AITIi IN CllltlST ANIi KAIlll IN DOCTRINE 
 
 (Ji)iii|V(ii-P(:l anfl Co;i]tra.steil. 
 
 Ffii Haccalaareate Sermon, 
 
 
 IM{K\( ilKFt Ri-Riia: 
 
 i\ij v\/ijijijiiu v.'r x>iJ>) o 
 
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 JUNE 23, 1872, 
 
 1 
 
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 By JAMES McCOSH, D.D., 
 
 LL,D., 
 
 I'HKSIDKNT OK TIIK (OLLK(. 
 
 i:. 
 
 1 
 
 — 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 IM:1N( KTON: 
 
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 -Ti:i,T-K \ S^IITH, 1'rMLISIIER.S AND BOOKSELLKRir. 1 
 
 1872. 
 
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FAITH IN CHRIST AM) FAITH IN DOCTlllNE 
 
 i'oiijparc'i:! u.ih:I CDjrtrri.stpol, 
 
 ^ha Bacoalatiraata Bmmo% 
 
 I'UKACIIKI* KKFOKI-: 
 
 TIJE COLLECxE OF NEW JERSEY, 
 
 JUNE 2'S, is:->, 
 
 Bjj JAMES McCOSir, D.D., LL,D., 
 
 PKIISIDKNT OF Till-: (OIJJK JK. 
 
 IMMNCKTON: ' 
 
 STELI.K A SMITH, IT MI.ISMKUS AXI> BOOKsKLLKRS. 
 1872. 
 
Princeton, June 21tli, 1872. 
 Rev. Dr. McCo.-^ii: 
 
 Dear Sir: — The undersigned eomniittee, appointed by the Senior ("lass, at 
 a meeting held June 24th, wonhl respectfully and earnestly request, on behalf 
 of the Class, for publication, your Baccalaureate Sermon, delivered June 23d, 
 
 1S72. 
 
 ('. S. Lane, ] 
 
 T. W. .Johnston, - CommUke. 
 
 S. E. EwiNc;. j 
 
 Princeton, .June 24lh, 1872. 
 My Dear Friends: — Since you have made such a request, I feel that 
 
 tliere is no course left for me but to comply with it. 
 
 James M( Cosh. 
 
SERMON 
 
 "Tlie just shall livr l.y f:iitl»."— /»"»(. ii., 17. 
 
 " But si.eak then tl.o thin-s whicli bonmic scmul .Inrtriiu-."- 77/. li.. 1. 
 
 There is ii well-known tale of a yonn-- woman (•(miii.- ma 
 Seoteh minister to bo admitted to the Lord's Table, of his cxam- 
 inino; her as to her knowledj^e of the trnths of reli-ion, of his 
 findhig her, as he thou-ht, lamentably ignorant, and refnsing her 
 the privilege she was seeking; but, as she retired, she burst into 
 tears, and the expression was wrung from her: ^'Th.-ngli I can- 
 not speak for my Saviour, I could die ibr llim"— an ai>pcal 
 whic'h could not be resisted. J am, in this paper, to discourse, 
 Hrst, of the faith that saves ; and secondly, the faith in truth 
 which a man can utter and cxix.und. The one of these is spon- 
 taneous direct, looking immediately on Christ, living upon llim 
 and by Him, and mav be called Saving I'aith ; the' other is re- 
 flective, h,oking to general inuh, an<l maybe .-ailed Dnrtnnal 
 Faith. 
 
 I ''The iu<t shall live bv filth." Thl< faith is distinguished 
 from sense "and sight. - lilessed are they that have not seen, 
 and vet have believed." [.lohn xx., '2<>.] Sense perceives the 
 things immediatelv before it : as colors, shapes, sounds, and the 
 round of occurrem-es in nur w.rld fnmi day to day, and ironi 
 year to vear. Faith lo<,ks t.. things which arc not seen. '' Vaith 
 is the substance of things hoped tbr, the evidence of things not 
 seen." Tmt faith is quite as natural an exercise of mnid as sight 
 
is. \\\' all believe in tilings which we have not seen, amt may 
 never see, as in distant lands and remote events — of the existence 
 of India and China — of old empires and o'cological epochs. 
 There is an idea entertained bv some that faith is a veiy myste- 
 rions thing — visionary, nnreal, inexpressible, and inexplicable — 
 as incomprehensible as some of the grand objeets at which it 
 looks ; and they excuse themselves, in conseqitenee, from seeking 
 what they conceive to be so diffieult to catch, or they content 
 themselves with cla-sj^ing a cloud, when tliey might have a sub- 
 stantial reality. Xow there is no operation of mind more simple 
 in itself, or which we are called on more frequently to exercise, 
 than faith. The boy believes in the affection of his father, the 
 pupil in the knowledge of his teacher, the youth in the trust- 
 worthiness of liis bosom friend, the husbandman in the seasons, 
 the patient in the medicines of his physician, the merchant in the 
 connection between demand and sui)ply, and the scholar in the 
 value of research. Religion, in requiring us to exercise faith, is 
 not demandin«j: anvthin<x unreasonable or unnatural. Chancre the 
 ol)ject to which it is directed: let it be a faith not in an earthly, 
 but in our Heavenly Father; not in an erring human teacher, 
 but a divine and infallible one ; not in a friend who may fail in 
 the time of need, but one ^^that sticketh closer than a brother;" 
 not in a general, who may himself fall in the fight, but one who 
 has gained the victory, and will make us conquerors and more 
 than conquerors; not in the drugs Avhich cure the body, but the 
 blood of Christ which heals the soul ; not in the revolution of 
 the seasons, but the grander movement of God's ])rovidence ; not 
 in the laws which regulate the acquisition and distribution of 
 wealth, but in the connection of sin and suffering, of holiness and 
 heaven ; not in the value of human scholarship, but of divine 
 learning — and it IxM-omes the faith that saves and sanctities. 
 Columbu- belie\-ed in a woi'ld bevond the then known woi'ld, 
 sailed towards it, and reached it; the Christian believes in a 
 world beyond the grav<', and betnkes himself jo the ark which 
 is to carry him to it. 
 
 15ut the (piestion is started, What is faith psychologically — that 
 1^, :i- •Ml .■v,.i-.M-.i. ..(■ tip. MiitM] •' I< it an act of the head or of the 
 
heart? Of tlKMiiidcrstandin,^- or the i'(M'riii.:;s ? Ot'hothV ..i ..,., : 
 or of which? To this (juoiioiiinu; I r(»j)ly first, tliat all these 
 phrases need to he e\j)]ainc(l. So far as they arc in popular use, 
 they are va«ji;iic, ainl)iu::iioiis ; so llir as they helont:; U> ineiital 
 science, no two nietaj)hysicians explain them alike. We need 
 not a})peal to the inspired record to settle such questions seientifi- 
 <'allv, for Scripture is not a hooU of psycholoirical any more than 
 it is of astronomical or chemical science. It speaks of the stars, 
 the elements of aii- and water, as they arc noticed by common 
 observation; and it speaks of the faculties of the mind in the 
 same manner — not formin<r a new nomenclature, which it would 
 1)(^ dillicnlt to com])rehen(l and arduous to study, but employinjiC 
 the phrases wliich it found in use at the time. Some represent 
 the whole controversy as settled by Rom. x., 10 : " For with the 
 heart man believeth unto ritrhteousness." But the most cursory 
 examinati(m is sufficient to show that the word 'Mieart" has a 
 considerably dilferent sio:niiication in the Old and New Testa- 
 ments from what it has in literature and common conversati«)n 
 among us. Wv now denote by it simply the feelings : we under- 
 stand by the head, wc feel with the heart, l^ut in the llebri'W 
 and Hebrew-Greek use of the term, men arc spoken of as under- 
 standing with the heart, as Mat. xiii., 15; the peoj)le's heart is 
 waxed gross, " lest they should understan<l with their heart." ( )ne 
 without heart is one without understanding; '* Kphraim is bke 
 a silly dove without heart." [Hos. vii., 11. See also Job, xxxviii., 
 :>(j • Prov. X., S; l^^. vi., {>, S:v.] Imaginati<ms come frcmi the 
 heart: " Kvery imagination of man's heart is only evil." [Gen. 
 vi., 2.] In Holy writ, the word evidently stands for inwar<l 
 thought and feeling of every kind, and includes all the various 
 kinds of rellection, i)urposing, and sentiment which i>ass in the 
 mind ])rior to action. When the shepherds visited Mary after 
 the birth of the babe, *^^he kept all thc'se things and pondered 
 them in her heart." [Luke ii., li).] When Jesus, at the age of 
 twelve, lingered in *W Jerusalem, and drew forth the wonder of 
 the peoi)le as he conversed with the doctoi-s, '* Mary kept all 
 these thin-s in her heart." [Luke ii., '/J.] 
 
