/^^ DISCOURSES. Digitized by tine Internet Arcliive in 2010 witli funding from CARLI: Consortium of Academic and Researcli Libraries in Illinois http://www.archive.org/details/discoursesonnatuOOstar "SrayediyJ.CEraOre 0rdc9h^ LateTaBtar ^ flie iirst CQUgreganaual dinick. EJgmT.Tnmois DISCOURSES ON THE NATURE OE EAITH, AND KINDRED SUBJECTS, BY THE LATE WILLIAM H. STAER WITH A MEMOIR. E>. B. COOK & CO 1857. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, By JOSEPH JOHNSTON, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for Illinois. PREFACE. A FEW months before his decease, the ^uthor of the Discourses on the Nature of Faith expressed a hope that he might at some time be able to revise them for publication. Upon consultation with per- sonal and literary friends, it is thought that, without the finish which his own hand would have given them, they will nevertheless be a worthy memorial, and contribute to the knowledge of Christian truth. The other Discourses are added, partly as com- pleting the previous discussions, and partly as a por- traiture of evils which he felt more keenly than most persons, and which for Christ's sake he most deeply deplored. To those who may suffer as he did from these evils, or who may doubt respecting his views of Christian Faith, the Notes which have been appended may be not without value. CONTENTS. Psgd Memoir 9 The Fugitive : A Poem — Passages from 51 Discourse I. — Faith — Its Nature — Importance of the Sub- ject 59 DiscouRse II. — Faith — Definitions Examined 72 Discourse III. — Faith — True Definition 81 Discourse IV. — Faith — Its Moral Quality 96 Discourse V. — Faith — Its General Application 108 Discourse VI.— Faith— In the Affairs of this World 120 Discourse VII. — Religious Faith 130 •Discourse VIIL — Faith in God — Its Nature and Influ- ence 141 Discourse IX. — Faith in Christ — Regenerating 153 Discourse X. — Faith in Christ — Justifying 162 Discourse XI. — Faith in Christ — Sanctifying 174 Discourse XII. — The Repose of Faith 183 Discourse XIII. — Repentance 193 viii CONTENTS. Paste. Discourse XIV. — Evils of Sectarianism 211 Discourse XV. — Evils of Sectarianism 222 Discourse XVI. — Evils of Sectarianism 232 Discourse XVII. — Evils of Sectarianism 246 Appendix. — Analysis of Faith 260 Note A. — That Faith is Rational 262 Note B.— That Faith is Voluntary . 269 Note C— That Faith is Moral 270 Note D. — Statements combining the above Views 274 Note E. — Authorities touching Sectarianism. 277 DISCOURSES ON THE NATURE OF FAITH, AND KINDRED SUBJECTS. MEMOIR. William Henry Staer was born in Middletown, Conn., on Sunday, April 27th, 1817. His father, Mr. James Starr, was an ingenious and enterprising man, engaged at one time in the stereotype business, in New-York. His mechanical skill, or constructive talent, was inherited by the son, and displayed in a ready use of tools, as well as, per- haps, in his facility of systematic thinking. His mother was the daughter of the Kev. Henry Ely, who preached in Killingworth, Conn., for a period of twenty years. It was a happy family incident, which seemed to be a little prophetic in its character, that William was called " the Parson," in allusion to the day of his birth. When he was about seven years of age, the family re- moved to Boston, and four years after, to Baltimore. In 1832, they settled in Alton, Illinois. During the follow- ing summer, which was a season of prevailing sickness, they suffered, in a large measure, the hardships of pioneer life. All were prostrate with 'bilious fever ; help was 2 10 MEMOIR. scarcely to be obtained ; all, by turns, suffered relapses, from undue exertion in caring for the rest. On the 6th of August the father died. In their desolate home the wife o and children still endured the lingering reaction of the fever, until the autumn of the following year. William's opportunities for acquiring an education were limited. For several years, beginning with Christmas of 1832, he was mostly employed as a merchant's clerk. A few months of the year 1834 were spent in the High School of Upper Alton, now Shirtliff College, in the study of alsebra and some common Endish branches, but with much interruption by ague. His next school privilege, be- fore he entered college, was a period of about six months spent at Jacksonville, in the year 1839. He made his first public profession of religion by unit- ing with the Presbyterian Church of Carlinville, in 1835. His religious impressions and hopes, however, began in earlier life, of which we have an account in his own words : " Among my earliest recollections," says he, " reaching back to the age of two or three years, is that of the pleasure 1 took in saying my prayers very devoutly on going to bed. It seemed to me then that I enjoyed the love of God. For years afterward, though I became care- less and as full of selfish desires as other children, yet on the occasion of any sickness in my father's family, I would fall to praying and confessing, and making ever so many fair promises to God, if the evil might be averted. And while living in Baltimore, in 1830 or 1831, I had lively religious exercises ; and I remember now distinctly the scene where I thought I gave my heart to God, while reading a hymn on the back of a tract. For some time after, I was very conscientious and prayerful. Gnidually MEMOIR. 11 I became as before. But for some time previous to the pe- riod of mj- uniting with the Cliurch, having boarded in Mr. Bela VVhite's family, and his wife being a Hving Chris- tian, I made up my mind to be a Christian on the first oppor- tunity (as I then thought). On occasion, therefore, of a series of meetings, held by Mr. Lippincott and Mr. Black- burn, I came forward. My religious exercises at this time were powerful and distinct. After laboring under convic- tion for several days, at last, when engaged in prayer which I had begun with the supplicating cry of an awakened sinner, 1 began to call God, Father. My feelings expe- rienced a great change. I was full of joy and love."* Even after this Mr. S. finds himself laboring under false impressions of the nature of religion, as though it lay mostly in certain feelings, rather than the faithful and cheer- ful discharge of Christian duty. His early experience is apparent, we think, in the interest which he felt in chil- dren ; and it may explain certain views of Christian nur- ture which he presented to his people a few months before his death, in which he v/as supposed to deny the need of regeneration as a condition of early piety. If we under- stood his own statements, it was the burden of his arofu- ment on this occasion, to show that children should not be discouraged by theories of conversion which they cannot understand ; that the faults of children need no more prove them unconverted than the faults of adult backsliders should prove them unconverted ; and above all, that pa- « * This account is taken from a journal kept by Mr. S-, of wliica we shall make frequent use. That it was written with no view to a memoir, is clear from his retiring disposition, from the business nature of much of its contents, and from the following note : " I begin this day (Nov, 27. 1850) a journal or memorandum of such things as for any reason I may wish to refer to in my daily history." 12 MEMOIR. rents might and should bring up their children to be Chris- tians from their eafliest youth. Along with his early religious convictions should be named his ardent love of liberty, and his intense hatred of oppression. He was but a youth, w^hen the martyrdom of Lovejoy occurred ; yet he was one of those who assisted in receiving the printing-press, and in guarding the person of Lovejoy, when he fell. This youthful courage might have been a mere boyish enthusiasm, if it were his only adventure for freedom. But, viewed as part of a life of struggle for freedom, it assumes the dignity of a higher principle of action. For two years Mr. S. was engaged as a clerk in Alton, until the summer of 1838, when he fell out of business by the embarrassments of that period. He was absent from Alton for a time, at Bellevue, Iowa, but returned in the winter. From this time he appears to have directed his mind to preparation for college, with a view to the preach- ing of the Gospel. His application was intense, and his progress uncommonly rapid. In May, 1839, 4ie went to Jacksonville, to continue his studies, where he was admitted to college in October of the same year. Partly from the necessity of a rigid economy, and partly from the peculiarities of a dyspeptic appetite, he boarded himself during the greater part of his collegiate course. He also suffered much from sickness. Once in particular, in his Junior year, he w^as confined for about six weeks, by a swelling or dropsy of the knee-joint, from which he felt frequent inconvenience in his after life, being some- times unable to leave his bed, and frequently preaching when he could not walk to his church. His privations from these causes were ever borne without complaint. MEMOIR. 13 Notwithstanding these hindrances, he ever maintained a high rank in his class. " He was," says Professor Adams, " highly distinguished in college as a scholar. He com- bined, in an eminent degree, the powers oT rapid acquisi- tion and thorough and accurate comprehension. I do not know that he possessed a peculiar taste or capacity for one study more than for another, but he excelled alike in all." Professor Post says of him : "As his teacher in classical literature, I can testify to his brilliant success and rare attainment in that department. I have never taught one who exhibited in classic scholarship such superior excel- lency and promise during his academic course. In this department his mind showed itself patient, severe in its analysis, quick and delicate in apprehension, and rapid and felicitous in combination. Nor is it my impression that there was a disproportionate development of mind in this direction. His mind, I think, was a very symmetrical one, both in the original adjustment of faculties, and in their culture. It could have been, and I think it was, applied with much success to metaphysical truth." And Dr. Edward Beecher writes : "I can truly say that, so far as I knew him, I was very much prepossessed in his favor. His intellectual powers were uncommon, and were in harmony with the other parts of a well-proportioned character." His retiring disposition, unfortunately, caused him to be misunderstood by his classmates. '• A sensitiveness almost morbid," says Professor A., " made him often shrink from those intimacies which cement strong friendships between congenial minds. Some thought him unsocial, and even re- pulsive. But such had not learned to know his heart. He was not popular among his fellow-students in college ; but it was rather from the want of those attractive social 14 MEMOIR. qualities which are prized by the young, than from any thing which any one could say against him. The worst crime that I ever heard charged against him was want of amiability," He r.dds: "Most, if not all, of those who were alienated from him while in college, became after- wards his warmest friends. Through written correspond- ence and occasional personal intercourse, all unpleasant feelings seem to have been obliterated, and to have given place to cordial friendships. This change was partly at- tributable to a better understanding of his cLaraeter on the part of others, and partly to an actual improvement of character, by the growth of the Christian life within him." Mr. S. has said, to those with whom he was most in- timate, that a temper naturally quick and impetuous, added to a nervous sensitiveness, was the great trial of his early life ; that few could understand what labor it had cost him to discipline and restrain his feelings ; and that if he had acquired any habitual self-control, it was due, not to him- self, but to the special grace of God. In his journal, recounting his experience after making a profession of re- ligion, he speaks of a late maturity of Christian character. He says : " Not knowing the necessity of a system of pri- vate devotion, I gradually fell away for several years. I became more and more involved in sin, though never for- saking wholly prayer and the reading of the Bible. After graduating at Illinois College, and while teaching there, the death of a young man alarmed me, and roused me to new effort. My ' assurance ' was gone, and I had now to pray long before I could obtain it again. From that time I trust that, by the Divine Grace, I have been making some progress in the Christian life." The following expressions, however, written in the MEMOIR 15 Junior year of his collegiate course, containing, perhaps, a presentiment of the shortness of his own life, show a very active religious feeling. The poetry with which it con- cludes is hardly equal to his subsequent efforts, yet we think it a note-worthy psalm of his life. • " This day am I twenty-five years — one quarter of a century — old. Another quarter of a century I do not expect to see. I may consider my life as more than half gone. Were it but half, how vain a thing is life ! What have I done yet ? What have I attained ? How am I pleased with the joys of life, and man's earthly portion ? Is it sat- isfying ? JSTay, emptiness and shadow, if I may judge by the past ; but if by the future, how different ! Oh, God ! have mercy on me for Jesus' sake, and forgive my sins and heal all my backslidings. Give me true wisdom^a heavenly mind ; help me to improve my time as it flies, and to live to Thy glory ; — then, whether long or short, life will not be vain, nor shall I mourn its swift departure. " How swiftly fly My passing years ; And time gone by. How short 't appears. The moments roll, The hours speed on Without control ; My years are gone ! " Those dreams of youth That shone so bright, The Hand of Truth Has quenched in night. Yet others shine As fair as they ; Nay, more divine — Of lovelier ray. " Oh, God of Light, My footsteps guide ; And in Thy sight Let me abide. Let all my powers And life be Thine, Till blissful bowers Of Heaven are mine." Other effusions of his muse show that in a life of ease Mr. S. might have made poetry for poetry's sake. But in a world of suffering humanity this talent was specially de- voted to the cause of the oppressed. Called to deliver an address before the Society of Alumni, in 1845, he gave a Poem relating to the history of one of those heroes whose 16 MEMOIR. exploit is to convert themselves from things into men. A few extracts, with an Epilogue written apparently at a later date, are offered to the reader. After his graduation Mr. S. spent a year in teaching in Burlington, Iowa. He was then appointed to a Tutorship in his Alma Mater, which he held for two years. His leisure was devoted to preparation for preaching the Gos- pel. During the greater part of this time he enjoyed the intimate friendship of Professor Adams and his family, who recognized in him " a pure and trusting heart, a kind and genial temper, a spirit of rare delicacy and fidelity in all the duties of friendship." They speak particularly of his love for children ; such a love as indicates the finest and noblest traits of character. A daughter, then seven or eight years of age, writes as follows : " I remember hearing him frequently spoken of, at the time he "was in college, and also seeing him walk "with crutches. Perhaps I should not remember him in college days at all, but that my sympa- thies were excited by his lameness. " I never had a kinder or warmer friend than Mr. Starr, in all my childish years. But he was like no other friend; and even then I saw the dfference as plainly as I do now. He never took it for granted that a child understood onh^ nonsense, or baby-talk, but seemed rather to feel that the soul, unskilled in worldly wisdom, was the more capable of receiving that ' wisdom which cometh from above.' Not that he talked much, or often, to me, of my special obligations to God, taken singly and individually ; but often, very often, when talking to me on various themes, he would lead me to the love of God, His goodness, and our consequent obligation to return so much love, with love. When speaking of the wrongs and suffering which are the lot of many of earth's children, he would gently remind me of all the love and kindness which made my life a blessing and a joy, instead of the burden of woe which it was to others. And when my heart glowed with gratitude to the Giver of all good, he would try to inspire me with the wish and earnest purpose, to live to MEMOIR. 17 bless my fello"w men ; to do something towards alleviating human misery. '• He was in the habit of frequently walking with me in the college grove, especially in early spring, when the first flowers of the year arose from their snow-covered tombs, and breathed in new life from the cool air; and when the birds were caroling forth their joy to the genial sunbeams, from the half-clad trees. I had always dearly loved birds and flowers, and tinted clouds ; and he sympathized so warmly in all my enthusiasm, that these walks were a peculiar pleasure to me. " While he encouraged and stimulated my love of Nature, and her forms of varied loveliness, he ever sought to bring home to my very soul the truth, that all the glorious and beautiful forms of earth were but the visible embodiment of Divine Infinite Love. " My eyes fill with tears, when I recall his constant and earnest endeavors to improve, as well as to interest and amuse me. He used to read with me, and to me, generally poetry, thus cultivating and developing a taste for pure and beautiful sentiment, and its fitting expression in language. " But with all his earnestness, and this constant recognition of higher and nobler things, Mr. S. was never stern. It was a matter of wonder to me that any should call him cold, reserved and repellent. For he was, as / knew him, in his daily intercourse in our home- circle, ever kind, affectionate, and warmly sympathizing. Although always ready, if there seemed a way, or ra,ther, always yznrfmg- away, to instruct as well as amuse, yet no one could frolic with us as he could. My brother, two years old, always overflowing with life and mischief, was exceedingly attached to ' Mit Tar,' as he called him ,• and there was never a merrier pair than we were at times. ... I never knew a person that seemed to have such ready sympathy with, and could so warmly enter into, the feelings of a child. " And I never knew one that seemed to have a more delicate appre- ciation of the slightest kindness. I have often looked with wonder at his manifest emotion, at little kindnesses and attentions which were so trivial that I had never thought them such. . . , My mother knew the peculiarities of his taste, and that oftentimes he went without meals because there was nothing on the table that he could eat, and he would not complain or request a change. So I was 2* 18 MEMOIR. often the bearer of some little home charity -which mother knew ■would be pleasant to him. I have often seen his eyes fill with tears at some such little remembrance. These visits to his room were very pleasant to me ; it was always as nice and orderly as a lady's parlor, and its kind. occupant made it seem to me one of the pleasantest rooms in the world. " I saw and appreciated his intense sensitiveness, with a child's quick perception, when first I knew him. I saw that many things which were lightly passed' over by many, distressed him, and that he suffered far more than most persons. Not that he was often gloomy, or sad, or that he complained : but he suffered. I knew it then ; I know now, that with his sensitive and exquisitely delicate nature, his high appreciation and ardent love, of all that is noble and good, and his consequent scorn and loathmg of all that is low and mean, with his intense sympathy with suffering and wronged humanity, and his fearless, his dauntless spirit, which could not quail before the eye of man, — I know that he sufiered while he lived; that he could not cease to suffer while earth was his home ; and I feel that although earth may well mourn to lose such a spirit, yet for him we may not sorrow ; that the celestial gates have opened for him ; that he is where ' there is not any more pain.' " The warm emotions which appear in Mr. S.'s love for children, and for humanity, explain two quahties that mio'ht otherwise seem inconsistent — earnestness and charity. Both these he possessed in an eminent degree. " It was a necessity of his nature," says Prof. A., "tor be true to him- self, true to the solemn convictions of his own mind. There was in his nature not the slightest aptitude for any easy conformity to prevaihng fashions of thought or belief. Neither was he " influenced by pride of independence to dissent from prevailing opinions. His points of dissent from the usually received orthodox convictions were few, and in these he was fearless and independent, never cap- tious and quibbling. Plis manner of speaking of others was uniformly kind and charitable, even when he knew MEMOIR. 19 them to be inimical to himself. I never knew a person who seemed to take more charitable views of the charac- ter of others, than he did." He was licensed to preach in the spring of 1846, and preached his first sermon at Princeton, Illinois, from Luke, xviii. i. : " Men ought always to pray, and not to faint." He spent the next academical year in attending theolo- gical lectures at New-Haven. Returning to Illinois, and suffering a short time from sickness, he preached a first sermon in Peoria, October 10, and remained in this place for a year. While teaching in Burlington, he had read Punchard's History of Congregationalism, and " found that Congrecra- tional principles were in exact accordance with his own ideas of Chur^ch polity." The Church at Peoria became Congregational on his going there, though, he remarks, he had nothing to do with the change. To urge such changes would not in fact accord with his feelings, or with the primary importance which he attached to the distinctive truths of the gospel. In July, 1848, he went to Jacksonville to be examined for ordination. And now came his first sore trial, as a lover of Christ's gospel. Suspicions of heresy were enter- tained against him — suspicions most potent, because even Protestants so little understand what heresy is, and are so little agreed respecting what are the fundamentals of Christian truth. We will give the account of the examina tion in JVIr. S.'s own words. " Some of the brethren stumbled very hard at me, because I held that the Holy Spirit's influences are of the nature of moral suasion or motion (not directly on the will) : some thinking that I was 'wise above what is written,' and that my mind was of a dangerous tenden- cy ; because I did not believe Christ had a human soul ; because I 20 MEMOIR. believed in no supernatural call to the ministry ; and one good bro- ther, because I did not give a full account of religious experience in conversion, &c., but rather stated my ideas of what it is to be a Christian, and that I thus tried to live. " My examination on the nature of the Spirit's influence in regen- eration was brief, and was interrupted. I cannot give a fail" state- ment of either questions or answers. I stated in general that it was a moral influence, and endeavored to express this idea of it, that it is man who repents or converts to God, and the Spirit moves him to do it; 'just as you, Mr. , if you had prevailed on a drunkard to abandon his cups, would say that you had turned him from them — that you had saved him from intemperance. But in comparing the influence which the Spirit exerts, to that which a man may exert over another man, I did not say nor mean that they were in all respects alike, but simply, that they were alike in some important respects, viz : that they were both moraZ m^ZMmces. But being inter- rupted and confused by two or three questioning me before my replies were finished, I do not know whether I fairly completed my explana- tions or not. " Question. Can you tell us your experience ? the ground of your hope that you are a Christian 1 Answer. I found myself under God's government a transgressor of His law, and subject, therefore, to its penalty. God offered me mercy through Christ ; I felt that there was my only hope, and that God's words to me were worthy of confidence. I determined to trust myself to them, and to act upon His commands and promises. I did so ; and in doing so I found and do find the as- surance of hope. Question. What is it to be a Christian? Answer. It is to love God, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Question. What is it to love God ? Answer. To obey Him. " He that keepeth my commandments, he it is that loveth me." Ques- tion. What is your object in entering the ministry? Ansiver. To do good. Question. Do you think you can make as much money at it as at some other employment? Answer. I don't know but I can. I should never expect to make money at any thing. I do not by preaching. . . . Question. Do you think that Christians are called of God to t^.e work of the ministry ? That you have a call ? Answer. I do. Question. What is a call ? When is a man called to the ministry ? Answer. When he has reason to think he can do more good in that than in any other way. A call to the ministry is MEMOIR. 21 the opportunity and means to do most good in it. To do the most good he can is the duty of every Christian ; and when God shows a man that he can do the most good in the ministry, (or gives him the means to do so.) that is a call. Question. Can you express in the language of Paul what should be the Christian minister's animating principle ? Would you say : ' The love of Christ constraineth us ? Answer. I have long thought that that sentence expresses what was to a most remarkable degree the spirit that animated Paul, and that is the most powerful spring of action that can animate every Chris- tian in doing good. Question. If a Christian should be unwilling to deny himself for Christ, would it be his duty to preach the Gospel ? Answer. Yes ! and to deny himself also. Refusing to do one duty does not remove the other. This is not saying that it does not unfit hiiA for it. Question. But would a man who is thus unwilling be apt to do much good in the ministry ? Answer. No ; he might do more harm than good. But he ought to be willing to deny himself, and also to preach the Gospel." Here are views of the Gospel which vindicate Mr. Starr's right to preach it, whatever his errors may have been re- specting the philosophy of it. But, by the most strenuous eiForts of his friends who knew him best, he was barely- saved from rejection, and from all the calamities that might have resulted therefrom, either to himself or in his loss to the Gospel work. His own feelings, on this occasion, are told as follows : " I owe it mainly, under God, to Mr. Turner, my good and dear friend, that I was not cast off with a brand upon my name by that council, which, if it had been done, where would I now have been 1 It would have had, I believe, a very depressing influence upon me, if it had not utterly turned the current of my life into another channel. My health was poor, my condition necessitous, my sympathies alto- gether with the Orthodox (as they now are, so far as respects vital piety) , and I see not but that a rejection by them would have been very calamitous. But I went to the examination with very little fear, and the only ground on which I thought there was cause of fear was not touched at all. I had doubts about the full inspiration of the Scriptures, or at least about what inspiration implies ; yet on 22 MEMOIR. this subject, — it seemed to me, afterward, by the directing Proyidence of God for me, — not one question was asked me." Whatever may have been Mr. Starr's view of inspira- tion, it never hindered his most devout and prayerful study of the Scriptures, nor his faith in them as containing the words of eternal life, and the only hope of a fallen race. And his diflS.culties on this subject were only temporary ; such, perhaps, as are felt by multitudes,, when they first discover points of resemblance between the ecstasy of the poet and that of the prophet, and that the various books of the Bible indicate the various mental characters of the inspired penmen. He afterwards expressed himself as sat- isfied with the common view, that the inspiration which gave the Bible to man is special and peculiar. His thorough integrity in the gratitude he expresses for the fact that his doubts were not discovered, will appear from subsequent passages of his journal. The dear friend to whom he alludes thus describes the scene : " His mother was a poor widow, who went without many necessa- ries of life, (as we deem them,) that she might present this son, an educated offering, to the cause of humanity. He was dutiful, prayer- ful, daily Christian and devout, as well as eminently gifted and tal- ented, almost above all others that ever graduated at his Alma Mater. As son, student, teacher, tutor, and member of the Church of Christ, no one ever knew him to neglect either a filial, or intellectual, or Christian duty, which it was in his power to perform. At all the meetings and prayers of the Church he was always present, inter- ested and active. His sole ambition was to live for knowledge, for truth, and for Christ ; though by these statements I do not, of course, intend to absolve him from those ordinary and universal infirmities of manner or of temperament common to humanity. In other words, I do not mean to say that Mr. S. was perfect as Christ was, but that he was a truly and eminently devoted and gifted Christian man. " Well, after this ten long years of prayer and struggle, day and night, of this widowed mother and lier devoted son, his education is MEMOIR. 23 completed, and, with a heart full of joy and high hope, this youth presents himself for license and approval — before whom or what ? a Caesar? a Pope? No, but before a so-called Protestant Christian power, that almost every Sabbath, and every prayer-meeting for the whole ten years, had been exhorting him and others to this special service of Christ, deploring the destitutions of the West and of the world, the great want of talented and pious men in the ministry, and urging such poor widows as Starr's mother to consecrate their sons to the work, to contribute their mites, earned by midnight toil, to Education and other Societies, to raise up and educate such men. " And now, when this work is done, and God knows as hardly done as it usually falls to the lot of mortals to do it, and this son of this widowed mother was before them, what did this professedly Prctest- and Christian power do ? Why, of course, you will say, it thanked God, praised Christ, blessed the mother and the son, and sent him forth with joy to his field of labor, praying the Father to strengthen all in him that was right, and pure, and good, and His Holy Spirit to purge and dispel whatever there still might be of error or evil, — that great good and manifold glory and blessing might through him come to God and man. Sure, this was all that, as Christian men, they could do in such a case. " No such thing. On the contrary, finding his modes of thought and speech differed a little from their own, they endeavored to en- snare him on the dogmas of their creed, about 'substances,' and ' essences,' and ' Trinities,' and ' derivations,' and ' equalities,' and ' substitutions,' and ' decrees,' and ' elections,' and ' perseverances,' and ' outward faiths,' and ' intellectual faiths,' and ' saving faiths,' and no one can tell how many other faiths and follies not found in the Sermon on the Mount, or any other saying of Jesus or His Apostles. And because he proved more than a match for them all on these subtleties, they attempted to send him forth to the world, after his ten years of toil, black-balled and disgraced ; not even in pretence because he was deficient either in learning, talent or piety ,"5^ but, for- sooth, because in these inane dogmas he could not say ' Shibboleth ' exactly with them. They, practically, cared not at all for the ad- mitted fact that Christ had received him, inasmuch as in these dogmas he ' followed not with them.' And in despite of the wants of the Church, and all this outlay foi an education that totally unfitted him for any other business, (even if he could have brought his heart * For this question did not remain long unsettled. ^4 MEMOIR. into it,) this power Tvould then have turned him out upon the world, virtually blackened, silenced, disgraced and beggared, had it not been for the strenuous exertions of a few personal friends. Yet enough was said and done to make Brother Starr a marked and suspected man. And this same Protestant power did not fail to molest him with its invisible arts, wherever he went, whether far or near. I saw, with great grief, that this practical persecution was acting, and must continue to act, disastrously, if not fatally, upon a nature so frail and sensitive as his, the last time I was at his house, a short time before his death." Mr. Starr was ordained on Sunday, July 16th, the right hand of fellowship given by the friend who sympathi2red so deeply with him in his peculiar trials. On his return to Peoria he suffered an attack of his old complaint, and, taking cold in bathing his limb in warm water, he was very ill for several weeks. He mentions, with gratitude, the gratuitous services and kindness of Dr. Dickinson and his wife, to himself, and to his mother during a period of sickness. Leaving Peoria at the close of the year for which he had engaged, he preached at Griggsville, October 15th, and engaged here for a year. In the middle of January he took cold while visiting his people, and was brought down with typhoid fever. His sickness continued nearly three months, and his hopes of a revival, which seemed to have really begun, were frustrated. It was in this place that Mr. S began and completed his series of discourses on " Faith,'" which are here offered to the public. The first was preached September 16, 1849, and the last, August 25, 1850. Here also he car- ried out his views of Congr'egational polity, by uniting with the church to which he ministered, November 4, 1849. On Tuesday, March 26, 1850, Mr. S. was united in MEMOIR. 25 marriage to Miss Lucy Elizabeth Collins, daughter of Captain James A. Collins, of Griggsville. Captain C. had been at this time about six years absent at sea, return- ing in December following. The account already given of Mr. S.'s social character, shows that nothing was wanting on his part to make this union a happy one ; and he found in the wife of his choice all that he could desire, to complete the varied joys and to assuage the many sorrows of his life. She sympathized with all his free and independent views, and with all his most rehgious and most delicate feelings. She was the usual companion of his pastoral labors, and was ardently devoted to his personal comfort and welfare. She cheered him by her own courage^ and her unwavering faith in that power which can overrule all events for good to those who trust in Him. - L^^mJu^ For reasons which, in their beginnings, would have fe»nd another familiar cliapter of Shady Side literature, but which grew into the dangerous rumor of heresy, Mr. S., after being detained a few months by the entreaties of friends, at length, in April 1851, left Griggsville. The unpleasant feeling that led to this result did not, however, long survive his departure ; and his subsequent visits to the place were occasions of delight. In August of the same year, he preached in Elgin, and was engaged for six months. He had been there but a few weeks when rumors of heresy began to be heard ; first by letter to the former pastor of the church, from a mem- ber of the council by which he was ordained, and after- wards by report from a person who assisted him on a Com- munion occasion, to a prominent minister. He was now charged unawares with " Bushnellism," and with "Uni- 26 MEMOIR. tarianism." He was apprised of these charges by the former pastor, who became satisfied that they were un- founded. Upon the charge of Bushnellism, Mr. S. remarks, it "is totally false. When I was examined for ordination I had not read a word of Dr. Bushnell's theological views; and now having read them, I do not agree with them." The charge of Unitarianism perhaps arose from two facts. First; he supposed that a Unitarian might truly believe in and preach Christ, as the only Saviour of man- kind. In this view he invited the Rev. Ephraim Nute, of Scituate, Massachusetts, to his pulpit in Griggsville, and remarks in his journal that he visited him at his friend's ; "was much pleased ; appears evangelical and truly pious." Again, in preaching on the Atonement, Mr. S. dwelt more than many others on the sutFerings of Christ, as a means of producing repentance. But so far was he from deny- ing the word of Christ to be a ground of Salvation, that on one occasion, the writer recollects his comparing the Atonement, as a ground of pardon, to the light of the sun, without which, repentance could no more avail than the moon can shine by its own light. But his notes on the subject of the Atonement, in which he has expressed his views most fully and freely, will vindi- cate the integrity of his faith in Christ beyond question. Remarking that his views on this subject had become some- what modified, or at least more complete," he says : " Now it seems to me possible for a Governor (in any and all good governments, divine or human) to grant to one high in dignity and having sufficient claims upon the government, the pardon of a repent- ant subject who has sinned, without at all relaxing the sacredness, the imperativeness of the law as the rule of the government. But Christ, who is sufl&ciently high in dignity, being the eternal and ' only begotten' Son of God, by what he has accomplisJied for the government MEMOIR. 27 of God in bringing men to repentance, in making them obedient in- stead of rebellious subjects, and by ivhat he has suffered in so doing, has such a claim upon the government of God, and can plead his own sufferings to take the place of those due to the sinner.'' And again : '• The sufferings "which Christ's work for the government of God involved, entitle Him to the privilege of intercession for such as repent ; and it must have been, in part, because it would do so (it would seem) , that He undertook that work. Perhaps if He had not suffered. His work alone would not so have entitled Him. But having suffered. He is entitled to say : Let my suffering go for the suffering due by the law to the sinner. The sinner now can plead what Christ has done and suffered for the government of God in his behalf. By what Christ has suffered, He has, as it were, paid the penalty of the law, and by what He has done He has gotten the right to plead it in the sinner's behalf. It thus becomes safe for God to pardon for Christ's sake, and in His name, while otherwise it would not have been safe ; the sacredness, the imperativeness of the law as God's rule for His creatures would not have been maintained. Considered in this light, Christ's sufferings constitute His earthly life and death a sacrifice for our sins. God [knew] that they would have this efficacy of aton- ing for sin, and therefore designed that they should so atone. And His death, as the crowning act of all, may be taken to express the w^hole (even as His resurrection is sometimes taken to embrace His whole doctrine, because it sealed it all.) His death, moreover, was designed as being a peculiar appropriate form of his suffering, to stand for the sinner's doom. Thus was His ' blood shed for the remis- sion of sins,' as one and a most important end, though not the whole." Of the necessity of Christ's suffering, Mr. S. speaks more fully in the Tenth of the following Discourses, which might alone decide the present question. That he discarded all mercantile views of the Atone- ment, by which the very idea of forgiveness is annulled, will hardly be urged as an error. And respecting the opinion once before charged against him, that Christ had not a distinct human soul, it should not be inferred that he denied either Christ's divinity or his humanity. God 28 MEMOIR. became Immanuel in Christ, he might say, strictly, in an Incarnation, (John i. 14; Rom. i. 3, 4. 1 Tim. iii. 16.) With one of the persons concerned in these rumors, he afterwards had an interview^ in which, sajs Mr. S., "he acknowledged his fault, and I endeavored to remove his prejudices, whereupon our diiFerences were settled, I trust to most hearty good will. " From another person he sought explanation by letter, but received no reply. In January, 1852, he applied for admission to the Fox River Conofresfational Union. Here he encountered the rumors we have named, with success ; in that one vote alone was given against him. In his journal he says : — " I have reason to acknowledge the goodness of God, who turned aside the minds of my examiners from those points wherein their prejudices or views would have disallowed me; or enabled me, wherein they did touch any of them, to show my essential agreement, without their perceiving the disagreement; and who also, by His grace in me and in them, turned back the prejudices with which they apparently began their examination, and awakened favorable feelings. " I was much gratified to learn, on my return, and before the vota of the Union was known, that though there had been some apprehen- sions in the minds of many of the Church, as to how the Union would receive me, there was much disposition to independence of judgment, and to confidence in me in any event." On the 14th of April following, he was installed as pastor of the Congregational Church in Elgin, where he remained until his death. The sermon was preached by the former pastor. Rev. N. C. Clark. " The exercises," he says, " interested my feelings deeply, and my heart was much drawn out in love to my brethren in the ministry." We have indicated some of the points in which Mr. S. dissented from the prevalent opinions, perhaps all of them. MEMOIR. 29 Whatever they were, we know that he regarded himself as dissenting only in speculative matters — forms of divine na- ture, and modes of divine economy and influence, which like the hidden causes of the mind, are no part of man's necessary faith — while his entire theology brought him to the same practical results in which all Christians are agreed. As a thinker, he simply craved the liberty of coming to Christ by the laws of his own mind, compelling no other one to follow the same path, but glad to worship and to learn of Christ, with all his disciples, by whatsoever way they had come to bow before Him. Giving to Christ in all things the preeminence, he hoped that jninor differences, inseparable from the lot of humanity, might be allowed. But he was gi-ieved to find that prevalent theologic methods were deen.ed essential to the integrity of the Gospel, and that the differences which he held subordinate, were con- sidered by others serious, if not fatal. Hence the conflict, of which, under the date of his ordination, he speaks as follows : '' My mind has been considerably agitated, for some time past, on the subject of my theological position. When I began my course I had no thoughts of concealment of any of my views, and my frank- ness soon brought me into trouble. By the advice of friends and my own reflections, I became convinced that it was best I should keep to myself, for the present, the views I entertain, which are different from those of my brethren generally, and labor on with those vital truths in which we are agreed, and which are indeed the chief things. These are, the depravity of man, his exposure to everlasting punish- ment, the necessity of a radical change of character to salvation, the Deity and atonement of Christ, and the necessary work of the Holy Spirit. But the fact that my brethren make speculative points on which we differ, of so much importance in their ecclesiastical rela- tions, obliges me to use a sort of craft m the statement of my views, which is not congenial to my heart. I can so present the essential 30 MEMOIR. practical elements of my views as to cover the grouni which they think necessary, while yet I do not imply certain other sj^eculative ideas whicL they think I do. The fault of this, or this misconception of my views, is not to te charged to me ; but to them, as having im- properly mingled such speculative elements with the practical, as equally necessary. Still, though I need not blame myself for this matter, the thought that they are mistaken, deceived, as to my agree- ment with them on certain points which they consider essential, (though I feel assured they are not.) troubles me. It pains me to think I am not just what they think I am, and that perhaps they will one day be grieved by discovering it. And there is another source of trouble which has in it some irritating quality. It is the fact that I cannot speak out my thoughts like a man ; that a necessity is cloaked about me, under which it is diflBcult to maintain a true and manly independence of character. It renders more powerful the natu- ral propensity of my emotive character, to lean upon and follow others, and makes much more difficult that which I feel to be duty, and to be demanded by a proper regard for the gifts of mind God has given me ; namely, to be a bold and candid advocate of whatsoever truth I learn. '* I know not what to do ; but I trust God will teach me in His Providence. " I feel attached to this Church and people, and have great reason for thankfulness concerning the pleasantness of my situation. I have some love, also, for my work here — to labor in the same spirit and with the same great truths with which my brethren labor, for the sal- vation of souls and the honor of Christ. But it is hard to bear the yoke of bondage to ecclesiastical tyranny and to the inventions of men. " I record it here, if I should never live to make a louder and more powerful protest to the world, that while desiring to preach the great truth, with all the powers I have, that ' Christ came into the world to save sinners,' I am bound in cruel chains by the intolerance of the Protestant Evangelical Church, which proclaims the right of private judgment as its fundamental principle, but which utterly denies the right to me, and to every one of its members. I can only preach the truth, by submitting to its judgment in other matters; if I do not submit I shall be disallowed in its ranks, and persecuted with all the MEMOIR. 31 power it has to exert, — with excommunication, and reproach, as an outcast from the Church of Christ, and an enemy of God. " May God help me to be patient, till He shall work deliverance." Such feelings, in a heart so buoyant as Mr. S.'s, could not always be expressed in Jeremiads. He afterwards ad- dressed letters to a person of whose sympathy he felt sure, in which he unburdens his heart. This friend writes: " "Wiey^eel at liberty to publish them. No biography of a religious man ought to be written which is not thoroughly out-spoken. It is these concealed, half biographies of good men, which have made the world believe the whole matter of religious biography such a sham. No one wants to know Mr. S.. or any other man, as he may be when beatified ; but as he was here^ with his struggles, and doubts, and fears, and all. His letters showed this nobly. As I understood, his doubts were not as to particular doctrines, but as to the general tone of liberality in our Church, he not believing in such close creeds, &c.j as others do." Of one of these letters Mr. S. retained the following o copy: " Dear Sir : The reading of your late article in the Independent^ entitled ' Modern Scepticism,' impels me, though a total stranger, to this liberty of addressing you. This is a liberty which, in such cir- cumstances, I never used before with any one, and certainly an act in which I am, constitutionally, indisposed to engage ; but you attract me too strongly for my retiracy of disposition to resist. There is, certainly, some sympathy between us. I was never so drawn before. I feel as if I must have the pleasure of some acquaintance with you, and thus make my suit. " From the very first of your communications to the Independent, of which I have any knowledge, I have i'elt this impulse. When I perceived in your ' Pedestrian ^ letters, especially when writing on Germany, the astonishing iact that you believed there could be some- thing good, some piety even (!) outside of Puritan ideas, some religion without Ka&teni orthodoxy, ' my heart leaped up,' as though I did behold • a rainbow in the sky.' ' "Who is this,' you ask, ' that talks 32 MEMOIR. thus ? Some Unitarian infidel, or what not V Sir, I am a Congrega- tional minister, believed to be ' sound in the faith ' by the pious people to whom I preach, (who look more at practical Scriptural truth than at the human philosophy of it.) and loved by them, but looked at with suspicion by some of the Reverendi, especially Pres- byterians. Let me go on. '•' Well, from time to time, as your breadth of view and the sim- plicity of your Christian idea exhibited themselves to me, my heart was drawn toward you, and my hopes raised. . . . " I desire, if possible, some interchange of thought, some consulta- tion. Men who answer to my sentiments as you do, are rare to meet, at least in the ministry. Sectarianism, bigotry, and formalism have their forces combined and organized, and no man single-handed can make head against them. We shall be crushed and trampled under foot in the charge, and the cry of heretic^ infidel^ will be our requiem. If we desire to accomplish any thing for a freer and purer Christi- anity, we must reach out our hands to one another. So at least I begin to feel. I cannot altogether claim likeness to yourself Your peculiar talent for mixing with men, and seeing them and working amongst them, I have not. I am, rather, a student, diffident and re- tired. But my soul beams with a hatred of tyranny, with a love of liberty and man. Liberty for myself I must have, or die self-consumed; and I desire for others no less. My ideas are not cast in the same mould with all the Fathers. I do believe that theology is a legitimate ground for free inquiry. I scorn the assumption that those who came first, in darkness too, had the right to prescribe what is Scripture and truth to all time to come. When inspired by great truths, my soul is bold as a lion, and diffidence is forgot. I long to do battle for freedom, truth, progress — for a pure Gospel ; and this I will do if the Lord point out the way and give needed strength. If it were not for the ardor of my feelings, I should faint sometimes when I see how bigotry is fortified and its bands trained. My hope is sustained only by the belief that Providence is working with a power which cannot be resisted. Our equal institutions, and the ideas of the age, are stronger to educate than human creeds. The hootings of theological owls will not always strike terror to men's hearts. Surely ' the Lord reigns ; let the earth rejoice.' " Yet there is reason enough, when looking at the condition of the Church, to groan and weep. But this I must do all alone, for I sel- MEMOIR. 33 dom find oue to lament with me. May I not ask sympathy from you, my brother ? And if there are more who feel as I do, can we not by some means know each other, and prepare ourselves to act together and sustain each other? " With these sentiments in your last communication — with the great truths here pointed at — I deeply sympathize : ' The curse of the Ameri- can mind, as we believe, has been the aspect presented in a portion of our Theology of Deity.' ' The grand peculiarity of Christ's in- structions, and of Paul's — the elevation of character ... is mostly lost sight of.' ' It is not life, spirit, which tests the Christian, but/orms, days^ ordinances^ creeds.' ' The entangling scientific state- ments — not the expression of the Bible (nor its teachings either, always) — the fabric of the schools, are presented as Christianity, to be sworn to ere one can join those loho love Christy &fc. ; and most of all, before oue can be allowed to preach in His name.' '' With views such as these, I find myself painfully situated. Bigotry is all around me. It is thought there is more liberty at the West than at the East. With the people perhaps it is so. Yet with the ministry I should think it the reverse, though I cannot speak from much acquaintance with the East. But the handle of our pap-spoon is at the East, and so we have to turn our faces that way to get the bowl into our mouths. This makes us wonderfully orthodox. We must stand so straight as to lean back. Add to this the cry of loose- ness, from the Presbyterians, and we drive things tight enough. "Witness . . . the Albany Convention. " Would I had been there. I would have stood up and told cer- tain of them there was one Congregationalist at the West who would not ask their right hand of fellowship if they did not want to give it — but they might glove it from base common air and keep it to them- selves. " But how in the world do you expect, my brother, to get license to preach in this free country 1 You are preparing to preach, are you not ? I hope you will not scorn the pulpit, for it needs such as you. How much sympathy do you find East ? Is H. W. B. a man after your heart ? Are there more ? But I must close. I have writ- ten you in confidence, and will so treat any thing you may favor me me with. And do grant me the favor of a reply, if possible. " Yours, in the love of Christ, and of the world He has redeemed, W. H. S." 3 34 MEMOIR. The above letter indicates a wish that the creed of the Church should be more brief, and should be expressed in the very words of Scripture. Though he did not join in the cry against all creeds, he did regard the present creed system as pernicious in many ways. His Discourses on Sectarianism were not intended as a warfare against a formal Confession of Faith ; they bear simply against the present system of Confessions, by which the attention of Christians is diverted from the Word of God, and the Lord's Body is rent asunder In the discipline of the Church, Mr. S. did regard the creed as of no practical use. It was no test of piety, and hence no just rule for the admission of members to com- munion. And he remarked that it was rarely, if ever, the basis of accusation against disorderly members of the Church ; unchristian conduct, and not doctrinal error, he found to be the actual occasion of the Church discipline. Why, then, should the creed be ostensibly a rule of judg- ment, which in fact it is not ? His idea of Christian union is given in his own words. It is not " a mechanical and forced union of those who are determined not to tolerate the free exercise of conscience in each other. By no means. The union for which I look, and long, is to be brought about by a certain change of views among Christians ; not by their coming to a com- mon doctrinal basis, as these words are generally under- stood, but by their coming to see that it is every man's duty to be governed by his own conscience in the fear of God, and therefore, that it is the duty of his brother to allow him to do thus. Sectarianism seems to me to be based on the notion that Christians must insist on other men's adopting their judgments. Do you ask, * Have you no ^ • MEMOIR. 35 standard, then 1 Yes — implicit faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, (as the very idea of a Christian implies,) proven not by their agreeing to what dogmas you attribute to Christ, but ' by their fruits,' — penitence, love, prayer." These views were extended to the relations of the min- isters of the Gospel one to another. He was no Brownist. He did not affect an Independency for Avhich the warmest feeling of his heart, and his entire social being, unfitted him. But he did deprecate those rules of ecclesiastical judgment by which intelligent and devoted followers of Christ might be condemned as unworthy to preach His Gospel. These views appear in his earliest public relations to the ministry. Called in the year 1850 to give the charge to a candidate for ordination, he says : " I told him not to hold back his hand of greeting and brotherhood from any who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity ; for which he afterward thanked me." He tells us that at the same meeting in which he gave the above charge, another brother presented himself for ordination. " But he w^as laboring under some wrong im- pression, and, in his conversation with the Association, be- came embarrassed; while the Association, on the other hand, showed the jealousy of its prerogatives and its dig- nity which place always feels, and abused him. I felt grieved ; for what a discouragement to young men who may be looking forward to the ministry ! . . . Did not join the Association ; could not assent to the basis on which it is founded, viz. : harmony of intellectual views, and avouchment for each other's soundness — a basis which makes separation from many that love Christ necessary, and so makes the Association a cZwsociation ; a basis which 36 MEMOIR. fetters my mind by subjecting me to be tried for my views by an original body ; and a basis which requires me to do for other men and to ask from them what I will neither do nor ask, viz., vouch for the soundness in the faith of them or me. That is, I will not do this under the form of a standing organism. Individual vouchers I would not re- fuse to give or ask when it might seem necessary, except, indeed, that I do not wish to ask (if it can be avoided) any man to vouch for my orthodoxy, lest I should be less free to think for fear of injuring him by coming out unorthodox." This was written some time before he joined the local Association, as above stated. He afterwards, in April, 1852, joined the General Association of Illinois, assenting to the Articles of Faith. " Yet," says he, " my belief on the points touched therein, (or many of them,) is quite different from that of many or most of the Association. I could so interpret the form of words as to make it express my views ; and as this is the fashion, I consented, with reluctance." He subsequently, upon occasion, ceased to be a member of the local Association, for the reason that it was more properly a Consociation, and became united with the Association of Chicago, in which he hoped to find the prin- ciples of Congregational polity more strictly maintained. With the brethren of this Association, he held the prayer- ful counstls which his soul craved, as a preacher of Christ, until his death. And, in their estimate of his character, when they came to mourn his loss, they were "saddened with the conviction, that a good man, a true man, and a strong man, whom the churches and the great s'.ruggling "West could poorly afford to spare, had fallen in the midst of his days." • MEMOIR. 37 His views of the danger of ecclesiastical powei even in the hands of well-meaning men, are most forcibly stated in the following passage of liis journal. It will show, also, that he was no stranger to prudential views and consider- ations : ^-^ ^'-July 20th, 1851. Have to-day been reading the defence of Rev. Theodore Clapp, of New Orleans, delivered in 1832, before the Pres- bytery of ]\Iississippi. It evinces extraordinary and wonderful talent, dignity, self-command, and fearlessness, with, also, great seeming mildness, generosity, and forbearance ; a truly, and, in general, an eminently Christian spirit. I have received from it impressions more vivid than I ever before felt of the power of slander, and of wicked men by it to greatly injure a good man, and with him the cause of Christ. And in seeing how he was slandered and abused, and the grounds of it, I see, too, my danger. Oh, my God ! I see to what I am exposed — what I may be called to suffer. But if this be Thy will, Lord, let Thy will be done. I trust I shall be willing to bear it. And do Thou teach me how to bear it, and to do no ill. " Mr. Clapp's defence further shows me, whether true or false, how extremely dangerous it is. for a man of any independence of thought or action, in the ministry of the Gospel, to commit himself to the judicial authority of an ecclesiastical body, not personally cognizant of his daily life and words : but dependent, first, for their hasty opin- ions, and, secondly, for their deliberate judgment, upon the reports of other men, whose lives they cannot corjpare with his, and whose reasons for evil speaking they cannot know certainly ; and bound, also, by their every position to stereotyped creeds and philosophies. Mr. Clapp's defence also teaches me to be very cautious about con- fiding to any man my thoughts about any thing or any body, where there is a possibility of my words being misrepresented or made a bad use of. Yet this caution should not be observed selfishly, or in a cowardly manner. "Where truth needs to be spoken, let me speak boldly ; but let me beware of merely social outpourings in serious matters. " As to the merits of Mr. Clapp's case, I can only judge imper- fectly, from a brief glance at the reports of the proceedings of Pres- bytery, but have this opinion : That he was sincere, but in the wrong 38 MEMOIR. place ; that the Presbytery meant well, but misunderstood him in part, and, from the very necessities of their views, could not deal with him on what I think Christian principles." The invitation of a dlsfellowsliipped minister to preach from his pulpit, which ceased not after his death to be im- plied as a generous indiscretion, should here be noticed, because his own defence may- be permitted to die with him. The ret was censured as disorderly, or as injudicious ; hardly as in itself wrong. But it was not disorderly, un- less either the Association had control of the pulpits of its churches, or the advocacy of doctrine condemned as heret- ical was contemplated. But neither of these things was pretended. The person invited to preach had no desire, from the first, to urge any peculiar views ; and that he was not unfitted to exhort or to instruct in the Gospel, was con- fessed in his being invited, directly after the act of disfel- lowship, by a leading member of the Association, to conduct the prayer-meeting of Mr. S's church. But it is said this invitation then was injudicious. If the act of disfellowship was considered wrong, there should have been delay until it was reversed. The reply is, the recovery of an ecclesiastical sanction to preach might be late and uncertain. And it was not essential; the opinions of various ministers, reported to the Association before its action, but unheeded, were valid, both as an ex-par te coun- sel, arid as indicating the true import of the act with- drawing fellowship. For the real point at issue was this : Was the con- demned opinion heresy, or was it mere heterodoxy ? This distinction was made by the dissenter, in his confession of a changed opinion. For his new opinion he was ready to MEMOIR. 