THE RELIGION OF NATURE.

No. III.-A VISIBLE GOD.

ARCHBISHOP Tillotson's second proposition is as follows:

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'There was a great inclination in mankind to the worship of a visible and invisible deity; and this was the main root and source of the various idolatries in the heathen world.

'Now, to take men off from this, God was pleased to appear in our nature, that they who were so fond of a visible deity, might have one to whom they might divine worship, without danger of idolatry, and without injury to the divine nature.'

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If we consider man's views and feelings, as far as we can ascertain what they would be in a state of nature, we shall see that visibility is one of his principal requisites in any object which he is to love or reverence. 'How can I feel an interest in a person whom I have never seen?' is a common question, even among ourselves; and the apostle John sanctions the feeling, by saying, 'If a man love not his brother, whom he hath seen,' a natural feeling for him to entertain, 'how shall he love God, whom he hath not seen?'—a much more difficult and unlikely thing.

It is therefore to be expected that man, even without any tradition to assist him, should wish to see the Deity whom he was to adore. The worshippers

of the sun evinced this, by the object of their choice, a sensible, visible, glorious, fertilizing luminary; and those who served other gods still made to themselve images, visible representations of the divinities to whom they knelt. Even the virtues, which were the objects of worship among the later Greeks and Romans, had their statues and symbols.

So reluctant is man, of his own free will, to adore an invisible God: so far does sense prevail over spirit, matter over mind, in his corrupted, debased nature. Nothing but the divine impulse, coming from above, can draw his heart thither, to invisible objects, or can make him realize the apostolic address, "Whom, having not seen, ye love."

One cannot avoid observing, in pursuing this train of thought, how skilfully this propensity of man, to sensualize and virtualize the Deity, has been seized on, and employed by Papal Rome. The statue of the virgin, the image of the crucifixion, the picture of the saint, the relic of his bones or garment,—all these are so many proofs of human love for objects of sight and sense, and of Popery's more than human sagacity in fostering that love, and ruling over the whole man by means of its gratification.

An invisible God will not do for the system; the very act of lifting up the soul to One "who seeth in secret," but whom the worshipper sees not, even these, the very effort would raise the mental powers too high to receive the absurdities which must be forced upon them; and therefore the crucifix is introduced between the supplicant and his God, as an intermediate barrier, lest too close an approach of the soul to its divine Original, should refine it beyond Rome's tutelage, and should give it to breathe too

much of heaven's pure air, to dwell again amid earth's idolatries.

But man's own nature is not the only reason why he should make to himself a visible Deity. The idea is a dim and distant retrospect of the days when God himself condescended to walk with man in Paradise; when amid those groves of beauty, and by the side of the tree of life, the Infinite and the finite, the Creator and His creature, conversed together on the lofty themes of immortality.

I have before shewn that mankind originally derived their ideas upon religion from revelation, however they may have subsequently distorted its pure truths; and one of these very truths was, that God had talked with the first created man, and that, no doubt, in a visible presence; while another truth, not past but future (as regarded its earthly fulfilment) was that God should appear again in this world, in the semblance of humanity.

For many of the heathen fables we can find no origin in man's native feelings; they are, and must be purely traditionary: but this idea of a visible God is one which has a double source, natural and traditional; therefore we need not be surprised at finding it to be so universal as it is.

But if these points be granted,—that man, even by nature, desires a sensible Deity; that he had an original tradition of God's formerly walking and talking with his first great ancestor; and that he had also another tradition, that God should appear visibly again, in ages to come, in a human form, and dwell among men for a time; granting these things, what becomes of our good archbishop's proposition? What becomes of the idea that men had invented a notion

of a visible God, and therefore worshipped sensible, material idols; and that the high and holy One condescended to appear in our nature, in order to please these idolatrous fancies of his erring creatures?

Was the appearance of Christ upon earth, "God manifest in the flesh," a thing devised a few years, or even centuries, before it was executed? and devised to accommodate God's wisdom to man's impious folly? Was not the Saviour" the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world?" and if so, how could it be "in compliance with the common prejudices of mankind, especially of the heathen world?"

I am sure, perfectly sure, that the excellent prelate had no intention to disparage Christianity, nor to treat lightly of its divine Author; but it cannot be denied that he here speaks of the omniscient, omnipotent God as he would speak of a mere fellow-mortal, who is placed in a difficulty, and is forced to an unwilling "compliance with prejudices," repugnant to his nature, as the only means of escape.

Far be such thoughts from our minds; far would they have been from his who penned the passage, had he only paused to consider the final drift of his system.

But man always grasps at the present, and overlooks the future. Paley has been (oh, how unwillingly to himself!) made the author and patron of the modern infidel system of expediency; while Tillotson, (equally contrary to his own feelings,) has been the founder of a scheme which would place Deity itself in a dilemma, and reduce Almighty God to the level of poor short-sighted miserable man.

X. Q.

SABBATH MUSINGS.

No. XV.

WHAT abundant sources of thankfulness to God, admiration of his beautiful works, humble submission to his mysterious ways which are past our finding out, and proofs of the brevity and uncertainties of this passing scene, does even one walk sometimes afford! I have been musing over the little commonplace incidents of yesterday's ramble with dear G**** and W******, and thinking how much there was in them to cause us to adore our heavenly Father's power and love.

First, the beautiful garden through which we lingered, with its brilliant colours, graceful forms, and enchanting perfumes. The myrtles catching the sunbeams on their dark green glossy leaves, and yielding, especially when a sprig was newly broken off, such an exquisite aromatic odour: fresh fragrance from the wounded part,' as the poet hath it. The heath covered with masses of spiry blossoms, among which the bees were buzzing in and out with their delightful summer-like hum. The gay border of polyanthus, that happy, simple-looking, smiling little flower, which brings such pleasant associations to the mind; which tells of youth and spring, and childlike pleasures; whose innocent smell, and cheerful uplifted face, seem to bring before us some young,