Edward. There certainly would be a want of authority to establish the principles of natural religion, which revelation alone could supply. But, is there that prima facie NECESSITY of inquiring into the truth of an alleged revelation, which is generally supposed? May not a person leave the matter to be discussed by those who are so disposed, without troubling himself about it, provided he invariably obeys the dictates of conscience?

Mr. B. But, how can he be said invariably to obey the dictates of conscience, who neglects to inform himself upon this subject? In order to establish your point, you should show, that mankind are under no obligation to endeavour to obey the will of God; for, if they are, they must be under a necessity of inquiring into that will; and if not, there is an end of all religion, whether revealed or natural. The advocate for revelation argues thus, and I do not see how his reasoning can be overthrown: that, from whatever sources our knowledge may have been obtained, it is certain, there is a God, the Creator of all things, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, and, consequently, a moral governor: that, from the relation in which man is placed to him, and the course of providence, it is probable he may have made a revelation of his will; and, therefore, no one is at liberty to reject, without inquiry, that, which professes to be a divine revelation, unless it involves such evident absurdity, that inquiry becomes needless.

Maria. The Christian would also insist further, that there is not any such evident absurdity in the supposition, that Christianity is of divine origin, and hence would infer, that no one could be justified in neglecting it.

Mr. B. And still less in rejecting it without examination, as some do.

Edward. But, many have not the means of instituting an investigation into its truth; and what are we to think,

38 What reply does Edward make to this ?-39 In order to establish this point, what is necessary?-40 What does Mr. B. say is certain ?— 41 What follows from this fact?-42 On what further does Maria say Christian would insist ?-43 What difficulty does Edward suggest?

the

when told, that "he who believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned?"

Mr. B. Do you not see how you are confounding things, that are unconnected with each other? Belief necessarily implies a knowledge of the subject to be believed: in the case of ignorance, there is neither belief nor unbelief. Wilful ignorance you have before seen to be criminal: you must know, that the doctrine of Christianity is, that we shall be judged according to our works,—the motives, which influenced us, and the means put in our power.

Edward. Yet, still, if full conviction cannot be obtained without inquiry, and the bulk of mankind cannot inquire, from the very nature of the subject, and yet the defenders of Christianity allege, that the most serious consequences will ensue in a future state to all who reject it; do not these circumstances, taken together, constitute an argument of considerable force against it? If full conviction cannot be obtained without inquiry, and the bulk of mankind cannot so inquire, can we suppose God requires an impossibility? Must not the tenet be given up, or Christianity itself fall to the ground?

Maria. But, if the tenet be given up, it ceases to be a matter of importance, whether Christianity be true or not, and it becomes merely a matter of curiosity, whether mankind have been imposed on or not.

Mr. B. But, upon what authority do you assume, that the peculiar nature of the evidences in favour of Christianity is of that kind, that it can only be examined so as to carry conviction to the minds of a few?

Edward. It is generally regarded as the province of the learned: the bulk of mankind are altogether incapable of receiving and judging of the evidences of Christianity.

Mr. B. But, with regard to all, can you not conceive

44 In this, how does he confound things, which are unconnected ?-45 What further interrogatories does he propose ?-46 If the tenet be given up, what does Maria say is the consequence ?-47 What question does Mr. B. here ask?-48 What does Edward say of the bulk of mankind, touching the subject?

the possibility of Christianity's possessing a certain degree of evidence sufficient to produce conviction?

Edward. Yes; but that, which is false, may, upon a partial view, and for a time, appear true. And how can the illiterate Christian be sure he has not cunningly devised fables?"

6. followed

Mr. B. Out of the thousands, that make use of the common rules of arithmetic, and well-known results of geometry, how many do you suppose ever investigated the truth of those rules,-how many are there able to investigate them?

Edward. Very few indeed. Almost every mechanic knows the forty-seventh proposition of the first book in Euclid, and confides in it implicitly in fact: but, I suppose not one in a thousand of those, who make use of it, could prove it.

Mr. B. Yet, the universal use made of it, proves, that the evidence for it is to their minds irresistible. What, then, is that evidence? whence does it arise?

Edward. I should suppose, from experience: they find it always true in practice, and, therefore, conclude it must be so in theory.

