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42 chapters
INTRODUCTION.
INTRODUCTION.
Colonel Ethan Allen, the author of Oracles of Reason, was the son of Joseph Allen, a native of Coventry, Connecticut, a farmer in moderate circumstances. He afterwards resided in Litchfield, where Ethan was born in the year 1739. The family consisted of eight children, of whom our author was the eldest. But few incidents connected with his early life are known. We are apprised, however, that notwithstanding his education was very limited, his ambition to prove himself worthy of that attention wh
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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
An apology appears to me to be impertinent in writers who venture their works to public inspection, for this obvious reason, that if they need it, they should have been stifled in the birth, and not permitted a public existence. I therefore offer my composition to the candid judgment of the impartial world without it, taking it for granted that I have as good a natural right to expose myself to public censure, by endeavouring to subserve mankind, as any of the species who have published their pr
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SECTION I. THE DUTY OF REFORMING MANKIND FROM SUPERSTITION AND ERROR...
SECTION I. THE DUTY OF REFORMING MANKIND FROM SUPERSTITION AND ERROR...
The desire of knowledge has engaged the attention of the wise and curious among mankind in all ages which has been productive of extending the arts and sciences far and wide in the several quarters of the globe, and excited the contemplative to explore nature's laws in a gradual series of improvement, until philosophy, astronomy, geography, and history, with many other branches of science, have arrived to a great degree of perfection. It is nevertheless to be regretted, that the bulk of mankind,
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SECTION II. OF THE BEING OF A GOD
SECTION II. OF THE BEING OF A GOD
The laws of nature having subjected mankind to a state of absolute dependence on something out of it, and manifestly beyond themselves, or the compound exertion of their natural powers, gave them the first conception of a superior principle existing; otherwise they could have had no possible conception of a superintending power. But this sense of dependency, which results from experience and reasoning on the facts, which every day cannot fail to produce, has uniformly established the knowledge o
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SECTION III. THE MANNER OF DISCOVERING THE MORAL PERFECTIONS...
SECTION III. THE MANNER OF DISCOVERING THE MORAL PERFECTIONS...
Having in a concise manner offered a variety of indisputable reasons to evince the certainty of the being and providence of God, and of his goodness to man through the intervention of the series of nature's operations, which are commonly described by the name of natural causes, we come now more particularly to the consideration of his moral perfections; and though all finite beings fall as much short of an adequate knowledge thereof as they do of perfection itself, nevertheless through the intel
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SECTION IV. THE CAUSE OF IDOLATRY, AND THE REMEDY OF IT
SECTION IV. THE CAUSE OF IDOLATRY, AND THE REMEDY OF IT
Inasmuch as God is not corporeal, and consequently does not and cannot come within the notice of our bodily sensations, we are therefore obliged to deduce inferences from his providence, and particularly from our own rational nature, in order to form our conceptions of the divine character, which through inattention, want of learning, or through the natural imbecility of mankind, or through the artifice of designing men, or all together, they have been greatly divided and subdivided in their not
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SECTION I. OF THE ETERNITY OF CREATION
SECTION I. OF THE ETERNITY OF CREATION
As creation was the result of eternal and infinite wisdom, justice, goodness, and truth, and effected by infinite power, it is like its great author, mysterious to us. How it could be accomplished, or in what manner performed, can never be comprehended by any capacity. Eternal, whether applied to duration, existence, action, or creation, is incomprehensible to us, but implies no contradiction in either of them; for that which is above comprehension we cannot perceive to be contradictory, nor on
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SECTION II. OBSERVATIONS OF MOSES'S ACCOUNT OF CREATION
SECTION II. OBSERVATIONS OF MOSES'S ACCOUNT OF CREATION
The foregoing theory of creation and providence will probably be rejected by most people in this country, inasmuch as they are prepossessed with the theology of Moses, which represents creation to have a beginning. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." In the preceding part of this chapter it has been evinced that creation and providence could not have had a beginning, and that they are not circumscribed, but unlimited; yet it seems that Moses limited creation by a prospectiv
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SECTION III. OF THE ETERNITY AND INFINITUDE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE
SECTION III. OF THE ETERNITY AND INFINITUDE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE
When we consider our solar system, attracted by its fiery centre, and moving in its several orbits, with regular, majestic, and periodical revolutions, we are charmed at the prospect and contemplation of those worlds of motions, and adore the wisdom and power by which they are attracted, and their velocity regulated and perpetuated. And when we reflect that the blessings of life are derived from, and dependent on, the properties, qualities, constructions, proportions and movements, of that stupe
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SECTION IV. THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD DOES NOT INTERFERE...
