Obrázky na stránke
PDF
ePub

shalt endure, yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment, as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed, but thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end."

The eternity of God is a subject of contemplation, which, at the same time that it overwhelms us with astonishment and awe, affords us an immoveable ground of confidence in the midst of a changing world. All things which surround us, all these dying, mouldering inhabitants of time, must have had a Creator, for the plain reason, that they could not have created themselves. And their Creator must have existed from all eternity, for the plain reason, that the first cause must necessarily be uncaused. As we cannot suppose a beginning without a cause of existence, that which is the cause of all existence must be self existent, and could have had no beginning. And as it had no beginning, so also, as it is beyond the reach of all influence and control, as it is independent and almighty, it will have no end.

Here then is a support, which will never fail; here is a foundation which can never be moved, the everlasting Creator of countless worlds, "the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity." What a sublime conception! He inhabits eternity, occupies this inconceivable duration, pervades and fills throughout this boundless dwelling. Ages on ages before even the dust of which we are formed was created, HE had existed in infinite majesty, and ages on ages will roll away after we have all returned to the dust whence we were taken, and still He will exist in infinite majesty, living in the eternity of his own nature, reigning in the plentitude of his own omnipotence, for ever sending forth the word, which

forms, supports and governs all things, commanding new created light to shine on new created worlds, and raising up new created generations to inhabit them.

The contemplation of this glorious attribute of God is fitted to excite in our minds the most animating and consoling reflections. Standing, as we are, amid the ruins of time, and the wrecks of mortality, where every thing about us is created and dependent, proceeding from nothing, and hastening to destruction, we rejoice that something is presented to our view which has stood from everlasting, and will remain for ever. When we have looked on the pleasures of life, and they have vanished away; when we have looked on the works of nature, and perceived that they were changing; on the monuments of art, and seen that they would not stand; on our friends, and they have fled while we were gazing; on ourselves, and felt that we were as fleeting as they; when we have looked on every object to which we could turn our anxious eyes, and they have all told us that they could give us no hope nor support, because they were so feeble themselves; we can look to the throne of God; change and decay have never reached it; the revolution of ages has never moved it; the waves of an eternity have been rushing past it, but it has remained unshaken; the waves of another eternity are rushing toward it, but it is fixed, and can never be disturbed.

And blessed be God, who has assured us by a revelation from himself, that the throne of eternity is likewise a throne of mercy and love; who has permitted and invited us to repose ourselves and our hopes on that which alone is everlasting and unchangeable. We shall shortly finish our allotted time on earth, even if

it should be unusually prolonged. We shall leave behind us all which is now familiar and beloved, and a world of other days and other men will be entirely ignorant that once we lived. But the same unalterable Being will still preside over the universe, through all its changes, and from his remembrance we shall never be blotted. We can never be where he is not, nor where he sees and loves and upholds us not. He is our Father and our God for ever. He takes us from earth that he may lead us to Heaven, that he may refine our nature from all its principles of corruption, share with us his own immortality, admit us to his everFasting habitation, and crown us with his eternity.

F. G.

Turretin on Fundamentals in Religion.

SOME articles in religion are fundamental, and others not fundamental; and unless we allow this distinction, we must say one of these two things, either that no truths in religion are fundamental, and necessary to be known, or that all are so; neither of which can be allowed. That no truths are necessary to be known, none but an atheist can venture to affirm; and they, who own the being of a God, can do no less than grant, that the knowledge of him is necessary. The subjects of any kingdom, or state, cannot be ignorant without blame, that there is a prince, or some civil magistrate

* Turretin was Professor of Divinity in Geneva, and was distinguished for his learning and moderation. He wrote an article on Fundamentals in Religion, from which the above is an extract. This treatise was written in Latin, and translated into English, and published 1720.

under whom they live, and whom they are bound to obey. Nay, farther, they ought to have a knowledge of the laws of that kingdom or state; for every one knows that ignorance of the law is no excuse.

But now, how much more necessary is it for us to know, as well as we are able, the Lord of the universe, and the laws that are given us by him? And if it is necessary to know him who is Lord of all, then it cannot but be displeasing to him for us to entertain dishonourable notions of him, or to charge him with the most detestable crimes, to place him on a level with the meanest of creatures, and to pay him a worship, that consists of wickedness or cruelty. Neither is it to be thought, that in doing thus, we can possibly be innocent, and free from blame. And since all this might be said though we had no revelation, how much more are these things necessary to be known now we have one, wherein God has manifested the certain knowledge of himself, and appointed certain worship to be paid him?

But on the other hand, that all truths of religion are fundamental and necessary to be known, is so absurd an imagination, that no man, who seriously considers, can admit it; for who can suppose, that God does necessarily require all truths of religion without exception to be known of every individual man, and consequently that all these truths are equally to be esteemed and regarded by us? Who can imagine, that all truths, which depend upon chronology, geography, criticism, that all proper names in scripture, and that all circumstances, even of the minutest events, which concern religion, are necessary to be known? Certainly the design of religion is not to exercise the wit and understanding of men, nor to burden and overwhelm their memories with

so vast a number of all sorts of truths; but to implant in their minds the fear and love of God, and excite them to certain duties. Those truths, therefore, that tend most to this end, are certainly of the greatest importance; and they that have little or no tendency hereunto, are undoubtedly of less moment, and so by no means to be accounted necessary.

Again, they who say all truths of religion are fundamental, and necessary to be known in order to obtain .salvation, must either be tormented with endless doubts and perplexities, or imagine themselves to be infallible, so as certainly to know all truths without exception, and be sure, that they cannot err in the least point. And what man in his wits can possibly pretend to this? Finally, he who says all truths in religion are fundamentals, and all errors damnable, ought to prove it. But the thing will admit of no sort of proof, nay, on the contrary, the goodness and wisdom of God do most directly oppose such an assertion. Since, therefore, it cannot be affirmed on the one hand, that no truths are fundamental, nor on the other, that all are so, hence it follows that a difference must be made between truths that are fundamental, and truths that are not funda. mental.

The question is a perplexing one, yet ought not to be wholly omitted by us, namely, Whether the exact and precise number of fundamental articles can be determined? We doubt not but those articles may be sufficiently distinguished by every one for his own private use and instruction; but to reduce them to a certain and definite there are neither more

number, so as to be able to say

nor less, is more than we, together with all protestant

« PredošláPokračovať »