Speculative atheism

by John Browne

SPECULATIVE

ATHEISM.

A SERMON,

BY THE REV. JOHN BROWNE,

AND

IMPORTANCE

AND

TEMPER OF RELIGION.

FALKIRK:

PRINTED BY A. JOHNSTON.

SERMON.

Psalm xiv. 1.

The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.

The foundation of all religion, natural or revealed, is laid on the existence of a God, who made the world, who establish all the relations that actually subsist in it, and who exercises an universal providence over it. Were there no such a being there could be no such thing as religious obligation. Human beings might enter, for various purposes, and with various views, into contracts and obligations to each other, which either their necessities, or their interests, might induce them, or public authority, for the good of society, might oblige them to discharge; but they could never understand the religious obligation of them as moral duties perpetually binding. And it is plain that the obligations of piety could not subsist, where there is no God to be adored—no Creator to be loved—no Providence to be trusted—no authority to be obeyed.

As the foundation of all religious obligation lies in the existence of a Supreme Being ; so the power of it on the minds of men depends on the belief an acknowledgment of him. That there is such a Being, brings men under religious obligations, whether they discharge them or not; but it is only believing and feeling, as it were, by strongly impressed convictions of mind that there is such a Being with whom they have to do, that give conscience its power and urge to the fulfilment of them. And when such a Being is speculatively admitted, but practically denied—it is in effect not to have a God at all; but to banish him from the universe, and so to take away the force of all religious obligation. “The wicked hath said in his heart, I shall never be moved : his mouth is full of cursing, and deceit, and fraud : under his tongue is mischief and vanity. He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages; in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor to destroy them.” And the reason is assigned: “He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten, he hideth his face, he will never see it. Thou wilt not require it.”

I have selected these words, “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God,” in order to speak to you of the folly of Atheism. I do not mean the folly of acting as if there were no God, while at the same time we admit his existence, his superintendence, and government of the world—a folly as criminal and as fatal, as it is common among men. That will occupy us some other day in its proper order and place, in the systematic scheme of instruction which by the help of God we purpose to follow. Our object is to shew the folly of Atheism itself, or the opinion that there is no God at all—no Creator of the universe—no Preserver and Controller—no Governor and Judge of it; a folly rare and not so avowed among men, but still more criminal and fatal ; and in our day insinuated into the unguarded minds of youth, like a subtile poison, through artful tales, embellished with all the charms of poetry, that deeply interest the sentiments of the human heart. Not that we suspect any one of you of this folly, but that we are anxious to guard you all against it; and we are sure that by exhibiting it in it its own proper light, we shall do all that is necessary to make you abhor it.

The scheme of Atheism, or the denial of the being and providence of God, is an unnatural offence against the peculiar and distinguishing excellency of our nature, and a foolish giving up of the most eminent prerogatives and advantages of it.

The inferior orders of living creatures, from an original defect in their constitution, or the want of an intellectual principle, though supported by the omnipotent God, enlivened by his invigorating presence, and refreshed by his overflowing goodness, can neither discern the power that upholds, the presence that animates, nor the kind and gracious influence which cheers and comforts their frame. But there is in man a principle of intelligence, which cannot only converse about the millions of objects of which our senses inform us, but of millions which our senses cannot reach; a principle of intelligence by which we can rise by lofty steps, through the contemplation of the works of creation, and the ways of Providence, to the knowledge of the invisible Author of all. It is by this that we are chiefly distinguised from all the inferior orders of living creatures,—it is this that sets us at the head of the whole visible creation. It is this which allies us to angelic spirits, and constitutes our nearest resemblance to the Divinty ; and there are no beings in this world, but men, who by their excellent faculties are qualified to rise to the Maker and Ruler of the universe. But many through inattention, or the infatuation of vice, discover not that Being who gave them their directing powers, and by their not discovering him reduce themselves to the level of the brute creation, and give up the most eminent prerogatives and advantages of their nature. Atheism may decently fit a creature void of reason, that cannot even form an idea of a Maker, and much less discover that there exists an almighty and eternal, but invisible one, who preserves and rules the universe; but not a human being, formed on purpose for a serious and successful search after him. That man, who denies the existence of God, displays a folly, of which no one can, or will be guilty who has not become through the greatest inattention, brutishly stupid and insensible to the honourable rank and station assigned him in the scale of existence.

