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THE 
 
 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL PULPIT. 
 
 SERMON BY THE REV. JOHN R. GOODMAN. 
 
 VOL. IV.] August, 1834. [NO. VIII. 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF CLERICAL LEARNING: 
 
 & Setmott, 
 
 Delivered before the Convention of the Diocese of North-Carolina, held at Washington, 
 7th of May, 1834, 
 
 BY THE REV. JOHN R. GOODMAN, 
 
 BECTOK OF CHRIST CHUECH, NEWBEBN, NOSTH-CAROLINA. 
 
 Acts vii. 22. — "And Moses teas learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians." 
 
 Of the exact elevation to which the arts of utility and 
 elegance had reached in the country of the Pharaohs, and in 
 what the learning of their subjects consisted, the investigation 
 is but partially aided by the indistinct and obscure lights which 
 now remain. The whole current of antiquity, however, directs 
 us to their land, as early enjoying the exalted distinction of the 
 seat of primeval literature, and the cradle of infant science. 
 Celebrated for its genius and grandeur, not only contemporary, 
 but succeeding nations, largely drew from it the riches of 
 wisdom ; deriving many of their systems of philosophy and 
 principles of civil government from a country in which the 
 greatest measure of intellectual splendor was discerned, and 
 where the energies of the human mind were most successfully 
 excited. 
 
 In the ordination of Divine Providence, the prophet Moses 
 had been favored with the advantages which their schools so 
 amply supplied. Having intimately known their political and 
 religious institutions, and been disciplined for the most striking 
 scenes of public or social life, he was called to be the medium 
 
 Vol. IV.—16 
 
114 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL PULPIT. 
 
 of a dispensation, destined to exercise an unbounded influence 
 on the civil and sacred history of remote ages. Thus selected 
 by Almighty God, for the deliverance and instruction of the 
 oppressed Israelites, partly on account of his intellectual 
 capacity, and enlightened by a much higher and more excel- 
 lent inspiration than any subsequent prophet, he was enabled 
 to effect the liberation of his captive countrymen. In the 
 execution of his holy appointment, he communicated, by imme- 
 diate authority from heaven, a code of revealed laws ; — model- 
 ling their government to a form adapted to their particular 
 circumstances, and calculated to answer the high purposes 
 which it was intended to fulfil. The wisdom of the first dis- 
 pensation was unfolded, and the sources of sacred instruction 
 to mankind were opened in the written oracles, which were 
 illuminated with the splendors of divine truth, and stamped with 
 the impress of the divine mind. Having completed his exalted 
 mission, and led the children of the patriarchs to the borders 
 of a promised Canaan, he resigned a life devoted to the service 
 of the living God, and blessed with his signal protection ; — 
 succeeded by no equal prophet, until the glorious advent of 
 that Messiah of whom he was a remarkable type. 
 
 In the selection of this eminent lawgiver by the Almighty 
 for the furthering of his gracious purposes, the mental endow- 
 ments and acquisitions possessed by him, may be considered 
 as measurably recommending him, from their high character 
 and superior order, for the most important work that could be 
 intrusted to human agency. His many moral excellencies 
 and virtues, — his devout and fervent piety, — the entire devoted- 
 ness of his heart to the will of his Maker, — his untiring perse- 
 verance and unconquerable fortitude, were qualities requisite 
 and essential in one about to be invested with a sacred office 
 of such fearful responsibility. Indeed, had these been wanting, 
 no capacities of mind, nor treasures gained by intellectual 
 culture, however great or intrinsically valuable, would have 
 been sufficient for a work consecrated by the very spirituality 
 of its nature and religious design. Yet his learning, acquired 
 in the land of Egypt, though permitted to be made secondary 
 
 
IMPORTANCE OF CLERICAL LEARNING. 115 
 
 in the rank of his other and many qualifications, was never- 
 theless calculated, by its appropriate and useful employment, 
 to aid him in the execution of his solemn trust, to fulfil which 
 he had been solemnly ordained with a prophet's commission. 
 That it increased his usefulness, and better prepared him for 
 his momentous duty, is evident from the words which supply 
 our theme. They distinctly, and in the way of commendation, 
 make mention of his acquired knowledge and wisdom ; and 
 impliedly teach, that in addition to his moral qualities, those 
 which were purely intellectual, should not be without their 
 value, when estimating his exalted character as the faithful 
 servant of God, and the wise legislator of his chosen people. 
 
