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V— ^^ ^-t^^-^ ^^ THE COMMISSION AND CONSEaUENT DUTIES OF THE CLERGY : SERIES OF DISCOURSES PHEACHED BEFORE THE 2amber£JitL> of Camljntigf, IN xVPRIL, MDCCCXXVI. UV THE LATE HUGH JAMES 'ROSE, B.J). CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE, AND DEAN OF BOCKING. ' They do not the same in their own name, but in Christ's, and (io minister by liis commission and authority.' — Art. xxvi ' The ministry of things divine is a function which, as God dirt himself institute, so neither may men undertake the same but by authority and power given them in lawful manner.' — Hooker, v. 77. ' A call then is necessary; and this call, though mediate, and by the ministry of men, is from Christ.'— Bishop Reynolds, Sermon xxiii. Works, Vol. v. p. 352. FOURTH EDITION. LONDON: FRANCIS & JOHN RIVINGTON, ST. 1'AUl's church yard, and WATERLOO PLACE. 1847. ' Nee frcerogativam mihimet seientice, si hcee me'is consaeer- doiibus charilatis intuitu pnsrogem, vindicabo, aut vit^e perfeetcs me esse fatcor, cum de vita perfecta alios moneo, sed potius cum hcec ad illos loqui audeo, simul cum illis, quce loquor, audiam.' — Pseudo-Ambros. de Dignit. Sacerd. L. 1. ad finem. REV. WILLIAM ROSE, VICAR OF GLVNDE, SUSSEX, THli I'OLLOWIXG SERMONS Al'FECTlONATELV INSCUIBED. ADVERTISEMENT FIRST EDITION. It is recorded by Strype ', that in the reign of King James I. the disposition to treat of Church discipHne in Sermons was so strong and so general, that it was at length publicly censured in the University pulpit '. So con- stant a recurrence to the topic must have been highly mischievous in those days, as it kept alive the flame of controversy, which it was then particularly desirable to extin- guish ; and it is objectionable at all times, as it excludes those higher subjects of Christian faith and practice which are the proper topics of the Christian preacher. In the present ' Annals, Vol. III. p. 491. ' By a Mr. Grcenhani, ' a zealous preacher,' according to Strype. viii ADVERTISEMENT day we have gone into the opposite extreme, and Church discipUne is a matter rarely or never mentioned in the pulpit'. There can ■ ' What from tlie loose writing of some of the Clergy, and the general silence of the body, upon the constitution of the Christian Church, the subject is so grown out of knowledge, as to hsfve lost almost universally its influence upon the mind. Ask an ignorant man, why he separates from the Church, his answer will probably be, that he lives in a land of liberty, where lie has a right to worship God in the way he thinks proper. Ask a man of reading and understanding, and he will quote respectable authority for the same opinion ; whereas, both one and the other might, it is probable, have continued members of the Church, had they been taught to form a correct notion of it. But when they have been led to consider the Church, as a word of general and indiscriminate application, and religion itself as a subject of mere private opinion, independent of all authority, it is not to be expected that they should feel disposed to restrain a licence, of which, from the latitudinarian way of thinking and acting in which they have been educated, they conceive themselves born in rightful possession. ' The minister of the Church, however, who prays constantly against schism, should in consequence think it his duty to pre- vent Christians, as far as may be, from falling into so dangerous a sin. And whilst he remembers of what spirit a Christian ought to be, the means made use of by him for the purpose will be no other than what a Christian ought to employ. " Fol- lowing (to make use of the words of the celebrated Mr. Locke) the example of the Prince of Peace, who sent out his soldiers to the subduing of nations and gathering them into his Church, TO THE FIRST EDITION. ix be no question that of the two our course is tlie wisest ; yet it would be advisable in this, not armed with the sword, or otlier instruments oi" force, but accoutred in that best armour, the Gospel of Peace, and the ex- emplary holiness of Christian conversation." ' Witliout pronouncing sentence, therefore, upon, or disturbing, those who are without the Church, liis object will be to preserve those that still remain in it. This he will do by enabling them to form correct notions of the nature and constitution of the Christian Church : and by giving them such an explanation from time to time of its services, as may produce in them a rational attachment for its communion. Considering the Church as a society which has God for its founder, and Christian faith as the offspring of Divine revelation, he will regard the varying opinions of mankind upon those subjects rather as proofs of the weakness and incapacity of the human mind, than as illustrations of the truth. At the same time, therefore, that he is desirous of laying no unnecessary restraint upon human judgment in religious sub- jects, he will take care to point out the standard by which it should be regulated ; a standard which draws the line between faith and credulity ; between a sober inquiry after truth, accom- panied with a proper respect for authority ; and that licentious- ness of opinion which knows no authority but its own ; in a word, between that liberty with which Christ has made us free, and the liberty which the natural man is at all times disposed to make for himself. But the Clergy, some individuals of the body at least,, have still more to answer for on this subject. A freedom of opinion on Church matters has led, as it might be expected, to a freedom of practice: while some, by their writings, have put the establishment of the Church, as it were, cpiite out of sight ; others, by their conduct, have oj)enly withdrawn X ADVERTISEMENT as in other matters, to avoid either extreme. The subject of discipHne will be allowed by every one who knows the history of Protest- antism, and by every one who is well ac- quainted \Wth the human mind, to deserve more attention than it obtains. The im- portance of forms will be at once acknow- ledged by both classes of observers ; but, to waive that topic, we may say with certainty that many unhappy differences would never have arisen ; much schism, and much that is unseemly in the conduct of the inferior clergy to their superiors, and to one another, would have been avoided, if this subject had always Christians from it, by becoming, in some cases, officiating mi- nisters in places of public worship independent of Episcopal jurisdiction : in others, by their attendance at places of worship which are in an actual state of separation from tlie Church of their country. How such conduct agrees with the established govern- ment of the Church ; how the circumstance of a minister of the Church taking upon himself to preach in a place of worship unlicensed by the bishop, is to be reconciled with canonical obligation ; with what propriety such a minister can, in the Liturgy of the Church, pray against schism in that place where he is in the actual commission of the sin ; are points upon which I feel myself at a loss to determine.' — See Daubeny's Guide to the Church, pp. 341—344. TO THE FIRST EDITION. xi obtained due consideration in clerical studies. And on yet higher grounds may full attention be claimed for that especial point which is treated in the following Discourses. If we are really ambassadors for Christ, and have a due commission from his Church, it were well that a remembrance of these truths were deeply imprinted on our hearts ; well, I mean, for the Church, that we may not despise that authority to which we owe our own ; well for those to whom we are sent, that we may not be slack in delivering our message ; well for ourselves, that being the appointed servants of a Master, who, to the worldly eye, may seem to gather where he hath not strewn, we may not be found sleep- ing when he comes to account with us. It was under a deep sense of the import- ance of the subject that I ventured to intro- duce it to those among my audience who were about to- become ministers of the Church of Christ. It was also, I can say sincerely, with unfeigned humility. I had no hope of doing justice to the subject, but I thought it xii ADVERTISEMENT TO THE FIRST EDITION. might be useful to the persons to whom I allude, to direct their attention to it. I need hardly add, that these Sermons make no pre- tence to novelty of matter or of argument : they only endeavour to set forth briefly and clearly the propositions which will be found in the works of all our early and great Church writers. To these writers, they who wish to enter more fully into the subject must recur : and I trust that I have sufficiently pointed out in the Notes the best sources of information. I must add, that I had no intention what- ever of puhlishing Sermons on a subject so often treated in former times ; and that 1 now do so only in consequence of very many re- quests from that part of my audience to which they were especially addressed. Their re- quests would have obtained far earlier atten- tion had I not been prevented, by other en- gagements, from preparing the Notes now subjoined to the Sermons. HoKsiiAM, Sussex, Mail 19, 18"i8. ADVERTISEMENT SECOND EDITION. The call for a Second Edition of this Work has given me an opportunity of presenting it in a form which, I trust, may be somewhat more convenient to the reader, and of adding such remarks and extracts as appear to me to deserve attention. Without adverting to any personal feelings, I may be allowed to express my gratification that there should be a demand for a second edition of a work which seeks to maintain the old-fashioned opinions avowed in the following pages. It serves to confirm me in the belief, that as the opposite opinions are more loudly and clamorously repeated, they are also more carefully examined, and their consequences more fully seen. The contempt of order, the xiv ADVERTISEMENT contempt of forms, the contempt of discipline, are feelings well adapted to prompt and dic- tate declamation, and to dazzle and delude both those who utter and those who listen to ' them ; but, if there is any wisdom to be learned from history, and if the voice of ex- perience deserves any attention, they cannot be reduced to practice without imminent danger. The ' little learning ' which makes men despise what they do not undei stand, must finally, (though, perhaps, not till it has ruined what it cannot repair,) give place to that more benevolent wisdom which, as it seeks to promote God's will by promoting man's good, despises not, and knows that it ought not to despise, any rightful means by which that end can be promoted. The * little learning' has been for a long time straining its powers, and uttering its outcry among us, in a thousand quarters, and has done, beyond all question, more extensive mischief than its powers account for or justify, by teaching men to mistake indilFerencc to error for charity, and to set aside the guidance TO THE SECOND EDITION. xv a)id the direction recommended by wisdom (I maintain, by Divine wisdom,) for human weak- ness. The mischief, however, will, I know, at last be perceived, and the temper, from which it proceeds, will sink into the contempt it merits, I trust it may not be too late in some essential respects. I may, perhaps, be excused, if I venture to add a few words as to a temper of not a very different kind, which has manifested itself in various forms in our Church within a recent period. I allude to the cry for Church re- form, (I do not mean in temporal matters, of which this is not the place to speak, but) in the more important points of Liturgy, discipline, &c. &c. It is difficult to witness this temper display itself as it has done, without deep re- gret and considerable apprehension. I must confess, at least, my own conviction that, where there is an order for the especial purpose of guiding; directing, and correcting, it would, to say the least, be more seemly for the inferior Clergy to wait till they were called to council, before they were forward to detect, discover. xvi ADVERTISEMENT or invent fiiults in the Establishment of whicli they are a part. It is difficult to understand how we can pray for a blessing on any system as a means of doing God's work, if, as often as our own humours or fancies lead us to sup- pose that the system stands in our way, we are ready to set it aside. I am far from saying that in consultations on Church matters the Presbyters should not be called to council, or that their counsel would not be of the highest moment. But if we believe that the system of which we are a part is laid on the foundation of the Apostles, nay, even on lower grounds, if we believe it to be the best in a human view, and if we know that under that system it is the part of the bishops to rule the Church, and of the Presbyters to obey them, it is not and it cannot come to good that the Presbyters should forget that there are rulers in the Church, and should unhesitatingly spread far and wide their own uncalled-for fancies as to the proper method of governing and improving the Church. The Church, doubtless, like every human institution, has its imperfections, and every affectionate son TO THE SECOND EDITION. xvii of the Church will rejoice to see them amended by the proper hands, at a proper time, and in a proper spirit. Very probably the rulers of the Church may not alter the system either when, or as, some Presbyters might choose : but this is no proof that the rulers are wrong ; nor would it be any reason why the system should be set aside, even if they were. For this would be only the com- mon case of deciding between a system and no system ; between a system with the evils and imperfections which must attach to every thing human, and the evils of adhering to no system at all, and of being guided by the caprice of the hour and ' the madness of the people !' But, besides this, it must surely be a matter of deep concern that Ministers of the Church of England should have thought it right to speak so harshly and so loudly on matters, most of wliich are of trivial moment, and should thus give to them who are without (I say not only the fairest grounds, but) the strongest reason for believing that the system nmst be a xviii ADVERTISEMENT corrupt and bad indeed '. I do not for a mo- ment doubt the goodness of the intentions of many who have written on these topics, but I would beg to ask whether the many pam- phlets which discuss them are remarkable for those qualities which ought to distinguish the works of persons undertaking the momentous business of Church reform ? I would ask whe- ther the points which have been dwelt upon with such earnestness are of much real mo- ment ? and whether it is fitting that complaints so vehement should be made, that we might suppose the Church to be in a frightful state of corruption and error, whereas the evils com- plained of are, in truth, such as these — that we pray for the king by one title rather than another, that we use too charitable an ex- pression in the burial-service, and repeat the Lord's prayer three times instead of two, or four instead of three ? It is hard to listen when, instead of being awe-struck at the * I would beg to refer to the many tracts lately written by Dissenters, in which tlie works of Messrs. Nihil, Acaster, Rylaml, &'c. &c. aie cited at great length, in proof of the faults of the Church. TO THE SECOND EDITION. xix grandeur, the sublimity, the magnificence, the solemnity of some vast cathedral, our com- panion begs us to observe that one of the mullions of one of the windows is the hun- dredth part of an inch out of the perpen- dicular ; or when, instead of owning and ad- miring the wonders of the composition, he sets about showing the meanness of the com- ponent parts. It is hard to tolerate the per- petual picking of small holes, or to admire the microscopic powers of the eye, which can discern the insects in the drop of water, while it is stone-blind to the giant form of the elephant. It is a matter of sincere pride and pleasure to me to find these sentiments expressed with far greater power and force than I can com- mand, by one in whom the most deep and intimate knowledge of the history and consti- tution of the Church of England is united with the most affectionate reverence for her institutions, and the most uncompromising attachment to her principles. I earnestly hope that Dr. Wordsworth's admirable Concio ad Clerum, delivered before Convocation this a2 XX ADVERTISEMENT year, will be as generally read, and make as deep an impression, as its excellence in every point of view deserves that it should ; and I only regret that I do not feel myself at liberty to strengthen my argument by a larger ex- tract than that which follows : * Plurimi igitur nuperrime litteratores exti- terunt, et, quod dolens pudensque dico, ii baud minima de parte ex nobismet ipsis prodeuntes, ex ipso nempe Cleri Anglicani coetu, qui adeo non ep ao(j)La TrspiTrarovpreQ TTpoQ TovQ £^o>, adco uou avayicatovTEQ elrr- eXOsTp, ut potius ingredi jam paratos prohibu- isse videantur, non mente, fateor, destinata atque consulto, sed facto atque eventu tamen ; hi, inquam, novandi studio perciti in banc tanquam pulcherrimam occasionem videntur devolasse, veterem formam Ecclesia^ Angli- canae ritusque sanctissimos certatim vexandi atque lacessendi ; Matris suse auctoritatem atque reverentiam ea, credo, ratione externis hominibus probaturi, si eam ipsam auctori- tatem sibimetipsis displicere non obscuro in- dicio patefecissent. Quid autem novi ab his in medium allatum adductumque videmus ^ TO THE SECOND EDITION. xxi quid exquisiti aut reconditi ? quid denique singulari quavis niodestia, eruditione, sapi- entia, prudentia commendatum ? Inio vero nihil fere omnino quod non tritissimum sit, et plane vulgaris monetae ; quam plurima autem quorum Hookeros nostros, Sandersonos, Pear- sonos, viros omni laude cmnulatissimos, max- imopere piguisset. Scilicet istis visum est exoletissimas quasque Puritanorum et Schis- maticorum querelas quasi de integro in acervum congerere, et coram levi plebecula ambitiose venditare. Equidem commoveor animo cum consi)iciam — non iis renovandi Ecclesiam atque corroborandi munus esse demandatum, qui vel loco, vel auctoritate, vel opportunitate illud optime videantur adminis- traturi ; sed arreptum potius et sibi arrogatum ab Ecclesiastici ordinis hominibus neque pri- maria Ecclesia? dignitate, neque eruditionis copia, neque antiquitatis scientia, neque pru- dentia denique et gravitate spectatissimis, et eo praesertim tempore arrogatum, quum sana corrumpere longe proclivius sit, quam cor- rupta emendare.' I would beg to observe, in conclusion, that 1 xxii ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION. have thrown the longer notes into an Appen- dix, and that the student in divinity will now find, either in the body of the work, or in the Appendix, some proof of the following points, — that a ministry is expedient — that a minis- try was ordained by God ^ — that Episcopacy is the form ordained — that the succession of bishops has been duly preserved in the Church of England — that the minor details of Church government have been left to hu- man wisdom — and that a Confession of faith is a most important article among those details. In speaking of Episcopacy, I have used the arguments of Chillingworth, and a modern Layman, Mr. Hey of Leeds, both on account of the intrinsic excellence of their reasoning, and from the wish to show what can be urged on this important topic, by a Divine, who was no high-churchman, and by a Layman. ' I beg to refer to some judicious remarks on this point by my brother, in his translation of Neander. Hadleigii, Suffolk, Sept. 20, 1831. PREFATORY NOTICE THIRD EDITION. More delay than was anticipated having taken place in preparing for the press a selected arrangement of the works of the late lamented Principal of King's College, to be accompanied with some biographical and other particulars, with the addition of a few unpublished MSS., it has been thought advisable to comply with a constantly recurring demand for the par- ticular work now reprinted, in advance of the more extended publication in hand. This second course of University Sermons is of such value to Candidates for Holy Orders in particular, that over and above any possible convenience of obtaining it in a separate and xxiv PREFATORY NOTICE. cheaper form, it does not seem right to leave it inaccessible to any, even for a short time. With respect to the many friends and others who revere the memory and services of Hugh James Rose on wilder grounds, it is con- ceived they cannot but feel regret that, from a desultory manner of publication to meet immediate circumstances, his more important w^orks should exist as yet only in detached forms, ill proportioned to their intrinsic weight and excellence. It is proposed, accordingly, to remedy this defect by the forthcoming selection, to be presented in the more solid and appropriate shape of (probably) three uniform octavo volumes. The choice of pub- lished and unpublished writings, as well as of memorial details, will be regulated by a care- ful consideration of what the Author himself might have been most desirous, so far as can be judged, of perpetuating in such more sub- stantial form, as contradistinguished from the chances of official or temporary publications. The selection, as at present intended, will include only writings of a theological or eccle- PREFATORY NOTICE. xxv siastical complexion, except so far as miscella- neous topics may occur in any correspondence interwoven with the Biogra[)liical Memoirs. It will be the Editor's anxious endeavour to complete the publication in course of the ensuing year, 1843. J. M. November 30, 1842. C O N T E N T S. SERMON I. PAGE On the probability that a commission would be given to the Ministry I SERMON II. On the proofs from Scri])ture that such a commission was given . 