As this exalted capacity of finding out the Deity, the noblest subject of human thought, constitutes the superior dignity of human nature, so it is the source of its most elevated and refined pleasures, and surest consolations. Take away the being of God, (as Atheism wishes.) and you deprive man of the pleasures arising from the contemplation of his Maker, (which, while they fill the soul, at the same time purify it,) whose perfections are the highest objects of human admiration; of pleasure, which remove it at a greater distance from the animal world, bring it nearer to those more perfect spirits, who, in the scale of nature, stand nearest to God, and which enlarge not only the desire, but the capacity of enjoying still greater and more refined pleasures. Take away the Deity out of the universe, destroy the intimate relation which subsists bewteen him and his creatures, (as Atheism does) and you deprive man of all the consolation which flow from the contemplation of the boundless goodness, and watchful providence of God; more independent than any other which power wishes, or sensual enjoyments afford; and which can never fail while God exists, and men are fitly disposed to receive them. Suppose that there were no God, where will man find satisfaction? What is there, how ever dreadful and appaling to human nature, that may not happen, and happen the next moment to all of us, on the supposition of an ungoverned world, such as Atheism supposes ours to be? If the more awful occurences of nature, such as earthquakes, inundations, stormy winds, threatening waves, all regulated in their movements, and controlled in their effects by the omnipotent arm and gracious purposes of God, be so tremendous and destructive, what would be the state of man, if left to their unbridled fury ?—May not the heavens be dissolved, the ocean burst her bounds and invade the earth, and the foundations of the earth be overwhelmed ? Nay, nature may be dissolved, and the universe be made a complete desolation. And even though we were to suppose these impossible, where will man turn for true consolation under the calamities of life which are inevitable? It is poor comfort, indeed, to submit to an irreversible fate: or, if the world afford at any time sources of comfort under suffering; yet these, as sad experience tells us, are often shut up by innumerable and unexpected events, against which human ingenuity or force cannot struggle. If in such circumstance of remediless misfortunes, we have no resource in a common Father of Spirits, and gracious giver of all good, who can repair our losses, or bestow on us other blessings that may compensate for them? We must be left exposed to the extremity of sorrow, and to the most intolerable of all human agonies, despair. And in general, human life becomes without God, a melancholy existence. The thoughts, that we have innumerable wants that we cannot supply; and are exposed to infinate dangers, which we cannot avoid ; that our wisest schemes may be disconcerted in an instant, and our best enjoyments blasted; that we have no superior wisdom to guide us, and no superior power to assist and protect us :—these thoughts must, I say, spread the gloomiest darkness over our souls, and infuse the bitter gall into all our pleasures

Such is the fruit of Atheism. But we observe further that it is the parent of the most fatal errors. Where the existence of a Deity is not acknowledged, universal error in points of the utmost importance, respecting the improvement, exaltation, and happiness of man, must spread darkness over the mind, as thick mists spread darkness over the face of the sky. If God exists, the farmer, preserver, and governor of the universe, and we know him not, it is impossible that we should know ourselves, or the true design of the human constitution. We, ourselves, become a mystery which we cannot solve: we have minds of vast intellectual powers, and souls of vast desire drawn up to heaven ; and yet see no infinite mind existing that bestowed the one, and excited the other: no infinite mind to direct the one to some worthy purpose, and to satisfy the other with some worthy object. It is equally impossible that we should know our duty; for our first and most important obligations spring from our sense of dependence on an Almighty Creator, and our experience of the goodness of an all-gracious benefactor. And what worthy and generous motive can we have to the sacred offices of benevolence, if we know not that we are by a wise, all-disposing mind one great community—endowed by him with generous affections and instincts of mutual sympathy, and designed to pursue one ultimate end, the good of each other.

But let us advance and contemplate the bad influence which Atheism must necessarily have on virtue and morality, and the strong support that will be derived to all the human and social virtues from the belief and acknowledgment of a Supreme Governor of the world.

