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diff --git a/31090-8.txt b/31090-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f41fe32 --- /dev/null +++ b/31090-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16951 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Inspiration and Interpretation, by John Burgon + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Inspiration and Interpretation + Seven Sermons Preached Before the University of Oxford + +Author: John Burgon + +Release Date: January 26, 2010 [EBook #31090] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INSPIRATION AND INTERPRETATION *** + + + + +Produced by Colin Bell, Daniel J. Mount, Dave Morgan and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + $Inspiration and Interpretation:$ + + SEVEN SERMONS PREACHED BEFORE THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD: + WITH PRELIMINARY REMARKS: + + BEING AN ANSWER TO A VOLUME ENTITLED + + "Essays and Reviews." + + BY THE + REV. JOHN WILLIAM BURGON, M.A., + FELLOW OF ORIEL COLLEGE, AND SELECT PREACHER. + + * * * * * + +I CANNOT HOLD MY PEACE, BECAUSE THOU HAST HEARD, O MY SOUL, +THE SOUND OF THE TRUMPET, THE ALARM OF WAR. + + Oxford & London: + J. H. and Jas. PARKER. + 1861. + + $Printed by Messrs. Parker, Cornmarket, Oxford.$ + + + TO THE REVEREND + + WILLIAM SEWELL, D.D., + + FELLOW OF EXETER COLLEGE: LATE PROFESSOR OF MORAL PHILOSOPHY IN THE + UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD; AND LATE WARDEN OF ST. PETER'S COLLEGE, RADLEY. + + * * * * * + +MY DEAR FRIEND, + +Let me have the satisfaction of inscribing this volume to yourself. I +know of no one who has more faithfully devoted himself to the sacred +cause of Christian Education: no one to whom those blessed Truths are +more precious, which of late have been so unscrupulously assailed, and +which the ensuing pages are humbly designed to uphold in their integrity. + +Affectionately yours, + +JOHN W. BURGON. + + + * * * * * + +=DEI GAR KAI HAIRESEIS EN HYMIN EINAI, HINA HOI DOKIMOI PHANEROI GENÔNTAI +EN HYMIN.= + +Ac si diceret: Ob hoc hæreseôn non statim divinitus eradicantur +auctores, ut probati manifesti fiant; id est, ut unusquisque quam tenax, +et fidelis, et fixus Catholicæ fidei sit amator, appareat. Et revera cum +quæque novitas ebullit, statim cernitur frumentorum gravitas, et levitas +palearum: tunc sine magno molimine excutitur ab areâ, quod nullo pondere +intra aream tenebatur.--VINCENTIUS LIRINENSIS, _Adversus Hæreses_, § 20. + + + + + +PREFACE. + + +I am unwilling that this volume should go forth to the world without +some account of its origin and of its contents. + +I. Appointed last year, (without solicitation on his part,) to the +office of Select Preacher, the present writer was called upon at the +commencement of the October Term to address the University. His Sermon, +(the first in the volume,) was simply intended to embody the advice +which he had already orally given to every Undergraduate who had sought +counsel at his hands for many years past in Oxford; advice which, to say +the truth, he was almost weary of repeating. Nothing more weighty or +more apposite, at all events, presented itself, for an introductory +address: nor has a review of the current of religious opinion, either +before or since, produced any change of opinion as to the importance of +what was on that first occasion advocated. + +Another, and another, and yet another preaching turn unexpectedly +presented itself, in the course of the same Term; and the IInd, IIIrd, +and IVth of the ensuing Sermons, (preached on alternate Sundays,) were +the result. The study of the Bible had been advocated in the first +Sermon; but it was urged from a hundred quarters that a considerable +amount of unbelief prevailed respecting that very Book for which it was +evident that the preacher claimed entire perfection and absolute +supremacy. The singular fallacy of these last days, that Natural +Science, in some unexplained manner, has already demolished,--or is +inevitably destined to demolish[1],--the Book of Divine Revelation, +appeared to be the fallacy which had emerged into most offensive +prominence; and to this, he accordingly addressed himself.--It will not, +surely, be thought by any one who reads the IInd of these Sermons that +its author is so weak as to look with jealousy on the progress of +Physical Science. His alarm does not arise from the cultivation of the +noblest study but one,--viz. the study of GOD'S Works; but from the +prevalent _neglect of the noblest study of all_,--viz. _the study of +GOD'S Word_. His quarrel is not with the Professors of Natural Science, +but with those who are mere _Pretenders_ to it. Moreover, he makes no +secret of his displeasure at the undue importance which has of late been +claimed for Natural Science; and which is sufficiently implied by the +prevalent fashion of naming it without any distinguishing epithet,--as +"Science," absolutely: just as if _Theology_ were not a Science also[2]! + +It is not necessary to speak particularly of the contents of the next +two Sermons; except to say that the train of thought thus started +conducted the author inevitably over ground which was already occupied +in the public mind by a volume which had already obtained some +notoriety, and which has since become altogether infamous. Enough of the +contents of that unhappy production I had read to be convinced that in a +literary, certainly in a _Theological_ point of view, it was a most +worthless performance; and I recognized with equal sorrow and alarm that +it was but the matured expression of opinions which had been fostering +for years in certain quarters: opinions which, occasionally, had been +ventilated from the University pulpit; or which had been deliberately +advocated in print[3]; and which it was now hinted were formidably +maintained, and would be found hard to answer. Astonished, (not by any +means for the first time in my life,) at the apathy which seemed to +prevail on questions of such vital moment, I determined at all events +not to be a party to a craven silence; and denounced from the University +pulpit with hearty indignation that whole system of unbelief, (if system +it can be called,) which has been growing up for years among us[4]; and +which, I was and am convinced, must be openly met,--not silently ignored +until the mischief becomes unmanageable: met, too, by building up men +in THE TRUTH: above all, by giving Theological instruction to those who +are destined to become Professors of Theological Science, and are about +to undertake the cure of souls.... In this spirit, I asserted the +opposite fundamental verities; and so, would have been content to +dismiss the "Essays and Reviews" from my thoughts for ever. + +But in the meantime, the respectability of the authors of that volume +had attracted to their work an increasing share of notice. An able +article in the 'Westminster Review' first aroused public attention. A +still abler in the 'Quarterly' awoke the Church to a sense of the +enormity of the offence which had been committed. It was not that +_danger_ was apprehended. There could be but one opinion as to the +essential impotence of the attack. But the circumstances which aroused +public indignation were twofold. First,--Here was a _conspiracy_ against +the Faith. Seven Critics had _avowedly combined_ "to illustrate the +advantage derivable to the cause of Religious and Moral Truth from a +free handling, in a becoming spirit, of" what they were pleased to +characterize as "subjects peculiarly liable to suffer by the repetition +of conventional language, and from traditional modes of treatment[5]." +They prefixed to their joint labours the expression of a "hope that +their volume would be received as an attempt" to do this. That their +allusion was to the Creeds, Articles, Book of Common Prayer and +Administration of the Sacraments,--was obvious. Equally obvious was the +_un_-becoming spirit, the arrogance and the hostility,--with which all +those sacred things were handled by those seven writers. + +Secondly,--"Essays and Reviews" attracted notice because six of its +authors were _Ministers of the Church of England_. Here were six +Clergymen openly making light of their sacred profession, and apparently +worse than regardless of their Ordination vows. As an infidel but +certainly in this instance most truthful as well as able Reviewer, +remarked concerning the work in question,--"In their ordinary, if not +plain sense, there has been discarded the Word of GOD, the Creation, the +Fall, the Redemption, Justification, Regeneration, and Salvation, +Miracles, Inspiration, Prophecy, Heaven and Hell, Eternal punishment and +a Day of Judgment, Creeds, Liturgies, and Articles, the truth of Jewish +History and of Gospel narrative; a sense of doubt thrown over even the +Incarnation, the Resurrection, and Ascension, the Divinity of the Second +Person, and the personality of the Third. It may be that this is a +_true_ view of Christianity; but we insist, in the name of common sense, +that it is a _new_ view. Surely it is waste of time to argue that it is +agreeable to Scripture, and not contrary to the Canons[6]!" + +This twofold phenomenon, which has shocked the public conscience and +perplexed common sense, has been _the sole_ cause of the amount of +attention "Essays and Reviews" has excited. Laymen might have combined +to produce this volume, almost unheeded. An obscure Clergyman might +possibly have published any one of these seven papers; and with a rebuke +for his immorality or his insolence, he would probably have been +unnoticed by the world. But here is a combination of Doctors of +Divinity; Professors; Fellows, nay Heads of Colleges; Instructors of +England's Youth; Teachers of Religion; Chaplains to Royal and noble +personages! + +The Jesuitical notice prefixed to the book, (deprecating the idea that +its authors should be held responsible, except severally for their +several articles,) completed the scandal. As if seven men, each armed +with his own appropriate weapon of violence, breaking into a house, and +spreading ruin around them, could "readily be understood," (to quote +their own language,) to incur each a limited responsibility!... Charity +doubtless would have rejoiced to spread her mantle over any one or more +of the number, "who, on seeing the extravagantly vicious manner in which +some of his associates had performed their part, had openly declared his +disgust and abhorrence of such unfaithfulness, and had withdrawn his +name[7],"--with some expression of sorrow for the irreparable mischief +which he had actively helped to occasion. But long before _nine_ +editions of "Essays and Reviews" had appeared, it became apparent that +each of the living authors, (for one, alas, has already gone to his +account!) has made himself responsible for the _whole_ work[8]. Nay, +there are some of the number who make no secret of their satisfaction +at what has happened; and seem desirous only that their volume should +obtain a yet wider circulation[9]. + +"Essays and Reviews," as already stated, with the turn of the year, +experienced a vast increase of notoriety. The entire Bench of Bishops +condemned the book; and both Houses of Convocation endorsed the +Episcopal censure. A very careful perusal of the volume became +necessary; and it proved to be infinitely weaker in point of ability, +infinitely more fatal in point of intention, than could have been +suspected from the known respectability and position of its authors. A +clamour also arose for a Reply to these Seven Champions,--not exactly of +Christendom. "You _condemn_: but why do you not _reply_?"--became quite +a popular form of reproach. + +It was useless to urge, in private, such considerations as the +following:--To reply to a volume of 433 pages, each of which contains a +fallacy or a falsity,--while some pages are packed full of both,--is a +serious undertaking.--Besides, the book _has been_ replied to already; +for there is scarcely an objection urged within its pages which was not +better urged, and effectually disposed of, in the last century. Nay, +every good Review of "Essays and Reviews" has _answered_ the book: for +what signify the details, if the fundamental lie has been detected, and +unrelentingly exposed? The man who plants his heel on the serpent's +head, and refuses to withdraw it, can afford to disregard the tortuous +writhings of the long supple body.--Again. These attacks are seven. Must +seven men _with_ "concert and comparison,"--with leisure and inclination +too,--be procured to _demolish_ this flimsy compound of dogmatism and +unbelief? to disperse these cloudy doubts, and to analyse and repel +these many ambiguous statements?--Once more. A fool can assert, and in a +moment, that 'There is no GOD.' But it requires a wise man to refute the +lie; and his refutation will probably demand a volume.--I say, it was in +vain to urge such considerations as these. "Why does no one _reply_ to +these 'Essays and Reviews?'" was asked,--till, I apprehend, pens enough +have been unsheathed to do the work effectually. + +It struck me, in the meantime, that I should be employing myself not +unprofitably at such a juncture, if (laying aside all other work for a +month or two) I were to attempt a short reply to the volume in +question, myself; and to combine it with the publication of the Sermons +I had already preached; and which I had the comfort of learning had not +only been favourably received by some of those who heard them, but had +attracted some slight notice outside the University also. Accordingly, +with not a little reluctance, in the month of February I began. The +_Destructive_ part of the argument, I determined to address to the +younger members of my own College,--men with whom I live in daily +intimacy, and on terms of private friendship; and whom, above all, I +desired to protect against the influence of that "moral poison," (as the +Bishop of Exeter describes it,) of which the world has lately heard so +much. The _Constructive_ part of the argument, I resolved to complete as +opportunities might offer, in my Sermons. One such opportunity presented +itself early in Lent; of which I availed myself to establish some +fundamental truths relative to the Interpretation of Holy Writ[10]. By +favour of the Vice Chancellor, the promise of yet another preaching turn +was obtained. It appeared best to avail myself of the opportunity to +consider the chief objections which have been brought against the Bible +from the _marvellous_ character of some of its contents[11]. An +University Sermon preached exactly ten years ago, (on the Doctrine of +Accommodation,) supplied an important link in the argument.... Thus the +unscientific shape in which the present volume appears, is explained; +and its want of exact method is accounted for. Let me add, that but for +the forward state of what I like to regard as the _Constructive_ part +of the present volume,--(and which I am not without a humble hope will +secure for the rest a more than ephemeral interest,)--I should have been +slow indeed to undertake the distasteful task of answering a work of +which I have long since been heartily weary. + +II. And now, for a few words on the general question which has called +out these "Sermons" and "Preliminary Remarks." + +At the root of the whole mischief of these last days lies _disbelief in +the Bible_ as _the Word of GOD_. This is the fundamental error. +Dangerous enough is it to the moral and intellectual nature of Man, when +the authority of the Church is doubted: or rather, this is _the first_ +downward step. Not to believe that Christ bequeathed to His Church a +Divine form of polity: not to believe that He set officers over His +Kingdom, of which He is Himself the sole invisible Head: not to believe +that He invested His Apostles with authority to delegate to others the +Commission He had Himself conveyed to them; and that, by virtue of such +transmitted powers, the Church has authority in the Ministration of +GOD'S Word and Sacraments: not to believe that He vouchsafed to His +Church extraordinary guidance at the first, and that He vouchsafes to +His Church effectual guidance still:--an utter want of faith in the +Church and her Ordinances, is the first step, I repeat, in a soul's +downward progress. + +Next comes an impatience of Creeds. It has been falsely asserted by an +Essayist and Reviewer that "Constantine inaugurated the principle of +doctrinal limitation[12];" by which is meant that definitions of Faith +date from the Council of Nicæa, A.D. 325: the truth being that the +famous Oecumenical Council which was then held did but rule the +consubstantiality of the SON with the FATHER: whereas elaborate Creeds +exist of a far earlier date; as all are aware. Creeds indeed are coeval +with Christianity itself[13]. What need to add that when the decree of +the first Oecumenical Council concerning the true faith in the +adorable Trinity has been set at nought, all other decisions of the +Church are disregarded also? + +That marvellous concrete fact, the Bible,--has next to be encountered. +Unmethodical as it seems to be, the Bible arrests a man in his impatient +course with many a significant History,--many an unmanageable precept. +Much of its contents, it is true, are of such a nature that they may be +glossed over,--explained away,--ignored,--set aside. The reading is +doubtful: or there are two opinions, (perhaps twenty,) concerning it: or +the language may be figurative: or the words are not to be pressed too +closely: or a perverse logic may pretend to find in it agreeable +confirmation, instead of stern reproof. Not a few places there are, +however, which defy any such handling; stubborn rocks which refuse to +yield a single trace of the wished-for vegetation, in return for the +most determined husbandry. Nothing of the kind ever will or can be made +to germinate upon them. They are absolutely unmanageable, and hopelessly +in the way of the man who is determined to cast off restraint,--whether +spiritual, intellectual, or moral. He is for being lawless; or at +least, without law: but _the Bible_ is unmistakably _an external Law_, +and is opposed to him. The Bible is his enemy, and the Bible claims to +be Divine.... What need to state that to deny the Inspiration of the +Bible, and to undermine its authority, and to explain away its +statements, becomes the next object of the unbeliever? It is precisely +at this stage of his downward progress that public attention is excited, +and public indignation aroused. The Church, (like its Divine Author,) +may be outraged, and few will be found to remonstrate. The Creeds may be +assailed, (especially "one unhappy Creed!"), and it is hinted that these +are speculative matters, on which none should pronounce too +dogmatically. But (thank GOD!) Englishmen yet love their Bible; and +Common Sense is able to see that an uninspired Bible is _no Bible at +all_. At the assault upon the Bible, therefore, as I said, an indignant +outcry is raised,--as _now_. + +Systematically to cope with such irreverence, such entire ignorance +rather of all the questions at issue, from the pulpit, would be clearly +impracticable. Men require to be taught "which be the first principles." +They require to be educated in Divinity. And thus we come back to the +fontal source of all the mischief of our own Day. We, in Oxford, give no +systematic training to our Candidates for Holy Orders. We do not even +attempt it. Nay, incredible to relate, _we do not give them any training +at all_. And the fatal consequences of this omission are to be seen on +every side. A youth no sooner gets through "the Schools," and graduates +in Arts, than he inquires for a Curacy. During the three months, perhaps +six, of interval, he makes himself sufficiently acquainted with the +Alphabet of Divinity to enable him to satisfy the very modest +requirements of the Bishop's examination; after which he finds himself +at once actively engaged in the Bishopric of souls and the profession of +Theology. It is probable that the realities of the Ministerial calling, +and the eminently practical nature of such an one's daily life, will +keep _this_ man from error. Not so his--more, shall I say, or +less?--fortunate fellow-student; who, by hard self-relying labour, +having obtained distinction in the Schools, finds himself in the +enjoyment of a fellowship, and straightway engages in the work of +tuition. This man, whose fellowship is his "title" for orders, studies +Divinity, or neglects it, at pleasure: and if he studies it, he studies +it in his own way. He has read a little of heathen Ethics with great +care; or he has trained himself to the exactness of mathematical +inference. With the purest idiom of ancient Greece he has also made +himself very familiar. He is besides a Master of Arts. What need to add +that such an one is not therefore a Master of _Divinity_? possesses no +qualification which authorizes him to dogmatize about any one department +of _Theological Science_? + +The plain truth is, (and it is really better to speak plainly,)--the +plain truth is, that the offensive Sermons one sometimes hears from the +University pulpit,--the offensive Essays and Reviews which have lately +occasioned so much public scandal,--are the work of men who discuss that +which they do not understand; profess that which they were never, at +any time of their life, taught. Their method of handling a text is +altogether unique and extraordinary. Their remarks concerning Divine +things are even puerile. Their very citations of Scripture are +incorrect. Their cool affectation of superiority of knowledge, their +claim to intellectual power, would be laughable, were the subject less +solemn and important. Speculations so feeble that they sound like the +cries of an infant in the dark, are insinuated to be the sublime views +of a bold and original thinker, who _"has by a Divine help been enabled +to plant his foot somewhere beyond the waves of Time!"_--Doubts so badly +expressed that they read like the confused utterance of one in his +sleep, claim to be regarded as the legacy of one who is about to +_"depart hence before the natural term, worn out with intellectual +toil[14]!"_ ... In a word,--Men who have never been taught and trained, +but have grown up in a miserable self-evolved system of their +own,--(with a little of Hegel, and a little of Schleiermacher, and a +little of Strauss,)--cannot _but_ trouble the peace of the Church. They +deny her authority. (They are not aware of her claims.) They cavil at +her Creeds. (They are not acquainted with their history.) They doubt the +authenticity of the very Bible. (They know wondrous little about +it.)--How did the Bible attain its actual shape? They cannot tell. How +has it been guarded? They are careless to inquire. How does it come to +us as 'the Bible,'--_the_ Book of all books? It is best not to discuss a +question which must infallibly bring forward _the Church_ as "a witness +and a keeper of Holy Writ[15]." Men are even impatient to publish their +private prejudice that it is to be interpreted like any other book; that +it is inspired in no other sense than Sophocles and Plato. "The +principle of private judgment," (it is said,) "puts Conscience between +us and the Bible, making Conscience _the supreme interpreter[16]_." +"Hence," it is said, "we use the Bible,--some consciously, some +unconsciously,--not to override, but to evoke the voice of Conscience." +(p. 44.) "The Book of this Law," (as Hooker phrases it,) is dethroned; +and Man usurps the vacant seat, and becomes a Law unto himself! GOD +Himself is dethroned, in effect; and Man becomes his own god. + +To cope systematically with all this from the University pulpit, as +already remarked, is plainly impossible. The preacher must take up the +question at some definite stage, and arrest the false teachers _there_. +"That wicked,"--or rather "THE LAWLESS ONE," (=ho anomos=, as he is +called in 2 Thess. ii. 8,)--must be bound, hand and foot, _somewhere_ in +his career of lawlessness; and in these Sermons _the threshold of the +Bible_ has been chosen as the place for the conflict. My life for his +life. I will slay or be slain on the very portal of Holy Scripture. With +the young, you begin at the beginning,--"the Creed, the LORD'S Prayer, +the Ten Commandments;" and they must be further instructed in the Church +Catechism. But the foundation cannot be laid afresh with the full-grown. +It is idle to talk about the authority of _the Church_ to men who do not +believe in the Bible. It is useless to dispute about Creeds with men +who know nothing of the origin and history of Christianity. Reserving +the _true_ method of teaching for those who alone are capable of being +taught, we are constrained to argue with men of full age about _the +Inspiration and Interpretation of the Bible_.--If in the ensuing Sermons +the principles handled are so very elementary, it is because the +available limits were so very narrow,--while the field over which +Unbelief has spread itself, is so very broad. + +III. When a few words have been added concerning the manner in which I +have executed my task, this Preface shall be brought to a close.--If the +style of the present SERMONS,--considering the auditory, and above all +considering the subject,--shall be thought by competent judges not +sufficiently dignified in parts, I will bow to their decision without +remonstrance. Everybody can divine the defence which would be set up; +but perhaps it may not be quite a valid defence. A man feels strongly +and warmly; writes fast and freely; is determined to be clearly +understood: is weary of the dignified conventionalities under which +Scepticism loves to conceal itself when it comes abroad. Perhaps some +expressions which may be permitted in delivery, ought to be remodelled +when a Sermon is sent to the press. + +But with regard to the ensuing PRELIMINARY REMARKS, I shall not so +easily be persuaded to think that I am mistaken as to the style in which +Essayists and Reviewers are to be dealt with[17]. Some respectable +persons, I doubt not, will think my treatment of them harsh and +uncharitable. I invite them to consider that we do not expect blasphemy +from Ministers of the Gospel,--irreligion from the teachers of +youth,--infidelity from the Professor's chair: nor are we called upon to +tolerate it either. I have the misfortune to concur entirely with the +verdict pronounced by the Bishop of Exeter on the subject of 'Essays and +Reviews.' Let those who feel little jealousy for GOD'S honour measure +out in grains their censure of a volume, the confessed tendency of which +is to sap the foundation of Faith, and to introduce irreligion with a +flood-tide. Such shall not, at all events, be _my_ method. Private +regard, if it is to weigh largely with him who stands up for GOD'S +Truth, should first have weighed a little with those by whom it has been +most grievously outraged. It may suit these Authors to wrap up their +shameful meaning in a cloud of words; but their Reviewer avails himself +of that Christian liberty to which they themselves so systematically lay +claim, mercilessly to uncover their baseness, and uncompromisingly to +denounce it. If I may declare my mind freely, punctilious courtesy in +dealing with such opinions, becomes a species of treason against Him +after whose Name we are called, and whom we profess to serve. Seven men +may combine to handle the things of GOD, it seems, in the most +outrageous manner; while _themselves_ are to be the objects of +consideration, tenderness, respect! I cannot see their title to any +consideration at all. + +It will be found, it is hoped, that when these writers have the courage +to descend to argument, _there_ I have gladly met them on their own +ground, and sought to refute them: but _to reason_ is no part of their +plan. Unsupported dicta on every subject on which they treat: doubts +promiscuously insinuated, but never once openly and honestly maintained: +cool assumptions of intellectual superiority for themselves and their +infidel allies: contemptuous allusions to the names which the +respectable part of mankind agrees to hold in honour: foul imputations +against the honesty of the Clergy:--_this_ is all their method! The +favourite _cant_ of these writers is, that no one should shrink from +free discussion, or fear the results of Criticism. Why then do not they +themselves criticize? Why do not _they_ reason? Charity herself after +weighing these Essays carefully has no alternative but to assume that +the Authors either have not the courage, or that they lack the ability, +to descend to a free discussion, and risk all on a stand-up fight. A +kind of guerilla warfare: half a dozen arrows, and a hasty retreat: +_such_ is their mode of attack! But this method, though it may occasion +annoyance, is quite unworthy of an honest inquirer, and never can be +decisive of anything. It is the cowardly expedient of men who shrink +from scrutiny, and dread exposure. Nothing so easy, for example, as to +repeat the old commonplace about "irreconcileable discrepancies" in the +"Synoptical Gospels:" but why, instead, are we not told, _which these +irreconcileable discrepancies are_? For my own part, I freely renew in +this place the challenge I gave in my IIIrd Sermon[18]. Let any one of +these Gentlemen publicly and definitely lay his finger on one or more +of these contradictory statements in the Gospels, during term-time; and +within a week I hereby undertake publicly to refute him in the Divinity +School of this University: and our peers shall be our judges. + +Gentlemen who come abroad in the fashion above described, have no right +to complain if they encounter rough usage on the road. When Critics are +clamorous for the "free handling" of Divine Truth, they must not be +surprised to find themselves freely handled too. If free discussion is +to be the order of the day, then let there be free discussion of "Essays +and Reviews," _as well as of_ THE BIBLE. Six Clergymen of the Church of +England who enter upon a crusade against the Faith of the Church of +England must not be astonished if they are looked upon in the light of +immoral characters, and treated as such. Accordingly, I have handled +_them_ just as freely as _they_ have handled the Prophets, Apostles, and +Evangelists of CHRIST. + +I cannot therefore pretend to offer anything in extenuation of the style +in which I have examined the statements of these Essayists and +Reviewers. Perfectly sensible as I am of the gracefulness of highly +courteous language in controversial writing, I will not so far violate +my own conviction of what is right as to bandy compliments on such an +occasion as _this_. This is no literary misunderstanding, or I could +have been amicable enough: no private or personal matter, or I could +have flung it from me with unconcern. No other than an attempt to +destroy Man's dearest hopes, is this infamous book: no other than an +insult, the grossest imaginable, offered to the Majesty of Heaven; an +attack, the more foul because it is so insidious, against the +Everlasting Gospel of JESUS CHRIST. In such a cause I will _not_ so far +give in to the smooth fashion of a supple and indifferent age, as to pay +these seven writers a single compliment which they will care to accept. +The most foolish composition of the seven is Dr. Temple's; the most +mischievous is Professor Jowett's: but the germ of the last Essay is +contained in the first; the foolishness of the first Essay is abundantly +shared by the last: while the evidence of correspondence of sentiment +between the two writers is unmistakable. The most unphilosophical Essay, +(where _all_ are unphilosophical,) is Professor Powell's: the most +insolent, Dr. Williams': the most immoral, Mr. Wilson's: the most +shallow, Mr. Goodwin's; the most irrelevant, Mr. Pattison's. Not one of +these writers shews himself capable of recognizing the true logical +result of his own opinions: of drawing from his own premisses their one +inevitable issue. Not one of them has had the manliness to _speak out_, +and to _say plainly_ what he means. They seem to deny the Divinity of +CHRIST, and the Personality of the HOLY GHOST: but how reluctant is a +reader to believe that they really _mean_ it! Quite inevitable is it +that these clerical critics must choose between two alternatives. Either +they hold opinions which make it impossible that they should retain +Orders in the Church of England, and yet be honest men; or they have +expressed themselves with such culpable inaccuracy and ambiguity, as +shews that they are altogether incompetent to handle the Science of +Theology.--Gladly would one give them the benefit of a third +alternative: but I see not that any remains. + +If it should be thought strange that one thinking so meanly of 'Essays +and Reviews' should have produced a yet larger volume in reply to them, +it must suffice to point out that the refutation of a fallacy is almost +of necessity the ampler writing.--Or again, if it be remarked that by +far the largest part of what I have written is directed against the +hundred pages of Professor Jowett, the explanation is still obvious. For +not only does that concluding Essay of his bring to a terribly practical +issue the speculative doubts and difficulties which had been started by +all his predecessors; (namely, doubts as to (1) the relation in which +the Bible stands to Man;--(2) the nature of Prophecy;--(3) the reality +of Miracles;--(4) the worth of Creeds and formularies;--(5) the +authenticity of Genesis;--(6) the basis on which Revelation is by the +Church of England supposed to rest;)--by proposing that we should +henceforth regard the Bible as a book _no otherwise inspired than +Sophocles and Plato_:--not only does Professor Jowett's essay discharge +this fatal office; but his style is somewhat peculiar; and what he says, +cannot always be effectually disposed of by a few words. Let me explain. + +There is a certain form of fallacy of statement in which this +Gentleman's writings abound, which calls aloud for notice and signal +reprobation. He has a marvellous aptitude, (one would fain hope through +some intellectual infirmity,) of connecting together in the same +sentence two or three clauses; one or two of which shall be true as +Heaven, while the other is false as Hell. The reply to such a sentence +is impossible, without many words,--far more than Mr. Jowett's sentences +commonly deserve.--Sometimes he strings together several heads of +thought; of which enumeration the kindest thing which can be said is +that it betrays an utter want of intellectual perspective. To unravel +even a part of this tangled web so as to expose its argumentative +worthlessness, soon fills a page.... But there is another kind of +fallacy which the same gentleman wields with immense effect, and in the +use of which he is a great master; which, because it was absolutely +impossible to handle it fitly in the proper place, shall be briefly +adverted to, here. I proceed to describe it not without indignation; for +I am profoundly struck by the intellectual perversity, not to say the +moral obliquity, which has so entirely made this vile instrument its +own. + +The fallacy then is of this nature. When Professor Jowett would put +forth something especially deserving of reprehension,--some sentiment or +opinion which he either knows, or ought to know, that the whole Church +will resent with unqualified abhorrence,--he assumes a plaintive manner, +and puts himself into an interesting attitude; sometimes even folds his +hands, as if in prayer. He then begins by (1) throwing out a remark of +real beauty, and so conciliating for himself an indulgent hearing; or +(2) he goes off on some Moral question, and so defeats attention; or +(3) he delivers himself of some undeniable truth, and so disarms +censure; or (4) he says something of an entirely equivocal kind, and so +leaves his reader at fault. Candour, of course, gives him the benefit of +the doubt. It is not till the sentence is well advanced, or till it is +examined by the fatal light of its context, that one is shewn what the +ambiguous writer really was intending. A cloven foot appears at last; +but it is instantly withdrawn, with a shuffle; and you experience a +scowl or a sneer, as the case may be, for your extreme unkindness in +inquiring whether it was not a cloven foot you saw?... Meanwhile, the +learned Professor has gone off _in alia omnia_, with a look of +earnestness which challenges respect, and a vagueness of diction which +at once discourages pursuit and defeats inquiry. The fish invariably +ends by disappearing in a cloud of his own ink. + +It shall suffice to have said thus much. These pages must now be +suffered to go forth; not without a hearty aspiration that a blessing +may attend them from Him _sine Quo nihil est validum, nihil sanctum_; +and that what was intended for the strength and help of those who want +helping and strengthening, (I am thinking particularly of what has been +offered on the subject of Inspiration,) may not prove misleading or +perplexing to any. + +_Oriel, June 24th, 1861._ + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The reader is invited to refer to the passages cited in the present +volume, at pp. lxxxvii. and lxxxviii. + +[2] See p. 47 to p. 50. Also Appendix (B.) + +[3] In illustration of what is meant, may be particularized a highly +objectionable Sermon which Dr. Temple preached before the University +some years ago, and which occasioned no small offence to many who heard +it,--as all in Oxford well remember. It was almost as unsound as the +same writer's Essay "On the Education of the World," which, to the best +of my remembrance, it strongly resembled.--A printed Sermon by Dr. +Temple may also be referred to, "preached on Act-Sunday, July 1, 1860, +before the University of Oxford, during the Meeting of the British +Association," entitled _"The present Relations of Science to +Religion."_--Professor Jowett's handling of the Doctrine of the +Atonement, needs only to be referred to. + +[4] Page 80 to 82. + +[5] "To the Reader," prefixed to _Essays and Reviews_. + +[6] 'Neo-Christianity' in the _Westminster Review_, No. 36.--How true is +what follows:--"The Bible is one; and it is too late now to propose to +divide it. We shall only point out that the _moral value of the Gospel +teaching becomes suspicious_ when the whole miraculous element is +discarded. + +"We certainly do think that the Gospels assert a miraculous Incarnation, +Resurrection, and Ascension; and that the Epistles teach Original Sin, +and a vicarious Sacrifice. If this be doubted by our authors, it is +sufficient for us to say that such is the impression they have created +on all ages of Christians." + +"We desire that if the Bible, or any part of it be retained as Holy +Writ, it be defended as a miraculous gift to Man, and not by distorting +the principles of modern Science. Let the Essayists be assured that +there exists _no middle course_; that there is no Inspiration more than +is natural, yet not supernatural; _no Theology which can abandon its +doctrines and retain its authority_." + +Lastly, with what sickening and almost Satanic power, does the same +writer invite the Essayists and Reviewers to make shipwreck of their +souls in the following terrible passage. And yet, who sees not that _on +their principles_ absolute and professed unbelief is _inevitable_? He +says:--"How long shall this last? Until men have the courage to bury +their dead convictions out of sight, and the greater courage to form +new. All honour to these writers for the boldness with which they have, +at great risk, urged their opinions. _But what is wanted is strength_ +not merely to face the world, but _to face one's own conclusions_. We +know the cost. It must be endured. Let each who has thought and felt for +himself, ask himself first what he _does not_ believe, and then, if wise +or needful, avow it. Next let him ask himself what he _does_ believe, +and pursue it to its true and full conclusions. Neither loose +accommodation nor sonorous principles will long give them rest. It is of +as little use to surrender the more glaring contradictions of Science as +it is to evaporate discredited doctrine into a few vague precepts. That +end will not be attained by our authors by subliming Religion into an +emotion, and making an armistice with Science. It will not be obtained +by any unreal adaptation; _nor by this, which is, of all recent +adaptations_, at once the most able, the most earnest, and _the most +suicidal_." + +[7] The Bishop of Exeter to Dr. Temple. + +[8] The Bishop of Manchester exactly expressed the general opinion, when +he said,--"Nor will I for a single moment, however my personal feelings +might interfere, conceal my deliberate conviction that every partner in +that work is equally guilty."--(_Guardian_, Ap. 10, 1861, p. 341.) But +the most faithful language of all came from the Bishop of Exeter in his +crushing reply to an inquiry put to him by Dr. Temple. "I avow that I +hold every one of the seven persons acting together for such an object +to be alike responsible for the several acts of every individual among +them in executing their avowed common purpose." + +[9] A letter from Dr. Rowland Williams, which has appeared in the +newspapers, contains the following language with reference to the +American reprint of "Essays and Reviews:"--"I confess myself personally +gratified that my own work, and that of my far more distinguished +coadjutors, with whom it is sufficient honour for me to be included in +the same volume, should have obtained the honour of a reprint in another +hemisphere. Still more would I hail the circumstance as an auspicious +token of the sympathy which should prevail between kindred nations, as +regards subjects of the highest import, and as a sign of the prospects +of Christian freedom beyond the Atlantic.... + +"I have not yet discovered any community or individual possessing the +right to cast the first stone at those who interpret the Bible in +freedom, and who subordinate its letter to its spirit, or its parts to +its whole. Even if Holy Scripture were, as is popularly fancied, the +foundation,--and not, as I believe, the expression and the memorial,--of +Religious Truth in man, it would be absurd to render it honours +essentially different from those which it claims for itself, or to make +it a master, where it claims only to be a servant." + +[10] Serm. V. + +[11] See Sermon VII. + +[12] _Essays and Reviews_, p. 166. + +[13] See p. clxxvii. to p. clxxxiii. + +[14] Mr. Jowett in _Essays and Reviews_, p. 433. + +[15] Article XX. + +[16] _Essays and Reviews_, p. 45. + +[17] It should perhaps be stated that the edition of "Essays and +Reviews" which I have employed is _the Third_ (1860.) + +[18] pp. 72-3. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + DEDICATION. + + PREFACE. I. Some account of the present Volume. + + II. Growth of irreligious Opinion. + + III. 'Essayists and Reviewers' to be as 'freely-handled' + as the Prophets, Evangelists, and Apostles of + CHRIST. + + TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + PRELIMINARY REMARKS ON "ESSAYS AND REVIEWS." PAGE + + I. Examination of the contribution of Rev. F. Temple, D.D. ii + + II. Rev. Rowland Williams, D.D. xxx + + III. Rev. Professor Baden Powell, M.A. xlvi + + IV. Rev. H. B. Wilson, M.A. lxiv + + V. C. W. Goodwin, M.A. lxxxvi + + VI. Rev. Mark Pattison, B.D. cxii + + VII. Rev. Professor Jowett, M.A. cxxxix + + In what sense Mr. Jowett's fundamental principle, (that + "Scripture is to be interpreted like any other book,") may + be cheerfully accepted cxl + + Mr. Jowett's main assertion that "Scripture has one and only + one true meaning," shewn to be founded on his assumption + that the Bible is _uninspired_,--"like any other book" cxlii + + 1. Eight Characteristics of the Bible enumerated, which shew + that it is _unlike_ "any other book" cl + + But the distinctive characteristic of the Bible, is, that _it + professes to be the work of the HOLY GHOST_ clx + + Mr. Jowett's syllogism corrected, in consequence clxii + + 2. Mr. Jowett's proposal accepted, that we should "Interpret + Scripture from itself." Notion of _Interpretation_ obtained + from the volume of _Inspiration_ clxii + + 3. In addition to the testimony of Scripture, we have to + consider the testimony of Antiquity clxix + + Remarks on primitive Patristic Interpretation clxx + + This part of the subject misunderstood by Mr. Jowett clxxiii + + Remarks on primitive Tradition.--The Creeds, the records of + Primitive Christianity clxxvii + + This part of the subject also misunderstood by Mr. Jowett clxxix + + 4. Examination of some of Mr. Jowett's reasons for rejecting + that method of Interpretation which has been (=1=) + Established by our LORD; (=2=) Employed by His Apostles; + (=3=) Universally adopted by the primitive Church; and (=4=) + Accepted by the most learned and judicious of modern + Commentators clxxxvi + + The peroration of Mr. Jowett's Essay examined and commented on ccvi + + Retrospect of the entire subject ccxvi + + Conclusion ccxxvii + + +SERMON I. + + ST. JOHN vi. 68. _LORD, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the + words of Eternal Life._ + + THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE RECOMMENDED; AND A METHOD OF STUDYING + IT DESCRIBED. + + The Gospel, as a written message, meets with the same + reception at the hands of the World now, as in the days of + the Son of Man 1 + + Some points of analogy between the Written and the Incarnate + WORD 2 + + Difficulties and seeming contradictions in the Gospel 3 + + Unattractive aspect.--Union of the Human and Divine 4 + + The Bible is generally little read.--Its preciousness 6 + + The age unlearned as well as unfaithful 7 + + Want of preparation for the Ministry.--The question of + preparation narrowed to the duty of studying the Bible 8 + + Conditions of successful Study:--a fixed time for reading the + Bible, and a fixed quantity to be read 9 + + Vigilance, and independent inquiry 10 + + Consecutive reading.--The first chapter of Genesis 11 + + Nothing to be skipped.--Result of such a method 12 + + The Bible is to be read, not in the same manner, but with at + least the same attention, as a merely human work 13 + + A caution 14 + + Men not competent to make their own Religion out of the Bible 16 + + The advantages of such a study of the Bible as has been here + recommended, explained 17 + + +SERMON II. + + HEBREWS xi. 3. _Through Faith, we understand that the worlds + were framed by the Word of GOD._ + + NATURAL SCIENCE AND THEOLOGICAL SCIENCE. + + Special act of Faith assigned to ourselves in Hebrews xi. 23 + + The first Chapter of Genesis considered: Verse 1 24 + + Province of Geology 26 + + The Work of the First Day 28 + + --------------- Second and the Third Day 29 + + --------------- Fourth and the Fifth Day 30 + + --------------- Sixth Day 31 + + The Mosaic History of the Creation true 33 + + Objections considered 34 + + Speech ascribed to GOD 35 + + Adam's knowledge 36 + + The first pair.--The days of Creation real days 37 + + Objections of pretenders to Natural Science 39 + + The plea that the Bible is not a scientific book 40 + + The historical truth of the Bible insisted upon 44 + + Natural Science not undervalued 46 + + The term "Science" not to be opposed to "Theology" 47 + + Theology the Queen of Sciences 48 + + +SERMON III. + + 2 TIM. iii. 16. _All Scripture is given by inspiration of + GOD._ + + INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE.--GOSPEL DIFFICULTIES.--THE WORD OF + GOD INFALLIBLE.--OTHER SCIENCES SUBORDINATE TO THEOLOGICAL + SCIENCE. + + The meaning of 2 Tim. iii. 16 53 + + St. Paul nowhere disclaims Inspiration 54 + + Holy Scripture is attributed in Scripture to the HOLY GHOST 56 + + Forms of unbelief concerning Inspiration 57 + + Impertinence of the modern way of speaking of the Evangelists 60 + + Supposed inaccuracies, slips of memory, misstatements 61 + + The Gospels not _four_ but _One_ 62 + + A principle laid down for the reconcilement of all Gospel + difficulties 63 + + Illustration from a supposed case of testimony 64 + + Computation of the hours in St. John's Gospel 66 + + The accounts of the blind man restored to sight at Jericho, + harmonized 67 + + Characteristics of an Inspired narrative 68 + + The mention of "Jeremy the prophet," and of Cyrenius, + considered 70 + + Faultlessness of the Gospel 72 + + Absurdity of the common allegations against it 73 + + The absolute Infallibility of Scripture maintained 74 + + Every syllable of Holy Scripture inspired 75 + + The nature of Inspiration illustrated 76 + + Theology, the noblest of the Sciences 79 + + Insubordination in these last days of Physical Science 80 + + The infidel spirit of the Age, protested against 81 + + Theological Science can never be called upon to give way + before Physical Science 83 + + Relations of Morals to Theology 84 + + Conscience and the Moral Sense have been informed afresh by + Revelation 87 + + +SERMON IV. + + ST. JOHN xvii. 17. _Thy Word is Truth._ + + THE PLENARY INSPIRATION OF EVERY PART OF THE BIBLE, VINDICATED + AND EXPLAINED.--NATURE OF INSPIRATION.--THE TEXT OF + SCRIPTURE. + + Cavils against the Bible 92 + + Absolute infallibility of every 'jot' and every 'tittle' of + Holy Scripture 94 + + The popular view of Inspiration stated 95 + + No middle state between Inspiration and non-inspiration 96 + + The popular theory applied and tested 96 + + A different view of the nature and office of Inspiration + stated 100 + + Inspiration still the same, however diverse the subject-matter 102 + + What is meant by 'a Prophet' 104 + + The message still GOD'S, whatever its nature may be 106 + + Note of Inspiration in the Historical Books of the Bible 108 + + The Title on the Cross 109 + + Remonstrance 110 + + Theories of Inspiration to be rejected 115 + + Remarks on the nature of Inspiration 116 + + Proof that men generally hold that _the words_ of Scripture + are inspired 117 + + Absolute irrelevancy of objections drawn from _the state of + the Text_ of Scripture 118 + + The Substance of Scripture inseparable from the Form 120 + + Antichristian spirit of the age 121 + + The Study of Scripture in a childlike spirit recommended 122 + + +SUPPLEMENT TO SERMON IV. + + A favourite view of Inspiration stated 126 + + Vagueness of this theory 127 + + The theory practically tested, and found unmanageable 128 + + Further examination of the theory 132 + + Our SAVIOUR'S reasoning as difficult as that of St. Paul 134 + + +SERMON V. + + ST. MATTHEW iv. 4. _It is written, Man shall not live by bread + alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of + GOD._ + + INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE.--INSPIRED + INTERPRETATION.--THE BIBLE IS NOT TO BE INTERPRETED LIKE ANY + OTHER BOOK.--GOD, (NOT MAN,) THE REAL AUTHOR OF THE BIBLE. + + + Interpretation described 140 + + Three sources of Interpretation compared 141 + + Eusebius on "the Captain of the LORD'S Host" 143 + + The principle must be ascertained, on which Inspiration is to + be conducted 144 + + How this is to be done 145 + + This question may not be needlessly encumbered with + difficulties 147 + + The HOLY SPIRIT'S method of Interpretation must be the _true_ + method 148 + + Specimens of Inspired Interpretation 149 + + The very narrative of Scripture mysterious 152 + + Divine exposition of the history of Melchizedek 152 + + Further proofs of the mysterious texture of Holy Scripture 156 + + Moses wrote concerning CHRIST 157 + + Two propositions established by the foregoing inquiry: (1) That + the Bible is _not to be interpreted like any other book_: + (2) That _the meaning of Scripture is not always only one_ 160 + + Scripture to be interpreted literally 160 + + The story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife remarked upon 162 + + The Bible is the Word of GOD 163 + + Bishop Butler on Inspiration 165 + + Unbelief remonstrated with from the analogy of Nature and of + Providence 168 + + How the inspired writers may be supposed to have understood + what they delivered 171 + + The question of Interpretation not be argued on _à priori_ + grounds 173 + + Interpretation would be hopeless, but that the fountain of + Inspiration is _one_ 174 + + An apology for these Sermons 177 + + Exhortation to transmit the Faith 180 + + +SERMON VI. + + ROMANS x. 6-9. _But the Righteousness which is of Faith + speaketh on this wise,--'Say not in thine heart, Who shall + ascend into Heaven?' (that is, to bring CHRIST down from + above:) or, 'Who shall descend into the deep?' (that is, to + bring up CHRIST again from the dead.) But what saith it? + 'The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thine + heart:' that is, the word of Faith, which we preach; that if + thou shalt confess with thy mouth the LORD JESUS, and shalt + believe in thine heart that GOD hath raised Him from the + dead, thou shalt be saved._ + + THE DOCTRINE OF ARBITRARY SCRIPTURAL ACCOMMODATION CONSIDERED. + + Many insidious methods of denying the Inspiration of Scripture 184 + + The most subtle method of all, characterized 185 + + The term "Accommodation" not in itself objectionable 187 + + Arbitrary Accommodation explained 188 + + Reasons for rejecting this theory 189 + + Learned research proves that the theory is gratuitous 190 + + St. Paul's exposition of a passage in Deuteronomy xxx, (Rom. + x. 6 to 9,) proposed for examination 191 + + License of Inspired quotation 194 + + How the phenomenon is to be regarded 195 + + St. Paul's exposition examined by the light of unassisted + Reason 198 + + Shewn not to be an instance of arbitrary Accommodation, but of + genuine Interpretation 211 + + The success or failure of such inquiries, unimportant 212 + + No "Accommodation" when an inspired writer quotes Scripture 213 + + Remarks on Inspired Reasoning 215 + + +SERMON VII. + + ST. MARK xii. 24. _Do ye not therefore err, because ye know + not the Scriptures, neither the power of GOD._ + + THE MARVELS OF HOLY SCRIPTURE,--MORAL AND PHYSICAL.--JAEL'S + DEED DEFENDED.--MIRACLES VINDICATED. + + Sadduceeism of the day 221 + + The Moral and Physical Marvels of Scripture proposed for + consideration 222 + + Moral Marvels:--Jael.--How her story is to be read 223 + + History of Jael. Her conduct explained and defended 224 + + Jacob,--the Canaanites,--Abraham,--David 230 + + Physical Marvels:--The greatest of those in the Old Testament + are witnessed to in the New 232 + + Design of the quotations in Holy Scripture 234 + + Dr. Arnold and the Book of Daniel 235 + + Miracles are not to be called violations, &c. of Nature 237 + + Law in relation to GOD 238 + + An objectionable Theory of Miracles exposed 239 + + Bishop Butler on Miracles 240 + + Miracles may be pared down, but cannot be explained away 242 + + "Ideology" applied to the explanation of Miracles 243 + + Ideology explained and exposed 245 + + The Resurrection of CHRIST the foundation-truth of + Christianity 248 + + False and true Charity 250 + + A parting Exhortation 252 + + +APPENDIX. + + + A _Bishop Horsley on the double sense of Prophecy_ 257 + + B _Bishop Pearson on Theological Science_ 258 + + C _The Bible an instrument of Man's probation_ 260 + + D _St. Stephen's statement in Acts vii. 15, 16, explained_ 261 + + E _The simplest view of Inspiration the truest and the best_ 265 + + F _The written and the Incarnate Word_ 267 + + G _The volume of the Old Testament Scriptures, indivisible_ 268 + + I _Remarks on Theories of Inspiration.--The 'Human Element'_ 269 + + J _How the Inspired Authors of the New Testament handle + the writings of the Inspired Authors of the Old_ 271 + + K _Bishop Bull on Deuteronomy_ xxx 273 + + L _Opinions of commentators concerning Accommodation_ 277 + + + + + PRELIMINARY REMARKS + + ON A VOLUME ENTITLED + + "ESSAYS AND REVIEWS:" + + ADDRESSED TO THE + + UNDERGRADUATE MEMBERS OF ORIEL COLLEGE. + + +My Friends,--I have determined to address to yourselves the present +remarks; their subject, a volume which has recently obtained such a +degree of notoriety that it is almost superfluous even to specify it by +name. + +With unfeigned reluctance do I mix myself up in this strife; but the +course of events, when I first took up my pen, left me almost without an +alternative. Far more reluctant should I be to seem to make yourselves +the arbiters of Theological controversy. But in truth nothing is further +from my present intention. As a plain matter of fact, you are called +upon weekly, at St. Mary's, to listen to Sermons which indicate plainly +enough the troubled state of the religious atmosphere; and which, of +late, (too frequently alas!) have inevitably assumed a controversial +aspect. The Sermons here published, (which form the constructive part of +the present volume,) were preached expressly with an eye to _your_ +advantage, and were intended to warn you against (what I deemed) a very +serious danger. It is only natural therefore that I should desire to +address to yourselves the present remarks likewise. _You_ are, +naturally, objects of special solicitude to myself in this place,--you, +with whom I live as among friends, and for not a few of whom I entertain +a sincere affection. And in addressing you, I am not by any means +inviting you to exercise your own theological judgment; for _that_ would +indeed be an absurd proceeding. I am simply seeking to instruct you, and +to guide you with mine. + +The case of "Essays and Reviews" is, in fact, altogether +exceptional,--whether the respectability of its authors, the wickedness +of its contents, or the reception which it has met with, is considered. +That volume embodies the infidel spirit of the present day. Turn where +you will, you encounter some criticism upon it. No advertizing column +but contains repeated mention of its name. To ignore so flagrant a +scandal to the Church, is quite impossible. I have thought it better, +therefore, to encounter the danger in this straightforward way; and I +proceed, without further preamble, to remark briefly on each of the +Seven "Essays and Reviews," in order. + +I. The feeblest essay in the volume is the first. It is not without +grave concern that I transcribe the name of its amiable, and (in every +relation of private life) truly excellent author,--"FREDERICK TEMPLE, +D.D., Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen; Head Master of Rugby School; +Chaplain to the Earl of Denbigh." Under the imposing title of "THE +EDUCATION OF THE WORLD," we are presented with a worthless allegory, +which has all the faults of a schoolboy's theme, (incorrect grammar +included;) and not one of the excellencies which ought to characterize +the product of a ripened understanding,--the work of a Doctor of +Divinity in the English Church[19]. + +Dr. Temple's opening speculations are at once unintelligible, +irrelevant, and untrue. But they are immaterial; and serve only to lug +in, (not to introduce,) the assumption that the "power, whereby the +present ever gathers into itself the results of the past, transforms the +human race into a colossal man whose life reaches from the Creation to +the day of Judgment. The successive generations of men are days in this +man's life. The discoveries and inventions which characterize the +different epochs of the world's history are his works. The creeds and +doctrines, the opinions and principles of the successive ages, are his +thoughts." [Alas, that the Creeds and Doctrines of the Church should be +spoken of by a Professor of Divinity as the "thoughts" of men!] "The +state of society at different times are (_sic_) his manners. He grows +in knowledge, in self-control, in visible size, just as we do. And his +education is in the same way and for the same reason precisely similar +to ours. All this is no figure, but only a compendious statement of a +very comprehensive fact." (p. 3.) "We may then," (he repeats,) "rightly +speak of a childhood, a youth, and a manhood of the world." (p. 4.) And +the process of this development of the colossal man, "corresponds, stage +by stage, with the process by which the infant is trained for youth, and +the youth for manhood. This training has three stages. In childhood, we +are subject to positive rules which we cannot understand, but are bound +implicitly to obey. In youth we are subject to the influence of example, +and soon break loose from all rules, unless illustrated and enforced by +the higher teaching which example imparts. In manhood we are +comparatively free from external restraints, and if we are to learn, +must be our own instructors. First comes the Law, then the Son of Man, +then the Gift of the Spirit. The world was once a child under tutors and +governors until the time appointed by the Father. Then, when the fit +season had arrived, the Example to which all ages should turn was sent +to teach men what they ought to be. Then the human race was left to +itself, to be guided by the teaching of the Spirit within." (p. 5.)--So +very weak an analogy, (where everything is assumed, and nothing proved,) +singular to relate, is drawn out into distressing tenuity through no +less than 49 pages. + +The ANSWER to all this is sufficiently obvious, as well as sufficiently +damaging; and need not be delayed for a minute. + +That the Human Race has made considerable progress in Knowledge, from +first to last,--is a mere truism. That, in the civilized world, one +generation is the heir of the generations which went before it, is what +no one requires to be told. Thus the discovery of the compass, of +printing, and of the steam-engine, have been epochs in human knowledge +from which a start was made by all civilized nations, without +retrogression. But such facts supply no warrant for transforming the +whole Human Race into one Colossal Man; do not constitute any reason +whatever why the 6000 years of recorded time should be divided into +three periods corresponding with the Infancy, Boyhood, and Manhood of an +Individual. + +To this theory, however, Dr. Temple even ostentatiously commits himself. +It is the purpose of his entire Essay, to establish the fanciful analogy +already indicated,--which is proclaimed to be "no figure" but a "fact." +(p. 3.) But an educated man of ordinary intelligence, on reaching p. 7, +(where the writer first discloses his view,) summons the known facts of +History to his recollection; and before he proceeds any further, reasons +with himself somewhat as follows:-- + +The Human Race had inhabited the Earth's surface for upwards of sixteen +hundred years, when it was destroyed by the waters of the Flood. After +that, the descendants of Noah peopled the earth's surface; a transaction +of which the sole authentic record is to be found in the xth chapter of +the Book of Genesis. Egypt first emerged into importance,--as history +and monuments conspire to prove; having had a peculiar language and +literature, Arts and Sciences, anterior to the period of the Exodus, +viz. B.C. 1491. Meanwhile, the chart of History directs our attention to +four great Empires: the Assyrian Empire, which was swallowed up by the +Persian; and the Persian, which was merged in the Grecian Empire. The +Roman Empire came last. [How _Law_ can be considered to be the +characteristic of all or any part of this period, I am at a loss to +discover. Neither do I see any indication of puling Infancy here.] These +four great Empires of the world had run their course when our SAVIOUR +CHRIST was born. GOD sent His own Eternal SON into the world; and lo, a +change passed over the whole fabric of the world's polity. The old forms +of social life became, as it were, dissolved; or rather, a new spirit +had been breathed into them all. A new era had commenced; and a new +principle henceforth animated mankind. That peculiar system of Divine +Laws which for 1500 years had separated the Hebrew race from all the +nations of the earth,--the Mosaic Law which had hitherto been the +inheritance of a single family, isolated in Canaan,--was explained and +expanded by its Divine Author. The ancient promises to Abraham and his +posterity were declared in their application to be co-extensive with the +whole race of Mankind by faith embracing them. Henceforth, the kingdoms +of the world were proclaimed the kingdoms of CHRIST, and _Mankind became +for the first time subject to a written Law_. The Laws of CHRIST'S +Kingdom, the doctrines of CHRIST'S Church, henceforth become supreme. +Thus, when a Christian Sovereign is crowned, the Bible is solemnly +placed in his hands; and it is required of him that he promise, on his +oath, "to the utmost of his power, _to maintain the Laws of GOD_." "When +you see this Orb set under this Cross," (says the Archbishop, on +delivering those insignia of Royalty,) "remember that the whole World is +subject to the power and empire of CHRIST our Redeemer ... so that no +man can reign happily, who ... directs not all his actions _according +to His Laws_." ... No further change in the order of things is anywhere +intimated. The Faith hath been =hapax=,--once and for ever,--delivered to +the Saints. Forsaken, it may be: by many, (alas!) _it will be_ forsaken +before the consummation of all things: but it will not itself cease. +Heaven and Earth shall pass away; but CHRIST'S Word, never. Not one jot +nor one tittle of _the Law_ shall fail.... Such, in brief outline, is +the World's true history,--past, present, future. Does it correspond +with Dr. Temple's account? That may be very soon seen. He calls the +human race a Colossal Man; and says that it passes through three +stages,--Infancy, Boyhood, Manhood: and that during those three stages, +it is governed by three corresponding principles,--Law, Example, +Conscience. How does Dr. Temple establish the first? + +The Jews, (he says,) were subject to Law from the period of the Exode to +the coming of CHRIST.--We listen to the statement of a familiar fact +without surprise: but we are inclined to express some stronger feeling +than surprise when we discover that this is _the whole_ of the proof +concerning the infancy of the Colossal Man! Does this writer then mean +to tell us that the Jews were all Mankind? If they were _not_ the +Colossal Man,--if, instead of being the whole Human Race, they were one +of the most inconsiderable and least known of the nations,--an isolated +family, in fact, inhabiting Canaan,--what becomes of the analogy? We +really pause for an answer.... Such a theory might have been expected, +and would have been excusable if it had proceeded from a +Sunday-school-boy of fifteen,--who had read the Bible indeed, but who +was unacquainted with any book besides; and so, had jumped to the +conclusion that the Jews were "the World." But Dr. Temple is a +Schoolmaster, and therefore must surely know better. If he is fanciful +enough to regard Mankind as a Colossal Man; and unphilosophical enough +to consider that History is capable of being divided into three +periods,--corresponding with Infancy, Boyhood, and Manhood; and +forgetful enough of the facts of the case to assume that mankind was +subject to Law _until_ the coming of CHRIST, thenceforward to be +emancipated therefrom:--yet Dr. Temple ought not to be so unreasonable +as to pretend that Canaan was coextensive with the World,--the +descendants of Abraham with the posterity of Noah! This amiable writer +is inexcusable for excluding from the corporate entity of the Human Race +the four great Empires of the world, (to say nothing of primæval Egypt +and mysterious India;) and for the sake of elaborating a worthless +allegory, identifying the least of all people with the Colossal Man, +who, (according to his own account of the matter,) represents the +aggregate of all the nations. + +Once more. The Mosaic Law was not given till B.C. 1491. But the world +was then upwards of 2500 years old. Far more than one-third, therefore, +of recorded time had already elapsed. How does it happen that the theory +under consideration gives no account of those 2500 years; or rather, +does not begin to be applicable, until they have rolled away? + +Other inconveniences await this silly speculation. Thus, the Colossal +Man, (who was _under Law_ from B.C. 1491 to the Christian æra,) proves +to have been a marvellously precocious Infant. He wrote the Song of +Moses _in the year of his birth_. Nay, he built pyramids,--had a +Literature, Arts, and Sciences,--_ages before he was born!..._ While +yet an infant, he sang with Homer, and carved with Phidias, and +philosophized with Aristotle,--as none have ever sung, or carved, or +philosophized since. Times and fashions have altered, truly; but these +three men are still _our_ Masters in Philosophy, in Sculpture, and in +Song. Awkward fact, that the colossal Infant should have lisped in a +tongue which for copiousness of diction, and subtlety of expression, +absolutely remains to this hour without a rival in the world! + +Again. At this writer's dogmatic bidding, we force ourselves to think of +Mankind as a Colossal Man, who has already gone through three +ages,--Infancy, Boyhood, and Manhood. _Old Age is therefore to come +next_. When, (if it is a fair question,) may it be expected that the sad +period of senile decrepitude will set in? What proof, in the mean time, +is there, (we venture to ask,) that this period of decay has not begun +already? Or does Dr. Temple perhaps imagine that the world is moving in +cycles, (to adopt the grotesque speculation of his own first pages); and +that after having run through the curriculum of Infancy, Boyhood, and +Manhood, the Colossal Man, (escaping, for some unexplained reason, the +penalty of Old Age,) is to grow young again,--shake his rattle and cut +his teeth afresh? There is a childish vivaciousness, a juvenile +recklessness, a skittish impatience of restraint, in this amiable +author's speculations, which powerfully corroborate such a view of the +case. + +"The Childhood of the World was over when our LORD appeared on earth," +(p. 20.) says Dr. Temple. But when at last he is compelled to introduce +to our notice his Colossal Child (p. 9, _bottom_.) now developed into a +Colossal Youth, he is painfully sensible that the Law and the Prophets, +(his schoolmasters,) (p. 8.) have not done their work quite so well as +was to have been desired and expected. Some apology is necessary, (p. +13, _bottom_.) Two great results however he claims for their +discipline:--"a settled national belief in the unity and spirituality of +GOD, and an acknowledgement of the paramount importance of chastity as a +point of morals." (p. 11.) Not however that the Law or the Prophets had +taught them even _this_. (p. 10, _top_.) "It was in the Captivity, far +from the temple and the sacrifices of the temple, that the Jewish people +first learned that the spiritual part of worship could be separated from +the ceremonial; and that of the two the spiritual was far the higher." +(p. 10.) At Babylon also the Jews first distinctly learned the doctrine +of the immortality of the soul. (p. 19.)--The Law, to be sure, had +emphatically said,--"Hear, O Israel, the LORD thy GOD is _one GOD[20]_." +The prophets, to be sure, had protested,--"Behold, to obey is better +than sacrifice[21]." The Law and the Prophets, to be sure, are full of +intimations that "mercy and not sacrifice[22]" is acceptable to the GOD +of Heaven, and that GOD'S Saints well understood the Doctrine[23]; as +well as that a belief in the soul's immortality was a part of the +instruction of the Jewish people. But what is all this to one who has an +allegory to establish?... + +_The facts_ of the case, in the meantime, sorely perplex the +truth-loving writer. "For it is undeniable that, in the time of our +Lord, the Sadducees had lost all depth of spiritual feeling, whilst the +Pharisees had succeeded in converting the Mosaic system into a +mischievous idolatry of forms." (p. 10.) "In short, the Jewish nation +had lost very much when John the Baptist came." (p. 11.) The hopelessly +corrupt moral state of the youthful Colossus, described with such +sickening force and power by the great Apostle in the first chapter of +the Epistle to the Romans, cannot have occurred to Dr. Temple's +remembrance, for he says nothing about it. Certain withering +denunciations of "a wicked and adulterous generation[24];"--of +"adulterers and adulteresses[25];"--"serpents," a "generation of +vipers," which should hardly "escape the damnation of Hell[26];"--ought +to have reached him with a reproachful echo; but he is silent about them +all. Still less would it have suited the amiable allegorizer to state +that _just midway_ in the educational process, his Colossal Youth, "as +if" the sins of Samaria and of Sodom "were a very little thing," "_was +corrupted more than they in all his ways_. As I live, saith the LORD +GOD," (apostrophizing Dr. Temple's Colossal Youth, in allusion to his +character and conduct in the middle of his infant career,) "_Sodom_ thy +sister _hath not done as thou_ hast done: ... _neither hath Samaria +committed half thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations +more than they_.... Bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast +committed _more abominable than they_. They are more righteous than +thou[27]!" "Ah sinful nation, laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, +children that are corrupters!... From the sole of the foot even unto +the head,"--[these words, remember, are addressed to the Colossal Infant +just _midway_ in his career; and Heaven and Earth are called upon to +give ear, "for the LORD hath spoken!" ... From the sole to the crown,] +"there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying +sores.... Your hands are full of blood[28]!" ... About all this hideous +retrospect of what was going on at school, Dr. Temple is silent. + +In like manner, the great fact that our REDEEMER came to republish His +own two primæval ordinances,--the spiritual observance of the Sabbath +and the sanctity of Marriage,--is quietly ignored. A youth utterly +degraded by sensuality[29], and blinded by unbelief[30], is a terrible +picture truly. Dr. Temple therefore boldly gives the lie direct to +History, sacred and profane; and insists that "side by side with freedom +from idolatry, _there had grown up in the Jewish mind a chaster morality +than was to be found elsewhere in the world_:" (p. 12:) that "_in +chastity the Hebrews stood alone_; and this virtue, which had grown up +with them from their earliest days (!!!) _was still in the vigour of +fresh life when they were commissioned to give the Gospel to the +nations_." (p. 13.) + +Behold the Colossal Child therefore, now grown into a Colossal "Youth +too old for discipline." (p. 20, _bottom_.) "The tutors and governors +have done their work;" (p. 20;) and he is now to go through a distinct +process of training. Three tutors are now brought in to give the +finishing touches to the youth's education, and to inaugurate his new +career. Rome, Greece, and Asia,--which for some unexplained reason never +become (according to Dr. Temple) any part of the Colossal Man _at +all_,--now come in; "Rome to discipline the human will; Greece, the +reason and taste; Asia, the spiritual imagination." (p. 19.) The Law and +the Prophets had disciplined the Colossal Child's conscience,--with what +success we have seen. At all events, Moses and Isaiah are for infants: +we have passed the age for such helps as _they_ could supply. In a +word,--"The childhood of the world was over when our Lord appeared on +earth." (p. 20.) It was "just the meeting-point of the Child and the +Man; the brief interval which separates restraint from liberty." (p. +22.) "It was time that the second teacher of the Human Race should begin +his labours. The second teacher is EXAMPLE:" (p. 20:) and "the period of +youth in the history of the world, when the human race was, as it were, +put under the teaching of example, corresponds, of course, to the +meeting point of the Law and the Gospel. The second stage therefore in +the education of man was the presence of our LORD upon earth." (p. 24.) + +Let not this stage of Dr. Temple's allegory suffer by being stated in +any language besides his own. "The world" had been a Colossal Child for +1490 years. It was to be a Youth for almost 100. "The whole period from +the closing of the Old Testament to the close of the New was the period +of the world's youth,--the age of examples: and our LORD'S presence was +not the only influence of that kind which has acted upon the human race. +Three companions were appointed by Providence to give their society to +this creature whom GOD was educating, Greece, Rome, and the Early +Church." (p. 26.) Behold then, our Blessed Redeemer with His "three +companions." (I reproduce this blasphemous speculation with shame and +sorrow.) What kind of Example _He_ was, Dr. Temple omits to inform us. +But Greece was "the brilliant social companion;"--Rome, "the bold and +clever leader;"--the Early Church was "the earnest, heavenly-minded +friend." (p. 26.) We are warned therefore against supposing that "our +Lord's presence was _the only influence of that kind_," (i.e. example,) +appointed by Providence for the creature whom God was educating. In a +word: "The world was now grown old enough to be taught by seeing the +lives of Saints, _better than by hearing the words of Prophets_." +(pp. 28-9.) + +We come now to the conclusion of the allegory; and Dr. Temple shall +again speak for himself. "The age of reflection begins. From the +storehouse of his youthful experience the Man begins to draw the +principles of his life. The spirit or conscience comes to full strength +and assumes the throne intended for him in the soul. As an accredited +judge, invested with full powers, he sits in the tribunal of our inner +kingdom, decides upon the past, and legislates upon the future without +appeal except to himself. He decides not by what is beautiful, or noble, +or soul-inspiring, but by what is right. Gradually he frames his code of +laws, revising, adding, abrogating, as a wider and deeper experience +gives him clearer light. He is the third great teacher and the last." +(p. 31.) + +And now, it will reasonably be asked,--May not the head-master of Rugby +write a weak and foolish Essay on a subject which he evidently does not +understand, without incurring so much not only of public ridicule, but +of public obloquy also? If his own sixth-form boys do not laugh at him, +need the Church feel aggrieved at what he has written? Where is the +special _irreligion_ in all this? + +I answer,--The offence is of the very gravest character; and in the +course of what follows, it will appear with sufficient plainness wherein +it consists. For the moment,--singly considered,--it is my painful duty +to condemn Dr. Temple's Essay on the following grounds. + +Whereas the Church inculcates the paramount necessity of _an external +authoritative Law_ to guide all her members;--Creeds to define the +foundation of their Faith,--a Catechism to teach them the necessary +elements of Christian Doctrine,--the several forms of Prayer contained +in the Prayer Book to instruct them further in Religion, as well as to +prescribe their exact mode of worshipping ALMIGHTY GOD: whereas too the +Church requires of her ministers subscription to Articles "for the +avoiding of Diversities of Opinions, and for the establishing of Consent +concerning true Religion;"--above all, since all Christian men alike are +taught to acknowledge the external guidance of the Divine Law itself +contained in Holy Scripture,--and every Minister of the Church of +England is further called upon to admit the authority of that Divine Law +as it is by the Church systematized, explained, upheld, +enforced:--notwithstanding all this, Dr. Temple, who has solemnly taken +the vows of a minister of the Church of England, and writes after his +name that he is _Sacræ Theologiæ Professor_, in his present Essay more +than insinuates, he openly teaches that Man "draws _the principles of +his life_," (not from Revelation, but) "_from_ the storehouse of +_experience_:" that we live in an age when "the spirit or conscience +having come to full strength, assumes the throne intended for him in the +soul." This "spirit or conscience" "legislates _without appeal except to +himself_." "He is the third great teacher and the last." (p. 31.) The +world, in the days of its youth, could not "walk by reason and +conscience alone:" (p. 21:) but it is not so with us, in these, the days +of the world's manhood. "The spiritual power within us ... must be the +rightful monarch of our lives." (p. 14.) _We_, (he says,) "walk by +reason and conscience _alone_." (p. 21.) + +Now this is none other than a deliberate dethroning of GOD; and a +setting up of Self in His place. "A revelation speaking from without and +not from within, is an external Law, and not a spirit,"--(p. 36,) says +Dr. Temple. But I answer,--A revelation speaking from within, and not +from without, is _no revelation at all_. "The thought of building a +tower high enough to escape GOD's wrath, could enter into no man's +dreams," (p. 7,) says Dr. Temple in the beginning of his Essay, in +derision of the Old World. But he has carried out into act the very +self-same thought, himself; and his "dreams" occupy the foremost place +in 'Essays and Reviews.' He teaches, openly, that henceforth Man must +learn by "_obedience to the rules of his own mind_." (p. 34.) He is +express in declaring that "an external law" is for the age which is +past, (pp. 34-5.) Ours is "an internal law;" "which bids us +yield,"--not to the revealed Will of GOD, "but,--to the majesty of truth +and justice; _a law which is not imposed upon us by another power, but +by our own enlightened will_." (p. 35.) In this, the last stage of the +Colossal Man's progress, Dr. Temple gives him four avenues of learning: +(1) Experience, (2) Reflection, (3) Mistakes, (4) Contradiction. By +withholding from this enumeration _the Revealed Will of GOD_, and _the +known sanctions of the Divine Law_, he _thrusts out GOD_ from every part +of his scheme; denies that He is even one of the present teachers of the +Human Race,--explaining that the time has even gone by when CHRIST could +teach by example[31],--"for the faculty of Faith has turned inwards, +and cannot now accent any outer manifestations of the truth of GOD[32]." +(p. 24.)