God, "loved us, and gave himself for us." He became man, and offered himself as a sacrifice, and his "blood cleanseth from all sin." And

The Divine being who is the third in the glorious Trinity, and who is called the Holy Spirit, purifies the hearts of all believers and assimilates them to the moral likeness of God.

Doctrine

of Sin.

2. In connexion with the above great doctrines, we take the following. Man is a fallen being estranged from God, sinful, miserable,justly exposed to the Divine indignation on account of sin. His nature is in ruins;-intellect, will, affections, all are deeply injured. Sin is a fearful evil. It is utterly abominable,-eternally hateful, and ruinous.

3. God is infinitely holy. He is "light." "He cannot look upon iniquity." He is "a consuming fire." is infinitely just. He therefore eternally hates sin; and must necessarily punish it.

Doctrine of

Yet, He desires not the death of the sinner. He is "love." He desires that the sinner be saved, Redemption. that is, pardoned and sanctified, and made happy.

But how can He, a just God, save sinful man? This is the problem of problems. If justice is to be manifested, the sinner must perish; if love is manifested, the justice of God is sullied by leaving sin unpunished. All other religions are baffled in the solution of this problem. Christianity discloses the astonishing fact of this Son of God be coming man and suffering the punishment in place of sinners. This is the great central doctrine of Christianity. We can conceive nothing that could, in so glorious a manner, have revealed two infinitely important truths, 1st, that sin is a fearful evil, deserving of awful punishment; and 2nd, that God is infinitely compassionate and full of love. By the dying agonies of the Son of God, the fruits and

character of sin are exhibited in a more terrible light than they could have been by the destruction of the world. At the same time an irresistible appeal is made to every heart that is not steeled against every pure and tender feeling, and a most exalted conception of the Divine love is conveyed to us, through the channel by which love is best apprehended-the affections. Those were real agonies-bodily and mental sufferings, unutterably great;—and that the Son of God should have borne such for you, for me, is a thing never to be forgotten,-it is the most overwhelmingly wonderful truth that man knows. Let a man really believe this fact, and it affects his character for ever. Christianity, in virtue of this doctrine, is either the sublimest of truths, or the deepest of delusions;-it is not of earth,-it is either from heaven or from hell.

But

4. On the great question of a future existence, ChristFuture state, ianity speaks with clearness and precision. Resurrection. She informs us that we are not destroyed at death. The soul still lives, and will live for ever. that is not all;—the body will be raised again and united to the soul. Natural Religion had expressed, with a hesitating voice, her belief in a future state of existence for the soul; but the doctrine of the resurrection of the body is confined to the Christian Revelation.*

Novelty in the language

5. Nor is it only new ideas that Christianity has introduced. The language in which she speaks of God, and man in his relations to God, is of Christianity. also new. The very name of gospel or glad tidings, is very peculiar, as denoting a religion. The terms grace, salvation, righteousness, faith, justification, glorification, the spirit, the flesh, and many others, have such new and remarkable significations attached to them, that, when the religion was first promulgated, there must * See Appendix B.

have been some difficulty in understanding its phraseology.

Here, then, are wholly new ideas, and an almost wholly new sense is given to many terms. We cannot but be im pressed with this wonderful fact. Real novelty in thought is by no means common. Seldom does the very greatest of our philosophers strike out an idea which is entirel original; we can generally analyse it into well-know elements. The only originality we almost ever witness the bringing of two or more old ideas into new combina tions. But the great doctrines I have mentioned above, ar really new. And they are confined to Christianity-ther are no systems from which they could have been borrowed 6. Take in connexion with the fact of the novelty c the doctrines, that of their beautiful har mony and mutual dependence. The dreams of a sick man may present many novelties in thought; but the novelties are manifest absurdities,-they are inconsistent with each other. Not so the doctrines of Christianity. These constitute a system the parts of which all fit harmoniously into each other.

Harmony of the Christian doctrines.

Now, this harmonious novelty is in itself a very power ful argument in favour of the truth of Christianity. The conception of the greatest poems that have ever been writ ten, such as the Paradise Lost of Milton, involved the exer cise of far less genius than would have been requisite for the invention of so vast and symmetrical a system of doc trine, if man had really invented it.

Christian

morality.

7. The preceding remarks will have convinced you of Originality the remarkable originality of many of the of much of the doctrines of Christianity. We might in like manner notice the originality of much of the Christian morality. Such commands as these; "Love your enemies," "Bless them that curse you," are equally new and striking. But we must hasten to another part of the subject.

Character of Jesus Christ.

8. Take into consideration here the character of Jesus Christ. It is a character to which the whole world presents no parallel. It stands alone. When we wish to express the highest merit to which the writers of the most wonderful genius have attained in the conception of human character, we say they are true to nature-that is, they have faithfully delineated man as he is. We look on men, and we look then on their description of men; and we find the picture to resemble the original. Homer, Shakespeare, Milton, lay claim to no higher praise than this. When Homer describes even the gods, he simply represents them as if they were exaggerated men they have human thoughts, feelings, passions, virtues, vices. When the sublime Milton would describe Deity, his genius fails him; and, as soon as he goes beyond what is written respecting God in the Bible, he is unable either to command our admiration or carry our conviction. But, in the case of Jesus Christ, we behold a character at once divine and human; and every thing which he says and does is entirely worthy of a nature so ineffably mysterious. The glory of Deity and the weakness of humanity in union! We venture to say that the very conception of such a character was beyond the human mind; and the perfectly harmonious and beautiful representation of His career on earth which is contained in the New Testament, is of itself a complete demonstration of the truth of Christianity. Let me earnestly intreat you, my young friend, deeply to study the life and character of Jesus Christ. Repeatedly have even the enemies of religion confessed that it is absolutely perfect. Cold surely, and dead to every pure and generous feeling must the heart be, that is not melted by the infinite loveliness of the whole character of this wonderful Being.*

*See Appendix C.

e

Mode in which

Christian doc

trines and mɔ

rality are incul

cated. Facts.

9. One very remarkable characteristic of Christianity is this, that it does not merely present the doctrines as expressed in words, but gives them also embodied in facts. It is a very old remark that what we only hear by the ear, makes a far less distinct impression on the mind that that which is exhibited to the eye. No description of the features of any person leaves an impression at all equal to that which is produced by seeing the person, or even seeing his portrait. Very similar to the difference between these two things, is the difference between merely hearing a truth or a duty expressed in words, and seeing the same truth or duty embodied in acts. If God should proclaim in words that He hates sin, it would make a certain impression; but the impression would be vastly stronger, if He were also to convey the same truth by a fact, such as inflicting severe punishment on account of sin. Or, if we should be told in words that God loves men, the statement would make a certain impression; but if we also witnessed an action, or a series of actions, exhibiting the same great verity, how immensely would the impression be deepened! So with duty;-if we are merely told that we ought to forgive our enemies, love all men, and so on, the impression on the mind is exceedingly slight and evanescent, compared to that which is produced by beholding that forgiveness and that love actually exercised by some one,—and the lesson will be peculiarly precious and instructive, if he who issues the precept is the person that sets us the example!

These are important principles. No religion save Christianity is formed in accordance with them; but it is remarkable to see how beautifully Christianity does accord with them. Philosophers and writers on Natural Religion may speak of God and His attributes,—but their statements are unintelligible to many-and are fitted to make an abiding