rable mystery, elevated far above the ways of reason, and bearing the appearance of folly to the carnal mind.

"After that in" (by, or through the display of)" the wisdom of God, the world, by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." From the despised country of Judea, the light of the nations at length shone forth. "Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people. But the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising."

And now how great is the change which the Gospel has effected in the world! The base superstitions of Pagan idolatry are banished, and true knowledge is diffused. The Gospel contains representations of God and man, and of a present and future life, entirely dissimilar from any thing known among the civilized heathens, previous to its publication; and to the know\ledge of these, men of every rank and condition have access. The Scriptures, from beginning to end, are delivered in a manner level to the capacity of all. From their first publication, they were not only open to the people, but all were enjoined to read and to study them. Instead of communicating the truth of God to a small number of their followers, the Apostles of Jesus Christ

commanded all men They denounced the

proclaimed it publicly. They everywhere to turn from idols. crime of idolatry, and declared the punishment which will fall upon those who are guilty of it; they condemned the vices which were practised in the worship of false gods; and in this manner exposing themselves to the most cruel persecutions, they at last submitted to death with a joy and courage which triumphed over their sufferings. So far from acting like the heathen philosophers, who systematically excluded their fellowcreatures from the means of information, all those who were sent of God to reveal his will, delivered their instructions to the whole of the people. It is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Messiah's reign, that "to the poor the Gospel is preached."

The most unlearned Christian possesses knowledge to which the wisest men of ancient times were wholly strangers. Ask him concerning his soul, he will aver that it is immortal; that it shall undergo a judgment after this life; that, accordingly, it shall abide in a state of bliss or misery everlasting,-points, about which neither Socrates nor Seneca could answer any thing. Enquire of him how all things are upheld, how governed, and ordered? He will presently reply, by the powerful hand and wise providence of God. Whereas, among philosophers, one would ascribe all events to the current of fate, another to the tides of fortune; one to the blind influences of the stars, another to a confused jumble of atoms. Ask him about the main points of morality and duty, and he will, in a few words, give a better reply than Cicero, or Epictetus, or Aristotle, or Plutarch, in their large tracts and voluminous discourses about matters of that nature. So real a property it is of God's law," to give subtlety to the simple, to the young man

knowledge and discretion." So true is what the Lord affirmeth of himself, " I am come a light into the world, that he who believeth in me may not abide in darkness."

With the idolatry and superstition of the heathens, the Gospel has put an end to many of the corrupt practices that prevailed under them. It has banished much of the cruelty which they encouraged, such as the exposing of infants, the shows of gladiators, the murdering of captives taken in war, domestic slavery, human sacrifices, and many gross abominations. Its spirit is directly opposed to the ideas of all the Pagan moralists, who represent the desire of revenge as a mark of a noble mind, and to whom the duty of the forgiveness of injuries, and the love of our enemies, was unknown. It has raised the standard of morals, and effected much, even where it has interposed no express injunction; while the purity of its doctrine, the authority of its precepts, and the energy of its sanctions, produce important effects on multitudes, who yet have only the name of Christian. But, above all, the true character and situation of man in the present state, the remedy provided for guilt, and the way of acceptance with God, respecting all of which the civilized heathen world, having almost entirely lost sight of early tradition,* were in total darkness, are now made known. "Life and immortality are brought to light by the Gospel."

The necessity, then, of a supernatural and divine revelation is manifest. The experiment of reformation

* Many of the ancient heathens were candid enough to profess to have derived what knowledge they had, not merely from the exertions of their reason, but from a higher source, even from ancient tradition, to which they usually assigned a divine origin.

without it had long been tried among the most civilized nations on earth. Learning and philosophy had done their utmost, and all had failed. Where is the city or village, since the world began, that was ever enlightened in the knowledge of God, by either heathen or infidel philosophers? It is the doctrine of the fishermen of Galilee which has subverted the altars and dispelled the darkness of Paganism. The Christian who reads the Bible, borrows no light to his system from the writings of such men as Hume and Voltaire. And were he not, in some measure, acquainted with the deep depravity of the human heart, he would be astonished that, under the meridian light of divine revelation, their sentiments in religion should have been so perverse and so crude.

CHAPTER II.

THE PERSECUTING SPIRIT OF PAGANISM.

HAVING said so much respecting the religion and practice of the heathen world, it is proper, before taking leave of the subject, to notice what has been called the "mild and tolerating spirit of polytheism," a character, on account of which its votaries have been so much applauded. If it were true that Pagan idolaters really deserved the credit which they have on this account obtained, it would be a striking contrast to all the other effects of their depraved superstition. But although the fact of their religious toleration be strongly insisted on by some, and too easily received by others, it is entirely without foundation.

The Pagan religion presented the extraordinary spectacle of more than thirty thousand gods; and at Rome alone, six hundred different kinds of sacred rites were exercised. It is true that, as far as respected their religious opinions, the worshippers of these gods, and the observers of these rites, lived together in peace. At first view this appears extremely amiable; it seems to warrant all that has been said to prove that the most unbounded toleration prevailed. But, on closer inspection, this beautiful appearance vanishes like a cloud. Although some worshipped one set of deities, and others another, yet on the subject of religion there were no opposing opinions among them. The