39 give his reasons, and had urged his moral right to a full hearing. He did not, however, wish to be a burden to "Western Congregationalism, or to press a discussion which might only end in a divided opinion. In view of all the facts, he might well suppose the Association designed sim- ply to terminate its special responsibility, as he was willing it should do, without assuming the new responsibility of declaring him a heretic, and as nothing less than a heretic could, if at all, condemn him. Up6n a subsequent hearing of his views, with his rea- sons, by a vote indecisive because informal, they were pro- nounced not heretical. About a year before his death, on the occasion of tran- sient difficulties in his church, he expressed himself as follows : " I feel much exhausted and weighed down. Have never had such desponding thoughts and feelings. It seems as if there were no place of labor for me in the world, and no peace : strife and trouble follow upon my heels. The trouble here, combined with my usual grief and trial about the intolerance of Christians, added to my lethargic diffi- culty, make the burden more than I seem able to bear. I have been almost ready to renounce the ministry, at least in the regular way. " Have felt sometimes comfort in thinking that my Saviour was ' a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief,' and that I should not, therefore, expect a better lot." His Discourses on Sectarianism were delivered not long after this time ; and they will show how unselfish were his griefs. In addition to rumors of heresy, he suffered, per- haps, no more than the greater number of pastors, from the tale-bearing which is inseparable from the spirit of sect. Yet his sensitive nature and chafed feelings uttered no unchristian murmur. He alluded to his troubles rarely ; and never except for some purpose of duty — to correct an 4Q MEMOIR. error with kindness and truth. On one occasion he urged from the pulpit the "Duty of Not Believing," with refer- ence to the evils we have named, in an effective discourse, without harshness, and without gainsaying. And in pri- vate he never spoke bitterly of those who troubled him. " Many times," says an intimate friend, " I have felt really amazed, when I have been conversing with him in the retire- ment of his pleasant study, and have alluded to the diffi- culties that hedged his toilsome journey down the path of life — and never could induce him to manifest even some faint sign of proper resentment of unmerited con- tumely." We should not have told the story of his griefs so fully, if it had not a moral. But we should fail to set forth the lesson to be learned from his life, if we did not make the burden of his life apparent. We honor the prophets un- truly, if we remember not their lamentations ; and we do not hasten " the good time coming," if we seem to say that the present time is well nigh faultless, or that men of progress find these to be days of ease. And we have written the more freely of his sorrows, because he was so void of personal feeling to be gratified, or sinister purpose to be promoted, by such a record ; — and still less, because we would resent, in his b:)half, the injuries which he could only forgive. In so far as he suffered purely for the sake of Christ and the Gospel, a mitigation of the evils which he saw and felt is the only reparation which can be de- sired. But evils, like virtues, become perfect through suf- ferings, whose faithful story is also their dirge. And now, having been assured that his home and his study were the abode of peace, let us look in upon him there, and inquire what were his familiar thoughts and ways. MEMOIR. 41 His home was the picture of neatness and quiet, where friend and stranger were ever welcome. Time did not permit his hist earthly residence to become what he de- signed ; but its tidy comforts were due, in large measure, to his industrious skill. In person, he was slender, and below middle stature ; his aspect was youthful, often to his disadvantage, when manhood and age seemed alone want- ing to enforce his counsels. His bearing was ever digni- fied ; his look slightly forbidding, as that of one in earnest, or of abstracted thoughts — yet very affable, a pleasant talker, and often full of humor. He loved a hearty laugh. We recollect the delight with which he repeated the story of one of Isaac T. Hopper's boyish freaks, and the roguish sympathy he felt with old Isaac, telling the story himself. He could talk nonsense, but he never trifled. He seemed ever conscious of a Heaven above him and a world around him, between which his being was divided. He entered heartily into the wants and feelings of all ; none could be with him without a quickening of the finer feel- ings and nobler aspirations. With his dear companion, he visited freely and affec- tionately with his people. But his loved work was to think of Christ and His truth, in the retirement of his study. As life advanced, all minor pursuits gave way to the study of the Scriptures, which he daily perused, both in the translation and in the orio-inal, with great care and delio^ht. A most intimate friend testifies that " his hfe was a life of earnest, importunate prayer ; and that from this source he derived the suggestion of his best and most profitable pub- lic discourses." His special preparations for the pulpit were rapidly made, and they uniformly possessed unity and energy, showing a vigorous mind and a glowing heart. 3^ 42 MEMOIR. One of the friends who has spoken of his mental quali- ties, thinks his mind could have been, and was directed with much success to metaphysical truth. His Discourses on Faith, will, we trust, confirm this opinion, and none the less because they were designed for the general reader. But his most nice researches in this department of truth were left incomplete. On the subject of mental philosophy he had made voluminous notes, which he hoped at some day to digest into a work for publication. It is interest- ing to observe that in this region where religion so oftea appears lacking, or rathar where the lack of religion so often appears, the piety of Mr. S. seems most natural. '• I wrote this morning," says he, under date of November 1850, "my note on the source of the sentiment of right and wrong. Felt grateful to God that, as it seems to me, I have been able to understand and unfold this most im- portant subject, which has been involved in so much dark- ness and caused so much perplexity." The notes of Mr. S. on this central question of morals are interesting, not because they are new, though original with him, but as showing the teeming activity of his in- quiries on all connected points. His view on the point named, is, we think, substantially as Dr. Hutcheson's theo- ry of the moral sense. " The feeling of obligation is one of the natural susceptibilities of the mind, just as love or anger is." It is " a moral instinct, strictly emotive in its nature." " The sense of beauty in the mind is a natural sentiment, consisting both of a natural perception and a corresponding or answering feeling. Just so the sense of right and wrong consists of both the moral perception and the answering emotion." But these statements did not begin to exhaust the subject, in the mind of our young philosopher. What MEMOIR. 43 is to be said of an external standard of right ? What is the highest good ? If it be happiness, how is the duty of the creature related to the happiness of the Creator ? What is goodness, as distinct from simple justice^!? Is the dis- tinction between these the same in man as in God ? What is the nature and "bound of a creature's right to happiness? Where does benign justice end, and grace begin'? How does authority, or the power to enforce a law, affect its justice? What is the relation of hope and fear, to tlie mor- al character of an act ? It is strictly true that " con- science does make cowards of us all ;" or is that cowardice the better part of heroism ? How is moral action related to influence, either from a fellow-man, or from God ? A human soul, subjected to a certain measure of evil influ- ences, will certainly sin. Is it equally certain that, sub- jected to a given measure of good influences, it will do right ? By these and a thousand other like questionings, cher- ished in no idle curiosity, but in view of man's nature as basely fallen from an infinitely glorious destiny and redeem- ed again therefor, Mr. S., we think, fairly challenges the title of Thinker. The form of these notes indicates the habit of the author's mind— evidently penned under the impulse of rapid thought, without present care or method. Sybilline leaves they would be, if the thread of argument and a little after-thought had not connected them. The bent of his mind toward such inquiries was also in perfect keeping with a disrelish for what we may call ecclesiasti- cism. Much as he suffered from that power, and deeply as he deplored, for Christ's sake, the evils it wrought, it was never a favorite subject of his studies. Hence, while on rational grounds, and in the interpretation of the Scrip- 44 MEMOIR. tures, he was able to oppose all its claims, he was less pre- pared to answer it from the facts of history, and from its own documents. He knew it mainly as a congeries of mod- ern customs ; of its want of authoritative decisions and precedents he was, like many others, not always aware. He sought, not authorities, but truth ; and while he read much, he thought more. To all externalities, or questions of out- ward order, that can only breed disorder, he preferred no- bler themes of meditation and discourse. Well might he have answered in the words of Leighton, when his friends thought him indifferent to the secular interests of the Church, that " while so many were zealously preaching up the times, it might be permitted to one poor servant of Christ to preach up Heaven and eternity." He did not indeed preach up " the times ;" yet he was truly a man for the time in which he lived. In all his studies, he never forgot that he was connected by a thou- sand ties to the race of mankind. His high and religious sense of humanity made him a Preacher ; and he entered the sacred desk, fervid with the prayerful meditations of his study, a preacher of righteousness. Holding the Gospel as the only hope of a fallen race he shrunk not from applying its principles to all the relations of human duty. Most of all did he "remember those in bonds, as bound with them," pleading their cause as those whom Christ had redeemed, and protesting earnestly, upon every new occasion, against their oppressions. The last discourse to which he set his hand, and which he never lived to finish, was in view of the passage of the Nebraska Bill, that has since brought the country to the verge of civil war. And whatever human interest he sought to advance, he ever spoke in the name of Him who died for man. His MEMOIR. 45 theme, and his manner, found their dignity in the faith of Him who hath in all things the just preeminence. Professor Post, from whom the reader has already heard of Mr. S. as a scholar, speaks of him also as a preacher, and an inquirer after truth. He says : " Of his general character and success as a minister of the Gospel, others, from nearer and constant observation, can speak more fully than myself I can only say, that all performances by him in the pulpit and on public occasions, to which I bad opportunity to listen, were of high gfade and promise, both intellectual and rhetorical; they were marked with true originality and independence of thought, and yet with great candor and earnestness. He ever impressed me, both in private intercourse and in the pulpit, as a sincere, honest, in- dependent and intrepid thinker — blending much simplicity and godly sincerity with high intellectual power. He seemed to me an earnest seeker after truth, single-minded, resolute and conscientious in its pursuit, and in the utterance of what he supposed it to be. If mis- taken, or impracticable, or one-sided in his views, I felt his Christian ingenuousness, earnestness, and honesty ; and his simple and humble piety gave assurance he would ultimately rectify what was amiss, and complete what was defective. I felt he sincerely sought God's aid. and wished to know and utter His Truth, and that he was one whom God would help. He aimed too, I believe, to do God's will, as well as to know it. Practically, he was an honest, earnest, God- loving man. He knew not how to temporize or conceal. The dan- gers in his case were ever in a tendency to the opposite and nobler extreme. '■ I felt, when startled by the sorrowful tidings of his premature death, that one had gone who was ripe for an exchange of worlds, but in whose early decease the cause of Christian truth and man- hood had suffered a great loss." A number of the friends who knew him well in Elgin, prominent citizens and members of the church to which he ministered, have borne similar testimony to his viitues. They say : 4:6 MEMOIR. " He came among us, a stranger, but his purity of character, and his earnestness in the advocacy of truth in all its relations to the highest interests of mankind, soon won for him the esteem and re- spect of numerous friends, who will never cease to cherish the warm- est regard for his memory. Karely have we met with one possessing so many excellencies of character qualifying him for usefulness — so much gentleness, sincerity, and true piety, combined with uncommon intellectual culture and talents of a high order. " In our judgment, it would be doing great injustice to the memory of Mr. Starr, to convey the impression that he was one of the ordina- ry type of ministers who occupy our Western pulpits. He seemed to understand and appreciate the spirit and wants of the age, and took a broad and liberal view of all subjects which relate to the welfare of man. He was unusually free from all bondage to creeds and opinions, and in his public as well as private teachings endeavored to promote and encourage in others the same freedom of thought which he him- self exercised. He believed in progress, and that all men should be free — and hence he was earnestly opposed to the exercise of mere hu- man authority in matters of religion. It may be truly said of him, ' He spake not what men, but what he, thought.' This scented to re- sult from his perfect sincerity, truthfulness, and honesty, and not from any desire of distinction. He was one of those who are willing to be wiser to-day than yesterday. And, like all men of large soul and liberal views, he was tolerant of the opinions of others, condemning no one for his honest convictions, however erroneous. He was bold, free, and untrammelled in the advocacy of whatever he believed to be right ; and though naturally disposed to be at peace with all men, without giving offence to any one, he could not withhold what seem- ed to him important truth, when the occasion demanded that it should be spoken. " Temperance, Anti-Slavery, and all other movements for the eleva- tion of humanity, found in Mr. Starr a warm friend and earnest ad- vocate. Practical Christianity was far more important in his view than forms of doctrine ; and hence he was always ready to extend the right hand of Christian fellowship to all who gave evidence of Christian character in their lives, without requiring them to accept his own peculiar views of theology. Although few men possessed more acute and discriminating minds, or were more familiar with all questions of technical theology, yet regarding the simple and practi- MEMOIR 47 cal teachings of Christ as containing all that is essential to true re- ligion, he opposed all systems and forms which require conformity of belief in mere theological dogmas and non-essential matters of faith. " This communication can give but a faint conception of his real worth. But enough has been stated to show that he was eminently fitted for usefulness, and that the Church and the world sustained a serious and irreparable loss in his death ; for such men are much needed in the ministry at the present day, and seldom found. While we mourn for his loss, it is gratifying to know that the influence of his teachings and example is still felt for good in the community, and wherever he was known." The depressed feelings of Mr. S. in view of the evils of sect, and of the suspicions which annojed him, were renew- ed on the occasion we have adverted to, shortly before his death. His views of Christian liberty were misunderstood ; bis defence seemed to be heard reluctantly; "a heretic has no rights," said he, —and he thought the rule of the civil- ians respecting the ninety and nine guilty and the innocent one, was reversed in ecclesiastical jurisprudence. In a letter to a friend, under date of February 21, 1854, after speaking of his inclination to quit the Church, he says : " An expression in your letter has helped me to right myself, how- ever. It is best for me, I suppose, and it is the correct principle, that I should not leave the Church till I am driven out, b lieving it to be indeed of Christ's body ; and, within certain limits, I must submit to every ordinance of man, for the Lord's sake. Neither am I bound, as I see, to divulge my philosophical opinions to my brethren (if I can have patience to hold them in) , because they have deceived them- selves about them ; but as long as I can stay in the Church, and work for freer and more charitable principles in it, I ought, perhaps, to do so. It -woxxld he a great deal easier, less trying to the spirit, to leave at once and set up for myself; for then I might obtain tolerance, as of a distinct sect, and be kindly regarded and treated, instead of being watched and waylaid, as a suspicious character in the sect. " Many a good man has had to endure hardship, and to wait long 48 MEMOIR. for vindication and truth's triumph — yea, many hare closed their eyes upon the world before it came. . . . " Dear brother, let us strive, and pray for greater holiness. For our dear Master's sake, let us endeavor to keep -our spirits subdued to the sway of love. . . . ' Rejoice in the Lord alway,' my brother. It is not what we cfo, but what we are, that most concerns." These were the beginning of his last words. Death was already on its way, taking, in its course, the spirit of his mother-in-law, Mrs. Jane S. Collins, who had died on the 23d of January. In a hurried visit to the paternal roof, Mr. S. and his sorrowiu'^ companion had looked upon the face of the dead, returning to Elgin on the 10th of February. With the note of this event, and of a mar- riage in his parish, a few days after, his journal closes. The next parting and reiihion were to be his own. His work was done. On Friday, the 24th of February, he was quite unwell, and would frequently leave his study, and try to dissipate his feelings by conversation or some light employment. The next morning a physician was called. On Monday, he thought his recovery doubtful, but said to his wife : " Have no fears for me ; it will be well Avith me." The next day his disease proved to be that most dreadful malady, the small-pox. Wednesday morning he desired to look out at the window, and remarked, " How pleasant to see the light of a beautiful morning once more," But at night he became delirious, and continued wandering during the greater part of the day following. On Satur- day he was much better, and dictated to his wife a message to his people, respecting a series of meetings which he had expected would be held. That night his tongue began to falter, and, with the closing hour of Monday, March 6 th, MEMOIR. 49 shortly after his last word, that he was " better," his voice was hushed in death. "And when I learned, a few daj^s after," says the friend who knew his trials best, " that God had removed him by a sudden and unexpected disease, although I mourned his loss as my dear Christian friend, I, in spite of myself, blessed God that He had taken him away from the evil to come." A dear friend offers the following appropriate tribute to his memory : Farewell, true heart ! Thou hast found thy rest. A Father's man- sion is opened unto thee. A Saviour's arms are ready to enfold thee. The joyful award, " Well done, good and faithful servant," is already thine. He whose faithful minister thou wast on earth, has released thee early from thy toil, and called thy spirit from its earthly tabernacle to His own blessed abode. Thou wast by nature too sensitive long to bear the shock of life's stern battle ; too fearless in urging thy Master's cause, to escape the shafts of bitterness aimed at those who fear not man, but God. A faithful w:ttchman upon the towers of Israel, thou wast a shining mark for the arrows of envy and detraction. An earnest seeker after truth, thou couldst not escape the assaults of bigotry. Self-sacri- ficing and artless, thou couldst not contend against the craft of worldly Avisdom. Frithful and uncompromising, thou couldst not please the time-serving and the fearful. Yet so gentle and winning, that all who loved thy Master, or sought His grace, might take new courage at thy cheering words. Th:ni hast left friends — tried and trusty, while thou wert with them, and whose hearts beat more quickly now, as they remember thy labor of love and thy earnest ministry in spiritual things. Thou hast friends who forget not the words of life thou didst speak — nor the bread of life, which, in humble imitation of thy Master, thou didst offer to all who loved Him, serving and obeying Him. Friends and kinilred hast thou left, who love thee truly, who think of thee daily, whcse hope and prayer is to follow thee in thy example, and to meet thee again in thy reward. 50 MEMOIR. Many souls there are in which the seed thou didst freely scatter has taken root, and sprung up, and borne fruit abundantly, — choking the foul weeds of sin and error, bringing them out from bondage into the liberty of Christ. These shall be gathered for thee in the Har- vest, and the joy of thy labor shall be full. Sleep on then, Brother ! and take thy rest. We sorrow not for thee. Thine is the gain — the loss is ours. And while we grieve for ourselves, we forget not that divine wisdom will jet solve the mystery of thy removal from us : for, our Father doeth all things well ! A beautiful monument has been erected bj his beloved congregation, with the following inscriptions : REV. WM. H. STARR, PASTOR OF THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH IN ELGIN. Born at Middletown^ Conn.^ April 27, 1817. Died at Elgin, III., March, 1854. Translated from the troublous pilgrimage of life, our friend and teacher " sleeps well." Some few of those who revered and appre- ciated the sainted dead, while he traveled the thorny pathway of life uncomplainingly, and full of Christian faith, have erected this mon- umental marble and consecrated it to his memory, securely relying on that blessed promise of Holy Writ which applies to him who has gone before to the unreturning tomb. " The teachers shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars, for ever and ever." Call it not vain; they do not err, Who say that when a teacher dies, Religion mourns her worshiper, And celebrates his obsequies. "We entertained an angel unawares." PASSAGES FROM "THE FUGITIVE." A NARRATIVE POEM. " Open thy mouth for the dumb; plead the cause of the poor and needy." " 'TwAS evening of a golden summer day. Beyond where rolls Missouri's turbid flood, A scene of nature's vast magnificence, Wilt re heaped her bounties and her beauties lay, Glowed in the sunset flush ; nor earth alone, — But cloud-built piles hung in the liquid blue That arched above, reflecting fulgent hues That made the air a glory and a joy, And lured the eye to gaze, and heaved the heart With gladness and thanksgiving. Is there one Whom Nature moves not with her evening smile? Can any look upon a scene so fair. Nor feel the mantling glow from field and cloud Stealing upon his soul, until it flames With pleasure like their own I And where's a heart Could lie in shadows, 'mid a radiance bright As this ? Sweet radiance ! that seemed lingering long, As it unwilling to forsake or mar Such beauty. Who, with sorrow's tones, could bring One jar upon the faultless sweet accord Of that high hymn of Nature to her God ? Alas ! there was a man that moved through all, Untouched by one sweet sympathy of joy. 52 PASSAGES FROM THE FUGITIV. Forest and plain, and mountain- cloud gold-dyed, He heeded not, nor thought of loveliness Or praise ; — and why ? His heart is all too full Of some strange sorrow, shutting in his sense." This creature had a human form, and soul, and love for wife and child ; and they " Were well — and now of his fast coming steps Expectant smiled. In him, then, why such grief? I said, a man. Yes ! God's hand made him so : But man ! man's laws — oh, Heaven ! — made him a thing ! Not man, nor ox, nor dog ; nay, not a plough, Or hoe ; — but a poor, lone, unclassed something, Without a name but for that one word, slaveP He resolves upon escape : " I'll go, then, though the way is crowded thick With every danger : freedom is the prize I run for ; they, for blood ; and shall I not Outstrip them in the race ? Setting out with wife and child, he crosses the Missouri, and the " Father of Waters," with the help of rude rafts, and begins to feel that he is free. But not yet. Even in a land consecrated to liberty, " A law is writ Which says, The man who dares be black, must be A slave, unless he prove that he is free. Oh, blasphemy upon the form of man ! The work of God ! Prove that the stars are pure ! Prove that the Heaven is high, and God dwells there. But ask not for the proof that He has made All human souls with human rights, — lest thou Seem not a man, and God deny thy claim To that sweet mercy He for man has wrought." " There is a law, another law, which says — Passages from the fugitive. 53 Give not thy hungering brother bread — shield not The homeless stranger — tell him not his way — Nay, rather, if the starving wretch ask help, Chain him, and sell him, for a wandering dog. Great God ! and yet the grass grows green ! and yet How canst Thou see't, and hold Thy lightnings back! After a fine paraphrase of Matt, xxv., 34 — 43, the poem advances to a conclusion : " There are, who for the right scorn the world's scorn, Despise its threatening wrath, and will not be The truckling minions of tyrannic wrong. And they will help — and thou, brave man, shalt go, "With the dear sharers of thy toils and hopes, Safe to unshackled freedom." The epilogue appears to have been added at a later date. We give it entire. " Thus, friends and fellow-freemen, thus, The hunted slave appeals to us. Thus Christ's own warning in our ears Is sounded, to assure our fears Of His dread vengeance for the wrong That through the earth has triumphed long. Thus his blest promise pleads, again, To lift the yoke and break the chain. But oh ! Thou God of glory, see Men mock and spurn Thy high decree ; And, with the trump of law, proclaim Their wrathful scorn upon Thy name. A NATION, leagued, now dares defy. Great God, the lightning of Thine eye ; Uses the power which Thou hast given, To rend the statutes of high Heaven, Proclaim Thy law repealed, and those "Who dare obey it, wrath-doomed foes. Our tears no more we now must shed O'er pity banished, jnstice dead j 54 PASSAGES FROM THE FUGITIVE. No more must feel the prisoner's sigh ; No more must hear the wanderer's cry ; The outcast, hunted and betrayed, By deed, or word, or look, to aid ; — Nay. not to join the onset made^ Is treason now ! and death the doom ! Room for the hangman, freemen ! room ! The law commands, and we must fear, Senates are God's vice-gerents here : Nay, higher than God's throne appear. My country, is it thou^ hast dared Defy God's arm of vengeance bared? And shall thy sons the horror crown, And the rebellion make their own ? Say, Christian freemen ! shall we yield Our manhood's arms in such a field ? This law's commands, say ! shall we fear? Are Senates God's vice-gerents here? They may crush the weak, and help the strong, But can they alter right and wrong ? Can they turn God's wrath into a smile? Or make that pure which He made vile ? Can human Senates break His rod? Can Congress change the law of God ? Not so our fathers judged, who strove For the freedom they have taught us love, 'Gainst king and senate, arms and laws ; Battling 'gainst power, in manhood's cause. No human laws can change the right ! Here kings have no power, armies no might. Nay, right and wrong, men once did own. Eternal are, as God's high throne ! Not God Himself can loose their bonds ! In their dread might His kingdom stands. He sways His sceptre by their laws ; Thus Heaven He savos, and hell He awes Provoke not, then, their awful power, Nations, or men : their vengeful hour Ye cannot 'scape, nor fly their doom ; PASSAGES FROM THE FUGITIVE. 55 Their strength is resistless, their hour will come. 'Tis God who wields their sovereign might ; Ye cannot shun His piercing sight. Repeal the wicked law ! the guilt, The deepening, blackening, gathering guilt, Of blood, in Moloch's conquests spilt, Of justice turned aside for gold; Of freemen into bondage sold; Of prisoners bound, and hurried back, To die on Slavery's lingering rack ; Of sundered ones, 'whom God had joined," Without one farewell word, consigned To life-long severance in the home Of darkness, xvhence no tidings come ; Of weeping girlhood dragged to shame ; Of cruel wrongs without a name ; Of hopeless sorrow, groans and tears, Through the long agony of years ; — This guilt, this dreadful guilt, is yours, My countrymen, while still endures That wicked law by which 'tis wrought ! 'Tis yours, unless, remitting not. You lift your voice, and stretch your hand, To drive it from this groaning land. The wicked law you fail to oppose Stands with your virtual assent. "Woes You might, but will not, aid to heal, 'Gainst you to Heaven make just appeal. Go ! blot that law from off the page Stained with its record ! Let the age No more such shames and miseries know; Forget all meaner strifes, and show Your first love is fur freedom ! Let Thy freeman's soul be firmly set. That the glad day shall hasten, when Freedom has conquered ! And, till then, Go aid the feeble captive's flight ; Give food and shelter ; for the right 56 Passages from the fugitive. Dare all things — so, God's hand shall bless Thee^ in thine hour of deep distress. Go ! speed the fugitive along, Till Ae, too, shall begin the song, Glad freedom's song, on the strange shore Where slavery's minions chase no more. Oh, when shall the children of Africa be All thus rejoicing in songs of the free ? When, when shall the voice of a loud jubilee Roll over the land and over the sea, Proclaiming the tyrant's chains everywhere broken, And the glad word of brotherhood everywhere spoken? When the tears of the slave shall no more wet the sod. Nor the billows of ocean be stained with his blood ? When the earth shall bear up on its bosom no longer, The wretch who shall claim, by the right of the stronger, His perishing brother to trample in dust 1 Oh, God, Thou art holy ! oh, God, Thou art just ! Look down on a nation revolted from Thee, And that which Thou biddest forbidding to be, The ' throne of iniquity ' building ' by law,' And binding the poor for grim lust's bloody maw. In mercy and truth, let thine arm be made bare; The prisoner lead out from the house of despair ; ' Break the arm of the wicked ;' ' the rulers ' high born, Who • counsel together,' oh, ' laugh them to scorn.' Great God, Thou art holy ! great God, Thou art just! The friend of the captive — in Thy name we trust : The glad day of Freedom — it will come, it must DISCOURSES DISCOURSES. DISCOURSE I. Faith — Its Nature — Importance of the Subject. John vi. 29 : ^^ Jesus answered and saidunto them, This isthe work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.** This is the answer to a grave question. " What shall we do ?" cried the half-convinced, yet still-doubting Jews, to Jesus, the Holy One of Bethlehem ; " what shall we do that we misht work the works of God ?" and " what shall we do?'' echoes a groahing world in every age. What shall we do to accomplish the great end of our being, to secure its highest perfection, to obtain the favor of Him who made us, to " work the works of God V Tell us, thou Nazarene, thou meek and mighty One, tell us, — ^What shall we do ? Believe ! is the reply, from the lips of gi*ace and truth ; he- lieve on Him whom God hath sent," It is the answer for all ages and all climes — the central truth of Christian doc- trine, echoed by Holy Apostles and Martyrs, witnesses for the truth, who sealed it with their blood, and sung its praises with dying lips — " this is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." *^ He tJiat believcth on the Son hath everlasting life;''* he that believeth not on the Son shall not see life, but the wrath 60 DISCOURSES. of God abideth on him." " If ye believe not that I am he, ye will die in your sins." What, then, is it to Believe? — If faith in Jesus Chrifit is a matter of such consequence, ivJiat is Faith ? The answer- to this question should not be difficult, for the Lord Jesus Christ certainly intended to give a pZam di- rection to those who inquired of Him the way of life. And in other matters men know well enough what it is to be- lieve. But upon the subject of faith in Christ, and reli- gious faith generally, so much obscurity has been cast, that, while nothing is so much written and spoken about, nothing is so little understood, and scarcely anything so misrepresented. Who that has read the hundredth or the thousandth part of what has been printed upon this sub- ject, in sermons, in newspapers, in pamphlets and books, but has deeply and painfully felt how much obscurity rests upon it, and how many absurd things are said about it ; and who that has read with a spirit anxious for its own profit, or its salvation even, or that it might know how to direct the inquiring soul, anxious to learn just what faith is and how the soul cmi believe, but has felt how utterly unsatisfying are the definitions and directions commonly given ; nay, how, as he read, obscurity oft-times grew more obscure, and " confusion worse confounded?" The obscurity with which this subject has been invested, or the confusion in which it has been involved, has been productive of evil to the cause of Christ in many ways. It has " given occasion to the enemy to blaspheme." Faith has often been spoken of as though it were some- thing altogether separate and apart from reason ; and as if, in believing, a man left behind him the dictates of his understanding and went upon some other basis. How DISCOURSES. 61 much occasion has thus been given to unbelievers to sneer at and reproach the rehgion of Jesus, and how often they have acted upon it, few, probably, are aware of. " Our religion," says the infidel Hume, in his " Essay on Miracles," " our religion is founded on Faith, not on reason ; and 'tis a sure method of exposing it to put it to a test which it is by no means fitted to endure." " Mere reason is insufficient to convince us of its veracity ; and whoever is moved by faith to assent to it, is conscious of a continual miracle in his own person, which subverts all the princi- ples of his understanding." How much mischief this blasphemous sneer has accom- plished by planting the seeds of infidelity in cultivated and superior minds, we cannot estimate ; but we can easily see what occasion has been given for such sneerg by the terms in which faith has been spoken of frequently by professed believers. The distinguished Brewster, in his "Life of Sir Isaac New- ton," speaking of the great man's religious belief, says : " The inquiring spirit will explore the history of a mind so richly endowed, and will seek the shelter of its authority on those great questions which reason has abandoned to faith and hope." If this is sensible language, — if reason has abandoned the great questions of religious belief, surrendering them to some- thing that is called faith and hope, methinks " the inquir- ing spirit" might naturally ask one question more : of what greater " aathoritif is the mind of Sir Isaac Newton on such matters thdn the mind of an idiot ? And if religious questions, the very highest and most momentous that occupy the mind of man, may be settled by abandoning reason and resort- ing to faith, why may not all other questions be settled in 62 DISCOURSES. the same manner, and man define himself to be a credulous animal, whose business it is to believe every thing and prove nothing ! whose highest excellence consists in having the longest creed, embracing the most innumerable beliefs, of things possible and things impossible, things imaginable, and, if there be such things, things unimaginable? How can we wonder, when such language is used by believers, that they are reproached by infidels tvith credulity ? But it is not Sir David Brewster alone who speaks after this manner. We hear similar language on every side of us. Upham says, in his " Life of Faith," " if faith did not carry us beyond the reach of our own understanding, be- yond the line of human reason it would not be faith ;" and in this way speak many others.* It is not to be denied, indeed, that each language is some- times designed to express a real truth ; but such a form of expression is unphilosophical, growing out of an indefinite apprehension of the nature of faith, and leading often to great error. Never, until men understand better what faith is, and so perceive its relations to reason, will they cease to deceive themselves by such expressions, or be able to avoid and refute the sneers of infidels. * Bacon. — " The use of reason in spiritual things, and the latitude thereof, is very great and general : for it is not for nothing that the Apostle calleth religion our reasonable service of God; insomuch as the very ceremonies and figures of the old law were full of reason and signification, much more than the ceremonies of idolatry and magic, that are full of non-significants and surd characters. But most especially the Christian Faith, as in all things, so in this deserveth to be highly magnified ; holding and preserving the golden mediocrity in this point between the law of the heathen and the law of Mahomet, which have embraced the two extremes. For the religion of the heathen had no constant belief or confession, but left all to the liberty of argument ; and the religion of Mahomet, on the other side, interdicteth argument altogether ; the one having the ver}^ face of error, and the other of imposture: whereas the Faith doth both admit and reject disputation, with difference," — Advancement of Learning. DISCOURSES. 63 There is a class of men at the present day who make great claims to learning and philosophy, that are especially at fault in this matter. The transcendental religionists talk loudly in praise of faith ; they divorce it entirely from the understanding, however, and seem to give up the ground of maintenance of religious truth by appropriate and sub- stantial evidence, laying the basis of faith in an asserted and peculiar constitution of soul itself Faith with them seems to be a distinct sphere of mental action from the exercise of reason and choice, a separate capacity of soul from all others. Its exercise proceeds from itself alone, indepen- dent of all other faculties.* But if this doctrine is true, all reasoning about the great fundamental truths of rehgion must be at once abandoned. Man's understanding must no longer be exercised upon those themes once esteemed the highest objects of mental activity ; and if any man doubt the reality and truthfulness of those objects from not perceiv- ing any such out-goings of faith in his own mind, he must be left to himself with the information that these are not appropriate subjects for investigation and argument ; that " our holy religion is founded on Faith, not on rea- son ;" and that '• it is a sure method of exposing it, to put it to a test which it is by no means fitted to endure." We must say, that the man Avho believes such a creed as this, gives some evidence of a faith possessing a peculiar claim to be considered as distinct from the exercise of reason. From the errors and absurdities which have now been * To this divorce of Faith and Reason applies the remark of Locke, that those who are for laying aside the use of Reason in matters pertaining to Revelation, resemble one who should put out his eyes in order to make use of a telescope. And that of Leibnitz : " H est vrai que de uotre temps une personne de la plus grande elevation disait, qu' en article de foi, 11 fallait se crever les geux pour TOir clair.'' — Nouveaux Essais. — [Ed. 64 DISCOURSES. noticed, if they are errors and absurdities, a correct and definite apprehension of the nature of faith would free the minds of men ; and this alone can do it. But these are not the only evils from which men would be delivered by a better understanding;; of the nature of faith. The confusion and obscurity which prevail in relation to this subject, work evil also to the sincere inquirer and the true believer. It is not to be supposed, indeed, that men do not -know practically what it is to believe ; but many have heard so much said about Christian faith, and in such sort, that it seems well nigh impossible for them to apply their own practical knowledge to the subject, and to real- ize that it is only that simple thing which it is. Penitent seekers of salvation by Christ hare often been told that they must believe, and yet that they could not believe ; — that speculative faith would not answer, but they must exercise a true and heartij faith ; that what such a faith is, however, no one could describe to them, nor could they know or understand it till they had acquired it, with- out knowing how, — like shutting a man up in a horrible dungeon, and telling him there was a way of escape, but he could never find it till he saw it, and could never see it till he had first found it. And in this Avay many a man has been kept for a long time in an agony of suspense and fear, who all that time was virtually a believer and justified before God, having practically all of faith except its peace. And if many such a soul has not thus been driven back into rebellion and open iniidelity, it is because the abound- ing grace of God alone has prevented. Many inquirers, again, have been told what faith is in such terms, as rendered what was before dim, now wholly obscure. The difficulty is not explained — the precise thing DISCOURSES. es is not pointed out which they must do; and it cannot be, until the nature of faith is analysed and its elements dis- tinctly marked. One of them comes, perhaps, saying : "The doctrine that Christ died for me, my understanding assents to as true, but my heart finds no comfort in it : you say this intellectual assent alone is not true faith ; what more then shall I do to believe ?" " You must go to Christ," is perhaps the reply. "Well, show me where He is," and I will gladly go to Him. " But this is a figure of speech — you must not take my words literally." " Very well, then ; explam your figure of speech — show me hoiv I must go to Him." And here likely enough the reply is, you must go to Him believingli/." That is, " to have faith in Christ," is " to go to Him believingly," — a very intelli- gible definition. The want of a clear understanding of what faith is, how- ever, and what are its relations to the Christian system, is not alone a source of difficulty in the case of inquirers ; it is a fruitful source of mischief to thousands of professed be- lievers, and of injury and dishonor to the religion they pro- fess. Something which is called " faith" has been too gen- erally substituted in the Church for true piety and genuine righteousness. Men have thought, that to be worldly-mind- ed, proud, angry, and vindictive in temper, selfish and un- just, though not so well, is still not positively inconsistent with the religion of Jesus, provided they have " faith." They have imagined they might be neglecters of God and not lovers of men, did they only " believe." They have thought that " faith" would suffice instead of meekness, pa- tience, purity, and genuine benevolence of heart, and thus they might sail smoothly into the eternal haven with a righteousness not their own ; a figment of an unholy heart and a disordered brain. 4* 66 DISCOURSES. There are, it is to be feared, many such " believers" at the present day in a certain quarter of the Church, Avhere the highest " orthodoxy" is set up, and where the all-suffi- ciency and the alone-sufficiency of faith are most loudly proclaimed, and where men turn their fellow-men to chat- tels, sell the image of Christ for God, make gain of the sanctifying work of the Holy Ghost, — " I believe in Him of Calvary." And so in all quarters of the Church are men found, w^ho think they may be on the side of the oppressor ; they may be governed by the maxims of this world instead of the teachings of Christ ; they may be proud, selfish, sensual, and yet their " faith" shall save them. " Can faith save them?" "If it hath networks, it is dead :" " the devils also believe, and tremble :" •' by works a man if justified, and not by faith only." So teaches the Apostle James ; and what vaunter of his faith will dare dispute him? Such a state of things in the Church as has been spoken of, has naturally arisen, by human depravity, from the im- perfect, partial view of faith which Luther had, in con- nection with the importance he assigned to it in his theological system. Luther had undoubtedly grasped a great truth, and he wrote a mighty work with it. But both he, and theologians generally, since his day, have seen this truth indistinctly and partially, and hence error has been mixed up with their teachings, and mischief has grown out of error.* * This censure is warranted by tlie following expressions of Luther : " Ita vides, quam dives sit homo Christiauus ; etiam volens non potest perdere salu- tem suam quantiscunque peccatis, nisi nolit credere. Kulla enim peccata po.-> sunt damnare, nisi sola incredulitas." — De Captiv. Bab., torn, ii., fol.26't. " Esto peccator et pecca fortiter, sed fortius fide et gaude in Christo, qui victor est pec- catl, mortis, et mundi : peccandum est, quamdiu hie sumus. Vita baeo non est DISCOURSES. 67 It is not true that the Roman Church, before Luther, did not hold the doctrine of justification by faith. In the early ages of that Church, justification, by faith in Christ, was distinctly maintained. Gradually, however, works of penance were added to the requirements of their doctrine of salvation, and Christ was more and more left out of view. Then the doctrine of purgatory was adopted, and applied to the purification of " believers " who died with habitatio justitiae ; sed exspectamus, ait Petrus, coelos novos, et terrain novam in quibus justitia habitat."— -Epis«. arf Melancthon, 1521; Jena, 1556. "Si in fide fieri posset adulterium, peccatum non esset." — Disput. torn, i., p. 523. Cited by J. A. Moehler, Symbolisjn, ch. in., § xvi. " Believe firmly that thou art absolved, and thou art so, whatever be thy contrition." — Senn. cle Indulg. Cited by Bossuet, Variations of Prot., Bk. i., § ix. The obvious antlnomianism of these expressions is corrected in the Augsburg Confession, in an article cited by Bossuet; yet it has not failed to give just offence to the Romanists. The half-truth contained in the last passage, which Luther has put in the form of a dangerous error, is i-estored to its true connexion in the following beauti- ful passage of Neander, which is pertinent to the difficulty just stated (p. 16) : " The law always presents itself as imperative, and makes the salvation of men dependent on the perfect fulfilment of all its commands. ' Do all this, and thou shalt live.' But since no one can fulfil these conditions, the law can only pro- duce despair. But the Gospel addresses the man who despairs of himself, 'Do not give thyself up to the feeling of despair. Ask not howthou canst make the impossible possible. Thou needest only receive the salvation prepared for thee ; only believe, and thou hast with thy faith all that is needed for thy inward life.' Paul admirably illustrates this, by applying to it the passage in Deut. xxx., 12 : i Say not to thyself, Who shall ascend to Heaven, and prepare a path for me thither ? For Christ has descended from Heaven and has prepared such a path. To ask such a que.stion, is to desire that ChrLst would descend again from Heaven for thy sake. But say not. Who shall descend for me to the regions of the dead, and deliver me thence ? Christ has risen from the dead, and has delivered thee from the power of death. To ask this, is to desire that Christ might now rise from the dead for thy sake, as if He were not already risen. Instead of asking suth questions, only let the Gospel be cherished with vital power in thy heart ; believe In Him who descended from Heaven and rose from death, and thus ob- tained salvation for thee. Whoever has this faith is truly pious, and may be assured of salvation.' " — Planting and Training, Bk. vi., ch. i. For other instances of the sundering of Faith from Morals, see Appendix, Note 6.— [Ed. 68 DISCOURSES. unexpiated sins, while all unbelievers were assigned to eter- nal perdition. Thus it came to pass that in the days of Luther the chil- dren of '* the Church " were held to be saved from everlast- ing woe through their '-'' faith^'' though needing works of penance to save them from purgatorial fires, while mibe- lievers were held doomed to inevitable perdition. The Romanist's justifying faith, however, at the time, was not generally the right kind of faith. It was faith in the Church, faith in her so-called ' saints" and her " holy Virgin," instead of faith in Christ. Luther preached faith in Christ only, for justification ; and faith in Christ alone, for complete justification. Tiiis was the difference. But Luther's position compelled him to lay much stress upon justifying faith ; and in so doing he obscured his view of faith, as a general principle, magnifying the rela- tive importance of one of its activities, and overlooking or failing to see the rest. Theologians in Protestant communities, since his day, have been coming out more and more from under the pressure of Romanist ideas which caused this tendency in Luther's mind ; yet for a long time they followed in his footsteps, not having, like the great Reformer, capacity to strike out for themselves a new path adapted to their own circumstances. The consequence, in part, has been from the very fact that circumstances have not required so great stress, or rather so much insisting, on the doctrine of justification ; that the continual harping upon it, in some quarters, has caused a still more unequal estimate of its relative import- ance, and a neglect of the other equally essential doctrines of true repentance and a holy obedience. One of the activi- DISCOURSES. 69 ties of faith has been insisted on at the expense of the others ; one has been exalted and the others depressed. Hence has arisen that practical mischief of which I have spoken, in which men have substituted justifying faith instead of sanctifying faith — that " faith that works by love and pu- rifies the heart." I knoAv it will be said by some that the faith of such men, who live not according to the Gospel, is not sincere — not true faith ; but I am prepared to show that it is or may be sincere, and a true faith, while at the same time it is an impious presumption before God, and cannot justify, because " faith without works is dead," profitless, and "by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." Before closing these remarks, there is another reason, which should be mentioned, for desiring a solution of the question, '* what is faith *?" and that is found in the indis- tinctness which prevails as to the perception of its moral quality, or wherein its moral quality consists. Much has been said to explain why God requires faith of His creatures, what is the virtue of it, wherein it is a holy exercise ; and, as far as my knowledge extends, without distinct and perfectly satisfying results. But a distinct, analytic knowledge of what faith is, would certainly answer this question, since the knowledge of all its elements and sources involves the knowledge of that element or motive source which constitutes it an exer- cise of virtue. And it is hardly too much to say, that this knowledge cannot be obtained in any other way than by the analysis of faith itself. It will not, surely, be doubted, whether such a knowledge is desirable. How else, except by mere general analogy, can we answer the cavils of a man who demands that God should give him certain knowledge as the ground of His action ? and how else 70 DISCOURSES.. can we attain full satisfaction for ourselves, and assign to faith its proper place in the moral system of God's realm ? Analogy may silence our objections ; it cannot satisfy our doubts, or our desires to understand. I have now made some allusion to the confusion and in- distinctness in men's ideas, generally, of faith, and endea- vored to present to you some reasons which seem to demand a more thorough and definite analysis of its nature. It is my design, under Providence, to prosecute this subject ; and, in the second place, to test some of the various defini- tions which have been given of faith ; thirdly, to give a new definition of it ; fourthly, to test that definition ; fifthly, to show when and how faith has moral quality ; and, sixthly, to show the various applications of faith, (in other words, the various kinds of faith,) their moral qual- ity, and the character they give to the soul, — including its application to natural and to spiritual things, and the fact that ail religious acts are wholly, or in part, acts of faith ; also, faith in God, His truth and Providence ; and faith in Christ, regenerating, justifying and sanctifying, with spe- cial reference to the doctrine of the text, that Christ is the great object of faith by which the world must be saved. I conclude my present remarks with one observation. The view which we have taken of the obscurity and error which prevails on the subject of faith, shows us the import- ance to religion of a true and intelligible philosophy of mind. It is only by understanding the nature of his soul, and its ways of action, that man can settle those great questions which are constantly arising, touching the nature and the ground of obligation, and touching the corres- pondence, therefore, of revelation, to the laws written in the structure of the soul. The fact that all these ques- DISCOURSES. 71 lions run back, at last, to the nature and laws of mind, and the fact that man is capable of introspection, and so of learning the nature of those laws, sufficiently demon- strate the need of a true philosophy of mind, at least on the part of all those who would be teachers of religion or morals, and help thoughtful and inquiring spirits onward in their way to glory. Let no timid and narrow-minded believer, then, try to lay his embargo upon thought, and object to the young preacher of the Gospel, that his mind tends too much to philosophy. There is a true phi- losophy, as well as a false ; and if a sincere and honest heart cannot find it, or help to find it, then woe be to this world, for the philosophy of Heaven shall not prevail, but the philosophy of earth shall fight against it, and against the kingdom of our Lord, for ever. May God forbid, for His name's sake ! DISCOURSE II. Faith — Definitions Examined. John vi. 29 : " Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.^' The inquiry raised in the former discourse upon this text — the inquiry, " IVhat is it to believe f — ought not, as has been stated, to be difficult of reply ; for the direction in the text was intended by our Lord as a plain answer to the mo- mentous question which had been asked Him. Practically, as has also been observed, and naturally, the direction would not be difficult to be understood ; but owing to the peculiar circumstances in which the great doctrine of jus- tification by faith in Jesus Christ struggled into light in these latter days, and the coloring with which that doc- trine became consequently invested, a mystery has been thrown around the simple form of faith, both in theory, and by natural result, in practice. Having considered this fact, and the mischiefs resulting from it, and the need consequently arising of a better un- derstanding of the nature of faith, Ave come now, II. To examine some of the answers which have been attempted to this question : in other words, to test some of the definitions which various writers have given of faith. It should be observed here, that, subjectively considered, or with reference to the mind, two kinds of faith are gen- erally acknowledged, one of which is called *•' historical," DISCOURSES. 73 or "speculative," consisting in a bare assent of under- standing to an alleged truth, with or without some corres- ponding emotion ; the other is the kind of faith spoken of in the Scnptures, and with which our present inquiry is wholly concerned. This latter, or Scriptural faith, is of a practical or voluntary nature, as appears from three consider- ations : first, we can conceive of no sort of faith which shall differ at all from a mere ^'historical faith," except one which shall contain a voluntary element ; second, the Scriptures evidently treat the faith of which they speak as a practical matter — as something which men volun- tarily exercise, or refuse to exercise — " this is the work of God, [i. e., what God requires] that ye believe : " if ye be- lieve not. . . .ye shall die in your sins ;" and, thirdly, no otherwise than as a voluntary affection, can faith be a vir- tuous exercise, or a matter of obligation.* Scriptural faith, then, or that with which our present inquiry is wholly concerned, is a practical or voluntary faith, as distinguished from a mere historical belief. This being premised, let us notice some of the definitions which have been given of it. These definitions, however, we must here observe, are none of them general definitions of practical faith ; but only, so far as I have seen, definitions of that particular application of practical religious faith, by which a man is justified before God, — variously termed evangelical^ justifying^ or saving faith. This want of a gen- eral definition of practical faith, seems to have given rise to the error, anions:; theoloo!;ical writers, of confoundiig all kinds of religious faith, or all those exercises of faith spoken of in the Bible, with that particular application of it by which is procured the forgiveness of sin. Not see- * See ^ few opinions cited in support of this view, Appendix, Note B. 74 DISCOURSES. ing distinctly the nature of faith itself, they have failed to see distinctly the nature of its different applications, and their different objective and subjective effects. Not seeing that justifying faith is only one of these applications, and purely objective in its consequences, they have sought to give such a definition of it as would embrace all the exer- cises of religious faith and all its consequences. Thus, one says, '"justifying or saving faith is an entire confidence or trust in God's character and declarations, and in the character and doctrines of Christ, with an unre- served surrender of the will to his guidance, and depend- ence on his merits for salvation." Another says, " saving faith is a realizing, cordial (or confiding) belief in (or assent to) the entire testimony of God." These definitions plainly include almost all the forms and exercises of religious ftiith — faith in the holiness of God, faith in His infinite knowledge and power, and in His Providence, as well as faith in His atoning sacrifice. But though the former are all necessary in the justified soul, just as repentance is necessary, yet it is manifestly faith in .the atonement alone that delivers from the penalty of past transgressions ; and this alone, therefore, is properly called "justifying faith." But if the definitions noticed embrace most or all kinds of religious faith, may they not be taken as definitions of religious faith in general, and may we not examine them in this light ? What, then, shall be said to them as such ? " Religious faith is a confiding belief in, or assent to, the entire testimony of God." This definition may be correct, but it is of no value, ex- cept to the compiler of a dictionary. It is not philosophi- cal, but lexical. It does not analyze faith, and so show us DISCOURSES. 7fi what it is, by revealing the parts of which it is composed ; it only calls it by another name. It does not reveal to him whose understanding assents to the truth that Christ died for him, but whose heart dees not feel peace in it, how he must obtain that peace — what he ihust do to believe. It will not instruct the believer, nor aid the inquirer, nor answer any religious purpose. The other definition is somewhat better, as it makes an attempt, at least, at analysis : " Confidence in God and His Word, and submission of will to His guidance." 'But there are difficulties with this, also. In the first place, it is not sufficiently analytic, and does not show the relation even of the parts mentioned, to one another* " Confidence," as here employed, denotes, evidently, a com- plex state of mind ; and, supposing it to be easily under- stood, yet the great question is, how does it arise in the mind, and what is the relation between it and the act of the will ? Must one feel perfect confidence before he sub- mits to God ? How, then, shall he feel it ? If he has it not, and it does not come from the act of the will submit- ting to God, how shall he attain it, so as to exercise faith "? If it does come from the act of the will, hoiu ^ and what, in this case, is the act of the will based on ? The defini- tion throws no light on the subject. Indeed, it seems rather to convey the idea that the feeling of confidence must precede the act of the will and be the basis of it, and so makes faith an impossibility where confidence does not first exist. Again, this definition does not express the grounds of faith— its relation to reason and to virtue. If it be said that the grounds of faith are implied in the mention of the character and declarations of God, it must be replied, on 76 DISCOURSES. what principle are we to believe the evidence for the as- serted character and declarations of God, rather than the evidence against them? There is no hint, in the definition, of the existence of such a principle ; and no hint, there- fore, of the ultimate grounds of faith, or its ultimate rela- tion to reason and to moral excellence. This definition, therefore, is not sufficient. It will not instruct the be- liever, nor help the inquirer, nor silence the infidel. It must also be said, that while it is too general for jus- tifying faith, it is not, in strictness, sufficiently comprehen- sive for a definition of religious faith, since it will not ap- ply to faith in the existence itself of God ; which is, in- deed, the corner stone or the sub-stratum of all other ar- ticles of religious faith. The same objection applies also to the definition previ- ously noticed, and to several others which may now be given. " Faith," says a distinguished teacher of theology, "is a firm, cordial belief in the veracity of God — or a full and affectionate confidence in the certainty of those through which God has declared, and because he has declared them." Says another, "Faith is an affectionate practical confidence in the testimony of God." But, taking these definitions even in the extent to which they are applicable, the saioe objections apply to them as the one first treated. They are not analytic. They merely substitute " confidence" " or belief" for the word "faith," and add a few epithets which distinguish Scriptural from historical faith, without pointing out the elements of that distinction or of the faith so distinguished. They do not tell us what " practical confidence" is, nor how it is more intelligible than practical faith. They do not instruct the DISCOURSES. 77 believer, nor direct the inquirer, nor silence the infidel. They are of some use doubless to the lexicographer !