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directed, and by the character which is ascribed to him. If these are distorted and false-if Deity is in conception divested of his genuine attributes-if any degree of imperfection is supposed to belong to him-if he is imaged as susceptible of any human passion or infirmity, or of limited and partial views, the sentiments produced on the contemplation of the object of worship must be proportionably tainted by these misconceptions, and religion must be so far debased and perverted. Religious duties must immediately assume a complexion conformable. to the erroneous opinions received and cherished concerning Deity. Modes of conciliating his favour, or of averting his displeasure, suited to the nature and character of the idol erected in the mind, though not exhibited to the senses, will be adopted, and practices established as religious, which have no connexion with genuine and vital religion, whether as conceived by reason, or prescribed by the pure standard of divine revelation. In all such cases religious duties will be separated from the practice of life, and may even have the most fatal influence in corrupting moral principle, and in dictating conduct inconsistent with every moral obligation.

From erroneous and perverse notions of Deity, have proceeded all the false religions that ever existed in the world, all the corruptions of the true, and all the abominations and horrors which these have introduced, sanctioned, and propagat

ed. False religion, instead of being, as the true manifestly is, the greatest blessing to man, has been his bane and his curse; and if the hope of its reformation were extinguished, it might be doubted whether it might not be placed on the same ground. with atheism. For, a species of atheism it certainly is, in as much as it removes from view the all-perfect Deity, "glorifies him not as God," and seats on his throne a creature of human imagination. In fact, atheism and corrupt religion have many common features, as I may have afterwards occasion to show.

Whatever, then, can be justly denominated religion, must be founded on knowledge of the divine nature and perfections, must apprehend these, at least to a certain extent, and regard the Deity as the author of that intellectual and moral nature which characterizes man. As God is himself a pure spirit, in whom reside, in the highest degree and without limitation, intellectual and moral excellence, and unbounded power; and as from him is derived whatever excellence is displayed in his creatures; it is evident that he must desire that all whom he has endued with free agency, should act according to that rational constitution which is derived from him. Every attentive and judicious survey of human nature tends to convince us, that man possesses an immaterial substance united to a

a Romans i. 21.

material frame; that the dissolution of the latter involves not the destruction of the former, and that he is in fact destined for immortality. This opinion, as well as the persuasion of superior power, we find, accordingly, prevalent among all nations with whose history we are in any degree acquainted. All religions, therefore, true or false, have considered this future state of existence as the scene in which the rewards of virtue and the punishments of vice will effectually take place, and divine justice be completely manifested. It follows, that one grand branch of true religion must consist in enforcing this principle, and, as a chief spring of right conduct, invariably directing the view to this important and awful futurity.

As the right regulation of conduct is the main and grand object of pure religion, it must necessarily employ certain means of establishing in the human soul, those pious and moral sentiments and feelings which it inculcates, of giving appropriate expression to these, of imparting to them new strength and vigour, of preserving them in the breast in which they are excited, of testifying them to others, and of diffusing them through the world. In a word, it must institute and maintain the most effectual modes of invigorating the ties that bind man to his Creator, of corroborating his social and civil relations, and of fixing in his mind a strong and predominant

sense of the dignity of his rational nature, and of the superiority of his immortal part. From this source proceed religious service, properly so called, and all the duties of external worship.

From these observations, we are led to establish the following grand principles of all true religion.

1st, That the author of all things is a pure and perfect spirit; that, by consequence, this spirit is omniscient; that he always wills what is best, and desires no absolute evil; that he admits distress and suffering only as a necessary consequence of the imperfection of created beings, or as a means subservient to the greatest possible good; and that his power extends to all possibilities; that is, he can do whatever involves no.contradiction or impossibility in the very nature of things. All the other attributes of an all-perfect spirit, such as sanctity, goodness, wisdom, justice, omnipresence, foreknowledge, or prescience, are resolvable into these notions.

2dly, That the same all-perfect Being, who is the author of the universe, and the parent of the human race, is likewise their governor, and provides for the happiness of his creation in the manner most adapted to the powers and faculties with which he has endued the different orders of his creatures, and of every individual belonging to these different orders; that is, that he exercises a constant and watchful providence over

all the parts of his immense creation, and a moral government over those who are endued with reason and moral feeling. This principle is involved in the preceding one; but, on account of its importance, merits a separate and distinct

enunciation.

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3dly, As a consequence of the two foregoing propositions, That the soul of man is immortal, and that death, that is, the dissolution of the material frame, will introduce him into a state of happiness or misery, to be determined by his conduct in the present life.

I have just now said, that this last proposition flows from the two by which it is preceded. For, the same considerations which lead us to infer that the Deity is a pure and unlimited spirit, lead us also to conclude, that man is possessed of a spiritual substance, joined to a material and perishable frame, and that this substance, though limited in its faculties, is indissoluble in its nature. The moral government of the Deity leads directly to infer a future state of retribution, because, in the present scene, retribution is but imperfectly displayed.

From the principles already established, it is evident, that, on contemplating the true character of Deity, and viewing man merely as possessed of intellectual and active powers, and with freedom of will, which these imply, true religion must consist in entertaining towards the Supreme

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