and moral world, that the more perfect should succeed the less perfect, and not vice versa; and from the natural to proceed to the supernatural." Enlarging on this view, Barnes very justly observes, "The idea is, that there is a tendency towards perfection; and that God observes the proper order, by which that which is most glorious shall be secured. It was not His plan that all things in the beginning should be perfect; but that perfection should be the work of time, and should be secured in an appropriate order of events." The value of this great principle in relation to our present subject, consists in its universality. The Apostle is not accounting for one instance of the antecedency of the inferior to the superior, by merely adducing a parallel instance of the same kind. He affirms that the antecedency of the natural body to the spiritual body is only a harmonious part of a great whole; that it is strictly analogous with the order observed in all the Divine operations; and that the principle of that order is progress. From which it follows, that the material creation preceded the spiritual; and, therefore, that the angelic order of beings was called into existence subsequent to the origination of
For the reasons already assigned, I forbear repeating here the remainder of the article referred to, respecting the comparative status of the angel and the man. It may not be amiss, however, to say that the proposition on the subject amounts to this, that while the present condition of angels is, in some respects, superior to that of man during his earthly sojourn, they are inferior to him both as it respects his original constitution, and his ultimate destination. The contrary opinion is, I think, popularly or generally made out in this way (quite as much, at least, as by any of the passages of Scripture which appear to favor it) by taking it for granted that they have always been inhabitants of heaven; and, consequently, investing their entire history with its grandeur; by vaguely associating with the mention of their name all that is said in Scripture respecting the uncreated Angel of Jehovah, and the grand symbolic beings existing only in vision; by transferring to man comparisons of inferiority belonging to different members of their own order; by forgetting that while man is still a probationer, they are a stage beyond him, having entered on their future state; and by instituting comparisons, not as justice would require, between a fallen man in perdition and a fallen angel, or between "the elect angels" and "the spirits of just men made perfect," but between a holy angel and unreclaimed, depraved man; which is pretty much as if we should infer the rank of an unfallen angel
from one of the "unclean spirits" in "the herd of swine," as compared with the loftiest of the redeemed in heaven. On the other hand, it does not appear to be sufficiently considered that, in their history, the process of the Divine manifestation is only carried directly to the point of holiness and justice, that here it stops; that, in the history of man, the process not only goes over the same ground, but advances beyond; that the nature taken into mysterious and indissoluble union with the Divine nature, is that of man; and that, thus ineffably exalted, it occupies the highest throne in heaven.
Action, moral approbation of, prior to any
thought of its utility, 146.
Actions generalized, 264.
Activity, love of, 87; law of, 208; of man,
necessary to his development, 209; the
world, a call to it, 210; highest form of,
210; of Eden, 211; of heaven, 212.
Affection, what, 86; social, subordination
of. 236; objects of, 237; liabilities of, 363.
Age, of the world, every one its own expe-
rience, 376, 377.
Analogical, Mosaic account of creation, 14;
relation of man and nature, 320.
Analogy, reason of, 314; of man's creation
with prior creations, 321; of man with
nature, 322-421; of moral difficulties
with natural, 328.
Angels, prior to man, 3; some had sinned,
7; probable relation of, to the human
economy, 32, 448; their views of the
Divine holiness, 345, 447; their mutual
relations, different from ours, 347, 417;
the great lesson of their fall, 417.
Animal mind, 202.
Antecedents, logical and chronological, 71.
Anthropopathic, Mosaic account of crea-
tion, 9.
Appetites, what, 86; subordination of, 235;|
objects of, 236, 237; have their value,
238; liabilities of, 561.
Approve, disposition to, 91.
Arguments, a priori and a posteriori, 72.
Art, 53, 218.
Attention, what, 122; effects of, 123, 125;
advantages of, 124.
Barbarism, man's first condition not one of,
162-170.
Beauty and sublimity, emotions of, 92.
Being, an infinite, apprehensible, 63.
Belief, voluntary, 123, 251; man, responsi-
ble for, 249-251; aids understanding,
124; of an external universe, an ultimate
fact, 302; liabilities of, 358, 363.
