BOOK I. OF THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD. CHAPTER I. OF THE GENERAL BELIEF OF MANKIND. CRANTZ, in his History of Greenland, tells us that a native of that country once addressed him in the following manner : "It is true we were ignorant heathens and knew little of God till you came. But you must not imagine that no Greenlander thinks about those things. A kajak (a Greenland boat), with all its tackle and implements, cannot exist but by the labour of man. But the formation of the meanest bird requires more skill than that of the best kajak, and no man can make a bird. There is still more skill required to make a man: by whom then was he made? He proceeded from his parents, and they from their parents. But some must have been the first parents, and whence did they proceed? Common report says they grew out of the earth. If so, why do not men grow out of the earth still? And whence came the earth itself, the sun, the moon, and the stars? Certainly there must be some Being who made all these things; a Being more wise than the wisest man." Such was the reasoning of the untutored inhabitant of the frozen coast of Greenland, and in some such way, have mankind always reasoned; for no truth has been more universally received than the existence of God. "Who," says Elian, "does not admire the wisdom of the barbarians, none of whom ever fell into the atheistical absurdities of Eumenes, Diagoras, Epicurus, and other philosophers? No Indian, Celt, or Egyptian, ever questioned whether there were Gods, or whether they concerned themselves with the affairs of men." Some errors and some vices characterize society in particular stages of its progress, or when placed in peculiar circumstances: but atheism is never the error of society, in any stage or in any circumstances whatsoever. It is the hypothesis of a few thinly scattered individuals in civilized nations, at times when from caprice, vanity, and ostentation, the most obvious truths are denied, and the most whimsical and pernicious paradoxes are zealously published and defended. Belief in the existence of God has prevailed in every age, and in every quarter of the world, and in every stage of society. In this point the savage and the sage have agreed. The rude hunter of the wilderness, and the polished inhabitant of the magnificent city, between whom there is a vast difference of habits, of knowledge, and of opinions, unite in the belief of the existence of Deity, and with equal earnestness supplicate his favour. On this subject the great error has been not the denial of one God, but the belief of many: polytheism, however, has been a popular and poetical rather than a philosophical Men have entertained false notions of the nature of God, but still they have believed in his existence; and the erroneous conceptions which have accompanied this belief, instead of attaching any discredit to the interesting truth tend to confirm it. They show that the existence of Deity is so plainly engraven on the face of nature, and so consentaneous to the dictates of reason, and to the unperverted feelings of the human mind, that it meets with a ready reception, even when accompanied by absurdities. error. Is it alleged that some tribes of human beings have been found among whom no traces of belief in the existence of Deity were discoverable? The allegation is questionable. Of these tribes we know too little to speak with certainty of their creed and even supposing the affirmation founded on fact, it must not be forgotten that those tribes are in a state of extreme degradation; and that they are not to be considered as denying the existence of God, but as being so brutal as to have no opinion or belief on the subject. Belief in the existence of Deity has all the authority which it can derive from opinion it has the general suffrage of the human race. This is no slight presumption of the truth of the thing believed; for where mankind, in all the different circumstances in which they have been placed, have generally agreed on any great point relating to their common interest, their agreement may fairly be interpreted as the dictate of their nature, and consequently may be considered as having a rational claim to general reception. For the general belief in the existence of God there must be an adequate cause. Where shall we find such a cause but in the appearances of the universe indicating a powerful, wise, and good Being, the Creator of all things? It is in vain to attribute this belief to tradition. Tradition cannot account for the fact; for the question immediately occurs, what was the origin of the tradition? Besides, no mere tradition could have been so widely and permanently diffused: it could not have been preserved among all tribes of men, and amidst all the vicissitudes of the human race. The flimsy allegation which ascribes the origin of this belief to the artificers of interested politicians is unworthy of notice, and may be dismissed with contempt. If general opinion and belief, then, could place any truth beyond the reach of controversy, the question concerning the being of God would long ere now have been finally determined; for on no other points have mankind so generally agreed as in believing the existence of God, and the immortality of the soul. But although belief in the existence of God has been general, yet it has not been universal; for the fool, says an ancient sage, has said in his heart there is no God. The general belief of mankind is not of itself decisive evidence of the truth of the thing believed. But, even as evidence, it is not hastily to be dismissed from our minds, unless we can point out in a clear and satisfactory manner the causes of general error. Men have been led to the conclusion that there is a God by the appearances of the universe; and if those appearances, when calmly and rationally contemplated, justify the conclusion, then the opinion which it establishes is entitled to a cordial reception by the candid and serious inquirer after truth. It has, indeed, been attempted in different ways to evade the conclusion now mentioned. It has been alleged by some that the world is eternal; and others have been of opinion that the universe is a casual production. These speculations claim some notice, although they need not detain us long. CHAPTER II. OF THE ETERNITY OF THE WORLD. THE belief of the first men of whose opinions we have any record, the progressive population of the world, the recent ori gin of arts and sciences, ancient tradition and early history, all militate against the eternity of the world. We are not now |