'^ With tlu' heart man l)ellevi'th ;" but with the lioart, in the 
 Seripturc use of the word — tliat is, Avith the inward man, not of 
 tlie mere feelings w hieh are eaUed bowels in Seripture, but of 
 botli the liead and heart in the modern use of the terms. You 
 may have observed that while the phrases " believe" and "faith" 
 (»((ur so frequently in the Xew Testament, they are more rarely 
 found in the Old Testament. But we have the authority of the 
 Apostle Paul [I\om. iv.] for saying that the plan of salvation is 
 the same in the two dispensations ; that men were saved under 
 the Old Testament as they are under the Xew — by faith. The 
 phrase more fre(piently in the Old Testament is '^ trust," less 
 fre(|uently "eonfide." Kvery reader of Serlpture must have no- 
 tieed the frequent expressions of trust in the Psalms and the 
 ])rophets, and the eommands to trust in Him: "The Lord is 
 ^^ood; blessed is the man that trusteth in Him." [Ps. xxxiv., 8.] 
 "God is my salvation : I will trust and not be afraid." [Is. xii., 2.] 
 C'ond)ining and eomparing sueli passages, we see that faith implies 
 an exereise of the higher att'eetions of the soul. If we draw, as I 
 believe we may, and ought, the distinetions of modern mental 
 seienee, and apply tliem to Seripture, then we have to say that, 
 understanding, will, and feeling are all im])lied in faith. There 
 must l)e un<lerstanding ; for how can we believe in a thing of 
 which we have no notion? This is im])lied in Ivom. x., 14 ^ 
 " How shall they ])elieve in Him of whom they have ui>i heard?" 
 v., 17 — " Faith eometh by hearing, and hearing l)y the Word of 
 (lod." But the iaith that saves is more than a mei'e intellectual 
 judgment: it is trust — it is confidence; and this comprises an 
 exercise of will ; it involves the power of choice. \Vv attach 
 ourselves to Him, we accept of Jlim, we cast ourselves on Him, 
 we rest iijmn Him. According to this view, faith consists of an 
 assent of the understanding with the consent of the will, and 
 these two raising feeling according to the nature <>f the truth> 
 a)»i)rehended and believed in. 
 
 Some, in these days, are forexcr telling us that iH'ligioii i> an 
 atfair of the heart, and n<>t the head. They show us that a sju'cn- 
 lativc a-scilion of do'j-ina wiilmnl love i> cold, unattractive, <)iVcn- 
 
sivc. They rciniiid ii> tlmt tlic stcrirK-c cniiM ii<»t risr In Heaven 
 without a fire to kindle it. All (nie. I allr.w ; hut it is e(|uallv 
 true that niei-e ('motion witlioni an ohjeet intelliixent Iv aj»|)|-e- 
 hended will turn out to he void, empty, evanescent, and read v to 
 evaporate. If there he no aeeeptahle ofl'erinir till it is kindled, 
 it is equally clear that the tire and the wood will he meanin^dess 
 witliout a land) lor a hin-nt oIleriiiL:-. [(Jen. wii., 7.] Whv insist 
 on sc'paratiui;- what the Lord hath j(»ined to<r(.ther — like male 
 an<l female in marria^■( — first in the constitnti(»n of our minds 
 and then in the aiVeetion of his pen|)l( — the iniion <>\' the fiian 
 with the Hexihle? I should certaiidy (lepl<»re to find anv <me 
 restiuii' contented with a iiiith without feeling:'; hut it is e(juallv 
 vain to try to rise to a stahlished assurance without fir>t Liainintr 
 the conviction of the un(h'rstandin^'. 
 
 Religions faith is sju'cially faith in ( Jod, as i-<vealt<l to us. 
 (Jod liath so fai* made himself known to u> in nature. It is, 
 therefore, a faith in (Jod as seen in His works, fashioned so skill- 
 fully, in His ])rovidenee ordered so wisely. But then (tod has 
 heen pleased to make a partieular i-evelation of him>elf in His 
 AVord to man as a fallen and errin*; hein^. Jfelitiious faith, then, 
 is speeially a helief in the testimony which (fo<l liath jriven of 
 himself in the Scriptures. ]>ut (iod hath there manifested him- 
 self to us in the face of His Son. " Xo man hath seen (ind at 
 any time; the only hetrotten Son who is in Ilis Ixtsom he liath 
 revealed him." The faith that saves is a fliith in Christ the 
 Saviour. '' What is faith V" asked a minister of a jtooi- woman, 
 a mend)er of his coniireuation." " l-'aith," she answered, " is 
 just taking- (Jod at Ilis W'oi-d." (Jod says, ** I have so loved sin- 
 ners as to <rive my Son to die foi- them." Faith responds, " L«trd, 
 I helieve it." (Jod says, " Hei'c i- the <xift of my Son." I*'aith 
 replies, " I take thee at thy word ; I chise in with and accept 
 thy <rracious off'ei-." The faith which a|»j)i-i>priates ( 'hrist hrinjrs 
 us into a covenant relation with (Jod,;ind we enter u|ton ])<»s- 
 session of the hlessinu:>i which have heen j»ur<hase<l. 
 
 We can discover, so I think, an appropriatencs.s in faith hein^ 
 mad«' the instrument of saving the siimer. We see that some 
 
10 
 
 other jH'njMJSoti iucmiis arc inajiplicabk' and iiiipi'acticahk'. Some 
 would have the sinner's restorati(>n to favor (le])en(l on his re- 
 })entanee and on tlie obedience rendered, as if <ieniiine repent- 
 ance did not rctjuire tliat tlie sinner slioukl first he reeoneiled — 
 as if ol)e(lience rendered hy a sinner, unreeoncik'd, woukl l)e 
 accepted l>y (kxL Or, some one may say, let the sinner first 
 love (rod, tmd then he will be ])ardoned. ]5nt the diffienltv is to 
 kindle love in a heart alienated from God. In order to ol)edi- 
 ence, in order to love, there must first be a turninfj; to God ; there 
 must be a resting on him : and what is this but faith ? In faitli 
 we submit to him ; we bow ourselves before him ; he is pacified 
 towards us ; and the stream of afiection Avhieli hatl been re- 
 strained is ready to flow forth, we are ready to receive ^vhat he 
 is ready to irive, and it becomes in us ''a mcII of water springiui;' 
 up unto everlastin*:: life." 
 
 AVhen the sinner is justified by faith we are not to understand 
 that faith justifies as being a work. This would be fallino; back 
 on the legal system of justification, by works or merit. A\ e hear 
 j)ersons asking, in doubt or in scorn, '^Oh, how shoukl there l)e 
 so great merit in faith to save the sinner?" But we have only 
 to reflect for a moment to discover that there is no merit in faith 
 to save the sinner. One reason why faith is chosen as the means 
 of saving us tliat it has and can have n<Mnerit. " Where is 
 boasting tiien ? It is excluded. ])y what law ? of works? Xay ; 
 Imt by tlie law of faith." [Uom. iii., 27.] " Not of works, lest 
 any man .-hould boast." [Kph. ii., I).] h'aitli is, in its very 
 nature, lowly and dependent; it looks U\ another, it leans upon 
 another. It is the mere mean or channel through which the 
 blessings which ( 'hrist ])urchascd How into the suul in rich pro- 
 fusion. Now it is reciuircd of a medium or channel that it be 
 clear of obstruction : that there be nothing in it to stoj) that 
 which i> meant to pa-s tln-ough it. Herein lies the great eflicacy 
 of liiith: it receives that which is given it, and through it the 
 virtue that i- in Chrl-f fl(>\\< int.. the-«.iil iwul eni-iche< aixl satis- 
 fies it. 
 
