It seems certain, that though a man, in a flush of humour, after intense reflection on the many contradictions and imperfections o...f human reason, may entirely renounce all belief and opinion, it is impossible for him to persevere in this total scepticism, or make it appear in his conduct for a few hours.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
I shall venture to affirm, that there never was a popular religion, which represented the state of departed souls in such a light,... as would render it eligible for human kind, that there should be such a state. These fine models of religion are the mere product of philosophy. For as death lies between the eye and the prospect of futurity, that event is so shocking to nature, that it must throw a gloom on all the regions which lie beyond it; and suggest to the generality of mankind the idea of Cerberus and Furies; devils, and torrents of fire and brimstone.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
When the coherence of the parts of a stone, or even that composition of parts which renders it extended; when these familiar objec...ts, I say, are so inexplicable, and contain circumstances so repugnant and contradictory; with what assurance can we decide concerning the origin of worlds, or trace their history from eternity to eternity?LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
A person, seasoned with a just sense of the imperfections of natural reason, will fly to revealed truth with the greatest avidity:... while the haughty Dogmatist, persuaded that he can erect a compleat system of Theology by the mere help of philosophy, disdains any further aid, and rejects this adventitious instructor.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Let us become thoroughly sensible of the weakness, blindness, and narrow limits of human reason: Let us duly consider its uncertai...nty and endless contrarieties, even in subjects of common life and practice.... When these topics are displayed in their full light, as they are by some philosophers and almost all divines; who can retain such confidence in this frail faculty of reason as to pay any regard to its determinations in points so sublime, so abstruse, so remote from common life and experience?LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »