/S7S^

EXTRACT FROM
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT
OF THE
REV. JOHN BAMPTON,
CANON OF SALISBURY.

 " I give and bequeath my Lands and Estates to
" the ChanceUor, Masters, and Scholars of the University
" of Oxford for ever, to have and to hold all and sin-
" gular the said Lands or Estates upon trust, and to the
"intents and purposes hereinafter mentioned; that is to
" say, I wUl and appoint that the Vice-Chancellor of the
" University of Oxford for the time being shall take and
" receive all the rents, issues, and profits thereof, and
" (after all taxes, reparations, and necessary deductions
" made) that he pay aU the remainder to the endowment
" of eight Divinity Lecture Sermons, to be established for
" ever in the said University, and to be performed in the
" manner following :
" I direct and appoint, that, upon the first Tuesday in
" Easter Term, a Lecturer be yearly chosen by the Heads
" of Colleges only, and by no others, in the room adjoin-
" ing to the Printing-House, between the hours of ten in
" the morning and two in the afternoon, to preach eight
" Divinity Lecture Sermons, the year following, at St.
" Mary's in Oxford, between tbe commencement of the
" last month in Lent Term, and the end of the third week
" in Act Term.

iv EXTRACT FROM CANON BAMPTON'S WILL.
" Also I direct and appoint, that the eight Divinity
" Lecture Sermons shall be preached upon either of the
" following Subjects — to confirm and establish the Chris-
" tian Faith, and to confute all heretics and schismatics
" — upon the divine authority of the holy Scriptures —
" upon the authority of the writings of the primitive Fa-
" thers, as to the faith and practice of the primitive Church
" — upon the Divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
" Christ — upon the Divinity of the Holy Ghost — upon the
" Articles of the Christian Faith, as comprehended in the
" Apostles' and Nicene Creeds.
" Also I direct, that thirty copies of the eight Divinity
" Lecture Sermons shall be always printed, within two
" months after they are preached, and one copy shall be
" given to the Chancellor of the University, and one copy
" to the Head of every College, and one copy to the Mayor
" of the city of Oxford, and one copy to be put into the
" Bodleian Library; and the expense of printing them shall
" be paid out of the revenue of the Land or Estates given
" for establishing the Divinity Lecture Sermons; and the
" Preacher shall not be paid, nor be entitled to the revenue,
" before they are printed.
" Also I direct and appoint, that no person shall be
" qualified to preach the Divinity Lecture Sermons, un-
" less he bath taken the degree of Master of Arts at least,
" in one of the two Universities of Oxford or Cambridge ;
" and that the same person shall never preach the Divinity
" Lecture Sermons twice."

TO
THE HEADS OF COLLEGES
IN THE
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD,
THE
FOLLOWING SERMONS,
PREACHED BY THEIR APPOINTMENT,
ARE RESPECTFULLYINSCRIBED.

CONTENTS.

SERMON I.
Psalm Ixxxii. 6.
/ have said, Ye are gods ; and all of you are children of
the most high.
General description of Religion. — ^It and its
evidences partake of the same character. — AU
truth and evidence correlative. — Certain mental
qualifications indispensable in the case of the
religious student. — ^Christianity a Scheme, though
not taught methodically in Scripture. — The rela
tions between God and man which it recognises.
— The natures of both beings really unknown to
man. — Observations on the nature of God. — Ob
servations on human nature. — The plan of the
ensuing Lectures. — It recognises the operation of
all our mental faculties in the study and right
appreciation of the evidences of the Sacred Truth.
— Division of the elements of proof which the
design comprises. SERMON II.
Psalm xlviii. 12.
Walk about Sion, and go round about her ; tell the ioioers
thereof.
Diflaculty of estimating the effect of evidence
upon the minds of men. — Absolute and relative
force of evidence distinguished. — The proof of the

viii CONTENTS.
distinctive truths of Christianity does not rise to
demonstration. — General notice of the argument
from signs. — Bellarmine's argument in his " Notes
of the Church" over-rated by papists. — Real value
of the argument. — The consistency and complete
ness of the reasoning of Protestants with respect
to the same subject. — Probable origin of the dic
tum of Vincentius. — Division of reasonings into
a priori and a posteriori. — The former not unfre-
quent in Scripture. They differ in the cases of
Jew and Gentile. Advantages of the Christian
in this respect over them both. The Bible can
bear the application of all sound a priori, princi
ples, as tests of its contents. — Cautions 1, against
the extreme of dogmatism ; 2, against hastily
viewing our early convictions in the light of pre
judices. — The absolute necessity of some first prin
ciples in theology. SERMON III.
Romans ii. 14.
These, having not the law, are a law unto themselves.
Application of the principles admitted to the
objections of Gibbon and others. — Notions of na
tural religion. — Their connexion with probable
Revelations from God ; either to Adam — or to his
more immediate descendants. — Precepts to the
sons of Noah, and the fragmentary knowledge of
Divine things in the ancient Pagan world. — Sense
and Inspiration not the only sources of our know
ledge. — The principles we acquire from whatever
source, the major premises of our religious rea
sonings. — All truths coincide with, or serve, analo-

CONTENTS. ix
gically, to confirm the truth of the contents of
revelation.— Cases of the Deist and the Atheist. —
Corroboration afforded by the results of physical,
metaphysical, and moral inquiry.
SERMON IV.
Haggai ii. 7.
And the desire of all nations shall come.
Superiority of the historical over other modes
of communicating the Divine will to mankind. —
Extensive recognition of this superiority in our
own times. — God's providential care conspicuous
in the history of all ages and countries. — Sketch
of the period before our Saviour's coming. — Con
trast of the unity and orderliness discernible in
the sacred writings with the records of other
religions. — Yet Paganism in a certain sense anti
cipatory of Christianity. — Our Lord the centre of
all history. — Evidence afforded by the zeal of
the apostles. — Withdrawal of extraordinary gifts
from the Church. — Three only very momentous
events in Church history: I. The establishment
of Christianity by Constantine ; 2. The rise and
progress of Mohammedanism ; 3. The Reforma
tion. — Observations on each.
SERMON V.
Acts ii. 22.
Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by
miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him
in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know.
Evidence of miracles. — Revelation being mira
culous, miracles its natural accompaniment. — The
b

X CONTENTS.
moral purposes of the Gospel miracles sufficient
to account for their performance. — Their supe
riority over all others recorded in history. — Ob
jections stated and answered. — Our Lord's cha
racter not sufllciently considered by certain ob
jectors. — The argument of Spinoza and his fol
lowers goes upon false principles.— The testimony
to miracles, and the testimony to other facts,
identical In kind. — The acquiescence of succes
sive centuries so much additional testimony to
that of contemporaries. — Prophecy and miracles,
in a certain light, make but one argument. — The
advantage of sometimes combining them exem
plified in the case of the Jew. — Supremacy of the
evidence of Sense.

SERMON VL
John iii. 8.
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the
sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and
whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the
Spirit.
Process of investigating the Christian evidences
described as twofold. — Proof arising from the in
fluences of the Holy Spirit not confined to any
particular age. — These influences not derived ex
clusively from any one of the Three Blessed Per
sons. — Peculiar views of some of the Schoolmen.
— The sober spirit of Christianity contrasted with
the exorbitancies that have distinguished par
ticular periods ; especially, with reference to the
Third Blessed Person. — The manifestations of the
Spirit not unascertainable. — Case of the first

CONTENTS. xi
preachers of the Gospel — That of the early
Church — That of Christians in general. — Con
nexion of this doctrine with the proof of Christ
ianity.

SERMON VII.
Song op Solomon i. 17.
The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.
Our inferior mental powers have their ap
propriate evidence. — This acknowledged by our
Church. — The imaginative element conspicuous in
the philosophical, as well as in the poetical reli
gion of the ancient Pagans. — The Jewish church
and nation far from devoid of the poetic element.
— Notice of the poetical books of the Old Testa
ment, and the meaning and purport of the Song
of Solomon. — Relations of the imagination to re
ligion : 1. as associated with our affections ; 2. as
it connects our notions with the subject of fu
turity. — A certain sort of enthusiasm consistent
with the Christian character, though, as gene
rally understood, the indulgence of enthusiastic
feelings inimical to sound doctrine and disci
pline. — Imaginative treatment of the temporal
future, as in millennarianism, &c.; of the, ulti
mate destinies of the human race, as in the no
tions of the resurrection-body, the general judg
ment, heaven and hell ; and of intermediate
states. — Conceptions on these subjects controlled
and purified at the Reformation. — A sort of evi
dence connected with the right consideration of
all these subjects.

xii CONTENTS.
SERMON VIIL
Psalm ciii. 1.
Bless the Lord, 0 my soul . and all that is ivithin me,
bless his holy name.
The evidences of the sacred truth introductory
to practical piety. — Moral qualifications neces
sary in all stages of religious inquiry. — All evi
dence sought to be superseded by the Romish
dogma of infallibility. — The dogma untenable. —
Importance of the study of moral evidence. —
Brief survey of the bearings of analogy upon the
proof of the Revealed truth. — Recapitulation of
the contents ofthe preceding sermons. — Selection
of their subject not unsuitable to the present con
dition of the religious world. — Conclusion.

SERMON 1.

Psalm lxxxii. 6.
I have said. Ye are gods ; and all of you are children
of the most high.

IVrOTHING in Holy Scripture can interest
-^ ^ us more deeply than the accounts to be
found therein of the relations in which man
kind stand to the most high God. A perfect
knowledge of these relations, comprehending
true and distinct perceptions of all the duties
and obligations involved in them, and imply
ing also, of necessity, considerable insight into
the Natures both of God and man, is no very
unworthy representation oi Religion itself: —
and without some portion of such knowledge
(however we may attain to it) it seems
highly probable that we should none of us
be equal to the task of rightly understanding
the Evidences which a Revelation or Divine
message might offer to our acceptance.
Let it suffice at the outset to state the
connexion between religion and its evidences

2 SERMON L
thus generally. But these general state
ments, it must be observed, admit of being
so shaped and modified as to become ap
plicable to all the forms in which these
momentous subjects do or can present them
selves to the infinite variety of human minds.
This will be abundantly shewn as we proceed.
I shall now simply call attention to one only
principle, — call we it idea, law, or fact ; —
which may be said to lie at the bottom of all
our speculative treatment of religious ques
tions ; and by virtue of which the truth in
which they terminate, and the grounds upon
which it claims to be received, are seen to be
adjusted in the harmony of an exact mutual
adaptation. Nor is this a principle apper
taining to religious truth alone. For that
there is an affinity or correspondence dis
cernible in all evidences with reference both
to their subject-matter and their result, is
among the recorded observations of very early
heathen philosophy ; and many indeed may
think it impossible, or at least highly im
probable, that the philosophical spirit of man
should have been for any considerable length
of time in active operation without being led
to the discovery or reflection, that our notions
of matter, evidence, truth, belief, and some
others, (in whatsoever department of inquiry

SERMON L 3
we may employ them,) are but a series of
strictly correlative conceptions, and that con
sequently differences of character to be found
in any one of them must be attended by
precisely corresponding diversities in all the
rest. I must not, however, be understood to
assert, that religious truth, and far less that
Christian truth, resembles the formal sys
tems of human philosophy by being metho
dically taught in the records which contain
it. The very contrary to this is the well-
known and often -observed fact. The writers
of the New Testament, for example, shew but
little regard to what we call Method. But
Christianity, notwithstanding this, is a scheme;
and it is so, potentially, even in the writings
of its inspired teachers. And when con
sidered as a scheme, its parts must of necessity
cohere, and thus be rendered capable of
exhibition in some sort of connected and
harmonious order. But in this we see
nothing more than is essential to every thing
truly falling under the description of a dis
pensation, economy, or system; and the ob
servation applies not only when such economy
or scheme is objectively regarded, but also
when we view it in its relation to the
mind of the recipient ; for it must be all
B 2

4 SERMON L
along remembered that it is his apprehension
of its contents which must constitute the
knowledge, his seeing that must eventually
become, or at any rate determine, the evidence
desired. And so it might be contended, if we so
pleased, in limine, that Theology, in order
to be Theology, or in other words a Science
at all, must from its very nature be in the
proper acceptation of the term dogmatical.
If, indeed, by dogmatic theology be meant a
mere congeries of religious opinions arbitra
rily packed into some semblance of scientific
arrangement, or again as a set of doctrines
deduced with whatever amount of logical
accuracy from axioms and principles which
can be shewn themselves to rest upon insuf
ficient authority of any sort, then we must
in the spirit of Lord Bacon reject such system,
even as that great man repudiated the theo
ries of physical knowledge which were current
in his day. Such kinds of religious theory
would be obviously unphilosophical, and they
might be untrue. But if dogmatic theo
logy be understood to mean a system of doc
trines duly deduced from principles which
indubitably appear in Holy Writ, there can
be no solid reason for denouncing or dispa
raging a dogmatism of this kind, however

SERMON I. .5
emphatically it may be propounded. It is
one of the objects, if I mistake not, of the
Sixth Article of our Church, expressly to au
thorize such formal constructions of a reli
gious Creed. In the words "can be proved
thereby," the Article both warrants and in
vites the employment in our processes of
theological deduction, of such precise, dis
tinct, and positive declarations, to be read in
either Testament, as may serve for the data
or major principles in our reasoning upon
points doctrinal. Can this be anything else
than sanctioning dogmatic theology in its true
meaning? Does not the next series of the
Articles themselves — those, I mean, from the
Ninth to the Fifteenth inclusive — present us
with an obvious application of the principle ?
An ill feeling, no doubt, exists in many quar
ters towards dogmatic theology ; but it is
more surely against the name, or the asso
ciations not unnaturally connected with the
name, than against the true and rightful
conception of its nature. Nor should it be
forgotten, that Hobbes and a host of other
most strenuous anti-dogmatists, have, in point
of fact, only argued against it in a debased
and spurious form. But surely, to define
dogmatism in the present day, so as to take
into the account the ignorance, vainglory, or

6 SERMON L
pertinacity, with which parties may hold their
opinions, or strive to impose them upon others,
would be as irrelevant and irrational, as if pro
fessing to examine into the validity of a rea
soning process, we were to make the desire
of gain, or of reputation, or of any other con
tingent advantage, the criterion of a Sophist.
We might thus contend then, I repeat, for
a sort of internal necessity (so to speak) in
the case of dogmatic theology, very different
from that external necessity which is con
ceded to it by some, and which arises simply
out of the Social character of religion. Those
who are content with this latter aspect of the
subject, consistently regard dogmatic theo
logy in the light of a necessary evil, very
much of the same description as a standing
army, or a police, or any other precautional
establishment of the like kind ; and they
jeckon it, by consequence, among the penal
ties of man's social condition. And, no doubt,
we may freely concede to them, that if all
who profess and call themselves Christians
were to act up to their profession, these safe
guards — I do not except or reserve even the
formularies of our own Church, preeminent
as they are above all human compilations of
doctrinal truth — might be dispensed with.
But such expectations, all must own, are not

SERMON L 7
warranted by the actual state of the Christ
ian world; and consequently, even those who
are most adverse to a dogmatic theology
despair for the most part of the extinction
of Creeds and similar formularies, which they
foresee can never happen until some vast
alteration shall have taken place in the phases
of society, if not in the mental constitution
of man itself.
More cannot now be said upon this very
important subject. I will only remark with
reference to the antagonist method, that any
views of an inductive theology which may
contemplate the establishment by the Ba
conian or any other kindred method, of ulti
mate truths at variance with the ascertained
truth of Holy Writ, must be conceived in an
Antichristian spirit ; and should the results
contemplated be actually arrived at, the choice
would still remain (a choice in nowise embar
rassing to the pious reasoner) between the
express mind of God on the one hand, and
the more doubtful (by comparison) inferences
of man's logical faculty on the other. No
such alternative however needs be dreaded ;
since, happily, the inductive reasonings hither
to completed in many branches of even phy
sical research, (take Geology, for instance),
have tended, it would appear, to verify and

8 SERMON L
confirm such contents of the Sacred Volume
as can with any reason be presumed to ad
mit of being tested by them. This I may
assume to be now too generally allowed (in
this place at least) to require the adduction
of any formal proof. And accordingly we
need not discourage the application of the
inductive process to the doctrines of Reve
lation, provided it be conducted within cer
tain limits, and in a proper disposition of
mind. In the way of a very general state
ment, I might say that Caution is the men
tal condition which suffices for a right pro
cedure in this case. Caution, in fact, is ad
mitted by some to be the only postulate.
" All that we ask," writes an able advocate
of induction in its application to the moral
sciences, " all that we ask of our reader is, to
bring along with him the same sober and
inductive spirit that is now deemed so neces
sary in the prosecution of other sciences ; to
abandon every system of theology, that is not
so supported by evidence, however much it
may gratify his taste, or regale his imagina
tion ; and to admit any system of theology
that is supported by evidence, however re
pugnant to his feelings or his prejudices."
It is gratifying to be able to add, that the
result of the trial of the inductive process,

SERMON L 9
as it was conducted under these rigid and
unbending rules, by the able writer whom
I have just quoted, was an earnest appeal to
every enlightened disciple of Lord Bacon to
acknowledge, " that the same habits of philo
sophizing to which science is indebted for all
her elevation in these later days, will lead
us to cast down all our lofty imaginations,
and bring into ' captivity every thought to
the obedience of Christ".'"
In perfect consistency with the foregoing
remarks, is the requirement so commonly
and so justly made, that the religious student
should come to the study of Divine things
with appropriate and duly-chewshed feelings
of humility, patience, docility, and singleness
of heart, and not in an undisciplined and
froward temper of mind. Philosophy, the
arts, and, in short, every regular employment
of the human faculties requires a similar pre
paration on the part of the learner. But in
religious inquiries more than in all others
are such predispositions indispensable ; and
the absence of them in the case ofthe searcher
after Divine Truth will be sure to operate
as the most effectual hinderance to spiritual
advancement ; if indeed it do not absolutely
preclude from taking the very first steps in
a 2 Cor. X. 5.

10 SERMON L
religious knowledge, by leaving the mind
open for the growth of an indifference or
habitual contumacy, as injurious in the eye
of sound philosophy, as it is offensive and
sinful before God. For in religion (besides
many other considerations tending to the
same point) the vast expanse over which the
inquiry is extended, comprising the world of
mind as well as matter, the unseen no less
than the seen, renders it obvious that the
disciple must here far more than elsewhere,
be prepared to meet with many difficulties,
both as respects the objects of his contem
plation, and the degrees of assurance with
which he confides in their reality. And here
accordingly the aspirant after knowledge
needs to be especially guarded against that
unteachableness which we too well discern to
be part of the natural man as he now is —
that txTOTTia^ of which St. Paul speaks, as cha
racterising the via), TTJs aireiOeias", " sons of dis
obedience," and far different, we may be sure,
from that true nobility of mind which we
read that the same apostle met with on** one
occasion, and without which none should pre
sume to set foot on the sacred ground, to
approach even the hallowed enclosure of the
15 2 Thess. iii. 2. <^ Ephes. ii. 2; v. 6; Col. iii. 6.
d Acts xvii. 11.

SERMON I. 11
Temple of Truth — far less indulge the hope
of being admitted to adore her as she is here
seen in her most effulgent, her celestial form.
The claim which Christianity advances to
the possession of all religious truth is well-
known. Every religion, we are aware, pro
fesses an identity with truth to a greater or
less extent ; and the prima facie grounds
upon which the Christian affirms his religion
to be like its Divine Author, the Truth, are
in a general way familiar to all who hear me.
Nevertheless it may not be unprofitable at
this early stage to occupy a short space, if
only by way of remembrance, in noticing a
few points which may serve to connect the
whole Christian scheme with the momentous
truth delivered in the text. And this I shall
do the more willingly, because on the broad
maxim already propounded, the principles
which should govern us in the consideration
of the matter of Divine truth must be useful
also in our examination into the character of
its evidence.
Now the text, if interpreted in that full
and comprehensive sense which our Blessed
Lord's own application" of it in St. John's
Gospel is conceived to warrant, may be look
ed upon as expressing the purpose of God
e John X. M.

12 SERMON L
throughout all his gracious dispensations to
wards his creature man ; inasmuch as it
approximates in some way or other the na
ture of man to that of his heavenly Father ;
which we are prone to describe in general
terms as the object of religion. I do not
mean, of course, to contend for a literal in
terpretation of the words " Ye are Gods, and
ye are the children of the Most High," any
more than that similar propositions occurring
in Holy Scripture, such as, " Ye are our epi
stle V "This is my body"," and some others,
are to be accepted in a literal sense. I may
observe, once for all, upon such texts, that
the substantive verb employed in them does
not denote absolute and unrestricted iden
tity. And so the words before us cannot, it
is manifest, be used to justify any wild ima
ginative theories, Pantheistic or other, which
have nevertheless made their appearance at
different times in the history of the Church,
tending to exalt the human being to an
actual level with his Creator in intellectual
or spiritual dignity. On the contrary, no
sober and rational exposition of the words, if
comporting duly with the analogy of faith,
can ever invest mankind with the essential
* 2 Cor. iii. 2. ' Matth. xxvi. 26.

SERMON L 13
properties of the Divine Nature, which are
correctly therefore called by theologians in
communicable. Accordingly the Jews, whom
some learned writers conceive to have recog
nised in Jehovah no other sort of paternity
than that involved in the idea of creation —
were sorely perplexed when they found them
selves confronted with this quotation from
their own Scriptures. We may with good
reason suppose them to have been sensible of
that shock and recoil of mind (so to speak)
which all naturally experience when the ideas
of God and man are presented simultaneously
and vividly before their minds — a feeling best
exemplified perhaps by recalling our own sen
sations when we first heard our Blessed Lord
himself designated as the God-Man. It was
this, in fact, which had caused the violent
ebullition which our Lord saw fit to rebuke
by the application of the words before us.
And well calculated was His answer to si
lence the cavils of his countrymen, since it
conveyed at once and most forcibly to their
understandings, a mystery quite as great or
greater than the assumption which had so
grievously offended them. He showed them
that the blasphemy with which they charged
him, might be with equal justice imputed to
the recorded language of undoubted inspira-

14 SERMON L
tion. In a book which they venerated and
professed to understand, a declaration was
made by an inspired prophet, as though from
the mouth of Jehovah himself, which they
had plainly either forgotten or misunder
stood — a declaration couched in still stronger
and more awful terms than those which had
occasioned the outburst of their indignation
against himself. And this announcement,
they could not but reflect, was made not with
reference to one " approved (a.-jro8e8eLyfievoi)
among them by miracles, and signs and won-
dersV but to certain functionaries who lived
at a debased period of the history of their
nation, and who could not certainly be ac
counted the most righteous or heavenly-
minded of their progenitors. To these men
nevertheless had the words of the seer Asaph
been addressed : " Ye are gods, and all of
you the children of the Most High."
But whilst we disclaimed all such inter
pretations of the text as would positively
extinguish the essential differences between
God and Man, we might yet contend for a
sense which should extend its application to
the whole race of mankind. " Ye are all of
you the children of the Most High," is a truth
which in a certain sense is not restricted to
f Acts ii. 22.

SERMON L 15
the Jews, or to Christians, or even to both,
but appertains alike to all men — to all the
inheritors of the nature, fallen and marred
though it be, of the first Adam, of whom it
is written, that he w^as "the Son of God."
But the sense in which we are most con
cerned to interpret it, is not of this vague
and indeterminate character, but is one which
makes the statement, " Ye are the children
of the Most High," as it were, the distinctive
motto and manifesto of Christianity. For
that Christians are God's children in an espe
cial manner — that is, by their adoption in
Christ, the second Adam ; and that in vir
tue of this propinquity of relationship they
are above all men entitled to say, "Abba,
Father^," and "Our Father," — may be shown
by numerous passages in the New Testament,
as well as by many intimations of the earlier
teaching of the Prophets. I pass them now,
nor shall I do more than make allusion to the
subject of the Baptismal Rite, or Sacrament
of Baptism, which we all know to be inti
mately associated with the truth before us.
How it is that by being made the subject of
this solemn rite, the Christian secures to him
self the privilege of being in a peculiarly
strong sense the son of God ; in a word, the
? Gal. iii. 26; iv. 6.

16 SERMON L
efficacy of Christian baptism, has, I may ob
serve also, been the theme of more than one
of the eminent persons who have preceded
me in this office.
A few general observations on the natures
of the Two Beings which Religion may (even
in its etymological sense) be said to bind
together, or in other words, to place on a
footing of reciprocal obligation ; and the
notice of which, we might say, comprises in a
compendious way the matter of our holy
religion, and thus may be thought to supply
a becoming introduction to that review of its
Evidences which is designed to form the
immediate subject of the ensuing course of
Lectures, will exhaust the remaining portion
of time allotted to this^r*^ Lecture.
I. And first with respect to the Divine
Nature: of which, however, we cannot take
cognizance further than as it is faintly pour
tray ed in what we call the Attributes of God.
The believer discovers in these aspects of the
Divine nature a field of contemplation at
once the most sublime and the most interest
ing. And such has been the gracious order
ing of the counsels of God in this particular,
that a reverent contemplation of the Divine
character is always attended with an in
creasing certainty of the truth of Revelation

SERMON L 17
keeping constant, even pace with that ever
growing love of His perfections which is its
more immediate result. Since " the very
evidences of the Christian religion have im
pressions of the divine nature irradiating
them (as one of our best writers expresses
it) ; and thus they coincide with the system of
that religion itself, wherein the Divine Being,
in the exercise of these His perfections, is
proposed to us as the object of faith, with its
consequent affections and duties."
With good reason then speculations on the
nature of God ordinarily take precedence of
all other points in systems of divinity; and
this as well from the intrinsic dignity of the
Divine essence, as from the universal disposi
tion of human souls to investigate a subject
at once so grand and so affecting. Hardly
therefore are the Schoolmen, or the Fathers,
whom indeed they followed, to be charged
with singularity in this respect. Their at
tempts to form a perfect theory of the Divine
Being may have been, doubtless they were,
abortive; but this, it is admitted by all, was not
from dearth of mental power of any sort in
themselves, as compared with others, but the
bare unavoidable result of the intellectual
difficulties with which the subject itself is
surrounded. They became conscious, as all
c

18 SERMON I.
must who pursue investigations concerning
the divine essence and attributes, of impassable
limits set to their powers of metaphysical ana
lysis. It became plain to them that Theology
in its first and limited sense, the Science of
God, is in truth impossible. If we look to the
Trinitarian Controversies in the early ages of
the church, or to those which have been
maintained by the orthodox against the So-
cinians of these latter days, the same fact is
distinctly observable. The upshot of all
such speculations, whensoever they are car
ried beyond the Word of God, and His own
manifestations of Himself therein, presents us
only with a choice of intellectual perplexities.
Go on as far as we may go in appearance,
there is, and ever will be, something beyond
which is inscrutable. There are still remain
ing behind the veil " the deep things of God,"
which (as the apostle says) " knoweth no
man, but the Spirit of God''."
II. Observations of a similar kind, it will
not be disputed, apply to human nature also.
The declaration of the Evangelist that our
blessed Lord " "knew what was in man," must
be read as a strictly ewclusive proposition.
He, and He only knew the depths of that
nature which he had himself put on, in order
a 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11. b John ii. 25.

SERMON L 19
to fulfil the gracious purposes of the Father
in our behalf. Still we know, and our Lord's
instructions assume that we know, something
of ourselves, and that something all that is
necessary to be known. Let this self-know
ledge then be briefly adverted to.
1. And first we may say upon this point,
(but here again not affecting to frame any
system of Anthropology,) that man in his
natural condition is a being susceptible at
least of Faith. But whether or no Faith, or
the religious sentiment, be a particular form
or modification of reason, say a weak, or a
rapid, or an irregular exercise of the Rational
faculty, or whether it be something altogether
distinct from reason, are points which, after
all the discussion which has been, and doubt
less will be, expended on them, each indi
vidual Christian will have to determine for
himself. These questions, in fact, fall within
a class of difficulties which, when abstractedly
viewed, seem destined to pass down as un
solved problems from every age to its suc
cessor; and his must be a sanguine mind
which shall anticipate that the reasonings of
the most acute or the most profound Divines
and Philosophers will do more than assist, and
that too but a very small portion of the human
race, in coming to right conclusions concerning
c 2

20 SERMON L
them. Accordingly, no solution of these and
similar questions respecting the relation of
Faith to Reason will be attempted by me,
either now or in the further prosecution of
my design.
2. Let the possession of Reason and Con
science be added also in our estimate of the
original condition of the human mind — but
here again, without any entrance upon specu
lative questions as to the proper nature of
these faculties taken separately, or the rela
tions which they bear to each other, and to
the whole man. We are, no doubt, at liberty
to imagine (if we please) man's original rea
son to have been in some glorious and in
effable manner united, even identified, with
the Divine Nature, seeing that our first pa
rent was created "''in the image of God."
But flights of speculation on this phrase of
Holy Scripture (and they have been most
numerous) serve, it is to be feared, but little
purposes of real good. The more practical
questions may rather engage the attention of
the pious mind — Whether, after the loss of
its original glory, there are any traces in the
human mind of a power of partial self-
recovery ? If that power exist, is it common
to the many, or only the privilege of the
c Gen. i. 27. and 1 Cor. xi. 7.

SERMON L 21
few ? How our reason and other faculties
stand related, not speculatively, but practi
cally, to our faith ? What again are our
offices with reference to Divine communica
tions, vouchsafed to man under every known
dispensation, and under all varieties of his
individual and social state ? These questions
are not only open to us, I say, but they be
long to us ; and they belong to us not as
philosophers, or theorists in religion, which
few of us can be, but simply as religious
beings, which all of us are. How manifold
the views taken on these questions at differ
ent periods of the history of civilized and
christianized man, and how various the an
swers which they are even now receiving in
this, as well as all other Christian countries,
is a reflection that must arise at once in the
minds of many who now hear me.
And so with Conscience also. Here too
we may conceive man's original judgment of
right and wrong, of moral good and evil in
every shape — to have been once in exact uni
son with the Divine intelligence. But, in
dulge our fancy to its utmost bent, and we
cannot think of our first parent, even in
paradise, otherwise than as of a creature ;
and the condition of a creature implies supe
riority in all points, and especially in the

22 SERMON L
most exalted, on the part of his Creator.
The conscience then, whether it amounted in
Adam (as some divines have thought) to a
perception of every truth of Natural Reli
gion, even before his understanding was spe
cially illumined by direct Divine commu
nications ; or whether in this respect his
descendants have inherited powers exactly
equal to his ; however this may be, I say,
the faculty of Conscience must at least be
conceded to form an important element in
the moral and religious constitution of the
human being.
To the question that might be put, whe
ther by Reason and Conscience are meant
active, and not merely passive powers, I would
answer. Reason clearly so, and Conscience con
tended to be not only active, but imperious
and searching in its very nature, against those
who maintain that it only assists us in our
apprehension of moral truth, when conveyed
into it from some other external source. This
is not denying, however, that the standard of
conscience is and must be external. At the
same time, I offer no disclaimer against those
subordinate faculties of the mind, to which
(as will be seen in the progress of our in
quiry) the evidence no less than the sub
stance of religion is addressed. By these I

SERMON L 23
mean the Imagination, the Affections and Sen
timents, each of which contributes its share
to the perfection of our nature. The tho
rough investigation of these falls no doubt
within the alien province of psychological
research. But even practical religion re
quires that they should be present and
active, the lower being always exercised in
due and careful subordination to the higher.
And here the greatest caution is necessary.
All undue predilections towards these, or in
deed towards any of our faculties, leading as
they must to the disturbance or enfeeblement
of the rest, are direct injuries to the cause of
Truth and Holiness ; and it is to such par
tialities, when carried to an extravagant
length, that, in point of historical certainty,
most of the erroneous opinions which have
been entertained on sacred subjects, even in
Christian times, have owed their origin. Let
us assume then that a proper adjustment of
our powers, small as well as great, to their
several legitimate spheres of duty, is requi
site both for our proficiency in Religious
Truth, and for a proper appreciation of its
Evidences also.
I have spoken, it will have been observed,
of the perfection of man's nature ; and this
renders it necessary to obviate misapprehen-

24 SERMON L
sion by entering a protest at once against
two opposite extremes of opinion upon this
point. The first is the notion of man's per
fectibility ; a fruitful theme in the systems
of modern Sophists ; but which upon exami
nation is found to be at variance with sound
Reason, as much as it is positively contra
dicted by Scripture. The prediction to the
Serpent, recorded in Genesis, has, when taken
alone, appeared to some, and these no mean
authorities, a sufficient refutation of the
theory in question ; since the promise therein
contained", that the Serpent should bruise
the heel of the Woman, seems incompatible
with the hope that man should ever in the
present life be entirely free from sin and
danger. But the rejection of the theory
does not depend upon this or any other sin
gle text of Scripture ; since the whole Bible,
historically regarded, and supported here
most strongly by heathen history as well,
presents us with a complete falsification of it
in every page. Nor will the doctrine (as I
have stated) stand the test of Reason either.
The visionary speculations of Continental
metaphysicians on this point have been over
and over again triumphantly refuted by the
more sober reasonings of our own country-
<^ Gen. iii. 15.

SERMON L 25
men ; and it has been abundantly shown by
the latter, that the maintenance of such views
is utterly inconsistent with the original dif
ferences in their intrinsic natures, which both
parties profess to recognise as subsisting be
tween God and man.
Nevertheless there are, no doubt, senses in
which the theologian may regard man as a
good and perfect being. Contemplated as a
work of God, for instance, he is perfect in his
natural endowments, whatever they may be ;
and by necessary consequence, in his whole
nature — that being, we know, the designed
effect of the creative effort on the part of
God, which never could be defective or short-
handed in its operation. But this is no
more than the "''truth of our nature," of
which the Article of our Church speaks, and
by which is meant that completeness of es
sence which constitutes man very man ; in
which sense also our Lord himself is in the
same Article stated to have been made " like
unto" his brethren. Nor is this mode of ex
planation to be confined to the case of Hu-
man nature. " Every creature of God is
good," says the Apostle *= ; that is, good as a
creature, and perfectly qualified to perform
its proper and appointed work, but not good
(assuredly) in the sense which the ques-
dXVthArt. 'ITirn. iv.4.

26 SERMON I.
tion before us requires, and with which a
precipitate and partial spirit of interpretation
has not unfrequently sought to invest the
epithet. But, glancing once more at the
theory of Optimism, I may cheerfully dis
miss all discussion of it with the consolatory
remark, that the present age, though suffi
ciently rife (it must be allowed) with schemes
of human exaltation, presents itself in this
single respect, at least in advantageous con
trast with that which immediately preceded it.
Alongside of this Philosophical reverie lies
the not uncommon, but not less dangerous
error of those divines who are wont to ascribe
a condition of sinless perfection to the rege
nerate, without regard had to their works.
This theory, whether with Irenaeus we date
it as far back as Simon Magus, or take it to
have first invited condemnation in his own
time, has existed in all ages of the church,
and is a distinguishing tenet of many pro
fessing Christians in the present day. I shall
be allowed, however, in this general sketch
to rest its refutation upon the reiterated de
clarations of the " Good Apostle ;" who over
and over and over again, we observe, con
nects the practice of righteousness with the
prerogative of the believer's sonship. " ^Who
soever is born of God doth not commit
f 1 John iii. 9-10.

SERMON L 27
sin," says St. John ; and afterwards, in order,
as it would seem, to give the fullest possible
force to the assurance by a conversion of the
proposition, "Whosoever doeth not righteous
ness is not of God." The theory in question
might surely vanish before words so point
edly expressive ; — conveying a simple and (if
I may so say) a natural doctrine in terms
thus positive, and, one would have thought,
unmistakeable. But if, on the other hand, we should adopt
certain representations of the nature of man
which meet with the concurrence of another
considerable section of the religious world, it
would seem a mockery almost to address a
being of such hopeless and utter depravity, and
in the language of St. Paul bid him "^work out
his own salvation." The liberty of man which
is undeniably in some degree appealed to in
the apostolical injunction, if it survive at all
the mutilations of the unmerciful theory al
luded to, does not really deserve the name
of liberty ; and the actions, improperly in
deed so called, which it originates, are not
only performed in direct counteraction of the
will of God, but indicate and imply a want
of consciousness of the very power which
they oppose. We know well that men under
the most favorable aspect of their nature
g Philipp. ii. 12.

28 SERMON L
are constantly found in hostility to God.
Yet they are commonly sensible of their sin,
and often strive to overcome their evil pro
pensities. But in the system to which I now
advert, the human being is in a state even
worse than that of total imbecility, as re
spects the impulses and calls to faith and
obedience. The dispositions of the soul are
not merely perverted, but they are intrin
sically vicious and sinful altogether. Every
particle of good of which they are susceptible
comes from without, and is a positively alien,
and almost unamalgamating element. Such
a hypothesis, known under the name of the
ultra-Calvinistic, if we carry it to its neces
sary consequences, degrades man below the
dignity of a truly rational creature, and, as
respects any real value attaching to his reli
gious capacity, sinks him below the devils
spoken of in "Scripture, to whom a certain
sort of faith is attributed, although we read
that they believe only to tremble before the
awful majesty of God.
III. A third view must not pass entirely
unnoticed. It has been sought by both as
sailants and defenders of Revelation, to lay
the foundations of Religion as well as Ethics
in something external both to God and man.
Various modes have prevailed at different
^ James ii. 19.

SERMON L 29
times of representing this external element.
But there has been no dispute at all, or very
little, as to its supposed influence — that in
fluence having been uniformly represented to
consist in the disposition and control of the
Divine mind, and through it, or beside it, the
will of man also. The theory seems to me,
I confess, a lingering reminiscence, held in
most cases perhaps unconsciously, of Plato's
ideas — the third ingredient, as most of us
are aware, in the system of the universe, as
conceived by that great philosopher. What
I mean is, that abstract notions of expediency,
fitness, reasonableness, beauty, and the like,
are posited as eternal and immutable verities,
and these are said to sway and in all cases
to determine the will of God, and thus to be
ultimate principles of both Religion and Mo
rality. In the times of Scholasticism, the
question to which these notions returned
the supposed legitimate answer assumed the
daring form ; " What determines the will
of God ?" Subsequently, the Deists and
Freethinkers of all sorts eagerly availed them
selves of the theory, bestowing on it the
name of "fitness of things," or some other
equivalent designation. Wheresoever the hy
pothesis met with acquiescence, it followed
that if any thing were shewn not to quadrate

30 SERMON L
exactly with these abstract notions, it clearly
could not be allowed to have the sanction of
the Divine approbation, and consequently
was not entitled to any place in the system
of religious belief. It is perhaps to be la
mented, that many sincere advocates of Reve
lation have thought right to countenance this
mode of talking — influenced often perhaps
by an early familiarity with systems of ethics,
and theories of moral obligation, constructed,
whether studiously or otherwise, without any
reference to the dictates of Revelation. But
surely the safer and sounder view is that
which would regard the conceptions of which
I am speaking, as actual part and parcel of
the human mind, and consequently " gifts of
God to us," comprehended in the one great
original gift of our true nature. It might
further be argued, that to constitute such
conceptions, or any other in fact, the rules and
arbiters of God's will, amounts to the reversal
of all philosophical order, since it is a recog
nition of something anterior to Him, — of at
tributes and qualities existing before the one
sole Creator of all things, mental as well as
physical, ideal as well as actual. But a still
graver charge may be made against the theory.
For upon its admission the Deity, it is plain,
might be altogether dispensed with in our

SERMON L 31
views of religious and moral obligation, and
man, by the force of those recognitions, work
out his happiness and salvation in total inde
pendence of the Divine Authority. What
is this, we may well ask, but " arrogancy and
impiety ?"
I have said that I discern a resemblance
between this theory and the well-known sys
tem of the great disciple of Socrates. It may
possibly however have arisen merely from an
analogy conceived to subsist between the
cases of an earthly and a heavenly Ruler.
Of the extent to which we are governed by
such analogies, it is difficult to speak too
strongly. The relation of God to man is
familiarly likened to that of a king to his
subjects. But as in every constitutional mon
archy there is something above the monarch
to which he himself either expressly or im
pliedly owes allegiance, viz. the Laws of the
Constitution — so it may have been conceived
that in the case of the universe, the sphere
and domain of the heavenly rule were to be
recognised as lying within these " eternal
fitnesses and relations," represented therefore
to be, like the Law in the supposed parallel
of king and subject, as binding upon God
himself as upon his creatures. That this is
an instance of over-strained analogy might.

32 SERMON L
if time allowed, easily be shewn. I must be
permitted however to dismiss the theory with
the words of a late distinguished prelate of
our Church, who thus observes upon Cud-
worth's attempt to base morality upon these
eternal relations. — " The radical and insu
perable objection to all theories of morals
considered as independent of the revealed
will of God, is that they suppose us capable
of discerning and fully comprehending these
eternal fitnesses and relations, which, as they
originated in the will of the Creator, and are
subject to his will, can be fully known only
by Him, and are discernible by others in
such measure only as He shall see fit to dis
close them." It was thus that Bishop Van
Mildert commented upon the theory in its
application to morality. Let us be permitted
to extend the observation to religion also.
Nor shall I, as I trust, incur your censure
for omitting to remark upon the doctrines of
Free-Will and Predestination, closely con
nected as they are with the subjects which
have been now compendiously brought before
us. The importance of the discussions on
these points also has perhaps been very much
overrated. In so far as they afford matter
for speculation, probably many of us are of
opinion that they are fairly exhausted. And

SERMON L 33
we may deal very shortly indeed with them
as practical questions ; for the whole Gospel
Dispensation falls to the ground, if man be
supposed not to possess those capacities which
fit him to be a party to an express covenant
with God ; and freedom of Will, a freedom
sufficient to qualify him as a moral agent,
" apt to discern good and evil, and choosing
which of the two he pleases," is undeniably
one of those capacities. Hence to disown
Free Will in this sense (which is the only
sense indeed that Religion requires) is, ac
cording to Waterland, to " err fundamen
tally." Let the admission of these simple and very
general principles be deemed necessary, in
order that they may serve as guides and land
marks (as it were) in our future reasonings.
Without knowing the principles upon which
the proof proceeds, and the faculties employed
in the process, as well as the matter we have
to prove, all reasoning must be more or less
unsatisfactory. To revert for a moment only
to Reason. Scholasticism, we know, cor
rupted Reason ; Papal Rome stifled, and is
still striving to stifle it; Enthusiasts of all
sorts are fain and prompt to deride and de
spise it. Yet who amongst us can or would
gainsay its being one of our characteristic
D

34 SERMON L
powers, for the right employment of which
we lie under a heavy and unalienable respon
sibility ?
Nevertheless, let Reason and all our other
faculties be valued according to the exact
measure of their several merits. What the
learned have observed on the course of Eccle
siastical History generally, and on the case
of Biblical Interpretation in particular, is
generally true also in the workings of indi
vidual minds upon religious subjects. Au
thority has been first paramount, next has
come the free exercise of reason and private
judgment, which again has often given place
to the flights and vagaries of the imagination.
But all our powers have their just and useful
spheres of jurisdiction. The difficulty is to
keep them within their proper limits. And
this difficulty is perhaps greatest, where, as
in the Evidences of Religion, it is frequently
so hard to distinguish the aids afforded by
the Spirit of God Himself from the inde
pendent, substantive operation of our own
mental faculties.
If further apology were needful, it might
be found in the prevalence of infidelity in
the world, after and despite of all that has
been written in counteractionof this deplor
able deformity of the human mind. " But it

SERMON L 35
is the peculiar property of Infidelity to
forget its own defeats." Easy would it
be to frame a catena of complaints and
denunciations of infidelity, from the writings
of eminent historians and divines extend
ing uninterruptedly from the Reformation
to the present hour. How it came to pass
that, after the great check which unbelief
sustained at that glorious epoch in the
world's history, it was enabled to raise its
head again, is a problem of no difficult solu
tion. I now speak only of the fact, without
endeavouring to account for it. The sources
of scepticism, infidelity and misbelief, are in
deed multitudinous; and they are so for this
simple reason, because the minds of men,
when they come to the age of reflection, are
so differently stored and moulded. What
has been said this morning will have sug
gested, at least, that these states are not to
be accounted natural developments of the
human soul. There may be, I admit, a com
parative aptitude in the original constitution
of some minds, a (j)vcriKrj KaKia, (so to say,) which
issues under fostering circumstances in these
lamentable states; and among such circum
stances may be reckwned, if we choose, things
the most opposite to each other in their na
ture and prima facie tendencies. Thus learn-
D 2

36 SERMON L
ing, especially the study of mathematics,
and the neglect of learning, the doctrines
and principles of Popery, those again of the
Reformation, sickness, exuberant health, nay,
prosperity and adversity in general, have all
been accused, and perhaps with some justice,
of having been the means or occasions of
bringing men into these deplorable condi
tions. In what senses this is and is not so,
presents again no very perplexing problem to
the student of human nature. But amidst
all the diversities of thinking and talking,
there is one point on which all are agreed,
that impurity of living is the most effectual
as it is also the most general of the predis
posing causes of unbelief. This truth is too
frequently and emphatically dwelt upon from
this place, for me to do more than connect it
with the leading ideas already suggested by
my text.
" The Divine nature" (says Gregory of
Nyssa), "whatsoever it be besides (for we
cannot understand it), is goodness, holiness,
power, glory, purity, eternity. Who is he then
may safely say to him. My Father ? — If one
whose conscience is branded with foul sins
shall before repentance claim kindred of
God, and being unjust and filthy, say to
that pure and holy one, My Father! his

SERMON L 3T
mouth (whilst he repeats his Paternoster)
vents no prayers, but contumelious slanders
against God."  Or to cite a higher, because
an inspired teacher", " If ye call him Father,
which without respect of persons judgeth
according to every man's work, pass the time
of your sojourning here in fear " This fear,
we may rest assured, is the end as well as
the beginning of wisdom.
It remains for me to state more specifically
the subject of the ensuing Lectures. A way
having been made by the foregoing remarks
for the consideration of the Christian Evi
dences, the next Lecture will contain some
general views on that important subject.
There will then follow the delineation of
those branches of Evidence which appeal
most directly to the understanding, and
which may be styled, if we please, the
Rational Element of the Evidences for Re
vealed Truth. As falling under this head,
I shall proceed to review the mass of facts
which bear directly and indirectly upon Re
ligion, and which for distinction's sake let us
call the Historical Element. The notice of
Evidences thus considered as addressing the
Rational faculty in its unsanctified state
having been terminated, I shall next call
a 1 Pet. i. 17.

38 SERMON L
attention to those proofs which recommend
themselves to the same faculty, when under
the illumination of the Holy Spirit of God.
Occasion will be thus afforded to speak of
the Testimony of the Spirit generally, an
internal evidence of a different kind from
that at which we have already glanced, as
arising from the natural powers of man only ;
and one, the efficiency of which it is mani
festly impossible to over-estimate. Let this
be called for distinction's sake, although the
designation be obviously inadequate — the Spi
ritual Element. The contemplation of this
all-powerful constituent in the structure of
Faith having brought all our views of the
Evidences addressed to Reason to a close, I
shall pass on to the notice of the support to
be gathered to the cause of Revelation from
the imaginative powers of the human soul,
and which constitute, as it were, the Poetical
Element of the great subject before us. An
opportunity will thus occur of stating sum
marily the aids which both Religion and its
Evidences undoubtedly receive from the ac
tion of the inferior powers of the human
soul in general. It must be obvious to my
present hearers that a very brief survey of
provinces so various and extensive will ex
haust the time which shall be then remain-

SERMON L 39
ing at our disposal. An attempt to condense
the various proofs which flow in from so
many tributary sources to swell the flood of
Christian evidence, and to rivet (as it were)
more closely the connexion which may have
all along been seen to subsist between them,
will bring the entire task which I have pro
posed to myself to its conclusion.
As respects the difficulties which we shall
encounter, or of the existence and magnitude
of which (in many cases) we shall at least
become sensible, when traversing a field so
vast and intricate, I will not further tax your
patience by more than making the briefest
allusion to them. Nor shall I offer any
apology for having made selection of a sub
ject so general, or for my treatment of it in a
manner necessarily open to objections, if not
on many other grounds, at any rate by reason
of that very generality itself. An avowal
simply and honestly made of my settled
"belief that such general views may be bene
ficially presented to a mixed Academical
Auditory on occasions like the present, is
perhaps all that will be required to con
ciliate your minds to the undertaking. Let
the design itself, or its execution, or both, be
ever so uninteresting, nay even distasteful
to many, the statement of truths however

40 SERMON L
long established, and of arguments however
trite in the estimation of the proficient in
Theology, I cannot but deem serviceable to
those amongst us, who, amid their other
learning, are and must be learning (whether
they know it or not) both what and how they
are to think upon that most important of all
their studies — the Doctrines of their early
Faith. The wisest too, it may be presumed,
will hear in an indulgent spirit the recital
of arguments and incentives to Faith and
Piety, with which they have been long fa
miliar, and the real value of which they are
themselves most competent to discern. But
if in the case of any the hope should turn out
to be well-grounded, that Truth — which every
inquiry into evidence is intended to sub
serve — Truth, by which 1 here mean not
Theological Truth, but that far higher and
nobler sort of Truth which we emphatically
call Religious ; — if Religious Truth, I say,
shall by the blessing of its Divine Author
be brought nearer to the hearts and con
sciences of any of us, and (which is in such
a case a direct and necessary consequence)
the Love of that Truth shall display itself in
time to come in a better, more earnest, less
intermitted study of the Word and Will of
God — that Word and that Will appearing to

SERMON I. 41
be surely and enduringly made accessible
upon anysoever grounds of Evidence which
may pass in review before us — I shall not
have altogether missed my aim and object.
I shall have more than realized all the ex
pectations which in my most sanguine mo
ments I may have ventured to entertain.
May He then who is alone our guide ""into
all Truth" shed his Blessing both upon my
humble endeavours, and upon your sym
pathies ! And may the same Holy Being be
present to enlighten, aid, comfort, sustain,
perfect each and all of us in every our
aspiration after " righteousness and true ho
liness," to the honour and glory of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with
the Father and the Holy Ghost one God,
world without end.
" 1 John xvi. 13. Eph. iv. 24.

