Excerpt from Christianity Fitted for Universal Diffusion: A Sermon, Delivered in North Yarmouth, June 28, 1837, Before the Maine Missionary Society, at Its Thirtieth AnniversaryIt is scarcely more evident that human nature demands some religion, than it is, - and this is my second remar.k, -that it asks for such a religion as that ofjesus Christ. The Gospel, 1 am well aware, is offensive to the depravity which pervades and corrupts the human tnind. It reveals a God against whom selfishness and pride constitute a direct enmity, and a Saviour moreover, whose doctrine and whose sacrifice bring down all high thoughts and Spread through the soul a dark and most op pressive consciousness of guilt. Yet this very revelation is essential to its fitness for such a being as man. We have an illustration in the story of the woman of Sychar, with whom Jesus conversed at the well. It could be no very pleasant thing to her, that he laid open her depravity, specifying the very sins of which she was guilty. But this very disclosure is the ground of her address to the citizens, Come, see a man which told me all things that ever] did: is not this the Christ? The reasoning seems to have been this: Jesus declared himself to bethe Messiah, his declaration is confirmed, its truth evinced, by his supernatural knowledge of my character and history. A similar process of reasoning goes far in all ages to produce the same conclusion. Christ in his word lavs open the heart, and tells man the story of himself. He shows the sinner what he has done. He sets before him his own image. He awakens and repeats his inmostconsciousness. No pleasant disclosure, it is true, but yet so just, so distinct, s'o vivid, that he does hot readily get rid of it. Some will feel and beliew, and of those who do not, there are few who succeed in casting off all co'n'viction, revile and evade as they will, it is not easy to silence the secret witness, the voice within the soul repeatingand attesting the outward word of God. A religion which should bring no charge of sin againstman, might indeed be less fixated than Christianity, but it could be neither felt nor be lieved. It could not reach the case of the sinner. It could not tell him what he had done. It would therefore want adaptation to his state. Should it ever gain a temporary prevalence, it would therefore cease in a little while to spread and be strong. Man calls aloud for something which at once arouses and utters his own consciousness.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.