38 SERMON III. On the obligation resting on those who have received such com- mission to make themselves competent to its exercise ... 85 SERMON IV. On the duties incumbent on those who have received such com- mission 135 APPENDIX. No. I. Expediency of a Church government — Analysis of Bishop Rey- nolds' Twenty-fifth Sermon, and Dr. Balguy's two Conse- cration Sermons 175 xxviii CONTENTS. No. II. PAGE Proof of the calling of the Apostles, in reply to Schleiermacher . 183 No. III. Remarks on the permanency of the Episcopal order 188 No. IV. Chillingvvorth on Episcopacy 196 No. V. Hey on Episcopacy 201 No. VI. Validity of the Episcopacy of the Church of England .... 226 No. VII. Observations on details in Church government 251 No. VIII. Necessity of learning to the Ministry — Opinions of great writers on the point 258 No. IX. > Advantages of a confession of faith 267 SERMON L 1 Cor. iv. 1, Let a man so account of us, as of tlie Ministers of Christ, and Stewards of the inysteries of God. Ix the consideration o(" Christianity as a Rehgion for mankind, there is a certain point up to whicli its friends and its enemies can advance with an almost perfect agreement of sentiment. In the moral teaching of our Lord and his Apostles there is such a clear and triumphant superiority over every other system ever proposed to the world, that the voice of praise, which has ever been uttered by the advocates of Christianity, has been on this point re-echoed with almost equal warmth and zeal by at least the great majority of its ad- versaries. The declared unbeliever, indeed, could hope for little attention to his arguments, if he set out with denying a truth of which all are capable of judging. And they, who, though not in declared hostility to Christianity, arc actuated by a spirit 15 2 SERMON I. wholly unchristian, the men of this world, the representatives of the spirit of ambition, of plea- sure, and of commerce, are alive to the advantages which must accrue to them from the prevalence of the Christian principles of guilelessness and forbear- ance among those with whom they are to engage in the business of life. But when we advance from this ground, and speak of Christianity as a call of the Spirit, as containing within itself remedies for vice and assistances to virtue, of a higher order than the fears or the motives which morality can urge, we speak to them who hear not, who cannot or will not understand. It is, in truth, the fatal error of man to tend per- petually to an exclusive subsistence in one part of that twofold nature with which he is endowed ; sometimes to resign the practical for the specu- lative, but far oftener to sink the spiritual and intellectual in the earthly and carnal, to own no participation in the higher part of his nature, to resign its privileges, and forget its requirements. In this state, the nutriment offered to one part of his nature, is neither adapted to the other, nor can be apprehended by it. For this is that fatal condition of wliich the Apostle speaks, declaring a truth no less in the philosophy of human nature than in pure religion, when he says that ' the carnal man dis- cerncth not the things of the Spirit, because they SERMON I. 3 arc spiritually discerned.' We may, indeed, assume it as a fact established by every day's experience, that there is a veil on the hearts of worldly men with respect to spiritual objects ', and especially in relation to some of the leading and characteristic truths of Christianity. I refer not here to the doctrine of the corruption of our nature, nor the revelation of a future state of existence, being persuaded that both of these may be admitted by a heart wholly unspiritual ; the latter being not indeed a truth, but a pro- bability, of natural religion, and the former, a difficulty brought so irresistibly to the notice of all men and all ages, by the incontrovertible evidence of experience, as to have obtained attention and caused perplexity in the earliest systems of religion and morals. I refer now to the mysteries of that redemption which is our faith and our religion, the agent in which was the Divine Jesus, and the effects of which are to us sanctification from sin here, and liberation from its penal effects hereafter ; and I refer especially to the means and processes of human sanctification by the Holy Spirit. That amendment and elevation of heart and character should be obtained, not by any power ' On this subject, see Jeremy Taylor's admirable sermon called Via Intelligentiae, Vol. vi. p. ."506 and following, in Hcbcr's edition, and especially pp. 379 — 387. 15 2 4 S E R M O N I. dwelling by nature within the individual ; that it should be gained, not by the operation of the ordinary motives of morality, not by the vaunted powder of favourable habits ; or, to sj)eak the whole at once, that there should be a constant commu- nion between this earthly world and a higher, between this earthly and visible creature and that heavenly and invisible Creator, who inhabiteth eternity ; that this communion should be open to all who desire it and who use the means by w^hich it is to be obtained ; and, finally, that by this com- munion alone, man can attain to that degree of perfection of which he is capable ; these are things, indeed, which a reasonable man will not exj^ect to be apprehended by those whose views are confined to matter, to the pursuit of the knowledge con- nected with it, and to the desire after the good which it can bestow. In the present day, these difficulties, as they affect the ministry and influence of the teachers of Religion with the educated classes, are beyond measure increased, from the operation of two causes in particular. On the one hand, the systems of Metaphysics and of Ethics generally received, appear to be built on insufficient foundations, and the mind, restless and unsatisfied in its inquiries into the first and greatest of all subjects, turns in despair to those lower matters of scientific SERMON I. r> inquiry, where its researches will, at least, be at- tended by more satisfaction. On the other hand, vast and rapid improvements have taken place in all the arts which contribute to comfort and luxury. By both these causes the natural bias of the mind to dwell exclusively in its lower state, and its indis- position to the reception of spiritual and elevated truth, have been fearfully increased. I mean not that religion, if we be contented wdth paying ser- vice to its name, is in these days particularly rejected or despised ; but that the feelings with which it is too often treated and accepted by men of the world, are such as, virtually at least, make the question between the comparative merits of the religion of our Lord, and the religion of Mahomet or of Bramah, between the worship of Jehovah, and the worship of Jupiter, a (piestion of difference rather of degree than of kind. On the speculative side, men of the world admit the existence of a moral Governor, a future state, and the excellence of the Christian theory of morals. On the practical and positive, religion is considered, as it has been happily expressed, as a supplemeat to Law, and an aid to Police' ; and ' Coleridge's Aids to Reflection, p. 292 ; a book of wliicli (without assenting to all which it contains) I may truly say, as of other of Mr. Coleridge's works, that it deserves from every thouLjhtfid mind far more attention tlian it lias L'aincd. 6 S E H M O N I. it is asked in words, first used by a Protestant Prelate (but doubtless in a qualified sense), What is religion good for, but to reform the manners and dispositions of men, to restrain human nature from violence and cruelty, from falsehood and treachery, from sedition and rebellion ' ? Its utility in this view is perhaps condescendingly recognized, and even that of a ministry sometimes acknowledged, as being a body of men whose business it is to en- force the obligations to good order and moral duty, and to terrify those who might hope to evade human laws, by holding up to their imagination and their fears an invisible power, and a future retribution. But any belief that God has himself instituted cer- tain means, through the medium of which he con- fers internal and spiritual grace, any belief that through these means he seeks to open that com- munion with his creatures without which the high gifts of reason, of genius, of the soul itself, if not as worthless and as dead as this fair bodily frame when the spark of life is gone, yet subsist in a low and degraded state, any such belief, I fear, exists not, in the present day, with any large portion of mankind. The efficacy of the Christian Sacraments, as means of grace, is not only practically despised, but speculatively (T can hardly say, disbelieved, but) ' Tillotson, Sermon XIX. Vol. i. p. 200. fol. ed. SERMON I. 7 passed by with contempt. And even if the thoughts of those sacraments could be deemed wortliy of a moment's attention, still more contemptuous would be the rejection of all belief in the notion that they who are really ministers of the living God, possess in that character any powers beyond other men, and that the means of grace, offered through them in the Gospel, must, to obtain their full effect, be received through them by the Christian w^orld. With how much stronger words, indeed, would Hooker have dej)lored in these days w^hat he had some cause to deplore in his own ! ' That, as for the power of orders considered by itself, such rejm- tation it hath in the eye of this present world, that they which affect it, rather need encouragement to bear contempt, than deserve blame as men of as- piring minds'.' The feehngs, however, with which truth may be received and regarded, do not alter its nature, or diminish its excellence, but the evil is, that popular opinion often induces an unmerited neglect of what it has improperly rejected. Carried away by the stream, men forget, or become unable to examine fairly, that to which their candour would have induced them, on examination, to assent under ha})pier circumstances, as its intrinsic importance would have led them to adopt it as a ' Hooker, Eccl. Pol. B. v. ^ 77- 8 S E K M O N I. principle of action. Such, 1 am persuaded, is too often the case with regard to the nature of the ministry. I fear too that this false and unjust valuation of the powers of the Christian ministry is not confined to the laity, hut in some instances may be found amongst the future, and even the actual members of the ministry themselves. Much indeed is it to be feared, that some men content themselves with an assent to the points of faith enumerated in the Articles, and then take the ministry on themselves, with little feeling of its real dignity and importance ; with little feeling, that, as it confers on them a higher character and additional privileges, so it requires from them the sacrifice of personal wishes and con- venience, and the fullest devotion of their time and their talents, their whole heart, their whole mind, their whole strength. Now where such deficient views, or any thing approaching to them, prevail, it need not be said how languid and lifeless will be the professional efforts and exertions of those who hold them, and how little their order has to expect at their hands but the evil of neglect, or the more positive evil of unworthy conduct. On the other hand, a just and exalted view of the privileges with which the minister of God is gifted, and of the work whereunto he is called, must effectually tend to create and to cherish the devotion of the whole S !• H M () N I. 0 mail to tlie office. It is therefore my intention, in the following discourses, to set before that part of my hearers, especially, which is destined for the ministry, those plain and simple proofs which have in every age of the Church been deemed conclusive as to the truth of the following propositions : that a ministry is one of the means of grace, instituted by God himself, for objects and reasons sufficiently apparent even to us ; that every real and actual minister of God receives his commission from God himself, although through the agency of man, or in other words, that there is no human power com- petent of itself to call men to the priest's office. I shall then endeavour to clear this doctrine from several objections and misrepresentations, to draw^ from it certain practical inferences, and point out the influence which it must necessarily have on the studies, the pursuits, and the conduct of those who embrace it in sincerity and truth. These things are old, indeed so old, that were it not the especial misfortune of truth to be sometimes neglected, and sometimes forgotten, it w^ould be unjustifiable to dwell on them in these days. But we follow too often, in these matters, a wrong, and, I am sure, an unwor- thy plan. We are guilty, it is to be feared, occasion- ally, of that trifling with truth, that accommodation of offensive doctrines to the taste of a corrupt and unspiritual age, of wdiich the Rationalists have 10 S E R iM O N I. accused our Lord and his Apostles. Our business is not to inquire into the adaptation of a doctrine to the taste and reqnirements of the age in which we Hve, but to see whether it wears the character of an eternal truth ; whether it is a part and parcel of that system which the Son of God himself came to teach. Our business is not to inquire whether an ordinance will be readily accepted, and its use- fulness admitted by the men of our age, but whether it be one of those positive ordinances, which their adoption and promulgation by God pronounce to be indispensable means to the great end of Chris- tianity, the salvation of our souls. ]f we pass by in silence that which is positive, and therefore indis- pensable, others will soon learn the lesson from us ; soon learn, not to consider truths or ordinances, or the religion to which they belong, as the indispens- able means of improvement of the heart. Con- tenting themselves with the belief that they are pursuing the same end by other means, they will soon learn to inquire, with the temper of the Syrian, whether Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, are not better than all the waters of Israel ? The view, then, under which the subject presents itself to our consideration, is this. Our blessed Lord, as the Scriptures assure us, offered himself on the cross, not only to make atonement for the sins of SERMON I. n the wliole world, but also to provide a remedy for the general corruption of man's nature, and to restore that free communication of grace and favour from the Creator to the creature, without which man cannot be purified or improved, without which he can neither think nor do any good thing'. A change of heart is at once announced in the Gospel as necessary, and is made practicable, assistance for the effectuation of that change being offered in vari- ous means of grace, but most and chiefest of all in the Christian sacraments. This offer of grace was not made to any one age, or to any one country. It is to spread as far as the world spreads, and to last as long as the world lasts. But when we come to have in view the administration of ordinances, the permanence of those ordinances, and the propaga- tion, through the world, of a knowledge of them, ' In so saying I must not be thought to limit the benefits of Christ's death, or deny them to those on whom the light of the Gospel perhaps never shone ; for in these extraordinary cases, the mercy of God may provide an extraordinary remedy. They who have never named the name of Jesus, nor known the power of his death, may yet feel the riches of his goodness, and the sweet fragrance of the Rose of Sharon may be shed over the deserts trodden only by the foot of uncivilized man, and the cheerless abodes of the distant inhabitants of the isles of the sea. I speak only of the ordinary case of tliose who live within the sound of the Gospel, and may enjoy the full efficacy of the means of L'.) Sec Aj)ptndix. 