SERMON IL

Psalm xlviii. 11.
Walk about Sioti, and go round about her ; and tell
the towers thereof.

fTlHE observations contained in the former
-*- Lecture may have led us to anticipate,
that as men are severally gifted with dif
ferent faculties and endowments, so are they
likely to affix a greater value on this or that
species of Proof over others ; preferring
often, and, we may suppose, under the in
fluence of a very natural and therefore venial
self-love, such Evidence as may be most
congenial to their own individual characters
and capacities. The majority of mankind
accordingly are observed to cling to certain
branches or modes of Proof in religious
questions, whilst they undervalue, or even
positively reject all the rest. From the
Atheist, who alone rejects all, up to the most
confirmed and enlightened believer in the

SERMON IL 43
Christian Revelation, there exist, in fact,
infinite gradations and varieties of convic
tion, attributable, no doubt, in great measure
to the different conditions and circumstances
of those who entertain them ; since every
man has originally a bias towards one or
other extreme of credulity or incredulity
(as our older Divines express it) ; and this
disposition is sure to be strengthened or
weakened by numberless influences, brought
to bear upon him, both directly and indi
rectly, as life advances. Hence it becomes
extremely difficult, however much we may
desire to do so, not only to estimate with
certainty the absolute effect of any sort of
Evidence, but even to ascertain its effect
upon the mind of any given individual.
Nor, even supposing the latter to be in our
power, would the effect apparently produced
in any case be a sure criterion of the strength
or weakness of our reasoning ; inasmuch as
we cannot command the self-knowledge or
candour of men, any more than we are able
at will to remove or remodel their predis
positions. Those who embrace the desired
conclusion will sometimes be forward to extol
unduly the merits of an argument to the
force of which they may not really have been
indebted for their conviction ; whilst those

44 SERMON IL
who shut their minds against conviction will
be apt to justify themselves at the expense of
the argument, (whatever its absolute value
may be,) rather than plead guilty to want of
perception or prejudice in themselves.
To take an instance. Many persons, I
have no doubt, profess to believe in Christ
ianity, and to think, feel, and act as Christ
ians, being persuaded of the truth of their
Religion from the mere fact of its continuance
in the world. — To others again, neither this
fact, nor the persuasion of their fellow-men,
which is built upon it, appears to carry in it
the slightest particle of reasonable induce
ment. What now is to be said of both these
classes ? Shall we dispose of them summarily
with the remark that the one class owing to
prejudice over-estimates an argument, to the
real force of which, whatever it be, the other
by reason of an equal amount of prejudice is
utterly insensible ? Or may we not rather
say, disregarding altogether the effects of the
argument in either case, and dealing with it
absolutely, that it is both logical and just to
reason with the mass of mankind from the
continuance of Christianity to the con
tinuance of its Evidences ? The argument, it
might be objected, applies to every system or
institution which may, de facto, maintain its

SERMON IL 45
footing in the world. But it tells, we must
reply, with peculiar force in the case to
which we should thus be applying it ; and
this for the simple reason that the precepts
of the Gospel are in such direct hostility to
the unruly wills and affections of sinful
men — " For who" (says a popular writer on
the Evidences of Revelation) " who can deny
that the uncompromising holiness of the Gos
pel arms against it all the corruptions of our
nature ?" When this is the case, it is hardly
to be doubted that somewhere or other there
must exist very strong Evidence indeed to
account for the maintenance and perpetuation
of such a religious system as the Christian, if
indeed it be not actually startling to our
mere reason, that faith should to any ex
tent be ""found on the earth." The prima
facie and introductory argument, when con
sidered absolutely, is of no little value, which
thus makes the existence of the end a secu
rity for the existence of the means ; for in
this relation to each other do truth and evi
dence admit of being presented.
Nor need we be concerned overmuch be
cause the proposition cannot be maintained
in its converse shape; in other words, be
cause the continuance of the, proofs of a reli
gious system afford (speculatively at least)
^ Luke xviii. 8.

46 SERMON IL
no safe guarantee for the continuance of the
system itself. This I say, needs give us, my
brethren, no anxiety ; for we know well that
practically, as long as human nature shall
remain the same as it is and has been, some,
and these not a few among mankind, are
sure to be at all times interested in under
standing and appreciating the evidences of
the Gospel. And of this we might assure
ourselves upon grounds of reason and expe
diency only, supposing holy Scripture to
have been altogether silent on the subject.
But so far from this being the case, the Scrip
tures not only declare the completeness of the
Gospel Evidences, but also impose their study
as a duty incumbent on every Christian man.
To " "prove all things," to " ''be ready always
to give an answer to every man that asketh
you a reason of the hope that is in you, with
meekness and fear," and similar injunctions,
are familiar to every reader of the New Tes
tament ; and we can perceive that they are
to be understood as though they had been
immediately addressed to all the disciples of
Christ of every age. Whatever then the
effect of the single argument adverted to
upon the minds of different men may be, we
seem justified, as well by Holy Scripture as
by reason, in connecting (in an argumen-
c 1 Thess. v. 21. "i 1 Pet. iii. 15.

SERMON IL 47
tative point of view) the duration of the
Christian Evidences with the unintermitted
continuance of the profession of the Chris
tian faith in the world.
In like manner other instances might be ad
duced, tending to exemplify in a more strik
ing manner the difference between the absolute
and relative value and effect of evidence ; —
a difference to be set down by us as one of
the evils inseparable from our probationary
state, and only to be reconciled in that day
when the evidence of faith itself, so complex
and various, and even precarious as it is upon
earth, shall be turned into that of actual sight,
to Him who " overcometh", and is set down to
gether with Christ in his throne" in the
heavens. And here also I may venture to introduce
the caution which every student of revealed
Truth should receive against a too hasty in
dulgence of expectations of higher sorts or
degrees of evidence than the matter in ques
tion on each occasion may either warrant or
admit of. But on this point I shall simply
remind you of the well-known rule of Chil-
lingworth, who bids us be content, in all
questions of Christian Truth and its Evi
dences, with such a degree of assurance as is
e Rev. iii. 24.

48 SERMON IL
sufficient to produce obedience. God's Spirit,
he adds, may, if he please, work more — "a
certainty of adherence, beyond a certainty of
Evidence" — but to this the ordinary Christian
cannot be confident of attaining.
If indeed we could find one perfect human
mind in the adult condition, — by which I
mean one that had reached its maturity
without any impediment or hinderances to
its growth in Intellectual and Spiritual graces,
(arising whether from neglect, from evil or
injudicious education, false reasoning, im
proper indulgences, or any other cause,) — then
we should perhaps discern that Revealed
Religion addresses itself with a power of
conviction (though not the same power) to
every one of our mental faculties without
exception. But such a being as is now sup
posed — like a perfectly pure and perfectly
holy Church upon earth, which is indeed
only the same idea in an enlarged and com
plex form — is the mere phantom of our
volition. As men generally, nay universally,
are found to be, the case is as I have already
stated it ; and so, according to their mental
constitutions, (however these may have been
determined,) men do and will resist or yield
to this or that kind of persuasion ; some
indeed being swayed by their Reason, but

SERMON IL 49
others again equally, or perhaps more so, by
their imaginations, or by their feelings, or by
sentimental impulses of even a lower grade,
down, it may be, to the most irrational and
extravagant suggestions of self-delusion and
caprice. Hence it is partly, and partly it
may be presumed also from a desire to exalt
our notions with regard to the evidences of
Religion, that divines have for the most part
contended that the appeal should be here
made to the intellect exclusively ; — many of
them going so far indeed as to affirm that
all rejections and perversions whatsoever of
religious proof — all the diverse expedients in
short, which have been employed in self-
defence by Infidelity, Superstition, and Fana
ticism, are traceable to an undue interference,
habitual or occasional, with the rational fa
culty on the part of some other of the men
tal powers.
Without presuming either to gainsay or to
uphold the correlation thus asserted to exist
between the intellectual powers of man, and
the subject of religious proof, I purpose,
nevertheless, to assign the first place in the
order of specific consideration to that branch
of evidences which is commonly supposed to
fall immediately within the cognizance ofthe
rational faculty.

50 SERMON IL
But before I proceed to such consideration
of the different kinds of evidence as the
limits of these Lectures may allow, it will be
well to eliminate the sorts of proof which
appear, if not inadmissible altogether, at least
unsafe to insist upon in the conduct of our
defence of the Christian faith.
I. The first of these is Demonstration. If
Christianity admitted of demonstration in
the strict sense, it would seem to follow that
repeated inquiries into its evidences would
be, to a great extent, superfluous. But nei
ther supposition nor statement, in this pro
position, is true. Whenever we read, with an
appropriate candour, such argumentative de
fences of the faith as have been entitled,
" Demonstrations of true religion," " Demon
strations of the attributes of God," and the
like, we discover in them (be the nature of
our impressions beforehand what they may)
nothing like the sort of proof to which the
schools or mathematicians properly confine
the term. I am far from asserting that
some of the works to which I allude do not
establish to the convictions of some minds a
certainty of the conclusions at which they
arrive, which they themselves deem to be
the necessary result of a truly demonstrative
process. But, be this as it may, we are to

SERMON II. 51
remember that although there can be no
demonstration without certainty, yet there
may be abundant certainty without demon
stration. It will not perhaps be disputed,
that the nearest seeming approach to the
latter is where the objects of the reasoning
are the Being and Attributes of God. Yet
even these instances are not to be excepted
from our remark. At all events, attempts to
demonstrate the distinctive truths of Christ
ianity are generally allowed, in our own
country at least, to have been attended with
signal failure ; and it seems now to be the
settled judgment of those who have thought
most and most deeply on the subject, that
the Christian apologist of this advanced pe
riod of human enlightenment should relin
quish entirely such proud designations of his
reasoning efforts as we are now considering ;
however natural the desire (a desire very pro
bably transmitted down from the Aristote
lian period of ecclesiastical history) to invest
the faith with the most cogent, and, as was
thought, the only satisfactory kind of proof.
I shall insert one reflexion only, the direct
tendency of which is, it will be allowed, to
wards the elimination for which I am con
tending. The obvious, yet truly stupendous
fact, that the evidence of Christianity is a
E 2

52 SERMON IL
growing evidence ; or, in other words, that
Christianity keeps even pace with the steady
onward march of time ; the operation of its
laws and spirit (not to speak now of the ful
filment of its abundant promises and pre
dictions) presenting itself ever side by side
with the fleeting occurrences of each suc
cessive age, and no less imparting than re
ceiving testimony, sure and fast as every
event discloses itself to view ; — this mighty
fact alone furnishes to many a reflecting
mind a key, and the master key, for the
right understanding of its proofs. But here
manifestly there is no demonstration, if we
mean (with Leibnitz) what is proved " by a
metaphysical necessity, and in an incontest
able way." Nevertheless, there is an amount
of certainty, which, if honestly weighed, is
fully equal to any that attaches to the condi
tion of truth absolutely demonstrated. And
it has this further, and by no means insig
nificant advantage, that a lively and con
tinuous interest is thus excited in the study
of the evidences of Revelation. Let us think
but for a moment of the effect produced
upon pious minds by the single element of
unfulfilled prophecy, and ourselves, our own
times and their history, every thing of note
which may fall within the scope of our per-

SERMON IL 53
sonal observation and experience, becomes
part and parcel of this single branch of evi
dence for the eternal veracity of the Gospel.
It is thus that one only, and that a very
limited aspect of the evidence, secures for
the entire subject a degree of never-ceasing
novelty. Did Christianity, on the contrary,
resemble a thing that might be written,
folded up, and laid aside like an instrument
signed, sealed, and delivered, or a problem
once and once for all demonstrated, how dif
ferent would the case be then ! The interest
which we now cannot but take in its evi
dences would be in a great measure de
stroyed, its resemblance to all other practical
institutions effaced, and its adoption or re
jection might be left, in a manner that it
cannot now be, to chance or the phantasies
of individuals. Little indeed would be the
likelihood in such a case (humanly viewed, at
least) of its retaining any firm hold upon the
hearts and affections of men ; hopeless the
realization of those assurances with which
Holy Scripture abounds, of its unintermitted
duration and influences; frustrate that solemn
promise of its Divine Author himself, that it
should abide with us " alway, even unto the
end ofthe worlds" The inference resulting
f Matth. xxviii. ai.

54 SERMON IL
at once from this single reflexion would
seem to be conclusive against the demonstra-
bility of the Christian scheme. For demon
stration is both independent of time, and
unsusceptible of accessions ; — maxims which
(if we do not disdain so scholastic a mode of
disposing of the question) must peremptorily
and altogether exclude the evidences referred
to from the limits of demonstration.
II. Pursuing our course of elimination, we
should next exclude the argument from signs
or notes, whenever it may be sought to invest
it with the weight and dignity of absolute
Demonstration. If the notes or signs are in
reality of the essence of the point in ques
tion ; or, in other words, if the sign in a
given case be comprehended in the concep
tion of the thing signifiedj the argument is of
that identical character which was possessed
by the xBases of demonstration before rejected.
In order to be properly marks or tokens,
whatever may be advanced for such must be
separable (in idea, at least) from that which
is contended to be betokened by them. This
primary distinction did not escape the keen-
sighted controversialists on either side at the
era of the Reformation. Nor were the other
properties of the argument unobserved by
the same parties, although some writers both

SERMON IL 55
then and since are chargeable with having
overlooked them, or, it may be, with having
purposely passed them by in silence. It may
be well to occupy a short time in stating my
meaning somewhat more clearly.
The argument from signs needs be no
farther described on an occasion like the
present than by the notice of two only of its
conditions: 1. In the first place the sign,
and that of which it is the sign, must be, as
has already been intimated, clearly distin
guishable from each other; — and 2dly, in
order to be distinctive and of argumentative
force, it must be (in the reasoner's employ
ment of it) anterior to the thing signified.
That the argument from signs is in general
attended with much uncertainty will at once
be admitted; since even in the case of the
material universe, where it would strike us
to be most frequently available, we are as
sured by those whose researches into Nature
have been most successful, that the sagacity
of man, when supplied with all the helps of
modern ingenuity and discovery, has yet
advanced but a little way towards an accurate
discrimination between the essence and its
indications. How much less then can we
defer with an implicit submission to the
argument from signs, where the groundwork

56 SERMON IL
and the application of it are merely analo
gous; viz. when we transfer ourselves to
religious questions, which are obviously re
moved for the most part from the direct and
(comparatively) trustworthy operations of the
Senses ! — But I proceed to instance in the
important argument to which I have already
made allusion.
In the attempts then to determine the true
Church of Christ, what, it may be asked, has
been the procedure ofthe disputants of our
own Church and that of Rome ? As respects
our present consideration, have not Pro
testants been repeatedly confronted by the
so-called Demonstration of Bellarmine — an
argument clearly and avowedly constructed
of an elaborate accumulajtion of signs ? "An
tiquity," "Duration," "Uninterrupted suc
cession of Bishops," and many other notes
down (or as some of the Romanists will have
it, up) to the note of the name " Catholic,"
have been over and over again put forward
by one of the contending parties as conclusive
on their own side of the question. Occasion
ally, no doubt, these notes have been claimed
by ourselves also, although for the most part,
I believe, they have been some or all of them
conceded by Protestant writers to their op
ponents. It is, we may readily assure our-

SERMON IL 57
selves, a gratuitous injustice done to our own
cause to concede them, and we ought not
therefore to do so. But what is the con
sequence in an argumentative point of view,
if we do ? Surely it would be absurd to say
that we thereby granted that the case had
been demonstrated against us. We must on
the contrary maintain that the notes adduced,
being but notes or signs, are not of the
essence of the thing signified, and that the
reasonings founded upon them (whether
those reasonings be ours or theirs) can con
sequently at the best rise no higher than to
the level of probable reasonings. It is then
(and then only) when you have arrived at the
essentials, strictly so called, of a thing, that
you can produce a demonstration, the non
essential properties amounting in every case
to no more than grounds of Probability.
Hence it follows that we can freely accord
the fullest measure of justice to Bellarmine by
allowing great logical force to his reasonings
on behalf of the claims of his own communion.
But we must never estimate his great argu
ment in his book on the " Notes of the
Church" as any thing beyond a cumulative
argument of probability possessing exactly
the amount of proof supplied by the several
contributions of each note when summed up

58 SERMON IL
and taken collectively. And undoubtedly,
were the inducements arising out of the
fifteen different sources from whence his
argument is drawn each of ascertained weight
and validity, and all of them moreover shewn
to exist in the case of the Church of Rome
exclusively, then the reasoning of their great
champion would be (as the Papists have
generally professed to think it) "triumphant:"
yet observe, not even then amounting to
the triumph of a positive demonstration. But
unfortunately for their cause, the most im
portant of the notes are in reality as much
the property of other churches competing
with the Romish for the perfections of Holi
ness and Catholicity ; whilst the others again
crumble to pieces at the severe touch of
critical scrutiny ; — and the whole fabric is at
once swept clean away, if we meet the Romish
principle that the True Faith is only known
from a previous knowledge of the True
Church, by its more tenable direct converse,
and insist on our side that it is impossible to
know the True Church unless the True Faith
shall have itself been ascertained previously.
It must be admitted, however, that some
of the supporters of Bellarmine's argument
have been quite ready to allow that the sign
in every case must be a non-essential ; and

SERMON IL 59
these reasoners are therefore not, in fairness,
chargeable with exalting the argument, in
this respect at least, unduly. And further,
they have with equal candour acknowledged
the second requirement before noticed, con
fessing that the real gist of the question lies
in the settlement of what is prior and what
posterior in the mental view, or argumen
tative procedure. But these again, tenacious
of their desired conclusion, and bent at all
hazards upon establishing it, have been fain
to take refuge in the old Peripatetic distinc
tion between what is conceived to be known
first in the order of nature, and what is first
known to us, affirming with scholastic pro
priety that the true faith, being ofthe essence
of the true Church, must necessarily precede
it in order ; — meaning, if they wish the state
ment to be granted, in the natural order.
Having assumed this as the groundwork of
the argument, they proceed with undeniable
acuteness to infer that Faith, because essen
tial to the Church, is " the less known for
this very reason ;" inasmuch as it is further
reihoved from, and therefore less known to
us, and by necessary corollary incapable of
being adduced in the shape of a datum or
premiss in our reasonings. And here, having
completed their fallacy, they stop. They do

60 SERMON IL
not, because they cannot, shew that relatively
to us the case may not be, as we assert it
actually is, reversed. They are prudently
silent as to the additional truth which we
have it in our power to urge, and which alone
is needed to give consistency and complete
ness to the protestant argument ; — this addi
tional truth being, I need hardly remind you,
that God has in his written word made
known to us the Essential as well as the Non
essential. He has, in short, as we contend,
by giving and preserving to us the Bible,
placed us in a condition wherein we need
not, when instituting in a proper spirit our
researches after Divine Truth, be at a loss
for the true faith, and in our perplexity be
driven to have recourse to any visible infal
lible interpreter on earth ; — which is, as their
opponents are well aware, all that the Ro
manists really mean by the Church Catholic
throughout the whole controversy.
On the single note of miracles something
will be said in the subsequent part of our
inquiry. But if remarks such as I have now
ventured to make are just, when applied to
the aggregate argument of Bellarmine him
self, it may be useful for us all to consider
them in their application to the instances
(which are numerous) of the revival or repe-

SERMON IL 61
tition of it in fragmentary forms which meet
us in the present day.
I may observe lastly on this branch of my
subject, that the well-known dictum of Vin
centius of Lirins (which has been so often
pressed into the service of controversy) is, if I
mistake not, the product of a very intelligible
desire to give a sort of demonstrative character
to the teaching of the Church, as apart from
the teaching of the written Word of God. It
is certainly unfair to represent this doctrine
as a mere truism ; although in its literal
sense one cannot deny that it admits of being
so designated. We should view it rather
as a pseudo-axiomatic principle propounded
with the view of equalling religious to other
but alien truth in its capacity of strictly
scientific development. By the professed
universality and ubiquity, involved in the
dictum, it was probably intended to match
the same ideas, if not those also of eternity
and per-se-ity, (to speak in terms of art,) which
were the properties of all the principles of
demonstration as recognised in the scholastic
period. In this point of view, however, I
may confidently assert, that this celebrated
maxim has been tried and found wanting at
every season of calm and sober theological
discussion. In other words, arguments con-

62 SERMON IL
ducted upon the supposition of a sure test
being thereby afforded of the purity or cer
tainty of disputed doctrines, have invariably
left the matters in question exactly in the
condition in which they found them.
And so convinced, it is matter of historical
fact, was the church of Rome herself of the
invalidity of such maxims and such lines of
argumentation as have now been noticed,
that as soon as the reason of men began to
exhibit the natural and inevitable symptoms
of a re-awakened energy, she had recourse at
once to a principle which might abundantly
compensate for the insufficiency of them all.
Hence her doctrine of implicit submission to
authority — that is to say, her own ; an expe
dient devised with all her accustomed saga
city by one who hath been always in the
main "wise in her generation," and which
certainly, if judged of from its own confident
aspect and bearing, seems to offer the only
refuge for those who cannot endure suspense
in religious questions, but aspire after a de
gree of assurance on points of acknowledged
doubt and difficulty, withholden (as we think)
from man in the counsels of his all-wise and
bountiful Creator.
But to proceed to the matter more imme
diately proposed for our consideration. What

SERMON IL 63
has been now said will doubtless have re
minded many of the customary division of
arguments both for and against Revelation
into reasonings a priori and reasonings a pos
teriori. These designations I would stu
diously retain, as they constitute incontest-
ably the two grand methods of presenting
systematic truth to the cognizance and opera
tions of the rational faculty. Our business
will lie for some time with the former, that
is, the a priori branch.
It may be sufficient with reference to the
sequel to describe the argument in the brief
est manner, by simply contrasting it with
all arguments arising directly from facts, re
gard being had, however, and as matter of
course, to the eliminations already premised.
The arguments in question, will, with these
postulates, be restricted to the range of pro
bable evidence only.
Nor must it be forgotten throughout the
inquiry, that Holy Scripture has, in the judg
ment at least of many learned writers, fully
warranted the classification of arguments now
admitted. Whether in the text from St.
Peter before cited, the words " with meekness
and fear*" were designed to be expressive
of the qualities of the Christian apologist, or
a 1 Pet. iii. 15.

64 SERMON IL
of those of his opponent, the procedure en
joined is in either case one of reason ; a
rational answer is to be rendered by the
Christian always to rational questions and
objections. St. Paul too, we must remember,
calls the religion itself " a reasonable ser
vice"." To these and many similar passages
of Scripture we may appeal, as authorizing
every sober and legitimate exercise of our
reasoning powers ; and although the tenor of
the Apostle's own argumentation, and of that
of our blessed Lord Himself, whenever He
condescends to reason, presents us, it must
be admitted, wdth a preponderance of reason
ings from facts, we nevertheless sometimes
encounter examples of the a priori mode of
reasoning also.
Upon this point I am aware that I differ
in some degree from one of the greatest au
thorities in modern times on the subject to
which these remarks are applicable. I can
not think with him that when our Lord said
to the Jews, "Why even of yourselves judge
ye not what is right"?" he meant to exclude
from their thoughts and line of reasoning
whatever natural notions of the wisdom and
other attributes of the Divine mind we may
suppose them to have possessed. His appeal
^ Rom. xii. 1. c Luke xii. 27.

SERMON IL 65
was, no doubt, in the first instance to " the
law" and " the testimony" of which they were
the witnesses and keepers ; but surely not so
as that they should be oblivious or uncogni-
zant of those impressions, which they might
obtain from other sources, of the necessary
or probable manifestations of the will and
counsels of God. It may be a just remark,
that our Lord and his Apostles seldom em
ployed this kind of reasoning. But a sufficient
explanation of this (supposing it to be true
to a greater extent than I have yet allowed)
is afforded by the circumstance, that their
main business was to be the heralds and
preachers of facts to the world. The works
which they did, and the lives which they led,
were to be the grand objects presented by
them to that chosen generation, to which was
vouchsafed in the ordering of the Divine
counsels the privilege of beholding the one,
and forming an immediate estimate of the
other. But we must not think that the ob
servation and judgment of the eyewitnesses
of the Gospel phenomena, so to speak, were
to be exercised in isolation from those con
victions and impulses which might be enter
tained by them previously, with reference to
the course of the Divine dispensations, whe
ther in their own or any other age.

66 SERMON IL
And this we may assert to be the case, if
we confine the remonstrance of our Lord to
the auditory which he was immediately ad
dressing. But it is, we know, in conformity
with the analogy which pervades our com
mon expositions of such addresses, when pro
ceeding from the lips of our Lord and his
inspired followers, to suppose the lesson
which it conveys to be applicable, not merely
to the Jews, but also to the successive gene
rations of His disciples throughout all time.
With this extension of the appeal, we may
understand that all just and really tenable
convictions and principles of which the " wise
and prudent*^," properly so called, may be or
become sensible, are to be accounted amongst
the things, be they new or old, which " every
scribe instructed unto the kingdom of hea
ven^" must be able to bring forth out of his
treasure-house. The difference between the
Jew and Gentile in our Lord's day was, in
this respect, just this. The Gentile was
thrown upon the sort of extra- scriptural
convictions and impressions of which I have
been speaking ; — how he obtained them, and
whether they had been diminished or aug
mented in the lapse of ages, are collateral
questions ; — and upon these he was thrown
d Matth. xi. 25. c Matth. xiii. 52.

SERMON IL 67
entirely for the construction of a rational
religion ; whereas the Jew, who was more
fitly represented by the scribe in the parable,
possessed all the additional stores of know
ledge which a special Revelation had extended
to his countrymen, and thus superadded to
the uncertain and imperfect maxims of Gen
tile reasoning the incontrovertible data which
are implied in the very nature and notion of
any communication known to proceed from
God. But even supposing that to argue so as to
comprise the Gentile as well as the Jew were
to miss altogether the point of our Lord's
instruction in this passage, we need only look
to other parts of Holy Scripture and we shall
find ample grounds to justify the employment
of the reasoning in question. How, for ex
ample, are we to understand the Apostle when
he writes ofthe "'invisible things of God from
the creation of the world being clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are
made, even his Eternal Power and Godhead,"
unless we believe that this knowledge which
he ascribes to the Roman converts consti
tuted an antecedent fund of thought and
information, which they were to bring to
bear upon the doctrines that he himself was
f Rom. i. 20.
F 2

68 SERMON IL
teaching them ? True, they had dimmed the
light that was in them, and for the most part
"become vain in their imaginations;" but
yet they were somehow or other " sure (the
Apostle says in the next chapter) that the
judgment of God," the rendering to every
man according to his deeds, " is against them
that commit such things" as those where
of they were guilty. — Nor can we read the
accounts of the same Apostle's conference
with the worshippers of "^ the Unknown God,"
without obtaining assurance that the exist
ence of antecedent probabilities, or presump
tions, as they may be called, was a point
assumed by him when conferring with Gen
tile as well as with Jew. Nor again would it
be perhaps a false interpretation of passages
occurring in the Epistle" wherein "a Hebrew
ofthe Hebrews" is rebuking his own country
men for their having retrograded to the
rudiments or first principles of the belief to
which they had been converted, to expound
most of the elements there mentioned, to be
not so much the distinctive fundamentals of
Christianity, as part of that "moral Reve
lation" which at some time or other we
conceive to have been made universally to
mankind. How much, as a matter of fact,
S Acts xvii. 23. '' Heb, v. 12.

SERMON IL 69
this knowledge contributed to the conversion
of the heathen to Christianity in the Aposto
lic age, we cannot decide, because we know
not with certainty the extent of the graces
of the Holy Spirit vouchsafed to men at any
period. But we should be unnecessarily over
taxing (if I may without irreverence say so)
the bounty of the Spirit, if we were, against
the apparent meaning of the Apostle, to
ascribe to direct and extraordinary influences
of the Holy Ghost the whole work of bring
ing the souls of those Gentiles to Christianity:
or if we were to reject from our account of
the acceptance of the Gospel all those helps
which, more or less, existed previously in
whatever sound and true convictions the
converts might, either then or in aftertimes,
have been brought to by a rightful and
judicious exercise of their unassisted mental
powers. Here then, without adducing other por
tions of Scripture which tend to confirm the
point contended for, or raising any questions
as to the different convictions of the Gentiles
of St. Paul's day, and of those who at subse
quent times have considered the claims of
the Gospel to entitle it to acceptance, apart
from any consciousness of being influenced
in any measure by the External Evidences,

70 SERMON IL
we recognise the principal materials of that
species of Reasoning which we before said
was common to both maintainor and im-
pugner of the Christian Revelation ; and
which has, rather from its seeming than its
real contrariety to Facts, been always the
favorite resort of the latter. — Nor, if the
foregoing remarks be just, needs the Christian
apologist be apprehensive that his stock of
argumentatory materials will be a scanty one,
or that he will be confined within narrow
limits by the restrictions which in the earlier
part of this discourse were laid upon him.
Before the External evidences come into
view, he will have, in the field of the a priori
reasonings which are retained, ample scope
for the exercise of the most various ingenuity,
and for the display of the most extensive
erudition and experience. The whole ex
panse of the Moral and Natural worlds will
still lie before him ; and, as surviving the
exclusions which have been insisted on, every
notion of antecedent probability, every rea
sonable anticipation, and apparent likelihood
of connexion between what we are prone
to call Cause and Effect in moral subjects,
by whatsoever inlets they may have found
their way into the reasoning mind, will yet
remain, and will fall clearly within the con-

SERMON IL 71
ceded province of this species of argumen
tation. Nor is this all, or nearly all. As compen
sation, and far more than compensation, for
all possible disadvantages under which the
restrictions before insisted on might be
thought to lay the Christian reasoner, there
exists the authority of Holy Scripture, which
is equivalent to any amount or form of de
monstration that can be desired. Here let
us compare not the Jew and Gentile with
each other, but the Christian with them
both. How much advantage hath not the
Christian ? — the Christian, I mean, who is
in possession of the whole volume of the
New Testament. Here surely we have
enough, and more than enough, to outweigh
all the means and materials of conviction
which may be thought to lie at the disposal
of other reasoners. There are, if we choose
to say so, an Eternity, and a Universality in
the announcements of the Sacred Volume,
matching the same ideas in the region of
human demonstration : there is an Eternity,
because the revelations of God give utter
ance to truths (the immortality of the soul,
for instance) which are of eternal moment ;
a Universality, because they affect the
whole human race ; nay, we are assured, are

72 SERMON IL
such as that the angels of God take an in
terest in understanding and meditating upon
them. Nothing, in a word, that is needed
for the most perfect certainty of which the
mind is capable, is wanting to him who
implores the illumining grace of the Holy
Spirit to assist him in understanding and
interpreting the Sacred Records, which he
believes to have been originally dictated by
the self-same Spirit. " If they see, and
perceive not ; if they read, but understand
not ; if they hear, but comprehend not ;
the defect is not in the object, but the
faculty ; not in the book of God, but in
the will of man ; not in the smaller errors
of interpretation, but in the want of the
first elements and materials of religious per
ception." And here, I would say, come in all those
reasonings which in the common systems of
divinity constitute the main body of the In
ternal Evidences. Such arguments, I mean,
as are drawn from the observed adaptation
of Divine Revelation to the condition and
circumstances of mankind ; its perfect suit
ableness to supply the wants of our intellec
tual and moral nature, and especially that
craving after happiness which is inseparable
from the human soul, and which the systems

SERMON IL 73
of heathen or mere rational philosophy have
in vain endeavoured to satisfy. For how,
we may ask, can arguments of suitableness,
correspondency, and adaptation be construct
ed, unless there be on the part of the reasoner
some previous knowledge of the indispensable
characteristics of those doctrines, those pre
cepts, those institutions, which render them
so certainly appropriate to the given case ?
Man must know the particulars of his own
position and capacity ; but he must know
more. He must have some general (at least)
perception of the required qualities of all
that professes to be extended to him for the
purpose of relieving his moral necessities, and
enlightening the darkness of his understand
ing. He must be prepared to estimate, at
the same time that he welcomes, the aids
which a Revelation offers to him, and even
to criticise to a certain degree its contents.
The mass of internal evidence, I say, as we
meet it in the writings of Christian apologists,
rests upon the assumption of this necessity ;
nor would it be possible to admit the strong
claims advanced by them on behalf of this
branch of evidence, were we able to disprove
the tacit hypothesis upon which they all along
proceed. It is not enough then to say, that
" the principles of natural and essential reli-

74 SERMON IL
gion are supposed to be known" before we
come to the consideration of the external
evidence ; that we should account these prin
ciples to comprehend not simply " the being
of one almighty and perfect God, and the
creation of the world by Him ; but also the
immortal and accountable nature of man — a
future state of rewards and punishments —
the obligation of loving, worshipping, and
obeying God — the several branches of ordi
nary duty to our fellow - creatures :" these,
doubtless we may consider to be sufficiently
established without the help of Revelation,
" by the works of creation, the fragments of
man's moral nature, the tradition of the ori
ginal revelation, the voice of conscience ;"
but something more than this is required
still. These, were we to stop with them,
would be found an inadequate preparation,
far from amounting to that state of ante
cedent knowledge which man must bring
with him in order to assay and appreciate
the dealin^n fr^od. As respects doctrines
and precepts, ior example, he must be quali
fied to discern the comparative value of
Christian and all other ; — of motives, he must
be able to pronounce which, upon a compa
rison of those which Christianity urges upon
him, and all that he may find inculcated

SERMON IL 75
elsewhere, are the better, purer, and more
calculated to prove efficacious for the ends
which they profess to serve. For it cannot
but be conceded, that it is because the Bible
will stand the application of all these tests,
because it corresponds with every anticipa
tion which those have formed, who with
minds set aright and duly disciplined, ad
dress themselves to the study of it ; — be
cause, in one word, it answers our reasonable
expectations, — that we are believers. Despite
the mysteries, and other obscurities which
divers circumstances (the brevity of its
narrations, &c.) sometimes occasion to the
reader, and which, supposing them to sur
pass all power of explanation, may yet be
with good reason regarded as the peculiar
sphere of trial for the advanced spiritual
discernment of the mature (the reAeiot)'
in the faith, it is sufficiently perspicuous
to level it in the main to the condition
of the most untutored mind. — Even " the
child (says the pious Bishop of Calcutta)
meets with what suits his opening capacities ;
whilst to the old and experienced it offers
that which gives them tranquillity and peace.
Keeping pace with all the improvements of
mankind in learning and science, in philo-
i Heb. V. 14.

76 SERMON IL
sophy and the arts — nay keeping above and
beyond them all — opening its treasures as
man advances for searching them out, it is
illustrated and confirmed by every acquisition
in human knowledge ; it meets and suits the
mind of the savage emerging into civilisation,
and yet soars far above the intellect of the
scholar and the divine in the most refined
advances of society. Like all the works of
God, it is adapted to men in every stage of
improvement, and the more it is studied, the
more do the topics of admiration multiply."
What is this but shewing that the mine of a
priori reasoning is unexhausted and inex
haustible ?
But to carry our observations further in
this direction would be to intrench upon the
subject of Natural Religion, which presents
itself at once to our thoughts when we have
reached this point in our general inquiry.
The consideration of this subject in some of
its bearings will occupy us on the next
occasion. — It remains now to annex to the
remarks which have been offered two only
cautions with respect to a right estimation of
our a priori reasonings in Religion.
First, What has been said should dispose
us to be on our guard against a propensity to
which the most sincere, zealous, and well-

SERMON IL 77
meaning Christians, often indeed in exact
proportion to their possession of these quali
ties, are liable, and which impels them to
dogmatise with unrestrained vehemence upon
Religious subjects. This disposition is per
haps strongest in those persons whose religion
involves "no intellectual exercise, and, strictly
speaking, no subject of intellect at all ; pos
sessing in fact, (as it has been expressed,) apart
from their feelings, no definition, no topics,
no distinct succession of views." Such persons
are not unfrequently the most forward and
pertinacious in imposing upon others the
peculiar articles of their own faith, which are
the same as their own a priori convictions on
Religious points, as if they must necessarily
be superior to the surest deductions of sound
and enlightened reason. Our present ob
servations may at least suggest the duty of
maintaining a vigilant guard against all
temptations to tyrannise over the faith of
others by inculcating, as necessary to sal
vation, any dogmas whatsoever which have
not a plain and unquestionable origin in the
written Word of God. The task may be
difficult, undoubtedly it is, in the generality
of cases where this disposition betrays itself
within our own communion to distinguish
the alloy from the pure ore, to separate "the

78 SERMON II.
chaff from the wheat''." But the existence
of the spurious element even in the most
perfect and unexceptionable systems of Di
vinity which have appeared in the world may
without irreverence (when we take into con
sideration the nature and circumstances of
their framers) be assumed. Nor does it seem
consistent with Christian courage, however
agreeable it may be to the maxims of a
worldly prudence, to shrink from the obloquy
which has been sometimes cast upon those
who may have denounced, as exercising
pernicious influence upon the growth of
practical Christianity, whatsoever of simply
human material shall have been suffered
to mix with the authoritative statement of
the Christian verities. Nay, when they go
farther, and acting upon the testimony
afforded by History, condemn the intro
duction of that which is not indubitably
of divine origin into all systematic represen
tations of a saving Faith, they are assuredly
not to blame ; rather should they be thank
ed and praised, if with all their jealousy of
God's honour, and tenderness for the con
sciences of their fellow-men, they are yet
most careful in their teaching and other
ministrations to conform to every portion of
^ Jerem. xxiii. 28.

SERMON IL 79
inherited doctrine, which can be shewn to be
not extraneous to the spirit and essentials of
the Sacred Truth. All that has now been
urged amounts to saying, that there is nothing,
which being derived from any other source
than the fountain of living waters opened for
us in the Holy Scripture, can be promulged
with that degree of positiveness and absolute
certainty, which should enter into our con
ceptions of the dogmatical delivery of reli
gious doctrine. But the tenor of my obser
vations is not to countenance, in any way,
the notion that the deductions of human
wisdom (be it the wisdom of Greek or Roman
sage, of Christian father, or Scholastic doctor,
or whose-soever it may, provided only it de
serve the name we give it) are unserviceable,
whether for the expansion and enforcement of
Christian truth on the one hand, or for the
establishment of its supreme authority on the
other. On the contrary, it is to these that,
under the Divine blessing, we must look for
those additional safeguards of the true faith,
which it is the office of humanity to supply,
as the centuries of the Gospel continue on
their appointed ceaseless course ; and by the
reaction of which upon the Scriptural teach
ing of the Church, I have been insisting that
the stately pile of the Christian evidences,

80 SERMON IL
age by age, and year by year, is ever increas
ing in height, and becoming more and more
consolidated. Secondly. Let us not be dismayed by the
untoward objection to which it must be
granted that a priori principles are liable ;
an objection which goes the length of stig
matizing them all as prejudices. Prejudices
in a literal sense they unquestionably are,
and cannot but be. But to reject them sum
marily on this account would be little short
of assenting to the removal of most of the
groundwork of our probable reasonings on
all subjects ; or rather it would be making
one a priori maxim destroy or (as lord Bacon
would have said) " bowstring" all others. For
what, it may be asked, is the objection itself
but an a priori principle, calling in question
the tenability of all a priori principles, itself
alone excepted ? and, doing so, simply and
solely because, forsooth, they may be in the
bad sense of the word prejudices ? I say in
the bad sense, for there is incontestably a
good sense also of which the word "prejudice"
is susceptible, according to which indeed the
most momentous and reverend truths in
every department of attainable knowledge
may equally (if it so please us) be denomi
nated prejudices ; the which, nevertheless,

SERMON IL 81
were we to abandon, there would be but
little reasonable hope left us of achieving a
desired proficiency in any of our studies.
Distrust or jealousy of such a sort of preju
dices should never lead us to do more than
test and prove their real value, with the fixed
determination, when we do so, of abandoning
them indeed if we find them false, but on
the other hand of adhering to them, and up
holding them with constancy, should we upon
examination become assured of their validity.
But this prejudice against prejudice, which
the objection in question embodies, has been,
as respects one remarkable mode of its ope
ration, not long since exposed with great
ability from this place.
Finally, I would say, if we look upon Reve
lation in the light of a Science, it must be
studied in a philosophical spirit ; that is, in
a spirit really and truly philosophical. This
will be not by dogmatism on the one hand,
nor on the other by trying to divest the mind
at the outset of all its principles, under the
apprehension that men will call them pre
judices, but rather by retaining, cherishing,
and acting out those maxims, which we may
have been taught to believe and reverence in
the course of our Christian education, or by
wise reflection upon what we read and ob-
G

82 SERMON IL
serve. Our religious speculations, if other
wise conducted, we may rest assured, will
never issue in a sound and sober theology.
Whether indeed the right process be induc
tive or deductive, — in other words, whether
or no theology be an exemplification of the
new or of the old system of philosophy ; or
in different parts, and in different degrees,
it partake of the character of both ? are
questions, the solution of which may (I have
before said) be left to the consideration of
a very few. But all men, we know, must be
theologians, as they are also (according to
the well-known remark of the philosopher)
more or less moralists, poets, orators, and so
forth ; and they will assuredly find it a hard
task to improve this original and native
talent to its right use, if they set about to
sweep away all their earliest notions, and
reduce their minds (as far as they can do so)
in religious matters to the condition of a
mere tabula rasa — the course so often re
commended by those who in every age Would
fain be thought the unprejudiced, and there
fore the only wise and impartial instructors
of mankind.
Nay, it would seem that the necessity of
the acknowledgment and maintenance of
some fixed first principles should be most

SERMON IL 83
liberally conceded by those who are so for
ward to contend for a marked difference
between Theology and every other science,
to the alleged disadvantage of the former.
" While each other science," say they, " goes
forward — while it makes new observations,
or combines facts more judiciously, or from
these infers and induces general laws hitherto
unnoticed, and so developes itself, becoming
yearly wider; deeper, and more certain, its
numerous phenomena being referred back to
elementary principles and universal laws —
Theology remains in its old position. And
if it be ever seen to move at all, it is not, as
other sciences, smoothly and by regular ad
vance, but only by leaps and starts." If
this be true, either some new novum organon
with its own peculiar store of principles, is
still desiderated for the prosecution of theo
logical inquiry, or we must perforce fall back
upon our existing stock, whatever that stock
may be. Of these two courses whether is
the more reasonable, or, which is to us of
equal moment, possesses the sanction of our
own Church, there can exist no doubt.
Let then the sincere student of Scripture
and of his own heart only do justice to them
both. Let him, whilst he looks upon the
Divine word as really a treasure, esteem also
G 2

84 SERMON IL
the impulses and powers of good of which he
is conscious in himself in the light of a
talent committed to his safe keeping and im
provement. If he search his own heart and
intellect, he will discover in them the strong
est antecedent obligations to seek after, to
love and to obey God. Going from thence
to the written word, he will find those obli
gations implied, strengthened and enforced ;
and will make the two testimonies which are
thus supplied to the leading doctrines of
Revelation interweave with, react upon, and
constitute each other. He will thus edify
and establish his own faith ; and, as respects
his profession of the faith before others, he
will hold its essential and vital parts in
meekness and charity. All that is collateral
and subsidiary in the religious structure he
will concede to the province of opinion, wait
ing in humility of spirit for the coming of
that blessed time when, he is assured by the
voice of faith within him, " the operations of
the intellect and the emotions of the heart
shall" (to apply the words of the pious pre
late already named in this discourse) " be for
ever harmonized in the revelations of a world,
where knowledge and love will be united
in their highest exercises, never to be dis
joined or clouded through eternity."

SERMON III.

Rom. n. 14.
These, having not the law, are a law unto themselves.

rpHE observations made in the preceding
-*- Lectures were intended to remind us that
knowledge of the Divine and human natures
is the ultimate object of all our purest and
holiest aspirations, and that in its attainment
consists the blessed consummation of the chief
(if not indeed all, the) purposes for which we
can suppose ourselves to have been created.
Absolute knowledge, by which is meant a
perfect and intimate acquaintance with sub
jects so obscure and difficult, has been, it was
said, withholden from us in our present
temporal condition : — nor could such know
ledge, perhaps, be attained by man without a
concomitant apprehension ofthe entire sys
tem of the universe, both visible and invisi-

86 SERMON IIL
ble ; — but that, nevertheless, perceptions, of
a relative sort, of the natures and characters
of both God and man, together with a sense
of the duties naturally arising on the part
of man from these perceptions, are placed by
the Divine bounty within our reach, and that
this kind of knowledge, as it is the only true
Wisdom of which our present faculties are
capable, so by its being accessible (though in
different degrees) to all men, it furnishes at
once the rule and the test of human con
duct, and thereby determines the character of
each individual in the eyes of the righteous
Governor and Judge of the whole earth.
The knowledge which, as a religious be
ing, man is both qualified and encouraged to
cultivate, having been described in a very
general manner, I then proceeded to notice
in a similar way the subject of Evidence ;
having in view, principally, to guard my
younger hearers against expecting from others,
or claiming for themselves in the advocacy
of Christian truth, more cogent sorts of
Proof than the matter really admits of. Ac
cordingly, a great part of the preceding
Lecture, it may be remembered, was taken up
in discarding certain lines of argumentation,
metaphysical and other, not so much on the
ground of their acknowledged abstruseness

SERMON IIL 87
and profundity, as because they are clearly
and avowedly of a different character from
the matter upon which they are employed.
This however, as I was careful to state, by
no means amounts to the exclusion of all a
priori reasonings ; but on the contrary, if we
rightly understand such reasonings in their
application to the distinctive teaching of
Christianity, they will be seen to constitute a
great portion of those proofs which are re
cognised and assembled by Christian apolo
gists under the title ofthe Internal Evidences
of Christianity.
And when I spoke of objections to Reve
lation arising from the same general source,
I would be understood to have comprehended
under them all insinuations, inuendoes, and
the like, which unhappily abound in infidel
writings to the disparagement of the Sacred
Truth. The celebrated sarcasms of Gibbon,
for instance, if closely examined, resolve
themselves into the mere suggestions of a
shadowy and mundane (so to speak) proba
bility, of which the writer readily availed
himself while pursuing his narration of events
which, from the peculiar bias of his philosophy,
he would insinuate to have been but the na
tural results of human agencies ; and which
could, under this conception of their import-

88 SERMON IIL
ance, never, of course, rise above their dead
terrestrial level. A mind such as his would
easily find food for scepticism in every ap
pearance of the world of nature and reason ;
and would take delight, wherever the ex
istence of secondary causes could be dis
covered or surmised, in substituting their
operation for the overruling Providence of
God. The remark might be extended with equal
justice to the other most famous infidel phi
losophers of the last century, to whose early
prejudices against religion we may, like their
contemporaries, ascribe the melancholy fact,
that they embraced every opportunity of as
sailing that sacred subject rather than any
other with the keen but impotent weapons
of their ridicule and raillery.
But it was insisted that the advocate of
Revelation would not be justified in con
ceding to his infidel opponent the undis
puted possession of the field of controversy,
as respects the sort of reasonings before us.
It has been the fate of the objections which
have just been alluded to, though urged with
all the arts of a cultivated rhetoric, and the
poignancy of a refined wit, against either the
truths of Christianity or its evidences, to
have been encountered and vanquished by

SERMON IIL 89
more enlarged and truer views of the na
tural and moral world. The more limited a
priori argument, in fact, has been forced to
bow before the more comprehensive maxims
of an extended knowledge and experience.
Thus has it fared with modern objections
to Christianity and its peculiar doctrines.
But when we took a wider view, and re
garded the matter historically, it was urged
that at all times not only the wise and edu
cated, but the ordinarily observant indi
vidual could command arguments in abund
ance of a presumptive kind in favour of re
vealed religion. The holy apostles, and espe
cially St. Paul, of whom we know most, it was
observed, appear to have assumed this in their
teaching, and certainly did not treat those
with whom they conversed. Gentile any more
than Jew, as if the understanding of their
hearers were utterly devoid of correct im
pressions as to the character and probable
dealings of the Deity. And in like manner,
down the whole stream of Christian history,
the same fact might have been exemplified
in the conduct of those defences of Christian
truth which were called forth from time to
time by the assaults and machinations of the
infidel and heretical. Although then we
might on many grounds prefer the other

90 SERMON IIL
great branch of evidences known tinder the
title of external, we were yet constrained by
the equity of the case to lay much stress on
the aids thus afforded by the internal evi
dence for the maintenance and support of
the Gospel cause. And hence we were im
mediately and forcibly made aware of the
propriety of considering, for a while, the posi
tion occupied in relation to this all-important
subject by what is generally understood un
der the phrases, the Light of Nature, and
Natural Religion.
It were both tedious and unprofitable to
dwell upon the various uses and abuses of
such a term as Natural Religion. Some, we
know, have understood by it those impres
sions on religious subjects, and those only,
which it is conceived are part of the original
furniture of each individual mind, as it first
comes into being in its present deteriorated
or lapsed condition. Others would superadd
to these the principles which the mind may
subsequently acquire and assimilate to itself
from every other source. Revelation alone
being carefully excepted. Others again are
wont to regard these latter principles as con
stituting the only and entire staple of the
Religion of Nature ; being reluctant to allow
that the mind of man is from the first in the

SERMON IIL 91
possession of any, however qualified it may
be to become the receptacle afterwards of all,
religious impressions whatever. The diverse
conceptions of the Light of Nature, as it is
shed upon the region of religious knowledge,
are, if I mistake not, merely modifications of
the general views now mentioned.
Now to whichsoever of these several views
we may incline, it is evident that the mate
rials of reasoning supplied by Natural Reli
gion are to be considered (in their speculative
aspect) anterior to the operation of that spi
ritual discernment which Christianity teaches
us is bestowed upon the faculties of the true
believer in Christ.
As respects the first and second of the de
scriptions given, this is obviously the case.
For the element ^vhich is common to them
both, consists in attributing to the mind at
the very commencement of its existence cer
tain innate or connate ideas or conceptions,
which are available, and indeed of prime im
portance, in its future processes of thought
and reasoning — inasmuch as they amount, in
fact, to so many incontrovertible maxims in
things pertaining both to the nature and
the dealings of God. Not that all persons
are competent to give an account of these,
because few comparatively of the human race

92 SERMON IIL
are alive to the consciousness of their mental
stores. But they are to be considered never
theless as belonging to all men, since none
who have time and inclination and patience
and ability to exercise their introspective
powers can (it is said) fail to become sensible
of their existence. Many of our own divines
call these principles by divers figurative desig
nations, such as "rays of heavenly light,"
"seeds" and "germs" of religion, and the
like, contending also that in their natural
and ordained development they lead easily,
and as it were by an impulse of congeniality,
to the adoption of Revelation, and the con
sequent gradual progress in edification of
each healthy and rightly-ordered mind. But
there are many also ranking equally high in
theological and philosophical estimation, who
dispute the existence of such principles alto
gether; and these persons form the third class
before noticed. In the opinion of such it is
enough that there should be allowed to exist
in man a faculty, to be called intuitional, if we
please, but simply a faculty — an entity quite
distinct from the objects upon which it acts —
by the spontaneous exercise of which we dis
cern the realities of the spiritual, in a man
ner analogous to the operation of our senses
upon the material, world. The still more

SERMON IIL 93
subtle question too continues in agitation,
whether the objects of which this faculty
takes cognizance have an independent ex
istence, or are to be looked upon as possess
ing a merely relative and subjective reality.
The settlement of such questions, it is mani
fest, would carry us beyond the limits of my
present inquiry ; but a few observations
bearing upon the speculations adverted to
may be advanced, for the sake of that section
of my auditory, for whose instruction the pe
riodical treatment of these and similar sub
jects was unquestionably designed.
I. It must be allowed, in the first place,
that the fact of a Revelation made to Adam
alone would be enough to support that line
of argument which denies the demonstra-
bility of an innate knowledge of Divine things
on the part of man ; and this without arguing
at all upon the supposable knowledge of Adam
before his act of disobedience, and apart from
the influences of direct communications then
made to him by his Creator. We know too,
that if there be any principles deserving to
be accounted universal in the mind of man,
a strong and almost irresistible desire of im
parting knowledge is one of them. The re
lation of parent to child, as it commonly
commands the most frequent opportunities

94 SERMON IIL
of communicating information, so in other
respects it bears with a peculiar force upon
the question now before us. It is inconceiv
able, or nearly so, that the father who was
himself convinced of the being of God, and
who enjoyed even the faintest perceptions of
His character and will, should not impart
this his noblest and most highly prized know
ledge to his immediate posterity. Coupling
these few and obvious reflections with a be
lief that a Revelation was actually made to
Adam of those primary truths which have
been claimed as the dictates of natural reli
gion simply, we draw a conclusion against
the necessity, at least, of any innate ideas of
religious truth. — And, it must be remarked,
this argument is not refuted by any alleged
or real imperfection attaching to traditionary
communications in other cases. Such trans-
missions are unquestionably imperfect in
comparison with other modes of conveying
truth from age to age, even though it be
conceded that the traditional matter may
very often have truth for its foundation.
But, be that as it may, if any should be dis
posed to connect the observations just made
with the case of Traditions as upheld by the
church of Rome, it seems a duty to remind
him that in the question to which my re-

SERMON IIL 95
marks have been applied, there is no dispute
as to the real existence of the mental objects,
the difficulties turning only upon the modes
and circumstances of that existence. In
the question betw^een the Romish and other
churches, on the contrary, the Protestant has
been asking for centuries in vain for that
body of traditions, whether of Divine or
Apostolical authority, which his opponent
would fain force upon his acceptance, as
equally obligatory upon the conscience of
the professed Christian with the undisputed
written Word of God.
The tendency of these and similar reflec
tions, doubtless, is not only to suggest the
possibility of man's original condition being
one of a mere capacity to receive ideas, rather
than a state of actual and conscious, posses
sion of them from the first, but to establish
the probability also of the case being actually
so ; — and the same hypothesis appears to
gather strength when we pass on in thought
to the consideration of the times immediately
succeeding the disastrous epoch of the Fall.
II. That this awful event is of moment in
its bearings upon the present question is un
deniable ; and it has accordingly been not
unfrequently adduced as furnishing an argu
ment a fortio7'i against the very existence of

96 SERMON IIL
natural Religion in its most usual sense. For
how, it is said, upon the assumption of the fact
as recorded in Genesis, and of its alleged
consequences, could the unassisted and unen
lightened mind of man be equal to faith and
obedience to those laws and precepts which
we may suppose it to have inherited ; and
which Sin, or rather its crafty and malignant
Author, had proved sufficiently powerful to
counteract even in the case of our first pa
rents ? Surely it is of the very essence of the
doctrine of the fall, that " the condition of
man"," if he be left to himself, must grow gra
dually worse and worse, unless the downward
tendency be arrested by the interposition of
Divine Grace. A being gifted with original
righteousness had sinned against the light
which jadiated from the actual presence of
God Himself. When that light was with
drawn in displeasure and wrath, how great,
how overwhelming must have been the dark
ness which succeeded ! Fresh supplies of
knowledge then, it has been thought, must
have been vouchsafed to man shortly after
the fall of Adam — a body of information
which should serve as some sort of guid
ance and consolation in his degraded state,
and a pledge at the same time of even
tual, though distant, restoration to the for-
^ Art. X.

