;sSS CONVERTEO^' ;J< »a (\).^^^ -^^ ^f^^r A' University of California. < r J I-"'l^ < )>»^ ■« I — UNITARIAN PRINCIPLES COXFIKMED HT TRINITARIAN TESTIMONIES. UNITARIAN i*feM i UlilTARIAN a3oOc:ation CONFIRMED BY ^Cj row, ^A^ ' ' TRINITARIAI TESTIMONIES; SELECTIONS FROM THE WORKS OF EMINENT THEOLOGIANS BELONGING TO ORTHODOX CHURCHES. [itij Inlrobucforg anb Occasional Remarks. BY JOHN WILSON, AUTHOR OF " SCRIPTURE PROOFS AND SCRIPTURAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF UNITARIANISM." 'J ((TTJTI7BESITy TENTH EDITION. ^ W • BOSTON: A]MERICAN UNITARLVN ASSOCIATION. MDCCCLXXX. Entered according to Act of Confess, in the year 1855, by Henry A. Miles, Secbe- TART OF THE AMERICAN UNITARIAN ASSOCIATION, ID tlie Clorks Office of tlic District Court of tlie District of Massacliusetts. University Press : John Wilson & Son, Camdkiuce. PEEFACE. About thirteen years ago, the author published in England a work entitled " The Concessions of Trinitarians," the object of which was to prove, from the comments and criticisms of distinguished divines belonging to Orthodox, churches, the truth of Unitarianism in regard to the teachings of Scripture on the subject of the personality and relations of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Judging, shortly after his arrival in this country in 1846, that, from the kind reception which it had met with, and the small number of copies on hand, the book would soon be out of print, he thought it desirable to republish it on an enlarged scale; and, accordingly, since that time, he has devoted a considerable portion of his leisure hours to the examination of theological works, with the view of making such extracts as seemed best suited to eifect his design. The " Concessions " consisted of a selection of remarks on texts taken up according to the order in which they occur in the authorized version of the Bible, with an Introduction of seventy-six pages of miscellaneous matter. That Intro- duction forms the basis of the present volume, but has been subjected to so many ciianges in arrangement, and expanded so much in its character and plan, that it has been deemed advisable to designate this publiciitioa by a new title. a* Vi PREFACE. It 13 intended to print, at some future time, the remain- der of the work, comprising two or three additional vohmies. Each of these, though related to the others, and upholding with them one great presumptive argument for the soundness of the principles of interpretation adopted by Unitarians, will embrace the consideration of a certam uumber of the Sacred Books, and be issued by itself. On the mode in which the writer has executed his task, 60 far as it may be judged of by this volume, it is not for him to pronounce an opinion ; but he may be allowed to say, that, while he has sometimes omitted, in his quotations, sentences which seemed to him irrelevant, and, for want of room, has abridged others which he thought appropriate, he has been careful to do no injustice to his authors, and, to avoid even the appearance of unfairness, has not unfrequently length- ened his extracts beyond the measure required by the object he had in view. In noticing, therefore, errors or imperfec- tions, it is hoped that readers will attribute them to any motive but that of a wish, on the j)art of the transcriber, to pervert the sentiments of others for the i)urpose of making them coincide with his own ; feeling assured, as he does, that no object, however excellent in itself, or however well adapted to advance the well-being of man, should be promoted by any means but those of candor, simplicity, justice, and directness of aim. If it be thought that the author has failed in the treatment of his subject, let the responsibility rest on himself, and not on tiie cause which he advocates, or on that section of the Christian church of which he is but an individual member. He has tried, through tlie assistance alibrded him by his brethren of a different faith, to express and disseminate his own conceptions of biblical and Christian truth ; but, though writing as a Unitarian, and agreeing essentially with rUEFACE. VU the opinions entertained in general by the Unitarian body, he does not presume to act as its representative. It is the glory ol" this denomination that it recognizes no standard but reason and Scripture; no leader but Christ; no human au- thority as its rc])resentative, even though lie were a Milton or a Locke, a Priestley or a Price, a Channing or a Norton. With one heart and one voice, its collective members pro- claim to the world their conviction of the great truth, that there is but one God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, — two distinct and unequal persons or beings : the first of whom stands in the relation of Parent of all intelligences ; the second, in that of Son and Servant of God, by whom he was sent into the world to be the Teacher, the Guide, and the Saviour of mankind. As to the precise rank in the scale of creation to which Christ belonged, Unitarians differ in opinion, as they do in their modes of speaking of him ; and on this point the author may be found to disagree with many of his brethren in this country. It is frankly acknowledged that there are several passages in the New Testament which seem to imply that Jesus existed before his birth as an intelligence inferior only to God ; but, without wishing to be dogmatical on a subject which is not altogether free from indistinctness and difficulty, the writer would express his strong conviction, that, whatever Jesus was in a pre-existent state, the Scriptures represent him to have entered into this world, to have lived and labored, suffered and died, as a proper human being, — to have gone about his work of holy love and heavenly instruction, with all the instincts, affections, and properties of humanity ; but distinguished above the greatest, the wisest, and the best of men, by liis more copious reception of the divine spirit ; by liis higher acquaintance with the counsels and purposes cf Heaven ; by his more intimate commonioa and oneness with viii PREFACE. God ; by his profoundcr obedience and submission to the will of the Father ; and by his brighter, his more express, manifes- tation of tlie love and tenderness of the Deity towards smful and suffering men. Wliile preparing materials for his work, the author received proposals from the American Unitarian Association, offering to adopt it as one of their publications. It will, of course, bo understood that this is an approval only of the general spirit and aim of the book, not as an indorsement of all its opinions. Grateful for the encouragement thus extended to his labors, he hopes that he may have contributed something, by these pages, to the cause of liberal Christianity, which the publica- tions of that Association are so well calculated to promote. 22, School Stijekt, Boston, Oct. 15, 1855. CONTENTS. ISTKOPUCTION t CiLlPTER L THE SPIRIT OF SECTARIANISM INCONSISTENT WITH THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTIANITY. Section. I. — The Religion of Jesus that of Love 25 IT. — True Zeal accompanied by a Spirit of "Wisdom, Love, and Humility; False Zeal, by an Ignorant, Uncharitable, Domi- neering, and Persecuting Spirit 84 III. — Not Uniformity of Opinion, but Piety, Mutual Forbearance and Affection, — Love to God, Christ, and Man, — the Ba- ses of Christian Union 40 IV. — The Duty of holding Intercourse and Communion with Chris- tians of all Denominations, and of Loving all Mankind . . 48 V. — The Nature and Evils of an Intolerant or a Persecuting Spi- rit 56 VI. — Faith, Orthodoxy, Heresy, Schism, and other Terms, often used as Watchwords of Party Warfare 67 ^ 1. Faith and Orthodoxy 67 ^ 2. Heresy and Schism 71 VII. — The Constituents of the Christian Church ; Wise and Good Men in all Denominations 76 VIII. — Unitarians distinguished for their Worth, Piety, Intelligence, and Learning 86 § I. Individual Unitarians 86 ^ 2. Unitarians in General . .... 100 IX. — Unitarians entitled to the Christian Name 108 x contents. Chapter IL the preci0usnes5 of theological truth, and tub unkestuicted mkans of acquikixg it. Section. Page I. — Tlie Importance of Just Conceptions of Religion 125 II. — The Right and Duty of Free Inquiry 131 III. — Dispositions and Means requisite in the Search after Truth . 13S IV. — Hindrances to Tree Inquiry, and to the Spread of Truth . . 143 4 1. Early Prejudices 143 § 2. Prostration of tlie Judgment to Authority ........ 145 \ 3. Blind Attaclnnent to Received Opinions 148 4 4. Predilections for the Mysterious 151 ^ 5. Impatience of Doubt, and Aversion to Trouble 153 ^ 6. Party Spirit and Personal Interest 155 ^ 7. Tlie Speculations of Vanity and the Love of Singularity . . 156 ^ S. The Dread of Contempt and Ridicule 158 \ 9. The Influence of a Proud, Empty, Sectarian Criticism . . . 160 \ 10. The Seductions of Feeling and Imagination 161 \ 11. Hindrances in General 164 CiiAPiER m. RK\SON AND REVELATION THE ONLY LEGITIMATE STANDARDS OF RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. I. — The Obligation to use the Intellect in Matters of Religion . . 165 II. — Reason and Revelation consistent with each other 172 III. — Holy Writ sufficient, without the Dicta of Churches or of Indi- viduals, to be a IJule of Faitli and Communion 177 f 1. Sufficiency of the Sacred Scriptures 177 ^ 2. Inefficacy and Pernicious Results of requiring an Assent or a Subscription to Creeds and Articles of Faith 180 1\'-— Need of Revising the Authorized Version of the Bible, and ('orrecting it from a Pure Text 185 V. — Tlie Sacred Books not Inspired Records, but Records of Reve- lation 188 \ I. The Dogma of the Verbal or the Plenary Insiiinition of the Bjble not supported by Evidence 188 CONTENTS. Xi 6e:tIon. Pafcs V. {continued.) ^ 2. The Denial of Verbal or of Plenary Inspiration not a Denial of IJevelation 199 ^ C. The Dogma of the Infallibility of all Parts of the Bible inju- rious to the Interests of Christianity 206 VI. — The Improper Treatment of Scripture 213 VII --Principles of Criticism and Interpretation, applicable chiefly to the New Testament 217 ^ 1. Criticism 217 § 2. Interpretation 221 General Remarks 226 Chapter TV. CURISTIAMTi' INTKI.LIGIBLE, RATIONAL, AND PRACTICAL. 1. — The Teachings of the Saviour distinguished for their Clearness and Simplicity 227 II. — The Principles of Christianity suitable to all Capacities . . . 234 III. — Christianity not a Religion of Speculative or Theoretical Pro- positions, but of Vital Facts and Practical Principles . . . 239 IV. — The Creeds and'Mysteries of the Xew Testament Simple and Comprehensible 243 ^ 1. Creeds of the New Testament 243 § 2. Mysteries of the Xew Testament 247 V. — Belief in Unintelligible Mysteries and ^letaphysical Creeds not essential to Salvation 250 ClL\PTER V. riUMTARlANISM EITHER UNINTELLIGIBLE OR SELF-CONTRADICTORY. I. — ^'arioa5 and Opposite Statements or Definitions of the Doc- trine of the Trinity 257 ^ 1. The Apostolic or Unitarian Trinity 260 Remarks 2'iO ^ 2. The original Nicene Trinity 2Gd ■ Remarks and Animadversions 263 \ S. The Coustantinopolitan Irmily 261 Sll CONTENTS. Section ^^^ I. {c(mtinued.) ^ 4. The Trinity of Unequal Persons or Gods 265 Eeraarks and Animadversions 266 \ 6. The Athanasian Trinity, or the Trinity of Co-equal Persons . 268 Remarks and Animadversions 270 ^ 6. The Westminster Trinity 273 Remarks and Animadversions ....." 273 Remarks on the Ancient and Modern Theories of Eternal Gene- ration and Procession 27 i The Tendency of a Denial of Christ's Eternal Sonsliip . . . 276 4 7. The Trinity of Self-existent and Independent Persons . . . 277 Remarks and Animadversions 279 4 8. The Trinity of Distinct, Eternal, and Infinite Minds or Beings . 280 Remarks and Animadversions 2S4 4 9. The Trinity of Distinct Persons, Subsistences, or Agents . . 289 Remarks and Animadversions 2y2 § 10. The Trinity of tlic Ijiseity, the Alterity, and the Community . 295 Remarks and Animadversions 296 4 11. The Trinity of Distinctions, or Mysterious Persons .... 297 Remarks and Animadversions 300 ^ 12. The Trinity of Names, Modes, Relations, or Characters; of Impersonations, Developments, or Manifestations .... 301 Remarks and Animadversions 308 4 13. Summary of Trinities 311 Synonymes, Definitions, and Descriptions of the Plirase, " Three Persons" in One Godhead 312 Titles, Attributes, and Functions of the Three Persons in the Godhead 3U ^ 14. The Apostolic or Unitarian Trinity {7'esiimed) 315 II. — The Doctrine of a Triune God Incomprehensible and Irrational 317 { 1. This Dogma, no less than Transubstantiation, opposed to Com- mon Sense 317 4 2. The Dogma of a Triune God utterly Incomprehensible, and repugnant to Reason . '. 318 III. —Theological Terms either Unintelligible and Useless, if not Per nicious; or Expressive of Ideas, and should therefore bo clcoi-ly Defined &ii CONTENTS. Xm Chapter VL tnf trinity in unity, and the deity of christ, not doctuines of revelation. election. Page. I. — The Terms '* Trinity," " Triune God," " Person," " Hypos- tasis," " Honioousion," &c., Unscriptural and Improper . 331 II. — The Doctrine of a Triune God, or of the Deity of Christ, not revealed in tlie Old Testament, or known to the Jews . . 834 ^ 1. Not revealed in the Old Testament 334 ^ 2. A Triune God and the Deity of Christ unknown to the Ancient Jews 339 Explanation of the Phrase, " Word of the Lord," occurring in the Old Testament and in other Jewish Writings .... 345 III. — The Doctrine of a Triune God, or of the Deity of Christ, not revealed to the Disciples before the day of Pentecost . . 351 IV. — The Doctrine of a Triune God, or of the Deity of Christ, not divulged in the Acts of the Apostles 358 v.— No Doctrines additional to those previously taught by Christ, or communicated on the day of Pentecost by the Holy Spirit, inculcated in the Epistles 362 VI. — A Triune God, and the Deity of Christ, not Doctrines of Ex- press Revelation 366 VI] . — The Doctrine of a Triune God, and of the Deity of Christ, cannot be proved from Holy Scripture 374 CiLAPTER Vn. GOD IS ONE. — THE FATHER ONLY, THE TRUE GOD. I. — The Existence of a Triune God not discernible by the Light of Nature 877 II. — The Unity of God a Fundamental Principle of both Natural and Revealed Religion 3S1 ^1. Importance of the Doctrine of the Divine Unity 3S1 S 2. The Unity of God proved by Reason, and manifested in the Works of Creation 384 ^ 3. The Unity of God revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament 388 jriv CONTENTS. BtKJtion. Page III. — God, the Fath'jr, the only Person or Being who is Underived or Self-existent and Supreme 393 IV. — The One Supreme Person or Being, the Father, the Only Object of Primary and Unceasing Adoration 397 ^ 1. The Worship of a Trinity Unscriptural and Improper — God to be addressed as One 397 ^ 2. The Father entitled to Supreme Worship 31)9 § 3. The Son rarely, the Holy Ghost (as a Person different from the Father) never, in the Bible, addressed in Prayer .... 4C0 § i. The Father, almost to the entire Exclusion of the Son and Holy Ghost, worshipped by the Trinitarian Congregationalists, or Independents, of England 4C2 Chapter Vm. JESUS CHRIST INFERTOU TO GOD, THE FATHER. I. — In his Nature and his Attributes, Christ Inferior to God . . 407 § 1. As a Divine Being, Christ Inferior to the Father 408 9 2. As a Pre-existcnt Being, or even as the Creator of the World, Christ not necessarily God 412 II. — Deficiency of Proof for Christ's Existence before his Appear- ance on Earth 414 ^ 1 Christ not the Lord God, or the Angel of Jehovah, who ap- peared to the Patriarchs and the Prophets 414 ^2. Christ's being "sent" or "proceeding from God," and his *' coming down from Heaven," Phrases signifying that ho had received the fullest Instruction and Authority from God 417 III. — Christ's Sonship not implying an essentially Divine Nature, but his being the Jlessiah, his Moral Resemblance to God, and God's Love towards him 419 I V — Christ not called " God," in the highest Sense of the Term . 425 V. — Christ trained by Divine Providence to act as the Messiah . 434 VI. — III his Odiccs and Qualifications, Clirist Subordinate to God . 438 ^ I. Christ as a Divine Teacher, and a Worker of Miracles . . . 438 \ 2. Christ as Lord while on Earth 442 \ 8. Clirist as Saviour or Redeemer 443 \ i. Christ as Mediator 444 CONTENTS. XV Section. Pa^s. Vil. — The Moral Character of Christ, that of a Finite and Dependent Being 448 (j 1. As exhibited in his Habitual Piety 446 fj 2. As exhibited amid Temptations 4[,0 § 3. As exhibited in his Last Sufferings 454 V'lII. — Christ not God, but the Eepresentative, the Manifestation, the Moral Image, of God 458 IX. — As Head of the Church, and as Judge of Mankind, Christ derived his Power and Glory from God 464 X. — Christ not to be v/orshipped with Supreme Veneration, but with the Honor due to one who faithfully performed the Will of God, and died for the Salvation of ilen .... 469 ^ 1. Civil, not Divine, Homage paid to Jesus while on Earth . . 469 ^ 2. Secondary, not Supreme, Homage paid, or required to be paid, to Christ, after his Exaltation to Heaven ....... 471 Ch.\pter IX. THE HOLY SPIRIT NOT A THIRD PERSON IN THE GODHEAD, BUT GOD HIMSELF, OR HIS INFLUENCES, GIFTS, &c. I. — Deficiency of Evidence for the Deity of the Holy Spirit, as a Third Person in the Godhead 477 II. — The Holy Spirit, either God, the Father, or the Divine Power, Influences, or Gifts 481 § 1. God, without Distinction of Persons 481 ^ 2. The Power, Influence, or Gifts of God 482 III. — The Holy Spirit, if a Person different from the Father, Inferior to Him and Christ 485 INDEXES. 1. — Texts quoted or referred to 487 II. — Early Christian Writers referred to 493 III. — Trinitarians quoted or referred to 494 IV. — Unitarians referred to 603 ^V i>'' nil-; ^ UITIVEESITY' INTilODUCTION. It is well knowii, that for many ages the Christian church has been divided into two great classes, distinguished ii'om each other by the names of UNiTARLA^f and Trixitarlin. I. According to the former class, the Almighty and Infuiite Being, to whom universal nature, both material and spu'itual, owes its exist- ence and presen'ation, is strictly One, — one in a sense similar to that in which the word is employed when men speak of an indindual belonging to any order or species of intelligent natui-es, — one INIind, one Spirit, one Person, one Agent. This Being, and he alone, is self-existent, miderived, independent; the only absolute Possessor of every perfection ; the single and original Source of all existence, of all might, of all ^^isdom, of aU goodness ; the God and Father of all intelligences, whether celestial or terrestiial, human or divine; the God and Father even of our Lord Jesus Clirist, who, though immeasurably superior, in moral and spu'itual grandem*, to all other beings of whom we have any knowledge, was and is dependent on the One Supreme and Universal Parent for his existence, his powers, and liis offices, — for liis authority and qualifications as the Messiah; as the Representative or Vicegerent of God ; as the Teacher, the Saviour, the King, and the Judge of men. Some Unitarians are of opinion, that Christ was, in his entire nature, a man, raised up by the Almighty, and endowed with an inspiration far surpassing that of any other Heaven-taught Prophet; others, 1 2 INTRODUCTION. that, before lis appearance on the earth, he had existed in heaven as a created, superhuman, if not superangelic, being. Some have thought that the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of God, particuhrly as sho\vn by Jesus and the apostles, had also a personal though derived existence; wliile others, the majority, liave considered the divine spu'it, flo^^'ing tlu'oughout the Sacred Records, to be either God himself, or Ids gii'ts, agency, and influence, whether physical, moral, or spiritual, • — whether natural or supernatural. They all, however, beheve in the strict or simple Unity and the unrivalled perfections of Him who is God and Father, and in the derivation of Christ's natiu'e, power, and glor)', and of the existence and attributes of all other persons or beings, from the one Creator, the one Parent, the one God. Whatever differences of opinion, then, may exist among Unitarians concerning the particular rank in the scale of creation to ^liich our Lord or any other intelhgence belongs, there is no difference whatever respecting the great doctrine which contradistinguishes them from their TriniLarian brethren. On tliis subject there is among them no contrariety of sentiment ; and the doctrine, whether true or false, is so simple as to be incapable of being misunderstood. n. According to the second of. the above-mentioned classes, — the Trinitarian, — the Deity is One, and yet Three; one God, but tliree hi/post(L'i(s, or Persons, — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; each of whom is the uncreated, incomprehensible, eternal, and almighty God, though they do not by any means constitute three uncreated, incomj)rehonsible, eternal, and almighty Gods ; each being different in some respect from t)ic others, though they are one in essence, and equal in attributes. The second of these persons — God the Son, the Son of God, tiie Logos, or the Word — assumed human nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin, and, after a la])se of thirty years from his birth, entered u])on his odice as the long-expected Messiah; uniting in his jjerson two natures, one of which was tridy human, and the other truly divine. In other words, the second person of the Trunty became GoJ-nian. DIVERSITIES OF TRINFTARIANISM 3 This, so for as we can judge from tlie autliorized stitemcnts of TriiiitiiricOiiism that we have seen, is the professed behel" of all, or nearly all, TriniUirians ; and yet, strangely enough, eitlier the hngiiage used is so difficult of comprehension, or the ideas involved in the terms are so contradictory, that the supporters of this doctrine, whenever they venture to describe or explain what they mean, and sometimes even in then- briefest definitions, affirm or concede some particular point which is flital to the prmciple itself on Aviiich their belief is founded. Thus, many Trinitarians — adopting the Athanasian Creed so called — declare the uncreated and eternal Son to have been begotten of the Father, and the uncreated and eternal Holy Ghost to have proceeded from the Father and the Son ; but it is freely acknowledged by not a few theologians of high eminence, &ome of whom have been distinguished for their opposition to Unitarianism, that the doctrines of eternal generation and procession clash Avith the idea of self-existence and independence, — an idea involved in the very conception of a first Supreme Cause. According to the same train of thought, a host of learned Trinitarians have not scrupled to affirm, that a pre-eminence and a subordination obtain among the three persona in the Godhead ; — that the Father is the Source, the Fountain, the Head, the Principle of being ; and that the Son and the Holy Ghost derived their existence and their attributes fi'om the Father; — language than which none can more clearly imply superiorit}', infe- riority, and inequality ; or, in other words, that the Father, and he only, is the true God. On the other hand, some have boldly affirmed, that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are as distinct from each other as Peter, James, and John, — that they are three distinct, infinite I>eings or Minds; thus wtually giving up the notion of a Triune Deity, and adopting, though with a vague unconsciousness and without profession, that of three Gods : while others, again, have defined the word " person " to signify, not a distinct, intelligent agent, but a mere relation in the Godhead, as if only one divine agent acted in the seve- ral cliaracters of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 4 IXTRODUCTION Thus, as it appears to us, and as in the follo-vnng pages will be de» monstrated, is Trinitarianism inconsistent "with itself. Thus, in its ver)' attempts to free itself from difficulties, is it obliged to acknowledge principles which war against, and tend to destroy, its own elements. We are not imaware, that the various parties into which Trinitarians are dinded — clearly perceiving and pointing out, as they do, the eiTors and absurdities of then* brethren, but with only a dim recogni- tion of their o^vn — have each felt unwilling to regard the others as orthodox,* and have been often disposed to shut them out from their own fold, or to throw tliem into the ranks of then* professed opponents, the Antitrinitarians. But, however they may differ in their explica- tions of the doctrine from which they are denominated, and — in their several attempts to explain the unexplainable, and reconcile the irreconcilable and absm-d — give out, in spite of themselves, glimmer- ings of Scriptural tinath, or jield up positions seniceable to the cause of Unitai'ianism, — we venture to affirm, that, whether favorable to the views of Athanasius or of Sabellius, of Sherlock or of South, of Bishop Bull or of Archljishop "NVlntely, they are all, with but few exceptions, pro])crly cbssed under the general designation of Trinitiirian, and not Unitiirian. They have all acknowledged themselves to be Trinitarian, and many of them have gloried in the name, — have all belonged to TriniUirian chm*ches, — have all subscribed to, or acknowledged a belief in, the dogma of a Triune God, — have all professed Jesus Christ to be, personally, Almighty God, or eqiuil to him, — and have all refrained from being united to churches or to individuals who openly and unequivocally regard God as one, and only one; and who believe the Lord Jesus, whether as human or superhuman^ to be • Thp tfmi '• Orthodox," whotlior as a noun or an adjective, will be used, in oui own reninrks, not to imply literal soundness of doctrine, or, as connnonly employed In the Nin-Knt'land States, to distinguish Trinitarian from Unitirian Congregation- allsts, but merely to indicate a belief in the doctrine of a Triune God. of wiiatever character that doctrine may be, as op])Osed to the opinions of Unitarians, who are regarded by their opponents as heterodox, or unsound in the faith. In other words, tlie term, wlicu used by us, is to be regarded as a mere quotation, whether marked M such or not. THE APPARATUS OF TRINITARIANISM. 5 a created being, inferior to the God who gave him liis existence and his powers. To state, however, Trinitarianism in its most general form, and with an acciu-acy sufficient for om- present pm-pose, it is the doctrine Mliich teaches tliat m the one God there are tluree co-essential, co-equal, and co-eternal persons, the second of whom became, in the fulness of time, tlie Messiah. To uphold this doctrine, the stores of erudition, the subtilties of pliilosophy, the eloquence of the pulpit, and the pro- iuctions of the press, — not to mention the decrees of synods and of councils, the articles of one chm'ch, and the confessions and catechisms of others, — have all been called into requisition. On behalf of this doctrine, in particular, have treatises and comments unnumbered been WTitten and pubHshed. For tliis purpose the Bible has been opened, ransacked, and re-ransacked ; and its texts — in fractions, in miits, and in thousands — have been brought into logical and metaph)-sic play. The fu'st words in Genesis have been deemed to intimate a plurality of persons in the Godhead ; the List in the book of the Apocalypse, the Deity of Jesus Christ. Indeed, we might say, almost without a rhetorical figure, that nearly every sentence m the Sacred Records has been adduced, either by itself or in combination with others, to prove, confii-m, or defend the dogma of a Triime God.* Had the doctrine adverted to not been impugned, ail tliis vast apparatus of learning, of philosophizing, of decreeing, of catechizing, of -WTiting, of preaching, and of printing, would not, of course, have been brought into operation. Accordhigly, it has been fomid, that, in all ages of the Chiistian church, even when the hand of power wielded its weapons of silence, extermination, and death agamst "heretics," there were witnesses for the contrary doctrine, — tliat God is one, not tln-ee; and that our Lord Jesus Clmst, "anointed with the oil * John Wesley, in his Sermons on Several Occasions, toI. i. p. 238, saj'S that the *' Trinity in Unity, and Unity in Trinity, [is] discovered to us in the very first line of his [God's] written word, ... as well as in every part of hi? subsequent revelatioua. given by the moutli of all his holy prophets and apostles." 6 INTRODUCTION. of gbdiiess above his fellows," "was inferior, in nature and in attributes, to the Infinite Being whom he called his Father and his God. Many of these witnesses have also, in the most public mamier, declai-ed tlieir reasons for their belief; have appealed to Scripture passages Avhich they regarded as proring the simple Oneness of God, and his unqualified Supremacy over all other beings ; and have endeavored to interpret such texts as were adduced in favor of a Trinity in Unity, and of the Deity of Christ and the Holy Ghost, in harmony with what tLsy thought to be the dicUites of reason and the teachings of revelation. The usual mode of answering the arguments and interpretations of Unitarians has probably been that to which we have just adverted, — the adducing of an immense quantity and variety of proof, of which a Large portion had no possible relation to the subject. But, unhaj)pily, this lack of discrimination in judging of eridence, tliis wholesale treatment of Sacred Scripture, — so common, indeed, amongst all sects and on all theological subjects, — was not a matter the most objectionable. Unacquainted with the principles of a generous tole- ration, or forgetful of the mild and beneficent spirit of their gi-eat Master, the dominant party, when they did not happen to use the sword of tlie civil magistrate, were frequently tempted to emjjloy other weapons equally effective in the sulijugation of free thought, and the annlhihtion of opinions regarded as heretical. INIany of the older books of polemical Trinitarians are filled with accusations against theii* opponents, of denying the Lord that bought them, — of wilfully WTCsting tlie Scriptures to theu' o^mi destruction, — of being dis- believers in the Bible ; schismatics, blasphemers, infidels ; who, miless converted to the true faith, — or, as we should interpret it, miless they believed in opposition to the evidence presented to thcii* own minds, or i)rofessed oj)inlons contrary to their o\ni convictions, — would be consigned by tlio God of love to everhsting woe. Li sjjcalting thus, we should regret to be thought justly chirgeablft with the very fault which we condcnm. We do not mention it foi (tie jjurjraso of throwuig any odium eitlior on Trinitariajiisra or on \ta THE CRT OF HERESY, AND THE LESSON OF LOTB. 7 advocates. The truth is, that in past times the jDrineiples of a genuine religious liberty were but faintly understood, — scarcely recognized except by a few of those who suffered for their adherence to an unpopuLu' cause. Had Unitarians been the prcA'ailing sect, it is not improbable, that — though, from the more benign character of their belief and their professions of greater liberality, less worthy of excuse — they might have been equally, or nearly as, regardless of the claims of brotherly love and universal toleration. "We would not, therefore, rake up the caiIs of the past, in order to blame the present; we would not collect the errors of the fathers, to accumulate them on the heads of theu' cliilcben ; but show, on the contrar)-, that though still, now and then, may be heard the ciy of heresy and the doom of damnation, a more kind, charitable, considerate, and Christian spirit is working its way into the hearts of all sects ; and that, despite of a theology which would exclude from heaven all who spurn at priestly power and creed-control, many Trinitarians are actuated by a generous impulse — the impidse of Cliristian principle — to overthrow the barriers which separate them from Unitarians, and, whilst sincerely attached to the characteristics of their faith, glad to acknowledge, that out of the pale of then' ovra temple, as well as ^^ithm its precincts, there are gi*eat and good men ; sincere disciples of the Lord Jesus ; and heirs, with themselves, of the same immortal glor}'. Accordingly, in the following pages, a portion of the beautiful and noble lessons which have issued from the more catholic minds of the class to which we have referred will be presented for two reasons : First, To aid and encourage the reader to cherish a spirit, which, while it prayerfully and dispassionately seeks for light, increasing light, and brooks no human control over its own thoughts and utterances, would grant to others the same pri^-ileges which it claims for itself; humble in the possession of its faith, zealous in the promotion of Mhat it d(;ems to he truth, and universal in its love. Secondly, To show, that, if, according to the admissions of their opponents, UnitarLans are many of them jiure, devout (^Ihristians, as well as virtuous and bononhle 8 INTRODUCTION. men, it is possible that the particuLir \-iews of religion which they profess may not, after all, be so bad as they have been represented ; that Unitarianism, though often vilified as the refuge of fools and sciolists, and the half-way house to infidelity, if not to atheism, may contiiin some of the elements of truth ; nay, may perhaps be the very trutli, though now imperfectly conceived and uttered, which was once proclaimed by Heaven through the lips and writmgs of prophets and apostles, and manifested in the teachings, the works, the prayei-s, the suffeiings, the life and death, of the Son of God. "We have said, that, along mth a great deal of uncharitable language, it was usual to reply to the arguments and interpretations of Unitarians, by adducing from the Bible, in favor of a Trinity in Unity, a vast number of passages, which had nothing whatever to do with the question at issue. In the heat of controversy, where nctory is aimed at as much as the possession of truth, and where sectarian passions are as likely as the quahties of discretion and sober judgment to be enlisted in the cause of dogmas, this over-doing in the collection of proof-texts is to be more or less expected, not only fi'om Trinitarians as such, but from all who, with more zeal than knowledge, are engaged in the defence or the demolition of particular points in theologv. Amongst all denominations will be foimd men who have more intensity and warmtli of feeling than candor or wisdom, — more zeal to propa- gate their opinions by every means at hand, than a disposition to acknowledge difficulties, or a spirit to welcome truth from whatever quarter it may j)rocced. But it will not follow, that, because some jjortions of tlie e^•idence adduced for a certain doctrine are sophistical or irrelevant, all the other portions ai'e equally false or invalid, and the doctrine it'^elf without any foundation. The flillacy of one argimicnt docs not imply tlie fallacy of all other arguments. When, therefore, an injudicious commentator or conti'oversiahst adduces Ps. xxxAi. 9 (" Witli tlice is the fountain of life : in thy light shall we see light ") in fovor of a ])crsonal Trinity, or Ps. xlv. 1 (" My heart is inditing a good matter ") in £i\-or of a plurality of hypostases THE FEEBLENESS OF TRINITARIAN SUPPORTS. 9 m the Godhead, or of the eternal generation of Clirist, it would by no means be justifiable for one to infer, that all other ajjpeals to Scripture, in support of these doctrines, are as futile and absurd. The only fair and legitimate effect of tlie production of arguments so obviously groundless should be, not disbelief in the doctrmes them- selves, but an apprehension of the possibility that there may be a lack of more ?'ibstantial e\'idence, when so much stress is laid on "what is ob^'iously trifling ; and a determination, on the part of the inquirer, to examine and sift that testimony which appears to bear greater marks of plausibility or of truth. This much we are willing to concede ; for it is an unquestionable fact, that every good and great cause — eveiy truth in science, in morals, or in religion — is hable to be injm'ed by the production of unnecessary and futile endence. It is therefore not impossiblei that, wiiile for its support much of wliat is insignificant and useless has been adduced, the doctrine itself of a Triime God may yet be true. It is not impossible that the removal of the false supports which have been placed in the temple of Trinitarianlsm, — their de- struction by the hands of the candid and distinguished of those who worship at its altar, — may have the tendency rather to exliibit the strength and dm-ability of the fabric than the weakness of its fomidation. We freely admit all this, in order to show that we would not extend the argument against Trinitarianism, employed in tliis work, be}'ond its legitimate boimds. But, at the same time, we have no hesitation in affirming, tliat this argument — dl*a^^'n from the mvoluntar\- con- cessions of our opponents — assumes an air of far greater probabihty, and rises into endence which may justly be considered as presumptive, when it is derived fi'om the startling and unquestionable fact, that the texts on which Trinitarianism must rest if there be any truth at all ui the doctrme, have been disposed of in a 2)recisely similar way as those to which we have referred. Let us suppose, for example, what will scarcely be denied, that there is no passage in the whole compass 10 INTRODUCTION. of the Bible so likely to countenance the doctrine of Chiist's iden- tity of nature with the essence of the Father as John x. 30, " I and the Father are one." Now, if it be found that the believers in tlii? doctrine — those amongst them who by universal consent are regarded as the most learned and judicious critics — are forced to acknowledge that the oneness spoken of is a moral, not a metaphysical, union, — a imion similar to tliat which Christ prayed to God might subsist between his followers and himself, — then is there a strong presump- tion that the Scriptm-es contain no evidence whatever for the dogma of Christ's real or essential identity with the Father, Let us take another illustration, in respect to the e\'idence for the doctrine of a Triune God. We will assume as a fiict, what indeed no one can gainsay, that the grounds for controversy on this point have been greatly narrowed. All, at any rate, admit that certain texts ai*e, or appear to be, much more favorable than others to the doctrine in question. Of these it is impossible to select two wliich are more to the purpose than Matt. xxw. 19, and 1 John v. 7 j — the former containing the command of Jesus to the apostles, that they should " teach all nations, bajjtizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; " and the latter stating that " there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost ; and these three are one." If, in the volume of di^•ine revebtion, there be any tiling which approaches in phraseology or in mcaiung to the terms used in the formidas of modern Orthodoxy, it is surely the language and significance of these passages ; and, more reg-ardful of the nominal resemblances than of the real differences, a Trinitarian might, with some show of reason, exclaim, " Here, here, at least, if nowhere else m the Bible, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, are declared to be tlu*ee persons in one God, the same hi substuicc, and equal in jDOwer and glory." And yet what are the facts of the aisc, as admitted by the interpretations and criticisms of not a few Triiiitraiius themselves? That neither of these passages demonstrates the doctrine in question; that neither of these contains CONCESSIONS TO THE PRINCIPLES OF UNITARIANISM. 11 a jsyUable respecting equality of perfections, or unity of essence ; that neither utters a word about the essential Deity of the Son or of the Holy Ghost; that neitlier teaches tlie dogma of there bemg three persons in one God ; — that the bai^tismal formula merely implies tlie gi'oat truth, wliich all bchevers -were to jjrofess, tliat Chiistianity originated from God, was communicated to men b}' Clu'ist, and was coniu"med by the gifts and uifluences of the Holy Sphit; and that the oneness of the tlii'ee heavenly witnesses was nothing more than a imity of testimony.* But not only have many learned, judicious, and candid ^Titers in the orthodox body been unable to discern satisfactory proof for the doctrines of a Triune God, and the personal Deity of Christ and the Holy Ghost, in those texts, singly and sejDai-ately considered, wliich have been deemed by others as perfectly demonstrative : not a few have conceded that there are whole classes of 2)assages and entire books of the Bible wliich afford no e^•idence whatever for Trinitarianism. Thus it has been acknowledged not only by Roman CathoHc but by Protestant di\ines, of whom the number is mcreasing every day Mith the increase of knowledge as to the true modes of investigating the sense of Scripture, that the Old Testament affords nought but the faintest ghmmerings of the dogma of a Triune God ; by others that it is altogether silent on the subject of a pluraHty in the di^ine natm-e ; by others, again, that the great Teacher himself, the Founder and Perfecter of our Faith, taught not these and other re- lated tenets of Orthodoxy ; and that the apostles, even after tliey were furnished with the fullest suppHes of insphation, when they obtained * For the sake of illustration, and to give tlie utmost possible benefit to the Trinitarian argument, we have taken for granted that the passage was written by St. John. But, by a majority of critics of all ilenominacions, this is denied; and the amount of evidence which they adduce Icr ihiir opinion cannot but be regarded as sufficient to banish it for ever from a place in the Sacred Volume. Strict accuracy requires it to be said, that the interpolation is contained in a portion both of the seventh and the eighth verse, as follows: — "In heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost ; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witnesi in earth " 12 INTRODUCTION. such ideas of the nature of Christ's kingdom as they had been inca jxible of comprehending from the lips of then- Master, did not, in then- oral discourses, deliver those doctrmes concerning God, Chi'ist, and the Spirit, which have been commonly regarded by " evangehcal " vaiters as saA'ing truths of the gospeL The eminent and good men who make these admissions rest their faith chiefly on a few texts in the wTitings of John and Paul, — texts, however, of a kind which, from their obscmity or their susceptibility of being rendered or explauied in different and contraiy wa}'s, cannot, according to principles professedly adopted by almost all Christmns of the present day, be consistently regarded as affording undoubted evidence for the truth of any controverted point. Generally speaking, indeed, the principles of interpretation wliich are now laid doAA-n by the most intelhgent and the most esteemed critics in orthodox chm-ches, while leaA-ing intact the web of divine truth, as to the Unity of God, wliich is so beautifully woven by patriarchs, pro2)hets, evangelists, and apostles, necessarily sweep away unnumbered cobwebs as to essences, hypostases, personaHties, and distinctions, wliich have been spun by dogmatic and mystical diAines, and hung by them on every leaf of Sacred Writ. But still more : with scarcely a dissentient voice, the most distin- guished theologians of aU sects liave acknoAAiedged that reason and revelation alike proclaim the existence of one, and of only one, Supreme Mind, one self-existent Being, one unrivalled and infinite Intelligence, the original Som*ce of all existence, — of all that is great and good and blessed ; and, with a hai'mony but partially interrupted, they have also acknowledged, — what, indeed, seems inseparable from the former admission, — that the doctrine of three co-equal and ro-el>5mal persons in the dinne nature — the doctrine that calls one person, God; another person, God; and a third, God; and which pronounces these three to be only one God — is a doctrine tliat cannot be discovered by the use of the highest powers of the human intellect ; is a mystery respecting which philosophy and metai^hysics may speculate, but wliich they cannot prove to be true ; on which the THE RUINS OF TllINITARIANISM. 13 heavens shed no light; and at which "lleason stands aghast, and Faitli herseli* is hall" conibmided." Now, we would ask if it be at all probable that a doctrine can be founded in truth, — can with propriety be termed a doctrine of revelation, — can really be an article of the Jemsh or the Chiistian faitli, wliich so many of its clearest-sighted advocates concede to be mideveloped in the universe of matter and of mind, — not recognized by Abraham and the other patriarchs, — not announced by Moses or any of liis fellow-prophets, — in hot, not kno\vn to any of the ancient Hebrews, — not revealed by Jesus dm-ing his ministry, or preached by his earhest disciples ; and which is to be inferred only from a few dai'k and ambiguous passages in the New Testament, or rather in the writings of but two of the apostles. We would, however, avoid rashness in drawing the inference, — so as to settle the question at issue, — that Truiitarianism is miquestion- ably false because its best and most judicious advocates liave rejected as iri'elevant so much of that Scriptural proof which had so frequently been insisted on by others in every variety of form. But at the same time we cannot avoid concluding, that the whole fabric of Tiinitarian- ism must be exceedingly weak, and rest on an insecm-e foundation, when those supports wliich have been deemed the strongest are acknowledged by its oAMiers to be altogether powerless; when not only beam after beam, but pillar after pillar, are overth^o^^•n, not by the rude, unhallowed hands of " heretics," but by the softer and more gentle touches of those who would fain be sheltered under its roof j and when the firmest ground on which their temple stands has been proved to be, not a rock, but sand, by the clear-sightedness and candor of the very men who, amid the falling ruins and crumbling fragments, seem vainly to think that they -will find a refuge under those wings from which others of their friends have been glad to escape. It may appear strange, that, after gi^'ing up as weak and irrele\ant the strongest and the most pertinent proofs that can be adduced in suppcrt of an opuiion, good and wise men should still cling to it with 2 J 4 INTRODUCTION. a tenacity which cannot be loosened by endence of a conti-arj' nature ; that, after abandoning their best arms as perfectly useless, and their most seciu'e positions as Avholly untenable, they should not at last be constrained to yield up the whole matter of debate, Mith all their instruments of aggression and defence, instead of having recom*se, as they do, to ground unfii'm as a morass, and to weapons weak as straw. But this mconsistency is often observable in predilections of various kinds. Every day do we see men, judicious and sensible in other respects, tenaciously holding opinions, which they have been in the habit of cherishing fi'om an early period, not only in religion and theology, but in pohtics, in literatm-e, in matters of business, and in the common affiiirs of life, long after they have acknowledged that the main gi-ounds for their adherence to them have given way. And thus it seems to be in regard to those who, abandoning proof after proof, text after text, — some of tliese being passages of Scripture wliich have been generally adduced as the very bulwarks of the Trinitarian doctrme, — still cling with affection, il" not with ardor, to the doctrine itself. To their mmds it may be hallowed by the sentiment of fiUal love, by the reminiscences of youthful jiiety, by the associations of Idndi-ed and of social brotherhood, and by the spiritual nutriment wliich the}' have drawii from such portions of truth as have been blended and incorporated with it, but which, by an illusion of the imagination, they suppose to be derived from the doctrine itself. The mere fact, then, of a belief in dogmas whose chief proofs have been conceded to be weak, irrelevant, or nugatory, can afford no reason for supposing that arguments of a more shadowy and obscure natm*e are sufficient eridence for the truth of the dog- mas themselves. The character and force of the argument here employed, in sup- porting the doctrine of the simple Unity of God, ^vill, no doubt, be estimated very differently by different minds; but that it is of no inconsideral;lc weight may be evinced by the fact, that Christians of ill denomimitions most readily and gladly wield it, when, in combating THE "ARGUMENTDM AD UOMINEM." 15 willi unbelievers, they adduce from the works of eminent Deists testimonies fiivorable to the supreme excellence of Jesus' clmracter, to the s])ecLil di^'inity of liis mission, or to the unrivalled holiness and benign influences of his religion. And tint this mode of reasoning is universiilly admitted to be legitimate, except perliaps by those against whom it is urged, may also be sho's^Ti from the practice of orators, philosopliers, prophets, and apostles, ay, and of Clii'ist himself, who have not scrupled to defend the cause of truth and righteousness by appeahng to the principles of their adversaries, by arraying against them the inconsistencies and contradictions into which they may have fallen, and using the concessions wliich they may have made either spontaneously or ■with reluctance. "We have dwelt at some length on this point, because desirous of exliibitmg to the reader the principal aim and natm*e of the folloM-ing work. But we have had in ^iew another object, which, though in some respects only subsidiary to the argument spoken of, is of higher importance to the interests of truth ; namely, that of pre- senting the grounds on wliich rest the criticisms and expositions that ai'e deemed favorable to the principles of Unitarianism ; of assigning the reasons which have led members of orthodox chm-ches to abandon, one after another, the proof-texts once so commonly adduced in sup- port of Trinitarianism. Here the appeal to the hare concessions of opponents may be laid aside ; for it is evident that the argument drawn from the authority of orthodox writers, however eminent they may Live been for their talents and then* learning, — from their acknowledgment of doubts and difficulties in regai'd to the time import of passages which have been often pronounced as ahen to Unitarianism, and from theu' approval or appHcation of modes of exposition destructive to the alleged e^idence for the doctrine of a Trimie God, — tint tliis argument — the argumentum ad hominem, pertuient as we have seen it to be in other cases, and consistent with the highest aims of a truth-lo^•ing spuit — should not be deemed as of the same importance, or be m*ged with the same amount of zeal* 16 INTRODUCTION. as when it is accompanied by endence for the justness of the admis sions. Singly wielded, though tending to unsettle the foimdations of what is regarded as eiTor, it is perhaps too antagonistic, withdrawng the mind from the true state of the question, and the conditions on which it is to be settled ; perplexing, rather than enhghtening, the understanding in its search after truth ; and not altogether satisiactory to a soul longing for the possession of what is real and positive in matters of religion. It is therefore natural and proper to ask, Why is any particular interpretation of a passage to be prefen-ed to others ? "Why are the testimonies which liave so generally been relied on as worthy of trust to be no longer entitled to credence and respect ? "I am astonished," it may be said by one who has been brought up in " the straitest sect " of the Trinitarian theology, and been duly furnished with the proof- texts in its favor, but who has had only slight opportmiities of judging of the discrepancies of opinion and interpretation existing among orthodox Aviiters, — "I am astonished beyond measure when )ou lay before me the names of a host of Trinitarians, who have, in one way or another, been sapping the very fomidations of their ovm. belief; who, for example, in opposition to my Catechism and my Creed, agree with Unitarians in saying in the strongest terms, that the title ' Son of God,' used of Jesus Christ, does not imply his participation or his possession of the divine essence. I know not what to think of it ; but, though I have been led to esteem many of these as among the ablest friends of the Trinitarian doctrine, they seem to be snatching from me one of the main su])ports of my hope and confidence in the Redeemer. Reasons conclusive to their minds must have existed for their thus yielding up the old positions, and adopting the views which I, and many of my brethren, have regarded as new and heretical. Now, tell me what these reasons are, that my o\ni mind may be satisfied whether they are false or true." To a request so amply justified by the duty of individual examina- tion, answers will be given, Avhcnevcr i^racticable, by the authors who PLAN OF TUE WORK. 17 have made the concessions; sometimes colored, indeed, as may be expected, by the hues of a peculiar phraseology, but agi'eeing in the main wiih the interpretations or the arguments which have been proposed and urged by Unitarians. Li some cases, however, tliey will be presented "\\ithout any formal statement of reasons, either be- cause they are not assigned by the Amters from whom we quote; beaause tliey are so evidently just as to require no proof; or because, having been ah'eady stated by one or more of the ^^itnesses cited, it will be unnecessary to reiterate them, as it may well be supposed, that others, in propoimding similar interpretations, were influenced by similar reasons. To afford the reader a more comprehensive idea of the pLan we me;in to pursue in conducting our argument, it may not be improper to exliibit the order in which the subjects will be treated : — 1. We will, in the first place, exhibit the sentiments of distinguished Trinitaiians, to show that the spuit of sectarianism is inconsistent \nth the spu'it of Chiistianity ; meaning, by the term " sectarianism," not in honest preference of one form of Chiistian faith to another ; not a well-gi-ounded attachment to a particular denomination, as better adapted than others to promote the principles of piety, benevolence, and truth ; not a calm and continuous effort to diffuse such opinions as, after due inquiry, we think best calculated to advance the glory of God and the good of man, — but an absorbing interest m the pettiest of theologic peculiarities; a fiery zeal for externals and ceremonies, mysteries and mysticisms; a fond predilection for the differences which separate Christians from one another, and a supreme unconcern for the agreements wliich unite them ; a punctilious pajTnent of " tithe ind anise and cummin," with a non-observance of the " weiglitier matters of the law " and the gospel, — " justice, mercy, and fide Jty ; '* a demoniac desire to bm-n the bodies and to damn the souls of tliose who will not bow down before the idols of their vain and narro-v imagination. 2* 18 INTRODUCTION. 2. Having quoted sentiments fraught ■with the purest spuit of Clu-istianity and of Catholicism, — some of them glowing ^^'ith love to Chi'istian disciples of every name, and others with good-will to the universal family of God, wiiatever religion they may profess ; some of them gi^ing expression to a righteous indignation at the gross forms of bigotry, of personal hate and destruction, which marked the darker times of our forefathers, and others rebuking the more subdued and refined, but not less galling, species of persecution which is sometimes seen at the present day, and which consists of the denial of Cliristian intercom-se and Christian communion to those who, though sincerely aiming to worship the God and Father of all, to reverence his beloved Son and Messenger, and to cherish, in all their thoughts and pm-suits, the holy and benignant spuit of their ^Master, have dared to differ from the opinions wliich are generally received ; — having cited these golden sentiments, as set forth in the waitings of orthodox believers, we will proceed, in the second place, to state the views of the same authors, or of others belonging to the same churches, in respect to the right and duty of every man to employ his poAvers in the attainment of rehgious truth ; to be animated by such dispositions, and to adopt such means, as are most conducive to this end ; and to avoid, as fu* as in him Hes, those tendencies of his nature, and those uifluences around him, which are calculated to impede his progress, or to lead him into error. 3. As immediately and intimately connected with this department of our work, we will next prove, by the aid of a few of the most eminent Trinitarian Protestants, that reason and revelation are the only legiti- mate standards of religious doctrine ; that they are perfectly consistent with, and never antagonistic to, each other ; that the disparagement of the mtellectual powers is followed by the most pernicious results ; that, if iuterj)roted by the hghts which can be thrown over it, Holy Writ is sulhcieiit, without the decrees of sjiiods and councils, the autliority of poj)es and churches, or the dicta of fatliers, jiricsts, and reformers, to be a rule of fiiith and comraunion for all tlio disciples PLAN OF THE WORK. 19 of Jesus ; but that, on the other hand, the exercise of private judgment will not guard us against many en'ors of belief and practice, unless we be careful to study the Bible with the simple view of learning the sense intended by the ^Titers, or by the speakers M-hose sentiments they report ; and to discrimuiate, in that collection of most holy books, between the local and the universal, the temporary and the eternal, the himian and the (Uvine, — between the words and thouglits of man and tlie wisdom and revelation of GocL 4. We shall then be prepared to inquire whether the Cliristianity of the New Testament be a simple or a mysterious religion, — whether, in its essence and character, it be speculative or active, tlieoretical or practical; a system of dogmas, or a development of principles ; a series of unloiowii and miintelligible propositions which must be subscribed to and beheved in, or a revelation of tiniths which common minds may imderstmd, sincere and honest hearts appreciate, and all men reduce to practice. And the result of this inquiiy will be found to be, according to the excellent observations of some dis- tinguished Trinitarians, that the religion of Christ is, in its subHme simpHcity, and in its conformity mth the highest reason, adapted alike to the capacity of the many and the few, — of the peasant and the philosopher. 5. Christianity is therefore simple, consistent with itself, and easily understood; while, on the contrary, Trinitarianism is a system of dogmas which are either unintelligible or self-contradictorv-. The "Trinity" of the New Testament and of the Apostolic Chiurch — if we may use a term miknown to Scripture — consists of a moral and not a metaphysical union ; a union of will and purjDOse bet«-een the universal Father, his best-beloved Son, and (to complete the figure) the spmt of power and ^nsdom which God imparted to Clu'ist, and, through Christ, to the apostles. But the Trinity of creeds, — the Trinity which has no place hi the Xew Testament, — the Truiity wliich would either identify the Son and Servant of God with liis Father and Pi-oprietr/r, and the Holy Ghost, as a separate person, wtb 20 INTRODUCTION. the Father and the Son ; or would represent three conscious persons as only one conscious Bemg ; or thi'ee infinite beings as only one God ; or three names or characters of the Deity, the one as sending, and the others as sent, — the one as inspiring, and the others as inspired, — the one as a Petitioner, the other as a person or being to whom petitions are presented, and the third as neither jn'aying nor being prayed to, — this Trinity of human creeds, in whatever mamier it may have been exliibited, is a doctrme which shocks the imperverted mind, and is as much repugnant to reason and common sense as is the tenet of Transubstantiation itself. This conclusion may be fah-ly deduced irom, if it is not always expressed in, the language made use of by the Iloman Catholics and Protestants, all professed Trhiitarians, from whom we mean to quote. 6. Hai)pily for the consistency of God's ways, or for the faith of his human family, the doctrine of a Triune God is not only abhorrent to the principles of oiu- nature, but it is not a doctrine of revelation. It is not expressly disclosed in the Bible, if, indeed, it can be proved at all from the records by any just principles of interpretation. Some Roman Catholics say that it cannot be demonstrated from Scripture, but must be received on the authority of the chm'ch; and many orthodox Protestants gi"ant, that, so far from bemg clearly revealed, it can only be inferred from the comparison of one passage with another. It is reasoned out of Sacred Scripture. But reason recoils at the doctrine, and Scriptm'e does not reveal it. 7. Tlie Unity of God, however, is the basis of all religion, natm'al or revealed. It is the express doctrine of the Bible, and harmonizes with the highest conceptions wliich we can form of the gi'eat First Cause. From tlie one Self-existent have all other beings liad tlicir origin and their powers, from the Morm uj) to the arcliangcl, inchiding Christ himself. So say tlie most enlightened Trinitarmns, liowever inconsistent they maybe in their speculations; and hence probably the ])ainful emotions of their hearts and the scepticism of their mulcr- standings as to tlie propriety of paying sujjrerae homage to any other PLAN OF THE WORK. 21 than the Infinite One, -^-ithout regard to a distinction of persons in the Deity, — to any other than the God and Father of oiu* Lord Jesus Christ, 8. The best-beloved Son of God, the luirivalled Teacher, the highes*t Image of the di\'ine glory and goodness, the destined Redeemer of a world fettered by sin, was, in his nature and his attributes, in hiii offices on earth and his functions in heaven, inferior to the Father, the only Self-existent and the single origuial Cause of all things. The true grandeur of Christ's character, the chief dignity of his person, so far as it has been taught in tlie records concerning him, Hes not in his ha\ing assumed to himself perfect equality with his Maker and his God, f"r such a notion could never have entered for a moment into liis humble and devout mind, — but in accorapHshing the great and benevolent work to wliich he was appointed, in perfect, unqualified dependence on, and submission to, that Being whom in his prayers and tllanl\.sgi^ings he addi'essed as " the Father " and " the only true God." Many Trinitarians have acknowledged, either explicitly or impUcitly, and in every variety of form, the entu-e subordination of the Lord Jesus to Almighty God, and his essential as well as ofhcial inferiority to him. How they can reconcile such notions with then* professed behef m the equahty of Chiist with God, it is not for us to Bay; for we cannot tell. But we know that all error is inconsistent with itself, and we thank them for the admissions wliich they have made. "We rejoice that they thus yield, though involuntarily and imperfectly, to the Unitarianism of the Gospels, and, indeed, of the whole New Testament. 9. Among the numerous significations of the word " Sphit " in the Bible, it is an aclaiowledged fact, that in a host of passages this term, which is sometimes intensified in its import by being changed into the phrases " Holy Spirit " and " Spirit of God," denotes the various influences and gifts which God imparted to liis chosen ser>'ants; and, in a few cases, signifies God himself, without any reference to hypostatical or personal distinctions in the Deity. Al Trinitarians 22 INTRODUCTION. \sill grant these facts ; and some have openly confessed that there are certain deficiencies in the Scripture eWdence for a third person in the Godhead; ^vliile others have represented the Holy Ghost, though according to them entitled to all the attributes of the Divinity, as derinng his existence and his powers either fi-om the Father, or from tlie Father and the Son. In thus presenting the order of the subjects discussed in this volume, we have mentioned only a few of the most prominent points ; but they are all intimately related to each other, and contain the gist of what seems to us a strong presumptive argument against the doctrine of the Trinity. To unfold and apply this argument, — to take up, according to the order in which they occm* in the Bible, all the texts wliich have been adduced on belialf of the doctrme of a Triune God, or of the Supreme Divuiity of Chi-ist and the Holy Ghost ; and, by the assistance of the most learned and distuiguished writers in orthodox churches, to show that these passages, whetlier regarded singly or in combination with others, afford no just grounds for believing in the mysteries of Trinitarianism ; that the principles of criticism and interpretation adopted by scholars and dinnes are, at least in particular instances and apphcations, essentially the same as those eni])loyed by Unitarians, and lead, if consistently followed up, to a recognition, in the strictest sense of the terms, of the great Scripture truths, that " Jehovah is One," and that the Father is " the only true God," — to do tliis would be a work requiiing several additional volumes, which are in course of ])rej)ai'ation, and wliich we intend, at some future time, by the divine blessing, to Lay before the pubUc* As settmg forth the general principles on wliich the whole argument rests, the present volume may be regarded as complete, and is therefore published by itsel£ • lu the " Concessions of Trinitarians," which the writer published in 1842, this hns been partially done; but, that work being out of print, he is now occupied is increasing it to such an extent as to justify the remark madi< above. PL.VN OF THE WOUK. 23 "We gi'eatly mistake if the lessons inculcated in tliis volume by so many good and learned men, and the criticisms and comments on certiiin passages of Scripture wliich will be quoted in the other por- tions of the work from their A>Titings, ^^•ill not tend to prove, that in the human heiu*t of Chiistendom, though choked up by the rubbish of man's device, there are springs of pm-e feeling and generous thought which now and then bubble up and flow into the great channel of love and truth, diffusing, wherever they spread, fertility and happiness on all aromid ; — tkit, not^^'ithstanding the walls of partition which have been erected by bigotry and narrow-minded creeds between the followers of the same Lord and blaster, there are in the soul, affec- tions, cherished and warmed by the gospel, which overleap these ban'iers, and attract men and Cliiistians together ; — that among the corruptions of Clmstianity and the diversities of sectaries, there still exist the stamina of evangelical truth; that there are principles of religion wliich are held in common by all denominations, however obscured for a time by the mists of en-or and the fumes of stiife ; that these piinciples are the chief glorj- of Christianity and of Unitarianism ; and tliat the day is ar^'i^"ing, though in the eyes of the present genera- tion it may be slow in its approach, when the dominion of bigotiy will wholly cease ; when the prayer of Jesus for catholic imion among his disciples -^ill be answered ; and when, instead of attributing infalli- bility to erring men. Supreme Di^inity to the holy but humble Son and Ser\-ant of the Most High, and eternal glory and honor to a Trinity in Unity or a Unity in Truiity, miiversal Christendom will say, in the language of the Apocalypse, " We gyve thee til^^'KS, O Lord God Almighty, m-ho .irt, and wast, axd art to come! because thou h^ist t.iken to thee thy great power, axd hast reigxfj)." UiXITARIAN PRINCIPLES CONFIRMED BT TRINITARIAN TESTIMONIES. CHAPTER I. THE SPIRIT OF SECTARIANISM INCONSISTENT WITH THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTIANITY. SECT. I. - THE RELIGION OF JESUS TIL\T OF LOVF- The new religion — final, perfect, pure — TVas that of Christ and love. Ilis great command, His all-sufficing precept, — was't not love ? P. J. Bailkt. Christlinity is a gospel of jjeace and charity. It commands us to love and to do good to all men, even our very enemies ; to bless them that curse us, to do good to them that hate us, and to pray for those that despitefully use us and persecute us. And can those be its disciples who scatter notliing but hatred and mahce, confusion and disorder, wherever they come, and make it a matter of conscience to root out and destroy from off the earth all those that differ from them ? As to the business of charity, God forbid that any differences in religion whatever . . . should ever make us deny that to our fellow-Christians. . . . There is no honest, sincere Christian, how erroneous soever he may be, but wliat at least is persuaded that he is in the right; and looks upon us to be as far from the truth by differing fi'om him, as we esteem him for not agreeing with us. Now if, upon the sole account of such differences, it be lawful for us to hate another, we must for the verj' same reason allow it to be as lawful for him also to hate us. Thus shall we at once invert the characteristic of our religion, •'' By this shall all men loiow that ye are ray disciples, 3 26 THE RELIGION OF JESUS THAT OF LOVE. if ye liave love one to another." . . . How much rather ought we to consider, with our apostle, the love of our dear Master to us, even whilst we were yet his enemies, and love those whom we ought to hope, notwithstiinding all their errors, are yet still liis fiiends ; and not think those miworthy of our charity whom we piously presume God will not tliink unworthy of his favor ? ... If they are mistaken, I am sure our uncharitableness is not the way to convince them of their error, but may rather indispose them to consider the weight of our arguments as they ought, M'hilst they see so little regard in our affec- tions touTirds them O blessed state of the chm'ch militant here on earth ! — the glorious antepast of tliat peace and piety wliich God has prepared for his church triumphant in heaven ! "Who would not wish to see those days when a general reformation, and a true zeal, and a perfect charity, passing through the world, we should all be united in the same faith, the same worship, the same communion and fellowship one vdth. another? — when, all pride and prejucHce, all interests and designs, being submitted to the honor of God and the discharge of our duty, the Holy Scriptures shall again triumph over the vain traditions of men, and religion no longer take its denomina- tion from httle sects and factions, but we shall all be content Avith the same common primitive names of Chiistians and brethi-en, and Hve together as becomes our cliarACter, in brotherly love and Christian charity with one another ? — Archbishop Wake : Sermons and Discourses, pp. 102, 191-4, 202. I must hasten to recommend to you another thing of unspeakable importance to the well-being of Christian society, — a spirit of uni- versal love. Let not bigotry or party-zeal be so much as once named amongst you ; for it becometh not sauits. Our Lord was a stranger to it. Whosoever did the will of his Father, the same was his brother, his sister, his mother. Wherever he saw the marks of true fliith, though in a centurion or a SjTophenician, who were ahens to the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenant of promise, how did he publish and commend it ! Be followers, then, of him, my brethren, as dear children ; and love aU who love our Lord Jesus in sincerity and truth, although they should not in all things follow with us. . . . Why should not the children of God, notAnthstanding their little differences, unite in one common interest against s])iritual wicked- nesses in higli jjlaces ? Oh that all who c;\ll themselves Christians were tluis minded ! — George Whitefield : Letter to the Religious Societies of England ; in fl^orks, vol iv. pp. 29, 30. THE RELIGION OF JESUS THAT OF LOVE. 27 It is impossible to conceive a greater contrast between the spirit whicli his [Christ's] instructions breathe, and that spirit of i)ride and domination -wliich, not many centmies at'tei'wards, bcaime the pre- dominant spirit of what then aune to be denominated the church. Again and again did Christ admonish his apostles and other followers to hve as brethren and equals, not to affect a superiority over their fellow-disciples or over one another ; inasmuch as, in tliis, his lung- dom would differ in its fundamental maxims from all the kingdoms of the world; that that person alone would there be deemed the greatest whose deportment should be the humblest, and he alone superior who should prove most serviceable to the rest. . . . When the disciples privately contended among themselves who should be greatest, he took occasion to warn them against ambition. . . . The same maxims were warmly inculcated by liis apostles; and in their time, imder the happy influence of their instructions, genemlly prevailed among Christians. — Dr, Geo. Campbell : Lectures on Ecclesiastical History, Lect. 2. Thus you see [referring to Luke xvii. 15-19], though the Jews iearnt no humility, no gratitude, yet the Samaritan, ignorant as he was then thought, misinformed as he is now reckoned — yet the Samaritan was deeply impressed mth both. The Almighty himself taught him, and he was obedient to the di\ine Instructor. The pride of religion would make the Jews brand him ^^ith the factious name of heretic or scliismatic ; but, were he heretic or scliismatic, he offered to heaven as grateful a sacrifice as was ever laid on the altar at Jerusalem by prophet or by saint. The contentions about the forms of rehgion destroy its essence. Authorized by the example of Jesus Chi'ist, we will send men to the Samarium to find out how to worsliip. Though your church was pure, without spot or imperfection, yet, if j'om' heart is not turned to God, the worship is hateful, and the prayers are an abomination. The homage of the darkest Pagan, worsliipping he knows not what, but still worshipping the unknoAMi Power that formed him, if he bows ^^ith hiunifity, if he praises with gratitude, his homage will ascend grateful to heaven ; wliile the dead, careless formahty of prayer, offered up in the proudest Cluistian temjjles, shall be rejected as an offering unlioly. For thuik you that the Almighty esteems names and sects ? No : it is the heart that he requires, — it is the lieart alone that he accepts. And much consolation does this afford to the contemj)lative mind of man. We may be very ignor.mt in spiritual matters, if tliat ignorance amnot be removed, and jet may be very 28 THE RELIGION OF JESUS THAT OF LOVE. safe. We may not know in what words to clothe om- desires in prayer, or where to find language worthy of being presented to tlie Majesty of heaven. But, amidst the clouds that sm-roimd us, here is our comfort: In every nation, he that worshippeth Mith humility, worshippeth aright; he that praiseth with gratitude, praiseth well. The pride of estabHshraents may despise liira ; but the -wisdom and the righteousness of heaven \\ill hear, and ^vill approve him. It was to the humble, thankful Samaritan, though separated from the true church, — yes, it was to him alone, because he alone returned to glo- rify God, — that Jesus Christ said, " Arise, go thy way : thy faith hath made thee whole." Thus in a moment vanished, and became of no effect, the temple of the Jews, built by prophetic direction ; its ritual, given by their illuminated legislator; all gave way to the profound humihty and the sublime gratitude of what they called an unbeHever, — of what Jesus Clmst called the only faithful servant of God among them. — Prebexdary Comings, of St. Patrick's, Dublin : Sermons on the Spiritual Kingdom of the Messiah. Dr. George Campbell, from whom we borrow this fine extract, says, in his work on Ecclesiastical History, that the sentiments quoted '' convey an idea of the church truly rational, enlarged, and sublime; such as strongly distinguishes it from all the pitiful and contracted pales, so uncharitably erected by tlie diiferent sectaries of all known denominations, Popisli and Protestant, established and unestablished. For it is not a legal establishment, as some vainly imagine, or any thing merely external, that either makes or unmakes a sectary in the Scriptural sense: it is solely the spirit by which a man is actuated." Benevolence is the great principle on which Christianity is founded ; and it tends equally to the honor of rehgion, and the advantage of socict}-, that Christ exacts from liis (Hsciples, in their conduct towards each other, the same illustrious quahty that was displayed on the part of God in the redemption of mankind. The impetuosity of AM-ath, the bitterness of e\il-spealdng, and the cruelty of revenge, are peremptorily forbidden in every page of the gospel. That man is there pointed out by the sacred "WTiters as the most accept;d)ie vservant of Christ, who cultivates a large and generous love towiu"d.s liis fellow- creatures; who seeks for o])portmiities of doing them good; who diligently retreats from every temptation to injure them; and who, by a hai)j)y union of ])rudence with good-natm-e, lives peaceably with all meu 11' you would act iqj to the sj)irit of the gospel, . . . you must not suilur tlie lo\e of your neighbor to be nai'rowcd and oii/eebled by THE RELIGION OF JE3DS THAT OF LOVE. 29 3uiy fortuitous circumsfcmce of rank or locality or religious persuasion. You must consider acqiuuutiinces and strangers, friends and foes, countrymen and foreigners, the members of your own and every other Christian community, tne followers of Confucius and Mahomet as well as of Christ, heretics and schismatics, dogmatists and sccj)tics, mono- theists and polytheists, the enlightened and peaceful inhabitant of towns in a civilized society and the wild savage roaming for his pre^ through the trackless forest, the sceptered monarch and the humble cottager, — you must consider all of them as forming one great flock, placed here m one spacious fold, under one good Shepherd, who, in his o^vn good time and for liis own good purposes, will hereafter separate tlie better from the worse, and consign them to then' proper stations, according to the measure wliich he only can know of theu* respective merits and demerits. — Dr. Samuel Parr : Sennoyi on Rom. xii. 18, and Sermon on the Two Commandments ; in JForks, vol. ^'i. pp. 679, and 364-0. It is delightful to meet with sentiments so just and beautiful as these, — witli principles of candor so fraught with the spirit of Jesus, — with views of humanity so accordant with the whole genius of the Christian faith. Let truth be shi'ined hi argument ; for this is its appropriate glory. And it is a sore disparagement inflicted upon it by the Land of vindictive theologians, when, instead of tliis, it is shrined in anathema, or brandished as a weapon of di-ead and of destruction over the heads of all who are compelled to do it homage. The terrible denuncia- tions of Athanasius have not helped — they have injured the cause. The Godhead of Christ is not thus set forth m the New Testament. It is nowhere proposed in the shape of a mere dictatorial article, or as a naked dogma, for the understanding alone ; and at one place it is mtroduced as an episode for the enforcement of a moml wtue. In this famous passage [Phil. ii. 3 — 8], the practical lesson occupies the station of principal, as the main or capital figure of the piece ; and the doctiine on wliich so many would eftervesce all their zeal, even to exhaustion, stands to it but in the relation of a subsidiar}'. ... In these verses, there is a collateral lesson for our fiiith; but the cliief, the direct lesson is a lesson of charity, which is greater than faith We pr )test, by the meekness and the gentleness of Christ ; by the tears of him who wept at Lazarus' tomb, and over the approaching ruin of Jerusalem ; by ever\' word of blessing tkit he uttered, and by every footstep of tliis wondro is visitor over tlie sm'face of a land on which 3* 30 THE RELIGION OF JESUS THAT OF LOVE. he went about doing good continuall}', — we protest in the name of all these unequivocal demonstrations, that they do him an injustice who propound this message [the gospel message] in any other way than as a message of fiiendship to our species. He came not to condemn, but to save ; not to destroy, but to keep alive. — Dr. Thos. Chalmers : Select Worlis, vol. Hi. pp. 260-1, 263, New York edition. From the beautiful sentiments here set forth, it is evident, that, strongly attached as this good and great man was to Calvinistic and Trinitarian theology, Dr. Chalmers regarded the virtues of meekness and humility, exemplified by Jesus Christ and recommended hy the Apostle Paul, as of far higher importance than a belief in the doctrine of Christ's Supreme Deity; and that he felt no sympathy with that spirit of exclusiveness and of denunciation which has so often impregnated the "Orthodoxy" of hia church. In passing, however, it may be remarked, that his interpretation of Paul's language is founded on a misconception of its meaning. This will be shown under Phil. ii. 6, in a succeeding volume. Instead of imbibing, countenancing, or warranting intolerance and bigotry, he [Chi'ist] taught, in all instances, their odiousness and guilt ; and enjoined, ■\\-ith respect to every subject and person, the most absolute moderation, liberality, and candor ; not, indeed, the fashionable liberaHty of Hcentious men in modern times, — a professed indifference to truth and holiness, but a benevolent and Ciitholic spirit towards every man, and a candid and just one towards every argument and opinion. Distinctions of nations, sects, or party, as such, were to liim nothing : distinctions of truth and flilsehood, right and ^^Tong, were to him every thing. According to this scheme, he fi-amed his instruc- tions and his Hfe; and the same catholic spirit and freedom from intolerance characterize the writings of his apostles. — T. Hartwell HoRNE : Introduction to the Holij Scriptures, vol. i. p. 167. Christianity itself condemns as decisively the e^il tempers generated by religious disagreements, as it condemns any other immoralities; clearly, itself is a religion of love and meekness; and moreover it contiins (hoAvever little they have hitherto been rcg.irdod) sufficient and very ])rccise provisions, securing to Christians liberty of conscience, wliilc cordid fellowship is not disturbed. The religion of Christ should therefore be:ir none of the blame accruing from I'eligious strifes. — Isaac Taylor: Lectures 07i Spiritual Christianity, p. 182, New York edition. True love seeketh not its oami. It rejoices in the truth, by whom- soever professed or disseminated. If Christ is preached, whether in THE RELIGION OF JESUS THAT OF LOVE. 31 pretence or in truth, it rejoices, yea, and will rejoice. It does not rebuke a man because he prefers to labor in a field diiferent from that of his neighbor, or cut down the spiritual harvest Avith a different implement, or wear a costume somewhat plamer or more costly. It does not meet the report of a victory in the Christian cause with cold mchtierence, or with a hesitating aj)proval, till it has first learned what particukr sect has the agency, or will receive the benefit. It nobly overlooks all such things. It plants itself on no such narrow grounds. Its object is not to make prosel}'tes, but to save souls; not to count up converts to this or tliat dogma, but to honor the Redeemer of the world. "Wherever, in whomsoever, it can discern the hneaments of his blessed image, it welcomes him to commmiion, and rejoices in his prosperity. This is the s])irit of Christ and of his apostles, unless the New Testament is wholly misinter])reted. In proportion as you love the cause of Clu'ist as such, you ma}' believe that yoiu* love is sincere, and will stand the last fiery test Li proportion as it is concerned with a sect as such, and pours out all its s^Tnpathy on its o^^•n peculiar and selected friends, may its genuineness be questioned. To confuie your affections to one branch of the true church may be a proof of spurious love, as it certainly is of a narrow understandmg. It may be the endence of an arrogant Pharisaism, rather than of a Chi'istian temper. The spirit of Christ was sjinpathizing, concihatory, all- embracing. He never turned coldly away because a suppHant was a poor S}Tophenician. He did not resign the heterodox Samaritciii to the uncovenanted mercies of God. — Bela B. Edwaeds : Writings, voL i. pp. 455-6. Since the days of our Lord's personal ministry, his disciples have altered the sliibboleth of Christianity. The test-question is not now, " Simon Peter, lovest thou me ? " but, " Simon Peter, tliinkest thou as I do ? " Unless the answer be clearly and decidedly affirmative, there is but cold welcome to the Master's ^•ineyard : no excellence of piety is a sufficient offset to variant opinions, even about tilings the most ab- Btruse and difficult of determination. No superiority of miderstanding compensates, in its adnurable conclusions, for unlawful speculations upon subjects concerning which men have done httle else than S])ecu- late from the begumings of thought. " Venerable Bede," says John Newton, " after gi^'ing a high character of some contemporary, adds, * But, unhappy man, he did not keep Easter om* way.' " — Dr. T. E. Bond, Jun. : .Methodist Qiiarterhj Review for ^ipril, 1853; 4th series, voL V. p. 256. 