouse, or a son.
9. I do not believe in the existence of truth-speaking prophets, in the existence of angels, or ghosts, or in the supernatural birth of any one.
10. I do not believe that God has now, or ever has had, a separate and chosen people, peculiarly "His own," and, consequently, that there are none to whom the term "the elect" can apply.
11. I do not believe that what is generally designated religion is necessary to the existence of law and order in a state or in a family.
12. I do not believe that God requires the assistance of man, here or elsewhere, to enable Him to find, or to keep, or to punish, His subjects.
These negatives might be multiplied, but I doubt whether profitably so, inasmuch as the more we dilute important points, the less readily are they recognized. We may now proceed to affirmations:—
1. I do believe in the existence of a distinct Power in creation—great beyond conception, which pervades all space—which is everywhere present in the earth, the sea, the air, and in every conceivable part of the Universe—which made all things, and gave to them properties, powers, and laws. A power to which it were blasphemy to assign ears, eyes, hands, or human parts, and an evidence of a grovelling mind to suppose it capable of human passions, such as love, hate, jealousy, and merriment, and to describe it as ignorant, vacillating, and grieved at its own work. That Power I cannot conceive as having either an origin or an end. Into the designs of such a power, man cannot enter, nor can he even seem to approach them, except by noticing the works of creation, and studying the laws which apparently govern it By the term, "laws of nature," I understand "the laws of the power of which I speak." I cannot conceive how man can form an idea of a state of spiritual existence of which he can neither see, observe, or notice anything.
It is, in my opinion, unnecessary here to enter into the vexed question of the continued interference of this Power with its works, for where we have only human analogies to guide us, it is undesirable to argue upon them in the attempt to discover the superhuman. As we shall have occasion shortly to indicate our views upon a matter analogous to this, we will postpone anything which we may have to say.
I believe that the Power has never made, nor can ever make, a mistake; that all its works are perfect, and that where they seem to us to be otherwise, it is from our ignorance of their design.
It seems to me that lions and lambs, sharks and gudgeons, that hawks and chickens, form a portion of a grand scheme: that the distinct classes of animals were originally perfect; that they may deteriorate, yet never advance beyond perfection. I do not believe that a lion could become, under any circumstances, a bull; a bear a camel, or a pig an elephant.