i* \V, , > I,' « I (I fa I « I #1 ii , »! 4 4 I • i; ^^ ¥ .^/.ilff.. *;.^[fl ^K-'aSooA^^ ' ' ^T'j E S SAYS ON SOME OP THB DIFPICULTIES IN THB WRITK^GS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL, AMD IN OTHER PABTS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. BT RICHARD WHATELY, D.D., ey o'ls iCTL ^v(Tu67ird TLva, & ol aixa^eis Kal affTrjpLKToi ffTpe^Kovtri. 2 PETEB iii. 16. FROM THE EIGHTH LONDON EDITION. WARREN F. DRAPER. BOSTON: GOULD & LINCOLN. NEW YORK: HTJRD & HOUGHTON. PHILADELPHIA: BMITH, ENGLISH, AND COMPANT. CINCINNATI! a. a. BLANCHAED. 1865. THESE ESSAYS Are published -with the sanction of the late Archbishop Whately. They are reprinted from copies furnished to the American PubUsher by the Author, and contain his latest revisions. The Essays on " Some of the Peculiarities of the Christian Religion " will follow in the same style. 2 2^ uj-f ANDOVEK : STEREOT-yPED AND PRINTED BY W. F. DKAPEE. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. Connection of the fonner series of Essays with the present, 9 ; the Scrip tures not to be regarded with dread or disgust on account of the difficulties to be found in them, 10; outline of the present Series . 13 Approbation of any argument no test of its real effect 16 ESSAY L ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. § I. — Christian religion distinguished from Paganism, and characterized by its claims to truth as established by evidence, and its demand of faith in that truth 19 § II. — Liability of Christians to act Inconsistently -with this characteristic, by not steadily following truth 26 § III. — Necessity of self-examination as to this point, 2S; objections to the principle of universally pursuing and propagating truth . . 29 § IV. — Danger of men's flattering themselves without sufficient grounds that they are lovers of truth ; maxim of making it not the second but the first question, What is the truth? 37; obstacles to the cultiva tion of this habit, — dislike of doubt, 38; love of originality, 40; exces sive deference for authority, 40; views of expediency 49 4 V. — Cautionary maxims : no unfair argument to be used, 49 ; nor erro neous notion countenanced, 50; no dread to be entertained of the progress of science, 54; human approbation not often bestowed on the lover of truth 56 Note A. On Christ's disclaimer of a temporal kingdom . . 57 ESSAY II. ON THE DIFFICULTIES AND THE VALUE OF PAUL'S WRITINGS GENERALLY. § I. — Paul more exposed than any of the apostles to the attacks both of 4 CONTENTS. open enemies and false friends, — both personally, 59, and in his writings 62 § II. — Ambiguity of the word Gospel, 63 ; full instruction in the Christian scheme not to be found in the four evangelists, 64 ; but in the apos tolic epistles, 71; especially Paul's, 71; danger of misinterpretation not to deter us from the study of them 73 5 III. — Study of Paul's writings not to be deferred till a mass of theolog ical learning has been acquired from other sources 75 § IV. — Paul's -writings dreaded chiefly from the unacceptableness of some of his doctrines, 79; the vehemence with which his works have been decried a proof of their importance 79 ESSAY III. ON ELECTION. Importance of explaining those parts of Scripture, especially, from which dangerous consequences have been drawn 83 § I. — In order to understand the Apostle Paul aright, we should be ac quainted with his character and situation, 84; and with that of his hearers, 86; his continual reference to the Mosaic dispensation, 87 ; which was the shadow of the gospel 87 § II. — Disputes relative to election 90 § III. — Questions, whether under the former dispensation election was arWtrary 93; wlio were elected, 94; to what the elect were chosen, 94; application, by analogy, to the gospel scheme, 96; confirmed by Paul's express authority, 97; and by the analogy of God's general providence, 100 ; no technical uniformity of language to be looked for in Scripture, 101 ; misintei-pretations of Scripture produced by ante cedent bias, 102; errors in reasoning committed on both sides . 105 § IV. — Metaphysical difficulties resulting from ambiguities of language, 106; objections connected -with the origin of evil dangerous for both parties 109 k v. — The chief object of inquiry to be, what truths are revealed, as being relative to man, and practically needful Ill § VI. — The danger of misleading some and disgusting others not to be wantonly incurred 120 Note A. Augustine's and Calvin's theory 122 Note B. On the 17th Article 125 CONTENTS. 5 ESSAY IV. ON PERSEVERANCE AND ASSURANCE. § I. — The same apostle principally appealed to in support of the doc trines of the final perseverance of the elect, and theii- full assurance of salvation 127 §11. — Apprehended danger from these doctrines apt to lead to an oppo site danger 129 § III. — Mode in -n'hich both dangers are to be avoided 132 § IV. — Confirmation of the view here taken, from the example of Paul's conduct, 133 ; and from that of men in general 135 Note A. On an imperfection of the English language, which may sometimes lead to a mistake as to the meaning of the sacred ¦writers 140 ESSAY V. ON THE ABOLITION OF THE MOSAIC LAW. § I. — The Antinomian system supposed to be favored by Paul's declara tion relative to the abolition of the law 143 § II. — Obligation of conscience not weakened by the Christian's freedom from the Levitical law 145 § III. — Importance of resting moral obligation on a right basis . . 148 § IV. — Speculative, less common than practical Antinomians, 149 ; lia bility of men to content themselves with a literal observance of ex press commands 151 § V. — Principles substituted for rules, under the gospel dispensation 152 Tcndencj' to prefer precise injunctions to watchful self-government 153 Note A. On Paul's reasons for continuing to observe the ceremo nial law 156 Note B. On the Jewish Sabbath and the Christian Lord's Day 157 ESSAY VI. ON IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. § I. — Statement of the doctrine of the imputation of Adam's transgres sion, and of the righteousness of Christ 167 § II. — Scripture authority on which it is made to rest, 172; interpretation of the passage appealed to 172 1* 6 CONTENTS. § III. — General drift of the Apostle in the passages which treat of the subject 176 § IV. — Lial)ility of men to be biassed by the love of system, 180; no ac curate and technical uniformity in the eraployment by the sacred writers of the word Justification 181 §V. — Evils indirectly resulting from erroneous interpretation of Scrip ture 183 Note A. On the tendency toward unconscious Arianism . . 190 ESSAY VII. ON APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS IN SCRIPTURE. § I. — Difficulties of Scripture a reason for the attentive study of it . 193 § II. — Principles to be kept in mind in this study 195 § III. — The knowledge revealed, not speculative, but relative to man, and practical, 198; in language not scientific, but popular, 199; to be in terpreted by comparing one passage with another, 199 ; especially those seemingly at variance 200 § IV. — Apparent contradictions of Scripture numerous, 201 ; for what purpose designed 203 § V. — The knowledge imparted of mysterious truths analogical and in distinct 206 Note A. On the Scripture use of the word Mystery .... 211 ESSAY vni. ON THE MODE OF CONVEYING MORAL PRECEPTS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. Moral precepts of the New Testament often conveyed in apparent contradictions 213 § I. — Reasons for the employment of this and other paradoxical form 215 § II. — Precepts, a literal compliance with which would be either impossi ble, or absni-d, or unimportant, 218; instance of the last kind . 2-.24 § ni. — The mode of instruction adopted sufficient for the candid and dil igent, 225; for the opposite character none would have been suffi cient 226 ESSAY IX. ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLT SPIRIT. Indistinct notions entertained, at first, by the disciples, of the charac ter of their Master 229 CONTENTS. 7 I. — Promise of Jesus to send the Comforter not limited to the first age, nor relating to an abstract religious principle 231 § n. — Difference between the Jewish and the Christian churches in this respect 234 § III. — Points of resemblance, and of difference, between our condition and that of Christians in the first age, in respect of spiritual gifts 236 § IV. — Miraculous gifts peculiar to the primitive church, 238; for what purpose bestowed, 239 ; when and how withdrawn 242 § V. — Extraordinary and ordinary operations of the Spirit compared 242 § VI. — The early Christians compared with those of the present day in respect of the signs of the gifts bestowed on each, 247 ; faith required in the indications of power to work miracles 247 § vn. — Equality, in the most important point, between the primitive and the present church 255 § vm. — Sign of the Christian's admission to the privilege of spiritual guidance, 260; design of the eucharist (note) 262. See Note A 269 § IX. — Example of the apostles to be followed by reversing in some points their procedure, 263; complete certainty as to the rectitude of our judgments unattainable 266 Note A. On the figurative character of the eucharist . . . 269 ESSAY X. ON SELF-DENIAL. § I. — Mistakes and difficulties as to this point arising from an inatten tive or a prejudiced perusal of Paul and other of the sacred writers 272 § n. — Warning of Jesus respecting the self-denial, sufferings, and sac rifices required of his followers, contrasted with what would have been the procedure of any — especially a Jewish — impostor or emtliu- siast 275 § III. — No self-infiicted or gratuitous suffering required of the disciples of Jesus 278 ^ Yf_ — Tendency of mankind to attach merit to ascetic self-torture . 280 § V. — False teachers disposed to combine ascetic mortifications with gen eral licentiousness, the teaching of Jesus keeping clear of both . 283 § VI. — Practice of the apostles conformable to the lessons they had re ceived from their Master 287 § -VII. — Introduction into Clirislian churches of ascetic self-torture, in opposition to the precepts and practice of Jesus and his apostles, a proof of their divine mission 289 8 CONTENTS. § Vin. — Indistinct and confused notions respecting fasting, aii.nng fi-om inattention to the senses of the word, and to the grounds and the objects of the practice 291 § IX. — The word "fast" often used to denote simply want of food, without reference to voluntary abstinence, 296; fasting au ordinary sign and accompaniment, according to Jewish usage, of mourning and of prayer 297 § X. — Strong injunctions to prayer by our Lord, in the New Testament, quite different from his mention of fasting 299 § XI. — What were the " days of mourning " by the disciples for the " bridegroom's being taken from them " 301 § XII. — Fasting one of the things left by the apostles to the decision of Christian churches, and of individuals 304 5 Xni. — Danger of asceticism less palpable but not less real than that of sensual indulgences 307 § XIV. — What kind of mortification is inculcated by our Reformers 30S Note A. On ascetic practices in Christian churches .... 310 Notes B, C. On the decisions of our church respecting fasting . 311 ESSAY XI. ON INFANT-BAPTISM. § I. —Controversies arising out of verbal differences 314 §11. — Importance of dwelling on points of practical agreement . . 318 § III. — Real difference between those who do and do not hold the pre- destinarian doctrine 321 § IV. — Inquiry into the practice of the primitive chm-ch with respect to baptism 323 § V. — The gospel viewed by the earhest Christians through the medium of the law 326 § VI. — Paul's view of the analogy between the Old and the New Dispen sations 3-.28 § VII. — Views of our Reformers concerning baptism 332 § VIII. — Importance of using various expressions to convey the same truth 336 § IX. — Effects produced by unchristian bitterness in controversy . 338 Notes A— L 341 INTEODUCTION. Ix was my object in a former series of Essays to set forth the importance of an earnest and studious attention to the Christian revelation. There is a notion, more commonly en tertained than acknowledged, that the gospel is a mere author itative republication of natural religion, — that consequently it is chiefly, if not solely, to those of unphilosophical and vul gar minds, incapable of perceiving the internal evidence of this natural religion, and the intrinsic beauty of virtue, that such a revelation is important or needful, — and that, to the more intelligent and refined, it matters little whether or not they inquire minutely into the particulars of that revelation — -whether they believe, or disbelieve, or doubt, its reality, or whether they even propose to themselves the question. With a view to counteract this (as it may be called) heresy of in difference, — in my view, the most deadly of all errors, not excepting atheism, — I pointed out and dwelt on several peculiarities of the Christian religion ; points wherein the gospel scheme differs from all other systems of religion — whether pretended revelations, or avowedly the offspriBg of human reason — that have ever existed. And the contempla tion of these peculiarities must evince, I thought, the impor tance of carefully ascertaining whether the gospel revelation is real or fictitious ; and if real, of endeavoring to understand 10 INTRODUCTION. as fully as possible its character, and to embrace it heartily as a rule of life. While at the same time the consideration that Christianity differs thus widely from every other religious system, in many important points, and in many wherein they all agree, and, in those very points in which a true revelation might be expected to differ from any scheme of man's devising, — this consideration, I say, presents a phenomenon well de serving the attention of such as are candidly inquiring for the evidences of this religion. For till unbelievers can propose some solution of this phenomenon other than the truth of the revelation (which in so many centuries they have never accomplished, nor, as far as I know, even attempted), it must afford, at the very least, a strong presumption that the religion is really from God. These disquisitions seemed to lead naturaUy to some re marks as to the mode in which the Scriptures should be studied. For if it be supposed (and the notion is very preva lent) that great part of them consist of a series of perplexing difiiculties, serving only to exercise the ingenuity of theologians in endless controversies, and barren of all edifying application, or even leading to dangerous practical consequences, the result will be, that the student's attention will be confined to a small portion of the sacred records, and to that portion which wUl, by itself, furnish the most imperfect view of the peculiar doctrines of Christianity, — a result which cannot faU to foster the error above alluded to, of undervaluing the gospel revela tion, and regarding it as a mere authoritative declaration of certain moral truths. The first step, then, in an examination of the gospel scheme, after we have once been convinced, generally, that it is worth examining, is to guard against the bias to which we are liable, INTRODUCTION. 11 either from the apprehension of perplexing difiiculties in it, or from a suspicion of the inutility or dangerous tendency of its most remarkable doctrines. Such a bias cannot fail to deprave the judgment as to the real character of the gospel revelation. In the preliminary Essay, accordingly, I have endeavored not only to inculcate the importance of such an earnest pursuit of truth, and steady adherence to it, as may overcome the seductions of indolence and of seeming expediency, but I have pointed out also the several modes of self-deceit by which men persuade themselves that they are, when in fact they are not, sincere lovers of truth ; and the way in which that ten dency may be best combated ; namely, by assigning in every case, not, as is often done, the second, but the first place to the inquiry. What is true ? Much that has occurred since the first appearance of this Essay has raised my estimate of the importance of the subject. When I first published it, and also, not very long after, the one on Pious Frauds (3d Series), I did so, of course, under the conviction that the dangers therein adverted to, of being seduced from the straight path of ingenuous veracity, were neither unreal nor trifling. And I was confirmed in this conviction — groundless as it may have seemed to some — by the judgment of several whose opinion appeared to me entitled to much deference ; including — strange as it may seem — persons who, a few years after, came forward to defend and act upon principles diametrically opposite to those which I had been enforcing. But though convinced of the necessity of -watchfulness against deviations from the straight line of simple, uncompromising sincerity, I was not prepared for such an out break as subsequently took place of open defiance of truth. In common with many others, though to a less degree than 12 INTEODUCTION. some of them, I was astonished at the plain avowal of the system of Eeserve,^ Double-doctrme, Disciplina Arcani, OEconomy, or Phenakism, as it has variously been denom inated. And I was even still more astonished that so many should be found who could not, or would not, perceive, palpa ble as it was, this avowal, and the correspondmg conduct, even when pointed out to them. But most of all was I astonished and shocked to observe that many who did perceive, and censure, the disingenuousness of the system, yet continued to speak with admiration of its advocates as eminently holy men, and as deserving, on the whole, the gratitude of the church for their alleged services in respect of certain rites and forms ; making the " tithes of mint and rue and cummin " a kind of set-off against the neglect of '•' the weightier matters of the law ; " professing to agree with them in the main, and thus lending their aid towards the prev alence of a party whose delinquencies in the most fundamental points they did see and confess. Some years later stiU, yet further practical avowals of a system of insincerity opened the eyes of many who had before disbelieved its existence, and excited surprise as well as dis gust in these ; though not in those who had, several years before, called attention to those principles and practices, not as something to be dreaded hereafter, but as actually existing and plainly discernible. And I would suggest that there is something of a presumption in favor of the judgment, on this subject, of those who plainly saw, and pointed out, the disin genuous procedure which others wholly overlooked then (even though the former invited attention to it), but which they now 1 See Dr. West's Sermon on Reserve. INTEODUCTION. 13 acknowledge to be such as they had been (vainly) forewarned of. I would also further suggest, to those who have been in the habit of eulogizing and professing to assent to — on the whole and in the main — the system which they now perceive to be thus tainted, morally as well as doctrinally, to consider whether they are not bound to come forward with an open protest against principles and practices which they admit to be funda mentally wrong. To say that the advocates of that system have taught much that is true and good and useful, is no more than might be said of Mahomet, who protested against poly theism and image-worship. If any person in his time (and it is likely there were some such) who whoUy disbelieved, and privately censured, his pretensions to inspiration, and his claim to be the promised Paraclete, had, in public, contented them selves with praising his inculcation of the divine unity and his exhortations to almsgiving, and d-welt on the gratitude due to him for the good service he had done, we should regard them as wilful abettors of the cause of known falsehood. For, the more there is of good and true in any system, the more need there is to warn men against that admixture of evU and false, which is thus enabled to gain the greater currency. Some there are, however, who do not even yet perceive the real character of the system, or the danger of being drawn into it. If even but one of these shaU have been roused to increased vigilance by anything I have said in the first of these Essays, or elsewhere, I shall be thankful for such a result. At any rate, I shaU have cleared my own con science. In the second Essay, I have offered some remarks on the neglect or dread, prevalent among many persons, of the Apos- 2 14 INTEODUCTION. tie Paul's writings ; on the causes which have produced this ; and the consequences to which it leads. In the succeeding four Essays, I have treated of certain doctrines which have given rise to much controversy, and particular views of which have mainly contributed to the dread many have felt of this apostle's -writings. I have ac cordingly endeavored, to show that the doctrines in question, as taught by Paul, afford no just ground of alarm ; and that the extravagant representation of them that some have given has arisen from a hasty and partial view of the works of this apostle. In these Essays I have especially endeavored to set forth the importance of referring to the Old Testament as an interpreter, by analogy, of the New. I have been informed that some of the hearers of the discourse of which the third Essay contains the substance, un derstood the argument in § II to be merely a repetition of Archbishop Sumner's in his valuable work on " ApostoUcal Preaching.'' Such a misapprehension is, I trust, less likely to take place in the closet ; but to guard against the possibihty of it, it may be worth while here to remark, that though I coincide with Archbishop Sumner in his conclusion, the ar guments by which we respectively arrive at it are different. The distinction which he dweUs on is that between national and individual election ; that on wliich I have insisted, is, the distinction between election to certain privileges and to final reward; — he, in short, considers principaUy ihe parties chosen, whether bodies of men or particular persons ; I, the things to which they are chosen — whether to a blessing, absolutely, or to the offer of one, conditionally. Some other principles of interpretation, fi-equently over looked, and very essential to the right understanding both INTRODUCTION. 15 of Paul's Epistles and of the other sacred writings, I have pointed out in the seventh and eighth Essays, as applicable to the doctrinal and to the moral precepts of the New Testament Scriptures. The use to be made of the apparent contradictions we so frequently meet with has been particularly dwelt on ; with a -view to show that they ought not to be regarded, as is commonly done, in the light merely of difficulties to be sur mounted, but as a peculiar and most wisely-contrived mode of instruction. In the ninth Essay, I have applied the principles before laid down to the ascertainment of the sense of Scripture re specting the doctrine of spiritual influence, — a doctrine not only of the highest practical importance, and one concerning which the greatest difficulties have been started, but also one in respect of which, more perhaps than any other, Paul's authority has been confidently appealed to by some in support of the most extravagant conclusions, and for that reason depre ciated or disregarded by others. In the tenth Essay, I have endeavored to trace out the real character, as set forth in Scripture, of Christian self-denial ; contrasting it with the ascetic mortifications which find a place in false or corrupted systems of religion, and which were introduced into Christianity through an inattentive or a preju diced perusal of several passages in the works of the Apostle Paul and of other of the sacred writers. And I have pointed out that the errors alluded to, lamentable as have been their effects, serve to furnish a strong evidence of the divine origin of the genuine gospel. In treating of these subjects, it has been my aim, not to ascertain on each point everything that may be reasonably beUeved and plausibly maintained, but what we are bound 16 INTEODUCTION. to believe and to maintain as a part of the gospel revelation ; and this distinction I have more than once adverted to, as being one of the highest importance, and not seldom over looked. In the prosecution of these inquiries, I have freely avaUed myself of whatever remarks or iUustrations I chance to meet with in various authors, that appeared suitable to my purposes. As therefore there is, I trust, no novelty in the doctrines incul cated, so there is no pretension to complete originahty in the arguments adduced. If I shaU have succeeded in selecting such as are at once sound and generaUy inteUigible, and in arranging and expressing them in a perspicuous and inter esting manner, the object proposed will have been accom plished. I have only to add, that the design of the present work being, not so much to refute or to advocate the tenets of any particular person or party, by means of an appeal to Scripture, as to facilitate the interpretation of Scripture to those who are seeking in simplicity for divine truths, I trust it will be re ceived by the candid, even among such as may in some points differ from me, with no feeling of party prejudice or hostile suspicion. I am well aware, however, that, as universal approbation is not to be looked for, so the greater part of that which an author does obtain will usually not be from those whom he has reaUy most influenced. For, the effect produced by any book or speech of an argumentative character on any subjects whereon diversities of opinion prevail, may be compared — supposing the arguments to be of any force — to the effects of a fire-engine on a conflagration. That portion of the water which falls on solid stone walls, or on anything else that is INTEODUCTION. 17 incombustible, is poured out where it is not needed. That again which falls on blazing beams and rafters, is cast off in volumes of hissing steam, and wiU seldom avail to quench the fire. But that which is poured on woodwork that is just be ginning to kindle may stop the burning ; and that which wets the rafters not yet ignited, but in danger, may save them from catching fire. Even so those who already completely concur with the writer, as to some point, wiU perhaps bestow high commendation on an able defence of the opinions they already held ; and those, again, who have fuUy made up their minds on the opposite side, are usually more likely to be displeased than to be convinced. But both of these parties are left nearly in the same mind as before. Those, however, who are in a hesitating and doubtful state, may very likely be decided by forcible reasons. Those, again, who have not hitherto con sidered the subject, may be induced to adopt opinions which they find supported by the strongest arguments. And it will often happen that the same individual wiU be long to every one of the above-mentioned classes, in reference to different parts of the same work. He will perhaps warmly approve of some parts which coincide with the views he has already fully adopted ; he wiU as strongly disapprove what is at variance with his own fixed opinions ; and he will perhaps be influenced by something that is said in reference to points on which he had not fully made up his mind. But the readiest and warmest approbation an author meets -with, will usually be from those whom he has not convinced, because they were (in reference to that portion of his work which calls forth their applause) convinced already. And the effect the most important, and the most difficult to be produced, he wUl usually, when he does produce it, hear the least of. 2* 18 INTRODUCTION. Those whom he may have induced to reconsider, and gradu ally to alter their opinions, are not likely, for a time at least, to be very forward in proclaiming the change. The tenth and the eleventh Essays, which have been added to the later editions, have also been printed separately for the use of the purchasers of the former editions. ESSAY I. ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. § I. That any one who undertakes to propagate or to maintain any religion should represent it as a •^ ^ Christian religion true one, and should demand reception for it on disiinguiBhed from Paganiern, and that ground, seems to us of the present day so characterized by ,,, its claim to truth natural and unavoidable that many, probably, as estabUBhed by would be ready to take for granted that this dImInd°of°aiih'in must have been the case always ; — that the ""' '"'"'¦ question of " true or false ? " must always have stood, as it cer tainly ought to stand, on the very threshold of every inquiry respecting such a subject; and that aU who adhered to an old, or embraced a new religious system, or rejected either, how ever credulous, or prejudiced, or otherwise had judges of evidence they might be, yet must have supposed themselves at least to be determined by evidence, of some kind or other, to be lief or disbelief in the truth of what was proposed to them. And accordingly there are, probably, many who do not estimate the full force and importance of our Lord's reply to Pilate : " For this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness of the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice." A moderate acquaintance, however, with the habits and modes of thought which prevaUed among the ancient heathen, may convince us that the real state of things was far from 20 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. being such as the above reasoning would lead us to suppose. Their minds were, on this subject especially, estranged from the love of truth. Many circumstances, indeed, concurred to render them habitually indifferent to it. Among the learned, philosophical pursuits seem to have been originaUy introduced as an elegant recreation ^ ; and there can be no doubt that many at least attached themselves to this or that sect, not from any sincere conviction of the truth of its doctrines, but to furnish themselves with suitable topics for declamations. The schools of the philosophers were a kind of inteUectual Palasstra ; and there was a close analogy between their disputation and the prevailing gymnastic contests. Each was a game ; the object of which was victory, without any ulterior end, but only for the display of strength and skill, bodily or inteUectual. And the zealous cultivation of rhetoric, to which the majority of eminent men made all other studies subordinate, and whose most appro priate object is not the discovery of truth, but the invention of arguments,^ could not but foster the prevailing disregard of truth. It seems, too, to have been the settled conviction of most of those who had the sincerest desire of attaining truth themselves, that to the mass of mankind truth was in many points inex pedient, and unfit to be communicated; that however de sirable it might be for the leading personages in the world to be instructed in the true nature of things, there were many popular delusions which were essential to the well-being of society.^ And in the foremost rank of these they placed their popular religions. Their own notions respecting the Deity were totaUy unconnected with morality; and they despaired of imbuing the vulgar with the philosophical principles on which they made virtue to rest. They made it a point of duty, therefore, to testify by their example the utmost respect ' Sxo^-^. ^ Elements of Logic. B. IV. ch. 3, § ii. 3 See a Discourse on the Doctrine of Reserve, by Eev. J. West. ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 21 for the established religion ; and to impress on the multitude that reverence for the gods, and dread of divine judgment on crimes, which they themselves, in their own more privale writings, derided. They did not, however, seek to effect this object — and this is a circumstance deserving of especial attention — by under taking to prove the truth of the popular religions. He who labors to prove, implies the possibility of doubt, and chal lenges inquiry ; and they well knew that there was no evi dence for the existing superstitions which could satisfy doubts, or stand the test of inquiry.^ The only thing to be done, therefore, was to forbid aU doubts as impious, — to suppress all inquiry ; and, consequently, to forego even the practice of asserting the truth of the established systems, which had, as Paul expresses it, " changed the truth of God into a Ue." ^ They were maintained as politically expedient by the civil 1 a late writer, who professes a great regard for Christianity, -vvould have all young persons kept in ignorance that any one ever doubted Christianity ! and thinks that, if we neglect this sage advice, we shall run a serious risk of raaking our children infidels, by laying before them the evidences of their religion. He forgets that a child cannot read the New Testament without learning that " some believed the words that were spoken, avd some believed not ; " and that no one can, in these days, be so completely debarred from all knowledge of history as not to hear of the French at the Eevolution abjuring Christianity, and of mul titudes of their priests professing unbelief. And — as to saying that inquiry must lead to unbelief — it is strange that such writers should not perceive that an admission of this kind, coming from a professed friend to Christianity, tends more to shake men's faith in it than all the attacks of all the avowed infidels in the world put together. For, what would such a writer say of some professed friend coming forward as his advo cate, and saying, " My friend, here is a veracious and worthy man, and there is no foundation for any of the charges brought against him; and his integrity is fully believed in hy persons who thoroughly trust him, and who have never thought of reasoning or inquiring ahout his character at all. But of all things, do not make any investigation into his character ; for the more you inquire and examine, the less likely most people will be to believe in his integrity ! " — Cau tions for the Times, No. 29, p. 471, 472. 2 Eom. i. 25. 22 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. magistrates, whose appropriate instrument is not argument, but coercion ; and who for the most part utterly disbelieved them, and were sensible that they could not be established by evidence, yet were convinced that they ought to be estabUshed by law. And as it is the nature of legal enact ments to produce, not beUef, but merely outward conformity and submission, it was the inevitable result of this state of things that the ideas of religion and of truth — of pious demeanor and of sincere belief — should come to be com pletely disjoined in men's minds ; and that they should even be somewhat startled at the very pretension to truth as resting on evidence, in any religion, and at the requisition of faith in it, on the ground of its truth. It was what they had never been used to. Philosophers of the most discordant tenets, poets of all descriptions, politicians and other men of business, amidst all the variety of their views and conduct, had always concurred in maintaining the popular religions, and in main taining them on any other ground than that of truth. " The worship of the gods is an institution of cur country : These rights are venerable from their antiquity : ^ The neglect of them would argue disrespect for our ancestors, and contempt for the laws : A respect for religion is useful for maintaining due subordination among the people," — these, and such as these, were their arguments ; and the conclusion accordingly drawn was, that every man ought to worship the gods according to the estabUshed institutions. Truth, and belief in the truth, seem, in this matter, to have scarcely entered their minds.^ 1 Such was the remark of Tacitus respecting the religion of the Jews : " Hi ritus, quoquo raodo inducti, vetustate defenduntur; " a description much raore suitable to the pagan religions, both in respect of the fact and of the opinions ofthe respective votaries. It was the boast of the Jews that they had " the form of knowledge and of the truth, in the law.*' Kom. ii. 20. 2 I have treated more fully of this point in tho Essays (Fourth Series) on the Dangers, etc., especially iu the Appendix, Note F., and also in Essay I., on the Kingdom oi Christ. ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 23 Pilate accordingly seems to have been perplexed by our Lord's reply, stating that He had come into the world for the purpose of bearing " witness to the truth." His inquiry. What is truth ? does not seem (as an eminent writer imagines) to have been made in jest.' The Roman Governor was evidently in no jesting mood, nor at all disposed to treat Jesus with con tempt ; but (for whatever reason) was very seriously intent on investigating his case, and procuring his acquittal. Whether there be sufficient ground or not for the conjecture of some that he was in expectation of Jesus assuming the temporal sov ereignty by the employment of those miraculous powers of which no one could have been ignorant, and was disposed, from views of personal aggrandizement, to favor his pretensions,^ at any rate it is plain he was endeavoring to leam what his de signs and pretensions were, and hence eagerly asked, catching, as it were, at his words, "Art thou a king, then ? " The answer in which Jesus claims to be a minister of the truth, seems to have disappointed and perplexed him. " What is truth ? " he replied ; as much as to say, " Wliat has truth to do with the present business ? I wish for information as to your claims and objects, — what sovereignty it is that you pretend to, or aim at. And you tell me about truth ; what is that to the purpose ? " On this, and on other occasions, our Lord points out truth as, in an especial manner, the characteristic of his religion : " If ye continue in my words, then are ye my disciples in deed ; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shaU make you free." — "I am the way, and the truth, and the life.'' — " They that worship God must worship him in spirit and in truth." — " When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shaU guide you into all truth." — " -And for their sakes I sanctify 1 See Annotation on Bacon's first Essay. 2 See Discourse on the Treason of Judas Isoariot. 24 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth." His great adversary, on the other hand, is designated by Him as a "liar, and the father of lies." And the apostles of Christ, in like manner, perpetually make use of the words " Truth," and " Faith," to designate the Christian religion ; for example, " God will have aU men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth " — 1 Tim. ii. 4. " Having your loins girt about with truth " — Ephes. vi. 14. "They re ceived not the love of truth, that they might be saved " — 2 Thess. ii. 10. " Chosen to salvation, through belief of the truth" — 2 Thess. ii. 13. "After we have received the knowl edge of the truth'' — Heb. x. 26. "Ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth '' — 1 Pet. i. 22. " The way of truth shall be evil-spoken of" — 2 Pet. ii. 2. " Hereby we know that we are of the truth " — 1 John in. 19, ete. ; — by aU which more, I conceive, was implied than that the religion is true, and is the only true one, and that faith in it is required. In the present day this would be implied by the very circumstance of preaching any religion ; but in those days the very pretension to truth, the very demand of faith, were characteristic distinc tions of the gospel. The heathen mythology not only was not true, but was not even supported as true ; it not only deserved no faith, but it demanded none. It was needful, therefore, to inform and remind men not merely of the strength of the gos pel claims, but of the nature of those claims ; to point out not only \he force ofthe evidence in its favor, but its appeal to evidence. And when our Lord adds, " Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice," he is evidently describing the subjects of his kingdom. As it was a " kingdom not of this world " so its subjects were to be not necessarily Jews, or inhabitants of any particular country, but such as were " of the truth ; " that is, persons sincerely wilUng and earnestly desirous to seek and to embrace whatever should be shown to be a true religion. ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 25 And this is plain from his saying, " Not every one that heareth my voice is of the truth," — but the converse. His disciples became such, in consequence of their being, in the sense just described, " of the truth.'' Many, indeed, of our Lord's expressions concerning the truth of liis religion, have a reference rather to the types and shadows of the Mosaic dispensation, than to the fables of the heathen mythology. As contrasted with these last, Christianity was truth as opposed to falsehood ; as contrasted with the Jew ish system, it was the truth, in the sense of "reality," as dis tinguished from the emblems, symbols, representations of that reality, — from the " shadow of good things to come," contained in the Levitical Law.' In this sense it is that the apostles tell us " The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." .And this also was probably the chief import of our Lord's expression, " The truth shall make you free ; " that is, free from the precise and minute directions, and burdensome ceremonial, of the Mosaic Law, which was in stituted for the very purpose of shadowing forth, and preparing the way for, the glorious truths, or realities, of the gospel. This consideration, however, does not lessen the force of what has been said respecting the prominent place assigned to the " truth " of Christianity as characteristic of the religion. Its truth, in the sense of reaUty contrasted with type, and substance with shadow, implies its truth as opposed to false hood also. It was the same quality that distinguished it from the more imperfect revelations of the " Law " on one side, and from the fictions and misconceptions of the Pagans on the other : " The truth as it is in Jesus " ^ was to supersede both the heathen idolatry, by destroying it, and " the law and the prophets," — not by destroying, indeed, but by fulfilUng them. r See Hinds's Catechista' Manual (p. 264), a hook which, in my judgment, no young clergyman or master of a family should be without. 2 Ep. to Eph. iv. 21. 3 26 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. -And it should be carefully bome in mind, that though the reiterated aUusions to " truth " were in a great degree caUed forth by the strong contrast which the new religion presented, in this particular, to those at that time opposed to it, the char acteristic itself must equaUy belong to the same religion at all times. The gospel itself is always and everywhere the same ; though particular times and places may require that this or that particular feature of it should be especially pointed out and dwelt on. Even so creeds, or sets of articles, employed as a symbol or test of orthodoxy, may vary, and have varied, according to the emergencies occasioned by the prevalence of particular errors ; though the absolute and intrinsic soundness of the articles of faith themselves must be always the same. Temporary or local circumstances are the cause, not of any article's being or not being a part of the Christian faith, but of its being a part which it is needful to set forth prominently, and insist on.' § II. But how, it may be said, do these considerations Liability of Chris- affcct US Christians of the present day? We, it tians to act incon- ' . . x_ i . ii.i, siEtentiy with this IS to DC noped, are not chargeable with that cul- Eotste'adi'iy'fouot^ pablc carclcssness about truth, especiaUy in reli- iDg truth. gious matters, which characterized the ancients. We do believe in Jesus as the " way, and the truth, and the Ufe." Let it be remembered, however, that as the ancient heathen are not the standard by which we are to be measured, so it is not our superiority to them that will at once acquit us. They had many excuses, of which we have none, for their disregard of truth : in particular, they knew not, as we do, of any reli gion that did challenge inquiry, and appeal to evidence, and demand well-grounded and firm belief; that taught them to "prove all things, and hold fast that which is right," and to be 1 See Note A, at the end of this Essay ON THE LOVE OF TEUTH. 27 " ready to give a reason of their hope." Do Christians, then, in this respect show themselves worthy of their peculiar advan tages ? Do they speak and act altogether consistently with a reUgion which is built on faith in the truth ? The professors of such a religion ought not merely to believe it in sincerity, but to adhere scrupulously to truth in the means employed on every occasion, as weU as in the ends proposed ; and to follow fearlessly wherever truth may lead. Now we should recoUect that most of the pretended mira cles, the "pious frauds" as they are called, perpetrated by many, are, or at least were, in the first instance, the work of men who were sincere believers in the truth of their religion. It is, indeed, on this ground alone that a pious fraud can be so caUed. But they were men who knew " not what manner of spirit they were of." They sought to promote, by means of falsehood, the cause of Him who Uved and died for the truth. They beUeved the gospel to have come from God, but wanted faith in his power and care to support and prosper it; and tumed aside from the straight path of sincerity, to seek for the (supposed) expedient, by the crooked roads of worldly policy. But StiU, though most unchristian in their spirit, — though they had "neither part nor lot in this matter, but were in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity, " — their general belief in Christianity was, doubtless, in most instances, sincere ; and I have adverted to their case for the very purpose of pointing out the important circumstance, that the fullest con viction of the truth of the cause in which we may he engaged, is no security against our sliding into falsehood, unless we are sedulous in forming and cherishing a habit of loving and reverencing, and strictly adhering to truth.' Protestants, however, in these times, it may be said, have no pretended miracles — practise no pious frauds. But how far is 1 See Essay (Third Series) on rious Frauds. 28 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. this (supposed the fact to be strictly so) to be attributed to a genuine detestation of falsehood, as odious in His sight who lived and died in the cause of truth, and to a firm reliance on His providence ; and how far, to a conviction furnished by ex perience, that fraud is, in the end, detrimental to the cause it is designed to serve, and that in these days its success would be especially short-lived ? To what degree each man is in each instance actuated by a love of truth, or by considerations of seeming expediency, can be fully known only to the Searcher of hearts. It is only by the most rigid self-examination that we can approach to the knowledge of this in our own case ; and it is so far only as the former motive operates that we are acting on Christian principle. It is undoubtedly a just maxim that in the long run " honesty is the best policy ; " but he whose practice is governed hy that maxim is not an honest man. And it may be added, that a steady and uniform adherence to honesty, never will result from that maxim. He who adheres to what is right, because it is right, will be rewarded by afterwards perceiving that he has taken the wisest course. But to those who seek, in the first instance, for the best poUcy, it is not given to perceive, in all cases, that honesty is the best policy. The maxim, therefore, though true and valuable, is never, to any one, the habitual and constant guide of conduct. He who is honest is always before it ; and he who is not, will often be far behi7id it. § III. To suggest a few topics for the self-examination I have Necessity of self- ^^^^^^^ ^°> ^^J "ot be Unsuitable with a view to examinaiion as to the inquiries we are engaged in. That all even this point. /. 1 1 ' of the learned and sagacious, have not arrived at true conclusions respecting the doctrines of Scripture, is at once evident from the great diversity of their conclusions. It necessary to consider, therefore, how we may best escape IS ON THE LOVE OF TEUTH. 29 being of the number of thpse who fall into such various errors, — how we may be best qualified for profiting by the lessons of Him whose " word is truth." And this must surely be by a fervent desire and sedulous watchfulness to acquire and pre serve a sincere, unbiassed, and candid disposition. Without this, the highest ability, combined with the most laborious study, will do nothing towards the attainment of that object. That we may not, however, be led into too wide a field of discussion, it should be observed, that I do not propose to in culcate the duty of veracity in private life, or to enter on any metaphysical disquisition on the nature of truth universally, or on what may be regarded as the different species of it, or to treat of the various kinds of evidence by which it is to be es tablished; but simply to speak of the importance, and the difficulty, of cultivating and establishing as a habit, a sincere love of truth for its own sake, and a steady, thoroughgoing adherence to it in aU philosophical, and especially in religious inquiries.' The first step towards attaining this state of mind, and as certaining how far we have attained it, must evidently be a strong conviction of its value, together with a distrust of our selves. If we either care not to be lovers of truth, or take for granted that we are such, without taking any pains to acquire the habit, it is not likely that we ever shall acquire it. I must here, therefore, briefly notice some objections which I have heard urged against the very effort to cultivate such a habit as I am recommending ; though, in fact, they arise from misappre hension, and are directed against a mistaken view of the subject. 1. The first is, that we cannot be required to make truth our main object, but happiness ; — that objection to the our ultimate end is, not the mere knowledge X^Piirsui^sHd of what is true, but the attainment of what is P'op^so'tae "^"'''• good, to ourselves and to others. But this, when urged as 3* 30 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. an objection against the views here taken, is evidently founded on a mistake as to the meaning of the maxim, that truth should be sought for its own sake. It is evident, in the first place, that I am not speaking of the pursuit of all truth on all subjects. It would be ridiculous for a single mdividual to aim at universal knowledge ; or even at the knowledge of all that is within the reach of the human faculties, and worthy of human study. The question is respecting the pursuit of truth, in each subject, on which each person desires to mahe up his mind and form an opinion. And secondly, the purport of the maxim that, in these points, truth should be our object, is, not that mere barren knowledge without practice, — truth without any ulterior end, should be sought ; but that truth should be sought and followed confidently, not, in each instance, only so far as we perceive it to be expedient, and from motives of pol icy, but with a fuU conviction both that it is, in the end, always expedient, with a view to the attainment of ulterior objects (no permanent advantage being attainable by departing from it), and also, that, even if some end, otherwise advantageous, cotdd be promoted by such a departure, that alone would constitute it an evil ; that truth, in short, is in itself, independently of its results, preferable to error ; that honesty claims a preference to deceit, even without taking into account its being the best policy. 2. Another objection, if it can be so called, is, that a per fectly candid and unbiassed state of mind — a habit of judging in each case entirely according to the evidence — is unattainable. But the same may be said of every other virtue. A perfect regulation of any one of the human passions is probably not more attainable than perfect candor ; but we are not, therefore to give a loose to the passions ; we are to relax our efforts for the attainment of any virtue, on the ground that, after all we shall fall short of perfection. ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 31 3. Another objection which I have heard is, that it is not even desirable, were it possible, to bring the mind into a state of perfectly unbiassed indifference, so as to weigh the evidence in each case with complete impartiality. The evidence, for instance, for the truth of the Christian reUgion, it is said, a good man must wish, and ought to wish, to find satisfactory ; one who loves and practises virtue, cannot be, and ought not to be, indifferent as to the question whether there be or be not a God who will reward it. This objection arises, I conceive, from an indistinct and confused notion of the sense of the terms employed.' A can did and unbiassed state of mind, which is sometimes called in difference or impartiality, that is of ihe judgment, does not imply an indifference of the will, — an absence of all wish on either side ; but merely an absence of all influence of the wishes in forming our decision, — all leaning of the judgment on the side of inclination, — all perversion of the evidence in consequence. That we should wish to find truth on one side rather than the other, is in many cases not only unavoidable, but commendable ; but to thinh that true which we wish, without impartially weighing the evidence on both sides, is undeniably a folly, though a very common one. If a mode of effectual and speedy cure be proposed to a sick man, he cannot but wish that the result of his inquiries concerning it may be a well-grounded conviction of the safety and efficacy of the remedy prescribed : it would be no mark of wisdom to be indifferent to the restora tion of health ; but if his wishes should lead him (as is frequently the case) to put implicit confidence in the remedy without any just grounds for it, he would deservedly be taxed with folly. Or, again, if a scheme be proposed to any one for embarking his capital in some speculation by which he is to gain immense wealth, he will doubtless wish to find that the I See Logic, Appendix. Article Indifference. 32 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. expectations held out are well-founded ; but we should caU hun very imprudent, if, as many do, he should suffer this wish to bias his judgment, and should believe, on insufficient grounds, the fair promises held out to him. His wishes, we should say, were both natural and wise ; but since they could not render the event more probable, it was most unwise to allow them to influence his decision. In like manner, to take the instance above alluded to, a good man will indeed wish to find the evi dence of the Christian reUgion satisfactory ; but a wise man will not for that reason thinh it satisfactory, but will weigh the evidence the more carefully on account of the importance of the question. By confounding together these two very distinct things, indifference of the will and indifference of the judgment (or, which amounts to the same, taking for gi-anted that the two are inseparably conjoined, and must be present or absent, together), I have known a person maintain, with some plausibiUty, the inexpediency, with a view to the attainment of truth, of educating people, or appointing teachers to instruct them in any particular systems or theories, — of astronomy, medicine, re ligion, morals, politics, etc., — on the ground that a man must wish to believe, and to find good reasons for believing, the sys tem in which he has been trained, and which he has been engaged in teaching; and that this wish must prejudice his understanding in favor of it, and consequently render him an incompetent judge of truth. It would foUow from this principle, that no physician should be trusted who is not utterly indifferent whether his patient recovers or dies ; since, else, he must wish to find reasons for hoping favorably from the mode of treatment pursued : no plan for the benefit of the public, proposed by a philanthropist, should be listened to ; since such a man cannot but wish it may be successful, etc. ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 33 No doubt the judgment is often biassed by the inclinations; but it is possible, and it should be our endeavor, to guard against this bias. And, by the way, it is utterly a mistake to suppose that the bias is always in favor of the conclusion wished for. It is often in the contrary direction. There is in some minds a tendency to unreasonable doubt in cases where their wishes are strong ; a morbid distrust of evidence which they are especially anxious to find conclusive. For example, groundless fears for the health or safety of an ardently-beloved child, wiU frequently, on account of their earnest wish for his welfare, distress anxious parents. Different temperaments, sometimes varying with the state of health of each individual, lead towards these opposite miscalculations. Each of us prob ably has a natural leaning towards one or the other (often towards both at different times) of these infirmities, — the over-estimate, or under-estimate of the reasons in favor of a conclusion we earnestly desire to find true. Our aim should be, not to fly from one extreme to the other, but to avoid both, and to give a verdict according to the evidence ; preserving the indifference of the judgment, even when the will cannot, and indeed should not, be indifferent. There are persons, again (though some of my readers will, perhaps, be disposed to doubt the fact), who, in supposed compliance with the precept, "lean not to thine own under standing," regard it as a duty to suppress all exercise of the intellectual powers, in every case where the feelings are at variance with the conclusions of reason. They deem it right to " consult the heart more than the head ; " that is, to surrender themselves, advisedly, to the bias of any prejudice that may chance to be present: thus deUberately, and on principle, burying in the earth the talent intrusted to them, and hiding under a bushel the candle that God has lighted up in the mind. But it is not necessary to dwell on such a case ; both because it 34 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. is not, I trust, a common one, and also because those who are thus disposed are clearly beyond the reach of argument, since they think it wrong to listen to it. I am far from recommending presumptuous inquiries into things beyond the reach of our faculties — " attempts to be wise above what is written " — or groundless confidence in the certainty of our conclusions ; but we cannot even exercise the requisite humility in acquiescing in revealed doctrines, unless we employ our reason to ascertain what they are ; and there is surely at least as much presumption in measuring everything by our own feelings, fancies, and prejudices, as by our own reasonings. 4. Lastly, another objection sometimes brought, not so much against the pursuit, as against the propagation of truth, is, that the minds of many men are incapable of rightly appre hending it; that the attempt to teach some truths to such hearers as are not quaUfied for receiving them, and to remove some errors which tliey are not ripe for perceiving to be such, would only excite their disgust towards everything they might hear from such instructors ; or that some might assent to what they heard, whUe they put the most mischievously false inter pretation upon it; or, lastly, that they might misapply even what they had rightly understood, — as persons ignorant of medicine often do mischief by administering, without judgment, some powerful remedy, whose efficacy they have witnessed. Even thus, it may be said, will the unlearned, when they have been taught to reject some long-established error, proceed, when their minds are once unsettled, to reject well-gi-ounded doctrmes also ; and will apply the arguments by wbich they have been convinced in one case, to another, perhaps very different (though they are incapable of understanding that difference), so as to produce the most erroneous results.' 1 See Dr West's Discourse on Reserve, above referred to. See also the Index to the Tracts for the Times. ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. oO Accordingly, it is urged, our Lord himself and his apostles abstained from teaching everything at once to tbeir hearers, because they " were not as yet able to bear them ; " and even so important a doctrine as the extension of the gospel to the Gentile world, was not fully made known to the apostles themselves for several years after they had received their commission. All this is, in a certain sense, true ; and as far as it is true is no contradiction of the principle I have laid down, but an appli cation of it. For to teach anything which, though in itself true, will inevitably be misunderstood by the hearers, is, in reality, to propagate not truth but error ; and if our teaching has in any case a necessary tendency to lead a certain class of hearers into such mistakes on other points as we have no power to guard against, we are not enlightening, but leading them into darkness. If we were to suppose a case (to resort to an iUus tration I have elsewhere employed') of our informing a rustic that the sun stands still, while, for some reason or other, we had no means of teaching him that the earth turns round, he would evidently be more perplexed than instructed, and would be more than ever at a loss to understand the alternations of day and night. To show that what has here been said is not a statement framed for the occasion, in order to meet objections, I will take the liberty of citing a passage to the same purpose from my Bampton Lectures, published in 1822 : " Persons of inferior powers and attainments may be led, not to knowledge, but to error, by hastily proposing to them such statements and ex planations as surpass their capacity ; though they may be intelligible and instructive to the abler and more advanced. No vain clamors, therefore, about deceiving the people, — no groundless charges of keeping the vulgar in ignorance, and 1 See Appendix to Archbishop King's Discourse on Predestination, No. 1. 36 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. preaching a different gospel to different persons, should deter us from following at once the dictates of sound sense, and the example of St. Paul ; or induce us so to perplex and confuse ' those who are weak in the faith,' as really to incur the blame of deceiving them, for the sake of avoiding the appearance of it. For, it should be remembered that, practically speaking, all truth is relative : that which may be to one man a trae state ment of any doctrine, may be, in effect, false to another, if it be such as cannot but lead him to form false notions ; and that which gives him, if not a perfectly correct notion of things as they are, yet the nearest to this that he is capable of, may be regarded as, to him, true." ' If, then, on these principles, we withhold for a time some part of the truth from those who are not able to bear it ; if we add " line upon line, and precept upon precept — here a Ut tle, and there a little," striving gradually to qualify the learner for a more fuU communication ; if we labor patiently to wear away prejudices by little and Uttle, when the attempt to eradicate them abruptly would be unsuccessful or perni cious, we are pursuing that method of inculcating truth which is sanctioned by Christ and his apostles. But if we make the ignorance, weakness, or prejudice of men a plea for suppress ing or disguising truth, or for conniving at error, -(vithout laboring at the same time to remove those obstacles ; if we plead that they are not yet ripe for this or that doctrine, and expect them to become ripe, like the fruits of the eartli, by mere waiting ; if we are content to leave them permanently under the influence of delusion, — to postpone, sine die, as the phrase is, the communication of religious truths, — to wait indeffinitely for some unforseen favorable conjuncture which we make no exertions to bring about, — we are proceeding in direct contra diction to the spirit of the gospel, and the example of its Author. 1 Lect. IV. pp. 129, 130. Third Edit. ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 37 "I have yet many things,'' said He, " to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. " But He did, by his Spirit, graduaUy impart this knowledge to them afterwards ; not to some subse quent generation, but to those very same individuals. " I have fed you with milk, and not with meat," says St. Paul ; " for ye were not able to bear it, neither yet are ye able." He evidently implies a hope that they (that is, not some future generation, but those very individuals) will be able to bear it ; nay, he is evi dently reproaching them for not being already better qualified for the reception of divine truth. Indeed, the very similitude of babes of itself draws our attention, our hopes, and our en deavors towards a progressive growth into manhood. § IV. When, however, we have made up our minds as to the importance of seeking in every case for truth. Danger of men's with an unprejudiced mind, the greatest difficulty Bc'ives'wuhout'suf^ ..,1 • T . 1 ¦ r il /. ^ ficientcroundstliat still remains ; which arises irom the confidence „,gy ^^ i^^^^j „f truth ; maxim of mulling it not the second but the tirst question, What is For, every one must of course be convinced of *'' ''""' ' the truth of his own opinion, if it be properly called his opin ion ; and yet the variety of men's opinions furnishes a proof how many must be mistaken. If any one, then, would guard against mistake as far as his intellectual faculties will allow, he must make it, not the second, but the frst question in each case, " Is this true ? " It is not enough to believe what you main tain : you must maintain what you believe ; and maintain it because you believe it ; and that, on the most careful and impartial review of the evidence on both sides. For any one may bring himself to believe almost anything that he is inclined to beUeve, and thinks it becoming or expedient to maintain. It makes all the difference, therefore, whether we begin or e7id with the inquiry as to the truth of our doctrines. 4 we are apt to feel that we have already done '™"' = ""^'™ °' this, and have sought for truth with success, second but the erst 38 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. To express the same maxim in other words, it is one thing to wish to have truth on our side, and another thing to wish sin cerely to be on the side of truth} There is no genuine love of truth impUed in the former. Truth is a powerful auxiUary, such as every one wishes to have on his side, every one is rejoiced to find, and therefore often succeeds in convincing himself that the principles he is already disposed to adopt, the notions he is incUned to defend, may be maintained as true. A determination to " obey the truth," and to foUow wherever she may lead, is not so common. In this consists the genuine love of truth; and this can be reaUzed in practice only by postponing aU other questions to that which ought ever to come foremost : " What is the truth ? " The minds of most men are preoccupied by some feeling or other which infiuences their judgment, — either on the side of truth or of error, as it may happen, — and enlists their learning and ability on the side, whatever it may be, which they are predisposed to adopt. 1. One of the most common of these feelings is an aversion Obstacles to the to doubt — z. dislikc of having the judgment habir'nl^e tf kept in suspense ; which, combined with indolence '"'"'='¦ in investigation, induces the great mass of man kind to malce up iheir minds on a variety of points, almost according to the first suggestion that is offered. As the illus trious Greek historian expresses it, in language which wiU hardly admit of an adequate translation, "the generaUty of mankind are so averse to the labor of investigating truth, that they are willing rather to adopt any statement that is ready- prepared for then- acceptance."^ But he who would cultivate 1 Some persons, accordingly, who describe themselves — in one sense correctly . — as ^^ following the dictates of conscience," are doing so only in the same sense in wliich a person who is driving in a carriage may be said to follow his horses, which go in whatever direction he guides them. 2 'AraAafTTupos toIs XoWoIs tj ^¦fiTTjats ttjs aXi't^eias, Kal iirl ret eT0i,ua HaAKoy TpiirovTai. — Thucyd. ON THE LOVE OF TEUTH. 39 an habitual devotion to truth, must be solicitous in the first place to avoid error ; and consequently must in all cases prefer douht to the reception of falsehood, or to the admission of any conclusion on insufficient evidence. One who has an aversion to doubt, and is anxious to make up his mind, and to come to some conclusion on every question that is discussed, must be content to rest many of his opinions on very slight grounds ; since no one individual is competent to investigate fully all dis putable points. Such an one, therefore, is no lover of truth ; nor is in the right way to attain it on any point. He may more reasonably hope this, who, though he may on many points perceive some, and perhaps a great, preponderance of probability on this or that side, is contented to come to a de cisive conclusion only on those few which he has been enabled thoroughly to investigate.' The fault I have been speaking of is one which men are the less likely to detect in themselves, from this circumstance, that in many practical cases it is necessary to come to some decision, speedily, even though we may not have before us the fuUest evidence that we could desire, or even that we might hope, were more time allowed us, to obtain. The physician may be compelled to prescribe, or the general to give his orders, immediately, and without waiting to examine all the reasons on both sides ; because delay would be as pernicious as mistake. In cases of this kind, the utmost we can do is to make up our minds according to the best reasons that occur ; and though we are not called on, even then, to come to any certain conclusion in our minds, if there are no sufficient grounds for it, yet we must act as if we were certain. If, in a journey, we have no means of knowing certainly which of two or three roads will lead us aright, we must yet choose one, because we are certain we cannot reach the journey's end by 1 Essay IV. (Third Series), § VIII. 40 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. Standing still. So, also, if we are in doubt whether thieves will come or not, we bar the door, as if we were certain they would ; because to neglect this would be to stake all on the event of their not coming. In like manner, he who has doubts about the truth of Christianity is bound in prudence to en deavor to act as if it were true. For in these, and many other cases of practice, " not to decide, is to decide." ' And the habit is often in this manner acquired of forming our opinions as hastily as our practical decisions ; and that, too, even in cases where no immediate step is necessarily to be taken, — no dan ger, equal to the danger of error, to be incurred by remaining in suspense.^ 2. To that dislike of doubt which has been mentioned as an Love of original- obstaclc to the Cultivation of an habitual love of ''^- truth, many others may be added which aug ment the difficulty. In many it is the desire of originality, heightened sometimes into the love of paradox that pre-occu- pies the mind. They are zealous for truth, provided it be some truth brought to light by themselves. There are some, accordingly, who have been right where prevailing opinions are erroneous, and erroneous where the rest of the world think rightly. And such persons often satisfy themselves that they are guarded against this excess, by the severity of their judg ments on their neighbor's originality, — by unsparing rejection of every paradox, and every novelty, proceeding from another. A crude theory or opinion, means, in their language, one which (being new) has not first occurred to themselves. 3. Others, again, and they are more numerous, are unduly Excessive defer- l^Jassed by au excessive respect for venerated ence for autliority. authority, — - by an undue regard for any belief that is ancient, that is established, that is reckoned ortho dox, that has been maintained by eminent men : they are 1 Bacon. 2 E.ssay on the Omission of Creeds, etc., iu Scripture, § IX. ON THE LOVE OF TEUTH. 41 overpowered, in short, by the argumentum ad verecundiam." I mean not, of course, that the judgment of able men, and that of numerous independent authorities, furnishes no valid argu ment ; only, that it should not supersede argument, — that every other description of evidence should be called in, and that we should not think ourselves bound to adopt an opinion merely because it has been held by many before us.' And some are so biassed by authority, that they not only admit carelessly as true what they have not examined, but even tol erate a considerable admixture of what they themselves perceive to be untrue. " I had rather be mistaken in company -with Plato, than hold the truth along with those men," ^ implies no uncommon kind of feeUng. And, moreover, any errors which have long and extensively prevailed, are by many regarded as of no great practical con sequence ; because, they think, if these had led to any ill result, it would have been long ago manifest. This is indeed far from being universally the case ; for many doctrinal errors do lead to practical evils which are not referred, even by those who perceive them, to the causes whence they sprung.^ Protes tants, for instance, perceive the immoral effects which naturally spring, in Romanist countries, from the doctrines of purgatory, indulgences, image-worship, etc. ; but a sincere Romanist, though he cannot but perceive the existence of many of these immoralities, is usually altogether blind to their connection with those causes. And the Protestant who wonders at this blindness, is perhaps himself equally blind in some similar case. But though, as has been said, the aUeged harmlessness of long- established errors is in general very rashly inferred, still it commonly is inferred ; and there are not a few who have more 1 Essay IV. (Fourth Series), § VIH. 2 " Errare malo cum Platone, quam cura istis vera sentire." 3 See Appendix to Essay II., on the Kingdom of Christ. 4» 42 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. dread of anything that savors of novelty, even when they per ceive nothing objectionable in it, than of what is generally received, even when they know it to be unsound. And hence, he is the most likely to be, by such persons, accounted a safe man, not whose views are on the whole the most reasonable, but who is free from all errors, except vulgar errors. It may be added, that the desire to be considered " or thodox " is the more likely to mislead, from the coincidence of that term, etymologically, with rectitude of faith. But, popularly, when a man is spoken of as "orthodox," this is understood to imply conformity to what is received and main tained as the right faith, by the majority of the most influential theologians of the age and country in which he Uves, or in which those live who so describe him. This may, indeed, coincide perfectly with the right sense of Scripture ; but we cannot be sure that it will always be so, unless we regard those theologians as infallible. These, then, must be made the standard — their mode of study and their interpretations followed — by one who is bent on being " orthodox." He, again, whose great object is to be scriptural, must make the Scriptures his standard ; to be studied with all the best helps, indeed, that he can obtain, but with a thorough devotion to his object, and a resolution to sacrifice, if needful, anything and everything to that. But whichever standard a man adopts, let him not aim at the unattainable object of " serving two masters." Let him not say that the "orthodox" and the "scriptural" are not adverse, like " God and mammon ; " which, by the way, are not necessarily adverse, since the same conduct which a sense of Christian duty suggests will often conduce to Avordly prosperity also. It is not because they are hostile, and necessarily lead different ways, that no man can serve two masters ; but simply because they are two, and not one. The attempt is like that of seeking to make both gold and silver the standard of currency. Their ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 43 relative values vary but seldom, and vary slightly ; but the slightest variation throws all accounts into confusion, if we attempt to make both a standard. In proportion as pure religion prevails in any age or coun try, the " orthodox " and the " scriptural " approach towards coincidence, and the adherents of the two, respectively, ap proach in respect of the doctrines themselves which they hold. But StiU they go on different principles, like one man going by the clock, and another by the sun-dial ; and he who aims at conforming to each of two standards, is " a double-minded man," and will be " unstable in all his ways." The temptation to fall into this snare is one which calls for more vigilance, in one respect, than a temptation to do any thing that is in itself manifestly wrong, and which ought to be avoided altogether. For, agreement in faith with those around us, it would be as wrong to shun as to seelc ; and it is so manifestly desirable, in point of present comfort and conven ience, that no one can be censured for rejoicing to find himself so situated without any sacrifice of principle. Now it is difficult for a man to keep himself from seeking for that which he can not help wishing for ; aiming at that which he feels he would rejoice at. And as soon as he does this — as soon as his efforts are directed the same way as his wishes — he has immediately begun to set up a new standard, and is trying to serve two masters. The two faults which have been just noticed — the endeavor after originality and after orthodoxy ; that is, a certain de gree of each — are not unfrequently combined. The hasty adoption of striking novelties on some occasions, is not incom patible with a blind adherence to the received doctrine on others. All men have been told that wisdom consists in pre serving a middle course between opposite extremes ; and the weak, the uncandid, and the unthinking often congratulate 44 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. themselves on having attained this happy medium, by the mimic wisdom of sliding alternately into each extreme. True wisdom would tell us not to receive one opinion because it is old, and another because it is new ; but to receive and reject none on either ground, and to inquire sedulously, in each case, what is true. It may be added that some men are apt to aim at preserving the proper medium by keeping themselves at an equal distance from each extreme. " Men are apt to look to those who, on each side, hold the most extreme opinions, or practically carry some principle to the greatest excess, and then, resolving to be led by neither, think to preserve the most perfect moderation ; to attain the true ' via media ' by keeping themselves equi distant from both. If in each point they are as far removed from the extremes of one party as of another, they conclude that they are steering the right course between them. "But such persons, instead of being led by neither party, are more properly described as being led by both. The real medium of rectitude is not to be attained by geometrical mea surement. The varieties of human error have no power to fix the exact place of truth. On the contrary, it happens in re spect of religion, as well as in all other subjects, that each party will maintain some things that are perfectly true and right, and others that are wholly wrong and mischievous ; and that in other points, again, the one party or the other wUl be much the more remote from the truth : so that any one who studies to keep himself in every point just half way between two contending parties, will probably be as often in the wrong as either of them. " And this caution is the more important, because it wiU often happen that the truth, and the error, of any party, will be found intimately blended together in respect of each single point of doctrine ; so that the one party, and their opponents ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 45 also, will be, each, quite right in one respect, and utterly wrong in another." ' It is a truism, but one often practically forgotten, that there is no medium between truth and falsehood. When, indeed, opposite errors are held by two parties, the truth will lie some where between them ; but when — as is often the case — a true view of some point is taken by one of them and opposed by the other, to aim at the mean will be in fact seeking a mean be tween truth and falsehood. There may be a medium indeed between that truth and the particular error maintained by some particular party ; but this " via media " will of course be itself erroneous. 4. I have elsewhere noticed a kind of false humility, by aiming at which some are drawn aside from the pursuit of truth. " The pride of human reason " is a phrase very much in the mouth of some persons, who seem to think they are effectuaUy humbling themselves by an excessive distrust of all exercise of the intellect, while they resign themselves freely to the guid ance of what they call the heart ; that is, their prejudices, passions, inclinations, and fancies. But the feelings are as much a part of man's constitution as his reason : every part of our nature will equaUy lead us wrong, if operating uncon trolled. If a man employs his reason, not in ascertaining what God has revealed in Scripture, but in conjecturing what might be, or ought to be the divine dispensations, he is employing his reason wrongly, and will err accordingly. But this is not the only source of error. He who, to avoid this, gives up the use of his reason, and believes or disbelieves, adopts or rejects, according to what suits his feelings, taste, will, and fancy, is no less an idolater of himself than the other ; his feelings, etc., being a part of himself no less than his reason.^ We may, if we please, call the one of these a " Rationalist," and the other 1 Charge of 1843. 2 See Logic, Appendix III. 46 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. an " Irrationalist ; " but there is as much of the pride of self- idolatry in the one as in the other. The Greeks and Romans were indeed wretched idolaters in their adoration of the beau tiful statues of Jupiter and Minerva ; but the Egyptians, who adored those of an ox and a hawk, were not the less idolaters. The Jews, relying on the decision of learned rabbis, and the Pythagorean, who yielded implicit reverence to the dictates of the sage, did not more exalt man into an oracle, in the place of God, than the Mussulmans, who pay a like reverence to idiots and madmen. Each part of our nature should be duly controlled, and kept within its own proper province ; and the whole "brought into subjection to Christ," and dedicated to him. But there is no real Christian humility, though there be debasement, in renouncing the exercise of human reason to follow the dictates of human feeUng. The apostle's precept is, " In malace be ye children ; but in understanding be ye men.'' The error I have been adverting to is worthy of notice only from the plausibility it derives from the authority of some persons who really do possess cultivated intellectual powers ; and therefore, when they declaim on the pride of human rea son, are understood not to be disparaging an advantage of which they are destitute. They appear voluntarily divesting themselves of what many would feel a pride in ; and thus often conceal from others, as well as from themselves, the spiritual pride with which they not only venerate their own feelings and prejudices, but even load with anathemas all who presume to dissent from them. It is a prostration, not of man's self before God, but of one part of himself before another. This kind of humiliation is like the idolatry of the Israelites in the wilder ness : " The people stripped themselves of their golden ornaments that were upon them, and cast them into the fire ; and there came forth this calf." ' We ought to remember that the disci- 1 Note to a Charge of 1836. ON THE LOVE OF TEUTH. 47 pies were led by the dictates of a sound understanding to say, " No man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him," and thence, to believe and trust and obey Jesus implicitly ; but that Peter was led by his heart — that is, his incli nations and prejudices — to say, " Be it far from thee. Lord ! there shall no such thing happen unto thee." 5. It is to be remembered also that the intellectual powers are sometimes pressed into the service, as it were, of the feel ings, and that a man may be thus misled, in a great measure, through his own ingenuity. Any one who possesses consider able ability, is able, as is well known, to make up a plausible defence of some unsound theory or unjustifiable measure. " Depend on it," said a shrewd observer, when inquired of what was to be expected from a certain man who had been appointed to some high office, and of whose intelligence he thought more favorably than of his uprightness, — " depend on it, he will never take any step that is bad, witliout having a very good reason for it." Now it is common to warn men — and they are generally ready enough to take the warning — against being thus misled by the ingenuity of another ; but a person of more than ordinary learning and ability, needs to be carefuUy on hia guard against being misled by his own. Though conscious perhaps of his own power to dress up spe ciously a bad cause, or an extravagant and fanciful theory, he is conscious also of a corresponding power to distinguish sound reasoning from sophistry. But this will not avail to protect him from convincing himself by ingenious sophistry of his own, if he has allowed himself to adopt some conclusion which pleases his imagination, or favors some passion or self-interest. His own superior intelligence will then be, as I have said, pressed into the service of his inclinations. It is, indeed, no feeble blow that will suffice to destroy a giant ; but if a giant resolves to commit suicide, it is a giant that deals the blow. 48 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. A man is in' danger, therefore, — the more in proportion to his abilities, — of exercising on himself, when under the influ ence of some passion, a most pernicious oratorical power, by pleading the cause, as it were, before himself, of that passion. Suppose it anger, for example, that he is feeling : he is naturally disposed to dweU on and amplify the aggravating circumstances of the supposed provocation, so as to make out a good case for himself ; a representation such as may, or might, if needed, serve to vindicate him in the eyes of a bystander, and to give him the advantage in a controversy. This of course tends to heighten his resentment, and to satisfy him that he " doeth weU to be angry ; " or perhaps to persuade him that he is not an gry, but is a model of patience under intolerable wrongs. And the man of superior ingenuity and eloquence will do this more skilfully than an ordinary man, and will thence be likely to be the more effectually self-deceived ; for though he may be supe rior to the other in judgment, as well as in ingenuity, it is to be remembered that while his judgment is likely to be, in his own cause, biassed, and partially blinded, his ingenuity is caUed forth to the utmost. And the like takes place if it be selfish cupidity, unjust par tiality in favor of a relative or friend, party spirit, or any other passion that may be operating. For, universaUy, men are too apt to take more pains in justifying their propensities, than it would cost to control them ; and a man of superior powers will often be in this way entrapped by his own ingenuity, Uke a spider entangled in the web she has herself spun. Most persons are fearful, even to excess, of being misled by the eloquence of another'; but an ingenious reasoner ought to be 1 1 have known a raan accordingly shun the acquaintance of another, of whom he knew no harm, solely from his dread of hira as a raan who, he im agined, " could prove anything." Men of a low tone of morality, judging from themselves, take for granted that whoever " has a giant's strength," will not scruple to " use it like a giant." ON THE LOVE OF TEUTH. 49 especially fearful of his own. There is no one whom he is likely so much, and so hurtfuUy to mislead, as himself, if he be not sedulously on his guard against this self-deceit. 6. The greatest, however, of all the obstacles to the habit of following truth, is the tendency to look in the y^^.^^ „f expe- first instance to the expedient. Expediency ^""^''^¦ does not, in reaUty, stand opposed to truth, except when made its rival for precedence ; but while the genuine lover of truth always regai'ds that as the only sure road to the expedient, the generality of men look out frst for what is expedient, and are contented if they can afterwards reconcile that (which, with a biassed mind, they are very likely to accomplish) with a conviction of truth. And this is the sin which most easily besets those who are engaged in the instruction of others ; and it besets them the more easily, inasmuch as the consciousness of falsehood, even if it exist in the outset, will very soon wear away. He who does not begin by preaching what he thor oughly believes, wiU speedily end by believing what he preaches. His habit of discriminating the true from the false, the well- established from the doubtful, will soon decay for want of assiduous exercise ; and thus inured to the practice of dispens ing with complete sincerity for the sake of supposed utility, and accustomed to support true conclusions by any premises that offer, he wiU soon lose, through this faulty practice, even the power of distinguishing what conclusions are true.' § V. The temptations to this fault are so great, the occur rence of it so frequent, and the mischief of it so cautionary mai- incalculable, that I cannot, perhaps, better close these remarks than by classing, under a few comprehensive heads, the cautions to be observed in avoiding it. 1 Essay III. (Third Series) § -VI. 5 50 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 1. First, then, one who would cherish in himself an at- No unfair argu- tachmcnt to truth, must never allow himself ment to be used. either to-advaucc any argument, or to admit and acquiesce in any when advanced by another, which he knows or suspects to be unsound or fallacious ; however true the conclusion may be to which it leads, however convincing the argument may be to those it is addressed to, and how ever important it may be that they should be convinced. It springs from, and it wiU foster and increase, a want of ven eration for truth. It is an affront put on " the Spirit of truth ; " it is a hiring of the idolatrous Syrians to fight the battles of the Lord God of Israel. And it is on this ground that we should adhere to the most scrupulous fairness of statement and argument. He who believes that sophistry will always in the end prove injurious to the cause supported by it, is probably right in that belief ; but if it be for that reason that he ab stains from it, — if he avoid faUacy, whoUy or partly, through fear of detection, — it is plain he is no sincere votary of truth. 2. On the same principle we are bound never to counte- Norcrroneousno- naucc any erroncous opinion, however seemingly beneficial in its results, — to connive at no sal utary delusion (as it may' appear), but to open the eyes (when opportunity offers, and in proportion as it offers) of those we are instructing to any mistake they may labor under, though it may be one which leads them ultimately to a true result, and to one of which apparently they might otherwise fail. The temptation, accordingly, to depart from this principle, is sometimes excessively strong ; because it will often be the case that men will be in some danger, in parting -with a long- admitted error, of abandoning at the same time some truth they have been accustomed to connect with it. Accordingly I have heard censure passed on the endeavors to enlighten the adher- 1 See Essay HI. (Third Series) } IU. ON THE LOVE OF TEUTH. 51 ents of some erroneous churches, on the ground that many of them thence become atheists, and many the wildest of fanatics. That this should have been in some instances the case, is highly probable : it is a natural result of the pernicious effects on the mind of any system of blind, unmquiring acquiescence. Such a system is an evil spirit, which we must expect will crueUy rend and mangle the patient as it comes out of him, and wiU leave him half dead at its departure. Again, the beUef in the plenary inspiration of Scripture, — its being properly and Uterally the " Word of God," merely uttered or committed to writing by the sacred penman, in the very words supernaturaUy dictated to them, and the consequent belief in its complete and universal infallibility, not only on reUgious, but also on historical and phUosophical points, — these notions, which prevail among a large portion of Christians, are probably encouraged or connived at by very many of those who do not, or at least did not originaUy, in their own hearts, entertain any such beUef. But they dread " the unsettling of men's minds ; " they fear that they would be unable to distinguish what is, and what is not, matter of inspi ration ; and, consequently, that their reverence for Scripture and for religion altogether would be totally destroyed : while, on the other hand, the error they urge is very harmless — leading to no practical evU, but rather to piety of life. Incredible as it may seem, it is a fact that objections have been made to the removal of the vulgar error of regarding the chapters and verses as divisions made by the sacred writers themselves. Much indistinctness and confusion of thought have often arisen from the practice of reading each chapter as a distinct treatise, or branch of a treatise ; though a chapter, in fact, often begins in the middle of an argument, or even of a sentence. But it was urged that it would " unsettle men's minda " to undeceive them. 52 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. On a like principle I have known some pious persons object to any alteration of those passages of our (in general exceUent) version of the Bible, in which they admit that our translators have mistaken the sense of the original. It has a tendency, they think, to " unsettle the mind of the vulgar, " who had better be left to receive the Bible — that is, our authorized version of it — as the word of God, without any suspicion of the possibihty of error in any passage they read ; since if once (it is urged) they doubt the infalUbUity of our translators, they may go on to doubt whether this, and that, or any passage of Scripture may not be mistranslated ; tUl at length the Bible wiU be, to them, no revelation at all. This procedure is of a piece with that of the Church of Rome in pronouncing the infallibrUty of the Vulgate version : a step which proved a convenience for the moment, and has placed them in a dilemma ever since ; either the admission, or the denial, of any error in the Vulgate, being equaUy dangerous to the church's claim of infaUibUity. The inexpediency, in the end, of our proceeding on such a principle in respect of our translation, is to me very clear ; but I despair of explaining it to the satisfaction of any one who chooses to try the ques tion on that ground. To any one who is resolved to foUow honesty for its own sake, it may easily be made to appear, in this case, that it is the best policy also.' And doubtless such feelings as I have been aUuding to had a share in inducing the Roman Catholics to retain the Apocrypha in their Bible. Many of the learned among them must surely have known that these books have no title to be considered as part of the Holy Scriptures ; " but they are on the whole," they may have thought, "rather edifying than hurtful, and to reject them might shake men's faith in the whole of Scripture." The same reasoning probably operates I See Easy Lessons ou Christian Evidences. Lesson III. ON THE LOVE OF TEUTH. 