tianity, indeed, it may be suspected, is too imperfectly understood, even by scholars, philosophers, and statesmen of the first rank, and the greatest celebrity.' a question of prime importance. Yet there are able men of singular address and dexterity in all political and commercial business, who perhaps never asked the question with seriousness; and who seem to be merely novices, or downright ignoramuses, in the school of Christ. Let such persons consider the economy of grace, as thus briefly displayed by bishop Warburton, who, nevertheless, was a great opposer of the true doctrine of divine energy; and who, on that account, may have the more weight with many. "The blessed Jesus came into the world to declare the goodwill of our heavenly Father to the forfeited posterity of Adam. He testified the truth of his mission by amazing miracles; and sealed the redemption of mankind, by the more amazing devotion of himself to an ignominious death. "But as the redemption, so generally procured, could only operate on particulars, under certain circumstances of faith and obedience, very repugnant to our corrupted nature, the blessed Jesus, on his leaving the world, promised his followers his intercession with the Father, to send another divine person-the Holy Ghost, called the Spirit of Truth,' and the Comforter' -who, agreeably to the import of those names, should cooperate with us in establishing faith, and in perfecting obedience; or, in other words, should sanctify us to redemption. 6 "This is a succinct account of the economy of grace; entirely consonant to our best conceptions of the nature of God, and the condition of man. For if man was to be reinstated in a free gift, justly forfeited, we cannot but suppose that as, on the one hand, it might be restored on what conditions best pleased the giver; so, on the other, God would graciously provide, that it should not be bestowed in vain. "An atonement, therefore, was to be made for the offended majesty of the Father, and this was the work of the Son; and a remedy was to be provided for the miserable condition of man, which hindered the atonement from producing its effect; and this was the office of the Holy Ghost; so that both were joint workers in the great business of reconciling God to man. "The office of the Holy Ghost is to enlighten the understanding, and to rectify the will."-Bishop Warburton. This is the testimony of an adversary. To call the attention of men to Christianity, and to render its true genius and nature better known,' is the scope of this little book; a book by no means intended to promote the interest, or gratify the pride of any particular division or subdivision of Christians, but to serve the common cause of all human beings, by maintaining the divine origin, describing the real essence and energy, and diffusing the powerful efficacy of that sublime philosophy, which, under the immediate operation of an all-wise and benign Deity, promises to tranquillize life, and conduct man, through paths of peace, to realms of eternal felicity. What then is the principle of this philosophy, which gives it a decided superiority over all that has been taught in the groves of Academus, the Portico, and the Lyceum? It is (as I hope has been evinced in the preceding pages) a beam of light from the Father of lights; a lumen de lumine, "light of light;" the breath of the power of God, restoring degenerate human nature to that image which it lost at the fall, and re-establishing it in primeval dignity. The Holy Ghost, it appears, is the divine Being, now and for ever engaged in "The Christian that rejects, reproaches, and writes against the necessity of immediate divine inspiration, (as Warburton did,) pleads the whole cause of infidelity."-Law. In many countries called Christian, neither Christianity nor its evidence are fairly laid before men; and in places where both are, there appear to be some, who have very little attended to either; and who reject Christianity with a scorn proportionate to their inattention; and yet are by no means without understanding in other matters."-Bishop Butler. "I have been so long conversant with the classics," said Dr. Conyers Middleton, "that I grow squeamish when I come to the Scriptures." effecting this happy renovation; in producing a change which no human wisdom could ever accomplish, without supernatural assistance; without that gift which our Lord gave to men after his ascension. The elegant refinements of human philosophy may furnish a pleasing amusement for those who possess the advantages of a classical education, and of literary leisure. The Christian philosophy alone is calculated for all mankind; this alone can bring peace at the last;' peace, during the continuance of life, as well as its close; a transcendant peace, called in Scripture, the peace of God, which passeth all understanding;' and which certainly constitutes that supreme good of man, in selecting which, human philosophy could never yet finally agree. Happily, it is a kind of philosophy to which every human being, consistently with God's equity, may attain; requiring not cultured intellects, nor a life of academical seclusion, but faithful, fervent prayer, accompanied with sincere, though imperfect obedience. If ye, being evil,' says our Saviour, 'know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?' Nothing is to be desired by mortal man, in comparison with this gift- the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." The end, it appears, "I would," said the great Grotius, whose book, 'On the Truth of the Christian Religion,' is recommended to all young students, though, I believe, it never convinced any man living; "I would," said he, a little before he died, "give all my learning and honour, for the plain integrity and innocence of Jean Urick;" a poor illiterate neighbour of his, who spent much of his time in prayer, and was an honest plain man, and industrious in his calling.-John Edwards. 2 Phil. i. 19. to be pursued by this philosophy, is the attainment of the Spirit's influence; the means, prayer and obedience. Such is the sum and substance of Christian Philosophy; a title' which I have chosen, because, from a strange perverseness, a great part of the world, too often guided by names, is willing to listen to philosophy, while it closes the iron doors of prejudice against the voice of religion. The divine energy announced to mankind in the glad tidings of the gospel, under the name of gifts and grace, operating, now and for evermore, on This name Christianity bears in the writings of some of the ancient fathers. Thus Justin Martyr, speaking of Christianity, says, Επι τω οντι ΦΙΛΟΣΟΦΙΑ μεγιςον κτημα και τιμιωτατον θεω, ωτε προσαγει καὶ συνιςησιν ημας μουνη.-Dialog. cum Tryph. He adds, that he found this philosophy, meaning the Christian, the only philosophy that was useful, and to be depended upon. Ταυτην μονην ευρισκον Φιλοσοφιαν ασφαλη τε καὶ συμφορον.—Ibid. Isidore also terms Christianity "the new and evangelical philosophy." Η νεα καὶ ευαγγελικη ΦΙΛΟΣΟΦΙΑ.-Epist. lib. iv. Several other fathers call it the Christian philosophy.-Vide Sozomen. Eccles. Hist. lib. v. cap. 12. And let it be remembered, that, Non tam discendo, quam patiendo divina, "The human mind is perfected not so much by learning divine things, as by passively receiving the impressions of Divinity." Homines ideo fallantur, quod aut religionem suscipiunt, omissa sapientia, aut sapientiæ soli student, omissa religione, cum alterum sine altero esse non possit veram. Lactantius de falsa Sapient. lib. iii.-" Men are deceived in this account, because they either adopt religion to the neglect of philosophy; or study philosophy alone, to the neglect of religion; whereas the one without the other cannot be what it strictly ought to be." every human heart prepared to admit it, appears, from what has been advanced in these pages, to be the living, everlasting gospel, still accompanying the written word, and conveying illumination, sanctification, consolation. It would not cease to operate, being sent down from heaven on our Lord's ascension, even if it were possible that ink and paper, by whose instrumentality the written word is transmitted, were utterly lost. It originates from Omnipotence, and cannot entirely rely, for its continuance or effect, on means merely human, weak, contingent, and perishable. He who once views the gospel of Jesus Christ in this light; he who considers it as a vital influence from heaven, and recognizes its energy on his heart, as he will do, in consequence of prayer and obedience, will want no other proof of the truth and excellence of Christianity. He will have the witness in himself; and stand in no need of the schoolmen's folios, the verbal subtleties of the critic, or the acrimonious disputes of the polemic. He will find, that some of the most learned men, the most voluminous writers on theological subjects, were totally ignorant of Christianity. He will find that they were ingenious heathen philosophers, assuming the name of Christians, and forcibly paganizing Christianity, for the sake of pleasing the world, of extending their fame, and enjoying secular honours and lucrative pre-eminence.' 'There are those, says the apostle, who seek their own, and not the things of Jesus Christ.' Phil. ii. 21. Such as these are called by Ignatius xpiseμπopoi, dealers and chapmen in Christ. Unprofitable truths they will have no more to do with, than traders with unsaleable commodities. Bishop Horne says, "Those clergymen, who betray the cause of their Master in order to be promoted in the church, are guilty |