Such parts or passages of the Scriptures3 as inculcate morality, have a tendency to subserve mankind, the same as all other public investigations5 or teachings of it, may be supposed to have; but are neither better or worse for having a place in the volume of those writings denominated canonical6; for morality does not derive1 its nature from books, but from the fitness of things; and though it may be more or less, interspersed7 through the pages of the Alcoran, its purity and rectitude would remain the same; for it is founded in eternal right; and whatever writings, books or oral speculations8, best illustrate9 or teach this moral science, should have the preference. The knowledge of this as well as all other sciences, is acquired from reason and experience, and (as it is progressively obtained) may with propriety10 be called, the revelation of God, which he has revealed to us in the constitution of our rational natures; and as it is congenial with reason and truth, cannot (like other revelations) partake of imposture11. This is natural religion, and could be derived from none other but God. I have endeavored, in this treatise12, to prune13 this religion from those excrescences, with which craft on the one hand, and ignorance on the other, have loaded it; and to hold it up to view in its native simplicity14, free from alloy15; and have throughout the contents of the volume, addressed the reason of mankind, and not their passions, traditions or prejudices; for which cause, it is noways probable that it will meet with any considerable approbation16.
Most of the human race, by one means or other are prepossessed with principles opposed to the religion of reason. In these parts of America, they are most generally taught, that they are born into the world in a state of enmity to God and moral good, and are under his wrath17 and curse, that the way to heaven and future blessedness is out of their power to pursue, and that it is incumbered with mysteries which none but the priests can unfold, that we must “be born again,” have a special kind of faith, and be regenerated18; or in fine, that human nature, which they call “the old man,” must be destroyed, perverted19, or changed by them, and by them new modelled, before it can be admitted into the heavenly kingdom. Such a plan of superstition20, as far as it obtains credit in the world, subjects mankind to sacerdotal empire; which is erected21 on the imbecility of human nature. Such of mankind, as break the fetters22 of their education, remove such other obstacles as are in their way, and have the confidence publicly to talk rational, exalt23 reason to its just supremacy24, and vindicate25 truth and the ways of God’s providence26 to men, are sure to be stamped with the epithet27 of irreligious, infidel, profane28, and the like. But it is often observed of such a man, that he is morally honest, and as often replied, what of that? Morality will carry no man to heaven. So that all the satisfaction the honest man can have while the superstitious29 are squibbling hell fire at him, is to retort back upon them that they are priest ridden.
The manner of the existence, and intercourse30 of human souls, after the dissolution of their bodies by death, being inconceiveable to us in this life, and fill manner of intelligence between us and departed souls impracticable, the priests have it in their power to amuse us with a great variety of visionary apprehensions31 of things in the world to come, which, while in this life, we cannot contradict from experience, the test of great part of our certainty (especially to those of ordinary understandings) and having introduced mysteries into their religion, make it as incomprehensible to us, (in this natural state) as the manner of our future existence; and from Scripture4 authority, having invalidated reason as being carnal and depraved, they proceed further to teach us from the same authority, that, “the natural man knoweth not the-things of the spirit, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned.” A spiritualizing teacher is nearly as well acquainted with the kingdom of heaven, as a man can be with his home lot. He knows the road to heaven and eternal blessedness, to which happy regions, with the greatest assurance, he presumes to pilot his dear disciples32 and unfold to them the mysteries of the canonical writings, and of the world to come; they catch the enthusiasm and see with the same sort of spiritual eyes, with which they can pierce religion through and through, and understand the spiritual meaning of the Scriptures, which before had been “a dead letter” to them, particularly the revelations of St. John the divine, and the allusion33 of the horns therein mentioned. The most obscure and unintelligible34 passages of the Bible, come within the compass of their spiritual discerning as apparently35 as figures do to a mathmetician: then they can sing songs out of the Canticles, saying, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;” and being at a loose from the government of reason, please themselves with any fanaticisms they like best, as that of their being “snatched as brands out of the burning, to enjoy the special and eternal favor of God, not from any worthiness36 or merit in them, but merely from the sovereign will and pleasure of God, while millions of millions, as good by nature and practice as they, were left to welter eternally, under the scalding drops of divine vengeance;” not considering, that if it was consistent with the perfections of God to save them, his salvation38 could not fail to have been uniformly extended to all others, whose circumstances may be supposed to be similar to, or more deserving than theirs, for equal justice cannot fail to apply in all cases in which equal justice demands it. But these deluded39 people resolve the divine government altogether into sovereignty: “even so Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.” And as they exclude reason and justice from their imaginary notions of religion, they also exclude it from the providence or moral government of God. Nothing is more common, in the part of the country where I was educated, than to hear those infatuated people, in their public and private addresses, acknowledge to their creator, from the desk and elsewhere, “hadst thou, O Lord, laid judgment40 to the line and righteousness to the plummet41, we had been in the grave with the dead and in hell with the damned, long before this time.” Such expressions from the creature to the creator are profane, and utterly42 incompatible43 with the divine character. Undoubtedly44, (all things complexly considered) the providence of God to man is just, inasmuch as it has the divine approbation.
The superstitious thus set up a spiritual discerning, independent of, and in opposition45 to reason, and their mere37 imaginations pass with each other, and with themselves, for infallible truth. Hence it is, that they despise the progressive and wearisome reasonings of philosophers (which must be admitted to be a painful method of arriving at truth) but as it is the only way in which we can acquire it, I have pursued the old natural road of ratiocination46, concluding, that as this spiritual discerning is altogether inadequate47 to the management of any of the concerns of life, or of contributing any assistance or knowledge towards the perfecting of the arts and sciences, it is equally unintelligible and insignificant48 in matters of religion: and therefore conclude, that if the human race in general, could be prevailed upon to exercise common sense in religious concerns, those spiritual fictions would cease, and be succeeded by reason and truth.
Section ii. Of the Importance of the Exercise of Reason and Practice of Morality, in Order to the Happiness of Mankind.
The period of life is very uncertain, and at the longest is but short; a few years bring us from infancy49 to manhood, a few more to a dissolution; pain, sickness and death are the necessary consequences of animal life. Through life we struggle with physical evils, which eventually are certain to destroy our earthly composition; and well would it be for us did evils end here; but alas50! moral evil has been more or less predominant in our agency, and though natural evil is unavoidable, yet moral evil may be prevented or remedied by the exercise of virtue51. Morality is therefore of more importance to us than any or all other attainments52; as it is a habit of mind, which, from a retrospective consciousness of our agency in this life, we should carry with us into our succeeding state of existence, as an acquired appendage53 of our rational nature, and as the necessary means of our mental happiness. Virtue and vice54 are the only things in this world, which, with our souls, are capable of surviving death; the former is the rational and only procuring55 cause of all intellectual happiness, and the latter of conscious guilt56 and misery57; and therefore, our indispensable duty and ultimate interest is, to love, cultivate and improve the one, as the means of our greatest good, and to hate and abstain58 from the other, as productive of our greatest evil. And in order thereto, we should so far divest59 ourselves of the incumbrances of this world, (which are too apt to engross60 our attention) as to inquire a consistent system of the knowledge of religious duty, and make it our constant endeavor in life to act conformably to it. The knowledge of the being, perfections, creation and providence of God, and of the immortality61 of our souls, is the foundation of religion; which has been particularly illustrated62 in the four first chapters of this discourse63. And as the Pagan, Jewish, Christian64 and Mahometan countries of the world have been overwhelmed with a multiplicity of revelations diverse from each other, and which, by their respective promulgators, are said to have been immediately inspired into their souls by the spirit of God, or immediately communicated to them by the intervening agency of angels (as in the instance of the invisible Gabriel to Mahomet) and as those revelations have been received and credited, by afar the greater part of the inhabitants of the several countries of the world (on whom they have been obtruded) as super-naturally revealed by God or angels, and which, in doctrine65 and discipline, are in most respects repugnant to each other, it fully66 evinces their imposture, and authorizes67 us, without a lengthy68 course of arguing, to determine with certainty, that not one of them had their original from God; as they clash with each other, which is ground of high probability against the authenticity69 of each of them.
A revelation, that may be supposed to be really of the institution of God, must also be supposed to be perfectly70 consistent or uniform, and to be able to stand the test of truth; therefore such pretended revelations, as are tendered to us as the contrivance of heaven, which do not tear that test, we may be morally certain, was either originally a deception71, or has since, by adulteration become spurious.