 The importance of learning in a commissioned messenger 
 of the Most High, being thus presented for our consideration, 
 the remark in the text is too expressive, and of too much 
 weight, to forbid an application of it to the ordained ministers 
 of the Church of Christ. While the eminent gifts and 
 attainments of Moses are made to claim our notice, the inspired 
 pages of a more glorious dispensation than that which he 
 communicated, remind us, that he who was the laborious and 
 efficient Apostle of the Gentiles — the faithful and devoted 
 Paul, " from a child had learned the Scriptures," and from 
 his youth, had sat " at the feet of Gamaliel," there to listen to 
 the lessons of matured wisdom, and receive the principles of 
 sacred knowledge. Disclaiming the too unqualified opinion, 
 which is so inconsiderately expressed, that the other sacred 
 writers of the New Testament were wholly illiterate, a critical 
 reference to their books is confidently challenged, in order 
 that the conviction may be had, that their minds were far 
 from being learned, either as to native intellect or acquired 
 knowledge. In the estimation of the world they were un- 
 educated, because of the vain philosophy of that world they 
 indeed were ignorant. In their day, as in ours, they have 
 always been subject to a decision in matters to which their 
 judges themselves had never directed their serious inquiry : 
 for, while the unprofitable science of the academy or the grove 
 was alone studied in their time, or while proud infidelity and 
 
116 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL PULPIT. 
 
 fanatical folly, from different influences and motives, would 
 alike degrade the intellectual character of the primitive teach- 
 ers in this generation, an equitable decision cannot be looked 
 for. Yet, if a capacity for delivering the most momentous 
 truths, — if a full and intimate acquaintance with the minutest 
 portions of a previous revelation, — if internal evidences of 
 integrity of mind and heart, and if a competent knowledge of 
 the canons of interpretation, be evidences of learning, the 
 imputation of the evangelists and apostles being altogether 
 unlettered, can in no view, and under no circumstances, be 
 sustained. 
 
 The claims that are now made in behalf of the New Testa- 
 ment writers, are not affected, in the most remote degree, by 
 the objection, that they were divinely inspired; and that, 
 consequently, the learning which they exhibit was a special 
 gift and endowment, directly and not mediately received, and 
 only conferred for a particular substantive purpose. The 
 whole of the assertion is granted, not for the sake of the 
 argument, but because the very concession is made which is 
 required. If the sacred writers were gifted with miraculous 
 knowledge, to the end that they might become the recorders 
 of eternal truth, was not the importance of learning, in dis- 
 charging their holy work, evident in its very bestowal 1 It 
 matters not, when their intellectual qualifications were made 
 sufficient, or how long, or how brief, was the preparation, or 
 even that a divine energy alone expelled the darkness of 
 previous ignorance from their minds ; — they were fitted for the 
 distinguished honor to which they had been called by the 
 Spirit of Truth. The means were enjoyed by them, and they 
 were necessary, else had they not been dispensed. They 
 belonged to those second causes by which the Almighty 
 condescends to effect his gracious plans ; and they were of 
 sufficient importance to call for the exercise of a miraculous 
 power, that they might be possessed. 
 
 Are, then, these means of little importance in an age of the 
 Gospel Church, when miracles are no longer the visible evi- 
 dences of the divine power of her great Head and Bishop 1 
 
IMPORTANCE OF CLERICAL LEARNING. 117 
 
 The vast and momentous interests of the Lord's kingdom are 
 committed now to an order of men, whose special duty it is 
 made to preserve and advance them. In the beginning, this 
 duty was rendered clear, and its discharge assisted by gifts from 
 above. These are no longer enjoyed ; for they ceased when 
 the immediate occasion for which they were conferred had 
 passed away. What, then, is the obligation resting upon the 
 successors of the primitive priesthood ] What, but to aim by 
 assiduous labor and earnest inquiry after truth,— by close 
 investigation and deep research, — by mental improvement and 
 intellectual culture, strengthened and assisted by habitual 
 prayer to the Father of light and Fountain of all wisdom, to 
 reach the models that are before us. We are faithless to our 
 important trust, in which the very concerns of eternity are 
 involved, — faithless to the covenant ourselves have made before 
 the very altars of our great High Priest ; we are unmindful of 
 the well-being of the souls committed to our keeping, if we do 
 not strive to supply them with that refreshment which they 
 need, and to clothe ourselves with that armor which will effec- 
 tually resist the bold attacks of the infidel, and render harmless 
 the profane raillery of the witling, the rude assaults of the 
 zealot, or the fierce approach of the fanatical persecutor. 
 
 We are aware, that the insisting upon of clerical learning, 
 and the attempt to exhibit its tendency to increased usefulness 
 in its possessor, are regarded by too many, if not in an unfa- 
 vorable light, yet with partial or equivocal approbation. An 
 appeal, however, to the history of the Church, will supply 
 ample evidences of its utility : and one striking instance of its 
 importance, and the value attached to it by the primitive 
 Christians, is sufficient to be brought forward in confirmation 
 of our views. Julian, when apostatizing from the holy faith of 
 that Constantine who was the first to throw aside the imperial 
 purple, and kneel before the humble altar of the Christian's 
 God, and seeking the pitiful revenge of which a recreant to his 
 Saviour's Gospel and the immortal good of his own soul alone 
 could have cherished the design, by one act more effectually 
 subserved the iniquitous purposes of his dark bosom, than by 
 
 Vol. IV.— 17 
 
118 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL PULPIT. 
 
