Thefirstpointisthatweareofnecessityinabsoluteignoranceastoaposthumousstate。Now，fearisfromourearliestinfancythe’never-failingcompanionandoffspringofignorance。’Knowledgealonecanrescueusfromperpetualsuffering，becauseallsecuritydependsuponknowledge。Pain，moreover，isfarmore’pungent’anddistinctthanpleasure。’Wantandpainarenatural；satisfactionandpleasureartificialandinvented。’Pain，therefore，asthestrongest，willdictateouranticipations。Thehopeofimmortalityisbytheorthodoxdescribedasablessing；butthetruth，deduciblefromtheseprinciplesofhumannatureandverifiedbyexperience，isthatnaturalreligion，insteadofsoothingapprehensions，addsfreshgroundsofapprehension。Arevelation，as’PhilipBeauchamp’admits，mightconceivablydispelourfears；buthewouldobviouslysaythatthereligionwhichistakentoberevealedgivesafarmorevividpictureofhellthanofheaven。3Inthenextplace，itis’obviousatfirstsight’thatnaturalreligioncanproperlygive’noruleofguidance。’Itrefersustoaregionof’desperateandunfathomable’darkness。4Butitneverthelessindirectlysuggestsaperniciousrule。ItrestsentirelyuponconjecturesastothecharacteroftheinvisibleBeingwhoapportionspainorpleasureforinscrutablereasons。WillthisBeingbeexpectedtoapproveusefulorperniciousconduct?
Frommen’slanguagewemightsupposethatheisthoughttobepurelybenevolent。
Yetfromtheirdogmasitwouldseemthatheisacapricioustyrant。Howarewetoexplainthediscrepancy?Thediscrepancyistheinfallibleresultofthecircumstancesalreadystated。5TheDeityhaslimitlesspower，andthereforeisthenaturalobjectofourinstinctivefears。ThecharacteroftheDeityisabsolutelyincomprehensible，andincomprehensibilityinhumanaffairsisidenticalwithcapriceandinsanity。6TheendsandthemeansoftheDeityarealikebeyondourknowledge；andtheextremesbothofwisdomandoffollyareequallyunaccountable，Now，wepraiseorblamehumanbeingsinordertoaffecttheirconducttowardsus，toattractfavoursorrepelinjuries。Atyrantpossessedofunlimitedpowerconsidersthatbysimpleabstinencefrominjuryhedeservesboundlessgratitude。
Theweakwillonlydaretopraise，andthestrongwillonlyblame。Theslave-ownerneverpraisesandtheslaveneverblames，becauseonecanusethelashwhiletheotherissubjecttothelash。If，then，weregardtheinvisibleBeingasacapriciousdespot，and，moreover，asadespotwhoknowseverywordweutter，weshallneverspeakofhimwithoutthehighesteulogy，justbecauseweattributetohimthemostarbitrarytyranny。Hence，theinvisibledespotwillspeciallyfavourthepriestswhoselivesaredevotedtosupportinghisauthority，and，nexttopriests，thosewho，bythepracticeofceremoniespainfuloruselesstothemselves，showthattheirsoleaimistogivehimpleasure。Hewillspeciallydetesttheatheists，and，nexttoatheists，allwhoventuretodisregardhisarbitrarylaws。
Ahumanjudgemaybebenevolent，becauseheisresponsibletothecommunity。