A SERIES OF LETTERS, &c.
EXTRACTS No. 1.
[The first letter of the _objector_ was designed merely as an
Introduction, inviting Mr. B. to the investigation of the important
subject of _moral truth_, or more particularly the truth of _divine
revelation_. The following are extracts.]
"The thought has long since occurred to me that the present age is an
age of discovery and improvement. The human mind seems to be
developing its powers in a most wonderful manner; new inventions, new
discoveries, and new theories are the fruits of new experiments; while
many are improving upon theories and subjects already existing. Thus
human nature seems to be almost prepared to make a regular advance in
_moral_ as well as _scientific truth_.
"However pleasing this must be to every real lover to the arts and
sciences, yet there seems to be a disposition (at least, as it
respects all moral and religious subjects) to chain down the human
mind to its present attainments, and thereby prevent all further
improvement. O how long will it be before common sense shall burst
this bubble of fanaticism, and all its mists become evaporated and
removed by the rays of simple and native truth? Then shall man know
for himself that, under God, all his powers and faculties are as free
as the element he breathes. Free to think, free to speak, and free to
act as reason and good sense shall dictate. Supposing that you and I
should think of setting an example for others, by trying to throw off
the prejudices of a false education, so far as we have been thus
entangled, and search for the _truth within us_, as the foundation of
all TRUTH which materially concerns us to know. Who, except our own
consciences, will ever call us to an account for so doing?
"It gives me pain when I see what time and money, what labour and toil
have been expended, and are still expending, in plodding over, as it
were an old dead letter; to learn languages which exist _no where_
only on paper, barely for the sake of reading the opinions of other
men, in other times; men who lived in other ages of the world, and
under very different circumstances from ourselves; whose opinions, all
of which are worth preserving, might be given in our own language, so
as to answer every purpose which can be answered by them, at less than
a hundredth part of the expense it necessarily requires to obtain a
competent knowledge of those languages in which almost every thing,
supposed to be valuable, has been originally written. And after all,
the truth, or falsity, of every proposition must depend on the truth
or falsity of the principles embraced in it; and not on the language
in which it was originally written.
"If the Greek and Hebrew languages be any security against things
being uttered or written falsely in those languages, I should not only
think it important to learn them, but to adopt them, if possible, as
our vernacular tongue.--But as I believe none will contend for this, I
should like to be informed of what possible service it can be to an
American to learn either of those languages? Is it not a fact, that
every natural as well as moral truth may be fully unfolded to the
understanding without them? This will lead the way to one of the
principal subjects which I mean to discuss. It maybe said, that the
_holy scriptures_ were originally written in Greek and Hebrew: viz.
the bible, which contains a revelation of the will of God concerning
the duty, interest, and final destination of mankind. This, if
admitted, gives the Greek and Hebrew languages an importance that
nothing else could. Hence the importance of preserving the Greek and
Hebrew languages, without which, religion could not be preserved in
its purity. And as all have not an opportunity of attaining to a
knowledge of those languages, it is the more necessary that some
should, lest the knowledge of languages, on which so much is supposed
to depend, should be lost to the world.
"If I understand the above proposition, it seems to be this: The only
revelation of God to man, which was ever recorded on either vellum or
paper, was written partly in Greek and partly in Hebrew; hence, the
revealed will of God cannot be known only through the medium of those
languages. If the truth of all this can be made to appear, I should
find no difficulty in admitting all the consequences which must result
from such premises. It appears a little extraordinary, however, to my
understanding, and not a very little neither, that God should make a
revelation of his will in one age, and not in another; to one nation;
and not to another; or that he should make a revelation in one
_language_, and not in another! If a special revelation, was ever
necessary at all, it is difficult for me to see why it was not equally
necessary in all ages of the world, to all the nations of the earth,
and in all languages ever spoken by man.
"How sweet is truth to the understanding! And, when spoken in a
language every word of which is familiar, how harmonious it sounds to
the ear by which the sentiments find their way to the heart!
"When God speaks to the _inward man_ there is no need of going to
Lexicons, Dictionaries, and Commentaries to know what he means. I
would not complain, however, even of this method to ascertain truth,
if I could be so happy as always to come away satisfied. But to
consider a subject on which much is supposed to depend, and, desiring
if possible to obtain the truth, plod through the dark mists
occasioned by the ambiguity and contradiction of authors, and after
all, be obliged to dismiss the subject as much in the dark as it was
found, is too insupportable to be confided in as the only road to
moral truth.
"Let it not be supposed however, that I mean to insinuate that the
bible contains no moral truth; so far from this, I conceive it to be
replete with moral instruction; that is to say, there are excellent
moral maxims in the bible; but respecting these there is neither
ambiguity nor obscurity; and probably for this plain reason, because
there seems to be no dispute about them. These however are none the
more true for being written, and would have been equally true if found
in any other book, and at the same time not found in the bible. Truth
is truth wherever found, and all moral truth, as well as natural, must
be eternal in its nature.
"Much of the bible however, is merely historical; and whether most of
the things there related are either true or not, I do not see any
connexion they either have, or can have, with either my present or
future happiness. As for instance, I do not see how my happiness is at
all connected with the story of Daniel's being cast into the den of
lions--or of Jonah's being swallowed by a fish! any more than it is
with the story of Remus and Romulus' being nursed by a she wolf! And
if not, these things are matters of total indifference; yea, as much
so as the extraordinary, and, were it not for comparing things
supposed to be sacred with profane, I would say, ridiculous stories in
the heathen mythology. If it should be contended that the facts
recorded in sacred history are necessary to prove the power and
providence of God towards his children, it may be answered that those
in profane history, if true, are equally conclusive. If it should be
said that we cannot place the same confidence in profane history as in
sacred, it brings me to the very subject of my inquiry--viz.
"If the things stated in the bible are no more reasonable than those
in profane history, what reason have we to believe _these_ any more
than _those_? Must not our own reason finally determine for ourselves
whether or not either be true? And if we are in no sense interested in
the truth or falsity of those accounts why need we trouble ourselves
about them?
"Yours, &c, A. KNEELAND."
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