cannot see the whole of them. Thus, a fly, on the corner of a splendid
edifice, cannot see the beauty and symmetry of the building. So far as
his eye extends, it may appear to be sadly lacking in its proportions.
Yet this is but a faint representation of the narrow views we have of
God's moral government. There is, however, no truth which he has
revealed, in relation to that government, that is more difficult to
understand, than many things that philosophy has discovered in the
natural world. Yet, even infidels do not think of disputing facts
conclusively proved by philosophy, because they cannot understand them.
It becomes us, then, with the deepest humility and self-abasement, to
submit our reason to the word of God.

2. _Avoid a controversial spirit._ Do not study for the sake of finding
arguments to support your own opinions. Take the place of a sincere
inquirer after truth, with a determination to embrace whatever you find
supported by the word of God, however contrary it may be to your
favorite notions. But when objections arise in your mind against any
doctrine, do not suppose you have made some new discovery, and therefore
reject it without farther inquiry. The same objections have perhaps
occurred to the mind of every inquirer, on the same subject; and very
probably they have often been satisfactorily answered by able writers.
This is a common error of young inquirers. They are apt to think others
take things upon trust, and that they are the only persons who have
thought of the difficulties which start up in their minds. But, when
their reading becomes more extensive, they learn, with shame, that what
appeared to them to be original thought, was only following an old,
beaten track.

3. _Use such helps as you can obtain._ Read carefully selected and
judicious authors, on doctrinal subjects.[A] The advantages arising from
the perusal of other books than the Scriptures, to obtain doctrinal
knowledge, are these: 1. You may profit by the experience of others. You
see how the difficulties which arise in your own mind appeared to them,
and how they solved them. 2. Much light may be thrown upon many
difficult passages of Scripture, by an intimate acquaintance with the
times and circumstances under which they were written; and men who
undertake to write on these subjects generally search deeply into these
things. 3. God has been pleased, in every age, to raise up men "_mighty
in the Scriptures_." By the extraordinar