SECTION IV. THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD DOES NOT INTERFERE...
The doctrine of Fate has been made use of in armies as a policy to induce soldiers to face danger. Mahomet taught his army that the "term of every man's life was fixed by God, and that none could shorten it, by any hazard that he might seem to be exposed to in battle or otherwise," but that it should be introduced into peaceable and civil life, and be patronized by any teachers of religion, is quite strange, as it subverts religion in general, and renders the teaching of it unnecessary, except a
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SECTION I. THE DOCTRINE OF THE INFINITY OF EVIL AND OF SIN CONSIDERED
SECTION I. THE DOCTRINE OF THE INFINITY OF EVIL AND OF SIN CONSIDERED
That God is infinitely good in the eternal displays of his providence, has been argued in the third section of the second chapter, from which we infer that there cannot be an infinite evil in the universe, inasmuch as it would be incompatible with infinite good; yet there are many who imbibe the doctrine of the infinite evil of sin, and the maxim on which they predicate their arguments in its support, are, that the greatness of sin, or adequateness of its punishment, is not to be measured, or it
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SECTION II. THE MORAL GOVERNMENT OF GOD AS INCOMPATIBLE...
SECTION II. THE MORAL GOVERNMENT OF GOD AS INCOMPATIBLE...
We may for certain conclude, that such a punishment will never have the divine approbation, or be inflicted on any intelligent being or beings in the infinitude of the government of God. For an endless punishment defeats the very end of its institution, which in all wise and good governments is as well to reclaim offenders, as to be examples to others; but a government which does not admit of reformation and repentance, must unavoidably involve its subjects in misery; for the weakness of creatur
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SECTION III. HUMAN LIBERTY, AGENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY, CANNOT...
SECTION III. HUMAN LIBERTY, AGENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY, CANNOT...
From what has been argued in the foregoing section, it appears that mankind in this life are not agents of trial for eternity, but that they will eternally remain agents of trial! To suppose that our eternal circumstances will be unalterably fixed in happiness or misery, in consequence of the agency or transactions of this temporary life, is inconsistent with the moral government of God, and the progressive and retrospective knowledge of the human mind. God has not put it into our power to plung
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SECTION IV. OF PHYSICAL EVILS.
SECTION IV. OF PHYSICAL EVILS.
Physical evils are in nature inseparable from animal life, they commenced existence with it, and are its concomitants through life; so that the same nature which gives being to the one, gives birth to the other also; the one is not before or after the other, but they are coexistent together, and cotemporaries; and as they began existence in a necessary dependence on each other, so they terminate together in death and dissolution. This is the original order to which animal nature is subjected, as
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SECTION I. SPECULATION ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE DEPRAVITY...
SECTION I. SPECULATION ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE DEPRAVITY...
In the course of our speculation on Divine Providence we proceed next to the consideration of the doctrine of the depravity of human reason: a doctrine derogatory to the nature of man, and the rank and character of being which he holds in the universe, and which, if admitted to be true overturns knowledge and science and renders learning, instruction and books useless and impertinent; inasmuch as reason, depraved or spoiled, would cease to be reason; as much as the mind of a raving madman would
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SECTION II. CONTAINING A DISQUISITION OF THE LAW OF NATURE...
SECTION II. CONTAINING A DISQUISITION OF THE LAW OF NATURE...