 any other, how deeply soever stained with blood. Among 
 other edicts which he proclaimed, and in vindictive cruelty 
 enforced, was that which closed the doors of Christian schools. 
 And it was a measure which was fraught with more injury to 
 the cause of the Saviour's kingdom, — one which more vitally 
 affected its sacred interests, — which brought more moral 
 damage to the primitive Church than the fires of the stake, or 
 the murderous axe of the scaffold, where martyred confessors 
 sealed their faith by triumphant deaths. It was a blow which 
 nothing but malicious ingenuity could have devised ; and which 
 a depraved heart, refined in every degree of malignant persecu- 
 tion, could have conceived. Even a heathen historian, and an 
 acknowledged admirer of the apostate emperor, pronounced it 
 a proceeding, alike inconsistent with justice and humanity. 
 But it was a measure, which he too surely foresaw would be a 
 more successful engine to break down the strength and influ- 
 ence of the early professors, and to demolish their cause, than 
 any of the previous methods which former persecutors had 
 pursued. It is a testimony to the value of human learning, 
 supplied by an enemy ! Let it be weighed, as it deserves to 
 be, by the votaries of our holy religion. 
 
 Pursuing the channel of ecclesiastical records, we find that 
 in the ages which have been correctly termed those of intel- 
 lectual darkness and gloom, opinions were promulged, and 
 doctrines established, which afterward became the fruitful 
 causes of schism and confusion in the Church. They were 
 the times, when corruptions in our divine faith were boldly 
 taught or acceded to by an ignorant clergy, when error 
 had an undisturbed dominion, and when the genius of our 
 pure and simple religion was decked with the tinselled trap- 
 pings of Babylon, or the gaudy accessories of Pagan shrines. 
 They were the times, when the oracles of Divine wisdom 
 were denied to a besotted laity, and when their holy and sub- 
 lime truths were unknown to the very ministers of the altar. 
 " Thick darkness" had filled the sanctuary of the Lord, and 
 " gross darkness the people ;" while a laxity of morals, and a 
 still greater deficiency in vital piety, gave melancholy proofs 
 
IMPORTANCE OF CLERICAL LEARNING. 119 
 
 of the degradation of the human mind, and the neglect of culti- 
 vating its exalted faculties. 
 
 And what, among the mediate or secondary causes which 
 aided in effecting the glorious work, was it that gave the 
 impulse to that reformation in religion and morals, in which 
 Protestant Christendom now rejoices] It was the accession 
 of the exiled scholars of the east, and the spreading, throughout 
 western Europe, of their literature, that enabled the noble, 
 daring spirits of the sixteenth century, to combat error and 
 expose corruption. It is an era to which learning and science 
 look with grateful joy, and which the Church of the Redeemer 
 hails as the period when she was first disenthralled from 
 oppressive burdens ; alike alien to her genius, as destructive to 
 her holiness. The mind was then raised from its lethargy, 
 and the spirit of our divine faith from her slumbers. Clerical 
 learning was then confronted with clerical ignorance ; and 
 before the approach of the former, the hoary superstitions of 
 former ages shrunk back to regions that were enwrapped in 
 darkness, or the shadows of a moral death. Religion, stripped 
 of that which was foreign to her, appeared as she was origi- 
 nally announced by her glorious Founder, with her primitive 
 glory refreshed, and her intrinsic gold brightened. The ab- 
 surdities and follies which had long been accumulating, and 
 which were made no unimportant part of her system, were 
 cast away from minds no longer enveloped in the gloom of 
 barbarous ignorance. Religion came forth from the call of 
 the cloistered scholar, refulgent with pristine beauty. The 
 Gospel of the Redeemer was purified from the vain additions 
 of ignorant, and not more ignorant than of presumptuous folly; 
 and Christianity, in all the circumstances of her appearance, 
 and in all her claims for submission to her heavenly authority, 
 as well as in all her demands for piety and holiness, which had 
 long been neglected, was hailed by perishing, famished souls, 
 as erst, on her first annunciation, she was welcomed by the 
 expecting and devout hearts in Israel. 
 
 To sacred learning, thus united with those sanctified dispo- 
 sitions of the heart which alone can render it valuable, eccle- 
 
120 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL PULPIT. 
 
 siastical history points as the important ally of our holy faith. 
 In every age, since the establishment of the kingdom of God 
 upon earth, its advantages have been experienced ; now wres- 
 tling with the vain-glorious philosophy of the unsubdued heart, 
 and now prostrating the wretched schemes of enthusiastic error. 
 The minister of Christ prepared not only to give "a reason 
 for the hope that is in him," but qualified by a cultivated mind 
 to defend successfully the religion, whose ordained messenger 
 he is, has repeatedly put to silence the scoflings of the infidel, 
 or the loud boastings of atheistical sophists. When the 
 natural sciences have been brought in aid of other weapons 
 by the unbeliever, to weaken the inspired word, the friends of 
 Christianity, in the power of their learning, have signally 
 triumphed over the blasphemy of the sciolist. And while the 
 holiness of her disciples, their lives and conversation, have had 
 their mighty influence and converting effects, the Church of 
 the Redeemer has always been benefitted by the exertions of 
 her accomplished scholars. They have always stood forth in 
 the might and majesty of their intellectual strength, when hei* 
 principles were endangered, or her doctrines controverted. 
 The best known and most reverenced, have also been the 
 most learned ; and throughout the civilized world, wherever 
 illustrious names are pronounced, or the award of literary 
 renown has been conferred, there Christianity claims them for 
 her own , — the well-appointed champions of divine truth, the 
 able defenders of her holy cause ! It is not required that the 
 catalogue of Christian writers be rehearsed ; indeed, that were 
 not possible. But in every walk of literature, and in every 
 branch of science, the brightest ornaments, the most splendid 
 models, were they, who were not " ashamed of the Gospel of 
 Christ ;" but the energies of whose minds were awakened 
 by that Holy Spirit, who is the " wisdom of God, and the 
 power of God." 
 
