itself is nothing more than depraved humanity; LECT. II. and may exist, not only in different degrees, but under many modifications and different names. effect of the remedy for of mankind, objection to It is true that for the depravity of human The partial nature, whence this conflict has its origin, the Gospel as a gospel claims to be an efficient remedy. And the depravity surely it will not be affirmed that Christianity is no valid no such remedy, because it has not been applied its claims. universally, completely, and at once. The analogies of nature and providence all loudly protest against so heedless an assumption. We do not question the divine appointment of conscience, because it is often vitiated, and sometimes wholly dethroned. We do not We do not say of magistracy, that it is no ordinance of God, because it has so often degenerated into injustice and oppression. Nor does the Deist regard the pretensions of his boasted theism as altogether unsound, though he must know that it is a doctrine, which, apart from the influence of revelation, has hardly found a dwelling-place on earth. Neither should the remedy in the gospel be suspected, because successful only in its present mode, and to its present extent. It does, indeed, bear a divine power along with it, which, in the view of its Author, precludes all contingency from its history. But though it shall prosper in the thing whereto he has sent it, it so comes as to leave place for the action of all the named, and of many beside. Christianity, because of the tendencies we have LECT. II. have mixed up with it, and the same cause of doubt will attend you in every new theory you may take up, leaving nothing before you short of a universal scepticism. The course of events preliminary to the introduction of Christianity filled a space of four thousand years; during an interval of nearly half that extent it has had to contend with every conceivable form of violence and fraud, and to demonstrate its vitality by its continued existence and growing influence. That what remains will be the period of its special triumph seems to be predicted alike by the language of the ancient prophets and by the present aspect of human affairs. The extent of this triumph will be such as to embrace all nations; its duration the future only can determine; but when its last achievement on earth shall have been accomplished, the ages of eternity will remain to call forth its more perfect development, and the larger communication of its blessings. LECTURE III. ROM. IX. 6. They are not all Israel which are of Israel. In the preceding Lectures, my endeavour has LECT. III. been to place human nature before you as partaking of certain tendencies, all of which must have operated more or less unfavourably with respect to the purity of the christian religion. In so doing, I have avoided all inquiry with respect to the influence of those conventional systems and usages, whether secular or religious, by which the tendencies examined have been, of necessity, very powerfully affected. That these are constantly acted upon, both in the individual, and in society, by external circumstances, is unquestionable; and in the following Lectures, my object will be to trace their development in connexion with such opinions and customs as were most influential among those portions of the human race whose profession of Christianity has contributed in any marked degree to its corruption. We have seen that there is both an intellectual and a moral bias common to mankind, which |