* "The faith of tlie Gospel," says Dr. Dwight, "is that emotion of the mind which is called trust or confidence, exercised toward the moral character of God, and particu- larly of the Saviour." If the word " emotion" is here used in strictness, the definition is not correct, for it excludes the voluntary element which always enters into Scriptural faith. But if the word be taken loosely, to denote a complex state of the mind, the definition, like the others, is only lexical, while it is more faulty than the others in being more re- stricted in its application. Another definition of faith is, " an influential helief of the testimony of God." This plainly means a belief which in- fluences the mind to action ; and is the same with the fol- lowing definition, which is also found — " that firm belief of God's testimony which influences the will." Plainly, these definitions entirely exclude any voluntary element from faith itself, holding the volition to be only the result of faith. But passing over this error as perhaps only an inaccu- racy of language, the great objection to these definitions is, that they make the determination of the will wholly a con- sequence of the feeling of confidence, and thus cut off all possibility of believing from those who have not that feel- ing ; at least, until in some unknown manner they have obtained it. This is saying to such persons, that their dif- ficulty or their sin does not consist in their not believing, — for they cannot believe ; but in their not doing some- thing else which would make them believe — which is absurd. * These -writers and some others define faith as if it were belief only in the tes- timony or in the veracity of a person or persons — which is too narrow. 78 DISCOURSES Other definitions of saving faith are, that it is " coming to Christ," "looking to Him," "receiving Him." But these are only lexical definitions, couched in figurative language, and needing explanation at least as much as the thing defined. One further definition only will I now notice, and it is one far superior to the others. It is found in Tholiick, in his note on John iii. 36, and is as follows : " Faith is a sub- mission to something which is objectively higher in respect to knowledge and will, and therefore includes obedience." That is, as I understand it, faith is a determination to do the will of one seen to be superior in knowledge and good- ness. The excellence of this definition consists in the fact that it exhibits distinctly the voluntary element of faith, and as proceeding upon a proper ground. It says to that class of inquirers who assent to the wisdom and goodness of God, and yet are not believers, " go, act vpon it, submit to His guidance, and obey him, and you will be believers." Herein it says truly ; and the truth is a most valuable one. But it has also some defects. It does not seem, indeed, to be designed as a general definition of religious faith, but only of one form of it — that faith in the Son of God by which we receive the gifts of God's grace flowing to us through him. It is not, therefore, sufficiently abstract to answer the purposes of a general definition, and does not throw such light upon all the questions concerning faith as we desire. It does not exhibit the nature of the connec- tion of faith and reason. In other words, it does not point out the nature and conditions of that intellectual assent which it supposes, nor its exact relation to the act of faith. This intellectual assent is acknowledged to be involuntary ; and behind this fact the unbeliever sometimes shelters him- DISCOURSES. 7gi self, and denies his obligation to believe ; and without a better knowledge of the whole nature of faith we cannot dislodge him. An exact comprehension of the nature of the assent and of the whole ground of faith, as we shall see hereafter, would drive out the unbeliever from this hiding-place, and silence the sneer of the infidel ; but that comprehension this definition does not give, and though it gives the ground of faith, it does not give it analytically, and show us those elements which it is necessary to see. The definition is also incomplete, if regarded as a phi- losophical definition, because it gives no account of the feeling of confidence which is an element in religious belief, nor of its relation to the act of faith. With these defects, however, the author spoken of is not chargeable, as he had not undertaken to give a general and philosophical definition of faith. 1 speak of them only as things wanting to our knowledge, and which that definition, excellent as it is, does not supply. Let me, how- ever, give it the praise to say, that if I have fallen upon a true account of faith, that definition was one of the steps that led me to it. In the discussion of the various definitions of faith which have now been noticed, my remarks have been protracted to a greater extent than was at first designed. But they will not prove without profit, if they have so convinced you of the real need of a better understanding of the sub- ject than has generally prevailed, that you will be prepared truly to welcome any new light which may be thrown upon the subject, and to treasure up in your hearts the truth. For great will be the bearing of that truth upon your des- tiny in this life and in that which is to come. Faith is the foundation-wall of religion, the great totality of godli- 80 DISCOURSES. uess. " If je believe not, ye will die in your sins." And yet, notwithstanding the magnitude of this subject, and the many attempts which have been made to elucidate it, a writer of some eminence, who has doubtless read with at- tention most of what has been written upon the nature of faith, uses this language concerning it : " While, by turn- ing the mind in upon itself we know what faith is, [z. e, every man knows practically what it is to believe,] we are nevertheless not able to define it."* But the difficulty is, perhaps, not so great in the pre- sent state of knowledge, as this writer has supposed. A definition can be given, I trust, which will silence the infidel, satisfy the philosopher, and be intelligible to a child. For the present, however, I conclude with a single observation. In view of our discussion, we see a remarkable illustra- tion of the adaptedness of the Gospel to human wants ; — that while so much (obscurity has prevailed theoretically on the nature of faith, thousands and ten thousands of the simplest minds have been taught of Christ practically to be- lieve," and believing have rejoiced, with joy unspeakable and full of glory." The difficulties which have been thrown in their way may have hindered or obstructed many, but they could not wholly prevent the efficacy of the mighty drawing with which He who was " lifted up" has " drawn all men to Him." Christ is not only the great object of faith, but He is also the great' source of faith, the mighty argument of a God of grace, who careth for the creatures He has made. " Blessed are they that have not seen '• Him" and yet have believed." And to " Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith," be everlasting thanks from innumer- able hosts of His redeemed. Amen ! * Upham's Life of Faith, p. 15. DISCOURSE III. Faith — True Definition. Hebrews xi. 1 : '^ Noiv faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen^ Having noticed, in the two former discourses upon this text, the obscurity which prevails respecting the nature of Faith, and having examined such definitions of it as have been accessible to me, I come now, according to the plan proposed, III. To set forth a new definition of it. It will be remembered that two kinds of faith have been noticed in the course of this discussion, viz. : (1) historical or speculative faith, consisting of an intellectual assent to a proposed truth, with or without such emotion as such a truth fitly produces in the mind, according to the state of that mind ; and (2) Scriptural faith, which was shown to be a voluntary, practical faith. With the latter alone, as was also stated, we are at present concerned. It is Scriptural, practical, voluntary- faith, of which we now seek a definition. It is proper here to premise, that the object of faith is always — to speak with philosophical accuracy — some- thing set forth as a truth. It is common, indeed, to speak of beings and entities as objects of faith, and the language is therefore proper, though not designed as philosophically exact. Thus, we speak of faith in God. But by this Ian- 82 DISCOURSES. guage we mean some truth set forth or asserted concerning God ; — either Plis existence, or His goodness, or His prov- idence over us, or some other truth ; or, perhaps, all of these. So, too, the sick man may say that he has faith in a certain medicine : by w^hich he means, he has faith in the supposed truth that this medicine has curative power. Faith, then, let it be remembered, has always for its ob- ject something set forth as aJruth ; or, to use a more con- venient expression, some proposed truth. In defining faith, I propose now to give, in the first place, a complete and philosophically exact definition, which will exhibit the whole subject ; and, after elucidating this, to add a more brief and simple definition, exhibiting the voluntary element perspicuously, or just what one must do to believe ; and this will be intelligible, I trust, to every mind, even that of a child. I observe, then, practical faith is a complex state of mind, consisting of an intellectual assent to the probability of a proposed truth, or of the evidence by which it is supported, with the determination to act upon it, in view of said probability, and of the motives by which it (the truth) is accompanied, and with a corresponding emotion of the heart.* ♦ A twelfth Discourse was presented by the Author, on the subject of faith, consisting mostly of recapitulation . In the form of notes, and inserted extracts, it may partly answer the purpose of the revision which he designed. He says : '* In addition to what has now been said, it should also be remarked, that when faith in general is spoken of in the inspired writings, it is not faith in general which is meant, nor even, with one or two exceptions, religious faith in general ; "bMX faith in some particular truth " The same thing is true, also, in many of the religious writings of our times ; and the fact that the writers generally do not themselves perceive it, that they do not distinguish between the general principle of faith and those forms of it which they have mentioned, is one of the causes of the confusion and obscurity so common in their ideas and language. One man may have faith in the un- varying goodness of God ; another, in the all-disposing providence of God ; another, in Hia ordering all events to carry out perfectly His own desires ; and DISCOURSES. 83 In elucidation of this definition, it will be necessary, first, to notice the nature of evidence, and the fact that there may be probable evidence both far and against a pro- posed truth. Evidence in behalf of any proposition, consists in an array of facts which necessarily or apparently involve in them the truth of that proposition. If it be seen that that truth is necessarily involved, i. e., that the contrary is im- possible, the evidence is called demonstrative. Such is the evidence by w^hich mathematical propositions are sup- ported. But, an array of facts may apparently involve a certain truth ; that is, it may be seen that that truth will, wholly or in part, account for those facts, while no other truth is seen to be certainly the true account of them. This is of the kind called probable evidence, to distinguish it from the other, called demonstrative, and is of the kind upon which most human actions proceed.* [Most, if not all, the truths upon which men are called another, in His power and purpose to recover this world from sin. All these are, truly enough, men of faith — that is, of a certain kind of faith. But they should not all be spoken of in the same terms, aa though their faiths were identical ; for the faith of one is a very different thing from the faith of the others. "Faith may consist in an individual act, or in a continued state of mind; either way, it is composed of three elements : an intellectual assent to the prob- ability of a proposed truth, with a determination to act upon it, and accompany- ing and resulting feeling of assurance therein." * " Probability is the very guide of life." This statement of the author of the "Analogy" cannot be objected to if it receive a common-sense interpretation. It can only be abused by utter perversion into the Probabilism of the Jesuits. We are told, indeed, by the author of " Letters from Spain,'' that the Probabil- ioristae, or those who insist on taking the more probable side, are scarcely better than the Probabilistae. "The French proverb, Le mieux est Vennemi du bien, is perfectly applicable to the practical effects of these two systems in Spain." But this results from sheer indifference to truth, or a love of the probable bt- eause it is uncertain.'-[£D. 84 DISCOURSES. to act in this world, are probable truths ; that is, they are not necessarily true, to human knowledge ; their contrary is possible. There may be, also, in the case of many, some evidence against their reality ; but there must be, to con- stitute them probable truths, evidence in their favor which the understanding adjudges to be more weighty.] But again : there may be several distinct series or classes of facts, each of which apparently involves the proposed truth. In this case, the weight of the evidence is greatly aug- mented, the ratio of probability from the whole being equal to the multiplied ratios of each distinct series. In this way, this kind of evidence, though called "probable," to distinguish it from demonstrative evidence, may become so stronoj as to admit of no doubt in the mind. The two opposing probabilities, furthermore, may be of the same, or of different degrees. If of the same, the un- derstanding, looking at them both, will assent to neither conclusion ; but if of different degi-ees, the understanding will assent to the conclusion which has the greater weight of probability in its favor, and with a confidence propor- tioned to the disparity. [When, however, the understanding has so adjudged re- specting any proposed truth of a practical nature, it is still a distinct question whether the person to whom it is pro- posed will act upon It, or refuse to act. This he is to de- termine in view of the motives which prompt him. These motives may be derived from what will be the conse- quences of such action, if it shall turn out to be a real truth ; and they may also be derived, in part, from what will be the consequences of such action, even supposing it should not be real. Thus, a man may be moved to act upon the truthfulness DISCOURSES. 85 of the teachings and claims of Christ, by the eternal re- ward and punishment which are to follow obedience and disobedience, if those teachings and claims are true ; and also by the perceived fact, that by so acting, whatever else may be true of those claims, he will be using the best means which the world affords, to make himself and other men better and happier for this life. He may be moved, on the other hand, to reject the claims of Christ, or to act on the supposition of their falsity, by all the inducements which the world can offer to his cov- etousness, or his ambition. And this he may do, likewise, even though his understanding adjudged the evidence to be in favor of those claims. But if he does otherwise, if he acts upon the truth of those claims, the more evidence he sees in their favor, the more will the eternal reward have to do with his decision ; and the less evidence he sees, the more will he be left to those motives which come from the righteousness of Christ's commands and the practical tendency of faith in Him. The evidence, therefore, in favor of a proposed truth, while it may influence, does not necessarily determine the action which the mind shall take upon it.] But, in order to elucidate our definition a second fact must now be noticed. As the mind is a susceptible agent, it must have, while in a sound condition, some degree of feeling, however slight, in view of every probable truth which demands its action. This feelino; is a feelino; of as- surance, called, when directed to pleasing truths, trust, or confidence. From the nature of the case, however, this feeling is not the same before and after the purpose of act- ing on the truth, since its ohject, by such a purpose, becomes 86 DISCOURSES. changed. Before the purpose of acting, it is confidence that such and such a thing might be ; after the purpose, it is confidence that such a thing luill be.* Concerning this feeling of assurance, trust or confidence, however, four things must be said. (1st.) It may be very- slight, owing to unfavorable habitudes of the mind, and to weakness of intellectual assent or seen probability. (2d.) Other thoughts, attended with much more powerful emo- tions, may so keep crowding into the mind that a man may not be reflectively conscious of having this feeling of confidence in any degree. (3d.) This feeling will increase by acting on the truth to which it is directed. It will in- crease for two reasons — first, because, by acting on the truth, the attention will be more forcibly and exclusively turned toward it ; and, second, because new evidence will be continually presenting itself to the mind, to confirm the probability of the truth. No man, at any time of his life, can say, concerning any important practical proposition or doctrine, that he has seen all the facts, and had all the thoughts, which it is possible to see and to have, that go to establish its truth. When, therefore, he has decided to act upon its truth, and does so act, his attention being turned * It is undoubtedly true that there is a certain feeling of confidence often pre- ceding the act of faith, and this feeling is often called faith. But this feeling is always distinguishable from the real feeling of faith ; for it is always a feeling of satisfaction in view of the proposition that such a thing ivould be ; while the feeling of faith is a feeling of satisfaction in view of the proposition that such a thing will be. But a feeling may by many be thought to precede the act of faith, — which it does not; for the act of faith is not necessarily an outward act, btft the purpose of the heart, made, perhaps, long anterior to the outward act, in which it is afterwards to be embodied. The habitual feeling of confidence which dwells in the mind of one of fervent faith, is not the primal source of those acts of faith which are exhibited, and which may seem to flow from it alone ; there is in the mind, at the same time, an habitual state of the will, a fixed and general choice, which enables the mind to feel as it does, and from which the individual acts of faith proceed. DISCOURSES, 87 to it, new thoughts will be continually arising in his mind, confirming its assent, and so deepening its feeling of confi- dence in its adopted way. (4th.) One thing more must be said concerning this feeling of confidence : it may vary very much at diiferent times, owing to doubts arising from contemplated difficulties, or to different states of suscep- tibilities, and may, indeed, in some cases, never become a full and perfect confidence ; while at the same time, however, tlie heart may never swerve from it, never let go its hold of it, as a principle of action.* * In putting fonh. a definition of Scriptural or practical faith, it is not asserted "or implied tliat the word is always used among men, or even in Scripture, in the broad and full sense which is here given to it. Like every othei word express- ive of a mental act or state, its use may be more or less general or specific ; and when specific, it m.ay drop some of those elements which are essential to it in other cases. Thus we sometimes apply the term to a certain arA winch we wit- ness, without any direct reference to any emotion as connected with it ; and at other times we speak of the mere feeling of confidence under the same appel- lation, without thinking at all of any act or purpose as occasioning or follow- ing it. So, very commonly among Christian writers or speakers, and sometimes in the New Testament, the term is used to denote the feeling of confidence in God. An expression of this is found in Matt. xvii. 20, where Christ replies to the dis- ciples, who had asked him why they could not cast out the dumb spirit, " be- cause of your unbelief," or want of faith. The act of faith the disciples had evidently performed, by trying to cast him out ; and this act was doubtless at- tended with some degree of conviction. But their preceding and habitual /eeiing' of confidence in God was so feeble, that God saw fit to rebuke them for it, seeing that they ought to have gained a livelier confidence, by more constantly commu- ning with Him and making trial of His goodness. And this feebleness of hab- itual confidence, marking a poverty of spiritual attainment, Christ here terms unbelief. The same use of the word is quite common, also, among Christian writers and speakers of the present day, and will doubtless always be common. Again, however, we speak of faith very often with a principal reference to one of its elements, but really embracing them all. When we see a man en- counter a grievous and sore trial accompanied with strong temptation to swerve from the purpose of godliness, and find him holding fast his allegiance and man- ifesting a feeling of firm, and lively, and joyous confidence in God, we may speak with admiration of his /oi^A; and, according lo our own circumstances, or the connection and bent of our thoughts, we shall do so with our attention principally directed to the feeling — or, on the other hand, to the purpose — which 88 DISCOURSES. We are now prepared, I trust, to understand and to see the correctness of the definition of faith which has been given. When a proposition is presented to the mind of a man as a truth, and as one upon which he must act, either as being true or as being false ; and w*hen his understanding assents to the proposition as a probable truth, or, looking at the evidence, assents to the evidence as probable ; and when, in view of the motives which he sees pointing to such a course, he determines to act upon that proposition as though it ivere true, — this assent of the iinderstanding and this purpose of the heart, with that feeling which must neces- sarily follow such an assent and such a purpose, be it more or less — this assent, purpose and feeling, I say, are faith — practical faith. Before the mind forms this determination or purpose, the feeling of assurance or confidence may be so slight, in presence of other and more powerful feelings, as not to be known to exist ; but after the purpose is formed, it will in- crease ; and the longer the mind continues to act upon its adopted truth, the deeper and stronger (other things being equal) will this feeling become. The feeling of confidence, therefore, is not directly to be sought for, or to be deemed a pre-requisite to faith. In this, as in all other cases, let the heart do right, and it will eventually feel right. 1 repeat then, practical faith is a we witness ; in either case, however, we shall not of necessity wholly exclude from our minds, in using this word, the other idea which is at the same time presented to us. We may think most of the happy confidence which he enjoys ; but we shall not wholly lose sight of his firm fidelity of will ; — or we may think, most of his unwavering obedience ; but we shall not forget the deep and trust- ful peace of his heart. We shall mean by faith all that properly belongs to it, though one of its elements may be prominent in our view. DISCOURSES. 89 complex act or state of mind, consisting of an intellectual assent to the probability of a proposed truth or of the evi- dence by which it is supported, with the determination to act upon it in view of the motives which prompt to such a course, and tvith that feeling of assurance, which, in greater or less degree, necessarily follows such assent and determi- nation ; or, to put the definition in a better shape for practical purposes, as putting the voluntary or practical element foremost — Practical faith is acting upon a proposed truth in which the mind sees some probability, and of which it has therefore some feeling of assurance ; or, more simple still, and suffi- cient for common purposes — Faith in a truth, is acting upon it as true. Is there a child here, old enough to understand any de- finition whatever, who cannot understand this"? Let me present here an illustration of faith which is fre- quently employed, which will both illustrate this definition and show its correctness, though the latter I purpose to do more fully hereafter. A little girl was standing by the side of a trap door which opened through the floor of the room into the cellar. She looked down, but as the cellar was dark she could see nothing. Presently, however, she heard a voice speaking to her from out of that dark place, and knew it was the voice of her father. " My daughter," said the voice, " I am here below you — ^jump down, and I will catch you in my arms." The little girl hesitated. She looked down again into the darkness, and could see nothing, and she feared to leap. "My daughter," said the voice again, " do you not be- lieve me ? Your father is here— jump down, and you will 5* 90 DISCOURSES. be safe in my arms." She looked again — she sprang — and was caught with delight to the bosom of her parent. Now this, we are told, is faith. She believed what her father told her. Unquestionably this is correct. This was certainly faith — but, it was acting upon what her father told her, and neither more nor less. She acted upon her father'' s words as true — and this was, believing her father's words. How surprising, that so many have used this or similar illustrations to show what faith is — ^illustrations which do show exactly what it is — and yet have not perceived it to be just that simple thing which they have shown it to be — acting on the truth. [We will now briefly consider those passages of Scrip- ture which bear upon our subject. Those texts should be first noticed which may seem to some to conflict with the views advanced. Such are the texts which may appear to teach that God is the Author or Giver of faith in the human heart ; and one especially which some understand to deny that it is the act of man himself Says Paul to the Ephesians (ii. 8, 9) : " By grace are ye saved, through faith ; and that not of your- selves ; it is the gift of God : not of works, lest any man should boast." But Paul is not speaking o£ faith, but of salvation, when he says " this is not of yourselves, but is the gift of God." This is evident from two facts : first, that the word ren- dered " that" in our common version, but which I have rendered " this," is of a different gender, in the original Greek, from the word " faith," and cannot therefore refer to it, unless a change of style be supposed, for which there is here no reason, and of which there is, I believe, in all the rest of Paul's M^itings, no example ; and, second, that DISCOURSES. 91 to suppose it to mean faith, is to make the succeeding clause totally without meaning. What idea can be attached to the words,' as used by Paul, that " faith is not of works, lest any man should boast f when every one knows that these are the two distinct grounds of justificr.tion which he every- where treats of as things confessedly opposite. But, when he has said, " this salvation is not of yourselves — it is the gift of God," that he should add, "it is of faith and not of works, lest any man should boast," is perfectly intelligible. Paul does not, therefore, in this passage, deny that faith is of ourselves. But even admitting that he does, however, and that other passages also teach that God is the author of faith in the human heart, still all this does not overthrow or attack the principles advanced. God is truly the author of Faith, even as He is the author of all virtue or goodness, by giving all those means and influences by which it is produced. And in this sense, man is not the author of his own faith. Yet is it truly, nevertheless, his own exercise ; the act of his own mind and heart. And the fact that the Scriptures require it of him, as the condition of salvation, implies this, and is proof that they do not intend to deny it. Before, however, leaving this point, it should be noted also, that in several instances of the use of the word " faith" in the New- Testament Epistles, it plainly signifies some miraculous gift, and not that moral exercise which is the subject of our discussion. With regard to the Apostle Paul's usage of the term " faith," I next remark, one fact needs to be particularly noticed whenever we inquire into his teachings on this sub- ject. WTiile it is more frequently found in his writings than in any other part of the New Testament, it is seldom, 92 DISCOURSES. and I believe never, found in them with the general mean- ing of religious faith, but generally or always as denoting faith in some specific truth. When speaking of faith as justifying the believer in Jesus, he means faith in the aton- ing blood of Christ. But Abraham's faith, to which he also refers, was faith in the truthfulness of God to fulfil His promises. The influence of this faith is parallel to the influence of the Christian's justifying faith, to which he compares it, only in the fact that being both religious faith they possess moral quality, and, according to their extent, secure the approbation of God. But now when Paul had taught that penitent sinners are justified, that is, forgiven, by faith in Christ's atoning blood, and when some in that age, overlooking the fact that Paul was speaking only of penitent sinners, began to exercise faith in the doctrine that they could be saved by believing in Christ without repentance, or the forsaking of sin, the Apostle James steps forw^ard and denies that faith alone, that is, such a faith as this, can save men ; and asserts that a religious faith which has not fruits of holiness or works of love, is a dead or spurious faith, without saving influence. While his language, therefore, appears to con- tradict the language of Paul, he is only denying that which Paul never meant to assert. The use which the Apostle John, also, makes of the term, is very different from that of Paul. It has, in his Epistle, its broadest religious sig- nificance, though often applied to Christ as comprehending in himself the whole sum of religious truth. " This is the victory," he says, "that overcometh the world; even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God ?"• With the notice of one more text of Scripture we will DISCOURSES. *93 close our discussion. Says the writer to tlie Hebrews (xi. 1), according to our version, " Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." If this trans- lation has any meaning at all, I have never been able to discover it. The Greek word vTroaraGcg- means, that which is laid down as a foundation ; or, next, the act of laying down (something) as a foundation ; i. e., taking something as a foundation, or resting upon it. The word translated " evidence," means rather " conviction." Rightly inter- preted, then, the verse would read thus : " faith is the re- lying upon things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."* But the writer evidently means, relying in one^s * " We must, with the best modem expositions, take VTrdoTaaij, not in the sense of substance, (which is generally assigned,) but of firm covfidence ; (as 2 Cor. ix. 4, xi. 17.) So the Pesch. Syriac well renders : ' Est autem fides persuasio de rebus illis quae sunt in spe, ac si jam esseut actu. .And so Tyndall : * Faythe is a sure confydence,' &c, — "YXsyxog. Firma persuasio. Kuinoel, So also Chrysostom : ttIotis eig rfiv av-riv roTs bpcoiihois (ptpci n\7ipo([)opLav ra lif) opdjyitva. Thustatth is both a disposition and a principle." — Ep.Blcomfield. Augustine renders vnoaTaaig by convictio. Tract. 79 in Joan, cited by Aquinas, Summa. ii. 2, q. 4, 1. 'YTrdoraoij and '^'^syXOi are synonymous in this passage, and signify ^r7?ia persuasio. Knapp. Chr. Theol. ^ cxxii. " The moral, comprehensive, and universal indication of religious conscious- ness is faith. It is the unity of sensation and perception of susceptibility and spontaneity in matters of religion. It is through Christianity alone that the no- tion of faith has so pervaded science and general culture., as to be regarded as the fundamental character and essential function of religious life ; wherefore faith in its general or philosophical meaning can only be apprehended according to the analogy of its strictly Christian meaning. A trace of the correct gener- alization is to be found in Hebrews xi. 1. Yet not as though vnoaraaK; and tXeyXoi were merely the energies of reflection and intellectual syllogizing. The usual explanation, that faith consists in maintaining as true the super- sensual derived from subjective yet conclusive grounds, does not reach its es- sence. Thus we simply perceive that faith in some way differs from opinion in- adequately grounded, and from knowledge ; but we do not perceive that it is an original, yet at the same time a free act of the subjective spirit; nor that it is a believing with the heart, Kap6ia yap nicrTtvsrai, (Rom. x. 10); nor that v6r]aii 6ia rrlaTEOJi or Trt<TT£i voeiv, k. t. \. (Heb. xi. 3) , is the earlier and more 94 DISCOURSES. actions on things hoped for. The verse there is exactly equivalent to the definition given, as applied to the objects of religious faith, that religious faith is acting on the reality of things hoped for and unseen, with a feeling of confidence in the same. It is religious faith in general, as exhibited in the godly man, the somewhat mature Christian, of which the writer is speaking. Abel, Enoch, and Noah, Abra- ham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses, all acted upon the reality of those unseen things which God had declared to them ; all lived with a heart-full confidence therein. And such a life is the mark of a sei^ant of God. Such is the aspect which his habitual conduct presents: "relying upon things hoped for ; calmly convinced of things not seen." To such a life also the Gospel conducts. To believe in Jesus is thus to live. And thus shall a man " work the works of God," by learning to "believe on Him whom He hath sent." We see from the exhibition of the voluntary nature of faith which we have made, how it is that the duty of ex- ercising faith is consistent with the great principle running through all the pages of Holy Scriptures, which makes WHAT A MAN DOES the grouud of his acceptance with God, or, of his condemnation. " For we must all appear be- fore the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may re- ceive the things done in his body ;" and faith is no excep- tion. What a man does, is the activity of his faith ; and the God he believes in, is that God whom in his life he serves immediate fact which precedes and lies at the foundation of dialectic and demon- stration ; and in this relation the nature of faith has heen strikingly treated by Dr. David Schultz, in his ' Christian Doctrine of Faith .' " (A New Treatment of the question, What is Faith, and who are the Unbelievers ?) — [A work to which we have not access. — Ed.] Nitzsch, Chr. Doc. ^ 9.— See also Appendix, Note D. DISCOURSES. 95 There is faith in a " doctrine according to godliness," and " he that believeth shall be saved ;" and there is a faith in such as seem given over to "believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believe not the truth but have pleas- ure in unrighteousness." From such a faith, dear reader, may God turn off your heart, if it is yours ! DISCOURSE ly. Faith — Its Moeal Quality. Galatians v. 6 : " Faith, which worketh hy love " We now propose to test that definition of faith which was given in the previous discourse upon this text, and to show how and when this principle has moral quality. This, it will be remembered, constitutes the fourth and fifth general divisions of the subject we are engaged upon, as announced in the opening discourse. Let us then, IV. Test the definition of faith now given. It is not proposed, under this head, to enter upon a gen- eral examination of the definition, with reference to its competency to solve all those questions which have been asked concerning faith, and to silence the sneers which have been flung out against it ; all these things will be attended to in their proper places, as we proceed ; and it is hoped that the view given will remove all difficulty from the sub- ject, in all its bearings. Still, however, the question may arise. Is it a true view "? and this question I would first at- tempt to answer. " Faith," I have said, " is the ■purpose of acting upon a proposed truth, in which the mind sees some probability, with more or less of the feeling of confidence in the same." Independently, then, of that evidence which the analysis carries with it, the truth of this definition may be ascertained by applying to it two questions or tests : first, Is there any element in that state of mind answer- DISCOURSES. 97 ing to this definition, which does not exist in faith ? and, second, Is there any element in faith which is not found here? First, then, is there any element in the state of mind answering to the definition, which does not belong to faith ? The chief of these elements is, the purpose of acting upon the truth believed. But this is an acknowledged ele- ment of Scriptural faith. In all that is said of the latter, to distinguish it from historical or speculative faith, this, if not distinctly seen,' is plainly implied. As has been already observed, there is no other possible ground of distinction between the two kinds of faith, but that the one has in it a voluntary element, and the other has not. And what else can that voluntary element con- sist in, than in the purpose of acting according to the truth believed ? Nay, even if there were a thousand other pur- poses in a man's mind, respecting a proposed practical truth, and the purpose of acting according to it were not there, it is plain enough he would not be a practical be- liever in the truth. As to the other elements of our definition of faith, the assent of the understanding and the feeling of confidence, none will dispute that these are essential parts of a true and full faith. But secondly, what has faith in itself which is not found in the elements of this definition, or in the state of mind described by it '? Has faith an intelligent view of the truth proposed, and assent to it '? So has this. Has faith a feel- ing of satisfaction in that truth, a sentiment of repose in if? So has this. And yet it is manifest that as in this state of mind, so in faith, that feeling of confidence may at times be feeble, and much disturbed by opposing emo 98 DISCOURSES. tions, while all the time the heart never relaxes its purpose of action. And has Scriptural faith, also, a voluntary element ? Is it a practical faith ? a belief that produces correspond- ing results in action ? So is this. And there is in faith no other assignable element, no other activity of the intel- lect, or heart, or will, but these which have been men- tioned. It follows, therefore, if these things are true, that the definition of faith which has been given, having no other element than such as are found in faith, and having, also, all the elements that belong to faith, is a true and com- plete definition. How satisfactory it may be, will be more distinctly seen hereafter, as -has been intimated ; yet it must be evident at a glance, that it is sufficiently analytic to afford materials with which to build up a plain doctrine of faith, and to remove the difficulties, if such a thing be at all possible, with which the subject has been sur- rounded. To remove some of these difficulties is our next busi- ness ; or, in the order of our discussion — V. To show how and when faith has moral quality ; in the exhibition of which will also be seen its relation to reason, or the place which it occupies among the acts of the soul, considered as a rational power. The great facts or principles which lie at the basis of this discussion, are, briefly, these : that men are sometimes (at least) called to act upon proposed truths which are sup- ported only by probable evidence, and which may be op- posed in like manner ; and that their action upon these truths is determined in view of motives lying on one side and on the other. It is plainly to be seen, that some of DISCOURSES. 09 these motives may give to the action which is based upon them a moral quality. Now in such a case as this : it is evident, that, seeing on the whole a probability of the truth of the proposition that one's family are in danger, even though one may be unable to account for the contrary evidence, — he who re- fuses to exercise faith in the proposition, and remains where he is, acts morally wrong. He refuses to do the good which he sees would be done by his going, whether the proposition should prove true or false, viz. : the good to his neighbors; and he is thus guilty of sin — not sin because he may not feel such and such a degree of confidence in the proposed truth, but sin because he will not act as if it were true, knowing, as he does, that he may accomplish a good purpose by so doing.* * In the following remarks the author assigns to repentance a similar relation to faith. — [Ed. " The great insisting on faith as the condition of pardon which is often heard , in the case of those who acknowledge the truth of the Gospel, is utterly out of place, and only makes difficulty and darkness. It is repentance which is wanted — faith already exists, except the element of it which is found in obedience,of which repentance is the first step. " The sinner who believes that God forgives for Christ's sake, who assents to this as a doctrine of the Scriptures, which he acknowledges to be the Word of God, only needs to repent, and to ask mercy for Christ's sake. He must be told that if he repents, and asks pardon in Christ's name, he is forgiven, and that there is a sense of pardon or forgiveness which he can have — and that he should not cease praying for pardon, imploring God to show him if he has not wholly repented, and lead him [to] repentance — till he feels that his sins are forgiven. He should not be striving after faith, but after repentance, and the assurance of forgiveness. "To strive for faith, is like a stubborn and hungry child, who has been told that he shall have bread for asking, but who is unwilling to ask, crying and be- seeching his father to give him a voice, so that he can ask. The voice he ha already got ; what he wants is to use it to ask bread — a submissive heart, to be willing to ask. So what such a sinner wants is not faith, but a penitent heart to use his faith, and make it avail for him." See, also, the Note appended to Discourse X. 100 DISCOURSES. But suppose, on the other hand, that he exercises faith in the proposition — that he goes to the reUef of his family. Now, so far as he is influenced to this act, by the consider- ation that he can, at all events, do good to his neighbors, so far, at least, it has a virtuous moral quality. When the proposed truth before the mind is of a practi- cal nature, i. e., when it is one which requires that the mind should act upon it as true, or act upon the denial of it, — the motives which range themselves upon the opposing sides, are a distinct thing from the two opposing arrays of evi- dence. So true is this, that it may easily be shown that they are by no means always proportioned, even in import- ance or rank, to the iveight of the evidence, nor always wholly dependent on it. This will, perhaps, be best seen by an illustration. You are living, we will suppose, in a populous town or city. While at your place of business, which is at some distance from your residence, a fire breaks out in the town, of which you have ample evidence in the smoke which rolls up in the distance, and "the darting flames, and the confused cries that reach you from the spot. Soon you perceive that the flames are making great havoc, and producing a scene of great distress where your help is much needed, in behalf of those who are brought to the brink of ruin. Being told, however, by messengers whom you have sent, that the fire is at some distance from your own house, and moving in the contrary direction, and having some business on your own hands, you conclude, not without some struggles of conscience, to remain where you are. But here comes one of your own neighbors, almost breathless with haste, and tells you that your house is surrounded by the flames, and your family in imminent danger. Now what will you do? DISCOURSES. 101 Will you sit at your desk, gravely weighing the evidence as to the fact of the danger of your family, counting up the figures on both sides till you have ascertained the pre- ponderance of probability, and then proceeding accord- ingly ? No ! You will not hesitate a moment, if you are a man. You will run ! And why ? Because the magni- tude of the interests involved outweighs all considerations of the possibility of error, and electrifies you with its im- pulse to action. Now let us look at this case a moment, and see how the facts stated a few moments ago are involved in it. Here is a proposed truth before your mind, viz. : the danger of your family ; and it is a proposition upon which you must acty either as being true or false. There is on each side a certain amount of evidence ; we will not now care to say how much, or which preponderates. There are, also, mo- tives on both sides : on the one side, the love of your fam- ily, and the possibility, even if you should find them safe, of helping other distressed families, by going ; on the other side, there is the desire of attending to your business, which you can do by staying where you are. Now it is manifest, (1st) that the motives for acting as if the proposition were true, and the motives for acting as if it were false, are distinct matters from the evidence on the two opposing sides ; (2d) that these motives are, by no means, necessarily proportioned, in importance or rank, to the weight of that evidence ; and (3d) that they are not all dependent, in any wise, on that evidence ; for whether the proposition be true or false, you know you can do good by going, and this alone should be motive enough for your acting on it as if it were true. In addition to these prin- ciples, also, another (in the 4th place) is manifest, viz. ; 102 DISCOURSES. that it is plainly possible to act on that side of the ques- tion as being true which has the less weight of evidence in its favor. And I wiU here so far make an application of these principles, though it be anticipatory, as to add, — that if it be an evident truth that the religion of Jesus Christ, when truly obeyed, is a blessing to mankind, then the act of obe- dience or disobedience — ^in other words, the act of faith or unbelief in the religion — possesses a moral quality alto- gether aside from the question of its truth or falsehood ;* and there is an obligation to believe, which cannot be set aside by doubts and sneers that may be thrown upon it by selfish men. Here, then, we see how and when the act of faith has moral quality. That quality arises from the motives which prompt to the act. And whenever those motives are the dictate of righteousness on the one hand, or selfishness on the other, then the act of faith, according as it obeys or disobeys, is right or wrong. We see also the relation of faith to reason. Faith is not something severed from reason, but is based upon it. It is an act of the will, founded upon evidence and motive, ♦ We should say, rather, during the pendency of this question. If Chris- tianity shall be proven false, it ■will then be our duty to reject it, notwithstand- ing whatever wishes that it were true. We understand the argument of the writer to be simply this — that there should be a prejudice in favor of what is good, and that the religion of Christ is perhaps true, because it ought to be true. That he does not here condescend to the pitiable safe-side argument which is too often advanced, is clear from the following remark in his closing discourse : — "But it must be admitted, however, and urged, that as reason is the light of the soul, by which man must direct his steps or walk in darkness, he is solemnly bound, by the very constitution of his nature, to follow in his action the laws of evidence, unless the higher law of moral rectitude shall, if such a thing be pos- Bible, oppose." — [Ed. DISCOURSES. 103 which it is the province of reason to scan — a purpose of the heart based on truth, which reason must reveal. Whether, also, a man act on the one side or the other of a proposed truth, it being supported by probable evidence and opposed only by the same, his act is equally, in either case, an act of faith : so that there may be a icicked and a selfish faith as well as a holy and a righteous one. It was observed in the preceding discourse, that the act of faith, whether accepting or rejecting a proposed truth, is not always put forth in accordance with the just proba- bility in the case ; or in other words, not always in accord- ance with the greater probability of evidence. The indi- vidual may not slwSijs pause to weigh accurately the whole evidence on either side before deciding ; and there are cases where virtue does not require it. If a proposition is seen, by being received as truth, evidently to tend to the good of mankind, and if it is supported by evidence sufficient in itself to give a good degree of probability in its favor, vir- tue requires that a man scan not too particularly whatever opposing evidence there may be, but proceed to act upon it. For, the fact that it does so tend to the good of man- kind, is proof, either that it is true, or, that a lie is better than the truth ; in either of which cases (if indeed the lat- ter is possible) he ought to go forward and act upon it. This is the great reason why the believer in Christ feels that he needs not to scan particularly, or inquire minutely, concerning what objections may be brought up against the truth of the Gospel history. He is conscious that his faith in Christ is elevating and purifying his own character, and making him a better man to his neighbor ; and seeing at least sufficient evidence to give, in itself considered, a strong probability of the correctness of his faith, he is resolved to 104 DISCOURSES. go forward, feeling that virtue leadeth him by the hand, and having in his soul a peaceful assurance that " in the way of righteousness is life." But again, there may be, as indeed there are, cases where men act both against the greater probability and the mo- tives of goodness, either without weighmg the evidence with proper care, or, even seeing it to be against their chosen way. Such, if we mistake not, is the case with the rejec- ters of Christianity. Those who reject the claims of Jesus Christ to be their Lord, their Teacher, and their Saviour, do so, not for want of evidence, but, because they refuse to examine that evidence, or, plainly seeing it to be against them, they are not willing to adopt those holy and benevolent principles' which He enjoins. In the latter case, they live " with a lie in their right hand," knowing it to be such and know- ing it to be evil, yet unwilling to give it up and to love righteousness.* * When, furthermore, a man has begun to act in one way or the other with regard to a proposed truth, his view of the evidence will seldom continue the same as it first was. A man's attainments in knowledge are always very slight compared with what may be known ; and most knowable things affect more or less the probability of most others. The longer, therefore, a person acts upon the truth or falsity of a proposition, looking, as he will look, after all things that will encourage him in it, the more will he find of probable evidence to support him. Again, true faith, as has been defined, always includes the intellectual assent. A man may, indeed, act from various motives, on propositions to which his un- derstanding does not assent ; but he has not then faith. After acting on such a proposition for some time, his understanding may come to assent to it in the manner just indicated, and thus his activity may become faith. So sometimes the infidel, who at first does violence to his own understanding in asserting that tlie Gospel is a fable and that there is no hereafter, and who does not believe this doctrine which he professes and acts upon, may come at last to exercise a real faith in his delusion. And so, very frequently, evil-minded men will take up a reproach against an- other, and though it has no suitable evidence to substantiate it, but merely be- DISCOURSES. 105 The principles of this discussion enable us to see, further, how there may be different degrees of virtue in different men in the same act of faith. When a proposed truth is before the mind, there may be various motives for acting on it : — motives of reward, which depend wholly on its being true, andi motives of piety or virtue, which exist as?(ie from the direct evidence in its favor. If the evidence is very strong, the motives of reward may occupy a large place in the mind, in its resolving to obey : but if the evidence is feeble, the motives of piety or virtue must be the chief reasons upon which the mind proceeds. In the latter case, then, there is more moral excellence in obedience than in the former. This explains the language of our Lord to doubt- ing Thomas. If the heart of Thomas had loved the moral elevation of the character of Christ as it ought, and been as determined to a life of obedience to His teachings as it should have been, he would not have been so hard to con- vince that Christ had set the seal of the divinity of His cause it chimes in with their own passions or prejudices, they will act upon it, and soon come to regard it witli no more doubt than the shining of the sun. Who has not heard of people telling lies till they believed themselves ? Thus it was that the Pharisees ascribed the miracles of Christ to the agency of devils. They regard him with so much hate and prejudice that they see in his wonder- ful works of love only the evidence of his alliance with hell. Because intellectual belief is directly involuntary, or cannot be bent to this fiide or that by simple choice, many have inferred that the belief with which a man lives is involuntary — that he may practically believe one proposition or an- other without moral quality. But the principles just elucidated show how er- roneous is such an idea. Men may act against the real decisions of reason ; and they may also, by so doing, in process of time, forgetting the probabilities on the one side, and accumulating those on the other, assent to what they once knew to be a falsehood. It is not always, however, that the guilty errorist does such violence to his understanding. The judgment may often be at a loss to decide between conflicting evidence, till the moral choice steps in to influence the investigation. When evidence is seen decidedly to preponderate, of cour.-;e belief must follow; but in many great questions it is not so seen at iirst. and the will has opportunity, by deciding on which side to act, to lead the mind on to & corresponding judgment. 6 106 DISCOURSES' doctrines, by rising from the dead. He would hare re- ceived at once with joy the happy intelligence, and been ready without hesitation to set before him in his 'path of obedience the glad hopes which such an event was calcu- lated to give. But no ; he must have the strongest evidence before he would obey. Therefore, said Jesus unto him : " Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed : blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.'^ I conclude this discussion with one inference from what has been said. The faith or faiths ivith which a man lives in this world, depend, other things being equal, on the state of his heart. The opinions which men act upon in life depend very much upon their social and moral preferences. Many, if not most, important questions upon which men are called to act, so far admit of two sides that they may take either by an act of choice, deciding by the motives of virtue or indulgence, benevolence or selfishness. Thus, one man, traveling with his team on a long jour- ney, will rest on the Sabbath, acting on the doctrine (of the truth of which he has seen some evidence) that he will gain in the end by so doing ; being persuaded so to act, in part by his regard to what he considers religious duty ; and gaining confidence, by so acting, in the truth of his doc trine ; while another man, having precisely the same evi- dence of the truth of that doctrine, will not believe it, will not act upon it, because he has not the same regard for God and righteousness. Here is a diflference of faith, springing not from difference of intellectual views, but from a difiference of the heart. And when I look abroad upon the world and see the different moral creeds (I say not altogether intellectual creeds) upon which men act, I see in DISCOURSES. 107 them the index, nor merely of their enlightenment, but of their moral poFition, It is not the creed that forms tJie hearty — at least originally — hut the heart that forms the creed, "When, therefore, a Hume, or any of his class, shall sneer at the believer in Jesus, I will say to him : If the evidence for his faith be so feeble as you assert, then the nobler and the purer is the heart that adopts its self-denying pre- cepts ; but vi^hat does your faith show your heart to be ? no Christ ! no soul ! no holiness ! no Heaven ! nothing but earth, sense, self, — the life and the death of a beast ! Dear reader, what creed will you adopt, for your life ? Will you be a follower of a Hume and a Voltaire ? or will you be a believer, a follower of Christ % DISCOURSE V. Faith — Its General Application. John hi. 12 : ^^ If I have told you earihJy things, and ye he lieve not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things ?"* Having noticed that the kind of Faith of which the Sacred Scriptures speak is. generically, a practical, in dis- tinction from a theoretical, faith, we have now seen, in an abstract form, what this practical faith is, and how it may possess a moral quality. We have, for our future task upon this subject, to make an application of the principles elicited in the preceding discussion ; or, according to the general divisions first announced, VI. To show the various applications, or the various kinds, of this Faith. Under this head I would more distinctly announce five divisions : 1st. Its general application to human actions, both worldly and religious. 2d. Its more specific applications to worldly matters, and their influence on the character. 3d. Its application to religious objects; or, Religious Faith. * The strict sense of this texu is given by the author, in the Tenth Discourse, ■where comp. Bp. Blomfield's note. We have prefixed it to this Discourse as implying the doctrine contained in it. DISCOURSES. 109 4th. Faith in God, His truth, Providence ; and 5th. Faith in Christ, regenerating, justifying and sanc- tifying. Our subject, in this discourse, will be the first of these divisions ; or, 1st. The general application of Faith as a characteristic to human actions. And here the proposition may be laid dovna, that Faith is applicable as a characteristic to all things that all men do, both as citizens of the world and subjects of the Divine Government ; or, in other words, all human actions, both worldly and religious, are acts of Faith. We will consider this proposition in its two divisions : — in reference to man's worldly actions, (by which I mean here, all his actions which have reference merely to this world), and to his religious actions (or those done in ref- erence to the will of God). First, All human actions done in reference to this world are acts of Faith.* The truth of this proposition may be made manifest by * At this point thD olijection is most likely to be urged, that faith is a holy exercise, and is peculiar to regenerate persons. But the reader will recollect that in this discussion the term " faith "' is used in its generic sense, and with reference to the various powers of the soul which it involves. The words of Paul, "What- soever is not of faith is sin," are not inconsi.stent with this view; for in the con- text (Rom. xiv. 22—23.) the term " faith" is manifestly applied to one's opinion of an act in itself indifferent. In the expression, " Hast thou faith ? have it to thyself before God " — it cannot denote an exercise intrinsically holy, but simply in accordance with the laws of our being. That '• faith in God " is the noblest sort of faith, and that he who has it is most worthy of the name '■ believer," — is maintained by our author, as it ac- cords with the whole tenor of Scripture. But it is no small advantage to be able to say to the sceptic, that he has some sort of faith in spite of himself; and that in discarding the " faith " of the Scriptures, he restricts himself to dull and earthly prose, and scorns a sublime and heavenly poetry, and narrows down his being to acts of insignificance, while he might sanctify his wasting powers, and " work the work of God."— [Ed. 110 DISCOURSES. a sino-le remark : all a man's actions done in reference merely to this world, are done in order to procure for him- self some happiness, which it is always possible, however, they will not procure. If it is in the nature of things pos- sible that a certain act will not procure that happiness which is its aim, then the proposition that it will procure it, is only a " probable truth," whatever may be the force of that probability ; and to act upon it as true, is, there- fore, an act of faith. And who shall say of any earthly action, that there is no possibility in the nature of things of its failing to bring happiness ? Who shall say, when the cup of pleasure is pressed to the very lip, that it can- not be dashed down ere it is tasted, or its taste prove poi- son when it is quaffed ? But let us be more specific. All earthly acts may be divided into two sorts : those which have reference to fu- ture results, and those which have reference to what may be called present results. In actions of the first class, it is very readily seen how it is possible that the result should not be attained. When the farmer goes out into the field to plough, and to plant his seed, does he imagine that it is impossible the harvest should fail ? Is it any other than a probable truth, that by care and industry he may secure his crop % When he acts, therefore, upon this probable truth, it is an act of faith : not religious faith, but faith in the truth. When the blacksmith forges a plough, or the car penter builds a house ; when the cabinet-makar makes a bureau, or the shoe-maker a pair of shoes, or the tailor a coat, or the tinner a tea-kettle, he does it in view of the supposed truth that he will obtain a recompense. But, however strong the probability may be that he will, still this is only a probable truth — the contrary is clearly possi- DISCOURSES. Ill ble ; his act, therefore, is an act of faith — it is acting upon a proposed truth in which the mind sees some probability. Again, when the capitalist invests his money in any spe- cies of property, or the trader purchases to sell again, he does it with the expectation of a gain which is by no means inevitable. What though he is insured — his insurance companies can fail, and he with them. He is acting upon probable truth — he is exercising faith. And when the lawyer makes his plea, he does it in faith that he may gain the cause for his client , or, at least, gain his client's money for himself — a thing not altogether certain, for his client may have no money to be gained. When a man steps on board a steamboat, to go a jour- ney, he performs an act of faith — faith that the mighty force of steam which is pent up in its iron heart, and which would work such swift destruction if suffered to break loose, is under the hand of one able to control and skillful to direct it. And so when he lies down at night to sleep quietly in his berth, he puts faith in the man that stands above at the wheel — faith that through the long hours of darkness he will stand there alone, able and willing to guide the boat along the tortuous channel safely and steadily to- ward its port. And so the sea-captain, when he steps on board his ship and gives the word of command, and the broad sheet is flung out to the wind, and the helm is braced a-port, per- forms an act of faith. The proposition that by care, and skill he may be able to conduct his vessel safely to her dis- tant haven, is only a probable truth. The contrary is pos- sible. He is not miojhtier than He who " holdeth the winds in the hollow of His fist," neither can he resist His 112 DISCOURSES. will. Yet the suppoFition that he can go safely he sees to be probable, and he puts faith in it and sets forth.