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its proper place, to debase the spirit of it, and to defeat the great purpofe of it, in reforming the world, and promoting purity of morals; the corruption was never fo great, not even in the darkeft ages of popery, but that the belief of it was more favourable to virtue than the belief of the prevailing doctrines of the heathens at the time of the promulgation of chriftianity. We often complain, and very juftly, of the corruption of the times: and fuch complaints were never more particularly loud than in the period preceding the reformation; but the corruption was ftill fhort of that which (as we learn from the heathen writers themselves) generally prevailed in the heathen world.

Peter, fpeaking of the Gentiles, fays, that they walked in lafcivioufnefs, lufts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries. And the apostle Paul fays, that being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that was in them, because of the blindness of their hearts, they gave themselves up to lafciviousness, to commit all iniquity with greediness.

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greediness. There are also many other paffages in the writings of Paul, which represent the state of the heathen world as exceedingly corrupt indeed; and it was far from being in the way of being mended by the philofophy of those times.

SECTION IV.

Of the doctrine of a future ftate among the Heathens.

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E fhall the lefs wonder at the imperfect ftate of morals, both with respect to theory and practice, in the heathen world, when we confider that they were deftitute of those great fanctions of virtue, which are derived from the confideration of the authority and moral government of God, especially as extending to a life beyond the grave. We find more of the belief of a future life of retribution in the earlier ages of the heathen world; but, if we judge of it from

from the reprefentation of the poets, among whom only we must look for the real opinions of the vulgar, and the maxims of the popular religion, we fhall find that, about the time of the earlieft Greek poets, the popular notion of a future ftate was fuch as could be of no farther ufe than to reitrain the greater kinds of crimes, but that it could furnish no motives to aim at any high degree of purity, and real excellence of character.

According to the poets, the state of the best men after death was very melancholy, and undefirable, notwithstanding the charming defcriptions which they fometimes give of it. In Homer, Achilles in the Elysian fhades tells Ulyffes, who is reprefented as meeting him there, that he had rather be a ruftic on earth, ferving a poor man for hire, and having but fcanty fare, than have a large empire over the dead.

Lame as these popular notions of a future ftate were, the Greeks and Romans had no opportunity of having their minds. impreffed

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impressed with them, but by listening to the traditions of their parents, or the fongs of their poets, or by gazing at the pageantry which was exhibited at their religious myfteries. There was no provifion in any heathen country, for making these things the fubject of grave difcourfes, delivered to the common people, by perfons for whofe character they had a refpect.

When this fubject came to be canvaffed by the philofophers, who rejected the traditions on which the vulgar belief was founded, the doctrine of a future ftate was first doubted of, and then generally difbelieved and discarded. And confidering what flender evidence there is for this doctrine on the principles of the light of nature only, it is no wonder that this should have been the confequence of reafoning upon the subject. We shall fee that all things have taken the very fame turn among modern unbelievers, who have rejected the authority of revelation, which is the great fupport of the doctrine of a future life in the prefent age.

All

All the heathen philofophers, not excepting Socrates himself, fpeak with great uncertainty concerning a future life. One of the last things he faid to his friends, who attended upon him at the time of his death, was, "I I am going to die, and you conti"nue in life, but which of us fhall be in a better ftate is known to none but God." Befides, this philofopher fpeaks of a future ftate as the privilege of thofe only who addict themselves to philofophy, and fays that the fouls of the wicked tranfmigrate into bodies of ignoble animals; while the better kind of men, who are not philofophers,

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inhabit the better kind of animals.

Cicero

in his philofophical treatifes, in which, however, he only profeffes to contend for the more probable opinions, and does not pretend to any certainty, declares in favour of the doctrine of a future life; but in his private letters to his friends he talks in a quite contrary ftrain, or at least with the greateft poffible uncertainty.

The Stoics did, in general, believe a future life, but it was of fuch a kind, as to be

of

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