124 LECTURE XVIII. THE TENDENCY OF CHRISTIANITY TO PROMOTE IN THE HIGHEST DEGREE THE TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL HAPPINESS OF NATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS. LUKE ii. 13, 14. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men. WE considered in one of our former lectures the more obvious good effects which Christianity has produced.' We ranged this subject amongst the External Evidences, because the positive fruits of the Christian doctrine had become, during the lapse of ages, a solid, tangible proof, distinguishable from the internal character and structure of the religion; and lying open to the observation of mankind, like the facts which establish the credibility of the gospel narrative, or those which prove the divine propagation and preservation of Christianity amongst mankind. 1 Vol. I. Lect. XI. LECT. XVIII.] TENDENCY OF CHRISTIANITY, &c. 125 We now come to consider the tendency of Christianity to promote, in the highest degree, the temporal and spiritual welfare of individuals and nations; a topic which arises, indeed, from that to which we have referred, but which goes much farther, and forms another species of proof. The more prominent benefits already conferred on the world by Christianity, is one thing; its tendency to produce yet higher and more numerous benefits, is another. The first is an external proof; the second an internal. The first accompanies the religion from without, and lies open to the observation of every candid inquirer; the second springs from the constitution. and frame-work of the religion from within, and demands a more familiar knowledge and closer attention. The one is a primary evidence of Christianity; the other a subsidiary, going to confirm the proper proofs supposed to be known. This innate bearing and working of Christianity towards effects far more extensive and permanent than any which it has yet produced, is, indeed, one of the most forcible of the Internal Evidences. It is also a subject peculiarly suitable to an age like the present. There is nothing which men in a high state of mental culture more regard than the tendencies of things. This is the standard by which they judge. They not only consider what effects are already produced by principles, but what is their native and essential force -what would be the consequences if hindrances were removed, and they were allowed their full scope and operation. Much of human prudence and forethought rests on this obvious dictate of wisdom. The separate acts of men for good or for evil-the separate discoveries in science and art-the separate measures of the statesman and legislator, are not the points which occupy our chief concern. It is the tendency of their separate acts; it is the principles from which they spring, their bearing upon habits, their possible ex tension to all the interests of science and all the commercial and moral prosperity of a nation, that give them their real importance. Single violations of law, also, would often be less attended to by the magistrate, if it were not for the natural tendency of such violations to undermine all authority and bring in universal confusion. It is the recollection of this tendency of crime which arms the judge with inflexibility even the first offence, and which inspires the peaceful citizen with acquiescence in his decisions. upon Now what we have to prove in the present Lecture is that the strong and essential tendency of the Christian religion, is to produce the utmost measure of individual and national happiness; that it is constantly working towards this result, and that when hindrances are removed, it will actually produce it. But how are we to judge in such a case? How can we most clearly bring out a proof, which, if established, will constitute one of the most convincing of the internal evidences of our faith? We cannot, perhaps, proceed better than by considering how we argue in somewhat similar cases. For example, the tendency of reason to subdue brute force is universally admitted. So again, the tendency of moral virtue to overcome vice, and of natural religion or the fear of God to triumph over sin and profaneness, is allowed by all who believe in the being and perfections of the great Creator.2 Now in what way are these tendencies demonstrated? Is it not by first considering the direction which they take-the aim, the object, the scope of each? When this is ascertained, is it not by considering the hindrances which brute force, or vice, or sin and irreligion, oppose to the tendency under consideration? Do we not next weigh the effects actually produced 2 Bp. Butler. by the principles under review, as the hindrances are more or less removed? We take, for instance, a case where the obstacles are most numerous; another where they are less so; a third, where they are almost entirely cleared away. And if we find, that in proportion as the obstacles are diminished, the good effects increase-and this uniformly, under many varieties of circumstances, at different times and distant parts of the world-we conclude that the tendency is genuine and strong. We thence infer that if all the obstacles were removed, the full effects of the principle would appear, and the greatest possible happiness be produced which the case admitted of:-that is, the greatest possible happiness which reason, moral virtue, or the religion of nature, was calculated to bring out. Let us apply this method to the Christian doctrine, which goes far beyond mere reason, virtue, or religion, when unassisted by the light and grace of Revelation; and which, carrying on these lower principles to their utmost height, rises above them, adds the discovery of facts, of doctrines, of divine aids, to which they were strangers, and bestows on man, first, all the happiness, both temporal and spiritual, of which his circumstances in this world admit; and then conducts him to that eternal bliss which neither reason, nor virtue, nor natural religion, could discover or secure. Let us examine, then, the tendency of the Christian doctrine, as we would that of the principles to which we have referred. Let us carefully observe the end to which it is invariably directed. Let us consider the obstacles which are known to impede its course. Let us examine its operations at successive periods and under different circumstances. Let us discover whether the end originally aimed at and invariably pursued, is more nearly accomplished in proportion as the known obstacles are diminished. We shall then have a right to conclude that if all the hindrances were removed and nothing left to check its genuine force, the result would be, the greatest possible happiness which the religion was designed to bring out—that is, the highest temporal and spiritual welfare of individuals and nations. These are then our four points-The DIRECTION which Christianity takes-The HINDRANCES which are opposed to it-Its SUCCESS in proportion to the removal of them—The ULTIMATE EFFECTS which it will produce when all obstacles shall be cleared away. We consider, I. THE DIRECTION WHICH CHRISTIANITY TAKES -the object at which it invariably aims: this we must first ascertain. The gospel can never have an essential tendency towards the highest temporal and spiritual happiness of individuals and nations, unless this is the direction which it takes, and takes clearly, invariably, and with a native force. And surely much need not be said on this part of the argument. For what means the adaptation of Christianity to the state and wants of man, but that it aims at restoring a fallen world, at opening fully its disease, applying an adequate remedy, and producing the greatest possible happiness? What means the scheme of Christian doctrine,* centering in the incarnation and sacrifice of the Son of God, but that Christianity has a direct tendency to bless man, to raise him to pardon, to peace of conscience, and to the hope of everlasting life? What are the morals of Christianity, but another name for a powerful tendency and bias towards human happiness? What means the example of our Lord, but that Christianity carries with it the strongest movement towards benevolence, purity, love to God and man? 3 Lecture XIV. 5 Lecture XVI. 4 Lecture XV. |