--By this Essay, Dr. Temple comes forward as the open abettor of +the most boundless scepticism. Whether or no his statements be such as +Ecclesiastical Courts take cognizance of, is to me a matter of profound +unimportance. In the estimation of the whole Church, it can be entitled +to but one sentence. "We use the Bible," (he tells us,) "not to +override, but to evoke the voice of conscience." (p. 44.) "The current +is all one way,--it evidently points to the identification of the Bible +with the voice of conscience. The Bible, in fact, is hindered by its +form from exercising a despotism (!) over the human spirit; if it could +do that, it would become an outer law at once." (p. 45.) Even if men +"could appeal to a revelation from Heaven, they would still be under the +Law (!!!); for a Revelation speaking from without, and not from within, +is an external Law, and not a Spirit." (p. 36.) "The principle of +private judgment puts conscience between us and the Bible; making +conscience the supreme interpreter, whom it may be a duty to enlighten, +but whom it can never be a duty to disobey." (_Ibid._)--Even those who +look upon the observance of Sunday "as enjoined by an absolutely binding +decree," are reproached as "thus at once putting themselves under a +law." (p. 44.) ... Dr. Temple has written an Essay which he calls "an +argument," and for which he claims "a drift." (p. 31.) _That_ argument +is neither more nor less than a direct assault on the Faith of Christian +men; and carried out to its lawful results, _can_ lead to nothing but +open Infidelity;--which makes it a very solemn consideration that the +author, (whose private worth is known to all,) should be a teacher of +the youth of Christian England. _That_ drift I deplore and condemn; and +no considerations of private friendship, no sincere regard for the +writer's private worth, shall deter me from recording my deliberate +conviction that it is wholly incompatible with his Ordination vows. + +I forbear to dive into the depth of irreligion and unbelief implied in +what is contained from p. 37 to p. 40, and other parts of the present +Essay: but I cannot abstain from asking why does this author,--who, in +all the intercourse of private life, is so manly a character,--fall into +the _un_manly trick of his brother-Essayists, of insinuating what they +dare not openly avow? The great master of this cloudy shuffling art is +Mr. Jowett. Even where he and his associates in "free handling," are +express and definite in their statements, yet, as their rule is +prudently to abstain from adducing a single example of their meaning, it +is only by their disingenuous reticence that they escape punishment or +exposure. Thus, Dr. Temple speaks of "many of the doctrinal statements +of the early Church" being "plainly unfitted for permanent use;" +(p. 41;) but he prudently abstains from explaining _which_ of those +"doctrinal statements" he means. He goes on to remark:--"In fact, the +Church of the Fathers claimed to do what not even the Apostles had +claimed,--namely, not only to teach the Truth, but to clothe it in +logical statements ... for all succeeding time." He is evidently +alluding to "the forms in which the first ages of the Church defined the +Truth;" [i.e. to the Creeds;] of which he says, we "_yet refuse to be +bound by them_." (p. 44.) He goes on,--"It belongs to a later epoch to +see 'the law within the law' which absorbs such statements _into +something higher than themselves_." (p. 41.) But the writer of that +sentence ought to have had the manliness to explain _what_ that "higher +something" _is_. + +Dr. Temple's estimate of the corruptions of the Papacy is of a piece +with the rest of what I must be excused for calling a most unworthy +performance. "Purgatory," &c. (he says) "was in fact, neither more nor +less than _the old schoolmaster come back_ to bring some new scholars to +CHRIST." (p. 42.) (Is the Romish fable of Purgatory then to be put on +the same footing as the Divine Revelation to Moses on Sinai?) It +follows,--"When the work was done, men began to discover that the Law +was no longer necessary." (_Ibid._) (Is it thus that the head-master of +Rugby accounts for, and explains the Reformation?) "The time was come +when it was fit to trust to the conscience _as the supreme guide_." +(_Ibid._) "At the Reformation, it might have seemed at first as if the +study of theology were about to return. But in reality an entirely new +lesson commenced,--the lesson of toleration. Toleration is the very +opposite of dogmatism." (p. 43.) "Its tendency is to modify the early +dogmatism by substituting the spirit for the letter, and practical +religion for precise definitions of truth." (_Ibid._) "The mature mind +of our race is beginning to modify and soften the hardness and severity +of the principles which its early manhood had elevated into immutable +statements of truth. Men are beginning to take a wider view than they +did. Physical science, researches into history, a more thorough +knowledge of the world they inhabit, have enlarged our philosophy beyond +the limits which bounded that of the Church of the Fathers. And all +these have an influence, whether we will or no, on our determinations of +religious truth. There are found to be more things in heaven and earth +than were dreamt of in patristic theology. GOD'S creation is a new book +to be read by the side of His revelation, and to be interpreted as +coming from Him. We can acknowledge the great value of the forms in +which the first ages of the Church defined the truth, and yet refuse to +be bound by them." (p. 43-4.) ... Who so unacquainted with the method of +a certain school as not to understand the fatal meaning of generalities, +false and foul as these? + + * * * * * + +It may occur to some persons to inquire whether St. Paul, in a +well-known place, does not affirm, (somewhat as it is affirmed in this +Essay,) that "the heir, as long as he is a child, ... is under tutors +and governors until the time appointed of the father?" And that, "Even +so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the +world: but when the fulness of time was come, GOD sent forth His SON +... to redeem them that were under the Law, that we might receive the +adoption of sons?" Does not St. Paul also go on to reproach men for +"turning again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto they desired +to be again in bondage?" saying, "ye observe[33] days, and months, and +times, and years[34]." It is quite true that St. Paul says all this: and +I would fain believe that a puerile misconception of the Apostle's +meaning has betrayed the misguided author of the present Essay into a +notion that he enjoys a species of Divine sanction for what he has +written concerning "the Education of the World." I may add that St. Paul +also declares, (in the same Epistle,) that "the Law was our _pædagogus_ +to bring us to CHRIST.... But after faith is come, we are no longer +under a _pædagogus[35]_." He further adds an exhortation to the +Galatians, (for it is still _them_ whom he is addressing,)--"Stand fast +therefore in the liberty wherewith CHRIST hath made us free, and be not +entangled again with the yoke of bondage[36]."--St. John moreover, in +many places, insists upon the spiritual powers and privileges of +believers, in a very remarkable manner,--the same St. John, the same +'Apostle of Love,' who says of a certain Doctrine which 'Essayists and +Reviewers' write as if they disbelieved,--"If there come any unto you, +and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither +bid him GOD speed: for he that biddeth him GOD speed is partaker of his +evil deeds[37]." + +But it does not require much knowledge of Divinity to make a man aware +that St. Paul's meaning and intention is as widely removed from Dr. +Temple's, as Truth is removed from falsehood: or rather, that the +Apostle is flatly against him. St. Paul is not bent on explaining what +has been _the Education of the World_, but on pointing out in what +relation _the Gospel of CHRIST stands to the Law of Moses_. He is +reproving men who, having been converted to Christianity, were for +lapsing into Judaism. Certain of the Circumcision had been striving, in +St. Paul's absence, to bring his Galatian converts under the bondage of +the Levitical Law; assuring them that the Gospel would avail them +nothing unless they were circumcised and obedient to the Jewish ritual. +Hence the Apostle's vehemence, and the peculiar form which his +instruction assumes. + +The Christian dispensation, (the scheme of Man's Justification by Faith +in CHRIST,) is the fulfilment, (St. Paul says,) of the covenant which +GOD once solemnly made with Abraham. The Mosaic Law, (which was not +given till 430 years after the time of Abraham,) is powerless to cancel +that earlier covenant of Faith. What was the use of the Law, then? some +one may ask. It was a supplementary, parenthetical, superadded thing, +which came in, as it were, accidentally, for certain assignable +purposes. But now that the original covenant of Faith has at length +found fulfilment in the person of CHRIST, it were monstrous (argues the +Apostle) to revert to Judaism: which was a species of prison-house where +we suffered bondage until MESSIAH came to set us free. We were _as +prisoners_, says the Apostle. We were also _as children_, (who, +anciently, from the age of six to fourteen, used to be consigned by +their father to the care of a slave called a 'pædagogus;' who was +neither qualified nor allowed to teach them anything; but whose office +it was _to conduct them to school_.) So _brought to the School of +CHRIST_, where learning comes _by Faith_, (such is his argument,) let +men beware how they revert to the carnal ordinances of the Jewish Law. + +How different a view of our true state is thus discovered, from that +which Dr. Temple describes! A glorious liberty is _in reserve_ for us +indeed[38]: a precious freedom is ours already. But it bears no +resemblance whatever to that _lawlessness_ (=anomia=) with which Dr. +Temple seems to be enamoured. It is the correlation of _slavery_, not of +obedience. It implies emancipation from the _Levitical_ Law, not from +the sanctions, however strict, of the _Christian Church_. The Doctrines +of Christ's kingdom are the Christian's crown and joy. _His_ "service is +perfect freedom," and imparts to life all its sweetness.--Not only, +therefore, (according to St. Paul's view of the matter,) were men _not_ +released from school at "the meeting point of the Law and the Gospel," +(p. 24,) but they only _began_ to go to School _then[39]_! + +How different a view of the Education of the World does the HOLY +SPIRIT,--does our LORD Himself--furnish, from that which Dr. Temple here +advocates!... Fallen, in the person of Adam, and made subject to the +penalty of eternal death, behold Mankind from the very first taught to +believe that they should be ultimately redeemed by One born of woman. +Under the image of a son who remained in his father's house, the +favoured descendants of Abraham are set before us: while the rest of the +world is pourtrayed in the person of another son, who goes into a far +country, and there wastes his substance with riotous living. _Not_ when +grown into a colossal "youth too old for discipline," (p. 20, _bottom_,) +but in the day of his dire necessity, and when he begins to be sensible +of his utter need, behold the heathen nations, (in the person of the +poor prodigal,) arising, and going to their true Father, and in the +fulness of their misery asking for a hired servant's place in the +household. Behold too GOD'S mercies in CHRIST set forth by "the first +robe," (_that_ robe of innocence which when Adam lost he knew that he +was naked!) and the ring, and the shoes, and the fatted calf! Lastly, in +the embrace which the Father, (while yet the offending but repentant son +is a long way off,) _runs_ to bestow,--behold _how_ GOD loved the World! + +But Dr. Temple may say,--_My_ parable relates to one person: that which +you have quoted pourtrays two, and thus all parallelism is lost. (In +other words, _our LORD'S picture_ of "the Education of the World" _is +altogether unlike Dr. Temple's_!)--Take, however, a parable which ought +to suit exactly; for in it mankind are exhibited in the person of "a +certain man." + +This individual is represented as one who, as he travels, is by thieves +stripped, wounded, and left half dead. Such then, by nature, is the +state of the human race! Priest and Levite, who "look on him," but "pass +by on the other side," set forth the Education of the World (!) until +CHRIST came. A certain Samaritan, who has compassion on the naked and +wounded wretch, goes to him, binds up his wounds, pours in oil and wine, +sets him on his own beast, brings him to the inn, and takes care of +him:--_this_ one is CHRIST. The stranger's pence, and his promise to +repay at his second coming what shall have been over-expended,--set +forth, I suppose, _that_ ministration of CHRIST'S Word and Sacraments +which Dr. Temple exercises.... Let me dismiss the subject by remarking +that I find no countenance given by Holy Scripture to Dr. Temple's +monstrous notions concerning the Infancy, the Youth, and the Manhood of +the Colossal Man. + +Our SAVIOUR CHRIST is indeed set before us in Scripture as our great +Exemplar[40]; and St. Paul calls upon us to be followers, or rather +imitators, (=mimêtai=), of himself; even as _he_ was of CHRIST[41]. But +this walking by example, did not supersede the walking by precept; +neither was it to endure, (GOD forbid!) (as Dr. Temple emphatically says +it was), (pp. 26: 28-9,) only for about a hundred years: still less was +"Example," (the second Teacher of the Human Race,) straightway to find +itself supplanted by "the Spirit or Conscience" of Man,--"the third +great Teacher, and the last." What need to say that until His Second +Coming to judge the world, we shall have _no_ Teacher but CHRIST,--_no_ +other way proposed to us to walk in, but that which the Gospel +discloses? + +Neither is it true that the world has been old enough, for the last 1800 +years, to be taught by "_seeing the lives of Saints_," (a sentiment +worthy of the weakest of Romanists!) "_better than by hearing the words +of Prophets_." (pp. 28-9.) The Church of CHRIST will for ever listen to +the blessed accents of that "goodly fellowship," until she beholds Him +by whose Spirit they spake[42], coming again to judgment. True that the +object with which she will all along _inform_ her children, will ever be +that they may become _conformed_ to the model of her Divine LORD. But +"sound doctrine[43],"--embodied in a "form of sound +words[44],"--constitutes that =parakatathêkê=, or "deposit," which is her +proudest inheritance and her greatest treasure[45]: and impatience of it +is a note of evil men, and of a season at which Prophecy points her +awful finger[46].... "Lawlessness," (=anomia=,) is discoursed of by the +SPIRIT with a mysterious earnestness which it seems to me impossible to +survey without mingled awe and terror lest one may become oneself +involved in the threatened condemnation. I allude of course especially +to what St. Paul says in his second Epistle to the Thessalonians; the +language of which, to be understood, must be studied in the +original[47]. + +Conscience has her office, doubtless; and a most important one it is. +Conscience is the very candle of the LORD within us. But, (as I have +elsewhere shewn,) it were base treason to speak of conscience as +Essayists and Reviewers speak of it. With _them_, it is indeed +impossible to argue. They must first withdraw from the cause which they +have betrayed; cease to profess the teaching which they disbelieve; +resign their commission in a Church to whose Doctrine and Discipline +they openly proclaim themselves to be opposed. I will not argue _with +them_, while they presume to write B.D. and D.D. after their +names,--hold Chaplaincies,--preside over Schools and Colleges,--profess +to lecture in Divinity,--officiate at the altars of the Church of +England,--by virtue of their sacred office, _and by virtue of that +only_, are instructors of youth. They _cannot_, (if they are in the full +enjoyment of their faculties,) they _cannot_ imagine, for a moment, +that, as honest men, they can remain where they are! They _must_ either +recal their words or resign their stations! + +But speaking to others, it will abundantly suffice to point out that +such principles as the present Essay advocates are incompatible with the +profession of Christianity in _any_ country, and in _any_ age. If the +spirit or conscience of Man is to legislate "_without appeal except to +himself_;" (p. 31;) if men are to "_refuse to be bound_" (p. 44.) by the +Creeds of the Church; if the very Bible is not to be looked upon as "_an +outer law_:" (p. 45:)--how is sentence _ever_ to be pronounced with +authority? how are men to know _what_ they have to believe? how are we +to enjoy the guidance of any "outer law" _at all_? I do not ask these +questions as a clergyman; neither am I addressing those exclusively who +have been admitted to the Christian priesthood. Common sense, ordinary +piety, natural reverence, seem to cry out, and ask,--If _the Church_ +have no "authority in controversies of Faith[48];" if _the three Creeds_ +ought not "thoroughly to be received and believed[49];" if _the Bible_ +is not "an outer Law;"--_where_ is Authority in things Divine to be +sought for? _What_ can be worthy of credit? _Where_ are we to look for +external guidance on this side the grave?... Surely, surely, common +sense is outraged when she hears it insisted that the written Bible is a +Revelation speaking NOT "from without," but "from within!" (pp. 36 and +45.) Surely it must be admitted that it were mere atheism to pretend +that Man's "spirit or conscience, _without appeal except to himself_," +shall henceforth be the governing principle of Mankind! + +Let me in conclusion do this writer an act of justice, (for which he +will not perhaps altogether thank me,) even while with shame and sorrow +I now dismiss his Essay. Unpardonable as he is for having written thus; +and _wholly_ without excuse for having suffered _nine editions_ of his +blasphemous allegory to go forth to the world without apology, +explanation, or retractation of any kind,--although he labours under a +weight of competent censure without a parallel, I believe, in the annals +of the English Church[50]: notwithstanding all this, I am bound to say +that if the unbelievers of this generation think they have an ally in +_the man_, Frederick Temple,--they are very much mistaken. That so pure +a heart, and earnest a spirit, will never work itself free of its +present bondage,--I should be sorry indeed to think. (But O the mischief +which the head-master of Rugby School will have done in the meantime!) +His misfortune (or rather fault) it has been, that he has really never +studied Divinity; nor, in fact, _knows anything at all about it_,--as a +volume of his, lately published, sufficiently shews. Apart from his +opinions (!), he is a thoroughly amiable man; and--(with the same +proviso!)--an excellent schoolmaster; but when he ventures upon the +province of Theology, he shews himself something infinitely worse than +_a very bad Divine_. + + * * * * * + +II. On turning the first page of the review which follows, "by ROWLAND +WILLIAMS, D.D. Vice-Principal and Professor of Hebrew, St. David's +College, Lampeter; Vicar of Broad Chalke, Wilts,"--we are made sensible +that we are in company of a writer considerably in advance of Dr. +Temple, though altogether of the same school. In fact, if Dr. Williams +had not been Vice-Principal of a Theological College, and a Doctor of +Divinity, one would have supposed him to be a complete infidel,--who +found it convenient to vent his own unbelief in a highly laudatory +review of the principles of the late Baron Bunsen. Hear him:--"When +Bunsen asks 'How long shall we bear this fiction of an external +Revelation,'--that is, of one violating the heart and conscience, +instead of expressing itself through them;--or when he says, 'All this +is delusion for those who believe it; but what is it in the mouths of +those who teach it?'--Or when he exclaims, 'Oh the fools! who, if they +do see the imminent perils of this age, think to ward them off by +narrow-minded persecution'!--and when he repeats, 'Is it not time, in +truth, to withdraw the veil from our misery? to tear off the mask from +hypocrisy, and destroy that sham which is undermining all real ground +under our feet? to point out the dangers which surround, nay, threaten +already to engulf us?'--there will be some who think his language too +vehement for good taste. Others will think burning words needed by the +disease of our time. These will not quarrel on points of taste with a +man who in our darkest perplexity has reared again the banner of Truth, +and uttered thoughts which gave courage to the weak and sight to the +blind. If Protestant Europe is to escape those shadows of the twelfth +century which with ominous recurrence are closing around us, to Baron +Bunsen will belong a foremost place among the champions of light and +right." (pp. 92-3.) + +But even the Prussian infidel is not advanced enough for the Vicar of +Broad Chalke. Bunsen, it seems, was weak enough to believe that the +prophet Jonah was a real personage. This evokes the following singular +burst of critical indignation from the Reverend author of the present +Essay:--"It provokes a smile on serious topics,"--(a kind of impropriety +which the Vice-Principal of Lampeter will not commit except under +protest and with an apology!)--"to observe the zeal with which our +critic vindicates the personality of Jonah, and the originality of his +hymn, (the latter being generally thought doubtful), while he proceeds +to explain that the narrative of our book in which the hymn is imbedded, +contains a late legend founded on misconception. One can imagine the +cheers which the opening of such an essay might evoke in some of our +circles, changing into indignation (!) as the distinguished foreigner +developed his views. After this he might speak more gently of mythical +theories." (p. 77.) + +For the most part, however, the Vicar of Broad Chalke is able to cite +the opinions of Bunsen with admiration and approval. They are both +agreed that the Deluge "was but a prolonged play of the forces of fire +and water rendering the primæval regions of North Asia uninhabitable, +and urging the nations to new abodes." (Of what nature this "_prolonged +play_" was, is however left unexplained: while "_the forces of fire and +water_ rendering _primæval regions_ uninhabitable," and "_urging_ +nations to new abodes," has altogether a Herodotean sound.) "We learn +approximately its antiquity, and infer limitation in its range from +finding it recorded in the traditions of Iran and Palestine, (or of +Japheth and Shem), but unknown to the Egyptians and Mongolians." +(p. 56.) (A delightful method truly of attaining historical precision +in a matter of this nature!) ... "In the _half ideal, half traditional_ +notices of the beginnings of our race compiled in Genesis, we are bid +notice the combination of documents and the recurrence of barely +consistent Genealogies." (_Ibid._) Praise is at hand for "the firmness +with which Bunsen relegates the long lives of the first patriarchs to +the domain of legend, or of symbolical cycle." (p. 57.) "The historical +portion begins with Abraham." (_Ibid._)--After this admission, it is +instructive to observe how the learned writer deals with the narrative. +The Exode was "a struggle conducted by human means." (p. 59.) "Thus, as +the pestilence of the Book of Kings becomes in Chronicles the more +visible angel, so the avenger who slew the firstborn may have been the +Bedouin host, (!) akin nearly to Jethro, and more remotely to Israel." +(_Ibid._) (It is really hardly worth stopping to point out that by +'Kings' the Reverend writer means 'the second Book of Samuel:' and to +remind the reader that _the Angel is mentioned as expressly in Samuel +as in Chronicles[51]_. Also, to ask what 'the Bedouin host' could have +been doing _in Egypt_ previous to the Exode?) "The passage of the Red +Sea may be interpreted with the latitude of poetry." (_Ibid._) "Moses +would gladly have founded a free religious society, ... but the rudeness +or hardness of his people's heart compelled him to a sacerdotal system +and formal tablets of stone." (p. 62.) Nay, Abraham's intended sacrifice +of Isaac was an act of obedience to "the fierce ritual of Syria, with +the awe of a Divine voice:" (p. 61:) while the Divine command, in +conformity with which Abraham spared to slay his son, is resolved into +an allegory. "He trusted that the FATHER, whose voice from Heaven he +heard at heart, was better pleased with mercy than with sacrifice, and +this trust was his righteousness." (p. 61.) Dr. Williams straightway +shews us how _we_ may tread in the steps of faithful Abraham. The +perpetual response of our hearts, (he says,) to principles of Reason and +Right of our own tracing, is a truer sign of faith than deference to a +supposed external authority. (p. 61.) ... According to this writer, +therefore, Genesis and Exodus are pure fable! + +The whole of Scripture, in the hands of this Doctor of Divinity, +undergoes corresponding treatment. They who "twist Prophecy into harmony +with the details of Gospel history, fall into inextricable +contradictions." (pp. 64-5.) "The Book of Isaiah, as composed of +elements of different eras," can only be accepted with a "modified +theory of authorship and of prediction." (p. 68.) In the prophecy of +Zechariah are "three distinct styles and aspects of affairs." (_Ibid._) +"The cursing Psalms," (!!!) he informs us, were not "evangelically +inspired;" (p. 63;) and yet we are constrained to remember that the +cixth Psalm (specially alluded to) is evangelically interpreted by St. +Peter[52]. The true translation of Psalm xxii. 17, (learnedly discussed, +long since, by Bishop Pearson,) is not "they pierced My hands and My +feet,"--but "like a lion;" (notwithstanding that Pearson has shewn that +the substitution of _vau_ for _yod_ in this place is one of the eighteen +instances where the Scribes have tampered with the text[53]; and +notwithstanding that this modern corruption of the Hebrew, as every one +must see, makes the place almost nonsense[54].)--Is. vii. 14 does not +refer to the miraculous birth of CHRIST, (p. 69,) (although St. Matthew +is express in his assertion that it _does_.) There is, it seems, an +elder and a later Isaiah, (p. 71.) The famous liiird chapter does not +refer to CHRIST; but either to Jeremiah or to "the collective +Israel,"--(p. 73,) (although it is at least seven times quoted, and +expressly applied to our SAVIOUR, in the New Testament[55].) Daniel, we +are assured, belongs to different ages; and it is "certain, beyond fair +doubt ... that those portions of the book, supposed to be specially +predictive, are ... a history of past occurrences." (p. 69.) That "the +book contains no predictions, except by analogy and type, can hardly be +gainsaid." (pp. 76-7.) ... (If any of _us_ had dogmatized as to Truth as +these men do as to error, (remarks Dr. Pusey,) what scorn we should be +held up to!) ... The Reverend author insolently adds,--"It is time for +divines to recognize these things, since with their opportunities of +study, the current error is as discreditable to them, as for the +well-meaning crowd, who are taught to identify it with their creed, it +is a matter of grave compassion." (p. 77.) "When so vast an induction on +the destructive side has been gone through, it avails little that some +passages may be doubtful; one perhaps in Zechariah, and one in Isaiah, +capable of being made directly Messianic; and a chapter possibly in +Deuteronomy foreshadowing the final fall of Jerusalem. Even these few +cases, the remnant of so much confident rhetoric, tend to melt, if they +are not already melted, in the crucible of searching enquiry." (pp. +69-70.) ... Our Doctor of Divinity, having reduced the prophecies +_"capable of being made"_ Messianic, to _two_,--breaks out into a strain +of refined banter which is altogether his own, and which we presume is +intended to stand in the place of argument. "If our German, [viz. +Bunsen,] had ignored all that the masters of philology have proved on +these subjects, his countrymen would have raised a storm of ridicule, at +which he must have drowned himself in the Neckar." (p. 70.) A +catastrophe so fatal to the cause of true Religion and sound learning +may well point a paragraph!... But we must write gravely. + +The absolute worthlessness of unsupported dicta such as these, ought to +be apparent to all. It is useless to reason with a madman. We desiderate +nothing so much as "searching enquiry," (p. 69,) but we are presented +instead with something worse than random assertion. If the writer would +state a single case, with its evidence,--we should know how to deal with +him. We should examine his arguments seriatim; and either refute them, +or admit their validity. From such "free handling," the cause of sacred +Truth can never suffer. But when, in place of argument and evidence, we +have merely bluster,--what is to be said? Pity and disregard are the +only reply we can bestow; or our answers must be as brief as the calumny +which provokes them. "How," (asks the Regius Professor of Hebrew,) "can +such an undigested heap of errors receive a systematic answer in brief +space, or in any one treatise or volume?" + +"If any sincere Christian now asks, is not then our SAVIOUR spoken of in +Isaiah; let him open his New Testament, and ask therewith John the +Baptist, whether he was Elias? If he finds the Baptist answering _I am +not_, yet our LORD testifies that in spirit and power this was Elias; a +little reflexion will shew how the historical representation in Isaiah +liii. is of some suffering prophet or remnant, yet the truth and +patience, the grief and triumph, have their highest fulfilment in Him +who said, 'FATHER, not My will but Thine.'" (p. 74.) I have transcribed +this passage to illustrate the miserable sophistry of the author. It is +foretold by Malachi that before the great and terrible day of the LORD, +Elijah is to come back to Earth[56]. John Baptist came in his "spirit +and power[57]," but was not Elijah himself. How does it follow from this +that Isaiah may have prophesied merely of _qualities_ and not of a +person? The only logical inference from his words would surely be, that +Elijah is yet to come[58]!--Dr. Williams adds,--"We must not distort the +prophets to prove the Divine WORD incarnate, and then from the +Incarnation reason back to the sense of prophecy." (p. 74.) _Was_ not +then the Divine WORD incarnate? + +The theory of one who writes like an open unbeliever concerning Divine +things is really not worth developing: and yet, as I am examining an +Essay which seems to be entirely built upon such a theory, it may be +desirable, in this instance, that the deformity of the writer should be +uncovered: especially since Dr. Williams writes such very dark English, +that, until some of his sentences are translated, they are barely +intelligible. + +Anticipating that his doctrines may "alarm those who think that, apart +from _Omniscience belonging to the Jews_, (!) the proper conclusion of +reason is Atheism;"--(in other words, that the rejection of a belief in +_the inspiration of Prophecy_ will eventually conduct a man to the +rejection of GOD Himself;) the Reverend writer declares that "it is not +inconsistent with the idea that ALMIGHTY GOD has been pleased to educate +men and nations, employing imagination no less than conscience, and +suffering His lessons to play freely within the limits of humanity and +its shortcomings." (p. 77.) (In other words, that what Scripture +emphatically declares, and what men have for thousands of years +believed to be inspired predictions of future events, are none other +than the effusions of a lively imagination, or the suggestions of a +well-informed conscience.) "The prophetical disquisitions," (p. 77,) +therefore, are subject to error of every imaginable description; and +possess no higher attributes than belong to any ordinary human work by +"a master's hand." (p. 77.) "The Sacred Writers acknowledge themselves +men of like passions with ourselves, and we are promised illumination +from the Spirit which dwelt in them." (p. 78.) We may not think of the +Sacred Writers as "passionless machines, and call Luther and Milton +'uninspired.'" (_Ibid._) "The great result is to vindicate the work of +the Eternal Spirit; that abiding influence which underlies all others, +and in which converge all images of old time and means of grace now: +temple, Scripture, finger, and Hand of GOD; and again, preaching, +sacraments, waters which comfort, and flame which burns." (p. 78.) It +follows,--"If such a Spirit did not dwell in the Church, the Bible would +not be inspired, for _the Bible is_, before all things, _the written +voice of the congregation_." (p. 78.) Offended Reason, (for Piety has no +place here,) has not time to reclaim against so preposterous a +statement; for it follows immediately,--"Bold as such a theory of +Inspiration (!) may sound, it was the earliest creed of the Church, and +it is the only one to which the facts of Scripture answer." (p. 78.) ... +What reply _can_ be offered to such an outrageous statement, but flat +contradiction? What more effectual refutation of such a 'theory' (?) +concerning Scripture, than simply to state it? + +Let this miserable but conceited man yet further map out the nature of +his own delusion respecting Prophecy. He applauds the wisdom of one who +"accepts freely the belief of scholars, and yet does not despair of +Hebrew Prophecy as a witness to the Kingdom of God:" (p. 70:) (that is, +of one who, like Bunsen, altogether disbelieves in prophecy _as +prophecy_, and yet is bent on finding something of an Evangelical +character in the prophetic writings.) "The way of doing so left open to +him, was to shew pervading the Prophets those deep truths which lie at +the heart of Christianity, and to trace the growth of such ideas, the +belief in a righteous GOD, and the nearness of Man to GOD, the power of +prayer, and the victory of self-sacrificing patience, ever expanding in +men's hearts, until the fulness of time came, and the ideal of the +Divine thought was fulfilled in the Son of Man." (p. 70.) In other +words, CHRIST was nothing more than the fullest development and +impersonation of the best thoughts and feelings of the (so-called) +prophets! He "fulfilled in His own person the highest aspiration of +Hebrew seers and of mankind, thereby lifting the ancient words, so to +speak, into a new and higher power; and therefore was recognized as +having eminently the unction of a prophet whose words die not,--of a +priest in a temple not made with hands,--and of a king in the realm of +thought, delivering his people from a bondage of moral evil, worse than +Egypt or Babylon." (pp. 74-5.) "A notion of _foresight by vision of +particulars_, or a kind of clairvoyance," (p. 70,)--(such is this Doctor +of Divinity's notion of the gift of prophecy!)--he deems inadmissible. +"_Literal prognostication_," (p. 65,) is his abhorrence. He would +eliminate the Messianic passages altogether. (pp. 65-6.) That Prophecy +was miraculous, was a dream of the Fathers, (p. 66.) Even the notion +that Prophecy is "a natural gift, consistent with fallibility," (p. 70,) +Dr. Williams rejects as an unwarrantable addition to the "moral and +metaphysical basis of Prophecy." (p. 70.) Bunsen was for admitting that +addition. "One would wish," (says the Vicar of Broad Chalke,) "_he might +have intended only the power of seeing the ideal in the actual_, or of +tracing the Divine Government in the movements of men. He seems to mean +_more than presentiment or sagacity_: and this element in his system +requires proof." (pp. 70-1.) ... This, from a Doctor of Divinity! a +Professor of Hebrew! the Vice-Principal of a Theological College! a +shepherd of souls! + +We are left to infer that "the Fall of Adam represents ideally the +circumscription of our spirits in limits of flesh and time:" (p. 88:) +that CHRIST is "the moral Saviour of mankind;" (p. 80;) and that +Salvation from evil is to be attained by the conformity of our souls to +a "_religious idea_" which was "brought to perfection" in CHRIST. +(p. 80.) This "religious idea" "is the thought of the Eternal." +(_Ibid._) In other words, "Salvation from evil" is "through sharing the +SAVIOUR's Spirit." (p. 87.)--We are further left to infer that +"Justification by faith means the peace of mind, or sense of Divine +approval, which comes of trust in a righteous GOD:" (p. 80:) that +"Regeneration is a correspondent giving of insight, or an awakening of +forces of the soul: Resurrection, a spiritual quickening: Salvation, our +deliverance, not from the life-giving GOD, but from evil and darkness." +(p. 81.) ... And this from a Clergyman who has just subscribed, +"willingly and _ex animo_," the three Articles in the 36th Canon!... +After such specimens of Divinity, we are scarcely surprised to find that +the fires of Hell =geenna= "may serve as images of distracted remorse:" +(p. 81:) that "Heaven is not a place[59], so much as a fulfilment of the +love of GOD." (pp. 81-2.) The very Incarnation, (which he calls "the +embodiment of the Eternal Mind,") (p. 82.) is spoken of as if it were a +myth. "It becomes with our author _as purely spiritual_ as it was with +St. Paul. The Son of David by birth is the SON of GOD _by the spirit of +holiness_. What is flesh, is born of flesh; and what is spirit, is born +of Spirit." (p. 82.) Rom. i. 1-3 is quoted in support of this, which I +cannot but regard as blasphemy: for if it does not mean that our SAVIOUR +was not, in a true and literal sense, the SON of GOD at all, it is hard +to see _what_ it can mean.--As for the following account of the mystery +of the Blessed Trinity, it shall only be said that it sounds like a +denial of the Catholic doctrine altogether. "Being, becoming, and +animating; or substance, thinking, and conscious life, are expressions +of a Triad which may be also represented as will, wisdom, and love; as +light, radiance, and warmth; as fountain, stream, and united flow; as +mind, thought, and consciousness; as person, word, and life; as FATHER, +SON, and SPIRIT." (p. 88.) + +The _nebulous_ is a striking peculiarity of the style of the Vicar of +Broad Chalke[60]. He informs us that "in virtue of the identity of +Thought with Being the primitive Trinity represented neither three +originant principles nor three transient phases, but three eternal +subsistences in one Divine Mind.... The Divine Consciousness or Wisdom, +consubstantial with the Eternal Will, becoming personal in the Son of +Man, is the express image of the FATHER; and JESUS actually, but also +Mankind ideally, is the SON of GOD." (pp. 88-9.) Since this has "almost +a Brahmanical sound" (p. 89.) even to the Vicar of Broad Chalke, we are +content to pass it by in mute astonishment. He proceeds: "Both spiritual +affection and metaphysical reasoning forbid us to confine Revelations +like those of CHRIST to the first half century of our era; but shew at +least affinities of our faith existing in men's minds, anterior to +Christianity, and renewed with deep echo from living hearts in many a +generation." (p. 82.) Was our SAVIOUR then a fabulous personage,--a +virtuous principle,--and not a Man?... "Again. We find the evidences of +our canonical books and of the patristic authors nearest to them, are +sufficient to prove illustration in outward act of principles +perpetually true, but not adequate to guarantee narratives inherently +incredible or precepts evidently wrong." (pp. 82-3.) Are then the sacred +"narratives" "inherently incredible?" or the Divine "precepts" +"evidently wrong?"--These are, we presume, among the "traditional +fictions about our Canon" (p. 83.) at which the Theological Professor +sneers. "Hence we are obliged to assume in ourselves a verifying +faculty,"--(p. 83,) and so, Dr. Williams and Dr. Temple shake hands[61]. +An instance of the exercise of this faculty is immediately subjoined. +"The verse 'And no man hath ascended up to Heaven, but he that came +down,' is intelligible as a free comment near the end of the first +century; but has no meaning in our Lord's mouth at a time when the +Ascension had not been heard of." (p. 84.)--"The Apocalypse" in like +manner, to "cease to be a riddle," must be "taken as a series of +poetical visions which represent the outpouring of the vials of wrath +upon the City where our LORD was slain." (p. 84.) ... (Is it possible +that a Minister of the Gospel of CHRIST can speak thus concerning the +Divine record?) ... "The second of the Petrine Epistles, having alike +external and internal evidence against its genuineness, is necessarily +surrendered as a whole." (p. 84.) (Can a man solemnly sign the vith +Article, and yet so write?)--"A philosophical view [of the doctrine of +the Trinity] recommends itself as easiest to believe." (p. 87.) The +"view" expressed in the Athanasian Creed is we presume that which is +stigmatized as "one felt to be so irrational, that it calls in the aid +of terror." (p. 87.) The Reverend writer does not _name_ the Athanasian +Creed, indeed. It is not the general fashion of Essayists and +Reviewers,--from Dr. Temple to Professor Jowett,--to speak plainly. But +common sense asks,--If Dr. Williams does _not_ allude to the Creed in +question, what _does_ he allude to? And common honesty adds,--How is +such an allusion to that formula consistent with subscription to Art. +viii.? + +The Sacrament of Baptism, (he says,) has "degenerated into a magical +form," (p. 86,) since it has "become twisted into a false analogy with +circumcision,"--(twisted, at all events, by St. Paul[62]!)--and it is +merely an "Augustinian notion" that "a curse is inherited by +Infants."--How, one humbly asks, does the Reverend writer reconcile it +to his conscience not only to have signed the ixth Article, but to +employ the Baptismal Service, and to teach the little ones of the flock +their Catechism? + +On reaching the last page of the present Essay, one is irresistibly led +to remark that if a single word could convey an adequate notion of the +author's manner, that word would be _Insolence_. When Dr. Williams would +express difference of opinion, he has recourse to violence and bluster: +when he would patronize, he is sure to make himself unspeakably +offensive. But he seldom agrees with anybody, even with disciples of the +same school with himself,--as Messrs. Bunsen and Arnold, Coleridge and +Francis Newman. Professor Mansel is "a mere gladiator hitting in the +dark," whose "blows fall heaviest on what it was his duty to defend." +(p. 67.) Dr. Pusey receives a menacing intimation of what his Commentary +must _not_ be. Davison's reasoning labours under the inconvenient defect +of an unproved minor premiss. (p. 66.) The majestic memory of Bp. +Pearson is insulted by this vulgar man, and the fairness of his +citations are impeached. (p. 72.)--Bp. Butler is declared to have turned +aside from an unwelcome idea (!), literature not being his strong +point (!) (p. 65.)--Justin, (p. 64,)--Augustine, (p. 65,)--Jerome, (pp. +65, 71,)--Anselm, (p. 67,)--all come in for a share of the +Vice-Principal of Lampeter's contempt. Even the Apologist of _Essays and +Reviews_ is constrained to admit that "anything more" _un_becoming "than +some of Dr. Williams's remarks we have never read, in writings +professing to be written seriously[63]." + +But faults of mind and manner, however gross, do but disqualify a writer +for being the associate of men of taste and good breeding; and blemishes +of style are, at least, venial. Not so easily to be excused is the +deplorable spectacle of a Minister of the Gospel, a Doctor of Divinity +and Vice-Principal of a Theological College, lending all his critical +powers, (which yet seem to be of the most indifferent description,) in +order to undermine the authority of GOD'S Word. He has been asked,--"Do +you unfeignedly believe all the Canonical Scriptures of the Old and New +Testament?" and he has answered,--"I do believe them." He has been +asked, "Will you be ready, with all diligence, to banish and drive away +all erroneous and strange doctrines contrary to GOD'S Word?" and he has +made reply,--"I will, the LORD being my helper." He has solemnly +declared his trust that he was "_inwardly moved by the HOLY GHOST to +take upon himself this office and ministration_."--Yet this is the man +who explains away Miracles, denies Prophecy, and idealizes Scripture; +the man who disparages the formulæ he uses daily, mutilates the Canon, +and evacuates the most solemn doctrines of the Church! + +I have now said as much as I think necessary concerning Dr. Williams's +Essay. The entire refutation of such a tissue of groundless assertions +and unfounded statements, and unscholarlike criticisms, and +unphilosophical views,--would fill many volumes. It is to be feared also +that, to _him_, the result would not be convincing after all. To have +stated in brief outline, as I have already done, the leading positions +to which he commits himself, ought to suffice. The mere exhibition of +such principles (?) ought to be their own abundant refutation.... GOD +give the unhappy author repentance of his errors!--And will not men +believe that in the pages of the present Essay is to be seen the lawful +development, and inevitable result of the opinions advocated _in every +other part_ of the present volume? I perceive scarcely any _essential_ +difference between the views of any of these seven writers. All are +moving along the same fatal road; and are simply at different stages of +the journey. But they conduct themselves wondrous differently in their +progress, certainly; Dr. Williams being immeasurably the most offensive +of the seven,--the only one who, besides seeming blasphemous, can truly +be called _vulgar_. + + * * * * * + +III. The third Essay in the present volume is by "the REV. BADEN POWELL, +M.A., F.R.S., Savilian Professor of Geometry in the University of +Oxford,"--a gentleman with whose labours I shall deal briefly and gently +for two reasons. His assertions admit of summary refutation; and he has +already, (alas!) passed beyond the limit of earthly Criticism. I desire +to add concerning him, that in the private relations of life he was a +friendly and amiable person. + +The solemn circumstance already adverted to, would have kept me silent +altogether. When a writer is no longer able to defend himself, it is +ungenerous to attack him: and at a time when he knows far more wonders +than are dreamed of by any one on the Earth's surface, it seems +unbecoming to stand reasoning over his grave about an "antecedent +probability." But I am addressing not the dead, but the living,--to +whom, in the pages of 'Essays and Reviews,' Professor Powell "being dead +yet speaketh." + +He entitles his contribution,--"On the Study of the Evidences of +Christianity:" but, as often happens with performances of the like +nature, the title of his Essay gives a wrong notion of its contents. It +ought to have been called "The Validity of THE EVIDENCE FROM MIRACLES +considered," or rather "denied." + +There is nothing new in the present attack on the Miracles of Scripture. +The author disposes of them by a single assertion. "What is alleged," +(he says,) "is a case of the supernatural. _But no testimony can reach +to the supernatural._" (p. 107.) The inference is obvious.--Again: "an +event may be so incredible intrinsically as to _set aside any degree of +testimony_." (p. 106.) Such an event he declares a Miracle to be; and +explains that "from the nature of our antecedent convictions, the +probability of _some_ kind of mistake or deception _somewhere_, though +we know not _where_, is greater than the probability of the event really +happening in _the way_, and from _the causes_ assigned." (pp. 106-7.) +This merely amounts to asserting that the antecedent improbability of +Miracles is so great as to make them incredible. The writer does not +attempt to establish this point. "The present discussion," (he says,) +"is not intended to be of a controversial kind; it is purely +contemplative and theoretical." (p. 100.) And yet, he _cannot_ suppose +that the Universal Church will surrender its convictions and reverse its +deliberate judgment, at the merely "contemplative and theoretical" +suggestions of an individual, however respectable he may happen to be. +Against his mere assertion, we claim a right to set the result of Bp. +Butler's careful investigation of the same subject:--"_That there +certainly is no such presumption against Miracles, as to render them in +any wise incredible_: that, on the contrary, our being able to discern +reasons for them, gives a positive credibility to the history of them, +in cases where those reasons hold: and that it is by no means certain +that there is any peculiar presumption at all, from analogy, even in the +lowest degree, against Miracles, as distinguished from other +extraordinary phenomena[64]." + +Professor Powell's objection against Miracles is, in fact, practically +that of the infidel Hume; who asserted "that no testimony for any kind +of Miracle can ever possibly amount to a probability, much less to a +proof." He argued that Miracles, being contrary to general experience, +are incapable of proof. He maintained also, (with Spinoza,) that +Miracles, being contrary to the established laws of Nature, imply, in +the very character of them, a palpable contradiction. This latter +position seems to be identical with that adopted by Professor Powell. + +In a certain place, this author finds fault with "the too frequent +assumption ... of the part of the ... _Advocate_, when the character to +be sustained should be rather that of the unbiassed _Judge_." (p. 95.) +But what are we to think of the judicial fairness of one who is not only +Advocate and Judge in his own cause; but who even turns the Witnesses +out of Court; and will listen to no evidence,--on the plea that it +_cannot_ be trustworthy; or at least, that it _shall_ be unavailing?--"I +express myself with caution," (says Bp. Butler, with reference to +arguments against the credibility of Revelation,) "lest I should be +mistaken to vilify Reason; which is indeed the only faculty we have +wherewith to judge concerning anything, even Revelation itself: or be +misunderstood to assert that a supposed revelation cannot be proved +false, from internal characters. For it may contain clear immoralities, +or contradictions; and either of these would prove it false. Nor will I +take upon me to affirm, that nothing else can possibly render any +supposed revelation incredible. Yet still the observation is, I think, +true beyond doubt; that _objections against Christianity, as +distinguished from objections against its evidence, are frivolous[65]_." + +That a certain occurrence or phenomenon "is due to supernatural causes," +Professor Powell maintains is "entirely dependent on the previous belief +and assumptions of the parties." (p. 107.) He forgets that he grounds +his own denial of the possibility of a Miracle, on nothing stronger than +"the nature of" his own "antecedent convictions." Thus, the question +becomes merely a personal one between Mr. Baden Powell and the Apostles +of CHRIST. The reasonableness of the "antecedent convictions" in the one +case have to be set against the reasonableness of the "antecedent +convictions" in the other. Either party, (according to this view,) has +its own "previous belief and assumptions;" which, in the one case, are +known to have produced conviction; in the other, they are unhappily +found to have resulted in a rejection of Miracles. But then it happens, +unfortunately, that in the case of the Apostles and others, conviction +of the truth of our LORD'S Miracles was based on _knowledge_, and +_experience of a matter of fact_: in the case of Professor Powell, +disbelief is founded on certain "antecedent convictions" only: namely, +"the inconceivableness of imagined interruptions of natural Order, or +supposed suspensions of the Laws of matter." (p. 110.) He is never tired +of repeating that "in an age of physical research like the present, all +highly cultivated minds and duly advanced intellects (!) have imbibed, +more or less, the lessons of the Inductive Philosophy; and have, at +least in some measure, learned to appreciate the grand foundation +conception of universal Law:" (p. 133:) that "the entire range of the +Inductive Philosophy is at once based upon, and in every instance tends +to confirm, by immense accumulation of evidence, the grand truth of the +universal Order and constancy of natural causes, as a primary law of +belief; so strongly entertained and fixed in the mind of every truly +inductive inquirer, that he cannot even conceive the possibility of its +failure." (p. 109.) + +I gladly avail myself of a page from the writings of a thoughtful writer +of our own, who, half a century ago, reviewed the very errors which are +being so industriously reproduced among ourselves at this +day,--certainly not with more ability than of old:--"Let us examine a +little farther into the weight of the argument derived from the supposed +immutability of the Laws of Nature. It has constantly been the theme of +modern Unbelievers, that the course of Nature is fixed, eternal, +unalterable; and that nothing which is supposed to violate it can +possibly take place. Now, we may readily allow, that the course of +Nature is unalterable by _human_ power; nay, even by the power of any +_created_ being whatsoever. But the question is,--Are these Laws +unalterable _by Him who made them_? Proof of this is requisite, before +the argument from the immutability of the Laws of Nature can have the +least force. We may safely assert, however, that proof of this is +absolutely impossible.--'Facts,' it may be said, 'daily passing before +us, warrant us in _supposing_ its laws to be unchangeable.' Perhaps so. +But if a thousand or more facts have occurred, since the Creation of the +World, in which those Laws appear to have been over-ruled, or suspended, +is such a conclusion _then_ warrantable? Even if there had never been a +single instance of a Miracle recorded, since the Creation; yet the +conclusion would not be just or logical, that no such thing is possible. +But with such a multiplicity of instances to the contrary as are already +on record, it is no better than a shameless assertion, in direct +opposition to the evidence of men's senses and experience. Nay, more; +the argument is _atheistical_. For, either GOD made and ordained these +Laws of Nature; and may, consequently, at His pleasure, unmake or +suspend them: or else, these laws are self-framed, and Nature is +independent of the GOD of Nature; which is saying, in other words, that +the material Universe is not governed by any Supreme Intelligence. + +"This latter opinion appears, indeed, to be the tenet of all who resort +to arguments of this kind, in opposition to the credibility of Miracles. +Thus it is said, [by Hume,] that every effect must have a cause; and +that, therefore, a Miracle must have a cause in _Nature_; otherwise, it +cannot be effected.--But, is not the _Will of_ GOD, without any other +agency, or predisposing cause, sufficient for the purpose? When GOD +created the World out of nothing, what pre-existing cause was there, +except His own omnipotent Will to produce the effect? Why then is not +the same Will sufficient to work Miracles? + +"'But,' says another Sophist, [Spinoza,]--'GOD is the Author of the Laws +of Nature; so that whatever opposes those Laws, is necessarily +_repugnant to the Divine nature_: if, therefore, we believe that GOD may +act in a manner contrary to those laws, we, in effect, believe that He +may do what is contrary to _His own nature_; which is absurd and +impossible.' + +"The reasoning turns upon the supposition that GOD is actuated by an +absolute _necessity_ of His Nature, and not by his _Will_: or, rather, +that He hath neither Will, nor Intellect. Otherwise, it were easy to +perceive, that in suspending the operation of His own Laws, GOD cannot +be charged with doing anything contradictory to _His own_ nature; since +He may justly be supposed to have as good reasons for _departing_ from +those Laws, as for _framing_ them: and as we know not why He framed them +in such a manner, and no otherwise; so He may have the best and wisest +reasons for the suspension of them, which it is not for us to call in +question. To speak of the Supreme Being as actuated by a kind of +physical necessity, and not by His _Will_, is to confound the GOD of +Nature with Nature itself; which is the very essence of Atheism, and +never can be reconciled with any just notions of the Deity, as a Being +of intellectual and moral perfections[66]." + +_It is by no means inconceivable_, therefore, that the great Cause of +Creation, and first Author of Law should interfere at any given time in +the established Order of Nature. Moreover, it is irrational, on +sufficient testimony, to disbelieve that He has sometimes so interposed. +To deny that this is conceivable, is to make GOD inferior to His own +decree; to pronounce it incredible that the Lawgiver should be superior +to His own Laws. "The universal subordination of causation," (p. 134,) +we as freely admit as the Professor himself: but then we contend that +_everything else_ must be subordinate to the _First great Cause of all_. +Worse than unphilosophical is it to argue as the Professor presumes to +do, concerning the MOST HIGH; but unphilosophical in the strictest sense +it is. For it is to reason about Him, (the finite concerning the +Infinite!) as if we understood Him; we, who can barely decipher a +little part of His works! A few more remarks on this subject will be +found in my viith Sermon. + +We are anxious to know if the whole of the case is really before us. A +few more extracts from Professor Powell's Essay seem necessary to do +full justice to his view of the matter:--"All moral evidence must +essentially have respect to the parties to be convinced. 'Signs' might +be adapted peculiarly _to the state of moral or intellectual progress of +one age_, or one class of persons, and not be suited to that of +others.... And it is to the entire difference in the ideas, +prepossessions, modes, and grounds of belief in those times, that we may +trace the reason why Miracles, which would be incredible _now_, were not +so in the age, and under the circumstances, in which they are stated to +have occurred." (p. 117.) ... "An evidential appeal which in a long past +age was convincing, as made to _the state of knowledge in that age_[67], +might have not only no effect, but even an injurious tendency, if urged +in the present, and referring to what is at variance with existing +scientific conceptions; just as the arguments of the present age would +have been unintelligible to a former." + +"In a period of advanced physical knowledge, the reference to what was +believed in past times, if at variance with principles now acknowledged, +could afford little ground of appeal: in fact, would damage the argument +rather than assist it." (p. 126.) + +"It becomes imperatively necessary, that such views should be suggested +as may be really suitable to better informed minds, and may meet the +increasing demands of an age pretending at least to greater +enlightenment." (p. 126.) + +There is nothing in the additional suggestions thus thrown out which in +reality affects the question at issue. Certain antecedent considerations +were before insisted on, which (it was said) "must be paramount to all +attestation." (p. 107.) These have been disposed of. The writer now +tells us that he does not question "_the honesty_ or _veracity_ of the +testimony, or the reality of the _impressions_ on the minds of the +witnesses." (p. 106.) It remains to inquire therefore to what natural +causes, events which were once thought miraculous, may reasonably be +referred; since the so-called Miracles of the imperfectly-informed age +of our LORD and His Apostles will not endure the scrutiny of the present +age of scientific enlightenment. + +But this, unless it be a proposal to open the whole question afresh,--to +examine _the Miracles themselves_,--to consider them one by one,--to +inquire into their exact nature,--and to investigate their attendant +circumstances,--is unmeaning. For we cannot, as reasonable men, dismiss +a vast body of august events, differing so considerably one from +another, with a vague inuendo that there was probably "some kind of +mistake or deception somewhere, though we do not know where:" (p. 106:) +a hint that natural events may have been regarded as supernatural by an +unscientific age, (which I believe was Schleiermacher's view:) and so +forth. The two miraculous Draughts of fishes,--the Stater found in the +fish's mouth,--the stilling of the Storm,--might perhaps, by a little +rhetorical sophistry, in unscrupulous hands, be so disposed of. But the +_Creative Power_ displayed on the two occasions of a miraculous feeding +of thousands,--the giving of sight to a man born blind,--the calling of +Lazarus out of the grave where he had been for four days buried;--these +are transactions which resist every attempt of the enemy to explain +away, as unscientific misconceptions. They may be powerless to produce +conviction in some _now_, as they were powerless to produce conviction +in some _then_: but they cannot be set aside by an insinuation. There +could not have been any mistake when the Five Thousand were fed with +five loaves, and twelve baskets full were gathered up; or when the Four +Thousand were fed with seven loaves, and fragments enough to fill seven +baskets remained over[68]. There was no room for deception in the case +of the man born blind; for _that_ case immediately underwent a judicial +scrutiny[69]. Lazarus bound hand and foot with grave-clothes required +that the bystanders should "loose him and let him go[70]:" but from that +moment, neither supposed scientific necessity, nor antecedent +considerations, nor the ordinary course of Nature, nor any other +creature, will avail to bind him any more! + +This may suffice on the subject of Professor Powell's Essay. On the +great question itself, I have said something in my Seventh Sermon, to +which the reader is requested to refer.--The performance now under +consideration abounds in incorrect statements, while it revives not a +few exploded objections; but I have considered the only points in it +which are material. + +Thus the author assumes "that, unlike the _essential Doctrines_ of +Christianity, 'the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever,' those +_external accessories_, [Miracles, for example,] constitute a subject +which of necessity is perpetually taking somewhat at least of a new +form, with the successive phases of opinion and knowledge." (p. 94.) +But, (waiving for the moment the impossibility of severing the Doctrines +of the Gospel from the miraculous evidence that our LORD was a Teacher +sent from Heaven[71]), it requires no ability to perceive that although +"opinion" should alter daily, and "knowledge" increase ever so much, +yet, events professing to be miraculous, being plain _matters of fact_, +are to-day exactly what and where they were many centuries ago. Physical +Science may pretend (with Paulus) to explain them on natural principles, +truly; and while she does so, the world is sure to give her a patient, +even an indulgent hearing. But then she must let it be known _what_ she +proposes to explain, and _how_ she proposes to explain it. She must be +so indulgent also, as to listen while we, in turn, shew her _on what_ +grounds we find it impossible to accept her Theory. "The inevitable +progress of research," (says this author,) "must, within a longer or +shorter period, unravel _all that seems most marvellous_; and what is at +present least understood will become as familiarly known to the Science +of the future, as those points which a few centuries ago, were involved +in equal obscurity, but are now thoroughly understood." (p. 109.) Such a +vaticination as regards Miracles, is, to say the least, premature; and +until it can appeal to incipient accomplishment, it must be regarded as +nugatory also. I am not aware, that as yet one single Miracle has been +struck off the list; yet Miracles have now been before the world a long +time, and they have not wanted enemies either. + +To begin Divinity with a discussion of the "Evidences," we do indeed +hold to be a beginning _at the wrong end_. At the same time, all of +Professor Powell's opening remarks, in which he insinuates that the +Church would bar, or would stifle discussion concerning the evidences of +Religion, are obviously untrue. No scrutiny of Christian Miracles, +however rigid, is stopped by the admonition that such narratives "ought +to be held sacred, and exempt from the unhallowed criticism of human +Reason." (p. 110.) We do not, by any means, "treat all objections as +profane, and discard exceptions unanswered as shocking and immoral." +(p. 100.) Neither does the Church think herself "omniscient and +infallible;" (p. 96;) though she holds Omniscience to be an attribute of +GOD; and Infallibility, of the Bible. But she deprecates in the +strongest manner vague insinuations and unsupported doubts of the +reality of her LORD'S Miracles, sown broad-cast over the land; and she +is at a loss to understand how the "difficulties" of any, can be in this +manner "removed;" (p. 96;) except by a process analogous to that which +would cure a malady by taking away the life of the patient. We are not +in fact at all disposed to admit that "Miracles, which in the estimation +of a former age were among the chief _supports_ of Christianity, are at +present among the main _difficulties_, and hindrances to its +acceptance," (p. 140,)--although Professor Powell and Dr. Temple say so. + +This Essay in fact is full of incorrect, or objectionable statements. +Thus Professor Powell asserts that since "evidential arguments are +avowedly addressed to the intellect, it is especially preposterous to +shift the ground, and charge the rejection of them on _moral_ motives." +(p. 100.) And yet it is worthy of notice that our LORD Himself assures +us that the reception of Truth depends on our moral, rather than on our +intellectual condition. "How can ye believe," (He said to the Jews,) +"which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that +cometh from GOD only[72]?" + +This writer reasons also with singular laxity and inaccuracy. After +quoting the dictum that "on a certain amount of testimony we might +believe any statement, however improbable," (pp. 140-1,) he scornfully +adds;--"So that if a number of respectable witnesses were to concur in +asseverating that on a certain occasion they had seen two and two make +five, we should be bound to believe them!" (p. 141.) Does he fail to +perceive, (1) that mathematical truths do not come within the province +of probable reasoning, and (2) are not dependent on testimony?... Again, +"The case of the _antecedent_ argument of Miracles is very clear, +however little some are inclined to perceive it. In Nature and from +Nature, by Science and by Reason, _we neither have nor can possibly have +any evidence of a Deity working by Miracles_;--for that, we must go out +of Nature, and beyond Science." (pp. 141-2.) Very true. We must go _to +Scripture_. We must have recourse to testimony. This is precisely what +we are maintaining.... But,--"Testimony, after all, is but a second-hand +assurance; it is but a blind guide; testimony can avail nothing against +Reason." (p. 141.) True. But this, if it is intended as an argument +against the reasonableness of admitting the truth of Miracles, is a mere +_petitio principii_.... Again. "It is not the _mere fact_ but the +_cause_ or _explanation_ of it, which is the point at issue." (p. 141.) +Admitting then, as the learned author here does, that when CHRIST said +"Lazarus, come forth," "he that was dead," (though he had been buried +four days,) "came forth, bound hand and foot with +grave-clothes[73];"--admitting these "facts," I say,--what other +"cause," or "explanation" does the reverend gentleman propose to assign +but the supernatural power of the Divine Speaker? + +Far graver exception, however, must be taken against certain parts of +Professor Powell's labours, which betray an animus fatally indicative of +the tendency of such Essays and Reviews as these. Witness his assertion +that "it is now acknowledged that 'Creation' is only another name for +our ignorance of the mode of production;" (p. 139;) and that a recent +work on the Origin of Species "substantiates on undeniable grounds the +very principle so long denounced by the first naturalists,--_the +origination of new species by natural causes_;" (p. 139;) and that the +said work "must soon bring about an entire revolution of opinion in +favour of the grand principle of the _self-evolving powers of Nature_." +(p. 139.) + +One object of the present Essay is to insist that since Miracles belong +to the world of matter, "we must recognize the due claims of Science to +decide" upon them. We are reminded that "beyond the domain of physical +causation and the possible conceptions of _intellect_ or _knowledge_, +there lies open the boundless region of spiritual things, which is the +sole dominion of Faith:" (p. 127:) and that "Advancing knowledge, while +it asserts the dominion of Science in physical things, confirms that of +Faith in spiritual." (p. 127.) It is proposed that "we thus neither +impugn the generalizations of Philosophy, nor allow them to invade the +dominion of Faith; and admit that what is not a subject for a problem, +may hold its place in a Creed." (p. 127.) + +But the fatal consequences of this plausible fallacy become apparent the +instant we turn the leaf, and read that "the more knowledge advances, +the more it has been, and will be acknowledged, that Christianity, as a +real religion, must be viewed apart from connexion with physical +things." (p. 128.) That "the first dissociation of the spiritual from +the physical was rendered necessary by the palpable contradictions +disclosed by astronomical discovery with the letter of Scripture. +Another still wider and more material step has been effected by the +discoveries of Geology. More recently, the antiquity of the Human Race, +and the development of Species, and _the rejection of the idea of +'Creation'_ (!) have caused new advances in the same direction." +(p. 129.) ... From this it is evident, not only that the object of +Science in thus taking the Miracles of Scripture into her own keeping, +is (like an unnatural step-dame) to slay them; but that downright +Atheism is to be the attitude in which men are expected to survey that +"boundless region of spiritual things" which is yet proclaimed to be +"the sole dominion of Faith!" + +Faith, on the other hand, does not object to the constant visits of +Science to any part of _her_ treasure. She does but insist that all +discussion shall be conducted _according to the rules of right Reason_. +Vague insinuations about "a progressing Age," (p. 131,)--"new modes of +speculation," (p. 130,)--"the advance of Opinion," (p. 131,)--and so +forth, are as little to the purpose, _apart from specific objections_, +as sneers at "the one-sided dogmas of an obsolete school, coupled with +awful denunciations of heterodoxy on all who refuse to listen to them," +(p. 131,) are unsuited to the gravity of the occasion. Faith insists +moreover that a divorce between the miraculous parts of Scripture, and +the context wherein they stand, is simply impossible. The unbeliever who +boldly says, "I disbelieve the Bible,"--however much we may deplore his +blindness and pity his misery,--is yet intelligible in his unbelief. But +the man who proposes to believe _the narrative_ of the Exode of Israel +from Egypt, (for instance,) apart from the supernatural character of the +events which are related to have attended it; who believes _the history_ +of the Gospels, (holding the Evangelists to have been veracious +writers,) yet rejects the Divine nature of the Miracles which the +Gospels relate; and proposes, after eliminating from the historical +narrative everything which claims to be miraculous, to make what +remains of that historical narrative, the strength and stay of his soul +in life and in death:--_that_ man we boldly affirm to be one who cannot +have studied the Bible with that ordinary attention which would entitle +him to dogmatize concerning its contents: or else, whose logical faculty +must be so hopelessly defective that discussions of this class are +evidently not his proper province. + +Finally, we are presented in this Essay with the same offensive +assumption of intellectual superiority on the part of the writer, which +disfigures the entire volume. "It becomes _imperatively necessary_ that +views should be suggested really suitable _to better informed minds_." +(p. 126.) "Points which may be seen to involve the greatest difficulty +to _more profound inquirers_, are often such as do not occasion the +least perplexity to _ordinary minds_, but are allowed to pass without +hesitation." (p. 125.) (And this, from one of those "profound +inquirers," one of "those who have reflected most deeply," (p. 126,) who +yet cannot get beyond a resuscitation of Hume and Spinoza's exploded +objections to the truth of Miracles!)