BX 8 .053 1879 O'Neill, Simeon Wilberforce. h contribution to the cause of Christian unity, or, The Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/contributiontocaOOonei FURTHER WORKS BY THE EVANGELIST FATHERS (Cowley). PUBLISHED BY J. T. HAYES, 17, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN. Third Edition. Price 3s. 6d. ; by Post, 3s. lOd. Bible Teachings. The Discourse at Capernaum. S. John vi. By Rev. 11. M. BENSON. "This nook opens with a commentary on the sixth chapter of S. John. Mr. Benson has the highe.st. tiualifications for such a task — great spiritual exper ience, as the head cf a brotherhood and efficient conductor nf retn ats, a philoso])hic intellect, and the learning of a divine. His exposition of this remarkable passage in onr Lord's teaching is accordincly distingui^heil both by its force and cogency of reasoning, and by its fulness anism is a heresy which corresponds precisely to the description of S. Paul, and was one of the great dangers of tlie early Church. Using the term in its more general sense of the doctrine of those who so pervert the ascetic teaching of Christianity as to maintain the nature of the soul to be essentially good, and the nature of the flesh to be essentially evil, it existed long before Manes arose to give his name to a new form of it, and to unite it to the doctrines of tte Magi, and it lingered on long after his peculiar sect had ceased to be known.* The reader of Mosheimf • I use this expression because Mosheim's history says, that the followers of Manes still exist 'in the mountainous country between India and Persia. t Archbishop Trench's Lectures on Mediteval Church Hutory may also be consulted on this point. D 2 36 CHRISTIAN UNITY. will remember how he traces the propagation of the doctrine through various sects, such as the Paulicians, Albigenses or Cathari, and Beghards, or Brethren and Sisters of the Free Spirit, who though their sufferings and persecution may arouse our sympathy, and their efforts towards a higher and less formal religion than is current in the world may incline us sometimes to treat them tenderly, yet if judged impartially cannot be declared free from this fundamental and pernicious error. That this is the chief heresy intended in the warn- ing of the Apostle appears also to be shown by the date which he ascribes to it. He speaks of it as coming in the latter times, not in the last times. On the contrary, the heresy of the Zrts? times, which he describes in the Second Epistle to Timothy (iii. 1-9), is of an opposite character. Its professors are " incontinent," and "lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God." And this distinction between the prevailing heresies of earlier and later Christendom is quite borne out by history. In the earlier history of the Church a false asceticism enters largely into the different heretical forms of Christianity ; * in later times aberrations from the * The increasing reverence for austerities, as such, is seen in most of tlie sects which were prominent in the second cen- tury, only with the exaggeration which usually characterises movements of the kind. The Montanists prescribed a vigorous asceticism, not for their more zealous disciples only, but for all, indiscriminately. The Syrian Gnostics, the followers of Satuininusf and Basilides the Encratito), the disciples of ASCETICISM AND MISSION WORK. 37 truth have been much more invariably connected with undue licence and laxity. To leave, however, the general consideration of the duty of mortification, let us consider its special connection with missionary work. That there is some special connection appears from our Lord's saying, "This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting," as well as by S. Paul's enumeration of fastings and watchings among other proofs of his having lived as a minister and apostle of Christ. (2 Cor. vi. 0 ; xi. 27.) That it should be so is only in accordance with the supernatural character of our work as mission- aries. " We wrestle not against flesh and blood," says S. Paul, " but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." If we were contending against flesh and blood, physical strengtli would be of the first importance ; but, since we contend against spiritual powers,, spiri- tual strength is far more important, and spiritual strength is more readily found when bodily strength diminishes. " Most gladly, therefore, will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon mo." The confidence which comes from Cerdo and Marcion in Asia Minor and Italy, all carried the notions of there being au inherent pollution in the innteriul world, and of its being the positive duty of nil Christians to shun all contact wjtli it, to an extent wliich left even the Church doctrine of asceticism far behind.— Smith's Dictionary of Christian A lUiquilies. Art. 'Asceticism.' 38 CHKISTIAX rXITT. the feeling of bodily vigour and strength is not faith. On the contrary, it is an obstacle to the highest exercises of faith. It is the confidence of the flesh, and it avails for nothing in the work of God. The consummate prudence which builds up mission work, like any other worldly work, by choosing the most suitable natural means for its ends, can never attain spiritual success. Water never rises above its source. Natm-al means produce natural ends. Worldly policy can only erect a worldly church. Nothing but spiritual toil will avail for a really spiritual building. This is a truth which the great Edward Irving put before missionaries with all the power of his kindling enthusiasm and extraordinary eloquence. He was asked to preach the annual sermon of some Missionary Society. He consented, retired for six weeks to the count ry, and then appeared, to preach a series of sermons on mission work, which seem to have been more than the committee could weU bear.* Tenderness and human respect, true or false modesty, often lead preachers to dwell upon what is pleasing and to ignore what is displeasing to their audience on such an occasion as a great missionarj' gathering. But it was not so with Irving ; he was too much in earnest himself to adapt his message to the taste of his hearers. Ho preached with all his soul the duty of establishing missions after the apostolic * Sermons and Lectures by Edward Irving, vol. i., .Vi»- noiiarifii afti r the Apostolical School. ASCETICISM AXD MISSION WORK. 39 pattern, and of the necessity of thus spiritually con- ducting the work if it was to be spiritually successful. However we may console ourselves with the proofs statistics afford us of the numerical gi'owth of our missions, there can be no missionaries, who reflect at all upon the matter, but must confess, with shame and sorrow, that the inconsistency between the Christianity now planted and that found in the New Testament, — that the absence of deep devotion and of high gifts among us, — that, *\orse than all, the readiness to take for granted that this condition of things is the normal state of Christianity, are all warnings from God to us to search deeply our hearts, and see what is the accursed thing hidden among us that hinders the victory of the host of the Lord. God forbid that we should be in so evil a case as not to know that " we are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked " (Rev. iii. 17), or that we should be so busy with the details of mission work as to overlook the end and object of that work ! What is the reason that Christianity has so little effect upon the world, and is so little realized, even by its adherents, as a supernatural power ? It is well worth while for us to pause and answer this question. May it not be that one great cause is that its preachers have not yet proved its own power in themselves ? There is a great deal of difference between the acceptance of a truth on testimony, and the inwrought conviction which comes through 40 CHRISTIAN UNITY. experience. It is a gi-eat thing to know experi- mentally that " man doth not live by bread alone," but this experimental knowledge cannot come so long as man fears to trust himself to the "Word of God, and clings to natural supports as if they were necessary. When we find snch advice as this — " I would be no advocate for unnecessary self-denial of the body; it is both unwise and unsafe. I would have mis- sionaries enjoy every comfort," quoted in that valuable book. The Indian Missionary Manual * we may well inquire whether we are not straying from first principles, and whether it would not be better to examine these maxims of worldly wisdom more closely by the light of the Gospel before we make them our guide in mission work. A converted Brahmin has put the matter so simply and truly to us in an address lately delivered, that his words seem like a special call to us to re-consider our ways. He says : — " In these days most of us are accustomed to think that to make ourselves as comfortable as possible in this world is rather a part of the wisdom Avhich Christianity * It must not be thought from this quotation that the Indian Minsionary Manual does not advise a simple stj'le of living for missionaries. This is advocated by the very writer quoted above. But nothing furtlier is urged. Fasting or mortification is not mentioned. Though there is much that is excellent about personal religion, this is not even hinted at as forming part of it. But this book is probably a very fair reflex of the opinions of I'rotestuut Christians of our times us to missionary work. ASCETICISM AXD MISSION WORK. 41 teaches us. Moreover, the Christianity generally presented hy the lives of Englishmen in India seems to have of devotion as little as possible, and of comfort and enjoyment as much as possible. And I cannot help feeling that such an aspect of Christianity is not only calculated to suppress all high aspirations in the hearts of native converts after heroic acts of reUgion and self-denial, for vhich my countrymen have always been very famous, but it also makes the conversion of the unconverted more difficult. The example of Enghshmen has gi-eat influence on that large and daily increasing number of natives who are educated in English schools and colleges, and are becoming quite Anglicized in their ideas and manners ; and they, too, are becoming more and more fond of comfort and luxury, and seem to make them the object of their life. And this makes them averse to do acts of self-denial. And, as their education affords them the means of living a comfortable and luxurious life, they become jieculiarly unfit to make those sacrifices which a lespectable native must make if he wishes to embrace Christianity."* Doubtless the thoughts here expressed have been felt by many native Christians, but tbcy have not nil either the courage or the opportunity for ex- pressing them. When, however, they are publicly uttered, it would be folly on our part to resent • Vide Indian Church Gazette, January '20tL, 1877. 42 CHRISTIAN UNITY. them, and deny their substantial truth, or to neglect the serious warning which they convey. It is not easy to see ourselves as others see us. The pleasant interchange of sympathetic, and respectful, or even flattering words, with those missionary agents or promoters of missions, who have the same ideas and the same interests as ourselves, is not conducive to a true estimate of ourselves and our works. Prudence requires the writers of mission reports to give a rose-coloured tint to their accounts ; charity and fellow-feeling moves the readers of them to take them as they are written. And if this delusive way of looking at things is, unfortunately, an inevitable part of mission work in these days, yet we should welcome anything in the way of free, and even severe criticism which may tend to counteract it, and produce in our minds a truer estimate of what we are and what we are doing. That missionaries in coming out to India make considerable sacrifices cannot for a moment be denied. Considered with respect to the rate of pay of Europeans in India, their salaries are only on the scale of a bare maintenance, and they labour, without prospect of pension or preferment, under the trials of a tropical climate, intercourse witli a strange and half-civilized people, and sepai'ation from friends and country. For committees at home to ask them to live on less would be both wrong and impossible. *' Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the o.\ that treadcth out the corn," ASCETICISM AXD IIISSION WORK. 43 is a precept as binding now as in the days of S. Paul. But, though this is the rule for those who have to pay the ministers of the Church, it does not follow that the conduct of the Apostle in refusing what he might have used is not still the truest and highest example for preachers of the Gospel. The nearer we can approach to the Pauline method the truer missionaries we shall be. A writer in Blunt's Dictionary of Thcolofjy gives his opinion that the cause of the failure of modern missions is due to the neglect of fasting. Remem- bering our Lord's reply to the disciples who came to Him to inquire why His Name failed in its power ; " This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting," we may well admit the truth of this. Our prayers are weak because our fasting is deficient. We have retained our belief in the efficacy of prayer, but we have disparaged fasting, and as a conse- quence, our prayers have been wanting in persever- ance and spirituality. By prayer and fasting con- joined, faith is develoned, and " this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." Of the difference between that trust in God, which we may feel from reading his promises, and that faith which is developed through trial, when we are deprived of earthly resources,. one wlio could speak from experience thus writes : — " There is, beUeve me, a wide difference between those who trust in God while they are nevertheless furnished with all 44 CHRISTIAN UNITY. things which are necessary for the support and convenience of life, and those who do the same in extreme destitution and entire want of all the supports of life, into which state they have thrown themselves of their own accord for the sake of imitating Christ."* This, no doubt, was why our Lord sent forth His disciples at first without any provision for the necessities of the way. He wished them to learn by experience that He was abundantly able to supply their wants. This, in fact, waS the lesson He Himself reraiiided them of at the time of His Passion, and though at the same time He revoked the command, lest He should place a burden on His servants beyond what they could bear, yet He undoubtedly left it open to us, as the more excellent way of preaching the Gospel. That the most eminent missionaries, of modern as well as of ancient times, have been ascetic in their manner of life, is, I suppose, sufficiently clear to all who have studied their biographies. With regard to those who lived in the earliest times we- have not much information, but of the missionaries of the fifth, sixth, and succeeding centuries abundant evidence remains to us of their ascetic mode of life. Popular but scholarly and reliable accounts of them may be found in Maclear's Missions of the Middle Ages, and Neander's Mcmoi-ials of Clirintian TA fe. It would be too long to reproduce here anytliing * Life aud Letters of S. Francis Xavier. ASCETICISM AND MISSION WORK. 45 like a faithful representation of the asceticism of their lives, and for the sake of my argument it is scarcely necessary, since it is generally acknow- ledged that aU the piety of the mission ages was of an ascetic type. But it is worth while to notice modern mission- aries more particularly, as it is not perhaps generally known to what an extent the Kves of most of the greatest of them were influenced by asceticism. John Elhot, " the Apostle of the Eed Indians " as he has been called, was one of the Puritan fathers of the United States, in whom the spirit of asceticism was one of the foremost characteristics. He was, we are told, " a man who lived in constant self-restraint as to both sleep and diet, and on all occasions of special prayer prefaced them by a rigid fast."* Notwithstanding his asceticism he lived to the age of eighty-seven, and worked almost to the last. David Brainerd, who laboured in a similar field, was a man whose health broke down in his twenty- first year, and who yet gave himself with such enthusiasm to the work that no obstacle could stop him, no hardship daunt him. His Christian life had begun as a boy with fasting and self-denial, and in the course of his missionary career he had to undergo privations and labours from which a • In this and the succeeding accounts, much is taken from Miss Yoagti' sPivneers and Founders. It may be noticed that the authoress is apparently not a strong admirer of asceticism, and therefore not likely to exaggerate it iu the account of her heroes. 