63 with many of them to induce them to maintain the infalUbiUty of the church, the authority of their traditions, etc. Indeed, the fault I have been speaking of is of the very essence of a system of "pious frauds." Would that Protestants did not so readily flatter themselves that their separation from the Church of Rome exempts them from all danger of errors like hers! There is a strong temptation, again, to foster or connive at the popular error of expecting under the Christian dispensation those temporal rewards and punishments which form no part of the system ; a mistake which no doubt haa often produced partial good results, and which there wiU often be, and oftener appear to be, danger in removing.' Of the same character is the belief that the moral precepts of the Levitical law are (on the authority of that law) binding on Christians ; and that the observance of the Lord's day is a duty to which they are bound by the fourth commandment.^ Though the desired conclusions may in these and similar cases be reached by the paths of truth, there wUl be an apparent, and sometimes a real danger that those who have been long used to act rightly on erroneous principles, may fail of those con clusions when undeceived. In such cases it requires a thorough love of truth, and a firm reUance on divine support, to adhere steadily to the straight course. 3. A Uke danger wiU often be our appointed trial in the I See Discourse on National Blessings and Judgments. 2 Of course I am not at present alluding to those who, after a full and candid exaraination, are themselves convinced of this j whose sincere and deliberate belief is that the fourth commandment does extend to Christians, but that it is sufficiently obeyed by the observance of the first day of tbe week instead of the seventh ; or that the precise directions of an express command of Scripture, which is admitted to be binding on us, may allowably be altered hy the tradi tions of the church. Though I cannot but regard such views as erroneous, the error does not belong to the class now under discussion. See Thoughts on the Sabbath. 5* 54 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. converse case also ; in firmly resolving to suppress no clearly- revealed gospel truth, through apprehension of ill consequences. Then only can we be " pure from the blood of all men," if we " have not shunned to set before them all the counsel of God." He did, indeed, himself think fit to hide for many ages, under the veil of the Levitical law, the coming of the Messiah's kingdom ; and it is but a smaU part, probably, of the great scheme of redemption that he has as yet imparted to us ; but he has not authorized man to suppress any part of what he has revealed ; and it is an impious presumption even to inquire into the expediency of such a procedure. 4. Lastly, as we must not dare to withhold or disguise revealed reliqious truth, so we must dread the No dread to be ¦' ' entertained of the prOgrCSS of UO Other trUth. Wc mUSt UOt imj- progresa of science. tate the bigoted hierarchy who imprisoned Gali leo, and step forward, Bible in hand (Uke the profane Israelites carrying the Ark of God into the field of battle), to check the inquiries of the geologist, the astronomer, or the poUtical econ omist, from an apprehension that the cause of religion can be endangered by them.' Any theory, on whatever subject, that is really sound, can never be inimical to a religion founded on truth ; and any that is unsound may be refuted by arguments drawn from observation and experiment, without calling in the aid of revelation. If we give way to a dread of danger from the inculcation of any scriptural doctrine, or from the progress of physical or moral science, we manifest a want of faith in God's power, or in his will, to maintain his own cause. That we shaU indeed best further his cause by fearless perseverance in an open and straight course, I am firmly persuaded ; but it is not only when we perceive the mischiefs of falsehood and disguise, and the beneficial tendency of fairness and candor, that we are to be foUowers of truth. The trial of our faith is 1 See First Lectures on Political Economy. ON THE LOVE OF TKUTH. 55 ¦when we cannot perceive this ; and the part of a lover of truth is to follow her at all seeming hazards, after the example of Plim who " came into the world that He might bear witness to the truth. " ^ No one, in fact, is capable of fully appreciating the ultimate expediency of a devoted adherence to truth in all that relates to the Christian religion, except the divine Author of it ; be cause he alone comprehends the whole of that vast and imper fectly revealed scheme of Providence, and alone can see the inmost recesses of the human heart, and alone can foresee and judge of the remotest consequences of human actions. And much of the good policy of the course I have been recommend ing, which can be perceived by those of more cultivated minds, is beyond the comprehension of a great majority of mankind. The expediency of truth can be estimated by few ; but its intrin- 1 " He came to establish a kingdom of truth; that is, not a kingdom whose subjects should embrace on compulsion what is in itself true, and consequently should be adherents of truth by accident, hut a kingdom whose subjects should have been admitted as such in consequence of their being ' ofthe truth; ' that is, men honestly disposed to embrace and ' obey the truth,' whatever it might be, that God should reveal, agreeably to what our Lord has elsewhere declared, that * if any man will do (^4\ei, is willing to do) the will of my Father, he shall know of the doctrine,' etc. " To any persons who are not ' of the truth,' in the above sense ; that is, who, though they believe {as every one does) many things that are true, yet have not heartily set themselves, with perfect candor and self-devotion, to ascertain as far as possible, and to obey at all hazards, God's truth, — to such persons these views will of course be likely to appear strange and fanciful, perplexing, and perhaps offensive ; and they will accordingly seek for some different interpreta tion. " But when they explain Christ's declaration of liis having ' come into the world to bear witness of the truth,' in some sense in itself intelligible, but quite unconnected with the inquiry he was answering as to his being ' a king,' they forget that what he said must have had not only some meaning, but some mean- irif^ pertinent to the occasion ; and this they seem as much at a loss for as Fiiate himself, who exclaimed, *What is truth?' not from being ignorant of the meaniug of the word, but from perceiving no connection between ' truth ' and the inquiry respecting the claim to regal office." — Essay I. on the Kingdom of Christ, § IX. 56 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. sic loveUness, by all. None are precluded, by want of intel lectual power and culture, from that undoubting faith and firm reliance on their great Master which will lead them to aim at truth out of veneration to him ; to reject disguise, and sophistry, and equivocation, at once, as hateful to him, without stopping to inquire what further evU they may lead to. And it is no more than needful that those who act thus should Human appro- havc 3, morc than common assurance of His bet^ed'-'on^ti: approbation; for they wiU often faU of that lover of truth. of their fellow-mcn. Besides being occasionaUy censured as rash and mischievous, they will constantly find a want of sympathy in those (and they, I fear, are a majority) whose character is, in this point, opposite. They may be valued indeed by many persons for other good quaUties ; but that zealous, thorough-going love of truth which I have been describing, is very seldom admired, or Uked, or indeed under stood, except by those who possess it. Courage, liberaUty, activity, etc., are often highly prized by those who do not pos sess them in any great degree ; but the quaUty I am speaking of, is, by those deficient in it, either not perceived where it exists, or perceived only as an excess and extravagance. " There is nothing covered," however, " that shall not be revealed ; nor hid, that shall not be known." And the gen uine and fearless lover of truth, who has sought, not the praise of men, but the praise of God " who seeth in secret," shaU be " sanctified through his truth " here, and by him " be rewarded openly " hereafter. ON THE LOVE OF TEUTH. 57 NOTE TO ESSAY I. Note A — Page 26. Something may be inculcated at one time, and not at another, either from its being irue at the one time and not at another ; or, again, from its being needful to be set forth at one time, and not at another. But this distinction, though obvious when stated, is, in practice, often overlooked. For instance, from the omission in the Apostles' Creed of all mention of the Divinity of Christ, and of the Atonement, some have inferred that the doctrines were not, at the time that Creed was framed, Relieved as true. But the proper inference is, that they were omitted because they were not, at tbat time, doubted; the earliest heresies having had reference to quite different points. We should not expect to find in a symbol any notice of articles of faith hitherto uncontroverted. In later symbols, the mention of these doctrines was called forth by the heresies which subsequently arose. On the other hand, Christ's disclaimer of a temporal kingdom was evidently called forth at that particular time by the circumstan ces of his trial before Pilate ; but it would be monstrous to sup pose that those circumstances would have induced him to make a declaration that was not true, — to give a description of his king dom different from what really belonged to it, or from what he designed it to become. And yet many, even of the early Christian emperors, were urged to put down idolatry and heresy by the civil sword.' Jesus had indeed forbidden his disciples to draw the sword in his cause, or to call down fire from heaven on those who rejected him ; and had declared his kingdom to be " not of this world ; '' and his first followers had propagated his religion by gentle persuasion, " not rendering evil for evil," " but in meekness instructing them that oppose themselves." But then it was replied that such a procedure was suited only to the first beginnings of 1 *' Not more than twenty years after Constantine's entire possession of the empire, .Julius Firmicua Maternus calls upon the Emperors Constantius and Constans to extirpate the relics of the ancient religion ; . . , . modicum tantum superest, ut legibus vestris .... extincta idololatriae pereat funesta contagio." — Paley's Evidences, Part II. chap. 9. 58 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. Christianity ; that the earhest disciples had no power, when as yet magistrates and kings were not arrayed on their side,' forcibly to suppress idolatry ; and that our Lord's language to Pilate, and his rejection of the attempts to make Him a king, had reference to the then prevaihng expectations of a temporal Messiah. Now there was undoubtedly this expectation of an anointed Son of David, who should reign in bodily person over the Jews, and should bestow on his followers not only the spiritual blessings relating to a future state, but also worldly power and splendor ; and doubtless his disclaimer had reference to these expectations. But the question is. Was this the cause of Christ's kingdom actually being of such a char acter as he described it ; or, merely of his insisting on this, in those particular expressions, and on those particular occasions ? Are his rebukes to his disciples for offering to call down fire from heaven and to fight in his cause, — rebukes which were evidently called forth by their mistaken zeal on each occasion, — are these to be regarded as having reference to these occasions only, or as descrip tive ofthe character ofthe religion universally ?^ And what has been said of the employment of force, may equally be applied to the employment of fraud, in the cause of Christianity. Those who have practised pious frauds in the cause of Christianity, probably committed (unknown to themselves) a similar errorto the one just mentioned, in their view of those passages of Scripture which insist on " truth " as a characteristic feature of the rehgion. Those expressions, indeed, were probably called forth, in many in stances, by the peculiar circumstances attending the first promulga tion of the gospel ; but the character of the gospel itself is " the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." 1 " Non invenitur exemplum in evangelicis et apostolicis Uteris, aliquid petitum a regihus terrae pro ecclesia, contra immicos ecclesiae : quis negat non inveniri? Sed nondum implebatur ilia prophetia, et nunc reges intelligite, erudimini, qui judicatis terram ; servite Domino in timore. Adhuc enim illud implebatur quod in eodem psalmo paullo superius dicitur; Quare Ircmuerunt gentes, et populi meditati sunt iuania? " etc. — Augustine, Epist. 93, chap. iii. § 9. The remainder of the passage is curious, in which this Father goes on to rep resent the two opposite decrees of L'ing Nebuchadnezzar as types of the two conditions of the church; the sentence of death passed on the three pious Jews who refused to worship the golden idol, being typical of the times of the npos- tles and martyrs; and the present time (Augustine's) being represented by the decree of the same king, that whosoever should " speak anything amiss against the God of those Jews, should be cut in pieces." 2 See Essay V. (Third Series) j IV. ESSAY II. ON THE DIFFICULTIES AND THE VALUE OF THE WRITINGS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL GENERALLY. § I. Theee appears to be a very remarkable analogy be tween the treatment to which Paul was himself - , . , . , . . ^, Paul more ex- exposed during his personal mmistry on earth, p„sed than any of -,,,, 1.,,. 1 1 L ...1. the apostles to the and that which his works have met with since. „ttacka both of In both he stands distinguished m many points "^'^ im'^oI among the preachers of the gospel ; and it is peraonaiiy and in hia writings. possible that this distinction may in some way be connected with the pecuUar manner in which he became one of that number. The same apostle who had been originally so bitter a per secutor of the Christians, was exposed, after his conversion, to a greater variety of afilictions in the gospel cause than any of the others. He not only had to endure a greater amount of persecution than any of the rest, from unbelievers, but was also pecuUarly harassed by vexatious opposition, and mortifications of every kind, from his Christian brethren. He was not only " in labors more abundant," — he not only endured a double portion of imprisonments, scourgings, stoning, perUs of every kind from the enemies of the gospel, — being specially hated by the Jews on account of his being the Apostle of the GentUes — the overthrower of the proud distinctions of Israel " after the flesh,'' — but he was also troubled by the perversity of his 60 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. own converts, — especially such of them as were corrupted by false teachers, — who endeavored to bring them into subjection to the Mosaic law, and labored to undervalue his claims as a true apostle, and to rival him in the estimation of his own churches. It is not unUkely that his Lord designed thus to place him foremost in the fight, — thus to assign to him, both the most hazardous, and also the most harassing and distressing offices in the Christian ministry, — on account of his having once been a blasphemer and persecutor : not as a punishment, or again that he might atone and make compensation for his former sin (which no man can do), but that he might have an opportunity of completely retracing his steps, and of feeling that he did so ; that he might display a zeal, and firmness, and patience, and perseverance above aU the rest, in the cause which he had once oppressed ; that, by having his own injurious treatment of Christians continually brought to his mind by what he him self endured, he might the more deeply and deliberately humble himself before God for it ; that he might find room to exercise, in his dealings with unbeUevers, aU that fuU knowledge of the perverse prejudices of the human mind, with which his own memory would furnish him, by refiecting on his own case ; and finally, that both he and the other apostles might feel that he was placed fully on a level with them, notwithstanding his for mer opposition to the cause, by enduring and accompUshing in it more than all the rest, by suffering more than he had ever inflicted, by forwarding the cause of truth more than he had ever hmdered it, and by bearing with him this pledge that GroA. had fully pardoned him, — the pledge of his being counted wor thy not only to suffer in his Master's cause, but to suffer more than any other, and with greater effect. He who had been accessory to the stoning of Stephen, himself alone of the apos tles, as far as we know, suff'ered stoning ; he who had been so DIFFICULTIES IN THE WRITINGS OF PAUL. 61 zealous in behalf of the law of Moses, was destined to encounter not only unbeUeving Jews, but those Christians also who labored to corrupt Christianity by mixing the law of Moses with it ; he who had been, as he expresses it, " exceedingly mad against the disciples, and persecuted them even unto strange cities," was himself driven from city to city by enemies whose fury knew no bounds, both of his own countrymen, and of the senseless rabble of idolaters who assailed him, Uke " wild beasts, at Ephesus." He who had misinterpreted the ancient prophecies respecting the Messiah, and despised his disciples, had to endure not only the contradiction and derision of unbe Uevers, but also the wilfulness and perversity of " false breth ren," who misrepresented and distorted the doctrines he himself taught ; and of arrogant rivals, who strove to bring him mto disrepute with those who had learned the faith from him.^ l*'Here, then, we have a man of liberal attainments, and in other -points of Bound judgment, who had addicted his life to the service of the gospel. We see him, in the prosecution of his purpose, travelling from country to country, en during every species of hardship, encountering every extremity of danger, — assaulted by the populace, punished by the magistrates, scourged, beat, stoned, left for dead ; expecting, wherever he came, a renewal of the same treatment and the same dangers, yet, when driven from one city, preaching in the next ; spending his whole time in the employment, sacrificing to it his pleasures, his ease, his safety ; persisting in this course to old age, unaltered by the experience of perverseness, ingratitude, prejudice, desertion; unsubdued by anxiety, want, labor, persecutions; unwearied by long conflnement, undismayed bythe pros pect of death. Such was St. Paul. We havo his letters in our hands; we have also a history purporting to be written by one of his fellow-travellers, and ap pearing, by a comparison with these letters, certainly to have been written by some person well acquainted with the transactions of his life." " We also flnd him positively, and in appropriated terms, asserting that he himself worked miracles, strictly and properly so called, in support ofthe mission which he exe cuted, —the history, meanwhile, recording various passages of his ministry which come up to the extent of this assertion. The question is, whether falsehood was ever attested by evidence like this. Falsehoods, we know, have found their way into reporte, into traditions, into books ; but is an example lo be met with of a man voluntarily undertaking a life of want and pain, of incessant fatigue, of continual peril; submitting to the loss of his home and his country, to stripes and stoning, to tedious imprisonment, and the constant expectation of a vio- 6 62 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. In aU these struggles he was " more than conqueror, through Christ that strengthened" him. Trusting that his Master would enable him to go through the work to which he had been appointed, and would turn even the malice and perver sity of men to " the furtherance of the gospel," he " rejoiced tliat Christ was preached," even when it was " through envy and strife" by those " who thought to add aflliction " to the apostle's bonds ; he exulted in that very bondage, because it was made the means of introducing him to the notice of some among the Eomans to whom he might not otherwise have gained access (Phih i. 12-18) ; and at PhiUppi, when crueUy scourged and imprisoned untried by the Eoman magis trates, he joyfully trusted that Christ would make even this a means of forwarding his cause, — which was done in the conse quent conversion of the jailer and his family ; the germ, prob ably, in conjunction with the household of Lydia, of the exemplary church of the Philippians.^ A Uke fate seems to attend the writings, also, which this blessed apostle and martyr left behind him. No part of the lent deatb, for the sake of carrying about a story of what was false, and of what, if false, he must have known to be so? " — Paley's Horse Paulinae, pp. 338, 339. 1 The whole narrative of this transaction is particularly affecting, from the strong relief in which the incidents are set by the quiet simplicity of the lan guage: " The magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jaUer to keep them safely ; who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God ; and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the founda tions of the prison were shaken ; and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison-doors open, he drew his sword and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been tied. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying. Do thyself no harm ; for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? " — Acts xvi. 22-30. DIFFICULTIES IN THE WRITINGS OF PAUL. 63 scriptures of the New Testament has been so unjustly neg lected by some Christians, and so much perverted by others ; over and above the especial hatred of them by infidels and by some description of heretics. Still may Paul be said to stand in his works, as he did in person while on earth, in front of the battle ; to bear the chief brunt of assailants from the enemy's side, and to be treacherously stabbed by false friends on his own ; degraded and vilified by one class of heretics, perverted and misinterpreted by another, and too often most unduly neg lected by those who are regarded as orthodox. And still do his works stand, and wUl ever stand, as a mighty bulwark of the true Christian faith. He, after having himself " fought the good fight, and finished his course," has left behind him a mon ument in his works whereby " he being dead yet speaketh," — a monument which his Master wUl guard (even till that day when its author shall receive the " crown of righteousness laid up for him ") from being overthrown by the assaults of ene mies, and from mouldering into decay through the negligence of friends. § n. In order to avoid being misunderstood as to the sense in which this apostle's writings have been Ambipiity ofthe spoken of as a principal bulwark of gospel truth, '"°"' oospei- and as to the censure passed on the comparative neglect they sometimes meet with, I must entreat the reader's attention to some considerations, which, though frequently overlooked in practice, are so obvious when once fairly presented to the mind, that I fear it may be thought trifling to dwell on them. Of aU the ambiguities of language that have ever confused men's thoughts, and thence led to pernicious results in practice (and unspeakable is the mischief which has thus been done), there are few, perhaps, that have ever produced more evil than the ambiguity of the word " Gospel." The word, as is 64 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. weU known, signifies, according to its etymology (as weU as the Greek term of which it is a translation), " good tidings ; " and thence is applied especiaUy to the joyful intelligence of salvation for fallen man through Christ. The same term has come to be applied, naturally enough, to each of the histories which give an account of the life of him, the Author of that salvation ; and thence men are frequently led to seek exclu sively, or principally, in those histories, for an account of the doctrines of the Christian religion : for where should they look, they may say, for " gospel truth," but in the " Gospels ? " And yet it is plain, on a moment's refiection, that whether they are right or wrong in such a practice, this reason for it is no more than a play upon words ; for no one really supposes that when the apostles went forth to preach the gospel, the meaning of that is that they recited the histories composed by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which were not written tiU long after ; or even that their teaching was confined to the mere narrative of the things there recorded. In the primary sense of the word Gospel, — the " good tid ings of great joy to all people,'' which were first I'uli instruction in the Christian proclaimed (prcachcd) by the heavenly messen- found in tlie four gcrs to the shcphcrds, and afterwards by Jesus rrX'""°ai^ostoi^e' and his disciples,— in this sense, the writings PaSf ' '""'°'°"'' of the evangelists do contain nearly the whole of the gospel, and, as has been just remarked, derived from this their title. Ours is an historical religion ; not only connected with, but founded on, certain recorded events, — the birth, life, death, and resurrection of the Saviour ; the pouring out of his Spirit on the disciples, etc. Strictly speaking, therefore, the gospel is the annunciation of what God has done for man. What man is to do on his part, — the means towards the end, — the Christian faith and practice by which he must attain to a share of the proffered blessings, — DIFFICULTIES IN THE WRITINGS OF PAUL. 65 these are properly gospel doctrine ; but, by a natural transition, have come to be frequently called, simply, the Gospel. It is not necessary, however, to be curious about words, any further than is necessary to secure us against being misled by them in respect of things. I am indifferent whether the apostolic epis tles are caUed a part of the gospel, or not, provided it be but admitted, and carefully kept in mind, that they are necessary to direct us how to attain the blessings of the gospel. An announcement of the existence, and of the miraculous eflicacy of a tree of life, would be of no benefit to those who were not instructed how to procure and partake of its fruit. But there is yet another and less obvious ambiguity in the same word. Our Lord, while on earth, was employed, together with his disciples, we are told, in preaching " the gospel of the kingdom; " that is, the good tidings that " the kingdom of heaven [as he himself expressed it] was at hand." And good tidings these certainly were, to the Jews and others who looked for the Messiah's promised kingdom (to whom alone he preached), that this kingdom was just about to be established. And since, therefore, Jesus is spoken of as preaching the gospel, many are hence led to look to his discourses alone, or principally, as the storehouse of divine truth, to the neglect ofthe other Sacred Writ ings. But the gospel which Jesus himself preached, was not the same thing with the gospel which he sent forth his apostles to preach after his resurrection. This may at the first glance appear a paradox; but on a moment's consideration it wiU seem rather a truism, that the preaching of Jesus and that of the apostles was not, and could not be, the same ; though they were, each, the gospel. I do not mean, of course, that they were two different systems, — much less, at variance with each other, — but the one was a part only, and the other a whole ; or rather, I should say, a greater part of that stupendous 6* 66 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. whole which is not to be entirely revealed to us here on earth, — the stupendous mystery of man's redemption. How, indeed, could our Lord, during his abode on the earth, preach fully that scheme of salvation of which the keystone had not been laid, even his meritorious sacrifice as an atone ment for sin, his resurrection from the dead, and ascension into glory, when these events had not taken place ? He did indeed darkly hint at these events in his discourses to his dis ciples (and to them alone), by way of prophecy; but we are told that " the saying was hid from them, and they compre hended it not, trU after that Christ was risen from the dead." Of course, therefore, there was no reason, and no room, for Him to enter into a fuU discussion of the doctrines dependent on those events. He left them to be enlightened in due time as to the true nature of His kingdom, by the gift which He kept in store for them : " I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shaU guide you into all [the] truth.'' There would have been no need of this promise, had our Lord's own discourses contained a fuU account of the Christian faith. But " the gospel of the kingdom " which He preached was, that the " kingdom of Heaven was at hand," — not that it was actually established ; which was the gospel preached by His apostles, when Christ, " having been made perfect through sufferings," had entered into his kingdom, had "ascended up on high, and led captive " the oppressor of men, and had " received gifts " to bestow on them. Our Lord's discourses, therefore, whUe on earth, though they teach, of course, the truth, do not teach, nor could have been meant to teach, the whole truth, as afterwards revealed to his disciples. They could not, indeed, even consistently with truth, have contained the main part of what the apostles preached ; because that was chiefly founded on events which had not then taken place. DIFFICULTIES IN" THE WEITINGS OF PAUL. 67 What chance, then, can they have of attaining true Christian knowledge, who shut their eyes to such obvious conclusions as these ? — who, under that idle plea, the misapplication of the maxim that "the disciple is not above his master," confine their attention entirely to the discourses of Christ recorded in the four Gospels, as containing all necessary truth ; and if anything in the other parts of the Sacred Writings is forced upon their attention, studiously explain it away, and limit its signification, at all hazards, so that it may not go one step beyond what is clearly revealed in the works of the evangelists ? — as if a man should, in the culture of a fruit tree, carefully destroy and reject, as a spurious excrescence, every part of the fruit which was not fuUy developed in the blossom that preceded it ! Even if Christ had in person pubUcly preached after his resurrection, as well as his apostles, this plea that " the disciple is not above his master " would not have excused the insult offered to him in the person of his messengers, — the insult, I mean, of making the authority he gave them go for just nothing at aU ; which it does, if they are to be believed, just as far as they coincide with what he himself uttered in per son, and no further ; since, thus far, any one of us is to be believed. For, the apostles, who were divinely commissioned by Christ himself, either were inspired by him with his Spirit, which " led them into all [the] truty, or they were not. If we say that they were not, we make him a liar for giving them this commission and this promise, as well as them for preach ing what they did ; if they were thus divinely authorized, it must follow, inevitably, that what they said (I mean in the 1 They were not inspired with a knowledge of all truth ; being in many things left to act on their own judgment, as they expressly tell us. But what they were inspired with was, as the Greek plainly intimates, " the knowledge of all the truth ; " namely, that truth which they were commissioned to make known, — the mysteries ofthe Christian religion, in wbich Paul declares expressly he was instructed by the Lord himself. 68 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. teaching of the Christian religion) was said by him, and has exactly the same authority as if he had uttered it with his own lips. Even an earthly king expects that a messenger, sent by him with satisfactory credentials and full powers, should receive the same credit for what he says as would be given to himself in person ; and would regard it as an unpardonable affront if the message so sent were rejected. " He that heareth you," said Christ to his apostles, " heareth me ; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me ; and he that depiseth me, despiseth Him that sent me." But, in truth, not only is the preaching of the apostles to be regarded as of divine authority, and therefore not requiring confirmation from our Lord's personal discourses, nor submit ting to limitation by them, but, from the very nature of the case, it is impossible that such a complete coincidence should exist between them. I have just above supposed the case of Jesus himself preaching publicly, after his resurrection, conjointly with his disciples ; but we know that he did not do this : he Bent them forth to testify of events, and to teach doctrines founded on events, which had not taken place during his per sonal ministry on earth. It is commonly supposed, indeed, by ignorant Christians (ignorant, I mean, of what they might learn from the Bible), that Jesus Christ came into the world to tea«h a true reUgion ; but in fact, he came, chiefly, for a different purpose. He did not come to malce a revelation, so much as to be the subject of a revelation. He was only so far the revealer and teacher of the great doctrines of Christianity, as you might call the sun and planets the discoverers of the Newtonian System of Astronomy. He accomplished what he left his apostles to testify and to explain, — he offered up him self on the cross, that they might teach the atoning virtue of his sacrifice ; he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, that they might declare the great mystery of his divine and human DIFFICULTIES IN THE WRITINGS OF PAUL. 69 nature, and preach that faith in him by which his followers hope to be raised and to reign with him. The Christian faith is not merely to believe what Christ taught, but to believe in him. As the promised Messiah, a man might believe in him while he was on earth ; but what the Messiah should be, and that he should be a Eedeemer by his death, no one did or could understand till that great work was accomplished. The true character of the redemption, and of the faith by which we must partake of it, and all the cir cumstances of the Messiah's spiritual kingdom (a kingdom which did not exist during his ministry on earth), his apostles themselves could not coUect, even after his departure, from all his former discourses, tUl they had received inspiration from on high to enable them to teach the true doctrines of the gospel. And when they did understand this gospel, they thought it necessary to give an explanation of it in their dis courses and in their epistles. Those, therefore, who neglect their inspired preaching, and wUl learn nothing of Christianity except what they find in the discourses of Jesus, — confident that these alone contain the whole truth, — are wUfuUy prefer ring an imperfect to a more complete revelation, and setting their own judgment above that of the apostles. It is frightful to think how much they stake on this their supposed superiority — what consequences of their bUnd presumption they may have to abide : " professing themselves to be wise, they become fools ; " and as they despise the teaching of the Holy Ghost, who led the apostles " into all truth," is it not to be feared that if they persist in this their rejection of Him, He wUl give them over to their own vain conceits ; and leave those who have tumed aside from the " Uving waters of the Spirit," to " hew out for themselves broken cisterns, that will hold no water ? " The books, then, which we call the four Gospels, do not, it 70 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. should always be remembered, contain a compendium of the Christian religion ; but, chiefly, memoirs of the life and pre paratory teaching of its Founder : who came into the world not to make a revelation, so much as to be the subject of a revel ation ; to announce the glad tidings (gospel) of salvation through Him, but not to give any full description of the means by which we are to embrace that salvation ; and who, at the close of His personal ministry, teUs His disciples, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now." Nor do the evangelists undertake the task of teaching the Christian faith ; since they wrote for the express use, not of unbelieving Jews and idolaters, but of Christians, who had heard the gospel doctrines preached, and then had been regu larly instructed (catechized, as the word is in the original) and examined, and, finally, baptized into the faith. Christianity was not, as many are apt to suppose, founded on the four Gospels, but, on the contrary, the four Gospels were founded on Christianity ; that is, they were written to meet the demand of Christians, who were naturally anxious for something of a regular account of the principal events from which their faith was derived. " Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth, in order, a declaration of those things which are most certainly believed among us it seemed good to me also to write unto thee, in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed." The book of the Acts of the Apostles, again, contains a history of the progress, but no detail of the teaching, of Chris tianity. Many of the discourses mentioned as having been delivered, are not themselves recorded, — the object and design of the work being, as in the case of the four Gospels, not to DIFFICULXrES IN THE WRITINGS OF PAUL. 71 teach Christianity to its readers, who were already Christians, but to give them a history of its propagation.^ Our chief source, therefore, of instruction as to the doctrines of the gospel, must be in the apostolic epistles ; which cannot, indeed, be expected to afford a regular, systematic introduction to Christianity, an orderly detail of the first rudiments of the faith, calculated for the instruction of beginners entirely igno rant of it, — since aU of them were written to those who were already converts to Christianity, — but yet, from the variety of the occasions on which they were composed, and of the per sons to whom they were addressed, and from their being purposely designed to convey admonition, instruction, and ex hortation as to Christian doctrine and practice (which is not the case with any other part of the Sacred Writings), the apos- toUc epistles do contain, though scattered irregularly here and there, according to the several occasions, all the great doctrines of the gospel, as far as it has yet been revealed to men — ex plained, enforced, repeated, iUustrated, in an infinite variety of forms of expression : thus furnishing us with the means, by a careful study of those precious remains, and by a diUgent comparison of one passage with another, of attaining sufficient knowledge of all necessary truth, and of becoming " wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus." ^ The most precious part of this treasure we have from the pen of the Apostle Paul, — he being the author of the far greater part of the epistles (about five sixths of the whole), and also furnishing even a greater variety stiU of instruction than in proportion to this amount, on account of the variety of the 1 See Hinds's History of the Rise and Early Progress of Christianity. Part U. chap. 2. 2 To the Scriptures, therefore, was assigned the oflBce of proving; but to the church, that of systematically teaching, the Christian doctrines. (See Dr. Haw kins's excellent little work on Tradition.) This circumstance seems to me to afford a powerful evidence of Christianity. See Essay VI. (First Series.) 72 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. times and circumstances and occasions which produced them, and of the persons to whom they were written, — individuals and entire churches ; Jews and Gentiles ; converts of his own making, and strangers to his person ; European or Asiatic ; sound and zealous Christians, and the negligent and misguided. The same faith is taught to all — the same duties enforced on all ; but various points of faith and of practice are dwelt on in each, according to the several occasions. This very thing, however, — the variety of the circumstances, the temporary and local allusions, and, in short, the thorough, earnest, business- Uke style of his letters, — cannot but increase the difficulty, in some places, of ascertaining the writer's meaning ; and those who are too indolent to give themselves any trouble on the subject, shelter themselves under the remark of the Apostle Peter, that the epistles of Paul contain " things hard to be un derstood, which they that are unlearned wrest to their own destruction,'' — unlearned, that is, not in systems of human philosophy, but in the truths revealed in the Bible. No doubt his writings do contain " things hard to be understood ; " but that is a reason why Christians should take the more pains to understand them, and why those who are commissioned by the chief Shepherd for that purpose, should the more dUigently explain them to their flocks. Nay, but his doctrines, it seems, are not only diff,cult, but dangerous also ; and, therefore, had better be kept out of sight, lest the unlearned should not only fail to understand them, but should " wrest them to their own destruction." Then let us throw aside the whole Bible at once, and invent a safe religion of our own. For hear but Peter's words : " Which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, to their own destruction." So that, if this inference is to be drawn at all, from the danger to the unlearned of wresting doctrines to their own destruction, — if, to avoid the DIFFICULTIES IN THE WEITINGS OF ST. PAUL. 73 danger of misinterpretation, we are to seal up the book which contains them, the book so sealed up must be the Bible. Dangerous indeed ! Yes, most good things are dangerous (and the more in proportion to their excellence) - , nanger of mis- to those " who are unlearned and unstable ; " that interpretation not is, who wiU not learn how to use them aright, and tL study Tf Paui^ who are unstable, — unsteady in givmg their at- ''"°"°°' tention to gain right knowledge, and to apply it in practice. Meat and drink are dangerous; for what multitudes fall a sacrifice to intemperance ! Shall we, then, resolve to perish with famine, and let our children starve around us, lest we and they should thus wrest to our destruction the good gifts of God ? — shall the pastors, who are commissioned to feed Christ's flock, shut them out from the principal pasture designed for their use, lest they should stray beyond its bounds, or come to some harm there ? WTiat are Christian ministers appointed for, but to instruct the people in the Scriptures, — to explain to them those Scriptures, — and to warn them against the errors arising from the wresting and perverting of God's Word ? El would they perform their office should they dare to mutilate God's Word by leaving out everything that is "hard to be understood," to save themselves the trouble of interpreting it, — should they seek to preserve their hearers from the danger attendant on the gospel truths, by omitting to " declare to them dU the counsel of God." And, after all, no such security as is sought can ever be found. Where there is true coin, there wiU always be coun terfeit in circulation : there is no truth in the world that has not some error very much resembling it ; there is no virtue but there is a corresponding vice that apes its appearance ; there is no right principle, in Scripture or anywhere else, that may not by the unlearned be " wrested to their own destruc tion." Some will do this with the truths of Scripture, in spite 7 74 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. of all our care ; but there is this difference, — that he who studies and leads others to study the whole word of God, as his inspired servants have left it, has at least good reason to hope that he and they may, through God's Spirit, attain truth without error ; whereas he who confines himself to a part of the Scriptures, and that, too, a part which (it is plain from what has been just said) cannot contain the whole truth of the gos pel, and he who wilfully disregards the teaching of Him whose " gospel was not after man, neither received of man, nor taught, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ," — such an one is sure to be wrong, and to lead others wrong if they are guided by him ; and he is fully answerable, both for his own errors and for theirs : he makes the experiment at his own peril; and on his own head must be the inevitable consequence of rejecting an acknowledged revelation of Jesus Christ.^ And he must also bear the blame even of the errors into which others may lead his hearers. If they chance to listen to some wild Antinomian fanatic, who cites perpetuaUy texts from Paul which they have never heard differently explained, how can it be expected that they should perceive and avoid the error ? They know that Paul's writings are admitted as can onical and inspired ; and they have not been taught that his language will bear any other interpretation than what they hear given ; and the silence of their own pastor on the subject wiU have afforded them a presumption that he can suggest no other interpretation. And thus the wolf wiU scatter and de vour the flock which their shepherd has forsaken. 1 Lest I should seem to have heen combating a shadow, it may be as well to mention that the Discourse of which this Essay continues the substance, was called forth by the advice given, at that time, to divinity students, by persons high in office at Oxford, to abstain from the study of Paul's Epistles till they should have thoroughly mastered such and such hooks, — a list whioh would occupy at least ten years of hard study. But they were to be allowed to take Holy Orders in the mean time, and to aot as instructors of whole congregations ! DIFFICULTIES IN THE WRITINGS OF PAUL. 75 It ifi not, however, on the dangers to be apprehended from such a procedure, and the expediency of an opposite course, that I wish principally to dwell. I would rather advert to the principles laid down in the preceding Essay. Supposing we were in any case quite sure^ that no fanatical sectaries would arise to take advantage of our omission or neglect of this apos tle's writings; — should we then be justified in thus guarding against apprehended evils by keeping out of sight the instruc tions he was commissioned by his Master to deUver ? — in taking such Uberties with the gospel as to modify and fashion it accortUng to our views, and virtually to expunge from the record of God's revelations what we chance to think unneces sary ? Have we a right, in short, even to entertain the question concerning expediency, instead of considering simply what is the truth as declared by divine inspiration, and resolv ing, at aU events, to foUow the truth ? § in. It is necessary to observe, however, that there is a way of evading the force of aU that has been hitherto ° _ _ study of Paul's urged, — a plan which certainly may be, and writings not to be . . deferred till a mass I fear in some mstances has been, resorted to, of theological leam- for nuUifying in effect, without professing to quired from other oppose, every argument that has been adduced. '°"™'- -And it is this : to extol Paul's writings, and exhort men to the diligent study of them ; urging at the same time (what no one can deny) the importance of interpreting them rightly ; and insisting on a preliminary course of study, without which no one is even to enter on the perusal of them ; and then to make this preparation consist in a thorough acquaintance with such a Ust of books as even those professionally devoted to theolog ical pursuits cannot be expected to master without the assiduous 1 This is the remark, almost verbatim, of the late Bishop Copleston, in a con versation with the author, on the subject of the present Essay. 76 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. labor of several years.^ No plan could be devised more effec tual (were it generally adopted) for making Paul's epistles a sealed book to all but about one in ten thousand of the Chris tian world. For supposing even aU the clergy, nay, even aU candidates for ordination, to have gone through this preparatory course of study, the same could not be expected of the laity, except a small portion of the educated classes. And the ben efits, whatever they might be, of this preparation, would, after all, be confined to those few who had gone through it. They, indeed, if they were careful not even to open these epistles tiU their minds were sufficiently biassed by a great mass of human commentaries and disquisitions, would doubtless be prepared to understand them very differently from what they would have done on another system, — whether better or worse is not now the question, — but they would not, after aU, be qualified to expound this writer to their flocks, nor authorized to recom mend the perusal of him ; for these would be, by the hypothesis, unfit to enter on the study of his epistles, or to comprehend any exposition of them. And if the principle were consistently foUowed up, it would soon be remarked that the mass of unlearned Christians are not duly prepared for the thorough comprehension even of the rest of Scripture ; so that we should speedily arrive at the very point so earnestly contended for against the Eeformers ; namely, the inexpediency of putting the Bible into the hands of the people, and the necessity of leaving them to be instructed by their pastors in whatever things these should judge most profitable for them, and level to their capac ities. If these principles be correct, then it is false to say that the 1 1 was once urged to pledge myself not to examine candidates for Deacon's Orders in the original of the apostolic epistles. I inquired, in reply, whether deacons were to be allowed to expound those epistles to the congregations, in their preaching. DIFFICULTIES IN THE WRITINGS OF PAUL. 77 Christian religion was designed, or at least is adapted, to be that of the mass of mankind. Some, who say that it is so, — whUe they ridicule the idea of instructing the lower orders in the evidences and in the peculiar doctrines of the gospel, — mean no more than this : that it is possible for a clown io prac tise honesty, temperance, and other virtues which Christianity inculcates. But it would be thought strange to attribute an acquaintance with mechanics to savages and to brutes, on the groimd that they employ the lever, keep the centre of grav ity in the right situation, and accommodate their movements to mechanical principles, of which principles they know nothing. If Christianity were designed for the people, it must have been designed that their motives should be Christian faith and Christian hope, and that they should be able " to give a reason of the hope that is in them." Am I then contending, or did the Eeformers mean to con tend, that either Paul's epistles or the rest of the Scriptures can be as weU understood by a clown or a child as by the most learned theologian ? Surely not. The highest abUities, improved by the most laborious study, are not more than suffi cient for the fuU comprehension ofthe sacred books ; but, if on this ground they are not to be opened by any who are not so quaUfied, who wUl ever become thus qualified ? If a number of books be pointed out, without a knowledge of which the apostolic epistles cannot be fully understood, it may probably be added, with equal truth, that these books cannot be rightly understood without a knowledge of those epistles. If we are to begin at aU, we must begin somewhere ; and we must, of course, begin in imperfection. Else, it might be said, that, since veteran soldiers are alone well fitted to perform their part, therefore none but veterans should be brought into the field. The obvious and honest way of proceeding is, not to postpone altogether the study of any part of Scripture tUl we 7* 78 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. are qualified for the fuU comprehension of it (which, on such a plan, we never should be, since our minds would be preoccupied with human expositions), but to study both the Scriptures, and the best helps towards their explanation we can obtain, simultaneously ; at the same time carefuUy guarding ourselves against arrogantly supposing that we do perfectly understand anything at the first glance. It is to this arrogant disposition that the Scriptures are dangerous. " A Uttle learn ing " is the utmost that the generaUty can attain : it is what aU must attain before they can arrive at great learning : it is the utmost acquisition of those who know the most, in comparison of what they do noi know. " A little learning " is, then, only (and then always) " a dangerous thing " when we overrate it, and are not aware of its littleness. On the sources of some of the principal errors which have sprung from the misinterpretation of this apostle's writings, and the means of guarding even ordinary Christians against them, I propose to offer some more particular remarks in some of the following Essays. For aU that has been here urged, I should be glad to think that there is Uttle occasion. To offer proofs of the existence of the error in question, such proofs as might be offered, is what could not be done with propriety. Some of my readers may, perhaps, regard me as combating a shadow, from having themselves never met with that depreciation of Paul's epistles which I have been deprecating. I have only to hope they never may. But I fear that on inquiry they wiU find it but too prevalent, — that they wUl even meet with some who have gone the length of proposing that no part of the Scriptures should be printed for circulation among the mass of the people ^except the four Gospels, on the ground that they contain all things needful, and that " the things hard to be understood " in the epistles would serve only to perplex and mislead them. DIFFICULTIES IN THE WRITINGS OF PAUL. 79 A man who gives utterance to such an opinion, we may be sure, entertains it ; but how can we be sure that aU those who do not give it utterance are strangers to it ? § rv. There is good reason, however, to beUeve that the chief objection to Paul's writings is not from the Paul'fl writinga things hard to be understood which they con- dreaded chiefly 11. from the unaccept- tam, but from the things easy to be understood, awenessof someof the doctrines so plainly taught by him, — " that by grace we are saved," " that the wages of sin is death," " but eternal Ufe is the gift of God through Jesus Christ," that our most perfect righteousness can never entitle us to claim reward at the hands of God, nor our own unaided strength enable us to practise that righteousness ; but that the meritorious sacri fice of Christ is the only foundation of the Christian's hope, and the aid of his Spirit the only support of the Christian's vir tue. These are doctrines humbling to the pride of the human heart, and unacceptable to the natural man ; and therefore they are rejected by many, as leading to immoral Ufe, and as favor ing the notion that we may " continue in sin that grace may abound ; " though the moral precepts of this very apostle in every page, and his enforcement of a conformity to them as intUspensable to the Christian's acceptance with God, fly in the face of every one who dares thus to wrest these Scriptures to his own destruction. But the dislike shown to the apostle's writings by those who on these grounds decry him, is a proof, if he was The vehemence inspired, and they uninspired, not that he is with which his , works have been wrong, but that they are.' If the gospel is against decried, a proof of a man, he will be against the gospel. Ajid the more any work is depreciated by those who are resolved to believe only just what they please, the higher ought its value 1 See Gal. i. 11, 12, and 2 Cor. xii. 7-12. 80 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. to rise in the estimation of those who are wiUing to " obey the truth." Now there is no one of the sacred writers whose expressions have been so tortured, whose authority has been so much set at nought, as Paul's, by those who reject many of the most characteristic doctrines of the gospel ; which is a plain proof that they find him a formidable opponent,^ and which should lead those who prize the purity of the gospel to value his writings the more. I am far from insinuating that the great truths of Christianity, — the doctrines of the divinity of our blessed Lord, of his atoning sacrifice, and of salvation through him, — rest on this apostle's authority alone ; but a pre sumption is afforded, by the very hostility shown towards him by the opponents of those doctrines, that he is particularly full and clear in enforcing them, and that he adds great confirma tion to the testimony in their favor of the other sacred writers. It is perhaps to be wished, accordingly, that those who, with out professing to reject Christianity, have avowedly labored to disparage this apostle, and to represent him as at variance with his Master, had written with more abUity, and had attracted more notice, in order that they might have directed men's attention more strongly, not only to Paul's claims to a divine commission, but also to his importance as a bulwark of the Christian faith.^ And I wish also that some of them had set forth more strongly the aUeged discrepancy between Paul's doctrines and those of the discourses of Jesus. This cer tainly might have been done ; since, as was above remarked, though there is nothing contrary in the one to the other, there is much that is different, as the nature of the case required, I The Mahometans, who acknowledge the authority of the four Gospels (though they pretend the Christians have interpolated them), hold the name of Paul in detestation. 2 At the time when this was written, a work had recently appeared, entitled, " Not Paul but Jesus," which attracted some little attention, but was soon forgotten. DIFFICULTIES IN THE WEITINGS OF PAUL. 81 — the same doctrines which were but obscurely hinted at by the one, being fully developed (the fit time being come), and earnestly dwelt on, by the other. The doctrines which Jesus preached were suited to the period when the king dom of heaven was only at hand, and were preparatory to the fuUer manifestation of gospel truth which he revealed to the Apostle Paul, when his kingdom was established. The attention which a powerful opponent would thus have called to a most important subject, too often neglected by the advocates of our faith, and the light which would in conse quence have been thrown on the subject, would have been no smaU benefit to the cause of truth. Opposition excites discus sion ; and discussion leads to inquiries which may end in not only bringing truth to light, but impressing it forcibly on minds which had been sunk in heedless apathy. Next, after an able and fuU and interesting vindication and explanation of Paul's writings, the sort of work whose appearance ought most to be hailed, is a plausible attack on them ; which, indeed, is the most likely to caU forth the other. His labors can never be effectually frustrated, except by being kept out of sight. What ever brings him into notice will, ultimately, bring him into triumph. All the malignity and the sophistry of his adversa ries will not only assail him in vain, but will lead, in the end, to the perfecting of his glory and the extension of his gospel. They may scourge him uncondemned, like the Eoman magis trates of PhUippi, — they may inflict on him the lashes of calum nious censure, — but they cannot silence him. They may thrust him as it were into a dungeon, and fetter him with their strained interpretations ; but his voice will be raised even at the mid night of unchristian darkness, and will be heard effectually. His prison-doors will burst open as with an earthquake, and the fetters wiU fall from his hands ; and even strangers to gospel truth wUl faU down at the feet of him, even Paul, 82 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. to make that momentous inquiry, "What shall I do to be saved?" May God " grant [as the prayer of our church expresses it] that, as the Ught of the gospel has been caused to shine through the preaching of that blessed apostle, we, having his wonderful conversion in remembrance, may show forth our thankfulness for the same, by foUowing the holy doctrines which he taught, through Jesus Christ our Lord." ESSAY III. ON ELECTION. We leam from the most undeniable authority, that the writ ings of the blessed Apostle Paul contain some impoxtonceofex- « thmgs hard to be understood which they that pMn^eftose parts *^ -'of Scripture espe- are unlearned and unstable wrest, as weU as the '='''"y' *""" ''''¦"'^ daugerons conse- other Scriptures, to their own destruction." Now quences have been ... n . drawn. as it IS evidently of the highest importance to guard against such a danger, so it is not less evident (as has been formerly remarked) that this is not to be done by keep ing in the background these epistles, and withdrawing, or encouraging Christians to withhold, attention from them ; not only because it is neither wise nor pious to neglect the instruc tions of one who " received not his doctrine from men, but by inspiration of Jesus Christ, " but also because the very errors in question wrU be the more easily propagated by such as appeal to him in support of them, in proportion as they are allowed to make this appeal uncontradicted, — if, whUe we admit the divine authority of these works, we leave them chiefly in the hands of extravagant fanatics, to put their own interpretation on passages of which their hearers shaU have been taught no better explanation. The Christian instruction, in short, to be derived from a right interpretation of this apostle's works, and the mischief resulting from a misinterpretation of them, furnish, each, a most powerful reason for the attentive study of them. 84 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. I propose, accordingly, to suggest some principles which should be kept in mind by one who would rightly understand this portion of Scripture, — principles, the neglect of which has given occasion to most of the errors into which " the unlearned and unstable " have fallen. § I. It is evident that, in order to understand any author thoroughly, it is highly desirable, if not indis- derstand the Apos- pensable, to be acquainted, in some degree, with IhouM be^acquain- ^^ character, the circumstances in which he was ted with his char- placed, and his habitual modes of thought thence acter and situation, and with that of his rcsulting. Nor wiU this be sufficient, unless we hearers. have something of the same knowledge respect ing the persons to whom he wrote. And the more remote any work is, in point of time or of place, from ourselves, the more diUgent attention wiU be required in the reader, not only to ascertain these circumstances, but to keep them steadily and constantly in view. Many things have an ohviov,s reference to particular persons, times, and places, and cannot be at aU understood without taking these into consideration. When Moses, for instance, or the other sacred writers, speak of places " beyond Jordan," or " on this side of Jordan," every one per ceives the necessity of considering the local situation of the author ; but many other circumstances, not at aU less essential to the right understanding of what is said, are apt to escape the notice of one whose attention is not steatUly directed to the appUcation of the principle laid down. Now no one is ignorant that Paul was not only a Jew, but one strictly educated in the principles of the most learned and most rigid sect among the Jews ; but this circumstance is not always practically kept in mind so much as it ought to be. No one who reads his works ought to lose sight of it for a moment, but constantly to bear in mind what habits of thought ON ELECTION. 85 and modes of expression would be natural to a Jew, and to a Jew of that description. Inspired, indeed, he was, with the knowledge of the gospel ; Jewish errors and prejudices were corrected in him by the Spirit of truth ; but we have no reason to suppose that this inspiration would go any further than was requisite to qualify him for his ministry, — that anything besides errors and preju dices would be altered. If any one should imagine that, because one and the same Spirit taught one and the same gospel to all its appointed min isters, therefore every distinction between them was done away, aU traces of individual character necessarily swallowed up in one common revelation, an attentive study of the sacred writers wiU soon convince him of his mistake. Even of the apostles, who were all of them Jews, no two write precisely alike : the variations of individual character are perceptible, even when in national character they all agree.' The Apostle Paul's writings, then, must be studied as those of a man not only acquainted with the Scriptures of the Old Testament, but familiar with them from childhood ; full of an early-implanted and habitual reverence for them ; and disposed to refer to them for argument and for illustration on every possible occasion. He was likely, in short, to write as a learned and zealous Jew, in every point except those in which the teaching of the Spirit led him to correct his former notions. And this divine monitor, it should be recollected, was so far from instructing Christian ministers to keep the Old Testa ment out of sight, that there is no point more strenuously and uniformly insisted on than the connection of the Old and New dispensations. Christianity is invariably represented, not as a new religion, but as the completion of a scheme long before 1 On this point I have treated more at large in the Bampton Lectures. Lect. iv. pp. 124-128. 8 86 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. begun ; it was plainly meant to be engrafted, not on natural religion, but on Judaism. If this circumstance had been duly attended to, many of the heresies which have corrupted our religion would have been avoided. But what were the character and situation of this apostle's hearers ? He was, indeed, more especially the Apostle of the Gentiles ; but he appears, wherever he went, to have addressed himself first to his own countrymen, — his natural feelings of warm attachment and partiaUty towards them being not at aU forbidden by his heavenly Guide, who, on the contrary, designed that the Jews should have this precedence. The promises and threats of the gospel were to be declared " to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." " It was necessary," says he, " that the word of God should first have been spoken to you ; but seeing ye put it from you, lo ! we tum to the Gentiles.'' It is prob able, indeed, that the number of Paul's converts among his own brethren was, in most places, but a small proportion ; though in some of the churches it appears, from several circumstances, that their amount was not inconsiderable ; and in every church it is probable that Jews and " devout Greeks " (that is, such as had before renounced idolatry, and acknowledged the divine origin of the Jewish religion) were to be found among the members, and among the earliest members. In those places, however, in which the great majority of the Christian brethren were converted Gentiles, it might have been supposed that the Old Testament would have been but Uttle studied or thought of. So far, however, was this from being the case ; so far was Paul from allowing the Jewish Scriptures — those Holy Scriptures which he represents as " able to make us wise unto salvation" — to be depreciated, or the Christian revelation to be regarded as any other than a completion of the Mosaic, that he seems to have expected, in aU his converts, an intimate acquaintance with the Old Testament ; and to have ON ELECTION. 87 earnestly, and not unsuccessfuUy, inculcated the necessity of interpreting the one scheme by the other, as two parts of the same great whole, and of considering " whatsoever things were written aforetime " as " written for their learning." On the Corinthian church,. for instance, he impresses this principle as of high importance ; and though but a small proportion of them probably were Jews, he evidently implies that they were not on that account the less interested in aU the concerns of the Jewish church, whose successor was the Christian : " For* I would not have you ignorant," says he, "how that aU our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea ; and were aU baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. But with many of them God was not well pleased ; for they were overthrown in the wilderness." And after touching on several points in the history of the church of Israel, he assures the Corinthians that " these things happened unto them for ensamples ; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come ; " that is, who live under the last dispensation of God ; which is not, Uke the Mosaic, to be succeeded by any other, but wiU last to the end of the world. The passage just mentioned is only one out of many in which the apostle adverts to the Scriptures of the Old his continual Testament as of high importance to be studied MoTa'ir''dispenaa- by Christians. And the frequent allusions he «""; which w„s the •' ^ shadow of the gos- makes to them as famiUar to his hearers, and of i"'- acknowledged value in their eyes, convey his judgment on the subject far more strongly than so many direct admonitions : they incUcate what was the early, the habitual, and the univer sal mode of instruction employed by himself and all the Chris tian teachers. No Christian, therefore, who would copy the 1 1 have here followed the reading of the best MSS., which greatly clears the sense. 88 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. pattern of this divine Teacher, wiU leave the Old Testament out of sight ; but will leam from him that the former dispen sation must be carefuUy attended to by one who would rightly understand the gospel. -And attention to the same pattern may also serve to guard us against another error, in some respects the opposite of that just aUuded to, — the confounding together of the two systems in one confused medley, and blending the law, which had " a shadow of good things to come," with the gospel, which is the fulfilment of it ; an error not uncommon with those who un thinkingly study the Bible as one book, without taking pains to discriminate the several parts of the great scheme of Prov idence it relates to. The two dispensations correspond in almost every point, but coincide in very few. Like the flower and fruit of any plant, the one is a preparation for the other ; and each of its parts bears some relation to the other, though they have but a faint resemblance, — the parts which are the most prominent and striking in each, respectively, being least so in the other ; so that if any one were to give a representa tion in which the parts of the blossom and of the perfect fruit were confusedly combined and intermingled, it would be an unnatural anomaly, very unlike either the one or the other. The example of the apostle's teaching furnishes, as I have said, a safeguard against this error: he aU along represents the law as connected with the gospel, as the shadow with the substance, as " our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ ; " and the condition of the Israelites as analogous to that of Chris tians, but in many points dissimilar. In several instances, indeed, this correspondence and this difference are pretty generally perceived and acknowledged. That the paschal lamb, for instance, and the other Jewish sac rifices, were typical of the atoning sacrifice of the true Lamb of God, — the sin-offerings and other outward rites of purifica- ON ELECTION. 89 tion having the same relation to ceremonial offences, and exter nal legal justification from them, that the offering of our Lord has to the wiping away of moral guilt, and the inward sanc- tification of the heart, — this is a point on which few professed Christians are ignorant or doubtful ; the correspondence, and, at the same time, dissimilarity, having been explicitly stated, in the Epistle to the Hebrews : " If the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the Eternal Spirit, of fered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the Uving God ? " That the prom ised land of Canaan, again, — the place of rest to which Jesus (Joshua) conducted the Israelites, — is a type of the heavenly rest to which our Jesus is ready to lead his foUowers, is under stood and admitted by most Christians. That the sanction of extraordinary temporal blessings and judgments, both national and individual, under which the Jews lived, is withdrawn, and succeeded by " the bringing in of a better hope " than that of the law, is a truth not so well understood by many Christians. There is a leaning in the minds of not a few to an expectation of that inevitable vengeance in this world on the wicked which was denounced under the Mosaic law ; and of that temporal prosperity, as the reward of obedience, which forms no part of the promises of a reUgion whose Founder was crucified, and whose apostles were, " if in this life only they had hope of Christ, of all men most miserable.'' The better-instructed part, however, of the Christian world, perceive the distinction in this point between the Old and New dispensations ; and understand that the promises and threats of the one are applicable, figuratively only, to the other, — the rewards and punishments of a future Ufe being substituted for those of the present. 8* 90 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. There are many other points, however, which are frequently overlooked, in which the correspondence between the two sys tems is such as to make the former a most useful interpreter of the latter. And when we consider what a familiar acquaintance with the law, and with the history of the Jews, Paul had him self, and expected in his hearers, we cannot doubt that this interpreter must be perpetually consulted, if we would rightly understand his epistles. § II. One only of the cases to which this principle may be Disputes relative applied wiU be uoticcd in the present Essay. A to Election. qucstiou, which is one of the most momentous ever agitated among Christians, may be, I think, completely set at rest by such a mode of consulting the Old Testament as has been recommended. The question I allude to, is that relat ing to such as are called by this apostle, and by the rest, the " elect " or " chosen people " of God, " called out of the world [to be] saints," * and inheritors of eternal life, by God's favor, or grace through Christ. It is known that differences of no trifling moment exist among Christians in their opinions on this subject. Some maintain, as is well known, that there are among the members of Christ's visible church two classes of per sons, the elect and the non-elect, who are both fixed upon arbi trarily by God's eternal, immutable, unconditional decree ; that those who are the elect, the " called [to be] saints," are regenerate, and made sons of God by his Spirit, — are justi fied in his sight through the merits of Christ, — are sanctified and led in the paths of Christian holiness by the influence of divine grace, and are infallibly conducted to eternal happiness in heaven ; and that others, on the contrary, that is, all others, though baptized into the faith, and though they have heard the 1 The words enclosed in brackets have nothing corresponding to them in the original. See Sermon on Christian Saints. ON ELECTION. 91 offers of the gospel, are nevertheless non-elect, or " reprobate," passed by, and rejected by God ; and consequently are no less certainly doomed to everlasting perdition.* This account of the gospel scheme is utterly displeasing to others, who maintain that the election in question is not arbi trary, but has respect to men's foreseen faith and obedience;^ that is, that God decrees to elect such as he foresees will be obedient to his commands, and passes by those whose disobe dience he foresees. No candid and well-informed student of Scripture can, I think, deny that arguments in support of each of these opposite doctrines have been alleged which have at least some degree of plausibility at first sight.' 1 See Note A, at the end of this Essay. 2 " Elect, according to the foreknowledge of God," is an expression some times appealed to in support of this view, but (as will plainly appear to any one who studies the context) not correctly. The apostle's design in employing it will be found, on attentive inquiry, to be this : It was a stumbling-block to the Jews, even to those who acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, that the Gentiles should be admitted to equal privileges with themselves. The Israelites, they pleaded, had been declared to be God's peculiar and highly-favored people : was it to be sup posed that he would alter his plans? No, said the apostle, there is no change in his plans; but he all along designed (and he cites the prophets to prove his assertion) to admit, at a future time, such of the Gentiles as would hear his call into the number of his people. This, indeed, was formerly a secret not under stood by our forefathers, and now for the flrst time " made manifest ^^ to men; but the design always existed "that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs;" the mystery (that is, the doctrine flrst hidden, and afterwards revealed, which is the usual sense ofthe word mystery) of their election, was, of course, always Icnown to God himself, though but lately revealed to ns. They are " elect according to ihe foreknowledge of God." 3 So widely spread apart are these two schemes of interpretation, that I have known a reviewer, very recently, allude to a certain author as " an Arminian, " though he had written his dissent from the Arminian theory, and his rea sons for it. The reviewer, on having this blunder pointed out, apologized by saying that he had merely concluded him to be Arminian because he was not Calvinist; and he had supposed that every one must be either the one or the other! It is remarkable that, by a converse error, the very same author had been, some years before, denounced as Calvinistic, on the ground that he was not Arminian ! 92 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. In support of the latter system, are urged the declarations in Scripture that " Christ died for all," that " he- willeth aU men to be saved," etc., as well as the general tenor of the gos pel offers of salvation, which seem to leave all that heard them at full liberty to accept or reject them. On the other side, the expressions of Paul especially are urged, where he speaks of men as " clay in the hands of the potter," who has power to make, " of the same lump, vessels to honor and to dishonor," ^ and who speaks of the call to salvation as originating entirely in the free bounty of God, without reference to good works of ours either previous or subsequent. God hath chosen us, says Calvin, — " non quia eramus, sed ut essemus sancti," — not because we were, nor because he foresaw that we should be, but (according to Paul) in order that we might be holy in aU good works. It would be tedious and unnecessary to cite all the texts that have been appealed to by both parties on this question, and the arguments grounded on them. Suffice it to observe, that they are generally opposed by oilier arguments and other texts ; and that each party has generaUy succeeded better in this, than in refuting and explaining those adduced by their opponents. In particular, the explanations given by the oppo nents of the Cavanistic scheme, of the passages urged in favor of it, appear to some even of themselves (I will not say unsat isfactory, but) so far incapable of being satisfactorily laid before the mass of ordinary Christians, that they are often disposed to apprehend danger from the study of Paul's epistles, and rather to draw the attention of their flocks to other parts of Scripture in preference. I cannot but think that an attentive examination of the Old Testament will go far towards furnishing a key to the true meaning of Paul's and the other apostolic epistles ; and wiU 1 For a remark on this passage, see § UT. of this Essay. ON ELECTION. 93 furnish an answer not only satisfactory, but capable of being made clear to the unlearned, of the three great questions on which the whole discussion turns ; namely, flrst. Whether the di vine election, as spoken of in Scripture, is there represented as AEBITEAET, or as having respect to men's foreseen conduct ? sec ondly, Who are to be regarded as the elect ? and, thirdly. In WHAT does that election consist ? In treating of these questions, it should be premised that I design, in the first instance, to look exclusively to the testimony of Scripture — waiving wholly, at present, the abstract questions respecting fate and free-will, which belong more properly to the province of natural religion or of metaphysics ; and also, that my examination of Scripture will be confined to the light thrown generally on the gospel scheme by the Books of Moses. The Christian church being confessedly the successor of the Jewish, and the Christian dispensation of the Mosaic, nothing can be more reasonable than to aid our judgment respecting the one by contemplating the other. § IIL Now, with respect to the first question before us. Were the IsraeUtes, who were evidentlv God's called, „ .. ^ J , Questions wheth- elect, or chosen, holy, and peculiar people, — ¦"¦¦ ""d"' "'« fir mer dispensation, were they, I say, thus chosen, arbitrarily, or election was arw- not ? This question seems to admit of a speedy and complete decision. Moses clearly and repeatedly states that this selection of them was arbitrary. He often reminds them that they were not thus singled out from the midst of other nations for their own righteousness, since they were " a stiff'-necked people," but of God's free goodness, "who will have mercy on whom he wUl have mercy, and will be gracious to whom he will be gracious ; " and " because he had a favor unto them." And with respect to their fathers, though Abraham indeed was tried and found faithful and obedient, there was 94 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. certainly an arbitrary choice made of Jacob in preference to his elder brother Esau ; which, indeed, is one of the cases referred to by the apostle, who remarks, that, " while the children were yet in the womb, and had done neither good nor evil," it was declared by the oracle of God that "the elder should serve the younger." Nor, again, it should be observed, could that selection of the children of Jacob have been decreed with reference to their foreseen faith and obedience ; since we know how eminently deficient they were in those qual ifications, — stubborn and rebellious, continually faUing into idolatry and other sins, — forgetting what great things God had wrought for them, and undervaluing their high privilege. It would, indeed, be most presumptuous to pronounce that God had no reasons for his selection of the Israelites. Doubt less he had good reasons for it ; but these are not made Icnown to us. As far as our knowledge extends, the choice was arbi trary. The divine election, then, under the old dispensation, was, it is manifest, entirelv arbitrary; but, in the second Wlio were elected. ' •' J ' ' place, who were the objects of it ? Evidently, the whole nation, without any exception. They were all brought out of Egypt by a mighty hand, and miraculously de livered from their enemies, and received the divine command ments through Moses, who uniformly addressed them — not some, but all — as God's chosen, holy, and peculiar people. But, lastly, what was the nature of this election of the Israel- To what the elect it^s ? to whot wcrc they thus chosen by their were chosen. Almighty Eulcr ? Were they elected absolutely and infallibly to enter the promised land, and to triumph over their enemies, and to Uve in security, wealth, and enjoyment ? Manifestly not. They were elected to the privilege of having these blessings placed within their reach, on the condition of their obeying the law wluch God had given them ; but those ON ELECTION. 95 who refused this obedience were not only excluded from the promised blessings, but were the objects of God's especial judg ments far beyond those inflicted on the heathen nations, who had not been so highly favored, whose idolatry and wickedness was, generally speaking, far less uniformly and severely visited. " With a mighty hand and with a stretched-out arm, and with fury poured out wUl I rule over you," was the threat de nounced against the disobedient IsraeUtes ; of the fulflhnent of which numerous instances are recorded in Scripture ; and one most striking one is before our eyes, — the forlorn and ruined condition, as a nation,' at the present day, of those who rejected the long-promised Messiah, and invoked his blood upon " them selves and on their chUdren." StiU, however, whether obedient or rebeUious, they were aU of them the peculiar and elect peo ple of God ; because on aU of them — on every individual, without exception, of that people — the privileges were be stowed, and to every one of them the offer made, of God's es pecial blessing and protection, on condition of their conforming to the commands he had condescended to give them. But whether they would thus conform or not, was all along studi ously represented by Moses as a matter entirely dependent on themselves. " Behold," says he, " I have set before you this day good and evil, blessing and cursing ; now, therefore, choose blessing." The election, then, of the Jews was arbitrary indeed ; but it was an election, not to blessing, absolutely, but to a privilege and advantage, — to the offer and opportunity of obtaining a pecuUar blessing, such as was not placed within the reach of other nations. Whether they would accept the offer, or draw down God's curse on them by their disobedience, rested with themselves. And that they were left at Uberty to pursue this latter course is plain, from this most remarkable circumstance — 1 1 have enlarged on this subject in the Discourse on INational Blessings and Judgments. 96 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. that of all the adult individuals' of them who came out of Egypt, and heard the law delivered from Mount Sinai, two only (besides the Levites) reached the promised land. Of the rest, the whole generation were cut off" in the wUdemess for their disobedience. Now, to apply these observations to the gospel dispensation, it is plain, as has been said, that the Christian Application, hy analogy, to tiie gos- church stauds lu the place of the Jewish, — that it pel sclieme. succeeds it m the divine favor, and enjoys, not the same indeed, but corresponding benefits and privUeges. It is reasonable, therefore, to suppose, that since both dispen sations are parts of the one plan of the one heavenly Author, those benefits and privileges should be bestowed according to a similar system in each. The Christian reUgion, however, is not, like the Jewish, confined to one nation, nor the Christian worship to one place, like the temple at Jerusalem. The church of Christ is open to all to whom the gospel has been announced, and comprehends all who acknowledge it. The in vitations of that gospel are general ; all members of that church are " caUed and elected " by God, and are as truly his people, and under his especial government, as the IsraeUtes ever were.^ .And though they do not consist of any one nation in particular, they are arbitrarUy selected and called to this priv ilege, out of the rest of the world, and in contradistinction from their unenlightened ancestors, according to God's unsearchable wUl, for reasons known to him alone, no less than the Israelites were of old. Some nations, we know, had the gospel preached 1 Exclusive however, it appears, ofthe tribe of Levi. 2 It is very remarkable that the apostles never themselves applied to their con verts the title of " Christians." They preferred celling them by titles wliich had long been Imown as designating God s peculiar people qfold, — the Israelites after the flesh; such as "saints," "brethren," "elect" or "chosen," etc., in order, no doubt, to point out that the gospel was a sequel to the Mosaic dispen sation, and that the believers, of all races, were become by adoption " the Is- EAEL of God. ' See Sermon on Christian Saints. ON ELECTION. 97 to them long before others : the apostles were directed by the Holy Ghost what countries they should first visit and enlighten by there ministry ; and many there are that remain in igno rance of Christianity to this day. We can give no account of this distinction, but that such is God's pleasure. No reason that we know of can be as signed why we ourselves, for instance, in this country, should have received the light of the gospel, while many other regions of the earth remain in the darkness of idolatry. The " caUing " and selection of us and of other Christians to the knowledge of the true God, seems as arbitrary as that of the Israelites. And as this promise belonged not to some only, but to every one, of that nation, whether he chose to avail himself of it or to convert it into a heavy curse by his neglect of it, so we may conclude that every Christian is caUed and elected to the Christian privUeges, just as every Jew was to his ; but that it rests with us to use or abuse the advantage.' The Jews were not chosen to enjoy God's favor and to enter into the promised land absolutely, but to have the offer of that favor, and the promise of that land, on condition of their obedience ; and as many as were rebellious, perished in the wilderness. So, also, we may conclude, no Christian is elected to eternal salvation absolutely ; but only to the knowledge of the gospel, to the privileges of the Christian church, to the offer of God's Holy Spirit, and to the promise of final salvation, on condition of being a faithful follower of Christ. Such, I say, we might antecedently conjecture, must be the right interpretation of the apostle's language, confirmed b considering how constantly and how clearly aU PauVs express au- ° . . thority, and by the the circumstances of the old dispensation must analogy of ood'a . general providenca. be supposed to have been before his mmd. But in the instance now before us we are not left to conjecture : 1 See the last Essay in this volume. 98 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. he himself draws the parallel for us, and strongly directs our attention to it ; reminding us, in the most distinct manner, of the principles by which we are to be guided in our examina tion of the gospel scheme. He not only always addresses his converts (the very persons whom he aU along congratulates as the called, and favored, and elect of God) as if it depended on themselves to avail themselves, or not, of these offers, to " lay hold on eternal Ufe," or to forfeit it by their own neglect, but he also warns them, from the very example of the IsraeUtes, against the error of misunderstanding what it was to which they were elected. For some of them, it is probable, having been always addressed as the " chosen " of God, were disposed to indulge in careless security, relying on their baptismal privileges, and confident of final salvation independent of such exertions as can alone justify that confidence ; even as the Jews " thought to say within themselves. We are Abraham's chU dren." The apostle, accordingly, himself expressly points out the correspondence between their case and that of the children of Israel ; exhorting them to take warning from the backslidings and punishment of their predecessors, God's favored people of old. The reference which he makes to the case of the IsraeUtes follows immediately his iUustration from the Isth mian games, and is a portion of the same exhortation. The division between the ninth and tenth chapters (and many readers are apt practically to forget that these divisions are not the work of the sacred writers, but were made many ages after, for convenience of reference) is in this place unfortunate, as breaking the continuity of the discourse. Having described himself as "running," and " fighting," and "keeping his body in subjection," in order to win " an incorruptible crown," and hav ing exhorted the Corinthians, from his own example, to do the same, he adds, "For I would not that ye should be ignorant," ON ELECTION. 99 etc' -And he proceeds to point out to them, first, that it was not a part only, but the whole of the Israelites who were thus favored : " All our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea." But, notwithstanding this, as he pro ceeds to point out, " with many [most]^ of them God was not weU pleased ; for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted ; neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them ; neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three-and-twenty thousand ; neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents ; neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things," he adds, " happened unto them for ensamples ; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come ; '' and thence he deduces the great general conclusion, " Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he faU." Let not the Christian, that is, though he is one of God's pecuUar and favored people, as the IsraeUtes were of old, flatter himself that he is chosen, any more than they were, to the ab solute attainment of a final blessing, but only to the offer of it, together with the privUeges and advantages which wiU enable him to attain it ; let him not doubt that the option is left to him, as it was to them, of securing, or forfeiting, his ultimate reward ; let him learn, from the example of the Israelites, that neither his promised inheritance is infalUbly secured to him without obedience, nor he himself absolutely secured in the 1 This is according to the reading of the best MSS., and of that very ancient version the Latin Vulgate. And I believe all critics are now agreed that the right reading is not Se but yip. 2 Tois irXiiofftv. 100 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. requisite obedience, without any watchfulness on his part ; since the far greater portion of those whom God brought out of Egypt never reached the promised land.' It is worth remembering, that the system just described is the same with that pursued in the ordinary course of God's providence also ; a man's being born, for instance, heii' to great wealth, to high rank or to a kingdom, of a healthy constitution or of superior abilities, does not depend on himself; but it does depend on himself whether such advantages as these shaU prove a blessing to him by his making a right use of them, or shaU aggravate his condemnation through his ill employment or neglect of them.