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 4 
 

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 I 
 
 

 THE OBLIGATIONS OF THECIOGY TO SCIENCE : 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. A. BURNS, D.D., LL.D., F.T.L. 
 
 THE 
 
 DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTliY : 
 
 BY THE 
 
 s. 
 
 REV. E. B. RYCKMAN, D.D., F.T.L. 
 
 (i 
 
 BEING THE FOURTH 
 
 ANNUAL LECTURE AND SERMON 
 
 BEFORE THE 
 
 ®^fologic;U ^uion of Victoria ColUgt, in 1881. 
 
 TORONTO: 
 
 Methodist Book and Publishing House. 
 
 1881. 
 
THE 
 
 (ifeligations of Cljcalogii to Sttmrc : 
 
 A LECTURE DELIVERED BEFORE THE THEOLOGICAL UNION 
 OF VICTORIA UNIVERSITY, MAY 16th, ISSJ. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. A. BURNS, D.D., LL.D., F.T.L. 
 
 
' 
 
 I 
 
 a 
 
LECTURE. 
 
 THE 
 
 #Ijli0ati0ns of ^^fobgn to Sticna. 
 
 I ■ 
 
 Science • *>d Revelation are complementary factors 
 of Theok^y, as Theology and Psychology are of 
 Religion. Neither can supersede the other, or by 
 any assumption of self-sufficiency say.. " I have no 
 need of thee." No people unvisited b}' revelation 
 have ever developed a pure Monotheism, much less a 
 Deity whose attributes could challenge our respect or 
 command our reverence. Nor, on the other hand, can 
 it be denied that the highest and fcruest conceptions 
 of Deity are possible only to those whose curriculum 
 embraces the works of God as well as His word. 
 From their relation to each other, the inference is 
 irresistible that they were intended to supplement 
 each other. Revelation speaks of a God authorita- 
 tively, and records numberless interviews v/ith our 
 race, and interferences on its behalf ; and though all 
 are highly anthromorphic in character, yet all visible 
 
THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 representations of Him were absolutely prohibited. 
 This, to an age crude, and almost materialistic, must 
 have been a serious deprivation. All undeveloped 
 peoples have found relief in givin^; form to their gods ; 
 hence Dagon and Baal, Hercules, Jupiter and Brahma, 
 all occupied tlieir high places. If an Egyptian, a 
 Chaldean, or a Roman, should it find it difficult to 
 examine the work attributed to his deity, he had the 
 gratification of looking upon his moulded or chiselled 
 form. The stern prohibition of revelation was relieved 
 by the as,«surance that the character of the ])eity night 
 be studied in His works, for " God, in the beginning, 
 created the heavens and the earth," and to the hearing 
 ear all nature whispered " So vis moniimentum cir- 
 cumsj^ice." Thus the natural concomitant of revelation 
 would be che study of nature. How early this began 
 we cannot tell. Job tells us that in patriarchal times 
 both Natural History and Astrology were cultivated. 
 The Mosaic code makes scarce a reference to it. Four 
 hundred years later, both David and his royal son 
 seem to have been able to hear in the solemn silence 
 of the heavens a declaration of the glory of God : 
 " The heavens declare the glory of God, and the 
 firmament sboweth his handiwork. Day unto day 
 uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth know- 
 ledge. No speech nor language, their voice is not 
 heard." Yet, " their line is gone out through all the 
 earth, and their words to the end of the world." 
 
 But we must leap about twenty-tive hundred years, 
 till, about four centuries ago, we touch a period which 
 may properly be called the birthday of science. 
 
THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 Real science and correct scientific methods are little 
 older t'lan the fifteenth century. Whatever profitable 
 work science has done for theology, has been done 
 since then. 
 
 That science, or a knowledge of nature, should have 
 its infancy and growth, and should in progress and 
 development struggle toward maturity, was to be 
 expected. Even, according to the Biblical record, 
 nature herself groped her way from the formless void, 
 the " empty and unfurnished," up to man. And geo- 
 logy assures us that in the unceasing succession of 
 organic life that has tenanted this globe, no two ages 
 have been exactly alike, either in fauna or flora. 
 This progressive tendency is not peculiar to nature or 
 science. It has been thus with revelation also. From 
 the crudest materialistic object-lessons of revelation, 
 to the sublimest utterances of the Great Teacher 
 himself, thousands of years had elapsed before that 
 humanity heard from His lips the real attitude to- 
 wards us of " Him with whom we have to do." And 
 so incrusted and obtuse was the human mind, that 
 Pentecost and a supplemental revelation were neces- 
 sary to prevent even His bosom companions from con- 
 tracting the love of the Eternal to a horizon no wider 
 than that scanned by the handful to whom had been 
 committed the life-giving oracles. 
 
 It might not be amiss to notice the fact, in passing, 
 that as in real science so here, it was phenomena that 
 retired the narrow theory. God put no difl^erence 
 between the Gentile and the Jew, but purified both 
 hearts by faith. The inevitable was accepted, the 
 
il 
 
 8 
 
 THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENC3. 
 
 field of view and of action was enlarged, and on tiae 
 scientific principle. 
 
 " Strait is the gate and narrow the way that leads " 
 to truth ; and if either theological or scientific accuracy 
 had been exacted from any age, who could have been 
 saved ? The veriest crudities, both in science and 
 theology, have pae.sed for truths. The creed of one 
 age has been the ridicule of another, and to the mind 
 of the worshipper God and His realm have changed 
 as the various influences stamping tlie civilization of 
 that age. But as the sacred (,^anon has been long 
 closed, its utterances on Theology might be considered 
 a fixed quantity, were it not for the fact that her- 
 meneutics is being constantly and seriously aft'ected 
 by an enlarged acquaintance with nature. This is the 
 factor which prevents stagnation. It is the disturbing 
 element in our physico-theology. Nature continues 
 to reveal her secrets, and these revelations modifv our 
 interpretation of the written word. 
 
 If we turn to the davs in which the Biblical canon 
 was closed, we are met by the crudest declarations 
 touching nature. Nor are these crudities in matters 
 of opinion only. They are equally glaring in state- 
 ments of phenomena Nor were those who had been 
 favored with a revelation saved from the ludicrous 
 humiliation. 
 
 Jew and Christian, philosopher and barbarian, fell 
 into the grossest errors when they entered tlie realm 
 sacred to science. Phdo, a cotemporary of Paul, will 
 furnish abundance of material illustrative of this, and 
 he was a Jew thoroughly versed in the most advanced 
 philosophy of his day. But if we turn to the epistle 
 
T^ 
 
 r7 
 
 THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 
 
 of Barnabas, who was a companion of St. Paul, we 
 will find references to natural history not a whit 
 better than those furnished by Philo. " The weasel," 
 we are informed, was justly hated "because that animal 
 conceives with his mouth." The hyena nuist not be 
 eaten, " because that creature every year changes its 
 sex. 
 
 Clement, another cotemporary of the Apostle, says, 
 in his first epistle to the Corinthians, ch. 12, " Let 
 us con-iider that womlei'ful tyj^e of the resurrection, 
 which is seen in the eastern countries, that is to say 
 in Arabia. There is a certain bird called a ph(ienix, 
 of this there is never but one at a time, and that lives 
 five hundred years. And when the time of its disso- 
 lution draws near that it must die, it makes itself a nest 
 of frankincense and myrrh, and other spices, into vvhich 
 when its time is fulfilled it enters and dies But its 
 flesh putrifying, breeds a certain worm, vvhich being 
 nourished with the juice of the dead bird brings forth 
 feathers, and when it is grown to a perfect state it 
 takes up the nest in which the bones of its parent lie, 
 and carries it from Aribia into Egypt, to a city called 
 Heliopolis ; and flying in open day, in the sight of all 
 men, lays it upon the altar of the sun, and so returns 
 from whence it came. The priests then search into 
 the records of the time, and And that it returned 
 precisely at the end of five hundred years. And shall 
 we then think it to be any very great and strange thing 
 for the Lord of all to raise up those who religiously 
 serve Him, when even by a bird he shows us the great- 
 ness of his power to fulfil his promise." 
 
 tie 
 
10 THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 Many of the early Christian fathers abounded in 
 stirring illustrations of spiritual things, drawn from 
 the supposed operations of nature, often as fanciful 
 and baseless as the story of the pluynix. 
 
 But these I emphasize, as these e2:)istles were by 
 many accepted as canonical, and as such form part 
 of two of the n)ost celebrated MSS. of our New 
 Testament. Tlie only Greek copy of the Epistle of 
 Barnabas is found in the (Jodex iSinaiticus, and the 
 only known copy of the Epistle of Clement to the 
 ^Corinthians is that in the (Jodex Alexandrinus. It is 
 of interest also to note, that in ancient times one of 
 the uiost serious objections to the latter epistle was 
 that it referred to worlds beyond the ocean. That 
 was considered absurd enough to rob any l)Ook of 
 canon icity. 
 
 Nor was this state of ailairs peculiar to the first 
 century. Before that time the darkness was denser ; 
 after it, it was scaicely less oppressi\'e. The number- 
 less absurd i-eferences to natural objects found in the 
 many Commentaries prior to the Keformation, show 
 tliat the study of nature formed no part of the curri- 
 culum of a minister ; and to pass from the minuter 
 portions of nature to the planetary or stellar system, 
 we lind matters, if possible, still worse. The intellect 
 of the world was not by any means dead or even 
 stagnant, l)ut it found abundant scope for all its 
 activities of fancy, logic, discovery, or invention, in 
 the ecclesiastical and theological recpiirements of the 
 day. 
 
 Examine the history of the Church througli the 
 
THE OBUGATTOXS OF THFOY.or.V TO SCIENCE. 11 
 
 en 
 
 its 
 
 in 
 
 I the 
 
 the 
 
 dark ages, and it will be found that speculative theo- 
 logy possessed and directed tlie human mind. Kv^ery 
 idea was impressed with theology. Every idea that 
 was started, uliether philosophical, political, historical, 
 or scientific, was considered from a religious point of 
 view. The struggle between Nominalism and Realism 
 was intensified exceedingly by the supposed relation 
 of the question to the doctrine of the Trinity. And 
 so powerful was the authority of the ("hurch in all 
 matters referred to the intellect, that even the m.athe- 
 matical and physical sciences were oliliged to shape 
 their decisions by its teachings. Then the theology of 
 the day was exceedingly complex, and becoming in- 
 creasingly so. It is evident that the right of freedom 
 of thought was asserted, for heresies were numerous, 
 and each demanded for its extinction the polemical 
 skill of the defenders of the faith. 
 
 How could Theologians spare any time for .science, 
 while men could be found l)old enough to deny that 
 " if a mouse should happen to eat the Sacrament," he 
 had eaten the body and blood of Christ ! That ques- 
 tion was debated'very gravely both in councils, and, 
 after the invention of ] printing, in books. Thomas 
 A(juina.s, (the Angelic Doctor) ; Alexander Hales, (the 
 Irrefragable Doctor); John de Burgo, (Chancellor of 
 the University of Cambridge) ; Gerson, (Chancellor of 
 the University of Paris) ; Bonaventure, (the Seraphic 
 Doctor) ; Peter Lond)ard, (Master of the Sentences) ; 
 the Faculty of Paris, Antonius, Bishop of Florence, 
 all in turn discussed the matter at length. The last 
 mentioned delivered himself thus : " Si mua aut aliud 
 
12 THE OBLIGATIONS OF TFIEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 aniynal propter nerjlujenteni custodiam species sacra- 
 menti cuDtederlt,'' etc. " If a mouse or any other animal 
 should liappen to eat the Sacrament through negli^^ence 
 of kee})ing, let the keeper, through whose negligence 
 it happencMJ, be enjoined to penance forty <lays ; and, 
 if it l)e possible, let the mouse be taken and burnt, 
 and let his ashes be buried in or about the altar." 
 But Peter of Palus says : " The mouse's entrails must 
 be drawn, and the portion of tiie sacrament that then 
 remaineth, if the priest be squeamish to receive it, 
 must reverently be laid up in the tabernacle until it 
 be naturally consumed. But the host so found in the 
 mouse's entiails may in nowise be thrown out into the 
 pool, as a certain priest once used a liy that he found 
 in his chalice after consecration. Put if a man hr.d 
 such zeal that his stomach would receive it without 
 horror, it should thus be disposed of.'' Nor did these 
 gladiators shrink from the conclusion, " Curpus Christi 
 potest evomV* 
 
 But a better day w^as ei'e long to daw^n. " Out of 
 the eater was to come meat, and out of the strong 
 sweetness." Some historians give to Bacon and Des 
 Cartes the honor of having liberated the intellect of 
 their day from the tyranny of theology. But we 
 cannot admit this. The breach with Rome was long 
 in culminating ; and many a spirit, long before the 
 days of Luthe/, struggled to the death in asserting 
 the right of human reason. Scotus, Abelard, Uoscelin, 
 and others — true sons of the Church — endeavored to 
 the utmost to supersede authority by argument ; and 
 others, equally true to the Church, advocated and 
 
THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOOV TO SPIENOK. 
 
 13 
 
 A 
 
 of 
 
 IIU 
 
 lie 
 
 lin, 
 to 
 
 IK I 
 
 practised the study of nature. Long before the pub- 
 lication of the " (>/•^a??o')^;' to which all the new im- 
 petus to the study of science is attributed, there were 
 souls seeking conununion with Nature, and trying to 
 interpret her. The sphericity of the eai'th, its motion 
 romid tlie sun in an elliptical orbit, its attraction, had 
 all been announced by Philotas, Rivalta, Calcaijnini, 
 and Copernicus, and Galileo had well earned the hos- 
 tility of Rome years Ijefore the publication of the 
 " Organon.'' The confirmation of Galileo's retracted 
 theoiy was a terrible blow to the tlieory of infallible 
 inteipretation. The stiuh^nt of Nature forces tlie whole 
 Churcli to attacli a new meaning to a simple Scriptural 
 statement. If this can occui- once, wliere is it to end ? 
 Here is the assertion of a riiiht to talk with Nature 
 face to face, I'estrained by nothing but the laws that 
 Nature lierself imposes. A(hiiitted to her temple, slie 
 has disclosed her secrets to her children. It is Nature's 
 new evangel — her "peace on earth and good- will to 
 men." We listen, and eclipses are no longer the fore- 
 runners of disasters, either national or individual. 
 Comets liave become hannless. All the terrors or 
 cluirms of tlie number seven are broken for there are 
 more than seven stars. The special interference of 
 demigods, fiends, wizards, or witches, over the elements, 
 the weathei', plagues, eartlupiakes, the crops of the 
 earth, or the products of the dairy, have all been 
 gradually losing their hold, and are taking their place 
 with the mythological exploits of the Pantheon. I 
 say, gradually, for errors never die of suspicion, and 
 they tyrannize over us long after we admit our in- 
 ability to defend them. 
 
