divine origin of the Bible; and this evidence is not confined to ancient days. Blessed be God, clear and striking instances of the reformation of wicked men have occurred under our own observation. And the gospel has produced in our own times such a remarkable change in the moral and civil condition of some of the most ignorant, degraded, and vicious tribes of heathen, that if there were no other evidence of its truth, this would go far to satisfy an honest mind. Can any reasonable man believe that preaching a cunningly devised fable would turn men from their sins, to which they had been long habituated?

Hundreds and thousands, also, in Christian lands can testify, that the truth of God has produced a powerful and salutary effect on their own minds, convincing them of their sin and danger, and exciting in them trust in Christ, which has enkindled their love, and brought sweet peace into their troubled breasts. And we see, continually, the power of the gospel to afford consolation in affliction and to buoy up the soul with assured hope, even in the hour of death.

But, if all the convincing proofs, above mentioned, were wanting, the undeniable prophecies which have been literally fulfilled, are a clear demonstration of a divine revelation; for who can predict distant future events but God alone? The prophecies relate to the fortunes of the Jewish people-to the destiny of many great and proud cities and nations; but the most important predictions of the Old Testament relate to the Messiah, which were literally fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. Yet no prophecy of Scripture is more striking and convincing than that of Christ respecting the destruction of Jerusalem, and the ruin and dispersion of the Jews, the fulfilment of which is recorded in the history of Josephus who was not a Christian, but an eye witness of the facts.

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CHAPTER IV.

UNITY OF GOD.

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THE idea of God is forced upon the rational mind, to enable it to account for the innumerable marks of design manifest in the universe; but there is no necessity to suppose more than one great First Cause, to account for every thing. There is, therefore, nothing in reason, or in the works of nature, which would lead to the conclusion that there are more Gods than one. Indeed, the very supposition of more Gods than one shocks and confounds the rational mind. If we were capable of comprehending the subject, it is more than probable that we should see that the existence of two infinite beings is an absurd and impossible conception. There is, however, no need to resort to metaphysical arguments; the harmony of the laws of the universe indicates one mind-one counsel. The existence of evil led some of the ancients to adopt the theory of two eternal beings; but if that were true, we should find two systems of laws in the universe; and a continual interference and collision between them; whereas, the laws of matter, even as far as the planets and stars, are uniform. Between all the parts of creation, there is a beautiful consistency, and mutual relations, which show, that as the Author of the universe is infinite in knowledge and power, so He is ONE.

And as to the existence of evil, moral and natural,

it can be accounted for by the liberty of action with which man and other moral agents were endowed; which liberty is essential to a system in which creatures render a voluntary obedience to their Creator. If there had been no possibility of sinning, there could have been no such thing as virtue, or moral excellence.

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But again, what is often called evil, arises necessarily from the limited nature of creatures; and especially when the plan includes a scale of being, descending from the highest to the lowest. Every species, as you descend, is less perfect than those above it. Such a gradation involves necessarily the evil of partial defect. But properly speaking, this is no evil; every thing in the universe is good in its kind; but there is no absolute perfection but in God alone-" NONE IS GOOD But God."

We do not assert that the argument for the unity of God from reason is absolutely demonstrative; as it might be alleged, that two or more beings, wise, powerful, and good, might be united in counsel, in the plan of the universe and the works of creation; just as several men might agree upon a plan of a temple or other building; and all the appearances would be the same, as if only one person were concerned. Let this be granted, and yet we may assert, that reason cannot furnish the shadow of an argument in favour of a plurality of Gods. As far as she sees and speaks, her voice is in favour of the divine unity.

We feel less concerned to insist on any thing further as evident from the light of nature, because the doctrine is clearly revealed, and repeatedly taught in the Sacred Scriptures. All that we deem it important to establish on this point is, that reason

teaches nothing contrary to the unity of God; and so far as she sheds any light on the subject, it is altogether in favour of the doctrine.

Let us then attend to the clear, unequivocal decla rations of the Bible. "Hear O Israel, the Lord thy God is one LORD." Deut. vi. 4. "The LORD He is God, there is none else beside Him." iv. 5. "Thou art the God, even thou alone of all the kingdoms of the earth." 2 Kings xix. 15. "Thou, even Thou art Lord alone." Neh. ix. 6. "Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God." Is. xliv. 6. "Is there a God besides me? yea, there is no God, I know not any." 8. "And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God." John xvii. 3. "But to us there is but one God." 1 Cor. viii. 6. "God is one." Gal.

iii. 20.

"Thou believest that there is one God; thou

doest well." James ii. 19.

It would be easy to multiply texts in confirmation of this doctrine, but these are sufficient. Indeed, no one who admits the Bible as authority, can doubt on this subject; and consequently, the fact is, that Jews and Christians have received the Unity of God as a fundamental truth.

CHAPTER V.

SPIRITUALITY AND SIMPLICITY OF THE DIVINE

NATURE.

THAT God is a pure Spirit, reason as well as Scripture requires us to believe. As God is an intelligent being, and the source of all intelligence, he must be a spirit; and as he is a voluntary agent, he must be an intelligent person. Matter is inert, unconscious, and cannot be the subject of thought or volition. Matter is also divisible to an indefinite extent, and the parts of bodies are separate from each other, so that each particle is a separate existence; but unity belongs to mind, therefore the mind cannot be material. Again, all matter is solid and extended, and necessarily excludes all other bodies from occupying the same space: if then God were a material being, as he is omnipresent, he would exclude all other bodies from the universe: or if not everywhere present, there would be some places where there was no God; and if limited to a certain locality, however extended it might be, there would be infinite space, in which God does not exist.

But if the materialist denies that inactivity, solidity, divisibility and extension, are the natural properties of matter, and maintains that all matter consists of monads, which are in their nature active, indivisible, unextended, and that some of these, if not the whole, are endued with consciousness, and are susceptible of all