40 SERMON II. them, and to supply what had been wanting m their ministration from defect of power or of abiUty. It is the opinion of Beveridge ' , that the twelve did not receive their full consecration and sacerdo- tal power until after our Lord's death, as the Levi- tical priesthood, itself an ordinance of God, was not abolished till that sacrifice was made. With- out examining this opinion, I may at once proceed to the consideration of the full promises and decla- rations of our Lord after his resurrection. And first I shall observe, that in a passage of St. John's Gospel our Lord declared to the Apostles that ' as his Father sent him, so he sent them",' words which seem of themselves almost sufficient for our purpose ; that immediately after this declaration he breathed on them and said, ' Receive the Holy Ghost ;' and assured them that from that time ' whose soever sins they remitted, those sins were remitted ; and whose soever sins they retained, were retained.' But with these strong and positive pro- mises, we must join others recorded by St. Matthew^ in a passage wholly undisputed, and confirmed by another of St. Mark', the genuineness of which is admitted even by Eichhorn "^ himself. We find ' Beveiidge's Works, Vol. ii. p. 112, in Home's edition. ' John XX. 21. ' Matt, xxviii. 19. ■• Mark xvi. 15. '" Eichhorn, Einleitung in das Neue Test. Vol. i. p. 021 — 623. 2nd edit, or p. 577—579. 1st edit. SERMON II. 41 in both a command of our Lord to the Apostles ' to go and make disciples of all nations and bap- tize them ;' and a i)romise that ' lie would be with them to the end of the world.' It is not my intention to wearj^ you with enter- ing into the endless and sometimes fruitless con- troversies which these words have caused, or to inquire what w^ere and what are the bounds of the pow'cr given by our Lord to his ministers '. I shall rest my cause, as far as concerns our Lord, on the assertion, that if words have any meaning, these words contain a commission, and a provision for its renewal and continuation. The commission will not bear, never has borne, any dispute ; ail classes and sects admitting that the Apostles received a commission from their Master. The provision for a renewal has been sometimes disputed by the Rationalizing Christians, but with very little show of argument-. I must, how^ever, observe here, ' I refer here to the enormous claims made by the Roman Catliolic Church on the one hand, with respect to the powers of the keys, and the equally unreasonable attempt made on the part of Christians of low views to get rid of all meaning attached to the declaration of our Lord on that point. The reader will find a specimen of opposite views in Lampe's Commentary on John XX. 21, 22. * See on this subject some very sensible remarks of Dr. Hey, Article XXIII. § 25. The arguments u.sed by the Presbyterians against the supposition thai the eoutiimancf ol" an order with 42 SERMON II. that when our Saviour says that ' he sent his Apos- tles, as the Father sent him,' he ohviously speaks only of his embassy as a Teacher and Minister. He was sent by his Father to die for the sins of the world ; and after that, to enter into glory, and be the Ruler of all things until the consummation of the world. In this sense he certainly did not send his Apostles, but spoke in his lower capacity of a Minister of God on earth, and in that capacity sent his Apostles as the Father sent him. Be it re- marked too, in this place, that the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews ' especially observes, that ' as no man taketh the honour of a Priest unto himself, but he that is called of God as was Aaron, so Christ glorified not himself to be an high Priest,' nor assumed the character till the descent of the Spirit upon him had manifested God's pleasure and intention. If then Christ sent the Apostles as his Father sent him, sent them, that is to say, to do his work after he had departed from the world ; if by that very act he showed that in his ministerial character he had the power of delegating and con- tinuing his authority, could they, to whom he pro- mised the same power as he possessed, conceive hUjher powers was included in this commission are well answered by Scott, in his Christian Life, Part ii. Vol. ii. Ch. vii. p. 404, ed. 1700. ' Hel). V. i, r>. SERMON II. 4,-J that that essential part of it, the right of delega- tion, was withheld, when the religion was to be continued for ever ? Such a power of providing ministers, they must have known, would be far more necessary when the great Shepherd was re- moved from the external and visible rule of his flock, when the flock was more numerous, when ' its first zeal was perhaps abated, its native sim- plicity perverted into arts of hypocrisy and forms of godliness, when " heresies should arise, and the love of many wax cold'."' But again, when Christ gave the command that his ministers, in fulfilment of those ancient and august prophecies which had foretold the everlasting duration and universal dominion of the Gospel, should go and make disciples of all nations, could the Apostles, unless they had been mad enough to imagine that immortality on earth was a part of the gift be- stowed on them, could they, I say, have believed - * Jeremy Taylor's Works, Vol. vi. p. 303. Heber's edit. See also Beveridge, Vol. ii. p. 88. Home's edit. ^ See Jeremy Taylor's Divine Institution of the Office Minis- terial, § 11. The following are the words of ArclAishop Sharp, Serm. XIII. Vol. v. p. 212. — ' Since men to the world's end are to be saved by believing the Gospel, then there is a necessity tliat there should be always an order of men in tlie world whose business it should be to preach this Gospel : for, as St. Paul truly says. How shall men believe, &:c. If Christ designed that the belief of his Gospel should be tlii' way of salvation as long 44 SERMON II. that the task enjoined was to be accompUshed by them alone, that task, of which, after the lapse of almost two thousand years, the greater, alas ! the as the world lasts, He must certainly have designed that there should be men set apart to preach and make known this Gospel as long as the world lasts likewise. Accordingly, we find that He hath de facto done so ; for the commission He gave to his Apostles He did really mean should extend to all those that should succeed them in that ministry, as appears plainly in the last clause of it, as I read to you out of St. Matthew, Lo ! I am with you alway, even to the end of the ivorld. What is the mean- ing of that ? Would He be with the Apostles till the end of the world ? W^hy, that could not be, they were to go off the stage in a few years ; and so they did : but the world hath continued many ages after their deaths, and is yet likely to continue. Christ's meaning then could be no other than this, that He would not only by his Spirit assist the Apostles in the preaching of the Gospel during their lives, but He would also continue that assistance to those that should succeed them in the work of the ministry, even so long as the world should endure ; and accord- ingly we see that He hath hitherto made that promise good, having for above 1600 years all along continued a succession of Christ's ministers to gain souls to Christ, and all along like- wise continued a succession of Christ's people in all parts of the world, who are gained to Christ by their ministry ; and as He hath hitherto made good his promise, so we doubt not but He will continue to do it to the end of the world.' The words of Theophylact on Matt, xxviii. 20, are worth quoting : Oil fxovwQ hk TOVTo To'iQ 'ATTOffToXoig vKi(T-)(^ETo, TV avvi'ivui avroTs, dXXa /cat Traaiv avrov ('nrXwg toTq f.iaOr]rtu<:' uv yap ^'jirov oi ^ AnucTToXoi tiyjn ri'iij trvi'TtXtidc i/jeXXoi' ^j)''" •>■■«' '//^''' ovp Kcii to'kj fJtd >//^d(J U7r((T)(«'£77-0 TOVTO, S E H M ON II. 45 far greater part remains to be done? Stian<. ()2 SERMON II. arguments and instances which show the ApostoUc institution and perpetual continuance of the Epis- be necessary. See J. Taylor's Episcopacy Asserted, § 21. Hoadley's Brief Defence of Episcopacy, ch. i. p. 82 — 99. Bishop Hobart's Apology for Apostolic Order, p. 174 — 199. The passage occurs in the Commentary on the Epistle to Titus. Daubeny (App. to Guide to the Church, p. 48) observes, that in this place in which Jerome* says, ' that a priest is the same as a bishop,' the question is in what way this sameness is to be understood — that, from what goes before, it would seem rather that he is seeking to magnify his own office by showing the same- ness of the qualifications of a priest and bishop. But putting this aside, Jerome, in order to magnify his office, is referring to the times when the words presbyter and bishop were promis- cuously used. He argues this expressly from St. Paul's address to the bishops and deacons at Philippi, and observes, that there could not be more than one bishop in one city. Jerome was engaged in warm contests with bishops and deacons, who, as he thought, infringed his rights as a presbyter ; and he was led, therefore, to exalt the office of presbyter as much as possible. Daubeny (ubi supra) remarks, tluit though the argument from the promiscuous use of the titles was pertinent enough to Jerome's purpose of magnifying the office of presbyter, yet that Jerome himself elsewhere shows that it has nothing to do with the cause which it is alleged to support, as, after arguing strongly in favour of the presbyter, Jerome goes on to say, that at first the Church was governed by a council of presbyters ; that after- wards disputes arose, and then one chosen from the Presbyters was appointed over the rest ; ' For,' he adds, ' at Alexandria, from the time of Mark the Evangelist to the present bishops, * Jerome Ep. 85, ad I'-vagriuni. SERMON II. c^ copal order, show at the same time the beUet" enter- tained of the necessity of that commission for the the presbyters elected one of their own body, and named this person, placed in a higher station, bishop.' And he then sub- joins, with a view to the same subject, Quid enim facit Epis- copus, excepta ordinatione, quod Presbyter non facial * ? This ini})ortant exception is enough alone to show that the opponents of Episcopacy had better not cite Jerome on tlicir side. If he had, as Daubeny observes, before pleaded for the similarity of character between a bishop and presbyter, from the same title having, at one time, been given to both, he clearly here marks out tlie distinction of their office. And besides, passages in great number can be produced from other parts of his works, in which he maintains that the supremacy of bishops was of apos- tolic institution ; and I think it is therefore only bare justice to him to suppose, with Hoadley and Bishop Hobart, that he meant that the change he alludes to was made in the times of tl)e Apostles, and by their authority. ' He does not,' as Bishop Hobart observes, ' even on this supposition, pretend to adduce amj record of the fact, but reasons only from the identity of the names bishop and presbyter.' (There is nothing in the against, but much for this supposition. For example, * Jerome, ubi supra. As the word used as to the presbyters IS faciat, Taylor (Episcopacy Asserted, § 21) argues that Jerome meant mai/ not. In his day presbyters did not govern, and he could not, therefore, ask what a bishop did which a presbyter did not do likewise, but which the presbyter could not do ? Iloadlcy has argued in the same way. And if this be true, it shows at once Jerome's belief that no one but a l^isliop ever coidd ordain. 84 SERMON II. conferring and continuance of which the order mainly exists. We have sufficient proof, tlien, that there has ever been in the Church a class of the Ministry instituted chiefly for the end of perpe- tuating the commission ; and we may well ask, why it should have been so, but from the persuasion derived from the founders of the Christian Church, that in that Church, he who teaches without God's authority can be no teacher, and that the laity, or the civil magistrate, have no more power to make a priest than to institute a new Sacrament. It is true that the clergy cannot exhibit in a tangible form the seal of God to their ministry, but it is in referring to the schisms which caused the appointment of tlie bishops, Jerome describes it by saying, that there was a covmcil of presbysters until the people began to say, / am of Paul, and. I of Apollos. Surely these words look like a reference to apostolic times. Again, he says, that this change was established by a decree throuc/h the whole world; when could he think this could have been brought about after the Apostles' time ? Stillingfleet has argued the whole matter about Jerome very ably, and to the same purpose as in the text, in his Ordina- tion Sermon. (Works, vol. i. p. 373, fol. ed. 1710.) The proba- bility of such a change being made at any time before the age of Jerome, without a single record of it, is really not worth arguing for. Jerome, in the same Epistle, says, that what Aaron and his sons, and the Levites, were in the temple, the bishops, priests, and deacons claim to be in the Church; and this, he says, he mentions, that we may know that apostolic traditions and in- stitutions are taken from the Old Tcstamc^nt. S E R M O N II. 65 true also, that, if any proposition be capable ol" his- torical proof, there is an abundance of such proof, all the proof, in short, which the universal voice of history and of tradition in all ages can su[)ply, that the Apostles of Christ never dreamt of any teachers but those called by the original authority from God'. And it may, I think, be well to observe here, that the ground on which we have been arguing is the best ground for considering the question of episcopacy. To argue the necessity of the episcopal order merely because it is an Apos- tolic institution, is to argue it on very insufficient grounds, for many apostolical institutions mi<:;bt ' ' And what tlie will of the Apostles was when once the Christians multiplied, and tlie order and regularity of the Church was to be regarded, I leave to any one to judge from the first chapter of this treatise ; in which I have shown, both from the instances of ordination and rules concerning it recorded in the New Testament, and from the acknowledged testimony and prac- tice of the first ages, that the persons manifestly designed by the Apostles for this work were ecclesiastical officers superior to Presbyters, and distinct from the laity. Nay, it is manifest, that had it been the will of the Apostles that the laity should be left to the exercise of this right, St. Paul would have given or sent orders to Ephesus, that every congregation of Christians, when it was formed, should choose one from amongst themselves for the performance of religious offices, and not have appointed Timothy to that work ; the very constituting of him to ordain Presbyters being a conlutation of the opinion of this author.' — - Iloadley's Brief Defence of Episcoj)acy, ch. iii. j). 17'^. 66 SERMON II. be, and doubtless were, of a temporary nature'. But, if we think it plain from Scripture that the Apostles never contemplated the possibility of any man's becoming a minister of God without a com- mission, we cannot, surely, believe that that was a temporary order which was instituted by the Apostles with the power of conferring the commis- sion, when no other order possessed the power. The same consideration goes far towards establish- ing the uninterrupted succession of the episcopal order ; for if it can be shown that no man was admitted to minister without a commission, there must ever have existed those who had the power of bestowing it^ It is on the authority of this uninterrupted succession alone ^ that any one of ' See Appendix, No. III. ^ Law's Postscript to his Second Letter, p. 71. ^ To complete the argument, it m:iy be necessary to notice the favourite charge of the Romanists against us. They do not allow the validity of our ordinations *, but it does not seem that * I need hardly remind my readers, that the Romanists reckon orders a sacrament— -hiit as a very mean evasion has been practised lately on their part, evidently with a view to cast an effectual shade on our orders, I cannot but notice to the junior reader, that the real doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church is, that the essential mailer of that sacrament is the imposition of hands. Dr. Philpotts has cited the authorities in his Letter to an English Layman, pp. 2'\1 — •2.5,'}. SERMON II. e? US can presume to act as ministers of God, for if that succession liad ever failed, no carf/th/ j)()\\cr tlioy all of tliL'iu rest their charge of inraliditi/ on the sa;iie grounds. Their old argument rested on the alleged fact, that Archbishop Parker, through whom it is admitted that our Church derives her orders, was not consecrated by real Bishops. Perhaps there is nowhere to be found a shorter and fuller refutation of this statement than in Archbishop Bramhall's Works, p. 43G. — 'They say that Archbishop Parker and the rest of the Protestant Bishops in the beginning of Queen Eliza- beth's reign, or at least sundry of them, were consecrated at the Nag's Head in Cheapside, together, by Bishop Scory alone, or by him and Bishop Barlow, without sermon, without sacra- ment, without solemnity, in the year 1559, (but they know not what day nor before what public notaries,) by a new phantastic form. And all this diey say, on the supposed voluntary report of Mr. Neale (a single malicious spy) in private to his own party, long after the business pretended to be done.' ' We say that Archbishop Parker was consecrated alone at Lambeth, in the church, by four Bishops, authorized thereunto by commission under the Great Seal of England, with sermon, with sacrament, with due solemnities, on the 17th day of De- cember, anno 1559, before four of the most eminent public notaries in England, and particularly the same public notary was principal actuary both at Cardinal Pole's consecration and Arch- bishop Parker's. And that all the rest of the Bishops were con- secrated at other times, some in the same month, but not upon the same day, some in the same year, but not the same month, and some the year following. And to prove the truth of our relation, and falsehood of theirs, we produce the register of the see of Canterbiu'y, as authentic as the world hath any. the re- gisters of tlic otlur fourteen sees then vacant, all as carilully 1,' •> 68 SERMON 11. could have restored, what no earthly power had given ^ But while we thus advocate the Divine right of the Ministry, while we assert that none but those who have received their commission from the hands qualified to give it, are authorized to preach the Word of God, or to administer the Sacraments, we must not be accused of the ab- surdity of contending for any Divine appointment in the details of Church Government. The Church, while it retains the main points, the Ministry and the Sacraments, according to the appointment of God, must, like all other societies, have the power of ordering its own government, and making such changes in minor matters, in judging, for instance, where the right of legislation, or of inflicting punish- ment, shall be lodged, as may appear essential from kept by sworn officers as the records of the Vatican itself. We produce all the commissions under the Privy Seal and Great Seal of England. We produce the rolls and records of the Chancery, and if the records of the Signet office had not been unfortunately burned in King James' time, it might have been verified by them also. We produce an Act of Parliament, express to the ]K)int, within seven years after the consecration ; we produce all the controverted consecrations published to the world in print anno ir)72, three years before Archbishop Parker's death ; whilst all things were fresh in men's memories.' For more on this point, see Appendix, No. vi. ' Law, iibi supra, |). (Hi. SERMON II. G9 the changes of society and of situation'. Tiie institution of the society as a visible body by its ' The truth on this mutter is well stated by Bishop Hohart. ' Episcopalians do not contend that in an extensive and un- qualified sense there is any form of Church government of Divine right. Churcii government is often applied by episcopal writers, in a confined sense, to the orders of the ministry ; and in this confined signification, Episcopal government is of Divine right : hut in a more extensive sense, Church government includes the particular organization by which ecclesiastical power is exercised and discipline is administered, and the rites and ceremonies by which public worship is conducted. In this extensive significa- tion, Episcopalians maintain that there is no precise form of Church government of Divine right : the organization of eccle- siastical authority, the forms of discipline, the rites and cere- monies of public worship, they maintain, are not laid down in Scripture, and " therefore by common consent and authority they may be altered, abridged, enlarged, amended, or otherwise disposed of as may seem most convenient for the edification of the people." (Preface to American Prayer- Book.) The single point for which they contend is, that Episcopacy was instituted by Christ and his Apostles ; that the three grades of ministers, bishops, priests, and deacons, with their appropriate powers, are of Divine and Apostolical institution. ' The government of the Church, therefore, is evidently not to be identified with its ministry. The former, as including dis- cipline, rites, and ceremonies, may be altered by human authority ; the latter can only be altered by that Divine authority whicli originally instituted it. If we change the distinctive grades and powers of the ministry, and take the power of ordination from the hands in which it was originally vested, we make the minis- try of human instead of Divine authority. ' 15"t 70 SERMON II. Divine Head, gives it that power, and makes its regulations obligatory on the consciences of all its ' But wliile bishops, priests, and deacons, with the powers which they respectively received from Christ and his Apostles, are preserved inviolate, the Church possesses the right, according to Episcopalians, to create new officers, and to model discipline, rites, and ceremonies, as may serve best for edification, provided there be no violation of any Divine command or institution. 