CHAPTER IV.

DIFFICULTIES IN THE SCRIPTURE SYSTEM.

A SECOND general observation arising out of the short account of the Scripture system, is this, that we may expect to find in that system many things which we do not fully comprehend. Deistical writers urge this as an objection against the gospel. They say that it is the very character of revelation to make every thing plain, but that a system which contains mysteries, leaves us still in the dark, and therefore, that the mysteries with which the gospel abounds, are a convincing evidence that it did not proceed from the God of light and truth. The same word, mysteries, which generally enters into the statement of this objection, occurs often in the writings and the discourses of many pious Christians, who mean to speak of the gospel with the highest reverence. And yet, there is reason to think, that neither the former class of writers, nor the latter, have paid a proper attention to the Scripture use of the word. Upon this account, before I proceed to answer the objection by illustrating my second observation, I shall state the sense in which the Scriptures use the word mystery, and in so doing shall explain the reason why I choose to avoid that word upon this subject.

The ceremonies of the ancient heathen worship were of two kinds. Some were public, performed openly in the temple, before the great body of the people who were supposed to join in them. Others were private, performed in a retired place, often in the night, far from the view of the multitude; and they were never divulged to the crowd, but were communicated only to a few enlightened worshippers. The persons to whom these secret rites were made known, were said to be initiated; and the rites themselves were called μvorgia. Every god had his secret as well as his open worship; and hence various mysteries are occasionally mentioned by ancient writers. "But," says Dr. Warburton, who has investigated this subject in his Divine Legation of Moses, "of all the mysteries, those which bore that name by way of eminence, the Eleusinian, celebrated at Athens in honour of Ceres, were by far the most renowned, and, in course of time, eclipsed, and almost swallowed up the rest. Hence Cicero, speaking of Eleusina, says, ubi initiantur gentes orarum ultimæ.* I have quoted this passage from Warburton, because it contains the reason why you seldom read of any other than the Eleusinian mysteries, although the word had originally a general acceptation. The theme of the word is μvw, occludo, from whence comes μvew, in sacris instituo,

• Vol. ii. book ii. 4.

referring to the silence which the initiated were required to observe; and from μυεω comes μυστήριον, the amount of which may be considered as equivalent to arcanum. The writers of the New Testament have adopted this word, which was at that time well understood; and it is used by them in a variety of instances to denote that which God had purposed, but which was not known to men till he was pleased to reveal it. When the disciples of Jesus came to him, and said, "Why speakest thou to the people in parables?" his answer was, Matt. xiii. 11, "Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given," i. e. there are circumstances respecting the nature and the history of my religion, which I explain clearly to you my disciples by whom it is to be published, but which it is proper at present to convey to the people under the disguise of parables. You will not understand however, from these words, that there were always to continue, under the religion of Jesus, two kinds of instruction, one for the initiated, and one for the vulgar; for our Lord had said to these very disciples a little before, Matt. x. 26, 27, "There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and hid that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light, and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house tops." Accordingly, when the apostles came forth to execute their commission; the character under which they appeared is thus expressed by Paul, 1 Cor. iv. 1: "Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God:" dispensers of that knowledge which was communicated to us first, for this very purpose, that we might be the instruments of conveying it to others. Paul calls the gospel, Col. i. 26,-"The mystery hid from ages and from generations, but now made manifest to his saints," hid from ages, because it was not investigated by reason, and must have remained for ever unknown, if it had not been declared by God in his word. The rejection of the Jewish nation, who had always considered themselves as the favourite people of heaven, is called a mystery, Rom. xi. 25, because it was very opposite to the opinions and expectations of men; and for the same reason, the calling of the heathen by the gospel to partake of all the privileges of the people of God is in many places styled a mystery. Ephes. iii. 3, 5, 6. I mention only one other instance, 1 Cor. xv. 51. The resurrection of the body is called a mystery, because, although many philosophers had speculated concerning the immortality of the soul, it had never entered into the minds of any that the body was to rise.