32 THE RELIGION OF JESUS THAT OF LOVE. Is it toC( much to ask such persons [as would abjure the union of Christians on any other terms than those of perfect identity of opinion viith. themselves] to place themselves in company ^vith their di^'ine Lord, and to follow liim through all the scenes of his incarnation, for the purpose of asking fi'om wliat action, or from what expression, they can feel authorized to treat "with hostihty, and to reject A^ith scorn, the efforts that are being made to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood between liis disciples ? Is it from his SeiTnon upon the Mount, when he poured his benediction upon the peace-malvers, and called them the children of God ? Is it from his frequent rebukes to his too Htigious followers? Is it from his conversation \nth the woman of Samaria, and his labors on that occasion, among a people hated and shunned by his o\m Idndi'ed? Is it from his inimitable parable of the good Samaritan ? Is it from his reproof of the dis- tempered zeal of his disciples, who would have stopped the man that cast out demons, because he followed not them? Is it from his forbearance with his apostles, under their cloudy apprehensions of his doctrine and his will, their impure motives, and their defective sanctity ? How wide the interval wliicli separated his religious know- ledge and attainments from those of his disciples ! — he, the fountain of illumination ; they, encompassed with infirmities : but did he recede from them on tliat account ? Xo : he drew closer the bond of miion, imparted successive streams of effulgence, till he incorporated his spirit with theirs, and elevated them mto a nearer resemblance of himself. Is there, notwithstanding our differences, a principle known, — a principle attainable by us all, — a principle wliich is an integral part of our religion, — a principle which, if it were more cultivated and in full exercise, would subjugate all that is low and selfish and malevolent in our nature ; and which, while it filled our own bosom Avith peace, would give us peace with our fellow-Christians of ever}' name ? There is. It is Love, — holy love, — heavenly love, — Christian love. But where is it to be found ? Li the heart of God, m the bosom of Jesus, in the minds of angels, in the spirits of just men made perfect, and in the pages of the New Testament, we know ; but where on earth shall we find it ? It ought to be seen in beauty and in vigor in tlie church of Christ: this is built to be its mansion, and lor its residence. But how little is it to be found in this its own and aj^propriated abode! — John Angkll Jamks : Union in relation lo the Religious Parlies of England; in Essays on Christian Union, pp. 20G-7, 217-8. THE RELIGION OF JESUS THAT OF LOVE. 33 His [Christ's] most distinct command was to love all manlviiid ; which obligation, on our jx\rt, he grounded upon the universal love of the Father in lieaven, who makes his sun to shine equally upon all nations, and sends liis rain as plentifully upon those who are ir..)st benighted or deformed by vice, as upon those who are decorated ^Wth the fairest virtues. The neighbor to be loved as one's self was every man -without exception ; and, by thus representing love to the weakest and most imworthy of mankind, in connection with love to the .•Vlraighty Father in heaven, as the substance of all morality, oui Lord entirely and for ever aboHshed all party considerations in respect to distmction of family, rank, nation, and religion. . . . Clirist appeared on earth invested with sublime and holy doctrines, which he labored to impart, not to sects and sectaries, but to universal man. — E. L. ^L^GOOX : Republican Christiariitij, pp. 303-5. By mtroducing these and other extracts on behalf of a spirit which would embrace within its grasp all sincere Christians of whatever name or belief, and which would not dare appropriate to any one particular sect the pos- session of all tnith and all saving faith, to the entire exclusion of others, — we do not wish to be understood as implying that Trinitarianism is in itself or apart from the doctrines with which it is usually connected, naturally and necessarily productive of an arrogant or illiberal demeanor towards its opponents. All that we mean to indicate is, that, though the unchristian and anticatholic spirit has been too frequently allied with the profession of Trinitarianism, its best fnends are united, in heart and purpose, with its greatest foes, in proclaiming Christianity to be a religion of perfect freedom and universal love. Nor are we so foolish as to imagine, that, by any selection of extracts from the writings of good men, we could prove the religion of Jesus to be pre- eminently a religion of love. The nominal disciples of Christ may, indeed, show, in their conversations and their lives, that they have not yet learned the lesson of human brotherhood; and, in justification of their unbelief, the enemies of Christianity may point the finger of scorn at the animosities and strifes of sectarians, and say, " Behold ! these are the fruits of your religion." But no one who opens the New Testament can avoid seeing on almost every page, written in characters of light, the glorious doctrine of the fraternity of all God's children. If the reader of the gospel records be blind to this blessed truth, no mere authority and no mode of reasoning will convince him of it. We make the extracts, therefore, not for this purpose, but to exhibit the inconsistencies of Christians so called, and to urge them, by considering the mercies of God, the benign spirit of the Master whom they profess to serve, and their own solemn responsibilities, to give no countenance, by the cherishing and manifestation of uncharitable dispositions, to the inference of the unbeliever, that Christianity cannot be a revelation from heaven. 34 TRUE AND FALSE ZEAL CONTRASTED SECT. IT. — TRUE ZEAL ACCOMPANIED BY A SPIRIT OF TVISDOM, LOVE, AND IIL^IILITY; F.VLSE ZK\L, BY AN IGNOR-INT", UNCHARITABLE, DOMINEERING, ANT) PERSECUTING SPIRIT. Love talks with better knowledge, and knowledge with dearer love. Shakspeare. When we would connnce men of any error by the strength of truth, let us withal pour the sweet balm of love upon then- heads. Truth and love are two the most powerful things in the world ; and, when they both go together, they cannot easily be withstood. The golden beams of truth and the silken cords of love, twisted together, will draw men on with a sweet \'iolence, whether they will or no. Let us take heed we do not sometimes call that zeal for God and liis gospel, which is nothing else but our own tempestuous and stormy passion. True zeal is a sweet, heavenly, and gentle flame, which maketh us active for God, but always witliin the sphere of love. It never Ciills for fire from heaven to consume those that differ a httle from us in theu' apprehensions. It is like that kind of Hghtning, which the philosophers speak of, that melts the sword within, but singeth not the scabbard : it strives to save the soul, but hm-teth not the body. True zeal is a loving thing, and makes us always active to edification, and not to destruction. . . . True zeal is an ignis lainbens, a soft and gentle fl;ime, that will not scorch one's hand : it is no prediitory or voracious thing. But carnal and fleshly zeal is like the spirit of gunpowder set on fire, that tears and blows up all that stands before it. . . . Let this soft and silken knot of love tie our hearts together ; though our heads and apprehensions cannot meet, as indeed they never will, but always stand at some distance off from one another. Our zeal, if it be heavenly, if it be true vestal fire kindled from above, will not delight to tarry here below, bmriing up straw and stubble and such combustible things, and sending up nothing but gross and earthy fumes to heaven ; but it -will rise up, and return back pure as it came down, and will be ever striving to carry up men's hearts to God along with it. It will be only occupied about the ])romoting of those things which arc unquestionably good ; and, when it moves in the irascible way, it will qiuirrel witii nothing but sin. — ])r. Kalpii CudwortH; Sermon I. aj'pcnded to the Intellectual Sjstem of the Un'vcrse, vol. iL pp. uli-o TRUE AND FALSE ZEAL CONTRASTED. 85 1 know those that would di-aw you into such a contentious zeal will tell you, that their CiUise is the aiuse of God, and that you desert him and betray it if you be not zealous in it ; and tliat it is but the counsel of flesh and blood which maketh you pretend moderation and peace and that it is a sign that you are hypocrites, that are so luke* warn\ and carnally comply Mith error; and that the cause of God is to be followed "snth the greatest zeal and self-deniaL And all tliis is true, if you be but sure that it is indeed the cause of God, and that tlie gi'eater works of God be not neglected on such pretences, and that yom- zeal be much greater for faith and charity and miity tlian for your opinions. But, upon great experience, I must tell you, that> of the zealous contenders iii the world that cry up " the cause of God and truth," there is not one of very many, that understandeth what he tilks of; but some of them cry up the cause of God, when it is a brat of a proud and ignorant brain, and such as a judicious person would be ashamed of. Zeal Anthout judgment hath not only entangled souls in many heinous sins, but hath ruined churches and kingdoms ; and, mider pretence of exceeding others in doing good, it makes men the greatest instruments of e%il. There is scarce a sin so great and odious, but ignorant zeal will make men do it as a good work. Chiist told his disciples, that those that killed them should think they did God service ; and Paul bare record to the murderous, persecuting Jews, " that they had a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge." — lliCH-ARD B.\XTER : Practical Works, vol. ii. pp. 130-1, 327. " The temple of the Lord," said the Jews, as we read in Jere- miah, — " The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these." In the same spu'it do some of our contemj^oraries exclaim, ^ The gospel, the gospel, the gospel of Jesus, is here, and here only." Perhaps, my brethren, it were imkind and uncourteous to apply to these misguided deckimers those indignant terms in which Jeremiah speaks of his countrjmen, " Trust not in Ipng words." But I cannot be charged with indecorum or harshness, Avhen I recommend to these accusers of my ecclesiastical brethren a Httle more charity to theii* fellow-Christians, and a little more distrust in themselves ; and much more discipline from knowledge, as the correction of headstrong zeal and frantic enthusiasm The pride which generates impatience of contradiction upon points which have long exercised our intellectual faculties, and which we often conceive to be intrinsically of highe? moment, because we liad been accustomed to meditate upon them, and to contend for them ; the fondness which we insensib)v conti*act 36 TRUE AND FALSE ZEAL CONTRASTED. for certain formularies of religious belief, and certain modes of religious ceremonies ; the di-ead which we feel of fickleness and lukewarmness in what we thinli the cause of Heaven, when it was Veally the cause of our o^ni prepossessions, our own antipatliies, om* o\mi credulity, and our owii ignorance, — all these circumstances may lead us into raeasiu"es which a well-directed and well-disciplined conscience would represent to us as injm-ious to the best interests of society, and adverse to the plainest and soundest principles of wtue and religion. To liis own Master, say those principles, let every rehgionist stand or fall while the Master is not man, but God ; and, as to the glory of God, surel)' his perfections, his moral government, and lus revealed mil, never will permit us to believe that it is promoted by mjury to persons who are the objects of his care as a Creator, a lledeemer, and a Sanctifier. The glory of God, indeed, as we learn from history, has been the avowed justification of the most flagmnt enormities. For the glory of God, and the law given by him to Moses, the Jewish rabble, decoyed and goaded by the Jewish priesthood, dragged the blessed Jesus to the cross ; inflicted upon the meek and pious Stephen the most barbarous violence ; caused an execrable conspiracy of forty zealots to bind themselves by an oath, that they would neither eat nor think till they had slain Paul ; subjected liim to a long and comfort- less imprisonment at Home ; and brought upon the noble army of primitive martyrs all the miseries of dungeons, chains, tortures, and death. For the glory of God, Mahomet raised the standard, maddened his illiterate and sanguinary followers with the wildest frenzy in the defence of the Divine Unity, and spread around him the most hideous desolation. For the glory of God were undertaken those fiimtic crusades which for a long time agitated the Christian world, and have left boliind them the most frightful traces of superstition, intolerance plunder, and bloodshed. For the glory of God, the bigot, as I tola you, whether a Romanist or Protestant, has consigned many a studious, vii'tuous, and devout Christian to the flaraes. The glory of God incited Anabaptists and other fmatics to trample upon the authority of laws, and to convulse well-founded and well-administered governments with all the tumults of sedition, and all the atrocities of canrige. Yet tlie bewildered im:igi nation and infuriate passions of these self-appointed champions for the honor of their Maker, pushed them onward from one outrage to anotlier, not merely without the strcmg reproach, but with the promj)t, lively, and full approbation, of their perverted con- sciences. — Dr, Samuel Paru: Works, vol, v. pp, 119 and 472-4. TRUE AND FALSE ZKYL CONTRASTED. 37 Men may differ from each other in many religious opinions, and yet all may retiin the essentials of Christiiinity ; men may sometimes eagerly dispute, and yet not ditler much from one another. The rigor- ous persecutors of error should therefore enlighten thefr zeal ^\ith knowledge, and temper their orthodoxy \\ith charity ; — that chaiity ■vnthout -which orthodoxy is vain ; charity that " thuiketh no evil," but " hopeth all things " and " endm-eth all tlungs." — Dr. S.\muel Johnson: Life of Browne; in Works, voL ix. p. 298. It is greatly to be fe^ired, that rehgious controversiaHsts are often under the influence of pride, emy, and a contentious disposition, wliich they and thefr admirers mistake for the warm glow of a pure zeal. I am led to draw this unfevorable conclusion from the vehemence and acrimony of then* language. The love of truth operates indeed, steadily and miifjrmly, but not \-iolently. It is the love of victoiy and supe- riority which sharpens the style. The desire of Hterary fame, of becommg the patron or leader of a sect, of silencing the voice of oppo- sition, usually mspfres that eagerness and warmth of temper which it is not natural tliat the truth or falsehood of any speculative opinion should excite. — ViCESiMUS Knox : Sermons ; in Works, vol. \i. p. 249. Rehgious charity requires that we should not judge any set of Christians by the representations of thefr enemies alone, without hearing and reading what they have to say in their own defence Some men camiot miderstand how they are to be zealous, if they are candid, m religious matters. But remember that the Scriptm-es carefully distinguish between laudable zeal and indiscreet zeal. . . . The object is to be at the same time pious to God, and charitable to man; to render yom- ovra ftiith as pure and perfect as possible, not only without hatred of those who differ from you, but ^^'ith a constant recollection, that it is possible, in spite of thought and study, that you may have been mistaken ; that other sects may be right ; and that a zeal in his service, which God does not want, is a very bad excuse for those bad passions which his sacred word condemns. — Syi^net Smith: Sermon on Christian Charity ; in Works, pp. 308, 310. AVe have a well-authenticated statement respecting an orthodox professor of Christianity, who declined to assist a neighbor's larmly mvolved in distress, on the ground of the heterodoxy of a member of that fe,mily. Tbit tendency in our fallen natm'e wliich mduces uss to place rehance on a doctrinal creed or on a zealous temperament, to tlie neglect of humane sentiments and of a generous disposition, is the reason why the apostles so earnestly admonish their disciples on 4 38 TRUE AXD FALSE ZEAL CONTRASTED, the subject Nearly allied to this disposition, and perLaps a result of it, is candor in judgment, — a habit of putting a cluu-i table con- struction upon the motives of our fellow-men ; the absence of bigotrj and exclusiveness ; a resolute determination to judge of books, of systems of knowledge, and of men, with discrmiinatmg kindness. No one ought to be considered as eminently pious, who is rash aiid overbearmg m his moral or literar}- judgments. K his piety does not enter into and control these matters, it is one-sided and partial. . . . These illiberal judgments and uncourteous feelings are intimately connected with a narrow understanding and ■\nth confined intellectual opinions. The natiu*al tendency of enlarged views, and of extensive and patient reading, is to break down the barriers of party, and of a selfish bigotry, while it refines and ennobles the souL — Bela B. Edw-.\rds : Writings, vol. ii. pp. 479-80. True rehgion imparts to the mind all those ideas that are fitted most potently to stu* the heart of man. ... It kindles and perpetually feeds that wise zeal which has a grasp, breadth, and ele%*ation, of which mere sectarian selfishness is destitute, because not possessing the self- denying heroism and afiection of wliich true gi'eatness is always fonned. . . . Cliristianity is not merely that indolent good nature wliich often steals the name of philanthropy, but the supernatural fire that flashed transforming ideas on the brain of Paul as he jom-neyed to Damascus, and poured stiU more celestial revelations on his heart ; rousing di^'ine yearnings that bigotry had smothered, and unsealmg that fountiin of charity toward all which theological thorns tend so much to choke, and which partisan bitterness Is sure to destroy. — E. L. M\GOON : Republican Christianity, "pp. 321-2. A schismatic spirit often insidiously puts on the disguise of com- mendable zeal for the glory of God. . . . AVhen a vain and weak-minded Christian has becm wrought upon either by flatterers or designing teachers or by his own warm distempered imagination, to suppose that he of all others is called upon to seek the glory of God, and punish his foes, he soon de\'ises bold and decisive means for nndiciitmg the supposed honor of God, and finds arguments for his emplojing the most cruel and unscrijjtural measures against heretics and blasjjhemers. ... It was not a blood-thirsty cruelty that always kiiuUed the fires of the Iiujuisition, but at times an intense desu'e to glorify God, by searching out liis concealed foes, penetrating the arcana of their liear:, and comj)elling them, by civil ])ains and ])enalties, to come back within the pale of the church ; otherwise they were to be extirpated as here- TRUE AND FALSE ZEAL CONTRASTED 39 tics, whom it was dangerous for religion to allow to live. The same fiery, scliismatical spirit passed, m a mitigated form, from the Roman into the Kcformed chm'ches ; for they also persecuted, and persecuted from a sincere desire to promote the glory of God. The amiable Bishop Hall A\Tote a treatise on Moderation, and, with all his ten- derness to sectiiries, he lets out the symptoms of a deeply-seated schismatical spirit when he says, " Master Calvin did well approve himself to God's church, in bringmg Servetus to the stake at Geneva." The good man knew not what spuit he was of. . . . It is an angelic at- tainment to have burning zeal, and yet zeal burning in love, to compass the whole world, not for proselytes, but for converts, and to respect every sincere inquirer after truth as an honest, conscientious professor. True zeal di-aws no other sword from its scabbard but the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. — Dr. Gavin Struthers : Party Spirit; in Essays on 0instian Union, pp. 417-19. When, in the course of our reading, we meet with passages so finely conceived as these, so beautifully exhibiting the divine and gentle spirit of our Lord, and so admirably conducive to the harmony and peace of Christendom, without furnishing any grounds for indiflerence to the study, reception, and spread of gospel truth; and when we recall to mind the jealousies and the heart-burnings which so-called Christians have cherished within their hearts, and the wars and persecutions which they have waged against each other, on account of mere ditferences of opinion, — we have sometimes thought that the religious world would lose little of truth, and far less of love, if the creeds and confessions and systems of theology, which have encouraged feelings and acts so alien to all that is good and pure and peaceable, had, without the concurrence of man's embittered passions, been swept by the winds of heaven to the mouth of some great volcano, there to be engulfed, and perish for ever. But we remember our Master's words, Rnd exclaim, in the spirit of his far-seeing counsel, — "Nay! lest, while we gather up the tares, we root up also the wheat with them." Let the follies and errors, and even the fulminatious, of theologians remain unconsunied in the monumental piles which they have raised in their codes and books, lest, while they are being burnt, the wisdom, the piety, and the truths, weak and imperfect as they are, which have to some extent been incorporated with their opposites, perish also. Let them remain awhile, — but remain inactive in the production of further evil, till the great field of humanity be covered by the fruits of truth, righteousness, and love, — till the harvest of a liberal Christianity appear, when the tares of error, of bigotry, and of persecution will either have rotten away from the face of the earth, or bfien consumed by the flames of a Catholicism not assumed as a badge of dis- tinction by any one church, but operating as a vital principle in all societies and communities bearing the name of the blessed Jesus. 40 THE TRUE BASES OF CHRISTIAN UNION. SECT. III. — NOT UNIFORMITY OF OPINION, BUT PIETY, MUTUAL FOR- BE.\ILVNCE .VND AFFECTION, — LOVE TO GOD, CHRIST, ANT) JIAN, — THE BASES OF CHRISTIAN UTQON. Let tbem see That as more pure and gentle is your faith, YourselTcs are gentler, purer. Robert Southet. Although a difference in opinions, or modes of worship, may prevent an entire external imion, yet need it prevent our union in affection ? Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike ? May we nut 1)6 of one heart, though we are not of one opinion ? It is certain, so long as we know but in part, that all men will not see all things alike. It is an unavoidable consequence of the present weakness and short- ness of the human imderstanding, that several men will be of severa^ minds in religion as well as in common life. Nay, &rther : although every man necessarily beUeves that every particular opinion which he holds is true, yet can no man be assured, that all his own opinions, taken together, are true. Nay, every thinking man is assured they are not ; seeing Humanum est errare et nescire, to be ignorant of many things, and to be mistaken in some, is the necessary concUtion of humanity. Every wise man, therefore, will allow others the same liberty of thinking, which he desu-es they should allow him ; and will no more insist on their erabracmg his opinions, than he would have them to insist on his embracing theirs. He bears with those who differ from liim, and only asks him with whom he desu'es to unite m love that shigle question, " Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart ? " No man can choose for, or prescribe to, another. Bm every man must follow the dictates of liis oami conscience, in simplicity and godly sincerity. He must be fully persuaded in his own mind, and then act according to the best light he has. Nor has any creatm-e power to constrain another to walk by his own rule. God has given no right to any of the children of men thus to lord it over the con- sciences of his brethren ; but every man must judge for himself, as every man must give an account of himscll' to God. I dare not presume to impose my mode of worship on any other. I believe it is truly j)rimitive and apostoliail ; but my behef is no ride for anotlier. I ask not, therefore, of him with whom I would unite in love, " Are )ou of my chuix'h ? — of my congregation ? Do you receive the TUE TRUE BASES OF CHRISTIAN UNION. 41 same form of church government ? Do you join in tlie same form of prayer wherein I worship God ? " My only question at present is this, " Is thine lieart right, as my lieart is with thy heart ? " Is thy heart right with God ? Dost thou beUeve in the Lord Jesus Christ? Is thy faith filled Anth the energy of love ? Art thou employed in doing " not thy own will, but the will of Him that sent thee " ? Is thy heart right towards thy neighbor ? Do you show yoiu' love by your works ? If it be, " give me thine hand." A catholic spirit is not an indifierence to all opinions, nor an indifference as to public worship, nor an indifference to all congi-egations. Catholic love is a catholic spirit. But, if we take ttiis word in its strictest sense, a man of a catholic spirit is one who gives liis hand to all whose hearts are right with his heart ; one who loves his friends as brethren in the Lord, as members of Christ, and children of God ; as joint pai'talcers now of the present kingdom of God, and fellow-heks of his eternal kingdom ; all of w'hatever opinion, or worship, or congregation, who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ ; who love God and man ; who, rejoicing to please, and fearing to offend God, are careful to abstain from eyH, and are zealous of good works. He is the man of a truly catho- lic spirit who bears all these continually upon his heart. — Abridged fi'om John Wesley : Works, vol i. pp. 347-54. The preceding extract consists of a few sentences culled from Wesley's Sermon on a " Catholic Spirit," which, though unambitious in its style and objectionable in one or two of its ideas, will perhaps bear comparison with any thing of the kind ever published. Would that this discourse, contain- ing more of the principles of true religion than can be found in many a professed work on divinity, were scattered in every Christian home ; read and digested by every man, woman, and child; and exemplified in every thought and word and deed ! Away with names, and the petty distinctions of religious party! Are you a Christian, or "srish to be one, in deed, not in word only ; for the sake of spiritual, not temporal purposes ? Then drop your prejudices, and seek the spirit of Christianity, not m systems, but in the written gospel, assisted by prayer, and the pious illustrations of men sincere and good, however they may have been reviled or neglected through prejudice, poHtical artifice, or mistaken zeal. When you have thus found the truth, show its influence by your charity. Be united to all Christians, as well as to Christ ; and beware of making distinctions by nicknames, and thus exciting en\T, wrath, and malice, which are of a nature opposite to the fruits of the Spuit, — love, joy, 4* 42 THE TRUE BA?ES OF CHRISTIAN UNION. and peace. Good men should join in a firm phalanx, that the evL may not triumph in theii* di%isions. Let all who are imited under the banners of Christ hail one another as brother Cliiistians, though they may differ on the subject of church disciphne, rites, ceremonies, or even non-essential doctrine. . . . Let us consider how the hard-hearted, unconverted, depraved, and worthless part of mankind exult, M'hile Christians, agreeing in essentials, quarrel and resile each other, not on the substance of rehgion, but on the mere shades of difference in opinion in matters of indifference. . . . Are you a sincere believer, — a lover of God and man ? I salute you from my heart as my brother in Christ, whether, in consequence of yoiu- birth and education, you formed the creed you utter at Rome, at Geneva, or in your closet at home. — ViCESlMUS Knox : Christian Philosophy ; in Works, vol. ^ii. pp. 289-90. A more extensive diffusion of piety among all sects and parties will be the best and only preparation for a cordial union. Clii'istians wiiL then be disposed to appreciate their differences more equitably ; to turn their cliief attention to points on wliich they agree ; and, in conse- quence of loving each other more, to make every concession consistent with a good conscience. Listead of wishing to vanquish others, every one will be desirous of being vanquished by the truth. . . . Li the room of being lepelled by mutual antipathy, they will be insensibly drawn nearer to each other by the ties of mutual attachment. A larger measure of the spu'it of Christ would prevent them from con- verting every incidental variation into an impassable boundary, or from condemning the most innocent and laudable usages for fear of symbolizing mth another class of Christians. . . . The general pre\'a- lence of piety in different communities would inspire that mutual respect, that heartfelt homage, for the ^'irtues conspicuous in the chamcter of their respective members, which would urge us to ask with astonishment and regret, Why cannot we be one ? "What is it that obstructs oui' union ? Instead of maintiiining the barrier which separates us from each other, and employing ourselves in fortifying the fr;)ntiers of hostile communities, we should be anxiously densing the means of narrowing the groimds of dispute, by drawing the atten- tion of all parties to those fundamental and catholic principles in which they concur. — lloBEiiT Hall : Review of Zeal wiilmid Inno- vation ; in Jforks, vol. ii. p. 266. Truth and virtue we do not hold to be chartered to compames : th«y are possessed onl}^ in part by th .^se who possess the most of tiiem j THE TRUE BASES OF CURIS7IAN UNION. 43 and they are possessed in some good measure even by many who must yet stmd condemned as capitally ^\Tong in theology It is ti'ite to say, that, ■while the human mind continues what it is, men must difter, notjnerely in tiste and intellectual preferences, but even in some of those matters of behef wliich should be under the control of mere reason. The supposition of an age of uniformity is therefore chimerical ; but the supposition — nay the positive hope — of an age of Christian concord and of cordial combination is not chimerical; for it is identical ^\ith the behef of the truth of Christianity itself, and of its triumph in the world. Ought not tliose to look well to the coiu^e they are pursuing, who, on the plea of a conscientious regard to some special enactment, or of the adherence to some insti- tution which, at the most, is but the means to an end, are, and in a dehbemte manner, putting contempt upon Christ's first law, — his universal and sovereign will ; and on such ground are either refusing to recognize and to consort with other Christians, or are even denjing the very name to those whose only alleged fault is their error, if it be an error, on the particular m question ? — Isaac Taylor : Lectures on Spiritual Christianity, pp. 159, 162, 179. Let a man, no matter what liis sectarian distinctions and natural or social disadvantages, or what his discrepancies m the minor ^■iews and practices of rehgion, give but e\idence of love to Chiist and to his word, and hoKness, and he is my brother. Be he Arminian or Cah^inist, Episcopalian or CongregationaHst, — let liim be Baptist or Pedobaptist, — let him have all worldly disadvantages of education and station and taste, — be he Greek or Barbarian, bond or free, — if I love Christ, I love that cUsciple of Christ. . . . Under every variety of costiune and dispensation and dialect and race, the tenant of a Caffre kr^ial or of the Greenlander's snow-hut, — nay, let him mutter tliis prayer as his Pater Noster in an unknoAvn tongue ; if I find, under all liis superstition and disguises of hereditary prejudice and error, the love of my Christ and the likeness of my Lord, can I — iU\re I disavow the brotherhood ? — William R. Williams : Lectures on the Lord's Prayer, pp. 12, 13. LUolerance among Christians of reasonable diversities of Cinistian fuith lias been one of the greatest errors of modern times, and has brought infinite reproach on the Protestant cause. It greatly impeded the progress of the Reformation at fii'st, and has hindered both its comjjletion and general prevalence since. Wliile pretending the greatest zeal for the honor of God and the purity of religion, it i^ 44 THE TRUE BASES OF CHRISTIAN UNION- itself the greatest corruption. It betrays the cause of God witli a kiss, and stabs it to the heart, A^ith professions of love on its Hps. It is amazing that the world has been so long in getting its eyes oj)en to the enormous ^nckedness if this procedui'e. But a brighter day is breakhig, not only \vith respect to the accuracy and extent of Chiistian knowledge, but also with respect to a reasonable indulgence of the ignorant, the weak and erring. Uniformity in faith, and equahty in superior knowledge and discernment, are very desirable indeed ; but Christian charity and mercy are far greater and better. With aU the importance of Christianity as an institute of knowledge, it has a transcendently greater importance as an institute of love and general holiness. — Leicester A. Sawyer: Organic Christianity, p. 413. The Scripture plan of imit)' and concord cannot be based on abso- lute uniformity of opinion and practice. This is the basis on which the church of Rome maintains her pretended unity, — a basis which may perhaps be consistently assumed by a church claiming inialHbility, and den\-ing the right of private judgment. It is a basis which may seem to be countenanced by some expressions in Scriptm'e, if we attend to the sound rather than the sense of them. It Las often been attempted to be acted on. It was the &vorite scheme, the idol, of the framers of the Solemn League and Covenant, about the middle of the sLxteenth century; and it is a scheme to which, even in recent times, some excellent persons have clung A^ith fond affection or obstinate perti- nacity. . . . The slightest knowledge of the constitution of human nature, and the shghtest attention to the liistory of the human race, may couN-ince us that it is a scheme utterly hopeless and chimerical. . . . On all other subjects on which they think at all, men entertain differ- ent opinions. But there is no subject so likely to occasion a -s-ariety of sentiment as reUgion ; for, though its fundamental doctrines are comparatively few and abundantly obvious, there is no subject which presents in its subordinate details such a multiplicity of intricate and difficult questions, none that has been so much perplexed by con- troversy, none more lilvcly to awalcen ])rojudice and passion, and none for the investigation of wliich the human faculties labor under a stronger indisposition or inaptitude. . . . Even in the purest and happiest ages of the church, the friends of religion have not been entirely of one mind ; and, if at times there has been sometliing like an approximation towards complete uniformity, it has probably been when the s])irlt of free inquiry has been extlnguislied, when the faculties of the human mind were in a state of utter torpor Wliat THE TRUE BASES OF CURISTIAN UNION. 45 is the Scrij tiire plan for maintaining the unity of the Sanour's mystical body ? To that pLm we are already in some measure " shut up," by finding all others to be either unwarrantal^le or impracticiible. Of that plan, the characteristic feature is forbearance; and the essence of it may be expressed in a single sentence. All true Christians ought to walk together in all things in which they are agreed ; and as the points on which they differ, though some of them may be very import- ant, cmuot be essential to sahntion, they ought to make these points matters of forbearance. — Dr. Robert Balmer : Tlie Scripture Prin- ciples of Unity ; in Essays on Christian Union, pp. 35-37. Notwithstanding these sensible remarks, Dr. Biilmer condemns, as " lax and latitudinarian," the principle maintained by John Locke, that all who admit the divine origin of Christianity should be received into the Christian church. Men have tried all kinds of methods, except the only right, effec- tual, and divinely appointed one, for gathering into union the broken and scattered fragments of the church, and for tuning to harmony its discordant voices. They have tried the compulsion of law, the power of logic, the persuasion of eloquence, the subscription of articles, the appHcation of tests, the authority of tradition; and yet all these means have signally failed, not only to procure internal unity, but external uniformity. . . . And yet there, upon the verj' surface of reve- lation, where every eye can see it, lies, and has lain for nearly eighteen centuries, a principle so simple that a child may understand it, which, if properly felt and judiciously appHed, would have effected that which has ever been considered so necessary, and yet so difficult, — " FoRP.nvRLNG ONE ANOTHER IN LO^"E." Di^inely inspired, heaven- descended, godlike sentence ! How simple, yet how subhme ! ... If there be one practical precept which Ave could wish to be printed in stan-y characters on the dark page of the nightly sky, AATitten in sun- beams on the tablet of the earth, and uttered both night and day in voices from the heavens, that the attention of men might be irresistibly turned to it, and their hearts unavoidably impressed by it, tliis is the injunction ; and yet what greater clearness, or more importance, or higher authority, would this splendid method of pubhcation give to it, beyond wliat it ah'eady possesses as a portion of Holy AVrit ? " Forbearing one another in lo\'e." This one short precept, universally obeyed, would set all right, and reduce all to order. It would not at once reconcile all minds, but it would luuunonize all 46 THE TRUE BASES OF CHRISTIAN UNION. hearts. It would not amalgamate all churches mto an external uni« formity ; but it would combine them all in the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. It might not hush the voice of controversy ; but it would take from it the harsh chssonance of human passion, and cause it to speak in the meUifluous tones of di\ine charity. — John Angell James: Union in relation to the Religious Parties of England; in Essays on Christian Union, pp. 218-19. Toleration ! I hate the word. It impHes a power or a right which nowhere has existence ; and the man who tolerates, under the imagi- nation that he possesses any such right, is only second in presumptioii to him who uses the imaginary right in actual intolerance and persecu- tion. No man has the right either to tolerate or not to tolerate another, in aught whatever which he may conscientiously think or say or do in regard to what hes between him and his God, — his religion. You are perfectly conscious, you tell me, that you are sincere and upright in yoiu: deshe to know the mmd of Christ, and in your inquiries after it; and therefore you must regard the conclusions to which another has come that are different from yours, as arismg from the biasing uifluence of some predisposition against the truth. WeU : suppose the otlier deckires himself to have the very same conscious- ness of integrity, must not he think the same of the conclusions to which you have come? Suppose it admitted that there can be no such thing as perfectly innocent error. Is it safe — nay, is it consist- ent with the self-diffidence and humility of the Christian character — to assume our o\mi infallibility ; not our own exclusive conscientious- ness merely, but the absolute impossibiUty of the error lying with us ; as if we, of all Christians on earth, were altogether beyond the reach of any perverting or biasing influence ? Do not becoming distrust of ourselves, and becoming charity for others, unite in recommending a different principle on which to regulate our feehngs and our conduct toAvards our fellow-Christians ? Is there no allowance to be made for the varieties, great as they are, even in mentid perspicacity and vigor, and none for the power of early habits and associations, where the sincerity of the desire to know and to follow the mind of Chris; may be equal ? . . . This is the evil, — yom* forgetting that you hold no position towards others which they have not the same title to assinne towards you. If, indeed, perfect unanimity is to be assumed as the only admissible basis of Christian communion, " where are the two individuals to be found, wiio, if they continued to exercise freedom of thought, and, in doing so, did not take special cai'c to tie tlieii* tongues, TUE TRUE BASES OF CHRISTTAN UNION. 47 and keep their thoughts to themselves, could long maintain consistent feJowship ?".... When we see a fellow-Christian in earnest in liis inquiries after his Master's vail, — searching the Scriptures, seeking divine direction, discovering an evident desire to know what is right, and to the extent of his knowledge faithfully doing it, — we are then warranted, nay, more than warmnted, we are bound to conclude, that the &ime conscientiousness has also, and equally, been in exercise in regard to those points on which he has arrived at different conclusions from oiur o\vn. "VVe may marvel at those conclusions, — marvel greatly at his not seeing what to us appears so clear. But we must not forget* that his right to wonder is the same as om's. The effect on both sides ought to be, instead of proud and indignant despite of each other's judgments, the exercise of self-diffident humble-mindedness, and the cultivation of reciprocal charity. — Dr. Ralph Wardlaw : A CiUholic Spirit; in Essays on Christian Union, pp. 316, 332-5. It is painful to think, that, amid sentiments breathing so just and divme a spirit, and so happily titted to promote good-will and union among all who acknowledge one and the same Lord and Master, this celebrated writer should have felt obliged, by his views of Christian doctrine, to say, p. 317, that " from the pale of the Christianity within which the spirit of catholic love is to be cherished, those must, of necessity, be excluded who hold and avow the principles of Socinianism ; " that is, such persons as are im- properlv called by this name, namely, believers in one only God the Father, and in his Son and Servant, the man Christ Jesus. The Essay from which we have taken the above extract is one of eight, severally penned by Chalmers, Balmer, Candlish, John Angell James, David King, Wardlaw, Strutheks, and Symington, — divines all more or less noted both in their ovn\ land and in the United States. These Essays, written in 1844 at the suggestion of a friend to Christian union, abound in good common sense, united with an earnest piety, and a feeling of intense desire for the prevalence of kinder dispositions and more liberal modes of operation than at present exist in "evangelical" or orthodox churches; but we regret to say, that the charity which they exhibit, catholic as it assumes to be, is so narrow as to exclude those " worshippers of the Father," through the mediation of the Son and the influences of the Spirit, in whose society have been enrolled the names of Carpenter and Channing, of Ware and of Norton, — gifted and good men, who, if they wei'e not acknowledged on eartli as co-workers with a Chalmers, a Balmer, and a Wardlaw in the same great cause, — that of a common Christianity, — are, we trust, recog- nized in heaven by them as fellow-saints and fellow-disciples, now that thej have each left the scene of their earthly labors, and gone to another and a holier sj here of God's universe, wliere the differences that separated them here from each other are probably all unknown. 48 CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP AND UNIVERSAL LOVE. SECT. IV. — THE DLTY OF HOLDING INTERCOURSE AND COMMUNION WITH CHRISTIANS OF ALL DENOMINATIONS, AXD OF LOVING ALL MANKIND. Oh, might we all our lineage prove, Give and forgive, do good and love, By soft endearments in kind strife Lightening the load of daily life ! Let church union and communion be laid upon none but catholic terms, wliich are possible and fit for all to be agi'eed in. Common reason will tell any impartial man, that there can be no more effectual engine to dinde the churches, and raise contentions and persecutions, than to make laws for church communion, requiring such conditions as it is certain the members cannot consent to. ... If ever the chm-ches agree, and Christians be reconciled, it must be by lea\ing out all di\iding impositions, and requu'ing nothing as necessary to commu- munion, which all may not rationally be expected to consent ul — Richard Baxter : Practical Works, vol. \A. pp. 186-7. Baxter did not regard differences of opinion on various doctiinal questions, or respecting chm-ch government, of much importance, while he could regard the parties as real Christians, and disposed to live in peace with others. To these two points he considered all other things subordinate. Christian fellowship, ^nth him, was not the fellowship of Cah'inists or Arminians, of EpiscopaHans, Presbyterians, Independents, or Baptists : it was the fellowship of Christians, holding the one faith and hope of our Lord Jesus Chiist, in imity of sj^irit, and righteousness of life. This is the only catholic communion wliich is worth contending for; and which, it cannot be doubted, >nll, in due time, absorb all other party distinctions and disputes His [Baxter's] CiithoHc jn-incijile of fellowship Avith all genuine Christians is better understood than it was ; though even yet, alas ! but partially adopted as a j)rinciple, and still more imperfectly exemplified in prac- tice. It imj)lies not indifference to truth, but devoted attiichmcnt to it. It involves union without compromise, and co-operation ■\nthout sacrifice of consistency. It recognizes the exclusive claims of divine authority in religion, and the unquestionable rights of conscience; securing for each indindual the j)OAver of acting according to his o'^ti convictions, while it requires him to concede no less to otliers. It will ultimately effect wliat actvS of unilbrmity have hitherto fiiiled to CHRISTIAN FET.LOWSniP AND UNIVERSAL LOVE. 49 produce, and -which Avill never be brought about either by compulsory measures of state, or stormy controversies in the church. A greater portion of the spirit of Clirist, and a brighter manifestation of his holy image, will do more to miite all his disci])les, than the most perfect theory of chiurch government that has yet been recommended, or forced on the world. "When this blessed period of love and union Bhall arrive, the services of Baxter, as the indefatigable advocate of catholic communion, v,i\\ not be forgotten. — William Orme, in his edition of Baxter's Practical Works, vol. L pp. 584, 613. The preceding abstract of Richard Baxter's sentiments on Christian liberty and communion is supported by innumerable passages in the writings of that noble-minded Puritan. In p. 574 of the same volume, Orme, who seems to have caught the true spirit of his hero, makes on this subject other observations, which are deserving of perusal. I have ahvays found, that, when men of sense and virtue mingle in free conversation, the harsh and confused suspicions which they may have enter t^iined of each other gradually give way to more just and more candid sentiments. In reahty, the example of many great and good men averts every imputation of impropriety from such inter- course ; and the information which I have myself occasionally gained by conversing ydth. learned teachers of many different sects will always make me remember with satis&ction, and acknowledge with thankfid- ness, the favor which they have done to me by their unreserved and judicious communications, ... In truth, men of improved understand- ings and rooted \irtue do not suffer difference of opinion to give them unfavorable impressions of each other. Will the reviewer sus- pect me of any predilection for infidehty and disloyalty, . . . because in the exoteric and esoteric doctrines of the Enghsh church I have met with no rule by which I am pledged to entertain any hatred what- soever to Dissenters, whether Protestant or Catholic ; because, " as much as lieth in me, I would Hve," and exhort others to live, " peace- ably with " the Lutheran, Greek, Roman, and Genevan churches, and all other Chiistian societies; or, finally, because \rith the light of natural religion, and in the spirit of revealed, I think it my duty to be " kindly atfectinned towards all Jews, Turks, infidels," schismatics, " and heretics," as belonging to " one " great " fold under " the care of " one " good •• Shepherd " ? How does the sacred and indispensa- ble duty of doing good, especially unto those of the household of " faith," absolve me from the obligation to do good, if it be possible, to all other men ? Are they not endowed, like myself, with rational 5 50 CHRISTIAN FELLO^VSniP AND UNIVERSAL LOVT! faculties, capable of ph}-siail happiness and sockil union ; and placed, or at least beKeved by me to be placed, in a state of discipline, as subjects of reward or punishment in a life to come ? Why, then, should I " judge them," or " set them at nought; " or, by my intole- rance, " throw stumbling-blocks in their way " to the adoption of that religion which I have embraced as true ? — Dr. Samuel Parr : Works, vol. iii. pj). 27o-G ; and vol. iv. pp. 509-19. The practice of incorporating private opinions and human inventions with the constitution of a church, and with the terms of communion, has long a])peared to him [the ^vriter] untenable in its princij)le, and pernicious in its effects. There is no position m the whole compass of theology, of the truth of which he feels a stronger persuasion, than that no man or set of men are entitled to prescribe, as an indispensabk? condition of. communion, Avhat the New Testament has not enjoined as a condition of salvation It [the Lord's Supper] is appointed to be a memorial of the greatest instance of love that was ever exlii- bited, as well as the principal pledge of Christian fraternity. It must appear surprising that the rite wliich of all others is most adapted to cement mutual attachment, and which is in a great measure appointed for that purpose, should be fixed upon as the line of demarcation, the impassable barrier, to separate and disjoin the followers of Christ. . . . According to this notion of it, it is no longer a symbol of our common Christianity : it is the badge and criterion of a party, a mark of discri- mination apphed to distinguish the nicer shades of difference among Christians. — IIobert Hall : Preface and hitrodiidory Remarks to Terms of Communion ; in Works, vol, i. pp. 285, 291. What I, above all other things, wish to see is a close imion between Christian reformers and tliose who are often, as I think, fiilsely charged with being enemies of Christianity. It is a part of the perfection of the gospel, tliat it is attractive to all those who love truth and good- ness, as soon as it is known in its true natiu-e, whilst it tends to clear away those erroneous views and evil ])assions with which philanthropy and philosophy, so long as they stand aloof from it, are ever in some degree corrupted. My feeling towards men whom I believe to be sincere lovers of tjiith and the happiness of their felloAV-creatures, while they seek these ends otherwise than thi'ough the medium of the gospel, is rather that they are not far from the kingdom of God, and might be brouglit into it altogether, than that they are enemies whose views are directly opjwsed to our own. — Dr. Thomas Arnold : Letter 26; in Life aiid Correspondence, pp. 72-3. CnillSTIAN FELLOWSHIP AND UNTVJIRSAL LOVE. 51 It was a sad defect of the Reformation, and a disastrous error of the reformers, that, vrith all their sublime conceptions of Christian liberty, as they mainUiined it against Papal intolerance and oppression, they did not imderst;\nd the wide extent to which it ought to be maintained against themselves and against one another. Having abolished the despotism of the Papacy, they did not clearly see tliat the church only wanted the lordship of Christ. They thought thoy must settle terms of communion, and rules of faith, which Christ and the apostles had not settled. The great Law of church fellowship and communion is contained in Horn. xiv. 1, " Him that is weak m the faith receive, but not to doubtfid disputations." Clurist received all that came. We hear of no applicants for chmrch pri\ileges being rejected by the apostles. . . . The gospel is an institute of fliith and knowledge, but it is still more an institute of love and holiness. . . . With an open Bible in hand, and the laws of love and liberty on our lips, and the rights and obligations of independent private judgment on the forefront of all our religious movements, how can we set up oars and gates to shut out of oiu" ovm particular enclosures of the church of Chiist, the wealc and ignorant, and erring in faith, whom, nevertheless, God accepts, and vdth. whom the Holy Spirit deigns to dwell ? How can we be guilty of such arrogance and inconsistency ? How can we allow ourselves thus to sin against our weak brethren, and put stumbling-blocks both in their way and in the way qf sinners ? How can we so belie oiu- professions, and dishonor our Master, whose Ii^•ing and djing charge it was, that we should love one another as he loved us ; and whose prayer it was, in the immediate \iew of his cru- cifixion, that we may all be one, even as he and the Father are one j that we may be me in them? John x\-ii. 21 When Unita- rianism arose, it was made a question, both in Europe and America, whether it should be tolerated as an allowable diversity of opinion, or ex])ose its subjects to separation and excommunication. The subject of the precise character and rebtions of Christ had been long debated m the ancient church, and had been the occasion of sanguini\ry wars and persecutions. . . . Under these circumstances, it is not strange that it was a matter of regret with many, that the controversy concerning the character of Christ should be renved in modern times, and that there was a general disposition to prohibit dissent on tliis subject in most Protestant churches. . . . The Presbyterum churches in England, Switzerland, and France, adopted the Siime jjrinciple of toleration as the church of England ; and Unitarianism gained the ascendancy among 52 <3nRISTIAN FELLOWSinP AND UNIVERSAL LOvE. tliem. The Presbjterian churches of the United States adopted the opposite prohibition policy. The Congregational churches of New England were at first tolerant of Unitarian %'ieAv?, till, considerable defections ha^•ing occurred, the subject came up, in 1816, for general discussion, when this toleration was abandoned, and the opposite policy adopted. This was a revolution in the pohcy of Congi*egationahsm, against which many protested at the time, and concerning Avhich some are doubtful still Since this time, the Supreme Di\inity of Christ has not only been generally held by CongregationaHsts, as it is by church of Englandists and Episcopalians, but has been insisted upon as neces- sar}' to membership m the church. The correctness of this, either m respect to principle or policy, admits of being seriously questioned. — Leicester A. Sawyer : Organic Christianity, pp. 405-8. This testimony on behalf of the most enlai'ged views of Christian com munion is extremely valuable and instructive ; proceeding, as it does, from the pen of one who regards "the denial of the Divinity of Christ," his essential Divinity, as "undoubtedly a great error; " and on whom therefore cannot rest any suspicion of his being favorable to Unitarianism. Though assured that " the toleration of error seldom prejudices the truth," he acknowledges, as an honest man and a candid historian, that, by admitting the principle of toleration, the English, Swiss, and French Presbyterian churches became, on the whole. Unitarian; and that, by adopting an oppo- site policy, — that of exclusion from the membership of their church, — the Congregationalists have, in general, remained Trinitarian ; — admissions which seem to imply that the tendency of religious freedom and Christian charity, modelled on the usages and the spirit of apostolic times, is to pro- duce a state of things leading to the reception of Unitarian doctrine. Schismatics, stickhng for church purity, and lajing down laws to promote it, which have not been laid down by Chiist, have, like others who have pretended to be wiser than God, done giievous injur}- to the ])urity of church communion. They have, umnttingly. Laid a snare for their own deception. In prescribuig terms of communion which are not to be found in the Bible, tliey have flattered their o\vn vanity, and are in the greatest danger of prefening their own sectarian featm-es to the broad outhnes of Chi-istian character laid down in the word of God. I'arty men are in the utmost jeopardy of extending a culpable degree of charity to party men. Chiming in with their peculiarities is apt to cover a multitude of sins. Hence it is, that a strict-comm\inion churcli lias the gross inconsistency connected with it of Imving excluded from its pale the most excellent ones of the earth, whilst it lias taken in those of its o\iti denomination, who, in a spuit CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP AND UNH'ERSAL LOVE. 53 of candor, are little better than Samaritans. Truly, the practice is revolting, which is followed in many sectarian churches, of excommu- nicating, at every dispensation of the Lord's Supjjer, every Christian save those of their own section. Men such as Leighton and Owen and Fuller are cast out without any compunction, because they agree not with them in church order or government ; and yet ])arty men, of very suspicious cliaixicter, find admission. Alas ! sectarianism too often talvcs the bad, and casts the good a^^'ay. It fills the Lord's table vdih nominal Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Lidependents, Baptists, or Cove- nanters, rather tlian -svith real Christians, bearing all these designations. Were Christ on earth, would he not say to all such chui'ches, " By what authority did you refuse to hold communion with my servants ? and who gave you that authority ? " — Dr. Ga^TN Struthers : Party Spirit ; in Essays on Christian Union, pp. 423-4. Wherever the catlioUc spirit exists in its genuine character and legitimate ampHtude and strength, it will display itself in admitting and courting the society of fellow-believers, Anthout distinction of outward denomination; the intercourse of personal companionship and friendship, and fireside association, along with the exercises of Christian converse and social communion ^^•ith God ; and the inter- course, too, still private, though somewliat more enlarged, of those spiritual coteries, to which om* forefathers gave the appropriate desig- nation of fellowship-meetings. It wiU display itself stiU further in combination for purposes of Christian benevolence, and in co-operation for promoting their accomplishment, in ever}- accessible way that does not trench upon conscientiousness, or demand any sacrifice of principle. And can any satisfactory reason be assigned why it should not display itself in the more extended " communion of saints," as exemplified in the more public ordinances of dinne appointment and Christian celebration ; and, above all, in the simple but delightful feast of love, — the Lord's Supper ? In what capacity is it that we take oiu* places there ? Is it as fellow-presbyterians, or fellow-congregationalists, or feUow-baptists, or fePow-pedobaptists ? Is it not rather as fellow- believers, feUow-disciples, fellow-christians ? If a Presb}terian and a CongregationaHst, or a Baptist and a Pedobaptist, object to sitting doAMi with each other at the tiible of the Lord, one of two inferences must follow : either they must, on account of their diiference of sentiment as to the government or rites of the church, question each other's Christianity; or it must be, not as behevers, chsciples, Christians, but as Presbyterians or Congregationalists, Baptists or 5* 54 CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP AND UNIVERSAL LOVE. Pedobaptists, that they respectively consider themselves as entitled to a seat at the feast. And is there any one bearing the name of Jesus, now to be found, who holds and ■vsill defend so antiscriptural and narrow-minded a position ? Let it be remembered, reader, it is not our table, — it is the Lord's table ; and shall we, then, eonsidei cm-selves as entitled to shut the door of admission to it against any whom, there is every reason to beUeve, the dinne Master of the feast would himself receive ? Is there no presumption m this ? It is not a Presb}-terian table, or an Independent table : it is a Christian table. And ought not all, then, who are " of one heart and one soul " in regard to the essential articles of evangelical truth, and who give e\'idence of their attachment to these blessed truths by " a conversation as it becometh the g'ospel of Christ," to welcome one another to a joint participation of the s^nnbols of the same broken body and the same shed blood, which are the objects of tlieir common faith, the ground of their common hope, the charter of their common freedom, and the spring of then* common hoHness and their common joy ? ... If I see a fellow-behever who happens to be a Presbyterian manifesting in his Hfe a larger amount of the exalted moral excellences and the lovely beauties of the Christian character than another fellow-behever who is an Independent, I must, if my sentiments and feelings are in any thing like harmony -vrith the dictates of the word of God, experience a correspondingly larger amount of the love of complacency towards the one than towards the other. The character must stand higher in my estimation, and he closer to my heart. And of what kind, then, must that principle be, — how am I to characterize, how am I to designate it, — accorchng to which I am to be precluded from giring a ])lace beside me at the Christian feast to the more worth}-, while I am bound to give it to the less worthy, of my brotherly affection ? — bomid to receive him who is less a Christian because he is an Independent, and bound to exclude him who is more a Christian because he is a Presbyterian ! — Dr. Kalpii Wardlaw : A Catholic Spirit ; in Essays on Christian Union, pp. 338-40. Of a character similar to those quoted from Drs. Wardlaw and Struthers nrc the sentiments of Dr. Balmeu on the same subject, and in the same work, pp. 52-76; but, excellent as they are alike in spirit and in style, they would occupy too much room if inserted here, and a short extract would not do them justice. Few Trinitarians of the present day imagine that the Twelve who accompanied Jesus during his ministry on earth, — who walked and drank CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP AND UNIVERSAL LOVE. 55 and ate with him, — who heard him utter his message of mercy in the name of his God aud Father, and address the same great Being in the lan- guage of praise and supplication, — and who, though they loved and revered him with the simplicity and tenderness of little children, sometimes forgot their own inferiority; some of them speaking to him in terras of familiarity, some rebuking him, others contending in his presence for earthly power, one of them denying and another betraying him, and all at last forsaking him; — few Trinitarians, we say, are now disposed to think that the apostles, who never, during the time of their personal intercourse with their Lord, had any conception of the spiritual nature of his office, had, or could have, the faintest idea of his being the unchangeable and ever-blessed God. To these men, however, who, like the Unitarians of modern times, believed, not that their Master was Almighty God, but merely his great Messenger and Anointed One, but whose views of his kingdom were con- fessedly much inferior to theirs, did Jesus address the words, " By this shall all men know that ye" — who fully believe in my divine mission — "are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." To this fact, and to the just inference to be drawn from Christ's beautifal and comprehensive precept, some of the good men * from whom we have quoted do not seem to have adverted. With much kindness and liberality of feeling, but with a proper indignation against the conduct of such secta- ries as would debar from Christian communion persons of a high moral and religious character, because, though adopting their general conceptions of the Trinity and the Atonement, they differ from them as to church government and forms, these writers stop short in the application of their great principle, and unhesitatingly refuse to hold communion with a " Socinian " or Unita- rian daughter of Christ's church, who — though, like her reputedly orthodox sieters, she may have failed to do all that might have been justly expected — has yet been in some degree distinguished for her works of love and bene volence, for her devotion to the principles of religious freedom, and for hei defences of our common Christianity against the attacks of unbelievers ; and who, while she claims for her own the philanthropic Firmin, the noble- minded Milton, the godlike Newton, the pious Lardner, and the frank and fearless Priestley, would associate their names, not merely with a section of the church, but with the church itself and with general humanity, and would, in a spirit of catholic love, invite to her communion, without one question as to the peculiarities of their creed, all who profess, and desire to practise, the religion of the once-despised but now-exalted Christ. * Even the truly excellent and high-minded Baxter says that a " church fallen to Arianism is unmeet for Christian communion and to be owned as a church of Christ ; " and that, when the Arian or Socinian " venteth his heresy, he may be by the magistrate punished for his crime, and by the churches be branded as none of their communion." (See Practical Works, vol. v. pp. 443-4; and vol. xv. p. 442 ) But living, as Baxter did, in an age of rampant bigotry, it is not surprising that h« could not wholly escape from the deleterious influences of sectarianism. 56 THE NATURE AND EVILS OF INTOLERANCE. SECT. V. — THE NATURE AND EVILS OF AN INTOLERANT OR A PERSECUTING SPIRIT. I always thought It was both impious and unnatural That such immanity and bloody strife Should reign among professors of one faith. SH.iESPEARB. How much is the face of religion altered from what it was in the days of the apostles! The ancient simplicity of doctrine is tm-ned into abundance of new or private opinions, introduced as necessary articles of rehgion ; and, alas ! how many of them false ! So that Christians, being too proud to accept of the ancient test of Christianity, cannot now agree among themselves what a Christian is, and who is to be esteemed a Christian ; and so they deny one another to be Clmstians, and destroy their charity to each other, and divide the church, and make themselves a scorn, by their di-Nisions, to the infidel world. ...... Take heed of engaging yourselves in a sect or taction. For, when once you depart from catholic charity, there groweth up, instead of it, a partial respect to the interest of that sect to which you join ; and you will tliink thtit whatsoever doth promote that sect doth promote Christianity, and whatever is against that sect is against the church or cause of God. A narrow, sectarian, separating mind will make all the truths of God give place to the opinions of his party ; and will measure the prosperity of the gospel in the world by the prosperity of his party, as if he had forgot that there are any more men on the face of the earth, or thought God regarded none but them. He -will not stick to persecute iU the rest of the church of Christ, if the interest of liis sect require it. When once men incorporate themselves into a party, it pDssesseth them with another spirit, even with a strange imcharitableness, injust- ice, cruelt)', and partiality. What hath the Christian world suffered by one sect's persecuting another, and faction rising up in fury to maintain its own interest, as if it had been to maintain the being of all religion! — lliciiAiiD Baxter: Christian Diredorij ; in Practical fVoHcs, vol. ii. ])p. 159-GO ; and vol. vi. p. 184. Party si)irit is a disposition that Ciumot be easily defined, and it would be diiHcult to include in a definition of it even its genus and species. It is a monstrous composition of all bad genuses and of all bad species. It is a hydra tliat reproduces while it seems to destroy itself, and wliich, when one head hath been cut off, instantly produces THE NATURE AND EVILS OF INTOLERANCE. 57 a thousand more. Sometimes it is superstition, which inchnes us it deify cert;iin idols, and, after having formed, to prostrate first before them. Sometimes it is ignorance, which prevents our perceiving the importance of some revealed truths, or the dreadfiJ consequences of some prejudices tliat we liad embraced m childhood. Sometimes it is arrogance, which rashly maintains whatever it has once advanced, — advanced perhaps inconsiderately, but which will afterwards be reso- lutely defended till death, for no other reason but because it has been once asserted, and because it is too mortifying to }ield, and say, " I am wrong; I was mistaken." Sometimes it is a spirit of mahce and barbarity, which abhors, exclaims against, persecutes, and would even exterminate, all who dare contradict its oracukr propositions. Oftener still, it is the union of all these \ices together. A party spirit is tliat disposition which envenoms so many hearts, separates so many famihes, di^^des so many societies ; which has produced so many excommunica- •ions, thundered out so many anathemas, drawn up so many canons, assembled so many councils, and has been so often on the point of subverting the gi*eat work of the Reformation, the noblest opposition that was ever formed against it. — James Sauhix : Sermons, vol L p. 44, Xew York edition of 1844. In a Sermon on the Sovereignty of Christ (vol. i. p. 247), this French Protestant makes a heart-stining and eloquent appeal against the spirit of bigotry which was in his day so rampant in the Reformed Church ; but it is too long for insertion here. It would have been gratifying, had this eminent divine carried out his principles of toleration and communion, so as to include all professing Christians. Though, by coercion, crimes, which are outward and overt acts, may effectually be restrained, it is not by coercion that those inward effects can be produced, — conviction in the understanding, or conver- sion in the heart. Now, these in religion are all in all. By racks and gibbets, fire and fagot, we may as rationally propose to mend the sight of a man Avho squints or is purblind, as by these means to enlighten the infidel's or the heretic's understanding, confute his errors, and bring liim to the behef of what he disbelieved before. Tiiat by such methods he may be constrained to profess wliat he disbeHeves stdl, nobody can deny, or even doubt. But to extort a hypocritical profes- sion is so far from being to promote the cause of God and religion, tliat nothing, by the acknowledgment of men of all parties, can stand more directly in opposition to it. — Dr. George Campbell : Lectures on Ecclesicutticnl Hisiorrj, Lect. 25. 68 THE NATURE AND EVILS OF INTOLERANCE. The animosity and iincharitxibleness which have evermore prevailed among the ditferent denominations of Christians is another cause of the growing hifidehty of the present age. It is not said now, as in the days of old, " See how these Clu'istians love one another ! " but ** See how tliese Christians hate one another ! " Catholics damn Protestants, and Protestants re^ile Catholics. One sect of Protestarts anathematizes another sect ; eveiy one holding forth the peculiar doctrines of their own party as the truths of God, in opposition to the peculiar doctrines of those who differ from them. . . . Listead of turning our zeal against the immoralities of the age, we have frequently turned it against men ■who, in every moral and religious pomt of view, were perhaps better than ourselves. A spirit of infallibiHty, in a greater or less degree, per\-ades all parties. In this uncluistian strife, the pm-e spu'it of the gospel has been banished from the gi-eat body of professors, and has taken up its abode among a few solitary mdi\'iduals, dispersed through the several chm'ches of Chiistendom. Men of discerning spirit, seeing this to be the state of things through all denominations, are led to suppose that there is no truth among any of them. The fact, however, is directly the contrary. They have all gotten the sa\ing truth, if they would hold it but in piety, charity, and righteousness. They all believe in the Saviour of the world. Let them only observe the moral and religious precepts of his gospel, and I do not see what more is neces- sary to entitle them to oiu* Cliiistian regards. They may not come up to the full orthodox belief of the gospel ; but they are such characters as our Saviour himself Avoidd not have treated with severity. And, until religion is reduced to the simple form in which he left it, there will never be an end to the bickerings and uncharitiibleness of party, and infidelity will of course prevail. — David Simpson : Plea for Religion, pp. lll-lo. Intolerance, under all its various modifications from insult to per- secution, from the clamors of bigots and the anathemas of councils to the dungeons and the chains and the racks and the flames em])loyed by the inquisitors for the glory of God, are the produce of spiritual pride Alas ! I am sutHciently versed in the history of churches, and the controversies of churchmen, to know with certainty, and to lamonl with sincerity, the "rabid and unrelenting" sjjirit which fre- quently, 1 do not say exclusively, distinguishes the odium thcologicunu In the very act of defending that religion which forbids us to " judge lest we be judged," those disj)utants have been too ])rone to censure persons, instead of examining things, — prone to confound particular THE NATURE AND ETILS OF INTOLERANCE. 59 opinions ^^tll general principles, — prone to load their adverxtries with in\-idious consequences "svliich those adversaries did not foresee or which, being told of them, they did not admit ; or which, admit- ting them, they would not consider as endences against their ^iews of facts and prmciples, — prone to assign criminal motives as the causes of erroneous tenets, — prone to let loose indiscriminate reproaches on the d:\untless inqiui-er and tht sliameless scomer, — prone to infer deistical propensities for heresy real or supposed, and to insinuate that professed deism is employed as a cloak for lurking atheism. Heaven forbid that I, or my friends, or my enemies, should have " so learned Christ " ! — Dr. S.oiuel Farr : Works, vol \\. p. 383 ; and vol. iv. pp. 539-40. I have read books professing to recommend the benign religion of Christ, and to refute all objections to it, yet -smtten in the ver}- gall of bitterness, and displaying a pride and malignity of heart which may justly prompt the unbeliever to say, " If your religion, of which you profess to be a behever, and which you describe as teaching charitv' or benevolence in its fullest extent, can produce no better specimen than your o^^•n temper and disposition, let me preserve my good natm-e, and you may keep your Christianity-, with all its boasted advantages, in your o^^'n exclusive possession." The late Bishop Warburton treated infidels vath a haughty asperity* scarcely proper to be shown to thieves and mm'derers, or any the most abandoned members of society. . . . Certain it is, that the spirit which he shows towards his opponents is not the spirit of grace ; that spirit M-hich is lo^■iug, gentle, and easy to be entreated. . . . Voltaire and Rousseau would have loved Chiistianity, and probably beHeved it, if it had not been distorted and disfigm-ed by the malignant passions of angry defenders of it, who showed their love of Christ by hating their brother, and who appeared by then- ac- tions to mean little by their professions, besides the gratification of pride and a^•arice Warburtonian insolence and ill-nature have done more injiu-y to the church, and to the cause of Chiistianity, than any of the \mters whom they were intended to gall and mortify. — ViCESlMUS Rnox : Christian Philosophy ; in Works, vo\ vii. pp. 205-6, 208. In the spirit of the foregoing paragraph, we would express our convic lion, that one of the greatest injuries done to the cause of Christianity arises from the effort which apologists sometimes make on its behalf, by overstating the results of doubt and unbelief, and vilifying the characters of sceptics and infidels ; instead of offering a calm but earnest and masterly exposition of its principles and evidences. We are fur from thinkiDg, that the state of 60 THE NATURE AND EYILS OF INTOLERANCE. mind leading to a rejection of the gospel is favorable to the growth of the spiritual affections, to the building-up of a truly disinterested character, or to the possession of the best and most cheering conceptions of God's will and man's destiny; and we would agree with the strongest partisan in con- demning that unhallowed will which mocks at whatever is pure or elevating in thought, or which tries to sap the foundations of faith in the unseen and eternal. But we dare not dive into the hearts of our unbelieving brethren, and say that in each and every case the blindness of men to the divinity of Christ's mission must necessarily have proceeded from base hearts and unholy lives. On the contrarj', we hope and tnist, that, though they may not exhibit those high models of perfection which are attainable by the lowliest disciples of Christ, there are some liable to scepticism more from an obliquity of their understandings than from a perversion of their hearts; who, without being able to own the name of the great Master, to address the Creator as their Father, or to hold unquestioning faith in a heaven beyond the tomb, have yet received a portion of the spirit of Jesus, have longings after a good God " if haply they might find him," with aspirations for immortality, and kind thoughts and good deeds for their brethren of man kind. And we hope and trust, that, when the Son of man shall sit upon his throne of judgment, and reject those who called him " Lord," but who did not what he commanded them, he will say to the honest and devout sceptic, " Come, thou child of doubt and error; come, thou blessed of my Father, who hath pitied thy involuntary wanderings and thy gropings after truth and goodness; come to me; for, though thou never didst own me personally, I accept what thou didst unto my brethren as done unto myself; — come to :ne of my Father's mansions, and be a child of God." How much is it to be lamented, that the Christian world should be so violently agitated by disputes, and di^ided into factions, on points which, it is allowed, in whatever way they are decided, do not enter into the essentials of Christianity ! When will the time arrive when the discijiles of Christ shall cordially join hand and heart with all who " hold the Head," and no other terms of communion be insisted upon in any church but what are necessary to constitute a real Christian ! The departure from a principle so directly resulting from the genius of Christianity, and so e\idently inculcated and implied in the Sacred Scriptures, has, in my apprehension, been productive of infinite mis- chief; nor is there room to anticipate the period of the universal diffusion and triumph of tlie Christian religion, but in consequenoe of its being completely renounced and abandoned. "What can be more repugnant to the beautiful idea which our Saviour gives us of his church, as one fold under one Shepherd, than the present aspect of Christendom, split into separate and hostile communions frowning defiance on each other, where each erects itself upon party principles, THE NATURE AND EVILS OF INTOLERANCE. 61 and selects its respective watchword of contention, as though the epithet of " militiint," when applied to the church, were designed to announce, not a stiite of conflict ^^•ith the powers of darkness, but of irreconcibhle intestine wai-fore and opposition ! — KoBERT Hall: Preface to Dis- course on 2 Cor. iv. 1; in Works, vol. i. pp. 131-2. It has ahrays seemed to me, that an extreme fondness for our " dear mother the panther " is a snare, to which the noblest minds are most subject. It seems to me, that all, absolutely all, of our rehgious affections and veneration should go to Chiist himself; and that Protestantism, Catholicism, and every other name, which expresses Christianity, and some differentia or proprium besides, is so far an e^•il, and, when made an object of attachment, leads to superstition and error. I groan over the di\isions of the church, of all our evils I think the greatest, — of Christ's church I mean ; that men should call themselves Roman CathoUcs, Church of England men. Baptists, Quakers, all sorts of various appellations ; forgetting that only glorious name of Christian which is common to all, and a true bond of union. I begin to think that things must be worse before they are better, and that nothing but some great pressure from without will make Christians cast away their idols of sectarianism ; the worst and most mischievous by which Christ's church has ever been plagued. — Thos. Arnold : Let. 73, 92 ; Life and Correspondence, pp. 223, 238. We have quoted these passages of Dr. Arnold, because they express the noble and catholic sentiment, that it is the duty of Christians to be more firmly attached to the principles which are common to all forms or modifica- tions of Christianity than to the differences by which they are distinguished from one another. But we do not altogether agree with the excellent writer in condemning the use of names, when these are employed only for the purpose of indicating the various shades and peculiarities of religious faith. So long as the human mind is diversified, as to its powers and capacities, in different individuals, by the circumstances of birth, culture, asspciation, and example, so long will there be a difference in the conceptions of men respecting some of the doctrines of which Christianity consists, the relations of these doctrines to each other, and their comparative importance, with the requisite modes of expressing them; and, as it is highly improbable that all minds will ever be cast in one unvarying mould, or that society will be 80 reconstructed and so raonotonized as to produce a precise unifonnity of tastes and opinions on any subject of engrossing interest, therefore will it ever be found convenient and necessary for the purposes of religious niter- cuurse, if not for the interests of truth, to mark the various dilferences in theologic belief by the use of terms more specific than that of " Christian." The great fault lies not in employing appellations to distinguish one braucb 8 62 THE NATURE AND EYILS OF INTOLERANCE. cf Christ's clmrch from another, but in choosing such as are derived from the names of distinguished men, as if parties regarded themselves rather as the followers of Arius or Athanasius, of Luther or Calvin, of Socinus, Wesley, and others, than as the common disciples of one great Master, — the members of only one rightful Head, Jesus Christ. Another fault, not less pernicious in its operation and results, is the associating with sectarian appellations, ideas of moral, not intellectual, difterences ; the regarding some of them as significant of all that is divine, and others of all that is demoniac; the applying to those who differ from us, terms which they do not them- Belves regard as just, and at the same time using them as nicknames, or . words of reproach, — as the representatives of impiety, blasphemy, and irreligion. But that such denominational terms as Unitarian and Ti'inita- rian, or Unitarian Christian and Trinitarian Christian, should excite feelings of rancor and ill-will amongst the various branches of the universal church, and be employed as synonymous with infidelity, idolatry, or antichristianity, is surely as unreasonable and improper as it would be to use the national distinctions of Frenchman and Spaniard to signify that these people are the natural enemies of Englishmen and Americans, and that they are, and ever will be, unworthy of belonging to the human race, — to the family ana brotherhood of man. Party spirit, in that sense in which I have spoken of it as a thing to be wholly renounced and sedulously shunned in religious mattors, consists in a general, mdefinite conlbrmity to the \iews and practices of some party, — a zeal for the advancement of that party and the promotion of their objects, generally, and without Hmitation either of the time or of the objects themselves. . . . "VVe are right when the objects proposed are in themselves good, and when these, and the means by which they ai'e promoted, are distinctly specified : we are right ui associating together for such purposes, pro%'ided we are careful to guard our minds against the insensible, insidious encroach- ments of party spirit; against being unconsciously led beyond the defined hmits; so as to bind ourselves, in any thing that concerns religion, by an indefinite, general allegiance to any man or set of men. ... If any one joins a regularly-formed rehgious association for the distributing of Bibles and other selected books, and for ether such specified purposes, he does not bind himself to a general conformity of sentiments and practice in other j)oints, with each other, or even with the majority of tlie members, but preserves his original inde- pendence. But it is otherwise if a man allows himself to be considered as belonging to a party, and as conforming indefinitely to their geneml views, their pre\'ailing tone of sentiment, and their estabhshed practice. He may Hatter liimself, indeed, that, whenever he may see reason to THE NATURE AND EVILS OF INTOLERANCE. 