 \\ iiat a pnwrr c\<'ii in ,,iii- cai-lhlv laillis. as when men sow in 
 
n 
 
 tlie assiinin'-c tluit they shall reap ail'T a Ion-- s.-a^nn, and laiM.r 
 ill the ('ontidciKr oi' a rcwanl at a i'ar distance I What an ctli- 
 caoy in the trust \vhi<*h the child reposes in the parent, which the 
 scholar ])laces in his master, which tiic soldier jnits in his p-ncral, 
 which the lover coniinits to the person beloved! These are 
 amonji; the eliief j)otoneies which have been niovinir nlaId^ind to 
 good, or alas I to evil. As it walks steadfastly on, it discovers 
 an outlet where, to sense, the way seenu'd shut in and closed. 
 Diilicultics irivo way as it advances, and impossibilities to jiru- 
 dcncc become accom])lishmcnts before tin; cner«ry of faith. 
 
 To it we owe the irreatest achievements which mankind 
 have etfeeted in art, in travel, in concpiest: settin«^ out in search 
 of the unseen, they have ma<le it seen and palpable. It was thus 
 that Columbus ])ersevere(l till the huiir-looked-for country burst 
 ui)on his view — it is always thus that men discover new lands 
 and new worlds outside those j)reviously known. It takes us, 
 as it were, to a mountain top, and widens the horizon ol our 
 vision. 
 
 But how much more potent is faith in God. It carries, and 
 this accordino; to the measure of it, the j)ower of (i(Kl. It is the 
 attractinu" power that keeps the soul circulating round the 
 Fountain of Li<rht, as the earth does round the sun and i< illu- 
 minated by it. h is no doubt weak, in that it leans; but it is 
 strono-, in that it leans on the arm of the ()mnii)otent. It is a 
 creature impoteney which lays hold of the Creator's power. It 
 can do more than remove mountains ; it can bid away the h>ad 
 of sin Ivinj:: on the conscience and the heart. '' We are justified 
 by faltli," savs Paul. [Hmn. vi.J '' It purities the heart," says 
 IVter. [Acts xv., i>.] It '' Wi»rketli by love," says Paul in 
 another epistle. [< Jal. v., 0.] It - overcometh the wcn'hl," says 
 .John. [1 Ep. v., b] It is rich, for it serves itself heir to th^ 
 blessin-s jmrchased at a o-reat price, and left a< an inheritance. 
 There are times when, if we had nothin- but sense and appear- 
 ance, we should feel a.s if we were sinkin- in a dark and bottom- 
 less abyss; but bv faith we plant our feet on the Rock of Aires, 
 and are >taved and stabli>he<l. When the pnwerlhl kin- of 
 
,i^y^ Svriii caiHc upon Klislia >liiit up in the small and (k'ti'iurk'ss 
 t<nvn ( »f J_Mlliii^^^ ^''^' })r()l)lu't continued calm and unmoved, be- 
 raiise ho knew that "they that l)c with us arc more than he with 
 them." Ihit his servant, when he looked on the horses, the 
 chariots and the ureat host, Avas in <2:reat alarm, and, at the re- 
 (jucst of his master, the Lord opened his eyes, and he saw Avhat 
 tlie ])rophet Jiad seen all alono- — '^ the mountain full of chariots, 
 and horses of fire round about Elisha." 80 if Ave had but faith 
 we would see that the host of the Lord '^encampeth abcmt them 
 that fear him, and delivereth them.'^ Faith shows us the land 
 that is afar off as if it were near us, as in certain states of our 
 atmosphere th(» distant mountains look as if they Avere in our 
 immediate neiohlxtrhood. As we walk by faith, our eye is lifted 
 from the earth and directed onward and u])ward, and avc travel 
 with the earth beneath our feet and Heaven in our eve. 
 
 11. •' l)Ut speak thou the tliino-s that become sound doctrine." 
 Ihis is a farther duty. A\ e are first to belicA'e, but we are 
 also to be ready to s])eak what we believe, and put it in the 
 form of sound doctrine. 
 
 There is a difference between ha\iug a ii'ood reason for our 
 I'aith and giving a good reason for our faith. Kvery student of 
 logic has heard the story of the Chief Justice of England, who, 
 on aj)pointing one who had not had i\\Q adA'antage of a legal 
 training U) a judicial office, gave him the sagacious counsel; 
 " When you j»ronounee a deeisi(tn, do not add the reasons. Your 
 decision fi*<jm vour <i;ood sense will invariablv be riii'ht : vour 
 reasons will often be wrong." Hccausc a j)lain, sine(M-e Christian 
 I'auuot e\j)(»uiid his reasons fbi- believing in the liible as the 
 \\ ord (»f (jlod, we are not t<» conclude that he has no reasons. A 
 very correct process of thought, ))rom])ted by a good and honest 
 heart, may ha\-e |)asse(l through liis mind ; l)Ut it might I'ccpiirc 
 a logi<*ian to unlbld it. Still it is useful when a man has not 
 «ndy good i-easnns for himself, but is prepared to oi)ey the com- 
 mand, " !>(' ready always to gixc an answer lo es-ery man that 
 asketh ynii n i-ci-on fui- the hope that i> in \-ou witii meekness 
 
1-, 
 
 U- In 
 
 :in(l ir:ir." Ilis i)\\n Ihilli is str(ii<;llirn('«l l.y liis l»»iu<: :il>l 
 fall l):uk ii])<)n the evidences when lie is teinptrd tn dnuht ; and 
 lie lias inaiiv opixuMiiuit io of roiiN iiiciii;^-, iiifliiniriiiL:. mikI Ljuid- 
 iiio' others. 
 
 He is to '' speak t lie liiiiiiis t liat i>ecniii(' -omid <lort rinc" I)or-\ 
 trine or doniiia, like science, is arranged m- >y>t<'Miati/cd irutli. / 
 The truth is reveale(l by (1(k1, l>nt tlie ioriii and e\|)res>ioii ot it 
 mav he made hy man. 'Hie truth revealed in tlie Word is un- 
 orrinii', havinjr the sanction of the Cuh] iA' truth. The arramrc- 
 ment hv man may heiiwu-e or less |)erleet, more or less imperle<'t. 
 The truth as revealed consists of histories, hijj^rniphies, symlnds, 
 types, ])reeepts, promises, warnini;s, categorical statements a.s t«i 
 the character of (Jod and of man, seatterod over sixty-six hooks, 
 eomposed by perhaps a< many different writers, some of thest 
 having written a umnher of works, such as Moses, l^iul, and 
 John, but some of the books, such a< r>alm<an<l Proverbs, lK'in;j 
 the composition of a number of jn-rsons se))arate<l from eacl 
 other by ages. To know these truths, as they have been con- 
 veyed to us by the inspired writers, is all we need to know in 
 order to salvation. 1 believ<- there are many now in lieaveii 
 whose knowledge, when they were on earth, <.f* the truths reveale«l 
 in Scripture was extremely limited. The (pic-iinii ha^ <.ftcn been 
 put, How little may a man believe and yet be >avcd V The .jues- 
 ti(m is a eurimis rather than a |)r.»litable one. it can be defi- 
 nitely settled <mly by Ilim who - kiioweth oiir frame "auil .-an 
 maki' allowance fbr cireumstances. Kvery one who is siived 
 nuist, I should judge, believe in (h.d the Saviour, and have 
 eh>sod in with the gospel (.fVer; but more, they will 1m- rea.ly to 
 believe in all that i> revcal.'d, >o far a> th.-y arc able m bccmnc 
 accpiainted with it. They must never urge the circiimstaiuv 
 that their km.wledge is so liniite<l as an excu>c fbr their not 
 taking steps to know more. It will be tlu- cariicM .loiiv of 
 every'^genuine believer to become versant with all that Cod has 
 been pleased to make kiK.wn in the voluiiu" of the IxH.k. 
 