--Butler's unanswerable arguments, +(for the allusion is evidently to _him_,) are spoken of as "a few trite +and commonplace generalities as to the moral government of the World and +the belief in the Divine Omnipotence; or as to the validity of human +testimony; or the limits of human experience." (p. 133.) And yet the +author is for ever informing us that his hostility to Miracles "is +essentially built upon those _grander conceptions_ of the order of +Nature, those comprehensive primary elements of all physical knowledge, +those ultimate ideas of universal causation, which can only be familiar +to _those thoroughly versed in cosmical philosophy in its widest +sense_." (p. 133.) "All _highly cultivated minds_, and _duly advanced +intellects_," are supposed to find their exponent in Professor Baden +Powell. All other thinkers have "_minds of a less comprehensive +capacity_," "accustomed to reason on _more contracted views_." (p. 133. +See also p. 131, _top_.) Is this the modesty of real Science? the +language of a true Philosopher and Divine? + +Finally, after all that has gone before we are not much astonished, but +we _are_ considerably shocked, to read as follows:--"The Divine +Omnipotence is entirely an inference _from the language of the Bible_, +adopted _on the assumption_ of a belief in Revelation. That 'with GOD +nothing is impossible' is the very declaration of Scripture; yet on +this, the whole belief in Miracles is built[74]." Now, it happens that +'the whole belief in Miracles' is built on nothing of the kind: but the +point is immaterial. By no means immaterial, however, is the intimation +that the Divine attribute of Omnipotence is a mere inference from the +language of Revelation,--the very belief in which is also a mere +"assumption." _If belief in Holy Scripture_ is to be treated as _an +assumption_,--without at all complaining of the unreasonableness of one +who so speaks,--we yet desire that he would say it very plainly; and let +us know at least _with whom_ we have to do, and _what_ we are expected +to prove. We do not complain, if any one calls upon us to shew that a +belief in the Bible cannot be called an assumption; but it makes us very +sad: and when the challenge comes from a Minister of the Church, we are +unable to forbear the remark that there is something altogether +immoral[75] in the entire proceeding. On the other hand, to find +ourselves involved in an argument on questions of Divinity with one _who +believes nothing_, is in a manner absurd; and provokes a feeling of +resentment as well as of pity.... What need to add that life is not long +enough for such processes of proof? "He that cometh unto GOD _must +believe that He is_!" We cannot be for ever laying the foundation. The +building must begin, at last, to grow. And when it _has_ grown up, and +is compact as well as beautiful, it _cannot_ be necessary to pull it all +down again once or twice in every century in order to ascertain whether +the strong foundations be still there! + + * * * * * + +IV. The next performance is mainly directed against faith in the Church, +as a society of Divine origin. "The Rev. HENRY BRISTOW WILSON, B.D., +Vicar of Great Staughton, Hunts," claims that a National Church shall be +regarded as a purely secular Institution,--the spontaneous development +of the State. "If all priests and ministers of religion could at one +moment be swept from the face of the Earth, they would soon be +reproduced[76]." The Church is concerned with Ethics, not with Divinity. +It should therefore be "free from dogmatic tests, and similar +intellectual bondage:" (p. 168:) hampered by no traditional Doctrines; +pledged to no Creeds: but, on the contrary, should be subject to +periodical doctrinal re-adjustments. "Doctrinal limitations" (i.e. the +Creeds) "are not essential to" the Church. "Upon larger knowledge of +Christian history, upon a more thorough acquaintance with the mental +constitution of man, upon an understanding of the obstacles they present +to a true Catholicity (!), they may be cast off." (p. 167.) "In order to +the possibility of recruiting any national Ministry from the whole of +the nation, ... no needless intellectual or speculative obstacles should +be interposed." (p. 196. So at p. 198.) + +To all this, the answer is very obvious. Viewed as an historical fact, +the Church is _not_ of human origin. The Church _is_ a Divine +Institution. That a Priest of the Church, charged with a cure of souls, +should desire her annihilation,--the reversal of the facts of her past +History,--her reconstruction on an unheard-of basis, without even Creeds +as terms of communion with her,--and so forth; all this may suggest some +very painful doubts as _to the objector's honesty_ in continuing to +employ the formularies of that Church, and in professing to teach her +doctrines;--but it can hardly be supposed to have any effect whatever on +the question at issue. + +Foreseeing this, Mr. Wilson begins by asserting,--(for to insinuate is +not for so advanced a disciple of "the negative Theology,") (p. +151,)--"the fact of a very wide-spread alienation, both of educated and +uneducated persons, from the Christianity which is ordinarily presented +in our Churches and Chapels." (p. 150.) "A self-satisfied Sacerdotalism, +confident in a supernaturally transmitted illumination," may amuse +itself in trying to "keep peace within the walls of emptied Churches:" +(p. 150:) but the day for "traditional Christianity" (p. 149.) has gone +by. We may no longer ignore "a great extent of dissatisfaction on the +part of the Clergy at some portion, at least, of formularies of the +Church of England,"--especially at the use of "one unhappy creed." (p. +150.) There has been "a spontaneous recoil" from some of the old +doctrines: a distrust of the old arguments: and a misgiving concerning +Scripture itself. "In the presence of difficulties of this kind, ... it +is vain to seek to check open discussion." (p. 151.) + +Why then does not this man proceed openly to discuss? is the obvious +rejoinder. Instead of vaguely hinting that either the Reason or the +Moral sense is shocked by what people hear "in our Churches and +Chapels,"--why has not this writer, first, the honesty to withdraw from +the Ministry of the Church of England; and next, the courage to indicate +the particular doctrines which offend? To say that "the ordinances of +public worship and religious instruction provided for the people of +England" are not "really adapted to the wants of their nature as it is," +(p. 150,) is a very vague and unworthy style of urging an objection. Why +does not the reverend writer explain _wherein_ the Doctrine and +Discipline of the English Church are not really adapted to the actual +wants of Man's nature? + +Let every unbeliever however be allowed to state his difficulties in his +own way. Mr. Wilson's difficulties certainly take a very peculiar shape. +The increased _Geographical_ knowledge of the present generation has +evidently disturbed his faith. "In our own boyhood, the World as known +to the ancients was nearly all which was known to ourselves (!). We have +recently become acquainted,--intimate,--with the teeming regions of the +far East, and with empires, pagan or even atheistic, of which the +origin runs far back beyond the historic records of Judæa or of the +West, and which were more populous than all Christendom now is, for many +ages before the Christian era." (p. 162.) Such a statement is soon made; +but it ought to have been substantiated. I take the liberty of doubting +its accuracy. + +But granting even that the heathen world "for many ages before the +Christian era" _was_ more populous than all Christendom now is:--what +then? This fact "_suggests questions_ to those who on Sundays hear the +reading and exposition of the Scriptures as they were expounded to our +forefathers, and on Monday peruse the news of a World of which our +forefathers little dreamed." (pp. 152-3.)--And pray, (we calmly +inquire,) _Why_ are the Scriptures to be read or expounded after a novel +fashion, even though our geographical knowledge _has_ made a +considerable advance? To this, we are favoured with no answer. The +"questions" suggested are, we presume, the same which are contained in +the following sentence. "In what relation does the Gospel stand to these +millions[77]? Is there any trace on the face of its records that it even +contemplated their existence[78]? We are told, that to know and believe +in JESUS CHRIST is in some sense necessary to Salvation. It has not been +given to these. Are they,--will they be, hereafter,--the worse off for +their ignorance?" (p. 153.) ... "As to the necessity of faith in a +SAVIOUR to these peoples when they could never have had it, no one, +upon reflection, can believe in any such thing. Doubtless they will be +equitably dealt with." (p. 153.) + +These last seven words, (which scarcely seem of a piece with the rest of +the sentence,) we confess have always seemed a sufficient answer to the +badly-expressed speculative difficulty which immediately precedes; a +difficulty, be it observed, which does not depend _at all_ on the +popular advancement of Geographical knowledge; for it was urged with the +self-same force anciently, as now; and was met by Bp. Butler, almost in +the self-same words[79], upwards of a hundred years ago. But Mr. Wilson +to our surprise and sorrow proceeds:--"We cannot be content to wrap this +question up and leave it for a mystery, as to what shall become of those +myriads upon myriads of non-Christian races. First, if our traditions +tell us, that they are involved in the curse and perdition of Adam, and +may justly be punished hereafter individually for his transgression, not +having been extricated from it by saving faith,--we are disposed to +think that our traditions cannot herein fairly declare to us the words +and inferences from Scripture; but if on examination it should turn out +that they have,--we must say, that the authors of the Scriptural books +have, in those matters, represented to us their own inadequate +conceptions, and not the mind of the SPIRIT of GOD." (pp. 153-4.) + +I forbear to dwell upon the grievous spectacle with which we are thus +presented. Here is a Clergyman of the Church of England deliberately +proposing the following dilemma:--Either the Prayer Book is incorrect in +its most important doctrinal inferences from Holy Scripture; or else, +the Authors of Holy Scripture itself are incorrect in their statements. +The morality of one who declares that he finds himself placed between +the horns of this dilemma, and yet retains his office as a public +teacher in the Church of England,--it is painful to contemplate. But +this is only _ad hominem_. The Reverend writer's difficulty remains. + +And it seems sufficient to reply:--It is not _we_ who "wrap up the +question," but GOD. As a mystery we find it; and as a mystery, we not +only "can," but _must_ be content to "leave it." Further, it is not +"_our traditions_," but Holy Scripture itself which tells us that "by +one man Sin entered into the World, and Death by Sin; and so Death +passed upon all men, for that all have sinned[80]:"--that "in Adam all +died[81]:"--that "we were by nature the children of wrath, even as +others[82]:" and the like. Scripture, on the other hand, as +unequivocally assures us that GOD is good, or rather that He is very +Goodness. We are convinced, (in Mr. Wilson's words,) "that all shall be +equitably dealt with according to their opportunities." (p. 154.) +Moreover, _he_ would be a rash Divine who should venture to adopt the +opinion so strenuously disclaimed by Bp. Butler, "that none can have the +benefit of the general Redemption, but such as have the advantage of +being made acquainted with it in the present life[83]." ... How, in the +meantime, speculative difficulties concerning the hereafter of the +unevangelized Heathen are affected by the fact that our population now +"peruse the news of a World of which our forefathers little dreamed," +(pp. 152-3,)--it is hard to see. Equally unable am I also to understand +how the discovery that a larger number of persons are the subjects of +this speculative difficulty than used once to be supposed, can +constitute any reason why Scripture should not still be read and +expounded on Sunday "as it used to be expounded to our forefathers." + +We have been so particular, because whenever any of these writers +condescend to be argumentative, _we_ are eager to bear them company. No +wish at all have we, in the abstract, to stifle inquiry; no objection +whatever have we to the principle of free discussion. And yet, as a +clergyman, I cannot discuss such questions as these with a _Minister of +the Church of England_, except under protest. I deny that these are in +any sense open questions. To dispute concerning them,--=ei mê thesin +diaphylattôn=,--one of the disputants must first, at least, resign his +commission. It is simply dishonest in a man to hold a commission in the +Church of England, under solemn vows, and yet to deny her doctrines. An +Officer in the Army who should pursue a similar line of action, would be +dismissed the Service,--or worse.--Under protest, then, we follow the +Rev. H. B. Wilson, B.D. + +Next come three other specimens "of the modern questionings of +traditional Christianity," "whereby observers are rendered dissatisfied +with old modes of speaking:" (p. 156:) viz. (1) St. Paul "speaks of the +Gospel 'which was preached to every nation (_sic_) under heaven,' when +it has never yet been preached to the half[84]." (2) "Then, again, it +has often been appealed to as an evidence of the supernatural origin of +Christianity, and as an instance of supernatural assistance vouchsafed +to it in the first centuries, that it so soon overspread the world:" +(p. 155:) whereas "it requires no learning to be aware that neither then +nor subsequently have the Christians amounted to a fourth part of the +people of the Earth." (_Ibid._) (3) So again, "it has been customary to +argue that, _à priori_, a supernatural Revelation was to be expected at +the time when JESUS CHRIST was manifested upon the Earth, by reason of +the exhaustion of all natural or unassisted human efforts for the +amelioration of mankind;" (pp. 155-6;) whereas "our recently enlarged +Ethnographical information shews such an argument to be altogether +inapplicable to the case." "It would be more like the realities of +things, as we can now behold them, to say that the Christian Revelation +was given to the Western World, because it deserved it better and was +more prepared for it than the East." (p. 156.)--The remedy for the first +of these difficulties (says Mr. Wilson,) is, "candidly to acknowledge +that the words of the New Testament which speak of the preaching of the +Gospel to the whole world, were limited to the understanding of the +times when they were spoken." The suggestions of our own moral instincts +are rather to be followed, "than the express declarations of Scripture +writers, who had no such knowledge as is given to ourselves of the +amplitude of the World." (p. 157.) + +For my own part, I see not how Mr. Wilson's proposed remedy meets the +case; unless he means to say that in the time of St. Paul the Gospel had +been literally preached to the whole World _as far as the World was then +known_. If not, it is clear that recourse must be had to some other +expedient. Instead then of the "candid acknowledgment" required of _us_ +by the learned writer, may we be allowed to suggest to _him_ the more +prosaic expedient (1st) of making sure that he quotes Scripture +accurately; and (2nd) that he understands it?... It happens that St. +Paul does not use the words "_every nation under heaven_" as Mr. Wilson +inadvertently supposes. The Apostle's phrase, =pasê tê ktisei=, in +Colossians i. 23, (as in St. Mark xvi. 15), means 'to the whole +Creation,' or 'every creature;' (the article is doubtful;) in other +words, he announces the universality of the Gospel, as contrasted with +the Law; and he explains that it had been preached _to the Heathen_ as +well as to the Jews. Our increased knowledge therefore has nothing +whatever to do with the question; and the supposed difficulty +disappears. The two which remain, being (according to the same writer,) +merely incorrect inferences of Biblical critics, need not, it is +presumed, be regarded as insurmountable either. + +Following Mr. Wilson through his successive vagaries of religious (?) +thought, we come upon a succession of strange statements; the object of +which seems to be to cast a slur on _Doctrine_ generally.--The doctrine +of Justification by faith "is not met with ... in the Apostolic +writings, _except those of St. Paul_." (p. 160.) [A minute exception +truly!].--"Then, on the other hand, it is maintained by a large body of +Theologians, as by the learned Jesuit Petavius and many others, that the +doctrine afterwards developed into the Nicene and Athanasian, is not to +be found explicitly in the earliest fathers, nor even in Scripture, +although provable by it." (p. 160.) [Would it not have been fair, +however, to state what appears to have been the design of Petavius +therein[85]? and should it not have been added that our own Bishop Bull +in his immortal "Defensio Fidei Nicænæ" established the very reverse +"out of the writings of the Catholic Doctors who flourished within the +first three centuries of the Christian Church[86]?"] "The nearer we come +to the original sources of the History, the less definite do we find the +statements of Doctrines, and even of the facts from which the Doctrines +were afterwards inferred." (p. 160.) "In the patristic writings, +theoretics assume continually an increasingly disproportionate value. +Even within the compass of our New Testament, there is to be found +already a wonderful contrast between the words of our LORD and such a +discourse as the Epistle to the Hebrews." (pp. 160-1.) [What a curious +discovery, by the way, that an argumentative Epistle should differ in +style from an historical Gospel!] "Our LORD'S Discourses," (continues +this writer,) "have almost all of them a direct _Moral_ bearing." +(p. 161.) [The case of St. John's Gospel immediately recurs to our +memory. And it seems to have occurred to Mr. Wilson's also. He says:--] +"This character of His words is certainly more obvious in the first +three Gospels than in the fourth; and the remarkable unison of those +Gospels, when they recite the LORD'S words, notwithstanding their +discrepancies in some matters of fact, compels us to think, that _they +embody more exact traditions of what He actually said than the fourth +does_." (p. 161.) [In other words, the authenticity of St. John's +Gospel[87] is to be suspected rather than the worthlessness of the +speculations of the Vicar of Great Staughton!] + +The object of three pages which follow (pp. 162-5.) seems to be to shew +that in the Apostolic Age, Immorality of life was more severely dealt +with, even than erroneousness of Doctrine. Except because the writer is +eager to depreciate the value of orthodoxy of belief, and to cast a slur +on doctrinal standards generally,--it is hard to see why he should write +thus. Let him be reminded however that our SAVIOUR makes Faith itself a +_moral_, not an _intellectual_ habit[88]; and, (if it be not an uncivil +remark,) what but an _immoral_ spectacle does a Clergyman present who +openly inculcates distrust of these very Doctrines which he has in the +most solemn manner pledged himself to uphold and maintain? + +And thus we come back to the theme originally proposed. "A national +Church," we are informed, "need not, historically speaking, be +Christian (!); nor, if it be Christian, need it be tied down to +particular forms which have been prevalent at certain times in +Christendom (!). That which is essential to a National Church is, that +it should undertake to assist the spiritual progress of the nation and +of the individuals of which it is composed, in their several states and +stages. Not even a Christian Church should expect all those who are +brought under its influence to be, as a matter of fact, of one and the +same standard; but should endeavour to raise each according to his +capacities, and should give no occasion for a reaction against itself, +nor provoke the individualist element into separation." (p. 173.) Of +what sort the Ministers of such a "chartered libertine" are to prove, +may be anticipated. "Thought and speech, which are free among all other +classes," must be free also "among those who hold the office of leaders +and teachers of the rest in the highest things." The Ministers of the +Church ought not "to be bound to cover up, but to open; and having, it +is presumed, possession of the key of knowledge, ought not to stand at +the door with it, permitting no one to enter unless by force. A National +Church may also find itself in this position, which, perhaps, is our +own." (p. 174.)--What a charming picture of the duties and the method of +that class to which the Vicar of Great Staughton himself belongs!... The +writer proceeds to set an example of that freedom of inquiry which he +vindicates as the privilege of his Order; and without which he is +apprehensive of being left isolated between "the fanatical religionist," +(p. 174,) (i.e. the man who believes the truths he teaches,) and "the +negative theologian," (i.e. those who, "impatient of old fetters, follow +free thought heedlessly wherever it may lead them.") (_Ibid._) "The +freedom of opinion[89]," (he says,) "which belongs to the English +citizen should be conceded to the English Churchman; and the freedom +which is already practically enjoyed by the members of the congregation, +cannot without injustice be denied to its ministers." (p. 180.) Let us +see how the Reverend Gentleman exercises the license which he claims:-- + +The phrase "Word of GOD," (he says,) is unauthorized and begs the +question. The epithet "Canonical" "may mean either books ruled and +determined by the Church, or regulation books; and the employment of it +in the Article hesitates between these two significations." (p. 176.) +The declaration of the sixth Article simply implies "the Word of GOD is +contained in Scripture; whence it does not follow that it is +co-extensive with it." (p. 170.) "Under the terms of the Sixth Article +one may accept literally, or allegorically, or as parable, or poetry, or +legend, the story of a serpent-tempter, of an ass speaking with man's +voice, of an arresting the earth's motion, of a reversal of its +motion[90], of waters standing in a solid heap, of witches, and a +variety of apparitions. So under the terms of the Sixth Article, every +one is free in judgment as to the primeval institution of the Sabbath, +the universality of the Deluge, the confusion of tongues, the corporeal +taking up of Elijah into Heaven, the nature of Angels, the reality of +demoniacal possession, the personality of Satan, and the miraculous +particulars of many events." (p. 177.) "Good men," we are assured; (the +Inspired Writers being the good men intended;) "may err in facts, be +weak in memory, mingle imaginations with memory, be feeble in +inferences, confound illustration with argument, be varying in judgment +and opinion." (p. 179.) [A "free handling" this, of the work of the HOLY +GHOST, truly!... It would, I suppose, be deemed very unreasonable to +wish that a catalogue of facts misstated,--of slips of memory,--of +imaginary details,--of feeble inferences,--of instances of logical +confusion,--and so forth, had been subjoined by the Reverend writer. I +will only observe concerning his method that such "frank criticism of +Scripture" (p. 174.) as this, is dogmatism of the most disreputable +kind: insinuating what it does not state; assuming what it ought to +prove; asserting in the general what it may be defied to substantiate in +particular.] It follows,--"But the spirit of absolute Truth cannot err +or contradict Himself; if He speak immediately, even in small things, +accessories, or accidents." (p. 179.) To this we entirely agree. Where +then are the "errors?" and where the "contradictions?" + +We cannot "suppose Him to suggest contradictory accounts:" [not +_contradictory_, of course; because contradictories cannot both be +true:] "or accounts only to be reconciled in the way of hypothesis and +conjecture."--(_Ibid._) _Why_ not[91]? + +"To suppose a supernatural influence to cause the record of that which +can only issue in a puzzle, is to lower indefinitely our conception of +the Divine dealings in respect of a special Revelation." +(_Ibid._)--_Why_ more of a lowering puzzle in GOD'S Word than in GOD'S +Works[92]? + +Mr. Wilson proceeds:--"It may be attributed to the defect of our +understandings, that we should be _unable altogether to reconcile the +aspects_ of the SAVIOUR as presented to us in the first three Gospels, +and in the writings of St. Paul and St. John. At any rate, there were +current in the primitive Church very distinct Christologies."--(_Ibid._) +Queer language this for a plain man! _I_, for my own part, have never +yet discovered the difficulty which is here hinted at; but which has +been prudently left unexplained. + +It follows:--"But neither to any defect in our capacities, nor to any +reasonable presumption of a hidden wise design, nor to any partial +spiritual endowments in the narrators, can we attribute the difficulty, +if not impossibility, of reconciling the genealogies of St. Matthew and +St. Luke; or the chronology of the Holy Week; or the accounts of the +Resurrection: nor to any mystery in the subject-matter can be referred +the uncertainty in which the New Testament writings leave us, as to the +descent of JESUS CHRIST according to the flesh, whether by His mother He +were of the tribe of Judah or of the tribe of Levi."--(pp. 179-180.) I, +for my part, can declare that I have found the reconcilement in the +three subjects first alluded to, as complete as could be either expected +or desired. The last part of the sentence discovers nothing so much as +the writer's ignorance of the subject on which he presumes to dogmatize. + +Presently, we read,--"It may be worth while to consider how far a +liberty of opinion is conceded by our existing Laws, Civil and +Ecclesiastical."--(p. 180.) "As far as _opinion privately entertained is +concerned_, the liberty of the English Clergyman appears already to be +complete. For no Ecclesiastical person can be obliged to answer +interrogations as to his opinions; nor be troubled for that which he has +not actually expressed; nor be made responsible for inferences which +other people may draw from his expressions." (_Ibid._)--Surely such +language needs only to be cited to awaken indignation in every honest +bosom! "With most men educated, not in the schools of Jesuitism, but in +the sound and honest moral training of an English Education, the mere +entering on the record such a plea as this, must destroy the whole case. +If the position of the religious instructor is to be maintained only by +his holding one thing as true, and teaching another thing as to be +received,--in the name of the GOD of Truth, either let all teaching +cease, or let the fraudulent instructor abdicate willingly his office, +before the moral indignation of an as yet uncorrupted people thrust him +ignominiously from his abused seat[93]!" + +The remarks just quoted serve to introduce a series of views on +subscription to the Articles, which, if they were presented to me +without any intimation of the quarter from which they proceed, I should +not have hesitated to denounce as simply dishonest[94].... The Statute +13 Eliz. c. 12, is next discussed with the same unhappy licentiousness; +and the declaration that "the meshes are too open for modern +refinements." (p. 185.) ... I desire not to speak with undue severity of +a fellow-creature: but I protest that I cannot read the Review under +consideration without a profound conviction that, (speaking for myself,) +I have to do with one whom in the common concerns of life I would not +trust. The aptitude here displayed[95] for playing tricks with plain +language, is calculated to sap the foundations of human intercourse, and +to destroy confidence. If plain words may mean anything, or may mean +nothing,--then, farewell to all good faith in the intercourse of daily +life. If Articles "for the avoiding of Diversities of Opinions, and for +the establishing of Consent touching true Religion[96],"--such Articles +especially as the IInd., "Of the WORD or SON of GOD, which was made very +Man;" and the Vth., "Of the HOLY GHOST," (which the Rev. Mr. Wilson +calls "humanifying of the Divine Word," and "the Divine Personalities,") +(p. 186,)--may be signed by one who, even in signing, resolves to "_pass +by the side of them_," (p. 186, line 6,)--then is it better at once to +admit that no Logic can be supposed to be available with such a writer; +that he places himself outside the reach of fair argumentation; and must +not be astonished if he shall find himself regarded by his peers simply +in the light of an untrustworthy and impracticable person. + +The last stage of all in this deplorable paper is an application to +Holy Scripture itself of the tricks which the Vicar of Great Staughton +has already played, so much to his own satisfaction, with the Articles. +"We may say that the value of the historical parts of the Bible may +consist, rather in their significance, in the ideas which they awaken, +than in the scenes themselves which they depict." (p. 199.) To a plain +English understanding, (unperplexed with the dreams of Strauss, and +other unbelievers of the same stamp,) such a statement conveys scarcely +an intelligible notion. But we are not left long in doubt. + +"The application of Ideology to the interpretation of Scripture, to the +doctrines of Christianity, to the formularies of the Church, may +undoubtedly be carried to an excess; may be pushed so far as to leave in +the sacred records no historical residue whatever.... An example of the +critical Ideology carried to excess, is that of Strauss; which resolves +into an ideal _the whole of the historical and doctrinal person of +JESUS_.... But it by no means follows, because Strauss has substituted a +mere shadow for the JESUS of the Evangelists, that there are not traits +in the scriptural person of Jesus, which are better explained by +referring them to an ideal than an historical origin: and without +falling into fanciful exegetics, there are parts of Scripture more +usefully interpreted ideologically than in any other manner,--as for +instance, _the history of the Temptation of JESUS by Satan, and accounts +of demoniacal possessions_." (pp. 200-201.) "Some may consider the +descent of all Mankind from Adam and Eve as an undoubted historical +fact; others may rather perceive in that relation a form of narrative +into which in early ages tradition would easily throw itself +spontaneously.... _Among a particular people, this historical +representation became the concrete expression of a great moral +truth_,--of the brotherhood of all human beings.... The force, grandeur, +and reality of these ideas are not a whit impaired in the abstract, nor +indeed the truth of the concrete history (!) as their representation, +even though mankind should have been placed upon the earth _in many +pairs at once, or in distinct centres of creation_. For the brotherhood +of men really depends," &c., &c. (p. 201.) "Let us suppose one to be +uncertain whether our LORD were born of the house and lineage of David, +_or of the tribe of Levi_; and even to be driven to conclude that the +genealogies of Him have _little historic value_; nevertheless, in idea, +JESUS is both Son of David and Son of Aaron, both Prince of Peace, and +High Priest of our profession; as He is, under another idea, though not +literally, 'without father and without mother.' And He is none the less +Son of David, Priest Aaronical, or Royal Priest Melchizedecan, in idea +and spiritually, even if it be unproved whether He were any of them _in +historic fact_.--In like manner it need not trouble us, if in +consistency, we should have to suppose both an ideal origin, and to +apply an ideal meaning, to the birth in the city of David, (!) and to +other circumstances of the Infancy. (!) So again, the Incarnification of +the divine Immanuel remains, although the angelic appearances which +herald it in the narratives of the Evangelists may be of ideal origin, +according to the conceptions of former days." (pp. 202-3.) "And," +lastly,--"_liberty must be left to all as to the extent in which they +apply this principle_!" (p. 201.) + +To such dreamy nonsense, what "Answer" _can_ we return[97]? Such +speculations would be a fair subject for ridicule and merriment, if the +subject were not so unspeakably solemn,--the issues so vast, and +terribly momentous. We find ourselves introduced into a new world,--of +which the denizens talk like madmen, and in a jargon of their own. And +yet, that jargon is no sooner understood, than the true character of our +new companions becomes painfully evident[98].... He who believes the +plain words of Holy Writ, finds himself called "the literalist." He who +resolves Scripture into a dream, and the LORD who redeemed him into "a +mere shadow," (p. 200) is dignified with the title of "an idealist." +"Neither" (we are assured) "should condemn the other. They are fed with +the same truths; the literalist unconsciously, the idealist with +reflection. Neither can justly say of the other that he undervalues the +Sacred Writings, or that he holds them as inspired less properly than +himself." (p. 200.) "The ideologian," (who is the same person as the +"idealist;" for the gentleman, at this place, changes his name;) "is +evidently in possession of a principle which will enable him to stand in +charitable relation to persons of very different opinions from his own." +(p. 202.) "Relations which may repose on doubtful grounds as matter of +history, and, as history, be incapable of being ascertained or verified, +may yet be equally suggestive of true ideas with facts absolutely +certain. The spiritual significance is the same of the Transfiguration, +of opening blind eyes, of causing the tongue of the stammerer to speak +plainly, of feeding multitudes with bread in the wilderness, of +cleansing leprosy; whatever links may be deficient in the traditional +records of particular events." (_Ibid._) ... I will but modestly +inquire,--What would be said of _us_, if _we_ were so to expound Holy +Scripture _in defence_ of Christianity? + +But it is time to dismiss this tissue of worthless as well as most +mischievous writing;--even to exhibit which, in the words of its +misguided author, ought to be its own sufficient exposure. Do men really +expect us to "answer" such groundless assertions, and vague speculations +as those which go before? A Faith without Creeds: a Clergy without +authority or fixed opinions: a Bible without historical truth:--how can +such things, for a moment, be supposed to be[99]? What answer do we +render to the sick man who sees unsubstantial goblins on the solid +tapestried wall; and mistakes for shadowy apparitions of the night, the +forms of flesh and blood which are ministering to his life's +necessities? If the Temptation, and the Transfiguration, and the +Miracles of CHRIST be not true history, but ideological +allegories,--then why not His Nativity and His Crucifixion,--His Death +and His Burial,--His Resurrection and His Ascension into Heaven +likewise? "_Liberty_" (we have been expressly told,) "_must be left to +all, as to the extent in which they apply the principle_" (p. +201.)--_Where_ then is Ideology to begin,--or rather, where is ideology +to end? "Why then is Strauss to be blamed for using that universal +liberty, and '_resolving into an ideal the whole of the historical and +doctrinal person of JESUS_?' Why is Strauss' resolution 'an excess?' or +where and by what authority, short of his extreme view, would Mr. Wilson +himself stop? or at what point of the process? and by what right could +he, consistently with his own canon, call on any other speculator, to +stay the ideologizing process[100]?" + +"Discrepancies in narratives, scientific difficulties, defects in +evidence, do not disturb the ideologist as they do the literalist." +(p. 203.) No, truly. _Nothing_ troubles him; simply because he _believes +nothing_! The very Sacraments of the Gospel are not secure from his +unhallowed touch. "The same principle" (?) is declared to be "capable of +application" to them also. "Within these concrete conceptions there lie +hid the truer ideas of the virtual presence of the LORD JESUS everywhere +that He is preached, remembered, and represented." (p. 204.) ... Do we +ever deal thus with any other book of History? And yet, on what possible +principle is the Bible to be thus trifled with, and Thucydides to be +spared?--I protest, if the historical personages of either Testament may +be resolved at will into abstract qualities, and the historical +transactions of either Testament may be supposed to represent ideas and +notions only,--then, I see not why the Vicar of Great Staughton himself +may not prove to be a mythical personage also. Why need Henry Bristow +Wilson, B.D.,--who, (as "literalists" say,) in 1841 was one of the 'Four +Tutors' who procured the condemnation of Tract No. 90, on the ground +that it 'evaded rather than explained the Thirty-nine Articles;' and +who, in 1861 writes that "Subscription to the Articles may be thought +_even inoperative upon the conscience_ by reason of its vagueness;" +(p. 181.)--why need this author be supposed to be a man _at all_? Why +should he not be interpreted "ideologically;" and resolved into the +principle of disgraceful Inconsistency of conduct, and "variation of +opinion at different periods of life?" + + * * * * * + +V. In the present crusade against the Bible and the Faith of Christian +men, the task of destroying confidence in the first chapter of Genesis +has been undertaken by MR. C. W. GOODWIN, M.A. He requires us to "regard +it as the speculation of some Hebrew Descartes or Newton, promulgated +in all good faith as the best and most probable account that could be +then given of GOD'S Universe." (p. 252.) + +Mr. Goodwin remarks with scorn, that "we are asked to believe that a +vision of Creation was presented to him by Divine power, for the purpose +of enabling him to inform the world of what he had seen; which vision +inevitably led him to give a description which has misled the world for +centuries, and in which the truth can now only with difficulty be +recognized." (p. 247.) He puts "pen to paper," therefore, (he says,) in +order to induce the world to a "frank recognition of the erroneous views +of nature which the Bible contains." (p. 211.) The importance of the +inquiry, he vindicates in the following modest terms:--"Physical Science +goes on unconcernedly pursuing its own paths. Theology, (the Science +whose object is the dealing of GOD with Man as a moral being,) +_maintains but a shivering existence, shouldered and jostled by the +sturdy growths of modern thought_, and _bemoaning itself_ for the +hostility it encounters." (p. 211.)--A few remarks at once suggest +themselves. + +I cannot help thinking that if any person of ordinary intelligence, +unacquainted with the Bible, were to be left to obtain his notion of its +contents from "Essays and Reviews," infidel publications generally, and +(_absit invidia verbo!_) from not a few of the Sermons which have been +preached and printed in either University of late years,--the notion so +obtained would be singularly at variance with the known facts of the +case. Would not a man infallibly carry away an impression that the Bible +is a book abounding in statements concerning matters of Physical Science +which are flatly contradicted by the ascertained phenomena of Nature? +Would he not be led to expect that it contained every here and there a +theoretical Excursus on certain Astronomical or Physiological subjects? +and to anticipate, above all, an occasional chapter on Geology? Great +would be his astonishment, surely, at finding that _one single chapter_ +comprises nearly the whole of the statements which modern philosophy +finds so very hateful; and _that_ chapter, the first chapter in the +Bible[101]. + +But the surprise would grow considerably when the conditions of the +problem came to be a little more fully stated. Has then the actual +history of the World's Creation been ascertained from some other +independent and infallible source? No! Are Geologists as yet so much as +agreed even about a theory of the Creation? No! Can it be proved that +any part of the Mosaic account is false? Certainly not! Then why all +this hostile dogmatism?--To witness the violence of the partisans of +Geological discovery, and the arrogance of their pretensions, one would +suppose that some Divine Creed of theirs had been impugned: that a +revelation had been made to _them_ from Heaven, which the profane and +unbelieving world was reluctant to accept. Whereas, these are Christian +men, impatient, as it seems, to tear the first leaf out of their Bible: +or rather, to throw discredit on the entire volume, by establishing the +untrustworthiness of the earliest page! + +One single additional consideration completes the strangeness of the +picture. If our account of the Six Days of Creation were a sybilline +leaf of unknown origin, it would not be unreasonable to treat its +revelations as little worth. But since the author of it is confessedly +Moses,--the great Hebrew prophet, who lived from B.C. 1571 to 1451, who +enjoyed the vision of the Most High; nay, who conversed with GOD face to +face, was with Him in the Mount for thrice forty days, and received from +Him the whole details of the Sacred Law;--since this first chapter of +Genesis is known to have formed a part of the Church's unbroken heritage +from that time onward, and therefore must be acknowledged to be an +integral part of the volume of Scripture which, (as our LORD says,) =ou +dynatai lythênai=,--"cannot be broken, diluted, loosened, explained +away;"--since, further, this account of Creation is observed to occur in +the most conspicuous place of the most conspicuous of those books which +are designated by an Apostle by the epithet =theopneustos=, or, "given by +inspiration," "filled with the breath," or "Spirit of GOD;" and when it +is considered that our SAVIOUR and His Apostles refer to the primæval +history contained in the first two chapters about thirty +times[102]:--when, (I say,) all this is duly weighed, surely too strong +a _primâ facie_ case has been made out on behalf of the first chapter of +Genesis, that its authority should be imperilled by the random +statements of every fresh individual who sees fit to master the elements +of Geology; and on the strength of that qualification presumes to sit in +judgment on the Hebrew Scriptures,--of which, confessedly, he does not +understand so much as the alphabet! + +It is even amusing to see how vain a little mind can become of a little +knowledge. Mr. Goodwin remarks,--"The school-books of the present day, +while they teach the child that the Earth moves, yet assure him that it +is a little less than six thousand years old, and that it was made in +six days." (p. 210.) (I am puzzled to reconcile this statement with the +author's declaration that "no well-instructed person now doubts the +great antiquity of the Earth any more than its motion." (_Ibid._) Would +it not have been fairer to have _named_ at least _one_ of the +school-books which perpetuate so wicked a heresy?) "On the other hand, +Geologists of all religious creeds are agreed that the Earth has existed +for an immense series of years,--to be counted by millions rather than +by thousands; and that indubitably more than six days elapsed from its +first Creation to the appearance of Man upon its surface. By this broad +discrepancy between old and new doctrine is the modern mind startled, as +were the men of the sixteenth century when told that the earth moved." +(p. 210.) + +But begging pardon of our philosopher, if all he means is that more than +six days elapsed between the Creation of "Heaven and Earth," (noticed in +ver. 1,) and the Creation of Man, (spoke of from ver. 26 to 28,)--he +means to say mighty little; and need not fear to encounter contradiction +from any "well-instructed person." True, that an ignorant man could not +have suspected anything of the kind from reading the first chapter of +Genesis: but this is surely nobody's fault but his own. An ignorant man +might in like manner be of opinion that the Sun and Moon are the two +largest objects in creation; and there is not a word in this same +chapter calculated to undeceive him. Again, he might think that the Sun +rises and sets; and the common language of the Observatory would confirm +him hopelessly in his mistake. All this however is no one's fault but +his own. The ancient Fathers of the Church, behind-hand as they were in +Physical Science, yet knew enough to anticipate "the hypothesis of the +Geologist; and two of the Christian Fathers, Augustine and Theodoret, +are referred to as having actually held that a wide interval elapsed +between the first act of Creation, mentioned in the Mosaic account, and +the commencement of the Six Days' work." (p. 231.) Mr. Goodwin therefore +has got no further, so far, than Augustine and Theodoret got, 1400 years +since, without the aid of Geology. + +But we must hasten on. The business of the Essayist, as we have said, is +to undermine our confidence in the Bible, by exposing the ignorance of +the author of the first chapter. "Modern theologians," (he remarks, with +unaffected displeasure,) "have directed their attention to the +possibility of reconciling the Mosaic narrative with those geological +facts which are admitted to be beyond dispute." (p. 210.)--And pray, (we +modestly ask,) is not such a proceeding obvious? A "frank recognition of +the erroneous views of Nature which the Bible contains," (p. 211,) we +shall be prepared to yield when those "erroneous views" have been +demonstrated to exist,--_but not till then_. Mr. Goodwin must really +remember that although, in _his_ opinion, the "Mosaic Cosmogony," (for +so he phrases it,) is "not an authentic utterance of Divine knowledge, +but a human utterance," (p. 253,) the World thinks differently. The +learned and wise and good of all ages, including the present, are +happily agreed that the first chapter of Genesis is _part of the Word of +GOD_. + +After what is evidently intended to be a showy sketch of the past +history of our planet,--"we pass" (says Mr. Goodwin) "to the account of +the Creation contained in the Hebrew record. And it must be observed +that in reality two distinct accounts are given us in the book of +Genesis; one, being comprised in the first chapter and the first three +verses of the second; the other, commencing at the fourth verse of the +second chapter and continuing till the end. This is so philologically +certain that it were useless to ignore it." (p. 217.) Really we read +such statements with a kind of astonishment which almost swallows up +sorrow. Do they arise, (to quote Mr. Goodwin's own language,) "from our +modern habits of thought, and from the modesty of assertion which the +spirit of true science has taught us?" (p. 252.) Convinced that _my_ +unsupported denial would have no more weight than Mr. Goodwin's ought to +have, I have referred the dictum just quoted to the highest Hebrew +authority available, and have been assured that it is utterly without +foundation. + +After such experience of Mr. Goodwin's _philological_ "certainties," +what amount of attention does he expect his dicta to command in a +Science which, starting from "a region of uncertainty, where Philosophy +is reduced to mere guesses and possibilities, and pronounces nothing +definite," (p. 213,) has to travel through "a prolonged period, +beginning and ending we know not when;" (p. 214;) reaches another +period, "the duration of which no one presumes to define;" (_Ibid._;) +and again another, during which "nothing can be asserted positively:" +(p. 215:) after which comes "a kind of artificial break?" (_Ibid._) + +For my own part, I freely confess that Mr. Goodwin's final admission +that "the advent of Man may be considered as inaugurating a new and +distinct epoch, _that_ in which we now are, and during the whole of +which the physical conditions of existence cannot have been very +materially different from what they are now;" (p. 216;) and that "thus +much is clear, that Man's existence on Earth is brief, compared with the +ages during which unreasoning creatures were the sole possessors of the +globe:" (p. 217:)--these statements, I say, contain as much as one +desires to see admitted. For really, since the fossil Flora, and the +various races of animated creatures which Geologists have classified +with so much industry and skill, confessedly belong to a period of +immemorial antiquity; and, _with very rare exceptions indeed_, represent +_extinct species_,--I, as an interpreter of Scripture, am not at all +concerned with them. Moses asserts nothing at all about them, one way or +the other. What Revelation says, is, that nearly 6000 years ago, after a +mighty catastrophe,--unexplained alike in its cause, its nature, and its +duration,--the Creator of the Universe instituted upon the surface of +this Earth of ours that order of things which has continued ever since; +and which is observed at this instant to prevail: that He was pleased to +parcel out His transcendent operations, and to spread them over Six +Days; and that He ceased from the work of Creation on the Seventh Day. +All extant species, whether of the vegetable or the animal Kingdom, +including Man himself, belong to the week in question. And this +statement, as it has never yet been found untrue, so am I unable to +anticipate by what possible evidence it can ever be set aside as false. + +In my IInd Sermon, I have ventured to review the Mosaic record +sufficiently in detail, to render it superfluous that I should retrace +any portion of it here. The reader is requested to read at least so much +of what has been offered as is contained from p. 28 to p. 32. My +business at present is with Mr. Goodwin. + +And _in limine_ I have to remind him that he has really no right first +to give, in his own words, his own notion of the history of Creation; +and then to insist on making _the Revelation_ of the same transaction +ridiculous by giving _it_ also in words of his own, which become in +effect a weak parody of the original. What is there in Genesis about +"_the air or wind_ fluttering over the waters of the deep?" (p. 219.) Is +this meant for the august announcement that "the SPIRIT of GOD moved +upon the face of the waters?"--"On the third day, ... we wish to call +attention to the fact that trees and plants destined for food are those +which are particularly singled out as the earliest productions of the +earth." (p. 220.) The reverse is the fact; as a glance at Gen. i. 11. +will shew.--"The formation of the stars" on the fourth day, "is +mentioned in the most cursory manner." (p. 221.) But _who_ is not aware +that "the formation of the stars" is _nowhere mentioned in this chapter +at all_? + +"Light and the measurement of time," (proceeds Mr. Goodwin,) "are +represented as existing before the manifestation of the Sun." (p. 219.) +Half of this statement is true; the other half is false. The former +idea, he adds, is "repugnant to our modern knowledge." (p. 219.) Is then +Mr. Goodwin really so weak as to imagine that our Sun is the sole source +of Light in Creation? Whence then the light of the so-called fixed +Stars? But I shall be told that Mr. Goodwin speaks of _our_ system only, +and of our Earth in particular. Then pray, whence that glory[103] which +on a certain night on a mountain in Galilee, caused the face of our +REDEEMER to shine as the Sun[104] and His raiment to emit a dazzling +lustre[105]? "We may boldly affirm," (he says,) "that those for whom +[Gen. i. 3-5] was penned could have taken it in no other sense than that +light existed before and independently of the sun." (p. 219.) We may +indeed. And I as boldly affirm that I take the passage in that sense +_myself_: moreover that I hold the statement which Mr. Goodwin treats so +scornfully, to be the very truth which, in the deep counsels of GOD, +this passage _was designed_ to convey to mankind; even that "the King of +Kings, and LORD of Lords, who only hath immortality, _dwelleth in the +Light which no man can approach unto[106]_." + +"The work of the second day of Creation is to erect the vault of Heaven +(Heb. _Rakia_; Gr. =stereôma= _Lat. Firmamentum_,) which is represented +as supporting an ocean of water above it. The waters are said to be +divided, so that some are below, and some above the vault.... No +quibbling about the derivation of the word _Rakia_, which is literally +'something beaten out,' can affect the explicit description of the +Mosaic writer contained in the words 'the waters that are above the +firmament,' or avail to shew that he was aware that the sky is but +transparent space." (pp. 219, 220.) "The allotted receptacle [of Sun and +Moon] was not made until the Second Day, nor were they set in it until +the fourth." (p. 221.) Surely I cannot be the only reader to whom the +impertinence of this is as offensive, as its shallowness is ridiculous! +In spite of Mr. Goodwin's uplifted finger, and menacing cry,--"No +quibbling!" I proceed with my inquiry. + +For first; Why does Mr. Goodwin parody the words of Inspiration? The +account as given by Moses is,--"And GOD said, Let there be a firmament +in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the +waters[108]." But surely, to make the "open firmament of Heaven" in +which every winged fowl may fly[109], is not _"to erect the vault of +Heaven,"--"a permanent solid vault,"--"supporting an ocean of water!"_ + +The Hebrew word here used to denote "firmament," on which Mr. Goodwin's +indictment turns, ("_rakia_,") is derived from a verb which means to +"beat." Now, what is beaten, or hammered out, while (if it be a metal) +it acquires _extension_, acquires also _solidity_. The Septuagint +translators seem to have fastened upon the latter notion, and +accordingly represented it by =stereôma=; for which, the earliest Latin +translators of the Old Testament coined an equivalent,--_firmamentum_. +But that Moses by the word "_rakia_" intended rather to denote the +_expanse_ overhead, than to predicate _solidity_ for the sky, I suspect +will be readily admitted by all. True that in the poetical book of Job, +we read that the sky is "strong, as a molten looking-glass[110]:" but +then we meet more frequently with passages of a different tendency. God +is said to "_stretch out_ the heavens _like a curtain[111]_," "and +_spread them out as a tent_ to dwell in[112]:" to "bind up the waters in +His thick clouds[113]," and "_in a garment[114]_," &c., &c.[115] It is +only needful to look out the word in the dictionary of Gesenius to see +that _spreading out_, (as of thin plates of metal by a hammer,) is the +_only_ notion which properly belongs to the word. Accordingly, the +earliest modern Latin translation from the Hebrew, (that of Pagninus,) +renders the word _expansio_. And so the word has stood for centuries in +the margin of our English Bible. + +The actual _fact_ of the case,--the _truth_ concerning the physical +phenomenon alluded to,--comes in, and surely may be allowed to have some +little weight. Since expansion _is_ a real attribute of the atmosphere +which divides the waters above from the waters below,--and solidity is +_not_,--it seems to me only fair, seeing that the force of the +expression is thought doubtful, to assign to it the meaning which is +open to fewest objections. + +But "the Hebrews," (says Mr. Goodwin,) "understood the sky, firmament, +or heaven to be a permanent solid vault, as it appears to the ordinary +observer." This, he adds, is "evident enough from various expressions +made use of concerning it. It is said to have pillars[116], +foundations[117], doors[118], and windows[119],"--(p. 220.) Now, I +really do not think Mr. Goodwin's inference by any means so "evident" as +he asserts. If Heaven has "pillars" in the poetical book of Job, so has +the Earth[120]. The "foundations" spoken of in 2 Sam. xxii. 8, seem +rather to belong to _Earth_ than to Heaven,--as a reference to the +parallel place in Ps. xviii. 7 will shew[121]. Is Mr. Goodwin so little +of a poet, as to be staggered by the phrase "windows of Heaven," when it +occurs in the figurative language of an ancient people, and in a +poetical book[122]? + +For the foregoing reasons, I distrust Mr. Goodwin's inference that "the +Hebrews understood the sky to be a solid vault, furnished with pillars, +foundations, doors, and windows." But whether they did, or did not, it +is to be hoped that he is enough of a logician to perceive that the +popular notions of God's ancient people on this subject, are not the +thing in question. The only FACT we have to do with is clearly +_this_,--that _Moses has in this place employed the word "rakia_:" and +the only QUESTION which can be moved about it, is (as evidently) the +following,--whether he was, or was not, to blame _in employing that +word_; for as to _the meaning which he, individually, attached to the +phenomenon_ of which "_rakia_" is the name, it cannot be pretended that +any one living knows anything at all about the matter. A Greek, Latin, +or French astronomer who should speak of Heaven, would not therefore be +assumed to mean that it is _hollow_; although =koilon=, '_coelum_,' +'_ciel_,' etymologically imply no less. + +Now I contend that Moses employed the word "_rakia_" with exactly the +same propriety, neither more nor less, as when a Divine now-a-days +employs the English word "firmament." It does not follow that the man +who speaks of "the spacious firmament on high," is under so considerable +a delusion as to suspect that the firmament is _a firm thing_; nor does +it follow that Moses thought that "_rakia_" was _a solid_ substance +either,--even if _solidity_ was the prevailing etymological notion in +the word, and even if the Hebrews were no better philosophers than Mr. +Goodwin would have us believe. The Essayist's objection is therefore +worthless. GOD was content that Moses should employ the ordinary +language of his day,--accommodate himself to the forms of speech then +prevalent,--coin no new words. What is there unreasonable in the +circumstance? What possible ground does it furnish for a supposition +that the _etymological_ force of the word,--or even that the popular +physical theory of which that word may, or may not, have once been the +connotation,--denoted _the sense in which Moses employed it_? Is it to +be supposed that when a physician speaks of a "_jovial_ temperament," he +insinuates his approval of an exploded system of medicine? Do +astronomers maintain that the Sun has a _disk_, or the Earth _an axis_? +that the former _leaves its place_ in the heavens when it suffers +'eclipse[123]?' or that the latter has a superior _latitude_, from East +to West? To give the most familiar instance of all,--Do scientific men +believe that the sun _rises_, and _sets_?--And yet all _say_ that it +does, until this hour!... Why is Moses to be judged by a less favourable +standard than anybody else,--than Shakspeare, than Hooker, even than Mr. +Goodwin? The first, in an exquisite passage, bids Jessica,-- + + "Look how the floor of heav'n + Is thick inlayed with patens of bright gold." + + +Did Shakspeare expect his beautiful language would be tortured into a +shape which would convict him of talking nonsense?--But this is poetry. +Then take Hooker's prose:-- + + "If the frame of that heavenly arch erected over our heads should + loosen and dissolve itself; ... if the Moon should wander from her + beaten way[124]," &c. + +Did Hooker suppose that heaven is "an arch," which could be "loosened +and dissolved?" or that "the way" of the moon is "beaten?"--But this is +a highly poetical passage, written three centuries ago.--Let an +unexceptionable witness then be called; and so, let the question be +brought to definite issue. _I_, for my part, am quite content that it +shall be _the philosopher in person_. The present Essayist shall be +heard discoursing about Creation, and shall be convicted out of his own +mouth. Mr. Goodwin begins his paper by a kind of cosmogony of his own, +which he prefaces with the following apology:--"It will be necessary for +our purpose to go over the oft-trodden ground, which must be done with +rapid steps. Nor let the reader object to be reminded of some of the +most elementary facts of his knowledge. The human race has been ages in +arriving at conclusions now familiar to every child." (p. 212.) After +this preamble, he begins his "elementary facts," as follows:-- + +"This Earth, apparently so still and stedfast, lying in majestic repose +beneath the ætherial vault,"--(p. 212.) + +But we remonstrate immediately. "The ætherial _vault_!" Do you then +understand the sky, firmament, or heaven to be "a permanent solid vault, +as it appears to the ordinary observer?" (p. 220.) + +"The Sun which seems to leap up each morning from the east, and +traversing the skyey bridge,"--(p. 212.) + +"The _skyey bridge_!" And pray in what part of the universe do you +discover a "skyey bridge?" Is not _this_ calculated "to convey to +ordinary apprehensions an impression at variance with facts?" (p. 231.) + +"The Moon which occupies a position in the visible heavens only second +to the Sun, and far beyond that of every other celestial body in +conspicuousness,"--(p. 212.) + +Nay, but really Mr. Philosopher, while you remind us "of some of the +most elementary facts of our knowledge," (p. 212,) you write (except in +the matter of the "leaping Sun" and the "skyey bridge,")--_exactly as +Moses does_ in the first chapter of Genesis! What else does that great +Prophet say but that "the Moon occupies a position in the visible +heavens only second to the Sun, and far beyond that of every other +celestial body in conspicuousness?" (p. 212.) + +Enough, it is presumed, has been offered in reply to Mr. Goodwin, and +his notions of "Mosaic Cosmogony." He writes with the flippancy of a +youth in his teens, who having just mastered the elements of natural +science, is impatient to acquaint the world with his achievement. His +powers of dogmatism are unbounded; but he betrays his ignorance at every +step. The Divine decree, "Let us make Man in Our image, after Our +likeness[125]," he explains by remarking that "the Pentateuch abounds in +passages shewing that the Hebrews contemplated the Divine being in the +visible form of a man." (!!!) (p. 221.) A foot-note contains the +following oracular dictum,--"See particularly the narrative in Genesis +xviii." What _can_ be said to such an ignoramus as this? Hear him +dogmatizing in another subject-matter:--"The common arrangement of the +Bible in chapters is of comparatively modern origin, and is admitted on +all hands to have no authority or philological worth whatever. In many +cases the division is most preposterous." (p. 222.) That the division of +chapters is occasionally infelicitous, is true: but is Mr. Goodwin weak +enough to think that he could divide them better? The division into +chapters and verses again is _not_ so modern as Mr. Goodwin fancies. Dr. +M'Caul, (in a pamphlet on the Translation of the Bible,) shews reason +for suspecting that some of the divisions of the Old Testament +Scriptures are as old as the time of Ezra. + +To return, and for the last time, to Mr. Goodwin's Essay.--His object +is, (with how much of success I have already sufficiently shewn,) (1) To +fasten the charge of absurdity and ignorance on the ancient Prophet who +is confessedly the author of the Book of Genesis: (2) To prove that a +literal interpretation of Gen. i., "will not bear a moment's serious +discussion." (p. 230.) I look through his pages in vain for the +wished-for proof. He has many strong assertions. He puts them forth with +not a little insolence. But he proves nothing! At p. 226, however, I +read as follows:--"Dr. Buckland appears to assume that when it is said +that the Heaven and the Earth were created in the beginning, it is to be +understood that they were created in their present form and state of +completeness, the heaven raised above the earth as we see it, or seem to +see it now." (pp. 226-7.) + +But Dr. Buckland "appears to assume" nothing of the kind. His words +are,--"The first verse of Genesis seems explicitly to assert the +creation of _the Universe_: the Heaven, including the sidereal +systems,--and the Earth, ... the subsequent scene of the operations of +the six days about to be described." (pp. 224-5.) + +"This," continues Mr. Goodwin, "is the fallacy of his argument." +(p. 227.) + +But if this is "_the_ fallacy of his argument," we have already seen +that it is a fallacy which rests not with Dr. Buckland, but with Mr. +Goodwin. He proceeds:-- + +"The circumstantial description of the framing of the Heaven out of the +waters proves that the words 'Heaven and Earth,' in the first verse, +must be taken proleptically."--(p. 227.) + +But we may as well stop the torrent of long words, by simply pointing +out that "the heavens," (_hashamaim_,) spoken of in Gen. i. 1, are quite +distinct from "the firmament," (_rakia_,) spoken of in ver. 6. The word +is altogether different, and the sense is evidently altogether different +also; although Mr. Goodwin seeks to identify the two[126]. And further, +we take leave to remind our modern philosopher that _no_ +"circumstantial description of the framing of the heaven out of the +waters," is to be found either in ver. 6, or elsewhere. And this must +suffice. + +The entire subject shall be dismissed with a very few remarks.--Mr. +Goodwin delights in pointing out the incorrectness of "the sense in +which the Mosaic narrative was taken by those who first heard it:" +(p. 223:) and in asserting "that this meaning is _primâ facie_ one +wholly adverse to the present astronomical and geological views of the +Universe." (p. 223.) But we take leave to remind this would-be +philosopher that "the idea which entered into the minds of those to whom +the account was first given," (p. 230,) is not the question with which +we have to do when we are invited to a "frank recognition of the +erroneous views of Nature which the Bible contains." (p. 211.) "It is +manifest,"--(in this I cordially agree with Mr. Goodwin,)--"that the +whole account is given from a different point of view from that which we +now unavoidably take:" (p. 223:) and, (I beg leave to add,) _that_ point +of view is _somewhere in Heaven_,--not here on Earth! The "Mosaic +Cosmogony," as Mr. Goodwin phrases it, (fond, like all other smatterers +in Science, of long words,) is _a Revelation_: and the same HOLY GHOST +who gave it, speaking by the mouth of St. John, not obscurely intimates +that it is mystical, like the rest of Holy Scripture,--that is, that it +was fashioned not without a reference to the Gospel[127]. But we are +touching on a high subject now, of which Mr. Goodwin does not understand +so much as the Grammar. _He_ is thinking of the structure of the globe: +_we_ are thinking of the structure _of the Bible_. But to return to +Earth, we inform the Essayist that it is simply unphilosophical, even +absurd, for him to insist on what _shall_ be implied by certain words +employed by Moses,--(of which he judges by their etymology;) and further +to assume what erroneous physical theories those words must have been +connected with, by his countrymen, and so forth; and straightway to hold +up the greatest of the ancient prophets to ridicule, as if those notions +and those theories were all _his_! + +"After all," (as Dr. Buckland remarked, long since,) "it should be +recollected that the question is not respecting the correctness of the +Mosaic narrative, but of our interpretation of it:" (p. 231:)--"a +proposition," (proceeds Mr. Goodwin,) "which can hardly be sufficiently +reprobated." But I make no question which of these two writers is most +entitled to reprobation. For the view which will be found advocated in +Sermon II., (which is substantially Dr. Buckland's,) (p. 24 to p. 32,) +it shall but be said that it recommends itself to our acceptance by the +strong fact that it takes _no_ liberty with the sacred narrative, +whatever; and receives the Revelation of GOD in all its strangeness, +(which it _cannot_ be a great mistake to do;) without trying to +reconcile it with supposed discoveries, (wherein we _may_ fail +altogether.) I defy anybody to shew that it is _impossible_ that GOD may +have disposed of the actual order of the Universe, as in the first +chapter of Genesis He is related to have done; and _probability_ can +clearly have no place in such a speculation. I would only just remind +the thoughtful student of Scripture, and indeed of Nature also, that the +singular _analogy_ which Geologists think they discover between +successive periods of Creation, and the Mosaic record of the first Six +Days, is no difficulty to those who hesitate to identify those Days with +the irregular Periods of indefinite extent. Rather was it to have been +expected, I think, that such an analogy would be found to subsist +between His past and His present working, when, 6,000 years ago, GOD +arranged the actual system of things in Six Days.--Neither need we feel +perplexed if Hugh Miller was right in the conclusion at which, he says, +he had been "compelled to arrive;" viz. that "not a few" of the extant +species of animals "enjoyed life in their present haunts" "for many long +ages ere Man was ushered into being;" "and that for thousands of years +anterior to even _their_ appearance many of the existing molluscs lived +in our seas." (p. 229.) I find it nowhere asserted _by Moses_ that the +severance was so complete, and decisively marked, between previous +cycles of Creation and that cycle which culminated in the creation of +Man, _that_ no single species of the præ-Adamic period was reproduced by +the Omnipotent, to serve as a connecting link, as it were, between the +Old world and the New,--an identifying note of the Intelligence which +was equally at work on this last, as on all those former occasions. On +the other hand, I _do_ find it asserted _by Geologists_ that between the +successive præ-Adamic cycles such connecting links are discoverable; and +this fact makes me behold in the circumstance supposed fatal to the view +here advocated, the strongest possible confirmation of its accuracy. At +the same time, it is admitted that in every department of animated and +vegetable life, the severance between the last (or Mosaic) cycle of +Creation, and all those cycles which preceded it, is _very_ broadly +marked[128]. + +Mr. Goodwin's method contrasts sadly with that of the several writers he +adduces,--whether Naturalists or Divines. Those men, believing in the +truth of GOD'S Word, have piously endeavoured, (with whatever success,) +to shew that the discoveries of Geology are not inconsistent with the +revelations of Genesis. But he, with singular bad taste, (to use no +stronger language,) makes no secret of the animosity with which he +regards the inspired record; and even finds "the spectacle of able, and +we doubt not conscientious writers engaging in attempting the +impossible,--painful and humiliating." He says, "they evidently do not +breathe freely over their work; but shuffle and stumble over their +difficulties in a piteous manner." (p. 250.) He asserts dogmatically +that "the interpretation proposed by Buckland to be given to the Mosaic +description, will not bear a moment's serious discussion:" (p. 230:) +while Hugh Miller "proposes to give an entirely mythical or enigmatical +sense to the Mosaic narrative." (p. 236.) He is clamorous that we should +admit the teaching of Scripture to be "to some extent erroneous." +(p. 251.) He "recognizes in it, not an authentic utterance of Divine +Knowledge, but a human utterance." (p. 253.) "Why should we hesitate," +(he asks,) "to recognize the fallibility of the Hebrew writers?" +(p. 251.) + +With one general reflexion, I pass on to the next Essay.--The Works of +GOD, the more severely they have been questioned, have hitherto been +considered to bear a more and more decisive testimony to the Wisdom and +the Goodness of their Author. The animal and the vegetable kingdoms have +been made Man's instructors for ages past; and ever since the microscope +has revealed so many unsuspected wonders, the argument from contrivance +and design, Creative Power and infinite Wisdom, has been pressed with +increasing cogency. The Heavens, from the beginning, have been felt to +"declare the glory of GOD." One department only of Nature, alone, has +all along remained unexplored. Singular to relate, the Records of +Creation, (as the phenomena of Geology may I suppose be properly +called,)--though the most obvious phenomena of all,--have been +throughout neglected. It was not till the other day that they were +invited to give up their weighty secrets; and lo, they have confessed +them, willingly and at once. The study of Geology does but date from +yesterday; and already it aspires to the rank of a glorious Science. +Evidence has been at once furnished that our Earth has been the scene of +successive cycles of Creation; and the crust of the globe we inhabit is +found to contain evidence of a degree of antiquity which altogether +defies conjecture. The truth is, that Man, standing on a globe where his +deepest excavations bear the same relation to the diameter which the +scratch of a pin invisible to the naked eye, bears to an ordinary +globe;--learns that his powers of interrogating Nature break down +marvellous soon: yet Nature is observed to keep from him no secrets +which he has the ability to ask her to give up. + +In the meantime, the attitude assumed by certain pretenders to Physical +Science at these discoveries, cannot fail to strike any thoughtful +person as extraordinary. Those witnesses of GOD'S work in Creation, +which have been dumb for ages only because no man ever thought of +interrogating them, are now regarded in the light of depositaries of a +mighty secret; which, because GOD knew that it would be fatal to the +credit of His written Word, He had bribed them to keep back, as long as, +by shuffling and equivocation, they found concealment practicable. It +seems to be fancied, however, that _that_ fatal secret the determination +of Man has wrung from their unwilling lips, at last; and lo, on +confronting GOD with these witnesses, He is convicted even by His own +creatures of having spoken falsely in His Word[129].