and must have, the knowledge of God from the works of creation and providence, without the word, or go utterly without it." For this purpose, they produce passages from the viii. and xix. Psalms. To which it is answered:-That the glory of God's power, wisdom, goodness, faithfulness, and other perfections, no doubt, are displayed in all the works of his hand; but that does not say we have eyes to perceive that same glory without the enlightening word.

Without the enlightening word, the glory of God, which is indeed always the same in itself, without addition or diminution, would be to us, or to our apprehension, like the created glory of the earth, while it was yet without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep,-a mere non-appearance, of whose harmony, order, proportion and beauty, though all there, nothing could have been said or thought by man, till the Lord God said, "Let there be light, and there was light. The morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted for joy."—It is "the entrance of God's word" alone that "gives light and understanding" of God "to the simple-and it is by faith," or the believed word, says the Holy Ghost, "that we understand the worlds were framed by the word of God; so that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear"—that is, they were not made of any fore-existing matter, but absolutely of nothing.

Now, suppose reason, or the light of nature, could make something of the existing and appearing things, what could it make of non-appearance, or non-existence? The idea of both are equally and essentially included in the idea of creation.-And it is certain, none of the heathens, easterns, Greeks or Romans, had any idea of the world's being produced out of nothing; which is the scriptural idea of creation; notwithstanding of all the cavilling of philosophical fools to the contrary. Some of them thought the worlds had been eternal; others, that the matter, or chaos from whence they were produced, had been eternal; some one thing, and

some another; but none the thing as the scripture says it was.-"Worthy art thou, O Lord, to receive glory and honour, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."

Now, why has the scripture insisted so much upon this point, assuring us a thousand of times over and over, that it is God who made all things? Why in particular, to Cyrus the heathen, does God preface his commission with "I created the heavens alone-I form the light and I create the darkness; I the Lord do all these things?"-Why, if a man with his eyes open, especially a man of sense, understanding, learning, observation, travelling, and spirit, as Cyrus, were as able of himself to perceive and discern by the made things, God the Creator, as he is to perceive and discern those things themselves?-Is it not rather manifest to any unprejudiced reader of the scriptures, or even of the heathen writings, that all the multitude of nations, even with the assistance of particular, occasional, and above all, general and traditional revelation, came short of discovering (I speak of the bulk, considered as nations,) and confessing the being and glory of the One True God, from the things that are made?-Which things, without the word, could no more have pointed out a God, (a God of such a character as Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, who are One, besides whom there is no God, and whom the word alone describes,) than the miracles, death, and resurrection of Jesus, with all the following glory, would, of themselves, have pointed out Jesus for the promised Messiah: for suppose all had been acted in dumb show, and suppose the same of all the miracles that ever were wrought by the Holy Ghost, men might have been amazed, but no more edified and instructed in the nature and meaning of what they saw, than a poor pagan Chinese, by seeing a lively popish puppet-show, representing the birth, life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ-which, without the explanation of words, and hearing of faith, would be only a

Pharoah and Nebuchadnezzar's dream, without a Joseph and Daniel to reveal, by the Spirit of the Holy God, the secret things and purposes of God.

Even so, God's word and God's works, are like tallies or cyphers the one to the other. The word first shews the work's to be God's; and the works, when once discovered to be God's by the word, serve in his appointment for a true comment (so to speak) or divine illustration of the divine word. Neither is there any circle or deceit here, but only that harmony and agreement manifested, which God hath established between his word and his works, for the mutual display of boththe knowledge of which, according to their nature, in the heart of him who knows to purpose either the one or the other, hath no separate existence. The works indeed may be seen where the word was never heard, and then the Author cannot be known. But the knowledge of the word can never shine into any heart, without manifesting both the Author and his works.

PSALMS VIII. AND XIX. CONSIDERED.

But as to the viii. and xix. Psalms, they are both applied in the New Testament by the Holy Ghost, who behoves best to know his own meaning, as descriptive of the personal glory, humiliation, and exaltation of Emmanuel, God over all, blessed for ever, amen. So that those texts say nothing to the point in hand, of proving from scripture the natural knowledge which men have of God without the scriptures; more than those texts do, which say of the Son, that "All things were made by him-he upholdeth all things by the word of his power-was God-in the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God-shall come in the clouds of heaven with power and great gloryand judge the world-and then the heavens shall declare his righteousness abroad-and all flesh shall see his glory-every knee bow, and every tongue confess, that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

OF INTERPRETING THE SCRIPTURES.

But the texts they most insist upon, and indeed the only ones that seem to have any shadow of argument in them, to their purpose, in the whole compass of revelation, are these two much-talked of, but little understood passages in the first and second chapters of the Epistle to the Romans-Yet surely, whatever be the meaning of those passages, they cannot give the lie to the whole divine word besides-the Spirit of inspiration cannot contradict himself. And it will be good for us to be aware that we make not a breach in the glass of revelation, by dashing one part against another, lest we ourselves, and not revelation, shall be the only thing that shall be grinded to powder-for our God is a jealous God. And you have already seen, how plainly, how perpetually, God hath affirmed, that the knowledge of God comes only from himself by his word; except it shall be made appear, that those two places speak to the contrary.

Now, it is a good and wise rule of interpretation, suggested in scripture, which is the only infallible interpretation of scripture, that where one passage or two, or even many, are seemingly of a doubtful sense as to our apprehension, we ought always to read the darker by the light of the clearer texts. But really, in the present case, the impartial and careful consideration of the words, in their own plain, natural, and grammatical sense, and connection with themselves, and with the apostle's scope and argument, will shew, that the objections pretended to be drawn from them against the scheme advanced, in conformity I believe with the whole word of God, in this essay, are entirely of the adversaries' own framing and manufacturing, without the least jot or tittle of foundation in the texts, which have been mangled and perverted, (alas, a very common case!) and wrested utterly, not only from their own sense, but even absolutely from all sense, (if the apostolic sense and connection are to be regarded,) by

a subtlety or two, a quibble, and a pun, or double meaning, imposed upon some of the leading words therein; as I now mean, by God's help, to shew.

ROMANS I. 18- 24. CONSIDEred.

As to Rom. i. 18-24. the meaning is easy to be understood, in conformity with the whole scripturethus

The apostle, declaring to them the necessity of salvation by the righteousness of Jesus, revealed in the gospel, which is the word of faith, and imputed to them who believe, gives them to understand, that, "in this gospel, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold," that is, smother, hold down, or detain, (for so the word кarɛxóvτwv, rendered hold signifies,) "the truth in unrighteousness," or unrighteously.

So the heathens, with their lying vanities and selfconceited professions of wisdom, made a prisoner of the truth, and buried the talent given them, even the revealed truth, in the earth, having wrapt it up in a covering of superstition; or, as briars and thorns, even the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches, choak the seed and it becometh unfruitful; or as ashes and rubbish bear down and extinguish a fire; even so the flame of divine truth was borne down and extinguished among them, with their corruptions and endless perversions of the truth.

If they should have objected and replied to the apostle, saying, "God had never sowed or scattered any truth or revelation of himself and laws among them; and therefore he had no reason to expect any increase, or to reveal his wrath against them for ungodliness or unrighteousness, since they had no discoveries made them of God and of his will-And you will allow, where there is no law there is no transgression; and where there is no God revealed, no man can be justly charged with ungodliness, or punished for disobedience to that