We may allow that various strong motives to the practice of all kinds of goodness arise from the attractive and amiable nature of virtue itself, independently of any positive law or constitution whatever; and that an Atheist may feel the force of them, and be just, beneficient, and temperate, because these virtues have in them something that is amiable and worthy of praise. But it must appear evident that these motives must be stronger upon the acknowledgment of a Deity, than upon any scheme which denies him. Upon both suppositions, indeed, the general rules of justice, benevolence, and temperance, may subsist, for they are immutable; but when we come down to particular acts of virtuous conduct, proper to a certain order of beings, to particular situations, special occasions and circumstances, the firm believer and pious worshipper of an all-wise and gracious Being, who has fixed the various occurrences of human life in the most perfect manner, must have the decided advantage in point of moral motives over him, who admits not the being and providence of God. Rules which require privations and strong opposition to craving passions, an Atheist may reckon harsh and oppressive, and look upon them with discontented and rebellious eyes. And what is there to rectify his judgment? Fate and chance, the idols which he substitutes in the place of God, are with him names of no such estimation as to control him ; for he, who has dared to put the true God out of the world, will surely not be so cowardly as to be afraid of a mere name. If he thinks that the state of mankind is unfitly settled, that the state of the world is wrong, and the rules of moral conduct naturally resulting from them are wrong likewise, he can have no restraints but self-interest, and the dread of civil punishment, to prevent his surmounting every obstacle to the free gratification of his desires. And since self-interest is often promoted by breaking through the sacred obligations of virtue, and artful men act so as to escape the penalties of human law, what security can these offer to society for the observance of the fundamental obligations which are necessary for its support? But the acknowledgment of a Supreme Being, possessed of infinite wisdom and unlimited goodness, not only strengthens every motive to good morals, by which an Atheist may sometimes be influenced, but enforces the practice of them by new motives, which the Atheist annihilates; for if there be no God, the bounteous Giver of all the powers and dignities which distinguish the nature of man, and of all those blessings which support and cheer his existence, then there is no being to whom he can be grateful for the enjoyment of them? And if there be no grateful sentiments in his heart, how then can he act agreeably to the original design of the Creator in his formation ; and, in pursuance of the same design, in his preservation? If there be no God, no almighty, omniscient, and inflexibly just Governor and Judge of mankind, by whose sentence the fate of their whole being must be irreversibly fixed, where is there place for the overawing power of a reverential fear? If there be no God, and righteous rewarder of all, who acts an honourable and worthy part, where are the motives to a right and good conduct, necessary to influence the human heart? Good men are drawn out by gratitude—bad ones overawed by fear; and all more or less animated by hope. But Atheism annihilates all these motives, and takes from virtue all its best and firmest supports ; from men their most efficacious principles of action, and from human nature its reasonable sentiments.

I have only to add on this head, that the generality of mankind, are always more influenced by the awe of a supreme authority, than by any other motive; or in other words that virtuous and good comes more powerfully recommended to them under the notion of a law by which they shall be judged, than as a scheme of beauty and order, or as a rule of eternal and unalterable rectitude; and that, if all sense of the superintendence and government of God were banished from the minds of men, morality would infallibly decline, and vice in all her insolent excess pervade and triumph over the world.

Such, Christians, is the system of Atheism; such the consequences of it, under every form and modification. Call it by what name you please, yet if it resolves itself into this at last, that there is no God, or no Providence, human nature is degraded, the rational peace and most sublime pleasures of men are destroyed, the strongest fences and guards of virtue are thrown down, and a breach is made for the admission of all kinds of daring licentiousness.

If these propositions be true, as I trust they will appear to you all, you will easily perceive the irrationality and wicked tendency of Atheism. The Atheist acts against his own interest and duty, by introducing confusion and disorder into the universe: “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.”

From these propositions, the following plain inferences may be deduced, which are so many serious truths, important and undeniable; that he who believes that there is no God, cannot have such powerful inducements to hold the life, or property, or character of his neighbour sacred, as he who believes the existence, and moral government of a supreme deity; that by necessary consequences, he cannot give equal security for his behaving with honor, fidelity, and justice; that on this account, he ought to be an object of the most jealous caution to all, and narrowly watched by those who are charged with the maintenance of public virtue ; not only as to smaller acts of iniquity, but with respect to the blackest and most atrocious crimes; and that religion is the grand support and strength of all virtue, but that Atheism opens up a plain and smooth path to all vice, offers new and strong temptations to it, to which men are not naturally liable, but which scarcely ever fail of being successful, when they meet with inflamed passions, or vicious dispositions.

