English
, The design of the present discourse, is to retrace the path which has already been pursued, and to enquire, whether any impressions may yet be discovered in their corrupted mythology of a purer faith, >yhich was coeval with the creation, revealed to man immediately by the author of his existence, and which may be pro- perly termed the primeval religion of mankind. "What might have been the religion of man in a state of purity and perfeftion j whatknowlege he might have possessed of the essence and attributes of the supreme Being ; what might have been his obligations, and what his duties, it is equally impossible for us to comprehend with clearness, or to define with accuriacy; On this subjeft nothing can be found to gratify curiosity, ar^d conjefture is equally vain and unprofitable. Such an enquiry can have no re- ference to the present state of human nature, and is therefore wisely rendered fruitless. We are only interested in considering what revelation of the divine will was afforded to mankind, immediately after that order of providence com- 147 menced, which we now experience. This state is indeed variously represented, according to the temper of diiferent individuals ; and the repre- sentation will principally differ, whether it be considered as a state of final compensation, or as connected with another, and preparatory to a future state of perfe£tion. But to the following definition few will be inclined to objeft : that it is a state "in which there are evident marks of beneficent design, though those designs are often counterafted, and prevented from taking eflfett ; a state in wnich man is endued with a desire of happiness, though complete happiness is absolute- ly unattainable ; a state in which good and evil are never entirely separated, but frequently pro- duced out of each other. Whether under this condition of human nature a divine revelation were expedient or necessary ; whether such a revelation would improve the present state of mankind, and might therefore be expefted from a Being, who according to any reasonable cpnceptions must desire the hap- piness of his creatures ; whether this revelation should have been proposed to all men alike, and when proposed should have produced irresistible conviftion; these are questions, Which, though capable of a rational solution, would lead us too 1 3 143 far from the ob}e£l of our present enquiry* This will' be confined to the more obvious questbnj whether any proofs exist, to shew that any pro- mulgation of the divine will was originally vouch- safed. "When the passage recited in the text, and there are various other passages in the Old Testament which speak the same sense, records the intimate Gohne£l:ibn which subsisted between the Deity and his peculiar ,people, it is to be understood as referring ' chiefly to the visible display of the divine favoh, which was manifested under thfe Jewish dispensation. It accurately describes that polrtyj vrherein the line of duty was marked out by the finger of God, and in which the interposition of Omnipotence extend- ' ed, even to temporal concerns, and obedience was enforced by temporal sanfitions. It cannot be understood to imply,' that the other and far greater, part of mankind had never received, from the supreme Being, ariy intimation cf his will. The Jewish revelation, itself professes to be built, on the ifoundatioh of another, and prior covenant, established! between the Creator and the whole human race. The declaration made to Abraham, " in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,',' conveys some additional 149 iiiform^^tion to what was before known. It can- not be reconciled with reason, if considered as an insulatdd passage, and unconne£led with a pre- vious and universal communication, that through the seed of a woman, salvation should be obtain- ed and effefted. But although the Jewish dispensation was founded on a forn>er covenant of more general concernment, yet we are not to imagine that it was nothing more than a republication of pro- mises perverted or forgotten : nothing more than a renewal of what is called the primeval religion of mankind. The positive declaration of the Psalmist, that the dealings of God with his chosen people were essentially distinguishfed from those with the other nations of the earth, obliges us to draw a different conclusio. It mayna- turally be expefted, that every new communica- tion of the divine will, must discover some new and important relation between God and man, and must impose on the latter some additional obligations, resultinjg from such a discovery. Revelatlon'then, if we would form an accurate idea of its design, must be considered, first^ as a connefted 'Scheme, which cannot be properly comprehended, unless viewed in its several parts l3 150 and dependencies ; and secondly, as. a progres- sive scheme, every successive addition to the strufture being not oniy cemented with the pre* ceding, but conferring an accession of strength, utility, and beauty, on the whole. Although these observations may be too evi- dent to admit of dispute, and have been too frequently irisisted on to bear even the appear- ance of novelty j yet they suggest this important corollary, not sufficiently insisted on : that there is no relation of God to man revealed to the primitive race of mankind, which is not more fully revealed under the Jewish, and still farther under the Christian dispensation ; but that there are maqy discoveries in the two last, which we shall in vain cxpefit to find in the former. It is the more necessary to advert to this con- clusion, because the oldest, and what has been boldly termed the noblest and purest religion, that religion which prevailed throughout the world before the imaginations of men became corrupted, and they transferred to the creature the worship which is due only to the Creator, has been represented as nothing more than a refined deism, This religion is described to consist in " a firm belief that one supreme God made the 151 world by his power, and continually governs it by his providence j a pious fear, love, and adora- tion of him ; a due reverence for parents and aged persons ; a fraternal affeftion for the whole 'human species, and a compassionate tenderness even for the brute creation." '^ This definition may be true, as far as it extendsj but falls thort of a cbmplete description. The oldest religion of mankind was the same in es- sence, though not in degree, with the Jewish and Christian dispensations which succeeded. Man at that time, standing in the same relation with respeft to God as at present^ had peed of the i^me promises to animate his hopes, and the same sariftions to enforce his obedience. We are therefore authorized to conclude, that in this • primitive revelation were contained thp outlines, though the outlines only, of that comprehensive plan, which it was the lot of the patriarchs to behold afar off, but which it is our happiness to seein its full accojuplishirient. "With what degree of -clearness and precision,- Ihose promises, which have received their com- vpletion under the 'dispensation of the rjGrpspel, might have been revealed to the progenitors of the hitman race, it is no less difficult, than import- x4 151 ant, to determine. If on the one hand, their religion has been reduced by some to a pure deism, it has been exalted by other's, to a more perfe6]f knowledge of the divine economy, than perhaps was really given. The concise account which the Mosaical records have supplied, of the religion of the early world, may lead us to imagine, that the historian has only related what was absolutely necessary, and has. left us to fill up the imperfeft sketch which he has delineated. ' But whenever we attempt this task, it is requisite to guard against the suggestions of a warm imagina- tion, and the idea that mankind, at this remote period, possessed a clearer view of the , future condition of their posterity, than was vouchsafed. We may be allowed to admire the lofty genius of Milton, who from the scanty materials which the sacred history has furnished, could raise from the fertile stores of his own imagination a stru£lure, not less admirable for the nice adjustment and exaft proportion of its particular parts, than for the splendid efFe£t of the whole. But in laying down principles, from which to deduce Argu- ments, such a method, however ingeniously pur- sued, will be found treacherous and unsafe. It must be difficult, and perhaps impossible, fqr those who have lived under the refulgence of the " perfect day," to form an accurate judgment 153 of the situation of those, who saw only the early dawning of revealed light. General and succin£l: hbwever, as is the infor- mation contained in the sacred history, and dan- gerous as it might prove implicitly to follow the vivid, but, illusive light of the imagination, there is yet another source open to us, which will sometimes supply the' defefil. There are still remaining, in the mythology of every nation, some general traditions which could never have been diftated by natural reason j some customs which could never have originated in any other cause, than in positive institution ; which^ however perverted and obscured, may be clearly traced up to a common source. By connefting these with the fafts, which our own written oracles supply, we may be sometimes enabled to form arguments, which if they will not amount to the striftness of demonstration, may yet claim a very high degree of moral probability : a pertinent example may b?st illustrate the truth of this remark.