63 dif appro re of any of these, he can ■withdraw. But the odium he would incur by such a step is but too likely to malce liim hesitate at taking it ; and in the meantime, while hesitatin*^, he is drawn on by little and little to acquiesce in, and ultimately to countenance, much that he would originally, and judging for himself, have shrunk from. — Aiiciiiusnor AVhately : Essays on Dangers to Chiistian Faith, pp. 92, 94-0, 97-8. The divisions of the Christian church are undoubtedly much to be deplored. They present a most unseemly appearance to the world, of that religion which may be said to be " one and indimible." They imply much imperfection on the part of its professors, occasion great stumbling to unbeKevers, and impair the energy and resources which might be advantageously employed in assailing the common enemy. The causes of these dinsions are to be sought in the ignorance, the weakness, and the prejudices of Christians ; in indolent submission to autliority on one part, and the love of influence on another ; in the power of early habits and associations ; and, above all, in the influence of a worldly spirit, which warps and governs the mind in a thousand ways. — William Orme, in kis edition of Baxter's Practical Works, vol. i. pp. 97, 98. At that period [the period of the Reformation], Christians of every class and party believed that gross religious errors were punishable by the cinl magistrate, — a Popish doctrme which they had not yet renounced, and which, it is to be feared, is not even to this day and in the most enlightened part of the world, exterminated from the breasts of all Protestants. By cherishing such a principle, they betray the best of causes, furnish occasion for the most injurious representa- tations of Christianity, and, instead of proving that they have learned of their Master, who was " meek and lowly of heart," show that they imitate the misguided disciples who were for calling dowTi fire from heaven. — Dr. F. A. Cox: Life of Melancthon, pp. 279-80. Party spirit in rehgion is another spurious proof of piety. . . . Whenever men act together, the mind, by one of its mysterious powers, sees a new being in the rniion, and soon forms almost a personal attachment for it. It enlists men's pride and ambition, and arouses all their energies ; and devotion to this imaginary existence becomes often one of the strongest passions of the human mind. It is one of the sins to which the human heart is most prone, and in which it is most impregnable. A man usually thinks it a virtue. He sees he is not working for himself, and persuades himself that it is the 64 THE NATURE AND EVILS OF INTOLERANCE. principles of his party which are the object of his attachment Bat this is not the case ; for, when these principles spread partially into other parties, he is always displeased. He is never satisfied at seeing his opponents coming to the truth : they must come over to his side. This . . . spirit bm-ns everj-Avhere in the Christian church : it influences parish against parish, and society against society, and makes each denomination jealous and suspicious of the rest. It frowns upon the truth and the Christian prosperity which is not found within its own pale. It is the spirit of intolerance and exclusion. " We fomid one," it says, " casting out devils in thy name, and we forbade him because he foUoweth not us." Banish this spirit for ever. K men will " cast out de\ils," no matter whom they follow : they must do it, if they do it at all, in Jesus' name, and no matter for the rest. We must not froAvn upon real piety or truth, because they do not appear m our own uniform. — Jacob Abbott : The Corner-stone, pp. 198-200. The bigots of an earlier age [the Jews of Christ's time] were accus- tomed to speak of themselves as chosen of God, before all meaner creatures, holy and clean; while the Gentile nations were siimers beyond the reach of salvation, reprobate dogs. And why was tliis ? It was because they, like the Pharisees of modem times, clung to the dogma, " out of their chiu-ch, no ^Ivation ; " the latent principle of death in all those sects which have embraced, or ever do embrace, such a creed Every man is to be esteemed who honestly endeavors to give a reason for his behef, and claims the freedom of its peaceful enjoyment, however mistaken or absurd he may be. To despise the intellect of another, to lunt his want of integrit}', or to ridicule his convictions of right, is but poor eridence either of philo- sophical judgment or Christian charity. The spirit that leagued with an emperor and excited him to murder the Anabaptists of Mimster, burned Servetus at Geneva, hunted Roger Wilhams beyond the boundaries of ciAiKzation with no less savage rage, persecuted the elder Carroll in Maryland, and more recently birnied the convent at Charles- town, as well as the churches of Philadelphia, is part and parcel of the bigoted priestcraft that dug the prisons of Venice and erected the Inquisition in Spain. Milton had good reason for asserting, that " Presbyter is but old priest writ large." — E. L. Magoon : Republi- can Christianitij, pp. 131, 2o9. The refusal to exercise forbearance, and the attempt to ensure a complete unilbrmity, tend necessarily to produce, and, in the past history of the chui*ch, liave actually produced, consequences the most THE NATURE AND EVILS OF INTOliERANCE. 65 inj jnous and deplorable. While the conduct in question involves an Rud;icious in\*asion of the prerogatives of Jesus Christ, by making new bAvs for his church, it tends incAitably to introduce those very strifes and tUvisions which it professes to avert ; it checks free inquiry, and nurses a spirit of tame and slavish submission to human authority ; it leads the professors of religion to fix their regards chiefly on subordi- nate topics and sectarian peculiarities, to the neglect of the vital truths of the gospel and " the weightier matters of the law ; " it arrests the current of brotherly love, or turns it into a wrong cliannel, by divert- ing it towards those who reflect our own Aiews and sentiments rather than towards those who exhibit conspicuously the hneaments of the Sa\iour's lovely image. All these baleful effects it has actually pro- duced to a frightful extent; and, in addition, it lias sometimes occasioned the practice of an unprincipled laxity ; for the members of the same church have contented themselves "with an agreement in a form of words, while yet they differed, and knew that they differed, in sentiment; thus tolerating or practising -vile dissimulation to avoid an avowed and honest forbearance. — Dr. Kobert B.\LMER : The. Scripture Principles of Unity ; in Essays on Christian Union, pp. 51, 52. To avoid doing an apparent injustice to Dr. Balmer, we have given tlie latter sentence ; but, though heartily agreeing with him in his disapproval of" an unprincipled laxity" and "vile dissimulation" as to matters of theo- logical opinion, we cannot help thinking that the less a church interferes respecting the private sentiments of its members, and the more it attends to the purity of their conversations and lives, the better will it be for the true interests of Christianity, and for the peace and happiness of man. Disputants are loudest and fiercest where God says least Notwithstiinding the power of pubKc opinion in restraining on plat- forms, and in the pulpit, the exhibitions of a -wretched sectarian and proselytizing spirit, the demon is not cast out, and appears even more horrid when it is seen looking from beneath the veil of an angeL Paiiy spirit descends meekly fi:om the pulpit, and takes its station at the head of the Lord's table, and from thence excommunicates many of the Lord's people, whom a few minutes before it pronounced to be brethren in Christ Jesus. The feast of love is made the feast of schism ; and evangehcal denominations, within the walls of their own temples, are as much keen partisans, excommunicating each other, as if there was no common ground on which they could meet, and as if all but themselves were given over to Satan Bigotry and 6* 66 THE NATURE AND EVILS OF INTOLERANCE. sectarianism are still hot and scorching ; only they are now ashamed of their real nature, and have put on various disguises, connected more or less with an assumption of extraordinary strictness and piety. When the men of the world see professing Christians broken up into httle parties, which seem to hate each other in the inverse ratio in which they are agreed on the gi-eat cardinal points of their religion, they are naturally led to consider Ghristiamty as based, to a considerable extent, upon pride and priestcraft When they meet with the same rivalships and jealousies among saints that they meet with among secular men, they judge of them by the same standai-d. When sect " clashes with sect as liarshly and vmkindly as poHtical factions " do, they consider all rehgious di\'isions as no better than a strife for power, drive all schismatics out of their presence, and turn aside altogether from what they consider a lurking, biting, 2)lu-enetic religion. The bitterness wth which theologians will speak and ■vsTite of each other, and the rancor and solemnity with which they ^rill excommunicate each other at the head of the Lord's tiible, while yet they are con- fessedly one in Christ Jesus, is to worldly poHticians a matter of utter loathing. — Dr. Ga\tn Struthers : Party Spirit, its Prevalence and Jnsidiousness ; in Essays on Christian Union, pp. 381, 385, 391, 439-40. The deplorable workings and effects of the sectarian spirit are pointed out with much impartiality in the Essay from which we have made the above extract, and are shown not to be peculiar to the Eoman Catholic church, but to prevail in the English and Scotch establishments, and in the various " evangelical " bodies, particularly in North Britain, which have dissented from Papal and Protestant Episcopacy. Surely, if men who, forgetful of the benevolent spirit of the Master whom they profess to serve, and of the whole genius of his religion as contained in the New Testament, look down with supercilious pride upon such of their brethren as disagree with them merely in forms of church government and in subordinate points of faith, — if such men, to whom Christ's commandment of love seems to be still almost literally " new " or unheai-d of, have any just claim to be called his disciples, or regarded as members of his invisible church, — surely, those whom they pronounce to be heterodox or unevangelical, but who, notwithstanding, "love the Lord Jesus in sincerity," and, remembering his precept, " By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another," would not confine their atlections and their sympathies tc tlieir own narrow circle, but would extend them to all who " name the name of Christ, and depart from iniquity," — surely, these may humbly hope that the great Founder of the universal church will permit them to Bit at his feet as docile and reverent disciples, to learn more of his heavenly mind, and drink richer draughts of his holy and benign suirit- THE WATCHTTORDS OF PARTY WARFARE. 67 SECT. M. — F.irrn, oRTnoDoxr, heresy, schism, axd other terms, OFTEN USED AS WATCHWORDS OF PARTY WARFARE. They prove their doctrine orthodox By ugly words and blows and knocks. Sauu£L Butler, modified. ^ 1. Faith and Oktiiodoxy. Almost all sects pretend that they are ^\iser and of sounder judg- ment tlnn all the Christian world besides; yea, those that most palpably contradict the Scriptures (as the Papists in their half- communion and unintelligible sernce), and have no better reason why tliey so believe or do but because others have so believed and done already. But the greatest pretenders to orthodoxness ai'e not the most orthodox ; and, if they were, I can value them for that which they excel, without abating my due respect to the rest of the chm-ch. For the whole church is orthodox in all the essentials of Christianity, or else they were not Christians ; and I must love all that are Christians with that special love that is due to the members of Clirist, though I must superadd such esteem for those that are a Httle ^riser or better than others, as they deserve. — Richard Baxter : Christian Directory ; in Works, vol ii. p. 122. A man may be orthodox in ever}- point ; he may not only espouse right opinions, but zealously defend them against all opposers ; he may think justly concerning the incarnation of our Lord, concerning the ever-blessed Trinity, and every other doctrine, contained m the oracles of God ; he may assent to all the three Creeds, — that called the Apostles', the Nicene, and the Athanasian ; and yet it is possible he may have no religion at all, no more than a Jcm*, Turk, or Pagan. — South ; apud Southey's Commonplace Book, second series, p. 16. Ever}- mean person who has nothing to recommend him but his orthodoxy, and owes that perhaps wholly to his ignorance, will tliink [if you venture to pubHsh an unfashionable opuiion] he has a right to trample upon you with contempt, to asperse your character with virulent reflections, to run down your writings as mean and pitiable performances, and give hard names to opinions which he does not understand. — BisHOP Hare : Study of the Scriptures ; in Sparks^a Collection of Essays and Tracts, voL ii. p. 178. 68 THE WATCHWORDS OF PARTY WARFARE. Men have thought it an honor to be st}-led that which they call zealous orthodox, to be fii-mly linked to a certain party, to load others with calumnies, and to damn by an absolute authority the rest of mankind, but have taken no care to demonstrate the sincerity and fervor of their piety by an exact observation [obser\-ance] of the gospel morals; which has come to pass by reason that orthodoxy agrees very well with oiir passions, whereas the severe morals of the gospel are incompatible with our way of living. — Le Clerc : Five Letters on the Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, p. 108. As to orthodox, I should be glad to know the meaning of the epithet. Nothing, you say, can be pbiner. The orthodox are those who, in religious matters, entertain right opinions. Be it so. How, then, is it possible I should know who they are tliat entertain right opinions, before I know what opinions are right ? I must therefore unquestionably know orthodoxy, before I can know or judge who are orthodox. Now, to know the truths of religion, which you call orthodox, is the very end of my inquiries ; and am I to begin these inqmries on the presumption, that without any inquiry I know it alreadv ? There is nothing about which men have been, and still are, more di\-ided. It has been accoimted orthodox di\inity in one age, which hath been branded as ridiculous fanaticism in the next. It is at this day deemed the perfection of orthodoxy in one country, which in an adjacent country is looked upon as damnable heresy. Nay, in the same country, hath not every sect a standard of their own ? Accordingly, when any person seriously uses the word, before we can rmderstand liis meaning, we must know to what commimion he belongs. AVhen that is kno\Mi, we comprehend him perfectly. By the orthodox he means always those who agree in opinion with him and his party ; and by the heterodox, those who differ from him. When one says, then, of any teacher whatever, that all the orthodox acknowledge his orthodoxy, he says neither more nor less tlian this, " All who are of the same opinion with him, of which number I am one, believe him to be in the right." And is this any thing more than what may be asserted by some person or other, of every teacher thiit ever did or ever will exist ? . . . To say the truth, we have but too many ecclesiastic terms and phrases which savor grossly of the arts of a crafty ])riesthood, who meant to keep the world in ignorance to secure an implicit faith in their own dogmas, and to intimidate men from an im])artial in(]uii-y jito holy ^^'^•it. — Dr. George Campbell: Lectures on Systematic Theology and Pulpit Eloquence, pp. 112-15. THE WATCHWORDS OF PARTY WARFARE. 69 A suspicion of fallibility would have been an useful principle to the professors of Christianity in every age : it would have choked the spirit of persecution in its birth, and have rendered not only the church of Rome, but every churcli in Christendom, more shy of assuming to itself the jiroud title of orthodox, and of branding ever)' other with the opprobrious one of heterodox, than any of them have hitherto been. ... It is dilficult for any man entu-ely to divest himself of all pre- judice ; but he may surely take care, that it be not accompanied with an uncharitable propensity to stigmatize with reproachful a])pellations those who cannot measure the rectitude of the di\-ine dispensations by his rule, nor seek their way to heaven by insisting on tlie path which he, in his overweening wisdom, has arrogantly presented as the only one which cm lead men thither What is this thing called orthodoxy, which mars the fortunes of honest men, misleads the judg- ment of princes, and occasionally endangers the stability of thrones ? In the true meaning of the term, it is a sacred thing to which every denomination of Christians lays an arrogant and exclusive claim, but to which no man, no assembly of men, since the apostolic age, can prove a title. — Bishop Watson : Preface to Theological Tracts, vol i. pp. XV. xA-ii. ; and Life, p. 45 1. The most ardent zeal, the most pertinacious obstinacy, is displayed in preserving the minutest article of what is called orthodox opinion. But, alas ! what, in a world of woe like this, — what signifies our boasted orthodoxy in matters of mere speculation, in matters totally irrelevant to human happiness or miserj^ ? AYhat signifies a jealous vigilance over thirty-nine ai-ticles, if we neglect one article, — the law of charity and love ; if we overlook the " weightier matters " which Christ himself enacted as articles of his religion, indispensably to be subscribed by all who hope for salvation in him ; I mean forgiveness of injiuies, mercy, philanthi-opy, humility ? — ViCESlMUS Knox : Preface to Antipolemus ; in Works, vol. v. pp. 417-18. Let us recollect, that speculations, however sound in their princi- ples, however exact in their process, and however important in their results, are insuffirient to fill up the measure of our duty, if they terminate solely in our inward persuasion, or in outward profession, or in transient though ardent feeling, or in mere orthodoxy, be it real or imaginary-. — Dr. Samuel Parr : Sermon on Faith ; in f Forks, vol. V. p. 361. In the New Testament, the absolute subserriency of doctrinal state- ments to the formation of the principles and habits of practical pietv 70 THE WATCHWORDS OF PARTY WARFARE. is never lost sight of: we are continually reminded, that obedience is the end of all knowledge and of all religious impressions. But the tendency, it is to be feared, of much popular and orthodox instruction is to bestow on the belief of certain doctrines, combined \vith strong religious emotion, the importance of an ultimate object, to the neglect of that great principle, that " circumcision is nothing, and uncircum- cision nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God." — Robert Hall : Preface to Ajdinomianism Unmasked ; in Works, vol. ii. p. 461. Orthodoxy by itself does not touch the conscience — does not quicken the affections : it does not connect itself in any manner with the moral faculties. It is not a religion, but a theoiy ; and, inasmuch as it awakens no sphitual feelings, it consists easily either with the grossest absurdities or with the grossest corruptions. Orthodoxy, powerless when alone, becomes even efficient for evil at the moment when it combines itself Mith asceticism, superstition, and hierarchical ambition. What is the religious history of Eiu-ope, througli a long course of time, but a nan-ative of the hoiTors and the immorahties that have sprung jfrom this very combination ? — Isaac Taylor : Lectures on Spiritual Christianity, pp. 100-1. This writer, however, holds Orthodoxy, or Ti-initarianism, to be the basia of all Christian piety. Let us, in explanation of the term "faith," advert to the wide distinction which obtains between the popular imagination of what it is, and the apostle's definition of what it is. The common conception about it is, that it consists in a correct apprehension of the truths of .theology, or soimdness of behef as opposed to error of behcf. It appears to be a very prevalent impression, that faith Hes in om* judging rightly of the doctrines of the Bible, or that we have a proper mider- standing of them. And, in this way, the privileges annexed to faith in the New Testament are very apt to be regarded as a sort of remu- neration for the soimdness of our orthodoxy. Heaven is viewed as a kind of reward, if not for the worth of our doings, at least for the Morth and the justness of our dogma ti\. Under the okl economy, eternal life was held out as a retm-n to us for right practice. Under the new economy, is it conceived by many, that it is held out to us as a return for right thinking. Figure two theologians to be fisted, the one against the other, in controversy. He who espouses error is estimated to be a heretic, and wanting in the laitL He who espouses THE TTATCBnrORDS OF PARTY T7ARFARE. 71 truth is estimated to be a sound believer, so that his laith resolves itself into the accuracy of his creed. It is not, " Do this, and you shall live ; " but it is, " Think thus, and you shall live ; " and this seems to be the }3opular and prevailing imaginatioa of being saved by faith, and being justified by faith. Now, look to the apostoHcal definition of iliith, as being the " subsUmce of tilings hoped for, and the e\*idence of tilings not seen." .... Let us look to it, not as the mere acquiescence of tlie understanding in the dogmata of any sound or recognized creed, but as that which brings the futui'e and the yet unseen of revelation so home to the mind, as that the mind is filled vnth a sense of their reahty, and actually proceeds upon it. — Pr Thom.\s Chalmers: Select Works, voL i. pp. 410-11. It may be safely afiirmed, that no weak and fallible man ever yet held the whole of revealed truth free from the slightest mistake or defect. The bigot, however, will make no such confession. He maintiins and defends his o^^^l creed as being perfect. It is the very t}'pe of truth. He condemns every man either as not holding the truth, or as holding it in a very defective way, who does not see A\'ith his eyes, and believe ^vith his heart. All must lie do^\^l on the bed of orthodoxy which he has spread, and be conformed to it in length and breadth ; otherwise he must be cast out of the church as a heretic, and shunned as if infected with leprosy. — Dr. Ga'^^x Struthebs : Party Spirit ; in Essays on Christian Union, p. 420. § 2. Heresy a>'d Schism. It is a vain thing to talk of a heretic; for a man for his heart can think no otherwise than he does think. In the primitive times, there were many opinions, nothmg scarce but some one or other held. One of these opinions being embraced by some prince, and received into his kingdom, the rest were condemned as heresies; and his reUgion, which was but one of the several opinions, first is said to be orthodox, and so have continued ever since the apostles. — John Seldex : Tab!e Talk : art. 4, Opinion. The word " heresy " is used in Scripture in a good sense, for a sect or dinsion of opinion ; or sometimes in a bad sense, for a false opinion, signally condemned. But no heresies are noted in Scripture but such ^s are great en-ors practical, such whose doctrines taught impietv, or such who dem'od the coming of Christ directly or by consequence ; aot remote or wiredrawn, but prime and immediate. Heresy is not 72 THE WATCHWORDS OF PARTY WARFARE. an error of the understanding, but an error of the will ; and this is clearly insinuated in Scripture, in the style whereof faith and a good life are made one duty, and -sice is called opposite to faith, and heresy opposed to holiness and sanctity. Indeed, if we remember that St. Paul reckons heresy amongst the works of the flesh, and ranks it with all manner of practical impieties, we shall easily perceive, that, if a man mingles not a \\ce with his opinion, — if he be innocent in his life, though deceived in his doctrine, — his error is his miser}', not his crime. Now, ever)' man that errs, though in a matter of consequence, so long as the foundation is entire, cannot be suspected justly guilty of a crime to give his eiTor a formality of heresy. If his error be not voluntary, and part of an ill life, — then, because he Hves a good life, he is a good man, and therefore no heretic. A wicked person in his error becomes heretic, when the good man in the same error shall have all the rewards of faith. For whatever an iU man beheves, if he therefore beheve it because it serves his own ends, be his behef true or false, the man hath an heretical mind ; for, to serve his ovra ends, his mind is prepared to believe a He. But a good man that believes what, according to liis light and upon the use of his moral industry, he thinks true, whether he hits upon the right or no, — because he hath a mind desirous of truth, and prepared to believe every truth, is therefore acceptable to God, because nothing hindereth him from it but what he could not help. A man may maintain an opinion that is in itself damnable, and yet he — not knowing it so, and being in\incibly led into it — may go to heaven r his opinion shall burn, and himself be saved. However, I find no opinions in Scriptm-e called " damnable " but what are impious in materia practica, or entirely destructive of the faith or the body of Christianity, such of which St Peter speaks, chap. ii. 1. — Abridged from Jeremy Taylor : Liberty of Prophesying, sect. ii. 2, 8, 12, 22, 36 ; in Works, vol. vii. pp. 456, 46 1-2, 466, 480, 492. Deluded people ! that do not consider, that the greatest heresy in the world is a wicked life, because it is so directly and fundamentally opposite to the whole design of the Christian faith and religion ; and that do not consider, that God will sooner forgive a man a iuuidred defects of his understanding than one fault of his will. — Archbishop TiLLOTSON : Sermon 34 ; in Works, vol. ii. p. 333, 1.ond. edit, of 1748. Hear me with that remnant of meekness and humility which thou nast left, thou conficlent, bitter, censorious man! Why must that vcvxn needs be tak.en for a heretic ; a schismatic ; a refractory, stubborn, THE WATCinrORDS OF PARTY WARFARE. 73 self-willed person ; an antichristian, carnal, formal man, who is not of thy opinion in point of a controversy, of a form, of an order, of a circumstance, or subscription, or such like ? It is possible it may be so ; and it is possible thou mayest be more so thyself. But hast thou so patiently heai'd all that he liath to say, and so clearly discerned the ti'uth on thy own side, and that this truth is made so evident to liim as that notliing but Aulful obstinacy can resist it, as will waiTant all thy censures and contempt ? or is it not an oven'aluing of thy own understanding which makes thee so easily condemn aU as insufferable that cUfter from it ? Moreover, your course is contrary to Christian humiUty, and })roclaimeth the most abominable pride of the dinders. That you should call all the rest of the world schismatics and heretics, and say that none are Christians but you, — why, what are you above other men, that you should say, " Come not near me : I am hoHer than you " ? Have none in the world, think you, faith, hope, and charity, but you ? Can you indeed believe that none shall be saved but you ? Abs that you should not only so much overlook God's graces in your brethren, but also be so insensible of your own infii'mities ! Have you so many errors and sins among you, and yet are none of the church but you ? — Richard Baxter : Pradicoi f Forks, vol XV. pp. 116-17 ; and voL x\L pp. 323-4. "Why are not ecclesiastical bodies as rigid and severe against heresies of practice as they are against heresies of speculation ? Certainly there are heresies in moraHty as well as in theolog}'. Councils and sj-nods reduce the doctrines of faith to certain prepositional points, and thun- der anathemas against aU who refuse to subscribe them. They say, " Cursed be he who does not beHeve the Di^•inity of Christ ; cursed be he who does not beHeve the hji^ostatical union, and the mystery of the cross ; cursed be he who denies the inward operations of grace, and the in-esistible efficacy of the Holy Spirit ! " I wish they would make a few canons against moral heresies. How many are there of this kind among our people! — James Saurix : Sermons, vol. ii. p. 17. How much soever of a schismatical or heretical spii-it, in the apostohc sense of the terms [" schism " and " heresy "], may have contributed to the formation of the different sects into wliich the Christian world is at present divided, no person \^ho, in the spmt of candor and charity, adheres to that which, to the best of his judgment, is right, though in tliis opinion he should be mistaken, is, in the Scriptural sense, either schismatic or heretic ; and he, on the contrar)', whatever sect he belong to, is more entitled to these odious appella- 7 74 THE WATCmrORDS OP PARTY WARFARE. tions, who is most ajDt to throw tlie imputation upon others. Both terms, for they denote only ditFerent degrees of the same bad quality always indicate a disposition and practice unfriendly to peace, harmoj/y, and love. — Dr. George Campbell : The Four Gospels, Diss. ix. part iv. sect 15. Who authorized either you or the pseudo-Athanasius to intei-j^ret catholic faith by behef, arising out of the apparent predominance of the grounds for, over those against, the truth of the positions asserted ; much more, by belief as a mere passive acquiescence of the understandmg ? Were all damned who died during the period when totusfere niundua /actus est Arianus, as one of the Fathers admits ? Alas ! alas ! how long will it be ere Christians take the plain middle road between into- lerance and mdifference, by adopting the literal sense and Scriptimil import of heresy, that is, wilful error, or behef originating in some perversion of the will ; and of heretics (for such there are, nay, even orthodox heretics), that is, men wilfully unconscious of their own \N-ilfulness, in their limpet-like adhesion to a favorite tenet ? — Samuel Taylor Coleridge : Literary Remains ; in Works, vol. v. p. 386-7, as eaired by Professor Shedd. W e Know no greater heresy than mmecessarily to diride good men, nor any object more worthy of ambition than to conciliate and imite them. Let the profane Ciilumniate ; let the sceptic deride ; let the bigot froAvn ; let the base and interested partisan seek to cover -with unmerited dishonor all who cannot lend themselves to the support of his darhng peculiarities, or his still more darling emoluments : but the Christian should endeavor, above all things, to present in his o^vn pra/y- tice, and so to win upon his brethren that they may equally present in theirs, the all-attractive spectacle of fidelity, tempered yAih. goodness, and blended with humility and love. — Dr. Robert Stephens M'All : Discourses, vol. i. p. 300. Dr. M'All was an English Independent, or Orthodox Congi-cgationalist, whose Discourses were edited after his death by the celebrated Wnrdlaw. They are replete with Christian sentiment, expressed in a high tone of eloquence. INIeantime, I Arish to remind you, that one of St. Paul's flivorite notions of heiesy is "a doting about strifes of words." One side may be right in such a strife, and the other wrong ; but both are heretical Qs to C/hristianity, be&iuse thoy lead men's minds awiy from the love of God and of Christ to questions essentially tempting to the intel- lect, and which tend to no profit towards godliness. And, again. T THE WATCHTVORDS OF PARTY TV.VRFARE. 75 think you ^nll find tLat all the " false doctrines " spoken of by the apostles are doctrines of sheer wickedness ; tint their coiinteri)art in modern times is to be found in the Anabaptists of Munstcr, or the Fifth Momrchy men, or in mere secuLir liigh churchmen or hypcK critical evangehcals, — in those who make Christianity minister to lust, or to covetousness, or to ambition ; not in those who interpret Scriptm'e to the best of their conscience and ability, be their interpretation ever so erroneous. . . . Make the church a HA^ng and active society, like that of the first Christians, and then diflferences of opinion wiU either cease, or will si^iify nothing. Look through the Epistles, and you will find nothing there condemned as heresy but what was mere wickedness, if you consider the real nature and connection of the tenets condemned. For such diiferences of opinion as exist among Christians now, the fourteenth chapter of the Romans is the applicable lesson; not such passages as Tit iii. 10, or 2 John 10, 11, or Jude 3 (that much abused verse), or 19 or 23. There is one anathema which is, indeed, holy and just, and most profitable for ourselves as well as for others, 1 Cor. xvi. 22; but this is not the anathema of a fond theology. — Dr. ThoM-\s Arnold: Letters 70, 71; in Life and Correspondence, pp. 221-2. K persons make their oami crotchets articles of faith, and insist upon a perfect uniformity where it is not insisted upon by Jesus, they are schismatics of the very worst stamp, while yet they are proclaiming themselves strenuous advocates for the truth. — Ga^tx Stritiiers : Party Spirit, its Prevalence and Insidiousjiess ; in Essays on Chris- tian Union, p. 420. Such sentiments are honorable alike to the heads and the hearts ot those who penned them. They are the deductions of soimd reason, or the out- bursts of virtuous indignation, against the dicta of a presumptuous and an impious Infallibility, which decides, by feeling and prejudice and passion, what are truth and error, saving faith and damnable opinion. They may be regarded as indirect testimonies to the value of Christian Unitarianisra; for, attached as the witnesses were to Trinitarian doctrines, they clung still more devotedly to the principles of Christian charitj-; and these principles are surely better promoted by a belief in the doctrine of One Universal Father, who " is Love," than by that of a Trinity of persons in the Godhead, with its accompanying tenets. Happily, however, for Christendom, the wisdom and goodness which are the legitimate fruits of gospel simplicity have a more powerful influence on the hearts and conduct of many of the professors of reputed Orthodoxy, than the barren crudities, the metaphysical absurdities, and infallible dogmas of creeds. 76 TUE CONSTITUENTS OF THE CHRISTIAN CinJRCH. gECT. VII. — THE CONSTITUENTS OF THE CHIIISTIAN CHURCH. WISE AND GOOD MEN IN ALL DENOMINATIONS. What is a Church? — Let Truth and Reason speak, They would reply, " The faithful, poor, and meek, From Christian folds ; the one selected race, Of all professions, and in every place." Crabbe. He that fears the Lord of heaven and earth, walks humbly before him, thankfully lays hold of the message of redemption by Christ Jesus, strives to express his thankfulness by the smcerity of liis obe- dience, is sorry with all his soul when he comes short of his duty, walks watchfully in the denial of himself, and holds no confederacy with any lust or knoA\Ti sin ; if he falls in the least measure, is restless till he hath made his peace by true repentance, is true to his promise, just in his actions, charitable to the poor, sincere in his devotions ; that will not deliberately dishonor God, though with the gi'eatest security of impunity ; that hath his hope in heaven, and his conversa- tion in heaven; that dare not do an unjust act, though never so much to his advantage, — and all this because he sees Him that is imisible, and fears liim because he loves him ; fears him as well for his good- ness as his greatness, — such a man, whether he be an Episcopal, or a Presbyterian, or an Independent, or a Baptist ; whether he wears a surplice, or wears none; whether he hears organs, or hears none; whether he kneels at the communion, or for conscience' sake stands oi sits, — he hath the life of religion in him, and that life acts in him, and Arill conform his soul to the image of his Sariour, and ■\ralk along with him to eternity, notwithstanding his practice or non-practice of these indifferents. — Sir Matthew Hale: A Discourse of Religion, pp. 33-4, Lond. 1684. It is a hard case that we should think all Papists and Anabaptists and Sacramentiries to be fools and wicked persons. Certainly, among all these sects, there are very many wise men and good men, as well as erring. And although some ... do not think their auver^aries look hke other men, yet certiinly we find, by tlie results of Ineir dis- courses and the transactions of their affairs of civil soeiet}', that they are men that sjjeak and make syllogisms, and use reason, and read Scri])ture ; and although they do no more undorstuid all of it than we do, yet they endeavor to understmd as much as concerns them, even all tliat tliey can, even all that concerns rcpentmce from dead worksi WISE AND GOOD MEN IN ALL DENOMINATIONS. 77 and fliith in our Lord Jesus Oirist And, therefore, mothinlvs this also should be another consideration distinguishing the persons ; for, if the persons be Christians in their lives, and Christians in their pro- fession, — if they acknowledge the eternal Son of God for their Master and their Lord, and live in aU relations as becomes persons making such professions, — why, then, should I hate such persons whom God .oves, and who love God ; who are partakers of Christ, and Christ hath a title to them ; who dwell in Christ, and Christ in them, — because their understandings have not been brought up like mine, have not had the same masters ? Sec. — Jeremy Taylor : Epist. Dedic. to the Liberty of Prophesying ; in Jforks, voL vii. p. ccccii. There is but one universal church of Chiistians in the world, of which Christ is the only King and Head, and every Christian is a member. ... If thou hast fiiith and love and the Spirit, thou art certainly a Christian, and a member of Christ and of this universal church of Christians. . . . Thou art not saved for being a member of the church of Rome or Corinth or Ephesus or Philippi or Thessa- lonica, or of any other church, but for being a member of the universal chm'ch or body of Chiist ; that is, a Christian. — KiciL\RD Baxter : Christian Directory ; in Practical JForks, vol. ii. p. 13S. We should be so far from lessening the number of true Chiistians, and from confining the chm-ch of Christ ^rithin a narrow compass, so as to exclude out of its communion the far greatest part of the profes- sors of Christianity-, that, on the contrary, we should enlarge the kingdom of Christ as much as we can, and extend om* charitv to all churches and Christians, of what denomination soever, as flir as regard to truth and to the foundations of the Christian reHgion wiU permit us to beheve and hope well of them ; and mther be contented to err a little on the favorable and charitable part, than to be mistaken on the censorious and damning side. — ARCHBisnop Tillotson : Semu 31 ; in Works, vol. ii. p. 266. Men's different capacities and opportvmities and tempers and edu- cation considered, it is in vain to expect that all good men should agree in all their notions of religion, any more than we see thev do in any other concerns whatsoever. And who am I that I should dare to pronounce a sentence of reprobation against any one in whom there appear all the other characters of an humble, upright, sincere Christian, only because he has not perhaps met with the same information, or read the same books, or does not argue the same Avav; in a word, because he is not so wise, or, it may be is wiser than I am, and sees 7* 78 THE CONSTITUENTS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH farther than I do, and therefore is not exactly of my opinion in every thing ? . . . Glen's understandings are different, and they "will argue different ways, and entertain different opinions from one another, about the same tilings, and yet may nevertheless deserve on all sides to be esteemed very good and wise men for all that. — Archbishop Wake r Sermons and Discourses, pp. 184-5. It is to be regretted, that, afterwards in the same discourse, this distin- guished prelate seems disposed to confine his Christian charity, here so liberally expressed, only to Protestants who are agreed as to the " funda- mentals of faith." I think I have but one objection against )"our proceedings, — your insisting only on Presbyterian government, exclusive of all other ways of worshipping God. Will not tliis, dear sir, necessarily lead you, whenever you get the upper hand, to oppose and persecute all that differ from you in their chm'ch government, or outward way of wor- shipping God ? . . . For my own part, though I profess myself a mini- ster of the chm-ch of England, I am of a catholic spirit ; and, if I see a man who loves the Lord Jesus in sincerity, I am not very soHcitous to what outward communion he belongs. — George WniTEFlELD ; Letter 150 ; in Works, vol. i. p. 140. Persons may be quite right in then- opinions, and yet have no rehgion at all ; and, on the other hand, persons may be truly religious, who hold many ^vl•ong opinions. Can any one possibly doubt of tliis, wliile there are llomanists in the world ? For who can deny, not only that many of them formerly have been truly religious (as Thomas k Kem})is, Gregory Lopez, and the Marquis de Rent)-), but that many of them, even at this day, are real, inward Christians ? And yet what a heap of erroneous opinions do they hold, delivered by tradition from tlieir fathers ! Nay, who can doubt of it while there are Calvuiists in the world, — assertors of absolute predestination ^ For who will dare to affirm, that none of these are truly religious men? Not only many of them in the last century were burning and shining lights, but many of them are now real Christians, loving God and all mankind. And yet what are all the absurd opinions of all the llomanists in the world, comjjared to that one, that the God of love, the wise, just, merciful Father of the spirits of all flesh, has from all eternity fixed an absolute, unchangeable, irresistible decree, that jxirt of mankind shall be saved, do what they will, and the rest damned, do what they CiUi.^^--- JoiiN Wesley : Sentwn GO ; in J Forks, vol. ii. p. 20. WISE AND GOOD MEN IN ALL DENOMINATIONS. 79 To ever)' truly pious and consistent Christian, literate or illiterate, he [the Author of the " Plea "] would give the right hand of fellow- ship, and bid him God-speed, in the name of the Lord, wherever he is fomid. ... A Uberal-muided and benevolent soul, who embraces every human being in the arms of his charity; who rises superior to the superstitious tribe of infallible doctors,- the genus irritabile vatum; who can pierce through the guise of human distinctions, and ti*ace reUgious excellence among all orders and descriptions of men, — he would cLisp to his bosom, make him room in his heart, and give him a place in the attic story of liis affections He that worships God most spiritually, and obeys him most universally, belie\ing in the name of his only-begotten Son, is the best man, and most acceptable to the Divine Being, whether he be found in a church, in a Quaker's meeting-house, in a Dissenting place of worsliip of any other descrip- tion, or upon the top of a mountain. ..." In every nation," and among all denominations of men, " he that feareth God and worketh right- eousness is accepted with him." And, if God will accept, why should not man ? — Da\td Simpson : Plea for Religion, pp. xxiii. and 97. I would educate young men in sentiments of the warmest affection and the highest reverence to the estabhshed religion of this free and enlightened country. I would at the same time endeavor to con\ince them, that, in all the various modes of Christian faith, a serious observer may discover some sound principles and many worthy men, I would tell tliem, that the wise and the good cherish \^dthin their own bosom a rehgion yet more pure and perfect than any formulary of speculation they externally profess ; that their agreement upon points of supreme and indisputable moment is greater perhaps than they may themselves suspect; and that upon subjects the e\idence of which is doubtful, and the importance of which is secondary, their differences are nominal rather than real, and often deserve to be imputed to the excess of vanity or zeal in the controversialist, more than to any defect of sagacity or integrity in the inquirer. — Dr. S. Pak,r: Discourse on Education ; in Works, vol. ii. pp. 171-2, Where, after all the heart-burnings and blood-shedding occasioned by religious wars, — where is the true church of Clnist but in the hearts of good men ; the hearts of merciful believers, who from prin- ciple, in obedience to and for the love of Clirist, as well as from S}mpathy, labor for peace ; go about doing good ; consultmg, -VAithout local prejudice, the happiness of all men; and, instead of confining theii* good offices to a small part, endeavor to pour oil into the wounds 80 THE CONSTITUENTS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. of suffering human nature ? In the hearts of such men, united in love to God and his creatures, is the church of Christ. — ViCESiMUS Knox : Preface to Antipohmus ; in Works, vol. v. p. 418. If party names must subsist, let us carefully watch against a party spirit J let us du'ect om' chief attention to what constitutes a Chiistian, and learn to prize most highly those great truths in which all good men are agreed. In a settled persuasion that what is disputed or obscure in the system of Christianity is, in that proportion, of little importance, compared to those fundamental truths which are inscribed on the page of revelation as Avith a sunbeam ; Avhenever we see a Chiis- tian, let us esteem, let us love him ; and, though he be weak in f?fith, receive him, " not to doubtful disputation." At last the central principle of union [among the genuine disciples of Jesus Christ] begins to be extensively felt and acknowledged. Amid all the diversities of external discipline or subordinate opinion, the seed of God, the princi- ple of spiritual and immortal Kfe implanted in the soul, is recognized by the sincere followers of the Lamb as the transcendent point of mutual attraction in the midst of minor differences. Even Protestants and Catholics, influenced by a kindred piety, can now cordially embrace each other ; as in the case of that zealous professor of the Romish chm-ch to whom I before referred [Leander Van Ess], who corresponds in terms of cordial affection with the Protestant secretary of the Bible Society for its foreign department. The essential spuit of religion begins to assert its ascendancy over all besides. The most enlightened, the selectest Christians in every denomination are ready to cultivate an intercourse with kindred spirits, with all who hold the same essen- tial principles, in any other. — Robert Hall : Sermons ; in Tforks, vol. ili. pp. 180 and 420-1. Religious sects are not to be judged from the representations of their enemies, but are to be heard for themselves, in the pleadings of their best writers, not in the representations of those whose intempe- rate zeal is a misfortune to the sect to which they belong. . . . Imitate the forbearance of God, who throws the mantle of his mercy over all, and who will probably save, on the last day, the ])iously right and the piously wrong, seeking Jesus in humbleness of mind. — Sydney Smith: Sermon on Christian Charity; in Works, p. 310. For the rest, I think as that man of true c;ithnlic spirit and apos- tolic zeal, Richard r>AXTER, thought ; and my readers will thank me for conveying my reflections in his own words, in the following golden passage from his Life : ..." I doubt not that God liath many sanctified WISE AND GOOD MEN IN ALL DENOMINATIONS, 81 ones among them [the Papists], who kive received the true doctrine of Cln-istianity so practiailly, that their contradictory errors prevail not against them, to hinder their love of God and their salvation ; but that their eiTors are like a conquerable dose of poison, wliich a healtliful nature doth overcome. And I can never beHeve, tliat a man may not I e saved by that religion which doth but bring him to a true love of God and to a heavenly mind and life, nor that God -will ever cast a soul into hell tliat truly loveth him." — S. T. Coleridge : Aids to Reflection ; in Works, vol. i. p. 240. Amongst us there is a host of theologians, each wielding his sepa- rate authority over the creed and the conscience of his countrymen ; imd you CathoHcs have justly reproached us with our manifold and never-encUng varieties. But here is a book [the Bible], the influence of which is thro\ving all these differences into the background, and bringing forward those great and substantial points of agreement which lead us to recognize the man of another creed to be essentially a Christian ; and we want to widen this circle of fellowship, that we may be permitted to Hve in the exercise of one faith and of one charity along Avith you. — Dr. Thomas Chalmers : Select Works, vol iv. p. 247. These are matters particular, but all bearing upon the great philo- sophical and Christian truth, which seems to me the very truth of truths, that Cliristian unity and the perfection of Clu-ist's chm-ch are independent of theological articles of opinion ; consisting in a moral state and moral and religious aflections, which have existed in good Christians of all ages and all communions, along with an infinitely varying proportion of truth and error ; that thus Christ's church has stood on a rock, and never failed ; yet has always been marred with much of intellectual error, and also of practical resulting from the intellectual I want to get out a series of " Church-of-England Tracts," which, after establishing again the supreme authority of Scrip- ture and reason against tradition, councils, and fethers, and showing that reason is not rationalism, should then take two lines, — the one negative, the other positive ; the negative one showing that the pre- tended unity, which has always been the idol of Judaizers, is worthless, impracticable, and the pursuit of it has split Chi'Ist's church into a thousand sects, and will keep it so spHt for ever : the other position, showing that the true unity is most precious, practicable, and has in feet been never lost ; that, at all times and in all countries, there has been a succession of men, enjoying the blessings and showing forth 82 THE CONSTITUENTS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. the fruits of Christ's Spirit ; that in their Hves, and in what is truly their religion, — i.e. in their prayers and hj-mns, — there has been a wonderful unity j that all sects have had amongst them the marks of Christ's catholic church, in the graces of his Spirit, and the confession of his name ; for which purpose it might be useful to give, side by side, the martyrdoms, missionary labors, &c., of Catholics and Arians, Romanists and Protestants, Churchmen and Dissenters. Here is a gi'and field, givmg room for learning, for eloquence, for acuteness, for judgment, and for a true love of Christ, in those who took part in itj and capable, I think, of doing much good. — Dr. Thomas Arnold : Letters 94, 130 ; in Life and Correspondence, pp. 239, 275. In the most comprehensive sense of the term, the Christian chm-ch includes all genuine saints or beHevers ; aU, in every land, who receive Jesus Christ as their Prmce and Saviour, who submit to him as their supreme and infallible guide in matters of religion, who rely for pardon and salvation on his atoning sacrifice, and who sincerely consecrate themselves to his service. AU such persons, however widely sepa- rated in respect of place, and however diversified by external circum- stances, or even by minor distinctions in rehgion, are represented in Scripture as " being not of the world, but called out of the world," and as component members of the same spiritual and heavenly associa- tion. — Dr. Robert B.\lmer : The Scripture Principles of Unity ; in Essays on Christian Union, p. 21. This definition of the " Christian church " is sufficiently wide to include all believers in Jesus as the Messiah, and, consequently, all Unitarians who recognize the special inspiration of the same holy Personage, if the phrase "atoning sacrifice" be understood to refer to the death of Christ as one of the means appointed by God to reconcile to himself his erring and sinful children. We know not what was Dr. Balmek's conception of the atone- ment; but it is well known that the opinions of " orthodox " Christians differ much from each other on this point, some of them approximating to the views held by Unitarians. I never can think of a narrow-minded Christian, — a Cluistian wno, instead of giving free scope to his Christian affiections, opening and expanding his heart to the admission of the entire family of God, contracts his spirit, and hmits his communion of love to the denomi- nation with which he is connected, — or of the man who actually imagines tliat family of God to consist of no more than those who assent to the shibboleth of his httlc party, — I never can think of such <* man otherNnse tlum as one who, tlu'ough the operation of a widely WISE AND GOOD MEN IN ALL DENOMINATIONS. 83 mistaken principle, is cheating himself of pleasure, and of pleasure the highest, the richest, tlie most exquisite in its character. ... I would not for the world be the man who thus locks up his heart in an ice- house ; who puts the short cluiin and the galling colhr of bigotry on the neck of his Christian charit}' ; who can look round, with a narrow sectarian satisfaction, on the members of his own little sect, and with cold indifference, or something worse, towards all beyond the pale, — Ciin count, one by one, the number of those whom alone he owns as his brethren, and expects to meet m heaven ; who estimates the Christianity of his party, and the evidence of its being the true flock of Christ, by its diminutiveness ; finding in this his solace for what others can trace to far different causes, — to the wildness of its dogmas, and the imcharitable censoriousness of its members. — Dr. Ralph W.YRDLAW, ill Essays on Christian Union, pp. 291-3. The true chm-ch, the invisible community, is really and indi\isibly one. Amidst all this diAision and disruption, beneath these angry and contentious elements, there is an essential unity, wliich, though limited to no age, confuied to no country, restrained to no party, and seen in its ent'reness by no eye but that which is omniscient, really and always exists ; a unity which nothing can impair, and which, while it is ever gathering up mto itself the redeemed of the Lord, of every age, coun- tn', and communion, equally rejects the unregenerate of all of them. . . . Divide as they may into separate, \'isible communions, they [believers] cannot break away from the fellowship of the one invisible communion of saints. Lito whatever number of distinct churches they may arrange themselves, they are fellow-members of the holy catholic church ; and in their hoHer and happier moments they feel it, and rejoice in it, when, from the exercise of that faith which unites them to Christ, there arises a love too fervent and expansive to be confined Avithin the narrow limits of their own party, and which, bursting through all sectarian barriers, flows in one mighty stream of holy sympathy to all who love our Lord Jesus Clirist in sincerity. — Joiix Angell James: Union in relation to the Religious Parties of England; in Essai/s on Christian Union, pp. 148-50. The true church is built on the foundation of the purest as well as most sacred liberty, and is cemented with unconstrained confidence and mutual love, the strongest of all bonds. It is a voluntary assem- blage of eqiuls, wherein every one obeys, and no one commands The voluntary association of a truly Christian brotherhood, where each one enters and retires freely, seeldng individual enjo}Tnent only in the 84 THE CONSTITUENTS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. general ^velfare, according to the simple conditions determined by one Lord, one faith, and one baptism, is the most efficacious alleviation, if not cure, of the three grand evils of this world ; penury, bondage, and corruption. — E. L. Magoon: Repub. Christianity, pp. 165-6, 313. We want, as the great Robinson beheved, " more light to break forth from God's holy word," — not from the formuks or the cate- chisms or the schools or the doctors, but from God's holy word, and especially from those parts of the word which represent the Clmstian truth as spirit and life, attainable only as our heart and spirit are con- figured to it, and able to offer it that sympathy which is the first condition of imdcrstanding, — attainable only by such as are in the Spirit themselves. This . . . will bring us ... an era of renovated feith, spreading from cu-cle to circle through the whole church of God on earth ; the removal of divisions, the smoothing away of asperities, the realization of love as a bond of perfectness in all the saints. It wiU bring in such an era as many signs begin to foretoken ; for it comes to me pubHcly, as relating to bodies of Christian ministers, and circles of behevers in distant places, that they are longing for some fuller manifestation of grace, and debating the possibility of another and holier order of Christian life. It comes to me also privately, every few days, that ministers of God and Christian brethren, called to be saints, having no concert but in God, are hungering and thirsting after right- eousness in a degree that is new to themselves, daring to hope and beheve that they may be filled ; testifying joyfully that Christ is a more complete Sa\iour, and the manifestation of God in the heart of foith a more intense reality, than they had before conceived. Meantime, as we all know, a feeling of fraternity is growing up silently in distant parts of the Christian world. Bigotry is tottering, rigidity growing flexible, and Christian hearts are yearning everywhere after a day of universal brotherhood in Christ Jesus. . . . Indeed, it is even a gi'eat maxim of philosophy, that, when we see men wide asunder beginning to take up the same thoughts and foil into the same senti- ments, and that without concert or communication, we are generally to beheve that sometliing decisive in that direction is preparing ; for it is the age that is working in them, or the God rather, probably, of all ages ; and, accordingly, what engages so many at once is only the quickening in them of that seed on whose stiilk the fiitiu'e is to blos- som. Sliould we not, therefore, expect a gradual a])j)earing of new life, which years only can prepare ? Shall we not even d:ire to spread our Christian confidences by the measures of Providence, and in this WISE AND GOOD MEN IN ALL DENOMINATIONS. 85 manner tike up the hope, that, when so many signs and yearnings meet in their fulfihiient, we may see a grand reviving of religion, that shall be marked by no \illage-bountlaries, no waUs of sect or name, but shall penetrate, Ainfy, and melt into brotherhood, at last, all who love our Lord Jesus Christ on earth ? — Horace Bushnell : God in Christ, pp. 297-9. The liberal sentiments expressed in this section are not concessions in favor of Unitarianism considered by itself, or as one of the numerous branches of the religion of Jesus. Indeed, some of their authors would refuse the name of" Christian " to the worshipper of the Father only, whom Jesus addressed in prayer. But they are testimonies to the value and excellence of those great principles of charity and fraternal love, which, thongh constituting an essential and a prominent feature of Unitarianism, are more or less involved in every form of the Christian faith, and are deeply cherished by the truly catholic minds of every church, however they may be obscured, or impeded in their operation, by such dogmas of human conceit as belie the spirit of the gospel. According to these senti- ments, Christianity was intended by its Founder, not for a few, but for all. His church embraces all, of whatever creed or denomination, who consecrate themselves to the service of God. Christ, and humanity. Individuals may err as to matters which are indifferent in themselves, or are obscurely set forth in Scripture ; but, if they love goodness and reverence truth, — if they are faithful to the light which has been imparted to them, — they may all bend with lowly minds and contrite hearts in the mighty temple which the Saviour has erected to the praise of the universal Father. Men and women are disciples of Christ, not because they are Calvinists or Arminians, Presby- terians or Congi-egationalists, Papists or Protestants, but because, believing in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, t^iey have the spirit of his Son. They are members of Christ's church, not because they are orthodox, can utter the shibboleths of the parties to which they are attached, or talk profoundly of the divine essence and decrees, but because in their words and their actions, in their lives and their deaths, they adopt and practise those common principles of the gospel, — love to God, and love to man, — which bigotry may mar, but cannot destroy; which superstition may blot, but never expunge; which error and sophisms may for a while hide from he view, but are unable wholly to conceal. " Religion pure, Unchanged in spirit, though it3 forms and codes Wear myriad modes, Contains all creeds within its mii^litv span, — The love of God, displayed in love of man." The sentiments, indeed, which we have quoted in the preceding pages bear no proportion to the narrow-minded opinions laid down in many theological writings; but it would be an easy and a delightful task to make additional extracts of a similar character and tendency. 8 86 UNITARIANS DISTINGUISHED FOR SECT. Ylll. — UNITARIANS DISTINGUISHED FOR THEIR WORTH, PIETY INTELLIGENCE, AND LEARNING. He who is truly a good man is more than half-way to being a Christian, bj whatever name he is called. — South. § 1. Individual Unitarians. The person of Arius was tall and graceful ; his countenance calm, pale, and subdued ; his manners engaging ; his conversation fluent and persuasive. He was well acquainted ^^ith human sciences ; as a disputant subtle, ingenious, and fertile in resources. — H. H. Milman : History of Christianity, book iii. chap. 4. Arius ... is said to have been ... of a severe and gloomy appear- ance, though of captivating and modest maimers. The excellence of his moral character seems to be sufficiently attested by the silence of his enemies to the contrary. That he was of a covetous and sensual disposition is an opinion unsupported by any historical e^'idence. — Dr. Leonhard Schmitz, in SmitKs Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, art. " Arius." [Andrew] Dudith, who was certainly one of the most learned and eminent men of the sixteenth centmy, was bom at Buda, in the year 1533. . . . He had, by the force of liis genius and the study of the ancient orators, acquired such a masterly and irresistible eloquence, that in all public deliberations he carried every thing before him. . . . He was well acquainted with several branches of philosophy and the mathematics j with the sciences of physic, history, theology, and the cixil law. . . . His Ufe was regular and wtuous, his manners elegant and easy, and his benevolence warm and extensive. — Arciiib.ild Maclaine, us quoted by Dr. Murdoch, in his translation of jMosheitri's Ecclesiastical History, book iv. cent. xvi. sect. 3, part 2, chap. 4, § 9, note 20. Dudith, an enlightened advocate for liberty of conscience, as well as an eminent scholar, was, in all probability, a Unitarian; but, as Maclaine and others speak doubtfully of this matter, the reader may, if he chooses, regard hira only as a great and good man, belonging, witliout any peculiar desig- nation, to the universal churcli of Christ. IjOilius Socinus was the son of Marianus, a celebrated lawyer ; and to gi'cat learning and tiilents he added, as even his enemies acloiow- ledgo, a pm-e and blameless life The afEiirs of the Unitarians THEIR MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL WORTH. 87 [in Pohnd] assumed a new aspect under the dexterity and industry- of Faustus Socinus ; a man of superior genius, of moderate learning, of a firm and resolute spirit, less erudite than liis uncle La?hus, but mor'^ bold and courageous. . . . By his wealth, his eloquence, liis abihties as a wTiter, the patronage of the great, the elegance of his manners, and other advantages which he possessed, he overcame at length all diffi- culties; and, by seasonably yiekling at one time, and contesting at anotlier, he brought the whole Unitarian people to surrender to those opinions of his which they had before contemned, and to coalesce and become one community. — J. L. Mosiieim : Ecclesiastical History, book iv. cent. xvL sect. 3, part 2, chap. 4, §§ 1 and 1 1 j Dr. Murdock's translation. Such and so considerable a man was [Faustus Socinus] the author and patron of this sect. All those quahties that excite the admii-ation and atti'act the regards of men, met in him ; that, as it w<.'re with a charm, he bewitched all who conversed "with him, and left on their mmds strong imjiressions of wonder and aflection towards him. He so excelled in fine parts and a lofty genius ; such were the strength of his reasonings and the power of his eloquence ; he displayed, in the sight of all, so many distinguished virtues, which he either professed, or counterfeited in an extraorduiary degree, — that he appeared formed to engage the attachment of all mankind ; and it is not the least sur- prising that he deceived great numbers, and drew them over to his party. So that what Augustin said of Faustus Manichaeus may not improperly be apphed to Faastus Socinus ; that he was " magnum DiaboK laqueum," the Devil's decoy. — George Ashvvt:ll : De Socino et Sucinianisino, p. 18; as quoted by Toulmin, in his Memoirs of Socinus, pp. 15, 16. Amid the ill temper displayed in this passage, it will be seen that the writer was forced to pay a high compliment to the virtues and genius of a man whose name has been so often held as synonymous with aU that is vile and blasphemous in theological opinions. But, though Unitarians, whether believers or disbelievers in the pre-existence of Christ, have reason to venerate Socinus for what he did and suffered on behalf of their leading doctrine, — the simple oneness and paternal character of God, — they can- not regard him as the author or founder of their views, or as their leader in matters of religion; nor can they consent to be called by his honorable name. Thankful for all the helps which God has vouchsafed to them by the labors of the good and wise either of their own denomination or of others, they dare not bend in lowly reverence before any Lord and Master but the Man of Nazareth, the Holy One of God. 88 UNITARIANS DISTINGUISHED FOR In this unhappy battle [the battle of Newbury, 1643] was slain thf lord viscount Falkland ; a person of such prodigious parts of leaiTiing and knowledge, of that inimitable sweetness and delight in conversa tion, of so flowing and obliging a humanity and goodness to manldnd, and of that primitive simpUcity and integrity of life, that, if there were no other brand upon this odious and accursed civil war than that single loss, it must be most infamous and execrable to all posterity. . . . He was a great cherisher of ■\\it and fancy and good parts in any man, and, if he found them clouded with poverty or want, a most Hberal and bountiftil patron towards them, even above liis fortune ; of wliich, in those administrations, he was such a dispenser as if he had been trusted with it to such uses, and if there had been the least of \dce in his ex- pense, he might have been thought too prodigal. . . . His house being within ten miles of Oxford, he contracted familiarity and friendship wth the most poHte and accurate men of that university ; who found such an immenseness of wit and such a solidity of judgment in him, so infinite a fancy, boimd in by a most logical ratiocination, such a vast knowledge, that he was not ignorant in any thing, yet such an exces- sive humility as if he had known nothing, that they frequently resorted, and dwelt with liim, as in a college situated in a purer air. . . . He was so great an enemy to that passion and uncharitableness wliich he saw produced by difference of opinion in matters of religion, that, in all disputations with priests and others of the Roman church, he affected to manifest all possible civiHty to their persons, and estimation of their parts. . . . Thus fell that incomparable yomig man, in the four and thirtieth year of his age, having so much despatched the business of life, that the oldest rarely attain to that immense knowledge, and the youngest enter not into the world with more innocence ; and whosoever leads such a life needs not care upon how short warning it be taken from him. — Lord Cl.\rendon : History of the Rebellion, voL iii. pp. 185-8, 198; Oxford, 1849. The evidence for Lord Falkland's Unitarianism will be found in Wai Jace's Antitrinitarian Biography, vol. iii. pp. 152-6. According to John Aubrey, as quoted in that work, Lord Falkland " was the first Socinian ia England." We cite no appreciatory notices of " the ever-memorable John Hales of Eton "and "the immortal Chiirmgworth," because the evidence for their Unitarianism is less satisfactory. Whatever may have been their views respecting God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, their Christian principles were too broad to permit a bigoted adherence to any religious party, — too catho lie to be moulded into any sectarian shape. TILEIR MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL WORTU. 89 Sir Isaac Newton [was] the most splendid genius tint has yet adorned human nature, and [is] by universal consent placed at the head of mathem;itics and of science. . . . lie was exceedingly courteous and afl^ble, even to the lowest, and never despised any man for want of capa- city ; but always expressed freely his resentment against immorality or impiety. He not only showed a great and constant regard to religion ill general, as well by an exemplary life as in all his writings, but was also a firm believer in revealed religion, with one exception, — an important one, indeed, — that his sentiments on the doctrine of the Trinity by no means coincided with what are generally held. . . . An innate modesty and simplicity showed itself in all his actions and expressions. His whole life was one continued series of labor, patience, charity, generosity, temperance, piety, goodness, and every other vir- tue, without a mixture of any known vice whatsoever. — Alex.ixDEB ClL\L:\Lt:RS : Biographical Dictionary, art. " Newton, Sir Isaac." "When we look back on the days of Newton, we aimex a kind of mysterious greatness to liim, who, by the pure force of liis under- standing, rose to such a gigantic elevation above the level of ordinary men ; and the kings and warriors of other days sink into insignificance around him ; and he, at this moment, stands forth to the public eye in a prouder array of glory than circles the memory of all the men of former generations ; and, while all the vulgar grandeur of other days is now mouldering in forgetfuhiess, the achievements of our great astronomer are stiU fresh in the veneration of his countrjinen, and they carry him forward on the stream of time with a reputation ever gathering, and the triumphs of a distinction that will never die. . . . I cannot forbear to do honor to the unpretending greatness of Newton, than whom I know not if ever there lighted on the iace of our world, one in the character of whose admirable genius so much force and 80 much humility were more atti-actively blended. — Dr. Thomas Chalmers: Astronomical Discourses, Discourse 2; 1*71 Select JVorks, vol. iv. pp. 370, 372. If Christianity be not in then- estimation true [if, in the estimation of absolute unbelievers, Christianity be not true], yet is there not at least a presumption in its favor, sufficient to entitle it to a serious examination, from its haNing been embraced, and that not blindly and implicitly, but upon full inquiry and deep consideration, by Bacon and Milton and Locke and Newton, and much the greater pai t of those who, by the reach of their understandings or the extent of tl elr know- ledge, and by the freedom too of their minds, and then* daring to 8* 90 UNITARIANS DISTINGUISHED FOR combat existing prejudices, have called forth the respect and admira- tion of mankind ? . . . . Through the bounty of Pro^idence, the more widely spreading poison of infideUty has in oiu" days been met with more numerous and more powerful antidotes. One of these has been already pointed out ; and it should be matter of farther gratitude to every real Christian, that, in the very place on which modern uifidehty had displayed the standard of %-ictory, a warrior in the service of reli- gion, a man of the most acute discernment and profound research, has been raised up by Pro\idence to quell their triumph. It is ahnost superfluous to state, that Sir WiUiam Jones is here meant, who, from the testimony borne to his extraordinary talents by Sir John Shore, in his first address to the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, appears to have been a man of most extraordinary genius and astonishing erudition. — William Wilberforce : Practical View, chap. vii. sect 3. With the exception of Lord Bacon, the men here named, whose moral and intellectual qualities rank them so high in the scale of humanity, and whose attachment to or defence of the Christian faith is regarded as pre- sumptive evidence in its behalf, cherished, as is now well known, Unitarian opinions. To all who share in Wilberforce's admiration at seeing those men of master-minds sitting reverentially at the feet of Jesus, and who agree with him in the inference which he has drawn, the following remark by the same writer, in immediate connection, will scarcely be regarded in any other light than as inconsistent and illogical, if not unjust: "In the course which we lately traced from nominal orthodoxy to absolute infidelity, Unitarianism is, indeed, a sort of half-way house, ... a stage on the journey, where some- times a person indeed finally stops, but where not unfrequently he only pauses for a while, and then pursues his progress." So fur from being true that the adoption of Unitarian principles generally leads to infidelity, as is implied in the charge adduced, that, with all its faults and shortcomings, probably no denomination in Christendom has been more faithful to its pro- fessions, or, if the number of its adherents be taken into account, has done 60 much in presenting the evidences of Christianity in a clear and cogent point of view, than that of Unitarians. Can Orthodoxy, with all its array of truly distinguished writers, place the names of any defenders of our common faith above those of Nathaniel Lardner, Joseph Priestley, William Ellery Channing, and Andrews Norton? We mean not in respect to their talents or tlieir genius, — though they were unquestionably men of powerful intellect, — but merely as to tlie amount or the worth of their services as "apologists" for Christianity. This year [1698], Thomas Firmin, a famous citizen of London, died. He was in great esteem for promoting many charitable designs ; for looking after the poor of the city, aTul setting them to work ; for raising great sums for schools and hospitids, and, indeed, for cliaiities THEIR MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL WORTH. 91 of all sorts, p^i^'ate and public. He had such credit with the richest citizens, that he had the command of great wealth, as oft as there was occasion for it ; and he bid out his own time cliiefly in advancing all such designs. These things gained him a great reputation. lie was called a Socinian, but was really an Arian. . . . Archbishop Tillotson, and some of the bishops, had lived in great friendship with Mr. Firmin, whose charitiible tem})er they thought it became them to encom'uge. — Bishop Burnet: History of his Own Time, vol. iii. p. 292; Lond. 1809. I was exceedingly struck at reading the following Life ; having long settled it in my mind, that the entertaining WTong notions concerning the Trinity was inconsistent with real piety. But I cannot argue against matter of fact. I dare not deny that Mr. Firmin was a pious man, although his notions of the Trinity were quite erroneous. — John A^^.sley : Preface to an Extract from the Life of Thomxis Firmin ; in Jforks, vol. vii. p. 574. [William Whiston] has all his life been cultivating piety and ^"irtue imd good learning ; rigidly constant himself in the public and private duties of religion, and always promoting in others %-irtue and such learning as he thought would conduce most to the honor of God, by manifesting the gi-eatness and wisdom of his works. He has given the world sufficient proofs that he has not misspent his time, by very useful works of philosophy and mathematics : he has applied one to the explication of the other, and endeavored by both to display the glon,- of the great Creator. — Bishop Hare : Study of the Scriptures ; in Sparks' s Collection of Essays and Tracts, vol. ii. p. 163. Newton and Locke were esteemed Socinians; Lardner was an avowed one ; Clarke and Whiston w-ere declared Arians ; Bull and Waterland were professed Athanasians. Who will take upon him to say, that these men were not equal to each other in probity and Scrip- tural knowledge ? And, if that be admitted, sm-ely we ought to learn no other lesson from the diversity of their opinions, except that of perfect moderation and good-Nrill towards all those who happen to differ fiom ourselves. — Bishop Watson : Jippendix to T^ieolog^ical Tracts, vol. vi. I do actually feel a constant and deep sense of your goodness to me ; and, which is much more, of your continual readiness to serve the pub He \s'ilh those distinguished abihties which God has been pleased to give you, and which have rendered your writings so great a blessing to the Christian world. . . . Li the interpretation of particular texts, 92 UNITARIANS DISTINGUISHED FOK and th(} manner of stating particular doctrines, good men and gootl friends may have different apprehensions : but you always propose your sentiments with such good humor, modesty, candor, and frankness, as is ver^- amiable and exemplary ; and the grand desire of spreading righteousness, benevolence, prudence, the fear of God, and a heavenly temper and conversation, so plainly appears, particularly in this volume of sermons, that, were I a much stricter Cahinist than I am, I should honor and love the author, though I did not personally know him. — Dr. Philip Doddridge : Letter to Dr. JVathaniel Lardner ; apud Kippis's Life of Lardner, Appendix No. 8. Numberless tributes of respect have been paid by all sects of Christians to this indefatigable writer and good man. I must contend, that the " Essay on Man, his Frame, his Duty, and his Expectations " [by Dand Hartley], stands forward as a specimen almost imique of elaborate theorizing, and a monument of absolute beauty, in the perfection of its dialectic ability. In this respect, it has, to my mind, the spotless beauty and the ideal proportions of some Grecian statue. — Tho31AS De Quincey : Literary Reminiscences, voL i. pp. 169, 170. This may well be regarded as high praise, coming, as it does, from a writer so able, but yet so prejudiced, as De Quincey; who introduces it by saying that " Coleridge was profoundly ashamed of the shallow Unitarianism of Hartley," and who takes frequent opportunity-, in his writings, of speak- ing contemptuously of" Socinians " and " Socinianism," as well as of those divines in the church of England whom he accuses of favoring Unitarian sentiments. Were I to publish an account of silenced and ejected ministers, I should b(> strongly tempted to insert Mr. Lindsey in the Ust which he mentions in liis " Apology " with so much veneration. He certainly deserves as much respect and honor as any one of them for the part he has acted. Perhaps few of them exceeded him in learning and piety. I venerate him as I would any of your confessors. As to his particular sentiments, they are nothing to me. An honest, pious man, who makes such a sacrifice to truth and conscience as he has done, is a glorious character, and deserves the respect, esteem, and veneration of every true Christian. — Job Orton: Letters, vol, ii. p. lo9; as qvoted by Belsham, in his Memoirs of Theophilus Lindsey, p. 4 1. It is said by some writers, that Okton, who was the assistant and friend of Dr. Doddridge, became, in his latter years, an Arian. In the above-cited THEIR MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL WORTH 93 paragraph, he refers to the circumstance of Lindsey's resifpation of the vicarage of Catterick in Yorkshire, the advantages of whicli he renounced, on account of his having embraced the principles of Unitarianism, though he had no prospect of finding means of subsistence. Reverend and dear Sir, — Although I am far separated from you, and possess but few opportunities of intercourse with you, yet my heart ever contemplates you ^^'ith affection and gratitude. Nor, in- deed, can it be other^^•ise ; for, -while I feel myself surrounded with comforts, I cannot, I trust, ever forget the man to whose kindness so many of them are o^^ing. . . . Whatever differences of opinion may exist between us on rehgious subjects, I hope and trust tliat I shall be enabled to imitate that sincerity of soul, of which you have given me and the world so bright an example. My heart, I can truly say, is alive to the duties and the importance of Christianity, and I trust that I am not altogether a stranger to its pleasures. — Wm. Winterbotham : Extract from a Letter to the Rev. Theophilus Lindsey. Mr. "WixTERBOTHAM was minister of a Calvinistic congregation at PljTaouth Dock, who, under the Pitt administration, suffered four years' imprisonment on a false charge of having uttered seditious language. In this letter, written several years afterwards, he alludes to the sympathy and kindness which Lindsey had manifested towards him during his confine- ment. See Belsham's Memoirs of Lindsey, pp. 358-61. Though of a sentiment in rehgion very different, I must say that Lindsey, Jebb, Hammond, Disney, and others, who have sacrificed their preferment [in the church of England] to the peace of their own minds, are honorable men deserving of all praise. — David Simpson : Plea for Religion, p. 165. Meek, gentle, and humane ; acute, eloquent, and profoundly skilled in poHtics and philosophy, — take him for all and all, the quaUties of his heart, ^^'ith the abihties of his head, and you may rank Price among the first ornaments of his age. . . . Posterity will do him the justice of which the proud have robbed him, and snatch him from the calum- niators, to place him in the temple of personal honor, high among the benefcictors of the human race. — ViCESlMUS Kjs'OX : Spirit of Despotism ; in Works, vol. v. p. 197. The religious tenets of Dr. Priestley appear to me erroneous in the extreme ; but I should be sorry to suffer any difterence of sentiment to diminish my sensibility to virtue, or my admiration of genius. From him the poisoned arrow ^^'ill fall pointless. His enhghtened and active mind, his imweaxied assiduity, the extent of his researches, the light ba 94 UNITARIANS DISTINGUISHED FOR has poured into almost every department of science, will be the admira- tion of that period when the greater part of those who have favored, or those who have opposed him, vdYL be alilvc forgotten. Distmguished merit v>i.]l ever rise superior to oppression, and will draw lustre from reproach. The vapors which gather round the rising sun, and follow it in its course, seldom fail, at the close of it, to form a magnificent theatre for its reception, and to invest with variegated tints, and ^^ith a softened eftulgence, the luminaiT which they cannot hide Though I disapprove of his [Dr. Price's] religious principles, I feel no hesitation in affirming, in spite of the frantic and unprincipled ahme of Burke, that a more ardent and enlightened friend of his country never Hved than that venerable patriarch of freedom. — E,. ILy:,L : ff^orks, vol. ii. pp. 23, and 99, 100. Thus generously and eloquently does Robert Hall, the large-hearted Chinstian, defend the virtues and the reputation of the " Socinian " Priestley and the "Arian " Price. But the same Hall, as the narrow-minded Calvinist, in a Letter dated Feb. 5, 1816 (Works, vol. iii. p. 256), feels no hesitation in putting " Socinians" on a level with "professed infidels," and inferring fi-om John vi. 40 and 1 John v. 12, that they will be excluded from the realms of heaven. Alas for some of the best and most devout of men, if superior virtue adorning the character in private life, and eminent endowments devoted to the public good, be passed by as altogether worthless in the gi-eat judgment-day, and nought avail but a belief in dogmas which have been regarded by their rejecters as dishonoring God and libelling humanity! May we not say, in the language of Hall himself (ii. p. 100), where he is vindicating his eulogy of Priestley, that " if any thing could sink Orthodoxy into contempt, it would be its association with such Gothic barbarity of sentiment" ? Let Dr. Priestley be confuted where he is mistaken. Let him be exposed w^here he is supei-ficial. Let him be repressed where he is dogmatical. Let him be rebulvcd where he is censorious. But let not his attainments be de])reciated, because they are numerous, almost without a parallel. Let not his talents be ridiculed, because they are superlatively great. Let not his morals be vilified, because they are correct without austerity, and exemplary without ostenti\tion ; because they present, even to common observers, the innocence of a hermit and the simplicity of a })atriarch ; and because a jjlnlosophic eye will at once discover in them the deep-fixed root of virtuous jjrin- ciple, and the sohd trunk of virtuous habit I have visited him, as I hoj)e to visit him agiiin, because he is an unaffected, unassuming, and very interesting companion, I wHl not, in consequence of ouj THEIR :«OKAL AND INTELLECTUAL WORTH. 