46 CHEISTIAN UNITY. man in strong health miglit well have shrunk. We read of him living on little cakes of Indian maize baked on the hearth, of his stinting himself of the necessaries of life, in order to send money for the support of a poor student at the university, — of his endless journeyings, in spite of terrible prostration of strength, — of his exposure at night, — of his being drenched with rain, — of fevers, — of bleeding from the lungs — of his preaching till he fainted, — of his being can-ied from his bed to administer the Lord's Supper to his converts. Withal we read that he was a singularly social and entertaining person, always a welcome guest at Christian houses, and that he lived on till the age of nearly thirty. That a man sent home in his youth from college by the doctors to die should have accomplished so much as he did before his death is no small wonder, and well worth reflection when we are tempted to make the care of our health our first duty. The next name I must introduce is Schwartz, the first, and probably the greatest, of Protestant missionaries in India. He was certainly known as an ascetic, for a Mr, William Chambers, who describes him, says that, from what he had heard, he expected to see a very austere and strict person, though he found him the very reverse of what would be called forbidding or morose. At this time he was living at Trichinopoly, in a room in an old native building, where there was just space for himself and his bed, and in which few men could stand upright. ASCETICISM A\D MISSION WORK. 47 His food was rice and vegetables, dressed in the native way. At a later period, when he was tutor to the Rajah of Tanjore, we find him living in an almost unfurnished house, on the most simple food. Some tea in a jug, vnth boiling water poured on it, and dry bread broken into it, formed the break- fast, which lasted five minutes. Dinner was of broth or cnrry, and at night he had some meal or grnel. He lived to become the patriarch of a com- munity of missionaries, and died in the seventy- second year of his age, and the forty-eighth of his missionary service in India. Henry ^^artyn is another great name in the mission records of India, — great not so much by reason of the work which he did, as on account of the influence of his holy life on his friends and acquaintances, and the effect of his biographj- in kimlling enthusiasm. The self-discipline which ^Martvn exercised on himself is sufficiently clear from his journal. Some of his penances, as, e.r/., walking with peas in his shoes, have, to some of his editors, seemed too inconsistent with true religion to be recorded with advantage in the life of so holy a man, and have accordingly been omitted. They show clearly, however, how, when a man is really striving after holiness, those things which the world count folly are to him gain: The Cross of Clirist, which is to the world foolishness and a stumbling- block, is to him wisdom and sanctification. Adoniram Judson is another verj' striking example 48 CHRISTIAN UNITY. of asceticism, and he too was one of the greatest missionaries of modern times. The circumstances of his work, and the privations which tliey entailed on him, we need not here narrate, nor yet the extreme and hitter sufferings which were inflicted on him at the time of his captivity. But it is instructive to notice how these sufferings, which brought him almost to death, seem to have given him such appreciation of the hlessiugs of mortifica- tion, that afterwards he increased very much his penitential practices. lie gave up his whole patri- mony to the Mission Board. He mortified to the very utmost his fastidious feelings, by ministering to the most loathsome diseases ; and, to crush his love of honour, he burnt a letter of thanks for his service from the Governor-General of India, and other documents of the same kind. He fasted severely, and, having by nature a peculiar horror of the decay and mouldering of death, ho dug a grave in order that he might, sitting by it, meditate more effectually on death. He had a baaiboo hermitage on the borders of the jungle, where he would live on rice for weeks together. Forty days he spent in the depth of the jungle in solitude, and natives deemed it a miracle that he escaped the tigers. A remarkable tract which he wrote, called the Threefold Cord, contains his views on the neces- sity of bodily mortification for missionaries. It is reprinted in the appendix to his life, but I have never seen it separately, though perhaps it may ASCETICISM AXD MISSION WORK. 49 still be had in the Baptist Mission depots. He died at the age of sixty-two. Of the asceticism of remarkable Roman Catholic missionaries it is unnecessary to give examples. The advantage of it is so decidedly and universally taught and acknowledged in tlie Roman Church that a missionary of zeal could not omit it. Of the missionaries of the Greek Church, although their work is said to be very successful in Siberia, no particular account reaches us ; bat we know that in their Church, too, the advantage of mortifi- cation is strongly held. The conclusion, then, that I draw is, that not only is asceticism recommended to missionaries by Scripture and by reason, but that also the ex- perience of the missionaries of all ages of the Church is in favour of it ; so that, if it has been of late years somewhat discouraged, depreciated, and neglected, it is our duty to endeavour, both by word and example, to recall it to its true position in the estimation of all Christians, and especially of those who are engaged in mission work. It may be that it has been advocated by persons whose writings have not come to the notice of the present \vriter ; and it undoubtedly lias been practised by some missionaries yet alive among us. Still it is certainly safe to say that the general tendency of advice and practice in India has been of late years against it, so that, even if it be right, it will recpiire no small boldness E 50 CHKISTIAX TjXIty. and determination to restore it to its proper place again. In conclusion, it is necessary to say one word about the peculiar circumstances of India. If there is special reason for asceticism in missionaries who go to preach to a people who value it so highly as the Hindus, there is also a special obstacle in the efi'ect of the climate on persons coming from Europe or America. It seems clear that for the first year or two of a new-comer's life in India there is an acceleration of the physical processes of the body, which causes an increased demand for food and sleep. It is like a birth into a new world, and hfe has to be protected carefully, as in infancy. During this period it is abuost impossible to fast, and the exhaustion produced in the system — even when taking more food, perhaps, than in England — is a peuauce in itself. But afterwards, when the constitution becomes acclimatized, the reverse is the case, and less food and less nourishing is necessary than in a colder climate. Hence, medical men often say that more disease is caused among Europeans in India by excess in food and drink tlian by deficiency of nom-ishment. The great age to which ascetics live in the full enjoy- ment of tlieir facilities is a sufficient testimony to tlie fact that asceticism does not, in general, shorten men's lives, or impair their usefulness. Let us be sure, the truth of God's word is more and more disclosed to us as we have courage more ASCETICISM AXD MISSION 'WORK. 51 antl more to rely on it. When Peter walked on the water, there was no reproach to him for his audacity in making so extraordinary an attempt, but only a rebuke of his faith because it wavered in the trial. We may fluctuate in our acceptance of, and reliance on, the Divine word, and doubtless the measure of faith given to different men is different ; but the word itself remains constant, upholding the perfect standard at which we are to aim, and which will be our judge at the Last Day. E 2 52 CHRISTIAN UNITY. MIXISTRIES AND GIFTS. The Epistles of S. Paul seem to show us that the grace of God operates in the Church in two ways, viz., bv BiaKovtai and by ')(apiafiaTa, that is by ministries and by gifts. The ministries are es- pecially ascribed to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the gifts to the Holy Spirit. (1 Cor. xii. 4, 5.) The ministries have a regular order, and are ordained for the regular transmission of gi-ace from the sacred Humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, through human channels, to every member of His Mystical Body. The gifts are directly from the Holy Ghost Himself, given without the intervention of any human mediator, not according to any law known to us, but to each individual as the Spirit wills. For the exercise of ministry authority (i^ovaia) is required ; for the exercise of gifts, power {Bvvafii<;). In the Apostles both were combined. They received authority from our Lord, Who said : " All authority is given unto I\Ie in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and make disciples." (S. Matt, xxviii. 18, 19.) They received power when the Holy Ghost came upon them on the Day of Pente- MINISTKIES AND GIFTS. 53 cost. (Acts i. 8.) S. Paul seems to refer to this double method by which God supplies grace to His Church in Eph. iv. 12, when he speaks of the work of the ministry, and the edifying of the Body of Christ, as being the two operations which con- duce to the perfecting of the saints.* Of course I do not mean to say that the Holy Ghost does not co-operate in the work of the ministries, or that gifts do not accompany ministry. But I mean that there is this important difference between these two Divine modes of conferring on us grace, that in the case of ministries, our atten- tion is directed principally to our Lord Jesus Christ, and we have to take care that the ministry we use is really authorized by Him, in order that we may be sure that we obtain the grace proper to it, but in the case of gifts we have only to assure ourselves that they are real and good, and then we know that they must come from the Holy Spirit. In the first case it is the assured authority of the immediate agent, in the second case it is the beneficial result, which proves to us that we have been brought into communion with God. It follows from this, I think, that it must be a mistake either to allow tiie performance of un- authorized ministries, or to require any authority » The renognition of this twofold Divine method of Rrace may be the key to llie exegetical difliculties of 1 Cor. xii. 28-30, as well as of Eph. iv. 11. Vide Bishop Wordsworth in loco, who says that the neglect of this distinction has caused much confusion and controversy. 54 CHRISTIAN UNITY. for the exercise of gifts. Ministry is an official act. Its value depends upon the reality of the authority of the officer who ministers. If he be properly appointed, his acts must be valid, but on the contrary if he have had no regular appointment, his acts must be null and void. Taking as a parallel the service of the State, we see that whatever official act is done by any member of the Government, or by a magistrate, or officer in the army or navy, the value of that official act depends completely, not on the private character of the official, or his capacity for his post, but simply on the fact of his regular appointment. A man very much more fit for his office, if without authority he attempted to do the official act, would effect nothing whatever by his attempt. For instance, what would the value of a marriage be, if performed by a person not legally authorized to many couples ? The persons so united would not be man and wife, and though we might pity them if they were deceived by some impostor, we should certainly hold they were much to blame if they had entirely set aside the question of officiating minister as one of no importance, and consented to be married by any person who was capable in their opinion of performing the function suitably and pleasantly. In like manner if any persons, who are not properly authorized, undertake to perform the official acts of the Christian religion, wc have no reason to think that these acts are valid. We may MINISTRIES AND GIFTS. 55 pity those who in spite of the exercise of caution are deceived by them, but if any persons choose to accept their ministrations without investigation, we can only hold that they are justly rewarded for their carelessness and imprudence by failing to obtain what they desire. The chief official acts of the Church are its Sacraments and Sacramental ordinances. The efficacy of the Sacraments seems to depend on the authority of the minister who dispenses them. If they are not autliorized, genuine seals of the Christian covenant, they are not properly eflfectual. In themselves they are but rites, suitable, no doubt, and significant to those who have been instructed; but, as expressions of truth, or vehicles of instruc- tion, or stimulants of the feelings, they are far inferior to sermons and addresses. It is as " sure witnesses and effectual signs of grace" tliat they are of such extreme importance as to be called " generally necessary to salvation."* To neglect the authoritative or official side of Sacraments, then, is to reduce them to a mere ceremony, and eventually tends to bring them into neglect or even disuse, as history shows. Of course I am not forgetting tliat they may be regarded from anotlicr point of view, riz., as mysti- cal actions, or, perhaps we may say, actions whose effects are beyond tlic reacli of our understanding ; and that we may therefore suspecst that even though * Article XXV., and Church Catechism. 5G CHRISTIAN UNITY. not performed by a legitimate ministry, tliey are not inoperative. It is not my intention to go into this question. It is sufficient to observe that if such an opinion be maintained, yet it can only be as a matter of speculation, not of certainty. This only is certain that where the Sacraments are regularly administered with proper authority, they are effectual signs and seals of our admission into and confirma- tion in the Covenant of the New Testament. Apart from regular and authorized administration, their effect is only matter of hope, or fear, or speculation. The defence of lay-baptism in cases of necessity is not at all inconsistent with this. The layman, who baptizes a dying person because no clergyman can be got, becomes for that act an official of the Church, since he is obeying a general order of the Church, in so doing. The necessity of baptism is so great that the Church sanctions the adminis- tration of it by a layman, or even by a woman in time of necessity. Heretical or schismatical baptism is of course another thing. Although the Church forbids it to be repeated, yet it does not allow that grace is conferred by it. On the contrary, the Fathers seem to teach that its operation is dormant until the person who receives it be united to the Catholic Church by confirmation or some formal reconciliation.* • Sed ne puteris illud (jnod magnum est tibi aliquid prodesse posse si non fueris in imitate. • * • Veni er^'o nd coluiubaiu, diciraus, non nt iucijiias habere quod uon liabcbas, MINISTRIES AND GIFTS. 67 For the administration therefore of Baptism or the Holy Eucharist, or for the conferring of Confirmation ©r Ahsohition, we hold that a person must have received authority from our Lord Jesus Christ through those who are commissioned to act in His name. Of the degree of ministry required for each of them respectively we say nothing ; it suffices to say that tliey are official acts, and can only be valid when performed by those who have received official authority, whether generally or for particular cases. But besides the administration of the Sacraments, there are other spiritual actions which are more or less official. To " take the service," as we say, is really to preside in the congregation, and to be re- sponsible for the proper conduct of it. Such an act must be considered official. The administration of the Sacraments is indeed a far more imj)ortant business, since it involves the responsibility of dis- ciiminating who are worthy to receive them and who are not. Hence much greater care is necessary in selecting officers for such functions. But all tlie minor services, too, involve some responsibility, iind Marriage and liurial es[)ccially, since in tlieso also it is a question of administering justice in particular cases, and of refusing the official services sed ut prodesHe tibi incipitit quod habobas. Foris enim habebas baptismuni ad pcrnicicm, intuH Hi habiieris, incipit prodoHse ad Kaliitem. — S. AutjuHine, Homily vi. on S. John. See also Librari/ of llw Fathrrs, Preface to S. Cyprian's Epistles, p. xvi., and Note G. on Tertiillian. 68 CHRISTIAN UNITY. to those who are not fit recipient of them. Doubt- less, we are guided here by laws, and not by in- dividual opinions as to fitness, but for the due administration of law a man of equity and discretion is required. The conclusion, then, which I venture to draw from all this is, that for the performance of all such Church work a licence should be given by the Bishop. Whatever acts are of an official ministerial character in religion should be performed only by those who have received authority either directly or indirectly from the Bishop, and are therefore ultimately responsible to him for their official actions. The rule still holds good that " necessity has no law ;" but, as far as possible, order should be extended to all that province of religious actions whose value consists more or less in their official character. Thus much concerning mbihfr'tcs. With regard to gifts the case stands quite differently. The possessor of a gift needs no permission to use it. The fact that God has given hina that gift is a sufficient warrant for the use of it. Law comes in only as a precautionary restraint to prevent the conilicting, injurious use of gifts (1 Cor. xiv. 27-40), or to forbid the exercise of such as arc pretended and false. (1 S. John iv. 1.) It would be a groat mistake, I think, to UTulor- stand by gifts only those which are of a miraculous MINISTRIES AND GIFTS. 59 character. Eloquence, spiritual insight, learning, artistic talent, the ability to teach, personal influence, aptness for works of charity, power of organisation, medical skill, wealth, &c. — all these are gifts which entitle, nay, require, their possessors to use them for the good of the Church without waiting for any human authorization to do so. True it is that if a person is not guided by charity in the use of them, harm may be done instead of good, but it is charity we must look to rather than law, or perhaps charity supplemented by law, to preserve the harmonious exercise of all these gifts in the Church by many persons at the same time. What we now-a-days call a gift for preaching is considered by many good authorities to be of the same kind, though not of the same degree, as the gift of prophecy spoken of in the New Testament.* Prophecy before Christ looked on to Him, and revealed Him as present, but prophecy since He has come is more properly occupied in looking back to Him, and making Him present as it were to the minds of the hearers. The power of realizing (as we say) the truths of our Creed, and making others realize them — is not this akin to the gift of prophecy ? Now wo find this gift of prophecy in the New Testament exercised freely by difl'erent Christians in the assembly quite apart from the office • Vide Smith's Bible Dictionarj- ; a. v. Prophet. 60 CHRISTIAN UNITY. of the ministry,* and apparently with great effect. S. Paul speaks of it as effecting the conversion of unbelievers (1 Cor. xiv. 25), as well as edifpng the Church {ibid. v. 3.) Why should not this be done at the present time ? Why should not more of us desire especially this gift, as S. Paul exhorts (1 Cor. xiv. 1), and why should not those who have received it use it freely in our Churches for the good of souls ? All Christian experience is in favour of the truth that this gift is given irrespective of the ministry. The Western Church before the Reformation recog- nised it (perhaps tardily) in her sanction of the lay- friars. If in the Church of England we have ignored it, we have suffered deeply by the loss of the service of many earnest laymen, who have found a ophere for the exercise of this gift only by becoming Dissenters. Surely it is time to acknowledge that the Spirit divideth to every man severally as He wills, and tliat the gifts He bestows are to be used freely for the edifying of the Church. Now, with respect to preaching, it might perhaps be thouglit that it cannot be considered as a gijt, * " Touching Prophets, they were such men as, having otherwise learned the Gospel, had from ahovo bestowed upon them a special gift of expounding the Scriptures and of pro- phesying things to come. Of this sort was Agabus, and besides him in Jerusalem sundry other, who notwithstanding are not therefore to be reckoned with the CliTipj ; because no man's gifts or qualities can make him a minister of holy things^ unless ordination do first give him power." (Hooker's Eccle- siastical Polity, Book V. Ixxviii. 6.) MINISTRIES AND GIFTS. 