OF RELIGION. BY THOMAS M. CLARK, D. D., LL. D., BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF RHODE ISLAND. NEW YORK: 90, 92 & 94 GRAND STREET. 1869. ENTERED, according to act of Congress, in the year 1869, by D. APPLETON & CO., in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. NOV 24 1931 CF PREFACE. THE answers to the following questions are designed to meet the unsettled condition of mind, in regard to the fundamental principles of morals and religion, which prevails so extensively in our community. The writer has endeavored to be candid and honest in the treatment of these subjects; and may sometimes have seemed to make concessions which will expose him to rebuke and criticism from those who, never having had any serious doubts themselves, can have no sympathy with troubles that sorely perplex the minds of others. He has, however, been careful to yield nothing essential to the truth, and nothing which the truth did not oblige him to yield. It was no part of his design to discuss the peculiar doctrines of revelation, and therefore he has stopped short at the threshold of dogmatic theology. There are multitudes of people who have no interest in what are commonly known as "Articles of Faith," because they have no fixed belief in these Primary Truths, which underlie all our "Systems of Divinity." They may have neither the time nor the inclination to wade through the long, learned, and elaborate treatises which have been written on this class of subjects; but it is thought that perhaps they may be willing to read a brief and simple treatise, like that which we have here attempted; and we trust that they will exercise the same candor in weighing our arguments that we have endeavored to use in stating them. CONTENTS. Atheistic creed. Existence of God capable of being proved. Indicated by the existence in man of the feeling of dependence and the sentiment of reverence. The power to conceive of a God an assurance of His existence. Distinction between the concep- tion of God and the comprehension of His mode of being. The existence of power, outside of the human will, involves the being of a God. No second causes possible. The forces of nature, so- called, either self-originated, or the volitions of God. Theory of development. Uniformity of law a proof that there must be a God. Combination of forces, indicating intelligence and a plan, confirms this proof. The instincts and feelings of our nature in- Various ideas which have prevailed respecting God. Hindoo mythology. System of Boodhists. Parseeism. Mythology of the Egyptians; of the Babylonians, Syrians, and Phoenicians. The Scandinavian, German, and Gallic systems. The Mexican mythology. The Grecian. Peculiar views of the Old Testament. God represented as a Person. Anthropomorphism. Moral char- acteristics of God. Gradual progress in the conceptions of God, culminating in the New Testament. The idea of God's unity the base of all the ancient mythologies. How to be accounted for. All religions claim a divine origin. Foreshadowings of true doc- trine in Pagan systems. Deterioration of these early forms of |