14 THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOT.OCJY T(^ SCIENCE. 
 
 In yonder byre the cows, wliile t'uniishing t,]ie usual 
 quantum of milk, liave, for many a day been profitless, 
 as to butter. The milk seems as usual. The usual eftbrts 
 are put forth to obtain butter ; but, churn they never 
 so long, nothing but a kind of froth is foi-thconiing. The 
 cows are bewitched. Twelve miles a\> '^y lives a man 
 who can show in a mirror him or her whose evil eye 
 has done the deed. The journey is made. Nothing is 
 revealed by the mirror ; but specific directions ai-e given 
 to have an ass's shoe made in one heat, and nailed to 
 the bottom of the churn; to close all doors and win- 
 dows; to build a large fire on the hearth — so that no 
 entrance can be efi'ected by the chimney ; then to churn 
 — when the owner of the evil eve will come to the 
 window, Claying for admittance. Actuated l)y a curio- 
 sity profound, if not over reverent, I found myself, 
 somehow, an observer of the whole proceedings — 
 saw thi:f shoe nailed on the churn, and watched the 
 windows closely. Result : no butter till the following 
 year. I never heard a hint as to natural cau.ses, 
 although the man was an ofiicial mend)er of a Church 
 that prides itself on the intelligence of its member- 
 ship, and thoroughly conversant with the Scriptures. 
 I distinctly remember that no in((uiry was made about 
 the grasses or grain to which the cattle had access, 
 but a very strong suspicion was attached to an old 
 lady in tlu' vicinity, who was credited with an un- 
 healthy familiarity with the devil. The case 1 hav^e 
 mentioned need not be considered exceptional. To 
 say nothing of heathen lands, every nation in Christ- 
 endom has had its theology, warped and colored by 
 
THE OBLIGATIONS OF TPIEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 15 
 
 glaring absurdities. Wliilo we inav not stop to explain 
 why, it is undoubtedly a fact, that neither the Bible 
 nor religion alone will remove them. In Scotland. tXw 
 Bible is emphatically the book of the people. No land 
 is better accjuainted with its teachings. Yet every 
 inch of its soil, its glens, and crags, its lakes, and 
 heather, an^ traditionally supernatural. More ; these 
 fairy fancies are by no means inoperative on the reli- 
 gious conceptions or moveuuiits of a people. It re- 
 (piires not the inspiration of .John Barleycorn to make 
 the average Scotchman ride hastily over some l)ridges, 
 or past some Inishes or cairns. The Christian Fathers, 
 the Medijeval Church, the reformers, J.uther and his 
 coad jutoi's, worshipped a (lod whose realm was infested 
 with innumerable imps, who toyed and sported with 
 the forces of Nature. Nor did the Reformation purge 
 the brood. They are foiuid yet ; and, at times, in high 
 pla,ces. If I mistake not, the shadows rested to some 
 extent on th*' Epworth rectory ; and even the inde- 
 pendent mind and Ijroad scholarship of A<lani Clai'ke 
 proved scarcelya talisman against their influence. Like 
 all natives of the Isle of Saints, I think he believed 
 in ghosts. 
 
 We may pause here to say that a correct concej^tion 
 of God as the ruler of the world, or a rational cos- 
 mogony of the universe was utterly impossJl)le until 
 recent days. The opening chapters of (len^sis must 
 remain sealed till the student of Nature interprets 
 them. And hermeneutics, in struggling with the 
 Mosaic cosmogony, was worse than beating tlie air 
 while ignoring the lamp of Science. 
 
1() THE OBLKJATTONS OF TREOLO(JY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 
 For this state of afiairs— this ignorance of Nature 
 — Christianity was in no way responsible. From the 
 wealth of invective spent on Christianity, on account 
 of this ignorance, we niiiL;'ht well infer that the study 
 of Nature had ]>een forbidden in the Gospels, or that 
 outside of the Church there was a light on these 
 matters that she was endeavouring to eclipse. Noth- 
 ing could be farther from the truth. The lamp of 
 physical science was kindled only a few centuries ago, 
 and correct methods of procedure began soon after. 
 But all began icitfiin the Church ; and men trained in 
 the Church have given to the world nearl}^ every 
 discovery — certainly all the important discoveries — 
 that have been made in Science. We admit with sor- 
 row and shame that the efforts of some of these 
 pioneers met with little encouragement. But the 
 reason is easily found ; and an impartial criticism 
 cannot atlbrd to charge Christianity with the follies 
 of men who had so misinterpreted her -pirit, and 
 whose leadership the Church has long since abandoned. 
 It should hardly be necessary to remind objectors that 
 the men who extorted Galileo's retraction, and pre- 
 sented such a contemptuous front to Science, were the 
 men whose wide departure from the spirit of Chris- 
 tianity necessitated the Reformation ; and who treated 
 the attempt to disseminate the Scriptures among the 
 people with a contempt more deep, and a hostility 
 more intense tlian they had ever offered to Science. 
 
 True, the Apostle bids the Corinthians " beware, lest 
 any spoil them through philosophy ; " but it was a 
 philosoph}^ coupled with " vain deceit after the tra- 
 
 
THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY 10 SCIENCE. 17 
 
 lat 
 re- 
 lie 
 Is- 
 m1 
 lie 
 
 la 
 
 dition of men," He also spake of " the opposition of 
 science" — but it was "Science, falsely so called," against 
 which he warned his friend Timothy. Undoubtedly 
 " the wise men " of Greece an<l Rome were at a dis- 
 count from his standpoint as a practical philanthropist. 
 Had not the teachings of both the Sophoi and plii/o- 
 sopJioi abundant opportunity to flower and fruit in 
 their disciples before the Nazarene appeared ? Their 
 fio0<a Tov (pvaeuc vvas but the vainest baVjblings, and 
 thfe^r onipia rnv Heov left them witliout any adequate 
 conceptions of Him. Tiue, they talked learnedly 
 ah\)ut cultui'e, but the culture ended in a knowledge 
 tliat " pulil'th up," and the rank and tile of humanity 
 was unreached and unelevated. Christ and His illit- 
 erate disciples spake, and the common people heard 
 them gladly. They took humanity as they found it; 
 nor were they over scrupulous in their diagnosis of 
 their patient. "Wilt thou be made whole?" was 
 their simple and uniform question. 'Neither sophoi 
 nor philosophoi would willingly place themselves 
 among those needing the Physician; hence, " not many 
 wise men were called." " But God chose the foolish 
 things of the world to confound the wise," " that no 
 flesh should glory in his presence." 
 
 What an illustration of this was furnished by the 
 early history of Christianity ! A carpenter and a few 
 fishermen changed the religion of the Roman Empire, 
 indeed, of the civilized world ; hurled from their 
 pedestals, never to be restored, every god and goddess 
 in the Pantheon. The work was complete. But 
 neither science nor philosophy could claim a share in 
 
18 THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 [if 
 
 the regeneration. " It pleased God, by the foolishness 
 of preachinf]^," that is, by the preaching of Christ 
 crucified, which the Greeks called foolishness, to turn 
 the world upside down, to revolutionize both its phil- 
 osophy and its theology. 
 
 It is not so strange that in the early Christian 
 centuries the Church came to look upon all study, not 
 strictly theological, with suspicion. This feeling grew 
 till the reading of secular books (gentilium llbrorum) 
 was prohibited even to the bishops, by the Fourth 
 Council of Carthage, A.D. 398. The most prominent 
 Christian Fathers, notably Jerome, condemns them 
 unless when studied for theological ends. All physical 
 science was contemptuously denounced as inconsistent 
 with revealed truth ; nor did that which was called 
 science then deserve much better treatment. 
 
 But if science and philosophy proved powerless to 
 elevate society in the first days of the Empire, they 
 were equally barren of results in the centuries called 
 the Dark Ages. Unfortunately a sterile philosophy 
 took possession of the Church, robbing her of her 
 pristine beauty and vigor, demanding her energies for 
 philosophical poising and gyrating, or sjdiogistic 
 somersaults. But, while fruitless as a Church, she 
 furnished a rare soil for the propagation and nourish- 
 ment of a thousand superstitions. The study of 
 Nature was out of the question, for the tutelary saints 
 of the numerous monasteries furnished miracles ad 
 lihiUcni, and for the most unseemly purposes. To have 
 affirmed that God was a God of order, or that Nature 
 was uniform in her operations, would have branded 
 
THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. l9 
 
 illed 
 
 )phy 
 her 
 for 
 
 [istic 
 she 
 
 •ish- 
 of 
 
 lints 
 ad 
 lave 
 :ure 
 Ided 
 
 you as a heretic which no water could cleanse. Some 
 of the heaviest enterprises of those days were under- 
 taken on the supposition that geographical and phy- 
 sical difficulties woiild be surmounted by supernatural 
 aid. Witness the Crusades. Some of the judicial 
 controversies of those days implied a Divine inter- 
 ference at the nod of every comiiatant. Witness the 
 trial by combat, the handling red-hot iron, plunging 
 the arm into a boiling fluid. But Natui-e, in swallow- 
 ing the result, was having her reveng**. Thousands 
 sacrificed their lives in these trials, thousands upon 
 thousands fell in the fanatical Crusades, and the famous 
 Bull of Innocent VIII. against witchcraft, cost Europe 
 more than a liundred thousand lives. 
 
 But these days have gone, never to return ; and to 
 science and scientitic methods we owe the conception 
 that everything, from the atom to the archangel, is 
 subject to law ; and that the God whom we worship 
 is infinitely above caprice, as He is infinitely rciuoved 
 from partiality . and duplicity. Science has enlarged 
 God's domain, and brought order out of confusion ; 
 has magnified God, and elevated man. It has ))rought 
 under our control elements that we formerly feared as 
 supernatural, and enabled us to say, as no former age 
 could, " Lord, how manifold are Thy works ; in 
 wisdom hast Thou made them all." 
 
 It is usual to associate the l)irth of modern science 
 with the rise of the inductive philoso])hy. I am dis- 
 posed, however, to think that the break with Rome, 
 which implied the snapping of authority, and the 
 rejection of the Aristotelian philosophy, which had 
 
20 THE OBTJGATIONS OF THEOLOHV TO SCIENCE. 
 
 « 
 
 been so long used by the dialectician solely for intel- 
 lectual gymnastics, were rather the true cau^e of the 
 turning toward Nature. A few years of even dim 
 light and partial liberty sufficed to give to the world 
 the correct theory of the heavens. These years, how- 
 ever, had Brahe, (ir)4()-ir)01) ; Kopler, 1571-1 (i-SO) ; 
 Galileo, (15()4-1042) ; and Bacon, (ir)4f;-ir)()l), and the 
 great Newton was born in the year that Galileo died, 
 (1042-1727). 
 
 But nothing served so much to wstimulate thought 
 as the rise of Scientific Associations. These were 
 founded in England, France, Italy, Florence, and 
 Germany in the 17th century, and almost every nation 
 of Europe possessed them in the 18th century. Yet 
 from theii' imposing names we are not to imagine that 
 all their discussions were on matteis of pure science. 
 At one of the meetings of the Royal Society of Lon- 
 don, " Dr. Clark was instructed to lay before them 
 Mr. Pellin's relation of the production of young 
 vipers from the powder of the liver and lungs of 
 vipers." " Sir Gill)ert Talbot promised to bring in 
 what he knew of sympathetica! cures ; those that had 
 any powder of sympathy were desired to bring some 
 of it to the next meeting." '* The Duke of Buckinc:- 
 ham promised to cause charcoal to be distilled by his 
 chymist, and to bring into the Society a piece of 
 unicorn's horn." " Sir Kenelm Digby related that the 
 calcined powder of toads reverberated, applied in 
 bagges upon the stomach of a pestiferate body, cured 
 it by several applications." 
 
 " A circle was made with powder of unicorn's horn. 
 
 H: 
 
THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 21 
 
 lof 
 
 lin 
 
 id 
 
 ne 
 
 fr- 
 
 )f 
 
 le 
 
 in 
 
 d 
 
 and a spider set in the middle of it, but it immediately 
 ran out, several 1 times repeated. The spider once 
 made some stay upon the powder." "A letter \/as 
 introduced treating of a petrified city and its inhab- 
 itants." 
 
 " Sir Robert Moray, first President of the Royal 
 Society, signalized the meeting at which he was 
 elected by presenting a paper relating to harnacles, in 
 which he aflirmed that he had himself seen, in the 
 Western Isles of Scotland, trees, to which were attiiched 
 multitudes of shells, each containing a small but per- 
 fectly shaped sea-fowl, or solan-goose." 
 
 This is a curious list, but the museum formed soon 
 after the great fire would furnish an equally rare one, 
 for it contained, inter alia, " the stones taken out of 
 Lord Balcarres's heart, a bottle full of stags' tears, a 
 petrified fish, a petrified foetus." Nor had this museum 
 much to boast over its rival at Lambeth, called 
 Museuin Tradescantium, for it contained " two feathers 
 of the phoenix's tail, and a natural dragon." 
 
 Up to the middle of the 17th century. Natural 
 History and Science in general w^ere as wild and 
 ludicrous as the " Arabian Nights." The elephant 
 was then without joints, and to capture him you must 
 fell the tree against which he rests his stiff limbs in 
 sleep. The basilisk's breath or glance was deadly, and 
 men were struck dumb at the sight of a wolf. The 
 standard bill of fare of an ostrich of those days was 
 a set of horseshoes. To find a stork, you must 
 betake yourself to a Republic or a free State, so radical 
 was its politics. For the phcenix and the dragon, we 
 
 I! 
 
22 THE (.)W,I(JATIONS OF TKEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 li 
 
 M' ' 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 refer yoTi to royal museums. The griflin still abounded. 
 The chameleon lived on air alone. The vegetable 
 kingdom would enrich the collection, for among other 
 items of science we are informed that the mandrake 
 chooses its home under the gallows, and shrieks on 
 be'ng uprooted. Hence Shakespeare : 
 
 "And shrieks like mandrakes torn out of the earth 
 That living mortals liearin*; them run mad." 
 
 It formed part of Lord Bacon's celebrated prescrip- 
 tion for a witch's ointment which contained " henbane, 
 hemlock, mandrake, moonshade, tobacco, opium, and 
 other soporiferous medicines." Regarding the origin 
 of the organic world it is curious to observe that while 
 we are asked by science to say either " ovme vivum 
 ex ovo" or " oTnne vivutyi ex vivo'' Our ancestors 
 submitted to no such restraints. Nature was more 
 liberal in her favors — for our own Tyndale tells us 
 that " the spontaneous generation of creatures quite as 
 high as the frog was assumed for ages to be a fact. 
 For nearly two thousand years after Aristotle, men 
 found no difficulty in believing in spontaneous gene- 
 ration in cases of the most monstrous absurdity. Shell- 
 fish of all kinds were without parental origin. Eels 
 were supposed to spring spontaneously from the fat 
 ooze of the Nile. Caterpillars were the spontaneous 
 production of the leaves on which they fed. Whil 
 winged insects, rats, serpents, and mice were all 
 thought capable of being generated spontaneously." 
 When we remember that Nature's powers have become 
 so toned, that nothing higher than mere bacteria, 
 
THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 23 
 
 turn 
 
 tors 
 
 ore 
 
 us 
 e as 
 act. 
 
 en 
 ne- 
 ell- 
 
 els 
 
 fat 
 ous 
 
 il 
 
 all 
 
 y." 
 
 me 
 
 vibriones, or monads are claimed as spontaneous pro- 
 ducts now by her most ardent admirers, we are forced 
 to exclaim, " there were giants in those days." To 
 those in the Church who accepted the theory, the bees 
 in the carcass of Samson's lion, furnished satisfactory 
 evidence. 
 
 Such was the science of those days, and in the most 
 cultivated lands. These all confronted the Scientific 
 Association of England and Europe, and many a 
 strange subject occupied the attention of those pioneers 
 whose sole object was the elimination of error and 
 the establishment of truth. 
 
 It is of the utmost importance to remember that 
 neither directly nor indirectly was tlie influence of 
 of the Royal Society of London, the first, and in many 
 respects the noblest of them all, directed against the 
 Church or relijjion. Although the Church did not at 
 all times endorse or utilize their efibrts, as true 
 Christians, which the most and the ablest of them 
 were, they labored on, satisfied that a more rational 
 theology, and a purer religion would do justice to their 
 memories. Nearly all of that bright galaxy of original 
 explorers and experimenters of those centuries were 
 firm believers in Christianity, and among the original 
 members of the Royal Society might be found bishops 
 and others of the Church whose names are as house- 
 hold words. I emphasize this because from the spirit 
 of much of our modern science one would infer that 
 all advancement had originated outside of the Church 
 and against the spirit of Christianity. It is worthy of 
 notice also, that while the voice of science modified the 
 
ill' 
 
 
 94* THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 interpretation put upon certain portions of Scripture, 
 it to no appreciable extent lessened the reverence of 
 these great explorers and discoverers for Christian 
 truth. 
 
 This position is so strong that it is unnecessary to 
 press it. Scarce a name can be mentioned, that is 
 connected with any important discovery in science, 
 that was not a sincere Christian. One is tempted, 
 while standing within sight of Faraday Hall, to 
 illustrate by that most distinguished scientist. Says 
 Professor De la Rive of him, (in the Bibliotheque 
 Universelle, 1867.) " Faraday, was in fact, thoroughly 
 religious, and it would be a very imperfect sketch of 
 his life which did not insist on this peculiar 
 feature which characterized him. His Christian con- 
 victions occupied a great place in the whole of his 
 being, and he showed their power and sincerity by the 
 conformity of his life to his principles. He sought 
 the evidences of his faith in the revealed truths atwhich 
 he saw that the human mind could not arrive by 
 itself alone, even though they are in such great 
 harmony with that which is taught by the study of 
 Nature. Faraday showed by his example that the best 
 answer which a man of science can give to those who 
 assert that the progress of science is incompatible with 
 these convictions is to say to them, and yet I am a 
 Christian." 
 
