CHAPTER I.
GENERAL VIEW OF ATHEISM.
Before entering on a detailed discussion of the theories to which it appeals, it may be useful to offer some general reflections on ATHEISM itself, its generic nature and specific varieties, its causes and springs, whether permanent or occasional, and its moral and social influence, as illustrated alike by individual experience and by public history.
By Atheism we mean any system of opinion which leads men either to _doubt_ or to _deny_ the Existence, Providence, and Government of a living, personal, and holy God, as the Creator and Lord of the world.

In its practical aspect, it is that state of mind which leads them to _forget_, _disown_, or _disobey_ Him.
We are met, however, at the outset, by a previous question, _Whether Atheism be a real or even a possible thing ?_ a question which was wont to be discussed by divines under the head, _an dentur Athei ?_[2] and which has recently been revived by the strong protestations of some philosophic writers, who deny not only the existence, but the very possibility of Atheism.

On this point the policy which infidels have pursued has been widely different at different times.

On some occasions, they have sought to exaggerate the number of Atheists, claiming as their own adherents or allies a large majority of the intellectual classes, as well as whole tribes or nations of barbarians, in order to impress the public mind with the conviction that belief in God is neither natural nor universal; at other times, they have sought to allay the prejudice which avowed Atheism seldom fails to awaken, by disclaiming much that had been imputed to them, by professing a sort of mystic reverence for the Spirit of Nature, and by denying that their speculations involve a disbelief in God.

In following these opposite courses at different times, they have been actuated by a politic regard to the exigencies of their wretched cause, and have alternately adopted the one or the other, just as it might seem, in existing circumstances, to be more expedient either to brave or to conciliate public opinion.