A Body of Divinity, Vol. 1 (of 4): Wherein the doctrines of the Christian religion are explained and defended, being the substance of several lectures on the Assembly's Larger CatechismRidgley, Thomas
Religion
A Body of Divinity, Vol. 1 (of 4): Wherein the doctrines of the Christian religion are explained and defended, being the substance of several lectures on the Assembly's Larger Catechism
1. As to the former of these, the scripture abounds with instances, in
which God is adored or set forth, as the object of adoration, that is,
as having all divine perfections, and as doing every thing becoming
himself as a God of glory: thus he is described herein, as the _Lord
most high and terrible, a great King over all the earth_, Psal. xlvii.
2. and _glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders_, Exod.
xv. 11. and as _the true God, the living God, and an everlasting King_,
Jer. x. 10. and as _the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and
mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments_,
Dan. ix. 4. and it is also said, _Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and
the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that
is in the heaven, and in the earth is thine: thine is the kingdom, O
Lord, and thou art exalted as Head over all_, 1 Chron. xxix. 11. These,
and such-like adorable perfections, are not only occasionally ascribed
to God in scripture, but every part thereof displays his glory in a
manner so illustrious, as gives ground to conclude, that the great
design of it is to raise in us becoming apprehensions of him, and to put
us upon adoring and worshipping him as God.
2. It may, by a just consequence, be said to give all the glory to him,
as it represents the emptiness, and even nothingness of all creatures,
when compared with him, and hereby recommends him, as all in all: when
it speaks of the best of creatures, as veiling their faces before him,
as acknowledging themselves unworthy to behold his glory, and as
deriving all their happiness from him; and when it speaks of man as a
sinful guilty creature, expecting all from him, and depending upon him
for grace sufficient for him; and when it speaks of God, as the author
and finisher of faith, in whom alone there is hope of obtaining mercy
and forgiveness, grace here, and glory hereafter, and lays down this as
the sum of all religion; we must certainly conclude that its design is
to give all glory to God.
Now let us consider the force of this argument, or how the general scope
and design of scripture, to give all glory to God, proves its divine
authority. Had it been the invention and contrivance of men, or if the
writers thereof had pretended they had received it by inspiration from
God, and it had not been so, then the great design thereof would have
been to advance themselves; and they would certainly have laid down such
a scheme of religion therein, as is agreeable to the corrupt appetites
and inclinations of men, or would tend to indulge and dispense with sin,
and not such an one as sets forth the holiness of God, and his infinite
displeasure against it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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