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"kinds; the one, simple, by which it is understood, in general, that there is a God, and that he is a wise, good, and powerful Being, the rewarder of righteousness, and the avenger of wickedness; the other, determinate, and applied to a certain object, namely, "the God of Israel. The Gentiles, we admit, possess"ed the former, but they were destitute of the latter; "for they imprisoned in falsehood and unrighteousness, "those bright conceptions which they had of God, and "ascribed them, not to the true, but to a false Deity. Hence, in many passages of Scripture, they are said "not to have known God."

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XXXI. Christian faith, on the contrary, being instructed by the doctrine of Christ, is acquainted with the name of God; and makes mention of that name, saying, "Thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the Most High over all the earth." Faith recognises Divinity in God himself, and doth not ascribe his prerogatives to one who is not God. It doth not say, "JEHOVAH hath not done all this ;" which would be to alienate from God the glory of his godhead, and of his works. Faith knows distinctly, that he alone is God, who manifested himself to our first parents in paradise, and afterwards, "at sundry times and in divers manners," to patriarchs and prophets; and at last condescended to make a visible appearance in the person of the Son, clothed with human flesh. As he proclaims himself in his word, saying, “I, even I, am JEHOVAH, and besides me there is no Saviour;"a so faith assents to this declaration, and replies, "Thou, even "thou, art JEHOVAH alone; thou hast made heaven,

"the heaven of heavens with all their host," &c.b It belongs to the sincere Christian to say in truth, what was vauntingly said by Tryphon in Lucian, or the author, whoever he be, of the Dialogue entitled Philopatris: Having discovered the Unknown God of Athens, we “will adore him, and, with hands stretched forth to"wards heaven, render thanks to his name."

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b Nehem. ix. 6.

DISSERTATION V.

ON FAITH IN GOD."

L. IN the preceding Dissertation, we have shown what the Christian believes with respect to the existence of God. It must, by no means, however, be supposed, that this weighty expression, I BELIEVE IN GOD, includes nothing further. These words imply, without doubt, the whole exercise of the pious soul, who relies on God as her salvation; of which a more particular account must now' be submitted to the consideration of our pupils. Faith in God, considered in its full extent, comprises, 1st, The knowledge and acknowledgment of those perfections of God, from which a sinner may derive salvation and happiness: 2dly, The desire of union and fellowship with Him who is at once blessed for ever, and the fountain of blessedness: 3dly, A cheerful acceptance of God as exhibiting himself for our salvation: 4thly, The soul's diligent self-investigation, to see whether it possesses the evidences of God's dwelling in it: 5thly, Unutterable joy arising from the consciousness of such evidences. 6thly, A holy solici

The title of this Dissertation, more literally translated, is“An explanation of what is TO BELIEVE IN GOD." T.

tude of mind to walk worthy of God. We shall consider each of these in order.

II. Every one who employs himself assiduously in the contemplation of the Deity, will be able to discover, even by the light of nature, that God is the best, and the happiest of beings, and possessed of unbounded fulness and sufficiency; and that from this it follows, of necessity, that the chief good consists in his image and fellowship. Boethius has ingeniously demonstrated this truth, by philosophical arguments.* "It appears," says he, "from the universal conceptions of the "minds of men, that God, who is the First and the Greatest of all, is good; for, as nothing better than "God can be imagined, who can doubt, that he, who "is surpassed by none, is good? Reason, indeed, shows "that God is not only good, but possessed of perfect goodness; for, unless he be so, he cannot be the "greatest of all beings; but there will be something

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better than he, which, possessing perfect goodness, "will appear to be superior and more excellent. What"ever is perfect, is unquestionably superior to that "which falls short of perfection. Not to protract this

reasoning beyond bounds,-it must be acknowledged "that the Most High God possesses, in the amplest mea"sure possible, the highest and most perfect goodness. "Now we hold, that perfect goodness is true happiness; "it necessarily follows, therefore, that true happiness re"sides in the Most High God." From these principles, he deduces the following conclusion: "Since men become

De Consolatione Philosophia, lib. iii. pros. 10.

+ When Boethius employs the terms princeps, prior, and antiquius in this quotation, he has perhaps some reference to priority of existence; but he obviously refers, at least chiefly, to superiority in excellence and dignity. T.

happy by attaining happiness, and since Divinity itself "is happiness, it is manifest that they become happy by 'attaining Divinity. But as by the acquisition of jus"tice men become just, and by the acquisition of wis"dom they become wise, so, by parity of reason, it un"questionably follows, that by the attainment of Divinity they become Gods. Every happy person, therefore, " is a God. By nature, indeed, there is only one God; "but, by participation, there is nothing to prevent the "existence of a great number of Gods." Thus far Boethius; with whose last words, you may compare the expression of the Apostle Peter,-" that ye might be

PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE."a

III. But, however evident and certain this inference may be, and how impossible soever it is to deduce any conclusion, more just in itself, more strongly supported by arguments, or more worthy of God, very few of those who had nature alone for their guide seriously thought of this truth. It may reasonably be doubted if these ideas would ever have occurred to Boethius himself, unless his philosophy had borrowed lights from a more spiritual teacher. Plato having defined the sum of happiness to be "the nearest possible resemblance to God,"* Clement of Alexandria, when quoting this expression, not unjustly questions, whether it is to be attributed to the sublimity of Plato's genius that he discovered a truth so congenial with the sacred doctrines of Christianity, or whether he did not rather derive it from some of those inspired writings which were then extant. But, while this manifest truth was very imperfectly perceived by the minds of the heathen philo

* Ομοιωσιν θεῷ κατα το δυνατον.

+ Strom. lib. ii. P. 403.

a 2 Pet. i. 4.