AS IT RESPECTS THE MORAL SYSTEM, INTERSPERSED WITH OBSERVATIONS ON SUBSEQUENT RELIGIONS That mankind are by nature endowed with sensation and reflection, from which results the power of reason and understanding, will not be disputed. The senses are well calculated to make discoveries of external objects and to communicate those notices, or simple images of things to the mind, with all the magnificent simplicity of nature, which opens an extensive field of contemplation to the understanding, enab
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SECTION I. ARGUMENTATIVE REFLECTIONS ON SUPERNATURAL...
SECTION I. ARGUMENTATIVE REFLECTIONS ON SUPERNATURAL...
There is not anything which has contributed so much to delude mankind in religious matters, as mistaken apprehensions concerning supernatural inspiration or revelation; not considering that all true religion originates from reason, and can no otherwise be understood but by the exercise and improvement of it; therefore they are apt to confuse their minds with such inconsistencies. In the subsequent reasonings on this subject, we shall argue against supernatural revelation in general, which will c
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SECTION II. CONTAINING OBSERVATIONS ON THE PROVIDENCE...
SECTION II. CONTAINING OBSERVATIONS ON THE PROVIDENCE...
AND AGENCY OF GOD, AS IT RESPECTS THE NATURAL AND MORAL WORLD, WITH STRICTURES ON REVELATION IN GENERAL. The idea of a God we infer from our experimental dependence on something superior to ourselves in wisdom, power and goodness, which we call God; our senses discover to us the works of God which we call nature, and which is a manifest demonstration of his invisible essence. Thus it is from the works of nature that we deduce the knowledge of a God, and not because we have, or can have any immed
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SECTION I. OF MIRACLES
SECTION I. OF MIRACLES
Previous to the arguments concerning miracles, it is requisite that we give a definition of them, that the arguments may be clearly opposed to the doctrine of miracles, the reality of which we mean to negative; so that we do not dispute about matters in which we are all agreed, but that we may direct our speculations to the subject matter or essence of the controversy. We will therefore premise, that miracles are opposed to, and counteract the laws of nature, or that they imply an absolute alter
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SECTION II. A SUCCESSION OF KNOWLEDGE, OR OF THE EXERTION OF POWER...
SECTION II. A SUCCESSION OF KNOWLEDGE, OR OF THE EXERTION OF POWER...
IN GOD, INCOMPATIBLE WITH HIS OMNISCIENCE OR OMNIPOTENCE, AND THE ETERNAL AND INFINITE DISPLAY OF DIVINE POWER FORECLOSES ANY SUBSEQUENT EXERTION OF IT MIRACULOUSLY That creation is as eternal and infinite as God, has been argued in chapter second; and that there could be no succession in creation, or the exertion of the power of God, in perfecting the boundless work, and in impressing the universe with harmonious laws, perfectly well adapted to their design, use and end. First. These arguments
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SECTION III. RARE AND WONDERFUL PHENOMENA NO EVIDENCE OF MIRACLES...
SECTION III. RARE AND WONDERFUL PHENOMENA NO EVIDENCE OF MIRACLES...
NOR ARE DIABOLICAL SPIRITS ABLE TO EFFECT THEM, OR SUPERSTITIOUS TRADITIONS TO CONFIRM THEM, NOR CAN ANCIENT MIRACLES PROVE RECENT REVELATIONS. Comets, earthquakes, volcanoes, and northern lights (in the night,) with many other extraordinary phenomena or appearances intimidate weak minds, and are by them thought to be miraculous, although they undoubtedly have their proper natural causes, which have been in a great measure discovered. Jack-with-a-lantern is a frightful appearance to some people,
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SECTION IV. PRAYER CANNOT BE ATTENDED WITH MIRACULOUS CONSEQUENCES
SECTION IV. PRAYER CANNOT BE ATTENDED WITH MIRACULOUS CONSEQUENCES
Prayer to God is no part of a rational religion, nor did reason ever dictate it; but, was it duly attended to, it would teach us the contrary. To make known our wants to God by prayer, or to communicate any intelligence concerning ourselves or the universe to him, is impossible, since his omniscient mind has a perfect knowledge of all things, and therefore is beholden to none of our correspondency to inform himself of our circumstances, or of what would be wisest and best to do for us in all pos
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SECTION I. THE VAGUENESS AND UNINTELLIGIBLENESS OF THE PROPHECIES...
