WHOEVER reads attentively the page of History and the book of Human Life will perceive an intimate connection between the religion of the New Testament and the moral and civil condition of man,--a connection so intimate as to authorize him in placing Christian principles and human happiness in the relation of cause and effect.
Though, with the great majority of the human family, judgment and inclination are at variance; though immediate gratification, at whatever hazard, is commonly preferred to future advantage, and the concerns of the present life are suffered to outweigh the considerations of eternity; yet, if our temporal welfare be so closely allied to our religious belief, and this belief involve our final destiny, whatever tends to confirm and inculcate the doctrines of Christianity must promote the best interests of mankind, and be entitled to their highest gratitude.
The secret promptings of every man's spirit indicate that his existence is not limited to the duration of a few years; yet such is the antipathy of many to the restraints of religion, that they seek reasons for rejecting the testimony of their conscience, and willingly disbelieve that future retribution which is the foundation of every religious system, and every efficient moral code. Even in minds rightly disposed, doubts possibly mingle, at times, with the belief of a future state; and to the sincere inquirer after truth, difficulties not unfrequently occur, which, in a matter so momentous, must occasion mental inquietude.
To dispel those doubts--to remove such difficulties—to show the coincidence between Reason and Revelation-to examine the evidences on which our expectations of eternal happiness rest-to place them in the clearest and most commanding light