Memoir of William Gordon, M.D., F.L.S. ... / by Newman Hall.

  • Hall, Newman, 1816-1902.
Date:
1861
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Memoir of William Gordon, M.D., F.L.S. ... / by Newman Hall. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    proofs of the truth of Christianity, which no sub- tlety has ever yet been able to refute, but which every fresh investigation tends to strengthen and multiply; and can you be quite sure that all is a mistake ? You may suppose tliis, but can you prove it ? Must you not admit that it may be true ? Is there not a voice within, a moral nature which whispers, despite all your sophistry, that at least there is a probability that Christianity is Divine ? Ponder well what that probability involves before you treat it with indifference. It is probable that there is after death a righteous judgment, a heaven, and a hell; probable that the soul will live for ever, and that, unless it obtains the salvation provided in the gospel it will he lost! If this is a mere pro- bability, since the risk incurred is so tremendously great, is it not the extravagance of folly to neglect the gospel ? If men think there is a probability that their property or theii’ lives may be in danger, do they not take precautionary measures zealously, and at once ? How much more should you, when there is a probability that the soul is in danger ? If there is a probability of success, in any path of com- mercial enterprise or worldly ambition, how many and how eager are the competitors, though it is only a may be, and some must certainly fail. And if men thus act in reference to the riches that are corruptible and the crowns that fade, should you not much more he earnest when there is a probability of ■winning heaven, with its imperishable glories and eternal joys ? Should not the mere chance, if it be only a chance, induce you patiently to investigate such a system, and diligently to labour to make its probable advantages your own ? For should it eventually prove a delusion, you would have been no loser; but should it be proved to be fi'om God,