Beliefs, primary, characteristics of, 55;
presupposed in creation, 55, 72; relation
to the mind, 58; number of, 64; princi-
ple which should determine it, 65; what
they must include, 65; validity, 66;
grounds for expecting, 70.
Brain, human, relative properties of, 192.
Categories, different kinds of, 65.
Cause, idea of, how given, 47; final, 51;|
an ultimate fact, 302; man, a cause, 303.
Change, a law of the universe, 2, 259, 321 ; |
reason of, 339; time of, neither necessary
nor capricious, 340; in relation to the
first man, 341; conditions of, fulfilled,
342-350.
Changes, physical, greater before man, 2.
Chaos, probable extent of, 16; probable
volcanic cause of, 18.
Character, and motive, reaction of, 111;
nothing indifferent to, 214, 269; what,
and its relation to habit, 250, 439; pros-
pective, 275; not formed by the external,
280; its Divine model, 283; a self-forma-
tion, 303; endless diversity of, possible,
388.
Characteristic of the new economy, 5.
Chronology, sacred, 181.
Classification, methods of, 43; of man, 243,
334 universal, principles of, 330; illus-
tration of, 330; characteristics of, 332;
grounds of, 336; the final, 337; man's
power of, illustrates Divine wisdom, 423.
Co-existence and successive existence, 74.
Conception, what, 51.
Conscience, essential to responsibility, 132;
universality of, 134; uniformity, want of,
135; a distinct faculty, 147; its function,
148; in relation to the motives, 151; to
the will, 151; universal for the mind-
unintermitting, 152; supreme, 153, 236,
238, 437; non-compulsory, 155; its per-
version within limits, 155; its external
relations, 221, 440; obligations of, 245, 251.
Consciousness, ultimate authority of, 67,
302; no other ground of knowledge con-
ceivable, 67; of obligation, 149.
Continuity, law of, 180; physiological, with-
in limits, 183.
Creation of man, 3. 21; time of, contingent,
285, 322; in analogy with prior creations,
321; related to the physical condition of
the earth, 222; not deranging the uni-
formity of nature, 222; six days' process
of, 15; of woman, 23; truths, logically
presupposed in, 60, 72; a syllogism, 74,
80; order of, 229.
Creations prior, 16; all possible, not desi-
rable, 373; nor necessary, 371.
Credibility of testimony, 161.
Death, the kind of, threatened, 178.
Deduction, illustrated, 74.
Dependence, a law of the universe, 285;
illustrated by the time of man's creation,
286; by his first locality, 286; his con-
stitution, 287; his knowledge of, essen-
tial, 291; everything signified it, 292;
his subjective, how it agrees with free-
dom, theories of, 292; the first man, made
to feel his, 344; the necessity for teach-
ing it increased by sin, 416.
Design, idea of, how given, 51; Divine, man
an illustration of, 422-428.
Desires, 87.
Development, law of, 185; conditions of
356; irregular, dangers of, 365; advan-
tages of, 370; possible, 373.
Difficulties, moral, in analogy with natural,
328; harmonized in moral government,
361.
Dispensation, the probationary, its great
lesson, 416; its lesson increasingly neces-
sary, 417.
Dispositions, impartative, 89.
Earth, already a scene of Divine power,
3; wisdom, 4; goodness, 5; now, of mor-
al government, 6, 9, 174, 265, 277; Adamic,
made from pre-existing matter, 14; the
term variously applied, 16; man's physi-
cal relations to, 215, 322; and man mu-
tually adapted, 288.
Eden, probable situation of, 17; man's con-
dition in, 167, 290, 430, 431; scene of
moral government, 174, 242, 265, 277; his
activity in, 211; his relations in, 224;
man's being placed in, dependent on
God, 286; everything there, signified his
dependence, 293.
Embryotic theory, unfounded, 193.
Emotions, necessary, 85; nature of, 86; di-
vision of, 87; appropriative, 87; impar-
tative, 89; arrestive. 91; perfective, 92;
further generalization of, 95; relation to
the great scheme, 96; co-extensive with
means of knowledge, 97; to be cultivated,
98; affording a scale for the valuation of
objects, 98, 99; its external relations, 219;
obligations of, 245, 249; liabilities of, 350,
365; illustrative of Divine wisdom, 442;
subservient to virtue, 437.
