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Madison
Letter to Beasley Regarding Proofs of God, November 20,
1825
Here,
Madison was asked to comment on a work entitled "The
Proofs of the Being & Attributes of God." In his
comments, he mentions the writings of Dr. Samuel Clarke,
which Madison studied at Princeton University nearly
50 years before. Although Madison approved of Beasley's
work, in that "arguments which enforce [a belief in
God] cannot be drawn from too many sources," he indicated
that due to its abstract ideas, it probably would not
be as universally followed as the writings of Dr. Clarke,
which are easier to comprehend. Of significance in this
letter is Madison's acknowledgment of the finiteness
of the human mind and its inability to comprehend the
infinite nature and power of God. Thus, Dr. Clarke's
work, which describes God as a self-existing cause of
the universe and all things therein, is more amenable
to the finite mind than Beasley's work, which begins
with the self-existence of the universe, and excludes
all attributes of infinite power, wisdom and goodness,
such as are attributed to God. This letter is significant,
then, because it displays the great depth of understanding
and philosophical reasoning with which Madison approached
matters of religion.
RJ&L
Religious Institutions Group
TO
FREDERICK BEASLEY
Montpellier,
Nov. 20, 1825
I
have duly recd the copy of your little tract
on the proofs of the Being & Attributes of God. To do
full justice to it, would require not only a more critical
attention than I have been able to bestow on it, but a resort
to the celebrated work of Dr. Clarke, which I read fifty
years ago only, and to that of Dr. Waterland also which
I never read.
The
reasoning that could satisfy such a mind as that of Clarke,
ought certainly not to be slighted in the discussion. And
the belief in a God All Powerful wise & good, is so
essential to the moral order of the World & to the happiness
of man, that arguments which enforce it cannot be drawn
from too many sources nor adapted with too much solicitude
to the different characters & capacities to be impressed
with it.
But
whatever effect may be produced on some minds by the more
abstract train of ideas which you so strongly support, it
will probably always be found that the course of reasoning
from the effect to the cause, "from Nature to Nature's God,"
Will be the more universal & more persuasive application.
The
finiteness of the human understanding betrays itself on
all subjects, but more especially when it contemplates such
as involve infinity. What may safely be said seems to be,
that the infinity of time & space forces itself on our
conception, a limitation of either being inconceivable;
that the mind prefers at once the idea of a self-existing
cause to that of an infinite series of cause & effect,
which augments, instead of avoiding the difficulty; and
that it finds more facility in assenting to the self-existence
of an invisible cause possessing infinite power, wisdom
& goodness, than to the self-existence of the universe,
visibly destitute of those attributes, and which may be
the effect of them. In this comparative facility of conception
& belief, all philosophical Reasoning on the subject
must perhaps terminate. But that I may not get farther beyond
my depth, and without the resources which bear you up in
fathoming efforts, I hasten to thank you for the favour
which has made me your debtor, and to assure you of my esteem
& my respectful regards.
Letter
from James Madison to Frederick Beasley (Nov. 20, 1825),
in 9 The Papers of James Madison, 1819-1836, at 229 (Gaillard
Hunt ed., 1910).
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