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tenets we are now concerned, bears a lamentably near resemblance to that of Jehoiakim on the occasion already referred to. They too, like him, have suffered their own prejudices to overcome, what must otherwise have been the thorough conviction of their minds; and have ventured, on grounds of no validity, to reject certain portions of Holy Scripture, and refuse to receive them as of divine authority, or act upon the sacred truths which they reveal.

It will be my duty on the present occasion, bearing in remembrance the nature of the audience which I now address, and considering that, perhaps, the greater portion of them, are little conversant with discussions of this nature, to endeavour to make the subject with which I have been entrusted as plain and simple as possible; in order that thus, one principal source of those errors, with the exposure of which we are concerned, in this series of Lectures, may be clearly perceived and understood by you all. And I shall, therefore, endeavour

I. TO EXPLAIN WHAT IS MEANT BY THE CANON OF HOLY SCRIPTURE.

II. TO SHOW THE DUTY OF PRESERVING IT IN ITS IN

TEGRITY.

III. TO POINT OUT, IN ONE OR TWO PROMINENT IN

STANCES, THE MANNER IN WHICH IT HAS BEEN VIOLATED BY UNITARIANS.

Let us, therefore, proceed

I. TO EXPLAIN WHAT IS MEANT BY THE CANON OF HOLY SCRIPTURE.

And here I will commence by observing, that the great truths of religion—that is, of the Christian religion—are not a matter of human DISCOVERY; that is, are not discoverable by man, by the mere exercise of his own unassisted reason.

There are, indeed, some truths of religion, and those of primary importance, with which the case is altogether different; which fall quite within the range of the intellectual vision of man; and the proofs and evidences of which, lie open to the observation of every reflecting mind. For assuredly there do exist, in the works of nature and of Providence, those obvious marks of design, and that design harmonious, wise and benevolent, which, to a mind duly contemplating them, would not fail to convey the assurance of the existence of a CREATOR: a Creator, ONE, ALONE, and UNRIVALLED· -a Creator of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; to whom all creatures stand in the relation of property; on whom they must ever be dependent; and to whom, therefore, their submission, their services, and their gratitude are due.

Let me not, however, while I make this admission, make myself subject to misapprehension. Let me not be supposed to express the belief, that the particular truths which I have admitted to lie within the range of the intellectual vision of man, have ever, in any instance, become actually known to man, as a matter of discovery, by the simple exercise of his own intellectual powers. We have no sufficient evidence to give support to any such supposition, and I believe the contrary to be the fact. I believe that, in practice, the knowledge of the attributes of the Deity, and especially of the Unity of the Godhead, wherever that knowledge has existed, has been derived, at least in the way of suggestion, either directly or indirectly, from another source (to which our attention must presently be directed), that of REVELATION; and that it has not been, until the mind of man has been turned into this particular direction, and may be said to have looked into the book of nature for proofs of a thing known, rather than to discover things previously unknown, that it has beheld therein notices of truths, which had been

altogether overlooked before. It has seen, however, that those truths were, in their own nature, as well as also in their evidence, independent of revelation; and in due order of arrangement, antecedent to it; and it may be added, that it is upon the knowledge of God thus studied in this great book of instruction, the book of nature and providence, although it may not have been, in the first instance, practically derived from it, that must be built, and to the same knowledge must be brought, as a test to try its correctness, all further instruction, however communicated, respecting the same great and Almighty Being, and the relations of mankind towards Him.

But there are other truths, and these constituting the distinguishing part of the Christian religion, which could not have been discovered in this manner. Perhaps the existence of sin, and the extent of God's displeasure against it, ought to be reckoned among this number. But whether this be so or not, there can be no doubt that every thing which relates to the pardon of sin, every thing which relates to the restoration of man to that divine image from which he has fallen, is to be so reckoned. Every thing too which exhibits the principle upon which God is pleased to act in the forgiveness of sin; every thing which demonstrates the harmony of that principle with those of his moral government of the world; and which points out the method by which such forgiveness is conveyed, secured, and evidenced; all these, and many other particulars, are to be excluded altogether from the region of even possible human discovery; all these must have become known to us in some manner totally different from the mere deductions of reason. In other wordswe should never have known these things unless they had been told us. The knowledge of them must have been communicated to man by God himself. It could proceed

from no other quarter. It must be purely matter of revelation. It must be the substance of a message sent from God, declaring his will and purposes towards man, and could have been derived from no other source of information.

It is, however, matter of notoriety-and moreover, of just self-congratulation, among all who bear the name of Christians-that they are in possession of, what they believe to be, correct information upon these subjects, the importance of which none will venture to deny. And the question with which we are at present concerned, relates to the mode in which that knowledge has been communicated to us, and to the grounds upon which we believe it to be in reality, what it must of necessity be by profession, a message sent from God.

Now, there are various channels through which this knowledge, in less or greater measures, reaches us as individuals; but there is one general and principal source of that information, from which all other, ought, at least, to profess to be derived, — namely, the Holy Scriptures ; respecting which I observe as follows:

A certain volume reaches our hands; and we look into it; and we find that it professes (under different forms, all however having the same general bearing, and tending to the same object) to furnish full information respecting the above momentous particulars. We see, also, that this volume consists, not of one, but of many parts or separate treatises, bearing the names of different authors. And the first reflection which naturally presents itself to our minds, is obviously the following:-Here is a matter in which I have a deep personal interest. If this volume really is what it professes to be, no words can express the importance of my becoming thoroughly acquainted with its contents, and implicitly following its instructions. The

pretensions of this volume, therefore, require to be investigated by me with all care and diligence.

I may be allowed, therefore,

1. To peruse these books, and examine their contents; and to see whether they are consistent with themselves. I must, of course, in an examination of this kind, lay aside altogether all prejudices of my own, and allow the authors to speak wholly for themselves. I must also take every thing they say, in the sense which it really appears to have been intended to bear, and then candidly judge whether they do or do not agree with themselves throughout. Because nothing, I am sure, can come from God, which has not this character of consistency with itself. I may add, also, that any message coming from God, must also be consistent with the character of the same Holy Being, as exhibited in his works.

I may also be allowed,

2. To inquire into the history of these books, and see whether they did really proceed from their professed authors, whose names they bear; or whether they are a forgery, fabricated for some purpose of imposition.

And I may be permitted in like manner,

3. To inquire whether these authors, with respect to their position and circumstances, were so situated, as to be able to obtain correct information on the particulars which they relate and further, which is a question of not less importance, whether they were persons of character and credit, whose veracity may be depended upon : so that whatever they relate, whether as a fact or as an opinion, must be held to be true as a reality or as a matter of conviction, simply because they have so related it.

And I may also be permitted,

4. To examine whether these books, in their original languages, are now in a perfect or a mutilated state; whether

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