'The principle that in an extensive sense there is no form of Chm-ch government in all its parts of Divine right, is main- tained by all Episcopalians. It is particularly vindicated by the celebrated Hooker, in his learned Ecclesiastical Polity. The Puritans maintained that " God hath delivered in Scripture a complete, particular, immutable form of Church polity." Of course they opposed the Church of England for including in her discipline and public services many things not expressly com- manded by the word of God. In opposition to them. Hooker * contended, " to make new articles of faith and doctrine, no man thinketh it lawful ; new laws of government, what Commonwealth or Church is there which maketh not either at one time or other ?" He contends, that as external rites and ceremonies do not affect the substance of the faith, " in such things discretion may teach the Church what is convenient;" and that in regard to them " the Church is no farther tied to Scripture, than that against Scripture nothing be admitted into the Church." Some Episcopal Churches have incorporated in their regimen many ecclesiastical officers not known in other Episcopal Churches, nor deemed essential by any. In regard to them Hooker ob- * The Bishop refers to Hooker's Third Book, sect. 10. I would beg to recommend the whole of that book to those who vvisli to understaiul the subject. SE K MO N II. 7i members and ministers. As u Ihmiliar e.xiimplc, we may observe, that although the commission given to a priest would qualifi/ him to minister to all men, in all places, and all times, yet in this reahn the wisdom of the Church has decreed, that for the sake of good order and quietness, our mi- nistrations shall be confined to definite places, and a definite flock ; and no individual can, without disregarding every call of conscience, transgress these regulations of the society to which he belongs, and under the false pretence of possessing an au- thority instead of a qualification, take on him the task of teaching and preaching in places and so- cieties which belong to other men'. serves, " as for Deans, Prebendaries, Sec. &c. and such otlier like names, which being not found in Holy Scripture, we have been thereby, through some men's error, thought to allow of ecclesiastical degrees not known nor ever heard of in the better ages of former times : all these are, in truth, but titles of office — degrees of order still continuing tlie same they were from the first beginning." Whatsoever tilings the Word of God hadi neither commanded nor prohibited, the Church possesses tlie right, which every other society possesses, to prescribe and enjoin. ' It is therefore a principle strictly Episcopal, received by all Churchmen, that the particular organization of Church govern- ment, matters of discipline, rites and ceremonies, are not un- alterably determined in Scripture : in this extensive sense there is no particular form of Church government of Divine right.' — Apology for Apostolic Order, p. 130 — 13'2. ' It may be thought, at first sight, that the view here taken is 72 SERMON II. Let us now return to our former business, and inquire into the objections urged against the Divine commission. Let us inquire, first, why Reason should suggest any doubt, and any diffi- culty here. Is it that man is too weak, and too infirm, to do God's work in the world ? But is it more difficult to believe that he should have lodged the right to speak his will with living man, infirm as he is, aided and corrected by Scripture, than that he should have committed it to Scrip- ture alone, subject to all the corruptions, and alterations, and misconceptions, of that very human infirmity, and that very human perverseness, the eflfects of which appear so alarming? Or if God can give grace through the sacraments, consecrate even inanimate things to spiritual purposes, and make them the means of eternal salvation, are we to think that man alone cannot be made subservient to his designs, or efi'ectual in attaining the ends of his grace' ? If, again, a Revelation be not incre- dible, if a Revelation must confirm the dictates of Reason as to our weakness and corruption, if it not entirely consistent with what has been said in p. '22. The short statement which the reader will find in the Appendix will, I think, remove all appearance of inconsistency. (See Appendix, No. VII.) ' This is Law's argument, in nearly his words. Sec his Second Letter to Bislioj) Iloadlcy, p. 21. (1th edit.) S.ER MON II. 73 must, in order to address itself to our acceptance, offer remedies for our weakness, and cure for our corruption, why is it incredible that God, who in other cases obviously uses human agency for the effectuation of moral objects, should use it also, obviously adapted as it is for the purpose, in this highest and best of all of his dispensations? But can any proof be alleged against us ? Does Scripture declare that men shall have no authority to bless in Christ's name? Does God any where declare that it is presumptuous in man to pretend to do so, and inconsistent with his honour to bestow his graces through human hands, and that all are to be received immediately from himself? Need I remind you, that they who so think must not apply to the Old Testament at least ; for there they find only the express institution of a priesthood, and the severest punishment for those who presumed to take it on themselves ; there they will find a com- mand to Aaron and his sons to bless the people, and an express promise that God's blessing should follow theirs ; there they will find that God would not heal sickness, till suppHcation had been made by a human minister ' . But T need not proceed ' The substance of these arguments will be ioiuul in Law, ubi supra, p. 12 — 16. There is an admirable passage on the Efficacy of Sacraments, in Hooker, vi. p. 177 (eel. IGGl); it concludes thus : — ' Cod 74 SERMON II. on this ground ; for assuredly they who contend against the Ministry, will never appeal to a book, which, like the Old Testament, never touches on the subject of dispute, without refuting their argu- ments, and negativing their assertions. But the real and capital objection to the notion of a commissioned Ministry, arises, in fact, from the extent of the powers which it is supposed to claim, and which, in a corrupt Church, it did claim. Men feel a repugnance to believing that others, as infirm and as sinful as themselves, have a power to bless or to curse, to reconcile sinners to God, or to pass sentence of condemnation on them. They contend, on the one hand, that God alone can see the heart, and that by the heart alone can man be judged ; on the other they urge, that the sentence must be passed by one who can be moved neither by passion nor interest ; and that such a character can apply to God alone. and man do here meet in one action upon a third, in whom, as it is the work of God to create grace, so it is his work, by the hand of the minister, to apply a sign which should betoken, and his work to annex that spirit which shall effect it. The action thereof is but one : God the author thereof, and man a co- partner by him assigned to work for, with, and under him : God the giver of grace by the outward ministry of man, so far forth as he authorizeth man to apply the sacraments of grace in the soul, whereby he alone worketh, without either instrument or co- agent.' SERMON II. 75 It would seem, indeed, (for it were idle to speak with })ositive certainty of the Proteus-like faith of the Roman Church, which contrives, with ad- mirable ingenuity, to escape the firmest grasp, to elude the most entire conviction, to deny its old shape, and assume a new,) but it would seem, if we may believe some of the declarations of Bellarmine ', that it is a doctrine of the Church of Rome, that no penitent on earth can be absolved without the Priest's sentence, that that sentence really takes away siii, and thus that it is necessary to salvation. But these doctrines are not to be charged on us. God only by himself forgives sin ; ' who cleanses the soul from inward blemish, and looses the debt of eternal death'.' We claim only a power of a ' Among other passages, see Bellarm. de Poenit. iii. 2. ^ These are the words of Hooker, Book vi. in the Division on Absolution (p. 173, cd. 1G61). The view of absolution which follows is that which he seems to have taken. In the same division, p. 170, he says, 'To remission of sins there are two things necessary, grace, as the only bond which taketh away iniquity, and repentance, as a duty or condition required in us. To make repentance such as it should be, what doth God demand but inward sincerity joined with fit and convenient offices for that purpose, the one referred wholly to our own consciences, the other best discerned by those whom God hath appointed judges in this court. So that having first the promises of God lor pardon generally unto all offenders penitent ; and particu- larly for our own unfeigned meaning, the infallible testimony of u- 76 SERMON II. different kind as far as regards the eternal punish- ment of sin. It is our business to declare the a good conscience ; the sentence of God's appointed officer and vice-gerent to approve with impartial judgment the quality of that we have done, and as from his tribunal in that respect to assoil us of any crime, I see no cause but that by the rules of our faith and religion we may rest ourselves well assured,' &-C. &c. So Jeremy Taylor : — ' The priest does only minister to that pardon as he ministers to repentance. He tells us upon what conditions God does pardon, and judges best when the conditions are performed, and acts forward those conditions by his proper ministry, and ministers to us the instruments of grace ; but first takes account of our souls, and helps us, who are otherwise too partial, to judge severe and righteous judgment concerning our eternal interest,' &c. — Doctrine of Repentance, ch. x. § 4, p. 259. Heber's ed. So Field (of the Church, Book v. ch. 22) : ^' ' From these bonds of sinne and punishment inflicted by God, none but hee alone can free men by his favour and the worke of his grace, as the supreme and highest cause, none but Christ by merit and satisfaction. The ministers of the Church, by the ministry of the Word and Sacraments, they convert men to God instrumentally, making them partakers of his graces, and bring- ing them into such an estate wherein they shall be sure for Christ's sake to finde mercie with God for the remission and taking away of their sinnes. They may pray for them, and out of the knowledge of their estate, assure them of remission. But other power to unloose and untie these direfull and horrible bonds of sinne and punishments, they have none.' — Farther on l^ he notices the power of the ministry to inflict certain penances, to restrain from tlie sacraments, &c., to release from these penances, &c. ; and then adds, ' neither is this kinde of binding SERMON ir. 77 conditions on which God has heen pleased to remit sin ; and it is our duty, and our privilege, for the ami loosing lightly to be esteemed of, or little regartleil, for lie that for his contempt and disobedience is debarred from the use of the sacraments, from enjoying the society of the beleevers, and partaking in the benefit of the Churche's prayers, is un- doubtedly excluded from all accesse to the throne of grace in heaven, and all acceptation there ; and so consequently no lesse bound in heaven than in earth ; and he that is unloosed from these bonds on earth, is unloosed and set free in heaven, that without all restraint he may goe boldly to the throne of grace, to seeke helpe in the time of neede.' I wovdd recommend the whole of tliat chapter to the attentive perusal of the student, especially the remarks on confession ; as also the chapter on indicative absolu- tion, at the end (p. 3G3) of Shepherd on the Common Prayer. I would only remark, that Shepherd, in speaking of the Non- jurors, is unjust (p. 378) if he refers to Law, when he says that the disciples of the old Nonjurors maintained tliat the priest had an absolute unconditional power to forgive sins. Law, 1 think, more than once speaks unguardedly, in talking of the necessity of absolution : but it is his express assertion, in the strongest terms, that the absolution given by man is only conditional. See especially p. 38 of the Second Letter. Scripture gives no power of unconditional absolution ; and nowhere makes even authoritative absolution necessary. On the other hand, though not necessary for all, to many it may be of the greatest comfort. It is to be observed also, that when we say that it is declaratory only, we do not mean to depreciate or repre- sent it as of no effect. It declares what? God's pardon of sill, on the supposition that the conditions he requires are ful- filled : these conditions are not m;itters of deep mystery, but 78 SERMON II. comfort of the penitent and returning sinner, or the timid and dispirited Christian, to declare to them, as far as faUible man can, when the condi- tions are fulfilled, and so to absolve them, by assuring them of God's gracious pardon in heaven to all penitents, and of his satisfaction, 'tis far as outward tokens can warrant, with theirs. Yet even to this limited exercise of power, the same objections, with respect to the natural imper- reqnire only an honest and faithful heart in the priest and the penitent. When the penitent knows his own sincerity, receives the sentence of absolution from the minister, and remembers that whatsoever is rightly loosed on earth is loosed in heaven, what higher comfort can he receive on earth ? ' The minister by the Word persuading them to repentance, procuring remission, and out of his prudent observation of the party's conversion imto God, assuring him that it will go well with him, as also by the sacrament instrumentally communicating to him as well the grace of repentant conversion, as of free remission (that soe we may heare the very sound and voyce of God in mercie saying to the heart and spirit of the repentant sinner, I am thy salvation), may bee said in a sort to remit sin even in that it is an offence against God, not by way of authority and power, but by winning and persuading the sinner to that conversion which obtaineth remission from God, and by the sacrament instrumentally making him partaker as well of the grace of remission of sinne from God as of conversion from sinne to God.' Field, Of the Church, Book v. ch. 22. Field dwelt most on the power of the minister to admit to, or reject from, the sacraments, as the power of the Keys. The whole chapter is well worthy to be studied. SEK MON II. 79 fection of Priests, arc iir£i;cd. Rut be it remembered, ,< that all the means of grace, all the ministrations of the Gospel, all hopes, all promises, all threats, what- ever concerns man's salvation, is all conditional, and can only be effectual when attended by such circumstances as God requires. The agents and instruments, in short, are earthly ; the being for whose sake all is done is earthly too. All is imperfect, and so all is conditional. Christianity conveys no infallible salvation ; the Sacraments no infallible grace ; it depends on the heart of the receiver, whether the grace they may convey be conveyed or not. They may be received by the unworthy, 'or the hypocrite, and thus prove a curse when they were intended to shed a blessing. And so of the power of blessing, of absolving, or condemning, given to the ministers of God. They may be deceived, because they are men ; and the hypocrite may assume to them the appearance of a Christian ; and they may pronounce a blessing on earth which will never be ratified in heaven. But who w^ould thence argue, that the blessing which they pronounce, by God's leave and com- mand, when they are not deceived, and when the ordinance has its free course, will not be ratified ? Again, the Minister of God may be unworthy, and may pronounce from passion, or interest, a sentence which, in the fear of God, he would 80 S E R M O N II. never pronounce, and which will be overturned by God his Master. It is required that he who pronounces this absolution, he to whose earthen vessel this treasure is committed, should guard it with all the care and anxiety which so precious a deposit requires ; that he should never allow it to be polluted by any admixture of an earthly or carnal nature ; that the pure and living water should not be defiled by the turbid stream of passion or revenge, nor by the yet more sordid dregs of interest or avarice. And if these con- ditions be not observed, the conditional sentence is null and void ; yet its nullity, when its conditions are absent, can be no proof of its nullity when they are fulfilled. The last point which it is necessary to bring under your notice, as immediately connected with the objection I have just noticed, and as enabling us to state in what the commission of the ministry consists, is the railing accusation often brought by vulgar and ignorant minds against the words, 'Receive the Holy Ghost,' used in our Ordination Service'. The reader of Scripture need not be ' Another objection often taken is to the question, ' Do you trust that you are inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost ? ' &c. Seeker lias explained this fully in his ' Instructions to Candidates fo/ Orders.' He observes that the question is not ' Do you feel?' but 'Do you trust?' i. r. 