SERMON IIL 97
felted favour of his Creator. In short, a
revelation, more or less explicit, was probably
extended, if not to Adam himself, at any
rate to his immediate descendants, for the
gracious purpose of cheering them in their
despondency, and enabling them to look
forward to a day of future blessings yet in
store for all who should tread in the ap
pointed paths of duty and allegiance.
The spread of this primeval knowledge to
the various parts of the civilized world — its
traces among the Eastern nations, and parti
cularly in Greece — its various transforma
tions, corruptions, mutilations — in a word,
the divers shapes, solemn and grotesque, which
it assumed, as it traversed the earth to and
fro in ancient times, and found its exponent
in the religions and customs of different
peoples, belong to the historical part of our
subject ; and, I may observe here, constitute
a portion of study abundantly cultivated
amongst ourselves. Whether or no what we
read in the moral works of Plato and Ari
stotle, or in the fragmentary ethics, or rather
gnomology of the Greek poets and historians,
are only remnants of, or changes (so to
speak) rung upon, the dictates of that moral
code which is known to theologians under
the title of the " Precepts to the sons of
H

98 SERMON IIL
Noah," may furnish an interesting point of
inquiry to the religious student. But it con
cerns not my present purpose. It is enough
for this that the probability of the portions
of Divine knowledge under consideration
having been directly communicated by God
to meet the necessities of the earliest fore
fathers of the human race, should be con
ceded. At the same time, when a late learned
prelate of our Church states, " that it is de
monstrable from a consideration of the powers
and faculties of the human understanding,
that it cannot attain to knowledge of any
kind without some external communication,"
he certainly appears liable to the charge of
overstatement, if not of having assumed the
very point in question. " The mind cannot,"
says Bishop Van Mildert, " perceive, unless an
impression be made on the organs of percep
tion : it cannot form ideas without percep
tions ; it cannot judge without a comparison
of ideas : — it cannot form a proposition, with
out the exercise of its judgment : it cannot
reason, argue, or syllogize, without this pre
vious formation of propositions to be exa
mined and compared." Hence he draws as
an inference, that "the mind of man can in
the first instance do nothing of itself," — " all

SERMON IIL 99
its materials must come from without ; and
the mind unfurnished with these is inca
pable of attaining to the lowest degree of
knowledge." A theory thus positive denies altogether
the existence of any independent percep
tions, whether of Divine or human truth ;
and its soundness may be (indeed it often
has been) called in question. I may remark,
that in a metaphysical point of view, the
opinion of the heathen moralist, so tersely
expressed in the words ala6av6fxe6a on alcrOa-
vofxeda, Koi voovfiev on vooOfiev, is more in uni
son with the philosophy of our own day ; and
that many grave objections may be brought
against the opposite theory, whenever it is
sought to apply it specially to the provinces
of theology and ethics.
If the line of thought suggested by the
learned prelate in the passage which I have
quoted were followed out, the evidences of
the Christian Religion might be very rapidly
dealt with, as respects, at least, their entrance
into the mind of man. Accordingly, he soon
after ascribes all our ideas to Sense and In
spiration, as the sole and sufficient inlets of
knowledge into our minds. I need not point
out how unsatisfactory is such a view to those
who maintain the existence of moral percep-
H 2

100 SERMON IIL
tions entirely apart both from the powers of
sense and the aids of inspiration, properly
so called, and who studiously distinguish all
its other acknowledged powers from the prin
ciple of faith, or the religious principle, in
the accounts which they give of the structure
and capabilities of the human soul.
It is not however the object of this Lec
ture to discuss, but rather to point to the
existence of opinions, important indeed as
they stand connected both with the truth of
Christianity and with its evidences, but yet
so wide and so profound in the character of
the speculations involved in them. One re
mark only shall be made upon that part of
the theory just noticed, which relates to Sense,
considered as one great channel of entrance
for knowledge into our minds. It is, that the
very evidence afforded by the senses them
selves is, in a speculative point of view, im
perfect, unless we are impressed, a priori, with
a full conviction of the constancy and immu
tability of the Divine attributes. And this
we must bear in mind when we come to
the examination of the competency of the
external evidences alone to establish the
truth of the Gospel. For with the most
abundant testimony to the facts of the Scrip
tural narrative staring him in the face, the

SERMON IIL 101
infidel, we should remember, may yet deny
the faithfulness ofthe powers of sense them
selves. And there seems to be no other
speculative, or purely argumentative w^ay of
proving that our senses are to be depended
upon, than by connecting their uses and effi
ciency with the goodness of Him to whom
we are indebted for them. " For the best,
the only security that we have that our senses
do not deceive us, and that every thing in
the world is not quite otherwise than it ap
pears to us to be," writes Bishop Blackall,
" is the goodness of God;" and this same se
curity we have, he argues, in an especial man
ner and degree with reference to the one great
leading fact of Christianity, I mean that of
our Lord's Divine mission. " Nay," he goes
on, " we are more secure of this than we
are of any other fact, because it is more
plainly inconsistent wdth the goodness of God
to deceive us in a matter on which our ever
lasting welfare depends, than in matters only
of this life, which are the chief things for
which our bodily senses are of use to us."
The applicability of the remark to all the
phenomena, and its connexion with our im
mediate subject, are too obvious to require
comment. Leaving then all theories as to their origin,

102 SERMON IIL
(which, after all, must stand or fall according
to the faithfulness of our reading the mind
of infancy,) we must assume that there are a
certain number of principles which ordinary
observation, united with common sense, re
cognises as possessing authority over our rea
sonable nature ; certain convictions, thoughts,
or anticipations, which every man carries
along with him to test the teaching, and, it
cannot be doubted, the external evidences
also, of Revelation. It is the presence of
these which qualifies men to be in some sort,
when they approach the investigation of reli
gions, no less than when they are concerned
with other kinds of inference, "a law unto
themselves." But when it is asserted, that
they would enable us without the aid of ex
traordinary Divine communications (and this
is the most insidious suggestion of all that
have been made by modern infidelity) to
" frame a religion for ourselves," such an ar
rogant and impious pretension must be re
pelled with all the earnestness of a holy
abomination. But there can be no doubt
that the principles in question serve as the
criterion of religious doctrines when these
are offered to our acceptance, and it is from
their efficacy and value in this respect that I
have given them place in our present inquiry.

SERMON IIL 103
Confirmations of this statement will ac
company our consideration of the External
Evidences in the succeeding Lectures. — Hi
therto I have been speaking of impressions
and impulses which all men may be pro
nounced to possess in greater or less amount
of vividness and force, by virtue of their
common nature and their ordinary powers of
observation : these, when the mind becomes
self-cognizant as to its own relation to Divine
Things, it finds it next to impossible to
extinguish, and extremely difficult to counter
act. They require indeed to be taken along
with us, and to be added to the facts, when
we would construct our formal arguments
from History or Sense. They are the major
premisses of our reasonings in Moral and
Religious Science ; and if we make them (as
some do) comprehend our " wishes" and
most vague anticipations, as well as what we
emphatically call our principles, they may
be' truly said to constitute the evidence of
our natural Faith, as contradistinguished
both to Reason, and to that Faith which is
one of the supernatural gifts imparted in the
Gospel. Utterly vain and futile accordingly
have proved the endeavours of the impugners
of Revelation to escape from the dominion of
such impressions. Betraying a consciousness

104 SERMON IIL
of this, they have generally availed them
selves of one or more of them as the founda
tion of their several systems : and as rebels
for the most part carry on their operations
under the name and professed authority of
their sovereign, so do these opponents of
revealed Religion affect the greatest respect
for some of the truths which they are really,
sometimes unconsciously, undermining. And
to this very circumstance we may not un
frequently trace the failure of their attempts.
So very difficult, in point of fact, is it when
any truth has been once acknowledged, to
sustain an argument in a cause which is
itself at variance with truth. Error, when it
is sought to maintain it by sound argument,
is naturally and almost inevitably suicidal ;
and we might cite numberless instances of
infidel objections raised to the positions of
the Christian reasoner, e. g. cavils against
our Lord's personal appearance, or his choice
of followers, or the acts and preaching of the
Apostles; perverse solutions of the rapid
spread of Christianity ; impeachments of the
narrations in the Old Testament ; scoff-
ings against most, if not all, the doctrines
contained in both parts of the Sacred
Volume; — in all of which the objector has
been often and often overthrown by the

SERMON IIL 105
force and fatal recoil of the very admissions
which the progress, and in some cases the
earliest data of his own argument had
rendered unavoidable. And if this be thought
to be mere assertion, let any one try for
himself the soundness of the remark by
carefully examining any of those deistical
theories which have set up the absolute
wisdom, justice, or mercy of God, and
endeavoured to turn those unquestioned
qualities of the Divine character against the
accounts which are given us in Holy Scrip
ture of the transactions of God with the
human race. He will often, if I mistake
not, discover that the very attribute which
supplies the first principle ofthe antichristian
reasoning is that which in the end suffices to
clear up and justify the recorded fact or
doctrine ; a more expanded knowledge of
the circumstances under which what is strange
and startling has been performed or taught
under Divine direction always dispersing the
clouds of seeming inconsistency, and serving
thus to impress more deeply than ever upon
the candid and honest mind an habitual
reverence for the unblemished perfections of
the character of God.
And it is at this stage in the order of
argumentation that we might introduce with

106 SERMON IIL
effect those more comprehensive views of
Nature and the Natural world which (as my
hearers are well aware) furnish the ground
work of the Analogical reasonings and illus
trations contained in the famous work of
Bishop Butler. In this masterly defence of
Christian truth not merely the workings of
the human mind, but all the visible course of
things in the present world, is enlisted on the
side of Revelation, and seen to militate under
the conduct of one grand and leading idea.
But it is, we must observe, in the concessions
and supposed principles of the opponent of
Revelation that we discover the measure of
the reasoning throughout; and the chief merit
of the work consists, perhaps, in shewing that
where the mind of man falls short of a full
conception of the Revealed Verities, its na
tural ""darkness comprehending them not,"
and whensoever nature herself is deficient in
any of the introductory helps which she
offers to the knowledge of the deeper things
of God, that ignorance and that deficiency
are nevertheless in perfect harmony both
with the positive declarations of the written
record, and with every just and worthy con
ception to be entertained of the true nature
and circumstances of mankind. True it is,
a John i. 5.

SERMON IIL 107
that the confirmed and steadfast believer
rises sometimes from the perusal of the work
with feelings of dissatisfaction and pain.
But it is because he is accustomed (a circum
stance which the nature of his position
rendered impossible in the writer's case) to
practise the injunction of St. Paul by ""com
paring spiritual things with spiritual." This
rule, which seems identical with the exhorta
tion of the same Apostle elsewhere to ex
pound Scripture according to the "proportion"
or "Analogy of Faith," was manifestly inap
plicable to the circumstances of the argument
maintained by Bishop Butler. It would
have been utterly irrelevant to have shewn
that the observance of the Apostle's rule
would suffice to render intelligible to us all
the truths of revelation which are necessary
to be known, and to give us an adequate
insight also into those portions of Scripture
which are above the reach of our natural
faculties. Of what avail indeed, when the
credibility of the Bible is itself the matter in
dispute, to prove that into how many soever
branches the analogy of Faith may be par
titioned, each will upon investigation supply
abundant evidence to the truth of the con
tents of the Sacred Canon ? What though
the Verbal analogy shew us amidst the
b 1 Cor. ii. 13.

108 SERMON IIL
various peculiarities in style and manner of
thinking of the several writers, " a general
cast of character and expression," truly said
to distinguish the sacred writings eminently
from all other productions ? Or, if turning
to the Analogy of its Historical Farts, we
urge the collation of the notices of any events
or facts which meet us in separate portions of
the history (I need here only glance at the
Horae Paulinse of Paley) as amply vindica
ting for the entire narrative the most com
plete consistency in all substantial points?
Or if again the same result attend our com
parison and scrutiny of Doctrines, by what is
called the Doctrinal Analogy of Scripture —
the discrepancies, whether apparent or to a
certain extent real, in detached and isolated
texts, disappearing on a full and fair inter
pretation of all the passages which may have
a mutual connexion ? What, I say, would
it avail to shew all this to the Deists and
other Infidels of Butler's day, or to their
successors in the present ? The language
suited for them both then and now is,
"You have chosen to reject the Evidence
of Christianity, some of you that also of
Religion in general, upon speculative prin
ciples, and upon like grounds to manifest
a scorn and contempt for Religion and its
Author. But there are some facts which

SERMON IIL 109
surely you must and do allow ; nay, you are
yourselves forward to acknowledge all those
countless phenomena which are bound up in
what you call the Book of Nature. Let then
(we say) the Book of Revelation be only set
side by side with it, and do you peruse and
study it with an equal amount of attention, in
telligence and candour. We speak not now of
the helps which you shall receive in the way
of blessing upon your labours ; but simply bid
you give the Scripture scheme of Providence
a fair trial. Stop not, stagger not at diffi
culties in the one book, which you pass over
without concern, or it may be even without
notice, in the other. Suppose only before
hand that both may have proceeded from
one and the same Author, and we will ven
ture to predict that the correspondence of fact
with fact, law with law, taken individually,
collectively, or in that way of ratio which
you call analogy, will upon every comparison
of the two Books abundantly establish the
hypothesis." Accordingly, here also we might say much
on the cases of the Deist and the Atheist.
Looking at them in their speculative aspect,
I know not where else than in the antece
dent presumptions of which we have been
speaking, we are to look for means of extri-

110 SERMON IIL
eating them from their deplorable and deso
late condition. It has been contended, in
deed, that the difference between the Deist
and the Atheist, as respects the evidences of
Christianity, is by no means to the disad
vantage of the latter, the reason given being
that his mind is absolutely vacant, and there
fore open to the influences of right reason
ing, whereas the other is " occupied with
preconceptions." The classical reader will
readily recall a similar cavil in the cases of the
oKpaTTjf (the incontinent) and dKoXaarros (the
intemperate), when compared in the moral
system of Aristotle. This sort of " neutral
condition," it is argued, rather fits than in
capacitates the Atheist for the proper recep
tion of the evidences of Christianity. But
the Deist is proud of his treasured stock of
principles. He has constructed his own image
of God, but fails to recognise the Divine Ma
jesty in the accounts which Scripture gives of
the attributes and administration of Jehovah.
His case then is a comparatively hopeless
one, since there are no grand principles in
religion which he does not already acknow
ledge. In the case of the Atheist, on the con
trary, you have only to teach him your own
principles, and he will, or may at least, em
brace them, and accompany you all along to

SERMON IIL 111
your conclusions. I fear, however, that, as
in the parallel case in Ethics, the practical
view will exhibit the (so-called) neut7-al
position of the Atheist as nothing short
of a positively antagonistic power ; and that
the Deist with his stock of principles, such
as they are, is after all the more likely of
the two to be converted into the Christian.
His conceptions are not absolutely false con
ceptions ; they are rather right notions of
the divine character, but drawn in false per
spective, and so in fact caricatured — stunted
or exaggerated, as the case may be, when
the self-complacent theory which he has es
poused is compared with the just dimensions,
""the breadth, and length, and depth, and
height," of the divine character, as unfolded
in the Gospel revelations. What is required
then in the Deist's case, (and surely it is no
hopeless task,) is, to rectify his point of view ;
that, setting out with a deeper realization of
man's necessities, he may be led to perceive
that the Christian scheme is a natural and
harmonious, however complex, exhibition of
those very qualities, which he already admits
to be the attributes of the Almighty.
Not but that it is extremely difficult to con
ceive even the Atheist to be entirely free
= Ephes. iii. 18.

112 SERMON IIL
from or altogether unoccupied with precon
ceptions on religious subjects. Such an ab
solute atheism, despite of what we read of
transactions and avowals in a neighbouring
country, whether recent or at the end of
the last century, may be presumed perhaps,
when we take into the account all the excite
ments and self-delusions incidental to such
periods, never to have had any considerable
embodied existence amongst mankind.
But it is when we pass from those im
pulses in which all men participate, to the
adscititious and peculiar prepossessions by
which they are distinguished from one an
other, that the real difficulties arise. When
we approach these latter, we are at once
entangled in all the complex influences which
sway the different classes of men to their
several opinions on religious and moral sub
jects. No influence, possible as well as actual,
which can be brought to bear upon the judg
ment, is without its force. Temper, educa
tion, habit, associations, external laws and
agencies of all sorts, do and must impel our
minds to the recognition or rejection of every
sort of antecedent probability ; — antecedent,
that is, to our estimate of the distinctive dis
closures of revelation. Hence the importance
of laws and criteria by which such presump-

SERMON IIL 113
tions may be tested ; and hence (/ may be
excused in adding) the advantages of those
studies which deal with the peculiar canons
and properties of probable reasoning in ge
neral. If it should appear to be an inference from
what has now been said, that all our know
ledge on moral and religious subjects, and
the most part of what we know besides, apart
from our perception of mere facts, and the
teaching of the Sacred records, is to be set
down under the head of internal evidence
now before us, it is an inference which I am
by no means desirous of disclaiming. Such
I believe to be the true state of the case.
Not indeed that the internal evidence of
Christianity would, when formally exhibited,
lay claim to all the aggregations of human
knowledge as comprehended within its own
peculiar sphere. This were an extravagant
supposition, not unlike the theory which has
been sometimes harboured, that Holy Scrip-
t.ure contains within it the whole sum of real
and trustworthy knowledge of every kind.
Nevertheless, the undeniable tendency of the
remarks now hazarded is, I confess, to the
conclusion that every fresh accession of true
knowledge is so closely in harmony with the
system of revealed religion which we find in

114 SERMON IIL
the Bible, as to be an evidence of the truth
of the Sacred records, and by necessary con
sequence, to be confirmatory of the doctrines
which they contain. Whatever just deduc
tions or inferences may be gathered in the
various fields of human speculation and re
search, will be discovered to react upon and
corroborate the statements made in the writ
ten Word of God. Now and then, but only
when knowledge in any department is in an
imperfect or transient state, will there be
seeming discrepancy between what is thought
to have been ascertained from other sources,
and what is revealed in the pages of the Sa
cred volume. But as surely and as soon as
our information upon each subject becomes
more definite, clear, and expansive, all incon
gruities are seen to vanish, and the intima
tions of Scripture are amply vindicated from
the doubts and feelings of misgiving which
may previously have hung around them.
Still it is our duty to be on our guard at all
times against setting up " the reason of the
thing," which t(^o often means a hasty or im
mature conception of a subject, as equalling
in its certainty the apparent teaching of the
Bible. For, assuredly, we need not look
back to the times of Lord Bolingbroke, To-
land, TindaU, and Dodwell, for unscrupulous

SERMON IIL 115
attempts to supersede the authority of the
written Word. We must acknowledge with
pain that an anti- scriptural principle, some
times assuming the title of a "philosophical
sublimity," or, it may be, that of the " collec
tive maturity of the human mind," or some
other equally visionary and fantastical de
signation, is much too active even amongst
professing Christians in the present day.
Well were it if men would take a lesson
on this point from the earliest converts to
Christianity, by whom, it would seem, this
mode of dealing with revelation was hardly
ever resorted to or even thought of; and if
so at all, only by the " disputatious or the
philosophizing among converted Jews and
Greeks," — not certainly by those of whom St.
Paul was thinking, when he said, " Not many
wise men after the flesh, not many mighty,
not many noble, are called'." The converts
to Christianity at the first announcement of
the glad tidings of salvation, " made a simple
and entire transition from their previous
conceptions to the Christianity of the New
Testament." In those days, a philosophical
religion, as such a phrase would be now un
derstood, was unheard of. Retaining their
convictions of the essential qualities of the
z 1 Cor. i. 26.
I 2

116 SERMON IIL
true God, and of those who are commis
sioned by Him to declare his will, they re
cognised both in the records of the evan
gelical history, and the epistles which their
teachers addressed to them. " They saw the
miracles," writes Dr. Chalmers, " they ac
quiesced in them, as satisfying credentials of
an inspired teacher ; they took their religion
from his mouth, their faith came by hearing,
and their hearing by the words of a divine
messenger. This was their process, and it
ought to be ours."
The correctness or tenability of the general
statements which I have been making might
be shewn, did time allow, by applying them
to each of the three grand provinces into
which our knowledge is familiarly divided ; —
I mean natural, metaphysical, and moral
science. But of the first of these I will only
remark, that the general propositions occur
ring in the science of the material universe
being of the nature of laws, and these laws
of universal operation, they are of but little
direct efficacy in practical matters ; that is,
in their application to morals, politics, and
religion ; but that still their study is useful
to the Theologian, both with respect to the
investigation of a certain branch of evidence,
(I allude to miracles,) and still more so by
reason of the alleged result of such an em-

SERMON IIL 117
ployment of our faculties on the religious
tone and temper of the mind. For we are
assured, that in processes of discovery at least
(however it may be in those of development)
the mind of the physical student is led by
natural and easy stages to the ultimate and
primary truths of the Divine agency, and is
thus won to piety by the perception of order
and connexion necessarily antecedent to the
recognition or establishment of any physical
law. " The person," says Professor Whewell,
" whose mind is employed in reducing to law
and order and intelligible cause the complex
facts of the material world, is compelled to
look beyond the present state of his know
ledge, and to turn his thoughts to the ex
istence of principles higher than those which
he yet possesses ;" and, he afterwards says,
" the effort and struggle by which he endea
vours to extend his view, suggests to him
that there must be a source of clearer illumi
nation at a distance from him."
The second, or metaphysical branch, may
(after the remarks made on previous occa
sions) be entirely dismissed from notice now.
But if only in the remaining region of ethical
speculation all the truth to which the na
tural perspicacity or the cultivated reason
of man can lead him, may be made to illus-

118 SERMON IIL
trate and confirm the statements and implied
teaching of the Scriptures, the new or the
more enlarged knowledge invariably reflect
ing a ray of light upon the sacred page, and
acting as a testimony more or less powerful
in every case to its veracity, how copious is the
amount of evidence arising from this single
source ! — If again, matters excepted against
in any parts of Holy Scripture (in the Old
Testament for example) can be shewn to
have been, notwithstanding first appearances,
merciful or wise arrangements under the cir
cumstances of those to whom they relate,
what an accession is there not supplied by
these also to the other means of proof lying
at the disposal of the advocate of Christian
truth ! And hence it is, that in regard to the
alleged Divine Authorship of the Old Tes
tament, the worthiness of the moral instruc
tion to be found in that portion of the Sacred
Volume, has been pronounced by all who
have fairly and candidly weighed it, to be
satisfactory evidence of its general inspira
tion ; whereas, if we take the ethical teach
ing of the New Testament, whether or not
we regard its morality as proceeding entirely
from our Lord Himself, and enuntiated only
in a delegated and derivative manner by his
followers, the clear and undeniable fact that

SERMON IIL 119
it embodies precepts of unrivalled excellence,
and rising far above all specimens of moral
instruction ever before exhibited amongst
men, will render it highly probable that the
authority from which it emanated must have
been indeed superhuman. The marvelment
of our Lord's own hearers expressed in the
question, " "Whence had this man this wis
dom ?" condenses the argument into its brief
est form ; and the question will not admit
of any other answer than that which the
Christian gives to it, who sees in the teaching
of Jesus the most unequivocal and decisive
indications of both the wisdom and good
ness of God. — And well has this insuperable
a priori topic been extended to the notice of
the circumstances also of the Writers of
the books of the New Testament, which
are confessedly such as to enhance in a
material degree the force and value of the
argument. " Its authors," writes the dean of
Carlisle, "certainly did not represent the
learning, the genius and the spirit of their
age and country. Their work in life, their
daily occupations, their acquirements, and
not least the tone of their writings, exclude
them from the class of those who would be
naturally authors ; and far from availing
a Matt. xiii. 54.

120 SERMON III.
themselves of the literary habits of their age
and country, they afford in their writings
the most marked contrast to the specimens
of Rabbinical learning that have come down
to us. What should we say of a few fisher
men on the coast of Sussex, or of a few
mechanics of Manchester or Birmingham,
who should publish to the world such views
of political science, as should remove all the
difficulties that at this day encumber politics,
and obtain more influence than the laboured
volumes of all the philosophers and statesmen
of modern and ancient Europe ? It is a sup
position which is morally impossible: and that
the authors of the New Testament should
embody in their writings ethical instruction
more pure, and far more practical, than ever
before had been addressed to mankind, is
equally impossible, without the intervention
of superhuman help. That philosophical
minds, aided by learning and learned com
munications, should have effected this, would
be no otherwise wonderful than that Socrates
or Bacon should surpass their age. But that
the promulgators of the sublimest and at the
same time the simplest ethical views in the
world should be in the first place humble,
uneducated persons ; and, in the next place,
members of a community, in which whatever

SERMON IIL 121
literature there was was encumbered with
the subtleties of a minute and intricate
commentary, and with fanciful allegory ; this
is not merely wonderful, like the works of
Socrates or Bacon — not evidence of superior
human intellect — but unaccountable, on any
view which the ordinary course of man's
intellectual nature enables us to form." My
only comment upon such a priori reasonings
is the question. How are they to be refuted ?
Let what has now been said serve for
a connecting link between the sort of In
ternal Evidences hitherto noticed, and the
other great division of the subject to which
the facts embodied in the quotation would
naturally lead us. In my next Lecture
I purpose, under the Divine Will, to take
into consideration the arguments which His
tory supplies in confirmation of the teach
ing of the Divine messengers. The suc
ceeding one will contain such notices of
Miracles, those indispensable credentials of
an ambassador truly sent from God, and
other more prominent branches of External
Evidence, as the occasion may allow. The
credibility of Revelation does not, we well
know, depend solely and exclusively upon
either branch ; although many are ready
to rest that credibility upon the direct and

122 SERMON IIL
External Evidences only. We will not now
prejudge the question ; but rather let us
depart with the persuasion that in the order
ing of Divine Wisdom and Grace, the various
means and incentives to true belief, no less
than those which conduce to Christian obedi
ence and holiness of life, " " work together
for good to those who love God ;" that
amidst all the diversities of Intellectual and
Spiritual light and darkness which a survey
of mankind may offer to our view, the same
all-bountiful and affectionate provision for
our respective wants may be discovered ;
and the faithfulness of our Lord's own pro
phetic assurance be brought more and more
home to our hearts' conviction ; — an assurance
as applicable to the internal reception of the
Sacred Truth, as it is to the outward de
portment of the Christian disciple — that
""Wisdom is justified of all her children."
b Rom. viii. 28. <= Luke vii. 35.

SERMON IV.

Haggai ii. 7.
And the desire of all nations shall come.

TN the prosecution of our proposed inquiry,
-^ we are at length brought to the consi
deration of Facts, properly so called ; or, in
other words, to that portion of our general
sketch to which was given the title of the
Historical argument.
That this branch of Evidence, when taken
per se, furnishes the only, as some have
thought, or even the highest proof, which
again is the assertion of many, adducible in
support of our holy religion, must not per
haps be propounded without diffidence. But
that it supplies a very powerful, if a sound,
argument in its favour ; and that, supposing
it to fail, Christianity as a ; distinctive reli
gion must run great hazard of falling to the

124 SERMON IV.
ground, are propositions which do not call
for formal substantiation. It shall be my
endeavour this morning to lay out the ar
gument in respect of its general bearings,
and then to break up the wide expanse over
which it spreads into certain commodious,
though these again will be seen to be vastly
comprehensive, partitions ; my object being
all along to indicate the amount of support
which these may severally and collectively
contribute to the fabric of Christian truth.
But first, a few words with reference to the
conveyance of revealed truth by our hea
venly Father to us in the form of history — a
point so important in the eyes of some, as
apparently to have led them to view, and to
define, the entire dispensation of Christianity,
not simply in the retrospect, but prospectively
also, so as to take in the body of prophecies
yet remaining unaccomplished, a system of
facts. And, incontestably, the least that we
could say is, that the selection of this mode
of communicating His will by the Omniscient
is itself a fact, which cannot but afford, in
limine, a strong presumption in favour of any
of the religious uses to which history of every
kind may be made available.
But without stopping to justify any ex
treme views of the subject, a revelation of

SERMON IV. 125
the Divine will and purposes through the
channel of history may safely be declared to
possess many and great advantages over all
other imaginable modes of communication:
and the remark has, it would appear, pecu
liar force when applied to the Gospel revela
tion. For what, we may ask, are the methods
of communication which in such a case ad
mit of being brought into competition with
the historical ? Two only need be mention
ed ; each of which, we may convince our
selves with but little expense of time and
thought, would have been, humanly speak
ing at least, sure to fall short of the desired
end; viz. 1st, a distinct and separate reve
lation, supposed to be made to each indi
vidual ; and Sndly, the delivery once for all
of a systematic code of moral and religious
duty for the universal guidance of mankind.
Let us consider very briefly the probable
effect of these two modes of conveying the
will of God to man.
It may be contended (and perhaps unan
swerably) that such a communication of the
will of God as is contemplated in the former
of the modes just specified would afford
room for the most unbounded practice of
delusion and imposture. That, as the evi
dence of such revelations must be of private

126 SERMON IV.
consciousness only, their contents would be
as variable as the biases and caprices of the
individuals themselves thus professing to be
favored with a special illumination ; and that
consequently, as every one might (and very
probably would) see a revelation whenever
he wished one, there could be no such thing
as public confidence in the matter, nor, by
necessary consequence, any universal recog
nition of one and the same Divine law.
And, moreover, supposing the attestation to
the truth of such revelations made to each
individual to be sure and incontrovertible, it
were to be apprehended then that the sense
of the immediate presence of the Deity would
so overawe and overrule mankind, as to di
vest them of their free agency, annihilate all
opportunities of virtue and piety, and, in fine,
reduce the rational and responsible being
(which man now is) to the condition of mere
inert passive machinery. And the arguments
against such a plan of revelation ought not,
it is plain, to stop at these and similar a
priori considerations. Experience has shewn,
in the history of fanatics and enthusiasts in
all ages of the church, that the evils thus
imagined have, in point of fact, arisen when
ever and in exact proportion as any such
theories of private and familiar intercourse

SERMON IV. 127
of the Divine with the human mind have
been encouraged.
On the other of the two modes sug
gested little needs be observed. The de
livery once for all of a complete system of
Ethics and Religious duty is easily seen to
be inferior to a communication by means of
a series of historical documents, in that the
former could in no degree secure its own
perpetuity ; since, however effectual we may
suppose such an announcement of the Divine
will and purposes to be for a while, it must
sooner or later depend upon the testimony
of historical records, that is, of the very
method with which we are now contrasting
it, for its authentication.
Thus upon a summary comparison of the
different supposable modes of Revelation
with each other, the balance is found to be
in favour of the Historical form, under which
we affirm that it has pleased Almighty God
for the most part to reveal his Will to man
kind in the Sacred Volume. But there are
other, and these not less obvious advantages
attaching to the same form. It were easy,
for example, to shew that by dealing thus
with man in the concrete, as History does,
(and preeminently so, when we look to its
biographical parts,) opportunity is afforded of

128 SERMON IV.
a clearer exposition of duties, and a more forci
ble inculcation of motives to their perform
ance, than could be compassed by either of the
methods which have been mentioned ; or by
any others whatsoever, we may add, which we
might choose to bring into competition with
them. Farther, much might be said (did our
limits allow) of the consistency of the His
torical method of imparting truth with the
mediatorial character of God's general deal^
ings with mankind — with his perpetual choice
of living instruments for the conveyance of his
means of grace under every dispensation ; —
and, above all, with the doctrine of his own
Fersonality, which, impenetrable as is its
mystery, we cannot but look upon as in
tended to familiarise us in some measure
with the Divine character and love, which
the Historical Revelation essentially opposes
to the God of reason, as that notion exists
conceptionally in the mere cold and lifeless
abstractions of the Intellect.
If there be any force in the observations
now made, a general argument arises on the
very threshold of the Historical view, from
the fact that the entire essence not only of
Christianity emphatically so called, but of all
the introductory Dispensations likewise, has

SERMON IV. 129
been by the wisdom of God interwoven with
the history of mankind from the beginning ;
from the fact, to express myself briefly, that
the Bible is as much the history of our race
as it is the depository of our religion.
Nor should it escape notice here, that in
the present day parties distinguished by the
most opposite styles of thinking upon reli
gious subjects, are yet agreed in dwelling
and expatiating with greatest earnestness
upon the historical features of the Gospel
dispensation. We not unfrequently encounter
such statements as that " Judaism is a fact"
— "Christianity is a fact" — nay, "the Bible
is a fact" — phrases, no doubt, indicative of a
prevailing spirit of generalization, or, it may
be, of a power of peculiar condensation of
thought in the minds of those who employ
them ; but which at any rate convey in or
under them the impression of there being
something preeminently fact -like or histori
cal in the subjects thus similarly described
by such different thinkers. On this single
point it would appear that the philosophical
and the popular theologian, the dogmatist
and the antidogmatist, the Aristotelian and
the Baconian (in so far as these last are
cognizable distinctions nowadays) hold much
the same language, in this country at least.
K

130 SERMON IV.
Their differences, it may be presumed, will
chiefly lie in their several modes of reading
the records of the past — in their respective
interpretations, that is to say, of those vast
and complex facts which constitute to the
eye of religious contemplation the real and
entire history of the world.
And unquestionably the great problem not
only for the practical statesman and the man
of letters, but also, and perhaps we may say
most especially, for the religious student, to
solve is, in what spirit history is to be read,
rather than what particular portions of ex
isting annals should be selected for peru
sal. This is a wide subject upon which
we cannot now enter. One rule or princi
ple only shall be suggested to the youthful
reader ; and that is, that he should, when
engaged in this department of his studies,
maintain a constant, watchful observation of
the wondrous manner in which the will of
the Almighty overrules all human actions,
without destroying the perfect free-agency of
his reasonable creatures. In the general tenor
of history this truth will be abundantly con
spicuous. But it is a deeply interesting, and
at the same time an awful contemplation, to
note all along the pages of accredited history
how circumstances and events, whicli, hu-

SERMON IV. 131
manly viewed, would threaten to defeat or
to retard the operations of the Divine coun
sels, are seen, on the contrary, to bring them
to the most successful issue. Ages and cen
turies which men tall dark are discovered,
on the retrospect, to have nevertheless teemed
with life and light, destined upon the occur
rence of some advantageous and sometimes
apparently fortuitous change, to chase away
completely and for ever the clouds and mists
of the preceding darkness ; so that where it
has seemed good to the Almighty to keep
the veil unremoved from the transactions of
the past, we have good reason for concluding
that there also the Divine purposes were car
ried on not less surely and uninterruptedly.
And this principle it is which is most dis
tinctly traceable in the Bible History of
God's dealings with mankind. For let us
take even the period comprised between the
prophet Malachi and the greater Prophet
whose coming he foretold, — which may, not
withstanding such light as is afforded us by
the apocryphal writings, be called the dark
age of Jewish history, — and we may even
here discover the preparation of the Jewish
mind for the restoration in every sense of
the kingdom to Israel. The Gentile History
moves meanwhile exactly in unison with
K 2

132 SERMON IV,
what we are enabled to pronounce to have
been the grand plan of Omniscience from
the first — the one mighty work to be accom
plished through a long succession of ages
down the vista of which the unassisted eye
of human prescience could never have car
ried its vision — the coming of the Son of
God himself to enlighten and to redeem the
nations. The intermixture of the peoples of
the earth, which, if it do not date from Solo
mon, must at any rate have begun as early
as the captivities of the Jews, had done its
appointed work. The Romans (and where
by this time were there not Romans?) be
came acquainted to a considerable extent
with the history and peculiarities of the
Jewish people. Thus a knowledge of this
extraordinary nation was, in greater or less
degree, diffused over the civilized world ;
and although it is unquestionably difficult
even for ourselves to enter into the fulness
of the scriptural declaration, and to under
stand how our Lord was "the desire of all
nations," yet that he was so in the sense at
least of a general expectation entertained by
Gentiles as well as Jews, is a point abund
antly established and explained by many
who have investigated this most striking
phenomenon, common to both sacred and
profane history.

SERMON IV. 133
But to be somewhat more particular in
our notice of the religious aspect of the his
tory of the world, adverting first to that
which preceded the coming of our Blessed
Lord. The views of man contained in the
Sacred History, and confirmed (where con
firmation is possible) by observation and tes
timony, present him before our minds in
the first instance as innocent, happy, and
meriting to the utmost the language of ap
proval pronounced by the Creator over all
his works : — then degraded and fallen indeed,
but yet retaining the power of conscience ;
God not choosing to leave himself " without
a witness" as the Apostle** saith, even in "the
heart" of man itself. And thus at first all
men appear to be upon the same footing,
having a Divine law within them, and there
fore being unable to urge ignorance as their
excuse for forgetting God, and " walking in
their own ways." But when individuals arose
from time to time of exemplary holiness, the
Almighty was pleased to make especial reve
lations to them, not merely (we are assured)
for the purpose of rewarding their piety, and
encouraging them to still higher perfection,
but making them all, like Noah, " preachers
d Acts xiv. 17; Rom. ii. 15.

134 SERMON IV.
of righteousness ^" for the common benefit of
mankind in time to come. The divine com
munications and extraordinary providences
vouchsafed to individuals and to a single
nation of the Eastern world, form the espe
cial burthen of the Old Testament history ;
and in the same particulars we discern the
mark of separation which divided the Jews
from the other nations of the earth. That
history closes with the apparent withdrawal
of the Holy Spirit from the chosen people,
even as it had abandoned the rest of mankind
two thousand years before. Then ensue up
wards of three centuries of the thickest
spiritual darkness, calculated (may we not
think) in the Divine counsels to usher in
with greater glory that " Sun of Righteous
ness V whom prophecy had declared to be
not only the Lord of the second temple to
the Jews, but " the desire of all nations."
This interval, as was observed before, brings
the Jews into contact with the other king
doms of the world, and may be expected to
assimilate them by degrees (notwithstanding
the exclusive spirit of their laws and ritual)
to the general condition of mankind, and
thus prepare them equally with the Gentiles
e 2 Pet. ii. 5. f Mal. iv. 2, iii. 1 ; Haggai ii. 9.

SERMON l^. 135
for the reception of the Gospel Truth, The
"august apparatus," as it has been called,
of miracles and prophecies having been re
moved, the Jewish mind would naturally
undergo considerable alteration from its cha
racter in the days of Malachi ; and the dif
ference would consist in a gradual approxi
mation to the state of the human mind in
general. In accordance with such a natural
supposition, we find in the sects which sprang
up in Judsea between the times of Malachi
and the Baptist, counterparts of the most
prominent diversities of thinking on philo
sophical and religious subjects observable
elsewhere. I allude to the analogies so fre
quently made out by learned men between
the leading schools of the Greek philosophy,
and the sects which make their appearance
on the surface of the Jewish history when we
read the GoSpel narratives, and the writings
of the apostles. To follow out these may be
an instructive as well as an agreeable employ
ment ; but the use I make of them in passing
is simply this, that to whatever extent the
comparison may be properly carried, to the
same precisely, must the peculiarity of the
Jewish position be lost sight of, when we
would form our estimate of the effect of the
Christian Truth and its evidences upon that

136 SERMON IV.
people. Allowance must of course be made
for that modification of their feelings and
judgment which the recollections of their
former theocratic state could not but have
engendered, but such modification will not
constitute them an absolute exception to the
ordinary workings of the human mind, when
engaged upon religious subjects. I offer this
remark, because we are often, I fear, prone
to look upon the Jews of our Lord's day as
affording, more than the actual circumstances
of the case would warrant, an instance sui
generis in the history and the constitution of
the human mind.
It is this unity in multiplicity traceable in
the earlier conditions of the human race, and
making all history to be in this point of view
religious history ; it is this unity of design
and operation, I say, which affords one grand
leading argument derivable from the histo
rical source in favour of the Gospel Reve
lation. If we carry this idea with us to the
contemplation of the Sacred Writings, the
Bible is indeed one vast plan, a single pur
pose or thought, wrought out, moulded, di
versified, according to the various needs of
successive generations, and the omnigenous
forms of civilization and barbarism which
have appeared at any and all times upon

SERMON IV. 137
the earth. Every part of it coheres exactly
with what is supplied by the other parts, how
ever distant, and however apparently at first
sight alien and irrelevant. The Old Testa
ment is not contrary to the New, nor is the
New to the Old. Whereas the records of all
other religions, the mythologies of classical
heathenism, and the fantastic legends of the
remote East (whether we turn to the Hindoo
superstitions, or to the more modern fig
ments of Mahomedanism) notoriously exhi
bit a mass of disorderliness and confusion,
strangely contrasting with the simplicity and
consistency of the Christian Records. We
may confidently then affirm that these last-
mentioned qualities betoken the different
origin of such records, and thus afford a
powerful and direct argument, no less for
their Divine Authorship than for the in
trinsic truth which they contain.
Meanwhile, that is, throughout the Ante-
Christian period which has been thus sum
marily described. Prophecy, it must be re
membered, was contributing its gradual accu
mulation of Evidence to that wondrous plan
of omniscience whose unfoldings it was ap
pointed to subserve. Prophecy in its con
nexion with History must be viewed as a
stupendous manifestation of both the general

138 SERMON IV.
and the special providence of God — of the
general, because all prophecy centres in the
person and offices of the second Adam, either
as pointing to Him, or radiating from Him ;
— of the special, because its function has
been and is to instruct and cheer the human
race at seasons when the watchfulness and
care of God have been most needed by the
despondency or ignorance of fallen man.
The combined force of the numerous pre
dictions occurring in the Old Testament
only, it is next to impossible to over-rate.
Age after age " "holy men spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost" — and that their
prophecies were not "''of private interpreta
tion," or the suggestion of their own spirits
and fancies, we have the testimony of Him
in whom the most important of them actually
took effect. — ""Then he took unto him the
twelve, and said unto them. Behold, we go up
to Jerusalem ; and all things that are written
by the Prophets concerning the Son of man
shall be accomplished." — "And he said unto
them. These are the words which I spake
unto you while I was yet with you, that all
things must be fulfilled which were written
in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets,
and in the Psalms, concerning me. Then
a 2 Pet. i. 20, 21. b Luke xviii. 31 ; xxiv. 44, &c.

SERMON IV. 139
opened he their understanding that they
might understand the Scriptures, and said
unto them. Thus it is written, and thus it
behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the
dead the third day; and that repentance and
remission of sins should be preached in his
name among all nations, beginning at Jeru
salem : and ye are witnesses of these things."
The authenticity of the Holy Scriptures
being assumed, it is impossible to read these
passages (and numerous others might be
added to them) without acknowledging that
Christianity and the argument from pro
phecy must stand or fall together. " In the
Law of Moses, in the Prophets, and in the
Psalms." The whole Hebrew nation (says
an ancient Father) is one great prophet, be
cause it prophesied of the Great One. — Nor
needed he restrict his remark to the Jewish
nation, when it pleased him to adopt this
figurative style of speech. The whole world.
Gentile as well as Jewish, he might have said,
was one great prophet of Him, who was to be
"preached among all nations," and in whose
saving power "all the nations of the earth
were to be blessed "." The entire system of
the Divine government throughout all the
ages which preceded the preaching of the
" Gen. xviii. 18; xxvi. 4.

140 SERMON IV.
Gospel may be shewn to be preambulatory
to the coming of the Redeemer ; and we may
consider such preparatory character to be in
a substantial sense, though not so precise
and pointed as in the case of the chosen
people. Prophetical. And so " it was a sound
and healthy feeling," argues Neander, "that
induced the apologists of Christianity to as
sume the existence of a prophetic element,
not in Judaism alone, but also in Paganism,
and to make appealto this, as the Apostle
Paul at Athens, in proclaiming the God of
Revelation, appealed to the presentiment of
the unknown God in the immediate con
sciousness of mankind, and to those forms in
which this consciousness had been expressed
by the words of inspired poets. Christianity,
in truth, is the end to which all development
of the religious consciousness must tend, and
of which, therefore, it cannot do otherivise
than offer a prophetic testimony. Thus there
dwells an element of prophecy not barely in
Revealed Religion unfolding itself beneath
the fostering care of the Divine vintager
(John XV.), as it struggles around from Ju
daism to its complete disclosure in Christ
ianity, but also in religion as it grows wild
on the soil of paganism, which by nature
must strive unconsciously towards the same
end."