--Such, I say, is +the tone assumed of late by a certain school of pretenders to Physical +Science. + +What need to declare that to the well-informed eye of Faith,--(and +surely Faith is here the perfection of Reason! for _Faith_, remember, is +the correlative not of _Reason_, but of _Sight_;)--the phenomenon +presented is of a widely different character. Faith, or rather Reason, +looks upon GOD'S Works _as a kind of complement of His Word_. He who +gave the one, gave the other also. Moreover, He knew that He had given +it. So far from ministering to unbelief, or even furnishing grounds for +perplexity, the record of His Works was intended, according to His +gracious design, to supply what was lacking to our knowledge in the +record of His Word.... "Behold My footprints, (He seems to say,) across +the long tract of the ages! I could not give you this evidence in My +written Word. The record would have been out of place, and out of time. +It would have been unintelligible also. But what I knew would be +inexpedient in the page of Revelation, I have given you abundantly in +the page of Nature. I have spared your globe from combustion, which +would have effaced those footprints,--in order that the characters might +be plainly decipherable to the end of Time.... O fools and blind, to +have occupied a world so brimful of wonders for wellnigh 6000 years, and +only now to have begun to open your eyes to the structure of the earth +whereon ye live, and move, and have your being! Yea, and the thousandth +part of the natural wonders by which ye are surrounded has not been so +much as dreamed of, by any of you, yet!... O learn to be the humbler, +the more ye know; and when ye gaze along the mighty vista of departed +ages, and scan the traces of what I was doing before I created +Man,--multiply that problem by the stars which are scattered in number +numberless over all the vault of Heaven; and learn to confess that it +behoves the creature of an hour to bow his head at the discovery of his +own littleness and blindness; and that his words concerning the Ancient +of Days had need to be at once very wary, and very few!" + + * * * * * + +VI. By far the ablest of these seven Essays is from the pen of the "REV. +MARK PATTISON, B.D., Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford." It purports to +be an Essay on the "TENDENCIES OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT IN ENGLAND, +1688-1750;" but it can hardly be said to correspond with that +description. In the concluding paragraph, the learned writer gives to +his work a different name. It is declared to be "_The past History of +the Theory of Belief in the Church of England_[130]." But neither the +title at the head, nor the title at the tail of the Essay, gives any +adequate notion of the Author's purpose. + +Had we met with this production, isolated, in the pages of a Review, we +should have probably passed it by as the work of a clever man, who, +after amusing himself to some extent with the Theological literature of +the last century, had desired to preserve some record of his reading; +and had here thrown his random jottings into connected form. There is a +racy freshness in a few of Mr. Pattison's sketches, (as in his account +of Bentley's controversy with Collins[131],) which forcibly suggests +the image of an artist whose pencil cannot rest amid scenery which +stimulates his imagination. To be candid, we are inclined to suspect +that, in the first instance, something of this sort was in reality all +that the learned author had in view. But we are reluctantly precluded +from putting so friendly a construction on these seventy-six pages. Not +only does Mr. Pattison's Essay stand between Mr. Goodwin's open +endeavour to destroy confidence in the writings of Moses, and Professor +Jowett's laborious insinuations that the Bible is only an ordinary book; +but it claims a common purpose and intention with both those writers. +Mr. Pattison's avowed object is "to illustrate the advantage derivable +to the cause of religious and moral truth, from a free handling, in a +becoming spirit, of subjects peculiarly liable to suffer by the +repetition of conventional language, and from traditional methods of +treatment[132]." We proceed therefore to examine his labours by the aid +of the clue which he has himself supplied. For when nine editions of a +book appear in quick succession, prefaced by a description of the spirit +in which "_it is hoped that the volume will he received_,"--it seems a +pity that the author should not be judged by the standard of his own +choosing. + +We are surprised then to find how slightly Mr. Pattison's Essay fulfils +its avowed purpose. The learned author does not, in fact, _directly_ +"handle" the class of subjects referred to, _at all_: or if he does, it +is achieved in a couple of pages. And yet it is not difficult to point +out the part which his Essay performs in the general scheme of this +guilty volume. With whatever absence of "concert or comparison" the +authors may have severally written, the fatal effect of their combined +endeavours is not more apparent than the part sustained by each Essay +singly in promoting it. + +While Mr. Goodwin demolishes the Law, and Dr. Williams disbelieves the +Prophets; while Professor Powell denies the truth of Miracles, and +Professor Jowett evacuates the authority of Holy Scripture +altogether--while Dr. Temple substitutes the inner light of Conscience +for an external Revelation; and Mr. Wilson teaches men how they may turn +the substance of Holy Scripture into a shadow, evade the plain force of +language, and play fast and loose with those safeguards which it has +been ever thought that words supply;--Mr. Pattison, reviewing the last +century and a half of our own Theological history, labours hard to +produce an impression that, _here_ also "all is vanity and vexation of +spirit." He calls off our attention from the Bible, and bids us +contemplate the unlovely aspect of the English "religious world" from +the Revolution of 1688 down to the publication of the 'Tracts for the +Times,' in 1833[133]. "Be content for a while, (he seems to say,) to +disregard the prize; and observe the combatants instead. Listen to the +historian of moral and religious progress," while he depicts "decay of +religion, licentiousness of morals, public corruption, profaneness of +language, a day of rebuke and blasphemy." Come attend to me; and I will +draw the likeness of "an age destitute of depth or earnestness; an age +whose poetry was without romance, whose philosophy was without insight, +and whose public men were without character; an age of 'light without +love,' whose 'very merits were of the earth, earthy.'" (p. 254.) "If we +would understand our own position in the Church, and that of the Church +in the age; if we would hold any clue through the maze of religious +pretension which surrounds us; we cannot neglect those immediate +agencies in the production of the present, which had their origin +towards the beginning of the eighteenth century." (p. 256.) Let us then +"trace the descent of religious thought, and the practical working of +the religious ideas," (p. 255,) through some of the phases they have +more recently assumed. You shall see the Apostles tried on a charge "of +giving false witness in the case of the Resurrection of JESUS;" +(p. 303;) and pronounced "not guilty," by one whose "name once commanded +universal homage among us;" but who now, (!) with South (!!) and +Barrow, (!!!) "excites perhaps only a smile of pity." (p. 265.) You +shall be shewn Bentley in his attack on Collins the freethinker, +enjoying "rare sport,"--"rat-hunting in an old rick;" and "laying about +him in high glee, braining an authority at every blow." (p. 308.) +"Coarse, arrogant, and abusive, with all Bentley's worst faults of style +and temper, this masterly critique is decisive." (p. 307.) And yet, you +are not to rejoice! "The 'Discourse of Freethinking' was a small tract +published in 1713 by Anthony Collins, a gentleman whose high personal +character and general respectability seemed to give a weight to his +words, which assuredly they do not carry of themselves." (p. 307.) [Why, +the man ought to have been an Essayist and Reviewer!] ... "By +'freethinking'" he does but "mean liberty of thought,--the right of +bringing all received opinions whatsoever to the touchstone of reason:" +(p. 307:) [a liberty which has evidently disappeared from English +Literature: a right which no man dares any longer exercise under pain +of excommunication!] "Collins was not a sharper, and would have +disdained practices to which Bentley stooped for the sake of a +professorship." (p. 310.) [O high-minded Collins!] "The dirt endeavoured +to be thrown on Collins will cleave to the hand that throws it." +(p. 309.) [O dirty Bentley!] And though "Collins's mistakes, +mistranslations, misconceptions, and distortions are so monstrous, that +it is difficult for us now, forgetful how low classical learning had +sunk, to believe that they _are_ mistakes, and not wilful errors," +(p. 308,)--yet "Addison, the pride of Oxford, had done no better. In his +'Essay on the Evidences of Christianity,' Addison 'assigns as grounds +for his religious belief, stories as absurd as that of the Cock-lane +ghost, and forgeries as rank as Ireland's 'Vortigern;' puts faith in the +lie about the thundering legion; is convinced that Tiberius moved the +Senate to admit JESUS among the gods; and pronounces the letter of +Agbarus, King of Edessa, to be a record of great authority.'" (p. 307, +quoting Macaulay's _Essays_.) All this and much more you shall see. +Remember that it is the history of your immediate forefathers which you +will be contemplating,--the morality of the professors of religion +during the last century,--"the past history of the theory of Belief in +the Church of England!" (p. 329.) + +The curtain falls; and now, pray how do you like it? I invite you, in +conclusion, to "take the religious literature of the present day, as a +whole; and endeavour to make out clearly on what basis Revelation is +supposed by it to rest; whether on Authority, on the Inward Light, on +Reason, on self-evidencing Scripture, or on the combination of the +four, or some of them, and in what proportions." (p. 329.) ... After +this, you are at liberty to proceed to read 'Jowett on +Inspiration,'--with what appetite you may! + +Such is the impression which Mr. Pattison's Essay is calculated to leave +behind. That he had no wicked intention in writing it, no one who knows +him could for an instant suppose: but _the effect_ of what he has done +is certainly to set his reader adrift on a dreary sea of doubt. +Discomfort and dissatisfaction, confusion and dismay, are the prevailing +sentiments with which a religious mind, unfortified with learning, will +rise from the perusal of the present Essay: while the irreligious man +will study it with a sneer of ill-concealed satisfaction. The marks of +Mr. Pattison's own better knowledge, (sufficiently evident to the quick +eye of one who is aware of the writer's high theological +attainments;)--the indications of a truer individual judgment, +(discoverable throughout by one who _knows_ the author's private worth, +and is himself happily in possession of the clue by which to escape from +this tangled labyrinth:)--_these_ escape the common reader. To _him_, +all is dreary doubt. + +I must perforce deal with Mr. Pattison's labours in a very summary +manner. The chief complaint I have to make against him is that he has +altogether omitted what, to you and to me, is the _most_ important +feature of the century which he professes to describe,--namely, the vast +amount of lofty Churchmanship, the unbroken Catholic tradition, which, +with no small amount of general short-coming, is to be traced throughout +the eighteenth century. To insinuate that the return to Catholic +principles _began_ with the publication of the 'Tracts for the Times,' +(p. 259,) in 1833, is simply to insinuate what is _not_ true. But Mr. +Pattison does more than 'insinuate.' He states it openly. "In +constructing _Catenæ Patrum_," (he says,) "the Anglican closes his list +with Waterland or Brett, and leaps at once to 1833." (p. 255.)--Now, +since Waterland _died_ in 1740 and Brett in 1743, it is clear that, +(according to Mr. Pattison,) a hundred years and upwards have to be +cleared _per saltum_: during which the lamp of Religion in these +kingdoms had gone fairly out. But how stands the truth? At least _four_ +"Catenæ Patrum" are given in the "Tracts for the Times[134];" _not one_ +of which is closed with Waterland or Brett. On the contrary, in the two +former Catenæ (beginning with Jewel and Hooker) the names of these +supposed 'ultimi Romanorum' occur little more than _half way_!... "Les +faits," therefore, (as usual with 'Essayists and Reviewers,')--"_les +faits sont contraires_."--It would be enough to cite Bethell's 'General +View of the Doctrine of Regeneration in Baptism,' which appeared in +1822; and Hugh James Rose's 'Discourses on the Commission and Duties of +the Clergy,' which were preached in 1826. But the case against Mr. +Pattison, as I shall presently shew, is abundantly stronger. + +In short, to exclude from sight, as this author so laboriously +endeavours to do, the Catholic element of the last century and the early +part of the present, is extremely unfair. There had _never failed_ in +the Church of England a succession of illustrious men, who transmitted +the Divine fire unimpaired, down to yesterday. Quenched in some places, +the flame burned up brightly and beautifully in others. As for the +'Tracts for the Times,' they speedily assumed a party character: and by +the time that ninety-seven of them had appeared, the series was +discontinued by the desire of the Diocesan,--who was yet the friend of +its authors. The Tracts do not all, by any means, represent Anglican +(i.e. Catholic) Theology. They were written by a very few men; while the +greatest of those who had materially promoted the Catholic movement out +of which they sprang, (_not_ which they _occasioned_,) were dissatisfied +with them; would not write in them; kept aloof; and foresaw and foretold +what would be the issue of such teaching[135]. And yet, 'Tracts for the +Times' did more good than evil, I suppose, on the whole. + +The truth is, that in every age, (and the last century forms no +exception to the rule,) the history of the Church on Earth has been a +_warfare_. Mr. Pattison says contemptuously,--"The current phrases of +'the bulwarks of our faith,' 'dangerous to Christianity,' are but +instances of the habitual position in which we assume ourselves to +stand. Even more philosophic minds cannot get rid of the idea that +Theology is polemical." (p. 301.) And pray, whom have we to thank, but +such writers as Mr. Pattison, that it is so? I am one of the many who at +this hour are (unwillingly) neglecting _constructive_ tasks in order to +be _destructive_ with Mr. Pattison and his colleagues! So long as +Infidelity abounds, our service _must_ be a warfare. 'The Prince of +Peace' foretold as much, when He prophesied to His Disciples that it +would be found that He had "brought on earth, a sword." As much was +typically adumbrated, I suspect, (begging Mr. Jowett's pardon,) when, at +the rebuilding of the walls of the Holy City, "they which builded on the +wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with +one of his hands wrought in the work, and _with the other hand held a +weapon_. For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, +and so builded[136]." May I not add that the unique position which the +Church of England has occupied, ever since her great Reformation in +respect both of Doctrine and of Discipline three centuries ago,--is of a +nature which must inevitably subject her to constant storms? An object +of envy to 'Protestant Europe,'--and of hatred to Rome;--exposed to the +hostility of the State, (which would trample her under foot, if it +dared,)--and viewed with ill-concealed animosity by Dissenters of every +class;--admitting into her Ministry men of very diverse views,--and +restraining them by scarcely any discipline;--allowing perfect freedom, +aye, licentiousness of discussion,--and tolerating the expression of +almost any opinions,--_except those of Essayists and Reviewers_:--how +shall the Church of England fail to adopt 'the bulwarks of the faith' +for one of her current phrases? how not, many a time, deem 'dangerous to +Christianity' the speculations of her sons?... Nay, polemics _must_ +prevail; if only because, in a certain place, the Divine Speaker already +quoted foretells the partial, (if not the _entire_,) obscuration even of +true Doctrine, in that pathetic exclamation of His,--"When the Son of +Man cometh, shall He find the faith upon the Earth[137]?" ... In the +face of all this, it is to confuse and mystify the ordinary reader to +draw such a picture of the last century as Mr. Pattison has drawn here. +As dismal a view might be easily taken of the first, of the second, of +the third, of the fourth, of the fifth century. What Mr. Newman once +designated as "ancient, holy, and happy times," might very easily indeed +be so exhibited as to seem times of confusion and discord, blasphemy and +rebuke. A discouraging picture might be drawn, (I suppose,) of every age +of the Church's history. But in, and by itself, it would never be quite +a _true_ picture. For to the eye of Faith there is ever to be descried, +amid the hurly-burly of the storm, the Ark of CHRIST'S Church floating +peacefully over the troubled waters, and making steadily for that +Heavenly haven "where it would be." ... Yes, there is ever some blessed +trace discoverable, that this Life of ours is watched over by One whose +Name is Love; whether we con the chequered page of History, +Ecclesiastical or Civil; or summon to our aid the story of our own +narrow experience. From the fierce and fiery opposition, Good is ever +found to have resulted; and _that_ Good was _abiding_. Out of the weary +conflict ever has issued Peace; and _that_ Peace was of the kind which +'passeth all understanding;' a Peace which the world cannot give,--no, +nor take away. There are abundant traces that in all that has happened +to the Church of CHRIST, from first to last, there has been a purpose +and a plan!... No one knows this better than Mr. Pattison. No man in +Oxford could have drawn out what I have been saying into a convincing +reality, better than he, had he yielded to the instincts of a good +heart, and directed his fine abilities to their lawful scope. + +The character of the last dismal century, Mr. Pattison has drawn with +sufficient vividness: but that century armed the Church, (as we shall be +presently reminded,) on the side of the "Evidences of Religion;" and if +it taught her the insufficiency of such a method, the eighteenth +century did its work. Above all, _it produced Bishop Butler_.--The +previous century, (the seventeenth,) witnessed the supremacy of +fanaticism. It saw the monarchy laid prostrate, and the Church trampled +under foot, and the use of the Liturgy prohibited by Act of Parliament. +The "Sufferings of the Clergy" fill a folio volume. But this was the +century which produced our great Caroline Divines! From Bp. Andrewes to +Bp. Pearson,--_what_ a galaxy of names! Moreover, on the side of the +Romish controversy, the seventeenth century supplied the Church's +armoury for ever,--Stillingfleet, who died in the year 1699, in a manner +closing the strife.--The sixteenth century witnessed the Reformation of +Religion, with all its inevitably attendant evils; an unsettled +faith,--gross public and private injustice,--an illiterate parochial +clergy:--yet how goodly a body of sound Divinity did the controversies +of that age call forth! The same century witnessed the rise of +Puritanism; but then, it produced Richard Hooker!--What was the +character of the century which immediately preceded the +Reformation,--the fifteenth?... A tangled web of good and evil has been +the Church's history from the very first. The counterpart of what we +read of in Eusebius and Socrates is to be witnessed among ourselves at +the present day, and will doubtless be witnessed to the end! But then, +in days of deepest discouragement, faithful men have never been found +wanting to the English Church, (no, nor GOD helping her, ever _will_!) +who, like the late Hugh James Rose, "when hearts were failing, bade us +stir up the gift that was in us, and betake ourselves to our true +Mother." Mean wilee, such names as George Herbert and Nicholas Farrar, +Ken and Nelson, Leighton and Bishop Wilson, shine through the gloom +like a constellation of quiet stars; to which the pilgrim lifts his +weary eye, and _feels_ that he is looking up to Heaven! + +When the spirit of the Age comes into collision with the spirit of the +Gospel, the result is sometimes (as in the earliest centuries,) +portentous;--sometimes, (as in the last,) simply deplorable and +grievous. The battle which seems to be at present waging is of a +different nature. Physical Science has undertaken the perilous task of +hardening herself against the GOD of Nature. We shall probably see this +unnatural strife prolonged for many years to come;--to be succeeded by +some fresh form of irreligion. Somewhat thus, I apprehend, will it be to +the end: and the men of every age will in those conflicts find their +best probation; and it will still be the office of the Creator, in this +way to separate the Light from the Darkness,--until the dawn of the +everlasting Morning! + +It is not proposed to enter into the Rationalism of the last century, +therefore; or to inquire into the causes of the barren lifeless shape +into which Theology then, for the most part, threw itself. I have never +made that department of Ecclesiastical History my study: and _who_ does +not turn away from what is joyless and dreary, to greener meadows, and +more fertile fields? It shall only be remarked that when the +_Credibility_ of Religion is the thing generally denied, _Evidences_ +will of necessity be the form which much of the Theological writing of +the Day will assume. Let it not be imagined for an instant that one is +the apologist of what Mr. Pattison has characterized as "an age of Light +without Love." (p. 254.) But I insist that the theological picture of +the last century is incomplete, until attention has been called to the +many redeeming features which it presents, and which are all of a +re-assuring kind. + +Thus, in the department of sacred scholarship, _who_ can forgot that our +learned John Mill, in 1707, gave to the world that famous edition of the +New Testament which bears his name, after thirty years of patient toil? +Who can forget our obligations in Hebrew, to Kennicott? (1718-1783.) +Humphrey Hody's great work on the Text, and older Versions of Holy +Scripture, was published in 1705.--Bingham's immortal 'Origines' began +to appear in 1708; and William Cave lived till 1714. + +In the same connexion should be mentioned Bp. Gibson, who died in 1748, +and Humphrey Prideaux, whose 'Connexion' is dated 1715. Pococke died on +the eve of the commencement of the last century (1691); but so great a +name casts a bright beam through the darkness which Mr. Pattison +describes so forcibly. Archbishop Wake died in 1737. Warton, the author +of 'Anglia Sacra,' died at the age of 35 in 1695. + +Survey next the field of Divinity, properly so called; and in the face +of Mr. Pattison's rash statement that "we have no classical Theology +since 1660," (p. 265,) take notice that Bp. Bull, one of the greatest +Divines which the Church of CHRIST ever bred, did not begin to write +until 1669, and lived to the year 1709. This was the man, remember, who +received the thanks of the whole Gallican Church for his 'Judicium +Ecclesiæ Catholicæ,' (i.e. his learned assertion of our SAVIOUR'S +GODhead[138];)--the man whose writings would have won him the reverence +and affection of Athanasius and Augustine and Basil, had he lived in +their day; for he had a mind like theirs. Bp. Pearson did not die till +1686. Bp. Beveridge wrote till his death in 1707. Fell, the learned +editor of Cyprian, died in 1686: Stillingfleet lived till 1699. Wall's +History of Infant Baptism appeared in 1705. Wheatly, who led the way in +liturgical inquiry, was alive till 1742; and Bp. Patrick was a prolific +writer till his death in 1707. May we not also claim the excellent and +learned Grabe as altogether one of ourselves? + +Such names do not require special comment. They are their own best +eulogium, and present a high title to their country's gratitude. The +name of Prebendary Lowth, (the author of an excellent commentary on the +prophets,) reminds us that there was living till 1732 one who fully +appreciated the calling of an Interpreter of God's Word[139]. Bishop +Lowth his son, in his great work, (1753,) recovered the forgotten +principle of Hebrew poetry. To convince ourselves what a spirit existed +in some quarters, (notwithstanding the general spread of the very +opinions which 'Essayists and Reviewers' have been so industriously +reproducing in our own day,) it is only necessary to transcribe the +title-page of S. Parker's excellent 'Bibliotheca Biblica,' a Commentary +on the Pentateuch, 1720-1735; 'gathered out of the genuine writings of +Fathers, Ecclesiastical Historians, and Acts of Councils down to the +year of our LORD 451, being that of the fourth General Council; and +lower, as occasion may require.'--That learned man designed to achieve a +Commentary on the whole Bible on the same laborious plan; but his +labours and his life, (at the age of 50,) were brought to an end in +1730.--Dr. Waterland, born in 1683, and Dr. Jackson, born in 1686,--two +great names!--died respectively in 1740 and 1763.--In 1778, appeared Dr. +Townson's admirable 'Discourses on the Gospels.' The author lived till +1792. Pious Bp. Horne (1730-1792) has left the best evidence of his +ability as a Divine in the Introduction to his Commentary on the Psalms. +Jones of Nayland is found to have lived till 1800. Bp. Horsley, a great +champion of orthodoxy of belief, as well as an excellent commentator, +critic, and Sermon writer, lived till 1806. Not seven years have elapsed +since there was to be seen among ourselves a venerable Divine, who was +declared in 1838, by the chief promoter of the 'Tracts for the Times,' +to have "been reserved to report to a forgetful generation what was the +Theology of their Fathers[140]." Martin Joseph Routh, died in 1854, +after completing a century of years. In 1832 appeared his 'Scriptorum +Ecclesiasticorum Opuscula.' His 'Reliquæ Sacræ' had appeared in 1814. +The work was undertaken so far back as 1788. The last volume appeared in +1848, and concluded with a _Catena_ of authorities on the great question +which was denied by the unbelievers of the last century, and _is_ denied +by the 'Essayists and Reviewers' of this[141]. Here then was one who had +borne steady witness in the Church of England to what is her genuine +Catholic teaching from a period dating long before the birth of any one +who was concerned with the 'Tracts for the Times.' + +More ancient names present themselves as furnishing exceptions to Mr. +Pattison's dreary sentence. From Abp. Potter and Leslie, down to Abp. +Laurence and Van Mildert,--how many might yet be specified! We have not +hitherto mentioned Abp. Leighton, who died in 1684: Hickes, Johnson, and +Brett, who survived respectively till 1715, 1725, and 1743: the truly +apostolic Wilson, Bishop of Sodor and Man (1663-1755,)--a name, by the +way, which deserves far more distinct and emphatic notice than can here +be bestowed upon it; and Nelson, the pious author of 'Fasts and +Festivals,' who died in 1715. We had good Iz. Walton, till 1683, and +holy Ken till 1711. Richard Hele, author of 'Select Offices,' (which +appeared in 1717,) is a name not forgotten in Heaven certainly, though +little known on Earth; while Kettlewell and Scandret begin a Catena of +which good Bishop Jolly would be only one of the later links. Meanwhile, +the reader is requested to take notice that there were many other +excellent Divines of the period under consideration, (as Long and +Horbery;) men who made no great figure indeed, but who were evidently +persons of great piety and sound judgment; while their learning puts +that of 'Essayists and Reviewers' altogether to the blush. + +But I have reserved for the last, a truly noble name,--which Mr. +Pattison, (with singular bad taste, to say no worse,) mentions only to +disparage. I allude to Dr. Joseph Butler, Bishop of Durham; whose +'Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the Constitution and +Course of Nature,'--remains, at the end of a century, unanswerable as an +Apology,--unrivalled as a text-book,--unexhausted as a mine of +suggestive thought. It may be convenient for an 'Essayist and Reviewer' +to declare that "the merit of the Analogy lies in its want of +originality." (p. 286.) There was not much originality perhaps in the +remark that an apple falls to the ground. Whatever the faults of the +Analogy, that work, under GOD, _saved the Church_. However "depressing +to the soul" (p. 293.) of Mr. Pattison, it is nevertheless a book which +will invigorate Faith, and brighten Hope, and comfort Charity +herself,--long after the spot where he and I shall sleep has been +forgotten: long after our very names will be hard to find. + +Let me turn from this illustrious individual, to one whose very name is +perhaps unknown. One loves to think that there are at all times plenty +of good men, who are doing GOD'S work in the world, in quiet corners; +but whose names do not perhaps rise to the surface and emerge into +notice, throughout the whole of a long life. Conversely, how many must +there be, the blessing of whose example and influence has extended down +from the surface, (where perhaps it was acknowledged and appreciated by +all,) until it made itself felt by the humblest units of a lowly country +parish!... The obscure village of Finmere, (in Oxfordshire,) was so +happy as to enjoy for its Rector, from 1734 to 1771, the Rev. Thomas +Long, M.A.,--"a man," (says the Register,) "of the most exemplary piety +and charity." He presented to the church twelve acres of land, "charging +it with a yearly payment of fifteen shillings to the Clerk, _as a +recompense to him for attending on the Fasts and Festivals_; and +ordering sixpence to be deducted from the payment, for each time the +Clerk failed to attend on those days,--unless let by sickness." About +ten years ago, there was found in the hands of a labouring man at +Finmere, a solitary copy of a printed "Lecture," by this individual, +"addressed to the young persons" of the village, (1762,) which begins as +follows:--"I have usually, once every three years, gone through a course +of Lectures upon the Catechism; but considering my age and great +infirmities, it is not very probable I should continue this practice any +longer. I am willing therefore, as a small monument of my care and +affection for you, to print the last of these Lectures," &c.... What +heart so dull as not to admit that men like this, (and there were _many_ +of them!) are quite good enough to redeem an age from indiscriminate +opprobrium and unmitigated contempt? + +Shall we omit, after this enumeration, to notice the singular fact that +_Discipline_ still lingered on,--even the discipline of _public +penance_,--until within the memory of aged persons yet living? Merchants +in the city of London wore mourning during Lent, within the present +century. It is only within the last thirty years that formulæ expressive +of reliance on the Divine blessing have been expunged from +bills-of-lading, and similar printed documents. In the beginning of the +period discoursed of by Mr. Pattison, (viz. in the year 1714,) the +excellent Robert Nelson, in "An Address to Persons of Quality and +Estate," proposed as objects for the generosity of the affluent, such +institutions as the following:--"the creating of Charity Schools,"--of +"Parochial Libraries in the meanly endowed Cures throughout +England,"--of "a superior School for training up Schoolmasters and +Schoolmistresses,"--and of "Colleges or Seminaries for the Candidates of +Holy Orders." He suggested that there should be "Houses of Hospitality +for entertaining Strangers;" "Suffragan Bishops, both at home and in the +Western Plantations;" "Colleges for receiving Converts from Popery." +Some of Nelson's suggestions read like vaticinations. He points out the +need of Ladies' Colleges,--of a Hospital for Incurables,--of Ragged +Schools, (for what else is a school "for the distressed children called +the _Black-guard_?"),--and of Houses of Mercy for the reception of +penitent fallen women.--Is it right to speak of a century which could +freely contemplate such works as these and carry into execution many of +them[142], without some allusion to the leaven which was at work beneath +the dry crust of Society? the living Catholic energy which neither the +average dulness of the pulpit could quench, nor the lifeless morality +which had been popularly substituted for Divinity could destroy? + +We are abundantly prepared therefore for Mr. Pattison's admission that +"public opinion was throughout on the side of the defenders of +Christianity:" (p. 313:)--that, "however a loose kind of Deism might be +the tone of fashionable circles, it is clear that distinct disbelief of +Christianity was by no means the general state of the public mind. The +leaders of the Low-Church and Whig party were quite aware of this. +Notwithstanding the universal complaints of the High-Church party of the +prevalence of infidelity, it is obvious that this mode of thinking was +confined to a very small section of society." (p. 313.) + +And surely it should not escape us that the peculiar form which unbelief +assumed during the period under discussion, resulted in a benefit to the +Church. "The eighteenth century," (says our author,) "enforced the +truths of Natural Morality with a solidity of argument and variety of +proof which they have not received since the Stoical epoch, if then." +(p. 296.) "The career of the Evidential School, its success and its +failure, has enriched the history of Doctrine," not indeed "with a +complete refutation of that method as an instrument of theological +investigation," (p. 297,) (witness the immortal 'Analogy' of Bishop +Butler!)--but, certainly with very precious experience. That age has +bequeathed to the Church a vast body of controversial writing which she +could ill afford to part with at the present day. + +So far, we have little to complain of in Mr. Pattison's Essay, except on +the side of omission. _But_ for the fatal circumstance of the company in +which the learned writer comes abroad, and _the avowed purpose_ with +which he is found there, a charitable construction might have been put +upon most of the present performance. The following sentences, on the +other hand, are _not_ excusable. + +"In the present day when a godless orthodoxy threatens, as in the +fifteenth century, to extinguish religious thought (!) altogether, and +nothing is allowed in the Church of England but the formulæ of past +thinkings, which have long lost all sense of any kind, (!) it may seem +out of season to be bringing forward a misapplication of common-sense in +a bygone age," (p. 297.) + +The "orthodoxy" of the fifteenth century is something new to us. So is +the prospect "in the present day," of an "extinction of religious +thought,"--the result of "godless orthodoxy." The fault, or the +misfortune of the Church of England then, is, that she retains "_the +formulæ of past thinkings, which have long lost all sense of any +kind_." (p. 297.) If this does not mean the English _Book of Common +Prayer_, what _does_ it mean? And if it _means_ the English Prayer-Book, +how can Mr. Pattison retain his commission in the Church of England, and +exclusively employ a Book which he presumes so to characterize? + +But this is _ad hominem_. The learned writer proceeds:--"There are times +and circumstances when religious ideas will be greatly benefited by +being submitted to the rough and ready tests by which busy men try what +comes in their way; by being made to stand their trial, and be fully +canvassed, _coram populo_. As Poetry is not for the critics, so Religion +is not for the Theologians." (p. 297.) + +No doubt. But does Mr. Pattison then really mean to tell us that the +proper tribunal before which the Creeds, (for example,) of the Catholic +Church,--our Communion and Baptismal offices,--the structure of our +Calendar, and so forth,--should "_stand their trial_, and be _freely +canvassed_," is, "_coram populo_?" A "rough and ready test," this, of +Truth, I grant; aye, a _very_ "rough" one. But was it ever,--can it ever +be,--a _fair_ test? Let us hear Mr. Pattison out, on the subject of +Religion:-- + +"When it is stiffened into phrases, and these phrases are declared to be +objects of reverence but not of intelligence, it is on the way to become +_a useless encumbrance; the rubbish of the past; blocking the road_. +Theology then retires into the position it occupies in the Church of +Rome at present, an unmeaning frostwork of dogma, out of all relation to +the actual history of Man." (pp. 297-8.) + +It cannot be necessary to discuss such sentiments. With Mr. Pattison +personally, I _will not_ condescend to discuss them,--until he has +divested himself of that "useless encumbrance," and ceased to employ +daily "that rubbish of the past," which yet the two letters he subjoins +to his name indicate, in the most solemn manner, his reverence for; and +which alone make him _Reverendus_. + +But speaking to others,--speaking to _you_, my friends,--let me point +out that "the tendencies of _irreligious_ thought in England, +1860-1861," are _indeed_ in a direction where the Prayer-Book is found +to be _effectually_ "blocking up the road." (pp. 297-8.) Mr. Pattison is +simply dreaming,--haunted by the phantoms of his own brain, and talking +the language of the den,--when he complains that "the Philosophy, now +petrified into tradition, may once have been a vital Faith; but now +that" it is "withdrawn from public life," has ceased to be a "social +influence." (p. 298.) And when he would exalt the last century at the +expence of the present, (pp. 298-9,) he shews nothing so much as the +morbid state of his own imagination,--the disordered condition of his +own mind. He has blinded himself; and he will not or he cannot see in +the healthier tone of our popular Divinity,--in the increased attention +to the study of Holy Scripture,--in the impulse which Liturgical +inquiries have received since Wheatly's useful volume appeared;--or +again, in the immense number of Schools and Churches which have been +recently built,--in the marvellous change for the better which has come +over the Clergy of the Church of England within the present century,--in +the vast development of our Colonial Episcopate within the last few +years,--in the rapid increase of Institutions connected more or less +directly with the Church,--and I will add, in the conspicuous loyalty +of the nation;--a practical refutation of his own injurious +insinuations; a blessed earnest that God has _not_ forsaken us; and that +we shall _yet_ be a blessing to the World! The people of England, I am +persuaded, are in the main very sincerely attached to their Prayer-Book. +To them, it is not "a useless encumbrance, the rubbish of the past, +blocking the road." Nay, there is a "rough and ready test" of what is +the current temper of the age in things religious, to which I appeal +with infinite satisfaction. I mean, _the general burst of execration +with which "Essays and Reviews" have been received_, from one end of the +kingdom to the other. _The censure of all the Bishops_, and of _both +Houses of Convocation_; re-echoed, as it has been, through _all ranks of +the community_, is a great fact;--a fact which I cordially recommend to +Mr. Pattison's attention, when he would philosophize on the religious +tendencies of his countrymen. + +The age we live in, (Heaven knows!) has many drawbacks. _What_ age of +the Church has _not_ had them? The fatal disposition which prevails to +relax all the ancient safeguards,--the desire to tamper yet further with +the Law of Marriage, and to desecrate the Christian Sabbath,--these are +grievous features of the times; which may well occasion alarm and create +perplexity. But nothing of the kind should ever make us despond; much +less despair. There is One above "who is over all, GOD blessed for +ever." Shall we not rather seek to employ these advantages which we +have, with a single heart, a single eye to GOD'S glory; and leave the +issue, with a generous confidence, to _Him_?... It was thus that the +great philosophic Divine of the last century comforted himself, amid +darker days than _we_ shall ever experience. + +"As different ages have been distinguished by different sorts of +particular errors and vices, the deplorable distinction of ours," (he +said,) "is an avowed scorn of Religion in some, and a growing disregard +to it in the generality." "It is impossible for me, my +brethren,"--(Butler is still addressing the clergy of his Diocese, +1761,)--"to forbear lamenting with you the general decay of Religion in +this nation; which is now observed by every one, and has been for some +time the complaint of all serious persons. The influence of it is more +and more wearing out of the minds of men;" while "the number of those +who profess themselves unbelievers, increases, and with their number +their zeal. Zeal, it is natural to ask,--for what? Why truly _for_ +nothing, but _against_ everything that is sacred and good among +us[143]." And yet, in days dark as those, Piety could suggest that "no +Christian should possibly despair;" and Faith could assign as the reason +of this blessed confidence,--"_For He who hath all power in Heaven and +Earth, hath promised that He will be with us to the end of the world._" + +It is time to dismiss Mr. Pattison's Essay. In doing so, I will not +waste my time and yours by carping at the many errors of detail into +which he has (not inexcusably) fallen. These are the accidents,--not the +essence of his paper. The root of bitterness with the Author is, clearly +enough, _the Theory of Religious Belief in the Church of England_. His +concluding words shew this plainly. The sting of the Essay is in the +tail:-- + +"In the Catholic theory the feebleness of Reason is met half-way, and +made good by the authority of the Church. When the Protestants threw off +this authority, they did not assign to Reason what they took from the +Church, but to Scripture. Calvin did not shrink from saying that +Scripture 'shone sufficiently by its own light.' As long as this could +be kept to, the Protestant theory of belief was whole and sound. At +least it was as sound as the Catholic. In both, Reason, aided by +spiritual illumination, performs the subordinate function of recognising +the supreme authority of the Church, and of the Bible, respectively. +Time, learned controversy, and abatement of zeal, drove the Protestants +generally from the hardy but irrational assertion of Calvin. Every foot +of ground that Scripture lost was gained by one or other of the three +substitutes: Church-authority, the Spirit, or Reason. Church-authority +was essayed by the Laudian divines, but was soon found untenable, for on +that footing it was found impossible to justify the Reformation and the +breach with Rome." [O shame!] "The SPIRIT then came into favour along +with Independency. But it was still more quickly discovered that on such +a basis only discord and disunion could be reared. There remained to be +tried Common Reason, carefully distinguished from recondite learning, +and not based on metaphysical assumptions. To apply this instrument to +the contents of Revelation was the occupation of the early half of the +eighteenth century; with what success has been seen. In the latter part +of the century the same Common Reason was applied to the external +evidences. But here the method fails in a first +requisite,--universality; for even the shallowest array of historical +proof requires some book-learning to apprehend."--(pp. 328-9.) + +Now all this is discreditable to Mr. Pattison as a Philosopher and as a +Divine. _When_ did Protestant England "throw off the authority" of the +Church?--What are _Calvin's_ opinions to _her_?--How does +'Independency,' 'Rationalism,' or any other unsound principle, affect +_us_? Look at our Prayer-Book. Is it not the same which it was from the +beginning? The Sarum Use, reformed and revised, has been our unbroken +heritage as Christian men, from the first. Essentially remodelled in the +days of Edward VI., the recension of our "Laudian Divines" is, (by GOD'S +great mercy!) still ours. What other teaching but that of _the Book of +Common Prayer_, is, to this hour, the authoritative teaching of the +Church of England? Why insinuate there has been vicissitude of Theory, +where notoriously there has been none? Why imply that the storms which +periodically sweep over the citadel of our Zion are effectual to remove +the old foundations and to substitute new? What but a hollow heartless +Scepticism _can_ be the result of such an abominable passage as the +foregoing? + +"Whoever will take the religious literature of the present day as a +whole, and endeavour to make out clearly on what basis Revelation is +supposed by it to rest, whether on Authority, on the Inward Light, on +Reason, on self-evidencing Scripture, or on the combination of the four, +or some of them, and in what proportions; would probably find that he +had undertaken a perplexing but not altogether profitless +inquiry."--(p. 329.) And so the Essay ends. + +With a short comment on the proposed problem, I also shall conclude. + +No one but a fool would set about the task which Mr. Pattison here +proposes. The current "religious literature _of the day_" cannot be +supposed, for an instant, to be an adequate exponent of the mind of the +Church of England,--or of any other Church. Revelation rests, at this +hour, on exactly the same basis on which it has always rested, and on +which it will rest, to the end of time; let the age be faithful, or +faithless,--learned or unlearned,--rationalizing or +scientific,--sceptical or superstitious,--or whatever else you will. And +if I am asked to explain myself, I would humbly say,--(always submitting +my own statements in such a matter to the judgment of the Bishops and +Doctors of the Church of England,)--that we receive the Bible on the +authority of _the Church_. The Church teaches us by the concurrent +voices of many Fathers, Doctors, Saints, how to interpret the Bible; and +convinces us that the three Creeds which she delivers to us as her own +independent tradition, may be proved thereby; being in entire conformity +with Holy Scripture, though not originally deduced from it. +"Self-evidencing" is hardly a correct epithet to bestow upon Scripture. +And yet, from the evidence which the New Testament supplies to the Old, +and from the interpretation which it puts upon its teaching, we should +not despair of proving the Truth of Revelation, to one who had neither +darkened the inward Light, nor perverted his Reason. + +In truth, however, it is idle thus to speculate. We have been born into +the world during the nineteenth Century, whether we wish it or not. We +have been nourished, (GOD be thanked!) in the bosom of the Christian +Church, whether we would or no. The glory of the Gospel has informed our +natural reason, and we cannot undo the blessed process, strive we as +much as we will. The "inward Light," (as we call it,) is the lingering +twilight of the Day of Creation, in the case of the heathen,--the +reflected ray of the noontide of the Gospel, even in the case of the +modern unbeliever. We cannot escape from these conditions of our being, +although we may affect to ignore them, or pretend to turn our eyes the +other way. _No_ help however is to be rejected. _No_ faculty of the soul +need be denied the privilege of assisting to convince the doubting +heart. The inward Light may not be disparagingly spoken of: for what if +it should prove to be a ray sent down from the Father of Lights, to +illumine the dark places of the soul? The aid of Reason is not to be +excluded; for what is Faith but the highest dictate of the Reason? +Faith, (let us ever remember,) being opposed not to _Reason_, but to +_Sight_!... And who for a moment supposes that we disparage the office +of Reason, because we speak of the authority of the Church, in +controversies of Faith? We simply proclaim the Church to be the +appointed witness and keeper of Holy Writ; and when we are invited "_to +make out clearly_ on what basis Revelation is supposed to rest," +(p. 329,) we point,--where else _should_ we point?--unhesitatingly to +_her_ unwavering witness from the beginning. + + * * * * * + +VII. The Essay which brings up the rear in this very guilty volume is +from the pen of the "REV. BENJAMIN JOWETT, M.A., [Fellow and Tutor of +Balliol College, and] Regius Professor of Greek in the University of +Oxford,"--"a gentleman whose high personal character and general +respectability seem to give a weight to his words, which assuredly they +do not carry of themselves[144]." His performance is entitled "ON THE +INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE:" being, in reality, nothing else but a +laborious _denial of its Inspiration_. + +Mr. Jowett's quarrel is with the whole body of Commentators on the +Bible,--ancient and modern; with the whole Church Catholic. He cannot +endure the claim of that Book, (like its Divine object and Author,) to +"a Name which is above every other Name." That Plato and Sophocles +should be capable of but one method of Interpretation, and _that_ the +literal,--while the Bible lays claim to a yet profounder meaning,--so +distresses the Regius Professor of Greek, that he has appropriated to +himself almost a quarter of the present volume, in order that he may +cast laborious and systematic ridicule on the very supposition. Some +parts of his method I propose presently to submit to _exactly the same +"free handling" which he has himself applied to THE WORD OF GOD_. In the +meantime, since it is my intention not only to demonstrate the +worthlessness of the structure which Mr. Jowett has with so much +perverse industry here built up, by an examination of some parts of it +in detail, but also to pull down as much of the fabric as I am able +within a small compass,--(the construction of something which it is +hoped will prove more durable, being to be found in my IIIrd and IVth, +Vth and VIth Sermons,)--I proceed at once to inspect the +foundation-stone of his edifice; and briefly to demonstrate its absolute +insecurity. + +$1.$ Mr. Jowett's fundamental principle is expressed in the following +brief precept: "_Interpret the Scripture like any other book._" +(p. 377.) To this favourite tune, (although he plays many intricate +variations on it,) he invariably reverts in the end[145]. On this +preliminary postulate therefore, which, at first sight, to a candid +mind, seems fair enough, I proceed to remark as follows:-- + +Mr. Jowett's formula may be cheerfully and entirely accepted,--_apart +from the sinister glosses which he immediately proceeds to put upon it_. +By all means "Interpret the Scripture like any other book." Let us see +to what result this principle will conduct us. As for the formula +itself, I take the liberty to assume that it _ought to mean_ somewhat as +follows:--"Approach the volume of Holy Scripture with the same candour, +and in the same unprejudiced spirit with which you would approach any +other famous book of high antiquity. Study it with at least the same +attention. Give at least equal heed to all its statements. Acquaint +yourself at least as industriously with its method, and with its +principle; employing and applying either, with at least equal fidelity, +in its interpretation. Above all, beware of playing tricks with its +plain language. Beware of suppressing any part of the evidence which it +supplies as to its own meaning. Be truthful, and unprejudiced, and +honest, and consistent, and logical, and exact throughout, in your work +of Interpretation. 'INTERPRET SCRIPTURE LIKE ANY OTHER BOOK.'" + +Now, (not to be tedious,) if _this_ were Mr. Jowett's principle, all +further discussion would be at an end. The general question of the right +method of interpreting the Bible would be easily settled; but it would +be hopelessly settled--_against the Regius Professor of Greek_. As I +have briefly shewn, (from p. 144 to p. 160 of the present volume,) our +LORD and His Apostles openly and repeatedly claim for Scripture that +very depth of meaning, that very extent of signification, which Mr. +Jowett so strenuously maintains that it does _not_ possess.--This great +fact, he prudently takes no notice of. He simply ignores it. Either he +has overlooked it, through inadvertency: or he has omitted it, as not +perceiving its force and bearing on the question: or he has +disingenuously kept it back. He must choose between these three +suppositions. If he has overlooked the fact on which I lay so much +stress,--he is a careless and incompetent reader. If he has failed to +see its force and bearing on the question,--he is a weak and illogical +thinker. If he has deliberately suppressed it, knowing its fatal +power,--he is simply a dishonest man. To prevent offence, I may as well +state freely that my entire conviction is that he is simply a weak and +illogical person. My warrant for this opinion is especially the very sad +performance of his now under consideration. + +It is clear however that the paraphrase above hazarded does _not_ +express Mr. Jowett's principle. "Interpret the Bible like any other +book," means with him something else. And what it _does_ mean, the +Reverend author does not suffer us to doubt. He shews that his meaning +is, _Interpret the Bible like any other book_, FOR _it is like any other +book_. I proceed to shew that this _is_ Mr. Jowett's meaning. + +It becomes necessary however at once to introduce to the reader's notice +the main inference which, (as already hinted,) flows from Mr. Jowett's +favourite position. "_Interpret_ Scripture like any other book,"--he +says. His business is with _the Interpretation_ of "the Jewish and +Christian Scriptures;" and he begins by eagerly assuring us,--and is +strenuous in all that follows to make us believe,--(but simply on _à +priori_ grounds!)--that "the true glory and note of Divinity in these, +is _not_ that they have hidden, mysterious, or double meanings; but _a +simple and universal one_, which is beyond them and will survive them." +(p. 332.) "Is it admitted," (he asks, at the end of many pages,) "that +_the Scripture has one and only one true meaning_?" (p. 368.) + +Let us hear what reasons the Reverend author of this seventh Essay is +able to produce in support of his favourite opinion. He approaches the +subject from a respectful distance:-- + +(i) "It is a strange, though familiar fact,"--(such are the opening +words of his Essay,)--"that great differences of opinion exist +respecting the Interpretation of Scripture." (p. 330.)--'Familiar,' the +fact is, certainly; but why 'strange?' A Book of many ages,--of immense +antiquity,--of most varied character,--treating of the unseen +world,--purporting to be a mysterious composition,--and by all Christian +men believed to have GOD for its true Author: a book which has come into +collision with every form of human error, and has triumphed gloriously +over every form of human opposition:--_how_ can it be thought 'strange' +that the interpretation of such a book should have provoked "great +differences of opinion?" ... Surely none but the weakest of thinkers, +unless committed to the assumption that _the Bible is like any other +book_, could ever have penned such a silly remark. + +(ii) "We do not at once see _the absurdity_ of the same words having +many senses, or free our minds from _the illusion_ that the Apostle or +Evangelist must have written with a reference to the creeds or +controversies or circumstances of other times. Let it be considered, +then, that this extreme variety of interpretation _is found to exist in +the case of no other book, but of the Scriptures only_." (p. 334.) + +But the "phenomenon" which Mr. Jowett represents as "so extraordinary +that it requires an effort of thought to appreciate it," (_Ibid._,) does +not seem at all extraordinary to any one who does not begin by +_assuming_ that the Bible is "like any other book."--If _the Bible be +inspired_,--then all is plain! + +(iii) "Who would write a bulky treatise about the method to be pursued +in interpreting Plato or Sophocles?"--asks Mr. Jowett. (p. 378.)--No one +but a fool!--is the obvious reply. Plato and Sophocles are ordinary +books; and therefore _are to be interpreted_ like any other book. The +Bible not so, as we shall see by and by. Again,-- + +(iv) "Each writer, each successive age, has characteristics of its own, +as strongly marked, or more strongly, than those which are found in the +authors or periods of classical Literature. These differences are not to +be lost in _the idea of a Spirit from whom they proceed, or by which +they were overruled_. And therefore, illustration of one part of +Scripture by another should be confined to writings of the same age and +the same authors, except where the writings of different ages or persons +offer obvious similarities. It may be said, further, that illustration +should be chiefly derived, not only from the same author, _but from the +same writing, or from one of the same period of his life_. For example, +the comparison of St. John and the 'synoptic' Gospels, or of the Gospel +of St. John with the Revelation of St. John, will tend _rather to +confuse than to elucidate the meaning of either_." (pp. 382-3.)--But +really, in reply, it ought to suffice to point out that the result of +the Church's experience for 1800 years has been the very opposite of +the Professor's. "_The idea of a SPIRIT from whom they proceeded_," is, +to the thoughtful part of mankind, _the only intelligible clue_ to the +several books of Holy Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation! Hence "the +marginal references to the English Bible," (to which Mr. Jowett devotes +a depreciatory half page,) so far from being the dangerous or useless +apparatus which he represents, we hold to be an instrument of paramount +importance for eliciting the true meaning of Holy Writ.--In a word, he +is reasoning about the Bible on _the assumption_ that the Bible is _like +any other book_. + +(v) "To attribute to St. Paul or the Twelve the abstract notion of +Christian Truth which afterwards sprang up in the Catholic Church ... is +the same error as to attribute to Homer the ideas of Thales or +Heraclitus, or to Thales the more developed principles of Aristotle and +Plato." (p. 354.)--_Not if St. Paul and the Twelve were inspired._ + +(vi) He bids us remark, with tedious emphasis, that although the same +philological and historical difficulties which occur in Holy Scripture +are found in profane writings, yet "the meaning of classical authors is +known with comparative certainty; and the interpretation of them seems +to rest on a scientific basis.... _Even the Vedas and the Zendavesta_, +though beset by obscurities of language probably greater than are found +in any portion of the Bible, are interpreted, at least by European +scholars, according to fixed rules, and beginning to be clearly +understood." (p. 335.) + +But at the end of several weak sentences, through which the preceding +fallacy is elongated into distressing tenuity, _who_ does not +exclaim,--The supposed "scientific" basis on which the interpretation of +books in general rests, is simply this; (=1=) that being _merely +human_, and (=2=) _not professing_ to have any other than their obvious +literal meaning,--they are all interpreted in the obvious ordinary way! + +For (=1=),--If any book were even _suspected_ to be Divine, the manner +of interpreting it would of course be different. Not that the "basis" of +such Interpretation would therefore cease to be "scientific!" Take the +only known instance of such a Book. The Bible has been suspected (!) for +1800 years to be inspired. How has it fared with the Bible? + +The Science of Biblical Interpretation is one of the noblest and best +understood in the world. It has been professed and practised in every +country of Christendom. The great Masters of this Science have been such +men as Hilary of Poictiers, Basil and the two Gregories in Asia Minor, +Epiphanius in Cyprus, Ambrose at Milan, John Chrysostom at Antioch, +Jerome in Palestine, Augustine in Africa, Athanasius and Cyril at +Alexandria. The names descend in an unbroken stream from the first four +centuries of our æra down to the age of Andrewes, and Bull, and Pearson, +and Mill. These men all interpret Scripture in one and the same way. +Their principles are the same throughout. They were all Professors of +_the same Sacred Science_. + +But (=2=),--If a book even _professes_ to have a hidden meaning, it is +interpreted by a special set of canons. Thus Dante's great poem[146] may +not be read as Hume's History of England is read.--To proceed, however. + +(vii) Sophocles is perhaps the most subtle of the ancient Greek poets. +"Several schools of critics have commented on his works. To the +Englishman he has presented one meaning, to the Frenchman another, to +the German a third; the interpretations have also differed with the +philosophical systems which the interpreters espoused. To one the same +words have appeared to bear a moral, to another a symbolical meaning; a +third is determined wholly by the authority of old commentators; while +there is a disposition to condemn the scholar who seeks to interpret +Sophocles from himself only and with reference to the ideas and beliefs +of the age in which he lived. And the error of such an one is attributed +not only to some intellectual but even to a moral obliquity (!) which +prevents his seeing the true meaning." (p. 336.) + +It has fared with Sophocles therefore, (according to Mr. Jowett,) _in +all respects as it has fared with the Bible_. "It would be tedious," (he +justly remarks,) "to follow the absurdity which has been supposed into +details. By such methods," Sophocles or Plato might "be made to mean +anything." (p. 336.) + +But who does not perceive that the obvious way to escape from the +supposed difficulty, is to remember that _neither Sophocles nor Plato +was inspired_!... Mr. Jowett's difficulty is occasioned by his +assumption that _the Bible stands on the same level as Plato and +Sophocles_. + +(viii) Again,--"If it is not held to be a thing impossible that there +should be agreement in the meaning of _Plato and Sophocles_, neither is +it to be regarded as absurd, that there should be a like agreement in +the interpretation of _Scripture_?" (p. 426.)--The whole force of this +argument clearly consisting in the strictly equal claims of these books +to Inspiration.--Elsewhere, Mr. Jowett expresses the same thing more +unequivocally:--The old "explanations of Scripture," (he says,) "are no +longer tenable. They belong to a way of thinking and speaking which was +once diffused over the world, but has now passed away." Having quietly +_assumed_ all this, the Reverend writer proceeds:--"And what we give up +as a general principle, we shall find it impossible to maintain +partially; _e.g._ in the types of the Mosaic Law, and the double +meanings of Prophecy, at least _in any sense in which it is not equally +applicable to all deep and suggestive writings_." (p. 419.) + +(ix) "Still one other supposition has to be introduced, which will +appear, perhaps, _more extravagant than any which have preceded_. +Conceive then that these modes of interpreting Sophocles (!) had existed +for ages; that great institutions and interests had become interwoven +with them; and in some degree even the honour of Nations and +Churches;--is it too much to say that, in such a case, they would be +changed with difficulty, and that they would continue to be maintained +long after critics and philosophers had seen that they were +indefensible?" (pp. 336-7.) + +I suppose we may at once allow Mr. Jowett most of what he asks. We may +freely grant that if the Tragedies of Sophocles _had_ exercised the same +wondrous dominion over the world which the Books of the Bible have +exercised:--if Oedipus and Jocasta and Creon; if Theseus and Dejanira +and Hercules; if Ajax, Ulysses and Minerva;--_had_ done for the world +what Enoch and Noah;--what Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob;--what Joseph, and +Joshua, and Hannah, and Samuel, and David;--what Elijah and Elisha; +what Isaiah and Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, and the rest;--what St. +Peter, and St. John, and St. Paul;--what the Blessed Virgin and her +name-sakes, have done:--In a word: had Homer's gods and heroes +altogether changed the face of society, and revolutionized the world; +_so that "great institutions and interests had become interwoven with +them, and in some degree even the honour of Nations and Churches_;" +(p. 336;)--if, I repeat, all this _had_ really and actually taken +place;--_great_ "difficulty" would, no doubt, (as Mr. Jowett profoundly +suggests,) be experienced, at the end of 2000 years, in getting rid of +them. + +But since it unfortunately happens that _they have done nothing of the +kind_, we do not seem to be called upon to follow the Regius Professor +of Greek into the supposed consequences of what he admits to be an +"extravagant supposition;" and which we humbly think is an excessively +foolish one also. + +When, however, the Reverend Author of this speculation establishes it as +_a parallel with what has taken place with regard to the Word of GOD_, +we tell him plainly that his insinuation that "critics and philosophers +are maintaining the present mode of interpreting Scripture _long after +they have seen that it is indefensible_"--is a piece of impertinence +which seems to require a public apology. A man may retain Orders in the +Church of England, if he pleases, while yet he repudiates her doctrines: +may declare that he subscribes her Articles _ex animo_, and yet seem +openly to deny them. But he has no right whatever to impute +corresponding baseness to others. The charge should be either plainly +made out, or openly retracted[147]. + +By such considerations then does Professor Jowett attempt to shew that +we ought to "interpret Scripture like any other book." The gist of his +observations, in every case, is one and the same,--namely, from _à +priori_ considerations to insinuate that _the Bible is not essentially +unlike any other book._ + +Now, quite apart from its Inspiration,--which is, obviously, THE one +essential respect wherein the Bible is wholly unlike every other book in +the world; (inasmuch as, if it is inspired, it differs from every other +book _in kind_; stands among Books as the Incarnate WORD stood among +Men,--_quite alone_; notwithstanding that He spoke their language, +shared their wants, and accommodated Himself to their +manners;)--_apart_, I say, _from the fact of its Inspiration_, it is not +difficult to point out several particulars in which the Bible is +_utterly unlike any other Book which is known to exist_; and therefore +to suggest an _à priori_ reason why _neither should it be interpreted_ +like any other book. + +1. The Bible then contains in all (66-9=) 57 distinct writings,--the +work of perhaps upwards of forty different Authors[148]. Yet, for +upwards of fifteen centuries those many writings have been all collected +into one volume: and, for a large portion of that interval, on the +writings so collected the Church Universal has agreed in bestowing the +name of _the Book_,--=kat' exochên=,--THE BIBLE. + +2. The Bible is divided into two parts, which are severed by an interval +of upwards of four centuries. On these two great divisions of the Bible, +respectively, has been bestowed the title of the Old and the New +Covenant. And, what is remarkable,--_The same phenomena which are +observable in respect of the whole Bible, are observable in respect of +either of its parts._ Thus, + +(=1=) The several writings of which the Old Testament is +composed,--(39-3=) 36 in all[149], are by many different hands: those of +the New Testament, in like manner,--(27-6=) 21 in all, are by eight +different authors. + +(=2=) Those many writings of the Old Testament are found to have been +collected into a single volume about four hundred years before the +Christian æra; when they were denominated by a common name, =hê +graphê=,--"_The Scripture_[150];" and the supreme authority of the +writings so collected together, was axiomatic[151]. One arguing with His +Hebrew countrymen was able to appeal to a place in the Psalms, and to +remind them parenthetically that "the Scripture _cannot be +broken_[152],"--that is, might not be gainsaid, doubted, explained +away, or set aside.--Precisely similar phenomena are observable in +respect of the writings of the New Testament. + +(=3=) Although the books of the Old Covenant are scattered at intervals +over the long period of upwards of a thousand years, the writers of the +later books are observed to quote the earlier ones, as if by a peculiar +secret sympathy: now, incorporating long passages,--now, simply adapting +one or two sentences,--now, blending allusive references. For some proof +of this assertion, (as far as I am able to produce it at a moment's +notice,) the reader is referred to the foot of the page[153]. + +The self-same phenomenon is observable with regard to the New Testament +Scriptures. Although all the books were written within so short a space +as about fifty years, the later writers quote the earlier ones to a +surprising extent. In the Gospels, the Gospels are quoted times without +number. In the Epistles, the Gospels are cited, or referred to, upwards +of sixty times. The Epistles contain many references to the +Epistles.--The phenomenon thus alluded to will also be found insisted +upon in a later part of the present volume[154]. + +"The fact, I believe, on close examination, will be found to stand +thus:--The Holy Bible abounds in quotations, even more perhaps than most +other books; but they are introduced in a way which is peculiar to +Revelation, and its own. When a Prophet or Apostle mentions one of his +own holy brethren, as when Ezekiel names Daniel, or Daniel Jeremiah; +when St. Peter speaks of St. Paul, or St. Paul of St. Peter, or of St. +Luke the Physician; _when they mention them, they do not quote them; and +when they quote them, they do not mention them_[155]." + +(=4=) The later writer in the Old Testament who quotes some earlier +portion of narrative is often observed to supply independent +information,--entering into minute details and particulars which are not +to be found in the earlier record.--Now, "with the same Almighty SPIRIT +for their guide, what was it to be expected that the historians of our +Blessed LORD would do? What, but the very thing which they have done? +that they would walk in the path, which the holy Prophets of old had +marked out? that they would often tread full in each other's steps; +often relate the same miracle, or discourse, or parts of it, in the +words of the same prior writer; sometimes compress, sometimes expand; +always shew to the diligent inquirer, that they did not derive their +information, even of facts which they relate in another's words, from +him whom they copy, but wrote with antecedent plenitude of knowledge and +truth in themselves; without staying to inform us whether what they +deliver is told for the first time, or has its place already in +authentic history[156]." + +(=5=) It may be worth remarking that though _the Inspiration_ of no part +of either Testament has ever been doubted in the Church, there do exist +doubts as to the _Authorship_ of more than one of the Books of the Old +Testament; and _one_ Book in the New, (the Epistle to the Hebrews,) has +been suspected by some orthodox writers _not_ to have been from the pen +of St. Paul, but to have been the work of some other inspired and +Apostolic writer. + +(=6=) History, Didactic matter, and Prophecy,--is found to be the +subject of either Testament. + +(=7=) In the New Testament, as in the Old, we are presented with the +singular phenomenon of more than one Book being in a manner _copied_ +from another,--yet with the addition of much independent original +matter. It is superfluous to name Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, on one +side,--and the Gospels on the other. To the Gospels may be added the +Second Epistle of St. Peter and the Epistle of St. Jude. + +(=8=) Lastly, the same _modest_ use of the Supernatural is to be found +in either Testament.--In both, the writers are observed to pass without +effort, and as it were unconsciously, from revelations of the most +stupendous character, to statements of the simplest and most ordinary +kind[157].--In both, there is the same prominence given to individual +characters[158]; the same occasional minuteness of detail where it might +have been least expected[159]. + +3. But by far the most remarkable phenomenon remains to be noticed; +namely, the immense number of quotations, (so far more numerous than is +commonly suspected,)--extending in length from a single word to nearly a +hundred and fifty[160],--together with allusive references, literally +without number, which are found in the New Testament Scriptures; _the +writings of the elder Covenant being in every instance, +exclusively[161], the source of those quotations,--the object of those +allusions_. + +4. When the nature of these quotations, references, and allusions is +examined with care, several extraordinary phenomena present themselves, +which it seems impossible to consider without the deepest interest, +surprise, and admiration. Thus,--(i.) The New Testament writers, on +repeated occasions, display _independent knowledge_ of the Old Testament +History to which they make reference[162]. The following instances occur +to my memory:--All the later links in our LORD'S Genealogy[163]; the +second Cainan[164]: Salmon's marriage with Rahab[165]: the burial-place +of the twelve Patriarchs[166]: the age of Moses in Exod. ii. 11[167]: +that in the days of Elijah the heaven was shut up for three years _and +six months_[68]: that it was _the Devil_ who tempted Eve[169]: the +contest for the dead body of Moses[170]: the names of Pharaoh's +magicians[171]: how Abraham reasoned with himself when he prepared to +offer up his son Isaac[172]: the golden censer, mentioned in Heb. ix. 4: +Abraham's purchase of Sychem[173]; and a few other things[174]. + +(ii.) The same New Testament writers are observed to handle the Old +Testament Scriptures with an air of singular authority, and to exercise +an extraordinary license of quotation; inverting clauses,--paraphrasing +statements,--abridging or expanding;--and always without apology or +explanation;--as if they were conscious that they were dealing with +_their own_. + +(iii.) Most astonishing of all, obviously, as well as most important, is +_the purpose_ for which the Evangelists and Apostles of our LORD make +their appeal to the Old Testament Scriptures; invariably in order _to +establish some part of the Christian Revelation_. "Every thoughtful +student of the Holy Scriptures has been struck with the circumstance +which I now allude to: the freedom, namely, with which the inspired +Writers of the New Testament appeal back to the Old; and see in it, as +its one proper theme, the Christian subject. They find themselves in +that place, at length, to which former intimations had pointed, and +recognize the connexion which they themselves have with their ancient +forerunners[175]." ... It is as if for four hundred years and upwards, a +mighty mystery,--described in many a dark place of Prophecy, exhibited +by many a perplexing type, foreshadowed by many a Divine narrative,--had +waited for solution. The world is big with expectation. The +long-expected time at last arrives. Up springs the Sun of Righteousness +in the Heavens; and lo, the cryptic characters of the Law flash at once +into glory, and the dark Oracles of ancient days yield up their wondrous +meanings! "GOD, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time +past unto the Fathers by the Prophets,"--in these last days speaks "unto +us by His SON:" and lo, a chorus of Apostolic voices is heard bearing +witness to the Advent of "the Desire of all nations!" ... Such is the +relation which the New Testament bears to the Old: such the true nature +of the many quotations from the earlier Scriptures, which are found in +the later half of the One inspired Volume. + +5. And thus we are led naturally to notice the extraordinary connexion +which subsists between the two Testaments. "For what is the Law," (asks +Justin, A.D. 140,) "but the Gospel foretold? or what is the Gospel, but +the Law fulfilled[176]?" "The contents of the Old and New Testament are +the same," remarks Augustine: "_there_ foreshadowed, _here_ revealed: +_there_ prefigured, _here_ made plain." "In the Old Testament there is a +concealing of the New: in the New Testament there is a revealing of the +Old[177]."--Mr. Jowett's inquiry,--"If we assume the New Testament as _a +tradition running parallel with the Old_, may not the Roman Catholic +assume with equal reason a tradition parallel with the New?" +(p. 81.)