620 STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS OF HUMAN REASON. God and providence, this will effectually prove, that these diffi- culties are not insolvable,: and much more effectual are. they to remove these difficulties, when the reason of things so far conspires with these suppositions, as goes very near to prove them great realities. PITH. I am much inclined to come into these sentiments of Sophronius, since they carry such an appearance of reason and truth in them, and sincethey tease so happy an effect as to repre- sent far the greatest part of the intellectual works of God holy and happy, and hereby <lo so much honour to the equity and goodness of the .great Creator. Lon. I cannot nut approve such a scheme as this, which bestows virtue and happiness upon almost all the intelligent crea- tures of God; for I can hardly conceive, that ever a beingof such boundless, wisdom, power, and goodness, should produce So manymillions of creatures capable of pleasure and pain, feli- city andMisery, without designing and securing felicity to far the greatest part of them, asfar as is consistent with the freedom of their will. Som. So far as things apps.r to me, Logisto, I cannot but agrée with you in this sentiment; and by such considerations and reasonings as these, I think we have removed the grand difficulty that lay upon your mind with the greatest weight, viz. Flow it should come to pass that so many thousand inhabitants off the heathen world, who are originally fallen fromGod, should go on from age to age in the neglect of God and virtue, still run- ning on in the paths of misery, and be so far abandoned by their Creator, as not to have a practical and proximate sufficiency in their own reasoning powers to guide and conduct them to r ti- pion and happiness. But after all, Sir, give me leave to say, that the nature of the great and blessed God is infinitely superior to all our powers and conceptions, his thoughts are so far above our thoughts, and his ways so far above our ways, that if there should remain such difficulties in the conduct of his providence towards his creatures, that we could not fairly account for by our reason, and by-all our suppositions, yet we are still bound to believe matter of fact, when our reason, experience, and observation assure us of the truth of it. We cannot but believe, that the heathen world actually lies in a Clark and deplorable state ; andyet, on the other hand, we are bound to believe, that the great God is perfectly wise, and righteous, and good. The ways and works of God may be unknown and unsearchable, but they can never be unjust. There may he infinite schemes within his comprehensive view, whereby his wisdom can recon- cile those things which we know not hew to reconcile. Those sifflèrent propositions in the science of theology, as well as in
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