Plausible reasoning sometimes unsafe.

Scholars in Geometry.

Does the Bible tell you? It tells you that your Savior was God, and that he became man. If you rest upon the Bible, you must stop here. Will you trust to your own speculations? Will you build up inferences upon what the Bible states; and think, if you are cautious in your reasoning, you can be safe in your conclusions? You cannot be safe in your conclusions. No mind can be trusted a moment to draw conclusions from well established premises on a subject which it does not fully grasp.

If you doubt this, just make the following experiment. Undertake to teach the elements of geometry to a class of intelligent young people; and as they go on from truth to truth, lead them into conversation, induce them to apply the active energies of their minds to the subject, in reasoning themselves from the truths which their textbook explains, and you will soon be convinced how far the human mind can be trusted in its inferences on a subject which is beyond its grasp. Your pupils will bring you apparent contradictions, arising, as they think they can show, from the truths established; and will demonstrate, most satisfactorily to themselves, the most absurd propositions. In one case, an intelligent scholar in a class in college attempted to demonstrate the absurdity of the famous forty-seventh. He drew his diagram, and wrote out his demonstration, and showed it to his class; and it was long before any of them could detect the fallacy. The mathematical reader will understand this, and all may understand, that, in this case, the pupil made out a chain of reasoning perfectly satisfactory to his own mind, which however led to absurdity and falsehood.

You say, perhaps, "Well, this was because he had just begun the study; he knew scarcely any thing about it. Such mistakes would only be made by the merest beginners."

That is exactly what I wish you to say; and to admit

Drawing inferences.

Story of the knights and the statue.

the same thing in regard to ourselves, as students of religious truth. We are mere beginners; we know almost nothing of such subjects as God, eternity, and the constitution of mind. The moment therefore we leave the plain propositions of the Bible, which are all that are necessary for us to understand, and go to drawing inferences, we involve ourselves in absurdity and falsehood, no matter how directly and inevitably our inferences seem to follow. Whenever I hear a man attempting to prove, from the nature of the case, that the Word could not have been God, and afterward have become flesh, or that God cannot reign in the heart, as the Bible says he does, and yet leave man free and accountable, I always think of the college sophomore endeavoring by his own blundering reasoning to upset the proposition of Pythagoras.

These subjects, which are too difficult in their very nature for our powers, are the source of very many of the unhappy controversies which agitate the church. The mind is not capable of grasping fully the whole truth. Each side seizes a part, and, building its own inferences upon these partial premises, they soon find that their own opinions come into collision with those of their neighbors.

Moralists tell the following story, which very happily illustrates this species of controversy: In the days of knight errantry, when individual adventurers rode about the world, seeking employment in their profession, which was that of the sword, two strong and warlike knights, coming from opposite directions, met each other at a place where a statue was erected. On the arm of the statue was a shield, one side of which was of iron, the other of brass, and as our two heroes reined up their steeds, the statue was upon the side of the road, between them, in such a manner that the shield presented its surface of brass to the one, and of iron to the other. They imme

The shield of brass and iron.

One kind of controversy

diately fell into conversation in regard to the structure before them, when one, incidentally alluding to the iron shield, the other corrected him, by remarking that it was of brass. The knight upon the iron side of course did not receive the correction: he maintained that he was right; and, after carrying on the controversy for a short time by harsh language, they gradually grew angry, and soon drew their swords. A long and furious combat ensued; and when at last both were exhausted, unhorsed, and lying wounded upon the ground, they found that the whole cause of their trouble was, that they could not see both sides of a shield at a time.

Now religious truth is sometimes such a shield, with various aspects, and the human mind cannot clearly see all at a time. Two Christian knights, clad in strong armor, come up to some such subject as moral agency, and view it from opposite stations. One looks at the power which man has over his heart, and, laying his foundation there, he builds up his theory upon that alone. Another looks upon the divine power in the human heart, and, laying his own separate foundation, builds up his theory. The human mind is incapable, in fact, of grasping the subject-of understanding how man can be free and accountable, and yet be so much under the control of God as the Bible represents. Our Christian soldiers, however, do not consider this. Each takes his own view, and carries it out so far as to interfere with that of the other. They converse about it—they talk more and more warmly-then a long controversy ensues-if they have influence over others, their dispute agitates the church, and divides brethren from brethren. And why? Why, just because our Creator has so formed us that we cannot, from one point of view, see both sides of the shield at the same time. The combatants, after a long battle, are both unhorsed and wounded,

Difficulties of children.

Children's questions.

their usefulness and their Christian character is injured or destroyed.

Now what is the true course for us to take in regard to such a subject? Simply this. Look at our dependence on God for a change of heart and for the exercise of right feeling, just as the Bible presents this subject, and go cordially and fully just as far as the Bible goes, which is a great way. Fix in your heart that feeling of dependence and humility which this view is calculated to give. Then look at the other aspect of this subject, the active power of man, and go here just as far as the Bible goes, and carefully learn the lesson of diligence which it teaches. Suppose you cannot find where the two come together, be willing to be ignorant of a theory which God has not revealed.

It has been my design in presenting this subject, to convince Christians that they cannot understand every thing connected with Christian theology, and to try to induce them to repose willingly and peacefully in a sense of ignorance fully realized and frankly acknowledged.

3. Difficulties of children. I have discussed this sub ject too with direct reference to children, for the sake of trying to guard you against two faults. One is, coming to your parents or teachers with questions, and expecting that they can in all cases give a satisfactory answer. They cannot. They do not know. The wisest parent, the highest intellect, is incapable of answering the questions which the youngest child can ask in regard to the truths of Christianity. Do not expect it then. You may ask questions freely, but when the answers are not perfectly satisfactory to you, consider the subject as beyond the grasp of your present powers. Be satisfied if you can understand the principles of duty, and spend your moral strength in endeavoring to be as faithful as possible there.

Difficulties of parents and teachers.

The school-boy's question.

There is one other suggestion which I wish to make to you. When you carry questions or difficulties of any kind to your parents or teachers, be very careful to be actuated by a sincere desire to learn, instead of coming as young persons very often do, with a secret desire to display their own acuteness and discrimination in seeing the difficulty. How often have young persons brought questions to me, when it has been perfecly evident that their whole object was not to be taught, but to show me their own shrewdness and dexterity. They listen in such cases to what I say, not to be taught by it, but to think what they can reply to it, and bring objection upon objection with a spirit which refuses to be satisfied. Be careful to avoid this. Ask for the sake of learning. Listen with a predisposition to be satisfied with the answer, and never enter into argument, and take your side, and dispute with your parent or your teacher, with a view to show your dexterity. If you have this spirit and exercise it, an intelligent parent will always detect it.

4. Difficuties of parents and teachers. I wish to have this discussion the means of helping parents and teachers, and older brothers and sisters, out of one of their most common difficulties-I mean, that of answering questions brought to them by the young. Learn to say, "I do not know." If you really will learn to say this frankly and openly, it will help you out of a vast many troubles.

You are a Sabbath school teacher, I will imagine. A bright looking boy, whose vanity has been fanned by flattery, says to you before his class,

"There is one thing in the lesson I do not understand. It says God made the earth first, and afterward the sun. Now the sun stands still, and the earth and all the planets move round it. It seems to me, therefore, that he would have been more likely to have created the sun