LECT. IV. can harmonize and explain. That which has proved the wreck of all other systems, and must ever prove so, furnishes an infallible and triumphant criterion of the only true and divine

one.

LECTURE V.

THE SCRIPTURAL SCHEME FOR THE

UNIVERSAL RECOVERY

OF MANKIND TO VIRTUE AND HAPPINESS, TRIED BY ITS
ADAPTATION AND ACTUAL SUCCESS.

The Bible proposes the redemption and recovery of mankind-Exhibits the means- Assures the result-The only religion that ever proposed to effect such an object-This purpose grand and worthy of God-The scheme, as exhibited, displays a universal character and adaptation-Perfection of its standard of morals and piety universally admitted-Objections against its divinity-Representations of the Neologists - Divinity of the gospel proved from its character-Corroborated by its practical application and advancing triumphs.

LECT. V.

pect of reve

dial.

WE conceive that another department of proof, on behalf of the Sacred Scripture, is to be traced General asin the general aspect of its revelations, on the lation remesubject of the recovery of man from his fallen and apostate state, his return to God, his recovery of divine knowledge, his restoration to

LECT. V. sound morality, inward harmony, social order, and immortal happiness. We design here to show, that the Bible contains a scheme peculiar to itself, the professed object of which is, to supply an effectual antidote to the misery which transgression has introduced, in all its extent, and in all its malignity; and that this scheme, accomplished and brought to bear, does answer its proposed purpose, and that nothing else does; that, therefore, nothing can be wanting but its universal prevalence and reception, to remedy, to the full extent required, all the evils under which human nature has been suffering from the earliest times, and to restore it to all the joys it has forfeited.

The argument stated.

The analysis of the argument here intended to be illustrated, may be thus stated:-The Bible claims the merit of exhibiting, and bringing to perfection, a very peculiar, and, in many respects, a mysterious process, which it introduces as of divine origination and appointment; and that this same authority proposes and provides certain moral means and expedients, to which it attaches the very highest efficiency and importance, and which it alleges will, when used in the way prescribed, become the infallible means of effecting the most desirable, and the most happy of changes upon human nature. Thus, the whole scheme of revelation, upon this subject, presents the gospel as a medicine, or remedy, the value of which is to be subjected to trial, and the virtue

If it LECT. V.

of which is to be tested by experience.
can be shown that the results fully justify and
vindicate the pretensions of Christianity, then the
argument will be valid, in favour of its divine
origin. The pretensions being inseparably con-
nected with its high source, and its effect, also,
being uniformly represented as dependent upon
its divinity, these must invariably go together.
Our object, at present, therefore, will be to ex-
pand and illustrate the general statement.

It will be admitted, on all hands, that the Bible does propose a scheme of human salvation, signifying, by that term, the moral renovation of the heart, and the attainment of inward moral harmony, external holiness, or virtue, and the final attainment of everlasting life; all of which are represented as forfeited by the first apostasy. The announcement and execution of this plan are to be traced to the very first intimations in which it was seminally contained, and from which, as from its earliest germ, the whole has been gradually and slowly evolved, until the matured fruit has been presented, in all its richness, to mankind. Now, here it will be necessary to present a brief outline of what the Bible scheme of salvation professes to do, allowing that, in the first place, the main object of revelation is the restoration of human nature to the favour of God, to moral rectitude, to happiness, and immortality; and then it will be necessary to meet some objections and representations, which would,

LECT. V. in different ways, tend to invalidate its divine

What the Bible proposes and predicts.

The restoration of our nature.

authority.

Let it, then, be conceded, that the Bible explicitly proposes, and does even confidently predict, a general and thorough recovery of mankind; does hold forth the most flattering and joyous hopes, and does pledge its own pretensions to divinity, on the result of effecting such a change in human nature: and, what is a still further venture, which we imagine could never have been made by any impostor, and very unlikely to have been seriously made by any simply human and uninspired author, that every individual, who will fairly, frankly, and heartily try its proffered remedies, shall realize, in his own experience, all that is proposed to be effected. Let us, then, examine its character, in reference to the main object at which it aims.

This agency, which the Bible brings to our notice, promises to supply an antidote to the vices, and, in a great measure, to the miseries of the world. It proposes to restore the violated harmony of our nature, and again to reconcile flesh and spirit, without destroying, without impairing, and without unnaturalizing either. Sublimity of This system comes forward with the command

the design.

ing, the exclusive, pretension to divinity and universality. It cannot be denied, that there is an air of grandeur, a high sublimity of conception, a lofty majesty of purpose, in the project of a universal system of moral improvement and