61 but must rather rank as a ministry. The Twenty- third Article seems to put preaching and ministering the Sacraments on the same footing, in forbidding any man to execute them except he be lawfully called and sent. It seems to me, however, that there is a great difference between preaching with authority " in the congregation," as a representative of the Church, and merely exhorting and explaining, with- out laying any claim to such authority. The one is suited for the more solemn assemblies of the Church ; the other may bo very useful at less formal meetings, in which Christians are gathered together for edification or instruction. Who is there that would deny the layman the right to speak, without Episcopal licence, at a Temperance Meeting, at a Parochial Tea-Meeting (which is a sort of modern representation of the primitive Agape), at a mission to the masses of some large city, at family prayer, or to the heathen ? But if such meetings are not held in our churches, it is not, I suppose, that there is any essential obstacle to a layman's speaking witliin tlio sacred precincts of a Church, but only that reverence for the House of God has led us to make strict rules for its use so as to preserve most carefully the solemn asso- ciations of the place. The rule of not allowing a layman to make an address in Church does indeed effectually preserve the distinction between such i)rcaching and teaching as is official and such as is un-ollicial, but even 62 CHRISTIAN UNITY. without it the very fact of having an ordained ministry would keep up the ditference, one would think. There would always be a manifest differ- ence between addresses given irregularly on special occasions by an unordained and uuhcensed speaker, and the regular systematic teaching of one appointed over a congregation for the very purpose of instruct- ing them. Both might be useful and yet quite distinct. If it be desired to have some external sign to dis- tinguish between authoritative ministerial teaching and other addresses, it might be well to make the use of the surplice an intimation that the person addressing a congregation was doing so as licensed by the Bishop. It may perhaps be urged that I am proposing a scheme which would open the flood-gates of confu- sion and unseemliness in our churches. But I beg that it may be observed that I am only attempting to elucidate some general principles, by no means to lay down the particulars of a definite scheme. I am not proposing that it should be open to any one to speak or preach when or where and as he likes without restraint. Tlie exercise of all gifts which concern the common weal must be limited and guided by such rules or customs or common consent as shall prevent personal eccentricity or individual taste from offending instead of edifying. The spirits of the propliets are subject to the i)ro- phcts. The munificent founder of some charitable institution requires approval and sanction before MINISTRIES AND GIFTS. 63 his scheme can take place as an institution of the Church. His gift is not by order, yet it must be by acceptance. So, too, the singer in the choir, the teacher in the Sunday School, and whoever contributes out of the gifts wherewith God has endowed him to the welfare of the Church, — all these need no ordination for what they do, yet they need to be accepted in their work. And so, if lay- men exercise the gift of preaching, their work must be accepted and approved, and thereby sanctioned. How this acceptance is to be shown it is not necessary to discuss. It would naturally vary according to the place and time and character of preaching. I only guard against the supposition that I am advocating a course which would lead to disorder, wlien I am not attempting to lay down these various rules which common sense is abun- dantly able to frame. If indeed our congregations should be somewhat startled by the unusual sight of a layman addressing his brethren earnestly on tlie care of their souls, I cannot but thiidc that it would be far from doing them harm, if it awoke them to the consciousness that the Holy Spirit is dwelling in the midst of us, and is ready to give His boi?t gifts to those that earnestly covet them. In one very important way which we nnist not neglect to notice;, we freely concede to our laity the right to use their gifts of teaching or exhortation, — viz., by means of the Press. The Roman Catholic 64 CHRISTIAN UNITY. Church indeed professes to exercise restraint over all pens which touch on religious subjects, yet it by no means prohibits hut rather encourages laymen to write. Our own Church has no provision for any super- vision or expression of her opinion as to the writings of laymen, hut cordially welcomes all assistance from them in the field of religious literature. Now as regards the principle of the thing, what difference is there whether a man gives religious teaching orally or by writing ? If he need not receive ordi- nation or licence for the one, why should he for the other ? The fact is, it is distinctly recognized that a layman's capacity to write a good religious work is the warrant for his writing it. In like manner I urge that his capacity for preaching should be re- cognized as his warrant to preach. I venture to add that I think that the confusion which has prevailed with respect to this subject has heen a fruitful cause of evil to Chri.jtendom. Gifts and ministry have been identiBed, to the injury of the exercise sometimes of the one, sometimes of the other. On the one hand possessors of gifts have claimed the ministry ; on the other hand the exercise of gifts has been denied to tlio possessors of them as if it were an interference with the rights of the ministry. Bat I trust that we may foresee brighter days when, to give a fresh application to an oft-tpioted text, — " Kphraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim." ( 65 ) CONFESSION. The immediate cause which induced me to offer an article on this subject to the editor of the Indian Evangelical Review was the gi'eat disturbance lately excited in England by an attack made in the House of Lords upon the book called Tlie Priest in Absolution, The excitement of England did not extend to India. Though living in a warmer climate, we are generally cooler in theological con- troversy, and as I looked at the scene of strife from afar, it seemed to me very deplorable that reasonable gentlemen of the nineteenth century — kindly, cour- teous, enlightened Christians — should enter into the strife with so little reflection, such bhnd partizanship, sucli readiness to ascribe evil motives to their brethren. For we must remember that the combatants are brethren ■ after all; they have one common object, the exaltation of One Name over every other name on earth, — one errand, an errand of mercy to all miserable, sin-laden souls, — one hope, the hope of a meeting on the right hand of the Great Judge, and of an eternal union in the courts above. Is there then, to bo no truce between the two F 66 CHRISTIAN UNITY. parties — no parlej'? Is no mediation or arbitration possible ? Is there to be uo thought of concession, — no desire to find out what the opposite party is aiming at, — but only blind, bitter warfare to the end ? In this country, at least, the presence of the heathen and the Mussulman forces us to a more respectful tolerance of our differing Christian brethren. Here, at any rate, I will appeal for a calm consideration of the subject, that it may be discussed on its own merits, apart from personalities and apart from prejudice. What we want is that each party should hear what the other has to say, and consider how much it can yield, rather than how best it may oppose. Wa have had volumes and volumes of controversy, but what have they done for us '? ]Iow many souls have they brought nearer to God '? How much have they contributed towards truth or charitv ? \Yhilst Christians have been contending amongst themselves, unbelief has been stealing away the faith of millions on the pretext that there can be no certainty in any dogma of Christianity, since there is such disagreement amongst its professors. We have had enough of controversies ; what wo need now is eirenicons, and there are signs that the age of cirenlconH is coming on, if only the heart of the fathers may bo turned to the children, and tho heart of the children to the fathers, in the great and the terrible day of the Lord's coming. It is in this way that I wish now to treat tho CONFESSION. 67 subject of Confession, — to examine it in the light of reason, and see whether it be really a question which ought to divide Christians. Is it the case that Confession is a wholly bad thing, that must be resisted and extii'pated as destructive of true Christianity ? or is it a legitimate and useful means for the attainment of holiness, which needs to be regulated by prudence, but can ill be spared by the Christian Church y I wish to regard the question dispassionately and calmly, and to win others to do the same. I am sensible from experi- ence that a storm of invective showered upon any opinion that a man may hold does not lead him to alter it, nor do I desire to take part in theological controversy of this sort. Of what avail are violent declamations '? There is little hope of winning persons to the ackuowledgiueut of any truth unless the advocate of it shows himself to be fair and impartial ; and I see no prospect of Christians coming to a common conclnsiun in this matter until it be viewed, not as a party question, but as one which ought to be decided on independent grounds of reason and experience. Not to complicate the matter, I wish to view Confession now apart from Absolution ; for although they have a close connection, yet it is evident they are distinct things, and by no means inseparable. They rest on somewhat different grounds, and to discuss them together it would be necessary to intro- duce two dilferent departments of theological thought , F 2 68 CHRISTIAN UNITY. and would, I fear, make my paper too long. More- over, I am anxious that the two subjects should not be confused, and that Confession should be dis- cussed on its own merits. The first consideration which I wish to bring before my reader's mind in approaching this sub- ject is the undoubted fact that many persons of acknowledged piety, learning, and discretion have attributed great importance to the practice of Confession as a means of holiness. This is a sort of argument which, I believe, ought to have great weight with us. We regard with gi-eat respect the evidence of experts in their own particular sciences. It ought to be the same .with respect to the science of holiness. " He that is spiritual judgeth all things." Great holiness is quite as exceptional as great learning or great scientific ability, and puts its possessor on a similar pinnacle as regards spiri- tual tilings. We may justly give a weight to the opinions of very holy men on questions of practical holiness far beyond what we allow to our own. Reason is very easily misled in spiritual questions, but the mind of a man who is filled with the love of God is instinctively guided in those things which concern the sanctification of his soul. If it be objected that, because wo do not know the secrets of hearts, we are unable to say who is holy or who is not, and that God alone is able to judge truly, I reply that though we are unable to pass judgment on the great mass of mankind, whose CONFESSION. 69 conduct is of a very mixed character, yet there are some exceptionally good as well as some excep- tionally evil men, who are universally recognized as such, about whom we cannot be mistaken, and that moreover it is practically impossible for any man so to play the hypocrite that he can deceive all the world, which is so very keen in discovering any inconsistencies in the life of a professed Christian. And indeed our Lord implies that we have the faculty of discerning good characters from evil ones, when He says, " Ye shall know tliem by their fruits. Do raen gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ? Even so every good tree bringelh forth good fruit ; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit." In fact it is impossible that it should be otherwise. Nothing makes a greater impression on the man that is seeking after holiness than to find it exemplified in the life of a teacher. This is what draws true disciples to Jesus Christ, and no more elfective argument can ever be prjsented by His preachers than holiness in their own lives. It can- not, therefore, be a false one, nor one which ia nnsuited to the great mass of mankind, if they will take care to apply it properly. Now, with respect to the practice of Confession, a great number of names may be cited of persons universally admired for their holiness — such as S. Bernard, S. Francis of Assisi, Thomas a Kempis, S. Francis de Sales — who have laid stress on tlie confession of sins as a gi-eat means of advancing in 70 CHRISTIAN UNITY. virtue, but whom, nevertheless, I shall not adduce as witnesses, because the fact of their having either lived before the Eeformatiou, or having be3n brought up in the Roman Catholic Church, will disqualify them, it may perhaps seem, for giving an impartial testimony. I prefer therefore to take members of the English Church, avoiding all men- tion of living men ; and I would ask, are not the names of Andrewes, Hooker, Herbert, Jeremy Taylor, Ken, names honoured by all for their solid virtue and earnest piety ? Or, to come to our own day, were not Keble, Isaac Williams, Charles Marriott, Bishop Hamilton, Bishop Grey, Bishop Forbes, Bishop Veuables, Bishop Milman, men who conferred a lustre on the English Church by the sincere devotion, humility, and self-denial of tlieir lives ? These are men whose real goodness is undisputed even by their theological opponents. When, then, I find such men recommending and practising Confession, — not as a time-honoured custom of the English Church which it was dan- gerous to interfere with, but as a forgotten help to r>3pentance, which it was important to bring into use again, even at the risk of much unpopularity, — I think it becomes a serious question wliether there is any counter-evidence which can outweigh it. And wo must notice that the only evidence which is of value is that of persons who have had actual experience of Confession. If witnesses be adduced of unimpeachable piety who have denied the value of CONFESSION. 71 Confession, their testimony will not be to the point unless they can speak from experience. They must be men who, having tried it, have rejected it as useless or injurious. And where can such be found ? At the time of the Reformation, Confession was by no means a special giievance or object of horror to the Reformers. They did not oppose the thing itself, but only certain abuses connected with. it. Witness Latimer, who says, " To speak of right and true Confession, I would to God it were kept in England ; for it is a good thing." If, indeed, Confession was a delusive act of repentance, which, though suppovted by various arguments of reason, could not stand the test of experience, it would be strange if those good men, who began to use and to teach it at such pains, did not find out their mistake, or if not all of them, some of them, or at any rate a few. Yet where are such ? On the contrary, it seems as if experience was a stronger advocate of it than reason, since we find men advising it first timidly on theoretical, afterwards much more forcibly on practical grounds. I do not mean to deny that opponents of Confession may be found whose opinions are justly entitled to weight by reason of the piety of their lives, but I say that it appears to be the case that they have formed tlieir opinions about it second-hand, not from personal experience. Of course I am aware that they appeal to the testimony of facts wlum they point to tlie state of Roman Catholic countries, whore Con- 72 CHRISTIAN UNITY. fession is the rule. But this is a very different sort of eridence from personal experience. I will consider it in its place. Here it is sufficient to remark that there are a gi-eat many other practices included in the Koman Catholic religion besides Confession, and that, moreover, Confession in the Koman Catholic Church, being of universal obliga- tion, is so different in character from the voluntary Confession advocated by the authorities I have adduced, that it is quite misleading to apply evi- dence derived from one system to establish or decry, except to a partial extent, the advantages ascribed to the other. It is as if in some state a system of compulsory medical treatment should be established by which all persons were obliged to submit them- selves periodically to the treatment of the Government doctors, and an enemy of medicine should argue from the inconveniences and ills of such a system that all medical practice was injurious, and that it would be for tlie benefit of society if no one was permitted to resort to the aid of a doctor. Such a line of reasoning is altogether different from that of the man who looks for the direct evidence of individuals who have made trial of any medicine, and inquires who can testify to its value, and who, on the other hand, are 2>i'epared to report that it was useless or injurious to them. But now that I liave come to this stage of the argument, I shall i)orhiips be met with the objection that, whether based on personal experience or not, CONFESSION. 73 there is a horror of Confession among Protestant people, so wide-spread and so deeply felt that it is impossible to ignore it ; and some account must be given of this feeling, how it came to exist, and how it is sustained, if Confession really be a good thing. The first remark I shall make in answer to this question is, that it would be wrong to forget the evil influence exerted by Satan in stirring up the minds of men to a causeless hatred of the rites and practices of true religion. It must be acknowledged that men of the world have always disliked any religious practices which have seemed to rebuke their worldliness and indifference to sin. This dis- like has often been fanned by the Evil One, who is the father of sin, into a positive hatred, through the invention and circulation of false ideas and state- ments about those who are the objects of dislike. The dislike of the Pharisees to Jesus Christ was no doubt due to his exposure of their worldliness ; but the sudden unpopularity which broke on him, leading ti)e whole population to clamour for his exe- cution, seems to have been caused by the false reports which were circulated about His intention of destroying the Temple, and I lis having forbidden the payment of tribute to the Roman (iovernment. What befell Jesus Christ has happened more or less to all those of His followers who have been called ui)on to introduce any reform in religion or to preach a stricter life. It cannot be, as He says. 74 CHRISTIAN UNITY. that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. Protestants are the first to admit tliat reformers in the Roman Catholic Church have met with this obloquy. Can they not see that the same has been the case in every body of Christians since the Reformation ? When, at a meeting of Baptist ministers, Carey (afterwards tlie great missionary of Serampore) pro- posed missionary work among the heathen, he was silenced ; dissenting pastors would have nothing to do with the cause, and in the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland several ministers pronounced it to be highly preposterous to attempt to spread the Gospel among barbarous nations, and declared that the funds of missionary societies might be turned against Government. When Wilberforce, anxious that the East-India Company should do something for the souls of their agents, proposed in Parlia- ment that chaplains and churches should be pro- "\aded for the English in India, the House of Com- mons (to which so many earnest Protestants look now for the defence of the faith) rejected the scheme as endangering our possessions in India. In the House of Lords two bishops supported it, whilst one spoke against it, and the rest were silent. Evangelicals cannot have forgotten the horror and indignation with wliich their earnest preacliers were assailed at the end of the last century as impostors, madmen, and leaders of sedition against Church and State, whilst one poor Cornishnian was even committed to prison on the charge that he had CONFESSION. 