Volume I Part 1 (1/2)
Female Scripture Biographies.
Vol. I.
by Francis Augustus c.o.x.
Preface.
Notwithstanding the variety of theological publications of a devotional cla.s.s, which are perpetually issuing from the press, the author concurs in the opinion of those who think they can scarcely be too numerous. It may reasonably be hoped, that in proportion to the multiplication of works of this kind, the almost incalculable diversities of taste will be suited; and that those who may be disinclined to one style of writing, or to a particular series of subjects, may be allured by their predilections to the perusal of others.
Amidst the general plenty, however, there is one department which experiences a degree of scarcity--a department to which these volumes properly belong. Pious families require a supply of religious reading, adapted to occupy the intervals of business, the hours of devotion, and the time which is often and properly appropriated to domestic instruction in the evenings of the Christian Sabbath. To have the minds of the young directed at such seasons, not only to the truths of religion in general, but the more attractive parts of Scripture in particular, seems highly important. By a happy combination of amus.e.m.e.nt and instruction, piety is divested of her formality, and clothed with fascination: the ear is caught, and the heart gained; while the narrative interests, the best lessons become impressed even upon the gay and the trifling; and he who, when summoned to the social circle, sat down with reluctance, may rise up with regret.
Whoever has been blessed with the advantages of a religious education, and recurs to his own years of juvenile susceptibility, cannot forget the strong impressions he received by these means; and must have had frequent occasion to remark the tenaciousness with which they have lingered in his memory, and sprung up amidst his recollections at every subsequent period.
In many cases they have proved the basis, of future eminence in piety, and blended delightfully with the gladdening retrospections of declining life. In those instances, where all the good effects which might be antic.i.p.ated did not appear, these early lessons have checked the impetuousity of pa.s.sion, neutralized the force of temptation, and cherished the convictions of an incipient piety.
The writer of the following pages is aware of the just celebrity acquired by some of his predecessors in the same line of composition, and he might have felt wholly deterred from pursuing his design, by an apprehension of having been superseded by the elegant and comprehensive lectures of HUNTER, and the simple, perspicuous, and devotional biography of ROBINSON, had he not remarked that their notices of the women in Scripture formed but a small proportion of their respective works, and that the present performance might be very properly considered as a continuation of their volumes, particularly of those of the latter author.
It will be seen, that some of the same characters which have been given in preceding writers, appear in the ”Female Scripture Biography;” but the reader may perhaps be conciliated to this seeming repet.i.tion, by being reminded that they were necessarily retouched, in order to complete the series; while the writer satisfies himself with the reflection that, whatever subjects are deduced from Scripture, are not only unexhausted, but will forever remain inexhaustible. The ”wells of salvation,” from which preceding ages have drawn, still afford to us, and will supply to far-distant generations, the same spiritual, copious, and unfailing refreshment.
The Introductory Essay to the second volume, respecting the influence of Christianity on the condition of the female s.e.x, has been somewhat divested of that literary cast which it might have been expected to a.s.sume, the better to accord with the general drift of the work. The reader will, it is confidently antic.i.p.ated, deem, it no unacceptable addition.
Female Scripture Biography.
Eve.
Chapter I.
Superiority of Man in the Universe--Present Degradation of Reason--The mere Philosopher and the Christian Contrasted--G.o.d seen in all his Works--Creation of Man--His Corporeal and Mental Const.i.tution--Value of the Soul--Adam in Paradise--Alone--Supplied with a Help Meet--Revelation points out the True Dignity of the Female Character--One Woman given to the Man--The Fall--Aggravated and complex Nature of the Sin of Eve--Consequences, the Loss of Eden--Loss of the Favour of G.o.d--Loss of Life--Ruin of Posterity--Remarks to obviate some Difficulties attaching to this subject in general.
What a glorious pre-eminence in the creation, has Infinite Wisdom a.s.signed to the human species! As the skilful architect finishes his performance by the most exquisite specimens of workmans.h.i.+p, so ”the great Builder of this varied frame,” after the formation of _matter_, proceeded to impart _life_, to communicate _instinct_, and to inspire reason. ”And G.o.d said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have _dominion_ over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So G.o.d created man in his _own image_; in the image of G.o.d created he him; male and female created he them.”
The superiority of man to _matter_, however fair, to _life_ however pleasing, to _instinct_ however perfect, appears in this, that he only is capable of contemplating and admiring the works of G.o.d--he only has an eye that opens upon the heavens, and a mind adapted to receive impressions from their diversified glories.
But even _reason_, in its present state, is so degraded, that the wonders of creative wisdom are, in a considerable degree, overlooked or undervalued. The heavens, with all their stars, and suns, and systems, exhibit few beauties to the great ma.s.s of inattentive spectators; and the observance of them, by day and by night, excites no correspondent emotions. All is a blank! Plunged into an abyss of cares and anxieties, chained to the oar of constant, unvarying labour; and solicitous only ”to buy and sell, and get gain,” to _them_ ”the heavens declare the glory of G.o.d, and the firmament showeth his handywork” almost in vain!
