A SERMON, &c. ROMANS V. 12. As by one man sin came into the world, and death by sin, I consider it the peculiar duty of those who are called on to address an academic audience, composed for the most part of persons who are already, or will hereafter become Ministers of the Gospel, to direct their attention not unfrequently to the solution of Scripture difficulties, and to the removal of objections, which from time to time arise, concerning any portion of the Sacred Volume which forms the foundation of the Christian faith; and it seems especially incumbent on those whose public functions in this place bring under their examination subjects, which in the progress of modern discoveries, dis close phenomena difficult to reconcile with the ⚫ received interpretation of particular passages; to enter upon the question of such supposed difficulties, in the hope of removing any objections to which they may give rise. The spirit of active observation is now so widely gone forth, that its progress can no longer be suspended; and as men will not submit to follow the more tranquil and easy course, of forbearing to enquire into things "hard to be understood," and which, till duly interpreted, may seem inconsistent with the letter of Scripture; the only remaining course for those who wish to reconcile these facts with the verities of Revelation, is fairly and dispassionately to meet each difficulty as it arises; not in the spirit of contro versy or pride, but with an earnest, yet calm, and humble endeavour to explain apparent contradictions, and to justify the common Author of Nature and of Grace, from the seeming incongruities which sincere believers sometimes fancy they find, on comparing the Works of Creation with the written Word of God. No one who attributes the origin of the world to the power and fiat of the Almighty, can fail to admit that all natural phenomena, and the laws that regulate the material universe are manifestations of the Will of the same Creator; "fire and hail, snow and vapours, wind and storm fulfilling his word; mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all cedars; beasts and all cattle, worms and feathered fowls."* No consistent believer, therefore, should be apprehensive of any discrepancy between those unwritten manifestations of his power and Godhead, and the written revelations He has vouchsafed to us in his holy word; " But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee, and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee; or speak to the earth and it shall teach thee, and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee."† Meantime the difficulties we have to encounter are among the very tests and touchstones appointed to make trial of our faith; and to him that believeth and endureth unto the end, even against hope believing in * Psalm cxlviii. 8, 9, 10. + Job xii. 7, 8. hope, all things shall sooner or later be made clear. But amongst mankind at large, we find too generally prevailing a spirit of exclusiveness in their views of religion and its evidences; many sincere believers in Revelation, devote themselves solely to the study of God's Word, to the neglect and sometimes almost even contempt of the evidences of His being and attributes, which form the foundation both of natural and revealed religion. On the other hand many well-disposed investigators of Works of the Creator, who find abundant proofs to establish their belief in His Existence and Providence, are often too imperfectly acquainted with the moral evidences of Revelation, or too little versed in biblical criticism to see their way distinctly through the clouds of doubt, and difficulties, wherewith certain parts of Scripture, till rightly interpreted, obscure their views of the consistency between the visible Works and the written Word of God. From the many passages to which the foregoing remarks may be applied, I have selected that which forms my text, because it is one of those which of late have been appealed to by religious persons, who see a difficulty in admitting the existence of death in the natural world, excepting as a consequence of the fall of Man. An opinion, which I shall endeavour to show, has no foundation in Scripture, and which if it were established, would present an apparent exception to that harmonious accordance which we justly expect to find between every work that cometh from the hand, and every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. It behoves us, therefore, rightly to apprehend the import of this and certain similar passages, which are by some persons interpreted to imply a larger measure of condemnation, as the consequence of Adam's fall, than the text will fairly warrant; because such interpretation, if established, would seem inconsistent with many phenomena of the world around us; and because this world is crowded with evidences of Death, (I refer especially to the case of extinct species of animals) comprehending within its influence all |