←1300
←1300
Dwight’s Theology, v. 209, 210. ‘That which metaphysical preaching teaches’ (as he elsewhere remarks) ‘may be true, and the arguments used to support it may be sound; but the distinctions are so subtle, and the reasoning so abstruse and difficult, that the hearer’s attention to the truth is lost in his attention to the preacher’s ingenuity; his mind is prevented from feeling what is intended, by the absorption of his thoughts in the difficulties of the argument; and his heart is chilled by the cold manner in which all such discussions are conducted. The metaphysician, whether aware of it or not, is employed in displaying his own ingenuity, and not in disclosing and confirming the truth of God.’ Sermons, vol. ii. 461. Compare Burnet’s Pastoral Care, c. ix.