Dr. Campbell, in the first volume of his new translation of the gospels, has one dissertation upon the word mystery. He states that the leading sense of vorngior, in the Septuagint, the Apocrypha, and the New Testament, is arcanum, any thing not published to the world, though perhaps communicated to a select number. With his usual accurate and minute attention, he mentions another meaning very nearly related to the former, or more properly only a particular application of that general meaning. It is sometimes employed to denote the figurative sense, which is conveyed under any fable, parable, allegory, symbolical action, or dream. The reason of this application is obvious. The literal meaning of a fable is open to the senses: the spiritual meaning requires penetration and reflection, and

is known only to the intelligent. In Rev. i. 20, and xvii. 7, John saw the figures, but he did not understand the meaning intended to be conveyed by them, till it was explained to him by the angel. To him it was arcanum. There is an allusion to this import of the word mystery in Mark iv. 11. "Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but unto them that are withe it, all these things are done in parables." The Eleusinian mysteries being accessible only to the initiated, the early Christians, to whom the language and the practice of the heathen were familiar, transferred to the Lord's Supper the word mysteries; because from that ordinance were excluded the catechumens, who had not yet been baptized, and the penitents, who had not yet been restored to the communion of the church. It was administered only to those who had been initiated by baptism; and from fear of persecution it was often administered in the night. On account of this secrecy, and the select number of communicants, strangers might apprehend a similarity between the Lord's Supper and the heathen mysteries; and from whomsoever this use of the word originated, the Christians might not be unwilling to retain it, as conveying, according to the language of the times, an exalted conception of their distinguishing rites.

It appears then, from this deduction, that there are three acceptations of the word μvorngov. In the New Testament it is used to express that which God had purposed from the beginning, which was not known till he was pleased to reveal it, but which by the revelation was shown and made manifest. With early ecclesiastical writers, it means the solemn positive rites of our religion; and so, in the communion service of the church of England, the elements after consecration are called holy mysteries. In modern theological writings, and in the objections of the deists, mystery denotes that which is in its nature so dark and incomprehensible, that it cannot be understood after it is revealed. As this sense is really opposite to the sense in which the Scriptures use the word mystery, it appears to me advisable, both in discourses to the people, and in theological discussions, to choose other expressions for denoting that which cannot be comprehended.

But although, by avoiding an unscriptural use of a Scripture word, we may guard against the abuses and mistakes which the change of its meaning has probably occasioned, yet we readily admit that there are, in the Scripture system of the gospel, many points which we do not fully comprehend. And this is so far from being a solid objection to the gospel, that to every wise inquirer it appears to arise from the nature of that dispensation. In order to account for the difficulties which are found in the revelation made by the gospel, we may follow the same division which occurred when we were speaking of the importance of Christianity, and consider the gospel as a republication of the religion of nature, and as a method of saving sinners.

1. Even were the gospel nothing more than a republication of the religion of nature, we could not expect to find every thing in it plain; for we have experience that many points in natural religion, concerning the evidence of which we do not entertain any doubt, are to our understanding full of difficulties. We have very indistinct conceptions of the nature of spirits, or of the manner in which spirit acts

