all its powers. The obscurities of religion have had the same happy effects. They awaken the curiosity of the Christian, and dispose him to search and investigate the holy writings, where alone it is to be gratified. They teach him to meditate on the wonderful works and continued providence of God; and make manifest to him his own ignorance and infirmities, thus disposing him to seek the assistance of the Holy Spirit as the only guide to eternal truth. But as men have been endowed with such different degrees of capacity, and from various causes have more or less diligence in the investigation of truth, or of candour in admitting it against their own preconceived notions, it ought not to be a matter of surprise that the perusal of the same Scriptures should not have created a conformity of opinion, or that the very search after truth should have occasionally been the cause of error, and given rise to the multiplication of sects among ⚫ Christians. For this reason, indeed, we have seen the use of the Scriptures denied to the people in general, and an almost universal ignorance in what chiefly concerns the welfare and happiness of mankind, had by some been deemed preferable to a state of knowledge and information, which could only be obtained under the risk of disseminating error.

3. As another great cause of the variety of opinions and tenets which have existed among the professors of Christianity, may be mentioned, the mysterious doctrines it inculcates. That it contains, in the language of the apostle, "some things hard to be understood," is admitted by all. The mystery of the Holy Ghost, of the incarnation of the Son of God, of the divinity in the person of our Redeemer, and of the great and essential doctrines of atonement and grace, are all necessarily, from their very nature, subjects of the greatest difficulty. Such doctrines, however, were not only naturally to be expected, but seem even to have been unavoidable, in a divine revelation; for whatever declares or implies the physical attributes of the Deity, must necessarily be above the comprehension of the mind of man. Hence the great and important doctrines of Christianity are incapable of

actual demonstration; and although they may be well supported by evidence, and enforced by reason and argument, yet they are not the objects of knowledge, but of faith. But if the liberty of the human will be admitted, the degrees of faith will be different in different men. The causes already assigned for the various opinions of men, will here be in full operation. Different creeds and confessions of faith will be established, and every article of these will meet with its advocates and opponents.

4. An attempt to unfold these great mysteries of the Christian religion, to explain those things which have been left unexplained by Revelation, and thus to become wise beyond what is written, has been another cause of this variety of opinions and tenets. Such explanations, from the nature of the subject, as might easily have been foreseen, have been very discordant from each other, and every one has become attached to his own, or to that of the party of which he is a disciple; and thus the Christian world became divided into different sects, and divisions of sects, as often as the ingenuity of man could give any new, however forced, interpretation to any of these doctrines.

5. The Christian religion, from its simplicity, the spirit of its worship, and its intimate connection and union with morality, was formed for universal adoption; and the first disciples of Christianity vindicated its claim to a general acceptation as the revealed word of God. Doubts, however, arose as to the fact of the divine origin of this dispensation, and gave occasion to various questions among the schoolmen. In what manner, it was inquired, can a revelation from God be established? or how can it be ascertained that any doctrines are divine? And further, What were the true purport and meaning of these doctrines? Hence, tradition and philosophical speculations were resorted to in the attempt to interpret the word of God; and various degrees of authority were naturally allowed to these by the different parties, who sought their assistance for this ing to their own notions and preconceived opinions.

purpose, accord

6. As Christianity extended itself over different countries, it came to embrace among its disciples, people of very various principles and feelings, many of whom had attached themselves to some peculiar system of philosophy. A desire of illustrating the doctrines of the Gospel, and the necessity of replying to the various attacks of their heathen adversaries, induced many of the Fathers of the Church, particularly among the Greeks, to blend these philosophical notions with the tenets of Christianity. This gradually led to the formation of a species of philosophy peculiar to Christianity, but which, nevertheless, assumed, from time to time, many different aspects, both in respect to its principles and its object, according to the different sources from which it originally sprung. Neither were the Fathers agreed upon the expediency of employing philosophy as an auxiliary to the Christian Religion. Many of these, especially among the Latins, as Tertullian, Arnobius, Lactantius, and others, looked upon philosophy not only as an unnecessary and superfluous study, but considered it to be detrimental to the cause of Christianity, and that its tendency was to alienate the mind of man from God. By some even it was pronounced an invention of the devil, and a fruitful source of heresy.