SERMON IV. 141
Assuredly then, were the statement of the
case to stop here, no inconsiderable evidence
of the Divine origin of the Holy Scriptures,
and, by necessary inference, of the Religion
which they teach, will have been afforded by
the fact that the historical matter contained
in them corresponds exactly with the ascer
tained condition of mankind in that earlier
period of which we have hitherto been speak
ing. — The argument indeed is parallel to one
adverted to in a former discourse, where a
correspondence was stated to exist between
the tenor of Scripture and the capabilities of
the human soul. In the view now suggested
we may observe the phenomena which have
actually been exhibited in the past history of
the world ; that portion of it, at least, which
preceded the first coming of the Son of God.
The. other view offered to our anticipations
all that will or can, by every rule and prin
ciple of likelihood, occur in the future his
tory however protracted, of the human race.
Both views are, however, in perfect harmony,
and indeed admit of being brought into one.
To Omniscience, we are sensible, the con
formity is perfectly known from the earliest.
But to the observant human being also the
uninterrupted series of discernible corre
spondences keeps gradually unfolding itself

142 SERMON IV.
as time rolls on : and in exact proportion as
each age discloses in its turn irrefragable
proofs of the heavenly providence and wis
dom, the mass of Evidence on this side
accumulates, and will continue to accumulate
till time, and the events which serve to mark
its course to mortal apprehensions, shall alike
be no more ; when the Faith which is now
engaged in slowly and dimly tracing the
paths and footsteps of the Divine Governance
shall be changed into perfect sight, and the
intellect of the accepted Christian, having
undergone its promised glorious transforma
tion, shall be enabled to understand, under
the guidance and in the presence of God,
the alpha and omega of History, the entire
course of the Divine counsels from first to
last. But the statement of the case does, not
stop here. Conducted thus far, we have in
deed reached only the mid- point in the
world's history ; nay, when we think of our
Lord's own prophecies, and the apocalyptic
visions of his immediate followers, only the
centre of the Divine narrations contained in
Holy Scripture itself. In the epoch and
person of the Redeemer the Christian be
holds the focus of all past and future history.
It is obvious to his discernment how won-

SERMON IV. 143
derfully and completely the mission and
ministry of Christ fulfilled all the earlier
promises of God. Then truly did " the sun
dry times"" and "divers manners" concen
trate, and absorb themselves in the fulness
of the Revelation made by the Son himself,
whom the Father had appointed " heir of all
things," " by whom also he made the worlds."
And backward also to the same divine per
sonage must be referred, and point all the
subsequent ages of the world, whether al
ready past or yet to come, for the life, and
light, and fostering spirit of assistance which
He hath promised to his faithful disciples, —
"making," as St. Paul says, "known unto
them the mystery of his will according to
his good pleasure which he hath purposed
in himself — that in the dispensation of the
fulness of time he might gather together in
one all things in Christ"."
Assuming to himself all the various cha
racters under which the Messiah had been
pourtrayed by prophecy and type — Saviour,
Redeemer, Intercessor, the great Prophet of
the church, the King of Israel, the appointed
Judge of "quick and dead;" professing to act
up to all the remarkable, and, when presented
in certain lights, contradictory functions of
^Heb. i.l, 2. i- Eph. i. 8.

144 SERMON IV.
these several offices ; Son of God, Son of
man ; one with the Father, and yet at the
same time his Son, Servant, Messenger ; spot
less from sin, and yet subject to human weak
nesses and sorrows — to all the infirmities of
his brethren ; he is seen to comport himself
throughout his personal history in exact con
formity with these numerous and most dif
ficult relations. Nay, being himself as mys
terious in his carriage as is the wisdom of
God which he embodied, he yet proposed
himself as an exemplar and pattern to re
generated humanity, " leaving us an example
that we should follow his steps ^" Surely
this precept, simple though it may sound to
the unthinking, is as great a mystery as any
other to be found in revelation. " Such an
union of pretensions," writes a living prelate,
" was never heard of before or since amongst
men. Our Lord is beyond comparison the
most extraordinary personage that ever ad
vanced his claims on earth. In the whole
business of man's redemption, wonderful in
all its parts — in its beginning, its progress,
its completion ; the most wonderful part is
the diversified names and offices of our Lord,
as compared with his actual conduct in ful
filling thein."
•^ 1 Pet. ii. 21.

SERMON IV. 145
Nor in a sketch, however general, must we
leave unnoticed the zeal displayed by the
Apostles, and the argument from the rapid
diffusion of Christianity in their day with
which it is associated. Many divines have
valued the argumentative force of these facts
so highly, as to place the remarkable deport
ment of the Apostles in the front rank of
the direct Evidences of Christianity. When
they read the language of bold reproof in
which St. Peter, for example, addresses his
countrymen, who had " denied Jesus in the
presence of Pilate, and had desired a iriur-
derer to be granted them in his stead '' ;"—
when they peruse the subsequent narration
of the downright refusal of the same Apostle
and St. John to abstain from " speaking the
things which they had seen and heard*;" —
when they follow down the history of these
men and all their brethren, and especially of
him who, though "born out of time'," was
yet not a whit behind any one of the Apo
stles in the assertion of Christian liberty and
independence ; — many, I say, when they read
all this, feel utterly at a loss to ascribe a zeal
and firmness thus ardent and unparalleled
to any thing but the immediate and present
d Acts iii. 14,15. =Actsiv.20. f 1 Cor. xv. 8,10;
Gal. ii. 8, 11 ; 2 Cor. xi. 5, xii. 12.

146 SERMON IV.
influence of a Divine power. And few of
those who cannot argue so directly from the
same data to the same conclusion, are able
to turn away entirely unaffected by that sin
gle view of this comprehensive subject which
suggests one of the great propositions of the
well-known argument of Paley. Yet there
are others who, equally convinced, as against
unbelievers, of the true origin of apostolic
zeal, refuse to reckon it amongst the most
cogent proofs of the truth of Christianity ; —
observing, with Bp. Watson, " that every re
ligion, nay, every absurd sect of every reli
gion, has had its zealots, who have not scru
pled to maintain their principles at the
expense of their lives." But zeal, when car
ried thus far, if it prove not the truth of
the doctrines and opinions taught by these
zealots, affords a presumption at any rate
that they believe them to be true, and thus
becomes a probable argument in favour of
the set of doctrines which may be so at
tested. The force of the argument, no doubt,
rises and falls according to the effect of the
attendant circumstances in each several case.
And this is precisely the reason why the
Christian advocate can fearlessly challenge
comparison in this respect with any and all
the rival forms of religion. And, if it be a

SERMON IV. 147
question of degree simply, where can there
be found a case to match the voluntary suf
ferings of the apostles, and that continuous
stream of martyrdom, filling up, as it flowed
on, the sufferings of the first great victim,
whiqh marks the progress of the Church's
victory, and is at the same time the most
awfully instructive lesson to be read in the
pages of the history of early Christianity ?
But to pass on to times posterior to the
teaching of our Lord and his Apostles. The
same remark which recognises the harmony
of the Divine counsels, and the unity of de
sign so conspicuously pervading them in the
earlier ages of the world, will apply with
equal truth to those upon which we now
proceed to comment. The frequent inter
mixture of prophecy with direct history
which has been spoken of as a feature of
the Old Testament, is quite as discernible in
the New ; and many passages in the latter
volume might be specified, supposing we
were to omit the entire book of the Revela
tions of the beloved disciple, which convey
not only information of the state of things
at the time of the Apostles' preaching, but
a distinct intimation also of what should be
the course of events in time to come. Thus,
for example, there is a mass of prophecy as
L 2

148 SERMON IV.
well as history condensed in the pregnant
declaration of St. Paul, which describes the
Gospel as "to the Jews a stumblingblock,
and to the Greeks foolishness s ;" inasmuch
as the prescient mind of the apostle could
foresee that the Jews and Greeks were to be
for centuries the chief antagonists and rivals
of the new religion ; and that the struggle
should not be terminated until that other
prediction had been fulfilled, which declared
that "the Gospel should be preached in all
the world for a witness to all nations "," and
the thoughtful and powerful of the earth,
attracted by the undeniable purity of its doc
trinal system, and the many "virtues'" added
to their faith by the great body of its pro
fessors, abandoned their prejudices, and de
sired to be themselves admitted within the
Christian pale-
It is not necessary to fix the time when
by the withdrawal of miraculous and pro
phetical powers, Christianity was left to its
own ordinary and abiding resources. The
special and extraordinary xapia-fmTa, gifts of
grace, which appear to have been indispensa
ble in the very earliest ages of the Gospel,
were no longer needed when it had attained
to the security of a civil establishment ; when,
g 1 Cor. i. 23. ^ Matt. xxiv. 14. 2 Pet. i. 5.

SERMON IV. 149
in a word, the prediction of the evangelical
prophet'' of the Old Testament was turned
into an actual truth of history, by " kings "
becoming the "nursing fathers," and "queens"
the " nursing mothers" of the Church. The
ceaseless struggle maintained between Christ
ianity and paganism for hardly less than five
centuries, both in the east and in the west,
and the slow but sure advances of the former
to eventual triumph, can only be adverted
to. This latter point, I would however re
mark, would seem to involve much more
than a survey of history purely ecclesiastical ;
since the fates of the rising creed and its
adherents depended all along upon the per
sonal characters of successive emperors and
of their delegates and officials, in the scat
tered provinces of the Roman government.
And we may not err, perhaps, in thinking
that no event whatever which has been al
lowed to come down to us in the records of
those ages can be fully understood without
reference had to its bearings, either friendly
or adverse, upon the fortunes of the Christian
religion. The changes undergone by the Church,
however, considered as the outward form of
Christianity — the heavings, so to speak, of
k Is, xlix. 23.

150 SERMON IV.
the waters, destined to bear up, notwithstand
ing the violent storms of persecution of every
kind, the everlasting ark of God — all that
occurred during the ages which immediately
followed the lifetime of the Apostles, must be
passed over with very little comment. The
reason is obvious. But I may remark gene
rally, that in this point of view, the course of
Ecclesiastical History as a whole is marked
as yet by three only important epochs, the
establishment of Christianity by the emperor
Constantine — the rise and progress of Ma-
hommedanism — and the Reformation. No
thing which has occurred since the last men
tioned event can be said to vindicate for itself
any signal notice in the general history of so
vast and so august a subject as the Religion
of Christ or Gospel Dispensation. Most true
it is, that every generation since, our own
being far other than an exception, has with
a natural partiality been prone to claim for
itself a prominent place in the orderings
of Divine Providence, and has conceived of
its own importance as though upon itself
"the ""ends of the world" (in the utmost
plenitude of that phrase) "had come." Or
where this complacent, yet often beneficial,
spirit has shewn itself in a milder form, a
•" 1 Cor. X. 11.

SERMON IV. 151
strong conviction has been engendered of
living and acting in what is called a transi
tion-state ; a state of being felt to be an
introduction, a sort of harbinger to some
new stupendous manifestation in act of the
Power and other Attributes of God. Still,
our fathers and more immediate forefathers
have gone to their rest, and so most probably
shall we, witnessing nothing more than the
continuance of struggles rendered necessary
by the corruptions of a single branch of the
Church of Christ, and by the amazing com
plexities that have grown out of countless
social and political interweavings which meet
the eye of the most superficial observer of
the religious establishments and customs of
every Christian land. The issue of these
struggles may be, for aught we know, the
appointed end of the system of the world,
" our habitation ;" since (if we are guided by
the voice of prophecy) we know not how
much of Antichrist there may be in the
very existence and maintenance of these
selfsame struggles. But if some yet inter
vening great event, or more than one, may in
the counsels of omniscience await the Church
of the future in its militant state ; and whe
ther that future be what we should deem upon
a calm consideration of History and Prophecy,

152 SERMON IV.
remote or proximate — these are questions for
the settlement of time, and may possibly fall
within the province of the historian of some
after-period. We ourselves, like those who
have gone before us, must be content to float
in mere theory and conjecture, as respects
points happily of but little moment after all
to him who watches and studies to be duly
prepared for his Lord's coming.
A very few observations on the epochs
referred to will form the conclusion of the
present Lecture.
I. The patronage extended by the emperor
Constantine to the Christian Church does not
appear to have been followed by that trium
phant ascendancy of the faith in an external
point of view, which the enthusiastic feelings
of many Christians at the time doubtless led
them to expect. But whether he direct his
attention to the doctrines of Christianity, or
to the personal characters of the rulers of
the Church in the centuries immediately
succeeding that great event, the ecclesias
tical historian will have equally to lament
over the corruptions of the true faith by
heretical admixtures, and (it cannot be de
nied) by the evil lives and passions of its
most distinguished professors. The influence
of a spurious or misapplied learning is also

SERMON IV. 153
abundantly conspicuous, when we study the
controversies of the period. A philosophical
divinity gradually took place of the earlier
simplicity of Christian teaching, and the faith,
which had before been tried by Jewish and
Gentile persecutions, had now to withstand
the far more formidable inroads of a subtle
and insidious philosophy which had suc
ceeded in their room. How the orthodox
belief outlived the tendency at one time al
most universal to an eclectic system, which
should reconcile and combine the more im
portant tenets of mere human speculation
with the revealed doctrines, has often been
matter of wonder to the student of the his
tory of those remarkable ages. But it is un
deniable that a strong evidence in favour of
the Divine origin of Christianity is deducible
from the simple fact of its survival.
II. Meanwhile, no intimate knowledge of
Christianity was required to discover that it
had declined sadly from its original purity
and perfection. Although claiming from the
first to be "the light of the world," the
professors and teachers of the Religion of
Christ were by the seventh century sunk in
the depths of mental darkness ; and the
social disorders prevailing throughout the
more civilized portions of the earth were, it

154 SERMON IV.
cannot be denied, attributable in a great
degree to the agitation of Religious differ
ences amongst Christians themselves. One of
my learned predecessors has gone so far as to
affirm, that owing to the numberless divisions
which had arisen on points the most trifling
and absurd, perverse contentions with each
other, corruptness in opinion, and degeneracy
in practice, " the Christians of this unhappy
period retained little more than the name
and external profession of their religion,"
and that in fact " scarce any vestige remained
in these times of a Christian Church." In
these corruptions and distresses of Christi
anity arose the great impostor of Arabia.
To him, viewing the state of Christendom
calmly from without, the idea might have
suggested itself of the want of some religion
sufficiently catholic to supply the spiritual
wants of the whole human race. He might
have observed that a system professing to
have universal peace for one of its oibjects,
instead of achieving this great and glorious
end, was developing itself apparently in wars
and tumults and social disturbances of every
kind. Forming then his notions from the
actual state of Christendom, the prophet of
Mecca, whose only book was (we dre told)
" the book of nature and of man," may have

SERMON IV. 155
regarded Christianity as a failure on the part
of its author and upholders to establish a
paramount under the profession of an uni
versal religious system. How far his own
projects of dominion might bear comparison
w'ith the confident expectation of future
empire entertained even by the least en
thusiastic of the faithful followers of Christy
may admit of question ; but it is certain that
when points of difference disclose themselves
between the laws of the pseudo-apostle of
God and those of the Gospel, the former
are seen to defer to the prejudices, and to
pander to the grosser, which are sure to be
the more general, inclinations of mankind.
At all events the Koran exhibits in various
parts a knowledge of the particulars of the
current practical Christianity of the day, and
betrays its own policy throughout in the
adversative position which it takes up to
wards them. The articles of Priesthood and
Sacrifice are peculiarly illustrative of this
studied contrariety to the Christian model ;
whilst in fasting alsoj and even in prayer, the
regulations K)f Mahomet are conceived so as
to contrast as strongly as possible vvith the
asceticism, formalism, and indolence, both
bodily and mental, characterizing the bulk of
the professing Christianity of the period.

156 SERMON IV.
In all these points the sagacity of the
impostor is most conspicuous ; for at the
same time that by recognising the authority
of Holy Scripture he so far propitiated the
superficial professor both of Judaism and
Christianity, he presented himself also to the
more thinking in the character of a Reformer
of religious abuses, which by obscuring the
genuine religion of our Lord and His Apostles
must have tended to bring their personal
dignity into disrepute, and thus opened a
door to success for those who might be
audacious enough to put themselves forward
as fulfilling in their own persons the Scrip
ture promises of the Paraclete. Hence the
great success which attended the pretensions
of Mahomet has been not unfrequently at
tributed " to the circumstances of the times"
by those who are slow to detect the finger of
God, and His just indignation at the un
checked corruptions and almost universal
degeneracy of His Church.
But since the only argument upon which
Mahommedanism can dare a comparison of
itself with Christianity is built upon its rapid
propagation and establishment, (which is at
best but a questionable note of a true religion
or Church, even at the present stage of his
tory,) I must be content to refer my younger

SERMON IV. 157
hearers to the discourses to which I have
once already made allusion for an account of
the different circumstances under which both
religions were so widely diffused, and for the
arguments whereby "the superiority of the
religion taught by Christ over that of Ma
homet is made sufficiently apparent to justify
our approbation of the one and our rejection
of the other."
Ill, Nor can we bestow more than a glance
upon the third event selected, the all-im
portant aera of the Reformation. In the re
vival of learning and general awakenment of
a spirit of inquiry which marked that period
of man's history, we detect at once a happy
promise of future triumph for the doctrines
of Revelation. This, however, could not exist
without a proportionate advantage accruing
to the department of the Evidences ; and so,
in fact, the vital principles ofthe Reformation
will be found, upon fair examination, to in
volve of necessity the amplest security both
for the promulgation and the perpetuation of
the genuine proofs of true religion. "The
Reformation," says a living writer, " springs
forth and appeals to the Divine records, col
lects fresh evidences, reassumes truth, sweeps
away the incumbrance of human tradition,
exhibits Christianity to the faith and obe-

158 SERMON IV.
dience of mankind. The lives and deaths of
the reformers, the effects of their doctrine,
the accomplishment of the grace of Reve
lation in its operations upon the human
heart, are appealed to, and place the evi
dences of Christianity in a new blaze of glory.
What superstition and ignorance had wrought
for ten centuries is overthrown ; and Christ
ianity appears fresh and vigorous, and sacred
as at its first birth."
To this I would merely add, that the un
disputed and indisputable fact, that at the
aera of the Reformation both the great parties
were in earnest, is sufficient for the historical
argument arising from that great movement,
in so far as it affects the truth of the Christian
religion in general. And here again, as at
every stage before, might the fulfilment of
prophecy be brought to strengthen the evi
dences resulting to Christianity from the
occurrences of the period in question. The
earnestness of the struggle between the Pro
testant communities and that of Rome, I
would say, is not to be accounted for by any
collateral circumstances, political or personal ;
some of which doubtless, we must allow, con
tributed to augment its obstinacy when the
conflict had once begun. The main reasons
which produced the Reformation had been

SERMON IV. 159
accumulating for ages, and reached their
head long before these minor influences
gave, or could give, the slightest tokens of
their existence. The whole movement must
be regarded as an exemplification of two
momentous truths : one, the paramount in
terest which has ever attached to religion in
the minds of the most thoughtful nations of
the world ; — the other, the interposition of
the Supreme Being, on occasions which even
to the eye of human estimation appear the
meetest for the display of His extraordinary
care. The latter of these is the more ob
viously connected with our immediate sub
ject. Although a review of the course of
events from the twelfth century (or we might
go farther back perhaps) would abundantly
shew that the way had been long preparing
for the release of Western Europe from the
increasing corruptions of Christianity, — fos
tered, as they had in the main been intro
duced also, by the see of Rome ; yet the great
separation made in the sixteenth century
must be regarded as the immediate effect of
a distinct and special interposition of Divine
Providence. Accordingly, most perspicacious
and candid historians and critics have award
ed to the eminent leaders of the Reformation
a place in the history of the world, to which

160 SERMON IV.
the only parallel in many respects is afforded
by the case of the immediate followers of
our Lord Himself. However deserving of
our regard and veneration many of the dis
tinguished individuals who defended and
adorned the Church of Christ in the aera of
the Apologists, or down the subsequent ages
of scholasticism, still they stand out simply
as individuals. Here and there, it is true,
we discover men impressed with the essential
characters of Christianity, and offering splen
did exceptions to the general corruption,
moral and spiritual, in which the whole of
Christendom was immersed. But no single
age or period in the annals of Christianity,
before or since, can be fixed upon, offering to
view any considerable combination of men
animated with the desire of restoring pure
religion ; far less such a galaxy of learning,
wisdom, piety, and Christian courage, as con
stitute at once the distinguishing feature and
the glory of the period in question.
Of little avail then is it, in despite of the
testimony of such men, and the victory which
they gained, to talk of the integrity of Catho
lic developments, as marking the progress of
history in the times between the Apostles
and Luther, — in any sense, I mean, which
shall be useful for the particular purposes of

SERMON IV. 161
any single church. For if that view of the
subject of which we have of late heard so
much were conceded, what reason can be
assigned for the abrupt termination of all
doctrinal development at the precise aera of
the council of Trent ? We are not pressed, at
least, with the allegation of any considerable
developments since. Either then we must
conclude that a power asserted to be essen
tial to the vitality of the church, has been
ever since suspended ; or that the developing
process in question can be no essential func
tion of the true church  True, most true it
is, that the Catholic Church is, and must be,
continually developing truth ; but it is in that
sense only in which truth of doctrine needs be
developed, and in which it always will and
must develope itself — in the beauty of practi
cal holiness In this sense she is of a certainty
" ever greater than the emergence," whether
of national or individual necessity. In this
sense she can " extract good from evil" al
ways. It is thus, because she is under the
affectionate, constant, vigilant guardianship
of her heavenly Head, that she does (to
transfer the allusion made use of by the
distinguished author, or rather modifier of
the doctrine of development in religious truth,
in whom ourselves in this place naturally
M

162 SERMON IV.
take most interest) " inherit the promise
made to the disciples that they should take
up serpents, and if they drank any "deadly
thing it should not hurt them — when evil
has clung to her, and the barbarian people
have looked with curiosity, or in malice, till
she should have swollen or fallen down sud
denly, she has shaken the venomous beast
into the fire, and felt no harm."
If then it be in our power, as it is, with
reference to our own branch of Christ's holy
Catholic Church, to apply such words as
these to her continuance — if, notwithstand
ing the frequent occasions on which she has
unhappily (if indeed trials can be thought to
constitute unhappiness) been called upon to
repel open aggression, or to unmask and
baffle the designs of the insidious, it has
been her destiny to increase in strength, to
enlarge her border, and thus to appropriate
to herself one at least of the desiderated at
tributes of Catholicism — well may we, my
brethren, and all her sons be content with
the blessed privilege of having grown up in
her communion ; nor may we lightly reject
the conviction of many a learned and pious
mind, that such results can have flowed only
» Mark xvi. 18.

SERMON IV. 163
from the fixed principles of a sound and en
lightened piety, which, whether they were
fully understood or not by the personages
most active and influential at the time of the
Reformation, were yet appointed by the Su
preme Will to bring forth in due time a
kindly and abundant harvest — presenting to
the gaze and admiration of civilized hu
manity a system of belief and practice, equally
removed from the captious narrow-minded
ness of the Puritan, and the audacious flights
of a latitudinarian idealism.
I will only remark, in conclusion, as being
in harmony with our earliest observations, that
the portion of our subject which has engaged
our thoughts to-day presents one of those
cases where the matter itself of a question
supplies to a certain degree its own best evi
dence. With our ineradicable convictions of
the Divine Nature, and our consciousness of
the perceptions included in our own mental
constitution, we at least feel the force of the
general argument from the Bible history,
when we observe how it exhibits throughout
its pages the acknowledged perfections of the
one, and an exact and, as it were, studied con
formity to the condition and necessities of
the other. And deeply sensitive has Infi
delity shewn itself of this undeniable pecu-
M 2

164 SERMON IV.
liarity of the sacred record. The chief en
deavour therefore of unbelievers has com
monly been to parry the argument from
thence resulting by the allegation, that the
Divine counsels, as we represent them, have
undergone changes from time to time, and
thus proved themselves incompatible with
the character of a Being, in whom the
Christian asserts with the Apostle that "there
is no variableness, or shadow of turning"."
The discernment and recognition of that
unity which our remarks would represent as
pervading the Divine government through
out all its dispensations, is in itself a com
plete answer to this objection ; and whilst
the objection is destroyed, a foundation is
also visibly laid whereupon to raise the solid
edifice of Christian Truth, which is thus
shewn to be as unchangeable as its Revealer
and Author — even Jesus Christ — " the Rock
of our salvation," "the same yesterday, to-day,
and for ever "."
b James i. 17. *= Heb. xiii. 8.

SERMON V.

Acts n. 22.

.... Jesus Christ, a man approved of God among
you, by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which
God did by him in the midst of you, as ye your
selves also know.

rpHE general proof arising from a rapid
survey of the history of the human race,
and from that of the Jewish and Christian
portions of it in particular, having occupied
our attention on the last occasion, I now pro
ceed to the consideration of certain special
facts, which are commonly regarded as form
ing a peculiar body of evidences, tending in
a direct course to the establishment of our
faith in Christianity. By such facts I under
stand not only miracles, properly so called,
but such other phenomena as may be rea
sonably associated with miracles, if not (as
they have indeed sometimes been) actually
designated by the same name.

166 SERMON V.
It might not be superfluous, before enter
ing upon the proposed investigation, to de
termine what, in theological language, is to
be called a Fact. I shall not, however, affect
precision in this particular. All that I would
ask is, that a fact be conceived as taking
place in time. With this simple limitation
we at least clear the way a little, by excluding
such truths as the eternal generation of the
Son, the procession of the Holy Ghost, and
the like, from the domain of facts ; within
which we nevertheless often find them com
prehended by Theological writers. Certain
truths also relating to man, such as original
sin, justification, conversion, sanctification,
and others, should in like manner, I think,
be spoken of rather as doctrines than as
facts. The removal of such mysterious and com
prehensive truths as have been just specified
from the region of Facts will still leave un
touched a vast number of phenomena pos
sessed of a sufficiently complex character,
and which we may, if we please, call, by way
way of distinction, complex facts. To this
class belong prophecies and types, which, as
distinguished from common miracles, require,
it is obvious, the double proof of the earlier
delivery or enactment, and of the subsequent

SERMON V. 16V
fulfilment, in order to their completeness,
and are consequently, in the strictest sense,
complex facts. The present discourse will,
however, for convenience sake, take both pro
phecies and types as falling for the most part
under the generic head of Miracles : — to
which important subject, or division of the
evidences, it is my business now, in accord
ance with the requirements of my general
plan, to desire your attention.
It is a remark of Bishop Horsley, when
speaking of the Gospel facts, or facts recorded
by the Evangelists, that they are not the
ground of the common faith of believers, for
that although no facts of equal antiquity can
boast a historical evidence equally complete,
yet but few persons have leisure or light
enough to scrutinize this ; and that accord
ingly " in the degree in which such evidences
may be supposed to strike the generality of
believers, it seems to be that which may
rather furnish a proof begun in other princi
ples, than make by itself an entire demon
stration." Many divines have extended a
like observation from the Gospel facts to all
other facts of Scripture, adducible in the way
of evidence for the sacred truth.
The correctness of such statements I am
not concerned to call in question ; for it will

168 SERMON V.
be doubtless remembered that they harmo
nize readily with the views which I have
ventured to put forward on former occasions.
And it is indeed one of the purposes of the
present Lectures to shew, that the external
and internal evidences must be associated,
cemented, and welded together (so to speak),
in order to form the defences of Revelation.
The consideration of facts would seem then
aptly to follow the notice of those principles
or general grounds of conviction with which
all men must, it seems, be in greater or less
degree provided, whenever they address them
selves to the argumentative appreciation of
any facts whatsoever ; and a proper review
and adjustment of which are preeminently
required, when the object may be to apply
them to the consideration of those extraor
dinary facts, to which the Christian reasoner
appeals, as affording, if not the strongest, at
least a very powerful proof of the Divine
origin of his faith.
Reverting then for a moment to the ac
knowledged existence of such anticipations
in all human minds, the great question, with
respect to miracles, would seem to be. Are
miracles to be expected? Now, I conceive,
the answer to this question may be deter
mined by the answer we feel at liberty to

SERMON V. 169
give to another, and which I may call the
previous question. Is a Revelation from God
to be expected? The answer to which will
again depend upon our preconceptions of the
Divine attributes. For if we are impressed
(as it will be remembered has been assumed
by us all along) with a belief in the goodness
of God, we cannot deny the great probability
of a Revelation, under the known circum
stances of our race. In other words, we may
expect one. But a Revelation is itself, we
must remember, a miraculous fact; and would
therefore, as such, be most suitably accom
panied and attested by facts of a similar cha
racter. It seems unnecessary to draw the
formal inference resulting from these few
propositions. But there is another presumption which
we also carry with us to the consideration of
the Scripture facts in general ; that is, not
to miraculous events only, but also to many
other recorded acts of God in the adminis
tration of the world. This is the admission
of the superiority of Moral to Physical con
cerns, whenever the two may be brought into
comparison or collision with each other. So
wonderful indeed is the adaptation of the
natural world and its laws to the good of
man, that the stores of proof flowing in from

170 SERMON V.
this single source of Evidence to establish
the benevolence of God towards him appear
to be positively inexhaustible. The Infidel
and the Deist however, we know, frame an ar
gument to serve their purposes from the very
constancy of these laws, trying to shew that
their operation can under no imaginable
circumstances be interrupted. But as they
seem at all times ready to admit that these
laws are themselves ordained to subserve a
moral purpose, we might fairly call upon
them to allow that the operation of such
laws may be suspended, in conjunctures when
a moral end worthy of the Deity, or at least
corresponding with our common and reason
able conceptions of Him, is to be answered.
The process of meditation should therefore be
of this sort. First, in order to test the nature
of the narrated miracle (if that be the fact in
question) we should ascerta>in' the difficulties
of a physical kind necessary to be overcome,
and then consider and weigh the vhiportance
of the alleged or apparent .end far which it is
recorded to have been wrought. The ad
vocate of the Christjaw^ miracles challenges
an inquiry of this gort, and is confident that
the end will always in their case render
probable the asserted interposition of Divine
agency, however in fact as well as in appear-

SERMON V. 171
ance disturbing, or even counteracting the
Laws of Nature.
The argument from miracles would, upon
the ground afforded by these presumptions,
appear to be so simple, intelligible and direct,
that we might expect it to command at once
the assent of all persons to whom it might be
addressed. But so far from this being the
case, more than eighteen hundred years now
have passed since the Apostolic miracles of
which we possess the record were enacted,
and men are yet disputing their reality, the
probability, nay even the possibility of their
performance. It will not then be superfluous
to bestow a few brief observations on this
familiar, yet, as it would appear, never- to-be-
exhausted subject.
I think it quite unnecessary to dwell be
fore my present auditory upon the lines of
argument supplied by the various contrasts
of the New Testament Miracles with other
like occurrences recorded or supposed to
have taken place in different countries, and
under circumstances more or less dissimilar :
such, e. g. as the heathen prodigies, the pre
tended miracles of Apollonius and of Ma
homet ; to which may unquestionably be
added those of the Romish Church, said to

172 SERMON V.
have been wrought whether in past ages or in
our own : the want of satisfactory Evidence to
all of which has been sufficiently ascertained
by those who with the requisite qualifica
tions of carefulness, perspicacity, judgment
and honesty have applied themselves to their
examination. Nor shall I do more than make brief
allusion to the argument to be gathered from
a comparison of the miracles of our Blessed
Lord and his Apostles with those which alone
admit of being reasonably set side by side
with them ; I mean the miracles of Moses,
""the faithful servant" of God. How all
such comparisons, whenever they are fairly
made, redound to the glory of the facts ac
companying the Christian Dispensation, may
be assumed as a point long since placed be
yond dispute.
Narrowing in then the question so as to
comprise within our scope the New Testament
miracles only, let me advert to those forms
of objection which have come uppermost in
our own day, and which by some, and most
frequently by the young, are deemed of force
sufficient to shake their belief in the reality
of those miracles, and consequently so far to
a Heb. iii. 2, 5; Rev. xv. 3.

SERMON V. 173
invalidate the structure of proof which they
have been from their earliest years accus
tomed to rest upon them.
Of the views alluded to, two present them
selves as most deserving our consideration;
both, it will be seen, affecting intimately and
"vitally the contents of the Sacred Volume,
and thereby, by implication, the essence of
the faith itself; but differing from each
other, in that one arraigns the argument
from miracles on a priori grounds, and calls
in question the reality of their performance ;
whereas the other admits the occurrence of
the facts, but denies that they were intended
to prove the Inspiration of the workers of the
miracles ; or, in other words, to serve as cre
dentials of their Divine authority. This
latter objection does not differ widely from
the former in its logical character, being
drawn from the kindred topic oi final causes.
I. Let us take then the first of these
objections which unbelievers in the present
day are peculiarly fond of advancing in dis
paragement or in denial of the New Testa
ment miracles. Is it to be supposed, say they,
that God would have had recourse to the dis
play of such phenomena in attestation to the
Divine authority of Christ and his disciples ?
Wljat would this be but to constitute the

174 SERMON V.
feeling of surprise or astonishment in a few
persons, and these belonging to a weak and
credulous period in the annals of mankind,
the security for the constant unintermitted
faith of all future generations ; a poor expe
dient surely for Omniscience to adopt with
the view of accomplishing the great end with
which the Christian connects these Scripture
miracles, or indeed any grand or worthy re
sult ? — Thus summarily is the argument from
miracles in support of the Christian Religion
disposed of by some in this our age of boasted
wisdom and intelligence.
It is generally best to answer an objection,
if we can, by making one part of it destruc
tive of others, or at least of the general effect
of the whole ; else, in the present case, we
might begin with denying that astonishment
is the only feeling produced in the minds of
those who witness, as they imagine, a display
of supernatural power. Let us however con
cede that wonder is the only feeling excited.
Doubtless the Scripture narrative speaks very
strongly with reference to the operation of
this feeling in the cases alluded to. Jesus
" was casting out a devil ; and it was dumb ;
and it came to pass that when the devil was
gone out, the dumb spoke";" and the peo-
^ Luke xi. 14.

SERMON V. 175
pie, we are told, " wondered." On other oc
casions they are said to have been " amazed'',"
to have been " astonished," nay, to have been
" astonished with great astonishment ^" Let
us suppose, I say, that this feeling so dwelt
upon by the sacred writers was the only
feeling aroused on those occasions; — how
long, it may be asked, has the feeling of
wonder been the necessary token of ig
norance, or of an uninquiring credulity? No
doubt it often accompanies these states, but
the operation of the feeling is so far from
being confined to such conditions, that it
interposes in almost all the greater employ
ments of the human faculties : — or do the
objectors whom I have in view mean that
the " collective maturity," of which they are
so fond of speaking as appertaining to the
present condition of the human intellect, is
identical with the stolid old nil admirari
philosophy in its literal sense ? Is not rather
the feeling of wonder akin to the principle
of philosophical inquiry itself? Such at least
is the opinion of the most accurate observers
of the human mind : and even the eminent
prelate (already mentioned to-day) who lashes
with unsparing severity those Jews who sim
ply wondered, that is, (as he expresses it,)
'^ Mark ii. 12; Luke iv. 36. d Mark v. 42.

176 SERMON V.
" whose wonder ended in wondering," and
was " satisfied with wondering," declares that
the same feeling, connected with a principle
of rational " curiosity," (and this, I presume,
is possessed, to a certain extent at least, by
most men,) is the source of all knowledge
and discovery, and " is a principle even of
piety" itself
Granted then, I repeat, that the emotion
of wonder is the only one excited in our
minds on such occasions as the apparent
suspension or counteraction of the laws of
nature ; yet it is not that vague, unreason
ing, undiscriminating kind of wonder which
is necessary for the vitality of the objection.
The feeling may indeed be strong, but it is
regulated and controlled by the various con
siderations which we read and know to have
accompanied it in the case of the actual wit
nesses of the New Testament miracles; and
the combination of which considerations, not
the simple miraculous operation itself, forms,
in reality, the strength of the argument
thence deduced in favour of the Christian
religion. If mere astonishment, of whatever
degree, were made the sole criterion of mi
raculous intervention, it would be obviously
impossible to distinguish in this respect be
tween the miracles and the doctrines of our

SERMON V. 177
blessed Lord. For as we read of the asto
nishment of the eye-witnesses of his " signs
and wonders," so do we read also that they
were " astonished at his doctrine "^ ;" — as well
indeed they might, when he confounded Pha
risee and Sadducee, lawyer and scribe, by
the wisdom and authority with which he
taught, by speaking "as never man spake ^"
Since it must not escape us that the very
same persons who impugn his miracles, are,
or affect to be, admirers of his teaching.
Where then, it may be demanded of them, is
the precise point of elevation at which the
sentiment of wonder detects and attests the
presence of Deity in the manifestation of
miraculous power ? Or will it be contended
that the sensation of amazement is different
in kind, when produced by the hearing of
a doctrine, from what it is when awakened
by the ocular evidence of apparently super
natural agencies ? Surely it must be evident
to sober reason, that in so far as the element
of astonishment or wonder is concerned, the
two subjects, the works, namely, and the
teaching of our Lord, must stand on exactly
the same footing. In a word, they must both
be rejected or accepted together.
d Mark x. 24; Luke ii. 47, &c. « John vii. 46.
N

178 SERMON V,
And here, in the way of a subordinate
argument, not without effect upon some
minds, might be introduced the striking co
incidence observed to exist between many
of the miracles performed by our Lord and
his Apostles, and the doctrine which for the
time being they were enforcing. Without
going at all into this argument, I may affirm
that it offers, beyond dispute, another pre
sumption or probable proof of the credibility
of facts, which are thus seen to resemble in
complexion the moral and religious pre
cepts which they seem to sanction. But with
reference to such remarkable connection be
tween the doctrines and the miracles of the
Gospel, I cannot withhold the remark, that
infidels in general do not seem to reflect
how much they are in fact conceding when
they grant that our Lord was a preeminently
good man. It cannot surely be consistent
with exalted virtue, to make professions at
variance with truth. And it is undeniable
that our Lord laid claim to more than hu
man knowledge, and to a commission from
his Father to teach it to the world. " The
woman" of Samaria " saith unto him, I know
that Messias cometh, which is called Christ,
when he is come, he will tell us all things.
Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee

SERMON V. 179
am He*." This is only one of many places
in which he claims a knowledge not only
superhuman, but divine.
And, as if to meet an objection which
might be raised to the testimony which he
thus gives to himself, he at another time
says, "Which of you convinceth me of sin ^?"
meaning probably by " sin," any evil deed or
moral blemish, the taint of which must in all
cases weaken more or less the credibility of
a witness, and particularly of one who is a
witness in his own case. His moral cha
racter then being unsullied, and without pos
sible reproach, the infidel should surely pro
ceed without prejudice to examine into the
other grounds of his claims to superhuman
dignity. And these are, in one word, his
Works, and amongst them the very miracles
of which we are speaking. To these he
himself appeals expressly, as affording the
strongest evidences of his Divine mission.
" The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth
the works. Believe me that I am in the
Father, and the Father in me: or else be
lieve me for the very works' sake "."
Similar observations may be extended to
the chosen followers of our Lord also, allow
ance being made for the difference of their
f John iv. 25. s John viii. 46. ^ John xiv. 10, 11.
N 2

180 SERMON V.
testifying not to themselves, but to their
Lord and Master; — a difference, however,
which may be thought to increase rather
than diminish the weight of the present ar
gument in their case.
But to return. It is further asserted that,
be the effect of the New Testament miracles
what it might at the times of their alleged
performance, they would produce nothing
like the same sensation if they were per
formed now. This is perhaps an erroneous
assertion altogether. At any rate, if we defer
to the express judgment of the most acute
observers of the human mind, we shall rather
be disposed to regard our Lord's own decla
ration in the parable, where he is comparing
the evidence produced by the most stu
pendous miracle with the testimony of " Mo
ses and the prophets"," as applicable with
equal justice to all the generations of man
kind. I shall however deal with the objec
tion as emanating from those who have ap
parently attached themselves to the school
of Spinoza, since it turns, we may well see,
upon one of the distinguishing dogmas of the
unbelieving system of that philosopher.
When viewed in this connexion, the ob
jection in question strikes at the very root
of all the Christian, and indeed all other
a Luke xvi. 29.

SERMON V. 181
arguments from miracles ; making the igno
rance of man to be their entire refutation,
upon the maxim of equipoUence (as it is
called) ; in other words, of an exact paral
lelism which he maintains to exist between
the ignorance of man, and his belief in the
existence and operation .of miraculous agen
cies. Did we know the powers of nature,
Spinoza argues, we should find that they are
equal to all the products which we igno-
rantly call supernatural ; and should the be
liever adduce the most wondrous works of
our Lord, and assert that these were not and
could not be the effects of any natural laws,
he is still met by the stubborn fact of his
own ignorance, and analogies are poured in
upon him to shew that the rareness or mag
nitude of an event does not disprove its
probable origin in mere natural causes. And
perhaps there is no better, at least no safer,
mode of encountering the untoward objec
tion at this stage, than for the advocate of
the New Testament miracles to insist on the
extreme unlikelihood of nature thus manifest
ing herself, without any apparent object or
prospective result, in instances of such un
wonted operation, and to go on to raise the
more general and truly fundamental ques
tion, which, as it involves the determination

182 SERMON V.
of the true relation of nature to God, can
only be solved by assigning to the former
those bounds, be they ever so far beyond her
ordinary sphere of action, which the Reason
of all but the atheist must sooner or later be
brought to allow that she can never pass.
But is it true that the ignorance of man
and the powers of nature are both thus per-
plexingly unlimited? or rather, do not the
limits of mere natural power fall within the
cognizance of ordinary persons, such as were
the beholders of the Christian miracles ? Let
us grant, by way of supposition, that the ques
tion between the powers of nature and the
immediate agency of the Deity is a question
of degree merely. Does it follow, we may
ask, that it should be impossible for man to
draw some line between them ? On this
point let me take an illustration from a
sagacious writer on statistics. In the advo
cacy of his own theory, it was necessary for
him to refute the speculations of another
school ; which, amidst other wild notions of
the unlimited powers of the human being,
had contended for his organic perfectibility.
This view had been supported upon analo
gies afforded by the animal and vegetable
world, and had been (singularly enough, when
viewed in this connexion) applied in parti-

SERMON V. 183
cular to the duration of human life. The
observed effects of diet, habit, climate, &c.,
had furnished a pretext for the anticipation
of its indefinite extension at some future
periods of the history of our race. The per
fectionist, in fact, had inferred that the pos
sible prolongation of human life was in
definite or unlimited. The detection of the
fallacy turned, as we might suppose, upon
the definition or idea of the word unlimited ;
and the extreme consequences of the spe
culation were satisfactorily refuted, not in
deed by shewing at what point precisely im
provement might arrive, but by fixing upon
one which it could never reach ; by shewing,
in short, that indefinable progress is not to
be confounded with progress ad infinitum.
And so "to raise the dead to life, to cure
the most violent and inveterate diseases by
speaking a word only, to walk on the surface
of a stormy sea, who," says Beattie, " can
doubt at all that works such as these must
require the present power of the Lord and
Author of all nature for their performance ?"
But if there could be doubt respecting these,
suppose one who, having been "crucified in
the presence of a great multitude, and ascer
tained to be dead, and after lying part of
three days in the grave arose to life, reani-

184 SERMON V.
mated the body which had been mangled on
the cross, passed forty days on earth after
his resurrection, during which time he fre
quently conversed With his disciples, and at
last in open day, and whilst he was speaking
to them, visibly ascended into heaven ;" what
law or principle of the human mind is so
extravagant as to ascribe so stupendous a
deviation from the course of nature to other
than Divine power? Surely, the preaching
of the Apostles may be a sufficient comment
on this last and most extraordinary miracle !
They did not, it is most evident, consider
themselves, nor can we consider them, to
have been deceived in their notions of mira
culous phenomena. The question then trans
forms itself into the doubt, whether they were
deceivers P that is, we pass from a physical
to a moral consideration. But here, if the
Apostles were deceivers, we have the mar
vellous fact of men practising for years a
system of deception without any assignable
ends or motives for so doing. Ends and mo
tives, we know, fall within the province of
ethics. If then we fasten the charge, or
attach the suspicion of imposture to the
Apostles and Evangelists — and the same may
be said, with allowances for the circumstances
in each several case, of the first ages of

SERMON V. 185
Christianity — ^of the entire roll of its cen
turies — of the Christian church and ministry
throughout; if, in a word, we agitate the
question of priestcraft in any shape, we
must be prepared with our theory of moral
motives, and shew (which unbelievers have
hitherto failed to do) that the interest of the
first preachers and martyrs of Christianity
lay in diametrical opposition both to the spi
rit and letter of a singularly pure and ele
vated system of morality as well as religion
- — a system which they were ready to uphold
through the most complicated sufferings, and
finally to seal with their life-blood. The
popular treatises in the hands of most edu
cated persons in this country may be re
ferred to as following out this most im
portant argument.
But after all it is to be feared that the
real objection lurking under all these alleged
difficulties is not so much the improbability
of the evangelical and apostolic miracles,
as their impossibility, or (which practically
amounts to the same thing) the impossibility
of our proving them to have been wrought.
The reasoning of Hume still lies at the bot
tom of most of the misgivings. Like him,
the generality of infidels in these days do
not candidly and openly call in question the

186 SERMON V.
possibility of God's altering the course of his
Providence in circumstances of moral exi
gency, but they virtually do the same by
exalting in various ways the potency of na
ture. Mere physical impugners indeed go
at once to the point, and honestly maintain
the supremacy and inflexibility of those laws,
thus demolishing or striking at the theory of
miracles altogether. But the more moderate
and subtler class prefer to array probability
against probability, testimony against testi
mony, experience against experience, pro
fessing to be governed by the preponderating
influence in each respective scale. Such, or
similar, was the course of their great master.
The argument of Hume does not (as some
have stated it) contrast experience with tes
timony, as different kinds of evidence, but
experience with experience, taken as the
same evidence ; and thus though its subtlety
is rendered perhaps greater, it yet supplies
the elements of its own destruction. For
surely we may answer that the experience of
the greater number (which is all that can be
said in favour of the laws of nature) does
not necessarily outweigh the experience of
the few, (which is the case of miracles ;) and
it is futile, when reviewing the whole history
of past events, to poll the superior number of

SERMON V. 187
instances, as affecting a question where, as in
the case of Divine interference, the events
are necessarily and avowedly of the nature
of exceptions to the general dealings of the
Deity, and accordingly, i, e. from the nature
of the case, admit of only a limited numerical
attestation. The testimony which is required
in order to substantiate the performance of
miracles, and the testimony which assures us
of the laws of nature being uniform and per
emptory, when we ourselves are absent or
non-observant, are of the same kind pre
cisely ; and by attention to the rules of moral
evidence, and the criteria of true and false
miracles as they appear in the writings of
many writers which our own Church and
country have produced, we are enabled to
establish the miracles involved in our pre
sent question against the successive hosts of
infidels, who, with but very little variety of
weapons, continue from age to age to assail
them. II. The other class of objectors alluded
to do not dispute the reality of the Christian
miracles, but, allowing their actual perform
ance, yet deny the validity of the inference
we draw from them. They would represent
the Divine authority of the first preachers of
Christianity as only one of many probable

188 SERMON V.
hypotheses, which would equally account for
the interposition or exertion of supernatural
power. Miracles, they say, for instance, may
have been wrought for the purpose of proving
the inspiration of the workers of them, but
many other final causes may be conceived of
at least equal probability. But what these
probable hypotheses are, and which of them
is more probable than that which the unin
termitted belief of the Christian Church for
nearly two thousand years has sanctioned,
they are slow and, possibly, unable to specify.
In the absence then of any competing hypo
thesis possessing greater claims upon our re
ception, assuredly we are at liberty — nay, is
it not, and must it not be, our duty ? — to be
contented with our own hypothesis, whether
we regard its own intrinsic grounds of credi
bility, or take it in comparison with those
lesser degrees of probability which attach to
other hypotheses adventurously adduced in
opposition. And I have said, the " uninterrupted be
lief" of so many centuries, because it is
necessary to bear in mind in this question,
that the silence of those, who, avowing their
belief in Christianity, and their respect for
the books of the New Testament, have not
disputed the miraculous accounts which they

SERMON V. 189
contain, is a very strong proof of the truth of
such accounts. We may thus, in fact, con
sider each successive generation of the early
Christians as adding their own testimony to
that of their predecessors, and, as it were,
repeating the Evangelical narratives in their
own persons; whereas of one, and that the
greatest miracle of all, the resurrection of
our Lord — the Christian religion itself, we
may affirm, is in reality its impress and re
presentation ; respecting which miracle indeed
there was and could be no silence, since we
cannot so disparage as to count it merely as
an evidence ; it being much more than this,
both the grand stimulant to Christian obe
dience, and the guarantee of our own hoped
for immortality.
We can argue then as ^ell from the omis
sion as from the notice of the miracles in the
case of the Christians at the period referred
to. And the argument is capable of being
directed against two sorts of objections ; the
one, which would make the evidence of mira
cles (not however, without equally affecting
at the same time all history) become fainter
and fainter in exact proportion as we recede
from the time of their alleged performance,
(an objection which I do not deem worthy of
a studied refutation) — and the other already.