05 different opinions, cither impute to him the e^il which he does not, or depreciate in him the good which he is allowed to do. I will not debase my understiinding, nor prostitute my honor, by encouraging the chmors which have been raised against liim, in vulgar minds, by certain persons, who would have done well to read before they wrote, to miderstand before they dogmatized, to examine before they con- demned, lleadily do I give him up, as the bold defender of heresy and schism, to the well-founded objections of his antagonists ; but I cannot think his rehgion msincere, while he worships one Deity, in the name of one Sa^•iolu:. ... I know that his \ii'tues, in private life, are acknoAvledgcd by his neighbors, admired by his congregation, and recorded almost by the unanimous suffrage of his most powerful and most distinguished antagonists. — De, Samuel Pare, : fVorks, vol. iii. pp.317; 282-4. In a letter to Archbishop Magee, from which we shall again take occasion to quote. Dr. Park says that there were several Unitarians with whom he thought it an honor to be acquainted; avows " the sincere respect " which he felt " for their intellectual powers, their literary attainments, and their moral worth;" and concludes by making honorable mention of the distin- guished writers among the Polish Socinians, called the Fratres Poloni, and amongst others, of the following English Unitarians: Dr. Nathaniel Lardner, Dr. John Jebb, Dr. John Taylor, Theophilus Lindsey, Thomas Belsham, the Duke of Grafton, Newcome Cappe, Charles Berry, E. Cogan, James Yates, J. G. Robberds, and Dr. William Shepherd. In reference to Belsham's work on the Epistles of Paul, Dr. Parr, in the Bibliotheca Parriana, p. 81, says: " I do not entirely agree with him upon some doctrinal points ; but 1 ought to commend the matter, style, and spirit of the Preface; and, in my opinion, the translation does great credit to the diligence, judgment, erudition, and piety of ray much-respected friend." The more fervent admirers of Thomas De Quincey may place but little reliance on the testimony of Dr. Parr, as a Trinitarian, to the excellent qualities of mind and heart which he attributes to the English Unitarians; for, in an Essay which we think is marked alike by its exceeding cleverness and its bitter partisanship, the writer says (Philosophical Writers, vol. ii. p. 272), that Parr " has left repeated evidence, apart from his known lean- ing to Socinian views, that he had not in any stage of his life adopted any system at all which could properly class him with the believers in the Trinity." But the Rev. William Field, one of his biographers, who was intimately acquainted with him, and who was himself a Unitarian minister, says (vol. ii. p. 268) that Parr declared he was not a Unitarian. Dr. .John Johnstone, another of his biographers, states (vol. vi. p. 685) that he had heard Parr repeatedly declare that his notions of the Trinity Avere pre- cisely those of the profound Bishop Butler, author of the Analogy of Religion; in the Letter to Archbishop Magee previously referred to. Dr. 96 UNITARIANS DISTINGUISHED FOR Parr requests his Grace to do him the justice to observe, that he " meant not, directly or indirectly, to defend the heretical opinions adopted by any of the worthies whom" he had "enumerated;" and, in a note to his Dedication of the Warburtonian Tracts (Works, vol. iii. p. 387), he says, " I by no means assent to the opinions which Dr. Priestley has endeavored to establish in his History of the Corruptions of Christianity." (See also Sermon 40, in Works, vol. vi. p. 464.) Notwithstanding his eccentricities, his display's of vanity, his want of common prudence, and his political and theological antipathies, no one who has read the records of him published by Mr. Field and Dr. Johnstone can doubt, that, besides being, what he unquestionably was, a benevolent and pious man, a warm friend of popular education, and a bold advocate for Christian charity and universal toleration, he was also sincere and truthful in his professions. De Quincey himself, p. 293, — though he qualifies his praise by saying that, " in a degree which sometimes made him not a good man," he was " the mere football of passion," — is forced to sum up the appreciation of his character by the remark, that, " as a moral being, Dr. Parr was a good and conscientious man." May we not, therefore, i-eason- ably conclude, that, when the " conscientious " curate of Hatton afiirms that he did not hold the leading doctrine which distinguishes Unitarians from their fellow-Christians, he is quite worthy of our credence? And is not the testimony of this distinguished Episcopalian to the intellectual, moral, and religious character of English Unitarians deserving of high con- sideration, in opposition to the attempts that have been so often made to take from them " the jewel of their souls," — their " good name " ? If ever there was a writer whose wisdom is made to be useful in the time of need, it is Mrs. Barbauld. No moralist has ever more exactly touched the point of the greatest practicable purity, without being lost in exaggeration, or sinking into meanness. ... It is the pri\'ilege of such excellent writers to command the sjTnpathy of the distant and unborn. It is a delightful part of their fame ; and no writer is more entitled to it than Mrs. Barbauld. — Sill James Mackintosh : Letter to Mrs. John Taylor, JVorwich ; in Memoirs of his Life, vol. i. pp. 44 1-2. We have taken for granted that Sir James was orthodox as to the doc- trine of the Trinity; but, if otherwise, as some of his expressions recorded in the Memoirs would seem to imply, his opinion of the moral influence of Mrs. Barbauld's writings may not be the less just. Whatever were his religious views, he unquestionably combined in his character the qualities of philosopher, patriot, moralist, and Christian. I sit down to thank your Grace for your kind attention in sending me the ** Imj)roved Version of the New Testiuncnt." ... I give due praise to the Committee for theii- InU'oduction to tliis work : it is THEIR MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL WORTH. 97 written ^^•ith the sincerity becoming a Christian, and vdih. the erudition becoming a translator and a commentitor on so important a book. — Bishop Watson : Letter to the Duke of Grafton ; in Life of JVatsoii, pp. 492-3. It is a well-known fact that Thomas Belsham was ^e principal editor of this work. Notwithstanding all that has been said ol'V by orthodox wri- ters as the representative of Unitarian interpretations, neither the version, which was founded on that of Archbishop Xewcome, nor the notes, however valuable, have been regarded by Unitarians iu general as an authority binding on them. My pre%ious impressions of his [Dr. Lant Carpenter's] amiable and upright character have been strengthened by the perusal of his work [entitled, " .An Examination of Charges against Unitarians and Uni- tirianism"]. His candor, integrity, and good temper, besides his intellectiml ability, give to his Amtings an immense advant;\ge over the imbecile arrogance, the rash cmdities, and the still more dishonorable artifices, of some persons on whom he has felt himself called to ani- madvert. — Joh:n' Pye Smith : Scripture Testimony, vol ii. p. 476, fourth edition. Dr. Smith's concluding remarks evidently refer, in particular, to Arch- bishop >higee, whose Postscript to his work on the Atonement is dishonorably distinguished by the foulest injustice to the character and talents of English Unitarians. When we see a fellow-man and fellow-sinner, whose character is adorned, not only A\'ith blameless morals and "v^ith those honorable decencies of life to which the world pays homage, but "with untiring activit)' in excellent deeds, warm-hearted beneficence, exemplar)* virtue in all the walks of life, and the clearest endence, to those who possess full and close opportunities for the obsers-ation, of constant " walking with God," not in the solemnities of public worsliip only, but in the femily and the most retired privacy ; and when this habit of life has been sustained, \\'ith unaffected simplicity and uncompromismg con- stancy, during a life long, active, and exposed to searching observation ; — when such a character is presented to our \iew, it would warrant the suspicion of an obtuse understanding, or, what is worse, a cold heart, not to resemble Barnabas, " who, when he came and saw the grace of God, was glad ; for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith." . . . We have been led almost unavoidably into this train of reflections, by opening the volume before us [" Sermons on Pmctical Subjects, by the hte Lant Carpenter, LL,D."], and under 9 98 UNITARIANS DISTINGUISHED FOR the influence of high personal regard to its author. In that feeling we only participate with many both of orthodox Dissenters and the evangehcal members of the EstabUshment. It was scarcely possible for an upright person to know Dr. Carpenter, and not to love and venerate him. — JEcledic Review for June, 1841 ; new series, vol. ix. pp. 669-70. * In the same Eeview for Febniary, 1843 (vol. xiii. pp. 205-19), may be seen an article occasioned by the publication of the " Memoirs of the Life of Dr. Carpenter." It is written in a liberal and Christian spirit; and, though widely difl'ering from Carpenter in the rejigious opinions which he held, the author expresses the warmest reverence for the character of that excellent man. When the day comes when honor will be done to whom honor i/ due, he [Dr. Guthrie] can fancy the crowd of those whose jfame poet* have sung, and to whose memory monuments have been raised, divid- ing like a wave ; and, passing the gi'eat and the noble and the mighty of the land, this poor, obscm-e old man stepping forward, and receinng the especial notice of Him who said, " Inasmuch as ye did it to one of the least of these, ye did it also to me." — Extract from Speech delivered by the Rev. Dr. Guthrie, at Edinburgh, February, 1855; apud London Inquirer. Dr. Guthrie, who is one of the influential ministers of the Free Church of Scotland, refers to the late John Pounds, the Portsmouth cobbler, of philanthropic celebrity. This most worthy man, this friend of destitute and ignorant children, is known in England to liave held Unitarian views. The late ^Ir. Buckminster, of Boston, . . . was one of the most accomphshed scholars of his age. — Dr. Gardiner Spring : First Things, vol. ii. p. 357. Dr. Channing was, notwithstanding the eiTors of his theological opinions, a beautiful specimen of a man, — warm, serious, philanthropic, calm, self-controlled, earnest, and often enthusiastic. With a refined taste, a love of letters, and a noble independence of mind, he joined a cultivated imderstmding, an effective style, and an admirable elo- quence. — Christian Review for June, 1848; vol. xiii. p. 305. William Ellery Channing was what all orthodox behevers will admit to be much better [than a Socinian] : he was an Arian, and a very high one ; but, more than this, he was a man of purest sincerity, of pro- found humility, and universal charity. Channing must, in fact, be admitted to have been either a saint or a liypocrite ; and the man who, after a persona] acquaintance with liim, or the reading of his works i THEIR MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL WORTH 99 and biography, is prepared to say he was a hj-pocrltc, may be assured that he is not much unfitted to be one himself. — Abel Ste'S'ENS, in Methodist (Quarterly Review for January, 1849. Whatever kind of Arianism Channinj; may have professed to hold, we are inchned to beheve, that, ihough he did not sympathize either with the religious tenets of Socinus or with the philosophic speculations of Priestley and Belsham, his writings in general are pervaded by the doctrine, — which appears to be less esteemed than formerly by American Unitarians, but which, whether true or not, is consistent with the loftiest conceptions of the mission and character of Christ, — that our Lord was, while on earth, what' ever he may have previously been in heaven, a human being, not merely in the properties of his body, but in the faculties and affections of his soul. Instead of saying that Channing was either an Arian or a Socinian, it would be perhaps more correct to speak of him simply as a Unitarian Christian. This remark is made only by way of correcting what we think to be a mistake, which does not lessen the value or truth of the eulogium paid by the writer to the purity and liberality of Channing's character. "We have no sjnipathy mth the distinguishing elements of his creed [the creed of Henry Ware, jun.] ; Ave believe it to be unscrip- tural ; yet, when we see constantly appearing his self-condemnation, his sense of unworthiness, his reverence of God, his efforts to do good to men's souls, his submission to the most painful allotments of Providence, his calmness and joy in the prospect of death, following an unusually spotless and serious life, we cannot find it in om- heart to condemn him " because he followeth not with us." — Christian Review for May, 1846; vol. xi. p. 148. A true, faithful daughter, wife, mother, friend ; with no eccentrici- ties, no extravagances, no marvellous qualities of head or hand ; but with an honest trutlifulness of nature, a wilKng spirit of self-sacrifice, and an ever-lo\-ing heart, — such was ISIary L. Ware. ... It is by such women that woman's rights are best vindicated by the steadfast performance of women's duties. Mrs. Ware's religious life was pure and unspotted ; and, had she lived in a warmer atmosphere of Christian feehng, she would have been a model, besides, of Christian experience. — Methodist Quarterly Review for Jidy, 1853; fourth series, vol. v. p. 314. No translation has appeared in England, since that of Isaiah by Lowth, which can sustain a repuUible comparison with that of the book of Job by Mr. Xoyes. With some slight exceptions, this latter is very much what we could wish it to be. — Spirit of the Pilgrijns for Fibnmry, 1829; vol. ii. p. 93. 100 UNITARIANS DISTINGTHSHED FOR The volume which bears the title given above [" The Evidences of the Genuineness of the Gospels, by Andrews Norton ; vol. 1 ; Boston, 1837 "] is certainly a production of no ordinary stamp, and is a pheno- menon in our literary hemisphere which ought to excite much interest. , . . Mr. Norton h.is cleared himself most expHcitly and fully from the charge that has sometimes been made against him, A-iz., that he is a Naturahst, or a so-called Rationahst of the lowest order. That the Saviour is a teacher from God, and endued TNith miraculous powers, is what he openly declares himself to beheve. — Moses Stuart, in Biblical Repository for April, 1838 ; vol. xi. pp. 265, 287. Professor Norton's M'ork [on the Genuineness of the Gospels] . . . is highly honorable to the winter's learning and diligence ; and, as the American edition was dear and very scarce, we are not surprised that it should be republished in London. [After expressing his dissatis- faction Arith ]\Ir. Norton's %dews respecting the books of the Old Testament, the revieAver proceeds :] It is but justice to the author to say, at the same time, that some of his suggestions are worthy of consideration ; proceeding, as they apparently do, from a mind of inde- pendent habits, richly fm'nished, and patient in the pursuit of truth. It is our notion that the cause of Orthodoxy vAW be better served by calmly examining what he says, than by hastily denouncing him as an mibeliever. — Eclectic Review for April, 184S; new series, vol. xxiii. jjp. 437-9. § 2. Unitarians in General. Socinus and his followers, being great masters of reason, and deeply learned in matters of morality, mingle almost all religion with it, and form religion pm^ely to the model and platform of it. — Sir Mattiiew Hale : A Discourse of Religion, p. 27. They [the Perfectionists] Hve strictly, and in many things speak rationally, and in some things very confidently. They excel the Socinians in the strictness of their doctrine, but, in my opinion, fall extremely short of them in their expositions of the practical Scrip- ture. — Jeremy Taylor : Letter to Evebjn ; Jf'orks, vol. i. p. Ixxxv. Yet to do right to the writers on that [the Socinian] side, I must own, that generally they are a pattern of the fair way of disputing, and of debating matters of religion without heat and unseemly reflec- tions upon their adversaries. . . . They generally argue matters "\rith that temper and gi-arity, and with tliat freedom from passion and THEIR MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL WOUTH. 101 transport, which becomes a serious and weighty argument , anil, for tlie most part, they reason closely and cleiirly, with extraordinary guard and caution, with great dexterity and decency, and yet with smartness and subtilty enough ; with a very gentle heat and few hard words, — vh-tues to be praised wherever they are found, yea, even in an enemy, and very worthy our imitation. Li a word, they are the strongest managers of a weak cause, and which is ill founded at the bottom, that perhaps ever yet meddled with controversy ; inso- much that some of the Protestants and the generality of the Popish writers, and even of the Jesuits themselves, who pretend to all the reason and subtilty in the world, are, in comparison of them, but mere scolds and bunglers. — Archbishop Tiilotson : Sennon 44 ; in Works, vol. iii. pp. 197-8. I must also do tliis right to the Unitarians as to omii, that then* rules in morality are exact and severe ; that they are generaUv men of probity, justice, and charity, and seem to be very much in earnest in pressing the obligations to very high degrees in A-irtue. — Bishop Bltixet, as quoted by Adam, in Relig. JForld Displayed, vol. ii. p. 173. See also Life of Burnet, by his son, prefixed to the " History of His Own Time," vol. i. p. xi. In the passage here referred to, his biographer says that in 1664 the Bishop went to Holland, and became acquainted with the leading Dutch Arminians, Lutherans, Unitarians, &c.; "amongst each of whom, he used frequently to declare, he had met with men of such real piety and virtue " that he became fixed in his principle of universal charity. In stating and describing the duties of men, they [the Polish Socinians] were obliged to be micommonly rigorous, because they mamtained that the object for which God sent Jesus Christ into the world was to promulgate a most perfect Liw. . . . Here also we unexpectedly meet with tliis singularity, that, while on other subjecta they boldly offer the greatest ^iolence to the language of the sacred winters in order to obtain support for their doctrines, they require that whatever is found in the Scriptures rekting to the Ufe and to morals should be understood and construed in the most simple and literal maimer. — J. L. Mosheim : Ecclesiastical History, book iv. cent, xvu sect. 3, part 2, cliap. 4, § 18. In the honest exercise of the reasoning powers with which God endowed them, the Polish Unitarians, so "uncommonly rigorous" in the inculcation and practice of the moral duties of the go«pel, came to a different conclusion m religious matters from other Protestan*" churches; and therefore they " boldly offered the greatest violence to the /anguage of the sacred writers." 102 UNITARIANS DISTINGUISHED FOK With regard to their moral code, the principles of the Univ'arians do not seem to admit their loosening, in the least, the bonds of duty : on the contrary, they appear to be actuated by an earnest desire to promote practical religion. . . . Love is, with them, the fulfilling of the law ; and the habitual practice of mtue, from a principle of love to God and benevolence to man, is, in their judgment, " the sum and substance of Christianity." — Robert Adam : Religious World Displayed, art, " Unitarians," vol. ii. p. 173. Extract from a Letter to Archhishop Magee. — With surprise and \^ith concern, I observed that in one of them [one of the Charges] your Grace has spoken sweepingly of the Unitarians as iUiterate. The expression, my Lord, astonished me. ... In a dispute -which, about one hundred and fifty years ago, was carried on with great violence, Bishop Wetteniial wrote a very judicious, candid, and conciliatory pamphlet, which I found in a huge mass of controversial \\Titings, in which he describes the Socmians as active, as zealous, as acute, as dexterous in disputation, as blameless in the general tenor of their lives, and, he adds, even pious, with exception to their own pecuhar tenets. Every man of common sense, my Lord, will perceive that the qualif}ing words are the result of discretion and episcopal decorum, and were intended probably for a kind of sop to soften the Cerberean part of the priesthood. Be this as it may, the representation which Bishop Wettexil\l gave of his Socinian contemporaries coiTCsponds nearly with my own observations upon my own Unitarian contemporaries Extract from a Letter to the Dissenters of Birminghanu — Though he [Dr. Parr, speaking of himself] does not profess himself an advocate of many of your tenets [the tenets held by the Birmingham Unitarians], he can with sincerity declare liimself not an enemy to your persons. He knows only few among you, but he tliinks well of many. He respects you for temperance and decency in private life ; for diligence in your employments, and punctuality in your engagements ; for economy without parsimony, and hberahty Avithout profusion ; for the readiness you show to reUeve distress and to encourage merit, with Httle or no distinction of party ; for the knowledge Avhich many of you have acquired by the dedication of your leisure hours to intellectual improvement, and for the regularity with which most of you are said to attend religious worship. As to some late deplorable events, he believes that you have been misrepresented : he knows that you have been wronged. — Dr. Samuel Tarr : J forks, vol. i. pp. 672-3 ; and vol lii. p. 306. niEIU MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL WORTH. 103 The Unitarian teachers by no means profess to absolve their follow- ers from the unbending strictness of Christian morahty. They prescribe the jiredominant love of God, and an habitual spirit of devotion. — Wm. Wilberforce : Practical View of the Prevailing Religious Systems, cliap. vii. sect. 3. So far, well. " But," this distinfniished philanthropist adds, " it is an unquestionable fact, . . . that this class of religionists is not in general dis- tinguished for superior purity of life, and still less for that frame of miud which . . . the word of God prescribes to us as one of the surest tests of our experiencing the vital power of Christianity. On the contrary, in point of fact, Unitarianism seems to be resorted to, not merely by those who are disgusted with the peculiar doctrines of Christianity, but by those also who are seeking a refuge from the strictness of her practical precepts," &c. How easily, by adopting the same principles of reasoning, might Deists prove Christianity in general to be answerable for all the vices of her pro- fessed adherents ! The sweeping charges, however, made here against the moral and religious character of Unitarians are refuted by the more candid statements of other opponents, quoted in our pages. I cannot conclude without ex})ressing the con\iction, that much con- sideration is due, both of respect and of affectionate concern, to those who hold the sentiments which in these pages have been opposed. To the great talents and labors of many of them, the Cliristian world is mider eminent obHgations for some of the most valuable works on the e%'idences of revealed reUgion, and for their ser\ices to the cause of religious hberty and the rights of conscience. — Dr. John Pye Smith : Scripture Testimony to the Messiahf vol. ii. p. 424. In their [the Unitarian] body, I number many of the friends of my early days ; and the recollection of the intercourse of the past is even now deHghtful : — men who dignify and adorn the stations which they occupy in society ; some of whom will leave their names to posterity, identified with the improvements of science, the cultivation of the arts which embelHsh human life, and the grand schemes of philanthropy by which the present condition of man is elevated and purified, have I had the honor of numbering among my friends. — Dr. Tno:\L'\.s Byrth : Lecture on Unitarian Interpretation ; in Liverpool Contro- versy, p. 159. There can be no doubt, that, by the existing law, the sect of Uni- tarians is entitled to the fullest measure of toleration ; and it would be absurd to hold, tliat there was any tiling to corrupt virtue, or outrage decency, in tenets which have been advocated in our own days by men of such eminent talents, exemplary piety, and pure fives, as Price> 104 UXITARIANS DISTINGUISHED FOR Priestley, and Channing, and to which there is reason to think neither Milton nor Xewton was disinclined. — Lord Jeffrey ; apud Chris" tian Reformer, new series, vol. ^i. p. 194. At least three quarters of my time have been spent among writers of the Unitarian class, fi-om whom I have received, with gratitude, much instruction relative to the philology, the exegesis, and the hte- rar}' history' of the Scriptm-es. — Moses Stuart : Answer to Chan.' ning, Let. iii. This passage does not appear in the last edition of Stuart's Letters, published 1846, in a volume of his writings entitled " Miscellanies." ;Many of the teachers of this [the Unitarian] heresy are thoroughly skilled in scholastic theolog}', logic, and metiiphysics ; in history, antiquities, philolog)', and modem science ; well versed in the ancient languages ; bold and subtle biblical critics ; prepared to take ad\-an- tage of an imprudent or incautious adversary- ; and thus to triumph over truth itself in the eyes of superficial observers, M-hen their sophistry seems to get the ^ictor}' over its unsldlful defender. — Philip Lixdsly : A Plea for the Theol. Seminary at Princeton, JV. /., pp. 28-9, third edition; Trenton, 1821. Professor Lindsly prefaces these remarks, — which, despite of the latter portion, will be seen to be highly laudatory, — by saying that "Modern Unitarianism is exactly suited to the natural character of men," to the depravity of their hearts, and " is more to be dreaded than any species of infidelity ever yet avowed." That is to say, a religion which teaches that " as a man soweth, so shall he reap," — which, in the name of the gi-eat Jlessenger of Heaven, assures us that we are responsible to God for every thought we think, every feeling we cherish, every word we utter, every act we perform, — " is more to be dreaded" than the infidelity which disowns the God of nature and revelation, which ignores alike the gospel of Christ and the dictates of conscience, and which therefore makes no distinction between virtue and vice. The heretical teachers, however, whose belief in God and Christ, heaven and hell, is worse than any species of infidelity, are *' many of them," the writer in a note kindly says, " no doubt sincere in their profession " of Cliristianity. The defect of the Hberal [the Unitarian] school is, that their religion is not moral. Wq mean not strongly and distinctively so. We know that none insist more earnestly tlian they on a good life, and on the NTinity of all religious pretension without it. . . . We give them the highest praise for the estimate in which they hold tlie graceful ameni- ties and the sweeter cliarities of social intercourse. We give thera THEIR MORAL AND IXTELLECTUAL WORTH. 105 the highest praise for insisting on kindness to all, as the only spirit which a Christian should cherish ; courtesy, as the only external robe which he should wear ; and good works, as the only results that should follow in the path in which he treads. "VVe admire the hvgh spirit of honor, the deUcate sense of propriety, the stern commercial integrity, which are fostered and exliibitcd by so man\ *vho are trained under the influences of Hberal Christianity. The intellectual spirit, the elevation above the •s'ulgar gentility of mere wealth, which are ditfused through many — not all — of its social circles ; the trutlifid- ness to natm'e, in manners and in taste ; the high appreciation of intellectual and moral institutions ; the pubhc spirit which so la^•ishly prondes for them ; and, above all, the strict and careful conscientious- ness which trains and moulds many an esteemed and honored fiiend, — are virtues of no mean value, and are not the chance grovrth of nature. They show culture, — intellectual, social, moral, — of the highest order. But these in themselves are not rehgion We cannot think of them as inheriting and upholding so many of the religious and social institutions founded by their and our honored sii'es of the Pilgrim stock, without caring for them for the fathers' sake. "We honor, for its own, a rehgious community that embraces so much that is noble in cultivated intellect ; so much that is high and honor- able in its noble spuit ; so much that is enlarged and generous in its social feelings. But, &c. — JVew Englanderfor October, 1844 ; vol iL pp. 537, 539, 558. In all ages, ever since the days of Celestiu«, Julian, and Pelagius, there have been, in large numbers, men highly estimable for intelli- gence and benevolence, and animated by a strong desire of urging society onward in the pursuit of moral excellence, who have, never- theless, earnestly, perseveringly, and with deep emotion, opposed this system [the peculiar characteristic of wliich is the doctrine of a super- natural regeneration rendered necessary by the native and original depravity of man], as at war with the fundamental principles of honor and right, and hostile to the best interests of humanity. — Dr, Edw.uu) Beecher : Conflict of ^^ges, p. 3. In this paragraph, Dr. Bp;eciier refers pai'ticularly to Unitarians; and afterwards, when quoting from some of their writers, he speaks of Judge Story as •' that great huninan,- of American jurisprudence; " of Channing as a " distinguished phihuithropist ; " and of '' other eminent men " belonging to this denomination of Christians, such as Dr. John Taylor, Ware, Sparks, Norton, Dewey, Burnap, and E. H. Sears. Their opposition to Augustinian tmd Culviuistic theology he does not, as many of his orthodox brethren, 106 UNITARIANS DISTINGUISHED FOR attribute to the depravity of man's heart, to human pride, carnal reason^ or hatred to the trutli, but, while dissenting from their views, candidly owns that " they were actuated by noble and sublime principles," and that " the existence of the Unitarian body is a providential protest in favor of the great principles of honor and right," on the part of God, towards the descendants of Adam. One of the great excellences of Dr. Beechek's remarkable and paradoxical work is, that he avoids the dogmatizing and illiberal tone which is so common among controversialists, and throughout it demeans himself, not only as a scholar, but as a gentleman and a Christian. You [Unitarians] are, I am aware, benevolent men, a great many of you eager for sanitary, social, political reformation. Li so far as you feel — and I am sure many of you do feel — a sincere, fervent admiration and love for the character of Jesus Christ, in so far as you believe him to be the ■wisest, holiest, most benignant Teacher the world ever had, are not you m danger of setting a man above God ? .... In the sad hours of your life, the recollection of that Man you read of in your childhood, the Man of sorrows, the great sympathizer ■with human woes and sufferings, rises up before you, I know : it has a reality for you, then ; you feel it to be not only beautiful, but true. . . . While we are frivolous, exclusive, heartless, no alignments ought to con-\ince us of Christ's incarnation : they would carry their ovra con- demnation with them, if they did. "When we are aroused to think earnestly what we are, what our relation to our fellow-men is, what God is, — the voice which says, " The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us," " The Son of God was manifested that he might destro) the works of the devil," will no more be thought of as the voice of an apostle. We shall know that he is spealdng to us himself, and that he is the Christ that should come into the world. — Let no Unitarian suppose that these last words are pointed at him ; that I suppose he has gi-eater need of repentance than we have, because some special moral obliquity has prevented him from recognizing the truth of the incarnation. I had no such meaning. I was thinking much more of the orthodox. I was considermg how many causes hinder us from confessing with our liearts as well as our Hps, that Christ has come in the flesh. The conceit of our Orthodoxy is one cause. What- ever sets us in any wise above our fellow-men is an obstacle to a hearty belief in the Man : it must be taken from us before we shall really bow our knees to him. I know not that, if he were now wallv- ing visil)ly among us, he niiglit not sa}' that many a Unitarian was far nearer the kingdom of heaven than many of us; less choked with prejudice, less self-confident, more capable of recognizing the great TIIETIl MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL WORTH. 107 helper of the wounded man who has flillen among thieves, than we priests or Lentes are, because more ready to go and do Hkcwise. I cannot say that this might not be so ; I often suspect that it would be so J and therefore I cert;iinly did not intend to convey the impres- sion that the moral disease at the root of their most vehement intellectual denials is necessarily a malignant one. ... I am nearly sm*e that many Unitariims would sooner die than give up the act of prayer, and that they beheve it not to be the falsest, but the truest, of all acts ; that wliich is necessarj' to make them smcere, and keep them sincere, I do not doubt that the greater part of Unitarians, even those who retam Dr. Priestley's dogma of Necessity in their speculative creed, contrive to separate the idea of Him they call Father from that Necessity. They confess a Will : they do not worship a mere God of natm-e ; and they can beheve, tliat this "Will may govern them in some different way from that in which he governs the trees and flowers and streams. — F. D. ^L\urice: Theological Essays, pp. 11, 7 1-2, 8S-9, 329 ; New York edition. Additional testimonies to the high moral and intellectual character of Unitarians might have been introduced into this section; and some of these would have brought into notice other honored names, not yet mentioned. But the extracts which have been made are enough for our present purpose; which is to show, — without, we trust, a spirit of pride or of pharisaic boast- ing, — that Unitarianism numbers among its adherents some of the best and wisest of men that have ever hved; that, though frequently branded as blasphemers of the Saviour, the believers in the simple oneness of God have not been imdistinguished, either as individuals or as a church, for their moral worth and sincere piety; that, though, in common with other classes of Di>senters in England, excluded from the highest seats of learning in that country, and sometimes spoken of in the United States and elsewhere as the merest sciolists, they have manifested, in the productions of their pen, no gross deficiency in either classical or scriptural knowledge ; and that, though small in numbers as compared with the professors of orthodox views, they have in some instances displayed a philosophic skill and a poetical power which will for ever associate their names with those of the gifted few who have pre-eminently stood out as the improvers and leaders of a world's intellect, — the benefactors of their race. These testimonies are cited merely to prove, that, as respects the character and the attainments of Antitrinitarians, there is nothing which, judging d priori, should prevent an investigation into the evidence presented in favor of the opinions which they profess, and which many of them have adorned by their lives, and recommended in then- writings. Similar observations will apply even with greater force to the extracts made in the following section. 108 UNITARIANS ENTITLED TO THE CHRISTIAV NAME SECT. IX. — UNITARIANS ENTITLED TO THE CITRISTLiN N.^ME. A. — I honor and admire Caius for his great learning. B. — The knowledge of the Sanscrit is an important article in Caius's learning. A. — I have been often in his company, and have found no reason for belief ing this. B. — Oh ! then you deny his learning, are envious, and Caius's enemy. A. — God forbid ! I love and admire him. I know him for a transcendent linguist in the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and modern European languages; and, with or without the Sanscrit, I look up to him, and rely on his erudition in all cases in which I am concerned. And it is this perfect trust, this unfeigned respect, that is the appointed criterion of Caius's friends and disciples, and not their full acquaintance with each and all particulars of his superiority. S. T. Coleridge. There is another thing which . . . my censurer, and others such as he, generally stand by ; to wit, if a person be any thing ingenious, or more learned than ordinary, and WTites out of the common road, he is presently a Socinian ; as if all men of sense must needs tui'n Socinians. ... If he "will say that Socinus was mistaken in a great many things, I fully agree ^^ith liim ; but I can reckon up a great many worse errors than liis, whereof I shall mention but one, out of respect to my cen- surer ; that is, of those who think men deserve eternal torments, whom Christ never condemned ; who by aU means persecute those that differ from them, though they ovm. themselves to be as liable to error as the very men whom they persecute ; who, in a word, think they may, upon very slight suspicions, traduce men that are heartily devoted to Christianity, and sober in their Hves, as a kuid of plagues to be carefully shunned. He that does not ascribe to Christ what he thinks Christ never assumed to himself, if othermse he perform constant obedience to all his precepts which he fully understands, may obtain the forgiveness of his ignorance from a most favorable and compas- sionate Judge ; but he that breaks the command of loving his neighbor, which is as clear as the sun at noon-day, by slandering and bitterness and cruelty, and dies in those ^'ices, shall never, unless a new gospel be made for him, be admitted into the kingdom of heaven. — Le Clerc : Preface to his Suppletnent to Haimrwnd; as quoted in tJie Unitarian Miscellany for Fehr^uary, 1823. It will appear that the several denominations of Christians agree both in tlie substance of religion, and in the necessary enforcements of the practice of it ; that the world and all things were created by God, and are under the direction and govenmient of liis aU-powerfuJ UNITARIANS ENTITLED TO THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 109 hand and all-seeing eye ; that there is an essential difference between good and evil, virtue and ^ice ; that there will be a state of future rewards and punishments, according to our behavior in this life ; that Christ was a teacher sent from God, and that his apostles were di>'inely inspired ; that all Christians are bound to declare and profess themselves to be his disciples ; that not only the exercise of the several virtues, but also a belief in Christ, is necessary in order to their obtain- ing the pardon of sin, the favor of God, and eternal Hfe; that the worship of God is to be performed chiefly by the heart, in prayers, praises, and thanksgiving ; and, as to all other points, that they are bound to Hve by the rules which Christ and his apostles have left them in the Holy Scriptures. Here, then, is a fixed, certain, and uniform rule of fiith and practice, containing all the most necessary points of rehgion estabhshed by a divine sanction, embraced as such by all denominations of Christians, and in itself abimdantly sufficient to pre- serve the knowledge and practice of religion in the world. — Bishop Gibson : Second Pastoral Letter, pp. 20-1. Unitarians acknowledge the truth of these pi'imary principles, and are therefore entitled to the appellation of Christians. Once I remember some narrow-minded people of his [Dr. Dod- dridge's] congregation gave him no small ti'ouble on account of a gentleman in communion with the church, who was a professed Arian, and who otherwise departed from the common standard of orthodoxy. This gentleman they wished either to be excluded from the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, or to have his attendance upon it prevented ; but the doctor declared, that he would sacrifice his place, and even his life, rather than fix any such mark of discouragement upon one who, what- ever his doctruial sentiments were, appeared to be a real Chiistian. — Dr. Kippis, in Biographia Britannica, vol. v. p. 307. Some of the Unitarian doctrines do, indeed, appear to many of us extremely unscriptural ; and yet it must be acknowledged, however wide of the truth these doctrines may be, there is a very great and essential difference between them and Deism. . . . However mistaken these people may be, yet, while they continue to own Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, support liis cause in general as the cause of truth, and lead pious and virtuous fives, we should not deny them the honor of the Cliristian name, rank them among absolute infidels, and consign them to eternal perdition, as too many do. They have still a right to a place in our fraternal affection ; and we should pity and pray 10 110 UNITARIANS ENTITLED TO THE CHRISTIAN NA>IB. for them, and by all rational means endeavor to reclaim them, but by no means revile and persecute them, or even hurt a hair of tiieir heads. — 1). Turner, of Abingdon: Free Thoughts on Free Inquiry in Religion ; apud Field's Letters, p. 67. AVe and the Socinians are said to differ ; but about what ? Not about morality or natural religion, or the divine authority of the Christian religion : we differ only about what we do not understand, and about what is to be done on the part of God. ... A heathen Socrates, I think, would be surprised at those who agreed in so many things requiring declarations and subscriptions, in order to exclude one another And my difficulty is mcreased, when I find that making this declaration [respecting the doctrine of the Trinity] sepa- rates me from Christians whom I must acknowledge to be rational and well informed ; from those who have studied some parts of Scripture with singular success. — Dr. John Hey : Lectures in Divinity, vol. ii. pp. 41, 249. I never attempted either to encourage or discourage his [the Duke of Grafton's] profession of Unitarian principles ; for I was happy to see a person of his rank professing, with intelligence and A\ith sincerity, Christian principles. If any one thinlvS that an Unitarian is not a Christian, I plainly say, without being myself an Unitarian, that I think otherA\ase The Christian religion is wholly comprised in the New Testament ; but men have interpreted that book in various ways, and hence have sprung uj) a great variety of Christian churches. I scruple not giving the name of Christian churches to assemblies of men uniting together for public worship, though they may differ somewhat from each other in doctrine and in discipline ; Avhilst they all agree in the fundamental principle of the Christian religion, that Jesus is the Christ, the Saviour of the world. In this the Greek, the Latin, and all the reformed churches have one and the same faith. — Bishop Watson : Life, pp. 47, and 412-13. Oh that I could prevail on Christians to melt doAra, inider the warm influence of brotherly love, all the distinctions of Methodists, Independents, Baptists, Anabaptists, Trmitarians, Arians, Unitarians, in the glorious name of Christians ; men of large, generous, benevolent minds, above disputing for trifles ; men who love one another as men, sons of the same Almighty Parent, heirs of the same salvation by Jesus Christ ! Let us throw away our petty badges of distinction ; distinction, where, in fact, there is no dittbrencc; and let lis walk together, liand m hand, into the church, up to the altar, and give and UNITARIANS ENTITLED TO THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 1 1 1 forgive, and love one anotlier, and live in unity in this world, tl e few years poor mortals have to live, that we may meet in love, never again to be divided, in heaven ; Avhcre 'will no more be found the narrow, dark, cold, An-etched prejudices of little sectaries, cavilling at each other, stinging their opponents, venting the ^irulence of their temper in defence of a religion that forbids, above every thing, all rancor, all malice, all evil-thinlving, and all evil-speaking. — Vicesimus Knox : Sermons ; in J forks, vol. vi. p. 50. "With no ordinary pleasure have we made this extract from Dr. Knox. It is fraught with "thoughts that breathe" a spirit of divine love, — with "words that burn" with all the fire of a catholic Christianity. These eentiments will not be deemed the less effective because they come from oue who did not regard all opinions as of equal or of trifling importance, but who was a devoted admirer of the doctrines of the church of England, and who, as " a believer in the doctrine of the Trinit}'," lamented that Unitarians should, as he expresses it, " zealously lower our Saviour in the ophiion of his follow- ers." See Preface to his Sermons as published in 1792, pp. vi. and vii. I am no Socmian, I am no Arian, whatever the malice of others may have suggested, or your own suspicions allowed. And while I love Jebb as a man, while I defend him as a scholar, while I will assist him if mjured, and vote for him if attacked, I can yet distinguish between him and liis principles, between the license of ambition or novelty and the honest zeal of the well-meaning Christian. — William Benxet (before he became Bishop of Cloyne), in Letter to Dr. Parr, dated Sept. 18, 1770; apud Parr^s Works, vol. vii. p. 77. Though many of us ditfer from you [Dr. Priestley] in matters of religious faith, we trust that we liave better learned the spirit of our excellent religion than not to esteem in you that character of piety and virtue wliich is the best fruit of every faith, and that ardor for truth and manly inquiry which Christianity inntes, and which no form of Christianity ought to shrink from ; as well as to admire those eminent abiUties and that unwearied perseverance which give acti\ity to the nrtues of your heart, and to wiiich, in almost every walk of science, your country and the world have been so much indebted. . . . Though your enemies have attacked you in tliat way wherein you feel perhaps most sensibly, yet we rejoice to find in you that decent magnanimity, that Christian bearing, which raises you superior to suffering ; and that a regard to God, to truth, and to another world, hiivc even from the bosom of affliction enabled you to extract a generous consolation. Whether in your religious inquiries you have en*ed or no, we firmly 112 UNITARIANS ENTITLED TO THE CHRISTIAN NAME. believe that truth and the best interests of mankind have been the object of your constant regard ; and we trust that that God who loves an honest and well-meaning heart will dispense to you such protection as to his wisdom may seem most fit. To his benevolent and fatherly protection we devoutly recommend you through the remainder of your life ; praying that you may be long preserved, that you may sur^•ive the hatred of your ungrateful comitry, and that you may repay her cruel injuries, by adding, as you have hitherto done, to her ti'easure cf science, of Airtue, and of piety. — Extract from Address to the Rev. Dr. Priestley ; apud Yates^s Vindication. This address was presented to Dr. Priestley by forty-three ministers of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, of the Presbyterian, Independent, and Baptist persuasions, soon after the Binningham riots in 1791, when the valuable property of that good and great man was destroyed, and his life endangered, by the outrages of a fanatical mob. [l.J I shall ever think and ever speak of Mr. Wakefield as a very profound scholar, as a most honest man, and as a Chi'istian who united knowledge with zeal, piety with benevolence, and the deep simphcity of a child with the fortitude of a martyr [2.] He [Dr. James Lindsay] had fine talents ; he had a good store of ancient learning j and of modem Hteratm-e his knowledge was various, extended, and well digested. Then, as to liis moral quaHties, there, we can scarcely say too much. He was pure in heart, social in temper, benevolenfr in spirit, most upright in conduct. Some would say there was a stern- ness about his integrity ; and a vehemence, almost passionate, in urging the right and opposing the Avi'ong, as it appeared to him, in sentiment or action. But, in reality, there was all the sweetness, as well as all the fairness, of candor. In debate, if he was sometimes warm, he was never overbearing ; if there was pressing earnestness, there was no discourtesy in his manner. As a patriot and a philanthropist, the love of his country and of his kind was in him a glowing passion, as well as a steady principle. As a Christian and a preacher, religion Mas in him a subject of ardent feehng, as well as of honest profession ; and, though destitute of the graces of elocution, yet he possessed, in no inferior degree, aU the eloquence which sincere con\-iction, vivid con- ceptions, strong emotions, and great command of language, can supply. [3.] Extract from Letter to Archbishop Magee. — And now, my Lord, we are come to a j)()int, uj)on which lun-eservcdh- I shall state to you my disaj^probation of some passages in your Charges. It pained me exceeduigly to find tliat your Grace adopted the mvidions, UNITARIANS ENTITLED TO THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 113 and, I must say fairly, the uncbiritable language of those persons who maintiin that Socinians are not Christians. . . . Unthsguisedly and indignantly, I sliall ever bear testimony against the uncharitable spirit which exckides the followers of Socinus utterly from the aithoHc church of Chiist, . . . Witliout professing any partiality for Unitarians, I hold that they who acknowledge Jesus Christ to be the promised Messiah, to liave liad a direct and special commission from the Almighty, to have been endowed supernaturally with the Holy Spirit, to have worked miracles, to have suffered on the cross, and on the third day to have risen from the dead, — yes, my Lord, I hold that men, thus believing, have a sacred claim to be called Cluistians. — Dr. Samuel Parr. The quotations marked [1] and [3] are from Parr's Works, vol. i. p. 402, and vol. vii. pp. 8-10; that marked [2] is from Field's Memoirs of Parr, vol. ii. p. 2S3. Having always considered the favorable opinion of wise and good men as the best reward which, on this side of the grave, an honest individual can receive for doing what he deems to be his duty on all occasions, I cannot but be highly gratified by the approbation of so respectable a body of my fellow-Christians as those are, an address from whom has been this moment read to me. I am most certainly a very sincere, though a very humble, friend to the cause of religious Hberty, and have unifonnly been so from the first moment I was capable of distinguishing " quid sit pulchrum, quid turpe, quid utile, quid non." . . . Revelation, I am sure, confirms this voice [of reason], . . . when it warmly expostulates with those who are fond of interfering in matters of conscience. . . . Let us, then, be content to leave our fellow-Christians to stand or fall by the judgment of our common Lord and Master, to whom both we and they must hereafter give an account ; and, in the mean time, should we upon reflection regard it as a duty to convert others to our own peculiar opinions, let us never cease to remember that reason and argument are the only wea])ons of spiritual warfare. And, even in the use of these, we sliall do well constantly to bear in mind, that revealed religion was graciously vouchsafed to man, " non disputandi causa, sed ita vivendi." — Henry Batiiurst, Bishop of Nor\v'ich, as quoted in the Unitarian Miscellany for February, 1823. This extract is made from a speech delivered by Bishop Batiiurst, Oct. 3, 1822, in reply to an address presented to him by the Eastern Unitarian Society, thanking him for " his uniform attachment and marked devotion to the cause of religious liberty." 10* 114 UNITARIANS ENTITLED TO THE CHRISTIAN NAME. We see in the theolog}' of Newton the very spirit and principle which gave all its stability and all its sureness to the philosophy of Newton. We see the same tenacious adherence to every one doctrine that had such vaHd proof to uphold it as could be gathered from the field of human experience ; and we see the same firm resistance of every one argument that had nothing to recommend it but such plausibilities as could easily be devised by the genius of man, when he expatiated abroad on those fields of creation which the eye never witnessed, and from which no messenger ever came to us with any credible information. Now, it was on the former of these two prin- .ciples that Newton clung so determinedly to his Bible, as the record of an actual annunciation from God to the inhabitants of this world. AVhen he turned his attention to this book, he came to it with a mind tutored to the philosophy of facts ; and, when he looked at its cre- dentials, he saw the stamp and the impress of this philosophy on every one of them. He saw the foct of Christ being a ^Messenger from heaven, in the audible language by which it was conveyed from heaven's canoi)y to human ears. He saw the fact of his being an approved Aml)assador of God, in those miracles which caiTied their o\vn resistless evidence along with them to human eyes. . . . He saw the reality of that supernatural light which inspired the prophecies he himself illustrated, by such an agreement with the events of a various and distant futm-ity as could be tiiken cognizance of by human observ'a- tion. He saw the wisdom of God pervading the whole substance of the written message, m such manifold adaptiitions to the chcumstances of man, and to the whole secrecy of his thoughts and his affections and his spiritual wants and his moral sensibilities, as, even in the mind of an ordinary and unlettered peasant, can be attested by human con- sciousness. These formed the solid materials of the basis on which our experimental philosopher stood. . . . When I look at the steady and unmoved Christianity of this wonderful man, so far from seeing any symptom of dotage and imbecility, or any forgctfulness of those princi])les on which the fabric of his i)hiloso])hy is reared, do I see, that, in sitting down to the work of a Bible commentator, he hath given us their most beautiful and most consistent exem]:)lification. — ])n. Thomas Chalmers: JJsironomical Discourses, Disc. 2; in Select Worlcs, vol. iv. pp. 37o-G. In his rreftice, where he endeavors to qualifj' this eloquent panegyric on Kewtun as an int(.'ri)reter of the Bible, Dr. Chalmkus admits, what some have unreasonably denied, that that great philosopher was a Unitarian. UNITARIANS ENTITLED TO THE CHRISTI IN NAME. 115 Dr. George Benson was a man of great piety and learning, in- tensely studious, and unwearied in his researches after theological truth, which Aras the principal business of his Ufe. On all occasions he was a zealous advoaite for free uiquiry and the right of i)rivate judgment ; but, though his integi'ity was iu>questioned, yet the freedom ^^ith which he expressed his sentiments on some points controverted amongst Christians, exposed him to censm-es and indecent reflections from men of little candor and contracted views Dr. Samuel Chandler in a few years became alike a Christian, and a classical, bibHcal, and oriental scholar. He had long been the subject of a ver}- painful disorder, which he bore with the piety and fortitude of a Christian. His remains were attended by many eminent ministers, who duiing his life appreciated his merits, and at his death paid him those honors which his virtues and piety so justly deserved In the controversy which unliappily mged in 1718 on the Trinitarian question. Dr. James Foster adopted the Arian creed. His integrity was unimpeached, and he was a decided Xonconformist. His popu- larity as a preacher is said to have been well supported by a fine commanding voice, accompanied with an intrepidity in avowing his sentiments, wliich all ought to imitate. Error is never more dangerous than when it walks in disguise. He was unjustly charged with Deism by some who could not distinguish between his negative creed and complete infidelity. He ever protested that he was a firm believer in revelation, and despised the meanness of professing Christianitv Anth- out conviction Dr. Nathaniel Lardner was an upright and devout Christian. From the time he enUsted in the cause of Chiis- tdanity, he was a faithful and sincere champion, and defended its cause with great seriousness and solemnity. — Abridged from "William Jones, M. A., Author of the History of the Waldenses : Christian Biograph), a Dictionary of the Lives and Writings of the most distinguished Christians, pp. 37, 105-6, 161-2, 270. • In this Biography of distinguished Christians, Mr. Jones includes many other Unitarians than those mentioned in the preceding extracts. The first point to be considered by those who meditate the project of re-union is its practicability. Those who are disposed to assert it will observe the number of important articles of religious faith in which all Christians are agreed, and the proportionally small number of those m which any Chiistians disiigree. All Christians believe, that, 1. There is one God ; 2. Tliat he is a Being of infinite perfection ; 116 UNITARIANS ENTITLED TO THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 3. That he directs all things by his pro-sidence ; 4. That it is our duty to love him with all our hearts, and our neighbors as ourselves ; 5. That it is our duty to repent of the sins we commit ; 6. That God pardons the truly penitent ; 7. That there is a future state of rewards and punishment, when all mankind shall be judged according to their works ; 8. That God sent his Son mto the world to be its Sanour, the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him ; 9. That he is tht? true Messiah ; 10. That he taught, worked miracles, suffered, died, and rose agam, as is related in the Foiu* Gospels; 11. That he \n]l hereafter make a second appearance on the earth, raise all mankind from the dead, judge the world in righteousness, bestow eternal life on the wtuous, and punish the workers of iniquity. In the belief of these articles, all Chiistians — Koman CathoHcs, Lutherans, Cahinists, Qualvcrs, Anabaptists, and Socinians — are agi'eed. — Charles Butler : Reminiscences, pp. 200-1. I dare not hesitate to avow my regret that any scheme of doctrines or tenets should be the subject of penal law. ... It is the manner, the means, that constitute the crime. The merit or demerit of the opinions themselves depends on their originating and determining causes, which may differ in every different behever, and are certainly knoAMi to Him alone who commanded us, " Judge not, lest ye be judged." . ', . Judging by all that we can pretend to know or are entitled to infer, who among us will take on himself to deny that the late Dr. Priestley was a good and benevolent man, as sincere in liis love, as he was mtre- pid and indefatigable in his pursuit, of truth ? . . . Persuaded that the doctrines enumerated in pp. 229-30, are not only essential to the Christian religion, but those which contradistinguish the rehgion as Christian, I merely assert tliis persuasion in another form, when I assert, that, in my sense of the word " Clmstian," Unitiirianism is not Chi-istianity. But do I say that those who call themselves Unitarians are not Christians ? God forbid ! I would not think, much less pro- mulgate, a judgment at once so presumptuous and so micharitiible. — Samuel Taylor Coleridge : ^iids to Rejlection ; in Works, vol L pp. 237-9. Sentiments of a similar kind will be found in Biographia Literaria (Works, vol. iii. pp. 593-4), where Culekidge, forgetting his " Confessio Fidel " of 1S16 (Works, vol. v. p. 17), indignantly contradicts the charge of his having denied Unitarians to be Christians. From the orthodox point of view, this eminent writer could not reasonably be expected to look oa Unitarianism as Christianity; and it would be equally unreasonable to expect, that from au opposite and what we would call a more evangelical UNITARIANS ENTITLED TO THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 117 etand-point, the believer in the doctrine of tlie siinple Unity of God could regard Trinitarianisni, in its essential features and its ecclesiastical aspect, in any other light than as a relic of Heathenism. But it does not follow, that, because they hold each other's opinions to be in a great degree hostile to the truths inculcated in Scripture, the Unitarian and the Trinitarian must necessarily think, one of the other, that he is altogether devoid of Christian principle, Christian faith, Christian affection; that it is impossible for him to love tlie Lord Jesus in sincerity, or to trust in him as the Messiah and the Redeemer, " whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world." 1 know very well that my learned friend will probably here say, " I do not admit the Unitarian to be a Christian ; " but I am not obliged to listen to such explanation on the part of my learned fi'iend. If the Unitarian be not a Christian, it is in consequence of that prerogative with wliich my learned friend gi-atuitously invests him, namely, the right of interpreting the Bible for himself, spurning the authority of the church of ages, Avhich teaches us that Christ is both God and man. It is utterly useless for my friend to tell me the Unitarian is not sincere and Christian. What ! proscribe all the Unitarians in England ; men of splendid and commanding genius ; men of conscience and honor ; men of integrity and truth ; men who Hve and die — die actually -Nrith the persuasion that Christ is mere man, and " Intercessor " — who believe in God most firmly ! Is it just, is it honorable, to say they are not Christians, when it is his very system, the system which he him- self recommends, that has caused their unchristianization ? Oh, it is really imfair ! it is decidedly unkind, ungenerous, and unfair on the part of my learned friend, or on the part of any clerg}-man of the church of England or Scotland. — Mr. French, a Catholic Barrister : Discussion between him and the Rev. J. Cumming, at Hammersmith, in 1840 ; p. 482. So long as the main sentiment is unexceptionable, we do not think it necessary to point out, in all cases, the minor points in which we differ from an author quoted ; but we may take the opportunity to remark, that Mr. Frexch greatly errs, when, in eulogizing English Unitarians, he says it is theu* persuasion that Christ is " mere man." Leaving out of view such persons as are termed Rationalists or Transcendentalists, we know of no one belonging to the Unitarian denomination, either in Great Britain or in America, who would employ such a phrase. It may, however, have been used to imply only that many Unitarians have regarded Jesus in nature as a human being, and not an angel or a God ; but the expression is calriulated to mislead, as if Humanitarians thought that the well-beloved of the Father was merely a common or an undistinguished man. or, at the most, one of the old Hebrew prophets. 118 UNITARIANS ENTITLED TO THE CHRISTIAN NA5IE. An Unitarian, as such, is a Christian; that h, if a man follows Christ's law, and believes his -words according to his conscientious sense of theu* meaning, he is a Christian ; and though I may think he understmds Christ's words amiss, yet that is a question of interpreta- tion, and no more. The purpose of his heart and mmd is to obey and be guided by Christ, and therefore he is a Christian. — Dr. Tno:\L\s Arnold : Letter 158 ; in Life and Correspondence, p. 299. When I look at the reception, ])y the Unitarians, both of the Old and New Testament, I cannot, for my part, strongly as I dislike their theolog}', deny to those who acknowledge the basis of dlxme foct the name of Christian. Who, indeed, is justified in denying the title to any one who professes to love Christ in sincerity ? — Bishop Hampden, apud London Inquirer for December 4, 1847. No man has a right to call himself a Clnistian, if he be not a Christian in the ordinary acceptation of the word, — if he do not, for example, believe that Jesus Christ really rose from the dead, according to the Scriptures. This common acceptation of the tenn " Christian " ■will, indeed, uiclude many who hold what appear to us very false notions of Christianity ; fis, for instance, the Unitarians. But we must take language as we find it. The true meaning of a word is what is commonly understood by it ; neither more nor less. ... So it is with the word " Christian." We are not justified in denj-ing that title to an Unitarian, on the ground that he denies what we hold as an essen- tial doctrine of Christianity. Nor would a Roman CathoHc be justified in refusing it to all but members of wliat he regards as the only true chm-ch ; or a Baptist, to all except those whom he considers really baptized persons. ... A Christian — whatever any one may conceive the word ought to mean — does mean, in ordinary speech, neither more nor less than one who regards Jesus Christ as the founder of his rehgion, and as coming from God. — Archbishop Whately : Cautions for tJie Times, pp. 498-9. In pp. 492-3, this master of language and of logic proves — what but tor the exclui-Jveness of some religionists would require no proof — that "to whatever extent any one has embraced Cluistiunity, his religion is evan- gelical." I have heard it once and again affirmed that Unitarians are not Cliristians ; and some, in their unreflecting zeal, — some even of those whom I sincerely respect, — have gone so far as to call Soclnlanism a lialf-way house towards infidelity; forgetting that a half-way house, ftrom the natuie of the thing, ex vi termini, must be as v.ell from a& UNITARIANS ENTITLED TO TIIE CHRISTIAN NAME. 1 1 9 toward'^, — either to infidelity, or from infidelity to Christianity ; and, accordingly I Irave kno\ni eminent converts from the superstitions of the E.ist who ■were Sociiiians. But when misguided men, of more zeal tlnn knowledge, would thus distinguish the Unitarian from the Christbn, whom, I will ask, do we fondly cite as our highest authori- ties when we ai*e engaged in defending our religion against its infidel adversiiries ? In arguing with these upon the evidences, how often has one said, " Wliat better would you have tlian tiiat which satis- fied the greatest masters of science, the great luminaries of law ? Who Avas ever a better judge of legal CAidence than Hale ; of moral evidence than Locke ; of mathematical and })hysical evidence than Newton ? " And yet Locke at one time labored under grave suspicion of Unitaiuanism, — groundless, perhaps, though he was at the least an AiTin. But tlut Newton was a Unitarian is quite certain, . . . aa tliorough a Unitarian as ever attended Essex-street Chapel. !My noble and learned friend (Lord Campbell) will find this clearly proved by Sir David Brewster from examination of the NcM'ton manuscripts, which, that le;irned person says., leave not the shadow of a doubt upon the subject. Yom- Lordships, mdeed, are not Unitarians: I question if there be one in this House. Certainly there have been, — the Duke of Grafton and others : with them we may not agree ; but assuredly their errors are not to be corrected by denying that Sir Isaac Newton was a Christian, or Dr. Lardner — he to whose writings the defence of oiur rehgion owes so great an obHgation, that they form a large proportion, nay the very foundation, of Dr. Paley's celebrated work. With these eminent men you may differ ; you may keep aloof as wide as you vdU. firom them ; but it is not by den}'ing the Chris- tianity of Newton and Lardner that you can turn Socinians aside from their track. Neither of their heresies nor of far greater tnan theirs, have I the least dread. I have no alarm for the truth, — no fear of error. Let truth be left to the attacks of its enemies, error to the care of its friends, and I have no apprehension of the result. But one thing I do fear ; one thing does alarm me ; and that is jDorsecuted error. — Lord Brqugham, in a Speech on .Yational Education, delivered iii the House of Lords, Aug. 4, 18.34 ; reported in Hansard's Parliainentarij Debates, tliii'd series, vol. cxxxv. p. 1313-14. Lord Campbell merely rose to express his disapproval of the mnn- ner in which, as his noble and learned friend had said, the Unitiirians had been persecuted. He (Lord Campbell) was not aware that Sir leaai Newton was a Socinian • he had always believed liim to have 120 UNITAUIANS ENTITLED TO THE CHRISTIAN NAME. been an Arian. He believed, however, that the Socinians numbered among themselves many men of good education, of great attainments, and of u-rejiroachable lives. Though this sect labored under what he conceived to be a lamentable en-or, still they were Chiistians, and ought to be treated as such. Until the repeal of the statutes of William HI., Socuiians had labored under various disabihties, and were not entitled to all the privileges of the Act of Uniformity : but now they were placed on the same footing as the other religious sects ; and, though hoping that they might see their error, he yet trusted, that, while they continued in their error, they would be treated as Christian t)rethren, and not, as they had been, as something worse than uifidels. — Hansard's Report of Lord Campbell's Reply to Lord Bi'oughamr Lords Brougham and Cajipbell. mistake when they draw a line of distinction between Arians and Unitarians, by restricting tlie hitter name to ihose whom they, as well as many others, call Socinians. An Arian believes in the pre-existence of Christ, as a being inferior to God ; a Socinian, or rather a Humanitarian, rejects the doctrine of Christ's pre-existence, and, while regarding him as the highest representative of Deity and as the appointed Saviour of the world, thinks that he was in nature only a man. But both are Unitarians, because they agree in holding the doctrine of God's strict or simple Unity, and the unqualified subordination of the Lord Jesus to the one God and Father of all. It will be seen, however, that our cor rection does not in the least diminish the force of the remarks made by Lords Bkougham and Campbell as to the religious standing of the deno- mination to which they refer. The denial of the Di\inity of Christ is undoubtedly a great error ; and an error which, if admitted, leads to many other great and inju- rious errors. But it is as undoubtedly the error of many noble and ingenuous minds, and of many devout and earnest Christians. . . . Grotius, Le Clcrc, and Wetstein, in Holland ; and Whiston, Samuel Cliirkc, Lardner, Locke, Newton, and Milton, in England, — are all reckoned among the rejecters of the Supreme Divinity of Christ. A list of more illustrious names and more eminent Christians could hardly be found. — Leicester A. Sawyer : Organic Christianity, . pp. 408-9, 445. The only remark which it seems necessary to make on ^Ir. Sawyer's liberal sentiments is, that, though the comments of Grotius and Le Clerc on many j)assnges of Scripture are consonant Avith the interpretations usually laid down by Unitarians, these distinguished writers were professedly Trini- tarian in their views, and defended themselves from tlic charges of Anti- triuitariauism preferred by son;e of their contemporaries against them. UNITARIANS ENTITLED TO TUE CHRISTIAN NAME. 121 This [" Memoir of Mary L. Ware "] is a beautiful life of a beautiful character. The character ^\'as not beautiful in the romantic incidents of an existence diversified by strange adventm-es, or by the fascinations that gather around a splendid career in society ; but it was beautiful, if sell-sacrifice, consistency, cheerfulness, and security can make a beautiful Christian character. ... It [the Memoir] is a beautiful pendant to the charming Hfe of her beloved husband. We commend it most cordially to our readers, as a firai example of what a true Christian woman should aim to become. The ethics of the gospel are here exhibited in their true spirit of self-devotion and self-forgetfulness. Wc could wish that many who profess a sounder and more consistent creed adorned their course by a character and a life half as consistent as were those of Mrs. Ware. — JSTeio Englander for Augusty 1853 j vol. xi. (new series, vol. v.) pp. 477-8. In concluding a chapter, the materials for which have been gathered to show that the spirit of Sectarianism is inconsistent with the spirit of Christianity, and whose tendency is to exhibit a truth which Christendom has been slow to learn, — that the church of Christ is not confined within the precincts either of Roman Catholicism or of any one of the various Protestant denominations, but is co-extensive with the sincere, the good, the pure, and the truth-loving, of every name, who profess to believe in God and his Messiah, and who, whether they be few or many, meet together for purposes of worship and instruction, — it may not be inappropriate to maka 8ome remarks on the title " Christian," which has been denied by a majority of orthodox believers to those who differ from them in opinion, but which, as exemplified in these pages, not a few of them have, in a spirit of candor and liberality, applied, both individually and generally, to Unitarians. This word, " Christian," whether as a noun or an adjective, occurs, as well in books as in conversation, with various and different significations. 1. It is sometimes used to distinguish a people or nation whose religion is ostensibly that which was taught by Christ, from those nations whose opinions as to the proper objects of faith and worship have been taken from other real or supposed divine Messengers. Thus we speak of a Mohammedan country, vrhen we mean to imply, not that each and all of its inhabitants are fa'thful to the code of Mohammed, but merely that his religion has, to a very considerable extent, moulded the belief, the character, and the usages of the people. So also we speak of a Christian country, meaning by this phrase that Christianity is more or less blended with its government, laws, and institutions; affects the state of society and of civilization manifested by all classes and orders within its bounds; and holds a certain undefinable authojity over their faith, morals, and habits. But it is obvious that this mode of employing the term is exceedingly loose. For, in every &uch couu> 11 122 UNITARIANS ENTITLED TO THE CURISTI.A^ NAME. try there nre, unlifippily, many but little subject to the principles which Jesus inculcated, — :is the professors of other religions, the professors of none at all, the indiflerent and the reckless, the abandoned and the ignorant, the inmates of the prison or the workhouse, of whom some have scarcely heard the name of God or Christ, unless when associated with profanity; to say notliing of the prevalence of passions and practices among the professors of Christianity themselves, — the spirit of war, the craft of merchandise, the bane of intemperance, the zeal of partisanship in religion and politics, and the curse of despotism or of slavery. But, though occasionally used in this vague and inaccurate sense, startling the thoughtful mind by the contrasts which it awakens, the term is unambiguous, and serves the purpose for which it is employed. 2. The word " Christian " is also sometimes used to point out an indi- vidual, of any religious persuasion, whether he be a Mohammedan, a Jew, or a Pagan, who is distinguished from other men by the excellence of his moral character, so marked in his conduct as to resemble, though uninten- tionally, the exhibitions of the benevolent spirit in Christ. In this sense the term was applied by some of the early Fathers to the virtuous sages of antiquity. But it is quite evident that only by a figure of speech can it be said of one who lived before the time of Christ, or who has never heard of his name, that he is a disciple of Christ, or a Christian, no matter how nearly he may approximate to Jesus in his spirit and pursuits. 3. The most common signification of the term is that according to which it is made to denote a person who assents to certain dogmas of a particular branch of Christ's church, that are called, by way of distinction, " sound " or " orthodox." To this use of the word there are strong objections. It is too narrow in its compreliension, too vague and shifting in its import. It has its root in spiritual pride and uncharitable judgment; and its pestiferous breath would blast some of the holiest affections that grace domestic and social life. Every church, and every individual member of it, have an equal claim to call their opinions orthodox, and to regard those which are opposite as heretical or heterodox; and, if the element of dogmatic sound- ness enter into the import of the Christian name, all churches and all individuals avowing the religion of Jesus must have respectively a riglit to restrict this name to tliomsclves, and to withliold it from others. And what would be the result but a war of words, burning zeal, and damnatory denun ciations, — the very antipodes to the whole aim and intent of Christianity > What the result has been is already told in the domination of the Komish church, and in the petty sectarianisms which have so often rent asundei the bonds of love and communion between Protestants. 4. A less frequent, but a more liberal, sense of the term " Christian " is its application to any one who, whatever may be his peculiar conception of the doctrines of Christianity, admits the divine or supernatural mission of its Founder, The word occurs only three times in the New Testament, Acts xi. 2G; xxvi. 28. 1 Pet. iv. 16; and, with the ex'^cption of Peter, does not seem to have been user! by any of the apostles. Words however, of » UNITARIANS ENTITLED TO THE CHRISTIAN NAME. 123 similar import nre often met with; as, "disciples," "believers," "breth- ren," " saints," " the elect," &c. ; and, being applied indiscriminately to all who confessed the name of Cln-ist, though they differed in moral deportment and in some doctrinal points, must have been employed to denote rather their obligation to be holy in their lives, and faithful to their professions, than to indicate the purity and spirituality of their cliai-acters, or the orthodoxy of their opinions. As soon as a Jew or a Heathen acknowledged by baptism Jesus to be the Messiah or the Son of God, he was admitted amongst the band of disciples or saints, without any questions being asked as to tlie precise nature of his belief; and, in correspondence Avith this prac- tice among the apostles, the Unitarian Locke and the Trinitarian Whately would regard as Christians all who openly acknowledge the divine authority of Jesus. 5. It is obvious that the use of the term " Christian," in the sense just mentioned, — namely, in its application to all professing churches and members of Christ, — would preclude much of that curious cavilling as to the belief of our fellow-men, and that unjustifiable prying into the depths of their hearts, which have always marked the conduct and demeanor of sectarians. But there is another and a more accurate use of the tenn, when it is employed to indicate one who not only admits the supernatural and miraculous origin of Christianity, but who manifests in his conversation and life the moral dispositions which Jesus prescribed and exemplified. If he may be called a Christian who publicly acknowledges his belief in Christ and his obligation to live in confonnity with that profession, surely the man who not only " names the name of Christ," but who " departs from iniquity," — who not only calls him "Lord and Master," but, with a heart full of love and reverence towards him, does what the great ^lessenger of Heaven commanded, is a disciple of Christ, a true Christian. All such men, whatever may be the complexion of their creed, are the real members of Christ's church. They are the saints of the earth, — the elect of God, for whom Jesus has gone to prepare a place in the mansions of his Father. Both this and the preceding sense of the term " Christian" is countenanced by some of the able and catholic writers from whom we have quoted ; and we cannot doubt, that, despite of sectarian influences, many will be glad to do the same justice to those who, "after the way which is called heresy, worship the God of their fathers." 6. There is still another sense in which the term " Christian " may, we think, be used; but its correctness will probably be denied by almost all members of orthodox churches, and be acknowledged by only a few Unitarians. We mean that sense in which the word is employed to repre- sent a man who, whether he holds or does not hold Christianity to be a supernatural revelation, professes to regard Jesus Christ as pre-eminently his Master and Teacher in all matters of religion, and who shows by his discourse and liis actions, that he has imbibed the sjjirit of the best and wibest One amongst tlie good and the wise of all nations and all times. We do not sympathize with the views of those who would banish the miraculou* 124 UNrrAKiANS entitled to the christian name. from Christ and Christianity, and place Jesus merely among, or even at the head of, the class of philosophers and reformers who have been raised up by Providence to enlighten or instruct the race. We believe, that, in his offices and his character, he stands immeasurably above the Socrates, the Platos, and the Zoroasters, good and gi^eat as they may have been ; and that he received from the Being who sent him influences of a special kind to become — what no other has shown that he could become — the Redeemer of the world. Were we to reject the peculiarly divine element of the Gospels, we fear that we should be unable to admit the surpassing moral beauty and the godlike majesty of Christ's character, bound up as it seems to be indissolubly with the truthfulness of the wondrbus tale; and should be ready to exclaim, " They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him." We should feel that the doubts and the specu- lations which had shaken our faith in the unmeasured inspiration of Christ had taken away the grounds for belief in his pre-eminent graces, — had taken away the Logos of God from the soul of the great Nazarene, — had taken away all those attributes which made Jesus at once the Repre- sentative, the Image, the incarnate Son of God, and the type of a divine or perfected humanity, — had taken away that depth of affection which wept at the tomb of Lazarus, and gave back a living brother to the arms of affec- tionate sisters, — taken away that voice of wisdom, which, flowing from the bosom of the infinite Father, through the Son of his love, spoke of life and immortality in tones of authority unused by Hebrew seer or Grecian sage, — taken away all the power and glory of that resuiTection which was the pledge of Christ's truth, the reward of his sacrificing love, and the gate of his entrance to the realms of heaven, to the right hand of God, where he still acts on man's behalf, still implores a Father's mercy on an erring and a sinful world; — that these doubts and speculations had taken away the substance of our Lord, and changed it into a shadow; that they had anato- mized the breathing reality of Jesus, and converted it into a myth. But we speak of our oivn feelings and convictions, not of those expe rienced by other minds. If, without his miracles, men can believe in Christ, let us rejoice ; if, unable to recognize a voice from heaven at the baptism of Jesus, or to see a divine arm open his tomb and bring him forth, they can, notwithstanding, regard him as their Lord and Master, let us not refuse them his blessed name; if, while bigots frown and even the charitable sliake their heads, the Rationalist sincerely obeys the behests of the Son of Mary, though he may doubt his claims as the divinely inspired Messiah, let us not forbid him •' because he followeth not us," but be thankful for what faith he fias, and, in a spirit of Christian kindness and unfeigned aflection, try to win him to the blessing pronounced on the confession, " T'aou art Jesus, the Son of God." 125 CHAPTER 11. THE PRECIOUSNESS OF THEOLOGICAL TRUTH, AND THE UNRESTRICTED MEANS OF ACQUIRING IT. SECT. L — THE IMPORTANCE OF RIGHT CONCEPTIONS OF RELIGION. Loving truth And wisdom for their own divinest selves. P. J. Bailet. In the preceding chapter, it was our aim to show, by the assistance of emi- nent writers in the ranks of the Orthodox, that the spirit which has been so often manifested by the professed disciples of Jesus towards one another, — the spirit of narrowness, of denunciation, and of persecution, — is wholly alien to the genius and the objects of Christianity; that, however it may disguise itself, whether in the garb of superior sanctity, of soundness of faith, or of a zeal for the cause of Heaven, this rampant spirit is at war with God's paternal character, with Christ's merciful message, and with man's best and noblest interests. We trust, however, that the sentiments contained in that chapter, while tending to deepen in the soul of the reader a love for his brethren of all theological denominations, may not have a deadening effect on his appreciation of the value of truth, as if it were of no importance whether a man's conceptions of religion be correct or otherwise. It certainly was not the intention of these writers to foster any such indif- ference in the minds of others ; for many of them have been remarkable for their love of knowledge, and for their zeal in diffusing what they be- lieved to be the doctrines of the gospel. Indeed, there is, and can be, no dissonance between the broadest views of the rights of our brethren in Chi-ist, and the most devoted reverence for truth ; though the cant of libe- ral'ty may sometimes be heard from the lips of men who " care for none of these things;" who pay as little respect to those great principles of religion which are acknowledged by all professing Christians, as to the forms and dogmas which separate them into classes and parties. So far from there being any opposition between catholicity of feeling and a desire to possess and to spread right apprehensions of the nature of Christianity, that the most earnest inquirers after truth are of all men found to be the least acri monious towards those who differ from them, because, in their investigations, they have had most need to practise such virtues as are conducive to cha- ritable dispositions; and because, from their observation and their own !!