^ Any one, then, who diUgently looks to the analogy both of God's ordinary deaUngs with man and of his former dispensa tion to the Jews, and who carefully interprets the New Testa ment by the Old, will be enabled, I think, to clear up the greater part of a difficulty which has furnished matter of dis pute among Christians for many centuries. By contemplating the correspondence between the Jewish and the gospel schemes, he wUl clearly perceive that there is uo such distinction among Christians as the " caUed " and the uncalled, the " elect " and the non-elect ; that the gospel itself is a caU to all who have heard it, and that those who, instead of obeying it, wait for any further call, are deluded by the father of Ues, who is watching for their destruction. He wUl perceive that, though all who are born m a Christian country, and initiated into Christ's church, are arbitrarily elected to this invaluable privUege, their 1 "I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that tho Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterwards destroyed them that believed not " (Jude 5). 2 The view here taken of election some have hastily supposed to be at variance with that of Archbishop Sumner in his Apostolic Preaching; while others have, no less erroneously, supposed them identical. On this point I have offered a remark in the Preface, p. xix. ON ELECTION. 101 salvation is not arbitrary, but wiU depend on the use they make of their privUeges ; those, namely, to which all Christians are caUed, — the knowledge of the gospel, the aids of the Holy Spirit, and the offer of eternal Ufe, — privileges of which all are exhorted, but none compelled, to make a right use, and which will prove ultimately either a blessing or a curse to each, according to the use he makes of them. When it is contended, however, that the term " elect," or that any other scriptural expression, is to be in- ij„ technical uni- terpreted in this or in that sense, this must be ["".'^"dfoTfn understood in reference to the particular pas- scripture. sages in question, or to the generaUty. ; not as implying that no other sense is anywhere admissible, and that if the expla nation given be correct, it must hold good in every passage where the word occurs. For instance, when the apostles ad dress their converts universally as the " elect " or " chosen " of God, even as the whole nation of Israel were of old his chosen, this must be understood of their being chosen out of the whole mass of the Gentiles to certain pecuUar privileges, unknown to successive generations of their ancestors, but of which they were caUed and invited to avail themselves. But our Lord appUes the word differently in the parables of the laborers of the vineyard, and of the marriage feast. The wedding, he tells us, was furnished with guests by an indiscriminate coUection of aU that could be found in the highways ; but the guest who neglected to put on the wedding garment' was " cast into the outer darkness ; " " for many," he adds, " are called, but few chosen," — many, that is, are " called " to the enjoyment of high privUeges, but few make such a use of the advantage as to be finally cho sen ; not, in this instance (as the word is more commonly em ployed) chosen to & privilege merely, but to ultimate reward, — ^ The g&Tment provided far Mm, according to Oriental custom, by the giver qf the feast. See 2 Kings x. 22. 9* 102 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. chosen as having rightly availed themselves of that privilege, — selected from among the faithless and disobedient to "enter into the joy of their Lord." Not that in these cases the word " chosen " is used in different meanings, but that its application is different ; both parties are, in the same sense, " chosen," but the things to which they are chosen are different, and there is a corresponding difference in the principles on which the choice is conducted.' There is, indeed, no more fruitful source of error in this, and in many other points, than the practice of interpreting Scrip ture on the principles of a scientific system, and endeavoring to make out, as in mathematics, a complete technical vocabulary, with precise definitions of all the terms employed, such as may be applied in every case where they occur.^ Nothing, mani festly, was further from the design of the sacred writers than to 'frame any such system : their writings were popular, not scientific ; they expressed their meaning, on each occasion, in the terms which, on each occasion, suggested themselves as best fitted to convey it ; and he who would interpret rightly each of these terms, must interpret it in each passage accord ing to the context of the place where it is found. And wher ever the term "elect" relates (as it does in most instances) to an arbitrary, irrespective, unconditional decree, it will, I think, be found invariably to bear the sense in which I have explained it. That a doctrine, therefore, so opposite to the one here laid Misinterpretations dowu, should havc bccu dcduccd from the daced'trantece- Scripturos by many ingenious and diligent stu dent bias. dents of them, one can hardly avoid attributing, in some degree, to their entering on the study with a strong antecedent bias in favor of the conclusion they draw, — in conse quence of their regarding it as a truth abstractedly demonstra- 1 See Elements of Logic. Fallacies, ch. iii. 5 X. 2 See Essay VI. § iv. and VH, 5 II. ON ELECTION. 103 ble by reason. But for such bias we should hardly find so many passages of Scripture interpreted so hastily, and often so much wrested from their obvious sense, to make them afford confirmation of the favorite hypothesis. For instance, the scriptural similitude of the potter and the clay is often triumphantly appealed to as a proof that God has from eternity decreed, and, what is more, has revealed to us that he has so decreed, the salvation or perdition of each indi vidual, without any other reason assigned than that such is his wiU and pleasure. " We are in his hands," say these predes- tinarians, " as clay in the potter's, who hath power, of the same lump, to make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor," — ' not observing, in their hasty eagerness to seize on every ap parent confirmation of their system, that this similitude, as far as it goes, rather makes against them ; since the potter never makes any vessel for the express purpose of being broken and destroyed. This comparison, accordingly, agrees much better with the view here taken : the potter, according to his own arbitrary choice, makes " of the same lump one vessel to honor and another to dishonor ; " that is, some to nobler and some to meaner uses ; but all for some use, — none with design that it should be cast away and dashed to pieces. Even so the Almighty, of his own arbitrary choice, causes some to be bom to wealth or rank, others to poverty and obscurity ; some in a heathen, and others in a Christian country. The advantages and privileges bestowed on each are various, and, as far as we can see, arbitrarily dispensed ; the final rewards or punish ments depend, as we are plainly taught, on the use or abuse of those advantages. Wealth and power, and Christian knowl edge, and all other advantages, may be made either a blessing or a curse to the possessor ; since they plainly answer to the talents in our Lord's parable. Why one servant had five tal ents intrusted to him, another two, and another one — in what 104 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. consisted " their several abilities" — we are not told ; though we are clearly taught that the distribution was not made on the ground of ihe foreseen use they would make of the talents ; else he who received the one, and kept it laid up in a napkin, would not have been intrusted with any. But we are plainly told on what principles all these servants were ultimately judged by their Master, — those who had received the five, and the two talents, were rewarded, not from arbitrary choice, but because they had rightly employed the deposit ; and the un profitable servant was punished, not because he had only re ceived one, but because he had let it lie idle.' The " hardening of Pharaoh's heart," again, which is men tioned in Scripture, is often triumphantly appealed to as a recorded instance in which, according to the hasty interpreta tion sometimes adopted, God made the King of Egypt what we call hard-hearted, — that is, cruel and remorseless, — on purpose to disply his almighty power upon him : whereas a very moderate attention to the context would plainly evince that this (whether true or false) is very far from being revealed in Scripture ; but that, on the contrary, the " hardening " (or, as some translate, the "strengthening") of Pharaoh's heart^ must mean a judicial blindness of inteUect as to his own interest, and 1 Those who profess to maintain the doctrine of absolute election, and not of reprobation, seem to forget that (besides the other difficulties they are exposed to) the passages adduced in favor ofthe one, andof the other, are equally strong, and occur, usually, both together; so that it seems unreasonable to interpret the one on one principle, aud the other on a different one. For example, ' ' Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated.". ..." One vessel to honor, and another to dishonor.^^ .... He " will have mercy on whom he will have mercy," and " Whom He will He hardeneth,^' etc. 2 The "heart" is continually eraployed bythe sacred writers to denote the understanding; as when our Lord is said to "upbraid the disciples for their un belief and hardness of heart," etc. They never, I believe, employed 0K\ripoKap- Sia to signify cruelty. The same appears to have been anciently the usage of our own language also ; of which we retain a remnant in the expression of " learning anything by heart." ON ELECTION. 105 a vain and absurd self-confidence, which induced him to hold out against Omnipotence. For, it is remarkable that the cruelties he had practised had all of them taken place before any mention is made of God's hardening his heart. The tyrant who had subjected to grievous slavery, and attempted to extirpate, the Israelites, could scarcely, after that, be made cruel ; but the most unrelenting oppressor would have let them go, through mere selfish prudence, had he not been supernat uraUy infatuated, when he saw that they were " a snare unto him," and that " Egypt was destroyed " through the mighty plagues inflicted on their account. ^ To sum up, then, in a single sentence, the error which ap pears to me to have originated from a neglect Errors in reaaon- of the lesson which the Old Testament may ing committed on « . , . . *>o*'i Bides. supply, the doctrine that final salvation is rep resented in Scripture as resting solely on the arbitrary appoint ment of God, is deduced from two premises, — first, that election I infallibly implies salvation ; and, secondly, that election is en tirely arbitrary ; whence it follows, certainly, that final salvation is arbitrary. Now many of the opponents of this conclusion are accustomed to deny the true premise, and admit the false one ; acknowledging that election everywhere necessarily im plies ultimate salvation, but contending that it is not arbitrary, but depends on foreseen faith and obedience, — a position which gives their opponents a decided advantage over them, and which the analogy of the old dispensation to the new may convince us is untenable : whereas, in denying that election // does necessarily imply salvation, they would find the whole analogy of the Old Testament, and the general tenor of the Apostle Paul's admonitions, so completely in their favor that the offensive conclusions would be, as far as Scripture testimony goes, irrecoverably overthrown ; and it would be seen that the abstract metaphysical questions respecting fate and free-will 106 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. are left by the Bible exactly where it finds them, — undecided and untouched. § IV. Without entering at large on the metaphysical ques- Metaphysicai dif- tious just alludcd to, ouc remark respecting them from"lmbTgS "^^^ "ot bc irrelevant, as it may throw light on of hinguage. j^jjg gubject morc particularly before us. I mean that the difficulty and confusion in which such questions have been involved, have, in a great degree, arisen from inat tention to the ambiguity of one particular class of words — " pos sible "' and " impossible," " necessary," " certain," " contingent," and many others of corresponding significations to these — which have, by their undetected ambiguity, bewUdered in a maze of fruitless logomachy most of those who have treated of the sub ject. " Certainty," for instance, and " uncertainty," which in the primary sense denote the state of our own mind, have thence been transferred to the facts and events respecting which we are certain or uncertain ; and, ultimately, have come to be considered as indicating an intrinsic quality in the events themselves, and not merely the relation in which they stand to our knowledge or ignorance of them ; and " necessity," as well as other words alUed to it, whose signification sometimes refers to coercion, or absence oi power, sometimes again merely to un doubting and complete knowledge, have led to endless fallacies and perplexities when this distinction has been overlooked. Thus the " necessity " — that is, the absence of freedom — of human actions has by many been inferred from God's certain foreknowledge of them. And to this it is not, I think, altogether a .satisfactory reply, which is often made, that the divine pre science does not fetter or control men's actions, nor in any Way operate upon them, any more than our knowledge of any 1 See Logic, Appendix, article Possible. See also Appendix, No. I., to Arch bishop King's Discourse on Predestination. ON ELECTION. 107 fact is the cause of its being such ; for though this is undenia bly true, it hardly meets the difficult ; since it is not meant, I apprehend, that the divine foreknowledge makes actions neces sary, but that it implies that they are so ; just as any one's seeing some object before him implies the real present exis tence of that object ; though no one supposes that his seeing it is, in any respect, the cause of its existence. But the chief source of this perplexity is the equivocal em ployment of the word " necessity ; " which, in one sense, re lates to knowledge alone, and therefore is, of course, impUed by prescience ; but in another sense, relates to compulsion, or want of power ; which prescience does by no means imply.' When we speak, for instance, of the " necessity " of mathematical truths, we mean merely that they admit of no doubt. And again, when we say that a man pining in captivity cannot but eagerly embrace the offer of freedom and restoration to his country, we mean not that he is thus placed under compulsion, but that we ave well assured and have no doubt he will do so. On the other hand, when we say that, while in captivity, he cannot but submit to the will of his master, we mean that he wants power to resist and liberty to escape; and when we speak of the necessity of death, we mean that mortals are unable to avoid it. If this distinction had been duly attended to, it would hardly, I think, have been contended that that necessity of our actions which the divine prescience implies is at all incompatible with our freedom and power to act otherwise. Whether our conduct be, in fact, under any restraint or not, at least no restraint is implied by the mere foreknowledge of it. Let it be supposed (and the case is at least conceivable') that you were fully and accurately acquainted with all the inclinations of some man who was left at perfect liberty to follow them ; 1 See Tucker's "Light of Nature," chap. xxvi. 108 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. you could then as distinctly know and as exactly describe his future conduct as any past event ; and the very ground of your thus foreseeing and foretelling it would be, not his being under restraint, but his entire freedom from it ; for, the knowl edge of his inclination, if he were not free to follow it, would not enable you to foresee the event. The divine foreknowledge, again, of " contingent " or " un certain " events, would not have been made a matter of such mysterious difficulty if it had been remembered that the same thing may be contingent and uncertain to one person which is not so to another ; since those terms denote no quaUty in the events themselves, any more than the terms " visible '' and " invisible " when applied to eclipses ; inasmuch as that which is visible in one part of the world, is invisible in another. For the same event may, in like manner, be both a contingency and a certainty ; though not to the same person. Any event, for instance, which occurred yesterday in some distant part of the world, is, to us, uncertain and contingent ; and one who calculates on its having taken place in this way or that, would be said to run the risk of fortune, though to those on the spot there is no contingency in the case. Before I dismiss the consideration of this subject, I would suggest one caution relative to a class of objections frequently urged against the Calvinistic scheme, — those drawn from the conclusions of what is called Natural religion, respecting the moral attributes of the Deity ; which, it is contended, rendered the reprobation of a large portion of mankind an absolute im possibility. That such objections do reduce the predestinarian to a great strait, is undeniable ; and not seldom are they urged with exulting scorn, with bitter invective, and almost with anathema. But we should be very cautious how we employ such weapons as may recoU upon ourselves. .Arguments of this description have often been adduced, such as, I fear, wUl ON ELECTION. 109 crush beneath the ruins of the hostUe structure the bhnd as- saUant who seeks to overthrow it. It is a frightful, but an undeniable truth, that multitudes, even in Christian countries, are born and brought up under such circumstances as afford them no probable, often no possible, chance of obtaining a knowledge of reUgious truths or a habit of moral conduct, but are even trained from infancy in superstitious error and gross depravity. Why this should be permitted, neither Calvinist nor Arminian can explain ; nay, why the Almighty does not cause to die in the cradle every infant whose future wicked ness and misery, if suffered to grow up, he foresees, is what no system of reUgion, natural or revealed, wUl enable us satisfac torily to account for. In truth, these are mere branches of the one great difficulty, — the existence of evil, — which may almost objections con- // be eaUed the only difficulty in theology. It pelted with the or- if .1 '='.' jgin of evi!, dan- assumes, indeed, various shapes : it is by many se'""" f"' •'°u» hardly recognized as a difficulty, and not a few ni have professed and beUeved themselves to have solved it ; but it stUl meets them, though in some new and disguised form, at every tum, — like a resistless stream, which, when one channel is damned up, immediately forces its way through another. And as the difficulty is not peculiar to any one hypothesis, but bears equaUy on all aUke, whether of revealed or of natural reUgion, it is better, in point of prudence as weU as of fairness, that the consequences of it should not be pressed as an objec tion against any. The Scriptures do not pretend, as some have rashly imagmed, to clear up this awful mystery — they give us no explanation of the original cause of the evUs that exist ; but they teach us how to avoid its effects. And since they leave this great and perplexing question just where they flnd it, it is better for us to leave it among " the secret things which belong unto the Lord our God," and to occupy ourselves with "the 10 110 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. things which are revealed," and which concern us practically, — which " belong unto us and to our children," — that we may " do all the works of God's law." And equaUy to blame are both those who profess to explain, where God has not given us revelation, the reasons of his deaUngs with man, and those, again, who insist on it that in such and such a case he had no reason at aU, but acted as he did " to declare his sovereignty," and " for his own glory ; " — as if he could literally desire glory ! When the Most High has merely revealed to us his will, we have no right to pro nounce that he had no reasons for it except his wiU because he has not made them known to us. Even an earthly king, who is not responsible to any of his subjects for the reasons of his commands, may think fit sometimes to issue commands with out explaining his reasons ; and it would be very rash for any one to conclude that he had no reason at aU, but acted from mere caprice. So, also, a dutiful child wUl often have to say, " I do so and so because my parents have commanded me ; that is reason enough for me." But though this is to the chUd a very good reason for obeying the command, it would be a very bad rea son with the parents for giving that command. And he would show his filial veneration and trust, not by taking for granted that his parents had no reason for their commands, but, on the contrary, by taking for granted that there was a good reason, both for acting as they did and for not giving him any expla nation. It is therefore no pious humUity, but, on the contrary, great presumption, for man to pronounce — where Scripture does not teU us — either what were the reasons of God's dealings with us, or that he had none at all. One who pretends to be so much wiser or better informed than the apostles and prophets as to teU us what they knew not, or at least were not commissioned to make known, must greatly overrate the faculties of man. ON ELECTION. Ill We, indeed, are exhorted, and very rightly, to " do aU for I the glory of God." It is of advantage to man that our Hea- 1 venly Father should be glorified ; but to attribute this, as a j motive, to him, and to suppose that lie can covet glory for his ' own sake, is an idea most absurd and most degrading. •''-¦ -And a truly humble-minded Christian, if asked to explain why any evil at aU is permitted to exist, wiU answer that this is a question beyond man's natural powers, and on which Scripture gives us no revelation ; but he would add, that though the Scriptures do not teU us what is the cause of evil, they do teach us — which is no smaU matter — what is not the cause. ( That it cannot be from ill-will, or indifference, or caprice, on the part of the Most High, is proved by the sufferings under gone by his Beloved One, "in whom he was weU pleased." If such a Christian be asked to prove that it is untrue that God inflicts evil — as some have dared to maintain — " for no cause at all, but that such is his will," and that it is for the " setting forth of his glory," and the assertion " of his sover eignty," — if asked this, he might reply that it is fuUy disproved by the Son of God having been himself " made perfect through suffering." For, no conceivable being — not even a tyrant — would ever, wantonly and through mere caprice, inflict suffer ings on the object of his own strong love. Though we know, therefore, that from some cause unknown to us evU does exist, we are assured that that cause cannot be a deficiency of loving-kindness in the Most High. § V. It is on the above principles, — namely, that the first point of inquiry at least ought to be what doctrines The chief object are revealed in God's word, and that we ought to "l^^'^iZZs Ire re- expect that the doctrines so revealed should be, veaiedaa being rei- ative to man and not matters of speculative curiosity, but oi prac- practically needful. tical importance, such as " belong to us that we may do them," 112 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. — it is in conformity, I say, with these principles, that I have waived the question as to the truth or falsity of the Calvinistic doctrine of election : inquiring only whether it is revealed. And one of the reasons for deciding that question in the negative, is the very circumstance that the doctrine is, if rightly viewed, of a purely speculative character, not " be longing to us" practicaUy; and which ought not at least, in any way, to influence our conduct. It has indeed been frequently objected to the Calvanistic doctrines, that they lead, if consistently acted upon, to a sin ful, or to a careless, or to an inactive Ufe ; and the inference deduced from this alleged tendency has been that they are not true. This suspicion is probably not grounded entirely on abstract reasonings, but partly also on the expressions actuaUy used by some eminent predestinarian writers. Augustine, for instance, distinctly says that "God works in the hearts of men to incline their wills, whithersoever he will, whether it be to good or to evil" (De Grati aet libero Arbitrio, c. xxi.). Zwingle, again (De Providentia Dei, VoL i. c. 6, p. 366), says that " Gk)d in cites the robber to commit murder, and that the man kUls his victim under a divine impulse." Beza says the very same (De Praedest. Op. VoL iii. p. 231). Calvin also expressly declares that " each preparation " (that for salvation and that for destruction) " must undoubtedly de pend on the secret counsels of God" (Comm. on Eom. ix. 23), and that " because God has wiUed a man's destruction, the ob stinacy of the man's heart is a divine preparation for his ruin" (Calvin, Inst. iv. 3). On the other hand, " the last day," says a modern writer, "wiU bring forward numberless examples of salvation where divine grace has gloriously triumphed in the conversion of sinners in their last moments, when the whole life has been spent before in hardness and impenitence " (Dr, ON ELECTION. 113 Hawker's Zion's Pilgrim, p. 160). And according to two works edited by Mr. Romaine, " As it was not any loveliness in elect persons which moved God to love them at first, so, neither shaU their unlovely backsUdings deprive them of it " (Coles on God's Sovereignty, p. 294). And, "though a be- Uever be black as heU, poUuted with guilt, defiled with sin, yet in Christ he is aU fair, without spot ; free from sin, as viewed by God in Christ, fully reconciled to him, and standing without trespasses before him " (Mason's Spiritual Treas., pp. 141, 142). And many more such passages might be- cited. AU of these wiU admit, no doubt, of some such explanation (in a " non-nat ural sense ") as to be not incompatible with morality. But it is surely a culpable rashness to dweU on any doctrines not plainly contained in Scripture when they cannot possibly do any practical good, and may do harm, being then only innox ious when so explained as to be wholly inoperative. And the more purely moral any one is in his own life, — the more free from aU taint of practical Antinomianism, — the greater is the danger to which he will expose many others, if he preaches and recommends, by the goodness of his own per sonal character, doctrines of which one interpretation, and that the most obvious (though not the one he himself adopts) tends to carelessness in moral conduct. He will be like a per son of such a constitution as to be proof against the effects of large quantities of opium or of ardent spirits, and who allows his example to seduce others of weaker constitution into what is, to them, a dangerous excess. But the above is a totaUy distinct line of argument, both in premises and conclusion, from that now adverted to ; and I mention it, not for the purpose either of maintaining or im pugning it, but merely of pointing out the distinction. What ever may be, in fact, the practical iU-tendency of the Calvinis tic scheme, it is undeniable that many pious and active Chris- 10* 114 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. tians, who have adopted it, have denied any such tendency, ¦ — have attributed the mischievous consequences drawn, not to their doctrines rightly understood, but to the perversion and abuse of them, — and have so explained them, to their own satisfaction, as to be compatible and consistent with active vir tue.' Now if, instead of objecting to, we admit the explana tions of this system, which the soundest and most approved of its advocates have given, we shaU find that, when understood as they would have it, it can lead to no practical result what ever. Some Christians, according to them, are eternally en roUed in the book of life, and infallibly ordained to salvation, whUe others are reprobate and absolutely excluded ; but as the preacher (they add) has no means of knowing, in the first in stance at least, which persons belong to which class, and since those who are thus ordained are to be saved through the means God has appointed, the offers and promises and threat enings of the gospel are to be addressed to all aUke, as if no such distinction existed. The preacher, in short, is to act, in all respects, as if the system were not true.^ Each individual Christian, again, according to them, though 1 Some have intimated a suspicion that there is some connection hetween this class of doctrines and persecution; adducing, among other things, the case of the burning of Servetus by Calvin (who docs certainly seem to have been, indi vidually, of a stern, overbearing, and intolerant character) and the bitter perse cutions of the Arminians by the Calvinists in Holland. The celebrated English Long Parliament, again, in which the Puritans predominated, remonstrated strongly with the king against the toleration afforded to Papists and Armin ians, both of whom they were for putting down by force. This is noticed in the Life of Oliver Cromwell, by M. Merle d'Aubign^, who, by the way, seems him self to think that the Parliament was nearly right, and that there is not much to choose between a Papist and an Arminian. But it should be remembered that, at the time ofthe Reformation, and long after, it was held by almost all denom inations of Christians to be a sacred duty to put down all false doctrine by the civil sword. And though this most unchristian principle is now much less prev alent than formerly, it is still far from being extinct. 2 It has already been observed that even past events may often be, to us, as completely " contingent " as future ones, and demand from us a corresponding ON ELECTION. 115 he is to believe that he either is, or is not, absolutely destined to eternal salvation, yet is also to beUeve, that, if his salvation is decreed, his holiness of life is also decreed ; he is to judge of his own state by " the fruits of the Spirit " which he brings forth. To Uve in sin, or to relax his virtuous exertions, would be an indication of his not being reaUy (though he may flatter himself he is) one of the elect. And it may be admitted that one who does practicaUy adopt and conform to this explanation of the doctrine, will not be in any respect influenced by it. When thus explained, it is reduced to a purely speculative dogma, barren of all practical results. K we could suppose an inteUigent and benevolent physician, who was ministering to a great number of sick persons, to re ceive from Heaven a communication by an angel informing him that of these persons some would recover under his treat ment, whUe others were, according to the wUl of Providence, so deeply struck with disease that nothing could relieve them, and that they would inevitably die, he would probably say that this was just the opinion he had himself already formed ; but that he should be glad to be informed which of his patients belonged to that class, in order that he might bestow aU his at tention on the one, and not waste his time and medicines on the other. But if he were then told that this was a secret, not to be imparted to him, and that he must judge for himself, in each case, as well as he could, who were or were not in a perfectly hopeless state, it is plain he would be left just where he was before, and would have received as a revelation an an nouncement which revealed, to all practical purposes, nothing at aU. procedure. A general, for instance, may be fully assured of a hostile force hav ing landed either in one or the other of two places, though uncertain in which ; and in that case he will take measures for guarding against an attack from the one, and also from the other, of those two places, — though the enemy, he knows, cannot actually be in both. * 116 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. Some persons, however, not deficient in good sense on other points, imagine themselves to derive from this doctrine a con solatory satisfaction, which they do in fact feel, and perhaps not without reason, but the real grounds of which they mis state. The doctrine that some persons are elected absolutely to final salvation they confound with the belief — a highly consolatory one, no doubt — that they themselves are of the number. But as long as any decree is (as our XVTIth Arti cle expresses it) "nobis arcanum,'' secret to us, we have no more satisfactory certainty than if no such decree had existed. Our knowledge or belief that any event — no matter whether past, present, or future — is fixed, leaves it stUl a contingency to us tiU we know in what way it is fixed. Suppose, for instance, a man knows that a law-cause on which his whole property depends was decided yesterday at some distant place : if he expressed his satisfaction in this knowledge, you might ask him why he should be rejoiced to know that he is either secured from loss, or else ruined. He would probably reply by dwelUng on the goodness of his cause, the abUity of his ad vocate, and the uprightness and wisdom of the judge. " But then you mistake," it might be answered, the ground of your satisfaction : for aU these circumstances are what you were equally aware of the day before the trial came on ; and it is on these, and on the consequent belief in a favorable decision, that your satisfaction is really founded — not on the mere knowl edge that some decision has been made, which is secret to us." Taking the system in question, then, as expounded by its soundest advocates, it is impossible to show any one point in which a person is called upon either to act or to feel, in any respect differently, in consequence of his adopting it. And this conclusion, indeed, may be considered as virtuaUy admitted by the maintainers of the predestinarian scheme ; since, whenever they are engaged in setting forth the beneficial results of their ON ELECTION. 117 doctrines, they invariably dwell on such as are not pecuUar to them, — such as faith in the atonement, self-abasement, and renunciation of all reUance on our own merits, gratitude for Christ's redeeming mercy, and reUance on the promised guid ance of the Holy Spirit ; and other such doctrines, which are indeed both true and of inestimable practical value, but which have no necessary or natural connection with the pecu Uar notions of Calvin respecting election ; and which, in fact, are sincerely and heartily embraced by numbers who reject those notions. Were I as much inclined to enter into controversy as I am averse to it, on this pouit, at least, I should have no temptation to do so ; since I cannot devise or even conceive any more decisive proofs of what has been just remarked, than the very objections adduced by those who wish to disprove il. Let any one try the experiment of proposing to predestinarians the assertion just made of the purely speculative character of the doctrines in question, and he wUl find the grounds on which it is denied sufficient to satisfy an unbiassed mind of its truth. They wUl aUege the cheering stimulant of love and gratitude which a man feels who is convinced that his sins are forgiven, and that a " crown of righteousness " is laid up for him after he shall " have fought the good fight, and finished his course ; " but they wUl admit that this confidence is false and dangerous, unless he shaU have ascertained, by careful and candid self-ex- amuiation, that he is practicaUy imbued with Christian hope, faith, and charity, and is earnestly striving to " increase more and more, " and to " grow in grace," to his life's end. Now aU this may be the case with one who does not hold the abso lute election to salvation of some, and the reprobation of others ; while, on the other hand, the fullest conviction of the final per severance and acceptance of God's elect, affords no satisfaction to one who may doubt whether he himself is one of the elect. 118 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. The cheering prospect is supplied, not by the general doctrine of divine decrees, but by each man's view of his own Christian state of holiness. And a confidence founded on good grounds, I for one, at least, should never think of repressing.' They wUl enumerate, again, the many zealous and active Christians who have been strict predestinarians ; — they wiU speak of the Eeformers, forward in testifying against Eomish errors, who have held the same tenet ; and of the attachment of many bigoted Eomanists to the doctrine of free-wUl (though, by the way, Augustine, the strenuous advocate of predesti nation, is, among the Fathers, rather the favorite saint of the Eomish Church), as well as the immoral Uves of many who reject predestination, etc. But if any one keeps close to the original question, and persists in asking. How do you trace those good effects to a beUef in your absolute decrees ? — How do you show that your peculiar doctrines are, not merely com patible with Christian virtue (for that is admitted), but condu cive to it ? — How do you trace these other Ul effects to a rejec tion of those peculiar doctrines ? — How is it proved that the parties respectively act as they do, properly in consequence of their beUef or disbelief of this tenet ? — if, I say, these ques tions are persisted in, and all irrelevant matter set aside, I am much mistaken if any satisfactory answer wiU be obtained. The fact is that several of the most important and truly practical doctrines of Christianity have been, in the minds of some men, so intimately blended, from their chUdhood, with other tenets, which are nof practical, that they themselves, un less possessed of unusual clearness of thought, are utterly una ble to conceive them disunited ; and might even be in some danger of abandoning what is essential, were they induced to give up some other point, in reaUty totaUy unconnected with it. Their whole system of faith may be compared to some of I See the next Essay. ON ELECTION. 119 the ancient compound medicines, of great efficacy and value, ' though cumbered with several drags that are utterly inert. Many practitioners, unskUled in analysis, cannot conceive but that the success with which the compound is often administered is a proof of the efficacy of each ingredient, and of the absurdity of thinking to separate them. It is common, in cases of this kind, to appeal to the testimony of experience ; though but a smaU proportion of even the most experienced men are fit judges of what it is that their experi ence does testify. He who has long been accustomed to ad minister a certain compound medicine, or to teach a certain system of doctrines, and who has found his patients recover, or his hearers improve, wiU often beUeve, not only that every part of this compound is essential, but that this is estabUshed by experience.' I am far from thinking harshly of predestinarians, or of decid- jj ing that their pecuUar doctrines are altogether untrue ; though I to me they do not appear, at least, to be either practical or re vealed truths. I do not caU on them to renounce their opinions as heretical, but merely to abstain from imposing on others, as a necessary part of the Christian faith, a doctrine which cannot be clearly deduced from Scripture ; and which there is this additional reason for supposing not to be revealed in Scrip ture, — that it cannot be shown to have asij practical iendiencj. For since it is plainly the object of the Scriptures to declare to ' us such truths as it concerns us to know, with a view to the regulation of our lives, not such as are to us mere matters of speculative curiosity ; and since the doctrines in question, when ( so explained as to lead to no evil results, lead to no practical results at all, the natural inference must be (even independent of the arguments formerly urged) that these doctrines are not such as we can reasonably expect, at least, to find in Scripture : 1 See Elements of Ehetorio, Part II. chap. ii. § 6. 120 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. and if not so revealed, be they true or false, they can constitute no part of the Christian faith? It is not contended that the doctrines in question have a hurtful influence on human con duct, and consequently are untrue ; but that they have, accord ing to the soundest exposition of them, no influence on our con duct whatever; and, consequently (revelation being not de signed to impart mere speculative knowledge),^ that they are not to be taught as revealed truths. § VI. Let it not be said, however, that, being at least harm- „, , , . less, it is unimportant whether they are inculca- Thc danger of mis- , s: j leading some and ted Or uot : they are harmless to those who adopt disgusting others not to be wantonly them in the sonsc and with the qualifications incurred. just mentioned ; but it does not foUow that they are harmless to others. On the one hand that the doctrines of " predestination and our election in Christ " may be so held as to prove (according to the language of our XVHth .Article) a " dangerous downfall," will hardly be denied by any ¦' and, on the other hand, they may prove a stumbUng-block to those who do not hold them, by raising a prejudice against other doctrines — some of the most important of Christianity — when taught in conjunction with these, and represented as connected with them. Now, it is to be admitted, indeed, that there may be dangers of this nature attendant on every gospel truth, since there is none that may not be perverted by some, or that may not give offence to others ; but in the case of anything which plainly appears to be gospel truth, this danger must be braved : we must preach God's word as we have received it, and trust in him to prosper and defend it. But it is not so in the case 1 of doctrines which (whether true or not) are not plainly de clared in Scripture. The dangers to which any such doctrines 1 See Essay rv. (First Series.) 2 Ibid. 8 See Note B, at the end of this Essay. ON ELECTION. 121 may lead, are needlessly and wantonly incurred ; and those who preach them are answerable for the results. If the speculations of human ingenuity be mingled with the revealed word of God, even though the opinions maintained be true, some may be mis led, and others unnecessarily disgusted. Christianity may be loaded (as Dr. Paley expresses himself respecting transubstan tiation) with "a weight that sinks it; " and the mischiefs ensu ing will be justly imputable to the rashness of those who give occasion to them. Let Christians, then, be taught to rejoice, indeed, in their high privUeges, as the " called " and " elect " and " peculiar people of God ; " but let them be taught, also, while they offer up their thanks for his unmerited mercies, to consider their own dUi- gence and care as indispensable, not only to their attainment of the offered blessings, but also to their escape from an aggra vated condemnation, — for " provoking and grieving Him who had done so great things for them, " " as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness. " Let them be told to trust, indeed, firmly in the aid and guidance of God's Holy Spirit, which will conduct those who earnestly seek it, and walk according to it, through the perils of the wilderness of this world to the glories of their promised inheritance ; but let them learn from the rebeUious IsraeUtes that he will not force them to enter into that good land, but will even exclude from it those who refuse to hearken to him. Wlierefore, " let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he faU." God is indeed " faithful who hath promised ; " but he requires us also to be faithful to ourselves ; and he has taught us, both by precepts and by examples, that if we harden our hearts, and wiU not hear his voice, we shall not " enter into his rest." 11 122 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. NOTES TO ESSAY HL Note A — Page 91. I HAVE spoken of the Augustinian and Calvinistic theory of de- li crees, as including absolute Election and Reprobation, because Cal vin himself, and the rest of the principal writers of that school, , regard them (and I cannot but think quite reasonably) as altogether inseparable. Indeed, Calvin expressly opposes as futUe the attempt made by some to draw a distinction. " Many," says he, " as if wishing to remove odium from God, while they admit election, yet deny rep robation ; but in this they speak ignorantly and childishly ; since election itself could not be maintained except as contrasted with rep robation. God is said to set apart those whom he adopts as children, for salvation. Those, therefore, whom he passes by, he condemns ; I and that for no cause whatever, except that he chooses to exclude them from the inheritance which he predestinates for his children." And again, shortly after, he says, " Whence comes it that so many nations, with their infant children, should be sentenced irremediably to eternal death, by the fall of Adam, except that such was God's will ? " " The decree is, I confess, a horrible oue," etc' There are, however — as Calvin intimates there were in his time — persons who profess to hold the doctrine of absolute election iu the sense I have heen speaking of, and yet to reject that of reproba- 1 " Multi quidem, ac si invidiam a Deo repellere vellent, electionem itafatentur ut negent quenquam reprobari. Sed inscit^ nimis et pueriliter, quando ipsa elec- tio nisi reprobationi opposita non staret. Dicitur segregare Deus quos adoptat iu salutem. . , . Quos ergo Deus preterit, reprobat; neque alia de causa nisi quod ab hereditate quam filiis suis praedestinat, illos vult excludere " (Inst. L. iii. c. xxiii. § 1) " Unde factum est, ut tot gentes, una cum liberis eorum infantibus, Eeternae morti involveret lapsus Adas absque remedio, nisi quia Deo ita visum est ? Hie obmutescere oportet tam dicaces alioqui linguas. Decreium quidem horribile fateor; inficiari tamen nemo poterit quin prsesciverit Deus quem exitum esset habiturus homo, antequam ipsum conderet, et ideo prsesciverit, quia decreto suo sio ordinarat " (Calvin Instit. L. iii. c. xxiii § 7). How far from having attained to this doctrine, or Ji)rming any notion of it, must have been those disciples who were present when our Lord " beheld the city and WEPT ovbkit! " ON ELECTION. 123 tion. And if they offer any explanation of the mode in which they teach the one so as not to imply the other (as Baxter appears to have done) they are entitled to a respectful hearing ; or, even, if they offer no explanation, still, if they solemnly profess that they hold this, and not that, we are bound not to impute to any one opin ions which he distinctly disavows. But it cannot be conceded that a man does not teach — whatever may be his own belief — anything which is plainly implied in what he says, on the ground of his merely avoiding an express statement of it. A jury which finds a verdict '¦^ for the plaintiff," does find a ver dict " against the defendant," though they may not use those words. A philosopher who maintains — as some do — that the earth is the only planet that is inhabited, is certainly maintaining that the other planets are uninhabited, whether he makes particular mention of them or not. Suppose a citizen of one of the Slave States to tell us " by the laws of our State, all freemen, and freemen alone, are ad missible as witnesses ; but as for the exclusion of the testimony of slaves, our laws make no mention of that : " we should consider him (if we could suppose him to be speaking seriously) as resorting to a disingenuous, though a very absurd subterfuge. So, also, to teach that it is a portion of the gospel revelation that by an eternal decree certain persons are absolutely and infallibly / predestined to salvation, and that they only will obtain it, is to teach that, by that very decree, all others are excluded. And it signifies , nothing whether the word used be "reprobation," or " preterition," or " non-election," or any other, or none at all. The mere absti nence from the employment of this or that term makes no difference as to the doctrine taught, if that doctrine be so plainly implied that it is hardly possible for any plain common sense to overlook it. If any one is convinced that the Scriptures do reveal certain doc trines, of which one portion is designed for none but the most learned theologians and farthest advanced Christians, and ought to be kept back from the multitude,' he should not so speak as by impUcation 1 " You will reap much improvement from the view of predestination in its full extent if your eyes are able steadfastly to look at all which God has made known concerning it. Eut if your spiritual sight is weak, forego the inquiry as far as reprobation is concerned, and be content to km)w but in part " (Toplady on Predestination. Preface, p. viii). It is not easy to see how this suggestion is to be acted on. If indeed it had been recommended to a preacher to conceal from those of " weak sight " a portion of the gospel revelation, tliis wouid have 124 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. to convey that doctrine to all, and plead that he does not teach it because he does not expressly name it. This would be to attempt, feebly and ineffectually, the system (recommended by some of the ancient Fathers, and by the writers of the Oxford Tracts) of " double doctrine " and " reserve." ' And it would be similar to the supposed case, just above, in reference to slave testimony. But any one, again, who thinks himself bound to declare, openly, to all, the gospel revelation, and yet uses language which will be understood by at least ninety-nine in a hundred as implying what he himself holds to be no part of the gospel revelation, is manifestly bound so to explain himself as to enable them to escape such conclu sions.^ I wish it, then, to be distinctly understood, first, that I do not im pute to any one opinions which he disclaims, nor am discussing any question as to what is inwardly believed by each, but only as to what is, whether directly or obliquely, taught; and secondly, that I purposely abstain, throughout, from entering on the question as to what is abso lutely true — inquiring only what is or is not to be received and taught as a portion of revealed gospel truth. For, no metaphysical dogma, however sound and capable of philosophical proof, ought to be taught as a portion of revealed truth, if it shall appear that the passages of Scripture that are supposed to declare it relate, in reality, to a different matter. " I would wish it to be remembered," says Archbishop Sumner, " that I do not desire to argue against predestination as beheved in the closet, but as taught from the pulpit." been, at least, an intelligible and consistent application of the system of*- Econ omy " and " Reserve." But one does not see Iiow a man can practise this reserve on himself. It is in vain to say, " Be content to know but in part, and not to know this particular doctrine, since it alarms and shocks you precisely because you do know it, and do believe it to be a part of what God has made known." 1 See Dr. West's Discourse on Reserve. 2 " Without doubt," says Whitefield (vol. iv. p. 58)," the doctrines of election and reprobation must stand or fall together." "You are greatly mistaken," says Calvin (Christophoro Liberteto, Col. 142), " if you think the eternal counsel of God can be so divided as that it has so cho- ' sen some for salvation as not to have devoted any to destruction. For if he has elected some, it follows necessarily that all are not elected. Now what more can we say of these except that they are left to perish ? There must be, there fore, a mutual relation between the elected and the reprobated." ON ELECTION. 125 Note B — Page 120. It Is worth while here to remark, that there is a principle of great importance to be kept in mind in the interpretation of any document (such as the Thirty-nine Articles) emanating from a synod or assem bly of any kind, — a principle whioh is hardly ever adverted to by commentators. I have formerly delineated this principle as follows : " It is usual, and not unreasonable, to pay more deference — other points being equal — to the decisions of a council, or assembly of any kind (embodied in a manifesto, act of parliament, speech from the throne, report, set of articles, etc.), than to those of an individual, equal, or even superior, to any member of such assembly. But in one point' — and it is a very Important one, though usually over looked — this rule is subject to something of an exception, which may be thus stated : In any composition of an individual who is deemed worthy of respect, we presume that whatever he says must have some meaning, — must tend towards some object which could not be equally accomplised by erasing the whole passage. He Is expected never to lay down a rule, and then add exceptions, nearly, or altogether coextensive with it ; nor in any way to have so mod ified and explained away some assertion that each portion of a pas sage shall be virtually neutralized by the other. Now if we interpret In this way any/oini-produetion of several persons, we shall often be led into mistakes. For, those who have had experience as members of any deliberative assembly, know by that experience (what indeed any one might conjecture) how much compromise will usually take place between conflicting opinions, and what will naturally thence result. One person, for example, will urge the Insertion of some thing which another disapproves ; and the result will usually be, after much debate, something of what is popularly called ' splitting the difference : ' the insertion will be made, but accompanied with such limitations and modifications as nearly to nuUify it. A fence will be erected in compliance with one party, and a gap will be left In it to gratify another. And, again, there will often be, in some document of this class, a total silence on some point whereon, perhaps, most of the assembly would have preferred giving a decision, but could not agree what decision It should be." Our XVIIth Article is a striking exemplification of what has been said ; for It contains modifications and hmltatlons, In one part, of 11* 126 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. what Is laid down In another, such as go near to neutralize the one by the other. It begins by stating the doctrine of predestination in a form which certainly may be, and we know often has been, understood in the Calvinistic sense ; and then it proceeds to point out the danger of dwelling on that doctrine, If so understood, before curious and carnal persons ; of whom one may presume there will usually be some in any congregation or mixed company ; so that such a doctrine is sel dom if ever publicly set forth. Next, It cautions us against taking the divine promises otherwise than as they are " generally (general- iter) set forth in Scripture ; " that is, as made to classes of men, — those of such and such a description, — and not to individuals. We are not, in short, to pronounce this or that man one of the elect (in the Calvinistic sense), except so far as we may judge from the kind of character he manifests. And, lastly, we are warned. In our own conduct, not to vindicate any act as conformable to God's wUl on the ground that whatever takes place must have been decreed by him ; but are to consider conformity to his will as consisting in obe dience to his injunctions. If, then, — some may saj', — this doctrine is, first, not to be puh- lidy set forih; nor, secondly, applied In out judgment of any individ ual ; nor, thirdly, apphed In our own conduct, why need it at all have been mentioned? As for the comfort enjoyed from the " godly consideration " of it, by those who " feel within themselves the workings of God's Holy Spirit," etc., it would be most unreasonable to suppose that this can not be equally enjoyed by those who do noi hold predestinarian views, but who not the less fully trust in and love their Redeemer, and " keep his saying." But the Article is manifestly the result of a compromise between conflicting views, — one party Insisting on the insertion of certain statements, which the other consented to admit only on condition of the insertion of certain limitations and cautions, to guard against the dangers that might attend the reception of the doctrine In a sense of which the former passage Is capable. ESSAY lY. ON PERSEVERANCE AND ASSURANCE. § I. There are many passages in the Apostle Paul's writings in which he expresses his assured expectation The same apostle of the final success of his converts in attaining principaiiy appeai- , , , . r-i rr TD • ^ ed to in supijort of the gospel promises ; for instance, " Being confi- the doctrines of tiie dent of this very thing, that He who hath begun orthrei!It'"'rnd a good work m you wUl perform it until the day *\'^i'^JJi^r"'"" of Jesus Christ ; '' that is, that, at his last coming to judge the world, they wiU be numbered among the inheritors of immortal happiness with him. It is in a similar tone that he addresses the Corinthians in his first epistle to them : " Wait ing for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shaU also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, there is hardly any one of his epistles' in which he does not express the same exulting anticipation of eternal Ufe awaiting his beloved on earth : the gratitude and joy which he consequently feels on their behalf are scarcely ever left unmentioned. Passages of this description are appealed to as establishing the doctrine of "final perseverance" and "assurance;" that is, of the impossibility of ultimate failure, to those who are once traly elected of God ; and the complete conviction which such per- 1 I mean, of those addressed, not to individuals, but to the members generally of some church. 128 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. sons may (or must) attain, on earth, of their own safety. The dangerous consequences, again, apprehended by many from these as weU as other doctrines maintained on this apostle's authority, have accordingly but too often led them to depreciate his writings, or to regard them with suspicion and dread, and to keep them in a great degree out of sight. That such opinions as those alluded to (as far, that is, as they are erroneous and mischievous) have been grounded on a misunderstanding of these writings, and may be the most effect ually refuted by a fair and correct exposition of the author's meaning, I have endeavored to show in the preceding Essay, as far as relates to the doctrine of Christian election. Closely connected with this, and next in natural order to it, are the doctrines just mentioned ; on which, accordingly, I now propose to offer some remarks. But it will be the less necessary to dweU on them on account of that closeness of connection — the one question being a kind of offshoot from the other. Abso lute predestination to eternal Ufe evidently impUes the physical impossibiUty of ultimate faUure, — in short, the infallible perse verance of the elect ; and consequently if any one has arrived at the knowledge that he is one of the elect, he cannot but have the most complete assurance of his own safety. And these notions are, not without some probable grounds at least, re garded by many as pernicious in the extreme, — as naturally leading to careless and arrogant confidence, spiritual pride, re laxation of virtuous efforts, and indulgence of vicious propensi ties. They have accordingly labored to repel this danger by dwelling much and sedulously on the uncertainty, even to the last, of the state of even the best Christian ; and of the possi bility^ of his faUing even from the most confirmed state of grace and holiness. 1 See Appendix to Logic, Article " Possible." ON PERSEVERANCE AND ASSURANCE. 1 29 § II. It should be remembered, however, that we may, in our extreme caution against one danger, fall into the opposite. Presumptuous confidence, and careless ¦*e™fjo^°"i*!fe 4°"' security, are indeed evils to be carefully guarded '""" ^p"" '<^'"' '» .' ' ., ^ an opposite danger. against ; but they are not the only evUs to be ap prehended: despondency, and, what is more likely to occur, deadness of the affections in all that relates to religion, and a total aversion of the mind towards it, may be generated, in some persons at least, by dweUing too much and too earnestly on the chances of ultimate failure. It should be remembered, too, that the doctrines of perse verance in godliness and of assurance of salvation, in some sense or other, have received the fuU sanction of the Apostle Paul ; nor would he so often and so strongly have expressed his grateful exultation in the spiritual state of his converts, and his full confidence that the " good work begun in them " would ultimately be completed, had he not considered the exhibition of these cheering and encouraging prospects as highly edify ing and conducive to their Christian progress. And I cannot but think that his example in this point has been too Uttle at tended to by some writers, who overlook the dangers on one side, while they overrate those on the other ; which at the same time they do not take the most effectual way to obviate. It is not enough that they express the fullest confidence in God's fulfilment of his promises to aU who are not wanting on their part. To one whose mind is disposed to serious thought- fulness, aU doubts respecting his final salvation (however well convinced he may be that if he fail of it the fault will be his own) — doubts which must imply the apprehension of the unspeakably horrible alternative — cannot but suggest (in pro portion as they prevail) the wish that Christianity were un true, — that this Ufe were the whole of his existence, rather than 130 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. that the remotest risk of such an alternative should be incurred.' And a wish of this kind is utterly at variance with such a state of mind as, according to Paul, the Christian's ought to be. For it must not be imagined that a wish relative to something which (as in the present case) does not at all depend on our choice, must, therefore, be whoUy inoperative and unimportant. No man's wishes can indeed make a reUgion false ; they may even not cause him to disbeUeve it ; but they may yet very easily lead him, without any deliberate design, habituaUy to with draw his thoughts from a painfully alarming subject. There is a propensity in the human mind (which, however unreason able and absurd, is instinctive, and almost unavoidable) to tum away, insensibly, more and more, from the contemplation of that which is unpleasant. Nor will such feelings of dread, distaste, and aversion as have been alluded to, be necessarUy confined (as at first sight one might suppose) to men who are knowingly leading such a Ufe as can afford them Uttle or no just ground of hope in the gospel promises. For it should be remembered that the apprehension of suffering is so incomparably more keen than the anticipation of gratification, — so faint and feeble are our conceptions of happiness compared with those of misery, — that the least admixture of a dread of any very ter rible evil, wiU, when reaUy impressed on the mind, more than counterbalance a far greater amount of favorable hopes ; and, consequently, to a thoughtful mind, the idea of certain annihi- 1 It is to be observed, that when I speak of the horror of being in any dmCbt, or of apprehending any risk, contemplating any chance, of this or that evil, etc., I mean absolute, not hypothetical or conditional risk, possibility, probability, etc. ; for this latter does not occasion any uneasiness. A man is shocked, for in stance, at the idea of the remotest risk of being overwhelmed in the sea, or of perishing with hunger; but he knows that when walking on the seashore he would be probably overwhelmed if he should stay there till the tide came up; and that he would be starved if he should reilise to take the food that is before him : but this (as it may be called) hypothetical danger gives him uo uneasiness at all. ON PERSEVERANCE AND ASSURANCE. 131 lation would appear far preferable to the remotest chance of endless misery. Now it is with those of a thoughtful turn that we are con cerned in the present question. As for the great mass of the careless and worldly, they are, indeed, for the most part, far too confident of salvation ; but their confidence commonly results from a vague, general, un weighed notion of God's mercy — not from any predestinarian persuasion of their being selected from the rest of mankind, and ordained to persevere in hoUness, under the constant guidance of the divine Spirit. They need, indeed, to be, if possible, alarmed and filled with apprehension ; but it is a far different kind of alarm they need from that of which we have been speaking. They need to be warned of the dangers attendant on a careless, not on an active and zeal ous Christian life, — of the danger, not of falling />o»i a state of grace, but of never striving to be in such a state, — of the danger of losing heaven ; not by turning from the service of God, but by not turning from the service of sin. Their false security arises, not from their dwelling with too confident expectation on the glories of a better world, but from their thinking too lit tle, or not at aU, of any world but this. Let such be alarmed, by all means possible, into a just sense of the ruin to which they are hastening by taldng no pains to lead a Christian life : and to urge such a ground of alarm will have no tendency to dishearten those who are conscious of an earnest desire and endeavor to Uve to God. And the more confidence is expressed of the final success of those who wUl come to Christ, and set themselves to work out their own salvation, the more wiU the sinner be encouraged to begin in earnest, and pursue with vigor, the great work of reformation. § III. But is there, then, it may be asked, no " fear and trembUng" to be felt by all men in working out their salvation? 132 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. Can a man be exempt from aU danger of excessive and pre sumptuous confidence? Undoubtedly such a Mode in which both dangers-are to danger Is always, and by every one, to be sed ulously guarded against; but it wUl be best guarded against, not by seeking to lower the Christian's hopes, but by connecting his confidence with his own unremitting efforts, — by striving to estabUsh in his thoughts an inseparable combination between the idea of the happiness he looks for ward to, and that of the requisite exertions on his part. The fuUest confidence of attaining any object, if the attainment of it be stUl regarded as dependent on our own endeavors, and if that confidence be grounded on a firm resolution to use those endeavors, can never lead to negligence and inactivity.' The Christian who is earnestly striving to be led by the Holy Spirit, and to " grow in grace " daUy, must not be told, indeed, that he cannot turn aside from the right path if he would, — that it is out of his power to faU into a Ufe of sin ; but that " fear and trembUng " which I conceive Paul to have in tended, — the conviction, namely, that our care and dUigence are never to be laid aside even to the end, — wiU not lessen such confidence as proceeds on the full determination to retain that diUgent care ; nor wiU it dash with any mixture of gloomy apprehensions the joyful anticipations with which such a Chris tian looks forward to a future life. And since this inspiriting confidence is evidently calculated to produce a good practical effiact, hence it is, perhaps, that some who hold those notions relative to predestination and election which were adverted to in the last Essay, are led to suppose, (contrary to what I have there maintained, § V.) that these pecuUar doctrines are practical. For, men who are not much accustomed to attentive and accurate reflection, are easily led to confound together two things perfectly distinct ; namely, first, 1 See Note A, at the end of this Essay. ON PERSEYERAifCE AND ASSURANCE. 133 a man's practical confidence, personally, as to his own final sal vation ; and, secondly, the beUef that a decree has gone forth respecting every man, placing each in the list either of the elect who cannot fail of salvation, or of the reprobate who cannot attain to it. Now these two persuasions are in nowise necessa rUy connected. A man may hold either of them without the other. On the one hand, any one's joyful anticipations in re spect of his own case (which have a practical tendency) are not, as I have above shown, anything peculiar to the views of the Calvinistic school respecting election ; on the other hand, these views have, as has also been shown, whether true or false, no practical tendency, and do not even necessarily imjily any thing cheering and consolatory. For, a man's conviction that every one's destiny is fixed for good or evil can afford him no comfort, unless he is assured that his own is the favorable des tiny. Many indeed do combine these two persuasions ; but still they are two, and distinct, and may be disunited. Nor is the number smaU of those who are naturaUy of a temper over- timid, anxious, and unreasonably desponding, — such as need encouragement ; but are too often denied, both by Calvinists and Arminians, such encouragement as their case calls for. § IV. We may learn, not only from the apostle's precepts relative to Christian trust and " joy in the Holy „ ^ . •^ ./ .^ Confirmation of Ghost," but also from his example, as recorded "'= ¦''«" ''"= «»- ken, from the ex- in the Acts of the Apostles, in concerns of a ompis! of Paurs conduct, and from different nature, that he at least did not consider that of men in gen- the active and circumspect employment of means inconsistent with the most undoubting certainty as to the event — even a certainty founded on immediate precise revelation from heaven. Let any one read the account of what befell him whUe imprisoned at Jerusalem, and he wiU find him as sured, by a supernatural vision, of his deUverance from the 12 13'! WHATELY'S ESSAYS. then present danger : " Be of good cheer, Paul ; for thou must bear witness of me also at Rome." Yet when the designs of the conspirators to murder him came to his knowledge, he took every precaution (by sending to warn the chief captain) that prudent apprehension could suggest.'^ Again he was fa^ vored, on the occasion of the shipwreck, with a like supernatu ral assurance that he, being destined by his Master to arrive at Rome, should be saved from the peril of the sea ; and, more over, that his companions should be spared also for his sake,^ and should come safe to land ; yet immediately after, we find him using and suggesting every precautionary means that could have occurred to the most doubting and fearful. It was through Paul's presence of mind that the mariners were withheld from deserting the ship, and depriving the passengers of their need ful aid : " Then said Paul, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved." ^ Was it, then, that he doubted, in this or in the former case, the supernatural assurance he had received ? Surely not ; but he regarded that very assurance as grounded on the supposition that he himself should employ aU those regular means which he on his part was ready and fully re solved to employ. His exertions (which he was conscious of being determined to use) formed the hypothesis (if I may so speak) on which the divine promise proceeded ; and he evi dently judged it possible that he might, in one sense of the phrase, lose his life at Jerusalem, or in the shipwreck ; that is, it was in his power to cast away his Ufe if he chose not to use the requisite exertions ; but such a possibUity as this could not lead to any doubt or distressing apprehension. So, also, when (1 Cor. ch. 9) he describes himself as " bringing his body into subjection, lest he should be a castaway," he is not expressing any painful anticipation of being a castaway, because he does not at all anticipate that relaxation of his exertion and vigi lance which would lead to such a result. 1 Acts xxiii. 17. 2 Acts xxvii. 22. 3 Acts xxvii. 81. ON PERSEVERANCE AND ASSURANCE. 135 Nor is this a distinction too refined for any but the highest and most perfect order of minds ; on the contrary, experience shows that it is within the reach of the most ordinary capacity. Nothing, indeed, is more common than the expression of a full conviction as to what some person's conduct will be on some particular occasion, — that conviction being grounded on the supposition that his disposition as to the point in question is fully ascertained, and that it is a matter dependLag on his own free choice. " Such a one is sure" it is said, " to act in this manner ; " "he is incapable of doing so and so." And when we thus prophesy another's conduct, we are evidently exempt from all danger of mistake, supposing we are originally correct in our judgment as to the other's incUnation, and as to his being free to follow that incUnation ; and yet, though it is in a certain sense " impossible " that he should act otherwise, so far is tliis anticipation of his conduct from implying that he is powerless, or under restraint, that it proceeds on the very supposition of his being left perfectly free. And, again, with respect to one's own conduct : that confi dence of success necessarily diminishes exertion, is notoriously the reverse of truth. Every general seeks to inspire his sol diers with the firmest confidence of victory, — which expe rience proves to be the best incentive to those exertions that are requisite to insure it. Many a man, from having been per suaded by omens or by the predictions of astrologers that he is fated to attain some great object, has, in consequence, instead of being luUed into carelessness by this beUef, been excited to the most laborious and unwearied efforts — such as perhaps he would not otherwise have thought of making — for the attain ment of his object. The Macbeth of Shakspeare may be appealed to as an ex ample even more convincing than that of any single individual of real history, — if, at least, it be admitted that Shakspeare in 136 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. his delineations of character is true to nature. For, if so, they must be conformable to general nature ; and each character must be a representative, if not of man universally, at least of ,?ome class of men. A real individual, on the contrary, may chance to be an exception to all general rules ; but such a person could not be introduced into a drama without bringing censure on the poet as guilty of a departure from nature.-' Now Macbeth is evidently both prompted in the first instance to aim at the crown, and fortified to go through with his attempt, by the pre diction of the witches. We might abstractedly have supposed that he would even have been withheld — had he previously had the design — from the perpetration of a crime he abhorred, by the consideration that it must be needless, since it was in fallibly decreed that he should be king. Once, and only once, the thought occurs to him, — " If Chance will have me king, why Chance may crown me, without my stir ; " but, far from acting on this view, rational as it appears, his conduct is throughout in direct opposition to it. It has been said — though not, I think, correctly — that, in cases of this kind, the reason why belief in fate does not lead to inactivity is because it is inoperative. It does not indeed operate in the same way in which it would in some persons. There are many who would be deterred from incurring guUt or danger or toil for the sake of a kingdom, by their being fully convinced of being fated to attain to it. But others are led by this very belief to use efforts which they otherwise would not have used. Now, surely it is not correct to call that belief in operative which does palpably lead to results, merely because it seems to us strange that such should be the result. The common sense, even of the simple and unlearned Chris tian, will be sufficient to show him, and show him practically, the distinction between that vain confidence which leads to 1 See remarks on the " Plausible," Elements of Rhetoric, Fart 1. ON PERSEVERANCE AND ASSURAITCE. 137 in activity, and a rational confidence connected with exertion ; provided a due attention is but paid to those ambiguities of language which have been already noticed. In fact, he may be easily taught that the distinction is one which he acts upon continually in the ordinary affairs of Ufe. When returning, for instance, from his daily labor to his home, he feels a perfect certainty (supposing his life and limbs to be spared) that he shall reach his home : it is an event of which, practicaUy, he feels no more doubt than of the setting of the sun ; but he does not therefore stand still, and neglect to use the means, because he is confident of the event : on the contrary, the very ground of his confidence is the fuU determination he feels to press forward towards his object. In like manner (it may be explained to him) it was in one sense possible, though in another sense impossible, that Paul should, even at his last trial, have deserted and renounced his Saviour ; that is, it was completely in his power. It depended on himself whether he would forsake his Lord, and forfeit his rich inheritance, or " lay hold on eternal life " which was just before him : so that in one sense it was true that he might faU and perish eternally ; but he was conscious that though he had the power, he had not the will thus to apostatize ; and there fore fully trusting in his Saviour's promises, and in a resolution supported by divine aid, he pours forth (in his Second Epistle to Timothy) his exulting confidence of persevering even to the end : " The time of my departure is at hand. I have foughj; a good fight ; I have finished my course. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shaU give me at that day ! " It cannot be denied, however, that there is practical danger in the tone in which some preachers dwell on such topics as the " final perseverance of God's people," the " triumph of faith,'' — which, they say, is sure, if it be a true, saving faith, to prevaQ 12* 138 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. in the end, though God suffers his saints to fall into grievous sins purposely, " in order to humble them." ^ AU this may be, and certainly has been in some cases (whether the recorded one of Oliver CromweU be authentic or not),^ interpreted to mean that if a man has been at any time satisfied, from his own feelings, of being in a state of grace, he will be infaUibly saved, and is not to regard any sin or course of sin he may subse quently fall into as endangering his final acceptance. That this is not the meaning of many who preach in the man ner I have described, I am well aware. But then, they are bound distinctly to warn " him that thinketh he standeth, to take heed lest he faU." They should explain that a saving faith can only be known to be such, either by the possessor of it, or by others, from its bringing forth fruits ; and that, by asserting the per severance, or repentance and return to God (in case of falling into sin) of all God's people, they mean that those who faU away and do not return, were deceived in supposing themselves to have ever been, in this sense, God's people ; and that no man's state can be properly judged of but by his leading a Christian or an unchristian Ufe, or can be perfectly known except at the last day. All this, it may be said, would be but a circuitous way of stating, in the form of its converse, the proposition that " fle that endureth unto the end, the same shaU be saved." But this, it is evident, must be the real meaning of those who use the above-mentioned expressions, without intending to teach Anti nomian doctrines. But, as was observed in the preceding Essay (§ V.), it is not from dwelUng on general decrees, but from the appUcation to each individual, or each description of individuals, of such 1 1 have heard this doctrine set forth in those very words, in a sermon. 2 O. Cromwell is said to have anxiously asked, when on his deathbed, whether it were possible for the elect to fall finally ; and being answered in the negative, replied, " Then I am safe ; for I am certain that I was once in a state of grace." ON PERSEVERANCE AND ASSURANCE. 139 admonitions or encouragements as suit the actual apparent condition of each, — it is from this alone that practical good results are to be hoped. Let the careless Christian, then, be roused and alarmed, — let the presumptuous be warned and repressed ; but let no dis tressing and disheartening doubts be implanted in the breast of the zealous, though humble and timid foUower of Christ : only, let his confidence be always made to rest on the supposition of his own unremitting care and earnest endeavor ; whUe, at the same time, it is made to rest, also, not on his own unaided strength, but on the promised support of Him who " worketh in us both to wUl and to do." Let him be encouraged to rejoice at the bright prospect set before him ; but to rejoice in the spiritual strength insured to him by the Lord, who " never faileth them that seek him." " Rejoice" (says the apostle to such a Chris tian) " Rejoice in the Lord alway ; and again I say. Rejoice .... being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of the Lord Jesus Christ." 140 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. NOTE TO ESSAY IV. Note A— Page 132. Theke is a term applied In Scripture to persons who embraced the Christian faith for which our language affords no adequate transla tion. We have not In English, as there is in Greek, a. present parti. ciple passive ; and this deficiency often drives us into awkward and sometimes obscure circumlocution ; thus, if rinrroyLivos is rendered " one who is beaten," this might be understood to relate to what is past, and complete (which would be rervfifisi/os') • but it signifies prop erly, though iu uncouth English, " one who is being beaten." The particular term I am now alluding to is (rmfo/ieVoi : " The Lord added ' to the church dally such as should be saved ; " rohs au^oiidyovs : (Acts ii. 47) the word rendered "such as should be saved" (a rendering which has perhaps led some readers who cannot, or do not, study the original, to suppose that absolute predestination is implied In this ' passage) signifies merely " persons coming into the way of salvation ; " namely, by embracing Christianity. It Is to be observed, however, by the way, that there are many expressions in Scripture which do not even Imply any fuU convic tion in the writer's mind that a particular event will take place, or has taken place ; though, taken strictly, they might seem to imply this, and have, probably, been often so understood. Instances may be found, probably, in all languages, — but I think they are particularly common in Greek, — of the same terms being used in speaking of an object proposed, and of an object attained: a full design and at tempt to do anything. Is often expressed In the same manner as if It had been actually done. Thus, In the Ajax of Sophocles (to take an Instance from a profane writer) Agamemnon charges Ajax with having murdered him ; that Is, having done all that in him lay to accomplish that purpose, though his design was frustrated by extra neous Impediments. Thus, Paul says of himself (as our translation expresses it in Acts xxvi. 11) that he " compelled " (that is, was com pelling, urged) the Christians to blaspheme, — not meaning to imply that they did so. And, indeed, nothing is more common In most of the ancient writers than to speak of a person's having done this or ON PERSEVERANCE AND ASSURANCE. 141 that, that is, having been doing it, — having formed the design, and actually set about it, though the attempt was stopped. In this sense the Lord Is repeatedly said to have delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, to bring them into the land of Canaan, which he had prom ised to their forefathers ; and yet the whole generation perished in the wilderness, through their own refusal, when summoned, to take possession of the promised land ; and a considerable portion of the promised land was never occupied even by their posterity, through their own neglect to drive out the nations whose territory had been allotted to them. In this case the positive and unquahfied declara tions of Scripture not only do not imply any compulsion exercised on the Israelites, but do not even imply a foreknowledge that the events would take place ; but merely that the Lord had performed his part, and had left it completely In their power to bring about the events in question. So, also, many of the expressions of the sacred writers. In which they speak of the holiness of life here and eternal life hereafter, pro vided by the grace of God for those whom they are addressing, not only do not relate to any absolute predestination to reward or irre sistible control ofthe wiU, but do not necessarily imply, according to a fair construction of the language, even so much as a perfect confi dence in the writers that these objects will, in fact, be attained ; but merely that such Is the design and tendency of the gospel dispensa tion, — that God had placed these things within their reach.-' I am not contending, be it observed, that this absolute predestina tion and irresistible grace may not, in fad, be a part of the gospel scheme in the divine mind ; but only that no inference to that effect can be fairly drawn from the words of the apostles. They may be truths, but they are not revealed truths ; they may belong to the gospel scheme, but not to the gospel revelation. I See the last Essay in tliis volume. ESSAY Y. ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. There are very many passages relative to the Mosaic Law occurring in the writings of the Apostle Paul (especially in the Epistle to the Romans, and in those to the Galatians and to the Hebrews), whose most obvious and simple interpreta tions at least would seem to imply the entire abolition of that law by the establishment of the gospel. For instance, Rom. vii. 6 : " But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held ; " — or, according to another, and perhaps better reading, which makes no material difference, " being dead to that law wherein we were held." And these passages constitute one class of those from which such perni cious consequences have been sometimes deduced, and oftener, perhaps, apprehended, as have occasioned the writings of this apostle to be regarded by some persons with suspicion and alarm. A few, and but a few, have openly inferred — a greater number probably have incautiously led their hearers to infer — from Paul's declarations relative to our justification " by faith without the deeds of the law," that the Christian is under no obligation to the practice of virtue — nor incurs, if he be one of the elect, any spiritual danger from the commission of sin ; and the dread of this Antinomian system has occasioned others, as I have before remarked, to withdraw their own and their hearers ' attention, either from the writings of this apostle alto- ON THE ABOLITION OE THE LAW. 143 gether, or from those parts of them which are thought to coun tenance such a doctrine. § I. That the virtuous or vicious conduct of a Christian have nothing to do with his final salvation, and are indifferent in God's sight, has been inferred system snpposea from total abrogation, under the gospel scheme, ^^^°^ dlcTamtion of the Mosaic law ; which abrogation, it is con- '¦^''""^ totiicabo- ° ' litionofthelaw. tended, the apostle plainly declares, without any limitation or exception, — any distinction between moral and ceremonial, or civil precepts. On the other side is urged the strenuous and repeated inculcation of moral duties, not only by the other sacred writers, but by Paul himself as much as any; together with his earnest and express denial of the licentious consequences which some might be disposed to infer from his doctrines. For instance, " What shall we .say, then? shall we continue in sin that grace may abound ? God forbid!" And again, " Shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace ? God forbid ! " And hence it is concluded that that abolition of the law which is spoken of relates only to the ceremonial and civil precepts ; and that the moral law remains binding on all men forever. But this mode of stating the case, though substantially cor rect, leaves a considerable difficulty unsolved : it points out, indeed, the inconsistency of the Antinomian scheme with one portion of the apostle's writings ; but it leaves unexplained, and, consequently, open to unfavorable suspicion, the other portion before alluded to : it fails, in short, to reconcile the writer with himself. For, it cannot be denied that he does speak, frequently and strongly, of the termination of the Mosaic law, and of the exemption of Christians from its obligations, without ever limiting and qualifying the assertion, — without even hinting at a distinction between one part which is abroga- 144 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. ted, and another which remains in full force. It cannot be said that he had in his mind the ceremonial law alone,' and was alluding merely to the aboUtion of that ; for in the very passages in question he makes such allusions to sin as evidently show that he had the moral law in his mind ; as, for instance, where he says, "The law was added because of transgressions," — " by the lawwas the knowledge of sin ; " with many other such expressions. And it is remarkable that even when he seems to feel himself pressed with the mischievous practical conse quences which either had been, or he is sensible might be, drawn from his doctrines, he never attempts to guard against these by limiting his original assertion, — by declaring that though part of the law was at an end, still, part continued to be binding; but he always inculcates the necessity of moral conduct on some different ground. For instance, " What shall we say, then ? shall we continue in sin that grace may abound ? God forbid I " He does not then add that a part of the Mosaic law remains in force ; but urges this consideration, " How shall we, who are dead to sin, live any longer therein ? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized in Jesus Christ were baptized into his death ? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death ; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." " Knowing this, that our ola man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be de stroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." And again, " Shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace ? God forbid ! Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto right eousness ? " " being, then, made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." And such, also, is his tone in every passage relating to the same subject. 1 See Note A, at the end of this Essay. ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 145 § II. Now let us but adopt the obvious interpretation of the apostle's words, and admit the entire abroga- Obligations of con- tlon, according to him, of the Mosaic law, con- science not weak- eluding that it was originally designed for the tian's freedom from Israelites alone, and that its dominion over them ceased when the gospel system was established, and we shall find that this concession does not go a step towards introducing the Antinomian conclusion that moral conduct is not required for Christians. For it is evident that the natural distinctions of right and wrong, which conscience points out, must remain where they were. These distinctions, not having been intro duced by the Mosaic law, cannot, it is evident, be overthrown by its removal, any more than the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem impUed the destruction of the Mount Moriah whereon it was built. The apostle does indeed speak in some passages of the law as having been a guide and instructor in matters of morality ; as where he says, " I had not known sin but by the law ; " but that this must not be understood, in the fullest extent, as implying that no moral obUgation could exist, or could be understood, independent of the Mosaic revelation, is evident, not only from the nature of the case, but from his own remarks in the same epistle relative to " the Grentiles, which have not the law, " being capable of " doing by nature the things contained in the law .... their conscience also healing witness, and their thoughts accusing or else excusing one another ; " and of their " knowing " (in cases where they committed sin) " that they who do such things are worthy of death." To say, therefore, that no part of the Jewish law is binding on Christians, is very far from leaving them at liberty to disregard aU moral duties. For, in fact, the very definition of a moral duty implies its universal obUgation independent of aU enactment. The precepts respectuag sacrifices, for in stance, and other ceremonial observances, we caU positive or- 13 146 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. dinances ; meaning, that the things in question became duties because they were commanded. The commandment to love one's neighbor as oneself, on the contrary, we call a moral precept, on the very ground that this was a thing commanded because it was right. And it is evident that what was right or wrong in itself before the law existed, must remain such after it is abro gated. Before the commandments to do no murder, and to honor one's parents, had been delivered from Mount Sinai, Cain was cursed for killing his brother, and Ham for dishonor ing his father ; which crimes, therefore, could not cease to be such, at least, as any consequence of the abolition of that law. Nor need it to be feared that to proclaim an exemption from the Mosaic law should leave men without any moral guide, and at a loss to distinguish right and wrong ; since, after all, the light of reason is that to which man must be left, in the interpretation of that very law. For Moses, it should be re membered, did not write three distinct books, — one of the cere monial law, one of the civil, and a third of the moral ; nor does he hint at any such distinction. When, therefore, any one is told that a part of the Mosaic precepts are binding on us, — namely, the moral ones, — if he ask which are the moral pre cepts, and how to distinguish them from the ceremonial and the civil, with which they mingled, the answer must be, that his conscience, if he consult it honestly, will determine that point. So fiir, consequently, from the moral precepts of the law being, to the Christian, necessary as a guide to his judgment in de termining what is right and wrong, on the contrary this moral judgment is necessary to determine what are the moral precepts of Moses. The study, indeed, of the moral law of Moses is profitable for instruction, and may serve to aid our judgment in some doubtful cases that may occur, provided we are careful to bear in mind all the circumstances under which each precept was delivered. ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 147 For there is a presumption' that what was commanded or pro hibited by Moses is right or wrong in itself, unless some reason can be assigned which makes our case at present different from that of the Israelites, — some circumstance of distinction, which either leaves us more at large than they, or (as is oftener the case) caUs for a higher and purer moral practice from us. But to consult a code of moral precepts for instruction, is very dif- erent from referring to that as a standard, and rule of conduct. If the notion, then, that such as are not under the Mosaic law, are, on that account, exempt from all moral obligations, be rejected as utterly groundless ; and if, consequently, no prac tical danger or absurdity be involved in the supposition of that law being fully abrogated, the conclusion that it is so abrogated will hardly be any longer open to doubt ; being evidently the most agreeable to the apostle's expressions in their obvious, natural, and unrestrained sense.^ And, indeed, the very law itself indicates, on the face of it, that the whole of its precepts were intended for the Israelites exclusively (on which suppo sition they cannot, of course, be, by their own authority, bind ing on Christians) ; not only from the intermixture of civil and ceremonial precepts with moral, but from the very terms in which even these last are delivered. For instance, there can not be any duties more clearly of universal obligation than that of the worship of the one true God alone, and that of honoring I See Elements of Ehetoric: " Presumptions." 2 I am inclined to believe that one reason which makes some persons reluctant to acknowledge the total abolition of the Mosaic law, is the notion that the sanctity ofthe " Christian Sabbath " depends on the fourth commandment, and that, consequently, the reverence due to the Lord's Day would be destroyed, or impaired by our admitting the Ten Commandments to be no longer binding. But a little reflection will satisfy any candid mind that there is no ground for any such suspicion, and that all the various opinions respecting the Lord's Day, however reconcilable with each other, are all perfectly reconcilable with the belief of the abrogation of the Mosaic law.— Ou this point 1 have offered some remarks in Note B, at the end of this Essay. 148 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. parents ; yet the precepts for both of these are so delivered as to address them to the children of Israel exclusively : " I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage ; thou shalt have none other gods but me." And again, " Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may he long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." The simplest and clearest way, then, of stating the case with respect to the present question, is, to lay down, on the one hand, that the Mosaic law was limited both to the nation of the Israel ites, and to the period before the gospel ; but, on the other hand, that the natural principles of morality, which (among other things) it inculcates, are, from their own character, of universal obligation, — that as, on the one hand, " no Christian man [as our Article expresses it] is free from the observance of those commandments which are called moral," so, on the other hand, it is not because they are commandments of the Mosaic law that he is bound to obey them, but because they are moral. Indeed, there are numerous precepts in the laws, for instance, of Solon and Mahomet, from a conformity to which no Chris tian can pretend to exemption ;, yet, though we are bound to practise almsgiving, and several other duties there enjoined, and to abstain from murder, for instance, and false-witness — which these lawgivers forbid — no one would say that a part of the Koran is binding on Christians ; since their conduct is de termined, not by the authority of the Koran, but by the nature of the case. § III. The remarks, however, which have been offered, may Importance of perhaps bc admitted as just, by some who will g'atton "n'a right J^t be dlsposcd to doubt their importance : " The '"'"¦• proposed statement," they may say, "of the character of a Christian's moral obUgations, differs from the ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 149 one opposed to it, merely as a statement ; there is substantially no difference, as long as it is fully admitted that the Christian is not exempt from the rules of moraUty." But it should be re membered that the difference between an accurate and an inac curate statement of any doctrine, and of the grounds on which it rests, is of no slight importance, if not to those who embrace the doctrine, at least in reference to such as are disposed to reject or to doubt it. It is giving a manifest advantage to the advocates of error, to maintain a true conclusion in such a form, and on such grounds, as leave it open to unanswerable objec tions. And this has been particularly the case in the present instance ; for the only shadow of probabiUty which has ever appeared to exist on the Antinomian side, has arisen from the question having been made to turn on this point, whether the Mosaic law be entirely abolished, or not. One who denies that it is, cannot but find a difficulty, at least, in reconciling his position with many passages of Scripture ; whereas, if we ad mit the premise which the Antinomians contend for, but show how utterly unconnected it is with their extravagant conclu sion, — if we show that, though the Mosaic law does not bind us, our moral obligations exist quite independent of that law, — the monstrous position that the moral conduct of Christians has nothing to do with their final doom is at once exposed as totally untenable and absurd. § IV. It maybe thought, however, that real, decided specula tive Antinomians are so rare, and, moreover, are Speculative less so far beyond the reach of sober reasoning, that common tiian prac tical Antinomians. it is scarcely worth while to devise arguments for their refutation. And it must be admitted that the doc trines in question are not at all prevalent — a circumstance which is very remarkable, and strongly indicates their intrin sic improbability ; for a system so evidently favorable to the 13* 150 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. natural indolence and sinfulness of man as that which makes our eternal destiny entirely independent of our moral conduct, could not have failed to become highly popular, among a large class at least, were it not utterly repugnant to reason. A frightfully large portion of the world are, undeniably, practical Antinomians ; that is, they live as if they did not expect to be hereafter accountable for their conduct ; and yet it will be found that, in theory, very few of these adopt the Antinomian hypothesis, which would be the most effectual in quieting the conscience of the sinner — a circumstance which furnishes most powerful testimony against the truth of that hypothesis. But however small may be the danger of the Antinomian heresy gaining ground, the right interpretation of Scripture relative to this point is not, therefore, the less important. The opinion that the gospel exempts men from moral obliga- gation is not the error which I have principally in view, but another, much more prevalent, — that of suspecting that Paul lends some support to such an opinion ; and, consequently, of deprecating the authority, or discouraging the study, of his writings. It is on this account chiefly that I have endeavored to show, in this and two former Essays, how far this apostle is from affording any countenance to certain doctrines, the advocates of which usually appeal to his authority. But another (and perhaps still more important) use may be made of the view which has been now taken. The apostle, we find, while he earnestly contends for the entire abolition of the Mosaic law, still recognizes the authority of that moral law which is written on man's heart. This consideration not only deprives Antinomians of all shadow cf support for their system, and removes the prejudice which might exist against the apostle, but it also leads us to reflect on his method of inculcating moral duties, and on his reasons for adopting it. ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 151 If men are taught to regard the Mosaic law (with the ex ception of the civil and ceremonial ordinances) Liability of men as their appointed rule of life, they will be dis- to content tiiem- posed to lower the standard of Christian morality, observance of ex- by contenting themselves with a literal adherence to '"™ """""^ =• the express commands of ihat law ; or, at least, merely to enlarge that code, by the addition of such precise moral precepts as they find distinctly enacted in the New Testament. Now this was very far from being the apostle's view of the Christian life. Not only does the gospel require a morality in many respects higher and more perfect in itself than the law, but it places moraUty, universally, on higher grounds. Instead of precise rules, it furnishes subUme principles of conduct ; leaving the Christian to apply these, according to his own discretion, in each case that may arise, and thus to be " a law unto himself." Gratitude for the redeeming love of God in Christ, with min gled veneration and affection for the person of our great Master,'^ and an exalted emulation, leading us to tread in his steps, — an ardent longing to behold his glories, and to enjoy his presence in the world to come, with an earnest effort to pre pare for that better world, — love towards our brethren for His sake who died for us and them, — and, above all, the thought that the Christian is a part of " the temple^ of the Holy Ghost," who dwelleth in the church, even the spirit of Christ, with out which we are none of his," a temple which we are bound to keep undefiled, — these, and such as these, are the gospel principles of morality, into a conformity with which the Chris tian is to fashion his heart and his life; and they are such principles as the Mosaic dispensation could not furnish. The Israelites, as not only living under a revelation which had but a shadow of the good things of the gospel, but also as a dull, and gross-minded, and imperfectly civilized people, in a condi- 1 See Essay III., First Series. 2 See Bishop Hinds's Three Temples. 152 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. tion corresponding to that of chUdhood, were in few things left to their own moral discretion, but were furnished with precise rules in most points of conduct. These answered to the exact regulations under which children are necessarily placed, and which are gradually relaxed as they advance towards maturity : not at all on the ground that good conduct is less required of men than of children ; but that they are expected to be more capable of regulating their own conduct by their own discretion, and of acting upon principle. § V. When, then, the Mosaic code was abolished, we find no Principles sni)- othcr systcm of rules substituted in its place. unde'r\i?e' /o^spel ^ur Lord and his apostlcs enforced such duties dispensation. g^g ^ere the most liable to be neglected, — ¦ cor rected some prevailing errors, — gave some particular direc tions which particular occasions called for, — but laid down no set of rules for the conduct of a Christian. They laid down Christian principles instead ; they sought to implant Christian dispositions. And this is the more remarkable, inasmuch as we may be sure, from the nature of man, that precise regula tions, even though somewhat tedious to learn, and burdensome to observe, would have been highly acceptable to their con verts.^ Hardly any restraint Is so irksome to man (that is, to " the natural man ") as to be left to his own discretion, yet still required to regulate his conduct according to certain prin ciples, and to steer his course through the intricate channels of life, with a constant vigilant exercise of his moral judgment. It is much more agreeable to human indolence (though at first sight the contrary might be supposed) to have a complete sys- 1 If the Sermon ou the Mount, for instance, had been three tiraes as long, and had consisted, not, as it does, of a delineation of Christian dii^positions, but of a catalogue of minute directions for particular cases, it would doubtless have been more satisfactory to the hearers. But for some further remarks on our Lord's mode of convoying moral instruction, see Essay VII. ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 153 tem of laws laid down, — which are to be observed according to the letter, not to the spirit, and whioh, as long as a man ad heres to them, afford both a consolatory assurance of safety and an unrestrained liberty as to every point not determined by them, — than to be called upon for incessant watchfulness, careful and candid self-examination, and studious cultivation of certain moral dispositions. Accordingly, most, if not all systems of man's devising (whether corruptions of Christianity, or built Tendency to pre- on any other foundation), wUl be found, even in tionr'to'Vrtchfui what appear their most rigid enactments, to be B^if-sovernment. accommodated to this tendency of the human heart. When Ma homet, for instance, enjoined on his disciples a strict fast during a certain period, and an entire abstinence from wine and from games of chance, and the devotion of a precise portion of their property to the poor, — leaving them at liberty, generally, to fol low their own sensual and worldly inclinations, — he imposed a far less severe task on them than if he had required them con stantly to control their appetites and passions, to repress covet ousness, and to be uniformly temperate, charitable, and heavenly- minded. And had Paul been (as a false teacher always will be) disposed to comply with the expectations and wishes which his disciples would naturally form, he would doubtless have referred them to some part of the Mosaic law as their standard of morality, or would have substituted some other system of rules in its place. Indeed, there is a strong reason to think, especially from what we find in 1 Corinthians) that some thing of this nature had actually been desired of him. He seems to have been applied to for more precise rules than he was willing to give, particularly as to the lawfulness of going to idol feasts, and as to several points relative to marriage and celibacy — concerning which, and other matters, he gives briefly such directions as the occasion rendered indispensable, but 154 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. breaks off into exhortations to " use this world as not abusing it," and speedily recurs to the general description of the Chris tian character, and the inculcation of Christian principles. He will not be induced to enter into minute details of things forbidden and permitted, enjoined and dispensed with ; and even when most occupied in repelling the suspicion that gospel liberty exempts the Christian from moral obligation, instead of retaining or framing anew any system of prohibitions and in junction', he urges upon his hearers the very consideration of their being exempt from any such childish trammels as a reason for their aiming at a more perfect holiness of life, on purer and more generous motives. " Sin," he says, " shall not have domin ion over you ; for ye are not under the law, but under grace ; " and he perpetually incites them to walk " worthy of their voca tion," on the ground of their being " bought with a price," and bound to " live unto Him who died for them ; "—"as risen with Christ " to a new life of hoUness, — exhorted to " set their affections on things above, not on things on the earth ; " — as "living sacrifices" to God; — as "the temple of the Holy Ghost," called upon to keep God's dwelling-place undefiled, and to abound in all " the fruits of the Spirit ; " — and as " being delivered from the law, that we should serve in newness ofthe spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." He who seeks, then (as many are disposed to do), either in the Old Testament or in the New for a precise code of laws by which to regulate his conduct, mistakes the character of our religion. It is indeed an error, and a ruinous one, to think that we may " continue in sin, because we are not under the law but under grace ; " but it is also an error, and a far com moner one, to inquire of the Scriptures, in each case that may occur, what we are strictly bound to do or to abstain from, and to feel secure as long as we transgress no distinct command ment. But he who seeks with sincerity for Christian princi- ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 155 pies will not fail to find them. If we endeavor, through the aid of the Holy Spirit, to trace on our own heart the delineation of the Christian character which the Scriptures present, and to conform all our actions and words and thoughts to that char acter, our heavenly Teacher will enable us to " have a right judgment in all things ; " and we shall be " led by the Spirit " of Christ to follow his steps, and to " purify ourselves even as he is pure," that, " when he shall appear, we may be made like unto him, and may behold him as he is." 156 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. NOTES TO ESSAY V. Note A — Page 144. It appears plainly from the Acts and from the Epistles that the Jewish Christians continued to adhere to the observances and rules of the Levitical law as national customs ; and they did so down to the time, probably, of the taking of Jerusalem and final overthrow of the Jewish polity. (See Acts xviii. 18, and xxi. 24.) To some it has appeared a difficulty to understand why the Apos tle Paul in particular should have not merely allowed this, bnt ap parently even made a point of it, while at the same time, so far from insisting on the Gentile converts observing the ceremonial law, he earnestly protested against their doing so. To them he declared that " if they were circumcised [denoting, I conceive, by that word, the observance, generally, of the ceremonial law] Christ profited them nothing ; " while, on the other hand, he himself made an open display of his strict comphance with the customs and observances of his people. Some might at first sight be led to expect that the principle he lays down — " In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature " — would have led him to disregard altogether the whole question respectino; the ceremonial law, and to leave all men to their own judgment or Inclination. But on more attentive reflection we shall perceive the admirable wisdom of his procedure, and Its exact conformity with the above principle. The ceremonial observances of the law being a matter of perfect Indifference as far as the gospel Is concerned, — neither a part of It, nor contrary to it, — the only way of practically com plying with this principle, was, that. In respect of such observances, every one should remain just as he had been before ; neither adopting nor discontinuing, on becoming a Christian, national customs which Christianity neither enjoins nor forbids, — should " continue [as the apostle expresses it] in his vocation wherein he was called." (See Hinds's History of the Rise of Christianity.) If those who had been accustomed, for Instance, to eat all kinds of meats had begun, on becoming Christians, to abstain from swine's ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 157 flesh, etc., this would have Implied that that abstinence, and other such observances, were regarded by them as a part of Christianity ; It would have implied their attributing some justifying efiioacy to these " works of the law." And the apostle reprobates, accordingly, such an error as most pernicious and unchristian ; saying that he who seeks this justification Is " fallen from grace " (namely, the grace of the gospel), " and that Christ is become of none effect to him." But if, again, any one who was a Jew by nation had departed from their customs on becoming a Christian, he would have implied a belief that those national customs were something contrary to Christian ity, 7 — that there was some Christian virtue in the opposite customs. Now this would have been no less an error than the other ; for the eating, for Instance, of swine's flesh, was no more a part of Christian ity than the abstaining from It. And there was the more need. It may be added, to guard against the latter of these two errors, on account of the prevalence at that time of the heresy of the Gnostics, who taught that the Mosaic law was not of divine origin, but devised either by an evil, or by an infe rior and fallible being (the Demiourgos), and therefore deserving of abhorrence or contempt. When, Indeed, the city and temple had been finally destroyed by the Romans, and the people dispersed, then, and from thenceforward down to the present day, there was no longer the same reason for converted Jews to adhere to those observances which could no longer be regarded as national customs (the national polity being entirely subverted), but rather as badges of a religious persuasion. But during the subsistence of that polity, the example and the ad vice of the apostles tended to leave aU Christians, Jew and Gentile, each " in his vocation wherein he was called ; " neither discontinuing nor adopting any customs that were, as far as regards Christianity, matters of perfect indifference. The most anxious care was taken, and the most admirable wisdom evinced, in guarding men against mixing up with gospel truth any thing — no matter what — that is no part of it ; and in warning them of the several superstitions which, though seemingly opposite, were essentlaUy the same. Note B — Page 147. Several different opinions are to be met with as to the ground on which the observance of the Lord's Day should be maintained ; none 14 —- — 158 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. of which, however, — though they cannot aU be correct, — are in reality at variance with what has been said respecting the abrogation ofthe Levitical law. In the former editions I entered Into an examination of these sev eral opinions, and a defense of the one which appears to me the best founded ; and was thus led Into a discussion, not, I trust, unprofitar ble, but longer than I had originally designed, or than was perhaps warranted by the degree of connection It had with the Immediate subject of the Vth Essay. That dissertation being now separately published under the title of Thoughts on the Sabbath, I have judged it best to refer my readers to It for a fuUer examination of the several questions that have been raised ; confining the present Note chiefly to the one point more immediately relating to the subject now before us ; namely, that (as has been already said) none of the prevaihng opinions, however irreconcilable with each other, are necessarily at variance with the doctrine that the obligations of the Levitical law are at an end. The several opinions respecting the grounds of the observance of the Lord's Day may be classed under four heads : 1. Some hold that the Lord's Day Is essentlaUy a Christian festival, observed in conformity with the practice of the apostles and of their followers In every Christian church from their time downwards ; that it agrees with the Jewish Sabbath only inasmuch as it Is observed on one day In every seven, agreeably to the division of time Into weeks, derived from the Jews, the nation In which Christianity orig inated ; but that It differs from the Jewish Sabbath In being observed on a different day of the week, on a different authority. In a dif ferent manner, and In commemoration of a different event,' — the resurrection of the Lord Jesus on the first day of the week 2. Some hold that the Lord's Day is observed on the authority, not ofthe fourth commandment, but of a precept deUvered to aU mankind at the creation, and which Is alluded to in the beginning of Genesis. 3. The observance of Sunday as a Christian Sabbath Is by some persons derived from the Mosaic law, on the ground of its being one of the moral precepts of that law. 1 The universal observance among Christians, in distant ages and countries, and dilTering in so many points of doctrine and practice, of some Christian fes tivals,— such as Christmas Day, Good Friday, and tho Lord's Day,— is in many points of view a most interesting l^ct. ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 159 4. Lastly, some maintain that the fourth commandment, as a pos itive precept, is binding on Christians ; but that the duties and obli gations pertaining originally to the seventh day were transferred by the authority of the apostles to the first day ; — in short, that they changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Now, each of these different opinions will be found on reflection to be perfectly reconcilable with what I have maintained relative to the abrogation of the Mosaic law. 1. With respect to the first of these opinions this Is obvious. A festival pecuharly and exclusively Christian cannot be In any way affected — any more than the ordinance ofthe Lord's Supper — by the aboHtion of the law of Moses. 2. The same may be said of the second of the opinions noticed. A command delivered at the creation to the whole human race cannot be affected by the abolition of a law deUvered many ages afterwards to the one nation of Israel. 3. A moral precept, again, must, by its own character — because it is a moral precept — be binding on all men, In every age and coun try, independent of any enactment. 4. And those who hold that the obligations of the Sabbath were transferred by the apostles from Saturday to Sunday, — though their doctrine Is extremely liable to be so understood as to imply that the Mosaic law is not abrogated, — yet may perceive on attentive re flection that this conclusion does not necessarily foUow. For this (supposed) transfer of the Sabbath by the apostles would plainly amount f o a reenactment by the divine authority of those apostles ; so that the Christian Sabbath, being thus made to depend on iheir command, cannot be affected by the abrogation of the Levitical law. We all know that when. In secular matters, some law is repealed by a subsequent act, which declares at the same time that such and such a clause of the former law shall, under certain modifications, continue In force, then the clause so modified is binding by virtue of the very act which repealed the original law. Any alteration, there fore, made by the apostles In the Jewish Sabbath (namely, as to the day and the mode of the observance) plainly amounts to an institution by them ofthe Christian Sabbath. Now, the authority of an apostolical institution no one oan con sider as weakened by the abrogation of the Mosaic law. The doctrine in question, however, — though the above Is, I think, the fairest way of considering it, — yet is liable (as has been just ob- 160 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. served) to be so understood — and, I believe, often is so understood — as to nullify all that I have urged respecting the entire abrogation of the Mosaic law, and to estabhsh a principle which, if consistently followed out, would go to subject Christians to all the obligations of that law. I. The first of the opinions alluded to, — that which places the ob- J servance of the Lord's Day wholly on a Christian foundation, — has a strong presumption In Its favor from Its general prevalence among Christians, — even those most widely separated from each other, not only In age and country, but also in their opinions and practices m several other points. With scarcely any exception but that of a portion — certainly a considerable portion — of the Inhabitants of these Islands (and of their American descendants) for about the last two centuries, the opinion I now advert to has been the prevaihng one throughout the whole Christian world. In every age and country. This does not Indeed amount to more than a very strong presump tion of the soundness of the doctrine ; but that it should have been represented as not only unsound, but novel and singular, is quite unaccountable. Of the later divines who have taken this view, the best known is Dr. Paley, whose Moral Philosophy Is In the hands of almost every educated person In the empire. Of our earlier divines, — the Re formers of our church and those who lived near their times, — there were scarcely any who took any other view than that I am now ad verting to ; which, indeed, was In those days so little disputed that most of those writers implied, by their silence on the subject, or their slight and incidental allusions to it, that they did not consider the doctrine as requiring to be defended, or even formally stated. For example, throughout the whole of our Liturgy and Rubric the word Sabbath never once occurs. Our Reformers, there is every rejison to believe, concurred in taking the same view of the obliga tion of the fourth commandment as is set forth in the Catechism extant under the name of Archbishop Cranmer, published in the be ginning of the reign of Edward the Sixth : " The Jews, in the Old Testament, were commanded to keep the Sabbath-day; and they observed It every seventh day, called tho Sabbat, or Satterday. But we Christian men in the New Testament are not bound to such commandments of Moses' law," etc. ete. The reader who would examine further the opinions on this point of our early divines, is referred to Dr. Hcyliu's History of the Sab- ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 161 bath, Baxter's Practical Works (p. 764), Bishop Taylor's Duetor Dubltantlum, Bishop Sanderson's Cases of Conscience, Bishop Bram- hall's Dissertation, etc. II. In reference to the second of the opinions above noticed, which rests the obligation of observing the Lord's Day on a command given at the creation, I so far agree with It as to think It highly probable that some Sabbatical Institution In memory of the creation existed In the patriarchal times. It must have been indeed something less strict than the Mosaic ordinance, else the Sabbaths could not have been " a SIGN between the Lord and the people of Israel," distinguishing them from the other nations ; but that some kind of observance of the seventh day existed prior to the Mosaic law. Is a conclusion reasonably to be drawn (though not to be Insisted on as a necessary article of faith) from the wide diffusion of the custom of dividing time Into weeks, even among the Pagans, whose religion was a cor ruption of the patriarchal Even in the agreement of several differ ent nations In dedicating each day of the week to some one of their false gods, some trace may be perceived of the true origin of the hebdomadal division.' But the question is rather speculative than practical. The precept. If any such was originally deUvered, of observing the last day of the week as a Sabbath, in memory of the close of the creation, never In fact has heen observed by Christians, with the exception of a very small number. In the early churches, of men who were tinctured with Judaism. And if a law designed to be universal and perpetual had been dehvered, God would surely never have left it to be In ferred by uncertain conjecture, but would have plainly recorded It. To leave men in doubt what their obligations are, is always reckoned one of the most inexcusable blunders In legislation, and such as it would be profane to attribute to the Deity. The very notion of a probable laio, emanating from a perfectly wise and good Being, may fairly be regarded as a contradiction In terms. HI. As for those who represent the fourth commandment as a part of the moral law, and the observance of the Lord's Day as a fulfilment of It, they appear. If I understand their meaning (of which, I It seems not unlikely that the dedication, among so many different nations, of the first day of the week to the sun, may be a trace of the commemoration of the day on which " God said. Let there be Ught." And again, Saturn, to whom the seventh day was dedicated, is generally described by Pagan writers as connected with a reign of peac^l repose, — of universal and unbroken rest. 162 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. however, I am not certain), not so much to hold any peculiar doc- ^ trine, as to employ their terms In a peculiar and unusual sense ; In troducing needless Indistinctness and perplexity by the want of a precise mode of expression. The distinction between moral (that is, natural) precepts and positive precepts (see Essay V. § II.) is too weU established, and too convenient, to be lightly departed from. It is morally right to obey the just commands of a lawful superior, even in matters originally indifferent ; but still we should distinguish these from things not originally Indifferent. A Jew was bound, for in stance, both to honor his parents, and also to worship at Jerusalem ; I but the former was commanded because it was right, and the latter was right because It was commanded.' Now It is plain that the observance of one day in seven rather than one in six, or one in eight, or in ten, and the observance of the last day of the week rather than the first or the second, must be — independently of any positive ordinance — a matter of indifference. But what is usually meant, I believe, by those who reckon the observance of the Sabbath as a part of the moral (that is, natural) law, is merely that it Is a moral duty to devote a certain portion of time (whether a certain hour in each day, or certain days, or certain weeks or months') to devotion and religious study ; though the spec ification of particulars is a matter of positive enactment. In this sense the statement is true ; aud it Is equaUy true in the same sense that the Levitical sacrifices were, and that the ordinance of the eucharist is, a part of the moral law; since natural conscience teaches the duty of worshipping God, though not the particular mode of worship. IV. Lastly, the opinion of those who hold that the fourth com mandment Is binding on Christians, but that the Sabbath was trans ferred by the apostles from the last day of the week to the first, although, as I have said, it is not, when fairly considered, at variance with the doctrine of the general abolition of the Mosaic law, — since such a transfer by the apostolic authority would plainly amount to a reenactment by the apostles of that particular ordinance so modi fied, — yet I must say that I oan see no plausible grounds for the opinion.'' 1 See Lessons on Morals, L. II. 2 When Latin was the common language of the greatest part of Christendom, "Dies Sabbati" seems to have been the ordinary designation of Saturday; ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 163 The Mosaic law of the Sabbath was delivered very plainly and publicly, with special solemnity, and with such particularity as to forbid expressly the kindling of a fire (Ex. xxxv. 2, 3). Any trans- ferrence, therefore, of the ordinance from one day to another, or any other modification of it, we might have expected to find intro duced with no less plainness, solemnity, and precision, and not left to be inferred from any incidental hints or traditional interpretations. But we find not only no express enactment, or even hint or tradi tion of the kind, but the very contrary. We find in the book of Acts the Sabbath continuaUy mentioned, always as the Jewish Sabbath, and always as an ordinance regularly observed (In common with the other precepts of the Levitical law) by the apostles and the rest of the Jewish Christians ; and this at the very time when. It is plain, ' they were actually observing the Lord's Day as a day of Christian worship ; assembling " the disciples on the first day of the week to break bread " (that Is, to celebrate the eucharist), — those very Gen tile disciples whom Paul exhorts to " let no man judge them in meat or In drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath-days, which are a shadow of things to come ; but the body is of Christ." We find, in short, the most ample evidence of the observance of the Lord's Day, as a Christian festival, by the apostles and their Immediate converts, whose example has been followed by aU Chris tian churches dowu to this day ; but that In so doing they conceived themselves to be observing a precept of the Levitical law, and that they taught the doctrine of a transfer of the Sabbath from one day to another, we find not only no evidence, but every conceivable evidence to the contrary. I am therefore much at a loss to understand how any one can really entertain a doubt on the question who does but read the New Testament with attention, and with an unprejudiced mind ; even without consulting as an interpreter that Liturgy which is usually regarded as our church's commentary on the Scriptures, as far as regards the main points of Christian doctrine and duty. But many persons, not generally uninquirlng or uncandid or in competent to reason accurately, have yet been so early accustomed whioh is still so called in those official documents in our own country — such as the daily reports ofthe proceedings of parliament — in which the Latin language is retained in tho dates. And accordingly Saturday is called in Italian " Sab- bato," and in Spanish " Sabbado." 164 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. to take for granted, and assent to on authority, certain particular points, that they afterwards adhere to the belief so formed rather from association than on evidence. And some, again, through the influence of a feehng which I have described in Essay I. § V.when inculcating what they are conscientiously convinced Is a duty, are so fearful of unsettling the minds (as the phrase is) of their hearers, that, rather thau use any argument, which, though vaUd, might startle and revolt popular prejudices, they will avail themselves of such as they know will be readily admitted, though really unsound : some times even cautioning their hearers (as I know to have been done in respect of the present question) against reading anything on the other side. They probably satisfy themselves with the consideration that the great point being to bring men to a right practical conclusion. It is a matter of comparatively small moment how they get it. And it may> I am sensible, seem to many that it Is a mere speculative question, on what the observance of the Christian Sabbath Is made to depend, as long as all Christians are practically agreed that it shaU he ob served, and observed on the same day of the week, — the first, — and observed In a different manner from that prescribed to the Jews ; who were forbidden, among other things, to kindle a fire, ete. Now this practical agreement does certainly make any hostUe bitterness on such a question doubly unjustifiable, and aggravates greatly the culpability of any slanderous misrepresentation of the doctrine maintained. I cannot, however, but consider It as practically very dangerous to admit a principle that may encourage men to take hberties with any divine commandment which they confess to be binding on them, and to modify It according to human tradition, or any kind of human authority. And such a danger cannot but be incurred, If we teach them that the Mosaic law of the Sabbath is binding on Christians, while we also teach them that they are obey ing it by observing a different day from the one which that law appoints, in a different manner, and in memory of a different event. And it is every way desirable that they should be taught not only In practice to observe the Lord's Day, but also In princi ple ; to observe it, not as an ordinance enjoined by the Mosaic law, — which In fact it Is not — nor as deriving Its obligation, even If it ivere enjoined there from a law which the apostle assures us does not bind Christians, — but on the reasonable and true grounds ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 165 which I have endeavored to point out in the foregoing pages, — as a Christian festival. For a fuller elucidation of this subject than would be suitable to the present occasion, the reader Is referred to the treatise already mentioned, — Thoughts on the Sabbath, — and also (besides the authors above cited) to Bishop Kaye's Selections from the Works of Justin, and to a weU-written review of the same in No. X. of the British Critic ; to the Remains of Bishop Copleston, lately published ; to several parts of Augustine and the other early Fathers when treat ing of the Decalogue ; and to Calvin's Institutes (lib. Ii. ch. 8). There is also an article on the word Sabbath in the Encyclop. Metrop. which may be worth consulting, as it sets forth very clearly all (per haps more than all) that can be urged with any show of plausibility on the side which it professes to favor ; and, though only a part, yet probably enough to satisfy an Intelligent and candid reader of the reasons on the opposite side. ESSAY VL ON IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. The importance of obtaining correct, and avoiding erroneous notions respecting any point of doctrine, is not always to be measured by the intrinsic importance of the doctrine itself, or by the practical consequences immediately resulting from this or that view of it. No error can be considered as harmless and insignificant which tends to put a stumbling-block in the way of believers in the gospel, and to afford to infidels or her etics the advantage of a plausible objection against its truths. The genuine and fundamental doctrines of Christianity may become liable to the scoffs of some, and to the dread or disre gard of others, from their supposed connection with such as are in fact no part of the gospel revelation. It then becomes a matter of importance to rectify even those mistakes which are in themselves of no moment; since we thus (to use once more the expression of Dr. Paley) " relieve Christianity of a weight that sinks it." God forbid that the Christian should deny or explain away anything that is a 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 or scorn by maintaining, or allowing to be maintained, as a part of the Christian revela- tiont any tenet (however intrinsically true) which the Scrip tures do not warrant. The same authority which forbids us to ON IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 167 " diminish aught " from the word of God, forbids us also to " add thereto." That the Apostle Paul's authority in particular has been appealed to in support of several conclusions which are in fact not taught by him, I have already endeavored to show, princi pally with a view to the removal of that dread or neglect of his writings which has too often been the result. § I. Another doctrine, or set of doctrines rather, there is, in support of which this apostle's authority is prin cipally referred to, and which, being (whether doctrine of the im- j -ll .\ T 1 T_ .,1 putation Of Adam's deservedly or not) regarded by many with sus- transgression, and picion and alarm, or with disgust and contempt, °'^"^° cMsf""" has thus proved a source of objection, either to the gospel scheme altogether, or to the teaching of Paul in particular, of which such tenets have been supposed to form a part. I aUude to the doctrine of" imputed sin " and " imputed righteousness," as set forth by some writers who represent it as the very keystone of the Christian system. I purposely abstain from referring to any authors in particu lar, because the proper character of a calm inquiry after truth, is so Uable to be lost in that of a controversy with some indi vidual or party ; and the discussion of any question thus be comes, though more interesting perhaps to some minds, yet less edifying ; since, after aU, the object ultimately proposed should be, not the confutation of this or that theologian, but the ascer tainment of the genuine doctrines of our religion ; which must rest, not on any merely human authority, but on that of the Holy Scriptures. The system at present in question, as far as I have been able to coUect its import, may be briefly stated thus : That when our first parents had fallen from their state of innocence,^ 1 Some writers speak ofman as being, before the eating ofthe forbidden fruit, 168 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. they transmitted to all their posterity (over and above the proneness to sin which we are bom with, and our liability to nat ural death) the guilt also of the actual transgression committed by Adam; this being imputed to every one of his iiosterity. For he, it is said, being the federal head or representative of the whole human species, his act is considered as theirs, to all intents and purposes ; and each descendant of Adam is consid ered by his Almighty Judge as actuaUy guUty, from his birth, of the very sin of having eaten of the forbidden fruit ; and is, for that sin, sentenced not merely to undergo natural death, but also everlasting punishment in the next world, independently of any sins committed by himself. This is not, indeed, always the sense in which the imputation of Adam's sin to his posterity, and their consequent punish ment, are spoken of. There are some who understand by the expression, merely the forfeiture of immortality, — the UabUity to temporal death ; though it is perhaps rather an incorrect use of language to apply the term punishment to the absence of that immortality which was never ours. The human race, indeed, taken coUectively, so as to include our first parents, may be said to have lost immortal life ; but each individual of their posterity, being bom mortal, cannot, without great laxity of language, be said to be punished by being excluded from immortaUty.''^ The doctrine, however, in the sense before stated, has been not merely innocent, but pure, holy, upright, and altogether virtuously disposed ; and as being, in that sense, " very good." An author of very high and well- deserved celebrity, has used the expression (doubtless inadvertently) that " Adam in Paradise was perfect; forgetting that to speak of a being becoming prone to sin, by the actual commission of sin, is no less self-contradictory than to speak of bim as self-created. One cannot wonder that incautious expressions like this should provoke the scofi^ of the infidel, and should lead some of the weak and unthinking to reject our religion altogether, iVom believing it contains manifest absurdities. I See a little Latin treatise entitled Traotatus tres., etc. ON IMPUTED EIGHTEOUSNESS. 169 often expressly maintained, and much oftener indirectly im plied and assumed, as indubitable. Then, to relieve mankind from this sentence, and to procure for them immortal happiness in heaven, our Saviour Christ, it is said, not only in his death offered up an effectual sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, — bearing in his own person the punishment due to the imputed transgression of Adam, and to the actual sins of men, — but also, during his abode on earth, performed for them those good works of perfect obedience to the law — ceremonial, civU, and moral — which are imputed to true beUevers in him, and considered as theirs ; even as the transgression of Adam is imputed to aU his natural descend ants. Thus, and thus only, it is said, could the evil introduced by Adam's transgression be (as far as respects the adoptive children of God) effectuaUy repaired. For as Adam was the representative of the whole human race, so that his sin is, by imputation, made theirs, and they, all and each, thus lay under the sentence of eternal punishment, so it was necessary that the obedience and personal holiness of Christ, who stands as the representative of his faithful servants, should be in like manner imputed to them, and thus give them a title to eternal happiness, — that he should, in short, not only by his death undergo the punishment due to man from God, but also, in his life, fulfil the righteousness due to God from man ; in each instance suffering and performing what he did, vicariously, for, and in the stead of, his people ; who are thence regarded as having themselves both paid the penalty of sin, and also performed perfect obedience to the divine laws, both having been accomphshed by their substitute and representative. And some there are who go so far as to maintain that as God imputes to beUevers the good works of Jesus Christ, and trans fers to them the merit of his obetUent life, so he also imputed to Jesus, at the time of his crucifixion, the actual guilt of those 15 170 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. sins for which he suffered, and regarded him, for the time be ing, as the actual transgressor ; " bearing our sins " not only in respect of the penalty of them, but of their intrinsic guilt, and the divine wrath' against it. This, however, is not, I be lieve, held by aU who maintain the imputation of Adam's sin and of Christ's obedience. Some other slighter variations of statement are to be found, as might be expected, in the works of different authors ; but such, in the main, as I have described, is the system taught, not in abstruse theological disquisitions merely, but in several popular treatises and sermons ; and taught as the very founda tion of Christian faith — of which, indeed, it must, if true, form no insignificant part.^ And it is taught by some who admit that it is not expressly stated in Scripture, but is to be deduced (by a certain process of " development ") from a scheme of doctrine of which it forms a necessary part, and which does, in their view, form an essential portion of the gospel revelation. That it is paradoxical, — remote from all we should natu rally have expected, — and startling to our untutored feeUngs, cannot be questioned. This is, however, no reason why it may not be true ; or why, if true, we should shrink fi-om receiving it ; since God's " ways are not as our ways," — and since, inca pable as we are of estimating his counsels, it is for us, not to question, but to receive whatever he may have proposed to us. It is a reason, however, why we should inquire for, and expect, the more full and precise revelation on such a point. What is readily discoverable by unassisted human reason, we must not expect to find revealed at all in Scripture. Such things, again, 1 There are many writers who never think of reminding their readers, and, indeed, appear to have themselves gradually learnt to forget, that icrath is attrib uted to the Deity only in a figurative, not a literal sense. — See Archbishop King's Discourse on Predestination. 2 This theory may be classed, I think, under the head of Bacon's Idola Theatri. ON IMPUTED EIGHTEOUSNESS. 171 as, though not discoverable by reason, are yet comformable to its suggestions, and contain no mysterious difficulty, — of these we may receive satisfactory assurance even in a single passage, or in a few short hints. But any doctrine which, like that now in question, is wholly at variance with every notion we should naturaUy be led to form, we may be sure will be revealed, if revealed at all, in the fuUest and most decisive language. •The doctrine, too, which I have been considering, must, if it belong to the gospel scheme, be as important as it is myste rious, — it must be the very key, as it were, to eternal happi ness ; since, according to this view, it is only through the obedience of Christ, imputed to us, that we can have any claim or hope to be admitted to the glories of his heavenly kingdom. Some there are, indeed, who, though they hold the doctrines in question, yet do not hold the reception of them to be alto gether essential to salvation. But unless they give some ex planation of this charitable belief, they wUl be likely to lead others to foUow out their principles to a more consistent con clusion. For if it be a truth plainly revealed in Scripture that the actual guilt of the act of our first parents is imputed to us, and regarded by the Most High as to aU intents and purposes our act, it seems inevitably to foUow that we are bound to feel penitent for the sin of Adam, or else must stand convicted of impenitence. We are told that " if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." Now it seems impossible, supposing the theory in question to be true, that a man can comply with this precept who does not confess what must be, on that supposition, one of the greatest sins, — which God imputes to him as his, — and who does not believe in any such imputation. And if believers can be saved only through the imputation to them, as performed by themselves, of the good works performed by Christ, and if this is as clearly 172 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. revealed as it is that he died for us, and that we are to trust in his redemption, then, surely, faith in each of these doctrines alike must be equally essential. § II. It is not once or twice, therefore, — it is not obscurely or obliquely, — that we might expect to find Scripture author ity on which it is Paul Speaking to his converts of this imputed sin and imputed obedience. As the foundation of salutary dread, and of consolatory hope, — as connected most intimately with every question relative to the punish ments and rewards of the next world, — we might expect him to make the most explicit declarations respecting a point of such moment, — to dwell on it copiously and earnestly, — to recur to it in almost every page. Now, when we proceed to the actual examination of Scrip ture, do we find these most reasonable expectations confirmed ? Far otherwise. It is not, perhaps, going too far, to say that the whole system is made to rest on a particular interpretation of one single text (Rom. v. 19), — " As by one man's disobedience many' were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shaU many' be made righteous." For though there are other passa ges which have been considered as aUuding to and confirming the tenet in question, there is none that could, without mani fest violence, be construed into an express declaration of it.^ The passage in question is one which we cannot reasonably hope to interpret aright, if we contemplate it as of the passage ap- an lusulatcd propositlou, — if we do not take ""^ ° °' into account the general tenor of the apostle's teaching. Now it is most important to observe that, frequent as are his allusions, as might be expected, to the Cliristian's 1 oi TToXKoi, the many ; that is, the whole mass of mankind. 2 One may often be reminded ofthe satirical epigram inscribed in a Bible : " Hie liber est in quo quaerit sua dogmata quisque : luvenit et pariter dogmata quisque sua." ON IMPUTED PJGHTEOUSNESS. 173 redemption, and acceptableness to God, through Christ, the reference is made, throughout, to his death, — to his cross, — to his blood, — to his sufferings, — to his sacrifice of himself, as the meritorious cause of our salvation ; not to the righteous ness of his life imputed to beUevers, — the transfer of the merit of his good works. For instance, " He hath reconciled us to God, in the body of his flesh, through death," — " Being justi fied freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood," — " He hath brought us nigh to God, and made him at peace with us, through the blood ofthe cross," — " We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all," — besides numerous other passages to the same purpose. Frequent, again, as are the allusions to the pure and perfect holiness of our Saviour's Ufe, we nowhere find this spoken of as imputed to Christians, and made theirs by transfer of merit ; but, always, as qualifying him to be, on the one hand, an example to Christians, and, on the other, both the victim and the priest of spotless purity, — as constituting him the true lamb without blemish, — "the innocent blood," which " taketh away the sin of the world," — because he who offered it had no need of atonement for himself. For instance, " How much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the Eternal Spirit, of fered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God ? " — " Such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sin ners." In these, and many other such passages, in which the personal holiness of Christ is spoken of, and spoken of too in reference to our salvation, it is not said that the obedience of Christ is imputed to us, and the merit of his good works trans ferred to us (which we might surely have expected to find there mentioned had it been designed to teach such a doctrine) ; 15* 174 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. but, on the contrary, it seems rather to be implied that his obedience was imputed to himself as necessary to quaUfy him for the great sacrifice of atonement. And the language of Scripture on this point coincides with the most sound moral judgment ; which indicates that nothing short of a life of unsinning virtue could have made him him self acceptable, and fit for his great office, — that, in short, it behooved him " to fulfil all righteousness," in order that he might be a spotless victim, and an undefiled priest, — that in suffering, indeed, an accursed death, he tUd more than could be required of an innocent person on his own account — and that, therefore, he died, " the just for the unjust ; " but that this being just — the perfect obedience of his life — could not be more than requi site to constitute him perfect as a man. I speak, of course, of his obedient Ufe in reference to his human nature alone ; in respect of which he always declared, " My Father is greater than I." To speak of his obedience, considering him as a divine person, would be at least approaching very near to the Arian doctrine ; ' since all obedience necessarily implies a superior. Surely, then, when we read that " by the obedience of [the] one, many [the manyj shaU be made [or constituted, Kara.- ora^i^crovTai] righteous," the presumption is strongly in favor of such an interpretation as shall accord with the declaration that we are "justified by his blood." Now such an interpreta tion is not only allowable, but is even, I may say, suggested by the apostle himself in another passage ; in which, speaking of Christ's death, he uses the very corresponding word to vtraKor) 1 There is, I fear, in many Christians, a strong habitual leaning of the mind to this view of the Scripture doctrines; though they are unconscious of it, from their htiviug formally condemned Arianism, aud distinctly asserted the equality of the Son and the Holy Spirit with the Father ; forgetting that this is no secu rity against a tinge being given to their ordinary course of thought on the sub ject, — a tendency practically to contemplate three distinct divine beings, the second inferior to the first, and the third to both. — See Note A, at the end of this Essay. ON IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 175 " obedience," in this place : Christ, he says, " becam.c obedient [iiTr^Koo?] to death, even the death of the cross.'' And again (Heb. V. 8), " though he were a Son, yet learned he obedi ence by the things which he suffered ; and being made perfect, lie became the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him." His death, indeed, is more than once referred to in this point of view ; namely, as a part, and as the great and consummating act, of that submissive and entire obedience which he rendered throughout to his Father's wiU. For in stance, in our Lord's own words just before he suffered, " Not my wiU, but thine be done " — " Lo, I come to do thy will, 0 God," — " When he suffered he tlireatened not, but commit ted himself to him that judgeth righteously." Then, with respect to the imputation of Adam's sin to his descendants, it might, as I have said, be expected that, if true, it would be frequently and fully set forth. But at any rate it could hardly fail to be mentioned on those occasions where the apostle is occupied in proving and insisting on the universal necessity of a Redeemer, and the inevitable ruin of mankind without an atoning sacrifice. Now this plainly is his object in the opening of this very epistle (to the Romans), which is gen erally regarded as the most systematic of aU that he wrote. What, then, is Paul's procedure ? He dwells at large on the actual sins of men, — he gives a copious and shocking detail of the enormities of the Gentile world, into which they had plunged in defiance of their own natural conscience, — and then expatiates on the sins of which the Jews had been guilty, in violation of the law in which they trusted. How needless would aU this have been for one who maintained the doctrine of imputed sin ! No one, indeed, denies that men do commit a^'tual sin ; but the hypothesis I have been speaking of would have cut the argument short. On that supposition it would have been sufficient to say, at once, that Adam's transgression, 176 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. being imputed to all his posterity, so that they are aU regarded as guilty of his act, they must be, in consequence, — whether sinful or innocent, whether more or less sinful, in their own persons, — doomed to eternal perdition, unless redeemed from this imputed guilt. Nor does the passage I have appealed to stand alone in this respect. Numerous as are the denun ciations of (Uvine judgment against sin, all concur in making the reference, not to the imputed sin of our first parents, but to the actual sins of men : none of them warrants the conclu sion that any one is liable to punishment (I mean in the next world) for any one's sins but his own.' § III. It should be observed, also, that there is an especial reason for interpreting that part of the epistle I apo°tiria"i"°r^ have been aUuding to ^ by reference to other ofthe rubTe't.'""" parts of Scripturc ; which is, that it is not the apostle's object, in this place, to declare or es tabUsh the doctrine of original sin, and of our deliverance from its consequences by Christ our Saviour. It is plain from the context that these points are established only inci dentally ; the main drift of his argument being to set forth the universality of the redemption, — as being coextensive with the evil introduced at the fall which it was designed to remedy. The Jewish converts, to whom he seems principally addressing himself, were disposed by their ancient national prejudices to limit the benefits of the Messiah's advent to their own people. The great and revolting mystery to them, was, " that the GentUes should be fellow-heirs ; " in opposition to which exclusive spUit he infers the universal redemption 1 1 have treated more at large on this point in Essay I. (Fourth Series). See Note B, at the end of this Essay, in which I have extracted a passage from Arch bishop Sumner's Apostolical Preaching. 2 Eom. V. 19. ON IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 177 accomplished by Christ from the universality of that loss and corruption which he undertook to repair, — " a« in Adam aZMie, even so in Christ shall all be made alive," — " as by one man's disobedience many [the many ; that is, all the rest] were made [or constituted, Karea-d.^rja-av,'] sinners, even so by the obedi ence of the one shall the many " (that is, not the Jews only, but the whole race of mankind, as many as believe) " be made righteous." Now, there is no doubt that such an oblique allusion to any doctrine does not only establish it, but establish it even more decidedly than an express assertion ; since it implies that it is a known and undisputed truth. But stUl the difference be tween the two cases is not the less important. We are not to look for the same fuU and clear exposition of any point of faith in those passages where it is merely alluded to incidentally, as in those wherein the object is to declare and explain it. And some passage, in which it is the direct object to reveal and in culcate the doctrine now in question, would doubtless have been appealed to by its advocates had any such passage existed. But fundamentally important as this truth must be, if it be a truth, no portion of Scripture can be found that can even be repre sented as having for its immediate and primary design to de clare it. The sinfulness of human nature is indeed abundantly set forth ; but not the imputation to one man of the actual trans gression committed by another : our salvation through Christ is earnestly dwelt on ; but it is " through faith in his blood." Nay, there is mention made of imputation and nonimputation ; but not of one man's act or desert to another. God is spoken of as " not imputing to men their trespasses," — which, by the way, would amount to nothing, if he still imputed to them the trespasses of another, — and we are told that " faith " (our own) " shall be imputed to us for righteousness." And this should teach us how to interpret the passages ih 178 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. which we are said to be made " the righteousness of God in Christ," and he to be " made sin for us ; '' namely, not that he was considered in the sight of God as actuaUy sinful, but that he was made a " sin-offering for us ; " the word ap-aprla, which is Uterally " sin," being commonly used by the Septuagint translators in the sense of a sin-offering. And, again, when we are said to be made righteous through his " obedience unto death," and to be " made the righteousness of God in him ; " and he, again, is said to be " made of God unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption," it is not meant that there is an imputation to believers of the right eousness of Christ's life, as if it were theirs, any more than that the wisdom of Christ is imputed to them, or the redemp tion which he effected is regarded as effected by them ; but that he purchased by the sacrifice of himself all these benefits for men ; for those, that is, who should by faith be admitted to be partakers of them, — that when he had been " delivered for our sins," he " rose again for our justification ; " that is, "ascended up on high, and received gifts for men, that the Lord God might dwell among them ; " namely, that his Holy Spirit, whose temple we are, might reside in and sanctify our hearts, and impart to us wisdom and righteousness, to be prac tically displayed in our lives.' And since without this holy guidance our own feeble and depraved nature could never bring forth what the apostle calls " the fruits of the Spirit," nor follow the steps of Christ, this may well be called the " righteousness of Christ," or the " righteousness of God in Christ." For " if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his," — " if any man keep my saying, my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode in him." " Little children," says the Apostle John, " let no man deceive you : he that doeth righteous- 1 See Whitby on this subject. ON IMPUTED EIGHTEOUSNESS. 179 ness is righteous, even as he is righteous." " They that are Christ's," says Paul, " have crucified the flesh, with the affec tions and lusts," — " if we live in the Spirit,' let us also walk in the Spirit," — " if ye, through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the flesh, ye shall live ; for, as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." And indeed our Lord's own parable of the marriage-feast, in which the guest is rejected who had failed to put on the wedding-garment," might seem sufficient alone to remove all doubts on the present subject. No one can doubt that the " righteousness of Christ " is here represented by the garment, which (according to Oriental custom) was freely provided by the giver of the feast. It would be absurd for a guest, under these circumstances, to boast of the richness of his apparel ; but, though properly belonging to the bountiful master of the house, the guest was required himself to wear it. The purity and splendor of the robe worn by the master himself could not be transferred, by imputation, to a guest who should neglect to put on that which was provided for him. The accepted guest must be himself " clothed with righteousness," though it is still " the righteousness of Christ." ^ Again, when our Lord compares himself to a vine, he nat urally leads us to understand that, as the fruit borne by the branches is called the fruit of the vine, because the branch " cannot bear fruit of itself," so the righteousness practised by his disciples is to be reckoned his righteousness, since they must " abide in him ; " being not only instructed by him, and imitators of his example, but also guided and aided by his Spirit. He teaches them the way, and shoias them the way, 1 " By the Spirit " would be the more correct rendering. As the passage stands in our version, it sounds like a tautology. But the sense of it plainly is, if we have life (that is, Christian life) " by the Spirit, let us aot according to his guidance." 2 See Lectures on the Parables, L. III. 180 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. and supports them in the way. But neither here nor any where else do we hear of any such thing as imputed fruitful ness, — of a branch being considered as bearing fruit which is borne not by it, but by some other. He only teUs us that the branches which " hear fruit " are purified that they may bear more fruit ; and that those which bear not fruit are " taken away." § IV. From the consideration, then, of these passages of Scripture which have been adduced, as weU as Liability of men tobebiassedijytbe of many morc to the same purpose which might love of system. t ¦\ . r. tpit be appealed to it needful, i cannot but conclude that that system of imputed sin and righteousness which I have been considering is altogether fanciful and groundless. It has indeed at first sight a sort of compactness, coherency, and consistency of parts which gives it, tUl closely scrutinized, an air of plausibility ; but this very circumstance should, in any case, put us the more carefully on our guard ; for there is no more common error in many departments of study, and especially in theology, than the prevalence of a love of system over the love of truth} Men are often so much captivated by the aspect of what seems to them a regular, beautiful, and well-connected theory, as to adopt it hastUy, without inquiring, in the outset, how far it is comformable to facts, or to scrip tural authority; and thus, often on one or two passages of Scripture, have built up an ingenious and consistent scheme, of which the far greater part is a tissue of their own reason ings and conjectures.^ 1 Seduced by the Idola Theatri of Bacon. See Note ( ' ), p. 113. 2 I would not be thought to appeal to our Articles, or to any other human work, as decisive on such a point. But it is worth considering by those members of our church who regard this doctrine as the keystone of Christianity, that tho Articles, though insisting on justification through Christ, make no allusion to the imputation to believers, of his good works. The expression is, "propter weritum," etc. ; not merita. ON IMPUTED EIGHTEOUSNESS. 181 The whole subject, indeed, of justification has been involved in great, and, I cannot but think, needless per- plexity, by the practice formerly alluded to J^ZZ'l^'Zlt (Essay III.) of first affixing (which may be al- Zl'ZT^^li lowable) ' a strict technical sense to each of the '"''''"' <>"''= ^"''i justification. principal words that have been employed in Scripture, and then (which is not allowable) interpreting the word, whenever it- is found in the sacred writers themselves, according to such precise definition, instead of regarding their works as popular, not scientific, and seeking for the meaning of their expressions, in each case, from the context. Thus, in the present instance, if three or four, perhaps, of those who are accounted sound divines, should be consulted as to the doctrine of justification, it is not unlikely they would give as many different accounts of it. AU would agree as to the importance of the doctrine ; but some would perhaps lay down two justifications, others only one ; and among these there would be found great discrepancies : and yet all, probably, would be found, in their general views of the Christian scheme, to ar rive at nearly the same practical results. It is hardly to be supposed, indeed, that there can be so much difficulty (to the unlearned, impossibility) as this discrepancy would seem to It is worth observing, also, that fhe framers of our Liturgy make no allusion to imputed righteousness, in passages where it seems incredible they should have omitted it, had they held and designed to teach that doctrine. For instance, in the prayer before the consecration of the bread and wine, we find, *' We do not presume to come to this thy table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own right eousness; " and then, instead of adding " but in the imputed righteousness of our Saviour," it proceeds, " but in thy manifold and great mercies." 1 Perhaps, however, it would have been better if, from the very first, no Scriptural terms had been introduced into systems of theology. Some have objected to the word "Trinity," and a few others, on the ground that they are not found in Scripture. This appears to me their chief recommendation; since, in this case, all danger is effectually avoided of misinterpreting Scripture iu the way I am describing. As it is, one of our best safeguards against this danger, would be to vary from time to time the language of our expositions of Scripture doctrines. 16 182 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. imply, in ascertaining from Scripture " what we must do to he saved." And is there not, therefore, ground to suspect that many divines have been unconsciously involved in embarrass ing disputes about words, from expecting in the sacred writers a more scientific accuracy and uniformity of language than they ever aimed at ? ' When one of the apostles speaks to men of the condemna tion for sin, from which they were to seek a way to escape, he naturally uses the StKaua&rjvat,' to be "justified," in the sense of acquittal, — their " not having their trespasses imputed to them " (Acts xiU. 38, 39 ; Rom. iU. 25 ; Rom. v. 9). When, again, he alludes to the defilement of sin, analogous to the cer emonial impurities which, under the Levitical law, excluded men from partaking of its sacred ordinances, he as naturally uses "justified" to signify their being accounted clean, — re garded as God's holy people, and admitted without profanation to approach him, in the spiritual service of the new covenant (Rom. V. 1, 2). When, again, the Jews prided themselves on their law, as their guide to a moral and religious life, and as "justifying," — that is, making men good, and fit to obtain heav enly rewards, — he sets forth the vainness of that expectation ; since, even if the law had had the " better hope " of the gos- 1 See Hampden's Bampton Lectures, Lect. I. 2 See A. Knox's Bemains (Vol. I. p. 276), where he points out that the use of the word SiKaiofrvvT} by the apostle (denoting, like the other words in (Tvvt), a moral habit), instead of SiKatatTLs, in those passages where he is, by some, under stood to be speaking of another's righteousness imputed to ns, plainly indicates that this was not his meaning. The presumption, at least, is in favor of that sense of the word SiKaioiTuvTj, which is undoubtedly its original and strict sense ; and if not invariably, at least generally, the word is employed by the apostle so as to make the most obvious and natural interpretation. The coincidence in this point between Mr. Knox and myself, has led some to imagine that my notions must have been, directly or indirectly, derived frora him. But this Essay was published some years before I even knew of the existence of him or any of his friends. My views were no more borrowed from him than his from me ; but both from a common source. ON IMPUTED EIGHTEOUSNESS. 183 pel, — the sanction of eternal rewards, — still, it could not justify those who had not strictly obeyed all its precepts; which man, left to his natural strength, had never fully accom plished (Rom. ii. 25, and vii. 22, 23) : insisting that we are to be justified, that is, made good men, through faith in Christ, which admits us to a participation of his Spirit (Rom. v. 12), even the Spirit which " helpeth our infirmities " (Rom. viii. 26), and "worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Hence he speaks of Christ as being "delivered for our sins, and rising again for our justification " (Rom. iv. 25, and vi. 4) ; that is, that when he " ascended up on high, he received gifts for men," namely, " that the Lord God might dwell among them." Hence also he occasionally speaks of the " law of faith ; " and universally contrasts, not (as many are apt to suppose) good works with faith, but faith with the Mosaic law, as leading more effectually to good works (Rom. viii. 4, 11, 12, 13, and Tit. iii. 5, and 1 Cor. vi. 11), by obtaining for us the aid of the Holy Spirit, of which they are the fruits. The chief cause indeed of this apostle's giving so prominent a place to file word "justification," may be found in the peculiar circumstances under which he preached, especially when ad dressing the Jews, and those infected with their prejudices ; who were always hoping to be justified by the law (imperfectly as they observed it) ; that is, made at least sufficiently right eous to inherit the rewards of a future life. § V. It may be said, however, that the system which has been treated of in this Essay is, even if un sound, not practically dangerous, and, therefore, resulting from er. not one which needs to be refuted. That it has t°7of scripture!"' been held by pious and worthy men, I am well aware ; nor would I contend that it had any necessary tendency to make them otherwise, and that their notions on this point 184 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. were inconsistent with their religious and moral characters. But it would be rash to conclude thence that their error, if it be one, must be altogether harmless. Nothing is harmless which may put a stumbling-block in the path of any sincere Christian, — nothing is harmless that tends to give an undue advantage to unbelievers — to disgust some with what they are told is the orthodox faith, and to furnish others with objec tions against it, by inserting doctrines which the Scriptures do not warrant, — nothing is harmless that leads to a depreciation, a dread, or a neglect of the divine instructions of the Apostle Paul. And such is most remarkably the case with respect to the system I have now been considering. It is a favorite point of attack to the infidel and the heretic, who pretend, and probably believe themselves, to have exposed to contempt the great doctrines of the atonement and the divinity of Christ, by exposing the chimerical pretensions of doctrines which are taught in conjunction with these, and represented as parts of the same system. And in others, the too prevaiUng neglect of Paul's writings, as neither intelUgible, nor safe, nor a profit able study to any but theologians of the most profound learning and wisdom, is fostered, by attributing to him doctrines more likely to bewilder and mislead than to be applicable to any practical benefit. The doctrine which has been taught, that certain persons of preeminent virtue, called, in distinction from the rest of the Christian world, saints, have performed good works which not only give them a claim to eternal life, but are more than suffi cient, and that the merit of these may be transferred to other men, who may thus as it were be virtuous by proxy, — this evi dently seems to go on the supposition that the works performed are in themselves some sort of advantage to the Most High himself. For if we regard all good works as being — which is the true view — enjoined for the benefit of the doer, in order ON IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 185 to make us good men, then it is inconceivable that another person's good works can be transferred to us, and considered as ours. Thus, when a child is set by his master to write an exercise, or to draw a map, if he employs a schoolfellow to do the task for him, instead of being rewarded he is punished ; because it was in order to his own improvement, and not for the master's benefit, that the work was to be done. But, on the other hand, if any one offers for sale to a pubUsher a book or a map, it matters nothing to the purchaser whether it be the seller's own work, or that of some friend who has given it to him. He only looks to the value of the work itself, with a > view to his own profit. It seems plain, therefore, that the notion of one person's good works being transferred to another, and considered as his, must proceed on the supposition of some value in the works themselves, as if they could be a benefit to the Most Pligh ; though no one can fail to perceive the absurdity of such a notion, when plainly stated. And the same reasoning is applicable in reference to the doctrine we have now been considering. But if any one should ask, " Since the Most High can have no need of any one's services, or, again, of any one's sufferings, how can it be that the sufferings and death of Christ could procure man's salvation, and that he should have suffered iu our stead ? " — if any one should ask this question, you should answer that you do not know, since it is a point on which Scripture give us no explanation ; and that you cannot clear up either that or any other part of the one great mysteri ous difficulty (of which this is a branch), — the existence of evil in the universe. We know, as a fact, from the plain declara tions of Scripture, that " Christ died, the just for the unjust," and that " by his stripes we are healed ; " and we must suppose that if it had been possible for us to understand, and needful 16* 186 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. for us to know, the reasons why this was necessary, and how the death of Christ avails us, the Scriptures would have told us. But they do not. They merely tell us the fact. And if, again. Scripture had plainly declared that it is possible to be virtuous by proxy, and that another person's good works would be accepted by the Most High as ours, then we should have been bound to believe this, though unable to explain it. But as it is, the Scriptures tell us no such thing. We are left on this point to the light of reason ; and nothing can be more contrary to reason than that one man's virtue should be ac counted another's, — that a barren branch of the vine should be reckoned fruitful, on account of the fruitfulness of another branch. I would suggest, also, to those worthy and inteUigent persons who hold the doctrine alluded to, to consider whether it does not tend rather to do away with the importance of Christ's atoning sacrifice. A man who owes a debt, is required either to pay it or else to undergo the penalty (in the East, in old times, bondage) of jio?i-payment ; but he is not called upon for both. If, when a man who owed ten thousand talents was caUed on for payment, some friend discharged the debt for him by paying in his name, he would of course feel most grateful to that friend. And so he would to a friend who should consent to undergo in his stead the penalty of bondage (or whatever else it might be) for non-payment. But it would be quite unne cessary for any friend to do both of these — to pay the debt, and yet, moreover, to submit also to the penalty of non-payment. The application to the present case is obvious. If men have Christ's righteousness imputed to them, in the sense of being considered as having themselves led that life of holy obedience which was led by him in their stead, it would seem to follow that they are not sinners, and can have no need of atonement. And those who are very far from meaning to adopt or to prop- ON IMPUTED EIGHTEOUSNESS. 187 agate such a view, ought to be the more careful not to teach, without very clear and express Scripture warrant, any doctrine which naturally leads to such a consequence. Mysterious, no doubt, it is, that the sacrifice of " the inno cent blood " should be accepted as an atonement for sin ; but in this case we know that the sacrifice was voluntary : " I lay down my life ; no man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself." Christ, of his own accord, offered his life as " a ran som for many.'' But when we are told of eternal punishment denounced against men for the actual sin of Adam, and this not by their own voluntary choice, or by any act of their own, but by the absolute decree of the Almighty Judge, our ideas of the divine justice, whether drawn from reason or from Scrip ture, cannot but be shocked. When, again, we find Christ spoken of as suffering for us and in our stead, so that " by his stripes we are healed," though we cannot comprehend, indeed, this act of mysterious mercy, we do comprehend that " there is now, therefore, no condem nation for them that are in Christ Jesus," but that his suffering in our stead exempts his faithful followers from suffering in their own persons. But when men are told that the righteous ness of Christ's Ufe is imputed to believers, and considered as their merit, they are startled at the want of correspondence of this doctrine with the former, and its apparent inconsistency with the injunctions laid upon us to " bring forth tlie fruits of the Spirit " unto everlasting salvation, because " God work eth in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure," while we are also told that Christ has already fulfilled all moral obUgations in our stead. The Antinomian system is unhappily the only one which surmounts this incongruity ; ' and its advo- 1 Perhaps, also, the Eomish doctrine oi purgatory maybe considered as going some way towards removing the incongruity. "Although," a Romanist might say, " Christ suffered for our redemption, and in our stead, still we hold, that, 188 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. oates accordingly have availed themselves of the advantage. Since, say they, Christ suffered for us, and in our stead, so as to exempt us from suffering ourselves, by parity of reasoning the good works which he performed, the personal hoUness he possessed, being imputed to us as performed for us and in our stead, must, in like manner, exempt us from any such performance of our own.' I do not, however, mean to contend that the generality of those who maintain the system in question are tainted, or are even necessarily in danger of tainting, the minds of others with the Antinomian heresy. It is enough to say, that if they bring Paul's writings into disrepute or disuse, by attributing to him, without sufficient grounds, doctrines which appear to lead to such pernicious consequences, they are answerable for the evil thence resulting. Whenever we teach for gospel truths anything which Scripture does not warrant, we are answerable for the effects produced, not only on those who adopt our opin ions, but also on those who dissent from them. Let Paul, as well as the rest of the sacred writers, be studied with diligence and candor, and without any bias in favor of an ingenious and consistent theory — the offspring of our own spec ulations ; let the student " prove all things, and hold fast that which is right ; " and to this end let him observe the wise maxim of admitting no conclusion which is not, itself, as weU as the premises it is drawn from, agreeable to the word of God. And let the general tenor of each work in particular, and of the Scriptures altogether, be carefuUy attended to, instead of dwelUng exclusively on detached passages ; and then we may either in the way of voluntary penances in tliis world, or in the fiames of purga tory, the sinner must also suffer in his own person a portion of the penalty due ; even as you hold that men must lead virtuous lives themselves, although the perfect righteousness of Christ was performed in their stead, and is imputed to them as theirs." 1 See Whitby on this subject. ON IMPUTED EIGHTEOUSNESS. 189 boldly and constantly maintain every doctrine which we find to be reaUy revealed, however mysterious, or however unac ceptable. We are, in reality, not preaching the gospel unless we both preach the whole gospel, and, likewise, the gospel alone ; nor can we hope for the apostle's consolatory trust of being " pure from the blood of aU men," unless, Uke him, we declare to men " all the counsel of God," and (as a part of the Christian faith) nothing but " the counsel of God." 190 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. NOTE TO ESSAY VI. Note A — Page 174. That It is possible for men to become something very near Indeed to Arianism without knowing it, we have a curious instance in eccle siastical history. In the early stages of Arianism a confession of faith was agreed upon' which was satisfactory to all parties till, some time after, the Arians began to boast of their triumph, and to point out the sanction which the formula adopted gave to their doctrine ; and then " the church," says Jerome, " marvelled to find Itself unex pectedly become Arian." Something of the same kind, on a smaller scale, took place very recently among ourselves. The discovery of Milton's System of The ology startled many persons, by Its avowed Arianism, who had been accustomed to commend his poems for their sound theology ; though they convey the very same views, stated almost as plainly as. In a poem, they could be. Numerous passages. Indeed, may be cited from the Paradise Lost, which cannot be censured as heterodox, because they are little more thau metrical versions of portions of Scripture. But such passages do not necessarily prove anything, one way or the other, respecting a writer's opinions ; since the Scriptures themselves appear, to an Arian, to speak Arianism, — to a Socinian, Soclnianism, etc. But that there is in the poem a genereJ leaning such as I have just alluded to, must, I think, be evident except to those who, from various causes, and, among the rest, from an early and habitual study of Mdton,^ have themselves imperceptibly imbibed similar notions. These instances are amply sufficient to prove, at the very least, such a possiblUty as I have aUuded to. Probably, indeed, the whole doctrine of justification through the righteousness of Christ imputed to believers, may be traced In a 1 At Rimini, A. D. 360. Above four hundred prelates attended it. 2 When I speak, however, of Milton as Arian, I do not mean that he pre cisely coincided with Arius,much less designed to enroll himself among his dis ciples; 1 mean merely to designate the kind of error towards which his language tends. Milton certainly was " nuUius addictus jurare iu verba magistri," — well inclined to think for himself, though not always to " think soberly." ON IMPUTED EIGHTEOUSNESS. 191 great degree to these semi- Arian views. Men are apt to conclude that the " righteousness of Christ " must denote something distinct from the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit, bringing forth fruit unto holi ness, because they fear to confound together what they habitually, though uncons(;iously, consider two different agents. Whereas Scrip ture, If they would submit to be implicitly led by it, promises that Christ will come unto his servants and " make his abode with them," — that "hereby know we that he [Christ] dwelleth In us, by his Spirit which he hath given us ; and that " the Lord is the' Spirit." " First, I observe," says Archbishop Sumner, " that though St. Paul clearly refers back to Adam the origin of that natural corrup tion which requires the atonement of Christ, as the passages already cited have proved, yet he does not In his general practice insist upon Adam's guilt as the immediate cause of divine wrath against those he is addressing, but prefers to take his argument from its effects upon their own personal character. These consequences he represents as indisputable and universal, which must be constantly borne In mind, both in the first application to Christ as the author of salvation, and throughout the whole of the Christian's life and con flict with the world. The first consequence of that ' fault aud cor ruption of nature,' which we derive from Adam, is actual sin and transgression of the moral law. The converts at Rome he humbles by a commemoration of the ' idolatry, fornication, wickedness, mali ciousness, covetousness, and att unrighteousness,' to which they had been given up In their unconverted state (i. 29), etc. " To the Corinthians, after enumerating the heinous sinners who shall not inherit the kingdom of God, he adds: " ' Such loere some of you ' (I. vi. 11). " To the Ephesians he says : ' You hath he [God] quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in times past ye walked ac cording io the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience : among whom also we att had our conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of ihe flesh and of ihe mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others' (ii. 1-3). And, very emphatically, " ' Let no man deceive you with vain words ; for, on account of these 1 Not " that " as our translation has it. 192 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. things [fornication, uncleanness, covetousness] cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience ' (Eph. v. 6). " The Colossians he thus reminds of what they owed to Christ : ' You that were sometime alienated and enemies iu your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he [Christ] reconciled ' (I. 21). " la the Epistle to the Thessalonians the Gentiles are condemned as living ' in the lust of concupiscence ' (I. I v. 5). In that to Timothy, St. Paul declares himself to have been the chief of sinners, because he had been a, ' blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious ' (I. I. 13). " Titus he Instructs to put his flock in mind of their former sinful life : ' For we ourselves also were sometime foolish, disobedient, de ceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another ' (iii. 3). " To the Hebrews It was sufficient to show that ' the high priest needed daily to offer up sacrifice, — first for his own sins, and then for those of ihe people' (vii. 27). " So 1 Peter Iv. 3 : ' The time past of our Ufe may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lascivious- ness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idol atries.' " This, then, Is the first consequence of the fall of Adam evinced by actual sin — ' that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God ; ' and ready to embrace, with humility and consciousness of guilt, the righteousness which is by faith. " I next observe, that, as far as we may be allowed to judge from the mode in which St. Paul introduces this leading doctrine of Chris tianity, it appears that he deemed It more necessary aud advisable to enforce among his disciples the positive effect of original sin upo' their own hearts and lives, than the punishment to which they were liable from the fall of Adam, considered as their federal head. He was well aware that the guilt of actual transgression comes Immedi ately home to the hearer's conscience. Whereas, ' It is the hardest thing in the world to bring carnal reason to submit to and approve of the equitableness of God's proceedings against us for the sin of Adam. Flesh and blood can hardly brook the acknowledgment that it is most righteous that we should be actually and personally wretched, who were federally disobedient and rebelUous."" — .Sum ner's Apostolical Preaching, ch. iii. 1 Hopkins ou the Covenants. ESSAY VII. ON APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS DJ SCRIPTURE. § I. It has been above remarked (Essay H.) that the expres sion of the Apostle Peter relative to the " things hard to be understood" in Paul's writings, has „ d'A":"''!" of o J ecripture a reason been emploved to furnish an excuse, at least, if *"¦ ""^ ""eutive ^ .