* And so the physician, when he stands over one who is prostrate with disease and seemingly drawing nigh to death, knows very well that it is possible the potion he is administering will not cure. But he sees evidence, also, that it may, — probable evidence of some degree that it will ; and however feeble his confidence may be, his giving it, is an act of faith in the supposition that it will. So also the preacher, when he prepares a sermon, does it on the supposition that he will be able to stand up at the appointed time and preach, and that there will be men there to hear him — both of which are truths by no means inevitable. His doing so, then, is an act of faith in those truths. And there is still another truth in which all these per- sons spoken of put faith in all these actions, and in which all persons put faith in every thing they do which respects the future ; and that is, that there will he to them a future, or to others for whom they labor. Why do you build a house, and make provision against to-morrow ? Is it be- cause it is impossihle but that there should be a to-morrow * " Et quoniam ridere nostram fidem consxiestis, atque ipFam credulitatem facetiis jocularibus lancinare, dicite, o festivi. et meraco sapientia tincti et sa- turi potu, estne operis in Tita negotjosum aliquod atque actuosum genus, quod non fide praeeunte suscipiant, sumant, atque aggrediantur actores? Peregrina- mini, navigatis : non domum tcs credentes peractis negotiationibus remeaturos? Terram ferro scinditis, atque oppletis seminum varietate : non credentes fiugem percepturos esse ricibus temporariis ? Conjugalia copulatis consortia : non futura esse credentes casia, et officiosi foederis in maritos ? Liberorum suscipitis proiem : non incolumen credentes fore, et per gradus aetatis venturam senectutis ad metas? JEgritudines corporum medicorum committitis manibus: non credentes morbos posse mitigata asperitate leniri? Bella cum hostibus geritis: non ricto- riam vos credentes praeliorum successionibus relaturos? Veneratnini deos, et colitis : non credentes illos esse, et propitias aures vestriji supplicationibus accom- modare ?" — Arnobius. Adv. Gentes. ii. 8. DISCOURSES. 113 to you ? or because it is probable you will see it ? Cer- tainly, you act upon a probability, knowing that it is wisest for you to do so : and in so doing, you exercise faith — you act as if it were true that you will see to-morrow. And so in everything which you do which has reference to an hour beyond the present, you are acting on the prob- able supposition that you are coming to that hour ; and in this respect, if in no other, every such act is an act of faith. But again, all those acts of men which have reference to the present, or to immediate results, are in some re- spect acts of faith. Look at that noble bark in a storm ; now rocking in the troughs of the sea, and now rising upon its mountain swells, and shaking the spray from her spattered crest like a thing of life. See that gallant tar, as hand over hand he ascends amid the tracery of her ropes and spars, to do some daring deed for her safety. Now the rocking mast has swung him far out over the boiling billows, into which his dangling feet are almost dipped, and there is nothing to save him from that watery burial but the slender rope to which his hands are clinging. How does he know, as he hangs in that fearful position, waiting for a favorable moment to perform his task — how does he know that that rope to which he clings will not break its fastenings, or be snapt in sunder ? Is such a thing impossible % Is it any- thing but a probable truth that it will continue to support him % And shall he, then, let go? No ; he will hold on, and with no landsman's grasp. He puts faith in the rope — and with that grasp of faith he is saved. Go down with me, now, into the cabin of that ship. See there the man upon whose skill she depends for her 6* 114 DISCOURSES. safe conduct over the pathless waters and amid the unseen dano-ers. He is bending over a table that is fastened to the floor, AVliat is that which is spread out upon it ? It is a chart, pointing out the hidden rocks and all the dangers of the way. Does he know that it is correct in every partic- ular? Is the coniT2iVj impossible ? No; but he has good reason to regard it as correct, and he acts accordingly — he puis faith in his chart. And so in those numerical tables by which he calculates the position and course of his vessel, containing thousands of figures, traverse tables, logarithms, sines, co-sines, tangents and secants ; it is probable every one of those figures are correct, but the contrary is possi- ble ; and if there is one of them wrong, that one wrong number may be the means of dashing him and his vessel upon inevitable destruction. Yet he uses his tables confi- dently ; he acts as if they vjere true — it is an act of faith. And the same principle prevails in every department and in every act of life. When the mechanic lifts his hammer to drive a nail, it is possible that the nail will break and the blow be useless ; but he smites it in faith — faith that it will endure the blow and sink into the wood. And when the seamstress is plying the polished needle, she knows at every stitch that it may snap in her fingers, or the tenuous thread may break, and the stitch be useless — but it is prob- able they will not ; and she acts upon it — and every stitch is an act of faith. And when you ate your breakfast this morning, you did it in faith — faith that that which you lifted to your mouth was food, wholesome food, and not some deceptive prepa- ration or poisonous article. And you cannot go to your dinner without faith — faith that you have a dinner to go to. Nav, vou cannot rise from the seat on which you are DISCOURSES. 115 sitting without faith. How do you know that that curious chain of nerves and muscles which is wont to communi- cate the impulse from your brain and move your limbs, is now in perlect order and ready to transmit the mandates of your will"? The contrary is possible. Some unseen power may have severed the chain, or palsied the delicate nerve, while you have been sitting there unconscious. Such things have happened. However probable it may be, it is still only a probable, and not a necessary or inevitable truth, that the nerve and muscle will obey your will. If your will, therefore, shall still act as if it were true, and put forth the volition, it wilLbe an act of faith. You can- not rise up from your seat without faith.* Enough has now been said to show that all human ac- tions, relating to this world, depend, in some respect, upon faith for their exercise ; and now I observe : Secondly, Much more are all human actions, of a religious character, acts of faith. This will easily appear, independ- ently of what has now been said. The actions of men are religious only so far as they are done in reference to un- seen, unworldly things, or, more particularly, the will of God. It is alone their being done in reference to things unseen, or the Divine will, which constitutes actions re- ligious. But to act with such a reference is to act on the * It has been affirmed, in the progress of this discussion, that all the acts of men are, in some respects, acts of faith. And they unquestionably are so. To act on a proposition which one does not intellectually believe, is not, indeed, to exercise faith in the proposition ; but there must be some other, at the same time, which is believed and acted on, so that there is still faith. But if a man act on a proposition to which his understanding does not assent, as he may do, whether for some other rea on, or with the idea that he -will try it, either to show its falsity or as a possible resource, such a case may be an exception to eorae of the language of the discussion, which I have not thei-ein taken pains to guard against but it is B'Jll no exception to the principles advanced. 4 11(3 DISCOURSES. supposition that there is a God who has a will — a truth which, though no sane man, except he is utterly perverse and depraved, will deny it, is yet supported only by that kind of evidence which is called probable. The proposi- tion that there is a God, belongs to the same class of truths with the proposition that there was such a man as George Washington, or, that there is such a place as London, or, that the sun will rise to-morrow, viz. : probable truths. The contrary of these propositions is admitted by the hu- man mind to be in itself possible, though no man doubts their truth. Just so the proposition that there is a God cannot, in reality, be doubted by an enlightened and can- did mind ; yet its opposite is to human understanding pos- sible, and it is, therefore, a " probable truth." But, as every religious act is such only as it is based upon it as true, it follows that every religious act is an act of Jaith. For example : Christian repentance is an act of faith, since it is exercised upon the supposition that there is a God, who has been offended, but who is ready to forgive ; all of which are probablo truths, though they are no less certain than the probable truth that George Washington was first President of the United States. So prayer, and every act of obedience to God, is an act of faith ; proceeding on the supposition that there is a God. So all the Christian Graces, as they are termed, are exer- cises of faith — love to God, gratitude to God, submission to God, humility and meekness before God — all proceeding on the supposition that there is a God, a truth which is an object of faith and not of intuition.* * Some tiuths which call for faith are not such as call for any external or visi- ble act, but only some silent exercise of will, which may control the feel- ings of the heart. When a man who has been accu.stomed to exerci.se faith in th« doctrine of God's gracious providence over Hi? children, is placed in a situa- DISCOURSES. 117 " Take almost any Christian grace," says one who has written extensively upon faith, " such as the spirit of sub mission, of gratitude, or of prayer, and it will be found that they sustain intimate relations with other states of the mind, particularly with faith; and that "in reality they cannot posssibly exist without faith." No, surely ! how can a man pray to God without be- lieving that there is a God ? And yet this writer did not perceive that prayer is an act of faith. His idea is true, tLough the form of it is unphilosophical. A further dis- cussion of the nature and character of religious faith is de- manded, but must for the present be deferred. From what has now been said, how^evei-, may be seen the truth of the proposition stated in the commencement of our present discussion, that all human actions, loth worldly and religious, are acts of faith, ^j this it is not as- serted that faith is the only characteristic of human actions, but simply that it is a universal characteristic of them. They may all have many other qualitias, but this one quality they always have. In other respects they may be of various characters and descriptions; but m this one re- spect, that they are all based in part, immediately or re- tion of imminent danger or sore trial, he may on the one hand listen to the sug- gestions of fear or despondency, and throw his soul into violent commotion and distress, or he may on the other hand, by a strong exercise of will, turn off his thoughts from the perils and vexations which surround him. and fix his attention firmly on the great truth which is so consoling to the heart, with the fixed re- solve that he will hear only its comforting dictates, and rejoice in the hope which it gives. Thus may he control his feelings, and while he looks with open eye at the perils and calamities at which other hearts are quaking around him, he may be calm. And this internal exercise of mind, by which its agitation is controlled, and a feeling of calm confidence is produced in an overruling and directing pow- er of goodness, po3se.-«es all the attributes of faith, as truly as any external action. 118 DISCOURSES. motelvj upon some probable truth, and not wholly, at least, upon necessary truth, they are all acts of faith. From the subject of the present discussion I have two inferences. First. There is nothing unreasonable in the fact that the Bi- ble demands of men Jaith. In doing so it does no more than the world demands continually of those who seek its pleas- ures — no more than every hour's necessities demand of every man from the beginning to the end of life. If it is true that the Christian is called to " walk by faith and not by sight," it is also true that every man walks every step of his earthly way by faith, though it may be a faith far inferior in its objects, its character, and its influence. And a Hume, who sneered at the belief in Jesus for his faith, was himself as much a believer as the Christian, though in a different creed — and he lived all his life by faith, in every act of it, from the beginning to the end, as much as the Christian — only his was faith in different things ; and whether was nobler, his faith or the Christian's, we may by- and-by see. And it is so with all unbelievers, or infidels, as they are called — if they refuse to believe in " things heavenly and Divine," they do yet believe, though it be in things " earthly, sensual, devilish" — nay, they must be- lieve they must live all their lives by faith, of some sort or other. The fact then, that the Bible demands faith, is no objection against it. And if it can be shown, as it cer- tainly can, that the faith which it demands is a pure and \ol.j one, then is the mouth of the unbeliever shut up, and his sneer is turned with redoubled force against himself. Secondly. We see that much of the language of Chris- tian writers about faith is without sense or propriety. Much is said, in laudatory terms, about faith in the ab- I DISCOURSES. 119 stract, as though it were in itself a peculiar and rare prin- ciple, and worthy of the highest commendation. Not see- ing that it is a principle of universal prevalence, and that its excellence must be measured by its objects, many have spoken of the principle itself as one of a mysterious and superior merit. But all talk about the excellence of faith is folly, unless you define, or unless it be understood what the truth is, which it is so excellent to believe, or act upon. The Scriptures, indeed, say much about the excellence of faith, without always expressly defining it ; but from the very nature of their subject it is understood to be religious faith of which they are speaking — faith in Jesus Christ, or in those realities of the unseen world which He has reveal- ed. And all who speak in praise of faith should be care- ful to define what kind of faith they mean, unless their subject or circumstances define it sufficiently ; or at least, they should not speak as though faith in itself, or faith of every kind, were a thing so holy and exalted. The view taken in this decision will not be found indeed to detract from the excellence of religious faith, but the contrary, as we may see hereafter. It shows, however, the true ground of the excellence — that it consists not in the principle itself but in its object — not in its being faith, but in its beino- faith in " things heavenly and Divine." It takes away all reproach against a man for believing, and shows us that luhat he believes is the test by which to judge him. It shows us that while "devils" may "believe" and be devils still, it is he that believeth in Jesus that " worketh the works of God." And it tells you, reader, not to exult because you have faith, but to inquire, what is your faith ? DISCOURSE YI. Faith — In the Affairs of this World. Hebretts XI. 32 — 34 : " And what shall I more say ? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae, of David also, and Samuel, and of the Prophets ; who through faith subdued king- doms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lion's, quenched the violence of fire , escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fght, turned to flight the armies of the aliensJ'^ In discussing the subject of faith, we have seen that it is the heart's purpose of acting upon a proposed truth in which the mind sees some probability, and of which, there- fore, it feels some assurance. We have seen, also, that it is a characteristic of all human actions, both worldly and religious ; in other words, that all the actions of all men are, in some respects, acts of faith, since they are all based, directly or remotelj'-, upon some probable truth. It remains to discuss more particularly these exhibitions of faith, separating them into their different classes, and point- ing out severally their peculiar character and influence upon the soul. We now propose to consider, under the sixth general division of our subject, 2d. The application of faith by mankind to the things of this world, as to its inftuence on the human character and condition. The various objects which the world presents to human DISCOURSES. 121 faith, may be divided into two kinds : those which are proper objects for its exercise, and those which, all things considered, are not proper. First. The application of faith to proper worldly objects. And I remark here, all those plans or propositions which have for their aim the increase of the eartlily means of human happiness, or the improvement or comfort of one's own condition, and which do not prevent the rendering to others of aught that is their due, are proper objects of man's faith ; provided, indeed, their practicability or truth is suf- ficiently probable. The exercise of faith in such objects, and the w^ant of it, is what makes the difference between men of enterprise, progress and perseverance, and men of slack character, idle, irresolute habits, and stationary or retrograde con- dition. " He that observeth the wind shall not sow," says the writer of Ecclesiastes, " and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." It is only a probable truth that the hus- bandman shall gather the product of his toil, yet if he will not put faith in it, he becomes by his refusal a slack and idle man, and his children shall go hungry and be clothed in rags. And just so, whatever may be a man's occupa- tion in life, if he will not put faith in the prospects of suc- cess which lie before him, or the possibilities of obtaining a reward for his labor — in other words, if he will not act upon the supposition that he may reap if he will sow, a proposition which he sees to be a probable truth, he be- comes by his refusal an idle, irresolute being, whose charac- ter and condition will be continually receding from worse to worse. On the other hand, the man who ploughs and sows with 122 DISCOURSES. diligence, acting on the supposition that he may reap ; or the man of business, who acts on a similar probable truth, and builds houses and stores, and buys merchandise and produce, and erects mills, and factories, and workshops, and sends to sea his ships, freighted with costly cargoes, and plans rail-roads, and takes and procures subscriptions to the stock, and opens canals, and erects telegraphic posts and wires, and invents and executes improvements in do- mestic and farming utensils, stoves, washers, ploughs and reapers, and in tools and steam-engines, and in house- building, and barns, and fences ; — such a man is a man of enterprise, and a man of progress. And such is the dif- ference which /azV/i, in the proper objects of worldly activ- ity, and the want of faith, makes between one man and another. Sometimes, indeed, the truth in which the idle man re- fuses to put faith may not be the precise one which has been mentioned ; but the principle is the same. The truth that industry, and the competence which it would secure, would make him a happier man, may be the truth in which he refuses to put faith ; and so he hangs about from door to door, and lounges from store to shop, a lazy, lank, and dirty drone, with his hands slouched down into his eiLpty pockets, and his hat slouched over his empty head, a very picture of miserable imbecility ; — and if he fall not into the devouring jaws of him who Ueth in wait with his liquid fire to catch men, it is well. But let him put faith in that truth which he now rejects, and you s^hall see him a cheerful and contented man, and his late neglected family sitting around him in comfort, with gladness in every eye. And in like manner, every man who seeks to maintain I DISCOURSES. 123 himself in comfort, or to better his condition, acts and must act in faith in the proper objects of human activity. The hardy adventurer of the land of gold ; the man who left the home of his sires among the hills of New-England, or on the Atlantic slope, to build his cabin on these prairies of the West ; the emigrant who fled from the old world, where men " grind the faces of the poor," and trample upon the weak, to seek on these occidental shores a home and bread, with liberty of life and conscience ; all these, and all like these, were men of faith. So too, it has been by faith that all those great deeds have been wrought in all times by which their actors en- nobled themselves, and blessed mankind. By faith, the philosophic Franklin lifted his kite into the storm, and brought the lightning from the cloud, and so taught men to defend their lives and property from the destructive bolt. By faith, a Fulton launched upon the waters, amid the sneers of unbelieving spectators, that grand experiment which was to lay open these broad, rich lands to the emi- grant, make our rivers highways of commerce, bring the choice productions of all climes to our feet ; nay, join all lands in a brotherhood of nations, and bless them with un- numbered gifts. By faith, Milton, when he stood a blind old man upon the verge of time, conceived in his mighty heart the thought of somewhat that his countrymen would " not willingly let die," and sung that lofty song which shall echo in every land to stir ihe soul with sublime emotions, and " vindi- cate the ways of God to man." By faith, Cromwell, when he told Hampden that the Parliament needed better soldiers than old broken down tapsters and serving men — ^it needed men who feared God» 124 DISCOURSES. felt the power of conscience, and hated the devil — by faith he replied to the inquiry whether he could find and train such men, that he verily " tJiought he could do smnewhat^"* and went forth to tiy ; and England felt the tread of his footsteps ; and the world feels it still ! By faith, Columbus, amid the scorn of mariners, mer- chants, wise men and princes, and with a sword hanging over his head, launched forth undauntingly upon the wa- ters of the untracked and seemingly boundless ocean, to seek a new world for the adventurous tread of men, and lay open a refuge for the oppressed and needy of all lands. By faith he began the perilous voyage, and by faith he prosecuted it ; and w^hen the hearts of the mariners failed them for fear, and in unbelieving despondency they de- manded to be carried back to their far-forsaken homes, and even conspired to cast him into the sea, by faith he stood among them all undaunted and unyielding, bidding them go forward still, till the New World was found ! By faith, in after time, when a new people had sprang up in this New World, those brave men, in national coun- cil assembled, on that memorable Fourth of July, pledged *' their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor" to the maintenance of the Declaration they had made ; and by faith our generals led, and our armies fought, till America was redeemed, the refuge for the poor, and the banner-land of freedom to all nations. All these men, we say, acted in faith ; in faith that the objects which they sought could he attained by resolute hearts and well-directed efforts. I repeat, then, it is faith in the proper objects of human activity that produces all the enterprise and industry of men, begets all the noble deeds of great souls, causes all DISCOURSES. 125 the improvements in man's earthly means of happiness, and is every year adding blessing to blessing and changing the whole face of our world.* Second. But there is another kind of worldly faith of which I have spoken, and to this I must now advert. This has already been characterized as faith in improper objects. Such objects are those which tend to degrade or corrupt the man who puts faith in them, or lead him to wrong his fellow. The creed of the avaricious man, comes under this denomi- nation. " Wealth is the great good," is the proposition to which he has given his faith: "the more money, the more pleasure." And so, he refuses every avoidable outlay ; he drives hard bargains, not only with those who have means, but also with the poor — yea, even with the widow and the fatherless ; he hires at the very lowest wages, and if pos- sible pays the poor lad when done in worthless trash ; he buys property at hidf its value, because some unfortunate man is forced to sell ; or gets it into his possession by dis- honorable means ; he takes advantage of some station of trust in which he is placed to overreach his neighbor or the public, and yet keep strictly within the letter of the law ; he cheats his neighbor in selling him property or goods, though very careful, perhaps, to cheat him without telling any lies, lest he be confronted with his falsehood ; he shuts his heart close against the calls of benevolence, and will not own that God's poor have any right to God's property in his hands ; nay, though he has enjoyed the benefit of a * " Faith is the basis of all great, active enterprises. If a man cannot think well, nor write well, ^vithout faith; so in all difficult enterprises, which imply physical as well as mental efifort, he cannot act well,." ITpAam's "Life of Faith," Part i. ch. ii. The Sermon of Abp. Leighton, on " The BeliCTer a Hero," wiU sug- gest the same thought. [£o. 126 DISCOURSES. free, peaceful, and prosperous country, enabling him to ac- cumulate his wealth and to enjoy it in safety, — a benefit procured for him by the toil of others — he will make no return; even his country, the public interest, appeals to him in vain ; with both hands fast upon his treasures he creeps on to old age, every nobler impulse of his nature, day by day drying up, and his moral stature shrinking into a more miserable and hideous decrepitude, as he approaches nearer to the time, when, stript and naked, he shall be hur- ried before his Judge. !Such is the influence of the faith of the avaricious man — a faith in the proposition that riches are his greatest good. Another wretched faith is that of the sensualist. The idea upon which he acts is, that his highest happiness is to be found in securing the greatest amount of sensual grati- fication. And so, with such a faith, he quenches all the higher aspirations of his being, — blots out the finger-prints of Deity upon his soul, — assimilates himself to the brute creation, and makes himself viler than they,^lays his pol- luting and destroying touch upon the purity and peace of families, — nourishes in his breast and breathes around him odors of moral pestilence and death, — forgets God and the future, and riots in the present, and is gay in the midst of the ruin that he is, and that he makes, — and " dieth as the fool dieth." Such is the fruit of the sensualist's faith ; the man who mocks at the faith of the Christian. Another wicked faith is that of the soldier, the man of blood, who seeks what he calls gloi^, on the field of battle. His creed is, that it is better to hate his enemies, and butcher them by thousands, and prove himself more of a tiger than they, and so gain an illustrious name among men, than to endeavor to overcome evil with good, and DISCOURSES. 127 live unhonored in the world ; and so he rushes into the conflict, shoots and stabs with frantic fury, and comes off covered with gory glory ! Another vile faith is that of the unprincipled politician, who thinks that the honor and emoluments of office are better than a useful independence, and a virtuous self-re- spect ; and so he barters his manhood for votes and his integrity for office, and lifts his rottenness above our heads to pollute the air we breathe. Another dreadful faith is that of the slave-trader. He thinks it probable that if he will man his ship, and set forth to a foreign shore, he may there be able to seize some of his unfortunate fellow beings, transport them to his native land, and sell them for beasts of burden with great gain. Upon this proposition, then, he acts. He sets out on his dreadful errand ; he makes the wretched Africans his prey^ he crowds them into the hold of his ship, he carries them over the burning sea, and sells them to our countrymen, who are willing to buy ! Oh ! he believes there is no God, or if there is a God he cannot hate iniquity, and there is no hell ! Such are the fruits, such is the influence upon human character, of an unrighteous worldly faith. And many are the wicked works it has wrought, of which we might tell. It was by such a faith that our rulers, lately, made cruel war upon an unhappy people, thinking to gain their land. It is in such a faith that some of our Southern states- men have threatened to dissolve the Union, — believing they could frighten the haters of iniquity into silence. It was in such a faith that Arnold betrayed his country, — faith in British gold. It was in such a faith that England once sent her armies to murder our countrymen, and ravage our towns, thinking she could reduce us under her yoke. 1-28 DISCOURSES. It is by such a faith that Hungary is fallen, and Venice is crushed, and Italy once more enslaved ; the failh of tyrants in their soldiers and cannon. It has been by such a faith that tyrants all over the world have crushed and torn their unhappy subjects — faith in the blessings of pow- er and plunder. It was in sueh a faith that Herod de- stroyed the babes of Bethlehem, thinking to murder Christ. It was in such a faith that Judas betrayed his Master ; hoping for the thirty pieces of silver. All these, we say, and all the crimes with w^hich earth has ever been stained, have been the fruits of an unright- eous faith. It is faith in the improper objects of human de- sire, that has produced all the debasement and the guilt of the human character ; that has begotten all the vile and cruel deeds of degenerate souls ; that has caused all the w^retchedness that man has ever inflicted upon man ; and that is every year adding curse to curse, and striving to pollute the whole face of our sinful world.* Thus have we seen, the influence of a righteous and un- righteous worldly faith, upon the character and condition of men. We have seen that as their faith is, so are they : industrious, enterprising, progressive, and increasing in the means of enjoyment ; or, idle, vicious, full of shames and crimes, polluted in heart, and debased in mind, gath- ering treasures of wrath for the day when conscience shall assert its power. * " The undertakings of Alexander, of Hannibal, of Caesar, did not signify valor like to this; their achievements were but toys in comparison to these; those famous gallants would have found it infinitely harder to conquer the world in this way; to have subdued their lusts, and mastered their passions, would have proved far more difficult than to get advantage in scuffles with armed men." Dr. Barrow, on the Creed. — Sermon I. on Faith. DISCOURSES. 129 I remark, finally, if guilty men would soberly look at the faith with which they are living, it would seem enough to turn them to the paths of righteousness. Especially would this seem true of the man, whether professing Christ or not professing, whose understanding assents to the truth of the Gospel, but who lives, notwithstanding, a worldly life. It is better to be a stranger to the love of Christ (is the faith of such a man), it is better to have no treasure in Heaven, it is better to love immoderately this world where I cannot stay, it is better to be an enemy of God and righteousness, it is better to have my own conscience con- demn me, and none justify me when I am judged ! Such is your faith, reader, if you are living in sin, yet owning that the word of Christ is true. DISCOURSE YII. Religious Faith. 2 Corinthians, iv. 18 : " While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen : for the things which are seen are temporal, hut the things which are not seen are eternal y We have seen, in the discussion of our subject, that faith is a characteristic of all human actions ; and we have briefly glanced at the influence of a right and of a wrong worldly faith upon the human character and condition. We are now, therefore, prepared to see that a right reli- gious faith may be a thing, possibly, not unreasonable, and in its influence upon the character of man not altogether without value. To examine this subject is our present ob- ject : that is — 3d. To show the nature^ the mm^al character, and the injluence of religious faith. Religious faith, I will define to be, faith in unseen, un- worldly things : or, expanding one of these terms, it is ACTING — with more or less of the feeling of assurance — upon the reality of unseen, unworldly things. It follows, from this definition, that there may be various kinds or species of religious faith, some of which may be wrong and injurious, and others, perhaps, right and good. The faith of the blinded pagan in his idol, is a religious faith. It may be an exercise of heart, belonging to a DISCOURSES. 131 a false religion ; yet it pertains to a religion, and is, there- fore, a religious exercise. It is faith in an unseen spiritual power, residing in that dumb idol, that block of wood or stone. It may be a faith which consists with, or even lies in, acts of selfishness, cruelty, and sensuality ; and so it often is. Such a faith is an impure and guilty religious faith, corrupting and debasing the soul which cherishes it, sink- ing its exalted powers, and spreading around it an aroma of death. The wretched idolater adheres, with worship and obedience, to that pretended God who permits — nay, who commands him to riot in lust and rage in cruelty, and live with his right hand full of lies and all iniquity. So it was with the sensual Greek, and the cruel Roman : offer- ing worship to Venus, to Bacchus, and to Mars ; and so it is now with millions of deluded pagans, bowing before the shrines of vice and cruelty, and filling themselves with every wrong. Such a religious faith is but the effort to ob' ain the pro- tection, aid, and favor of wicked supernatural beings, in those dreadful forms of sin which they would otherwise lack opportunity, or would perhaps otherwise fear, to com- mit. It is a faith as vile and as horrible as are the acts to which it prompts, or in which it often consists. Again, the faith of the Mohammedan in the doctrines of his Prophet, is a religious faith. It is faith in a cruel and partial God, in an iron fat«, and in a sensual paradise be- yond the vicissitudes of time. It is a faith which, for the most part, allows and dictates the most hardened selfish- ness ; and whose motive is almost all that that selfishness can ask in this world, or hope for in the world to come. Some exception must, perhaps, be made, since even the 182 DISCOURSES. Koran has been lately interpreted to prohibit traffic in human flesh, yet it will hardly be disputed that the gene- ral character of that faith, and its general influence on the minds of its recipients, is such as has been described. Again, the faith of the Papist in the Virgin Mary, and also in the atoning efficacy of penances and fasts, and the superabundant merits of the saints, is a religious faith. But when the former is exercised, because it encourages the soul in its neglect of God, and the latter is made use of to strengthen the heart in its secret purpose of continuing in sin, such is an unholy faith, which corrupts the soul and will bring down upon it the displeasure of a righteous God. And of just such a character and influence is that faith in Jesus Christ, which holds that He will justify by His blood the man who does not abandon sin in his heart, but is purposed to continue in his transgression of the law of righteousness. Any faith that is exercised to encourage the soul in wrong-doing, with promises of Divine forgive- ness and favor therein, is a most vile and wicked belief, since it is an exercise of thought and will proceeding from the guiltiest and basest intentions which it is possible the mind of man should conceive. And such a faith will steep the soul in baseness and iniquity ; and make it, if anything can, a fit inhabitant for the lowest hell. Is it not the fact that such is the faith which many seem to cherish toward the Lord Jesus Christ ? And thus are they perverting that which is most holy and most hallow- ing, into that which is most sinful, polluting, and God- abhorred. There are, then, or may be, religious faiths whose char- acter and influence are wrong and injurious, and more to be condemned, because more consummately selfish, than DISCOURSES. even the worst forms of the faith which look wholly to this world. But it is the nature, character and influence of one hind of religious faith, not yet mentioned, to which I wish mainly to direct attention : this is. Christian faith. Chris- tian faith may be defined to be, faith in the reality of those unseen things taught or affirmed hy Jesus Christ. These things concern God Himself, and a future world, and the rela- tions of man to the whole. Bringing into view, therefore, the nature of faith, the definition may be more fully ex- pressed thus : Christian faith, as an exercise or state of mind, consists in acting — with some feeling of assurance — or being resolved to act, upon the reality of what Christ has taught concerning Himself, concerning God, and a future state, and man's relations to the whole. The moral character of such a faith must be determined, evidently, by an examination of the nature of those teach- ings, and the nature and grounds of those actions which are based upon their truthfulness. Some of the truths inculcated by Jesus Christ, as will be admitted by those who have read the Gospels, are as follows : That God, the Creator, exercises a constant and particular control over the things of this world and the destinies of men ; that He is a Being of perfect goodness, and commands all men to love Him supremely, and to love one another as they love themselves ; that there is a life beyond the grave, a world to which the souls of men are hastening ; a Heaven, where " the righteous " shall have " life eternal," and a Hell, where the wicked " shall go away into everlasting punishment," " where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched ;" that He Himself (Christ) is the Son of God, and that He came down from 134 DISCOURSES. Heaven to be the Saviour of men, who had sinned ; and that all who should obey Him should inherit eternal life. Now what kind of action is it, that is based upon these teachings as being true 1 Plainly, it is that kind of action which makes a man " righteous," whatever it may be. Nay, we may be specific : it is doing to all men as one would wish they should do to him ; loving supremely and obeying a Being conceived of as perfect in purity, good- ness and wisdom, and whose commands are all righteous ; and following the example and instructions of One, the purity and excellence of whose life and teachings have wrung the highest praises from the lips even of infidels, the world over. Now setting aside the question, How great is the proba- bility of the truthfulness of what Christ has said concern- ing the existence of a God who has commanded these right actions, and will reward and punish in another world ? it is evident that these actions are eminently virtuous, and the faith, of which they are the expression, is an emi- nently righteous faith. Nay ! while their probability is still recognized, the more uncertain the reality of those unseen things and those eternal consequences may appear, the more virtuous, as has already been observed, is this faith, since it proceeds the more upon the acknowledged righteousness of the Chris- tian precepts. Christian faith is a surrender of present and certain good where the law of right demands it, hoping for a reward unseen and future. The more un- certain, then, you affirm that reward to be, the purer do you proclaim the Christian's faith, who still obeys the right. And the more you urge that the Christian's faith is unfounded in reason, the more you assert that to be un- DISCOURSES. 135 reasonable is right — a conclusion, the stroke of whose ab- surdity your own head must bear.* Will it be said that men may be taught to obey the Christian precepts without the Christian hope "? Prove it ! 1 reply. Show that they ever have, or ever will ; or else acknowledge that those whom you assert to be the most unreasonable of men, are the most righteous, and that their folly has made them so — and so saying, utter your own condemnation. The man who obeys the Christian precepts, does it know- ing that they are holy and good ; and he is, therefore, a righteous man. The fact that he enjoys a sense of Divine * There is a very interesting phase of skepticism now extensively prevalent, which, from the premise above stated, deduces a different conclusion, viz. : that Christianity makes a future life too certain for the highest style of virtue. It is urged that many professing Christians seem more to rely upon the eternal re- ward of virtue, than to regard the intrinsic loveliness of virtue. The early Chris- tians, who must rest their hopes mainly upon personal conviction, instead of a current and popular faith, gave less occasion for this skepticism, — though the ancients were ready enough to press their principle, that virtue is its own reward, in this waj'. But in the time of Pomponatius, the apparent establishment of the Christian faith gave new occasion for the old objection. This man, who was persecuted while living, and whose opinions are even now sadly misunderstood, did not deny the immortality of the soul, but rather maintained it as a fact proven by the Scriptures, and by them only. And he questioned the meta- physical and moral proofs of a future life, because they were vacated by the prin- ciple that virtue is its own reward. Those who understood this truth could, and would, be virtuous if there were no Heaven to allure them or no Hell to affright them. Endeavoring to show that the principles of Aristotle did not prove im- mortality, he saj's, in reply to an objection, "Virtue requires that we should die for our country or our friends; and virtue is never so perfect as when it brings no dower with it." But he adds — " Philosophers and the learned only, knoAV what pleasures the practice of virtue can procure, and what misery at- tends ignorance and vice ; — but men not understanding the excellence of virtue and depravity of vice, would commit any wickedness rather than submit to death."' (See Warburton's Div. Legat. i. iii., and Bayle's Diet.) We may reconcile the difficulties of the skepticism we have named, perhaps, thus: 1. A God of infinite goodness and wisdom may know how to encourage virtue without corrupting it. 2. The truly virtuous disciple of Christ regards an endless life not mainly as a future reward for present virtue, but as a boundless range for the exerci.se of virtue ; i. e.. he would fain live for ever, that he may be for ever virtuous. 3. A certainty of future life can never be attained except 136 DISCOURSES. favor, and a hope of future reward, does not take away hig regard for the right, and does not, therefore, destroy his righteousness; it only encourages and confirms him in it, and prompts him to new efforts of obedience. Thus is he preserved from acts of transgression, and by a continued obedience grows stronger and stronger in his love of the right. "We say, then, the activity of Christian faith is a righte- ous activity, consisting in virtuous acts ; and Christian faith, therefore, is a righteous faith, or a morally right exercise of mind. We come next to the consideration of its influence upon human character. That it is purifying in its influence is involved in what has just been said. It leads the soul to forsake evil and to practice righteousness ; and makes it by so doing strong in its love of the right. It is not, however, merely an external conformity to the law of moral purity that it requires and produces : a true exercise of Chris- tian faith implies an abandonment of that selfishness of the heart which is the essence of all sin. It implies a hearty love for the cliaracter of Jesus Christ, and an effort to be like Him. It implies a choice of those holy joys which are the joys of heaven, and which dwell in the bosom of God Himself. Yes, it is a " faith which works by love, and purifies the heart." So far as it is exercised it destroys all those unholy passions by which man is led to wrong his fellow, and opens the heart to those generous sympathies by personal conviction, as distinct from current opinion, and conjoined with an advanced moral experience. This is the " full assurance of hope,'' of which Paul speaks. 4. The probabilities of a future life, found in the history and docunaents of Christianity, or in the wants of man, are eminently fitted to lead the indi- vidual on from selfishness or indifference, to an unselfish love of Christ, and an unselfish desire to dwell with Him in an endless life. — [Ed. DISCOURSES. 137 by which balm and blessing are poured out on the wants and sorrows of the world. It cleanses the soul from all selfish and polluting lusts, and makes it the abode of love Divine. It is a purifying faith. But again, Christian faith is elevating in its influence upon human character.* And this, because it springs from the noblest motives, and looks to the most exalted and far-reaching objects that can em- ploy the mind of man. It is a faith that stops not to busy itself with the present, the finite and the perishing, but looks beyond, unto the future, the infinite and the ever- lasting. The man that lives by this faith is not circum- scribed by the sight of his mortal eyes, but is acting in view of objects eternal and without limit. He is not anxiously inquiring "what shall I eat and what shall I drink, and wherewithal shall I be clothed?" but, when " shall this cor- ruptible put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immor- tality *?" He is seeking, not that " honor which comethfrom men," and which shall soon be forgotten ; but, that " honor which Cometh from God," and shall endure like God Him- self., He is striving, not for a treasure which he shall leave behind him, with groans and tears in this burial place of his mortal body, but for a treasure to which he shall ascend amid the songs of angels, in the dwelling-place of immor- tal spirits, on the banks of the river of life. He asks not how he shall please " a man that shall die, and the son of man that shall be made as grass," but re- membereth " the Lord his Maker, that hath stretched forth * "What can be more instructive than to trace the one great principle of faith in God, existing in combination with the most different degrees of moral know- ledge, yet always so ennobling the character in which it dwells as to raise it above the standard of its own times; and thus to witness in each generation that it is the true salt of human nature, the main element of its highest perfec- tion ?" Dr. Arnold. Misc. Works, pp. 150, 151. 7* 138 DISCOURSES. the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth." He weeps ever the trials and sorrows of life, not with the despairing cry that his hopes are destroyed, and evil hath overwhelmed him ; but with the soothing and consoling assurance that '' all these things are working together for his good." He rejoices not in a hope whose tomb is in his sight, and darkness beyond it ; but in a hope whose bloom is everlasting, and whose blossoms shall unfold forever be- neath the shining of God's face. He walks life's pathway, not with a groan in his heart that the grave is before him, and that "his pomp and his rejoicing shall descend into it ;" but with the exalting cry ready to break forth from his lips : " O Death, where is thy sting: O Grave, where is thy victory !" Yea, he " lifteth up his eyes to the heavens, and looketh upon the earth beneath," and saith : "The heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner ; but the salvation of God shall be for- ever, and his righteousness shall not be abolished."* The faith of the Christian is an elevating faith, expanding the soul to the measure of things infinite and everlasting. It is also, once more, a faith that confers upon the soul the 'purest and most unchanging happiness. The feeling of assurance which attends the evidence of the truth may be at first feeble and faltering, and the joy of faith in its fii'st uncertain steps may therefore be small. * It is in accordance, also, with the principles now advanced that the fact is found in human experience which is expressed in the maxim that '" faith gives the mind a new perception." So many and so wonderful are the truths which the soul that has, taken the Gospel as the object of its fervent faith is continually getting sight of, that it seems to itself to be endowed with new faculties to per- ceive. The eye of such a soul sees the hand-writing of God throughout all the forms in heaven and earth, uttering the same solemn lesson, and pointing to th» same glorious hope which it has learned from the lips of Christ. DISCOURSES. 139 But from the expansive nature of the mind under exercise, and the cumulative nature of moral evidence, that feeling will increase when the truth is acted on, and will continue to increase as obedience continues, until the joy which it shall give to the soul shall be such as no earthly power can dis- turb. Let the purpose of faith be strong and unwavering, and God has not so " left Himself without witness," but that its trust, its firm confidence, its holy peace, and its serene joy shall follow : — yea, they shall flow into the soul like life from heaven. Whether the Christian faith is true or not, such are the facts of human experience, as thousands have testified, and can testify. The widowed mourner, in her poverty and loneliness, has felt the consolation of this faith, and lifted her eye, with a tear of peace and gratitude, to those heavens where God her Saviour dwelleth. The " persecuted for righteousness' sake," and the martyr for the Gospel, have felt it, and been strong to sufi*er and to die for Christ. The man of active piety, the preacher of righteousness, and the tried and toiling witness for the " truth as it is in Jesus," have felt it, and though the whole world around was against them, they have toiled on with an energy and hope the world could not overcome. And it must be so. When we look at the objects of the Christian's faith, we see that it must be so. The sight of Infinite Glory, such as no created loveliness can compai-e with, no mortal goodness can resemble ! The love of that Glorious Being, unchanging and immeasurable ! The pres- ence of Jesus, the friend of sinners, for ever ! " An inherit- ance among all them that are sanctified," " incorruptible and full of glory !" All, all that a pure heart can wish, or that imagination can conceive, and the promise of even 140 DISCOURSES. more ! These are the objects of the Christian's faith, and the joj which comes from hopes like these is the wfiuence of that faith. And the man who lives by it will tell you that he is not left to the opei'ation of merely natural causes for his peace and consolation; but that "the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God ; and if children, then heirs — heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ ;" " whom not having seen we love ; in whom, though now we see him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the reward of our faith, even the salvation of our souls."* I observe, in conclusion. Christian faith is a right religious faith, and a thing most to be desired for the human character. Until the infidel can find a faith more pure, more elevating, and more blissful in its influence, he should not sneer at this unless he would be found sneering at all that is lovely and de- sirable in the human soul. What is the faith of the men of this world, compared with the Christian's faith ? Faith in things perishable, compared with faith in things imperisha- ble? Faith in things finite, with faith in things infinite? Faith in sensual things,wdth faith in spiritual things ? Faith in joys earthly and transient, with faith in joys heavenly and everlasting ? And what is the faith of the infidel, compared with such a faith ? Faith in darkness, compared with faith in the light I Faith in death compared with faith in life ! Faith in emptiness and nothing, compared with faith in an all-glorious Creator and God, and in all the good which such a Being can bestow ! May God save me from the Infidel's faith ! May I live with the Christian's faith in my heart, and die with it burn- ing on my lips in utterances of praise ! and you, dear reader ! ♦ The Author in a note here alludes to " the exploits of religious faith," Heb. xi. DISCOURSE VIII. Faith in God — Its Nature and Influence. Hebrews, xi. 6 : " He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek HimT 1 Pet. i. 21 : " That your faith and hope might he in GodP In discussing the various applications of the principle or act of Faith — in other words, the various kinds of faith — we have noticed, in general, the nature, character, and in- fluence of worldly, and also of religious faith. The latter we have seen to be of various kinds ; and these kinds not all of one character. Without examining at all into the evi- dence by which they are substantiated, we have seen, from the character of the actions which constitute their activity, that some kinds of religious faith are of a vicious or wrong character, while others are virtuous or right. The various kinds of right religious faith now call for some further and more particular notice. There is faith in God — the God of the Bible ; His government and providential care ; His wisdom, His goodness and accessibility ; and faith in Christ also, as Redeemer, Lord, and Teacher. One of these we propose to discuss at this time ; or, considered under the general head of the various kinds of faith, to consider : 4tb. Faith in God — the God of the Bible. By faith in God is always meant, as was previously no- * A note of the author indicates his design, had he lived, to introduce in this Discourse the '' relation of faith to morals, or the ground of obligation to it." U2 DISCOURSES. ticed, faith insoyne truth asserted concerning God;' as, for ex- ample, that He " loveth righteousness ;" or that He "hear- eth the cry of the humble;" or, that His "eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men," and " whatsoever pleaseth Him, that doeth He in heaven and in earth, in the seas and all deep places ;" or it is faith in some othe?- great truth respecting His being, character, or will. Thus, when it is said, that " by faith Noah, being warn- ed of God . . . prepared an ark, to the saving of his house," or, that " Abraham staggered not at the promise of God, through unbelief, but was strong in faith," this disposition, or act, of Noah and of Abraham is called " faith in God." But this expression is elliptical, for it evidently signifies faith in God's power and truthfulness ; in other words, faith in the proposition that God is able and true. The various truths asserted in Holy Scripture concern- ing the Lord Jehovah, and commonly denoted or referred to in the phrase " faith in God," may be comprehended under the terms of the providence, tJie goodness, and the acces- sibility of God. The word Providence I use here in its most comprehen- sive sense. It is asserted that the knowledge and power of God extend to all human events, and that He is exercising y moral government over men, and directing and control- ing all the actions and issues of life. All the truths em- oraced in these propositions : — the Divine care for His creatures ; the Divine government over men, administered according to an expressed law ; the Divine knowledge witnessing and even foreseeing every act and condition of human life ; and the Divine power, able to control and direct them all, within those limits which Supreme Wis- dom shall direct — all these truths are included under the term " Providence of God." DISCOURSES. 143 The "goodness of God," denotes the truth, likewise as- serted bj the Sacred Scriptures, that He is such a Being that all the acts, and the whole scheme and aim of His providence, are directed invariably by the supreme law of love, benevolence, compassion, and kindness toward the whole of His creatures, and toward each one of them, so far as the good of the whole will allow ; that He does so care for the happiness of each and all the inhabitants of this world, from the highest to the lowest, that nothing which His infinite power and all-seeing wisdom can do for their good, consistently with the great principles of univer- sal justice and supreme benevolence, will be left undone. And by the " accessibility of God" I mean another truth, equally asserted in Scripture — his accessibility to true sup- pliants ; or the fact that He regards the sincere prayers of His obedient creatures, and will gi-ant their requests so far as the best principles of government will allow. In considering, therefore, the subject of faith in God, it is faith in these truths that we speak of : that God has en- acted a certain law for the moral conduct of men, and is administerino: a natural government over all the events of life in such a way as to carry out the principles of this government, and further its ends; that He Himself is gov- erned also in all the administration of this government, Wy the supreme law of love ; and that He will hear and an- swer prayer in accordanee with the dictates of the same law. In considering, therefore, first, the nature of faith in God, or ichat it is, we observe, it is faith in His providence, His goodness and accessibility. And to have faith in these is, io recognize their prohahilitij, and act upon them. The first of these elements, the recognition of the proba- bility of these great truths affirmed concerning the Lord 144 DISCOURSES. Almighty, is perhaps wanting in but few minds among those who have been permitted to see the light of Divine Revelation. That they are probable, is what we cannot now pause to argue, but what we do, nevertheless, unhesi- .tatingly and loudly afi&rm in the face of all men. And there is one idea touching the proof which I will here merely mention. It is quite commonly said, even among defend- ers of Christianity, that the benevolence of God must first be proved from nature alone, before a revelation from Him can be received as trustworthy. But this is not alto- gether true. The existence^ in this world, of Jesus Christ is a phenomenon that requires to be accounted for ; and it can only be accounted for — we challenge the whole world to maintain the contrary — it can only be accounted for on the supposition that He did truly " come from God," and that God is a Being of infinite goodness, who does care for the happiness of men, and will visit their conduct with righteous retribution. The life of Jesus Christ in this world, therefore, is, in all which it comprehends, a moral demonstration of the be- nevolence and providence of God, even supposing there were no other proof. Nay, more ! We afiirm that it is the greatest of all ^ roofs that can be offered ; and the proof tipon which all Christian hearts, the world over, do mostly, and well nigh entirely, rely. But to return. The probability of these great asserted truths is seen at some period of their lives by most or all men who have the Bible in their hands, and certainly may be seen by all. It is only obedience to these truths which they lack to the possession of faith. To act upon them would make them true believers. To live in this world, as if one saw the hand of God DISCOURSES. 146 moving amid all its shifting scenes and events ; raising up one, and putting down another; directing with resistless power the issue of every human plan and effort ; and giving to one prosperity, and to another adversity, as He will, (though not without reference to man's employment of means) ; and to live, therefore, as if it were folly to strive for earthly good out of the line of rectitude ; to act as if it were true that God does govern and decide the mortal and immortal destinies of men, and as if were best, therefore, to obey His righteous laws and endeavor to please Him ; to take no event of life as fortuitous, but seeing in every one a Divine meaning;, or searchino- therefor, to make such use of it as God designed ; to rest upon the care of the Almighty and all-seeing one, and refuse to entertain desponding and anxious thoughts about the future of this life ; to live as if that future were safe, so long as the heart shall keep itself right with God, giving it all up into the keeping and disposal of that unsleeping hand, and striving only to see and follow the pointing of its unerring finger ; to run forward with alacrity upon the shining pathway of God's holy precepts, as if one saw, in very deed, the wreath of immortal glory hung out before him from the opening portals of celestial bliss ; this, this is faith — faith in the Providence of God ! To receive all the good gifts of life as the gracious offer- ings of Divine love, answering them back with grateful devotion ; to turn the eye upward in the midst of provo- cation and annoyance, and be calm ; to check the fount of weeping when sorrow cometh, and light up the tearful cheek with smiles, by the thought that, though darkness is writ- ten in gloomy lines upon its front, brightness is behind the cloud — an "exceeding and eternal weight of glory;" and 146 DISCOURSES. to bow down under the chastisement without a murmur ; to live as if sure that no evil can happen to the righteous soul, but it shall find life and blessing forever ; to live as if the presence that filleth heaven and earth were a pres- ence of light and love, and the sympathies of infinite emo- tion were on the side of pure and high benevolence ; and as if the hate and cruel wrong of this world were but a dark spot in the far corner of a universe of radiant glory ; and as if the strength of immeasurable might were arrayed against sin, and on the side of holiness ; this it is, to have faith in the Goodness of God. To act, as though it were true that the entreating voice of the penitent and obedient heart were heard of God ; to act, as though there were help to be found in time of need, by asking it of the Lord ; to live, as though there were rich treasures of grace and blessing, which God is ready to bestow upon him that maketh request ; to entreat, as though the tide of sin and sorrow, that sweeps over this world, could be rolled back by the voice of supplication, and the dark places of death and misery be made effulgent by the light of life ; to ask, as though men were perishing of need, and as though the infinite and eternal treasures of God's bounty were running over in His hands, and ready to be given to ten thousand souls for the entreaty of one ; to pray, as if prayer would rend the crystal firmament and bring down heaven to earth, and God to dwell in the habi- tations of men ; — this it is to have faith in God's willing- ness to answer prayer. If men would thus live, thus worship, and thus pray, then at His coming would the Son of Man " find faith on the earth." And it is only in proportion as men do thus live, adore, DISCOURSES. 