ere is a God. Man is a dependent
being in common with all other creatures, and all creatures depend upon
a first cause. That cause is God. Dependent as a creature, man may know
something of the natural perfections of his Maker; and possessing a
conscience, which implies accountability to a superior, he may know,--he
_must_ know, something of the moral attributes of God.

In view of these positions, we may account for the fact, too often
overlooked by the reader of the Bible, that the Holy Spirit directed the
first of all historians to begin his narrative _so abruptly_. Assuming
that the reader is already assured of _God's being,_ Moses proceeds at
once to account for the origination of the material universe. In simple
narrative he writes,--"In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth." Thus God's being, and the eternity of his being are assumed as
known by the first inspired penman; a fact or principle not to be
disputed. True, the being of God has been questioned, but only by
"fools"--"brutish people;" who, by their atheistical suggestions have
proclaimed to their fellows their "brutish folly." (Ps. xiv. 6, xciv. 8,
9.)

As the Bible takes for granted that mankind have had a previous
revelation in their own physical and moral constitution,--in the visible
heavens and earth; the same is true of the last book of the Bible, the
Apocalypse. It assumes that the reader has some competent knowledge of
the preceding books of the sacred Scriptures. The reader is supposed to
be acquainted with the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations of the
Covenant of Grace. Moreover, the moral law, as inculcated in the Old
Testament; the Levitical priesthood and ministry, as being "shadows of
good things to come;" the "doctrine according to godliness," taught in
the gospels and epistles of the New Testament,--are all taken for
granted and supposed to be received with a divine faith by all who would
profit by this last book of the sacred canon.

It is further assumed in the Apocalypse, that the humble inquirer into
the mind of the Holy Spirit has a knowledge of ancient history, of the
character and destiny of Egypt, Babylon, etc. And finally, it is
requisite that the successful inquirer into the mind of God be
acquainted with the language of symbols; and, above all, that he be
resolved, with the inspired writer John, to take a position with the
mystic woman _in the wilderness_.

With these few preliminaries, we proceed:

C