* ' ' Btudy of it. not a reason, for neglecting and keeping out of sight these writings, — as being, to the generality of Christians, both too abstruse to be studied with any profit, and too Uable to perversion to be approached with safety. And the principle of avoiding altogether whatever is hard to be understood, or liable to be wrested to a destructive purpose, naturally extends itself (as indeed the passage in question cannot but seem to warrant) to other parts of Scripture as weU as to Paul's epistles, tiU the result ensues of an exclusive attention to certain narra tives of fact, and plain moral precepts ; while aU that relates to the peculiar doctrines of Christianity is left, as matter of mere speculative inquiry, in the hands of learned theologians. Of the precise extent of such an error, no one individual can be an adequate judge ; but that it is not imaginary — that it does prevail to a considerable degree — is a conclusion which I am convinced no one will doubt who has made extensive and careful observations. Indeed, there is in the human mind a kind of indolence which tends to produce this consequence. The remark of the inteUigent historian of Greece wiU remain 17 194 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. as true as ever whUe human nature continues the same, that " the generaUty of men are averse to labor in the investigation of truth, and ready rather to acquiesce in what is set before them." The most corrupt churches, in the darkest and most priest-rid den ages and countries, have only taken advantage of (what they could not have created) this disposition of the many to leave the task of searching the Scriptures to the learned few, — to let them acquire knowledge, instead of themselves, — and to acqui esce without inquiry into whatever these should promulgate. The clergy of those churches were thence looked to, not as leaders and assistants to the laity in the study of Scripture, but as their substitutes ; and the word of God became, in con sequence, a prohibited book to the great body of Christians, who were thus left to the guidance of men often themselves ignorant of Scripture, but whose ignorance the others had lost the means of detecting. This state of things, however, no priestcraft could have brought about, had not the dread of labo rious investigation prepared the way for it.' That there are difficulties in many parts of Scripture, — as great perhaps in Paul's writings as in any, — and that there is consequent danger of mischievous perversion, is undeniable, and is, indeed, what analogy would prepare us to expect ; for if the Scriptures could be properly understood without any trouble, and were incapable of perversion to bad purposes, they would be extremely unlike the rest of God's gifts. But the difficulties of Scripture, as weU as the danger of misinterpreting it, are evidently an additional reason for dili gence in the study of it. And Peter's implied censure of " those who are unlearned " (that is, ill acquainted with the reUgion of Jesus Christ) and, as will naturally follow, " unstable," and likely to be " blown about with every wind of doctrine," should 1 I have treated of this subject more at large in a Sermon on the Christian Priesthood, subjoined to the second edition of the Bampton Lectures; and also in the Essay (Third Series) on Vicarious Religion. ON APPAEENT CONTEADICTIONS IN SCEIPTUEE. 195 operate as a caution, not against the study of the Scriptures, but against the faults which would lead us to wrest them to our destruction. To examine into aU the difficulties of Scripture, or even of Paul's writings alone, would be a task to which perhaps the whole life of any single individual would be scarcely adequate : to lay down all the rules that might be applicable in such a task, would far exceed my present limits ; but it may be worth while to offer a few remarks on some of the most important, and, at the same time, most commonly overlooked, of those principles which should be kept in view in the study of the doctrinal parts of Scripture ; and the neglect of which has aggravated, if not produced, many of the difficulties complained of (in Paul's writ ings especiaUy), and has led, in many instances, to perplexity, if not to error. § II. 1. It is evidently of great importance, with a view to the right interpretation of any author, to con- Principlee to be sider, and to understand fully, his general drift kept in mind in -, , . Tr» ¦ 1 • 1 . . *^'^ fitudy. and design. It we are mistaken in this pomt, the utmost diligence and the utmost ingenuity may sometimes answer no other purpose than to lead us the further astray. Now it is, I conceive, not uncommon to consider revelation as designed, in part, to convey to us speculative truths, — to in crease our knowledge concerning divine things as they are in their own intrinsic nature ; — in short, to teach us not merely religion properly so called (that is, the relations between God and man), but also what may be styled theological philosophy — a certain branch of abstract science.' AU men, it is true, acknowledge revelation to have a practical purpose ; but it is conceivable that this might stiU be the case, though it were not ' ninds's Rise and Early Progress of Christianity, introduction, p. 31. See also Essay IV. (First Series). 196 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. confined to such purposes : it might, conceivably, propose to our belief, both practical truths, and speculative truths also, distinct from each other ; and such a notion of the Christian revelation may, without being distinctly avowed, be neverthe less practically entertained and acted upon. 2. Nearly aUied to, and resulting, from, such a view of the Scriptures, — namely, as being, more or less of the nature of a philosophical system, — is the expectation, before aUuded to, of finding in them a regular technical vocabulary, — a set of terms, confined each to its own appropriate sense, in which it shall be uniformly and precisely employed. This might indeed take place in a purely practical system ; but in any case where speculative scientific truth was the object, it would be altogether requisite ; and the more the Scriptures are viewed in this light, the more the student wUl be disposed to regard each word and phrase as bearing throughout a fixed and pecuUar sense — just as might be expected in a creed, catechism, system of articles, code of ethics, or any such composition.' 3. In any scientific treatise, employing its own appropriate technical terms, any single detached passage wiU usuaUy be sufficiently intelUgible to one who is femiliar with the defini tion of those terms. It may, indeed, need others to establish its truth, or to be combined with it for the proof of ulterior truths, but not to ascertain its meaning. In proportion, there fore, as the Scriptures are regarded as approaching to the character of a philosophical system, furnished with a regular technical phraseology, in the same degree wUl the student be disposed to build conclusions on insulated passages, without thinking it necessary in every instance to refer to the context, and to explain one part of Scripture by others. 4. Lastly, one who has been accustomed to take, in any de gree, such a view of Scripture as I have been describing, (and ' See Essay ou Omissions (First Series). ON APPAEENT CONTEADICTIONS IN SCEIPTUEE. 197 there are many who are disposed to do so, though without ac knowledging it, even to themselves), will, of course, when they meet with passages which seem at variance with each other, be incUned (if, indeed, they are not absolutely driven into doubts as to the truth of some portion of Scripture) to regard these merely in the Ught of difficulties designed for the trial of their faith, — which they must surmount as well as they can, by explaining away such texts as are most adverse to their own conclusions, — while they dweU on every one that favors them ; softening down, if I may so speak, by their interpretation, every other part of Scripture, into a conformity with the hypothesis which t'uey have built on some selected portion. It is true, indeed, that no one ever professed a design of studying Scripture on such a plan as has been described ; but it is no less true that many have at aU times evinced, in vari ous degrees, a tendency to sUde into it insensibly, — that to these causes, in great measure, may be traced all the errone ous systems of faith which have at various times prevailed, — and that many of the difficulties complained of, especially the discrepancies between the several parts of Scripture, and particularly between the Apostle Paul and the other sacred writers, have been either produced or greatly aggravated by this mistaken mode of studying the sacred records. That the Scriptures contain nothing like a philosophical sys tem, set forth in technical phraseology, and that we must not expect to understand them by confining our attention to cer tain insulated passages, and disregarding or explaining away the rest, but must interpret each by the context and from the rest of Scripture — these maxims appear so obvious, when distinctly stated, that we are apt to be the less sensible what vigilant care is requisite in order to conform to them steadily in practice. It may be advisable, therefore, to offer some brief remarks on each of the points that have been just aUuded to. 17* 198 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. § III. 1. That the natural desire of knowledge for its own sake tends to influence men's iudgment respect- Tlie knowledge _ _ J » r revenied not epcc- ing a dlvInc rcvelatiou, in which they are apt to ulative, but relative to man, and prac. scck, not merely practical truths, but the gratifi- cation of speculative curiosity, I have elswhere taken occasion to remark.' All pretended revelations, accord ingly, and legendary tales of saints, — all the disquisitions con cerning things divine of the heathen phUosophers (and I fear, we may add, of some Christian theologians, however otherwise different) concur in this, that they relate in great measure, if not exclusively, to the nature and attributes and works of the Supreme Being, as he is in himself, — to the real state of tlungs in the invisible world, however unconnected with human conduct ; while our revelation is characterized, as I there ob served, by abstaining from speculative points, — by refusing to gratify mere curiosity, — by teaching, in short, not philosophy, but what is properly caUed religion, — the knowledge, that is, of the relations between God and man, and of the practical truths thence resulting. Those, therefore, are not likely to interpret Scripture rightly, who are not content with relative truths, but seek to ascertain, in each instance, the real state of things ; the knowledge of which, in many cases, probably, could not be imparted to us with our present faculties, and is often withheld where it might. Such a student is likely to mistake the sense of the sacred writers, from not judging aright what kind of instruction it is that they designed to impart ; his religious notions are " spoiled through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradi tion of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." And from such a view of the Scriptures, the conclu sion that the doctrinal parts of them are unnecessary, unprof- ' Essay IV. (First Series). ON APPAEENT CONTEADICTIONS IN SCEIPTUEE. 199 itable, and unsafe to the great mass of Christians, will be the natural result. Both the learned and the unlearned will agree in taking this view of the Scripture doctrines : the jiresump- tuous inquiries of the one class have a direct tendency to sanc tion and foster the indolent indifference of the other.' 2. And as nothing was further from the design of Paul and the other sacred writers than to frame a In language not philosophical system, so they aimed at no philo- scientific, but pop- sophical regularity of langu age. Their writings, as I have before remarked, were popular, not scientific ; they expressed their meaning, on each occasion, in the words which, on each occasion, suggested themselves as best fitted to convey it to readers of plain understanding ; and these terms are to be understood, though not indeed always in their ordinary sense, yet, on the other hand, not according to any precise scientific definition, but each with reference to the context of the place where it is found. 3. Again, it is this popular and unsystematic character of the sacred writings that makes it the more un- ^o be interpreted safe to dweU on detached portions of them, in- "^ '""¦p^ins ¦>"= 1- ' passage Tvitii an- stead of comparing each part of Scripture with °"'"' the rest. Not merely incomplete knowledge, but actual error, will often be the result ; because it will often happen, as might be expected in an unscientific discourse, that the author has in view, in some particular passage, not the full development of any truth, but the correction of some particular mistake, the inculcation of some particular caution, or the enforcement of some particular portion of a doctrine or precept ; so that such a passage, contemplated by itself, would tend to partial, and, consequently, erroneous views. 1 The sense ofthe term " mystery," as employed by the sacred writers, is very commonly mistaken ; and the mistake has been a source of much error. See Parkhurst's Lexicon to the New Testament, on the word Vlvar^piov. See Note A, at the end of this Essay. 200 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 4. And as it is hence necessary to call in the aid of dif ferent parts of Scripture for the interpretation Especially those Bcemingiy at vari- of each Other, SO thosc which appear the most at variance with each other — which, if taken singly, and strictly interpreted, would contradict each other — are, for that very reason, the most important to be brought together and contemplated in connection. The seeming contra dictions in Scripture are too numerous not to be the result of design ; and doubtless were designed, not as mere difficulties to try our faith and patience, but as furnishing the most suitable mode of instruction that could have been devised, by mutually explaining and modifying, or limiting or extending, one anoth er's meaning. By this means we are furnished, in some degree, with a test of the truth or falsity of our conclusions : as long as the appearance of mutual contradiction remains, we may be sure that we are wrong ; when we can fairly and without violence ' reconcile passages of opposite tendencies, we may entertain a hope that we are right. Such must be the procedure of the candid inquirer after truth ; and by which, through divine help, he may hope to at tain it. Those whose object is to find arguments in support of a favorite hypothesis, built on a partial view of Scripture, wiU often be no less successful in their object in finding texts that wiU serve to give plausibility to their own system, and to perplex an opponent. But that opponent wiU usually have exactly the same advantages on his side also ; each party having apparently some portion of Scripture favorable to his scheme, and others which he can hardly reconcUe with it, and both parties perhaps being equally remote from the truth, and guilty of the very same error as to their mode of interpreting Scripture. ' See Pascal's Thoughts, XIII. 12. ON APPAEENT CONTEADICTIONS IN SCEIPTUEE. 201 § IV. That the apparent contradictions of Scripture are numerous, — that the instruction conveyed by ./., I'-ii.,. o Apparent coutra- them, if they be indeed designed for such a dictions ot scrip. (..,.. , . . ture numerous. purpose, IS furnished in abundance, — is too notorious to need being much insisted on. We are told that God " repented of having made man upon the earth," — that he " repented of having made Saul king over Israel," — that " he repented him of the evil ; " and again, that " he is not the son of man that he should repent ; " and that " in him is no variableness nor shadow of turning." We are told that " whosoever is bom of God, doth not com mit sin ; " yet again, by the very same author, that " if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves." ' We read in one apostolical epistle that Abraham was justi fied by faith, and in another that he was justified by works. One discourse of our Lord's, in which he makes mention of the day of judgment, and describes the blessing and the curse respectively pronounced on those who have performed or neg lected such charitable offices as feeeing the hungry, clothmg the naked, and ministering to the sick, might seem to favor the 1 " When the Apostle John says that ' whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and that every one who is born of God doth not commit sin,' it can not be supposed that he meant to attribute to Christians moral perfection and impeccability, when, on the contrary, he exhorts them to ' confess their sins.' Far was-it from his design to teach that one who did but feel convinced of having experienced the new birth, might safely remit his exertions and relax his vigi lance against sin, and ' count himself to have apprehended,' and to be thencefor ward sure of divine acceptance andof everlasting life, without ' taking heed lest he fall.' On the contrary, he was writing, as is well known, in opposition to those Gnostics of his day, who were grossly Antinomian, and who, while they professed to * have no sin ' in God's sight, and to be sure of salvation through their supposed ' knowing the gospel ' (gnosis), lived a life of flagrant immorality. " Jn contradiction to these monstrous tenets, he declares that every one who has a well-grounded ' hope in Christ, pnrifieth himself, even as he is pure,' — that a sinful life is inconsistent with the character of the ' sons of God,' — that the tendency, in short, and suitable result of being ' born of God,' is opposed to the commission of sin." — Tract ou Sacraments, pp. 49, 50. 202 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. conclusion that our final doom is to depend exclusively on our care or neglect of our distressed brethren, without any regard to our faith, or to the purity or the integrity of our lives. In his final charge to his disciples, again, it might seem that every- l^hing is made to depend on right belief alone, — " He that be- lieveth and is baptized, shall be saved." We are told again by our Lord, to pray and to give ahns secretly ; and again, to let our " light so shine before men that they may see our good works ; " and by the apostle, " not to forsake the assembUng of ourselves together " for the purpose of worship. We are told by our Lord, " He that is not with me is against me ; " and again, " He that is not against us is with us," — that " he who hateth not his father and mother, and wife and children, and all that he hath, cannot be his disciple ;" and again, by his apostle, that " he who provideth not for his own house is worse than an infidel." The same, again, who tells his disciples, " the Father hath sent me " — "I go to the Father " — " the Father is greater than I " — " I can of mine own self do nothing," tells them, also, " He that hath seen me hath seen the Father : I am in the Father, and the Father in me : I and the Father are one." The same who tells them that he " will not leave them comfortless, but will come unto them," and " Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world," tells them, also, " If I go not away, the Comforter wiU not come unto you ; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." Yet again he tells them of " the Comforter whom the Father will send in his (Christ's) name ; " and again, in another place, " If any man wUl keep my saying, my Father will love him, and we wUl come unto him, and make our abode with him." And he who was preached to Cornelius as one whom " God anointed with the Holy Ghost anij with power," is spoken of ON APPAEENT CONTEADICTIONS IN SCEIPTUEE. 203 by Paul as " over all, God blessed for ever," " in whom dwell eth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."' And instances of a similar character might be multiplied to a great extent. I am well aware what copious and satisfactory explanations have been given of a multitude of such seeming discrepancies as these : the only point that pertains to the present question, and which we ought, I think, strongly to dwell upon, is, that they are not to be regarded merely in the light of difficulties, but rather as belonging to the mode of instruction employed in Scripture. Even in teaching moral duties there are good reasons for introducing, as we find is occasionaUy done, some maxims, which, taken separately, and interpreted with literal strictness, are at variance with each other ; but which, when taken in connection, serve to explain and modify each other. Instructions thus conveyed are evidently more striking and more likely to arouse the attention, and also, from the very circumstance that they call for careful reflection, more likely to make a lasting impression.^ But there are additional reasons for adopting this mode of conveying to us the requisite knowledge con cerning mysteries which are not directly com- 4^°In"d.°' '""^''°'° prehensible by our understanding. Since no language could convey to man, with his present faculties, in proper terms, a clear and just notion of thoss attributes and acts of the Supreme Being which revelation designed to im part, it was necessary for this purpose to resort to analogical expressions, which may convey to us, in faint shadows and figures, such a knowledge of divine mysteries as is requisite, and is alone within the reach of our capacity.^ Now the disadvantage attending the use of such language is, that men are sometimes apt to understand it too literally, and to ' See Appendix to Elements of Logic, Art. "Person." 2 See the following Essay. 8 See Archbishop King's Discourse ou Predestination. 204 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. interpret what is said more strictly than was intended. And the best remedy against this mistake is to vary the figures employed as much as possible, — to illustrate the same thing by several different analogies, — by which means these several expressions, being inconsistent when understood literally, will serve to limit and correct each other, and thus, together, to convey more clearly the real meaning designed.' What has been just said may be illustrated by the language we employ in speaking of the human mind and its operations, respecting which we have few or no terms that are not, origi nally at least, borrowed from the material world. For instance, it is very common to speak of the memory as a kind of store house or repository ; we speak of treasuring up things in the memory, of having the memory well stored, and the like. Now there might be a danger that by the long and famiUar use of such figurative expressions we should at length come to forget that they are figurative, — to imagine the brain to be Ut erally a kind of storehouse, and the ideas or notions to be some real things actually laid up within it. But this mistake is guarded against by another, and quite different set of figura tive expressions for describing the same thing ; for we often, again, speak ofthe memory as a kind oi writing-tablet ; we speak of things being written, imprinted, engraved on the memory ; or, again, of their being erased from the memory. Now these expressions, again, would mislead men if understood Uterally ; but this is prevented by those other modes of expression before mentioned, which in their turn are limited and explained by these. For by considering that the two, when taken literally, contradict each other, — that the memory cannot be literally at once a storehouse and a writing-tablet, — we are habitually reminded that it is literally neither, but is so called only by analogy.^ » See Stuart's Philosophy, Vol. I. 3 See Elements of Logic, Dissertation, ohap. v. { 1, towards tbe end. ON APPAEENT CONTEADICTIONS IN SCEIPTUEE. 205 Now as we are thus unable to speak even of the workings of the human mind without using such figurative expressions, much less can we expect that aU which is to be taught us of the things relating to the Most High can be conveyed to us in any other way. And in each case it is requisite that the fig ures employed should be several and various, in order the better to guard us against understanding any one of them more literally than was intended. It was designed, therefore, that many of the expressions employed should be such as would, if strictly and literally interpreted, contradict each other; and such as may, when reconciled together, lead us as near the truth as our minds are capable of approaching. The mariner who has to steer his passage through the untracked ocean when it happens that he cannot have the exact line of his course pointed out, is often enabled to avoid any important deviation from it by being acquainted with certain boundaries on each side of it, and by keeping his vessel between them. Certain rocks and landmarks may serve to furnish to his eye a kind of line which will secure him, as long as he keeps within them, from certain shoals or currents which he is to avoid on one side of his destined course ; but this is of no service in guarding him against the dangers which may beset him on the opposite quarter : for this purpose another line must be pointed out to him, in the same manner, on the contrary side : and though neither of these lines is precisely that of the course he is to steer, yet an attention to both of them will enable him to proceed midway in safety, and in the direction required. Even thus it will often happen that two apparently opposite passages of Scripture may together enable us to direct our faith or our practice aright : one shall be calculated to guard us against certain errors on one side, and the other on the other side : neither, taken alone, shall convey the exact and entire truth ; but both, taken in conjunction, may enable us 18 206 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. sufficiently to ascertain it. Perplexity, therefore, and error must be the result of an undue preference and an overstrict interpretation of one or two such expressions, to the neglect of the others. For we have in many instances (to use another illustration) something corresponding to the composition of forces in mechanics : several different texts will be analogous to several impulses in various directions acting on a body which is to be set in motion, and whose combined effect wiU propel it in the direction required ; though no one of the im pulses, taken singly, is acting precisely in that direction. § V. After aU, indeed, the notions conveyed to us in this Tire knowledge '^'W Can be but Very faint and indistinct ; but rtans^uttTaToJ fo^ t^^* ^^ry reasou they are the less Ukely to ical and indistinct, {jg jncorrcct ; for if we obtain a full and clear notion of things beyond the reach of the human faculties, it cannot fail to be an erroneous notion. The main object of rev elation being to represent to us, not so much what God is in him self as what he is relatively to us, with a view to our practical benefit, this object may be sufficiently accomplished by dim and faint pictures of things which could not otherwise be revealed at all. The " light which no man can approach unto," if pre sented in unmitigated blaze to eyes too weak to endure it, would blind instead of enUghtening ; we now " see, by means of the reflection of a glass," what we could not otherwise see at all. Although, however, we may well believe that we are deficient in faculties for comprehending, as they are in themselves, many things of which the Scriptures furnish us with some faint rep resentations, yet since, of course, no one can form a distinct conception of the nature and extent of his own deficiency, it may be profitable to illustrate our own case by that of a per son destitute of some faculty which we do possess ; by which ON APPAEENT CONTEADICTIONS IN SCEIPTUEE. 207 means we may the better understand the nature of that mode of instruction which the Scriptures adopt, and the advantage and necessity of employing it for such beings as we now are. Let any one, for instance, attend to the case of a man born blind, and endeavor to convey to him some idea of the sense of seeing, and of the nature of light and colors. When you attempt this, you will then be in a situation answering in some degree to that of the inspired writers when they are instructing us in the unseen things of God. You might easily explain to the blind man that colors are perceived by the eyes, which convey to men (as well as the organs of the other senses, and even better) a knowledge of the objects around us ; you might also easily make him understand that light is something differ ent from heat, and yet proceeds from the sun, a fire, a candle, or the like ; and that when nothing of this kind is present there is darkness, in which no one can see ; and also that light is cheerful and agreeable, and darkness something melancholy. So far, we are giving merely general descriptions ; which would be intelligible enough, but could convey only the most faint and imperfect idea of seeing. You might then impart some further knowledge by means of the analogy of the other senses ; for instance, you might teach him that seeing, in one respect, resembles hearing and smelling, inasmuch as it con veys a knowledge of things at a distance, as they do ; but that, nevertheless, it is as different from either of them as they are from each other; and that, moreover, seeing gives us, what hearing and smelling can not, a notion of the magnitude and of the form of bodies, in which respect it agrees with the sense of touch ; though this last, again, conveys the knowledge of such bodies only as are close to us, whereas sight extends to a dis tance. Now such instruction as this, given to a blind man, may serve to Ulustrate what has been just said about the apparent 208 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. contradictions in Scripture ; for the blind man might easily in terpret the two parts of this lesson as contradictory, and might say, " How can the same thing bear any resemblance to hear ing, and at the same time to feeling?" Or he might regard even each part of the lesson as in itself contradictory and impossible — saying, " You would fain persuade me that there is some way of touching things at a distance ; or that (here is a kind of hearing or of smelling by which one can judge of form and magnitude — neither of which is conceivable." And it is plain that if he regarded either part of your instruction by itself, and was not careful to limit and explain it by the other, he would be utterly misled ; for he would suppose seeing to be much more like some one of the other senses than it really is. But if he were careful to attend to the whole, together, and to consider that two things may be very much alike in one respect, and yet very different in others,' and that the same thing may be compared to several others which are themselves quite unlike, and may resemble one of these things in one respect and another in another, and in some respects again may differ from all of them, he would acquire a faint, indeed, and indistinct notion of sight, but, as far as it went, not an incorrect one. For he would understand that sight in one respect corresponds, or is analogous, to smelling and hearing, inasmuch as it extends to distant objects ; and again, in another respect, to touch, inasmuch as it gives an idea of shape and size, — ¦ that it differs from each of these respectively in the cir cumstance wherein it agrees with the other, and that It differs in many points from both : so that by interpreting each of these analogies in such a manner as to be reconcilable with the other, he would be using the best means to avoid misunder standing either, and to attain the most perfect knowledge which his natural deficiency would allow. For if you attempted, * See King's Discourse on Predestination. ON APPAEENT CONTEADICTIONS IN SCRIPTURE. 209 beyond this, to give him any distinct and precise knowledge of the nature of light and colors, you would be more likely to confuse and mislead than to instruct him. The circumstance that the knowledge conveyed to us in Scripture, in many cases, is not merely incomplete in degree, "but, being conveyed to us by figures, is also different in kind from that more direct and perfect knowledge which we may hope hereafter to attain, is alluded to, perhaps, in that expres sion of Paul's respecting the glorified state, — " whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away." ' We might have expected him, perhaps, to promise rather an increase and extension of our knowledge ; but it appeared to him, probably, that the knowledge we now possess concerning several points not fully comprehensible to us is so utterly different in kind from that which is reserved for us, that the change might more properly be called an entire vanishing of the notions we are at present able to form, and a substitution of others in their place. In like manner, if we suppose a blind man who had been instructed in the way just described to obtain sight, all those faint ana logical notions of seeing, which we may conceive him to have formed, would fade away from his mind, and be succeeded by others imcomparably more direct and clear.^ Meanwhile, our care must be, during our state of trial here below, not to imagine our knowledge more complete than it is, nor to expect from the Scriptures such information as they were not meant to supply.' We must not study them as de- ' 1 Cor. xiii. 8-10. 2 See the interesting and valuable account of a boy born blind, and couched by Mr. Cheselden, extracted from the Philosophical Transactions, by Mr. H. Mayo, in his Physiology, p. 163. 3 " Has the reader ever attempted to state to himself distinctly what he under stands by the term revelation; meaning, a revelation ofthe divine nature? Nei ther the voice, the vision, the dream, nor the instinct can be said to be God. All are evidently vehicles and modes of communicating his messages to man. 18=^ 210 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. signed to convey, as it were, in terms of art, the speculative truths of philosophy ; but must seek, in the first instance at least, and with the greatest diligence, such truths as are relative to man, and practical : nor must we allow ourselves, in any case, to interpret strongly all the texts which seem to offer themselves on one side, while we explain away all that are on the other side ; as if on the ground that they are not to be taken literally, we were thence authorized to affix to them any signification whatever that may chance to suit our views ; but we must en deavor honestly to reconcile Scripture with itself, and thus to avail ourselves of that mode of instruction which our divine Teacher has thought best for us. So shall we be enabled, though divine help, to avoid, or to diminish, many of the diffi culties which presumptuous speculators, or partial and preju diced inquirers, have to encounter in the Scriptures ; and we shall find them " able to make us wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus." ' Him no man hath seen at any time.' Suppose, then, we mshed to convey a description of an object of sight to one born blind (for that is our condition in relation to the divine nature),- he may perhaps be made to receive some indis tinct idea of it through his sense of hearing ; and the vehicle of this revelation, as it may be termed, would be a voice. Some contrivance may be afterwards invented which should convey to him the sarae description, by submitting to his touch iigures representing it, or, as is done in some asylums, by letters and words strongly impressed, so as to be distinctly felt. If it had so happened that he was at length favored with the gift of sight (as occurred with some iu the miraculous period of the church), that same descriptiou might be set before his eyes iu a painting. Meanwhile, suppose him never yet to have witnessed the object itself thus variously represented; he would then have become acquainted with it in three distinct ways, and have been enabled to improve and to apply his knowledge of it by means of each; still, he would hardly he absurd enough to make either of these assertions: '* 1. That the sounds, the figures, the writing, or the painting were the \GTy thing described. "2. Thatthe variety in the mode of conveying the description implied any cor responding distinction in that oue object, tho idea of which was thus variously communicated to him."— Hinds's History of the Else and Progress of Christi anity, Vol. I. pp. 295, 296. ON APPAEENT CONTRADICTIONS IN SCEIPTUEE. 211 NOTE TO ESSAY VIL Note A — Page 199. The ancient heathen had certain sacred rites In which were dis closed, to those " initiated," certain secrets, which were carefully to be kept concealed from the uninitiated (aiiitiToi), the great mass of the professors of the religion. The apostle naturally makes allusion to these, by the use of the word " mystery," to denote those designs of God's providence, and those doctrinal truths, which had been kept concealed from mankind " till the fulness of time " was come, " but now were made manifest " to believers. And he frequently adverts to one Important ciroumstanco in the Christian mysteries, which distinguishes them from those of paganism ; namely, that while these last were revealed only to a chosen few, the gospel mysteries, on the contrary, were made known to all who would listen to and obey the truth, whether Jew or Gentile, bond or free, barbarian or Greek. All Christians were " Initiated " (ovjijiiaTai, as one of the ancient Fathers calls them), and those only remained iu darkness who wilfully shut their eyes ; " if our gospel be hid, it Is to them that are lost, whom the prince of this world hath blinded." Now, our ordinary use ofthe word " mystery" conveys the notion of something that we cannot understand at all, and which it is fruitless to inquire Into. I am not censuring this use of the word ; but If we Interpret, according to our own usage, an author who employs It dif ferently, It Is plain we shall be misled. Both we and the sacred writers. Indeed, understand by the word, something hidden from one party and known to another (for we suppose all mysteries to bo known to God) ; but there is this difference, — that we use the word inre/ereraceto the party from whom the knowledge Is withheld; the apostles, in reference to those to whom the knowledge is revealed. Such an expression as, " this is a mystery to us," conveys to us tho Idea that it is something wo do not and can not understand ; to Paul it would convey tho Idea that It Is something which " now is made manifest," and which we aro therefore called upon to contemplate and study, even as his ofiice was " to make known the mystery ofthe gos pel." Not that he meant to imply that we are able fully to understand 212 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. the divine dispensations ; but It is not in reference to this their in scrutable character that he calls them mysteries, but the reverse ; they are reckoned by him mysteries, not so far forlh as ihey are hidden and unintelligible, but so far forth as they are revealed aud explained. For another use of " mystery," to signify a symbohcal representa tion, see Parkhurst's Lexicon. It is in that sense that In the second of the post-communion prayers the bread and wine are called " holy mysteries ; " that is, emblems. ESSAY VIII. ON THE MODE OF CONVEYING MOKAL PRECEPTS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. In the preceding Essay some remarks were offered relative to the methods employed for communicating as JMoral precepts of much as was needful to be known concerning the New Testa- ment often con- the more abstruse doctrines of our religion ; veyed in apparent 1 , , , 7 • , • 1 contradictions. namely, by apparent contradictions, — by ex pressions which, if taken literally, would be at variance with each other ; and which, consequently, must be mutually ex plained and modified by each other, in order that they may be reconciled. And in this case the advantage of such a proced ure is evident ; the things themselves are such as we are no more capable of distinctly and fully comprehending, than a blind man can the nature of light and colors. Such instruc tion, therefore, as we can receive concerning them, must be necessarily imparted according to the same principles by which we should convey to the blind some idea of sight ; namely, by employing several different analogies, each of which may serve to correct the others, and all of which in conjunction may convey a notion as nearly approaching to the reality as the case wiU permit. But (as was observed in that Essay) in the inculcation of moral precepts there cannot be the same reason for employing this method as there is in doctrinal instruction respecting in- 214 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. scrutable mysteries. And yet there are not a few directly practical passages, in different parts of the New Testament, which, if taken literally, and in their full force, would contra dict each other ; and such apparent discrepancies there are, not only between the writings of the evangelists and the apostolic epistles, but also between different portions of our Lord's own discourses. Not only is Paul's censure of that man as " worse than an infidel," who neglects to " provide for those of his own household," at variance with our Lord's declaration, " If any man hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple," if both be under stood literally, and without limitation; but also, according to such an interpretation, our Lord's own precept to his disciples to " let their light shine before men," would be no less opposed to his command that their prayers and alms should be strictly concealed. And his description, again, ofthe day of judgment, in which the performance or neglect of the works of charity seems to be the sole ground of distinction between the saved and the condemned, is apparently opposed not only to the apostle's declaration " by grace ye are saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves ; it is the gift of God," and to number less others of the same character, but also to the literal import of Christ's own parting declaration to his disciples, which seems to make the absence or presence of a right belief the only point considered : " He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." And many other like instances might be adduced which plainly show that the system of instructing by apparent contradictions is not confined to doctrinal, but extends to practical points ; and that in both cases it is requisite to compare and balance, as it were, against each other, different parts of Scripture, if we would gain a correct view of what it is intended to convey.' ' As I have treated of subjects nearly allied to the one now before us in the sec ond, third, and fifth Essays ofthe Pirst Series, it may be worth while briefly to no tice in this place tbe connection, aud also the distinction, between those aud the ON THE MODE OF CONVEYING MOEAL PEECEPTS. 215 § I. For what purpose, then, it may be asked, did our Lord and his inspired foUowers resort to this Reasons for tiie method of instruction, in respect of those practi- ^[Sr^arate! cal duties which are not, Uke the more abstruse '="' views. points of faith, beyond the reach of man's faculties ? In order to answer this question, it will be necessary to revert to some considerations which have been formerly suggested.' Let it be observed, then, that it was no part of the scheme of the gospel revelation to lay down anything approaching to a complete system of moral precepts, — to enumerate everything that is enjoined or forbidden by our religion ; nor, again, to give a detailed general description of Christian duty, or to delineate, after the manner of systematic ethical writers, each separate habit of virtue or of vice. When the Mosaic law was brought to a close (a law of which we have no Scripture warrant for supposing that any part was intended to continue in force under the gospel dispensation, or to be extended to the Gen tiles) — - when this law, I say, was brought to a close, no other set of precise rules was substituted in its place. New and higher motives were implanted ; a more exalted and perfect example was proposed for imitation ; a loftier standard of mo raUty was established ; rewards more glorious, and punishments more appalling, were held out; and supernatural aid was bestowed; and the Christian, with these incentives and these advantages, is left to apply, for himself, in each case, the principles of the gospel. He is left to act at his own dis- present Essay. I was speaJiing, in them, of a peculiarity (considering Christi anity as compared with any human system) in the motives employed by the sa cred writers for producing moral conduct, and also in the examples (of Jesus himself. Essay II. and III., aud of children. Essay V.) which they propose for our imitation and self-instruction. At present, I am considering their Tnode of conveying to us the precepts of morality. In all, it is the moral instruction of Scripture that I have been treating of; but, distinctly, of the different parts of which it (and indeed all complete moral instruction) consists; namely, 1st, the motives inculcated ; 2dly, the examples proposed ; 3dly, the precepts delivered. » Essay V. 216 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. cretion, according to the dictates of his conscience, to cultivate Christian dispositions, and thus to be "a law unto himself." From the exact regulations under which the Israelites, when in a condition analogous to childhood, were placed, he is re leased ; not that he may be under a less strict moral restraint, but that he may attain, under the gospel system, a more manly self-government, a higher degree of moral exceUence ; even as the precise rules and strict control under which a child is placed, are gradually relaxed as he advances towards maturity ; not on the ground that good conduct is less required of a man than of a child, but, on the contrary, because the very maturity of age, which emancipates him from the trammels of childhood, renders him capable of regulating his conduct for himself by his own judgment. " Behold, the days come, saith the Lord" (according to the Prophet Jeremiah, cited in the Epistle to the Hebrews^, " when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel; not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers .... for this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord : I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts." And hence it is, probably, that the Apostle James (I. 25) uses the expression ofthe perfect law of liberty."' The system, then, according to which the Christian's life is to be regulated, is one under which, not a less, but a greater degree of moral perfection is expected of him ; but which sub stitutes sublime principles for exact rules. It is this system the apostle sometimes calls " faith,'' — sometimes " the law of faith," to distinguish it, not from good works, but from the law of Moses. It is called the law of faith, not because Christians are not (which he assures us they are) to stand before Christ's tribunal " to give an account of the things done in the body," but because their moral conduct is required to spring from faith, — from faith in the redeeming mercy of God, " who was in ¦ See Introductory Lessons on Morals. ON THE MODE OF CONVEYING MOEAL PEECEPTS. 217 Christ reconciling the world unto himself," and the devout gratitude which is the natural result of this, — from faith in the divine holiness and purity of the Saviour, and the consequent desire to tread in his steps whose life is our example, — from that faith in his promised rewards which leads to the endeavor after such a preparation of ourselves as may qualify us to dweU " forever with the Lord," — from faith in his promised presence with us, even unto the end of the world, by his Spirit " which worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure." ' Such a system, then, it was necessary so to develop that its true character might not be mistaken. Since Christians were not to be guided by a precise code of laws, it was necessary to guard them carefully against expecting one. And even during our Lord's own ministry, before the " law of faith " was per fectly laid down (the objects of that faith being but faintly and partially revealed), still it was needful, even at the very outset, that men should not be led, or left, to suppose, that either a collection of exact rules, or a system of moral philoso phy, was about to be proposed to their acceptance, — that either the Mosaic law was to remain in force as to the Uteral observ ance of its several precepts, extended by the addition of others, or that any corresponding system, any fresh enumeration of specific acts forbidden and enjoined, was to be introduced in the room of it. And care was the more necessary on this point, both because man in general is more ready to receive even a burdensome law, of this character, than to be left to his own watchful and responsible discretion in acting up to certain principles, and also because the Jews in particular had been accustomed to precise regulations, and nice distinctions as to specific acts, even far beyond what the written law of Moses had laid down. And yet our Lord's hearers had need of some moral instruc- ' Essay HI. (First Series.) 19 218 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. tion. It was important that illustrations should be afforded them of the application of the general principles of the new religion to each particular point ; it was desirable to enforce such duties as were especially neglected, and to point out the comparative degrees of importance of such as had been unduly estimated : many prevailing faults and prejudices caUed for correction, and it was needful, universally, to guard against the supposition that the new covenant was designed to substi tute faith for virtuous practice, and to save those who should " call Jesus Lord," while they continued " workers of iniquity." And as all this was to be accomplished in the course of a short ministry, and the instruction was to be conveyed to men for the most part of untutored and unreflective minds, it was the more important that the mode of conveying it should be as striking and permanently impressive as possible ; with a con stant caution, at the same time, against the mistake into which the hearers were ever liable to fall, — that of imagining that they were to receive certain definite precepts, and satisfying themselves with a literal obedience to each. Something peculiar, then, may be expected in the mode of conveying moral instructions, when the object proposed com prehended all the circumstances just mentioned, — when it re quired that, besides being suited to the capacity and to the moral condition of the hearer, the precepts should at the same time be both forcibly impressive, and also such as to exclude the idea of any intention to lay down a complete moral code. § II. In the moral lessons of the gospel, accordingly, three peculiarities especially may be observed, which al compliance witli havc a reference to the circumstances I have diiicr tapoiibi'e° noticed, and which may be explained by them. to OTtant' " """ First, the precepts are often apparently con tradictory to each other. Secondly, they are often such that a Uteral compliance with ON THE MODE OF CONVEYING MOEAL PEECEPTS. 219 them would be, in many cases, either impossible, or, at least, extravagant and irrational. And, thirdly, this Uteral compliance would in many instances amount to so insignificant and unimportant a point of duty, as could not be supposed deserving of a distinct inculcation for its own sake. And two, or all three, of these characters may sometimes be found to meet in one single precept. The reason of all this is clear, from the principles that have been already laid down : every mode is employed of warning the hearers against satisfying themselves with an observance of these precepts according to the letter, in doing or abstaining from some particular action. For, a literal compUance with precepts which, literally taken, are inconsistent, would be im possible. Where that literal compliance would be wrong or ab surd, it is manifest it could not be intended ; where it would be trifling, it is manifest that it cannot be all that is intended. And thus the disciples were driven, if they were sincerely desirous to learn, and would interpret rationally and candidly what they heard, to perceive that such precepts as I am speak ing of were designed to explain and to enforce those general principles on which men are to regulate their conduct ; while the very circumstance that such instructions excite some degree of surprise, and evidently call for careful reflection, renders them the more likely to make a lasting impression. Many instances of each description will readily occur to most persons. I will advert to a very few. When Jesus tells his disciples to pray and to give alms in secret, and not to let their " left hand know what their right hand doeth,'' and yet exhorts them to " let their Ught shine be fore men,'' it is plain from these precepts, taken in conjunction, and explained by each other, that his design was to discounte nance an ostentatious motive, but to leave to our own conscien tious discretion the mode of performing each action on each 220 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. occasion. When the publicity of our alms and of our devotions appears likely to "glorify God," and to benefit men by the influence of a good example, the principles of the gospel pre scribe that publicity ; in cases where it tends only to the grati fication of our own vanity, and especially when we have reason to fear that we may be too much actuated by the desire of men's praise, then concealment is to be preferred. Again, when men's future destiny is described in one place determined by their performance or omission of the social duties, — in another, by the government of the tongue, — in another, by belief and baptism alone, — in another (the par able of the rich man and Lazarus), apparently by the luxuries enjoyed, or privations undergone in the present Ufe, — we may easily learn, by comparing and balancing together all these passages, that no good works of man, not springing from belief in the gospel, can tend to salvation : yet that professions of faith in Christ are but a mockery of him when unaccompanied with active benevolence towards those whom he calls his breth ren — that we shall be condemned or justified by our words as well as by our actions — and that those who set their hearts on the good things of this world, and lay up no treasures in heaven, can have no reasonable expectation of heavenly rewards. Again, the injunction in the passage before cited, to "hate father and mother,'' etc., if we be Christ's disciples,' is not only, ^ It may be observed, by the way, what an evidence to the truth of Christianity is afforded by this declaration of our Lord, together vvith his warning that every one who would be his disciple must be ready to " take up his cross and follow him,'' and must, in imitation of a man designing to build, and of a king about to make war, coolly calculate beforehand whether he has resources and resolution sulTicient to go through with the enterprise. All this constitutes so uninviting a doctrine, that we may be sure no one would have preached it who had any object in view except that of teaching the truth. We have here, therefore, one of those many internal evidences of our religion, which may be made completely intelligible to the unlearned Christian. For, common sense may convince any one, that, had Jesus been either an impostor or an enthusiast, he would never have entertained, and taught others to entertain, ON THE MODE OF CONVEYING MOEAL PRECEPTS. 221 if taken literally, at variance with the exhortations to univer sal benevolence, and to Paul's command to provide for our families, but also to the plainest dictates of conscience and of common sense. This, then, is an instance which illustrates at once two of the principles above laid down. It is plain, there fore, that such a precept could not be meant to be understood and obeyed literally ; and if there could be any doubt in what manner Christ intended it should be obeyed, he himself has given us in another place an explanation of it : " He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me ; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me." It is evident, therefore, that what is intended by the command to hate the objects of our strongest regard, is, that the things of the greatest importance to our happiness, and which have the strongest hold on our affections, must be ac counted by us as nothing, in comparison with our devotedness to Christ ; and that whenever any of these objects shall chance to stand in the way of our obedience to him, we must be ready to resign it without a murmur. Sacrifices of this kind were doubtless much more frequently caUed for in the first ages of the church than they are now ; because not only many were called on to abandon their homes and friends, and devote themselves to the propagation of the gospel in distant countries, but it also frequently happened that men's nearest and dearest connections were at variance with them respecting the religion of Christ ; and that they had to suffer persecution, or at least censure and contempt, from those very friends whose good opinion and regard they had been the most accustomed to prize : " Think not that I am come to send such a view of his religion. He would have used all means to invite men to be come his disciples, instead of deterring them ; and would either himself have overlooked, or else concealed from the people, the diiiiculties to he encountered by those who should embrace the gospel, instead of pointing them out, and ear nestly dwelling upon them. 19* 222 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. peace on earth ; I tell you nay, but rather division : the father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; a man's foes shall be they of his own household." It is plain, therefore, that a man must have been, in such circumstances, very strongly tempted to shrink from the bold and open profession of his faith, and to concede too much to the authority of those around him ; and accordingly we read of many leading men among the Jews who sought to com promise the matter, by outwardly renouncing the opinions they inwardly held, — " who beUeved in Jesus, but secretly," for fear of being " cast out of the synagogue ; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." There is not, however, nor ever will be, any time or any country in which the sincere Christian is not liable to be caUed upon to make some sacrifices in the cause of Christ — to do, or to forego, or undergo, something which occasions a painful struggle to his nature ; and this our Lord exhorts us deliber ately to prepare for, and, if we would be his disciples, to give him a most decided and strong preference to every object that may stand in the way of our faith or of our obedience to him. This he in another place very strongly enforces in a figurative form of expression, which, also, common sense teaches us, it would be absurd to understand literally ; saying, " If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee ; " meaning thereby that whatever offends us as Christians, — that is, stands in our way, and obstructs our progress in following our Master's steps, though it may be as dear to us as an eye or a right hand, — must be renounced, thoroughly and heartily and cheerfully, for his sake, if we expect that he should own us as his disciples. Now this precept of plucking out an eye, or cutting off a right hand, is far from hard to be understood, as to the spirit and intention of it, and the disposition meant to be recom mended ; and when it is understood, its effects wUl be, on those ON THE MODE OF CONVEYING MORAL PEECEPTS. 223 who sincerely study to comply with it, exactly what our Lord designed. They cannot in this case satisfy their conscience by a literal compliance with it in the performance of any specific act ; and, consequently, will the more naturally be led to cul tivate that frame of mind, aud study to adopt that principle of thorough devotedness to Christ, which he meant to recommend. Again, in inculcating the duty of gentleness and patience under provocation, he says, " If any man smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the left also ; if any man will take away thy cloak, let him have thy coat also ; if any man compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain ; " in which it is evident that his meaning was, not the mere Uteral performance of those specific actions mentioned, but the cultivation of a mild and long-suffering temper. The strong way in which he de livered those precepts — the striking and often paradoxical illustrations which he gave of them — had the effect of making a more lively impression on the hearers' minds, and at the same time guarded them, as I have just before observed, against supposing that it was enough to perform, literally, the particu lar actions mentioned, without adopting the principle of action which he was iUustrating. This last instance, again, combines two of the circumstances above mentioned : the mere literal observance of the precept would not only be in many cases irrational, but also manifestly insufficient, and would fall far short of what is meant to be inculcated ; and hence a candid hearer is the more immediately led to understand that obedience to it implies not the bare performance of this or that particular action, but the careful cultivation of a certain habit of action. The same observations will apply to our Lord's precept against choosing " the most honorable seats at feasts ; " and his exhortation to men to occupy a lower place than they have a just title to. He did indeed intend that his rule respecting good manners should be literally observed, since good manners 224 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. is a part of good morals ; but it is evident that this Uteral com pliance was the least part of what he designed, and that he took this method of inculcating, generally, a caution against arrogance and self-exaltation. Universally, indeed, he was accustomed to iUustrate what ever principle he had in view by some particular instance, knowing that this would take better hold on men's attention, and be more surely fixed in their memory, than if he had con fined himself to the mere general maxim ; and that would be very easy for any one, after being, by this exemplification, put in possession of the general maxim, to extend and apply it, for himself, to every case that might occur, supposing him to have the sincere disposition to do so without which no instruction can avail. Thus, when he was called upon to explain what kind of neighborly love we ought to show, and towards whom, he iUus- trates his meaning by relating the parable of a man who " feU among thieves," and he concludes his instruction by saying, " Go and do thou likewise ; " which exhortation no one can be so stupid, if he be not also perverse, as to interpret by the letter, as meaning merely that when he might chance to meet with a traveUer thus circumstanced, he should relieve him, and that precisely such a case as that in the parable was all that was contemplated. The interpretation of " Go and do thou likewise " was clear enough, to any one who wished to under stand it, as signifying that we are to regard every one as a neighbor to whom we have an opportunity of doing service, and are to be ready to perform the kind offices of a neighbor to wards him. But, as I have said, our Lord chose not only to illustrate his general maxim by some particular exemplifica- instance of tuo tion, but, also, in order to make it more clear '"="""*• to his hearers that this was his object, — that the instances ad- ON THE MODE OF CONVEYING MOEAL PEECEPTS. 225 duced were for the purpose of illustrating the general rule, — it happened very frequently, as in the case of some of the illus trations just mentioned, that he selected by choice such as were in themselves the smallest and most insignificant instances of the rule. Thus, when he wished to impress on his disciples in the most forcible manner the duty of being ready to serve, and perform kind offices for one another, he taught them by an action, by himself condescending to wash their feet, and after wards telling them, " Ye ought also to wash one another's feet." This, it is well known, was, from the pecuUar circumstances of the age and country, one of the chief refreshments to travellers ; this particular instance, consequently, was chosen as affording an easy and familiar illustration of the general disposition he designed to inculcate, — a readiness to perform aU manner of kind offices for one another. Now if the particular office of kindness selected by him had been one of the more important services of life, there might have been the more danger of their supposing that his precept was meant to extend only to that particular service mentioned ; whereas this was guarded against by his particularizing one of the smallest : when he said to them, " Ye ought to wash one another's feet," they could not have a doubt that the precept was meant to extend to more than that one point of hospitaUty, and to comprehend a general disposi tion to befriend one another. § IH. To those, then, who are sincerely desirous of instruc tion, and wlUInff to use care and diligence in _ _ _ Ttie mode of in- seeking it, and in practicaUy applying what they struction adopted . . Trr* 1 1 BufEcient for ttie learn, it will, in most cases, be no difficult task to candid and diii- ascertain what principles those are which our ^"^ Lord and his apostles intended, on each occasion, to inculcate, and in what manner Christians are required to exempUfy them in their lives. 226 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. If we first examine the whole of each passage, so as fo un derstand the occasion on which any precept was delivered, and to what persons, and under what circumstances ; and if we are also careful to compare different (and, especially, apparently in consistent) passages together, — so interpreting each as it is explained, or limited, or confirmed, or extended, or otherwise modified by the rest, — we shall be employing those means for ascertaining aright the sense of God's word which common prudence would prescribe, which doubtless were intended to be employed in such an inquiry, and which, we may trust, by God's grace will not be employed in vain. On the other hand, the inattentive and the uncandid, those For tlie opposite '^^C) read the Scriptures without lUUgent study, ^onYd^iiL"^: o"- ^ith a study only to find confirmations of sufficient. their preconceived notions, and vindications of their own conduct, — such could not have been secured from error, even by any other mode of instruction that could have been adopted. Let it not be objected, therefore, to the method pursued by Our Lord and his foUowers, that it affords an opening, for such as are so disposed, to escape from any doctrines or duties they may object to, and to model others according to their own inclinations, by dweUing on and enforcing literally such texts as suit their purpose, and explaining away the rest. The most precise and detailed precepts would have been no less success fully evaded by the same persons. They would easily have found some contrivance, when they were so disposed, to " make the word of God of non-effect, by their tradition." And the most copious and philosophical system of ethics would have proved no better safeguard against the devices of a corrupt heart. Moral treatises afford no substitute for the ex ercise of discretion and of candor ; philosophy cannot teach its own application ; on the contrary, such studies are useful to those only who employ that good sense and sincerity of inten- ON THE MODE OF CONVEYING MOEAL PEECEPTS. 227 tion, in bringing them into practice in the details of life. It is not enough (as the most illustrious ofthe ancient moralists has observed) ' to lay down, that, in each department of conduct, vir tue consists in the medium between an excess and a deficiency ; it StiU remains to be decided, in each single instance, where this medium is to be placed ; and as the determination of this is necessarily left to the judgment and conscience of the indi vidual, so any one whose moral judgment is not incorrupt, and who is seeking, not to improve his character, but to vindicate it, may easily find means, first to represent, and afterwards to believe, his own conduct to be exactly the right medium. For the maxim laid down in another place by the philosopher just aUuded to for applying his own rules, is one which the gener aUty of men completely reverse. He tells each man to observe to which of the two extremes he is, in each point, most prone by his own natural disposition, and to regard that as (rela tively to him) the worse extreme of the two ; being the one into which he is the more Uable to faU. The common practice, on the contrary, is for each to regard (as indeed, is very natural), that as the worse extreme to which he has the less tendency, and to look with less abhorrence on each fault, in proportion as it is the more congenial to his own inclinations. Without vigilant and candid self-examination, then, no sys tem of moral instruction that could have been devised would have been practicaUy available ; and with this, the instructions afforded in the gospel, wiU, through divine help, prove sufficient. There are two objects, neither of which a man will usually fail to attain, who zealously and steadily seeks it : the one is, the knowl edge of what in each case he ought to do ; the other is, a plaus ible excuse for doing as he is inclined. The latter of these, the carnally-minded might find in any set of precepts or moral ' Arist. Eth. Nicom. Book VI. chap. 1. 228 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. instructions that could have been framed ; the former, the spiritually -minded wUl not fail to obtain in the gospel. Only let him not seek in it for what he wiU not find there, — precise and minute directions for every case that can occur ; or a set of insulated maxims which admit of being taken away, as it were, from the context, and interpreted and appUed with out any reference to the rest of Scripture ; or for a general detailed description of moral duties. But he wUl find there the most pure and subUme motives inculcated ; the noblest principles instiUed ; the most bold and uncompromising, yet sober and rational tone of moraUty main tained ; the most animating examples proposed ; and, above aU, the most effectual guidance and assistance and defence pro vided, even that of the Spirit of truth, who wiU enable us duly to profit by the teaching of his inspired servants, that we "may have our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life." ESSAY IX. ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Those things which God's most favored servants under the old dispensation — which " many prophets and Indistinct notiona kings had in vain desired to see and hear," the entertained at first ,. . , „ .,. Ill . T . by the disciples of aiscipies ot Jesus had been permitted to wit- the ciiaractcr «¦ ness. They had seen the man whom " God had anointed with the Holy Ghost, " ' and " given it unto him not by measure ; " ^ the " image of the invisible God, " ^ " whom no man hath seen at any time," * but whom " the only-begotten Son had declared unto them, " ^ " being the express image of his person. " '^ Imperfect and indistinct, indeed, — perhaps we may say confused, — must have been the notions they enter tained respecting the mysterious Being with whom they had been so long holding intercourse. Such must be our no tions also concerning him, unless they be erroneous ; for the ideas we form on a subject surpassing the powers of our pres ent minds, and which Scripture has but indistinctly revealed, cannot be, at once, clear and correct. The disciples, however, had, during our Lord's abode with them, even more imperfect notions respecting him than they were afterward taught to form. He had " many things to say unto them which, as yet, they could not bear." But they " knew and were sure that he 1 Acts X. 38. 2 John iii. 34. 3 Col. i. 15. 4 1 John iv. 12 ; also John i. 18. 6 John i. 18. 8 Heb. i. 3. 20 230 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. was the Christ, the Son of the living God," and that " he had the words of eternal Ufe ; " and they had latterly been further taught that they were not to regard him as merely bearing the commission of the Most High, like the prophets of old, nor yet as merely some being of a superhuman nature, whether a creature, or (according to the presumptuous fancies which afterwards prevailed) some ..Slnon, or emanation from the De ity, and partaking of the divine nature ; ' for when asked by PhUip, who probably was (Usposed to entertain some such no tion, to show them the Father, he replied, " Have I been so long with you, and yet hast thou not known me, PhiUp .' He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father ; and how sayest thou Show us the Father ? BeUevest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me ?^ The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself ; but the Father that dwelleth in me he doeth the works. BeUeve me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me ; or else believe me for the very works' sake " (John xiv.). 1 The Gnostics {tliat is, men of " science, falsely so called," — men claiming, in the title they assumed, to be emphatically such as " knew the gospel ") taught the doctrine of successive emanations (" endless genealogies " alluded to by Paul) from the Deity (whom they call the " Fulness "), and one from another, of these celestial beings, in whom they personified many of the Scripture terms relat ing to the character or the dispensations of the Most High; such as Logos (the Word), of whom they regarded Christ as an incarnation; PhUs (Light), feigned to have been incarnate in John the Baptist ; Aletlieia (Truth) ; Zoe (Life) ; Monogenes (only-begotten), and others. Without some acquaintance with this tissue of impious absurdity, it is impossible to understand fully the opening of John's Gospel. — See Hinds's History of the Eise and early Progress of Christi anity, Vol. II. p. 49. Paul's expressions also, " In Him dwelleth all ttie fulness of the Godhead bod ily," " It hath pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell," have reference, probably, to the same heresy. 2 This mode of expression seems to have been employed, as it constantly is, by our Lord, to guard his hearers against the notion of a local Deity, — against literally attributing pioce to the divine mind. Thus he says, " Abide in me, and lin you; " and, " The same dwelleth in me, atid lin him, " etc. ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIEIT. 231 § I. WeU therefore might the disciples, when thus far taught, anticipate with grief and dismay the approaching loss of their Divine Master, — the destruction Promise of jesus to send tile Com- of " the temple of his body," and the withdraw- '"'¦''='¦• ""' ''™'" but literaUy and numerically one being, even the one God, whose temple is the whole body of the faithful ; which temple they are warned not " to defile, lest Grod destroy them." ' For if any one could even so strain this last expression (as well as many other such) of the Apostle Paul, and likewise all the words of Christ himself, as to interpret them into mere metaphor, it would still be impossible for him to conceive a mere principle of action, — a Christian spirit, in that transferred sense of the word, — enabling Christians to work sensible miracles; and these we 1 See The Three Temples of the one true God contrasted, by Bishop Hinds. ON THE INFLUENCE OP THE HOLY SPIEIT. 233 find distinctly attributed to the immediate agency of the Divine Spirit. One, indeed, of the many important uses of the miraculous gifts bestowed on the infant church, and one, doubtless, of those for which they were designed, was this : they served to prove, among other things, that the promised indwelling of the Spirit of Christ in his church was not to be understood as a mere flgure of speech, denoting their adherence to the doctrines he taught, and the possession of the inspired record of them, but a real, though unseen presence, by his Spirit ; — not the mere keeping of his commandments through love for his memory, but a spiritual union with him, at once the promised reward, and the bond and support of that obedient love, — the effect at once and cause of our " keeping his saying." " For if any man love me," said he, "he will keep my saying; and my Father wiU love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." Would Jesus have said this of any man (that is, every man) who loved him, if he had been speaking only of the apostles, and of those others who should receive miraculous gifts ? Or would Paul, in that case, when writing to the Romans, who had at that time received no miraculous gifts,^ have said, " The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us : " . . . . " as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God .... if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you : if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his : ... . the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit " ? etc. And it is, I conceive, this, the more intimate union of the Spirit of Christ with his disciples, — more ultimate than that which existed while he was present with them in the flesh, — that he teaches them to regard as a ground for not only not 1 See Eom. i. U. 20'» 234 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. grieving, but rejoicing, at his departure, which was to lead to such a reunion : " If ye loved me, ye would rejoice." § II. It may be said, however, that since " every good and ev ery perfect gift is from above," — since from God Difference be- *' -^ ° ' tween the Jewish "procccd all holy dcsIrcs, good couuscls, and just and tlie Christian ciiurciiea in thia works, WC must not accouut Spiritual mfluence ""'''°° ' as any peculiar privilege of the gospel system, but must acknowledge that good men among the IsraeUtes of old, if not among the heathen also, acted under the guidance of the Holy Ghost. Indeed, we find them even recognizing this influence by their prayers to God to " make a clean heart within them," etc. And yet, on the other hand, there can surely be no doubt that, under the gospel, some new manffesta- tion of God in the Spirit has taken place. We cannot suppose that the persons who, by our Lord's directions, were baptized into' the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, — who were " born again of water and ofthe Spirit," in order to their entering into the newly-founded kingdom of heaven, — were admitted to no privilege which had not been all along enjoyed by their fathers, even from the creation. And every part of the New Testament confirms this view. Among the rest, we find in John's Gospel, "This spake he of the Holy Ghost, which they that believed on him should receive ; for the Holy Ghost was not yet"^ " because that Jesus was not yet glorified." And again, those twelve disciples whom Paul found at Ephesus, in his third apostolical journey, had " not so much as heard whether there 1 Not " in the name," as it is in our translation ; which probably in this and a few more instances showed too much deference for the Vulgate Latin version. That translates " in nomine; " a rendering plainly at variance with the original. 2 " Given," is added by the translators. Vivevfia tiytov seems used in this place and in others (as, for instttnoe, in Acts viii. 15 and 19, and xix. 2), for spiritual infiuence, or gifts. When the Holy Spirit is spoken of as a personal agent, the article is prefixed : Tb nvivjia, t6 &ytov. ON THE DStFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIEIT. 235 be any Holy Ghost." ' Yet certainly they could not have been ignorant that God is a spirit. Nor can it well be supposed that they, and the Evangelist John in the passage just cited refer to the miraculous effusion alone, and call that extraor dinary agency, especially and exclusively, the Holy Ghost ; since they must have known how frequently God had of old inspired the prophets, and enabled many of them to perform various miracles. In what, then, are we to conclude the difference consisted, between the Christian church and her predecessor, in respect of spiritual endowment ? Without presuming to decide on the degree of divine assistance bestowed on individuals under the two dispensations respectively (which would be presumptuous), this important distinction we may plainly perceive ; that, of the Christian church the Holy Spirit is the promised and perma nent Comforter ; he is the " promise of the Father,'' sent that " he may abide with us for ever." Whatever sanctifying aid may have been, in fact, supplied under the old covenant, it was no part of that covenant ; of the Christian covenant, it is. God the Holy Ghost — God manifest hi the Spirit — was not the permanent ruler of the former church, as he is of the Christian. As for the divine communications to the prophets, and the miraculous powers bestowed on them and on others, under the old dispensation, these were not continuous, but occasional. Inward sanctifying grace, again, bestowed on the humble and pious, may have been, for aught we know, constant, but was not promised. And hence the Jewish people was never called, like the Christians, the " temple of the Holy Ghost." ^ What the Apostle John, therefore (as weU as those disciples at Ephesus), meant by the Holy Spirit, — which, he says, " was not yet " (ofcto rjv), — must have been, this covenanted and per- 1 See a discourse on this subject in Bishop Copleston's Kcmains. 2 See this view more fully expanded in Bishop Hinds's Three Temples. 236 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. petual manifestation of God in the Spirit (a manifestation now to faith only, though at first confirmed by sensible miracles), as the Governor, Protector, Consoler, in short, Paraclete, of the Christian church. For we are Christ's body ; and " hereby know we that he dwelleth in us, by his Spirit which he hath given us." These considerations alone would be sufficient to prove, were other proofs less abundant, that the promised presence of God with the Christian church cannot, without setting Scrip ture at defiance, be understood as referring merely to the writ ings of the New Testament, which he inspired ; since that would give us no advantage over the Jewish church ; for " holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." § III. The promise of Christ, however, that he would always, even unto the end of the world, be with his Points of re- i.,., • t, i BcmWance, and of church, which IS thus constitutcd " the temple oir^conditioiT'Tt of the Holy Ghost that dweUeth in it," is not chrTstilns^irihl understood by aU in the same extent WhUe, first age, in respect qj^ j.jjg ^jjg haud, somc euthuslasts havB pre- of spiritual gift8. tended to inspiration, and other miraculous gifts, many, on the other hand, who are far removed from this error, but who are satisfied with vague and careless notions, have a sort of general idea of spiritual aid not being wholly withdrawn from Christians, but bestowed in a much less degree than on the saints of the primitive times ; without seeking to determine the measure, or the kind of spiritual assistance to be reasonably hoped for by each class respectively, or the signs by which each might recognize its presence. And yet it might naturally be supposed, that, inscrutable as the nature of God must be to his creatures, and little as they can understand of the reasons and the modes of his dealings with them, at least we should be capable of knowing what the spiritual aid is that we are taught to look for, and commanded ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIEIT. 237 to pray and to strive for. The humblest peasant who subsists by the labor of his hands, may be left ignorant, indeed, of the process by which corn vegetates in the earth, or supplies nu triment to the human frame ; but it is needful for his natural Ufe that he should understand how to gain his daily bread, which he is taught to pray for, and to distinguish it from what is useless or noxious ; and it is no less needful that the plain est Christian should be able to understand how his spiritual life is to be supported, — the welfare of his soul secured ; and should be capable of guarding against any dangerous error on the subject. It is desirable, therefore, that both the resemblances and the differences between our condition and that of the primitive Christians in respect of this point, should be as accurately laid down as possible, and should be frequently dwelt upon ; since the worst consequences may result from either underrating or overrating the spiritual aid to be expected by Christians of the present day. Thus much is generally admitted : that the promise of the Holy Spirit extended to both classes of Christians, but that the sensibly miraculous gifts bestowed on the early church have been long since withdrawn ; and these are usually, and very suitably, called the extraordinary gifts, as bestowed at a particular time, and for an especial purpose, and are thus dis tinguished from what are called the ordinary operations of the Spirit, as needful alike for all Christians, and at all times. A more particular consideration, however, of some of the several points of resemblance, and of difference, between the two cases, is requisite, for the purpose of guarding against some prevailing errors, and of calUng attention to doctrines not always sufficiently noticed, or adequately developed. And this inquiry falls naturally under two heads (which, however, cannot be kept entirely distinct) ; namely, first as to 238 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. the different classes of gifts themselves ; and secondly, as to the tokens by which the presence of each is to be known — the way in which each kind of spiritual influence is to be recognized. § IV. First, then, the display of " signs and wonders," in the primitive church, constitutes one great dis- Miraculous gifts *^ peculiar to tlie tlnctlou betwecu their case and ours ;' but this primitive church. distinction being acknowledged, we should con sider attentively on whom, and for what purposes, these mi raculous gifts were bestowed. For it is not unnatural, nor, I beUeve, uncommon, to regard the persons who were thus gifted as hoUer, and more highly favored of God, than Christians of the present day, — as saints, in some different sense or degree from anything that we are required or allowed to become.^ But an examination of the case wiU plainly show that we have no reasons for regarding the Christians thus gifted as having any such advantage over us. It is not necessary to enumerate and discuss the several kinds of extraordinary gifts ; it is plain that they were not such as can be supposed to have been be stowed for the direct benefit of the possessor. The gift of tongues, for instance, or of prophecy, or of healing the sick, could not, of themselves, and immediately, conduce to the sal vation of the persons thus gifted. But, more than this, they did not even afford proof that such persons were completely acceptable to God, and in a safe state in respect of their sal vation ; for, strange as it may appear to us, there is no possi bility of doubting that several of them not only incurred fhe apostle's severe rebuke for their misconduct, but, among the rest, were censured for a vain and contentious display of these very miraculous endowments. They showed a carnal mind, 1 For it is not necessary at present to enter into an examination of the false pretensions of some impostors and enthusiasts, who have professed to work sensi ble miracles. 2 See Sermon on Christian Saints. ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIEIT. 239 not only while possessed of extraordinary spiritual gifts, but even in the very employment of those gifts. It appears probable, indeed, that the apostles (who alone had this power') conferred some extraordinary gift or other on every one, without exception, of the converts who came in their way, as a token and pledge of their being in truth a holy peo ple to the Lord. At least, no mention is made of their be stowing these gifts on some and not on others ; and certainly, whether they made any selection or not, they did not, as we plainly find, confine the gifts to such as it was foreseen would make a right use of them. For what purposes, then, were these gifts bestowed ? Princi paUy, we may conclude, for these three : First, .^^^ .^^^^ p^^. for the satisfactory conviction and assurance of '^'"°' '"'»''"'=*¦ the minds of the possessors ; secondly, for the propagation of the religion ; and thirdly, for the edification of the church. And, first, some external sensible operations of the Spirit must have been highly important, at least to satisfy the minds of the first Christians of his actual presence among them. They had so far shaken off their Jewish and heathen prejudi ces (prejudices which we of the present day can hardly bring ourselves adequately to estimate) as to receive the religion of Christ crucified, " to the Jews a stumbUng-block, and to the Greeks foolishness.'' They had acknowledged that the eter nal God, the Author and Ruler of the universe, had been manifested in the flesh, incarnate in an obscure, despised, and persecuted peasant, who had been executed as one of the vil est of criminals ; and on being baptized into this faith, they were further required to beUeve that they were thus " born again of water and of the Holy Spirit," — that he, the same All-present God, dwelt in an especial manner in the church, of which they were become members, as in a most holy temple, 1 Acts viii. 16. xix. 6. Bom, i. 11, etc. 240 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. and was ever at hand to sanctify and guide them. " Know ye not," says Paul, " that ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost, which dweUeth in you ? " Now aU this was so opposite to aU their former notions, — so strange to all their habits of thought, that they might well need some special assurance of such a doctrine as this last, — some support against the uneasy doubts and suspicions which might suggest the question, " Is the Lord among us, or not ? " And such an assurance was gra ciously afforded them in the sensible testimony of his presence, which God displayed by conferring powers manifestly mirac ulous.' Those, for instance, who received the gift of speaking in, or interpreting, a language they had never learned, could not suspect that they had been deceived by a false teacher, or that they were under the delusion of a heated imagina tion. They would have ground for undoubting confidence, therefore, that they were indeed born of the Spirit, and living stones of that holy temple, not made with hands, in which he resides. Not, however, be it observed, that they were to re gard their extraordinary gifts as the only, or as the most im portant, instance of spiritual influence, but as the proof and pledge of it. The truly important benefit was, the sanctifi cation by the Spirit, with a view to eternal life ; the miracu lous power was the seal and the earnest of that benefit, — the sign and notification, as it were, that the treasure had been bestowed (not the treasure itself). Secondly, these extraordinary gifts were needful, in various ways, for the propagation of Christ's reUgion, — to furnish those who preached it with credentials, as it were, from heaven, to prove the divine origin of the reUgion, and also to enable all nations to " hear in their own tongues the wonderful works of God." Thirdly, divers extraordinary gifts (probably those desig- 1 Hinds's History, etc. Vol. 1. 227. ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIEIT. 241 nated as the " word of wisdom," " the word of knowledge," and " the word of prophecy ") were evidently needful for the edification of the infant church — for the supply of instruction, both in doctrines and in moral duties, to those whose Divine Master had not left behind him (like Moses) a book containing the principles of Christian faith and practice, but had left, in stead, the promise of his Spirit, who should " lead them into aU [the] truth." Such, principaUy, appear to have been the pecuUar wants, and such the peculiar supply of those wants, in the infant church. We have the records of inspiration in the writings of the apostles and their followers, which supersede the neces sity of inspiration in ourselves : we have the history of their miracles preserved, w^hich, together with the result of the mir acles, — the estabUshment and existence, at this day, of the religion, — afford a sufficient evidence of its truth, to aU who are open to conviction ; since experience — now, long experi ence — has proved that aU attempts to account for its estabUsh ment by human means are vain. And as the blaze of the pUlar which guided the Israelites in the wilderness, and proved to them the divine presence among them, was withdrawn when they were sufficiently convinced of that presence, and, as it were, familiar with the beUef that the Lord was among them as their protector and king, — the manifestation of " the glory of the Lord" being thenceforward enclosed within the most holy place, — so the outward and sensible marks of God's pres ence in his church were gradually withdrawn, when sufficient evidence had been afforded of that presence ; which is still not less real, or less effectual than before, and which is no longer miraculously displayed, only because it has been already suffi ciently proved.' 1 1 am indebted for this remark, and for several others in the present Essay, to 21 242 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. The extraordinary gifts were probably withdrawn gradually, When nnd how i" proportion as the structure of which they withdrawn. were the temporary support graduaUy acquired consistency. We have, accordingly, nothing of sufficient au thority recorded on the subject ; iadeed, much has come down to us respecting miracles, pretended to have been wrought long after the apostolic age, which we have good reason for regard ing as fabulous. The sacred writers, however, furnish us with grounds for at least a highly probable conjecture. It was through the laying on of the hands of the apostles only, that extraordinary gifts were for the mo.st part conferred, as may be proved from several parts of the New Testament, particu larly the account in the Acts (chap, viii.) of the preaching of the gospel by Philip the evangelist to the Samaritans, who were afterwards favored with a visit, chiefly, as it appears, for this express purpose, by the Apostles Peter and John. And the same may be collected from the opening of the Epistle to the Eomans. Such, then, being the mode in which, exclusively, miraculous powers were conveyed (with no exception, appar ently, except the case of ComeUus and his household — for which there was an obvious reason), the result must have been, that when all the apostles had terminated their course on earth, aU the channels must have been stopped through which this stream had hitherto flowed ; and as the last generation dropped off, one by one, of such as had thus been gifted, this extraor dinary manifestation of the Spirit gradually became extinct. § V. These extraordinary endowments, then, constitute one Extraordinaiy Important difference between the early Chris- a°ions"'onhTs°pbi; ^laus and ourselves; but the corresponding compared. polut of rescmblancc is one of far higher impor- that most interesting and useful work, Hinds's History of the Eise and early Progress of Christianity, first published in the Encycloptedia Metropolitana. ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIEIT. 243 tance ; for we have no reason to suppose that that spiritual influence which is conferred for the benefit of the incUvidual Christian, — for his moral improvement and purification — for his support and guidance in the road to eternal life, — is bestowed in any less degree on sincere Christians at the pres ent day than formerly. Now this surely is of incomparably higher importance than the miraculous gifts we have been speaking of. These last without the other — without, that is, the proper use having been made of the other — would be utterly worthless. The sanctifying influence of the Spirit, if we so walk after it as to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, hath the " end of everlasting hfe." " Many," says our Saviour, " shall say in that day. Lord, we have in thy name cast out demons,' and in thy name done many mighty works. Then will I say unto them, I know you not ; depart from me all ye workers of iniquity." And again, "In this rejoice not, that the demons are subject unto you ; but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven." And Paul, in like manner, when he has been enumerating and comparing together the various extraordinary spiritual gifts, which had been a subject of emulation and dissension among the Corinthian Christians, concludes by utterly depre ciating all of them in comparison of that which he calls a "more excellent way." This he designates by the word " agape," which in most places is rendered " love," but in the passage in question, " charity." It appears, however, to have been employed in this place to denote coUectively all the sanc tifying efficacy, — aU of what we call the ordinary operations of the Holy Spirit ; this gift being at once the great proof and instance of Christ's love to his church, — the ground of the 1 The Devil (AtttjSoAos) is used as a designation of Satan, and, of course, always in the singular: the plural, which has been injudiciously rendered devils, is demons {£iai,a6i'ia). See Lectures on Good and Evil Angels. 244 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. love of Christians towards their Master, and also the bond of their brotherly love towards each other, — not as fellow-creatures merely, but as fellow- members of Christ's body. The circum stance of the apostle's setting " agape " above faith and hope (¦7rt(TTts and eXTTts), not merely as the greatest of the three, but as including the other two, because it " hopeth all things, and believeth all things " {Travra IXttI^u, Trctvra TrtuTcijet), seems to indicate that he was not in this case confining his view to Christian benevolence alone ; and if any one will compare the fruits of dydirr], as enumerated in the 13th chapter ofthe First Epistles to the Corinthians, with " the fruits of the Spirit " in the 5th chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians,' in the origi nal, he wiU perceive such a striking coincidence in the Greek words employed in the two passages (much more striking than an EngUsh translation exhibits) as wiU leave Uttle doubt that the same train of thought was in the writer's mind in both instances.^ It may appear superfluous, however, to adduce Scriptural proofs of what is in itself so obvious as the superior value of sanctifying grace to miraculous endowments. But as long as language is employed by mankind to express their thoughts, there will always be a danger of their thoughts being influ enced by language ; and unless an especial attention is tUrected to this danger, the best-chosen expressions will ever be liable insensibly to become a snare to us. The ordinary and the extraordinary operations of the Holy Spirit, have been very fitly so termed ; but these words are Ukely, if we are not on our guard against the danger, to suggest to us, graduaUy and imperceptibly, an erroneous idea. Extraordinary abiUties place a man much above one of ordinary : extraordinary 1 Compare also these passages with Bom. v. 6, and xv. 80. 2 See Hinds's History ofthe Rise and Progress, etc. Vol. II. p. 221. ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLT SPIEIT. 245 merit is something mucli greater and better than ordinary ; and the like in many other cases. Such an employment, therefore, of those words, is apt to lead men insensibly to form an in distinct notion of some very superior advantage possessed by those endowed with the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, espe cially as the title of saints is commonly applied in Scripture to the early Christians as equivalent to that title ; while by us it is limited to a few of the most eminently pious that are recorded.-^ If one were even to hint at the possibility of any man's becoming, in the present day, as perfect a Christian as one of the apostles — of any set of Christians now, attaining an equality with the best of those primitive Christians, — becoming 1 The application (among Protestants) of the title " saint," in the present day, seems somewhat anomalous. It is never applied to the indisputably holy (sancti) and even inspired persons who lived under the Jewish dispensation, — such as Moses, David, Daniel, etc., — nor is it limited to such Christians (namely, the apos tles and evangelists) as were confessedly inspired; for Protestants commonly speak of Saint Jerome, Saint Augustine, etc., without attributing inspiration to them ; nor again is it considered allowable to characterize by that title such men. of later days as appear to ns eminent for Christian knowledge and virtue; as, for instance, the chief promoters and martyrs of the Reformation. AU this surely tends to foster the notion that in the ea/rlier ages of Christianity some men, at least, were able to attain a higher degree of Christian holiness than any one can hope for, or need strive for, now. If we should adopt the system of having regularly enrolled in a list or canon the names of all who are to be designated *' saints," taking that title to imply one whose merits entitle him to be invoked as an intercessor for others, — and claiming for ouselves an infallible judgment as to who did or did not answer to this description, — then, no one would be at a loss when to apply the title of " saint." The system would be at least consistent and intelligible, though wholly without Scriptural warrant. I would suggest, however, to Protestant preachers the importance of frequently reminding their hearers, — at least the middle and lower classes, that is, a large majority of most congregations, — that it is a mistake ( and I believe it to be a very common one) to suppose that the admonitions and exhortations whicb the apostles address to the " saints " do not concern, or do not equally concern, Christians in tbe present day; or that they are " not expected to be saints." To assume that title, indeed, as distinguishing them from their fellow-Christians, is most pre sumptuous; but the gospel promises are limited to those who live " as becometh saints." — See Sermon on Christian Saints. 21* 246 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. saints in as high a degree as those who are usually so caUed — • the very idea would be reprobated by many persons as an almost impious presumption ; though, in fact, there is much more presumption in expecting God's eternal favor whUe we are coritent to remain inferior. Not that men deliberately assent to the proposition that the power of working miracles is a better thing than a pure and holy mind, nor that they can be ignorant, if they are but mod erately versed in Scripture, of the recorded imperfections of many thus gifted, even in their manner of exercising these very gifts ; but the use of the word extraordinary, together with the perceptible and striking character of these endow ments, and our habit of prizing the most highly what is rare, tend to leave a sort of vague impression on the mind, of some preem inent sanctity in those who were partakers of them, above what is attainable in the present day. The splendid accompaniment which testified to them the reality of the spiritual influence bestowed, is apt to enhance in our minds the value of the ben efit thus attested, above that which is stiU placed within the Christian's reach. But if we attentively consider the case, we shall be convinced that the Lord has not given to the one class of Christians any advantage over the other, in that which tends to the spiritual welfare of the individual Christian and leads to the salvation of his soul, — that his promise to be with his church always, and to dweU spirituaUy in the hearts of those who love him and " keep his saying," extends equally to all who equaUy strive to fulfil that, the condition of it, — and that our situa tion resembles that of the primitive Christians in all that is essential, and differs from it only in circumstances which were not only temporary, but comparatively unimportant. ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 247 § VI. Hitherto I have been comparing together the case of the earlv Christians and our own, principallv with a view to the intrinsic character of the «¦"" compared with tliose of the Spiritual gifts themselves that were promised. I present d»y in re- , „ , , ,. , ,. . . pect of the sioM of shaU proceed (according to the division men- the gifts bestowed tioned, § III.) to offer some remarks on the signs by which the two classes of gifts — the influence of the Spirit in these two modes of operation, the extraordinary and the ordinary — are, respectively, to be recognized and ascer tained. We shall hence be led to perceive some further points of difference and of resemblance between the condition of the first Christians and our own ; and may thus be more effect ually guarded against each of those opposite errors which are but too prevalent, — that of neglecting or depreciating those inestimable gifts which are placed within our reach, and that of pretending to, or expecting, such as are not promised. When our Lord said to his disciples, " If ye ha,we faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is Faith required in done to the fig tree, but, also, if ye shaU say ^tlnotr.ln^' unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be '"^''°' thou cast into the sea, it shall be done," — it is plain that the faith which in this and in several other passages he was inculcating on them, is not to be understood of mere belief in Jesus as the Messiah, or in the doctrines of his religion, or of trust, generally, hi divine power and goodness. It evi dently has reference to miraculous powers, such as are not bestowed on all Christians ; though faith, in another sense, is required of all. But in this, and other declarations of like import, there can be little doubt that our Saviour had in view, confidence in those admonitions and injunctions which his dis ciples and many others ofthe early Christians from time to time received, authorizing and empowering them to work certain miracles. Their extraordinary gifts were not, as those of 248 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. Christ himself were, at their own command. Even Paul, who performed so many mighty works, and, among others, possessed the gift of healing in a high degree, yet was not always per mitted to exert this gift, even in favor of his dearest friends.^ A special commission seems to have been requisite to enable them to exercise their delegated powers. And this was con veyed to them — their commission and caU to perform mira cles was announced to them — in various ways. During our Lord's abode on earth in the flesh, he himself, whose author ity they could not doubt, uttered commands to this purpose with his own lips. Besides the general commission given to the apostles and to the seventy, we find him on one occasion giving a precise direction to Peter to cast a hook into the sea, and to take the fish that first came up, in whose mouth he should find the piece of money (a stater) which the exigency required ; in another instance, he, at the request of the same apostle, commanded him to come and meet him on the surface of the water. Peter seems to have weU understood that his Master's command was at once requisite and sufficient to enable him to tread the waves without sinking. But even after he had begun to experience the efficacy of that command, his faith was shaken by alarm, and he began to sink, and was reproached by his Master for his doubts. The faith in which he was in this instance found deficient, seems to have been precisely that which our Lord on other occasions so earnestly inculcated.^ After our Lord's ascension, some other kind of indication must have been given, by which those who were on each occasion authorized to work any miracle, might know that they were thus empowered ; a species of revelation, in short, must have been bestowed, informing them what they were enabled and required to perform ; and in this revelation they were 1 See 2 Tim. iv. 20. 2 gee Lectures on the Apostles. ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 249 required to have a fuU faith. Whatever mode may have been, in each case, employed for conveying this revelation, the indi cation given must always have been something in which they could not be mistaken, — something as free from aU doubt or suspicion as the words which they heard Jesus utter while with them ; since, otherwise, this unhesitating faith could not rea sonably have been required of them. It must have been some thing, therefore, which could not possibly be confounded with any suggestions of their own minds. This is a point concerning which we have no precise state ments in Scripture ; but the nature of the case puts it, I think, beyond a doubt, that the intimations or signs we are speaking of must always have been accompanied by, or connected with, something sensibly miraculous. For otherwise we must sup pose the disciples to have been left exposed to a double dan ger, — that of mistaking any remarkable dream, or impression on their waking minds, from natural causes, for a communication from the Spirit, — in which case they would have given faith to a delusion, and have been disappointed in their expectations, contrary to our Lord's express promise ; and that of mistaking, on the other hand, some heavenly communication for an or dinary dream or thought — in which case they would have failed in faith without any fault of their own. God certainly would not leave his servants in any such uncertainty ; and they could not possibly be secured from it in any way but by the intervention of sensible miracles. I have said, however, that the intimation in question must be either accompanied by, or connected with, some sensible miracle, because such a proof to the party concerned of his not being deluded as would be necessary in the first instance, might be dispensed with afterwards, when some particular mode of communication had been once stamped, as it were, with the sig- 250 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. nature of divinity, by some plainly miraculous accompaniment.^ A particular sort of internal sensation, for instance, or mental emotion, which a man might experience, however strikingly dif ferent it might be from his ordinary feeUngs, he would be very rash in regarding as a signal of inspiration, since he could not possibly teU that it was not a symptom of disease, or of some other natural change ; but if he experienced something of this kind in immediate connection with a miraculous phenomenon, to which his senses, and those of others, could testify, the recur rence of this peculiar sensation or perception afterwards would then be of itself justly regarded by him as a heaven-sent inti mation. For instance, a man may dream, or, if in an excited state of mind, may fancy, that he hears a voice addressing him, when there is no such thing ; but when Paul, on his road to Damascus, was struck to the ground, and bUnded by a blaze of Ught, he thus received the assurance of a sensible miracle, — then it was that he heard himself addressed in the awful voice of the Lord Jesus. He afterwards, as he teUs us, received from him, at various times, revelations concerning the gospel. Now if, as is most probable, this revelation was communicated to him by that same voice (even though unaccompanied by the supernatural light) — a voice which could not be but strongly impressed on his memory — he would be in no more danger of delusion than any of us in holding communication with a weU-known friend. Again, when two of the disciples met with their Master lately risen from the grave, as they were going to Emmaus, their senses were at first preternaturaUy obscured, so that they did not recognize him ; but they seem to have experienced, whUe he was talking with them, a certain remarkable inward sensation, not noticed by them at the time, which they de scribed by their " hearts burning within them." Now this may 1 Hinds's History, etc. Vol. I. p. 187. ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLT SPIRIT. 251 indeed have been no more than a natural and ordinary emo tion, elicited by the interesting character of the discourse they were hearing ; it may, however, have been something peculiar ; and the remarkable circumstances of the case (esjiecially their eyes being " holden that they should not know him ") render this not at all improbable ; especially, since, for the reasons just above given, there was a manifest need of their experiencing some peculiar and perfectly new sensation. It is certainly not impossible ; and therefore, at any rate, we may frame such a supposition for illustration's sake. Suppose, then, as is at least conceivable, this were a sensation altogether different from any thing they had ever before experienced ; its recurrence, on any subsequent occasion, would be justly regarded by them, from the miraculous circumstances accompanying its first occur rence — as a token of their Lord's presence, though unseen, and notice that they were to regard as a communication from the Spirit the ideas conveyed to their minds through this vehicle. Whether in this particular instance the fact were, or were not, such as I have supposed, makes no difference to the present argument ; the object being only to Ulustrate my meaning.^ It is worth observing, however, that our Lord must have had some design in thus presenting himself to his disciples invisible, — invisible that is, as their master, Jesus ; — and his design, or at least part of it, may have have been, and was Ukely to have been, to teach them the meaning of a certain peculiar inter nal impression denoting his presence in the Spirit. If so, the sensation, and its peculiarity, their own consciousness would testify ; its meaning would be explained to them by their Lord's afterwards opening their eyes, so that they knew who it was that had been with them. But whenever (as has often been the case, with those of an 1 See Elements of Bhetoric. Fart I. chap, iii. j 3. 252 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. enthusiastic temperament, in later times) we find a person strongly suspecting that he has received a revelation, or fuUy convinced of it, from feeUng, as they sometimes express it, a certain thought forcibly bome in upon his mind, we may be quite sure that he is deluding himself. God would never leave any doubt, or at least any reasonable ground for doubt, on the mind of any one to whom he might think fit to impart a revelation ; he doubtless never did, nor ever wUl, communi cate any one of the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, without attesting, to the person or persons concerned, its reaUty, by the stamp of some sensible miracle. The Apostle Paul, accordingly, we find enabled to distin guish, and careful to distinguish, the fuUest convictions of his own understanding from divine revelations. During his last journey to Jerusalem that is recorded in the Acts, he was strongly impressed with the expectation that he should there close his career by a violent death. He took leave of the elders of Ephesus with an assurance of his complete conviction that they should see his face no more. But he knew that this his conjecture (which, aU things considered, was a very prob able one, though the event, we have every reason to believe, did not agree with it) was merely a conjecture, and not a rev elation. He had received a divine admonition to take this journey, and also a warning of approaching persecutions ; but the ultimate event was as yet hidden from him : " Behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there ; save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city ^ that bonds and afflictions abide me " (Acts xx. 23). An admirable instance of the apostle's care may be seen in 1 Cor. vii. Any such directions as he might have been sup posed to deliver, on divine authority, on points whereon he had I That is, " in every city I meet with persons prophetically inspired to declare this." ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 253 received " no commandment from the Lord," he is careful (though he could not but wish his advice to be followed) to point out as merely the suggestions of his own judgment. In points unconnected with religion, such as the directions he gives about bringing his cloak and his books from Troas, as it would be absurd to suppose any inspiration, so there was no need that he should disavow it. And this applies to such purely historical passages in the sacred writers as involve no religious doctrine or precept. It is childish, therefore, to allege errors, real or imaginary, of this nature, as reasons for doubting either the truth of Christianity, or the inspiration of our sacred writers. If indeed they can be proved to have written like men, so ill-acquainted with the time, places, and occurrences they speak of as to show that they could not really have been what they profess, this is an objection of a different kind ; and on this question we may safely join issue. But when we are told of a blind man healed by Jesus, according to one evangelist (Mark x. 46), as he was going 0M< q/" Jericho, and according to another (Luke xviii. 35), as he was coming into Jericho, it seems obvious that one of the two was mistaken as to this circumstance, — a circumstance so utterly insignificant that it would be extravagant to expect that the Holy Spirit should interfere to correct the mistake. And any one who should, on such a ground, deny the occur rence of the miracle, or the general fidelity of the writers, would be acting on a principle which, if adhered to in ordinary life, would be regarded as a symptom of utter mental imbecility. There are other points, again, in which we could have no ground for conjecturing, from the nature of the case, whether supernatural guidance took place or not ; as, for example, when the Apostle Paul changed his first design of going into Bithy- nia, and proceeded to Troas, there is no reason why this alteration of plan might have been regarded as the result of 22 254 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. his own natural judgment, but that we are expressly told that " the Spirit suffered them not " to enter Bithynia (Acts xvi. 6, 7). In this case, therefore, either there was a supernatural interference, or the writer is guilty of a direct falsehood. This is a distinction most important to be remembered, as it has been overlooked by eminent writers. Many of the enact ments of the Mosaic law, again, are, in themselves, such as we might conceive to have been framed by the natural wisdom of Moses ; and his detaining the IsraeUtes forty years in the wU demess is not a measure on which we could pronounce, from internal evidence, that it could not have been the result of his own judgment. But when we find him distinctly declaring that he had received express commands from the Lord on these points, no alternative remains but either to admit that these were divine appointments, or to impute to the author a deUb- erate imposture. Inspirations, however, and other miraculous gifts, we have, as has been already observed, no reason to expect in these days. Not, however, that we are authorized to assert confi dently that nothing of the kind ever wiU recur ; but thus far we may be confident, that if it does, it wiU be accompanied by sufficient evidence to distinguish clearly a miraculous interpo sition from imposture or delusion. And it is important to observe, that one who rashly gives heed to such impostures or delusions, is so far from being chargeable with erring though excess of faith, that he has in reality forfeited all claim to the praise of faith as a Christian virtue ; since he plainly shows that even what is true in his belief is received by him not because it is true, but because it agrees with some fancies or prejudices of his own ; and that he is right, where he is right, only by chance. Having viola ted the spirit of the first commandment, by regarding what is human with the veneration due to that only which is divine, his ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 255 worship, even of the true God, becomes an abomination. He has "set up idols in his heart" (see Ezek. xiv.), and the Lord, the jealous God, wiU " set his face against that man." § vn. The signs, then, by which the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit were announced, constitute (as well Equality, in the as those gifts themselves) a point of difference most important . . , point, between the between the early Christians and their success- primitive and the rrn . . . T 1 present church. ors. ihere is a resemblance, and, as we have every reason to conclude, an equality, between the condition of the infant church and our own, in respect of that far more important point, — the ordinary grace of the Holy Spirit operat ing in the sanctification of the heart. What, then, is the sign of this gift ? — the token by which we may be assured of " God's working in us both to wiU and to do of his good pleas ure ? " This operation of the Spirit, there is every reason to believe, not only is, but always was, imperceptible, and undis tinguishable, except by its fruits, from the ordinary workings of the human mind. For if it was suggested to the mind of one of the first Christians that he ought to do this or that, and suggested in such a manner (which sometimes was the case) as to afford him a satisfactory assurance of an immediate com mand from the Holy Ghost, this would clearly be a case of revelation, and, consequently, would belong to the other class of spiritual gifts — not to that which we are now considering. But we may be sure that they were not, even the most highly- gifted of them, thus guided by immediate revelation in all the actions of their lives ; but were left to work out their " own salvation with fear and trembling ; " though stiU encouraged to do this by the assurance that " God wrought in them.'' They were accordingly not uniformly infallible ; for we find a dissen sion arising between Paul and Barnabas : nor was this settled by any miraculous interposition, or authoritative declaration 256 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. of the Spirit, to either of them. And again, we find Paul withstanding and censuring Peter ; but at the same time use- ing arguments to convince him of his error : not charging him with having wilfully rebelled against any express immediate revelation respecting the particular act in question. In fact, the early Christians could hardly have been moral agents if they had not been left watchfully to regulate their own conduct according to the best of their judgment, but had in every case recognized the immediate dictates of the Holy Spirit forbidding or enjoining each action of their lives. And yet they were taught that in aU their conduct the assistance of God's Spirit was requisite, and was promised to them. Our Lord himself told them that without him they " could do noth ing ; " and the apostle's encouragement to them to work out their own salvation, is, " it is God that worketh in you." But how, then, were they, and how are we, to know what are these suggestions of the sanctifying Spirit? Our Lord himself seems to instruct us that we are to judge by the effects, when he says, " The wind (7ri/fi)/x,a) bloweth where it Usteth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth ; so is every one that is bom (tov TTveu/xaTos) of the Spirit." He here seems to have in view the ordinary and universal operations of the Holy Spirit, — those which extend to " every one that is born of the Spirit," without which " no one can enter into the kingdom of heaven." And as we judge of the direction of any wind that blows (though itself invisible) by its effects, — by the direction in which it impels the bodies moved by it, — so we must decide whether we are in each instance influenced by God's Holy Spirit, or by our own corrupt desires and the spirit of evil, by observing the direction in which we are impelled ; whether to hoUness or to sin, — towards a conformity, or an opposition, to the example of our great Master, the word of his inspired ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 257 servants, and the moral law which is written on our conscience, though the characters be so far obscured as not to be traced without diligent study. The apostle, in like manner, when exhorting his converts to be " led by the Spirit," and to " walk after the Spirit," evidently refers them to a simUar test, by enumerating the principal of the fruits of the Spirit, and con trasting them with " the works of the fiesh " ; which, he says, " are manifest." From these considerations it wiU appear how much those are in error who imagine that such as have attained a very high degree of Christian perfection, and are eminently under the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit, will be able dis tinctly to perceive, by a peculiarity of immediate sensation, and thus to distinguish, from their own natural thoughts, the suggestions of the Holy Ghost. If this his ordinary operation — this grace which guides and assists the Christian " to will and to do what is weU-pleasing to God " — always was, as there seems good reason to conclude, insensible, we may be weU assured that it always will be so. As, on the one hand, even the lowest of the extraordinary spiritual gifts alluded to by Paul must always have been accompanied with a distinct man ifestation of its superhuman origin, so as to prevent the possi bility of its being mistaken for an exercise of any natural power, so, on the other hand, even the very highest degree of purifying grace is, and always was, undistinguishable from the exercise of the natural powers, except by the hoUness which is the result. The " camal mind " and the " spiritual mind " are to be known, respectively, by " the works of the flesh" and the " fruits of the Spirit." It is, first, by the incUnations of our hearts ; secondly, by our deliberations towards the ac- compUshment of our wishes ; and thirdly, by the actions which are the result of these, that we must know what spirit we are 22* 258 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. of ; for it is from God that " all holy desires, aU good counsels, and all just works do proceed." Another error, opposite to the one just considered, is that of those who acknowledge, in general terms, the existence and the necessity of the ordinary operations of the Spirit, but ex plain them away in each particular case, and thus completely nuUify the doctrine. They allow that Christians are to expect the sanctifying grace of the Holy Ghost ; but each separate work in which this divine agency can possibly operate, they attribute exclusively and entirely to some other cause. If a man resist temptation, they attribute this to his sense of the folly and danger and sinfulness of yielding to it ; and thence deny that spiritual influence was concerned in the case. If he improve in religious knowledge, they attribute this, exclusively, to his dUigence in learning, and to the advantage of good instruc tion ; and, accordingly, contend that there is no need in such a case to suppose spiritual influence concerned. K he does any act, or entertains any sentiment, which right reason would approve, they regard this as a proof that to right reason alone it is to be referred. And in this way they exclude, one by one, every possible instance in which the ordinary grace of the Spirit can operate ; for anything which could not be traced to any natural cause, would clearly be miraculous. But a doctrine which is true generally, cannot be false in every particular instance. In fact, what we mean by the ordinary operation of the Holj' Spirit, is his operation through second causes, — his aid to our endeavors, his blessing upon the means of grace. We arc taught to pray for our daily bread as God's gift, though it is not like manna showered miraculously from the skies ; and every Christian thought, word, and deed is no less "from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights," though it come not accompanied with fiery tongues and the " sound of a mighty wind." Its Christian goodness is the sign of its spiritual origin. ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 259 It is perhaps hardly worth while to notice an objection I have heard, that every operation of the Divine Spirit must be an interruption of the course of nature, and miraculous ; and that consequently I have all along been teaching (though I have said the direct reverse) that miracles are to be expected in the present day ; for if no miracles, it is said, are to be looked for, no spiritual influence at all is to be looked for. But this, surely, is little better than a verbal cavil. If this sense of the word " miracle " is to be adopted, then I do teach (as indeed every one must, whether sincerely or not, who recites the formularies of our church) that miracles have not ceased, and that we ai'C stiU to hope and pray (as in the collect for the fifth Sunday after Easter) that by God's " holy inspiration we may think those things that be good, and by his merciful guiding may perform the same." But this does not imply what is, perhaps the most properly — certainly the most usually — termed a "miracle"; namely, a sensible mira cle — an extraordinary and perceptible interruption of the gen eral course of God's providence. I have all along been speak ing of the aid now to be looked for as the " ordinary" operation of the Holy Spirit, — as not " sensible," but to be known only by its fruits, — and as so far from being an "interruption," that it may be considered as rather forming a pccrt of, the course of Providence, as far as Christians are concerned — to all of whom this spiritual aid is offered. At least, if this offer is not made in Scripture, I cannot see what can be learned with any certainty, or indeed how any thing at all can be learned, from the writings of the apostles. For if we are in this case to reject or to explain away their most explicit and repeated declarations on the ground that we have no sensible proof of this divine agency, this is to make their word go for nothing ; since if they announced to us any phenomenon to which our senses did bear testimony, we 260 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. should believe it on that ground, not from faith in the declara tions of the sacred writers. But he who is content to be taught by them, must, I think, accede to our church's doctrine as to the reality of a spiritual influence not sensibly or properly miraculous, but known only by its effects to be the work of Him to whom we must apply to " put into our minds good desires, and to bring the same to good effect." § VIII. These " fruits of the Spirit," then, are, and ever Sign of the Chris- wcrc, the Criterion to Christians of their being JLdltofa'pir^ "led bythe Spirit." The sign of then- having ituai guidance. ^ claim to thls Spiritual guidance — to the ordi nary operation of the Spirit — of their being admitted to a share in the offer of this grace — I cannot conceive to be, or ever to have been, any other than their baptism into the Christian faith. There are some, indeed, who represent bap tism as a sign only of admission into the visible church, and not, necessarily, of spiritual regeneration. But the shortest and most decisive answer to these persons appears to be, that they are making a distinction without a difference. Such as the church is described in Scripture, namely, " as the body of Christ Jesus," as the " temple of the Holy Ghost which dwell eth in it " — to speak of admittance into this church without an admission to the privileges bestowed on it, seems a contradic tion in terms. The promises of Christ are made to the society of which he is the head ; and to individuals not as men, but as members of that society. If, in the case of temporal goods, any one is admitted a member of any endowed society, he is thereby admitted to a share of its revenues : it would be a contradiction to disjoin them. The visible church of Christ is a society endowed by him with the richest privileges ; but then, it rests with each member of that society, as it does with the members of a human society, to avail himself aright of those privileges, or to neglect or abuse them. ON TKE INFLUENCE OF TPIE HOLY SPIRIT. 261 The case of Christians is in this respect analogous to that of God's people of old. (See Essay III.) All the Israelites were admitted into covenant with the Lord ; and being made thus his " pecuUar," " holy," and " elect " people, were entitled to all the privileges and promises of that covenant ; though it rested with each individual to malie a good or an ill use of these advan tages. The Lord was ready to perform his part, if they would perform theirs ; but if they refused this, stiU they were not allowed to draw back from the engagement, but incurred the heavier judgment for their disobedience. The rebeUious were not permitted, as they desired, " to return into Egypt," but were cut off in the wilderness. And the infants of the Israelites were admitted into this covenant, by the rite of circumcision, at the age of eight days ; though they were, of course, then incapable of immediately enjoying or understanding their privileges. If this had been sufficiently attended to, it might have obviated the difiicul ties that have been raised from the consideration that such as are baptized in infancy cannot be, at once, nor tiU they become moral agents, actually influenced by the Holy Spirit ; whence it has been inferred by some that we ought to defer baptism till the party is arrived at years of discretion.^ But, after aU, there is no more difficulty in the case than in one which occurs every day, — that of an infant inheriting an estate. He is incapable, at the time, of using or comprehend ing the advantage ; but stUl it is his. He is not hereafter to acquire the title and claim to it ; but he will hereafter become capable of understanding his claim, and employing his wealth ; and he wiU become responsible at the same time for the use made of it. Christians in like manner are called upon, at their peril, to make the best use of their advantages, as soon as they become I See the concluding Essay in tliis volume. 262 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. capable of understanding them ; and if they fail to do this, they are not on that account esteemed as never having been admit ted to those advantages, but, on the contrary, incur, on that very ground, the heavier condemnation. " What ! know ye not," says the apostle, " that ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in you? And if any man defile [^^eipti] the temple of God, him wiU God destroy,'' (^^eptt). It is, then, and ever was, a matter of faith to believe in the continual sanctifying presence of God with his church ; and in " the communion [or ' fellowship '] of saints," as " the commu nion^ of the Holy Ghost" — namely, the participation of all Christians, as far as they will avail themselves of the offer, in the assistance of that Holy Spirit from whom every good and every perfect gift proceeds.^ In this respect our case and that of the early Christians coincide. But there is this point of difference between the two : that this was not to them, as to us, the great trial of their faith ; because, in the infant church the extraordinary manifestations of the Spirit served as a visible token to convince them of his actual presence. The same Spirit still resides in the church ; but, like the Shechinah concealed within the holy of holies, it is screened from our view : we walk wholly " by faith, and not by sight." They, however, had counterbalancing trials, — the fellowship, in the Spirit, of Jews and Gentiles: to the one party the admission of the unclean heathen as feUow-heirs with the favored children of Abraham ; to the other, the reception of a religion and of a Divine Master from a nation of obscure barbarians, despised and detested for superstition; both that Master and his ministers being rejected and abhorred even by that nation itself; — in short, " Christ crucified, to the Jews 1 2 Cor. xiii. 14. 2 Doubtless one of the objects of our Lord in the institution of the eucharist, was to remind Christians of this " communion " or fellowship ofthe Holy Ghost, aud to impress it habitually on their minds. See Note A, at the end of this Essay. ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 263 a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness," constituted a trial to their faith which we can hardly estimate. The indig nities which Jesus suffered, who was thence " esteemed stricken, smitten of God, and afliicted ; " the contradiction which the new religion presented to aU the fondly-cherished hopes of the Jew, to all that the Gentile most revered in philosophy and was most attached to in his religion and in his habits of life ; the inveterate malice of persecutors ; the scorn and derision of the wisest and greatest ; the censures, entreaties, and lamentations of kindred and friends, — aU these, and numberless other cir cumstances, revolting to every prejudice, every feeling, every habit, of the new convert, formed a trial to his faith of which we can form but a faint idea, and under which it was needful that his gracious Master should support him, by a, constant visible display of his presence. § IX. It is the part of Christians of the present day, on the one hand, not to distrust the reality of that pres- ' ' Example of tho ence because it is no longer thus miraculously aposties to be foi- . lowed by reversing displayed ; nor, on the other hand, to require or in some points their look for such a miraculous manifestation as God ^"^" '""' has thought fit no longer to bestow. How we should have con ducted ourselves, if placed in the circumstances of the primi tive Christians, can be known only to the Searcher of hearts ; how we shall conduct ourselves under the circumstances in which we are actuaUy placed, — how we shall withstand our own trials and make use of our own advantages, — is the point which most concerns us, since of that we shall have to give an account. And if we would profit by the example of the most eminent of God's servants, we must in some respects reverse their pro cedure, in conformity with the reversed circumstances in which we are placed. We must endeavor to learn, and to perform as far as we are able, by our natural powers, under the blessing of 2G4 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. God's ordinary operations, what the apostles were taught, or were empowered to do, by miraculous gifts ; and the instruc tion they derived from their own, or from each other's imme diate inspiration, we must seek to obtain in the records of that inspiration which they have left us. They could in many instances infer this or that to be right or true, from its being the suggestion ofthe Spirit, which was attested, to themselves and to others, by miracles ; we, on the contrary, can only prove any thing to be the suggestion ofthe Spirit, by its being right and true; and the evidence of this must be sought in Scripture, that rec ord of the dictates of the Holy Ghost, which is the appointed standard for deciding what does proceed from the Author of all good. If our life and faith are agreeable to the gospel, this is the ground of confidence that they are right ; and if right, they must come from that sanctifying and enlightening and supporting grace which alone can raise to life the dead in sin, aud purify man's corrupt nature, and effectually open his eyes to the truth, and " strengthen the feeble knees " to walk in God's paths. This spiritual assistance is not, like the other, a proof on which to build and support our faith, but is itself a matter of faith, — a truth to be believed on God's assurances. And those persons, therefore, are in fact wanting in faith (of which they often pre tend, to a preeminent degree), who are not satisfied with this assurance, but look for, and pretend to, sensible experiences which are to afford a direct and decisive demonstration to their minds of their being under spiritual influence. " Except they see signs and wonders, they will not believe." It is very wonderful, as well as most lamentable, that some piously-disposed Christians should so far deceive themselves as to claim for themselves, and for others, inspiration in the highest sense, and consequent infallibility, without, apparently, any consciousness that they are doing so, because they avoid the use of those words. For instance, there are some who ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 265 represent our Lord's admonition to his apostles " not to pre meditate " when caUed on to vindicate themselves, as applica ble to all sincere Christians in every age. The doctrine may be even found in published books in some repute; not with any attempt to prove it, but taken for granted as self-evident. And yet those who maintain it would be ready, probably, to disavow all claim to infallibility, and seem not to perceive that they have plainly implied it. For our Lord's injunction is plainly accompanied with that promise. " Take no thought," says he (Matt. x. 19), "how or what ye shall speak, /or it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak ; for it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you." If this does not imply inspiration in the sense of infal UbiUty, it would be hard to say what can. Now claims of this kind, put forth by persons who have no sensibly miraculous confirmations of them to offer, do more hurt to the cause of Christianity than all that can be urged by the most ingenious infidels. Suppose five or six different per sons of various persuasions, — one, suppose, a Quaker, another an Irvingite, another a Baptist, another a Methodist, etc., — each maintaining that all sincere Christians are enjoined not to premeditate what they shall say in defence of their faith, and are promised that " it shall be given them " what to say when called on ; and suppose each of them to have a confident faith in what he believes to be the true gospel, and to have earnestly prayed for, and trusted to have received, this promised aid : any one in at all a doubtful state of mind will be likely to say, " These men cannot all be right, since they teach different doc trines ; but they may be all wrong ; and in this they are all agreed, that Christ made a promise to all his followers, which, it is manifest, has not been fulfilled." I need not say what con clusion is likely to be the result. And those who are guilty of this most culpable rashness, — not to say, profane presump- 23 266 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. tion, — must be held responsible for having thus put a stum bling-block in a brother's way. We are to look, then, to the Holy Scriptures, which the Spirit Complete certain- ^i Christ Inspired — not, indeed, according to the t^de'of'o*r°judg- notlon some have maintained, as constituting the ments impossible, g^j^ asslstaucc that the Holy Ghost now bestows on the church, but as constituting the ultimate standard by which we are to judge how far we have received and are profiting by that assistance. It is not in these only that he is present; but it is by these, as a test, that his presence is, in each case, to be Icnown. It is, indeed, only through the enlightening and supporting grace of the Holy Spirit, that even the Scriptures themselves can be consulted with benefit. If we study them with a mind biassed by any of those numerous prejudices and infirmities which beset our frail nature, we shall receive the heavenly light of God's word through a discolored medium ; and its rays will thence give an unnatural tint to everything on which they are shed. Many different persons, accordingly, have arrived at different conclusions (aU which, consequently, could not be correct), though they have applied, apparently at least, the very test that has been recommended. They have compared their opinions or practices with the standard of God's word, and, finding them agree, have concluded them to be the suggestions of the Spirit which dictated that word ; and yet this agreement has perhaps been (must have been, in some instances) the result of a partial and prejudiced interpretation of Scripture ; they may have suffered those opinions and practices to bend the rule ^ by which they were to be measured. But how, after all, it may be said, is this danger to be com pletely avoided ? Are we not involved in a vicious circle, if we are to judge whether we are under the influence of the I Arist. Rhet. B. 1, chap, i. ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 267 Spirit by consulting the Scriptures, and yet cannot, without that influence, interpret aright those very Scriptures ? Plow, in short, aro we to arrive at a completely satisfactory decision as to our own sentiments and conduct ? The danger is one against which we never can be completely secured in this life, — the decisions we attain can never be wholly exempt from all ground for doubt : ''¦ in other words, we must not expect, with our utmost efforts and prayers, to attain per fect infallibility. If we could, this life would hardly be any longer a state of trial. To contend against the difiBculty in question, — to labor not only with diligence and patience, but " with fear and trembling " also ; that is, with anxious and humble self-distrust, — is the very task assigned us in this our state of preparation. But if, while the Christian puts forth all his own powers in this task, he at the same time earnestly and importunately prays for heavenly guidance, and relies with deep humility on Him who alone can crown those efforts with success, he will be continually approaching nearer and nearer to " a right judgment in all things," and to a corresponding perfection of life. For it is the office of the Holy Spirit to lead us into " all righteousness," as well as into all truth. And in referring to and studying the Scriptures, though no infallible interpreter is to be found, or hoped for, — no system of general directions that will absolutely secure us against mis take, — yet there are two maxims especially (already adverted to in these Essays), which, studiously dwelt upon, and perpet ually recaUed to our thoughts, will prove a safeguard against many and various errors. The one is, to remember that, in studying the Scriptures, we are consulting the Spirit of truth ; and therefore must, if we would hope for his aid, search hon estly and earnestly /or the truth — not for a confirmation of our preconceived notions, or a justification of the system or the 1 See Essay VI. § x. (First Series). 268 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. practice to which we may be inclined. This maxim is the more frequently transgressed, from men's falsely persuading themselves that they have complied with it. The conclusions which they arrive at they of course believe to be true ; and thence, from their having, as they suppose, found truth, they take for granted that it was for truth they were seeking. But a desire to have Scripture on our side is one thing, and a sin cere desire to be on the side of Scripture is another ; it is one thing to pray that we may leam what is eight, and an other thing (though often mistaken for it) to pray that we may find OURSELVES in the right. And, finaUy, in combination with this rule we should also keep constantly in mind that of seeking in Scripture not only for truth, but for practical truth, with a view to the impiove- ment of our life and heart.' This is an express condition on which spiritual aid in enUghtening the understanding is prom ised : " If any man is^ willing to do the will of God, he shall know of the doctrine." "We must seek, therefore, in the Scrip tures, by the aid of Him who gave them, not for speculative knowledge respecting the intrinsic nature of God, or of the human soul, but for practical knowledge concerning the rela tions existing between God and the soul of man, that we may be enabled to serve and please him the better ; and that " the inspiration of his Holy Spirit may cleanse the thoughts of our hearts," and fit us for enjoying the more immediate presence of our Master in his triumphant kingdom. 1 " Pray for what passeth human skill. The power God's will to do: 1 Bead then that thou may'st do his will, I And thou shalt know it too. " — Bishop Binds'' s Poems. 3 SiiKn. ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 269 NOTE TO ESSAY IX. Note A— Page 262. With a view to the mere commemoration of our Lord's sacrifice, and expression of our faith in his atonement, the mere breaking of the bread, and pouring out of the wine. In the Lord's supper, might have been sufficient ; but the bread and wlneare,by Christ's appointment, eaten and drunk In conformity with this declaration, " Except ye eat the flesh ofthe Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life In you '" : " He that eateth my flesh, and drlnketh my blood, the same dwelleth in me, and I in him." What, then. Is It of which the devout communicants are really partakers, under the outward sym bols of bread and wine ? Surely, of the Spirit of Christ ; for " hereby know we that he dwelleth in us, by his Spirit which he hath given us ; " and hence, by Paul's expression, that " we are all made to drink " (iiroTitr^liev, 1 Cor. xii. 13) " into one Spirit." This obvious interpretation the Romanists, and afterwards the Lutherans, were led to overlook, partly at least, I conceive, from the habit of keeping too much out of sight the divine unity, and of regarding the Son and the Holy Ghost too much as distinct beings ; so that to partake of Christ must, they thought, be something difierent from partaking of the Holy Spirit. Hence they inferred that the communicants receive the literal, material body and blood of Christ ; and they accordingly boast that they alone Interpret the Scripture declarations not figuratively. There is no need to adduce the well- known refutations of this extravagant doctrine ; hut there is one answer to It, which is usually overlooked, and which goes to over throw the foundation of it ; namely, that if we could actually receive into our mouths the very flesh and blood of Christ, this could not, of itself, he productive of any benefit to the soul. It might. If God willed It, be the appointed token and means of our receiving such benefit, even as the water of the pool of Siloam was, of restored sight ; but It could not itself confer any spiritual advantage, any more 1 See Hinds's Catechist's Manual, p. 265, to the author ofwhich I am indebted for the substance of these remarks. 23* 270 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. than water could eure blindness. It must, therefore, after all, be in a spiritual and figurative sense that Christ says, " My flesh Is meat indeed, and my blood Is drink indeed." If they mere literally eaten and drunk, they must still be the sign of something else, represented and conveyed by them. So that the violence done to Scripture and to reason, for the sake of avoiding a figurative interpretation, does not, after all, even accomplish that object. The error of transubstantiation the English Church has guarded against most carefully, by declaring that the bread and wine remain unchanged, — that they are only a sign of Christ's body and blood, — and that it is only " after a spiritual manner " that his body and blood are received by the faithful. But It would have been better, perhaps, to have added to this, for the benefit of the unlearned, a statement that the bread and wine not only are merely a sign, but t are a sign of a sign ; that is, that they represent our Lord's flesh and blood, and that his flesh and blood, again, are a sign of something else. This Is indeed Implied, when It is said that Christ's body and blood are " spiritually received," and that it " strengthens and refreshes the soul ; " for it is manifest that literal, material flesh and blood cannot be spiritually received, or refresh the soul. But for the sake of avoid ing those vague and confused Ideas whioh are apt to lead, ultimately, on the one hand, to something nearly the same as the notion of tran substantiation, or, on the other hand, to the regarding of the eucharist as a mere memorial, It might have been better to state distinctly what it is that the faithful communicants do really partake of. To eat and drink the symbols' of the Lord's flesh and blood, rep resents our feasting on the sacrifice, — our being made sharers in the benefits procured by his death, even the " gifts which he received for men.'' That which strengthens and refreshes the soul of Chris tians, as bread and wine do man's body, is " the Spirit of Christ," whereby " he dwelleth in us, and we In him ; " for " it is the Spirit that quickeneth (faioiroioSv) ; the flesh profiteth nothing " (John vi. 63). And as It Is the soul or spirit of a man that animates (quick eneth) his body, which would otherwise be lifeless, so Christians, who are themselves the figurative body of Christ, are quickened — receive life and vigor, " strength and refreshment " — from the Spirit which dwelleth in them. They " are the temple of the Holy Ghost " : " the 1 " Mysteries " is used in the sense of " symbols " in the second prayer at the close of our communion service. ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 271 last Adam was made a quickening Spirit." And since it is as mem bers of the holy community that individual Christians obtain this gift, of this circumstance they are reminded by their partaking together of the Lord's Supper, — " the communion [Koivan'a] of the blood of Christ" (1 Cor. x. 16). "We have all been in one Spirit baptized into one body" (that is, aU admitted by baptism — being bom of water and of the Spirit — into the church, which is Christ's body), " and have all been made to drink into one Spirit" (I Cor. xii. 13). ESSAY X, ON SELF-DENIAL. § I. Much of what is said in the writings of the Apostle Misiaiiesanaaif- ^'^ul and in other parts of Scripture concerning pS^nfar^ingfro^m Christian " sclf-denial," and, again, concerning »n inattentive ora « jjiortification," and much also that we read prejudiced perusal ' of Paul, and other jjj yarious placBS relative to " fasting," have un- of the sacred writ- era. doubtcdly presented to some minds a considerable difficulty ; not merely speculative difficulty, but practical, and leading to great diversity of views and of conduct, and some times to distressing doubt and perplexity in reference to Chris tian duty. I caimot but attribute great part of the discrepancy and per plexing uncertainty that has arisen, on this and also on sevei-al other points, to the habit cherished by some persons of reading the Scriptures assiduously, indeed, but without any attentive reflection and studious endeavor to ascertain the real sense of what they read ; concluding that whatever impression is found to be left on the mind after a bare perusal of the words, must be what the sacred writers designed. They use, in short, little or none of that care which is employed on any other subject in which we are much interested, — to read through each treatise consecutively as a whole, to compare one passage with others that may throw Ught on it, and to consider what was the gen- ON SELF-DENIAL. 273 eral drift of the author, and what were the occasions and the persons he had in view. In fact, the real students of Scripture, properly so called, are, I fear, fewer than is commonly supposed. The theological student is often a student chiefly of some human system of divinity, fortified by references to Scripture introduced from time to time as there is occasion. He proceeds, often uncon sciously, by setting himself to ascertain, not what is the inform ation or instruction to be derived from a certain narrative or discourse of one of the sacred writers, but what aid can be derived from them towards establishing or refuting this or that point of dogmatic theology. Such a mode of study surely ought at least not to be exclusively pursued. At any rate, it cannot properly be called a study of Scripture. There is, in fact, a danger of its proving a great hinderance to the profitable study of the Scripture. For so strong an asso ciation is apt to be estabUshed in the mind between certain expressions and the technical sense to which they have been confined in some theological system, that when the student meets with them in Scripture he at once understands them in that sense, in passages where perhaps an unbiassed examina tion of the context would plainly show that such was not the author's meaning. And such a student one may often find ex pressing the most unfeigned wonder at the blindness of those who cannot find in Scripture such and such doctrines which appear to him to be as clearly set forth there as words can express ; which perhaps they are, on the (often gratuitous) supposition that those words are everywhere to be understood exactly in the sense which he has previously derived from some human system, — a system through which, as through a discolored medium, he views Scripture. But this is not to take Scripture for one's guide, but rather to make one's self a guide to Scripture. 274 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. Others, again, there are, who are habitual readers of the Bible, and perhaps of little else ; but who yet cannot properly be said to study anything at all on the subject of religion, be cause, as was observed just above, they do not even attempt to exercise their mind on the subject, but trust to be sufficiently enlightened and guided by the mere act of perusal, while their minds remain in a passive state. And some, I believe, pro ceed thus on principle — considering that they are the better recipients of revealed truth, the less they exercise their own reason. But this is to proceed on a totally mistaken view of the real province of reason. It would indeed be a great error to at tempt substituting for revelation, conjectures framed in our own mind, or to speculate on matters concerning which we have an imperfect knowledge imparted to us by revelation, and could have had, without it, none at all. But this would be, not to use but to abuse, our rational faculties. By the use of our senses, which are as much the gift of the Creator as anything else we enjoy, and by employing our reason on the objects around us, we can obtain a certain amount of valuable knowledge. And beyond this, there are certain other points of knowledge unat tainable by these faculties, and which God has thought fit to impart to us by his inspired messengers. But both the vol umes — that of nature and that of revelation — which he has thought good to lay before us, are to be carefuUy studied. On both of them we must diligently employ the faculties with which He, the author of both, has endued us, if we would derive the fuU benefits of His gifts. The telescope, we know, brings within the sphere of our vis ion much that would be undiscernible by the nalted eye ; but we must not the less employ our eyes in making use of it ; and we must watch and calculate the motions, and reason on the appearances of the heavenly bodies which are visible only ON SELF-DENIAL. 275 through the telescope, with the same care we employ in respect of those seen by the naked eye. And an analogous procedure is requisite if we would derive the intended benefit from the pages of inspiration ; which were designed not to save us the trouble of inquiring and reflecting, but to enable us, on some points, to inquire and reflect to bet ter purpose, — not to supersede the use of our reason, but to supply its deficiencies.^ On those points above alluded to, I cannot but think that a moderate degree of thoughtful study of Scripture — not taken at random, in detached passages, as If we were consulting the " Sortes Bibllcie," but examined in the same way in which we endeavor to get at the true sense of any other author, on a subject which we are really anxious to understand — will en able us, through divine help, to escape those perplexities an^ errors into which many have faUen. § II. To begin, then, with our Lord's own declaration re specting the self-denial required of his followers, we find that, at a time when great multitudes were respriti'n"/tiic "if- crowding after him, in eager expectation of the *'"''°'' '"^"'"s^- *-' , a i. jjQ^ sacrifices re- speedy commencement of the kingdom of heaven, ... (., .... -, , tention to the sen- been m after times often enjoined, recommended, ses ofthe word and or practised, as a part of " self-denial " or " mor- a,e"'ob^cct''of° "uie tification " (in the popular sense of those words), !>""=''==• and some having hastUy taken for granted that it is prescribed or commended in Scripture, with that view, — that is, on the ground that self-inflicted suffering or privation is, as such, an acceptable service, — the inference has been drawn that the character of our reUgion must be, in that point at least, opposite to what has been just above described. Others, again, have supposed that fasting — as distinguished from scourging, wearing of sackcloth, and aU other self-inflicted hardships — is a positive ordinance of the gospel ; or, again, that it is a moral duty, or at least a Christian virtue, and one which we should endeavor, in some way or other, to practise. And many, I believe, have a sort of vague, undeflned, gen eral impression left on the mind, composed of all these different notions confusedly blended together, which leads to a perplex ing and painful state of doubt on the subject. Nothing, in deed, but confusion of thought, and distressing uncertainty as to conduct, can be the result of an attempt to follow the guidance of Scripture without taking the pains to examine and carefully 292 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. reflect on what we read. And yet there are persons who, in reference to the present subject, have never even thought of inquiring as to several points which must present themselves to any one who is seeking to obtain distinct notions concern ing it. What is meant by the word " fasting," in Scripture, and whether it is always the same thing that is meant in every place where the word occurs, — with what view it was in each case practised by those whom we read of as fasting, — whether simply as a self-inflicted suffering, or as a penance, or as a dis cipline resorted to for the repression of any sinful propensity, or, again, merely as an outward sign of mourning, — whether any kind of fast is enjoined in Scripture, so as to bind Christians in aU ages ; and again, if it be a duty, in what manner it is to be performed, and whether it is to be regarded as a natural moral duty like that of integrity or beneficence, or of a positive ordinance like the Jewish passover or the Christian eucharist, — aU these are questions naturally occurring to the mind of one who is not satisfied with notions utterly vague and con fused, and which yet some persons have not inquired into at aU. Nay, one may even meet with persons who have hardly ever thought of considering attentively the difference, generaUy, between what are called positive precepts, and moral precepts — between things which are right because they are commanded, and those which are commanded because they are right. There are many who would probably state this distinction correctly if the question were put to them in the abstract, who yet are perpetuaUy losing sight of it in practice, especiaUy in what relates to the foUowing of apostolic example, copying apostoUc precedents, etc. On the one hand, natural (moral) duties, being such independently of express command, the pre cepts relative to these are to be regarded rather as a " stir- ON SELF-DENIAL. 293 ring up of a pure mind by way of remembrance " (2 Pet. iii.), than as the enactment of a new rule ; and the examples set before us are rather an iUustration of a principle, and an incite ment to emulation, than patterns to be minutely copied. None but a disingenuous caviUer would require to be told precisely what portion of his income he should give in charity, on what occasions, and in what mode, he should practise integrity or temperance ; and whether these duties were to be such perma nently, or only for a temporary emergency. On the other hand, in respect of things originally and intrinsically indiffer- 2nt, — such as rites and ceremonies, and ecclesiastical regula tions of all kinds, — we may expect clear commands and precise directions as to anything that we are to be bound to do ; and any recorded practice of the apostles must be (if so intended) dis tinctly declared to be a precedent which all future ages are strictly bound to conform to. For instance, the command is distinct to commemorate the sacrifice of Christ, — to " show forth the Lord's death till he come," — by partaking of bread and wine ; but the use of leavened or of unleavened bread (which latter we know must have been used at the institution of the rite), and the retaining or discontinuing of the love- feasts (agapse), which we know used in early times to succeed the eucharist ; and, again, the posture of the communicants, and the form of administration, — these points, since no dis tinct directions as to them are given, seem left to the discretion of each church ; and are considered (which is worthy of remark) as thus left at large, even by those who pretend to hold that every apostolic usage is absolutely binding on all Christians for ever. And it is the same with other similar cases. In such points, to follow " apostoUc example " is to " let all things be done to edifying." The two opposite errors — that of expecting, in respect of points of natural morality, to find in Scripture distinct com- 25* 294 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. mands and detailed directions as to every case that can arise, and that of regarding, in respect of things intrinsicaUy indif ferent, every recorded, or even suspected, apostoUc usage as a precedent and model from which no Christians must venture ever to depart, though there be no injunction in Scripture to that effect (which principle, however, none of those who main tain it have ever fuUy followed out with honest consistency) — these two opposite errors, each imply a confounding together of " natural " and " positive " obligation. And, indeed, attentive reflection altogether, and patient and careful study of what Scripture teaches, — anything answering to that dUIgent attention with which any one applies himself to any history, art, or science which he is anxious to learn, — aU this — as I have observed above — is what too many men seem to regard as needless, or even as improper, in respect of reUgious concerns : as if we were to be instructed in Chris tian faith and practice by simply opening the Bible at hazard, and taking any passage that happens to meet the eye, and attaching to it any meaning that happens to occur to the mind. The varieties of practice which have arisen in various countries and ages in respect of the present subject, are such as might have been expected from the various and often vague and iU-deflned notions that have existed in the minds of different persons. Some have considered that fast ing is to be practised by Christians as a kind of imitation of the fast of their Master in the wUderness at the time of his temptation. And indeed in the greater part of Christendom the commemoration of that event has long been made, partly by some kind of fast established as a church ordinance ; though it can be but a symbolical and figurative reference that any such fast can have to the event commemorated. It evi dently cannot be a direct imitation of Christ's example ; since Ms abstinence, supposing it to have been, as it appears, from ON SELF-DENIAL. 295 food altogether, must have been perfectly miraculous ; and since we are also expressly told that it was not tiU the end of the forty days that he was assailed by the temptation of hunger. Again, some have regarded fasting as dependent on the qualify, others on the quantify, of the food taken, and others on both ; while some, again, have considered it as consisting In total abstinence from aU food. The Mahometans, whose reli gion is based on the Jewish and the Christian (such as Ma homet found them), take this last view ; and during the fast- month of Ramadan above aUuded to, regard the swaUowing of even a drop of water between sunrise and sunset as a vio lation of the fast. Of the same character, also, are reported to be the fasts of the Abyssinian Christians ; while others, again, lay no restriction even on the use of strong liquors, and make everything depend on the distinction between different kinds of meats. And there prevails a stUl greater degree, if possible, of variety of opinion, uncertainty, and confusion of thought, as to the grounds of the practice, — whether it is to rest on the authority of Scripture, or of a church — as to the character of it, — whether it is to be regarded as a moral or as a positive duty ; and again, as to the object of it, — whether it is to be observed as a mode of self-inflicted pain (Uke the flint bed or the scourge), and as being on that ground acceptable to God, or, again, as a mode of bringing the body into subjection to the Spirit, in the way of weakening evil passions and fortifying the intellectual and moral portions of the mind. And the employment (as was observed above) of the word "mortifica tion " in different senses, — to denote sometimes the one, and sometimes the other, of these two things, — contributes to in crease the vagueness and perplexity I have been alluding to. That word is commonly appUed, as has been already remarked. 296 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. in ordinary language, — not (in the scriptural sense) to the subjugation of sin, but to any kind of suffering simply as suf fering. And in this sense it has no special reference to fasting, more than to any other kind of painful privation. Abstinence from food, or confinement to scanty or to unpleasant food, or privation of sleep, or walking barefoot on rugged stones, or kneeUng in a painful posture, or wearing of hair cloth or of disgustingly filthy garments, or any other infliction of pain, would equally be caUed a " mortification." ^ To attempt to discuss fuUy aU the several questions that pertain to this subject, would be to enter on too wide a field of inquiry. But something wiU have been gained, if we can but clear up the sense of some of those passages of Scripture which have been indistinctly or erroneously understood, and which have consequently occasioned difficulty and distressing doubt, and erroneous practice. § IX. First, then, we should mark and set aside aU those passages (and there are several) in which " fast- often used to dc- ing " is spokcu of in the sense, simply, of ab- note, simply, want i»2»i 1} m . l p i f. of food, without sence of food, or ot sufficient food, or of regu- reference to ™te- j j^^gg^j without any reference to a voluntary tary abstinence. , J if act, or any connection with religion. Such is, for instance, the passage (Acts xxvii.) where, in the course of the narrative of the storm which Paul and his companions encountered on the voyage to Rome, it is mentioned that they had " fasted fourteen days, having taken nothing : " by which, of course, we must understand merely that they had taken uo regular meals in all that time, but, in the midst of the unceasing terror, and exertion, and confusion occasioned by the tempest, had only occasionally snatched a morsel of food sufficient to sustain life. This kind of distress — besides many others — Paul was 1 See Note at the end of this Essay. ON SELF-DENIAL. 297 frequently exposed to in his many sea-voyages and land-jour neys, on occasions not recorded in the book of Acts ; as we leam from his Second Epistle to the Corinthians (xi. 27), where he speaks of himself as having been " in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness," etc. That the " fastings " of which he is here speaking are of the description just mentioned, and not any kind of reUgious exercise, is plain from the context ; as he is manifestly enumer ating not his devotional practices, but his hardships and trials. His " fastings," accordingly, — amounting occasionally not merely to pain from hunger and thirst, but to distressing famine, — are mentioned, not along with prayers and meditations, but with " perUs " and " stripes " and " stoning." And it is ob servable also that the " watchings " which he Ukewise mentions in the same place, have no reference to any sort of voluntary exercise. In our version, indeed, the word corresponds with that in our Lord's exhortation to " watch and pray ; " but in the original quite different words are employed. In the exhorta tion, to " watch " (ypryyoiiv) is to be vigilant Uke a sentinel ; in Paul's description of his sufferings, " watching " {aypvirvCa) means " privation of sleep," — " want of repose. " And the same words are employed in the same manner when he speaks, in another place, of being " in distresses, in stripes, in imprison ments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings." On many occasions, again, fasting, — in the other, and now more popular sense ; that is, voluntary absti- Fasting an ordi- nence, — is mentioned both in the Old and New companuLe°nt, acl Testaments ; sometimes as a customary and estab- '^^Zi^eotmlun- lished sign of mourning, along with wearing of "" ""' °^ prayer. sackcloth and sprinkling of ashes on the head, and sometimes, again, as an ordinary accompaniment of especially solemn prayer, according to ancient Eastern custom. 298 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. Besides many other parts of the Old Testament, we may perceive from the narrative of David's fasting and weeping for his chUd when it was sick, and of the surprise of his servants at his not fasting after it was dead, how weU known and cus tomary a sign it was both of mourning and of earnest devotion. And the only fast appointed by the law of Moses, that on the great day of atonement (Levit. xxiU. 26), — in which, by the way, the word "fast " does not itself occur, nor any special refer ence to abstinence from food, — the IsraeUtes are directed to " afflict their souls ; '' that is, to keep a day of solemn " mourn ing." Then, again, it was also, as I have said, a customary accom paniment of prayer, among the Jews, and those who adopted their usages ; as we may collect from several incidental noti ces. For instance, the Prophetess Anna is mentioned as one who served God habitually in the temple with " fasting and prayer ; " and ComeUus the centurion, as " fasting and pray ing" in his house when the angel appeared to him. And several other such cases are incidentally recorded. Of course we cannot suppose that fasting was an accompani ment of every prayer, else there would be no need ever to men tion it at aU ; but only, we may suppose, on those more solemn occasions when a certain time was set apart for a course of prayer. And such, I conceive, must have' been the "prayer and fasting " alluded to by our Lord in reference to the demo niac whom the disciples had failed to reUeve. They had not, we know, unUmited power, as their Master had, of working miracles. It was given them on certain occasions ; and the giving of it was, in some way or other, intimated to them ; as, on Peter, for instance, the power of walking on the sea was conferred by his Lord's command. And we find them sometimes praying for the power to perform a certain miracle ; as, we may coUect, was done by Peter before he raised up ON SELF-DENIAL. 299 Tabitha from death (Acts ix.). In the case of that demoniac, it should seem that our Lord teUs the disciples they should not have attempted to perform the cure without having first re ceived some clear intUnation of their commission to perform it, such as should remove all doubt from their minds (whence he teUs them that they failed from want of faith ; that is, they proceeded while in a state of uncertainty) ; and that in order to obtain such assurance, they should have first resorted to a course of special, persevering supplication for the miraculous power, — to that, in short, which they would understand him to mean by " prayer and fasting.'' We also find prayer and fasting mentioned in the book of Acts on the occasion of the ordaining of ministers ; an occa sion on which a solemn course of prayer (such as, according to Jewish usage, was accompanied by fasting) was to be looked for. § X. What the kind of abstinence was that the Jews were accustomed to use on such occasions, we are , 1 T • n • Strong hijunciimis nowhere told in Scripture. to prayer by our It is remarkable that though neither prayer Testamcut," quitl nor fasting occupy any considerable place m the '''*''''"'' '!T,.'''' ^ £.., ., r mention of fasting. Mosaic law, — no prayer at aU being enjoined, except in one passage (Deut. xxvi.), where the Israelite is directed, on the occasion of a festival occurring but once in three years, to implore God's blessing on his people, — yet both prayer and fasting were practised by the Jews of their own accord. It is also remarkable that notwithstanding they did habituaUy practise the duty of prayer, yet our Lord deemed it needful to give very frequent and earnest injunctions to that effect ; exhorting men to " pray always and not to faint," and enforcing his precepts by several parables, lest in after ages prayer should faU into disuse.^ For fasting, on the other 1 See Lectures on the Parables, Lee. X. 300 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. hand, neither he nor his apostles give any injunction at aU as making it any part of Christian duty. But it was our Lord's general rule to leave untouched all the existing customs of his own age and country, except where they were sinful, — where the Pharisees had " made the word of God of none effect through their tradition." He censures also the ostentatious manner in which both prayer and fasting were practised by the Pharisees ; exhort ing men to make no pubUc display of those devotions which were of a private character. Public worship in the temple and in the synagogues it is plain He never meant to forbid ; but it is for offering up their prayers in the streets and in the mar ket-place that He censures the hypocrites. Those prayers and fasts of these men, which were thus ostentatiously displayed, evidently did not profess to be any part of the estabUshed public worship. And when He was asked, reproachfuUy, why His disciples did not, like those of the Pharisees and of John, practise fasting, there is no imputation cast on Him for a viola tion of the law, or neglect of anj public ordinance ; but merely wonder and blame are expressed that, while He professed to be a religious teacher, his disciples should exliibit, apparently, a less religious mode of Ufe, in one respect, than the foUowers of John and of the Pharisees. His answer to the inquiry has reference to what I have above remarked, — of fasting being understood as an accompan iment and sign of mourning : (Matt. ix. 15) " Can the children of the bride-chamber mourn " (in Mark ii. 19 the word is "fast ") " as long as the bridegroom is with them ? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then will they fast." A wedding was, we know, a scene of especial festivity among the Jews ; with which anything savoring of mourning, among the bridegroom's companions (the " chUdren of the bride-chamber " ) would have been incon sistent ; but when the bridegroom (by which it is plain He ON SELF-DENIAL. 301 means Himself) shall be taken from them, "then," says He, " they wiU fast in those days." From this passage is is plain, among other things, that neither our Lord nor the questioners had any thought of self- discipline as a legitimate purpose of " fasting " (a notion which arose several years after) ; for in that point of view the disci ples would have needed it while their Lord was with them, as well as afterwards ; so that his reply would have been nothing to the purpose. It is to be further remarked respecting this passage, that it contains no precept as to what His disciples were enjoined to do : only a prophecy of what would take place. It is, however, important to determine aright what it was that the prophecy realted, to — what period is denoted by " those days ; " since it was a period during which mourning is spoken of, — not indeed as a thing commanded, but as natural and suitable for Christ's disciples. § XI. Now some have understood by " those days " all ages of the Christian church subsequent to the depart- what were the ure of Jesus in bodily person from the earth : com- ing°^by°thrdta!i- prehending therefore in those davs of mourning, p'':"''°"''i'f"''"'ie- r o J O' goom s being talcen the present, and all future time tUl his triumphant '"" ""^'"•" return to judge the world at the last day. But this is surely to overlook, or greatly to misunderstand, his own words. For in some of his later discourses to the disciples, recorded by John, he dwells very fully and strongly on the sorrow they wiU feel at the loss of their Master, which sorrow was to be succeeded hj joy — lasting '^oj — at his return. " Because I have said, I go my way to Him that sent me .... sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless — I tell you the truth — it is expedient iov you that I go away ; for if I go not away the Comforter wiU not come unto you, but if I depart I wUl send him,'' etc. 26 802 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. " Te wUl weep and lament, but the world wUl rejoice ; and ye wUl be sorrowful, but your sorrow shaU be turned into joy ; .... and ye now therefore have sorrow ; but I wiU see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you " (John xvi. 6, 20). Now the disciples, it is true, had to spend their Uves, for the most part, in trials, dangers, indignities, persecutions, and various kinds of hardship. And some have imagined that the period of " mouming " Jesus aUudes to — " then shaU they fast in those days " — denotes this life of suffering which awaited them after his departure in the body. But I greatly wonder that any one should so utterly overlook what is said both by himself and his apostles. It would indeed be very natural for an ordinary man to regard as a period of mourning that Ufe of privation and hardship to which the first preachers of the gospel were subjected ; but far different, and indeed contrary, was the view which they themselves and their great Master took of it. The " mourning " he aUudes to was not on account of bodily afflictions, but on account of the loss of him their Lord ; which sorrow was to be completely and finaUy removed : their "joy no man was to take from them." But as for worldly troubles and hardships, these were a kind of trial which he pre pared them not to mourn for, but to endure joyfully. " Peace," says he (John xiv.), " I leave with you ; my peace' I give unto you : not as the world giveth, give I unto you In the world ye shaU have tribulation ; but be of good cheer, I have over come the world." And again, " Blessed are ye when men shaU hate you, and shaU separate you from their company, and reproach you ; . . . . when they shaU persecute you for right eousness' sake : . . . . rejoice in that day, and leap for joy," etc. And weU did the apostles leam and practise, and inculcate on their converts, the lesson He had taught them. " My brethren,'' ON SELF-DENIAL. 303 says the Apostle James, " count it aU joy when ye fall into divers temptations ; " that is, trials by persecution. " They departed rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame," * etc. " I am filled," says Paul,^ " with comfort ; I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation,'' etc. To the world they might appear " of aU men most miserable ; " but they themselves felt quite otherwise : they were " as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing." From these and many other passages, but much more stiU from the general tone of the New Testament writers, we may plainly see that the days of " mouming " which our Lord aUudes to cannot have been the life of hardship which awaited the preachers of the gospel, nor could have had any reference to such outward afflictions. That time of mourning for their Lord's absence was evidently, first, the interval of desponding sorrow between his crucifixion and his appearance after the resurrection;' and secondly, in a less degree, that interval of comparative loneliness, though cheered by hope, — that twi light foUowing the darkness of despondency, and preceding the restoration of a full sunshine, — the interval between the ascension and the day of Pentecost, when their Master was restored to them, not in body, but in Spirit, as the " Comforter who should abide with them for ever." ¦* If, indeed, it had been a new Master — a different Being — that they were then and thenceforth to be under, though sent by their former Master, their joy would not have been " full : " they would still have mourned the departure of him in whose service they had originaUy enUsted. Any one who has a heart for friendship, — who knows what real personal attachment is, — knows weU that its object is, not certain qualities merely, I Acts v. 41. 2 2 Cor. vii. 4. 3 See Luke xxiv. 17. < The title Paraclete, rendered in the Gospel of John " Comforter," is applied to Jesus in the first epistle, in which our version renders it " Advocate." 304 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. but a certain individual person. " Substitute," " successor," " equal," " similar," " equaUy good," are words unknown in His vocabulary. The cravings of an affectionate heart can only be satisfied with the very person on whom it is fixed. The dejection of the disciples, therefore, in the absence of their original Master, would never have been whoUy removed by any gifts conferred under the dominion of a different Being. But this — though the language of some writers would lead one to take such a view — is very far from being tliat view which Jesus taught his disciples to take, and which they did take, of their condition. On the contrary, he seems to have sedulously guarded them against any such thought. " I will not," says he, " leave you comfortless : / wUl come unto you." .... "I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice." And that this cannot refer to the interval between the resurrection and the ascension is plain from his adding, " Tour joy no man taketh from you." And again, " If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father wiU love him, and we wiU come unto him, and make our abode with him." And in like manner Paul, in speaking of the graces of the Holy Spirit, says, " If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his : "... . " The Lord " (Jesus) is the (that) Spirit (TO Uvevfia). It is plain therefore that no mourning — no fast in that sense — was designed to be the habitual condition — the general standing rule of the Christian church. § XII. As for fasting of any other description, whether as Fasting one of an outward sign of mourning on extraordinary the things left by . • j. r „ i.l,„ the apostles to the occasious. Or an accompaniment of prayer, the decision of Chris- g^gj.g^ Writers havc left the whole matter to the tian churches and of individuals. discretion of Christians, whether as private in dividuals or as churches. In the course of their narratives ON SELF-DENIAL. 305 they have recorded, incidentaUy, the existing practices, but have nowhere given any injunctions or directions on the sub ject. WhUe earnestly inculcating the habitual use of prayer, both public and private, they have left each church in respect of public congregational prayers, and each individual Chris tian in respect of his private devotions, to regulate the partic ular modes of fulfilling that duty as may to each seem best, so that " aU things," says the apostle, " be done to edifying." A further admonition, however, is given by the same apostle (Rom. xiv. 2) not to judge harshly, or, again, to speak con temptuously of one another in respect of these matters. " One man believeth that he may eat aU things ; another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not, and let not him that eatheth not judge him that eateth. Who art thou that judgest another man's ser vant? To his own master he standeth or faUeth." And again, he tells us that meat doth not recommend us to God, for that we are not the better or the worse for eating or for not eating, but that " whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, we should do all to the glory of God." It is probable the apostle had here in view, principaUy at least, the scrupulous dread of some weak brethren of eating something that had been strangled, or that had been offered to idols. The principle, however, which he is inculcating is of very general appUcation ; namely, that with respect to matters intrinsically indifferent, and on which no positive command has been given, each is to act according to the best of his own judgment, and not presume to condemn or to despise others for not coinciding with him. In respect of these points, then, as weU as many others,^ the inspired writers have left, as I have said, the determination to the responsible discretion of each church, or of each individual 1 See Essay II., on the Eingdom of Christ, § 13. 26* 300 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. Christian. And each church has a right — in respect of such things as are neither distinctly enjoined by Scripture or by natural conscience, nor, again, at variance with either of these, — to enact, or abrogate, or alter from time to time any pubUc ordinances, according as to each may appear most conducive to edification. To teach however as a duty, or as a Christian virtue, self- denial, not in the gospel sense of the word, but in the sense of pain or privation voluntarily undergone, as a thing in itself, and as such acceptable to God, — this would be to exceed the legitimate powers of a church ; because it is, as we have seen, at variance with the whole spirit of the gospel reUgion. This, and sundry other developments (as the modem phrase is) of the gospel scheme — that is, in plain terms, human ad ditions to a divine revelation — were introduced in early ages of the church, and have always found admission, more or less, in a great part of the Christian world. But our reformers, whatever opinion may be formed as to what their decisions were, or ought to have been, as to some points,^ must at least be acknowledged to have kept perfectly free from the above- mentioned error : that of representing gratuitous, self-imposed suffering — whether from hunger and thirst, or cold, or scourg ings, or beds of flint, or of whatever kind — as an acceptable Christian service. Neither as an atonement for sia, nor as, in any way, a Christian duty, do they recommend or countenance any lund of voluntary self-inflicted pain, simply as pain, and as on that ground approved by our heavenly Master ; or as either something to be superadded to, or substituted for, the duty of habitual temperance and self-control. § XIII. The danger, however, is not only so great, but likewise so palpable, of giving way to intemperance or to lux- I See Note B, at the end of tbis Essay. ON SELF-DENIAL. 