 But while science was advanced by many who were 
 theologians, its methods of procedure differ toto coelo 
 from those of the theologian of that day, and for that 
 
 wii 
 
THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 25 
 
 to 
 
 reat 
 
 of 
 
 ieat 
 
 rho 
 
 lith 
 li a 
 
 iXQ 
 
 lelo 
 
 at 
 
 
 very reason it has rendered its greatest services to 
 theology. 
 
 The theological method, as the scholastic, was 
 essentially vicious. It inverted the true order of 
 things. It supposed truth, and also its interpretation 
 complete at first, and to eveiy question, had one 
 answer, quid dixit ? What said some teacher ? Then, 
 how has the Church interpreted him ? Tlie last 
 question was usually put first, " What has the Church 
 by her councils declared ? " When that was fully dis- 
 covered, all caviling was at an end, and further 
 questioning estopped. Reason was utterly out of 
 place, and patistic literature was the sine qua non of 
 hermeneutics. It is enouii-ii to make one shudder to 
 think that our theology has come down to us through 
 such hands, and. to make us scrutinize narrowly our 
 present inventory. The marks of those days, and of 
 that vicious system are visible still, and many a day 
 must elapse before Christendom is entirely freed from 
 the tyianny of authority. True science calls no man 
 master, and is always impatient of authority. It seeks 
 phenomena, and asks for opportunities of examining 
 them, and when hypothesis or theory is proposed it 
 betakes itself with eager feet to verify it. It prefers 
 facts to terms, reason tc authority, Nature to the 
 ancients, in a word, it experiments. To ask Chris- 
 tianity to submit to this course of procedure is to 
 classify it with all true sciences. 
 
 To deny the jurisdiction of reason in testing 
 Christianity and to follow the apologetic course that 
 has characterized more than a millenium of its history 
 
 M 
 
 -A 
 
I) i 
 
 :i 
 
 I; 
 
 I'll 
 
 I! 
 
 26 THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 is to rob it of its chief glory, and make it the by- 
 word of the skeptic. Not thus did Christ give it 
 to the worhl, nor was it meant thus to be received by 
 humanity. Not thus did it win its eaniest victories, 
 nor is it to-day making its grandest triumphs 
 where the authority of its teachers is magnified and 
 tiie evidence of its own power obscured. Remember 
 that Christ asked no man to believe in Him till 
 He had furnished <>"round for that belief. He con- 
 demned no man for ignoring His claims till He 
 had forced them to exclaim, " Wlien the Christ 
 Cometh will He do greater miracles than those which 
 this man hath done ? " or to affirm, " Never man 
 spake as this man," and when He says, " If I had not 
 come and spoken to them they had not had sin, but 
 now they have no cloke for their sin," and again, " If 
 I had not done among them the works which none 
 other man did, they had not had sin," He evidently 
 meant to tell us that the human mind had rights 
 which even He would not ignore. If those words 
 have any significance they assure us tnat when Christ 
 presented Himself as a Divine Teacher, He admitted 
 that the people had a right to see His credentials, 
 otherwise they wouhl be justified in repuaiating His 
 claims. Not traditional authority but calm and de- 
 liberate reason was to settle the question then, as un- 
 shackled reason must settle it for us to-day. It was 
 only the follower of tradition, the ignoble Pharisee, 
 who asked, " Have any of the rulers or of the Phari- 
 sees believed on Him ? " His attitude was, "If I do 
 not the works of my Father believe me not. But if I 
 
THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOCiY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 27 
 
 (( 
 
 ights 
 'Ords 
 Ihrist 
 litted 
 :ials, 
 His 
 de- 
 un- 
 was 
 lisee, 
 lari- 
 lldc 
 if I 
 
 do, believe the works, that ye may know and Vjelieve 
 that the Father is in Me and 1 in Hini." " The Fatlier 
 that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works. Believe Me 
 that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else 
 believe Me for the verv works' sake." Instead of 
 considering the miracles of Christ contrary to reason, 
 I look upon their, performance as the highest compli- 
 ment ever paid to human reason. Now Christianity 
 as thus given was not apologetic. It rec^uired no pre- 
 arrannjinTC of the wires or turninn^ down of the li<!ht. 
 "These things were not done in a corner." In 
 number and variety the works of Christ afrorde<l 
 abundant opportunity foi exposure at the hands of 
 the hostile Sauls, whose advantages had lieen immea- 
 surably greater than those of the Nazarene. There 
 was nothing cringing or obsequious on the part of 
 Christ or His followers in presenting His claims. They 
 boldly referred to Him as " 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." My object in referring to these wonders 
 is to show that authority had nothing to do with 
 gaining converts to Christianity, that the system 
 scorned extrinsic aids, wdiether of authority or the 
 sword. It offered phenomena then, and these works, 
 be it remembered, were denied by none during the 
 early Christian centuries, or until converts had been 
 multiplied in every civilized land. Men diliered as to 
 the explanation of the power, but none denied the 
 facts. When Peter w^as defending himself for preach- 
 ing to the Gentiles, he quotes no authority but says, 
 
 i ! 
 I ,1 
 
I , 
 
 I ' 
 
 i 
 
 
 28 THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 " While I spake the Holy Ghost fell on them as on us 
 at the beginning. Forasnnich then as God gave them 
 the like u^iftasunto us who believed on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, who was 1, that I could withstand God ? " 
 Convinced by the authority of facts the Church 
 prepared for her widened field of action. 
 
 But, as you may say these were special phenomena, 
 I shall refer to another class eciually susceptible of 
 the must rigid examination, and inse})arable concomi- 
 tants of Christianity. I mean its effects on those who 
 became Christians. The day was when no man knew 
 what Christianity would do, or how it would affect 
 the heart or the life. Its power was not seen or felt, 
 miracles were absolutely necessary then. Faith was 
 ins])ired by these wonders, a full belief of the truth 
 was reached, tlie heart was renewed, new hopes were 
 inspired, men became new creatures, and submitted to 
 new rules of conduct. They " rejoiced witli joy un- 
 speakable and full of glory, veceirAng the end of their 
 faith tlie salvation of their souls." Here are the most 
 important phenomena in Christianity, phenomena that 
 must remain long as it endures, always accessible to 
 the philosopher, always in the possession of the 
 Christian. Let me be more specific. What Chris- 
 tianity offers to the scrutiny of science in her most 
 rigid mood is the following : — A heart that was in 
 love with sin and its concomitants, so changed that 
 sin has become thoroughly distasteful, and right 
 doing a second natur'3. Selfishness has been replaced 
 by philanthropy, revenge by forgiveness, and the 
 lex talionis by the golden rule — and all this not as an 
 
^E. 
 
 THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 29 
 
 s on US 
 e them 
 cl Jesus 
 God ? " 
 Church 
 
 [louiena, 
 tihle of 
 oncoiiii- 
 ose who 
 III know 
 1(1 ati'ect 
 1 or felt, 
 lith was 
 le truth 
 ;)e8 were 
 litted to 
 joy un- 
 of their 
 [he most 
 ina that 
 ;sible to 
 of the 
 Chris- 
 
 er 
 
 most 
 
 was in 
 
 \ that 
 
 eo 
 
 |l right 
 iplaced 
 
 Ind the 
 t as an 
 
 exceptional case, but in every case when the heart has 
 been brought into sympathy with Christian truth. 
 If there be in all the realm of Nature a set of facts 
 capable of methodical and philosophical arrangemont, 
 Christianity contains these facts, and is, therefore, to 
 be ranked amoim' real science. I forii-et not the a^jes 
 during which piienomena were seldom or never referred 
 to, when her quickening power was entirely ignored 
 or denied, and pseudo miracles formed the stock-in- 
 trade to impress the ignorant and unenquiring masses 
 with the divine character of the Church. Oh, the 
 long and dreary night of almost total obscuration of 
 the Sun of Riofhteousness ! Hei'e and there the faint 
 glimmer of a star, the Albigen<'s, Waldenscs, or Lollards 
 — the seven thousand who had not bowed to the 
 image of human authority, and their fealty to truth 
 constituted them heretics. But even their theolooy had 
 little of the phenomenal in it. From the early cen- 
 turies until less than three centuries ago Christianity 
 was ofiered to the world more as a shelter a^'ainst "the 
 wrath to come," than as a purifier and sweetener of 
 UK'u's lives here. More for wliat it would bring to us in 
 the future state than for what it would make of us in 
 this. Its transforming power was hanlly ever referred 
 to, an i rarely indeed could a Christian be found who 
 would uiuster courage enough to assert a knowledge of 
 sins forij^iven, or a chami'o in the spirit of his mind. 
 
 O O i- 
 
 Such a stateiJient would have been denounced as pre- 
 sumptuous in the extreme. Ev^en less than two 
 hundred years auo when some minister in I^nnland 
 declared that all Christians experienced a change of 
 
30 THK ORTjrUTIOXS OF THEOT.OfJY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 heart and possessed a conscious knowledge of peace 
 with God, they were singled ont as tlie Imtt of the 
 ridicule and insnlt of almost the universal Church. 
 You might express your hopes touching the future, but 
 not your conscious experience in thc» voir. We need 
 not wonder that to the liberated intellect of the 17th 
 centrn-y, after the rise of t1u> inductive |)hilsophy and 
 the n,])plication of its method to ( 1iristianity,the Church 
 should in a large degree fall into contempt. What 
 did she present to the lionest enquire)- ;' A bleached 
 sk(deton for a li\'ing powoi*. an autlioritative dictum 
 foran enrjuiring v.'hy. Splendid ceremonies for simple 
 pietv, and torturino- fears for an honest doubt. The 
 inductive philosophy gave a new impulse to the spirit 
 of enquiry. Its birth was also the l)irth of skepticism, 
 for skepticism is to a certain extent an accom- 
 paniment of philosophy It is rational, yea religious, to 
 doubt until 3'OU have reasonable grounds for faith, 
 and if these l)e wanting, or covered up by the mantle 
 of authoritv, doubting is your normal condition. 
 Had the Church been alive when the inductive 
 philosoph}^ gained its great imjjulse, T venture the 
 thought that leligious skepticism had never l)een born. 
 The Encyclopedists of France, found rich food for 
 ridicule and wit, in the assumptions of a hierai-chy 
 that was rich in infallibility, pseudo mii-acles, and 
 post-mortem rewards. How many Voltaires do you 
 think would be found attacking Christianity when its 
 converts were being multiplied in the persons of those 
 whose hearts were really changed, and whose lives 
 were "living epistles known and read of all." A living, 
 
THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 81 
 
 peace 
 )f the 
 lurch, 
 •e, but 
 
 need 
 ^ 1 7th 
 y and 
 hnrch 
 What 
 cached 
 lictum 
 simple 
 The 
 ; spirit 
 
 icism, 
 ccom- 
 
 )US, to 
 
 faith, 
 nantle 
 lition. 
 active 
 e tlie 
 born, 
 d for 
 archy 
 and 
 ) you 
 en its 
 tliose 
 lives 
 ving, 
 
 loving, aggressive Church is seldom annoyed by in- 
 fidelity. It is in lands wIkm'o men worship by 
 statutory enactment or act of parliament, where the 
 living outflow of the heart is I'epi'essed by stereotyped 
 formula, or dammed up by ecclesiastic etiquette, that 
 inlidels and skeptic-^ alxjund. You may put in the 
 pulpit a Butler or a Paley with all their erudition and 
 lofific, or vou may ravish the heart of your audience 
 with the bewitching ehxpience of a Saurin, a Fenelon 
 or a Bossuet, and nt>ither the logic of the one, nor the 
 eloquence of the other will lessen the number of 
 skeptics as much as the simple, earnest, evangelical 
 address of the man who can point to his converts as 
 his " crown of rejoicing." A Christianity without 
 visible fruits is a hollow mockeiy% a vi-ry tantalus. It 
 is chemistry with(jut the laboratory. I respect the 
 skepticism that on a matter of so much importance as 
 religion, refuses to be put off with a 'post-mo rtrm veri- 
 fication, and I am giateful to Christ for saying, 
 "If any man wishes to do Mis will he shall know of 
 the doctrine." That principle brings the verification 
 of Christ's teaching to the consciousness of every 
 honest searcher after truth. Since the phenomenal 
 phase of Christianity has been g.iining prominence, 
 the system has been growing rapidly and steadily, and 
 old-fashioned objectiims are being laid aside as very 
 irrelevant. Is prayer really answered in the regenera- 
 tion of man's nature is the living question now, for 
 if that receives an affirmative response, all the. essential 
 claims of Christianity are admitted. 
 
 As believers in a living religion, we are glad that 
 
tl I 
 
 i 
 
 •I 
 
 
 32 THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 the issue is thus joined. Science appeals to phenomena 
 — unto phenomena she shall go. There is not to-day 
 in Christian lands an article of belief more unchal- 
 lenged than this, that God hears n id answers His 
 children If you ask for the grounds of this belief, 
 they will refer you to experience. The scientific 
 world could hardly ask more. Do you ask for the 
 character of the men, their calibre and culture, you 
 wdll find them peers of the realm. Does their belief 
 fluctuate ? If so, it is strongest in their most thought- 
 ful and serious hours, and gives inspiration to their 
 most heroic deeds. Did they always believe thus ? 
 No ! Many of them for years scofied at prayer, and 
 refused to bend the knee, but having experienced for 
 themselves declare, " the half was not told me." 
 
 Do you meet a man who having led a prayerful 
 life for a time, abandoned it ? He will admit that it 
 gave him his deepest comfort, his noblest inspiration, 
 his brightest hopes, and his purest motives — and more, 
 yea, overwhelmingly more, as a proof of its origin — it 
 required as an essential pre-requisite the utter abandon- 
 ment, ill thought and action, of everything believed 
 to be wrong, or even doubtful. '* If I regard iniquity 
 in my heart the Lord will not hear me." 
 
 But, perhaps, an objector may choose a change of 
 base, and say, " I admit that your witnesses are reliable, 
 also that they are too numerous and too varied in 
 their mental and moral idiosyncrasies to be all con- 
 sidered deceived. I admit also, that results the most 
 satisfactory follow prayer, but you are certainly 
 mistaken in your philosophy of the subject." 
 
THE OBLIOATTOXS OF THEOLOGY TO SCTEXCE. ^3 
 
 rful 
 
 ,t it 
 
 |tion, 
 
 lore, 
 
 it 
 
 ion- 
 
 ved 
 
 lity 
 
 of 
 [ble, 
 
 in 
 lon- 
 lost 
 (illy 
 
 I might despatch tlie Ccase now witii tlie romark, 
 tliat it is a curious anomaly of science to suppose tliat 
 tliose who liave never ])raved are the only ones wlio 
 undei'stand it, and tliat tlie millions who have 
 thorouu'hlv tested its value, are forced to sit at the 
 feet of those wlio have treated it with scofis and 
 sneers. Jjut even orantinir for the moment tliat we 
 are mistaken in our philosophy, there stand the ten 
 thousand times ten thousand witnesses deinandiniji: 
 recognition. It is replied that ' the divine interference 
 in prayer is purely imaginary, the good results are 
 sim])ly the reflex influence of the mental act in 
 prayer." That is, the soul is quickened, its aspirations 
 heightened, its desires after purity intensified, its love 
 of (jrod and man, of the true, the beautiful, nnd the 
 good deepened, and all as the legitimate outgro-'th of 
 a lie. All throuu'h the reflex influence of an act so 
 unphilosophical as to be condemned on a priori grounds. 
 
 Should it be still suggested that the elements of 
 prayer, whicli are in accordance with truth, produce the 
 beneficial results and neutralize the unphilosophical, I 
 rej^ly that unfortunately for the theory it is the part 
 considered essential by those who pray, that is <leclared 
 unphilosophical. Eliminate these features condemned 
 l)y the objector, and pray(M- disappears. It then de- 
 volves on him to produce from the residuum the effect 
 produced by prayer. 
 
