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We trust we have fully established the position that the Divine Essence is ONE, simple in its substance, a spirit in its nature, eternal in its duration, immutable in its quality, all-sufficient both as to all that is possible and all that is actual- that, in fact,

THERE IS A GOD!

This is, indeed, the idea of a Spirit with which nothing on earth can compare. Whatever exquisite properties we discover in the CREATURE, as to order, beauty, perfection, arrangement, morality, and goodness, how much, nay, how infinitely more, must all these be surpassed in the CREATOR! Who but the Creator made the CREATURE! And is he not, then, the work of his Maker? - and can either the Creator or the Creature deny the RELATION that exists between both? Hence, we obtain a glimpse of the Triune Notion of a GODHEAD.

Who will deny his REASON, and forswear his GOD! Has he then lost his REASON!-that faculty which alone elevates and distinguishes man from all created beings displays its powers in the realms of infinitude; that faculty, which is simple in its nature and eternal in its existence-which is so sublimely designated in

the "Scriptures" by those all-expressive words "God made man in his own image!"-No one! For the consciousness of the control which this faculty exerts over the carnal inclinations is too fully acknowledged and too easily proved to be for a moment doubted. PURE REASON cannot reside among the changeable phenomena of nature-it must exist wholly apart from them, in a region entirely free from their influence, and which is the sacred abode of holy spirits.

Here the WILL sits enthroned on the highest pinnacle of pure intellect, defying the impotent endeavours of the whole material universe either to approach or disturb the serene and sublimely exalted station from which she authoritatively dispenses her laws to the entire

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Kingdom of Rational Beings," commanding them, as they value the salvation of their souls, to act, on all occasions, in strict conformity with these pure and perfect laws-that is, always to act rationally.

Herein consists the Dignity of man, that he possesses a power to originate and to establish for his own governance a "Code of Laws," which are not only cut of the sphere of nature but totally free from its influence. What a prospect does this open to the ultimate destination of man!

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When the Moral Law is made the determining motive of the Will, who can doubt the purity and sanctity of this holy law, which is the ground of the action that operates on the things of SENSE! Who can doubt the honesty and sincerity of that individual whose motives are ever drawn from this pure source- -even though a chain of unfortunate and disastrous events follow the very first action he performs? God, judging from the purity of the motive alone, acquits him wholly of all the evils he has produced: man, wanting omniscience, judges solely from the utility of the action. But to allow no other incentive to the Will than reverence for this sacred and holy law-the Moral Law-is acting from a consciousness of the objective Law of all rational beings PRACTICAL REASON. Hence, Free Will and Practical Reason are synonymous. Actions performed from pure motives like these leave a calm satisfaction and pure delight in the soul, which defies description, and to which no earthly bliss can, in the least, compare.

But for the twofold nature of man, Virtue would not be possible, and the victory obtained over the sinful lusts of the flesh-the highest merit of the Christiancould not exist. This is beautifully exemplified in the

indeed move our wonder to be told that REASON does not exist. And it would still more surprise and astonish us to be informed that this sublime faculty, with all its divine capabilities—extending even to the salvation of the soul, and its preparation to inhabit its own celestial abode could have been the effect of chance, or, what would be even much more absurd, to learn that it made itself, and consequently needed no Author!-No! facts speak too powerfully and too plainly in contradiction of these nugatory assumptions, and compel us with heart and soul to come forward in defence of the sublime truth, that "There is a God!"-who is the acknowledged Author of the purely spiritual and eternal faculty-REASON. How can we sufficiently pour forth our gratitude to "Omnipotence," for the innumerable benefits he showers down upon his creatures here below, and for the magnitude of that overwhelming reward which is promised in the "Scriptures" by our Saviour to those who do the will of their Father in heaven! With what avidity does the REASON of man devour the divine truths of the Gospel, as soon as they are exhibited in all their simple and celestial purity, and for ever separated from the HISTORICAL records which first gave them entrance into the Mind! How sublimely

grand and inconceivably beautiful and soothing is the "I am come as a

Doctrine of Christ when he says:— light to the world, not to judge but to save it; and he who believes in me does not in fact believe in me, but in HIм that sent me. He that neglects my Doctrine has that in him, ő λoyos―REASON—which shall judge him in the last day. The doctrine I teach is not from myself, but is the commandment of my Father in heaven, and leads to Eternal Life." What a flood of light bursts forth upon the matchless truth contained in the forcible words of the beloved disciple, when he sings this hymn in praise of his crucified "Redeemer," as unlocked by the key of Science !—" In the beginning was REASON, and REASON was with GOD, and REASON Was GOD, and REASON was made flesh, and dwelt among us in all the glory of the FATHER!"

Well, then, may we say that the production is worthy of its Author, and that the God who made REASON must not only be eminently rational but possess a REASON that mocks every effort of words to declare its inexhaustible fulness, which can only compare with its own infinite and Divine Essence. Every attempt of man to compare the finite with the infinite must not only prove vain, but tend to show in the plainest

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