Christian Philosophy.

IN

THE SUN.

N meditating on the wonderful works of God, the first object which generally ftrikes the attention, is that glori ous luminary the Sun. It appears to dwell in the heavens as in a grand pavilion *. The form of it is nearly, if not quite, fpherical. Its magnitude is great indeed!The diameter of it is computed to be 890,000 miles, which is more than equal to a hundred diameters of our earth. But what its fubftance is, whether it be a liquid or a folid globe, who can tell? The general opinion, however, is, that it is a body of fire, that the heat of it is preferved by its prodigi. ous bulk, and that light and heat are emitted from it, as from an enormous mass of red-hot iron. Others fuppofe that it affords us light without poffeffing any great internal heat; and that its beams become hot to us by mixing with our at mosphere.

The distance of the Sun from our earthly abode is truly aftonishing; it being more than eighty millions of miles! a diftance fo prodigious, that a cannon ball, flying at the rate of four hundred and eighty miles an hour, would not reach us in nineteen years. And yet the rays of light which iffue from it, are faid to be no longer than feven or eight minutes in their paffage-a rapidity fo ftupendous, as to be nearly equal to feven times the circumference of our world in a moment. Our merciful Creator has placed the earth at the moft convenient diftance from the Sun, near enough to be fufficiently warmed by it, yet not fo near as to be confumed. The Sun is now generally acknowledged to be in the centre of our fyftem: It does not perform a circuit round the earth, as, from appearances, we fhould naturally conclude, and as the ancient philofophers fuppofed :—it revolves only round its own axis; and does this once in the space of 25 days, 6 hours t. Various experiments have produced evi

*Psalm xix. 4.

The enemies of revelation have not failed to avail themselves of apparent discord which there is between the Scriptures of truth and the true philosophy; because the Scriptures represent the sun as revolving about the earth, as rising, setting, &c. It might,

dences in favour of the prefent, or, as it is commonly called, the Copernican hypothefis; and fuch, indeed, as almost amount to demonftration. To thefe teftimonies may be fubjoined the doctrine of eclipfes. The caufe of eclipfes is is obvious: When the moon paffes between the earth and the fun, fo as to intercept his rays, he is faid to be eclipfed. This never happens but at the time of the new moon: because it is only then that the paffes between the fun and the earth. When the earth is interpofed between the moon and the fun, then the moon is eclipfed, and this is only at the time of the full moon.

Who can think of the vast bulk of the Sun without calling to mind its glorious Creator? He is emphatically styled, "The Father of Lights." If the material Sun be fo great, how inconceivably greater must He be who fpake, and it was made, who commanded, and it stood faft! The fixed stars alfo, which on account of their immenfe distance, appear to us so very small, are, it is very probable, so many funs equal in magnitude to ours, and anfwering the fame purposes in other fyftems as ours does in this. Each of them feems formed to communicate light and heat to a certain number of inhabited planets, kept by gravitation within the sphere of its activity. "With what an auguft conception does this furnish us of the works of the Creator! Thoufands of thousands of funs, attended by ten thoufand times ten thousand worlds, all in rapid motion, yet calm, regular, and harmonious, invariably keeping the paths prescribed them; and those worlds perhaps, be sufficient to say, that since the design of the holy writings is to instruct men not in philosophical but in divine truth, we ought to consider these texts in which philosophical matters are mentioned being spoken according to the appearances of things, and the vulgar notions which men have of them, not according to their reality, or philosophical verity. But it has been proved by persons well acquainted with the Hebrew Bible, that the Scriptures speak exactly and philosophically true in natural things. Whoever wishes to see this proved may read PHILOSOPHIA SACRA; or, The Principles of Natural Philosophy extracted from Divine Revelation ; By the late Rev. Samuel Pike.

he

"It is true that the sun seems to change his place daily; but whether the sun or the earth moves, this appearance will be the same; for when the earth is in any part of the heavens, the sun will appear in the opposite. It is well known to every person who has sailed on smooth water, that however fast the vessel goes, does not feel its motion. Now the motion of the earth is incompa rably more smooth and uniform than that of a ship or any machine made and moved by human art, and therefore we cannot be suppo sed to feel its motion.

peopled with myriads of intelligent beings! O how great, how wife, how good, muft HE be, who made and governs the whole !"

In proportion as our thoughts of God are enlarged we muft feel ourselves diminished, and fay with David, "When I confider the heavens Lord! what is man, that thou art mindful of him?" How aftonishing is the condefcenfion of divine Providence, that, amidst the wide-extended universe, in all its unnumbered parts, amidst the myriads of beings it contains, notices each individual, provides for his fupport, and directs all his affairs! But how aftonishing, beyond all poffible conception, is it, that Jefus, who adorned thofe amazing luminaries with all their imperial grandeur, fhould abafe himself fo low as to become an inhabitant of the depraved and miferable world in which we live; that he fhould affume not the nature of angels but the feed of Abraham; that he fhould lay afide all his refulgent glory, take upon him the lowly form of a fervant, bear the contradiction of finners for thirty years, and at laft expire on a crofs to ransom guilty man! What are the dimenfions of the heavens, vaft as they are, compared with thofe of Jefus' love?