190 SERMON V.
it is to be hoped, adequately refuted by the
countrymen of the daring Neologist who in
vented it — a theory, namely, which would fain
bring the miracles of our Lord and his Apo
stles within the fantastic mazes of a mythical
interpretation, and account for their being
inserted into the sacred narrative upon the
dishonourable principle of an ex post facto
accommodation, accomplished by some inex
plicable finesse or artful legerdemain ; for
such it must have been to have escaped con
temporaneous detection and exposure on the
part of the earlier keepers of the writings of
the New Testament.
Other objections there are, or cavils rather,
which would not deserve even a passing
notice, were they not circulated industri
ously in the present day, and even amongst
ourselves. For example, it is said that mi
racles, being addressed to the senses, are
transient, and that truth, spiritual truth,
is eternal ; from which it is sought to be in
ferred that the latter can derive no support
from the former : — as though the Christian
reasoner drew the truths of Revelation in
the way of logical deductions directly from
the miracles, instead of receiving them upon
the sole authority ofthe revealer. The objector
should go on to shew, either that there are

SERMON V. 191
other means, totally independent of the ope
ration of sense, by which a teacher professing
to come from God can prove his commission,
or that the coming of such teacher was never
to be expected. But it is out of his power
to do either.
•Did the present inquiry profess to observe
a strictly systematic course, and assume also
to comprehend within its range the con
sideration of every element of Evidence, this
perhaps would be the place for inserting the
arguments resulting from the cases of special
prophecies manifestly fulfilled ; a view to be
contradistinguished to the general notices of
prophecy submitted in the last Lecture. — But
into this department it is scarcely possible to
enter ; and so also must the question be alto
gether omitted, which of the two, Prophecy or
Miracles, affords the stronger Evidence for the
truth of Revelation. — Philosophically regard
ed, it is obvious, that these two branches of
proof reciprocally imply and involve each
other ; since every prophecy is miraculous
in its character, and every miracle again im
plies a prescience of the accomplishment of
the intended effect. But were we to consider
the matter of their comparative importance
more closely, we might see how painful the
agitation of such a question is calculated to

192 SERMON V.
be to pious minds, as was indeed exemplified
forcibly in the times of bishop Sherlock and
Middleton. No doubt the more important
point to settle is, the real value of each
argument taken by itself, or absolutely. But
we must remember that the Infidel, fully
aware of the different force of the same argu
ments in different assemblies, is often careful
to ascertain to a nicety the comparative
weight of separate Evidences, when balanced
against each other. It is therefore the duty
of the Christian advocate (and, we may add,
of every Christian pastor) occasionally also to
engage in such speculations ; since, although
he relies upon the combined force of all the
Evidences of Revealed Truth taken together,
he may yet, from the uncertainty of his com
munications, be positively interested in esti
mating the value of each and every tributary
source of proof whatever.
It must be admitted, however, that a line
of reasoning which connects prophecy with
miracle is not without its uses, being available
in many ways, and more particularly in our
controversy with the Jews. For we are thus
enabled to press the argumentum ad hominem
against them with considerable force  " You
believe your law," we say to the Jew, " of
which you cannot shew that there was any

SERMON V. 193
prophetical intimation at all, and you are
content therefore to believe it upon the
single ground of miracles. Why then should
not we believe the religion of Jesus Christ,
upon the like ground of signal and stupen
dous miracles performed by its Founder and
his delegates ? This we might do inde
pendently and apart from any prophecies and
their accomplishments. But we do not choose
to sever the two branches of Evidence from
each other, nor can we allow you to do so.
For although we may suffer you (supposing
you to have a choice) to dispense with prophecy
in the establishment of your law, you must
not and cannot, if you would be consistent,
disregard it when considering the miracles of
Jesus Christ. And why? Clearly because you
profess to believe in those predictions of the
Old Testament which describe the nature of
the miracles to be performed by the promised
Messiah. In this case then the miracles fall
under and may be said to be comprehended
in the head of Prophecy. The testimony of
Prophecy ought here, therefore, to have pe
culiar weight upon your minds, and instead
of comparing in a partial and self-complacent
spirit the miracles of the Gospel history with
the actual appearances of Jehovah on mount
Sinai, (although we by no means shrink from

194 SERMON V.
such comparison, when fairly made,) rather
should you carefully and honestly compare
the prophecies concerning the Messiah's mi
racles with the recorded acts of Jesus, as he
himself, in fact, did in the synagogue at
Nazareth ; and not till after such comparison
reject his claims to the Messiahship. For
how does the case really stand? You must
either acknowledge Jesus, as fulfilling all
those predictions, to be your long-expected
Prophet, Priest and King ; or you must deny
the attributes of Jehovah himself — attributes
which even the Gentile recognises in the God
of his mere natural Religion. "For is it an
imagination," writes Dean Stanhope, " to be
entertained, nay so much as to be endured, by
any who think reverently of God, that a work
of love and wonder, so great as the sending
his Son to redeem the world, should be in agi
tation full four thousand years; that each suc
ceeding age in this long space should have
some notice of it ; that the several characters
he was to sustain should be parcelled out to
be communicated by so many different hands,
living at times and places so remote, that any
confederacy between them was absolutely im
possible ; that each in his turn should, if I may
so say, draw a feature, and leave a distinguish
ing stroke behind him ; that one should de-

SERMON V. 195
scribe his parentage, another the time, another
the place, another the uncommon manner of
his birth ; some the most remarkable actions
and events of his life ; several the most mi
nute and altogether singular circumstances
of his death ; others his resurrection, nay the
very day of it ; others his ascent to the throne
of God, and the perpetual duration of his
kingdom ; that all this should be done, not
in words only, but the more to awaken men's
observation in facts too ; that besides a wor
ship, a temple, a city and state typically
prophetical, several eminent persons should
be raised up, like so many sketches or rough
imperfect draughts, copies and models in little,
resembling this eminent Prophet, Priest and
King ; some in one lineament or capacity,
some in another : — but above all, that every
one of these strokes or touches should be
divided by the unerring hand of God to
make at last one finished picture ; on pur
pose that the original, when brought in view,
might be infallibly known, by being compared
with these lines and characters, drawn at least
four hundred years before : — that the salva
tion of thousands of millions of souls should
depend upon acknowledging the person thus
typified and foretold ; and yet that the lover
0 2

196 SERMON V-
of souls and the God of truth should appoint,
nay, or so much as permit any person to be
in every part and time exactly like that piece,
who was not the very designed original; — this,
I say, take it altogether, is an imagination so
infinitely absurd, that it at once overturns
all our notions of the wisdom and truth and
goodness of God. It does not only contra
dict the great intent of all revealed religion,
but can never be admitted without violence
and manifest affront to natural reason itself."
I will not weaken the force and pointedness
of this apostrophe by a single observation.
It will have been remarked that I have not,
either in this or the preceding Lecture, af
fected to determine with precision the order
of evidence, with reference to its different
degrees of influence upon the minds of men
in general. In connexion with the present
division of my subject, however, it should be
stated, that the Christian Divine, whatever
may be his success in establishing the truth
of miracles, coincides with the popular view,
which assigns to the evidence of sense the
highest position in the scale of proof And
he does so, because in all languages, (and the
language of men is no inconsiderable index
in such cases,) as well as in the teaching of

SERMON V. 197
Holy Scripture and of the Church, the evi
dence afforded by the senses is made the
measure and standard by which the cogency
of all other kinds of evidence is estimated.
And whenever religious, or social, or moral
matters are in question, this is universally
and unavoidably the case. In accordance
with which principle the evidence of miracles
has been treated all along in the simple light
of sensible proof, inherited without inter
mission from that chosen generation whose
privilege it was to be permitted to witness
these liveliest and most incontrovertible ma
nifestations of the immediate presence of
God. To minds impressed with a very strong
philosophical character, I grant, the exalta
tion of the evidence of sense may be distaste
ful, inasmuch as it would appear to carry
with it consequences derogatory to the dig
nity of the intellect. But whatever be the
convictions of such persons, the evidence in
question must receive that amount of con
sideration and deference which we find ac
tually paid to it in Holy Writ, no less than
in the ordinary conduct of our affairs. It
comprehends indeed all the direct proofs of
Revelation, and has often, accordingly, under
judicious management triumphed over the
captiousness of a minute and shallow philo-

198 SERMON V.
sophy. But were every other defence of
this species of evidence to be abandoned,
there would still remain the indisputable fact,
that multitudes are incapable of forming a
conception of the proof of any revelation, ex
cept as connected with miraculous agency of
some sort ; if indeed by far the majority of
believers do not rest their faith upon the
ground of the Scripture miracles, as the only
proper and direct proofs which can be ad
vanced in defence of their Christian profes
sion. Nor have I discussed in a formal manner
the evidence of testimony, which forms the
connecting link between ourselves and the
eye and ear-witnesses of the evangelical signs
and wonders. A brief examination of this
kind of proof would shew that it is not quite
so simple a ground of belief as many may be
disposed to think it, but that it owes its
validity to principles, the existence and im
portance of which were admitted at a very
early stage of our meditations. Were we to
analyse the case of testimony, we should
find it resolve itself into various elements of
our own complex nature. Sense and memory,
which are obviously indispensable, may be
set down among its intellectual ingredients.
But these were of little avail, did we not add

SERMON V. 199
thereto an instinctive love of truth, and a
disposition to veracity, together with so much
natural probity in the witness as is indicated
by the feeling of shame and degradation in
the event of detection in falsehood. These
are, on the other hand, moral qualities, and
they are (as has been before assumed) original
and untaught impulses of our nature. Such
then are the powers whose action must be
taken into account, whenever we address
ourselves to a disputed case of human testi
mony. But under and behind them all lies
also the conviction of a Divine attribute ;
since, as was also seen before, we have no
reason for trusting our own senses or those
of other men, unless it be the goodness of
God, who will not, we think, suffer us to be
deceived by them in matters of the greatest
consequence to our peace and happiness.
We may well wish this simple analysis of the
nature of testimony had been more borne
in mind by those who have speculated with
greatest license on the subject ofthe Christian
miracles. Much might have been said also on behalf
of an appeal to history and facts, had we
found time to attend to the following briefly-
stated considerations.
By proving Revelation to be a fact, all ela-

200 SERMON V.
borate arguments for the necessity of a reve
lation are rendered superfluous ; for besides
that e3(et TO yeyouog avayKrjv, God cannot be
believed to do any thing which is not neces
sary — in the sense, that is, of what is neces
sary for his own purposes. And surely one
strictly philosophical view of every fact is,
that it must be instrumental to the comple
tion or furtherance of some intention or other
on the part of the Supreme Being, which
property qualifies it to become also an argu
ment for something else, although we may
or may not be able to see it.
Again, we might, there is no doubt, by
dwelling on the same and similar thoughts,
turn to great account the consciousness or
inward sense which we have of our own
being, and more particularly of the existence
within us of intellectual and moral capacities;
inasmuch as if we reason from the presence
of this inward faculty or consciousness, sim
ply as a fact or effect, we may infer a cause
of it ; which cause or originating power is
sure to be invested by us with far higher
capacities of the same sort than a created
being can possess. This is another philoso
phical aspect of the nature of every fact,
which we can naturally or reasonably connect
with the immediate agency or permission of

SERMON V. 201
God. And the history of philosophy will
shew how much some minds have been en
abled to construct (with more or less amount
of persuasiveness) upon the solitary datum
afforded by the one only fact now alluded to.
Moreover, we must bear in mind that it is
from the consideration oi facts that we con
clude also that the evidence of Christianity
is a growing evidence. This argument in
volves a perpetual appeal to observation and
sense ; and is of incalculable value, whether
we regard its nature or its amount. Time,
instead of weakening it, keeps adding and
adding unintermittingly to its bulk and vast-
ness. Ages and generations may have had,
indeed have had, their respective advantages ;
some seeing those tilings which others, less
fortunate in this respect, have only " desired
to see^" The balance, however, of evidence,
upon the whole, stands pretty even between
the earlier and later generations of Christian
times. Each, in short, has had advantages and
disadvantages peculiar to itself If it partake
of the latter character that we ourselves were
not eye-witnesses of the " miracles and won
ders and signs" spoken of in the text, yet by
the inherited testimony which we possess, we
" know" also that they were performed. We
' Matt. xiii. 17.

202 SERMON V.
have the power of transferring ourselves in
thought (as we must do indeed in every in
stance of our realizing the occurrences of the
past to our mental vision), we may transport
ourselves, it is plain, to the scenes of the
Gospel narrative : and if there should be (to
make a concession, which is by no means to
be demanded in fairness) a certain diminution
of the force of the argument from miracles,
in proportion as we recede from the apostolic
times, we may more than fill up the de
ficiency by the variety of proofs which the
more recent ages supply, over and above the
amount conceded to that particular period.
Something also admits of being offered on
the connexion of miracles with the proof
even of Natural Religion, although it is to
be granted that in an ordinary way of view
ing the question, miracles have no necessary
bearing upon that subject. Nature herself
proves as well as prompts her own specific
articles of faith. Nevertheless, I know not
who is at liberty to say that miracles may
not at times be absolutely necessary for this
purpose ; when the dulness of most men's
natural piety, and the various influences at
work in all ages to corrupt and hebetate the
religious principle, are fairly taken into con
sideration. Fossibly, I mean, it may not be

SERMON V. 203
enough that we should regard the testimony
of miracles as furnishing "a new proof" of
the Law of Nature, but something might be
said in favor of the less obvious position,
that the Law of Moses and the Gospel of
Christ, in other words, the whole Gospel Re
velation, affords not only additional, but also
the best evidence (because capable of being
immediately connected with sensible proof)
of the Religion of Nature, as well as of the
particular dispensations of Providence and
Grace revealed to man under both covenants.
Nevertheless it is decidedly safer and more
accommodated to the condition of the gene
rality of Christian minds to take the proof
from miracles as running parallel, not to
Natural, but to Revealed Religion only ; in
which point of view I have endeavoured to
place it in the present inquiry.
But after all, it must be allowed, in con
clusion, that there is a reversal of the scale,
a sort of inverse ratio to be discovered, when
we compare together the evidence of sense,
and the proof afforded by the mere force of
that faculty of religious perception which we
would gladly allow to be an inseparable part
of our mental essence. Although the strong
est word which the Greek language supplies is
employed in the text to denote the evidence

204 SERMON V.
vouchsafed to the evangelical period, and not
withstanding that we assign the highest place
in the scale of proof, objectively considered, to
the evidence of sense, (and let it be enough to
cite the cases of Nicodemus and the Apostle
Thomas in confirmation) ; yet in a subjective
point of view, and in a moral way of consi
dering the matter, the faith of persons thus
convinced does not rank so high as that
which is the result of the spiritual sense,
operating without either the aid or the ne
cessity of any miraculous intervention at all.
This will perhaps be more fully shewn here
after. At the present time I can merely
advert to the case of St. Peter, standing as it
does in marked contrast with the slowness of
belief which characterized his brother Apo
stle. But when we take into account the
structure of men's minds in all ages over
which our scrutiny can as yet extend, we
shall be prepared, I fear, to acknowledge
that the greatest number resemble that class
which, "occupying the lowest stage of reli
gious development," is well described as " ut
terly incapable of receiving a Divine revela
tion, except through the agency of a miracle."
We may think then that a higher merit, as
well as a greater blessedness, was actually
assigned by Christ himself to "that faith

SERMON V. 205
which" may have "flowed" (we will allow)
"from the immediate recognition of the soul's
highest aspirations," on that remarkable oc
casion when Peter, apart from the influence
of miracles, uttered his conviction that Jesus
was " the Christ, the Son of the living God s."
Still we cannot on this account dispense with
the argument from miracles, if we would set
a just value on the conviction produced upon
ordinary minds. The learned, the enthu
siastic, the highly-gifted in soul, the hea
venly minded, may possibly be won to their
Redeemer by other sorts of evidence than
the body of external proofs which have
passed thus rapidly before us. Nevertheless,
the more homely instrument of sensible
proof is, and perhaps always will be, indis
pensable in the case of the masses ; and their
belief in the Saviour will, like that of the
men of Israel to whom the words of the text
were addressed, be grounded upon the as
surance that the object of their faith was
indeed "approved of God (airoSeSeiyfievos) by
miracles, and wonders, and signs."
s Matt. xvi. 16; John vi. 69.

SERMON VI.

John ra. 8.
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest
the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh,
and whither it goeth : so is every one that is born
of the Spirit.

npHE process of investigating the Christian
evidences, varied though it must be ac
cording to the different objects, dispositions
and abilities of those by whom it is un
dertaken, may yet be described, in a general
way, as falling within the limits of a twofold
description. The speculation may, as is the
case also with many others, either commence
ab extra, and terminate in intimis ; or, con
versely, taking its rise in that which is in
most, it may thence -pursue an outward direc
tion, until it arrive at the external view or
surface. But by the external and superficial,
which is also the popular aspect, we should

SERMON VL 207
here mean, not only what writers ordinarily
comprehend under the title of the External
Evidences of Christianity, (although, as we
have seen, it would be a hard task for the
assailant of our holy faith to invalidate the
separate and collective force even of these,)
but every thing besides, which history, and
the book of nature, when understood as com
prising all the phenomena of the world with
out us, can contribute to the same purpose.
From these external objects we may, I say,
proceed in our mental survey to the recog
nition of the inner phenomena which they
merely clothe or cover — drawing our line of
circumference gradually nearer and nearer,
so as ultimately — irepiypa^iv an eyyvrara tov
TrpdyixoLTos — to enclose only the points most
vital and lying nearest to the centre itself.
Or again, we may, reversing the process, set
out from that selfsame spiritual centre; the
sun, as it were, of the system, the real source
of all the light and warmth and life of which
the subject is susceptible, and so move back
ward through the same series of intervening
thoughts to the earliest stages of the other
method: — viz. to those more obvious and
familiar grounds of reasoning which are de
rivable immediately from the world of sense
without. Both courses have had in every

208 SERMON VL
age their respective advocates and eulogists ;
whilst many writers again, regardless of all
forms whether of synthetical or analytical
arrangement, have so blended and interwoven
the external and internal evidences of Reve
lation with each other, as to divest the con
duct of its proof of every semblance of syste
matic order ; thus adopting a procedure in
nowise perhaps inferior to others in practical
efficacy, however distasteful it may be to
most minds, from the absence of all those
graces and recommendations which confess
edly attach to the symmetry of an artistic
method. Now the matter which recently occupied
our attention was of an external character ;
and consisted of such phenomena as are of
most obvious occurrence in speculations which
concern the evidences of the Gospel Reve
lation. We are next to transfer our atten
tion for a while to the interior parts of the
system, and more especially to the evidence
arising from those spiritual influences which
the religion of Christ professes to contain
within it. For that this evidence should be
ascertained is of the most extreme import
ance, inasmuch as the doctrine of the Holy
Spirit with which it is closely combined is,
I need hardly say, the great animating prin-

SERMON VI. 209
ciple of practical Christianity. It is in this
doctrine that we discern the leaven intended
for the leavening of the whole mass of fallen
and corrupt humanity ; it contains the well-
spring of that eternal life which is the bur
then of all the Gospel promises ; and is at
once the necessary source and the security
for the fulfilment of all our aspirations after
holiness and spiritual comfort, whether indi
vidual or collective.
It will be remembered, that in my opening
Discourse I associated the branch of evi
dence now before us with the other proofs
which are addressed to our understanding or
reasoning powers ; considering that the most
commodious view of the Divine influences,
as they present themselves in an inquiry of
this sort, would regard them as supplying
strength and clearness to the rational faculty,
and not as superseding or eclipsing its natural
and customary mode of action. We are still,
accordingly, in the division of our subject in
which the evidences are looked upon as ad
dressing themselves to our reason ; with this
distinction, however, that they are now not
brought under the cognizance of mere natural
reason, but under the same power when
in the enjoyment of the illumining and in
vigorating influences of the Spirit of God.

210 SERMON VL
The notion of spiritual influences is clearly
not peculiar to the Christian religion. Ne
vertheless, it is certain that what the Christ
ian understands thereby is something quite
different from any other traceable concep
tions of the same subject, even when we fol
low down the evolution of the earlier dis
pensation to the chosen people. It may be
difficult perhaps for us to imagine that "the
holy men of God who," St. Peter tells us,
" spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost"" under the old dispensation, thus
indisputably both receiving and imparting
the gifts of the Spirit, could be entirely igno
rant of what we should now call the funda
mental truths concerning Him. But on the
other hand, we know that in the dawning of
the new Dispensation also there were many
who, though they professed and called them
selves Christians, yet had " never so much as
heard whether there be any Holy Ghost "."
Probably it is quite compatible with both
cases that some degrees of knowledge should
have been possessed by the individuals in
question respecting the Third Person. But
at whatever conclusion we might arrive on
these difficulties, we are at least justified in
believing that the doctrine of the Spirit,
a 2 Pet. i. 21. b Acts xix. 2.

SERMON VL 211
considered as a doctrine, is an absolutely
distinctive feature of the Gospel covenant.
When our Lord declared that it was expe
dient that he should go away, adding, " for
if I go not away, the Comforter will not
come unto you ; but if I depart, I will send
him unto you : and he shall teach you all
things, and bring all things to your remem
brance whatsoever I have said unto you ","
He clearly intimated that the operation of
the Holy Spirit was closely connected with
the work of his own personal ministry, and
in some way necessary in the mysterious
ordering of the Divine counsels for the fur
therance and due accomplishment of the
great purpose of human redemption : " My
Father worketh hitherto, and I work^."
These words we cannot but interpret as de
scribing the course of the Divine operations
down to the close of our Lord's personal
ministry. Afterwards, it would seem, the
stupendous process was to be carried on un
der the guidance and gracious influences of
the Holy Spirit, taking in some sort his
place, and becoming thenceforward the most
prominent agent in the destined works of
illumination and sanctification, as well as in
all the appointed means of Divine assistance.
" John xvi. 7. '^ John v. 17,
p 2

212 SERMON VL
The novelty of such a declaration would suf
ficiently prove a characteristic difference in
this respect to attach to the new dispensa
tion : whereas in the diversity of these influ
ences (a fruitful topic in some of the apo
stolical Epistles) we find a fact which, if taken
in conjunction with that of the absence of
similar declarations from the Old Testament,
affords additional evidence that the doctrine
in its completeness was intended to stand out
as a peculiar feature in the teaching of the
New. And we should err greatly in thinking
that this distinctiveness is to be restricted to
the first ages of Christianity only. On the
contrary, the illuminating and sanctifying in
fluences of the Spirit, we are assured, will
continue throughout all time : for that they
do not resemble those external gifts which
we on a former occasion deemed necessary
for the establishment of a final revelation,
but they resemble, nay, are altogether undis-
tinguishable from, those other graces which
are bestowed as permanent gifts upon the
church and individual members of her com
munity; — to serve for their light, and comfort,
and edification, even unto the end of the
world. And therefore it is in this doctrine
that we must look, not only for the most

SERMON VL 213
wonderful characteristic of the Gospel teach
ing, but also for the assurance of the ever
lasting duration of the religion taught ; since
the ordinary workings of the Holy Spirit
must be, it is evident, entirely unimpaired
by the lapse of centuries ; and they thus
afford to every successive generation the same
advantages that were extended, in this re
spect at least, to the very first converts to
the truth.
But we must nevertheless bear in mind, in
limine and throughout, when discoursing on
the doctrine of the Spirit, that the announce
ments in Sacred Writ which relate to the
manifestations of the Holy Ghost are not
such as to exclude the Father and the Son
from " all part or fellowship" therein. " For,"
says bishop Sanderson, " it is an undoubted
article of the orthodox faith, that all the ac
tions and operations of the Divine Persons,
those only excepted which are of intrinsical
and mutual relation, are the joint and undi
vided works of the whole Three Persons,
according to the common known maxim, con
stantly and uniformly received in the catholic
Church, Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indi-
visa." An observa,nce of this maxim (import
ant as it is in other respects also) will effect-
ua;lly guard us against the supposition that

214 SERMON VI.
the evidence any more than other gifts
ascribed to the third Person, though it be
rightly described as of distinct, can yet be of
an altogether separate origin from that which
proceeds from the other Two Persons in the
Godhead. I. And in connexion with this view of the
reciprocation of the Divine operations in the
case of the three Persons, I may first observe,
that much of the subtlety of the scholastic
period is rendered superfluous and nugatory
by its admission. It is indeed a curious fact,
that whilst the Schoolmen in general freely
acknowledged that the essence and manifes
tations of the blessed Trinity were placed at
an infinite distance, not only from us, but
even " from the apprehension of angels ;"
they nevertheless not unfrequently attempted
precise definitions of both ; whereas those of
them who were of a mystical turn of mind
went so far as to assert that there is a triad of
attributes precisely corresponding with the
Trinity of Persons ; according to which theory
the fulness of power existed in the Father,
that of wisdom in the Son, and that of good
ness or love in the Holy Ghost. We might,
of course, in the usual way impute this to
the predilection of the period for dialectical
subtleties ; or, more accurately perhaps, to

SERMON VL 215
the recollections which it cherished of the
most attractive parts of the system of the
Second Platonists, or Alexandrian School.
But it must at the same time be allowed,
that this ascription of perfections to the
Three Persons severally was conceived by the
theorists themselves to be borne out by cer
tain passages of Scripture. It seems how^ever
an unnecessary task to expose the fallacious
ness of such conceptions in the present day ;
since few, it may be presumed, would now so
read and interpret Scripture as to discover
therein any sanction for thus " arbitrarily dis
tributing the Divine Attributes among the
Three Persons."
II. Secondly, we may profitably recall to
mind at this stage, that our theology does
not consist, and far less our religion, in the
solution of speculative questions on points of
mystery, but rather in making ourselves ac
quainted with what is expressly and intel
ligibly revealed. The Christian Revelation,
as has been before insisted, does not impart
to us an absolute knowledge with regard to
the generality, if indeed it does with regard
to any, of the grand subjects whereof it treats :
and although it would perhaps be wrong to
say that the natural desire of knowledge on
all matters, or the principle of curiosity,

216 .SERMON VL
deeply seated as we know it to be in the
human mind, is condemned by Scripture, yet
it certainly is to a great extent rebuked; the
tradition of men and the rudiments of the
world being expressly declared by the holy
Apostle not to be " after Christ," but rather
"philosophy and vain deceit*^." The simple
truth is, that Christian theology, like many
other sciences (Ethics in particular) is a
science of relations, and it is not the business
of the disciple of Christ to pry too closely
into the intrinsic natures of those beings, the
relations between whom and himself, it may
at the same time be evident, constitute the
basis of his religion, so much as uninquiringly
to recognise those relations as really subsist
ing, and to study the practical duties which
flow from them. And if (which is more im
mediately to our present point) there are re
lations also subsisting between the Divine
objects of our faith and worship themselves,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and
works too of mutual operation — the opera
Trinitatis intrinseca of which we before spoke
— performed by the Persons respectively to
wards each other, these again need not be
matter of painstaking investigation on our
part; but we should rather rest contented
rt Col. ii. 8.

SERMON VL 217
with what we are told of their works to us-
ward, and the numerous obligations thereby
imposed upon ourselves.
III. Thirdly, it may be worth while to ob
serve, that by similar, or rather the same re
flexions, if they are carried out to their legi
timate consequences, some sort of safeguard
may be raised against the exorbitant indul
gence of reverential and devotional feelings,
however pure and praiseworthy in themselves,
towards any one of the Three Persons, to the
consequent and proportionate disparagement
of the other two. Certain periods, not to
say centuries, of Christianity have been dis
tinguished by capricious and unequal direc
tions of their faith and worship on the part
of very sincere believers in the doctrine of
the ever-blessed Trinity ; and indeed in every
age there are sure to be parties and indivi
duals who manifest, more or less, an undue
preference in their religious regards to one
or other of the Three Persons. How far
indeed the true historv of most of the here-
sies and schisms which have rent and disfi
gured the Christian Church would exhibit
but the outward development of this ten
dency, is a point that might be deserving of
a profound consideration. But there can
exist no doubt of its being capable of illus-

218 SERMON VL
tration in a remarkable degree in the case of
the Third Blessed Person, and more and
more so, perhaps, as in the course of eccle-
siasticaL history we approach nearer to our
own times. At all events, no earlier period
of the Church's history (unless indeed we
consult the popish legends) can match the
extravagancies of the latter half of the last
century, when not single individuals, but
whole assemblies of professing Christians no
toriously made their boast of a Divine mis
sion ; of " special calls and directions from
heaven ; inspirations, communications, con
versations face to face with God ; even dei
fied themselves, and put their own spirit in
the seat of the Holy Ghost." Not but that,
it must be allowed, a marked distinction is
discernible, when we compare these lattei*
aberrations relating to the Holy Spirit with
those of the earlier ages of Christianity. —
Formerly (as in the cases of Manes and Mon-
tanus,) the extravagant doctrines which were
broached respecting the Third. Person bore
chiefly upon the question of his identity, and
the time of his visible appearance upon earth,
in fulfilment, as it was supposed, of our Lord's
promise of his coming. And it is impossible
to determine, from the conduct and teaching
of the heretical leaders of those times, how

SERMON VL 219
much of strictly personal ambition and other
lower motives, aincu dvdpamiKai, was mixed up
with their other impulses of action. In more
recent times, however, the promulgators and
advocates of extreme opinions concerning the
Holy Spirit and his influences have been for
the most part free from the imputation of
that sort of pride which doubtless actuated
to a greater or less extent their early prede
cessors. The presumption of modern pre
tenders and enthusiasts (Swedenborg perhaps
excepted) has consisted, not in laying claim
to the intrinsic powers of the Spirit as pos
sessed independently by themselves ; far less
in the open usurpation of the nature, es
sence, and even name of the Paraclete ; but
rather in arrogating unto themselves and
their brethren and associates in what they
have presumptuously contended to be the
only true faith, certain signal and exuberant
outpourings of the Divine afflatus. " As the
Holy Spirit operated in an extraordinary
manner on the Apostles and first Christians,
so," to cite the language of one of my prede
cessors, " do they glory in his irresistible and
sensible impulses. Accordingly it is a com
mon thing for them to affirm that the Spirit
is visibly poured out in their assemblies ; that
the Holy Ghost descends in a glorious man-

220 SERMON VL
ner, that he comes like a mighty rushing
wind, and moves on the whole congregation ;
or that the great God in a glorious manner
fills and overshadows their souls." These
and similar extravagant, not to say blas
phemous, pretensions of the fanatical sects
which are by no means abandoned in our
own time, were collected from the works of
the chief leaders of methodism, and animad
verted upon with becoming severity from this
place at the period to which I have already
made allusion.
To proceed then. Although we know that
the nature of the Spirit, and the modes of
his relative operations of every kind, are al
together inscrutable to us, yet have we rea
son to think that it is otherwise with the
fact or actuality of his manifestations. We
are encouraged to believe that the " mani
festation of the Spirit," which the Apostle
declares to be " given to every man to profit
withal %" may be such in many cases as to
satisfy us of his presence, whether in the
church of Christ or in the hearts and minds
of individual believers. And this satisfac
tion will, of necessity, involve in either case
a special evidence of the truth of our Holy
religion. The same Apostle, we know, else-
e 1 Cor. xii. 7.

SERMON VL 221
where emphatically connects the " sanctifica
tion of the Spirit" with "the belief of the
truth '." The principal, if not the only dif
ficulty, will lie in the discrimination of cases ;
i. e. in determining where such a conviction
of the presence of the Spirit entertained by
one mind can or cannot be fairly used as an
argument for the satisfaction of others, not
made (consciously at least) the immediate
subjects of a like manifestation of the Spirit's
influence. It is clear, however, that no such
result as is thus contemplated can be pro
duced, unless it be possible to establish some
criterion of the Spirit's operation in each
given case. But here, happily for us, the
Divine bounty has made ample provision for
every such necessity on the part of the sin
cere and observant Christian ; Holy Scrip
ture having declared to us, in language the
most intelligible and expressive, what are the
surest tests of the Spirit's influence under
every imaginable form and variety of the
conditions and circumstances of Christian
life. Nor was the case, we may remember, so
different in that period which is described
and characterized by the more signal, or (as
they are called) the extraordinary mahifesta-
^2Thess. ii.l3.

222 SERMON VL
tions of the Spirit. We can hardly indeed
suppose it to have been otherwise. The ne
cessity of some criterion, or unquestionable
tokens, of the actual presence of the Holy
Ghost — some assurance that the supposed
possessors of the Divine afflatus were ac
tually inspired, or otherwise empowered by
God himself to perform supernatural and
superhuman actions — deeds worthy of being
ranked among, as well as serving to shew
forth, the " wonderful works of God ^," must
have been abundantly conspicuous, whether
we regard the support which the first Christ
ian teachers needed under the manifold dif
ficulties of their position, or the satisfaction
required by those around them of their
having been really commissioned from on
high. Of this a glance at the peculiarities of
the time in question will serve to convince
us. How then, it may be asked, were the first
preachers of the Gospel assured of their own
inspiration, and the consequent {if conse
quent) truth of the religion which they
taught? The answer to this question has
been generally derived from a consideration
of the peculiar circumstances in which the
first Christians were placed ; or, in other
s Acts ii. 11,

SERMON VI. 223
words, by adverting to the necessities of the
new religion which they espoused. For there
can be no doubt but that the distinction re
cognised as subsisting between the ordinary
and the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, the
xdpires and the xapiaixara, besides its other
uses, gives a peculiar force to that familiar
analogical description of the early ages of
the church of Christ, under which it is re
presented as in a state of infancy. The x"-
piap-ara, or " miraculous boons" of the Holy
Ghost, the gratice gratis datce of the School
men, such as the " gifts of tongues," " power
of working miracles, signs, and wonders,"
" prophesy ings," and the like, were obviously
adapted to occasions of special exigency,
resembling the helpless state of the actual
infant. And accordingly a restricted mean
ing has been sometimes attached to the
words already quoted from the First Epistle
to the Corinthians, which we construe " to
profit withal," irpos to avpi^ipov, as though the
manifestation of the Spirit, by which the
context makes it clear that the Apostle
means the x«/'«''At«7"aj not the xap'T-ey, bestowed
upon the Christian convert were given, not
that he might individually profit withal, or
be in a better condition than otherwise in
respect of his own personal salvation, but

224 SERMON VI.
that by their assistance he might edify and
establish the Christian society or church.
The crv/jLipepov, or weal, would, in short, under
this interpretation, be the public weal of
the Christian community : the Apostle in
another place asserting, after he had been
speaking of the gifts bestowed by God
upon the different ministers of the church
— " apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors
and teachers"" — that it was "for the perfect
ing of the saints, for the work of the min
istry, for the edifying the body of Christ,
till we all come in the unity of the faith,
and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
unto a perfect man, unto the measure
of the stature of the fulness of Christ."
" From whence," says a controversial writer
two centuries ago, following, as it would ap
pear, the course of thought which ages before
had suggested itself to St. Augustine, " it is
evident that as the Gospel increased, and the
church grew up, God, like a wise nurse,
weaned her by degrees from these miraculous
gifts, till at last, having arrived at her full
stature in Christ, he left her, as parents leave
their children when they are grown to be
men, to subsist without extraordinary helps
and supplies. And therefore, as the Scrip-
*> Ephes. iv. 11, &c.

SERMON VL 225
tures increased and were dispersed, God
ceased by degrees to discover the doctrines
of the Gospel by inspiration to the ministers
of the church, and by that time the writings
of the New Testament were made up, and
the Scripture canon as it were sealed. The
successors of the Apostles in the time of
Clemens, Poly carp, and Papias (the disciples
of St. John), and of Justin Martyr, pretended
to no other way of Revelation, or coming to
the knowledge of the Christian religion, than
by the Word of God."
So that we may w^ell conclude that when
the divine structure, (to vary the figure,) had
been once reared ; as soon as, we might say,
it had reached its dvayKaioTaTov v-^os, so as
to be in a condition to be defended against
the assaults of Jews and Pagans, then these
XapurpiaTa were withdrawn, as no longer in
dispensable, or indeed to be coveted by the
Christian, since the xapiTes, the moral and
ordinary graces of the same Spirit, were ap
pointed to be ever present, and ceaselessly to
pour their illuminating and sanctifying in
fluences upon the hearts and souls of the
faithful — abiding with the church, both min
isters and people, unto the end of the world.
In accordance with which permanency of
the ordinary endowments, St. Paul exhorts
Q

226 SERMON VL
the Corinthians to covet these saving, rather
than those miraculous graces of the Spirit ; —
assuring them that these should never fail,
for " Charity," saith he, is a gift that " never
faileths;" but other gifts shall; for "whether
there be prophecies, they shall fail ; or whe
ther there be tongues, they shall cease; or
whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish
away. For we know (what we know by Re
velation) but in part, and we prophesy (by
inspiration) but in part ; but when the ' per
fect' knowledge of the Christian religion, or
the perfect state of the church, is come, then
that which is imperfect and obscure shall
be done away. When I was a child, I spake
as a child, I understood as a child, I thought
as a child ; but when I became a man, I put
away childish things."
Consistently with these views it has been
argued over and over again, that there exist
no reasons why we should regard the early
Christians, who were favored with the extra
ordinary " spiritual gifts," as having any ad
vantage, with respect to the eventual pur
poses for which all God's gifts are granted,
over Christians living in any other age. The
gifts of miracles and prophecy, for example,
could not of themselves and immediately
g 1 Cor. xiii. 8, etc.

SERMON VL 227
conduce to the salvation of the persons upon
whom they were bestowed ; and we might
easily shew that they afford no proof (which
is our more immediate business) of the ac-
ceptedness of those persons ; inasmuch as, for
what we know, some extraordinary gift or
other was bestowed upon every convert, and
we are quite certain that many of them
exhibited, notwithstanding this, in some re
spects a carnal mind, not only while pos
sessed of these extraordinary spiritual gifts,
but even, it has been stated, " in the very
employment" of them.
However this may have been, it is difficult
to believe that there were no cognizable signs
or tokens by which the leaders and first teach
ers of Christians might assure themselves of
their being really the subjects ofthe Holy Spi
rit's operations. On this point there exist,
no doubt, great difficulties, arising principally
from the generality of the language of Holy
Scripture, wherever it speaks to this exact
point. But it seems most reasonable so to in
terpret all the texts which bear upon the ques
tion as to infer, that the miraculous powers
of which the Christians of the apostolic age
made profession afforded ample conviction
(however they might on some occasions be
impelled by their still-existing human nature
a2

228 SERMON VL
" to grieve the Holy Spirit of God")"— afford
ed ample conviction, I say, to themselves of
their Divine mission and authority; and that,
accordingly, the same miraculous powers,
called by the Apostle "gifts of the Holy
Ghost','' performed the double function of
both internal and external evidences to them,
whereas they can possess the latter character
only in their relation to the contemporary
witnesses of their works, and to the after
generations of the Christian world.
Allowing this to have been so, the more
comprehensive inquiry next attracts our no
tice, by what means all Christians, living
subsequently to the apostolic age, were and
are enabled to perceive and ascertain the tes
timony of the Spirit, considered in the light
of an internal evidence to the truth of the
Gospel. This 'question has doubtless been encum
bered by very many unnecessary additions to
the pure and simple doctrine of the Spirit's
operations on the mind of man. And we may
not err perhaps in regarding as one of the
most gratuitous and questionable of these
views, a disposition to ascribe the ordinary
powers of the natural man to the special mo
tions and energy of the Holy Spirit. It is, of
h-Eph. iv. 30. iHeb. ii. 3, 4.

SERMON VI. 229
course, undeniable that many passages of Scrip
ture, if interpreted with freedom, would seem
to attribute all our better sort of works and
faculties to the direct influence of Divine
power. Not only are we told that " every
good and perfect gift is from above, and
cometh down from the Father of lights'","
but we are also assured that " without our
Redeemer himself we can do nothing ','' and
that " it is God which worketh in us both to
will and to do of his good pleasure ™." Yet
these passages are surely to be limited to the
end or purpose uppermost for the time being
in the speaker's or writer's thoughts ; of
which purpose the context on each occasion
will be the best interpreter. We must at
any rate receive with caution all represen
tations which would identify the natural
graces, if I may so call them, that are yet
exhibited in fallen humanity, with either
the ^puTp-aTa or the ^pur^s, (to employ once
more a technical exactness of speech,) that
proceed from the Holy Spirit of God. By
the learned prelate, already mentioned in
this Lecture, the natural excellencies, as they
may be styled by comparison, of the indi
vidual Christian, are thus attributed to the
operation of the Third Person of the blessed
k James i. 17. ' John xv. 5. " Phil. ii. 14.

230 SERMON VL
Trinity ; and not only those superiorities by
which some members of the human family
are contradistinguished from others at the
outset of life, (the (j)vcriKal dpcTal of the Stagy-
rite,) such as " promptness of wit," " clearness
of understanding," "soundness of judgment,"
" readiness of speech," and the like advan
tages ; but the same qualities when im
proved (made, as Aristotle again would say,
TjdiKcu); — perfected, that is, "by education, art,
industry, observation or experience, so that
men become thereby skilful linguists, subtle
disputers, copious orators, profound divines,
powerful preachers, expert lawyers, physi
cians, historians, statesmen, commanders, arti-
zans ; excellent, in short, in any science, pro
fession or faculty whatever ;" nay, moreover,
the " goods of the body and of fortune" too,
as they have been enumerated in formal
classifications with which most of us here
are familiar, are all comprehended in their
several grades of value and service, under
the working, and in their combined aspect
present one vast array of the manifestations,
of one and the self-same Spirit.
Such views may surely be thought to over
load the doctrine of spiritual influences, and
to render it extremely difficult to interpret
many parts of Scripture ; and most especially

SERMON VL 231
the declaration of the Apostle, that the
" Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit
that we are the children of God ^." It seems
hardly possible to adopt such expositions,
and at the same time avoid running the two
testimonies which are thus clearly recognised
by the Apostle into one. But to return.
Allowing then all the differences already
said to subsist between the earliest Christians
and those of subsequent times, how has the
Spirit, as respects the latter, distributed his
gifts unto men ? Dialectically speaking, the
answer is short. The saving graces, the sanc
tifying influences, the Christian virtues, or
by whatsoever titles we express the Spirit's
operations, admit of being assembled under
the one word Faith. Faith is the one all-
absorbing and abiding gift of the Holy Ghost.
It was this that our Lord himself declared
should enable his immediate followers to re
move mountains, and to display the other
most wondrous indications of that species and
measure of grace which they received. And
it is the same inexhaustible fountain of
Christian perfection which, supplying, as of
necessary and natural consequence, those men
tal adornments and accomplishments which
the Apostle expressly calls the " fruits of the
^ Rom. viii. 16.

232 SERMON VL
Spirit" — " goodness, righteousness, truth ;" —
"love, peace, longsuffering, kindness, meek
ness, temperance V may be said to contain
all the gifts that are ordinarily imparted to
every individual in every age, " who," in the
language of the text, " is born of the Spirit."
Nor, as respects the assurance which Christ
ians may have of the Divine presence, is Holy
Scripture less explicit than might be expected
from the nature of the case. The doctrine
of the Spirit's influence is connected with
another vital and most awful doctrine, that
of the communion of Christians with their
Divine Head. For this we have the Apostle's
testimony, " Hereby we know that He dwell
eth in us, by his Spirit which He hath given
us." The knowledge, that is to say, of the
Spirit's presence is to be collected from the
mental disposition and biases of which we
may, upon a fair and careful self-examination,
be made conscious in our own case, or by any
means become cognizant in that of others.
Upon this well-known truth little needs now
be said. " As we judge," writes Archbishop
• Whately, " of the direction of any wind that
blows (though invisible) by its effects — by the
direction in which it impels the bodies moved
by it — so we must decide whether we are in
1 Ephes. V. 9; Gal. v. 22.

SERMON VL 233
each instance influenced by God's Holy Spi
rit, or by our own corrupt desires and the spi
rit of the evil one, by observing the direction
in which we are impelled ; whether to holi
ness or to sin — towards a conformity or an op
position to the example of our great Master."
But hdw, it may be asked, are these con
siderations to be made available as proofs of
the Christian religion ? The answer which I
shall offer is simply this. The deep convic
tions entertained by multitudes of sober and
sincere persons of the operations of the Holy
Spirit taking place in their hearts are legiti
mate and powerful evidences of that religion
of which they hold them to be an essential
and a vital part. This remarkable fact is of
moment, even if we regard it in all the cold
ness of a mere historical notice : inasmuch as
it bears along with it a perpetual accession of
probability ; that is, of the sort of proof on
which we have all along been resting. The
statement, if it stop here, is, of course, a nar
row and guarded one ; even, many will think,
to the extreme of caution. And it is most
certain that it might be expanded, without
encroachment on the grounds of other argu
ments, to the extent of an immeasurable vast-
ness. But in its Institutions also, and par
ticularly in its Sacraments, that same religion.

234 SERMON VL
we know, embodies and proclaims as it were
the operation of spiritual influences, (of which
indeed these are the outward signs,) as com
municating to them their real value and
purport ; and without those influences the
Church's highest rites and ordinances are, in
fact, no signs at all. And so too, the ad
vances of nations or of individuals in virtue
and true holiness belong also, beyond ques
tion, to the same great argument ; and these
again will be always efficacious as instruments
of satisfaction and conversion, in exact pro
portion to the degrees of clearness with
which they may, as they undoubtedly must,
be attributable to the direct agency of the
Holy Spirit, and his irresistible power upon
their hearts. For it is with communities as
with private persons. All their "sufficiency*"
for power, glory, wealth, or even existence, is
"of God ;" and in order to compass their ends,
and to discharge their various duties, they
require to be supported in their spiritual life.
They need equally to be "strengthened""
with Christ's " Spirit in their inner man."
And this is perhaps all that we ought to
advance respecting the doctrine of the Spirit,
viewed simply in the light of a general argu
ment, or as intended to have weight with the
a 2 Cor. iii. 5. •> Eph. iii. 16.

SERMON VL 235
great majority of hearers, in its bearing upon
the truth of Christ's religion. For there are
abundant reasons why our statements on this
mysterious subject should not be amenable
to the charge of being overstrained. And
certainly one very strong necessity for cau
tion and moderation on the subject of spi
ritual influences is, the great opening it offers
for the inroads of religious error. For it is
at this point more than all others that the
extremes of a truly evangelical piety and the
wildest and most reprehensible forms of spi
ritual presumption and self-originating delu
sion are very commonly seen to meet ; and
difficult indeed is it to observers of others,
and doubtless in many cases to parties them
selves, to ascertain the presence of the Spirit,
and to distinguish his true and sober motions
from mere fanciful and visionary impulses.
But this we cannot wonder at when we con
sider the remoteness of the influences which
the doctrine recognises from the appropriate
field of mere human reason ; and the alluring
invitations which it frequently happens are
held out to the pride and vanity of men, to
the assumption of the Spirit's immediate
patronage and guidance. There exist also
various other temptations besides these, which
can escape the notice of none who may direct

236 SERMON VL
their attention to this subject ; all of which
render it needful that exertions should be
made as early in life as we may each of us
have opportunity to acquire clear and deter
minate notions, and to establish for ourselves
corresponding principles of conduct, which
may serve to regulate our progress through
this most important and most dangerous de
partment of our religious probation.
Nor is it, we may assure ourselves, impos
sible to secure effectual assistance in the
work of thus determining our convictions,
whilst we have Holy Scripture encouraging
the attempt to do so in the plainest and
most direct terms; on the one hand allow
ing that we may, nay, enjoining that we
should, " try the spirits" in each case, " whe
ther they are of God V' before we believe ;
and on the other demanding our cooperation
with the Spirit of God in the work of grace
and salvation ; hereby implying, as it would
seem, that the two powers at work in the
same direction, though different, are not yet
disparate and contradictory, but that the
operation of the holy influence is somehow
or other congenial with the just and genuine
development of our own best faculties. The
more prominent forms assumed by the errors
' John iv. 1.

SERMON VL 237
at which I am glancing may come under
our notice in the ensuing Lecture. Those
which have been adverted to as yet are, to
speak concisely, such as would question the
finality of the Gospel Revelation; and those
again which would remove, or at least dis
turb, the line of demarcation between the
operations of the Spirit and the independent
exercise of the powers belonging to the i/^vxt-
k6s% or mere natural human being.
An earlier Lecture noticed the internal evi
dence suggested by our reason in an un
assisted state : that which results from the
same faculty when under the immediate in
fluence of Divine aid, it was intended to
consider summarily in the present. To at
tempt indeed a precision beyond the plain
purport of positive statements in Scripture
would be to miss the meaning and point of
our Lord's own illustration in the text. The
"natural" and the "spiritual" mind are yet
clearly distinguishable from each other ; and
the latter is shewn to be or not to be under
the superintending influence of the Spirit, by
the whole course of our moral and religious
action, from the first conception of any prac
tical design to its complete consummation in
a determinate act of holiness or sin. An en-
s 1 Cor. ii. 14.

238 SERMON VL
deavour to state all the benefits we owe to
the Holy Spirit in a practical point of view,
must tend to reopen a wide field of consi
derations standing at a distance from our
more immediate subject. Yet this much we
may say, condensing the matter into the
smallest space, that if " to do the will of God
be to know of the doctrine," for the time
being, "whether it be of God*," the hearty
and persevering co-operation of our spirit
with his Spirit is sure to be the most con
vincing and most enduring evidence of the
faithfulness, the mercy, and the lovingkind-
ness of God. It will realize also that un
speakable " joy in the Holy Ghost %" that
"joy in believing," and "gayety of hope," of
which we have the Scripture promises ; and
which has been well called "the richest cor
dial of the soul — the nearest resemblance
and sweetest foretaste of the joys of heaven
itself" " Let us earnestly theit," to conclude in the
language of the learned Barrow, replete as
it is with Scriptural allusions, "invite this
holy Guest unto us, by our prayers unto him,
who hath promised to bestow his Spirit upon
those who ask it, to impart this living stream
to every one which thirsteth after it. Let
' John vii. 17. " Rom. xiv, 17; xv. 13.

SERMON VL 239
us willingly receive him into our hearts, let
us treat him with all kind usage, with all
humble observance. Let us not exclude him
by supine neglect or rude resistance ; let us
not grieve him by our perverse and froward
behaviour toward him ; let us not tempt him
by our fond presumptions or base treacheries ;
let us not quench his heavenly light and
heat by our foul lusts and passions ; but let
us admit gladly his gentle illapses ; let us
hearken to his faithful suggestions ; let us
comply with his kindly motions ; let us de
mean ourselves modestly, consistently, and
officiously towards him." Which that we may
each and all do, may God of his infinite
love towards us grant, through the merits
and mediation of his Son, Jesus Christ our
Lord.

SERMON VIL

Song of Solomon i. 17.
The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters
of fir.

