Genre:

Essay

Subjects:

Design, Theology of Nature, Providence, Anthropocentrism

    Observes rhetorically: 'surely when we pause and reflect on all the works of creation, and the inexhaustible variety of nature, we shall be constrained to avow that "it is the finger of God"' (89). Argues that, while all of creation attests to the greatness and power of the creator, 'it is in connexion with ourselves that we must seek for instances of his love. He has not only framed the stupendous orbs which glitter in the firmament, but he has regulated their motions, and appointed them to be the dwellings of beings, whom he has endued with all that constitutes man; whose peculiar stations he has determined, and has placed each in the situation which is most suited to him: who causes the whole economy of nature to contribute and be subservient to their comforts, and has himself afforded them a way to everlasting happiness' (90). The remainder of the article focuses on the character of God as saviour of the world.