'Are yon on good ^rounds SERMON II. 81 reminded how often by the Spirit are expressed the ordinary, as well as extraordinary gifts of the Spirit : and, among others, that very authority and power which enables men in the Church to be ministers of holy things ' . He then who gives this power by God's permission and command, may justly use the phrase we speak of, and feel assured, that he bestows such powder as Christ has endowed his Church withal ; such power as, in the words of Hooker ^ neither Prince nor Po- tentate, King nor Ceesar, on earth can give. For as the object for which the Ministry is instituted is to carry on the dispensation of grace, which has been the great object of God's providence ever since this lower world was created, which his persuaded ?' And as the Archbishop observes, * the way to know this, is by first seeing whether the Spirit has moved you to live soberly, righteously, and yodly, not to transgress nor omit any duty wilfully, to have a practical faith in Christ, and on the terms of the Gospel covenant has given you a title to everlasting life. But farther, has he given you a desire to serve God, for the promoting of his glory and the edifying the Church ? Are these your motives, and do you believe yourself qualified to execute the office? Then you may answer in the affirmative, for we can have such trust to Godward only through Christ, who hath sent us the Spirit.' " Thus especially Bishop Hopkins on the 5th Commandment, Works, p. 181, fol. ed. ' Hooker, Book v. § 7«. 82 SERMON 11. wisdom had decreed before its foundations were laid, for which the Son of God was incarnate and crucified, and the gifts of the Spirit were spread abroad on mankind; as, in short, it is our business' to preach the saving truths of the everlasting Gospel, to declare the conditions of pardon, to offer the means of grace in the Sacraments, to comfort the penitent with the assurance of for- giveness, and by every method which zeal and piety can suggest, to procure the salvation of souls, so we may be assured that that Master who lays the burthen of the ministry on us by those words, by those words so connects himself with it, that we shall assuredly receive from him the assistance, ' the aid, the countenance, and support we require in all that we faithfully undertake in the discharge of our office. Knowing, therefore, that when we receive ordination, we receive also the present assistance of the Spirit, partly to guide, direct, and strengthen us in all our ways, and partly to assume to itself the actions which belong to our place and calling, in order to confer a higher authority on them ; can we either hear the words at the solemn hour of our admission to the Ministry, or recall them to our minds and re- flections, without a strong and triumphant feeling ' The whole of this passage is Hooker's, iihi supra, though the phrases are here and there modernized. SEKMON If. 83 of exultation and joy ? Remove what these in- sulted words imi)ly, and what have we wherein to glory? But now since that blessed Spirit, which our Saviour gave at his first calling of mankind to his ministry, concurs with spiritual vocations through all ages, w^e have for the very least of our duties that to dignify, to grace, and to authorize them, w^hich no other officers on earth can challenge. Whether w^e preach, pray, bap- tize, communicate, declare God's wrath or his forgiveness, as stew^ards of God's mysteries, our words, our judgments, and our deeds may, while our hearts and hands are holy, be guided by him, and so be his, rather than ours.' A truth so solemn and so awful, that if it were unfeignedly believed, the Church of God would ever be wdiat it ought to be, without spot or blemish of neglect or sin. For who would carelessly bestow, who idly use, who hghtly value, the gifts and graces of the Spirit of God ? May God grant to such of you, my younger brethren, as are about to enter into his service, the spirit of wisdom. May he possess your minds wdth just and elevated vieW'S of the privileges and gifts he bestows on his Ministers, and thus prepare you for the awful duties, the serious responsibility, the anxiety, the toil, the difficulty of your office, G 2 84 SERMON II. that so having done your share in the perfecting of the Saints, the edifying the body of Christ, ye may finish your course with joy, and enter into your Master's rest. SERMON III. Malachi ii. 7. The Priest's lips should keep knoivledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth ; for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts. I HAVE endeavoured, in the preceding discourses, to set before you the proofs ever deemed satis- factory, by those who recognize the truth of the Scriptures, that God has been pleased to institute a ministry in his Church, and to give it the sanc- tion of his authority, and the promise of his assist- ance. Let us proceed to inquire, how the facts which we have estabhshed ought to operate on those who either are, or are about to become, pubhc teachers, under the authority so given. The great consideration which addresses itself to their notice is this ; that God, who has chosen to work by human agents, knows their strength, as well as their infirmity ; their capacity, as well as their im- perfections ; and that, while, of his goodness, he will pardon, as well as supply, the inevitable wants and 86 SERMON III. deficiencies of his chosen agents, he still, in the knowledge of their natural powers, and of the effects they are capable of producing, requires and expects the exertion of those powers to their full extent. To say, indeed, that God works by human means, is only to say, that he intends those means to effect all that they have the power of effecting. In the dispensation of the Gospel, then, he who is called to the work is to feel this awful truth pressed on his conscience, that whatsoever his hand findeth to do, whatsoever his natural gifts, whatsoever the advantages already acquired, or still within his reach, will enable him to perform, that he is to perform with all his might. For he has no longer the promise of that extraordinary assistance which attended the first chosen preachers of the Gospel ; his work is to be done by the gentler influences of the Spirit, working with his natural or acquired gifts. He is therefore bound, by every tie of conscience, to extend and enlarge his faculties, and to use them when so extended and enlarged to the promotion of that semce to wdiicli he is called. Our subject then naturally divides itself into a consideration of the means to be used by the teacher, to (jualify himself for the discharge of the duties expected from him, and of his })ractice of the duties themselves. We shall devote ourselves to-dav to the first of these con- SERMON III. 87 siderations, and endeavour to show you the solemn obligations of the minister of God to thought and study, as indispensable means of qualifying himsell' for the discharge of his duties. I shall urge the obligation by setting before you the difficulties of the task, the knowledge necessarily required, and the mischiefs necessarily attendant on an incom- petent share of it. I enter on this subject the more anxiously, first, because in some works on the pas- toral office, very justly recommended to your notice, the necessity of patient and continued study is not, I think, duly appreciated ' ; a remark which ' Bun-»et's Pastoral Care, for example, is full of passages tending to depreciate human learning. It is true that Burnet's professed intention is to establish the superiority of piety as a qualification for the ministry. But I cannot believe this view of the case to be either just or expedient, especially in the present day, when we have so much real zeal in many ministers, which might have produced far happier fruit if tempered by the dis- cretion naturally resulting from patient study and sound learn- ing. Why should we make even the semblance of an opposition between piety and learning, or extol one at the expense of the other? Is there, in fact, any necessary opposition between them ? Let the works of Taylor, and Hall, and Bull, and Pear- son, and Barrow answer. Let me earnestly request the reader to consult the Appendix, No. VIII., for the opinions of some of our most eminent men on this subject. If then learning has no tendency to quench piety, let me ask whether the advantage of human learning towards understanding Scripture, and gaining clear views of the doctrines taught in it. 88 SERMON III. it would not become me to make, were not the opposite view which I urge on you sanctioned by will be denied ? If that point too is conceded, as it must be, what excuse can be alleged for the minister's neglecting that which can give him any, the least, vantage ground, and far more, that which will give him so great a one in the exercise of his duty ? It is really distressing to hear the idle answers to these argu- ments. It is commonly said that great learning can be of no use in a country parish, where the people are ignorant and require only plain instruction. They who so speak must imagine that the only use of learning is to enable its possessors to quote He- brew and Greek in the pulpit. Let such reasoners be assured that the advocates for learning recommend it, not that the eyes of the vulgar may be dazzled, but because they believe it to be one of the best means, under God's blessing, of attaining sound and just views of the many great and awful subjects within the province of the divine, both directly by making him acquainted with the writings of men wiser than himself, and indirectly by calling on him to exercise his faculties. Bishop Jebb has stated the great purpose for which the divine is required to engage in theological study most admirably. — ' It is that we may save ouiselves and them who hear us ; it is that we may be ourselves more firmly established in the great prin- ciples of our faith ; and that hence we may be enabled wisely, faithfully, scripturally, and devoutly to feed our several flocks with the words of eternal life.' — Jebb's Sermons, p. 327. How many separations from the Church, how much tendency to schism within it indeed would have been spared, had many well-inten- tioned ministers of late days added to their right intentions that sound knowledge and learning without which such intentions are often fruitless and often mischievous ! When we hear fnnn SERMON III. 89 some of the greatest of oui- divines, men as much distinguished by the fervour of their zeal and the activity of their exertions, as by the depth and some of them the declaration that no knowledge but that of Scripture is required, it is impossible not to call to mind the two first clauses of the caustic phrase of Prideaux : — ' Bonus tex- tualis, bonus Theologus, clamant quam plurimi, qui nee de tcxtu, nee de Theologia, nee de bonitate sunt soliciti.' It is in- deed enough to know Scripture, but that knowledge is not per- fected by the soundest learning and the longest life. Bishop Jebb, after enumerating the variety of matter and of style in Scripture, adds, * When it is soberly considered that all this is contained in that wonderful book the Bible, and that the Bible itself is but a text-book expanded by the ablest writers and the best men, who have in all ages edified the Church ; then let us honestly pronounce, whether Christian teachers have not a field of mental exertion which rather astonishes by its magnitude than circumscribes by any rigorous and dispiriting limitation.' — Jebb's Sermons, p. 294. To a different class of persons the inculcation of the necessity of learning is equally necessary. General and superficial infor- mation is diffused in so many shapes, and is to be obtained at so easy a rate, that there is an ' ignorant impatience' of severe study. But such is the extent of theology, and such the diffi- culties of many branches of it, that nothing but ' applying our- selves wholly to this one thing, and drawing all our cares and studies this way,' nothing but being really 'diligent in such studies as help to a knowledge ' of Scripture, will make us what we ought to be, vvijl enable us ' rightly to divide the word of God,' and to bestow that knowledge which the laity have a right to seek at our mouth. 90 SERMON III. solidity of their learning ' . But I am the more anxious on the subject, because I fear we pass not too harsh a censure on many who enter the Church if we say, that they consider the slight pre- paration, which alone can be made previously to ordination, as the only preparation that is neces- sary, and that they deem the qualification thus acquired sufficient, as far as study goes, to render them able ministers of the New Testament ^ Let it not be thought, on the other hand, that I seek to represent learning as the only, or even as ' See Appendix, No. VIII. '^ ' Giving instruction requires knowledge ; and therefore as a competent degree of it is justly expected of persons before they enter into holy orders ; so when they enter, the care of making a continual progress in it is solemnly promised by them, and covenanted for with them. What may be a very good beginning, is by no means a sufficient stock to go on with ; and even that will lessen, if no pains be taken to increase it. Continued appli- cation then is a duty of importance. Persons of lower abilities and attainments are in danger, without it, of being useless and despised ; and they, who set out with greater advantages, are bound to endeavour at doing, in proportion, greater services to the Church of God. Without exception, therefore, all who are engaged in so serious an employment as ours, if they have any regard either to their duty or their character, must take care not to be more remarkable for their diversions than their studies ; nor indolently to trifle their time away, instead of employing it to good purposes.' — Arclibishop Seeker's First Charge, p. 13 (5th edition). SERMON in. 91 the first qualification of a Christian teaclicr '. The first qualification of such a teaclier, is, heyond all ' I do not know whether the Quakers as a body, or the expositor of their opinions, Mr. Clarkson, is entitled to the credit of the reasoning produced in the following passage ; ' They ' (the Quakers) ' believe that if a knowledge of Chris- tianity had been attainable by the acquisition of the Greek and Roman languages, and through the medium of the Greek and Roman philosophers, the Greeks and Romans themselves had been the best proficients in it.' — Clarkson's Portraiture of Quakerism, Vol. ii. p. 249. (3rd edit.) Does Mr. Clarkson, or do the Quakers, believe that there is any Christian sect which maintains that Christianity is attained by learning Greek and Latin, and str. dying the Greek and Latin writers ? We may, I think, fairly call on them to tell us where and when this sect arose. This is the way in which Christians learn to conceive evil thoughts of one another. They assume a knowledge of others' opinions which they do not possess, and then set them- selves to oppose the creatures of their own fancy. In the pre- sent instance one can hardly believe that such a sentence could be written upon reflection. But the following reasons alleged by Mr. Clarkson, on the Quakers' part, against a ministry, appear to me almost as singular. None must exercise the ministry but such as are called by the Spirit, who always will call a succession. None must be intended by his parents for the ministry, because ' the wind bloweth, &c.' Laying on of hands can do no good, because it cannot give the spiritual gifts of God. Human learning cannot be essential, for the human mind cannot penetrate into divine things, and illiterate men appear to have more knowledge on such matters than the most learned, &c. The use of the words for and because in the above passages is at least remarkable. 92 SERMON III. controversy, a fervent spirit of love to God and to man. In that love the foundation of all ministerial usefulness must be laid * ; and without it, all the learning and all the eloquence, ever possessed by man, will be vain and unprofitable. Neither let it be forgotten that, before all things, it is necessary that a minister of God should look to prayer for his sufficiency in his work. ' Of this too,' says a great prelate, 'we are put in mind at our ordination, and therefore should never forget it. For in that admirable exhortation wliich goes ' ' Our Saviour teaches us that this is the principle by which his ministers ought to act, in the question which he asks St. Peter, and repeats it thrice after his resurrection, '* Simon Peter, lovest thou me ?" and in the command which follows on his profession that he loved him, " Feed my lambs, and feed my sheep," take care of the souls of young and old, that they want not their proper food. For they are so dear to him (as Theophylact there notes), that he makes our care of them to be the mark of our affection to him ! For it is therefore a certain token of our love to him, because it flows from thence as from its fountain and spring. If we love him, we can never neglect them. This will make us studious and industrious to promote the salvation of those souls whom Christ so dearly loved, it being the truest expression of our love to Christ. So Chrysostom upon this place : '* Christ repeated this so often, to show us after what manner we ought chiefly to love him, by taking care of his flock." Can any man read this, then, and be negligent ? No, not if he love the Lord Jesus in sincerity, who hath bid him demonstrate his love "by feeding his lambs and his sheep."' — Bishop Patrick's Work of the Ministry, p. 9G— 98. SERMON ril. 93 before the questions to which we arc to make an- swers, the great excellence and great clithculty of our office is represented to us ; to make us sensible what need we have to pray earnestly for God's Holy Spirit;' without which it is impossible for us to have either a will or ability to perform it as we ought. And accordingly this is one of the things which immediately foUow^s, after w^e promise to God and his Church, that we will ' be diligent in prayers as weW as in reading the Holy Scriptures '.' ' Bishop Patrick's Work of the Ministry, p. 15. The same admirable person adds, 'To be strangers to this holy duty (of prayer) is to be strangers to God, and to all that is good ; who, as he is nigh to all those that call upon him faithfully, so he withdraws himself from those who neglect him ; of which we cannot be guilty if we remember in what need we stand above all other men of his blessed presence with us, to guide and strengthen, and further us in the discharge of our weighty trust, for his honour and tlie salvation of men. This will stir us up not only to ask and seek, but knock also, (as our Saviour speaks,) that is, pray with the greatest importunity for the Holy Spirit. His grace and mercy we ought to seek as soon as we rise, and as often as we can in the day, retiring ourselves into our closets, to beseech hhii to be with us in our study and in our labours, for the good of souls. For, as Clem. Alexandrinus speaks, (Strom. Lib. viii.,) a priest ought to be of such a heavenly spirit, that "his whole life is prayer and conversation with God." Employ, therefore, as much time as you can in secret prayer to God, with such affection that you may feel yourselves really bettered l)y it. Pray for yourselves and pray for the flock (that God would bless vour labours among them, and pour the heavenly dew of 94 SERMON III. But I seek to impress upon those, who, under the mfluence of a spirit of love, and in a deep con- viction of the necessity and the privilege of prayer, are about to become ministers of God, that they are bound to aim at the possession of every ac- quirement by which they can promote the cause of their Master. I desire to show those who are about to enter the ministry with a careless and in- dolent mind, that the knowledge necessary to every minister who is not a disgrace to his order, will require a long-continued and patient course of study, — a consideration, by which I would fain hope that they may be either roused from their fatal lethargy, or moved from their evil purpose. Let us then consider the young minister as having received that call which is to devote him to the service of God. As far as any thing external and without himself is concerned, nothing more can be done, nothing more is to be done on earth, to enable him to obey the call he has received. But because nothing more without himself is required, it is a fatal error on his part to think himself therefore fully qualified for his office, and to dream that his own task of preparation is accomplished. True, he has received the commission which makes him an ambassador for God ; he may enter on that his grace upon tlieiii), for the whole Church of Christ, yea, for all mankind.'