New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1848-03-10
NEW-YORk TRIBUNE.
LETTERS
Fsos HON JOHN QUINCY ADAMS TO HIS son
on rAg BIBLE iNp ITS TEACHINGS
IErTER IL

ltlAEh IL
TsN sr.i point Of view IN which have invited
voa II consider the Bible, is In the light Of DirRe
Ssrs'sst,s. Aud whst are we 10 understand by
these terms | intend much as possible, 10 avoid
the feld Of controversy, which ! am not well &C
sasin,ei with. and for which have little respect
.-a ssiu les. Inclination My idea Of the Bible as
pIss.s Rcrc'Gfiog is founded upon its practical
-.e % mankind and not upon metaphysical sub
,etics There are three points Of doctrine the be-
ref Of which fcrms the foundation OF all morality
TIE first is. the Existence OF God the second is
TIE lancy,sliiy Of the Human Soul and the thirds
FIXTURE State Of Rewards and Punishments Sup
pcse I, possible for man 20 disbelleye either OF
these sriicles Of faith and that man will have no
conscience he will have no other law than that OF
the user OF the shark the laws OF man may bind
nm IN chains or may put him to death, but they
never can make him wise. virtuous, or happy. Ii
d. possible to believe them all without believing
ths; the Bible is Divine Revelation. 1t is so OBJ
vioa. to every reasonable being that he did not
make himself and the world which he inhsbits
could sc little make itself that the moment we be
sla TO exercise the power Of reflection, it seems i'm
possible 70 escape the conviction that there Gre
,or 1t is equslly evident that the Creator must be
splriLuA hLl iut bSAHs bhSiO IL h'sOo
consciousness tha: the thinking par, Of nature
material. bat spiritusl-that 1t is not subject
- the avs Of matter, nor perishable with it
Hence srises the belief that We have an immortal
seal ana pursuing the train Of thought which the
vsible creation and observation upon ourselves
scSses.s we must soon discover that the Creator
must also be the Governor of the Universe that
BIS wisdom. and His goodness must be with
-: bonds that He IS righteous God aud loves
rishteousness-,hst mankind bound by the
l.s. Of righteousness and are accountable to Him
n, her obedience TO them in this life, according
20 their good or evil deeds This completion OF d.
vine Justice mus, be reserved for another HE
The existence Of Creator the immortality OF the
human soul. and future state Of reribution, are
therefore perfectly congenial to natural reason
when cnce difcOvered-cf rather Il Is 80 impossible
fc- natural reason to disbelieve them-that 1t would
seen. the light of natural could alone suffice
for their discovery Dat the conclusion would no.
be correct Human reason may be sufficient to get
81 obscure glimpse OF these sacred and important
t.atns bnt IL cannot discover them IN all their clear
ren For example in al their numberess,
false religions which have swayed tine minds Of
men in different ages and regions Of the world the
u
Father Of all In every age,
In every CLINE sdored-
BY Saint by Savage, aus By Sage
Jehovah, Jove, or Lord"
50 SAWS Pope Uni, ersal Prayer. But IL is the
God Of the Hebrews alone who is announced to
rs as the Creator fthe world. The ideas OF God en-
ter,ained by all the most ilustrious, and most in
genious nations Of antiquity were weak and ab
surd The Persians worshiped the Sun the
Egyptians believed in an innumerable multitude OF
gods snd worshiped not only oxen crocodles, dogs
and cats but even garcs and onions. The Greeks
Invented a poeticsl religion, and sdored men and
women, virtues and vices air, water and hire, and
everything To a vivid imagination could personify
Amos, all the Greek Philosophers reasoned and
neditsted upon the nature Of the gods bat scarce
" any of them reflected enough even to imagine
that there was bat one God, and not of them
ever conceived of Him as the Creator of the world.
Cicero has collected together all their opinions
apon the nature OF the gods, and pronounced them
more like the dreams of madElen than the sober
Judgment of wise men. In the first book of Ovid
Metanorphoses there is an account Of the change
Of Chaos in the world. Before the sea and the
earth and the sky that surrounds all things says
Ovid there was a thing called Chaos, and some |
Of the gods The does not know which separated
from each other the elements Of this Chaos, and |
Turned them into the world thus far and no farther
could human reason extend But the first words
OF the Bible are In the beginning God created
the heavens aud the earth" The blessed and sub
lime idea OF God the Creator of the universe the
source of all human happiness for which all the
sages and Philosophers of Greece and Rome CROPPED
10 darkness and found is recalled in the first
verse of the book of Genesis call 1t the source
Of all human virtue and happiness because when
We have attained the conception OF Being, who
by the mere act Of His will, created the world, il /
would follow as an irresistible consequence-even /
II We were not told that the same Being must also
be the Governor Of His OWN crestlon-that man.
with all other things, wac also created by him aud
rnust bold bis felicity and virtue on the CONDITION o
obedience to His wiL--ln the first chapters OF the
Bible there 10 short and rapid historical narrative
of the manner in which the world and man were
nade-of the condition upon which happiness ana
Immortality was bestowed upon our ast parents
Of their transgresson Of this conditioner the pun.
ishment denounced upon them-and the promise O.
REDEMPTION from, ii by the Seed of the Woman
There are and always have been, where the
Holy Scriptures have been known, petty writings
and selfconcealed re6soners, who csvil at some o.
the particular details of this narration. Even seri
Gus inquirers after truth have sometimes been per
picked to believe that there should have been
evening and morning before the existence OF the
sun--that man should be made of clay, and womsn
from the ribs OF man-ihat they should have oeeh
forbidden to eat an apple. and tor di'obed'ence
to that injunction. be with all their pos'en'!
deemed 70 death and that eating an apple coulo
give tue knowledge OF good aud EVIL -tha'
a serpen. should speak and besuie woman.
All this is undoubtedly marvellous and above our
comprehension. Much Of 1t 70 clearly hsurstive
ard aIegorical nor Is ii easy to distinguish what
mart OF it 10 10 be understood in literal and not in
. symbolical sense. Bat all that it imports to
hnow or understand is plain the great and essen.
sial principles upon which our duties and enjoy
mania denand are involved in DO obscurty A God