tianity? Was it the pure and humble doctrine of the gospel preached by the Reformers, which excited the wars of that period; or the fierce and implacable spirit of men void of Christianity and filled with secular ambition and pride? Where is the precept of Christianity which is not peaceful and benignant? Where the spot in which pure Christianity has been planted, without bringing its own spirit of forgiveness with it and subduing the angry passions of man?

And what are the variety of opinions and the divisions among Christians-another topic of invective with unbelievers-but generally immaterial differences of judgment, upon subordinate points, springing from the weakness of human reason? All true Christians are united upon every thing vital-every thing that relates to the main doctrines, the chief duties and the lovely temper of the gospel-all are united in humiliation before God for sin, in reliance on the grace and merits of Jesus Christ, and in the necessity of holiness of heart and life. Their varieties of opinion on the details and expositions of truth, and on matters of external discipline, are entirely lost in the immense importance of the points on which they speak with one heart and one mouth, to the praise of that Saviour whom the gospel has revealed.

I will not dwell on the objection raised upon the little influence which Christianity has upon its followers, because this again is an ebullition of pure ignorance-it rests on the gross mistake of confounding nominal with real Christians-it proceeds on the idea that men are Christians, though they are merely worldly, proud professors of that holy doctrine, with the name of a religion which they understand not, regard not, follow not in any one branch of its principles or commands. To quote men who have never taken the prescribed medicine, as proofs of the want of virtue in the medicine itself, is contrary to reason and common sense.

But, then, the Christian religion wants universality and greater clearness in its evidences-say the objectors, in the last place. Here, also, men's ignorance is the true source of the mistake! Are they any judges of the clearness and force of the evidences, which they have never examined ?-for if they had examined them, they could not overlook their immense force, and turn aside to speculate on the matters which we have been refuting. Have they ever spent one hour in weighing, with serious and candid minds, the mass of evidences which Christianity produces ? Have they not, on the contrary, neglected, passed over, despised our body of proofs, and flown off to vain reasonings, which can only bewilder the understanding and harden the heart? And what ignorance is it of the whole design of Christianity, to suppose that man may prescribe to the Almighty the degree of clearness which should attend the testimonies of Revelation! It is enough if the proofs are sufficient to satisfy a humble, sincere inquirer. To satisfy others is impossible. To make the evidences irresistible, would go to undermine all the moral agency of man, would be contrary to his estate of probation, would act upon him mechanically and forcibly, and destroy his moral and accountable nature. Yet the evidences, after all, are, I was going to say, irresistible—that is, they are so numerous, so powerful, so various, so attractive, they arise from so many quarters, they address in so many parts man's reason and affections, that to a fair and impartial student they are demonstrative, overwhelming, irresistible.

And as to the want of universality in the religion, what is the cause? Is it not the torpor and ingratitude of those who possess, but do not spread, its blessings; who neglect the last and most solemn command of its divine Founder, who act against its genuine spirit of diffusion, who are tame, feeble, and declining in their Christianity, instead of being bold,

ardent, and persevering? What was the spirit of the church in its early age, but dissemination? What was the last thing that withered before the blighting selfishness of the dark ages, but dissemination ? What has distinguished the revival of pure Christianity, but the zeal of missions?

And how, then, can the want of universality be -charged as an objection upon our religion? It is designed to be universal, it is calculated to be so in all its parts, its followers are bound by every motive to render it so.

What reasons, unknown to man, there may be for Almighty God's permitting the present slow and limited range of this mighty blessing, it is not for us to say. Man's ignorance is here the best check on the rash impetuosity of our minds. We see in the natural world, that men's faculties, powers, advantages, are most unequally distributed. We see that benefits, and discoveries, and inventions of the most beneficial kind, are limited in their circuit. The most valuable discoveries in medicine, for instance, have been made only of late years, and are still confined to a few nations. To find, therefore, the benefits of the Christian dispensation extended only to certain nations, and not reaching to others, is no more valid as an objection to Christianity, than a similar order of things is to the natural government of God."

16

"The work of God is begun," says Bishop Horsley, "is going on, and will unquestionably be carried to its perfection. The spirit of Christianity is gaining more and more of an ascendancy, and God's good work is tending to its consummation by that progress, by which, from the very nature of the means employed, the business must be expected to proceed. The means are not such as he might be expected to put in use, if his omnipotence alone were regarded,

16 Butler.

VOL. II.

R

but they are such as are consistent with the free agency of man; such as are adapted to the nature of man as a rational and moral agent, and adapted to the justice and wisdom and mercy of God in his dealings with such a creature. God's power is unquestionably competent to the instantaneous abolition of all moral evil, by the annihilation, at a single stroke, of the whole troop of rebellious angels and the whole race of sinful men, and the production of new creatures in their room. God's power is competent to the speedy abolition of moral evil, by the sudden execution of severe judgments on wicked nations, or sinful individuals. But God willeth not the death of a sinner; he seeks our obedience to his will founded less on fear than love. He abstains, therefore, from these summary, abrupt, coercive measures, and he employs no other means than the preaching of the gospel, that is, no other means than those of persuasion and argument, invitation and threatening. It is very obvious that ages must elapse before these means can produce their full effect. The progress of the work will not only be gradual, but liable to temporary interruptions; so that at times it may seem, not only to stand still, but even to go backward, as often as particular circumstances in the affairs of the world draw away the attention of men from the doctrines of the gospel, or raise up extraordinary opposition of their passions to its precepts. Instead of taking offence at the slow progress, we should rely on the promise of the prophetic word, and set ourselves to consider what may be done on our part, and what God may expect we should do, for the furtherance of his work and the removal of hindrances." 17

Thus vain and frivolous are the objections of infidelity when we come to consider them, which we have the rather done, because they are of the same nature

17 Horsley, Sermon xl.-a reference to one or two sentences of it is made, p. 201.

with the corrupt suggestions of the fallen heart of man, a resistance to which is a main characteristic of the wise and sincere Christian, whilst he that yields to them becomes the unbeliever. But that ChristiIanity should be open to such difficulties, is indeed what might be expected when God, the infinite Creator, makes known a part of his ways to man, a = feeble, corrupt, and perverse creature. We observe,

therefore

IV. That THESE OBJECTIONS ARE, UPON THE WHOLE, ONLY TRIALS OF OUR SINCERITY AND SUBMISSION OF HEART TO GOD, AND GO TO CONFIRM RATHER THAN WEAKEN THE CHRISTIAN EVI

DENCES.

For it is a part of our probation in this world, that we should be subjected to the consideration of difficulties, which we may make the occasion of objection and rebellion of heart, if we please, but which are designed only to put to the proof our sincerity and submission of mind to our circumstances and duties. To understand fully all the parts of the Christian system, might require, for any thing we can tell, divine capacities. Mystery is a necessary attendant upon the being and perfections of God, in the view of a finite creature like man. Similar difficulties and objections to those which men think they see in Revelation, they think they see in God's moral government of the world. Now if the very same sort of obscurities, grounds of irritation, partial light, limited range of influence, contradiction to preconceived expectations, unlooked for position of things-matters beyond and above our comprehension-do actually take place in a system of things which we acknowledge to be divine; then similar grounds of objection are no sound arguments against the Christian Revelation. The same objections as men bring against Christianity, may be brought against natural religion; and if they are of