— Ibid. p. 17. 19. 21. SERMON 111. 95 awful task of conveying the tokens of reconciled justice and atoning love to the sinner ; he may stand by the dying bed emd promise mercy or threaten woe, he may be for the people to God- ward, and where the Christian heart is filled with hope and joy in believing, the Master, who has promised to be with his Church to the end of the world, will not allow the unworthiness of the minister to destroy the efficacy of the sacrament, but will make the means of grace effectual and the hope of glory sure ' . But in the flock committed ' I shall not, I trust, be thought wanting in respect to Jeremy Taylor, in expressing tny regret that the contrary opinion is tk'livered, and so strongly, in his works. ' Although it be true, that the efficacy of the sacraments does not depend wholly upon the worthiness of him that ministers, yet it is as true that it does not w holly rely upon the worthiness of the receiver ; but both together relying on the goodness of God, produce all those blessings which are designed. The minister hath an influence unto the effect, and docs very much towards it.' — Consecration Sermon, Works, Vol. vi. p. 31C. Again, ' What good shall the people receive when the Bishop lays upon their heads a covetous or a cruel, an unjust or an impure hand?' — Ibid. p. 317. In the Sermon called ' The Minister's Duty in Life and Doctrine,' Vol. vi. p. 500, he holds the same opinions, and asks, ' Can he minister the Spirit from whom the Spirit of God is departed?' But the consequences of his doctrine seem to have struck him so forcibly that he there tempers it, and allows that no man will be lost but by his own fault ; still, however, main- taining that God will not send the Spirit by tlic ministrations of 96 SERMON III. to the young minister, how few are thus prepared for that part of the work of the Church, how many an evil man, but by some extraordinary way. How far more reasonable is the opinion of our Church, as set forth in her 20th Article, and how beautifully has Leighton expressed this in the following passage : — ' What he can extraordinarily do who doth alway what he wills in heaven and earth, we question not. He can convey grace by those to whom he gives none. He can cause them to carry this treasure, and have no share in it ; carry the letter, and not know what is in it ; and make them, so to speak, equivocal causes of conversion.' — Leighton's Works, Vol. iii. p. 472, Jerment's edit. The word extraordinarily, however, is inapplicable : ' Christ's promises,' says Beveridge, ' were not made to the administration of the ordinance by faithful persons, but to the ordinances in general, as duly administered even by such as are truly and rightly called to it. Be the minister worthy or unworthy, if I come with faith to an ordinance, I am sure to go with grace from it,' — Beveridge's Works, Vol. ix. p. 472. ' I deny not,' says Fuller, with his usual quaintness, ' but dissolute men, like unskilful horsemen which open a gate on the wrong side, may, by the virtue of their office, open heaven for others and shut themselves out.' — Holy State, Book ii. ch. ix. ' God may feed his people as he did Elijah, by a raven, and make a cold bread) kindle the sparks of grace in the hearts of others, and blow it up into a flame.' — Bishop Hopkins on the Fifth Commandment, Works, p. 180, fol. edit. No one has given stronger testimony on this point than Isidore Pelusiot, as, for example, I. 120. — ' E'l tic u^iapTiati awotrTpofoc, irdffi KareaTiyfiiyog noXvir/jioiQ re Kai Trra/eT^atri, dvaiuarripiu))' uTTTtrai Qioii, Kcit ^npi^ei atayi'WQ rd ayia, tiuroc f^^>' v(ptt,ti Kolfju, TO ^t dt'ioy ftij/Jia nur lictiiov 7r/JOs£(TU' oi) KOirovTUi.' See SKKMON HI. 97 are lost in the gulf of indifference, or in the deeper gulf of sin ! How shall he rouse the one, and reclaim the other? Where shall he find a voice that shall speak to the sinner's heart, or strike on the dull cold ear of careless sensuality? This is, indeed, the work which he is called on to do, and the instruments for performing it are placed in his hand, if he has the skill to use them. What could God, while he works by human agents, do more ? what which he hath not done ? ' God will exert his action, but in concurrence only with the teacher exerting his^' His grace will go with the minister, but will not force him on, who cannot, or w^ill not go by himself. The means of grace, the seal of pardon, the sure promises, are all entrusted also II. 37, III. 310. So Euseb. ap. J. Damasc. Sacr. Parali. 29. T. ii. p. 606. ' IToWot afia^TuXoi irptapv-epot. oitec irpua- ipovfny, kcu ovk unoarpicpirai o Qeoc, aWa r^ 7rr£i»/iari ayiw ayid^ei ro irpotTKiifXivn ^dipa.' Taylor's doctrine (which is, in fact, maintained by the Quakers and others,) is very dangerous on this simple ground, tiiat as worthiness and univorthiness are relative terras, it never could be certain whose ministry men were to attend if this doctrine were true. — See Bennet on Quakerism, ch. xv. p. 195. What I have said in the text will be sufficient to prove that I am here only seeking to show that the believer will not suffer in real benefit by the unworthiness of his minister ; he will suffer in comfort ; and the sinner who cannot profit by the ordinances may be left to perish. ' South, Vol. iv. StiMion i. p. .')"2. II 98 SERMON III. to his keeping ; but how shall he reach them forth to them who have no desire to receive them, if he himself, the Lord helping him, cannot inspire them with that desire ? And how shall he be able to do that holy work, if he be neither able to teach nor willing to learn ? But able to teach, except in a limited degree, at that age, and with such brief time for preparation, he cannot be. For it is a great work, and a perilous office. The priest's office lies among mankind, and his object is their liberation from sin, and from its penalty. But he who desires to dissuade men from vices, must lay his general foundation, indeed, in the evil nature and consequences of sin, but must rest his peculiar dissuasive very much on the peculiar temper of individuals. He must study their dispositions, and in the countless variety which presents itself, he is to be able to deal with all ; to judge when the threat of vengeance' is to be ' ' We must preach,' says Bishop Reynolds, ' witli courage and boldness, not fearing the faces of any presumptuous sinners, who dare to affront the law, and not to fear the face of God. Shall any man be so bold as to do what God forbids ? and shall a minister be so timorous as not to speak what God commands ? Shall I be afraid to offend him by doing my duty, who is not afraid to offend God by neglecting his ? Shall I be afraid to save him, who is not afraid to destroy himself, or shall I be dis- mayed at the face and frown of a man, and neglect tlie wratli of God, who can tear me in pieces ! " Be not dismayed at their SERMON III. 99 held forth, and when the hope of mercy proftered ; what hearts require the fear of the law, and what will be softened by the gentle voice of the gospel ; he is to deal with the careful and the careless, to inspire into the timid all the uncompromising firm- ness of the Christian law, into the violent all its gentleness and love ; to purify the grossness of earthly passion in the sensualist, and to awaken the fervour of heavenly love in the cold and heart- less disciple of the world'. He must condescend face, saitli tlie Lord, lest I confound thee before them." (Jer. i. 17.) Yet this boldness must be in a way of conviction and per- suasion, without indiscretion and exasperation ; that when we show our zeal against men's sins, we may withal manifest our love to their persons, and that honour and reverend esteem which we owe to their dignities and conditions.' Serm. xxiii. Works, Vol. V. p. 349. And again, ' A preacher, as a chirur- geon, should have an eagle's eye to discover the state of the soul, a lion's heart to search spiritual wounds, and a lady's hand to dress them with tenderness and sympathy.' Serm. xxv. Vol. v. p. 402. ' ' Our part is, therefore, constantly to be intent upon our ministry, and frequent and zealous in performing the several duties of it ; to instruct the ignorant with plainness, to rectify the erroneous with temper; to rebuke the obstinate with autho- rity, and to punish the incorrigible with resolution.' — Bishop Hough, Charge iii. p. 61. This point, indeed, has been insisted on by many writers, hut by none with more effect than by the heavenly-minded Leigliton, in his exquisite ' Sermon to the Clergy.' His words are as H 2 100 SERMON III. to ignorance, and compassionate infirmity ; he must be wise with the wise, and weak with the weak ; in follows : ' The second requisite of these ambassadors, is pru- dence, or dexterity to manage their Master's business. Wise princes and states, in choosing their ambassadors, above all other kinds of learning, have respect to practical abilities ; and they that can best read the several geniuses and dispositions of several nations and particular men, and accordingly know how to treat with every one according to their temper, to speak to them in their own language, are judged the fittest men for that employment. Great is the diversity of humours among men ; some are timorous, some rash, some avaricious, some ambi- tious, some slow and leaden, others precipitant and mercurial, and many other varieties. Now to know how to deal with each of these in their own kind, for the advancement of his Master's business, is a special discretion in an ambassador. And those ambassadors we speak of had as much need of it as any : they have men of all, both outward and inward differences, to deal with, and the same men so different from themselves v.t divers times, that they are hardly the same ; some ignorant, others learned, some weak, others strong, some secure witii false pre- sumptions, others tormented with false fears. And mucli prudent consideration of those differences, and accommodating themselves thereunto in the matter and manner of their discourses, is very expedient in their treaties. " Of some have compassion, pluck- ing them out of the fire, making a difference," Judc 22. What other is St. Paul's " becoming all things to all men, that he might win some?" 1 Cor. ix. 22. And this policy is far different from temporizing, and compliance witli evil, which in no case can be tolerated in these ambassadors ; for that is dis- advantageous to their business : it may be the way of their own promotion, but it is not the way to advance their Master's king- S E R M () N III. 101 a word, he must be all things to all men. For his is the hardest of all tasks : to counteract prejudice, and subdue passion ; to make men resign the pre- sent gratification of their fondest wishes, for distant and future expectations ; and to teach them that truth which at first they are unable, and ever con- tinue unwilling to believe'. My brethren, who is tlom, which end should be the square of all their contrivances, and with it nothing will suit but what is upright. A kind of guile they may use, but it must carry the King's impress ; it must be a holy guile : and such the ministers of the Gospel not only may, but ought to study. Fishers of men they are, and why may they not use certain baits, and diversity of them ? But as their catching is not destructive, but saving, so must all their baits be : they must quarter dove-like simplicity and serjjentine wisdom together, as he commanded theni, who sent them on this embassy.' — Leighton's Works, Vol. iii. pp. 474, 475. Jer- ment's edit. ' Neque enim mediocris virtus sacerdotalis est, cui cavcndum non solum ne gravioribus flagitiis sit affinis, sed ne minimis quidem ; ut sit promtus ad misericordiam, promissum non re- mordeat, lapsum revocet, compatiatur dolori, mansuetudinem teneat, pietatem diligat, iram repellat vel decoquat ; sit quidem lituus plebis excitandae ad devotionem, mitificanda* ad tran- quillitatem.' — S. Ambros. Ep. Class I. Opp. T. ii. p. 1036, ed. Bened. I would refer too to Bull's admirable remarks on the prudence necessary to the divine. — Some Points, &c. I. 249 — 254. ' 'It is no small work whereby strong holds must be pulled down, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the king- dom of God be demolished ; whereby sin and Satan must be 102 SERMON III. sufficient for these things? I ask you if these powers can be acquired by him who does not strictly and fully comply with the Apostle's charge, to meditate on these things', and give himself dispossessed, and the whole man subdued to the obedience of Christ ; wliereby tlie very natural propensions of men must be changed, and they effectually persuaded to hate what they loved, to love what they hated ; to deny themselves, their reason, their will, their appetites, their interests, their lands, their relations, their lives, their all (for this they must sometimes do ' quoad excrcitium,' ever ' quoad praeparationem animi'), to please an invisible God, and to obtain an invisible inheritance. This is not the work of an illiterate reader, but of one who hath the tono-ue of the learned, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. This is not the work of a careless loiterer, that shears the fleece, and starves the flock, but of one who gives himself wholly to it.' — Bishop Reynolds, Sermon xxiii. Works, Vol. V. p. 34 (ed. 1826). ' Bishop Jebb, after noticing the meaning of ijeXerdu), as api)lied to military matters, oratory, games, &c. proceeds thus to say, that with moral writers, both profane and sacred, it has a meaning quite analogous to the former two — denoting, among otlier things, a thoughtful investigation of goodness and virtue flowing from a deep interest in them, and leading to exemplary ])ractice — the looking forward to probable trials of our virtue — comparison of means with ends, duties with power— the con- sideration of the several parts of duty, and the continued moral recollection of the several relations in which we stand. He then proceeds thus : ' The practical meditation thus inculcated is in a peculiar and paramount degree tlie duty of all Christian Ministers. For tliey are to watch, and give account, not only SERMON III. 10;{ wholly to them '? I ask you if any share of them will be gained by him who considers his task done for their own souls, but for the souls of others. Ordinary men may meditate ; and by meditating, may forecast, within a narrow compass, the whole circle of their own duty. But the clergy- man has need to be prepared for all the contingencies that may happen to all men. His range of necessary thought is co- extended with the wants, the weaknesses, the pursuits, the occupations, the doubts, the difficulties, the perversities, the scruples of the whole flock of Christ. He is not at liberty to account any one human concern foreign from his affection and his care. With him it rests, to warn the unruly, to comfort the feeble-minded, to support the weak, and be patient unto all. These offices, which angels might covet, to us it is given to fulfil ; and we shall find it utterly impracticable to fulfil them, I will not say as we ought, but to discharge them in any tolera- ble degree, without constant, devout, and humble meditation. One consideration has occurred to me on this matter, which I will lay before you, with all plainness. We are each of us enjoined by a Rubric of our Church, when we give warning for the celebration of the Holy Communion, to read a very solemn exhortation to the people ; and at the close of this exhortation we each of us invite all, who cannot quiet their own consciences, and who may recpiire further comfort and counsel, to come unto us, and open their grief, that they may receive spiritual counsel and advice to the quieting of their consciences, and avoiding of all scruple and doubtfulness. How others may be affected by this consideration, it is not for me to conjecture. But this I will say, in all simplicity and seriousness, that I cannot pro- nounce this exhortation without fear and trembling ; and that clergymen who reflect at all, might well sink under such a burthen, if they did not possess the resource of Christian medi- 101 SERMON III. when holy hands have been laid upon him, and who neglects to stir up the gift which was given by their imposition ? I ask you if his youth will not be despised, and if it does not deserve to be so? These difficulties, however, which I have enu- merated, are to be avoided, these qualifications I have spoken of are to be gained, by careful exami- nation of our own characters, and those of other men, by patient thought, and reflection, and prayer, rather than by study. But the careful study of other men's characters, and the earnest and diligent examination and correction of our own, are not enough ; these are the means only by which we are to enable ourselves to fulfil our task, and to teach the truth committed to us when we have learned it our- selves. For be it remembered that we are not to teach our own wisdom, nor be guided by our own knowledge; that we are to teach Christianity, and that only, and that before we can teach, we must learn'. tation ; and if a very important branch of this meditation were not most devout and fervent prayer, for the preventing and assisting grace of God's Holy Spirit.' — Funeral Sermon on Archbishop Brodrick. (Practical Theology, ii. 187.) ' 'I'he matter of this our preaching is, in general, the ' whole counsel of God,' ' all the words of life,' ' that which we have heard from the Lord of Hosts.' — We are ' angels,' we must keep to our message ; vvc are ambassadors, we must keep to oiu- commission ; we arc rlepositaries, vvc must discharjic our SKR MON 111. 