SECTION I. THE VAGUENESS AND UNINTELLIGIBLENESS OF THE PROPHECIES...
Prophecy is by some thought to be miraculous, and by others to be supernatural, and there are others, who indulge themselves in an opinion, that they amount to no more than mere political conjectures. Some nations have feigned an intercourse with good spirits by the art of divination; and others with evil ones by the art of magic; and most nations have pretended to an intercourse with the world of spirits both ways. The Romans trusted much to their sibylline oracles and soothsayers; the Babyloni
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SECTION II. THE CONTENTIONS WHICH SUBSISTED BETWEEN THE PROPHETS...
SECTION II. THE CONTENTIONS WHICH SUBSISTED BETWEEN THE PROPHETS...
RESPECTING THEIR VERACITY, AND THEIR INCONSISTENCIES WITH ONE ANOTHER, AND WITH THE NATURE OF THINGS, AND THEIR OMISSION IN TEACHING THE DOCTRINE OF IMMORTALITY, PRECLUDES THE DIVINITY OF THEIR PROPHECIES. Whoever examines the writings of the prophets will discover a spirit of strife and contention among them; they would charge each other with fallacy and deception; disputations of this kind are plentifully interspersed through the writings of the prophets; we will transcribe a few of those pass
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SECTION I. OF THE NATURE OF FAITH AND WHEREIN IT CONSISTS
SECTION I. OF THE NATURE OF FAITH AND WHEREIN IT CONSISTS
Faith in Jesus Christ and in his Gospel throughout the New Testament, is represented to be an essential condition of the eternal salvation of mankind. "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." Again, "If thou shalt confess the Lord Jesus Christ, and believe in thin
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SECTION II. OF THE TRADITIONS OF OUR FOREFATHERS
SECTION II. OF THE TRADITIONS OF OUR FOREFATHERS
It may be objected, that the far greater part of mankind believe according to the tradition of their forefathers, without examining into the grounds of it, and that argumentative deductions from the reason and nature of things, have, with the bulk of them, but little or no influence on their faith. Admitting this to have been too much the case, and that many of them have been blameable for the omission of cultivating or improving their reason, and for not forming a better judgment concerning the
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SECTION III. OUR FAITH IS GOVERNED BY OUR REASONINGS...
SECTION III. OUR FAITH IS GOVERNED BY OUR REASONINGS...
WHETHER THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE CONCLUSIVE OR INCONCLUSIVE, AND NOT MERELY BY OUR OWN CHOICE It is written that "Faith is the gift of God." Be it so, but is faith any more the gift of God than reflection, memory or reason are his gifts? Was it not for memory, we could not retain in our minds the judgment which we have passed upon things; and was it not for reasoning, in either a regular or irregular manner, or partly both, there could be no such thing as judging or believing; so that God could n
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SECTION I. A TRINITY OF PERSONS CANNOT EXIST IN THE DIVINE ESSENCE...
SECTION I. A TRINITY OF PERSONS CANNOT EXIST IN THE DIVINE ESSENCE...
WHETHER THE PERSONS BE SUPPOSED TO BE FINITE OR INFINITE: WITH REMARKS ON ST. ATHENASIUS'S CREED Of all errors which have taken place in religion, none have been so fatal to it as those that immediately respect the divine nature. Wrong notions of a God, or of his providence, sap its very foundation in theory and practice, as is evident from the superstition discoverable among the major part of mankind; who, instead of worshipping the true God, have been by some means or other infatuated to pay d
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SECTION IX. ESSENCE BEING THE CAUSE OF IDENTITY...
SECTION IX. ESSENCE BEING THE CAUSE OF IDENTITY...