75 avowed that "his sins were forgiven !" "When we build the tombs of the prophets, we must take care that our own hands are clean from blood. I maintain, then, that there is good gi-ound for suspecting that the horror felt of Confession is due in part to the natural dislike of the world to earnest piety, and that religious people should consider carefully whether it is really a gain to have the world on their side when they attack a religious practice, — whether they ought not rather, when they hear the cry that Caesar's interests are in danger, to suspect that there may be some other " prince of the world " whose interests are also at stake. But, besides this, there are also causes of a more legitirnate kind which have tended to produce this fear of Confession. I cannot doubt that the rigid system of obligatory Confession which the Roman Catholic Church has made binding on her adherents, has led to various evils, and produced a strong reaction against the practice in the minds of those who feel keenly the injury inflicted on man- kind by the imposition of unnecessary burdens. It is this reasonable horror of obligatory Con- fession which is at the bottom of mucl> of the antipathy to voluntary Confession. The two systems arc confused. Again, in addition to this, there is an anticipation of certain possible evils which seem likely to the imagination to result from the practice of Confes- 76 CHRISTIAN UNITY. sion, even if voluntary, and which report more or less ascribes to it. These exih are, I snppose, impurity, weakness of faith, mental slavery, and a light estimate of sin. I will consider them in order. First with respect to impurity, it is cer- tainly the case that this sin so easily contaminates that we are not justified in approaching it, or con- templating it, even mentally, without sufficient cause. "It is a shame even to speak of those things," says the Apostle. Yet the Bible does speak of them, and that in the plainest terms ; nor do we hesitate to place the Book in the hands of women and children, and to read it publicly before the congregation. It will indeed be an evil day when the Church shall become too sensitive in her refinement to hear the simple word of God. " To the pure all tilings are pure." Those persons whose professions — as doctors and, I must add, clergymen — oblige them to come into contact wth such sins may safely trust to the grace of God to keep them from injury when they are engaged in the charitable work of labouring for the good of others. And with regard to the persons confessing such sins, what feelings can be roused in their hearts with respect to impurity but that of extreme horror of it, when they experience the bitterness of even uttering with their lips that which now appears as shameful to them as it was before en- ticing ? It must be granted, indeed, that when any person is so depraved as deliberately to use a CONFESSION. 77 religious ordinance for evil pui-poses, Confession affords an opportunity for secret conversation. But surely such an opportunity is not otherwise difficult to get ; and we should think that if any clergyman be a Don Juan it will be a long time before he leaves the ball-room, the picnic, and the thousand oppor- tunities for private conversation which our unre- strained social life affords, for the restricted converse of an uncomfortable seat in the confessional.* The fact is, that of the various clerical scandals which have come to light and shocked the English mind, not one has been connected with Confession. Nor even in the Roman Catholic Church do we hear of anything of the sort, although we know there must be some immoral persons among the ministers of every religion. On the contrar}', if we jiulge from the condition of Ireland, the use of Confession would seem very favourable to purity. This was what converted my old schoolmaster — (he has many pupils in this country) — a staunch Protestant of tho old school, to a more lenient view of the sacerdotal system in his old age. When he came back from a tour in Ireland, he said to me, " I shall never say a word more against the priests now I have seen what thoy have done for the Irish people. As * Tlio custom in Ilonian cliurclios is for tho priest to sit iu a BiuuU wooden box, and to hold coniuiunicatiou with tlio peni- tent only through u snmll hitticed aperture. In their anxiety to avoid even tho suspicion of evil, some of the clergy in the English Church have introduced similar coDfessionals into their churches. 78 CHRISTIAN UNITY. regards purit}', our people canuot hold a candle to the Irish." That history tells us of times when great immorality prevailed among the clergy as well as among the laity I do not deny, but I know of no evidence to connect it with the practice of Con- fession. On the contrary, there is a good deal of testimony to the assistance which the practice of Confession has given to pious persons in their en- deavours to reform such evils. Before leaving this part of the subject I cannot forbear quoting the testimony of the late Dr. Brett, a surgeon of good practice, well known for the churches built in the East End of London by his generosity and his exertions, as well as for his literary works and his personal virtues. Fifteen years ago he wrote as follows : — " There is probably no precept of the moral law so frequently violated both in letter and spirit as this [the Seventh Conmumdnient] ; and certainly there is no sin or class of sins more luispariiig-ly condemned as dis- pleasinf^ to God, or against which the Scriptures more solemnly warn all i)ersons. It is a j^ifjantic and deadly evil, stalking abroad in onr streets, and lurking in the homes of Christian England, infusing its baneful poison into n)any hearts. Yet grave and earnest men deter- minately shut their eyes, and refuse to give the subject that consideration which it ought to receive if either the evil is to be checked or the injuries it inllicts are to be remedied. This repugnance arises partly from tlio extreme repugnance, delicacy, and danger of handling it, and partly from certain prudish feelings of false delicacy, which are as cruel as they are un-Christian. CONFESSION. 79 Such fears and feelings ought not to deter the Bishops and elder clergy from thoughtfully considering and manfully grappling v>-ith an evil which my experience as a layman enables me to say is withering the hearts of thousands among us. Truly it behoves us all most jealously and sacredly to guard the purity of our homes ; but surely there is neither wisdom, tenderness, nor Chris- tian charity in being ignorant of or in attempting to ignore the sad and painful fact that the purity of many hearts has long ago been sullied in the nursery or in the school to a far greater extent than parents, or even many of the clergy, are aware. Alas, there are many loving gentle souls racked with agony by a consuming fire which they know not how to quench. Often— often has my heart bled for the sorrows of those who have sought my counsel, and I cannot suffer this opportunity to pass without reiterating what I wrote some years since with a desire to arouse tome parents to a sense of their duty, and not to leave their children entirely to the care of menials : ' Were these cases a thousand times less fre(iucnt than they really arc, surely the very fact that such calamity (Iocs befall many immortal beings ought to be sutticient to awaken every parent, guardian, and schoolmaster to exercise the most careful vigilance over the young.' The experience of the years which havo Ijasscd since this was i)ubli8hcd luis strengthened my convictions a tliousandfold ; and the time is come for tlie liishops and i)rie>ts of God's Clinrch to face the evil and to help those desolate and afliictcd souls who find but few sympathising hearts to whom they can freely and fully tell their talo of misery." * The noxt danj^cr anticipated from tho use of CoufcHsioa is the weakeiiin;^ of faith. The intro- • The Churchinaii's (luidr, p. -144. Sto also Dr. Coweil in the Conlcmi>uraiij Review for MurcL, IHTJ. 80 CHRISTIAN UNITY. duction of a visible human mediator between the soul and Christ seems to lower the character of the Christian religion. Does it not lead men to rest upon the visible, audible priest with whom they can con- verse in the flesh, and keep them from the higher eff'orts of that faith which sees Him Who is invisible, and knows no need of any other ear than His, even though no audible response proves that the con- fession is heard ? Such a question as this is a difficult one. It refers to things which are perhaps beyond the reach of our judgment. This only I would suggest by way of answer to it. It must be first ascertained whether those persons who go to Confession are less earnest and constant in private prayer than those who do not, and whether at times when they are alone they really feel a greater difficulty in realizing the presence of Jesus Christ, and in trusting that He hears their prayers or confessions, than they did before they began the practice of Confession. I am not prepared to investigate this now, but I venture to think that without some evidence as to these points the matter cannot be satisfactorily discussed. Thirdly, the confessional is often dreaded as an instrument for tyrannizing over the conscience. That it might be so used seems apparent, nor do I tliink that such a fear is groundless. When the government of the Church is of a despotic nature, and the clergy are completely in the hands of one supreme Head, and Confession is an ordinance CONFESSION. 81 obligatory on all, it seems quite possible that the confessional may be made use of to crush all resistance to any dogma or practice which the supreme Head may wish to enforce. But we must remember that not only the confessional, but also the pulpit, and the religious press, and the whole system of administration become equally the means of enforcing slavery in such a case as this. On the contrary, where, as in the Church of England, no such supreme despotic authority is acknowledged, and confession is a pm-ely voluntary act, and the person wishing to confess may select any confessor that he pleases, or, distrusting one, may change to another, — in such a case it is difficult to see what tyranny can be exercised by the clergy of a nation, any more than by the doctors. It is not at all impossible that in individual cases the person confessing may lay too great stress upon the advice of the confessor, or that the confessor may be too peremptory or dictatorial in giving advice ; but in what system is there not room for human error and human fault ? Fourthly, is not there ground for thinking that with the use of Confession comes a lighter estimate of sin, and a diminished dread of committing it ? If so, this is certainly a heavy count — yet not against C'onfession itself, I siippose, so mucli as against the way in which confessors administer it. If any one is led to satisfy his soul with the act of making au oral confession, and if he allows this to 82 CHKISTIAN UNITY. take the place of coutinued self-discipline and l eformation of life, Confession certainly becomes a deadly snare to him. That this is often the case in the Church of Rome is, I confess, my own impression, and I do feel that great care ought to be taken lest the introduction of the practice of Confession in the Church of England should be attended by a like result. The higher our religious privileges or practices are, the greater the danger of misusing them. Opium as a medicine ranks first in importance in the pharmacopoeia of the medical man, yet opium used for self-indul- gence is the destruction of many of the human race. Who woidd dare to counsel the prohibition of the use of the drug on account of its abuse ? Con- fession is undoubtedly soothing to the soul, and the danger of using it as an anodyne is, I believe, a very real one, — the greatest of all the dangers connected with its use. But how can I dare to leave broken hearts in their misery, and sin-bound souls in their despair, because the luxurious throng of self-seekers, cultivating that most popular religion which consists in making the best of both worlds, passes in to defile the streams of God's mercy, and greedily turns that which might have been for their salvation to the con- firmation of their destruction — sealing not their repentance, but their self-deceit, to the judgment of the Great Day ? I have considered the objections made by reli- gious people to the practice of Confession, and CONFESSION'. 83 shown that I believe them to be in part groundless and in part reasonable, yet in no case sufficient to forbid us the use of it, if it be in other respects ad- vantageous. What its benefits are I have already had occasion in some measure to indicate, but I should Hke to state them here more explicitly. 1. First, I maintain that to confess one's sins to another person obliges a man to examine himself, and see what he has done, or is doing, contrary to God's law, in a much more exact way than he would otherwise be likely to do. We ai-e far too apt to content ourselves with a general view of our sinfulness, and to avoid tliat discriminating inquiry into it which is necessaiy if we are to make any real and continuous progress in the abatement of it. In confession to God our consciousness that He knows all often seems to make particular details of our sins unnecessary. But if we wish to give a true account of ourselves to a fellow-creature it is different. He only knows as nmch as we tell him, and we are obliged therefore to take pains to make a true and exact estimate of ourselves. From this it cannot fail to result that we see our sins more truly, are inspired with a greater horror of them, and condemn ourselves more unsparingly before the all- holy God. 2. But if this previous self-examination, which is necessitated by Confession, tends to humility, how much more does the act of confession itself, in which we lay bare those sins which we most loathe, Q 2 84 CHRISTIAN UNITT. and show ourselves as we really are to the eye of another ! Nothing is more humiliating than Con- fession ; nothing more abhorrent to our pride ; nothing more destructive of our secret self-satis- faction ; nothing, therefore, which more tends to humility — that is, to the foundation of all Christian virtues. "He that humbleth himself shall be exalted," is one of our Lord's sayings, which is of very wide as well as deep application. If we really value humility, we shall take as much pains to find those occasions which minister to it as men of the woiid do to find occasions which minister to pride. 3. There are many cases in which the advice of another is very valuable. The proverb that " The man that is his own lawyer has a fool for his client," is not without application here. It is difficult to judge so impartially in our own case as to act with the highest prudence. " Two heads are better than one." Supposing a person is in doubt as to what is right or what is wrong, or as to what is advisable or inadvisable, in questions which con- cern bis personal religion. Confession is an oppor- tunity for obtaining impartial and serious advice which he could scarcely get in any other way. I mean that in questions of personal religion the l)roper lino to be taken is so often dependent upon the condition of the individual soul, that the general advice of sermons and books is as unsatisfactory to u penitent sinner as the study of medical treatises is to a sick man. CONFESSK)Na 85 How often we see persons who at their con- version are very fervent grow cooler and cooler, till at last they fall away altogether ! Surely many of them might be saved if they were in the habit of consulting some wise and faithful guide of souls. Arnold, whose Christianity was all cast in a manly and independent mould, and who had a great dread of anything like mental tjTanny and subservience, speaks in favour of Confession, because he could see this advantage arising from a right use of it.* Not, perhaps, that he had regard so much to the case of souls weakened by sin as to the case of the young, who are, by reason of their inexperience, especially in need of advice. Jacob Abbott, the American, also strongly advocated it— I suppose on similar gi-ounds. 4. Again, the comfort which a soul may receive through Confession is inestimable. As I have promised to abstain from discussing here the question of Absolution, it might, perhaps, be thouglit that I have debarred myself from mentioning this ad- vantage, since it is generally closely associated with a belief in the efficacy of the absolution pro- nounced. I cannot, however, refrain from noticing the great relief which mere sympathy is to a troubled mind, so that, apart from Absolution, the mere un- burdening of the conscience to a sympathizing friend is an inestimable boon to a soul really laden with sin. • Arnold'i Life, p. 279. 