105 It is said, indeed, in re})ly, that Cliristianity is so simi)le, tliat it can require little learning ; that Christian truth amounts to this only, that we are to be holy here, in order that we may be happy hereafter. But it is a gross fallacy to infer the simplicity of a proposition, from the simplicity with which it can be stated, and to lay out of the account the wide and difficult considerations which it may involve". Are we to be treated for ever like children of a larger growth, and to be re- strained from a knowledge of those truths which Scripture itself sets before us ? Are we to forget that every man who knows any thing, knows that hohness is required of him, yet that of himself he cannot be holy, and that, therefore, in that trust. ' Quid est depositum ? ' saith Vincentius Lirinensis, speak- ing of the couimand to Timothy (1 Tim. vi. 20): ' Id quod tibi creditum est, non quod a te inventum ; quod accepisti, non quod excogitasti ; rem non ingenii, sed docti inae ; non usurpationis pri- vatae, sed publicae conditionis, in qua non auctor debes esse, sed custos.' And so Origen : ' The apostle,' saith he, ' hath given example to the doctors of the Church, to speak to the people, non propriis praesumpta sententiis, sed divinis munita testimoniis.' ' Our own devices are all but chaff; God's word is the wheat (Jer. xxiii. 28); ours, but hay and stubble; his, gold, and silver, and precious stones.' Bishop Reynolds, Sermon xxv. Works, Vol. V. p. 399 (ed. 182G). ' This point is argued in a masterly manner by Mr. Coleridge, in his second Lay Sermon, p. 54 — Gl. 106 SERMON Iir. requirement is implied and involved at once an opening of the whole scheme of redemption, de- creed from the beginning, foretold in Prophecy, prefigured in the Law? Is this to be received without inquiring into its grounds, or examining the evidence for its truth ? But such an inquiry is hopeless for a large body of mankind, though a knowledge of its results is indispensable. The inquiry itself must be made for them. And here is the first part of the teacher's task. He must set before the people the nature of the faith re- quired, the practice enjoined, the salvation prof- fered. But who that remembers the extent and the difficulty of the subjects involved, the consider- ation of God as a moral Governor, the vindication of his ways to man, the nature and the conse- quences of his attributes, the existence and extent of the corruption of man's moral being, and the nature of the remedy provided, who, I say, will tell us that these things are easy? Who that remembers that now we see through a glass darkly, and remembers too the propensity of our poor nature to be for ever dazzled by false lights, ever misled by fancy, and ever seduced into partial views of truth, — who that knows the dangers of error to ourselves and others, will bid us go ' sounding on our dim and perilous way ',' without ' Wordsworth's Excursion. SERMON III. 10? every assistance which the wisdom and knowledge of other, and earHer, and wiser men, can bestow ' ? But alas ! it is little to avoid error ourselves, we are bound to correct it in others ; bound by our duty to God, and to those whom He has com- mitted to our charge. Well, indeed, has it been said, that in these days our fate is like that of the rebuilders of Jerusalem ; with one of their hands they were to work in the building, with the other to hold a weapon of defence ^ Look, then, I ' ' Because it is not to be expected that every minister of the word should have all the gifts of the Spirit, and every one to abound in tongues, in doctrines, and interpretations ; you may, therefore, make great use of tlio labours of those worthy persons, whom God hath made to be lights in the several generations of the world, that a hand may helj) a hand, and a father may teach a brother, and we all be taught of God.' — Jeremy Taylor, The Minister's Duty, Vol. vi. p. 508. Taylor means only licre that every divine cannot be expected to be a first-rate critic. When I say that the books which he recommends to the divine who is not so, are the works of Augustine, Athanasius, Isidore, Jerome, CEcumenius, the Catenae of the Greek Fathers, and a whole host of more modem commentators, I need not be afraid of my argu- ment being much hurt by this qualification. * Bishop Bull, Some Points, &c., I. p. 240. If the remark was applicable to Bull's time, how much more applicable is it to ours ! See too Chrysostom, de Sac. iv. 4, who puts this argu- ment very strongly. Hilary (de Trin. Lib. xii. p. 1122) says very well, after pointing out the necessity of the minister being prepared with refutation of error from liis deeper knowledge of 108 SERM ON III. beseech you, at the conflict and storm of reh- gious opinions ; at the faciUty with which error, as we beheve, most pernicious, is generated; the zeal and earnestness with which it is propagated. Look, (if it indeed be necessary to add any thing of a temporary nature to arguments which, resting on the imperfect constitution of man's nature, are as enduring as he is,) look, I say, to the present diffusion of superficial information, mistaken by the wretched weakness of enthusiasts for a general increase of real knowledge ; look at the pitiable combination of vanity suggesting the examination of every subject, however deep and difficult, and of ignorance, on every subject involving itself in error and mistake. Look, again, to the corruptions of primitive truth, the stains on her fair beauty ; look to the activity and virulence of open or insidious hostility to all religion ; and remember that it is our task to defend religion in all her extent against the ingenious sophistry with which error is insinuated, the hardihood wdth w hich tlic scheme of salvation, ' Fidem non mulani Apostolus (2 Cor. x. 1, T)) atque inopem rationis reliquit ; qua) quanivis potissima ad salutem sit, tamen nisi per doctrinam instruatur, hahebit quidem inter adversa tutum refugiendi recessum, non etiam retinebit con- stantem obnitcndi sccuritatem ; eritque ut infirmibus [inermibus ?] sunt post fugam castra, non etiam ut castra babentibus adcst in- tcrrita fortitudo.' SERMON III. 109 evidence is rejected, the doubts with which the genuineness of Scripture is assailed, and the per- verseness by which it is misinterpreted. See then at once how^ W'ide a field of necessary knowleda;e presents itself. We are appointed to teach the faith deduced from Scripture by an especial Church ' , and we are therefore bound to ascertain what that faith is, and to rescue ourselves from the misrepresentations of adversaries, w^ho impute to us opinions which we do not hold, or conceal those which w^e do. And this must be done by a painful and careful examination of the writings and opinions of the founders of the Church, and by a far, far more careful examination of Scripture itself ^ Handed down to us from distant ages, ' ' Be mindful that you are to dt liver no doctrine of your own, but the doctrine of Holy Scripture, as it has been understood and interpreted by the consenting voice of all pious antiquity ; by those true and faithful members of the Christian Church, in all times, in all places, and even amidst the growth of adscititious error, to whom the greatest worthies of our own National Church invariably refer. This doctrine no well instructed minister of the Church of England can be at a loss to determine. It is contained in those venerable formularies which our fathers re- tained or derived from most remote antiquity, and it is supported throughout by most clear and indisputable warrant of Holy Scrip- ture.'— Bishop Jebb's Sermons, p. 202, * There are many very valuable remarks on the study of Scrip- ture in Jeremy Taylor's second Sermon on Titus ii. 7. — Works, Vol. vi. p. .')07. ' Their no SERMON III. and written in foreign tongues, how shall we excuse ourselves if we neglect, in some degree, to make ourselves masters of its criticism and interpreta- tion ; so that, on the one hand, we may he able to admit or refute on solid grounds the arguments which impugn the genuineness of any part of it, and that, on the other, we may not be misled by an ignorance of the real principles of interpretation, into folly and falsehood? But these principles cannot be gained without the study of other au- thors, and no such study can be too extensive ' ; ' Their chief study should be that of their commission — the Holy Scriptures. The way to speak skilfully from God is often to hear him speak. " The Lord God hath given thee the tongue of the learned," saith the Evangelic prophet, (chiefly intending Christ,) " to speak a word in season to the weary." Ay, that is the learnedest tongue when all is done;— but how ? — " He wakeneth me morning by morning ; he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned." Isa. 1. 4.' — Leighton, iii. p. -174. See Chrysost. de Sac. iv. 3 and 4, and many early coimcils, as Concil. Tolet. iii. 7 ; iv. 24. See Bingham, b. vi. ch. iii. § 3. ' I might have added here, with great truth, that ' if there be only a cordial attachment to what is honest, lovely, and of good report, the deeper draughts a man has taken of those in- tellectual streams, which, through God's providential appoint- ment, have been poured forth by the sages and poets of antiquity, the more deeply will he relish that sublimity and beauty, vvhicli the more immediate influence of Heaven has diffused over the expanse of Scripture.' — Bishop Jebb's Sermons, p. 298. For the opinions delivered in tlic text I may refer to quotations from SERMON III. 1 1 1 nay, this one word, Interpretation, of itself, im- plies, as it were, an encyclopaedia of knowledge, a knowledge comprehending the most entire, and most familiar acquaintance with the history and customs of every ancient nation. Nor even then is this part of our task accomplished. In the cer- tainty that, as the water which first rises from the spring, is clearer than that which in a lengthened course has mixed itself with the soil of the channel ', so the first ages of the Church were the purest, we must hardly acquiesce in any interpretation of Scripture doctrine till we know whether it has received a sanction from the Primitive Church ; and a knowledge of her opinions on the various points of Christian doctrine cannot be gained but by long and extensive study \ We must, indeed, Bisliop Bull, already made in the note on p. ol, I. 23. ' " Search the Scriptures," saith Christ ; " Non dixit legite sed scrutainini," said St. Chrysostom, " quia oportet profundius cffbdere, ut quae alte delitescunt invenire possimus." Turn over every page, inquire narrowly, look diligently, converse with them perpe- tually, be mighty in the Scriptures, for that which is plain there is the best measure of our faith and doctrines.' — Jeremy Taylor, vi. p. 520. ' Bishop Hall, Works, Vol. ix. p. r)31. ' ' Frame your life and preaching to the Canons of the Church *, * A study of the canons was often enjoined by the Councils. See Concll. Tolet. iv. 24, in Bingham, b. vi. ch. ,3, § 3. 112 SER M ON III. as our Saviour himself has told us, if ' we are scribes instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, be to the doctrines of antiquity, to the sense of the ancient and holy Fathers. For it is otherwise in theology than it is in other learnings. The experiments of philosophy are rude at first, and the observations weak, and the principles improved ; and he tliat made the first lock was not so good a workman as we have now- a-days ; but in Christian religion they that were first were best, because God, not man, was the Teacher ; and ever since that, we have been unlearning the wise notices of pure religion, and mingling them with human notices, and human interest.' — Jeremy Taylor, vi. p. 531. I cannot refer to a more pleasing or spirited defence of the study of the Fathers, in a literary point of view, than that of Bishop Jebb in his Sermons, pp. 338 — 344. Water- land's 'Importance of the Doctrine of the Trinity,' ch. vii. has shown more clearly than any one the use and value of Ecclesias- tical Antiquity, in controversies on points of faith. Dr. Hey (Lectures, b. i. ch. xiii. § 10, and following) has some admirable remarks on the use of the Fathers. After all Middleton's outrageous abuse of the Fathers, (see his Preface, p. xxviii.) even he is obliged to allow their use in attesting and transmitting Scripture ; in teaching us the doctrines, rites, manners, and harmony of their several ages, though as witnesses only ; and in warning us by their very errors. Intro- ductory Discourse, xxvi. (Works, Vol. i. 2nd edit.) ' Can we mistake or miscarry by complying with the great body of God's Church through all ages, and particularly with those great lights of the Primitive Church, who, by the excellency of Christian knowledge rind the integrity of their virtue, have so illustrated our holy religion?' — Barrow, Vol. iii. Sermon xxiv. p. 270, ed. 1680. SKKMON III. 11 ;{ like the householder which bringeth f'oitli out of his treasure things new and old '.' Need I add to what I have said? Need I tell you of the time and attention irresistibly claimed by the study of the evidences of Christianity ? Need I tell you with what zeal and earnestness you must undertake the study of moral and practical divinity-, of the piety required by the Christian law, the duties and the holiness it enjoins, and the motives by which those duties and that holiness ' See Bishop Blomfield's Sermon on this text, p. 19. ' ' It is one stratagem of the arch enemy of mankind (and when we know his wiles, we may be the better able to defeat him), by busying men of great and useful parts in matters and things of lesser consequence, to divert them from following that unum necessarium, that which should be the main in all our en- deavours, the beating down of sin, the planting of faith, and the reformation of manners. Controversies, I confess, are neces- sary, the tongues necessary, history necessary, philosophy and the arts necessary, other knowledge of all sorts necessary in the Church ; for truth must be maintained, Scripture-phrases opened, heresie confuted, the mouths of adversaries stopped, schisms and novelties suppressed. But when all is done, po- sitive and praetick Divinity it is must bring us to heaven . that is, it must poise our judgments, settle our consciences, direct om- lives, mortify our corruptions, increase our graces, strengthen our comforts, save our souls. Hoc opus, hoc studium : there is no study to this, none so well worth the labour as this, none that can bring so much profit to others, nor therefore so much glory to God," nor therefore so much comfort to our own hearts as this.' — Bp. Sanderson, Third Sermon (on 1 Cor. xii. 7.) ad Clerum. I 114 SERMON III. is to be enforced ? Need I remind you that all these acquirements will be in vain, all the benefits of your knowledge lost, unless you possess also the art of communicating with plainness and simplicity, but with earnestness and fervour, to others, what you possess yourselves ; and that this is an art which cannot be gained but by patient study and constant imitation of the best models ' ? Need I ' There are some very valuable remarks on the style of parochial preaching in Bishop Sumner's work, called ' Aposto- lical Preaching,' p. 9, 5th edit. But Bishop Sumner appears to me to make parochial preaching a much easier thing than it really is. In stating his opinion to that effect, he says that the preacher * must descend from the high and lofty tone of language to which he is accustomed, to walk in the humble terms of Scripture ; he must limit his rounded periods to the extent of vulgar comprehension : he must abound in interrogations and addresses which the rules of composition condemn.' This isper- " fectly true ; but this very limitation of rounded periods, so that dulness shall not be mistaken for simplicity, appears to me to re- quire great study and pains ; and the interrogations and addresses, of which Bishop Sumner speaks, effective as they assuredly are, will become offensive and wearisome when not regulated by a just taste and knowledge of the best models. Bishop Sumner would, I fear, think the assertion extravagant ; but I am well convinced that the village preacher of good sense might be much benefited by the study of Demosthenes, or of any other of those great masters who to mighty eloquence have added a profound knowledge of the human heart. South, after inculcating with great force the necessity of plain preaching, says, * Those two stand best by mutual support and communication ; elocution SEHMON III. 115 ask, if it be possible for you to approach even the imperfect standard I have set up, unless, in the without wisdom being empty and irrational, and wisdom witliout elocution barren and unprofitable.' — Sermons, Vol. v. p. 465. ' We are not to teach men new doctrines, but to clear, defend, and apply the old to the consciences of men. It is very easy to shoot over the people's heads, and to spend an hour to little or no purpose ; but it requires all our skill to preach plainly tvithout flatness, and to set the matters of religion in the best light, and to recommend them to the people with the greatest force of persuasion. It is no hard matter to trifle away the time, but it is so, to speak suitably, warmly, and effectually to the hearts of our hearers, to make them find the same effect of our preaching which the two disciples did when Christ, unknown, was discours- ing with them, " when they said one to another," &c. (Luke xxiv. 32.) That is, then, the best way of preaching which hath light and heat together, which clears the Scriptures to the people's capacities, and warms their affections to spiritual things. And it is hardly possible to mistake as to the best method of preach- ing, if men do but judge aright concerning the end and design ol" it. For there must be strength and clearness to convince, and a close application to men's consciences to excite and persuade them to the practice of those things which men can hardly be ignorant of, and yet are very backward to do. And therefore this must be the chief work and business of our preaching ; which none ought to undervalue or be ashamed of, who do in earnest believe in God and another world ; none ought to neglect, whose