Evidence, degrees of, 77; man's liabilities
respecting, 358, 363.
Experience, logically presupposes primary
beliefs, 56; of freedom and dependence,
necessary, 368; conditions of, 369; why,
284; incommunicable, 379.
Externality, idea of, how given, 49; essen-
tial to reasoning, 49.
Fall of man, change involved in, 179; not
without pre-intimations, 326, 336; of pro-
found interest, 343; consequences of
personal, 403; consequences, not arbi-
trary, 408; relative effects, 409; made!
illustrative of holiness, 447.
Final cause, idea of, how given, 51; science
recedes from, how, 78.
Foreknowledge, mode of Divine and human,
different, 107.
Freedom, of will, false views of, 102; the
earth specially adapted for it, 289; agrees
idea of, necessary, 311; dangers of, 342,
361, 366.
Future, why more important than the
present, 237; and the present, balanced,
361.
God, holiness and justice of, what, 6; love
due to, supreme, 220, 317; law of the uni-
verse, 384; man's relations to, profound,
222; will of, supreme, 236, 238; man's
obligation to obey, 251-255; obedience
to, happiness, 273; sustains man, yet
leaves him free, 293; holiness of, ade-
quately illustrated, 345-350, 436-452;
resources of, unlimited, 391; his hatred
of sin, 415; power of, illustrated, 420-
442; his wisdom, 422-428; his goodness,
426-436; inconceivably excellent, 444,
449.
Goodness, Divine, man an illustration of,
428-136; subservient to holiness, 446.
Habit, law of, 125; advantages of, 126;
evil, 127; confirmation of, 269; relation
to character, 270; subservient to virtue,
439, 441.
Holiness, what, 6; all-sufficiency of, illus-
trated, 345, 448; man made for, 436-452.
Idealism, the reaction of representational-
ism, 40.
Ideas of space and time, how given, 45;
cause and effect, 47; substance and attri-
bute, 48; externality, 49; resemblance,
50; final cause, 51; logical and chrono-
logical, 59.
Identity, of men, not dependent on species,
24; personal, 200.
Ignorance, its relation to guilt, 261, 265,
Image of God, man made in, 8, 9, 180, 432,
443; man has the idea of it, 283, 335;
might have constantly approached it, 283;
departure from it, diversified, 284.
Imagination, works of, anticipate criticism,
82; distinguished from fancy, 83; relates
to the possible, 83; to the moral, 84, 272,
425; its external relations, 217; obliga-
tions of, 244; liabilities of, 358.
Immortality, of man, implied in his proba-
tion, 175; not inherently necessary, 290;
natural suggestions of, 1, 324.
Individuality of an object, what, 50.
Induction, logic of, 52; illustrated, 76.
Infinite, our notion of, 62; Being, appre-
hensible, 63.
Influence, law of, 230; man's, over him-
self, 231; capable of increase, 231; over
nature, 232; with his fellow-men, 233,
421; with God, 234; of rature on man, 234.
Instinct, what, 203; an ultimate fact, 206;
in man subservient to virtue, 436, 440.
Justice, Divine, what, 6; sentiment of, hu-
man, 90.
with subjective dependence, 292; moral, Knowledge of objects, immediate, 39-41,
certainty of, 66; love of, 87; kind and
degree of, dependent on the will of God,
289; means of, illustrates Divine design,
422.
Language, what it includes, 157; origin of,
163; primitive, 165; obligations of, 245,
248; its analogies and relations, 316;
dangers it involves, 359; diversities of,
insulate mankind, 376.
Law, idea of, necessary, 313; primal, see
probationary.
Laws, general, obedience to, essential to
happiness, 253, 273; not causes, 259;
means of ascertaining them, 261; in suf-
ficiency of 264; do not exclude Provi-
dence 266 277; do not explain phenom-
ena, 295; are not causes, 295; idea of,
necessary, 313.
Liberty, love of, 90; of the will, false views
of, 102; of indifference, 114.