147 and continually pray, that they have " faith in God." And what is Avanting in most men to this faith, is not, as has already been remarked, the intellectual conviction, but the willingness of the heart to act upon it. It is true that by refusing so to act, men may stifle this conviction, and lose it entirely ; but I believe, at some period of their lives, God gives it to most men so as reasonably to demand their obedience. And there are thousands who live all their days with an intellectual belief of the character and gov- ernment of God, who yet never make it a practical. Scrip- tural faith, by lives of obedient holiness. It is possible, indeed, to conceive of a being who shall have a icicked faith in the providence and goodness of God. This is when the understanding recognizes these truths, and the heart openly curses and rebels against them. This is acting on them ; but it is acting according to the dic- tates of a Satanic spirit. Such bold and dreadful wicked- ness, it is to be hoped, is never perpetrated in this world : in the dark world of damned spirits it may he. There, it may be, the lost soul casts off all restraint, and exposes its awful wickedness to the gaze of angels and men, acknowl- edging that God is good and doeth good, and cursing Him for it!* * In common with multitudes in our day, the author felt the difficulty of re- conciling the Divine goodness with the final and eternal misery of the lost. This was the heaviest burden of his faith, and it prepared him to be astonished at the force of reasoning in certain arguments respecting the nature of the second death, " contrary to his previous convictions," — and made him very anxious to see a new discussion of the subject. In the above paragraph he approaches, we think, a true and very important view of the subject, viz. : that tliose who at the last prove unworthy of eternal life, would prefer that God should appear to have been unjust, or even malignant, towards them ; and the vanishing of all their cherished doubts of His goodness will be their bitterest anguish. Just as, to one who has through distrust allowed an alienation of friendship, there is nothing so torturing as the too late discovery that the affection of an injured friend has been ever constant. — [Ed. 148 DISCOURSES. But that faith in the providence and goodness of God, which is generally or always found in this world, where there is any faith at all, is the faith which acts upon these truths by obedience and love. Such, at least, is the faith we are considering, which is a righteous faith. And speaking of such a faith, we say : he believes in the providential care of God who commits all his interests into the Divine keeping and refuses to think of fear ; he believes that God governs men by a righteous law, who, knowing that it is therefore best to obey that law, acts upon it hy obeying ; he believes in the goodness of God who adores Him for it, nourishes his hopes and allays his griefs by it, and cherishes in his soul the love of goodness by the power of its infinite sympathy and mefisureless attraction ; and he believes that God heareth prayer, who acts upon it with glad and unceasing supplication. Such, dear friends, is the nature of faith in God. But let us now notice, Secondly, the peculiar influence of such a faith* After such a view of its nature, indeed, it needs not to speak particu- larly of its influence ; yet it may be well for a moment to direct attention to this point alone. I remark, then (first) such a faith enlarges the soul. Man must believe something — must act, as we have seen, upon some probable truth ; and what truth can be proposed to him so high and expan- sive as the doctrine of a God ? What other practical truth can compare with it ? What other practical truth, concerning the affairs of this world, is so expansive to the * The following note of the author indicates the changes he would have made in this discussion: "Peculiar influences; — better — 1st, Elevate the soul; 2d, Draw into fellowship with God (i. e., by faith in the doctrine of pra3'er) ; 3d, Nourish, by sympathy, &c., the principle of love; 4th, To give firmness and sta- bility to the character, taking away the fear of man." DISCOURSES. 149 thoughts and so ennobling to the heart that believes it, as this truth, that they are all wielded by an Omnipotent Hand, and directed by an Omniscient Eye, to the accom- plishment of the purposes of Infinite Goodness ? that God is in the world, turning the current of its history, leading on His people in the paths of life, overruling the machina- tions of His enemies, bringing order out of its confusion and light out of its darkness, and rolling on the mighty tide of its events to the grand and glorious consummation of " righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost ?" How elevating is the faith of the politician^ or the soldier y compared with such a faith ? The faith of a Napoleon, in the prowess of his own genius, when the hour of dreadful conflict was approaching, may have possessed a seeming grandeur and sublimity ; but what was it to the faith of a Cromwell in the Invisible and Almighty God of battles, who could rule, with a whisper, the raging of His foes, or blow away His enemies with the breath of His mouth '? The faith of a Pitt, in the power of his alliances and his financial schemes, to stay the march of the dreaded con- queror, and deliver trembling and bleeding Europe, may seem imposing to the looker-on ; but what was it to the faith of a Washington, who bent his knee in prayer to Him who ruleth the hearts of men, and can " deliver the needy when they cry V The faith of a Columbus, in a new world beyond the untravelled ocean, was elevating and inspiring to the soul, and most worthy of a noble genius ; but what was it, in all its greatness, to the faith of every humble Christian in that new and invisible world beyond the flood of death, whose brightness outvies the sun, and where the city of our God sheds the radiance of its jasper walls, day without night, upon the happy bands of the redeemed ! 150 DISCOURSES Come here, ye great men, and ye aspiring and proud, come here and learn wisdom of him who has faith in God, though it be but a lowly child. Who is the great man ? He who lives as if this world wer5 all — toiling, it may be, with an angel's strength, to master as much as mortal fingers can grasp of its power, or wealth, or fame, to die in a few days and leave it 1 or he who almost forgets this world in his sense of the pres- ence therein of its Almighty and glorious Creator, and who lives borne up continually on the wings of infinite thought, and illumined with all the radiance of eternal truth *? Such is the man who has a living and abiding faith in God ; and such is the expansive influence of this faith upon the soul. But (secondly) this faith tends to rectify the character. Its activity consists^ in part, of obedience to the great laws of rectitude which all men acknowledge to be contained in the Christian Scriptures in the utmost purity. And more than this, it places a man at such an elevated position as makes him regard sin as the blindest folly, and uprightness as true wisdom, while it holds also before his eyes a pic- ture of immortal blessedness to animate his upward steps. It is the man who forgets God, and none else, that ima- gines wickedness to be gain, and perversity to be the path of peace. He who has faith in God, has faith in the wis- dom of uprightness. But again, this faith nourishes^ hy sympathy and attraction, the principle of love. Man, who is so easily and so power- fully influenced by sympathy, is too often led astray by the sympathies of evil which surround him in this world. But he whose faith is in God, lives under the influence of a greater sympathy for good than all the sympathies for evil DISCOURSES. 151 which the whole world can present. He feels, in whatever circumstances, that few are on the side of selfishness ; for God, who is infinitely more than all, is on the side of love. The emotions of an Infinite Mind, and the attractiveness of spotless and immeasurable goodness, are appealing to his sympathies and his affections, and drawing him over more and more to true benevolence. How hardening, often, to a young and generous heart, is that selfishness with which it meets on entering actively into life; and how lost is the soul which has lost its faith in goodness. One truly benevolent friend will sometimes save from moral ruin a soul that without him was fast run- ning into this unbelief. It is something to have faith in goodness, even in a human being, imperfect as its manifes- tation must be ; yea, it is much. But how much more to have faith in goodness, infiiiite and without spot, in the person of an omnipresent and Almighty God ! But finally, the mjiuence of Jaith in God is to give peace, and hope, and joy. " I have set the Lord always before me," is the language of the possessor of this faith ; " be- cause He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved." " I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me." " My soul shall be satisfied, as with marrow and fatness, and my moutli shall praise thee with joyful lips ;" " in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice." "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines ; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat ; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls, — yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will ioy in the God of my salvation." There is no faith like faith in God ! Is yours such a faith, reader % or do you believe in the promises of this 152 DISCOURSES. world, and refuse to believe in God? "According to your faith " it will be unto you; hope, joy, and peace, with in- creasing purity and expansion of soul, in this world ; or disappointment, restlessness, and remorse : and in the world to come, if the Bible is true, a difference that tongue can- not speak nor imagination conceive ; and a difference that endures and increases for ever. DISCOURSE IX. Faith in Christ — Regenerating. I John, v. 1 : " Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God.'''' In our examination of the subject of right religious faith, we have discussed the general topic of Faith in God ; and it now remains, in accordance with our original design, to treat : 5th. Of Faith in Christ, In accordance with what has been previously said, the term " faith in Christ " denotes faith in some truth or truths concerning Him. It is more commonly used, indeed, with reference to some particular truth, or asserted truth : for example, that He procures and bestows the pardon of my sins. But when used in a general and comprehensive sense, it properly denotes faith in the truthfulness and Divine authority of all that Christ- taught, whether con- cerning God, or Himself, or the soul of man ; or, in sim- pler form, Faith in Christ is faith in all the teachings of Christ. This, indeed, is the only proper significance of the term, except when the circumstances of its use show the mean- ing to be more restricted. No man has faith in Christ, in the full and worthy sense of the term, who has not faith in all that he hears and sees Christ to teach. Now, if I understand aright those teachings, it will be 8 154 DISCOURSES. found that three distinct kinds of faith are involved in this faith in Christ, which may be called by the names, Uegen- erating, Justifying, and Sanctifying Faith, using these terms in their common significance among Christians. These three kinds of faith in Christ, I propose to con- sider separately, showing the reality of each in its own proper connection. And, as our present subject of con- templation, let us notice First, Regenerating Faith. It is the doctrine of Paul, that " God was in Christ, re- conciling the world unto Himself." The Apostle held? then, that men are the enemies of God, and that by Jesus Christ they are, in some manner, changed to friends. But this change, by which they who were enemies become friends of God, must be, in some respect or to some ex- tent, their own act ; and this act must be founded, accord- ing to the declaration of the Apostle, upon something which they have seen or heard in Christ ; and it must, therefore, be an act of faith in Christ. But it is my present purpose to show, from Christ's own words, that faith in Him involves this charge : a change commonly called, from the language which he used to Nicodemus, regeneration, or the new birth. Christ taught that when He was " lifted up," He would " draw all men to Him." And why draw to Him? "Come unto me, all ye that labor," He says. Why % " And I will give you rest." " If any man thirst," he says again, " let him come unto me and drink." " He that believeth in me, out of his belly (bosom, heart,) shall flow rivers of living water." " He that cometh to me shall never hunger : he that believeth in me shall never thirst." "Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings and doeth them, I DISCOURSES. 155 will show you to whom he is like : he is like a man who built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock ; and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehe- mently upon the house and could not shake it, for it was founded upon a rock." To come to Christ, then, to believe in Him, to hear and do His sayings — in other words, to act upon His teachings as true, which is, to have faith in them, is to find rest for the soul, to satisfy its thirst, to make it overflow with the water of life, and feed upon that bread which causeth it to hunger no more ; yea, it is to build one's spiritual house upon a rock whereon the swell- ing and vehement floods can never overwhelm it. Such a man, surely, is born again, if there is such a thing : by faith in Christ he has become a new creature, if any do. But the truth of our present position may be more par- ticularly shoAvn from the words of Christ, and by an appeal to every man's knowledge of the human heart. It will be shown, therefore, in the first place, that Christ taught the necessity of the new birth to man's highest good ; from which it will follow, in the second place, that faith in Plim involves the act or acts by which a man becomes regene- rate, if there are any such acts ; and that there are, will likewise be shown by the nature of Christ's commands, contrasted with every man's knowledge of human kind. (1). That Christ taught the necessity of the new birth to man's higliest good. He said to Nicodemus, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." And at another time, to those who were attending daily on his instructions, He said, " Except ye be converted, {eav fii] orpacpTjTe, except ye turn or change,) and become as little children, ye enter not the kingdom of Heaven." " And what shall it profit 156 DISCOURSES. a man," he sajs to all, "if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" Christ, then, does teach man's need of being born again, in order to his highest good. But let us now inquire what Christ means by this new birth ; or what, according to His doctrine, it implies. And I observe, it implies (1st) a sense of sin preceding. He spake a parable, of a Pharisee who congratulated himself before God for his righteousness, and a publican who " smote upon his breast, saying, ' God be merciful to me, a sinner.' " And " this man," He tells us, " went down to his house justified rather than the other ;" for it is " he that humbleth himself," that "shall be exalted." And in the parable of the prodigal son. He represents the wanderer returning to his father and saying, "Father, I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." But again, the new hirth implies repentance from sin. The burden of Christ's preaching, we are told, was, " Repent : for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand." The new hirth was the necessary preparation for that Kingdom, as He declared to Nicodemus ; but here kve are told that men must repent, to be ready for it : so that either they are identical, or one must be included in the other. And when men told Him of the Galileans, " whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices," He answered, " Except ye repent, ye, likewise, shall all perish." (3d), The new hirth implies tliat they who have expe- rienced it live in obedience to God. " For," says the Lord Jesus, "not every one that saith unto me. Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in Heaven." That new birth, therefore, which prepares the soul for that Kingdom, DISCOURSES. 157 brings after it obedience to God ; and must, therefore, itself be the beginning of that obedience. And what is implied, according to the teachings of Christ, in obedience to Godl We answer, (first) a new state of spiritual apprehension. Pie represents men as walking in darkness, and stumbling over their own members into perdition. But " if any man will do the will of Him that sent me," He says, "he shall know of my doctrine:" his spiritual understanding shall be renovated and quickened, so that he shall perceive the Divinity that speaks in me, and shall know in whom he has believed. It implies (secondly) a new state of the affections. The first and great commandment of God, according to the teaching of Christ, is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart ; and the second is like unto it : Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself That obedience, then, which is implied in the new birth of which Christ speaks, embraces a supreme and controlling love to God, and a love to all the human family, which makes their interests as sa- cred as one's own. It implies, therefore, (thirdly) a new mode of treating the Divine instructions. " He that is of God," says Christ, "heareth God's words." To hear God's words, is to have the ears open to receive, and the heart ready to obey them. It does not allow that a man should live in forgetfulness of his Creator, hearkening only to the per- suasive voices of earthly pleasures and enticements ; it im- plies the disposition continually to seek wisdom of Him that " givcth to all men liberally and upbraideth not." (Finally), Obedience to God implies a different fruit of the life, from that which was before yielded by disobe- dience. Of one in that former state, Christ says that " he 158 DISCOURSES. layed up treasures for himself and was not rich toward Grod ;" and he declares of all men, that " by their fruits ye shall know them. "A good man, out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things, and an evil man, out of evil treasure, bringeth forth evil things." But we come now to observe (2) that faith in Christ, in- volves the act or acts hj which man becomes a new creature. To have faith in Him, is, as we have seen, to act on the truth of all his teachings. But one of His doctrines has been shown to be, that the new birth is essential to man's highest good. And this is what every man seeks. Every man's life is a life of faith in some proposition, whether formally stated or not, which claims as its object the high- est good. The ambitious soldier acts on the proposition that honor is the greatest good; the covetous man, that money ; the debauchee, i\i2ii pleasure is the greatest good ; and their lives are lives of faith in these propositions. And, in like manner, he who has faith in Christ is one who acts on Christ's proposition, that to be renewed in heart is essential to man's highest good ; and he is one, therefore, who per- forms the act or acts by which he becomes regenerate, if any such acts there are. That there are such acts will be seen as we evolve now more particularly from the nature of the new .birth the great truth now insisted on, that this change is involved in faith in Him. Repentance from sin, and beginning obedience to God, as we have already seen, constitute this change. And Christ has declared that except men repent they shall all perish, and that he only who doeth the will of His Father shall enter the kingdom of heaven. To have faith in Christ is to act on his teachin<]js as true ; •DISCOURSES. 159 and to act on these teachings is to repent and form the purpose of obedience. Faitli in Him, then, involves re- pentance and beginning obedience ; that is, it involves the change or renewal of the heart, which Christ has called the new birth. It is in accordance with what has now been said, and is explained by it, that we find so often in the New Testa- ment, the word " believed" used as nearly equivalent to the term "repented." Thus it is said that when some who were scattered abroad upon the persecution which arose about Stephen, preached the Lord Jesus at Antioch, " a great number ' believed,' and turned to the Lord ;" and when Paul and Barnabas preached in Iconium, it is said that '• a great multitude, both of the Jews and also of the Greeks, believed ;" and in Corinth, at the preaching of Paul, "many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized ;" and so in many other places. In these pas- sages, the word "believed" plainly includes the idea of re- pe.itance; as we have seen that faith, in its full import, always does. I wish now to put it to all my readers, of whatever sen- timents they may be, whether believers in the Divine origin of Christianity or not. I wish to put it to the consciousness of every one, whether true faith in Christ does not involve so great a change from the common and natural character of man, that it may be fitly said of him who exercises it, if such an one there is, "he is a new creatm'e," he is " born again." This faith consists, as we have seen, in acting on Christ's teachings a? true. But he has taught that salvation and true happiness, which all desire, are to be found only in obedience to the Divine commands, which, he declares, are 160 DISCOURSES.- such as these : — Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, might, mind, soul, and strength ; whatsoever ye Tv^ould that men should do to you, do ye even so to them ; resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also ; love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you ; lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven ; be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink ; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on ; seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Is not the man who shall obey these commandments, compared with the general character of mankind, is he not one " born again ?" is he not " a new creature "?" I put it to your own conscience ; and I know that that conscience will sustain the w^ords of Christ as fitly spoken ; and you will say, in the words of his Apostle, " if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation." But again, let me urge upon my hearers the truth, that no man believes in Christ who is not renewed. I will not assert that a man must assent to this or that theological dogma to be a believer in Jesus. IMen may perhaps differ much about many doctrinal propositions with- out knowing, and therefore without virtual disobedience to the will of God ; but practical righteousness and piety is too plain a matter ; they cannot but understand here. To love your enemies ; to do good to them that hate you ; to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteous- ness ; to obey all the moral precepts of Christ, and thus to be a new creature — this it is to have faith in Him ; and without this obedience and the change of heart which it DISCOURSES. 161 involves, in some good degree, you have notjaith in Him I Your faith is only in proportion to your obedience ; only in proportion to the newness of your heart and life. You may admire the character of Christ, and the utterances of his lips. Your understanding may assent to the reasona- bleness of all his claims, as you interpret them, and to the Divine Authority of His words. Nay, you may profess your belief in the highest and the truest interpretation that is ever put upon his language. But if you obey not His Divine commandments, and if you are not thus renewed in heart, you have not a living, a true faith in Him ! There are many all over this Christian land, and there are not a few, perhaps, in this congregation, who do as- sent at times, with their understanding, to the teachings of Christ ; they have been educated, thus far, to believe in Him — but they do not begin heartily to act upon them as true. If they would do this, they would be believers ; for obedience is all they lack to faith. They need no more convincing — no more enlightening — they need only to be persuaded to obey ; then would they have Jaith, practical faith. And until they do this they will live with all the guilt of unbelief upon them. You, of whom I am speaking, how long will you dis- obey "? Plow long will you refuse to believe in Christ? How long will you believe the deceitful promises of sin, and turn your feet from the way of wisdom ? "Come unto me," he says, " all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give jou rest." You will not find it in the world. You will not find it in the way of trans- gression. '• In the way of righteousness there is life ; and in the pathway thereof there is no death." " Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it r 8* DISCOURSE X. Faith in Christ — Justifying. John vi. 29 : "Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.^' That there is a faith in Christ which regenerates the soul, and what it is, has ah-eady been a subject of discus- sion. This we have termed regenerating faith. In accord- ance with the plan proposed, we will now consider — Second, That kind of Jaith in Christ which I have called Jiistijying Faith, The word "justifying " I use here in its common accep- tation among evangelical Christians ; i. e., to denote that faith by the exercise of which a man receives the pardon of his sins, or his release from the penalty of God's law, due to his past transgressions. It is only with the idea of subjection to such a penalty, that pardon, or forgiveness for sin, can be spoken of. And the faith wliich secures this pardon, I have called, in accordance with a very common usage, justifying faith. To exhibit the nature of this faith, then, I would say : to exercise justifying faith in Christ, is to act on the siqjposition that God ivill forgive one' s past sins, for the sake of the atoning sacrifice which Christ offered on the Cross. If any man use the term to denote anything else than this, I will not deny his right to do so. But I claim at least an equal right to use it in this sense ; and this is the use which I shall make of it ; this is what I mean by it. DISCOURSES. 163 Such a faith, I next remark, is possible. It is as possible for a man to act on the supposition that God will forgive his sins, for the sake of Christ's atoning blood, as it is for him to act on the supposition that He will forgive them for any other reason ; or, as possible as it is to act on the supposition that his sins need no forgiveness ; or, that he has no sins to be forgiven. And Christ teaches such a proposition. So, at least, I un- derstand Him. The first passage in which He seems to teach it, is found in the third chapter of John. After tell- ing Nicodemus the necessity of the new birth, and hearing him express his surprise and doubt, Christ goes on to say : Yerily, we speak that we do know ; and you believe not. You came to me for instruction, acknowledging me to be from Heaven ; but if you will not believe the earthly part of my doctrine, how will you believe if I tell you of the heavenly part ? Now the question arises, what is this Mavenly parti Christ is surely treating, through all this passage, of what is necessary to man's salvation. Repentance, or the new birth. He has affirmed to be necessary, on man's part, (though He has not affirmed it to be all that is necessary,) and Nicodemus's surprise at this He has reproved as unbe- lief of ra errtyeta — the earthly things ; and He must there- fore mean by ra enovgdvca, or the heavenly things, that which is necessary, on God's part, to man's salvation, whatever that may be — necessary, too, when man has already per- formed his part. You come to me for instruction. He says. I tell you that except a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven. You are amazed at this. But this is not all I have to tell } ou ; and if you stick at this part of my doctrine, the earthly things, how will you believe if I tell you the rest, the hemwily things ? 164 DISCOURSES. This is what Christ says to Nicodemus ; and what can be more evident than that Christ meant to teach, that this new birth, hard as the doctrine is, is not all that is neces- sary to salvation ; but when this is done, something more is necessary on the part of God ? And now, after asserting that He alone was qualified to teach these truths. He goes on to declare these " heavenly things :" "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilder- ness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted ; that whoso- ever believeth in Him might not perish, but have eternal life." Here is evidently asserted the necessity of His death on the Cross, in pursuance of the Divine plan for giving salvation to man. But we have seen already that this was something necessary on the part of the Divine Being, in ad- dition to what was necessary on the part of man. The death of Christ, then, on the Cross, was necessary to God's forgiveness of the penitent. And with this idea accords the whole stamp of the language. " Just as the serpent was lifted up by Moses, that those who had faith to turn their eyes upon it might be saved temporally, even so must Christ be lifted up on the Cross, that those who have faith in Him might be saved eternally." To look to Christ in the manner indicated by such a comparison, implies penitence as already existing in the mind, and seeking some method of escape from wrath. The whole teaching of this passage, then, seems to be, that pen- itence is necessary ; yet it is not enough for salvation — there is no promise given to penitence — but that faith in the Crucified One is also necessary ; and to tliis faith the promise of salvation is given, previous penitence being im- plied. Another passage, w hich seems to teach the same great DISCOURSES. 165 doctrine, is found in the twenty-sixth chapter of Matthew. Giving the cnp to his disciples, at the Last Supper, Christ said to them, " This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins." The question here to be determined is, Does the phrase " remission of sins " denote the putting away from the soul of its sinful character, or the putting away from it of the penalty of sin ? That the latter is its meaning, seems evi- dent from other Scriptural usage, and from the words of Christ Himself. The second chapter of Acts, thirty-eighth verse, literally translated, reads thus : " Then Peter said unto them. Re- pent ye, and let eveiy one of you be baptized in the name of Christ, for the remission of sins." Now repentance is the putting away of sin from the soul ; and this passage teaches that repentance and baptism are, both together, the procur- ing cause of " remission of sins." " Remission of sins," therefore, cannot he " the putting away of sin from the soul." But Christ's words also teach the same thing. In His last interview with His disciples, after His resurrection, He told them " that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations." Again I say, then, repentance and remission of sins are two things : the one is the putting away of sin from the soul ; the other is the putting away or removal of its pen- alty — the only other possible meaning. When Christ, therefore, says, " This is my blood, shed for the remission of sins," He does not mean, shed to make men repent ; but shed to procure them pardon. And this pardon, as is taught in the passage quoted from John, and in many other places, is given to him who believes in Jesus. And now I remark, in the next place, there is nothing 166 DISCOURSES. unreasonable, or revolting, in the doctrine just deduced. There are m^ny who seem to think there is. They say, it is abhorrent and monstrous to suppose that God would cause His innocent Son to suffer, in order to save guilty men from punishment which must otherwise be inflicted on them, for their sins. These persons will admit, however, that Christ suffered in order to turn men from sin ; and in this way, then, in order to save them frooa the consequences of sin, i. e., from its natural consequences. They, there- fore, and we, both agree that Christ died to save men from the consequences of sin ; the only difference between us is, What is the necessity ft-om which these consequences flow % They say, it is the nature, the necessary nature of a moral being ; by virtue of which, sin must always be followed by suffering. We say, on the other hand, that it is the nature, the necessary nature, of a universe of moral beings, which makes a law, and therefore a penalty, necessary to its highest well-being.* Now, let the opponents of our doctrine tell us, if they can, why it is so monstrous that God should cause His in- nocent Son to suffer, in order to meet a necessity for man's * To say that the Divine law is the norm of a sanctified happiness, and there- fore cannot be repealed, as the law of the universe, in behalf of moral beings any where, is one thing, and what our author here asserts. To say that the re- demption of man was a crisis in the moral history of the universe, or was de- signed for special effect upon the universe, is quite another thing, which our author denied. In his notes on the Atonement, he says : "I must repudiate, as Dr. Bushnell does, the idea of Christ's atonement being designed for effect upon the subjects of God's government in other worlds; this being not a Scripture doctrine, but merel/ a philosophy of the atonement, and being contrary to all analogy in the knOwn relations of this world to others. I was never able heartily to believe this doctrine, even when I tried." See Dr. B.'s Christ in The- ology, pp. 286 — 288. See also Dr. Chalmers' respect accorded to the view that there may be various redemptive acts in different parts of the universe, in his Astronomical Discourses. — [Ed. DISCOURSES. 167 salvation, growing out of the necessary nature of a moral universe ; while it is not at all monstrous, but very credible, reasonable, delightful, and gracious, that God should cause* His innocent Son to suffer to meet such a necessity grow- ing out of the necessary nature of a moral being ! This is the difference between us, and the only difference ; and we challenge them to show a single good reason why their doc- trine is less shocking than ours ; even when we afiirm, as we do, that Christ endured the stroke that was due to us and suffered in our stead. We have seen now that Christ teaches the forgiveness of sins, by faith in Him, and have vindicated this doctrine from the charge of being shocking or unreasonable. To have this faith in Him, as we have noticed also, is to act on the truth of this his doctrine. But I wish to inquire now, more particularly, what it is to act on the proposition that God ivill pardon our sins for Christ's sake. And I reply simply, it is to ask God for Christ's sake to forgive our sins, and then to go forward in the Christian life, rejoicing, praising, and obeying, as though God had actually revealed to us individually that our sins are forgiven. In other words, the action in which this faith consists, is not so much outward as inward action. It is the de- cision to accept, and the act of asking pardon, solely on the ground of the atoning blood of Christ ; followed by a turning of the thoughts away from the threatened ven- geance of the law, to the promised mercy of God, and a determined reliance or resting of the mind thereupon ; a refusal any longer to apply the language of terror to one's self, and a committal of the soul to the hope set before it. Kegenerating faith, that is, repentance from sin, must come first, indeed ; then by justifying faith, by taking God 168 DISCOURSES. at His word, in his oiFer of mercy, the sinner is for- given. * To preach the G-ospel, then, to a sinner who has never heard of Christ, and whose heart is still bound in impeni- tence, we must tell him to " repent and believe in Christ," and he " shall be saved." If, however, we should find a repentant sinner, who had never heard of Christ, we need only tell him, " God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life ! Wherefore, *' believe in Christ, and thou shalt be saved." But such are not the circumstances in which we are called to preach the Gospel in this Christian land. And one cause of the difficulty of inquirers among us, and of those who would direct them, doubtless is, that this fact is not enough considered, and their true position, therefore, not understood ; so that a direction which would be intel- ligible and correct for a man just taught the doctrines of Christianity, is inapplicable and inefficient. One whose understanding has long been trained to assent to the doctrine of forgiveness, by the blood of Christ, but who is yet unreconciled to God, needs only to be exhorted to repent ; for it is here that his whole difficulty generally lies. If such a man, however, has been brought to true repentance, he is ready to believe, if he can see what is meant by it ; and if he is in any difficulty in this matter, the proper mode of directing him, is simply to re-affirm to him the great doctrine^ that if he is penitent, God is now ready to forgive him for Chri: t's sake, if he will ask forgiveness solely in His name ; — and to saij not a word more. It should, perhaps, be remarked here, however, that bap- tism is generally understood by Christians to be a proper DISCOURSES. 169 and needful expression of this justifying faith in Christ, and its consummating act. In accordance with this, is that language of Peter already quoted : " Repent and be bap- tized in the name of Christ, for the remission of sins." The great doctrine of "justification by faith in Christ," then, is simply this ; that we are forgiven for Christ's sake, and not for our own works; and in this way, therefore, we must seek forgiveness ; i. e. we must ask forgiveness in His name solely, and not seek to obtain it by observances of our own. Justification hy the hlcod of Christ, is a more distinctive and intelligible expression for this doctrine, than "justifi- cation by faith," and one equally scriptural. (See Rom. V. 9; Eph. i. 7; ii. 13; Col. i. 14; Heb. ix. 14; x. 19; 1 John i. 7 ; Rev. i. 5 ; v. 9 ; xii. 11.) If it were more used in directing inquirers they would perhaps better un- derstand the directions. That this doctrine of justification by faith, or by the blood of Christ, does not exclude the necessity of repentance and holiness of heart to salvation, appears from the very texts by which the doctrine itself is taught ; for this, it will be remembered, was only God's part of the great work of pre- paring for the Kingdom of Heaven ; while man's part or the new birth, was first insisted on. And the same truth is taught in other passages. " Except ye repent,^' says Christ, ye, likewise, shall all perish." '• Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven." And " by works a man is justified," says the Apostle James, " and not by faith only." These show that with justifying faith, obedience is also necessary to jus- tification. That is to say, justification is pardon for past si7iSy given to the penitent. It is not a substitute for present holiness. Obedience is always the only ground of accept- 170 DISCOURSES. ance with God for the present ; but past sins repented of, i. e. forsaken, may be pardoned for Christ's sake. For Christ's sake, however, Grod will not accept the man who still says, I will not obey. Speaking in general terms, then, without the limitation of circumstances, justification is not by faith only. He who acts on the proposition that without repentance he can be saved for Christ's sake, acts upon a lie which Christ has never uttered. He may call his faith justifying faith, but it will never justify him. The professed Christian who lives a worldly and selfish life, thinking to be saved by his faith, is deluded. Christ never authorized him to believe in Him on such terms, and He will say to him at that day, " I never knew you. Depart from me, you that work iniquity^ Is justification by faith only? Yes, to the penitent, I admit that it is. The true language of the Christian is, my only hope is in Christ. He alone is my justification. In speaking of the Christian, then, I would say, justifica- tion is by faith only. But not so with the impenitent — faith alone — Christ's blood alone, will not save him. Re- pentance 2i\i^ faith are necessary for his justification.* The difficulty of the moralist, so called, on the other hand, is not a false doctrine of justification, but the asser- tion of no need of justification. The doctrine of justifica- tion by faith, however, attacks his system, because it im- plies the denial of his system ; and to prove it, therefore, a true doctrine, is to prove his system false. A few words now upon the peculiarity of influence of this faith. It humbles the soul before God, and increases the seme of his goodness. To receive the pardon of sin solely on the ground of what Christ has done, confessing one's own * See note at the end of this Discourse. DISCOURSES. 171 utter inability to satisfy the claims of righteousness, knocks from under the soul as with one blow, all the props of pride and self-gratulation, and compels it to feel that it can boast no more. And by producing this humility in the soul, it lays the best and the only secure foundation, on which it can build up a truly elevated and perfect charac- ter. Christ Himself was " meek and lowly in heart ;" and without this, even He would not have been perfect. And no mere human being, who must begin from weakness and nothing, can ever build up a lovely and symmetrical char- acter, without first learning to be " lowly in heart." Much less can that depraved soul, in which pride seems the primal and foundation sin, ever be cleansed and elevated, without some means which shall continually check this continually swellino; and outburstino; fount of evil. But by increasing the sense of God's goodness also, this faith increases joy. It may, indeed, be urged by some, that it is just as gracious in the Almighty to give His Son to suffer in order to save men from the natural^ as it is in order to save them from the 'penally imposed consequences of sin. And that it would be just as gracious, if God should so do, I readily admit. If, however, there are any other means which would answer the former end, this fact must lower our estimate of the greatness and preciousness of that gift which God gave us, even his Son Jesus Christ ; seeing, in such a case, this were the less costly way of re- deeming man. And that there are no other such means, — in other words, that it was necessary for Christ to die in order to bring men to repentance, can hardly be made to appear credible ; at least, to common minds. But that Christ alone could satisfy the claims of justice against the sinner, is a more appreciable doctrine ; and while it exalts 172 DISCOURSES. the law of God, it does not lessen the preciousness of the sacrifice. And the greater this preciousness, the more it manifests the goodness of God. By this manifestation the heart of the believer is filled with joy and hope. He adores the unspeakable glory of the Divine compassion, and cries to all who have " obtained like precious faith," with him, " If God be for us, who can be against us ^ He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Note. — We add here a few comments and other remarks, designed by the author for this discussion. See also Discourse IV. , Note 1. — [Ed. The subject of faith has been mystified, and its relation to good ■works — the necessity of them — has been maintained on the ground that ihej prove faith. But it should rather be said that good works are faith, — i. c, real good works, acts of benevolence, done out of re- gard to Christ. We see now the consistency of Christ's declaration. Matt. vii. 24 : " He that heareth my ivords. and doeth them^''^ &c., with His doctrine of the necessity of faith. The Church, too, generally eschews and de- nies the first teaching, because of their interpretation of the latter. But surely the former is as decided and plain as the latter. But they are both true. Some will answer that no man doeth them (/. e., perfectly) , and so justification by faith is the only way left. That is, they will nullify those teachings of Christ, making it out that they are only a repeti- tion of the law, to drive men to faith for justification. But this plainly is not Christ's design, for He says nothing of faith; and He adds, " Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not^ shall be likened unto a foolish man that built his house upon the sand," — in which He evidently speaks to all who profess to be His disciples. We are then under the law as a rule of duty, but also under grace as a means of salvation. When Paul says, " We are not under the law, but under grace," he does not contradict this, for he is evidently aflfirming only that we are not under the law as a means of justifi- cation. DISCOURSES. 173 Saving faith in Christ consists in so acting upon what Christ says as to be truly a good man — pious toward God and benevolent to men. " Acting " includes not merely outward acts, but inward aims and affections of the heart. It is not for us to say how far short a man may come in walking according to the purpose of his faith, and yet be saved — yet have faith enough to be fitted for the kingdom of Heaven in a sufiferable degree, and so be accepted of God. There are cases, practically, which seem doubtful to us — not be- cause our principle or method of judging is not correct, but because we cannot satisfactorily apply it to the invisible soul of man in every case. But God can apply — and very many cases, perhaps most, we are able to judge. This makes plain the Saviour's declaration, " By their fruits ye shall know them." Rom. X. 13. : " For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved ;^^ i. e., whoever penitently calls on Christ, or asks God for mercy in Christ's name. Penitence is implied because the whole tenor of God's commands requires it. To this another condition is customarily added by preachers, viz. : faith. But I do not add this ; — the text does not. I say, with the text, call on God and thou shalt be saved. Do I then renounce the necessity of faith ? By no means. But whoever so regards Christ's words as to call penitently on God, has faith — so the context, " How shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?'' " That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish^^ &c., (John iii. 16) . The faith required here is not faith necessarily in any particu- lar doctrine about the relation of Christ's work to the procurement of pardon, but faith in Christ Himself — "whosoever believeth in Him,''^ i. e., whosoever so believes in Him as to produce by His faith that moral change which is necessary. Now a perfect faith in Christ involves, I think, faith in His truth, faith in His atoning work, faith in His ability and willingness to save. But surely a perfect faith is no more essential to salvation than perfect love. Love is not perfected in all — neither is faith ; but if there is faith enough to work the necessary moral change, it must save. DISCOURSE XI. Faith in Christ — Sanctifying. John iv. 29 : Jestis answered and said unto them, this is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent. Having in the application of our subject to faith in Christ discussed the nature of Regenerating, and of Justi- fying Faith, we now come to consider : — Third, Sanctifying faith. That there is such a faith, and what it is, will be seen, both at the same time, when we apply the principles already elicited in our past discus- sion, to a few well-known sayings of our Lord. It will first be remembered, however, that a true faith in Christ was shown to involve a renewal of the heart, — a radical change of character. But, in all that was said con- cerning that change, it was not asserted that the whole character is by it, at once made perfect in righteousness. It must, indeed, comprehend, evidently, a full acknowledg- ment of the claims of God to the perfect love and obedi- ence of His creatures, and a sincere and earnest settling of the heart thereto ; but when a man has done all this, do- ing it, as is generally the case, in an hour of reflection, and to the power of exalted motive, it does not, therefore, follow, that in the hour of busy occupation with the world, and when the power of temptation is let loose upon him, he will hold immovably to his righteous purposes, and never swerve at all from the line of perfect odedience. It DISCOURSES. 175 does not follow, either as a law of mind, or as a fact of human experience. Steadfastness in virtue is a result only of effort many times renewed, and long continued ; a result, generally, of many falls and risings again to victory. The change of character, when a man, who has all his life been wholly devoted to his own selfish and worldly interests, turns round and solemnly consecrates all that he has, and himself also, to God, and the interests of humanity, is very great, and well worthy the name of a second birth ; even though he may sometimes falter for a moment from his new-formed purpose, and may need many repentings from unfaithfulness, and many struggles, and prayers, and tears, to make that change complete. And with a heart like that of man, — so easily deceived ; so fond of hearkening to what the Tempter saith, and so prone to obey his voice ; so long habituated too, in most cases, to sin, — with such a heart it has ever been, and, it would seem, will ever be the fact, that when this great beginning of a change has taken place, there is still need that it should go on ; there is still need of continued and renewed ac- tivity, ere it shall attain unto perfection. It is this continued process of renewal, — this growth in love and obedience to God, and this progressive subdual of evil tempers and desires, — this gradual bringing of the whole activities of the man into perfect conformity with that first and solemn purpose which belongs to the new birth, — it is this that is called, commonly, among the fol- lowers of Christ, Sanctiiication. And if there is any faith in Christ which operates in the human heart to this effect, which thus purifies the character from the remains of sin, redeems it from imperfection, and raises it more and more to the likeness of God, such may well be called a sancti- fying faith. 176 DISCOURSES. That there is such a faith in Christ, and what it is, may j now be seen, as we notice for a moment some of His teach- | ings. ' In the first place, it is involved in and illustrated by those teachings already exhibited as requiring a change of character, or a new birth. Let us notice one or two of these. " Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord ! shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven," saith the Lord Jesus, " but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven." Now if a man forms the purpose, to begin with, of liv- ing all his life in obedience to God, — and if it shall be found, as it will be, that in many things he falls short, — , that his character does not at once prove wholly pure, — ^ he will yet perceive, that if Christ's words are true, it is not enough that he make a profession and promise of obe- dience, that he say unto Christ, " Lord, Lord !" but that he shall actually cari-y out his profession into obedience ; that he shall, in every deed," do the will of his Father which is in Heaven." Faith in Christ, then, or acting upon the truthfulness of His teachings, implies not only the profession and promise of obedience, but the actual carrying out of this promise in the life. To believe in Jesus, is not only to repent and be born again, but it is to endeavor every day to do the will of His heavenly Father. Yesterday to believe in Jesus, was yesterday to obey God and be determined by His grace to obey Him to-day and to-morrow ; and to-day to believe in Jesus, is to-day to strive to obey God, and be determined to go on obeying, to-morrow and for ever. If Christ has taught that the perfect law of love to God and man is the law of true blessedness, then every sin is DISCOURSES. 177 an act of practical unbelief in Christ. If He has taught that only he who "doeth" the will of God is saved, then only he who Uves with the constant endeavor to do the will of God is a constant believer in Him, unless he is one. who chooses damnation. And such a believer is one who has all that apprehension of spiritual things, all those holy affections for God and man, all that regard for the Divine teachings, and all that fruit of the life " unto righteousness," which we have seen to characterize the true servant of the Most High. And again, Christ says "Except ye repent, ye shall all perish." * Unless a man chooses to perish, then, belief in Christ implies repentance. And repentance is not the for- saking of some sins, while others are continued in ; it is not the forsaking of sin to-day and returning to it to-morrow : it is the endeavor to forsake all sin, — the endeavor made to-day, and every day continued. From all these truths, then, it does appear that a true faith in Christ involves the purifying of the soul, or that process which we have called sanctijication. But, in the next place, there is another truth involved in faith in Christ, which was not mentioned in discussing the subject of Regenerating Faith, though it might appro- priately enough have been, and which we cannot pass over in silence here. " If any man taketh not up his cross," says the Lord Jesus, " and cometh after me, he cannot be my disciple." To have faith in Christ, then, it appears, involves the act of following Him ; of setting Him before the mind as our ex- ample, and endeavoring to walk in His footsteps, to pos- sess His spirit, and to be animated by His holy principles. And what like this can redeem a sinful heart from its cor? 178 DISCOURSES. ruption, and bring it back to purity and love ? What like this can sanctify the soul of man ? Who that endeavors every day to follow the spotless Jesus, will live insensible to sin, and quietly submissive to its power ? No other in- fluence can be imagined, I fear not to say, so powerful to convince man of sin, and to exalt his apprehension of God's perfect law, so mighty to subdue the heart to a righteous humility, and encourage its efforts for obedience, as the example of Christ to one who endeavors to fol- low it. And it is not merely the power of a perfect example to enlighten the conscience and stimulate the heart, which is felt by him who looks to Christ as his leader, efficacious and inestimable as such an influence is to sanctify the soul ; he sees continually more and more, and as no other man can see, the " beauty of holiness " and the hatefulness of sin ; and thus learns to love the one and to loathe the other, not for what sin or holiness will bring to him, but for what they are in their own character, as related to a world of moral beings. Thus are awakened in his soul the purest and loftiest of all motives that can ever move an in- telligent spirit ; and thus the mightiest and most blessed agencies are put to work to cleanse and raise it up, till it shall shine with lustre borrowed from the face of God. To see Jesus Christ, in the mi-dst of the grossest insensibility to His intellectual and moral greatness, His purity and love ; in the midst of ingratiilade, bigotry and hate, answering His inconceivable compassion and goodness with scorn and unsparing cruelty ; to see Him enduring all without re- sentment, except where it touched the honor of Flis Father or the good of men ; — suffering narrow and malicious souls to exult over Him, to smite and spit upon Him ; and press- DISCOURSES. 179 incr down the thunders of annihilating; wrath that were throbbing to burst forth beneath His feet, while sorrow and pity blended their holiest light in H is uplifted face ; to see Him enduring and suffering all, yet loving still, yea, la- boring and praying still, and bleeding, too, for their salva- tion, — Oh! to see this, and to see it as will he who tries to follow Jesus, and knows how hard it is, — this it is to see the *' beauty of holiness," the excellence of God's law of love, as mortal eye never saw it beside ! And to see, on the other hand, the true seeming of that ingratitude, those lying accusations, that presumptuous scorn, that renderin^j evil for cood, that hate of all that is lovely, that meanness and cruelty and proud hypocrisy that burst, like a burning wave from the mouth of hell, upon the head of the meek and suffering Saviour, — to see this, is to see the hatefulness of sin, as earth, and methinks the regions of the damned, never displayed it before. And he who sees these things— who gazes upon them day by day, and finds them growing deeper in coloring and more wonderful continually, as the earnest copier of Christ will find them — he, surely, is the man, of all others, who will most be filled and made alive with a pure and purify- ing love of righteousness, and hatred of all iniquity. I repeat, then, a true faith in Christ, a sincere acting upon all His teachings, does sanctify the soul. There is, therefore, a sanctifying faith in Christ ; and that is not a complete faith in Him which does not sanctify. And it is folly and delusion, let me add, therefore, for any man who professes to be Christ's, to expect to be saved by faith in Him, if he is not becoming year by year a holier, a better man. For such a man is not a true believer. He may believe a part of Christ's teachings, but he does not believe 180 DISCOURSES. them all. He does not fully and truly believe in Christ, the Son of God ; and to him, as nruch as to any other, is the warning uttered, " he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abid jth on him." Let me point you now, for a moment, to one example of true faith in Chri.-t. It is Paul of Tarsus. Gifted with exalted talents, and with almost superhuman energy, and fitted by birth and education for gaining a high place among the honors of his country, behold him casting all at the foot of Jesus' cross ; renouncing worldly pleasure, and all splendor and ease of life ; enduring hardships and distresses innumerable, and toil beyond the seeming strength of man ; burning with a love unquenchable and pure, that led him to spend and be spent for others, and to rejoice therein, though the more abundantly he loved them the less he was loved ; watering with his prayers and tears the Church which Christ had watered Avith His blood ; and giving himself wholly, without reserve, with an energy unparalleled, and a fervor that consumed the frame in which it dwelt, to the cause of God and righteousnes, and the salvation of souls. And what was the secret of a life so pure, so Christ-like in its aims and its activities, so un- changeably and ardently benevolent ^ He has told us him- self. " I am crucified with Christ,*' he says ; " and I live no longer, but Christ liveth in me ; aiid the life which I now live in the flesh, I live hij the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Yes, it is faith in Christ, which is able to change the whole character of man, raise him up from the pit of cor- ruption into which he had fallen, cleanse his defiled gar- ments till the eye of Jehovah shall see no spot thereon, and place him on the mountof Transfiguration, from which, with DISCOURSES. 181 the celestial gates in view, he shall run a shining course, with the world beneath his feet, and the wings of angels springing from his side. And now, to you, and to all the world, could my voice reach so far, would I sound aloud the great, the blessed truth of our text: behe^e in Christ — believe, and ye shall be saved. " This is the ivork of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent:' To believe in Him will regenerate the soul, will justify it before God, and cleanse it from all un- ri"-hteousness. It is this faith, faith in Christ, which is the great redemption of the human character. Nothing like it beside was ever seen, to remold, to purify and ele- vate the mind of man. We defy the world to point to any other such source — any " other name under Heaven, given among men, whereby we can be saved." This is the great truth declared in the text. This is, indeed, the work of God — the work by which you may become acceptable to God, and be made like Him — that you " believe on Him whom He hath sent." This is the message of heavenly mercy to a ruined race, to a dead and dying world : Believe in Him whom God hath sent. Trust not to your own un- aided powers ; thousands have trusted and perished. Trust not in any fellow-man ; man has every where trusted in man, and the world is not yet saved. None oi the refuges which men have sought out for themselves have sheltered them ; none of the devices which they have invented for themselves have delivered them. The world has tried long, it has trusted in every thing but Christ, and it is yet far from salvation. But they that have believed in Jesus have been saved. They have been saved from corruption, from the power of indwelling sin ; they have felt that they were saved from 182 DISCOURSES. death, from the powers of evil, and from the wrath to come ; and the world, that has looked on, has never doubted. And the voice of Jesus is yet sounding aloud to all that need, *' come unto me and be saved, all the ends of the earth." " This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." Hear it, dying sinner ! Hear it, guilty and perishing soul ! Hear it, child of sorrow and despair ! There is yet redemption, there is yet peace and full salvation for you. You can yet save yourself and others. You can yet work the works of God, the work by which He will forgive you, and you shall be made like Him. Hear, and despise it not, lest your last hope be lost, and an escape- less perdition seize on your soul. Ruin, eternal ruin, will be yours if you heed it not. It is the last accent of mercy, — but the sweetest. It is the last anchor of hope, — but the surest — "TA/s is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He hath sent." DISCOURSE XII. The Repose of Faith.* Mark v. 36 : " Only believe.''^ Fro:m the country of the G-adarenes, where He had cast out the devil into the herd of swine, Jesus had now re- turned across the sea of Galilee to Capernaum, which lay on its nortliwestern shore, and which was at this time, and during, seemingly, the whole of His ministry, the place of His residence. While sitting at a great feast in the house of Matthew, surrounded by publicans and sinners, there came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and fell at His feet beseeching Him for his little daughter, who lay at the point of death. As Jesus went with him, followed and thronged by a great multitude, there came messengers from the ruler's house, who said to him " thy daughter is dead ; why troublest thou the Master any further ?" The heart of Jairus at this news, no doubt, sank within him. He had seen, probably, and had heard of many mira- cles which Christ had done, by which the sick had been restored to health, and the crippled to soundness of limb, and those who had been possessed of devils brought back * This Discourse was delivered, Elgin, March 27, 1853 ; " given me," says MrS., " in prayer the day previous, with great comfort." It was, of course, no part of his original plan in discussing the nature of faith ; but we insert it, with the above title, that it may give to others like comfort, and because, by the law of all life and health, the highest work consists with the truest repose. 