circumstances. At the same time, the effects of natural religion were tried among the heathen nations that surrounded them. The result was, a clear demonstration that, under the conditions of being in which man was created, any reformation was hopeless, and that, unless some other conditions were revealed, the race would perish by its own vicious and anti-social tendencies, and enter the other world to reap the reward of its guilt for ever. While this is said to be the main design of the Old Testament, it is not to be understood that this is its whole design. It was intended to be introductory to the new dispensation, and, also, to teach those, to whom it was addressed, the way of salvation. Hence, allusions to the principal events in the new dispensation, are every where to be met with. Hence, also, assurances of pardon are made to the penitent, and God is represented as ready to forgive; though the procuring cause of our pardon is not explicitly stated; but only alluded to in terms which could not be fully understood, until the remedial dispensation was accomplished.

The design of the New Testament is, to reveal to the race of man the new conditions of being, under which it is placed, by virtue of a remedial dispensation.

In pursuance of this design, the New Testament contains,

1. A narrative of the life and death, resurrection and ascension, the acts and conversations, of Jesus of Nazareth; a Being in whom the divine and human natures were mysteriously united; who appeared on earth to teach us whatever was necessary to be known of our relations to God; and, by his obedience to the law, and voluntary sufferings and death, to remove the obstacles to our pardon, which, under the former dispensation, existed in consequence of the holiness of God.

2. A brief narrative of the facts relating to the progress of the Christian religion, for several years after the ascension of Jesus of Nazareth.

3. The instructions which his immediate followers, or apostles, by divine inspiration, gave to the men of their own time, and which were rendered necessary in consequence

of their ignorance of the principles of religion, or the weakness of their virtue, and the imperfection of their faith.

The whole of this volume, taken together, teaches us the precepts, the sanctions, and the rewards of the law of God, with as great distinctness as we could desire; and also a way of salvation, on different grounds from that revealed both by natural religion and by the Old Testament; a way depending for merit, upon the doings and sufferings of another, but yet available to us on no other conditions than those of supreme, strenuous, and universal moral effort after perfect purity of thought, and word and action.

This, being a remedial dispensation, is, in its nature, fixed. We have no reason to expect any other; nay, the idea of another would be at variance with the belief of the truth of this. And, hence, the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments contain all that God has revealed to us by language respecting his will. What is contained here alone, is binding upon the conscience. Or, in the words of Chillingworth, "THE BIBLE, THE BIBLE, THE RELIGION OF PROTESTANTS."

SECTION II.

IN WHAT MANNER ARE WE TO ASCERTAIN OUR DUTY FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES?

Taking it for granted that the Bible contains a revelation of the will of God, such as is stated in the preceding section, it will still be of importance for us to decide how we may ascertain, from the study of it, what God really requires of us. Much of it is mere history, containing an unvarnished narration of the actions of good and of bad men. Much of it has reference to a less enlightened age, and to a particular people, set apart from other people, for a special and peculiar purpose. Much of it consists of exhortations and reproofs, addressed to this people, in reference to the laws

then existing, but which have been since abrogated. Now, amidst this variety of instructions, given to men at different times, and of different nations, it is desirable that the principles be settled, by which we may decide what portion of this mass of instruction is binding upon the conscience, at the present moment. My object, in the present section, is to ascertain, as far as possible, the principles by which we are to be guided in such a decision.

When a revelation is made to us by language, it is taken for granted, that whatever is our duty, will be signified to us by a command; and hence, what is not commanded, is not to be considered by us as obligatory. Did we not establish this limitation, every thing recorded, as, for instance, all the actions both of good and of bad men, might be regarded as authority; and thus a revelation, given for the purpose of teaching us our duty, might be used as an instrument to confound all distinction between right and

wrong.

The ground of moral obligation, as derived from a reve lation, must, therefore, be a command of God.

Now, a command seems to involve three ideas:

1. That an act be designated. This may be, by the designation of the act itself, as, for instance, giving bread to the hungry; or else by the designation of a temper of mind, as that of universal love, under which the above act, and various other acts, are clearly comprehended.

