of man ; and man himself the most noble of all God's works, his body so curiously wrought, and his soul so richly endowed ; in beholding these things, I say, they could not but know, that there was some superior Being, who had formed them all. They could not look upon any work of art, — a house, for in- stance, or a watch, or any thing that required skill, — but their minds must of necessity be led to contemplate the maker of it: and a similar necessity was imposed upon them by all the works of creation. Having traced up every thing to a First Cause, they must see that, as He was the cause of all that existed besides himself, there could be nothing to give existence to him; and that consequently, he must be self-existent and eternal. Moreover, they must see, from the immensity and the excellency of all his works, that there can be no limit to his wisdom, his power, or his goodness; but that these per- fections of his must of necessity be infinite. That these de- eductions were open to them we are sure, because some of their more enlightened philosophers have actually made these dis- coveries, though certainly with less clearness and precision than we by the means of revelation are enabled to do. And God himself affirms it in the verses preceding our text; saying, that the things concerning him which were invisible to human eyes, were nevertheless " clearly to be seen and understood in his visible works, even his eternal power and Godhead V St. Paul also, when addressing heathens, quotes to them their own poets, to shew, that, in the representations which they foolishly made of the Supreme Being, they did in fact violate the law that was in their own minds, and act contrary to the light that was within them0.]
But they did not improve these opportunities aright —
[They entertained most univorthy conceptions of the Deity. Instead of regarding him as a Spirit who pervaded all space, they " made images of him like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things ;" and then bowed down to the work of their own hands, and said, " Deliver me ; for thou art my godd." What could be more insulting to the Divine Majesty than such conduct as this?
Moreover they testified no gratitude toioards him for all the benefits that he conferred upon them. Innumerable were the blessings which in constant succession he bestowed upon theme; yet " were they not thankful1-," but abused his gifts, instead of taking occasion from them to love and glorify the Giver.
b ver. 19, 20. « Acts xvii. 28, 29.
d Compare ver. 23. with Isai. xliv. 9 — 20. « Acts xiv. 10, 17. f ver. 21. VOL. xv. c