Nor can it escape observation, that valuable as the discoveries of philosophy are, the _mere discoverer_ who converts his knowledge to no pious purpose, is the most infatuated of human beings. While he contemplates distances, magnitudes, and number--while he investigates the laws of motion, and the phenomena of nature--while he points the telescope to gaze on fiery comets, to pursue wandering planets in their orbits, to detect hitherto undiscovered globes of matter in the fields of s.p.a.ce, merely to gratify curiosity or to acquire fame--the Christian contemplates the scene with another eye, and with far different sentiments. He sees G.o.d in all. ”This,” says he, ”is _his_ creation--this the work of _his_ fingers--these the productions of _his_ skill”--”by _his_ spirit he hath garnished the heavens”--_he_ hath appointed ”the sweet influences of the Pleiades, and looseth the bands of Orion”--_he_ ”bringeth forth Mazzaroth in his season, and guides Arcturus with his sons.” Yonder sun was formed and fixed by _his_ mighty power--that moon, which walks forth in brightness, and those stars, which glitter on the robe of night, were kindled by _his_ energy, and s.h.i.+ne by _his_ command.--”Lift up your eyes on high, and behold WHO hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by names.”
The G.o.d of _nature_ is the G.o.d of _truth_, the G.o.d of _revelation_, and the G.o.d of _Israel_. If the Christian contemplate the firmament, or look into the Bible, he sees the same Being. His operations are diverse, but it is the same G.o.d. If he go, like Isaac, ”into the fields to meditate at the eventide,” he meets with G.o.d in every leaf, in every stream, and in every star; if he enter into his closet to read the Scriptures, still he finds G.o.d in every page and in every truth; or if he pray, it is to ”his FATHER who seeth in secret.” He may change his place, but he can never remove from this lovely presence. ”Nevertheless, I am continually with thee.”
Hence nature s.h.i.+nes with new glory in his eyes. G.o.d in the _sun_, conducts him by a delightful a.s.sociation of ideas, and a frequent train of reflection, to ”G.o.d in _Christ_, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespa.s.ses unto them.”
[Sidenote: Years before Christ, 4004.]
Creation was the work of six days, upon the third of which, the earth was formed, and clothed with vegetative fertility; on the last ”the Lord G.o.d formed MAN of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” It is for this reason that Eternal Wisdom is represented as ”rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, and her delights were with the sons of men.” The _uninhabited_ part of the earth is surely worthy of divine complacency. It forms a portion of that universe which the Supreme Architect at first p.r.o.nounced to be ”very good.” The most retired places of this terrestrial globe, those extensive deserts which were never printed by the human foot, those dens and caves, deep valleys and cloud-encircled mountains, where silence and solitude have reigned from the beginning of time, contain innumerable manifestations of wisdom, power, and goodness. Wisdom might rejoice in a thousand wonders that lie concealed within the bowels of the earth, or in the caverns of the ocean, a world of mineral productions which our utmost research fails to discover; but the _habitable_ part of the earth has ever excited the highest interest, as the residence of his intelligent creature, and the antic.i.p.ated scene where the mediatorial work of his beloved Son was to be accomplished.
Man has been called ”an abridgment of the universe,” [1] uniting in himself in the extremes of being; in his body connected with the material, in his soul with the spiritual world;--by his corporeal const.i.tution a fit inhabitant of the earth; by his intellectual faculties, a suitable tenant of the skies.
The soul of man const.i.tutes the perfection of his nature, being destined to survive the dissolution of his body, and capable of everlasting progression in knowledge and felicity. And here a vast, an illimitable field of observation presents itself to view; but we must pa.s.s by it with only one practical remark. The welfare of this immortal soul ought to become the object of our princ.i.p.al solicitude. Considering the extent of its capacities, the indissoluble nature of its const.i.tuent principles, the novel and interesting circ.u.mstances under which it will hereafter exist, its total incompetency to provide for itself under those amazing vicissitudes which it is destined to undergo in a change of worlds, and the unalterable perpetuity of its future condition, how inconsiderate and how presumptuous must that individual be who neglects its interests, and acts in constant hostility to the first great law of nature, SELF-PRESERVATION! The protomartyr of the Christian age evinced a wise anxiety when he exclaimed in his dying moments, ”Lord Jesus, receive my _spirit_.” He was aware that his body would soon be consigned by the fury of persecution to its native dust; but this excited comparatively little concern. To him it was of no importance whether his grave was with the rich or the poor, whether his burying-place were an obscure or an ill.u.s.trious spot: he was anxious for the salvation of his _soul_.
Unhappily, mankind in general lavish all their cares upon the body, to embellish or preserve it, to pamper its appet.i.tes, or to minister to its artificial necessities: but what an infatuation is it, to provide for that which perishes, and to be careless of that which is immortal--to decorate the walls, and to despise the furniture--to value the casket, and to throw away the jewel!
The situation of Adam in the garden of Eden, shows that his Creator had adopted every proper expedient to promote his felicity. The place selected for his residence was in the highest degree rich and fertile, furnished with every suitable accommodation, and ”well watered” by a large river which ran through it, and afterward divided itself into four considerable branches. In being directed to ”dress” and to ”keep” the garden, the goodness of G.o.d appears in providing him with an employment adapted to a state of primitive innocence, and calculated by a proper occupation of his time to promote his happiness. A slothful inactivity is not only incompatible with true enjoyment in our fallen state, but would have been inconsistent with the bliss of original paradise; and even when our nature shall have attained its greatest perfection in a future world, an incessant exertion of our intellectual powers and moral capacities, is represent as essential to the joy of heaven. There ”his servants shall _serve_ him.”