FT! HE employment of reason, both in its
natural and in its divinely enlightened
state, having undergone such consideration
as our occasion and limits would allow, it
follows that we should turn our thoughts now
to the other acknowledged powers of the
mind, to each and all of which we did not
hesitate to ascribe a rightful exercise upon
the Evidences of Religion.
Multitudes, no doubt, are content to rest
the proofs of Christianity upon the grounds
which have already been submitted to our
survey. Those of a philosophical turn of
mind, or who are friendly to such general
principles as carry at least a semblance of
philosophical dignity with them, are unques-

SERMON VIL 241
tionably most prone to assent upon the shew
ing of the sorts of evidence which came be
fore us in the earlier Lectures. Others again
prefer that view of the discussion which
makes it turn entirely upon the strength or
weakness of the historical testimony adduci
ble on either side, and tending to verify or
to impeach the credibility ofthe multifarious
narrations which are involved in the com
plete development of Christianity ; and more
especially, upon the evidence connected with
the establishment of the Sacred Canon, and
the early events and fortunes of the Christian
Church. Whereas to others again, and these
last perhaps the most numerous class in Pro
testant countries, the testimony of the Holy
Spirit of God, (the subject, it will be remem
bered, of my last Lecture,) would appear to
supersede all other kinds of possible and con
ceivable evidence, and thus render every in
vestigation into the various other materials
of proof which we ¦ have considered to be
equally at the command of the religious in
quirer, utterly superfluous in their case.
For ourselves, perhaps, it were enough to
reflect that our Church has not thought it
either necessary or expedient to forbid the
employment of the subordinate (as they are
generally, esteemed) faculties of our minds
R

242 SERMON VIL
either upon the subject matter or the evi
dences of the sacred ttuth. But she goes
farther than this : she encourages the proper
cultivation of each and all of them, provided
only their operation be confined within be
coming limits. She does not, for example,
whilst she would gladly check the exuberance
of the imagination, (usually looked upon, nay
notoriously, the wildest, and therefore the
most dangerous of the mental powers,) pro
hibit its just and wholesome action. But
she nevertheless inculcates that the impulses
of the imagination should be always brought
under the control of our more staid and
sober faculties. Ever intent upon the in
struction, moral and spiritual, of the whole
man, she would, in fact, have all his powers
operate in harmonious combination, and
thereby contribute, as they severally may, to
the common end for which they were de
signed. So far therefore from seeking to
extinguish any of our inferior faculties, she
acknowledges by her mode of teaching, and
in her ritual also, that the sum of happiness,
social and individual, may be greatly aug
mented by their cultivation, and an antidote
at the same time supplied against the two ,,
perilous extremes of fanaticism and super
stition ; states which seem to follow, the one

SERMON VIL 243
upon an exorbitant indulgence, the other not
unfrequently from an undue suppression of
the imaginative powers.
I. The bare mention of the imaginative
element in religion will, it may be presumed,
naturally carry the thoughts of the classical
student back to the mythical or fabulous
theology of the ancient Pagan world. In
examining this theology he will encounter
many curious questions, upon which the opi
nions of learned men are divided down to
the present hour. For instance, were the
early poets of the pagans accounted to be, in
the strict sense of the word, prophets also ?
Are their writings to be judged to contain
the real sentiments of the nations of anti
quity respecting religion, or are they to be
interpreted allegorically ? Were the poets in
earnest in what they taught, or merely dele
gated by the several governments whose
protection they enjoyed, to inculcate the no
tions believed by the rulers to be most favor
able to social order, or to the retention of
power in their own hands? What again is
the full meaning of the phrases employed
by Plato and other philosophers, when they
speak of themselves and others as following
the law, iiropevoi Tm v6p<f, in divine things,
and upon this ground receiving the narra-
R 2

244 SERMON VIL
tions of poets and mythologists ? Or again,
what is the precise sense to be attached to
the Oeia fxolpa, or divine dispensation, so fre
quently expatiated upon by the same writers?
Further, do the philosophers and the poets
constitute one and the same class of persons,
or must we distinguish them as different
authorities, in the inquiry ? These and many
other like questions must occur to us when
we enter upon an accurate investigation of
the nature and meaning of the Poetical The
ology of ancient Paganism.
It would be foreign to our present purpose
to attempt to solve these and other similar
questions. What has been frequently re
marked with respect to the uncertainty after
all of the accounts remaining to us, and the
indecision which they yet prove to have pre
vailed in the philosophical writings of those
times, may be counted as sufficiently indica
tive both of the vagueness of the religious
creeds of ancient Paganism, and the utter
want of any evidence to support the main
substance of their contents.
But, when we turn from Paganism to the
history of the Jewish nation, amongst whom
the knowledge of true religion was by the
Divine ordering kept alive, we may hope to
find some instruction and guidance as to the

SERMON VIL 245
admissibility of other influences besides those
of reason and faith into the province of reli
gious speculation. Nor do we conceive the
hope in vain. The Jewish church (like our
own) has set its seal to the alliance subsist
ing between the lower and higher parts of
the human soul, by recognising as canonical
the poetical books, as we call them, of the
Old Testament. Of the first of these, the
Rook of Job, it is enough to say, that by the
common confession of all readers, its title to
the most exalted rank among writings of its
own class, in points of poetical description
and imagery, is fully established. Of the
Rook of the Fsalms we need only be re
minded (and this superfluously, living as we
do under the immediate influence of our
Church's appointed services) that, as it has
been styled by Athanasius, Basil, Luther, an
" Epitome," " Compendium," " Summary of
all theology," in fact, the Bible as it were in
miniature ; so by Melancthon was it desig
nated " the most elegant writing in the whole
world." Of the Books of Proverbs and
Ecclesiastes too, though compendia these of
ethics or moral philosophy, and therefore
not likely antecedently to abound in poetical
ornaments, yet that whilst the latter is de
scribed by an able critic as "written in a

246 SERMON VIL
rhetorical style, and interspersed with verses,"
which would fully justify its position among
the poetical books, of many portions of the
former Bishop Lowth himself has declared
that " they are varied, elegant, sublime and
truly poetical;" and of its earliest division,
in particular, consisting of nine chapters, he
speaks as abounding in " many beautiful de
scriptions and personifications ; the diction
polished, and full of the ornaments of poetry,
so that it scarcely yields in elegance and
splendour to any of the sacred writings,"
And so too, the remarkable Book from which
the text is taken, and which closes the canon
of poetical Scripture, may be best understood
by considering it as a triumphant burst of
exultation, accompanied with all the aids of
poesy and song, over the imagined fulfilnjent
of the solemn promise repeatedly made by the
messengers of Jehovah to the Jewish nation,
and which was afterwards emphatically sum
med up by the prophet Haggai, in the words
which have so often come across our path,
" the desire of all nations shall come*." In
spired as we must believe him to be with a
sacred fervor, such as that which had before,
on the occasion of Solomon's own marriage,
impelled the sweet Psalmist of Israel to sing
* Haggai ii. 7.

SERMON VIL 247
concerning Christ and his Church, we find
the Hebrew monarch, who was at once the
wisest and the most accomplished of men,
giving utterance to his joyful and eager aspi
rations after the coming of the Messiah, in
this highly figurative, yet deeply significant
effusion. Into the peculiarities of this extraordinary
composition it is not necessary for my pur
pose that I should enter. We may, without
being mystics, assent at once to that criti
cism which recognises in this Song of songs,
or superlative song, an expressive adaptation
of sensible images to spiritual things, which
must be understood to be thereby figured.
We may consider, that under and throughout
the whole imagery of this poem, call we it
Pastoral Eclogue, Drama, or Idyl, the design
is to represent God in his most endearing at
tributes — under the idea in which the be
loved disciple chose in after time to exhibit
the Divine Nature, when he wrote that " God
is love'' ;" or we may, without departing alto
gether from the under- current or under
tone of thought discoverable throughout the
poem, expatiate in the field of heathen cos
mogony and physics, as indeed the commen-
•> 1 John iv. 8.

248 SERMON VIL
tators of earlier times were wont to do, who
(as Aristotle quotes the poets, when advert
ing to the expansive regions over which Love
or Friendship may be described as ranging)
discoursed, we are told, to the effect that " by
Love the heavens are joined together, and the
elements agree in composition, animals co
habit, cities are preserved, and all kingdoms
supported and replenished. Which made
Pherecydes Syrus say that " God was trans
formed into love before he made the world.
And because God created all things in love,
he also embraces all things with the same
love ; and would have us to love ; which is
indeed the sum of all he exacts from us ; that
being knit together by mutual love, we may
in conclusion be united with him in love ; so
that all things may be one, as they were in
the beginning." Of this love, say they, Solo
mon treats throughout this whole song, some
times indeed translated Song of Loves, in
stead of Song of Songs ; nay, it is the subject
of all the book of God, which they prove
again by examples from the sixty-second
Psalm, and more particularly from that pas
sage in the Prophet Hosea, " I will betroth
me unto thee for ever ; yea, I will betroth
thee unto me in righteousness, and in judg
ment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.

SERMON VIL 249
I will even betroth thee unto me in faithful
ness: and thou shalt know the Lord"."
The scope of the feeling thus vividly pre
sented in the book before us being so general
and comprehensive, it is impossible that any
who studies it attentively, and reflects upon
its reception into the sacred canon, can mis
take the signification or moral, so to speak,
of its tendency. The principle of love, it
might be contended, is nearly the whole of
the human soul. It comprehends all that
we understand by the heart, that most fa
vourite representation in Holy Scripture of
the whole man, intellectual as well as moral.
And it lies at the bottom also of that im
pulse to the acquisition of knowledge, with
out which the understanding of man would
be but an inoperative and nugatory posses
sion. But such speculations are inapposite
to my present subject. Let me then only
further remark on the general tenor and
purport of the Song of Solomon, that it is
also capable of being viewed in conjunction
with that grand feature of the Christian Re
velation on which I have before touched ;
I mean, the personality which pervades its
entire scheme, whether we look (to speak
formally) to its objects of faith, to its sub-
<: Hos. ii.l9, 20.

250 SERMON VIL
jects, or to the connecting links of inter
communication and relationship which are
so emphatically declared to subsist between
them. And with this last observation my
text is in perfect accordance. For the com
mon interpretation ofthe words "our house,"
makes it the same as the universal Church
of Christ, and corresponding in the way of
antitype to the Temple of the earlier Dis
pensation. This interpretation owes its re
ception chiefly, no doubt, to the mention of
the " cedar" and the " fir ;" the materials
used, we know, in the construction of the
Temple of Solomon. "The beams of our
house are cedar, and our rafters of fir."
These sorts of wood were employed in the
fabric as the most durable and incorruptible
of the sorts then known. But I am not pre
pared to follow the common interpretations
of the verse farther than this. The " beams"
and the "rafters," as parts of the structure,
are usually interpreted to signify the par
ticular churches of Christ ; which are parts,
no doubt, of the whole Church or Temple of
God ; but not, surely, in the sense in which
" beams" and " rafters" (and indeed the mar
gin has " galleries" for " rafters") are parts
of an architectural edifice. It may appear
fanciful, I am well aware, and I offer it sim-

SERMON VIL 251
ply as a suggestion harmonizing with the
subject of our present thoughts, to interpret
rather these supports and props of the sa
cred building to be the evidences which were
designed and overruled so as to be the
everlasting sustain ers of the Christian truth
throughout all ages. To go beyond this
general sense would be asking perhaps too
much; although, with our common notions
of the superior strength and solidity of the
evidences supplied by reason, over the sup
port afforded by the inferior parts of the
human soul, the several clauses of the text
might undoubtedly be conceived to coincide
with the ordinary division of our mental
powers. The Jews are not commonly, perhaps, re
garded as an imaginative people. But this is
chiefly owing to the conceptions we form of
the province and highest functions of the
imagination. When characterizing a nation
or an individual as imaginative, we are prone
to require a transcendent, at least a remark
able development of the faculty in question
to have been exhibited. Hence, probably,
most persons, if asked to give a categorical
answer to the question, " Were the Jews an
imaginative people?" would answer in the
negative. In the rapid mental search which

252 SERMON VIL
would be prompted by the question they
would, it is likely, overlook the Hebrew na
tion altogether. They would think of Athens,
Rome, Florence, and perhaps some other
places, but not of Jerusalem. Yet the Jews
indisputably participated in those qualities
of mind which are found to be most luxu
riant in the East ; and there, we know, more
than in any other part of the world, has the
imagination indulged itself with greatest
freedom from the very dawn of history down
to the present time. It is needless to trace
the connexion of the Greek theogonies and
all the varieties of their theology (so to call
it) and mythological lore with the more an
cient conceptions of those eastern nations
from which they notoriously borrowed them.
The ornamental parts of Plato, if not his
whole philosophy, much too perhaps of the
graver system of his great disciple, might be
traced to the same oriental source. The
Greek mind, at any rate, always benefited
from its intercourse with the older portions
of the human race, and the advantage may
be generally described as taking place through
the medium of the imagination. Religion,
in their case, as in that of the great majority
(to say the least) of the chosen people, both
declared its truths and proved them, mainly

SERMON VIL 253
through the action of the same power. And
deriving our principles of criticism, as we
even now do in great measure, from the
Greeks, we could not justly draw a line of
broad distinction between the Hebrews and
the other sections of the old Eastern world.
For to say nothing of the figurative style
both of thought and language conspicuous,
not here and there, but throughout the
writings of the Old Testament; nor of the
continual yieldings to temptation, on the part
of the Israelites, in a matter of the most aw
ful consequence to their national as well as
individual welfare — for such assuredly is that
transfer of their worship and homage from
Jehovah to the local deities of neighbouring
nations, which forms the most melancholy
passage in all their chequered history —
to pass, I say, these instances of the great
hold had on their minds by what we cannot
refuse to call the imaginative powers and
sentiments of the soul, the single feature of
their sacred poetry is enough to establish
them in the highest rank of nations distin
guished by the culture of the imagination.
Or, briefly, if poetry be the highest art, and
God and his truth the noblest subject, we
cannot but, upon these simple hypotheses,
award the prize of the most exalted of all ac-

254 SERMON VIL
complishments to the chosen people. It is
indubitable that in one at least, and this the
most sublime direction, did the imagination
of the Jews outstrip in its development all
other efforts of the same faculty to be found
elsewhere : and this, we should remember, not
at a single or a few periods of their history,
(for there is perhaps an imaginative epoch in
the history of every nation,) but throughout.
It is not unusual, I am aware, to distin
guish the imagination in its simple condition
from the same faculty when accompanied
with passion or desire ; and again, to recog
nise it either as spontaneous in its exercise,
or as indebted to our own volitions for its
operation, for even its presence, on many
occasions. Whatever be the value of such
distinctions, and whether the diversity which
they express be real or not, is beside our pre
sent meditation. Such nice distinctions are,
in fact, of no great importance in a religious
point of view. The imagination should here
be viewed, in common with our other powers,
simply as a constituent element of our re
sponsibility. In this point of view, the mere
faculty and its spontaneous operations are
obviously of but little moment. We do not,
on the supposition of their spontaneity, create
them by our will ; we are therefore not ac-

SERMON VIL 255
countable (or but slightly so) for their ordi
nary presence and activity.
But where the creations of the mind are vo
luntary, whenever intention in any way accom
panies the process of imagination, there we at
once encounter a moral and religious element.
And there too we discover the various func
tions of the faculty in question as they are
exhibited by different men; whilst at the same
time we see to what an extent these functions
are equally exercised by us all. For it is not
the writer of poetry or romance alone, who
gives the rein to his imagination in those
vivid scenes of varied incident and interest
which he pourtrays in his narrative and imi
tations. We too do the same every hour.
We, that is, ordinary men, are in fancy con
ceiving events that, it may be, will never
happen ; — " imagining," says a profound
writer, " motives and passions, thinking our
little romances .... and the fancy which they
display is the same in kind with that which
forms and fills the history of imaginary heroes
and heroines. The dullest plodder over the
obscurest desk, who sums up in the evening
his daily tables of profit and loss, and who
rises in the morning with the sole object of
adding a few ciphers to that book of pounds
and pence, which contains the whole annual

256 SERMON VIL
history of his life — even he, while he half lays
down his quill to think of future prices and
future demands, or future possibilities of loss,
has his visions and imaginations like the sub
limest poet ; visions of a very different kind,
indeed, from those to which poets are accus
tomed, but involving as truly the inspirations
of fancy."
Whether then we take the humbler cases
of imagination, or choose rather to fix our
attention upon its sublimer exhibitions, two
points will, of necessity, strike us ; each of
which is calculated to shew the connection of
the faculty with our religious being. These
are, the one its frequent, if not constant, as
sociation with our passions ; the othei*, the
relation which it also holds to our concep
tions of futurity. These two incidents to,
not to say properties of, the imagination will,
I suppose, be allowed to impress it with a
positive and not unimportant religious cha
racter and relation.
It should not however escape us, that in
what some might consider to be its simplest
mode of operation, we may view the imagi
native faculty as connected with the past ;
and so it is that, in point of fact, we not un -
frequently read of a historical imagination.
But this development of the power every one

SERMON VIL 257
must exercise, in conjunction with his me
mory, whenever he calls up the visions of his
own sensible experience, or (as unquestion
ably he may) the sensible experience of other
men ; and the exertion of such mental ef
fort we have indeed already implied in our
survey of the matter which history has con
tributed in furtherance of the general pur
poses of our inquiry.
And in this manner also we might doubt
less approximate the imagination to the
graver faculty of reason. But in truth, its
main function seems to be to cater, as it
were, for all the other powers of our minds,
and in exact proportion to its degrees of
strength and vividness, to yield them a be
coming measure of allegiance, to share their
empire, or to bear them along captive in its
own wayward excursions of extravagance and
caprice. I. The form of religious enthusiasm most
common in the Christian world has been
already adverted to. Nor in these general
views did I care to distinguish between it
and fanaticism. Malignant passions, I would
say however, do not perhaps supply us with
the characteristic difference which separates
these states from each other. The fanatic
may just as correctly be defined the reli-

258 SERMON VIL
gionist in excess simply, as one who neces
sarily combines with his enthusiasm " the
darkest and grossest ingredients of the hu
man mind." None however will dispute that
the conceptions (if superadded) of ferocity,
ruthlessness, spiritual tyranny, and other such
malignant impulses, conjure up before our
mental vision the fanatical spirit in its worst
and most appalling shape. A hint at the
barbarous rites of religion practised, by Pa
gan nations (whether recorded in the Old
Testament, or in other histories), and at the
Inquisition, may suffice, in passing, to com
plete the figure.
But there is a kind of generous enthusiasm
also — a state of thought and feeling truly
Christian, which is perhaps the noblest ele
vation of the human soul, and which only
matches the genuine chivalrous principle of
the olden time ; the best and most brilliant
forms of which indeed were indebted to it
for their inspiration. It is this which is ever
conducting its crusade against the current
follies and superstitions of the age, and per
petually striving for their overthrow. In its
most patriotic form it gives impulse to the
zealous exertions of the missionary, and in
the less expanded circles of Christian min
istration encounters with a sacred ardour

SERMON VIL 259
those unnatural and distorted shapes which
religion seems destined to be ever, more or
less, assuming amid the masses. The soldier
of Christ cannot be devoid of this species of
enthusiasm, with all its attendant sentiments
and impulses. We are accustomed indeed
to hear the Bible itself eulogized for its bold
ness, and for the- want of circumspection
which it exhibits in its narrations and other
multifarious disclosures. The enthusiast of
whom I now speak will throw himself he
roically into all its indiscretion, and freely
take his share of all its seeming blemishes ;
knowing that behind all this imputed bold
ness and incaution, there stand the unerring
wisdom and leadership of Omniscience; under
the occasional semblance of incongruity are
yet to be discovered the exactest harmony
and order. He will catch the fervor of the
Prophets and Apostles, nor shrink from " de
claring," in the most fearless accents, "all
the counsel of God^" At the same time
he will by no means shun or depreciate the
final appeal to reason ; but will rather invite
its aid to repel the aggressions which may be
directed from any quarter against the Divine
Economy and Word. He is convinced that
the alleged instances of defective wisdom,
¦« Acts XX. 7.
S 2

260 SERMON VIL
prudence, justice, benevolence, are, when due
regard is had to remote and comprehensive
bearings, to causes and consequences revealed,
implied, or possible, consistent in every way
with the acknowledged perfections of the
Divine mind ; and that thus, even upon the
investigation which is permitted to a created
and finite intelligence, they serve rather to
enhance than to impair the belief of the
truly "wise and prudent" in the recorded
operations of God.
But it is far otherwise with that enthu
siasm of another sort, which the Christian ad
vocate discerns to be diffusing its poison at
the present time with no less assiduity and
perseverance than have marked its operations
in former ages. The essence of this enthu
siasm is delusion, and it naturally issues in
the maintenance of the most exorbitant and
miscellaneous forms of unsound opinion. Nor
is its province confined to speculative error
only ; for were this the case, its condemna
tion might be looked upon as to a great de
gree unnecessary. Its practical consequences
are sure to militate against the right culti
vation of the Gospel virtues, and are utterly
destructive to the unity of the Christian pro
fession. Nothing, in a word, has been so
fruitful of schisms and divisions in the
church of Christ ; whereas the arrogance and

SERMON VIL 261
domineering spirit which distinguish its pre
tensions and outward bearing, are best seen
in its contemptuous treatment of the pur
port and authority of Holy Scripture itself.
It is in this particular that a dangerous ex
ample has been set to those who may, under
anysoever personal or private influence, be
tempted to set up their own favorite theories
and fancies against all sober and humble in
terpretations of the sacred writings. And
hence it would be no difficult task to trace
(as has been done indeed more than once in
the course of the periodical delivery of these
Lectures) in what manner the action of the
imagination in the enthusiast's case tends to
supersede the value and use of all learning,
and to obscure and invalidate, if not to nul
lify, the doctrines of Christianity themselves,
and to make "of none effect" the most mo
mentous and sacred of the Divine command
ments. And all this, we cannot but reflect, in di
rect contravention and disobedience to the
precepts of sober piety, which abound through
out the Sacred Volume, and, we may add, to
the spirit of its Divine Author. " Like it, the
spirit of Christianity," says one of my pre
decessors, "is a gentle spirit, a spirit of meek
ness and of unassuming piety ; it is not

262 SERMON VIL
puffed up with the hopes of attaining to an
excellence which it never was designed to at
tain ; it is not degraded by the performance
of those services which it was directed to pay;
but knowing that there is no possible means
of honoring God but that of keeping his
commandments, it reverences them all alike ;
it sees no distinction between greater or
smaller duties ; between such as are invi
diously called human, and such as are en
thusiastically termed angelic ; but piously
considers all to be equally sacred, as being
all derived from the will and hallowed by
the command of God."
The enthusiasm of which we are now
speaking must, I say, display itself in direct
counteraction of such a Christian spirit, even
if we contemplate the enthusiast apart from
his schismatic tendencies. But in the direct
and necessary development of his delusions,
it is impossible, as we before intimated, that
he should confine their influence to himself.
He must desire and toil to propagate his
errors. To this work will he devote all his
activity and zeal ; and hence must ensue, in
exact proportion to the success which may
be permitted to attend his efforts, those mani
fold aberrations from the true faith, and in
fractions of the order and laws of sound dis-

SERMON VIL 263
cipline which the Church understands to be
comprehended under the words " false doc
trine, heresy and schism,"
And thus we might proceed to connect our
present meditation with these painful sub
jects also ; but our course has been taken
so as to meet the case of infidelity rather
than those of heresy and schism. Doubtless
they are too often fellow-citizens and neigh
bours ; and scepticism may justly be regarded
as the transition state — or, to pursue our
figure, the mutual friend whose evil office
it is to introduce them to each other. Hence
it has been thought not improbable that
"actual infidelity can hardly ever be long
separated from habitual scepticism." How
far the extreme tenets of the Romish church
and the papacy (by virtue of the general law
that extremes meet, and by the operation
of other influences) also border, practically
at least, upon the same dismal region of in
fidelity, I must leave to be settled by the
testimony of those who have with the great
est judgment and faithfulness read the popu
lar and sacerdotal mind of Roman catholic
countries. The least that can be said is, that
our own age is not behind preceding cen
turies in fearful disclosures and acknowledg
ments.

264 SERMON VIL
But let us not with self-complacency ac
count our own communion to be entirely
free from the evils which we may be tempted
or even justified in imputing to others. We
have our enthusiasts (in the worse sense also)
within our own pale ; and not only such as
from natural fervency of feeling, or undue
cultivation of the inferior powers of the soul,
are hurried into the excesses of fanaticism, or
even into overt acts of schism ; but a sort of
wary, cool enthusiasts (if indeed such epithets
are here allowable) who upon the plea of
conscience can argue calmly in justification
of the most extravagant tenets suggested by
their mere imagination or their passions, and
who not unfrequently combine the lowest
worldly wisdom with the wildest and most
wilful hallucinations of the fanatical pos
session. Let, however, the enthusiast, who may de
ceive others, and perhaps himself, with his
theory of an otiose faith, or with his self-
originating assurances of personal righteous
ness and consequent justification in the sight
of God, be reminded that, if all other argu
ments prove unavailing, there remain yet two
passages of Holy Scripture to confront and
perplex him; — the direct challenge of the
Apostle, "Shew me thy faith without thy

SERMON VIL 265
works, and I will shew thee my faith by my
works";" — and the declaration of his great
Master Himself; which annexes the reward
of acceptance not to him ""who saith, Lord,
Lord," but to him " that doeth the will of his
Father which is in heaven." Let him not
mistake some warmth of feeling — transient, it
may be, or periodical — for that devotion which
alone is steady, habitual, practical ; which can
alone bring forth " ^ fruit unto holiness," and
whose "end is everlasting life." If he call,
or really believe his enthusiasm to be a holy
zeal, he will do well to remember, that all zeal
is not religious, or at least. Christian zeal ;
that there may be zeal in a bad cause, and the
cause in such a case (supposing the means of
ascertaining its true character are not unat
tainable) will cast back its own taint upon the
feeling ; and that again there may be a bad
zeal in a good cause, where, on the contrary,
the goodness of the cause will by no means
sanctify the otherwise virtuous and praise
worthy emotion. Watchful, indeed, should
we all be, and the more so in proportion
to the earnestness with which, from whatever
causes, religious questions are agitated around
and amongst us, against the substitution or
mistaking of feelings, however intense, for
b James ii. 18. <= Matt. vii. 21. d Rom. vi. 22.

266 SERMON VIL
steadfast habits of religious action It is the
nature, we well know, of habit, to strengthen
itself more and more, as the progress of time
may furnish opportunity. Our feelings, on
the contrary, are fitful, capricious, transitory,
and evanescent. These are not likely of
themselves to carry us far on our way to
wards the attainment of real piety. It has
accordingly been well said by one by whose
teaching among us the University is at this
time profiting, " that the fits and starts of him
who is impelled by mere feeling are, upon
the whole, rather retrograde than progressive.
Their effect, at all events, is utterly unlike
that advance in the way of holiness, which
the constraining motives of sound practical
religion render equable and steady. The
very indulgence of feeling," he goes on to
state, "is an easy thing, whereas true reli
gion — the striving to ' enter in at the narrow
gate' implies difficulty — a struggle naturally
going on with our original propensities, a
severe contest with our inclinations, a firm
counteraction of the decided bias of our af
fections and desires."
II. The second point suggested was the
relation of the imaginative functions to the
subject oi futurity. Were there a disposition
to systematize on this point, a threefold view

SERMON VIL 267
would immediately invite our notice, and the
imagination would divide itself according as
its perceptions might be directed : first, to the
temporal future ; secondly, to the ultimate
destinies of the human race ; and thirdly, to
the intermediate states of being, whether re
vealed as certain, or merely existing in the
regions of ideal conjecture and possibility.
But a very few observations can be spared
for each of these, in a meditation now neces
sarily drawing to its close.
1. Under the first of these divisions falls
the much-agitated question of the millen
nium. Though discountenanced, as it would
appear, by the earlier Church, Millenarianism
has, we know, made its appearance with more
or less prominence in every age of Christian
reflection. By some the chivalrous energy
of the Crusades has been connected closely
with such expectations ; and notions not only
of the predicted thousand years being about
to commence, but of their actually being
close upon their termination, have had their
enthusiastic supporters from the fourteenth
century down to the present day. These
expectations have, of course, varied much
with, if indeed they have not taken their
tone from, the different conceptions of Anti
christ which have also prevailed at different

268 SERMON VIL
times and in different schools of thought and
Scriptural interpretation. Our own genera
tion does not witness a settlement of these
disputed, and, it must be allowed by all, most
difficult, not to say, unfathomable subjects.
The evolution however of our present view
constrains us to discern in the ardor and ear
nestness with which most pious minds are
still prosecuting their inquiries in this as
suredly not fundamental tenet of Christian
truth, an additional proof of the accommo
dation of the Gospel Revelation to the va
rieties of the human mind ; and a sort of
testimony also, that that fortress must be it
self secure, whose outworks and superfluous
parts are thus staunchly and resolutely de
fended. And here too doubtless we might say some
thing of the relation of Christian art to the
production of deeper and more vivid ex
pressions of the devotional spirit amongst
Christian worshippers. The poetical imagery
with which the doctrine of the Millennium
and the supposed approach of the last day
were surrounded and adorned, forms a marked
period in the history of the fine arts them
selves. To say no more, " while the hymn
' Dies irae' sounded the terrors of the general
judgment into the ears of Christendom," we

SERMON VIL 269
ate told that " painters employed their talents
in keeping alive a remembrance of the end
of all things by their representations of the
dances of death, and of the general judg
ment; and Dante disclosed in his 'Divina
comedia' the worlds of hell, purgatory and
paradise," Nor can I omit the remark of the
same writer, falling in as it does with asso
ciations to which I have already pointed, that
there was an " evident reaction between those
works of the imagination on the one hand,
and the subtle reasonings and definitions of
the scholastics on the other, so that the one
may be explained by the other,"
And may we not think with justice that
the Reformation, amidst the other blessings
which it secured of Christian truth and li
berty, exercised also a critical judgment upon
the imagination, as well as upon the under
standing of anterior times ? The thought
cannot now be pursued. But it is at least
obvious that, as many of the Articles of our
own Church condemn, both directly and in
directly, errors in thinking, reasoning, infer
ence, and other operations of the understand
ing, so in her condemnation of Romish prac
tices, under the title of "things vainly in
vented," in the twenty-second Article, she
rebukes with a wholesome sternness and se-

270 SERMON VII,
verity the gratuitous and ill-assorted imagi
nations of a Christianity that had been unde
niably corrupted, and grossly so, in this very
particular, 2. But it is to the second member of our
division that more peculiarly belong the no
tions entertained amongst Christians of the
resurrection of the body, the general judg
ment, and the future condition of the saved
and the condemned. On all these subjects
we meet with the strangest views and specu
lations throughout the earlier centuries of
the Christian period. The bold and fan
tastic speculations of Aquinas (who may in
a general way be said to represent the scho
lastic spirit) on the resurrection-body are
well known ; and they supply a wondrous,
yet fearful instance of the indulgence of the
imaginative faculty, whenever it ventures in
its soarings beyond that which is written.
The second advent of our Lord to judge the
world afforded another fruitful theme for
the uncontrolled expatiations of the fanciful
genius which marked the ages alluded to.
But more commonly were the aspirations of
daring minds employed in the most arbitrary
delineations of the future world, as they car
ried on their researches both over " the bright
regions of heaven, and the dark abodes of

SERMON VIL 271
hell." The mind which penetrates into the
depths of these extraordinary speculations
will find that there is hardly any, if a single,
form of modern rationalistic or other scep
ticism on these momentous subjects, which
has not its germ or corresponding image in
the fancies at which we have thus been sum
marily glancing,
S. Nor, thirdly, were the intermediate states
in which the soul was conceived to exist
when separated from the body, without their
potency in giving rise to the most versatile
manifestations of imaginative power. Subtle
questions and visionary theories were raised
also as to the possible death of the soul, its
sleep, and the modes and time of its ultimate
reunion with the body. These and all the
numerous versions which the doctrines of a
purifying fire and purgatory from time to
time assumed, would prove abundantly the
captivating influences of those parts of Reve
lation which could be considered to afford
the slightest countenance or groundwork for
the indulgence of the devout mind in such
contemplations Well may we be thankful
that they were at length brought back to the
tests of Scripture and common sense ; and
that the ritual of our Church was at the same
time cleansed of all the legendary deceits.

272 SERMON VIL
and I fear we must add impurities, with
which an ignorant or interested spiritual po
licy had for ages laboured, and certainly not
unsuccessfully, to encrust it.
Who then amongst us will question, after
pondering on the suggestions which have
thus been briefly offered, that our imaginative
powers are eminently constituent of our re
sponsibility in the eyes of God? Who also
can believe that so much, whether we con
sider the form or the matter of Revelation,
is addressed to, and shaped so as to afford
becoming and salutary exercise for, our fancy,
and that there should not be also a proof
concomitant — a peculiar evidence intended
here as elsewhere to accompany such obvious
adaptations to the irrepressible cravings of
the human soul? If it be true that the
evidences, as well as the doctrines, of our
holy religion address themselves to the whole
man, " body, mind, and soul," we may be sure
that all the more active and influential parts
of mind and soul cannot but have their proper
and complete assurances vouchsafed to them.
Our duty is to discover, as we best may, the
spheres and capacities allotted to the several
elements of our compound mental nature,
and then to limit each and all to the scope of
their own separate and appropriate jurisdic-

SERMON VIL 273
tions. But the connexion of this duty with
the subject of Evidence only would suggest
considerations far too numerous to be brought
within the compass of a single Lecture, or
even a series of Lectures. It may rather be
pronounced to be the business of an entire
life. The views now taken might doubtless be
extended to the many other recognitions of
and appeals to the fancy which abound in the
holy writings, and which are more or less fa
miliar to us all. But our time will only allow of
the bare mention of fable, parable, allegory,
and the other tropes of resemblance and ana
logy, to be met with in such profusion in the
Sacred Volume ; — as also of the ministration
of angels and demons, which likewise stand
obviously related in the Christian system to
the imagination or poetical element in the
human soul. Enough however may have
been said to shew, (which was indeed my ob
ject,) the connection subsisting between the
exercise of the imaginative functions and the
most momentous employments of our other
mental powers upon religious questions ;
enough to confirm in our minds the convic
tion which Holy Scripture both recognises
and sanctifies, that as there are "deep things"
of the understanding, so are there also

274 SERMON VIL
high things of the imagination which it
hath not entered into the heart of man to
conceive — things which, far transcending all
the flights of human genius and the sub
limest inspirations of which in its unaided
state it is susceptible, we must acknowledge,
in a spirit of profoundest reverence and hu
mility, " belong" not to us, but " to the Lord
our God^"
a Deut. xxix. 29.

SERMON VIII.

Psalm cm. 1 .

Bless the Lord, 0 my soul; and all that is within me,
bless his holy name.

npHIS reflective and self-apostrophizing ex-
¦^ hortation of the Psalmist may be thought
to form no inappropriate introduction to the
last in the series of our present meditations.
In the beginning of the Psalm, the pious
David (for we are assured that it is his com
position) endeavours to stimulate his heart
and all his affections, every faculty and ele
ment of his inner nature, " all that is within
him," to a grateful acknowledgment of the
surpassing bounties of the Lord which had
recently, it is thought, been bestowed upon
him. " Bless the Lord," goes on the second
verse, "O my soul, and forget not all his
benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities;
who healeth all thy diseases." The verses
T 2

276 SERMON VIIL
which immediately follow appear to allude
more pointedly to circumstances attendant
upon David's recovery from a dangerous
sickness. He thence takes occasion to launch
into a wider and more sublime contempla
tion of the Divine goodness. "The Lord
executeth righteousness and judgment for
all that are oppressed." His thoughts then
taking a retrospective and historical turn, he
notices the revelations and mercies of God
to his chosen people in former days, in the
verse, " He made known his ways unto Mo
ses, his acts unto the children of Israel ;"
and then, after dwelling upon his moral at
tributes, and contrasting in the liveliest and
most expressive terms their grandeur with
the feebleness and vanity of earth born man,
he concludes with declaring that " the mercy
of God is from everlasting to everlasting
upon them that fear him, and his righteous
ness unto children's children ; — to such" (viz.)
" as keep his covenant, and remember his
commandments to do them."
The course of the Psalmist's thoughts thus
brings him to the same point to which all
true and serious convictions of the character
and attributes of God must ever tend, to the
inculcation of the practical duties of worship
and praise ; of the necessity of conforming in

SERMON VIII. 277
spirit and in heart to all His declared com
mands, and evincing that conformity by an
upright and godly conversation in this world.
And to this end must likewise be referred
all the uses of such investigations as that in
which we have now been engaged — inquiries,
I mean of course, into the evidences which
have been vouchsafed to us of the sacred
truth ; " every conviction of the truth of the
revealed religion being, in fact," says a well-
known writer, when concluding his labours
on the evidence from prophecy, " but intro
ductory to its use. In that use the argument
passes into piety and morals, and the duties
of a personal religion."
A proper moral condition of mind then
appears to be necessary, both at the com
mencement and at the end of our investiga
tions into the Christian evidences ; and we
are reminded, as we draw towards the close
of our inquiry, of observations on this par
ticular which fell from us at the outset.
And, no doubt, not only first and last, but
throughout the whole process of investiga
tion, must the individual disciple of Christ
strive to cultivate that temper of mind which
can alone give promise of the ultimate and
effectual attainment of the truth. With re
ference to his whole life and character in the

278 SERMON VIIL
eyes of God, it is his duty indeed to aspire
after all the graces of the Christian charac
ter. This the Apostle may be supposed to
mean, when he bids " this mind" be in us
"which was also in Christ Jesus ^," But we
must look upon this and similar injunctions as
intended to set forth our Blessed Lord as our
great exemplar, mainly in the matter of our
dispositions and tempers, and not so much in
that of our intellectual nature ; even as St.
Paul bids us in other places " "put on bowels
of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind,
meekness, longsuffering," and " above all
these things, charity, which is the bond of
perfectness ;" qualities these, which all must
perceive to be of a moral kind, and implying
no intellectual superiority in him who ex
ercises them. And yet the reaction of these
states of mind and their opposites upon the
understanding is most powerful ; and this it
is which imparts to them their chief import
ance in connection with our present subject ;
inasmuch as the right regulation of the infe
rior powers of our minds, as philosophy has
chosen to account them, is quite as indispens
able for the correct appreciation of the Evi
dences of Revelation, as it is for the proper
reception of the saving truth itself
aPhil. ii, 5. b Col. iU. 12, 13, 14.

SERMON VIIL 279
Yet how commonly and how effectually
have these ends been defeated by the erro
neous conceptions which have prevailed as to
the limits of the disciple's duty in this aspi
ration after Christian excellence ! Many, not
content to imitate the divine pattern in
those parts and measures wherein they may
reasonably and upon the assurance of God's
own word hope for success, indulge the fond
conceit of participating in those perfections
of the Godhead which are absolutely incom
municable. They forget those other salu
tary checks and warnings which abound in
Holy Scripture, forbidding them to pry into
the Divine counsels — to look upon God's
ways as resembling in all respects their own
ways; and thus to break down the barriers
which divide the original from the derived
intelligence. What wonder then, if, having
lost that awe for the unapproachable wisdom
and majesty of God, and all the other reveren
tial feelings which seem to belong to the na
tural and healthy condition of created beings,
they should go on to frame for themselves
erroneous conceptions of the Divine nature
and of themselves, mistake their own powers
and relations God-ward, and finally be in
volved in spiritual perplexities and darkness !

280 SERMON VIIL
It was a desire " to be as gods %" which the
serpent held out of old as the allurement to
Eve to beguile her of her innocence. The
too forward assertion of Divine power in
themselves, "must we fetch you water out
of this rock"?" in aftertime closed the gates
of the Land of Promise against the chosen
leaders of the holy people. And so it will
ever be a spirit of similar presumption, some
unauthorized and rash arrogation of Divine
perfection — may we not say, in one word,
Fride? — that shall operate as the main hin
drance and stumblingblock in the way of the
incautious seeker after Divine truth.
Something of this sort, I say, suggested it
self at an early stage of our investigations.
Without presuming to offer formal defini
tions, or to draw unerring lines of demar
cation between them, we insisted on an es
sential difference as subsisting between the
qualities of the Divine mind, and those prin
ciples which manifest themselves morally and
intellectually in ourselves. And yet, notwith
standing such undoubted difference, it was
necessary no less for the purposes of philo
sophical truth in general, than for our own
immediate concernment with the evidences
a Gen. iii. 5. ^ Numb. xx. 10.

SERMON VIIL 281
of Revealed Religion, that we should allow
the existence of some congeniality or resem
blance between them ; it being apparently
impossible that we should comprehend in
any considerable degree the operations, or
even the messages of God, unless we found
them accommodated, to a certain extent at
least, to our own faculties, and to their ordi
nary modes, whether of perception or natural
development of any other kind.
We were met, however, in limine with the
reflexion (into which I could not at the time
enter), that the practical good of such dis
tinctions, and indeed the necessity of insti
tuting researches into the nature and varie
ties of evidence at all, are equally done away
with by one most extraordinary dogma, even
now declared (however incredible it may ap
pear) to have its adherents amongst reasonable,
and at the same time disinterested men, I
am alluding to the doctrine of Infallibility,
still theoretically maintained by a single sec
tion of the Christian world. Although I did
not specify the doctrine in my first Lecture,
yet the principles there laid down would
(with those persons indeed who allow that
Reason has any right whatever to deal with
the question) have sufficed for its extinction.
But it was my business on that occasion to

282 SERMON VIIL
glance at all theories whatever which should
encroach upon the perfections of the Su
preme Being, Statements accordingly were
advanced respecting the nature of God and
man, which, whilst they vindicated the unap
proachable dignity of the Godhead, afforded
also a groundwork for that investigation of
the Gospel Evidences which was to follow.
For it was remembered that, as in the inves
tigation of every proof, the thing to be
proved should be all along kept clearly and
steadily in view, in order to correct the pos
sible irrelevancy of the evidence adduced;
so it was equally necessary that the founda
tion-principles upon which the structures of
proof are to be reared, should be accurately
determined beforehand. With this convic
tion, I attempted to point out those general
conceptions to which religion itself is for the
most part reducible, and without the posses-
jsion of which it seemed improbable that we
should be competent to form a right judg
ment of the sorts of evidence also whereof the
momentous truths of Revelation are capable.
But here again no attempt was made to
frame strict definitions, nor are they perhaps
to be attained by us on such subjects. It
was deemed sufficient to recall to your re
membrance those principles and axiomatic

SERMON VIIL 283
truths which (whether we call them primary
or ultimate) must sooner or later be recog
nised and applied, whenever our minds are
employed in an analysis of the Christian
scheme. Many of these truths, no doubt, lie
at the bottom of all religion equally; and
this very consideration, it was surmised, gave
them an even greater claim to our notice
than if they were grounds or materials of our
own system of belief exclusively.
The notion of infallibility existing any
where save in the Person or Word of God
himself would perhaps be characterised as
an intellectual error. But there is a parallel
error of a moral kind, which is equally de
structive to the very elements and first prin
ciples of piety ; and this is the notion of
sinlessness, as appertaining to any condition
whatever of humanity in its militant and un-
glorified state. The Church of England, we
know, is sometimes reproached from a certain
quarter for not having produced her saints.
She may admit or deny the charge, just as
we may please to define the term. If it is
thought that they who, by comparison with
their fellow Christians, shine forth truly " as
lights in the world"," both following and
<; Phil. ii. 1.5.

284 SERMON VIIL
adorning the doctrine of Christ in all things,
(and this seems the highest sense in which the
epithet is used in Scripture,) are entitled to
the designation, then may our Church safely
by the act of simple denial repudiate the im
putation cast upon her. But if the notion of
sanctity be such as to invade the circle of
Divine perfections, and to appropriate to it
self not only grace sufficient to save ourselves,
but also a measure, great or small, available
for the wants and wishes of other men, in
such a view of saintship she does not parti
cipate, and therefore neither lays claim to it
for her sons, nor tolerates the assumption of
it by or on behalf of the members of any
other Christian community. Not only in
the case of Romanism, but in all others, and
certainly not least in her mode of dealing
with the crude, or ignorant, or fanatical forms
of belief and thought unhappily abounding
amongst those who yet belong outwardly to
her own communion, her paramount aim and
object is to maintain with a holy jealousy the
honor of God, by solemnly condemning every
disposition to represent the possible condition
ofthe Christian upon earth as oneof unsinning
and unblemished perfection ; — a condition
necessarily accompanied, as its advocates most
consistently maintain, with the consciousness

SERMON VIIL 285
as well as certainty of having achieved an
absolute dominion over sin, and its insidious
and powerful author.
Proceeding from the summary of our first
principles to the evidences of Revealed Truth,
we at once conceded to the sceptic, nay as
serted for ourselves, that the reasonings of
the Christian apologist fall short of demon
stration. But at the same time we contended
for the highest attainable degree of moral
certainty. The evidence, in fact, adducible
in favour of Christianity lies, as was then
shew^n, between the limits of "It must be
true," on the one hand, and " It may be true
for what we know," on the other. Were we
freelv to allow that the tide of Christian
proof never rises to the former mark, we must
assert with equal constancy that it never
sinks below the latter. Hence, and with
especial reference to "what we know," the
frequency with which writers on the Evi
dences remind us of our ignorance, and warn
us to listen to the sober dictates of prudence
or worldly wisdom in the momentous ques
tion of our belief. We are admonished by
them to choose the safe side, as we ought,
and for the most part are prone to do, in
other matters of practical concernment. And
it might surely be expected that such admo-

286 SERMON VIIL
nitions would have peculiar weight with the
sceptical and rationalistic ; since upon the
principles of reason (which they are so fond
of declaring to be their only guide) they, of
all men, are most bound to yield to the over
weight, however small, of evidence, on which
soever side of a question it may preponderate.
And the same persons, one would think, should
be the most likely also to make allowance for
that possibility of error which the very pre
sence of doubt in their minds necessarily im
plies, and on this ground too should be the last
to be so influenced by the absence of demon
stration on one side of a difficult moral pro
blem, as perversely and hastily to conclude,
and give their assent, in favor of the other.
Nor should any of us, my brethren, think
lightly of this argument, whether we may be
disposed to call it prudent, or merely pru
dential. As matter of observation, there can
be little doubt, I think, that it is the only
speculative ground or reason upon which
many find a resting place for their belief in
Christianity. We employ it also very com
monly in defending the details of our reli
gious practice; as may be instanced, in passing,
in the question of infant baptism. It may
be doubtful, suppose (not that it is so), whe
ther baptism recommends infants to God.