86 CHRISTIAN UNITY. The injunction, " Bear ye one another's burdens," seems directly to apply to this sharing of another's grief which is involved in hearing another's con- fession. An example of this longing for sympathy, apart from the craving for some token of forgiveness, was afforded in the case of a young lady, who not many years ago, at the advice of the clergyman to whom she had privately confessed, voluntarily accused herself in court of a murder whose secrecy had entirely baffled the investigations of the ministers of justice. Her first confession was not to a priest, but to a religious lady with whom she had become intimate. Moved to repentance by the grace of God and by the influences of religion, she tirst sought, not absolution, but some confidante to whom she could unburden her trouble, and after- wards, by the advice of this lady, she confessed it to a priest. None, I suppose, can tell, save those who have been in the habit of hearing confessions, how many such there are who, though outwardly cheerful, are inwardly oppressed by a secret grief. " The heart knoweth its own bitterness." It is convicted by the Holy Spirit of sin, and, though wishing perhaps to repent, it doubts the truth of its repentance. Let no one say that this must be because it has not heard the Gospel proclaimed in its fulness, and that such persons cannot be found in an Evangelical church where anxious souls are plainly directed to believe in Jesus Christ. In a biography of a very CON'FESSIOr, 87 eminent and pious Presbyterian divine wliicli appeared a few years ago, we are told that, to the last, when a revival was preached, be would come forward and place himself on the penitents' bench, in anxiety lest, after all, his conversion, which he had experienced in his youth, should have been unreal. How many more might be found, not only in the Presbyterian Church, but in any Evangelical body, who remain in a state of anxiety and fear about their souls, yet who dare not come forward publicly before the congregation as penitents, and have no opportu- nity of speaking privately to a minister of religion whom they could trust ! One who was for some years a noted revivalist preacher among the Metho- dists told me that he had heard many confessions privately — which shows the Methodist system of class meetings does not meet the craving of the soul for private unrestrained confession. Caesar Malan, a great revivalist in his day, when he visited Scot- land, insisted on a private interview with every one to whom he had the opportunity of specially addressing himself. I have been told by a Roman Catholic priest that he once admitted to his Church a woman who came for no other reason but be- cause slie longed to make her confession, and the chaplain of the English Church utterly refused to hear hor. I do not doubt that many cases have occurred of people seeking in the Roman Catholic Church a relief which they could not obtain in their own. 88 CHEISTIAN UNITY. I have endeavoured to discuss the arguments for and the ohjections against Confession impartially, and not to let my own private experience, which is in favour of it, occupy the whole field of my mental vision. And, indeed, although the fact of my having been taught in my youth to reject Confession, and only having accepted it in maturer years, by slow degrees, after much inquiiy, probably disposes me to hold stronger opinions as to its value than if I had accepted it traditionally, without that amount of careful inquiry, yet these very circumstances enable me, I suppose, to sympathize better with those who have no desire for it, and who regard it with gi'eat suspicion. Certainly — considering the difficulty of the subject, embracing as it does theological, social, mental, moral, and spiritual questions, affecting mankind and the Church so widely and so deeply — I am conscious that I cannot have treated it in this paper as fully as it deserves, and that perhaps 1 have not presented it in its truest light. Still, I feel confident that the main point which I have advocated, viz., tJie recognition of Confesaion as itniinster Confession of Faith. Chap. XXX. I cite these words from tlie standard Confession of Faith of Presbyterians, because I wish to show my readers at starting how absurd a thing it is if any one should profess to bo shocked at meeting with an article in defence of Absolution in an cvawidicul periodical. Since the expressions, keys of the kingdom of heaven," " power to remit and retain sins," "absolution,"' arc thus dcliboratoly authorized by a leading Protestant communion, of whoso attachment to the Reformation there can bo no doubt, how unjust it is to treat the acceptance and 94 CHRISTIAN UNITY. use of these terms at the present time as a sure sign of Komish error ! In addition to this I must ask permission to quote from tlie chief standard of doctrine of the Lutherans, viz., the Confession of Augshurg. In this we read, — " Since confession gives occasion for administering private ahsolution, and the rite itself maintains among the people the knowledge of the power of the keys, and remission of sins ; and further because of its great value for the guidance and instruction of men's souls, we therefore care- fallj retain confession in our Church." Here, too, we meet with the same expressions — " absolution,'" "power of the keys," " remission of sins," and when we add to them the plain and well-known directions of the Church of England in her Book of Common Praj'er for the administration of Abso- lution,* it is seen that all the leading reformed communions at the time of the Reformation did accept the idea of Absolution in some way or another as belonging to Christianity in its purest and most Scriptural form. I am not now going to build upon the authority of the Reformers, — though I may remark, by the way, that if a Christian has iiaij regard at all to the weight of authority in matters of doctrine, it is strange if he does not yield to it when the Reformers and the adherents of the older system are at one, — * Vide Communion Service, Visitation of the Sick, and Ordi- nation of Priests. ABSOIjUTION. 95 but I feel that it is necessary to be thus explicit at starting, because it is sometimes the case that when we invite people to consider the ground which we find in reason for our teaching on this subject, we are met with a cry of horror and an appeal to atdhorlty, — i.e., the authority of the Keformers. This appeal, then, to the Reformers we admit. Do they, or do they not, countenance our proceeding with the subject, and endeavouring to investigate what is the " power of the keys," and what is " the benefit of Absolution '?" If any one is not contented with wliat we have cited above, we can refer liim to the writings of Crannier, Ridley, Latimer, Turner, Becon, Jewel, Perkins, Mede, Ussher, Chillingworth, and many otliers, both Reformers and strong opponents of Romanism, all distinctly approving of the retention of Absolution.* But we trust tliat tlie i)ublic documents which we have fjuoted will suffice to establish our right to discuss tliis subject without being counted traitors to Evangelicalism. I assume, then, that my readers will not be deterred by any prejudice which, under the pretext of authority, may forbid them to examine this (|ncsti()ii, and I go on to consider the place which Absolution takes in church discipline as a means of restoring the penitent offender who has been • These may be found quoted at leiigtli in a little pamphlet entitled Tlie Power of tlif Priest in Alisoliiliun, by Cauou Cooke. (Cliurch I'liutiug Company, London.) 96 CHRISTIAN UNITY. placed under censure or excommunication for some grave offence. That church discipline ought to be maintained is denied, I suppose, by scarce any Christian community. The power of expulsion for violation of its rules belongs to almost every club or society in existence, and I know not who will deny it to the Christian Church. Let Dr. Murdoch speak on this, as the exponent of the opinions of Indian missionaries — " The Church," he says, quoting AngellJames, " which neglects the right treatment of offending members resembles a state in which the administration of justice is omitted, and crime permitted to be practised with impunity.''* But with the power of expulsion must also be the power of restoration, and if this be done solemnly and judicially it is in fact an absolution. With respect to the officer or officers who should be intrusted with authority to exercise this dis- cipline, and proclaim this expulsion of an offender, or re-ad mission of a penitent, opinions differ ; but, whether it be priest, pastor, elders, or chairman of kirk session, the fact remains the same, that the reconciliation of penitents to the congregation, which is substantially an absolution of them from church censure, is intrusted to officers of the church. AVith respect, too, to the value of such re-admission or absolution, the estimate will vary according to the conception entertained of the sanctity and privileges • Indian Missionary Manual, p. 407. ABSOLUTION. 97 of the Clim-ch. This question, however, I am not now discussing, but only wish to maintain that an appointed minister can without presumption pro- nounce an absohition from church censure ; and this is, I think, sufficiently clear. In fact, when Dr. Abbott, a Congregationalist, in his Bicen- tenary Prize Essay, ascribes to the pastors of the Church " all the authority of the Church," * lie concedes on this point all that the strongest advocate of the priesthood demands. To exercise the authority of the Church — the supreme religious tribunal erected by Christ on earth (S. Matt, xviii. 17) — is surely as solemn a work as can be conceived, and to receive the sentence of pardon from that supreme tribunal, through the lips of its appointed officer, must be to one who be- lieves in that tribunal the greatest of earthly consolations. But to proceed a step further, — is this the only aspect of Absolution ? Is it merely a restoration of external privileges, or is there any directly spiritual l)enefit conferred ? To take one text, S. Jolui xx. 23/ where our Lord says, "Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them," — is this to be under- stood merely of admission and re-admission to the outward ordinances of the Churcli ? A comparison of the other occasions on which our Lord used this formula is suffiqient, I think, to show that the removal of church censure does not at all suffice to • r. 45. - ' H 98 CHKISTIAN UNITY. exhaust its meaning. When He said to the paralytic (S. Matt. ix. 2), " Son, be of good cheer ; thy sins be forgiven thee," and to the woman who was a sinner (S. Luke vii. 48), " Thy sins are for- given," there was no question of chm-ch discipHue ; He was mediating simply between the soul and God. He was both declaring and also effecting the restoration of a relationship between the soul and God, which had been broken by sin. His right and power to do so could not, of course, pass unchallenged, and so to prove it He wrought a miracle, which demonstrated His mission and estab- lished His claim. When, then, He gives to His disciples a mission equal to His own, — "As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you," — and charges them to exercise that authority in the remission and retaining of sin, declaring both by word and also by external sign — viz., by breathing on them — that He gives them the same Holy Spirit which He Himself had received on the banks of Jordan, what room is there left to doubt that He did intend them to mediate as effectually as He Himself had done between the soul and God, so that what- ever benefit the paralytic had received when Christ said, " Son, thy sins be forgiven," might be received also by all those to whom His Apostles should pronounce the same absolution '? The fulness and clearness of our Lord's words seem to leave no room for doubt or misunderstanding. Whatever He Him- self personally effected by His absolution, that same ADSOLiriON. 99 heintended that they to whom H j thuo spoke should effect by their absolutions. It is held, I beUeve, by some that though this power of absolution was given to the Apostles, yet that it was given solely to them, and not to their successors, and that they received along with it at the same time a supernatural insight into men's hearts, which enabled them to discern who was a fit subject for absolution, and who was not. One difficulty in the way of this theory, is that if this command is to be thus limited to the apostolic age, the command to baptize and teach must share the same fate. But who will dare to adopt such a view as this '? Moreover, it certainly is not said that in conjunction with the power of remitting and retain- ing sins the Apostles received a supernatural insight into men's souls, in order that they might exercise it aright. Nor does it seem more neces- sary to have this insight for the administration of Absolution than for that of Baptism. It is quite as important not to make a mistake in the matter of admission into the Church as in that of exclusion or re-admission. In one particular case — that of Ananias and Sapphira — we find S. Peter enabled supernaturally to detect and to punish a secret crime, but there is no evidence that this was always in his power. Indeed, the way in which he ascribes the knowledge of hearts to God in two iHstancos (Acts i. 24 ; xv. 8) seems to imply the reverse. II '2 100 CHRISTIAN UNITY. On the other hand, perhaps, some persons may say that if we cannot confine this power of absolution to the very Apostles themselves, neither must we confine it to any ministry at all, but extend it to every individual member of the Christian Church. But such an explanation of the passage as this is obviously mere theory. It is only in some few and small sects that the distinction between minister and layman has been abolished, and the administration of religious rites thrown open to all ; and however some persons may theorize as to the power of laymen to grant absolution, as a matter of fact such a practice has never been current, and therefore it can scarcely be seriously contended that such is the meaning of om- Lord's injunction. It was discussed in the Middle Ages whether, in cases of emergencj'', a layman could gi-ant absolution, just as the question of baptism by a layman in the ab- sence of a clergyman was discussed. But these questions of emergency and necessity are confessedly exceptional. There is no trace in ecclesiastical history of any general practice prevailing of laymen absolving from sins, while yet we see that there is in our Lord's words an injunction which nothing short of this will satisfy. On these grounds it does not appear reasonable either to restrict the authority to forgive sins to the Apostles personally, or to extend it beyond the limits of that ministry Avliich was represented by them. When I maintain, however, that this passage of ABSOLUTION. 101 Scripture can mean nothing but that the power of remitting sins is actually intrusted to men, I must guard against the supposition that I intend to say that the source of forgiveness is in men, or that they can of their own right, or according to their own conditions, grant it. Against God only is sin committed, and God alone can be the source of forgiveness. He alone can determine the conditions upon which it is to be granted. It is only as am- bassadors of His mercy, as administrators of His laws, as channels of His grace, that men can forgive sins. In doing so they are simply performing a service intrusted to them. God Himself has arranged and ordained all the conditions of for- giveness ; they are but the administrators of His grace on the basis of those conditions. Their absolutions are open to appeal, and to correction or confirmation; His are irrevocable and eternal. Even the justice of the judgments of Jesus Christ rests upon their confoi-mity to the will of the Father that sent Him. (S.John v. 30.) And because of the perfect conformity of His will to the Father's His judgments are perfectly just. And so it is with those, too, whom He sends. Their judgments are only confirmed by Christ so far as they coincide with the will of Christ, Wlio sends them. They are of no value in themselves. They cannot stand as the decisions of man, but only as the expression of His will Who promised to be with His ministers to the end. Thus only wlxit they speak will bo as His oracles ; thus 102 CHEISTIAN UNITY. only what they do in the work of the ministry will he out of the fulness of the power which He giveth. (1 S.Peter iv. 11.) Absolution in the light of an authorized declar- ation of forgiveness ought not to he a difficulty to any believer in Holy Scripture. If God com- missioned one minister, Nathan, to declare to David on his repentance that he was forgiven, why should He not, under the dispensation of the Gospel, commission many ministers to convey the assurance of His forgiveness to those sinners who, like David, acknowledge their sin ? If it be objected that Nathan must have had a special revelation ordering him to absolve David, I would ask, Is a general command of God less binding than a special one ? If God says at one time to one messenger, Go to a certain sinner, convince him of his sin, and when he acknowledges it assure him of My forgiveness, — and at another time to a collective body of messengers. Go to all sinners throughout the world, convince them of their sins, and when they ac- knowledge them assure them of My forgiveness — is the forgiveness of God less sure in the latter case than the former? Are the cases at all incongruous ? Is there not a harmony between them — the one showing in type in a single instance that same mercy which God now bestows in so full a stream upon mankind. If any one should think tliat by thus explaining the command of our Lord to remit sins, I have after ABSOLUTION. 103 all reduced it to the mere preaching of the Gospel, I would heg him to notice that the point of the example lies in the individual acknowledgment of sin on tlie part of the sinner, and the personal assurance of forgiveness on the part of the minister. Until this direct personal communication takes place, it is impossible to say that the example of David and Nathan is followed, or the fnU intent of our Lord's words put into practice, according to the example which He Himself set. Of course I am not supposing that a mere con- fession of sin is enough to waiTant the grant of absolution. That it goes a long way towards it may be inferred from S. Luke xvii. 4 ; but all that is laid down in Scripture — whether by way of precept or of example — is spoken as to men of reason who use their understanding to discern what are the conditions and limitations which are reasonably implied. And thus, when oral confession of sin is exhibited to us as a ground of forgiveness, it must be understood that it is so when there is no good reason for doubting the sincerity of the confession. This exercise of prudence in the restoration and absolution of sinners, dealing with them differently according to tlieir respective cases, is implied in Jude 22, 23, as well as in other passages of the New Testament. Thus much as to the question whether Absolution may be considered to be a particular declaration and persona] assurance of forgiveness from God 101 CHRISTIAN UNITY. pronounced by His accredited minister. I go on to examine the question wliether we may believe it also to be effectual in the sense of restoring a relation- ship between the soul and God which has been broken or weakened by sin. In stating this question I must guard against misconception. The effectual putting away of sin, and restoration of peace between the sinner and God, is, so far as God is concerned, the work of the sacrifice of the Cross. (Eph. ii. 14-17.) Christ crucified is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, and His merits are abundantly sufficient to atone for every sin. When then I speak of Absolution as efl'ectual in removing sin and restoring the soul to peace with God, I do not mean that the obstacle which is removed lies in the justice of God, but in the unfitness of the soul for communion with God. So far as there was an obstacle in the justice of God, that obstacle was removed by the sacrifice of Christ ; but the obstacle in the soul itself needs to be removed by the application to it of the grace of Christ. This then is what I wish to consider, whether we may believe that such grace may be obtained through the aid of the ministry of the Church. Looking first to the Old Testament for light on this subject, we find that the intercession of the righteous is in several cases declared to be an appomted means for putting aM'ay sin. At the prayer of Abrahau), Abimelech and his household were forgiven. (Gen. xx. 17.) Moses' prayer availed ABSOLUTION. 