 Longer I nee.l not tarry here. Pure science has not 
 a solitary protest against prayer. To phenomena she 
 directs a respectful hand and an enquiringeye, with scru- 
 pulous care does she guard them till a theory is found 
 2* 
 
w 
 
 34 THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 ,ii 
 
 
 11 
 
 explanatory of all. She may allow the ages to pass as 
 patiently she arranges the data of Nature, ami awaits 
 an interpretation, but no profane hand can do violence 
 to these data. T(j the gaze of science, which a false 
 ])hiIos()phy has outraged, I bring prayer and its con- 
 comitants. I present the testimony of the pui-est and 
 nol)lest of earth's heroes, " Men oF whom thi' world 
 was not worthy,'" 1 offer the li\ iug testimony of myriads 
 who to-day live on the spirit of prayer, heliesing as 
 fully in its etiicacy as in their own identity. 1 call at- 
 tention to the revivals of religion that have swe[)t over 
 our land, causing thousands of homes to rejcjice ; to the 
 thousands of all grades, thi^ cuhured, the retined, the 
 phiMsophical, the literary, the rich, the poor, the skep- 
 tical, the degraded, who have on their solemn profession 
 been elevated and comforted by prayer, and 1 ask 
 for a recognition of these facts, and a philosophy, if 
 possible. For these phenomena of soul, pure science a.s 
 patiently seeks a cause as for the fall of an apple, or 
 the revolution of the spheres. To ignore their existence 
 for want of an adetpiate cause, would be scientific 
 suicide. Atheistic science, the sensuous and material- 
 istic schools all lose their foundation if prayer be 
 admitted, hence the abov^e phenomena are denied, in 
 violation of the great philosophical principle of '' integ- 
 rity," that nil data uuist be considered bef(jre the law 
 be declared. 
 
 I would hardly be justified in taking a moment of 
 your time in answering the vulgar notion that since 
 the senses attest not spiritual things, they are conse- 
 quently clouded in uncertainty. (rrant that prayer 
 
 :• S 
 
THE OBLIGATlt)NS OF THKOLOGY TO SCIEXCE. 35 
 
 le, or 
 [once 
 litific 
 Ivial- 
 
 1)6 
 
 |l, in 
 
 law 
 
 It of 
 ince 
 i\se- 
 Lyer 
 
 accoiuplislios wliat is (.'laiuicfl \\ \- it, iianu'ly, the re- 
 newal of man's nature, tln^ removal of his sense of 
 condeiimation, the entire chan^'e of his hopes and fears, 
 of his as|)irations and purposes.. What sense could at- 
 test it ^ VV'iiat sense attests love or hate ? Would you 
 ask the eye al)out harniDiiy ;* or tho ear ahout colours, 
 or odors ? When in answer to the (piestion, " How do 
 you know you are henetitcd \)y ])iaver ? " nn* cloud of 
 witnesses reply, " We are conscious of it — we feel it," 
 they have given at once the most fauiiliai-, the most 
 philosophical, and the most cogent reason. Conscious- 
 ness is the one witness that can neither he hluffed nor 
 bought. You see I risk evei^y tiling on phenomena, 
 and in doinrj so join the liands of a rational science and 
 a living (vhristianitv. " Whom Uod liath joined toirether 
 let not man put asundei'." But true science exposes 
 a d(jad Church, as a living Church laughs at a false 
 science. "What will you do with a Church that is 
 destitute of spiritual power ^ That never talks of 
 revivals or answers to prayer ^ " " Let Baal plead for 
 himself," I answer, in the words of Joash. 1 adduce 
 it not in such a discussion as this, any more than I 
 would exhibit befoi'e you a corpse to illustrate the 
 agility, strength, or intellectual scope of a man. " What 
 can sucli a Church do?" It can invite the Great 
 Quickener,, and arise from the dead ; or it may busy 
 itself in endless genealogies, in perfecting its ceremonies, 
 in seeking how closely it may imitate the Church of 
 the Middle Ages, and yet appear in harmony with a 
 Christian renaissance — we use not the dead but the 
 Hving in our discussion. We seek not the living 
 
i : 
 
 ! 
 
 ( 
 
 I 
 
 '«' 
 
 i:n 
 
 36 THE onLIOATIONS OF THEOLOrjY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 among the dead. And of Churches we would say as 
 of organic nature omne vhmm ex vivo. 
 
 Science is deservinnr of our lastin<' esteem and trrati- 
 
 O ~ O 
 
 tude, for liaving given to tlie world more rational 
 conceptions of the universe, and its Author and Con- 
 troller. It has laid us under pepetual obligations to it, 
 by carrying even to our holy oi holies its most exact- 
 in <r tests It has taken from the heart of tlie Church 
 a load that would have crushed a very Atlas, in the 
 snapping of human authority, and the assertion of in- 
 tellectual freedom, a freedom without wliich religion 
 is the veriest absurdity, and it has yet a service to 
 render that will prove of incalculable value, in leading 
 the Church to discriminate between what is essential 
 in Christianity and Avhat is not. I would apply Mr. 
 Mill's (Janon of Inductive inquiry to our theology. 
 Here is a man with strong leanings towards Apostolic 
 Succession, Infant Baptism, and Eternal Punishment 
 as conscious torment. Here is another who agrees 
 with him on neither the first nor the last doctrine, 
 and yet " God who knoweth the heart puts no diifer- 
 ence between them but purifies both by faith." 
 
 Now,Mr. Miil's 1st Canon "the method of agreement," 
 would suggest at once that those doctrines about which 
 they differ were not essentials, that it must have been 
 those on wdiich they agreed that wrought the beneficial 
 result. They agreed on baptism. But there must have 
 been some other element more essential ; for here is a 
 third Christian, as surely converted as either, and he 
 differs from them in being an anti Pedo-baptist. Urgo, 
 af^reement on baptism is not^^essential. More, that 
 
 w^^^ 
 
THE OnUGATIONS OF THEOLOfiY TO sriENCE. 
 
 37 
 
 |nt," 
 lich 
 [een 
 Icial 
 lave 
 is a 
 
 he 
 [go, 
 
 lat 
 
 ' 
 
 
 neither of the other questions is truly essential. 
 Press the Canon still further, and it will he f<)iin<l that 
 among God's nohility, among those who have passed 
 from darkness to light men <litfer, and that very 
 widely on all questions, except a v<;ry few. Hence 
 we are forced to infer that those form what may be 
 considered essential truth. That (Jod hates sin, Imt 
 loves his creatures, and would have all men saved. 
 That he has revealed himself to the world in the person 
 of Christ. That faith in Christ saves from sin and re- 
 generates the nature. That the Scriptures contain all 
 necessary truth. That there will be a future life in 
 which we shall receive the leo-jtimate results of our 
 conduct here. Outside^ this circle lies the Campus 
 Martins of polemical theology, and it is sad to see the 
 number that spend life there, armed c((p a pie, for joust 
 or tournament, theological gladiators, with a fair sprink- 
 ling of heresy-hunters. Now science would suggest 
 that the Church be broad enough to contain all w^ho 
 love the Lord Jesus in sincerity, and evidence this love 
 in life. 
 
 Unity in variety is Christian unity, and the Christian 
 camp will always furnish opportunity for the exercise 
 of a charity that shall cover a multitude of diversity 
 of opinion on matters non-essential, while the unbroken 
 body of CJhrist stands shoulder io shoulder with the 
 face to the connnon foe. The rank and file of the 
 Church, and let me say, our Anglo-Saxon common- 
 sense are calling aloud for a shortening and simplifying 
 of creed, and a more practical union of our forces. In 
 this matter the children of this world are wiser than 
 

 I 
 
 i 
 
 
 'i 
 
 38 THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 the children ofliijlit. Tru(\ we lifive Evangelical AUi- 
 ances, and the representative men of the different 
 brandies, sniilinf^^ complacently, talk pleasantly of each 
 other. But they part, and rival each other in their 
 zeal, in perpetuating their peculiarities. Progressive 
 science offers us a hint here, that we cannot much 
 lon<?er io-nore. 
 
 I fancy I hear some say, " Well, if science has made 
 us her debtor, the account is more than squared by the 
 damages we could claim for injuries inflicted upon 
 theology in her name." 
 
 " In addition to the discredit thrown upon a particu- 
 lar providence and answers to prayer, she has removed 
 the Creator by her evolutionism." 
 
 All this 1 promptly and empliatically deny, and in 
 the name of science too. There can be no denial of 
 design, or final cause in nature, nor can there l)e a denial 
 of the phenomemt of prayer. All that science assumes 
 is that whatever occurs takes place by the reign of law. 
 Then I am reminded of the needless fears of the Church 
 in the past. 
 
 Astronomy insisted upon the trip lieing made by the 
 eartli, instead of the sun. Geology repudiated the six 
 literal days The theory of plenary or verbal inspira- 
 tion had doubts thrown on it. The universality of the 
 deluge was doubted, then denied. Still God reigns, 
 and Christianity lives. Vain our fears, and weak oar 
 faith ; as tire to the oold dimmed bv admixture, as win- 
 nowing to the golden grain, has the light of inquiry 
 been to (Christian and Biblical truth. And should the 
 day come when it shall have been proved to the satis- 
 
THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 39 
 
 of 
 
 ix 
 a- 
 
 le 
 
 1- 
 
 y 
 
 e 
 
 faction of men that all tliat has ever occurred can be 
 referred to natural laws, it will not necessitate a doubt 
 regarding (Christ's works, or the efficacy of prayer- 
 It would simply inv^olve a new definition of a miracle. 
 I know^ not that one soul less would pray because he 
 had learned that his prayer was answered by natuial 
 instead of special law. Let intlexil)le law reii:n every- 
 where, who wdll reject it, provided that hearts can still 
 be changed, sorrows alleviated and removed, ambitions 
 aroused and ennobled ^ 
 
 1 hardly think that we ought to enter oui' protest 
 against God's evolving this univers(3, and us, as a part 
 of it, by original law. To say the least, it is too late 
 in the day for such an attitude. As searchers after 
 truth, what right have we to a preference as to the 
 modus opeiandi of the Creator i I am no evolutionist, 
 although iirmly believing in progressive grades, but I 
 can see nothing in the attitude of pure science to 
 alarm any intelligent Christian. If science can j>rove 
 evolution true, I wish it were done to-day, for rest, 
 assured every error obscures t(j some extent the face 
 of truth, and mars its synunetry. But must theology 
 trim itself to accept the doctrine of evolution and 
 cognate results ? Not yet, I think. What have we 
 forcinof us to such a conclusion ? A undtitude of 
 facts clamouring for a theory ? No ; but a theory 
 looking for the first fact to support it. In a word, it is 
 the inductive philosophy reversed, and science enters 
 her solemn protest. Man is separated from the 
 molecule by at least two links. Both being furnished, 
 science could hardly insist upon a third. One, the 
 
40 THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENXK'. 
 
 IH' 
 
 passage from Mie inorganic to the organic ; the other 
 the transmutation of one species into another. Now, 
 it can hardly be considered unreasonable to ask for 
 one case of each. Were even one furnished, the 
 question would be forever settled. The fact that we 
 are compelled to wait for both of the links, should 
 moderate the ardour of those who declare it is a settled 
 question. We appeal to those who have made micros- 
 copy 'And natural histoiy a life work, and they tell us 
 that protoplasm is inorganic, spontaneous generation a 
 theory, and that even if we had been favoi'e<l with a 
 start from the inorganic, through eith'^r of these 
 means, embryology and paleontology, or nature, V>oth 
 living and dead, repudiates the evolution theory. 
 
 Huxley himself admits, " It is my cl«^ar conviction 
 that as the evidence now stands, it is not absolutely 
 proven that a group of animals having all the char- 
 acteristics exhibited by species in nature, has ever 
 been originated by selection, whether artilieial or 
 natural," and if true of animals, it is equally true of 
 plants. "Not a single instance of one species changing 
 into another has yet been found." Both l^'arwin and 
 his disciples admit that geology furnishes not one 
 solitary illustration. This link is wanting. As to the 
 first link, hear Tyndale himself, in closing an address 
 at the Royal Institution. "I hardly think it necessary 
 to summarize up what has been brought before you. 
 In fact, the whole is but the summing up of eight 
 months of incessant labour. From the bei^inninf; to 
 the end of the enquiry, there is not, as you have seen, 
 a shadow of evidence in favor of the doctrine of spon- 
 
THE OBLIGATIONS OF THKOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 41 
 
 taneous generation. There is, on the contrary, over- 
 whelming evidence against it. But do not carry away 
 with you the idea sonietiiiies erroneously ascribed to 
 me, that I deem spontaneous generation iiiii)ossible, or 
 that I wish toliniio the power of Nature in relation to 
 life. My views on tlie subject ought to be well known. 
 But possibility is one thing, and proof is another, and 
 when in our day I seek for experimental evidence of 
 the transmutation of the non-ii\ing into the living,! 
 am led inexorably to the conclusion that no such 
 evidence crisis, a^nd that in the lowest as in the highest 
 of organic creatures, the method of nature is that life 
 shall be the issue of antecedent life." I may add that 
 since the above was written, Tyndale has pursued the 
 matter still further, putting it to tests more crucial 
 than any ever before applied, with results entirely 
 confirmatory of the above. The first link is, as you 
 see, also wanting. It is really refreshing to turn from 
 the dogmatic assumptions of the lesser lights in science, 
 to such men as Tyndale, Huxley, and Darwin, and to 
 listen to their own admissions. Hear another. One 
 acknowledged the world over as standing in the very 
 front rank amonoj scientists —a teacher of teachers — a 
 man who by his own experiments and ol)servations has 
 furnished many a scientist with the materials for his 
 books and lectures. I rel'er to Professor V^ircliow, of 
 the University of Berlin. He is considered, I think, 
 the highest living authority on the origin of man, so 
 far as science knows anything about it. Recently, he 
 took occasion to rebuke a spirit which Mas bringing, 
 as he thought, true science into contempt by affirming 
 
 : 
 
 S ■ 
 
 t: > 
 
 « Wt 
 
I 
 
 m 
 
 ^ ■■ 
 
 42 THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 a,s science wliat was onlv in tho condition of crude 
 hypothesis, and in doing so, emphasized the following 
 statement : " Until the long series of scientiiic enquiry 
 necessary to prove the protoplastic soul has ])een suc- 
 cessfully conducted do not teach it." " We have no 
 proof of spontaneous generation, and true science can 
 afford to wait." "Scientific men know n<jthino: whatever 
 
 CD 
 
 of the connection of the organic and the inorganic, and 
 whatever their theories or speculations, they must not 
 teach them as science." Of the physical basis of mind, 
 taught by Dr. Carpenter, and several other prominent 
 physicians, he says, 'This is but a problem of science 
 and thus far an insoluble one; seai'ch for it, but do not 
 teach it." And when he reaches his own specialty, 
 the origin of man, he says, while acknowledging his 
 sv»iipathy with the theory that would connect men 
 with the ape. " Every positive advance made in pre- 
 historic anthi'opology has removed us further from 
 the proof of any such connection. The fossil men of 
 the remotest ages are just such men as we. They 
 have heads that many of us would be happy to carry 
 on our shoulders. There is a complete absence of any 
 fossil evidence of a lower order of men than now 
 exists, or of any connection between man and any other 
 verbetrate animal." He thus remonstrates against 
 teaching as the utterances of science, the doctrine of 
 evolution, the protoplastic soul, spontaneous generation, 
 a pliysical basis of mind, and the animal origin of 
 man. 
 
 1 nuist add a later admission from Professor 
 Tyndale in the Fortnightly Review : — " If asked 
 
THE OBLIGATTOVS OF THEOLOGY TO SCEENCE. 
 
 43 
 
 le 
 
 men 
 
 pre- 
 
 t'rom 
 
 !n of 
 
 friiey 
 
 barry 
 
 any 
 
 now 
 
 >tlier 
 
 inst 
 
 te of 
 
 :ion, 
 
 of 
 
 |ssor 
 ked 
 
 whether science has solved or is likely in our day to 
 solve the problem of the universe, I must shake my 
 head in doubt. Behind, and above, and around us the 
 real mystery of the universe lies unsolved, and as far 
 as we are concerned is incapable ol' sohition. The 
 problem of the connection of body and soul is as 
 insoluble in its modern form, as it was in the prescien- 
 tific ages. 
 
 " There ought to be a clear distinction made between 
 science in a state of hypothesis, and science in a state 
 of fact. 
 
 " And inasmuch as it is still in its hypothetical 
 stage the ban of exclusion ought to fall upon the 
 theory of evolution, 
 
 " The theory of evolution applied to the primitive 
 condition of matter, belongs to the dim twilight of con- 
 jecture, and the certainty of experimental enquiry is 
 here shut out. 
 