 While (Jod, bv cm|>loying men of .livcr>ificd gift.--, ha> made 
 His Word ^nni.Mcntlv varied to Hiit the ta>t.- of mankind, >o 
 
14 
 
 far as tliev arc hi'althy, he lias not so enlarged it in bnlk as to 
 place it beyond the jiower of* an intelligent reader to master its 
 ■general eontents. Not a lew Christians have had the laudable 
 desire to make themselves ae(|uainted with the whole Seriptnres 
 of the Old and New Testament. And as man is a rational being, 
 he will be lm})elle(l to employ his mind al)()ut Avhat has been 
 written. " 1 speak as to wise men : judge ye what I say." As, 
 possessing the eai)aeity of feeling, he would give them a plaee in 
 his heart, so as endowed with intelligenee, he would Avish to 
 allot them a plaee in his head, and ineorporate them into his 
 thoughts. ^\s the original Seriptnres were written in a language 
 whieli is no longer spoken, so it is needful, in order to our under- 
 standing or even reading them, to translate them, or have them 
 translated, for us. Then, there arc many words and idioms in 
 the Hebrew of the Old Testament and the Greek of the Xew 
 Testament which have nothing corresponding to them in English, 
 and in order to bring them within our tongue and our compre- 
 hension, we must exercise judgment upon them, and choose the 
 fittest phrase to express them. And among not a few there will 
 be a strong desire to co-ordinate and bring under proper heads 
 what is disj)ersed — like stars over the sky — in the inspired 
 writings. As there are men of intelligence who have a desire 
 not only to know individual plants, but to have plants classified, 
 not only to know the separate stars in the sky, but to group the 
 heavenly bodies into constellations, and to -determine the laws 
 Avhich join planet to sun and star to star, so there are men Avho 
 would tabulate the events of sacred history, to formalize the 
 several ])recei )ts, and combine the scattered proi)ositions in the 
 form of sound woi-ds. 
 
 Then, there are circumstances ever casting up in the history of 
 the church, which recjuire us to put truth in a definite shape, 
 uoi only Ibr the benefit of the individiiiil, but of the church at 
 large. As we might expect from the tendency of mankind to 
 err, and as the inspired writers themselves have inx'dieted, there 
 spring u|) jxisous who misunderstand the AVord, and give a 
 wrong interj)retation ; jncn unstable a- water — unlearned and 
 
iinstaliic, wlio \vn'>t the writiiiii- ol' I'aiii, aiui im- njiici- >< ri|)- 
 tiircs, to tlu'ir own (Icstnictioii. Tlicrc must lie nunc way, imt it 
 
 UKIV 1)0 «tt' iXcludinLl these llieli jioiii the enlilllimiinn oi' the* 
 cliiifch, l»iit (>r heeomiii^- the tenehei's nt' ntliers, to comIum' and 
 mislead them. IJiit then it Is said yoii may use tlie S-ripturcs 
 themselves ior this i»urj)<)se. And it i- true that the appeal must 
 nlwavs 1h\ at the eommeneement an<l the close, to tlie Word of 
 God. lint the snhjeet of dispute here is as (o the meaninj; of 
 Seripture, They profess to be willinir to accept what the 15ii)le 
 teaches, but they <rive an jitterly ju'rverse interpretation of it. 
 Thus, in the fourth century, there aro>e a body of men who 
 denied that Jesus wastridy (Jod, e(|ual with the Father, and tor- 
 tured the words of Seripture to defend tli<ir hereticid o])inions. 
 There required, therefore, to be some means of ascertaining tiie 
 sense in which persons nnch'rstood the Scriptures — some test to 
 try whether they re.<:arded Cln'ist as truly (lod; so the theolo- 
 o-ians of the aire devised a nomenclature bv which to exclude 
 those who deemed the divinity of our Lord, who were rc([uired 
 to sav that he was of one substance with the Father. Ilcnee the 
 neeessity and the use of ereeds and confcssi<tns. 
 
 Doetrinal ])ropositi( ms, either when couched in S<rii)ture lan- 
 guage or drawn directly from Seripture, serve several important 
 ends. It is true that faith in them is never to be ,-ubstituled for 
 faith in the living God and the living Saviour. Few things in 
 this world arc more offensive than hca.l knowledge without eor- 
 rcsponding practice ; than an uncharitable, scowling orthodoxy, 
 with no humble and loving i'aith in the loving Saviour. Tiiis is, 
 in fact, the very essence of Pharisaism, which has been felt to l)c 
 so repulsive in all ages. Its sternness is apt to dignify itself 
 with the name of high principle ; but if it be without atfcH'ticm, 
 it is without the essential ])rincii>le of Christianity, which is love, 
 being the highest perlection in the character of Mini who is ex- 
 pressively called Love, liut il" faith in doctrine is conjoined 
 with faith in Christ, it accomplishes some very Ingh jjurposc^. 
 First, it makes our ideas clearer, and keeps ..ur thoughts, meili- 
 tations, and expressions consistent. It is cf special value to 
 
tcacliors, as it enables thorn to ixixmiul the truth more elearly 
 and consecutively to tlieir liearers, wlio can take it up more 
 readilv and })rotitahly, and call it back into the memory more 
 readily and frecjuently. Jt is not necessary that they should 
 alwavs trouble their audience with the ratiocination which has 
 satisfied themselves. John Foster remarks of the great preacher, 
 Ivobert Hall, that he trave his hearers the results of profound 
 thinkinii' without the ])rocesscs that led to it. I am of opinion 
 that the perspicuous and brief exposition of the ii:rounds or })rin- 
 ciples <tf a ureat truth mioht })e profitable in a sermon addressed 
 to an intelliueut audience — (piite as nuich so as a sensational 
 appeal to the inia_a:ination or the feelings. But whether he 
 chooses to speak of it to his people or not, there should always 
 be a regulating principle of sound doctrine in his own mind, 
 guiding and guarding the preacher. This will keej) him from 
 mistakes into which he might otherwise fall, on the one side or 
 the other, while it would give him a fearlessness in proclaiming 
 the full and many-sided truth — say the freedom of the gospel 
 offer on the one hand, and the sovereignty of God on the other. 
 But sound doctrine may be ])rofitable not only to the teacher, but 
 to the private Christian. Even the good woman that I referred 
 to in the ojx'uing (►f this discourse might have been all the better, 
 had she been able to S])eak about Christ, as she was ready to die 
 for Him. A clear apprehension of divine truth will save a ])rivate 
 Christian from many inconsistencies, int(> which he might other- 
 wise fall without being aware of it — say from imprudences and 
 sins into which impulse might hurry him, and which might 
 greatly liindci- I li.s. progress in the divine life, and bring disgrace 
 on the cMUse of ( 'lirist. A man may be a very good miu'lianic 
 without knowing natural philosophy ; a very good gardener 
 witlwait knowing botany; but they will be the greater proficients 
 in tiicii- ai-t pi-oxidcd tliev know the scientific })rinciples on which 
 it i- founded. So a man mav be a good Christian, though he 
 has not studied theoloirv ; ])ut he will be a higher style of 
 ( 'lii'i-t ian, and will cai'i'v more weight, when he is able to <'on- 
 dense his vague kuowIcdH-c into a brief and ('omj)reheusive form 
 of soun<l won is. 
 
