OF THE

UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA

AN

ESSAY ON EVIL SPIRITS.

CHAP. I.

Miscellaneous Observations.

NOTWITHSTANDING the light of Evangelical truth, which shines with a brilliancy not to be equalled by mid-day splendour, yet, it is amazing to think what ignorance and superstition remain: what darkness, more intense than midnight gloom! How true are the words of the prophet, that darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people; for infidelity is stalking abroad with its ugly features, spreading its contagion and infusing its poison, exulting in the most ridiculous chimeras, and carried away with the most bewildering enthusiasm. Notwithstanding the blackness and darkness of infidelity, Mr. Heineken stands in a situation ten thousand times more awful; for when I take into consideration the destructive consequence of his principles, they appear fraught with results the most

B

alarming, and consequences the most fatal. They lead the unhappy victim, who becomes fettered and entangled with them, into a delusion superlatively awful; and hurry him, under a garb of the most fantastical hypocrisy, to the verge of eternal ruin. As a proof of what I have asserted, I would have Mr. Heineken to observe, that there are many persons, some of whom I am acquainted with, and others of whom I have been informed, who were, a little while ago, strongly attached to the Christian faith; but by means of attending his lectures, their attachment has been destroyed, and they are now wandering in the dark regions of infidelity, and upon his principles are defending that preposterous system of Scepticism. This proves the assertion of Bishop Warburton, where he says, that Unitarianism "is a sort of infidelity in disguise;" or, as Mr. Wilberforce represents it, "a sort of half-way house from nominal orthodoxy to absolute infidelity;" or, as Mrs. Barbauld is said to have called it, "Christianity in the frigid zone." Now, I would ask Mr. Heineken to tell me, what good has resulted from his preaching? I know of none: I have pointed him out an evil, and one of a serious nature; "and if he which converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death,"* what must be the consequences of that preacher's labour, which leads only

it,"

* James iv. 20.

1

to death. It is strikingly evident to every sound reasoner, that Unitarianism leads to the grossest errors, and plunges its unhappy devotees into a vortex of unfounded theories. What is there in the gospel to recommend it, and render it a subject worthy of a Divine revelation, when all its peculiar and essential doctrines are taken away? I must confess, that the arguments which the Unitarians have made use of in order to support their system, and the miserable subterfuges which they have resorted to, have done more towards convincing me that their system is a destructive jargon, than all the mighty series of reasoning which has been advanced against them. Seldom are they at a loss for a gloss, or an evasion, in aiming at the accomplishment of their object. If they meet with a passage whose indubitable reading, and whose obvious plain meaning, is such as every unbiassed man would pronounce favourable to any of those doctrines which they so unreasonably despise, they are ready with ample stores of metaphorical, enigmatical, and idiomatical forms of interpretation; and stubborn must be that text which will not yield to one or other of their modes of treatment. Thus they explain away the obvious import of the Bible, and thereby forsake the paths of reason and Scripture, and wander into the visionary regions of dogmatical enthusiasm, which destroys the transcendent grandeur and glory of the sacred pages.

According to the principle of Unitarianism, our inquiry is not to be, what is the plain and obvious meaning of the writers of the Scriptures, agreeably to the ordinary and established rules of interpretation; but is it possible to understand their words otherwise? Men may talk of prejudice, but I can conceive of few prejudices more strong or more deceitful than that which is involved in such a principle. It is surely a very suspicious circumstance as to the foundation on which any system rests, when its abettors feel it necessary formally to warn their readers" to be on their guard against what is called the natural signification of words and phrases.”* This is ignorance with a witness! it opens the flood-gate of error, and truth is lost in the ocean of absurdity; for if we reject the natural signification of words and phrases, we must for ever wander in the barren fields of speculation and uncertainty. Here they slide into an error which violates every sentiment of propriety, and converts the plain and unadorned language of the Scriptures into a useless and unnatural pleonasm; and those doctrines which the writers have inculcated with so much emphasis, they unnerve and paralyze, and with false glosses and wild evasions, destroy all point and emphasis, evaporate all its spirit, and freeze every syllable of it to very ice. It is difficult to maintain a Scripture controversy with the

* Read Belsham's Calm Enquiry, pages 4, 5.

class of speculators I am now opposing, for two reasons. First, they will say any thing rather than give up their pre-conceived opinions. That their opinions are merely pre-conceived, any person may easily discern, who examines their writings with any degree of attention. Το prove that they will say any thing, I need only refer the reader to two assertions made by two of their most learned advocates, relative to the innocence and purity of our Lord Jesus Christ. One of them speaks of him as "fallible and peccable;" and the other says, we have

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no sufficient data by which to determine whether during his private, as well as public life, he was free from sin or not; and that it is to us a matter of no material conséquence."* But what saith the Scriptures:-"To the law and to the testimony; if we speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in us." If we examine both Testaments, we shall invariably find that they represent Jesus Christ as a holy and innocent character, without the least iota if impurity or inherent depravity. Hence, says the Apostle-" Such an high-priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily, as those high-priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's."+" He did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." "Ye are redeemed with the + Heb. vii. 26, 27.

* Priestley and Belsham.