this God, (and with the Atheist I am not arguing,) the duty of prayer to Him on entering upon argument must be of paramount obligation. Let me entreat you, then, to unite with me in supplications to the common Father of all, whom the unbeliever professes to adore and reverence as well as the Christian, and beseech him to illuminate our minds, to dissipate all prejudices and prepossessions, and to dispose us to receive the truth with humility and joy. And let the pious and sincere Christian cultivate more of the meekness and fear which are to attend his apology for his faith. It is the holy, upright, consistent, benevolent life of the Christian which forms the best standing defence of his religion to others, and the best spring of hope in his own mind. The effects of Christianity are then prominent and decisive. Were the faith of all who call themselves Christians a really living principle, we should be able to appeal to them with more confidence, as exemplifying and embodying what we describe in our portraits of the Christian character. The inconsistent tempers and lives of the professors of Christianity are the reproach of the faithful, and the stumbling-block of the profane. For no contradiction can be so fatal in its effects on others and on ourselves, as the claim of a believer's hope and the darkness and misery of an infidel's life. LECTURE II. THE TEMPER OF MIND IN WHICH THE SUBJECT SHOULD BE STUDIED. LUKE XVIII. 17. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in no wise enter therein. IN entering upon a course of instruction with the design of impressing more deeply upon the hearts of young persons the truth and importance of the Christian revelation, we may first naturally ask, What is the temper of mind in which the subject should be studied? To this enquiry an answer may be given from the words of the text, in which our Lord declares, with that solemn asseveration which he frequently used in order to impress his instructions upon the minds of men, That whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in no wise enter therein. VOL. I. Ꭰ God, (and with the Atheist I am not arguing,) the duty of prayer to Him on entering upon this argument must be of paramount obligation. Let me entreat you, then, to unite with me in supplications to the common Father of all, whom the unbeliever professes to adore and reverence as well as the Christian, and beseech him to illuminate our minds, to dissipate all prejudices and prepossessions, and to dispose us to receive the truth with humility and joy. And let the pious and sincere Christian cultivate more of the meekness and fear which are to attend his apology for his faith. It is the holy, upright, consistent, benevolent life of the Christian which forms the best standing defence of his religion to others, and the best spring of hope in his own mind. The effects of Christianity are then prominent and decisive. Were the faith of all who call themselves Christians a really living principle, we should be able to appeal to them with more confidence, as exemplifying and embodying what we describe in our portraits of the Christian cha-racter. The inconsistent tempers and lives of the professors of Christianity are the reproach of the faithful, and the stumbling-block of the profane. For no contradiction can be so fatal in its effects on others and on ourselves, as the claim of a believer's hope and the darkness and misery of an infidel's life. LECTURE II. THE TEMPER OF MIND IN WHICH THE SUBJECT SHOULD BE STUDIED. LUKE XVIII. 17. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in no wise enter therein. In entering upon a course of instruction with the design of impressing more deeply upon the hearts of young persons the truth and importance of the Christian revelation, we may first naturally ask, What is the temper of mind in which the subject should be studied? To this enquiry an answer may be given from the words of the text, in which our Lord declares, with that solemn asseveration which he frequently used in order to impress his instructions upon the minds of men, That whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in no wise enter therein. VOL. I. Ꭰ Some observations on THIS MEEK AND DOCILE DISPOSITION;-upon THE OBVIOUS WANT OF IT in too many of those who reject Christianity;-- and upon THE CHIEF REASONS which prove its indispensable importance, will be the object of the present lecture. I. The temper of mind here inculcated by our Lord is a simplicity and teachableness resembling what we observe in children, who in their first infancy are free from guile, and give implicit credit to what their friends and parents teach them, without suspecting the possibility of any thing being said to the contrary. A child-like temper as to the subject of religion resembles this; it is a readiness to receive the proofs of the Christian doctrine with candour, and, upon their being found satisfactory, to submit without reserve or objection to the revelation itself. By requiring this guileless disposition, we by no means prejudge the question, nor do we demand any renunciation of the just authority and powers of human reason. Christianity is consistent with the highest reason. We ask only for such a state of mind as the glorious majesty of God and the weakness of man require-such a temper as is obviously necessary to every serious investigation, and without which, conviction |