184 DISCOURSES to reason ; but the dead ! — that they should be recovered from decay, and brought back to life, was a thhig unheard of and beyond hope. Who does not despair, when death has once taken the spirit away ? All the dread certainty of its power, and the hopelessness of release which the liis- tory of the world had taught him, now came upon the ruler's heart, and caused it to respond with despairing as- sent to the words of his messengers, " Why troublest thou the Master f And yet, seemingly, as he turned to look again upon Jesus, some relieving thoughts arose. " He who has done such mighty works among us — has He not power even yet to help me ?" and then began some feeble hope to struggle with strong fears, and agitate his soul. Then it was Jesus came to his help, rewarding the faith with which he had at first approached Him. Amid the agitation of his soul, the Master spake, as once after He spake to the waters of that sea that then rolled in their sight: " Be not afraid," He said; " only believed Oh, that we could hear, my friends, amid the doubts and fears that struggle with our feeble hopes, as we travel our brief pilgrimage to the grave — Oh, that we could hear the Master's voice saying to us with energizing power, "Be not afraid ! only believe !" This is, indeed, a voice which Christ has spoken to us, with all the sweetness of His life, and all the solemnities of His death. That we should be- lieve in Him, and so in the Father who sent Him. He has reasoned with us by the most moving arguments, and the most solemn, appeals — the arguments of all His kind and wondrous deeds and words, and His whole life of love, and the appeals of His springing tears, and His outburst- ing blood which was shed " for us." DISCOURSES. 185 I would, therefore, to-day, present to your thoughts, as well as to my own, amid our many sorrows and tribula- tions, the cheering and glad words of Christ : " only be- lieve." The great lack, my friends, of all those who are trying to live righteously and godly " in this present evil world," is faith — faith in God, and in His Son Christ. The great reason why, if we are the children of God, we are so feeble in our obedience and love ; the reason why we enjoy so little the power of rehgion in our hearts ; the reason why we are so easily turned aside by temptations, weighed down by care, and broken by the sorrows which assail us ; the reason why we mourn so much, and rejoice so little, and run so slowly in the Christians race, is, that we have not faith. If we did but yield ourselves up to a hearty belief of the goodness and power of God, of His all-directing Providence and His merciful and gracious designs toward us, we could not be so disturbed, as we too often are, by the sorrows and troubles of this life. If we did heartily admit at all times all that Christ has taught us by His lips, and all that love and care of God which His life displays and proves, and if we abandoned ourselves to Him with the surrender of a perfect faith, we should never fail of peace and strength and joy. And if by such a faith we did but bringdown into our hearts " the powers of the world to come," our lives in this world would be a brighter display of the value and glory of the Gospel, and would tell with a mightier effect upon the kingdom of darkness and death. How morally beautiful and sublime was the life of the Apostle Paul ! A life of indefatigable energy and unceasing toil in doing good ; a life of entire self-denial, as regards all worldly ends ; a life of disinter- ested goodness, "spending and being spent" for others, 186 DISCOURSES. though the more abundantly he loved them, the less he was loved ; a*life of great endurance of sufferings, both natural and by men inflicted ; a life of moral splendor and transcendent power, telling with immeasurable effect upon the destiny of men and nations, and laying through many lands the broad foundations of that mighty temple, which is rising, and yet to rise, till the top-stone shall be laid in heavenly glory, amid the sound of many voices hymning the praises of redeeming love. And what was the secret of that transcendent life? It was not inspiration — it was not miraculous power. No, it was simple Christian faith ; a faith working by love ; and such as any man may ex- ercise who will. The Apostle has himself taught us the whole truth concerning it. " The life which I now live," says he, " I live by faith of the Son of God," i. e. by faith in the Son of God, " who loved me and gave Himself for me." Yes, the life of Paul was a life founded on a true and hearty faith in the Son of God, and such a life, in its grand essentials, as such a faith must ever produce. And with respect to the power of a true faith to an- imate the soul to great deeds, and to sustain it amid great conflicts, in the language of the Epistle to the Hebrews, " What shall I more say? For the time would fail me," going back to the history of the ancient Church, *' to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae, of David also, and Samuel, and the prophets ; who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the ahens." Nor has the Church, DISCOURSES. 187 since Apostolic days, been wanting in examples of equal courage, and endurance, and moral power, produced by this same principle. It was faith in God that sustained Luther, as he trod his dangerous way to the city of Worms, and as he stood there before that august council of kino-s. princes, and prelates, that had summoned him to trial, and proclaimed in their hostile ears his invincible determina- tion to hold fast the truth of God.* It was faith in God that animated and upheld the illustrious company of martyrs, who, in the the days of the Eighth Henry, and of Mary, nurtured the soil of England with their blood and ashes. It is faith in God, which in later times has nerved the converts of heathen Madagascar to suffer death rather than deny their Lord ; and which, even while I am now speak- ing, sustains the soul of that naturally feeble woman, who, in a prison of Tuscany, bids defiance to all the powers of Romish cruelty and superstition, to turn her from the truth. And if faith can work these great results, can it not se- cure those which are less '? Can it not sustain us in our inferior trials, and nerve us to our less difficult tasks ? What more, in fact, is wanting to the vigor of our spiritual life, and to the constancy of our peace and joy, than that we should believe truly in God? . It is undoubtedly true that all of us who love Christ * Luther's illustration of unbelief will here recur to the minds of many : " I lately saw two miracles. First, as I looked out at the window, I saw the stars in the heavens, and the whole fair dome of God ; yet did I see no pillars on which the Master had placed this dome. Nevertheless, the heavens fell not, and the dome stands yet fast. Now there are some that seek for such pillars. They would fain lay hold of and feel them. And because they can not do this, they struggle and tremble as though the heaven must certainly fall, for no other rea- son than because they cannot seize or see the pillars ; could they lay hold of these, the heaven would stand firm." 188 DISCOURSES. have difficulties to meet, and trials to bear. Though we are not martyrs by fire, and at the cost of life, we may sometimes be called to be martyrs by reproach, and at the cost of friends we love, and objects we hold dear ; we have enemies within, which are worse than those without, in our own corrupt propensities, such as are hard to over- come ; we have weariness of the flesh to endure, and clog- ging and feebleness of spirit ; we have wounded affections, and disappointed hopes to bear ; we have corrupt examples to strive against, and superstitious and wicked prejudices in ourselves and others, to contend with ; we have error to ccmbat, and truth to maintain ; and even among those we love — aye, and in our own hearts, also, we have failures to endure, it may be, and reproach and suspicion to suffer un- justly ; we have griefs for souls that are in sin, for the wrongs and woes of many, and for the cause we love ; we have anxieties and cares, vexations, disturbances, and sor- rows without name or number, to meet and to sustain ; for "man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward." But God has set before us the end of all our griefs, a bright and happy home ; where having once entered, we shall " go no more out." He has made that home a place fit for His own indwelling ; and therefore full of glory and of joy. For " behold ! the tabernacle of God shall be with men, and He will dwell with them and they shall be His people, and God Himself with them shall be their God. And He shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and theie shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall thei-e be any more pain ; for the former things are j)assed away.''' Oh, it is a city that hath " no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it ; for the glory of God hath illumined it, and the Lamb is the light DISCOURSES. 189 thereof." But not only has God set before us such an eter- nal home ; Pie has also taught us that while we tarry in this preparatory state, He is full of compassion for us, and looks down on us with unchanging love. Yes, even when you have wandered. Christian, far from Him, and are thoughtless of His goodness, and careless of His will. He does not cease to love, l)ut watches over you by night and surrounds you with His mercies by day, and strives to win you back. Yea, even then, when you care not for Him, He has designs of unspeakable goodness for you, and is pre- paring a shining mansion to which he means to win you, if His grace can do it. And every step you take in this world He watches over, and if you are trying to be faithful. He causes it to bring you nearer home. Every wind of trou- ble and every storm of sorrow that beats upon you, He holds in His hand, and suffers it not to rage to your harm, but rather makes it a means of greater gain at last, if you love Him. He pities all your griefs, as a father pitieth his children ; He cares for all your interests, and concerns Himself continually in your behalf ; He combines His cre- ative and providential goodness with the riches of His grace, to bless you ; He denies you nothing that will be for your good. Nay ! not even the Son of His love. This is the love of God to you and me, Christian. All our interests are safer in His hands than they could be in our own, for He is hindered by no lack of wisdom, and perverted by no selfishness, and changed by no fickleness, and fettered by no lack of power. Wisdom, that discerneth all things, from the beginning to the end ; might, that can accomplish all His will ; understanding, that can devise most glorious things with which to bless His creatures ; benevolent good- ness, that has no bounds towards us but our capacity to re- 190 DISCOURSES. ceive, — these are the qualities of God our Father, and the pledges of our safety and our unmeasurable blessedness. It is not merely what God can do, of which He assures us, but that He means to do and imll do for us more than we can ask or think. AVhat, then, I ask, is wanting to our comfort and hap- piness in this world, but that we should believe f What else is wanting that we should have quietness under every pelting storm, hope beneath every cloud, and rapture on every wave of life's tossing sea — what else, but that we should open our hearts to the love of God, and put our confidence in Him % How great a proof of His concern for us, and His desire to do us good, has He given us in Christ His Son ! It is a proof higher than we could have imagined to ask, and the greatest, it would seem, that Infinite Wisdom could de- vise. And now in all our trials He says to us, " only be- lieve." When we are troubled with doubts and oppressed with fears, He bids us " only believe." When sorrows as- sail us and pains afflict, He exhorts us, " only believe." When the burden of cares presses heavily, and we are anxious for the morrow. His word repeats, " only believe.* When friends are taken from our sight, or when they turn to foes. He instructs us, saying, " only believe." When sounds of threatening are borne upon our ears, His still small voice is saying, above the din, " only believe." When we walk the thorny path of obscurity and want, he utters above our heads His blest encouragement, " only believe." When dangers beset our way and we tremble with fear, He puts into our hands His talisman of peace, " only be- lieve." When difficulties oppose us and we weary of our toil, He gently commands us, " only believe." When fond DISCOURSES. 191 hopes are extinguished, and night and darkness settle down around us, He writes upon the heavens with stars, "only believe." When griefs are many and friends are few ; when our life-plans are crossed, and our toils are brought to naught, and our fainting hearts are ready to sink, God lives, and wliispers still, " only believe." " Only believe," and you shall have quietness of soul, and sorrow shall not harm you, nor pains destroy. " Only believe," and you shall cast your cares on Me, and take no thought for the morrow. *' Only believe," for I am your Saviour and your everlasting friend, and no evil shall have power to harm you. " Only believe," and Mine eye shall be upon you, and I will bring you into glory. " Only believe," and though "a thousand fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, it shall not come nigh thee." " Only be- lieve," and you shall come oflf conquerors through Him who hath loved you. " Only believe," and you shall ascend where hope is lost in fruition, and there is no more night, and where sorrow and sighing are done away. Let the world assail you — " only believe." Let hopes disappoint you — " only believe." Let friends depart from you — " only believe." Let cares press upon you — " only be- lieve." Let sorrows smite you — "only believe." "Only believe," and your walk upon earth shall be in peace, and in increasing strength and gladness, and its end shall be eternal glory and immeasurable bliss. Believe in the mercy and goodness of God through Christ, and in His providential care. And this, my friends, is the grand medicine of life. ^Yhen men are sick, how they will resort to this remedy and to that, to heal them of their ailing. And so in the soul's sickness and cravings, how they will run to one 192 DISCOUB.se S. thing and another, to satisfy their longings, and make them blest. Yea, how they run and search on every side in vain, and pass by the simple and all-potent prescription which God has provided for every human sorrow and want — the simple remedy, " only believe." And how ivicJced not to believe, my friends ! It is refus- ing to admit the goodness of our God ! And how happy it is reaZZz/ to believe ! "He that believeth, shall not make haste." He can fulfill the exhortation of the Apostle who says, " Let your conversation (or conduct) be without cov- etousness, and be content with such things as ye have ; for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may both say, the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man can do unto me." Oh, my hearer ! if you would be peaceful in life, and happy in death, " only believe." DISCOURSE XIII. Repentance. Acts xx. 21: '^Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus ChristJ^ This was what Paul declared to the Ephesian elders he had done during the two years he had remained at Ephesus. During the same period of time, while laboring in this place, I have endeavored, in my humble measure, to testify to this congregation the same great truths. And not only have I urged the duty of repentance and faith, but I have endeavored to explain fully the nature of faith, so that none might be left in doubt as to what he is required to do when commanded to believe. The same thing it was in my mind to do concerning repentance — to explain fully its nature — that concerning this duty, also, all might be fully informed, and the way of salvation made plain beyond mistake. And though prevented by circumstances from that full dis- cussion of this subject which I would desire to give it, I am happy that in the compass at least of one discourse 1 can, in some measure, present it, and in such a manner, perhaps, that it may be understood, though the exhibition must be comparatively meagre. It is not because the true meaning of this word is not, 194 DISCOURSES. in some degree, generally landerstood, that I think it need- ful to discuss it ; but because there are some errors con- nected with it in the minds of many, which sometimes hin- der their obedience to the command, or afford them some pretext to put it off; and which lead them, also, to defer it to a time in which there is no repentance. In discussing this subject, we must first endeavor to as- certain the meaning of the word. For this we must go to the oriojinal lano;uaore in which the New Testament was written. There are two words in the Greek Testament, both of which are translated repent in our version. This verb, in some of its forms, and the noun repentance, occur sixty- three times in the New Testament. I have examined every instance of its use, and find that in fifty-six places it is given as the translation of the Greek word iieravoeo) ; and in seven places it is given as a translation of the Greek word fierafieXofiai ; — and these are all the instances of the use of either of these words in the whole New Testament. The word which Paul uses in the text, and which is used in every exhortation to repentance which is found in the New Testament, is fieravoeo). Merd denotes change ; vosco is made from voog, which signifies (1st) thought or purpose, (2d) that which thinks or determines, i. e., the mind. MeravoEG), then, signifies to change the thought or pur- pose in the heart ; or, to change the mind ; both of which evidently mean the same thing. To repent of a thing, then, is, according to the real meaning of the word, to change the mind or purpose con- cerning it. But again, from the very nature of the case, this change DISCOURSES. 195 of purpose must refer to the future ; for a man cannot change his purpose, ivith reference to the past, concerning anything, but only with reference to the future. In other words, a purpose always refers to time after the present, and not to time past.* Repentance for sin, therefore, is a change of mind con- cerning it for time to come ; in other words, it is a solemn purpose to forsake sin from this time forth. And since sin consists in disobedience to God, repentance is the determi- nation henceforth not to disobey God, but to obey Him. If this interpretation be correct, then, true Scriptural re- pentance is quite a distinct thing from grief or distress of mind felt in view of past sin, though, as will hereafter be noticed, somewhat of this grief ought to and must go with it. And this interpretation which I have given (and I am not alone in this) is confirmed by the fact that the Scrip- tures very plainly distinguish between repentance and such a feeling of grief, as I will now show. Turn to 2 Corinthians, vii. 9, and if fierdvota, the word translated repentance, be supposed to mean sorrow or re- gret, we have this absurdity, that the Apostle rejoices that they were " made sorry unto sorrow," or regret. And the same in the next verse — " godly sorrow worketh sorrow." But if it be replied that repentance here is used for re- * It is lamentable that what is meant to designate a purpose or principle should be so generally understood in our day to denote merely or principally a feeling, as a purpose always refers to something future. It is implied in a " change of purpose " that there is room for it ; i. e., that that in reference to which the purpose is changed runs on into the future. Strictly, then, a past act cannot be repented of in itself. It may be repented of in ref(3rence to future repetit on or amends, if repetition or amends are possible in the future. If they are not possible in the future, the act cannot be repented of at all — there can be no "change oi purpose''' in reference to it. In accordance with this, see Heb. xii. 17 : *' He found no place of repentance" — he found no room to '' turn from " that which he had done. 196 DISCOURSES. pentance for sin, and means, therefore, sorrow for sin, I answer, and so does " godly sorrow " certainly mean "sor- row for sin " (which cannot be disputed) ; and so we have the Apostle saying that "godly sorrow for sin worketh sorrow for sin," But now, change the word repent for that which 1 have interpreted it to mean, and the sense is clear and appro- priate. It is certain, then, from Scripture, that sorrow or regret for sin already committed is quite a distinct thing from re- pentance. I wish now to notice the other word, occurring seven times in the New Testament, and translated (improperly) repent, or repentance. This word properly means (as any Greek dictionary will tell you) to feel grief or regret. It occurs three times in the passage just brought before us (2 Cor. vii. 8-10). I will give it its proper translation, and express, also, the idea of repentance more fully, and you will see the clear- ness and propriety of the sense ; " For though I grieved {e^vTrrjara) you by the letter, I do not regret it {ixeraixEXofxai) though I did regret; for I perceive that letter did grieve you, though but for a season. I now rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved to a change of your pur- pose {jitTavoi av) ; for ye were grieved after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For sorrow toward God worketh change of purpose unto salvation, not to be regTetted {aixsTaftsXriToi') ; but the sorrow of this world worketh death."* Now the fact that the Apostle is so careful to use lieraiieXoiiai (to regret) in the eighth verse, and fierdvoca * The author's translation ■was not written out, and the above is by the Editor. It is supported in the main by Bloomfield, who renders the principal phrase thus : " That ye were [so] pained as to be brought to repentance and reforma- DISCOURSES. 197 (change of mind) in the ninth, in their pecuHar connection, shows tliis difference of meaning; for, to suppose they both mean the same thing, either regr-et or change of mind ; or, to suppose their meanings interchanged, is to make non- sense of the three verses. Another place where [lerafxeXofiaL (to feel regret or sor- row) is used, is in Matt, xxvii. 3. If fieravoeo) had been used here it would have proved our interpretation false — for Judas could not at this time have changed his purpose. The deed was done, and could not be undone, and there was no possibility now of changing or making any purpose with regard to doing it. But the writer does not use this word. And the fact that he does not, confirms the idea of its hav- ing a different meaning from the one used ; especially, seeing it is a word much more frequently employed in the New Testament (fifty-six times to seven — eight times as^ often), and would, therefore, have been likely to have been used here, had the writer understood it to mean the same thing. It is worthy of remark, that though Judas seems sin- cerely to have regretted this act of sin, the betrayal of his Master, yet he did not truly repent of sin — " he went and hanged himself." The three other places where iieraiieXofxai is used, are Matt. xxi. 29 and 32, and Rom. xi. 29. In all these its proper translation is plainly to regret or feel sorrow for, tion,'^ — and says : " Meravoia here signifies such a change of mind as produces reformation in conduct " He cites also Jeremy Taylor, and the following fine passage from Hierocles, in his Aur. Carm. : 'H 6't fitravoia avrri <pi\oGO(plas apX^ ylvsrat koI tojv dvofJTCOv epywv rfi KoX \f>yoiv <p V Y fJ 1 'fai ^ai rfjj nfierantXrtTOv ^oitiq h npoJir] irapacTX^vfi. On the phrase Kara Qeov Aviir} he cites Rosenmiiller: "'arising from causes out of which lie would have it rise, and producing effects such as He would ap- prove." With this we might well compare the view of faith as a " work of God," presented in the discourses on that subject. 198 DISCOaRSES. Another passage which confirms our translation of fieravoEG), as meaning to change the mind, is found in He- brews xii. 17. (Read it.) To suppose that to repent means to feel sorrow, makes nonsense of this verse. " When he [Esau] would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected ; for he found no place of sorrow, though he sought it carefully with tears." But to interpret the word "repent" to mean "change of mind," (as is done in the margin of your reference Bi- bles), and the sense is good and appropriate. Esau found no place or opportunity to change his mind in reference to the foolish bargaining away his birthright. It was a deed already done, and God never offered him the privilege of recalling the past, and deciding again whether he would do it or not. A change of mind always refers to time to come ; but time to come had nothing to do with this decision, ex- cept to bring its consequences. There was, then, no place for a change of mind, no place for repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. God would not recall the past, and give him an opportunity to decide again. Once more I add : every time the word properly signify- ing "repent " is used in the whole New Testament (and it is used fifty-six times), to translate it " change of mind or [,urpose" makes good and appropriate sense of the passage in which it occurs — while to translate it "regret," or "feel sorrow," makes absurdity in many instances, as pointed out. / consider it, then, as proved, that the word " repent " signi- Jies, simply to change the mind or purpose, and not, to feel sorrow, or regret, or distress.'^ * Chalmers^ in an essay to which Mr. S. refers, and which is published, we think, as a tract, bj the Am. T. Society, takes the same view of the nature of repent- ance. Whately remarks : " There are two words in Greek, both of which we DISCOURSES. 199 But this is not all the proof that Scriptural repentance consists in a change of mind or purpose, and not in a feel- ing of sorrow. Thus far we have depended on the word used for our proof. But there is abundant proof, not de- pending at all on the signification of the word " repent," but derived from other pass ges of Scripture, where the same duty is commanded in different language, or where the character of man is so described as to involve this conse- quence. Of the former kind are all those passages, and they are numerous, which command men to turn from their idols, or from following after vanity, and to serve the living God. This is plainly the same command as the command to re- pent. To turn from tho world to God is, surely, to repent of sin — and to repent of sin certainly is to turn unto God. But to turn from following idols unto the service of God, is nothing else than to resolve, from this time forth, not to seek the world as the great object of pursuit, but to live in obedience to God. This is, surely, a change of mind, or purpose, with regard to the great object for which a man will live Repentance, then, is a change of mind. Again, we are told in the Book of Proverbs, " whoso confesseth and forsaketh his sins, shall have mercy." But will any man have mercy that does not repent ? Surely not. Then to confess and forsake sin is to repent. But confessing and forsaking sin do not consist in feeling grief or distress about it, but in changing the mind or purpose with reference to it ; i. c, in taking up the solemn resolu- translate 'repentance;' one signifying merely 'regret for the past,' the other properly, a ' change of disposition.' It is to this last alone that the promises of Scripture are made, — to Metanoia, not Metameleia.''' — "Scrip. Rev. of a Tut. State," ch. xi. too DISCOURSES. tion or intention henceforth to obey God. Repentance, then, is changing the mind. Again, we are told in the same part of the Scriptures, that " as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he," i. e., as he meaneth, or intendeth, or purposeth.* This, as I have be- fore observed, applies both to individual, separate actions, and to the whole life. The sinner, then, is one whose great intent or purpose of heart is to strive after selfish worldly good — while the godly man, or the Christian, is one whose great ruling intent is to serve God, that he may secure the salvation of his soul. The difference between these two, then, is in the great ruling intent or purpose with which they live. And for the sinner, therefore, to forsake his sins and turn to God, is, to change the great ruling intent of his heart — i. e., it is to change his mind or purpose. But, forsaking sin and turning to God, is repenting. Repentance, then, is a change of mind or purpose. Another proof of the truth of this doctrine is found in the command of God to Israel by the prophet Ezekiel : ^^Cast away your transgressions, and make you a new heart and a new spirit.^^ This command has reference, plainly, to the change which takes place in a man when he repents. This change is here designated by the term " make you a new heart and a new spirit." Asking you to remember this, I proceed to show that the word " heart " in Scripture is equivalent to the word mind with us ; a word, in its broader sense, embracing all the faculties of the soul, but used often to denote the understanding, and often, also, to denote the state of the will and affections, * Prov. xxiii. 7. This passage is often misquoted — "As a man thinketh, so is he," — in support of the notion that opinions in religious matters decide a man's character and destiny. — [Ed. DISCOURSES. 201 We are accustomed to refer the mind to the brain as its seat ; but the Jews were accustomed to refer it to the cen- tral organ of the body, the heart. This was probably be- cause strong emotion, of which simple, uncultivated people are wont to take most notice, does so affect the action of the heart as to give occasion to suppose that the emotion is seated there. For this reason we are accustomed to desig- nate the affections of the soul by this term, heart ; but the Jews, not being accustomed to distinguish so metaphysically between the feelings and the thoughts or purposes of the mind, located the whole mind there, and spoke of all the faculties of the soul under this term.* * Proof of this is found in the language of Scripture. 1st, Heart, in the sense of understanding. Job xii. 3 : "I have understanding as well as you " — (correct rendering: see context) . But the Hebrew word here rendered "understanding, is heart. Heart, then, here, is the same as mind, used to denote understanding. Deut. xxix. 4: " Yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive," &c. ; t. e., a mind or understanding to perceive. 1 Kings iii. 12 : " I have given thee (Solomon) a wise and an understanding heart;" i. ^., a wise and understanding mind, or, an acute and large under- standing. 1 Kings iv. 29 : "And God gave Solomon largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore " — evidently, largeness of mind or understanding. Job xxxiv. 10 : " Hearken unto me, ye men of understanding : Far be it from God that he should do wickedness." — Hebrew, " men of heart.'^ In the thirty- fourth verse the same expression occurs : "Let men of heart tell me ;" i.e., men of mind or understanding. Hoseavii. 11: "Ephraim is like a silly dove, without heart;" i.e., without mind or understanding. Many more instances might be given, but these must suffice, with one or two from the New Testament. Matt. xiii. 1-5 : " This people's heart is waxed gross, . . . lest they should un- derstand with their heart, and should be converted and I should heal them ;■' i.e.., their mind has become stupid, so that they do not understand with their mind. Luke xxiv. 25 : " fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the propheta have spoken ;"' i. e., slow of mind to perceive — slow of understanding. This dull- ness of understanding was caused by their proud and selfish prejudices, and was therefore a fit ground of reproach. 2d. Heart, in the sense of the will and affections, (just as we use the word mind) . Deut. T. 29 : "0 that there were such an heart in them (i. e., such a state of 10 202 DISCOURSES, What, then, is meant by the command, "make yon a new heart," or mind? It is to make a wq-w purpose — in other words, it is to change the mind — in other words stilly it is to change the ruling purpose of the soul. This is corrob- orated by what foUoAvs in the words of this command — " make you a new heart and a new spirit ;" /. e., change the great purpose of your soul, and the spring of action which animates you. tlie ■will and affections) that they would fear me, and keep my commandments always, that it might he well with them and with their children for ever." The employment of the word mind here would be perfectly accordant with our very common use of it — " Oh that there were such a mind in them," &c. The He- brew word " heart," therefore, in this passage, is exactly equiyalent to our word " mind," used here to denote the state of the will and affections, or the ruling pur- pose of the mind and the affections which go with it. Instances of this sort in the Scriptures are too common to need citation : but I will quote a few. 1 Kings, viii. 17, 18 : " It was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. And the Lord said unto David my father, whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart." In all these instances we may substitute the word 9nind, to denote chiefly the will, or that power of the mind which purposes or resolves. Jer. V. 23: "This people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart;" i. e., mind or ivill. Acts xi. 23: Barnabas "exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord j" i. e., with purpose of mind, or with a firm piir- pose. 3d. " Heart " is used, as we use the tvord " mind^' to denote^ principally, the af- fections or etnotions of the mind. Deut. xxviii. 47 : " Thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart." Psalms cv. 3 : " Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord." Psalms Ixxiii. 7 : " They have more than heart could wish." Prov. xiii. 12: " Hope deferred maketh the heart sick." Prov. xiv. 10: " The heart knoweth its own bitterness." Prov. XV. 13: "A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance." Here, and in a great many other passages, the word heart is used to denote the emotive faculties of the soul. The word "mind," in our language, would be ap- propriately used in all these instances. It is very common, however, with us, to use the word " heart " when the emotive faculties are designated ; more so, in- deedi.than to employ the other word "mind." Yet this word may always be used in such cases with correctness. DISCOURSES. 203 The command, therefore, which God has uttered by the prophet Ezekiel, "make you a new mind," confirms the doctrine which I have proposed concerning the nature of repentance, and shows it to be a change of mind or purpose. Once more, this doctrine is confirmed by the doctrine of Paul, when he says " if any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature." This means new in character — new in the great ruling purpose of the heart and life.^ The change, therefore, by which a man becomes a Christian, is a change in his great ruling purpose ; but the change by which a man becomes a Christian is in repentance from sin. Re- pentance^ therefore, is a change of purpose^ or change of mind, I have now shown that Scriptural repentance consists in a change of mind or purpose, from two sources of in- formation : first, from the fact that this is the proper mean- ing of the word itself; and second, from the fact that the great change which the Scriptures require in man, in order to salvation, which is the same change denoted by repent- ance, is spoken of in such terms as to manifest that it con- sists in such a change of mind. What kind of a change of mind, or purpose, is meant by repentance in the Scriptures, is also manifest from what has been said in our discussion. The command " to re- pent," in the Bible, is generally so connected with other expressions as to show what it is which men are to repent of, and, if we may so express it, what they are to repent I have now proved that the usage of the Hebrew word "heart" is exactly equivalent to our usage of the word '' mind;"' saving that it is more often used to denote the emotive faculties, though not more correctly. I have also shown, more particularly, that the word " heart,"' in Hebrew usage, like the word " mind,"" in English u.«age, often denotes the purpose of the mind, or the state of the will and the attending affections. * The author here alludes to proof of this view of the passage, given in dis- courae on the Lord's Day previous. 204 BISCOtrRSES. to. They are to repent of sin ; and sin^ the same Bible in* forms us, is the transgression of God's law ; and God's law, it also teaches, is briefly expressed in these two com- mands : to love God supremely, and our neighbor as our- selves. To repent, therefore, is to determine no longer to transgress this law — i. e., it is to determine, from this time forth, to live unto God, and for the rights and interests of our fellow men. For the mind sincerely to come into such a state, from a state of selfishness in its purposes, from entire worldliness of aim, is surely a great and important change* It is im^ portant for the honor of God, for the happiness of one's fellow-men, and for the purity and goodness of the soul in which it takes place. It is a change so great as to involve an entire change of the character ; a change from utter sel- fishness, the root of every sinful thought, or word, or deed, to the holy nobleness of universal love. The relation which those feelings of sorrow and distress, experienced by the mind in view of the nature and conse- quences of sin, sustain to repentance, needs liow to be con- sidered. Repentance itself has been shown to consist essentially in a change of the mind's ruling purpose ; but the human mind is the subject of various powers or faculties, and such a change in it does not take place alone. The mind which truly sees the nature of the sinfulness in which it has been living, that it is the transgression of a benevolent law, will Irom its nature unavoidably feel dis- tressed that it has been guilty of such transgression. And this feeling, especially when quickened by a view of the Divine character, tends powerfully to lead the mind to give up its sin, or to repent. It is that "godly sorrow" of DISCOURSES. 205 which Paul speaks, that " worketh repentance unto salva- tion, not to be regretted." But this very fact implies that the sorrow which is felt is a distinct thing from the re- pentance itself. It cannot be affirmed, however, with certainty, that this godly sorrow always precedes repentance. Some minds may be moved to forsake sin by that distress which, through Divine grace, they are brought to feel, in view of the awful consequences to which it has exposed them. Some minds, again, may be led to determine on obedience to God by a simple view of the excellence of His character and will. In neither of these cases is there any godly sorrow pre- ceding the act of repentance. But in both these cases it will as surely /oZ/oif repentance as that the soul shall con- tinue to live and apprehend the truth. When, in the former case, the soul shall have experienced the sense of pardon, and been relieved of its fears, and when in both cases some experience of obedience is had, and some know- ledge of the Divine goodness, then will follow that godly sorrow which more than anything else deepens the soul's repentance and sets it more fully upon God. This is indeed a sorrow not sorrowful ! It is a grief where- in joy has the greater part — for there is mingled with the sad regrets for sin that blissful sense of the Divine good- ness which the soul can in no otherwise feel. And this most blessed sorrow for sin, this sorrow most acceptable to God, must always follow repentance, and can never precede it. Inferences. First. Repentance denotes the same act of the soul with that sometimes expressed hy the terms " being horn again,'* and " con 206 DISCOURSES version.'''' It is the act by wliich the soul is changed from a sinful to a holy state. But though these terms all denote the same act — there is a reason for the use of each — they do not all have pre- cisely the same meaning. Being horn again, expresses simply the fact of a change in the soul's condition. Repentance denotes that change, hut with a reference to that state of sin Jrain ivhich the change was made ; conversion denotes the same chansre, hut with a reference to that state of godliness to which the change is made. And here it should be remarked that to convert, means to turn. The Greek word eTnarpecpcj is properly translated ''turn," in Acts ix. 35; "all that dwelt in Lydda and Saron saw him and turned to the Lord ;" Acts xi. 21, "a great number believed and turned unto the Lord ;' and Acts xiv. 15, we " preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities, unto the living God. '* But instead of always rendering e'iTLarge(pG) by the En- glish word turn, our translators have sometimes rendered it by the Latin word convert or he converted, which has ob- scured the subject, and given rise to false ideas. The word always means to turn — and though the name of Him to whom the sinner turns is not always mentioned, it seems, to be always implied. This turning to God consists simply in taking upon us * We may add as specially pertinent, Acts iii. 36, vii. 39; 2 Cor. iii. 16, and 1 Thes. i. 9. In the first of these passages Bloomfield remarks an ambiguity of interpretation, since iirQ<TTpE(peiv may be taken either in a transitive or intransi- tive sense. " The latter view, which is supported by the most eminent, ancient and modern interpreters, seems preferable. And £v rcf may be taken for £is top denoting purpose; or for £ti ; q. d. 'On every one of your turning from his in- iquities,' i. e., if every one of you shall turn. This is confirmed by the words of yeise 19, nsraponaare Kal iTTiarptipars ; and by Isa. i. 16, (which the Apostl seems to have had in mind,) navaaaOs and rojv novrjpiwv i/^cSi'." DISCOURSES. 207 His service. It is turning to Him as our God. In other words, it is the forming in our hearts the solemn purpose, henceforth to live supremely unto Him, giving up the love of the world. And this is the same change, which, when we have par- ticularly in mind those sins from which we turn in making this change, we call repentance, in imitation of the Scrip- tural usage of this word. Repentance and conversion, then, denote the same change ; but one denotes it with reference to what preceded it, the other denotes it with a reference to what comes af- ter it. Repentance is turning f>vm sin ; conversion is turning to God; but turning from sin, and turning to God, are both one aiid the same act. Second. A long period of distress, in conviction for sin, is no part of repentance. It is caused by the fact that the sin- ner will not repent (either to forsake disobedience or un- belief.) It is wholly unnecessary, for the promise of God to forgive him who repents and believes in Jesus is without any reserve or any further condition. Neither should a man say that he cannot repent, be- cause he does not feel deep convictions, or sorrow for sin. This is not what God requires of him. His command is that the sinner turn from his sins unto God. This he has power to do. You have power to do it this moment, im- penitent man. Third. The necessity of the Holy Spirifs influences cannot arise from the ivant of power in the sinner. It must arise from the fact that he is so wedded to the world that he will not repent, unless the Spirit of God is given. Hence its influences are properly called gracious, because 208 DISCOURSES. they are a pure gratuity. And this truth shows the sin- fulness of men, and the goodness of God. It shows, too, the danger of resisting the Spirit of God. Fourth. We see ivho is the true penitent. Not the man who in the hour and place of religious exercise feels trou- bled in view of his sins, and confesses them with much ap- parent humility, but who goes out into the world only to repeat them ; but the man who is found putting away sin in his life. We sometimes hear of dishonest professors of religion — yet they seem to pimy in a very penitential and pious manner. The only way in which I can account for their delusion is, to sup- pose that they have mistaken the nature of repentance. A sin- cere purpose ivill produce some fruits in the life. A true repen- i ance will therefore he manifested in the life ; and it matters little how much or how little a man stops to grieve over sins past, provided he is found forsaking sin in the future. Grief for sins past, however, is valuable to the soul so far as it impels it the more earnestly to guard against it in future ; and in a truly penitent soul it has undoubtedly a strong influence in this direction. But it is a wretched mistake when a man measures his repentance by the amount or degree of troubled feeling that visits his bosom in religious hours, rather than by his fidelity in putting away sin in the hour of intercourse with worldly things and of conflict with temptation. Fifth. As an ordinary thing, in Christian communities, there can he no repentance upon a death-hed. Esau, we have seen, " found no place for repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears." Plis birthright he had sold for a mess of pottage — the deed was done and past, and God took it not back ; He gave him no oppor- DISCOURSES. 209 tunity to decide again whether he would sell it for such a price. And just so when the sinner has come to his dying bed, and when he sees that once, when life was before him, God offered him eternal salvation on condition that in faith in Christ he would devote that life to His service, and when he reflects that he rejected that offer, and spent his hfe in seeking the world, oh ! he may wish with many tears that he had the opportunity again to choose ! but he will not find it — there is no place now for repentance — no opportunity to change his mind as to how he will live in this world hereafter, for no such hereafter is his. It has been shown that repentance has reference to the future. But sin consists in loving this world more than God — in living for worldly ends rather than to serve and honor God. How then can a man who has come to the end of life change his mind or purpose as to how he will live, re- solving that he will no longer live unto the world, but will live unto God ? He cannot so change his mind — that is, he cannot repent of sin. Objection.— Did not the thief on the cross truly repent? The case of this thief was different from that of any of you. You have no evidence that he had ever before in his life been offered salvation on condition of repentance — neither was he offered it now— but without any assurance of sal- vation he freely confessed his sins, and began, so far as he had any opportunity left, to obey God in doing righteously and believing in Jesus. He confessed Christ there on the cross, subject as he was to be insulted and tortured anew by the crucifiers of Jesus, who surrounded him, and humbly prayed that Christ would " remember" him in his King- dom. No wonder that Jesus answered ; " This day shalt 10* 210 DISCOURSES. thou be with me in Paradise."* But the case of the sinner who has all his life been offered salvation on condition of repentance and faith in Christ, and who has now nothing left that he can do to prove that he hates sin and loves the Lord, — such a case is surely very different from the case of the penitent thief. yu^4^^i>^ Is this a hard doctrine % No, it is remarkable (and it is a sure doctrine) : the case of Esau who had sold his birth- right for a mess of pottage, and the case of the sinner who has bartered away his title to a heavenly inheritance for the momentary joys of earth, and who has passed by the time of choosing between Ged and the world, are exactly similar. * Abp. Whately, in a discussion of the case of the thieves crucified with Christ, after showing that the adage, " one was taken that none might despair, and only one, that none might presume," is not supported by this passage of Scripture, and that the repentance of the believing thief must have occurred before he came to the cross, remarks that his was surely " a most extraordinary instance of faith, especially considering how strongly all the current Jewish prejudices concerning the Messiah set the other way. . . . Yet in opposition to all these preju- dices, this man acknowledged as his Lord and King — as the Supreme Ruler of the unseen world — a person who was nailed to a cross beside him, derided by his enemies, deserted by his friends, and about to conclude a persecuted life by a most ignominious death. . . . Whether any one of us does actually possess equal faith with this man, can be known only to the all-wise God. But we may be sure that no one of us can display equal faith with his ; because the circum- stances are such as can never occur again." Scr. Rev. of a Future State. Chaps. xi. xii. We wish every person could read these chapters. — [Ed. DISCOURSE XIV. Evils of Sectarianism. 1 Cor. I. 10 — 13 : ^' Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you ; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the samemind, and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say,* that every one of you saith, I am of Paul ; and I of Apollos ; and I of Cephas ; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided ? Was Paul crucified for you ? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul ?" It would seem as if no man could read these words of the Great Apostle, without vividly seeing that party divi- sions among the people of Christ were, in his view, a most astonishing thing, as well as a great evil. " Is Christ di- vided," he says; that ye, who are all His, and who have all been " baptized by one spirit into one body," even " the body of Christ," should be sundered one from the other (1 Cor. xii. 13 — 27,) by party names? And he abjures them in the most solemn manner, he beseeches them by an appeal the most sacred that words could utter, even by the name of the Christ, as it were for His sake, and for His bleeding cause — to forsake these pernicious ways, and to be perfectly joined together in the same mind.* . * Or, " this is what I speak of, or refer to."' 212 DISCOURSES. In the latter part of this Epistle, also, he bears hard upon the same point, though incidentally. " There are di- versities of gifts," he says, " but the same Spirit ; and there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all ;" and then he compares the different individuals of the visible church to different members of the same living body, teaching that it was God's design " that there should be no schism in the body." And to sum up all, he says, " now ye are the hody of Christ, and members in particular /" that is, ye all together compose the body of Christ, and each one of you in particular is a mem- ber of that body : as if he W' ould charge them, by their strifes and divisions, with rending the sacred person of their holy Redeemer, and mangling his flesh anew. In the third chapter, also, he urges their divisions as a proof of their carnality, or earthliness of thought and feeling; inquiring with a degree of vehemence, " For while one saith, I am of Paul ; and another, I of Apollos; are ye not carnal?" In his Epistle to the Ephesians, he beseeches them to walk worthy of their vocation, " with long suffering ; for- bearing oiiC another in love ; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace ;" reminding them that " there is one body and one Spirit," " one hope of their calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you aU." By what more impressive and powerful appeal could the Apostle exhort believers in Christ, to unity of heart and action? — One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one purification, one God and Father, who is above all, and through all, and in you all ! How can ye be di- vided ? how can ye rend and sunder yourselves into many ? DISCOURSES. 213 In the fifth chapter of Ephesians he ranks divisions or separations of believers (dLxoGTaolai) with " adultery, for- nication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, envyings, mur- ders, drunkenness, revelings and such like," calling them all " the works of the flesh." And, as if in allusion to such instructions as these, in the close of his Epistle to the Romans, he says, " I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences, contrary to the instruction which ye have received, and avoid them." The testimony which has now been adduced upon the subject presented hy the text, and which might be greatly increased, is certainly of a most decided and remarkable character. The force and bearing of it all upon the Church in our own day cannot altogether fail of being felt, though no more should be said upon it. But what adds greatly to its force as applied to the Church in our times, is the fact that the evil which it re- bukes exists now in a degree which renders that which ex- cited the admonitions of the Apostle, in comparison, as light as air. No such divisions as now exist amonoj the people of Christ, were to be heard of then. No sects rent the body of Christ in fragments, and stood casting arrows at each other, while they strove with selfish emulation for the spoils of victory. The Church of Christ was one and indivisible : " many members, but one body." It was not a union in theological opinions : for theology did not then exist as a science, or in speculative forms, but only as em- bodied in practical truth and godliness. It was a union founded upon a simple belief in Christ, implying obedience, and evidenced thereby. All who gave evidence of such a 214 DISCOURSES. belief, were at once baptized, and received into the com- pany of believers — in other words, into the Church visible ; and this, without any questioning of their opinions in sec- ondary matters, and even if they were known to be but partially enlightened and delivered from error. The in- structions of the Apostle were expressly given to this effect, Rom. xiv. 1 : where he says, as the margin, in part, cor- rectly renders it, " Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, not in judgment of his doubtful thoughts" (or opinions)* — a reception which is not limited by the Apostle, and which must therefore mean a full reception as a Christian, implying admission to the fellowship, and all the privileges of the Christian Church. Paul had already said (chap. viii. 14), " As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons of God ;" which certainly implies that every child of God should receive them altogether as brethren. And the history of the Church, in the days of the Apostles and immediately following, approves the interpretation I have given ; for it shows, as no one disputes, I believe, that they were thus received. Yet, notwithstanding this, there did exist, even in Paul's day, a disposition in some to separate themselves on some pretext into distinct classes in the church — a disposition which was the seed of those sectarian divisions which af- terward arose, and Avhich were swallowed up in part by the Romish Church, to be renewed and multiplied in our times. It was this disposition in its incipient forms — in its * Bloomfield says : " but not for the purpose of examining and agitating with liim doubtful or disputed points; since, as contempt and harsliness might urge him to apostacy, so to perplex his mind with points which hi:3 Christian judg- ment is not sufficiently mature to enable him to grapple with, might drive him into skepticism." See also Calvin on the passage. — [Ed. DISCOURSES. 215 iirst peepings above the ground in the new garden of Christ — that roused the Apostle's attention, and against which he hurled the lightning of his rebuke, that he might smite it as an evil weed, and destroy it in the beginning of its growth. But if the beginning of this evil called forth such reproofs from his inspired lips, how wo'uld his soul glow, and his words burn, were he commissioned now to look upon and to rebuke the sins of Christ's people. Nay, would not rather his mighty heart break under the burden of this sorrow, and his eloquent lips grow dumb before the mairnitude of the evil? Division carried to its utmost length ; " the body of Christ" rent into scores of frag- ments,* many of them excluding each other, engaged in mu- tual strife, and even denying to one another the name of Churches ; and the great mass of the Church seeming to slumber over the evil, or even loving to have it so ! Oh, that there were a Paul now, to cry aloud with his trumpet voice, and show God's people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sin ! Or, would that the Church of Christ might pause long enoug-h from its sectarian strife, to hear the voice of its Redeemer and Lord, pleading with God in prayer, on that sorrowful night, ere the traitor came — " Holy Father, keep through thine own name, those whom Thou hast given me, that they may he one as we are. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall beUeve on me through their word ; that they all may be one ; as Thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us ; that the tear Id may believe that thou hast sent me." The pray- ers of Christ were not offered for a light matter, least of all * The number of Christian sects in the United States alone, is upwards of fifty, and they are constantly increasing. 216 DISCOURSES. that memorable petition which the pen of inspiration has recorded for the Church in all ages to wonder and weep over — the prayer of its dying Lord. The desirableness of that visible union of His people for which Christ prayed as the means of impressing His truth on the world, and the evils of those divisions against which the Apostle so earn- estly exhorts, need to be better understood by the Church ; for sure 1 am, if they were understood properly the lovers of Christ would strive for that unity, and put away those divisions. Neither are these things difficult to be seen or under- stood. It is my deep conviction, that sectarianism is a prominent cause of the low state of piety among Christians ; and, including the principles which lie at its base, the greatest single obstacle which exists to the spread and triumph of our religion in the world. It is my design to spread before you briefly the reasons for this conviction, and thus to urge upon you the exhortation of the Apostle in the text ; and I pray Thee, Thou risen and glorified JRe- deemer, be Thou our Intercessor with the Father, that thine own truth may prevail with us, and that thine own prayer once offered in the fiesh may he fulfilled! A rapid statement of the reasons for holding the first proposition, will occupy all our remaining time at present — that sectarianism, or the division of the Church into dif- ferent sects, is a prominent cause of the low state of piety among Christians. First. Because it gives too great prominence to speculative opinions ; or, in other ivoj^ds, to non-practical truths. No true Church of Christ is separated from other churches of different names, on the ground of a difference of view, concerning practical religious duty. It is a fact, DISCOURSES. 217 indeed, which deserves particular notice, that all true branches of the Church of Christ recognize the same practi- cal way of salvation, and the same applications of Gospel truth to the relations and duties of human life ; or if there be any difference on this point, as may perhaps exist in rela- tion to the subject of slavery, it does not run parallel with denominational lines. The particular ideas, therefore, on which tlie different sects in the Church are distinctively based, do not relate to practical religious duty. The notions which each sect holds up as the banner of its division in the army of Christ, do not refer to practical piety, or the moral requirements of God. It is the theory of election and perseverance in one, the theory of free gi-ace in another, the theory of min- isterial functions in a third, and so on, which are inscribed on their party walls. It is, then, the tendency of these divisions to call off at- tention from practical moral truth, from love to God and love to man, from the real essentials of religion ; and to fix it upon non-practical and secondary things. And thus re- sults an immense injury to the cause of religion. The very- state of division holds up constantly the thing about which Christians differ in a prominent hght, and so tends to di- vert their view from the great thmgs about which they are agreed ; and thus these things lose much of their proper influence. We find an illustration of this in the history of the political parties of our nation. About the great essential principles of our Government both Whigs and Democrats have ever been agreed ; about minor questions of policy alone, they differ. But who ever thinks of the points whereon they are agreed ? It is the constant tendency of party division, to turn the whole 218 DISCOURSES. attention to the things whereon they are at variance. And this, indeed, is one of the dangers which party strife occa- sions to the existence of our institutions — that it will so absorb the attention of the people to secondary matters of mere policy, that cunning and ambitious plotters will trench unheeded upon essential principles, till they shall have gained power to strike down our liberties. And just so it is in the Church of Christ. Its party di- visions, we trust, will never destroy its essential truth ; but they tend to keep it out of sight, and to depress it from the position and influence which it ought to have ; and thus they depress the piety of the Church. It is necessary for me to guard against one error, by which some might seek to rebut what has been said. There is one sect that separates itself from other Christians, on the ground of the mode of baptism. And some may urge that this is a practical religious duty. Our limits here al- low only a few words on this point. I observe, then : baptism is indeed a practical duty ; but neither the mode of baptism, nor baptism at all, is any part of what we mean by practical religion or piety. To test this : if you were asked which of two men is the best practical Christian, you would try to find out — what? Why, the state of their hearts, by examining their lives and actions ; you would never think of mquiring how this one had been baptized, and how that ; or whether either had been bap- tized at all — and none but a bigot would. However, therefore, any of our brethren may urge the propriety or duty of fulfilling Christ's command just as He gave it, the founding of a religious sect, or the basing of a division of the Church, upon the particular mode of baptism, is an ex- altation of an idea not belonging to practical piety, into a DISCOURSES. 