105 for the restoration of the Israelites to the favour of God, which they had forfeited. (Ex.xxxii. 9-14.) Job was the appointed intercessor for his three friends. (Job xlii. 8.) The greatness of Israel's sin is shown by Ezekiel in the fact that the inter- cession of Noah, Daniel< and Job would not suffice to save it from the wrath of God. (Ezek. xiv.) After these indications of God's will in the Old Testament, we need not be surprised to find it plainly stated in the New Testament that the prayers of the righteous do avail to deliver souls from sin. It was the faith of the friends of the paralytic, which our Lord accepted on his behalf, when He absolved him from his sins. (S.Matt.ix.2.) S. John says, "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death." (1 S. John v. IG.) S. Paul says, " Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a, fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness." (Gal. vi. 1.) S. James says, " Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one anotlier, that ye may be healed. The eflectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (S. James V. 10.) It is true that there is no mention here of any specific value in the prayers of the clergy as such, unless, as some suppose, S. Paul refers to them under the name of " spiritual " persons. But if not specified, yet they cannot be excluded from S. John's comprehensive statement of the power of intorcossion ; mid S. .Tames does, in 106 CHRISTIAN UNITY. the previous verses to that which I have quoted, recognize the power of official intercession when he ascribes to the prayer of the ddcrs, combined with the anointing with oil, both restoration to health and also remission of sins. The ascription of the power of intercession rather to individual holiness than to official position can in fact be no bar to the practice of making con- fession to, and seeking absolution from, a minister rather than a layman, although it undoubtedly influences a penitent in his selection of that minister, ^nd sometimes even leads him not to be content until he has asked the intercession of others, both clergy and laity, in whose prayers he has confidence, that they will aid him before God. Far be it from me that in endeavouring to prove from Scripture the official right of the minister to absolve, I should in the slightest degree seem to ignore or obscure the great and blessed power of faithful souls, of every rank in the Church, to obtain the forgiveness of sinners through their earnest intercessions. If, as I have endeavoured to show, the value of Absolution is threefold, and it inuy be regarded in the light of (1) a restoration to the communion and privileges of the Church, (2) a personal assurance of God's forgiveness, and (3) an act of intercession which may avail to bring God's healing grace upon a wounded soul, — it will be seen that whilst (1) is n benefit simple and unconditional, (2) is simple but conditional, and (3) is not only conditional, but ABSOLUTION. 107 also admits of many degrees. The grace bestowed by God may be more or less, and that too in proportion to the effectiveness of the prayer of intercession ; and hence, while we set a high value on any absolution which is honestly attained and legitimately bestowed, we may nevertheless estimate it more or less highly according to the circum- stances with which, or the person through whom, it is given. In concluding this paper, I will ask my readers to notice three things. The first is this, that — to answer a common accusation — there is nothing of a magical character in this view of Absolution. So far as it is an official act on behalf of the consrega- tion there is nothing supernatural about it more than is involved in the fact that the conffreiraticm of the Church is a spiritual corporation, and hence its actions cannot be separated from spiritual results. So far as it is an authorized declaration on behalf of God, it can no more be called magical than any other formal act, declaration, or agreement can be thus stigmatized — as, e.g., the words of the marriage service, which effect so great a change in the relations and rights of a man and woman. It is mysterious indeed as an act of prayer ; and if prayer can be characterized as magical, then may Absolu- tion. But if prayer is remote from magic, being a moral act whose efficacy is dependent on the fiincerity of lieart and the strength and purity of the faith of liim wlio uttcrn it, then too is Absolution 108 CHRISTIAN UNITY. quite diflferent from that illicit exercise of secret power which is understood under the term magic. Secondly, let it be observed that the institution of Absolution is no interference with the rights and prerogatives of God. It is not a perversion of justice, or an interference with justice of the fullest measure. It is an approximation to justice, — an instalment of justice, — an adaptation of justice to our present probationary state, until the time is come for the revelation of the perfect and exact judgment of God. The evils attendant on it are incidental to our present imperfect condition. In like manner our teaching is and must be imperfect, for " we know in part, and we prophesy in part ;" yet this teaching is useful, and we cannot forego it. All our actions are imperfect, and our schemes and undertaldngs for good bring us results far from satisfactory ; yet we do not therefore cease from working. We trust that God will accept them, and bring them eventually to perfection. Why then should we refuse to Absolution a place in our system because it is confessedly an imperfect exhibition of the mercy and justice of God ? " When that which is perfect is come," it will be time enough for that which is imperfect to be done away. Thirdly, Absolution is no diminution of the privileges of the servant of God, no interference with his right of access to his Heavenly Fatlier. It is often represented as the thrusting in of the ABSOLUTION. 109 priest between the soul and God, debamng it of its free approach. Far be it from us to consider it as such. If the minister comes between the soul and Ood, it is as a link, and as a guide, because the soul has receded so far from God that it knows not where to find Him, or fears to approach Him. It is for them that need it, not for those who would find in it a hindrance. "The law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient" {1 Tim. i, 9), and " we loiow that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully." Why should they that are whole deny medicine to the sick, because to themselves that medicine would be distasteful and liurtful ? When God instituted the Aaronic priest- hood, with the offerings for trespasses and sins. He did not interpose any obstacle between His people nnd Himself. The Jew who had not forfeited his rights in the covenant was in as good a position as ever ; only a door of escape was opened for him that had trespassed against the Lord or contracted de- filement. So, whatever privileges are open to the Christian as a member of the Body of Christ, the institution of the ministry of absolution is in no way a diminution of them. All that he had he still possesses, and yet more. More, for he has a new means of recovering that which else had perhaps been lost without recovery. • It is not as if the advocates of Absolution were insisting on it as the indispensable means of restoration for one overtaken in a fault, and asserting that none were truly 110 CHRISTIAN UNITY. reconciled to God save they who had been re- conciled in this particular way. We do not at all dispute the power of God to recall sinners to Him- self and cleanse them without this special agency of grace. We only plead for it as a means ordained by our Lord Himself, and which has availed for the restoration of many a sinner, who might otherwise have been lost — a means which it would be a sin for the Church to forego, so long as there is a single penitent but weak and fearful brother who desires to make use of it. What we want now among Chris- tians is a fuller recognition that the God of grace is the God of nature, and that He who in this world is so full in contrivances, so lavish in variety, so abundant in those gifts which minister both to the necessities and to the' happiness of man, is not likely to be other in His new creation, the Church — to believe that in that body, which is the fulness of Him that filleth all in all (Eph. i.23), there must be found a provision for every need of man's complex nature in all its varied developments, trials, and aspirations, — not to endeavour to limit the ordi- nances of religion by any individual or even national conception of fitness, but to be ready to acknow- ledge that all modes, phases, and rites of Christianity in which good men have found refreshment for their souls, and which do not contradict the essential verities of the faith, ought to be retained in the Church, even though individually we may Hot need or desire them for our own selves. ( 111 ) THE WOED OF GOD. It has often struck me as strange that no investi- gation appears to have been made by scholars as to the time and way in which the term Word of God began to be applied to the Holy Scriptm-es. The phrase is so familiar to us that we seem to take it for granted that it was always in use ; and yet there is no passage of the Bible in which it is clearly or primarily used in this sense, nor was it thus used apparently in the early Church. It seems insen- sibly to have been adopted, as so many names and expressions have been, which suddenly discovered have been widely welcomed as giving utterance to a thought latent in many minds, and only wait- ing for the sound of the right word to bring it into consciousness. Take, for example, the words ceme- tery and font. How welcome must these words have been in giving expression to the thoughts of many hearts ! It may indeed be said that the term oracles of God (to, Xoyta toO ^eoD) is used of the Scriptures in the Epistle to the Romans, and that login is 112 CHRISTIAN UNITY. very nearly akin to logos. But it must be remem- bered that the term Logos had been appropriated by S. John to the Second Person of the Ever- blessed Trinity, and that therefore it became a much more daring thing to apply it to a book. But in truth we cannot doubt but that the Church was inspired in this as in so many other matters, and led by the Holy Spirit to give a most suitable name to the Scriptures. As Adam v?as enabled by God to name rightly the animals given into his dominion, so has the Chm-ch been more or less guided to name rightly the treasures of grace of the new creation committed to her charge. I wish, then, to point out some of the analogies which justify us in transferring one of the titles of our Blessed Lord to the Holy Scriptures, and I am not without hope that by so doing I shall assist in clearing away some depreciatory opinions about the Bible which are advanced in the present day by fsome religious writers of great ability, who have, I venture to think, been misled by fallacious argu- ments against the perfect truth and plenary in- spiration of the Scriptures. As a specimen of what I refer to, I will quote the words of Dr. Farrar in an article on Inspiration in the "Bible Educator," Part V. p. 2G3. "Any doctrine of a continuous supernatural in- spiration — of an influence directly or immediately Divine over the entire extent of the sacred volume — seems to involve a conclusion antagonistic to THE WORD OF GOD. 113 all our natural feelings when we read its different parts. * * * * attach au equal degree of inspiration to the list of the Dukes of Edom or to the genealogies of Chronicles as to the last discourses in the Gospel of S. John — to ac- cept with equal reverence S. Paul's description of charity and the strong imprecations which David invokes upon his enemies — to value Canticles and Esther, which do not once mention the name of God, no less highly than the Epistle to the Romans or the Revelations of S. John — to attach equal certainty to the miracle produced by Elisha's bones and the vision of S. Paul on the road to Damascus — to reverence with equal devotion the list of clean and unclean beasts, or any other chapter of minute and abrogated Levitical observances, as no less the result of inspiration than the fifteenth chapter of the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians — is surely to treat the Holy Scriptures witli a spirit of jdits- quam-Judaic superstition ; it is to attribute to them an authority which they never claim ; it is to deny for them a relativity which they implicitly assert." Without intending to express a universal nega- tion to all that Doctor Farrar here says, I protest most earnestly against the general view here put forth of the inspiration of Scripture, as one which throws a doubt on the truth of some points of it, and on the spiritual use and value of others, and which even hints that the Psalms are in some I 114 CHRISTIAN UNITY. respects inconsistent with the teaching of the New Testament. To meet these deprecatory criticisms of the Scripture, then, I am going to use the well-tried argument from analogy. For if I can show that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is open to the same criticisms as the Bible, I shall have good ground for maintaining that those wliose faith in Him is not shaken by such difficulties ought not to let their faith in the Bible be so easily upset. And more than this, that the very existence of difficulties in the Bible similar to those which we find in Jesus Christ Himself, when taken into consideration to- gether with the direct proofs of its inspiration, are really an additional argument for believing in its Divine origin, and for holding that it not merely contains but is the Woi'd of God. 1. — Now the first point in my analogy is the origin of the Scriptures. Like that of Jesus Christ it is humble, and even may be called obscure. The accusations, " As for this fellow we know not whence he is ;" — " Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan ?" — " Can any good thing come out of Nazareth ?" — are all such as are in other words levelled at the Scriptures. Who can tell with perfect certainty the names of the authors of its books ? Who can even guess the authors of some ? and as for some whom we know, they are confes- sedly men of like passions ■v\'ith ourselves. And thus it comes to pass thai as the Jews took Christ THE WORD OF GOD. 115 Jesus to be the son of Joseph and Mary, so are the Scriptures taken by some to be of purely human origin. Yet the tmth is that Christ Jesus had a heavenly as well as an earthly birth. He was not only " Man of the substance of His mother born in the world," but also " God of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds." And so too has the Scripture a double nature. To quote Professor Westcott : — " It \_t.c., inspiration] combines har- moniously the two terms in that relation of the finite to the infinite which is involved in the very idea of Revelation. It preserves absolute truthful- ness with perfect humanity so that the nature of man is not neutralized, if we may thus speak, by the Divine agency, and the truth of God is not im- paired by the individual mind. * * * The letter becomes as perfect as the spirit, and it may well seem that the image of the Incarnation is reflected in the Scriptures, which, as I believe, exhibit the human and divine in the highest form and in the most perfect union." (Introduction to the Study of the Gospels, p. 75.) The co-existence of ii human factor with a Divine is no more impossible in the Bible than in Christ Jesus. But just as the union of the human nature with the Divine ensured that the human nature was absolutely perfect and free from aU error, so does the Divine element in the Scriptures ensure tlie perfect truthfulness of that element in I 2 116 CHRISTIAN UNITY. them which is human. If the human origin of the Scriptures is a stumbHng-block to the outsider, we must remember that the same is the case with respect to the birth of the Son of God, which has been, and is to the present day, such an obstacle to the faith of many. 2. — To proceed to the second point of our analogy. The life of Christ Jesus presented many difficulties and contradictions to the inquirer. The prophecy foretold that He was to be born in Bethlehem. But though He was really born there, He was generally supposed to belong to Nazareth. The simplicity of His early life appeared inconsis- tent with any great pretensions. He received Baptism from John, thereby seeming to acknow- ledge His sinfulness, and to own the superiority of the Baptist. To the moral critics of His life. His conduct at the age of twelve might seem a breach of the Fifth Commandment. His irregular, unau- thorized, and severe treatment of the tradesmen of the temple would appear fanatical and lawless. His language towards the respected teachers of religion would seem violent, and His behaviour to open sin- ners lax. He refused to condemn ihe woman taken in adultery. He sat down to eat with publicans and sinners, apparently compromising the cause of morality. He refused to follow such innocent customs as washing the hands before meat, as if He was determined to give offence without cause. Sometimes He seemed to equivocate, as when He THE WORD OF GOD. 117 said, " I go not up to this feast," and yet soon after went. Sometimes He seemed strangely regardless of His friends, as when, though sent for. He delayed to visit Lazarus in his sickness. He con- tinually spoke in paradoxes, or so as to mislead His most trusted adherents. His selection of Judas to fill the place of an Apostle seemed to show a want of discernment of character, and might be considered inconsistent with the Divine power of reading the human heart. Now from whatever causes these features appear in the life of Christ, the fact that they are there makes it not impossible that if the Bible is also a revelation from God, the same sort of difficulties will beset its acceptance. When, then, we find apparently a multitude of histoiical and political discrepancies, moral stumbling-blocks, paradoxical sayings, as well as language sometimes startlingly severe, we only have an analogy to Christ which is an additional testimony to the Divine character of the Bible. Moreover, take into consideration also this fact, that in spite of all difficulties and apparent discrepancies no error in Scripture has ever actually been proved, or to use the words of Dr. Farrar, " The widest reasoning and acutest in- genuity of scepticism has never pointed to one complete or demonstrable error of fact or doctrine in the Old or New Testament " (Bible Educator, p. 207), and we have the exact counterpart of 118 CHRISTIAN UNITY. the impossibility which the enemies of Christ found in proving a single charge against Him, although he had apparently so laid Himself open to conviction. 