"Could we with ink the ocean fill,

Were the whole earth of parchment made,
Were every fingle ftick a quill,

And ev'ry man a fcribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,

Would drain the ocean dry;

Nor could the fcroll contain the whole,
Though ftretch'd from sky to fky."

The Sun is one of the brightest images of divine goodness. The idea of the Power which formed it, impreffes me with holy awe; but the goodness difplayed in furnishing fuch a fource of bleffings, fills me with gratitude.

"Praise him who made great lights;

For his mercy endureth for ever:
The Sun to rule the day;

For his mercy endureth for ever.”

It is an invaluable bleffing to us that the Sun does not make his appearance in a fudden and abrupt manner. He comes forth from his chamber full of mildnefs; he darts his rays with gradually-increafing force, until he attains his meridian height; and then as gradually retires.

When a certain confeffor of the Romish church, who had been for many years confined in the dark prifon of an Inqui

fition, was brought forth to fuffer death, he no fooner beheld the light of the Sun, than he cried out, "Who that has reafon can worship any other than the Maker of that glorious creature?" For this devout exclamation, fo derogatory to the worship of images, he was immediately gagged.. Bleffed be God, our tongues are at perfect liberty to record his fublime perfections who made this great luminary, and who continues it as the inftrument of light, heat and vegetation to the earth. Surely then

"An undevout aftronomer is mad.”

How extensive is the divine goodness in the beneficial rays of the Sun, which vifit alike the juft and the unjuft, the faint and the finner! How cogent an argument this to induce difciples of Jefus to love their enemies! Let us resemble our heavenly Father by diffufing, as widely as poffible, the benefits of that knowledge which we receive from the great Fountain of intelligence.

The time will come when men must account to God for the ufe which they make of light. Happy thofe who, like their Redeemer, work the works of God while it is day! They fhall ere long be translated to that glorious state which is called, "The inheritance of the faints in light." But thofe who abuse the natural light of the Sun to the purposes of fin and rebellion, fhall be confined in the blackness of darknefs for ever.

The Sun is a lively emblem of Jesus Christ. It is "the eye and foul of this great world," and fo is Jefus of the church: He is the fource of all wifdom and knowledge. For thousands of years he has freely communicated his enlightening, quickening, and comforting beams. Firmly fixed in the centre of the church, he diffufes his invaluable bleffings in all directions; nor could millions of faints and angels, thofe inferior lights, in the leaft degree fupply his abfence. How beautiful is the expreffion of the Evangelift: "In him was life, and, the life was the light of men!" In his illuminating rays his people will eternally rejoice; "for the Lord fhall be our everlafting light, and the days of our mourning fhall be ended."

The progress of the light resembles the path of the juft. When the day-ftar first arifes on the heart, no fmall obfcurity remains. To the newly-enlightened Christian spiritual objects appear as men did to him who had been blind: They are like trees walking. But the good work of grace once begun, fhall never be forfaken. The believer shall increase in the light of knowledge and peace, till he appear like the Sun in his meridian splendour.

VOL. I.

X

Let us close our reflections by obferving, that a bleffed period will arrive, when God fhall adorn our fallen nature with the glories of this magnificent luminary. Even now the church is clothed with the Sun: John beheld her in vifion*, furrounded with rays of illuftrious brightnefs; having put on Chrift and his righteoufnefs, and being irradiated with light, truth, comfort, and holinefs. True, our Sun is often eclipfed, and covered with mists and vapours; but shortly all thefe fhall be done away: "Then shall the righteous thine forth as the Sun in the kingdom of their Fathert.'

CONSPECTOR.

I

A FUNERAL MEDITATION.

AM now in the house of mourning, but it may prove better for my foul than the house of feafting. This would tend to allure my heart from God, while that is calculated to wean it from the world, and raise it to heaven. Death that pale messenger and grim monfter, that univerfal leveller and inexorable king of terrors and tyrants, has plundered and ravaged this forrowful habitation. With him, however it is nothing ftrange or new. Where can I find the house, of almost any standing, in which there have been none dead? From Adam to Mofes, Death reigned; and from Mofes to this hour, he still reigns. Alexander, who conquered the world, was conquered by him. His fatal darts continue to fly, and never once mifs their mark. On his pale horse he rides up and down the world, and has done fo for near fix thousand years, laying all flat before him. He will still go on conquering and to conquer, till time fhall be no more. Once to die is appointed unto all men. Epictetus told an emperor, what no emperor dare deny, "That to be born, and to die, were common both to princes and beggars." The faithful page of hiftory, and fculptured monuments, facred to the memory of philofophers, poets, warriors, and others; together with the various graves and infcriptions found in church-yards; fully demonftrate the univerfality of Death. Our fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? The places which knew them once, know them no more. Let me ferioufly confider, that what I now fay of them, may ere long be faid of me. Death, in every point of view, is a fubject most folemn; and, as it is one in which all have an equal concern, it ought to be viewed with equal