ruction of
individual consciousness at the hour of death, and of our material
particles passing merely into other kinds of organic or inorganic being.
But then, it is placed on a very precarious ground,--the mere
supposition of a material product, which can never be established by
proof, and which, if there were no other objection to it, might well
seem to be sufficiently discredited by the mere fact that it ascribes to
_the effect_ properties and powers, of a very high and peculiar order,
which do not exist in _the cause_.

2. The doctrine of "future rewards and punishments," or of "man's
responsibility" as a subject of the Divine government, is also
materially affected by the theory of Materialism, in some, at least, of
its forms. When it is connected, as it often has been, with the doctrine
of "Mechanical Necessity," which represents every thought, opinion,
emotion, desire, and habit, as the unavoidable result of mere physical
influences acting on the brain, and makes no account of the spontaneity
or freedom which belongs to man as an intelligent, moral, and
responsible agent, it is manifestly impossible to discover any ground
for the doctrine of future rewards and punishments. And accordingly,
D'Holbach, Comte, and Atkinson describe man as if he were the mere
creature of circumstances, and deny that his character could possibly
have been different from what it is. But even when it is not associated
with fatalism, the theory, which denies the distinct existence of the
soul as a substantive being, has a tendency to shake our belief in the
doctrine of a "future retribution," properly so called, since that
doctrine rests on the assumption of our continued personal identity, or
the unity and continuity of our consciousness, as dying yet immortal
beings; whereas, if there be no "soul," or substantive spiritual being,
and if the "body" be in a state of perpetual flux and mutation, it is
difficult to see how _the same being that sinned can suffer_, or how the
doctrine of "retribution," properly so called, can be consistently
maintained.

3. The doctrine of "the spirituality" of the Divine nature must be
seriously affected, in different ways, by the theory of Materialism.

It is said in Scripture that "God made man in His own image," and that
He "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a
living soul." Deny the existence of "spirit" or "soul," as God's living
image on earth, and what ground of evidenc