SELECT REMAINS OF WILLIAM NEVINS, D. D. THEOLOGY. SCIENCE of every kind is imperfect; and every succeeding age adds something to the accumulation of past ages. If they, who give themselves to the study of nature, look downward, there is an unexplored world; and if they look upward, there is a blazing universe, yet but very partially investigated, about which, they can, at least, conjecture or fancy something new. But in morality and religion there is nothing new. The great subjects of human duty and human destiny, both as to matter, manner, and motive, have not, for centuries, received any addition from discovery. What man ought to do and to be; the reason why he ought so to do and be; the duty in all its fulness; the manner of performing it, in all its plainness and the motives, in all their strength and variety, are as old, to say no more, as the resurrection of Jesus Christ from death. New discoveries in matters of revealed truth, I look not for, and must confess, that whatever is novel, I suspect of being false. Light, I have no doubt, is still to be shed on certain obscure passages of Holy Writ, especially in the fulfilment of prophecy; but that the science of Theology should advance, as other sciences do, every year almost, becoming more perfect and satisfactory, seems to me impossible. The reason is Theological truth is not come at as other obvious. truth is. It is not the result of any long and laborious induction. It is not built up by any experiment. It is a science of pure revelation; and therefore must have existed, in its perfection, from the date of the revelation. It cannot be affected, as other sciences, by the march of mind, for it is the human mind that marches, not the divine. Now theological truth is the expression of this mind, to which there can be no accession of new ideas. If, eighteen hundred years ago, God had made a revelation on the subject of astronomy, the science of astronomy would have been as perfect a science then, as it is now. The astronomer of the first century, would have held in his hand a complete and unerring treatise on his favorite science; and what more could the astronomer of the nineteenth century have? And why should not the former be as likely to attain to the true meaning, as the latter? What I have supposed of the science of astronomy, is of theology, strictly and literally true; and in this respect, it is distinguished from all other sciences. RELIGION. Religion is not the growth of tears. Nor has it aught to do with that weanedness from the world, which disappointment or bereavement or sickness produces. It is the grandest of all attainments to be ready to meet God. By habituating ourselves to behold the glory of the Lord through a glass darkly, we are fitting to behold him face to face. When thy heart is changed, thy nature regenerated, thy sins forgiven, thyself a penitent, thou hast but just enlisted and put on the armor,-thou hast not engaged in the first conflict; the perils, privations, and hardships of man, are all before thee; thou hast only entered the arena, where we wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with principalities, and powers, and spiritual wickednesses in high places; thou art only starting in the race; thou hast only gotten within the gate; the narrow way is yet in all its length and ruggedness before thee. Is religion worthy of any attention? Is there truth and importance in it? Settle this point. Can you say, no? If you say, yes, then you must admit that it is worthy of all attention. If it is any thing, it is every thing. If any thing is to be gained by it, or lost by it, every thing is. If good is to be realized by it, it is the greatest good; if evil, the greatest evil. If it is worth greatest If seeking at all, it is worth seeking first. It claims immediate and most earnest attention, or no attention. you cannot safely trifle with it, there is nothing so dangerous to trifle with. True religion can never long exist under any circumstances, without making itself visible. If it is too humble a principle to court observation, it is yet too active and influential a principle to escape it. The grace of God produces a greater change than can be concealed. It is a stupid thing to say that one religion is as good as another;-an impious thing for one who receives the Scriptures, to contend that it is no matter what a man's faith is;-and a false charity which prompts a man to believe more favorably concerning his fellow creatures, than the Bible authorizes. A man is truly religious, in so far as he is sincerely submissive to the will of God, and no further. All who withhold of their very superfluities, are not the followers of him, who to the entire impoverishment of himself, gave for the enriching of us. No other religion but an experienced religion, meets the necessities of man. Speculative religion is seeing, and can no more reach a sinner's wants and miseries, than seeing a medicine can expel disease, or seeing a dinner can satisfy hunger. We must taste as well as see that the Lord is good. The rumor of peace relieves not the troubled. Give him peace itself. If there is reality in experimental religion, there is importance in it. I have not much religion—very little indeed; I desire |