219 prominence which tends to obscure the great and essential ideas of religion itself, and so to injure the power and pro- gress of religion in the heart * The proof which I have given can hardly be disputed ; and that it needs to be proved, illustrates the truth I am presenting. And I feel com- pelled to say, as what will impress upon others the truth I am urging, that it is the general conviction of other de- nominations, that those who do thus exalt to undue prom- inence this secondary matter, are injured in their piety by so doing. And how much the cause of piety, throughout the Chris- tian Church, is hurt by similar acts in every sect, I believe we are none of us able to estimate. But a great injury is evidently done. The mighty truths of Hfe and death are half hidden from the eyes of Christians, by the party ban- ners which they are flaunting to the wind, and around which they have gathered to contend. The party cry is uttered so frequent and so loud, that the still small voice, which eternity is ever uttering to time, is half unheard. I know there are Christians in every sect who are spirit- ually minded, and from whom nothing is able to conceal or cover up the solemn truths of revelation touching the * '' I would not'' says Robert Hall, " myself, baptize in any other way than by immersion, because I look upon immersion as the ancient mode ; that it best represents the meaning of the original term employed and the substantial im* port of this institution, and because I should think it right to guard against the spirit of innovation, which in positive rules is always dangerous and progressive ; but I should not think myself authorized to baptize any one who had been sprin- kled in adult age." We cite this passage, not in the way of argumentum ex concessis, but as illus- trating what we regard as the principle of toleration and the wisest expediency in things not fundamental, though important. Those who have taken similar ground, have, if we mistake not, been most successful in the propagation of their particular views,— and have thus shown that tolerance, so far, from promoting indifference, is the best means of promoting candid inquiry and the interests of truth it«elf— [Ed, 220 DISCOURSES. soul's eternal destiny ; but it is not so, unhappily, with the mass of professed believers ; they are not spiritually in- clined ; and the visible things of their earthly contention, the things about which they differ with other believers, are too prone to exclude the invisible things in which they are all agreed, and when they are made fences of division from other sects, or from the Church universal, they are the more sure to do it. 1 need only appeal to the experience and observation of my hearers to confirm what I am say- ing. You have seen this influence in others, Christian friends ; and if you scrutinize your own religious history you will probably perceive its influence with yourselves. The life-truths of God's sacred revelation are too apt to be neglected and obscured in the maze of other truths and interests which demand man's attention ; and nothing, per- haps, so insidiously prevails to this end in the truly Chris- tian heart, as the disproportionate claims of other, yet sec- ondary, religious truths. And when men separate from their Christian brethren, on the ground of any of these secondary truths, their zeal for them is necessarily in- creased by the attitude they assume, to the at least partial neglect of those truths which are primary and essential. I say not, my friends, that the sectarian divisions of the Church of Christ destroy the piety of believers ; but they tend to diminish it. Even those whose hearts are bent on spiritual things, and who are truly endeavoring to "seek first," and to promote first, " the kingdom of God and His righteousness," — even they are often wounded and irri- tated, to their own spiritual injury, by the sectarian zeal which thrusts its unhallowed hand into the budding vine- yard of Christ, to seize and transplant the just springing germs of grace, at the risk of their destruction, or by some DISCOURSES. 22l other exhibition of this unchrist-Hke zealotry, perhaps still more offensive. And though the piety and devotedness of many, in all the Churches, is not to be gainsayed, nor the really great things, in themselves considered, vv^hich Zion is doing for the world, yet compared with the standard of the Gospel and with the means of grace which God has given, it must be said that the piety of the Church is strangely and mournfully feeble, and its progress slow. And who can estimate the difference that would soon be manifested, were all the people of Christ to cast aside their strifes and sepa- rations, and unite on the great central truths of the Gos- pel, the universally admitted and solemn themes of our holy religion ? How much more should we feel those mighty truths, and be influenced by them, did we see them filling all hearts among the disciples of Jesus, and bringing them together, with a willing submissal of secondary things, to testify to their reality and solemn weight. It is not my design to attack existing institutions, or to prescribe at present any remedy for the evil. I would rather seek to call the attention of those who love Christ to this subject, and commend it to your Christian considera- tion, and your serious and prayerful inquiry. May God grant you a disposition to look the evil fairly in the face ; and when you have scrutinized its features, and ascertained *its true character and influence, may He grant to you, and to all your brethren in the Lord, wisdom and grace to see and to do your duty, for the prosperity of the Church and the honor of our Redeemer ! DISCOURSE XV. Eyils of Sectarianism. 1 Cor. 1. 10-13: ^' Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our LordJesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you ; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Ap olios; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ, Is Christ divided ? Was Paul crucified for you ? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul ?" In the discussion of this subject I have already stated my deep conviction, that the divisions of the Christian Church, as they now exist, are a prominent cause of the low state of piety among believers ; and, with their foun- dation principles, the greatest single obstacle, which now exists, to the spread and triumph of our religion in the world. And for the first of these propositions one reason has been adduced, namely : that these divisions give too great prominence to those ideas or truths which are not necessa- rily involved in practical religion, and so call off atten- tion from the great truths of piety and moral duty. Second. A second reason which I will now advance is, that it holds up the idol of party ^ to divide the heart from Christ. DISCOURSES. 223 There is something which the French expressively call esprit da C07ps, or the spirit of the body or party, which every man who has looked upon life must have witnessed ; and, indeed, almost every man who has lived, in our coun- try, must have felt. I well remember how — when a mere child, and knowing nothing about politics except the names of party leaders — I joined in the cry of my young asso- ciates, " Hurrah for Jackson !" And when the Democratic party re-elected him to the Presidency, I felt elated at the triumph of "o^^r side,^^ and as really pleased as if / had gained something. The mention of such an incident may make any of us smile ; but, my friends, it furnishes an ex- cellent illustration of the spirit of party. Human nature in the boy and in the man is just the same. The man who attaches himself to a party will feel the influence of the espi'it du corps, the spirit of party ; he becomes, in a measure, identified with it, and rejoices in its triumphs as though they were his own, and this even though he is too> ignorant to know the principles or aims which it cherishes, and has no other reason for it than that it is his party. And this, indeed, is one form of the principle of selfishness — which is the essential principle of all sin. Now, the moment you separate the Church of Christ into distinct divisions, you set up the idol of party. Suc- cess or adversity will no longer aiFect the mind simply as they touch the cause of Christ, but they will be felt, also, as affecting " our side,''^ or our Church. When the Church is prosperous, its members will be elated at their gain ; and when others outstrip it, they will be troubled at their hu- miliation and loss. It is not Christ and His cause to which their whole thoughts and desires are now turned ; the idol of party has been set up, and it claims — and rg- 224 DISCOURSES. ceives — part of their regard. The man, I think, is almost more than human, that can wholly avoid this influence — at least, after he has been long identified with any particu- lar branch of the Church. And, let it be remembered, this is not an influence which rises up to affect the mind only at particular periods — as of prosperity or adversity ; it is an influence which is all the time at work. The idol has been set up — to divide the heart from the blessed Saviour and His holy service ; and its influence is as ceaseless as the existence of the cause. And this party feeling is, as we have seen, very wickedness ; being a form of selfish- ness, the essence of all sin ; so that a sinful desire is blend" ing continually in the heart with its love to Christ, and polluting the worship which it offers Him. Great, therefore, is the injury which is thus done to the piety of Christ's people. It casts a mill-stone round the neck of those who are struggling upwards to the image of their Redeemer. It mingles poison Avith the streams of salvation that flow to the soul through the Church, and casts a blight upon its budding fruit. This is another way in which the divisions of Christ's Church render its love impure, and depress its piety. Third. A further reason for the idea I have advanced is found in the fact, that the spirit of party created by secta' rian divisions helps to create or sustain in existence merely fonnal characters^ in which little or no spirit of piety abides, and intro- duces false professors into many other churches, and so debases the standard of religion among me)i. To see the first part of this cause in the fullness of its operation, we need, perhaps to go to other lands, where Churches are found from which the spu'it of Christ seems wholly to have departed, but which are kept in existence, in part, at least, by the party feeling of which I have spoken. DISCOURSES. 225 But the attentive observer may see enough of this evil in our own country. There are many churches in our land which have too little piety to hold them together or keep them in existence an hour, which yet are sustained in being through the sectarian influence spoken of. If they would only die, if dissolution would seize and an- nihilate them, they would be out of the way, and the chariot of salvation might roll on. But as it is, they block its wheels ; for every Christian knows that a formal religion is a hardener of the heart against the truth. And not only are their own hearts hardened, but by maintaining their existence as professors of religion, while yet they do not exhibit its power, they bring down the standard of religion in the community. The same cause also has, in my judgment, helped to create some formal churches in our land to do the same injurious work. But whether it has created formal churches or not, it is every day creating foi^mal Christians, and that by hundreds. Individual churches, in their sectarian zeal lest others should outstrip them, are hurrying into their enclosure many who have not yet given sufficient evidence of real piety, and who afterwards show that their hearts have never been moulded by the love of Christ. But, it is a great, an unspeakable injury to the cause of religion, when the standard of piety is thus debased by creating unworthy professors. Probably no Christian is aware how much his conscience is hardened to endure quietly his well-known unfaithfulness, by the evil example of others who bear the Christian name. If God should with His lightning smite every hypocrite out of the Church, that His true people might not have them to lean upon in 11 226 - DISCOURSES. their neglect of duty, what an impulse would be given to their earnestness and fidelity ! But the party spirit of sec- tarianism is multiplying false professors continually, to de- base the standard of piety in the Church, and hang as dead weights upon the wheels of its spiritual progress. It is thus making religion, in the eyes of those who look at the Church as its exemplification, mean almost nothing at all, and is casting a shadow of evil, and blowing a blighting wind, upon every Christian's soul. Yes, I charge all this mischief, the existence of which you all know, upon the sectarian divisions of the people of Christ ; and let him deny it who can. It is in fact their legitimate fruit ; and never, until men are wholly sancti- fied, will they cease to bud and ripen to the same. Fourth. But a fourth reason for the conviction I have stated is, that sectarianism hinders pi^ogress in the truth. That it does hinder Christians from progressing in the truth, I shall here assume, as in some degree a manifest truth, but one which it is my design on another occasion to prove and exhibit. But, hindering as it does progress in the truth, sectarianism necessarily hinders the sanctification of be- lievers, since this must proceed by the truth. If the attention and zeal of the Church had not been so much taken up by other matters, it would, long ere this, have reached such a position in the understanding of Gospel truth, especially as concerns its application to the conduct of life, as would have placed the Church far in advance of its present moral attainments. We have yet much to learn with regard to the bearing and comprehension of the moral precepts of Christ. The bearings of the moral law upon the dealings of man with man, the employment of ihe tongue, and the aims of life, have only begun to be understood. With the DISCOURSES. 227 Gospel in its hand, and " the golden rule" upon the front- let that adorns its brow, the Church has advanced but a little way in that course to which it is called, compared with what might have been expected. And it is because it is kept back from progress in the truth, that it has made so little progress out of the corruption of man's natural state. Fifth. Another reason for the truth urged, which is one kindred with the last, is, that sectarianism tends to retain cor- ruption in the Church. It does so because it creates an unwillingness to weaken the Church in external power or means, by casting it out. Some sinful practice exists in a given Church, or some corrupt and corrupting members are found it it. When this is looked at in the light of the Gospel, every Christian's conscience prompts to duty. But now comes in the fear of diminishing the wealth or numbers, and so the influence and rank, of the Church as compared with rival sects, an J so the evil is tolerated — perhaps with the hope of bet- ter times in the future. Is it not so, my friends, with that dreadful corruption that broods and festers in the Churches of the South ? Were there no rival sects there to create the fear of being outdone in wealth and power, would not some of the Churches of Christ do their duty in this matter of slavery, and thereby set a ball in motion whose rolling sound would cause the fetters to snap from millions of wretched bondmen % But as it is, I think you may rely upon it, no one de- nomination will begin the work till the rest are ready, or till it shall appear that power and influence will follow the stroke. And this, let it be observed, is only an illustration of an 228 DISCOURSES. everywhere present and active influence for evil. Secta- rianism causes men to look at the external prosperity of a Church, and to prize it more highly than they should, and so to sacrifice to it the dearer interests of purity and spiritual growth. It causes corrupt practices and corrupt men to be re- tained in its bosom, which ought to be cast out, and thus it defiles its garments, and brings leanness upon its mem- bers. And if any one Church is free from a participation in this sin, it is not therefore free from the injurious effects which this sin is producing : for by lowering the standard of piety in those Churches where it does exist, it affects all the rest. It is, indeed, unhappily true, among the other unhappy things connected with this subject, that the rivalry which sectarianism produces, does not include a rivalry in spirituality and likeness to Christ ; but looks rather to those matters of external prosperity which are often the greatest sources of moral danger, and spiritual injury. And'as it is more easy in the world to do evil than to do good, so the evil example which sectarian rivalry so ofter begets, is more efficacious upon the Church at large than would be a purer example^ if it were capable of producing it. But in addition to what I have said concerning the rea- sons of my conviction, I will present another, which in- creases all the rest ; and which is, Sixth. That the sectarian divisions of Christ's disciples grieve the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit of God is most emphatically a spirit of unity and love. The Apostle beseeches the Ephesians to " keep the unity of the Spirit ;" that is, that peaceful and loving oneness of mind to which the Spirit always prompts, DISCOURSES. 229 and which it always produces where it is permitted fully to enter and dwell. " With long-suffering,^' says the Apos- tle, ^^ forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.'' And there is a remarkable example offered us in the Holy Scriptures of this very thing. When the Spirit came down in such mighty power on the day of Pentecost, so that in one day " three thousand souls'* were added to the Church, we are told that all who believed " were together, and had all things common." Such perfect oneness of heart was produced by the mighty effusion of the Spirit, that no believer regarded any of his interests as separate from those of his brother in the Lord. And when, after a few days, Peter and John had been imprisoned and threatened, and, being let go, had gone " to their own company and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them ;" and when they, hearing that, " lift up their voice to God with one accord," we are told that " the place was shaken where they were assem- bled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost ;" and as a consequence of this, it is said, imme- diately "the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul ; neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own ; but they had all things in common." Here, my brethren, was " the unity of the Spirit " in perhaps the most beautiful manifestation which the world has seen. I do not say that this community of goods is a necessary manifestation of Christian unity, or always to be desired. I refer to it here only as showing how perfectly " all that beUeved were of one heart and one soul." And you will please notice that this most remarkable manifestation of Christian unity took place when, perhaps, 230 DISCOURSES. the mightiest effusion of the Spirit was granted that was ever given to men. You will see, then, the significancy of the Apostle's expression, " the unity of the Spirit." You will see that the Spirit of God peculiarly and powerfully prompts to oneness of heart and soul among the people of Christ. And the same thing is manifested wherever the Spirit of God is poured out. Christians of various names forget their dissensions, and mingle together in prayers, and la- bors, and rejoicings ; and young converts are filled with love to all the people of God, and when called on to unite with the Church, hardly know which way to go, because by uniting with one they will be separating themselves from the rest. And so it is with every believer. When your heart is filled with the Spirit, my brother, your love begins to flow forth to all your fellow-disciples. You think you never will again indulge in unkind thoughts or feelings toward any of them, but will love them all as brethren. But now mark the conclusion from all this. If the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of unity and love, it is grieved away by disunion. Feelings, acts of variance, and rivalry, and strife, repel it from the heart. It cannot dwell with jeal- ousy, or contention, or a spirit of division. And such are the fruits of the sectarian rendings of the Church of Christ. You know that it is so, my hearer. And you ought to know, therefore, that the Spirit of God is continually grieved by these divisions. There are many good men who are so conscious that the Spirit of God prompts to unity, that they often speak of the duty of loving all the brethren, and try to banish sec- tarian feelings ; yet they at the same time, perhaps, cling fast to every principle of sectarianism, and will let nothing DISCOURSES. 231 go. And they will say to me, Cannot we have union of feeling without external union ? (that is, with external dis- union.) I answer, No ! you cannot — except in rare in- stances, and in an imperfect degree. It is vain to be beat- ing off the leaves of the tree while you continually nourish its root. And sectarianism is the " root of bitterness," whose acrid and legitimate fruit of divided hearts, and jealousy, and strife, doth continually grieve away the Spirit of our God and Saviour, and leave our churches in a com- parative poverty of grace and growth, that methinks must make the very heavens groan with sorrow as they look down upon our dying world. Up, up ! jNIy brother, my sister in Christ, inquire of the Lord concerning this thing. Why slumber ye here, while Satan has entered the fold of Christ, a wolf in sheep's clothing, and is rendin"; the flock ? Oh, cry to God, that He will direct you and all the chil- dren of His grace, till the Church of His holy Son shall be purified and saved. Alas, it is now " a house divided against itsel/r Oh, pray that the Lord would unite it, and build it up in the truth ; and that He would show you your duty in the matter. The wants of tlie world require a holy and united Church, I have not attempted to dictate to you, my brethren, what your duty is. I have attempted, for the present, no prescripdon for the evil I have described. I would only set your minds to thinking, and your hearts to feeling, be- lieving that if you ask wisdom of God, He will give liber- ally and upbraid you not. May the Lord direct your minds to the proper under- standing of His truth, to the glory of His grace through Christ. DISCOURSE XYI. Evils of Sectarianism. Rom. XVI. 17 ; 1 Cor. xii. 13 ; Ps. cxxxii. 1 ; 1 Cor. iii. 3 ; Eph. iv. 1, 2, 3 ; Phil. i. 4; 5 ; Eph. ii. 13, 20, 21. ''Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divi- sions and offences, contrary to the doctrines which ye have learned, and avoid them^ ''For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.^^ "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together, in unity.'''' " Whereas there is among you envying and strife, and di- visions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men ?" " I there- fore beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation where- with ye are called, forbearing one another in love, endeav- oring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.^"* " In Christ Jesus, ye who sometime were far off, are made nigh ; and are built upon the foundation, of the Apostles and prophets, Christ Himself being the chief corner stone : in whom all the building, ftly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord^ We are all well enough acquainted with the condition of the Church of Christ, to know that it has not heeded the beseeching of the Apostle. Instead of " avoiding," that is, turning away from, not listening to, those who cause " di- visions and offences, contrary to the doctrine" of love and forbearance, which is the distinguishing theme and spirit of Gospel instructions, the Church seems rather to have turned with greedy ear to every one who has invented a new shib- boleth of division, and proclaimed a new sword of offence, DISCOURSES. 233 with which to smite and sunder the flock of the Great Shep- herd. No longer are we baptized, that is, purified, by one spirit into one body ; but our spiritual baptism or purifi- cation falls far short of this. Separation of heart. Isola- tion of interests, every one for himself, is man's natural condition ; and the work of the Spirit in destroying this separateness only avails to bring a few together, here and there in bunches, leaving them almost equally, and some- times even more, separate from all the rest. Instead of the goodness and the pleasantness of brethren dwelling together in unity, is seen the mischief and sad- ness of brethren dwelling apart in variance. And these things are an evidence not so much of zeal for supposed truth, even where they are caused by it, as of carnality, or earthliness of mind : because if the minds of believers were truly and in all things spiritual, they would so see and feel the great and paramount oneness of all that are Christ's as to banish these divisions. There is need, then, that in imitation of the Apostle, I should press upon my Christian hearers the duty of mu- tual love and forbearance with all true Chistians, " en- deavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit," not with out- ward disunion and strife, but with that outward allowance and fellowship which is " the bond of peace." For, indeed, when in Christ Jesus men are brought nigh to God, they must, as has been beautifully said by some one, approach each other. And thus, being built upon the foundation which God has laid, of which Christ is the corner-stone, shall ^'- all the building, fitly framed together'^ — not unfitly rent in fragments, rising sharp and jagged here and there, but " fitly framed together," — " grow unto an holy temple in the Lord." 11* 234 DISCOURSES The great and manifold injury done to the piety of the Church by its prevalent divisions, I have, according to my ability, held up to your notice. Most of the causes, also, which, from this source ob- struct the piety of the Church, operate additionally and directly to hinder its advancement in the world ; and they do further very powerfully hinder the latter 5?/ injuring the former. In addition, therefore, to the injury which has already been pointed out, 1 have expressed it as my deep convic- tion, after long looking at the subject, that sectarianism, with the principles which lie at its base, is — II. The greatest single obstacle which now exists to the spread and triumph of Christianity among men. If this proposition seem strained and incredible to your ears, my friends, to gain from you a hearing for the proof by which I mean to support it, I need only say — what you will all admit — that the religion of Christ, which is " the wisdom and power of God to salvation," is adequate to save the world, if it were but properly felt, exhibited, and enforced by those who profess it ; and whatever therefore most hinders the people of Christ from such a realization and enforcement of the truth is indeed the greatest obsta- cle to its advancement. That this obstacle is found in sec- tarianism, and the principles which lie at its base, I shall endeavor to show, by the evidences already indicated. And in support of my proposition I observe, sectarianism operates to this end — First, By holding up the differences among Christians too prominently before the ivorld, as compared ivith the great truths upon which they are agreed. The tendency of Church divisions to give prominence to those secondary ideas which are the grounds of separation, DISCOURSES. 235 we have already noticed, and illustrated by the influence of political parties in our nation, where all of every party agree on those fundamental truths of government, which are greater than the questions of policy about which they differ. The prominence thus given to secondary religious ideas tends to obscure, as we have seen, the greater and essential truths of Christianity even to the minds of be- lievers, and so to diminish the earnestness and piety of the Church. But if it has this obscuring and hurtful effect with those who are in some degree lovers of the truth, how much more with those who are not. What Christian in the land, but knows something of the disposition of the natural, unrenewed mind to divert its attention from the great duty of submission to God, — repentance and faith in Christ, — and from the awful truths of eternity by which this duty is enforced, — on any pretext which it can find for this purpose, and especially when it can find some connect- ed but unessential idea at which to boggle and halt ? And sectarianism is forever furnishing such ideas in profusion ; and not only furnishing them, but thrusting them with might and main in the face of every man who hears the truth and turns for a moment to notice it. And even where there is an honest desire to seek the truth, this enemy of Christ and ally of the devil is ready at hand, to bawl its great banner cry so loud in the ear, that the voice of eternity cannot be heard. It is becoming a common thing even noAV, for men, who by attendance on protracted religious meetings have had their interest awakened in the great subject, and are beginning to ponder the question of life and death, to get disgusted by the thrust- ing forth of some argument about baptism, or other secon- 236 DISCOURSES. dary and unessential matter, so as to turn away from the whole subject of religion with contempt.* And this horrible fact is an illustration of the influence which sectarianism, in all its forms, is continually exerting upon the better disposed class of minds that have, under the Gospel, some tendency seriously to consider religious truth. And that it has this influence, I appeal to facts. How often does the newly converted man say, that the great thing which has kept him back from religion has been the divisions among Christians ! And how many times have you heard this objection in the mouths of the impenitent, if you have talked with them and urged them to attend to their spiritual concerns. I am not saying that this is a just or reasonable plea, or one that will excuse them in God's sight. Our subject is, not what ought to be, but what is. What influence is sectarianism exerting, and calculated to exert, upon the advancement of Christ's Kingdom in the world? But there is another influence in the same direction which we have not noticed ; or rather, it is the same influence acting upon a different class of minds. It strengthens in- fidels, and confirms doubters. All those, in whose minds doubt or disbelief is fixed, con- cerning the great ideas of judgment and retribution taught by Christianity, find comfort and courage in their unhappy * Isaac Taylor, on the supposition that the accomplished author of the trea- tise " On the Sublime" should read a certain letter of Dionysius of Alexandria respecting a point then in dispute, well remarks : " Must we not regard Longinus as almost excused, if he had cast away the epistle of Dionysius with indignant scorn, and have said, 'Is this your vaunted Christianity. Is it to maintain this system of servile frivolity that you die at the stake ? Do you ask me to become a Christian ? a« well turn Jew ; and how much better remain philosopher I' " — Fanaticism ; Of the Symbol. DISCOURSES. 287 position by looking at the variant attitudes which believers assume towards each other. And, indeed, these opposing attitudes have a voice of lies and mischief, not only to unbelievers but to the whole world. They say, in effect, the salvation of the soul is not a mat- ter of so much importance that we can subordinate our doctrine of baptism, or of Divine decrees, or our claims of authority in the Church, in order to promote it by co- operation. And the error and mischief of such a declaration unbe- lievers will not only fully apprehend, but will magnify. And the influence of such a position on the part of Chris- tians, in causing men to reject the truth and demands of Christ, is immense. For, indeed, the number is not small of those who are doubting or denying the solemn teachings of Christianity concerning the future. They abound in every Sabbath congregation in our country, and out of the congregations the whole land is full of them ; and they are encouraged in their doubts and strengthened in their de- nials by the divisions of those who believe. It might be thought, indeed, that the divisions of Chris- tians on minor points would render their agreement on the great doctrines of the Bible a more serious and weighty at- testation of their truth. And if those differences were not made so much more of by the Church than this agreement, it would be so. But when Christians themselves thus prominently thrust up the former before men's eyes and subordinate the latter, they need not wonder if men who love not the solemn truth will take advantage of it. Closely allied, also, to this influence of which I have been speaking, is the tendency of that party spirit which by these divisions is created in the Church. The existence of such 238 DISCOURSES. a spirit I have previously pointed out. If there is any- individual in the Church, who does not perceive its exis- tence and operation, I can assure him that such is not the case with most of those who stand outside. They are abundantly keen-sighted to perceive it, if not also evil-eyed to magnify it. And what a hardening and awful influence it must exert upon them. The wily manoeuvers of secta- rian zeal, the ad captandum appeals, the flattering atten- tions to children and youth, inflating them with the idea that they are wiser than their pious parents and all their other teachers — these works of the devil in the Church, which I have seen — O God ! have not unbelievers seen them too ? and have they not been learning to scorn Thy name. Thou holy Jesus, as if Thou couldst be the author of such things ? Who can measure the mischief and the ruin which this spirit of party, which its very selfishness, the essence of all wickedness, thus by the contrivance of Satan brought into the Church, and bringing dishonor upon its truth — who can measure the mischief and ruin it has wrought upon those who have witnessed it, and learned to disbelieve and dis- regard the great realities of Christ's Gospel, if not to con- temn His name? But before we dismiss the point upon which we have been engaged, we must look at its bearing in another direction. There is a false Church in the world, calling itself Chris- tian, yet called by the word of God ^^the mother of harlots and abominations in the earth?'' Without raising the ques- tion, how many of its deluded children may yet be accept- ed in the sight of that God, who looks through all the forms of ignorance and error which circumstance have thrown around, to the heart that dwells within, it is a deeply in- DISCOURSES. 239 teresting inquiry, How shall they be reached by the pure Gospel of Christ, and their hearts be opened to receive it ? Their number is so great as to make this a momentous question to all true Christians. The Pope, who certainly has the best means of judging, is said to estimate* the Avhole number of his church mem- bers at two hundred millions. But deducting one-sixth of this number, or thirty-three millions, for those who are really infidels in the Church, and for errors of calculation, we have remaining one hundred and sixty-seven millions. Better to understand how great a multitude this is, let us compare the number of members in the whole Protest- ant Christian Church. The whole number of inhabitants in nominally Protestant countries is set down at about eighty-two millions.* Twenty-one millions of these be- long to the United States. Out of these, however, only about three millions are church members ; but callinor the number three and one half millions, they are one-sixth of the whole. Calculating the proportion of acting church members to the wdiole population the same throughout Protestant Christendom, it gives one-sixth of eighty-two, or tliirteen and two-thirds millions for the whole. Twelve times this number are one hundred and sixty-four millions, or three millions less than our estimated number of Koman Catholics. That is to say, for every Protestant church member throughout the world there are twelve members of the Papal Church. The question, then, how they are to be evangelized, is one of immense moment to the Church. We have been considering the detriment done to the spread of Gospel re- ligion in the world by the divisions of Christians, as hold- * Baird's Christ. Retros. and Reg. Pages 198 and 197. 240 DISCOURSES. ing up too prominently before men the secondary things about which they differ. But the bearing of this evil upon all the efforts that we are making, or can make, to en- lighten the childi'en of the Pope, is incalculable. It is the powerful argument of the Romish priest with his followers : " There is no peace or rest out of the bosom of our Holy Mother. Protestants are divided into innu- merable nSects, at war with each other ; and if you leave the Church you cannot tell where to go. All this division, and strife, and danger, are the inevitable result of forsaking the only true and infallible Church of St. Peter."* This is an argument, my friends, which it may be very easy to answer to our own satisfaction ; but it is hard to answer it to the conviction of the Papist. * The following passage from the most triumphant work of the Komanists, the " Variations of Protestantism," is a fair specimen of their argument. With slight alterations it might be retorted against the Romanists, — but ifc would be only so much the more true as against the Protestants. — [Ed. " The perverseness of heretics will be a great and instructing spectacle to the humble of heart. They will learn to despise the knowledge which puffs up, and that eloquence which dazzles ; and the talents which the world admires will ap- pear to them of little value, when they see such vain curiosities, such caprices in learned men, such dissimulation, such artifices in the most polite writers ; so much vanity and ostentation, such dangerous illusions amongst those called men of wit ; and finally, so much arrogance and passion, and consequently so many and so manifest errors, in men that appear great, because they are followed by the crowd. They will deplore the errors of the human mind, and be convinced that the only remedy for these great evils is to break off all attachment to pri- vate judgment, for this it is which distinguishes Catholic from Heretic. The property of the Heretic, that is, of one who has a particular opinion, is, to be wedded to his own conceits: the property of the Catholic, that is, universal, is to prefer the general sense of the whole Church to his own sentiments; this is the grace for which we shall petition in behalf of those that err. We shall, how- ever, be filled with a salutary and holy awe, when we contemplate the danger- ous and slippery temptations with which God tries His Church, and the judg- ments which He exercises on her ; nor shall we cease to pour forth prayers to obtain for her pastors equally enlightened and exemplary, since it is through want of them that the flock, which has been redeemed at so great a price, haa been so universally ravaged." — Preface., § 29. DISCOURSES. 241 And it never can be so answered, by proclaiming with our tongues the essential unity of Protestants, while our actions still more loudly proclaim their diversity. So much, my friends, as regards the hurtful influence of sectarianism upon the advancement of religion, by dispro- portionately magnifying its secondary ideas. But it has a similar effect (secondly) hij dividing the exter- nal means of the Church. Obstacles aside, the progress of the Gospel, under God, depends, first, on the piety of the Church ; and second, on the means which it has to employ. Granting that the piety of the Church were in no way injured by secta- rianism, yet are its means divided, and so wasted and weakened. Some argue, indeed, that the means of the Church are increased by division ; since individuals are often stimu- lated by it to greater exertion and more liberal giving. But while this latter is true, the inference made from it is not true. For, first, in reference to pecuniary means : we must take into account not only how much is raised, but how economically and effectively it is expended. Suppose in a certain village all the followers of Christ sufficiently harmonious in Christian purposes and feelings, to unite together for religious worship and mutual edifica- tion. They are able comfortably to build a house of wor- ship ample for all their wants, and competently to support a Gospel laborer in a manner which allows him leisure and means for necessary culture. The pecuniary ability of such a people, we may say, is well directed. But suppose another village, similar in all respects to the former, except that the people of Christ are divided, 242 DISCOURSES. preferring different names — some being of Paul, others of Apollos. Roused by emulation, they contribute a larger sum than the people of the former place ; but it is not so well expended. Two houses of worship are built, yet bur- dening the two churches with debt, and perhaps imper- fectly finished. Two ministers are employed, yet each with a salary insufficient for his physical and especially for his mental wants, so that he comes to his people, week by week, with the product of a starved and care-burdened mind, to their own intellectual and spiritual loss. Now, to say nothing of the comparative inability of such a people to contribute to the Gospel abroad, it is evident that their larger means are ill-spent and wasted, and pro- ductive of less good than was attained in the former case. But again, it is not money alone which constitutes the means of the Church ; it is men also — men of piety and talent sufficient to labor well in the Gospel ministry, and in other ways to promote the spread of truth and right- eousness. The cases already supposed will illustrate the waste of the Chm-ch's means in this direction, caused by the spirit of sect. In the first case, the life of one man is well and profitably used by the Church, and the other is spared for another needy field ; but in the latter case, the lives of two men are absorbed, and each half wasted or destroyed. And of such cases as this latter, my friends, both as to men and money, this Christian land is full. Only I have not stated the evil half so great as it is. Instead of two churches, there are four, and five, and six, where one would be sufficient, in multitudes of instances, all over the country. Instead of five or six churches in Elgin, one could be built, for less than half the means, amply sufficient DISCOURSES. 243 for the use of all ; and two Gospel ministers, laboring to- gether, would be more efficient, both as preachers and as pastors, than five can be, divided — and the rest might go to the heathen. Oh ! the waste, the waste of energy and means, of which the Church is guilty, from this cause, while the world in ignorance and sin is perishing ! But I have something else to say, about this alleged in- crease of means which sectarianism produces. Allowing, indeed, the overruling power of God, yet I hold it as a general axiom, that the true prosperity of the Church is only in proportion to the effort which is put forth from pure motives. " My kingdom," said Jesus, " is not of this world ;" and He said to Peter, "Put up thy sword." The use of the civil power by the Church has been one of its great . corrupters in past times. " The weapons of our warfare," said Paul, " are not carnal ;" and when carnal weapons are used, they tend to corruption. But what is sectarian or party zeal, and the money that it contributes, but carnal weapons'? — which cannot promote the cause of pure re- ligion. No ! the spirit of sect does but divide and waste the real means of the Church, and long postpone the day of its triumph. But before closing, let us notice one more way in which sectarianism operates to this end : (Thirdly.) Bij giving power to errorists ; or, those wlw deny or pervert the essential practical truths of the Gospel, You will be surprised, perhaps, to hear me say this. It is in order to condemn error, that many good men have thought it necessary to separate from theu* brethren. But this is one illustration of the Apostle's words, that " the foolishness of God is wiser than men." Like Saul of old, 244 DISCOURSES. who disobediently spared the cattle of Amalek, that he might offer sacrifice to God, they have disobeyed the Di- vine command to mutual love, forbearance, and unity, that they might preserve His truth, though in non-essential matters ; and in so doing they have done more to encour- age and embolden vital error than all the enemies of God could ever do ; while all that they have done for the truth, or for their distinguishing ideas, is to give them the poor support of their human authority, contradicted by the sim- ilarly rendered human authority of thousands of others, of probably equal moral weight. But how is this, you will ask, that they embolden essen- tial errorists? I answer, among the multitude of sects thus created, they stand up with greater holdness and power. If all the true lovers of Christ, subordinating minor dif- ferences and putting aside their sectarian array, were " of one heart and of one mind " on the great themes of the Gospel, which are truths of Ufe and death, they would ex- ert a moral power that would be almost irresistible, and no pestilent error could stand before them. But now their moral power is weakened, not only by division, but also by mutual opposition, till scarcely anything of it remains ; and the denier of every fundamental verity of Christ's religion, proclaiming his impunity in sin and the efficacy of his hol- low forms, stands boldly by the side of other sects, and ex- claims, " Lo ! how we apples swim !" The Church, by its divisions, has lost the signet which its Master designed it to wear, and its power to testify for Him, and proclaim with authority to the world " the true and living way." It is true that the sects thus seek to do still, but the world cannot so readily distinguish amid the voices, and discern the true. Men of every hue of char- DISCOURSES. 245 acter, and of every conglomerate of monstrous ideas, may now stand up and claim the Christian name, and there is no moral power in the Church to cry scorn upon them till the world shall hear. Thus is the cause of our Redeemer kept back, by the power which is given to wicked men to usurp His name and lead souls astray. Thus does the rending of Christ's body destroy its growth, and leave men to perish in their sin. Is it not time that the Church should awake to the mis- chief it is doing itself, by its human wisdom, in disobe- dience to the commands of Christ its Lord ? Is it not time it should be willing to sacrifice all unessential things, rather than lose the " unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," and the moral power of a holy and united people ? Is it not time to cease their mutual strife, that so " all the build- ing, fitly framed together^'' may grow " unto an holy temple in the Lord ?" DISCOURSE XVII Evils of Sectarianism. 1 Cor. XII. 24, 25, 26, 27 ; Eph. vi. 4 ; John xiii. 35 ; Gal. v. 15; 1 Cor. iii 4 ; 1 John iv. 21 ; 1 John iii. 18. ^'■God hath tempered the body together, that there should he no schism in the body ; hut that the members should have the same care one for anoth- er. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer vnth it ; or one member he honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particu- lar.'''' " There is one body, and one spirit ; even as ye are call- ed in one hope of your calling.''^ " JBy this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.''^ "But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. ^^ " While one saith, I am of Paul ; and another, I am of Ap olios ; are ye not carnal P^ " This commandment have we from Him, that he who loveth God, loveth his brother also.'''' "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.''"' Vain, useless — nay, false, is that love which does not manifest itself in love's appropriate action.^ If divisions among the people of Christ are the fruit and the evidence of carnality of mind, and tend to pull down rather than to build up ; if there is one body as well as one spirit, and that the body of Christ, of which all Christians are members in particular ; and if God hath tempered the body together, designing that there should be no schism therein, but that DISCOURSES. 247 part should balance pai% with mutual care and sympathy, working together for the greatest results, — then it is plain what the appropriate action of brotherly love is, or at least, involves; and how the people of Christ should evidence to the world that they are His disciples. Thus have the passages of Scripture now read introduced to us a fourth principle, showing, by opposition, how sectarianism keeps back the triumph of the Gospel by hiding and depressing the essential, peculiar spirit of Christ and His religion, and weak- ening its self-evidencing power before the tvorld. The spirit of this world is one of selfishness — as all men know — manifesting itself more or less in a spirit of rivalry and contention. At least, these are the legitimate exercise of the natural temper of man's heart. But the spirit of Christ and His Gospel, on the other hand, is a spirit of love, wholly opposed to rivalry or selfish contention in any of its forms. And this spirit of love is the great power of the Gospel to subdue the hearts of men and spread its triumphs among them. It is an evidence of the superhuman char- acter and origin of that Gospel, which appeals at once to every man's conscience, and the most accessible point of his nature. Allow me to relate an occurrence, of which you perhaps have read, as a fitting and needful illustration here. During the progress of a revival in one of the villages of our country, an aged Christian called at the shop of a blacksmith, who was known as a confirmed infidel, to con- verse with him on the subject of religion. The hardened man was familiar with all the weapons of his infidel war- fare, and skillful in their use, so that the poor old man, when he reached the shop, after much and earnest prayer for him, trembled and knew not what to do. At last, 248 DISCOURSES. standing by the forge, he could only say, while the tears ran down his venerable cheeks, ''Sir, I am concerned for your soul's salvation — I am concerned for your soul's sal- vation." Saying this, he went away, to engage again in prayer in his behalf. The unbeliever felt the force of this appeal, and after the aged Christian was gone he could not , banish it from his mind. And the more he thought upon it the more strange it seemed to him, and unlike anything of man's natural character, as he well understood it. The consciousness of his own utter unlikeness to such a char- acter came upon him, till at last it humbled him in peniten- tial prostration before God ; and in calling upon Christ he found peace. Going now to the place where Christians were assembled for prayer, he stood up among them and told how God had led him to the Saviour, and filled him with joy in believing. And referring to his infidel argu- ments, and how they were all foiled by the old man's sim- ple words : " Oh," said he, " I could answer anything but that man's concern for my soul." Yes, he could answer anything, or thought that he could — save the argument of love : but that conquered him ! And, my hearers, it is that argument that is wanting to conquer the world : and it is able to do it ! Love, I say, is the great argument and power of the Gos- pel to subdue the world unto itself. Christ said of Him- self, "if I be lifted up" — that is, if I make that exhibition of my love for the world which I propose to do, by dying for it — " I shall draw all men unto me :" all who behold me there will feel the mightiest appeal which can be made to the human heart to come to God. And the whole his- tory of the Church has proved this. It was love that con- quered Paul, and made him such a shining light ; — first DISCOURSES. 249 amons the followers of Jesus ! and it has been the great power of the Gospel ever since. But we know that in order to bring this spirit of the Gospel to bear upon men, it must be exhil)ited to them in the person of Christ's followers ; as in the case just now related. It is only when the Church possesses and is ac- tuated by this spirit, that it is brought to bear upon the world in any adequate degree, and with adequate force : for few would otherwise know auglit of the love of Christ ; and though all should know it by the hearing of the ear, they need to see His spirit exhibited in a living form before them, fully to feel its power. But sectarianism is the greatest foe to its exhibition which God has ever suffered Satan to beget. It hinders brotherly love among Christians, and regard for the souls of men. It is vain for brethren in Christ to talk about the duty of loving one another, and to try to feel love for one another, while they refuse to act as love dictates. Their actions will control their hearts, as men's acts always do in the end. The fences which they set up between them in fact will be fences between them in feeling. And that it is now even so. every Christian knows. The fact is, worse than setting up hindrances to broth- erly love, the divisions of Christ's people beget and stimu- late continually that opposite spirit of rivalry and conten- tion which is the spirit of this world ; so that instead of saying of the Church, as was once said in the days of her rapid triumphs, " see how these Christians love one an- other," it is now said, by many who look upon her, " see how these Christians rival and are jealous of each other;" and thus is the light of the Gospel dimned, and its pecu- liar power destroyed, 12 250 DISCOURSES. It is tnie there are some who can and do overcome these tendencies to evil ; but many — not most — do not. But if all did, what advantage would the inward feeling be, while their actions proclaim to the world their variance? I grant that some may not intend variance of feeling by sep- arating themselves from their brethren ; but it is the na- tural languao-e of the act, and so the world read it. And so reading it, were there no greater cause, the peculiar spirit of the Gospel would be hid to them, and its power taken av/ay. But there is a greater cause. That spirit of love is not only in a great measure hidden from the world, but it is in a great measure destroyed. Jealousy and conten- tious strife have been in too many instances, or to too large an extent, brought in to take its place ; so that the religion of Jesus has been wounded in the house of her friends, and the right arm of her strength torn from her bleeding side. And how much is lost to the cause of our Redeemer by this means, we can hardly stretch our thoughts far enough to measure. If all Christians by their mutual love were now commending the Gospel to the world as they did in primi- tive times, I believe we should see the Church advancing with primitive rapidity. And though we should not charge all the deficit to the score of sects, yet there is enough chargeable there to make the account a fearful one. But I have said that the exhibition of love to souls out of the Church is hindered by the same cause. It is so be- cause the selfish spirit of sectarianism appeals more pal- pably and powerfully to the depraved heart of man, than does a benevolent love for the unseen and future good of others, and so tends constantly to usurp its place. And so much has that sectarian desire of gaining converts to one's own party manifested itself to the world, that it has DISCOURSES. 251 cast suspicion in many places upon the labors of all Chris- tians; and thus, besides taking from them the power of that appeal to man's better feelings which Christian love is calculated to make, it has placed a heavy obstacle in their way. Nor can we wonder at the strength of such suspicions, when we sometimes see the members of a sect more laborious and diligent in proselyting to themselves those who are already Christians, than they ever are in gaining lost souls from sin to holiness, and from death to life. It requires a hard strain, in fact, on any man's charity, ever to give such persons credit for genuine love to man's spiritual interests. And while sectarianism is begetting such fruits in the Church, the peculiar spirit of the Gos- pel, in which its great power lies, must ever be largely hid- den and lost. Nor does the evil stop here. Kindred to this, I may per- haps say, is the hindrance which the sectarian sundering of believers causes — Fifthly, By grieving the Spirit of God. That it does do this has been, I think, sufficiently shown. And this being proved, the conclusion which you will all admit, follows sufficiently plain. Want of time will there- fore lead me to pass hastily over this topic, though it is one of such mighty weight as ought to make the Church of Christ tremble and weep at the good she has destroyed. When she looks abroad over the world, and groans to see the wickedness and misery which the Gospel has not yet reach- ed, and wonders that God's Spirit of power is withheld from the work which it might do, let her remember how that holy and peaceful Spirit has been grieved away, and is yet grieved, by her unholy strifes. But, Sixthly, Sectarianism hinders the progress or advancement 252 DISCOURSES, of the Church, in the world, hy hindering her progress in the truth. It is unquestionable that the slowness of the Church in the latter, is one of the great reasons why she is not more rapid in the former. That there is much error mixed with all our systems of theology, cannot be denied by any one without arrogance : for there are many conflicting systems, so that many errors exist somewhere ; and it would be absurd to charge them all upon one, and equally arro- gant to claim for another exemption from the whole. But error mixed with Gospel truth, obscures its light, and hin- ders its power. It remains, then, that we show how sectarianism hinders progress in the truth. This will not be hard to do. It does so, first, by prompting prejudice. In a vast majority of cases, personal influences, or some external circumstances rather than previous doctrinal views, determine the sect to which a convert unites himself. By so uniting, however, he commits himself to the views of that sect, and that be- fore he really understands what they are. His attention is too much occupied with the great truths of Christianity, which have given him hope and life, to think particularly at present on secondary matters. But he has committed himself with unquestioning do- cility to receive the instructions of those whom he looks upon as his elders and teachers in the Lord ; and they are all prepared to administer their theological nostrums, in the shape of a creed or in some other way, to his receptive mind. Once swallowed, whether understood or not, it must be stood to against all who impugn, because it is the doctrine of '• our Church." This spirit of party ex- ercises an unresisted influence to mould the mind into all DISCOURSES. 253 the peculiarities of the sect, and complete the work of in- doctrination. Henceforth, when the Bible is read and studied, it is not seen with open and natural eyes, but through the spectacles which the mind has put on. Scrip- ture passages have received u stamped interpretation before they are examined in their proper connection in the Scrip- tures themselves ; and the consequence is, a stereotyped Bible and a stereotyped brain. But little new light is to be expected to the Church from minds thus fashioned. I have some knowledge, my friends, of the things of which I have spoken, for I have been put through this mill. Again, by the process spoken of, the mind has learned to rest its behef too much on human authority, and too little on evidence ; and this is a habit in itself most destructive to progress. It needs no argument or illustration to show that those who are accustomed to look, for their establish- ment in truth, rather upon what has received the suffrages of many others than upon the evidence which it offers, can add nothing to the stock which the Church possesses. And is not this the case with the great majority of Christians ? I believe it is. And it is largely owing, as has been already shown, to the evil of which I am speaking. Again, sectarianism affords its votaries so much to do in defending themselves against rival and opposing sects, as leaves them little opportunity for calm investigation, and so diu-inishes the probability of their clearing their minds of error, and advancing in true knowledge. It promotes discussion, it is true ; but it promotes discussion, not among simple inquirers after truth, as might otherwise be the case, but among defenders of established systems, whose rank, and influence, and emoluments depend on their success in that defense. How much likelihood there is amonor such 254 DISCOURSES. disputants of throwing away errors, and gaining new ideas from God's Word, let such as know human kind judge. But the great fact concerning the hindrance to progress which the divisions of the Church create, is yet to come. Theology is the product, not of the mind of the Church in general — not of the united wisdom of the people of God — but of a few leading minds in the min'stry ; and that greatly in past ages. Certain individuals, favored by circumstances or mental gifts, have issued their systems of Scripture in- terpretation, and established sects. They have found fol- lowers, as every body can in this world ; and very many of them have had sufficient Gospel truth in their systems to convert souls, and do much good. The sect becoming established, it has power. The people in general have lit- tle opportunity or taste for theological investigation, but are attached to their fathers, and teachers in the Gospel, and through them to the tenets which they hold. If any progress is to come, it must come through the ministry. They are dependent, however, on the sect as a whole ; and the sect has power to sustain and honor such as fall in with its established lines. Of all these lines, however, it is from the nature of sects, peculiarly and strictly tenacious. He who departs from them in the least will be cast out. And if cast out, where shall he go ? There are none to take him up and sustain him, for sects are the order of the day ; and because he differs a little from one he will not there- fore be received by others which are still more variant. He must, therefore, either renounce the ministry, and so lose his principal opportunity of advancing the Church, and doing the good which his soul desires, or else he must keep the new truth which God has iriven him to himself. There are enough in the ministry who are bigoted sec- DISCOURSES. 255 tarists, loving their place and power to watcli all the rest, and cry Heresy ! Heresy ! the moment a new idea is heard, evolved from the Grospel of Christ. And whe 1 we see how the ministry are trained, we can expect but little disposition in them, in general, to meddle with existing sectarian fixtures. A young man, with his heart filled with the love of Christ, and of his fellow- men, resolves to study for the ministry. He is already the member of a sect, and dis- posed to its particular views. He naturally goes, there- fore, to one of the theological schools of his denomination. He finds there that the law of the Medes and Persians has been laid down — the creed, in all its ramifications and tvvigifications, is graven on steel; and lest the venerable and long established teachers should, by some accident, get a new idea in the progress of time, they are required at stated periods of a year or two (this is actually the cus- tom*) to give a solemn pledge in no wise to depart there- from. It is under such training as this, that the ministry in general is formed. This, somewhat, accounts for uniformity within the walls of a sect. But after all, the young man may be somewhat indepen- dant in his mind, and not disposed to receive so implicitly the dicta of his teachers — and what then ? Why, then he is plied with a cannonade of arguments from those old and practised artillerists ; and if he is still so keen-sighted and strong as to ward the bullets, and stand his ground, he is gravely told, those are the views of the institution and the Church, and he must submit, or there * But custom, not only without reason, but almost without authority, as we attempt to show at the close of the volumo. — JEd. 256 DISCOURSES. is no proper place for him there, nor will the pulpits of the Church be opened to receive him. I am not supposing a case, my friends. I am relating facts which have occurred. Thus it is, my hearei's, that sectarianism does destroy that Christian liberty which is essential to the candid in- vestigation of the Scriptures, and without which, the pro- gress of the Church, in truth, must be slow and difficult, and therefore, its triumph be postponed.