 Nor is it incompatible with the cultivation of Gospel graces, 
 and of the most deep and fervent piety, that the mind be 
 directed to the acquisition of useful knowledge. If the latter 
 be an object with the Christian, or more particularly the Chris- 
 
IMPORTANCE OF CLERICAL LEARNING. 121 
 
 tian clergyman, can its pursuit be at variance with a striving 
 after the " one thing needful," — after the sanctification of the 
 heart, and the implantation there of hallowed affections, and 
 desires for God and his revealed will 1 Will man, when en- 
 lightened by an improvement of his understanding, — when the 
 wonders and mysteries of matter or mind are more unfolded, 
 love his Lord and Creator the less, or serve him with more 
 unwillingness 1 Is ignorance the mother of piety ; and that 
 devotion the most acceptable, which proceeds from bosoms 
 filled with darkness and blind superstition 1 The " wisdom of 
 the serpent, coupled with the harmlessness of the dove," is 
 presented to our emulation by the Author of our divine reli- 
 gion ; and shall his authority in this matter be of no weight 1 
 It is true, that there is a learning which has not been without 
 injury to the cause of our holy faith, in whose name, however, 
 it has been employed ; a learning which has been accompa- 
 nied with that pride which is alien to the Gospel, and which 
 has attempted to bring the whole scheme of human redemp- 
 tion, and all its sacred truths and mysteries to the test of 
 human reason. But the principle, like the spirit from which it 
 flows, is from that vain disposition which " puffeth up," instead 
 of that modesty which marks the sincere inquirer after truth. 
 It is but slightly joined with, if it be not wholly separated from, 
 the holy reverence, for the word of God and his known will, 
 that would prompt the exclamation, " Speak, Lord, for thy 
 servant heareth." The divine oracles, with these, are ap- 
 proached without regard to the distinctive, sacred character ; 
 and where the subjects of our faith are of difficulty, they are 
 rejected ; leaving the Gospel of the Saviour a cold, cheerless 
 scheme of morals, and taking from the diadem of his meritorious 
 glory the richest jewel which it contains. 
 
 But it is a natural consequence, and one that can with 
 certainty be foretold, which results from a neglect of that spirit 
 of piety which must be the prevailing, living sentiment of the 
 Christian heart, without an habitual referring of every thought 
 to the guidance of a heavenly influence, without going to 
 the investigation of Scripture doctrines with a prayerful and 
 
122 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL PULPIT. 
 
 humble mind, an increase of knowledge may injure, instead of 
 benefitting the holy cause, which otherwise it may promote. 
 Much as is claimed for clerical learning, and however great its 
 importance, yet without the religion of the soul, — without the 
 life of God experienced there, — without an abiding love for 
 the Saviour, prompting the desire to become more and more 
 worthy in a ministerial station, knowledge will be vain and 
 useless. The man who dares to seek the office of an ordained 
 servant of the Almighty, without the spiritual qualifications, — 
 without a full measure of practical pieiy, — without a renewed 
 heart, — without the holy desire prompting him to glorify his 
 God and Saviour, touches the ark of the Lord with unclean 
 hands, and at the peril of his poor soul. Yet, while his godly 
 conversation in one particular, is all requisite to the exercising 
 of his ministry to the honor of his great Head ; there is an 
 additional claim, that he be " apt and meet for his learning, in 
 edifying the Church ;" — that " he be furnished with all needful 
 knowledge," to the end that " he may rightly divide the word of 
 truth." He is to look to the souls within his cure ; — to dis- 
 pense to them, when wearied and oppressed with the convic- 
 tions of sin, the gracious promises of a crucified Lord ; — to 
 bid them hope, when they would despair ; — to close up their 
 wounds with the balm of the everlasting word, and to cheer 
 them with the communications of future glory, amid present 
 sorrow and affliction. Holy sacraments and ordained mysteries 
 are committed to his administration, as means of grace, and 
 the confirming of a saving faith. An interest in eternity, and 
 the things of eternity, is to be awakened, and, through the aid 
 of a divine Spirit, holiness of life, and the increase of the lovely 
 graces of the blessed Gospel, are to be promoted in the heart. 
 He is not only to direct immortal beings to the Church in her 
 triumphant glory, but also labor, through gracious assistance 
 from above, to qualify them here for the blessed company that 
 surrounds the throne of the Lamb. 
 