SERMON VIIL 287
But it is, on the other hand, undisputed that
the administration of the rite cannot injure
their spiritual state, or, as it has been ex
pressed by bishop Jeremy Taylor (when em
ploying in fact the argument) "prejudice
their eternity." The advantage then in point
of safety lies with the Paedo-Baptist ; — and it
is thus, in reality, that in cases of practice
too numerous to be cited, we adopt the course
which prudence suggests, both in the conduct
of our reasonings, and in their subsequent
development in action.
We cannot then press too strongly upon
the student of the evidences of Revealed
Truth the inference which I would now, as
before, deduce from the character both of its
object and its subject, — the duty, I mean, of
devoting serious and steady attention to the
principles and conduct of Probable or Moral
Proof. And the duty would appear most
obvious, where, as in the case of our own
academical system, the young are instructed
in matters or departments of knowledge con
fessedly the most congenial to such a study.
From them it might therefore be not unrea
sonably expected that they should evince a
bias and an aptitude of no ordinary kind to
probable reasonings, and a superior ability in
determining both their absolute and their

288 SERMON VIIL
relative value ; and most especially so, in that
region of inquiry and knowledge where their
chief interests and hopes are situated, whether
they have regard to their temporal or to their
eternal happiness. I do not say that it is re
quired or expected of them that they should
be solicitous of investing their speculations
with all the precision and formal completeness
of a science. But they may, at least, impart a
degree of order and regularity to their men
tal procedures in religion, if they simply
note and arrange all those general rules
which a periodical and frequent self-exa
mination may shew to be most influential
upon their judgment in practical affairs. It
is quite true (and we often, in fact, see it
advanced as an objection to systematizing our
moral views) that all men do, and must, ob
serve certain laws in the conduct and govern
ment of their practical reason. But we must
not from thence conclude that it is unneces
sary that they should be cognizant and ob
servant of the principles upon which they
proceed. It is sometimes indeed urged in
the way of reply, that men will think, and
reason, and judge in a certain way, whether
they know it or not. But do they not act
spontaneously and unmethodically to an
equal extent in many other instances, where-

SERMON VIIL 289
in, nevertheless, rules and maxims of guid
ance have been shewn by experience to be of
the greatest advantage ? Let us then rather
believe that a sober investigation and careful
estimate of the influences which ordinarily
affect our minds in the determination of
practical questions will be found of inestim
able value, both in aiding our researches after
truth on such subjects, and also in carrying
on profitably the momentous business of self-
examination itself, and indeed mental disci
pline of every kind.
It has been, we may well believe, under
the influence of thoughts such as these, that
master minds in our own Church have
evolved by degrees what they deem, and
designate by way of preeminence, the Philo
sophical Evidence of Christianity. I do not
mean the metaphysical school of English
Divines, but those rather who read a twofold
Revelation of the Divine will and govern
ment in the written Word of God, on the
one side, and in the face and book (so to call
it) of universal nature on the other ; — both
these intimations, it is seen, running up into
certain common principles, but yet exhibit
ing in their details the most marked and im
portant differences. And here it is that the
attention of the reasoner must always be for-
u

290 SERMON VIIL
cibly directed both to the knowledge, and to
the ignorance of man. The arguments drawn
from the latter source, I mean the acknow
ledged ignorance of man, possess a value
which, with reference to the subject of in
ternal probabilities, was so well discerned by
bishop Butler. But when studying this sub
ject we cannot but observe a most import
ant distinction. When we contemplate God
in the abstract, we cannot ascribe to Him
any specific ends or purposes at all. And
this is the first degree or sample of our ig
norance respecting him. But the case under
goes a very remarkable and important change
when we go on to regard God in the cha
racter of a revealer. For revelation neces
sarily implies a positive link of connexion
between God and us ; and the belief of a
revelation having been made, carries with it
the supposition also of certain motives and
purposes entertained by the Supreme Being,
who is thus conceived to make known his
Will to us. Hence, although we make the
freest admission in the case of " the wisest and
most knowing of mankind," that they yet can
not comprehend the ways and works of God,
nevertheless not only these, but even ordinary
persons, may and must estimate the claims
of a professed revelation by the worthiness or

SERMON VIIL 291
unworthiness of the ends to which it may
appear to be conducive. And so, contrari
wise, our capacity of doing this may be said
to constitute the first degree of our know
ledge in the matter. In what manner, and
to what extent, we are enabled to pronounce
a judgment upon the suitableness of parti
cular points revealed to us to afford satisfac
tory proof of the credibility of the Christian
scheme, both in general, and as respects its
peculiar doctrines, was shewn in that part of
these discourses which seemed most to re
quire the introduction of such a notice. To
have gone further would have rendered ne
cessary a formal array of final causes ; which
conceived as falling into the shape of formal
arguments, although they may be charac
terized as among the boldest, yet are they
the reasonings most consistent with the prin
ciples of our nature, and capable indeed of
heing regarded as the foundation of most of
the systems of natural religion which have
met with reception in the world.. Their
boldness consists, as has been intimated, in
ascribing or imputing motives to God. But
this we can do, I repeat, when we contem
plate Him in his relative character and deal
ings with the world ; and in this attitude of
relation he was seen (at a subsequent stage)
u 2

292 SERMON VIII.
to have declared himself, in a greater or less
degree, to all the nations of the world. And
thus a way was opened, it was seen, for the
application of the argument of analogy,which
transfers us from the better known cases of
intelligence and design to such- as are farther
reiiaoved from the limits of our experience
and consciousness ; — since the very conception
of God, if it rise above the besotted dream-
ings of Epicurus, was thought to comprise, at
the very least, the notions of reason, thought,
intelligence, and other like qualities, of which
we are conscious in the structure and com
position of our own minds. And hence could
not but ensue the belief of those arrange
ments, adaptations, and designs, in the recog
nition and application of which consists, for
the most part, the doctrine of Final Causes in
theology. It was not however sought to be
denied, that the arguments supplied from
this source must be very limited in their ap
plicability. For even with the fullest light
of the fullest of all revelations to assist them,
who would pretend to know all the purposes
of God in the creation and government of
the universe? or who can set himself to
fathom the reasons of God for concealing
some of his purposes from our knowledge?
"There is no manner of absurdity," says

SERMON VIIL 293
bishop Butler, following along (as I cannot
but think) the course of thought which had
before been trodden by bishop Browne, " in
supposing a veil on purpose drawn over
some scenes of infinite power, and wisdom,
and goodness, the sight of which might
some way or other strike us too strongly; or
that better ends are designed and served by
their being concealed, than could be by their
being exposed to our knowledge. The Al
mighty may cast clouds and darkness round
about him, for reasons and purposes of which
we have not the least glimpse or concep
tion." And so, if we descend into particu
lars, by whom amongst the sons of men can
the many possible, nay, take only the easily
conceivable purposes of God in the single act
of sending his only begotten Son into the
world, be said to be thoroughly understood ?
We know indeed one great end of his coming,
and this is enough for those whose duty and
chief business it is to make such knowledge
available for their own happiness, both tem
poral and eternal. But there is much rea
son for believing it possible that there are
many other ends, in which we, that is, our
whole species, may not be even remotely in
terested, to which this one single instance
and act of the Divine economy is yet de-

294 SERMON VIIL
stined to prove ministerial. What these ends
are, and what also are the other special
means, over and above those which are re
vealed to us, which may have been pre
ordained for their accomplishment, we pos
sess no present powers of ascertaining. It is
far from improbable that they are beyond
the reach of our most powerful and keenest
faculties of intellection to understand, even
after the most diligent and judicious culti
vation of these powers ; in a word, that they
realize to the full all those emphatic decla
rations which we read in Holy Scripture as
to the profundity and mysteriousness of the
more general designs and arrangements of
the Divine Providence.
A single limitation of the great argu
ment alluded to would comprise the flood
of evidence daily pouring in upon us from
the legitimate conclusions of scientific re
search. The case of Nature, however, as re
stricted to the sphere of the material world,
might perhaps be summarily dealt with.
We are assured by a high living authority
in the scientific world, that not one single
ultimate law of nature has yet been dis
covered by man ; and, since it is indis
putable that the true object, the ipyou, or
peculiar business of science, in the now cur-

SERMON VIIL 295
rent acceptation of the term, is to ascertain
the ultimate laws of nature, the aggregate,
be it ever so vast, of secondary or merely
derivative laws and principles which are thus
acknowledged to constitute the entire stock
of physical attainments, might perhaps be
thought undeserving of more than a passing
notice from the theologian. His dealings
with science might not seem to commence
until she should have completed her pecu
liar task. But we may not perhaps so dis
miss, with the appearance of an ungenerous
disregard, a branch of knowledge confessedly
most important in the manifold relations
which it holds to human happiness, and one
too, which, if what was said before be true,
we should be thankful to think has almost
universally strengthened the religious con
victions of rightly ordered minds, if not in
deed of all which have been most deeply
conversant with its disclosures ; thus, there
can be no doubt, superadding another im
portant item to the plentiful catalogue of the
Christian Evidences. We should rejoice at
least that with many and strong temptations
drawing the votaries of science in the other
direction, the cause of Christian truth has
yet upon the whole been materially aided
by the progress of every sound and really

296 SERMON VIIL
searching scientific investigation. But apart
from this consolatory reflection, it may still
be questioned whether the increase of sci
entific light and knowledge — or the success
ful reference of less general to more general
laws at which it aims, and which it no doubt
has, to a great extent, accomplished — varies
at all the logical force of the argument so
often sought to be constructed from it. We
may, I say, without invidiousness doubt this.
At any rate, those who acknowledge that
science is yet to seek for even one single
ultimate material law, and yet put forward
the results of science — or rather, (as they
V Ight to say,) of the existing approximations
tv science — under the form of additional evi-
deLces for revealed truth, might be driven
to renounce all claims to a proof, differing
in kind, at least, from that which influences
the most unscientific disciple of Christ. For
the most simple and unsophisticated (I do
not use the word in a bad or contemptuous
sense) who from his knowledge, whether real
or supposed, of a single law of the material
universe, — say, the constant succession of day
and night, the periodical appearance of sun,
moon, stars, tides, seasons, — rejects, or, as we
say, eliminates the agency of Chance from his
cosmogony, straightway and without any con-

SERMON VIIL 297
scious ratiocinative effort, believing in the
providence of some wise and benevolent au
thor and ruler of nature, — such an one, I
say, would appear to reason as conclusively,
nay to reason in a way identical, though not
in degree, yet in kind at least, with the
philosopher or man of science, who after all
his pains, his experiments, his torturings of
nature, his lengthened series of analyses and
analogies, must perforce admit the existence
of some still more general law behind, — must
allow the probable, or at least possible inter
vention of some link or links, yet having
their regular appointed station in rerum, nor-
tura, between his discovered law and the still
unknown material cause that lies beneath it
— must be conscious of one more possibility
still necessary in the order of proof, by which
he would fain connect his earliest premisses
with his last desired conclusion — that grand
conclusion which carries him back to the
first and only efficient Cause of all, and which,
as it is equally valued, so is it equally arrived
at, and (may we not say) equally understood
by the philosopher and the peasant.
No doubt the instrument employed by
all — the bridge, so to say, of which, though
varying in width to each, yet each and all
must avail themselves in their progress— is

298 SERMON VIIL
analogy. But the scope and range of this
most comprehensive mode of argument I was
not careful to exhibit. The work I found
already done for us by one who, himself
deeply imbued with the spirit both of lord
Bacon and bishop Butler, employed his
thoughts in early life in investigating and
explaining the various forces and bearings of
the analogical argument, as well upon the
general truth as upon the particular doctrines
of the Christian scheme. Of some of these
bearings we cannot but have been made con
scious as our inquiry proceeded. The ana
logies, at least, of the older dispensations to
the new, of Jewish and Pagan modes of
thought and expectations to the maturer con
victions and hopes of the disciple of Christ,
and the general resemblance existing amidst
their diversities, between the teaching of
nature and of Scripture, have on different
occasions passed before our minds. The il
lustrative force of analogy has met us also
in our notices of types and other figures,
both of action and of language, the introduc
tion of which became necessary in the later
portions of our inquiry ; whereas its prac
tical force, by which I mean its intimate
union with our common principles of action,
whether on the more momentous or on the

SERMON VIIL 299
common and sudden occasions upon which
we are all of us more or less called upon to
act with little or no premeditation in matters
of duty both to God and man, was left to be
gathered from our remarks without any for
mal statement. Viewed indeed in this prac
tical aspect, the importance of the analogical
argument is most remarkable ; and it is in
this light especially that the convictions sug
gested by the system of universal nature, ad
mit of being advantageously contrasted with
all formal examinations into the question of
the truth of Christianity. For " from these,"
[examinations] says the work to which I have
just alluded, "the student rises, convinced that
the religion is worthy of all acceptation ; but
his heart remains unmoved, and he straight
way forgets what manner of religion that is,
whose authenticity he has explored : but of
the argument in question there is no man
who cannot appreciate the value ; since in its
various modes of application it consults his
wants — his feelings — his desires — his hopes —
his fears."
The nature of the principles which (in the
absence of demonstrative proof and its axioms,
properly so called) remained at the disposal
of the Christian reasoner having been de
scribed, I proceeded to notice the strong

300 SERMON VIII.
points of the historical evidence, taken both
in its widest and in some of its more con
tracted forms. And I did so without insist
ing with an undue vehemence, either upon
the general characteristics of the Divine go
vernance of the other nations of the earth as
well as the chosen race, or " upon those expe
rimental and well-attested facts" of special
interposition which combined to give their
peculiar support also to the Christian reli
gion. History, in its largest no less than in its
narrowest compass, was recognized as the ap
pointed means of perpetuating the strongest of
all evidence — the evidence of sense — through
out all ages. Its main office was considered
to lie in enacting occurrences of preceding
times over and over again before the eyes
and in the ears of successive generations.
That of which it is impossible that men could,
strictly speaking, be personally eye and ear-
witnesses, they nevertheless by inheritance
and transmission from their predecessors see
and hear (as it were) themselves. But it
was not sought to dissociate the facts of his
tory from those principles which had before
been declared to form the major premisses of
our reasonings, and thus the more general
question of method (which disputants have so
often driven to extremes), whether, viz., the

SERMON VIIL 301
defence of Christianity be better begun with
the internal or the external lines of proof,
was superseded.
By far the larger portion of our subject
having thus been traversed, and all the lines
of evidence indicated by which the truths of
Revelation can be shewn to possess a clear
and indisputable title to the " verdict of the
intellect," my next endeavour was to point
out the additional and different proof result
ing from the great doctrine of the promised
influences of the Holy Spirit. These are, it
was said, sometimes regarded as forming part
of the Rational Evidences : they are so at
any rate by those who think that the chief
office of the Spirit is to illuminate and
strengthen the reasoning powers in their ap
plication to Divine truth, and not so much to
substitute another faculty of mental vision
distinct from, and calculated to extinguish
or supersede, reason in the mind of the be
liever. Without discussing this difficult, (and
rather psychological than purely theological)
question, I was content to offer some remarks
tending to assure us of the immense acces
sion to the tide of evidence which flows in
from this at once the most pure and most
copious of its sources.
For it could not be forgotten that all the

302 SERMON VIIL
evidences which are adducible in a scientific
and formal way, for the satisfaction of our
unassisted and reasoning powers, may (as
indeed they do) fail of carrying conviction to
many, who with ever so great attention per
use or hear them. It must be satisfactory
then to reflect, on the other hand, that this
fact needs not lead us to call in question the
sincere profession of belief in such cases. We
may rejoice indeed to know that many, whose
faith and piety are such as to human eyes
defy all question or suspicion, yet are of
opinion that the proper proof of Christianity
does not lie within the province of what is
strictly called argument. And here I do not
mean those persons only, who, by their hos
tility to formalism, or by their conviction of
the unquestionable coldness of mere dogmatic
teaching in religion, are led to dissever faith
and reason altogether, but a totally different
class besides ; persons who, whilst they ac
knowledge to the utmost the usefulness and
necessity of religious inquiry, thought, and
inference, yet hold that the proof of Christi
anity is incapable of being "moulded and
methodized into an argumentative form" at
all. There may be, and I think there is,
much overstatement and consequent inac
curacy in the extreme views thus taken by

SERMON VIIL 303
parties of very different modes of thinking in
other respects on the same high and " hard
to be understood" subjects. But the fact of
such convictions being entertained honestly
by sincere and inquiring minds at all, is too
important to be excluded from our consi
deration ; — if indeed it do not of itself con
stitute another line of argument in favour of
a religion which can thus steadfastly be main
tained without the acknowledged or even
sensible help of explicit reasoning.
Lastly, the power of justifying " the hope
that is in us," which is possessed also by the
inferior faculties of the soul, was summarily
submitted to our notice. What was said so
recently could now be only alluded to with
propriety — did not other considerations for
bid my trespassing longer on a patient atten
tion which I am fully conscious has been
taxed too much already. With reference to
this division of my subject, I would simply
lament that that measure of consideration
could not be bestowed upon the separate evi
dence afforded by the affections, which their
importance in relation to the most momentous
truths of religion justly demands. I must
be content with the reflexion that the point
was not altogether passed in silence. But
were I to notice all the omissions and ble-

304 SERMON VIIL
mishes of which I am even myself aware,
I should be drawing largely indeed upon
your time and indulgence. Let some apology
for these be suggested by the vastness of the
expanse over which the foregoing specula
tions have been, by the requirements of my
general plan, necessitated (if I may so say) to
be extended.
But if it should appear to any that the in
quiry which has thus occupied us is unne
cessary, or not sufficiently suited to the pre
sent time, such an one must have overlooked
the painful and humiliating fact, that we are
living in an age when the special doctrines
of our faith are not only rejected by many,
as resting on no adequate evidence, but ac
tually on this very alleged ground treated
with the most unmeasured ridicule and con
tempt. Nay, our belief in them is some
times presumptuously characterized as a phe
nomenon degrading to the dignity and even
to the very natures both of God and man.
The all-merciful doctrine of the Atonement
itself, for example, has been accused of " per
verting the best minds, and producing in
them a partial insanity." The Fathers of
the Church have been represented as mere
sophists, commenting, with insidious purpose
and misdirected ingenuity, on the dreamy

SERMON VIIL 305
self-born theories and far-fetched allegories
of Paul of Tarsus ;" — and in a strain of still
more comprehensive condemnation, the sys
tem of saving Faith itself taught by the
Church stigmatised as "an odious, disgust
ing and blasphemous system."
All this, alas ! from one who wrote in our
own day and country — himself an ordained
minister of Christ, and once and for a consi
derable time looked upon as an ornament of
our own Church and of this very University.
The same writer, in earlier life a minister
also of another country and communion, and
possessed of the best means (as he was gifted
with extraordinary quickness and nicety) of
observation, has assured us too that " the
strongest and most active portion of the pub
lic mind in all the civilized countries of Eu
rope is opposed to religion ;" — not, observe, to
Christianity under any of its existing forms,
but to religion itself altogether, — whereas of
our own country he says, that " in England
unbelief has made a rapid progress both in
the higher and the lower orders." Such sen
timents, we trust, are somewhat overcharged.
Nevertheless, that they are to a more or less
extent truthful, will hardly be disputed by
those who shall bestow but ordinary atten
tion upon the spiritual condition — the lives

306 SERMON VIIL
as. well as the . professions of even the (so-
called) religious sections of society, whether
in this or any other Christian country.
But if Christianity and Religion generally
be thus held in disrepute, what may we ex
pect to be the feelings entertained in the.
same quarters towards the system, of the
Church, and that of our own Church in par-
ticula,r ? Where the old allegations of priest
craft and corruption do not serve the turn,
you will find that system condemned as
" resting entirely on a basis of obsolete phi
losophy and criticism," which must, and ought,
to vanish as the world advances, in the light
of pure and rightly-cultivated reason. Both
those who uphold and those who are trained
in these systems are vilified as having lost,
or being in a fair way to lose, all honest in
dependence of mind, and voluntarily enve
loping themselves and others in the dense
atmosphere of a stolid superstition. These
and similar charges against our own and all
other Churches of Christ, are not obscurely
hinted, but plainly asserted and maintained
by many whose intellectual powers, erudition,
and other mental accomplishments, render
them in the estimation of the multitude no
contemptible authorities in questions of this,
sort.

SERMON VIIL 307
Nor, as might be expected, when Christian
institutions are thus assailed, has it fared
much better with the principles of natural
religion. This is but in the usual course of
things; since no objections can really be
shewn to lie against the system of Revelation
or its parts, which may not be shewn, upon a
strict investigation and following out of prin
ciples to their results, to operate equally
against the religion of nature also. The two
religions indeed, after all the formal oppo
sitions that have been raised between them,
constitute, when rightly understood, but one
and the same system. What wonder then,
if the religious convictions which Nature her^
self has given us have not escaped the as
saults of scepticism and impiety ? The wor
ship of the Deity, or any other formal recog
nition of his supremacy, has been held to be
derogatory to the natures both of God and
man ; — his laws have been nullified by the
theory of their superfluousness, and their
sanctions utterly renounced ; — and at length,
in what is fantastically styled the escha-
tology of modern philosophy, the idea of a
future state has been asserted by the most
audacious of all rationalists, to be "the last
enemy which speculative criticism has to
oppose, and, if possible, to overcome." It
x 2

308 SERMON VIIL
is thus by attempting, or, as the phrase is,
by proving too much, (where indeed any thing
like proof is attempted,) the impugners of
Revelation happily go far themselves to un
dermine and destroy their own arbitrary and
reckless theories.
But is it necessary to encourage the evil
forebodings which statements such as these
are intended, and doubtless contribute largely,
to engender ? This it falls neither within my
province nor my inclinations to allow. The
Founder of this Lecture, we may confidently
presume, was animated with the hope that,
as time should proceed, the light of Christ
ianity would be spread more and more widely
over the world, and its diffusion be accom
panied by corresponding augmentations of its
evidences. The state of religion in his own
day may possibly have warranted the indul
gence of such an expectation. But at the
same time, he was not inadvertent of the
dangers which have never failed to beset the
citadel of Christian truth ; and he doubtless
foresaw that the Church must ever continue
to be watchful over the inestimable treasure
committed to her safe keeping. Christianity,
though it be in many points of view a stand
ing revelation, is not, he well knew, thereby
exempted from all the accidents of time and

SERMON VIIL 309
worldly change. And so too the evidences,
although in many respects they are standing
also, yet are they likewise susceptible of
divers modifications produced from time to
time by the precariousness and mutability of
human circumstances.
And there are probably not a few persons
amongst those who are competent to give a
judgment on such a point, who would allow
that many important questions in religion
itself, in its evidences, and in its criticisms,
have in reality attained a determinate settle
ment during the period which has elapsed
since the foundation of this Lecture. The
truth of the Gospel indeed has been sub
jected to many trials, and encountered hos
tility from parties differing widely in every
thing but their common aim and object ;
but so far from suffering materially from these
aggressions, it has gathered fresh strength
and brilliancy from every struggle. How
this has been brought about would be ex
tremely difficult to trace, were we to endea
vour to account for the fact upon ordinary
human principles. But it will be our wiser,
as well as more reverential course, to refer
it at once and without hesitation to the Di
vine providence and bounty. How far un
der God the annual delivery of argumenta-

310 SERMON VIIL
tive discourses in support of our holy reli
gion before the youth of this place, during
and before the deplorable and God-denying
epoch of the great French revolution, may
have contributed to keep steadfast the faith
of this country, it may be impossible for us
now to estimate. We may be sure, however,
that it had some influence ; and we may be
lieve, without presumption, that as we have
an express arrangement of God in the ex
istence of a permanent revelation, so there
may be more than human wisdom and bene
volence discernible in the institution of this
and other similar periodical recognitions (if
they be nothing more) of the evidences upon
which the faith and hope and joy of the
Christian are supported.
Nor is it indeed impossible that we should
ourselves be apt to overrate, though unin
tentionally, the state of unquiet which we
may observe in the Church at this or any
other time. From a human point of vieW,
there may, for example, be seen but little
peace, when we turn our attention to the
passing events which more immediately af
fect our own community. Yet, notwithstand
ing this, from the Divine seat of observation
it may be realizing, as far as is practicable in
anything tarnished with human admixture,

SERMON VIII. 311
the degree of repose as well as progress de
signed in the counsels of its all-wise Founder.
The passions of men, fanaticism, bigotry,
weak intellect, spiritual vanity as well as
pride, these both within and without the
Church's pale, will always be exerting their ac
cumulated amounts of baneful influence. Yet
may our Church, in spite of all this, be peace
ful in its essence, as it is sound also in its
appointed ritual and creed. We have our
selves witnessed the constancy and soundness
of the national mind, as it was not long since
uneqiii vocally displayed in its relation to our
political organization, and the stability of our
social peace. May we not trust largely to
the like demonstrations from the same quar
ter, with reference to our Religion and our
Church also ?
And so let us hope, let us be confident, that
true religion — the Gospel of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ — like the nature of its
Divine author, " the Rock of ages," "the same
yesterday, to-day, and for ever" — unchanged
and unchangeable, whether by abridgment
or addition, will transmit its blessings from
generation to generation, " abiding conti
nually," as it existed also originally in the
Divine counsels before the world began, in
truth, in faithfulness, and saving power. Its

312 SERMON VIIL
own eternal verity pervading and sanctifying
every one of its constituent parts, let us be
sure that each separate truth of the Gospel
scheme will shine out visibly and vividly
through the succeeding mists of time, and
all the distorting media of human passions
and perversity ; dissipating as it encounters
every mere rational speculation, and often
under even human management casting down
the imaginations of men to the earth from
whence they sprung. And so too let us trust
that the evidences of the saving faith in
Christ will go forward increasing, adding
age by age, and year by year, strength unto
their strength, until the stupendous scheme
of Providence shall have been accomplished —
"the everlasting Gospel" have been "preached
to every nation ;" and " the kingdoms of this
world become the kingdoms of our Lord and
of his Christ\"
And for ourselves, my brethren, in this
place, this "hallowed seat" (as it has been
called) "of reason, and learning, and reli
gion" — ^let us, I say, both the wisest and the
less gifted among us with spiritual discern
ment or other knowledge, not abandon or
neglect our great and glorious privileges.
Let us strive to escape the imputation cast
a Rev. xiv. 6 ; xi. 15.

SERMON VIIL 313
by the Apostle upon those whom he de
scribes as " " ever learning, and yet never able
to come to the knowledge of the truth."
Let us turn to worthy and truly Christian
purposes those countless stores and appli
ances of knowledge and piety with which we
are surrounded on every side. Let us endea
vour so to settle and confirm our faith as
always to be ready with " the reason of the
hope" of salvation and eternal joy, that is, or
ought to be, " in us." Above all, let us secure
for ourselves that strong, if not the strongest
evidence which we have the Divine Wis
dom himself declaring to be attached to a
life of sincere practical obedience ; — not to
the knowing only, but to the doing of the
will of God. Then shall the light of revela
tion, like "the righteous"" whose paths it is
its office to illumine, " shine forth as the sun
in the kingdom of our Father;" — and all
those differences which now to our obtuse
mortal perceptions exist between the doc
trines and the evidences of the eternal truth
shall be dispelled; — vanishing gradually as
we ourselves advance in the paths of holiness
and inward peace, until that day when they
shall be done away with for ever in the glo-
a 2 Tim. iii. 7. " Matt. xiii. 43.

314 SERMON VIIL
rious mansions and the everlasting presence
of God.
I conclude with the benediction of one of
the earliest Christian waiters : — " The God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
Christ himself, the Eternal High Priest, the
Son of God, build you up in Faith and
Truth, and in all meekness, to live without
anger, in patience, in long-suffering and for
bearance, and give you a lot and part among
the Saints, and to us with you, and to all
them that are under Heaven who shall be
lieve in Jesus Christ our Lord, and in his
Father who raised him from the dead."

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX.

SERMON L

Page 1, 1. 10. no imworihy representation, of BeUgion it
self^ Condensed and general descriptions of Religion are
to be found in abundance in the writings of divines and
moralists ; and most so when they are treating of Natural
Religion. See, for example, bishop Wilkins's Principles of
Natural Religion, b. I. c. 4 ; Wollaston's Religion of Nature
delineated, sect. I. x. The description in the text is not
offered either as a formal, or as a complete definition. It
is simply an enlargement of that given by bishop Gastrell
in his lectures on the certainty and necessity of Religion in
general, or the first grounds and principles of human duty,
where he says, "Religion, in short, is whatever we are
obliged to by God." And again, " By Religion in general,
I mean all that worship, service, or obedience, we that call
ourselves men are to pay to God ; or whatever we are in
any respect obliged to, upon the prospect of his favour, or
under the penalty of his displeasure in this or in a future
state." vol. I. p. 282, 305, of Collection of Boyle Sermons,
folio, 1739. See also his Definition of Irreligion, p. 820.
Brief descriptions of Religion occurring in Holy Scripture,
as in Micah vi. 8, Heb. xi. 6, James i. 27, are obviously to
be construed in accordance with their special bearings
upon the circumstances to which they relate. Like obser-

318 APPENDIX.
vations apply to the subject of Faith. " Faith," says bishop
Sanderson, "is verbum iro\i;a-ij/xoj',as most others are. There
be that have reckoned up a more than twenty several signi
fications of it in Scripture.'" See Sermon on Rom. xiv. 23,
[the fourth ad Clerum.J And another writer remarks,
" If I were tied to them [the common definitions of Faith]
I could not have the freedom of my design, which is, to
make a clear, full and ample description of Faith. This is
not to cast a slight upon any of the received definitions ;
which, as they are placed in the common Catechisms, do
serve weU enough to point out some of the special and chief
acts of faith, but are not sufficient to give a full or clear
idea of it. Nor will I attempt to amend them, or to esta
blish a better one ; for it is not easy to make a good defi
nition of such a comprehensive subject as Faith is ; nor is
such a thing so well understood by any definition as by
taking a particular and separate view of those things
which it comprehends. It is but a very confused notion of
grammar, logic, or any other science which youth have
by definitions which are first' taught them ; they then only
rightly understand the nature and use of these sciences,
when they have gone through them.'''' [Cockburn''s Inquiry
into the Nature of Christian Faith, 1696.]
Page 2. 1. 9. idea, law, or fact] The first and last of
these words, it is well known, have been productive of
much controversy. Indeed it might be a profitable as well
as interesting employment to follow the uses of the word
idea from the famous controversy of Locke with the bishop
of Worcester down to the recent criticisms upon Mr. New
man's Essay on Development. For the uses of the word
fact, see note on Fourth Sermon, infra.
Page 2. 1. 24. philosophical spirit of man] Readers of
Aristotle will readily catch my meaning. See Nicom. Eth.
1. 3. — Dr. Jackson touches on the same point. " Now see
ing every assent, especially of the intellective nature, so
necessarily presupposeth knowledge, that the certainty of
the one can hardly spring but from the clearness or per-
a Marloi'atua in Enchirid.

APPENDIX. 319
spicuity of the other, it will be a matter altogether im
possible to give the reader a distinct and full view of the
nature and essence of that assent whose differences and
properties we out of Scripture seek, unless we first acquaint
him with the true force and value o{ knowledge, understanding,
or other terms of use equivalent, in the dialect of the sanc
tuary." Again, " Albeit all true knowledge even of these"
[meaning matters logical, mathematical, or merely secular]
"must be commensurable to the subject we profess to
know, and rightly proportionate, or rather actually reach
ing to that end whereat it levels ;" and again, " seeing all
knowledge must be commensurable to the objects known."
— Works, b. IV. c. 8. See also Sumner's Records of the
Creation, c. iv. p. 306, 307, ed. 1825.
P. 3. 1. 10. methodically taught] On the non-systematic
teaching of the New Testament, see bishop Horsley's fif
teenth letter to Dr. Priestley. " I cannot admit your posi
tion, that each of the Gospels was intended to be a
sufficient instruction in the fundamental principles of the
doctrine of Christianity. Nothing seems to have been less
the intention of any of the Evangelists, than to compose a
system of fundamental principles. Instruction in funda
mentals in that age was orally delivered," &c. &c. But
consult bishop Van Mildert's note to his seventh Bampton
Lect. p. 115, and his quotation from Stapferi Inst. Theol.
Polem. See also Neander's History &c.; vol. II. p. 2. of
Torry's translation. " As it is one essential characteristic
of Christianity that it did not deliver a new law in a dis
tinct set of formal precepts, nor found a new society,
organized from without in certain fixed and invariable
external forms ; so it is another, that it did not commu
nicate a rigid system of doctrines, settled and determined
once for all in certain ready-made conceptions."
P. 5, 1. 27. But surely to define dogmatism] The word is
now generallj' used, I think, in a subjective sense ; and
some are disposed not even to consider emphatic assertion
to be a necessary part of its meaning. Mr. Newman
for instance, says, "Dogmatism is a religion's profession

APPENDIX.
of its own reality, as contrasted with other systems ; but
Polytheists are liberals, and hold that one religion is as
good as another." Essay on Development, p. 447.
P. 6. 1. 7. the criterion of a Sophist] The allusion is to
the different descriptions of the Sophist to be found in the
writings of Plato and Aristotle, who make sometimes one,
sometimes another of these accidental failings the leading
characteristic of that great moral phenomenon of their
times presented in the person of the Sophist. Cf. Plat.
Republ. §.492, 3. The^t. §.167, fee; Arist. Rhet. I. c. 1
and 2. The classical student will easily trace the uses of
the word Soc^torjjs.
Id. 1. 21. penalties of man's social condition] The view
alluded to occurs in Dr. Hampden's Bampton Lectures,
p. 383, first edit.
P. 7. 1. 20. The choice would still remain] " But though
I admit the possibility of an inspired teacher's error of
opinion in subjects which he is not sent to teach (because
inspiration is not omniscience, and some things there must
be which it will leave untaught) — though I stand on this
point for my own and every man's liberty ; and protest
against any obligation on the believer's conscience, to as
sent to a philosophical opinion incidentally expressed by
Moses, by David, or by St. Paul, upon the authority of
their infallibility in Divine knowledge—though I think it
highly for the honour and the interest of religion that this
liberty of philosophizing (except upon religious subjects)
should be openly asserted and most pertinaciously main
tained — yet I confess it appears to me no very probable
supposition that an inspired writer should be permitted in
his religious discourses to affirm a false proposition in any
subject, or in any history to misrepresent a fact ; so that
I would not easily, nor indeed without the conviction of
the most cogent proof, embrace any notion in philosophy,
or attend to any historical relation, which should be evi
dently and in itself repugnant to an explicit assertion of
any of the sacred writers." — Bishop Horsley's Thirty-ninth
Sermon.

APPENDIX. 321
P. 8. 1. 16. "All that we ask," writes an able advocate of
Induction] Dr. Chalmers, in his Evidence and Authority
ofthe Christian Revelation, p. 216. 290. He seems to be
here recommending in particular the application of an In
ductive Philology to the study of the Sacred Writings.
But in his other works, and occasionally in this (see his
treatment of the Objections from Geology in c. 7), he de
livers the sentiments which I have attributed to him in the
text. P. 10. 1. 18. that unteachaUenes.?] " Wicked men," writes
bishop Wilkins, "are in the Scripture phrase stiled "vtoi
aiTiiOelas, filii insuasibilitatis, unpersuadable men, such as
no reason can convince. And elsewhere they are stiled
&ToiTOL^, which we translate unreasonable men. But the
word may signify absurd, contumacious persons, who are
not fixed by any principles, whom no iopicks can work
upon, being directly opposite to this virtue of faith, as ap
pears by the next clause, For all men have not faithT Prin
ciples of Nat. Rel. p. 29.
P. 12. 1. 8. a literal interpretation of the words " Ye are
gods"] This is not the place to dilate on the uses of the sub
stantive verb, and logical copula. Yet it may be observed
that some languages construct their propositions — as is the
case indeed here in the original Hebrew — without employ
ing it at all. But variety of idiom does not affect the obser
vation in the text. My meaning may be found in the follow
ing passage from Waterland ; — " Against those Gaianites,
one Anastasius (a monk of Mount Sinai, about the year
680) happened to engage : and amongst other topics of ar
gumentation, he made choice of one drawn from the eucha-
rist. He had learned, or might have learned from catholic
teachers, that by the operation of the Holy Spirit the
elements are changed into the body of Christ, meaning the
symbolical body; that is, changed into sacraments, or holy
signs : and he had learned also, that the worthy commu
nicants do partake of the natural body of Christ, the thitig
a Ephes. ii. z, 6 and Col. iii. 6. " t TheSs. iii. 2.
Y

322 APPENDIX.
signified; that is, spiritually, mystically, symbolically par
take of it. These two propositions he confusedly remem
bered, or rather ignorantly m-isunderstood, and so he blended
them both into this one; that the elements themselves
upon consecration become, not in signification, but in
reality, the natural body of Christ : which amounted to
saying, that instead of exhibitive signs, they become the
very things signified. Under such confusion of thought, he
formed his argument against the Gaianites in this manner :
' The consecrated elements are no types or figures, but they
are the very body and blood of our Lord; and they are
corruptible, as will appear upon experiment : therefore our
Lord's body, before his resurrection, was also corruptible,''
which was to be proved. To confirm his notion that the
elements are no types or figures, but the very body, he
pleaded, that our Lord in the institution said not, this is
the figure (antitype) of my body, but ' this is my body.'
An argument by which he might as easily have proved
that the rock in the wilderness was the very Christ: for
St. Paul said not that the rock signified Christ, or was a
symbol of Christ ; but he declared in express words, that
' that rock was Christ.' It is hard to say what precise
ideas that author had of the Sacrament of the Eucharist,
or what he really meant ; if indeed he went farther than
the sound of words." Works, vol. VIII. p. 235, edit. 1823.
Similarly Bishop Jewel: — "Thus the holy fathers used
oftentimes to advance and to magnify the holy mysteries,
the better to bring their hearers to the deep and inward
consideration of the same ; and therefore St. Augustine
saith, sacramenta...tantcB rei non nisi ejusdem rei vocabulo
nuncuparunt : ' they expressed the sacraments of so great
a thing none otherwise than by the name of the same
thing.' So St. Paul saith : ' The rock was Christ.' So
another saith : ' The oil is Christ ;' and another, manna
erat Ghristus, qui descendit de coelo : ' The manna (that
rained in the wilderness) was Christ, that came down from
heaven.' Thus are we taught that 'manna was Christ,'
that ' the oil was Christ,' and that ' the rock was Christ.'

APPENDIX.
And these sayings are true. And yet indeed and verily,
in nature and substance, neither the manna, nor the oil,
nor the rock was Christ." Third portion of Works, p. 499,
and references in the edition of the Parker Society. See
some trifling on the force of the verb in such propositions,
in the Port Royal Logic (I'Art de penser) part II. c. XIV.
The chapter is omitted in most editions.
P- 13. 1. 2. called by theologians incommunicable] See
bishop Wilkins' Princ. of Nat. Rel. I. c. 8; where the ex
cellencies and perfections of the Divine nature are enu
merated under the two heads of Incommunicable and Com
municable. P. 17. 1. 1. keeping constant eten pace with] On the con
nexion of the Christian Evidences with the attributes of
the Deity, Mr. Davison makes some excellent observations
in the paragraph ending with the words quoted. See his
work on Prophecy, p. 37, 38.
P. 18. 1. 5. theology . . . the science of God] See Dr. Bur
ton's 34th note to his Bamp. Lect. on the knowledge of
God, as considered to be attainable or not by the ancient
philosophers. On the attempts of scholasticism to con
struct a perfect system of Divine knowledge upon abstract
principles concerning the nature of God, see Dr. Hamp
den's Bampton Lecture, Sermon second and third. Of Sea
son in God, and other superhuman beings, Wollaston says :
" The Supreme Being has, no doubt, a direct and perfect
intuition of things with their natures and relations, lying
as it were all before Him, and pervious to His eye ; or at
least we may safely say, that he is not obliged to make
use of our operose methods by ideas and inferences ; but
knows things in a manner infinitely above all our concep
tions. And as to superior finite natures, what other means
of attaining to the knowledge of things they may have, is
a thing not to be told by me ; or how far they may excel
us in this way of finding truth.... Reason must be under
stood, when it is ascribed to God, to be the Divine reason ;
when to other beings above us, to be their reason ; and in
all of them to transcend ours, as much as their natures
Y 2

S24 APPENDIX.
respectively do our nature." Religion of Nature Delineated,
p. 78.
Id. 1. 16. Go on as far as we may] That this should not
discourage us in our endeavours to understand the Divine
Nature, as far as our powers and opportunities allow, is
thus urged by archbishop Bramhall : — " It is true we who
' see but through a glass darkly,' do not in this mortality
comprehend exactly the nature of God and the holy angels;
partly by reason of the weakness of our understanding, —
the water can ascend no higher than the fountain's head —
and partly for want of revelation. Not to know what God
hath not revealed, is a learned ignorance ; and therefore,
he who searcheth presumptuously into the majesty of
God, is oppressed deservedly by his glory. But the much
greater offence doth lie on the other side — that men do
not endeavour to know God so much as they ought, and
might, by the light of nature, the contemplation of the
creatures, and the revelation of God's holy word, or to
serve Him according to their knowledge. How shall we
serve God, if we do not know God at all? The least means
of the knowledge of God is by the contemplation of the
creatures : yet even that doth render men ' without ex
cuse.'" Works, vol. IV. p. 380.
P. 19. 1. 9. system of anthropology] On this subject con
sult Hagenbach's History of Doctrines, 3rd section of First
Period, from §. 53 to 58. In a note to §. 53, he quotes
Clem. Psed. III. 1. p. 250: ^Rv &pa m eoiKe p.iyL<TTa>v fxa-
drifidrciiv to yv&vai avroV kavTov y&p rts kh.v yv(^r], 0eoi> etcre-
Tat. This is adduced in support of the statement that
" the material design of Christianity is to turn the atten
tion of man to himself, and to bring him to the knowledge
of his own nature." The precise sense, however, of the
passage it is not easy to discover. For the other points
glanced at in this paragraph, consult Dr. Jackson's Justify
ing Faith, b. IV. c. 5, 6, 7.
P. 22. 1. 10. The faculty of conscience must be conceded]
Dr. Ogilvie notices the question whether Conscience should
be regarded as " a faculty of the mind, or the mmd, in ex-

APPENDIX. 325
ercise and operation according to a particular method."
But he adds, that all are agreed '¦'¦that conscience is a power
imparted to every human being by God!''' See p. 53, of Ser
mons, 1847, and the references to South, Sanderson, and
Butler in the note ; also his quotation from S. Chrysost. in
Ps. VII. at p. 60. The parallel question, Whether the
will of God be God ? is noticed in Waterland's Second De
fence of some Queries, Qu. VIII.
P. 25. 1. 23. " Every creature of God is good"] Consult
bishop Sanderson's sermon on this text.
P. 27. 1. 16. a being of such hopeless and utter depravity]
See the strong language of the Homily of the Nativity.
The sense of the Reformers of our Church, however, is con
tended to have been more favourable to human nature,
by Archbishop Lawrence, in his Bampton Lectures, p. 74.
Mr. Miller also has dwelt upon the inexpediency of con
veying the impression in popular addresses, that the power
of this primitive disease is unmixed and unlimited. Bamp
ton Lectures, p. 102 — 106, third edition.
P. 28. 1. 15. ultra- Galvinistic] I use the term advisedly.
Bishop Horsley says, " I consider it as the reproach of the
dissenters of the present day that a genuine Calvinist is
hardly to be found." — Remarks upon Dr. Priestley's second
Letters, part 1 1, c. 4. The same fact is freely acknow
ledged and deplored by R. Haldane, in his Evidence and
Authority of the Christian Revelation.
P. 29. 1. 9. Plato's ideas] See the 22nd and 23rd Notes
to Dr. Burton's Bampton Lectures.
P. 30. 1. 6. many sincere advocates] Bishop Horsley, for in
stance, says : " Now although this natural fitness and pro
priety be not the origin of moral obligation among men, yet it
is indeed a higher principle ; for it is that from which that
will of God himself originates by which the natural discern
ment of our conscience acquires the f6rce of a law for the
regulation of our lives." And again : " The perfection of
these moral attributes is the foundation of the necessity of
God's own existence." (Serm. 21). But he elsewhere says,
(Serm. 29,) " The Scriptures assert that God governs the

APPENDIX.
world according to his will ; by which we must understand
a will perfectly independent, and unbiassed by any thing ex
ternal ; yet not an arbitrary will, but a will directed by the
governing perfections of the Divine intellect." Cf. bishop
Butler's Analogy, II. 8. It may be observed that the dif
ference between the first and second Platonists is often
stated to have been that the former made the ideas stand
apart from, the latter made them comprehended in, the
mind of God.
P. 32. 1. 16. It was thus that bishop Van Mildert] See his
Fifteenth Boyle Lecture, the notes on which contain a
mass of information on this subject, collected from bishop
Taylor, Felton, EUis and others.
P. 33. 1.4. Those capacities which fit him] "And how need
less to me seem those disputes about human liberty, with
which men have tired themselves and the world. The case
is much the same, as if a man should have some great re
ward or advantage offered to him, if he would get up and
go to such a place to accept it, or do some certain thing
for it, and he, instead of going or doing any thing, falls
into a tedious disquisition about his own freedom ; whether
he has the power to stir, or whether he is not chained to
his seat, and necessitated to sit still. The short way of
knowing this certainly is to try. If he can do nothing, no
labour can be lost, but if he is capable of acting, and doth
not act, the consequences and blame must be justly charge
able upon himself. And I am persuaded, if men would be
serious, and put forth themselves, they would find by expe
rience that their wills are not so universally and peremp
torily determined by what occurs, nor predestination and
fate so rigid, but that much is left to their own conduct.
Up and try." — WoUaston's Religion of Nature Delineated,
Sect. III. in fine. See also Waterland's Discourse on Fun
damentals ; Dr. Tatham's Bampton Lect. ch. on the Ethi
cal Principle ; and a masterly chapter in Davison on Pro
phecy. P. 34. 1.1. right employment of which] "But to be ra
tional is so glorious a thing, that two-legged creatures

APPENDIX. 327
generally content themselves with the title; but will not
debase so excellent a faculty about the conduct of so trivial
a thing as they make themselves." Locke's letter to Mr.
Collins, Jan. 24, 1703-4.
P. 36. 1. 16. predisposing causes of unbelief] " The sum
of what I would earnestly recommend to all those, who de
sire to find the truth in matters of religion, is sincerity of
heart. Let them seriously and honestly examine their own
hearts in the first place, before they offer to judge of the
evidence; whether there be not in them any latent preju
dice against Religion, any secret wish or desire that it
may not be true, because of its crossing some private pas
sion or vicious inclination, which they would willingly pur
sue without control ; whether there be nothing of inward
pride or self-conceit which makes them affect an opinion,
because it is singular or new, or reject one, because it is
old or vulgar; and whether they have not taken unsea
sonable offence at all religion, because of the abuses that
have been made of it, and to avoid one extreme, have with
out consideration run into another ; because any of these,
or the like prejudices, v/ill certainly indispose them towards
the sincere search of truth ; and will make both the argu
ments and the objections appear very different from what
they are. Purity of heart is the surest way to see God,
even in this sense of seeing him." — Bishop Leng's Second
Boyle Lecture. " Amidst all our care, and perplexity,
whether for ourselves, or those dear to us, or entrusted to
our care, we are graciously permitted to repose with un-
doubting faith on this one merciful assurance, that sincere
goodness will in the end find its home in the place from
whence it came. The pure in heart shall finally see God."
Keble's preface to Sermons, 1848. See also Dr. Tatham's
Remarks on Faith, towards the conclusion of his Bampton
Lectures.

328 APPENpiX.

SERMON IL
P. 45. 1. 7. '¦''For who," says a popular writer on the evi
dences, " can denyip ^ci\ This is not accurately quoted. But
the sentiment occurs more than once in Mr. Erskine's re
marks on the Internal Evidence for the truth of Revealed
Religion, and almost in these words, in section VII. Some
judicious observations are to be found also in section IV,
with reference to the different effects produced by the
same argument upon the minds of different individuals.
P. 47. 1. 28. such a degree of assurance] " Certainty is
but an immunity from change or mutability." Jackson's
Works, p. 607. " The Romanist exacts a certainty of
assent in the believer, more exact than demonstrative
sciences afford, and yet makes Divine revelations not only
not evident, but inevident and obscure, the method of faith
even a labyrinth of obscurities." p. 609. "God be thanked
that we have sufficient means to be certain enough of the
truth of our faith... You (Romanists) content not your
selves vnth a moral certainty of the things you believe,
nor with such a degree of assurance as is sufficient to pro
duce obedience, which is all that we require. God's Spirit,
if he please, may work more, a certainty of adherence
beyond a certainty of evidence, &c." Chillingworth, part I.
c. 2. §. 154. Jackson again writes : " The certainty of this
general resolution — that all Divine truths proposed in
Scriptures are most undoubtedly to be embraced — is as
great as can be found in the undoubted maxims or com
mon principles of exact sciences." Works, p. 613, where
see his reference to Hooker's use of the phrase " certainty
of adherence," in a sermon upon the prophet Habakkuk's
doubtful cogitation.
P. 49. 1. 10. made to the intellect exclusively] " It may be
questioned even whether the principle itself of the requi
site predominance of the intellect in order to the due
reception of evidence be as fully apprehended in theory as
its apparent simplicity might be thought to imply, and as

APPENDIX. 329
its importance requires. Every one will indeed acknow
ledge, that when employed on religious proof, the under
standing should be free from partiality and prejudice ; but
that to take any share in the duty of ascertaining the truth
of religion, the intellect alone is competent ; that even
points which when contemplated in other lights, and re
ferred to for other purposes, become the fit objects of the
subordinate mental qualities, fall entirely, where evidence
is concerned, under the dominion of that faculty; these
are propositions very insufficiently inculcated as principles,
and of which practice therefore may be expected to ex
hibit the frequent violation." Goddard's'Bamp. Lect. p. 6.
The same sentiment occurs frequently in the work.
P. 51. 1.10. attempts to detnonstrate the distinctive truths
of Christianity] This statement does not appear to need
proof The theological world indeed would seem to be
more and more inclining, as time advances, to bishop Wat
son's way of thinking, even in regard to the fundamental
truths of all religion — " There was a time when I was
fond of metaphysical inquiries into the nature of the Su
preme Being, and much delighted with the works 'of Cud-
worth, King, Clarke, Leibnitz, and other acute reasoners
on the subject ; but 1 have long thought that the motions
of the heavenly bodies, the propagation and growth of ani
mals and plants, the faculties of the human mind, and even
the ability of moving my hand up and down by a simple
volition, affi)rd, when deliberately reflected on, more con
vincing arguments against Atheism, than all the recondite
lucubrations of the most profound philosophers." Charge
to the Clergy of Landaff, June, 1795.
P. 52. 1. 15. if ive mean with Leibnitz what is proved by a
metaphysical necessity] See Epist. II. ad Spizelium.
P. 55. I. 6. The argument from signs] On the nature
and application of this kind of reasoning, and for an elu
cidation of my meaning throughout this argument, I must
be content at present to direct the reader to " The notes
of the Church, as laid down by Cardinal Bellarmin, ex
amined and confuted ;" " The case and great moment of

330 APPENDIX.
the Notes of the Church, as delivered by C. Bellarmin, De
Notis Ecclesiae, justified;" "A vindication of the brief
discourse concerning the notes of the Church," in answer
to the foregoing ; " Advice to the Confuter of Bellarmin ;"
" A Defence of the Confuter of Bellarmin," second note,
&c. &c.: all in 1687.
P. 56. 1. 21. down {or, as some Romanists will have it, up)
to the note ofthe name Catholic] The grounds upon which
our own Church may claim the epithet, are thus stated by
bishop Van Mildert : " If then the appellation of Catholic
could without a solecism be applied to any national or
particular church, our own might perhaps lay better claim
to it than any that has appeared since the first establish
ment of Christianity. She is Catholic in her actual com
munion with every pure and genuine branch of the Christ
ian church, and in her desire to extend that union wherever
it can be done without a violation of essential principles.
She is Catholic in the soundness of her creed, and in the
care she has taken to restore and to preserve uncorrupted
" the faith once delivered to the saints." She is Catholic
also in the real liberality of her sentiments towards those
who refuse to unite with her; a liberality shewing itself
not in affected indifference to the truths she has espoused,
nor in an unworthy suppression of her own belief; but in
disclaiming any external coercion to compel assent, and in
forbearing harsh or offensive conduct towards the mem
bers of other churches, or of other congregations, at vari
ance with herself." Eighth Bampt. Lect. p. 240. Cf. Jack
son's Works, XII. 158.
P. 58. 1. 24. unless the true faith shall have itself been ascer
tained previously] " It behoveth us rather to search the
Scriptures, as Christ hath advised us, and thereby to as
sure ourselves of the Church of God ; for by this trial, and
this alone, it may be known. Therefore St. Paul calleth
the Church the Spouse of Christ, for that she ought in all
things to give ear to the voice of the Bridegroom. Like
wise he calleth the Church the pillar of the truth, for that
she stayeth herself only by the word of God; without

APPENDIX. 331
which word the Church, were it never so beautiful, should
be no church. The ancient father Irenaeus saith ; " Co-
lumna . . . . et firmamentum ecclesiaa est evangelium, et
Spiritus vitse.' St. Augustine saith : ' Sunt certi Ubri
Dominici, quorum auctoritati utrique consentimus. Ibi
quseramus Ecclesiam; ibi discutiamus causam nostram.'
And again : ' Nolo humanis documentis, sed divinis oraculis
sanctam ecclesiam demonstrari.' Likewise saith Chry-
sostom : ' NuUo modo cognoscitur . . . quse sit vera Ec-
clesia Christi, nisi tantummodo per scripturas.' And
again : ' [Christus] mandat ut . . . volentes firmitatem ac-
cipere verse fidei ad nullam rem fugiant nisi ad scripturas.
Alioqui si ad alia respexerint, scandalizabuntur et peri-
bunt, non intelligentes quse sit vera Ecclesia. Et per hoc
incident in abominationem derelectionis, quse stat in locis
Sanctis Ecclesise.' By these ancient learned Fathers it is
plain, that the Church of God is known by God's word
only, and none otherwise." — Bishop Jewel's Defence ofthe
Apology, part I. on the title of the Apology ; and refer
ences to Irenseus, Augustin and Chrysostom, the Parker
Society's edition, p. 153.
P. 60. 1. 23. in the subsequent part of our inquiry] See
Sermon V. infra.
P. 62. 1. 22. who cannot endure suspense] Mr. Keble says,
when pointing out the evils which must be encountered by
one who should leave the church of England for that of
Rome, and the "aggravation of the spiritual dangers"
with which such a step must be attended, " I am per
suaded that the moral difficulties, which have now been
touched upon, would be generally felt by good minds as
quite irresistible, but for that longing for assurance — per
fect rest of mind and heart — which might perhaps not
unaptly be called the 'last infirmity' of saintly spirits."
Preface to Sermons, 1848.
P. 63. 1. 4. reasonings a priori and reasonings a posteriori]
For a statement of the nature of each of these forms of
reasoning, see Van Mildert's second volume of Boyle Lec
tures, and particularly Sermons thirteen and nineteen.