17 
 
 These arc (loctriiuil statements, so I hold, in the Word ol'Ciod. 
 True, the early Seriptures do not eontiiin many jrenenil or 
 abstract propositions. They do not commence a.s our catechisms 
 and church articles do, with enunciations a.s to tlic bein*; and 
 character of God, as to the naturr and destiny of man. The (hxl 
 who made us knows how to suit His instructions to us, and 
 begins as the mind of man does in its natural progre.-^ — its you 
 see the child docs — with the singular and the eonerete, with in- 
 cidents, with biographies, with operations of (jod and deeds of 
 man — with the creation, the fall, the ])romise of the ^wd of the 
 woman, with the sacrifices (jf Cain and Abel, the Hood, the dis- 
 persion of mankind, the call of Abraham, the going down into 
 Egypt, the })reservation of the i'amily by means of Jose})h, the 
 exodus under !Moses. But from an early date, and as mankind 
 were prepared to abstract and generalize, there come up general 
 expressions, which read as if they were the articles of a confes- 
 sion. The doctrine still comes in under the form of a particular 
 proposition. " In the beginning God created the heavens an<l the 
 earth.'' [Gen. i., 1.] "God created man in his own image; in 
 the image of God created he him." [i., 27.] "Every imagina- 
 tion of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually." 
 [vi., 5.] "Abraham believed in the Lord, and he counted it to 
 him for righteousness." [xv., 6.] "The Lord i)assed by before 
 Moses and proclaimed. The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and 
 gracious, long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, 
 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving inicpiity and transgres- 
 sion and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty." 
 [Exod. xxxiv., 6.] " " Hear, oh Israel, the Lord our God is one 
 LoM." [Deut. vi., 4.] The declarations of this kind beo 
 more numerous as men's minds are enlarged, and they are al) 
 to understand them. The psidms are full of lofty, spiritual 
 thoughts and moral maxims expressed in lively poetiail form, 
 fitted to strike the fancy, and likely to stick in the memory. Out 
 of the prophets you could draw a full creed, theological and 
 ethical. Our I.<ord opens the New Testament dispensation even 
 as Moses introduced the Old, by illustrations and examples. He 
 
 ome 
 e 
 
18 
 
 thus encourages little cliiklren to draw nigh to Him, while other 
 teachers would drive tlieni away. ^' The common people ever 
 heard him gladly, and rejoiced in his instruction, because he 
 tauiiht tliem not subtleties like the scribes, but by self-evidencing 
 statements, which shine in their own light." Still, you find 
 coming out in our Ijord's teaching, a number of grand truths, 
 wide and" all-embracing as the canopy of heaven — which ever 
 widens as we seem to approach its boundaries. "I and my 
 father are one." [John x., 30.] ^' Except ye be born again ye 
 cannot see the kingdom of heaven." [John iii., 3.] ^' Except 
 ye repent ye shall all perish." [Luke xiii., 3.] " I am the res- 
 urrection and the life : he that believeth in me, though he were 
 dead, yet shall he live." [John xi., 25.] AYhen He left the 
 earth, our Lord gave a promise to his disciples that the Spirit 
 would guide them into all truth, and the Epistles of the Apostles, 
 which contain the latest revelation of the mind of God, are full 
 of doctrinal statements. In the Epistles of Paul and Peter, spe- 
 cially in the Epistle to the Romans, we have a complete exposi- 
 tion and defence of Christian doctrine, and from these any one 
 could draw a complete creed, expressed in Scripture language. 
 
 I admit that there must be stringent limits imposed on the 
 formation of doctrines, and the imposition of creeds on indi- 
 viduals and on churches. First, we must see that they are 
 drawn directly and easily from the Word of God. The general- 
 izations we make must be of the statements of Scripture, and not 
 of the dicta of our reason, not even of our experience as Chris- 
 tians. The great German theologian, Schleiermacher, made 
 Christian divinity an expression and embodiment of Christian 
 consciousness. But this is to reverse the proper order of things — to 
 ])ut that which is first, last, and that whicli is last, first; it is to 
 make our experience determine the doctrine, instead of making 
 the infallible trutli of the Word determine and guide our expe- 
 rience. It is not the sliadow on the dial which regulates the 
 time, for the dial may be displaced and become mistimed ; but it 
 is the sun in the Heavens that should regulate both the dial and 
 the time wliirli tlic dial sim])ly indicates. Secondly, no mot^ 
 
1!) 
 
 human sj)ccnlation, however j)laiisil)le it may seem to tliose who 
 fiivor it, must be aHowed a ])la((' in what professes to he Bible 
 doctrine. Phih)S()phei-s are at lihcrly t<» s|M'culate as they please 
 on the numerous toi)i(s bn.ucrht before us in llw Divine WCiJ. 
 But the eonelusi(ms whieli tliey reach arc to be re;::ar<l('(i a-< Ivinir in 
 the region of philosophical speculation, and not (»f s<'riptural truth. 
 The history of philos(>phy and nf inclnphy.-i<al t hcoh )|ry show.s 
 liow sure men are to wander when they pass beyond the thinj^s 
 revealed, and venture into the region of the secret things wliich 
 belong to the Lord our (iod. A celebrated reformer used to 
 represent angels as anuising themselves with the folly of the dis- 
 cussions in which theologians engage, often with such do<nnatism 
 and bitterness. The rash a&sertions which divines liavc made 
 wlien tlicy drew an astronomy or a geology out of tlie visual d«'- 
 scription of phenomena in the AVord, are full of instruction and 
 rebuke to those who would rciir theories out of Scripture bv human 
 logic. ]N"o one should boast that he has been able to rise to a 
 full comprehension of all the truths which God has bec^n pleased, 
 so far, to reveal to us. And so when we profess to cx])ouhd 
 Christian doctrine, we must be careful to av<»id all wire-drawn 
 distinctions — all mere dialectic processes involving al)strusc no- 
 tions and complicated trains of reasoning. In vciy many of the 
 awfully profound subjects discussed in theology, we mav fall into 
 fatal error on one side or other when avc begin to argue from 
 Scripture, instead of simply accepting it. AVhat is called infer- 
 ential theology — that is, theology made up of inferences from 
 Scripture — should be confined within very stringent limits. Cer- 
 tainly, we have no right to impose conclusions of our own on 
 men Avho may be willing to accept Scripture on the fair interpre- 
 tation of it. In the construction of creeds of every kind, ad- 
 vantage must be taken of the generalized statements of the 
 inspired writers, specially of the Epistles of tlui A2)ostles. A\^e 
 should also look to the confessions which have been drawn out 
 in various ages of the church to express the faith of God's pcoph^^ 
 and guard against heresy; in the Apostles^ creed — which is an 
 old one, though it does not go back to the time of the A2)ostles; 
 
20 
 
 in the Xicone creed ; in tlic I^iitlicraii and Calvinistic confes- 
 sions ; in the Heidelberg Catechism ; the Westminster Confession 
 of Faith, and Shorter Catechism ; and tlie Thirty-nine Articles 
 of tlie Chnrch of England — not that any Christian is bonnd to 
 accept these becanse they hayc been constructed by great and 
 good men or adopted by churches. Every one is entitled — nay, 
 bound — to judge for himself, dc novo, and as if no one had ex- 
 amined it before, all that is offered to his belief. But wlicn he 
 has done so, and then consults the confessions that have been 
 dra^yn out by various churches in various ages, he will find that 
 there is a wonderful consensus as to all important doctrines, and 
 that the fiiith of all times has been virtually the same ; and as 
 he notices this, his views will thereby be rendered clearer and his 
 assurance confirmed and strengthened. 
 