 But beside these fearful responsibilities, the minister of 
 Christ is called to the discharge of others, of which that altar 
 has witnessed the assumption. He is to " be ever ready with 
 
IMPORTANCE OF CLERICAL LEARNING. 123 
 
 all faithful diligence to banish and drive away from the Church 
 all erroneous and strange doctrines, contrary to God's word ;" 
 — " to be constant in reading the holy Scriptures, and in apply- 
 ing himself to such studies as help to the knowledge of the 
 same." With engagements like these, such vows uttered 
 before omniscience, with the expectations, nay, the claims that 
 our beloved communion has upon us, can we be remiss in 
 providing the necessary stores of sacred learning 1 If the 
 expulsion of heresy, if a fearless contending for " the faith 
 once delivered to the saints," and for which saints have cheer- 
 fully died, are made to be our duty, how can that duty be more 
 effectually discharged, than by arming ourselves with those 
 weapons, through which, and heavenly power, the glory of the 
 Church may be preserved. The advocates of evangelical 
 truth and primitive order ought to strive to become more 
 learned than the promoters of human schemes and modern 
 irregularities. The successors of the apostles, and the ministry 
 in the Church, which they transmitted in purity to our keeping, 
 should qualify themselves for exposing, by sound arguments 
 derived from the source of all truth, the hurtful theories which 
 fanaticism have so fearlessly proclaimed. In our day, the 
 strongest appeals are addressed to us, that, amid the convulsive 
 movements in Christendom, we be not indifferent to the " signs 
 of the times;" that, while the bold attacks of infidelity, — the 
 energetic and extensive operations of a corrupt Church, — the 
 hidden, but yet progressive extension of Socinian heresy, — 
 the wild and uncontrolled frenzy of fanatical proselytism, we be 
 not unmindful of our sacred trust, — to preserve our altars from 
 impurity, — to afford an asylum to the soul of man, and a secure 
 refuge, where she may rest upon the holy Scriptures for her 
 faith, and contemplate in spirit, holy apostles and martyrs as its 
 confessors. 
 
 Brethren in the ministry, these remarks have been made in 
 all humility, and not from a self-flattering belief, that he who 
 has presented them, is qualified to offer any thing more instruc- 
 tive than has already been examined by your own minds. His 
 object has only been to remind you, and above all, his own 
 
124 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL PULPIT. 
 
 heart and conscience, that we are stewards of divine mysteries, 
 — preachers to an unbelieving and vain-glorious world, — 
 expounders of the book of eternal life ; he would remind you 
 that our Divine Master has committed to our keeping and due 
 employment a most sacred trust, a most precious talent, and 
 that hereafter, a strict inquisition will be had, as to its profitable 
 exercise. He would refer you to the long array, the mighty 
 host, so calm and beautiful, of the fathers of the Church to 
 which it is our privilege to belong, who from age to age have 
 stood forth her boldest champions, raising their voices in 
 defence of our holy religion : he would point out to you the 
 virtuous, and pious, and learned of our communion, who have 
 merited so well of it, and all Christendom ; — men who headed 
 the Reformation, and went glorying to the stake, — who 
 translated the Bible, and at the imminent, deadly peril of their 
 lives, procured that it be set up in churches ; — men whose 
 works will endure so long as the language in which they are 
 written will last, and which will be read so long as veneration 
 for the good, and admiration of sacred literature, are among 
 the sensibilities of the human heart. " If there be any virtue, 
 and if there be any praise, think" upon those who once minis- 
 tered at our altars ; and, while enjoying the shade and shelter 
 of their noble strength, — when looking up to the majestic 
 fabric which singly they have aided in erecting, be it our 
 delight to emulate their splendid example : though to fall short 
 of their deservings would be no shame, as to reach the lowest 
 point of their excellence would be our glory ! 
 
 And we might refer you to those of this branch of the Lord's 
 Zion, whose names and lives are a savour of sanctity and 
 learning ; — to that holy man of God,* that venerable patriarch 
 in the existing line of the Apostles' successors, whom heaven, 
 in mercy, has spared unto this generation, — the living com- 
 mentary upon Gospel virtue, and the cheering evidence of its 
 hallowing influence upon the heart. We would point to him 
 in his "good old age," so serene and calm, so honored and 
 
 * Bishop White. 
 
