Christian Theology - Media Sabda Org
Christian Theology - Media Sabda Org Christian Theology - Media Sabda Org
e very wise in secular matters, and know but little of himself, and less of his God. There is as truly a learned ignorance as there is a refined and useful learning. One of our old writers said, "Knowledge that is not applying is like a candle which a man holds to light himself to hell." The Corinthians abounded in knowledge, and science, and eloquence, and various extraordinary gifts; but in many cases they were grossly ignorant of the genius and design of the gospel. Many since their time have put words and observances in place of the weightier matters of the law, and the spirit of the gospel. The apostle has taken great pains to correct these abuses among the Corinthians, and to insist on that great, unchangeable, and eternal truth,—that love to God and man, filling the heart, hallowing the passions, regulating the affections, and producing universal benevolence and beneficence, is the fulfilling of all law; and that all professions, knowledge, gifts, &c., without this, are absolutely useless. Truth is so amiable and important in every department of knowledge, that no pains should be spared to acquire it. It is not only excellent in its source, but also in the last faint glimmerings of its farthest projected rays: to whatever distance these have shone forth, and however intermixed, they should, if possible, be analyzed, and traced back to their origin. Truth is the contrary to falsity. Truth has been defined, "the conformity of notions to things; of words to thoughts." It declares the thing that is, and as it is; whereas falsity, in all its acceptations, is that which is not; what is pretended to be a fact, but either is no fact, or is not presented as it really is. The revelation of God to man, in reference to his salvation, is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. It bears a strict conformity to the perfections of the divine nature. It inspires such notions as are conformable to the things of which they are the mental ectypes, and describes its subjects by such words as are conformable to the thoughts they represent. Every Christian should study philosophy, as from it he will more evidently discover, 1. That he who is so fearfully and wonderfully made, so marvellously preserved, and so bountifully fed, should give up
unreservedly his all to God, and devote the powers which he has received to the service of the Creator. 2. When atheistical notions would intrude, a few reflections on the manifold wisdom displayed in the creation may be the means of breaking the subtle snare of a designing foe. And, 3. By the study of nature, under grace, the soul becomes more enlarged, and is capable of bearing a more extensive, deeper, and better defined image of the divine perfections. It is generally supposed that former times were full of barbaric ignorance; and that the system of philosophy which is at present in repute, and is established by experiments, is quite a modern discovery. But nothing can be more false than this, as the Bible plainly discovers to an attentive reader, that the doctrines of statics, the circulation of the blood, the rotundity of the earth, the motions of the celestial bodies, the process of generation, &c., were all known long before Pythagoras, Archimedes, Copernicus, or Newton was born. It is very natural to suppose that God implanted the first principles of every science in the mind of his first creature; that Adam taught them to his posterity; and that tradition continued them for many generations with their proper improvements. But many of them were lost in consequence of wars, captivities, &c. Latter years have rediscovered many of them, principally by the direct or indirect aid of the Holy Scriptures; and others of them continue hidden, notwithstanding the accurate and persevering researches of the moderns. Who taught Newton to ascertain the laws by which God governs the universe, through which discovery a new source of profit and pleasure has been opened to mankind through every part of the civilized world? No reading, no study, no example, formed his genius. God, who made him, gave him that compass and bent of mind by which he made those discoveries, and for which his name is celebrated in the earth. When I see Napier inventing the logarithms; Copernicus, Des Cartes, and Kepler, contributing to pull down the false systems of the universe, and Newton demonstrating the true one; and when I see the long list of patentees of
- Page 361 and 362: God has often permitted demons to a
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- Page 385 and 386: wonder and eat it; and that is the
- Page 387 and 388: at last deny that he ever had it, a
- Page 389 and 390: Evil habits are formed and strength
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- Page 399 and 400: e made to the damned, then we may e
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- Page 415 and 416: dogmatical systems of geology itsel
- Page 417 and 418: The soul was made for God; and noth
- Page 419 and 420: that man was; and we may be sure th
- Page 421 and 422: they could never have known, we fee
- Page 423 and 424: dimensions, situation, or colour of
- Page 425 and 426: against it, lose it, and perish eve
- Page 427 and 428: shipwreck herself has suffered, and
- Page 429 and 430: come:" I ask, "Why, then, is black
- Page 431 and 432: TOBACCO. EVERY medical man knows we
- Page 433 and 434: I grant that a person who is brough
- Page 435 and 436: smile at their own conduct? "Be ye
- Page 437 and 438: and hence, being turned out of thes
- Page 439 and 440: success in it: that in the evening,
- Page 441 and 442: 5. What underwood, hazel, furs, or
- Page 443 and 444: 3. Clothing.—Of what kinds? names
- Page 445 and 446: 7. What are the books used in educa
- Page 447 and 448: XIX.—Letting of Lands, Rents, Ten
- Page 449 and 450: more assiduity than formerly; looki
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- Page 455 and 456: God; if you get not this in time, y
- Page 457 and 458: [4] The following letter I received
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unreservedly his all to God, and devote the powers which he has received<br />
to the service of the Creator. 2. When atheistical notions would intrude,<br />
a few reflections on the manifold wisdom displayed in the creation may<br />
be the means of breaking the subtle snare of a designing foe. And, 3. By<br />
the study of nature, under grace, the soul becomes more enlarged, and is<br />
capable of bearing a more extensive, deeper, and better defined image of<br />
the divine perfections.<br />
It is generally supposed that former times were full of barbaric<br />
ignorance; and that the system of philosophy which is at present in repute,<br />
and is established by experiments, is quite a modern discovery. But<br />
nothing can be more false than this, as the Bible plainly discovers to an<br />
attentive reader, that the doctrines of statics, the circulation of the blood,<br />
the rotundity of the earth, the motions of the celestial bodies, the process<br />
of generation, &c., were all known long before Pythagoras, Archimedes,<br />
Copernicus, or Newton was born.<br />
It is very natural to suppose that God implanted the first principles of<br />
every science in the mind of his first creature; that Adam taught them to<br />
his posterity; and that tradition continued them for many generations with<br />
their proper improvements. But many of them were lost in consequence<br />
of wars, captivities, &c. Latter years have rediscovered many of them,<br />
principally by the direct or indirect aid of the Holy Scriptures; and others<br />
of them continue hidden, notwithstanding the accurate and persevering<br />
researches of the moderns.<br />
Who taught Newton to ascertain the laws by which God governs the<br />
universe, through which discovery a new source of profit and pleasure has<br />
been opened to mankind through every part of the civilized world? No<br />
reading, no study, no example, formed his genius. God, who made him,<br />
gave him that compass and bent of mind by which he made those<br />
discoveries, and for which his name is celebrated in the earth. When I see<br />
Napier inventing the logarithms; Copernicus, Des Cartes, and Kepler,<br />
contributing to pull down the false systems of the universe, and Newton<br />
demonstrating the true one; and when I see the long list of patentees of
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