The theology of New England. An Attempt to Exhibit the Doctrines Now Prevalent in the orthodox Congregational Churches of New England.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1856. Excerpt: ... INTRODUCTION. It is generally admitted as a fact, that the Scriptures of God utter their great and saving truths in much simplicity and plainness. Miracles, it is confessed, are not excluded; but these miracles are propounded, not so much to our reason, as to an unquestioning and child-like faith. Far from obscuring the doctrines at large, they set them in their purest light, and reveal them in their heavenly beauty, and glory, and harmony. Yet, paradoxical as it may seem, their very simplicity has proved a fruitful occasion of their being misunderstood and misrepresented. Speculative men, men of acute minds, and reasoning talents, coming to the Bible, and finding there nothing which a well-instructed child cannot understand nearly as well as themselves, are dissatisfied and disgusted. Hence philosophy is summoned to supply the defects, and adorn the artlessness, of scripture. But the attempt is fatal. By these devices, men's minds are unhinged, reason takes the place of faith, and endless doubts and misgivings are substituted for positive and satisfying certainty. Breaking loose from the eternal truths of God, men are seduced into a labyrinth of interminable and destructive error. When we read the Epistles of St. Paul, we find that he rebuked this arrogant species of philosophy, viewing it as eminently and irreconcilably hostile to the pure truths of the gospel. In one passage, he brands it with the epithet of science falsely so called. And most justly. For what a wretched thing is that science which understands every thing but the truth of God, and the way of human salvation. How mis-called is that philosophy which arrays itself against divine and everlasting truth. Genuine philosophy is modest and unassuming. It delights to open its eyes to the light o...