Life an ultimate fact, 300; human, a pro-
bation, 368.
possible aberrations of, endless, 388; his
probationary trial, 373-392; himself, a
power, 420; an illustration of Divine
wisdom, 395-400; of Goodness, 428-
436; of Holiness, 436-449; may well
await results, 450.
Matter, Adamic earth made from pre-exist-
ing, 14; origination of, 15, 477; existence
of, an ultimate fact, 299.
Memory, nothing absolutely lost from it,
214, 217, 270.
Method, divine, in creation, reason of, 351;
why necessary for man, 352; in relation
to God, 373; reason for, gains force with
time, 374; extends to worlds, 378; each
distinct, yet part of a whole, 380; ever
receiving accessions, 385; complications
of, infinite, 387.
Man, the earth prepared for him, 1, 426;
his creation of deep interest, 3, 21; his
constitution, 8; chosen, 287; in the Di-
vine Image, 9, 180, 432, 443; embodies
pre-existing laws, 21, 31; made of the
common earth, 22; organic, 22; animal,
23; not a transmuted being, 23; instinc-
tive, 30; belongs to the original scheme
of organization, 32; intelligent, the being
to and by whom the manifestation is
made, 35, 38; must be placed in sensible
communication with nature, 35; his ear-
liest sensations, 42; reflective, 43; ration-
al, 54; imaginative, 81; emotional, 85;
voluntary, 100; recognizes moral quality
in actions, 134; primitive condition of,
166, 428-435; probationary, 174; im-
mortal, 175; recency of, 182; his struc-
ture, superiority of, 185; social, 189;
perceptions, as compared with his organs,
191; brain, 192; his relative superiority,
207, 242; his activity, 208; relations, 212;
to God, 223; in Eden, 225; his relation
to order, 226; his influence, 230, 238;
his subordination, 235; classification of,
243, 334, 336; obligations, 243; well-be-
ing, 267; everything belonging to him
important, 268; his dependence, 285;
sustained, yet free, 292; a combination
of ultimate facts, 308; by necessary truth
communes with the Infinite, 313; in
analogy with the great system, 314;
made to know and love God. 316; can-
not change a law of nature, 323; law of
change respecting, 336; his fall, 343;
consequences of, 403; Divine Method,
reason of, in relation to, 351; his condi-
tions of development, 355; his liabilities,
357-387; every part of, on probation,
368; potential, 374; every individual,
has distinct treatment, 375; why sepa-
rated into families and nations, 379;1
Mind, like matter, known by its properties,
49; has truths of its own, 57; involves
the highest truths, 70; transcends na-
ture, 72; simple and indivisible, 148, 201;
and matter, distinct, 197; animal, 203;
human, superiority of, 206; agrees with
its design, 207; lofty position of, 207; an
ultimate fact, 302.
Minds, divine and human, must have some
things in common, 35.
Moral government, earth a scene of, 6, 9;
in Eden, 174, 242, 265, 277; the proper
notion of, 275; not fully developed on
earth, 276; its perfection, 277; no viola-
tion of nature, 323; certain problems of,
361.
Moral science, province of, 133.
Morality, see Virtue.
Mosaic account of creation characterized,
10-14.
Motives, conditionally resistible, 103; the
strongest, 104; force of, differs from phy-
sical causation, 106; not external, 110;
and character re-act, 111; conditions of
volition, 113; concurrence of, with the
will, 114, 305; graduated scale of, 238,
315; obligations of, 246; subjective, 305;
of different kinds, to be balanced, 361,
366.
Muscular system given to the will, 127.
Nature, and man proceed inversely, 76;
theories of, 296; forces of, 297; sustained
by God, 299; a limited prediction of man,
320; subject to a law of change, 2, 259,
321.
Natural religion, means of, 261-264, 277,
318, 426; insufficiency of, 264, 279; office
of, 278; conditions of, 354.
Necessary truth, characterized, 55, 59, 309,
310; and contingent, 73; presupposed in
every generalization, 309; means of com-
munion with the Infinite, 313.
Objects, methods of classifying, 44.
Objective and subjective, nice adjustment
of, 54; relation between, 68.
Obligation, consciousness of, ultimate, 150;
law of, 243; man's internal, 243; ever-
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