upon matter. The eternity and infinity of God are connected with all the intricate speculations concerning time and space. The origin of evil, under the government of a Being, whose wisdom and goodness are not restrained by any want of power, has perplexed the human mind ever since it began to reason; and liberty, the very essence of morality, appears to be affected by that dependence of a moral agent upon the influence of a superior Being, which is inseparable from the notion of his being a creature of God. Reason is unable to solve all the difficulties that have been started upon these points, yet she draws, from premises within her reach, this conclusion, that a Spirit who exists in all times and places exercises a moral government over free agents. Revelation has given assurance to this conclusion, has diffused the knowledge of it, and inculcates with authority the practical lessons which it implies. But revelation, far from professing to enter into the speculations connected with this conclusion, leaves man, with regard to many metaphysical questions that have no influence upon his virtue or happiness, in the same darkness which all the sages of antiquity experienced. A clear explication of these points, supposing it possible, might have afforded amusement to a few inquisitive minds. To the great body of mankind, for whose sake the religion of nature is republished in the gospel, it is insignificant, and would have only loaded a system whose simplicity is fitted to render it of universal use, with subtleties which the generality find neither interesting nor intelligible. Such an explication, then, would have been of little importance. I said, supposing it possible; for they who demand it, know not what they ask. Difficulties in any subject are merely relative to the understanding and opportunities of those who consider it. As a child cannot form any conception of the nature of the exertion which is made, or of the object which is proposed in many of the employments of men: as a man, whose mind has been untutored, or whose observation has been narrow, wonders at the discoveries of Astronomy, or the refined operations of art, and while he believes that both exist, is incapable of apprehending the principles upon which they proceed: so it is likely that we feel ourselves involved in an inextricable labyrinth upon questions, which superior orders of being can easily resolve. We inhabit a spot in the creation of God. We are placed in a system consisting of many parts, the relations and dependencies of which are beyond our observation; and our faculties in vain attempt to explore the intimate essence of those objects which are most familiar to us. There are measures of knowledge to which our condition is manifestly not suited. There is a degree of mental exertion of which we may be supposed incapable. "Now we see through a glass darkly ;" and it is forgetting our condition and our character, to ask that every thing in nature should at present be made plain to our apprehension. If there be such a thing as Natural Religion, the comfort and improvement which it administers cannot imply a kind of illumination, which man is not qualified to receive. They must be compatible with the rank which he holds in the intellectual system, and they may leave him unacquainted with many parts of that system, the whole extent of which he is at present incapable of apprehending. It cannot, therefore, be stated as an objection to the gospel, that while, by

republishing the religion of nature, it restores that comfort and improvement in the most perfect manner, it keeps his knowledge confined within the limits suited to his condition. Other orders of spirits may clearly apprehend the nature of objects, and the solution of questions, to which his faculties are inadequate; because the knowledge of them is not, in any degree, necessary for his enjoyment of the portion, or his discharge of the duties, assigned him by his Creator.

2. If difficulties belong to the Gospel, as it is a republication of the religion of nature, we may expect to meet with more difficulties, when we consider it in its higher character, as the religion of sinners. By this character, the Gospel makes provision for a new situation, which had brought upon men evils, any remedy of which was not suggested by their knowledge of nature. We found that all those notions of the Divine character and government, which constitute natural religion, fail us in this new situation; and that the assurance of pardon rests upon an interposition of the Creator. What parts of the universe may be affected by that interposition we cannot say and it is presumptuous to think, that all the branches and the ends of it may be fully comprehended by our understanding, since it is a subject confessedly farther beyond our reach than any part of nature. But if the revelation of the gospel leaves no doubt that the interposition has been made, and that the effects of it with regard to us are attained, this is all the knowledge that is of real importance upon the subject. Clear evidence of the fact is sufficient to revive our hopes; and although the manner in which the interposition is calculated to produce the effect had not been, in any measure, revealed to us, we should have been in no worse situation with regard to this fact than with regard to many others in nature, most important to our being and comfort, where we know that an effect exists, but have no apprehension of the kind of connexion between the effect and its cause. this interposition involve the agency of other beings that are not made known to us by the light of nature, and if their agency be a ground of hope, or the principle of any duty, the revelation must inform us that they exist. But the knowledge of their existence and agency does not require an intimate acquaintance with their nature. There are in natural religion many intricate questions concerning the manner in which the Deity exists, that do not in the least affect the proof of his existence. The manner in which those beings exist, who are made known to us merely by revelation, may be still farther removed beyond the reach of our faculties. At any rate the knowledge of it is not necessary for the purposes of the revelation; and, therefore, although so very little be revealed concerning them, as to leave impenetrable darkness over all the speculations by which men attempt to investigate the manner in which they are distinguished from one another, and the manner in which they are united, still their existence and their agency may be placed beyond doubt by explicit declarations, and the reliance upon these declarations may establish, on the firmest grounds, that hope which the revelation was meant to convey.

If

The state of the case, then, with regard to the difficulties of religion, is precisely this. We have, by reason, the means of acquiring that knowledge which the original condition of our being required, but not