expressing the Christian's faith in the First Person of the Trinity, as the Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

At present, then, we are concerned with this proposition: That God, Almighty God, made heaven and earth. In proof of this assertion, we might cite the declaration of God himself claiming the name and worship of an omnipotent Creator; or we might demonstrate from the frame of the universe, its magnificence and order, that it hath one Creator and Ruler, and he an Almighty God. That is, we might prove the soundness of our belief in God Almighty maker of heaven and earth, either from revelation or by natural theology; and it is not the difficulty of finding proofs, but their extreme abundance and obviousness, that prevents our extending such a demonstration from either source to a great length. From revelation I shall only set the words of the text, God created the heaven and the earth, in juxta-position with the confession of our faith in God the maker of heaven and earth; and the words of St John, The Lord God omnipotent reigneth, with the ascription of the same attribute to God in the creed, I believe in God ALMIGHTY.* And as for Natural

* It may, however, be worth while to note, that the word ΠΑΝΤΟΚΡΑΤΩΡ, which is used to express the omnipotence of God both in the Creed and in the passage from the Apocalypse just quoted, conveys the notion rather of absolute sovereignty than of creative power. Schleusner gives the following definition: A cujus nutu omnes res creatæ pendent. We confess, therefore, in this article, as well the providence as the creative power of God. The words "maker of heaven and earth" expressly condemn the heresies of Marcion, Manes

Theology, I shall merely observe, that he who is not already convinced of the being of God, cannot be convinced by any statement of the argument which could be crowded into the narrow limits of a single sermon: and the being of God once admitted, omnipotence must be ascribed to him as well by the metaphysician as by the divine; since it is a part of the essence of whatever being can be called God, and must enter into every full definition of his name.

Considering the truth of the first article of the Creed as needing no farther proof, we may profitably employ the occasion which is afforded by the consideration of the first great truths of natural religion, the being and attributes of God, if we point out in some measure the relation between natural religion and Christianity; that is, between the being and attributes of God absolutely, and the revelation of God's will in Jesus Christ; between the study of natural theology, and the faith and character of the Christian.

It may seem paradoxical to assert, that the best place, and the best use for natural theology, is not in the mind of the captious and sceptical, but in the heart of the Christian far advanced both in knowledge and in piety. The reasoning atheist, and the bold disputer concerning the being of God and his

and some others, who taught that there were two creators, the one of evil, the other of good; the one of heaven, including therein metaphorically all that is good; the other of earth, including by a like me-. taphor all that is evil. Some of these heretics had the blasphemous impudence to attribute the Mosaical dispensation to their author of evil.

providence, is either incapable by nature, or incapacitated by vice or passion, from the due exercise of his reasoning faculties on so lofty and important a subject. But one whose head and heart are alike imbued with Christianity, will find both delight and profit in the rational and devotional exercise of marking, in all the works of God's power and providence, the traces of his being and attributes. To the Christian thus exercised, every creature which he beholds, and every remarkable incident, will become a memorial of that Being, to remember whom, as we ought, is our chief duty and privilege; and what began as an exercise of reason, will soon be interwoven with his best affections, will exalt his reverence, animate his love, and encourage his faith.

So the child, who is just able to discern the propriety and use of things and circumstances, and whose affectionate heart prompts him first to find, and then to rejoice that he has found, the intentions and performance of a wise and active love, sees in each new pleasure or acquisition suited to his taste and capacity, the fondness of a parent's care, and the bounty of a parent's hand; and soon even chastisements and restraints carry with them to his heart as much of the mildness of affection, as of the severity of reproof; and as he grows in the ability, he grows also in the desire to exercise his appreciation of paternal benevolence; and his love is inflamed, and his confidence insured, and his desires to make some returns of affection excited, and his reverence enlarged and strength

ened by exercise, and by the continued dictates of reason; and because he has studied the mind and the heart of his parent in his actions, he grows up to be a good and dutiful, as well as a loving and a happy

son.

But then, as it is conceivable that a son may arrive at just as clear a perception (so far as it is merely intellectual) of a father's affectionate and wise provision for his good, and yet his heart never be warmed with filial piety; as it is even possible that a morose and ungenerous child may seek for the proofs of a parent's care, only that he may repel the pleadings of parental affection, guarding as it were against their unexpected assault upon his heart; or even that a rebellious son may perceive his state of pupilage and dependence, only to add bitterness to opposition and contumely so may it be, and so in some degree it will be, with those who study the works of God merely as an intellectual exercise, or inspect the workings of his providence with discontented and disaffected hearts their devotional feelings will be no whit excited; they will live in an uneasy necessity of recognising a bountiful hand dispensing favours which they must accept, yet will not accept gratefully; and they will even take occasion from that which should melt their hearts into love, and attune their lips to praise, and move their hands to obedience, to repine, and blaspheme, and rebel against the very Maker of heaven and earth.

How adverse, then, is the temper of atheism, and

of bold impiety, from the profitable study of natural theology, and of the mere philosophy of religion! How beautifully adapted to this and every other noble exercise of the mind and moral faculties, is the temper of one who hath already received the spirit of adoption, and learned from his heart to call God "FATHER!"

Nor should it be forgotten, that it is not only from the temper which it produces in its votaries, but also from the light which it casts on the subject itself, that Christianity is the best mistress of natural theology. Natural theology is the study of God's essence and attributes and will in his works; and it is evident that the Christian religion may be viewed as one of his works, or rather as a vast congeries of his operations subordinated in one grand scheme. And as the natural universe and its parts bear the impress of God's power, and indicate his being and his natural attributes; as the course of providence displays signs of his just sovereignty, and therefore points to his being and moral attributes; so does the Christian scheme bear the mark of his counsel and operations, and of his will, and is in the same way a manifestation of his being and wisdom and attributes of unsearchable goodness. Christianity affords, as it were, other and new phenomena, on which to found the inductions of natural theology; and in proportion to its perfection must be its value in this view: but it is the last and best of the indications which God hath given us of Himself; and he hath "magnified his word above all