One God can have but one essence, which must have been eternal and infinite, and for that reason precludes all others from a participation of his nature, glory, and universal and absolute perfection. When we speak of any being who by nature is capable of being rightfully denominated an individual, we conceive of it to exist but in one essence; so that essence as applied to God, denominates the divine nature; and as applied to man, it denotes an individual: for although the human race is with pro
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SECTION III. THE IMPERFECTION OF KNOWLEDGE...
SECTION III. THE IMPERFECTION OF KNOWLEDGE...
That Jesus Christ was not God is evident from his own words, where, speaking of the day of judgment, he says, "Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels which are in Heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." This is giving up all pretention to divinity, acknowledging in the most explicit manner, that he did not know all things, but compares his understanding to that of man and angels; "of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son." Thus
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SECTION I. OBSERVATIONS ON THE STATE OF MAN, IN MOSES'S PARADISE...
SECTION I. OBSERVATIONS ON THE STATE OF MAN, IN MOSES'S PARADISE...
ON THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, AND ON THE TREE OF LIFE: WITH SPECULATIONS ON THE DIVINE PROHIBITION TO MAN, NOT TO EAT OF THE FRUIT OF THE FORMER OF THOSE TREES, INTERSPERSED WITH REMARKS ON THE MORTALITY OF INNOCENT MAN. The mortality of animal life, and the dissolution of that of the vegetable, has been particularly considered in chapter three, section four, treating on physical evils. We now proceed to make an application of those arguments, in the case of our reputed first parent
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SECTION II. POINTING OUT THE NATURAL IMPOSSIBILITY OF ALL AND EVERY...
SECTION II. POINTING OUT THE NATURAL IMPOSSIBILITY OF ALL AND EVERY...
OF THE DIVERSE SPECIES OF BIPED ANIMALS, COMMONLY TERMED MAN, TO HAVE LINEALLY DESCENDED FROM ADAM AND EVE, OR FROM THE SAME ORIGINAL PROGENITORS. It is altogether improbable and manifestly contradictory to suppose, that the various and diverse nations and tribes of the earth, who walk upon two legs, and are included under the term man, have or possibly could have descended by ordinary generation, from the same parents, be they supposed to be who they will. Those adventurers,-who have sailed or
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SECTION III. OF THE ORIGIN OF THE DEVIL OR OF MORAL EVIL...
SECTION III. OF THE ORIGIN OF THE DEVIL OR OF MORAL EVIL...
AND OF THE DEVIL'S TALKING WITH EVE; WITH A REMARK THAT THE DOCTRINE OF APOSTACY IS THE FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIANITY Inasmuch as the devil is represented to have had so great and undue an influence in bringing about the apostacy of Adam, and still to continue his temptations to mankind, it may be worth our while to examine into the nature and manner of his being and the mode of his exhibiting his temptations. John's gospel, verse 1 and 3, the Christian's God is the creator of the devil and consequ
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SECTION I. IMPUTATION CANNOT CHANGE, ALIENATE OR TRANSFER...
SECTION I. IMPUTATION CANNOT CHANGE, ALIENATE OR TRANSFER...
THE PERSONAL DEMERIT OF SIN; AND PERSONAL MERIT OF VIRTUE TO OTHERS, WHO WERE NOT ACTIVE THEREIN, ALTHOUGH THIS DOCTRINE SUPPOSES AN ALIENATION THEREOF The doctrine of imputation according to the Christian scheme, consists of two parts; first, of imputation of the apostacy of Adam and Eve to their posterity, commonly called original sin; and secondly, of the imputation of the merits or righteousness of Christ, who in scripture is called the second Adam, to mankind, or to the elect. This is a con
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SECTION II. THE MORAL RECTITUDE OF THINGS FORECLOSES...
SECTION II. THE MORAL RECTITUDE OF THINGS FORECLOSES...