 " Those who hold the doctrine of evolution, are by 
 no means ignorant of the uncertainty of their data, 
 and they yield to it only a provisional assent. 
 
 " In reply to your question they will frankly admit 
 their inability to point to any satisfactory experimental 
 proof that life can be developed save from demonstra- 
 ble antecedent life. 
 
 " I share Virchow's opinicm that the tlieory of evo- 
 lution in its complete Form involves the assumption, 
 that at some period of the world's history, there oc- 
 curred what would now be called spontaneous genera- 
 tion. I agree with him that the proofs of it are still 
 wanting. 
 
 
 ! i 
 
44 T}JE OCLKiATIONS OF THEOLULiV TO SCIENCE. 
 
 " I hold with Yinjhow that the failures have been 
 lamentable, that the doctrine is utterly discredited." 
 
 These extracts show that our fears touching science 
 are all unnecessary and uiueasonable ; but had 1 a 
 different set to quote, it should not alter tlu; case. We 
 should be glad to be shown our errors, and if we are 
 clinging to any, they can be oidy sources of weakness 
 to us. There are no men rendering better service to 
 the cause of truth than those who patiently apply 
 their mature minds to the settling of such questi(msas 
 this. It is all in our favour that they are so little in- 
 terested in religion as to have scarce a theological bent. 
 What we want is the un<loubted utterance of Nature. 
 Pre-eminent specialists are they all, whose decisions 
 are almost final. 
 
 To sum up this part, true science has not affected to 
 the weight of a gossamer any essential truth of Chris- 
 tianity. It has, we are glad to say, abated .somewhat 
 our ardour in speculative theology. 
 
 A few words more and I am done. Science is the ap- 
 plication of common sense to nature. Theology ought 
 to be the application of common .sense to matters spiri- 
 tual and divine. Science rests on the firm foundation of 
 experiment. Theology, as far as it is of practical benefit, 
 has the same basis. Science was called from its 
 empty and barren theorizing to the study of Kature, 
 and since the day .she responded to the call has pre- 
 sented vitality and synnnetry. Theology, so far as she 
 has listened to the Master's voice to " prove all things," 
 and " hold fast the good ;" to " taste and see that the 
 Lord is good," and to cease busying herself about " end- 
 
THE OBLIGATIONS OF THEOLOGY TO SCIENCE. 
 
 45 
 
 liri- 
 of 
 
 I its 
 
 |re, 
 
 •c- 
 
 llie 
 
 •") 
 lie 
 
 less genoalof,aes " and " words to no pvolit," to interpret 
 " the letter that killeth " by "the Spirit that givetli life," 
 has aiforded glimpses of her own native attractions, 
 in lier own beautiful (garments. Science is God's one 
 hand, theology the other. It is only when the hands 
 are clasped that the circle of truth is complete. Saci'ed 
 the one as the other, both call for the unsandaled feet 
 and tlie uncovere<l head. I am jxlad that when the 
 theological depaitment was inaug\nate<l, Faraday Hall 
 stood u}) by its side, the l>ride adoi'ued for her husband, 
 each in its native attractions, winning and holding 
 the love of the other. It is a pitiiable sight to see a 
 Christian afi-aid or ashamed of his Father's autograph 
 in Nature. It is eipially pitiable to see the scientist 
 struggle to reduce himself to a clod. Let them join 
 hands. Wlien a better understanding hath been reached 
 in both kingdoms, we may expect the day when every 
 jarring chord shall be reduced toharmony,and through 
 the whole circle of hmnan thoujjfht we shall hear the 
 music of the spheres, the grand TeDcwnioi intellectual 
 and spiritual symmetry, the rational adoration of Him 
 whose thouofhts are the oriijin of the known as well as 
 the unknowable. 
 

 THE 
 
 Jibinc Call to ik Pintstri): 
 
 OF 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. E. B. RYOKMAN, D.D., F.T.L. 
 
™i *' 
 
 $■ I 
 
SEEMON. 
 
 m 
 
 Cl^c gibinc Call to tbc Uliuistvir. 
 
 The Holy Ghost hath made you overseers. — Ads xx. 28. 
 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ. — 2 Cor. v. 20. 
 
 An unsent or self-sent ambassador would be an 
 absurdity. St. Paul claims that his ambassadorship 
 was authorised directly from heaven. He speaks of 
 himself, again and again, as " called iin apostle of Jesus 
 Christ by the will of God," " not of men, neither by 
 man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Fatlier who 
 raised Him from the dead." He acknowledges the 
 apostleship of his brethren in the college of spostles, 
 because they had been personally commissioned by the 
 Lord, but claims that he too had seen the Lord, and 
 received a personal commission. "Christ sent me . . 
 to preach the Gospel (1st Cor. i. 17). In like manner he 
 affirmsthat the pastors of the Church at Ephesus, whom 
 he calls " elders " and " bishops," were appointed to their 
 station by the Lord Jesus Christ, not personally, but 
 by His personal successor, " the executive of the God- 
 head," the Holy Ghost — " Take heed, therefore, unto 
 yourselves, and to all the flock ovor which the Holy 
 8 
 
I J 
 
 'I! .: 
 
 50 
 
 THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 li 
 
 Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of 
 God which He liatli purchased with His own l)lood." 
 
 The Ministry of the Gospel, tlierefore, is a divine 
 vocation. is not tlie l)ii'thri<j:lit oF a tribe or a 
 
 family, as iii Old Tcstaiiicnt tinl(^s. It is not a (lis- 
 tinction to descend from father to son, like a title of 
 nohility in modern times. Neither is it a mere pro- 
 fession, which a man may choose for himself, according 
 to his own taste or inteiest ; foi* the duties of which 
 he may become qualified by stuvly, pains, and time ; 
 and which he may continue to follow or may relin- 
 quish any moment at his pleasure. Much less is it an 
 expedient t which a sentimental daintiness, or love of 
 learned k ; may resort, in order to escape the 
 fretting and toil, tho conflict and care, of every-day 
 life. It is a pastorship, a stewardship, an ambassador- 
 ship for God. Such are the leading views of it which 
 the Scriptures give. Its functions must be admitted 
 to be the most dignifying and blessed that a man can 
 exercise. They are also the weightiest and most sacred. 
 — {WeHleyan Methodid Magazine.) 
 
 In its very nature the Christian Ministry supposes 
 a divine designation, authorization, and warrant. No 
 abilities, natural or accpaired, no merely human en- 
 couragements and sanctions, can, of themselves, con- 
 stitute the right to assume the office, or confer the 
 qualifications necessary for fulfilling its duties. The 
 w^ords of St. Paul touching anotlier office, the High 
 Priesthood, are quite applicable here, — "No man taketh 
 this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, 
 as was Aaron ; '"' or, as John Newton has said, " None 
 
THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY 
 
 51 
 
 but he who made the world can make a minister of 
 the Gospel." 
 
 Under what particular form a call to the ministry 
 is to be looked foi* and reco<jjnized ; what are its proper 
 signatures, certificates, and vouchers ; Iiow th(^ Cvhurch 
 of Christ may distinguish ; how those who believe 
 themselves to be the subjects of such a call may them- 
 selves distinguish between an imaginary call and a 
 real one, a spurious and a genuine one, aie (juestions 
 which are often asked, but not easily answered so as 
 to cover all possible instances ; yet there are certain 
 well-detined tests which reason and Scripture are 
 agreed to hold as of universal application in the case. 
 
 We shall speak of the evidences of a iJivine Call t(j 
 the Ministry under two heads, namely : — 
 
 I. Evidences by which the subject himself should 
 be assured of the validity of the call ; and 
 
 II. Evidences by which the. Church should be satis- 
 tied in recognizing and countersigning the call. 
 
 I. The evidences to the subject himself we shall 
 discuss under two heads, namely, the Internal and the 
 External Call ; or, the Voice of God and the Voice of 
 the Church. 
 
 1. The Internal Call is the word and power of the 
 Holy Ghost impressing the heart, influencing the will, 
 directing the judgment, and conveying personal (|uali- 
 tications. If a man be called of God to the ministry, 
 there will be produced on his mind, by the Holy Ghost, 
 the impression that it is his duty to consecrate his 
 powers and his life to that work ; not only that he 
 ought diligently to employ his powers in bringing 
 
62 
 
 THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 ^ 
 
 I'i' 
 
 III: 
 
 souls to Christ, for every Christian must feel that he 
 is under obligation to do that ; but that it is his duty 
 to make the ministry of the Gospel the one engage- 
 ment of his life, saying, — 
 
 " 'Tis all my business here below, 
 To cry, ' Behold the Lamb.'" 
 
 Now there must be this individual conviction of 
 such divine designation. The Church would clearly 
 go beyond its province were it absolutely and alone to 
 determine who are called to till this sacred office. It 
 is evident that the adoption of this principle would, 
 by a moral necessity, make the voice of the pulpit, 
 and all ministerial action, little more than the 
 reflex of the opinions and character of the Church 
 for the time being ; it would set aside the pre- 
 rogatives of the individual conscience and the sense 
 of personal obligation to God in a domain where their 
 rights have special claims to be heard and respected. 
 It would draw a broader line of distinction between 
 the ministry of the Jewish and that of the Christian 
 Church, than the Word of God either demands or 
 sanctions. It would put Christ's headship over His 
 Church into commission within a sphere where many 
 of His own declarations lead us to look for its most 
 direct and authoritative exercise. It would reduce 
 the action of the Holy Ghost, in one of His chief 
 functions, to the level of the common cuurse of Pro- 
 vidence. It would involve the absurdity of the flock, 
 not the Proprietor, appointing their Shepherd ; the 
 household, not the Lora of it, determining who shall 
 manage his affairs ; the people, to whom ambassadors 
 
 
THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 53 
 
 their 
 cted. 
 Iween 
 stian 
 s or 
 His 
 lany 
 most 
 (luce 
 Ichief 
 Pro- 
 ock, 
 the 
 Ishall 
 idors 
 
 
 are sent in the way of grace, dictating to the Prince 
 who commissions them, whom he shall choose to nego- 
 tiate on his behalf. 
 
 Nor may parents, even godly parents, set apart 
 one of their most stupid sons, not likely to shine 
 in another profession, or to succeed in business, 
 nor yet one of their most brilliant sons, as a preacher 
 of the Gospel. God-fearing parents may conse- 
 crate their children from the hour of birth, and may 
 pray that God would honour them with a call to 
 the ministry ; but fond parental desires and ambitions, 
 however well meant, partake of the nature of a serious 
 impertinence when they forestall the action of the 
 Holy Ghost, and thrust one whom they may choose into 
 the sacred office. Nor, as we have said, may any in- 
 dividual consult his own preferences, tastes, or ambi- 
 tions in this matter. The honest belief of the subject 
 that he is especially called to this work is surely indis- 
 pensable to his undertaking it ; for he who does not 
 believe himself so called cannot but be an intruder 
 into God's heritage, and however solenmly ordained, 
 by whatever branch of the Church, his ordination is, 
 ipso facto, vitiated and of none effect. 
 
 We s >eak of this inward Divine conviction first, 
 because it is first, first always in point of importance, 
 and, with rare exceptions, first also in order of time. 
 In the great majority of cases where there is a Divine 
 call, it is felt by the young convert constraining and 
 encouraging him in his earliest eftbrts to win souls for 
 Christ ; and in some instances burdening the conscience 
 of the sinner for years prior to his conversion, with 
 

 'M 
 
 :i t 
 
 M 
 
 !• 
 
 i '! 
 
 54 
 
 THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 the conviction that he nu^ht to give himself to God 
 not only, but to the ministry also. Many a faithful 
 and divinely-honoured minister, the evidences of whose 
 call have brii,^htened all along the path of his life-work, 
 has testified that he withheld heart, and soul, and 
 service from his Lord for many years, because he 
 was convinced that if converted he must consent to 
 preach the Gospel, while there were other lines of life 
 more alluring to his worldly mind. But, come when 
 it may, it is first always in importance. If a servant 
 of Christ, liviuii' in communion with his Saviour, is 
 thus inwardly impressed, he may proceed with con- 
 fidence to his work. Yea, he must do so. He may not 
 have as yet all the evidences of a call to the ministry, 
 but the voice of the Lord rinofing: in the chambers of his 
 soul is of paramount authority. But wanting this, let 
 him beware how he attends to the counsels and opinions 
 of ministers and other friends, which ofttimes are but 
 ill-considered and dangerous flatteries, lest he make his 
 whole life one prolonged, comprehensive blunder, by a 
 blunder at the bea'innino;. 
 
 But, it may be asked, " Ls not here the principle of 
 all fanaticism ? Does not this leave the truth of Christ 
 and the best interests of mankind at the mercy cf a 
 host of morbid fancies, dreams, and misguided aspira- 
 tions ? How is one to know that his impression is 
 from God, and is not an imagination of his own mind, 
 or even a temptation of the devil ? " 
 
 (a) We reply that the Spirit of God, who speaks in 
 this case, is capable of making Himself understood. 
 A truly Divine call is, first of all; self-evidential. It 
 
THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 55 
 
 brings with it its own credentials. Of course, it is as- 
 sumed that the subject is livings a life of obedience, is 
 accustomed to communion with God througli the 
 Divine Spirit, is one to wliom tlie movenu-nts of the 
 Spirit in his heart area familiar experience, is desirous 
 of knowinfj God's will concerninG: him, and ijravingf, 
 "Lord, what would'st thou have me to do?" The 
 Spirit of the Lord said to Philip, " Go near, join thyself 
 to this chariot." Buu Philip was in the way of obedience. 
 An angel had previously said to him, " Arise, and 
 go toward the south, unto the \vay that t'joeth down 
 from Jerusalem unto Gaza." And he was going, not 
 knowino; how far he was to no, nor what he was to 
 do. Then the Spirit said, " Go near, join thyself to 
 this chariot." What was this but an impression 
 (offensive. as the word is to some persons when em- 
 ployed in this sense) so strong and clear, that he had 
 no doubt of its being from God I St. Paul prayed 
 thrice for the removal of his troublesome thorn It 
 was not removed. God answered his prayer better 
 than he thouoht. He lets the thorn remain, but 
 nuliihes the evil by enriching His servant with more 
 abundant grace. St. Paul's own account of it is 
 exceedingly impressive : " And He said to me, My 
 grace is sufficient for thee." And how did the Lord 
 Jesus say this to St. Paul ? By an outward, audible 
 voice? No, but by what we might call an inward 
 voice. Directly, by His Spirit, He gave His servant 
 intelligible, sufficient answer to his prayer. Let a 
 child of God say, " Speak, Lord, for Thy servant 
 heareth," and he may as clearly cognize the Spirit's 
 
56 
 
 THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 1 , ' 
 
 ili 
 
 word in his soul as I -lip or Paul. Nay, men have 
 ot'ttimes wished to shake off' this impression, and 
 have striven variously to do so, and to persuade them- 
 selves that it was not from God, but all in vain, 
 feeling more and more, " woe is unto me, if I preach 
 not the Gospel." 
 
 But the Christian heart is accessible to the suo-cjes- 
 tions of the devil, and it may be asked how one 
 can distinguish between these and the movements 
 of the Holy Ghost. If one has begun to listen to the 
 divine voice, he will recognize familiar tones. The 
 voice that now urges so gently, yet persistently, " You 
 ought to preach the Gospel," he recognizes as the 
 very voice that for years continued to say " You ought 
 to be a Christian." But cannot Satan simulate the 
 divine voice ? Yes. In the w^estern wilds the blood- 
 thirsty panther so exactly imitates the wail of a lost 
 child, that the unsuspecting traveller is turned aside 
 from his path by compassionate feeling, and lured 
 to his death. But the old hunter is not deceived. 
 He has heard that cry before. So the unspiritual, the 
 unwatchful, the selfish, the sinful, may be deceived by 
 the devices of the adversary, but not the child of God 
 in communion with his Father. He has the advantage 
 of knowing his foe and his true outwardness, because 
 his senses have been exercised to discern both good 
 and evil. In a word, when God speaks in the human 
 soul. He speaks with authority so unmistakable as 
 to distinguish His utterances from the phantasies of 
 our own minds, and the deceptions of Satan. The 
 intonations of His voice are so peculiar as to be 
 
 M: 
 
w 
 
 age 
 luse 
 ood 
 nan 
 
 as 
 s of 
 The 
 
 be 
 
 THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 o7 
 
 recognized sooner or later as clearly as when He 
 walked in Eden and conversed with our first parents. 
 We say sooner or later, because God may make the 
 manner of His address to our consciousness a part 
 of our discipline. His first utterances may be faint 
 and indistinct, in order to test the promptness and 
 willingness of our obedience to the divine mandate ; 
 but the more promptly and unselfishly we obey, the 
 more clearly will the path of duty appear, and the 
 more certainly we shall know as we follow on to 
 know the Lord. 
 
