পাতা:তত্ত্ববোধিনী পত্রিকা (প্রথম কল্প দ্বিতীয় খণ্ড).pdf/১৫৯

* r * * ** n Y” ;т * * fi ئامه | f | - g - nations of the world, and is consonant to all our inherent notions of the Goodness of God—notions which prepare us to believe, that when the mind is fitted for any knowledge, then is the precise time for our receiving it. Tradition therefore can only speak of the origin amd progress of religion. As to the manner in which the doctrines of our helief were revealed, it seems to us to be quite evident, that Providence, when it condescends to make any revelation, could achieve its purpose by paving the way for the reception of the truths communicated. Man's unwilling reception of any blessing cannot please the Omnipotence and Mercy of God; and for the reception of any truth by a creature endowed with reasoning faculty, it cannot be necessary for the Creator of all things and Prime Cause of all movements, both corporeal and mental, to appear in a finite shape in the midst of the wonders of the physical world, or on a particular spot of ground, however sublime in its scenery or beautiful in its prospect, to declare, in a particular form of speech, what we must believe and do ; He has made man an intellectual being, and any aid he deems necessary to afford him is naturally directed to his intelligence. When He wills therefore to make Himself believe, He is believed; every thing being previously put in a train for the reception of that belief. Man's intellect has only to be led on in a right direction to ensure his perception of the light in all its grandeur and all its beauty. The object of revelation then is to point out the proper course, when man is doubtful, in which way he should proceed. Man is always made the instrument of God's communication, and this, in the common course of nature without parade or display of any kind. The ways of the creator are the ways of simplicity ; and all his revelations are effected simply by the enlightenment of the human understanding. The authority of inspiration lies in the degree of belief which the matter revealed commands, or is capable of commanding, from mankind in general, and not in any formality observed at the time, when the truth was declared. Man being left to free thought and will in all things appertaining to his wordly engagements, the sole object of an inspired insight into the ways of nature and nature's God, which is permitted to him, is to serve him as a guide in steerin his course aright in the midst of the multifarious obstacles which his imbecility places before him. In fact, revelation lights upon the mind of man for this purpose, and anything which in this point of view, is not absolutely requisite he should know, is not within its province ;, it being, entirely confined to particulars lying within the sphere of sciences, morals, and divinity; and within this sphere even to the boundaries of those powers of com prehension which God has allotted to him. It would indeed be opposed to that principle of fitness of things, which is manifested throughout the whole creation, and which has made every part of this world, both visible and moral, in such exact proportions, and so nicely suited to the design ဍီ it has to serve, if reve. lation vouchsafed to treat of matters which were utterly incomprehensible to the human mind, Mysteries, therefore, do not come within its plan. ২২৩ The impotency of man to comprehend all mysteries of this nature, is a proof, that he has no concern with them, for if they were useful for him to know, or required of him to be believed, it cannot be supposed that an All-Powerful and Benevolent Providence would not have given him strength of mind sufficient to compass the ideas comprehended in them. It is opposed to all our notions of divine Mercy and Justice to suppose, that God will foce our belief, and punish our disbelief in matters, of which we are not able to form a conception. It will be said, perhaps, that Divine Grace has enabled Christian missionaries to perceive the truth of certain mysteries taught in the Bible. A similar remark is also made by the Tantric idolators who are enabled by the favor of their goddess, even to hold occasional converse with her. But we are unable to fix a precise idea on the expression “ Divine Grace,” when so appli. ed. The mercy of God is as surely universal as that He is the Father of all creation. Mysteries lying beyond the stretch of human faculties can. mot form a part of religion, until our nature becomes so altered as to enable us to penetrate them, or at least to glance at them. To leave man to his free thought, then to disable him from perceiving the force of a truth, and yet to oblige him to hold a certain conviction for which he is quite incapacitated, and this under pain of eternal dannation, does not seem to us to be a mark of Divine Mercy, nay, on the contrary, would appear to be a decided token that the original intention of Providence was to consign us to perdition—a manifest absurdity, if the Grace and Benevolence of (iod be admitted. The exercise of Divine Grace may be necessary when the faculties given to us are misused ; but it totally loses its character when capacity is altogether denied, and we are required to perform an act, in spite of our unfitness to the task. We deny, therefore, the existence of mystery in religion—the truths with which it is connected ure such as come within the scope of those faculties, it has pleased a Merciful and Paternal Creator to bestow on man. Religion in fact, requires nothing that is uncongenial to our mind. It is in this point of view, in its freedom from all mysterious doctrines that the excellence of the Vaidant, forming the basis of our religious opinions, most directly appears. Its claims to our belief as a revealed 蠶 of divinity, are most indubitably '! upon the basis of ancient tradition, and such history as we happen to possess; and the Vaids lead us in a manner by the hand to a knowledge of God and of our various duties as members of His Church, without the introduction of mys. teries of any kind ; without demanding any compelled belief and without requiring us to do anything that is opposed to our nature or to violate our free will by renouncing any course of good action to which we are habitually ို့ရှိနိူ.ို Man is a fallible being and his unassisted reason is liable to the grossest misconceptions arding his origin, his relations to the various orders of existences surrounding him, his duties as well as to himself as to others and his obligations to his creator, matters, a correct, knowledge of which is essential to his maintaining the position in which he stands increation,ashis very