others, to pronounce a Theodicy impossible.
We put them aside utterly, in order that we may proceed to vindicate the
glory of God, as manifested in the constitution and government of the
moral world.

Chapter V.

The Relation Between The Human Will And The Divine Agency.

Thou art the source and centre of all minds,
Their only point of rest, eternal Word!
From Thee departing, they are lost and rove
At random, without honour, hope, or peace.
From Thee is all that soothes the life of man,--
His high endeavour and his glad success,
His strength to suffer and his will to serve.--COWPER.

And God proclaim'd from heaven, and by an oath
Confirm'd, that each should answer for himself;
And as his own peculiar work should be
Done by his proper self, should live or die.--POLLOK.

The evils of haste and precipitancy in the formation of opinions are,
perhaps, nowhere more deplorably exhibited, than in regard to the relation
between human and divine agency. Indeed, so many rash judgments have been
put forth on this important subject, that the very act of approaching it
has come to be invested, in the minds of many persons, with the character
of rashness and presumption. Hence the frequent warnings to turn our
attention from it, as a subject lying beyond the range of all sober
speculation, and as unsuited to the investigation of our finite minds. If
this be a wise conclusion, it would be well to leave it to support itself,
instead of attempting to bolster it up with the reasons frequently given
for it.

Section I.

General view of the relation between the divine and the human power.

It is frequently said, for example, that it is impossible to reconcile the
agency of God with that of man; because we do not know how the divine
power operates upon the human mind. But, if we examine the subject
closely, we shall find that the manner in which the Spirit of God
operates, is not what we want to know, in order to remove the great
difficulty in question. If such knowledge were possessed in the greatest
possible perfection, we have no reason to believe that our insight into
the relation between the human and the divine power would be at all
improved. For aught we can see, our notions on this point would remain as
dim and feeble as if we possessed no such knowledge. If we could
ascertain, however, precisely