 (6) But this persuasion wrought in one's mind l)y 
 the Spirit will be corroborated in a great variety 
 of ways. Answers will be given to prayer, and the 
 utterances of Scripture will be powerfully applied 
 to the mind. One says (Rev. Owen Stockton) : " I set 
 apart a day for fasting and prayer, to ask counsel 
 of God whether I should preach or not, and by power- 
 fully impressing on my mind these Scriptures He 
 showed uie my duty — ' As much as lieth in you feed 
 the Hock ;' ' Necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is 
 unto me if I preach not the Gospel;' 'In the morning 
 sow thy seed ;' " and other passages are quoted by him 
 in the same connection. 
 
 A young man attending, in former years, that Uni- 
 versity had strong apprehensions of his designation 
 to the ministry, even prior to his conversion. After 
 he had experienced a change of heart he felt willing 
 to follow Christ any whither, but seriously doubted 
 his call. He believed, however, that he might ol^tain 
 direction, and, therefore, fasted and prayed and waited 
 3* 
 
w 
 
 n 
 
 i'fe 
 
 58 
 
 THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 upon God ; and at length gave himself to the Church, 
 to be put into the ministry, fully convinced that tliat 
 was the will of God concerning him. But no sooner 
 had he conformed to the initial recjuirements than 
 misgivings such as he had nevei' experienced V)efore 
 took possession of his mind. They wei-e over- 
 whelming. For the moment, the devil had clothed 
 himself with light. At a late hour one evening, 
 fearing that after all his fasting and pi'aying he 
 had taken the wrcmg step at last, he was mentally 
 discussino- measures bv which he might vmdo what 
 he had done, when in great perplexity and distress 
 he took up his Bible, and, falling upon his knees, 
 aske«l God foi- light and direction ; then opening the 
 Book he began to read, " Blow ye the trumpet in 
 Zion, sound an alarm in My holy mountain." To him 
 it was as the voice of God. His doubts were dis- 
 sipated and never returned. His convictions were 
 established. Now we do not commend Bibliomancy, 
 nor believe in haphazard with the Word of God, 
 a book for study and not for divination ; nevertheless 
 the Spirit who inspired the Word, and inspires the 
 loving heart, speaks in the Word and in the heart 
 with harmonious accord. 
 
 (c) Moreover, this impression may be known to be 
 genuine because it is an impulse proceeding, not upon 
 considerations of self-interest, nor of desire to provide 
 for one's self and family, motives innocent, }'ea, laud- 
 able in secular business, but criminal hei-e ; nor of 
 ambition, avarice, or love of ease, criminal everywhere; 
 but upon considerations that respect only God's glory. 
 
w 
 
 THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 59 
 
 lis- 
 ere 
 ncy, 
 od, 
 less 
 the 
 ■art 
 
 .0 
 
 be 
 pon 
 /ide 
 aud- 
 
 ot* 
 lere ; 
 ory. 
 
 the good of His Cliurcb, the salvation of bjst men, 
 doing the will of God and sacrificing one's self 
 entirely to His service, and that of the hnnil)lcst of 
 His flock. Matthew Henry, for instance, wrote just 
 V)efore his ordination, " T hope J can say that I act 
 herein from a principle of real love to precious souls, 
 for the good of which I would gladly spend and be 
 spent. I hope I know so well the worth of souls that 
 I should think it a greater happiness to gain one soul 
 to the Lord Jesus Christ than to gain mountains of 
 gold and silver to myself." 
 
 Here then are the evidences that this impression is 
 not a mere imagination or misguided bias: it carries 
 with it its own credentials ; it is corroborated and 
 strengthened from day to day in communion with 
 God by faith and prayer ; it is clear and unmistakable 
 in proportion to the fervor and faithfulness of personal 
 consecration, and regards always the glory of God in 
 the salvation of souls. 
 
 (d) Another kind of evidence that must be con- 
 nected with the foreofoino' in considerino; the internal 
 call, is the delight and consciousness of the divine 
 approval which are experienced in obeying the 
 monitions of the Spirit. Yielding to His behests will 
 tend to l)righten God's approving smile uj)on the 
 heart, while resisting will tend to banish it. This is 
 evidence barely secondary in importance to the fore- 
 going. If a man's soul does not prosper while he 
 ministers, or if the duties of his vocation are irksome 
 to him, he may safely conclude that he is not called to 
 that work. A man would be happier as a scullion, or 
 
 il 
 
 H 
 
r 
 
 
 1 ; 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 60 
 
 THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY 
 
 as a hod-carrier, witli the peace of God, than in 
 exercising the functions of an ambassador of the 
 King of Heaven, if not divinely commissioned. And if 
 a man ]ias been guilty of the unholy presumption of 
 thi'usting himself into this office, or pennitting liim- 
 self to be thriist in by others, when not called of God, 
 how can his soul prosper ? On the other hand, in 
 proportion as the Spirit of the Lord is with His 
 servant, he lives and moves in an atmosphere of holy 
 joy, his duties are his delight, his soul is refreshed in 
 preparing liis sermons, his meditations (m a subject 
 with a view to benefit others are a means of grace to 
 himself, he is made to disrelish all studies tliat do not 
 contril mte to his efficiency as a preacher of the gospel, 
 and that he may w^ater others, God more abundantly 
 waters Iiim. Therefore, if a man finds his soul happy 
 in his work and prospering in piety, so far forth he 
 has evidence that he is called of God to the ministry ; 
 if otherwise, the presumption is that he is not so 
 called. 
 
 These two things, namely, the inwrought conviction, 
 and the spiritual delight and improvement consequent 
 upon .obeying it, are the evidences of the %ct of an 
 inward call, which we must speak of as indispensable 
 in entering upon ministerial life. It is a sine qua 110 n. 
 It is the presumptive ground on which the Church 
 delegates her authorized commission. No man has a 
 right to assume the office, nor has the Church authority 
 to induct into it any one wlio does not believe, and by 
 his piety, endowments, and zeal, give proof of the 
 validity of his belief, that he is inwardly moved by 
 
mm 
 
 THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY 
 
 61 
 
 nent 
 an 
 ifible 
 
 urch 
 las a 
 
 the Holy Ghost to execute its functions. But with 
 this inward call, and the felt approval of God in 
 responding thereto, men have gone forth without the 
 ratification of the Church's judgment, or imprimatur 
 of the Church's authority, to find Church doors shut 
 against them, and Church members their persecutors ; 
 to meet, at least at first, wath but indiffcirent success ; 
 and yet have gone from victory to victory, because 
 He who had called them to their work and (jualified 
 them therefor, was al)le to establish the work of their 
 hands upon them These, it is true, may be excep- 
 tional cases, but they show the transcendant import- 
 ance of the int(;i-nal call. While a man must not go 
 without it, with it he must, though recjuired to go 
 with that alone. 
 
 2. We come now to the consideration of the External 
 Call as evidence to the subject of his divine vocation 
 to the holy ministry. 
 
 (a) As we have said, the Internal Call is the voice 
 of God in the soul of the individual, summoning him 
 to the w^ork ; the External Call is the voice of the 
 Church substantiating, seconding, and endorsing the 
 summons. It is a commission received from, and re- 
 cognized by the • Church ; not calling strictly, but 
 countersigning a call previously given by God ; not 
 qualifying, but accrediting him whom God had pre- 
 viously. Internally, and suitably qualified. But he who 
 draws the attention of the Church as likely to prove 
 an effective labourer in the Gospel, for whom tho 
 Church provides w^ork and opens doors of usefulness, 
 
62 
 
 THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTT'.T. 
 
 <i' 
 
 4 
 
 I 
 
 has herein strong confirmation of the authenticity 
 of his call. 
 
 This is evidence of great corrohorative value, but 
 quite insufficient r>* itself. Public inv^estnient with 
 ministerial authority has not always been accompanied 
 by the inward call. Many have entei*ed into the sacred 
 office with hearts unenlightened by Christian truths, 
 and unimpressed with ministerial obligations, that is to 
 say, with hearts unrenewed. Scott, the eminent com- 
 mentator, confesses that, for a length of time, he 
 preached the Gospel without a knowledge of it. 
 Walker, of Truro, makes a similar confession. Ber- 
 ridge, of Everton, tells us that two years at Everton, 
 and six years previously at another place, he laboured 
 diligently and earnestly for the salvation of souls 
 without a particle of success, and then discovered that 
 he himself was not saved. John Wesley says, " It is 
 now^ upw^ards of two years since I left my native 
 country to teach the (Georgia Indians the nature of 
 Christianity ; but what have I learned myself in the 
 meantime ? Why (what I least of all suspected) that 
 I who went to America to convert others was never 
 converted myself." But although some who were un- 
 qualified and unauthorized at first.' have been success- 
 fully employed by the Head of the Church after their 
 conversion, many others have contir^ued blind leaders 
 of the blind until they have fallen into the ditch with 
 those they were incompetent to lead ; or have, at length, 
 retired in disgust from a work distasteful to them, 
 because, though authorized by the Church, they were 
 unacceptable to God. However, it is to be expected 
 
THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 63 
 
 tive 
 of 
 the 
 hat 
 ver 
 iin- 
 ess- 
 leir 
 lers 
 ith 
 th, 
 em, 
 [ere 
 ted 
 
 tliat when God designates one of His servants to the 
 ministry of his Word, he will open the doo!' into some 
 branch of His Church, and secure the External Call. 
 
 (h) In aJ^Htion to this, we remark that the Provi- 
 dence of God, as commonly understood, will afford more 
 or less confirmation of this call. This is the "wheel 
 within a wheel " movincj in harmonious conjunction 
 with, but in direct subserviency to, the piu-poses of 
 God, respecting His Church. If God, bv Providential 
 arrangement, will direct the choic<' of a secular calling, 
 how much more the callinix to His own work, a matter 
 so intimately connected with the interests of His own 
 kingdom. The Providential dis})osing, therefore, of a 
 person's circumstances, thoughts, inclinati(ms, and 
 studies to this main end ; the disappointment of his 
 plans for another course of life ; the unexpected and 
 repeated closing up of worldly avenues ; some parti- 
 cular crisis in the individual sphere ; some change or 
 influence of family circumstances ; one or more of these 
 may prove the " word behind liim, saying, ' This is the 
 way, walk ye in it.' " 
 
 (c) Another branch of evidence which must be con- 
 sidered in connection w4th this in examining the Ex- 
 ternal Call is the success wdiich attends the heaven- 
 sent messenger. Wherever there is a divine call, there 
 is a sure word of promise, " Lo, I am w4th you alway." 
 But if one run unsent his labours must prove unblest. 
 " I sent them not, nor commanded them, the'Vefore they 
 shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord." 
 The blight was not that their doctrine was unsound, 
 but that they preached unsent. God will seal His own 
 
¥ 
 
 ' 
 
 u 
 
 THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 I 
 
 |i 
 
 ii 
 
 r !. 
 
 ordinance, but not man's usurpation. It is true tliere 
 are oilier causes of ill-success, such as defect of per- 
 sonal })iety on tlie part of the pi'eacher, coldness on the 
 part of the Church, the enmity of the natural heart, 
 and the power of Satan, so that though there be no 
 immediate success, we are not to conclude hastily that 
 the al)sence of a divine call is the cause. Simeon, of 
 C!aml)ridge, we are told, preached for a length of 
 time, to a humble congregation who stood in the aisles 
 of the church, because the pew^s were deserted and 
 locked ; but, forasmuch as he preached evangelical 
 truths upon God's authority, he, in course of time, 
 gained the victory — a full church and many souls. 
 Many most devoted men have laboured at times with- 
 out any visible results, and overwhelmed by discourage- 
 ment have demitted their toil, and fled the field ; but 
 re-considering their duty, have retraced their steps, re- 
 sumed their work, and rejoiced in abundant success. 
 But while other causes viay produce ill-success, this 
 cause, the absence of a real call, must do so. On the 
 other hand, if God gives the sincere minister souls, he 
 may regard them as seals to his ministry. 
 
 These we regard as the evidences of a divine call to 
 the subject himself — first, the impression infixed by 
 the Holy Ghost ; second, happiness and personal spi- 
 ritual prosperity in the work ; third, the providential 
 opening of the doors of the Church, and of paths of 
 usefulness ; and fourth, gracious success in the prose- 
 cution of ministerial labours. 
 
 II. We now take up the second of our leading divi- 
 sions, namely, the evidences on which the Church may 
 
THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 65 
 
 this 
 
 the 
 
 lis, he 
 
 iall to 
 d by 
 spi- 
 ;ntiai 
 hs of 
 
 )rose- 
 
 divi- 
 may 
 
 rely in giving the sanction of its authority to a professed 
 call to preach the gospel. That it is the duty of those 
 who believe themselves to be called of God, to seek a 
 commission at the hands of the Church also, our 
 Lord has taught us in the most impressive manner 
 possible by applying to John for baptism just before 
 entering upon His public career, and by the language 
 He employed in explanation of His act. Nor will 
 there be much danger of error on the part of the 
 Church where its spiritual life is real and active, for 
 it will not lack the material for a correct judgment, 
 and here, if anywhere, it may look for the extraoi-di- 
 nary guidance of its Head. A man who is notoriously 
 wicked and worldly may claim to exercise the minis- 
 terial office ; but his pretensions are nullified by his 
 character ; for moral blamelessness and visible spiri- 
 tuality of mind are its lowest pre-requisites. It may 
 happen again that though the candidate for the min- 
 istry may be unexceptionably, or even exemplarily 
 Christian, he may show a mental feebleness, an igno- 
 rance of the gospel and of the word of God, or an in- 
 aptness for the duties of a public religious instructor, 
 which must be held as decisive against the validity of 
 his ministerial call. Or, once more, the best gifts of 
 nature, and many of the choicest fruits of liberal and 
 Christian culture may be associated with a stuntedness 
 or sickliness of relio-ious o-rowth, which forbids the 
 idea of a co-existimj authoritv to do the work of an 
 evangelist. Wickedness, earthliness, unacciuaintance 
 with the truth, inability to teach, defectiv*. Christian 
 experience and life, — any one of these is a barrier to 
 
 I ! 
 
[f r 
 
 lips 
 
 
 6fy 
 
 THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY 
 
 ,:' 
 
 .; 
 
 the ministry, which no man who knows what he is 
 doing will either venture himself to leap over, or 
 attempt to foist others over. 
 
 But how is the Church to, judge when hindrances 
 like these have no place ? Sometimes the heart of a 
 wise and faithful man is seen to flame with a passion- 
 ate concern for the salvation of others, which the 
 Church at once recognizes with awe and joy as the 
 indication of a divine commission. In other instances 
 a peremptory sense of duty to God will constrain a 
 man to take the necessary steps for securing admis- 
 sion to the sacred office, and so to assume a load from 
 which his nature shrinks with unutterable dread. And 
 human suggestions may be the means by which God 
 will direct the thoughts of some of His elect servants 
 to their vocation, and stir them up to seek the prepa- 
 rations and authentications which its duties demand. 
 
 In saying what we have to say further on this sub- 
 ject, perhaps we cannot do so better than by touching 
 three questions always considered by one who was the 
 greatest ecclesiastical legislator and organizer of his 
 day ; and who was required in the providence of God 
 to adjudicate upon the vocation of many hundreds — 
 Has he grace ? Has he gifts ? Has he fruit ? 
 
 1. — No 'man cun he a true Christian minister who 
 has not the (jvace of God. No natural abilities, how- 
 ever splendid, can answer alone the demands of the 
 ministry. No human learning can possibly countervail 
 the want of being inly taught of God. No mode of 
 ordination, Popish or Protestant, Episcopal or Presby- 
 terian ; no kind of appointment, state-appointment. 
 
T!" 
 
 THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 67 
 
 congregation-appointment, or self-appointment — can 
 supply the lack of the divine anointing, without which 
 the souls of men can neither he ccmverted nor edified. 
 If he have the grace of God, it w^ill appear in his holy 
 life and godly conversation. These the Church is to 
 consider, and upon these form its judgment. But the 
 evidence is conclusive only on one side. If the candi- 
 date has not personal piety, then certainly he has not, 
 at present, a divine call to the ministry. If he has 
 personal piety, then it is probable, noth hig more, that 
 he has such a call. Every true Christian is not 
 divinely intended for the ministry. The examples of 
 Aquila and Priscilla, and the various helpers of the 
 primitive Church mentioned in the Apostolic saluta- 
 tions, clearly prove that devotedness to the cause of 
 God has always been, as it is now, a component and 
 acceptable part of Christian obligation. In this wide 
 field of service, laymen may exliibit the spirit of the 
 ministry in perfect consistency with their secular 
 employment, and wdthout an unauthorized intiusion 
 upon the express commission of the sacred ofiice, labour 
 successfully for the salvation of souls. A conti'oDing 
 desire to save sinners conjoin(^d to personal piety is 
 not a sufficient warrant that one is called to the 
 ministry. That desire every Cliristian possesses in a 
 greater or less degree. A desire to enter the ministry 
 superadded is not sufiicient. He out of whom the 
 legion w^as cast desired to be one of the disciple band, 
 but Christ sent him to his home, to his friends, and to 
 his secular vocations. 
 
 2. — In the second place, has he gifts ! The man 
 
 i 
 
f 
 
 68 
 
 THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY 
 
 who obeys God's call He will take care to endow with 
 every necessary qualification. God makes wise those 
 who turn unto Him. Every genuine minister ot* Christ 
 has, at all events, a renewed heart, an enlightened 
 mind, and an experimental knowledge of the way of 
 salvation. Perhaps it is not too much to say that God 
 never did call a man to the ministry whr>m He did not 
 qualify in such a manner as made both the workman 
 and the work appear to be of God. Of the existence 
 of these qualifications in the candidate, the Church 
 undertakes the difficult and delicate task of judging. If 
 he be deficient or unbalanced in intellect, it may be safely 
 assumed that there is no divine call. If there be great 
 ignorance, especially of divine things, it may be con- 
 cluded there is no call. A teacher of the souls of men 
 must be apt to teach. Wesley asks, " Has he in some 
 tolerable degree a clear, sound understanding ? Has 
 he a right judgment in the things of God ? Has he a 
 just conception of salvation by faith ? Has he an 
 effective utterance ? " These questions should all be 
 affirmatively answered ; and yet supreme over all these 
 consid^'rations is God's right to call whom He pleases 
 In this particular work God has often " chosen the 
 foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and 
 God hath chosen the weak thino^s of the world to con- 
 found tlie things which are mighty ; and base things of 
 the world, and things which are despised hath G<jd 
 chosen ; yea, and things which are not, to bring to 
 nought things that are, that no flesh should glory in his 
 presence." Why did not Jesus Christ call some of the 
 learned and eminent Scribes and Pharisees to preach 
 
THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 69 
 
 i.g to 
 [n his 
 If the 
 reach 
 
 his gospel, and not humble, unlearned fishermen with- 
 out credit or authority ? Because it was the Kingdom 
 of Heaven they were to preach, and their teaching must 
 come from above. As the instruments were compara- 
 tively lowly, and the work accomplished by them 
 grand and glorious, the excellency of the power ap- 
 peared at once to be of God and not of men — (Dr. 
 Clarke). Theological schools, in the order of God's 
 Providence, have great and important uses, and in 
 reference ^o such uses are to be regarded with respect, 
 but they cannot make preachers of the gospel. Tliat 
 is a power and prerogative God never did, and never 
 will delegate to man. Where a dispensation of the 
 gospel has been committed to a man, a good education 
 will be of £creat oreneral use : the more education the 
 better. But it no more follows tliat because a man 
 has a good education he is called to preach the word, 
 than it does that, because he has not, he is not so 
 called. Til ere may be much ignorance of divine things 
 where there is much human learning; and on the other 
 hand, a man may be well taught in the things of God 
 and able to teach others Also, who has not the advan- 
 tage of a liberal education. Let the Church of God 
 ascertain that a man's gifts, be they humbler or higher, 
 are employed by their (Jreator in the ministry of the 
 gospel, and then promptly endorse the divine vocation 
 by the issue of a commission. 
 
 3. — And lastly, has he fruit I Are any truly con- 
 vinced oi' sin and converted to God by his preaching ? 
 Admitting that there are rare exceptions in which the 
 truth of God is blessed to the salvation of sinners, 
 
!|1 
 
 i Hi 
 
 70 
 
 THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY 
 
 altboiisrh proceeding i'lum the lip8 of an unsancfciiied 
 intruder, yet we stronglj^liold that a divinely authorised 
 ministry may be distinguished by its fruits. " Beware 
 of false pi'ophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, 
 but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall 
 know^ them by their fruits." This Scripture applies to 
 all other tests of ministerial character and claims, but 
 it applies with especial force to this one. If during 
 the probationary term, established in some form by all 
 branches of the Church, no souls are brought from 
 Satan to God, it is evidence on which the Church may 
 refuse,, and we think ought to refuse, to substantiate 
 the call. God sends forth His ambassador to proclaim 
 a present reconciliation ; and above all things it is to 
 be expected that sinners will l)e converted and believers 
 editied by his preaching. His bodily presence may be 
 weak and his speech contemptible; his first efforts, judg- 
 ing according to man's judgment, may be exceedingly 
 feeble ; his ecclesiastical order may be unacknowledged, 
 his education may be limited, his style faulty, and the 
 proud and pedantic may turn away in contempt be- 
 cause his " preaching is not with enticing words of 
 man's wisdom ; " but poor sinners will be wounded 
 and healed, because it will be " in demonstration of the 
 Spirit and of power." If these effects, in some degree 
 follow not a man's message, it is not a message from 
 God. He may have a legal control of certain pulpits, 
 and a legal right to certain emoluments, but authority 
 from God he has none. How contemptible are the 
 claims of that man to recognition as a true minister of 
 Jesus, yea, the only divinely authorized and properly 
 
 ' 
 
THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 71 
 
 qualified minister, who boasts of his clerical education, 
 his sacerdotal order, his legitimate authoiity to preach 
 and administer the sacraments, while no soul is 
 benefited by his ministry. — {Dr. Clarke). 
 
 When the antecedent profession has been made by 
 the candidate himself, of a hearty belief that God has 
 called him to pi'each His gospel, then those three 
 matters, grace, gifts, and fiuit, come properly and in 
 order under the C'hurch's scrutiny. Tliey embrace, we 
 believe, ev^erytliing by which a judgment can be 
 formed, and herebv the Chui'ch nuist be satisfied, or 
 otherwise, of the validity of a divine call to the 
 ministry. 
 
 Now upon this l)asis of evidence let us establish a 
 point or two of practical application. 
 
 1. To Young Men. — If any of you are looking towards 
 the ministry, beware how you listen to the voice of self- 
 interest or of the world, or of Satan, or of friends — 
 even Christian friends — or anv otlier voice than that 
 of the Holy Ghost. A station in the ministry is one of 
 respectability ; the influence wielded by a minister, as 
 a man, is a wide-reaching influence ; wealth through 
 his profession may lie all outside his dreams, Ijut his 
 temporal wants will be fairly supplied witliout the 
 anxieties, vicissitudes, and reversals hicident to business 
 life ; but none of these considerations — the highest 
 respectability, the most commanding influence, the 
 utmost physical comfort of life, tlie I'ichest literary 
 enjoyment, should tempt you for a moment to enter 
 upon this vocatiou unless you believe in your heart 
 that you are moved thereto by the Holy Ghost. You 
 
r ill 
 
 I 
 
 72 
 
 THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 may not realize one of your expectations. If you 
 realize them all, and more, your life will be poisoned, 
 and all satisfactions nullified, by the fact that you are 
 only a usurper of the sacred office. On the other 
 hand, if the Divine Spii-it is impressing your mind 
 with a sense of duty in this direction, then beware 
 how you attend to the suggestions of self-interest, 
 the world, Satan, or friends, in resisting such impres- 
 sions. Bright avenues of worldly prosperity may 
 open up before you ; glittering distinctions in states- 
 manship, literature, and science may beckon to you ; 
 and these, in contrast with tlie dark side of ministerial 
 life — its toils, its self-denials, its circumscriptions, its 
 meagi'eness of remuneration and appreciation, may 
 appear very attractive, yet consider that an honour is 
 proffered to you that would be coveted by the highest 
 angel in the third heaven. The eternal King appoints 
 you His ambassador to alienated subjects in this out- 
 lying province of His dominion. The study and 
 exposition of the Word of God is the grandest work 
 on which the human intellect can be employed. No 
 other science will compare for a moment, either in 
 sublimity or difficulty, with the science of theology. 
 No other book raises so many (juestions, answerable 
 and unanswerable, as the Bible, or l)rings to your 
 notice so many mysteries, or starts the in(iuiring mind 
 off in so many lines of blessed, exciting, remunerating 
 thought. All the golden veins in those rocks yield the 
 precious metal in paying quantities. The chief con- 
 flicts of this and the coming day — intellectual en- 
 counters which are to draw the attention of the world 
 
 ' 
 
THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 73 
 
 your 
 mind 
 Lting 
 ll the 
 con- 
 en- 
 lorld 
 
 are to be fought on this ground, and thrice happy is 
 that man whose arm God endows with strength to 
 wield the sword of truth with telHng effect. 
 
 Consider also the melancholy examples we have of 
 blighted lives through disobeying the call of God to 
 the ministrv. Men have addressed themselves to 
 business, or to the practice of a profession, carrying 
 all the while the conviction that they ought to preach 
 the gospel ; antl failures in business, disappointments 
 in personal and family affairs, and especially the un- 
 fruitfulness of a soul left in leanness by a spirit dis- 
 obeyed and grieved, all attest the folly of choosing for 
 one's self in this matter instead of yielding to be 
 guided and employed by God. The issues of a mis-step 
 are tremendous. If you would blast your life to the 
 end, you may do so most effectually, either by entering 
 the ministry uncalled, or by refusing to enter v/hen 
 God points the way. " Acknowledge Him in all thy 
 ways, and He shall direct thy paths." 
 
 2. To the Official Members of our Churches. — 
 According to the polity of Methodism, the laymen 
 of the Quarterly Meetings have a prominent part to 
 play and a corresponding responsibility to bear, in 
 connection with the introduction of young men into 
 the ministry. They stand at the door of entrance. 
 They must guard it carefully and wisely. The duty 
 is laid upon them, and they must perform it in the 
 fear of God. Our intelligent and godly laymen are 
 capable of judging of the gifts and usefulness of the 
 candidates who may come before them, and if they 
 fail to make themselves acquainted with the qualifi- 
 
lii 
 
 
 I 
 
 W'^ 
 
 i 
 
 '1 
 
 , 
 
 I 
 
 ;' 
 
 VI 
 
 , 
 
 } 
 
 ■ 1 
 
 i ' 
 
 
 ; 1 
 
 
 
 
 1 i li 
 
 
 
 
 ' t! 
 
 
 
 74 
 
 THE DIVINE CALL T(-) THE MINISTRY. 
 
 cation3 of thv'^ candidates proposed ; or give a " matter 
 of course " rt'^ommendation to one whom they do not 
 know ; or are influenced by tear or favour, in uttering 
 their voice in the councils of the Church ; and, as a 
 consequence, unworthy men are introduced; they can- 
 not escape a full share of the just blame attaching to 
 the curse of an inefficient ministry. 
 
 You would not accept a young man because he is 
 wealthy, nor reject him because he is poor. God must 
 go for His ambassadors where He can find brains, and 
 " competent abilities" are not always found among the 
 sons of the rich. It is the well-known outcome of the 
 operation of the irreversible law, that among the etio- 
 lated children of wealth, who live in luxury and 
 indolence, brains as well as bodies deteriorate ; while 
 ofttimes amon^r the lowlier sons of toil, aoriculturists 
 and artizans, the finest fibre of brain as well as muscle 
 is to be found, and there also all the professions find, 
 from time to time, their most distinguished ornaments. 
 
 You would not reject a young man because he is 
 uneducated. Some of the grandest preachers the 
 world has ever known have arisen in humble life, 
 whose ea.rly environments denied them the advan- 
 tages of a liberal education, and who, indeed, only be- 
 came aware of the fact that they had magnificent 
 intellects to cultivate throuorh the enlighteninof influ- 
 ence of the grace of God that converted their souls. 
 Find young men of visible piety, warm sympathies, 
 effective utterance, and good niateriaL and place them 
 in the hands of the Church — and it will be the 
 Church's duty and pleasure to supply them, through 
 
THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 75 
 
 latter 
 lo not 
 bei'ing 
 , as a 
 \[ can- 
 ing to 
 
 he is 
 [ must 
 ls, and 
 ig the 
 of the 
 e etio- 
 y and 
 while 
 iirists 
 nuscle 
 find, 
 iients. 
 he is 
 the 
 life, 
 dvan- 
 |ly be- 
 ficent 
 infiu- 
 souls. 
 thies, 
 them 
 the 
 ough 
 
 s 
 
 the admirable theological schools, with the requisite 
 mental culture. 
 
 •3. To Parents. — Sometimes, as we have said, parents 
 err in devoting a son to the ministry without con- 
 sultino" the will of God in the matter ; but sometimes, 
 on the other hand, when the will of God appears, 
 parents are unwilling to make what seems to them a 
 sacrifice, and give a son to the ministry. He may be 
 an only son. The field towards wbdch he is drawn 
 may be a foreign field. But O ! look beyond this 
 narrow life, and see present toils and sacrifices in the 
 light of the future world. " They that be wise shall 
 shine as the l)rightness of the firmament, and they 
 that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever 
 and ever." *' God had but one Son, and made him a 
 minister." 
 
 4. A Word to One and All. — Consider the reverent 
 regard with which you should always listen to the 
 message proclaimed by one who is really an ambas- 
 sador for Christ. He asks no special respect — nothing 
 beyond what yovi would accord to any other man his 
 equal — except on this ground, he is a messenger of 
 Heaven to you. He is divinely commissioned to bear 
 to you a message of warning concerning the folly, 
 guilt, and danger of sin ; a proclamation of mercy and 
 forgiveness through the atoning blood ; and an invita- 
 tion to the eternal glory of Heaven. Remember that 
 you have no right to say to him, " Go thy way for this 
 time," " We will hear thee again of this matter." 
 Your first, present, positive, imperative duty, is to 
 attend to the message,' not out of respect for the 
 
ir 
 
 % 
 
 76 
 
 THE DIVINE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 
 
 messenger merely, but for the Majesty tliat is behinri 
 him. It is a paltry thing to be thinking of and 
 criticising the man, — his voice, his maimer, his attain- 
 ments, or want of them ; and wicked to make the im- 
 perfections of the messenger an excuse for making 
 light of the message. That which was the strength of 
 St. Paul and of every real Christian minister from 
 that day to this, should be the most influential con- 
 sideration with every hearer; "Now then, we are 
 ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech 
 you by us : we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye recon- 
 ciled to God." 
 
 Is 
 
 
 
 Wm 
 
 vS 
 
 ^^^^1 j_J 
 
 ■¥ 
 
( 77 ) 
 
 OI'FIC'KRM FOR tNMI-Nt<. 
 
 President. — Rev. T. W. Jeffehy, Cobourg. 
 Vice-President. — Rev. James Elliott, D.D., Kingston. 
 >Secretarf/- Trecisurer. — Rev. A. M. Phillips, B.D., Chatham. 
 Lecturer for 1882. — Rev. J. A. Williams, D.D., Goderich. 
 Preacher for lS82.—Kv:y. Geo. McRitchie, Perth. 
 
 " FKI.IiOWS.*' 
 
 Rev. S. ^. Nelles, D.D., LL.D Cobourg. 
 
 Rev> N. Buhwash, S.T. D Cobourg. 
 
 Rev. W. J EFFEKs, I). I) Lindsay. 
 
 Rev. S. D. Rice, D. D St. Mary's. 
 
 Rev. J. Elliott, D D Brockvilie. 
 
 Rev. E. H. Dewart, D. D Toronto. 
 