3. — To proceed to a third point. There was a most remarkable absence of self-assertion about the ministry of our Lord. "If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true." He never directly claimed to be Divine, but only led others to infer it,- hinting at it, and leading on to it, and rejoicing when a Peter confessed it, but not revealing it Himself, or sa\-ing the disciples from doubt or inquiry by plainly enunciating it. And, still more strange, when His adversaries try to extort such a claim from Him, — not as willing to learn from Him, but out of malice, — He seems to deny it. He hides His claims as much by the ambiguity of His language, as He did His Person by His mysterious disappearance in the crowd. Now this is precisely the case of the Scriptures. It never in any passage predicates clearly of itself that high eminence to which it has been raised in the Church, and this fact is continually urged against our so high estimation of it. Thus Dr. Farrar says, Accepted accordiu'i; to the ordinary rules of language, tested by the simple and natural canons of criticism, the writers of the Bible never claim for themselves or for each other any such purely miraculous exaltation above the possibilities of human imperfection," that is, as he says before, THK WOKD OF GOD. 119 never claim to be " absolutely infallible and supernaturallj inspired" (page 208). And again, " The language used even by S. Luke, with refer- ence to the method and motive of his Gospel, accords more accurately with the conception of reverent narrative and truthful testimony than with that of indefeasible accuracy and miraculous guidance." (P. 260.) In our Lord's words, — The Scripture does not bear witness of itself ! And may we not add that instead of this being an objection it is a confirmation of its Divine character ? If it did bear witness to itself, its witness would not be true. If humility is a part of perfection, it must be found in God Himself, and so it is written, " Verily Thou art a God that hidest Thyself." This absence of self- assertion is the very token of an immovable convic- tion and Divine consciousness that in the end everything that is secret shall be made manifest, and that since the Word of the Lord endureth for ever in heaven, it can well aflbrd to be hidden for a time on earth. 4. — Again, the informal and inferential way of teaching, so much used in the Scriptures, is precisely paralleled by our Lord. He put fortli no distinct creed or rule of faith, but left it to be gathered from His discourses and His actions, and from the confession of others. He led men to think about His words, to trust them, to love them, and then at last, aided by the Holy Spirit, His disciples formulated 120 CHEISTIAN UNITY. into creeds the doctrines He had taught them. So is the teaching of the Scriptures ; it must be inferred and collected, for it is not given in such a way as to suppress all doubt and judgment. Those who have learnt to love and trust the Bible find that out of its indefiniteness as a whole very definite dogmas are crystallized. 5. — Not only this, but the teaching of the Scriptures is even given in such a way as to mislead those whose hearts are not right before God, and it becomes a judge and discerner of hearts, a stum- bling-block to the proud, whilst it is a salvation to the humble, just as Jesus Christ Himself was sent both for the fall and also for the rising again of many in Israel. Like Jesus Christ, the Bible is come into this wcrld for judgment, that they which see not may see, and that they which see may be made blind. It proves its oifice in the way in which it strikes conviction to the heart of the sinner, gives comfort to the soul of the mourner, and yet arouses the ire of the worldly, and hardens the proud in his unbelief. We may say to it in the words of Nicodemus, " We know that Thou art a Teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that Thou doest, without God be with him." Justly then have the Scriptures received the title of the Word of God. For as the Eternal Son of God did not abhor the Virgin's womb, but united Himself to the flesh of fallen man, cleansing that THE AVORD OF GOD. 121 flesh which He took from all stain and perfecting it for the revelation of His Deity, so the Eternal Truth of God has not disdained to be connected with the language of fallen man, but has united it to itself, thereby delivering it from all error, and making it capable of displaying the highest truth ; and he who stumbles at the Scriptures will find the same occasions of stumbling in the Son of Man. [Note. — Since writing the above I find that Mr. Jukes has spoken very beautifully on this subject in the preface to his Types of Genesis, and Dean Goulburn also has devoted two- chapters to it in the tenth edition of his very valuable Intro- duction to the Doctrinal Study of the Holy Scriptures.'] 122 CHRISTIAN UNITY. ON THE READING OF HOLY SCRIPTURES. It has often been noticed how much the com- panions of a great man are influenced by him. Unconsciously they imbibe his ideas, they acquire his habits of thought and action, the tone of his voice is communicated to them, his manner and his peculiarities, so that it is fortunate if they escape being spoilt in a certain way by his influence. For to every one God has given a special originality of character, which finds its model of perfection only in Himself. To copy a copy is to ensure mediocrity. That manner which is pleasing in one man, be- cause it is the spontaneous expression of his dis- position and life, is displeasing in another, because it is an imitation and incongruous. Still, the effect of companionship and personal instruction is so powerful for good, that we do not hesitate to put our sons under the influence of a good and gi'eat man, even at the risk of their being influ- enced by his imperfections and idiosyncracies as well as his virtues. ON THE READIXG OF HOLY SCRIPTURES. 123 How gi'eat then must have been the effects pro- ■duced upon His disciples by the companionship of our Lord Jesus Christ ! Apart from His direct teaching — which indeed they were able but little to comprehend, until the Holy Ghost which brought it to their remembrance also unfolded to them its meaning, — how much they must have insensibly gained from their continual observation of Him, from the continual flow of His words into their ears, the continual drawing out of the panorama of His life before their eyes ! Eightly, they esteemed this the chief qualification for the Apostolate, when a successor was to be chosen to the miserable Judas. The loss of this personal intercourse with God manifest in the flesh, seems at first sight so great, that it is difficult to believe that it could be a gain for Jesus Christ to leave His disciples. But we may be sure that it was the case, and that we too are not the losers because we have not arranged the scheme of our salvation according to our own instinctive desires. We must not only believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit, uniting us from the very centre of our Hfe with Jesus Christ, takes us into a wholly different sphere of existence, but also that the work of our sanctification is to be accomplished not as if by another Saviour {i.e., the Spirit), but by our being made as truly the disciples of Jesus Christ as were the original twelve. For it is God vianifest In the jlenh who saves lost humanity, 124 CHRISTIAN UNITY. and there is no other road to God save through Jesus Christ. In order, then, that our minds may be brought under the influence of the teaching of Jesus Christ, He has given us the Holy Scriptures to occupy that place in our daily life, which His daily conver- sation did with His disciples. S. John tells us this when He says, "That which w'e have seen and heard, declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us," &c. Not without reason, — or rather we should say, led by a Divine inspiration, the Chm-ch has applied to the Holy Scriptures that title of //;(' Word of God, which belongs primarily to the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. It is His revelation throughout, His teaching ; and it is designed to supply to His Church in aU ages that benefit which His disciples received in the days of His earthly ministry from the continual hearing of His words. It may be suggested, indeed, that after all, our position contrasts imfavom-ably with that of His disciples, in that He must have given to them so abundantly out of the treasiu-es of His mind, whereas only a small portion is recorded in the Bible. But we must remember that one of the secrets of learning thoroughly, is to learn but little, and that to aim at a range of knowledge beyond one's capacity is to fail altogether. It was for good reason, then, that a comparatively small number of the sayings and doings of Jesus Christ ON THE READING OF HOLY SCRIPTURES. 125 •vvere brought to their remembrance and recorded for the benefit of the Church, — that the sum total of the inspired writings can be easily con- tained in one volume. By concentrating our attention on them, we shall learn more truly the mind of God than we might have done had our attention been exercised upon a more extended range of revelation. He who made our minds has given us such a measure of Divine words as is suited to the average capacity of study. It is an important question, then, for each Christian to ask, " Am I learning daily of Jesus Christ?" If He has prepared, in a marvellous way, a revelation of His mind in human language, to be perpetually preserved in His Church, in order that we may have continually the benefit of conversing with Him, it is a very dangerous thing for any man to put aside this means, and think that the place of Jesus Christ can be supplied by any of His disciples however learned in His wisdom. Mixing as we do with the world, reading its litera- tures, joining in its conversation continually, it is impossible but that we shall be aff'ectcd by it, and learn to think its thoughts, unless that strong anti- dote is taken daily, which is afforded us by the conversation of Jesus Christ. The writings of devout authors, the conversations of good men, are helpful, but we need something stronger, something truer, to strengthen us against the in- 126 CHRISTIAN UNITY. fluences of the world aucl to open our eyes to its- deceits. There are three immediate ends for which we may read Holy Scriptures : (1) in order to investi- gate the substance of our faith ; (2) to determine the laws by which God would have us order our conduct ; (3) that we may exercise our affections upon the truths revealed therein, and be ourselves cleansed through our faith iu the word which our Lord therein speaks to us. It is of this last which we would now speak, as it is that kind of reading which is suited to all people at all times, whereas the other two kinds can only be carried on by certain men and at certain times according to their state^ ability, and training. It is of this sort of reading that Origen speaks when he says — " Oftentimes we derive good without perceiving it, for thus our life is supported ; — so, too, our spiritual Ufe is fre- quently profited by the mere reading of Scriptures, when our reason does not receive the fruit ; a charm, as it were, acts upon its nature ; its better elements are strengthened and matured, the worse weakened and brought to nought." We cannot suppose that the wholly unintelligent reading of the Scriptures is referred to here (as when one reads it in a language he does not understand), but such reading as takes ])lace when the mind is not capa- ble of studying deeply, but rather listens as a child receiving that plain meaning which is apparent at first sight, or from continued study lias become ON THE READING OF HOLY SCRIPTURES. 127 most evident, and as it listens puts forth faith and love. Such reading as this, at least, ought to be part of the life of eveiy Christian. Can any one be the friend of Jesus Christ who does not care to study His words ? Is it probable that we should have cared to be His disciples in Judaea at the cost of friends and honoui-, if we esteem His teaching so h'ghtly as to prefer human wisdom to it now ? Are we writing without cause ? Assuredly, we think, not ! The very multiplication of religious books and periodicals in these days, though a sign of increased religion, is dangerous in leading religious people to read them to the exclusion almost of Holy Scriptures. We are persuaded that many of om' readers will confess their negligence in this respect, although they may, perhaps, not think themselves without excuse. And what are the obstacles which a Christian meets in the performance of this duty ? These &ro principally three. First, there is the lack of time. He finds so many things to be done, said, and read in the course of the day, that he cannot manage time for reading Holy Scriptures. He acknowledges that it ought to be done, and yet he cannot tell when to do it, — so many are the duties he owes to his profession, to his family, to society. Sm-ely, after all, this is only saying he does not care to do it. Every man finds time for his hobby what- 128 CHRISTIAN UNITY. ever his work may be. If he really cared for reading Holy Scriptures, would he not find time for it ? Secondli/. — To read the Holy Scriptures reqiiires often a certain effort, which men are unwilling to make, and so they sometimes say that they find no profit in it. No doubt it is hard for the soul to rise to spiritual things, but this is part of our probation. Are we to give up spiritual exercises because they are difficult ? Human authors are often more easy to read simply because they are less heavenly, and therefore it requires less effort to ascend to them. This distaste is really sloth, and the Christian should overcome it by a resolute determination to form a regular habit of devotional reading of Holy Scriptures. It is usually a sign of tepidity in a soul when it has a distaste for spiritual things, and the soul should say to itself at such times, Woe unto you that are rich ! for ye have received your consolation." Thirdly. — We must recognize that the devil has a special hatred of the Word of God, and will en- deavour often to keep us from it. Probably he increases that aversion which we sometimes feel for the study of it. He may, perhaps, affect us with a certain bodily lassitude or indisposition for it, or have power to order other circum- stances so as to hinder us. But let us always regard it as time spent with our Lord in learning from Him, and resisting Satan, he will flee from us. ON THE READING OF HOLY SCRIPTURES. 129 Jesus Christ Himself foretold of this means where- by His people should draw nigh to Him, when He said, " Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it." It 130 CHRISTIAN UNITY. EXTEMPORE PRAYER. Whilst the eagerness with which the different parties in Christendom press on their respective principles to their utmost conchisions seems to for- bode fresh divisions, we may take some consolation from the remarkable tendency which they show to approximate to each other in devotional practices. Lov/ Churchmen have taken up Retreats and Missions, which but a few years ago they viewed with great suspicion ; Dissenters are adopting forms of prayer, the use of the Canticles, Church decorations, and other things once considered as Popish ; Roman Catholics are introducing ver- nacular services and hymns ; whilst the High Church party, v/hich so long cherished the use of the MS. in the pulpit as a sign of orthodoxy, has thrown itself with such ardour into the practice of extempore preaching, as to make it an almost in- variable accompaniment of ritualistic services. IMay we not hope our High Church brethren will also soon be free from the delusion of considering extem- pore prayer as a party badge ? Let us impartially consider extempore prayer, EXTEMPORE PRAYLK. 131 and see whether it would not be a gain if it were used by us all with the same freedom as it is by evangelicals. In tlie first place it is commended to us by its naturalness. Just as naturally as a man, who earnestly desires to persuade his hearers to any course of action, shuts up his book, however admir- able its arguments and style may be, and appeals to them in words which, whether eloquent or inelo- quent, he knows will come with force, because they are the very oifspring of his heart ; so when any one is earnestly intent upon obtaining some favour of God, he will just as naturally fall back upon his own words iu preference to the most beautiful written form. It is true that when his words are exhausted, but not his fervour, — when he desires to prolnug his devotion, but feels that he can only repeat wiiat he has uttered before, — that then he will gladly sustain himself with a form of words, and lean upon it as a staff, while he continues in the way of supplication. But in the first pressure of some heavy trouble, in the hour of temptation, or of repentance, in peril, in eager hope, or in joy, what Christian is there who does not instinctively express himself out of the abundance of his own heart ? Since then it is natural, it is also on that account pleasing. The artificial repels hearts, the natural attracts. People love what they call reality. It seems a proof of reality when a man thus opens his K 2 132 CHRISTIAN UNITY. heart iii the presence of others. And so extempore prayer has an element in it which impresses people with a sense of the reality of prayer. It helps thera to the belief that God is really listening, and that something will come of their addressing Him. Why is it that the service of the Meeting-house is often pronounced to be so much icanner than the Church, but that extempore prayer kindles fervour? It is both the offspring of fervour and tends also to produce it. Again, by its show of reality, it promotes sym- pathy. Confidence begets confidence. When one man open his heart in the presence of others, he calls forth their sympathy. He sets them an example of openness, which makes it more easy for them to be open with him than many invitations to it. In the intercourse of good and earnest Church- men, there is too great reserve on those matters which are of the highest interest perhaps to all. Men, who are earnest and true servants of Jesus Christ, meet together and talk about everything except that which is nearest to their hearts simply from a shyness, or out of deference to the custom of the world, which dislikes, above all things, the ntrusion of God into daily life. How extempore prayer breaks through this ice ! How it links together the natural and supernatural, and thus strengthens men, though in the world, to live a life not of Iho world ! EXTEMPORE PRAYER. 