IMPORTANCE OF CLERICAL LEARNING. 125 
 
 reverenced, prepared and waiting for the summons of that 
 Master, whom he has so well and so long served in his king- 
 dom on earth, and would say that he, to whom all delight to 
 render the tribute of their esteem, is not more eminent for his 
 piety than illustrious for his sacred learning. And we would 
 call to your remembrance another,* but who has been gathered 
 to his reward ! — whose name and whose praise can be found 
 "in all the churches," — whose active and devoted labors in the 
 Redeemer's cause have been rehearsed in far-off lands, and 
 which have earned for him the meed of honor for primitive 
 zeal, and an apostle's spirit. Is it necessary to mention the 
 name of Hobart, who bent his mitred head to the lisping child 
 of the Sunday School, and supplied it with the primary lessons 
 of our divine religion ; or who, looking to the numerous wants 
 of the communion, furnished its clergy with the valuable pro- 
 ductions of his vigorous and well-cultivated mind. Or is it 
 called for, that we remind you of him whom we all knew, and 
 knowing, loved, and loved, too, so much, — that fearless cham- 
 pion, who so earnestly contended for the " apostles' doctrine" 
 and primitive order in your Diocese, when irregularity pre- 
 vailed, and error was triumphant, — who toiled, and that suc- 
 cessfully, the Lord strengthening him, in the field of labor, to 
 which he was ordained ; — who, living, planted himself before 
 the altar of his God, and when dying, grasped its horns, still 
 harnessed for the warfare, breathing forth with his departing 
 spirit the victorious confession of his faith, and the fervent 
 prayer for acceptance with the great Captain of his salvation. 
 
 These are names that will be for ever hallowed in the 
 memory of the Church, — names of sainted men, dear to her 
 people for all that gives grace to the heart, and elevation to the 
 mind. Let it be our endeavor to trace their path to eminence ; 
 let our piety be as ardent as theirs, — our zeal as devoted, — 
 our concern for souls as great. Our duty is before us, as the 
 register of our vows is in heaven ; and divine assistance is 
 promised in aid of their fulfilment. With an abiding sense of 
 
 * Bishop Ravenscroft. 
 
 Vol. IV.— 18 
 
120 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL PULPIT. 
 
 our momentous responsibility, let us continue in spiritual 
 improvement of ourselves, and in dispensing immortal food to 
 others. And when our stewardship shall have ended, and our 
 account been called for, may an admission into the temple 
 above, into the Church triumphant, be our reward, through 
 the merits of the Great Shepherd and Bishop of souls I 
 
 THE WRATH OF MAN PRAISES GOD: 
 
 & Sermon, 
 BY THE REV. PALMER DYER, 
 
 MISSIONARY AT SYRACUSE, ONONDAGA CO., N. Y. 
 
 Psalm lxxvi. 10. — " Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee : the remainder of wrath 
 shalt thou restrain." 
 
 This psalm was probably written shortly after the destruc- 
 tion of the army of Sennacherib, and in special reference to 
 that wonderful event by which God delivered his people from 
 the hands of their enemies. In order to punish the Jews for 
 their iniquities, and to humble and reform them, that they 
 might be more faithful in serving and honoring him, the 
 Almighty employed the impious king of Assyria as his instru- 
 ment. Sennacherib was permitted to inflict his wrath upon 
 that people, and to chastise them, by taking all the fenced 
 cities of Judah. Thus far his rage was suffered to vent itself, 
 because it was working the Divine will, and its beneficial 
 consequences to the Jewish people would redound to the glory 
 of God. But when Sennacherib would have proceeded against 
 them further than was necessary to accomplish the ends of 
 justice and mercy, — when he would have carried his rage to 
 an extremity, by sacking and destroying the holy city, God 
 restrained his wrath, by cutting off in one night his numerous 
 host, and thus preventing the execution of his barbarous 
 purpose. 
 
 Thus doth the great Head of the Church and Governor of 
 the Universe always control the enmity and rage of the ungodly. 
 
THE WRATH OF MAN PRAISES GOD. 127 
 
 The wrath of man indeed worketh not the righteousness of 
 God ; still, wicked and cruel as that wrath is, the Almighty 
 so modifies and directs the exercise of it, that it contributes to 
 the attainment of some great ultimate object, by which his 
 Church is benefitted, his people improved, and his name 
 glorified. The moment it has reached this point, beyond 
 which its indulgence would be injurious in the moral govern- 
 ment of the world, a restraint or cheok is put upon it by the 
 hand of heaven. God saith to the rage of man, as he doth to 
 the sea, " Thus far shalt thou go, but no farther." So that 
 while the wicked are fighting against Him, and aiming at the 
 accomplishment of their own evil designs, — while they are 
 blaspheming his name, opposing and reviling his truth, afflict- 
 ing and persecuting his people, attempting to overthrow his 
 Church, and filling the earth with violence, he makes them 
 instruments for the production of eventual good. They are 
 unwittingly agents in fulfilling his will, and executing some 
 part of his great plans of benevolence. Thus, " surely the 
 wrath of man shall praise thee : the remainder of wrath shalt 
 thou restrain." 
 