peculiar office and dignity it is to take care of men's souls ; and none will be careless in it, who have a regard to their own brothers' souls.' — Stillingfleet's Ordination Sermon, Works, Vol. i. p. 367 (fol. edit. 1710). I 2 116 SERMON III. fullest meaning of the Apostle's words, ' you give attendance to reading ' ?' Tl\e standard is indeed a low and imperfect one ; I have brought to your notice the very smallest portion of knowledge necessary for a minister of God's word, only that, without which his flock, if not misled by him, will be ever misled by the ignorant enthusiast ; only that, without which even the superficial information so generally spread will triumph over him, and the wretched and contemptible teacher will be disgraced by the superior information of the taught -. Would to ' 1 Tim. iv. 13. Some commentators understand here rather public reading. But both Macknight and Rosenmiiller, as well as more ancient writers, conceive private study to be included in the admonition. "^ ' The exigencies of the present day call with peculiar em- phasis for a studious and learned clergy. This is an age both of inquiry and observation : and shall it be said that Christian ministers are least diligent in the most important concern ? What useful science, what mechanic art, what that tends to increase the comforts, to multiply the decorations, or improve the finer tastes of cultivated life, is not pursued with avidity ? and shall we be put to shame by the reproach that we are cold and indolent in the study of those truths which involve our dearest interests for time and for eternity ? This reproach there is but one method of escaping. Within and without the pale of our Establishment, investigation is afloat, and in too many instances engendering those erroneous and strange doctrines, contrary to God's word, SERMON III. 117 God that the danger and the disgrace ot" incom- petence were more distinctly perceived and warmly felt ; that it were oftener remembered whose word it is that ' the priest's lips are to keep knowledge, that the people are to seek the law at his mouth,' that he is bound by every tie of duty to them and to God, by every solemn motive of love to mankind in general, and of especial tenderness to that flock whom he has undertaken to nourish with the bread of life, and by every motive of fear for himself, to gain and to give that light for which they look up to him ! But in this, as in similar cases, men too often deceive themselves by evading the question of ab- solute competence or incom])etence, and making it far too much a matter of degree of ability : and they calm their consciences by thinking that they possess a share at least of the qualifications required. Whether in the Church, indeed, or out of it, men are apt, in estimating their own fitness, which at our ordination we solemnly engaged with all care and diligence to banish and drive away. We shall not then be found faithful ; and shame and woe must be our j)ortion, if we do not so study, that we may be ready to give an answer to every man for the hope that is in us, and to oppose, as occasion may require, the sincere word of the Gospel, and the sober but sublime sjii- rituality of the Church, to a cold rationalizing semi-Christianity on the one hand, and to a zeal not according to knowledge on the other.' — Bishop Jel)b, Sermons, p. 327. 118 SERMON III. and the duties required oi' them, so extremely to exaggerate the one, and diminish the other, that manv whom an impartial observer would pro- nounce disgraceful and mischievous, would feel genuine and unaffected surprise if their competency were called in question. And this observation applies far more to the Church than to any other profession ; for the effects produced by a due dis- charge of duties imposed on other men, are visible, and the result of their neglect is visible also ; they relate to external things, and live and die with them. The good or the evil we do lives after us, indeed, and after those to whom it is done ; but it is rarely visible ; it relates to the spirit, and meets not the carnal eye of sense. The outward signs of peace and comfort may be seen, where an idle and incompetent Minister has been the cause of destruc- tion within; and so we are deceived, and so we deceive ourselves into the belief, that while we dis- charge the external part of our office with decorum, and comply with the requisitions of the law, all is well. We cry peace, when there is no peace, and give ourselves up too often with a careless confi- dence to any pursuit, and any employment, but those of our profession. I have been speaking, I say, so far to all who are about to enter our holy profession ; not especially to those inchned to study, not to those endowed SERMON III. Ill) with any peculiar gifts or graces of the intellect. I have spoken of necessary knowledge only, and of endowments which are to be expected from every Minister of the Gospel. But I cannot re- frain from adding a few w^ords on the dignity and grandeur of the study, on the irresistible claims which it possesses to the devotion of the mightiest talents and the richest endowments, from its in- trinsic character, from the extent of the research to which it leads, from the gi^andeur of the ob- jects it investigates, and from the permanent elevation of the intellect through the knowledge it bestows. For we are destined too often to hear a cr}^ and a clamour of a different kind. We are told that these studies are old, that they go over ground already so often trodden, as to leave no scope for talent, no room for discoveiy ; that they confine the powers of the mind, capable as it is of higher flights and nobler darings, of assisting the march of intellect, and the progress of knowledge. In a w^ord. Divinity is not Science ; this is the head and front of its offending, and this is at present an offending hardly pardonable. But why this unnecessary warfare? why this unreasonable comparison of the general with the particular, this unjust depression of the superior before the inferior? Why is it not seen, that the charge which the votaries of science bring against our 120 S E R M O N III. study, of confining the views and degrading the faculties, may be far more justly directed against their own ? True, indeed, it is, that science, in her highest estate, has been, and may be, used to elevate the mind from a contemplation of the w^orks of God, to the contemplation of God him- self. True it is too, that in her highest estate she educes and exercises some of the most valuable faculties of the human mind. But of those who devote themselves to science, how few can boast this happy result, how few rise beyond the mere congestion and arrangement of facts ; and how many, therefore, may pass away from the world with half their faculties undeveloped and dead ? They have been at best instruments, mere instru- ments, for promoting the march of intellect ; but what has been the march of their own ? They may have accelerated the progress of knowledge, so called ; but what knowledge have they acquired for themselves ? Intellect and knowledge are not the joint stock of the world, which every one is inter- ested in augmenting. Mankind, as a class, can be elevated only by the elevation of every individual whom it embraces ; and we mistake miserably, if, in the desire of promoting the progress of light and knowledge in the world, we do not lay the foundation in the progress and elevation of our own minds. SERMON in. 121 Such a progress, we assert with confidence, is the effect of the study of Divinity. In the mighty round of knowledge which it embraces, what is introduced wliich does not for its own excellence deserve admission, which does not of its ow^n nature tend to exercise and elevate the faculties, and to pour on them the light of permanent and precious knowledge ? Where does Divinity lay its founda- tion but in the loftiest speculations, the being and attributes of God, and his moral government of the world ? What is its proper province but the mind of man, its nature, the laws by which it is guided, its strength and its weakness ? Where does it look for proof of the superiority of the moral system it inculcates, but to the study and contemplation of all that the wise, and great, and good, the philoso- pher and the moralist of other times, have achieved by the light of unassisted reason ? I should insult you by offering any proof, that intimately linked as the history of religion is with the history of man, the most intimate knowledge of history is an in- dispensable requisite in the formation of a great divine ; and that his character is equally incom- plete without an extensive and intimate acquaint- ance with several of the languages of the ancient world, a research into their analogies and their formation, or, in other words, into the laws of human thought. Thus, then, of all men, the 122 SERMON III. divine is perpetually conversant with those deep and mighty questions, which, if here below they have received no solution, and admit none, have ever exercised, and formed, and strengthened, the minds of the greatest and wisest of mankind. Literature sheds forth all her stores and all her refinements for him ; and science herself is not beyond the pale of his research. Whatever strength the mind can receive from perpetual exercise and devotion to the most difficult and laborious study, whatever refinement it can obtain from converse with the loftiest thoughts, the purest minds, and the sublimest writings, that strength and that re- finement is ours ; ours is the study to which the great and wide universe alone sets the limit, and which grasps within itself all the perfections and dimensions of human science ' . ■Who then shall presume to say that this study ' ' There is no knowledge which lays open the human mind, no knowledge which unfolds in the history of man his principles and character, no knowledge which, disclosing the secrets of nature, shows the agreement between the works and the word of God, no knowledge which, elevating the imagination, refining the taste, and quickening the sensibility, gives to eloquence its power over the heart, there is no knowledge of this description which by the Christian minister may not be made " to help" to the successful discharge of his office, and which, therefore, in reference to this supreme end, ho may not pursue.' — Bishop Hobart's Charge, in 1815, p. 37. SERMON III. 123 retards the growth of man's mind, and so pre- vents the fairest flower of God's earthly garden from hlossoming into the perfectness of beauty ? Who shall disparage that study which exercises, exalts, strengthens, and purifies, and which has for its end the conduct of an immortal soul to a state of enjoyment adapted to its requirements, and as immortal as itself? To him who believes that the grave is the last house of man, I appeal not ; but to all who believe that beyond that house there is another not made with hands, be the blessed conviction produced in him by the influence of Revelation, or the light of reason, be he believer or unbeliever, I do appeal to judge in the contro- versy, whether any scientific study, any study of that matter which must die to the passing spirit, even if itself were eternal, can be comparable to that higher study which directs all its efforts to the improvement and exaltation of the undying spirit itself? To the Christian I appeal yet more strongly, and ask of him, if the Bible be the Word of God, if Christianity be no fond dream of man's imagination, if it alone contain the germs and seeds of eternal and unperishing truth ; whether it is not more, yea far more, important, than the know^ledge of those forms and laws of matter which, by the very decree of the Wisdom to which tliey owe their being, are to perish with the world to 124 SERMON 111. which they relate ? And so I call on all and each of you who are about to enter our sacred profes- sion, and whom God has raised above your fellows by superior powers and superior energies of mind, to remember that, as you are called on at your admission to God's service, ' to lay aside the study of the world and the flesh, and to be diligent in prayer and in reading of the Holy Scripture, and in such studies as help to a knowledge of the same',' so the importance and the grandeur of the study required of you increases the obligation, and deprives you of all possible excuse if you neglect the promise you have made. Let me venture to address the same exhortation to those among my hearers who are already num- bered amongst the Ministers of God, with that unfeigned humility which alone can become me, but with that plainness of speech which also becomes a Minister of the Gospel, wheresoever and whensoever he exercises his high and holy oflice, and which authorizes him to address the word of admonition and exhortation to all men, how much soever his superiors, be it in talents or in learning, in the natural or the acquired gifts and graces of the intellect. Let me, I say, address an earnest exhortation to all who are fixed ' Orcliuiition Service. S E K M () N III. 125 here as members of our sacred profession, fre- quently to call to mind the serious obligation which lies upon them to make the study of that profession their first and main object in life. I urge this duty on them by all the solemn considerations which can effect and almost overwhelm the mind of man. First of all, and chiefest, although not engaged in the active duties of their function, they too have made the same vow to their heavenly Master ; they have received the same powers, and are sent forth with the same commission as their brethren whose lot it is to bear the burthen and heat of the day. And so they are equally bound to carry on the Christian combat, to promote their Master's cause, and do God's work in the world. In the world, indeed, in one sense, they cannot do it ; their light cannot shine before men in the daily discharge of the pastoral duties of the Minister of God. But they are, therefore, the more bound to glorify that Master whose service they have chosen, in the only way still open to them, by rendering themselves really masters in Israel, mighty in word, in thought, in knowledge, ever ready to confute the gainsayer, and to join their brethren who are busy in tending the flock, in the toil and danger of keeping away the wolves from the fold. This is the first part of their obligation, common to them with others, from the nature of the service 126 SERMON IH. they have chosen. But as they enjoy special ad- vantages, so from those advantages there spring up corresponding obligations ; if less weighty than the first, too weighty for them on whom they lie to escape. The temporal advantages they enjoy were bestowed that here there might ever be schools of the prophets ; that here, at least, many of God's Ministers might be saved not only from the severity of labour, which ever attends the due discharge of the pastoral office, but from those harassing and spirit-breaking conflicts with evil men and e\dl minds, which waste the time, embitter the happi- ness, and disturb the mind of God's servants in the world ; that they might give themselves wholly and unreservedly to the study of his Word, of all that can illustrate his counsels and dealings with man- kind, and enforce those commandments by which he seeks to promote the well-being of his creatures. 1 say not that all the advantages are on their side, for God, who by an ever-operating system of com- pensation affords to all, if not equal, yet sufficient means of happiness and usefulness, bestows, I know, on those who are engaged in the ardu- ous conflict, some aids, which they who require them not, enjoy not Nor am I less flrmly per- suaded that the necessity for the constant exertion of mind and thought creates or calls into action the powers it recjuires. But checpiered as active SERMON III. 127 life ever is with trouble and affliction, torn and wounded as the hearts of the parochial Clergy who are engaged in it must therefore be, by many suf- ferings, many disappointments, and many fears, more especially in their domestic and parental cha- racter, it cannot be denied that they who have given no hostages to fortune, enjoy here, in a far higher degree, the repose, the leisure, and the facilities, so advantageous and desirable for study. Such then being the design, and such the advan- tages of these institutions, what question can be raised as to the duties to which they give rise in those who enjoy them under such conditions as I have described, sometimes expressed, and always implied ? What question, that every secular study, and every secular pursuit, even that least secular of all, the instruction of the young men of the country in all that can adorn them in their cha- racters as men and Christians, must be undertaken only in subordination to studies and pursuits of a higher class and character ; only so as to enable you to keep your ordination vow, and do your duty to your peculiar station, to your profession and your God ? Although I have thus ventured to set before you the general necessity for study in the Clergy, it would be a great height of presumption to venture 128 S E R M O N III. here to point out any especial plan ' . But one single recommendation to the student I trust will ' Seeker lays down a line of Theological study thus (in his First Charge) : 'A thorough acquaintance with the Christian faitli: 1. the grounds ; 2. the doctrines. The previous requisites are: a knowledge of the rules of right reasoning — a knowledge of the moral and religious truths taught by nature — a knowledge of the early history of the world — a knowledge of the history of the time of Christ in especial. Then a diligent search into Scrip- ture, in the original at least of the New Testament ; it would be better if that of the Old Testament were known more. With Scripture writings in proof of the authority of Scripture, and the truth of its matter ; these to be compared with objections. The doctrines, especially the disputed ones, are then to be studied with great care — adhering strictly to Scripture — not aiming at novelty, nor overvaluing antiquity, especially what is not the earliest, but especially guarding against a desire of novelty. The government, worship, discipline, and establishment of our Church, we ought to be well acquainted with ; but controversy must not take us from the study of practical religion.' Bishop Jebb has the following remarks in his Charge (Practical Theology, i. 359) : ' For the present, therefore, I will simply remind you, that the study of Divinity comprises two great departments, neither of which can be neglected by a conscientious Minister. I mean, the critical, and the practical : the critical department, comprehensively viewed, embracing whatever relates to the grammatical, historical, and doctrinal interpretation of Scripture ; the evidences, also, of our holy faith ; the contro- versies, which, from time to time, have agitated the Church; and, in a word, all those branches of Christian Theology, in S F, H M ON III. 129 not be deemed iini)roper ; that at least in re-coin- mencing his studies after ordination, he should which tlie intellect is j)iiiicipally en