 But it is recommended to us to make our creed as wide and as 
 loose as possible, lest we exclude any of God's chosen ones from 
 the fellowship of the church. They warn us that by imposing 
 too much we may lay a burden on the conscience Ayhich it is not 
 able to bear, w hich may, in fact, crush weak believers and stir up 
 others to rebellion. There is some wisdom, but more folly, in 
 this counsel. Yielding to the judgment of charity, we are not 
 to exclude a man from th6 communion of saints because his creed 
 seems to us to be scanty. Nor are we to require of teachers in 
 the church a profession of faith in logical distinctions or specu- 
 lative theories, or indeed in anything beyond what is written in 
 the Word, and so written that " he who runs may read.'' But, 
 on the other hand, we must employ wise and firm means to secure 
 that they who are officially set apart to teach others, '^ continue in 
 the Apostles' doctrine," [Acts ii., 2,] and hold fast the form of 
 sound words which they have heard of l*aul and the other 
 Apostles. [2 Tim. i., L'J.] AVe are warned against being "chil- 
 dren tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doc- 
 trine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they 
 lie in wait to deceive." [Eph. iv., 14.] Such men, with or 
 without knowing it, lead others into confusion, inconsistencies, 
 and even heresy; they are blind leaders of the blind, whereby 
 
21 
 
 both fall iiilo the ditch. A^ to (tc(m1, a cliurch is not actini,' 
 Avisely, is not actinu" ihitlilully, when it utt<'rs an uncertain sound. 
 And as to direct, s])ontau('ous faith, it i> w rou^^ to rccoiiuucud 
 any one to helieve as little as jMissihlc. All are ready to iK-lievo 
 ^v]lat God has been pleased to reveal. '' All S<-ripturo is ^nven hy 
 inspiration of (Jod, and is profitable f<»r doctrine, for re])roof, for 
 corroetion, for instruction in ri:ihteousnc>s, that the man of (Jod 
 may bo pcrfoet, thorouLrhly I'urnished unto all ,i;ood works." [2 
 Tim. iii., 16.] Kvory truth there nvealed has no doubt a ]Mir- 
 pose to servo: to inoroasoour kno\vled<2:o, to stron^hcn our faith, 
 to onlaro^o our lovo, to warm our foolin«]:s ; to warn, to rebuke, 
 to encoiirao;©, to comfort; and so far as any ono refus(\s to accept 
 any inspired declaration, lie may be losin^r the benefit which it is 
 fitted to convey. Soientific experiment shows tliat if any of the 
 constituents of the snnl)oam be o1)structod by artificial moans, the 
 plant on which it shines will l)c a])t t<^ take an unnatural, a 
 sickly hue; and when men arc indisposed to receive any of those 
 truths given by inspiration, and which are profitable each for 
 a purpose, it will turn out that their piety is so far unhealthy, 
 misformed, and they are *' not perfect, thorouohly l^irnishcd unto 
 all i2:ood works." 
 
 But then it is urj^cd that many excellent— nay, devoted— Chris- 
 tians have had a very limited apprehension of doctrine — nay, 
 have held erroneous tenets. They show us that there was jienuine 
 faith in the middle a.ojes, when images wore used in worship, 
 when priests claimed the power of forgiving sin, and when it was 
 the general belief that persons couhl 1)0 justified by ritual ob- 
 servances. They prove that there would he genuine love to Go<l 
 in the breasts of members of the Romish Church, notwithstand- 
 ing its corruptions. Tiicy remind us tliat, in those latter ages, 
 there have been men— and they point to Clievalior Bunsen— who, 
 with a verv defective creed, have had a fervent aflcction for the 
 Saviour. They arc always (piictly insinuating or boldly tolling 
 us that there isMio connection ))otween soundness in the faith and 
 genuine piety, ^^.ot the heart," they say, 'M,e right, and it is 
 of little moment in what state tin* head may bo." '' Mdi are to 
 
'2'2 
 
 1)0 jiulLaHl not by what they believe, but by what they do." 
 "Faith, not doetrine, is the principal thing/' say some. '^Action? 
 not faith, is tlie prinelpal thing/' say others, or perhaps the same 
 persons, without jK'reeiving their inconsistency. Now, there is 
 an immense conglomeration of confusion first, and, by implica- 
 tion, of misleading error, in these representations, or rather mis- 
 representations. A sinner, I acknowledge, may be saved by 
 faith, with very little knowledge ; but this does not show that he 
 can have faith without any knowledge ; it does not prove that 
 lie should not be a better Christian were he to add to his faith, 
 knowledge ; and it does not tend to indicate that those who have 
 true faith will not always be prompted to seek higher knowledge. 
 The disciples, when they first believed, and even after our Lord 
 had been employed for three years in training them, had a very 
 limited knowledge; but for this he rebuked them — " O, fools 
 and slow of heart to believe" — and they were ready to receive 
 instruction, which he was ever imparting to them ; and when he 
 went iij) to Heaven, he promised the Spirit to guide them unto 
 all truth. " When Jesus told Peter that he must suffer many 
 things, and be killed, the Apostle took him and began to rebuke 
 him." [Mat. xiii., 22.] Yet this same Apostle lived to write : 
 " For Christ also hath once suffered for us, the just for the unjust, 
 that he might bring us to God." [1 Pet. iii., 18.] Many me- 
 dieval Christians had very imperfect — indeed, erroneous — views 
 on many importiuit points — but this did not help — it rather 
 hindered their piety, giving it a perverted twist or a sickly, mystic 
 hue. And we who live in the full midday of the light should 
 not seek to go back to the twilight of the middle ages. I admit 
 that not a few have had a genuine faith with a very scanty, or 
 even erroneous formalized creed ; that some ready to die for 
 Christ have been able to speak for Ilim only in a very confused 
 manner, not unmixed wdth heresy. But then I could show that 
 thrlr (Icfcctivc belief has somewhat distorted their piety, giving 
 it, il may be, a monkish appearance, its if it had been reared in 
 ji cloister, rather than in the fresh, open air of Heaven ; this on 
 the one hand or the other liand, stillenlui'' their character into 
 
rationalism — as in the caso of John Locki — and h-adin-r thcni to 
 overlook or set aside truths which ihi;;ht have imparted a fervor 
 to their feelings or an impulse to their active benevolence; or 
 what is as frecpient, temi)tin<2; them to nejrleet ecrtiiin eommon- 
 plaee duties in attcndin<!; to others more showv or sen.s;itional. 
 And then, some of those who have expressed tlidr faith very 
 imperfectly, have had a very full and enlarged spontaneous faith 
 in their God and Saviour — thus I have been able to testify of 
 Bunsen, that during the five days I spent with him, we never 
 conversed " for ivn minutes at a time without Ins n 'turning, how- 
 ever far he might be off, to his J>ible and iiis Saviour as the ob- 
 jects that were evidently the dearest to him."* 
 
 A living historian of great literary ability, in addressing an 
 old Scottish university, has shown, by a large induction of facts, 
 how extensive and intensive has been the influences in various 
 ages and countries of a belief in such doctrines as the unbend- 
 ing righteousness of God and the predestination of all things. 
 The portrait which he has drawn of Calvinism is not a true 
 picture, but a caricature — an undue prominence being given to 
 certain features and others sunk out of view. But Mr. Froudc 
 has had a glimpse of the intimate connection between a belief in 
 such grand truths, and great and heroic character. "These were 
 men possessed of all the cpialities which gave no])ility and grand- 
 eur to human nature — men wIkjsc life was as upright as their 
 intellect was commanding, and their j)ul)lic aims untainted with 
 selfishness; unalterably just where duty required them to be 
 stern, but with the tenderness of a woman in their hearts ; frank, 
 true, cheerful, humorous, as unlike sour as it is j)ossible to imagine 
 any one, and able in some way to sound the key-note to which 
 every brave and faithful heart in Europe instinctively vibrated. f 
 The faith of some of these men may have been joined with error, 
 not so much in their hearts or convictions as in the partial, one- 
 sided expressions which they employed in setting forth and de- 
 fending their dogmas logically, to face opposition. I>ut it was 
 