--shews a truly childish misapprehension of the entire +question. The New Testament is not a "parallel tradition" at all; but a +_subsequent Revelation from Heaven_. + +6. Now I might pursue these remarks much further: for it would be well +worth while to exhibit what an extraordinary sameness of imagery, +similarity of allusion, and unity of purpose, runs through the writings +of either Covenant;--phenomena which can only be accounted for in one +way. This subject will be found dwelt upon elsewhere; and to what has +been already delivered, I must be content here to refer the reader[178]. + +(Mr. Jowett himself has been struck by the phenomenon thus alluded to: +but after hinting at "some natural association" as having suggested the +language of the Prophets, he proceeds: "We are not therefore justified +in supposing any hidden connexion in the prophecies where [the prophetic +symbols] occur. _Neither is there any other ground for assuming design +of any other kind in Scripture; any more than in Plato or Homer._" +(p. 381.) ... And thus our philosopher, assuming at the outset that the +Bible is an uninspired book, is for ever coming back to the lie with +which he set out. But to proceed.) + +7. Still better worthy of notice, in this connexion, is the singular +fact (which will also be found adverted to in another place[179],) that +the Old and New Testaments alike profess to be a History of _Earthly_ +events from a _Heavenly_ point of view. The writers of either Covenant +claim to know _what GOD did_[180]; how characters and events appeared +_in His sight_[181]: they profess to find themselves in a familiar, and +altogether extraordinary relation with the unseen world[182]. Thus, +Moses begins the Bible with an august account of the great Six +Days,--when GOD was alone in Creation; the unwitnessed Agent, and Author +of all things:--while St. John the Divine, concluding the inspired +Canon, relates that he was "in the Spirit on the LORD'S Day;" and heard +behind him "a great Voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and +Omega, the first and the last[183]." ... "The general design of +Scripture," (says Bishop Butler,) "may be said to be, to give us an +account of the World, in this one single view,--_as GOD'S World: by +which it appears essentially distinguished from all other books, as far +as I have found, except such as are copied from it_[184]." + +8. And _yet_ the grand external characteristic feature of the Bible +remains unnoticed! The one distinctive feature of the Bible, is +_this_,--that the four-fold Gospel, _as a matter of fact_, exhibits to +us, the WORD "made flesh:" and, (O marvel of marvels!) suffers us to +hear His voice, and look upon His form, and observe His actions. It does +more. The New Testament professes to be, and is, the complement of the +Old. The promise of CHRIST, solemnly, and repeatedly,--"at sundry times +and divers manners,"--given in the one, is fulfilled in the other. +Henceforth they are no more twain, for they have been by GOD Himself +joined together; and the subject of both is none other than our SAVIOUR, +JESUS CHRIST. + +Enough surely has been already adduced to warrant a reasonable man in +refusing to accept Professor Jowett's repeated asseveration that the +Bible is "to be interpreted like any other book." A Book which proves on +examination to be so _wholly unlike every other book_,--so entirely _sui +generis_,--may surely well create an _à priori_ suspicion that it is not +to be interpreted either, after any ordinary fashion. But the grand +consideration of all is _still_ behind! The _one_ circumstance which +effectually refutes the view of the Reverend Professor, remains yet to +be specified; namely, that THE BIBLE PROFESSES TO BE INSPIRED BY THE +HOLY SPIRIT. The HOLY GHOST is again and again declared _to speak_ +therein, =dia=, "_by the instrumentality_," "_by the mouth_," of Man. In +other words, _GOD, not Man, professes to be the Author of the Bible_! + +That the Bible _does_ set up for itself such a claim, will be found +established at p. 53 to p. 57 of the present volume. Professor Jowett's +assurance that "for any of the higher or supernatural views of +Inspiration, _there is no foundation in the Gospels or Epistles_," +(p. 345,)--must therefore be regarded as an extraordinary, or rather as +an unpardonable oversight on his part. One would have thought that a +single saying, like that in Acts iii. 18 and 21, would have occurred to +his memory, and been sufficient to refute him. Other places will be +found quoted at p. cxcvii. + +Very much is it to be feared however that the same gentleman has +overlooked a consideration of at least equal importance; namely, the +inevitable _inference_ from the discovery that the origin of the Bible +is Divine. He informs us that,--"It will be a further assistance (!) in +the consideration of this subject, to observe that the Interpretation of +Scripture has _nothing to do with any opinion respecting its origin_." +(p. 350.) "The _meaning_ of Scripture," (he proceeds,) "is one thing: +the _Inspiration_ of Scripture is another."--True. But when we find the +Reverend Author insisting, again and again, that "it may be laid down +that Scripture has _one_ meaning,--_the meaning which it had to the mind +of the Prophet or Evangelist who first uttered, or wrote it_," +(p. 378,)--we are constrained to remind him that, "To say that the +Scriptures, and the things contained in them, can have no other or +farther meaning than those persons thought or had, who first recited or +wrote them; is evidently saying, _that those persons were the original, +proper, and sole authors of those books_, i.e. THAT THEY ARE NOT +INSPIRED[185]." So that, in point of fact, _the origin_ of Holy +Scripture, so far from being a consideration of no importance, (as Mr. +Jowett supposes,) proves to be a consideration of the most vital +importance of all. And _the Interpretation_ of Scripture, so far from +having "_nothing to do_ with any opinion respecting its origin," is +affected by it most materially, or rather depends upon it altogether! + +On a review of all that goes before, it will, I think, appear plain to +any person of sound understanding, that Professor Jowett's _à priori_ +views respecting the Interpretation of Holy Scripture will not stand the +test of exact reason. To suggest as he has done that the Bible is to be +interpreted like any other book, on the plea that it _is_ like any other +book, is to build upon a false foundation. His syllogism is the +following:-- + + If the Bible is a book like any other book, the Bible is to be + interpreted like any other book. + + The Bible is a book like any other book. + + Therefore,-- + +But it has been shewn that the learned Professor's minor premiss is +false. It has been proved that the Bible is NOT a book like any other +book. + +Nay, I claim to have done _more_. I claim to have established the +contradictory minor premiss. The syllogism therefore will henceforth +stand as follows:-- + + If the Bible can be shewn to be a book like no other book, but + entirely _sui generis_, and claiming to be the work of + Inspiration,--then is it reasonable to expect that it will have to + be interpreted like no other book, but entirely after a fashion of + its own. + + But the Bible _can_ be shewn to be a book like no other book; + entirely _sui generis_; and claiming to be the work of Inspiration. + + Therefore,-- + +$2.$ It remains however, now, to advance an important step.--Mr. Jowett, +in a certain place, adopts a principle, the soundness of which I am +able, happily, entirely to admit. "Interpret Scripture from +itself,--like any other book about which we know almost nothing except +what is derived from its pages." (p. 382.) "_Non nisi ex Scripturâ +Scripturam interpretari potes._" (p. 384.) + +Scarcely has he made this important admission however, and enunciated +his golden Canon of interpretation, when he hastens to nullify it. His +very next words are,--"The meaning of the Canon is only this,--'That we +cannot understand Scripture without becoming familiar (!) with it.'" + +But, (begging the learned writer's pardon,) so far from _that_ being the +whole of the meaning of the Canon, his gloss happens exactly to miss the +only important point. The plain meaning of the words,--"Only out of the +Scriptures can you explain the Scriptures,"--is obviously rather +this:--'That in order _to interpret_ the Bible, our aim must be to +_ascertain how the Bible interprets itself_.' In other +words,--'Scripture must be made _its own Interpreter_.' More simply yet, +in the Professor's own words, (from which, _more suo_, he has +imperceptibly glided away,)--"_Interpret Scripture from itself._" +(p. 382.) ... How then does Scripture interpret Scripture? _That_ is the +only question! for the answer to this question must be held to be +decisive as to the other great question which Mr. Jowett raises in the +present Essay,--namely, How are _we_ to interpret Scripture? + +Now this whole Inquiry has been conducted elsewhere; and will be found +to extend from p. 144 to p. 160 of the present volume. It has been there +established, by a sufficiently large induction of examples, that _the +Bible is to be interpreted as no other book is, or can be interpreted_; +and for the plain reason, that _the inspired Writers themselves_, (our +LORD Himself at their head!) _interpret it after an altogether +extraordinary fashion_. Mr. Jowett's statement at p. 339 that "the +mystical interpretation of Scripture originated in the Alexandrian +age," is simply false. + +And in the course of this proof, (necessarily involved in it, in fact,) +it has been incidentally shewn that the sense of Scripture is not, by +any means, invariably _one_; and _that_ sense the most obvious to those +who wrote, heard, or read it. It has been fully shewn that the office of +the Interpreter is _not_, by any means, (as Mr. Jowett imagines,) "to +recover the meaning of the words _as they first struck on the ears, or +flashed before the eyes of those who heard or read them_." (p. 338.) The +Reverend writer's repeated assertion that "we have no reason to +attribute to the Prophet or Evangelist any second or hidden sense +different from that which appears on the surface," (p. 380,) has been +fully, and as it is hoped effectually refuted. + +And here I might lay down my pen. For since, at the end of 74 pages, the +Professor thus delivers himself, (in a kind of imitation of St. Paul's +language[186],)--"Of what has been said, this is the sum,--That +Scripture, _like other books_, has _one_ meaning, which has to be +gathered from itself ... _without regard to à priori notions about its +nature and origin_:" that, "It is to be interpreted _like other books_, +with attention to the prevailing state of civilization and knowledge," +and so forth; (p. 404;)--it must suffice to say that, having established +the very opposite conclusion, I claim to have effectually answered his +Essay; because I have overthrown what he admits to be "the sum" of it. +Let me be permitted however--before I proceed to review some other parts +of his performance,--in the briefest manner, not so much to +recapitulate, as to exhibit 'the sum' of what has been hitherto +delivered on the other side; in somewhat different language, and as it +were from a different point of view. + +We are presented then, in the New Testament Scriptures, with the august +spectacle of the Ancient of Days holding the entire volume of the Old +Testament Scriptures in His Hands, _and interpreting it of Himself_. He, +whose Life and Death are set forth in the Gospel;--whose Church's early +fortunes are set forth historically in the Acts, while its future +prospects are shadowed prophetically in the Apocalypse;--whose +Doctrines, lastly, are explained in the twenty-one Epistles of St. Paul +and St. Peter, St. James and St. John and St. Jude:--He, the Incarnate +WORD, who was "in the beginning;" who "was with GOD," and who "was +GOD:"--that same Almighty One, I repeat, is exhibited to us in the +Gospel, repeatedly, holding the Volume of the Old Testament Scriptures +in His Hands, and _explaining it of Himself. "To day is this Scripture +fulfilled_ in your ears[187],"--was the solemn introductory sentence +with which, in the Synagogue of Nazareth, (after closing the Book and +giving it again to the Minister,) He prefaced His Sermon from the lxist +chapter of Isaiah.--"Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me: +_for he wrote of Me_[188],"--"'O fools, and slow of heart to believe all +that the Prophets have spoken! Ought not CHRIST to have suffered these +things, and to enter into His glory?' And _beginning at Moses and all +the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things +concerning Himself_[189]."--"These are the words which I spake unto you, +that all things must be fulfilled _which are written in the Law of +Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me_[190]." + +"CHRIST was before Moses. The Gospel was not made for the Law; but the +Law was made for the Gospel. The Gospel is not based on the Law, but the +Law is a shadow of the Gospel. In order to believe the Bible, we must +look upward; and fix our eyes on JESUS CHRIST, sitting in Heavenly +Glory, holding both Testaments in His Hand; sealing both Testaments with +His seal; and delivering both Testaments as Divine Oracles, to the +World. We must receive the _written Word_ from the Hands of the +INCARNATE WORD[191]." + +This august spectacle, let it be clearly stated,--(1) Establishes, +beyond all power of contradiction, the intimate connexion which subsists +between the Old and the New Testament; as well as the altogether unique +relation which the one bears to the other:--(2) Invests either Testament +with a degree of sacred importance and majestic grandeur which +altogether makes the Bible _unlike "any other book_:"--(3) Proves that +the Bible is to be interpreted as no other book ever was, or ever can be +interpreted:--(4) Demonstrates that it has _more than a single +meaning_:--and lastly, Convincingly shews that _GOD, and not Man, is its +true Author_. + +It will of course be asked,--Then does Mr. Jowett take no notice at all +of this vast and complicated problem? How does he treat of the relation +between the Old Testament and the New?... He despatches the entire +subject in the following passage:--"The question," (he says,) "runs up +into a more general one, 'the relation between the Old and New +Testaments.' For the Old Testament _will receive a different meaning +accordingly as it is explained from itself, or from the New_." (Very +different certainly!) "In the first case,--a careful and conscientious +study of each one for itself is all that is required." (That is to say, +it will not be explained at all!) "In the second case,--_the types and +ceremonies of the Law, perhaps the very facts and persons of the +history_, WILL BE ASSUMED (!) to be predestined or made after a pattern +corresponding to the things that were to be in the latter days." +(p. 370.) (And why not "_will be found_ to be replete with Christian +meaning,--full of lofty spiritual significancy?"--the _proved_ +marvellousness of their texture, the _revealed_ mysteriousness of their +purpose, being an effectual refutation of all Mr. Jowett's _à priori_ +notions!) + +"And this question," (he proceeds,) "stirs up another question +respecting the Interpretation of the Old Testament in the New. Is such +Interpretation to be regarded as the meaning of the original text, or +_an accommodation of it to the thoughts of other times_?" (Nay, but +Reverend and learned Sir: "nothing so plain," as you justly observe, +"that it may not be explained away;" (p. 359;) yet we cannot consent to +have the sense of plain words thus clouded over at your mere bidding. It +is now _our_ turn to declare that the Interpreter's "object is to read +Scripture _like any other book_, with a real interest and not merely a +conventional one." It is now _we_ who "want to be able to open our eyes, +and see things as they truly are." (p. 338.) We simply petition for +leave to "_interpret Scripture like any other book, by the same rules of +evidence and the same canons of criticism_." (p. 375.) And if this +freedom be but conceded to us, there will be found to be no imaginable +reason why the Interpretation of the Old Testament in the New,--(CHRIST +Himself being the Majestic Speaker! our present edification and +everlasting welfare being His gracious purpose!)--should not be strictly +"regarded as _the meaning of the original text_." ... But let us hear +the Professor out:--) + +"Our object," (he says, and with this he dismisses the problem!)--"Our +object is not to attempt here the determination of these questions; but +to point out that they must be determined before any real progress can +be made, or any agreement arrived at in the Interpretation of +Scripture." (p. 370.) ... They must indeed. But can it be right in this +slovenly, slippery style to shirk a discussion on the issue of which the +whole question may be said to turn? especially on the part of one who +scruples not to prejudge that issue, and straightway to apply it, (in a +manner fatal to the Truth,) throughout all his hundred pages. Mr. +Jowett's method is ever to _assume_ what he ought to _prove_, and then +either to be plaintive, or to sneer. "It is a _heathenish or Rabbinical +fancy_:"--"Such complexity would place the Scriptures _below human +compositions_ in general; for it would deprive them of the ordinary +intelligibleness of human language" (p. 382):--&c. + +"Is the Interpretation of the Old Testament in the New to be regarded as +the _meaning of the original text_; or an _accommodation of it to the +thoughts of other times_?" (p. 370.) This is Mr. Jowett's question; the +question which it is "_not his object_ to attempt to determine;" but +which I, on the contrary, have made it _my_ object to discuss in my VIth +Sermon,--p. 183 to p. 220. Without troubling the reader however now to +wade through those many pages, let me at least explain to him in a few +words what Mr. Jowett's question really amounts to: namely this,--Do the +Apostles and Evangelists, does our Blessed LORD Himself, when He +professes to explain the mysterious significancy of the Old +Testament,--_invariably,--in every instance,--misrepresent "the meaning +of the original text_?" And the answer to this question I am content to +await from any candid person of plain unsophisticated understanding. Is +it credible, concerning the Divine expositions found in St. Matth. xxii. +31, 32,--xxii. 43-5,--xii. 39, 40,--xi. 10,--St. John viii. 17,18,--i. +52,--vi. 31, &c,--x. 34-5:--the Apostolic interpretations found in 1 +Cor. ix. 9-11,--x. 1-6,--xv. 20,--Heb. ii. 5-9,--vii. 1-10,--Gal. iv. +21-31:--is it conceivable, I ask, that _not one_ of all these places +should exhibit the actual '_meaning of the original text_?' And yet, (as +Mr. Jowett himself is forced to admit,)--"If we attribute to the details +of the Mosaical ritual a reference to the New Testament, or suppose the +passage of the Red Sea to be regarded not merely as a figure of Baptism, +but as a preordained type;--_the principle is conceded_!" (p. 369.) "A +little more or a little less of the method does not make the +difference." (_Ibid._) In a word,--in such case, Mr. Jowett's Essay +falls to the ground!... To proceed however. + +$3.$ The case of Interpretation has not yet been fully set before the +reader. Hitherto, we have merely traced the problem back to the +fountain-head, and dealt with it simply as _a Scriptural question_. We +have shewn what light is thrown upon _Interpretation_ by the volume of +_Inspiration_. The subject has been treated in the same way in the Vth +and VIth of my Sermons. But it will not be improper, in this place,--it +is even indispensable,--to develope the problem a little more fully; and +to explain that it is of much larger extent. + +Now, there is a family resemblance in the method of all ancient +expositions of Holy Scripture which vindicates for them, however +remotely, a common origin. There is a resemblance in the general way of +handling the Inspired Word which can only be satisfactorily explained by +supposing that the remote type of all was the oral teaching of the +Apostles themselves. In truth, is it credible that the early Christians +would have been so forgetful of the discourses of the men who had seen +the LORD, that no trace of it,--no tradition of so much as _the manner_ +of it,--should have lingered on for a hundred years after the death of +the last of the Apostles; down to the time when Origen, for example, was +a young man?... It cannot possibly be! + +(i.) "The things which thou hast heard of me among many witnesses," +(writes the great Apostle to his son Timothy,) "the same commit thou to +faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also[192]." Provision is +thus made by the aged Saint,--_in the last of his Epistles_,--for the +transmission of his inspired teaching[193] to a second and a third +generation. Now the words just quoted were written about the year 65, at +which time Timothy was a young man. Unless we suppose that ALMIGHTY GOD +curtailed the lives of the chief depositaries of His Word, Timothy will +have lived on till A.D. 100; so that "faithful men" who died in the +middle of the next century might have been trained and taught by him for +many years. It follows, that the "faithful men" last spoken of will +have been "able to teach others also," whose writings (if they wrote at +all) would range from A.D. 190 to A.D. 210. Now, just such a writer is +Hippolytus,--who is known to have been taught by that "faithful man" +Irenæus[194],--to whom, as it happens, the deposit was "committed" by +Polycarp,--who stood to St. John in the self-same relation as Timothy to +St. Paul! + +(ii.) Our SAVIOUR is repeatedly declared to have interpreted the Old +Testament to His Disciples. For instance, to the two going to Emmaus, +"beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, _He interpreted to them in all +the Scriptures the things concerning Himself_[195]." Moreover, before He +left the world, He solemnly promised His Apostles that the HOLY GHOST, +whom the FATHER should send in His Name, "should _teach them all +things_, and _bring to their remembrance all things which He had spoken +to them_[196]." Shall we believe that the Treasury of _Divine +Inspiration_ thus opened by CHRIST Himself was straightway closed up by +its human guardians, and at once forgotten? Shall we not rather believe +that Cleopas and his companion, (for instance,) forthwith repeated their +LORD'S words to every member of the Apostolic body, and to others also; +that they were questioned again and again by adoring listeners, even to +their extremest age; aye, and that they taxed their memories to the +utmost in order to recal every little word, every particular of our +SAVIOUR'S Divine utterance? It must be so! And the echo, the remote echo +of that exposition, depend upon it! descended to a second, aye and to a +third generation; yea, and has come down, faintly, and feebly it may be, +but yet essentially and truly, even to ourselves! + +(iii.) And yet,--(for we would not willingly incur the charge of being +fanciful in so solemn and important a matter,)--the great fact to be +borne in mind, (and it is the great fact which nothing can ever set +aside or weaken,) is, that for the first century at least of our æra, +there existed within the Christian Church _the gift of Prophecy_; that +is, of _Inspired Interpretation_[197]. The minds of the Apostles, CHRIST +Himself "opened, _to understand the Scriptures_[198]." Can it be any +matter of surprise that men so enlightened, when they had been +miraculously endowed with the gift of tongues[199], and scattered over +the face of the ancient civilized World, should have disseminated the +same principles of Catholic Interpretation, as well as the same elements +of Saving Truth? When this miraculous _gift_ ceased, its _results_ did +not also come to an end. The fountain dried up, but the streams which it +had sent forth yet "made glad the City of GOD." And by what possible +logic can the teaching of the early Church be severed from its source? +It cannot be supposed for an instant that such a severance ever took +place. The teaching of the Apostolic age was the immediate parent of the +teaching of the earliest of the Fathers,--in whose Schools it is matter +of history that those Patristic writers with whom we are most familiar, +studied and became famous. Accordingly, we discover a method of +Interpreting Holy Scripture strictly resembling that employed by our +SAVIOUR and His Apostles, _in all the earliest Patristic writings_. As +documents increase, the evidence is multiplied; and at the end of two or +three centuries after the death of St. John the Evangelist, voices are +heard from Jerusalem and other parts of Palestine; from Antioch and from +other parts of Syria; from the Eastern and the Western extremities of +North Africa; from many regions of Asia Minor; from Constantinople and +from Greece; from Rome, from Milan, and from other parts of Italy; from +Cyprus and from Gaul;--all singing in unison; all singing the same +heavenly song!... In what way but one is so extraordinary a phenomenon +to be accounted for? Are we to believe that there was a general +conspiracy of the East and the West, the North and the South, to +interpret Holy Scripture in a certain way; and that way, the wrong way? + +Enough has been said, it is thought, to shew that many of Mr. Jowett's +remarks about the value of Patristic evidence are either futile or +incorrect; or that they betray an entire misapprehension of the whole +question, not to say a thorough want of appreciation of the claims of +Antiquity. We do not yield to the 'Essayist and Reviewer' in veneration +for the Inspired page; and trust that enough has been said to shew it. +Our eye, when we read Scripture, (like his,) "is fixed on the form of +One like the Son of Man; or of the Prophet who was girded with a garment +of camel's hair; or of the Apostle who had a thorn in the flesh." +(p. 338.) We are only unlike Mr. Jowett we fear in _this_,--that _we_ +believe _ex animo_ that the first-named was the Eternal SON, "equal to +the FATHER," and "of one substance with the FATHER[200]:" and further +that St. Paul's fourteen Epistles are all _inspired writings_, in an +entirely different sense from the Dialogues of Plato or the Tragedies of +Sophocles. It follows, that however riveted our mental gaze may be on +the awful forms which come before us in Holy Scripture,--as often as we +con _the inspired record of the actions and of the sayings of those +men_, we are constrained many a time to look upward, and to exclaim with +the Psalmist, "Thy thoughts are very deep[201]!" And often if asked, +"Understandest thou what thou readest?"--we must still answer with the +Ethiopian, "How can I, except some man should guide me[202]?" + +(iv.) To assume however that our defective knowledge "cannot be supplied +by the _conjectures_ of Fathers or Divines," (p. 338,) is in some sort +to beg the question at issue. To say of the student of Scripture that +"the history of Christendom, and all the afterthoughts of Theology, _are +nothing to him_:" (p. 338:) that "he has to imagine himself a disciple +of CHRIST or Paul, and _to disengage himself from all that follows_:" +(_Ibid._:) is not the language of modesty, but of inordinate conceit. In +Mr. Jowett it is in fact something infinitely worse; for he shews that +his object thereby is to "obtain an unembarrassed opportunity of +applying all the resources of a so-called criticism to discredit and +destroy the written record itself[203]." + +"True indeed it is, that more than any other subject of human knowledge, +Biblical criticism has hung (_sic._) to the past;" (p. 340;) but the +reason is also obvious. It is because, in the words of great Bishop +Pearson, "Philosophia quotidie _progressu_, Theologia nisi _regressu_ +non crescit[204]." "O ye who are devoting yourselves to the Divine +Science of Theology," (he exclaims,) "and whose cheeks grow pale over +the study of Holy Scripture above all; ye who either fill the venerable +office of the Priesthood or intend it, and are hereafter to undertake +the awful cure of souls:--rid yourselves of that itch of the present +age, the love of novelty. Make it your business to inquire for that +which was from the beginning. Resort for counsel to the fountain-head. +Have recourse to Antiquity. Return to the holy Fathers. Look back to the +primitive Church. In the words of the Prophet,--'_Ask for the old +paths_[205].'" + +When therefore Mr. Jowett classes together "the early Fathers, the Roman +Catholic mystical writers, the Swiss and German Reformers, and the +Nonconformist Divines," (p. 377,)--he either shews a most lamentable +want of intellectual perspective, or a most perverse understanding. So +jumbled into one confused heap, it may not be altogether untrue to say +of Commentators generally, that "the words of Scripture suggest to them +_their own thoughts or feelings_." (p. 377.) But when it is straightway +added, "There is nothing in such a view derogatory to _the Saints and +Doctors of former ages_," (_Ibid._,) we are constrained, (for the +reasons already before the reader,) to remonstrate against so +misleading and deceitful a way of putting the case. Mr. Jowett desires +to be understood not to depreciate "the genius or learning of famous men +of old," when he remarks "that _Aquinas or Bernard did not shake +themselves free from the mystical method of the Patristic times_." +(_Ibid._) But with singular obtuseness, or with pitiful +disingenuousness, he does his best by such words to shut out from view +the real question at issue,--namely, _the exegetical value of Patristic +Antiquity_. For the Church of England, when she appeals, (as she +repeatedly does,) to "the Ancient Fathers," does not by any means intend +such names as the Abbot of Clairvaux, who flourished in the middle of +the twelfth century; or Thomas of Aquinum, who lived later into the +thirteenth. It is the spirit of _the ante-Nicene age_ which she defers +to; the Fathers of _the first four or five centuries_ to whose opinion +she gives reverent attention; as her formularies abundantly shew. +Whether therefore Aquinas and Bernard were or were not able to "shake +themselves free from the mystical method _of the Patristic times_," +matters very little. The point to be observed is that _the Writers of +the Patristic times_, as a matter of fact, "did not shake themselves +_free from the mystical method of" CHRIST and His Apostles_! + +Very far am I from denying that "any one who, instead of burying himself +in the pages of the commentators, would learn the Sacred Writings by +heart, and paraphrase them in English, will probably make a nearer +approach to their true meaning than he would gather from any +Commentary." Quite certain is it that "the true use of Interpretation is +to get rid of interpretation, and leave us alone in company with the +author." (p. 384.) But this is quite a distinct and different matter, as +every person of unsophisticated understanding must perceive at once. The +same thing will be found stated by myself, in a subsequent part of the +present volume, at considerable length[206]; the qualifying condition +having been introduced at p. 16. The truth is, a man can no more divest +himself of the conditions of thought habitual to one familiar with his +Prayer-Book, than he can withdraw himself from the atmosphere of light +in which he moves. _Not_ the abuse of Commentators on Holy Scripture, +but _the principle on which Holy Scripture itself is to be +interpreted_,--is the real question at issue: the fundamental question +which underlies this, being of course the vital one,--namely, _Is the +Bible an inspired book, or not_? + +Apart from what has been already urged concerning "the torrent of +_Patristic_ Interpretation[207]" which flows down not so much from the +fountain-head of Scripture, (wherein so many specimens of _Inspired_ +Interpretation are preserved,) as from the fontal source of all Wisdom +and Knowledge,--even the lips of the Incarnate WORD Himself;--apart from +this, a very important Historical circumstance calls for notice in this +place. + +How did Christianity originate? how did it first establish a footing in +the world? "The answer is, By the preaching of living men, who said they +were commissioned by GOD to proclaim it. _That_ was the origin and first +establishment of Christianity. There is indeed a vague and unreasoning +notion prevalent that Christianity was _taken from the New Testament_. +The notion is historically untrue. Christianity was widely extended +through the civilized world before the New Testament was written; and +its several books were successively addressed to various bodies of +Christian believers; to bodies, that is, who already possessed the faith +of CHRIST in its integrity. When, indeed, GOD ceased to inspire persons +to write these books, and when they were all collected together into +what we call the New Testament, the existing Faith of the Church, +derived from oral teaching, was tested by comparison with this Inspired +Record. And it henceforth became the standing law of the Church that +nothing should be received as necessary to Salvation, which could not +stand that test. But still, though thus tested, (every article being +proved by the New Testament,) Christianity is not taken from it; _for it +existed before it_. + +"What, then, was the Christianity which was thus established? Have we +any record of it as it existed before the New Testament became the sole +authoritative standard? I answer, we have. The Creeds of the Christian +Church are the record of it. That is precisely what they purport to be: +not documents taken from the New Testament, but documents transmitting +to us the Faith as it was held from the beginning; the Faith as it was +preached by inspired men, before the inspired men put forth any +writings; the Faith once for all delivered to the Saints. Accordingly +you will find that our Church in her viiith Article does not ground her +affirmation that the Creeds ought to be 'thoroughly received and +believed,' on the fact that they _were taken_ from the New Testament, +(which they were _not_;) but on the fact that '_they may be proved by +most certain warrants of Holy Scripture_.'" + +It follows therefore from what has been said, that even if bad men could +succeed in destroying the authority of the Bible as the Word of GOD, all +could not be up with Christianity. There would _still_ remain to be +dealt with the Faith as it exists in the world; the Faith held from the +beginning; the Faith once delivered to the Saints. None of the assaults +on Holy Scripture can touch _that_; for it traces itself to an +independent origin. The evil work, therefore, would have to be begun all +over again. The special doctrines which are impugned in 'Essays and +Reviews' do not stand or fall with the Inspiration or Interpretation of +Scripture; but are stereotyped in the Faith of Christendom. "The Fall of +Man, Original Sin, the Atonement, the Divinity of CHRIST, the Trinity, +all have their place in the Faith held from the beginning. They are +imbedded in the Creeds, and in that general scheme of Doctrine which +circles round the Creeds, and is involved in them. Nay, curiously +enough,--or rather I should say providentially,--the very point against +which the attacks of this book are principally directed, namely the +Inspiration of the Old Testament, is in express terms asserted +there:--_the_ HOLY GHOST '_spake by the Prophets_[208].'" + +It remains to shew the bearing of these remarks on Mr. Jowett's +Essay.--With infinite perseverance, he dwells upon "the nude Scripture, +the merest letter of the Sacred Volume, as if in it and in it alone, +resided the entire Revelation of CHRIST, and all possible means of +judging what that Revelation consists of: whereas this is very far +indeed from being the case. Every single Book of the New Testament was +written, as we have seen, to persons _already in possession of Christian +Truth_. It is quite erroneous therefore, historically and notoriously +erroneous, to suppose either that the Divine Institution of the Church, +or that its Doctrines, were literally founded upon the written words of +Holy Scripture; or that they can impart no illustration nor help in the +Interpretation of those written words.... The complete possession of the +saving Truth belonged to the Christian Church not by degrees, nor in +lapse of time, but from the first. Of that saving truth, thus taught and +thus possessed, _the Apostles' Creed_, growing up as it did on every +side of Christendom as the faithful record of the uniform oral teaching +of the Apostles, is the true and precious historical monument[209]; and +I venture to say that if any person claims to reject the Apostles' +Creed as an auxiliary, a great and invaluable auxiliary, in interpreting +the writings of the Apostles, he shews himself to be very wanting indeed +in appreciation of the comparative value of Historical Evidence, and of +the true principles of Historical Philosophy.--And not the Apostles' +Creed only; but the whole history and tradition of the universal +Church,--needing, no doubt, skill and discretion in its +application,--supply, when applied with requisite skill and discretion, +very valuable and real aid in interpreting Holy Scripture[210]." + +When therefore Mr. Jowett speaks contemptuously of "the attempt to adapt +the truths of Scripture to the doctrines of the Creeds," (p. 353,) the +kindest thing which can be said is that he writes like an ignorant, or +at least an unlearned man. "The Creeds" (he says) "are acknowledged to +be a part of Christianity.... Yet it does not follow that they should be +pressed into the service of the Interpreter." Why not? we ask. "The +_growth of ideas_," (he replies,) "in the interval which separated the +first century from the fourth or sixth makes it _impossible_ to apply +the language of the one to the explanation of the other. Between +Scripture and the Nicene or Athanasian Creeds, _a world of the +understanding comes in_; and mankind are no longer at the same point as +when the whole of Christianity was contained in the words 'Believe on +the LORD JESUS CHRIST and thou mayest be saved;' when the Gospel centred +in the attachment to a living and recently departed friend and Lord." +(p. 353.) + +But there is a fallacy or a falsity at every step of this argument. For +_when_ did the Gospel ever "centre in attachment?" or _when_ was "the +whole of Christianity contained" in one short sentence? Supposing too +that "a world of the understanding" _does_ come in between the first +century and the sixth; how does it follow that it is "impossible" to +apply the language of the Creeds to the interpretation of Holy +Scripture? Explain to me how that "world of understanding" affects _the +Nicene_ Creed? Even in the case of that most precious Creed called the +Athanasian,--why need we _assume_ that "the growth of ideas" has been a +spurious growth? What if it should prove, on the contrary, that the +development has been that of the plant from the seed[211]? Above all, +why talk of "the fourth _or sixth_ century,"--as if the Creeds were not +essentially much older; nay, _co-eval with Christianity itself_?... Such +writing shews nothing so much as a confused mind,--a weak, ill-informed, +and illogical thinker. + +Indeed Mr. Jowett seems to be altogether in the dark on the subject of +the Creeds: for he speaks of them as "the result of three or four +centuries of reflection and controversy," (p. 353,)--which is by no +means true of all of them; nor, except in a certain sense, of any. But +when he inquires,--"If the occurrence of the phraseology of the Nicene +age in a verse of the Epistles would detect the spuriousness of the +verse in which it was found,--how can the Nicene _or Athanasian Creed_ +be a suitable instrument for the interpretation of Scripture?" +(p. 354.)--he simply asks a fool's question. The cases are not only not +parallel, but there is not even any analogy between them. Let us hear +him a little further:-- + +"Absorbed as St. Paul was in the person of Christ, ... he does not speak +of Him as 'equal to the Father,' or 'of one substance with the +Father[212].' Much of the language of the Epistles, (passages for +example such as Romans i. 2: Philippians ii. 6,) would lose their +meaning if distributed in alternate clauses between our LORD'S Humanity +and Divinity[213]. Still greater difficulties would be introduced into +the Gospels by the attempt to identify them with the Creeds[214]. We +should have to suppose that He was and was not tempted[215]; that when +He prayed to His Father He prayed also to Himself[216]; that He knew and +did not know 'of that hour' of which He as well as the angels were +ignorant[217]. How could He have said 'My God, My God, why hast Thou +forsaken Me?' or 'Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from Me.' +How could He have doubted whether 'when the Son of Man cometh He shall +find faith upon the earth[218]?' These simple and touching words," +(p. 355,)--pah! + +Now if what precedes means anything at all,--(I am by no means certain +however that it does!)--it means that the writer does not believe in the +Divinity of our LORD JESUS CHRIST. Unless the sentence which is without +a reference to the foot of the page be not a denial of the fundamental +Doctrine of the Faith[219],--I do not understand it. But look at _all_ +which precedes; and then say if those are the remarks of a man entitled +to dogmatize "On the Interpretation of Scripture." ... If Mr. Jowett +really means that the Creeds _cannot be reconciled with the Bible_,--how +can he himself subscribe to the VIIIth Article? If he means nothing of +the kind,--why does he write in such a weak, cloudy, illogical way? + +But the whole of the case has not even yet been stated. Down from the +remote period of which we have been hitherto speaking,--the age of +primitive Creeds, and oecumenical Councils, and ancient Fathers,--in +every country of the civilized world to which the Gospel has +spread,--the loftiest Intellect, the profoundest Learning, the sincerest +Piety, have invariably endorsed the ancient and original method of +interpretation. I am not implying that such corroboration was in any +sense _required_; but the circumstance that it has been _obtained_, at +least deserves attention. Modes of thought are dependent on times and +countries. There is a fashion in all things. Great advances in +Science,--grand epochs in civilization,--vicissitudes of +opinion,--difference of institutions, national traditions, and the +like,--might be supposed to have wrought a permanent change even in this +department of Sacred Science. But it is not so. The storm has raged from +one quarter or other of the heavens, but has ever spent its violence in +vain. Still has the Church Catholic retained her own unbroken tradition. +To keep to the history of that Church to which we, by GOD'S mercy, +belong:--The constant appeal, at the time of our own great Reformation, +was to the Fathers of the first four centuries. Ever since, the temper +and spirit of our Commentators has been to revert to the same standard, +to reproduce the same teaching. The most powerful minds and the most +holy spirits,--English Divines of the deepest thought and largest +reading,--let me add, of the soundest judgment and severest +discrimination,--have, in every age, down to the present, gratefully +accepted not only the method, but even the very details of primitive +Patristic Interpretation. But "the acceptance of a hundred generations +and the growing authority arising from it,"--like "the institutions +based upon such ancient writings, and the history into which they have +entwined themselves indissolubly for many centuries,"--all conspire to +"constitute a perpetually increasing and strengthening[220]" body of +evidence on the subject of Sacred Interpretation. + +Now, to oppose to the learning, and piety, and wisdom, of every age of +the English Church,--to the unbroken testimony of the Church +Universal,--(3) to the torrent of Patristic Antiquity,--(4) the decision +of early Councils, and (5) the 'still small voice' of primitive +Creeds,--yet more, (6) to the constant practice of the Apostles,--and, +above all, (7) to the indisputable method of our Divine LORD +Himself;--to oppose to all this mighty accumulation of evidence, the +simple _à priori_ convictions of--Mr. Jowett! savours so strongly of the +ridiculous, that it really seems superfluous to linger over the +antithesis for a single moment. + +$4.$ Our task might now be looked upon as completed.--It only remains, +in justice to the gentleman whose method we have been considering, to +ascertain by what considerations he is induced to reject that method of +Interpretation which, as we have seen, enjoys such overwhelming +sanction. + +(i) In opposition to what goes before, then, he throws out a suggestion, +that "nothing would be more likely to restore a natural feeling on this +subject than a History of the Interpretation of Scripture. It would take +us back to the beginning; it would present in one view the causes which +have darkened the meaning of words in the course of ages." (p. 338-9.) +"Such a work would enable us to separate the elements of Doctrine and +Tradition with which the meaning of Scripture is encumbered in our own +day." (p. 339.) + +Let us here be well understood with our author. The advantage of a good +"History of Interpretation" would indeed be incalculably great. But Mr. +Jowett, (like most other writers of his class,) _assumes_ the point he +has to _prove_, when he insinuates that the result of such a +contribution to our Theological Literature would be to shew that all the +world has been in error for 1700 years, and that he alone is right. That +'erring fancy' has _often_ been at work in the fields of sacred +criticism,--_who_ ever doubted? That there have been epochs of +Interpretation,--different Schools,--and varying tastes, in the long +course of so many centuries of mingled light and darkness, learning and +barbarism;--what need to declare? A faithful history of Interpretation +would of course establish these facts on a sure foundation. + +But the Reverend Author forgets his Logic when he goes on from these +undoubted generalities to imply that all has been confusion and utter +uncertainty until now. Above all, common regard for the facts of the +case ought to have preserved him from putting forth so monstrous a +falsehood as the following:--"_Among German Commentators_ there is for +the first time in the history of the world, an approach to agreement and +certainty." (p. 340.) + +Let us however,--passing by the many crooked remarks and unsound +inferences with which the Reverend writer, (_more suo_,) delights to +perplex a plain question[221],--invite him to abide by the test which he +himself proposes. For 1700 years, (he says,) the Interpretation of +Scripture has been obscured and encumbered by successive Schools of +Interpretation. The Interpreter's concern (he says) is _with the Bible +itself_. "The simple words of that book he tries to preserve absolutely +pure from the refinements of later times.... The greater part of his +learning is a knowledge of the text itself." [He is evidently the very +man who _sweeps the house to discover the pearl of great price_. +(p. 414.)] "He has no delight in the voluminous literature which has +overgrown it. He has no theory of Interpretation. A few rules guarding +against common errors are enough for him.... He wants to be able to open +his eyes, and see or imagine things as they truly are." (p. 338.) [How +crooked by the way is all this! "He has no _theory_ of +Interpretation[222]?" Why, no; for the best of all reasons. He _denies +Inspiration altogether!_ His "theory" is that _the Bible is an +uninspired Book!_ ... How peculiar too, and how plaintive is the "want" +of the supposed Interpreter, "_to he able to open his eyes_;"--glued up, +as they no doubt are, by the superstitious tendencies of the nineteenth +century, and the tyranny of an intolerant age!] + +But we may perhaps state the matter more intelligibly and simply, +thus:--In order to ascertain the _true_ principle of Scriptural +Interpretation, let us,--divesting ourselves of the complicated and +voluminous lore of 1700 years,--_resort to the Bible itself_. Let us go +for our views to the fountain-head; and abide by what we shall discover +_there_. + +A fairer proposal (as I think) never was made. It exactly describes the +method which I have humbly endeavoured myself to pursue in the ensuing +Sermons. The inquiry will be found elaborated from p. 141 to p. 160 of +the present volume; and the result is to be read on the last-named page, +in the following words:--"that it may be regarded as a fundamental rule, +that the Bible _is not to be interpreted like a common book_. This I +gather infallibly from the plain fact, that _the inspired writers +themselves_ habitually interpret it _as no other book either is, or can +be interpreted_.--Next, I assert without fear of contradiction that +inspired Interpretation, whatever varieties of method it may exhibit, is +yet uniform and unequivocal in this one result; namely, that it proves +Holy Scripture to be of far deeper significancy than at first sight +appears. By no imaginable artifice of Rhetoric or sophistry of +evasion,--by no possible vehemence of denial or plausibility of counter +assertion,--can it be rendered probable that Scripture has invariably +one only meaning; and _that_ meaning, the most obvious and easy." + +Now, the reader is requested to observe that what precedes is _the +direct contradictory_ of the position which Mr. Jowett has written his +Essay in order to establish. And thus we keep for ever coming back to +his =prôton pseudos=,--the fundamental falsity which underlies the whole +of what he has written. + +(ii) But although we have eagerly resorted to Scripture itself in order +to ascertain _on what principle_ Scripture ought to be interpreted, we +cannot for a moment allow some of the sophistries with which the +Reverend Author has encumbered the question, to escape without +castigation. He may not first court an appeal to the School of +Apostolical Interpretation; and then, before the result of that appeal +has been ascertained, go off in praise of the illumination of the +present age; and claim to represent the Theological mind of Europe in +his own person. "Educated persons," (he has the impertinence to +assert,) "are _beginning to ask_ (!), not what Scripture may be _made_ +to mean, but what it _does_. And it is no exaggeration to say that he +who in the present state of knowledge will confine himself to _the plain +meaning of words_, and the study of their context, may know more of the +original spirit and intention of the authors of the New Testament _than +all the controversial writers of former ages put together_." +(pp. 340-1.) This might be tolerated perhaps, in the self-constituted +oracle of a Mechanics' Institute; but as proceeding from a Divinity +Lecturer in one of the first Colleges in Oxford, I hesitate not to +declare that such an opinion is simply disgraceful. + +Very much of a piece with this, in point of flippancy,--(though barely +consistent with his frequent assertions that the entire subject is +hemmed in by grave difficulties,)--are the Regius Professor of Greek's +remarks on the value of learning as a help to the Interpretation of Holy +Writ. "_Learning obscures_ as well as illustrates." (p. 337.)--"There +seem to be reasons for doubting whether any _considerable light_ can be +thrown on the New Testament from inquiry into _the language_." +(p. 393.)--"Minute corrections of tenses or particles are _no good_." +(p. 393.)--"Discussions respecting the chronology of St. Paul's life and +his second imprisonment; or about the identity of James, the brother of +the LORD; or, in another department, _respecting the use of the Greek +article,--have gone far beyond the line of utility_." (p. 393.) "The +minuteness of the study of Greek in our own day has also a tendency _to +introduce into the text associations_ which are not really found there." +(p. 391.)--Lastly, he complains of "the error of interpreting every +particle, as though it were a link in the argument; instead of being, +as is often the case, _an excrescence of style_." (p. 391.) + +So then, in brief, the Fathers are in a conspiracy to mislead: Creeds +and Councils encumber the sense: Modern Commentators are not to be +trusted: the comparison of Scripture with Scripture, except it be "of +the same age and the same authors," "will tend rather to confuse than to +elucidate:" (p. 383:) "Learning obscures," and an accurate appreciation +of the meaning of the text is "no good!"--"When the _meaning of Greek +words_ is once known[223], the young student has almost _all the real +materials which are possessed by the greatest Biblical scholar_, in the +book itself." (p. 384.) In a word, (as Dr. Moberly has had the manliness +to remark,)--"It simply comes to this: A little Greek, (not too much,) +and a strong self-relying imagination, and you may interpret Holy +Scripture as well as--Mr. Jowett!" (p. lxii.) ... Benighted himself, the +unhappy author of this Essay is so apprehensive lest a ray of light from +Heaven shall break in upon one of his disciples,--even sideways, as it +were, from the margin of the Bible,--that he carefully prohibits "the +indiscriminate use of parallel passages" as "useless and uncritical." +... Yet may one not _with discrimination_ refer to the margin?--Better +not! "No good!" (p. 393.) replies the Oracle. "Even the critical use of +parallel passages is _not without danger_." (p. 383.) ... O shame! And +all this from a College Tutor and Lecturer on Divinity! _this_ from one +entrusted with the care of educating young men! _this_ from a Regius +Professor of Greek[224]! + +Mr. Jowett congratulates himself that "Biblical criticism has made two +great steps onward,--at the time of the Reformation, and _in our own +day_." But his notion is amply refuted by the known facts of the case: +for when he adds,--"The diffusion of a critical spirit in History and +Literature is affecting the criticism of the Bible in our own day in a +manner not unlike the burst of intellectual life in the fifteenth or +sixteenth centuries;" (p. 340;) he clearly requires to be reminded that +the success of the Divinity of the Reformation was owing to the grand +appeal then made to _the Patristic writings_. + +So far then as any of ourselves are resorting to _those_ sources of +information, there may be a faint resemblance _in kind_ between the +spirit which animates us, and that which wrought so nobly in the Fathers +of our spiritual freedom,--Cranmer and Ridley and the other learned and +holy men who revised our Offices. But if "_German_ Commentators" and +_their_ method be supposed to be the ideals to which the age is tending, +_then_ the Theology of the middle of the nineteenth century stands in +marked _contrast_ to what prevailed in the middle of the sixteenth; and +our spirit is _the very reverse of theirs_.--But I hasten on. + +(iii) "The uncertainty which prevails in the Interpretation of +Scripture," Mr. Jowett proposes to get rid of,--(this is in fact the aim +of his entire Essay,) by denying that there are in Scripture any deeper +meanings to interpret. In the meantime, by every device in his power, he +seeks from _à priori_ considerations, (as we have seen,) to shew that no +such meanings can exist. We allow ourselves to be biassed, to a singular +extent, he says, "by certain previous suppositions with which we come to +the perusal of Scripture." (p. 342.) _But_ for this, "no one would +interpret Scripture as many do." (_Ibid._) Let us ascertain then what +these erroneous "suppositions" are. + +(=1=) "The failure of a prophecy is never admitted, in spite of +Scripture and of history, (Jer. xxxvi. 30. Isaiah xxiii. Amos vii. +10-17.)" (p. 343.) + +Now this can only mean two things: viz. first, that a Divine Prophecy is +_not_ an infallible utterance: and secondly, that the three places +quoted from the Old Testament are _proofs_ of the fallibility of +Prophecy; proofs which ought to overcome prejudice, and persuade men to +renounce their "previous supposition" that Prophecy is _in_fallible. + +Certainly the charge is a grave one. For if _Prophecy_ is untrue, then +what becomes of Inspiration? + +And yet, how stands the case? The writer seems to have expected "that no +one would refer to the passages that he has bracketed, or that all would +be too ignorant to know the utter groundlessness of his assumption. If +there are, in the whole Scripture, two past prophecies which were +signally and remarkably fulfilled, they are the first two which he has +selected as instances to be dropped down, without a remark, of the +failure of Scripture prophecies! And as to the third passage, surely it +implies an 'incuria' which might be deemed 'crassa' to have asserted +that it contained an instance of the non-fulfilment of Prophecy: for it +implies that Mr. Jowett has read the verses to which he refers with so +little attention as not to have discovered that the prediction which +failed of its fulfilment was _no utterance of Amos_, but was _the +message of Amaziah, the priest of Bethel_, in which he falsely +attributes to Amos _words he had not spoken_!... Surely such slips as +these are as discreditable to a scholar as a Divine[225]!" + +And this, from a gentleman who has the impertinence to remind us +oracularly, that "he who would understand the nature of Prophecy in the +Old Testament, should have _the courage to examine how far its details +were minutely fulfilled_!" (p. 347.) Are we then to infer that Mr. +Jowett's courage failed him when he came to Amos vii. 10-17? + +(=2=) "The mention of a name later than the supposed age of the +prophet is not allowed, as in other writings, to be taken in evidence of +the date. (Isaiah xlv. 1.)" (p. 343.) + +But what is the meaning of this complaint when applied to Isaiah's well +known prophecy concerning Cyrus? In the words of the excellent critic +last quoted,--"We know not that we could point to such an instance as +this in the writings of any other author of credit. Of course, Mr. +Jowett knows as well as we do the distinction between History and +Prophecy; and that the mention in any document of the name of one who +was unborn at the time fixed as the date of the writing, would be at +once a complete _disproof_ of its accuracy as a history of the past, and +a _proof_ of its accuracy as a prediction of the future. Of course he +also remembers that the point he has _to prove_ is that this passage is +History and not Prediction; and his mode of proving is this; _he +assumes that it is a history of the past_,--advancing as a charge +against the believers of Revelation, that they do not, (as they would in +any other History,) reject the genuineness of the passage because it +embalms a future name in a past history!... This audacious, (for we +cannot use a weaker word,) _assumption_ of what he has _to prove_, +pervades his Essay[226]." + +And thus, into whatever department of speculation we follow this writer, +the tortuous path is still found to conduct us back to the same +underlying fallacious _assumption_,--viz. that _the Bible is like any +other Book_; in other words, is _not inspired_. + +(=3=) Persons in Mr. Jowett's position, "find themselves met by a _sort +of presupposition that 'GOD speaks not as Man speaks_.'"--(p. 343.) + +"A sort of presupposition," indeed!... Does the Reverend gentleman +really expect that we will stoop so low as argue _this_ point also with +him? It shall suffice to have branded him with his own words. + +"The suspicion of Deism, or perhaps of Atheism, awaits inquiry. By such +fears, a good man (!) refuses to be influenced: a philosophical mind (!) +is apt to cast them aside with too much bitterness. It is better to +close the book, than to read it under conditions of thought which are +imposed from without." (p. 343.) + +Well surely, the proximity to Balliol College of the scene of Cranmer +and Ridley's martyrdom, must have turned the brain of the Regius +Professor of Greek!--Let him be well assured however that not rational +"Inquiry," but irrational _assumption_; not the modest cogitations of "a +philosophical mind," but the _arrogant dreams of a weak and confused +intellect_, are what have excited such general indignation of late, +among "good men," from one end of the Kingdom to the other. Nor could +anything probably of equal pretensions be readily appealed to, which is +nevertheless more truly unphilosophical, fallacious, and foolish, than +the Essay now under consideration. + +(iv) Subsequently, (p. 344,) Mr. Jowett professes to grapple with the +phenomenon of Inspiration. His method is instructive. He begins by +inadvertently advancing a direct untruth: for he asserts that for none +"of the higher or supernatural views of Inspiration is there _any +foundation_ in the Gospels or Epistles." (p. 345.)--Had he then +forgotten St. Paul's statements in Gal. i. 1, 11-17: ii. 2, 7-9. 1 Cor. +xv. 3. Ephes. iii. 3, &c., &c.? But I have established the contradictory +of the Professor's position in the ensuing Sermons, p. 53 to p. 57, to +which the reader must be referred.--This done, he proceeds to assert +that, + +(=1=) Inspiration does not preserve a writer from inaccuracy. And the +charge is substantiated by the following ridiculous enumeration:--"One +[Evangelist] supposes the original dwelling-place of our LORD'S Parents +to have been Bethlehem[227], another Nazareth[228]." (This from a +Lecturer on Divinity! Does Mr. Jowett then suppose that his readers have +never opened the Gospels, and do not know better? Why, _both_ his +statements are simply _false!_)--"They trace His genealogy in different +ways." (Yes. In two. And why not _in twenty?_ Is Mr. Jowett not aware +that a genealogy may be differently traced through different +ancestors?)--"One mentions the thieves blaspheming: another has +preserved to after ages the record of the penitent thief:" (And why +should he not?)--"They appear to differ about the day and hour of the +Crucifixion." (Yes, _they appear_ to differ: but _they do not +differ_!)--"The narrative of the woman who anointed our LORD'S feet with +ointment is told in all four, each narrative having more or less +considerable variations." (There is no conceivable reason why this +should _not_ have been as Mr. Jowett relates; but, as a matter of fact, +we have here another of this Gentleman's private _blunders_,--shewing +what an uncritical reader he must be, of that book concerning which he +presumes to dogmatize so freely.)--"These are a few instances of the +differences which arose in the traditions of the earliest ages +respecting the history of our LORD." (Nay, but this is to beg the whole +question!)--"He who wishes to investigate the character of the sacred +writings _should not be afraid_ to make a catalogue of them all, with +the view of estimating their cumulative weight." (p. 346.) (Truly, it +would be well for Mr. Jowett if he had as little to fear from such +"investigations" as the Evangelists!) + +"In the same way, he who would understand the nature of Prophecy in the +Old Testament, should have the courage to examine how far its details +were minutely fulfilled. _The absence of such a fulfilment_ may further +lead him to discover that he took the letter for the spirit in expecting +it." (p. 347.) But really this is again simply to beg the whole +question. Unbecoming in any writer, how absurd also is such a sentence +from the pen of one who, (as we have lately seen,) no sooner descends to +particulars than he makes himself ridiculous by betraying his own +excessive ignorance.... "The letter for the spirit," also! which is one +of the 'cant' expressions of Mr. Jowett and his accomplices in 'free +handling,'--based evidently on a misconception of the meaning of 2 Cor. +iii. 6. The contrast recurs at pp. 36, 357, 375, 425, &c., &c. + +(=2=) Still bent on shewing that Inspiration does not secure Scripture +from blots and blemishes, Mr. Jowett proceeds as follows. (I must +present him to the reader, for a short space, _in extenso_; since by no +other expedient can the complicated fallacies of his very intricate and +perverse method be exposed.) + +"Inspiration is a fact which we infer from the study of Scripture,--not +of one portion only, but of the whole." (p. 347.) (Now even _this_ is +not a correct way of stating the case. Still, because the words _may_ +bear an honourable sense, we pass on.)--"Obviously then, it embraces +writings of very different kinds,--the book of Esther, for example, or +the Song of Solomon, as well as the Gospel of St. John." (That _the +volume_ of Inspiration is of this complex character, and that _it_ +embraces writings so diverse, is beyond dispute.)--"It is reconcileable +with the mixed good and evil of the characters of the Old Testament, +which nevertheless does not exclude them from the favour of GOD." (_Why_ +the Inspiration of a writer should not be 'reconcileable' with _any_ +amount of wickedness in the persons about whom he writes,--I am quite at +a loss to perceive. Neither do I see why "the mixed good and evil" of +certain "characters of the Old Testament," (or of the New either,) +should "exclude them from the favour of GOD." What else becomes of your +hope, and mine, of Eternal Life?)--"Inspiration is also reconcileable," +(he proceeds,)--"with the attribution to the Divine Being of _actions at +variance with that higher revelation which He has given of Himself in +the Gospel_." (Is this meant as an insult to "the Divine Being?" or +simply as a slur on Revelation? Either way, we reject the charge with +indignation[229].)--"It is not inconsistent with imperfect or opposite +aspects of the Truth, as in the Book of Job or Ecclesiastes:" (Nothing +which comes from GOD should be called "imperfect:" but why _different_ +aspects of the Truth should not be brought out, by different writers, as +by St. Paul and by James,--it is hard to see.)--"With variations of fact +in the Gospels, or the Books of Kings and Chronicles:" (We do not admit +that Inspiration is consistent with "variations of _fact;_" but with +_different versions_ of the same incident, it is confessedly +compatible.)--"With inaccuracies of language in the Epistles of St. +Paul." (With _grammatical inelegancies_, no doubt; but not with _logical +inaccuracies_.)--"For these are all found in Scripture:" (This +statement, by the way, should have been substantiated by at least as +many references as there are heads in the indictment,)--"neither is +there any reason why they should not be; except a general impression +that Scripture ought to have been written in a way different from what +it has." (Just as if Mankind for 1800 years had been the victims of an +_à priori_ conception as to _how_ Holy Scripture _ought to have been_ +written!)--"A principle of progressive revelation admits them all; and +this is already contained in the words of our SAVIOUR, 'Moses because of +the hardness of your hearts;' or even in the Old Testament, 'Henceforth +there shall be no more this proverb in the house of Israel?'" (O if +Catholic writers were to expound Holy Scripture with the license of +_these_ gentlemen!... That the scheme of Revelation has been +progressive, is a Theological truism. What that has to do with the +question in hand, I see not.)--"For what is progressive is necessarily +imperfect in its earlier stages:" ("Imperfect" in what sense?)--"and +_even erring_ to those who come after." (No, not in _that_ sense +imperfect, certainly!) ... "There is no more reason why _imperfect +narratives_ should be excluded from Scripture than imperfect grammar; no +more ground for expecting that the New Testament would be logical or +Aristotelian in form, than that it would be written in Attic Greek." +(Now _why_ this cloudy shuffling about "imperfect narratives,"--instead +of saying _what you mean_, like a man! Further,--Is Mr. Jowett so weak +as not to perceive that there is _no force whatever_ in his supposed +parallel? The Discourses of the Incarnate SON, for instance, are +certainly anything but "Aristotelian in form." His dialect,--(Angels +bowed to catch it, I nothing doubt!)--was that of the despised Galilee. +But need _the teaching it conveyed_ have _therefore_ been "imperfect?" +Why may not the least perfect _Greek_ be the vehicle for the more +perfect _Doctrine_? What connexion is there between the casket and the +jewel which it encloses?) + +(=3=) The Reverend writer promises us help, from "another consideration +which has been neglected by writers on this subject." (The announcement +makes us attentive.)--"It is this,--that any true Doctrine of +Inspiration must conform to all well-ascertained facts of History or of +Science." (We scarcely see the drift of this ill-worded proposition; but +are disposed to assent.)--"The same fact cannot be true and untrue," +(Who ever supposed that it could?)--"any more than the same words can +have two opposite meanings." (But why glide at once into a gross +falsity? Are there not plenty of words and speeches, of the kind called +'equivocal' or 'ambiguous,' which are of this nature? I am content to +refer this writer to _his own pages_, for the abundant refutation of his +own assertion. No man in the world knows better than Mr. Jowett that +"_the same words can have two opposite meanings_.") "The same fact +cannot be true in Religion, when seen by the light of Faith; and untrue +in Science, when looked at through the medium of evidence or +experiment." (Why not? For example,--'He maketh His Sun to rise.' 'If +GOD so clothe the grass of the field.' 'GOD said, Let there be light.' +Who sees not that the view which Faith and which Physical Science +respectively take of the same phenomenon, may essentially differ?)--"It +is ridiculous to suppose that the Sun goes round the Earth in the same +sense in which the Earth goes round the Sun;" (Very ridiculous.)--"or +that the world appears to have existed, but has not existed, during the +vast epochs of which Geology speaks to us." (Leave out the words, +"appears to have," and this also is undeniable.)--"But if so, there is +no need of elaborate reconcilements of Revelation and Science." (How +does that follow? If what is thought to be Divinely revealed, and what +is thought to be scientifically ascertained, seem to be conflicting +truths,--why should not an effort be made to reconcile them?) "They +reconcile themselves the moment any scientific truth is distinctly +ascertained." (Yes: by the Human simply trying to thrust the Divine out +of doors!)--"As the idea of Nature enlarges, the idea of Revelation also +enlarges:" (I deny that there is any such intimate connexion as this +author supposes between Physical Science and Divinity,)--"it was a +temporary misunderstanding which severed them." (But _when_ were Nature +and Revelation ever for an instant "severed?")--"And as the knowledge of +Nature which is possessed by the few is communicated in its leading +features at least, to the many, they will receive it with a higher +conception of the ways of GOD to Man. It may hereafter appear as natural +to the majority of Mankind to see the Providence of GOD in the order of +the world, as it once was to appeal to interruptions of it." (p. 349.) +(As if an increased _knowledge of Nature_ were the condition of +Theological enlightenment!... I presume that the latter clause,--so hazy +and the reverse of obvious in its meaning!--is intended to convey the +sentiment which Mr. Baden Powell expresses as follows:--"The inevitable +progress of research must, within a longer or shorter period, unravel +_all that seems most marvellous_; and what is at present least +understood will become as familiarly known to the Science of the future, +as those points which a few centuries ago were involved in equal +obscurity, but now are thoroughly understood[230].") + +(=4=) We are next informed "that there are a class of scientific facts +with which popular opinions on Theology often conflict.... Such +especially are the facts relating to the formation of the Earth and the +beginnings of the Human Race." (p. 349.) (And pray, what "_facts_" are +these, relative to the "beginnings of the Human Race," which conflict +with Scripture?) ... "Almost all intelligent persons are agreed that the +earth has existed for myriads of ages:" (Which is perfectly true.)--"The +best informed are of opinion that the history of nations extends back +_some thousand years_ before the Mosaic Chronology." (Which is +decidedly false.)--"Recent discoveries in Geology _may perhaps_ open a +further vista of existence for the human species; while _it is possible, +and may one day be known_, that Mankind spread not from one but from +many centres over the globe; or, (as others say,) that the supply of +links which are at present wanting in the chain of animal life _may +lead_ to new conclusions respecting the origin of Man." (A cool way, +this, of anticipating that something which '_may_'--(or _may not!_)--be +discovered hereafter, will demonstrate that the beginning of the Bible +is all a fable!)--"Now," (proceeds our author,) "let it be granted that" +"_the proof_ of some of these facts, especially of those last-mentioned, +_is wanting_; still it is a false policy to set up Inspiration or +Revelation _in opposition to them_, a principle which can have _no +influence on them_, and should be kept rather out of their way." +(Considerate man!) "The Sciences of Geology and comparative Philology +are steadily gaining ground. Many of the guesses of twenty years ago +have been certainties; and the guesses of to-day may hereafter become +so. Shall we peril Religion (!) on the possibility of their untruth? on +such a cast to stake the life of Man, implies not only a recklessness of +facts (!), but a misunderstanding of the nature of the Gospel. If it is +fortunate for Science, it is perhaps more fortunate for Christian Truth, +that the admission of Galileo's discovery has for ever settled the +principle of the relations between them."--(pp. 349-50.) ... + +Now, what a curious picture of a perverse and crooked mind does such a +sentence exhibit! Divine Revelation can "_have no influence_" of course, +on facts of _any_ kind, (including facts in Physical Science,) when +once those facts have been well ascertained. But, _in the entire absence +of such facts_, why should we refuse to listen to the _well ascertained +Revelation of GOD_? Nothing is more emphatic, for example, than the +Divine declaration that the whole Human family is derived from a single +pair; and the origin of Man is plainly set down in Genesis. Why then +oppose to this, the confessedly _undiscovered_ fact that "mankind spread +from many centres;" and the purely speculative possibility that, +hereafter, a certain theory "_may lead_ to new conclusions respecting +the origin of Man?"--As for "Religion" being "perilled on the +possibility" of the truth or untruth of the Sciences of Geology and +comparative Philology;--we really would submit that _GOD may be safely +left to take care of His own;_ and that "peril," there is,--there _can_ +be,--_none!_ + +And then, the maudlin tenderness of an "Essayist and Reviewer" (of all +persons in the world!) for "_the life of Man_,"--meaning thereby his +Christian hope, and Faith in the REDEEMER!... As if, (first,) Man's +"_Life_" were _in any sense_ endangered, by our upholding the honour and +authority of the Bible! And (secondly,) as if the age had shewn itself +in the least degree impatient of scientific investigation! And +(thirdly,) as if Religion depended, or could be made to depend, on +Physical phenomena, or on the progress of Natural Science, _at all!_ ... +I scruple not to say that arguments like these impress me with the +meanest opinion of Mr. Jowett's intellectual powers: while they prove to +demonstration that he does not in the least understand the subject on +which he yet writes with such feeble vehemence. + +But I may not proceed any further, or my pages will equal in extent +those of the gentleman already named. Indeed, to follow that most +confused of thinkers, and crooked of disputants, through all his +perverse pages; to expose his habitual paltry evasive dodging,--his +shifting equivocations,--his misapplications of Scripture,--his unworthy +insinuations,--his plaintive puerilities of thought and +sentiment;--would require a thick volume.--If Mr. Jowett does not deny +the Personality of the HOLY GHOST, he ought to be thoroughly ashamed of +himself for penning sentences which can lead to no other inference. For +he ought to know that when men talk of words "receiving _a more exact +meaning than they will truly bear_;" and of what "is _spoken in a +figure_ being construed with the severity of a logical statement, while +_passages of an opposite tenour are overlooked or set +aside_:"--(p. 360.) men mean to repudiate the doctrine which those words +are thought to convey; not to imply their acceptance of it.--So again, +if Mr. Jowett holds the doctrine of Original Sin, he ought to be +heartily ashamed of himself for having insinuated that it depends "on +_two figurative expressions of St. Paul to which there is no parallel in +any other part of Scripture_." (p. 361.)