Reason therefore must be the standard by which we determine the respective claims of revelation; for otherwise we may as well subscribe72 to the divinity of the one as of the other, or to the whole of them, or to none at all. So likewise on this thesis, if reason rejects the whole of those revelations, we ought to return to the religion of nature and reason.
Undoubtedly it is our duty, and for our best good, that we occupy and improve the faculties73, with which our creator has endowed us, but so far as prejudice, or prepossession of opinion prevails over our minds, in the same proportion, reason is excluded from our theory or practice. Therefore if we would acquire useful knowledge, we must first divest ourselves of those impediments; and sincerely endeavor to search out the truth: and draw our conclusions from reason and just argument, which will never conform to our inclination74, interest or fancy; but we must conform to that if we would judge rightly. As certain as we determine contrary to reason, we make a wrong conclusion; therefore, our wisdom is, to conform to the nature and reason of things, as well in religious matters, as in other sciences. Preposterously75 absurd would it be, to negative the exercise of reason in religious concerns, and yet, be actuated by it in all other and less occurrences of life. All our knowledge of things is derived from God, in and by the order of nature, out of which we cannot perceive, reflect or understand any thing whatsoever76; our external senses are natural; and those objects are also natural; so that ourselves, and all things about us, and our knowledge collected therefrom, is natural, and not supernatural; as argued in the fifth chapter.
An unjust composition never fails to contain error and falsehood. Therefore an unjust connection of ideas is not derived from nature, but from the imperfect composition of man. Misconnection of ideas is the same as misjudging, and has no positive existence, being merely a creature of the imagination; but nature and truth are real and uniform; and the rational mind by reasoning, discerns the uniformity, and is thereby77 enabled to make a just composition of ideas, which will stand the test of truth. But the fantastical illuminations of the credulous78 and superstitious part of mankind, proceed from weakness, and as far as they take place in the world subvert79 the religion of reason, nature and truth.
Ethan Allen.
The End
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derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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scriptures
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| 经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典 | |
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scripture
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| n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段 | |
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investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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canonical
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| n.权威的；典型的 | |
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interspersed
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| adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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speculations
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| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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imposture
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| n.冒名顶替，欺骗 | |
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treatise
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| n.专著；(专题)论文 | |
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prune
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| n.酶干；vt.修剪，砍掉，削减；vi.删除 | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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alloy
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| n.合金，(金属的)成色 | |
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approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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regenerated
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| v.新生，再生( regenerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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perverted
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| adj.不正当的v.滥用( pervert的过去式和过去分词 )；腐蚀；败坏；使堕落 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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fetters
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| n.脚镣( fetter的名词复数 )；束缚v.给…上脚镣，束缚( fetter的第三人称单数 ) | |
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exalt
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| v.赞扬，歌颂，晋升，提升 | |
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supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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vindicate
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| v.为…辩护或辩解，辩明；证明…正确 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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epithet
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| n.（用于褒贬人物等的）表述形容词，修饰语 | |
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profane
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| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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disciples
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| n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
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allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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unintelligible
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| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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worthiness
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| 价值，值得 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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deluded
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| v.欺骗，哄骗( delude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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plummet
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| vi.(价格、水平等)骤然下跌；n.铅坠；重压物 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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incompatible
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| adj.不相容的，不协调的，不相配的 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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ratiocination
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| n.推理；推断 | |
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inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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attainments
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| 成就，造诣； 获得( attainment的名词复数 )； 达到； 造诣； 成就 | |
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appendage
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| n.附加物 | |
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vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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procuring
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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abstain
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| v.自制，戒绝，弃权，避免 | |
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divest
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| v.脱去，剥除 | |
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engross
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| v.使全神贯注 | |
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immortality
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| n.不死，不朽 | |
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illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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authorizes
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| 授权，批准，委托( authorize的名词复数 ) | |
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lengthy
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| adj.漫长的，冗长的 | |
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authenticity
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| n.真实性 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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subscribe
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| vi.(to)订阅，订购；同意；vt.捐助，赞助 | |
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faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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preposterously
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| adv.反常地；荒谬地；荒谬可笑地；不合理地 | |
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whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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credulous
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| adj.轻信的，易信的 | |
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subvert
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| v.推翻；暗中破坏；搅乱 | |
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