under the name of Reformers, or some other inviting appellation, are using every effort to seduce men from the spiritual doctrines and duties of the gospel, or to organize them into absolute hostility against Christ. These men are not wanting in intellect, or in acquired knowledge, and their labours have prejudiced the minds of great numbers against the spiritual truths of the gospel, and rendered their hearts callous to religious influence. These facts, in the author's opinion, render such a volume as he has endeavoured to write necessary, in order to meet the exigencies of the times. * ** The present edition has been carefully revised; and has been slightly modified on one or two minor points, to which exception had been taken, or which appeared obscure in expression.-1881. CONTENTS. 1. Man will worship-he will become assimilated to the character of the object that he worships-Character of heathen deities defective and unholy-From this II. The design and necessity of the bondage in Egypt III. Miracles-particularly the miracles which accompanied v. The necessity of affectionate obedience to God; and VI. The design and necessity of the Moral Law VII. The development of the idea of holiness, and its transfer IX. The transition from the material system, by which re- ligious ideas were conveyed through the senses, to 61 XI. Some of the peculiar proofs of the Messiahship of Christ 70 XII. The condition in life which it was necessary the Messiah should assume in order to benefit the human family in the greatest degree, by his example and instructions. XIII. The essential principles which must, according to the nature of things, lie at the foundation of the instruc- XIV. Faith, the exercise through which truth reaches and XV. The manifestations of God which would be necessary, under the new and spiritual dispensation, to produce in the soul of man affectionate obedience PHILOSOPHY OF THE PLAN OF SALVATION. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. MAN WILL WORSHIP-HE WILL BECOME ASSIMILATED TO THE CHARACTER OF THE OBJECT THAT HE WORSHIPSCHARACTER OF HEATHEN DEITIES DEFECTIVE AND UNHOLY-FROM THIS CORRUPTING WORSHIP MAN HAS NO POWER TO EXTRICATE HIMSELF. THERE are three facts, each of them fully developed in the experience of the human family, a consideration of which will prepare the mind for the investigation which follows. When considered in their relation to each other, and in their bearing upon the moral interests of mankind, they will be seen to be of exceeding importance. We will adduce these facts, in connection with the statements and principles upon which they rest, and show how vital are the interests which depend upon them. THE FIRST FACT STATED. There is in the nature of man, or in the circumstances in which he is conditioned, something which leads him to recognise and worship a superior being. What that something is, is not important in our present inquiry:— whether it be a constitutional instinct in wrought by the Maker-whether it be a deduction of universal reason, inferring a first cause from the things that are madewhether it be the effect of tradition, descending from the first worshippers, through all the tribes of the human family-whether any or all of these be the cause, the fact is the same-Man is a religious being: HE WILL WORSHIP. In view of this propension of human nature, philosophers, in seeking a generic appellation for man, have denominated him a "religious animal." The characteristic is true of him in whatever part of the world he may be found, and in whatever condition; and it has been true of him in all ages of which we have any record, either fabulous or authentic. Navigators have, in a few instances, reported that isolated tribes of men, whom they visited, recognised the existence of no superior being: subsequent researches, however, have generally corrected the error; and, in all cases, when it has been supposed that a tribe of men was found believing in no god, the fact has been stated as an evidence of their degradation below the mass of their species, and of their approximation to the confines of brute nature. Of the whole family of man, existing in all ages, and scattered over the four quarters of the globe, and in the isles of the sea, there is scarcely one wellauthenticated exception to the fact, that, moved by an impulse of nature, or the force of circumstances, man worships something which he believes to be endowed with the attributes of a superior being. THE SECOND FACT STATED. The second fact, connected as it is, by the nature of things, with the preceding, assumes the highest degree of importance. It may be stated in the following terms:Man, by worshipping, becomes assimilated to the moral character of the object which he worships. This is an invariable principle, operating with the certainty of cause and effect. The worshipper looks upon the character of the object which he worships as the standard of perfection. He therefore condemns everything in himself which is |