307 urious self-indulgence, that many are apt to disbelieve or overlook all danger on the side of asceticism. Danger of asceti- and to consider that as being, at the worst, no cism less patpabie, , but not less real' more than a harmless error, leading to no evil than that of sens- beyond the unnecessary bodily suffering under gone, — as something superfluous, but nowise mischievous. But in truth nothing is harmless that is mistaken for a virtue. Whatever is practised and admired as a Christian duty, when it is none, is likely to be worse than useless : and to dweU ever so copiously, and eloquently, and truly on one class of faults, does not go a step towards disproving the reaUty, or the mag nitude, or the danger of a different class of faults. In the present instance, besides the danger above adverted to of combining both faults, — of compensating, by austerities at particular seasons, for habitual self-indulgence at other times, — there are also other evils connected with asceticism. Experience wUl show to any one who carefully and candidly surveys mankind, that it has a strong tendency to generate spiritual pride, uncharitable harshness towards opponents, and a general laxity of conscience in points not immediately con nected with ascetic observances. Let any one look to the latter part of the third century, and the period immediately succeeding, and to every age and portion of the church in which ascetic mortification has most flourished, and he wUl find the general rule to be (subject, of course, Uke other general rules, to exceptions), that those most remarkable for excessive aus terities have been remarkable also for overbearing pride — veiled from themselves and from others by a seeming humU ity, — a pride fostered by the almost idolatrous veneration — far beyond what real Christian virtues generaUy obtain — that is bestowed by those around them. They will be found also, generally speaking, to have been distinguished by a morose and irritable temper ; impatient of opposition, bitter and ran- 308 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. corous in controversy, mercUess persecutors, and often most unscrupulous in the use of pious frauds and disingenuous arti fice* in compassing their ends. Tbe truth seems to be, that whUe the practice of any truly Christian virtue tends to cherish every other Christian virtue, purifying and elevating the moral taste, and Christianizing the whole character, the practice, on the contrary, of any spurious imitation of virtue is more likely to be substituted for general Christian morality than to prove a help towards it, and thus gradually to debase instead of exalting the character. Each point wherein we are truly copying the examples of Jesus and his apostles is an advance towards a resemblance to them, in principle and conduct, throughout ; because the genuine " fruits of the Spirit " all come from the same root ; and we are thus in the way to " add to our faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity." ^ Every superstition, on the contrary, — everything that is, either in practice or in principle, at variance with the character of those our great patterns, — tends, as far as it goes, to lead us away from them, and to divert religious sentiments into a wrong channel. § XIV. Into superstition, of whatever kind, and, among others, that branch of it which consists in as- mortiflcation is in- cctic sclf-torture, UO ouc of caudld mind is likely Kfomel"^ """' to be led by our reformers;' who give, as I have before observed, no countenance to the notion of substituting for gospel morality, or superadding to it, I See Dr. West's Discourse on Keserve. 2 2 Pet. i. 5. 3 Accordingly we flnd — and it is a remarkable fact — that the advocates of asceticism among the (nominal) members of our church are accustomed, either openly or by oblique insinuations, to disparage these men, — to deny the great ON SELF-DENIAL. 309 periodical austerities, and endurance of gratuitous sufferings. In the Collect, for example, for the first Sunday in Lent, the virtue which they instruct us to pray that we may be enabled to practise, is, " to use such abstinence, that, our flesh being subdued to the Spirit, we may ever obey God's motions in righteousness and true hoUness ; " which must evidently be a duty, not for a certain portion of each year or week, but for every time aUke. The fasting and self-denial which they di rect us to practise* — in the sense of resistance to all temptations and patient endurance of every cross that may be laid on us, and constant self-control and subjugation of the appetites, and abstinence from every kind of luxurious excess — is evidently not a duty to be reserved for particular days and seasons, but to be habitually practised, and wrought into the whole charac ter. For he who is a Christian at all, must be one constantly ; because he is, as such, a " Uving stone " of the temple of God's Spirit. " Know ye not," says the apostle, " that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in you? Now if any one," he adds, " defile the temple of God, him wUl God destroy." Let the Christian live, therefore, — not on this day or on that, but every day, — as becomes those who beUeve that they are a portion of the sanctuary, and who are preparing for the coming of Him " who shaU change our vUe body, that it may become like unto His glorious body, according to the mighty working whereby He is able to subdue aU things unto Himself," and who, " having this hope in them," strive to " purify them selves, even as he is pure." reform they efiected, and to resort to the examples and precepts of what they call " the Primitive Church ;" that is, those ages most fruitful in devbiopmehts, —in corruptions ofthe gospel religion, and unauthorized additions to it, devised by presumptuous men. 1 Sec Note C, at the end of this Essay. olO WHATELY'S ESSAYS. NOTES TO ESSAY X. Note A — Pages 283, 286, 296. The following extract from the biographical panegyric of an ascetic nun (lately published) wIU show, as well as a multlude of other such records whioh might be cited, how nearly the Christian religion has been brought to a resemblance to that of the Hindus In the point of self-torture, and, one may add, almost of self-immola tion. For though it is pretended that ascetics are advised to limit their inflictions at a point that will not endanger health, the praises bestowed on those who have not only endangered but manifestly shortened their lives — praises bestowed expressly on that very account — plainly show that no such limitation Is reaUy prescribed : " Each year she made a spiritual retreat of eight days, great part of which she spent In the church on bended knees ; and the night of Holy Thursday was ever, with her, one of sacred and unlnter- mitting watching before the adorable sacrament of the altar ; yet It was only In performing, after her death, the last rites of friend ship to her remains, that her bones were discovered io be excoriated and ulcerated, and to have been so for years ; yet the acute pain whioh kneeling must have caused her, she bore with silent and enduring fortitude. She never whispered to her nearest and dearest associates a hint of her secret and long-continued sufiering : it was known but to her and to God. The soles of her feet were at the same time found covered with tumors such as would have prevented any other person from walking, yet for the last three years of her life she walked over great part of the city, begging from door to door for the support of those charitable Institutions whioh would otherwise have fallen to the ground. " To such works was the life of Miss N devoted. In the year 1789 she reached the fifty-sixth year of her age. In the spring of that year, the symptoms of a premature old age began to develop themselves In her exhausted frame," etc. — See Dr. GlUy's " Vigllan- tius and his Times," Chap. VI. ON SELF-DENLAL. 311 Note B — Page 306. EXTEAOT PKOM AN AOT OP PAKLIAMENT, IM THE EEIGN 03fP EDWAED VI. A. D. 1519. " That although days and meats are in themselves alike, yet fasting being a great help to virtue, and to the subduing the body to the mind, and a distinction of meats conducing to the advancement of the fishing-irade, be it enacted that Lent, and aU Fridays and Saturdays and ember days, should be fish-days." Penalties are annexed to the breaking of the law, except in the case of weak persons and those who had the king's license. Note C — Page 309. What Is to be regarded as the decision of our own church on this matter is a question on which considerable doubt, perplexity, and difference of opinion have arisen. To enter on a fuU discussion of it would be foreign from the main design of this volume, which Is to elucidate the meamng, not of any uninspired formularies, but of some portions of Scripture. It may be worth whUe, however, to remark that fasting cannot be reokoued an " ordinance," properly so caUed, of our church. There are indeed allusions to It In some of our services, and also certain " days of fasting and abstinence," and likewise " feast-days " are noted In the calendar; but no injunctions are anywhere given to observe these days, nor any directions as to the mode of observance either of a fast or a feast. Now it would be an Incorrect use of lan guage, almost amounting to a contradiction, to speak of an ordinance which ordains nothing definite, — an Injunction as to a positive duty, in which no one can say what it Is that is enjoined. When the church directs what persons shaU be baptized, shall be confirmed, shall receive the holy communion, no one can doubt what It is that he is required to do ; the appointed services being set forth, along with rubrical directions, in the Prayer-book. And If there had been an express command given that all members of the church should fast on certain days, we should have expected — as is mani festly necessary in the case of any positive ordinance — that the details should be no less distinctly specified. For " if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shaU prepare himself for the battle ? " 312 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. And accordingly In those churches which do retain fasting among their public ordinances, all the particulars respecting the food to be used and abstained from, and respecting the dispensations that are to be allowed, are distinctly laid down, partly by each church itself, and partly, within certain specified limits, by each bishop, from year to year, within his own diocese. In our church, on the contrary, not only are no such directions given, but those very services just above alluded to seem to indicate that no public positive ordinance was designed ; but only — as in the case of almsgiving — an exhortation to the practice of a moral duty. For though the portion of servioe appointed in place of the epistle for Ash- Wednesday has a reference to a, public fast among the Jews, the gospel, ou the other hand, that is selected, contains our Lord's animadversion on the ostentatious practice of the Pharisees in their private fasts, which he warns his disciples against, — " that thou ap pear not unto men to fast : " an admonition which would be wholly inapplicable to any public ordinance. And again, when we look at the Collect for the first Sunday In Lent, we find it, as I have above remarked, referring altogether to the duty of habitual temper ance, — " such abstinence, that, the flesh being subdued to the spirit, we may ever obey God's motions In righteousness and true hohness," — being evidently a moral duty, and one not pertaining to any par ticular season, but to all times. And the very same duty, and no other, is inculcated throughout the homlliy on fasting. It refers indeed to passages of Scripture In whioh mention is made of fasting, more properly so caUed ; but the practical doctrine on whioh It dwells throughout Is the duty of " keeping under the body, and bringing it into subjection," by habit ually refraining from any such Indulgence of the appetites as may tend to cloud the InteUect, to Inflame the passions, or In any way to enslave the the higher parts of our nature to the baser. But neither there nor anywhere else is anything prescribed as to the quantity or quality of food to be taken, or as to any such partic ulars. Each individual is left by our church to frame, and observe for himself, according to his own responsible discretion, whatever rules as to these points he may judge most suitable to the end pro posed, — that of making the body not the master but the servant, and, as far as lies in him, the efficient servant of the spiritual portion of our nature. Those who, with this view, might find it most advisable to set aside ON SELF-DENIAL. 313 certain days — not indeed as the only times on which they should control their appetites, while thsy should, on others, give a loose to sensuality, hut — on whioh they should use a more sparing diet than ordinary, and who might wish to select those particular days which they and their forefathers had been accustomed so to employ, — these, I conceive, were the persons for whose use the fast-days in the calendar were marked. But as there is no Injunction for the observance of these days, so neither are there any directions as to the mode In which those who do observe them are to regulate that observance. If Indeed the noting In the calendar of certain fast-days had been a novelty Introduced by the reformers, no such practice having ex isted before, then, indeed, it might have been inferred that they designed to establish a positive ordinance on the subject, and had left their work unfinished, having intended to proceed to lay down such precise directions as must evidently be indispensably necessary for Its observance. But as we know that the reverse of this was the fact, there seems no reason to doubt that their design in retaining the fast-days In the calendar was what has been above suggested ; and that they purposely abstained from laying down rules as for a public positive ordinance, meaning to leave the whole matter to the private discretion of each individual Christian. Our reformers probably judged it unsafe to make enactments on such a subject, ou account of the great dilFerence in men's bodily constitutions. That which would be a dangerously insufficient nour ishment for one person, may be repletion or dangerous excess to another. The same length of abstinence, or the same kind of diet, whioh clears and invigorates the mind of one, may produce in another faintness, unfitness for all action of mind or body, or Inaptitude for devout meditation. And the system of dispensations which such diversities render necessary, makes an opening, as they doubtless well knew, for endless abuses and scandals. They judged It best, therefore, to lay down in this matter merely the principles on which we ought to aot, — the end to be aimed at, — and to leave to the discretion and conscience of each Individual the application of those principles, and the means towards that end. 27 ESSAY XI. ON INFANT-BAPTISM. § I. It is not my design to enter on a full discussion of aU the questions that have so long agitated the Controveraiea arising out of ver- church OU the subjcct of regeneration, and bal difiiculties. t . , , -r. those connected with that. But there is one circumstance pertaining to them which I am most anxious to point out, and to insist on ; which is, that among many persons (I do not say all) who are, in language, very much opposed to each other on this subject, the opposition is much greater in appearance than in reality. They are engaged, without being aware of it, in a controversy chiefly, if not altogether, verbal Now it must be regarded by aU who have anything of a genuine Christian spirit, as a most desirable object to obviate as far as possible all unnecessary dissension among Christians, and to bring to a mutual good understanding, as nearly as can be done without compromise of truth, aU " who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." For, besides the immediate evils to those who are themselves engaged in any controversy, there is this additional danger also 1 This remark, and a large portion of what follows, is the substance of observ ations made in several conversations on the subject by the late Bishop Cople ston, to whose memory, accordingly, I dedicated the Charge from which this Essay was drawn up. ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 315 to the Christian people generally, that many of them may be disposed to say, " Here are questions which are declared by all to be of vital importance, yet on which the most learned divines are not agreed. If men apparently pious, and of far greater knowledge and ability than ours, find so much difBculty in agreeing to the sense of Scripture on points which they regard as of vital importance, what is to them a difliculty must be to us an impossibility ; and Scripture can therefore contain no revelation, properly so called, or at least no revelation to the mass of mankind." And the result of these reflections wUl often be, that some wiU betake themselves to some supposed infaUible church, or other guide, to whose dictates they will implicitly resign themselves ; while others wUl be, by the same course, led into infideUty.'^ They see that there is no infallible and universally accessible guide on earth, and, moreover, that if there were it could not possibly be ascertained by men incompetent (by supposition) to exercise their private judg ment, and who consequently could never have any good reason for trusting their judgment to decide rightly that most difficult question, — Who is the appointed guide ? — and they conse quently reject the belief of any divine revelation at aU. It is doubly important, therefore, to point out, where this can be done with truth, how far difiiculties and disputes may have been created, or aggravated, by theologians themselves, either from their seeking to explain more than God has thought fit to reveal,^ or from interpreting Scripture according to the techni cal phraseology of some theological school, or from overlooking variations in the senses in which several words are employed, and thus introducing undetected verbal controversy and conse quent confusion of thought. 1 See Sermon on the Search after Infallibility, and Lessons on Beligious Wor ship, L. VI. 2 See Sermon on the Shepherds at Bethlehem, and also Lessons on Keligions Worship, L. VII. 316 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. The terms " regenerate " and " regeneration," or new birth, are commonly employed (as I have remarked in a work which has been now for many years weU known to the public) in difierent senses by difierent persons.' " Regeneration " denotes, in the language of some, merely that admission to Christian privileges and advantages which is the necessary preliminary to a Christian life. Others employ the term to signify the con dition into which a man is brought by that use of those advan tages and privileges which constitutes a decided Christian character. And " regenerate,'' accordingly, is applied by those persons respectively to conditions as widely different as that of a new-born infant and that of a fully-formed adult. Without attempting to enter on a minute discussion of aU the modifications of meaning that have ever been attached to these words, we may at least recognize the employment of them in the two widely-difierent senses just mentioned. .And not only by different persons, but sometimes even by the same, these words (as well as several others) will be found to be occasionally used with different significations. Undesignedly, and unconsciously, a person will sometimes, even at a short interval, slide from one meaning to another of some of the expressions he is employing. Now whatever may be the importance of adhering to the most correct use of any term, and whichever may be, in this case, the more correct, it is surely the first point — the first in order, and the first also in importance — to perceive distinctly the ambiguity that does actually exist, and to keep clear of the many injurious misapprehensions which may arise from attrib uting to those who use a term in one sense, conclusions which depend on its being taken in a difierent sense. For example, a person may be exposed to a groundless imputation of leading men into a vain and dangerous reliance I Logic, Appendix : Article " Regeneration." ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 317 on baptismal privileges, and of teaching them that all who have been duly baptized are in a safe state ; when perhaps in fact he may have never said or impUed any such thing, but may have merely been employing the word " regenerate " according to what he regards as the most scriptural usage ; and then has had imputed to him inferences which would have followed if he had employed that word in quite another sense. And perhaps it may turn out, on calm investigation, that such a person, and some who had been at first very strongly disposed to censure him, do not in reality disagree to any considerable extent as to the substance of the doctrines they maintain. I have seen something like the above imputation thrown out in a work which several years ago obtained considerable popu larity. It was professedly a description (veiled under a slight tale) of various prevailing religious opinions and modes of con duct ; and some of the pictures drawn were both striking and just. But among others, a careless clergyman is introduced deprecating any anxiety felt by any of his people as to their spiritual state, and saying that " of course all Christians will be saved ; and whoever is baptized is a Christian." Now I feel certain, from long experience and attentive observation, that there is no ground whatever for the imputation here conveyed. I mean that it is not true, as is evidently designed to be implied, that there exists any party, school, or class of men among our clergy — even the worst of them — who teach such a doctrine. Yet it is probable that the representation was not a designed calumny, but was merely an " idle word," originat ing in a misconception such as I have been aUuding to, as the result of a hasty and inconsiderate interpretation of another's expressions, and of rash inferences therefrom. § II. Let any one, then, but consider — and this is an in quiry weU-becoming those who would cherish a spirit of Chris- 27* 318 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. tian charity — how much there may be of agreement, and that Importance of OU the most esscutlal practical points, between orSeTagr::! ^en who at the first glance might appear "'='''• widely opposed, and who perhaps are inclined to think hardly of each other. Two persons accustomed to employ, respectively, the word "regeneration" in the different senses just alluded to, may agree in reverencing the rite of baptism, and iu administering it according to the same rules. Both may be also accustomed to warn men against placing an indolent confidence in gospel privileges, and to teach them that to have been enrolled as members of Christ's church is an advantage for the use of which we are responsible, and which will but increase the condemnation of such as do not " walk worthy of their vocation." Both may teach that (in the words of our sixteenth Article), "after we have received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin ; and by the grace of God we may arise again, and amend our lives."' And they may agree in teaching that " God desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live ; " and in exhorting every one who does Uve a careless and irreligious, or a vicious 1 Some divines of the present day (professedly of our church) express doubts, nearly, if not completely, amounting to a denial of the doctrine of this Article: teaching that sins committed after baptism are either totally unpardonable, or are to be atoned for by penance (See Rogers' Essays, Vol. II. Essay II., pp. 85, 86). Should such views prevail, they may be expected to lead Iirst to a re jection of infant-baptism, and afterwards to the practice (not unfrequent in the early church) of deferring baptism to the deathbed. It would be thought by many a cruelty to place a person, without his own con sent, and iu unconscious infancy, in a situation so far much more disadvanta geous than that of those brought up Pagans, that if he did ever— suppose at the age of fifteen or twenty — fall into any sin, he must remain for the rest of his hfe — perhaps for above half a century — deprived of all hope, or at least of all confident hope, of restoration to the divine favor, — shut out from all that cheering prospect whioh, if his baptism in infancy had been omitted, might have lain before him. ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 319 life, to repent, and seek divine mercy through Christ, and strength to accomplish a thorough reformation ; though in many instances to the same sort of change which the one of these instructors would call " regeneration " or " new birth," the other might apply the terms " conversion," " revival," " renewal," etc. Both might agree in teaching that a holy life is the test of eflfectual, profitable regeneration, and in exhorting all men to lead such a life. On this, the important, practical point, they would not differ at aU. Now if this be. so, it cannot but be desirable that men should be at least guarded against supposing themselves, through the infiuence of the language they employ, to be more at variance than they really are. And it is accordingly a point of Chris tian duty, when any such occasion arises, to point out the dan ger of such an error, and thus to promote reconcilement, or at least mitigate hostility, between those engaged in any con troversy. Let no one, however, calculate on finding that the fulfilment of this duty will obtain for him — for the present at least — the favor or good opinion of the disputants. On the contrary, the most vehement of these will usually bestow their chief applause on the most eloquent champion on their own side, and will even be disposed to charge those who seek to mediate between the contending parties with lukewarmness, or coward ice, or dissimulation, — with ignorance of important truths, or with a readiness to make a base compromise for the sake of human favor. And it may be added that not only the disputants themselves, but many of the bystanders also, even those of them who take but little interest in the subject under discussion, for its own sake, wiU be disposed to heap abuse or derision on any one who appears to come forward as a mediator. For the vulgar- minded, of aU countries and ages, and of all ranks, find an 320 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. amusing excitement in the spectacle of a controversy analogous to that which attracted the ancient Romarls to their gladiatorial shows. And hence they are disposed to feel or to affect con tempt for any who seek to mitigate hostility, or to cut short a contest. Many, also, when they hear of any discussion relating to the employment of terms, are disposed to turn aside with disdain from one who dwells on what they will regard as a trifling question. For there are many who have unthinkingly taken for granted as self-evident a theory of idea, which they suppose them selves to understand ; though it is, in truth, I am convinced, quite unintelligible, and tends to throw an indistinctness and confusion over most subjects. And hence they are almost un aware of one important function of language as an instrument of thought, imagining its sole use to be the conveying of our thoughts to others.^ From various causes, therefore, whatever censure or contempt the advocates of either party in a dispute may be exposed to from the opposite party, the peacemaker is likely to incur from aU.2 It is true the most calm and considerate wiU at once, and many others after a time, be disposed to do justice to the mo tives of one who seeks to mediate, and to listen to his reasons. But no one is less likely to gain present popularity than one who aims at convincing the parties engaged in a contest that they are in reality less opposed than they appear to be. Those, how ever, who are seeking the approbation, not of men but of their Divine Master, will remember the blessing he has pronounced on " the peacemakers." And though they would not sacrifice gospel truth for the sake of church concord, they wUl be ready to sacrifice for it anything and everything else. 1 See Elements of Logic : Introduction. 2 See Note A, at the end of this Essay. ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 321 § III. But though some are liable to be engaged, in refer ence to these points, in a controversy chiefly verbal, there are others, as I have above hinted, between whom Real difference an apparently similar controversy will be found between those who , . . f. ., . do ond do not to turn on a real opposition of doctrine. hold the predcsti- Those who hold that (1) of persons duly ad- ''"'^" >i™'""«- mitted into the visible church by baptism some are, by an abso lute eternal divine decree, secured in all the benefits of Christ's redemption, and others totally excluded therefrom by the same decree,^ and moreover (2) this is a truth set forth in Scripture as an essential point of faith,^ — these, and the parties opposed to them, must, of course, differ, not in words only, but in the matter of their teaching. Taking regeneration to imply, as is generally agreed, some kind and degree of benefit, — some spiritual gift, or at least offer of a gift, — they of course deny the term " regenerate " to be at all applicable to those Christians whom they consider as excluded by the decree of Omnipotence from all spiritual benefit whatever of baptism. And the visible church, into which members are through this rite admitted, they must re gard as a community not possessing any spiritual endowments whatever ; these being, by divine decree, reserved for certain individuals arbitrarily selected from the rest. Of those who maintain — or at least in their teaching imply — the predestinarian views now alluded to, a considerable por tion belong to the sect which altogether rejects infant-baptism.' And in this I cannot but admit that they are perfectly consistent.* Regarding the rite of baptism as " an outward and visible sign of an inward spiritual grace," they deem it not allowable, I 1 See Note A, at the end of Essay UI. ; and Note A, at the end of Essay IV. 2 These two perfectly distinct assertions are often confounded together. 3 See Note B, at the end. 4 See Archbishop Sumner's Apostolical Preaching, from which I have sub joined an extract in a Note at the end of this Essay. 322 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. apprehend, to " put asunder what God has joined together," and therefore confine the administration of this sign to those respecting whom there is some presumption at least of their being admitted to a participation in the thing signified, — the divine grace ; which grace, they hold, is, by an eternal absolute decree, bestowed on one portion of those professing Christianity, and denied to the rest. And to which of the two classes any individual infant belongs, there cannot possibly be any ground for even the slightest conjecture. In the case of an adult they can have, it is supposed (just as in the case of the other sacrament, the Lord's Supper), if not a complete and certain knowledge whether he belongs to the class of the elect or the non-elect, at least some indica tion from his professions and his conduct, — indications which an infant, of course, cannot afford. And they accordingly consider, I apprehend, that baptism administered to infants connot be a sign of regeneration, since there cannot be even any presumption of its being accompanied by any spiritual advantage at all. And certainly it must be admitted that, according at least to the ordinary use of language, a sign of anything is under stood to be such from its being regularly accompanied by that thing of which it is a sign, or at least by some reasonable presumption of its presence. When, for instance, we speak of a certain dress or badge being a sign of a man's belonging to a certain regiment, or order of knighthood, or the like, we understand that it is to be something peculiarly belonging to them, and serving to distinguish them from others. If a dress or badge were worn indifferently by an indefiuite number of persons, some belonging to this regiment or order and some not, we should consider that it had ceased to be a sign at all, having no longer any signification. It is on these grounds, I conceive, that many of those who hold that doctrine of absolute ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 323 decrees I have been alluding to, adhere to, or have joined, tho communion of those calling themselves, and commonly called. Baptists.^ Our safest and most humbly pious course, however. Is, in any practical question, to endeavor to ascertain, in the first ' instance, what was the practice of the apostles ; and to adhere to that whenever we think that the rules or customs they sanc tioned were not of a merely local or temporary character, but were equaUy suited to our own age and country. And not only is respect due to their practices, but these practices will often throw light on their doctrine; since whatever belief, on any point, seems naturally to be Implied in what they were accustomed to do, may be presumed to have been their belief. And we ought surely rather to put ourselves under their teach ing, where it is to be had, than to adopt and act upon the inferences drawn from any theological theory of our own. § IV. Now with respect to the question of infant-baptism, though there is not in Scripture anv express in- , • ¦ . o i: J ^ Inquiry into junction or prohibition relating to it, any one ae prai^'ics ofiii" "" '^ a ' J primitive church who inquires with an unbiassed mind may arrive, with respect to hap- tism. I think, at a complete moral certainty as to what was the practice of the apostles and other primitive Christians.^ I See Note C, at the end of this Essay. 2 On this point a novel and very strange theory — combining the premises of one party with the conclusion of the opposite — has been devised iu Germany, and has been I believe adopted by some few in our own country ; namely, that . the apostles never practised or approved infant-baptism, but that nevertheless we, the Christians ofthe present day, are quite right in departing from the apos tolic principle and institution, and administering the rite to infants. Though we do not — like theKomish Church — claim infalhbility, and profess to be under the guidance of Christ's vicegerent on earth, who is authorized to " develop " new doctrines, and to change divine institutions (as in denying the cup to the laity), still we are at liberty, it seems, to act as if we did possess this infallible authority, and to improve upon the principles and practice ofthe apostles at our own discretion. 324 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. For several years, we should remember, they were all Jews. And even after the Gentiles had begun to be engrafted into the church, the gospel was still, in each place, preached first in the Jewish synagogue ; and the greatest part of the most eminent teachers were of that nation. Now, men brought up under the law, would, of course, ad here to the principles of that law, wherever these were not at variance with Christianity, and would be disposed to view everything in the gospel according to the analogy of Judaism, except when taught otherwise. And their inspired instructors did teach them otherwise when there was need. Whenever this disposition was carried to a faulty excess, — as in the well- known instance (Acts xv.) of the attempt to place Gentile Christians under the Levitical law, — the error was, we may be sure, as in that instance, promptly corrected, and firmly resisted by the apostles. Now baptism, having always been clearly understood to be the initiatory rite by which members were admitted into the Christian church,^ it cannot, I think, be doubted, by any un- I shall not undertake to refute this theory, because I cannot but think that any one who can, on calm reflection, adopt it, must be beyond the reach of argument. To the Germans we owe many important investigations, and many valuable thoughts. But it cannot be denied that a large portion of them have showu a tendency to be carried away by a craving for originality, and to be misled by their own ingenuity in its pursuit. It was a proverb among the ancient Romans that *' Africa was always producing some new monster." And something anal ogous may be said of Germany. One way of producing (ideal) monsters, from common materials, is by com bining incongruous parts of things really existing. Such was the fabled Chi mera, which was made up of parts of common and well-known animals, joined together as they never were or could be. Such were the Centaurs, and the sup posed picture described by Horace in his Art of Poetry. And a perfectly orig inal theory may be in like manner framed (to which the title of "ChimEera" would not be inapplicable) out of opinions in coramon circulation, by putting together the conclusions of the one side aud the reasons of the other. 1 Agreeably to our Lord's charge to his apostles (Matthew xxviii.) the exact ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 325 prejudiced inquirer, that the early Christians must have been prepared to observe the like rules in admitting (by baptism) members into the Christian church, to those they had been accustomed to, in reference to the Jewish. If it had been the rule to admit adults only into the Mosaic covenant — if infancy had been a bar to any one's reception — then they would never have thought of baptizing children into the Christian church, unless expressly commanded to do so. If — as is the fact — they had been accustomed to enrol in the Jewish church their own infants, and proselytes of all ages, then they would, as a matter of course, adhere to the same rule in reference to the Chris tian church, unless expressly forbidden.^ And so strong and universal must have been the disposition to bring to baptism the children of beUevers, that if this had not been allowable, we should undoubtedly have found in the New Testament most distinct and frequent notices of its prohibition. As for distinct injunctions or recommendations, these could not have been at aU needed in favor of any practice about which there had never been any hesitation. And as for the many scruples and questions that have been raised relative to infant-baptism, none of these would be likely even to occur to their minds ; because they had been familiar all their lives with the admission into the Mosaic covenant of infants, incapable, at the time, of availing themselves of, or at all understanding, the benefits of that covenant. ¦ rendering ofwhich is "make disciples of all nations" (that is, enrol them as members of the church) " by baptizing them into the name," etc. The marginal rendering of ;«o&7)TEiiffaTC in our Bible is preferable to that in the text. See also Acts viii. 36 and x. 47. 1 " There is a presumption in favor of every existing institution. Many of these (we will suppose the majority) may be susceptible of alteration for the better; but still, the ' burden of proof ' lies with him who proposes an alteration, simply on the ground that since a change is not a good in itself, he who demands a change should show cause for it." — Eelments ofShetorio. 28 326 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. § V. We have therefore, I conceive, a complete moral cer- , . _, , tainty that the earliest Christians did practise The gospel viewed - ^ by tlie earliest infaut-baptism, and that it received at least the Christians through the medium of the tacit Sanction and approval of the apostles ; whose prohibitions of it we should not have failed to find recorded, had it been at all objectionable. But In this, and in several other points also, difficulties, and sometimes serious mistakes, are likely to arise from want of sufficient care to view the gospel through the medium of the law ; — to recollect, that is, not only that the Mosaic dispen sation itself was the forerunner and type of the Christian, which fulfiUed and extended it, but also that Christianity was first preached by, and to, men who had been brought up Jews ; and that accordingly we must carefully consider, and steadUy keep in mind, what were the habits and modes of thought of Jews of that age and country, and in what way they would be likely to understand and to act upon the precepts and doctrines deliv ered to them ; for the interpretations which were the most obvious to them will be often different from what may be the most obvious to us of the present day. And again, it will often happen that what were to them the greatest difficulties (as, for instance, the admission of the Gentiles to be " fellow-heirs ") will be to us no diflSculties at all. And whatever meaning presented itself to their minds, may be presumed to be the right one, whenever they were not taught otherwise by their inspired guides the apostles, who were at hand to correct any mistakes they might fall into. Thus, for instance, if we would inquire what we are to un derstand by " saints " — " God's people " — and " the elect " ("chosen"), etc., our safest course (as was remarked in Essay III.) is to look to the sense in which an Israelite had been accustomed to hear those words employed, and to consider how ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 327 he would be likely to understand them, by analogy, in reference to the gospel dispensation.' And so, also, if we would understand what was meant by the " baptizing of a household " which we read of in the New Tes tament, — whether it included, or not, the infant children of the believing parents, — our guide should be the practice of the Israelites in reference to any Gentile family, the heads of which had renounced idolatry and desired to be admitted as proselytes — as IsraeUtes by adoption — into the number of God's chosen people under the old dispensation. " Let all his males be circumcised, and then let him draw near and eat the pass- over," was the direction of the law under which they acted. And if an intelligent and well-disposed IsraeUte had been asked what benefit he contemplated as accruing from enrolment in the number of God's people to an infant, incapable of either obeying or disobeying the law, and of enjoying or understand ing the promised blessings of the covenant, he would probably have replied, that the child — being dedicated to the Lord by Jewish parents or guardians, solemnly bound to instruct and bring him up as a Jew — might be expected, as soon as he should be able and as far as he should be able to understand these things, to become, gradually, an observer of the law and a partaker of its benefits ; and that, then, he would not obtain a new possession of something which, before, was not his, but would merely enter on the full enjoyment of a benefit previ ously conferred on him. The case, in short, would be viewed as analogous to some which occur every day in the ordinary business of life. In the common language, for instance, of secular business, a person is said to have received, as a payment or as a gift, such and such a sum of money, even when no money is actuaUy handed to him, but only a draft on some banker, who is ready to pay 1 See Sermon ou Christian Saints. 328 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. it as soon as presented. And we speak of him as having re ceived this sum, although we know that he may possibly not present the draft for several days or weeks ; or may even, through gross negligence, fail ever to present it at all. Or, again, take the case of an infant inheriting an estate, or a title, or the "freedom" of some corporation. Though not capable, at the time, of profiting by or understanding these advantages, he will subsequently become so ; and will then, if he use them aright, not acquire any new possession, but derive the suitable advantages from those to which he was already entitled. And even as the inheritor of a fortune may, when he grows up, make either a good or ill use of his wealth, so, any one, whether the child of an Israelite by birth, or of a proselyte admitted into the Jewish church, might, in after Ufe, either avail himself rightly of the privileges thus bestowed on him, or convert them into a curse by his neglect or abuse of them. And supposing this latter case, — supposing the son of some devout proselyte to have become an idolater, or in some other way a transgressor ofthe law, — he would, no doubt, have been admonished (by a prophet, or other pious Jew) not to become an Israelite, — not to seek admission into the number of God's chosen people, — but to repent and return to the Lord, to re form his life, and to walk worthy of the privileges to which he had been admitted. Now all this an intelligent and pious Jew, who should have embraced the gospel, would naturaUy be inclined to apply, by analogy, to the case of the Christian dispensation. § VI. And accordingly one of the most eminent of these, Paul's view ofthe fie Apostlc Paul hlmsclf, directs the attention troifandmrnow of ^is couvcrts to such an analogy : applying the dispensations. .pg^^ word " baptized" to the Israelites on their deUverance from Egypt ; whom he speaks of as being all ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 329 " chosen " to be partakers of special divine favors ; while yet — as he reminds the Corinthians (1 Cor. x.) — most' of those very men " wei-e overthrown in the wilderness ; " not accord ing to any eternal divine decree (at least he mentions none) excluding them from the promised blessings, but as a con sequence of their obstinate rebellions. It was because " they thought scorn of that pleasant land, and gave no credence unto his word, " that the Lord " sware unto them that they should not enter into his rest." And all " these things," Paul tells the Corinthians, " are written for the admonition " of Christians. It is thus that (as I have remarked above) we may plainly learn from the practice of the early church what were the doctrines taught in it. Having ascertained what the early Christians were accustomed, under the guidance of the apostles, to do in reference to the administration of baptism, we may thence safely infer what was their belief on the subject. And here it is to be remarked, by the way, that I have been representing a pious and intelligent Israelite as speaking, all along, of the case of children brought forward for dedication to the Lord, by parents or guardians designing to educate them accordingly. He would surely never imagine that any one could have a right, or a power, to admit into the Mosaic covenant a Gentile infant who was to be brought up as a heathen. And, by parity of reasoning, he would not, as a Christian, regard as of any avail, or as a vaUd baptism at all, the performance of an outward ceremony on an infant that is to be brought up — as far as we know and believe — in entire ignorance of Christian duties and privileges. No one would be regarded as sowing seed to any purpose, or indeed as, in correct language, sowing it at all, who should purposely scatter com on the trodden wayside, with a full knowledge that it would be immediately " devoured by the fowls of the air," instead of springing up, 1 TO?s irK^iooiv. 28* 330 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. and producing, "first the blade, then the ear, and afterwards the full corn in the ear." I mention this because there are instances recorded, of priests administering by stealth (through mistaken pious char ity) what they regard as the rite of Christian baptism to the infants of savages, or of Chinese or Hindu idolaters.' But in our church it is plain no such procedure is recognized. Our formularies all along most plainly contemplate the case of a child brought to baptism by persons pledging themselves to its education as a Christian. In the narrative so earnestly dwelt on in the baptismal service, the children brought to our Lord for his blessing must evidently have been the children of believ ing parents.^ And all the declarations made in our formularies — the hopes expressed, the prayers, the exhortations, in short, everything that is said — must evidently be understood as proceeding on this supposition. And accordingly the very reason assigned in the catechism for its being allowable to administer baptism to infants, is, that as there are certain indispensable conditions of the benefits 1 The question has been raised, What should be our procedure in reference to a person to whom an intended baptism had been thus rashly administered, suppos ing him (as is not at all inconceivable) to come, subsequently, to a knowledge ofthe gospel : are we, it has been asked, to repeat in such a case, the external ceremony ? The question, in any such case, evidently amounts to this : whether he has been really baptized or not? For it has always been universally held that baptism is a rite which cannot be repeated; since no one can be admitted a member of a society of which he is a member already. In every case, therefore, in which there is a doubt as to the answer to that ques tion, our church has provided a conditional form expressly to meet such a case. (See Kubric to the Office for Private Baptism.) As for the question, IVho are the persons to whom the ofBce is, or should be intrusted, of administering the rite of baptism? On this I have made, in the Second Essay on the Kingdom of Christ, some remarks which are extracted in Note D at the end of this Essay. 2 See Luke xviii. 15. The right rendering of ra ^p4(p-r\ evidently is, in this passage, *' their infants." The article (which our translators are apt to overlook . altogether) has often the sense of our possessive pronoun. So it has also iu French. " I have a pain in my head," would be rendered "j'ai mal i to tSfe." ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 331 promised to them, so the fulfilment of these conditions is prom ised by them, through their sureties.' And for the " remission of sins " at baptism,^ so frequently alluded to in our services, this, it is plain, cannot be understood of actual sins in the case of an infant, which is not a moral agent at all, nor capable of either transgressing or obeying God's laws, — of resisting, or of foUowing the suggestions of his Spirit. Nor, again, can it mean an entire removal and abolition of the frail and sinful nature, — the '¦'¦phronema sarkos" inherited by every descendant of Adam ; since our 9th Article expressly declares that this " remaineth even in those that are regenerate." ^ But it seems to denote that those duly baptized are considered no longer as children of the condemned and disinherited Adam, — as no longer aliens from God,* disquali fied for his service, and excluded from the offers of the gospel, — but are received into the number of God's adopted children, and have thrown open to them, as it were, the treasury of divine grace, through which, if they only avail themselves of it, though not otherwise, they will attain final salvation." 1 See Note E at the end. 2 The words, in the Nicene Creed, ** one baptism for the remission of sins," were eagerly appealed to by some, in a recent controversy, as quite decisive of the questions at issue. They seem to have not known, or to have forgotten, that those words were introduced in reference to a totally diflferent question, — one relating to repetition of baptism. 3 There certainly is, in some portions of the baptismal service, an indistinct ness and confusedness of language (excellent as the service is, as a whole) which one would gladly see remedied. For we read, in the same service, of the " re mission " to infants " of all tlieir sins" and of an exhortation to " all men to follow their innocency." Of the " imputation " of Adam's transgression, I have treated at large in Essay VI., subjoining an extract from Archbishop Sumner's Apostolical Preaching. i This is doubtless what is meant by the expression " children of wrath," in the catechism, and " deserving God's wrath " in the 9th Article. The reformers could not have meant the words " God's wrath" to be understood in their hteral sense ; since they had laid it down in the 1st Article that God is " without body, parts, ov passions." S Those who seek to go as far as they can towards doing away all connection 332 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. § VII. This seems to be the most simple and unforced interpretation of the language of our church in Views of our re formers concerning various passages of her formularies; as, for in stance, in the catechism, where the catechumen speaks of " baptism, wherein I was made a child of God and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven ; " and again, where it is said that " being by nature born in sin we are hereby made the children of grace." Now, this placing of a person in a different condition from that in which he was originally born, may not unaptly be designated (as it appears to be by our reformers) by the term " regeneration," or " new birth." ' But no one can suppose that they regarded the sowing of seed as the same thing with the full maturity of the corn for harvest, or as necessarily implying it. To be born into the natural world, is not the same thing as to be grown up ; nor can it be pronounced of every infant that is bom that it will, necessarily, grow up to manly maturity. So, also, our reform ers never meant to teach that every one who is baptized is sure of salvation independently of his " leading the rest of his life according to this beginning " (Baptismal Service) ; or, again, of spiritual benefit with baptism, and reducing it to a mere sign of admission into a community possessing no spiritual endowments at all, sometimes appeal to the case of Cornehus and his friends, on whom "the Holy Ghost fell" before they were baptized. But they seem to forget that this was the miraculous gift of tongues, of prophecy, etc., which never was, nor was ever supposed to be, the "inward spiritual grace " of baptism. It was never conferred at baptism (see Acts viii. 16), but was always bestowed, except in this oue case (in which there was an obvious reason for the exception), through the laying on of hands of an apostle (see Acts xix. 6). And accordingly the Eomans, when Paul wrote to them (Kom. i. 11), had received no miraculous gifts, though they were baptized Christians, and were reminded by the apostle that "if any man have -not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." IThe Ninth Article has, in the original Latin, the word, " renati," twice; translated, first, " regenerate," and afterwards, " baptized." See Note F at the end. ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 3d3 that we can be infallibly sure that he wiU do so ; any more than we can pronounce with certainty, according to the analogy of a temporal inheritance above alluded to, that one who has an estate bequeathed to him will claim his inheritance in proper form, and will also make that right use of his wealth on which depends its becoming a real blessing to him. The expression "an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven" seems to be used in reference to the tendency, and the suitable result, of an admission into the church of Christ. And such a kind of language is often employed by all writers, and, not least, by the apostles. When, for instance, the Apostle John says that "whatsoever is born of God, overcometh the world, and that every one who is born of God doth not commit sin,'' it cannot be supposed that he meant to attribute to Christians moral perfection and impeccability when, on the contrary, he exhorts them to " confess their sins." Far was it from his design to teach that one who did but feel convinced of having experi enced the new birth might safely remit his exertions and relax his vigilance against sin, and "count himself to have appre hended" and to be thenceforward sure of divine acceptance and of everlasting life, without " taking heed lest he fall." On the contrary, he was writing, as is well known, in opposition ' to those Gnostics of his day who were grossly Antinomian, and who, while they professed to " have no sin " in God's sight, and to be sure of salvation through their supposed " knowing the gospel" (gnosis), lived a life of flagrant immorality. In contradiction to these monstrous tenets, he declares that every one who has a weU-grounded " hope in Christ purifieth himself, even as He is pure," — that a sinful life is inconsistent with the character of the " sons of God," — that the tendency, in short, and suitable result of being " born of God," is opposed to the commission of sin. And, indeed, in aU subjects, it is a very common mode of 334 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. speaking to attribute to any person or thing some quality, which, though not an invariable, is a suitable, or natural attri bute, and may reasonably be looked for therein. In this way many words have come to vary gradually from their original signification. For instance, to " cure," in its etymological sense (from " curare ") signifies to take care of a patient, and to administer medicines. In its present use, it implies the successful administration. So also it is with the word ^cpaireuo}, which, in the language of the New Testament writers, signifies not to tend, but to heal. In like manner we often, figuratively, deny some title to an object that is wanting in those qualities which ought to belong to it, or which that title suggests as a natural and consistent accompaniment, and what may fairly be expected. Thus, for instance, in speaking of some act of excessive baseness or de pravity, it is not uncommon to say, " one who would be guilty of this, is not a man ; " meaning, of course, that such conduct is unworthy of the manly character, — inconsistent with what may be fairly expected from a man, as such, and more suitable to the brutish nature.' But so far are we from understanding that any one who acts thus unworthily is not, strictly and literally, a man, that, on the contrary, this is the very ground of our censure. We condemn a man who acts the part of a brute, precisely because he is a man — a being from whom something better might have been looked for — and not one of the brute creation. Again, any one might say of a garden that was greatly neglected, and overrun with wild plants, " this is not a gar den," or " it does not deserve the name of a garden ; " though 1 " I dare do all that may become a man ; Who dares do more, is none." — Macbeth. Some remarks on this kind of language, in reference to another subject, will be found in the treatise on Bhetoric, Fart III. chapter iii. ; 3. ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 335 it is precisely because it is, literally, a garden, that we speak thus contemptuously of it ; since, in an uncultivated spot, the sight of a luxuriant vegetation does not offend the eye. It is in a similar mode of speaking that Paul declares that " he is not a Jew who is one outwardly : neither is that cir cumcision which is outward in the flesh ; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly ; and circumcision is of the heart," ^ etc., — meaning, as no doubt every one must have understood him, that one who is not in his heart and in his conduct a servant of the Lord, is wanting in what ought to characterize the Lord's people, — is inconsistent with his profession, and an unioorthy member of the Jewish church; — one who will derive no benefit, but the contrary, from the privileges to which he has been admitted as a Jew. For it is because such a one is literally a Jew, that he will incur a heavier penalty than an unenlightened heathen. Pie might equally well have said, — and doubtless would have been ready to say, — according to the same kind of figure, that he is nota "baptized" Christian — he is not "regenerate" — who is so outwardly alone, and has nothing of the Christian character within. And indeed the Apostle Peter actually does employ similar language in speaking of baptism (which, he says, " saveth us ") when he says that it is " no^ the putting away the filth of the flesh " (that is, the outward application of water), " but the answer of a good conscience towards God ; " not meaning that a person deficient in tliis has not been, literaUy, and in the strict and proper sense of the word, baptized at all, and needs to have that rite administered to him, but that he is wanting in that which is the proper and beneficial result of an admission into the Christian church. And corresponding forms of expression are very common on various subjects ; and seldom give rise to any error, or 1 Eom. ii. 28. 336 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. confusion of thought, or obscurity, except in those cases (re ligious discussions are among the principal) in which men, under the influence of some strong prejudice, exercise their in genuity in seeking for anything that may serve as an argument, and in interpreting words according to the letter and against the spirit, for the sake of supporting some favorite theory. § VIII. Once more, then, I would invite attention to the importance of examining carefully, in any con- importance of , . . f. . using various ex- trovcrsy that may arise, how far it may turn on tiirsame'trutti?"^''' dlSferences in the expressions employed. Let any two persons, whose views appear at the first glance widely at variance, be prevaUcd on to depart, for a time at least, from the strict technical language of a theolog ical school, and to state, in as many different forms as possible, ¦what is the practical advice they would give to each Christian under various circumstances ; and it wUl often come out, that one whom his neighbor had perhaps been at first disposed to condemn as abandoning some fundamental truths of Christianity, has, in fact, merely avoided the particular terms in which the other has been accustomed to express them ; and the difiference between the parties is not such, either in degree or in kind, as had been supposed.' In guarding, however, against verbal controversies mistaken for real,^ I would not be understood as thinking little of the 1 At the time when the first outcry was raised against Dr. Hampden's Bamp ton Lectures, many persons, no doubt, who joined in it, had no design to com mit injustice, but had been taught to think that the work was really unsound. He had traced to the school-men many of the phrases which are commonly employed in expressing certain doctrines; and hence it was rashly inferred that he intended to represent the doctrines themselves as of human origin. The inference was drawn by those (the great majority of his censurers) who had never read the work itself, but only artfully-garbled extracts. — See The Church and the Universities. 2 See Logic, " Verbal Questions." ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 337 importance of careful accuracy of language. Indeed, the very circumstance that inattention to this may lead to serious mis takes as to our meaning, would alone be sufficient to show how needful it is to be careful as to our mode of expression. For instance, cases have come under my own knowledge, in which an active minister, sincerely attached to our church, has found, to his astonishment and mortification, that his people were, one by one, dropping off into the sect of the Baptists ; and that these seceders were almost exclusively the very per sons who had been the most attentive to his instructions, and the most promising. This circumstance induced me, when consulted on such a case, to inquire carefully as to the language ^ ; which he had employed in speaking of baptism and points connected therewith. .And I found, and pointed out to the complainant, that he had been, in fact, undesignedly preparing the way for these conversions, by using such expressions as ' ' were likely to be understood, and actuaUy had been understood, in a sense favoring the Baptist doctrine ; so that his most atten tive hearers, whenever they came in the way of a teacher of that persuasion, were induced to adopt at once the inferences ' from the premises already established in their minds. However charitably we may judge of the members of that or of any other communion, it is clearly the duty of members of a church which does allow infant-baptism to guard against being so understood as to encourage secession from that church. And here it may be remarked, that the clergy have an espe cial opportunity, and an especial call, for giving early, and full, and systematic instruction on all the points here touched on, in their discharge of that most important branch of their duty, the preparing of children for the solemn ordinance of CONFIEMATION. The course of that preparation aflbrds them a most fitting occasion for explaining to them the character of 29 338 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. the sacraments according to the views of our church ; which evidently designs to make confirmation, not a distinct sacra ment, but a connecting link between the two, — a kind of sup plement and completion to the one, and an introduction to the other.' And this sacred rite has the advantage, when duly administered to persons properly prepared, of obviating every reasonable objection to the practice of infant-baptism, and thus justifying, and exhibiting as an harmonious whole, the system of church ordinances established by our reformers. § IX. The importance of taking care not to exaggerate differences, or hastily to form harsh judgments, ---, Tl, .,, "1 . ¦ Effects produced 1 have dwelt on with especial earnestness, in ^y unchristian wt- treating of the present subject, on account of the ^"j"" ' '" contro- contests relative to that subject which have of late years been agitating our church.^ These contests have been conducted by some, unhappily, of those engaged on each side, with not a Uttle of unchristian acrimony. And the tone of insolence and of bitterness displayed by some of the dispu tants, which has been strongly and justly censured by some of their opponents, has been imitated by those opponents. They 1 It was with a view to impress tbis the more strongly on the minds of all parties concerned, that I adopted in my own diocese the plan of adding on the com munion service to that of confirmation, and receiving no candidates for confirm ation but such as were prepared to attend the Lord's Table immediately. The error was thus the more effectually guarded against (an error which I well knew to be prevalent), of bringing forward for confirmation persons unfit or unwilling to partake of the eucharist; and who, too often, never do partake of it at all. That this is quite at variance with the design of our church, I took occasion to set forth in a Tract on Confirmation, from which I have subjoined an extract in Note G at the end of this Essay. The experience of many years, during which this course has been blessed with the happiest results, and the strong testimony of the most assiduous and judi cious of the clergy, have fully confirmed my original conviction of its expedi ency. 2 For some remarks on the particular contest chiefly alludcd to, see Note H at the end of this Essay. ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 339 have been guilty to at least an equal degree of the very faults they had been condemning. Such contests have excited the exulting scorn, not only of infidels, but of those Christians of various denominations whose zeal for their sect or church outweighs their regard for the universal church of Christ, and in whom party spirit has nearly swallowed up the true spirit of the gospel. Among others, we find the members of a church which professes to be, not a branch, but the whole, of the catholic — that is, universal — church (and which, if so, must compre hend all Christians, of whatever denomination) taunting other churches — parts of itself, supposing its pretentions just — with their internal dissensions, and representing its own (alleged) exemption from discord and unity of doctrine as a mark of divine truth.' But however justly we may censure such exultation, great must be the grief, at the occasion given for it, that must be felt by those of the most truly Christian character. Greatly must such a man, whether of our own communion or of any other, be shocked at the spectacle of dissensions among professing Christians, and of the evU passions which are too often caUed forth and displayed on such occasions. I have said " caUed forth and displayed " because one cannot but feel convinced on reflection — and it is one of the most painful reflections suggested by the circumstances attendant on controversies — that the evil dispositions thus caUed into action 1 Most of those to whom such reasoning is addressed will not know, or will not recollect, that this mark belonged most emphatically to pagan Eome under tbe persecuting emperors, and to Nebuchadnezzar when he set up his " image of gold." For, these decreed, and promptly executed their decrees as far as their power extended, that whosoever refused to worship as commanded, should be cast into the fire. On the incompatibility of the two claims, — that to universality, and that to exemption from divisionsand errors, — I have treated formerly, in works from which extracts are given in Note I at the end of this Essay. 340 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. must have existed before, in persons in whom perhaps they had never been suspected. Uncharitable bigotry, unscrupulous and reckless party spirit, spiritual pride, revengefulness, malice, and the like, are not dispositions which could be suddenly created, though they may be suddenly aroused and called into activity, and also fostered and increased, by the excitement of a contest. They must have been in existence already, — unknown, probably, to the persons themselves, as well as to the bystanders, — under an appearance of Christian meekness and candor and charity. Where a pool of transparent water, and which seemingly contains no impurity, becomes, on being agitated, suddenly turbid and foul, we are certain that the offensive impurities thus thrown up are not caUed into existence by that agitation but must have been lying at the bottom during the period of tranquillity and apparent purity. And even so we are compelled to admit the mortifying conclusion that the faults and follies which we see stirred up by an agitating contest, must have been aU along latent in the breast of many a one who had been regarded by others, and probably by himself, as of a far different character. What any one's conduct would be, under each particular kind of trial, none but the Searcher of hearts can know with complete certainty before the trial is actuaUy made. It is for us, especially to examine and distrust ourselves, to keep a vigilant guard over our own hearts, and to act on the apos tolic precept, " Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he faU." ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 341 NOTES TO ESSAY XL Note A — Page 320. This severity Is so far from being mitigated in cases where religion is concerned, that, on the contrary, the phrase " odium theologicum " ' has become proverbial. I cannot but wonder, therefore, that In a very able article in the Edinburgh Keview (April, 1830) theological literature should be spoken of as " a protected literature." Indeed, the reviewer himself seems. In what he had said just above (p. 526) to establish the opposite conclusion. Some remarks on this point, mtroduced into a recent edition of a volume of Essays (First Series) I here subjoin : " The case of Bishop Warburton, however, is only one out of many that could be adduced in disproof of what has been said as to ' theological hterature being a protected literature.' The fear of odium may Indeed sometimes deter a man from writing against the prevailing religion ; but if any one In writing for it calculates on exemption from attacks, he Is not unlikely to be greatly disappointed. If he write in defence of the tenets of his own communion, he may perhaps be assailed (supposing his work to attract any considerable notice), not only by the members of other communions, but by very many fellow-members of his own ; who wiU perhaps charge him with ' paradox,' or ' heresy ; ' or with going too far, or not far enough ; or with having advanced, or not having advanced, beyond his own original principles ; or perhaps with all of these faults at once.' Or if, again, he writes in defence of Christianity generally, he will prob ably he censured by a greater number of Christians, of various denominations, than of anti-christians. In the extracts from several writers (to which many others might have been added), printed in paraUel columns at the end of the Appendix to the Logic, a specimen I " That all these complaints have been made not only of the same individuals but by members of the same religious party, may seem something almost incred ible; but it is a fact. 29* 342 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. may be seen of the sort of ' protection ' likely to be enjoyed by a work on Christian Evidence. Some who are sincere behevers, if not In the truth of Christianity, at least in its ulility to the mass of the people, are afraid that these would be shaken In their belief by Inquiry and reflection.' Others, again, being anxious that the people should believe not only In the divine origin of Christianity, but in several other things besides, of which no satisfactory proof can be afforded, are fearful of giving any one the habit of seeking and find ing good grounds for one portion of his faith, lest he should require equally vahd reasons for beheving the rest, and should reject what cannot be so proved ; aud, accordingly, they prefer that the whole should be taken on trust — on the strength of mere assertion. And enthusiasts, again, of all descriptions, being accustomed to believe whatever they do believe on the evidence of their own feelings and fancies alone, are most Indignant against any one who — In com pliance with the apostolic precept — endeavors to give, and to teach others to give, ' a reason of the hope that Is In them.' " On the whole, therefore, it does not appear that anything like ' protection ' cau be reckoned on, for works either on Christianity Itself, or on any particular doctrines of it." Note B — Page 321. The proper designation of these ia Antipasdobaptists. But this, though otherwise unexceptionable, is so awkwardly long a title, that it is not in common use. The title of " Baptists " and that of " Ana^ baptists " are both alike objectionable, as being what J. Beutham calls " question-begging appellatives ; " the former Implying that their distinctive tenet Is right; the other that It Is an error. For, when an adult who had been baptized In infancy joins their communion, they administer to him the rite according to their own system. And to call this a " re-baptizing " (as is Imphed by the term Anabaptist) is to assume that his original baptism was real and vahd ; 1 " A speaker in an illustrious assembly professed, according to the reporters, his firm adherence to the religion of the Established Church, as being ' the reli gion of his ancestors.' And this sentiment was received with cheers; some of the hearers probably not recollecting that on that principle the worship of Thor and Woden would claim precedence. ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 343 which Is the very point they deny. On the other hand, the term Baptist, as a distinguishing appellation, Implies that they alone really baptize, and that the so-called baptism of all others is void and un real ; which Is equally to prejudge the question on the other side. It should be added that those I have been aUuding to are what are called " Particular-Baptists." There is another denomination (which, I understand, is much less numerous), called " General-Baptists," who do not teach the predestinarian doctrines alluded to. On the subject of " terms of reproach," I have offered some re marks in the Appendix to the Third Series of Essays. Any one who deprecates, as a reproachful term, or for any other reason, the application of some name to the church or class he be longs to, should be careful to adopt for It some designation which does not imply a reproach to his neighbors ; else, though these may he in the wrong In the term they employ, he at least has no right to complain. In reference to what I have said of the " Particular-Baptists," a writer in one of their periodicals vehemently and Indignantly dis claimed on their behalf the doctrine of reprobation. It was far from my Intention to impute to any persons (not advo cates ofthe system called " economy," " double-doctrine," " or reserve ") opinions they disavow. But I had always understood that there is a portion (and rauch the largest portion) of the Baptist denomination that are commonly designated as Calvinistic, and account themselves such. And Calvin (see note A to Essay HI., p. 98) not only Incul cates the doctrine of reprobation, but insists on Its being inseparable from his doctrine of election, and derides as silly and puerile the attempt to disjoin them. Now the writer I have alluded to does not say whether those of his communion disclaim the title of Calvinist ; which has a manifest tendency to mislead. If applied to any one who rejects one funda mental article of Calvin's system. Nor does he give any explanation of the sense In whioh he and his friends hold the doctrine of election, so as not to Imply, necessarily, reprobation ; an explanation which Is evidently requisite ; since, else, a man must certainly be regarded as teaching — whatever may be his own inward belief — anything that Is clearly implied in what he does say. In reference to the subject here treated of, I take the liberty of extracting a passage from a work which has been for many years weU known and highly esteemed by the pubhc : 344 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. " Another practical evil of the dootrine of special grace. Is the necessity which it implies of some test of God's favor, and of the reconcilement of Christians to hira, beyond and subseqiient to the covenant of baptism. St. Paul, it has been seen, insists upon the necessity of regeneration : he declares that ' the natural man receiv- eth not the things of God, neither can know them ; ' he calls the hea then nations 'children of wrath,' and 'sinners ofthe Gentiles;' he speaks of the ' old man as being corrupt according to the deceitful lusts ; ' — in short, he expresses, under a variety of terms,' the asser tion of our Saviour, that ' except a man be born again, of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God ' (John Iii. 3). " With equal clearness he Intimates that the Christians he ad dresses were thus regenerate : as having ' put off the old man with its deeds ; ' and having become the ' temple of the Holy Ghost,' and ' the members of Christ ; ' as having the ' spiritual circumcision, and being buried with Christ in baptism,' Eom. vl. 3, Col. II. 12; as having ' received the spirit of adoption,' Rom. viii. 15 ; and as ' being washed, sanctified, and justified, in the name .of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.' To the Galatians, ' bewitched,' as he says they were, ' that they should not obey the truth,' he still writes, ' Ye are the children of God by faith In Christ Jesus. For as many of rou as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ, (Gal. Iii. 26). These addresses and exhortations are founded on the principle that the disciples, by their dedication to God In baptism, had been brought into a state of reconcilement with him, — had been admitted to privi leges which the apostle calls on them to Improve. On the authority of this example, and of the undeniable practice of the first ages of Christianity, our church considers baptism as conveying regeneration. Instructing us to pray, before baptism, that the infant ' may be born again, and made an heir of everlasting salvation ; ' and to return thanks, after baptism, ' that It hath pleased God to regenerate the Infant with the Holy Spirit, and receive him for his own child by adoption.' " But, on the contrary, if there is a distinction between special and common grace, and none are regenerate but those who receive special grace, and those only receive it who are elect, baptism Is evidently no sign of regeneration, since so many after baptism live profane and unholy lives, and perish in their sins. Therefore, the preacher of I Eom. ii. G, etc. ON SELF-DENIAL. 345 special grace must, consistently with his own principles, lead his hearers to look for some new conversion, and expect some sensible regeneration. This brings him to use language in the highest degree perplexing to an ordinary hearer. To take an example from the same writer, whose only fault is the inconsistency to which he is reduced by his attachment to the system of election : ' The best duties of unregenerate men are no better in God's account and acceptance, than abomination. There is nothing that such men do. In the whole course of their Uves, but at the last day It wIU be found in God's register-book among the catalogue of their sins. This man hath prayed so often, and heard so often, made so many prayers, and heard so many sermons, and done many good works ; but yet, all this whUe he was In an unconverted state : these, therefore, are set down In God's day-book In black ; and they are registered among those sins that he must give an account for : not for the substance of the actions themselves, but because they come from rotten principles, that defile the best actions which he can perform." " Suppose this language addressed now, as it was originally, to a congregation dedicated to Christ In baptism: what would be the feelings of a plain understanding, or a timid conscience, unable to unravel the windings of these secret things, on learning that the sinfulness or Innocency of actions does not depend upon their being permitted or forbidden In the revealed law, but on the doer being in a regenerate or unregenerate state at the time when he performs them ? How Is this fact of regeneracy, upon which no less than eter nity depends, to be discovered ? The apostle enumerates the works of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit ; but his test is Insufficient, for the two lists are here mixed and confounded. The hearers appeal to the church, an authorized Interpreter of Scripture. The church acquaints them that they were themselves regenerated, and made the children of grace, by the benefit of baptism; while the preacher evidently treats them as if it were possible they might be stUl un regenerate." — Sumner's Apostolical Preaching. I " Hopkins on the New Birth. Observe the difference between his language and our judicious reformers : ' Since actions whioh spring not of faith in Christ are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but that they have the nature cf sin ' " (Art. xiii.). 346 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. Note C — Page 323. ¦ It seems not unhkely that the same causes may have operated in favor of that sect also which rejects the sacraments altogether. As for the argument which I have known put forward, with apparent seriousness, that the word Sacrament does not occur In Scripture, and that, therefore, we ought not to have any, this can hardly have had any real Influence on intelligent minds. For, one might as well urge, that since the word " virtue " does not occur In our Lord's discourses, therefore he did not mean his followers to practise virtue. But at the time when that sect arose, a very large proportion of Christian ministers, while they were administering to Infants a rite which they spoke of as a sign of regeneration, or new-birth, at the same time taught — at least, were understood as teaching — that there Is no intelligible connection whatever between the sign and the thing signified, nor any real benefit attached to the rite. The new birth they taught their people to hope for at some future Indefinite time. And they taught them to believe, as a part of the Christian revelation, that, of infants brought to baptism, an uncertain. Indefinite number of Individuals — undistinguishable at that time from the rest — are, by the divine decree, totally and finally excluded from aU share in the benefits of Christ's redemption. Now, men accustomed to see and hear aU this, would be not un likely to listen with favor to those who declared — professedly by divine inspiration — that " water-baptism," as they call It, Is an empty and superstitious ceremony, originating In a misapprehension of our Lord's meaning ; of vvhich meaning they — gifted with the same inspiration as his apostles — are commissioned to be Interpreters. And when one sacrament thus had been explained away, the re jection of the other also, according to a similar kind of reasoning, would follow of course. And, after all, this rejection was but the carrying out of a principle of procedure which had been long before sanctioned by others. It had been long before decided that, at the eucharist, one of the ap pointed symbols might safely be omitted, and that the perfect spiritual participation by the communicants In the benefit of the sacrament is not thereby at all Impaired. To dispense with the other symbol also, and likewise with the symbol of the other sacrament, and then to caU this a spiritual celebration of the sacraments, was only taking a step further In the same direofiou. ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 347 In truth, the abolition of the sacraments, by explaining away, as figurative, words of our Lord which were undoubtedly understood by his hearers at the time literally ; or, again, the literal interpretation of his words, " this is my body," which must have been understood at the time figuratively (for the apostles could not have supposed that at the last supper he was holding in his hands his own literal body) ; or the addition of fresh sacraments not Instituted by him or his apos tles ; or a departure from the mode he appointed of celebrating the eucharist, by the withholding of the cup, — all these, and any other similar liberties taken with Scripture, stand on the same ground, and are equally justifiable or equally unjustifiable. If certain Individuals, or councils, or other bodies of men, are really Inspired messengers from heaven, " moved by the Spirit " to declare with Infallible cer tainty the wiU of the Lord, then their words are to be received and obeyed with the same deference as those of Peter or Paul. And if they announce any change in the divine dispensations, or give any new interpretation of any part of Scripture, we are bound to acquiesce, even aa the Jews were required to do In that great " mys tery of the gospel," the opening of the kingdom of heaven to the Gentiles. It Is God who speaks by their mouths ; and he who has established any ordinance has evidently the power to abrogate or alter it. And when persons who make such a claim (or admit It In their leaders) profess to take Scripture for their guide, they must be un derstood to mean that It Is their guide only in the sense attached to it by the persons thus divinely comraissioned, and In those points only wherein no additional or difierent revelation has been made through these persons. When there has, the later revelation, of course, supersedes the earlier. Nor does it make any real difference whether something be added to the Bible, claiming equal divine authority, or whether merely au alleged infallible interpretation be given of what is already written. For an interpretation coming from any church or person divinely commissioned, and speaking " as the Spirit moveth," Is of the same authority with Scripture itself, and. must be Implicitly received, how ever at variance with the sense which any ordinary reader would, of himself, attach to the words. And those who completely surren der their own judgment to any supposed infaUible interpreter are, in fact, taking him — not Scripture — for their guide. " It Is most important, when the expression is used of ' referring 348 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. to Scripture as the infallible standard,' and requiring assent to such points of faith only as can be thence proved, to settle clearly, in the outset, the Important question, ' proved to whom ? ' If any man or body of men refer us to Scripture as the sole authoritative standard, meaning that we are not to be called on to believe anything as a necessary polut of faith, on their word, but only on our own convic tion that it is scriptural, then they place our faith on the basis, not of human authority, but of divine. But If they call on us, as a point of conscience, to receive whatever is proved to iheir satisfaction from Scripture, even though It may appear to us unscriptural, then. Instead of releasing us from the usurped authority of man taking the place of God, they are placing on us two burdens instead of one. ' You require us,' we might reply, ' to believe, first, that whatever you teach is true ; and, secondly, besides this, to believe also that It is a truth contained in Scripture; and we are to take your word for both!'"' When, therefore, any such claim is set up, we are authorized aud bound to require " the signs of an apostle." Professed ambassadors from heaven should be called on to show their credentials, — the mi raculous powers which alone can prove their inspiration, — on pain of being convicted of profane presumption In daring to " say, thus saith the Lord, when the Lord hath not spoken." Hence, there are probably many inteUigent persons who do not really believe In the existence. In the present day, of Inspiration, properly so called, though they continue to employ a language, derived from their predecessors, which Implies it I have adverted to this case in another work, from which I wIU take the hberty of extracting a passage : " It is well known that there are sects and other parties of Christians, of whose systera It forms a part, to believe In immediate, sensible inspiration, — that the preachers are directly and perceptibly moved to speak by the Holy Spirit, and utter what he su^ests. Now suppose any one, brought up In these principles, and originally perhaps a sincere behever In his own Inspiration, becoming after wards so far sobered as to perceive, or strongly suspect, their delu siveness, and so to modify at least his views of the subject as in fact to nullify all the peculiarity of the doctrine, which yet many of his hearers, he knows, hold in its full extent ; must he not be strongly I Essay on the Kingdom of Christ, pp. 211, 212. ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 349 tempted to keep up what wlU probably seem to him so salutary a delusion ? Such a case as this I cannot think to be even of rare occurrence. For, a man of sound judgment, and of a reflective turn, must, one would think, have It forced on his attention, that he speaks better after long practice than when a novice, — better on a subject he has been used to preach on than on a comparatively new one, — and better with premeditation than on a sudden ; and all this, as Is plain both from the nature ofthe case and from Scripture, is Incon sistent with Inspiration. Practice and study cannot Improve the immediate suggestions of the Holy Ghost, and the apostles were on that ground expressly forbidden to ' take thought beforehand what they should say, or to premeditate ; because it should be given them in the same hour what they should say.' Again, he will perhaps see cause to alter his views of some passages of Scripture he may have referred to, or In other points to modify some of the opinions he may have expressed ; and this, again. Is Inconsistent with the Idea of inspi ration, at least on both occasions. " Yet with these views of his own preaching, as not really and properly inspired and infallible, he is convinced that he is inculcating the great and Important truths of Christianity, — that he is conse quently. In a certain sense, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, from whora all good things must proceed, — and that his preaching is of great benefit to his hearers ; who yet would cease to attend to It were he distinctly to declare to them his own real sentiments. In such a case he must be very strongly tempted to commit the pious fraud of conniving at a belief which he does not himself sincerely hold ; consoling perhaps his conscience with the reflection, that when he professes to be moved by the Spirit, he says what he Is convinced is true, though not true in the sense In whioh most of his hearers understand It, — not true in the sense which constitutes that very peculiarity of doctrine wherein perhaps originated the separation of his sect Or party from other Christians." ' It Is probable, however, that many persons deceive both others and themselves by confusing together in their minds difierences of degree and differences of amount;'' and thence Imagining (what a 1 Errors of Eomanism, pp. 87, 88. 2 The imperfection of modern languages conduces much to this confusion. In Greek, more and less in quantity are expressed by irAeioi' (or lidCov) and t\aTTov ; more or less in degree by foKKov and ijTToy. To a beginner, Aris- 30 350 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. little calm reflection must show to be Impossible, and indeed un intelligible) that there may be different degrees of what is properly and strictly termed inspiration ; that is, the miraculous Influence under which we conceive anything that we call an inspired work to have been written. The existence or non-existence of this inspira tion is a question otfact; and though there may be diflferent degrees of evidence for the existence of a fact. It Is plain that one fact cannot be. Itself, more or less a fact than another. Inspiration may extend either to the very words uttered, or merely to the subject-matter of them, or merely to a certain portion of the matter, — to all, for Instance, that pertains to religious truth, so as to afford a complete exemption from doctrinal error; though not to matters of geography, natural philosophy, etc. But in every case we understand that to whatever points the inspiration does extend, in these It secures infallibility ; and InfalUbiUty manifestly cannot admit of degrees. When wo are speaking of the instructive, the eloquent, the enter taining, etc., we may call one discourse tolerably well-written, another rather better written, and a third better stiU. Each of them is what it is, in a different degree from the others. But we could not with propriety speak of one discourse as being " somewhat inspired," another, as " rather more Inspired," and again, another, as " a good deal inspired." If any one Is distinctly commissioned to deliver a message from heaven, in any one instance, with infallible proof, to himself and to others, that It Is such, he Is as truly Inspired, and his revelation as much a revelation, as If he had had revealed to him a hundred times a greater quantity of superhuman knowledge. That one message is totle's remark, that though the category ofiroiov (" of what quality ") admits of degrees, that of iroiTov {" how much ") does not, is apt to appear paradoxical. In quantity five is less — a smaller number — than ten ; but it is what it is — five — as much as the other is what it is — ten. On the other haud, a beautiful ob ject, for instance, may be more beautiful than another; each of them being what it is in a different degree [fxa'KXov or iittov) than the other. So also the quality of being rich admits of degrees. One man is richer than another rich man, if he possesses more in quantity of money than the other; but tbe ^noney itself does not admit of degrees ; since a penny is no less a penny than a pound is a pound. The Greeks would say, with that distinctness which their language enabled them to attain with case, that to ttAoutcii' admits of degrees {/ioWov or 7;ttov), but that ttAoutoi does not. ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 351 as much God's word as any part of Scripture. Even so Paul, who " spoke with tongues more than all " the disciples he was addressing,' had not more that miraculous gift (though he had the gift of more tongues) than any one of them who had been supernaturaUy taught a single foreign language. If a man has ascertained, and can prove, that he has had, either in words or merely In substance, a revelation of some doctrine, or, again, an infallible divine assurance of safety from religious errors, he is to be listened to — In reference to those points io which ihe in spiration extends — as speaking with divine authority. But, on the other hand, if he has no InfaUible proofs to give of having received a divine communication, then, though most or all of what he saj's may be. In fact, perfectly true, he has no right to use such an ex pression as " the Spirit moveth me to say so and so." He ought rather to say, — what a pious and humble preacher must mean, — I hope and trust that what I am setting forth is sound and useful doctrine : and so far as it is so, It must be the gift of Him " from whom all good things do proceed ; " but how far it is so, both you and I must judge as well as we can, by a careful reference to Holy Scripture, with a full consciousness of our own fallibility. Note D— Page 330. " Concerning several points of this class, — such as the validity of lay-baptism, or of baptism by heretics or schismatics, etc., — questions have been often raised which have been involved in much unneces sary perplexity, from its being common to mix up together what are In fact several distinct questions, though relating to the same subject. For instance. In respect of the validity of lay-baptism, three Impor tant and perfectly distinct questions may be raised ; no one of which Is answered by the answering either way of the others ; namely, 1. What has a church the right to determine as to this point ? 2. What is the wisest and best determination it can make ? 3. What has this or that particular church actually determined ? Now persons who are agreed concerning the answer to one of these questions, 1 1 Cor. xiv. 18. 352 AVHATELY'S ESSAYS. may yet differ concerning the others ; and vice versa." ' — Kingdom of Christ, Essay II. § 39, pp. 282, 283. With respect to the first question, in reference to lay-baptism, it is plain that, according to the above principles, a church has a right to admit or to refuse to admit members. This right it possesses as a society. As a Christian society, sanctioned by our heavenly Mas ter, It has a right to administer his sacraments ; and It has a right to decide who shall or who shall not exercise certain functions, and under what circumstances. If It permit laymen (that Is, those who are excluded from other spiritual functions) to baptize, it does, by that permission, constitute them Its functionaries. In respect of that particular point. And this it has a right to do, or to refuse to do. If a church refuse to recognize as valid any baptism not administered by such and such officers, then the pretended administration of It by any one else Is of course null and void, as Wanting that sanction of a Christian church which alone can confer validity. With respect to the second question, it does appear to me ex tremely unadvisable, derogatory to the dignity of the ordinance, and tending both to superstition and to profaneness, that the admis sion, through a divinely-instituted rite, of members into the society, should be In any case Intrusted to persons not expressly chosen and solemnly appointed to any office in that society. Nearly similar reasoning will apply, I think, to the case of ordi nations. What appears to me the wisest course, would be that each church should require a distinct appointment by thai church itself, to any ministerial office to be exercised therein ; whether the person so appointed had been formerly ordained or not to any such otfice In another church. But the form of this appointment need not be such as to cast any stigma on a former ordination, by implying that the person In question had noi been a real and regular minister of another distinct society. For any church has a fair right to demand that (unless reason be shown to the contrary) Its acts should be regarded as valid within the pale of that church Itself; bnt no church can reasonably claira a right to ordain ministers for another church. As for the remaining question. What is the actual determination as to this point ? ihis is of course a distinct question In reference to each church. I See Appendix, Note O. Hooker, in his Sth Book, maintains at great length the validity of baptism by laymen and women. ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 353 On this point it is only necessary to remark how important it i.s, with a view to good order and peace, that some determination should be made, and should be clearly set forth, by any church, as to this aud other like practical questions ; and that they should not be left In such a state of uncertainty as to furnish occasion for disputes and scruples.' Many points of doctrine, indeed, that may fairly be regarded as non-essential, it may be both allowable and wise fbr a church to leave at large, and pronounce no decision on them ; allow ing each minister, if he thinks fit, to put forth his own exposition as the result of his own judgment, and not as a decision of the church. But It is not so in matters even intrinsically indifferent, where church discipline is concerned. A minister ought to be as seldom as possible left in the predicament of not knowing ivliat he ought io do In a case that coraes before him. And though it is too much to expect from a church composed of fallible men that its decisions on every point should be such as to obtain universal approbation as the ¦ very best, It Is but fair to require that It should at least give decisions, according to the best judgment of its legislators, on points which. In each particular case that arises, must be decided In one way or another. That so many points of this character should in our own church be left in a doubtful state, Is one out of the many evils resulting from the want of a legislative governraent for the church ; which for more than a century has had none,^ except the civil legislature ; a body as unwilling, as it Is unfitted, to exercise any such functions. Such certainly was not the state of things designed or contemplated by our reformers ; and I cannot well understand the consistency of those who aro perpetually eulogizing the Reformers, their principles and proceedings, and yet so completely run counter to them In a most fundamental point, as to endeavor to prevent, or not endeavor to promote, that establishment of a church government ; which no one can doubt they at least regarded as a thing essential to the well- being, ''if not to the permanent existence, of a church."* — Kingdom of Christ, App. (O), pp. 340-342. 1 See Appeal on behalf of church government reprinted in Bishop Dickinson's Eemains. 2 See Case of Occasional Days and Prayers, by John Johnson, A. il.. Vicar of Cranbrook, in the Diocese of Canterbury. 3 See speech on presenting a petition from the Diocese of Kildare, with Ap pendix, reprinted in a volume of Charges and other Tracts. 30* 354 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. In reference to this subject, I Insert an extract from a letter from a very intelligent and well-informed pastor in France, relative to the decisions and practices of the Church of Rome. I have only to add the remark, that If It had been definitely pro nounced that baptism by heretics is totally Invalid, the Church of Kome could have claimed no power over them (any more than over Pagans or Mussulmans) as members, though rebellious members, of that church (see Note A of this Appendix) : " Les theologiens du concile de Trente, qui avaient ^tudl^ Aristote que I'e vangile, slgnalerent 7 canaux de la grace divine ; ce sont les plus sacraments. Sur les 7, 6 sont conferes exclusivement par les pretres. Un seul, le bapteme, peut I'etre par un main laique ; mals dans le cas de ndcesslte. Deplus, le bapteme est adminlstre alors avec de I'eau ienite par les prStres. Chez nous la sage femme qui prevoit un accouchement laborieux, est obligee, par son serment, de porter avec elle de I'eau benite. A peine I'enfant est 11 venu au jour qu'elle I'ondoie avec cette eau consacree, et meme si elle pense que I'enfant raourra avant de sortir du sein de la mfere, elle introduit I'eau benite; voila ce qu'une sage femme me racontalt l'autre jour. D'ou je conclus qu'en definitive, tout remonte au pre're Remain. " Quant ^ la validite du bapteme des heretiques, c'est une anomalle curieuse dans I'eglise Komaine. Les theologiens du concile se par- tagerent sur la question de savoir si la grace du bapteme procede ex opere operate ou ex opere operantis. Les cardinaux diplomates du concile, se rappelant qu'un pape avait decide la validite du bapteme celebre par les heretiques, et ne voulant pas convenir qu'un papo s'dtait trompe, laissferent la question Indeclse, et firent decreter que les enfans des hcSretiques ne seralent pas rebaptlses, pourvu que le bapteme fut fait suivant la formule consacree, et les intent'mns de I'Eglise. Alors, se fondant sur cette restriction, nos preti-es Fran cais rebaptlsent tourjours ceux qu'ils convertlssent &. leur rehgion." Note E — Page 331. The solicitude of our reformers on this point is manifested in their requiring sponsors over and above the parents (if any) for an infant brought to baptism ; and that the sponsors should be of mature age, and communicants. (See Canons.) They permitted, indeed, that, In cases of necessity, the rite should be administered ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 355 without sponsors ; but no candid person can doubt that they always contemplated the application for baptism being made by some one who should be understood as engaging for the Christian education of the child. I am aware that it is often difficult, and sometimes impossible, to enforce rigidly the directions of our church respecting sponsors ; but ministers are bound to do their best towards complying with those directions, and In every way to guard against the thoughtless carelessness and the irregularities which are so apt to find their way Into the administration of this holy ordinance. One may too often see evinced, in the way in which, by many, the one sacrament is bhndly shunned, aud the other as bhndly sought, a similar super stition and Ignorance. How much of ignorance and misconception, and of consequent superstition and profaneness, prevails on this subject, you must be but too well aware. One instance would alone suffice to show this, — the shocking profanation so often exhibited, — the " christening," as it Is called, of a newly-built ship ; a ceremony commonly attended and sanctioned by (so caUed) educated persons ; who would not, it must be hoped, but through gross ignorance and thoughtlessness, take a part in a .solemn mockery of one of Christ's sacraments. In reference to another point connected with the same subject, I subjoin an extract from an address to the clergy of the diocese, written In 1846 : " Some cases of Irregularity having come under my notice, origi nating, I have no doubt. In Inadvertence, It seems to me not Improb able that other Instances also, of a like Inadvertence, may have occurred, that have not come to my knowledge. " I have accordingly judged it best not to delay noticing this mat ter till the visitation, but to bring it before you ai once, and in a general way ; as I would always rather prevent than censure any irregularity. " I find that in some instances a practice has grown up of baptiz ing in private houses, administering the rite according io the order for public baptism- ; and accordingly many of the Infants thus bap tized are, I apprehend, uever publicly presented at all to be received Into the congregation In the parish church. And this has been done, I have reasou to fear, even In some cases In which the Kubrio does not contemplate any private baptism at all ; merely In compli ance with the fancy of the parents to convert into a mere domestie 356 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. ceremony what ought to be treated as a church sacrament. If such a misapprehension be blaraable in any lay-member of the church, the encouragement of It must be much more censurable In a minis ter, whose business is to Instruct those committed to his charge, and to correct any errors they may fall into. " If you will put befbre your people the directions contained In the Prayer Book, they will readily understand that you are bound never to administer baptism at all in a private house, except In a bona fide and duly certified case of pressing danger; and that when such a case does occur, you are bound to proceed according to the directions so precisely and plainly given in the Rubric. " Olher disadvantages likely to result from irregularity In this matter, such as the danger of a total omission of registration, I do not advert to at present, because It is sufficient to have pointed out what is. Independently of all such considerations, the clear duty of a minister of our church." Note F — Page 332. " I would wish," remarks Bp. Ryder, " generally to restrict the term [regeneration] to the baptismal privileges ; and considering them as comprehending not only an external admission Into the visible church, not only a covenanted title to the pardon and grace of the gospel, but even a degree of spiritual aid vouchsafed, and ready to offer Itself to our acceptance or rejection at the dawn of reason. I would recommend a reference to these privileges In our discourses, as talents which the hearer should have so improved as to bear interest ; as seed which should have sprung up and produced fruit. " But at the same time I would solemnly protest against that most serious error (which has arisen probably from exalting too highly the just view of baptismal regeneration) of contemplating all the merabers of a baptized congregation as converted, — as having, aU, once known the truth, and entered upon the right path, though some may have wandered from it, and others may have made little progress, — as not therefore requiring (what all by nature, and most It is to be feared through defective principle and practice require) that ' transformation by the renewing of the mind ; ' that ' putting ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 357 off the old man and putting on the new man,' which is so emphat ically enjoined by St. Paul to his baptized Romans and Ephesians." — Extract from Bishop Ryder's (of Lichfield) Primo.ry Charge to his Clergy. " In the baptismal servioe," says the late Mr. Simeon, " we thank God for having regenerated the baptized infant by his Holy Spirit. Now from hence it appears that, in the opinion of our reformers, re generation and remission of sins did accompany baptism. But In what sense did they hold this sentiment ? Did they maintain that there was no need for the seed then sown In the heart of the bap tized person to grow up and to bring forth fruit ? or that he could be saved In any other way than by a progressive renovation of his soul after the divine Image ? Had they asserted any such doctrine as that, it would have been Irapossible for any enlightened person to concur with thera. But nothing can be conceived more repugnant to their sentiraents than such an Idea as this. So far from harboring such a thought, they have, and that too in this very prayer, taught us to look tq God for that total change both of heart and hfe which, long since their days, has begun to be expressed by the term regeneration. After thanking God for regenerating the infant by his Holy Spirit,-we ave taught to pray ' that he being dead unto sin, and living unto righteous ness, may crucify the old man, and utterly abolish the whole body of sin ; ' and then declaring the total change to be the necessary mean of his obtaining salvation, we add, ' so that finaUy, with the residue of thy holy church, he may he an Inheritor of thine everlasting kingdom.' Is there, I would ask, any person that can require more than this ? or does God In his word require more ? There are two things to be noticed in reference to this subject, — the term ' re generation ' and the thing. The term occurs but twice in the Scrip tures, — In one place it refers to baptism, and is distinguished from „ the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which, however, is represented as at tendant on it ; and in the other place It has a totally distinct meaning, unconnected with the subject. Now the term they use as the Scrip ture uses It, and the thing they require as strongly as any person can require it. They do not give us any reason to imagine that an adult person can be saved without experiencing all that modern divines (Ultra Protestant divines) have included In the terra ' regeneration : ' on the contrary, they do both there and In the liturgy insist upon a radical change of both heart and life. Here, then, the only question is, not ' whether a baptized person can be saved by that ordinance 358 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. without sanctification,' but whether God does always accompany the sign with the thing signified. Here is certainly room for difference of opinion, but it cannot be positively decided in ihe negative, because we cannot know, or even judge, respecting It In any case whatever, except by the fruits that follow ; and, therefore, In all fairness, it may be considered only as a doubtful point ; and If he appeal, as he ought to do, to the Holy Scriptures, they certainly do in a very re markable way accord with ihe expressions vn our liturgy. St. Paul says, ' By one Spirit we are all baptized Into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we bond or free, and have been aU made to drink into one Spirit.' And this he says of all the visible members of Christ's body (I Cor. xli. 13, 27). Again, speaking of the whole nation of Israel, Infants as well as adults, he says, ' They were all baptized under Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink ; for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed thera, and that rock was Christ' (1 Cor. x. I, 4). Yet, behold, in the very next verse he tells us that, ' with many of them God was displeased, and overthrew them In the wilderness.' In another place he speaks yet more strongly still : ' As many of you,' says he, ' as are baptized Into Christ have put on Christ' Here we see what is meant by the expression, ' baptized into Christ ; ' it is precisely the same expression as that before mentioned of the Israelites being ' baptized unto Moses ; ' the preposition, els, is used iu both places ; it includes all that had been initiated Into his religion by the rite of baptism ; and of them, universally, does the apostle say, ' They have put on Christ.' Now, I ask, have not the persons who scruple the use of that prayer in the baptismal service equal reason to scruple the use of these different expressions ? " Again, St. Peter says, ' Repent and be baptized every one of you for the remission of sins' (Acts 11.38, 39). And In another place, ' Baptism doth now save us ' (I Pet. iii. 21). And speaking else where of baptized persons who were unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, he says, ' He hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins ' (2 Pet. 1. 9). Does not this very strongly counte nance ihe IDEA WHICH OUB REFORMERS ENTERTAINED, THAT THE REMISSION OF OUK SINS, AND THB REGENERATION OF OUR SOULS, IS ATTENDANT ON THE BAPTISMAL RITE ? Perhaps It wUl be said that the inspired writers spake of persons who had been bap tized at an adult age. But if they did so In some places, they cer- ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 359 tainly did not In others; and where they did not, they must be understood as comprehending all, whether Infants or adults; and therefore the language of our liturgy, which is not a whit stronger than theirs, may be both subscribed and used without any just occa sion of offence. " Let me then speak the truth before God : though I am no Ar- V, mlnian, / do think the refinements of Calvin have done great harm in s the church; they have driven multitudes from the plain and popular way of speaking used by the inspired writers, and have made them unreasonably and unscrlpturally squeamish In their raodes of ex pression ; and I conceive that the less addicted any person is to 1 systematic accuracy, the more he wfil accord with the inspired writers, and the raore he will approve the views of our reformers. I do not mean, however, to say that a slight alteration in two or three instances would not be an improvement, since it would take off a burthen from many rainds, and supersede the necessity of labored explanations ; but I do mean to say that there is no such objection to these expressions as to deter any conscientious person from giving his unfeigned assent and consent to the hturgy altogether, or from using the particular expressions which we have been endeavoring to explain." — Simeon's Works, vol. ii. p. 259. " In the case of infant-baptism," says Archbishop Sumner, " there are evidently no simUar means of ascertaining the actual disposition. The benefit received Is strictly gratuitous, or ' of free grace.' It is promised, however, to faith and obedience, presupposed in the re cipient and pledged In his name by the sponsors : whence It follows . that the blessing attached to the sacrament must fail. If the condi tions fail In those who are capable of performing thera ; and that the faith and obedience must become actual and personal in those who arrive at mature age. It has not altered the nature of Chris tianity, that its external privileges are become national. Whoever, therefore, professes the hope of the gospel, must Individually em brace the doctrine of the gospel, must consent as sincerely as the earliest converts, to refer whatever he does in word or deed to the glory of God, — with the primitive humihty of the apostles must re. nounce all confidence in his own strength, and must look for salva- vation through Christ's death, with as much personal gratitude as If Christ had suffered for him alone. Though in many cases it raay be impossible, as was formerly acknowledged, for those who have been placed in covenant with God by baptism, to state at what time and 360 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. by what process the truths of the gospel became an active principle In the mind, still it is undeniable that in all who attain the age of reason they must become so, or the covenant is made void ; and it is a definite and intelligible question whether they have actually taken this hold, or no. How the tree was nourished and invigorated, and enabled to sustain the inclement seasons whioh opposed its early growth and strength, we may In vain inquire ; but whether It bears fruit or not, and whether that fruit gives evidence of a sound stock, any one may examine either as to himself or others. Is the heart possessed of a sincere conviction of its own sinfulness and need of a Saviour ? Does it manifest its dependence on the Holy Spirit by au habitual Intercourse with God through prayer ? Does it feel a practi cal sense of the great business of this life as a probation, and prep aration for eternity ? These are Infallible characters of faith ; and though they will be found In different degrees in different individ uals, no one should be satisfied with himself, and no one should suffer his congregation to be satisfied, tiU he can trace these characters In the heart. " But If such a frame of mind is indispensable to a Christian's reasonable hope, it is evident that a preacher can in no wise take it for granted that It exists In his hearers as the necessary and certain consequence of baptism ; but must require of aU who have fhe privilege of baptism, that they strive to attain it ; that, being regen erate In condition, they be also renewed in nature ; and constantly examine themselves whether they have this proof within them, that they are bom of the Spirit as weU as of water, and can make the ' answer of a good conscience towards God.' " — Sumner's Apostolical Preaching, ch. vll. It is not, however, by those only who approve of the doctrine whioh I have attributed to our reformers, that this interpretation of their words Is adopted. Several persons also who disapprove it, both Dissenters and (what Is very remarkable) Churchmen, concur in adopting an Interpretation substantially the same. As for the former of these, the Dissenters, their testimony will, I suppose, be considered as of the less weight In proportion as they may be suspected of being unconsciously biassed by a wish to alienate others frora a church to which they do not themselves be long. But the reverse is the case with those who are members, and even ministers, of our church ; aince their bias, if any, must be on the opposite side. ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 361 Now there Is a case recorded of a beneficed clergyman who, not many years ago, felt it his duty to print and circulate among his parishioners tracts censuring the formularies of the church on the very ground of their inculcating the doctrines in question. For this procedure he was tried In an ecclesiastical court, and sentenced to suspension. Some of his parishioners endeavored thereupon to raise a sub scription for him ; and with that view put forth a printed circular (of which a copy was sent to me), representing him as a martyr suffering persecution for conscience sake. And there might have been some ground for this representation, if he had voluntarily resigned the endowments of a church which he regarded as funda mentally unsound. Instead of retaining them as long as he was per mitted to do so. The system of morality — whatever It was — by which he recon ciled this to his conscience, seems to have been adopted by a portion at least of his flock. But at any rate, he could have had no conceivable bias towards an Interpretation of the formularies of his church which would make them at variance with his own teaching. Note G — Page 338. All persons ought to receive the holy communion of the Lord's Supper on the very first opportunity after being confirmed. Our church directs that ' no one shall be adraitted to the communion ex cept one who has been confirmed, or is ready and is desirous to be confirmed ; ' and again, that ' all persons ' (that is, of course all who are not too young or too Ignorant for confirmation) ' shall re ceive the communion at least three times a year.' From this It Is plain that though such as have not been confirmed may, if they are prepared and willing to be so, attend without any scruple the sac rament of the Lord's Supper ; on the other hand, no one, who has been confirmed, ought to delay receiving that sacrament. The catechism also, designed for the instruction of children before con firmation, proves the same thing ; since It contains an explanation of the two sacraments. " Some persons entertain a groundless notion, that a child, who is fit for confirmation, may yet be too young to receive the commu- 31 362 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. nion ; and many, It Is to be feared, for this and for other reasons, go on from Sunday to Sunday, and from year to year, putting off this duty. In expectation of becoming more fit for it ; when It is likely that they are becoming every day less fit, and are falling into a careless and irrehgious state of mind. " But if you will consider the matter carefully, you wiU see that our church Is quite right in determining that all who have been confirmed should receive the Lord's Supper without delay. For all of them. It Is to be hoped, understand and rightly reflect on the one sacrament, — that of baptism ; If they do not, the ceremony of confirraation Is a mere empty mockery ; and If they do, they are capable of sufficiently understanding and valuing the other sacra ment also, and in that case they ought not to delay receiving It. " Accordingly provision has been made to prevent any such delay, by celebrating the Lord's Supper In each church immediately after the confirmation ; and all the young persons who shaU have been confirmed will be expected to attend. " ' To-day, therefore, if ye will hear God's voice, whUe It is called to-day, lest any of you be hardened through the deceltfulness of sin,' accept his gracious offer ; and continue from this time forth to be a regular attendant at his holy table." CONFIEMATION HTJIIN. " Lord, shall thy children come to thee? A hoon of love divine we seek ; Brought to thine arms in infancy, Ere heart could feel or tongue could speak, Thy children pray for grace that they May come themselves to thee this day. *' Lord, shall we come? and come again Oft as we see yon table spread. And — tokens of thy dying pain — The wine poured out, the broken bread? Bless, bless, O Lord, thy cliildren's prayer, That they may come and flnd Thee there ! " Lord, shall we come, not thus alone, At holy time, or solemn rite. But every hour till life be flown. In weal or woe, in gloom or light; Come to thy throne of grace, that we In faith, hope, love, confirmed may be? ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 363 " Lord, shall we come — come yet again, — Thy children ask one blessing more, — To come not now alone, but then. When life, and death, and time are o'er; Then, then to come, O Lord, and be Confirmed in heaven, confirmed by thee? " Note H — Page 338. As for the particular contest I have now been alluding to, I shall abstain fi-om entering on any discussion of the merits of the decisions which have been pronounced, further than to remark upon one mis conception of them which I have observed to be not a little preva lent. The recent sentence, whioh has attracted so much public at tention, was not, as several persons seem to have apprehended, a ' decision as to the soundness or unsoundness of such and such views of a Scripture doctrine, but on a very different question. That question was, whether the maintainers of a certain tenet are, as such, excluded from holding office in our church, — whether our formula ries are so distinct and decisive on the point as In fact to excommu nicate all who hold that tenet. And the decision actually given — be it a right or^n wrong one — is one which might conceivably have been given (without any just Imputation of inconsistency) by judges who did not themselves entertain such views. Thus much, at least, is what no one, I conceive, will, on reflection, at all doubt, — that If the opinions of the contending parties had been reversed, and a candidate for institution had been rejected on the ground of his not holding the doctrines which were recently objected to as heterdox, the decision would have been, at least as promptly as in the present case, given iu his favor. For It ought to be re membered, that in the case of any penal enactment, the established rule is, to Incline always (where any doubt exists) towards the most lenient Interpretation. And exclusion from a benefice is evidently of the character of a penalty. As for the degree of latitude that Is to be allowed In the interpre tation of the articles and formularies of a church, It would be manifestly impossible to lay down any general rule that would be a sufficient guide In all particular cases. But every one must admit, I conceive, that there Is a, just medium which should be aimed at, however men may differ In fixing that medium in each individual 364 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. Instance, between excessive strictness and excessive laxity. For, on the one hand, If each of us should insist on excluding from church- membership all who did not fully coincide with himself in the pre cise interpretation of every passage in our formularies, and in every inference whioh appeared to him fairly deducible from such inter pretation, It oan hardly be doubted that the result would be a virtual division of the church into several cHfferent churches, mutually ex- comraunlcating each other. And yet It is no less evident, on the other hand, that If, through dread of such a result, we should adopt the principle that every one is to be at liberty to assign to our form ularies whatever meaning he may think fit, interpreting them In any " non-natural " sense that may suit his own views, no form of religion, or of irreligion — atheism not excepted — would be ex cluded.' Our church would be one In nothing but In name ; and language would have completely failed of the very object for which language exists, — to convey an intelligible sense. Recently, however, we have witnessed the strange spectacle of professed merabers and beneficed ministers of our church openly maintaining transubstantiation and the sacrifice of the mass ; or, at least, what comes so near to these doctrines, that, of plain men un versed In scholastic subtilities, not one in a hundred could perceive the difference. And others again, while professing to disapprove of such teaching, yet regard it as not going beyond the allowable lati tude conceded to members of our church ; though the doctrines are what our reformers rlbked, and some of them sacrificed, their lives in opposing ; and which they sedulously guarded against not only in the articles, but also in the Rubric, In which they declare that " our Lord's body Is In heaven, and not here." Strange, again, It Is, and lamentable, that persons should be found, even among the mem bers of our own church, who, while vehemently opposing the doctrines In question, labor to fix on our church the Imputation of favoring those views, on the ground of our reformers having used language borrowed from that of our Lord himself: "My flesh Is meat indeed," etc. If, in the expressions of our reformers, the word " Indeed " Is to be understood to signify " hterally and corporeally," the same word in our Lord's expression must be understood so too ; and thus these opponents of transubstantiation labor to array against them- t As this raay perhaps appear to some of my readers an exaggerated statement, I have subjoined in Note K some remarks in confirmation of it, extracted from works pubUshed several years ago. ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 365 selves both the language of our formularies and that of Scripture itself. The medium between the opposite extremes we must expect to find, In practice, placed somewhat differently by different persons. But thus much, at least, may In fairness be required of all, — that whatever degree of strictness, or of laxity of interpretation, each per son may deem right, he should allow as right for all men alike ; and that he should not have one rule for himself and those who a^ree with him, and another rule for such as may think differently. Self-evident as Is the justice of this maxim, no one will think the mention of It superfluous who considers how widely it has been de parted from by many persons of opposite parties. One may hear the most vehement and indignant censures pronounced, and that from both sides, on such as put a forced and unnatural Interpretation on the language of such and such portions of our formularies, while the complainants themselves are no less boldly explaining away the language of certain other portions into a conformity with their own views.' Whatever aUowance may he made for sincere errors of judgment, one cannot but regard those as self-condemned who adopt without scruple, in their own favor, a mode of procedure which, In their op ponents, they loudly condemn as disingenuous. Note I— Page 339. I have seen reproaches full of scornful exultation cast on Protes tants for having recourse, when treating of the subject of church government, to reasonings drawn from general views of huraan na ture, and to Illustrations from secular affairs, and for calculating what are likely to be the decisions of a synod, so and so constituted; ^ One among many instances that might be given of this kind of unfairness, is, the conduct of some persons who, at public meetings, and in various other ways, have been protesting against the disingenuousness of those who depart from the plain sense of our formularies, though they not only never expressed any disapprobation of the celebrated Tract 90, and other such publications, but even (some of them) protested publicly against the condemnation of these by the University of Oxford ! I have subjoined in Note L a few extracts from that Tract, as it may perhaps not be in the hands of some of my readers. 31* 366 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. without adverting to the promises of divine presence and protection to the church, and without expressing confidence of providential In terpositions to secure it from discord, error, and other evils. This kind of language has, at the first glance, a plausible air ; and Is well calculated — one cannot but think, designed — to impose on pious and well-intentioned, but ignorant, weak, and unreflecting minds araong the multitude. But a sober examination wIU show it to be either wholly Irrelevant to the matter In hand, or else a mere groundless pretence. It Is Indeed true that the Lord has proraised to be with his people " even unto the end of the world," and that the " gates of heU," that Is, death, " shall not prevail against his church ; " that is, that Chris tianity shall never become extinct. And his " Spirit which helpeth our infirmities " will doubtless be granted to such as sincerely exert themselves In his cause ; though not necessarily so as to crown those exertions with such complete success, as, we know, was not granted to the apostles themselves. Our efforts, however, in that cause, whether He in His unsearchable wisdom shaU see fit to make them a greater or a less benefit to others, wiU doubtless, as far as regards ourselves^ be accepted by Hira. And a pious confidence In whatever God has really promised, Prostestants do not fall to inculcate ou suitable occasions. But when the question is as to the probable results of such and such a procedure in a synod, and as to the measures Ukely to be adopted by a government so and so constituted. It would manifestly be Irrelevant to dwell on those general promises of the divine bless ing. If there were a question what means should be used to protect a, certain, district from hurtful Inundations, no one would think of cutting short the discussion by a reference to the promise made to Noah, that the whole earth should never again be laid waste by a deluge. It is evident, therefore, that the reproaches I have aUuded to raust be understood as having reference to (that which alone Is pertinent to the question) confidence in a promise of supernatural interference to secure the church forever fi-om strife, schism, and corruption. And certainly If we had received any such promise, all apprehen sions, all calculations of probabihtes, all reasonings from the anal ogy of other human transactions, would be superseded ; and we should have only to " stand stiU and see the salvation of God." But every one, except the grossly ignorant and unthinking, must ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 367 be wcU aware that no such promise has ever heen fulfilled, and con sequently (if the Scriptures are to be taken as a record of divine truth) that none such was ever made. We find the Apostle Paul declaring that " there must needs be heresies, that they who are approved may be made manifest ; " we find hira laboring to repress the irregularities and party-spirit whioh even In his own tirae had crept into the church of Corinth ; and warning the elders of Ephesus and MUetus to " take heed, because after his departure grievous wolves would enter into the fold." Corruptions in doctrine, disorders, dissension, and insubordination, are evils of which he is continually giving notice to his people as what they must be prepared to encounter. And when we look to the ecclesiastical history of subsequent ages — exhibiting the sad spectacle of contests almost equally dividing the church between the Arians, for instance, and the Athanasians, on points of doctrine, and between the donatlsts and their oppon ents, on a question of ecclesiastical polity, — besides the mutual anathemas of the Eastern and Western churches, and besides all the cabals and Intrigues, and secular motives, and evU passions which have notoriously found their way into councils, and conclaves, and ecclesiastical courts, — when we contemplate all this, we see but too well what reason the apostle had for his warnings. But there is no need in the present case to resort to ancient his tory. The very existence of Protestants (to say nothing of the Greek Church) Is sufficient to nullify. In respect of the Church of Rome, at least, the notion of an exemption from error and from schism being promised to that as to the universal or Catholic Church. 1 For, the Church of Rome claims all professing Christians as properly belonging to it : considering Protestants as children, though disobe dient chUdren ; subjects, though revolted subjects. The very rise, therefore, and continued existence, of Protestantism, proves the non-existence In the Cathohc Church (If the Church of Bome be supposed such) of any Immunity from heresy and schism. And if it be attempted to avoid this conclusion by allowing that Protestants and members of the Greek Church are not to be regarded as in any way belonging to the Church of Eome, then the pretensions of that church to be the Catholic, that is. Universal Church, must be given Whatever plausibility, therefore, there may appear at first sight in the pretensions, separately taken, of that church, on the one hand 368 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. to perfect purity of doctrine aud unity, and on the other hand to universality, it Is evident that both conjointly cannot be maintained with even any show of reason. Either the one or the other must be abandoned. Like the pictures of a Thaumatrope, the two will be found, on careful and steady observation, to be painted on oppo site sides ; and It is only by a confused whirl that they can be made to appear in conjunction. If Protestants, and members of the Greek, the Armenian, and other churches do not belong to the Romish Church, It cannot be universal; if (whioh Is what its advocates ac tually maintain) all Christians do belong to it, then It manifestly is not exempt from divisions and contrariety of doctrine. It is in vain (as far as the present question is concerned) to urge that the doctrine and procedure of Protestants, etc., are condemned by the authorities of the Church of Rome, and by all Its sound members. For, an exemption from a certain evil must consist, not in Its being censured when it arises, but In Its noi arising at all. Indeed, It would be very easy, and also quite nugatory, for any church whatever to set up the boast that its doctrines are received by all — except those who dissent from them, and that all subnfit to Its authority — except those who refuse submission. So, also, the most insignificant state existing might pretend to universal empire. It is said that It is, or was, the custom for the Kliam of Tartary, every day, as soon as he has dined, to send out a herald to his tent-door to make proclamation, in a loud voice, that all the kings of the earth are now at liberty to go to dinner. This may be considered as putting forth a claim to universal supremacy, but It would hardly be regarded as establishing the claim. And as for exemption from error and dissension, let any one but consider what would be thought if an Englishman were to boast to a Hindoo or a Chinese that London enjoys the happiness of beino' exempt frora all crimes and also from conflagrations ; and should afterwards explain his meaning to be, that all crimes are forbidden by law ; the perpetrator being liable, when detected and apprehended, to be punished as the law directs ; and that though fires do break out, from time to time, there are fire-engines ready to be called out on such occasions. Every one would at once perceive that all this does not araount to what can be properly termed an exemption. The extraordinary Providence, therefore, which Is boasted of as se curing the true church from division and from error, and which Pro testants are reproached with not trusting to or claiming, has evidently ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 369 no existence iu the very church to whioh those who utter the reproach belong. And one can hardly doubt that they must theraselves be aware of this ; and that when they speak. In a tone of exulting confidence, of the miraculous exemption of their church from the Inroads of false doctrine and dissension, they are only seeking to quiet the minds of the unthinking vulgar with a delusive consolation. How far this kind of language may work an opposite effect on the minds of the more educated classes — how far the great prevar lence of infidelity araong those classes on the continent may be accounted for by their continuaUy hearing, from those who, they wUl conclude, ought to know what their own Scriptures say, of promises having been made to the church which. It Is evident, as a matter of experience, have not been fulfilled — Is an inquiry Into whioh I will not now enter. My own conviction Is, that every kind of pious fraud is as much at variance, ultimately, with sound poficy, as it Is with Christian principle. I am weU aware that when the two claims — that to universality, and that to exemption from dissension and frora error — are brought forward in conjunction, and it Is undertaken to reconcile them with each other, it is usual to explain one or both of them In a sense different from the obvious and natural meaning of the words, so aa to render the two claims compatible. Then it Is that we are told that " Catholic " or " Universal " means only the religion of a con siderable majority of professing Christians, or the religion the most widely diffused throughout Christendom : or we are told that the Universal Church means merely that which aU professed Christians ought to belong to ; aud that adults of sound mind who have received Christian baptism, and deliberately profess Christianity, are not, necessarily, members of the Universal Church, or Christians at all. And we are also told that exemption from dissension and from error belongs to those only who submit in aU points to the decisions of the rulers of the CathoUc Church. And, doubtless, if all man kind, or any number of men, would but come to a perfect agreement in any one religion, — be it true or false, — they could not but be exempt from religious dissension, and. If not from error, at least from anything that they themselves would account an error. But surely this is to " keep the word of promise to the ear, and break it to the hope.'' It Is not In any such sense that the preten sions I have been speaking of are usually put forth, and naturaUy understood, when taken separately. And It is not under any such 370 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. explanations as the above, that those pretensions are found so allur ing and so satisfactory as, to a great number of persons, they are ; but In the natural and ordinary sense of the words. The expression " Catholic" or " Universal " Church is naturally understood to de note that which comprehends aU Christians. And by the word Christians is understood those who acknowledge and professedly embrace the religion founded by Jesus Christ. And those who des ignate any of these as heretics are so far from denying them the title of Christians (though unsound and perverted Christians), that they Imply it ; since Pagans or avowed atheists are never reckoned her etics. I am not, be it observed, defending this use of the word " Chris tian " as the most advisable to be adopted, if we were framing a new language. It might, we will suppose, have been advisable so to de fine the term that no two Christian sects or churches should apply It to the same persons. I am simply stating a fad as to the actual sense conveyed by the word in our existing language. And that such is the sense conveyed by it. Is as much a fact as that we actually call the ninth month ofthe year September, and the tenth October; though if we were remodelling our language, the Impropriety of such names would be obvious. And again, exemption from dissension and from error naturally conveys the Idea, not of these evils being condemned by certain authorities when they arise, but of their never arising at aU. And It Is in these obvious and natural senses of the words that the above pretensions are, in general, — when taken separately, — put forth with boastful confidence, and prove so attractive and so consolatory to the minds of many as to be at once admitted without any close scrutiny as to how far they are well founded. But when the two claims are brought into juxtaposition, and it Is inquired how far they are compatible, then they are explained away in the manner above alluded to. The promise Is made In one sense, and kept m the other. If King George III. and his predecessors had boasted that the English language was In use In all their Euro pean dominions, and also that they were Kings of France, every one would have seen, that, whatever might be said for each of these claims separately, they were incompatible with each other. Waiving, however, all reference to those who reject the supremacy of Kome, the differences that have occurred — and that have been ON INFANT BAPTISM. 371 permitted — among those who do acknowledge it, are such that one cannot but wonder at the boldness with which the claim is put forward of a miraculous exemption from everything of the kind. The long and violent disputes indeed between Franciscans and Dominicans about the doctrine of the " immaculate conception," or those between the Jesuits and the Jansenists as to sundry important points of faith, — these the unlearned multitude. In many countries, may have never heard of. But they must surely have heard of books deliberately sanctioned and recommended for the use of schools by prelates of the highest rank, and moreftver approved by the pope himself, being denounced by other prelates of the same church, as not only dangerous, but fu'l of unsound doctrine. In the face of all this, to boast of unbroken peace and concord is surely a large demand on popular credulity. Note K— Page 364. " This disingenuous system is a tree which has, of late, borne fruits that have startled many, even of those who could not see, when first pointed out to thera, the natural tendency of the system. The fundamental doctrines of our reformers have been explained away by interpreting their words In a non-natural sense, so as ' aUow members of our church to hold tenets the most opposite. Now how can any one be sure that the appUcation of the principle is arbitrarUy stopped short at this point ? Let any one examine and compare together these non-natural interpretations and the language, in reference to Christianity, of the foreign Transcendentalists who profess to believe that Christianity came from God, in the same sense In which everything comes from God ; who teach the inoarua- tion — explaining to the initiated that this means the presence of the Deity, that Is, of the ' spiritual principle ' whioh pervades the universe — the God of Pantheism — In man, generally, as well as in all other animals ; and who profess a belief In man's iraraortallty, that is, that the human species wiU never become extinct, etc. — let any one, I say, corapare together these two systeras (if Indeed they are to be reckoned as two), and say whether there Is ant greater violence done to the ordinary sense of words by the one than bt the other, — whether he who professes himself a church man according to the one system, may not, with perfect consistency, 372 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. profess himself a Christian according to the other. Even supposing, therefore, that all the disciples of the school In question do Inwardly believe In the truth of Christianity, they cannot give any sufficient assurance that they do so."^ — Inirod. to Essays on Peculiarities, Sth ed. pp. 8, 9. " It might be added that, among those who express the greatest dread and detestation of ' German Neology,' — ' German Philosophy,' — ' the daring speculations of the Germans,' etc., are to be found some of that class of Anglican divines whose doctrines apparently correspond the most closely (as far as we can judge respecting two confessedly mystic schools) with those of that very Neology. The very circumstance itself that both are schools of mysticism, — that both parties have one system for the mass of mankind, and another — whether expressed In different language, or In the same words understood in a totally different sense — for the initiated, affords a presumption, when there are some points of coincidence In the doc trine divulged, that a stiU further agreement may be expected In the reserved doctrines. " As the advocates of reserve among ns speak of not intending to Inculcate generally such conclusions as a logical reasoner vrill cor rectly deduce by following out their principles, and, again, speak of an ordinary reader being likely to ' miss their real meamng by not being aware of the peculiar sense in which they employ terms,' so those German Transoendentahsts whom I aUude to — whose system of theology, or rather of atheology, is little else than a new edi tion of the Pantheism of the ancient heathen phUosophers, of the Brahmins, and the Buddhists — use a similar double-meaning lan guage. They profess Christianity, and employ profusely such terms as a ' God,' ' faith,' ' incarnation,' ' miracle,' ' Immortality,' etc., attaching to these words a meaning quite remote from what Is com monly understood by them. Their ' God ' Is the God of Pantheism ; not a personal agent, but a certain rital principle diffused through the material universe, and of which every human soul Is a portion ; which Is at death to be reabsorbed Into the infinite Spirit, and be come just what It was before birth,' exactly according to the ancient system of philosophy described by Virgil : ' Blens agltat molem et toto se corpore miscet ; Inde hominum pecudumque genus,' etc. And the other terms alluded to are understood by them in a sense no less wide from the popular acceptation. 1 See Essay I., First Series. ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 373 " Both parties, again, agree in deprecating aU employment of reasoning In matters pertaining to religion ; both decry the historical evidence of Christianity, and discourage as profane aU appeal to evidence ; and both disparage miracles considered as a proof of the divine origin of Christianity ; alleging that every event that occurs is equally a miracle ; meaning, therefore, exactly what in ordinary language would be expressed by saying that nothing is miraculous. " Other coincidences may be observed ; such as the strong desire manifested by both parties to explain away or soften down the line of demarcation between what ordinary Christians call the Scriptures, and everything subsequent, — between what we call the Christian revelation, considered as an historical transaction recorded In the New Testament, and any pretended after-revelation, or Improver ment, or completion, or perfect development, of ' the system of true religion.' To Christianity as a revelation completed In our sacred books, both parties, more or less openly, according to circurastances, confess their objection. "And It is reraarkable that even the vehement censures pro nounced by one of these schools on the speculations of the other, is far from being Inconsistent with their fundamental agreement in principles. For, of the German Neologists themselves, some of the leading writers strongly condemn the rashness with which some conclusions have been openly stated by others of the same school, and confessedly proceeding on principles fundamentally the same.' " If any one, therefore, who belongs to a school of mystical reserve, should be suspected, in consequence of a remarkable agreement be tween some of his acknowledged tenets and the German Neology, of a further degree of secret concurrence, beyond, perhaps, what he is really conscious of, he must not wonder at, or complain of, such suspicion ; nor expect at once to repel it bj' the strongest censure of those writers, and professed renunciation of their doctrines; unless he can also make up his mind to renounce hkewise the system of a ' double doctrine ' altogether, resolving and proclaiming his res olution to speak henceforth ' the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,' respecting his rehgious tenets, and forswearing totaUy the practice of employing language ' In a pecuUar sense,' different from what is ordinarily understood by it." — Kin. Ch., Ap., Note P. Note L — Page 365. " It may be objected that the tenor of the above explanations Is 1 See D.-. West's Discourse on Eeserve. 32 374 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. anti-Protestant, whereas it Is notorious that the articles were drawn up by Protestants, and intended for the establishment of Protes tantism ; accordingly, that It is an evasion of their meaning to give them any other than a Protestant drift, possible as It may be to do so grammatically, aud in each separate part " But, I. It is a duty we owe to the Catholic Church and to our own, to take our reformed confessions in the most catholic sense they will admit " V. The articles are evidently framed on the principle of leav ing open large questions, on which the controversy hinges. They state broadly extreme truths, and are silent about their adjustment. For Instance, they say that all necessary faith must be proved from Scripture ; but do not say who Is to prove it " They say that councils called by princes may err : they do not determine whether councils called In the name of Christ will err " VI Since both homilies and articles appeal to the Fathers and catholic antiquity, let it be considered whether. In Interpreting them by these, we are not going to the very authority to whioh they profess to submit themselves," etc. — Feast of St. John, Evang., 4th ed., 1841. J. H. N. In accordance with the principles here laid down the tract Itself Is composed throughout. See, especially, § 1. On Holy Scripture and the Authority of the Church. § 2. On Justification by Faith. § 3. Works before and after Justification. § 4. The Visible Church. § 5. General Councils. § 6. Purgatory, etc. § 7. Sacraments. § 8. Transubstantiation. § 9. Masses. On all these points, and throughout the tract, doctrines are main tained totally opposite to the plain sense of the articles, and to the known design of their framers. And the whole object of the tract Is, evidently, to show that a person may with a safe conscience hold the doctrines of one church and the endowments of another quite opposed to it. The author of the tract, however, did at length, some years after, as Is well known, openly join the Church of Rome ; having, some years previously, acknowledged that the censures he had been pub licly passing on that church were, at the time, not at all In accord ance with his real sentiments ! Yet the public protest against the condemnation passed at Oxford on this and similar publioatious has never been retracted ! And here a question suggests Itself which aU must allow to be ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 375 quite pertinent to the raatter In hand. Suppose an applicant for institution io a benefice, who should hold either such doctrmes as the foregoing, or the extreme contrary ones, or any others whatever, to adopt that system of interpretation just alluded to, might he not thus avoid all the difficulties and contests which might otherwise be appre hended ? He would only have to give to all Inquiries such answers as might be most satisfactory to the Diocesan ; and when in posses sion of his living, might preach the direct contrary of what he had before said ; alleging that he had been " using words in a peculiar sense." Those who would regard such a procedure, or anything even re motely approaching to It, as unpardonable In one whose doctrinal views they disapprove, but allowable In the cause of what they consider as orthodoxy, — these, if their sincerity Is doubted when they profess to abhor disingenuousness, cannot surely complain of uncharitable treatment. Then, again, several writers on the opposite side pursue a similar plan. One of these describes himself as having " nailed his colors to the mast of the evangelical party." Of course his real meaning is the converse. He doubtless means that it is not his colors, but the colors of the evangeUcal party that he has nailed, not to their mast, but to his. The metaphor is a coraraon one, and quite intelfigible. In a sea-fight, a commander who nails the flag of his country to the mast of his ship, is understood to have resolved that he wlU never surrender to any force that can be brought against hira, but will suffer his vessel to be sunk rather than yield. And in a controversy, accordingly, — the weapons employed being not bul lets, but arguments, — to announce a corresponding determination Is to proclaim a resolution not to yield to any arguments, but to maintain the opinion once forraed, whatever reasons, strong or weak, may be adduced against It. Accordingly, this writer, having set forth certain views which he regards as unauthorized by Scripture, proceeds to remark, that, this being so, " We necessarily conclude A priori, that they form no part of the creed of the Church of England." " Against this, however," he goes on to say, " it wiU be objected that the formularies ofthe church do nevertheless contain some expressions which seem to countenance those doctrines, and, therefore, that either the doc trine so favored Is scriptural, or that the formulary which imphes It is not scriptural. The question then is, upon the assumption that the 376 WILVTELY'S ESSAYS. said doctrine Is not scriptural, whether our church be inconsistent with its own rule of faith ? To which the answer is here given in tho negative. And the reasou is this, — ' that rule of faith which ex cludes from our creed aU that is not scriptural, excludes also from our formularies every acceptation which is not scriptural. And, con sequently, every minister of the Church of England Is Inevitably bound, both by his subscription and by his ordination vow, io put such a construction upon the words of our church services as sliall be in agreement with its rule of faith." Now this Is exactly of a piece with the procedure of the author of Tract 90, above cited. Our reformers, he assumes, considered themselves (as they certainly did) to be in agreement with " catholic antiquity;" and then, having laid down what — in his opinion — catholic antiquity decides, he proceeds to wrest the language of our reformers into a conformity with this; just as the other writer forces tbeir language Into an agreement with his view of Scripture. It is curious to observe that this Is, almost word for word, the plea upon which the Arians of the last century endeavored to justify themselves In subscribing the formularies of our church. Those formularies, they admitted, contained some expressions which seemed to countenance (what they called) the vulgar notions about the Trinity ; but then " the Protestant churches require men to comply with their forms raerely on account of their being agreeable to Scripture, aud consequently In such sense only wherein they are agreeable to Scripture ; ' " and as it seeraed evident to them (the Ari ans) that the Athanasian doctrine was quite repugnant to Scripture, they " necessarily concluded, a priori," that it was not, to them, the just meaning of our formularies. 1 See Clarke's Introduction to The Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity. WAREEN F. DRAPER, PUBLISHER AND BOOKSELLER, ANDOVER, MASS., PUBLISHES AmO OPFEKS TOK SALE THB POLLOWINQ, WHICH WILL EB SEMT POST PAID ON RECEIPT OP THE BUM WAMKD. GITBRICKE'S CHURCH HISTORY (Ancient Church; including the First Six Centuries). Translated by William G. T. Shedd, Brown Professor in Andover Theological Serainary. 442 pp. 8vo. $2.75. The established credit of Guericke's labors in the department of EccleeiaBtical History, and the use made of his works by many English writers will make this volume acceptable to a veiy large class of fltudentB and readers. — London Journal qf Saa-ed Literature. Guericke's Histoiy is characterized by reBeorch, devoutneas, Arm graap of evangelical truth, and careful exhibition of the practical as well as the intellectual aspects of Christianity. — Iforth British Review. We regard Profeasor Shedd's version as a happy specimen of the trantfusion, rather than a translation, which many of the German treatises should receive. The style of hia version is far iuperior to that of the original, — Bibliotheca Sacra. Among the most faithful, aud yet the most independent, of the followers of Neander, may be mentioned Guericke, who carries out Neander's plan in a more compendious form, but with an almost bigoted attachment to the peculiar doctrines of Luther, in a style so crabbed and involved, that we should not have hesitated to pronounce it untranslatable, but for the fact that an eminent teacher and accomplished writer of our own countiy has achieved what we regarded as a sheer impossibility. We are glad to have a book made legible in English, which, in spite of its original uncoutlmesa, has been eminently useful, as a. vehicle, not only of the beat historical knowledge, but of sincere piety, and sound religious sentiment in reierence to all essentials.— Princeton Tn clearness the style of the translation exceeds the originaL The natural animaKon and life like character, which commonly vanish in the proceaa of translatingfrom the German,have been retained with signal success. We are disposed to consider it the best of the current text-books for the use for which Prof. Shedd designs it. — Sfew Englander, Here is a Manual of Church History which may be confidently recommended, without reserve or qualiflcation, to students belonging to all evangelical churches. Guericke is thoroughly Or thodox. His evangelical belief and feeling give him a lively and appreciative interest in the in ternal history of the Church ; he devotes special attention to the development of doctrinea, and presents the range of thought and substance of opinion distinguishing the works of the princi pal writers in successive ages of the Church. Guericke's manual is complete in the particular lines of history he has chosen, and is a most useful and reliable book for the theological clasa- room. Frotessor Shedd has wisely translated with freedom, and has improved the structure of the work. — Noncor\formiat. We are glad that a Manual of Church History has appeared which exhibits, at once, undoubted orthodoxy, and that grasp of mind which alone is capable of treating such a subject with a lu minous and lively brevity. — Clerical Journal. With the additions and improvements made in the successive editions, it itf now, on the whole, the most readable work on Church Histoiy to be found. We have used the original for some years, and entirely agree with the translator, that it hits the mean between au offensive fuUnesi and a barren epitome. — Central Christian EiBrald. (1) Publications of W, F. Draper^ Andover^ DISGOUBSES AJ!fD ESSAYS. By William G. T. Shedd. 324 pp 12mo. $1.50. The striking sincerity, vigor, and learning of this-volume will be admired event try thosc read ers who cannot go with the author in all his opinions. Whatever debate the philosophical ten dencies of the book raay challenge, its literary abilify and moral spirit will be commended every where. — New Englander. These elaborate articles are written in a lucid and racy style, and invest with a rare interest the themes of which they treat. — Bibliotheca Sacra. These Discouraea are etll' marked by profound though^, and' perspicuity of sentiment — Princeton Review. The Essay on a Natural Bhetoric we earnestly commend to all persons who publicly assume either to speak or to write. — Universalist Quarterly* Few clearer and more penetrating minds-can be found in our country than that of Pro£ Shedd. If the mind gets dull, or dry, or imgovemable, put it to grappling with these masterly produc tions. — Congregational Seraitd, Chicago. Each of these Discourses is profoundly and ingeniously elaborated, and the volume as a whole. is a testimony to highly intellectual and consistent views of evangeUcal truth. — Boston Recorder. LECTURES XrPO]Sr THE PHTLOSOPHY OP HISTORY. By William G. T. Shedd. 128 pp. 12mo. 75 cts. ProfesHor Shedd has' already achieved a high reputation for the union of philosophic insight with genuine scholarsliip, of depth and clearness of thought with force and elegance of style, and for profound views of sin and grace, cherished not merely on theoretical, but still more on moral and experimental grounds. —Pr-mceion Review. This volume consists of fbur lectures, of which the following are the titles: The Abstract Idea of Histoiy; The Nature and Definition of Secular History; Tlie Nature and Definition of Church History; The Verifying Test in Church History. It is written in a lucid style, and will interest the studenti of theology and of history. — Bibliotheca ScKra. The style of these Lectures has striking merits. The author chooses his words with rare skill and taste, from an ample vocabulary; and writes with strength and refresliing simplicity. The Philosophy of Realism, in application to history and liistorical theology, is advocated by vigorous reasoning, and made inteUigible by original and feUcitous iUustrations. — New Englander. The "Lectures upon the Philosophy of Histoiy," is an extraordinary specimen of the meta physical treatise, and thecharm of its rhetoric is not less noticeable. Prof. Shedd never puts his creed under a bushel, but there are few atudents of any sect or closs'tbat wiU not derivft great as sistance from bis labors. — Universalist Quarterly. It bears the impress of aU' elegant as well as highly plulosophical mind. — Boston Recorder. OUTLnrES OP A SYSTEMATIC RHETORIC. From the German of Dr, Fbanoib Theremin, by William G. T. Shedd. Third and Kevised Edition, with an Introductory Essay by the translator, pp. 216. 12mo. ©1.00. Advanced students wiU find it well worthy of perusal. The adoption of its leading ideas would ennoble the ar( of rhetoric into a science, the practice of speaking into a virtue, and would clothe the whole subject in our schools and coUegesi with a firesh and vital intarcat. — JStblioffteca Sacra. Every minister and theological profeeaor (in composition and rhetoric especially) should read it. A morc thorough and suggestive, and, in the main, sensStle view of tho subject is hardly to be found. The central idea of Theremin's theory is, that Eloquence is a Virtue, and he who readi tbis littie book will bo sure to receive an impulse in the direction of masouliua thooghtfal di»« course. — Congregational Heraid. (») Publications ofW*F. Draper, ELLICOTT'S COMMENTAlRY, CRITICAL AITD GRAMMAT ICAL, on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians. With an Introductory Notice by C. E. Stowe,; Professor in Andover Theological Seminary. 8vo. pp. 183. 9fH75. The Commentaries of Prof. Ellicott- supply an urgent want in their sphere of critii^sm. Prof. Stowe says of them, in his Notice: " It is the crowning exceUence of these Commentaries that they ore exactly what they profess to be, critical and grammatical^ and therefore, in the best sense of the term, exegeticaU His results are worthy of aU confidence. He ia more care- fhl than Tiscliendorf, slower and more steadily deliberate than Alford, and more patiently laborious than any other living New Testament critic, with, the exception^ perhaps, of Tregei- les." ** They [Ellicott's Commentariea] have set the first example, in this country, (England] of a thorough and fearless examination of the grammatical and philological requirements of every word-of the sacred text. I do not know of anything superior tothem, in their own particular line, in Germany; and they add, what, alasl is so seldom found in that country, profound reverence for the matter and subjects on which the author is laboring; nor is their value lessened by Mr.. EUicott's having confined himself for the most part to one department of a commentator's work — the grammatical and philological^' — Dean .Alford. " The critictd part is devoted to the settUng of the text, and this is admirably done, with a labor, skiU, and conscientiousness unsurpassed." — Bib. Sacra. ** We have never met with a learned commentary on any book of the New Testament so nearly perfect in every respect as the ' Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians.' by Pro£ EUicott, of King's College, London, — learned, devout, and orthodox." — Independent. •' We would recommend nil* scholars ofthe original Scriptures who seek directness, luminous brevity, the absence of everything irrelevant to strict grammatical inquiry, with a concise and yet very complete view of the opinions of others, to poBseas themselves of EUicott's Conunen- taries." — Amencan Pre^terian. COMMEETTARY OW EPHESIAITS. 8vo. pp.190. ?f.l7B. COMMENTARY ON THESSALOWIAITS, 8vo. pp. 171. $1.75. COMMENTARY OM" THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 8vo. $2.50. COMMENTARY ON PHILIPPIANS, COLOSSIANS, AND PHILEMON. $2.50. HENDERSON ON THE MINOR PROPHETSr THE BOOK OF THE TWELVE MINOR PKOFHETS. Translated from the Original Hebrew. With a Commentary, Critical, Philological, and Exegetical. By E. Henderson, D.D. With a Biographical Sketch of the Author, by E, P. Eabrows, Hitchcock Professor in Andover Theological Seminary. 8vo. pp. 490. $ 4.00. *' This Commentary on the Minor Prophets, like that on the Prophecy of leaiah, has been highly and deservedly esteemed by professional scholars, and has been of great service to tha working ministiy. We are happy tb welcome it- in an American edition, very neatly printed." — Bib. Sacra. " Clergymen and other students ofthe Bible will be glad to see this handsome American edition of a work which has a standard reputation in its department, and which fills a place that is filled, so for aa we know, by no- other single volume in the English language. Dr. Hen derson was a good Hebrew and Biblical scholar, and in his Commentaries he is intelligent^. brief, and to the point." — Boston Recorder. "The American publisher iasues this valuable work with the consent and approbation of the author, obtained from himself befbre hia death. Itis published in substantial and elegant style, clear white paper and beautiful type. The work is invaluable for its philological research and critical acumen. The notes are learned, reliable, ond practical, and the volume deserves a place in every theological student's library." — American Presbyterian, etc. " Of all his Commentaries none are more popular than his Book of the Minor Prophets." — Cliristian (Server. " This is probably the best Commentary extant on tbe Minor Prophets. The work is worthy of a place in the library of every scholar and every diligent and earnest reader of the Bible."— Christian Chronicle. " We have met with no so satisfactory a commentary on this part of the prophetic Scrip tures;"— Watchnum tf Rejlectov*^ C3> Publications ofW-F. Draper. COMMENTARY ON THB EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. By Moses Stuart, late Professor of Sacred Literature in the Theological Seminary at Andover. Third Edition. Edited and revised by Pkof. K. I>. C. KOBBINS. 12mo. pp. 544. $2.25. " Hia Commentary on the Eomans is the moat elaborate of all his works. It has elicited more discusaion than any of his other exegetical volumes. It ia the result of long continued, patient thought. It expresses, in clear style, his maturest conclueiona. It has the animating influence of an original treatise, written on a novel plan, and under a sense of personal responsibility. Regarding it in all its relations, its antecedents and consequents, we pronounce it the most important Commentary which has appeared in this country on this Epistle."— .Bib. Sacra. '* We heartily commend this work to all students of the Bible. The production of one of the first Biblical scholars of our age, on the most important of all the doctrinal books of the New Testament, it deserves the careful study, not only of those who agree with Prof Stuart in hia theological and exegetical principlea, but of those who earnestly dissent from some of hia views in both respects." — Watchman and Reflector. " This contribution by Prof. Stuart has justly taken a high place among the Commentariea on the Epistle to the Romans, and, with his other works, will always be held in high estimation by the student of the Sacred Scriptures," — New Tork Observer, COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBRE'WS. By Prop. M. Stuart. Third Edition. Edited and revised by Prop. E. D. C KoBBiMS. 12mo. pp. 576. $2.25. " It is a rich treasure for the student of the ori^nal. As a commentator, Prof. Stuart was especially arduous and faithful in foUowing np the thought and diaplaying the connection of a passage, and hia work as a scholar wiU bear comparison with any that have since appeared on either side of the Atlantic." — American Presbyterian. " This Commentary is classical, both as to its literary and its theological merits. The edition before us is very skilfuUy edited, by Professor Bobbins, and g^ves in fuU Dr. Stuart's text, with additions bringing it down to the present day." — Episcopal Recorder. " We have always regarded this excellent Commentary os the happiest effort of the late Andover Professor. It seems to us well-nigh to exhaust the subjects which the author compre hended in his plan." — Boston Recorder. " It is from the mind and heart of an eminent BibUcal scholar, whose labors in the couse of sacred learning wil! not soon be forgotten." — Christian Observer. COMMENTARY ON THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. By Prop. M.Stuart. 12mo. pp.432. $1.75. " This is the last work from the pen of Prof. Stuart Both this Commentary and the one preceding it, on Ecclesiastes, exhibit a meUowness of spirit which savors ofthe good man ripen ing for heaven; and the style is more condensed, and, in that respect, more agreeable, than in some of the works which were written in the unabated freshness and exuberant vigor of hia mind. In learning and critical acumen they are equal to his former works. No EngUsh reader, we venture to say, can elsewhere find so complete a philological exposition of these two important books ofthe Old Testament"— £i6. Sacra. COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES. By Moses Stuart, late Professor of Sacred Literature in the Theological Seminary at Andover. Second Edition. Edited and revised by R. D. C. Eobblns, Professor in Mid- dlebury College. 12mo. $1.50. The Introduction discusses the general nature of the book; its special design and method, diction, authority, credit, and general history; ancient and modern versions, and commentaries. The Commentary is strictly and minutely exegetical. STUART'S MISCELLANIES, pp. 369. 12mo. $1.00. Contents. — I. Letters to Dr. Channing on the Trinity. — H. Two Sermons on the Atone ment.— III. Sacramental Sermon on the Lamb of God. — IV. Dedication Sermon. — Real Christianity.- V. Letter to Dr. Chauniug on ReUgious Liberty. — VI. Supplementary Notes and Fostscripte. STUART'S GREEK GRAMMAR OP THE NEW TESTA MENT DIALECT. Second Edition. Corrected and rewritten. 8yo. $1.00 BTUART'S HEBREW CHRESTOMATHY. Designed as an Intro- duction to a course of Hebrew Study. Third Edition, 8vo. pp.231. $1.00. Publications ofW.F. Draper. WOKKS OP LEONAKD "TO-OODS, D. D. 5 vols. 8vo. S 12.00. Vols. I., n. nnd III., Lectures. - Vol. IV., Letters and Essays. - Vol. V. Essays and Ser mons. A new Edition, on superior paper. WORKS OP JESSE APPLETOBT, D. D., late President of Bowdoin College, embracing his Course of Theological Lectures, his Academic Ad dresses, and a selection from his Sermons, with a Memoir of his Life and Character. 2 Vols. 8vo. $3.00. "They will ever form standard volumes in American Theological Literature."— .BtbKcal ReposUary, 1837, p. 249. ATJGUSTIinSM AKTD PELAGIANISM. By G. F. Wiggers, D. D. Translated from the German, by Professok K. Emeksok, D.D. pp.383. 8vo. $1.60. CODEX VATICANUS. H KAINH AIAGHKH. Novum Testamentum Graece, ex antiquissimo Codice Vaticano edidit Angelus Maine, S. JR. E. Card. 8vo. $3.00. Professor Tischendorf and Dr. Tregelles ascribe its date as early as to the middle of the fourth century. It has generally been held to be the most venerable manuscript of the New Testament. It has been guarded with great vigilance by the authorities of the Vatican. A thorough collation, even, has never before been permitted, though otten sought. The present work is an exact reprint. WBITIirQS OP PKOPESSOK B. B. EDASTAEDS. With a Memoir by Prof. Edwards A. Park. 2 vols. 12mo. $2.50. These works consist of seven Sermons, sixteen Essays, Addresses and Lectures, and a Memoir by Professor Park. EESKTBTB OTSS THB IBTTEENAIi EVIDENCE POB THE TEUTH OF REVEALED RELIGION. Third American, from the Fifth Edinburgh Edition, pp. 139. Mmo. 73 cts. •* The entire treatise cannot fail to commend the positions which it advocates to intelligent end considerate minds. It is one of the best, perhaps the best, of all the discussions of this momentous subject."— CongregatioTmlist. " This argument of Erskine for the Internal Evidence of the Truth of Eevealed Religion, is the meet compact, natural, and convincing we have ever read from any author." — Chris. Chron. " No man ought to consider himself as having studied theology unless he has read, and pon dered, and read again, ' Erskine on the Internal Evidence.' " — Independent. PLUTARCHUS DE SEKA BTUMIITIS VHiTDIOTA. Plutarch on the Delay of the Deity in the Punishment of the Wicked. With Notes by H. B. Hackett, Professor of Biblical Literature in Newton Theological Institution. pp. 172. 12mo. 60 cents. [See a review of this work in Bib. Sacra, p. 609, 185G.] PtrWCHABD'S VIEW OP CONG-BEO-ATIOIirAIiISM;, its Principles and Doctrines, the Testimony of Ecclesiastical History in its favor, its Prac tice and its advantages. With an Introductory Essay by K. S. Stores, D. D. Second edition. 16mo. pp. 331. 38 cents. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OP SPECtJLATIVE PHI LOSOPHY FROM KANT TO HEGEL. From the German of De. H. M. Chaltbaecs. With an Introductory Note hy Sir William Hamiltoh. pp.413. 12mo. $1.25. " One of the best of the many Introductions which have been prepared to lead the inquirer to a knowledge of the recent speculative philosophy." — Bib. Sacra. " Those who are in search of knowledge on this perplexed subject, without having time to investigate the original sources for information, will receive great assistance from this careful, thorough, and perspicuous analysis." - .Bidiico! Repertory, and Princeton Revietv. Publications of TFI F, Draper^ Andover, THEOLOG-IA aUBMATHiCA. TThich setteth forth many fair lineaments of Divine Truth, and saith very lofty and lovely things touching a Perfect Life. Edited by Db. Pj^bipfeb, from the only complete manuscript yet known. Translated from the German by Susanna Winkwokth. "With a Preface by the Rev. Chaklhb Kingslet, Rector of Eversley ; and a Letter to the Trans lator, by the Chevalier Buhsen, D. D., D. C- L., etc. ; and an Introduction by Prof. Calvin E. Stowe, D. D. 275 pp. 16mo. Cloth, $1.50. This treatise was discovered by Xuther, -who first brought it into notice by an edition which he published in 1516, of which he says : " And I will say, though it be boasting of inyself, and • I speak as a fool,' that, next to the Bible and St. Augustine, no book hath ever come into my hands^whence I have learnt, or would wish to learn, more of what God and Christ, and man, end all things, are." " The times and the circumstances in which this most rich, thoughtful, and spiritually quickening little treatise was produced, — the national and ecclesiastical tendencies and Influ ences which invested its author, and which gave tone, direction, and pressure to his thoughts, — are amply and well set forth in the .preface by Miss "Winkworth, and the letter of Bunscn. The treatise itself is richly deserving ofthe eulogies upon it so emphatically and affectionately uttered by Prof. Stowe and Mr, Kingsley, and, long before them, by Luther, who said that it had profited him ' more than any other book, save only the Bible and the works of Augustine.' Sin, as a universal disease and defilement of the nature of man ; Christ, as an indwelling life, light, and heavenly power ; Holiness, as the utmost good for the soul ; and Heaven, aa the state or place of the consummation of this hoUness, with the consequent vision of God, and the ineffable joy and peace, — these are the theme of the book. And it has tbe grand, and in this day the so rare and almost singular merit, of having been prompted by a real and deep relig ious experience, and of having been written, not with outward assistance, but with the enthn- eiasm, the spiritual wisdom, and the immense inward freedom and energy, of a soul itself con- ¦cious of union with Christ, and exulting in the sense of being made, through him, ' a partaker of the Divine nature.' •'Those who-haveknown the most of Christ will value-most this " golden treatise.'* Those whose experience of the divine truth has been deepest and most central will flnd the most in it to instruct and to quicken them. To such it will be an invaluable volume worth thousands upon thousands of modem scientific or hortatory essays upon " Religion made easy." " It is printed by Mr. Draper, at tlie Andover preea, in tlie old English s^le, with beautiful carefulness and skUl, and is sent, post paid, to all who remit him one dollar." — Independent. " The work is at once a literary curiosity and a theological gem." — Puritan Recorder. " This little volume, which is brought out in antique type, is, apart from its intrinsic value, a curiosity of literature. It may be regarded as the harbinger of the Protestant Beformation."— Evening Traveller. THE CONFESSIONS OP ST. AXTGUSTHfE. Edited, with an Introduction, by Prof. W. G. T. Shedd. $1.50. **In this beautiAil edition of Augustine's Confessions, published in the antique style, tha translation has been carefully revised by Prof. Shedd, of Andover, &om a comparison with tha Latin text. His Introduction presents a fine analysis of Augustine's religious experience in its bearing upon hia theological system. Both the intellect and the heart of the modern preacher may be refreshed aud stimulated by the frequent perusal of these confessiona." — Independent. *' Prof. Shedd haa earned our heartfelt thanks for this elegant edition of Augustine's Coufes- Bions. The book is profitable for the Christiaa to study, and we would commend it as a daily companion in the closet of tho intelligent believer who desires to be taught the way to holiness through communion of the Spirit. Prof. Shedd's Introduction is a masterly essay, which itself is a volume for attentive reading. It ought to be read before the book is begun. Thorough, searching, and discriminating beyond the facts it communicates, its instructions and hints ore suggestive and invaluable." — JT. T. O&scrwer. " This is a beautiful edition of a precious work. The Confessions of Augustine are so honest, that we easily become enthusiaatic in their praise. The depth of hia piety, the boldness of his imagination, the profoundness of his genius, his extravagant conceptions, his very straining and stretching of philosophical and biblical statements, have all a certain charm which ensures fbr his works an enduring popularity."— i?t&. Sacra, 18G0, p. 671. " We have long wanted to see just auch an edition of Augustine's Confksaiona. The editor has done a public service in introducing it ; and its typographical beauty is no small recom mendation of it.'*— Prefi>ifterian, June 23, 1860. „ Publications ofW.F, Draper, IWtESSIAinC PROPHECY AND THE LIFE OF CHRIST. By Kev. W. S. Kennedy. 12mo. pp. 484. $1.25. *' The plan of the author is to collect all the prophecies of the Old Testament refbrring to the Messiah, with appropriate comments and reflections, and then to pursue the subject through the New Testament in the Ufe of Christ as he appeared among men. The reader will flnd the results of Hcngstettberg and Keander here gathered up, and presented in a readable shape." — The Presbyterian. " This ia a work of great comprehensiveness. Here, in the compass of less than five hundred duodecimo pages, we have the Christology of the Old anil New Testament Scriptures, some thing like a combination of the Christology of Heugstenberg and Neander's Life of Christ. Of course the fulness of these great works is not imitated, but the reader will flnd the results of these and similar investigations carefully gathered np, and presented in a (dear, readable shape. The Life of Christ is based upon Robinson's Harmony of the Gospels." — Asnerican Presbyterian. SCHAUPPIiER'S MEDITATIONS ON THE LAST DATS OF CHRIST. 12mo. pp.439. $1.25. The first sixteen chapters of the book consist of Meditations on the last days of Christ, preached in the midst of plague and death, by Rev. Mr. SchaufFler, at Constantinople; the second part, of eight aermons on the 17th chapter of John, and is a practical exposition of that chapter. BIBIjE HISTOBT op prayer. By C. A. Goodrich. 12mo. pp.384. $1.25. The aim of this little volume is to embody an account of the delightfbl and succesBful inter course of believers with heaven for some four thousand years. The author has indulged a good deal in narrative, opening and explaining the circumstances which gave birth to the several prayers. MONOD'S DISCOURSES ON THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. Translated &om the French, by Kev, J. H. Myers, D.D. 12mo. pp. 191. 90cts. " The aim of the autiior ia to present an estimate of the character, labors, and writings of the apostle Paul in the light of an example, and to apply the principles which actuated him, and which he maintained, to Christians of the present day." — Boston Journal. "These Discourses are distinguished for genuine eloquence, thorough research, and pro found thought, accompanied with a glowing, earnest spirit, adapting the lessons of the great Apostle to the spiritual wants of men."— Christian Observer. HYMNS AND CHOIRS: OR, THE MATTER AND THE MAN NER OF THE SERVICE OF SONG IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD. By Austin Phelps, and Edwards A. Park, Professors at Andover, and Daniel L. Ftjrber, Pastor at Newton. 12mo. pp. 425. $ 1. 50. This volume describes the true design and character of Hymns ; it comments on their rhetor ical structure and atyle; points out the proper method of uttering them in public worship; and the raoat important' principles and rules for congregational singing. SELECT SERMONS OF REV. -WORTHINGTON SMITH. D.D. With a Memoir of his Life, by Rev. Joseph Torkey, D. D., Professor in Burlington College. 12mo. pp.380. $1.26. " This is a memorial volume of Dr. Smith, late President of the Vermont University, and was prepared at the request of many of his fiienda. An interesting Memoir of his Life, edited by Rev Joseph Torrey, D. D., Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, introduces the Sermons. Dr. Smith was a native of Hadley. Mass., and was for many years pastor over a religious society in St. Albans, Vermont. For six years he officiated as President of the Ver mont University at Burlington, which office he resigned in consequence of ill health, and died a few months afterward. The Memoir ia followed by sixteen Sermons ou various subjects. - Boston DaUy Advertiser. THE DEBATE BBTWEEBT THE CHtmCH AND SCIEWOE ; ^The ABOient Hebraic Idea of the SixDays of Cr3ab0B^W>thanE,^^^ the Literary Character of Taylek Lewis. 12rao. pp.437. SL25. PubUcations ofW^F, Draper, DODEBLEIN'S HAND-BOOK OF LATIN SYNONYMES. Translated by Rev. H. H. Arnold, B. A., with an Introduction hy S. H. Taylor, LL. D. New Edition, with an Index of Greek words. 16mo. pp. 267. 1.26. " The present hand-book of Doderlein ie remarkable for the brevity, distinctness, perspicuity, and appositenesE of ita definitions. It will richly reward not merely the classical, but the gen eral student, for the labor he may devote to it. It is difficult to open the volume, even at random, without discovering some hint which may be useful to a theologian From the preceding extracts, it will be seen that this hand-book is useful in elucidating many Greek as well aa Latin synonymes." — BQi. Sacra. '* The little volume mentioned above, introduced to the American public by an eminent Scholar and Teacher, Samuel H. Taylor, LL. D., is one of the best helps to the thorough appre ciation of the nice shades of meaning in Latin words that have met my eye. It deserves the attention of teachers and learners, aod will amply reward patient study." — E. D. Sanborn, late Professor of Latin in Dartmoutli College, " The study of it wiU conduce much to thorough and accurate knowledge of the old Roman tongue. To the present edition is appended an 'Index of Greek words,' which embraces all the Greek words contained in tbe Latin Synonymes, and affords valuable aid in the elucidation of Greek Synonymes."— .Boston i^ecorrfer. POLITICAL ECONOMY. Designed as a Text-Book for Colleges. By John Basoom, A. M., Professor in Williams College. 12mo. pp. S66. $150- "It goes over the whole ground ina logical order. The matter is perspicuously arranged under distinct chapters and sections; it is a compendious exhibition ofthe principles ofthe science without prolonged disquisitions on particular points, and it is printed in the style for which the Andover Press haa long been deservedly celebrated." — Princeton Review. " This work is one of value to the student. It treats of the relations and character of political economy, its advantages aa a study, and its history. Almost every subject in the range of the science is here touched upon and examined in a manner calculated to interest and instruct the reader." — Amherst Express. *' The book is worthy a careful study, both for the views it contains and as a mental training. The author understands himself, and has evidently studied his subject well. The style in which itis put forth also commends it to the reading community." — Evening Express. "This is a valuable work upon a subject of much interest. Professor Bascom writes well, and his book makes an excellent manual. His stand-point in the middle of the 19th century gives it a character quite unlike that of the older works upon the ^uhl^cV — Boston Recorder, RUSSELL'S PULPIT ELOCUTION. Comprising Remarks on the Effect of Manner in public Discourse ; the Elements of Elocution applied to the Reading of the Scriptures, Hymns and Sermons; with Observations on the Principles of Gesture; and a Selection of Exercises in Reading and Speaking. With an Introduction by Prop. E. A. Park and Rev. E. N, Kirk. 413 pp. 12mo. Second Edition. $150. " Mr. RusseU is known as one of the masters of elocutionary science in the United States. He has labored long, skilfully, and successfully in tiiat most interesting field, and has acquired an honored name among the teachers and writers upon rhetoric. It is one of the most thorough publications upon the subject, and is admirably addressed to the correction of the various defects which diminish the influence of pulpit discouraes. It is already au established authority in many places." — Z-rteroi-y World. HISTORICAL MANUAL OF THE SOUTH CHURCH IN AN DOVER, MASS. Compiled by Rev. George Mooar; with a portrait of Rev. Samuel Phillips, first Pastor of the Church. 12mo. pp 200. $ 1.25. " This manual haa a value far beyond the promise made in its title-page. Henceforth, what ever raay befall the records of the South Church in Andover, or even the Church itself,— though both were blotted from the earth, — its history for a hundred and fifty years is safe. And in that history is embraced an amount of instruction rarely condensed into eo small a space. The catalogue of members, numbering 2,177, indicates the date and manner of admission — whether by profession or letter; the date and manner of removal — whether by death, dismis sion, or excommunication! generally the age of the deceased, and, if females who married during their membership, the names of their husbands."— Congregational Quarterly, 3 9002 08837 5663