 Rev. E. B. Ryckm an, D.l) Guelph. 
 
 Rev. a. Bukxs, D.D., LL.D Hamilton. 
 
 Rev. E. a. Stakfoud, B. A • Ottawa. 
 
 Rev. W. W. Ross Hamilton. 
 
 LONDON CONFEKENCE BKANCH. 
 President.— ^v.\\ A. BritNs, U.D., LL.D., F.T.L. 
 Secretary -Treasurer. — Rev. A M. Phillips, B.D. 
 
 TORONTO CONFERENCE BRANCH. 
 
 President.- Rex. J. B. Claiikson, M.A. 
 
 Sec retary- Treasurer. —\{e\. T. W. Campbell, B.D. 
 
 MONTREAL CONFERENCE BRANCH. 
 
 President. — Rev. E. A. Stafford, B.A., F.T.L. 
 Secretary -Treasurer. — Rev. S. D. Chown. 
 
 COURSE OF READING FOR " FELLOWSHIP. '» 
 
 The Course of Reading is to extend over three years, and to consist 
 of Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal or Apologetic studies. The character 
 of the Course shall be optional, i.e , the subjects or branches of study 
 may be elected by each one reading ; Provided that two subjects shall 
 be read for each year, one to be selected at the beginning ot the Course 
 
 -tk^M 
 
78 
 
 COURSE OF STUDY. 
 
 and continiUMl throughout, and the other varied from year to year. 
 Tlic thorou^lincss of tlie rcatliuj^ will l)e tested hy a thesis, to he 
 assigned on tlic 15th of March and returr.ed hy the 30tli of April, and 
 a written cxaniination ujton the hooks read hy means of ([uestions sent 
 to eaeh one ivadin^, to he answered and returned with tlie thesis All 
 ]K'rsons readin<^ must send a|t[)lication for suhje<'t of thesis to the Secre- 
 tary hy March 1st, staling tln' year in whicii they are reading, the Course 
 suhject, the ojiticn selected, and the hooks read. Each suhject should 
 he studied in at least two anthers, from a comj>arison of which an in- 
 dependent oj)iniou may he formed ; and a student must put in at least 
 one thesis each year until the (.'ourse is completed. 
 
 
 COURSE OF STUDY. 
 
 FIRST YKAR. 
 
 1. BihUral Sfiufi/.—Tlw Life of Christ. Text-hooks: The Four 
 Gospels; Westcott's Int loductlon to the Study of the Gospels; An- 
 drew's Life of Clnist ; (Jeikie's or Fairar's i^ife of Christ. 
 
 2. Hisiorical Study. — The Reformation ; D'Auhigne's History of 
 the Kcforniation ; Scehohm's Protestant Ifcvulution ; Fisher. 
 
 3. Docfrindl Study. — The Atonement. Tlu! Text-hooks : Crawford; 
 Randies ; Miley. 
 
 4. A'pohxji'tic Study. — God and Nature, Text-l»ooks : Cocker's 
 Theistic Conception of the Universe ; Buchanan's Modern Atheism ; 
 Peabody's Science and Kcligion. 
 
 SECOND VKAl!. 
 
 L BihJkuU S/udy. — The Epistle to the Romans. Aids : Lange, 
 Phili])|ti and Beet. 
 
 2. Jlistorkdl Study. — Life and Times of Wesley. Tyerman's Life ; 
 Smith's Methodism and Southey's Life; Isaac Taylor's Methodism; 
 Watson's Reply to Southey. 
 
 3. Dodriiud Study. — The Person of Chi'ist. Pope's Person of 
 Christ; Liddon's li-impton Lecture on our Loi'd's Divinity; Glover's 
 Historical Sketch of l\\v Doctrine ol" Christ's Person. 
 
 4. ul/)olo(j(tic Study. — Rationalism. Hunt's History of Nationalism; 
 Fisher's Su[>ernatural Origin of Christianity ; Mansell's Limits of 
 Religious Thought. 
 
 THIRD YKAR. 
 
 1. Biblical Study. — The Psalms. Lange, Perowne, Tholuck. 
 
 2. Historical Study. — Modern Theology. Dorner's History of Pro- 
 te.stant Theology ; Kigg's Modern Anglican Theology. 
 
 3. ]k)ctrinal Study. —Christian Perfection. Wesley's Christian 
 Perfection and Sermons, with Burwash's Notes ; Fletcher's Last 
 Check; Pope's Theology, Vol. 111. 
 
 4. Apologetic Study. — Inspiration. Bannerman, Lee, Elliott, Pope's 
 Theology, \'ol. L 
 
( 79 ) 
 
 MEMBERS ENROLLED SINCE ORGANIZATION, 
 
 MAY, 1877. 
 
 Langc, 
 
 nalisin; 
 lidts of 
 
 U' Pro- 
 
 listiaii 
 Last 
 
 IPope's 
 
 LONDON CONFERENCE. 
 
 Ames, Rev. Wm. 
 
 Bridgniaii, Rev. W. 
 
 Biistol, I{ev. Coleman, M.A. 
 
 lirock, Rev. Thos. 
 
 Burns, Rev. A. , D. D. , LL. D. , F. T. L. 
 
 liunis, R(!V. Robt. 
 
 Calvert, Kev. G. W. 
 
 Chown, Rev. E. A., B.D. 
 
 Clark, Rev. Geo. 
 
 Clarke, Rev. T. R. 
 
 Co])b, Rev. Thos. 
 
 Colling, Rev. Thos., B.A. 
 
 Colling, Kev. Joseph S. 
 
 Cornish, Kev. Geo. H. 
 
 Edwards, Rev. W. W. 
 
 Fallis, Rev. J. G. 
 
 Foole, Rev. Jas. G. 
 
 Freeman, Kev. J. W., B.D. 
 
 Graham, Rev. Jas. 
 
 Gray, Rev. Jas. 
 
 Gritlin, Rev. W. S. 
 
 Guest, Rev. Jos.* 
 
 Gundy, Rev. J. R. 
 
 Hall, Rev. H. M. 
 
 Hamilton, Rev. C. 
 
 Hannon, Rev. Jas. 
 
 Hawkins, Rev. Chas., B.A.* 
 
 Henders, Rev. R. C. 
 
 Henderson, Rev. Wm. C, M.A. 
 
 Hodson, Rev. J. M., B.A. 
 
 Hunter, Rev. J. E. 
 
 Isaac, Rev. J. R. 
 
 Jackson, Rev. T. W. 
 
 Kay, Rev. J. 
 
 Lanceley, Rev. J. E. 
 
 Langford, Rev. Alex. 
 
 * Deceased. 
 
 B.A. 
 
 Leith, Rev. T. B. 
 
 Mitchell, Rev. G. A, 
 
 Mooney, Rev. Jas. 
 
 Morrow, Rev. C. R. 
 
 McCulloch, Rev. A. M. 
 
 McDonagh, Rev. Wm. 
 
 Neelands, Rev. John 
 
 Parker, Rev. Wm. K-, M.A. 
 
 Pen hall. Rev. Wm. 
 
 Phillips, Kev. A. M., B.I). 
 
 Philp, Rev. John, M.A. 
 
 Philp, Rev. Jos. 
 
 Rigsby, Rev. W. 
 
 Ross, Rev. W. W., F.T.L. 
 
 Ross, Rev. J. S., B.A. 
 
 Russ, Rev. A. E., M.A. 
 
 Ryckman, Rev.E.B., D.D., F.T.L. 
 
 Saunders, Rev. J., M.A. 
 
 Scott, Rev. J., M.A. 
 
 Sellery, Rev. S., B.D. 
 
 Shilton. Rev. J. W., B.A. 
 
 Smylie, Rev. R. 
 
 Staflbrd, Rev. C. E. 
 
 Staples, Rev. S. G. 
 
 Stevenson, Rev. E. B,, B.A. 
 
 Stewart, Rev. J. 
 
 Sutherland, Rev. D. G., B.D. 
 
 Swann, Rev. F. 
 
 Teskey, Rev. E. 
 
 Waddell, Rev. R. H., B.D. 
 
 Wakefield, Rev. J. 
 
 Ward, Rev. Jos., B.A. 
 
 White, Rev. Jas. H. 
 
 Williams, Rev. J. A., D.D., F.T.L. 
 
 Williams, Rev. Wm. 
 
 Wilson, Rev. Jasper, B.A. 
 
80 
 
 LIST OF MEMBERS. 
 
 TORONTO CONFERENCE. 
 
 
 Addison, Rev. P. 
 
 Allen, Rev. J. E. 
 
 Barkwell, Rev. J. H., B.A. 
 
 Barrass, Rev, E., M.A. 
 
 Barltrop, Rev. A. J. 
 
 Bell, Rev. J. W., B.D. 
 
 Blackstock, Rev. W. S. 
 
 Boddy, Rev. J as. 
 
 Brown, Rev. Ci^orge 
 
 Burns, Rev. R. N., B.A. 
 
 Burwash, Rev. N., S.T.D.,F.L.T. 
 
 Burwasli, Kev N. S. 
 
 Campbell, Rev. T. W., B.D. 
 
 Clarkson, Rev. J. '.., M.A. 
 
 Cullen, Rev. Thos. 
 
 Crowle, Rev. Fied. W., B.A. 
 
 Dewart, Rev. E. H., DA)., F.'l.L. 
 
 Edmison, Rev. T. J., B.D. 
 
 Edwards, Rev. Frcid. 
 
 Feiguson, Rev. T. A. 
 
 Greatrix, Rev. B. G. 
 
 Greene, Rev. J. 
 
 Harper, Rev. E. B., D.D. 
 
 Haii)er, Rev. Cecil, M.A. 
 
 Hewitt, Rev. G. W., B.A. 
 
 Hill, '?ev. L. W., B.A. 
 
 Howell Rev. .T. E.. M.A. 
 
 Hunter, Rev. W J., D.I). 
 
 Hunter, Rev. S J. 
 
 Jetlers, Rev. VV , D.D , F.T.L. 
 
 Jetl'ery, Rev. T. W. 
 
 Johnson, Rev. J. H., M.A. 
 
 Johnson, Rev. F. 
 
 Ijaird, Rev. J. G. 
 
 Laird, Rev. AV. H. 
 
 Legate, Rev. Thob. 
 
 Lewis, Rev. E. D. 
 
 Liddv, Rev. Jan. 
 
 Lloyd, Rev. W. W. 
 
 Manning, Rev. T., B.A. 
 
 McAuley, Rev. 8. 
 
 MeCanius, Rev. D. N. 
 
 McCarroll, Rev. J., M.D. 
 
 McClung, Rev. J. A 
 
 McDonald, Rev. D., M.D. 
 
 McDougall, Rev. J. 
 
 McLean, Rev. J. 
 
 Nelles, Rev. S. S., LL.D., F.T.L. 
 
 Philp, Hev. S. C, Jr. 
 
 Potter, Rev. A 
 
 Potts, Rev. J., D.D. 
 
 Pevnolds. Rev. Geo. S. 
 
 Rice, Kev. S. D., D.D., F.T.L. 
 
 Poh.son, Rev. E. 
 
 Ro.se, Kev. S. P. 
 
 Rohison, Rev. M.* 
 
 Ru])ert, Rev E. S., M.A. 
 
 Rutledge, Rev. W. L. 
 
 Scott, Kev. "W. L. 
 
 Shorev, Rev. S. J. 
 
 Steele, Kev. T. P. 
 
 Stewart. Kev. A., B.D. 
 
 Stewart, Rev. J. W. 
 
 SutJierland, Kev. Alex., D.D. 
 
 WashingttJii, Kev. Geo., M.A. 
 
 Watch. Kev. C. W. 
 
 West, Rev. AV. J. 
 
 \Vilkin.son, Rev. J. M., "^ 'a. 
 
 VVilkin.^on, Kev. R. (\ 
 
 Withrow, Rev. W. H., M.A. 
 
 Workman, Rev. 'ieo. C, M.A. 
 
 t 
 
 ( 
 
 !l fi 
 
 MONTREAL CONFERENCE. 
 
 Allen, Rev. Jas., B.A. 
 Allen, Rev. Wni. A. 
 Austin, Rev. Natiian. 
 Beauchy; Kev. Louis N. 
 Brown, Rev. Thos. C. 
 
 Deceased. 
 
 Chown, Rev. S. D. 
 Clipshani, Rev. J. W. 
 Conk'y, Rev. Lewis. 
 Ct>n]ey, Rev. I. B. 
 Crookshanks, Rev. 8. 
 
 
 
LIST OF MEMBERS. 
 
 81 
 
 , F.T.L. 
 
 n\h. 
 
 Delong, Rev. A. N. 
 Dyre, Rev. Wm. R. 
 Eason, Rev. Richard. 
 Eldridge, Rev. G. S. 
 Elliott, Rev. J., D.D., F.T.L. 
 Flanders, Rev. C. R., B.A. 
 Franklin, Rev. B., KA. 
 Fowler, Rev. J. H., M.A. 
 Galbraith, Rev. Wm., B.C.L. 
 Gibson, Rev. John. 
 Gilford, Rev. G. A. 
 Hammond, Rev. R. M. 
 Hanson, Rev. Chas. 
 Hardie, Rev. Alex., M.A. 
 Haylock, Rev. J. J. 
 Hooker, Rev. Leroy. 
 Jamieson, Rev. Wm. S., M.A. 
 Johnston, Rev. H., B.D. 
 Jolliffe, Rev. Wm. J. 
 Knox, Rev. Wm. 
 La^vrence, Rev. John 
 Longley, Rev. Benj., B.A. 
 Lucas, Rev. D. V., M.A. 
 
 Madge, Rev. W. W., B.A. 
 
 Mansell, Rev. T. J. 
 
 McCann, Rev. Alfred. 
 
 McGill, Rev. Wm. 
 
 McRitchie, Rov. Geo. 
 
 Perley, Rev. Wm. F. 
 
 Phillips, Rev. S. G., M.A. 
 
 Pitcher, Rev. J T. 
 
 Poyt^er, Rev. Geo. C. 
 
 Rilance, Rev. Wm. 
 
 Ryan, Rev. Wm. 
 
 Saunders, Rev. J. 1». 
 
 SiniDson, Rev. Jas. 
 
 Smith, Rev. W. T. 
 
 Sparling, Rev. W. H., B.A. 
 
 Sparling, Rev. Jos. W., B.D. 
 
 Stafford, Rev. E. A., l.A., F.T.L. 
 
 Scewart, Rev. J. H. 
 
 Timberlake, Rev. W. 
 
 Webster, Rev. J. 
 
 Williams, Rev. T. S. 
 
 Wilson, Rev. J., B.A. 
 
 Winter, Rev. D. 
 
 |).D. 
 
 i.A. 
 
 .A. 
 
 VI. A. 
 
 London Conference 73 members. 
 
 Toronto ** 73 " 
 
 Montreal ** 56 
 
 Total 202 
 
 Deceased 3 
 
 Present membership 199 
 
 N.B. — All members who pay their annual fee of $1 will b« presented 
 with a copy of the ** Annual Lecture and Sermon." 
 
II 1 
 
 !M 
 
 f 
 
 ( 82 ) 
 
 AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 
 
 Art IV.— Change "title of Fellowship," from "Fellow of the 
 Theological Union of Victoria College" to "Fellow in Theological 
 Literature," (F.T.L.) 
 
 Art X. — Shall become Art XI, and the following inserted as Art X : 
 
 Article X, Branch Unions. — Sec. 1. The members of the Union 
 in each Annual Conference may form a Branch Union and hold an 
 Annual Meeting during the Conference Session, for the purpose of 
 promoting the objects of the Union. 
 
 Sec. 2. The Officers of each Branch shall be a President, who shall 
 be ex-officio a Vice-Preindent of the Union, and a Secretary-Treasurer, 
 who shall be a Corresponding Secretary of the TJnion, and who shall 
 collect the aimual fee of each member and forward the same to the 
 Secretary-Treasurer of the Union. 
 
 Sec. 3. At the Annual Meeting of each Branch a member appointed 
 at th(> previous Annual Meeting shall read a Thesis to be discussed by 
 the members present. 
 
)N. 
 
 w of the 
 heologica] 
 
 as Art X : 
 
 ;he Union 
 I hold an 
 )urpose of 
 
 vho shall 
 Veasurer, 
 k^ho shall 
 ne to the 
 
 ppointed 
 ussed by