 * See Life, by his wi«l<.»\v. f '' C'lilviiiUm,'' l>y .James Antli«iny Froudt 
 
24 
 
 not tlie associated error, but tlie essential truth, Avliicli made 
 these men true, eourai^eous, and steadfast. There were misappre- 
 hensions in the view which CoUunbus took of the country he 
 discovered — lie tliouglit it was part of the East Indies — but lie 
 had risen to the comprehension of the grand truth that the earth 
 was round, and that there Avas land to be reached by sailing east 
 from Europe ; and, in this faith, he sought out and found the 
 New AVorld. So there may have been imperfections in the cree^I 
 of these heroic men ; but there was a direct faith, which not only 
 saved their souls from inward and outward corruption, but im- 
 parted to them indomitable energy. And it is only so far as 
 men hold by the same heart of truth that they can rise to the 
 same elevation of character and devotedness of life. ]\Ir. Froude 
 does not seem to see this. There is no evidence that Mr. Froude 
 himself believes in the truth which has made these men so true 
 and so valiant in the past. He talks vaguely, as the whole 
 school of Thomas Carlyle do, of men being lovers of truth, and 
 brave, as if men could be lovers of truth who left themselves no 
 truth. to believe in, or could be expected to be brave when, they 
 have no great cause to fight for. As it was in ages past, so is it- 
 now, so it must be in ages to come, it is faith in eternal recti- 
 tude and unmerited love that stirs up to deeds of benevolence 
 and self-sacrifice. " In the better sort of men," says Mr. Froude, 
 "there arc two elementary convictions : that there is over all 
 things an unsleeping, inflexible, all-ordering, just power; and 
 that this 2)0wer governs the world by laws which can be seen in 
 llicir effects, and on the obedience to which, and on nothing 
 else, human weli'are depends." There is all this, Imt there is 
 vastly more than this needed ; otherwise there Avill only be a 
 dead faith in an abstraction, or a loose, pantheistic dream, Avhich 
 loosens the obligations of duty, and ends in mere intentions, with- 
 out resolute action. It must be a faith not in a dead ])ower, but 
 •A living (Jod, holy mid benevolent; and not in inere hnv, but in 
 a loving Savioui-, who has provided an expiation ibr those who 
 liave broken law. 
 
 The conclusion of the whole matter is drawn by (he Apostle: 
 
*^Takc liccd (<) thyself iiiid tlicn t.» tliy doctniic." [1 Tim.] 
 Tliis is i\\v projuT order: *' TaUc liccd to thyscll'" thy soul's sal- 
 vation. AVithout this, faith in doii;iiia will be of no avail. \\'ith- 
 out this, indeed, there will always ])c somo defect in our doc- 
 trinal belief — some exclusivcness, some liarslniess in it. Men 
 ^vllo have felt the truth are always the best able to understand 
 it ; they understand it because they appreciate it. Knowledge 
 of some kind is im])lied in faith, but it is equally eei-tain that 
 they only who believe can rise to the fullest knowledge. Divine 
 truth is always comprehended by the heart — that is, by under- 
 standing faith and feeling there is truth for all, there is truth for 
 each of the faculties of the mind, that thus the whole soul, and 
 not a mere part, may be drawn to God and to good. 
 
 AVe see, from this, what is the style of preaching most fitted 
 to promote the cause of Christ. It is ])reaching that speaks of 
 Christ, and speaks to all. There is a kind of preaching which 
 sprang up in New England an age or two ago, and has since 
 traveled south and west, (►f which J am not sure. The minister 
 is a well-educated, thinking man, and he reads and j)onders most 
 of the week, and he brings out his j)eculiar cogitations on the 
 Lord's day. All well, I say. The good householder nmst bring 
 out of his treasure things new and old; his congregation will not 
 thank him for throwing to them what hits cost him nothing ; but 
 then he brings out his own thoughts, ingenious, it may be, 
 but wire-drawn and abstruse, instead of Ciod's Word, to which 
 they are pinned, but from which certainly they do not grow. 
 They are admired excessively by a select number of men and 
 women, who are loud in praise of the preacher, and oiler him a 
 constant incense of adulation ; but as to your children who wm- 
 pose, or ought to compose, so large a portion of every congrega- 
 tion, as to your servants, male and female, and your day lalxirers, 
 who have toiled all the week, they might have felt an interest in 
 the truths of God's Word; they might have felt an interest even 
 in the grand old theological distinctions end)odying the; thoughts 
 of the best men of all ages; but as to the peculiar notions or 
 nostrums of this preacher, they do not understand and they can- 
 
26 
 
 not relish them, and it is no great loss to them that they do not. 
 Wlioncvcr puch a style of preaching prevails, the common people 
 will leave the churches that require an educated ministry, and I 
 am not sure but that they ought to do so. It will be a black day 
 for any church— blacker than that which it may have had to 
 suffer in the days of the bitterest persecution — ^vhen it ceases to 
 preach to those to whom -the Great Preacher w as specially sent ; 
 ^' To the poor, the gospel is preached.'' I rather think that there 
 are signs that our merchants, distracted all the week Avith anxious 
 cares in their offices, wish, on the Sabbath Day, w-hich they w^ould 
 have to be a day of rest, to be delivered from all further distrac- 
 tions, and to hear the truths of the gospel preached, Avith thought- 
 fulness, no doubt, but giving them the results rather than the 
 processes, and in all simplicity and affection. Of this I am sure 
 that your truly learned men, when they come out from their 
 books, from their literary and scientific pursuits, to the house of 
 God on the Sabbath, w^ould like to hear such words as Jesus 
 uttered from the ship and on the mountain. Old Horace felt it 
 tu be his delight to sing j^9«<?y/s et virglnihus, and, depend upon 
 it, that it is the best preaching, and the most poj)ular in the end, 
 Avhicli suits the father and his son, the brother and the sister, the 
 mistress and her maid, the learned and the unlearned. 
 
 But while you do this, you should not leave the other undone. 
 ^'Take heed to thyself," but "take heed to thy doctrine." We 
 are to beware of falling under the somewhat prevalent feeling 
 that it is of no moment what a mans's doctrinal belief is. Spec- 
 ulative belief has ever a tendency to undermine our spontaneous 
 faith, and will do so sooner or later. Nothing tends so much to 
 deaden affection as skepticism ; it is like a piece of ice at his heart, 
 freezing the genial current of feeling that may be circulating 
 there; it is a cold atmosphere, in which iha plant may live for a 
 little while, but will soon expire. If men have reasoned them- 
 selves -into the conviction that there is no God, they will soon 
 cea.«e to cherish any affection towards Ilini, except, it may be, 
 some remains of a fear like that which men entertain towards 
 ghosts after they have ceased to believe in them. *' Pie that 
 
cometli to God must believe that he Is, and tliat he is the rc- 
 warder of them tliat diligently seek him." Some, l)r(Ml and 
 trained in their youth in a warm region of faith, have retained for 
 a time a eonsiderable amount of fervor in sjjitc of their uulxlicf; 
 but it fades like a refleetion when the source of light and licat 
 has gone. AVhen we ga/e on the glow of the evening sky, we 
 arc inclined to expect, even as we would wi>li it to continue ; hut. 
 it fades into darkness as we gaze upon it. So it will be witii th«.' 
 fervor of feeling in our hearts if there is not a body of light and 
 truth behind to keep it up. It is essential to our stability to 
 have clearly-defined truth to I'all back upon, in times of doubt 
 and perplexity — some anchor t(j hold us when we might be driven 
 about by every wind of doctrine. Such a form of sound doctrine 
 will not indeed create or excite feeling, but it will stay and stab- 
 lish feeling, and keep it from vanishing like " the morning cloud 
 and early dew which i)asseth away." 
 
 It is a duty which you owe to yourselves to stand fa.st in the 
 faith. And this is a duty which you owe to Christ and to His 
 church, to "keep that which is committed to thy trust" — to 
 transmit it to the age following, and thus help to secure that it 
 may go down to the latest posterity. Not only so : we must, as 
 good soldiers of the Cross, be ready "earnestly to contend for the 
 faith which was once delivered to the saints," and to do so by all 
 proper weapons of argument, of learning, of prayer, of affection- 
 ate appeal. 
 
