The inquirer after truth has two sources by which he can arrive at some
knowledge of the will of God:—1st. By faith and revelation; 2d. By the
observance of the facts uniformly developed in the material and moral
world. The accuracy of his knowledge will be coincident with the
accuracy of the mental perceptions and the extent of the research of the
inquirer.
In the Bible he will find the declarations of God himself: some of them
are express, and some of them implied.
In the second place, he may discover the will of God from the
arrangement of his works as manifested in the visible world. Some call
this the light of nature; others the laws of nature. But what do they
mean other than the light and laws of God? Are not the laws of
gravitation as much the laws of God as they would be if set down in the
decalogue, although not as important to man in his primary lessons of
moral duty?
Let us view the forest as planted by the hand of God: we see some trees
made to push their tall boughs far above the rest; while others, of
inferior stem and height, seem to require the partial shade and
protection of their more lofty neighbours; others, of still inferior and
dwarfish growth, receive and require the full and fostering influence of
the whole grove, that their existence may be protected and their organs
fully developed for use.
Let us view the tribes of ocean, earth, and air: we behold a regular
gradation of power and rule, from man down to the atom.
Whether with reason or with instinct blest,
All enjoy that power that suits them best:
Order is Heaven’s first law; and this confess’d,
Some are, and must be, greater than the rest—
More rich, more wise; but who infers from hence
That such are happier, shocks all common sense.
Heaven to mankind impartial we confess,
If all are equal in their happiness;
But mutual wants this happiness increase.
All nature’s difference, keeps all nature’s peace:
Condition, circumstance, is not the thing;
Bliss is the same, in subject, or in king!
POPE’S _Essay_.
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