I have already expressed my trust that none of you entertain Atheistical opinions, and I am hopeful that you will be the more on your guard against them, from the representation of their tendency which we have now given you. It is too common for men to consider opinions respecting religion, as matters of no great moment, provided their practice be good; but practice will ever be found on right religious principles, and where there are no such principles as you have seen, there can be no motives of any power to produce a good practice. Every man who knows himself, and the temptations to which he is exposed, will, upon consideration, admit that he has need of every motive to right conduct, which the belief of a God affords; and every truly good man will also admit, deviations from his duty to men have been in proportion to the feebleness of his religious impressions; “The transgressions of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.” The subject is of deep importance: let me press it on your notice, and caution you against all atheistical opinions. If you allow all sense of a God, who made you what you are—preserves you by his unwearied goodness, and exercises a righteous government over you—and, of course, all sense of religious obligation, to be banished from your mind; or, if through the infatuation of vice, you come to be so insensible of his existence, and your relation to him, as never to enquire where is God, your Maker, how can you then know him? or how can you acknowledge his benefits with affection and gratitude? You must give up your claim to the rank and honors of rational beings; you must degrade yourselves to the level of the the brute creation. And can your honourable pride submit to such a degradation ? Shall the trifling honors of this world, which set us a little above each other, be sought by you with eagerness, and the honors which would render you happy for ever, be by you undervalued and despised ? Atheism will rob you of the highest honor, which consists in your likeness to God. You should seriously consider, that man was designed to be not only a moral but religious being; he must therefore be a very imperfect creature, if he be not a religious one; he must be as imperfect without religion, as a human body is imperfect without some of its most important members. His beauty is not only deformed, but entirely destroyed. While religion sheds around him a venerable grandeur, Atheism destroys all the dignity of his character, by blotting out of existence that God, the belief of whose being and perfections is necessary to make him uniformly religious and moral in the whole tenor of his conduct. Can you reasonably suppose that you will faithfully and constantly discharge your moral duties, when you openly set yourself free from the law of all rational beings, and from all fear of a supreme inspector and judge? No, denying the existence of God, you deny at the same time all the rules of righteousness, and all the authority that can take infallible cognizance of your actions.

I have yet to consider the influence of Atheism as it respects the future destiny of man, and to enquire into the cause which produces it. And though it may not be needful to any one of you, yet I hope that it may be useful to all. The sincere believer in God will rather rejoice in the reasonableness and wisdom of his conduct, and in his happiness in escaping the ruinous folly of Atheism—those who value the interest of society, will see who are the worthiest objects of esteem and confidence—those who seek their own prosperity in the world, will see what is the wisest course to promote it—and all will learn that the denial of a deity is at once a proof of a deranged understanding—of a depraved heart—of gross folly and wickedness.

It is necessary to observe, that the destruction of all the moral principles, and of the true happiness of man, must ensue, if there be no Creator of the universe; and that all those principles and this happiness will follow in their full extent upon contemplating the true God as holy, just, and good ; and not those false fictitious beings, which ignorance, superstition, and worldly policy, have presumptuously placed on his throne. For if the Almighty. who regulates the world, were not just and good, who could esteem him? What good being but must hate him? Who could have the hope of pleasing him? Might not man, however honest and upright, suffer his indignation? If such were the Creator and Governor of the world nothing could remain but absolute uncertainty of happiness, anxious suspense, distraction of thought and apprehensions full of terror. And in this state (if it were possible) even the best of human beings might prefer Atheism itself. For it is better to believe that there is no God at all, than to have such a God as this. But though the absence of such an unnatural and evil deity might be no loss to the creation; yet the want of the true God, the Father of all the wise and the good, the director and governor of nature must be a dreadful calamity to the whole universe. No human mind could conceive the whole measure and depth of that disaster which would result from there being no God in the world.

