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CHAPTER IV.

CONCERNING WHAT WAS NECESSARY AS THE FIRST STEP IN THE PROCESS OF REVELATION

By the miracles of Egypt, the false views and corrupt habits of the Israelites were, for the time being, in a great measure removed. Previously they had believed in a plurality of gods; and although they remembered the God of Abraham, yet they had, as is evident from notices in the Bible, associated with his attribute of almighty power (the only attribute well understood by the patriarchs) many of the corrupt attributes of the Egyptian idols Thus the idea of God was debased by having grovelling and corrupt attributes superinduced upon it. By miraculous agency these

dishonourable views of the Divine character were removed-their minds were emptied of false impressions in order that they might be furnished with the true idea and the true attributes of the Supreme Being

But how could minds in the infancy of know ledge respecting God and human duty; having all they had previously learned removed, and being now about to take the first step in their progresshow could the first principles of Divine knowledge be conveyed to such minds?

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One thing, in the outset, would evidently be necessary knowledge, as the mind is constituted, can be communicated in no other way than pro

gressively; it would be necessary, therefore, that they should begin with the elementary principles, and proceed through all the stages of their education. The mind cannot receive at once all the parts of a system in religion, science, or any other department of human knowledge. One fact or idea must be predicated upon another, just as one stone rests upon another, from the foundation to the top of the building. There are successive steps in the acquisition of knowledge, and every step in the mind's progress must be taken from advances already made. God has inwrought the law of progression into the nature of things, and observes it in his own works. From the springing of a blade to the formation of the mind, or of a world, every thing goes forward by consecutive steps.

It was necessary, therefore, in view of the established laws of the mind, that the knowledge of God and human duty should be imparted to the Israelites by successive communications-necessary that there should be a first step, or primary principle, for a starting point, and then a progression onward and upward to perfection.

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In accordance with these principles, God, in the introduction of the Mosaic dispensation, revealed only his essential existence to the Israelites. Exodus iii. 13, 14, it is stated, that Moses inquired of God, "Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." In the Hebrew text, the simple form of the verb is used, corresponding with the first person present, indicative, of the English verb to be. Simply, "I am," conveying no

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PHILOSOPHY OF THE PLAN OF SALVATION

idea but that of personality and existence. WHAT He was, besides his existence thus revealed, was afterwards to be learned. This was a revelation of Divine BEING-a nucleus of essential deity, as a foundation fact of the then new dispensation, upon which God, by future manifestations, might engraft the attributes of his nature.

Thus, at the outset of the dispensation, there was thrown into their minds a first truth. God revealed his Divine existence; and the idea of God, thus revealed, was in their minds, without any other attribute being connected with it than that of infinite power-an attribute of the Godhead which all men derive from the works of nature-which was known to the patriarchs as belonging to the true God, and which was now, by the miracles manifesting supreme power, appropriated to I AMJehovah-the God of the Israelites.

Thus were this peculiar people carried back to the first principles of natural religion-their mind disembarrassed from false notions previously en tertained, and the true idea of the supreme God and Judge of men revealed. By these providences, they were prepared, in a manner consistent with the nature of things and the nature of mind, to receive a further revelation of the moral attributes of Jehovah, whom they now recognised as the Supreme God

CHAPTER V

CONCERNING THE NECESSITY OF AFFECTIONATE OBEDIENCE TO GOD; AND THE MANNER OF PRODUCING THAT OBEDIENCE IN THE HEARTS OF THE ISRAELITES.

THE following principles in relation to the affec tions will be recognised by consciousness as true in the experience of every man. As they lie at the foundation of the moral exercises of the soul, and as they relate to the sources and central principles of all true religion, it will be necessary for the reader to notice them, in order that he may see their application in subsequent pages.

1. The affections of the soul move in view of certain objects, or in view of certain qualities believed to exist in those objects. The affections never move-in familiar words-the heart never loves, unless love be produced by seeing, or by believing that we see, some lovely and excellent qualities in the object. When the soul believes those good qualities to be possessed by another and especially, when they are exercised towards us the affections, like a magnetised needle, tremble with life, and turn towards their object.

2. The affections are not subject to the will;*

* We state the facts in the case, of which every man is conscious in his own experience, without regard to the theories of sects in religion or philosophy.

neither our own will nor any other will can directly control them. I cannot will to love a being who does not appear to me lovely, and who does not exhibit the qualities adapted to move the affections; nor can I, by command, or by any other effort of will, cause another being to love me. The affections are not subiect to command. You cannot force another to love, or respect, or even, from the heart, to obey. Such an attitude assumed to produce love, would invariably produce disaffection rather than affection. No one (as a matter of fact) thinks the affections subject to the will, and, therefore, men never endeavour to obtain the affections of others solely by command, but by exhibiting such a character and conferring such favours as they know are adapted to move the heart. An effect could as easily exist without a cause as affection in the bosom of any human being, which was not produced by goodness or excellences seen, or believed to exist, in some other being.

3. The affections, although not governed by the will, do themselves greatly influence the will. All acts of will produced entirely by pure affection for another are disinterested. Cases of the affections influencing the will are common in the experience of every one. There is probably no one living who has not, at some period of his life, had affection for another, so that it gave more pleasure to please the object of his love than to please himself. Love for another always influences the will to act in such a way as will please the object loved. The individual loving acts in view of the desires of the loved object, and such acts are disinterested, not being done with any selfish end in view, but for the sake of another. So soon as the affections move towards an object, the will is proportionably influenced to

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