--Nor, however moderate his +attainments as a teacher of Divinity, ought he to be capable of putting +forth such a notorious misstatement as that the doctrine of Infant +Baptism _rests upon a verse in the Acts_ (xvi. 33,)--which verse has +really _nothing whatever to do with the question_[231]. (p. 360.) + +Professor Jowett shuts up his Essay with a passage which, for a certain +amount of tender pathos in the sentiment, has been often quoted, and +sometimes admired, He says:-- + +"The suspicion or difficulty which attends critical inquiries is no +reason for doubting their value. The Scripture nowhere leads us to +suppose that the circumstance of all men speaking well of us is any +ground for supposing that we are acceptable in the sight of God. And +there is no reason why the condemnation of others should be witnessed to +by our own conscience. Perhaps it may be true that, owing to the +jealousy or fear of some, the reticence of others, the terrorism of a +few, we may not always find it easy to regard these subjects with +calmness and judgment. But, on the other hand, these accidental +circumstances have nothing to do with the question at issue; they cannot +have the slightest influence on the meaning of words, or on the truth of +facts.... + +"Lastly, there is some nobler idea of truth than is supplied by the +opinion of mankind in general, or the voice of parties in a Church. +Every one, whether a student of Theology or not, has need to make war +against his prejudices no less than against his passions; and, in the +religious teacher, the first is even more necessary than the last.... He +who takes the prevailing opinions of Christians and decks them out in +their gayest colours,--who reflects the better mind of the world to +itself--is likely to be its favourite teacher. In that ministry of the +Gospel, even when assuming forms repulsive to persons of education (!), +no doubt the good is far greater than the error or harm. But there is +also a deeper work which is not dependent on the opinions of men, in +which many elements combine, some alien to Religion, or accidentally at +variance with it. That work can hardly expect to win much popular +favour, so far as it runs counter to the feelings of religious parties. +But he who bears a part in it may feel a confidence, which no popular +caresses or religious sympathy could inspire, that he has by a Divine +help been enabled to plant his foot somewhere beyond the waves of Time. +He may depart hence before the natural term, worn out with intellectual +toil; regarded with suspicion by many of his contemporaries; yet not +without a sure hope that the love of Truth, which men of saintly lives +often seem to slight, is, nevertheless, accepted before +GOD."--(pp. 432-3.) + +My respect for a fellow-man induces me to offer a few remarks on all +this. + +Let me be permitted then to declare that I am as incapable as any one +who ever breathed the air of this lower world, of making light of the +sentiments of true genius. I can respond with my whole heart to the +passion-stricken cry of one who, when "regarded with suspicion by many +of his contemporaries," is observed to hail his fellows with confidence, +across the gulph of Time; and as it were implore them, after many days, +to do him right. Nay, were I to behold a man of splendid, but misguided +powers, elaborating from GOD'S Word a plausible system of his own, +whereby to bring back the Golden Age to suffering Humanity; and +insisting that he beheld in the common revelations of the SPIRIT, the +unsuspected outlines of such a form of polity as Man never dreamed +of,--(nor, it may be, Angels either;)--I should experience a kind of +generous sympathy with this bright-eyed enthusiast; even while I +proceeded to test his wild dream by what I believed to be the standard +of right Reason. Then, as the specious fabric was seen suddenly to +collapse and melt away, should I not, with affectionate sorrow, secretly +mourn that such brilliant parts had not been enlisted on the side of +Truth? and feel as if I could have been content to go about for life +maimed in body, or hopelessly impoverished in estate, if so great a +disaster could but have been prevented as the loss of one who ought to +have been a standard-bearer in Israel? + +Once more. Although the cold shade of unbelief has never for an instant, +(thank GOD!) darkened my spirit; so that one may not be very apt to +sympathize with men who walk about hampered with a doubt; yet, were one +to know, (as one has often known,--_too_ often, alas!) that the arrow +was rankling in a friend's heart,--who by consequence shunned the +society of his fellows, and walked in moody abstraction,--looking as if +life had lost its charm, and as if nothing on the earth's surface were +any longer to him a joy;--would one not be the first to go after such a +sufferer; and seek whether a firm hand and steady eye might not avail to +extract the poisoned shaft? If that might not be, at least by daily acts +of unaltered kindness, and the ways which brotherly sympathy suggests, +_who_ would not strive to recover such an one? If all other arts proved +unavailing, it would remain for a man with the ordinary instincts of +humanity, in silence and sorrow at least, to look on, while the solitary +doubter was paying the bitter penalty,--doubtless, of his sin. + +But how widely different,--rather, how utterly dissimilar,--is the +phenomenon before us! Here is a singularly confused and shallow thinker +oppressed with the vastness of his discovery, that the Bible--_has +nothing in it!_ Here is a Clergyman of the Church of England, and a +Lecturer in Divinity, whose difficulty is how he shall convince the +world that the Bible is--_like any other book!_ Here is the sceptical +fellow of a College, conspiring with six others, to produce a volume of +which Germany itself, (having changed its mind,) would already be +ashamed!... Mr. Jowett is enthusiastic for _a negation!_ Without belief +himself, he cannot rest because Christendom has, on the whole, a good +deal of belief remaining! If he may but _unsettle somebody's mind_,--his +Essay will have achieved its purpose, and its author will not have lived +in vain!... Sublime privilege for "the only man in the University of +Oxford who" is said to "exercise a moral and spiritual influence at all +corresponding to that which was once wielded by John Henry Newman[232]!" + +I shall be thought a very profane person, I dare say, by the friends and +apologists of Mr. Jowett, if I avow that the passage with which he +concludes his Essay, instead of sounding in my ears like the plaintive +death-song of departing Genius, sounds to me like nothing so much as the +piteous whine of a schoolboy who knows that he _deserves_ chastisement, +and perceives that he is about to experience his deserts. System, or +Theory, the Reverend Gentleman has none to propose. Views, except +negative ones, Mr. Jowett is altogether guiltless of. Can anybody in his +senses suppose that a man "has, by a Divine help (!), been enabled to +plant his foot _somewhere beyond the waves of Time_," (p. 433,) who +doubts everything, and believes nothing? Can any one of sane mind dream +that posterity will come to the rescue of a man who, when he is asked +for his story, rejoins, (with a well-known needy mechanic,) that he has +"none to tell, Sir?" _What_ then is posterity to vindicate? _What_ has +the Regius Professor of Greek written so many weak pages to prove? Just +nothing! If Mr. Jowett's Essay could enforce the message it carries, the +result would simply be that the world would become _dis_believers in the +Inspiration of the Bible: they would _dis_believe that Scripture has any +sense but that which lies on the surface: they would therefore +_dis_believe the Prophets and Evangelists and Apostles of CHRIST: they +would _dis_believe the words of our LORD JESUS CHRIST Himself!... Has +Mr. Jowett, then, grown grey under the laborious process of arriving at +this series of negations? When he anticipates "departing hence before +the natural term," does he mean that he is "_worn out with the +intellectual toil_" of propounding _nothing!_ and that he expects the +sympathy and gratitude of posterity for what he has propounded? + +But this is not all. Instead of coming abroad, (if come abroad he must,) +in that garb of humility which befits doubt,--that self-distrust which +becomes one whose fault, or whose misfortune it is, that he simply +cannot believe,--Mr. Jowett assumes throughout, the insolent air of +intellectual superiority; the tone of one at whose bidding Theology must +absolutely 'keep moving.' A truncheon and a number on his collar, alone +seem wanting. The menacing voice, and authoritative air, are certainly +not away,--as I proceed to shew. + +"It may be observed that a change in some of the prevailing modes of +Interpretation, is not so much a matter of expediency as _of necessity_. +The original meaning of Scripture _is beginning to be understood_." +(p. 418.) + +"Criticism has _far more power_ than it formerly had. It has spread +itself over ancient, and even modern history.... _Whether Scripture can +be made an exception to other ancient writings_, now that the nature of +both is more understood; whether ... _the views of the last century will +hold out_,--these are questions respecting which" (p. 420.) it is hard +to judge. + +"It has to be considered whether the intellectual forms under which +Christianity has been described, may not also be _in a state of +transition_." (p. 420.) + +"Now, as _the Interpretation of Scripture is receiving another +character_, it seems that distinctions of Theology which were in great +measure based on old Interpretations, are _beginning to fade away_." ... +"There are other signs that times are changing, and we are changing +too." (p. 421.) + +"These reflections bring us back to the question with which we +began,--_What effect will the critical Interpretation of Scripture have +on Theology?_" (p. 422.) + +Again:--"As the time has come when it is no longer possible to ignore +the results of criticism, it is of importance that Christianity should +be seen to be in harmony with them." (p. 374.) (The sentences which +immediately follow shall be exhibited in distinct paragraphs, in order +that they may separately enjoy admiration. Each is a gem or a curiosity +in its way.) + +"That objections to some received views _should be valid_, and yet that +they should be always held up as _the objections of Infidels_,--is a +mischief to the Christian cause." + +"It is a mischief that critical observations which any intelligent man +can make for himself (!), should be ascribed to Atheism or Unbelief." + +"It would be a strange and almost incredible thing that the Gospel, +which at first made war only on the vices of mankind, should now be +_opposed_ to one of the highest and rarest of human virtues,--_the love +of Truth_." + +"And that in the present day the great object of Christianity should be, +not to change the lives of men, but to prevent them from changing their +opinions; _that_ would be a singular inversion of the purposes for which +CHRIST came into the world." + +We are really constrained to pause for a moment, and to inquire what +this last sentence means. Are not "the lives of men" mainly _dependent_ +on "their opinions?" Why then contrast the two? And _which_ of our +"opinions" does Mr. Jowett desire to see changed? Would he have us +resign our belief in the Atonement? reject the Divinity of CHRIST? deny +the Personality of the HOLY GHOST? put the Bible on a level with +Sophocles and Plato? ridicule the idea of Inspiration?... How would it +be a "singular inversion of the purposes of CHRIST'S Coming," that +Christianity should "prevent" mankind from "changing" such "opinions" as +_these?_ + +"The Christian religion is in a false position when _all the tendencies +of knowledge are opposed to it_." (_All the tendencies of knowledge, +then, are opposed to the Christian Religion!_) + +"Such a position cannot be long maintained, or can only end in the +withdrawal of the educated classes from the influences of Religion." (So +we are to look for "_the withdrawal of the educated classes from the +influences of Religion_[233]!") After anticipating "religious +dissolution," because of "the progress of ideas, (!) with which +Christian teachers seem to be ill at ease," (!) Mr. Jowett, (who we +presume is speaking of himself,) says, "Time was when the Gospel was +before the Age:" (The Gospel is therefore now _behind_ the age!)--"when +the difficulties of Christianity were difficulties of the heart only:" +(When was that?)--"and _the highest minds_ found in its truths not only +the rule of their lives, but a well-spring of intellectual delight." +(All this then has _ceased to be the case!_ "The highest minds" being of +course represented by--Mr. Jowett!) + +"Is it to be held a thing impossible that the Christian Religion, +instead of shrinking into itself, (!) may again _embrace the thoughts of +men upon the earth?_" (that is to say, "embrace the thoughts" of--Mr. +Jowett!)--"Or is it true that _since the Reformation 'all intellect has +gone the other way_?'" + +"But for the faith that the Gospel might win again the minds of +_intellectual men_," (such men as Mr. Jowett?)--"it would be better to +leave Religion to itself, instead of attempting to draw them together." +(p. 376.) + +Now this kind of language, in daily life, would be called sheer +impertinence; and the person who could talk so before educated gentlemen +would probably receive an intimation that he was making himself +offensive. He would certainly be looked upon as a weak and conceited +person. I really am unable to see why things should be _written and +printed_ which no one would presume _to say_! ... Encircled by a little +atmosphere of fog of his own creating, Mr. Jowett is evidently under the +delusion that his own confused vision and misty language are the result +of the giddy eminence to which, (leaving his fellow-mortals far behind +him,) he has contrived, all alone, to soar. He anticipates the complaint +of some unhappy disciple, that he "experiences a sort of shrinking or +dizziness at the prospect which is opening before him:" whereupon Mr. +Jowett invites the "highly educated young man," (p. 373,) to consider +"that he may possibly not be the person who is called upon to pursue +such inquiries." Who are they _for_, then? "No man should busy himself +with them who has not clearness of mind enough to see things as they +are." (p. 430.) The clearness of mind, for example, which belongs to Mr. +Jowett! + +True enough it is that had such airs been assumed by such an one as +Richard Hooker, who achieved the first four books of his 'Laws of +Ecclesiastical Polity' before he was 40; and dying in his 46th year, +proved himself to be the greatest genius of his age:--had language like +Mr. Jowett's been found on the lips of Joseph Butler, who when he was 44 +produced his immortal 'Analagy,' and at the age of 26 delivered his +famous Rolls 'Sermons:'--had Bishop Bull been betrayed into the language +of self-complacency when, at the age of 35, he made himself famous by +his 'Harmonia Apostolica:'--the proceeding would have been intelligible, +however much one might have lamented such an exhibition of weakness.... +But when the speaker proves to be one of the very shallowest of +thinkers, and most confused of reasoners;--a man who, although +grey-headed, has done nothing whatever for Literature, sacred or +profane;--nor indeed is known out of Oxford except for having been +thought to deny the Doctrine of the Atonement;--a man who dogmatizes in +a Science of which he clearly does not know so much as the very +alphabet; and presumes to dispute about a Bible which he has evidently +not read with the attention which is due even to a first-rate uninspired +book;--_then_, one's displeasure and impatience assume the form of +indignation and disgust. The Divine who, purposing to prove that Holy +Scripture is in kind like any other book, does so _by inveighing against +those who treat it differently_; and indeed, on every occasion, _assumes +as proved_ the thing he has _to prove_[234]:--is obviously the very man +to vaunt the privileges of the intellect. The student of the Bible who +mistakes the utterance of a lying prophet for the language of Amos, and +then boldly charges the lie upon the inspired author of a book of +Canonical Scripture;--is of course a proper person to discuss the +Prophetic Canon. The gentleman who flatters himself that he has been +_sweeping the house_ to find _the pearl of great price_, (p. 414,) is a +very pretty person, truly, to lecture about the Gospel!... I forbear +reproaching Mr. Jowett with his _invariable_ misapplications or +misapprehensions of the meaning of Scripture: his false glosses, and +truly preposterous specimens of exegesis[235]. I am content to take +leave of him, while he is flattering himself that he has "_found the +pearl of great price, after sweeping the house_:" (p. 414:) and under +that melancholy delusion, I fear he must be left,--holding the broom in +his hands. + + * * * * * + +On a review of these Seven Essays, few things strike one more forcibly +than the utterly untenable ground occupied by their authors. They are +"in a position in which it is impossible to remain. The theory of Mr. +Jowett and his fellows is as false to philosophy as to the Church of +England. More may be true, or less; but to attempt to halt where they +would stop is a simple absurdity[236]." + +To exactness of method or System, their work can hardly pretend; and yet +they _have_ a system,--which has only not been rounded into symmetry, by +the singular circumstance that these seven writers "have written in +entire independence of one another, and without concert or comparison." +They _avow a common purpose_, however; for they "hope" that their joint +labours "will be received as an attempt to illustrate," (whatever _that_ +may mean,) "the advantage derivable to the cause of Religion and Moral +Truth" from what they have here attempted; and which they justly +characterize as "_free handling_." Putting oneself in their position, it +is easy to imagine the sorrow and concern,--the _horror_ rather,--with +which a good man, when the first edition of 'Essays and Reviews' made +its appearance, would have discovered the kind of complicity into which +he had been inadvertently betrayed; and how eagerly he would have +withdrawn from a literary partnership which had resulted so +disastrously. At the end of nine large editions, however, the corporate +responsibility of each individual author has become fully established; +and besides the many proofs of sympathy between the several authors +which these pages contain[237], it is no longer doubtful that the +sentiments of the work are to be quoted without reference to the +individual writers. It would be unfair to assume that not one of these +seven men has had the manliness to avow that his own individual +convictions are opposed to those of his fellows. We are compelled to +regard their joint labours as _one_ production. It is the _corporate +efficacy_ of the several contributions which constitutes the chief +criminality of the volume. It is to the respectability and weight of the +_conjoined_ names of its authors, and to their _combined_ efforts, that +'Essays and Reviews' are indebted for all their power. + +What then is the system, or theory, or view, advocated by these seven +Authors?--They are all agreed that we are "placed evidently at an epoch +when Humanity finds itself under new conditions, to form some definite +conception to ourselves of the way in which Christianity is henceforward +to act upon the world which is our own." (p. 158.) To do this, we must +emerge from our "narrow chamber of Doctrinal and Ecclesiastical +prepossessions." (_Ibid._) Accordingly, we find insinuated "a very +wide-spread alienation, both in educated and uneducated persons, from +the Christianity which is ordinarily presented in our Churches and +Chapels." (p. 150.) There has been "a spontaneous recoil." (p. 151.) We +cannot "resist the tide of civilization on which we are borne." +(p. 412.) "The time has come when it is no longer possible to ignore the +results of criticism." It is therefore "of importance that Christianity +should be seen to be in harmony with them." (p. 374.) "The arguments of +our genuine critics, with the convictions of our most learned clergy" +(p. 66) are all opposed to the actual teaching of the Church. Meantime, +"the Christian Religion is in a false position when all the tendencies +of knowledge are opposed to it." (p. 374.) "Time was when the Gospel was +before the age: ... when the highest minds found in its truths not only +the rule of their lives, but a well-spring of intellectual delight. Is +it to be held a thing impossible that the Christian Religion may again +embrace the thoughts of men upon the earth?" (pp. 374-5.) + +In the mean time, THE BIBLE is a stubborn fact in the way of the new +Religion. Nay, the English _Book of Common Prayer_ is a great hindrance; +for those "formulæ of past thinkings, have long lost all sense of any +kind;" (p. 297;) so that the Prayer-book "is on the way to become a +useless encumbrance, the rubbish of the past, blocking the road." +(_Ibid._) But the Prayer-book confessedly stands on a different footing +from the Bible. The Bible erects itself hopelessly in the way of "the +negative religion." (p. 151.) O those many prophecies, which for 4000 +long years sustained the faith of GOD'S chosen people, and at last found +fulfilment in the person of CHRIST, or in the circumstances which +attended the establishment of His Kingdom! O that glorious retinue of +types and shadows which heralded MESSIAH'S approach!... And then,--O the +miraculous evidence which attested to the reality of His Divinity[238]! +O the confirmation, (to those who needed it,) when He walked the water, +and stilled the storm, and cast out devils by His word, and by one +strong cry broke the gates of Death, and caused Lazarus to "Come forth!" +... O the solemn _independent_ testimony borne by Creeds, from the very +birthday of Christianity,--(whether planted in Syria or in Asia Minor, +in Africa or in Italy, in Greece or in Gaul; "in Germany or in Spain, +among the Celts or in the far East, in Egypt or in Libya, or in the +middle regions of the globe[239].") Lastly,--O the adoring voice of the +whole Church Catholic throughout the world, for many a succeeding +century,--translating, expounding, defining, explaining, defending to +the death!... How shall all this formidable mass of evidence possibly be +set aside? + +It is plain that Prophecy must be evacuated of its meaning; or rather, +must be denied entirely: and to do this, falls to the share of the +vulgar and violent Vice-Principal of Lampeter College. Disprove he +cannot; so he sneers and rails and blusters instead. Prophecy, he calls +"omniscience;" "a notion of foresight by vision of particulars;" +(p.70;) "a kind of clairvoyance," (p. 70,) and "literal +prognostication." (p. 65.) Mr. Jowett (as we have lately seen[240],) +lends plaintive help: but indeed Dr. Williams does not lack supporters. + +To deny the truth of Miracles falls to the lot of the Savilian Professor +of Astronomy. His method has the merit of extreme simplicity: for it is +based on the ground that, in the writer's opinion, Miracles are +impossible,--which of course must be held to be decisive of the +question. + +The battle against the Inspiration of the Word of GOD is reserved for +the Regius Professor of Greek; who requires for his purpose twice the +space of any of his fellows. _His_ method is also of the simplest kind, +when divested of its many encumbrances. He simply _assumes it as proved_ +that the Bible is a book not essentially different from Sophocles and +Plato. In other words he _assumes_ that the Bible is not inspired; and +reproaches, pities, or sneers at every one who is not of his opinion. + +In the meantime, What _is_ Prophecy? What _are_ Miracles? Of what sort +is that Bible which has imposed upon mankind so grossly, and so long? +They are _facts_, and must be explained. What are they? Prophecy, then, +is "_only the power of seeing the ideal in the actual_, or of tracing +the Divine Government in the movements of men." (p. 70.) As for +Miracles, "their evidential force is wholly _relative_ to the +apprehensions of the parties addressed ... Columbus' prediction of the +Eclipse to the native islanders," (p. 115,) is advanced as an +illustration of the nature of the argument from Miracles. By whatever +method the Bible has attained its present footing in the world, it is a +book which has been hitherto misunderstood; and it must plainly be dealt +with after a new fashion. Our Lord's Incarnation, Temptation, Death and +Burial, Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven,--all His Miracles, in +short, will be best interpreted _Ideologically_; in other words, by a +principle "which resolves into an ideal the whole of the historical and +doctrinal person of JESUS." (p. 200.) So interpreted, "the Gospel may +win again the minds of intellectual men;" (p. 376;) but it will find it +no easy matter. There is in fact "a higher wisdom" than the Gospel, +"which is known to those who are perfect,"--"_that_ reconcilement," +namely, "of Faith and Knowledge which may be termed Christian +Philosophy." (p. 413.) + +The great object, in short, is to bring about "a reconciliation" +(p. 375,) between "the minds of intellectual men" (p. 376,) and +Christianity. Such a reconciliation is to be regarded as a "restoration +of belief." (p. 375.) And it is to be effected by "taking away some of +the external supports, because they are not needed and do harm: also +because they interfere with the meaning." (p. 375.)--Those "external +supports" are (1) a belief in the Inspiration of the Bible;--(2) the +writings of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church;--(3) Creeds and the +decisions of Councils;--(4) the works of Anglican Divines;--(5) +Learning; (p. 337;)--(6) a profound acquaintance with the Greek +language; (p. 393;)--(7) a minute knowledge of Greek Grammar; +(p. 391;)--(8) the Doctrine of the Greek Article;--(9) the free use of +the parallel passages.... The Bible, when interpreted by any +self-relying young man who knows a little Greek, and attends to the +meaning _of words_,--will be seen in all the freshness of its early +beauty, like an old picture which has been recently cleaned. "A new +interest" will be excited by this new Bible, which will "make for itself +a new kind of authority." By being thus literally interpreted, it will +be transformed into "a spirit." Then, (but not before) the Bible will +enjoy the sublime satisfaction of keeping pace with the Age. It may so, +even yet, "embrace the thoughts of men upon the earth." + +But what kind of thing will this Bible be? The beginning of Genesis, +(pp. 207-253,) is to be rejected because it "is not an authentic +utterance of Divine knowledge, but a human utterance, which it has +pleased Providence to use in a special way for the education of +mankind." (p. 253.) We are invited to "a frank recognition of the +_erroneous views of Nature_ which the Bible contains." (p. 211.) Thus, +_all_ miraculous transactions will have to be explained away. The volume +of Prophecy will have to be regarded as a volume of History. The very +History will have to be read with distrust. Like other records, it is +subject to the conditions of "knowledge which existed in an early stage +of the world." (p. 411.) It does not even begin to be authentic, until +B.C. 1900; or rather, until B.C. 900[241]. What remains is to be looked +upon as "the continuous witness in all ages of the higher things in the +heart of man," (p. 375,)--(whatever that may happen to mean.) The Gospel +is to be looked upon as "a life of CHRIST in the soul, instead of a +theory of CHRIST which is in a book, or written down," (p. 423.) "The +lessons of Scripture, when disengaged from theological formulas, have a +nearer way to the hearts of the poor." (p. 424.) Even "in Missions to +the heathen, Scripture is to be treated as the expression of universal +truths, rather than of the tenets of particular men and Churches." +(p.423.) It is anticipated that this "would remove many obstacles to the +reception of Christianity." (_Ibid._) "It is not the Book of Scripture +which we should seek to give the heathen;" "but the truth of the Book; +the mind of CHRIST and His Apostles, in which all lesser details and +differences should be lost and absorbed;" "the purer light or element of +Religion, of which Christianity is the expression." (p. 427.) ... Such +is the ghostly phantom, by the aid of which the Heathen are to become +evangelized! + +But this historical Bible is not to be regarded as the rule of a man's +life, or indeed as an external Law at all. (pp. 36, 45.) "We walk now by +Reason and Conscience _alone_." (p. 21.) The Bible is to be identified +"with the voice of Conscience," (p. 45,)--which it has "to evoke, not to +override." (p. 44.) "The principle of private judgment ... makes +Conscience the supreme interpreter." (p. 45.) Ours is "a law which is +_not imposed upon us by another power_, but _by our own enlightened +will_:" (p. 35:) for the "Spirit, or Conscience" "legislates" henceforth +"_without appeal except to himself_." (p. 31.) + +Having thus disposed of "Traditional Christianity," (p. 156,) it is not +obscurely hinted that something quite different is to be substituted in +its place. And first, next to "a frank appeal to Reason, and a frank +criticism of Scripture," (p. 174,) the nature and "office of the Church +is to be properly understood." (p. 194.) + +The Church then is a spontaneous development of the State, as "part of +its own organization," (p. 195,)--a purely secular Institution. The +State will "develop itself into a Church" by "throwing its elements, or +the best of them, into another mould; and constituting out of them a +Society, which is in it, though in some sense not of it (?),--which is +another (?), yet the same." (p. 194.) The nation must provide, from time +to time, that the teaching of one age does "not traditionally harden, so +as to become an exclusive barrier in a subsequent one; and so the moral +growth of those who are committed to the hands of the Church be +checked." (_Ibid._) The Church is founded, therefore, not upon "the +possession of a supernaturally communicated speculation (!) concerning +GOD," but "upon _the manifestation of a Divine Life in Man_." +"Speculative doctrines should be left to _philosophical schools_. A +national Church must be concerned with the _ethical development_ of its +members." (p. 195.) It should be "free from dogmatic tests, and similar +intellectual bondage;" (p. 168;) hampered by no Doctrines, pledged to no +Creeds. These may be retained indeed; but "_we refuse to be bound by +them_." (p. 44.) The Subscription of the Clergy to the Articles should +also be abolished: for "no promise can reach fluctuations of opinion, +and personal conviction." (!!!) _Open_ heretical teaching may, to be +sure, be dealt with by the Law; but the Law "should not require any act +which appears to signify 'I think.'" (p. 189.) Witness "the reluctance +of the stronger minds to enter an Order in which their intellects may +not have _free play_." (p. 190.) ... Such then is the Negative Religion! +Such is the new faith which Doctors Temple and Williams, Professors +Powell and Jowett, Messieurs Wilson, Goodwin, and Pattison, have +deliberately combined to offer to the acceptance of the World! + +It is high time to conclude. I cannot lay down my pen however until I +have re-echoed the sentiments of one with whom I heartily agree. I +allude to Dr. Moberly; who professes that he is "struck almost more with +what seems to him the hardheartedness, and exceeding unkindness of this +book, than with its unsoundness. Have the writers," (he asks,) +"considered how far the suggesting of innumerable doubts,--doubts +unargued and unproved,--will check honest devotion, and embolden timid +sin? _For whom_ do they intend this book? Is it written for the mass of +general readers? Is it designed for students at the Universities? Do +they suppose that this multitude of random suggestions will be carefully +wrought out by these readers, and be rejected if unsound; so as to leave +their faith and devotion untarnished?... Have they reflected how many +souls for whom CHRIST died may be slain in their weakness by _their_ +self-styled strength?" + +"Suppose, for a moment, that the Holy Scriptures _are_ (p. 177,) the +Word of the Spirit of GOD,--that the Miracles, (cf. p. 109,) including +the Resurrection of CHRIST, are actual objective facts, which have +really happened,--that the Doctrines of the Church are true, (p. 195,) +and the Creeds (p. 355,) the authoritative expositions of them,--and +that men are to reach Salvation through faith in CHRIST, Virgin-born, +according to the Scriptures, and making atonement (cf. p. 87,) for their +sins upon the Cross. ON THIS SUPPOSITION,--_Is not the publication of +this book an act of real hostility to GOD'S Truth; and one which +endangers the Faith and Salvation of Men?_ And is this hostility less +real, or the danger diminished, because the writers are, all but one, +Clergymen, some of them Tutors and Schoolmasters; because they wear the +dress, and use the language of friends, and threaten us with bitter +opposition if we do not regard them as such[242]?" + + * * * * * + +With this I lay down my pen. My last words shall be simple and +affectionate, addressed solely to yourselves. + +I trace these concluding lines,--(of a work which, but for _you_, would +never have been undertaken,)--in a _quite_ empty College; and in the +room where we have so often and so happily met on Sunday evenings. Can +you wonder if, at the conclusion of what has proved rather a heavy task, +(so _hateful_ to me is controversy,) my thoughts revert with +affectionate solicitude to yourselves, already scattered in all +directions; and to those evenings which more, I think, than any other +thing, have gilded my College life?... In thus sending you a written +farewell, and praying from my soul that GOD may bless and keep you all, +I cannot suppress the earnest entreaty that you would remember the best +words of counsel which may have at any time fallen from my lips: that +you would persevere in the daily study of the pure Book of Life; and +that you would read it, _not_ as feeling yourselves called upon to sit +in judgment on its adorable contents; but rather, as men who are +permitted to draw near; and invited _to listen_, and _to learn_, and _to +live_. And so farewell!... "Watch ye, stand fast in the Faith,"--nay, +take it in the original, which is far better:--=Grêgoreite, stêkete en tê +pistei andrizesthe, krataiousthe. panta hymôn en agapê ginesthô. Hê charis +tou Kyriou Iêsou Christou meth' hymôn. hê agapê mou meta pantôn hymôn.= + + Your friend, + J. W. B. + + ORIEL, + _June 22nd_, 1861. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[19] I abstain from enumerating Dr. Temple's mistakes,--for such things +do not belong to the essence of a composition. And yet I must remark +that it is hardly creditable in a Doctor of Divinity to write as he +does. "In _all_ (!) the doctrinal disputes of the fourth and fifth +centuries, the decisive voice came from Rome. Every controversy was +finally settled by her opinion, because she alone possessed _the art of +framing formulas_," &c. (p. 16.) Would the learned writer favour us with +_a single warrant_ for this assertion?... At p. 9, Dr. Temple mistakes +for Micah's, words spoken 700 years before by Balaam. At p. 10, he says +that "Prayer, as a regular and necessary part of worship, first appears +in the later books of the Old Testament."--His account of the papacy is +contained in the following words:--"Law was the lesson which Rome was +intended to teach the world. Hence (?) the Bishop of Rome soon became +the Head of the Church. Rome was in fact the centre of the traditions +which had once governed the world; and their spirit still remained; and +the Roman Church developed into the papacy simply because a head was +wanted (!), and no better one could be found."--p. 16. At p. 10 we have +a truly puerile misconception of the meaning of 1 Cor. xv. 56, &c., &c. + +[20] Deut. vi. 4. + +[21] 1 Sam. xv. 22, where see the places in the margin. + +[22] Hos. vi. 6, quoted by our LORD, St. Matth. ix. 13: xii. 7. + +[23] Consider Ps. xxvi. 6: l. 13, 14: li. 16, 17: cxvi. 15: cxix. 108: +cxli. 2, &c. + +[24] St. Matth. xvi. 4: xii. 39. Compare St. Mark viii. 38. + +[25] St. James iv. 4. + +[26] St. Matth. xxiii. 33. + +[27] Ezek. xvi. 47-52. + +[28] Is. i. 4, 6, 15. + +[29] St. John viii. 9. "I cannot but speak my mind," (says Josephus, +after taking a survey of the extreme wickedness of his countrymen, in +connexion with the horrors of the siege of Jerusalem,) "and it is this: +I suppose that if the Romans had delayed to come against these sinners, +either the earth would have swallowed them up; or the city would have +been swept away by another Flood; or it would have been consumed, like a +second Sodom, by fire from Heaven." + +[30] S. John xii. 38-40. "_They have blinded_ their eyes," &c. (See the +place in the LXX.:) sc. =ho laos houtos.= + +[31] "Had the revelation of CHRIST been delayed till now, assuredly it +would have been hard for us to recognize His Divinity.... We, of course, +have in our turn counterbalancing advantages. (!) If we have lost that +freshness of faith which would be the first (_sic_) to say to a poor +carpenter,--Thou art the CHRIST, the SON of the living GOD,--yet we +possess in the greater cultivation of our religious understanding, that +which perhaps we ought not to be willing to give in exchange (!) ... +They had not the same clearness of understanding as we; the same +recognition that it is GOD and not the Devil who rules the World; the +same power of discrimination between different kinds of truth.... Had +our LORD come later, He would have come to mankind already beginning to +stiffen into the fixedness of maturity.... The truth of His Divine +Nature would not have been recognized." (pp. 24-5.)--Is this meant for +bitter satire on the age we live in; or for disparagement of the +Incarnate WORD?... But in the face of such anticipations, the keenest +satire of all is contained in the author's claim to a "religious +understanding, cultivated" to a degree unknown to the best ages of the +Church; as well as to surpassing "clearness of understanding," and +"powers of discrimination." Lamentable in _any_ quarter, how deplorable +is such conceit in one who shews himself _unacquainted with the first +principles of Theological Science_; and who puts forth an Essay on the +Education of the World, which would have been discreditable to an +advanced school-boy! + +[32] Quite ineffectual, at the very close of this unhappy composition, +as a set off to the compacted and often repeated asseverations of his +earlier pages, is the amiable author's plaintive plea for "even the +perverted use of the Bible;" adding,--"And meanwhile, how utterly +impossible it would be in the manhood of the world to imagine any other +instructor of mankind!" (p. 47.) It is one of the favourite devices of +these seven writers, side by side with their most objectionable +statements, to insert isolated passages of admitted truth,--and +occasionally even of considerable beauty: which however are _utterly +meaningless_ and out of place where they stand; and (like the sentence +above written,) powerless to undo the circumstantial wickedness of what +went before. I repeat, that the words above-written are meaningless +_where they stand_: for if Dr. Temple really means that it is "_utterly +impossible in the manhood of the world to IMAGINE any other instructor +of mankind_" than THE BIBLE,--what becomes of his Essay? + +[33] =paratêreisthe=: i.e. "ye _mis_observe," "keep _in a wrong way_." + +[34] Gal. iv. 1-10. + +[35] Gal. iii. 24, 25. + +[36] Gal. v. 1. + +[37] 2 St. John v. 10, 11. + +[38] Rom. viii. 21. + +[39] It is presumed that the article in the _Dict. of Antiquities_ will +be held unexceptionable authority as to the office of the +=paidagôgos=.--"Rex filio pædagogum constituit, et singulis diebus ad +eum invisit, interrogans eum: Num comedit filius meus? _num in scholam +abiit? num ex scholâ rediit_?"--Wetstein, in loc.--So Plato _Lysis_, p. +118. + +[40] 1 St. Peter ii. 21. Comp. St. James v. 10. + +[41] 1 Cor. xi. 1: iv. 16. Phil. iii. 17. 2 Thess. iii. 9. Heb. xiii. 7, +&c. + +[42] 1 St. Pet. i. 11. + +[43] 1 Tim. i. 10: iv. 6. Tit. i. 9: ii. 1. Comp. 2 St. John v. 10. + +[44] 2 Tim. i. 13. + +[45] 2 Tim. i. 13, 14: ii. 2. Also 1 Tim. vi. 20. On both places, Dr. +Wordsworth's _Notes_ may be consulted with advantage. + +[46] 2 Tim. iv. 3. + +[47] 2 Thess. ii. 7, 8, &c. + +[48] Art. XX. + +[49] Art. VIII. + +[50] I allude especially to the terrible castigation he has individually +received at the hands of the Bishop of Exeter. See _the Times_, of March +4th, 1861. + +[51] "And when the Angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to +destroy it, the LORD ... said to the Angel that destroyed the people," +&c. "And the Angel of the LORD was by the threshing-place of Araunah the +Jebusite."--2 Sam. xxiv. 16. + +"The Angel of the LORD stood by the threshing-floor of Ornan the +Jebusite. And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the Angel of the LORD +stand between the Earth and the Heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand +stretched out over Jerusalem."--1 Chron. xxi. 15, 16. + +[52] Acts i. 20. + +[53] _On the Creed_, Art. iv. p. 244, _notes_ (_u_) and (_x_). + +[54] "It would take no great space," (says Dr. Pusey,) "to shew that the +rendering 'as a lion,' is unmeaning, without authority, against +authority; while the rendering 'they pierced' is borne out alike by +authority and language." + +[55] Ver. 1,--St. John xii. 38. Rom. x. 16. Ver. 4,--St. Matth. viii. +17. Ver. 4 to 11,--1 St. Pet. ii. 24, 25. Ver. 7 and 8,--Acts viii. 32. +Ver. 12,--St. Mark xv. 28. St. Luke xxii. 37. + +[56] Mal. iv. 5. + +[57] St. Luke i. 17. + +[58] As the Fathers generally teach. See Brown's _Ordo Sæclorum_, +pp. 702-3, &c., &c. + +[59] And yet,--"I go to prepare _a place_ for you!"--St. John xiv. 2. + +[60] See, for example, p. 60, (_lower half_,) p. 62, (_middle_,) &c. + +[61] Comp. p. 45. + +[62] Col. ii. 11, 12. Rom. ii. 29. Phil. iii. 3, &c. + +[63] _Edinburgh Review_, (Ap. 1861,) p. 429. + +[64] _Analogy_, P. II. ch. ii., _ad fin._ + +[65] _Analogy_, P. II. ch. iii., _ad init._ + +[66] Van Mildert's _Historical View of the Rise and Progress of +Infidelity_, &c. Serm. xxi., (ed. 1806,) vol. ii. pp. 313-17. + +[67] "Columbus' prediction of the eclipse to the native islanders, was +as true an argument to them as if the event had really been +supernatural." p. 115. + +[68] St. Mark viii. 19, 20. + +[69] St. John ix. + +[70] St. John xi. 44. + +[71] Consider St. John iii. 2, (referring to ii. 23 and iv. 45.) So ix. +16: x. 21 and 38: xiv. 10, 11. Also xv. 24; and consider St Luke vii. +16: also 21, 22: St. Matth. xii. 22, 23: St. John vii. 31: xii. 17-19. + +[72] St. John v. 44. Comp. vii. 17: viii. 12. St. Matth. v. 8. Ps. xix. +8: cxix. 100. Also, Ecclus. i. 26: xxi. 11.--"There is," (says an +excellent living writer,) "scarcely any doctrine or precept of our +SAVIOUR more distinctly and strongly stated, than that the capacity for +judging of, and for believing the Truths of Christianity, depends upon +Moral Goodness, and the practice of Virtue."--Let us hear our own Hooker +on this subject:--"We find by experience that although Faith be an +intellectual habit of the mind, and have her seat in the understanding, +yet an evil moral disposition obstinately wedded to the love of darkness +dampeth the very light of heavenly illumination, and permitted not the +Mind to see what doth shine before it."--_Eccl. Pol._, B. v.c. lxiii. +§ 2. + +[73] St. John xi. 44. + +[74] P. 113. The italics are in the original. + +[75] See the _Quarterly Review_, (on Prof. Baden Powell's "Order of +Nature,")--for Oct. 1859, (No. 212,) pp. 420-3. + +[76] p. 169.--"Priests have neither been, as some would represent, a set +of deliberate conspirators against the free thoughts of mankind; nor, on +the other hand," &c. _Ibid._--How partial becomes the judgment, when we +have to discuss the merits of our own order! + +[77] _Ans._ Clearly in the relation of a blessing which has by all means +to be communicated to them. + +[78] _Ans._ Certainly there is. Those which most obviously present +themselves are such as the following:--St. Matth. ix. 37, 38: xxviii. +19, 20. St. Luke xxiv. 47. Acts ii. 38, 39, &c. + +[79] _Analogy_, P. II. c. vi. + +[80] Rom. v. 12. + +[81] 1 Cor. xv. 22. + +[82] Eph. ii. 3. + +[83] _Analogy_, P. II. c. v. note (d). + +[84] Col. i. 23.--p. 155. + +[85] See Nelson's _Life of Bp. Bull_, p. 245. + +[86] See Nelson's _Life of Bp. Bull_, p. 242. + +[87] "The horizon which his view embraced was _much narrower_ than St. +Paul's,"--who had enlarged his mind by foreign travel, (p. 168.) + +In a note, we are informed that "at any rate his Gospel cannot, by +external evidence, be attached to the person (!) of St. John as its +author." "Many persons," (it is added,) "shrink from a _bonâ fide_ +examination of the 'Gospel question,' because they imagine, that unless +the four Gospels are received as ... entirely the composition of the +persons whose names they bear, and without any admixture of legendary +matter or embellishment in their narratives, the only alternative is to +suppose a fraudulent design in those who did compose them." (p. 161.) +... May one who has _not_ shrunk from 'the Gospel question' be permitted +to regret that the Reverend writer has not specified the charges which +he thus vaguely brings against the Gospels? _What_, pray, is the +legendary matter; and _which_ are the embellishments? + +In the same page we read of "the first, or genuine, epistle of St. +Peter." Is not his _second_ epistle genuine, then? + +[88] See above, p. lviii. + +[89] "Pleas for 'liberty of conscience' and 'freedom of opinion,'" (as +on excellent writer has recently pointed out,) "can have neither place +nor pretext, while there is liberty, for all who choose, to decline +joining the Church of England; _and freedom, for all who choose, to +leave her_."--Rev. C. Forster's 'Spinoza Redivivus,' (1861,) p. 6. + +[90] In what part of the Bible, (one begs respectfully to inquire,) is +one called upon to "accept the story of an arresting of the Earth's +motion, or of a reversal of its motion?" ... Would it not be as well to +be truthful in one's references to the Bible? + +[91] See below, p. 68. + +[92] See Butler's _Analogy_, P. II. c. iii. + +[93] _Quarterly Review_, Jan. 1861, p. 275. + +[94] Take a few as a specimen:--"A great restraint is supposed to be +imposed upon the Clergy by reason of their subscription to the +Thirty-nine Articles. Yet it is more difficult than might be expected, +to define what is the extent of the legal obligation of those who sign +them; and in this case, the strictly legal obligation is the measure of +the moral one. Subscription may be thought even to be _inoperative upon +the conscience_ by reason of its vagueness. For the act of subscription +is enjoined, but its effect or meaning nowhere plainly laid down; and it +does not seem to amount to more than an acceptance of the Articles of +the Church as the formal law to which the subscriber is _in some sense_ +subject. What that subjection amounts to, must be gathered elsewhere; +for it does not appear on the face of the subscription itself."--(p. +181. See down to page 185.) Can equivocation such as this be read +without a sense of humiliation and shame, as well as of disgust and +abhorrence? + +[95] p. 180 to p. 190. + +[96] Heading of the XXXIX Articles. + +[97] The reader is referred to some remarks on Ideology towards the +close of Sermon VII., p. 243 to p. 251. + +[98] "Unhappily, together with his _inauguration of Multitudinism_, +Constantine also inaugurated a principle essentially at variance with +it, the principle of _doctrinal limitation_." (p. 166.) ... "The +opportunity of reverting to the freedom of the Apostolic, and +immediately succeeding periods, was finally lost for many ages by the +sanction given by Constantine to the decisions of Nicæa." (_Ibid._) "At +all events, a principle at variance with a true Multitudinism was then +recognised." (_Ibid._) + +How does it happen, by the way, that one writing B.D. after his name, +however bitter his animosity against the Nicene Creed may be, is not +aware that Creeds are co-eval with Christianity? Thus we find the Creed +of Carthage in the works of Cyprian, (A.D. 225,) and Tertullian, +(A.D. 210, 203): that of Lyons in the works of Irenæus, (A.D. 180.) [see +Heurtley's _Harmonia Symbolica_, pp. 7-20.] We recognize fragments of +the Creed in Ignatius, (A.D. 90.) We hear St. Paul himself +saying--=hypotypôsin eche hygiainontôn logôn, hôn= (i.e. _the words_ +themselves!) =par' emou êkousas ... tên kalên parakatathêkên phylaxon=--2 +Tim. i. 13, 14. A few more words on this subject will be found in the +notice of Mr. Jowett's Essay. + +[99] It is really impossible to argue with a man who informs us that +"_previous to the time of the divided Kingdom_, the Jewish History +presents little which is thoroughly reliable:" (p. 170:)--that "the +greater probability seems on the side of the supposition, that the +Priesthood, with its distinct offices and charge, was constituted by +Royalty, and that _the higher pretensions of the priests were not +advanced till the reign of Josiah_:" (_Ibid._:)--that, "The negative +Theologian" demands "some positive elements in Christianity, on grounds +more sure to him than _the assumption of an objective 'faith once +delivered to the saints_,' which he cannot identify with the Creed of +any Church as yet known to him:" (pp. 174-5:)--a man who can remark +concerning the Bible, that,--"Those who are able to do so, ought to lead +the less educated to distinguish between the different kinds of words +which it contains, between _the dark patches of human passion and error +which form a partial crust upon it_, and the bright centre of spiritual +truth within." (p. 177.) + +[100] _Quarterly Review_, (Jan. 1851,) No. 217, p. 259. + +[101] A writer in the _Saturday Review_, (April 6, 1861,) in an +admirable Article on the importance of retaining the office of 'Dean' in +its integrity, (instead of suicidally merging it in the office of +'Bishop,') speaks of there being "no English Commentary on the New +Testament brought up to the level of modern Theological Science." [As if +"the level" had been rising of late!] "Butler and Paley are still our +text-books on the Evidences; and we are defending _old beliefs_ behind +wooden walls _against the rifled cannon and iron broadsides of modern +Philosophy_."--p. 337. What a strange misapprehension of the entire +question,--of the relation of Theological to Physical Science,--does +such a sentence betray! + +[102] See below, p. 235. + +[103] As the excellent Townson observed long since,--"The brightness of +countenance and raiment which dazzled and overcame the sight of His +Apostles when He was Transfigured on the Mount, was to Him but _a ray of +that glory in which He dwelt before the Worlds were made_."--Sermon on +"The manner of our SAVIOUR'S Teaching,"--_Works_, vol. i. p. 282. + +[104] St. Matth. xvii. 2. + +[105] St. Mark ix. 3. + +[106] 1 Tim. vi. 15, 16.--If it be more philosophical to suppose that +the Light which shone upon the earth during the first three days +proceeded from the Sun, (the orb of which remained invisible,) and not +from any extraneous independent source,--I have no objection whatever to +such a supposition,--or indeed to any other which suffers the inspired +record to remain intact. I am by no means clear however that Philosophy +(begging her pardon,) does not entirely mistake her office, when she +pretends to explain the first chapter of Genesis. Hence, her constrained +language, and unnatural manner, when she desires to be respectful,--her +inconsequential remarks and perpetual blunders when she rather prefers +to be irreligious. She is simply out of her element, and is discoursing +of what _she does not understand_.--Theology, dealing with a physical +problem by the method of Theological Science; and Philosophy, applying +to a chapter in the Bible the physical method,--are alike at fault, and +alike ridiculous. This truth, however obvious, does not seem to be +generally understood. + +But, (to return to the first three days of Creation,)--since the Author +of Revelation seems to design that I should understand that Sun, Moon, +and Stars not only did not come to view until the fourth day,--but also +that they were not re-invested with their immemorial function and office +until then,--I find no difficulty, _remembering with whom I have to do, +even with Him who sowed the vault of Heaven so thick with stars, each +one of which may be not a sun but a system_[107];--when, I say, I attend +to the emphatic nature of the inspired record, on the one hand, and to +GOD'S Omnipotence on the other,--I have no difficulty in supposing that +He embraced the Sun in a veil, for just so long a period as it seemed +Him good, and when He willed that it should re-appear, that He withdrew +the veil again. The _name_ for the operation just now alluded to belongs +to the province of Philosophy. Divinity is all the while thinking about +something infinitely better and higher. + +[107] Herschel. + +[108] Gen. i. 6. + +[109] Ibid. 20. + +[110] Job xxxvii. 18. + +[111] Ps. civ. 2. + +[112] Is. xl. 22. + +[113] Job xxvi. 8. + +[114] Prov. xxx. 4. + +[115] See also Job ix. 8. Even in Job xxxvii. 18, the sky is said to be +"_spread out_." So Is. xlv. 12, &c. + +[116] Job xxvi. 11. + +[117] 2 Sam. xxii. 8. + +[118] Ps. lxxviii. 23. + +[119] Gen. vii. 11. + +[120] Job ix. 6. Ps. lxxv. 3. See Blomfield's Glossary to Prom. Vinct. +v. 357. + +[121] Comp. Is. xxiv. 18. + +[122] See Is. xxiv. 18 and Mal. iii. 10. + +[123] =ekleipein tên hedran=. (Herod.) See Copleston's _Remains_, p. 107. + +[124] _Eccl. Pol._ 1. iii. § 2. + +[125] Gen. i. 26. + +[126] "The difficulty," he says, (alluding to Gen. i. 1,) "lies in this, +that the heaven is distinctly said to have been formed ... on the second +day." (p. 226.) But this is the language of a man determined that there +_shall_ be a difficulty. "The Heavens and the Earth" clearly denote, (in +the simple phraseology of a primitive age,) the sum of all created +things; the great transaction which Nehemiah has so strikingly +expounded:--"Heaven, _the Heaven of Heavens, with all their host_,--the +Earth and all things that are therein;" including "the sea, with all +that is therein." (Neh. ix. 6.) Whereas "the firmament" of ver. 6, +(which GOD called "Heaven" in ver. 8,) _can_ only indicate the blue +vault immediately overhead, wherein fowls fly. (ver. 20.) If this be +_not_ the meaning of Gen. i. 1, one half of the phrase is +"proleptical,"--the other half not: for the creation of Earth is nowhere +recorded, if not in ver. 1.... But surely it is a waste of words to +discuss such "difficulties" as these. + +[127] Consider especially Heb. iv. 9 and 10; and consider, (besides +Exod. xx. 11,) Deut. v. 15. See also Col. ii. 17. + +[128] "There have been found within the area of these islands upwards of +15,000 species of once living things, _every one differing specifically +from those of the present Creation_. Agassiz states that, with the +exception of one small fossil fish, (discovered in the clay-stones of +Greenland,) _he has not found any creature of this class, in all the +Geological strata, identical with any fish now living_." (Pattison's +_The Earth and the World_, p. 27.) + +[129] I allude to such passages as the following,--all of which are to +be found in Mr. Goodwin's Essay:-- + +"We are asked to believe that a vision of creation was presented to him +(Moses) by Divine power, for the purpose of enabling him to inform the +world of what he had seen; which vision inevitably led him to give a +description which has misled the world for centuries, and in which the +truth can now only with difficulty be recognized." (p. 247.) "The +theories [of Hugh Miller and of Dr. Buckland] assume that appearances +only, not facts, are described; and that, in riddles which would never +have been suspected to be such, had we not arrived at the truth from +other sources." (p. 249.) "For ages, this simple view of Creation +satisfied the wants of man, and formed a sufficient basis of theological +teaching:" but "modern research now shews it to be physically +untenable." (p. 253.) + +"The writer asserts solemnly and unhesitatingly that for which he must +have known that he had no authority." But this was only because "the +early speculator was harassed by no such scruples" as "arise from our +modern habits of thought, and from the modesty of assertion (!) which +the spirit of true science has taught us." He therefore "asserted as +facts what he knew in reality only as probabilities.... He had seized +one great truth.... With regard to details, observation failed +him."--(pp. 252-3.) + +[130] p. 329. + +[131] pp. 307-309. + +[132] Notice prefixed to _Essays and Reviews_. + +[133] p. 255. + +[134] Nos. 74, 76, 78, 81. + +[135] I allude particularly to the late Hugh James Rose, B.D. + +[136] Neh. iv. 17, 18. + +[137] St. Luke xviii. 8. + +[138] See Nelson's _Life of Bull_, p. 329, &c. + +[139] See his admirable Preface. + +[140] Newman's dedication of his 'Lectures on Romanism and popular +Protestantism.' + +[141] See the 'Monitum' prefixed to Dr. Routh's _Testimonia De +Auctoritate S. Scripturæ Ante-Nicæna.--Reliqq. Sacræ_, vol. v. p. 335. + +[142] "In 1781, the first Sunday School was established in England by +Robert Raikes, a publisher and bookseller in Gloucester."--National +Society's _Circular_. + +[143] _Primary Charge_, at the end of his _Sermons_. + +[144] Rev. M. Pattison, in _Essays and Reviews_, p. 307. + +[145] pp. 338, 375, 420 top line, 428, &c. + +[146] See all this very ably and interestingly explained in an article +reprinted from the 'Christian Remembrancer' (Jan. 1861,) _On certain +Characteristics of Holy Scripture_, by the Rev. J. G. Cazenove, p. 11, +&c. + +[147] Nor is this a mere slip of Mr. Jowett's pen. At p. 372, he states +that "a majority of the Clergy throughout the world,"--(with whom he +associates the "instincts of many laymen, perhaps also individual +interest,")--are in favour of "_withholding the Truth_." But, he adds, +(with the indignant emphasis of Virtue when she is reproaching +Vice,)--"a higher expediency pleads that 'honesty is the best policy,' +and that truth alone 'makes free!'"--How would such insolence be treated +in the common intercourse of daily life?--(I will not pause to remark on +Mr. Jowett's wanton abuse of the Divine saying recorded in St. John +viii. 32,--repeated at p. 351.) + +[148] I suppose that there may have been many inspired Psalmists; and +that perhaps the book of Judges was not all by one hand. With reference +to the two books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles, see 1 Chron. xxix. 29, +30. 2 Chron. ix. 29: xi. 2: xii. 15, 5, 7: xiii. 22. + +[149] By the Jews themselves they were reckoned as 22. + +[150] "It is remarkable that the word =Graphê=, which means simply +_Writing_, is reserved and appropriated in the New Testament (where it +occurs fifty times) to the _Sacred_ writings, i.e. to the _Holy +Scriptures_; and marks the separation of the _Scriptures_ from all +"common books," indeed from _all other writings_ in the +world."--Wordsworth 'On Inspiration,'--p. 85. + +[151] St. Luke xvi. 17. + +[152] =ou dynatai lythênai hê graphê=,--St. John x. 35. + +[153] e.g. (i) _Long passages_:-- + +Judges i. 11-15 quotes Joshua xv. 15-19.--2 Sam. xxii. quotes Ps. +xviii.--1 Chron. xvi. quotes Ps. xcvi., and Ps. cv.--2 Kings xix. quotes +Is. xxxvii.--2 Kings xx. quotes Is. xxxviii., xxxix. + +(ii) _One or two sentences_:-- + +Numb. xiv. 18 quotes Exod. xxxvi. 6, 7.--Ps. lxviii. 1 quotes Numb. x. +35.--Ps. lxviii. 7, 8 quotes Judges v. 4, 5.--Ps. cxviii. 14 quotes +Exod. xv. 2.--Prov. xxx. 5 quotes Ps. xviii. 30.--Joel ii. 13 quotes +Jonah iv. 2.--Isaiah xii. 2 quotes Exod. xv. 2.--Isaiah xiii. 6 quotes +Joel i. 15.--Isaiah li. 6 quotes Ps. cii. 25-7.--Isaiah lii. 10 quotes +Ps. xcviii. 2, 3.--Micah iv. 1, 2, 3 quotes Isaiah ii. 2, 3, 4.--Nahum +i. 15 quotes Isaiah lii. 7.--Zeph. iii. 19 quotes Micah iv. 6.--Habakkuk +ii. 14 quotes Isaiah xi. 9.--Jeremiah x. 13: li. 16 quotes Ps. cxxxv. +7.--Jeremiah xlviii. quotes Isaiah xv. 16.--Jeremiah xxvi. 18 quotes +Micah iii. 12.--1 Chron. xxix. 15 quotes Ps. xxxix. 12. + +(iii) _Allusive references_.--(This would involve a prolonged reference +to the Hebrew Scriptures, which would be even out of place here.) + +[154] See pp. 234-5. + +[155] Rev. Ralph Churton's Sermon "On the Quotations in the Old +Testament," (1807,) published in Townson's _Works_, vol. i. +p. cxxxiv.,--where see the interesting note. + +[156] Rev. Ralph Churton's Sermon, quoted in note (t, [our 155]), pp. +cxliv-v. + +[157] E.g. Gen. xxviii. 11, 12: xxxii. 1-3. Exod. xxiv. 10.--St. Luke +xxii. 43-45. St. Matth. xxvii. 52, 53. St. Jude ver. 9. + +[158] E.g. Jacob, Joseph, David.--St. Paul, St. Peter, St. John. + +[159] E.g. Gen. viii. 9: xxxvii. 15-17: xlviii. 17, 18. Exod. ii. +6.--St. Luke viii. 55. St. John xiii. 4, 5: xxi. + +[160] E.g. in Heb. viii. 8-12, where Jer. xxxi. 31-36 is quoted. See +Acts ii. 17-21, where Joel ii. 28-32 is quoted. + +[161] It is supposed that the three well-known references to profane +writers, (Acts xvii. 28. 1 Cor. xv. 33. Tit. i. 12, [concerning which +see Jerome, _Opp._ i. 424: vii. 471,])--the place in St. Matthew, +(xxvii. 9,)--and St. James iv. 5,--are scarcely exceptions to the +statement in the text. + +[162] See above,--(=4=). + +[163] Only given by St. Matthew and St. Luke. + +[164] Only found in St. Luke iii. 36. + +[165] Only found in St. Matth. i. 5. + +[166] Only found in Acts vii. 16. + +[167] Only found in Acts vii. 23. + +[168] St. James v. 17,--mentioned also by our LORD, St. Luke iv. 25; who +informs us that Jonah _was a sign_ to the Ninevites. This is only +revealed in St. Luke xi. 30. + +[169] 2 Cor. xi. 3. + +[170] St. Jude ver. 9. + +[171] 2 Tim. iii. 8. + +[172] See Heb. xi. 19. Consider Rom. iv. 19. + +[173] Acts vii. 16. + +[174] Compare Exod. ii. 2, 3 with Acts vii. 20. Consider Rev. ii. 14: +also Heb. xii. 21: also Heb. ix. 19, &c. + +[175] _Sermons_, by the Rev. C. P. Eden, p. 185. + +[176] =Ti gar estin ho Nomos? Euangelion prokatêngelmenon· ti de to +Euangelion? Nomos peplêrômenos.= Justin: _Quæst._ ci. p. 456. + +[177] Eadem sunt in Vetere et Novo: ibi obumbrata, hic revelata; ibi +præfigurata, hic manifesta. (Augustine: _Quæst._ xxxiii., in Num. § 1. +m. iii. p. 541.)--In Veteri Testamento est occultatio Novi: in Novo +Testamento est manifestatio Veteris. (_Id. De Catechiz. Rudibus_, § +8.--See also Quæst. lxxiii. in Exod.) + +[178] See below, from the foot of p. 174 to the beginning of p. 176. + +[179] Below, p. 108. The reader is requested to refer to the place. + +[180] E.g. Gen. xi. 5-8: xviii. 17-21. + +[181] E.g. Gen. vi. 6. 2 Sam. xi. 27. + +[182] E.g. 2 Kings xix. 35. St. Matth. xxviii. 2, 3. + +[183] Rev. i. 10, 11. + +[184] _Analogy_, P. II. ch. vii. + +[185] Butler's _Analogy_, P. II. ch. vii. + +[186] Heb. viii. 1. + +[187] St. Luke iv. 21. + +[188] St. John v. 46. + +[189] St. Luke xxiv. 27. + +[190] St. Luke xxiv. 44. + +[191] Dr. Wordsworth (Occasional Sermon 54,) _On the Inspiration of the +Old Testament_, (1859.)--p. 70. + +[192] 2 Tim. ii. 2. + +[193] See the middle of p. cxcvii. + +[194] Photius, p. 195, ed. Bekker.--"Eos simul jungendos +censui,--Polycarpum, Irenæum, Hippolytum; cum Hippolytus discipulus +Irenæi fuisset, Irenæusque Polycarpum, Joannis Apostoli discipulum, +audivisset."--Routh, Preface to _Opuscula_, p. x. + +[195] St. Luke xxiv. 27. + +[196] St. John xiv. 26. The fulfilment of this promise repeatedly +occurs: as in St. John ii. 17, 22: xii. 16: xiii. 7: St. Luke xxiv. 8. +Consider St. John xx. 9. + +[197] 1 Cor. xii., xiii., xiv., &c. + +[198] St. Luke xxiv. 45. + +[199] Acts ii. 4-21. + +[200] See Mr. Jowett's Essay, p. 354. + +[201] Ps. xcii. 5. + +[202] Acts viii. 30, 31.--"'Revela,' inquit David, 'oculos meos, et +considerabo mirabilia de Lege Tuâ.' Si tantus Propheta tenebras +ignorantiæ confitetur, quâ nos putas parvulos, et pene lactantes, +inscitiæ nocte circumdari? Hoc autem velamen non solum in facie Moysi, +sed et in Evangelistis et in Apostolis positum est."--Hieronymus, _Ep._ +lviii. vol. i. p. 323. + +[203] Dr. Moberly, as before, pp. liii.-iv. + +[204] _Minor Works_, vol. ii. p. 10. + +[205] _Ibid._ p. 6. + +[206] See Serm. I. pp. 10-11, 13, &c. + +[207] See below, p. 142. + +[208] From a Sermon by the Rev. F. Woodward, quoted below, at p. +249.--In illustration of the learned writer's concluding remark, take +this from the Creed of Lyons, contained in Irenæus (A.D. 180),--=Kai eis +Pneuma HAgion, to dia tôn Prophêtôn kekêrychos tas oikonomias, kai tas +eleuseis.= In the Creed of Constantinople, we read, =To Pneuma to HAgion +... to lalêsan dia tôn Prophêtôn.= + +[209] The Creed of Lyons begins by describing itself as that which =hê +men Ekklêsia, kaiper kath' holês tês oikoumenês heôs peratôn tês gês +diesparmenê, para de tôn Apostolôn kai tôn ekeinôn mathêtôn paralabousa, +k.t.l.= Most refreshing of all, however, are the concluding words of +that Creed: so comfortable are they that I _cannot_ deny myself the +consolation of transcribing them here, where indeed they are very much +_ad rem_:-- + +=Touto to kêrygma pareilêphyia, kai tautên tên pistin, hôs proephamen, hê +ekklêsia, kaiper en holô tô kosmô diesparmenê, epimelôs phylassei, hôs hena +oikon oikousa· kai homoiôs pisteuei toutois, hôs mian psychên kai tên autên +echousa kardian· kai symphônôs tauta kêryssei, kai didaskei, kai +paradidôsin, hôs hen stoma kektêmenê. Kai gar hai kata ton kosmon dialektoi +anomoiai, all' hê dynamis tês paradoseôs mia kai hê autê. Kai oute hai en +Germaniais hidrymenai ekklêsiai allôs pepisteukasin, ê allôs +paradidoasin, oute en tais Ibêriais, oute en Keltois, oute kata tas +anatolas, oute en Aigyptô, oute en Libyê, oute hai kata mesa tou kosmou +hidrymenai. All' hôsper ho hêlios, to ktisma tou Theou, en holô tô kosmô +heis kai ho autos, houtô kai to kêrygma tês alêtheias pantachê phainei, kai +phôtizei pantas anthrôpous tous boulomenous eis epignôsin alêtheias +elthein. Kai oute ho pany dynatos en logô tôn en tais ekklêsiais proestôtôn +hetera toutôn erei, (oudeis gar hyper ton didaskalon,) oute ho asthenês en +tô logô elattôsei tên paradosin. Mias gar kai tês autês pisteôs ousês, oute +ho poly peri autês dynamenos eipein epleonasen, oute ho to oligon +êlattonêse.=--See Heurtley's _Harmonia Symbolica_, p. 9. + +[210] Abridged from Dr. Moberly, as before, pp. lii.-v. + +[211] =Kai honper tropon ho tou sinapeôs sporos, en mikrô kokkô, pollous +periechei tous kladous, houtô kai hê Pistis hautê, en oligois rhêmasi, +pasan tên en tê Palaia kai Kainê tês eusebeias gnôsin +enkekolpistai.=--Cyril. Hieros. Cat. v. § 12,--quoted by Heurtley. + +[212] _Answer._ He certainly does not employ _the identical language_ of +the Nicene Council, or of the (so called) Athanasian Creed. But what +then? + +[213] _Ans._ Passages of the Epistles "distributed in alternate clauses +between our Lord's Humanity and Divinity," begging Mr. Jowett's pardon, +is nonsense. But _no_ passage in St. Paul's Epistles which relates to +the Humanity, or to the Divinity of CHRIST, could be said to "lose its +meaning" by being unlocked by its own proper clue: or, if the statement +be complex, by being distributed under two heads. + +[214] _Ans._ But not, I suppose, to _reconcile_ them? Why use inaccurate +language on so solemn a subject? + +[215] _Ans._ Doubtless we have to suppose this! + +[216] _Ans._ Not so. For "there is one Person of the FATHER, and another +of the SON." + +[217] _Ans._ Doubtless we have to suppose this! + +[218] _Ans_. But He did _not_ doubt! + +[219] 1 St. John iv. 2, 3.--2 St. John ver. 7. + +[220] Dr. Moberly, as before, p. xlvii. + +[221] E.g. "We should observe how the popular explanations of Prophecy, +as in heathen (Thucyd. ii. 54,) so also in Christian times, had adapted +themselves to the circumstances of mankind." (The Reverend writer can +_never for a moment_ divest himself of his theory that Thucydides and +the Bible stand on the same footing!) "We might remark that in our own +country, and in the present generation especially, the interpretation of +Scripture had assumed an apologetic character, as though making an +effort to defend itself against some supposed inroad of Science and +Criticism." (p. 340.) ... Just as if any other attitude was _possible_ +when one has to do with 'Essayists and Reviewers!' + +[222] One would imagine that the Essayist and his critic were entirely +agreed. See below, p. 74,--"I refuse to accept any _theory_ whatsoever." +And p. 115,--"_Theory_ I have none." + +[223] Had the following passage occurred sooner to my recollection, it +should have been sooner inserted:--"Are we to conduct the Interpretation +of Holy Scripture as we would that of any other writing? We are and we +are not. _So far_ as THE WORDS _are concerned, the mere words of +Scripture_ have the same office with those of all language written or +spoken in sincerity." They must be studied "by the same means and the +same rules which would guide us to the meaning of any other work; by a +knowledge of the languages in which the books were written, the Hebrew, +the Chaldee, the Greek, and of those other languages, as the Syriac and +Arabic, which may illustrate them; and of all the ordinary rules of +Grammar and Criticism, and the peculiar information respecting times and +circumstances, history and customs,--all the resources, in a word, of +the Interpretation of any work of any kind. _The Grammatical and +Historical interpretation of profane or sacred writings is the same_.... +"All Scripture," meanwhile, "_is given by Inspiration of GOD_:" and this +at once introduces several important differences; which whoever neglects +may yet, with whatsoever advantages of learning and talent, fail to +discover the real meaning of the Word of GOD."--From Dr. Hawkins +(Provost of Oriel)'s _Inaugural Lecture_ as Dean Ireland's Professor, +delivered in 1847,--pp. 29-30. + +It is but fair to Mr. Jowett to add that, _in terms_, he has very nearly +(not quite) said the self-same thing himself, at p. 337, (upper half the +page.) But it is the peculiar method of this most slippery writer, or +most illogical thinker, occasionally to grant almost all that heart can +desire, as far as _words_ go; but straightway to deny, or evacuate, or +explain away, _the thing_ which those words ought to signify.--Thus, at +p. 337, he volunteers the remark that "No one who has a Christian +feeling would place Classical on a level with Sacred Literature;" and at +p. 377, he observes that, "There are many respects in which Scripture is +unlike any other book." And yet, (as I have shown, p. cxliii. to p. +cl.,) Mr. Jowett _puts_ the Bible on a level with Sophocles and Plato; +and argues throughout as if Scripture were in _no_ essential respect +unlike any other book! + +[224] "Had this writer reminded us that the New Testament Greek is a +Greek of different age from that of the classical writers; had he simply +warned us that we must not press our Attic Greek scholarship too far, +but study the Alexandrian Greek of the Septuagint, Philo, &c. in order +to ascertain the exact meaning of the words and phrases of the writers +of the New Testament;--still more, if, as the result of such study on +his own part, he had offered us some well-digested observations on the +use of tenses, articles, or particles in the sacred writings;--he would +have done some service. But this talk about 'excessive attention to the +article,' and 'particles being often mere excrescences of style,' is of +no effect except to expose the writer to ridicule. It sounds as if he +had been accustomed to lay down the law to an admiring audience of +'clever young men,' and had forgotten that there were still 'men in +Denmark' who understood Greek."--_Some Remarks on Essays and Reviews_, +prefixed to Dr. Moberly's 'Sermons on the Beatitudes.' (1861.) pp. +lxii.-iii. + +[225] _Quarterly Review_, No. 217, p. 298. + +[226] _Quarterly Review_, No. 217, pp. 265-6. + +[227] St. Matth. ii .1, 22. + +[228] St. Luke ii. 41. + +[229] See Sermon VII., pp. 222-232. + +[230] _Essays and Reviews_, p. 109. + +[231] See Dr. Moberly, (as before,) p. lv.-lx. + +[232] _Edinburgh Review_, (April, 1861,) p. 476. + +[233] The Rev. H. B. Wilson says,--"If those who distinguish themselves +in Science and Literature cannot, in a scientific and literary age, be +effectually and cordially attached to the Church of their nation, they +must sooner or later be driven into a position of hostility to it." +(p. 198.) This is one of the many notes, if not of "concert and +comparison," at least of _intense sympathy_ between the Essayists and +Reviewers. + +[234] _Quarterly Review_, No. 217, p. 266. + +[235] See at pp. 351, 352, 357, 358, 361, 365, 367, 413, &c. + +[236] _Quarterly Review_, as before, p. 282. + +[237] Take a few instances:--Mr. Wilson and Mr. Jowett speak of the +Gospels as more or less accurately embodying a common _tradition_, pp. +161 and 346.--Dr. Temple and Mr. Jowett propose the heart and +conscience, as _the overruling principle_, pp. 42-5, and 410:--and +insist that the Bible is "a Spirit, not a Letter," pp. 36 and 357, 375, +425.--Dr. Temple and Dr. Williams regard the Bible as _the voice of +conscience_, pp. 45 and 78:--look for _a verifying faculty_ in the +individual, pp. 45 and 83:--dwell on the "interpolations" in Scripture, +pp. 47 and 78.--Mr. Wilson and Mr. Jowett insist on the meaning which +Scripture had _to those who first heard it_, as its true meaning, pp. +219, 223, 230, 232, and 338, 378:--on the necessity of _reconciling +Intellectual men to Scripture_, pp. 198 and 374.--Professor Powell and +Mr. Jowett are of one mind as to Miracles, pp. 109 and 349.--Dr. Temple +and Mr. Jowett delight in the same image of the Colossal Man, pp. 1-49 +and 331, 387, 422.--Dr. Williams and Mr. Jowett coincide in their +estimate of the German Commentators, pp. 67 and 340.--Dr. Temple and Dr. +Williams are of one mind as to the past training of our Race, pp. 1-49, +and 51. They are generally agreed as to the untrustworthiness of +Genesis, and of the Scripture generally, the hopeless contradictions +between the Evangelists, &c., &c. They hold the same language about our +having outlived the Faith, ('Traditional Christianity,' as it is +called;) the impossibility of freedom of thought; the necessity of +providing some new Religious system; the effete nature of Creeds and +formularies of Belief; the advance in Natural Science as likely to prove +fatal to Theology, &c., &c. + +[238] See St. John iii. 2: v. 36: x. 25, 37-8: xiv. 11: xv. 24: St. Luke +vii. 20-22, &c., &c. + +[239] Creed of Lyons, A.D. 180; see above, p. clxxx., note. + +[240] pp. cxciv.-v. + +[241] See pp. 57 and 170. + +[242] _Some Remarks, &c._, pp. xxiii.-xxv. + + + + +$Seven Sermons.$ + + +SUBJECTS OF THE SERMONS. + + (_For a detailed account of the Contents of these Sermons, + the Reader is referred to the beginning of the Volume._) + + I.--THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE RECOMMENDED; AND A METHOD OF + STUDYING IT DESCRIBED p. 1 + + II.--NATURAL SCIENCE AND THEOLOGICAL SCIENCE p. 23 + + III.--INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE.--GOSPEL DIFFICULTIES.--THE + WORD OF GOD INFALLIBLE.--OTHER SCIENCES SUBORDINATE TO + THEOLOGICAL SCIENCE p. 53 + + IV.--THE PLENARY INSPIRATION OF EVERY PART OF THE BIBLE, + VINDICATED AND EXPLAINED.--NATURE OF INSPIRATION.--THE TEXT + OF SCRIPTURE p. 91 + + V.--INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE.--INSPIRED + INTERPRETATION.--THE BIBLE IS NOT TO BE INTERPRETED LIKE ANY + OTHER BOOK.--GOD, (NOT MAN,) THE REAL AUTHOR OF THE BIBLE p. 139 + + VI.--THE DOCTRINE OF ARBITRARY SCRIPTURAL ACCOMMODATION + CONSIDERED p. 183 + + VII.--THE MARVELS OF HOLY SCRIPTURE, MORAL AND + PHYSICAL.--JAEL'S DEED DEFENDED.--MIRACLES VINDICATED p. 221 + + * * * * * + +PRÆVENERUNT OCULI MEI AD TE DILUCULO, UT MEDITARER ELOQUIA TUA. + +QUAM DULCIA FAUCIBUS MEIS ELOQUIA TUA: SUPER MEL ORI MEO. + +LUCERNA PEDIBUS MEIS VERBUM TUUM, ET LUMEN SEMITIS MEIS. + +=Ô KALÔS POIEITE PROSECHONTES, ÔS LYCHNÔ PHAINONTI EN AUCHMÊRÔ TOPÔ, EÔS OY +ÊMERA DIAUGASÊ, KAI PHÔSPHOROS ANATEILÊ EN TAIS KARDIAIS UMÔN.= + +DOMINE DEUS meus, ... sint castæ deliciæ meæ Scripturæ Tuæ. Nec fallar +in eis, nec fallam ex eis.--AUGUSTINUS, _Confessiones_, lib. xi. c. ii. +§ 3. + +The Book of this Law we are neither able nor worthy to look into. That +little thereof which we darkly apprehend we admire: the rest with +religious ignorance we humbly and meekly adore.--HOOKER, _Eccl. Pol._, +B. I. ch. ii. § 5. + + * * * * * + + + + +SERMON I.