 I. It praises God's Justice. He makes it a means of 
 inflicting merited punishment upon transgressors. All history 
 abounds with examples. The wrath of the Canaanites, the 
 Moabites, the Mesopotamians, the Assyrians and others, 
 was the instrument wherewith God at various times severely 
 punished the children of Israel, because they had done evil in 
 his sight. The rage of the hypocritical and violent Jehu was 
 the means of executing God's just judgments upon the wicked 
 house of Ahab. The wrath of the Romans praised the Divine 
 justice in the destruction of the rebellious and obstinate Jews, 
 who had rejected the Gospel, and contemptuously crucified 
 the Lord of life. Sometimes the wrath of wicked men praises 
 God, in consequence of its being so ordered, that it turns to 
 their own defeat and confusion. The evil which they intended 
 for others falls upon themselves. They are made the authors 
 and agents of their own punishment ; thus exemplifying the 
 truth of the Psalmist's remark, that " the wicked have drawn 
 
128 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL PULPIT. 
 
 out the sword, and have bent their bow to cast down the poor 
 and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. 
 Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows 
 shall be broken." Thus the wrath of Egypt's king and people 
 against the Hebrews recoiled upon their own heads in the 
 plagues and in the Red Sea. The Persians, in the time of 
 Esther, thought to exterminate Israel. Their plans ended in 
 the slaughter of their own people. And the proud Haman, 
 by his wrath against one man, undermined his own influence, 
 and erected his own gallows. The accusers of Daniel, too, 
 prepared the way for their own destruction in the lion's 
 den. Thus many a tyrant, and many a wicked man, have 
 taken measures to enslave, oppress, or injure the innocent, 
 and found that those measures were as speedy and effectual 
 as could have been devised for working their own downfal 
 and ruin. In the snare which they laid for others were their 
 own feet taken. The weapon which they aimed at a neigh- 
 bor's heart, smote through their own. Bad men frequently 
 find that an evil action, in the remorse of conscience which it 
 produces, and in all its disgraceful and painful consequences 
 upon mind, body, and estate, is a punishment as severe as it is 
 just. Thus is the wrath of man made to praise the justice of 
 God. 
 
 II. It praises His Wisdom. His wisdom becomes more 
 manifest and wonderful to us, when exhibited in accomplishing 
 his holy will by such unlikely means, — in thwarting the crafty 
 designs of sinners, — in exposing their deep-laid schemes, — in 
 so controlling their secret counsels, and directing their dark 
 steps, that when they are anticipating success and triumph, 
 they unexpectedly find themselves trembling on the brink of a 
 precipice, or plunged into the pit which they had digged for 
 others. The Divine wisdom is conspicuous in bringing them 
 into their own snares, and enabling those whom they were 
 about to destroy, to escape as a bird from the fowler. Thus 
 was the wise counsel of Ahithophel rejected by Absalom. 
 This rejection, in its result, saved king David, restored him to 
 his throne, and precipitated the traitorous Absalom to defeat 
 
THE WRATH OF MAN PRAISES GOD. 129 
 
 and death. We see the Divine wisdom in baffling the wrath of 
 Herod, in the case of the wise men from the East, and saving 
 the infant Jesus from the slaughter, — in so often extricating 
 the Saviour and his disciples from the artifice and power of 
 their malignant adversaries ; and above all, in making the 
 wrath of the Jews the means of spreading abroad, and firmly 
 establishing that very religion which they labored to suppress. 
 III. The Wrath of Man praises the Goodness of God. 
 He makes it a source of great benefits to his Church and 
 people. The wrath of Joseph's brethren raised him to the 
 government of a nation, and led to the saving of much people 
 from famine and death. The wrath of Balak, instead of curses, 
 brought blessings upon Israel. The wrath of Haman elevated 
 Mordecai to the side of the throne, and promoted the peace 
 and prosperity of the previously oppressed Jews. The wrath 
 of the devil brought a Redeemer into the world to bruise his 
 head, and to exalt penitent sinners to a better inheritance than 
 man enjoyed before the fall. And the wrath of those infatuated 
 men whom our Saviour styled the children of their father the 
 devil, enabled Him to complete the great atoning sacrifice, by 
 which heaven is opened to all believers. And does not the 
 wrath of man praise the goodness of God in the whole history 
 of his Church 1 in the whole history of all his faithful servants 1 
 He uses it as a means of correcting and reforming them, and 
 of bringing them to a higher place in his favor. Look at the 
 frequent afflictions which rested so heavily upon the Lord's 
 ancient people from the hands of their enemies. Their land 
 was invaded and laid waste, their towns plundered, and the 
 inhabitants carried away as slaves. These were a series 
 of necessary and wholesome chastisements, intended by the 
 Almighty to bring them to repentance, and to purify them 
 from the crimes of idolatry to which they had become exceed- 
 ingly prone. So that while the Assyrians and Babylonians 
 were pouring out their wrath upon the Jews, God was con- 
 verting that wrath into a sure blessing. It was the means of 
 curing them for ever of idolatry, and of restoring them in peace 
 to their own country. Again, at a very early period the 
 
130 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL PULPIT. 
 