Imputation confounds virtue and vice, and saps the very foundation of moral government, both divine and human. Abstract the idea of personal merit and demerit, from the individuals of mankind, justice would be totally blind, and truth would be nullified, or at least excluded from any share in the administration of government. Admitting that moral good and evil has taken place in the system of rational agents, yet, on the position of imputation, it would be impossible, that a retribution of justi
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SECTION III. CONTAINING REMARKS ON THE ATONEMENT...
SECTION III. CONTAINING REMARKS ON THE ATONEMENT...
The doctrine of imputation is in every point of view incompatible with the moral perfections of God. We will premise, that the race of Adam in their respective generations was guilty of the apostacy, and obnoxious to the vindictive justice and punishment of God, and accordingly doomed to either an eternal or temporary punishment therefore, which is the Bible representation of the matter. What possibility could there have been of reversing the divine decree? It must be supposed to have been just,
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SECTION IV. REMARKS ON REDEMPTION, WROUGHT OUT BY INFLICTING...
SECTION IV. REMARKS ON REDEMPTION, WROUGHT OUT BY INFLICTING...
THE DEMERITS OF SIN UPON THE INNOCENT, WOULD BE UNJUST, AND THAT IT COULD CONTAIN NO MERCY OR GOODNESS TO THE UNIVERSALITY OF BEING The practice of imputing one person's crime to another, in capital offences among men, so that the innocent should suffer for the guilty, has never yet been introduced into any court of judicature in the world, or so much as practised in any civilized country; and the manifest reason in this, as in all other cases of imputation, is the same, viz. it confounds person
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CHAPTER XII.
CHAPTER XII.
REVELATION FROM ITS ORIGINAL COPIES, AND PRESERVING IT ENTIRE THROUGH ALL THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE WORLD, AND VICISSITUDES OF HUMAN LEARNING TO OUR TIME Admitting for argument sake that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament were originally of divine supernatural inspiration, and that their first manuscript copies were the infallible institutions of God, yet to trace them from their respective ancient dead languages, and different and diverse translations, from the obscure hieroglyphical pict
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SECTION II. THE VARIETY OF ANNOTATIONS AND EXPOSITIONS...
SECTION II. THE VARIETY OF ANNOTATIONS AND EXPOSITIONS...
OF THE SCRIPTURES, TOGETHER WITH THE DIVERSITY OF SECTARIES EVINCES THEIR FALLIBILITY. Every commentary and annotation on the Bible, implicitly declares its fallibility; for if the Scriptures remained genuine and entire, they would not stand in need of commentaries and expositions, but would shine in their infallible lustre and purity without them. What an idle phantom it is for mortals to assay to illustrate and explain to mankind, that which God may be supposed to have undertaken to do, by the
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SECTION III. ON THE COMPILING OP THE MANUSCRIPTS OF THE SCRIPTURES...
SECTION III. ON THE COMPILING OP THE MANUSCRIPTS OF THE SCRIPTURES...
INTO ONE VOLUME, AND OF ITS SEVERAL TRANSLATIONS. THE INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPES, AND OF THEIR CHARTERED RIGHTS TO REMIT OR RETAIN SINS, AND OF THE IMPROPRIETY OF THEIR BEING TRUSTED WITH A REVELATION FROM GOD. The manuscripts of Scripture, which are said to have been originally written on scrolls of bark, long before the invention of paper or printing, and are said to compose our present Bible, were in a loose and confused condition, scattered about in the world, deposited nobody knows how or w
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CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIII.
AND NOT FROM TRADITION. Such parts or passages of the Scriptures as inculcate morality, have a tendency to subserve mankind, the same as all other public investigations 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 canonical; for morality does not derive its nature from books, but from the fitness of things; and though it may be more or less, interspersed through the pages of the Alcoran, its purity and
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SECTION II. OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THE EXERCISE OF REASON...
SECTION II. OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THE EXERCISE OF REASON...
The period of life is very uncertain, and at the longest is but short; a few years bring us from infancy 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 alas! moral evil has been more or less predominant in our agency, and though natural evil is unavoidable, yet moral evi
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