and, by St. Paul, the God of this World*. He is reprefented as being at the head of a numerous and formidable hoft of wicked fpirits; to whom St. Paul gives the title of principalities, and powers, and rulers of this world§. And in another place they are faid to be his angels. To this malignant and infidious Being was owing the fall of our firft parents, and all the tragical confequences of that fatal event, the introduction of death and fin, and every kind of natural and moral evil, into the world. On these ruins of human nature did this tremendous Spirit erect his infernal throne, and eftablished an astonishing dominion over the minds of men, leading them into fuch acts of folly, ftupidity, and wickedness, as are on no other principle to be accounted for; into the groffeft fuperftitions, into the most brutal and fenfeless idolatry, into the most unnatural and abominable crimes, into the moft execrable rites and inhuman facrifices t. Nay, what is still more 2 Cor. iv. 4. Ephef. vi. 12. + Matth. xxv. 41. Nothing lefs than diabolical influence can account for the almoft univerfal cuftom of human facrifices, and the atrocious outrages on all decency perpetrated in fome of the facred rites of Egypt, Greece, and Hindoftan. See Maurice's Indian Antiquities, vol. i. p. 256, 274. deplorable, deplorable, he gave the finishing stroke to the disgrace and humiliation of mankind, by setting up himself as the object of their adoration, and that too (to compleat the infult) under that very form which he had affumed to betray and to deftroy them; I mean that of the ferpent: the worship of which disgusting and odious animal, it is well known, prevailed to an incredible degree in almost every part of the Pagan world, and is ftill to be found in some parts of Africa*. In this manner did Satan lord it over the human race, till our bleffed Saviour appeared on earth. At that time his tyranny feems to have arrived at its utmost height, and to have extended to the bodies as well as to the fouls of men, of both which he fometimes took abfolute possession; as we see in the history of those unhappy perfons mentioned in Scripture, whom we call Demoniacs, and who were truly faid to be poffeffed by the devil. It was therefore necef * See Bryant's Antient Mythology, vol. i. de ophiolatria.-A ferpent was adored in Ægypt as an emblem of the divine nature; and in Cashmere there were no less than 700 places where carved figures of fnakes were worshipped. Maurice's Indian Antiquities, vol. i. p. 291.At Whydah, on the Gold Coast, a snake is the principal object of worship. See Evidence on the Slave Trade. VOL, II. F fary, fary, in order to accomplish the complete Redemption of mankind, to fubdue in the first place this their most formidable and determined enemy, to deftroy his power, to overthrow his kingdom, and to rescue all the fons of men from that horrible and difgraceful state of flavery, in which he had long held them. enthralled. Now to execute a work of fuch magnitude and fuch difficulty, fome agent of extraordinary rank, and extraordinary authority and power, was plainly neceffary. Such a perfonage was our bleffed Lord; who therefore fpontaneously undertook, and fuccessfully accomplished, this moft arduous enterprize. The very firft preparatory step he took before he entered on his miniftry was, to establish his fuperiority over this great enemy of the human race, which he did in that memorable scene of the temptation in the wilderness. And throughout the whole of his future life, there appears to have been a conftant and open enmity and warfare between Chrift and Beelzebub, between the Prince of this world and the Saviour of it, between the Powers of Darkness and the Spiritual Light of the world, between the kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of Jesus. When all this is taken into confideration, it will no longer be a matter of furprize, that the eternal Son of God himself should condefcend to come among us, unworthy as we are of such a diftinction. For nothing less than his almighty power could probably have vanquished that dreadful adverfary we had to deal with, and whofe defeat and humiliation appear to have been effentially necessary to our falvation *. There is ftill another confideration which merits fome regard in this question. It is, I believe, generally taken for granted, that it was for the human race alone that Chrift fuffered and died; and we are then asked, with an air of triumph, whether it be conceivable, or in any degree credible, that the eternal Son of God should submit to fo much indignity and fo much mifery for the fallen, the wicked, the wretched inhabitants of this small globe of earth, which is as a grain of fand to a mountain, a mere fpeck in the univerfe, when compared with that immenfity of worlds, and fyftems of worlds, • See John xii. 31; xiv. 30; xvi. 11. 2 Cor. iv. 4. Ephef. ï. 2; vi. 12. Col. ii. 15.-" Through death, he destroyed him "that had the power of death; that is, the devil." Heb. . 14. F 2 which which the fagacity of a great modern astronomer has difcovered in the boundless regions of fpace*. But on what ground is it concluded, that the benefits of Chrift's death extend no further than to ourselves? As well might we suppose, that the fun was placed in the firmament merely to illuminate and to warm this earth that we inhabit. To the vulgar and the illiterate, this actually appears to be the cafe. But Philosophy teaches us better things. It enlarges our contracted views of divine beneficence, and brings us acquainted with other planets and other worlds, which share with us the chearing influence and the vivifying warmth of that glorious luminary. Is it not then a fair analogy to conclude, that the great Spiritual Light of the world, the Fountain of life, and health, and joy to the foul, does not fcatter his bleffings over the creation with a more sparing hand, and that the Sun of Righteousness rises with healing in his wings to other orders of beings befides ourselves? Nor does this conclufion reft on analogy alone. It is evident from Scripture itself, that we are by no means the only creatures in the universe * Dr. Herfchell. interested |