 Christian Church began to grow corrupt, and her members to 
 lose the zeal and purity of the apostles' days. The wrath of 
 pagan Rome was therefore let loose to check the increasing 
 evil, and to purify the Church, even as silver is purified in the 
 furnace. And in after ages, when Christians had again become 
 unfaithful, papal Rome was allowed to crush them to the lowest 
 point of endurance, till they were ready to burst from their 
 shackles, and return to the liberty and purity of the Gospel. 
 And then the wrath of the pontiff and his creatures, in digging 
 for them the dungeons of the inquisition, and kindling the fires 
 of martyrdom, served only to inflame their zeal, and call forth 
 their courage and fortitude. The wrath of the pope against 
 those whom he called heretics, praised the goodness of God, in 
 hastening and strengthening the blessed work of the Reforma- 
 tion. A corrupt Church is seldom reformed till after a season 
 of depression and trial from its enemies. These enemies, then, 
 with all their rage, are only God's ministers for good. To 
 what are we to attribute the augmented strength and triumphs 
 of the Christian religion at the present day 1 Under God, to 
 the malignity and wrath of such foes as Voltaire, Gibbon, 
 Hume, and Paine. Their attacks have caused the truth to be 
 more thoroughly investigated, and have resulted in pouring a 
 flood of light upon the evidences of our faith, and thereby 
 enabling men to see altogether more clearly than they would 
 otherwise have seen, how firm is the foundation, how impreg- 
 nable are the bulwarks of Christianity. Whatever partial and 
 temporary evil those infidels may seem to have effected, it is 
 certain that few men have given occasion to greater general 
 and lasting benefit to the Christian cause. 
 
 It is evident that beneficial effects, similar to those which 
 result to the Church at large, are produced upon individual 
 Christians, by the operation of the same causes. Trials, from 
 whatever source they spring, are calculated to purify and 
 elevate our characters, enliven our Christian graces, and fit us 
 for the enjoyment of a higher degree of happiness. And this 
 is effected by the persecution and wrath of foes, as well as by 
 sickness or any other calamity. Job, amid unjust suspicions 
 
THE WRATH OF MAN PRAISES GOD. 131 
 
 and reproaches, — Daniel and his three friends, in the power of 
 their enemies, — David, when near falling into the hands of 
 those who sought his life, — and Christians, when harassed 
 and oppressed, exhibit more of the virtue, and efficacy, and 
 beauty of their holy faith, than in the days of prosperity. The 
 light of religion shines brightest in the night of affliction. Then 
 the world is least esteemed, and God is most trusted and most 
 glorified. Myriads may be able to look back, with wonder 
 and gratitude, to the displeasure and hostility of men, — to their 
 acts of injustice, treachery and wickedness, as the blessed 
 means of either greatly improving their earthly condition, or of 
 originating or of strengthening that glorious hope which has its 
 full fruition in heaven. 
 
 Let us, brethren, from these considerations, learn to see the 
 hand of God in all the sufferings and evils which man is per- 
 mitted to inflict upon his fellow man, — in all the adverse fortune 
 which we may experience as a Church or as individuals. Let 
 us submit with patience to his will, and wait, in the cheerfulness 
 of hope, till his gracious designs shall have been accomplished, 
 and the dark cloud rolled away ; being fully assured that we 
 shall, ere long, see how wonderfully and completely God 
 maketh the wrath of man to praise him, by converting it into a 
 most important instrument for the promotion of justice, and 
 for the ultimate advancement of our happiness. Let us never 
 fear that unprincipled men can carry on their machinations 
 against us too far. No : they are but the instruments of Him 
 who is ever watchful over our welfare. So far as their wrath 
 can accomplish his benevolent designs toward us, he will permit 
 it to rage, but no farther. " The remainder of wrath shall he 
 restrain." "The madness of the people," as well as "the 
 raging of the sea," is controlled by him, and cannot pass the 
 bounds which he shall set. When wicked men are inclined to 
 overpass those bounds to effect our ruin, he shall lay his hand 
 upon them and save us. He shall destroy their influence, 
 paralyze their power, turn their counsel into foolishness, entrap 
 them in their own snare, or, what is far better, change their 
 hearts, and convert them to the side of truth, and justice, and 
 
132 
 
 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL PULPIT. 
 
 piety ; so that we can heartily join with the Psalmist in saying, 
 that we will not fear what man can do unto us. Through all 
 the storms and strifes of this warring world, we will rest in the 
 confidence not only of security, but of eventual triumph. For 
 we know that we are in God's holy keeping, and that not a 
 single blow shall be permitted to fall upon us, — that not a 
 single pang shall assail us, — that not a single tear be drawn 
 forth by the wounds of an enemy, which will not materially 
 contribute to our happiness, either during the remainder of our 
 earthly course, or in the world to come, where we shall for 
 ever rejoice from our sorrows at the right hand of the throne 
 of God. The Lord loveth his people, and will save them from 
 their enemies, and from the hand of all that hate them. As 
 directed against them, therefore, surely, O Lord, "the wrath 
 of man shall praise thee ; and the remainder of wrath shalt 
 thou restrain." 
 
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 00032740865 
 
 FOR USE ONLY IN 
 THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION 
 
 Form No. A-368, Rev. 8/95