That miracles are ridiculous, and that if true, they would be no proof of the truth of revelation:

That ridicule is the test of truth; and yet that ridicule itself must be brought to the test of reason.

Mr. Collins, though chiefly a mere objector to revelation, declares,

That man is a mere machine:

That the soul is material and mortal :

That Christ and his apostles built on the predictions of fortune-tellers and diviners:

That the prophets were mere fortune-tellers and discoverers of lost goods:

That Christianity stands wholly on a false foundation (yet he speaks respectfully of Christianity; and also of the Epicureans, whom he at the same time considers as atheists).

Mr. Woolston, also a mere objector, declares,

That he is the farthest of any man from being engaged in the cause of infidelity:

That infidelity has no place in his heart:

That he writes for the honour of Jesus, and in defence of Christianity; and

That his design in writing is to advance the messiahship and truth of the holy Jesus; "to whom," he says, "be glory for ever, amen ;" and yet,

That the gospels are full of incredibilities, impossibilities and absurdities :

That they resemble Gulliverian tales of persons and things, which, out of romance, never had a being:

That the miracles recorded in the gospels, taken literally, will not abide the test of reason and common sense; but must be rejected, and the authority of Jesus along with them.

At the same time he casts the most scurrilous reflections on Christ.

Dr. Tindal declares,

That Christianity, stripped of the additions which mistake, policy, and circumstances have made to it, is a most holy religion; and yet,

That the Scriptures are obscure, and fit only to perplex men, and that the two great parts of it are contradictory: That all the doctrines of Christianity plainly speak themselves to be the will of an infinitely wise and holy God; and yet,

That the precepts of Christianity are loose, undetermined, incapable of being understood by mankind at large, giving wrong and unworthy apprehensions of God, and are generally false and pernicious:

That natural religion is so plain to all, even the most ignorant men, that God could not make it plainer; even if he were to convey, miraculously, the very same ideas to all men; and yet,

That almost all mankind have had very unworthy notions of God, and very wrong apprehensions of ma tural religion.

Mr. Chubb declares,

That he hopes to share with his friends the favour of God, in that peaceful and happy state which God hath prepared for the virtuous and faithful, in some other future world; and yet,

That God does not interpose in the affairs of this world at all, and has nothing to do with the good or evil done by men here:

That prayer may be useful as a positive institution, by introducing proper thoughts, affections, and actions; and yet he intimates,

That it must be displeasing to God, and directly improper:

That a state of rewards and punishments hereafter is one of the truths which are of the highest concern to men; and yet,

That the arguments for the immortality of the soul are wholly unsatisfactory; and that the soul is probably

matter:

That Christ's mission is, at least in his view, probably divine; and yet,

That Christ, in his opinion, was of no higher character than the founder of the Christian sect, i. e. another Sadoc, Cerinthus, or Herbert :

That his birth and resurrection were ridiculous and incredible; and that his institutions and precepts were less excellent than those of other lawgivers and teachers:

That the apostles were impostors; and that the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles resemble Jewish fables, and popish legends, rather than accounts of facts :

That the belief of a future state is of no advantage to society:

That all religions are alike:

That it is of no consequence what religion a man embraces.

Mr. Hume declares,

That there is no perceptible connexion between cause and effect:

That the belief of such a connexion is merely a matter of custom:

That there is no reason to believe that the universe proceeded from a cause:

That there are no solid arguments to prove the existence of a God:

That voluntary actions are necessary, and determined by a fixed connexion between cause and effect:

That motives are causes operating necessarily on the will:

That man is a mere machine, i. e. an object operated on necessarily by external causes :

That there is no contingency, i. e. nothing happening without a settled cause in the universe; and

That matter and motion may be regarded as the cause of thought, i. e. the soul is a material cause, and thought its effect:

That no rewards or punishments can be rationally expected beyond what is already known by experience and observation:

That self-denial, self-mortification, and humility are not virtues, but are useless and mischievous; that they stupify the understanding, sour the temper, and harden the heart, and of course are gross crimes:

That pride and self-valuation, ingenuity, quickness of thought, easiness of expression, delicacy of taste, strength of body, health, cleanliness, taper legs, and broad shoulders are virtues ;

That suicide, or self-murder, is lawful and commendable (and of course virtuous):

That adultery must be practised, if we would obtain all the advantages of life:

That female infidelity (or adultery), when known, is a small thing; when unknown, nothing; and

That skepticism is the true and only wisdom of man. Lastly, as the soul of man, according to Mr. Hume, becomes every moment a different being, the consequence must be, that the crimes committed by him at one time cannot be imputable to him at another.

Lord Bolinbroke declares,

That God is just; and that justice requires that rewards and punishments be measured to particular cases, according to their circumstances, in proportion to the merit or demerit of every individual; and yet,

That God doth not so measure out rewards or punishments; and that, if he did, he would subvert human affairs; that he concerns not himself with the affairs of human beings at all; or if he does, that he regards only collective bodies of men, not individuals; that he punishes none except through the magistrate; and that there will be no state of future rewards and punishments;

That the religion of nature is clear and obvious to all mankind; and yet,

That it has been unknown to the greatest part of mankind :

That we know material substance, and are assured of it; and yet,

That we know nothing of either matter or spirit: That there is undeniably something in our constitution, beyond the known properties of matter; and yet, That the soul is material and mortal; and that to say the soul is immaterial is the same thing as to say that two and two are five. He also declares,

That there is no conscience in man, except artificially;

That it is more natural to believe many gods than to believe one. He teaches,

That ambition, the lust of power, avarice, and sensuality may be lawfully gratified, if they can be safely gratified:

That the sole foundation of modesty is vanity, or a wish to show ourselves superior to mere animals : That man lives only in the present world : That man is only a superior animal:

That man's chief end is to gratify the appetites and inclinations of the flesh :

That modesty is inspired by mere prejudice:

That polygamy is a part of the law, or religion of

nature.

85. THOMAS PAINE.

THOMAS PAINE, a political and infidel writer, was born in England, in 1737, and bred a stay-maker. Coming to America, he published a number of pamphlets, which had a powerful effect in favour of the American cause; particularly that entitled, "Common Sense." He went to London in 1790, and published “The Rights of Man." To avoid prosecution, he fled* to France, where he connected himself with the leaders of infidelity, and was chosen a member of the national assembly. Being sentenced to death by the revolutionary government, he was saved from the guillotine through the intercession of a number of American citizens then in Paris. During his imprisonment in that city he debased himself by writing a deistical book, called, The Age of Reason," a work which has stamped his name with infamy.

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"In this performance is found nothing new as to objections against Christianity. He takes the ground long occupied by infidels. In the manner of his writing there is a kind of novelty. In rashness, inconsistency, misrepresentation, ridicule, and false reasoning,