• 126 IMPORTANCE OF JUST VIEWS OF RELIGION. experience, they are the best cognizant of the various influences which tend ine^^tably to the production of variety of opinion. So also the true lover of his kind, the follower of peace, the friend of universal religious freedom, the opposer of all kinds of persecution, the member of Christ's catholic church, — who recognizes the disciples of Christ in the sincere, the good, and the humble-minded of all denominations, — will, if he be consistent with the principles from which his charity flows and takes its power, embrace every proper means for the diffusion of sentiments calculated to produce haiTQOuy and love among the various members of society. Knowing that the harsh thoughts, the bad tempers, and the unfeeling and condemnatory judgments of Christians, so called, have originated in their ignorance of the benign doctrines of the gospel, or rather in their forgetfulness of these amid their vain wranglings about matters which they do not understand or which cannot be understood, he will be led to disseminate what he regards as evangelical truth; he will recommend, in his conversation and his life, if he cannot by the aid of the pulpit or the press, those principles which constitute the chief elements of Christianity, — the fatherhood of God, and the fraternity of man; the intrinsic worth of a soul made in the image of its Creator; the ruin eftected in its constitution by the ravages of sin; the possibility of its recovery to a state of holiness, and of reconciliation to a Father's favor, through the at-one-ment which he who labored and died for the good of all, offers to those who, truly repentant, strive, with the energy of renewed and devoted wills, to become Christ-like in their submission to God; Christ-like in the piety, the purity, the benevolence, of their hearts and lives. No service is more acceptable to God, and no conduct can be more pious or praiseworthy, than to aim at truth, and to acquire its trans- forming influence ; and, being once attempted, the labor wUl become so delightful that it will never be relinquished. The knowledge of any truth is pleasant ; but the knowledge of Christian truth is singularly beneficial. — Mel.^ncthox ; in Cox's Life of Melandhon, p. 92. Abhor all docti-ines which blaspheme or dishonor the name of God, and would blemish and hide the glory of his majesty. I give you this rule for your owii preservation, and not in imitiition of uncharitable firebrands and dividers of the church, to exercise yoiur pride and imperious humor, in condemning all men to whose opinions you can maliciously affix a blasphemous consequence, which either foUoweth but in your oa\ti imagination, or is not acknowledged, bat hated, by those on whom you do affix it. Let it suffice you to detest false doctrines, without detesting the persons that you imagine guilty of them, who profess to believe the contrary truth as steaddistly as you yourselves. — liiciiARD Baxter : Christian Diredori/ ; in Practical Works, vol. ii. p. 437. niPORTANCE OF JUST VIEWS OP RELIGION. 127 To have right apprehensions of God is the great foundation of all religion ; for, according as men's notions of God are, such will their religion be. If men have gross and false conceptions of God, theii* reli- gion will be absurd and superstitious. If men fancy God to be an ill-natured Being, armed with infinite power, — one that delights in the misery and ruin of his creatures, and is ready to take all advantages against them, — they may fear liim, but they ^^•ill hate him ; and they ynll be apt to be such towards one another as they fancy God to be towards them ; for all religion doth naturally incline men to imitate him whom they worsliip. — x\RCHBlsilOP TiLLOTSOX : Sennon 5 ; in fVorks, vol. i. p. 101. Truth is in all things so worthy and desirable, that a generous spirit will tliink he can never prize it enough. We see the gi-eatest men have made it the whole business of their lives to pursue it even in the smallest instances, and have thought their labors worthily rewarded, if, with the greatest application, and it may be with some danger and loss too, they have but been able to find it out at the last. — Archbishop Wake : Sennons and Discourses, p. 235. To ascertain the character of the Supreme Author of all things ; to know, as far as we are capable of comprehending such a subject, what is his moral disposition, what the situation we stand in towards him, and the principles by which he conducts his administration, — will be allowed by every considerate person to be of the highest consequence. Compared to this, all other speculations or inquiiies sink into insig- nificance, because every event that can befall us is in his hands, and by his sentence om* final condition must be fixed. To regard such an inquiry ■with indifference is the mark, not of a noble but of an abject mind, which, immersed in sensuality or amused with ti'ifles, deems itself unworthy of eternal life As it [morality] is the genuine frui* of just and affecting ^iews of di\ine truth, you will never sever it from its parent stock, nor indulge the fruitless hope of leading men to holiness, without strongly imbuing them with the fpirit of the gospeL Truth and holiness are in the Christian system so intimately allied, that the warm and faitliful inculcation of the one lays the only foundation for the other Let us cultivate the most cordial esteem for all that love the Lord Jesus Chiist in sincerity. Let us anxiously guard against that asperity and contempt which have too often mingled with theological debates ; but let us aim, at the same time, to acquii'e and retain the most accurate conceptions of religious truth. Every improvement in the knowledge of Christ ard the 128 IMPORTANCE OF JUST VIEWS OF RELIGION. mysteries of the gospel "will abundantly compensate for the labor and attention necessar)' to its attainment. — Robert Hall : Works, vol. L pp. 121-2, 146; vol. ii. p. 448. Ahnost all men are forced to feel and acknowledge, that we our- selves, and the whole world we see about us, depend on some superhuman Cause or Power which has a control over us, and from which om' happiness or misery comes. Now, the notions men form of such superhuman powers, the feelings they entertain towards them, and the course of behavior springing from such notions and feelings, — these are what we call religion ; the superhuman powers, real or ima- ginary, being called the objects of religion. You will readily perceive, then, that men's religions will be dijSerent, according as the objects of their religion are different. If a man worships a Being whom he thinks good, but not all-knowng, he will often be satisfied with ti'ving to appear good, without becoming so. If he worships one whom he tliinks spiteful, he will try to appease his malice by doing injury and inflicting pain on himself and others. If he worships one whom he does not think all-powerfiil, he will be apt sometimes to neglect his service for that of some other power, if there seem to be a chance of gaining any thing by the change. If a man thinks his deity vain, he will try to flatter him ; if weakly compassionate, to move his pity by doleful lamentations and complaints. In short, as the behav-ior of a family will be influenced by the character of the master of the house, so the religion of men wiU be influenced by the character which they suppose to be that of the Being whom they worship. — Archbishop Whately : Cautions for th& Times, pp. 70-1. One gTcat end of a true education is to discipline the mind for the candid and unprejudiced pursuit of truth. It teaches the honest Christian to renounce all pious fraud, and not to think that it can ever be for God's glory that we should lie for him. Moreover, it teaches that it is for the interest of all to know the truth, and that it is a duty to be faithful to it at any sacrifice of reputation or property, or personal ease and enjoyment. It also recognizes the truth which is tiuight by the structure of the human mind, by the material miiverse, and by providence, as a part of the revelation which God has made to man as really as the Bible, and does not feel at liberty to suppress any truth taught by God. — Dr. Edward Beeciier: Conjlid of^']ges, p. 360. The search after and discovery of truth is one of tlie secrets of exalted happiness ; and therefore shall we ahvaj's find that those who are in reality the wisest and best ai-e most impelled to communicatt IMPORTANCE OF JUST VIEW'S OF RELIGION. 129 their knowledge to the >n(lest ranks Didne truth is the primary want of the human soul, the ground of its own emancipation, and the means of its triumph over all outward foes. The full ex- pansion and complete donation of this highest gift God lias reserved to the ultimate energies of Chiistian doctrine on all mankind. All ^'irtue is the inimitable fruit of truth ; and the gospel is worthy of all acceptation, because the excellence it produces is the most vera- cious and endurmg This omnipotence and ineffable glory of tioith is vouchsafed to man only for the purpose of promoting practical godliness. AU its emanations are infinitely superior to the inertness of mere dogmas, since they are designed to make man both politically energetic and morally regenerative. ... It is truth to be proclaimed, not simply as theological doctrine, but a mighty and sa^•ing revelation, a celestial fact free for all, which ought to interfuse ever)' thought we think, adorn every deed we do, and be allowed unobstruct- edly to grow, less as a mere luxury of the intellect than the mightiest passion of the heart — E. L. ^Ligoon : Republican Christianity^ pp. 320, 353, 366. There is another reason why we should not voluntarily suffer any form of error to attach itself to the doctrines of Christianity, and go forth under their sanction, to which I would briefly aUude. However harmless, or beneficial even, such en'or may for a time appear, it is sm-e in the end to work mischief. Like the little book of the anjrel in the Apocah-pse, though sweet in the mouth, it wiU make the belly bitter. Even though its direct influence on the heart and the life be not prejudicial, it wiU prove an obstacle in the way of the general reception of the doctrine with which it is associated. To the sincere and earnest inquirer after truth, it becomes a stumbling-block ; while, to the enemies of our holy religion, it ser\'es as a mark for the direction of their shafts. The Christian minister, who, by his eloquence and fervid zeal, spreads erroneous doctrines through the churches, does more to harm Christianity than a hundred infidels. Besides furnishing Its adversaries ^rith their most potent weapons against it, he is himself scattering broadcast the seeds from which scepticism and unbelief will, sooner or later, spring up I think it not difficult to see how generally received error, here, may exert an influence upon thoughtful minds greatly to be deprecated. Let us suppose a man whose ideas of the character and government of God have been formed chiefly from the observation of his works. . . . Tell him that the object of the Di\'ine Being, in creating the world, was the illustration of his o^VIl 130 IMPORTANCE OF JUST VIEWS OF RELIGION. attributes, and not the good of his creatures ; that he forms and makes use of them in whatever way may best subsers'e that end, wholly ignoring any claim which they might be supposed to have upon him as their Creator. And, to complete and give consistency to this view of the dinne character and government, add a discourse on the glory of God, and the joy of his saints in the sufferings of the finally lost, — sufferings which he had predetermined, and rendered escape from impossible. Let all this, I say, be told to a man such as I have sup- posed, and wliat effect woidd it be likely to have on him? K he received it as the simple teaching of the Scriptures, might it not lead him to question their authority ? Would it be strange if his con- fidence in them, as a revelation from Heaven, should be shaken by it ? — Prof. George L Chace, LL.D. : The Relation of Divine Providence to Physical Laws, pp. 51, 53, 55. It is beyond dispute, we suppose, that the opinions of men He at the root of their characters. All behefs, — h\ing behefs, of course, we mean, — behefs that are honestly and heartily held, that are more than h^'potheses and speculations and passive consents, — work and are productive. Their sap circulates in every part of the man, and puts forth the leaves and flowers of correspondent sentiments and habits. Hence there is no form of doctrine that has not its own st}-le of reh- gion, — a style that is not arbitrary or fortuitous, but the genuine offspring of its source, and sho'wing its parentage in its quahties. A creed is a die ; and living men are the coinage, and show, in the image and superscription they bear, the impress of its face. If it does not impress itself, and multiply Hring copies in the sphere it fills, it is dead : it is only so many words, not aHve by being taken up into a U%'ing human spirit, and held by its gi*asp into such close contact with its substance as to have opportunity to stamp its mark upon the yielding mass. The mixed multitude that hang upon the skirts of any form of doctrine, and are content to wear its name and livery, are not believers. The probabiUty is that they do not know wlii^t it is intellectually ; and, if they do, they keep it too £ir from them to feel its power. But beliefs, real, genuine, sincere beliefs, are powerfuL The human soul is in their hands like wax ; and the hfe, in its prevail- ing sentiments and ways, is the seal that testifies at once the pressure and the conformation. False beliefs will make false Hves, some pretence of goodness, which is not a real goodness, but a fault sanctified by the authority of religion. — Church Review for April, 1854 ; voL vii p. 73. RIGHT AND DUTY OF FREE INQUIRY. 131 SECT. 11. — THE RIGHT AND DUTY OF FREE INQUlUJr. The inquiry of truth is the sovereign good of human nature. — Lord Bacon. Study earnestly ; learn willingly; resist no light; neglect no truth. — Rich. Baxter [John Robinson] charged us, before God and his blessed angels, to follow him no fuilher than he followed Christ ; and, if God should reveal any tlmig to us by any other instrument of his, to be as ready to receive it as ever v,e were to receive any truth by his ministry ; for he was very confident the Lord had more truth and light yet to break forth out of liis holy word. He took occasion also miserably to bewail the state and condition of the reforaied churches, who were come to a period in religion, and would go no further than the instru- ments of their Reformation. As, for example, the Lutherans : they Dould not be drawn to go beyond what Luther saw ; for whatever part 0/ God's ■will he had further imparted and revealed to Calvin, they mli rather die than embrace it. And so also, saith he, you see the Calvinists : they stick where he left them, — a misery much to be lamented ; for though they were precious shining lights m their times, yet God had not revealed his whole aaiU to them ; and were they now hving, saith he, they would be as ready and wilUng to embrace fui'ther light as that they had received. Here also he put us in mind of our church covenant, at least that part of it whereby we promise and covenant with God, and one ^^ith another, to receive whatsoever hght or truth shall be made knoAra to us from his written word ; but withal exhorted us to take heed what we received for truth, and well to examine and compare it and weigh it with other Scriptures of truth before we received it. For, saith he, it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick antichristian darkness, and that full perfection of knowledge should break forth at once. - Edward "Winslow : Brief JVarration, Lond. 1646 ; in Young^s Chronicles of tJie Pilgrim Fathers, pp. 396-7. These noble sentiments are taken from a report of the fixrewell address made by John Robinson, in the year 1620, to those members of his church who were about to depart from Holland for the purpose of seeking a liomo in the wildernesses of the New World, where they might enjoy the privi- leges of religious freedom. The narrator, Governor Winslow, was present at the delivery of the discourse. 132 RIGHT AND DUTY OF FREE INQUIRY. Let no man, upon a -weak conceit of sobriety, or an ill-applied moderation, think or maintain, that a man can search too far, or be too well studied in the book of God's word or in the book of God's works, — divinity or philosophy ; but rather let men endeavor an endless progress or proficience in both. Only let men beware, that they apply both to charity, and not to swelling ; to use, and not to ostentation ; and, again, that they do not xm-\visely mingle or confound these learnings together. — Lord Bacon : Advancement of Learning, book i. ; in Works, vol. i. p. 164. The old sceptics that never would profess that they had found a truth, yet showed the best way to search for any, when they doubted as well of what those of the dogmatical sects too credulously received for infellible principles, as they did of the newest conclusions. They were indeed, questionless, too nice, and deceived themselves with the nimbleness of their oaati sophisms, that permitted no kind of esta- blished truth. But, plainly, he that avoids their disputing le\ity, yet, being able, takes to himself their liberty of inquiry', is in the only way that in aU kinds of studies leads and Hes open even to the sanctuary of truth ; while others, that are servile to common opinion and Noilgar suppositions, can rarely hope to be admitted nearer than into the base court of her temple, which too speciously often counterfeits her inmost sanctuary. — JoKN Selden : History of Tithes. If you must never change your first opinions or apprehensions, how will you grow in understanding ? AVill you be no wiser at age than you were at childhood, and after long study and experience than you were before? Nature and grace do tend to increase. Lideed, if you should be never so peremptory in your opinions, you cannot resolve to hold them to the end; for hght is powerful, and may change you, whether you will or no : you cannot tell what that Hght will do, which you never saw. But prejudice will make you resist the light, and make it harder for you to understand. I speak this upon much experience and observation. Our first, um-ipe ajiprehensions of things will certainly be greatly changed, if we are studious, and of improved understandings. . . . For my own part, my judgment is altered from many of my youthful, confident apprehensions; and, where it holdeth the same conclusion, it rejecteth abmidance of the arguments, as vain, which once it rested in. And where I keep to the same conclusions and arguments, my apprehension of them is not the same, but I see more satisfying light in many things which 1 took but upon trust before. And if I had resolved to hold to all ray RIGHT AND DUTY OF FREE INQUIRY. 133 first opinions, I must have forborne most of my studies, and lost much truth, which I have discovered, and not made that my o\vn which 1 did hold ; and I must have resolved to live and die a child. Ignorance, and ungrounded or ill-grounded j^ersuasions in matters of religion, are the cause that abundance of people delude themselves "snth the empty name and dead profession of a faith and religion which they were never indeed possessed of. I know there are low degrees of knowledge, comparatively, in many that are true believers ; and that there may be much love and holiness where knowledge is very small or narrow as to the objective extent of it ; and that there is a know- ledge that pujffeth up, while charity edifieth ; and that, in many that have the narrower knowledge, there may be the fiistest fiiith and adherence to the truth, which M"ill conquer in the time of triaL But yet I must tell you, that the religion which you profess is not indeed your own religion, if you know not what it is, and know not in some measure the true grounds and reasons why you should be of that religion. If you have only learned to say your creed, or repeat the words of Christian doctrine, while you do not truly imderstand the sense; or if you have no better reasons why you profess the Christian faith than the custom of the country', or the command of princes or governors, or the opinion of your teachers, or the example of your parents, friends, or neighbors, — you are not Chiistians in- deed. You have a human belief or opinion, which objectively is true ; but, subjectively in yourselves, you have no true, di^-ine belief. — RiclL\RD B.\XTER : Christian Directory ; in Practical Works, vol. ii. pp. 129, 170. Freedom of inquiry is equally open to you and to myself: it is equally laudable in us, when conducted with impartialit}' and decorum ; and it must equally tend to the enlargement of knowledge and the improvement of virtue, while our sincerity does not betray us into precipitation, and while our zeal does not stifle within us the amiable and salutar)' sentiments of mutual forbearance. Upon the points in which we dissent from each other, arguments will always secure the attention of the wise and good; whereas invective must disgrace the cause which we may respectively wish to support Freedom of inquir}' in private persons, when far extended, and quite unshackled by artificial restraints, is favorable to the discover)' of truth, and, through the progressive influence of truth upon practice, is even- tually conducive to the best interests of society. — Dr. Samuel Parr ; Works, vol iii. pp. 301-2j and vol. iv. pp. 541-2. 12 134 RIGHT AND DUTY OF FREE INQUIRY. The only means by which religious knowledge can be advanced is freedom of inquiry. An opinion is not therefore false because it con- tradicts received notions ; but, whether true or false, let it be submitted to a fair examination. Truth must, in the end, be a gainer by it, and appear with the greater evidence. — Bishop Lo^th : Visitation Ser. When the right of mihmited inquiry is exerted, the human facul- ties Avill be upon the advance : where it is relinquished, they -will be of necessity at a stand, and Mill probably decline. — Robert Hall : Apology for the Freedom of the Press ; in Works, vol iL p. 52. Truth is every man's concernment, every man's right, and every man's most necessary possession. . . . K every man be obHged, as he will answer it to God, to possess himself of truth, he must be free ; — free not only to think, but to speak ; free to move ; free to go in quest of truth ; free to bring it home ; free to confer Avith his fellows conceniing it ; and free to impart, what he has acquired. — Is.AAC Taylor : Lectures on Spiritual Christianity, pp. 57-8. It is surely the birthright of every human being to think for liim- self. He is amenable alone to conscience and to God for his religious sentiments ; and whoever attempts to legislate for the free-born soul, and coerce the faith of another, is*perpetrating one of the most detest- able of crimes, robbing man of his Hberty, and God of his authority. In such a case, submission to man is treason against Heaven. — Dr. F. a. Cox : Life of Melandhon, p. 280. Reason and Scriptm-e concur in teaching, tliat it is at once the prinlege and the duty of every man to mvestigate the truth for him- self; to employ on rehgion, as on other subjects, the mental faculties which his Maker has bestowed on him, and the bestowal of which is a sufficient indication that they were intended to be exercised. . . . How monstrous, then, and intolerable the tp'anny of those who demand a dominion disclaimed by apostles ! Any scheme, indeed, which inter- feres with the prerogative of every individual to judge for himself m matters of religion, is at once irrational and impious ; — irrational, as prohibiting the employment of reason on the most momentous of all subjects, and turning man into a brute ; and impious, as destructive of the very nature of religion, as rendering it not " a reasonable sernce," a mentil employment, a homage rendered with " the understanding and the spirit," and suited to the nature of the Being to whom it is rendered, and of the being who renders it, but a mere bodily service, a mechanical exe'-cise. — Dr. Robert Balmer : The Scripture Prin- civics of Unity ; in Essays on Christian Union, p. 32. RIGHT AND DUTY OF FREE INQUIRY. 135 "We are to seek and search, not with our eyes half clcsed, as though we were fearful lest we should see too much of truth, — lest we should look beyond God, into a region where God is not. In this respect also, seeing that we have such a High Priest, who himself is passed into the heavens, we may approach boldly to the temple of wisdom ; for he who has delivered our hearts and souls lias also delivered our minds ti-om the bondage of earth. Therefore let no man say to the waves of thouglit, " Thus far shalt thou go, and no further." — Julius CiL\RLES Hare : The Victory of Faith, pj). 59, 60. AVe may learn from our Lord's appeal to miraculous proofs, as the foundation of his claim to authority, how great is the mistake of those who imagine that Christian faith consists in an uninquiring acquiescence, without any reason for it ; or that at least there is the more virtue in a man's fiiith, the less it is founded on evidence. . . . The faith which Jesus and the apostles commended in their hearers consisted in a readiness to listen fairly to what was said, in an ingenuous opemiess to conviction, and in an humble acquiescence in what they had good ground for believing to have come from God, however adverse to their prejudices and Anshes, and habits of thought; in a fii-m trust in what they were rationally convinced God had promised, however strange, and foreign from their expectations and conjectures. And yet there have been persons in various ages of the church — and the present is not without them — who represent Christian faith as a thing not merely different from this, but even opposite to it. A man's determination to adhere to the religion of his fathers, merely on the ground that it was theks, and tliat it has long existed, and that he has been assured by persons superior to him in rank, and in presumed learning, that the authority of the Bible, and the meaning of it, are such as they tell him, — this has been represented as the most perfect Christian faith ! Such grounds for adhering to a religion have been described as not merely sufficient for the most unlearned classes, not merely as the utmost these are capable of attaining, but as absolutely the best ; as better than the most rational comiction of a cultivated understanding, that has long been sedulously occupied in " pronng all things, and holding fast that which is right" Now, this kind of (flilsely called) faith, whose usurped title serves to deceive the unthinking, is precisely what is characterized in Scripture as ivant of faith. For I need hardly remind the reader, that the unbelie\ing Jews and Pagans of old were those who rejected the " many infallible proofs " which God set before them, because they had resolved to adhere, at all hazards, to the creed 136 RIGHT AND DUTY OF FREE INQUIRY. of their fathers, and to take the word of their chief priests or cixU magistrates as decisive, and to stop their ears against all evidence, and dro^wTi reason by clamor. — Archbishop Whately : Essays on Dangers to Christian Faith, pp. 125-9. There is a wide difference in the practical acti\ity of a truth pas- sively acquiesced in, and one attained by a process of inquir}' and reflection. The hold of the former upon the understanding and the heart is feeble and fitful, compared with the tenure of that which is valued as the result of toil, the achievement of the understanding, the happy settlement of vexed questions whose agitation has roused every faculty of the mmd, and stu-red every feeling of the heart. The great multitude, who assent to the authority of Scripture because they know no reason to the contrar)', remain, as we see every day, to a most lamentable extent miinfluenced by its teachings, utterly heedless of its solemn declarations. But when did a man become a Christian from investigation of the claims of Christianity, without bowing his mind and soul to its authority? — Dr. T. E. Bond, jun., in Methodist Quarterly Review for April, 1853 ; fourth series, voL v. p. 259. Why has he [our Master] given us the principle of intellectual curiosity ? Most certainly tliat he might stimulate us in the path of intellectual and reUgious knowledge. If we stifle this cmiosity, if we bury it up, if we have not an enthusiasm even, in the occupying of aU the talents with which God has endued us, then we are not conse- crating ourselves to him. We do not give him our best offerings. We withhold the freshest fruits. — B. B. Edwards : Writings, vol. iu p. 477. God has WTitten upon our minds the ineffaceable law that they search after the truth, whatever, w herever it be, however arduous the toil for it, whithersoever it may lead. Let it come. Even if it should promise nothing to the utihtarian, there are yet within us the mirahilea auiores to fuid it out. A sound heart is alive with this curiosity, and will not retain its health while its aspirations are rebuffed. It gives no unbroken peace to the man who thwarts his reasoning instincts ; for, amid all its conflicting demands, it is at times importunate for a reasonable behef. When it is famished by an idle intellect, it loses its tone, becomes bigoted rather than inquisitive, and tiikes up with theological fancies which reduce it still lower. When it is fed by nn inquiring mind, it is enlivened, and reaches out lor an expanded faith. — Edwards A. Park: Theology of the Intellect and of th* Feelings ; in Bibliollieca Sao'a for July, 1850 ; vol. vii. p. 543. RIGHT AND DUTY OF FREE INQUTKT. 137 Christ came to put an end to hereditary fliith, — to make each man s belief original and independent with himself, directly drawn from the only source of Christian doctrine and practice. Nothing is more ccrtiiin than that reUgion is a subject upon which all persons are under obligations the most solemn to deliberate, choose, and act for themselves. Freedom of inquiry is a high pri\'ilege, as safe for the masses as for individuals ; and this boon Christ procured for aU our race. He never designed that a few should lead, and that the multitude should be compelled to foUow in their steps. But what are the spirit and langiuige of many professed teachers of Christianity ? " Out of my creed there is no orthodoxy : out of my church there is no salvation." But, fortunately, the days of such priestly arrogance are numbered. It is the divine prerogative of truth to restore the original sovereignty of the best powers, and the symmetrical development of all. In this matter, there is no question of more or less ; freedom exists, or it does not ; and it is ob\ious that the liberty of a rational being consists precisely in the free use of the faculties inherent in his natm-e, and of all his faculties or powers, without exception or extravagance. . . . Mental freedom is the only true free- dom, the foundation of all other liberty, without which an immortal creature is a degraded slave, and not the less^-rossal ]3eQ3Xise- chains may chance to be made of gold. >^ < ^-^ ' "^ " For what is freedom but the unfetnOredlue _, __ — ^ i-i> ri T ni TT Of all the powers which God for ute haith givtnr," ill Iw W * *■ •■ , . . The intellectual power of man proves that there must be an ply^tfV* suitable for its exercise, and demanding its stud>\^This object is. the knowledge of something real, and consists in the exact untiefs^nd- ing of the highest realities that exist. This is the grand boon proffered to us here and in a more exalted life. — E. L. Magoon : Republican Christianity, pp. 244, 355-6. In this and the other sections of the present chapter, we should hf.te been glad to make a few extracts from " Essays on the Formation and Publication of Opinions, and on the Pursuit of Truth, by Samuel Bailey; " but, uncertain as to the theological standing of the author, we can only recommend to the attentive perusal of the reader the most beautiful and inte ■ resting productions that have perhaps ever been written on these subjects. They ars discussed from a philosophical point of view; but the sentiments maintained seem to harmonize with the most enlarged views of the gospel, and are admirably calculated to produce feelings of amity between all the professing disciples of Jesus Christ. 12* J 88 REQUISITES IN THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. SECT. III. — DISPOSITIONS AND MEANS REQUISITE IN THE SEARCH AFTER TRUTH. Imagination's airy wing repress ; Lock up thy senses ; let no passion stir ; Wake all to reason ; let her reign alone ; Then, in thy sours deep silence, and the depth Of nature's silence, midnight, thus inquire. Edwabd Young. Diligence and care in obtaining the best guides and the most con- venient assistances, prayer, and modesty of spirit, simplicity of pur]30ses and intentions, humility and aptness to leam, and a peaceable disposi- tion, are necessary to finding out truths, because they are parts of good life, without which our truths will do us little advantage, and our errors have no excuse. But with these dispositions, as he is sure to find out all that is necessary, so what truth he inculpably misses of he is sure is therefore not necessary, because he could not find it when he did his best and his most innocent endeavors. — Jeremy Taylor : Liberty of Prophesying, sect. xii. 6; in Works, vol. "vii. p. 116. 1. [In prosecuting your inquiries] Begin at the greatest, most evident, certain and necessary truths, and so proceed orderly to the knowledge of the less by the help of these. If you begin at those truths which spring out of greater common truths, and know not the premises while you plead for the conclusion, you abuse your reason, and lose the truth and your labor both. — 2. The two first things which you are to leam are what man is and what God is. — 3. Having Roundly understood the principles of rehgion, tr) all the subsequent truths thereby, and receive notliing as truth that is certainly inconsist- ent with any of these principles. — 4. Believe nothing which certainly contradicteth the end of all religion. If it be a natural or necessary tendency to ungodliness, against the love of God, or ag-ainst a holy and heavenly mind and conversiition, it cannot be truth, whatever it pre- tend. — 5. Be sure to distinguish well betwixt revealed and unrevealed tilings. — 6. Be a careful and accurate, though not a vain, distinguisher ; and suffer not ambiguity and confusion to deceive you. It is not only in many words, but in one word or syllabic, that so much ambiguity and contusion may be contained as may malce a long dispute to be but a vain and ridiculous wrangling. — 7. Therefore be sj)ccially suspicious of nv^taphors, as being all but ambiguities till an explication hath fixed REQPTSTTES IN THE PURSUIT OP TRUTH. 139 or determined the sense. — 13. Plead not uncertainties against cer- tainties, but make certain points the measure to try the uncertain by. — 14. Plead not the diirker texts of Scrij)ture against those that are more plain and clear, nor a few texts against many that are as plain ; for that wliich is interpreted against the most plain and frecjuent expressions of the same Scripture is cerfciinly misinterpreted. — 21. In controversies which dej)end most upon skill in the languages, philosophy, or other parts of common learning, prefer the judgment of a few that are the most leai-ned in those matters, before the judgment of the most ancient, or the most godly, or of the greatest numbers, even whole churches, that are unlearned. Every man is most to be regarded in the matters which he is best acquainted with. — 22. In controversies of great difficulty where diAines themselves are disagi'eed, and a clear and piercing wit is necessary, regard more tlie judgment of a few acute, judicious, well-studied dinnes that are well versed in those controversies, than of a multitude of dull and common wits that think to carry it by the reputation of their number. — 23. In all con- tentions, hold close to that which all sides are agreed on. — 24. Take nothing as necessary to salvation in point of faith, which the universal church in every age since Christ did not receive. — 25. Be not borne down by the censoriousness of any to overrun your 0'\\ti understanding and the truth, and to comply with them in their eiTors and extremes. — 26. Doubt not of well-proved truths, for every difficulty that appear- eth against them. — Richard B.\xter : Christian Directory ; in Practical Works, vol. v. pp. 139-50. These directions from Baxter have been epitomized; and others, less appropriate, entirely omitted. But it would scarcely be doing justice to the piety of this great man to witlihold an excellent passage which occurs in vol. viii. pp. 29, 30: " Come to the word [the Scripture] in meekness and humility, with a teachable frame of spirit, and a willingness to know the truth, and a resolution to stand to it, and yield to what shall be revealed to you; and beg of God to show you his will, and lead you into the truth; and f ou will find that he will be found of them that ask him." He that will advance any thing in the finding out of truth must 6ring to it that traveller's indifference which the heathen so long since recommended to the world. He must not desire it should lie on the ane side rather than the other, lest his desire that it should, prompt him, \vithout just reason, to believe that it does. And so in religion too: he tint will make a right judgment, what to believe or what to practise, must first tlirow off all prej udice in favor of his own opinion, 140 REQUISITES IN THE P^JRSUIT OF TRUTH. or against any others ; and resolve never to be so tied up to any point or party as not to be at all times ready impartially to examine whatso- ever can reasonably be objected against either. — Archbishop Wake : Sennons and Discourses, pp. 17, 18. "Whatever warmth or heat any may show, it wiU still remain an eternal truth, that a calm temper of mind, and a meek and charitable disposition of soul, are qualifications absolutely necessary either to dis- cover truth ourselves, or to judge right of the sentiments and opinions of others. Tliat blind and furious transport of mind which we com- monly term zeal is of no manner of use, either for the one or the other of these purposes, but, on the contrary, very prejudicial in all serious inquiries, especially those of religious controversies. — Abridged from Le Clerc : Abstract of Dr. darkens Polemical Writings, p. 113; Lond. 1713. Let us divest ourselves of a party spirit. Let us never determine an opinion by its agi'eement or disagreement with what om* masters, our parents, or om* teachers have incidcated, but by its conformity or contrariety to the doctrine of Jesus Christ and his apostles. Let ua never receive or reject a maxim because it favors or opposes our pas- sions, but as it agrees with or opposes the laws of that tribunal, the bases of which are justice and truth. Let us be fully convinced that our chief study should be to know what God determines, and to make his commands the only rules of our knowledge and practice Truth requires that we should sacrifice precipitancy of judgment. Few people are capable of tliis sacrifice : indeed, there are but few who do not consider suspension of judgment as a weakness, although it is one of the noblest efforts of genius and capacity. In regard to religion, people usually make a scruple of conscience of suspending their judgments ; yet, in our opinion, a Chi-istiiui is so much the more obliged to do this, by how much more the truths of the gospel sur- pass in subhmity and importance all the objects of human science. I forgive this folly in a man educated in superstition, who is tlireatened with eteriml damnation, if he reverence certain doctrmes, which not only he has not examined, but which he is forbidden to examine under the same penalty. But that men of learning and piety siiould imagine they have obtiiined a signal victory over infidelity, and have accredited religion, when, by the help of some terrific declamations, they have extorted a catechumen's consent, — this is what we could have sci\rcely believed, had we not seen numberless examples of it. A tjuth received without proof is, in regard to us, a kind of fiilsehood REQUISITES IN THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. 141 Yea, a truth received without e\'idence is a never-failing source of many errors, because a truth received without e^^dence is founded, in regard to us, only on ialse principles. "We must, then, suspend our judgments, whatever incUnation we mctj' naturally have to determine at once, m order to save the attention and labor which a more ample discussion of truth would require. — Abridged from James Saurin : Sennons, vol. i. pp. 44—5, 136. The Scriptures direct us to inquire into the foundation of the doc- trines proposed to oiu* acceptance ; and indeed, 'without the exercise of our reason, I know not how we could understand or adopt the plainest doctrines of Christianity. But it is of much importance to ha.\e right dispositions of mind at the time of our inquiry. Such are humility, modesty, dociUty, and a sincere desire to improve. — ViCESiMUS Kxox : Semions ; in Works, vol. \i. p. 120. We ought to have an honest desire after light ; and, if we have the desire, it will not remain unproducti\e. . . . AVe ought to have a habit of prayer conjoined with a habit of inquiry ; and to tliis more will be given. ... It is through the avenues of a desirous heart and of an exercised understanding, and of sustained attention, and of faculties in quest of truth, and laboring after the possession of it, that God sends into the mind his promised manifestations. . . . He who without prayer looks confidently forward to success as the fruit of his own investiga- tions is not walking hmnbly with God. — Dr. Thomas Chalmers . Sermons on the Depravity of Human JVature; in Select Works, vol iv. pp. 27-8. The Scriptures themselves will serve to explain their own meaning in the most essential points, if studied, under the guidance of God's Holy Spirit, with an humble, patient, diligent, and candid mind. And such a mind, even without extensive learning or great ability, will be more enhghtened by them than the most learned or the most inge- nious, if led away by conceited and presumptuous fancies, and given up to indolent prejudice, or bhnded by spiritual pride, or the spirit of party. — ARCiiBisnop Wiiately: Sennons on Various Subjects, pp. 50-1. Inquiry in theolog\-, as in every thing else, to be fruitful and in- structive, must be undogmatic, — must strive, apart from hypothesis and all later superpositions, to ascend to the truth, as it appears in its original sources, or in its successive forms throughout the history of the church. To have recourse either to the Bible itself, or the writings of the Fathers, in a different spirit, and to seek in them, not 142 REQUISITES IN THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH simply for the truth in its corresponding and appropriate expression, but in some favorite dogmatic form of a subsequent age, js clearly at once an historical and unphilosophical process, in which much inge- nuity may be displayed, but by which truth can never be ehcited and advanced. It is tainted with the worst ^■ice of the old method of physical inquiry, from which Bacon initiated our deUverance ; making, as it does, the Hmited ideas and idol formulas of some one age the measure of that objective truth which transcends them all. — ^Yoiih British Review for May, 1853 ; Amer. edit. vol. xiv. p. 49. In the formation of your own opinions, ... be independent; use your own reason, your own senses, your own Bible. Be untrammeled ; throw oft' the chains and fetters which compel so many minds to beheve onl) what they are told to beheve, and to walk, intellectually and morally in paths marked out for them by human teachers. ... Be modest It is the characteristic of a weak mind to be dogmatical and positive. Such a mind makes up in dogged determination to beheve what it wants in evidence. Come to your conclusions cautiously, and take care that your beHef covers no more ground than your proofs. Do not dispute about what you do not understand, nor push your investigations beyond the boundaries of human knowledge. Men are often sadly perplexed with difficulties which arise from the simple fact that they have got beyond then- depth. — Jacob Abbott : The Comer-stone, pp. 357-8. The principles which have been recommended in this and the t^TO pre- ceding sections are ostensibly held by all Protestants, whether Trinitarian or Unitarian. But they are contravened by parents, teachers, and divines, when they would quench the love of truth and of investigation, natural to honest and noble minds, by grounding belief on the authority of parentage, of the church, or of celebrated men; by misrepresenting the sentiments and motives of those who difl'er from them in opinion; by instilling the notion, that no genuine faith, no sincere piety, no well-groiuided hope of heaven, can be found beyond the pale of their own narrow creed ; in fine, by virtually declaring, " Inquire, — but never doubt; search the Scriptures — to ^nd our views; read with the understanding — that we are right; reason with tho conviction — that all else are wrong. Your interests in this world, and your salvation in the next, depend on the unconditional surrender of your under- standings to the faith we prescribe, — on the unhesitating rejection of all contrary oj)inions." Tliese and other impediments to free inquiry, and to the rece,)tion of views of truth founded on individual conviction, will be treated of in the following section. IMPEDIMENTS TO THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. 1 i3 SECT. IV. — UIXDR.\NCES TO FREE INQUIRY, AND TO TTIE RECEPTION AND SPREAD OF TRUTH. We pray, Above all things, Lord, that all men be free From bondage, The bondage of religious bigotry And bald antiquity, servility Of thought or speech. P. J. Bailet. § 1. Early Prejudices. Another great cause of pretended false knowledge and confidence is the unhappy prejudices wliich our minds contract even in our child- hood, before we have time and ydt and conscience to try things by true deliberation. Children and youth must receive much upon trust, or else they can learn nothing ; but then they have not wit to proportion their apprehensions to the evidence, whether of credibility or certainty ; and so fame and tradition and education, and the country's vote, do become the ordinary' parents of many lies; and folly maketh us to fasten so fearlessly in our first apprehensions, that they keep open the door to abundance [of] more falsehoods ; and it must be clear teachers, or great, impartial studies, of a self-den}ing mind, with a great bless- ing of God, that must deliver us from prejudice, and undeceive us. — Richard Baxter : Knowledge and Love Compared ; in Practical fVorks, vol. XV. pp. 156-7. It is no small work to examine the truth, when we anive at an age caj)able of discussion. The fundamental points of rehgion, I grant, lie in the Scriptures clear and perspicuous, and Avithin the comprehension of all who choose to attend to them ; but when we pass from infancy to manhood, and arrive at an age in which reason seems mature, we find ourselves covered with a veil, which either hides objects from us, or disfigures them. The pubhc discourses we have heard in favor of the sect in which we were educated, the inveterate hatred we have for all others who hold pruiciples opposite to ours, the frightful portraits that are draAMi before our eyes of the perils we must encounter if we depart from the way we have been brouglit up in, the impressions made upon us by the examples and decisions of our parents and masters and teachers, the bad taste of those who had the care of our education, and who pi evented our acquiring that most noble d'spositioa, without 144 IMPEDDIENTS TO THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. which it is impossible ever to be a true philosopher or a real Christian, — I mean that of suspending our judgment on subjects not sufficiently proved, — fi'om all this arise clouds that render the truth inaccessible, and which the world cannot dissipate. We do not say that natural talents or supernatural assistance are wanting : we are fully convinced that God will never give up to final error any man who does all in his power to understand the truth. But the world are incapable of this work. Why ? Because all the world, except a few, hate labor and meditation in regard to the subjects which respect another life ; be- cause all the world would choose rather to attach themselves to what regards their temporal interests than to the great interest of eternal happiness ; because all the world Hke better to suppose the principles imbibed in their childhood true, than to impose on themselves the task of weighing them anew m the balance of a sound and severe reason ; because all the world have an in\incible aversion to suppose, that, when they are arrived at manhood, they have almost lost their time in some respects, and that, when they leave school, they begin to be capable of instruction. — James Saurin : Sermons, vol. ii. p. 29. Many persons, not generally uninquiring or imcandid, or incom- petent to reason accurately, have yet been so early accustomed to take for granted, and assent to on authority, certain particular points, that they afterwards adhere to the behef so formed, rather from association than on evidence. — Archbishop Whately : Essays on Difficulties in PatU's Writings, p. 219. One great source of erroneous impressions on all subjects is the power of influences exerted in early life, and which are sometimes so strong as utterly to bid defiance to all argument . . . This influence of early associations has more power than all other causes put together, in the formation of religious opinions. The children of Mahometans become Mahometans themselves, without arguments in feivor of the Prophet ; and, in the Christian world, religious opinions are hereditar)', and pass down, with exceptions comparativeh- few and rare, from father to son ; so that Popery and Protestantism, Episcopacy and Dissent, and Presbyterian, Baptist, and Methodist opinions, occupy, in the main, the same ground, from generation to generation. . . . Every intelli- gent observer of the human mind, and especially of the habits and susceptibiHties of childhood, will at once admit, that other influences than those of argument are the efficient ones in the production of these almost universal effects. — Jacob Abbott : The Cornerstone pp. 290-2. I mPEDniENTS TO THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. 145 § 2. Pkostiiation of the Judc;ment to Autiioi:ity. Is it not bbmcworthy in u?, and a proof of canwlity, ... to give up our judgment to be AvhoUy guided by the ^^Titings of Luther or Cahin, or of any other mortal man "whatsoever? Worthy instruments they were, both of them, of God's glory, and such as did excellent scmce to the churcl: in their times, -svhereof we yet find the benefit ; and we are unthanlvful if we do not bless God for it : and therefore it is an unsavory thing for any man to gird at their names, whose memories ought to be precious. But yet were they not men ? Had they received the Spirit in the fulness of it, and not by measure ? Knew they otherwise than in part, or prophesied otherwise than in part ? Might they not in many things, and they not in some things, mistake and err ? Howsoever, tlie apostle's interrogatories are unanswerable. "What saith he ? " Was Paul crucified for you ? or were ye baptized m the name of Paul ? " Even so, was either Luther or Cahin crucified for you ? Or were ye baptized into the name of Luther or Cahin, or any other man, that any one of you should say, I am of Luther ; or any other, I am of Cahin ; and I of him, and I of him ? What is Cahin or Luther . . . but " ministers by whom ye beHeved ; " that is to say, instruments, but not lords, of your belief ? — Bishop S.ajs'DERSON : Thuiy-Jive Ser- monsy p. 295 ; Lond. 1681, seventh edit. There are many among us so sti*angely engaged by false principles to an ill cause, that it is in vain to offer them the clearest arguments to con\ince them. If you bring them Scripture, it is true that must be heard ; but then, be it never so plain, they are not competent judges of the meaning of it ; and they dm-st not trust their own interpretation to tell them that Abraham begat Isaac, if the church should think fit to expound it otherwise. ... If you offer them reason as clear as the plainest demonstration, why, that were well ; but still private reason may err, and the church cannot. . . . Sense, reason, Scripture, all are of no force against this one prejudice of their church's authority. — Archbishop Wake : Sermons and Discourses, pp. 18, 19. Implicit faith has been sometimes ludicrously styled^rfe5 carbonaria, fi'om the noted story of one who, on examining an ignorant colher on his religious principles, asked him what it was that he believed. He answered, " I believe what the church believes." The other rejoined, " What, then, does the church believe ? " He replied readily, " The church believes what I believe." The other, desirous ii" possible to bring liim t(. particulars, once more resumes his inquir)' : " Tell me, 13 146 IMPEDIMENTS TO THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. then, I pray you, ^Yhat it is which you and the church both believe.*' The only answer the collier could give was, " Why truh , sir, the chm-ch and I both — believe the same thing." This is implicit faith in perfection, and, in the estimation of some celebrated doctors, the smn of necessary and saving knowledge in a Christian. — Dr. George Ca:mpbell : Lectures on Ecclesiastical History, Leet. 23. Deference to great names is a sentiment which it would be base to attempt to eradicate, and impossible were it attempted. But, like other offsprings of the mind, it is at first rude and ill-shapen. It makes no selection, no discrimination ; it retains the impress of its original enthe, just as it was made ; it is a vague, imdistinguishing admu-ation, which consecrates in a mass all the errors and deformities, along with the real excellences, of its object Time only, the justest of all critics, gives it correctness and proportion, and converts what is at first merely the action of a great upon an inferior mind into an enlightened and impartial estimate of distinguished worth. — Robert Hall : Reply to the Rev. Joseph Kinghorn ; in Works, vol. i. p. 502. Thinli you, my brethren, that there is no Popery among you ? Is there no taking of your religion upon trust from another, when you should draw it fresh and unsidlied from the fountain-head of inspira- tion? Do you ever dare to bring your favorite minister to the tribunal of the word ? or would you tremble at the presumption of such an attempt ; so that the hearing of the word canies a greater authority over }oiu: mind than the reading of the word ? Now, this want of daring, this trembling at the very idea of a dissent from your minister, this indolent acquiescence in his doctrine, is just caUing another man master; it is putting the authority of man over the authority of God ; it is throwing yourself into a prostrate attitude at the footstool of human infallibihty. It is not just kissing the toe of reverence ; but it is the profounder degradation of the mind, and of all its faculties. It is said that Papists worship saints ; but have we no consecrated names in the annals of Reformation, — no worthies who hold too commanding a pkce in the remembrance and affection of Protestants ? Are there no departed theologians, whose works hold too domineering an ascendency over the faith and practice of Christians ? Do wo not bend the understanding before the volumes of favorite autliors, and do a homage to those representations of the minds of the men of other days which should be exclusively given to the repre- Bentition of the mind of the Spirit, as put do\Mi in the book of the Spirit's revelation ? It is right that each of us should give the oonti-i* DirEDIMENTS TO THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. 147 bution of his oa\ti talents and his own learning to this most interesting cause ; but let the great drift of our argument be to prop tlie authority of the Bible, and to turn tlie eye of earnestness upon its pages. — • Abridged from Dr. Thomas Chalmers : Select Works, vol. iv. pp. 244-0. Since men really cannot believe or disbeheve without something before the mind which it takes for eudence, the first dictate of a sound conscience would be to examine that evidence carefully, lest we should be deceived ; so that following conscience, in this sense, would come to the same thing as folloAving reason. But what these men mean by conscience is certaui " feelings of awe and reverence and admiration," and bhnd submission to authority, which they are pleased to call by that name ; and the com'se they mean to recommend is taking for endence of the truth of a religious system its apparent fitness for gratifpng such feelings. The difference, then, between them and us is just tliis : we demand in religious matters the same sort of evidence as the knoMii laws of reason and the common experience of mankmd require as the only adequate proof in other matters. They substitute for such proof a sort of evidence m which impartial reason can discover no cogency, and upon which they would themselves refuse to act in the ordinary affairs of life. For though they will tell you that natuml piety requires a man to abide by the creed of an ignorant or doting parent or pastor, yet you will rarely find them ready to purchase a blind horse, or sell out stock at a disadvantage, or exchange a good farm for a bad one, in deference to the same venerable authority. — Archbishop Wil\tely : Cautions for the Tunes, p. 333-4. The founders of almost every denomination have something of attraction about them. Generally they have been men of worth and of pubHc notoriety. They were raised up, it might be, in a dark and decUning age, and had both a great work to do, and grace given them to do it. While they were men of signal excellence, yet still they were men ; and every one of them had faihngs, and peculiarities of manners and habits, which made them singular. They have left their name upon their sect; and they have stamped it, to a certain extent, with their own features What renders the worship — for I can call it by no other name — of the early Ileformers, and of the heads of any rehgious party, now peculiarly unreasonable, is the fact, that, while they were excellent men, they were very lately come out of the bosom of the church of Home, and had their lot cast in a some- what dai'k and intolerant age. To set them up as the paiagons of 148 niPEDBIENTS TO TIIE PURSUIT 01 TRUTH. excellence as to every point of church order is to suppose, tliat the religious world, amid the hght and civilization of modern times, has been standing still ; and that the dust of ages has not been wiped off, in the course of centuries, from the church of Christ. As time rolls on, and society improves, the chm-ch is maturing in experience, and has higher advantages for studpng the mind of Christ, and perceiving that the excellent ones of the earth are not confined to any one deno- mination. — Dr. Gavin Struthers : Party Spirit ; in Essays on Christian Union, pp. 432-5. Even whilst not thus erring as to ourselves, we may en*, in the like spuit of self-exaltation, as to our spiritual leaders, om* religious parties and partisans, and our chosen models of Christian perfection, and our human standards of Christian truth. The second and dechning st\ge in the history of every great rehgious reformation has been thus marked. In the first and jaurer age, the true-hearted leaders forget self, and think of the truth only, and of the Master, and ot the due ^•indication and honor of these. But, in the next generation, the leaders of the generation past have become demigods, and must have their funeral monuments erected as ha\ing become morally, to their disciples, the new Pillars of Hercules, beyond which Truth may not ti*avel, nor llesearch dare to pass ■\nth her adventurous foot . . . AVe, of this land where New England has borne so large and glorious a share in leavening the national character, are probably in some danger of idolatrous homage to the names of the Pmitan Fathers. It is so easy and so common an infirmity to let the priest glide fi'om the altar, where he only serves, into the very shrine, where he may fill the throne ; to make the spiritual guide virtually the spiritual god, and to treat those by whom we have believed in Christ as if they were those in whom we have believed ; and we thus extol and guard and hallow their names instead of God's. — Wm. E, WiLLIAMS: Lectures on the Lord's Prayer, j^p. 42-3. § 3. Blind Attachment to Received Oi'imons. Another error ... is a conceit, that, of former opinions or sects, lifter variety and examination, the best hath still ])revailed, and sup- pressed the rest; so as, if a man sliould begin the labor of a new search, he were like to light upon somewhat formerly rejected, and by rcj(?ction brought into oblivion : as if the nuiltitude, or the wisest, for the multitude's sake, were not ready to give jxissage rather to tl^l niPEDIMENTS TO THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. 149 which is popular and superficial than to that which is substantial and profound- For the truth is, that time seemeth to be of the nature of a river or stream, which c;irrieth down to us that whicli is liji^ht and blo^vn up, and sinlvCth and drowneth that Avhich is weighty and solid. — Lord Bacon : Advancement of Learning, book i. ; in f Forks, vol. i. p. 173 ; Phil. edit. 1852. The multitude is a bad guide to direct our foitli. "We will not introduce here the famous controversy on this question, whether a great number form a presumption in favor of any religion, or whether universality be a certain evidence of the true Christian church. How oflen has this question been debated and determined ! How often have we proved against one community, which displays the number of its professors with so much parade, that, if the pretence were well foimded, it would operate in favor of Paganism! for Pagans were always more numerous than CIu"istians. How often liave we told them, that, in divers periods of the ancient church, idolatry and idola- ters have been enthroned in both the kingdoms of Judah and Israel ! How often have we alleged, that, in the time of Jesus Christ, the church was described as a " little flock," Luke xii. 32 ; that Heathens and Jews were aU in league against Christianity at first, and that the gospel had only a small number of disciples ! . . . When I say the mul- titude is a bad guide in matters of faith, I mean that the manner in which most men adhere to truth is not by principles which ought to attach them to it, but by a spirit of negligence and prejudice. — James Saurix : Sermons, vol. ii. pp. 28-9. Though there is doubtless a certain degi-ee of weight in this argu- ment [the argument in favor of the Di\'inity of Chiist founded on his promise that the Spirit of truth should abide for ever with his follow- ers], yet, I think, Robinson rests too much upon it, and repeats it too often ; for it is a &ct not less certain than melancholy, that an immense majority of Chiistians (ex. gr. all the Russias, all the Christians of Asia, and of Africa, and of South America, the larger and more pojnilous portions of Poland and of Germany, nine-tenths of France, and all Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sicily, &c. &c.) have been given up to the most despicable and idolatrous superstitions. When Christ comes, shall he find faith on the earth ? I say unto you, Nay. — S. T. Coleridge *. Literary Remains ; in Works, vol. v. p. 535. No man doubts that a strictly universal consent would be a very strong argument indeed ; but then, by the very fact of its being dis- puted, it ceases to be universal, and general consent is a \evy different 13* 150 IMPEDIMENTS TO THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. thing from universaL It becomes, then, the consent of the majority; and we must examine the nature of the minority, and also the peculiar nature of the opinions or practices agreed in, before we can decide whether general consent be really an argument for or against the truth of an opinion. For it has been said, " Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you ; " and then it would be equally true of such a generation or generations, that it was, " Woe to that opinion in which all men agi'ee." — Dr. Thomas Arnold : Letter 156 ; in Life and Correspondence, pp. 297-8. It is only an assumption, that universality and ubiquity are made the tests of religious doctrine. No universality or ubiquity can make that divine which never was such. It is a mere prejudice of veneration for antiquity, and the imposing aspect of an unanimous acquiescence (if imanimous it really be) which makes us regard that as truth which comes so recommended to us. Truth is rather the attribute of the few than of the many. The real church of God may be the small remnant, scarcely visible amidst the mass of surrounding professors. Who, then, shall pronounce any thing to be dinne truth, simply because it has the marks of having been generally or universally received among men ? — Bishop Hampden : Bnmpton Lectures, p. 356. Except the prejudices imbibed in early years, there is perhaps no influ- ence so powerfully affecting the belief of individuals, as that resulting from their intercourse with persons who hold, or who profess to hold, opinions of an unvarying stamp, especially in matters of religion ; and who neither by word nor action ever intimate the possibility of their being in the wrong. These individuals may, at one period of their lives, have been led bv satis- factory evidence to take views of truth ver}' different, as a whole, from those received by a majority of their fellow-Christians. But unless, by the vigor of their understandings or by a reiterated attention to the grounds of their convictions, they can, when requisite, summon up the reasons for their faith, they will, in all probability, insensibly and gradually yield to the counter- acting impressions made by the unhesitating credence and dogmatism of the majority around them. Even the docility of their dispositions, which formed an element in their seai-chings after truth, may tend to loosen their attach- ment to opinions coming into collision with the general cun-ent. If such be the effect sometimes produced on the minds of those who are not wholly insensible to the demands of a faith based on personal investigation, how potent must be the desire on the part of others, less prone to inquiry, to adept the opinions of the multitude! We do not mean to imply, that the voice of the many should be de- Bpised, when it is uttered from strong and earnest convictions. It may be the echo of Gcd's voice as expressed in the Scriptures, and in the heart of DIPEDniENTS TO THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. 15 J our common humanity. There is a presumption in its favor, when it speaks of great and benignant principles underlying all forms of Christian belief and worship; when it is heard alike in the lofty church and the lowly meeting- house ; in the meditations of the mystic, and the reasonings of the rationalist; in the prayers of the saint, and the theories of the philosopher; in the con- verse of the Papist and the Protestant, of the Trinitarian and the Unitarian. There is a presumption in its favor, when it speaks of the absolute sove- reignty stnd universal love of the infinite Father; of the impersonation of divine power, wisdom, and goodness in the mission and character of God's Son; of the responsibleness and immortality of man; of the slavery and debasement of sin, the freedom and blessedness of holiness; of profound gratitude and submission to God, deep reverence and love for Christ, kind words and good offices towards all men. The general acknowledgment of such principles and doctrines, though more or less obscured by inconsistent views and practices, forms a presumption for their essential truth which should not be slighted by the boldest of inquirers. But we need not say, that the opinions which are wafted down from one age to another, — which are strewn over the surface of society and the church, — which play aroxind the human brain, but do not reach the heart; or which, if principles of action, serv'e only as stimuli for the display of hostile words and fanatio doings, — afibrd no primA-fade evidence of having tnith for the basis on which they rest. § 4. Predilections for the Mysterious. There is, in truth, a \'itiated appetite in our nature for mystery and terror. We are disappointed by simplicity ; we nauseate that which is common, and despise every thing which we comprehend. The languid mind must gaze at something in the distant gi'ound, half \'isible, half in shade ; an object half pleasing, half terrible ; full of Ijromise and full of threat, lovely and hateful, incongruous and impos- sible. We are so desirous of invohing religion in myster}-, that we are displeased at finding it so clear in its nature, and so definite in its object ; we require a more splendid and magnificent object ; we despise the waters of Israel, and pant for Abana and Pharpar, and the mighty rivers of Damascus. — Sydney Smith : Sermons, vol. ii. pp. 255-6. Pressed by the arguments urged against fleshly \'iews of the sacra- ment, intelligent men, who still cherish such ^-iews, have, for the most part, betaken themselves to a pbce behind the veil of mystcrj-. " The how and why have nothing to do," they tell us, " ^ith such a sacred and awful mystery. Unbelief in it is profane ; calling it in question is presumptuous ; doul)ting, even when urged to do so by reason and ^ur senses, is criminal" This, and the like, has been and is stiJl siiid^ 152 DIPEDIMENTS TO THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. until the bare repetition of it has almost, of itself, forced it upon the minds of the greater mass of nominal Christians. . . . Such suggestions are the usual and the last refuge of those who feel that they are driven from the field of reasoning and argument. They have this advantage, that they are in theh alleged forai so indefinite and ahy, tliat you can- not easily find out their true nature, so as to know where or how you 2an bring forward what is sensible and palpable in opposition to them. They satisfy mystics better than argument or reason Avould ; because they ob\-iously suit that trait in their character which is the pre- dominating and influential one. Hence the final retreat, the sayidum sanctorum of those who liave fled from the battle-fields of reason and exegesis and argument, is always found to be in mystery. Procul, procul, este profani ! Meantime, as a Protestant, I must think that it becomes us, on such a point, to be able to give a reason for the faith that is in us. No outcry of this natm*e can induce a man of sober judgment to abandon his position. It is the never-failing resort of those Mho have notliing better to say, to betake themselves to cry- ing out, — " Myster}' ! awful mystery ! It would be proflmation to make even an attempt at investigation or explanation." Faith — I repeat it, I would God it might suik deep into every Christian heart ! — faith is believing what is revealed, not behenng what is unrevealed and impossible. There may be — there are — mysteries, many and great, which belong to things and truths connected intimately ^ith the gospel. . . . But no true gospel mystery involves a contradiction or an absurdity. — Moses Stuart, in Bibliotheca Sacra for May, 1844; vol i. pp. 267-8 and 278-9. Sentiments such Jis these, though specially opposed to the doctrine of Christ's real bodily i^resence in the Lord's Supper, are well suited to exhibit the influence, in general, of a love for the mystical or the mysterioias in fore- closing the mind against all appeals to reason, and a rational interpretation of Scripture. I should not deem it necessary to say more, did I not know what is the mournful effect upon the human mind of being trained for ages to disregard the most sacred and fundamental intellectual and moral intuitions, under the plea of faitli and mystery. The mind seems to be paralyzed and stunned, as if it had been smitten down by a blow, and cannot again, in that particular, re-act and rally, and recover the use of its powers. Such an effect has been extensively produced on the human mind for ages by this rcsidt of the discussion under Augustine ; for, when the plea of any gi-eat moral or intellectual intuitions has IMPEDIMENTS TO THE PURSUIT OF TRUTU. 153 Oeen once heard, and, after long, earnest, and full debate, rejected, and the course of thought has afterwards rolled on in disregard of them for subsequent centuries under the guidance of ecclesiastical authority, and of the original arguments, in one deep channel, it becomes almost impossible to restore the human mind to the vantage-ground on which it stood when the original conflict began. — Dli. Edw'.vrd Beecher : Conjlid of AgeSi pp. 305-6. § 5. Impatience of Doubt, and Aversion to Trouble. Another error is an impatience of doubt, and haste to assertion witliout due and mature suspension of judgment. For the two ways of contemplation are not unlike the two ways of action commonly spoken of by the ancients : the one plain and smooth in the beginning, and in the end impassable ; the other rough and troublesome in the entrance, but after a while fair and even. So it is in contemplation : if a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts ; but, if he \nll be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties. — Lord Bacon : Advancement of Learning, book i. ; in Works, vol. L p. 173. Christianity being at this time divided into several sects, whereof some must necessarily be in an error, may we not therefore place in the number of the Lazj' those persons who, full of all other tilings but the love of the truth, have never carefully examined which of these sects is most conformable to the sentiments of the apostles? I o^vn that divers other motives might lead them to remain, without knowing why themselves, in that party wherein they happened to be born, and to condemn all others without vouchsafing to examine their tenets ; but, if you remark it well, it will appear that one of the princi- ples which occasion this conduct is a certain laz}^ aversion to the trouble of searching after the truth in matters of this kind. — Le Clerc : Causes of Incredulity, pp. 101-2, Lond. 1697. Any serious employment of the understanding is inconsistent with habitual hidolence. Discussion and inquiry are always laborious. Time and patience and pains are necessary to separate truth from falsehood, — to collect and to compose the arguments on each side. Prejudices arising from temper, from education, from interest, and from innu- merable other causes, are not easily overcome ; and, when a ray of reason breaks through them, resolution is wanted to follow steadily its guidance : and yet without this labor wc forfeit all the use and benefit 154 IMPEDIMENTS TO TILE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. »f our understanding. If we snatch the first appearances, and sit do^vn contented with them, to wliat purpose is it that we are able to investigate hidden truths ? What avails our feculty of judging, if we suffer each tliin pretence to conceal them from us? It might be expected, that they who entertain every wandering opinion without examination should dismiss it without regi-et on the anival of a new guest. But the fact is otherwise. This kind of le\ity is attended with obstinacy. The same disposition which leads men into error makes them unwilling to correct it : a state of doubtfulness is a state of uneasiness. The mind, therefore, hastens to the end of its journey ; but to trace its steps back again, and examine all the windings by which the truth may have escaped, is to the indolent an intolerable labor. — Dr. William Samuel Powell : Discourses, No. I. pp. 6, 7. Some people have so strong a propensity to form fixed opuiions on every subject to which they turn their thoughts, that their mind will brook no delay. They cannot bear to doubt or hesitate. Suspense in judging is to them more insufferable than the manifest hazard of judging WTong ; and therefore, when they have not sufficient evidence, they will form an opinion from wiiat they have, be it ever so Httle ; or even from their own conjectures, w ithout any e^idence at all. Now, to beHeve without proper evidence, and to doubt when we have e^idenc€ sufficient, are equally the effects, not of the strength, but of the weak- ness, of the miderstanding. — Dr. George Campbell : The Four Gospels, Diss. xii. part v. sect 9. There is a strong tendency in human nature to save itself from the trouble of inquiry and the mieasiness of doubt. We do not like to be left for a moment in uncertainty or suspense ; we are impatient of the labor of examuiing things for ourselves ; we are alarmed at the danger of mistake, and uneasy under the sense of personal responsibility; and so we are disposed beforehand to accept a guide in rehgion, who shall constantly claim the power of conducting us with unerring skill, and who shall tell us that we have nothing to do but follow him. — Archbishop Wiiately : Cautions for the Times, p. 103. We make sweeping assertions, disposing of whole classes of subjects at a word, or we take a general principle which is perhaps true in the main, and carry it out to extremes, to wiiich it Kinnot fairly extend. We do this either from the influence of an almost universal tendency of the human mind to love sweeping generalities, or else because it is troublesome tP pause and reflect, and ascertiin exceptions. In fact, a reflecting man will often detect himself believing a proposition mei'ely IMPEDIMENTS TO THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. 155 because, "when expressed, it sounds antithetic and striking, or because it is comprehensive and distinct, and, right or wrong, presents a con- venient solution for whole classes of difficulties. The human mind will, in a word, run into almost any behef, by wliich it may be saved the labor of patient thought, and at the same time avoid the mortifica- tion of acknowledging its ignorance. — Jacob Abbott : The Corner- fdone, p. 302. ^ 6. Party Spirit and Personal Interest. Another great cause of confidence in false conceits is the bias of some personal interest prevailing with a corrupted will, and the mix- ture of sense and passion in the judgment. For as interested men hardly believe what seemeth against them, and easily believe that which they would have to be true ; so sense and passion, or affections, usually so bear down reason that they think it their right to possess the throne. — RiciiAED Baxter : Knowledge and Love Compared ; in Practical Works, vol. xv. pp. 157-8. Self-conceit . . . promotes indolence and obstinacy. For why should he toil any longer in the mines of knowledge who is already possessed of their most valuable treasures ? how can he submit to try his opinions by the judgment of others who is himself the fittest to decide ? This temper, when the mind is conversant with points of the highest nature, such as relate to rehgion and government, will show itself in violent bigotry. What indeed is this, but an obstinate adherence to ill- grounded notions ; with a conceit, that we only, and those of our own sect or party, are the favorites of God and the friends of mankind, and that ail who difi"er from us are weak or wicked ? Want of industrj' to examine our own tenets, of candor to Hsten to those of others, and of modesty in judging of both, lays a sm-e foundation for this vice ; which can never be removed but by another thing equally wanted, an exten- sive acquaintance with the world. This would certainly comince us, that among persons of every denomination some may be found of excellent understandings and distinguished \irtue. — Dr. William Samuel Powell : Discourses, Xo. L p. 8. When a strong prejudice against any description of persons is deeply rooted in the general body of a people, and both their under- standings and their feelings are inveterately cominced of it« ;■ ' the eradication of it requires length of time : no powers 1 •* ^1 -.u ^ the gkire of eloquence can remove it on a suuden, or even w. thou<- , . ° --pmions will be 156 IMrEDmENTS TO TUB PTOSTJIT OP TEUTH. titlon of effort. This is particularly the case in all questions of a compb'cated nature, upon which the feehngs and passions of men have been long and violently agitated, and both religious and political par- ties have been deeply engaged. — Charles Butler : RemlniscenceSi page 277. Truth and error, as they are essentially opposite in their nature, so the causes to which they are indebted for their perpetuity and triumph are not less so. Whatever retards a spirit of inquiry is favorable to error; whatever piromotes it, to truth. But notliing, it will be acknowledged, has a greater tendency to obstruct the exercise of free inquir}', tlian the spirit and feeling of a party. Let a doctrine, however erroneous, become a party distinction, and it is at once intrenched in interests and attachments which make it extremely difficult for the most powerful artillery of reason to dislodge it. It becomes a point of honor in the leaders of such parties, which is from thence communicated to their followers, to defend and support theu' respective peculiarities to the last ; and, as a natural consequence, to shut their ears against aU the pleas and remonstrances by which they are assailed. Even the wisest and best of men are seldom aware hoAV much they are susceptible of this sort of influence ; and while the offer of a world would be insufficient to engage them to recant a laiowTi truth, or to subscribe an acknowledged error, they are often retained in a willing captivity to prejudices and opinions which have no other support, and which, if they could lose sight of party feelings, they would almost instantly abandon. ... It is this alone which has ensured a sort of immortality to those hideous productions of the human mind, the shapeless abortions of night and dfirkness, which reason, left to itself, would have crushed in the moment of their blrtli. — Robert Hall : Terms of Communion ; in Works, voL i. p. 3a2. ^ 7. The Sieculations of Vanity and the Love of Singularity. Such as reject sentiments generally received, or at least received ny a great number of persons, should talce care that the love of singu- larity, rather than a demonstration that others are mistaken, has made them quit the beaten road. It is true, indeed, that tlie multitude of those Avho embrace a certain 0])inion is not a good jn'oof of the truth of the hurt °" ^^® °^^^^" hand, it is no cogent argument that a thing troublesome tp", ^^^' P^^^^^® beHeve it. — Le Clerc : Games of reflecting man wiL DIPEDIMENTS TO TUE PUUSUIT OF TRUTH. 