* Seventh. But the seventh and final reason which I will oiFer, for the detriment done to the spread of religion by the divisions of Christ's people, is the injury which these do to their piety. That injury arises, as I have already shown, from many of the same causes which operate directly against the ad- vancement of the Church abroad : — from the too great prominence given to secondary and non-practical truths in the minds of the Church ; from the idol of party thus created, and dividing the heart from Christ ; from the false churches and false professors thus originated or sustained, and debasing the standard of religion by their unworthy example ; from the hindrance to progress in understanding * "Factions, moreoyer, benumb the expansive powers of Christianity, and prevent its spread. They create, too, a universal confusion, entanglements, and pervei'sion of religious notions. No inquiry can be calmly prosecuted, no result of solitary meditation can be safely reported, nothing can be looked at in its na- tive form, so long as the jealousies and the interests of eight or ten ancient and corporate factions spread themselves over the field of theology. Even those few insulated articles of Christian belief or speculation, or of abstruse science, which have not been claimed by party zeal, are often found to ahirm the ■wakeful fears of this or that guardian of sectarianism, merely because the meth- od of argument which may have been employed in such instances is fo;e<een to have a bearing upon matters that are held to be inviolable. The opinion in it- self may be innocent enough; but the logic that sustains it is dangerous. Bet- ter then quash at once the suspicious novelty, which, tliough it maybe good and true, is not momentous, than favor it. and so open the door to no one can say what innovations !" — Taylor. Nat. Hist, of Fanaticism j of the Symbol. — [Ed. DISCOURSES. 257 the Scriptures, as just treated ; and finally, from doing despite to the Spirit of Grace, grieving the heavenly Dove from the bosoms where rivalry and contention are made to enter. Not only do these causes operate directly against the conquest at which the Church is aiming, but by injur- ing its inety^ they do more perhaps than in any other way to keep back its triumphs. It is by their own nearness to God, their own likeness to Christ, that the members of Christ's body must give power to the truth they proclaim to subdue the world unto Him. If the Church itself were as well advanced in piety as it should be, the cause of our Redeemer would roll on with lightning speed. And how incalculable the mischief which the unhappy divisions of Christ's people are doing by operating against this ! Oh ! that the Church might awaken to its error, and strive for some method of deliverance ! I have now endeavored — knowing how many prejudices I may assail, but determined to cast from me the fear of man ; for my position in the ministry is not worth to me a straw, unless I can speak forth out of my heart what God puts in it — I have endeavored to show you some of the workings of this giant evil, which I have called Sectarian- ism. I do not mean by this, as is often meant, the spirit of separation, but separation itself. And have I not shown you abundant reasons to substantiate the proposition with which I set out ? IMay we not well conclude, in view of all these mournful facts, that this evil is a mighty injury to the piety of the Church, and perhaps the greatest single enemy to her conquest of the world ; seeing the Gospel of Christ is fitted to save our race unto the uttermost, and 12* 258 DISCOURSES. nothing is wanting but that the Church should adequately exemplify and present it to their minds and hearts ? Think not that it has been to me an altogether pleasing task, to speak evil of the Church I love — of the people of Christ to whom I belong. My heart has groaned as, pen in hand, I have looked at this subject, arranging my thoughts to present them to you. Is the Church of Christ altogether corrupt and worthless? No, no — no, no! she abounds in holy hearts, and she is doing a mighty and a blessed work. But she has spots on her garments still, And when we turn our eyes to her better traits, we may so hide those spots that they will seem small ; but when we look steadily at them they seem large enough. For, indeed, they are large enough — too large, too large, my friends, to behold without sighing and tears. Oh ! when shall the blessed Spirit of our Master come — that Spirit which is love — and heal our wounds '? When shall He walk upon this tossing sea, and say, " Peace ! be still ?" The subject presents matter for the serious inquiries and prayers of every Christian. Thanks to God, there is the beginning of a better spirit abroad in the Churches. The attempted World's Alliance at London a few years ago grew out of it. What though that failed ? the spirit has not failed. Thousands of Christians all over the land feel it. Churches are springing up which reject it — or mean to — though some of them do not see how. Many Christians are holding off from all connection with churches on ac- count of it. (I do not say they should: let them judge.) Bible, and Tract, and Sunday School-societies have sprung up, which are living repudiations of it, and gi'cat standing proofs before all the Church, that it is abso- lutely necessary in some degree to depart from it. DISCOURSES. 259 But though all these things are true, the evil exists still in prodigious vigor. The better spirit which pervades the Church so largely has not availed in general to change those practices by which it is kept alive, and the instances in which it has availed are lost among the multitude. The evil still exists and is multiplying ; and it becomes all those who love Christ and his cause, to study the sub- ject, and pray over it. The Apostle Paul evidently thought such a state of things altoorether needless. He exhorted the Corinthians to be "joined together in the same mind." And he adjured them to this in the most solemn manner — " by the name of our Christ." In His name, also, will I adjure you, my Christian friends. If in all that I have said, there are some things to which you cannot assent — which would not be strange — yet the reality and the greatness of that evil which I have tried to exhibit, you cannot deny. And though no other reasons could be found for deprecating these divisions among the followers of our common Lord, it is sufficient that they are opposed to the spirit of our holy religion, and a grief (/ am warranted in saying it hy the spirit of His own prayer) a grief to our Divine Redeemer. In His name then I beseech you, ponder and pray upon this matter, and away with this evil from your hearts. And see to it that ye love your brethren, " not in word^^ merely, " neither in tongue ; hut in deed and in truihP The Lord give us wisdom to direct, and grace to do, in His appointed way. APPENDIX. ANALYSIS OF FAITH Subjectively, Faith or Belief is of three kinds : simple or historical, practical or voluntary, and non-voluntary. Tnist or Confidence is of three kinds : simple or emotive, practical or voluntary, and non-voluntary. Simple or historical faith or belief is the assent of the un- derstanding, when no action on the subject is possible, or is practically believed to be at present unnecessary (as the unrepenting man's faith in future punishment). Simple or emotive trust or confidence is the feeling of the mind which responds to the assent of the understanding .o any truth (generally used, however, in reference to truth in which the mind feels satisfaction or pleasurable emotion). Voluntary or practical faith or belief, trust or confidence, is complex ; comprising the assent of the understanding, the act or state of the will corresponding, and the feeling of trust or confidence. But, 2^i'<^ctical faith or belief denotes this idea without prominent reference to either of its ele- ments ; though such a reference may arise from the circum. stances of its use ; and originally the word itself contained a prominent reference to the assent of the understanding APPENDIX. 261 Practical trust or confidence denotes this idea with prominent reference to the feeling or emotion. By non-voluntai-y Faith, Belief, Trust or Confidence, I denote the use of the words when they are employed in- discriminately to signify the assent of the understanding, and the corresponding emotion. A more philosophical division of the above will be : Faith is of two kinds : involuntary and voluntary. I. Involuntary, two kinds; (a) simple, [h) compound (/. e. " non-voluntary.") II. Voluntary or practical. The three main points maintained by our author, and indicated in the above analysis, may be briefly stated thus : Faith, in the sense in which it is a duty and a condition of salvation, is, 1, Rational; 2, it is Voluntary; 3, it is Moral. It is opposed neither to Eeason, Work, nor Emo- tion, bnt includes them all. It is the synthesis of Thought, Feeling and Act. And because it is the harmony of these, it tends, when directed to its proper object, to the highest development of man's being. This view of Faith, we think, best meets a triple error that appears in the history of the Church, and a corres- ponding triple scepticism in the world. \ye offer here a few extracts, to show how urgent occasion there has been for the views taken by our author, and at the same time to give them such support as may be found in the opinions of thinking men. — [Ed. NOTE A. THAT FAITH IS RATIONAL. How Faith has been opposed to Reason. — Clement of Alex- andria speaks of the faith which " the Greeks do slander, as an empty and barbarian folly." IlWtj U iiv SiaSaWovai Kcvijv xai (iapSapov voixi^ovres "EWrjvzs- — Strom, 1. ii. c. 2. Rufinus says that " the pagans commonly object that our religion, because it seems deficient in reasons, consists in a mere disposition to believe." — Pagani nobis objicere solent, quod religio nostra, quia quasi ra- tionibus deficit, in sola credendi persuasione consistat. — In Symb. Origen, in his work against Celsus, alludes to such charges as these : " Do not examine, but believe." " Believe, if you wish to be saved, or be gone." M^ e^cTa^e, dX\a Tricmvaov. nia- TEmov, d aoidfjvai deXeis, ij amdi. And in a work ascribed to Athana.- sius : AeX^ff^fj ^^(^l-v, an-Xwj TO. \£y6^i£va, Kol nr)6sls k^eTa^ino ri npsTrou kv avroXi »j H UTrptitEg Kat ttLcttiv dfo/id^ei rriv uSaaavLorov tin roXs dcTarois kcCI dvairoSeiKTOi skirl j3\a6rj avyKardOeaiv. — 0pp. tom. ii,, p. 581, ed. Benedict. The " certum est quia impossibile est," of Tertullian, is well known. Yet even he, in controverting error, gives faith its proper rational basis. " Aut proba esse quae credis, aut si non probas, quomodo credis?" — Adv. Marc, v. 1. Julian, cited by Gregory Nazianzen : 'Htinerepoi, ^rjcriv, ol \6yoi Kol ro kWrjviTeiv, cov koI to aeBtiv Oeovg : Vfidv 6i f] dXoj-ia, Kol ^ dYpoiKiOf Kol ovSif Vntp TO, Jliarevaov, Tfjs VfiCTepai iai\ ao(pias. See also Arnobius, cited above, page . Extended replies to these cavils were made by Eusebius, Praepar. Evangel. 1. i. Augustine, Ad Honoratum, De Utilitate Credendi ; Theodo- ret, Serm. I. De Fide contra Graecos. APPENDIX. 263 The history of the degradation of faith to blind irrationality, during the Middle Ages, would make a volume of itself. This subject is intimately connected with the misapplication of the term " mystery," and the extension and abuse of the idea of mystery ; with the false doctrine of justice, or right, as based upon mere omnipotent will or power ; with the doctrine and practice of the pious fraud, and of compulsion in religious mat- ters, and of ceremonial or irrational devices for salvation ; and with the doctrine of uniformity in opinion, and hence of im- plicit faith, as necessary to salvation. This last tenet, which of course subverts all right of private judgment, is thus stated by the most profound of the late Ro- manist divines, Dr. Moehler : " He who establishes his fait^ on Scripture, viz., on the results to which his Biblical researches have led him, has no faith — does not know at all what faith is."— Symbolism, Ch. v.. Art. 39. Between this bold Irrationalism, and the Neology which would make God's admitted testimony no better than each man's opinion, nominal Protestantism has furnished every shade of doctrine, simply because under that name the various natures of men have found free scope. It would be strange, indeed, if the example of noble men within the Romish Church, and various motives furnished by its remaining power, had not produced a repetition of its errors beyond its pale. It still remains for Protestants generally to find that just view of faith which shall stand against all objections, either of Romanist or Rationalist. Testimonies to Faith as Rational. — Most earnestly did the early Christian writers combat the prejudice that faith was op- posed to reason, though it might be in advance of knowledge. Thus Clement of Alexandria : " Believing in the Logos, whom we term our Master, consists in obedience to His precepts, withstanding Him in nothing ; for how, indeed, can we with- stand God ? Knowledge, therefore, is faith, and faith is knowl- edge ; for by some divine arrangement they mutually lead and are led by each other, in perfect companionship." And then, 264 APPENDIX. citing Epicurus' doctrine of np6\n\pis (conjecture, or anticipa- tion,) he says : " If faith, then, be nothing more than this np6\ri\pif of the understanding as to the things spoken, and this be obedience, and if intelligence of the matter be persuasion, — then no one learns without faith, because none can learn with- out this fore-feeling ; and thus what the prophet says (Isa. vii. 9) is shown to be true : ' Unless ye believe ye cannot under- stand ;' and thus, too, Heraclitus the Ephesian has paraphrased the same idea, saying, ' Unless a man hopes, he will not find what he did not hope.' " — Stromata, 1. ii., c. 4. In chapter 5, Clement speaks of repentance as " the good work of faith," — of " hope as springing from faith," — and of faith as " the found- ation of love." ^ In the "Apostolical Constitutions," even when full-grown and past their early simplicity, we find a blessing for him who be- lieves, not with blind un-reason, but with judgment and full conviction : 'O lavra TnaTEwas ovx anXoJs ov6^ a,\6yci3s, dWa Kplcei Koi Tr\ripo(popia Xapiff[ia elXriipev Ik Qsov. — viii. 1, Lactantius ridicules the pagans for following the religious customs for which they pretended no better authority than an- cestral example and tradition, {Inst. Div., 1. ii., c. 6,) and con- cludes : " Quare oportet, in ea re maxime in qua vitae ratio versatur, sibi quemque confidere, suoque judicio ac propriis sen- sibus niti ad investigandam et perpendendam veritatem, quam credentem alienis erroribus decipi, tanquam ipsum rationis ex- pertem. Dedit omnibus Deus pro virili portione sapientiam,ut et inaudita investigare possent, et audita perpendere." — C. 7. The views of Maximus, in the seventh century, " aman dis- tinguished for acuteness and profundity of intellect," are thus stated by Neander : " The Holy Spirit works not wisdom in the saints without a mind which is susceptible of it ; — it works not knowledge, without a recipient faculty of reason ; it works not faith, without a rational conviction respecting the future and the invisible ; it works not the gift of miraculous healing, without a natural philanthropy ; and, in a word, it produces no APPENDIX. 265 charisma whatsoever, without the recipient faculty for each." — Chh. Hist., Trans, by Torrey, vol. iii., p. 173.*^ " Duns Scotus was the first who [in the mediaeval times] man- ifested a leaning towards Christian Rationalism, and a union be- tween it and Supernaturalism, by considering true religion and true philosophy as one and the same thing, and by looking for the true source of religious knowledge in him'Self — i. e., in his rational consciousness. But he did not deny the necessity of a positive revelation which has come from without." — Hagen- lach, Hist, of Doc, ^ 158. "He may, in a certain sense, be called the author of Rationalism ; but his Rationalism is very different from, and forms the strongest contrast with, that per- verse form of Rationalism which exists at the present day." — Staudenmaier, cited by Hagenbach. " The use of reason in spiritual things, and the latitude thereof, are very great and general ; for it is not for nothing that the Apostle calleth religion our reasonable service of God, insomuch as the very ceremonies and figures of the old Law were full of reason and signification, much more than the cere- monies of idolatry and magic, that were full of non-significants and surd characters. But most especially the Christian faith, as in all things, so in this, deserveth to be highly magnified, holding and preserving the golden mediocrity in this point, be- tween the law of the heathen and the law of Mahomet, which have embraced the two extremes. For the religion of the hea- then had no constant belief or confession, but left all to the lib- erty of argument ; and the religion of Mahomet, on the other * Neander says of the -works of Maximus : " The grand features of a coherent system may be discovered in them, together with many fruitful and pregnant ideas, -which, if he had developed himself and acted his part under more favor- able circumstances, [he -was opposed, banished, recalled to be scourged and his tongue cut out, and again banis-hed, for his opinions.] — might have been the means of leading himself and others to an original construction of the Chris- tian system of faith and morals. He -was also distinguished for his zeal in en- deavoring to promote a vital, practical Christianity, flowing out of the disposition of the heart, in opposition to dead faith and outward works." — Page 171. 266 APPENDIX. side, interdicteth argument altogether : the one having the very- face of error, and the other of imposture ; whereas the Chris- tian faith doth both admit and reject disputation with differ- ence." — Bacon, Advancement of Learning. "As to its nature [faith] doth involve knowledge, knowledge of most worthy and important truths, knowledge peculiar and not otherwise aftainable, knowledge in way of great evidence and assurance." " Faith implieth a good use of reason." "It was a foul aspersion cast upon our religion by its ancient opposer, that it did require \pi\r]v koI aXoyov irLariv, a mere belief, void of reason; challenging assent to its doctrines without any trial or proof." — Barrow, on the Creed ; Sermon I., on Faith " Whatever theories may be conceived in regard to the man- ner of inspiration — visions, voices, internal impulses — the rea- son of the individual must be convinced of its reality, else it could not be distinguished from insanity. Every thing not reasonable, either in itself, or by virtue of the ground upon which we accept it, is absurd. Revelation can have no au- thority for a rational being, till reason has recognized it as such." — /. Blanco White, Heresy and Orthodoxy, Letter III. " That faith which is counted for righteousness, consists, not in believing without evidence, but in being open to evidence : in candidly and patiently weighing the reasons ; and in resolv- ing to receive and acknowledge whatever there is good ground for believing, however contrary it may be to our expectations, wishes, and prejudices^ — Whately, Scrip. Rev. of a Fut. State, eh. xi. " Faith and reason, when the matter is rightly understood , are by no means the opposites of each other True faith and right reason always have harmonized, always will harmonize. Tbe conflict, which from time to time takes place, is in appear- ance and not in reality ; is relative, and not absolute." — JJpham, Life of Faith, P. I., ch. xiv. " If to the faith of which the New Testament speaks so APPENDIX. 267 much, a peculiar blessing is promised, it is evident from that same volume that it is not a 'faith without reason ' any more than a ' faith without works,' which is commended by the Author of Christianity." — Henry Rogers, Reason and Faith. The following, from Dr. Arnold, may well complete this part of the discussion : " Faith and reason are often invidiously contrasted with each other, as if they were commonly described in Scripture as an- tagonists ; whereas faith is more properly opposed to sight or to lust, being in fact a very high exercise of the pure reason ; inasmuch as we believe truths which our senses do not teach us, and which our passions would have us, therefore, reject, be- cause those truths are taught by Him in whom reason recog- nizes its own author, the infallible source of all truth. " It were better to oppose reason to passion than to faith ; for it may be safely said, that he who neglects his reason, and so far as he neglects it, does not lead a life of faith afterwards, but a life of passion " Faith may be described as reason leaning upon God. With- out God, reason is either overpowered by sense and understand- ing, and, in a manner, overgrown, so that it cannot apprehend its proper truths ; or being infinite, it cannot discover all the truths which concern it, and therefore needs a further revela- tion to enlighten it. But with God's grace strengthening it to assert its supremacy over sense and understanding, and com- municating to it what of itself it could not have discovered, it then having gained strength and light not its own, and doing and seeing consciously by God's help, becomes properly faith. " Faith without reason, is not properly faith, but mere power- worship ; and power-worship may be devil-worship ; for it is reason which entertains the idea of God — an idea essentially made up of truth and goodness, no less than of power " Reason, then, is the means whereby we attain to faith, and escape the devil-worship of idolatry." — Tracts for the Times, Addenda I. Introd. to " Christian Life," &c. 268 APPENDIX, Dr. A. in the above passage alludes to Coleridge's distinction between reason and understanding, which he deems important for our defence against Rationalism on the one hand, and Ro- manism on the other. The whole article should be read. The TrpoXriipig — " prcsumption " — of Epicurus seems to be the same with the acpoSpa vTr6\riijjig, earnest opinion, or " I would un- dertake to say," of Aristotle. — Topics, iv. 5. Compare with this the expression in the Ethics, vi. 3 : "Otov yap nus wurrevrj, koI yvdjpijioi avrtS cjaiv al upXaij kTrtararai. Clement alsO citCS Aristotlc as saying that the judgment of a thing as true which is formed on acquaintance with it, is a species of faith. — See Barrow, Serm. TV., on the Creed. NOTE B. THAT FAITH IS VOLUNTARY. *' Faith is a spontaneous acceptance, and compliance with divine religion." Uicms vp6\r]Xpii Uowios hn, dtoatBuas (TVYKaraOeats Clement, Strom. 1. ii., p 265. " To be made at first was not of ourselves ; but God persua- deth us to follow those things which Himself loveth, by free choice with the rational faculties which He hath given us, and so leadeth us to faith." To niv apxriv ytvtaeai ovx rtnETEpov jj*/. to 6i tlaKo\ov6rivai olg ^i\ov avrtZ aipovuhovs Si uyv aVTds iSwpficraTO XoyiKdv Swifitoiv, neWei ts koI elg nianv ayti f)[ias. JustlTl Mart.., Apol. 11. " All faith, therefore, even in common things, may be deemed voluntary, no less than intellectual : and Christian faith is espe- cially such, as requiring thereto more appreciation of soul, managed by choice, than any other. . . . The same is supposed in Holy Scripture ; where of believers it is said that they did uanevws, gladly, or willingly, receive the word, and they received it nera ndaris Trpodvuias, with all willingness, or readiness of mind. " And to defect of will, infidelity is often ascribed. John, V. 40; Luke, xiii. 34; Matt. xxii. 3; 2 Pet. iii. 5; 2 Thes. ii. 10, 12. And onriaTos, w (piXov \psv6os eKowiov, says Clement : ' he is the unbeliever, whom a fond delusion has enticed.' " — Barrow. " It is the moral duty of the ivill to use the understanding as a mirror, courting in every direction, and by every means in man's power, the rays of divine truth; and endeavoring, by industry, disinterestedness, and sincerity, to remove the soiling breath of the passions and desires, which so frequently distort those rays, and make them diverge from the mind." — /. Blanco White, Heresy and Orthodoxy, Letter U. NOTE C. THAT i'AlTH IS MORAL. The Sceptical Vieu\ — '"It lies in the nature of faith, that it be fixed as dogma. Dogma only gives a formula to what faith had already on its tongue or in its mind. That when once a fundamental dogma is established, it gives rise to more special questions, which must also be thrown into a dogmatic form, that thence there results a burdensome multiplicity of dogmas, — this is certainly a fatal conse- quence, but does not do away with the necessity that faith should fix itself in dogmas, in order that every one may know definitely what he must believe, and how he must win salvation." " In faith there lies a malignant principle.''^ " Faith is the opposite of love." "Faith condemns, anathematizes ; all the actions, all the dispositions, which contradict love, humanity, reason, accord with faith." Thus says the author of the " Essence of Christianity." And aside from various passages of Scripture which he misinter- preted, he finds real occasion of oifence in the theology of men. Thus — " Si quis dixerit . . qui fidem sine charitate habet, Christianum non esse, anathema sit." — Concil. Trid, (Sess. vi., De Justif., can. 28.) " Haereticus usu omnium jurium des- titutus est, ut deportatus." — J. H. Boehmer. " Eos autemmerito torqueri, qui Deum nesciunt, ut impios, ut injustos, nisi pro- fanus nemo deliberat : quum parentem omnium et dominum omnium non minus sceleris sit ignorare, quam laedere." — Minucius Felix, Octav. c. 35. " Faith and love are two things. Faith endures nothing, love endures all things. Faith curses, love blesses : faith seeks vengeance and punishment, love seeks orbearance and forgiveness." — Luther, lom. vi. p. 94. APPENDIX. 271 " Phrases equally strong," says Coleridge, speaking of Lu- ther's doctrine of the will, "are no rarities in the writings of Luther; for Catachresis was the favorite figure of speech in that age." The various phases of antinomianisra, and the proneness of human nature itself to " lengthen the creed and shorten the Decalogue," are too well known, or at least too much talked of, to call for citations here. Faith became divested of moral quality, we think, briefly, thus : In the age of the Reformation, the term faith was generally restricted by the Protestants to denote the act which secured justification. The proposition that man is justified by faith in Christ alone, was confounded with its converse, X\idXfaithin Christ only justifies. Sanctification was made a sequel of jus- tification rather than a work of faith — not a proper fruit of faith, but an indirect result. Hence, faith not only ceased to be meritorious, but it too often lost all moral character, and by the meeting of two extremes, the new doctrine of faith occa- sioned the same lax morality which it had sought to avoid. This ■ iew, we think, is justified by the statements of Hagenbach, Hist, of Doct. ^ 250, 251, 298. Statements of the true view. — " Sed cur et Fides dea credita est, et accepit ipsa templum et altare ? Quam quisquis pra- denter agnoscit, habitaculum illi se ipsum facit. Unde autem sciunt illi quid sit fides, cujus primum et maximum officium est, ut in verum credatur Deum 1 Sed cur non suflfecerat virtus 1 Nonne ibi est fides? Quandoquidem virtutem in quatuor species distribuendam esse viderunt, prudentiam, justitiam, fortitudinem, temperantiam. Et quoniam istae singulae species suas habent, in partibus justitiae fides est : maximumque locum apnd nos habet, quicunque scimus quid set, quod Justus ex fide vivit^ — Augustine^ De Civ. Dei. Lib. iv. c. xx. And while Luther protested against the Romish doctrine of faith as meritorious, and the chief of the virtues, it is worthy of notice that in his distinction between justification by faith and justification by law, he speaks of faith as a species of worship. 272 APPENDIX. " Fides est \aTpua, quae accepit a Deo oblata beneficia ; jus- titia leget est Xarpua, quae ofFert Deo nostra merita. Fide sic vult coli Deus, ut ab ipso accipiamus ea, quae promittit et ofFert." Apol. Conf. p. 69, cf. p. 126. He says also : " Faith is rightly named justification, because it is obedience to the Gospel." Page 125. And in the Formula Concordiae, though the distinction be- tween faith and works is still maintained, they are made insep- arable, as heat and light cannot be separated from fire, or as it is the nature of the tree to bear fruit. " Est fides quiddam vivura, efficax, potens, ita ut fieri non possit, quin semper bona operetur." — De Bonis Operibus, iv. " In opposition to this Protestant Orthodoxy, that had fallen away from the fundamental principle of the Reformation, and therefore, clung with the greater obstinacy to the letter of its symbolical books, Spener insisted upon a living faith rooted in the regenerate will, and undertook to revivify religion, that had perished in the stiff forms of a mechanical orthodoxy." This passage, from the Memoir of Dr. Moehler, by the translator of SchlegePs " Philosophy of History," is very significant, both as a tribute to the views of Spener, and as showing the most serious difficulty which the pious Romanist finds with Protest- antism. " In fine, the embracing Christian doctrine doth suppose a mind imbued with all kind of virtuous disposition in some de- gree." — Barrow, Sermon II., on the Creed. " Faith pours vigor into the affections, as well as into the will. It gives energy to the action of the heart. It is an enemy of debility ; it makes those who possess it mighty in the power of love." — Vpham, Life of Faith, Part I. ch. ii. " Faith is the source, the parent of all true feeling." — Ch. vi. , " The moral government of God as far as we know it, is only a method of training the conscience, and, by means of the conscience, the will of man. For this great purpose, no trial or discipline is of a higher and more powerful nature than the offer of the Gospel. When men are called upon to repent, or APPENDIX. 273 change their will from the indulgence of the selfish passions to the habitual determination of embracing that which, on every occasion, the conscience shall approve as best, they cannot an- swer with any show of reason that they are not able to under- stand what is proposed to them." — /. Blanco White, Heresy and Orthodoxy, Letter II. ^ These testimonies might, of course, be extended indefinitely, by citations from manifold treatises against antinomiauism. 13 NOTE D, To the testimonies contained in the above notes we here add a few citations to support the three-fold definition, and extend- ed import, of Faith, assigned by our author. Dr. ThoKick, in his Commentary on Romans, iv. 3, says : " Among the Jews there are many who appreciate the high im- portance of religious faith, as an inward giving up of self to God. To this purpose, Philo has various beautiful passages. De Abrahamo, p. 386 : ' The one only sure and infallible good is faith, the faith that is fixed upon God ; it is the consolation of life, the fulfillment of hope, the absence of evil, and the price of every blessing ; it is the ignorance of misery, the knowledge if piety, and the inheritance of felicity ; it is that which per- fects every thing, depending as it does upon the great First Cause, who has power to do all things, but who wills only the best.' In the sequel he styles faith, the ' queen of virtues.' More especially, however, in his work, Quis rerum div. haeres ? p. 493 : " Abraham believed in God, and to have done so re- dounds to his praise. Some, indeed, may perhaps insinuate that there is nothing very commendable in that, and may ask, if any one, even the most unjust and impious of men, would not give heed to the words and promises of God, To whom we reply: Beware then of inconsiderately defrauding the wise man of his merited eulogium, — of assigning faith, which is the most perfect of virtues, to the unworthy, or of casting reproach upon our knowledge of this subject. For if you please to search more deeply, and not keep to the mere surface of things, you APPENDIX. 275 will readily perceive, that to believe in God alone, and in noth- ing else besides, is by no means an easy matter, etc." John of Damascus, the most considerable writer of the eighth century, speaks of faith as two-fold. " For there is a faith which comes by hearing ; for when we hear the sacred Scrip- tures, we give credence to the teaching of the Holy Spirit ; and this [faith] is perfected in all the commands of Christ, a faith that works (I'pyw Triarevovaa), reverently doing the precepts of Him who hath renewed us. And there is also a faith, the con- fidence of things hoped for, the full conviction of things not seen (Heb. xi. 1.), the undisturbed and unshaken hope of the things promised to us by God, and of the answer to our pray- ers. The former is of ourselves, the act of our own will (r^j fjni-epasyvwuris); the latter is a gift of the Spirit." — De Fide Orthod. iv. 10 ; cited by Hagenbach, Hist, of Doc, ^ 186. This is a distinction of the objects of faith, (viz., of duty and reward,) rather than of the nature of faith. The first division alone contains all that is given in our author's definition. Hugo of St. Victor, of " profoundly spiritual mind," says Dr. Hase, who died a.d. 1141, " looked upon faith, on the one hand as (cognitio) of the intellect, and on the other as (affectus) of the emotions." — Hagenbach, ibid. Among the Schoolmen we find the " Master of Sentences" making a distinction between belief in a God, (credere Deum) the belief of God (credere Deo), and trust in God (credere in Deum), and saying that " to trust in God is by believing to love Him, by believing to go to Him, by believing to cleave unto Him, and to become one of the members of His body. By this faith the sinner is justified, so that faith itself thenceforth be- gins to work by love." Again, he says that "love itself is a work of faith."— Sent. 1. iii. dist. 23, D. Thomas Aquinas, " the Angelical Doctor," whose writings are commended by such men as Sir William Hamilton and Dr. Tholiick, after defining faith as a " habit of the soul by which eternal life is begun in us, causing the intellect to assent to the 276 APPENDIX. existence of things unseen," and remarking that to believe is immediately an act of the intellect, since the object of faith is a [supposed] truth, — proceeds to say, " the act of faith is related to an object of the will, or to something good, as an end. But this good which is the end of faith, (that is, a divine good,) is the proper object [also] of love. And therefore love is called the form of faith, inasmuch as by love the act of faith is formed and perfected." — Summa, P. ii. 2; Quaest. iv 1. 2. The " fides formata" is also distinguished by Lombard from "fides informis," or faith without love. — 1. c. Jeremy Taylor speaks of faith as including " an act of the will in it as well as of the understanding, as much love in it as discursive power. True Christian faith must have in it some- thing of in-evidence, something that must be made up by duty and by obedience." — ^^A^orthy Communicant, cited by Coleridge, Aids, Aphorisms, on Spiritual Rel. xxii., xxiii. Compare the Bishop's Sermon on " Fides Formata ; or, Faith Working by Love." Again he says : " unless faith be made moral by the mixture of choice and charity, it is nothing but a natural perfection ; not a grace or a virtue." — Lib. of Proph. IL 9. Baxter says : — Faith is " an act of the moral reason." Dr. Knapp, while he follows the common division of faith as consisting of three parts, knowledge (cognitio, notitia), assent (assensus), and trust or confidence (fiducia), remarks : " But all these parts do not belong to Christian faith as directed to each particular object. They all belong only to faith in promises. Knowledge and assent merely are requisite to the faith in events and doctrines ; and a will and inclination to obey, to faith in the Divine commands. To avoid this inconvenience, faith might be made to consist in two particulars, — knowledge., and a dis- position of heart correspondent to this knowledge, {k-rriyvwaig koI ahdriais : Phil. i. 9,) according to which one would be inclined to obey the Divine commands, and confide in the Divine prom- ises. Many theologians prefer this division." — Christ. Theol. ^ cxxii. Wood's Trans. NOTE E. AUTHORITIES TOUCHING SECTARIANISM. The common defence of the present division of the Church into various sects with various creeds, is, that this is necessary in order to maintain purity of Christian doctrine against heresy. The fallacy of this plea lies in the false meaning attached to the word " heresy." It is taken to denote doctrinal error ; whereas it really means " division," or any cause that produces division. It does not refer mainly or properly to doctrinal mat- ters, but to discord and dissension, of which wrong doctrine is only one among many occasions. This appears even from the use of the word in the New Testament. In five of the ten passages where it occurs, it sig- nifies " party" or " sect." (Acts V. 17 ; XV. 5 ; xxiv. 5 ; xxvi. 5 ; xxviii. 22.) In Acts xxiv. 14, it " properly denotes," says Bloomfield, " only the taking up of an opinion, well or ill found- ed [i. e. as the rallying cry of a sect] ; and Paul means to take exception at the invidious sense which the word admitted, and in which it was used by his opponents ; just as our word new- fangled, which properly denotes only what is newly-taken." In 1 Cor. xi. 19, the word plainly signifies divisions, and not doctrinal errors ; for they are not the subject of discourse. Hence, Calvin, commenting on the passage, says, " envy and pride are the source of almost all heresies ;" and compares heresy with schism, defining the latter as a secret grudge or progressive contention, and the former as the open warfare, di- viding men into opposite sects. So likewise Chrysostom and Theodoret. And Suicer, on the word " heresy," says, "it is not to be disguised that the ancients did not understand by it doctrines contrary to orthodoxy, but contentions, etc." 278 APPENDIX. These " contentions, etc," are named more particularly by- Paul in Gal. v. 30, as " hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders," and all other v^orks of the flesh. Hence, in 2 Pet. ii. 1, where " damnable," or rather " destructive heresies" (aipeWt? a-wXeiaj) are named as brought in by false teachers, the context shows that " covetous- ness" is their capital error. They " make merchandise" of their heresies, loving, like Balaam, the " wages of unrighteousness." The heresies were such as no pure-minded Christian could fall into. Hence, again, in Titus iii. 10, the disciples are directed to reject the heretic after the first and second admonition, on the ground that he is manifestly such, and cannot himself pre- tend a denial of it ; " knowing that he is such, is subverted, and sinneth, and is condemned of himself." Upon which Jeremy Taylor remarks : " Just so it is in heresy ; if it be a design of ambition, and making of a sect, (so Erasmus expounds St. Paul aiperiKov a:^dp(j3iTov, scctarum autorem,) if it be for filthy lucre's sake, as it was in some that were of the circumcision ; if it be of pride and love of pre-eminence, as it was in Diotrephes h ^i\QiTpcjyTEvoiv, — or out of peevishucss and indocibleness of dis- position, or of a contentious spirit, i. e., that their feet are not shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace — in all these cases the error is just so damnable as is its principle ; but therefore, not damnable in itself, but by reason of its adhe- rency." And again : " Faith being a doctrine of piety as well as truth, that which was destructive either of fundamental verity or of Christian sanctity, was against faith ; and if it made a sect, was heresy ; if not, it ended in personal impiety, and went no further."* From this view, that seems to follow which has been often remarked and asserted, that Sectarianism is Heresy. It agrees also with the statement that heresy " is to be accounted accord- ing to the strict capacity of the Christian faith, and not of * Lib. of Proph., I. 9., II. 15, cf. Jas. Foster, On Ileresj^, and Dr. Arnold, Life and Corr. Let. Ixx. APPENDIX. 279 opinions speculative, nor ever to pious persons.'''"*' It also agrees with the remark of iVugustine : " I may be in error, but I will not be a heretic," Another weighty inference seems equally clear. Since heresy is the guilty cause of division among Christians, it may be found, not only in the denial of a fundamental truth, but in the insisting upon that which is not fundamental, as though it were so. For either of these must end in division. There is, then, the heresy of denial, and the heresy of imposition ; each equally germain to the true notion of that much abused term ; and it is hardly a paradox, when we say that those who happen to be most orthodox, if they make their views a test of communion with those Christians who have not yet embraced them, are ipso facto the heretical party. Which accords with what was once said of those who would impose a tenet of their leaders on the consciences of others: "We judge the authors of the opinion to be Catholic, and those who followed in the same opinion to be heretical. We excuse the teachers and condemn the scholars. Those who wrote the books are the heirs of heaven, while the defenders of these very books are thrust down to hell."f And we are told, what in this view would more than any thing else confirm to Athanasius the title of " Father of Orthodoxy," on the supposition that the Creed as- cribed to him were genuine, — that he framed his Confession of Faith, " not with a design to impose it upon others, but to de- clare his own belief."! -^^^ ^^® definition of heresy given by Milton meets only this case, in which one may hold all the cardinal truths, but adds other matters as part of the foundation : " Heresy is a religion taken up and believed from the traditions of men and additions to the Word of God. "^ And if heresy is never to be asserted " of pious persons," does it not follow that all Christians do hold the fundamental * Lib. of Proph. t Vincent of Lerius, Adv. Haere.s, c.ll. See Lib. of Proph., II. 22. + Non per nioduui symboli, sed per modum doctrinje. — Aquinas, Summa^ III- xxiL 1, of I . Tayior, Nat/ Hist, of Fanaticism ; of the Symbol. § Of True Eeligion, etc 280 APPENDIX. doctrines of saving faith ? If so, the famous canon of an ancient writer, that so much is cardinal truth as has been held " semper, . ubique, et ab omnibus," at all times, in all places, and by all, if it be not a barren truism, indicates that in fundamental doc- trines. Christians are infallible. And may not this fact meet all that is just in the demand of the Romanist, that there should be " a Church infallible in fundamentals V With this view of the case would agree the statement of Chillingworth, when, de- nying that the Church is " an infallible ^uide in fundamentals," he says, " That there should always be ' a Church infallible in fundamentals,' we easily grant, for it comes tone more but this, ' that there should always be a Church.' "* But how can this be, except on the principle that the individual, however he may err in drawing the line that divides between essentials and non-essentials, or by adding to the fundamentals, — yet in these is truly " taught of God," and cannot err unless by apostasy. And here belong the views of various eminent men respect- ing the difference between points that are, and that are not, fundamental. Thus the younger Turretin, the same who said that " the greatest heresy is a wicked life," remarks that " the essential doctrines of religion are plain, adapted to common ca- pacities, and free from all the subtle and intricate distinctions of the school ;" they are " few in number," they are " very often and various ways repeated and inculcated in Scripture ;" and they are "principles of piety, "f And Chillingworth, who was, perhaps, the first to state fairly and fully the principles of Protestantism, or the right of private judgment, says : " Those truths will be fundamental which are evidently revealed in Scripture, and commanded to be preached to all men ; those not fundamental, which are obscure." And when asked whether the Apostle's Creed contains all funda- mentals, as if, believing it alone, we were at liberty to deny all other points of Scripture," he replies very truly : " It was * Religion of Protestants, c. 3, § 39. t Discourse on the Fundamental Articles in Religion. APPENDIX. 281 never alleged to any such purpose, but only as a sufficient, or rather more than a sufficient, summary of those points of faith, which were of necessity to be believed actually and explicitly."* James Foster, who maintained for a long time the first place among the most admired preachers of his day, says, a funda- mental doctrine must be " so plainly and distinctly revealed, as that an ordinary Christian, sincere in his inquiries, cannot miss the knowledge of it ;" and " a belief of it must be made an ex- press term of happiness in the sacred writings."! And Le Clerc, an eminent French divine, says : " They pro- fess and teach the Christian doctrine in the purest manner of all, who propose those things only as necessary to be believed, practiced or hoped for, which Christians are agreed in." The pernicious consequences of adding to the essentials of salvation, have been frequently portrayed. Says Dr. Arnold: " Even truth is not always to be insisted upon, if, by forcing it upon the reception of those who are not prepared for it, they are thereby tempted to renounce what is not only true, but es- sential — a character which assuredly does not belong to all true propositions, whether about things human or things divine. "J And Abp.Whately : " God forbid that the Christian should deny or explain away any thing that is part of his faith, for the sake of moderating the hostility or escaping the scorn that may be directed against it; but as little is he authorized needlessly to expose his religion to that hostility and scorn, by maintaining or allowing to be maintained, as a part of the Christian reve- lation, any tenet {however intrinsically true,) which the Scrip- tures do not warrant. The same authority which forbids us to ' diminish aught' not warranted of God, forbids us also to ' add thereto. ' "^ This statement refers, indeed, to the author's distinction, but it applies to the present ; and it authorizes the statement, that * Religion of Protestants, c. 1. § 16. t Essay on Fndamentals. X Life and Corr., Let. Ixxiv., To J. Abbott. ^ DifiBcultie.s in the Writingfi of St. Paul. 282 APPENDIX. as the truth may be held in unrighteousness, so likewise it may be held heretically. Of the evils of this, Chilling-worth has given a lively picture. " Shall it be a fault to straiten and encumber the king's high- ways with public nuisances — and is it lawful, by adding new articles to the faith, to retrench any thing from the King of Heaven's highway to eternal happiness ?" And Jeremy Tay- lor : " If the Church, by declaring an article, can make that to be necessary which before was not necessary, I do not see how it can stand with the charity of the Church to do so ; especially after so long experience she hath had, that all men will not be- lieve every such decision or explication ; for by so doing she makes the narrow way to heaven narrower, and chalks out one more path to the devil than he had before ; and yet the way was broad enough, when it was at the narrowest."* And Bax- ter : " Two things have set the Church on fire, and been the plagues of it above one thousand years : 1, Enlarging our creed, and making more fundamentals than ever God made ; 2, Composing, and so imposing, our creeds and confessions in our own words and phrases." f We cannot here go fully into the question whether the Church should claim the Divinity of Christ as a fundamental ; or whether it should be allowed that all who accept salvation as procured by Christ, are Christians, with whatever views of His nature. But the practice of the early Church in this matter is signifi- cant. Justin Martyr, speaking of the pre-existence of Christ, says, this question should be entirely separated from that of Jesus being the Messiah. " For there are," he says, "some of us [literally, some of our sort,] who, confessing him to be the Christ, yet declare him to be a man descended from men." | *Lib. of Proph. 112. t Works, vol. iii.,p. 76. X Kal yap dai rivci, cj <pc)^oi, sXeyov, utto tov rjixcTepov yivovs^ S/ioXoyoCjTfs avTdv xpjffrdi/ zivai. avdpoinov 6i el dpdpdonoyv yei'6fitvov dno^aiv6jiEvoi^ oig ov cvvrideiiai, ov6^ av TrXeio-roi ravra fioi So^affovres elirouv. Dial. c. Tryplio. 48. Bp. Bull contends that, instead of nyLtrepov we should read Vntrepov, but without warrant. And the proposed emendation only confirms the Bignifiranoe of the passage. APPENDIX. 283 Nor can we fully meet here the objection that liberty in non- essentials will encourage latitudinarian license, and disregard of truth. A single citation must suffice : " Toleration," says Turretin, " is the greatest friend to truth, and the contrary its greatest enemy ; for if the strong will not bear with the weak, neither will the weak bear with the strong ; for every man counts himself strong, and thus all will come to condemn, and to exe- cute one another ; by which means, truth itself will be banished out of many parts of the world." And again : " If improve- ments may yet be made, we ought by all means to bear patiently with those who offer us any thing new ; for otherwise we sup- press all improvements, and stifle the gift of prophecy, and bring in sloth and barbarity ; for who will attempt any thing of this kind, when it becomes dangerous to do it V* And Chil- lingworth : " He that could assert Christians to that liberty which Christ and his Apostles left them, must needs do truth a most heroical service."! Of creeds we need say but little. It has often been remark- ed that they should be ever expressed in the very words of the Bible, lest we profanely add to the word of God, or assume to make the sun clearer by the light of our wax tapers. But the history of creeds sufficiently condemns them as unreliable. Not only do they commonly make the easy yoke of Christ heavy, by adding to the essentials, but they omit things that are es- sential. There is a memorable proof of this in the fact that in a Corpus Confessionum, ipiinted at Geneva in 1612, (when and where the very atmosphere was orthodox,) and designed to re- vive the credit of some of the Protestant formularies and to show a substantial harmony against the cavils of the Romanists, eleven out of sixteen of the collected creeds made no mention of the Resurrection of the Dead. And when creeds are called " formularies," the name is all too appropriate. " I dislike articles," says Dr. Arnold, " be- cause they represent truth untruly, that is, in an unedifying * On Fundamentals, vii. 6, 8. t Rel- of Prots., c. 4, i 13. 284 APPENDIX. manner, and thus robbed of its living truth, whilst it retains its mere ethical form."* And the famous passage of Chillingworth is, on its very face, an appeal from creeds to the Bible. " By the Religion of Pro- testants I do not understand the doctrine of Luther, or Calvin, or Melancthon ; nor the Confession of Augusta, or Geneva, nor the Catechism of Heidelberg, nor the Articles of the Church of England ; no, nor the Harmony of the Protestant Confessions ; but that wherein they all agree, and which they all subscribe with a greater harmony, as a perfect rule ol their faith and ac- tions ; that is, the Bible. The Bible, I say, the Bible only, is the religion of Protestants 4 Whatsoever else they believe be- sides it, and the plain, irrefragable, indubitable consequences of it, well may they hold it as a matter of opinion ; bat as a mat- ter of faith and religion, neither can they with coherence to their own grounds believe it themselves, nor require the belief of it in others, without most high and most schismatical pre- sumption."! The objection still remains in the minds of many, that the preacher of the Gospel should certainly be required to subscribe a confession of faith, so that truth may be taught in its purest possible form ; while the laity should be free from this restric- tion. But such a distinction is quite as vicious in principle as that which Romanists have made between the clergy and the laity ; and its tendency is quite as corrupting. The preacher is made the repository and guardian of orthodoxy ; the layman is excused from that care. The defence of truth, or rather of a particular set of opinions, is made the business of a class ; and in this defence, if not in self-defence, the clerical order becomes * Life and Corr. Lett. Ixiii. Ixi. t Ch. vi. § 56. "At length arose the immortal Chillingworth, who disclaimed the defence of the Protestant religion as it lay in systems and confessions, and appealed to the Bible only. By this means many cavils were cut off at once, and many confessions of systematical doctors rendered of no use to Papists at all; who being well aware of the advantages the Popi.sh cause would lose by this ex- pedient, were extremel}' provoked at it.'" — Archd.Blackburne, The Confessional, c. 1. note. APPENDIX. 285 a» hierarchy. Others are left to indulge the indiflference to which fallen nature is too prone, or their inquiries after truth must be guided by a fixed yet fallible standard. Orthodoxy, which is a virtue if it is a duty, becomes the special virtue of a class, like the saintly virtues of the Romish clergy, the lack of which is no sin in the laity. Heterodoxy, or rather, free in- quiry, becomes dangerous ; there is a mutual bondage, and what wonder if there is a common corruption? It is true, indeed, that the teacher should know more of the Scriptures than those taught ; not, however, that he may have their consciences in his keeping, but precisely because they should know more than they do. His special qualification is that of more full and illustrative knowledge, directed by Chris- tian prudence, and sanctified by the common piety. And all these things are to the essentials of the faith, what the fully de- veloped symmetry and strengih of manhood is to the organism which just makes the human form. To say that the preacher shall hold a doctrine which the layman need not hold, is as if he must have a bone to his skeleton which another may dispense with. This view is not new. Says Archd. Blackburn : " Certain it is, that in so far as the laity are allowed not to be bound by these Church Confessions, the point of right to establish them as tests of orthodoxy is fairly given up, as well for the clergy as for the laity ; since whatever is sufiicient to direct the faith and practice of the laymen, must likewise be sufficient to direct the faith and practice of the clergyman, unless the clergyman may be obliged to teach doctrines, which the laymen is not ob- liged either to believe or to practice."* And Chillingworth, making the distinction between fundamen- tals, and non-fundamentals, calls the former " objects of faith in and for themselves, which by their own nature, and God's prime intention, are essential parts of the Gospel; Buch as tlie teachers in the Church cannot without mor- tal sin omit to teach the learners, and such as are in- * The Confessional, c. 3. 286 A P P E N D I . trinsical to the covenant between God and man ; and not only plainly revealed by God, and so certain truths, but also commanded to be preached to all men, and to be believed dis- tinctly by all, and so necessary truths." And the non-funda- mentals are " such as pastors are not bound to teach their flock, nor their flock to know and remember ; no, nor their pastors themselves to know them or believe them, or not to disbelieve them absolutely and always ; but then only, when they do see and know them to be delivered in Scripture as divine revelations."* And Dr. Arnold : " As to the adhesion of the inner man to any set of religious truths — this, it seems to me, belongs to us as Christians, and is, in fact, a part of the notion of Christian faith, which faith is to be required of all the Church alike, so far as it can be or ought to be required of any one. . . . If they [the Articles] are a burden, all ought to bear it alike ; if they are a fair test of Church membership, they should ex- tend to all alike."! Finally, the custom by which the prea'cher of the Gospel is required to assent to articles of faith is a mere usage, unauthor- ized by the original intent of the best established Confessions. The practice is in fact, what the practice of slaveholding in the Southern states is believed by many to be, unconstitutional. The view attributed by Aquinas to Athanasius, already cited, is a presumptive proof of this statement. And the Father of Orthodoxy has found his imitators in this matter, and with good reason ; for the greatness that has framed the most en- during creeds, has usually been connected with sagacity to perceive their fallibility, and with the hope that those who came after would enjoy clearer light breaking forth from the Divine Word. So has it been with the best Reformers. The divines of Westminster were very far from expecting their Shorter Catechism, much less their larger Confession, to become a rule of orthodoxy. " When it was proposed by the Scots Commis- sioners that the answers of the Shorter Catechism should be * Eel. of Prots., c. 4, § 3, cf. § 22. t Life and Cor., Let. ccxixv. cf. Let. cxvi. 1 APPENDIX. 287 subscribed by the members of that body, the proposal was rejected, after discussion, as an unwarrantable imposition ; and not for forty years was subscription made a test of ministerial/ standing."* Though such has been the progress of ecclesias- tical fatuity, that a minister, holding the sentiments of the West- minster Confession, has been arraigned and excommunicated for declaring as that Assembly did, that the Confession was not to be made a test. But the American branch of the Presbyterian family design- ed no such thing. The Confession and Catechism were adopt- ed by the Synod is 1729, with the following Proviso, which contains the principle of Protestantism, and is to this day un- repealed : " And in case any minister of the Synod, or any candidate for the ministry shall have any scruple, with respect to any ar- ticle or articles of said Confession ; he shall, in time of making said declaration, declare his scruples to the Synod or Presby- tery ; who shall notwithstanding admit him to the exercise of the ministry within our bounds, and to ministerial communion, if the Synod or Presbytery shall judge his scruples not essential, or necessary in doctrine, worship, or government." This Proviso was made the basis of the union in 1758, to accommodate differences in doctrine which then appeared. And President Davies, speaking of the practice in his day, says : " We allowed the candidate to maintain his objections against any part of the Confession, and the judicatories judged whether the articles objected to were essential to Christianity ; and if they judged they were not, they admitted the candidate, not- withstanding his objections."! The full benefits of this Proviso are not, however, enjoyed, for two reasons. By the Assembly's act of 1811, the Theolo- gical Professor is required solemnly to promise that he will not "inculcate, teach or insinuate any thing which shall appear to him to contradict or contravene, either directly or impliedly, * Chas. Beecher's Discourses on " The Bible a Sufficient Creed." t Christian Spectator, March, 1835. 288 APPENDIX. any thing taught in the Confession of Faith or Catechism." The Professor is to the Pastor what the Pastor is to the layman ; and a liberty denied to the one is not likely to be taught to the other. Again, this Confession, like most others, combines essentials and non-essentials in the same document ; and the distinction between them is most likely not to be made, just when it is most needed. Confessions more brief than that of Westminister are for the same reason more apt to be imposed as tests, with much con- troversy as to the import of subscription to them, and with much occasion of stumbling to the world. From this point of view, we offer two more citations. " We may talk," says Dr. Jebb, " of the sufficiency of the Scriptures as we please ; but while the laws establishing sub- scription to human formularies remain, [and there are many Church establishments besides the Anglican], the voice of the Articles shall alone be heard ; the ignorance and superstition of mankind shall for a while preserve the shadow of religion in our land, but its substance shall be nowhere found. Improve- ments in science and the arts shall at length disclose the as- tonishing absurdity of our national [denominational] faith. The Scriptures shall be disbelieved, because their genuine simplicity and excellence are concealed by designing men from human view ; the Articles shall be disbelieved because they are held forth to it."* . If this judgment shall appear harsh and transatlantic, the following, from Isaac Taylor, will apply with greater force to our more numerous sects : " The violence of religious strife has, indeed, long died away; or it breaks out only for a mo- ment ; but no relief has as yet been administered to the settled ill consequences of that delirium. So far as we are religious at all, the English people is a nation of sects, and our theology is necessarily the theology of friction. Not a false theology — thank God ; but a theology that is confused, entangled, imper- * Letters on Subscription. APPENDIX. 289 feet and gloomy; a theology which, while it abundantly breeds infidelity among the educated classes, fails to spread through the body of the population, and but dimly, or only as a flicker- ing candle, illumines the world."* The future of our American Christianity is unknown. Let us hope that the spirit of faction will not dash us in pieces, and reduce us to individualism, ere we learn that Christ, and not the best sect, is our strength, and take courage to stand upon the Rcok, They are wise words which the French Protestant and martyr has said : " At the Reformation they did not sys- tematize ; they felt that they lived, and method and form were neglected. Afterward came a season of repose ; the clergy, in certain places, formed an order. Now we have to choose : Catholicism urges us ; we ought to be openly Protestants. We have kept many Catholic rags : we should now decidedly dress ourselves anew."f * Nat. Hist, of Fanaticism Of the Symbol. t Vinet; Pastoral Theology ; Trans, by Dr. Skinner, p. 47. cf. note D, and the passages there cited from Neander, Memorials of Christian Life ; part i. c. 4. THE END. Or in tin