133 But is there nothing to bo said against extempore pra>er '? Was it a mistake that so many High Churchmen contended, in times past, for a form of prayer ? No, certainly. We must ackaowledge that extempore prayer has been much abused. To sul)stitute it for the regular liturgies of the Church, which can be traced up to the time of the Apostles, or for the offices of the Church, which are nearly as ancient, and are probably derived to a great extent from Jewish sources, — to give up these glories of the Church for extempore prayer is indeed a terril)le mistake. Everything has its time and place. For the regulai'ly occurring season of worship, for the fixed rites of tlie Church, fixed forms of prayer are imdoubtedly most suitable. But for exceptional times, for special needs and circumstances, special, and therefore extempore, prayers are fitting. Thus in connection with the sermon, whose sulyect is variable and left to the choice of the preachers, ex- tempore prayer, either before or after, is quitt; suitable. When a family, with tlie particular trials and joys of the day in their minds, meets for united worship, a certain admixture of extempore prayer seems specially to sanctify common life. W'lien Home little body of earnest men meet together for conference, or to read the Holy Scriptures, when two friends have met, when the pastor visits his people, when one seeks advice of another about his soul ; in all such cases extempore prayer seems good and useful. 134 CHRISTIAN UNITY. But if the laity are encouraged thus to pray extempore, will not many prayers be ofitered which are clothed in poor and unsuitable, perhaps extra- vagant and offensive, language ? We mnst remem- ber that different persons have different tastes according to their education. What seems poor or extravagant to one is liked by another. As long as the person who leads the prayer is more capable of expressing himself correctly than those who follow, it is sufficient. Who will say that a prayer is irreverent because it is couched in imperfect language ? Before God, one language is as good as another, and it is only as a matter of decency and I)ropriety that we are particular about it. Was not "Jessica's first prayer"* a good one, though we may smile at her childish way of asking God to repay her benefactor ? Another objection to extempore prayer readily occurs to one : the temptation that it presents to vanity in those who are Huent. The prayer of a Boston preacher was spoken of in the newspapers as " the finest prayer ever made to a Boston audience." Does not this point out a danger ? Yes; but everything is attended with danger; and the more beautiful or useful any work is, whether in or out of the Church, the greater the danger of vanity. But, finally, is not the practice itn-CathoUc, — contrary to the spirit and custom of the Church ? • This toucliing story is published hy the Tract Society. EXTEMPORE PRAYER. 135 No, indeed, we believe there has never been an age when devout people have not used this as occasion served. Was not Francis Xavier a true Catholic, and did not he make use of extempore prayer ? To quote one instance : As he was going to embark from Malacca, accompanied by his numerous friends, we are told that " they came then to the open door of a church which looked upon the sea, and then S. Francis knelt down and prayed aloud to Jesus Christ, the Love of his soul, by the sorrows of His most holy Death and Passion, by the precious wounds which He was ever presenting for us to the Eternal Father, and the merits thereof, to have pity on, and to save the soul of Don Alvaro, that he might find mercy and pardon before the Lord." Was not S. Paul a Catholic when he kneeled down at Melitus, or on the Syrian shore, and offered up prayer out of the fulness of his heart ? It would be difficult, indeed, to show that extempore prayer is unscriptural, and if so, it will ever find a home in the Catholic Church. 136 CHEISTIAN UNITY. RULES AND PEINCIPLES. An important element in the art of governing is to know when to enforce rules and when to urge men to be guided by principles. Especially is this the case in religion, whether in governing others or in governing one's self. We all feel that our religion is too gi-eat to be contained within rules, and yet rules are necessary to sustain it. " Charity is greater than rubrics," and yet without rubrics charity cannot be relied on always, even for the bare performance of duty. Christianity overflowed the Ten Commandments, and yet it is continually obliged to strengthen itself by reference to them. To abandon principles is to destroy our religion ; to give up rules is to endanger it. A man whose religion is only that of rules has returned to a sort of Judaism ; that is, to a religion which is true, yet only preparatoiy. It teaches obedience, but nothing more. It is a religion of bondage, even thougli the service be under a good master and most righteous laws. May we not say, witliout giving offence, that this type of religion is found chiefly among Roman Catholics? With some RULES AND PRINCIPLES. 137 of them, obedience to the Church is the dominant idea. A thing is wrcncr because it is forbidden by the Church, or it is right because it is allowed by the Church. Their morality is to obey, and nothing else. Such an idea of religion is seldom able to keep a man from grave sin, for the motive is not powerful enough, whilst it never raises it to any lofty standard of Christianity. On the other hand, a man who endeavours to live only by principles, wall generally fail more or less through human weakness. His judgment is not always clear enough to be referring to prin- ciples ; the reason is too ready in pleading excuses for the desire ; the heart is too easily deceived ; occasions for acting come too quickly, or delay is set aside to avoid debate ; and the result is, that not principle but pleasure guides, and he who has boasted of his liberty becomes the slave of passion. On such an occasion a rule might have saved the man. If he had had a rule before him to guide his conduct, he would not have had to decide at a time when passion was strong. He would not have stopped to think, when to think was to parley with- the enemy. He would have found safety in the King's command, " Answer him not." A rule would have carried him over the difficulty, until there was leisure again to consider dispassionately his principles. The tendency of Protestant communions has 138 CHRISTIAN UNITY. been more and more to relax rules. The power necessary to enforce them has been wanting in bodies which appealed more to the autho- rity of the conscience than of the Church. They have been almost entirely dropped, and the con- sequence has been a great weakening of religion. Methodism made a great effort to establish obedi- ence to rule again in religion, but it was too much dependent on one man. The despotism of Wesley could not last beyond his lifetime, unless he could have found a successor as great as himself. When men have broken away from the rules of the Church, made easy by their general acceptance, sacred by their antiquity, obviously profitable by the unitedness which their universal extension throughout Christendom promoted, — how should tliey be restrained by the will of one man, however wise, however great, when even his tongue was silenced in the grave ? In the English Church there has been of late years a renewed desii-e to live more by rule. It is a natural result of the appeal to the teaching of the Church which was made with such success by the " Tractarians. It has grown to bo a source of strength both to the individual and the community. One of the first directions given by spiritual teachers to those who seek to live a holy life has been that they should lay down rules for their private guidance. This, indeed, has been common among all earnest Christians, but Tractarians gave RULES AND PRINCIPLES. 139 an additional strength and strictness to the system by appealing to Church authority, Church tradition, Church custom as teaching some rules whose value might be imperfectly apprehended, and giving additional weight to the value of others whose reasons had been already felt. No doubt this has had a great effect in strengthening the religion of the Church. By con- tinual obedience to rules habits are formed, which characterise Christians like a second nature. Those who have habituated themselves to observe rules, walk easily and firmly in the ways of holiness ; they notice more quickly in themselves any falling away from their standard, and their conscience is troubled at their negligence. They know their effort after holiness to be a real one, because of the watch- fulness and the warfare wliich it imposes on them. *' He that is faithful in little, is faitliful in much," and they are trained by these continual exercises for the great battles of life. Nor do we think that in the English Church, saving some few exceptions, the love of rule has been pushed so far as to obscure principles. There are, of course, some persons who are so enamoured of order and discipline, that tliey are ready to sacrifice all for it ; and there are otliers who have found in a religion of rule, the only religion to which they were capable of rising. But such as these are not numeix)us enougli really to aifect s(;riously the cliaracter of the religion of the English Cliurcli. 140 CnniSTTAX UNITY. There is a great fund of common sense in English- men which prevents their being carried into ex- tremes, even when their logical faculties are nnable to see the reason why they should not. The use of rule has been revived much to the gain of the Eng- lish Church, -whilst the authority of principle still remains paramount. An illustration of the restoration of obedience to rule amongst us, is tlie recurrence of many of late years to the practice of fasting communion. It is true that this practice had had many upholders in the Enghsh Church since the time of the Reform- ation, and had been maintained by whole villages as well as by families and individuals. Yet, still, by the beginning of this century, it was absolutely unheard of by the great majority of members of the English Church. Since the Tractarian movement, however, has begun to affect the English Church at large, fasting communion has gradually spread, — at first to individuals, then to congregations, so that there are now probably hundreds of parishes in which the majority of communicants have volun- tarily adopted this rule. The controversies which have been held from time to time about it have only establislied more fully its value, and shown the limits to wliich it ouglit to be urged. The common sense of piety has recognized in it a simple method for giving the great act of Com- munion a precedence before all other acts of the day, — for maintaining a subdued and undistracted IIL'LES A^■D PRINCIPLES. Ul frame of inind in which to entei* upon it, — for ex- pressing faith in the real objective character of the Food presented to us in the Sacrament. Whilst the many have received it probably on some such grounds as these, the few have taught it perhaps more frequently on the grounds of Church custom and Church authority. Their reliance upon the teaching and custom of the Church has not been misplaced. Whether we can discern it or not, there must always have been good reason for those customs which wero universally adopted by the Church throughout the world. There is a common sense in the Church which has led Christians more by instinct than by reason to adopt various customs, and although we must always be prepared to find the common instincts of fallen man devising some means of relaxing his religious obligations simply to accommodate his own convenience, yet we shall not easily find him making his obligations more stringent, except through some heavenly influence inspiring him, or some real necessity forcing it upon him. There can be no doubt that it was a real necessity which led the Apostles to dissever the Holy Communion from the Agape and to place it at the beginning of the day. Their converts, they found, could not all live in that continual atmo- sphere of spiritual life which they themselves enjoyed, and which fitted them at all times for acts of the highest Communion with Jesus. They found that they must train them like children, often 142 CHRISTIAN UNITY. even when tbey had hoped thej' had attained the spiritual status of men. Hence we see that S. Paul, although he was continually warning his Gentile converts against adopting the worn-out rules of Judaism, does not hesitate to impose upon them rules of his own, or of the Apostles in general, to strengthen and guide them because of their weakness and ignorance. The injunctions about food, about the dress of women and their behaviour in Church, about the marriage of the clergy, about their pay and their trial if accused, about the age at which widows might be consecrated entirely to their devoted life, — these are examples of the way in which S. Paul, and doubtless the other Apostles, dealt with the Churches which they formed in giving them some positive rules, as their circumstances and the in- evitable weakness of human nature demanded. Hence, too, the earliest history of the Church discloses it as having canons, both local and universal. Nor can we dream during the present dispensation that the Christian Church will ever cease to be in need of these rules. Canon and law may be over- done, and have been overdone, but they will always be necessary to some extent, and we welcome the return to the English Church of that spirit which makes law possible and profitable. For we must always recognize that in religious matters law cannot change custom, but only strengthen and perpetuate it. The plenary authority RULES AND PRINCIPLES. 143 of the Apostles, and the novelty of the religion which they taught, enabled them to introduce and enforce what seemed good to them. But it has never been so with the authorities of the Church since. Their successors could only establish what popular custom had already approved, and fix those practices which had been adopted, or at least desired, as it were, by common consent. So that in the English Church, if any fresh rules are to be adopted, or restored, to strengthen practical piety amongst us, it can only be through the general or voluntary adoption of them by individuals. That it would be a great strength to have laid down for us by the Church more rules for the per- formance of our religious duties than we have at present, we cannot doubt. Of how great value is the rule we possess requiring a certain knowledge before Confirmation, and the Rubric ordering every one to commmiicate three times in the year, and the order for the clergy to say the Offices of the Church daily ! If, for instance, in addition to this there was a distinct rule requiring attendance at Holy Communion on Sunday morning, or defining in some way how the fasts of the Church were to be kept, ivould it not help very many weak Christians to perform such duties regularly ? Of course the danger always remains of religion becoming too much a religion of rules, but wo do not think that in the English Church there is any such danger to be feared just now. And if there CHRISTIAN UNITY. is a fear that rules which ai'e made to enforce the minimum of religion should be taken as its full standard, yet it is always in the power of the clergy to obviate such mistakes. The attention called to the Rubric for requiring three communions a year has not at all interfered with the very frequent return to weekly and monthly communions, but on the con- trary has rather assisted them. Attention to the existing rules of the Church has often been the first step towards a higher appreciation of the principles upon which her rules are founded. ( 145 ) PANACEAS. Dr. McCosh, in his Treatise on the Method of the Divine Government, says that " The religious history of mankind may be summed up in this, that it is a continually-repeated attempt to adapt the idea of God to those who feel that they cannot do without Him." This is the reason why the Apostle S. John gives the earnest warning even to Chris- tians at the end of his First Epistle, " Little children, keep yourselves from idols." There is a continual danger of even Christians turning aside from this true Image of God given us in Jesus Christ, and forming for themselves some distorted and imperfect representation of the Eternal Father, Governor, and Judge of all mankind. One token of this disease in the human mind is the continual craving for spiritual panaceas, a demand for some medicine for the soul, so simple, so instantaneous, so eflScacious, that it shall infaUibly work its cure in little time and with small trouble. It is so delightful to hear that there is a short cut to eternal life, that any preacher, who can announce that he has found one, is sure of a large 146 CHRISTIAN UNITY. and sympathetic audience. As for those who have accepted his guidance, their rapturous feelings put them beyond reasoning. The peace and rest they feel after long searching and striving seems to them sufficient argument for any one. It is as if their weary foot-pilgrimage were cut short and a heavenly chariot sent to can-y them. Yet we are bound to try the spirits, and we cannot forget that it is wi'itten that the people of God have not yet entered into their rest, and concerning the battle of life that " there is no discharge in that war." The fact is that patience is an essential part of holiness. As it is manifested so wonderfully and so gloriously in the God with Whom a thousand years are but as one day, and "Who waits for the fulness of time ere He carries into effect His eternal decrees, so must it be shown forth in His childi-en. Now patience, like all other virtues, must be exercised in order that it may live and grow. God has so ordered the course of this world, that it affords continual opportunity for the exercise of patience ; and in the continued exercise of it is salvation. ** In your patience possess ye your souls." Not only do the ordinary sufferings and troubles of life make a demand on the Christian's patience, but the partial nature of God's revelation demands of him patience in the pursuit even of religious know- ledce : the continued existence iu him of the old nature, notwithstanding his new birth, demands of PANACEAS. 147 him patience with himself as well as with others ; the uncertainty as to his final salvation requires him to await with patience the judgment-seat of Christ : the slow but sure progress of God's power bids him wait with patience for the estab- lishment of Christ's Kingdom in its glory. Yet the tempter is continually tempting Chris- tians to set aside this essential element of spiritual training, and to anticipate the dispensations of God according to their own natural eagerness. Thus he urged Adam and Eve to endeavour to become as gods before their time. And now he proposes to man to select some simple formula, and worship it as the source of Divine Truth. He suggests some one virtue as a substitute for perfect holiness, some one practice as ensuring salvation, some particular emotion as an infallible criterion of God's favour ; or perhaps he paints some earthly triumph of a Church as if it were the heavenly Jerusalem. To speak more particularly, what an error was that which fixed on the acceptance of the formula of justification by Faith as the articulus stantis aut cadcntis Ecclesi