The Atheist I know expects to lose his conscious being, to be as if he had never been; to see no other sun, when this has set on him : and no other scene of action, when this vain life is over. But he has no right, even on his own principles of fate or chance, to hope for this issue. For if fate has given him his existence here, and opened a scene of mingled sorrows and joys: what should hinder, that this same fate should destine for him another kind of life—another sphere of activity, and other calamities, for ever? What has then the Atheist to look for? An eternity, perhaps, if uncertain, fluctuating, interrupted happiness at the very best; or, perhaps, an almost uninterrupted series of everlasting calamities; for chance may be always against him. All men are therefore by this scheme, rendered anxious about the future state of existence—good men are discouraged and depressed in their enterprizes of virtue—wicked men are placed in very disconsolate circumstances, for they are deprived of the most powerful motives to reform their evil courses, and to pursue the greatest and most important happiness of their being. To be cut off from the possibility of obtaining the enjoyment of pure and immortal pleasure, is what few, even of the most corrupt and degenerate of men would wish to be their inevitable portion; for they generally sin with the hope of securing the gratifications of both worlds. But Atheism does cut them off from the assured expectation of any pleasures beyond the narrow limit of mortality; for it supposes the nonexistence of that God, who can, and has promised to bestow them. And this is the peculiar baseness and infamy of it, that it ruins the most glorious hope that the mind of man can form, that of extending his being to eternity; and degrades him to the destiny of a brute, that of rotting for ever among the clods of the valley.

Whence, it is now time to ask, could such a scheme as that of Atheism arise. If there be a human being who desires the existence of a Deity, and explodes his laws, he must be one of the most daring beings in creation ; and one could hardly conceive by what train of impressions he could have reached such awful insolence, as to defy all invisible power, to challenge every unknown being to evince his existence by his vengeance; or what train of causes has operated to form that adventurous spirit which can carry him forward to the great experiment of futurity under a different kind of hazard from that of all other men. But he may say that there is no daring in the case; it is the result of superior knowledge. The wonder then turns on the great folly by which a man could grow up to this knowledge, that there is no God; that the luminaries of heaven shine not with his splendor, the earth looks not fair with his beauty ; that the darkness of the night is not rendered solemn by his majesty ; that life and thought are not the effect of his energy ; that it is not his providence that supports an infinite change of dependent beings ; that his justice does not pervade the universe ; nay, that the universe itself does not spring from his creating power. And surely such knowledge as this involves the attributes of divinity, while a God is denied. For unless this man be omnipresent, and unless he be at this very moment in every place in the universe he cannot know but there may be, in some place, manifestations of a God, by whom he might be overpowered. If he does not know absolutely every agent in the universe, the one that he does not know, may be God. If he is not himself the chief agent in the universe, and does not know who is so, he who is so may be God. If he is not in absolute possession of all the propositions which constitute universal truth, the one which he wants may be, that there is a God. If he cannot with certainty assign the cause of all that he perceives to exist, that cause may be God ; and if he does not know every thing that has been done in the unmeasurable ages that are past, some things may have been done by a God. Thus, unless the Atheist knows all things, that is precludes another deity, by being one himself, he cannot know that the Being whose existence he rejects does not exist. And if he be, for all his pretended intelligence, but an ordinary man, one does not know whether to pity or to despise the rashness of his folly in avowing his disbelief of a God, and acting upon it.

No, Christian brethren, whatever pretensions may be made to superior lights of understanding, Atheism does not spring from accurate knowledge, but from other sources. Among men who assume the rank of philosophic leaders, the usual sources of Atheism are—pride, which idolizes itself, which revolts at every thing that comes in the form of dictates from superior power—repugnance to the laws of a constraining morality—dislike of accountableness to an intelligent, all-powerful authority—contempt of inferior men—the attraction of a few brilliant examples—the fashion of a class—the ambition of shewing what ability can do, and courage can dare:—these are the origin of those laborious speculations by which a few desperate spirits have ascended a dreary eminence, from which they look up with so much complacency to a vacant heaven, and down to the gulph of annihilation The common source of it, whatever they may pretend, is depravation of heart leading to licentiousness of life. A belief in God and a good conscience always go together. And as no man ever gave up the hope of immortality until every spark of virtue was extinguished in his soul, so no man ever denied the being of a God until his impurity and vice made it his happiness to think, and his interest to wish, that there were no God." The Psalmist hath spoken the truth; " The fool hath said in his heart there is no God." To calm his conscience, he endeavours to persuade himself that there is no God, as he feels he cannot pass unpunished, if there be one seated on the throne of the universe, an eternal avenger of wickedness. His conscience and his reason rebel in secret against his impiety; he cannot stifle the cry of nature which proclaims incessantly its Author; but he regards it as a prejudice of infancy, and a remnant of superstitious terror, which education, rather than nature, has produced in his soul. Wickedness has in this world no other resource than to throw off the restraints of religion if she wishes to throw off the yoke of virtue, and enjoy tranquilly the pleasures of sin. A religious impression of a God cannot be allied with a dissolute life for it must poison every criminal pleasure. A wicked man must either abandon vice, or support the unceasing remorse and fears which accompany it. The choice is soon made ; the Deity disappears from the universe that man may live tranquil in his crimes. Let me hope that none of you may ever be so far bent on wickedness and resolved to have the undisturbed enjoyment of it, as to deny the existence of God. Be always on your guard against the temptations which may seduce you; for under the common language of men, there lurks a secret spirit of Atheism. When they talk of fate and chance, or the influence of stars in the affairs of the world, and mean by these any thing else than that fixed order which God hath settled in regulating and conducting them; they speak the language of Atheism, and cherish the spirit of it. You may meet with such spirits openly denying the God that made them, but listen not to their perverse reasonings—no, reject them with detestation, and avoid as much as possible their society; for you are liable to that infatuation which promises you, after this life, the comfort of non-existence, and of course, impels you to fill up the measure of iniquity, till divine wrath come upon you to the uttermost.