Mr. B. And may not the unlearned Christian find Christianity so invariably true in the excellency of its precepts and knowledge of human nature, as to draw a similar conclusion? So far as his knowledge went, he might have every reason to believe it true (the Christian asserts that he would), and no reason to believe it false, and would, therefore, be bound in conscience to obey it. Maria. This would, however, suppose belief founded on erroneous principles, with regard to many.

Mr. B. Not on erroneous principles, but what to others would be defective principles. But all moral obligation must depend on the situation in which we are placed, and the means put into our power. Now, one

49 What question does he ask, concerning the illiterate Christian ?-50 How does Mr. B. reply to him, by an allusion to a scientific subject ?—51 What confirmation is added to his allusion, by reference to the 47th proposition of Euclid ?-52 What inference is suggested in relation to the truth of Christianity ?-53 What objection does Maria offer to this -54 How does Mr. B. answer her objection?

distinguishing feature of the evidences of Christianity, as of its precepts, is, that whilst it includes the greatest, it descends to the least; nor is there any intermediate stage in which it leaves the mind unsatisfied; at least, so the Christian asserts; nor can he be confuted, without that very examination, which it is his object to obtain.

Edward. But nothing is easier than making assertions, and threatening awful consequences: all religions do the same. The evidences of all, to the votaries of each, appear irresistible; yet all cannot be right; all, except one, must be false, nay, perhaps even all are false; yet all profess to be divine revelations, and, according to your argument, are entitled to examination.

Maria. But examination of all is impossible, in the nature of things.

Mr. B. It is so, nor is it necessary. You forget, that I limited my assertion as to the necessity of inquiry to those cases 66 where there was no such evident absurdity as to render inquiry needless."

Maria. This restriction is certainly reasonable, and will greatly shorten the inquiry.

Edward. But, is it not objected, to all pretences to revelation, that, if God had revealed his will to mankind, he would have put the matter out of all doubt-made it fully apparent to all nations and every age?

Mr. B. But, what have we to do with suppositions? We have to inquire into what has been done, not to speculate on what might have been done. Nothing can be more absurd, or unphilosophical, than to form mere hypotheses of the manner in which it may please God to act towards mankind. Without revelation, we are almost wholly in the dark: we know nothing of God, but by his works and providence; and the case of a revelation is one, that we cannot measure by any known standard. We can only argue from analogy, and analogy certainly

55 What comparison does Edward make between different religions? 56 How does Mr. B. obviate the force of this comparison ?-57 What objection does Edward ask, as to the degree of evidence in favour of a divine revelation, which may be presumed ?-58 What question does Mr. B. ask in reply -59 What does he say is absurd and unphilosophical? 60 What does he say of analogy, in relation to the subject?

furnishes no grounds for believing, that a revelation must be made in the manner you suppose. We know neither the subject, nor the extent, nor the manner, in which it may please God to reveal his will to us. For any thing that we know to the contrary, the subject may be of such a nature as to render it expedient, if not absolutely necessary, that the revelation should be partial, and delivered in a manner very different from our expectations. What we have to do is, to examine into the probability of its truth, its consistency, and agreement with the little we do know of God, through the medium of his works and moral government.

Edward. It is also objected, that Christianity is founded upon Judaism; that one alleged revelation is thus made to supersede another, which is contrary to our notions of the perfection and unchangeableness of God.

Mr. B. But, do those, who thus object, know the rules of the Divine Government? Do they see the whole of the intentions of their Creator at a glance? Are they certain, that the idea of change in the dispensations of God implies imperfection? May there not be an expediency, if not a necessity, that the infancy of society may require a different dispensation to that, which is best adapted for a more advanced period, in the same manner that education in early life is preparatory to that of riper years? May not Judaism and Christianity be parts, only, of one great whole, of which, perhaps, the whole will never be known in this stage of existence? Recollect how many apparently contradictory phænomena, in the natural world, are yet ultimately dependent upon one and the same general law, which was only discovered after the lapse of many ages. If you would discover the truth, you must collect facts rather than opinions, and examine their bearings upon each other, instead of suffering your attention to be wearied by straining at objects beyond your reach.

61 What have we to do, in relation to it ?-62 What does Edward say of Judaism and Christianity ?-63 In what way does Mr. B. think, that they may be parts of the same system ?-64 How does he illustrate this, by reference to the material world?