7. The want of a due attention to the general scope of the doctrines of Christianity, while some few detached passages in Scripture, to the exclusion of all others, by which they might be modified, have been relied upon as affording us a knowledge of the system of religion taught by Christ and his apostles, has likewise been the frequent source of error, and has been the foundation upon which many of the numerous sects of Christians have been erected. Many examples of this will be found in the following pages, attempting to explain the grounds on which these various sects have originated; but perhaps no greater instance of this aptitude of forming opinions, from isolated expressions of the holy writers, can be given, than by referring to the doctrine of those, who, from certain

in

passages in the writings of St. Paul, maintain that faith without good works is sufficient to salvation.

8. In the obscurity and ambiguity of all languages, we have another cause of the variety of opinions on the subject of religion. This has been the endless source of error, and never-failing parent of controversy and dispute; and unless it had pleased the Almighty to have revealed his will in terms so explicit and perspicuous, as to have been free from all difficulty and uncertainty, that is, in a language which had hitherto been unknown to man, a supposition which is almost impossible, the Scriptures must be open to the same source of error, and equally liable, with other writings, to be misunderstood or misapplied. But when we take into our consideration, the nature of the doctrines intended to be conveyed by the Scriptures,-that the sublimest truths, and the great mysteries of our salvation were necessarily to be unfolded in terms already known, and in a language adapted to the narrowness of human capacities, we can no longer wonder that they should have been differently interpreted or variously understood. Few indeed have had the advantage of receiving the truths and precepts of the Christian religion in their own language, but only through that of a distant age and country; and hence it is by translations alone that they can be imparted to the generality of mankind; and although we know of no writings which have been either so carefully preserved, or so faithfully given in its version into other languages, yet this has proved another unavoidable source of error, and has become the frequent cause of controversy and dispute. Under all these circumstances, it can be no wonder that mistaken interpretations of the sacred writers should have existed, or that erroneous doctrines should have thence arisen even among the pious and learned; still less that the ignorant should have been deceived by them, or that the superstitious and presumptuous should have availed themselves of them, in support of their particular dogmas or tenets.

9. The desire which is common to most men, of propagating their own opinions, and of gaining proselytes to their own sect or party, b

VOL. I.

if not an original source of the variety of tenets entertained upon the subject of religion, has been the frequent cause of controversy, and has greatly contributed to maintain and keep up the different heresies, which, from time to time, have arisen and disturbed the peace of the Church. Every one is naturally inclined, even in the common concerns of life, to attempt to bring others over to his own way of thinking; but, if in matters of religion, in those in which every man has the greatest concern, he feels convinced that his own notions are most conformable to the doctrines of the sacred writings, how much more strongly must he be induced to impart these to others, and to instruct them upon points which he conceives conducive to their salvation?

But whatever may be the wish of individuals, of gaining proselytes to their own peculiar doctrines, it is a passion which has had far greater influence over the different sects and societies into which the Christian church has been divided. The same laudable motives may have induced them to persuade others to adopt their own form of belief; but too frequently vanity, and a love of power and distinction, have been their ruling motives, in endeavouring to add to the numbers of their own church. These attempts, however, whether by an individual or a body, and from whatever motive they may have sprung, have always been met with opposition, and have been the cause of much zeal and ingenuity on both sides; and if few proselytes have been gained, yet the contention has served to confirm and keep alive the previous sentiments of the disputants.

10. As the efforts, as well of individuals as of sects or parties, to spread conviction, have more frequently, by provoking opposition, excited controversy and dissension, than peace and unanimity of opinion, so have the attempts of government to secure an uniformity in the religious doctrines of the people, been too frequently the source of animosity and discord. Almost all governments have deemed it a matter of policy to bring the people to one mind upon matters of religion, and for this purpose have drawn up articles or confessions