157 Men there are who, in matters of doctrnie, suffer themselves to be carried away by every idle blast ; who catch at this or that opmion, because it has the gloss of novelty ; who are seduced from the sound form of religion by artful or nolent flinatics, recommending their own peculi^ir dogmas upon the ground of superior sanctity in the teacher and the taught ; and while from one part of human infii-mity, in the precipitiition Anth which such notions have been once embraced, we have another instance of the same infii-mity manifested in the pertinacity with which they are retahied. These misguided men are watchful indeed against the smallest encroachments of common sense. They stand fast in opposing assumption to argument, and ideal experiences to the general moral sentiments and habits of their fellow-creatures and fellow-Chi-istians. They quit themselves like dogmatists too illuminated to be instructed, and like zealots too impetuous to be restrained. . . . Fonchiess for novelty engenders at first versatiHty in belief; that versatility is followed by ambition of singidarity; that ambition is increased by sj-mpathy with other men, whom we consider not as rivals, but associates in the common pui'suit of spiritual dis- tinction from the bulk of mankind. By the co-operation' of these causes, pride and fimaticism gradually gain an entire ascendency over the affections and the judgment, which soon become ductile to them ; and by various progi-essions they ultimately produce an inveterate and invincible rigidity in opinion, a contemptuous aversion to flirther in- quiry, a restless impatience of dissent however modest, and discussion however sober. Most assuredly such a state of mind has no encourage- ment from Scripture, where we are directed to prove all things, and cleave to that which after such proof is perceived to be good ; to be on the watch against rash and deceitful teachers ; to stand fast in the sound form of doctrine once delivered to true ])elievers ; to quit our- selves like men who discliin to be the blind followers of blind guides ; to be strong in resisting every attempt to seduce us from those simple and sublime tmths which are alike apj)roved by reason, and sanctioned by revelation. — Dii. Samuel Parr: Sermon on Resolution; in Works, vol. vi. ])p. 332-4. Nor is a mind inflated ■\\-ith vanity more disquahfied for right action than just speculation, or better disposed to the pursuit of truth than the practice of virtue. To such a mind the simi)licity of truth is disgusting. Careless of the inij)ro\en-icnt of manlcind, and intent onlytpon astonishing with the aj)pearance of novcltv, the glare of ])aradox ^nll be preferred to the ligln of truth; opinions wiU be 14 lob IMPEDIMENTS TO THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. embraced, not because they are just, but because they are new : tlie more flagitious, the more subversive of morals, the more alarmmg to tlie wise and good, the more welcome to men who estimate theii literary poM'ers by the mischief they produce, and who consider the anxiety and terror they impress as the measure of their reno-w-n. — Robert Hall : Modern Injidelity Considered ; in Works, vol. L page 33. § 8. The Dread of Contempt and Ridicule. Pride makes men ashamed of the service of God, in a time and place where it is disgraced by the world ; and, if it have dominion, Christ and holiness shall be denied or forsaken by them, rather tlian their honor with men shall be forsaken. If they come to Jesus, it is, as Nicodemus, by night They are ashamed to o^vn a reproached truth, or scorned cause, or ser\Tint of Christ. If men will but mock them with the nicknames or calumnies hatched in hell, they will do as others, or forbear their duty. — Richard Baxter : Christian Direct- ory ; in Practical Works, vol. iii. p. 23. A system may be thrown into discredit by the fanaticism and folly of some of its advocates, and it may be long before it emerges from the contempt of a precipitate and unthinking pubHc, ever ready to follow the impulse of her former recollections ; it may be long before it is reclaimed from obscurity by the eloquence of futm-e defenders ; and there may be the struggle and the perseverance of many years before the existing association, with all its train of obloquies and dis« gusts and prejudices, shall be overthrown. A lover of truth is thus placed on the right field for the exercise of his principles. It is the field of his faith and of his patience, and in wiiich he is called to a manly encounter with the enemies of liis cause. He may have much to bear, and little but the mere force of principle to sustain him. But wiiat a noble exhibition of mind, when this force is enough for it ; when, though unsupported by the S}-mpathy of other minds, it can rest on the truth and righteousness of its own principle; when it can select its object from among the thousand entanglements of error, and keep by it amidst all the clamors of hostiUty and contemjit ; when all the terrors of disgrace cannot alarm it ; when all the levities of ridicule cannot shame it ; when all the scowl of opposition cannot ON'erwhehn it ! There are some very fine examples of such a contest, and of such a triumph, in the history of philosophy. . . . AVhen Sir nirEDIMEXTS TO THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. lo9 Isaac Xewton's theory of grantation was announced to the world, if it had not the persecution of violence, it had at least the persecution of contempt to struggle with. . . . This kept it for a time from the cliaiis and universities of Eui^opc ; and for years a kind of obscure and ignoble sectari;inisni was annexed to that name which has been carried do^vn on such a tide of glory to distant ages. Let us thhik of this, when philosophers bring their names and their authority to bear upon us, when they pom* contempt on the truth which we love, and on the system which we defend ; and, as they fasten their epithets upon us, let us take comfort in thinking tliat we are imder the verj' ordeal through which philosophy herself had to pass, before she achieved the most splendid of her -N-ictories. — Dr. Thomas Chalmers : Select Works, vol iv. p. 222. This, too, is the ordeal through which Unitarianism has passed, and is still, in some measure, passing. This is the ordeal through which have passed the adherents of the great doctrine which confessedly lies at the foundation of all true religion, whether natural or revealed ; and which, in spite of a narrow dogmatism and a crude metaphysics, is more or less recognized by all Christian churches. The believers in the strict Oneness of the Divine Being, of the unrivalled Supremacy of the infinite Father, have been subjected to every species of contempt and persecution. Their learning has been despised; their characters have been traduced; their motives maligned; their names associated with irreverence, impiety, and infidelity. But all this obloquy, though certainly presenting no evidence for the truth of their doctrine, affords, at the same time, as little ground for re- garding it as erroneous. It should be tried by its own merits ; judged of by its harmony or its dissonance with the principles of reason and revelation; and a decision be made of its truth or of its falsity, uninfluenced by the ful- minations of bigotn,', by the sneers of a cold iudiiference, or by the clamors and prejudices of an unthinking people. Men are often kept in error, not because they have any special objection to the truth itself, or to the practical consequences, in general, which result from it, but because they are un-s^illing to acknowledge that they have been in the ^^Tong. A man who has always been on one side, and is so universally regarded, cannot admit that he has been mistaken, without feeling mortification himself, and exciting the ill-will of others. Light, however, comes in, which he secretly perceives is sufficient to show him tliat he has been wrong ; but he turns his eye away from it, because he instinctively feels what must ine^itably follow from its admission. — Jacob Abbott : The Corner-stone ; or, a Fami- liar Illustration of the Principles of Christian Truth, p. 296. 160 DIPEDDIEXTS TO THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. § 9. The Lnfluence of a Pkoud, Empty, Sectarian Criticism. Men of high station in the church, and of high reputation for know* ledge, should be cautious in what terms, and before what Lriarers, they pass sentence upon books which they professedly do not deign to read. A specious criticism, begotten, it may be, by rashness upon prejudice, and fostered by vanity or ill-nature, as soon as it was produced, — a random conjecture, suddenly struck out in the conflicts of hterary conversation, — a sprightly eff'usion of vdt, forgotten perhaps by the speaker the moment after it was uttered, — a sly and impertinent sneer, intended to convey more than was expressed, and more than could be proved, may have very injm-ious eSects upon the reputation of a WTiter. I suspect, too, that these effects are sometimes designedly produced by critics, who, finding the easy reception given to their omti opinions, prefer the pride of decision to the toil of inquiry. The remarks of such men are eagerly caught up by hearers who are incapable of forming for themselves a right judgment, or desirous of supporting an unfavorable judgment by the sanction of a great name. They are triumphantly repeated in promiscuous, and sometimes, I fear, even in literary assem- bhes, and, lilve other calumnies, during a long and irregular course they swell in bulk, without losing any portion of their original mahg- nity. — Dr. Samuel Parr : Dedication to fVarburtonian Tracts ; in Works, vol iii. p. 387. Our theology may be greatly improved by encouraging among our scholars more freedom and candor of criticism. We have long been dissatisfied with the manner in which the critical department of our literature is conducted. Our theological criticism, especially, ought to be governed by well-estabHshed and sure principles, and to breathe a spirit of the utmost candor. It ought to love the truth more than the canons or the symbols. Its reverence for the dead ought not to exceed the limits of sound reason, nor should its tenderness to the living hazard the interests of science. It ought to rise above party sympa- thies, above popular prejudice. But it is only a small part of our theological criticism which is regulated by these principles. We have many parties in theology, and each school is inchned to extol the writings of its own partisans, and to depreciate tlie productions of its opponents. There is more severity of criticism witli us than with the hard-nerved disputants of Germany ; but it is severity against those from whom we are sej)arated by party lines. There is more adidation of authors in this country than in that land of authors ; but it is the IMPEDIMENTS TO THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. 161 adulation of those who are hemmed in with us by the same sectarian limits. Like our political editors and crators, we are too much dis- posed to speak only well of him that is with us, — only ill of him that is ajjainst us : the flattery is too fulsome, the censure too unsparing. It is rare tliat we find a truly dispassionate and unbiassed criticism, dis])ensing praise and blame where it is deserved, without fear and ■\nthout favor, without bitterness and without partiality. It is by no means easy to determine the exact value of a work from any review of it Avhicli is given in somo of our rehgious journals ; so much allow- ance are we compelled to malve for party predilections, so much severity ai"e we c;\lled upon to mitigate, so much adulation to qualify. Now, we ought to have amdor enough, independence enough, enough of the liberal spirit of true learning, to rise above so narrow and baneful a pohcy, and to redeem the character of our national criticism from the exti'avagance both of flattery and of sarcasm, which has so generally been objected against us. If criticism is to hold any valuable place in subsernency to theological science, it must be more Hbeml, more dis- criminating, more moderate in its sectarian partiahties, more faitliful to the spirit of sound scholai'sliip and fraternal sympathy. — Bihluy- theca Sdcra for JVovemher, 1844 ; vol i. pp. 753-4. With much pleasure we make the preceding extract, taken from an excellent article, prepared by a society of clergymen, on " the State of Theological Science and Education in our Country." In the present age, when the pulpit has, both for good and evil, lost so much of its former power, and the press is the main instrument employed in influencing the public mind, we know of nothing more detrimental to catholicity of spirit and the love of tnith among the people than that narrowness of soul, on the part of editors, which, by its withering scowl on all that is excellent out ot its own pale, would prevent the readers of a professedly religious journal from perusing any work that bears not the stamp of a prevalent and a stereo typed orthodoxy. Truth is divine, wherever found, — in friend or foe ; and it should be tlie delight of the Christian critic to separate it from the error with which it may be blended, and to exhibit its beauty and holiness, without any bigoted regards to his own particular form of theological specu- lation. ^ 10. The Seductions of Feeling and Imagination, of Imiuiessions AND Passions. Sometimes a strong, deluded imagination maketh men exceeding confident in error, — some by melancholy, and some by a natural weakness of reason, and strength of Hmtasy ; and some, by misajipre- 14* 1G2 DIPEDniENTS TO THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. hensions in religion, grow to think that everj' strong conceit which doth but come in suddenly, at reading, or hearing, or thinking on such a text, or in time of earnest prayer, especially if it deeply affect themselves, is certainly some suggestion or inspiration of God's Spi- rit. — Richard Baxter : Knowledge and Love Compared, voL xv. page 158. Those who are subject to the command of their own affections judge more according to the inclinations of tliem than to the dictates of right reason. He that espouses a party or interest, that loves an oi)inion, and desires it should be true, easily approves of whatsoever does but seem to make for it, and rejects, almost at all adventures, whatsoever appears against it. How does the hope and desire of honor or favor or fortune in the world carry men away to the ^ilest things for the prosecution of it ! And so all the other passions of the mind, whether it be fear or pleasure, or whatever else be the affection tliat rules us : they hinder the reason from judging aright, and weighing impartially what is delivered to us ; and it is great odds but such an auditor receives or condemns the doctrine of Christ, not according as tlie authority of Holy Scriptm-e and the e^•idence of right reason require he should, but as his own passions and inclinations prompt him to do! — Archbishop Wake: Sermons and Discourses, pp. 17-19. To assign a feeling and a determination of Mill, as a satisfactory reason for embracing or rejecting this or that opinion or behef, is of ordinary occurrence, and sure to obtain the sympathy and the suffrages of the company. And yet to me this seems httle less irrational than to apply the nose to a picture, and to decide on its genuuieness by the sense of smell. — S. T. Coleridge : Aids to Rejledion ; in Works, vol. i. p. 119. It is perfectly notorious that the great mass of those who adopt even the purest forms of fiith adopt it without any rational examina* tion of evidence, whether of natural or revealed truth. The appeal to natural impressions, however just in itself, throws no light whatever on the real question at issue, which concerns not what men are led to believe, but the rational evidence on which they beUeve it ; not what are the natural impressions, but how and why they should be impressed. And this more especially with reference to the analysis of our own convictions, and the searching inquiry which we ought to make intc» the grounds of our own belief, with all the light and information we possess, in order that, on the most vit^illy important of all sul)ject8, these convictions should be guarded by none but the most secure mPEDtMENTS TO THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. 163 arguments, and repose on none but the most unassailable foundations. But the majority of those who decry this kind of inquiry- do so upon a more specific ground of faith. They, in fact, discard all idea of reasoning upon the su!)ject. They look to a peculiar kind of impres- sion upon tlie soul, neither to be reasoned upon nor resisted. In this theh* whole apprehension of the Deity is made to consist. Thus all philosopliiciil proof is useless, and even d:ingerous ; all exercise of the intellect on such a subject is at vamnce with the demands of a true faith. With those who entertain such persuasions, it is of course vain to dispute. Discarding reason, they are insensible to fallacies in argument. — Baden Powell : Connection of J^Tatural and Divine Truth, pp. 222-3. [1] It is quite certain that most men are disposed to believe or disbeheve according to their ^\'ishes. Even the Ansest men are not exempt from this bias of the judgment, unless they are carefully on their guard against it ; and the generality may be observed on many occasions mustering every argument they can think of to persuade themselves of the truth of what is agreeable, and raising every objec- tion against any thing which they do not like to beheve [2] Tliere are persons . . . who, in supposed compliance with the precept, " Lean not to thine own miderstanding," regard it as a duty to suppress all exercise of the mtellectual powers, in every case where the feehngs are at variance with the conclusions of reason. They deem it right to " consult the heart more than the head ; " i. e. to surrender themselves, advisedly, to the bias of any prejudice that may chance to be present : thus, deUI)erately and on principle, burning in the earth the talent entrusted to them, and hiding under a bushel the candle that God lias lighted up in the mind. ... I am far from recommending presumptuous inquiiies into thuigs beyond the reach of our faculties, attempts to be "wise above what is written," or groundless confidence in the certainty of our conclusions. But we cannot even exercise the requisite humility in acquiescing in revealed doctrines, imless we employ our reason to ascertain what they are ; and there is surely at least as much presumption in measuring every thing by our own feeUngs, passions, and prejudices, as by our own reasonings. — Archbishop Whately. That portion of Dr. Witately's remarks numbered [11 is taken from " Sennons on Various Subjects," p. 318; that which is numbered [2], from " Es:^ay3 on the Difficulties in St. Paul's Writings," Essay I. \ 3, DP. 24-5 ir)4 IMPEDIMENTS, TO THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. § 11. HixijRANCES IN General. There is, in many minds, a native and almost invincible prepossession in favor of all that is accredited, or ancient, or associated with dignity and high station. It may be a physical propensity; it may be an intellectual weakness ; it may be a moral sentiment, estimable and \irtuous in its affinities, but in itself unintelligent, and liable to much perversion. There is in others a contempt of authority, — a fierce independency of action, — which may be equally injurious, when carried to excess. . . . There is a constitutional churchmansliip, and there is a constitutional sectarianism ; and they are both equally contemptible and worthless. Om" business is to preserve the habits of our mind, to the List practicable extent, free from the perversions of either class, and to follow truth alone wherever it may lead us ; making candid allowance for the failings and errors of other men, but using the most ^igorous exertions to sm-mount our o^\^l. — Dr. Robert S. M*All : Discourses, vol. i. p. 253. Li some good men the imagination is so inordinately predominant, that they are so governed by taste and poetry as to be almost insen- sible to the force of logic. Others are so impelled by imaginative emotions, that they have no affinity for enlarged, Ciilm, and compre- hensive logical views. In others the association of ideas has imparted to every tiling that has been, durmg their education, linked in with the system of the gospel, such an aspect of holiness, that even errors are invested with all the sacredness of the truths with which they have been associated. Not only the church of Home, but all state churches and gi'eat denominational organizations, exert an influence upon the standing and means of support of aU then- members, so poAverful that it tends to arrest or overrule tlie free action of the logical poMcr, by an influence which is, in its essential natm-e, rather mtimidating than illuminating or reasoning. In others, emotions of reverence and grati- tude to great and good men of past ages, emotions in themselves very proper, are so inordinate as to render them incapable of admitting that any of their views can be erroneous. National prejudices, moreover, and denominational commitments, and the general st;ite of society in any age, exert a great control over the action of the logical power. — Dr. Edward Beeciier : Conjlkt ofJjges, p. 200. 165 CHAPTER III. REASON AND REVELATION THE ONLY LEGITLMATE STANDARDS OF RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. SECT. I. — THE OBLIGATION TO USE THE INTELLECTU-\L FOWEllS IN aL\TTERS OF RELIGION. All-sacred Reason ! source and soul of all, Deniandiug praise on earth, or earth above! Edward Yoc>-g. This pretence of a necessity of humbling the understanding is none of the meanest arts whereby some persons have invaded and have usurped a power over men's faith and consciences. . . . He that submits his understimding to all that he knows God hath said, and is ready to submit to all that he hath Siiid, if he but know it, denjing his own affections and ends and interests and human persuasions, lading them all dovm at the foot of his great Master Jesus Christ, — that man hath brought his understanding mto subjection, and ever}* proud thought into the obedience of Clu"ist ; and tliis is " the obecHence of faith " which is the duty of a Chiistian. — Jeremy Taylor : Liberty of Prophesijiiig, sect, iL 13 ; in JVhole Jforks, vol. \ii. p. 46S. When we say God hath revealed any thing, we must be ready to prove it, or else we say nothing. If we tiuru off re:ison here, we level the best rehgion in the world \nth the wildest and most absm'd enthu- siasms. And it does not alter the case much to give reason ill names, to call it " blind and carnal reason." . . . For our parts, we apprehend no mamier of inconvenience in haAing reason on our side ; nor need we desire a better endence that any man is in the \\Tong, than to hear him declare against reason, and thereby to acknowledge that reason is against him. . . . Some men seem to think, that they obHge God mightily by believing pLiin contradictions ; but the matter is quite ot}ier\\-ise. — AacHBisilop Tillotson ; Sermon 56 j in Works, voL iv. pp. 300- L 166 THE INTELLECTUAL TOWERS Is It not intolerable presumption for men to mould anu shape religion according to their fancies and humors, and to stuff it with an infinite number of orthodox propositions, none of which are to be found in express terms in Scripture, but are only pretended to be deduced from thence by such imaginary consequences, from some Httle hints and appearances of things ? Especially, is not this unpardonable in those men who cry do^^'n reason for such a profane and carnal thing as must not presume to intermeddle in holy matters, and yet lay down the foundation of their religion, and erect such glorious and magnificent fabrics, on nothing else but some little shows and appearances of reason ? But the plain truth is this, when men argue from the nature of God and his works and providences, from the natm^e of mankind, and those eternal notions of good and evil, and the essential differences of things, — that is, when men argue fi'om plain and undeniable principles, which have an immutable and imchangeable natinre, and so can bear the stress and weight of a just consequence, — this is carnal reason; but when they argue from fancies and imaginations, which liave no stable natiu'e, from some pretty allusions, and simihtudes, and allegories, which have no certain shape nor form, but what every man's fancy gives them, — this is sanctified and spiritual reason ; but why I cannot imagine, luiless that it so much resembles ghosts and sliadows, which have nothing soHd and substantial in them. — Dr. "Wttj-tam Sherlock : Knowledge of Christ, chap. iii. sect. 3. There are those who do not scruple to say, the more contradictions the better; the gi-eater the struggle and opposition of reason, the srreater is the triumph and merit of our faith. But there is no likehhood of suppressing any of our doubts or disputes ui rehgion this way ; lor, besides the natmtil propension of the *soul to the search of truth, and the strong and impatient desire we have to know as much as ever we can of what immediately concerns us, it is generally and very justly looked upon both as the privilege and duty of man to inquire and examine before he beheves or judges, and never to give up his assent to any thing but upon good and rational gi-ounds. ... It is well the difficulties of subduing the underst;.xnding are too great to be mastered ; for a sfight reflection will serve to convince us, tkit the necessary con- sequences of a bhnd resignation of judgment would be far more fatal to Christianity than all our present divisions. What blasphemies and contradictions may and have been imposed uj)on men's belief, under the venerable name of " mysteries " ? and how easy are villanous practices derived from an absurd fiiith ? Another coaidition necessary to TO BE USED IN MATTERS Oil RELIGION. 1G7 render a thing capable of being believed is, that it implies no contra- diction to our former knowledge. I c^innot conceive how it is possible to give our assent to any thing that contradicts the plain dictiites of our reason, and those evident j)rinciples from whence wc derive all our knowledge. ... It is not consistent with the justice, wisdom, or good- ness of God to require us to believe that w^hich, according to the frame and make he has given us, it is impossible for us to beheve; for, however some men have advanced this absurd paradox that God can make contradictions true, I am very certiiin, that, upon an impartial trial of their faculties, they would find it were perfectly out of their power to beheve expHcitly, and in the common sense of the terms, that a part Ciin be bigger than the whole it is a part of. — Dr. Robert South : Considerations on Ike Trinity, pp. 2, 3 ; 16, 17. It is the true remark of an eminent man, who had made many observations on human nature, " If reason be against a man, a man ■vs-ill always be against reason." This has been confirmed by the experience of all ages. Very many have been the instances of it in the Clnistian as well as the heathen world ; yea, and that in the earhest times. Even then there were not wanting well-meaning men, who, not having much reason themselves, imagined that reason was of no use in rehgion ; yea, rather, that it was a hindrance to it. And there has not been -wanting a succession of men who have believed and asserted the same thing. But never was there a greater number of these in the Christian church, at least in Britain, than at this day. Among them that despise and nlify reason, you may always expect to find those enthusiasts who suppose the dreams of their own imagination to be revelations from God. We cannot expect that men of this turn will pay much regard to reason. Hanng an infallible guide, they are very Httle moved by the reasonings of falUble men. ... If you oppose reason to these, when they are asserting propositions ever so full of absurdity and blasphemy, they will probably think it a sufficient answer to say, " Oh ! this is your reason," or " your carnal reason." So that all arguments are lost upon them : they regard them no more than stubble or rotten wood. — John Wesley: Sermon 75; in f Forks, vol. ii. p. 126. No enhghtened Christian would be disposed to deprecate with wanton contempt, or from flilse humiUty, the powers of reason, because he must consider those powers as the gracious gii't of God himself; as the distinguishing characteristic of our o\vii nature, and the necessary instruments both of our intellectual and spiritual improvement. — Dr. S.^MUEL Paiqi : Serinon on Faith ; in Works, vol v. p. 3o4. 1G8 THE INTELLECTUAL POWEUS It seems to me, that, of all faults, this [an uns ibmissive imder- standing] is the most difficult to define or to discern ; for who shall say where the understanding ought to submit itself, unless where it is inclined to advocate any thing immoral ? "We know that what in one age has been called the spirit of rebellious reason, has in another been allowed by all good men to have been nothing but a somid judgment exempt from superstition. — Dr. Thomas Arnold : Letter 20 ; in Life and Correspondence, p. 69. There is not necessarily any real humility in a disparagement of the human understanding, — the intellectual powers, as contrasted with the affections and other feeluigs. " The pride of human reason " is a phrase very much in the mouth of some persons, who seem to thuik they are effectually humbling themselves by feeling, or sometimes by merely professing, an excessive distrust of all exercise of the intellect, while they resign themselves freely to the guidance of what they call the heart ; that is, their prejudices, passions, inclinations, and fancies. But the feehngs are as much a part of man's constitution as liis reason : every part of our natmre mil equally lead us WTong if operatmg imcon- trolled. ... It may be observed, by the way, that the persons who use this kind of language never do, in fact, divest themselves of any human advantages they may chance to possess. AVhatever learning or argu- mentative powers any of them possess (and some of them do possess much), I nave always found them ready to put forth, in any conti'oversy they may be engaged in, without shoAving much tenderness for an oppo- nent who may be less gifted. It is only when learning and argument make against them, that they declaim against the pride of intellect, and depreciate an appeal to reason when its decision is unfavorable. So that the sacrifice which they appear to maive is one which in reality they do not make, but only require, when it suits their purpose, from others. . . . They appear voluntiirily divesting themselves of what many would feel a pride in ; and thus often conceal from others, as well as from themselves, the spiritiuil pride with which they not only venerate their own feehngs and prejudices, but even load with anathemas all who j)rcsume to dissent from them. It is a prostration, not of man's self before God, but of one part of himself before another. — Arch- bishop Whately : Dangers arising from Injudicious Preaching ; in Essa^js on Dangers to Christian Faith, i)p. i59-62. All who insist upon a blind faith only show the feebleness and timidity of theu* faith. Nay, at the very moment when they are aalling ujx)n mnnkind to cast down thcu* understandings before what TO HE USED IX MATTERS OF RKLIGIOX. 1G9 the} assert to be an incomprehensible mystery, there is no little sell- cxalt;\tion in assuming that their own understiindings are the measure of iiinnan capacity, and that what to them is obscvn'e and perplexing must needs be so for ever to all mankmd. — JuLius Cil\rles Hare : 71ie Vidonj of Faith, pj). 63-4. We dissent, on the otiier hand, very widely from those who arc in the habit of decrying reason, and of uttering strong reproaches agamst her, as though she were the great corrupter of the human race, and the determined opposer and enemy of revelation. Things like these we have aeard and read, to om* deep regret and utter astonishment ; and we would fain put all the friends of evangehcal sentiment on their guard against uttermg or comitenancing them. Nothing can be farther from the truth than that revelation reqmi'cs us to abandon reason. Nay, so far is the case from tliis, that revelation addresses itself, first of all, to the faculty of reason. It is admitted, on all hands, that the Bible does not prove the being of a God : it assumes this truth, as already knoAMi and conceded. . . . What is it that weighs and compares the various testimonies and e-sidences that a God exists, and that he has revealed himself in the Scriptures ; and then deduces conclusions from this ? Reason. What is it which ascertains the laws of inter- pretation for that book which professes to be a revelation from God ? Reason. What detennines that God has not members of a physical body like our ovnx, when the Bible seems to ascribe them to him ? Reason. . . . Reason, then, is our highest and ultimate source of appeal in the judgment that we form of thhigs wliich are fundamental in regard to religion. Even if a revelation were to be made to us in particular, we must appeal to reason to judge whether the evidences )f its reahty were sufficient. Such being most plainly the fact, we can nevei join with those who thmk they are doing God serAice when they decry the fliculty of reason ; a faculty which we regard as one of the highest and noblest proofs that our nature was formed in the image of God. Shall we say, now, that reason can never be trusted ; that she is always so dark, so erring, that we can have no confidence in her at>?isions ? If so, then why should we trust her decisions in favor of the beip.g of a God, or of his spiritual nature, or of his moral attributes, or of the truth of revelation ? If reason does not decide in favor of all these and many more truths, then what is the faculty of our nature which does decide ? and is that other faculty any more secure against error than the faculty of reason ? — Spirit of the Pilgriins for Aprilt 1828; vol. i. pp. 204-O 15 170 THE INTELLECTUAL POWERS There are limits to the duty of faith in alleged mysteries. K there were not, there could be no defence against absurdities the most gross, promulgated under the cover of the Bible. The advocates of transubstantiation take refuge behind the shield of mystery ; but all Protestants agi'ee in the decision, that a dogma which does violence to the intuitive convictions of the human mind, through the senses, shall not be slieltered by the plea of mystery and faith. So there are certain first truths on which all reasoning rests. Without them, we camiot e^'ince the being of a God, or establish the di-s-ine origin or authority of the Bible. The intuitive convictions of the human mind as to honor and right are of no less authority. "Without them, we could form no idea of the moral character of God. If any sfcitements are directly at war mth these, the resort to mystery and faith, in their defence, is not legitimate. — Dr. Edward Beecher: Conflict of Ages, p. 129. He [Christ] always respected reason in man, and addressed himself franlvly and magnanimously to man's fi-ee will, teaching everpvhere that when we neglect those ficulties given us by nature for percei^ing the truth, we judge falsely of true rehgion, and involve ourselves in disgraceful inconsistencies. For examples, consult Matt. xii. 9-12. Luke xiv. 1-6. Matt, xxiii. 16-33, &c. In reading the whole liistory of Clmst's life and instructions, we cannot fail to be struck with asto- nishment and delight at the carefulness -with which he ever honored the freedom and capacities of the human mind ; in all cases seeking to create rational convictions, and never employing coercion aside from the constraints of love. — E. L. Magoon : Repub. Christianity, p. 144. Let us ever beware of the sin and folly of disparaging the reason. It is the only high and godhke endowment possessed by us, — the only attribute in which man still bears the image of his ^Nlakcr. Seek not to degrade and humble it ; but bow in willing submission to its rightful authority. It is the voice of God speaking within you. Every one of its utterances carries with it tlie divine sanction. Whatever we learn from other sources is at best but luiowlcdge at second hand. It has authority, and demands our reception and confidence only as it comes with credentials recognized by the intelligence. Veil this light within, and you have nothing without but mist and obscurity. Extin- guish it, and you are at once and for ever cnveloj)od in profound flarkness. IJisparage the reison, deny its paramount authority, and you cut off the only arm by which you hold on to the plank of truth floating upon a boundless oce ceives. — LiMBORCH : Theolo^ia Christiana^ lib. i. caj). 12, § 4. IIAIIMOXY OF REASON AND KEYELATION. 173 It is bbsphcmy to think, that God can contradict himself; and thercftrre right reason being the voice of God, as well as revelation, they can never be directly contradictory to one another. — Dr. Horert South: Considerations on the Trinity, p. 18. There are many, it is confessed, particularly those who are styled mystic divines, that utterly decry the use of reason in religion ; nay, that condemn all reasonhig concerning the things of God, as utterly destructive of true religion. But we can m no vdse agree with this. "We find no authority for it in Holy "Writ So far from it, that we find there both our Lord and his apostles conthiually reasoning with their opposers. — John Wesley : Works, vol. v. p. 12. It ■w'ill not be easy for missionaries of any nation to make much impression on the Pagans of any countr}' ; because missionaries in general, instead of teaching a simple system of Christianit}-, have pei-plexed their hearers with tmintelligible doctrines not expressly deli- vered in Scripture, but fabricated from the conceits and passions and prejudices of men. Christianity is a rational rehgion : the Romans, the Athenians, the Corinthians, and others, were highly ci\'ilized, far advanced in the rational use of their intellectual fticulties ; and they all, at length, exchanged Paganism for Christianity. The same change will take place in other countiies, as tliey become enlightened by the progress of European Hterature, Szc, — Bishop Watsox : Anecdotes of his Life, p. 198. The Hght of revelation, it should be remembered, is not opposite to the light of reason ; the former presupposes the ktter ; they are both emanations from the same source ; and the discoveries of the Bible, however supernatural, are addressed to the understanding, the only medium of information whether human or di\-ine. Revealed religion is not a cloud which overshadows reason : it is a superior iUmnuiation designed to perfect its exercise, and supply its deficiencies. Since truth is always consistent with itself, it can never sutfer from the most enkirged exertion of the intellectual powers, pro^ided those powers be regulated by a spirit of dutiful submission to the oracles of God. — Kobert Hall : Address in behalf of the Baptist Academical Insti- tution at Stepney ; in JVorks, vol. ii. p. 441. The doctrine which cannot stand the test of rational investigation cannot be true. . . . We liave gone too far when we have Siiid, " Such and such doctrines should not be subjected to rational investig-ation, being doctrines of pure revelation." I know no such doctrines in the Bible. The docti-ines of this book are docti'ines of eternal reason, 174 HARMONY OF REASON AND REVELATION. and they are revealed because they are such. Human reason could not have found tliem out ; but, when revealed, reason can both *;ippre- hend and comprehend them. It sees their perfect harmony among themselves, their agreement with the perfections of the di\ine nature, and their sovereign suitableness to the nature and state of man : thus reason approves and applauds. Some men, it is true, cannot reason ; and therefore they declaim against reason, and proscribe it in the examination of religious truth. — Dr. Adam Clarke: Ccmmeidary, vol. vi. Last page. It is not scriptural, but fanatical, to oppose faith to reason. Faith is properly opposed to sense, and is the listening to the dictates of the higher part of our mind, to which alone God speaks, rather than to the lower part of us, to which the world speaks. There is no end to the mischiefs done by that one very common and perfectly imscriptural mistake of opposing faith and reason, or whatever you choose to call the highest part of man's nature. And this you ^^•ill find that the Scripture never does ; and obsernng this, cuts do^^■n at once all Pusey's nonsense about rationalism ; which, in order to be contrasted scriptu- rally with faith, must mean the following some lower part of our nature, whether sensual or merely intellectual ; that is, some part which does not acknowledge God. But what he abuses as rationalism is just what the Scripture commends as knowledge, judgment, under- standing, and the like ; that is, not the following a merely intellectual part of our nature, but the sovereign part ; that is, the moral reason acting under God, and using, so to speak, the telescope of faith for objects too distant for its naked eye to discover. And to this is opposed, in scri])tural language, folly and idolatry and blindness, and other such terms of reproof. According to Pusey, the forty-fom-th chapter of Isaiah is rationahsm, and the man who bowed do\Mi to the stock of a tree was a humble man, who did not inquire, but beheve. But if Isaiah be right, and speaks the words of God, then Pusey, and the man who bowed down to the stock of a tree, should learn that God is not served by folly Faith viithout reason is not properly faith, but mere power-worship ; and power-worshij) may be devil-worshij) ; for it is reason which entertains the idea of God, — an idea essentially made up of truth and goodness, no less than of power. ... If this were con- sidered, men would be more careful of s])eakhig disparagingly of reason, seeing that is the necessary condition of the existence of faith. It is quite true, that, when Ave have attained to faith, it supersedes reason j W(? Wiilk by sunlight, rather than !))■ moonhght; following tlie guiflance n.VRMONY OF REASON AND IlEVELATION. 175 of infinite reason, instead of finite. But how are we to attsin to fiiith ? — in otlier words, how can w(> distinguish God's voice from the voice ofe\Tl? for we must distinguish it to be God's voice, before we can have fiitli in it. AVe distinguish it, and can distinguisli it no other- wise, by com])aring it witli that idea of God which reason intuitively enjoys ; the gift of reason being God's original revelation of himself to man. Now, if the voice which comes to us from the unseen world agi*ee not with this idea, we have no choice but to pronounce it not to be God's voice ; for no signs of power, in confirmation of it, can alone prove it to be God's. God is not power only, but power and truth and hoHness ; and the existence of even infinite power does not necessarily involve in it truth and holiness also It is no less true, that, while there is, on the one side, a faculty higher than the understanding, which is entitled to pronomice upon its defects, ... so there is a clamor often raised against it, not from above, but from below, — the clamor of mere shallowness and ignorance and passion. Of this sort is some of the outcry which is raised against rationalism. !Men do not leap, per saltum morialem, from ordinary folly to diivm'i wisdom ; and the fooHsh have no right to tliinlv they are angels, because they are not humanly wise. There is a deep and universal truth in St. Paul's words, where he says, that Christians wish "not to be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortaHty may be swallowed up of life." Wisdom is gained, not by renomicing or despising the understanding, but by adding to its per- fect work the perfect work of reason ; and of reason's perfection, faith. — Dr. Thomas Arnold : Letter 143, in lAfe and Correspondence, p. 286 ; and Miscellaneous Works, pp. 266-7, 270. God is the original of natural truth, as well as of that which comes by particular revelation. No proposition, therefore, which is repugnant to the fundamental principles of reason can be the sense of any part of the word of God. — Thomas Hartwell Horxe : Introduction to the Holy Scriptures, vol. i. p. 356. Too many have not scrupled to affirm, that the truths of reason are at variance with those of revelation ; that the volume of nature and the volume of history contradict the volume of God's word ; and that the only way of cleaving to the last is to close and fling away the other two. Yet tliis is impossible. Man cannot disbelieve that which the legitimate exercise of all his faculties compels him to acknowledge. He is so framed that reason is the lord of his mind, and intellectually he must obey it. — Julius Charles Hare : Mission of the Comfoder, vol i. p. 204 176 HARMON r OF REASON AND REVELATION. "VVe allow that the reason and conscience of man are to judge of that [the Christian] revelation, so far as its tiniths come witliin the domain of conscious knowledge. In sajing this, v,e speak with the utmost distinctness. We are not exalting reason above revelation ; we are not speaking of a self-sufficient reason, but of a reason joined with devout affections, and enlightened by the Spmt of Truth. It is too often the folly of Chiistian divines, in decrjing a false reason, to speak disparagingly of all rational power, and thus make revelation unreasonable. But it is, first of aU, untrue, and cuts away the founda- tion of Christianit)'. It puts out the eye by Avhich we see the light. If the mind could have no idea of God, it could not receive the truth of God in his Son Jesus Christ ; if the conscience liave no perception of moral sight, it could not recognize the perfect hoHness of om* Lord, or the obligation of duty to him ; if the soul have no thought or longing after immortaHty, his resurrection and gift of eternal life are robbed of their power. — Church Review for Jan. 1855 ; vol. vii. pp. 504-5. The quotations in this section have been made, not for the purpose of showing that the dictates of reason, and the teachings of each and of all portions of Scripture, are entirely coincident one with another, but merely that whatever has been revealed by God through the utterances or the writings of inspired men never has contradicted, and never can contra- dict, the judgments which are formed by a proper use of the intellectual powers. The revelations which are recorded in the Bible as having been made to the Hebrews by Moses and the prophets, and to mankind by Jesus and his apostles, unquestionably afford us higher and clearer views of the will and character of Almighty God, and of our relation to him and the great family of rational beings, than were ever reached by men of the loftiest order of intellect, when unaided by supernatural light from Heaven. But, when these revelations are brought home to the human mind, they must either be felt to harmonize with the laws of our common reason, or must go to prove that the faculty of our nature which discerns the alleged revela- tions to have come from God is unworthy of our confidence; thus destroying, as it were, the very foundation of our faith in a supernatural message. If, therefore, any professedly divine communication, though sounding in our ears from the vault of the eternal heavens, or borne to us by the holiest and highest of ilivine messengers, were found to proclaim doctrines derogatory to God, or inimical to the principles which lie embedded in the constitution of our moral and mental nature, we could have no assurance that they came from the Author of wisdom and of every good and perfect gift. In such circumstances, indeed, we might make a feint of surrendering our under- standings; but, in the very act of retractation, and in opposition to all tli9 forces of our will, we should feel compelled to say, with the poet, that — ' When Faith is virtue, Reason makes it so." i SUFFICIENCY OF THE SCRIPTURES. 177 SECT. III. -- HOLY WRIT SUFFICIENT, WITHOUT THE DICTA OP CHURCHES OR OF INDRIDUALS, TO BE A RULE OF FAITH AND COMMUNION. [Our] champions are the Prophets and Apostles; [Our] weapons, holy saws of Sacred Writ. SUAESPEARB ^ 1. Sufficiency of the Sacred Scriptures. Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation ; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be reqiiii-ed of any man, tLat it should be believed as an article of the faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. — Articles of the Church of England, Art. 6. AU spiods or councils, since the apostles' times, whether general or particukir, may err, and many have erred : therefore they are not to be made the rule of fiiith or practice, but to be used as an help in both. The Holy Scriptm-es of the Old and New Testament are the word of God, the only rule of faith and obedience. — Westminster Drtn'es: Confession of Faith, chap. xxxL 4; and Larger Catechism, Quest. 3. All Protestants agree that the Scripture is sufficient to salvation, and contains in it all things necessary to it. — Archbishop Laud : Conf with FisJier, p. 34 ; as quoted in Short and Safe Expedient. If ministers, or councils called general, do err and contradict the word of God, we must do our best to discern it ; and, discennng it, must desert their error rather than the truth of God. — Richard B.AXTER : Christian Directory, part L chap. iv. 10 ; in Practical Works, vol. ii. p. 554. No true Protestant considers him [Luther], or any of the Reformers, as either apostle or evangelist. It is a fundamental principle with such to call no man u])on the earth master; knowing that we have one Master, one only infalHble Teacher, in heaven, who is Christ. All human teachers are no further to be regarded, than they appear, to the best of our judgment, on impartial examination, to be his inter- preters, and to speak his words. The right of private judgment, in opposition to all human claims to a dictatorLil authority in matters of fiiith, is a j)oInt so essential to Protestantism, that, were it to be given up, there would be no possibility of eluding the worst reproaches with 178 " SUFFICIENCY OF THE SCRIPTURES. which the Romanist charges the Reformation ; namely, schism, sedi- tion, heresy, rebellion, and I know not what. But if our Lord, the gi-eat Author and Finisher of the faith, had ever meant that we should receive implicitly its articles from any human authority, he would never have so expressly prohibited our calHng any man upon the earth master, leader, or guide. — Dr. Geo. Campbell : Lectures on Ecclesiastical History, Lect. 28. We must not, if we would profit by the examples of Christ and his apostles, refer the people as a decisive authority, on the essential and immutable points of Cluistian faith and duty, to the declarations or decrees of any class or body of falHble men, — of any who have not sensibly mu*aculous proofs of inspiration to appeal to. Whether it be to a council or to a church that reference is made, — whether to ancient or to later Christian Aviiters, — whether to a great or to a small number of men, however learned, wise, and good, — in all cases the broad line of distinction between inspired and uninspired must never be lost sight of, ...... " When they shall say unto you, Lo, here ! or Lo, there ! believe it not." " If they shaU say. Behold ! he is in the secret chambers " (of some conclave or council of divines), " or. Behold ! he is in the wilderness " (inspiring some enthusiastic and disorderly pre- tender to a new light), " go not after them." Whether they fix on this or that particular church as the abode of such inspired authority ; or on the universal church, — which, again, is to be marked out either as consisting of the numerical majority, or the majority of those who lived within a certain (arbitrarily fixed) period, or a majority of the sound and orthodox behevers, i. e. of those in agreement with the per- sons who so designate them, — all these, in their var}ing opinions as to the seat of the supposed inspired authority, are alike in this, — that they are following no tnick marked out by Chiist or his apostles, but merely their own unauthorized conjectures. While one sets up a golden image in Bethel, and another in Dan, saying, " These be thy gods, O Israel ! " all are, in fact, " going astray after theu' o\a\ inven- tions," and " worshipping the work of their own hands." For, however vehemently any one may decry " the pride of intellect," and the pre- sumjjtion of exercising j^rivate judgment, it is plain that that man is setting u]), as the absolute and ultimate sUindard of divine truth, the opinions held by himself or his party, if these are to be the decisive test of what is orthodoxy, and oithodoxy again the test of the genuine church, and the church the authorit.itive oracle of gospel truth. And yet this slightly circuitous mode of setting up the decrees of fallible SUFFICIENCY OF THE SCRIPTUIIES. 179 man as the object of religious venei-ation and faith will often be found to succeed in deluding the unwary. — Arciihisiiop Whately : Essays on Dangers to Christian Faith, pp. 130-2, 138-40. "We know of no stiindurd but the Bible, — nothing that can serxe to show the truth of a religious tenet, except the infallible word of God. Councils may change ; Fathers of the church may be mistaken ; the Reformers were falhble ; and shall we who enjoy the benefit resulting from the hght and learning of past ages stand still where they stopped, or appeal to them as our guides, just because they attiined to eminence at a time when surrounding circumstances were uniavorable to the progress of truth ? We were not made to sleep over the Bible, or to stereotype those prmciples, ci\il and rehgious, which it is the glory of our forefathers to have transmitted to their posterity. "While rendering due respect to the Reformers, and honoring the men of past times who defended the gi'eat ti'uths lying at the foundation of Cliristian hope, we regard it as nothing less than Popery in principle — that very thing in essence which we profess to abhor — to call up the names of illustrious dead as the uifaUible expounders of the Bible, or to give our language the semblance of assuming, that to differ from current opinions is to disown Protestantism and to favor Romanism. When shall the various sections of the Protestant church learn fully, and act out with earnest honesty, the lesson of heaven, " Call no man your father upon the earth ; for one is your Father, wliich is in heaven " ? In some instances the Reformers were wrong ; in others they were but partially enhghtened. They vnrote not a few things that cannot be received. Their reasoning is often mconsequential, sometimes absurd ; and we should as reachly believe m the inspiration of the apocryphal books of the !Maccabees as adopt all their opinions with implicit faith. Verily the principle of Romanism is of far wider range and more extended influence than the church of Rome. The church of England, with all her excellence, has something of it. Nonconformists liave much of it. Its leaven may be seen quietly impregnating the minds of stereotyped Dissenters, in phases and forms innumerable. — Dr. Samuel Davidson : Introduction to the A'eiv Testament, vol. iii. pp. 512--13. Any use of a creed, or a constitution, or a church court, or a covmcil, tending to discountemxnce the free investigation of the Bible on any and every article whether of behef or of practice, or to shield any portion of the church against those changes to which she ever has been and still is constantly hable from the progressive advancement of 180 INEFFICACY OF CREEDS. Diblical knowledge, is a usurpation of the rights of God over the con- sciences and understandings of men. It is rehgious despotism mider whatever specious forms it may be exercised, and ^nth Avhatever semblance of earnest contention for the faith once delivered to the saints it may be advocated. — JSTew Englander for April, 1844 j vol ii. pp. 207-8. (j 2. Iihkfficacy and Pernicious Results of kequiking an Assent OR A Subscription to Creeds and Articles of Faith. Their urging of subscription [the urging of subscription by church governors] to their own articles, is but lacessert et irritare morhos ecdesifB, which otherwise would exercise and spend themselves. . . . He seeketh not unity, but di^ision, who exacteth that in words which men are content to yield in action. And it is true there are some which, as I am persuaded, will not easily offend by inconformity, who, not- withstanding, make some conscience to subscribe. — Lord Bacon : Jldvertisement concerning Controversies; in Works, vol. ii. p. 418. The requu'ing subscriptions to the Thirty-nine Articles is a great imposition. . . . The greater part [of those that serve in the chm-ch] subscribe without ever examining them ; and others do it because they must do it, though they can hardly satisfy their consciences about some thmgs in them. — BiSHOP BuRNET: History of His Oiim Time, vol. iv. p. 410. With respect to the doctrine of the Trinity, as explained by Atha- iiasius or any other man, I cannot look upon it to be so fundamental m religion as to think we should be guilty of sin, in consentmg to revise, or even to change it. If in this I diifer from some, I have otliers to support me; nay, I have the great principle of all the Protestant churches in the world in my favor ; for it is a principle with them all to admit the fallibility of all himian explications of Scripture. Every human explication, then, of the Trinity may be an erroneous explica- tion ; and what may be an error cannot and ought not to be 'juposed as a fundamental Christian verity. — BisnoP Watson : Expediency of Revising the Liturgy, p. 67 ; apud Christ. Reformer for June, IS.'iD. Subjects purely speculative should be left free. K some are so bold as to determine, — who hath a right so to do, in matters of whose nature, it is generally allowed, no one can have any intuition, percep- tion, or knowledge ? Who, then, will presume to Siiy positively wliat 4 man is or is not to believe ? To attempt an explanation of these INEPFICACY OF CREEDS. l81 things, or to make men imderstand them, is equally ridiculous as to bid tlie blind to see, or the deaf to hear. How necessary it is, therefore, to read tlie Scripture, that we might with cerUiinty know what we should believe, and might not be loaded with articles, which, if not altogether useless, are indifferent, and will not make us either the wiser or the better ! Oiu- time will be more properly employed in learning our duty, than in exercising a vain cviriosity alter mysteries. Bad actions are worse than erroneous opinions. The latter flow from a weak and mistaken judgment : the former proceed from a wicked and corrupt heai-t. The one Avill be forgiven ; the other, without repentance, never. .... Articles of faith should be few in number, and such as are appa- rently and absolutely necessary, so that to refuse assent to them wovdd be absurd. — James Pexx, B. A., Under-master of Christ's Hospital : Tracts, p. 13 ; apud .Manning's Vindicatian of Dissentf pp. 25-6. A long course of experience has clearly demonstrated the inefficacy of creeds and confessions to perpetuate religious behef. Of this the only iaithful depository is not that which is " written with ink," but on the " fleshly tables of the heart" The spirit of error is too subtile and volatile to be held by such chains. Whoever is acquainted with ecclesiastical history must know, that public creeds and confessions have occasioned more controversies than they have composed; and that, when they ceased to be the subject of dispute, they have become antiquated and obsolete. A vast majority of the Dissenters of the present day hold precisely the same rehgious tenets which the Puritans did two centmies ago, because it is the instruction they have miiformly received from their pastors ; and, for the same reason, the articles of the national chiurch are almost eflEiced from the minds of its members, because they have long been neglected or denied by the majority of those who occupy its pulpits. We have never heard of the chm-ch of Geneva altering its confession, but we know that Voltaire boasted there was not in his time a Calvinist in the city ; nor have we heard of any proposed amendment in the creed of the Scotch, yet it is cer- tain the doctrines of that creed are preached by a rapidly decreasing minority of the Scottish clergy. From these and similar facts, we may fairly conclude, that the doctrines of the church, with or without sub- scription, are sure to perpetuate themselves where they are faithfully preached ; but that the mere circumstance of their being subscribed will neither secure their being pleached nor beheved. — KoBiJiT Hall : Review of Zecd wilhoul Innovation ; in Works, vol. ii. pp. 261-2. 16 182 INEFFICACY OF CREEDS. Men may incorporate their doctrines in creeds or articles of faith, and sing them in hjTnns ; and this may be all both useful and edifjing, if the doctrine be true : but, in every question wiiich involves the eternal interests of man, the Holy Scriptures must be appealed to, in union with reason, their great commentator. He who fonns his creed or confession of faith without these, may believe any thing or nothing, as the cunning of others or his omti caprices may dictate. Human creeds and confessions of faith have been often put in the place of the Bible, to the disgrace both of revelation and reason. Let those go away, let these be retained, whatever the consequence. " Fiat justitia : mat coelum." — Dr. Adam Clarke : Commentary, vol. \i. last page. Who would not shrink from asserting, that a heathen of nrtuous life must without doubt perish everlastingly? Still more, who Ls there that in his heart pronoimces endless punishment on the earnest and conscientious man who lives in the faith and love of Christ, but yet is intellectually xmable to word his creed in the precise phraseo- logy adopted by the Athanasian formula ? ... It is a pubHc scandal, and very injurious to national morahty, that such emphatic words should be solemnly used in our churches, and yet accepted by no one ; for, though each man's conscience may be reheved by the consciousness that the dissent from the natural meaning is so universally miderstood as to deceive no one, the example of such vehement yet really dis- avowed assertion is grievously calculated to countenance the low morality which prevails regarding pubhc professions. . . . Scripture never intended to reveal to us the real and absolute essence of the divine nature : it could not be gi-asped by the human miderstanding. — JVorth British Review for August, 1852; Amer. edit. vol. xii. p. 205. The writer of the preceding paragraph, however, says that " nowhere is the cardinal doctrine of the Trinity expounded with greater felicity and greater power than in the Athanasian Creed." Might we not add, certainly not in the Sacred Scriptures? In respect to the original right of private judgment, — the right to call hi question any human symbols or confessions, and to bring them all to the simple test of God's holy word, — why shoidd it be thought, or even indirectly intimated, that it is presumption and wickedness for any individual now to question the con-ectness of some opiuioiis defended by Luther and MeLincthon, by Zuingle and Cahin, or by Turretin and Gomcr ? Are there no Cliristlans now who have as much knowledge of the Bible as these men ? Are there none who have as high a reference for it, as much sincere attachment to it? i INEFFICACY OF CREED3. 183 Is it not a matter of wonder, that, after so many experiments utterly unsuccessful, the churches should still continue to expect and demand the accomj)Hshment of that from creeds and councils, and from authority, which never can be brought about except by scriptural reason and argument ? Have the Thirty-nine Articles of the English church secured her uniform orthodoxy and evangelical spmt ? History, from the time of Archbishop Laud, will answer tliis question. Have the church of Scotland been made uniform in sentiment by their creed ? Look through its history for the last century, and any one may easily learn. Have the Presbyteriim churches in England and America been made uniform in their faith by reason of then* creed ? and are they still of one mind ? Alas ! we are almost forced to the conclusion that their dissensions have been mcreased by their s^inbols ; so much is surely ti'ue, \-iz., tliat, when dissensions have existed, they have been greatly aggravated by the very reason, that accusation for supposed departure from the standards has been rendered more intense and urgent, and has assumed more of the air of authority. . . . Reason, argument — rather I should say, the Scriptures urged by reason and argument — are the only ultimate means to be relied on, so fiir as means employed by men are concerned. — Moses Stuart, in Biblical Repository for July, 1S36; vol. viii. pp. 34, 67-8. Dogmatical propositions, such as are commonly woven into creeds and catechisms of doctrine, have not the certainty they are commonly supposed to have. They only give us the seeing of the authors at the precise stmdpoint occupied by them at the time, and they ai*e true only as seen from that point ; not even there, save in a proximate sense. ... In the original formation of any creed, catechism, or system of divinity, there is always a latent element of figui-e, which probably the authors know not of, but vNithout which it is neither true to them nor to anybody. But, in a long course of repetition, the figure dies out, and the formula settles into a literality, and then, if the repetition goes on, it is really an assent to what is not true ; for that which was true at the beginning has now become untrue, — and that, however paradoxical it may seem, by being assented to. . . . Considering the infirmities of Lmguage, therefore, all formularies of doctrine should be held in a certain spirit of accommodation. They cannot be pressed to the letter, for the very sufficient reason that the letter is never true. They can be regarded only as proximate rcprcsent;itions, and should therefore be accepted, not as Liws over belief or opinion, but more as badges of consent and good understanding. The moment we begin 184 INEFFICACT OF CREEDS. to speak of them as guards and tests of purity, we confess that vre have lost the sense of purity, and, with about equal certaint}', the vutue itself. . . . The greatest objection that I know to creeds — that is, to creeds of a theoretic or dogmatic character — is, that they make 80 many appearances of division, where there really is none till the appearances make it. They are likely also, unless some debate or controversy sharpens the mind to them and keeps them aHve, to die out of meaning, and be assented to at last as a mere jingle of words. Thus we have, in many of our orthodox formulas of Trinity, the plirase, " the same m substance ; " and yet how many are there, even of our theologians, to whom it will now seem a heresy to say this with a meaning ! And the clause following, " equal in power and glory," wiU be scarcely less supportable, when a view of Trinity is offered which gives the terms an earnest and real significance. — Dr. Horace BusHNELL : God in Christ, pp. 79-83. Though creeds are understood neither by their authors nor by any one else, and whatever was true in them originally becomes by repetition untrue, and though they are quite useless as guards and tests of purity of doctrine, Dr. BusHNELL says (p. 82) that he has been ready to accept as great a number of them as fell in his way. Creeds fabricated by priestly craft constitute the hea^iest and most corroding chain ever fastened on human minds. The inquirer after truth is drawn away from the words and example of the great Teacher, and confused by those who shout around him their own articles so violently, that the voice of the only infallible Master is nearly drowned. And what are these substitutes for the plain teachings of the New Testament but miserable skeletons, freezing abstractions, imintelligible dogmas, as dubious to the understanding as they are repugnant to the heart ? The confessions of faith, books of disciphne, and creed- concoctions, in general, adopted by most Protestant sects, embody the grand idea of infallibility, as truly as the decrees of Trent and the Vatican ; and, if I were compelled to choose between the two, most assuredly would I prefer the despotism of Rome ; for that has some historical dignity, if no other merit. — E. L. Magoox : Republican Christianity, pp. 242-3. So say all true Protestants, extracts from whom might occupy many volumes. But, alas ! how frequently amongst those who arrogate to them- selves exclusively the title of " Orthodox," are the decisions of fallible councils and erring individuals made the rule of Christian faith and com A REVISION OF COMMON VERSION OF THE BIBLE. 185 SECT. IV. — NEED OF REVISING THE AUTHORIZED \'ERSION OF THE BIBLE, AND CORRECTING IT FROM A PURE TEXT, The hold which the mistranslations of the authorized Tersion [of the Bible] have on the uiinJs of men gives to some ecclesiastical errors a tenacity of life almost Indestructible. — Ecleclic Review for June, 1841. Depend on it, no truth, no matter of fact fairly laid open, can ever subvert true religion. — Richard Bextley. Whenever it shall be thought proper to set forth the Holy Scrij>- tures, for the public use of our church, to better advantage than as they appear in the present English translation, the expediency of which grows every day more and more endent, a revision or correction of that translation may perhaps be more ad^isable than to attempt an entirely new one. For, as to the style and language, it admits but of little improvement ; but, in respect of the sense and the accuracy of inter- pretation, the improvements of which it is capable are great and num- berless. — Bishop Lowtti : Translation of Isaiah, Prel. Diss. p. li. A new translation of the Scriptm'es . . . lias long been devoutly wished by many of the best friends to religion and our established church, who, though not insensible of the merit of our present version in common use, and justly believing it to be equal to the very best that is now extant in any language, ancient or modem, sorrowfully confess that it is still far from being so perfect as it might and should be ; that it often represents the eiTors of a faulty original ^vith too exact a resemblance ; whilst, on the other hand, it has mistaken the true sense of the Hebrew in not a few places ; and sometimes substi- tuted an interpretation so obscure and perplexed, that it becomes almost impossible to make out with it any sense at all And, if this be the case, shall we not be soHcitous to obtain a remedy for such glaring imperfections? — Dr. Benjamin Blatn^ey: Translation of Jeremiah, Prel. Disc. p. ix. As this collation was made by some of the most distinguished scholars in the age of James the First, it is probable that our author- ized version is as faithful a representation of the original Scriptures as could have been formed at that period. But when we consider the immense accession which has been since made, botli to our criticid and to our pliilological apjxiratus ; when we consider that the whole mass of hterature, commencing with the London Pol}glot and continued to Griesbach's Greek Testament, was collected subsequently to tluit 16* 186 REVISION OF COMMON VERSION OF THE BIBLE. period ; when we consider that the most important sources of iiitelU- gence for the interpretation of the original Scriptures were like^\ise opened after that period, — we cannot possibly pretend, that our authorized version does not requke amendment. . . . Dr. Macknight goes so far as to say of our authorized version, " It is by no means such a just representation of the inspired origuials as merits to be impUcitly rehed on for determining the controverted articles of the Chiistian faith, and for quieting the dissensions which have rent the church." — Bishop Marsh: Lectures, pp. 295-6. The warmest advocate of our translation cannot pronounce it free from faults, but must acknowledge that there still are in it some wrong interpretations, which either contradict the sense of the origi- nal, or obscure it. And can there be any inconvenience or danger in proposing to correct such errors ? Would it not be conducive to the advancement of the gospel to remove, if possible, and under just authority, every material error from our publicly received version, for the sake of those who do not understand the original ? — BiSHOP Burgess: Tracts on the Divinity of Christ, pp. 241-2. [The common version of the Bible, undertaken by the orders of King James the First, and first pubHshed in the year 1611] is level to the understandhig of the cottager, and fit to meet the eye of the critic, the poet, and the philosopher. . . . No work has ever been so generally read, or more universally admired ; and such is its complete possession of the pubUc mind, that no translation differing materially from it can ever become acceptable in tliis country. ... It Avas [however] not made from corrected or critical texts of the originals, but from the Masoretic Hebrew text, and fi*om the common printed Greek text of the New Testament. Consequently, whatever imperfections belonged to the origimds at the time must be expected in the version. . . . That it is capable of improvement will generally be admitted, and that we are in possession of the means by which that improvement could be made is equally unquestionable, — Wm. Orme : BihliotJieca Bihlica, pp. 37-9. That the text called the textus receptiis, or received text, is far from supplying such a desideratum [as a new revision of the authorized version of the Bible] will be minil'est in considering its orighi and quality. That text is no other than the result of the various transcrip- tural errors, omissions, and additions, very partially and imperfectly corrected, M'hich have accrued to the primitive text, during the thou- Kind obsnure ages that hitervened between the age of the oldest REVISION OF COMMON" VEIISION OF THE BIBLE. 187 surviving manuscri])t and the invention of printing Every one who is very sensitive for the purity and integrity of the cvangeUcal records will feel it to be of the first iraport;ince that the English reader should at length be put in possession of the text of the Sacred Volume, purged from the heterogeneous incrustations which its surface has contracted daring its passage down the sti'eam of dark and turbid ages. ... It is imperative that we should at length secure and com- plete what Griesbach liad begun, by throwing altogether out of the text every thing apocryphal and spurious, and thus attain to a con- formity with primitive Christian antiquity. — GiLiNVlLLE Penn : Jlnnotaiions to tJie Book of the jVcw Covenant, pp. 18, 47-8. Respectable and excellent as our common version is, considering the time and circumst^mces under which it was made, no person will contend tlut it is incapable of importiuit amendment. A temperate, impartial, and careful revision would be an invaluable benefit to the cause of Christianity ; and the very laudable exertions wliich are now made to circulate the Bible render such a revision, at the present time, a matter of still more pressing necessity. It is a failing of the same kind, when the text of the common Hebrew and Greek editions is adduced as indubitably and in every case the di\ine original, without any previous consideration or inquiry. . . . Every Christian who is moderately informed on tliese subjects knows, that the early editions of the original Scriptures could not possess a text so well ascertained as those wiiich the superior means and the dihgent industry of modern editors have been enabled to attain ; that from these early editions all the estabhshed Protestant versions were made ; and that an accurate and impartial criticism of the pubHshed text, as well as of any transla- tion, must He at the foundation of all satisfactory deduction of theo- logical doctrine from the words of Scripture. — Dii. John Pye Smith : Scripture Testimony to the .Messiah, pp. If 9-41. These exti-acts, which might easily have been increased by quotations from Dr. David Dukeli^, Dr. John Svmonds, Dr. George Campbell, Archbishop Xewcome, S. T. Coleridge, Dr. Tuumas Arnold, and many others, are given cliietly for tiie purpose of showing, tliut the dissatisfaction with the received text and coraraou version of the Scriptures, so often mani- fested by Unitarians, does not involve any irreverence for the word of God; a species of impiety with which tliey have been often charged. Indeed, none are more accustomed than learned and devout Trinitarians to change the translation of certain passages in the Bible, notwithstanding the supersti- tious reverence paid by others to the authorized version 188 REVELATION, BUT NOT THE BIBLE, INFALLIBLE. SJlCT. V. — THE SACRED BOOKS NOT INSPIRED RECORDS, BUT RECORDS OF REVELATION. The law by Moses came ; But peace and truth and love Were brought by Christ, a nobler name, Descending from above. Isaac "Watts. § 1. TuE Dogma of the Verbal or the Plenary Inspiration op THE Bible not Supported by Evidence. If any man is of opinion, that Moses might write the history of those actions which he himself did or was present at, ^^ithout an immediate revelation of them ; or that Solomon, by ins natm-al and acquired wisdom, might speak those wise sayings which are in liis Proverbs ; or the evangelists might write what they heard and saw, or what they had good assurance of from others, as St. Luke tells he did; or that St. Paul might write for his cloak and parchments at Troas, and salute by name his friends and brethren ; or that he might advise Timothy to drink a Httle whie, &c., without the immediate dic- tate of the Spirit of God, — he seems to have reason on his side. For that men may, without an immediate revelation, \mte those things which they think without a revelation, seems very plain. And that they did so, there is this probable argument for it ; because we find that the evangehsts, in relating the discom-ses of Christ, are very iar from agreeing in the particular expressions and words, though they do agree in the substance of the discourses : but, if the words had been dictated by the Spirit of God, they must have agreed in them. For when St. Luke differs from St Matthew in relating what our Saviour said, it is impossible that they should both relate it right as to the very words and form of expression ; but they both relate tlie substance of what he said. And, il' it had been of concernment that every thing that they wrote should be dictated ad apicem, to a tittle, by the Spirit of God, it is of the same concernment still, that the j)rovidence of God should have secured the Scriptures since to a tittle from the least alteration ; which that it is not done, appears by the A'arious readings both of the Old and New Testament, concerning which no man am inialHbly say tliat this is right, and not the other. It seems sutiicient in this matter to assert, tliat tlie Spirit of God did reveal to tlie pen« REVELATION, BUT NOT TUE BIBLE, INFALLIBLE. 189 men of the Scriptures what was necessary to be revealed ; an 1, as to all other things, th:it he did superintend them in the writing of it, so far as to secure them from any material error or mistike in what they have delivered. — Akchbishop Tillotson : Sernw7i 2*22 j in Iforlis, voL xi. pp. I80-6. In the selection of their arguments, Jesus and the apostles could not at all times confine themselves to those truths which were most connncing to themselves and other really enlightened men ; but they were also under the necessity of employhig such reasonuigs as carried most Meight with their contemponiries, and certain of their hearers or reiiders. . . . Hence it is that many of those arguments wliich the founders of Cluistianity made use of are not perfectly convincing to us; as, for example. Matt. xxii. 30-32. 2 Cor. iii. 7. 1 Cor. xi. 4-10. Heb. V. — L\. ; which contain many arguments of this nature, which were adapted only to the modes of thinking of the Jews. Jesus and tlie apostles adapted themselves to the modes of thinking chiefly of the Jews, in their citations and appHcations of passages of the Old Testament, when propomiding certain truths of the gospel. This is designated the special accommodation of passages in the Old Testa- ment to the expression of the truths and olyects of the New. . . . Thus Jesus apphed what had been said by David of Ahithophel to Judas Iscariot, John xiii. 18. In this mamier, in Matt. iL 15-18, are several passages of Scripture apphed to Jesus and his histor}' As the four evangehsts narrate every thing either as they saw and heard it themselves, or as they obtained it from crechble eye-^^itnesses ; but as ever)^ individual regards an object from his o\n\ standing point; so in these narrations they very often vary from one another, so as, however, to coincide in the main. As to what especially relates to the contradictions which exist between passages of the Old Testament, when it is taken into consideration that the Bible consists of a collec- tion of books, written at various times through a course of many centuries, some of them composed at the earhest periods of the existence of the human race, and all continually transcribed by later copyists, and frequently corrupted in many passages by the hands of correctors, it could scarcely fail to contiin contradictions. . . . The rehgious notions of the primitive race of mankind were universiiUy sensuous and imperfect. They became gradually more i)ure and perfect. Tliis perfectibility of subjective religion was progressively developed until the time of Christ, \^'hen, in the coiu-se of time, Q\en had attained clearer and more correct \-iews of divine tilings. 190 RETELATIOX. BUT NOT THE BIBLE, INFALLIBLE. contradictions must naturally have taken place between men's pieseni and past religious notions. For instance, in the books of Moses, unclean animals are forbidden to be eaten. A voice proclaims to Peter, " Eat of ihf^se unclean annuals," Acts x A romid number is often put for a more definite one. Matt. xxii. 1, Jesus took with him his three disciples up the momitain six days after the prediction of his sufferings ; but, according to Luke, it hajjpened eight days after (ix. 28) : it amounts to one and the same thing. A writer is some- times accustomed to ascribe to several indinduals what took place with respect to but one of them. Thus the tliieves on the cross, according to Matthew, reviled Jesus ; but, according to Luke, it was only one. The sacred history must be judged of according to the genius of those times. It must be recollected, that their authors were not men of learning ; that they were but human beings, and might therefore err ; and that it did not seem fit to Divine Wisdom to pre- serve them by an extraordinary influence from harmless errors in matters of secondary importance. . . . Luke and Mark were not pre- sent to hear and see all that Jesus said or did. They therefore narrate what they had received from eye-mtnesses, or had read in other histories of the life of Jesus then extant. When they subse- quently WTOte these down from memory only, this might have easily given rise to a difference in the nai-rations. — George Fredeeic Seiler : Biblical Henneneutics, translated by Dr. William Wright, ^ 267-8, 302, 323, 325-6. We have made this large extract from Dr. Seiler, because, though a Gennan, he was so good a mau and so orthodox a divine as to receive the highest encomiums of his translator and of Dr. John Pye Smith. These writers say, that his theological publication?, one of which was a work on the Deity of Christ, " are distinguished by their candid and luminous method of examining evidence and discussing ditficulties, by their spirit of practical piety, and by their tendency to show the harmony which ever subsists between the highest exertions of reason in all the improvements of science and literature, and the pure religion of the Bible." See IMemoir of Seiler, prefixed to Dr. Wright's translation of " Biblical llcrnieneutics." With a full persuasion of soul respecting all the articles of the Christian faith, ... I receive wilhngly also the truth of the liistory ; namely, that the word of the Lord did come to Samuel, to Isiiiah, to others; and that the words which gave uttcmnce to the same are faithfully recorded. But ihoiigli the orighi of the words, e\en as of the mimculous acts, be supcrr.atural ; yet, the former once uttered, the RETELATION, BUT NOT THE BIBLE, INFALLIBLE. I9i latter once ha'S'ing taken their place among the phenomena of the senses, the faithful recording of the same does not of itself imply, or seem to requii-e, any supeniatmxil working, other than as all truth and goodness are such. ... I believe the writer in whatever he himself relates of liis own authority, and of its origin ; but I cannot find any such claim, as the doctrine in question [that all that exists in the Sacred Volume was dictated by an inlhllible Intelligence] supposes, made by these writers, explicitly or by implication. On the contrarj', they refer to other documents, and in all points express themselves as sober-minded and veracious ^^Titers under ordinai-y circumstances are kno\ni to do Say tliat the Book of Job throughout was dictated by an mfallible Intel- ligence. Then reperuse the book, and still, as you proceed, try to apply the tenet : try if you can even attach any sense or semblance of meaning to the speeches which }ou are reading. What! were the hollow tiniisms, the unsufficing half-truths, the false assumptions, and malignant insinuations of the supercilious bigots who corruptly de- fended the truth ; — were the impressive fiicts, the piercing outcries, the pathetic appeals, and the close and powerful reasoning with which the poor sufferer — smarting at once from his wounds, and from the oil of vitriol which the orthodox liars for God were dropping into them — impatiently, but uprightly and holily, controverted this truth, while in will and in spirit he clung to it ; — were both dictated by an infallible Intelligence? Alas! if I may judge from the manner in which both indiscriminately are recited, quoted, appealed to, preached upon, by the routiniers of desk and pulpit, I cannot doubt that they think so, or rather, without thinking, take for granted that so they are to think, All the miracles which the legends of monk or rabbi contain can scarcely be f)ut in competition, on the score of compKca- tion, inexplicableness, the absence of all intelligible use or purpose, and of circuitous sell-frustration, with those that must be assumed by the maintainers of tliis doctrine, in order to give effect to the series of miracles by which all the nominal composers of the Hebrew nation before the time of Ezra, of whom there are any remains, were succes- sively transformed into automaton comjjositors, so that the original text *?hould be in sentiment, image, word, syntax, and composition, an exact impression of the di\"ine copy ! — S. T. Coleridge : Confessions of an Inquiriyig Spirit ; in Works, vol v. pp. 583-4, o93-4, 612. We loiow that the Catholics look with as great horror on the con- sequences of denying the infallibility of the church as you [the llev. John Tucker] can do on those of denjing the entire inspiration of the 192 REVELATION, BUT NOT THE BIBLE, INFALLIBLE. Scriptures ; and that, to come nearer to the point, the inspiration of the Scriptures in points of physical science was once insisted on as stoutly as it is now maintained with regard to history. It is strange to see how much of ancient history consists apparently of patches put together from various quarters vdthout any redaction. Is not this largely the case in the Books of Samuel, Kings, and Chroni- cles ? For instance, are not chap. xxiv. and xxvi. of 1 Samuel merely different versions of the same event, just as we have two accounts of the creation in the early chapters of Genesis ? And must not chap- ters xvi. and x\n. of the same book be also from different sources, the account of IJavid in the one being quite inconsistent -v^ith tliat in the other? So, agam, in 2 Chi'on. xi. 20 and xiii. 2, there is a decided difference in the parentage of Abijah's mother, which is cmious on any supposition I have long thought tliat the greater part of the Book of Daniel is most certainly a very late work, of the time of the Maccabees ; and the pretended prophecy about the Kings of Gre- cia and Persia, and of the North and South, is mere history, like the poetical prophecies in Virgil and elsewhere. Li fact, you can trace distinctly the date when it was written, because the events up to the date are given with historical minuteness, totally unlike the character of real prophecy ; and, beyond that date, all is imaginar}'. — Dr. Thos. Arnold: Letters 20, 111, 222 j in Life and Correspondence^ pp. 69, 255, 358. In his " Tracts for the Times " (Miscellaneous Works, pp. 285-6), Dr. Arnold, after stating his belief in the inspiration of the Scriptures, says that it is an unwarranted interpretation of the term ''inspiration " to suppose it equivalent to a communication of the divine perfections; that many of our words and actions are spoken and done by the inspiration of God's Spirit; that all inspiration does not destroy the human and fallible part in the nature which it inspires; and that, though no merely human being ever enjoyed a larger share of the Spirit of God than Paul, yet did he err in expecting, and in leading the Corinthians and Thessaloniaiis to expect, the end of the world in the generation then existing. We liave reason, from the whole tenor of Scripture, to believe that it is not the will of God to effect any end by a miracle which could be as well effected by the estabhshed course and methods of his pro^•i- dence. Hence I inter, that the kind or degree of inspiration would be according to the luiture of the object ; revelation and the highest suggestion, where they Avere necessary; but, where they were not necessary, tint superintendence and dii'ection oi" divine power ipon REVELATION, BUT NOT THE BIBLE, INFALLIBLE. 