ed. Yet until it was certainly proved, that all things were the works of one intelligent and fuperlatively wife being, no inferences could be made about his character. And even then it must have remained a moot point at beft, whether death did not make a full end of the man? The obvious prefumptions lie on the affirmative fide; and all the arguments for a future state can never be made to rife fo high as a fair probability; as might eafily be fhewn. Nothing but a plain declaration of the creator's mind can infure the momentous point.

7. The Bible way of teaching compared with the Philofophical.

Hat reafon could never give any

What

account of, Mofes, even abstracting from the prophets and apostles, has fet in the cleareft light; and that by a method infinitely more proper for anfwering the end. For fhould we be even fo enormously liberal, as to allow the philofophical arguments all the ftrength they pretend to, they can be of no manner of

ufe

ufe to the generality of mankind, unless they were to take the philofopher's word for the truth of his conclufions; which is a fort of implicit faith no man has a right to demand of his fellow-creatures: and even the philofopher himself will find, that his own belief lasts no longer than the force of his demonftrations keeps warm upon his mind; and even then the evidence is too fubtile to make an impreffion strong enough to exclude all the grounds of doubt on the other fide. Something groffer, and better fuited to our perceptive powers, will be found needful to establish a firm perfuafion of what lies beyond our fenfes and common obfervation.

Mofes has laid to our hands a fet of palpable facts, which fully answer the purpofe. If his first affertion, that God created the heavens and the earth, ftartles our understandings at first, and carries us quite beyond the sphere of human observation, and, confequently, of human reafon; he reconciles us to it, firft by dwelling upon it, and making it familiar to us, by a detail of the fix days creation, and particularly the creation of man; and afterwards instructs it by fuch fenfible facts as have incomparably

incomparably more weight than all the metaphyfical demonftrations, though ten times more and ftronger than they are, can ever be made to have, by all the improvements they are capable of receiving.

The particular detail of the fix days creation, and the manner in which the order was established, at once brings to our obfervation a fort of power we were utter ftrangers to; and is found to be the very truth of, what philofophers have tortured themselves with gueffing at, the true fystem, and the moving powers in this fystem, we find ourselves involved in.

The manner in which the order of the universe was established, has nothing in it that shocks human reafon, unless it is the astonishing ease with which it was effected, viz. by a mere command or volition that things fhould be so and fo. But when we find that every thing is really fo as it was then commanded or willed to be, this naturally leads us to the conception of a power infinitely above what the most complete man could ever have imagined; and, at the fame time, a power which may easily be fuppofed adequate to the creation of the

matter

matter itself, which was with so much ease digested into this beautiful fabrick.

The creation of man, the authority affumed over him in his primæval state, and the confequences of it, even by the fhort hints which are recorded, bring us yet. nearer, and make creating power more familiar to us; all which, we have good reafon to think, were fully explained to, and understood by, those who were perfonally concerned in thofe tranfactions. Especially the fixing the permanent state of mankind by a judicial fentence, could be done by none but the creator and abfolute proprietor both of man, and of the earth, on which he lived.

But mankind in the firft ages were the fame foolish perverfe creatures they are ftill: Though they had the strongest documents in their firft father's cafe, that it was impoffible for them, or indeed any creature, to fubfift any other way than by the mere grace of their creator, and in an absolute refignation to his authority and will; yet in a tract of time they came foolishly to neglect and forfake him; which gave occafion to a fenfible demonstration, that he was indeed the creator and abfolute proVOL. I. B b prietor

prietor of them, and of the earth, which they had imagined their own, by reducing it to its primitive state, (which could not be done but by suspending all the supporting powers in nature), and by beginning a new origination of mankind.

From the use of facrifices during this period, which could never have entered into any one's head without a divine institution, it appears, that there was a revelation then fubfifting, nearly the fame with the Chriftian, and a life beyond the grave brought to light. This was fenfibly instructed, by the tranflation of Enoch; and by what Noah practifed immediately after the flood, with the promises given, or rather renewed, to him on that occafion; especially the fetting afide the blood, as an atonement for their lives and fouls, with the reafons then given for it.

To fay nothing of the feparation of Abraham and his feed, where he fhewed himself abfolute fovereign, or of the deftruction of Sodom by his immediate hand; the methods he took with Pharaoh in Egypt to make that proud monarch know JEHOVAH, where all the powers of nature were controlled to anfwer his purpose, effectually instruct, that

he