One of the best means of keeping alive in your minds a sense of God, is to associate the notion of God with every subject of your thoughts. This would add a new pleasure and interest to all your thoughts. The thought of virtue would then suggest the thought of a lawgiver and rewarder; the thought of crime, that of an avenger; the thought of sorrow, that of a comforter ; the thought of an inscrutable mystery, that of a sovereign intelligence that understands it; the thought of that ever-moving activity which prevails in the system of the universe, that of a supreme agent; the thought of the human family, that of a common Father; the thought of every existence, that of a Creator; the thought of life, that of a preserver ; and the thought of death, that of a righteous judge. Thus the permanent objects around you, or vanishinga ppearances of the creation, will lead you up to the Author of your being, bring you into his presence, keep you in his fear, and inure you to habits of serious reflection, elevated devotion, and progressive virtue.

Do not think that this intimacy with God will make your life too serious to be cheerful and happy. Does the thought of a kind and considerate parent make sad the heart of a dutiful child? Be dutiful to your father in heaven, and the thought of him will be a source of gladness to you. And the gloomiest and darkest hour will be cheerful to you who have a refuge in the thought of a gracious Author and Preserver, who will acknowledge you as his children, and make you happy for ever. Amen.

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IMPORTANCE

AND

TEMPER OF RELIGION.

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Impress your minds with reverence for all that is sacred. Let no wantonness of youthful spirits, no compliance with the intemperate mirth of others, ever betray you into profane sallies. Besides the guilt which is thereby incurred, nothing gives a more odious appearance of petulance and presumption to youth, than the affectation of treating religion with levity. Instead of being an evidence of superior understanding. it discovers a pert and shallow mind; which, vain of the first smatterings of knowledge, presumes to make light of what the rest of mankind revere. At the same time, you are not to imagine, that, when exhorted to be religious, you are called upon to become more formal and solemn in your manners than others of the same years; or to erect yourself into supercilious reprovers of those around you. The spirit of true religion breathes gentleness and affability. It gives a native unaffected ease to the behaviour. It is social, kind, and cheerful; far removed from that gloomy and illiberal superstition which clouds the brow, sharpens the temper, dejects the spirits, and teaches men to fit themselves for another world, by neglecting the concerns of this. Let your religion, on the contrary, connect preparations for heaven with an honourable discharge of the duties of active life. Of such religion, discover, on every proper occasion, that you are not ashamed; but avoid making any unnecessary ostentation of it before the world.

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HYMN.

Questions and doubts be heard no more:
Let Christ and joy be all our theme;
His spirit seals his gospel sure,
To every soul that trusts his name.

Jesus, thy witness speaks within;
The mercy which thy words reveal,
Refines the heart from sense and sin,
And stamps its own celestial seal.

'Tis God's inimitable hand,
That moulds and forms the heart anew;
Blasphemers can no more withstand,
But bow and own thy doctrine true.

The guilty wretch that trust thy blood,
Finds peace and pardon at the cross;
The sinful soul averse to God,
Believes and loves his Maker's laws.

Learning and wit may cease their strife,
When miracles with glory shine;
The voice that calls the dead to life,
Must be almighty and divine.