 These observaticms of a combining character may fitly bring 
 to a close my four ye^irs' course of religious instruction in 
 this College. On taking upon me the ollice whicii 1 now 
 hold, I found that I was recpiired to give religioas instruction to 
 the students, and on no subject had I such anxious thoughts as 
 in regard to the method of ])erfbrming this very inii)ortant and 
 yet delicate duty. I do not claim for the course I have followed 
 that it is superior to that followed previously in this College, or 
 to that followed in other Colleges. I have to give religious in- 
 struction, and religious instruction nuist mean Bible instruc- 
 tion. I saw at once that it could and .-linuhl not mean the phi- 
 
28 
 
 losophy of religion, or the criticism of religion, or the defence of 
 religion. From my tastes and my prevalent studies, which, for 
 sixteen years, had been mainly in mental science, I would have 
 found it easy and pleasant to dwell on themes like these. But I 
 had other opportunities of expounding philosophy on the week- 
 days, when it came in appropriately, and I felt that if I gave effec- 
 tive religious instruction, I must ])ring the young men here in 
 close contact with the Bible, and induce them to read the in- 
 spired writings for themselves, so as to enable them to spend a 
 profitable, and withal a pleasant Sabbath, and so that they could 
 lie down with a clear conscience at night, feeling that there was 
 no man guilty between what they had been doing and the duties 
 which God requires of them. Hence, these select readings in 
 Scripture, these lectures on the Lord's Day, these weekly recita- 
 tions. I have carried those who have been here the full course 
 in the first year over the Four Gospels and the Life of Christ ; 
 in the second year over the Book of Acts, with references to the 
 Epistles, and the work of the Spirit ; in the third year over 
 Christian Doctrine, with the Epistles to the Romans ; and in the 
 fourth, over the Old Testament, its history, and its poetry, and 
 the prefigurations of Christ. ]My course is thus a circle ; the 
 student entering any one year will have a separate subject ex- 
 j)oundcd, and those attending the four years will htivc a full 
 course of biblical instruction. I am now to say a few words to 
 those who are about to leave. 
 
 Those of you who have pursued the lull academic course have 
 been four academic years Avitli us. 'J'hcy liave been ibur event- 
 ful years. 
 
 They have been eventful years in the history of the College. 
 You entered this institution at the time wlien tlie country wiis 
 settling down after the devastating war, and when the friends 
 were ready to rally round it and sujiport it. The number of 
 students has slowly but steadily increased ; the year before you 
 came it was two hundred and sixty-four; this year it is three 
 hundred and seventy-nine. Some eight or ten new branches 
 have Im'cii a<ldc(l to our coui'sc, bi-inging it up I'ullv to tlic wants 
 of the time-; and selections of studies within stringent limits 
 
29 
 
 liavc boon allowed in the two advaneeJ Classes. Fellowships 
 and prizes of eonsiderahle value have been instituted to encour- 
 age the students to master the various branches of learning here, 
 and to pursue deeper studies for a time after they have got their 
 degree. I am convinced that during your academic course there 
 has been severer study than before, among the better half of our 
 students; and by systematized examinations, we are seeking to 
 raise up the standard of the other half. Tiie number and the 
 elegance of our College edifices has-been largely and visibly in- 
 creased by the liberality of our friends. Among other points of 
 agreement, it is worthy of being mentioned that we have been 
 delivered during your course from some of the old College cus- 
 toms that disgraced it. It will be recorded in the history of this 
 College that one of the last acts done by this Class was to pass a 
 set of'^resolutions against the employment of dishonest means of 
 any kind at the College examinations— resolutions concurred in 
 by all the students assembled at a public meeting for this pur- 
 pose. This leads me to remark that our College will not be in a 
 satisfactory state until, along with our orthodox religion, we have 
 the moral'tone of the College so elevated that lying and deceit of 
 every kind are reprobated by the great body of the students. I 
 adhere to all that Paul says about the importance of foith ; but 
 I concur as heartily with James when he says that^" faith, if it 
 hath not works, is dead being a^liyc.'' [James ii., 17.] 
 
 They have been eventful yeiu^ your own personal history. 
 They are four years of human life— proverbially short and un- 
 certain. Here you have had opportunities and facilities for im- 
 provement, in the lectures, the recitations, the library, the scien- 
 tific apparatus, and the literary societies. You have gained solid 
 and varied knowledge, more or less, which may be useful through 
 life, to you and others. There has been eager study on the part 
 of^many, and they have acquireil habits of application and per- 
 severance to go with them through their wh..le future career. 
 But the grand work is not ended when you have finished your 
 collegiate course : it is, after all, only begun-iu the case of some, 
 well be-un. From this Commencement season you have to 
 
30 
 
 enter on a wider arena, with more numerous eompetitors. I ex- 
 hort those wlio have gained honors? earefully to guard their 
 honors. The laurels plaeed on your brow this week will soon 
 wither, and you will need to earn fresh ones. Some, behind you 
 at this stage, may come to outstrip you in the race of life. Some 
 this day may be feeling, *^ I have not done what I might have 
 done here.'^ AVell, let your resolution be, from this day, to enter 
 in a new spirit on the work before you. My definition of a fool 
 is not one who has never made a failure, but one who eannot 
 profit by his failures. In looking back on my past life, I can 
 testif\' that my days of failure have been the times that most 
 helped me on. I remember fresh as yesterday the close of a 
 session in my collegiate days, when honors were being distributed 
 to my companions one after another, but none came to me, who 
 had been reared in a retired country district, with no scholastic 
 advantages, and I formed the secret purpose, expressed not even 
 to mother or sisters, in the strength of God I Avill vie with the 
 best of them ; and ere I finished my College course, the Univer- 
 sity of Edinburgh departed from its precedent and gave me an 
 honorary degree of A. M., without requiring me to pass an ex- 
 amination. I sav it for the encoura2:cment of those who mi«:ht 
 feel discouraged, because they get no honors on this occasion, 
 that you may resolve to seek higher and more enduring honors. 
 But let me tell you that you arc going forth into a field where 
 you will have more powerful temptations — before which many 
 fall. From the instruction you have received here out of God's 
 M'ord you know what is needful in order to your being able to 
 stand. You know that you need gracious aid to prepare you for 
 that place to which you all trust to go when your labor here is 
 over. But you know what is equally important for you to know, 
 that you need a higher strength than your own to guide you in 
 the right j)ath through the tangled scenes of this life. So then 
 that you Iiave iirst faith to hold by (lod for yourself; and 
 secondly, that you hav(? faith in doctrine, which may keep you 
 linn, and enable you to instruct others. This is the last time you 
 will meet as a Cla.ss for the j)ul)lic worship of God. 1 do trust 
 
31 
 
 that some of you will moot licre from time to time, to revive (»1«1 
 rceolleetions and strengtlien old frien(lslii])s. liut prohaMv after 
 the solemnities of these few days are over, you will never all 
 meet at any one time or plaee. ]5ut you may now at this vcrv 
 time and place enter into a covenant ^' ordered in all things and 
 sure/' which will insure your meeting again — no wanderer lost — 
 if not on earth, yet in Heaven : "come and let us join ourselves 
 to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten." 
 With this Class I have been brought into contact for the last four 
 years at least twice each week; with the Junior Class, and with 
 the majority of the Senior Class, three times every week. Jt 
 would show that I have no heart if I did not feel a i)ang in part- 
 ing with, and if I did not promise to feel an interest in you. I 
 remain here so long as God sees fit to span; me for usefulness; 
 you go away to widely ditiering scenes and spheres. The good 
 wishes and the prayer of your Alma Mater will follow you. She 
 will rejoice to hear of your prosperity. She will rejoice still 
 more to hear of your being good and doing good. Some of you, 
 if you exhibit the same good qualities you have done here, may 
 rise to eminence. All of you may be useful members of societv. 
 She will shed a secret tear of shame — concealing it from every 
 one — if she hears of any of you doing a dishonorable deed, or 
 falling into vice. I feel at this moment as if I had lost many 
 i)recious opportunities of doing good. I feel as if I had left 
 much unsaid that I should have said, and I am tempted to say it 
 now. But past neglect cannot now be atoned for, and I know I 
 am not likely to deepen any impression for good by nuieh sj)eak- 
 ing. So, in the name of our graeious Redeemer, I give you one 
 other invitation to come to Christ, and '^I commit you to Him 
 who is able to keep you from falling, and to jiresent you faultless 
 before the presenee of His glory with exeeeding joy."