193 the mind, which ■were sufficient for the purpose There are many i)ass.iges m Scripture to wliich an original inspiration could not be attached. ... In Jeremiah, Jonah, and Ilabakkuk, inspired prophets, we tuid occasionally the utterance of suilul infirmity j such as, in refer- ence to llab. i. 2, 3, the late Mr. Milner calls a " blamable mixture of impatience and unbelief." {^Sermons, ed. by Dean M. p. 277.) ... . The three friends of Job, and sometimes Job himself, advance many positions wliich are not true in principle, nor right in practice, still less mspired. . . . Will any considerate person say that Job's mistiiken friends were inspired, when God himseh' declared to them, " Ye have not spoken concerning me what is right " ? or that the holy patriarch himself was inspired, when he execrated the day of his birth? .... In relations of fact, veracity and accuracy are all that we want What possessed these quiiHties, though the knowledge of it might be derived from any of the common soui'ces of information, would be not less true than that which was uilused by the immediate operation of the Holy Spirit. — Dr. John Pye Smith : Scripture Testimony to tfie Messiah, vol. i. pp. 25, 27-9. In pp. 22-3, this powerful opponent of Uuitarianisra proposes the follow- ing translation of 2 Tim. iii. 16, " Every writing divinely inspired (is) also profitable for instruction," &c., and defends it by the authority of Calvin, Beza, Diouati, J. D. MiCHAELis, De Wette, and Boothkoyd; of the oldest versions, and also of the Geneva English and the Dutch. In pp. 34-8, he assigns his reasons for believing that the Song of Solomon was not a divinely inspired composition, and had no relation to any of the facts or doctrines of either the Israelitish or the Christian economy. In p. 59, he very properly says, that " that which is evinced to be true, whatever may be the channel through which it has entered our minds, we are bound by our relation to the system of God's moral government to believe; " and that " those well-meaning persons who think that they have proved the divine inspiration of a particular sentence (such as 1 Tim. v. 23, or 2 Tim. iv. 13), because their pious fertility has been able to educe a great number of important religious reflections from the advice, the request, the motives, or the implied circumstances, in the case, are committing an egregious folly." In p. 60, he admits that " in the Gospels the same fact or discourse is often related with diflerences, which, if a. rigorous verbal contbrmity were insisted upon, would be irreconcilable, but which can create no ditficulty if only the fair sense and meaning be regarded," And, in p. 62, he confesses, " that, after long and serious examination, this hypothesis of a universal verbal inspiration does appear" to him "to be clogged with innumerable ditficul- ties, and to be by no means required by the facts of the case and the state- ments of the divine word." In support of his opinion, Dr. Smith qnotea the sentiments advanced by man\- eniiueut divines. 17 194 REVELATION, BUT NOT THE BIBLE, INFALLIBLE. Nor again is there any reason to suppose that any of the apostles was in such a sense infallible as that he could not teach false doctrine. They were, indeed, so guided by the Spirit as to have the truth clearly revealed to them, so that they always knew it themselves ; but it does not appear that they were compelled always to speak the truth. Their infaUibiht}^ does not seem to have been like that which Roman Catho- lics ascribe to their popes, whose decisions they are ready to follow, even when they know them to be personally the worst of men, and perhaps infidels in their hearts. The apostles Peter and Barnabas, for example, were, in one instance, induced by false shame to dissemble the truth which had been revealed to them, and, by the weight of their example, to di-aw others also into the same fault. Gal. ii. 11-13. Paul, too, expressly tells the Galati.ans, that, if he himself were to preach any other gospel to them than that wliich they had already received, they should not listen to liim ; so that, even in the case of the apostles, men were bound to exercise their own judgments, and not requu-ed bHndly to receive every thing they said; but, when they spoke as witnesses, to consider the proofs of their integrity ; when they reasoned, to examine their reasoning ; when they published revelations, to weigh well the miraculous evidence of God's speaking in them. — Arch- bishop' Whately : Cautions for the Tinuts, pp. 1 1 1-12. The greater part of wliat the apostles "\M*ote Avas, doubtless, entii'ely the suggestion of their own minds, and, properly speaking, uninspii-ed. Its authority is not at all diminished by this cu-cumstance, if we grant (what it would be absurd to doubt) that every MTong suggestion must have been checked by the impulse of the Sj^uit, every deficiency supplied by actual revelation, and every failure or fault of memory miraculously remedied. The revelation was miraculous ; but it v/as recorded just as any man would record any ordinary information which might be the result of reasoning or of report. The Bible is the only book in the world which appeals to God for its authority, without affecting or pretending to the immediate authorship of God The true notion of inspiration is not that the sacred penman was ins])ired while in the act of ■smting, but that he wrote what he had beforehand received Ijy extraordinary revelation. It would be impos- sible else to account for the variety of style and tliought, the occasional introduction of matter foreign to revelation, and whatever else belongs to such writings in common with all mere human compositions. — Dr. Samuel Hinds, Bishop of Norwich : Historij of Christianity, pp. 190, 284-5. REYELATION, BUT NOT THE BIBLE, INFALLIBLE. 195 Having perused with great attention all that has follcn in my way from Protestant writers on tliis subject [the inspu-ation of the Scrip- tures], I have hardly found one single argument advanced by them tkit is not logically incorrect ; so that, if I had not higher grounds on wliich to rest my behef, they could not have led me to adopt it. . . . It is not lair to consider the Sacred Volume ... as forming an indi- ddiul whole. Many of its books stand necessarily on different grounds from the rest. For instance, learned Protestant divines, especially on the continent, have excluded from inspiration the writings of St, Lulce and St, Mark, for this reason, that, according to them, the only argu- ment for inspiration m the Scriptiu*es is the promise of diAine assistance given to the apostles. But these were not apostles ; they were not present at the promise ; and, if you extend that privilege beyond those who were present, and to whom the promises were personally addressed, the nde Anil have no fiirther Hmit. If you admit disciples to have partaken of the pri^•ilege, on what ground is Barnabas excluded, and why is not his Epistle held canonical ? . . . Nowhere does our Saviour tell his apostles, that whatever they may write shall enjoy this privilege [of inspu-ation] ; nor do they an}-where claim it. . . .^^^hat mternal mark of mspiration can we discover in the third Epistle of St. John to show, that the inspiration sometimes accorded must have been giunted here ? Is there any thing in that Epistle which a good and \-irtuous pastor of the piimitive ages might not have written ; any tiling superior in sen- timent or doctrine to what an Ignatius or a Polycarp might have indited ? It is unfair in the extreme, as I before intimated, to consider the New Testament, and still more the entire Bible, as a whole, and use internal arguments from one book to another ; to prove that the Song of Solomon has internal endence of inspu-ation, because Jere- miah, who is in the same volume, contauis true prophecies ; or that the Epistle to Philemon is necessarily inspired, because the Apocalypse, by its side, is a revelation. Yet such is a common way of arguing. If uitemal e%idence has to decide the question, show it me for each book in that sacred collection. ... As such conversions [those spoken of by the liev. Mr. Tottingham, an opponent of the Roman CathoHc belief] do not prove the preacher's sermon to be inspired, but only the doc- trines which he teaches to be good, and, ii" you i)lease, divine; so neither can a similar fact prove the Bible inspired, but merely its doctrines to be holy and salutary. The " Imitation of Christ " may be thus proved to be an inspired work. ... His [Mr. Tottingham's] second proof is the prophecies recorded in Scripture. These may, 196 REVELATION, BUT NOT THE BIBLE, INFALLIBLE. indeed, prove any book to be inspired which is composed of them, but not, surely, any wherein they are merely recorded. . . . Show me where St. Matthew or St. Mark says that they have written their books under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, or by the command of God, or for any other than human purposes. Unless you can show this, the e^adence as to their character may prove that whatever they wrote is true ; but it will never prove that it was written under the guidance of the Holy Ghost. Precisely of a similar form is his arg;u- ment drawn from prophecy. It is never attempted to show how the prophecies recorded in the New Testament were intended to prove the inspiration of the books which contain them ; how, for instance, the truth of our blessed Redeemer's prophecy touching the destruction of Jerusalem can demonstrate that the Gospel of St. Matthew^ must be inspired, because it relates it. — Cardinal Wiseman : Lectures on the Doctrines of the Catholic Church, pp. 31-6. I . . . shall attempt to wrench tliis notion of a verbal inspiration from the hands of its champions by a reductio ad ahsurdum, viz., by showing the monstrous consequences to which it leads. ... Of what use is it to a German, to a Swiss, or to a Scotsman, that, three thou- sand years before the Reformation, the author of the Pentateuch was kept from erring by a di-vine restraint over his words, if the authors of this Reformation — Luther, sujDpose, Zwingle, John Eoiox — either making translations themselves, or reljing upon translations made by others under no such verbal restraint, have been left free to bias his mind, pretty nearly as much as if the original Hebrew ^mter had been resigned to his own human discretion ? . . . The great ideas of the Bible protect themselves. The heavenly truths, by their ovn\ im- perishableness, defeat the mortality of languages with which for a moment they are associated. Is the hghtning enfeebled or dimmed, because for thousands of years it has blended with the tarnish of earth and the steams of earthly graves ? Or light, which so long Lis tra- velled in the chambers of our sickly air, and searched the haunts of impurity, — is that less pure than it was in the first chapter of Gene- sis? Or that more holy light of truth, — the truth, suppose, written from his creation upon the tiblets of man's heart, — whicli truth never was imprisoned in any Hebrew or Greek, but has ranged for ever tlu-ough courts and camps, deserts and cities, the original lesson of justice to man and piety to God, — has that become tiiinted by inter- course with flesh ? or has it become hard to decipher, because the very heart, that hum;in heart where it is iiiscribed, is so often blotted with REVELATION, BUT NOT THE BIBLE, INFALLIBLE 197 falsehoods ? Li neutral points, having no relation to morals or religious philosophy, it is not concealed by the scriptui'al records themselves, that even inspired persons made grave mistakes. All the apostles, it is probable, or with the single exception of St. John, shared in the mistake about the second coming of Christ, as an event immediately to be looked for. With respect to diseases, again, it is evident tliat the apostles, in common with aU Jews, were habitually disposed to read in them distinct manifestations of heavenly wrath. — Thomas De Quincey: Theological Essays, vol. i. pp. 77-8, 80-1, 87, and 175. In pp. 94-6, Mr. De Quincey shows that a divine teacher or a sacred writer could not avoid the use of phraseology involving scientific errors, without frustrating the objects of his mission, which was to teach, not science, but religion; and says that this " line of argument applies to all the compliances of Christ with the Jewish prejudices (partly imported from the Euphrates) as to demonology, witchcraft, &c." One thing is clear from this, and many other lilve passages, \iz., that the apostles were not uniformly and always guided in all their thoughts, desu'es, and purposes, by an infalHble Spirit of inspiration. Had this been the case, how could Paul have often pm*posed tliat which never came to pass ? Those who plead for such a uniform per- suasion may seem to be zealous for the honor of the apostles and founders of Christianity ; but they do in fact cherish a mistaken zeaL For if we once admit that the apostles were uniformly inspu-ed in all which they purposed, said, or did ; then we are constrained, of course, to admit that men acting under the influence of inspiration may pur- pose that which wiU never come to pass or be done ; may say that which is hasty or incon-ect. Acts xxiii. 3, or do that wliich the gospel disapproves, GaL ii. 13, 14. But if this be once fully admitted, then it would make nothing for the credit due to any man to affirm that he is inspired ; for what is that inspiration to be accounted of, which, even during its contmuance, does not guard the subject of it from mistake or error ? Consequently, those who maintain the uniform inspiration of the apostles, and yet admit (as they are compelled to do) their errors in purpose, word, and action, do in effect obscure the glory of inspiration, by reducing inspired and uninspii-ed men to the same level To my ovm mind, nothing appears more certain than that inspiration, in any respect whatever, was not abiding and unilbrm with the .apostles or any of the primitive Christkms. To God's only and well-beloved Son, and to him only, was it given to have the Spirit a/ierpwf or ov Ik 11* 198 REVELATION, BUT NOT THE BIBLE, INFALLIBLE. fiirpov [" not by measure "], John iii. 34. . . . The consequence of this ■was, that Jesus " knew no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth ; " but all his followers, whenever they were left ^^ithout the special and miraculous guidance of the Spu'it, committed more or less of sin and error. This \iew of the subject frees it from miany and most formid- able difficulties. It assigns to the Sa\iour the pre-eminence Avhich is justly due. It accounts for the mistakes and en-ors of his apostles. At the same time, it does not detract, in the least degree, fr-om the certainty and vaHdity of the sayings and doings of the apostles, when they were under the special influence of the Spiiit of God. — ]\Ioses Stuart on Rom. i. 13 ; in Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, pp. 55-6. AVe cannot admit the force of the reasoning [of M. Gaussen, of the Oratoire] that would exalt all the wiitings of the Old and New Testament to prophetic dignity ; . . . and still less can we sympathize with the rigid uniformity with which he carries out, in little hai-mony as it seems to us with his o^vn \ie\\s of indinduahty, the theory of ah initio dictation in the case of every sacred writer without excep- tion. — JVorth British Review for Kovemher, 1852 ; Amer. edition, voL xiii. pp. 99, 100. The author of the article from which we make this extract opposes both that view of inspiration which would resolve it, with the naturalistic school, into elevated genius; and the older opinion of some supernaturalists, which would make all the wTiters of the Bible, not only in their ideas but in their style, mere amanuenses of the Holy Spirit. Contrary also to Schleiekma- CHER, CoLEKiDGE, Neander, and Tholuck, who, in common with a great majority of Unitarians, believe in a partial inspiration of the Sacred Writ- higs, he regards all these as being plenarily inspired or infallible, though he candidly admits (p. 97) that "a discordant aspect" has been given "to some parts of the Scripture " from " the neglect of chronological details, and many other circumstances; " " leaving the believer in plenary inspiration in doubt and perplexity." The difficulties [which the Bible offers] never \A\\ be all resolved ; and, even if they were so, they would but give place to fresh ones When we look closely into this matter, we shall find . . . that the per- sonal feeling of the writers [of the Old and New Testimicnt canons] is the same ; that their individuahty has the same scope, and produces the same effects ; that the influence of cfrcumstances on tlieir mti tings is the samjc ; and that all — various readings, incorrect translations, the use of various sources of information, documentary and otherwise, varieties of style, faults in grammai*, trifling details, confessions of A REVELATION, BUT NOT THE BIBLE, INFALLIBLE. 199 weakness, ignorance, and sin, apparent contradictions and errors, loss of the authors' names, absence of any formal sanction to the canon, — all, in short, which Ave meet with in the aise of the one canon is to be found also in that of the other "With the exception of those cases in which they transmit to us some matter of direct revelation, . . , the prophets and apostles alike WTite under the impulse of their oaati peculiar feehngs. The prophets who A\Tote the history of the kings of Judah and Israel had no more thought of producing oracles of God than had Mark or Luke in AVTiting the liistory of Jesus Christ. — CoL'NT Agenor Gasparin : The Schools of Doubt and the School of Faith, pp. 212,287-8,297. Let not the reader, if unacquainted with the aim of Count Gasparin, suppose, from the extracts we have m:ide from him, that he founds his beUef in revelation on the trustworthiness of the writers of the Bible, or on the- divinity of the principles which they inculcate or record. The object of his work, on the contrary, is to establisli the dogma of the plenary inspiration of all parts of Scripture; the absolute infallibiUty of all the books admitted into the Protestant canon; the perfect equality of a canonical book of Moses, of David, of Solomon, or of an apostle, to the words even of Jesus Christ himself (pp. 194, 198). But if there be in the Bible so much of difficulty, error, weakness, apparent contradiction, &c., as he represents, — whatever may be the causes from which this originates, — we may be permitted to ask what conceivable value to faith is attributed in the theory of inspiration and infallibility for which he so eloquently contends. § 2. The Denial of Verbal or of Plexary Inspiration not a Denlvl of Revelation. It is not of necessity to salvation to believe every book or verse in Scripture to be canonical, or Amtten by the Sphit of God. For as the Papists' canon is larger than that which the Prot€stants oAvn ; so, if our canon should prove defective of any one book, it would not follow that we could not be saved for want of a sufficient faith. The churches immediately after the apostles' time had not each one all their ^mtings ; but they were brought together in time, and received bv degrees, as they had proof of their being written by authorized, inspired persons. ... A man may be saved who believeth not some books of Scripture (as Jude, 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Revelations) to be canonical, or the -word of God ; so he heartily beheve the rest, or the essentials. .' Though all Scripture be of di\ine authority, yet he that beheveth but some one book which containeth the substance of the doctrine of salvation may be saved ; much more they that ha^e 200 DENIAL OF TUE INFALLIBILITY OF THE BIBLE dcRibted but of some particular books. They that take the Scripture to be but the writings of godly, honest men, and so to be only a means of maldng known Christ, having a gradual precedency to the WTitings of other godly men, and do believe in Christ upon those strong grounds wliich are drawn from his doctrine, miracles, Sec, rather than upon the testimony of the writing, as being pm-ely infal- lible and di\'ine, may yet have a divine and saving faith. Much more those that believe the whole wTiting to be of di\ine inspii^ation where it handleth the substance, but doubt whether God infallibly guide them in every circumstance. — Hichard B.\xter : Christian Direo tory, and The Saint's Rest; in Practical Works, vol. v. pp. 523, 561 ; and vol. xxii. p. 264. Since the Jews had, at the time of the writing of the New Testa- ment, a peculiar way of expounding many prophecies and passages in the Old Testament, it was a very proper way to conAince them, to allege many places according to their key and methods of exposition. Therefore, when divine writers argue upon any point, we are always bound to beheve the conclusions that their reasonings end in, as parts of divine revelation ; but we are not bound to be able to make out, or even to assent to, all the premises made use of by them in their whole extent, imless it appears plainly that they affirm the premises a3 expressly as they do the conclusions proved by them. — Bishop Burnet : Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles, Art. 6, pp. 112-13. K the four evangelists were not rendered infaUible by the imme- diate intervention of the Deity, it is hardly possible that their accounts should be wholly free from error, and therefore in no case contradic- tory to each other. But even if it be true that their accounts are sometimes at variance, it by no means follows, that tlie history itself, the miracles and the resurrection of Christ, ai*e a forgeiy; and the only inference which we can deduce from it, is that the evangelists were not inspired, at least not in the relation of historical facts. . . . To speak the truth, I do not beheve that the evangelists were divinely inspu-ed in matters of history. — J. D. MlCHAELis : Introduction to the JVew Testament, vol. iii. part i. pp. 26-7. He who acquires knowledge, not by tlie use of any natural fiiculty, neither by immediate perception, nor by reasoning, nor by instruction, but in some inexphcable, miraculous manner, is inspii-ed. He who sets down in writing the knowledge so obtiiined composes an inspired work. There appears to be no iutelhgible distinction between original revelation and inspu-ation ; and yet men seem to have entertained NOT A DENIAL OF REVELATION. 201 an obscure notion of something more : otherAnse they could not have been perplexed with so many difficulties concerning the accuracy and perfection of the Scriptures. They contain some few passages which api^ear to have no relation to religion, and many facts which the writers cert;iinly knew in the ordinary way. Nor does there seem any reason to expect marks of the interposition of Heaven in such matters. The great truths impressed on their minds neither obhterated their former knowledge, nor made it perfect. When they speali, for instance, of a Roman custom or a Jewish tradition, we are not to imagine that these things were revealed from above, nor to require greater accm*acy in their accounts of them than in other writers who treat of the affairs of their own age and their own country. "When they relate the won- derful events which they had seen and heard, it ^vill be no objection to their credit as human witnesses, that we find in their several histo- ries of the same fact such a variety of circumstances or of method as always occurs in other the most exact narrations. Difficulties of this kind could never have arisen, or must have been easily removed, had either the impugners or defenders of the Sacred Writings formed precise ideas of the natm-e of inspu'ation, and attended to its use. This was not to teach men history or philosophy ; not to instruct them in the arts of composition, or the ornaments of human learnmg; but to make them miderstand and believe the religion of Jesus. — Dr. William Samuel Powell: Discourses, No. 11. pp. 41-2. The views of inspiration so clearly presented by Dr. Powkll seem in the main to be those generally adopted by Unitarians. In his fifteenth Dis- course, he enters more at large on the subject, particularly in its bearing on the Epistles of Paul; — shows that the great apostle had received the doc- trines of Christianity from Christ himself, but that his natural faculties and his education enabled him to retain the knowledge he had acquired, and to impart it to others in a style forcible, but " abounding with broken sentences, bold figures, and hard, far-fetched metaphors;" — observes, that, though it were possible to prove the Scriptures to have been dictated verbally by the Holy Spirit, " it does not appear that any important conclusions would be deducible from it;" and closes the discussion with a remark, the justness of which will, we think, be admitted by all true Protestants, — that " that which" in the Scriptures " is important is also clear; " and " tliat, whatever may be thought of the coloring, the substance of these writings was from heaven." If we once admit the fallibiUty of the apostolic judgment, where ore we to stop, or in wliat can we rely upon it ? To which question, ... as arguing for the substantial truth of the Christian histor)-, and 202 DENIAL OF THE INFALLIBILITY OF TIIE BIBLE for that alone, it is competent to the advocate of Chiistianity to reply, " Give me the apostles' testimony, and I do not stand in need of their judgment; give me the facts, and I have complete security for every conclusion I want." . . . The two folloA\ing cautions . . . will exclude all uncertainty upon this head which can be attended vdth. danger : First, To separate what was the object of the apostolic mission, and declared by them to be so, from what was extraneous to it, or only incidentally comiectcd \\ith it. . . . Secondly, That, in reading the apostolic writings, we distinguish between their doctrines and their arguments. Their doctruies came to them by revelation properly so called ; yet, in pro- pounding these doctrines in their -vmtings or discom*ses, they were wont to illustrate, support, and enforce them by such analogies, argu- ments, and considerations, as their own thoughts suggested. . . . The doctrine itself must be received ; but it is not necessary, in order to defend Christianity, to defend the propriety of every comparison, or the vaUdity of every ai'gument, which the apostle has brought into the discussion. — Dr. Wm. Paley : Evidences of Christianity, part iii. chap. 2; in Works, pp.. 412-13. We have omitted the illustrations by which this clear-headed thinker supports his reasoning, drawn from the behef of the evangelists in the reality of demoniacal possession, and from the erroneous opinion attributed to the apostles, and supposed to be found in their writings, that the day ol judgment was to approach in their own times. But, as Paley's work is well known, the whole chapter can easily be referred to. The history of the New Testament remains in the main true, although the narrator may de\'iate from what actually took place, in describing immaterial collateral circumstances, or may, through mis- take, alter or add something in such collateral incidents ; and although he may adopt words somewhat varying from those actually used by the characters occurring in the history. It is sufficient if only the facts themselves are not fabricated, the thoughts and sentiments of the actors and speakers not perverted, and the truths wliich they propound not mixed Avith falsehood. In this sense we maintain that the history contiiined in the New Testament is true. The mateiial facts are not affected The truth of an event in general depends not upon single words, nor on trivial temporary Hmititions and colla- teral incidents ; but the (question is, Avhether the fact be true. E;ich narrator has recorded it somewhat differently according to his own observation, and the different way by which he arrived at tlie know- ledge ui" it. This very variety conlu-ms the ti-uth of the e>'angeiio NOT A DENIAL OF REVELATION. 203 history. A suspicion would naturally arise against them, if each of the evangelists had narrated every tiling to the minutest circumstance in the very same words. — G. F. Seiler: Biblical Henneneidics, §§ 298, 326. It is my profound connction that St. John and St. Paul were divinely inspired; but I totally disbelieve the dictation of any one word, sentence, or argument, throughout their "\mtings. Observe, there was revelation. . . . Revelations of facts were undoubtedly made to the prophets ; revelations of doctrines were as undoubtedly made to John and Paul ; — but is it not a mere matter of our very senses that John and Paul each dealt with those revelations, expounded them, insisted on them, just exactly according to his ovm. natural strength of intellect, habit of reasoning, moral and even physical tem- perament ? "VVe receive the books ascribed to John and Paul as their books on the judgment of men for whom no miraculous judgment is pretended ; nay, whom, in their admission and rejection of other books, we believe to have erred. Shall we give less credence to John and Paul themselves ? Surely the heart and soul of everj^ Christian give him sufficient assurance, that, in all things that concern him as a man, the words that he reads are spirit and truth, and could only proceed from Him who made both heart and souk Understand the matter so, and all difficulty vanishes : you read without fear, lest your feith meet with some shock from a passage here and there which you cannot reconcile ^ntll immediate dictation by the Holy Spirit of God, ^vithout an absm-d \iolence offered to the text. You read the Bible as the best of all books, but still as a book, and make use of all the means and appliances which learning and skill, mider the blessing of God, can afford towards rightly apprehending the general sense of it ; not solicitous to find out doctrine in mere epistolary familiarity, or facts in clear ad hominem et pro tempore allusions to national traditions. — S. T. Coleridge : Table Talk ; in Works, vol ^i. pp. 386-7. The same laws of criticism which teach us to distinguish between various degrees of testimony, authorize us to assign the very highest rank to the e\-idcnces of the WTitings of St John and St. Paid. If belief is to be given to any human compositions, it is due to these ; yet, if we believe these merely as human compositions, and without assum- ing any thing as to their divine inspiration, our Christian faith, as it seems to me, is reasonable ; not merely the facts of our Lord's miracles and resurrection, but Christian faith in all its fulness, the whole dis- pensation of the Spirit, the revelation of the redemption of man and 204 DKNIAL OF THE INFALLIBILITY OF THE BIBLE of the Di\'ine Persons who are Its authors, of all that Cliristian faith and hope and love can need. And tliis is so true, that even without reckoning the Epistle to the Hebrews amongst St. Paul's writings ; nay, even if we choose to reject the three pastoral Epistles ; yet, taking only what neither has been nor can be doubted, — the Epistles to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, — we have in these, together with St. John's Gospel and First Epistle, — gi^^ing up, if we choose, the other two, — a grovmd on which our faith may stand for ever, according to the strict- est rules of the imderstanding, according to the clearest intuitions of reason. — Dr. Thomas Arnold : Miscellaneous Works, pp. 280-1. It may be fairly questioned, first, whether even its sacred history is inspired. For although, wherever a point of faith or practice is involved in the historical record, inspiration must be supposed (else the application of the record as an infalHble rule must be abandoned), yet, where this is not the case, there seems to be no necessity for supposing inspiration ; and, by not supposing it, several difficulties in the attempt to harmonize the sacred historians ai-e removed. Again, proceeding still on the principle that the truths to be beheved, the material of faith, is the point to which the control or suggestions of inspiration must have been du'ected, and to which alone it is necessary for constituting the Bible the rule of faith, that it should be directed, — the reasoning of the inspired writers may be considered safely as their own. I do not mean to impugn the reasoning of any one passage in the apostolical writings ; but, were any found open to it, the circum- stance would not, according to this \iew, affect the inspu'ed character and authority of the work. — Bishop Hes'ds : Historij of Christianity, pp. 523-4 ; Appendix, Note L It seems to mc far safer, more scriptural, more godly, to suppose they [the writers of the Bible] did take pains, and that the Spirit taught them to take pains, in sifting facts, than to suppose that they were merely told the facts. I most assuredly could not give up the faith in God which they have cherished in me, if I found they had made mistalves ; and I have too much respect and honor for those who use the strongest expressions about the certainty of every word in the Scri])tures, to suppose that they would. ... If any one likes to speak of plenary inspiration, I would not complain : I object to the inspira- \ion which people talk of, for bemg too empty, — not for being too full These forms of speech ... are not for those who are struggling with life and death : such persons want, not a plenary inspu-ation or a NOT A DENIAL OF REVELATION. 205 verbal inspiration, but a book of life ; and they wiU know that they have such a book when you have courage to tell them that there is a Spirit with them who will guide them into the truth of it. — F. D, Maurice : Theological Essays, pp. 260-1. To say [as is Siiid by Count Gasparin] that authority must cease with the slightest admixture of error, is surely opposed to common sense and all experience. . . . We might as weU say, that testimony ceases to be testimony, as that authority ceases to be authority, as soon as there is the least admixture of what is doubtful or untrue. Applied to the case before us, the inaccuracy of the assertion is equally plain. Were the Scriptures no authority to those early Chi-istians who doubted the canonicity of the Epistles of St. James and Jude ; or to Luther, when he spoke of tossing the Book of Esther into the Elbe ; or to Pye Smith, when he disowned the Song of Solomon ? Is a man's Christian faith at an end, and his submission to the word of God destroyed, the moment he rejects the last verses of St Mark, or stands in doubt whether to receive or reject the verse of the three heavenly "witnesses ? Such rash statements are equally rash and mis- chievous. They bind heav)* burdens upon the weak faith of infants in the femily of Christ, which crush them into blind credulity, if passively accepted ; or repel them into dangerous incredulity, if hastily flimg away. There are several books and many verses of the Bible, in which it has not pleased God that the evidence of canonicity should be as clear as that which attests the main facts and fundamental doctrines of the gospel. A faith in the plenary inspiration of such portions can never rank among the vitals of Chiistianity. Men ought to ask themselves whether they are not tampering with their conscience or their reason, before they can look on it in this light, and persuade themselves into a conclusion which is ob^iously ill-founded and mischievous If a perfect code, exempt from the slightest measure of error, or the least haze upon the horizon, were essential to the nature of a di^•ine revela- tion, we should be compelled to contradict the plainest facts, and assert the infallibility of every version of the Bible, and every copy of every version. Those who read it in this form are millions to one, compared with those who could have access to the original autographs. In the case of the whole Bible, it is certain that no one person can ever have enjoyed this pri\ilege. The degree of error, then, which Ls disclosed by various readings and imperfect versions, is plainly quite consistent with the great practical object of a message from God to man. There can thus be no a priori reason why the same degree of error in the 18 206 THE DOGMA OF TIIE BIBLE'S INEALLIBILITY autographs themselves might not be consistent with the purpose and character of a divine message The maxim [that the infallibility or inspiration of the Scriptures admits of no degrees, as asserted by Count Gasparin] does equal ^dolence to the instincts of every Chris- tian, confirmed by the daily experience of the church of God. The New Testament is felt to be more precious than the Old ; the Psalms and Isaiah, than the Elinor Prophets, or the appendices of the sacred history. What Christian, unless mider some strange bias, can read Ezra ii. 45-54 and John iiL 16 in succession, and seriously affii'm that they are of equal dignity and spiritual excellence ? . . . Truths equally true are not all of equal importance, and may differ widely, both in the ulness of spiritual \\isdom from which they emanate, and their tendency to maintain the spiritual life of the church of God. — Chris' iian Observer for March, 1855 ; pp. 180-1, 183, 189-90. \ 8. The Dogma of the Infallibility of all Parts of the Biblk Injurious to the Interests of Christianity. All these err in overdoing [that is, all err who assert that Scripture excludes as useless the whole law and hght of nature ; that it is so di\ine, not only in matter, but in method and style, as to exliibit no human imperfection or weakness ; that every passage in the Bible is equally obligatory on men of all places and ages ; that the whole of it forn^s so perfect a rule of faith, that notlung which comes in any other way is to be taken for certain ; that, in order to be saved, we must hold the canonicalness of every book and text of Scripture ; and that there are no various readings or doubtful texts, no corruption in %VTit- ten or printed copies]. . . . The dangers of overdoing here are these : 1. It leadeth to downright infidehty; for, when men find that the Scripture is imperfect or wanting in that which tliey fancy to be part of its perfection, and to be really insufficient, . . . they will be apt to say, " It is not of God, because it hath not that which it pretends to have." 2. God is made the author of defects and imperfections. 3. The Scripture is exposed to the scorn and confuUition of infidels. — IliciiAUD B.vXTER: Christian Diredori) ; in Practical Jforks, vol. n. pp. 562-5. The most dangerous objections which can be made to the truth of our religion, and such as are most difficult to iuiswer, are those ch-aNvn from the difi"erent relations of the fom- evangelists. The " Fragments " INJURIOUS TO CHRISTIANITY. 207 published by L-issing insist chiefly on tliis objection ; but the -whole vanishes into nothing, unless -we ourselves give it that importance which it has not in itself, by assuming an unnecessary hypothesis. — J. D. MiciiAELis : Inlrod. to ^Yew Tcstaiiient, vol i. pp. 75-6. No intelligent Cln-istian will cUstinguish it by that name [will dis- tinguish the Bible by ailling it the " word of God "], ^^'ithout a large restriction of its contents. All we assert respecting it is, that it is a collection of >VTitings, containmg a history of the divine dispensiitiona to our world, and that the proper word of God, with numberless other pai'ticulars, is interwoven all the ^ray through these most ancient and iu^'aluable WTitings. — David Simpson: Plea for Religion, p. 222. Had the distinction which Mr. Simpson, in common with the generality of Unitarians, makes between the word of God and the books containiug it, been attended to by Christian divines in general, instead of their confoiuid- ing terms of a widely different meaning, many of the objections urged by unbelievers would have lost their force; and neither the curses of a Hebrew bard, the mistakes of an evangelist, nor the inconsequential reasonings of an apostle, would have been regarded as at all affecting the credibility of a revelation from God. They who read it [the Sacred Volume] with "an evil heart of imbeHef " and an ahen spirit, — what boots for them the assertion that every sentence was mu-aculously communicated to the nominal author by God himself ? "Will it not rather present additional temptations to the unhappy scoffers, and furnish them vriih a pretext of self-justifica- tioix ? I am told that this doctrine must not be resisted or called in question, because of its fitness to presen'e unity of faith, and for the prevention of schism and sectarian byways ! Let the man who holds this language trace the history of Protestantism, and the growth of sectarian divisions, ending with Dr. Hawker's ultra-Cahinistic Tracts, and !Mr. Belsham's New Version of the Testament. And then let him tell me, that, for the prevention of an enl which already exists, and which the boasted preventive itself might rather seem to have occasioned, I must submit to be silenced by the first learned infide?^ who throws hi my face the blessings of Deborah, or the cursings of Da^'id, or the Grecisms and heavier difficulties in the biographical chapters of the Book of Daniel, or the hydrography and natural philo- sophy of the patriarchal ages, — I must forego the means of silencing, and the prospect of connncing, an alienated brother, because I must not thus answer : " My brother, what lias all tliis to do with the ti-uth ajid the worth of Christianity ? . . . K, though but ^^•ith the faith of a 208 THE DOGiL\ OF THE BIBLE'S INFALLIBILITY Seneca or an Antonine, you admit the co-operation of a di^ine Spirit in souLs desii'ous of good, even as the breath of heaven works vari- ously in each several plant according to its kind, character, period of gro\\th, and circumstance of soil, cKme, and aspect, — on what groimd can you assume that its presence is incomjiatible with all imperfection in the subject, even with such imperfection as is the natural accompani- ment of the unripe season ? . . . I demand for the Bible only the justice wliich you grant to other books of grave authority, and to other prcved and acknowledged benefactors of mankind. Will you deny a spirit of wisdom in Lord Bacon, because in particular facts he did not pos- sess perfect science, or an entire immunity from the positive errors which result from imperfect insight? . . . Thenceforward yom" doubts will be confined to such parts or passages of the received canon as seem to you u-reconcilable with known truths, and at variance with the tests given in the Scriptures themselves, and as shall continue so to appear after you have examined each in reference to the circumstances of the writer or speaker, the dispensation under which he Uved, the pm-pose of the particular passage, and the intent and object of the Scriptures at large." — S. T. Coleridge: Confessions of an Inquire ing Spirit ; in Works, vol. v. pp. 599, 602-3, 606. For Coleridge's utterances of deep and fervid admiration of the Holy Scriptures, to wliich all Christians will respond, recourse should be had to the work itself. Those who affirm, in a geneml and indiscriminate manner, that all and every the parts of the Old Testament were immediately dictiited by the Holy Spirit, and that to each the same kind of inspiration belongs, appear to me to go farther than the evidence warrants, and to lay the cause of revealed rehgion under the feet of its enemies These facts [erroneous statements of numbers in the Old Testament") must fearfully affect the theory of a servile HteraHty of inspu*ation. It is that theory which has put the most ostensibly powerful arms into the hands of the foes to God and man. The efforts which are ^ this moment made, amongst the metiiphysical and rehgious distractions of Germany, by Wislicenus, Uhhch, and other real or pretended Hegelians, find a chief stmding-point in their assuming that the Christian fhith requires a literal understanding of the phraseology in the Bible which speaks of divine acts and of natural objects in the manner that was adapted to the temporary and local state of human knowledge. — Dr. John Pye Smith : Scripture Testimony to tlie Messiah, vol L pp. 27, 30. INJURIOUS TO CHRISTIANITY. 209 These piinciples of interpretation [this, in particular, that " Scrip- ture is its own interpreter"] Avere forgotten, this pre-eminence of scriptural above human system strangely reversed, by the successors of the lleformers [in Germany]. . . . False ideas of inspiration, intro- duced by the imaginary necessities of the argument with the Koman- ists, contributed to the same result : from the first assumption, that the whole of Scripture was immediately dictated by the Holy Spirit, was derived a second, that all must be of actual value. To prove this, it was sui)posed that the same doctrines, the same fundamental truths of Clmstianity, must be not impHed merely, but expressed, by all ; a theory which must, of necessity, do much violence to the sacred text, while it overlooked the beautiful arrangement, according to which the different doctrines of revelation are each prominently conveyed by that mind which was most adapted to its reception. . . . Yet greater confusion must obviously be tlie result of the same theory, when applied to the Old Testament The difference of the law and the gospel, which Luther had so vividly seen, was obliterated, the shadow identified with the substance, the preparatory system with the perfect disclosm-e. Not content with finding the germs of Christian doctrine in the Old Testament, or those dawning rays which were to prepare the mental eye for the gradual reception of fuller light, but whose entire character could only be understood by those who should witness the rising of that luminary whose approach they announced ; they not only considered prophecy as being throughout an inverted history, but held tliat all the distinguishing doctrines of Christianity were even to the Jews as much revealed in the Old Testament as in the New, and that the knowledge of these doctrines w'as as necessary to their salva- tion as to ours. No scientific error seems to liave prepared so much for the subsequent re-action, in which all prophecy was discarded, all doctrine considered to be precarious. . . . The Scriptures, thus handled, instead of a ]i\mg word, could not but become a dead repository of barren technicahties. Less important, lastly, though perhaps in its effects more immediately dangerous, was the corollary to the same theory of inspiration, that even historical passages, in which no reli- gious truth was contained, were equally inspired with the rest, and consequently that no error, however minute, could even here be admitted. Yet, the imparting of rehgious truth being the object of revelation, any further extension of inspiration would appear an unnecessary miracle, as indeed it is one nowhere claimed by the writers of the New Testament. The fiiith of the Christian depends no< 18* 210 THE DOGMA OF TUE BIBLE'S INFALLIBILITY upon the reception of one or the other book of Scripture ; and it has been a supposition pregnant with mischief, that any doubt respectuig an individual portion of the Sacred Volume necessarily implies a diminished value for its whole contents, or a weakened reverence and gratitude towards its divine Giver. — E. B. Pusey : Causes of ike Rationalist Character predominant in the Theology of Geimany, pp. 28-32, 154 ; Lond. 1828. *' It is remarkable," says a critic in the North British Review for Feb- ruary, 1854, " that the first elaborate defence of German divines proceeded from the pen of Dr. Pusey, who, though he has retracted his book, has not refuted his arguments." While Christians of aU denominations have ever agreed in admit- ting the inspiration of the New Testament, on no one point perhaps has there been a greater diversity of opuiion than on the cliaracter of this inspiration. On this diversity of view, one general remark may be hazarded ; and it will be found, I think, warranted by historieal fact. In proportion as inspiration has been made to approach to a complete inditing of the Scriptm'es, the Scriptures have been ne- glected. The consequence of the study and appHcation of the Bible, from the period of the Reformation, has been, gradually and progress- ively, to Hmit the extent of inspiration ; and, by so domg, to vindicate the holy character of what is unquestionably of divine origin, and to make the application of the rule of faith more sure. It was only perhaps in the worst ages of superstition, that an entu*e inspiration of matter, words, and composition generally, like that asserted of the Koran, was universally contended for. — Bishop Hends : History of Christianity, pp. 520-1 ; Appendix, Note I. It is great folly to turn our faith m Christianity into a Rupert's drop, which must fly into sliivers the moment the Book of Obadiah or of Esther, or the second and third Epistles of St. John, or even a few disputed verses, are broken from the canon by an error of judgment. Such confused, ill-judging defences of the truth must naturally breed scepticism by wholesale, whenever they do not fall on the rich soil of a Protesfcmt Popery, which receives any reasoning with implicit fliith that leads to a foregone conclusion IntiiUibillty, or perfect ^j-eedom from all error, must perish with one faulty reading or erro- neous version : consequently, the logical result of the whole process, which the author [Count Gaspariu] commends as the only entrance to tlie School of Faith, is to leave our faith without any foundation whatever. It becomes an inverted pyramid, resting on its point ; and INJURIOUS TO CHRISTIANITY. 211 this point itself is lost and buried in the sands jf a hundred versions and ten thousand various readings. — Christian Observer for March^ 1855; pp. 188, 192. It will be seen, that, amid some diversity of opinion as to the precise naturj of the inspiration possessed by the writers of the Bible, none of the authors from whom we have quoted, with the equivocal exception of Gas PAKix, would defend the old opinion, still believed by ignorant multitudes, that every word contained in the Bible was dictated by the Spirit of God; that no mistake or error exists in the Sacred Kecords, whether relating to science or to history, to sentiment or to reasoning, to philosophy or to reli- gion ; that the books embraced in the present canons of the Old and Xew Testament, neither more nor less, and each and all parts, whether patri- archal, Jewish, or Christian, — whether historical, poetical, prophetic, or doctrinal, — whether obscure or plain, mysterious or intelligible, — are equally divine, and equally binding on the consciences and hearts of the disciples of Jesus. It would be egregious trifling seriously to refute such a mass of absur- dities ; and even the professed defenders of plenary inspiration are forced to make so many exceptions and restrictions to their theory as to render it practically useless, and to involve, after all, the principle of an inspiratiou which i- only partial, and of an infallibility which is not absolutely perfect. We think it obvious that the Bible contains numerous passages, and even some entire books, which can in no proper sense be termed divine revela- tion ; that neither the Book of Esther nor the Song of Solomon possesses any religious character whatever; that the historical portions of the Old and New Testament, though containing in the main a true record of things divine and supernatural as well as human, are not in themselves a revelation from heaven, any more than are the historical works of Gibbon, Hume, and Robertson; that the reasonings and inferences of the sacred writers, the modes in which they expressed their thoughts, and the images which they used to illustrate their doctrines, are as much human as those of classical and profane authors, who have given to the world the products of their learaing or their genius. We are far from meaning to put the Gospels and the Acts, as to the value of their contents, on an equality with the histories of the Roman empire, or of the kingdoms of England and Scotland; nor would we at all imph', that, in our opinion, the Books of 'Moses and the Prophets, or the Epistles of Paul, Peter, and John, are not of more intrinsic worth than the best productions of any philosophic or historical school. They are no doubt immeasurably superior, not in the pomp of their expres- sions or in the hannouy of their periods, — though many portions will, as to beauty or sublimity of style, bear a comparison with the finest compositions of ancient or modern times, — but in the grandeur of the subjects treated of, and in the fact, that, though not free from some of the errors of the times in which thev were written, they contain those revelations of the Iufiuit« 212 THE SCRIPTURES INVALUABLE. Mind which speak to the human heart and conscience, with a clearer, a more penetrating and authoritative voice, than unassisted reason ever did, of the character and designs of God ; of the capacities, duties, responsibihties, and destiny of man. To prove the correctness of these opinions accords not with the purposes we have in view. We have expressed them, because they seem to us well founded, and harmonize either with the sentiments we have quoted from Trinitarian writers, or with principles involved in the acknowledgment by others of a partial inspiration, a disputable canon, a corrupt text, contradic- tory versions, and fallible interpretations. And we have dwelt more at length on this subject, not only because it is interesting in itself, and forms an essential feature in the discussions of the present day as to the conflicting claims of naturalism and supernaturalism, but also because one of the strongest obstacles to inquiry into the truth of Unitarian pi-inciples has had its origin in the outcry sometimes raised by orthodox divines against Unita- rians for denying the plenary inspiration of the sacred penmen, and rejecting from the canon certain verses, chapters, and books; as if this denial and rejection went to prove their contempt of revelation itself, and their secret conviction that the doctrines which they uphold are discountenanced in the Holy Scriptures. But it is shown that this inference is altogether ground- less; for opinions of the same or of a similar kind have been entertained by not a few of the best men and most acute thinkers belonging to the Trini- tarian body. Believing, with Unitarians, that, with very few exceptions, the books of which the Bible is made up are the holiest and the most instructive that have ever been written, and that they are invaluable fi'om their con- taining the records of God's revelations to his human family, they have felt unable to close their eyes to the fact, that there are in them many errors and discrepancies, which, though not affecting the substantial truth of the narratives, doctrines, and principles they contain, preclude altogether the conception of infallibility on the part of the writers, or of pure and abso- lute truth in every part of their compositions. It cannot be denied that Unitarians have disputed the genuineness of certain books and texts in the Bible which are supposed to have a bearing on the Trinitarian controversy; but so have also many learned men in the ranks of the orthodox; and the proper question to be asked is, not " What are the motives by which you are actuated in questioning these books and texts?" but " What are your reasons for deciding in favor of their spuriousness or their corruption?" To say nothing of the impro- priety of confounding inspiration with genuineness, it may be remarked, that the charge of dealing falsely with the word of God comes with a bad grace from persons who are confessedly unable to cite a single passage of Scripture in which the doctrine of a Triune God is expressly mentioned, against those who can adduce passages unequivocally and plainly declara- tive of their great doctrine that God is one, and that the Father is the only true God. — But we are anticipating another portion of our work, and for bear dwelling on this point. WRONG TREATMENT OF SCRIPTURE. 213 SECT. VL. — THE IMTROPER TREATMENT OF SCRIPTURE. TTe pick out a text here and there to make it serve our turn ; whereas, if we take It altogether, and considered what went before, and what followed after, we should (ind it me^nt no such thing. — John Selden. In every nge, man has imported his own crazes into the Bible, fancied that he saw them there, and then drawn sanctions to his wickedness or absurditj' from what were nothing else than fictions of his own. — Thomas De Quincet. What monstrous absurdities will not fanatics be able to elicit from the Scripture, if they are permitted to allege every detached and ill- understood word and syllable in confirmation of their notions ? — John Calvin : Institutes, book iv. chap. xvii. 23. It is no wonder if they can accommodate Scripture expressions to their own dreams and fancies ; for, when men's fancies are so possessed with schemes and ideas of religion, whatever they look on appears of the same shape and color wherewith their minds are already tinctured. , . . All the metaphors and simihtudes and allegories of Scripture are easily appHed to their purpose; and, if any word sound lilve the tink- ling of their OAvn fancies, it is no less than a demonstration that that is the meaning of the Spirit of God; and every Httle shadow and appearance doth mightily confirm them in their preconceived opi- nions. — Dr. William Sherlock : Knowledge of Christ, chap. iii. sect. 4. The first and great mark of one who corrupts the word of God, is introducing into it human mixtures; either the errors of others, or the fancies of his own brain. . . . Scarce ever was any erroneous opi- nion either invented or received, but Scripture was quoted to defend it ; and, when the imposture was too barefaced, and the texts cited for it appeared too plainly either to make against it, or to be nothing to the pm-pose, then recourse has usually been had to a second method of corrupting it, — by mixing it \\ath felse interpretations. And this is done, sometimes by repeating the words wTong, and sometimes by repeating them right, but putting a wrong sense upon them ; one that is either strained and unnatural, or foreign to the writer's intention in the place from whence they are taken ; perhaps contrary either to his intention in that place, or to what he says in some other part of his writings. And this is easily effected : any passage is easily })erverted, by being recited singly, without any of the preceding or following verses. — John Wesley: Sermon 133; in Works, vol. ii. p. 504. 214 WRONG TREATMENT OF SCRIPTURE. There is no more common error in many departments of study and especially in theology, than the prevalence of a love of system over the love of truth. Men are often so much captivated by the aspect of what seems to them a regular, beautiful, and -well-connected theory, as to adopt it hastily, without inqumng, in the outset, how far it is conformable to facts or to scriptural authority ; and thus, often on one or two passages of Scripture, have built up an ingenious and con- sistent scheme, of which the far greater part is a tissue of their own reasonings and conjectures. — Archbishop Whately: Essays on Difficulties in PauVs Writings, pp. 243-4. Too many nominal Christians entertain only the most miserable idea of the nature of the gospel they profess to beheve. Their only notion too often consists in a confused general impression of a certain sacredness in Scripture, which produces little effect beyond that of making them afraid to enter its precincts, and search its recesses for themselves, and yet more fearful lest its sanctity should be invaded by others. And their dread of openly encountering any contradictions, and their anxious desire to shelter themselves under even the most frivolous explanations, if it does not betray a lurking distrust of the proper evidences of their faith, at least evinces the lowest and most unworthy conceptions of the spirit and meaning of the Bible, and an almost total absence of due distinction between the design and appli- cation of the several portions of which it is made up. That such misconception should prevail is indeed a lamentable, but not a sur- prising, instance of the lia])ility of human nature to misapply the best gifts, whether of providence or grace. And its influence has been unhappily cherished and confirmed by the prevalence of those theo- logical systems which have dictated tlie ])ractice of literalizing upon all the expressions of the sacred writers; so that the magnificent imager}' of the finest passages of inspiration is reduced to the lowest standard of verbal dogmatism ; and minds incapable of appreciating the divine sul)limity of those descriptions tliinli to add to the evidence of their truth by a forced and unnatural perversion of their meaning. With others, again, the sincere, but (as we must consider it) misguided, spirit of religious fanaticism produces similar effects. Blinded to all but the internal light of his spiritual imj)ressions, the enthusiast will always entertain a deeply-rooted and devoted hostility against any such distinctions as those here advocated. Maintaining the literal application of every sentence, every syllable, of the cHvine word, he rejects as impious the slightest departure from it. Human reason^ WRONG TREATMENT OF SCRIPTURE. 215 along with all science which is its offspring, is at best carnal and unsanctified ; and, should any of its conclusions be advanced in con- tradiction to the letter of a scriptural text, this completely seals its condemnation as absolutely sinful, and equivalent to a rejection of revelation altogether. — Baden Powell : Connection of JVcUural and Divine Truth, pp. 242-3. A want of due investigation of what is really the proper object of reverence in the Sacred Volume has caused that reverence to be most erroneously applied. When the learned Dr. Bloomfield prefers a "charge of irreverence for the Book which was intended to make men wis^e unto salvation " (Pref. p. x.), against those who, like Gries- bach, would alter the commonly received text, he begs the question, that that text constitutes that Book ; a point which cannot be conceded to him. That text is now clearly discovered to be, in numerous places, a corruption of " the Book " which demands our reverence ; and our reverence is evinced in restoring it from the corruptions which it has sustained, to the most ancient and purest standard that we possess. Thus, our reverence for ** the Book " is to be ascertained by determining the prenous question, " Which is the Book to which our reverence is legitimately due ? " K we direct it to the least corrupted, there is no irreverence; if to the most corrupted, the reverence savors of super- stition and of bigotry. — Granvelle Penn : Annotations to the Book of the JVew Covenant, p. 43. Few sources of error have been more copious, above all in the mterpretation of the Scriptures, than the propensity to realize images — which, in fact, is a main element in all idolatr}^, — and to deduce general propositions from incidental and partial illustrations. — JULIUS Charles Hare : The Victory of Faith, p. 37. Any human abstract which comes in between my Bible and me distorts Scripture, to some extent, by abridging it. It brings things together which were separate, giving them its own arrangement ; it destroys delicate sliades of meaning, and cuts off all the brilliancy and the life of the word. The dried flower in a collection still preserves its essential characteristics, and suffices for the classification of the botanist, though it has lost its shape, and its hang, and its delicate colors, and its SAveet sraelL But Cliristianity, dried up in a confession of faith, does not even retain all its cliaracteristics : the proportion of its parts is all changed, and the eye of the believer can scarcely recog- nize it. — Count Agknor de Gasparin : The Schools of Doubt and thf. School of Faith, p. 177. 216 WRONG TREATMENT OF SCRIPTURE. When we see methods of interpretation applied to them which no other book vnll bear, and which would hold any one up to scorn if ho should adopt them in explaining a classic, how can it be expected that the understanding and reason vnll not distrust them, and sooner or later be sure to revolt against them ? Among all the abuses of the Old Testament, none are more conspicuous than those which result from sectarian views and purposes. What a mere Imnp of wax does the Bible become in the hands of a zealous defender of sect, perfectly mould- able at his pleasure ! No laws of language or of grammar stand in his way. The original intention of the WTiter of the Scripture is Httle or nothing to the purpose. The occult meaning is summoned to his aid ; md this is always ready, at his bidding, to assume ever)' possible form. Armed in this way, his antagonists are cut dowTi by whole mnks at a blow, and the standard of sect waves speedily over that of the Bible. — Moses Stuart: Crit Hist of the Old-Test. Canon, pp. 410-11. Nothing can be more preposterous [than the law of rigidly Hteral interpretation]. All agree that the Scriptmres ought to be so inter- preted as to express the mind of their Author, and the sense which the writers of them intended to convey. ... If there be doubtful and obscure passages in their writings, they are to be rendered clear and intelligible by those that are not obscure and doubtful. ... To affirm a Hteral construction of those passages which are professedly contained in the most figurative and sj-mboUcal books of the Scriptures, would go far toward destroying all the fixed laws of sound interpretation. This would be to make prose of poetry, and bold imagery as though it were doctrinal statement. No sober man would interpret such passages as one would interpret a law, a deed, a contract, or a last will and testament. To do so would be a perversion of language, and an outrage upon common sense and common honesty. — Dr. Gardiner Spring : Glonj of Christ, vol. ii. pp. 109-11. No man will call in question what he concedes to be a real decision of God, however made ; but there have been, and still are, those who think so much more of the verbal revelations of God than of any other, that they almost overlook the fact, that the foundations of all possible knowledge have been kid by God in the consciousness and the intuitive perceptions of the mind itself. Forgetfid of this fact, they have often, by unfounded interpretations of Scripture, done vio- lence to the mind, and overruled the decisions made by God himself through it, and then sought shelter in faith and mystery. — Dr. Edward Beecher : Conflict of Jiges, p. 20. ( BIBLICAL CRITICISM. 217 SECT. VII. — PRINCIPLES OF CRITICISM AND INTERPRETATION, APPLICABLE CHIEFLY TO THE NEW TESTAMENT. A critic on the sacred book should be Candid and learned, dispassionate and free; Free from the wayward bias bigots feel, From fancy's influence, and intemperate zeal. CowpEa. § 1. Criticism. Before presenting the laws of criticism commonly laid down by Biblical scholars, it may be well, for the sake of those who have paid little attention to the subject, to quote the following observations on the manuscripts of the New Testament, by Dr. G. J. Planck (Introduction to Sacred Philology, p. 51): " By means of the most laborious researches, the latest eflforts of criticism have resulted in the conclusion, that most of the manuscripts which we possess belong to three families, or may be traced to three recen- sions, the diversity of which cannot be doubted. An Alexandrine, a Con- stantinopolitan, and a Western copy, may have been the originals of all the manuscripts, amounting to some hundreds, which we have of the writings of the New Testament. Another recension, arising from Asia, may perhaps be added to these." [1] The first place belongs to ancient, uninterpolated, good Greek copies. Their authority is paramount. From them chiefly should the text be derived. The nearer their testimony approaches to una- nimity, the greater certainty belongs to it. And the authority of ancient manuscripts is unquestionably superior to that of the modem, though the number of the latter is very much greater. — Dr. Samuel Davidson : Treatise on Biblical Criticism, vol. ii. p. 380. Dr. John Hey (Lectures in Divinity, vol. i. p. 48) and other critics remark, what is obviously just, but not always borne in mind, that "the earlier manuscript, ccsteris paribus, is more likely to be right than the later, l^-ecause every copying is liable to new errors." The modification to which this rule is subject, we present from the pen of G F. Seiler (Biblical Hermeneutics, ^ 235, 1): " As the value of a manu- script rests not only on its antiquity, but also on the authority of the class or family to which it belongs, and on the antiquity of that codex from which it was immediately taken, a manuscript of the tenth or eleventh century may thus be of far more value than one which has descended from the fifth century to our times; namely, when the manuscript of the tenth century can be proved to have been immediately derived from one of the third or fourth " 19 218 BIBLICAL CRITICISM. [2] Generally speaking, a more difficult reading, ceteris paribus as to endence, is to be prefeiTed to one ■which is altogether easy. . . . Transcribers \\ould naturally change that which is obscure for that which is simple, and not vice versa. — Dr. S. P. Tregelles ; Tlie Book of Revelation, Introduction, p. xxxi. Referring to his own rule, which is similar to that just given, Thomas RiVnxwELL HoKNE (Introduction, p. 292) remarks: "This canon is the touchstone which distinguishes the true critics from the false. Bexgel, Wetstein, and Gkiesbach, critics of the first rank, have admitted its authority; but tliose of inferior order generally prefer the easy reading, for no other reason than because its meaning is most obvious." [3] That reading should be regarded as genmne from Mhich all the others may be naturally and easily derived. — Dr. Samuel Davidson : Treatise on Biblical Crilicism, p. 376. To illustrate this principle, Dr. Davidson says: "In 1 Tim. iii. 16, if Of were the true reading, tlie alteration of it into i?cof would readily suggest itself to those who knew that the ' mystery of godliness ' related to tho Divine Word. And 6f naturally gave rise to 6, the neuter, for the sake of grammatical accuracy. But, if i^cof were the original reading, it is difficult to understand why or how 6f could come into the mind of critics and tran- scribers. Still more difficult is it to imagine o giving rise to i^eof or of. Hence, by this canon, 6f should be preferred." [4] A reading contradictor}- to a doctiine which the same apostle has delivered in another passage is to be regarded as spiu-ious, because contradictions are improbable in an accurate wiiter, and impossible in one who is divinely inspired. — J. D. Michaelis : Introduction to the J^ew Testament, vol. i. p. 328. Or, as more simply expressed by G. F. Seiler (Biblical Hermeneutics, ^ 235, 13): " A reading which harmonizes with the style and manner of thinking of any of the writers of the New Testament is to be preferred to another which is less agreeable thereto." [5] The reading of a passage which contains a disputed doctrine in religion is strongly to be suspected in the event of doubts arising resjiectlng its genuineness, when there are only some testimonies against it ; for it is fair to conjecture that it may have been altered through a zeal for orthodoxy. — G. F. Seiler : Biblical Hermeneuiics* § 235, M. In accordance with this remark, Dr. Davidson (Treatise on Biblical Criticism, vol. ii. p. 37S) guy? that " reading? which strongly favor orthodox BIBLICAL CRITICISM. 219 opinions are suspicious. Hence ^edg, in 1 Tim. iii. 16, was made out of of. 1 John V. 7 may also be refen-ed to this head. So, too, Tdedv inserted in the fourth verse of Jude's Epistle. Perhaps the reading ^edg in John i. 18, instead of vide, belongs here." T. Hautwell Horne (Introduction, vol. i. p. 2S5) says, " It is a fact that some corruptions have been designedly made by those ■who are termed orthodox, and have subsequently been preferred when so made, in order to favor some received opinion, or to preclude an objection against it." Among other texts which have been thus corrupted, he instances Mark xiii. 32. Luke xxii. 43. J. D. MiCHAELis (Introduction to the New Testament, vol. i. pp. 323 -6) cpeaks to the same purpose. [6] Conjectural readings, strongly supported by the sense, the connection, tlie nature of the Lmguage, or similar texts, may some- times have probabilit}', especially when it can be shown that they would easily have given occasion to the present reading. — Dr. Gilbert Gekakd : Institutes of Biblical Cnticisnij § 794. So also T. Hartwell Horxe, in his Introduction, vol. i. p. 2S9. In his Principles of Biblical Interpretation, vol. 1. pp. 199, 200, J. A. Erxesti says: '* Nor is conjectural criticism to be entirely neglected, which the most learned and right-thinking theologians have not scrupled occa- Bionaliy to use ; but rashness must be avoided, and a modest diligence must be exerted." J. D. MiCHAELis (Introduction to New Testament, vol. ii. p. 392) ob- serves: "There are certain passages in the Greek Testament, in wliich I can hardly refrain from the use of critical conjecture, in opposition to the authority of all our written documents; some of which passages the reader will find in my Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews. If it is asked why I would ad'uit in those cases the right of critical conjecture in opposi- tion to written authority, I answer. Because the text itself, after all the pains which have been bestowed upon it, still seems to be sometimes faulty, or at least to be capable of an alteration that would be more suitable tu the context, and better adapted to the design of the writer." But, in p. 387, this learned and generally candid theologian censures the conduct of those " Socinians " who, endeavoring to act on his own principles, have suggested an alteration in the text of John i. 1, and Rom. ix. 5. On the other hand. Dr. Davidson (Treatise on Bib. Crit. vol. ii. pp. 371-2) says, that, in the New Testament, " cntical conjecture is rendered wholly superfluous by the very copious array of proper resources ; so copious that it will never desert the critic, or leave him at a loss in detennining the reading of a particular passage." But he concedes, that, " although it is unneces- sary, and therefore improper, to change the Greek words without autliority we may freely put forth our judgment in regard to accents, marks of aspira- tiou, and punctuation, since these formed no part of the primitive text." 220 BIBLICAL CRITICISM. [7] A reading certainly expressed in an ancient version is of the fame authority as if it had been found in a manuscrijit of the age when that version was made, and, consequently, of greater authority than if found in any single manuscript now extant ; and that in propor- tion to the superior antiquity of the version. — Dr. Gilbert Gerard : Institutes, § 336. In his Introduction to Sacred Pbilolog}'', p. 53, Dr. Planck makes the following important remarks: " Some of the versions which we have of it [of the New Testament) are considerably older than all our manuscripts. . . . In all cases, it may be presumed that these translations were made from manuscripts which at the time were not entirely new; and therefore the age of some may have almost reached that of the autographs. Consequently, whenever it can be determined, from one of these versions, what was the reading of the manuscript from which the version was made, its antiquity gives it an autliority vastly superior to that which any manuscript now existing can claim." [8] "When a place is interpolated by the introduction of a suppo- sititious clause, the works of the ancient fathers \vill sometimes enable us to infer with tolerable correctness, not only the spuriousness of the clause, but also the time when it may have been casually introduced into the text. If the place is quoted by many and various writers uniformly without the addition, this is a certain proof that it was added by some later hand. The first quotation, therefore, in which it occurs, afibrds grounds for conjectming Avhen and ■where the interpolation was first casually made. — G. J. Pl.antk: Introduction to Sacred Philology, p. 56. " Thus, for example," continues Dr. Planck, " it may be considered as one of the most important collateral proofs of the spuriousness of 1 John v. 7, that no Greek father, even to the fourth century, seems to have been acquainted with it, as it is cited by none for a considerable time after the breaking out of the Arian controversies; while, on the other hand, the ear- lier use which was made of it by Latin fathers places it almost beyond doubt, that the interpohxtion was first made in Latin copies, and from these introduced into Greek." These few rules will probably be sufficient to give the mere Englisn reader a general idea of the principles by which Biblical critics are guided in respect to the text cliielly of the New Testament. The subject is, un- questionably, interesting; for on the purity of the text depends, in a great measure, the correctness of the versions taken from it. But, as its study demands a great amount of erudition and labor, the unlearned reader of the Scriptiires will, of course, have, in most cases of difficulty, to coufiJe in BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION. 221 the results arrived at by men who have devoted their talents and their lives to sacred criticism; his confidence in their decisions being the stronger in proportion to the unanimity and acknowledged skill with which they have been made by critics of various and opposite dcMiominations. It is conso- latory to reflect, that, however desirable it may be to possess the records of divine revelation in a state approximating to that in which they wore left by their respective writers, the essential truths of religion and of Chris- tianity are not seriously affected by the corruptions of the original text, or by the ditfereut and numerous translations of the Bible which have been published. ^ 2. Interpretation. [1] AVhen different reasons for the meaning of a word oppose each other, gi-eater weight ought to be given to grammaticiil than to dogmatical reasons ; because a proposition may be strictly true which is not contiiincd in the words of the text. — J. A. Erxesti : Principles of Biblical Interpretation, vol i. p. 37. [2] The more an interpreter changes places altogether with his author, in respect to his mode of thinking and his sentiments, the happier will he be in discovering and expressing the sense of his words. Hence it follows, — 1. That every good mterpreter should lay aside for the time his own system, in order to study without pre- judice the system of his author. 