| Summary: | In the following Essay this author has fully sustained the character which he acquired by the work named above, of being a liberal contributor to the common-stock of thought. The subject is surely one of great practical moment, bearing directly on the method of explaining and discussing the Christian doctrines; and, of course, on the labors of the preacher and the student of theology. It is quite safe to say that half of all the theological disputation which has prevailed since the Christian era, agitating the minds of men and distracting the Church, has had its origin in attempts to make revealed truth harmonize with systems of intellectual philosophy. It may fairly be doubted whether, on the whole, these attempts have at all advanced the cause of genuine orthodoxy and godliness. It is almost certain, that, if the same power of thought, and the same learning had been applied with equal zeal to a simple, apostolical exhibition of the great truths and motives of revelation, and to the inculcation of the spirit of the gospel, the result would have been far more auspicious to the cause of truth and human salvation".
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