2. That it be somehow signified to be the will of God, that this act be performed. Without this intimation, every act that is described, or even held up for our reprobation, might be quoted as obligatory.

3. That it be signified, that we are included within the number to whom the command is addressed. Otherwise, all the commandments, to the patriarchs and prophets, whether ceremonial, symbolical, or individual, would be binding upon every one who might read them. And hence, in general, whosoever urges upon us any duty, as the command of God, revealed in the Bible, must show that God has, somewhere, commanded that action to be done, and that he has commanded us to do it.

1

This principle will exclude,

1. Every thing which is merely history. Much of the Bible contains a mere narrative of facts. For the truth of this narrative, the veracity of the Deity is pledged. We may derive from the account of God's dealings, lessons of instruction to guide us in particular cases; and, from the evil conduct of men, matter of warning. But the mere fact, that any thing has been done, and recorded in the Scripture, by no means places us under obligation to do it.

2. It excludes from being obligatory upon all, what has been commanded, but which can be shown to have been intended only for individuals, or for nations, and not for the whole human race. Thus many commands are recorded in the Scriptures, as having been given to individuals. Such was the command to Abraham, to offer up his son; to Moses, to stand before Pharaoh; to Sanuel, to anoint Saul and David; and a thousand others. Here, evidently, the Divine direction was exclusively intended for the individual to whom it was given. No one can pretend that he is commanded to offer up his son, because Abraham was so commanded.

Thus, also, many of the commands of God in the Old Testament were addressed to nations. Such were the directions to the Israelites to take possession of Canaan; to make war upon the surrounding nations; to keep the ceremonial law; and so of various other instances. Now of such precepts, it is to be observed, 1. They are to be obeyed only at the time and in the manner in which they were commanded. Thus, the Jews, at present, would have no right, in virtue of the original command, to expel the Mahometans from Palestine; though the command to Joshua was a sufficient warrant for expelling the Canaanites, at the time in which it was given. 2. They are of force only to those to whom they were given. Thus, supposing the ceremonial law was not abolished; as it was given specially to Jews, and to no one else, it would bind no one but Jews now. Supposing it to be abolished, it of course now binds no one. For if, when in force, it was ob

ligatory on no one but the Jews, and was nothing to any one else; when it is abolished, as to them, it is nothing to any one. Such is the teaching of St. Paul on this subject.

་

3. It would exclude whatever was done by inspire men, if it was done without the addition of being somehow commanded. Thus, the New Testament was manifestly intended for the whole human race, and at all times; and was written by men who were inspired by God to teach us His will. But still, their example is not binding per se; that is, we are not under obligation to perform an act, simply because they have done it. Thus, Paul and the other apostles kept the Feast of Pentecost; but this imposes no such obligation upon us. Paul circumcised Timothy; but this imposes no obligation upon us to do likewise: for upon another occasion he did not circumcise Titus. The examples of inspired men in the New Testament would, unless exception be made, prove the lawfulness of an act; but it could by no means establish its obligatoriness.

This principle will include as obligatory,

1. Whatever has been enjoined as the will of God upon man as man, in distinction from what has been enjoined upon men as individuals or as nations. The command may be given us, 1. By God himself, as when he proclaimed his law from Mount Sinai; or, 2. By the Mediator Christ Jesus; or, 3. By any persons divinely commissioned to instruct us in the will of God; as prophets, apostles, or evangelists. This includes, as obligatory on the conscience, simply what is proved to be intended, according to the established principles of interpretation. But it by no means includes any thing which man may infer from what is thus intended. Any idea which man adds to the idea given in the Scriptures, is the idea of man, and has no more obligation on the conscience of his fellow men, than any other idea of man.

But it may be asked, granting that nothing but a Divine command is obligatory on the conscience, yet, as general and particular commandments in the Scriptures are frequently, in a considerable degree, blended together, how may we learn to distinguish that part which is obligatory