[243] + + * * * * * + +THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE RECOMMENDED; AND A METHOD OF STUDYING IT +DESCRIBED. + + * * * * * + +ST. JOHN vi. 68. + +_LORD, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of Eternal Life._ + + +It was probably in that synagogue which the faithful Centurion built at +Capernaum[244] that our SAVIOUR had been discoursing. At the end of His +discourse, it is related that "many of His Disciples went back, and +walked no more with Him." Thereupon, He asked the Twelve, "Will ye also +go away?" the very form of His inquiry (=Mê kai hymeis=) implying the +answer which the Divine Speaker expected and desired. And to this +challenge of Love to Faith, St. Peter replied, not only on behalf of his +fellow-Apostles, but on behalf of all faithful men to the end of +time:--"LORD, to _whom_ shall we go? _Thou_ hast the words of Eternal +Life!" + +You perceive that St. Peter's confession takes a peculiar form,--resting +the impossibility of unfaithfulness in the Apostles on the gracious +discourse of Him to whom they had been listening. "A hard saying," and +unpalatable, it had proved to many; but to his own taste it had seemed +"sweeter than honey and the honeycomb." So that while, to those others, +it had been an occasion of going back, and walking with CHRIST no +more,--to himself it had been a reason why he could never, as he felt, +be persuaded to forsake CHRIST. Nay, it was to himself, (and, as he +boldly assumed, to his fellow-Apostles,) a sufficient evidence that the +Speaker was none other than the SON of GOD. "And we believe, and are +sure, that Thou art the CHRIST, the SON of the living GOD!" + +Here then, surely, a very solemn picture is set before us. The same +message proves, in the case of some, the savour of death unto death: in +the case of others, of life unto life. It is an image of what is still +taking place in the world. The Gospel, whether veiled in the Old +Testament, or unveiled in the New, is confessedly "a hard saying:"--to +some, their very crown and joy; to others, only an occasion of distress +and downfall. It was so, when proclaimed not by the tongue of men and of +angels, but by the lips "full of grace and truth" of the Incarnate WORD +Himself: and it is so still. The temper of mankind is still the same as +it was of old, and the instrument of man's trial is still the same. + +Of the written Gospel, many of the self-same things are said in +Scripture which are said of Him by whom that Gospel was preached. Thus, +it is proclaimed to be "the power of GOD to salvation[245]." It is +described as "a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the +heart[246]." It is declared to be eternal,--a thing which "shall never +pass away[247]." "In the last day," it is prophesied that the words +which CHRIST has spoken "shall judge" men[248]. The very Name by which +St. John designates the Eternal SON, in the forefront of his +Gospel[249], is the appellation by which the Gospel is emphatically +known.--But even more remarkable are the analogies which subsist between +the written record of our LORD'S Life and Teaching, and the actual +person of our LORD. And proposing, as I now do, to say a few earnest +words to the younger men in recommendation of a more punctual, +methodical, as well as attentive study of the Bible, than, I am +persuaded, is practised by one young man in a thousand,--it may not +prove unavailing in awakening attention, if I advert, in passing, to +some of the circumstances whereby an even balance, (so to speak,) is +established between the opportunities of the men of this generation, and +of those who were blessed with the oral teaching of the Son of Man. + +1. Thus, if the record has its difficulties, and its seeming +contradictions, so had _He_. It did not appear that "JESUS _of +Nazareth_" was born, (according to the prophet Micah's prediction,) at +_Bethlehem_[250]. His title perplexed even Nathanael[251].--He was +called the son of _Joseph_, even _by the Blessed Virgin[252]_. How then +could He be the SON of GOD? And how was the famous prophecy of Isaiah +fulfilled in Him[253]?--He grew up in a lowly estate. Once He is called +"the carpenter[254]." How then could He be of the Royal House of David? +And so, in many other respects, did He, in His own person, present the +self-same class of difficulties to the world's eye which His Gospel +presents to ours:--"the sixteenth of Tiberius,"--the two +genealogies,--"Cyrenius,"--"the days of Abiathar,"--"Jeremy the +prophet,"--and so on. + +2. Somewhat less obvious, but not less true, is the unattractive aspect, +at first sight, of the Gospel. Verily there is, until we become +intimately acquainted with it, "no beauty that we should desire" +it.--The style, (full of interest, to those who have tried to understand +it a little,) is not, I suppose, what critics would call altogether a +good style.--The Greek is not what learned men call _pure_.--Many a +word, (brimfull of meaning to those who will give to the words of the +Gospel their best care,) reminds one, that neither did _He_ speak what, +in the capital of Jewry, was accounted a classical idiom. He employed +the accent of the despised Galilee.--The very reasoning, (until you give +it your heart's homage and best attention,) often seems to be either +inconsequential, or to contain a fallacy. Certain words of our LORD have +been even _cited_ as fallacious by a celebrated Divine whose writings we +are all familiar with[255]. Now, _His_ words were disregarded, cavilled +at, made light of, in just the same manner. + +3. Most surprising of all is the analogy observable between the union of +the Divine and the human element in the Gospels,--and the strictly +parallel union, as it seems, of the two natures, the Divine and the +Human, in the person of our LORD.--As _He_ was perfect and faultless, so +do we deem _it_ infallible also, without spot or blemish of any kind. We +reject as monstrous any 'theory of Inspiration,' (as it is called,) +which imputes blunders to the work of the HOLY GHOST.--As, further, we +claim for our LORD'S recorded human actions mysterious significancy, so +do we seem warranted in looking for a mysterious purpose, a divine +meaning, in every expression of the written Word.--Lastly, although we +may, nay we must, admit such a Divine and such a human element, we must +altogether deny the possibility of separating the one from the other. We +cannot separate Scripture into human and Divine. Like the Incarnate +WORD, the Gospel is at once both human _and_ Divine, yet one and +indivisible. And the method of its inspiration is as great a difficulty +in its way, and as much beyond our ken, as the nature of the union of +the Godhead and the Manhood in the one person of CHRIST. + +For whatever reason, and whether you please to accept the foregoing +remarks or not, it is a plain fact that the Gospel is now in the world, +fulfilling the same office towards mankind, which our Saviour CHRIST +Himself fulfilled, and experiencing the same treatment at the hands of +men in return. It is leavening society indeed, and remodelling the +world, even while it is practically overlooked by politicians or +experiencing evil treatment from them. It wins its way silently and +secretly, yet surely; and it works miracles here and there. Moreover, it +divides opinion; separating, as it will for ever separate, the light +from the darkness[256]. It is slighted, and overlooked, and neglected by +some; even while, by others, it is embraced with joy unspeakable. 'The +humble and meek' adore it; even while, by the proud and rebellious, it +is after a most strange fashion cavilled at, called in question, and +denied. We specify _the Gospel_, instinctively, as that part of the +Inspired Word which chiefly concerns ourselves, as Christian men; but +the entire deposit shares the same fate. I do not think I am delivering +a paradox when I say that the Bible is generally very little read. That +the amount of _study_ commonly bestowed upon it bears no proportion +whatever to its transcendent importance and paramount value, shall not +be any paradox at all; but a mere truism. + +For I entreat you to consider, (trite and obvious as it may sound,) +_What_ have we, in the whole wide world, which may be put in competition +with that Book which contains GOD'S revelation of Himself to man? In its +early portions, how does it go back to the very birthday of Time, and +discourse of things which were done in the grey of that early morning! +How mysterious is the record,--so methodical, so particular, so unique; +preserving the very words which were syllabled in Paradise, and +describing transactions which no one but the HOLY GHOST is competent to +declare! Come lower down, and _where_ will you find more beautiful +narratives,--still fresh at the end of three and four thousand +years,--than those stories of Patriarchs, Judges, Kings, which wrap up +divinest teaching in all their ordinary details: where every word is +weighed in a heavenly balance, fraught with a divine purpose, and +intended for some glorious issue: where the very characters are +adumbrations of personages far greater than themselves; and where the +course of events is made to preach to us, at this distant day, of the +things which concern our peace! Is it a light thing again to know in +what terms Isaiah, and the rest of "the goodly fellowship," when they +opened their lips to speak in that remote age, foretold of the coming of +the Son of Man?... But all seems to grow pale before the Everlasting +Gospel, and the other writings of the New Testament. Surely we have +become too familiar with the providence which has preserved to us the +very words of the four Evangelists, if we can bend our thoughts in the +direction of the Gospel without a throb of joy and wonder not to be +described, at having so great a treasure placed within our easy reach. +Can it indeed be, that I may listen while the disciple whom JESUS loved +is discoursing of the miracles, and recalling the sayings of his LORD? +May I hear St. Peter himself address the early Church,--or know the +precise words of the message which St. Jude sent to the first +believers,--or be shown the Epistle which the LORD'S cousin addressed +"to the Twelve Tribes scattered abroad"? How does it happen that the +Book is not for ever in our hands which comes to us with such claims to +our undivided homage? + +But, on the contrary, it has become the fashion in certain quarters, on +every imaginable pretext, to call in question the credibility of the +Bible. It seems to be the taste of the age to invent hazy difficulties +and dim objections to its statements. Inspiration, under a miserable +attempt to explain it, is openly explained away. And the theory, however +crude and preposterous, is tolerated: at least it escapes castigation. +It cannot fail but that the unlearned and thoughtless ones of this +generation will be growing up in a notion that these are open questions +after all, and that "Truth" is but a name,--not a thing worth +contending, aye _dying_ for, if need be! The reason is but too obvious. +It must be, partly, because we do not in reality prize the deposit +nearly so much as we suppose. Partly, because of the indifferentism +which is everywhere so prevalent. Partly too because, notwithstanding +our intellectual activity, we are not a really learned body. And partly, +it must be confessed, the reason is, because Theology has become so +nearly a prostrate study with us, and because men really able to do +battle for the Truth are somewhat hard to find. Nor is there any +reasonable prospect of improvement either; for those who go forth from +this place into the Ministry, go with such slender preparation, that it +would be truer to say that they go with none at all. + +Now, it would be a mere waste of time, to inveigh for half an hour +against the indifferentism, or the spurious liberality, of the age: and +it would be a most unbecoming proceeding, (not to say a highly +distasteful one,) from this place to be suggesting remedies for an evil +which already lies very near the heart of every serious man among us; +and which, if discussed at all, must be discussed elsewhere. To say the +truth, while the neglect of Theology, and the low ebb of Theological +attainments in our Clergy, is generally recognized, the remedy for the +evil is by no means so clear. From this subject, then, I pass at once: +and I shall content myself with the far humbler task, of urging upon the +younger men present,--those especially who are destined for the +Ministry,--one act of preparation, one duty, about which, at all events, +there cannot be any difference of opinion: I mean the duty of applying +themselves, _now_, to the patient study of the Bible. + +The thing is soon said; but the hint requires expanding a little, in +order that it may become of any practical use.--By the "study of the +Bible," I do not mean a chapter occasionally read with care: nor even a +chapter regularly conned over at night; when a convivial meeting has +blunted the edge of observation, or severe study has exhausted the +powers of the brain. The _devotional_ use of a portion of Holy +Scripture is quite a distinct affair. Still less would the practice +satisfy me of following the lessons in the College Chapel: and this for +reasons so obvious that I will not stop to point them out. Nor even is +the reading of the Bible in College Lecture, the thing I mean; for +reasons also which any acute person will readily ascertain for himself. +None of these methods of acquainting yourselves with the contents of the +Bible come up to the thing I contemplate, although each is good in its +way; and of course I am not speaking in disparagement of any. + +No. The thing I would so strenuously urge upon you, is,--that, during +your undergraduate period, you should read the whole Bible consecutively +through, from one end to the other, _by_ yourself and _for_ yourself, +with consummate method, care, and attention. The fundamental conditions +of such a study of the Bible, in order to make it of any real use, are +these:-- + +1. First, that you should deliberately apportion to this solemn duty the +best and freshest and quietest half-hour in the whole day; and then, +that you should determine, let what will go undone, never to abridge +_that_ half-hour. You may sometimes be enabled to afford a little _more_ +time to the chapter: but you will find it quite fatal ever to devote a +shorter period to it. And half an hour, if you employ it in right good +earnest, at present, must be thought enough. + +2. Next, (except on Sundays and in Vacation, when you may safely double +your daily task and your daily time,) be persuaded to read each day +exactly one chapter. On no account attempt to go reading on; but rather +spend the moments which remain over, (they _cannot_ be many!) in +reviewing that day's portion; or referring to some of the places +indicated in the margin; or glancing over yesterday's chapter. + +The effect of building up your Bible knowledge in this manner, bit by +bit, is what you would not anticipate. The whole acquires a solidity and +compactness not to be attained by any other method. You will find at the +end of many days, not only that the structure has attained to symmetry +and beauty,--but that the disposition of its several parts, in some +respects, has become intelligible also: while, (what is not of least +importance,) the foundation on which all the superstructure rests, +proves wondrous secure and strong. + +3. Then, while you read,--safe from the risk of interruption, (as I +began by supposing,) and with every faculty intent on your task,--try, +as much as possible, to go over the words as if they were new to you; +and watch them, one by one, so that nothing may by any possibility +escape your notice. Do not slumber over a single word. Nothing can be +unimportant when it is the HOLY GHOST who speaketh. It is an excellent +practice to mark the expressions which strike you; for it is a method of +preserving the memory of what is sure else soon to pass away. + +4. And next, be persuaded to read without extraneous helps of any kind; +except, of course, such help as a map, or the margin of your Bible, +supplies. Pray avoid Commentaries and notes. First, you cannot afford +time for them: and secondly, if you could, they would be as likely to +mislead you as not. But the real reason why you are so strenuously +advised to avoid them, is, because they will do more to nullify your +reading, than anything which could be imagined. Your object is to +obtain an insight into Holy Scripture, by acquiring the habit of reading +it with intelligence and care: _not_ to be saved trouble, and to be +shown what _other persons_ have thought about it. + +5. But then, though you are entreated not to have recourse to the notes +of others, you are as strongly advised to make brief memoranda of your +own: and the briefer the better. Construct _your own_ table of the +Patriarchs,--_your own_ analysis of the Law,--_your own_ descent of the +Kings,--_your own_ enumeration of the Miracles. A pedigree full of +faults, made by yourself, will do you more good than the most accurate +table drawn up by another: but if you are at all attentive and clever, +_it will not be_ full of faults.--_You_ will perhaps make the parables +56 instead of 30: you will have gained 26 by your honest industry. Nay, +keep a record of your difficulties, if you please; or of anything which +strikes you, and which you would be sorry to forget. But, as a rule, it +is well to write little, and to give your time and thought to the record +before you. + +6. Above all, is it indispensable that your reading of the Bible should +be strictly consecutive; and on no account may any one pretend to begin +such a study of that book as I am here recommending, except at _the +first Chapter of Genesis_. It is a great mistake, (though one of the +commonest of all,) for a man to imagine that he knows the beginning of +the Bible pretty well. I say it advisedly, that it would be easy to +write down twelve interesting questions on that first chapter, of which +none of the younger men present would be able to answer three,--and yet, +they should all be questions of such a sort that a labouring man's child +with an open Bible would be able infallibly to answer them every one. + +7. It will follow from what has been offered, that you are invited to +read every book in the Bible in the order in which it actually +stands,--never, of course, skipping a chapter; much less a Book. In +every mere catalogue of names, be resolved to find edification. Feel +persuaded that details, seemingly the driest, are full of GOD. Remember +that the difference between every syllable of Scripture and all other +books in the world is, not a difference of _degree_, but of _kind_. All +books but one, are _human_: that one book is _Divine_! + +Now, you will perceive that the kind of study of the Bible here +recommended, is somewhat different from what is commonly pursued. I +contemplate the continued exercise of a most curious and prying, as well +as a most vigilant and observing eye. _No_ difficulty is to be +neglected; _no_ peculiarity of expression is to be disregarded; _no_ +minute detail is to be overlooked. The hint let fall in an earlier +chapter is to be compared with a hint let fall in the later place. Do +they tally or not? and what follows? The chronological details +spontaneously evolved by the narrative, are to be unerringly discovered +by the student _for himself_. The course of every journey is to be +attentively noted. Things omitted are to be spied out as carefully as +things set down; and whatever can possibly be gathered in the way of +necessary inference, is to be industriously ascertained. The imagination +is not to slumber either, because no pains are taken by the sacred +writer to move the feelings or melt the heart. + +How _soon_ will any one who takes the trouble to read the Bible after +this fashion, be struck with a hundred things which he never knew +before,--indeed, which are not commonly known! How will he be for ever +eliciting unsuspected facts,--detecting undreamed of coincidences, but +which are as important as they are true,--accumulating materials of +value quite inestimable for future study in Divine things! However +unpromising a certain collection of references may be, he is careful to +extend it,--convinced, like a wise householder, that there will come an +use for it after many days. His whole aim is to _master thoroughly_ the +record which he has undertaken to study. + +Let me not be misunderstood if it is added that the Bible should be +read,--I do not say _in the same manner_,--that is, in the same temper +and spirit,--but at least _with the same attention_, as is bestowed upon +a merely human work. In truth, it should be read with much more +attention. But _that_ diligence which a student commonly bestows on a +difficult moral treatise, or an obscure drama, or a perplexed +history,--analyzing it, comparing passage with passage, and learning a +great deal of it by heart,--I am quite at a loss to understand why a +student of the Bible should be a stranger to.--"I do much condemn," +(says Lord Bacon), "I do much condemn that Interpretation of the +Scripture which is only after the manner as men use to interpret a +profane book." So do I. Scripture is to be approached and handled in +quite a different spirit from a common history. The mind, the heart +rather, must bow down before its revelations, in the most suppliant +fashion imaginable. The book should ever be approached with +prayer:--"LORD, open Thou mine eyes that I may see the wondrous things +of Thy Law!" The very printed pages should be handled with reverence, +in consideration of the message they contain. But what I am saying is, +that none of the methods which diligence and zeal have ever invented to +secure a complete mastery of the contents of any merely _human_ +performance, may be overlooked by a student of _the Bible_. + +To what has gone before I will add one caution, and will trouble you +with one only. It would be easy to multiply cautions: but I am talking +to highly intelligent men; and there is only one rock which I am really +fearful of your running against. + +It was the advice of a great and good man, (to his clergy, I suspect,) +that they should read the Bible _with a special object_: and an +excellent recent writer has repeated the same advice; namely that men +should "read with a view to some particular inquiry, with purpose to +clear up some peculiar question of interest, which," (says he,) "you may +create for yourselves[257]." I entreat _you_ to do nothing of the kind. +Whatever advantages may result to an advanced student from adopting this +practice, to _you_ it _must_ be fraught with unmingled evil. You will be +tempted to overrate the importance of everything you discover which +suits your present purpose: you will disregard all that looks in a +different direction: you will be disappointed if you meet with nothing +_ad rem_: you will get a habit of slurring over many chapters, many +whole books of the Bible. A very little reflection will convince you +that it must be as I say. _Who_, for example, could be expected to find +delight and edification in the calendar of the Deluge, who had +determined to read Genesis with a view to discovering what knowledge +existed in the patriarchal age of a future life? No. Your wisdom will +be to divest your minds, as much as possible, of _any_ preconceived +notion as to what the Bible contains, or was intended to teach you. You +should wish to find there nothing so much as the authentic evidence of +_what_ Divine Wisdom hath seen fit to communicate to man. Read it +therefore, if you are wise, with unaffected curiosity: settling down +upon every flower, in order to find out, if you can, _where_ the honey +_is_: clinging to it rather, _until you have found_ the honey. Say to +yourself,--"It cannot be that all these details of months and days +should be given in vain[258]. I _must_ find out the reason of it." And, +at last, you will find,--what you will find.--"Very strange," (you will +learn to say to yourself,) "that the history of nearly 1600 years should +be curdled into one short chapter[259]; and yet that three verses of the +Bible should be devoted to the history of a man's losing his way in a +field, and then finding it again[260]!" The subject may be worth +thinking about. You are perhaps naturally disposed to take what you are +pleased to call "a common sense view" of the meaning of Holy Scripture; +and to interpret it after a very dry unlovely fashion of your own: to +evacuate its deeper sayings, and to doubt the mysterious significancy of +its historical details. You will speedily perceive, however, that the +Apostles and Evangelists of CHRIST,--as many as were moved by the HOLY +SPIRIT of GOD, and spoke not their own words but _His_,--that all these +are against you: and the effect of this discovery on an honest and good +heart, reading not in order to be confirmed in some preconceived +opinion, but with a sincere desire of enlightenment in Divine +things,--may be anticipated. Bishop Horsley relates that by a yet +simpler process he became disabused of a favourite fancy with which he +set out,--namely, that prophecy must of necessity carry a single +meaning[261].--The attitude of mind which I so strongly recommend you to +assume, (and it depends on an act of the Will, whether you assume it or +not,) is very exactly represented by the cry of the child +Samuel,--"Speak LORD, for Thy servant heareth!" + +It seems right, in the fewest words, to state what we _do_,--and what we +do _not_,--expect to result from such a study of the Bible as this; in +other words, to assign the office of unassisted Biblical study. I would +not willingly have my meaning mistaken _here_. + +It is not implied then, for a moment, that a man is either at liberty, +or able, to gather his own Religion for himself out of the Bible. The +very thought were monstrous. But it is a widely different thing for one +of yourselves to read his Bible patiently, and humbly, and laboriously, +through,--without prejudice or theory,--unmolested by critical notes, +undistracted by human comments, uninfluenced by party views:--all this, +I say, is a widely different thing from a man's inventing his own system +of Divinity. Members of the Catholic Church,--born in a Christian +country,--educated amid the choicest influences for good,--_you_ are by +no means so left to yourselves. THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER is your +sufficient safeguard. The framework of the Faith,--the conditions under +which you may lawfully speculate about Divine mysteries,--are all +prescribed for you: and within those limits you cannot well go wrong. + +On the other hand, the outlines of _Moral Theology_, (as it may be +called), you are fully competent to detect for yourselves. GOD'S +strictness in punishing sin, as in the case of Moses[262];--the efficacy +of repentance, as in the case of Ahab[263];--the sure answer to prayer, +(to _forgotten_ prayer, it may be!) as in the case of +Zacharias[264];--the seemingly roundabout methods of GOD'S providence, +(as in the case of Abraham,) yet conducting inevitably to a blessed +issue at the last;--the rewards of obedience[265];--the faithfulness of +the Divine promises;--the boundless wealth of the Divine contrivance, +which, on man's repentance, is able to convert even a curse into a +blessing, as in the case of Levi[266];--the peace and joy surely in +reserve for those who fear GOD, as in the case of Joseph;--the extent to +which things seemingly trivial are noticed by the Ancient of Days, as +every page of the Bible shows;--these, and a hundred points like these, +not only a man can gather for himself out of the Book of God's Law, but +no one else can do the work for him. He _must_ discover all such matters +for himself. + +And need I point out, for a minute, the immense advantage with which a +mind so stored with Divine knowledge will approach the Ministry; and +finally take in hand the actual oversight of the flock? It is really not +to be expressed. The Bishop's examination for Orders will become nothing +but an agreeable exercise, instead of an object of dread. You are quite +sure of a few approving words in _that_ quarter. But, (what is a +thousand times more important,) you yourself feel safe and strong. You +begin to read some treatise on Divinity; and you find yourself in some +degree competent to test the writer's statements, to endorse or to +suspect his conclusions, because you are familiar with the Rule of Faith +which he himself employed. It becomes your turn at last to instruct +others,--from the pulpit for example; and instead of timid truisms, and +vague generalities, you are able to draw a bold clear outline round +almost any department of Christian doctrine. You can explain with +authority.--You are not afraid to catechize before the congregation: for +although your Theological attainments are but slender after all, yet, +you know your Bible well; and even if an absurdly wrong answer is given +you, you know how to single out from the hank the golden thread of +Truth, and to display it before the eyes of men and Angels. And let me +tell you, by way of ending the subject, we should hear less about dull +sermons, and inattentive congregations, and badly filled churches,--as +well as about the astounding ignorance of many among the upper classes, +in Divine things,--if our younger Clergy knew the Bible a great deal +better than they do.--Aye, and we should not have so many unsound +remarks about Holy Scripture either,--so many mistaken views of +doctrine,--so many crude remarks about Inspiration,--made _by persons +who ought to know better_. + +You will perceive that I am saying all this, (except the last few +words,) _at_ you, (the younger men present;) because in _you_ I see many +of the future Clergy of England. And I say it, because, (for the last +time,) I do entreat you, one and all, to follow the advice I have been +giving you; and to set about such a careful study of the Bible, _at +once_. Do not put it off for a single day. Begin it tomorrow morning. +You will then have mastered Genesis this term, finishing the last +chapter on Sunday the 10th of December; and on Monday, the 11th, you +will have to read the first chapter of Exodus. I am confident that you +will remember _this_ day and hour with gratitude to the end of your +lives, if you will but make the experiment and persevere. + +And just one word to those who aspire, (and all _should_ aspire,) to +University honours. You will not find what I have been recommending any +hindrance to you at all. But even supposing you _do_, now and then, find +the inexorable daily half-hour stand in the way of something +else,--shall not the very thought of Him whose Voice you have +deliberately resolved to hear daily at that fixed time, make you full +amends? Shall you resolve to pluck so freely of the Tree of Knowledge, +and yet begrudge the approach once a day to the _Tree of Life_, which +grows in the midst of the Paradise of GOD? Shall ample time be found for +works of fiction,--for the Review, and the Magazine, and the +newspaper,--yet half an hour a day be deemed too much to be given to the +Word of GOD? What? room for everything and everybody; yet still "no room +in the Inn" for _CHRIST_!... I have, (I speak honestly,) I have far too +high an opinion of your instincts for good, to think it possible. You +have plenty of faults,--(_God_ knoweth!),--but I am very much deceived +indeed if there be not a spirit stirring among the young men of this +place, overflowing with promise; a real inclination, (obscured at times, +but still very energetic,) for whatever things are pure, and lovely, and +of good report. + +Of course, it is implied by what goes before, that you will read _no_ +work _of Divinity_ just at present. Be counselled, on no account, to +read any. Above all, shun the partial, ill-digested pamphlet,--and the +one-sided review,--and the controversial letter,--and the Essay which +seems to have been written in order to prove nothing. Be content, for +the next three years, to study no book of Divinity but the Bible. + +And the study of _that_ Book, I repeat, you will find no hindrance, no +impediment, no burthen to you at all. On the contrary. It will render +you a very singular service,--let your classical and logical studies be +as severe as they will; (and they cannot well be too severe, too +engrossing,--for this is your golden opportunity which never will, never +_can_, come back again!) The undersong of "Siloa's brook that flows, +fast by the oracle of GOD," will many a time soothe and refresh your +else dry and weary spirit. What was begun as a task will soon come to be +regarded as a privilege. _That_ jealously-guarded half-hour will be +found to be the one green spot in the whole day,--like Gideon's fleece, +fresh with the dew of the early morning, when it is "dry upon all the +earth beside." Your secret study of that Book of Books, I say, will +render you a very singular service. The contrast between the Divine and +Human method will strike you with ever-recurring power. Unlike every +other History, the Bible removes the veil, and discovers the causes of +things,--including the First Great Cause of all, who dwelleth in Light +unapproachable, but who yet humbleth Himself to behold, and to controul, +and to overrule for good, the things which are done in Heaven and on +Earth. And thus, it is not too much to say that the Bible, to one who +reads its pages aright, is a certain clue to every other History,--as +well as a perpetual commentary on every other Book. It informs the +judgment, and cleanses the eye, throughout the whole department of +Morals: and as for History, what is it all, but the evidence of GOD in +the world,--"traces of _His_ iron rod, or of _His_ Shepherd's +staff[267]?" + +Profoundly sensible am I, that these have been very unintellectual, and +somewhat common-place remarks: but I would rather, a hundred times, be +of use to the younger men present; I would rather, a hundred times, +succeed in persuading one of _them_, to adopt that method of reading the +Bible which I have been recommending;--than try to say something which +might be thought fine and clever.... Let me only, in conclusion, +faithfully remind them, that the _true_ office of the study of Divine +things is not, by any means, that which, for obvious reasons, I have +been rather dwelling and enlarging upon. It is _not_ merely to inform +the understanding, that Holy Scripture is to be read with such +consummate attention, and studied with such exceeding care. It is _not_ +for the illustration of History, or in order that it may be made a test +of the value of other systems of Morals. _Not_, by any means, in order +to facilitate admission into Holy Orders, (for which only some of you +are destined;)--or to render a man's pulpit-addresses attractive and +agreeable;--or even to enable a parish priest to teach with confidence +and authority;--is he entreated now to "prevent the night watches," if +need be, that he may be occupied (like one of old time[268],) with GOD'S +Word. O no! It is,--in order that his inner life may be made +conformable to that outer Law[269]: that his aims may be ennobled, and +his motives purified, and his earthly hopes made consistent with the +winning of an imperishable crown! It is in order that when he wavers +between Right and Wrong, the unutterable Canon of GOD'S _Law_ may +suggest itself to him as a constraining motive. Its aim, and purpose, +and real function, is, that the fiery hour of temptation may find the +Christian soldier armed with "the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word +of GOD[270]:"--that the dark season of Adversity may find his soul +anchored on the Rock of Ages,--which alone can prove his soul's +sufficient strength and stay.... Of a truth, as Life goes on, Men will +find the blessedness of their Hope; if they have not found it out +already. Under every form of trial,--and under every strange +vicissitude;--in sickness,--and in perplexity,--and in bereavement,--and +in the hour of death;--"LORD,--to _whom_ shall we go? Thou,--_Thou_ hast +the words of Eternal Life!" + +FOOTNOTES: + +[243] Preached in Christ-Church Cathedral, Oct. 21st, 1860. + +[244] =tên synagôgên=,--from which it would appear that there was but +_one_. See Bishop Middleton on St. Luke vii. 5. + +[245] Rom. i. 16. + +[246] Heb. iv. 12. + +[247] St. Matth. xxiv. 35, &c. + +[248] St. John xii. 48. + +[249] St. John i. 1, &c. + +[250] Ibid. vii. 40-43. + +[251] Ibid. i. 45, 46. + +[252] St. Luke ii. 48. + +[253] Is. vii. 14. + +[254] St. Mark vi. 3. + +[255] Our Lord's words in St. John viii. 47 are so cited by Archbishop +Whately in the Appendix of his Logic.--(App. II. No. 12, p. 418.) + +[256] Consider all such places as St. John xi. 45, 46. + +[257] Blunt's _Duties of a Parish Priest_,--p. 81. + +[258] Gen. vii. 4 to viii. 14. + +[259] Ibid. v. + +[260] Ibid. xxxvii. 15, 16, 17. + +[261] See Appendix A. + +[262] Deut. iii. 25, 26. + +[263] 1 Kings xxi. 27-29. + +[264] St. Luke i. 13. + +[265] Jerem. xxxv. 18, 19. + +[266] Comp. Gen. xlix. 5-7, with Exod. xxxii. 26-28, (alluded to in +Deut. xxxiii. 9,) and finally Numb. iii. 9 and 45, and Josh. xxi. 3-8. + +[267] The Rev. C. Marriott's _Sermons_,--vol. I. p. 441. + +[268] Ps. cxix. 148. + +[269] Not so _Essays and Reviews_, pp. 36 and 45. + +[270] Eph. vi. 17. + + + + +SERMON II.[271] + + * * * * * + +NATURAL SCIENCE AND THEOLOGICAL SCIENCE. + + * * * * * + +HEBREWS xi. 3. + +_Through Faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of +GOD._ + +St. Paul, in a famous and familiar chapter of his Epistle to the +Hebrews, having declared "what Faith is," proceeds, (as the heading of +the chapter expresses it), to note "the worthy fruits thereof in the +Fathers of old time." The Book of Genesis was obviously in his hands, or +in his heart, while he wrote: for he appeals to the transactions there +recorded, in the very order, and often in the very words, of Moses. The +HOLY GHOST, I say, directs our attention to what is contained in the +ivth,--vth,--vith,--xiith,--xviith,--xxiind,--xxviith,--xlviiith,--and +lth chapters of Genesis. But He begins with a yet earlier chapter. _He +begins with the first._ Abel,--Enoch,--Noah,--Abraham,--Sarah,--Isaac, +--Jacob,--Joseph;--these stand forward as samples of God's faithful +ones. But with them, the HOLY GHOST proposes to associate _us_. +Moreover, He gives _us_ the place of honour. Before mentioning one of +_their_ acts of Faith, He mentions one of _ours_. We come first,--then +they. And the particular field in which _we_ shine out so +conspicuously,--the special province which is assigned to _us_,--that +portion of the inspired Narrative wherein _you and I_ are supposed to +shew a degree of undoubting faith which entitles us to rank with those +"Fathers of old time,"--is found to be _the first chapter of the Book of +Genesis_. "Through Faith _we_ understand that the worlds were framed by +the Word of God." An honourable place, and an honourable function truly! +I would to GOD that it might be as gratifying to every one of the +congregation, as it is to the preacher, to discover that _this_ is the +special stand-point which has been reserved for him and for them. + +Since, however, it is impossible to forget that we have sometimes seen +heads, which are supposed to be very much indeed in advance of the age, +shaken ominously at the very chapter which the text bequeaths and +commends to the special acceptance of you and me,--I propose that, in +the very briefest manner, we now review the contents of that chapter; in +order that we may discover what is the special absurdity, or +impossibility, or improbability, or by whatever other name the thing is +to be called,--which makes it quite out of the question that you or I +should undertake the act of Faith here assigned us. + +I read then, that "In the beginning, GOD created the Heaven and the +Earth:"--by which I understand, that, at some remote period,--which may +or may not baffle human Arithmetic[272],--it was the pleasure of GOD +the FATHER, GOD the SON, GOD the HOLY GHOST,--_three_ Persons, coeternal +and coequal,--_one_ GOD,--out of nothing, to create the entire Universe. +"All things that are in Heaven, and that are in Earth, visible and +invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or +powers: all things were created by Him[273];" and they were created out +of nothing. The word in the original does not indeed necessarily imply +as much: but since there is _no_ word in Hebrew, (any more than there is +in Greek, Latin, or English,) peculiarly expressive of the notion of +creating out of nothing, it need not excite our surprise that Moses does +not employ such a word to describe what God did "in the +beginning."--_Then_ it was, in the grey of that far distant morning I +mean, that all those glittering orbs which sow the vault of Heaven with +brightness and with beauty, flashed into sudden being. "Thou, even Thou, +art LORD alone: Thou hast made Heaven, the Heaven of Heavens, _with all +their host[274]_." Suns, the centres of systems, many of them so distant +from this globe of ours, that sun and system scarce shew so bright as a +single lesser star: suns, I say, with their marvellous equipage of +attendant bodies,--_our_ sun among the rest, with all those wandering +fires which speed their unwearied courses round it: suns, and planets +with their moons, bathed once and for ever in the fountain of that Light +which GOD inhabited from all Eternity, then marshalled themselves in +mysterious order, according to "the counsel of His will[275]:" yea, and +with their furniture, unimagined and unimaginable, went careering +through the untrodden realms of space, each on its several errand of +glory, because of obedience to its Maker's sovereign Law[276]. "By the +Word of the LORD," (as it is written,) "were the Heavens made; and all +the hosts of them by the breath of His mouth[277]!" + +Now, it is reserved to the geologist,--(Nature's High-priest!)--to guess +at the condition of this Earth of ours throughout all the long period of +unchronicled ages which immediately succeeded the birthday of Time. It +is for _him_ to guess at the successive changes which this globe of ours +underwent; and the progressive cycles of Creation of which it was the +theatre; and the many strange races of creatures which, one after +another, moved upon its surface,--walking the dry, or inhabiting the +moist. _He_ shall guess; and _I_ will sit at his feet and listen, with +unfeigned gratitude, wonder, and delight, while he reports to me his +guesses: (for the really great man is eager to assure me that they are +no more.)--But when his tale of perplexity is ended, and the last 6,000 +years of this world's History have to be discussed, the geologist's +function is at an end. I bid him, in GOD'S Name, be silent; for now it +is GOD that speaketh. If any question be moved as to how _that actual +system of things to which Man belongs_, began,--I bid him come down, and +take the learner's place; for now _I_ mean to assume his vacant chair. +_This_ time, there shall at least be no guess-work. GOD is now the +Speaker: and what GOD revealeth unto _me_, _that_ I promise faithfully +to report to _him_. + +There was a time, then,--and it was certainly less than 6,000 years +ago,--when "the Earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon +the face of the deep." What catastrophe it was which had caused that the +fountains of the abyss should be broken up, and the solid Earth +submerged, I am not concerned to explain:--nor how it had come to pass +that from a world of seas and continents, it had become a watery ball, +wrapped about with superincumbent vapour:--nor how the blessed sunlight +had suffered dire eclipse;--so that the Earth revolved in a horror of +great darkness. _My faith_ however is not troubled,--nor even +perplexed,--by the strangeness of these things. Shall I think it a mere +matter of course that one little flaw in a pipe shall, in a second of +time, transform the orderly well-compacted seats of a goodly Church to +one unsightly mass of shapeless and disordered ruin[278]; and shall I +pretend to stand aghast at the strangeness of a similar overthrow of +this Earth's furniture at the mere fiat of the Most High?... Behold, "He +measureth the waters in the hollow of His Hand, and weigheth the +mountains in scales[279]." What if the Creator of the earth and the sea +shall bid them of a sudden change places? Think you that they would +hesitate to obey Him? Or what if He "calleth for the waters of the Sea, +and _poureth them out upon the face of the Earth_[280]?"--Then further, +if I believe, (as I do believe,) that when the Jews crucified the LORD +of Glory "there was darkness over all the land" from the sixth hour unto +the ninth[281];--nay, that when "Moses stretched forth his hand toward +Heaven, there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt," even +darkness which might be felt, for three whole days[282]:--more than +_that_; if I believe, (as I _do_ believe,) the solemn prediction of my +LORD, that at the consummation of all things, "The Sun shall be +darkened, and the Moon shall not give her light, and the Stars shall +fall from Heaven[283]:"--shall it move me to incredulity, if God tells +me, that six thousand years ago it was His Divine pleasure that the same +phenomenon should prevail for a season? Surely,--(I say to +myself,)--surely this is He "which removeth the mountains, and they know +not: which shaketh the Earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof +tremble. _Which commandeth the Sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up +the Stars[284]!_" + +1. But it was now GOD'S pleasure to bring Beauty out of Chaos, and to +establish a fresh order of things upon the surface of our Earth. And, as +the first step thereto, "the SPIRIT of GOD moved upon the face of the +waters." The Hebrew phrase implies no less than the tremulous brooding +as of a bird,--causing the dreary waste to heave and swell with coming +life. "And GOD said, Let there be Light. And there was Light." "He spake +and it was done[285]." From Himself, who is "the true Light," (not from +the Sun, which,--like the rest of the orbs of Heaven,--is but a lamp of +His kindling);--from Himself, I say, a ray of Light went forth; and +_that_ is why He was pleased to praise it. Look through the chapter, and +you will find that it is the only one of His creatures of which it is +specially said that "GOD saw that it was good[286]." ... Thus, one +hemisphere was illumined,--whereby "GOD divided the light from the +darkness;" and when the Earth had completed a single revolution, there +had been a Day and there had been a Night,--so named by the Word of +GOD: "and the evening and the morning were the first Day[287]." ... Do +you see any impossibility so far? I, certainly, see none. It does not +seem to me absurd that "the Light of the world[288]," "dwelling in the +light which no man can approach unto[289]," should cause "the light to +shine out of darkness[290]." We shall perhaps come upon the absurdity by +and by. Let us hasten forward. + +2. "And GOD said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, +and let it divide the waters from the waters." The Hebrew word (_an +expansion_), and the context, shew plainly enough what is meant. The +atmosphere was now created,--whereupon the watery particles either +subsided into sea, or rose aloft in the form of clouds. "And the evening +and the morning were the second Day,"--which is the only day of which it +is not said that GOD saw that it was good. + +3. "And GOD said, Let the waters under the Heaven be gathered together +unto one place, and let the dry land appear." Then it was that these +continents were upheaved,--other than those which had been continents +before; and the sea sank into the cavities which had been ordained for +its reception. _Then_, "GOD saw that it was good." The sentence of +approval which had been withheld from the work of yesterday, because +that work, (namely, of dividing the waters from the waters,) was +incomplete,--is freely bestowed to-day. And it may have been to teach us +that no incomplete work is "good," in GOD'S sight.--Next, the Creator +called into being every extant form of vegetable life. So that, instead +of a world of waters, which was all that was to be seen yesterday,--not +only cliffs, and mountains, and bays,--but green hills, and fertile +valleys, and grassy meadows had come to view,--with lakes, and rivers, +and fountains, and falls of water. Again it is written, concerning +Earth's green furniture, "GOD saw that it was good." "And the evening +and the morning were the third Day." + +4. "And GOD said, Let there be Lights in the firmament of the Heaven to +divide the day from the night: and let them be for signs, and for +seasons, and for days, and for years." And so it was. Sun, moon, and +stars, came to view[291]; and this globe of ours, no longer illumined, +as, for three days, it had been, rejoiced in the sun's genial light by +day,--and by night in the splendours of the paler planet. And thus was +also gained an easy measure for marking time,--the succession of months +and years, as well as of days. "And GOD saw that it was good." "And the +evening and the morning were the fourth Day." + +5. "And GOD said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving +creature that hath life." Thus the inhabitants of the sea and of the air +were called into existence; and it was from the sea that GOD seems to +have commanded that they should derive their being. He saw that it was +good, and He blessed the fish and the winged fowl; "and the evening and +the morning were the fifth Day." + +6. It remained only to provide for the dry land its occupants; and the +Earth was accordingly commanded to bring forth the living creature after +his kind,--beast and cattle and creeping thing. Unlike that first +Creation which was of all things out of nothing, the work of the six +days was a creation of new things out of old.--To the Creation of Man, +His crowning work, GOD is declared to have come with deliberation; as +well as to have announced His purpose with significant solemnity of +allusion. "Let us make Man in our image, after our likeness; and let +them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the +air, and over the cattle." "And the LORD GOD formed Man of the dust of +the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and Man +became a living soul."--Transferred to the Garden of GOD'S planting in +Eden, to dress it and to keep it, (for inactivity is no part of +bliss!)--and brought into solemn covenant with GOD,--to Adam, GOD brings +the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, of set purpose that +GOD may "see _what he will call them_:" a wondrous tribute, truly, to +the perfection of understanding in which Man had been created!... "And +the LORD GOD caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and He +took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the +rib which the LORD GOD had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought +her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bone, and flesh +of my flesh: she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of +man. Therefore shall a Man leave his Father and his Mother, and shall +cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh." ... Man's creation +was the crowning wonder, to which all else had, in a manner, tended.... +Truly when we think of him,--newly made in GOD'S image,--surveying this +world, yet fresh with the dew of its birth, and beautiful as it came +from the Hands of its Maker,--it seems scarcely the language of poetry +that then "the morning stars sang together and all the sons of GOD +shouted for joy[292]." + +I have preferred thus to complete the history of Man's Creation; which +presents us with the primal institution of all,--that, namely, of +Marriage.--"On the seventh Day, GOD rested from all His work which He +had made; and blessed the seventh Day, and sanctified it; because that +in it He had rested from all His work."--This then is the other great +primæval institution; more ancient than the Fall,--the Law of the +Sabbath;--which in the sacred record is brought into such august +prominence. And never do we ponder over that record, without +apprehension at what may be the possible results of relaxing the +stringency of enactments which would seem to be, to our nature, as the +very twin pillars of the Temple,--its establishment and its +strength[293]. + +Now, on a review of all this wondrous History, I profess myself at a +loss to see what special note of impracticability it presents that I +should hesitate to embrace it, in the plain natural sense of the words, +with both the arms of my heart. That it is not such an account of the +manner of the Creation as you or I should have ourselves invented, or +anticipated, or on questionable testimony have felt disposed to +accept,--is very little to the purpose. Apart from Revelation, we could +really have known nothing at all about the works of the Days of the +first Great Week. Ejaculations therefore concerning the strangeness of +the record, and cavils at the phraseology in which it is propounded, are +simply irrelevant. + +There exists however a vague suspicion after all that the beginning of +Genesis is a vision, or an allegory, or a parable,--or anything you +please, except true History. It is hard to imagine _why_. If there be a +book in the whole Bible which purports to be a plain historical +narrative of actual events, _that_ book is the book of Genesis. In +nine-tenths of its details, it is as _human_, and as matter of fact, as +any book of Biography or History that ever was penned. _Why_ the first +page of it is to be torn out, treated as a myth or an allegory, and in +short explained away,--I am utterly at a loss to discover. There is no +difference in the style. Long since has the theory that Genesis is +composed of distinguishable fragments, been exploded[294]. There is no +pretence for calling this first chapter poetry, and treating it by a +distinct set of canons. It is a pure _Revelation_, I admit: but I have +yet to learn why the revelation of things intelligible, where the method +of speech is not such as to challenge a figurative interpretation, is +not to be taken literally: unless indeed it has been discovered that a +narrative must of necessity be fabulous if the transactions referred to +are unusually remote and extraordinary. The events recorded are unique +in their character,--true. But this happens from the very necessity of +the case. The creation of a world, to the inhabitants of that world is +an unique event. + +But we are assured that some of the statements in this first chapter of +Genesis are palpably untrue;--as when it is said that the Sun, Moon, and +Stars were created on the fourth Day,--which, it is urged, is a physical +impossibility: for what forces else sustained, and kept this world a +sphere? The phenomena of Geology again prove to demonstration, it is +said, that the structure of the earth is infinitely more ancient than +the Mosaic record states: and also that there must have been Light, and +sunshine too, at that remote epoch,--which fostered each various form of +animal and vegetable life.--Further, we are assured that it is +unphilosophical to speak of the creation of Light before the creation of +the Sun.--Then, the simplicity of the language is objected to:--"the +greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the +night:"--"dividing the light from the darkness:"--"waters above the +firmament:" and so forth. The very ascription of speech to GOD, gives +offence.--Again, some raw conceit of the advanced state of the human +intellect rejects with scorn the notion of Adam oracularly bestowing +names on GOD'S creatures. Finally, the creation of Eve, moulded by GOD +from the side of the Protoplast, is declared to savour so plainly of the +mythical, allegorical, or figurative; that the narrative must be allowed +to be altogether unworthy of such wits as ours. + +But we have seen that _the creation_ of Sun, Moon, and Stars is _not_ +assigned to the fourth day--but to "_the beginning_"--The antiquity of +this Earth we affirm to be a circumstance left wholly untouched by the +Mosaic record: or, if touched, it is rather confirmed; for, before +beginning to describe the work of the first Day, Moses describes the +state of "the Earth" by two Hebrew words of most rare occurrence[295], +which denote that it had become waste and empty: while "the deep" is +spoken of as being already in existence.--There is nothing at all +unphilosophical in speaking of Light as existing apart from the Sun. +Rather would it be unphilosophical to speak of the Sun as the source and +centre of Light.--I see nothing more childish again in the mention of +"the greater and the lesser light," than in the talk of "sun-rise" and +"sun-set,"--which is to this hour the language of the Observatory.--As +for attributing speech to GOD, I am content to remind you of Hooker's +explanation of the design of Moses therein, throughout the present +Chapter. "Was this only his intent," (he asks,) "to signify the infinite +greatness of GOD'S power by the easiness of His accomplishing such +effects without travail, pain, or labour? Surely it seemeth that Moses +had herein besides this a further purpose; namely, first to teach that +GOD did not work as a necessary, but a voluntary agent, intending +beforehand and decreeing with Himself that which did outwardly proceed +from Him; secondly, to shew that GOD did then institute a Law natural to +be observed by Creatures, and therefore according to the manner of laws, +the institution thereof is described, as being established by solemn +injunction. His commanding those things to be which are, and to be in +such sort as they are, to keep that tenure and course which they do, +importeth _the establishment of Nature's Law_.... And as it cometh to +pass in a kingdom rightly ordered, that after a Law is once published, +it presently takes effect far and wide, all states framing themselves +thereunto; even so let us think that it fareth in the natural course of +the world. Since the time that GOD did first proclaim the edicts of His +Law upon it, Heaven and Earth have hearkened unto His voice, and their +labour hath been to do His will[296]."--"_He spake the word_, and they +were made: He commanded and they were created. He hath made them fast +for ever and ever. _He hath given them a law which shall not be +broken[297]._" + +Whether or no South overestimated Adam's knowledge, I will not pretend +to decide: but I am _convinced_ the truth lies more with him than with +certain modern wits, when he says concerning our first Father:--"He came +into the world a philosopher; which sufficiently appeared by his writing +the nature of things upon their names.... His understanding could almost +pierce into future contingents; his conjectures improving even to +prophecy, or the certainties of prediction. Till his Fall, he was +ignorant of nothing but sin.... There was then no struggling with +memory, no straining for invention. His faculties were ready upon the +first summons.... We may collect the excellency of the understanding +_then_, by the glorious remainders of it now: and guess at the +stateliness of the building by the magnificence of its ruins.... And +certainly that must _needs_ have been very glorious, the decays of which +are so admirable. He that is comely when old and decrepit, surely was +_very_ beautiful when he was young! An Aristotle was but the rubbish of +an Adam; and Athens but the rudiments of Paradise[298]." + +And lastly, as for so much of the Divine narrative as concerns the +Creation of the first human pair, I am content to remind you of a +circumstance which in addressing believers ought to be of overwhelming +weight: namely, that our SAVIOUR and His Apostles, again and again, +refer to the narrative before us in a manner which precludes the notion +of its being anything but severest History. Our SAVIOUR CHRIST even +resyllables the words spoken by the Protoplast in Paradise; and therein +finds a sanction for the indissoluble nature of the marriage bond[299]. + +I take leave to add that even the respectful attempt to make Genesis +accommodate itself to the supposed requirements of Geology, by boldly +assuming that the days of Creation were each a thousand years +long,--seems inadmissible. Even were such an hypothesis allowed, nothing +would be gained: for _Geology_ does not by any means require us to +believe that after a thousand years of misty light, there came a +thousand years of ocean deposit: and again, a thousand years of moist +and dry, during which vegetable life alone prevailed: and then a +thousand years of sun, moon, and stars. The very notion seems +absurd[300].--But, what is more to the purpose, such an interpretation +seems to stultify the whole narrative. A _week_ is described. _Days_ are +spoken of,--each made up of an evening and a morning. GOD'S cessation +from the work of Creation on the Seventh Day is emphatically adduced as +the reason of the Fourth Commandment,--the mysterious precedent for +_our_ observance of one day of rest at the end of every six days of +toil,--"_for_ in six days" (it is declared,) "the LORD made Heaven and +Earth[301]." You may not play tricks with language plain as this, and +elongate a week until it shall more than embrace the span of all +recorded Time. + +Neither am I able to see what would be gained by proposing to prolong +the Days of Creation indefinitely, so as to consider them as +representing vast and unequal periods; (though I am far from presuming +to speak of _any_ pious conjecture with disrespect.) My inveterate +objection to this scheme is again twofold. (1) The best-ascertained +requirements of Geology are _not satisfied_ by a _sixfold_ division of +phenomena corresponding with what is recorded in Genesis of the Six Days +of Creation. (2) This method does even greater violence to the letter of +the inspired narrative than the scheme of reconcilement last hinted at. + +I dare not believe that what has been spoken will altogether meet the +requirements of minds of a certain stamp. A gentleman, who certainly +has the advantage of appearing in good company, has lately favoured the +world with the information that the first chapter of Genesis is the +uninspired speculation of a Hebrew astronomer, who was bent on giving +"the best and most probable account that could be then given of GOD'S +universe[302]." The Hebrew writer asserts indeed "solemnly and +unhesitatingly that for which he must have known that he had no +authority[303];" but we need not therefore "attribute to him wilful +misrepresentation, or consciousness of asserting that which he knew not +to be true[304]." If this "early speculator" "asserted as facts what he +knew in reality only as probabilities," it was because he was not +harassed by the scruples which result "from our modern habits of +thought, and from the modesty of assertion which the spirit of true +science has taught us[305]." The history of this important discovery and +of others of a similar nature, (which, by the way, are one and all +announced with the same "modesty of assertion" as what goes before,) +would appear to be this.--Natural science has lately woke up from her +long slumber of well nigh sixty ages; and with that immodesty for which +youth and inexperience have ever been proverbial, she is impatient to +measure her crude theories against the sure revelation of GOD'S Word. +Where the two differ, she assumes that of course the inspired Oracles +are wrong, and her own wild guesses right. She is even indecent in her +eagerness to invalidate the testimony of that Book which has been the +confidence and stay of GOD'S Servants in all ages. On any evidence, or +on none, she is prepared to hurl to the winds the august record of +Creation. Inconveniently enough for the enemies of GOD'S Word, every +advance in Geological Science does but serve to corroborate the record +that the Creation _of Man_ is not to be referred to a remoter period +than some six thousand years ago. But of this important fact we hear but +little. On the other hand, no trumpet is thought loud enough to bruit +about _a suspicion_ that Man may be a creature of yet remoter date. +Thus, fragments of burnt brick found fifty feet below the surface of the +banks of the Nile, were hailed as establishing Man's existence in Egypt +more than 13,000 years; until it was unhappily remembered that _burnt_ +brick in Egypt belongs to the period of the Roman dominion.--More +recently, implements of chipped flint found, with some bones, in a bed +of gravel, have been eagerly appealed to as a sufficient indication that +the Creation of Man is to be referred to a period at least 10,000 years +more remote than is fixed by the Chronology of the Bible.... Brick and +flint! a precious fulcrum, truly, for a theory which is to upset the +World! + +But I shall be told,--with that patronizing air of conscious +intellectual superiority which a certain class of gentlemen habitually +assume on such occasions,--that I mistake the case completely: that no +wish is entertained in any quarter to invalidate the truth of +Revelation, or to shake Men's confidence in the Bible as the Word of +GOD: that it has been the way of narrow-minded bigots in all ages, and +is so in this, to raise an outcry of the Bible being in danger, and so +to rouse the prejudices of mankind: that the error lies in claiming for +the Bible an office which it nowhere claims for itself, and which it was +never meant to fulfil: that the harmony between the Bible and Nature is +complete, but that it is not _such_ a harmony as is sometimes imagined: +that the Bible is not a scientific book, and was never meant to teach +Natural Science: that it was designed to inculcate moral goodness, and +is clearly full of unscientific statements, which it is the office of +Science to correct; and, if need be, to remove. All this, and much +beside, I shall be told. Such fallacious platitudes have been put forth +by men who are neither Divines nor Philosophers, _ad nauseam_, within +the last forty or fifty years. + +Now, in reply, we have a few words to say. The profession of +faithfulness we hail with pleasure: the imputation of imbecility we +accept with unconcern. But when gentlemen tell us that the Bible was +never meant to teach Science; and that wherever its statements are +opposed to the clear inductions of reason, they must give way; and so +forth: we take the liberty of retaliating their charge. We inform them +that _they_ really mistake the case entirely. When they go on to tell us +that they believe in the truth of the Bible as sincerely as ourselves: +that its harmonies are complete, but not such as we imagine; and so +forth;--we venture to add that they really know not what they assert. In +plain language, they talk nonsense. Of a simple unbeliever we know at +least what to think. But what is to be thought of persons who disbelieve +just whatever they dislike, and yet profess to be just as hearty +believers as you or I? + +That the Mosaic record of Creation has been thought at variance with +certain deductions of modern observation, is not surprising: seeing that +the deductions of each fresh period have been at variance with the +deductions of that which went before; and seeing that the theory of one +existing school is inconsistent with the theory of another.--That the +Bible is not, in any sense, _a scientific treatise_ again, is simply a +truism: (who ever supposed that it was?). Moses writes "the history of +the Human Race as regards Sin and Salvation: not a cosmical survey of +all the successive phenomena of the globe[306]." Further, that he +employs popular phraseology when speaking of natural phenomena, is a +statement altogether undeniable. But such remarks are a gross fallacy, +and a mere deceit, if it be meant that the statements in the Bible +partake of the imperfection of knowledge incident to a rude and +primitive state of society. To revive an old illustration,--Is a +philosopher therefore a child, because, in addressing children, he uses +language adapted to their age and capacity? GOD speaks in the First +Chapter of Genesis,--_hath_ spoken for three and thirty hundred +years,--as unto children: but there is no risk therefore that in what He +saith, He either hath deceived, or will deceive mankind. + +You are never to forget the great fundamental position, that the Bible +claims to be the Word of GOD; and that _GOD'S Word can never contradict +or be contradicted by GOD'S works_. We therefore reject, _in limine_, +all insinuations about the "unscientific" character of the Bible. A +scientific man does not cease to be scientific because he does not +choose always to express himself scientifically. Again. A man of +universal Science does not forfeit his scientific reputation, if, in the +course of a _moral_ or _religious_ argument, his allusions to _natural_ +phenomena are expressed in the ordinary language of mankind. Even so, +Almighty God, "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and +knowledge[307],"--speaking to us by the mouth of His holy Prophets, +never, that I am aware, teaches them to speak a strictly scientific +language,--_except when the Science of Theology is being discoursed of_. +On other occasions, He suffers their language to be like yours or mine. +"Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon[308]:"--"The clouds drop down the +dew[309]:"--"The wind bloweth where it listeth[310]."--Not so when +_Theology_ is the subject. _Then_ the language becomes scientific. +"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into +the Kingdom of GOD[311]:"--"Take, eat, This is My Body[312]:"--"Before +Abraham was, I am[313]:"--"I and the FATHER are One[314]." + +But there is this great difference between the cases supposed. A man of +universal scientific attainment will be less strong in one subject than +another: and in the course of his _Geological_ allusions, if +_Mechanical_ Science be his forte,--in the course of his _Metaphysical_ +allusions, if _Mathematical_ Science be his proper department,--he may +easily err. Above all, the limits of the knowledge of unassisted Man +must infallibly be those of the age in which he lives. But, with the +Ancient of Days, it is not so. _He_ at least _cannot_ err. Nothing that +man has ever discovered by laborious induction was not known to Him from +the beginning: nothing that _He_ hath ever commissioned His servants to +deliver, will be found inconsistent with the anterior facts of History. +"He that _made_ the eye, shall _He_ not see[315]?" The records of +Creation then _cannot_ be incorrect. The course of Man's history _must_ +be that which, speaking by the mouth of His Prophets, GOD hath +described. + +"I never said the contrary," is the reply. "All I say is that you +interpret the records of Creation wrongly: and that you are disposed to +lay greater stress on the historical accuracy of the Bible than the +narrative will bear." + +O but, sir, whoever you may be who censure me thus, let me in all +kindness warn you of the pit, at the very edge whereof you stand! + +Far be it from such an one as the preacher to assume that he so +apprehends the First Chapter of Genesis, that if an Angel were to turn +interpreter, he might not convince me of more than one misapprehension +in matters of detail. But of this, at least, I am _quite_ certain; that +when I find it recorded that GOD took counsel about Man's Creation: and +made him in "His own image," and "breathed into his nostrils the breath +of life," whereby man became "a living soul:" and further, when I find +it stated that Adam bestowed names upon all creatures: and spake +oracularly of his spouse:--I am _certain_, I say, when I read such +things, that GOD intended me to believe that Man was created with a +Godlike understanding, and with the perfect fruition of the primæval +speech. Further, I boldly assert that he who could prove the +contradictory, would make the Bible, even as a Theological Book, nothing +worth, to you and me. + +The same must be said of the Bible chronology. And here I will adopt the +words of one who is justly entitled to be listened to in this place; and +who must at least be allowed to be a competent judge of the matter, for +he made Chronology his province. Mr. Clinton says:--"Those who imagine +themselves at liberty to enlarge the time [which elapsed from the +Creation to the Deluge, and from the Deluge to the Birth of Abraham,] to +an indefinite amount,--mistake the nature of the question. The +uncertainty here is not an uncertainty arising from want of testimony: +(like that which occurs in the early chronology of Greece, and of many +other countries; when the times are uncertain because no evidence is +preserved.) ... The uncertainty here is of a peculiar character, +belonging to this particular case. The evidence exists, but in a double +form; and we have to decide which is the authentic and genuine copy. But +if the one is rejected, the other is established:" the difference +between the two being exactly 1,250 years.--Men are free to _reject_ the +evidence, to be sure; but we defy them to _explain it away_. The +chronological details of the Bible are as emphatically set down as +anything can be; and,--(with the exception of a few particulars, chiefly +in the Book of Kings, which are to the record what misprints are to a +printed book,)--they are entirely consistent; and hang perfectly well +together. Let us not be told, then, that we entertain groundless +apprehensions for the authority of GOD'S Word when we hear it proposed +to refer the Creation of Man to a period of unheard-of antiquity. +Destroy my confidence in the Bible as an historical record, and you +destroy my confidence in it altogether; for by far the largest part of +the Bible _is_ an historical record. If the Creation of Man,--the +longevity of the Patriarchs,--the account of the Deluge;--if _these_ be +not true histories, what is to be said of the lives of Abraham, of +Jacob, of Joseph, of Moses, of Joshua, of David,--of our _Saviour +Christ_ Himself? + +But there is a scornful spirit abroad which is not content to +allegorize the earlier pages of the Bible,--to scoff at the story of the +Flood, to reject the outlines of Scripture Chronology;--but which would +dispute the most emphatic details of Revelation itself. Consistent, this +method is, at all events. Let it have the miserable praise which is so +richly its due. To logical consistency, it may at least lay claim. It +refuses to stop anywhere: as why should it stop? Faith is denied her +office, because Reason fails to see the reasonableness of Faith: and +accordingly, unbelief enters in with a flood-tide. Miracles, for +example, are now to be classed, (we learn,) among "the difficulties" of +Christianity[316]. It was to have been expected. (_Who_ foresees not +what must be the fate of such "difficulties" as these?) And will you +tell me that you may reject the miraculous transactions recorded in the +Old and New Testaments, and yet retain the narrative which contains +them? That were indeed absurd! Will you then reject one miracle and +retain another? Impossible! You can make no reservation, even in favour +of the Incarnation of our LORD,--the most adorable of all miracles, as +it is the very keystone of our Christian hope. Either, with the best and +wisest of all ages, you must believe _the whole_ of Holy Scripture; or, +with the narrow-minded infidel, you must _dis_believe the whole. There +is no middle course open to you. + +Do we then undervalue the discoveries of Natural Science; or view with +jealousy the progress she has of late been making? GOD forbid! With +unfeigned joy we welcome her honest triumphs, as so many fresh evidences +of the wisdom, the power, the goodness of GOD. "Thou, LORD, hast made me +glad through Thy works[317]!" The very guesses of Geology are precious. +What are they but noble endeavours to unfold a page anterior to the +first page of the Bible; or rather, to discover what secrets are locked +up in the first verse of it? But when, instead of being a faithful +Servant, Natural Science affects the airs of an imperious +Mistress,--what can she hope to incur at the hands of Theology, but +displeasure and contempt? She forgets her proper place, and overlooks +her lawful function. She prates about the laws of Nature in the presence +of Him who, when He created the Universe, invented those very laws, and +impressed them on His irrational creatures.