Evansville weekly journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 184?-18??, 1848-04-06
LETTERS
From Hon. John Quincy Adams to his Son
On the Bible and its Teachings.
LETTER ".

vanshes, that of Abraham begins, and thence
forth it is the history ola family OF which Abra-
ham is the first; and Jesus Christ The last per-
son; and from the first appearance of Abraham
the whole history appears to have been ordered
from age to age, expressly to prepare for the APP
pearance of Christ upon Earth.-The history
begins with the first and mildest trials of Abfa-
hams obedience, and the promise as reward of
his fidelity, that in ''hm all the families OF the
earth should be blessed" The second trial
which required the sacrifice of his son, was
many wears afterwards, and the promise was
more explicit, and more precisely assigned as
the reward of his obedience. There were be-
tween these periods two intermediate occa-
sions, recorded in the 18th and 28th chapters
of Genesis-on the first of which the word OF
the Lord came to Abraham in vision, and
promised him he should have a child, from
whom great and mighty nation should pro-
coed, which, after being in servitude 400 years
in strange land, should become the possessors
of the land of Canaan from that of Egypt to
the river Euphrates. On the second, the Lord
appeared TO hin and his wife, repeated the
promise that they should have a child, that
Abraham should surely become great ma
ton, and that ''all the nations of the earth
should be blessed in him." '.for know him,
saith the Lord; that he will command his
y
the way of the Lord, to do justice and Judgment
that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that
which de hath spoken OF him." from all which
1t Is obvious that the first of the promises was
made as subservient and instrumental to the
second-that the great and mighty nation was
to be raised as the means in the ways of Gods
providence for producing the sacred person of
Jesus Christ. through whom the perfect sacri-
flee OF atonement Tor the original transgression
OF man should be eonsummated, and By which
'all the families of the earth shall be blessed"
am SO little yersed in controversial divinity
that | know not whether this xviiith chapter of
Genesis has ever been adduced in support of
the doctrine of Trinity; there is at least in it an
alteration of those divine persons, and of one
not d little remarkable which know not how
to explain; II taken in connection with the
18th, 1t would seem that one of the men enter
tanned by Abraham, was God himself, and the
other two, were angels, sent TO destroy Sod
on. Leaving this, however, let me ask your
particular attention to the reason assigned by
God for bestowing such extraordinary blessings
upon Abraham. 1t unfolds to us the first and
most important part of the superstructure of
moral principle, erected upon the foundation of
obedience TO the will OF God. The rigorous
trials of Abrahams obedience mentioned in
this, and my last letter, We're only tests to as
certain his character in reference to the single,
and may say abstract point of obedience, here
we have precious CLEAN OF light, disclosing
what the nature of this will of Gods was, that
he should command his children and his house
hold after him, by which the parental authori-
ty to instruct and direct his d. scendants in the
way of the Lord was given him as an authority
and enjolned upon him as a duty; and the les
sons which he was then empowered and requir-
ell TO teach his posterity were, ''to do justice
ii nd NJ, IL.
of God, is the first, and all comprehensive vir-
tue taught in the bible, so the second is Justice
and Judgment toward Mankind; and this is
exhibited as the result naturally following
from the other. In the same chapter is relat-
ell the lnterceS sion OF Abraham with God for
the preservation of Sodom from destruction;
the city was destroyed for its crimes, but the
Lord promised Abraham it should be spared if
only ten righteous should be found in it; the
principle of mercy was therefore sanctioned in
immediate connection with that of Justice
Abraham had several children; but the great
promise of God was to be performed through
Isaac alone; and the two sons of Isaac, Jacob,
the youngest-was selected for the foundation
of the second family and nation; it was from
Jacob that the multiplication of the family be
gan, and his twelve sons were all included in
the geneaology Of the tribes which afterward
constituted the Jewish people. Ishmae the
children OF Keturah, and Esau, the eldest son
of Isaac, were all the parents of considerable
families which afterward spread into nations;
but they formed no part of the chosen people, |
and their history, with that of the neighbor-
ing nations, is only incidentally noticed in the
Bible, so far as they had relations of inter
course or hostility with the people of God |
The history of Abraham and his descendants to
the close of the book of Genesis, is biography |
of individuals; the incidents related of them
all OF the class belonging TO domestic life.
Joseph, indeed, became highly distinguished
public character III the land of Egypt, and it |
was through him that his father and all his |
brothers were finally settled there-which was |
necessary to prepare for the existence of their
posterlty as nation, and to fulfil the purpose
which God had announced to Abraham, that
they should be four hundred years in strange
land. In the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
and Joseph, many miraculous events are re-
corded, but all those which are spoken of as
happening in the ordinary course of human af-
fairs have an air of reality about them, which
no Invention could initiate. In some of the
transactions related, the conduct of the patri-
archs is highly blanca BILE; circumstances of
deep depravily particularly told of Reuben.
Simeon, Levi, and Judah, upon which il is ne
cessary TO remark that their actions are never
spoken OF with appreciation: but always with !
suohS MARKS OF cenSure. ana generally with a |
minute account of the punishment which fol-
lowed upon their transgressions. The vices
and crimes of the patriarchs are sometimes al |
legged as objections against the belief that per-
sons guilty of them should ever have been es- |
pecially favored of God, but, vicious as they |
were, there is every reason to be convinced |
that they were less so than their cotempora-
ries; their vices appear to US at this day. gross,
disgusting and atrocious, but the written law
was not then given, the boundaries between
right and wrong Were not defined with the
same precision as in the tables given after
ward to Moses; the law of Nature was the on
ly rule of morality by which they could be gov
erned, and the sins of intemperance, of every
kind recorded in Holy Writ, were at that pc
Rod less aggravated than they have been in af-
ter ages, because they were in a great measure
sins of ignorance. From the time when the
sons of Jacob were settled in Egypt until the |
completion of the four hundred years, during
which God had foretoId to Abraham that his
family should dwell there, there is chasm in
the sacred history. We expressly told that
all the house OF Jacob which came into Egypt,
were three sc0rp and ten. eo;1 ~.