It is not the act which we propose to dwell upon, but the disposition : the act was insulated, and pecu- liar to this wicked king ; but the disposition is com- mon to all mankind. The very same disposition may be, and frequently is, evinced in a variety of ways :
1. By denying the Divine authority of the Scrip- tures—
[Infidels pretend a want of evidence, as the ground of their rejecting the Holy Scriptures : but they wish the Scrip- tures not to be true, because they wish to hold fast those opinions and practices which the Scriptures condemn. Their own pride and conceit are gratified in finding objections to the Divine authority of the Bible : and they require such demon- strations of it as the subject itself does not admit of. They lay a very undue stress upon some difficulties which they cannot explain ; and reject evidences, which would satisfy them on every other subject under heaven. The true ground therefore of their unbelief is, not that there is not evidence enough to satisfy a candid inquirer, but that " they love darkness rather than light ; yea, they hate the light, and will not come to the light, lest their deeds should be reproved a."]
2. By explaining away all its fundamental truths —
[To reject the Bible altogether would, in the eyes of some, be a shocking impiety ; but they will without hesitation discard every mystery contained in it. The doctrine of original sin, and of the total corruption of human nature, they will not admit; but will assert, that man is neither so depraved nor so weak as the Scripture represents him. They are equally adverse to the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith : they will have it, that, in bestowing salvation, God has respect to some goodness, either seen or foreseen, in the children of men ; and that, in some degree at least, our good works must form the meritorious ground of our salvation. The influences of the Holy Spirit also are derided by them, as visionary and enthusiastic; and instead of looking to the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth, and to sanctify them throughout, they persist in placing some confidence in their own wisdom and their own strength to accomplish the good work in their souls. And their whole study of the Holy Scriptures is directed to this end, to explain away what God has asserted, and to maintain their own errors in opposition to him. But in all this, there is the same disposition exercised as in the
a John iii. 19—21.