2. That he endeavor to guard, with all possible precaution, against transferring into ancient writings any modem opinions or dogmas, whether theological or philosopliicah — G. F. Seiler : Biblical Hermeneutics, § 40. These rules will receive illustration trora the judicious remarks of Baden Powell (Connection of Natural and Divine Truth, p. 248): " When a commentator of the present day sets about to put a particular interpreta- tion on a passage in an ancient author, he may, upon an examination of the critical sense of the words, and the construction of the sentence, make out a meaning which to him is plausible, and in itself consistent. But there is another question entirely distinct from this, too often quite overlooked, but essentially important to a true interpretation; viz., whether it is probable, from concurrent circumstances, that this was the sense, in point of foot, actually intended by the author. It is one thing to make out such a sense as, to our apprehension, the Avords may bear; quite another, to infer that this was the sensa really in the mind of the writer." [3] Ascertain the nsus loqnendi, or notion affixed to a word by the persons in general by whom the language either is now or formerly was spoken, and especially in the particular connection in which such notion is affixed. The meaning of a word used by any Amter is tha 19* 222 BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION. meaning affixed to it by those for whom he immediately wrote ; for there is a kind of natural compact between those who write and those who speak a language, by which they are mutually bound to use words in a certain sense. — T. Hartwell Horne : Introduction, voL i. page 325. In the application of this rule, the following remark by Dr. Seileb (Biblical Hermeneutics, ^ 261, 5) should be carefully attended to: "That is not always the true sense of the sayings of Jesus and of the writings of the apostles, which the Jews, by reason of their prejudices, attached to them; but that which they should have attached to them, from a consideration of the scope of the speakers and writers, John iii. 5-16 ; vi. 60, et seq. ; viii. 51-57." [4] As ever)' (correct) ^vriter is accustomed to use his words in one and the same sense in treating of the same subject, so, in inter- preting the books of the New Testament, a difficult passage of an evangelist or apostle is best explained by a comparison of parallel passages in his own ^VTitings. The meaning of Paul's phraseology, for instance, is to be determmed by a comparison with his own Epistles, and that of John by a comparison with his. — G. F. Seller : Biblical Hermeneutics, § 252, 1. The qualifying word "correct" is inserted probably by Seller's editor, Dr. WiuGHT. lu applying this rule, the reader may be assisted by the following remarks of Archbishop Whately (Sermons on Various Subjects, p. 296): " It is an unsafe practice so to dwell on the interpretation of any particular word occurring in Scripture, as to imply that each term must have, like one of the technical terms of any science, exactly the same meaning in every passage where it is employed. It is not an uncommon plan, and it is a very dangerous one, to lay down precise definitions of the meaning of each of the principal words used in Scripture, and then to interpret every sentence in which they occur according to those definitions. The works of the sacred writers are popular, not scientific. They did not intend to confine themselves, like the author of any philosophical system, to some strict technical sense of each word, but expressed their meaning, in each passage, in such language as seemed, on each occasion, best fitted tc con- vey it." [5] Where a word has several significations in common use, that must be selected which best suits the passage in question, and which is consistent with an author's known character, sentiments, and situa- tion, and the known circumstiinccs under which he wrote. -— THOMAS H-UITWELL IIoRNE : Introduction, vol. i. p. 325. BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION. 228 Or, ns expressed more briefly by Dr. G. .T. Planck (Introduction to Sacred Philology, p. 147): "In interpreting a writing, constant reference should be had to the character, views, and known principles of the writer from whom it originates." For this rule he assigns the following reason, — *' that a man of understanding will not readily act in opposition to his own design; will not, in general, easily contradict himself; will not, without some evident cause, alter his opinions." [6] "Wherever any doctrine is manifest, either from the whole tenor of dinne revelation or from its scope, it must not be weakened or set aside by a few obscure pass:iges. — T. HL^RTWell Horne ; Tntroduciion, vol. i. p. 343. This rule is frequently neglected; but no one will theoretically deny its validity. Dr. J. P. Smith (Scripture Testimony to the Messiah, vol. i. p. 57) well I'emarks, that " it is contrary to all just rules of evidence, and to the conduct of the best and wisest part of mankind, in relation to innumerable cases, philosophical, moral, and political, to violate or renounce great prin- ciples, which have been sufficiently established by prior proofs, because minor difficulties arise of which we are not able to find a solution." [7] General terms are used sometimes in their whole extent, and sometimes in a restricted sense ; and whether they are to be under- stood in the one way or in the other must depend upon the scope, subject-matter, context, and parallel passages. — T. HART^VELL HoRXE : Ijitrodudion, vol i. p. 325. Dr. Gerard (Institutes, § 844) illustrates his rule, which is the same as that just quoted, by a great number of examples. Christians of all deno- minations will admit its justness and importance ; but probably few apply it without sometimes being influenced by dogmatical prepossessions. [8] Before we conclude upon the sense of a text, so as to prove any thing by it, we must be sure that such sense is not repugnant to natural reason. — T. Hartwell Horxe : Introduction, vol i. p. 326. In p. 394, the same writer justly observes, that "articles of revilation may be above our reason; but no doctrine which comes from God can be irrational, or contrary to those moral truths which are clearly perceived by the mind of man." Dr. Robert South (Animadversions on Sherlock's Vindication, p. 133) says: " Whatsoever is a truth in natural reason cannot be contradicted by any other truth declared by revelation, since it is impossible for any one truth to contradict another." To the same purpose might be quoted a host of other writers ; but, though few would venture to deny the truth of the principle here laid down, there are many who seem to act verv inconsistently in its apolication 224 BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION. In our endeavors, however, to arrive at the true sense of any passage ir. Scripture, it would be prejudging the matter to take for granted that that sense cannot be repugnant to reason ; for, though the supernatural revela- tions which are contained in the sacred books never can contradict the judgments formed by a right use of the intellectual powers, there is no evi- dence for the dogma that all portions of Scripture were given by infallible inspiration. Our sole object should therefore be merely to ascertain the meaning of a sacred author, without assuming the foregone conclusion that it is impossible for him to err, to express a doctrine contrary to reason, or to be inconsistent with the views of such other writers as have had better opportunities of arriving at the truth, either by natural or supernatural means. If, after an investigation pursued in no spirit of reckless scepticism, but with a manly freedom blended with caution and docility, a passage should be found manifestly opposed to the highest and best conceptions of our minds, we may, from the known character and sentiments of the author in whose compositions it appears, have some grounds, even without the authority of any extant manuscript, for believing the text of that passage to be corrupt or interpolated; but, if faithful to the duty of using aright the natural gifts bestowed on us by Heaven, we cannot accept, as a decla- ration of the divine will, the doctrine which it expresses. Suppose, for instance, that a man has been led, by the united voices of reason and revelation, — by the light of nature and the whole spirit of Chris tianity, — to believe that it is the design of the Creator and Father of the human race to bring each and all of his children into the fold of the Saviour, through such trials and sufferings as are best adapted to purify and exalt their nature; and suppose, too, he find some passages in the Bible unequi- vocally declaring or implying the doctrine of unmitigated torture to multi- tudes throughout eternity, — he must not bend or distort the language so as to make it speak his own sentiments, though, according to the supposition, these are founded on a solid basis. We say, " unequivocally declaring or implying;" for, if the passages be merely ambiguous or obscure, they can- not justh' be regarded as erroneous; or, if highly figurative, they may fail to give the precise doctrinal views of the writer; but they are not neces- sarily opposed to reason, and may admit an interpretation which is both rational and consistent with the writer's opinions as clearly expressed in other places of his compositions. In this sentiment, that no proposition, repugnant to reason, though it were found in books containing God's revealed will, is entitled to credence, •we are supported, more or less, by the authority of eminent Trinitarians Thus S. T. Coleridge, in Literary Remains (Works, vol. v. pp. 193-4), says "If we are quite certain that any writing pretending to divine origin con tains gross contradictions to demonstrable truths in eodem ycnere, or com raands that outrage the clearest principles of right and wrong, then we may be equally certain that the pretence is a blasphemous falsehood; inasmuch as the compatibility of a document with the conclusions of self-evident reason, and with the laws of conscience, is a condition d prion of any evi- dence adequate to the proof of its having been revealed by God." BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION. 225 Thus, also, Dr. SouTir, in pp. 133-4 of his Animadversions on Sherlock's Vindication, asks the Dean " wiiothcr it be a proposition trno in natural reason, that God is one infinite mind or spirit;" and says, that, if this be granted, the doctrine that God is three infinite minds or spirits cannot be proved true from revelation, " since the certain truth of the first proposition supposed and admitted must needs disprove the truth of that revelation ■which pretends to establish the second. ... If it be certainly true from reason that God is one infinite mind or spirit, no revelation can or ought to be pleaded that he is three distinct infinite minds or spirits." We do not, however, believe that, as to the nature and character of the Divine Being, there are any contradictions to reason found in the New Testament. We have no doubt that the evangelists and apostles all agree in recognizing the strict Oneness of God, — the essential and unqualified Supremacy of the heavenly Father; a doctrine as rational as it is sublime. But if, on the other hand, the dogma of a Trinity in Unity were certainly taught by any of the sacred writers, we should feel, that, however repulsive it might seem to reason and common sense, we had no right, as interpreters, :o carry our own notions into Scripture, and to rationalize its absurdities. [9] No doctrine can belong to the analogy of faith which is founded on a single text ; for every essential principle of religion is dehvered in more than one place. — Dr. Gilbert Gek\rd : Institutes, § 503. T. H. HoRNE (i. 343), having defined the analogy of faith to be " the con stant and perpetual harmony of Scripture in the fundamental points of faith and practice," lays down the same canon as that given by Dr. Gersird. Bishop Hampden (in Bampton Lectures, p. 55) says emphatically that " there must be, in fact, a repeated revelation to authorize us to assert that this or that conclusion represents to us some truth concerning God." S. F. N. MoRUS, in his Treatise on the Style of the New Testament (Biblical Eepository, vol. i. p. 430), makes the following sensible remarks on this rule of interpretation: " The analogy of faith and doctrine is con- tained in the principal maxims and precepts of religion clearly taught. This is, as I understand it, a summary of all religious doctrine; for if such evident propositions as that God is one, that he created the world, that he governs all things, that he reforms us by his truth, and that there is a future state of rewards and punishments, be collected, they will constitute a sum- mary of religion; and tliis constitutes the standard according to Avhich every thing must be interpreted, so that all shall harmonize. It is wrong to make this analogy consist in the doctrines approved by any one sect, as the Lutherans, Calvinists, or Papists; for then there would be many analogies: each sect would hold up its own religious system as the standard. The system of no sect can ever become the law of interpretation; for this refers to tlie plain and evident testimony of Scripture. Nor does the analogy of doctrine consist in the system of any particular person; for these systems are disposed in order, and the doctrine e.Kplained in a manner merely to suit the authors. Such systems cannot be made a rule of iuterpreiatiou " 226 BIBLICAT. INTERPRETATION. GENERAL REMARKS. Could they who dogmatize on sacred subjects peremptorily, be persuaded to examine them carefully, we might soon bring to an issue those unhappy disputes about the doctrines of Christianity, which, though started perhaps with honest intentions, have yet been canied on with a most unchristian temper. . . . By examination I do not mean the rapid effusion of scriptural phrases, which it is far easier to accumulate than to connect ; which those who display most ostenta- tiously do not always explain most inteUigibly ; and in the repetition of which it is possible for the understanding to slumber, wliile the memory is exercised, and the fancy captivated. But, in the investiga- tion of doctrines on which eternity is suspended, it is necessary to trace every word through its significations, whether primary or sub- ordinate, common or appropriate ; to analyze every sentence into its component parts ; to mark the connection of those parts to each other, and the relation of the whole to preceding or subsequent passages; to account for local and temporary circumstances; to bear in mind on what occasion any doctrine is introduced, and to what persons it is addi'essed ; to determine ambiguous texts by such as are more defi- nite, — the obscure by such as are plain ; to support general doctrines by particular proofs, not with the licentiousness of arbitrarj' assump- tion, but the calmness and precision of elaborate induction ; not to be staggered by accidental difhculties, the solution of which progi*essive knowledge or persevering industry may supply ; never to be seduced by indirect or partial expressions into a desertion of those leading, indisputable truths on which revelation is known to hinge. — Dr. Samuel Parr : Sei'mons on Faith and Morals ; in Works, vol. \i. pp. 616-17. The principles of interpreting Scripture which we have qizoted are taken from writers of eminent merit belonging to the orthodox body, and will probably be regarded by all Protestants, worthy of the name, as substan- tially correct, whatever notions they may hold respecting the inspiration of the Bible, and the canonicity of its various books. Their bearing on the great question at issue between Trinitarians, and tlie believers in the simple oneness of the Divine Being, will often be noticed in the succeeding volumes of this work. In attempting to apply them, may both writei- and reader be pervaded by a single-minded desire to ascertain the truth ! 227 CHAPTER IV. CHRISTIANITY INTELLIGIBLE, RATIONAL, AND PRACTICAL SECT. I. — THE TEACHINGS OF THE SAVIOUR DISTINGIHSHED FOB THEIR CLEARNESS AND SIMPLICITY. All the doctrine which Christ taught and gave Was clear as heaven from whence it came. QeOBOE HEaBEKT. In many of the quotations introduced into the preceding chapter, the duty of tasking, to the utmost extent, the faculties of the human understand- ing in the study and interpretation of Holy Scripture, is strongly urged on the attention of Christians; and rules and directions are given for the purpose of facilitating inquiry, of guarding against error, and of leading to the possession of truth. All this implies, that the Bible is not to be regarded as a volume which " he who runneth may read," — which one may hastily or passively peruse, and at the same time perfectly understand ; but as a collection of sacred books, for the due appreciation of which, and for the comprehension of its various and important contents, our intellectual powers and our moral affections should alike be devoted. Indeed, apart from the value of the facts it records, or the principles it develops, no book requires more assiduous and patient study to understand than the Bible; for there ia none perhaps which as a whole is so hard, difficult, or obscure. The documents of which it consists are very ancient, some of them the oldest of extant compositions. They were written in languages or in dialects which have long ceased to be spoken, and with which the best educated men are but imperfectly familiar. They abound in allusions to customs, man- ners, opinions, and modes of thought, which are very different from those which prevail at the present day in Western Europe and in the New World. They have been more or less corrupted in their passage to our times. They have been transferred into innumerable versions, all differing one from another in a vast variety of particulars. They have been commented on by fathers, by schoolmen, by priests, and by critics; by adherents of th# Romish, Greek, and Protestant churches; by Athanasians and Arians, Sabellians and Socinians, Lutherans and Calvinists; by fanatics, ranters, rationalists, and transcendentalists ; and, widely as these disagree in opinion, 228 DIFFICULTIES Ot THE BIBLE. they have lent to each and all of them such real or apparent support as hath suflSced to satisfy the consciences and the minds of them all. However some Protestants, in their zeal against Popery, may affect to controvert the fact, a book from which such a variety of conflicting opinions as those held by these sectaries has been professedly taken, must be difficult to under- stand. It would be idle to deny it. Even persons who arc classed under the same category have elicited, from the Bible, dogmas which are far from being the same. Neither the philosophei-s who have found in the Scriptm-es the truths of astronomy and geology, or of moral and mental science ; nor the mystics, with their doctrine of a double sense, their correspondences, their spiritual influences, their reveries, and their dreams, are at one in their respective interpretations of the contents of the Bible. The first chapter of Genesis, so simple in phraseology and so sublime in conception, will, if we judge of the future from the past, never be so explained as to meet the unanimous consent of astronomers, geologists, and theologians. The precise boundary between the myths and the histories of the Hebrews has not yet been ascertained, and perhaps never will be. The prophecies of the Jewish bards, obscure to those who uttered them, have not been rendered altogether clear by the light of facts accomplished; and a portion of doubt and mys- tery may still hang over them. No Harmony has harmonized, or probably ever will harmonize, the discrepancies existing in the divine and truthful Gospels. The proem to John's beautiful narrative of the Saviour, for the comprehension of which such vast stores of ancient learning have been in countless modes ransacked and displayed, and from which have been de- rived opinions the most varied in hue and texture, may never find a solution which will be altogether satisfactory to the scholar and the Christian. The Epistles of Paul — " in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scrip- tures, unto their own destruction " — have been made to speak the strangest, the most uncouth and contradictory dogmas ; and the man is yet to come ■who will give such a representation of the apostle's views as will settle the controversies which have so long afflicted the church. The contents of the Apocalypse, which have so often baffled the prying ingenuity of good and wise men, may be fully revealed to the human mind only when " time shall be no more." Some of these, or similar difficulties and obscurities, may, as we have intimated, remain for ever on the pages of the Bible ; but there are others which have undoubtedly arisen more from the prepossessions and the pas- sions of interpreters tlian from any imperfection in the book itself; and it may reasonably be anticipated tliat a reduction of their number will bp gradually effected by the labors of ingenuous and liberal-minded men. But, even now, the Bible is not, throughout its various portions, f only of dark and intricate passages leading to no certain conclr abounds in narratives, whose beautiful simplicity and tender grateful to the ear of childhood; in pictures of divine heroism a. terestedness which arrest the eye of youth ; in songs of purity and which lift to higher realms the common mind of manhood ; in words SIMPLICITY OF OLll LOllDS TEACUINGS. 229 comfort and consolation which impart heavenly strength and holy trusi to the heart of feebleness and age. The Bible is a difficult book; or, rather, it is a collection of books, portions of which are very dark and doubtful in their import, if not erro- neous in some of their statements. But it contains various revelations of the Supreme \Visdom and Infinite Goodness; and all revelations must, to those for whom they were intended, be, from their very nature, resplendent with light, and impart it to the organ of moral and intellectual vision if in a normal or undiseased state. Clouds and darkness may seem to us, in some measure, to brood over the communications of God to the antediluvians and the patriarchs, — for these were personal or family revelations; or over such as were vouchsafed to the Jews through Moses and the prophets, — for these were national ; though many of them speak, in characters the most perspicuous, of the pure spirituality, the impartial justice, and universal government of the one Jehovah. But the gospel of Jesus Christ — including in the term not only the teachings of the Saviour, but his life and his character, his laboi-s and his sufferings, his death and his resurrection — was a revelation, designed, not for particular persons or families, or for a peculiar nation, but for all man- kind; and the impress of universality and legibility are therefore stamped on its di\ine lineaments. By a few simple strokes from the pens of the evangelists, Jesus is still seen, as he was some eighteen or nineteen hundred years ago, walking on the hills and the plains, or by the rivers and the lakes, of Palestine ; mixing with his countrymen in their lofty temple and humbler synagogues, in their cities and villages, in their streets and roads, in their houses and in their fishing-boats; familiar with seamen, with publi- cans, with the erring and abandoned, with the pious and the gentle-hearted ; telling them, in no equivocal tenns, of the care and providence of their all- bountiful Father, of their solemn responsibleuess to God for all they think and feel and say and do, and of their various duties to themselves and their brethren of mankind; speaking words of comfort and hope to the penitent, but of warning and woe to the self-righteous ; imparting health and energy and life to the sick, the feeble, the dying, and the dead; and pronouncing benedictions on little children, on the humble-minded, on the mourners, on the meek, on the hungerers and thirsters after righteousness, on the merciful, on the pure in heart, and on those who suffer for the name of Christ. We see this good being murdered for his goodness by the proud priests of his nation. We see his body taken from the cruel cross, put into a tomb, and in a few hours rising again with renewed life. We see him, "from the mount called Olivet," ascending to that Being who commissioned him, and leaving, as a sacred legacy, the image and remembrances of himself, and the spirit of his benign religion, not to the narrow-minded Jews, but to the world at large. This great Revealer of the will of God — this best Representative and Manifestation of Immortal Goodness — spoke not, indeed, in the Anglo- Saxon or in any other modem tongue, but in the now-obsolete Syro-Chaldaic • yet its translated tones of love and righteousness sound en the ear address the heart, of our common humanity. Though he wore ' 20 230 SIMPLICITY OF OUR LORDS TEACHINGS. garb, aliuded to local and temporary usages, accommodated his words ta unphilosophical ideas, and spoke in Oriental parables and paradoxes, he etnnds before us, in the pages of the simple evangelists, as the clearest expounder of God's messages and the most perfect teacher of eternal truth. No corruption of the Greek text, and no false i^endering, have obscured, or can obscure, the import of the term " Father," which, with so profound yet 60 clear and expressive a meaning, Jesus applied to God in his discourses; which he uttered in his prayers and in his thanksgivings ; and which he taught his disciples to use in their daily petitions to Heaven. It contains within itself a universal revelation, — a revelation intelligible to the capaci- ties of the human mind and to the affections of the human heart in all stages of development, and growing more significant and luminous as men and women advance in the scale of intelligence, virtue, and holiness. It would be easy to pursue the same strain of remark, by exhibiting the perspicuity and the practicability of other principles which our Lord taught and exemplified; and by showing that he avoided the presentation and discussion of topics, which, from their inherent obscurity or mysteriousness, could not generally be understood, or be brought home to the minds and hearts of all men. But the sentiments of eminent Trinitarians on this sub- ject, which we are about to introduce, will render any further observations on our part unnecessary. He delighted not to discourse of sublime mysteries (although his deep wisdom comprehended them all), nor of subtle speculations and intricate questions, such as might amuse and perplex rather than instruct and profit his auditors, but usually did feed his auditors with the most common and useful truths, and that in the most famihar and intelligible language. — Dr. Isaac Barrow : Works, vol. i. p. 404. Surely, the way to heaven, that Christ hath taught us, is plain and easy, if we have but honest hearts : we need not many criticisms, many school distinctions, to come to a right understanding of it. Surely, Christ came not to ensnare us and entangle us with ciptious niceties, or to puzzle our heads with deep speculations, and lead us tlu'ough hard and craggy notions into the kingdom of heaven. I persuade myself that no man shall ever be kept out of heaven for not compre- hending mysteries, that were beyond the reach of his shallow under- standing, if he had but an honest and good heart, that was ready to comply with Christ's commandments. " Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven ? " that is, with high speculations to bring down Christ from thence ; or, " Who shall descend into the abyss t,beneath ? " that is, with deep-searching thoughts to fetch up Christ teresu thence ; but, lo ! " the word is nigh tliee, even in thy mouth and which liii^ojjt " .... I speak not here against a free and ingenuoua SIMPLICITY OF OUR LORD'S TEACHINGS. 231 inqiiin- into all truth, according to our several abilities and opportuni- ties. I plead not for the capti\'ating and enthralling of our judgments to the dictiites of men. I do not disparage the natural improvement of our understanding faculties by true knowledge, which is so noble and gallant a perfection of the mind. But the thing which I aim against is the dis])iriting of the life and \igor of our religion by dry specubtions, and making it nothing but a mere dead skeleton of ojn- nions, — a few diy bones, without any flesh and sinews, tied up together ; and the misplacing of all our zeal upon an eager prosecution of these, which should be spent to better purpose upon other objects. — Dr. Ralph Cudworth : Sennon 1, appended to Intellectual System of the Universe, vol. ii. pp. 554, 556. The Lord Jesus, in wisdom and tender mercy, estabHshed a law of grace, and rule of Hfe, pure and perfect, but simple and plain ; lajing the condition of man's salvation more in the honesty of the believing heart than in the strength of wit, and subtlety of a knowing head. He comprised the truths which were of necessity to salvation in a narrow room ; so that the Christian faith was a matter of great plain- ness and simplicity. ... By the occasion of heretics' quarrel and errors, the serpent steps in, and will needs be a spirit of zeal in the church; and he will so overdo against heretics, that he persuades them they must enlarge their creed, and add this clause against one, and that against another, and all was but for the perfecting and pre- ser\*ing of the Christian faith. . . . He had got them, with a religious, zealous cruelty to their own and others' souls, to lay all their salvation, and the peace of the church, upon some unsearchable mysteries about the Trinity, which God either never revealed, or never clearly revealed, or never laid so great a stress upon. Yet he per'^uades them, that there was Scripture-proof enough for these ; only the Scripture spoke it but in the premises or in darker terras, and they must but gather into their creed the consequences, and put it into plainer expressions, which heretics might not so easily corrupt, pervert, or evade. — K I CHARD Baxter : T%e Right Method ; in Practical f forks, vol ix. pp. 192-3. Of the divine Founder of our religion, it is impossible to peruse the evangehcal histories, without observing how little ke fiivored the vanity of inquisitiveness ; how much more rarely he condescended to sati'^fv curiosity than to relieve distress ; and how much he desired that his followers should rather excel in goodness than in laiowledge. — Ur. S.iMUEL JoiLN'SON: Rambler, No. 81. 232 SIMPLICITY OF OUR LORD'S TEACHINGS Christianity is a religion intended for general use : it appeals to the common feelings of our nature, and never clashes with the imbiased dictates of our reason. We may therefore rank it among the bene- ficial tendencies, as well as the pecuhar evidences, of such a rehgion, that the Author of it abstained from all abstruse speculations, &c. — Dr. Samuel Parr : Works, vol v. p. 507. Wliile Jesus requires us to beheve in the Father, Son, and Holy Spii'it, he has nowhere taught us or required us to believe the learned distinctions respecting this doctrine which have been mtroduced since the fourth century. The undeserved benefits which they had received from Father, Son, and Holy Sphit, were the gi-eat subjects to which Jesus pointed his followers in the passage above cited [Matt. xxviiL 19], and in others; that they were now able to understand and worship God in a more perfect manner, to approach him as their Father and Benefactor in spuit and in truth ; that theu' minds were now enhghtened by the instructions given them by the Son of God, who had been sent into the world to be their Teacher, and that their souls were redeemed by his death ; that, in consequence of what Christ had already done and would yet do, they might be advanced in moj-al perfection, and made holy, — a work specially ascribed to the aids and influence of the Holy Spirit . . . He did not reveal this doctrine to men to furnish them with matter for speculation and dispute, and did not, therefore, prescribe any formulas by which the one or the other could have been excited. — G. C. Knapp : Christ. Theol., sect, xxxiii. 2. Jesus is not the author of a dogmatic theology, but the author and finisher of faith, lleb. xii. 2 ; not the founder of a school, but empha- tically the founder of rehgion and of the church. On this account he did not propound dogmas dressed in a scientific garb ; but he taught tlie word of God in a simply human and popubr manner, for the most part in parables and sentences. — K. K. Hagenbach : Compendium of the History of Doctrines, vol. i. § 17. There is sometliing most highly interesting and instructive in the manner in which the Saviour adapted his communications to the occa- sions on which they were to be made, and to the purposes which he endeavored to effect by them. A modern preacher would have carried the metiiphysics of theolog)' all over the villages of Galik^e, and would have puzzled the woman of Samaria, or tlie inquiring ruler, \\ ith ques- tions about the nature of the Godhead, or the distinction between moral and natural inabihty. But Jesus Christ pressed simple duty. The two great elementary prmciples of religion are these, — SIMPLICITY OF OUR LORD'S TEACHINGS. 233 ibii duty of strong benevolent interest in every fellow-being, and of submission and gratitude towards tlie Supreme. Jesas Christ has said, that these constitute the foundation on which all revealed religion rests. — Jacob Abbott: IVie Corner-stone, pp. 187, 339. Christ was the dinnest of theologians, because he taught not in abstraction, but exemplification ; not in dogmas merely, but deeds ; in the ardor of his heart, as well as the energy of his mind ; in the gentleness of his demeanor, and the beneficent industry of his life. His anibition was to teach, not so much the new as the true, and the true not as a logical formula or dogmatical proposition, but as a ti'ansparent and comprehensive religious sentiment, enlightening the conscience, spiritualizing the heai% elevating the soul, and regenerating the entire family of man, as it swept outward with infinite expansive- ness to embrace the world. He knew that the fundamental principles of reUgion which he taught lay so near to the reason and conscience of mankind, that they needed only to have their attention directed towards them, in order to secm'e assent. For this reason, Jesus delivered his instructions with such a clearness and simpHcity, such an energy and power, that they commended themselves imme- diately to every ingenuous heart. . . . He realized, in the presence of the human race, an ideal of human perfection level to popular com- prehension and within the reach of alL In his person, his demeanor, and his speech, the world saw the infinite brought doMTi to our stand- ard, so raaHzed that we can easily understand it, and feel the majesty and beauty of that love to Chiist which is notliing but the imitation of God brought near to the roused intellect and heart. . , . The doc- trines of Christ were at the same time the most practical and profound. His precepts were level to the capacities of a child, and yet they con- tained principles which the most matured and soaring intellect could never outnm By the representation which Jesus gave of the doctrine of the one only and Supreme God, and of the nature of acceptable worship, very important objects were to be accomplished. He exhibited true religion with such clearness and simpHcity, that those of the humblest capacities, even children, might comprehend it. . . . Chi'ist would teach man, that there is no spiritual progress for him till he discovers that truth is as much a thing to be felt as a thing to be perceived ; and that it is only a very small portion of truth that the philosopher's analysis, the logician's syllogisms, theological dogmas, and sectarian creeds, can impart to the immortiil soul. — E. L. !\L\GOON : Republican Christianity, pp. 58, 93, 97-9, 240-1. 20* 234 INTELLIGIBILITT OF CHRISTIAN PPINCIPLES. fiECT. II. — THE PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIAXLTT SUITABLE TO ALL CAPACITIES. My gracious God, how plain Are thy directions given I Oh, may I never read in vain, But find the path to heaven! Isaac Watt3. All things ia Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed for sah^ation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the milearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them. — Westminster Drtnes : Confession of Faith, chap. i. 7. The Christian reUgion is, as Gregory y^AZLVszES says, simplex d nuda, nisi prave in artem difficillimam convaieretur : it is a plain, an easy, a perspicuous truth. — John Doxxe : Sermons, No. VIL S. T. Coleridge, by Avhom we borrow this extract, beautifully says in his note on it (Literaiy Remains, in Works, vol. v. p. 90), that " a religion of ideas, spiritual truths, or truth-powers, — not of notions and conceptions, the manufacture of the understanding, — is therefore simplex ei nuda, that is, imm.ediate ; like the clear blue heaven of Italy, deep and transparent, an ocean unfathomable in its depth, and yet ground all the way." Seeing, however, that the representation of Christianity as a religion which may easily be understood by all will naturally lead to Unitarianism, Colekidgk exclaims, " Oh, let not the simplex et nuda of Gregory be perverted to the Socinian, ' plain and easy for the meanest understandings ' ! " Because [the] Christian religion was intended and instituted for the good of mankind, whether poor or rich, learned or unlearned, simple or prudent, wise or weak, it was fitted with such plain, easy, and evident directions, both for things to be known and things to be done, in order to the attainment of the end for which it was designed, that might be understood by any capacity that had the ordinary and common use of reason or human underst;mding, and by the common assistance of the divine grace miglit be practised by them. The ere- dtnda, or things to be known or believed, as simjjly necessary to those ends, arc but few and intelligible, brielly delivered in that summary of [the] Christian religion usually called the Apostles' Creed. — SiB MviTiiEW ILvLE : A Discourse of Relip;ion, p. 4. rNTELLIGTBILITY OF CURISTIAX PRINCIPLES. 235 Considering the wisdom and goodness of Almighty God, I cannot possibly believe but that all things necessiiry to be believed and prac- tised by Christians, in order to their eternal salvation, are pbinly con- tained in the Holy Scriptures. God surely hath not dealt so hardly with mankind as to make any thing necessary to be believed or practised by us which he hath not made sufficiently plain to the capacity of the unlearned as well as of the learned. God forbid that it should be impossible for any man to be saved and to get to heaven without a great deal of learning to direct and carry him thither, when the far greatest part of mankind have no learning at all ! It was well said by Er.\smus, that " it was never well with the Christian world since it began to be a matter of so much subtilty and wit for a mau to be a true Christian." — Ap.CHBlsnoP TiLLOTSON : Sermon 44 ; in n'orks, vol. iii. p. 219. I know not whence it comes to pass, that men love to make plain things obscure, and like nothing in religion but riddles and mysteries. God, indeed, was pleased to institute a great many ceremonies (and many of them of very obscure signification) in the Jewish worship, to awe their childish minds into a greater veneration for his di\-ine majesty. But, in these last days, God hath sent his own Son into the world to make a plain and easy and perfect revelation of his will, to publish such a reUgion as may approve itself to our reason, and capti- \'ate our affections by its natural charms and beauties. And there cannot be a greater injur)- to the Christian religion than to render it obscure and unintelligible ; and yet too many there are who despise every thing which they understand, and think nothing a sufficient trial of their faith but what contradicts the sense and reason of mankind. — Dr. William Sherlock : Discourse concerning tJie Knowledge of Christ, chap. iv. sect. 2. Whence is it, that, amidst all the obscurities that surround us, God has placed practical duties in a light so remarkably clear ? Whence is it that doctrines most clearly revealed are, however, so expressed as to fm-nish difficulties, if not substantial and real, yet Hkely and appa- rent ; and that the practical part is so clearly revealed that it is not liable to any objections which have any show or color of argument ? My brethren, either we must deny the wisdom of the Creator, or wu must infer this consequence, that what is most necessary to be known, what will be most fatal to man to neglect, what we ought most invio- lably to preserve, is practical religion. — James Saurin : »Spr7jiorw, voL IL pp. 106-7. 2^0 INTELLIGIBILITY OF CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. The Christian religion, according to my mind, is a ver)- simple thing, intelligible to the meanest capacity, and what, if we are at pains to join practice to knowledge, we may make ourselves thoroughly acquainted with, without turning over many books. It is the distin- guishing excellence of this rehgion, that it is entirely popular, and fitted, both in its doctrines and in its evidences, to all conditions and capacities of reasonable creatures, — a character which does not belong to any other religious or philosophical system that ever appeared in the world, I wonder to see so many men, eminent both for their piety and for their capacity, laboring to make a mystery of this di\-ine insti- tution. If God vouchsafes to reveal himself to mankind, can we suppose that he chooses to do so in such a manner as that none but the learned and contemplative can understand him ? The generality of mankind can never, in any possible circumstances, have leism-e or capacity for learning, or profound contemplation. If, therefore, we make Christianity a mystery, we exclude the greater part of mankind from the knowledge of it ; which is directly contrary to the intention of its Author, as is plain from his explicit and reiterated declarations. In a word, I am perfectly con\-inced, that an intimate acquaintance with the Scripture, particularly the Gospels, is all that is necessar)* to our accomplishment in true Christian knowledge. — Dr. James Beattie : Letters, pp. 67-8. Every truth contained in divine revelation, or deducible from it, is not conveyed vith equal perspicuity, nor is in itself of equal impor- tance. There are some things so often and so clearly laid down in Scripture, that hardly any who profess the belief of revealed religion pretend to question them. About these there is no controversy in the church. Such are the doctrines of the unity, the spirituality, the natural and moral attributes, of God ; the creation, preservation, and government of the world by him ; the principal events in the life of Jesus Christ, as well as his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension^ the doctrine of a future judgment, heaven and hell ; together with all those moral truths which exhibit the great outlines of our duty tc God, our neighbor, and ourselves. In general, it will be found, tliat what is of most imjiortance to us to be acquainted with and believed, is oftenest and most clearly inculcated; and that, as we find there are degi'ees in belief as well as in evidence, it is a very natural and just conclusion, that our belief in those points is most rigorously required which are notified to us in Scripture with the clearest evidence Is ... the doctrine of revelation abstruse and metaph)sical, and INTELLIGIBILITY OF CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 237 therefore not to be apprehended by any who have not t)cen accus- tomed to the most profound and ab.sti*act researches ? By no means. The character -svhich Holy Writ gives of its own doctrine is the very reverse of this. It is pure and plain, such as " enlighteneth the eyes, and makcth "wise the simple." . . . The most essential truths are ever the most perspicuous. — Dr. Gi':orge Campbell: Lechtres on Sys- tematic Thcolog-ij and Pidpit Eloquence, pp. 16, 17 ; 137, 139. It may be reckoned a necessary characteristic of divine revelation, that it shall be delivered in a manner the most adapted to what are vulgarly called the meanest capacities ; and by this perspicuity, both of precept and of doctrine, the whole Bible is remarkably distinguished. . . . Obscurities undoubtedly have arisen from the great antiquity of the Sacred Writings, from the changes w^hich time makes m language, and from some points of ancient history, become dark or doubtful ; but these affect only particular passages, and bring no difficulty at all upon the general doctrine of revelation, which is the only thing of universal and perpetual importance. — Bishop Horsley : Sermons* No. VII. p. 76. It has been an oj)inion invariably received in all Protestant coun- tries, that whatever is necessary to be beheved is intelligible to all persons who read the Scriptures with no other view than to investigate and embrace the truth. It would be easy to produce a cloud of au- thorities to this purpose. — Dr. John Sy'MOXds : Observations upon the Expediency of Revising the Present English Version of the Epis- tles in the JVew Testament, p. xv. While there are many things which God conceals, and thereby advances his glory, he has made manifest whatever is essential for man to know. Whatever is intimately connected with our duty is most plainly taught : whatever is important to our welfare and happiness is fully revealed. — Robert Hall : Sermon on Prov. xxv. 2 ; in fVorkst vol. iii. p. 328. It has been repeatedly and most justly noticed, both as matter of admiration and of gratitude, as at once among the strongest evidences and the most valuable characteristics of our Christian faith, that, under the covenant and dis])ensation of grace, the things most essentially necessary to man's Sidvation are revealed in the plainest and most unequivocal terms, are made (wheresoever the perversity of the human will does not oppose itself to the teaching of the Spirit of God) clear and intelUgible to all men. — J. J. Conybe.\RE : Bampton LedureSi page 1. 238 INTELLIGIBILITY OF CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. The dubious twilight of mystical devotion, and the vague appre- hension of unrevealed mysteries, surely cannot but seem greatly at variance with the very nature of Christianity, to those who regard it as fully and finally disclosed in the M-ritten word. . . . That which is disclosed is perspicuous and undisguised ; and with this alone it is that we are concerned : with what may be hidden from us, we have nothing to do. llehgion to us exists only so far as it is clearly revealed. The acknoAvledgment of this, upon its proper evidence, is faith : the sus- picion that there may be something beyond, with which we are yet concerned, is the sphit of mysticism. — Baden Powell : Tradition Unveiled, p. 74 ; apud " Is the Church of England a Scriptural C^wrcA?" pp. 12, 13. The truth is, that a very large part of this profound theology is nothing better than a mere jargon of words without meaning, unintel- Hgible even to " the learned " themselves, and m respect of which the people have already this great advantage over such teachers, — that the people are aware of their own ignorance of these matters, while their teachers pride themselves on understanding what really cannot be understood. Sometimes, indeed, when they are pressed with objections to their o^vn explanations of Scripture doctrines, diNines are apt to say that these are mysteries which cannot be understood by even the most exalted intellects, and that it is impious to pry into them too curiously, or bring them to the test of reason. But then the answer is obvious : " If you do not understand these things, why do you undertake to explain them ? To every thing, indeed, which God has revealed, the deepest reverence and the lowest submission are due ; but not so to man's expHcation of it. If we venture to give a further accoimt of what he has said, it should, at least, be a rational and intelligible account." . . . Many ingenious theories have, indeed, from time to time, been devised and set forth to explaui and reconcile the statements of Scripture with respect to the Trinity, the atone- ment, the divine decrees, and other matters, on which the Bible gives us only imperfect information. On such subjects, men have taken up the hints which the sacred writers seemed to drop, and sought to fol- low them up by conjecturing what the full account of the matter nmi) be ; and then they have gone on to settle that this account, which they have conjectured, must be the true one, because it gives what they thinlc II satisfactory solution of much that is dilficult without it ; and so they have finally made their own theories a i)art of the gospel. — ARCH- BISHOP WUATELY : Cautions for the Times, pp. 275-7. CHRISTIANITY NOT SPECULATIVE, BUT PRACTICAL. 239 SECT. m. — CHRISTIANITY NOT A RELIGION OF SPECULATH'E OB THEORETICAL PROPOSITIONS, BUT OF VITAL FACTS AND PRACTICAL PRINCIPLES. To them, the Bounding jargon of the schools Seems \?hat it is, — a cap and bell for fools : The light they walk by, kindled from above. Shows them the shortest way to life and love. COWPEB. Instead of those simple and clear ideas which render the truth and majesty of the Christian religion sensible, and which satisfy a man's reason and move his heart, we meet with nothing in several bodies of divinity but metaphysical notions, curious and needless questions, distinctions, and obscure terms. Li a word, we find there such intri- cate theology, that the very apostles themselves, if they came into the world again, would not be able to understand it, "without the help of a particular revelation. This scholastic di\dnity has done more mischief to religion than we are able to express. There is not any thing that has more con'upted the purity of the Christian reUgion, that has more obscm-ed matters, multiphed controversies, disturbed the peace of the church, or given rise to so many heresies and schisms. — John F, OsTERVALD: Causcs of the Prese7it Corruption of Christians; in Watson^ s TVieological Tracts, vol. vi. pp. 297-8. The manner of teaching religious truths was [in the first century] perfectly simple, and remote from all the rules of the philosophers, and ail the precepts of human art. . . . Nor did any apostle, or any one of their immediate disciples, collect and arrange the principal doctrines of Christianity in a scientific or regular system. The cir- cumstances of the times did not require this ; and the followers of Christ were more solicitous to exhibit the religion they had embraced, by their tempers and conduct, than to explain its i^rinciples scientifi- cally, and arrange them according to the principles of art. There is, indeed, extant a brief summary of Christian doctrines, which is called the Apostles' Creed ; and which, from the fourtli century onward, was attributed to Christ's ambassadors themselves. But, at this day, all who have any knowledge of antiquity confess unanimously tliat this opinion is a mistake, and has no foundation. — John L. MosiiEiy ' hWIesiastinal History, book i. cent. i. part 2, chap. 3, § 3, 4. 240 CHRISTIANITY NOT SPECULATIVE, BUT PRACTICAL. The gospel is not a system of theology, nor a syntagma of theo- retical propositions and conclusions for the enlargement of speculative knowledge, ethical or metaphysical. But it is a history, a series of facts and events related or announced. These do, indeed, involve, or rather I should say they at the same time are, most important doctrinal truths ; but still facts and declarations of facts. — S. T. Coleridge : Aids to Reflection ; in Works, voL i. pp. 234-5. "We might suppose, from such notions of the Christian faith [the notions entertained by modem fanatics], that Christianity was a set of speculative disquisitions, where, if a man agreed only with the barren and useless results, he was left in liberty to follow the dences of liis own heart, and to lead what manner of life his fe,ncy or his passions might dictate. It is evangehcal, according to these notions, to preach to men of high and exalted mysteries: it is une\'angelical to warn men against pride, against anger, against avarice, against fraud, against all the innumerable temptations by which we are hmTied away from our duty to our Creator, and from the great care of salvation. . . . But let any man tm-n to his gospel, and see if there is a single instance of our blessed Sa\iour's life where he does not eagerly seize upon every opportunity of inculcating something pmctical, of bringing some passion under subjection, of promoting the happiness of the world, by teaching his followers to abstain from something hm*tful, and to do something useful. . . . But the moment fanatical men hear any thing plain and practical introduced into religion, they say this is secular, this is worldly, this is moral, this is not of Clu'ist. — Sydney Smith : Sermons, vol. i. pp. 98-100. It was the consummate excellence of Christianity, that it blended in apparently indissoluble union religious and moral perfection. Its essential doctrine was, in its pure theory, inseparable from humane, virtuous, and charitable disposition. Piety to God, as he was imper- sonated in Christ, worked out, as it seemed, by spontaneous energy into Christian beneficence. But there has always been a strong pro- pensity to disturb this nice balance : the dogmatic part of religion, the province of faith, is constantly endeavoring to set itself apart, and to maintiiin a separate existence. . . . The midtiplication and subtle refine- ment of theologic dogmas, the engrossing interest excited by some dominant tenet, especially if they are associated with or embodied in a minute and rigorous ceremonial, tend to satisfy and lull the mind into complacent acquiescence in its own religious completeness. — H. H MlLMAX: History of Christianity, book iv. chap. 5. CnniSTlAXITY NOT SPECDLATTTE, BUT PRACTICAL. 241 ^Ve sliould rather point out to objectors, that what is revealed is practical, and not specuhtive ; that what the Scriptures are concerned with is not the philoso])hy of the human mind in itself, nor yet the philosophy of the divine natm-e in itself, but (that which is i)roperly religion) tlie relation and connection of the two beings, — what God is to us, wh.it he has done and will do for us, and what we are to be and to do in regard to him. — ARCHBIsnop Wiutely: Sermons on V.irious Subjects, p. 136. Christians . . . are called upon to consider, not so much the doc- trines or the duties of Christianity, as they are its design, its great object, its nature, its tendency, its genius. They have disputed long and earnestly on its doctrines ; they have hesitated and doubted, and been reluctant to follow the precepts of the New Testament. Let them try now to drink in its spirit. Let them examine what the pro- fession of rehgion means, not in regard to one or two doctrines, or one or two precepts, but in its inherent spirit, in its true import, in its \-itaUty as a thing that is to come into the soul with spiritual power, waking the dead to life. Christianity is not a set of opinions, nor a system of duties. It is not an orthodox creed, nor a moral law. It is life and light. . . . He who does not catch its spirit knows nothing about it. Now, this spirit is, more than any thing else, diffusive benevolence. ... It is doing good to all men. It is glad tidings of great joy for all people. Christianity is not designed for one denomination, or one color, or one language. It is all-diffusive, like the air which surrounds us. — B. B. Edwards, as quoted in Bib. Sacra for October, 1853. It is nowhere mtimated [in the Scriptures] that Christianity is a speculation or a theory, or that any terms of human thought scienti* fically emplo}-ed can organize it. Nothing is said of theologic confes- sions or articles, or of scientific efforts in Christian doctrine. The texts constantly cited in commendation of "sound doctrine," and supposed to be injunctions that maintain the necessity of being grounded in theologic articles, are found, when nan-owly inspected, to be only scholastic misappUcations or mistranslations, — tokens of the universal imposture regarding this matter of doctrine, that, long ages ago, had gotten possession of the Christian mind. . . . Thus, we have the e])ilhet " sound," which occurs many times in application to " words," " speech," " faith," " doctrine," and is understood to com- mend the study of a rugged, solid, and sturdy system of speculative theology : whereas it only means " wholesome," as it is once tranf*- btetl; tint i-, he.ilth-giving ; in the original, hygeian. So also the 21 242 CHRISTIAXTTY NOT SPECULATIVE, BUT PRACTICAI. flimous all-text of Paul, a text which seems to have worn itself iiitx) the tongues of m:\iiy teachers, becomes what it is only in the manner above described. It reads in the translation, " Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me." In the original, " Hold tast the impression of the health-giving words thou heardest of me," &c. ; having no reference at all to any matter of theoretic doctrine, or church article, any more than to the Copernican doctrines of astro- nomy. The text in Jude, " Contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the saints," has suffered a similar hardship. Lite- rally and properly translated, the call or exhortation is — " Strive (agonize) for the faith, once for all delivered to the saints." " Con- tend," a word of churchly pugnacity, is not here. By " the faith," too, is meant no scheme of speculative or theologic doctrine, but the practical doctrine of a godly life, as grounded in the Hving faith of Christ. The current of the Epistle shows that the errors in view are not errors of opinion, but Ucentious manners and wicked practices. . . , Furthermore, it will be seen that the apostles are continually protest- ing, in one form or another, against exactly that which most resembles a speculative and theoretic activity, — " gnosis " or " knowledge " of one ; the " wisdom " of another ; " foolish and unlearned questions that do gender strifes ; " " oppositions of science, falsely so called ; " " vain janglings ; " " profane and vain babblings ; " the being spoiled " through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ ; " " doting about questions and strifes of words." They discourage, in a word, all the attempts of inquisitive and would-be wise men to work out a theory or philosophem of the gospel, by activity in and about their o^\•n human centre. Christ, they say, is the doctrine, and the method of reason is faith. " Be not carried about with divers and strange doc- trines " (i. e. doctrines of mere speculation, that do not minister to godly edifying, and are therefore " strange," i. e. foreign, or outside of the Christian truth), "for it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace ; " implying a conviction, as we see, that it is the heart, and not any i)latlbrm of articles, that Mill anchor a 50ul in stability. And for just this reason, I su])])ose, the same ajiostle declares that the grand test of orthodoxy is in what the heart receives, and not in what the liead thinks : " Now the end of the commandment," that which includes every thing, " is charity, out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." — Dr, Hor.\ce Bushxell : Christ in Theology^ pp. 74-7. SIMPLICITY OF NETV-TESTAMENT CIIEEDS. 243 SECT. r\'. — THE CREEDS AND MYSTERIES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT SIMPLE AND COMPREHENSIBLE, I am more zealous than ever I was for the reduction of the Christian faith to the primitive simplicity; and more confident that the church will never have peace and concord, till it be so done, as to the test of men's faith and communion. Richard Baxter. § 1. Creeds of the New Testament. If we obsen'e the creeds or symbols of belief that are in the New Testament, we shall find them very short. " Lord, I believe that ihou art the Son of God, who was to come into the world : " that was Martha's creed. " Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God : " that was Peter's creed. " We know and believe that thou art Christ, the Son of the living God : " that was the creed of all the apos- tles. " This is life eternal, that they know thee, the only true God ; and whom thou hast sent, Jesus Christ : " that was the creed which our blessed Lord himself propounded. And again : " I am the resurrection and the life : he that believeth in me, yea, though he were dead, yet shall he live ; and he that liveth and believeth in me shall not die for ever : " that was the catechism that Christ made for Martha, and questioned her upon the article, " Believest thou this ? " And this behef was the end of the gospel, and in sufficient jjerfect order to eternal Hfe. For so St. John : " These things are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that, belie\'ing, ye might have life through his name." — " For this is the word of faith which we preach, namely, if you with the mouth confess Jesus to be the Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved : " that is the Christian's creed. " For I have resolved to know nothing amongst you but Jesus Christ, and him crucified ; that in us ye may learn not to be wise above that wliich is written, that ye may not be pufied up one for another, one against another : " that was St. Paul's creed, and that which he recommends to the church of Rome, to prevent factions and pride and schism. The same course he takes with the Corintliian church : " I make known unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, whiph ye have received, in which ye stand, and by which ye are saved, if ye hold what T deliver to you," &:c. Well, what is that gospel l>y which they should be saved? It was but this, " that Christ 244 sniPLiciTY OF new-testamext creeds. died for our sins, that he was buried, that he rose again the third day," &c. So that the sum is this : The Gentiles' creed, or the creed in the natural law, is that which St. Paul sets dovcn in the Epistle to the Hebrews, that " God is, and that God is a reAvarder." Add to this the Christian creed, that Jesus is the Lord, — that he is the Christ of God, — that he died for our sins, — that he rose again from the dead ; and there is no question but he that believes this heartily, and confesses it constantly, and lives accordingly, shall be saved. We cannot be deceived : it is so pkinly, so certainly, affirmed in Scripture, that there is no place left for hesitation, . . . Nothing more plain than that the believing in Jesus Christ is that fundamental article upon which every other proposition is but a superstructure, but itself alone ■with a good life is sufficient to salvation. All other things are advantage or disad^^ntage, according as they happen ; but salvation depends not upon them. ... In proportion to this " measure of faith," the apostles preached " the doctrine of faith." St. Peter's first sermon was, that " Jesus is Christ, that he was crucified, and rose again from the dead ; " and they that believed this were presently baptized. His second sermon was the same ; and then also he bap- tized proselytes into that confession. . . . This was the sum of all that St Paul preached in the sjTiagogues and assembhes of the people : this he disputed for, this he proved laboriously, — that Jesus is Christ ; that he is the Son of God; that he did, that he ought to, suffer, and rise again the third day; and this was all that new doctrine for which the Athenians and other Greeks wondered at him ; and he seemed to them to be a setter-forth of strange gods, " because he preached Jesus and the resurrection." This was it into which the jailer and all his house were baptized; this is it which was pro- pounded to him as the only and sufficient means of salvation : " Believe in the Lord Jesus, and thou slialt be saved, and all thine house." This thing was illustrated sometimes with other glorious things still promoting the foith and honor of Jesus, as that he ascended into heaven, and shall be the Judge of all the world. But this was the whole faith : " The things which concerned the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ," was the large circumference of the Christian fiith. Tiiat is, such articles which represent God to be our Lord, and Jesus Christ to be his Son, the Saviour of the world ; tliat he (lied for us, and rose again and was glorified, and reigns over all tl\e world, and shall be our Judge, and in the resurrection shall give us a/xording to our works; that in his name only we si kill be saved< SlMin.ICITY OF NEW-TESTAMENT CIIEEDS. 245 that i>:, I y faith and obedience in him, by the mercies of God revealed tx) the world in Jesus Christ, — this is all which the Scripture calla necessary ; this is that faith alone into which all the church was bap- tized ; which faith, when it was made ahve by charity, was and is the feith by which " the just shall hve." — Jeremy Taylor : Tiie Rule of Conscience, book n. cliap. iii. rule xiv. 6<5, 66 ; in IVorLf, vol. xiii. pp. 15o-8. At the first promulgation of the gospel, all w'.io professed firmly to beUeve that Jesus was the only Kedeemer of mankind, and who promised to lead a holy life conibrmable to the rehgion he taught, were received immediately among the disciples of Christ j nor did a more full instruction in the principles of Christianity precede their baptism, but followed after it. — John L. Mosheim : Ecclesiastical History, book i. cent. i. part 2, chap. 3, § 5. To me nothing is more evident than that the essence of Chris- tianity, abstractly considered, consists in the system of doctrines and duties revealed by our Lord Jesus Christ; and that the essence of the Christian character consists in the beHef of the one, and the obedience of the other. "Beheve in the Lord Jesus Christ," says the apostle, " and thou shalt be saved." Again, speaking of Christ, he says, " Being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salva- tion to all them that obey him." The terms rendered sometimes " beheving," and sometimes " obeying," are commonly of so extensive signification as to include both senses, and are therefore used inter- changeably. — Dr. Geo. Campbell: Ecclesiastical Histori/, Lect. 4. No one acquamted mth Scripture will hesitate to pronounce, tliat the belief required in the records of our rehgion is the belief that " Jesus was indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world ; " " the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world." — "That they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent," is pronounced to be " eternal Hfe," even in that solemn and atfecting address which our Redeemer poured forth to the Father, just before the commencement of his sufferings. What- soever controversy may have been stinted about the meaning of these passages, it will, I apprehend, be an extremely difficult tisk ... to prove that the fault lies in the ambiguity of the records themselves. — Bishop Maltby : Illustrations of tJie Truth of the Christian Reli- ^'o«, pp. 304-5. It was a creed, and not a history, which, in all the accounts we have hi the Acts of the Apostles and elsewhere, formed the subject 21* 246 SIMPLICITY OF NEW-TESTAMENT CREEDS. of oral teaching. . . . But, resting as the creed did upon the history, containing no doubt in its primitive form a very few simple articles, would it not necessarily awaken curiosity as to the historic facts ? — II. H. MiLiMAN : History of Christianity, vol. i. p. 124. The existence and first development of the Christian church rests on an historical foundation, — on the acknowledgment of the fact that Jesus was the Messiah, — not on a certain system of ideas. Christ did not as a teacher propound a certain number of articles of faith ; but, while exhibiting liimself as the Redeemer and Sovereign in the kingdom of God, he founded his church on the facts of his life and sufferings, and of his triumph over death by the resm-rection. Thus the fu'st development of the church proceeded not from a certain system of ideas set forth in a creed, but only from the acknowledg- ment of one fact which included in itself all the rest that formed the essence of Christianity, — the acknowledgment of Jesus as the Mes- siah, in which were involved the facts by which he was accredited as such by God, and demonstrated to mankind ; namely, his resurrection, glorification, and continual agency on earth for the establishment of his kingdom in divine power. — AUGUSTUS Neandeh : History of tJie Planting of the Christian Church, vok i. p. 20, and vol. ii. p. 64, Bohn's edition. ^^'^ithout any elaborate WTitten confessions, believers professed theil perfect faith in Christ as the Messiah, the Son of God, and the Saviour of men; in the Holy Scriptures as the word of God; in the Holy Spirit as the sanctifier and the spirit of truth ; and in the Scripture doctrines of holiness in this life, and of a future state. All this, and much more, was comprehended in faith in Christ To beheve in Christ was to believe in the whole system of Christianity. Nothing more than an explicit profession of faith in Christ appears to have been necessary to admission to the church. Acts viii. 37 ; x\i. 31-34. The elaborate confessions of faith made use of by most denominations in modern times are a deviation from Christian and a])ostolic usage. They are meant to be improvements of the institutions of Christ ; but they are really corruptions of them. Christ made no such standards, and required no subscrij)tions to them. Such stiindards would have materially impeded the progress of religion in the apostolic age, and they have always been injiu-ious. Had an ekborate and extended confession of Christian faith been necessary, such an instrument ought to have been given to the ])rimitive church by its divine Founder. — Leicester A. Sawyer: Organic Christianity, pp. 28-9. COJIIMUillEXSIBILlTY OF NEW-TESTAMENT MYSTERIES. 247 § 2. Mysteries of the New Testament.. The Greek word fivarf/piov occui's frequently in tlie New Testament, ind is uiiifonnly rendered, in the English translation, " mystery." We all know that by the most current use of the English word " mystery " is denoted some doctrine to human reason incomprehensible; in other words, such a doctrine as exhi uts ditliculties, and even a})parent con- tradictions, which we cannot solve or ex])lain. Another use of the word, which is often to be met with in ecclesiastic writers of former ages, and in foreign writers of the present age, is to signify some religious ceremony or rite, especially those now denominated sacra/- ments. "When we come to examine the Scriptures critically, and malvC them serve for their o^^^l inter])reters, which is the surest way of attiiiniug the true knowledge of them, we shall find, if I mistake not, tliat both these senses ai'e unsupported by the usage of the inspired penmen. The leading sense of the word is arcanum, a secret ; any tiling not disclosed, not published to the world, though perhaps communicated to a select number. This is totally different from the cui*rent sense of the English word "myster}'," something incomprehensible. In the former acceptation, a thing was no longer a mystery tlian whilst it remained unrevealed ; in the latter, a thing is equally a mystery after the revelation as before. To the former we aj)ply, proj)erly, the epithet " unlvno^vn ; " to the latter we may, in a great measure, apply the term " miknowable." Thus the proposition that God would call the Gentiles, and receive them into his church, was as intelligible or comprehensible as that he once had called the descendints of the patriarchs, or as any plain proposition or historical fact. Yet, whilst undiscovered, it remained, in the scriptural idiom, a " mystery," having been hidden from ages and generations ; but, after it had pleased God to reveal this his gracious purpose to the upostles by his Spirit, it was a mystery no longer. It is proper to take notice of one passage, wherein the word fivarr/pLov, it may be plausibly urged, must have the same sense with that which present use gives to the English word " mystery," and denote something, which, though revealed, is inexi^licable, and to human faculties unin- telligible. The words are, ** Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh," &c., 1 Tim. iii. 16. Admit that some of the great articles enun-.erated may be justly called mysteries in the ecclesListical and present acceptition of the term, it does not follow tlut this is the sense of the term here. The purport 248 COMPREHENSIBILITY OF NEW-TESTAMENT MYSTEHIES. of the sentence plainly is, " Great unquestionably is the di\ine secret, o: which our religion brings the discovery : God Avas manifest in the flesh," &c. — Abridged fi-oni Dr. George C'AMrBELL : 7%e Four Gospels, Diss. Lx. pai't i. §§ 1, 2, 3, 13. Ill support of his explanation of the terra " mystery," this able writer refers, among other passages, to 1 Cor. iv. 1, Matt. xiii. 11, and to those in ■which occur the phrases, "mystery of the gospel," "mystery of the faith," "mystery of God," and " mystery of Christ." As the expression has, unfortunately, I think, been admitted into our commmiion service, I am bounden to show you the origin of it. The word " mystery," then, is sometimes used for particular doctrmes of the gospel, as was the case also with sacramenlum : somethnes it is used for the whole collective religion of Christ. In both of these uses, it contains, not any proposition concerning the essence of the Deity, but those moral dispensations which are facts, and which, as such, can be fully comprehended by reason ; but which are called mysteries, because they were unknown before the coming of Clu'ist. That Chi'ist was sent by the Father is a fact ; that he taught the most holy doctiine is a fact ; that he worked miracles is a fact ; that he died upon the cross is a fact ; that he rose from the grave is a fact ; that his religion would be preached to the Gentiles is a fact; and all these facts ai-e so far mysterious as that they could not be known to us without a revelation from God. — Dr. Samuel Parr : Sernioiis on the Sacrament ; in Works, vol. vi. pp. 147-8. The Greek ixvgttjplov is commonly rendered " mystery." It answers to the Hebrew •'inD?2> and signifies in general any thing concealed, hidden, unknown. In the New Testament, it generally signifies doctrines which are concealed from men, either because they were never before published (in which sense every unknowTi doctrine is mysterious), or because they surpass human comprehension. Some doctrines are said to be mysterious for both of these reasons ; but more jfrequently doctrines which are simply unknown are billed by this name. Muar^piov signifies, therefore, in its bibhciil use, — (1) Chris- tianity in its wliole extent, because it was unknoA\Ti before its i)ubli- cation; e.g. 1 Tim. iii. 9. (2) Particular truths of the Christiim revelation; e.g. 1 Cor. iv. 1; xv. ol, and especially in the writings of Paul. (3) Tlie doctrine that tlie divine grace in Christ extends, without distinction, to Gentiles as well as Jews, because this doctrine vias so new to the Jews, and so foreign to their feelings ; e. g, Eph. . COMPllEUENSIBTLITY OF NEW-TESTAMENT MYSTERIES. 249 i. 9 ; iii. 3. Col. v. 6, scq., S:c. The word " mystery " is now com- monly used in theologi) in u n.ore limited sense. Here it signifies a doctrine revealed in the Holy Scriptures, the mode of which is inscini- table to the human understanding. ... Of this nature are the doctrines respecting Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; the union of two natures in Christ ; the atonement, &c. — G. C. ICn.ypp : Christian Thcolog-y, sect. \-i. 1, 2. But this excellent writer does not point out any passage of the Bible in which the word " mystery" is applied to the doctrine of three persons in one God, the incarnation of God the Son, or any other incomprehensible tenet in Trinitarian theology. The apostle [Paul] naturally makes allusion to these [heathen rites], by the use of the word " mystery," to denote those designs of God's proNidence, and those doctrinal truths, wliich had been kept concealed from mankind " till the fulness of time " was come, " but were now made manifest " to believers. . . . Our ordinary use of the word " mystery " conveys the notion of something that we cannot understand at all, and which it is fruitless to inquke into. . . . Such an expression as, " This is a mystery to us," conveys to us the idea tliat it is something we do not and cannot understand : to Paul it would convey the idea, tliat it is something which " now is made manifest," and which we are therefore called upon to contemplate and study ; even as liis office was " to make known the mystery of the gospel." Not that he meant to imply that we are able fully to under- stand the divine dispensations ; but it is not in reference to this their inscrutable character that he cills them mysteries, but the reverse : they are reckoned by him mysteries, not so far forth as they are hid- den and unintelligible, but so far forth as they are revealed and explained. — Archbishop Wh.\tely : Essa^js on Dljjlcidtics in PauVs Writings, pp. 288-9. The word " mystery " (uvaTTjpioi') means literally something into which one must be initiated before it is fully known (from fiviu, to initiate, to instruct) ; and then any thing which is concealed or hidden. We commonly use the word to denote that which is above our com- prehension, or unintelUgible ; but this is never the meaning of the word in the New TesUiment. It means there some doctrine or fact which has been concealed, or which has not before been fully re- vealed, or which has been set forth only by figures and symbols. When the doctrine is made known, \i may be as clear and plain aa any othei-. — Dr. Albert Barnes, in his note on Eph. i. 9. 250 BELIEF IN TRINITARIAN MYSTERIES SECT. V. — BELIEF IN UNINTELLIGIBLE MYSTERIES AND METAPHYSICAL CREEDS NOT ESSENTIAL TO SALVATION. Thank God ! man is not to be judged by man. — P. J. Baelet. If it were considered concerning Athanasius's Creed, how many people understand it not, how contrary to natural reason it seems, how little the Scripture says of those curiosities of explication, and how tradition was not clear on his side for the article itself, ... it had not been amiss if the final judgment had been left to Jesus Christ. . . . Indeed, to me it seems very hard to put uncharitableness into the creed, and so to make it become as an article of faith. — Jeremy Taylor : Liberty of Prophesying^ sect. ii. 36 ; in JVorks, voL vii. pp. 491-3. The belief of the Trinity is a practical belief. Far be it from us to think that every plain Christian shall be damned who knoweth not what a person in the Trinity is, as eternally inexistent, when all the divines and school wits as good as confess, after tedious disputes with unintelligible words, that they know not. — KiciiARD Baxter : Catechizing of Families ; in Practical Works, vol. xix. pp. 63-4. AVe beheve it to be taught in Scripture, that Jesus is the Son of God, in respect to his divine nature and eternal filiation ; but we dare not pronounce belief in this doctrine necessary to eternal salvation. The doctrine is, indeed, involved in so much obscurity and subtlety, that, after having harassed themselves in attempting to understand it, the most learned and tilented men have been forced to acknowledge their own ignorance. Now, it is incredible that the Almighty should have caused our everlasting happiness to depend on the reception of a dogma so obscure and perplexed, that in all probability no man can form a distinct conception of it. Many other dogmas are involved in the same obscurity, such as that of the most Holy Trinity, namely, that there is in one numerical essence three distinct persons; one begetting, another begotten, and a tliird jiroceeding ; — and that of the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, though only one, consists of two complete natures, the divine and the human. It auniot, tliere- fore, be urged that the belief of such doctrines is essential to salva- tion. — Abridged from PuiLiP LlMBOKCH : Theologia Chriatiana, lib. v. cap. 9, §§ 9, 10. I I NOT ESSENTIAL TO SALVATION. 251 The vulg-Ar sort thiiik that they know Christ enough cut of their creeds and catechisms, and conlessions of faith ; and if they have but a little acquainted themselves with these, and like parrots conned the words of them, they doubt not but they are sutiiciently instructed in all the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Many of the more learned, if they can but wrangle and dispute about Christ [about his Divinity, humanity, union of both together, and what not], imagine themselves to be groviii great proficients in the school of Clnist. . . . Our Sa^'iour prescribes his disciples another method to come to the right know- ledge of di\'ine truths, by doing of God's will. " He that will do my Father's will," saith he, " shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God." — Dr. Ralph Clt)worth : SeriTwri 1, appended to Intellectual Sijstetn of the Universe, vol. ii. pp. 549-50. Everhsting salvation, it is hoped, depends not on a belief in the doctrine of a third person in the Godliead. ... I do not think that God will condemn him who errs in this matter, particularly if he is an honest and conscientious inquirer. — J. D. Micilaelis : Annicr' kungen on John x\L 13-15. I insist upon no explication [of the doctrine of the Trinity] at all ; uo, not even on the best I ever saw ; I mean that which is given us in the creed commonly ascribed to Athanasius. I am far from sapng. He who does not assent to this "shall without doubt perish ever- lastingly." ... I dare not insist upon any one's using the word " Trinity " or " Person." I use them myself without any scruple, because I know of none better; but, if any man has any scruple concerning them, who shall constrain him to use them ? I cannot j much less would I burn a man alive, and that with moist, green wood, for sa}ing, *' Though I beheve the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God, yet I scruple using the words Tiinity and Pereons, because I do not find those terms in the Bible." These are the words which merciful John Cahin cites as wrote by Servetus in a letter to himself. — John Wesley : Sennon 60 ; in Works, vol. ii. p. 21. Bishop Burnet has said all that can well be said upon them [the damnatory sentences in the Athanasian Creed], but, in my opinion, to very little purpose. Honestly, therefore, did Archbishop Tillotson declare to him, " The account given of Athanasius's Creed seems to me in nowise satisfactory. I wish we were well rid of it." — .\nd so do I too, for the credit of our common Christianity. It has been a millstone about the neck of many tliousands of worthy men. To be 252 BELIEF IN TRINITAIIIAN MYSTERIES 8ui*e, (leclai'ations like these ascended out of the bottomless pit, to disgi-ace the subscribing clergy, to render ridiculous tlie doctrines of the gospel, to impel the ^vorld into infidelit}', and to danin the souls of those who, for the sake of filthy lucre, set their hands to what they do not honestly beheve. The truth is, though I do beheve the doc- trine of the Trinity as revealed in the Scriptures, yet I am not prepared, openly and expHcitly, to send to the Devi], under my solemn subscription, every one who cannot embrace the Athanasian illustration of it. In this thing the Lord i)ardon his servant for subscribing in time past. Assuredly I will do so no more. — DavID Simpson : Plea for Religion, p. 404, Appendix ii. This noble-minded man was prevented by death from putting into effect his resolution of quitting the Established Church of England. [1] What are the catechisms of the Romish church, of the EngUsh church, of the Scotch church, and of all other chm-ches, but a set of propositions which men of different natural capacities, educa- tions, prejudices, have fabricated (sometimes on the anvil of sincerity, oftener on that of ignorance, interest, or hypocrisy) from the divine materials furnished by the Bible ? And can any man of an enlarged charity believe, that his salvation will ultimately depend on a concur- rence in opinion with any of these niceties, which the several sects of Christians have assumed as essentially necessary for a Christian man's behef ? Oh, no ! Christianity is not a speculative business. One good act performed from a principle of obedience to the declared will of God will be of more service to every individual than all tlie specu- lative theology of St. Augustine [2] That man is not to be esteemed an Atheist who acknowledges tlie existence of a God, the Creator of the universe, though he cannot assent to all the truths of natural religion, which other men may undertake to deduce from that principle ; nor is he to be esteemed a Deist who acknowledges that Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world, though ho cannot assent to all the truths of revealed religion, which other men may think themselves warranted as deducing from thence. Still, you will ])ro1)ably rejoin, there must be many truths in the Christian religion concerning which no one ought to hesititc, inas- much as without a belief in them he cannot be reputed a Christian. Reputed ! I^y whom ? By Jesus Christ, his Lord and his God ; or by you ? Rash expositors of points of doubtful dispuUition ; intole- rant fiibricators of metaphysical creeds, and incongruous systems of NOT ESSENTIAL TO SALVATION. 253 theolog)'! Do you undertoke to measure the extent of any man's understiinding excei)t your own ; to estimate the strength and origin of liis habits of thinlving ; to appreciate his merit or demerit in the use of the talent which God has given him ; so as unerringly to pro- nounce that the behef of this or that doctrine is necessary to his salvation ? . . . K different men, in carefully and conscientiously examining the Scriptures, should arrive at different conclusions, even on points of the last importance, we trust that God, who alone knows wliiit every man is capable of, will be merciful to him tliat is in error. We trust that he will pardon the Unitarian, if he be in an error, because he has fallen into it from the dread of becoming an idolater, — of ginng that glory to another "which he conceives to be due to God alone. If the worshipper of Jesus Christ be in an error, we trust that God will pardon his mistake, because he has fallen into it from a dread of disobeying what he conceives to be revealed concern- ing the nature of the Son, or commanded concerning the honor to be given him. Both are actuated by the same principle, — the fear of God ; and, though that principle impels them into different roads, it is our hope and belief, that, if they add to their faith charity, they will meet in heaven. — Bishop Watson. The passage marked [1] is taken from the Anecdotes of Watson's Life, p. 405; that numbered [21, from the Preface to his Collection ot Theological Tracts, vol. 1. pp. xv. — xviii. That a belief in these formulas [those which have been retained since the Nicene Council in the system of the church, established and enforced] should be declared essential to salvation, as is done in the Athanasian Creed, cannot but be disapproved. Tliis creed, however, was not composed by Athanasius ; nor was it even ascribed to him before the seventh century, though it was probably composed in the fifth. The principle that any one who holds different views respecting the Trinity salvus esse non poterit [cannot be saved] . . . would lead us to exclude from salvation the great majority even of those Chris- tians who receive the doctrine and language of the Council of Nice ; for common Christians, after all the efforts of their teachers, will not unfrequently conceive of three Gods in the three persons of the God- head, and thus entertain an opinion which the creed condemns. But if the many pious believers in common Hfe who entertain this thoo- reticid error may yet be saved, then others who believe in Christ from the heart and obey his precepts, who have a personal experience of th» 22 251 BELIEF IN TRINITARIAN SITSTERIES practical effects of this doctrine, may also be saved, though they may adopt other particular theories and formulas respecting the Trinity, different from that commonly received. These particular formulas and theories, however much they may be regarded and insisted upon, have nothing to do with salvation. — G. C. Knapp : Christian Theology, sect, xxxiii. 2. "We know that different persons have deduced different and even opposite doctrines from the words of Scripture, and consequently there must be many errors among Christians ; but, since the gospel nowhere informs us what degree of error will exclude from eternal ha])i)iness, I am ready to acknowledge, that, in my judgment, notwith- standing the authority of former times, our chiu-ch would have acted more wisely and more consistently wath its general principles of mild- ness and toleration, if it had not adopted the damnatory clauses of the Athanasian Creed. Though I firmly believe that the doctrines themselves of this creed are all founded in Scripture, I cannot but conceive it to be both unnecessary and presumptuous to say, that, " except every one do keep them whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly." — Bishop Tomline : Elements of Christian Theolog}/, vol. ii. p. 222. 1 would willingly admit, that salvation may be obtained without a knowledge of the Athanasian Creed. Thousands and miUions of Christians have gone to their graves, w^ho have either never heard of it, or not understood it; and I would add, that let a man believe the Scriptures, let him profess his faith in Christ in the plain and simple language of the New Testament, and he may pass through Hfe as piously and happily, he may go to his grave with as quiet a con- science, and, more than this, he may rise again as freely pardoned and forgiven, as if he had dived into the depths of controversy, and traced the nature of the Deity through the highest walks of metaphysics. But, &c. — Dr. Edw. Burton : Theological Works, vol. i. p. 283. I do not believe the damnatory clauses in the Athanasian Creed, under any quahfication given of them, except such as substitute for them propositions of a wholly different character. Those clau«;es proceed on a false notion, which I have elsewhere noticed, that the imporUuice of all oj)inions touching God's nature is to be measured by his greatness; and that, therefore, erroneous notions about the Trinity are worse than erroneous notions about church government, or pious frauds, or any other dis])uted point on wliich there is a riglit and a WTong, a true and a false, and on which the wrong and the false NOT ESSENTIAL TO SALVATION. 255 nur^/ i"tleed be highly sinful ; but it docs not follow that they must be ; and their sinfulness does not depend uj)on their wrongness and ialsehood, but on other circumsUinces in the particular mind of the person holding them. — Dr. Thom.\s Arnold : Letter 185 ; in Life and Correspondence, pp. 321-2. By such a procedure [as that of persons stigmatizing as heterodox all appeal to private judgment, except that of their own judgment, and that of such as agree with them], uninspired and falUble men arrogate to themselves an authority which belongs only to God, and his inspired messengers ; and the creeds, articles, catechisms, and other formularies of a church, or the expositions, deductions, and assertions of an indindual theologian, are, practically, put in the place of the Holy Scriptures. ... To decide who are and who are not partakers of the benefits of the Christian covenant, and to prescribe to one's fellow- mortals, as the terms of salvation, the imphcit adoption of our own interpretations, is a most fearful presumption in men not producing miraculous proofs of an immediate divine mission. — Archbishop Whately : Essays on Dangers to Christian Faith, pp. 238-9. How was the noble heart of Dante crushed by the thought, that his dear master, and all the men whom he reverenced in the old world, were outcasts for not believing in the Trinity ! That thought e\'idently shook his faith ui the Trinity. And it would shake mine, because it would lead me to suppose that truth only became true when Chi'ist appeared, instead of being revealed by him for all ages past and to come ; so that whoever walked in the light then, whoever walks in it now, seeking glor}' and immortahty, desirous to be true, has glimpses of it, and will have the fruition of it, which is Kfe eter- nal. — Frederick D. Maurice : ,Yo