332 APPENDIX.
Consult also Waterland's copious and elaborate Disser
tation, limiting the range of the a priori argument, vol. IV.
Oxford edition, 1823. I should observe with reference to
the former's observations on Luke xii. 57, that he qualifies
them afterwards in a note [See Appendix to Sermon 13,]
where he says, "It is true our Lord here appeals in some
way to the good sense of the Jews, and both here and else
where reasons with them on the evidences of his mission,"
though " not," he adds, " as philosophers who know nothing
of religion but by the light of nature."
P. 72. 1. 10. " They see, and perceive not"] Bishop of
Calcutta's Evidences of Revealed Religion, Lect. XXIV,
vol. II. p. 522.
P. 75. 1. 22. Even the child meets with what suits his open
ing capacities] Id. Lect. XIV. p. 35. The whole Lecture
should be read in connexion with the observations here
made. P. 77. 1. 6. whose religion involves no intellectual exercise,]
See Foster's Essays on the aversion of men of taste to
Evangelical Religion. — Essays, p. 269 of ninth edition.
P. 78. 1. 14. whatsoever of simply human material] The
difficulty of the task of separation is acknowledged on all
sides, and most freely in the case of the Christian myste
ries. Bishop Jeremy Taylor writes thus strongly with re
ference to the doctrine of the Trinity. " He who goes
about to speak of the mystery of the Trinity, and does it
by words and names of man's invention, talking of essences,
and existences, hypostases and personalities, priorities in
coequalities, and unity in pluralities, may amuse himself,
and build a tabernacle in his head, and talk something he
knows not what ; but the good man that feels the power of
the Father, and to whom the Son is become wisdom, sanc
tification, and redemption, in whose heart the love of the
Spirit is shed abroad ; this man, though he understands
nothing of what is unintelligible, yet he alone understands
the Christian doctrine of the Trinity." Sermons on John
vii. 17. Via IntelHgentise. But on the perils of the Church
from false doctrine and heresy, and the consequent neces-

APPENDIX. - 333
sity of settling and enlarging formularies, see Dr. Bur
ton's Bampton Lectures passim ; the bishop of Hereford''s
Eighth Bampton Lecture; and Mr. Erskine's Evidences, in
which he writes, " These tests and summaries originated
from doctrinal errors and metaphysical speculations in re
ligion ; and in consequence of this, they are not so much
intended to be the repositories of truth, as barriers against
the encroachment of erroneous opinions." §. IV.
P. 81. 1. 12. This prejudice against prejudice] See Dr.
Hawkins's Sermon on the duty of private judgment, p. 22,
P. 83. 1. 5. " While each other science,''' say they] This
statement occurs together with others, characterized by a
similar boldness, in Theodore Parker's twelfth Essay, en
titled, " Thoughts on Theology,'' Boston, 1843.
P. 84. 1. 22. " the operations of the intellect""] Bishop of
Calcutta's Evidences of Christianity, vol. II. p. 524.

SERMON IIL
P. 88. 1. 6. the existence of secondary causes] The inade
quacy of the causes assigned by Gibbon to account for the
phenomena which attended the propagation and establish
ment of the Christian faith is abundantly shewn by bishop
Watson in his Apology for Christianity ; see particularly
Letter I.
P. 89- 1. 18. did not treat those with whom they conversed]
" This is an evidence on which the Apostle Paul frequently
rests the whole weight of the Gospel." Erskine's Evid.
see Introd.
P. 91. 1. 4. The diverse conceptions of the light of nature]
I have expressed myself too strongly perhaps in saying that
all the various notions of Natural religion are merely modi
fications of the several views set forth in the text. But
the subject cannot now be dilated upon.
P. 92. 1. 9. " rays of heavenly light.'"] See Bramhall's
" Catching of the Leviathan," at the beginning. Ellis calls
them " inward signatures, congenite impressions, inbred

334 APPENDIX.
opinions, notions grafted in, and written upon the heart,
interwoven with our very nature, springing up from the
natural fecundity of the mind, &c. &c." Knowledge of
Divine Things, p. 501. Also Id. c. 3, entitled. Brief consi
derations on Mr. Locke's hypothesis, &c. &c.
P. 93. 1. 21. apart from the influences of direct communi
cation] " It is indeed hardly possible to suppose that these
truths were not revealed to man from the very beginning.
For, can it reasonably be imagined that Adam was left
(even in his primeval condition, when his faculties were
unclouded by sin and corrliption) to acquire the knowledge
of his Creator from such proofs only as the light of nature
could afford him ? or that he was suffered to remain in a
state of uncertainty and conjecture respecting the conti
nuance of his being, his future destination, the purposes of
his creation, the duties which he had to perform, the hap
piness provided for him and the means of attaining it ? On
all these points, so essential to his comfort and well-being,
must we not almost necessarily conclude, that he derived
instruction immediately from the Fountain of wisdom?"
Van Mildert's Fourteenth Boyle Lecture ; the whole of
which should be read in connexion with our present
point. P. 95. 1. 6. 77ie Protestant has been asking for centuries]
See Marsh's Comparative View, &c. ch. I and IV. .
P. 97. 1. 22. Whether or no what we read in the moral
works] For instance, Dr. Burton says, " Quotations might
be given from almost all the Fathers, which would shew
their firm belief that Plato was indebted to Moses for
many of his opinions ;"  not only to have agreed with
him by a "coincidence of thought, but to have actually
profited by the Jewish writings. Nor was this notion pe
culiar to the Christian Fathers." He mentions amongst
others Josephus, Philo Judseus and " Numenius, a Plato-
nist of the second century, who went so far as to say. What
is Plato, but Moses Atticizing?" His references are to
Brucker, vol. III. p. 332, where the reader will find an
elaborate discussion of the subject. Fabricius Bibl. Gr. 11.

APPENDIX. 335
p. 40, and Waterland's Charge to the Clergy of Middlesex,
1731, vol. VIII. p. 1. See also Gray's Connexion of the
Sacred Writings, &c. &c., 1812.
P. 98. 1. 1. precepts to the sons of Noah] " If we inquire
of the Jews (and they for many ages were the only school
of true theology and learning in the world) we shall find
them unanimous in opinion, that the law of nature could
not possibly be grounded on the determinations of reason,
because of its inconstancy and uncertainty ; and that it
could not induce an obligation, without some superior
authority, to which it must be subject; but was shewed
and commanded to human kind by the great Author of
their being, and which they called the precepts of the
sons of Noah. This they affirmed to be universal, natural
law ; the true and living sacrifices of the mind not peculiar
to any nation, sect or family ; which none, however holy
or distinguished, could challenge as their own, but given
as a rule to the whole race of men, (which by being uni
versally dispersed and approved was said by the heathens
to be engraven by their Jup. Opt. Max. on the minds of
men,) that hence it became obligatory on human nature,
and through all ages ; from this proceeded all those uni
versal duties, together with that moral and civil philoso
phy, by which the whole race of men from their entrance
into the world are bound, .both towards the Supreme
Being, and towards one another; as containing a perfect
rule of duty, worship, and whatever God required of them.
That these were before the written law, and everywhere
binding, appears from the book of Job, wherein most of
the precepts of the sons of Noah, or the natural law, are
to be found ;— as against idolatry, xxxi. 26 : against blas
phemy, 1. 5 : against murder, xxxi. 29, and xxxiv. 14 :
against adultery, xxxi. 9, and xxiv. 15 : against theft, xxiv.
and xxxi. 7: and of judgment in the passages of idolatry
and adultery: besides the reverential acknowledgment of
God, his providence &c., and a pious worship of him by
prayer and sacrifice ; that the written law was only a
repetition of them, with an addition of some things pe-

336 APPENDIX.
culiar to themselves. So Grotius says, that Moses did
not enlarge on the precepts of Noah, because they were
known to all mankind. These precepts were, by God's
command, transmitted to posterity ; but after the disper
sion they became much impaired and obscured ; and a
dark night of ignorance and barbarity covered the earth."
Ellis's Knowledge of Divine Things, p. 236. The Jewish
writers concur in maintaining that certain short precepts
of moral duty were orally enjoined by God on the parent
of mankind, and afterwards on the sons of Noah. Whe
ther these were simply preserved by tradition, or whether
by an innate moral faculty mankind had the power of
constantly discerning them, seems to have been an un
settled point. The principal of these Divine rules are
called, for distinction, ' the seven precepts of the sons of
Noah.' There is however some variance in the lists, as
Selden has given them, from the ancient writers. That
most received consists of seven prohibitions ; namely, of
idolatry, blasphemy, murder, adultery, theft, rebellion and
cutting a limb from a living animal. The last of these, the
sense of which, however, is controverted, as well as the
third, but no other, are indicated in the ninth chapter of
Genesis." Hallam's Introd. to the Lit. of Europe, vol. II.
p. 510. See also the next section, and his reference to
Selden's Table Talk.
P. 98. 1. 18. " The mind cannot" says bishop Van Mildert]
See his fourteenth Boyle Lect., ut supra. The quotation
from Aristotle, in the next paragraph, is from Nic. Eth.
IX. c. 9.
P. 101. 1. 9. the only security 4"C.J Bishop Blackhall's
sixth Boyle Lect. vol. I. p. 598 of the Collection.
P. 103. 1. 1 9. comprehend our wishes and most vague anti
cipations] " Faith, then, as being a principle for the mul
titude and for conduct, is influenced more by what (in lan
guage familiar to us in this place) are called eJicora than by
a-rjixeia — less by evidence, more by previously-entertained
principles, views, and wishes." And again : " It is scarcely
necessary to point out how much our inclinations have to

APPENDIX. 337
do with our belief. It is almost a proverb, that persons
believe what they wish to be true." Newman's ninth Ser
mon before the University.
P. 105. 1. 7. any of those deistical theories] For confirma
tion of the statements made in this paragraph, it may be
enough to refer the student to Leland's View of the
principal Deistical writers, &c. &c. ; Bp. Butler's Analogy,
and Bp. Berkeley's Minute Philosopher.
P. 107. 1. 28. What though tlie verbal analogy] Nothing
can be more lucid and satisfactory on this subject than
Van Mildert, in his sixth Bamp. Lect. : " This principle of
interpreting Scripture by Scripture, is what theologians
call the Analogy of Faith ; an expression borrowed per
haps from a passage in St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans,
wliere he exhorts those who ' prophesy' in the Church (that
is, those who exercise the office of authoritatively expound
ing the Scriptures) to prophesy according to the ^propor
tion,'' or, as the word is in the original, the analogy ' of
faith." [Rom, xii. 6.] To the same effect many commenta
tors interpret St. Peter's maxim, that ' no prophecy of the
Scripture is of any private interpretation,' implying, &c."
[See Horsley's ingenious sermon on this text, 2 Pet. i. 20.]
Afterwards, when pursuing the subject, he describes the
verbal analogy of Scripture to be " the collation of parallel
texts illustrative of its characteristic diction and phrase
ology : the historical analogy, the collation of parallel events
and circumstances for the elucidation of facts: and the
doctrinal analogy, the collation of parallel instructions re
lative to matters of faith and practice." pp.149 and 151 of
third edition.
P. 111. 1. 3. the so-called neutral position of the atheist]
The observations here made are intended to bear upon
Dr. Chalmers's statements in his chapter " on the way of
proposing the argument to atheistical Infidels." See the 9th
chapter of his Evidences and Authority of the Christian
Revelation. — The reference to Aristotle is to the 7th book
of his Nic. Ethics.
P. 113. I. 27. every fresh accession of true knowledge]
z

338 APPENDIX.
" There are indeed, in every branch of human knowledge,
certain principles, and certain facts, so clearly and indu
bitably established, as to make it incredible that any sys
tem of Divine truth, rightly understood, should be found
to contradict them." Van Mildert's Bampton Lectures.
He quotes from Turretin : " Supponuntur communes no-
tiones tum metaphysicse, tum physicse, tum mathematicse
 Supponuntur etiam a scriptoribus sacris axiomata
practica, ut &c  Speciatim circa Deum multa suppo-
nunt, ut &e." See Appendix p. 1 05. The context of the
Lecture shews that by these principles and axioms are
meant the results of human thought and learning, and not
the impressions with which the inquirer commences his
task. Thus he says, " The adept in ancient languages, in
philology, rhetoric, logic, ethics, metaphysics, geography,
chronology, history ancient and modern, will have a con
spicuous advantage in the study of the sacred writings
over him who is deficient in these attainments." And the
argument in loco tends to shew that the " various improve
ments in literature &c. &c. corroborate" the truths con
tained in Scripture, and " enable us to retort upon the
sceptic" and the scorner.
P. 116. 1. 4. " They saw the miracles,^' writes Dr. Chalmers]
See Evidences &c., chap. X., on the supreme authority of
Revelation. P. 1 17. 1. 11. " The person," says profesor Whewell] See his
Bridgewater Treatise, chap. VL, on the Deductive Habits.
P. 119. 1. 21. -^ Its authors,''' says the dean of Carlisle]
See Hinds's Inquiry into the Proofs, Nature, and Extent of
Inspiration &c. p. 68 ; also Beattie's Evidences &c. chap.
XI. §. 4.

SERMON IV.
P. 123. 1. 8. furnishes the only, or ^c] " It is obvious
that Christianity and the proof of it are both historical.
And even natural religion is properly a matter of fact."

APPENDIX. 339
Bishop Butler's Analogy, part II. c. 8. §. 5. See bishop of
Hereford's Philosophical Evidence of Christianity, p. I. &c.
P. 127. 1.13. it must sooner or later depend] Neander says :
" Could the plan have been carried out, to destroy every
existing copy of the Scriptures, the very source would have
been cut off from which true Christianity and the life of
the Church was ever freshly springing with unconquerable
vigour. Let preachers of the Gospel, bishops and clergy,
be executed ; it was all to no purpose, so long as this book,
by which new teachers could always be formed, remained
in the hands of the Christians  But exposed to these
manifold sources of corruption in human nature, Christ
ianity, without the well-spring of Scripture from which it
could ever be restored back to its purity, would, as all
history teaches, have been soon overwhelmed, and have
become no longer recognizable under the load of false
hoods and corruptions." Torrey's translation, vol. I. p. 203.
P. 128. 1. 12. choice of living instruments] See Dr. Haw
kins's fourth Bampton Lecture, p. 113, where he is no
ticing the channels both of the proof and of the state
ment of Christian doctrine : " We are not directed to his
written word for the primary instruction of the truth ; but
man is to teach man." Also Professor Garbett's admirable
sermon on Modern Philosophical Infidelity, or the Per-
sonahty of God, throughout. 1849-
P. 129. 1. 1. by the wisdom of God interwoven with the
history] " Even the doctrines of the Christian Revelation,"
writes bishop Horsley, " were not originally delivered in a
system, but interwoven in the history of our Saviour's life."
Id. 1. 14. " Christianity is a fact"] Newman's Essay on
Development, p. 1. of introduction. " The Bible is a fact."
Maurice's Kingdom of Christ, vol. II, p. 271 : " The Church
exists as a fact, the Bible shows what that fact means.
The Bible is a fact, the Church shows what that fact
means." See the bishop of Hereford's explanation of Bishop
Butler's and his own use of the word fact in his note,
p. 27, of his Inaugural Lecture, 1 836. See also Lecture V.
infra.
z 2

340 APPENDIX.
P. 133. 1. 7. The views of man contained in the Sacred
history] Compare lord Barrington's sketch of the early
history of mankind, in his Essay on the Dispensations of
God, &c.
P. 135. 1. 2. The " august apparatus," as it has been called,
of miracles and prophecies] Davison's first Discourse on
Prophecy, p. 22.
Id. 1. 16. between the leading schools of the Greek philo
sophy, and the sects] For the authorities adduced in sup
port of the common theory, according to which the tenets
of the Pharisees are connected with the Stoic, and those
of the Sadducees with the Epicurean philosophy, see Bruck-
er's Hist. Phil. vol. II. p. 728, &c., where he discusses the
whole matter. Of the authority of Josephus however he
says : " Nee Josephi hie respicienda est auctoritas, qui in-
epto gentis suae eruditos cum Grsecis comparandi studio
tres illas sectas (he includes the Secta Karseorum) Ju-
daicas cum tribus Grsecorum sectis celebrioribus contulit,
ne haberent hi, quo Judseis prseferrentur."
P. 136. 1. 15. It is this unity in multiplicity] Bishop Van
Mildert speaks of the miracles recorded in the Old Testa
ment as " connected in a most remarkable manner with
the system carried on from the fall of Adam to the coming
of Christ;" — and again, "as exhibiting proofs of the Di
vine agency carried on in one continued series." See
twenty-first Boyle Lecture. The same is said by him with
reference to j^rophecy in the following Lecture. See also
the Preface to lord Barrington's Essay on the Dispensa
tions of God to mankind, as revealed in Scripture.
P. 140. 1. 5. It was a sound and healthy feeling, argues
Neander] Vol. I. p. 240. Compare vol. II. p. 6.
P. 141. 1. 11. in a former discourse] See Lecture I.
P. 144. 1. 1. contradictory functions of these several offices]
The passage quoted in this paragraph is taken from the
Bishop of Calcutta's seventeenth Lecture. Much more is
comprised in the celebrated proposition of Pascal : " En
Jdsus-Christ toutes les contradictions sont accord(^es."
P. 147. 1.10. times posterior to the teaching of our Lord]

APPENDIX. 341
Dr. Eveleigh's second, third, and fourth Bampton Lec
tures contain a general summary of the history of Christ
ianity ; and the passage quoted in p. 154 is from the same
work. The subject of Dr. White's Bampton Lectures is
well known, and it is to them that I make allusion in
p. 156, 157.
P. i 57. 1. 23. " The Reformation" says a living writer]
The Bishop of Calcutta, in his twenty-sixth Lecture.
P. 161. 1. 20. '¦'¦ ever greater than the emergence"] These
words are taken from Newman's Essay on Development,
p. 449.
P. 163. 1.21. perceptions included in our own mental con
stitution] These are perhaps carried farthest by TertuUian.
" He adduced," writes Neander, " as evidence for Christian
truth against polytheism, the spontaneous expressions of
an irrepressible, immediate, religious consciousness in com
mon life, — the testimony of the soul, which he held to be
Christian by nature ^, — the testimony of the simple, uncul
tivated, ignorant soul, previous to all cultivation ''. In his
apology before the pagans he makes appeal to this wit
ness of the soul ' which though confined in the prison of
the body, though led astray by wrong training, though
enfeebled by the desires and passions, yet when it comes
to itself, as out of a fit of intoxication, as out of a sleep,
out of a disease, and when conscious of its healthful con
dition, calls God by this name alone, because it is the
proper name of the true God — Great God — good God — and
what God gives, — these are common expressions with all.
It adjures also this God as its judge, in such expressions
as these : — God is my witness — to God I commit my cause
— God will requite me. Finally in using these expres
sions, it looks not to the Capitol, but upward to heaven ;
for it knows the seat of the living God — from Him and
from thence it descended <=." Neander, Church History,
vol. I. p. 243.
a De testimonio anima) c. 1 : Te b Apologet. 1 7.
simplicem et rudem et impolitam et c Quse licet carcere corporis pressa,
idioticam compello, qualem habent, licet institutionibus parvis circum-
qni te solam habQpt, illam ipsam de scripta, licet libidinibus ac concupis-
corapito, de trivio, de textrino totam. centiis evigorata, licet falsis Diis ex-

342 APPENDIX.

SERMON V.
P. 165. 1.11. miracles, properly so called] Mr. Locke is
severe upon those who, when writing on miracles, do not
define the term. Discourse of Miracles, p. 1. Definitions
however have abounded since his time ; and for these, as
well as for further discussions of the matter contained in
this sermon, most readers have it in their power to consult
books too numerous to be here specified.
P. 167. 1. 11. a remark of Bishop Horsley] See his second
sermon on John xx. 29.
P. 171. 1. 26. miracles of Apollonius and of Mahomet] I
have been reminded that Mahomet did not lay claim to
the working of miracles ; but this is a point involved in
some uncertainty. Richardus says of him : " Nunc qui-
dem dicit de seipso inaudita miracula, aliquando autem
dicit se nullum miraculum fecisse." See the long quotas
tion in Van Mildert's Boyle Lectures, vol. I. p. 420, from
Richardi Confut. Muham. ; see also Jenkin's Reasonable
ness of Christianity, part III. c. 7. The Bishop of Here
ford says : " Mahomet evidently felt the want of miraculous
power to secure a reception to his pretended revelations
as divine; and hence propagated the belief that he was
an illiterate person, calling himself ' the illiterate prophet ;'
that the Koran might thus be a standing miracle in it
self." A passage cited from the Koran (chap, xxix.) by
Dr. White, in his Bampton Lectures (p. 203, note), to this
effect is : " Thou couldest not read any book before this,
neither couldest thou write it with thy right hand ; for
then had the gainsayers justly doubted the divine original
thereof." This mode of miraculous pretence was perhaps
ancillata, cum tamen resipiscit, ut quoque contestatur ilium, Deua vi-
ex crapula, ut ex somno, ut ex ali- det, et Deo commendo, et Deus mihi
qua valetudine, et sanitatem suam reddet. Denique, pronuntians haec,
patitur, Deum nominat, hoc solo no- non ad Capitolium sed ad coelum re-
mine, quia proprio Dei veri. Deus spicit. Novit enim sedem Dei vivi,
magnus, Deus bonus, et quod Deus ab illo et inde descendit.
dederit, omnium vox est. Judicem ••

APPENDIX. 343
suggested to him by that passage of St. John, " and the
Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters,
having never learned ?" ch. vii. v. 15. — Essay on the Phi
losophical Evidence of Christianity, (p. 135, note). It may
be conceded that Mahomet did not pretend to work mi
racles, in the usual acceptation of the word. But I was
not thinking so much of Mahomet himself, as of the pre
tensions of his followers with respect to him, when I wrote
the words in the text.
P. 172. 1. 13. T/ie miracles of Moses] These are tested by
Leslie's criteria, and compared with the miracles recorded
in the New Testament, by Home [Vol. I. c. 4, of Intro
duction]. See his references to Douglas, Hey, Price,
Campbell, CoUyer, Faber, and others.
P. 174. 1. L The feeling of surprise or astonishment] This
cavil has been revived of late years. " But can it be sup
posed that God would make his only true religion, Christ
ianity, depend for ever chiefly on the astonishment pro
duced on people who lived ages ago ? Even if miracles are
performed now, their effect would fall very short of that
which they produced eighteen centuries ago. But the fact
is that they are not now performed, and they have not
been performed since the human mind began to acquire
a 'collective maturity,' as if Providence wished to shew
that they are not the best means of conviction. Yet
divines insist on related miracles as the best and soundest
foundation of Christianity." Blanco White's Life, Vol. III.
p. 95.
P. 176. 1. 1. whose wonder ended in wondering] See bishop
Horsley's Sermon on Mark vii. 37.
P. 179. 1. 7- which of you convinceth me of sin f] Dr.
Tatham extends the application of our Lord's words to the
moral characteristics of the Gospel. " You deist, you free
thinker, you minute philosopher, you unbeliever of what
ever name, however inveterate the prejudices or abandoned
the habits with which you labour, we can trust you with
this important question, ' Which of you convinceth me of

344 APPENDIX.
sin V Which of you can impeach the morality of the Gos
pel?" Bampton Lect. Vol. II. p. 270.
P. 179. 1. 19. To these he himself appeals] " Undoubtedly
the strongest evidence of this (viz. the Divine mission of
Christ and the Divine authorship of his religion) arises
from the wonderful and well attested miracles which he
wrought from the beginning to the end of his ministry."
Bishop Porteus, Summary of the Principal Evidences of
the Truth and Divine Origin of the Christian Revelation,
Prop, xi  It has been thought indeed that in this
appeal [John xiv. 10.] we must understand our Lord to
be referring ' in part but by no means exclusively' to his
miracles. Without determining the point however, we
may assent without hesitation, to the opinion held in the
same quarter, that the miracles of our Lord are not to be
severed from the other acts of his ministry, and that, in
fact, they cannot be thoroughly appreciated or understood
except in connexion with his entire character and life.
— Voices of the Church in reply to Dr. D. P. Strauss, p. 398.
P. 180. 1. 25. one of the distinguishing dogmas] " He who
in our days has given the greatest impulse to Germany is
neither Kant nor Lessing, nor the great Frederick ; it is
Benedict Spinoza. Mark the spirit which lurks in the
depth of his poetry, his criticism, his philosophy, like the
unwieldy tempter under the wide-spread tree of knowledge.
Gothe, Schelling, Hegel, Schleiermacher — to speak only of
the master-minds, are the fruit of his works. In his trea
tise on theology, and his astonishing letter to Oldenbourg,
would be found the germ of all the propositions lately main
tained in the German method of interpreting the Scrip
tures. From him especially came the practice of expound
ing the Bible through the aid of natural phenomena. He
had somewhere said, ' All that is related in the revealed
books, happened in conformity with the established laws
of the universe." A school rapidly took possession of this
principle. To those who desired to remain suspended in
scepticism, it offered the immense advantage of preserving
the practical teachings of revelation by means of a con-

APPENDIX. 345
cealment, or of a preliminary explanation. The Gospel
ceased not to be a code of divine morals, and no one's sin
cerity was called in question. Sacred history hovered above
all controversy. What more ! The point was to recognise
once for all, that what is now presented to us by tradition
as a supernatural phenomenon, a miracle, was in reality
but a very simple fact, magnified at first by the surprise of
the senses, sometimes an error in the text, sometimes a
copyist's sign, more frequently a prodigy which never ex
isted, save in the arcana of grammar or of Eastern rhe
toric. The efforts they made to lower the Gospel to the
proportions of a moral chronicle, can scarcely be imagined.
It was deprived of its glory, to be saved under the appear
ance of mediocrity. All that was narrow in this system
speedily became ridiculous in its application ; for it is
easier to deny the Gospel, than to reduce it to the standard
of a manual of practical philosophy. The pen which wrote
the ' Provinciales' would be necessary to lay bare the
strange consequences of this theology. " Quinet on Strauss's
Life of Jesus, p. 4. See a Summa Impietatis Spinozisticse
in Brucker, Hist. Phil. vol. V. p. 693 ; where he notices
Bayle, Buddeus and others, as having detected a Spino-
zismus ante Spinozam : viz. in the Eleatic, the Stoic, and
the Cabbalistic systems. The reader will find each discus
sion in its proper place in Brucker.
P. 182. 1. 20. a sagacious writer on statistics] Mr. Malthus
employs the argument alluded to, when dealing with the
theories of Condorcet. The quotation lower down in this
paragraph is from Beattie's Evidences, c. ii. §. 1. Locke
also says, " What is the uttermost power of natural agents
or created beings, men of the greatest reach cannot dis
cover; but that it is not equal to God's omnipotency, is
obvious to every man's understanding ; so that the superior
power is an easy as well as sure guide to divine revelation,
attested by miracles, where they are brought as credentials
to an embassy from God." Disc, on Miracles.
P. 185. 1. 14. to seal with their life-blood] " We learn from
the history of fanaticism and superstition that men have

346 APPENDIX.
died martyrs to opinions unintelligible, absurd, immoral,
impious. All this may be allowed, but the inference which
is generally drawn by sceptical men from such observa
tions, cannot be allowed ; the inference is this — that the
fortitude of the apostles, in sustaining persecution, is no
proof of the truth of the Christian religion, inasmuch as an
equal degree of fortitude has often been displayed by other
men in support of opinions evidently not true. This in
ference cannot be allowed, for this reason — .that an essen
tial difference is to be made between him who dies in at
testation of a matter of fact, and him who dies in attesta
tion of an opinion. The apostles died in attestation of
their having seen Jesus work miracles, whilst he was alive ;
and of their having conversed with him after his resurrec
tion from the dead. These are not abstruse opinions, but
things which either did or did not happen ; any man is
competent to say whether he saw them happen or not;
and the apostles died in maintaining that they did see them
happen : they were ' eyewitnesses of his majesty.' The
Christian martyrs who had never seen Jesus, nor been eye
witnesses of any miracles wrought by him, or by others in
his name, but who died, rather than they would abandon
the belief they had adopted, contributed by their constancy
to the propagation of the Christian religion ; but they did
not establish its truth in the same way that the apostles
did." — Bishop Watson's Sermon on 2 Pet. i. 16.
P. 185. 1. 23. their impossibility] On this point Dr. Beard
writes thus : " With atheism for a first principle, it may
be impossible to shew how a miracle can be; but even
atheism cannot disprove the possibility of a miracle ; since
it cannot presume to say, in a world where there is no
governing mind, what combinations may take place — what
extraordinary junctions may be formed — what new analo
gies may be developed — what marvellous facts may tran
spire. Where all is chance, all is uncertain ; and the at
tempt to reason from the past to the present or the future
is utterly idle. But as philosophy cannot shew miracle to
be impossible, so is it enough for the Christian to prove.

APPENDIX. 347
that on his ground there is no inherent improbability in
miracles ; since the moment this is done, testimony may
step in and give its evidence. If it is asserted that analogy
is against miracle, we ask, what analogy ? General analogy
is out of the question. What has the ebb and flow of the
tide to do with the introduction of a new religion ? Analogy
is of value only in things of a like nature. The case before
us is the establishment of the Gospel. To what class of
facts does this belong ? Where can we look for our analo
gies ? Only to Moses, and there we find miracles. Reve
lation is a case per se. It is a special disclosure of truth
touching God, duty, and eternity ; and in consequence
cannot take rank with other things in which the human
and the ordinary predominate. Vain in consequence, is it
to look for similarity to civilisation, philosophies, social in
stitutions, worldly wisdom. Revelation stands by itself,
and has its own analogies. Besides, it betrays an igno
rance of the nature of the argument to demand analogies
for the justification of miracle. Miracle has force of evi
dence, because it is not analogical. In its very essence it
is extraordinary, and cannot therefore form part of any
regular sequence. It is God made manifest in a way to
rouse attention, and lead the thoughts, together with the
affections, at once to him."
P. 188. 1. 3. Miracles, they say, may have "been wrought]
See Westminster Review for April to July, 1836.
P. 190. 1. 2. by the countrymen of the daring Neologist]
See the " Fallacy of the Mythical theory of Dr. D. F.
Strauss illustrated from the history of Martin Luther, and
from actual Mohammedan myths of the life of Jesus." For
Strauss's sense of the word myth, and Bretschneider's defi
nition, see Review of Strauss, Hegel, and their opinions,
p. 25. The subject is ingeniously handled by Mr. Theodore
Parker, Miscellaneous Writings, p. 300. Also see Hagen
bach's statements and references, vol. II. p. 410, et seq.
P. 191 • 1. 19. tohich ofthe two, prophecy or miracle, affords
the stronger evidence] This subject is discussed in Dean
Stanhope's eighth Boyle Lecture. Seef.iv. The quotation

348 APPENDIX.
in p. 194 is from the same Lecture. " The early Christian
writers and apologists appeal in very express terms to the
Messiah's miracles. Thus Quadratus appeals very strongly
to those miracles. Justin Martyr asserts the performance
of miracles by Jesus in as forcible words as language will
admit, and assigns the reason why he rather had recourse
to the argument from prophecy, than that from miracles ;
viz. that his opponents would ascribe the latter to magic.
Irenseus, Lactantius, TertuUian, Origen, Augustin, and
Jerome, speak of Christ's miracles (and often, indeed, of
those wrought subsequently to the apostolic times), and
notice the same evasion on the part of the adversaries to
Christianity." — Dr. Olinthus Gregory's Letters, vol. I.
p. 173.
P. 201. 1. 4. the solitary datum] " It is on the basis of
our intelligent and moral constitution that in some re
spects they" (the truths of which he had been speaking)
" are preferably erected." — Dr. Goddard's fifth Bampton
Lecture, p. 126.
P. 202. 1. 16. the connexion of miracles with the proof of
natural religion] Some remarks upon this point are to be
found in Mr. Newman's second Sermon preached before
the University.
P. 204. 1. 5. the apostle Thomas] See bishop Horsley's
Second Sermon on John xx. 29.
Id. 1. 22. the greatest number resemble that class] See
Voices of the Church, &c. &c. ut supra.

SERMON VL
P. 208. 1. 5. internal evidences] Bishop Marsh is careful to
distinguish between different sorts of internal evidences.
See his Appendix to Lectures, Summary statement, &c.,
at the beginning.
Id. 1. 22. the evidence arising from those spiritual influ
ences] " The greatest v^itness to the truth of the Christian
rehgion is the Holy Spirit." — Lord Barrington's Essay on
the Dispensations of God, p. 1. of Introduction.

APPENDIX. 349
P. 209. 1. 18. supplying strength and clearness to the ra
tional faculty] Dr. Goddard says, " Were truth and evi
dence still imparted directly from on high, now as hereto
fore, their correspondent object would be the intellect ;"
and " The Holy Spirit neither applies himself to qualities
of the mind unappropriate to his purpose, nor does he
change their nature,". — Fourth Bampton Lecture, p. 103.
P. 211. 1. 1. an absolutely distinctive feature ofthe Gospel]
" What are all the notices of the Spirit in the Old Testa
ment, compared with the habitual recognition of His pre
sence in the Church and in its members, which is to be
traced in almost every page of the apostolical Epistles ? It
is one of the great and marked distinctions between the
Old Testament and the New." — Dr. Hawkins's Eighth
Bampton Lecture ; see the whole Sermon.
P. 213. 1. 17. '¦'¦ For," says Bp. Sanderson] See sermon on
1 Cor. xii. 7, at the beginning.
P. 214. 1. 17. the apprehension of angels] See Hagen
bach's account of the speculations of Abelard and others,
in §. 170 of vol. I. (Hist, of Doctr.), and especially notes
3 and 8.
P. 218. 1. 12. special calls and directions] For a complete
exposure of the pretensions of the Methodists, see Bishop
Mant's Bampton Lectures, and his authorities. It is a
relief to turn to the simple and definite view of the Spirit's
operations set forth in one of the Homilies of our Church.
There we have it stated that repentance, contrition, love
of the brethren, peace of mind and conscience, are all
God's work within us, by his Holy Spirit. The Homily
indeed calls these conditions of mind miracles: "Who
worketh these great miracles in us ? our worthiness, our
deservings, our wits, our virtues ? Nay ; without the lively
and secret inspiration of the Spirit, we cannot so much
as speak the name of our Mediator, as St. Paul plainly
testifieth, ' No man can once name our Lord Jesus Christ,
but in the Holy Ghost.' " Yet it goes on to say, " If any
gift we have wherewith we may work to the glory of God
and profit of our neighbour, all is wrought by his own and

350 APPENDIX.
selfsame Spirit, which worketh his distributions peculiarly
to every man as he wiU d ;"— thet-eby clearly acknowledg
ing that we have no disposition, and far less the ability to
do what is pleasing and acceptable to God, tiU we are in-
fliienced by the Spirit of God. " Christians ascribe, or
ought to ascribe, every intellectual, moral, and spiritual
attainment to God. And when we speak of the ordinary
influences of the Spirit of God, we mean to impute to the
operation of that Spirit our sanctification, all the actions of
our Christian course, our constancy and perseverance, all
particular graces and virtues which we seek at his hands,
our adoption, our access to God and assistance in prayer,
our joy and peace in believing, our support in trials and
afflictions and deliverance from temptations, our continual
progress in holiness." Dr. 0. Gregory's Letters, II. p. 171.
P. 219. 1.11. Swedenborg perhaps excepted] Hagenbach's
representation of the views of the Trinity entertained by
Swedenborg would seem to set the matter at rest. See
vol. II. p. 418, 419.
P. 221. 1. 21. Wliat are the tests ofthe Spirit's influence]
See p. 232 infra, and the texts there quoted.
P. 223. 1. 3. the distinction recognized as subsisting between
the ordinary and extraordinary gifts] The substance of this
paragraph and the quotation will be found in Dr. Hickes's
sermon on 1 Cor. xii. 4 ; the Spirit of Enthusiasm exorcised,
p. 4, 5. 53, &c.
P. 227. 1. 12. " in the very employmenf of them] See
archbishop Whately's ninth Essay on St. Paul, p. 291.
P. 229. 1.24. the learned prelate] See Bishop Sanderson's
sermon on 1 Cor. xii. 7.
P. 232. 1. 23. Archbishop Whately] See ninth Essay on
St. Paul, p. 319.
P. 236. 1. 19. demanding our cooperation] " The Holy Spi
rit alters not the specific character of our faculties, dis
turbs not by his ordinary influences the proper course of
them, comes into contact with them in a way not incon
sistent with their customary exercise ; and whatever can-
d Homily for Rogation M''eeli, part III.

APPENDIX. 351
not, from either of these sources, be clearly and precisely
collected, we are altogether without any proper liberty to
assume ; for it is to little purpose that the Scriptures have
afforded us definite information, or have conveyed under
various forms of expression, the caution not to be wise
above what is written, if, from what they have told us on
this or any other subject, we pass on into the regions of
mere possibility. But further, in regard to this very point,
holy writ has in the text enjoined circumspection. The
injunction to "try the spirits whether they are of God,"
had no doubt a primary and especial application to the
age of miracles, supposed a sort of discernment with which
we are unprovided, because we have no power of employ
ing it ; but that in a modified sense it refers also to ordi
nary methods, is evident from our being furnished in the
same Scriptures with a standard of doctrine in regard to
the Divine influences, and vdth a criterion for ascertaining
whether such graces from on high, as we still are taught
to expect, have in any given instance been in fact im
parted." Goddard's third Bampton Lecture, p. 49, 50.
P. 238. 1. 24. invite this holy guest] Barrow's seventy-
seventh sermon, at the end.

SERMON VIL
P. 243. 1. 26. Plato and other philosophers] Consult Le
land's Advantage and Necessity of the Christian Religion ;
Ellis's Knowledge of Divine Things, p. 456, et seq.
P. 247. 1. 12. this song of songs] Mr. Home has collected
the opinions of the learned on the subject of the Song of
Solomon, in the fourth volume of his Introduction ; and he
refers particularly to the " two learned and eloquent lec
tures devoted by bishop Lowth to an examination of this
poem." P. 248. 1. 2. As Aristotle quotes the poets] See bishop
Patrick's Preface to Paraphrase and Annotations on the

852 APPENDIX.
Song of Solomon. Cudworth has given a full account of
the Atheistic hypothesis which made love to be an active
principle, or cause of motion in the universe, quoting from
Aristotle, Parmenides, Hesiod, Simmias Bhodius, and
Aristophanes ; and he shews also in what " rectified sense
it may pass for true theology, that love is the supreme
Deity and original of all things." — See Intell. System &c.
vol. I. c. 3. §. 17, et seq.
P. 255. 1. 17. in fancy conceiving events] See Dr. Thomas
Brown's Philosophy of the human mind, c. 42.
p. 258. 1. 2. the darkest and grossest ingredients of the
human mind] See Fanaticism, by the author of Natural
History of Enthusiasm. " If a definition as brief as pos
sible were demanded, we should say that fanaticism is en
thusiasm influenced by hatred," pp. 30, 76, &c.
p. 259. 1. 7. eulogised for its boldness] " Boldness — the
boldness of simplicity is the style of the Bible from first
to last. Nowhere does it exhibit that sort of circumspec
tion which distinguishes the purblind and uncertain dis
cretion of man." — Id. p. 376.
P. 261. 1. 27. one of my predecessors] See Nott's Sixth
Bampton Lecture, p. 343 ; and his notes there on Qua
kerism and Methodism ; and, more especially, his refer
ences at p. 335, to Leslie's Snake in the Grass, §. 7, and
bishop Lavington's well-known work on the Enthusiasm of
Methodists. P. 263. 1. 4. and thus we might proceed] This is done in
the sequel of the sermon referred to in the preceding note ;
viz. the connexion is pointed out between Enthusiasm and
Schism, and the ill effects from thence resulting to the
Christian faith set forth at considerable length.
P. 266. 1. 11. thefts and starts of him who is impelled by
mere feeling] See Dr. Ogilvie's Sermons, p. 122.
P. 269. 1. 15. Millennarianism has, we know, made its ap
pearance] Hagenbach's Hist, of Doctrines, vol. II. §. 202.
P. 268. 1. 7. the order and earnestness with which pious
minds] I cannot forbear transcribing a note of bishop Van
Mildert's which seems peculiarly apphcable to the present

APPENDIX. 335
¦time. " As I do not profess to have bestowed minute at
tention on this. part of my subject (nor indeed was it neces-
.sary to my purpose to give more than a very general out
line of what relates to it) I must refer the reader to the
many excellent writers who have made these the direct
object of their study ; a study, in which several able divines
of the present day are deeply engaged. It is impossible,
indeed, not to feel an increasing interest in researches of
this kind, when we contemplate the fearful events which
are continually taking place, and the manifest indication of
some great purpose to which the Almighty is now direct
ing the course of human affairs. Great caution however is
requisite in the application of prophecy to events not yet
fully accomplished ; since much injury may unintentionally
be done to the cause of Christianity by crude and inju
dicious speculations on so difficult a subject. It is an im
portant observation of bishop Hahfax, concerning the Apo
calypse in particular, that ' our business is not to prophesy,
but to interpret; not to foretell things before they are
fulfilled, but after they are fulfilled, to illustrate the pre
diction from the event.' Had this rule been more gene
rally attended to, much perplexity might perhaps have been
avoided, in the discussion of the prophecies contained in
this and other books of holy writ." — Boyle Lectures, vol. I.
p. 61.
P. 268. 1. 22. The poetical imagery] Hagenbach's History
of Doctrines, §. 203.
P. 270. 1. 14. speculations of Aquinas] See the chapter on
1 Cor. XV. 35, in Dr. Jackson's Works, vol. X. ; and for a
short account of the views of the Fathers on the subject of
the resurrection of the body, and the speculations of Scotus
Erigena, Aquinas, and others on the same subject, see
Hagenbach's Hist, of Doctrines, §. 76, 140, 204. The
same work may be consulted on all the points noticed in
the latter part of this Lecture.
Id. 1. 28. " the bright regions of heaven," Sfc] " Both the
mind of the age, and the degree of cultivation to which
theologians had attained, were reflected in their repre-
A a

354 APPENDIX.
sentations of heaven and hell. According to John Scotus
Erigena, the spirit of man is resolved into God, a notion
which he thought reconcilable with the idea of self-con
scious continuance. The pantheistic sects of the middle
ages went so far as to destroy all individuality, and to deny
the future existence of man. The scholastics, whose prin
cipal happiness in this world consisted in making the most
subtle distinctions, supposed that it would be especially
the greater perfection of our intellectual powers which
would constitute the blessedness of heaven ; Duns Scotus
started such questions as, whether the blessed would per
ceive the quidditates of things, etc. The enjoyments of
refined sensuality were not quite excluded, though it was
admitted that the highest and true pleasures consist prin
cipally in communion with God, and the mutual fellowship
of the saints. Thomas Aquinas supposed different gifts
(dotes) of blessedness. In addition to the corona aurea,
which is given to aU the blessed, there are particular au-
reolcB for martyrs and saints, for monks and nuns. The
mystics also represented the world to come in bright
colours. But the theologians of the present age exercised
their powers of invention, especially in devising all sorts of
ingenious punishments which the wicked would have to
suffer in hell, after the example set before them by the
horrible proceedings of the Inquisition." — See Hagenbach's
History of Doctrines, especially sect. 209, and copious quo
tations from the authors therein mentioned.

SERMON VIIL
P. 277. 1. 9. Every conviction of the truth] Davison on
Prophecy, p. 507, third edition.
Id. 1. 16. a proper condition of mind] For the qualifica
tions needed by the religious student in order to a right
appreciation of Evidence, see Dr. Jackson's Works, vol.
III.ch.8, "on the goodness or honesty of heart required by

APPENDIX. 355
our Saviour in fruitful hearers." Also Butler's Analogy,
II. 8 ; Bradford's, Clarke's, and Bentley's Boyle Lectures ;
and Dr. Tatham's Bampton Lectures towards the end.
P. 280. 1. 16. at an early stage of our investigations] See
Sermon I.
P. 281. 1.25. The principles there laid down] The insuf
ficiencies both of the Romanist's doctrine of infallibility,
and of the evidence adduced by him in support of it, are
shewn by Chillingworth, part II. c. 2 ; Jackson, passim ;
particularly in vol. II. p. 578 to 585. See also Dr. Haw
kins's note to p. 197 of his Bampton Lectures.
P. 283. 1. 17. the notion of sinlessness] Bishop Mant's
Sixth and Seventh Bampton Lectures may be consulted on
the matter of this paragraph.
P. 285. 1. 8. fall short of demonstration] Lecture II.
P. 287. 1. 5. prejudice their eternity] Bishop Jeremy Tay
lor's Worksj VIII. p. 210. " And if infants die before the
use of reason, it can do them no hurt that they were given
to God in holy designation, it cannot any way be supposed
and is not pretended to prejudice their eternity." See the
whole argument.
P. 289. I- 20. those who read a twofold revelation of the
Divine will and government] " On one side, we have a
voice not of the world, proclaiming the truth taught,
to be divine — on the other, we have the voice of nature,
answering as it were to the challenge, and confirming the
previous annunciation from heaven. We find two com
munications from the Deity to man, totally distinct in
form, and yet closely agreeing in substance — the one
made known to us by the experienced course of the world
in which we live — the other, accredited by an infringe
ment of that course, and yet addressing us by the esta^
Wished signs of human intercourse. This is a confirma
tion of a much stronger kind, than that derived to the
theories of common science from their correspondence
with the facts which are the subjects of them." Bishop
of Hereford's Essay on the Philosophical Evidences of
Christianity, p. 189- A a 2

356 APPENDIX.
P. 293. 1. 3. which had before been trodden] See Bishop
Browne's Procedure, Extent and Limits of the human Un
derstanding. He says, in the introduction, that we have no
immediate proper idea at all of God, or any of his attri
butes, as they are in themselves ; or of any thing else in
another world : and that consequently we are "under a ne
cessity of conceiving all things supernatural by analogy,
i. e. by the mediation and substitution of those ideas toe have
of ourselves, and of all other things of nature." p. 2. Speak
ing afterwards of those who had misundCTstood the ob
servations of Archbishop King [in his sermon preached in
1709], and argued that there could be nothing real in
Christianity if the archbishop's sermon were to be listened
to, he says, " Let them suspend all further opposition to
the doctrine of analogy, till the nature of it is more fully
and rightly explained, and the true use of it in religion
shown ; together with the application of it to the defence
of the truths and mysteries of the Gospel ; and to the con
futation of heresy and infidelity." The author's design
seems to have been suggested by an observation of lord
Bacon, to the effect that a divine logic was wanted : " This
is the very thing," he says, " that I endeavour to perform
in some degree." p. 23. It had been attempted by others
in Bacon's lifetime, as for instance, by T. Granger, Preacher
of God's word, who dedicated his work, entitled " the Di
vine Logike," to lord Bacon. It is, however, by no means
a creditable performance.
P. 295. \. 7. be thought undeserving of more than a pass
ing notice from the theologian] " To argue, therefore, (as
too many are inclined to do,) from modern discoveries in
chemistry, pneumatics, electricity, or the like, that human
knowledge in general is not only progressive, but un
limited, is unwarrantable and presumptuous. Still more
so is it, to infer that our improvement in spiritual attain
ments will necessarily keep pace with our advancement in
experimentaJI philosophy ; since the study of physics has
nothing in common with theology, properly so called,
either as to its principles, or the subjects on which it is

APPENDIX. 357
employed, or the end which it proposes. In physics, our
actual observation cannot extend beyond second causes, or
the instrumental agents of the material world. The flrst
cause will still be as remote as ever from our views ; and
the immaterial world will still elude our researches. What
avails it, then, to boast of the inventions of the telescope,
the microscope, the air-pump, and the like? Greatly as
the progress of human arts and sciences may have been
promoted by these inventions, yet we are not one step
nearer to Divine knowledge by any thing which they can
do for us ; not at all better able by their means to ' find
out the Almighty to perfection ;' who still dwells in a pa
vilion of darkness inaccessible to human sight." Van Mil
dert's Boyle Lectures, sermon XV.
P. 296. 1. 12. even one single idtimate material law] See
professor Whewell's Bridgewater Treatise, Introduction, c. 3.
P. 297. 1. 27. the instrument employed by all] " It is a
real argument, notwithstanding its liability to ridicule, for
religion implies facts, some of which analogy confirms,
whereas of most it is the only proof." Butler's Analogy,
II. 8. " Analogy is the instrument of the understanding,
and forms that species of logic, which is peculiarly appro
priated to subjects of theology, in every stage of that sub
lime and extensive study. It is the indispensable vehicle,
by which the divine truths of religion are conveyed to the
view and apprehension of the human intellect  All our
information of things that are divine must, therefore, be
conveyed through an indirect channel : and as we have
seen human language capable of being transferred, by this
analogy, from material impressions to mental subjects, and
of communicating the latter with certainty and precision,
so by a similar, but higher, transfer from things which are
human, material or mental, to those which are Divine, it
is converted into an indirect, but certain, instrument of
this celestial communication. Through the medium of this
necessary expedient alone, we are rendered capable of re
ceiving the mysteries of religion, which, in condescension
to the apprehension and capacity of men, the Deity hath

358 APPENDIX.
graciously and abundantly employed." Tatham's Bampton
Lectures, II. p. 121. See his reference to Lowth's Prsel.
Heb. XVI ; also Dr. Hawkins's note to p. 100 of his
Bampton Lectures ; and especially that part of the Bishop
of Hereford's Essay where he shows that analogy is a
direct persuasive to the reception of Christianity, (p. 176.)
P. 298. 1. 4. himself deeply imbued] The allusion is to
the Bishop of Hereford, in whose Essay (before referred to)
will be found the views summarily noticed in this passage.
P. 300. 1. 1. points of historical evidence] See Sermons
IV and V.
P. 301. 1. 10. additional and different proof] See Ser
mon VI.
P- 302. 1. 14. the proper proof of Christianity] See Mr.
Newman's twelfth Sermon before the University.
P. 303. 1.17. What was said so recently] See Sermon VII.
P. 305. 1. 1. self-born theories and far-fetched allegories
&c.] This and the foUowing paragraph have reference to
the later writings of Mr. Blanco White ; see his Life and
Correspondence, vol. III. passim.
P. 307. 1. 24. the eschatology of modern philosophy] Ha-
genbach mentions those modem speculative philosophers,
" who deny the existence of the world to come altogether,
and deify the present." vol. II. §. 301, note 10.
P. 314. 1. 4. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ] Polycarp. Ep. to the PhiHpp. §.12.

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