--Does it never humble her to +reflect that it was but yesterday she detected the fundamental Law of +Gravitation? Does she never blush with shame to consider that for well +nigh six thousand years men have been inquisitively walking this Earth's +surface; and yet, that, one hundred years ago, the provident notions +concerning fossil remains, and the Earth's structure, were such as +now-a-days would be pronounced incredibly ridiculous and absurd? + +To conclude. The very phraseology with which men have presumed to +approach this entire question, is insolent and unphilosophical. The +popular phraseology of the day, I say, hardly covers, so as to conceal, +a lie. We constantly find SCIENCE and THEOLOGY opposed to one another: +just as if Theology were _not_ a Science! History forsooth, with all her +inaccuracy of observation, is a Science: and Geology, with all her weak +guesses, is a Science: and comparative Anatomy, with nothing but her +laborious inductions to boast of, is a Science: but Theology,--which is +based on the express revelation of the Eternal,--is some other thing! +What do you mean to tell us that Theology is, but the very queen of +Sciences? Would Aristotle have bestowed on Ethic the epithet +=architektonikê=, think you, had he known of that =theios logos=, which +his friend,--"not blind by choice, but destined not to see[318],"--felt +after yet found not? that "more excellent way," which you and I, by +GOD'S great mercy, possess? Go to! For popular purposes, if you will, +let the word "Science" stand for the knowledge of the phenomena of +Nature; somewhat as, in this place, the word stands for the theory of +Morals, and some of the phenomena of Mind: and so, let Science be +contrasted with THEOLOGY, without offence taken, because none is +intended. But let it never be forgotten that Theology is _the_ great +Science of all,--the only Science which really deserves the name. What +have other sciences to boast of which Theology has not? Antiquity,--such +as no other can, in any sense, lay claim to: a Literature,--which is +absolutely without a rival: a Terminology,--which reflects the very +image of all the ages: Professors,--of loftier wit, from the days of +Athanasius and Augustine, down to the days of our own Hooker and +Butler,--men of higher mark, intellectually and morally,--than adorn the +annals of any other Science since the World began: above all things, a +subject-matter, which is the grandest imagination can conceive; and a +foundation, which has all the breadth, and length, and depth and +height[319], which the Hands of GOD Himself could give it. + +For subject-matter, what Science will you compare with this? All the +others in the world will not bring a man to the knowledge of GOD and of +CHRIST! They will not inform him of the will of GOD, although they may +teach him to observe His Works. "The Heavens declare the glory of +GOD,"--but, as Lord Bacon remarked long since, we do not read that they +declare His will. Neither do the other sciences of necessity lead to any +belief at all in the GOD of Revelation[320]. + +And, for that whereon they are built, what Science again will you +compare with this? Let the pretender to Geological skill,--(I say not +the true Geologist, for _he_ never offends!)--let the conceited +sciolist, I say, go dream a little longer over those implements of +chipped flint which have called him into such noisy activity,--and +discover, as he _will_ discover, that the assumed inference from the +gravel and the bones is fallacious after all[321].--Let the Historian go +spell a little longer over that moth-eaten record of dynasties which +never were, by means of which he proposes to set right the clock of +Time[322]. Let the Naturalist walk round the stuffed or bleached wonders +of his museum, and guess again[323]. Theological Science not so! _Her_ +evidence is sure, for her Rule is GOD'S Word. No laborious Induction +here,--fallacious because imperfect; imperfect because human: but a +direct message from the presence-chamber of the LORD of Heaven and +Earth,--decisive because inspired; infallible because Divine. The +express Revelation of the Eternal is that whereon Theological Science +builds her fabric of imperishable Truth: _that_ fabric which, while +other modes change, shift, and at last become superseded, shines +out,--yea, and to the very end of Time will shine out,--unconscious of +decay, incapable of improvement, far, far beyond the reach of fashion: a +thing unchanged, because in its very nature unchangeable[324]! + +O sirs,--we are constrained to be brief in this place. The field must +perforce be narrowed; and so, for this time, it must suffice to have +warned you against the men who resort to the armoury of Natural Science +for weapons wherewith to assail GOD'S Truth. Regard them as the enemies +of your peace; and learn to reject their specious, yet most +inconsequential reasonings, with the scorn which is properly their due. +Contempt and scorn GOD implanted in us, precisely that we might bestow +them on reasonings worthless in their texture, and foul in their object, +as these; which teach distrust of the earlier pages of GOD'S Word, on +the pretence that they are contradicted by the evidence of GOD'S Works. +Learn to abhor that spurious liberality which is liberal only with what +is _not its own_; and which reminds one of nothing so much as the +conduct of leprous persons who are said to be for ever seeking to +communicate and extend their own unhappy taint to others. I allude to +that sham liberality which under pretence of extending the common +standing ground of Christian men, is in reality attenuating it until it +proves incapable of bearing the weight of a single soul. There is room +on the Rock for all; but it is only on the Rock that we are safe. To +speak without a figure,--He who surrenders the first page of his Bible, +surrenders all. He knows not where to stop. Nay, you and I cannot in +any way _afford_ to surrender the beginning of Genesis; simply because +upon the truth of what is there recorded depends the whole scheme of +Man's salvation,--the need of that "second Man" which is "the LORD from +Heaven[325]." It is not too much to say that the beginning of Genesis is +the foundation on which all the rest of the Bible is built[326]. We may +not go over to those who would mutilate the Book of Life, or evacuate +any part of its message. It is they, on the contrary, who must come over +to us.--Much has it been the fashion of these last days, (I cannot +imagine why,) to vaunt the character and the Gospel of St. John, "the +disciple of Love," as he is called; as if it were secretly thought that +there is a latitudinarianism in Love which would wink at Doctrinal +obliquity; whereas _St. John is the Evangelist of Dogma_; and if there +be anything in the world which is _jealous_, that thing is _Love_. +Indifference to Truth, and laxity of Belief, are the growing +characteristics of the age. But you will find that St. John has about +four or five times as much about TRUTH as all the other three +Evangelists; while _the act_ of Faith receives as frequent mention in +his writings alone as in all the rest of the New Testament Canon put +together[327]. + +Let me end, as the manner of preachers is, by gathering out of what has +been spoken one brief practical consideration.--This whole visible frame +of things wherein we play our part, is hastening to decay. Everything we +behold,--ourselves included,--carries with it the prophecy of its own +speedy dissolution.--What, amid the wreck of worlds, will be our +confidence?... It is an inquiry worth making, in these the days of +health, and vigour, and security, and peace. O my soul, (learn to ask +yourselves,)--O my soul, when the Heavens shall depart, and the Earth +reel before the Second Advent of its Maker;--when the Sun puts on +mourning, and the very powers of Heaven are shaken;--what shall be _our_ +confidence,--_our_ hope,--in that tremendous day? Whither shall we +betake ourselves, amid the overthrow of universal Nature, but to the +sure mercies of Him who "in the beginning created the Heaven and the +Earth?"--To those strong Hands, we intend, (GOD helping us!) with +unswerving confidence to commend our fainting spirits[328].... _Him_, +then, in life let us learn to reverence, on whom in death we propose so +implicitly to lean! And we only know Him in, and through, and by His +WORD. Nor can we in any surer way shew Him reverence or dishonour, than +by the manner in which we receive His message,--yea, by the spirit in +which we unfold this, the first page of it,--where stands recorded that +primæval act of Almighty power which is the ground of all our +confidence,--the very warrant for our own security.... "Blessed" of a +truth, in that day, will he be, "that hath the GOD of Jacob for his +help, and whose hope is in the LORD his GOD:--_who made the Heaven and +the Earth,--the Sea and all that therein is:--who keepeth His promise +for ever_[329]!" + +FOOTNOTES: + +[271] Preached in Christ-Church Cathedral, Nov. 11th, 1860. + +[272] "The whole period, from the beginning of the primary fossiliferous +strata to the present day, _must be great beyond calculation_, and only +bear comparison with the astronomical cycles, as might naturally be +expected; the earth being without doubt of the same antiquity with the +other bodies of the solar system."--Mrs. Somerville's _Physical +Geography_. + +[273] Col. i. 16. + +[274] Neh. ix. 6. + +[275] Eph. i. 11. + +[276] Hooker's _Eccl. Pol._, B. I. c. iii. § 2. + +[277] Ps. xxxiii. 6. + +[278] Alluding to a catastrophe which had recently occurred at St. +Mary's Church, and which necessitated considerable repairs; in +consequence of which, the first four of these Sermons were preached in +the Cathedral. + +[279] Is. xl. 12. + +[280] Amos v. 8 and ix. 6. + +[281] St. Matth. xxvii. 45. + +[282] Exod. x. 21-23. + +[283] St. Matth. xxiv. 29. + +[284] Job ix. 5-7. + +[285] Ps. xxxiii. 9. + +[286] Gen. i. 4. + +[287] "Can any one sensible of the value of words suppose," (asks Mr. +Goodwin,) "that nothing more is here described, or intended to be +described, than _the partial clearing away of a fog_?" (_Essays and +Reviews_, pp. 227-8.) No one,--we answer. But to the question, we +venture to rejoin another. To _whom_ does this philosopher suppose his +pleasantry likely to prove injurious? Is he making Moses ridiculous, +or--himself? + +[288] St. John ix. 5, &c. + +[289] 1 Tim. vi. 16. + +[290] 2 Cor. iv. 6. + +[291] "Whether the writer regarded them as already existing, and only +waiting to have a proper place assigned them, may be open to question." +(_E. and R._, p. 221.) We accept the alternative given us by Mr. +Goodwin. + +[292] Job xxxviii. 7. + +[293] Alluding to 1 Kings vii. 21. + +[294] The test of _Elohim_ and _Jehovah_ has been, by the Germans +themselves, given up; "and for this plain reason,--that in many parts of +Genesis, [e.g. ch. xxviii. 16-22: xxxi.: xxxix., &c.] it is utterly +untenable; the names being so intermingled as to admit of no such +division." See the Appendix (C) to the Rev. Henry John Rose's _Hulsean +Lectures_ for 1833,--p. 233. + +[295] Besides in Gen. i. 2, the expression (_tohu bohu_) recurs in Jer. +iv. 23 and Is. xxxiv. 11,--both times with clear reference to the +earlier place. Jeremiah in fact _quotes_ Genesis. + +[296] _Eccl. Pol._, B. I. c. iii. § 2. + +[297] Ps. cxlviii. 5, 6. + +[298] South's _Sermons_, (Serm. II.) + +[299] See St. Matth. xix. 4 to 6,--where Gen. i. 27 as well as Gen. ii. +24, are quoted by our SAVIOUR. + +[300] "Holding," (says Hugh Miller,) "that the _six_ days of the Mosaic +account were not natural days, but lengthened periods, I find myself +called on, as a geologist, to account for but three out of the six. Of +the period during which light was created; of the period during which a +firmament was made to separate the waters from the waters; or of the +period during which the two great lights of the earth, with the other +heavenly bodies, became visible from the Earth's surface;--we need +expect to find no record in the rocks."--_Testimony_, &c., p. 134.--This +is ingenious, and is piously meant. But the first three days remain to +be accounted for _by somebody_, all the same. If the last three days +represent "lengthened periods," so, I suppose, do the _first_ three. + +[301] Exod. xx. 11. + +[302] _Essays and Reviews_, p. 252. + +[303] _Ibid._ + +[304] _Id._ p. 253. + +[305] _Id._ p. 252. + +[306] Pattison's _The Earth and the World_, p. 99. + +[307] Col. ii. 3. + +[308] Josh. x. 12. + +[309] Prov. iii. 20. + +[310] St. John iii. 8. + +[311] St. John iii. 5. + +[312] St. Matth. xxvi. 26. + +[313] St. John viii. 58. + +[314] St. John x. 30. + +[315] Ps. xciv. 9. + +[316] On this subject, the reader is referred to Serm. VII. + +[317] Ps. xcii. 4. + +[318] Cowper. + +[319] Eph. iii. 18. + +[320] This paragraph is mostly copied from a Sermon (MS.) preached +before the University by the late Professor Hussey, Oct. 12, 1856. + +[321] Professor Phillips refers me to a paper by Mr. Prestwich in the +_Proceedings of the Royal Society_, 1859, vol. x. No. 35, p. 58. Also in +the _Transactions of the R. S._ for 1860, p. 308. + +[322] I allude to the supposed disclosures of Egyptian monuments. + +[323] I allude to a recent work on the Origin of Species. + +[324] The reader is requested to read what Bishop Pearson has most +eloquently written on this subject. It will be found in the Appendix +(B). + +[325] 1 Cor. xv. 47. + +[326] Ibid. xv. 22, &c. + +[327] =Pistis= _does not occur once_ in St. John's Gospel: =pisteuô= +(which is found about thirty-five times, in all, in the first three +Gospels,) occurs about _one hundred times_, in the Gospel of St. John +alone. + +[328] St. Luke xxiii. 46, (quoting Ps. xxxi. 5:) words which are alluded +to in 1 St. Pet. iv. 19. + +[329] Ps. cxlvi. 5,--words quoted by the early Church of Jerusalem, Acts +iv. 24. + + + + +SERMON III.[330] + + * * * * * + +INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE.--GOSPEL DIFFICULTIES.--THE WORD OF GOD +INFALLIBLE.--OTHER SCIENCES SUBORDINATE TO THEOLOGICAL SCIENCE. + + * * * * * + +2 Tim. iii. 16. + + _All Scripture is given by inspiration of God._ + + +But _that_ is not exactly what St. Paul says. The Greek for _that_, +would be =pasa Hê graphê=--not =pasa graphê--theopneustos=. St. Paul does +not say that _the whole_ of Scripture, collectively, is inspired. More +than _that_: what he says is, that _every writing_,--every _several +book_ of those =hiera grammata=, or Holy Scriptures, in which Timothy had +been instructed from his childhood,--is inspired by God[331]. It _comes_ +to very nearly the same thing; but it is _not_ quite the same thing. St. +Paul is careful to remind us that every Book in the Bible is an inspired +Book[332]. And this statement is not confined to one place.--Elsewhere, +he calls his message "the Word of GOD;" and says that it had been +received by the disciples not as the Word of Men, but as it is in truth, +the Word of GOD[333].--Elsewhere, "Which things also we speak, not in +the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the HOLY GHOST +teacheth[334]:"--where, if I at all understand the Apostle, (and he +speaks very plainly!) he says that _his words_ were inspired by the HOLY +GHOST.--Accordingly, St. Peter declares that the Epistles of his +"beloved brother Paul" are part of the Holy Scriptures[335];--Divinely +inspired, therefore, like all the rest. + +But does not St. Paul himself in a certain place express a doubt--saying +"I _think_ that I have the Spirit of GOD[336]?" and does he not contrast +his own sayings with the Divine sayings, ("not I but the LORD[337]"), +clearly implying that his own were _not_ Divine? and does he not say +that he delivers certain things "by permission, and not of +commandment[338]," whereby he seems to insinuate a gradation of +authority in what he delivers?--No. Not one of these things does he do. +He says, indeed, of a certain hint to married persons that he offers it +"by way of _advice_ to them not by way of _precept_:" but _giving +advice_ to _men_ is a very different thing from _receiving permission_ +from GOD. Again, "Unto the married," (he says,) "I command, yet not I +but the LORD,"--alluding to our LORD'S words, as set down by St. +Matthew, chap. xix. verse 6[339]; which is simply an historical allusion +to the Gospel.--So far from "_thinking_" he had the Spirit of GOD, (as +if it were an open question whether he had it or not,) he says the very +contrary. =Dokeô=, in all such places, implies, not _doubt_ but +_certainty[340]_: (as when our LORD asks,---"Doth he thank that servant +because he did the things commanded him? =ou dokô=,"--I fancy not +indeed[341]!) On St. Paul's lips, as every scholar knows, the phrase is +not one of doubt, but one of indignant, or at least emphatic +asseveration[342].--A man had need be very sure he _understands_ the +record, (let me just remark in passing,) before he presumes to criticize +it. + +"_The Spirit of CHRIST_" is said by St. Peter to have been "_in the +prophets_[343]:" and in another place he declares that they "_spake as +they were moved by the HOLY GHOST_[344]." The HOLY GHOST accordingly is +said to have spoken the xlist Psalm "by the mouth of David[345]." The +xcvth Psalm is declared absolutely to be the utterance of the HOLY +GHOST[346]. Once, the cxth Psalm is ascribed simply to GOD[347]; and +once, to David speaking under the influence of _the HOLY GHOST_[348]. The +iind Psalm is described as the language of GOD the FATHER "by the mouth +of His Servant David[349]." "_Well spake the HOLY GHOST_ by Esaias the +Prophet unto our Fathers[350],"--was the exclamation of the Apostle +Paul, quoting the 9th and 10th verses of his vith chapter. When Jeremiah +speaks, the HOLY GHOST is declared, (not Jeremiah, _but the HOLY GHOST_) +to witness unto us[351]. The assertion is express that it was "GOD" who, +"_by the mouth of all His Prophets_," foretold the Death of CHRIST[352]: +"_the LORD GOD of Israel_" who, "_by the mouth of His holy Prophets of +old_," gave promise of CHRIST'S coming[353]. "_The HOLY GHOST +signified_" what the Mosaic Law enjoined[354]. "It is not ye that +speak, _but the HOLY GHOST_[355]"--was our SAVIOUR'S word of promise and +of consolation to the Twelve: and, on an earlier occasion,--"It is not +ye that speak; but the SPIRIT of your Father, _which speaketh in +you_[356]." And this promise became so famous, that St. Paul says the +Corinthians challenged him to _prove_ that CHRIST was speaking in +him[357].... But why multiply places? The use which our SAVIOUR makes in +the New Testament of the words of the Old,--from the writings of Moses +to the writings of Malachi,--would be simply nugatory unless those words +were much more than human. And the record of the Apostle is express and +emphatic:--"All Scripture--every Book of the Bible,--is given _by +Inspiration of GOD_."--In the face of such testimony, by the way, we +deem it not a little extraordinary to be assured (by an individual who +has acquired considerable notoriety within the last few months) that +"for any of the higher or supernatural views of Inspiration there is no +foundation in the Gospels or Epistles[358]." + +Strange to say, there is a marvellous indisposition in Man to admit the +notion of such a heaven-sent message. Not to dispute with those who deny +Inspiration altogether, (for that would be endless,) there are +many,--and, we fear, a daily increasing number of persons,--who, +admitting Inspiration in terms, yet so mutilate the notion of it, that +their admission becomes a practical lie. "St. Paul was inspired, no +doubt. So was Shakspeare." He who says this, intending no quibble, +declares that in his belief St. Paul was _not inspired at all_. + +But this is a monstrous case, with which I will not waste your time. Far +more numerous are they, who, admitting that the Authors of the Bible +were inspired in quite a different sense from Homer and Dante, are yet +for modifying and qualifying this admission after so many strange and +arbitrary fashions, that the residuum of their belief is really worth +very little. One man has a mental reservation of exclusion in favour of +the two Books of Chronicles, or the Book of Esther, or of +Daniel.--Another, is content to eliminate from the Bible those passages +which seem to him to run counter to the decrees of physical +Science;--the History of the Six Days of Creation,--of the Flood,--of +the destruction of Sodom,--and of Joshua's address to Sun and +Moon.--Another regards it as self-evident that nothing is trustworthy +which savours supremely of the marvellous;--as the Temptation of our +first Parents,--the Manna in the Wilderness,--Balaam reproved by the +dumb ass,--and the history of Jonah.--There are others who cannot +tolerate the Miracles of the Old and the New Testament. The more timid, +explain away as much of them as they dare. What remains, troubles them. +The more logical sweep them away altogether. A miracle (they say) cannot +be true because it implies a violation of the fixed and immutable laws +of Nature. + +And then,--(so strangely constituted are some men's minds,)--there are +not a few persons who, without exactly denying the inspiration of the +Bible in any of its more marvellous portions,--(for _that_ would be an +inconvenient proceeding,)--are yet content to regard much of it as a +kind of inspired myth. This is a class of ally (?) with whom one really +knows not how to deal. The man does not reason. He assumes his right to +disbelieve, and yet will not allow that he is an unbeliever. The world +is singularly indulgent toward persons of this unphilosophical, +illogical, presumptuous class. + +Now, I shall have something to say to all these different kinds of +objectors, on some subsequent occasion. But I shall be rendering the +younger men a far more important service if to-day I address my remarks +to a different class of objectors altogether: _that_ far larger body, I +mean, who without at all desiring to impugn the Inspiration of GOD'S +Oracles, yet make no secret of their belief that the Bible is full of +inaccuracies and misstatements. These men ascribe a truly liberal amount +of human infirmity to the Authors of the several Books of the +Bible;--slips of memory, misconceptions, imperfect intelligence, partial +illumination, and so forth;--and, under one or other of those heads, +include whatever they are themselves disposed to reject. The writers who +come in for the largest share of this indulgence, are the Evangelists; +because the Historians of our LORD'S life, having happily left us four +versions of the same story, and often three versions of the same +transaction, the evidence whereby _they_ may be convicted of error is in +the hands of all. Truly, mankind has not been slow to avail itself of +the opportunity. You will seldom hear a Gospel difficulty discussed, +without a quiet assumption on the part of the Reverend gentleman that +_he_ knows all about the matter in question, but that the Evangelist did +_not_. His usual method is, calmly to inform us that it is useless to +look for strict consistency in matters of minute detail; that _general +agreement_ between the four Evangelists there does exist, and _that_ +ought to be enough. The inevitable inference from his manner of handling +the Gospels, is, that if his actual thoughts could find candid +expression, we should hear him address their blessed authors somewhat as +follows:--"You are four highly respectable characters, no doubt; and you +_mean_ well. But it cannot be expected that persons of your condition in +life should have described so many intricate transactions so minutely +without making blunders. I do not say it unkindly. I often make blunders +myself,--_I_, who have a "clearness of understanding," "a power of +discrimination between different kinds of Truth[359]" unknown to the +Apostolic Age!" ... Of course the preacher does not _say_ all this. He +has too keen a sense of "the dignity of the pulpit." And so he puts it +somewhat thus:--"While we are disposed to recognize substantial +agreement, and general conformity in respect of details, among the +synoptical witnesses, in their leading external outlines, we are yet +constrained to withhold our unqualified acceptance of any theory of +Inspiration which should claim for these compilers exemption from the +oscitancy, and generally from the infirmities of humanity." ... This +sounds fine, you know; and is thought an ingenious way of wrapping up +the charge which the Reverend preacher brings against the +Evangelists;--of having, in plain terms,--_made blunders_. + +It will be convenient that we should narrow the ground to this single +issue: for the time is short. And in the remarks I am about to offer, I +shall not imitate the example of those preachers who dress out an easy +thought in a superfluity of inflated language, only in order that its +deformity may escape detection. Be not surprised if I speak to you this +morning in uncommonly plain English; for I am determined that the +simplest person present shall understand at least what _I_ mean. The +dignity of the Blessed Evangelists, who walked with JESUS, and whom +JESUS loved,--the dignity of that Gospel which I believe to be +penetrated through and through with the Holy Spirit of GOD,--for _that_, +I confess to a most unbounded jealousy. As for the "dignity of the +pulpit,"--I hate the very phrase! It has been made too often the shield +of impiety and the cloak of dulness. + +To begin, then,--Is it, I would ask you, a reasonable anticipation that +the narrative of one inspired by GOD would prove full of +inconsistencies, misstatements, slips of memory:--or indeed, that it +should contain _any_ misstatements, _any_ inaccuracies at all? What then +is the difference between an inspired and an uninspired writing,--the +Word of GOD and the Word of Man? + +The answer which I shall receive, is obvious. As a matter of fact (it is +replied) there _are_ these inaccuracies: that is, the same transaction +is described by two or more writers, and their accounts prove +inconsistent. Thus, St. Matthew begins his account of the healing of the +blind at Jericho, with the words,--"And as they were _going out_ of +Jericho:" but St. Luke, "While He was _drawing nigh_ to Jericho."--There +_are_ these slips of memory; as when St. Matthew ascribes to "Jeremy the +prophet" words which are found in the prophet Zechariah.--There _are_ +these misstatements, as where the Census of the Nativity is said to +have taken place under the presidentship of Cyrenius.--And these are but +samples of a mighty class of difficulties, (it is urged:)--the two +Genealogies; the Call of the four Disciples; the healing of the +Centurion's servant; the title on the Cross; the history of the +Resurrection:--and again, "the sixteenth of Tiberius;" "the days of +Abiathar;" with many others.--Let me then briefly discuss the three +examples first cited,--which really came spontaneously. Each is the type +of a class; and the answer to one is, in reality, applicable to all the +rest. I humbly ask for your patience and attention; promising that I +will abuse neither, though I must tax both. + +The great fundamental truth to be first laid down, is _this_--that the +Gospels are not _four_--but _one_. The Ancients knew this very well. +=Euangelistai men tessares,--Euangelion de hen=--says Origen[360]: "the +Gospel-_writers_ are four,--but the _Gospel_ is one." And the ancients +recorded this mighty verity four times over on the first page of the +Gospel, lest it should ever be forgotten; and there it stands to this +day:--the Gospel,--the _one_ Gospel =kata=,--_according to_--St. +Matthew,--_according to_ St. Mark,--_according to_ St. Luke,--_according +to_ St. John. Like that river which went out of Eden to water the +Garden,--it was by the HOLY GHOST "parted, and became into four +heads."--The Gospels therefore, (to call them by their common name,) are +not to be regarded as four witnesses, or rather as four culprits, +brought up on a charge of fraud. Rather are they Angelic voices singing +in sweetest harmony, but after a method of Heavenly counterpoint which +must be studied before it can be understood of Men. + +And next,--There is one great principle, and one only, which needs to be +borne in mind for the effectual reconciliation of _every discrepancy_ +which the four narratives present: namely, that you should approach them +in exactly the same spirit in which you approach the statement of any +man of honour of your acquaintance. Whether the Apostles of the +LAMB,--men whom we believe to have been inspired by the Holy Spirit of +the Everlasting GOD,--are not entitled to far higher respect, far higher +consideration, at our hands,--I leave _you_ to decide. As one whose joy +and crown it has been to weigh every word in the Gospel in hair-scales, +I am prepared to risk the issue. Be only as fair to the four Evangelists +as you are to one another; and I am quite confident about the result. + +I appeal to the experience of every thoughtful man among you who has at +all given his mind to the subject of evidence, whether it be not the +fact,--(1st) That when two or more persons are giving true versions of +the same incident, their accounts will sometimes differ so considerably, +that it will seem at first sight as if they could not possibly be +reconciled: and yet (2ndly), That a single word of explanation, the +discovery of one minute circumstance,--perfectly natural when we hear it +stated, yet most unlikely and unlooked-for,--will often suffice to +remove the difficulty which before seemed unsurmountable; and further, +that when this has been done, the entire consistency of the several +accounts becomes apparent; while the harmony which is established is +often of the most beautiful nature. (3rdly) That when (for whatever +reason) two or more versions of the same incident are _not_ correct, no +ingenuity can ever possibly reconcile them, _as they stand_. They lean +apart in hopeless divergence. In other words, they _contradict_ one +another. + +Now, these principles are fully admitted in daily life. If your friend +comes to you with ever so improbable a tale, the last thing which enters +into your mind is to disbelieve him. Is he in earnest? Yes, on his +honour. Is he sure he is not mistaken? _That_ very doubt of yours +requires an apology: but your friend says,--"I am as sure as I am of my +existence." "Give it me under your hand and seal then." Your friend +begins to suspect your sanity; but the matter being of some importance, +he complies. "It must be so then," you exclaim, "though I _cannot_ +understand it.".... I only wish that men would be as fair to the +Evangelists as they are to their friends! + +You are requested to observe,--for really you _must_ admit,--that _any_ +possible solution of a difficulty, however _improbable_ it may seem, any +_possible_ explanation of the story of a competent witness, is enough +logically and morally to exempt that man from the imputation of an +incorrect statement. The illustration which first presents itself may +require an apology; but the dignity of the pulpit shall not outweigh the +dignity of _His_ Gospel after whose blessed Name this House is +called[361]: and I can think of nothing as apposite as what follows. + +It is a conceivable case, that, hereafter, three persons of known +truthfulness should meet, in a Court of Justice at the Antipodes; where +the entire difficulty should turn on a question of time. The case is +conceivable, that the first should be heard to declare that at Oxford, +on such a day, of such a year, he had seen such an one standing before +Carfax Church while the clock _was striking one_:--that the second +should declare that he also, on the same day of the same year, had seen +the same person passing by St. Mary's, when the clock of _that_ Church +was also striking one:--that the third should stand up and assert,--"I +also saw the same person on that same day, but it was on the steps _of +the Cathedral_ I met him; and I also remember hearing the clock at that +moment strike one."--Now I can conceive that the result of such evidence +would be adverted upon in some such way as the following:--"While we are +disposed to recognize the substantial agreement, and general conformity +in respect of details, among the synoptical witnesses, in their leading +external outlines, we are yet constrained,"--and the rest of the +impertinence we had before. Whereas you and I know perfectly that the +three clocks in question were, till lately, _kept five minutes apart_: a +sufficient interval, (I beg you to observe in passing,) for the +individual in question to have been seen _by you_ walking in an easterly +direction; and _by me_ due west; and by a third person, due east again. +Highly improbable circumstances, I freely grant, every one of them; and +yet, by the hypothesis, all perfectly _true_! Meantime, it is +conceivable that Judge and jury would have the indecency openly to tax +the three men I spoke of with inexactitude in their statements: and it +is conceivable that those three honest men--(the _only_ true men, it +might be, in the Colony, after all,)--would carry to their grave the +imputation of untruth. Here and there, a generous heart would be found +to say to them,--_I_ share not in the vulgar cry against you! _I_ +nothing doubt that it all fell out precisely as you assert. Either, the +clocks in Oxford went wrong that day;--or there had been some trick +played with the clocks;--any how, _I_ believe _you_, for I have evidence +that you are marvellously exact in all your little statements; and you +cannot have been mistaken in a plain matter like this. I have heard too +that you are not the ordinary men you seem.... The men make no answer. +_They_ care nothing for _your opinion_, and _my opinion_. The rashness +of mankind may astonish the Angels perhaps; but the Apostles and +Evangelists of CHRIST are already safe within the veil! + +The difficulty supposed is not an imaginary one. St. John says that when +Pilate sat in judgment on the LORD of Glory, "it was about the sixth +hour[362]." But since St. Mark says that at the third hour they +crucified Him[363],--the two statements seem inconsistent. The +ancients,--(giants at interpretation, babes in criticism,)--_altered the +text_. Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, A.D. 300, says that he had seen it +in the very autograph of St. John[364]. A learned man of our own, +however, a hundred years ago, ascertained that, in the Patriarchate of +Ephesus, the hours were not computed after the Jewish method: but, +(strange to say,) exactly _after our own English method_[365]. And yet, +not so strange either; for the Gospel first came to us from there.--You +see at a glance that all the four mentions of time of day in St. +John[366], which used to occasion so much difficulty, become beautifully +intelligible at once. + +To come then to the three samples of difficulty propounded a moment ago. +And first, for the blind men of Jericho. + +I. The difficulty lies all on the surface. Listen to a plain tale. + +Our SAVIOUR, attended by His Disciples and followed by a vast concourse +of persons, had reached the outskirts of Jericho. A certain blind man +was sitting by the roadside begging. He heard the noise of a passing +crowd, and inquired what it meant? He was told that Jesus of Nazareth +was passing by. He rose at once,--hastened down the main street through +which, in due time, CHRIST perforce must come; joined another blind man, +(named Bartimæus,--a well-known character, who, like himself, was +accustomed to sit and beg by the road side;) and the two companions in +suffering, having stationed themselves at the exit of Jericho, waited +till the Great Physician should appear. + +The crowd begins to approach; and the two blind men implore the Son of +David to have pity on them. So importunate is their suit, that the +foremost of the passers-by rebuke them. The men grow more urgent. Our +SAVIOUR pauses, and orders that they shall be called. At this gracious +summons, both draw near; the more remarkable applicant flinging his +outer garment from him as he rises from his seat; but both, when they +appear in our SAVIOUR'S presence, making the same request. The Holy One, +touched with compassion, laid His Hands upon their eyes, and grants +their prayer: whereupon they both follow Him in the way. + +Well, (you will ask,)--what then?--"What then?" I answer. _Then_ there +is no difficulty in the three accounts about which you spoke so +unbecomingly a moment ago. Assume this plain, and not at all improbable +version of the incident, to be true, and you will find that no +difficulty remains whatever. Every recorded circumstance is accounted +for, and fits in exactly with it. I wish there were time to enlarge on +some of the details, and to make some remarks on the manner of the +Evangelists in relating events: but there _is_ no time. +Besides,--without a huge copy of the Gospel open before us all, I could +not hope to make my meaning understood. + +For of course you are to believe that he who would understand the Gospel +must first _study_ it. You must ascertain, by some crucial test, +confirmed by a large and careful induction, what the character of a +narrative purporting to be inspired, _is_. You have no right first to +assume exactly _what_ Inspiration shall result in, and then to deny that +there is Inspiration because you fail to discover your assumed +result[367]. That were foolish. + +I shall perhaps be thought to lay myself open to the +rejoinder,--"Neither have _you_ any right to assume that Inspiration +will result in Infallibility." But the retort is without real point. I +do but assert that, just as every man of honour claims to be believed +until he has been convicted of a falsehood,--inspired Prophets, +Evangelists, and Apostles have a right to our entire confidence in the +scrupulous accuracy of every word they deliver, until it can be _shewn_ +that they have once made a mistake. + +If you will take the trouble to compare any of the cases,--in Genesis +for example,--where a conversation is first set down, and then reported +by one of the speakers,--you will find that it is deemed allowable to +omit or to add clauses, even when the discourse is related in the first +person[368]. Something before inserted, is withheld: or something before +withheld, is inserted. No discourse was probably ever set down, word for +word, as it was delivered. In sacred, as in profane writings, the exact +_substance_, or rather, the real _purport_, of what was spoken, very +reasonably stands for what was _actually_ spoken. The difference is +this;--that a narrative, by man abridged, _may_ convey a wrong +impression: whereas an inspired abridgement of any history soever +_cannot_ mislead. + +Other characteristics of an inspired narrative,--the lesser Laws of the +Divine Harmony, as they may be called,--will be discovered by the +attentive reader. For example, that intervening circumstances are often +passed over, without any notice taken of them whatever: while yet it is +singular how often the Evangelist shews himself conscious of what he +omits by some very minute allusion to it[369]. This must suffice +however. It would require a whole sermon, a whole volume rather, to +enumerate all the features of the Evangelical method. + +II. The next sample of difficulty will not occupy us long. St. Matthew +is charged with a bad memory, because he ascribes to "Jeremy the +prophet[370]" words which are said to be found in Zechariah.--Strange +that men should be heard to differ about a plain matter of fact! _I_ +have never been able to find these words in Zechariah yet!... There are +words _something like them_,--but not those very words, by any +means,--in Zech. xi. 12. Why then is St. Matthew to be taxed with a bad +memory? Are there not other prophecies quoted in the New Testament not +to be found in the Old? Yes[371]. Is not the self-same prophecy +sometimes found in two different prophets,--as in Isaiah and Nahum? +Yes[372]. Are not some prophetic passages _common to Jeremiah and +Zechariah?_ Yes[373]. The Jews even had a saying that the Spirit of the +one was in the other. _Where_ then remains a pretence for supposing that +St. Matthew was troubled with a bad memory? + +III. So, it is generally assumed that St. Luke made a mistake when he +said that the census of the Nativity was made when Cyrenius was +President of Syria,--because not Cyrenius but _Varus_ is known to have +been President about that time.--Now, there are three fair +conjectures,--each of which is sufficient to meet this difficulty: but +instead of developing them, I will simply remind you of a minute +circumstance in Jewish story which shews how dangerous it is to press a +general fact against a particular statement.--In the year 4 B.C., +Matthias was undeniably the Jewish High-priest. Now, if St. Luke, +describing the events of a certain day in September, B.C. 4, had +recorded that the High-priest's name was _Joseph_, you would have +thought him guilty of a misstatement: but the error would have been all +your own,--for it has been discovered that a person bearing that name +held the office of High-priest for _one single day_,--namely, the 10th +of Tisri.... "A very unlikely circumstance!" you will exclaim. O +yes,--_a very unlikely circumstance indeed_: but, you will have the +kindness to observe that _that_ is not exactly the point in question. + +Why then are difficulties of this, or of any kind, permitted in the +Gospel at all? it may be asked.--I answer,--that they may prove +instruments of probation to you and to me. The sensualist has _his_ +trials; and the ambitious man, _his_. The difficulties in Holy +Scripture,--which are numerous, and diverse, and considerable,--are +admirable tests of the moral, the spiritual, the intellectual temper of +Man[374]. Experience shews moreover that some of the minutest +discrepancies of all, if they be but of a character almost hopeless, are +more potent to create perplexity in minds of a certain constitution, +than the gravest doubts which ever burthened the soul of Speculation. + +I have confined myself to one class of objections, for an obvious +reason. Difficulties which arise out of the _matter_ of Scripture, as it +is emphatically embodied in quotations from the Old Testament made in +the New, must be separately considered in one or more Sermons on +_Interpretation_. I must be content to-day with repudiating, in the most +unqualified way, the notion that a mistake of _any kind whatever_ is +consistent with the texture of a narrative inspired by the Holy Spirit +of GOD. The allusion in St. Stephen's speech to "the sepulchre that +Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor, the son" (not +_the father_, but _the son_) "of Sychem," is a good example of confusion +apparently existing in an inspired speaker; but, in reality, only in the +writings of those who have sat in judgment upon his words[375]. + +To keep to the case of the Evangelists,--I appeal to your sense of +fairness, whether it be not reasonable to assume, that until those +blessed writers have been convicted of _one_ single inaccuracy of +statement, their narratives ought to be accounted faultless, like Him +whose Life they record;--like Him by whose Spirit they are inspired. I +would to Heaven that men would have the decency to suspect themselves, +and one another, rather than the Evangelists,--of mistake; or at least, +before they venture publicly to impugn the Authors of the Everlasting +Gospel, that they would be at the pains to weigh the evidence with the +care _that_ evidence deserves, but which I am _sure_ that sermon-writers +and essayists do not bestow. Let them spend the long summer days of many +a Long Vacation--from early morning until twilight,--dissecting every +syllable of the blessed pages; and then they will learn to adore instead +of to cavil. They will deem them absolutely faultless, instead of daring +to charge all their own pitiful misconceptions, and weak +misapprehensions, and miserable blunders, upon _them_.--They will be +inclined, rather, to challenge the world to establish one blot in what +they love so well; and would gladly stake all upon the issue of a +conflict before a fair tribunal,--if submission might follow upon +defeat. + +As for mistakes of the paltry kind last noticed--(the days of Abiathar, +the sixteenth of Tiberius, and so forth,)--I wonder the glaring +absurdity of charging them against Evangelists, does not strike any +modest man of sane mind. To suppose that St. Matthew quoted the wrong +prophet, or that St. Luke did not know the regnal years of the reigning +Emperor; that St. Stephen confused Abraham with Jacob, and Sychem with +Hebron;--all this is really so _grossly_ absurd, that I can hardly +condescend to discuss the question. It is like maintaining that Sir +Isaac Newton, after discovering the Law of Gravitation, and calculating +the pathway of a planet, persisted in saying that two and two make five: +or that Columbus, after discovering America, despaired of finding the +way to his own door. It is simply ridiculous!--Admirable as a subject +for men to exercise their wits upon,--as instruments of _cavil_, +objections like these are about as formidable as a child's sword of +lathe in the day of battle. + +I hear some one say,--It seems to trouble _you_ very much that inspired +writers should be thought capable of making mistakes; but it does not +trouble _me_,--Very likely not. It does not trouble _you_, perhaps, to +see stone after stone, buttress after buttress, foundation after +foundation, removed from the walls of Zion, until the whole structure +trembles and totters, and is pronounced insecure. Your boasted unconcern +is very little to the purpose, unless we may also know how dear to you +the safety of Zion is. But if you make indignant answer,--(as would to +Heaven you may!)--that your care for GOD'S honour, your jealousy for +God's oracles, is every whit as great as our own,--_then_ we tell you +that, on _your_ wretched premises, men more logical than yourself will +make shipwreck of their peace, and endanger their very souls. There is +no stopping,--no knowing where to stop,--in this downward course. Once +admit the principle of fallibility into the inspired Word, and the whole +becomes a bruised and rotten reed. If St. Paul a little, why not St. +Paul much? If Moses in some places, why not in many? You will doubt our +LORD'S infallibility next!... It might not trouble _you_, to find your +own familiar friend telling you a lie, every now and then: but I trust +this whole congregation will share the preacher's infirmity, while he +confesses that it would trouble _him_ so exceedingly that after one +established falsehood, he would feel unable ever to trust that friend +implicitly again. + +Do you mean to say then, (I shall be asked,) that you maintain the +theory of Verbal Inspiration?--I answer, I refuse to accept any _theory_ +whatsoever[376]. But I believe that the Bible is the Word of GOD--and I +believe that GOD'S Word must be absolutely infallible. I shall therefore +believe the Bible to be absolutely infallible,--until I am convinced of +the contrary. "_Theories of Inspiration_," (as they are called,) are the +growth of an unbelieving age: and it is enough to disgust any one with +the term, to find how it has been understood in some quarters. A +well-known living editor of the Gospel[377], says,--"According to the +Verbal-Inspiration Theory, each Evangelist has recorded the exact words +of the Inscription on the Cross;--not _the general sense_, but _the +Inscription itself_;--not a letter less nor more. This is absolutely +necessary to the theory." The advocates of the theory (he proceeds) "may +here find an _undoubted_ example of the absurdity of their view.... Let +us bear this in mind when the narrative of words spoken, or of events, +differs in a similar manner."--It is certainly very kind of the learned +writer thus to apprize us of the danger of accepting a theory, which, so +explained, we certainly never heard of before,--and trust we may never +hear of again. + +But if, instead of the "Theory of Verbal Inspiration," I am asked +whether I believe _the words_ of the Bible to be inspired,--I answer, To +be sure I do,--every one of them: and every syllable likewise. Do not +_you?_--_Where_,--(if it be a fair question,)--Where do you, in your +wisdom, stop? The _book_, you allow _is_ inspired. How about the +chapters? How about the verses? Do you stop at the verses, and not go on +to the words? Or perhaps you enjoy a special tradition on this subject, +and hold that Inspiration is a general, vague kind of thing,--here more, +there less: strong, (to speak plainly,) where you make no objection to +what is stated,--weak, when it runs counter to some fancy of your +own.--O Sir, but this "general vague kind of thing" will not suffice to +anchor the fainting soul upon, in the day of trouble, and in the hour of +death! "Here _more_, there _less_," will not satisfy a parched and weary +spirit, athirst for the water of Life, and craving the shadow of the +great Rock. What security can _you_ offer _me_, that the promise which +has sustained me so long occurs in the "more," and not in the "less?" +How am I to know that your Bible is _my_ Bible: in other words, what +proof is there that either of us possesses the Word of GOD,--the +authentic utterance of GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT,--_at all_? + +And do you not feel, that this "will o' the wisp" phantom of your brain, +can prove no guide to either of us in the pilgrimage of life? Perceive +you not that the unworthy spirit in which you approach the Book of GOD'S +Law must effectually prevent you from getting any wisdom from it? Why, +the pages which you look so coldly and carnally at, are written within +and without, and burn from end to end with unutterable meaning! While +you are quarrelling about the title on the Cross, you are missing the +common salvation! You keep us, Sunday after Sunday, disputing outside +the gates of Paradise, instead of bidding us enter in, and eat of the +delicious fruit! While _you_ are persisting that there is no beauty in +the garden, (because you choose to be deaf as well as blind,)--the +shadows are lengthening out, and the glory is departing, and the angels +are getting weary of harping upon their harps! + +No, Sirs! The Bible (be persuaded) is the very utterance of the +Eternal;--as much GOD'S Word, as if high Heaven were open, and we heard +GOD speaking to us with human voice. Every book of it, is inspired +alike; and is inspired entirely. Inspiration is not a difference of +degree, but of kind. The Apocryphal books are not one atom more inspired +than Bacon's Essays. But the Bible, from the Alpha to the Omega of it, +is filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit of GOD: the Books of it, +and the sentences of it, and the words of it, and the syllables of +it,--aye, and the very letters of it. "Nihil in Scripturis est otiosum," +(said the great Casaubon): "non dictio, non dictionis forma, non +syllaba, non littera." ... The difficulty which attends quotations, I +must explain another day. It is _not_ a difficulty.--The seeming paradox +of calling a pedigree inspired, is only seeming.--The _text_ of Holy +Scripture has nothing at all to do with the question. Is a dead poet +responsible for the clumsiness of him who transcribes his copy, or for +the carelessness of the apprentice in the printer's attic?--Least of all +do we overlook the personality of the human writers, when we so speak. +The styles of Daniel,--of St. John,--of St. Paul,--of St. James,--differ +as much as the sounds emitted by organ pipes of wholly diverse +construction. But those human instruments were fabricated, one and all, +by the Hands of the same Divine Artist: and I have yet to learn that +when the same man builds an organ, fills it with breath, and performs +upon it a piece of his own composition with matchless skill,--I have yet +to learn that any part of the honour, any part of the praise, any part +of the glory of the performance is to be withheld from _him!_ ... The +illustration is at least as old as Christianity itself. Pray take it in +the noble words of Hooker.--"They neither spoke nor wrote one word of +their own: but uttered syllable by syllable as the Spirit put it into +their mouths; no otherwise than the harp or the lute doth give a sound +according to the discretion of his hands that holdeth and striketh it +with skill. The difference is only this: an instrument, whether it be +pipe or harp, maketh a distinction in the times and sounds, which +distinction is well perceived of the hearer, the instrument itself +understanding not what is piped or harped. The prophets and holy men of +GOD not so. 'I opened my mouth,' saith Ezekiel, 'and GOD reached me a +scroll, saying, Son of Man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels +with this I give thee. I ate it, and it was sweet in my mouth as +honey,' saith the prophet[378]. Yea, sweeter, I am persuaded, than +either honey or the honeycomb. For herein, they were not like harps or +lutes, but they felt, they felt the power and strength of their own +words. When they spake of our peace, every corner of their hearts was +filled with joy. When they prophesied of mourning, lamentations, and +woes, to fall upon us, they wept in the bitterness and indignation of +spirit, the Arm of the LORD being mighty and strong upon them[379]." + +To conclude. The first time I enjoyed this privilege, I urged the +younger men to a diligent and painful daily study of the Bible. On the +next occasion, opening the Bible at the first page, I attempted to +define the provinces of Theological and of Physical Science. All that +was then offered may be summed up in one brief formula:--_GOD'S works +CANNOT contradict GOD'S Word_. I adverted to the method of would-be +geologists, (a class all apart from the grave and learned few who give +their days and nights to a truly noble branch of study,)--because from +_them_ the most malignant attacks have proceeded: and I took my stand on +the first chapter of Genesis, because the enemies of GOD'S Truth have +made that chapter their favourite point of attack. But my argument was +not directed more against Geology than against any other of the physical +Sciences. They are all alike the handmaids of _Theological_ Science. +Geology, however, singularly honoured by the Creator in that He hath +bequeathed for her inspection so many marvels of primæval +Time,--evidences of how He was working in this remote planet before the +Creation of Man;--Geology, I say, it especially behoves to be humble: +partly, because she is the youngest of all the sciences; and partly, +because the weak guesses of her childhood are yet in the memory of us +all. If indeed she would _inherit the Earth_, let her remember that she +asks for the blessing which CHRIST hath promised to none but _the +meek_[380]. + +We altogether repudiated, then, the contrast which is often implied +between Theology and Science; as if Theology were _not_ a Science, but +some other thing. Theological Science we declared to be the noblest of +the Sciences,--the very Queen and Mistress of them all. And yet, supreme +as she is, she not only admits, but desires, and thankfully accepts the +ministerial offices of the other Sciences; all of which, like dutiful +servants in a household, have it in their power to render her most +important acts of homage. Language, for example, carries the keys of the +casket wherein she keeps her treasures; and for that reason Theology +hath promoted Language to great honour. History, and Geography, and +Chronology, have each had their respective tasks assigned them. It is +for Astronomy to make answer if question be raised of the date of +Paschal full Moon, or of Eclipse. Let the physiologist explain, if he +can, Scriptural allusions to the vegetable and animal kingdoms. How +precious are the guesses of Geology, as she tries to fathom the Ocean of +unrecorded Time!--_Who_ would desire the silence of the Professor of +_any_ department of physical Science? Morals also have their place and +their function assigned them; and a thrice blessed place,--a most holy +function is theirs! Why should not Moral Science have an office even in +the Court of Theology? Was not Morality the Schoolmaster of the sons of +Japheth, what time there was dew on the fleece only, but it was dry upon +all the earth beside? What are Morals else but the echoes of the voice +of GOD yet lingering in the Hall of Conscience, or rather in the +Chambers of Memory?.... Her function therefore is to bear willing +witness to the Goodness, the Wisdom, the Justice of the Eternal: and her +place,--the loftiest which can be imagined for a creature,--is somewhere +beneath the footstool of Almighty GOD. + +But when, instead of the submissive manners of a well-ordered Court, +symptoms of insolence and insubordination are witnessed on every +side,--then, the least and humblest takes leave, (time, and place, and +occasion serving,) to speak out fearlessly on behalf of that which he +loves with an unworthy, but a most undivided heart.--When Language +impugns those Oracles which she was hired to decypher,--and pretends to +doubt the Inspiration of that Book of which, confessedly, she barely +understands the Grammar:--when History and Chronology cry out that the +annals of Theology are false, and her record of Time a fable; that the +Deluge, for instance, is an old wives' story, and the economy of times +and seasons a human fabrication:--when Astronomical and Mechanical +Science strut up to the Throne whereon sits the Ancient of Days,--prate +to _Him_, (the first Author of Law,) about the "supremacy of Law,"--and +tell Him to His face that His miracles are things impossible:--when +Physiology insinuates that Mankind cannot be descended from one primæval +pair; and that the lives of the Patriarchs cannot be such as they are +recorded to have been:--when the pretender to Natural Philosophy +gravely assures us that we ought not to pray for fair weather, because +the weather depends _not_ upon "arbitrary changes in the will of GOD," +_but_ upon laws as fixed and certain "as the laws of +gravitation[381],"--which, mark you, Sirs, is no longer a dry verbal +speculation, but is nothing less than an invasion of that inner chamber +where you or I have retired to pour out the fulness of an aching heart, +in prayer that GOD would prolong, if it may be, the life of the dearest +thing we have on earth; and rudely to bid us rise from our knees and be +silent, for that the health of Man depends not on the will of GOD, but +on fixed physiological laws:--lastly, when the pretender to Geological +skill denies the authenticity of the First Chapter of Genesis; which is +to deny the Inspiration of all the rest; and therefore of the whole +Bible;--and thus to rob Life's weary pilgrim of that rod and staff +concerning which he has many a time exclaimed,--"they _comfort_ +me!":--whenever, as now, such things are spoken and printed,--not in a +corner, and by insignificant persons, and in ambiguous language,--but in +plain English, by clergymen and scholars in authority, openly in the +face of GOD'S sun;--then it is high time, even for the humblest and +least among you,--if no man of mark will speak up, and speak out, for +GOD'S Truth,--to deliver a plain message with that freedom which +Englishmen hold to be a part of their birthright. It should breed no +offence, I say, if the most unworthy of GOD'S servants, here, before you +all,--before these younger men especially, who have been drawn hither by +the fame of your piety and your learning,--and who have been entrusted +to your guardianship through the precious years of early manhood, with a +well-grounded confidence that you would give them to eat not only of the +Tree of Knowledge, but also largely of the fruit of the Tree of +Life:--in this Holy House too where he received his commission[382], and +vowed before GOD and Man, that he would "be ready," (the LORD being his +helper,) "with all faithful diligence to drive away all erroneous and +strange doctrines contrary to GOD's Word:"--before _such_ an audience, +and in such a place, it must and _shall_ be lawful for me solemnly to +denounce as false and deadly,--full of nothing but pernicious +consequence,--that system of practical Infidelity which enjoys such +unhappy popularity at this hour; which, under the mask of Science, and +under the specious name of Progress, is spreading like a fatal contagion +through the length and breadth of the land; and which, if suffered to go +unchastised and unchecked, will end by shaking both the Altar and the +Throne!.... Look well to it, Sirs, if you care for the safety of the Ark +of GOD. For my part,--like one of old time whose words I am not worthy +to take upon my lips,--"I cannot hold my peace: because thou hast heard, +O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war[383]!" + +The case is not altered,--rather is it made worse,--if this hostility to +GOD's Truth proceeds from persons bearing Orders in the English Church. +("O my soul, come not thou into their secret!") The case is not altered: +for the requirements of Physical Science are still the plea; and +_Divines_, in _no_ sense, these men are, however unsuccessful they may +prove in establishing their claim to the title of _philosophers_ either. +Nay, Sirs,--suffer one of yourselves to ask you, whether these +disgraceful developments are not the lawful result of your own +incredible system, of sending forth, year by year, men to be teachers +and professors of Divinity,--to whom you have yet never imparted _any +Theological training whatever_[384]. + +You are requested to observe, that not only cannot GOD's Works +contradict GOD's Word,--simply because they are twin utterances of one +and the same Divine Intelligence;--but also the deductions of Physical +Science cannot possibly run counter to the decrees of +Theology[385],--simply because they are respectively in a wholly diverse +subject-matter. Had Theology even _once_ delivered a Geological decree, +or pretended even _once_ to pronounce upon any Astronomical problem; +then, indeed, there would be reason why her disciples should watch with +alarm the rapid advance of Physical Science,--instead of hailing it, as +they do, with wonder and delight. Then, indeed, we should be constrained +to admit that the day might be coming when Theology would have to +reconsider the platform whereon she stands; and possibly to "give way." +But it is an undeniable fact that there exist _no_ Theological dogmas on +matters Geological,--no, _not one!_ Theology cannot retreat from ground +on which she has never set foot. She cannot retract, what she has never +advanced, or recal the words which she has never spoken. The decrees of +Theology are all confined to the Science of Theology,--and with _that_ +subject-matter, the other Sciences have simply _no concern_. Their +office _there_, as I have again and again explained, is simply +ministerial; and when they enter the presence chamber of the great King, +they are bid not to draw too nigh. "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet; +for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground!" + +And how about Moral Science,--whom we beheld, a moment since, shrouded +in her mantle, beneath the footstool of the ALMIGHTY;--afraid to look up +into His awful Face,--and not presuming to speak, unless called upon to +bear her solemn witness to what she learned of Him "in the +beginning?"--Must we imagine _her_ too rising from her lowly seat, and +presuming to sit in judgment upon the Author of her Being? Are we to +picture her arraigning the Goodness of Him who commanded Abraham to slay +his son;--or the Justice of Him who sent Saul to destroy the +Amalekites;--or the Mercy of Him who inspired certain of David's +Psalms;--or the Wisdom of Him who made the everlasting Gospel the +mysterious four-fold thing it is?--Then, were she to do so, we should +perforce exclaim,--This judgment of thine cannot possibly be just! For +the echo _must_ resemble the voice which woke it! Other spirits must +have been intruding here; and the unholy din of their voices must have +drowned the clear, yet still and small utterance of ALMIGHTY GOD within +thy breast!.... In other words, if there _be_ antagonism, Ethics,--not +Theology, _but_ (_that which calls itself_) _Moral Science_,--must +instantly and hopelessly give way. + +For doubtless, that inference of ours as to what had happened, would be +a true inference.--It _will_ be the fact, I fear, before the end of all +things; for it seems to be implied,--(a more heart-sickening sentence in +all Scripture, I know not!),--that when the Son of Man cometh, He will +not find the Faith on the Earth[386]. And if not _the Faith_ (=tên +pistin=),--what then? _The Moral Sense?_ Hardly! for where was the Moral +Sense when she _let go_ the Faith?--It was the fact, (if I read the +record rightly,) eighteen centuries ago: for children had then forgotten +their duty to their Parents; and the sanctity of Marriage was unknown; +and (O prime note of a darkened conscience!) men not only _did_ things +worthy of Death, but "_had pleasure in them that did them_." Read the +first chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, and say what was +_then_ the condition of the Moral Sense in man. Tell me, while your +cheek is yet burning, whether you think Moral Science was _then_ +competent to sit in judgment on a Revelation sent from the GOD of +Purity, until GOD's own SON had republished the sanctions of the Moral +Law, and informed Man's conscience afresh!... No Sirs. We are told +expressly, that "as they did not like to retain GOD in their knowledge, +GOD gave them over to a reprobate mind,"--"gave them up unto vile +affections." And why? Hear the Apostle! It was because "when they knew +GOD, they glorified Him not as GOD; neither were thankful:"--hence, they +were suffered to become vain in their imaginations, and, "_their foolish +heart was darkened!_"--In other words, the candle of the LORD, the light +of conscience within them, was well nigh _put out_. + +This will explain the reason why, when "THE WORD was made flesh and +dwelt among us," He so frequently delivered precepts,--yea, preached +whole Sermons,--on what would now-a-days be called mere "Morality." He +was _republishing the Moral Law_. He was graving afresh those letters +which had been wellnigh worn out through tract of Time, and the wear and +tear of Man's ungoverned lusts.--Hence, to this hour, when question is +raised of Right and Wrong,--the appeal is made, by the common consent of +Christian men, _not_ to the inner consciousness of the creature, but to +the Creator's external Revelation of His mind and will. Let abler men +explain to us what we mean when we talk about Immutable Morality. I am +by no means sure that I understand myself. Sure only am I that it will +carry us a very little way. Aristotle would never have made the average +moral sense of mankind his standard, had _he_ known of a =logos +theopneustos=. The principles of Morality do indeed seem to be fixed and +eternal;--=aei pote zê tauta=:--but it is no longer true, =oudeis oiden +ex hotou 'phanê=. Ever since the Gospel came into the world, _general +opinion_ has ceased to be the standard of Truth: for the Bible has +simply superseded it; and put forth a standard to which "general +opinion" itself must bow. "_I_ am the Way, _the Truth_, and the Life." +So spake the Eternal SON while yet on Earth. And He foresaw that there +would come a day when the world would still ask, with Pilate, "What is +Truth?" Accordingly, we heard his solemn reply in this Morning's Second +Lesson--"THY WORD,"--"THY WORD is Truth." ... "GOD made two great +lights," I grant you: but what I maintain is, that He made "_the greater +Light_ to rule _the Day_." + +And therefore are we very bold to assert that it is all too late for +men _now_ to vaunt the authority of the Moral Sense, as a thing to be +set up against the fixed and immutable Revelation of GOD'S mind and +will. "The sufficiency of Natural Religion is a paradox of modern +invention, and the boast of it comes with an ill grace, and under great +suspicions, so late in the day of trial[387]." Aye, it comes all too +late. Here in England, (GOD be praised!) the moral sense is indeed +strong. Is it _as_ strong, think you, among those continental nations +which are under the spiritual yoke of Rome? Is it as strong among the +Hindoos? Is it as strong among the savage inhabitants of central +Australia?... Perceive you not that if Moral Science speaks with a loud +and clear voice in Christian lands, it is because there the Moral Sense +has been in those lands informed afresh by Revelation? "That the +principles of Natural Religion have come to be so far understood and +admitted, may fairly be taken for one of the effects of the +Gospel[388]." The echoes of the voice of GOD are now so distinct, only +because GOD hath suffered His awful voice to be heard on earth again: +and if among ourselves those echoes are the loudest and the clearest, is +it not because among ourselves the Bible is read the most? + +"The fact" (says the thoughtful writer already quoted,)--"the fact is +not to be denied; the Religion of Nature _has_ had the opportunity of +rekindling her faded taper by the Gospel light,--whether furtively or +unconsciously availed of. Let her not dissemble the obligation, and make +a boast of the splendour, as though it were originally her own; or had +always, in her hands, been sufficient for the illumination of the +World."--"It is not to be imagined that men fail to profit by the light +that has been shed upon them, though they have not always the integrity +to own the source from which it comes; or though they may turn their +back upon it, whilst it fills the very atmosphere in which they move, +with glory[389]." + +I say, therefore, that it is _all too late_ to vaunt the supremacy of +Conscience as opposed to Revelation,--Moral as opposed to Theological +Science. Moral Science owes all its renewed strength and vigour to +Theology. And so, were Moral Science to dare call in question, (as she +sometimes _has_ done, and may dare to do again!), the Morality of the +Bible,--we should find her monstrous image nowhere so fitly as in that +of the man whose withered hand CHRIST healed in the Synagogue,--if the +same man had proved such a wretch, as straightway to lift up his arm +with intention to smite his Benefactor and his GOD. + +Physical Science therefore, (for the last time!)--_all_ the other +Sciences,--Moral Science not excepted,--are the handmaids of Theological +Science: and Morality, to which we omitted before to assign an office, +we have stationed somewhere beneath the footstool, which is before the +Throne, of the Most High.--But this day's Sermon,--(and with these words +I conclude, sorry to have felt obliged to detain you so long!)--_this_ +Day's Sermon has had for its object to remind you, that THE BIBLE is +none other than _the voice of Him that sitteth upon the Throne_! Every +Book of it,--every Chapter of it,--every Verse of it,--every word of +it,--every syllable of it,--(_where_ are we to _stop_?)--every letter of +it--is the direct utterance of the Most High!--=Pasa graphê theopneustos=. +"Well spake the HOLY GHOST, by the mouth of" the many blessed Men who +wrote it.--The Bible is none other than _the Word of GOD_: not some part +of it, more, some part of it, less; but all alike, the utterance of Him +who sitteth upon the Throne;--absolute,--faultless,--unerring,--supreme! + + * * * * * + + =Egô men oun iôta hen ê mian keraian ou pisteuô kenên einai theiôn + mathêmatôn.= + +ORIGENES, Comment. in S. Matth. tom. xvi. c. 12. p. 734. + + =Tauta moi eirêtai ... pros systasin tou mêden mechri syllabês argon ti + einai tôn theopneustôn rhêmatôn.= + +BASILIUS, in Hex. Hom. vi. c. 11. tom. i. p. 61 c. + + Scripturæ quidem perfectæ sunt, quippe a VERBO DEI, et SPIRITU ejus + dictæ. + +IRENÆUS, Contr. Hær. lib. ii. c. xxviii. 2. + + =Mêdemia hypenantiôsis ê atopia en tois theiois logois.= + +METHODIUS, Tyrius Episcopus, ap. Routh Reliqq. t. v. p. 351. + + =Esti gar en tois tôn Graphôn rhêmasin ho Kyrios.= + +ATHANASIUS, ad Marcellinum. + + =HOsa hê theia graphê legei, tou Pneumatos eisi tou HAgiou phônai.= + +GREGORIUS NYSSEN, Contr. Eunom. Orat. vi. + + Cedamus igitur et consentiamus auctoritati Sanctæ Scripturæ, quæ + nescit falli nec fallere. + +AUGUSTINUS, De Peccator. Merit. lib. i. c. 22. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[330] Preached in Christ-Church Cathedral, 25th Nov. 1860. + +[331] =Pasai hai theopneustoi graphai=,--as it is worded in the Epistle +sent by the Council of Antioch in the case of Paul of Samosata, A.D. +269. (Routh _Reliqq._ iii. 292.) See Middleton _on the Greek Article_, +(Rose's ed.) _in loc._ And so, in effect, Wordsworth and Ellicott.--It +is right to add that it has been contended that =pasa graphê= = "the +whole of Scripture." See Lee _on Inspiration_, p. 263, (note.) So +Athanasius seems to have taken it: =Pasa hê kath' hêmas graphê, palaia te +kai kainê, theopneustos esti=. (_Ep. ad Marcell._ i. 982.) + +[332] That =theopneustos= is the predicate, seems sufficiently obvious. +So Athanasius, in the passage above quoted. So Gregory of Nyssa: =dia +touto pasa graphê theopneustos legetai, dia to tês theias empneuseôs= +=einai didaskalian=. (_Contr. Eunom._ Orat. VI. ii. 605.) Amphilochius, +Bishop of Iconium, quotes the place in the same way.--Basil also, +saying--=Pasa graphê theopneustos kai ôphelimos, dia touto syngrapheisa +para tou Pneumatos=, (_Hom. in Psalm._ I. i. 90,)--clearly adopts the +construction assumed in the text.--Ambrose (_De Spir. Sancto_, lib. II. +c. 16. ii. 688,) says,--"In Scriptura Divina, =theopneustos= omnis ex hoc +dicitur, quod Deus inspiret quæ locutus est Spiritus." (The above are +from Lee _on Inspiration_, which see, pp. 260, 493, 599.)--Tertullian +(quoted by Tisch.) says, "Legimus omnem Scripturam ædificationi habilem, +divinitus inspirari."--A few modern scholars have suggested that +=theopn.= may be an epithet, not a predicate. The _doctrine_ will remain +the same either way; for the meaning of the place can only be, "Every +Scripture, _being_ inspired, is also _profitable_," &c. This is Origen's +view: but his criticism is not in point, inasmuch as he read the text +differently, (omitting the =kai=.) Lee aptly compares the construction +of =pan ktisma Theou kalon, kai ouden apoblêton=. (1 Tim. iv. 4.) + +[333] Thess. ii. 13. + +[334] 1 Cor. ii. 13. + +[335] 2 St. Pet. iii. 16,--where see Wordsworth. + +[336] 1 Cor. vii. 40. + +[337] 1 Cor. vii. 10. + +[338] 1 Cor. vii. 6. (=Touto de legô kata syngnômên, ou kat' epitagên.=) + +[339] St. Matth. xix. 6 (= St. Mark x. 9:) and the following +places,--St. Matth. v. 32: xix. 9 (= St. Mark x. 11, 12.): St. Luke xvi. +18. + +[340] Montfaucon, _præf. ad Euseb. Comm. in Psalm._, cap. x. See also +Æsch. Prom. V. v. 289. + +[341] St. Luke xvii. 9. So St. Mark x. 42. St. Luke viii. 18. St. John +v. 39. + +[342] Comp. 1 Cor. iv. 9: Gal. ii. 9: Heb. iv. 1. + +[343] =To en autois Pneuma Christou=.--1 St. Pet. i. 11. + +[344] =hypo Pneumatos HAgiou pheromenoi elalêsan hoi hagioi Theou +anthrôpoi.=--2 St. Pet. i. 21. (_lit._ "impelled,"--like a ship before +the wind.) + +[345] =proeipe to Pneuma to HAgion dia stomatos Dabid=.--Acts i. 16. + +[346] =kathôs legei to Pneuma to HAgion=.--Heb. iii. 7. + +[347] =hypo tou Theou=.--Heb. v. 10. + +[348] =Dabid eipen en tô Pneumati tô HAgiô.=--St. Mark xii. 36. + +[349] =ho Theos ho poiêsas ton ouranon kai tên gên kai tên thalassan kai +panta ta en autois, ho dia stomatos Dabid tou paidos sou eipôn=.--Acts +iv. 24, 25. + +[350] =to Pneuma to HAgion elalêse dia Hêsaiou tou prophêtou=.--Acts +xxviii. 25. + +[351] =martyrei de hêmin kai to Pneuma to HAgion=--Heb. x. 15, quoting +Jer. xxxi. 33, 34. + +[352] =ho de Theos ... prokatêngeile dia stomatos pantôn tôn prophêtôn +autou pathein ton Christon=.--Acts iii. 18. + +[353] =Kyrios ho Theos tou Israêl ... elalêse dia stomatos tôn hagiôn tôn +ap' aiônos prophêtôn autou=.--St. Luke i. 68, 70. + +[354] =touto dêlountos tou Pneumatos tou HAgiou.=--Heb. ix. 8. + +[355] =ou gar este hymeis hoi lalountes, alla to Pneuma to HAgion.=--St. +Mark xiii. 11. + +[356] =ou gar hymeis este hoi lalountes, alla to Pneuma tou Patros hymôn to +laloun en hymin.=--St. Matth. x. 20. + +[357] =epei dokimên zêteite tou en emoi lalountos Christou.=--2 Cor. +xiii. 3. + +[358] Rev. B. Jowett, in _E. and R._,--p. 345. Yet see Acts iii. 18, 21. + +[359] Dr. Temple, in _Essays and Reviews_, p. 25. + +[360] _Contra Marcion_, sect. I. p. 9. + +[361] See the first foot-note, p. 53. [Our 330] + +[362] St. John xix. 14. + +[363] St. Mark xv. 25. + +[364] The passage may be seen in John Bois' _Vet. Interpretis cum Bezâ +aliisque recentioribus collatio_, (1655,) p. 333. + +[365] See a Dissertation by Dr. Townson at the end of his admirable book +on the Gospels. + +[366] Viz. St. John i. 39: iv. 6, 52: xix. 14. + +[367] And yet, we hear it asserted that we cannot "suppose the Spirit of +absolute Truth" "to suggest accounts _only to be reconciled in the way +of hypothesis and conjecture_."--_E. and R._, p. 179. + +[368] E.g. Gen. xxiv. 2-8, compared with ver. 37-41; and again, ver. +12-14, compared with ver. 42-44. Again, Gen. xlii. 10-13, compared with +ver. 31, 32: and again, ver. 14-16, compared with ver. 33, 34. Again, +Gen. xlii. 36-8, compared with xliv. 27-29, &c., &c., &c. + +[369] Instances of this will be very familiar to every attentive student +of the Gospels. Thus St. Matth. xxvi. 68 implies acquaintance with a +minute circumstance which is stated in St. Luke xxii. 64:--St. Matth. x. +13 _implies_ what is _expressed_ in St. Luke x. 5, &c., &c., &c. + +[370] St. Matth. xxvii. 9. + +[371] E.g. St. Jude ver. 14, 15. + +[372] Is. lii. 7, and Nahum i. 15.--Is. ii. 2, 3, 4, and Micah iv. 1, 2, +3.--Micah iv. 6, and Zeph. iii. 19.--Is. xi. 9, and Hab. ii. 14.--Micah +iii. 12, and Jer. xxvi. 18, &c., &c. + +[373] E.g. Jer. xxiii. 5 and Zech. vi. 13. + +[374] See Appendix (C). + +[375] See Appendix (D). + +[376] See Appendix (E). + +[377] The Rev. H. Alford, Dean of Canterbury. + +[378] Ezek. iii. 2, 3. + +[379] Hooker, _Serm._ v. § 4. (_Works_, vol. iii. p. 663.) + +[380] St. Matth. v. 5. + +[381] Professor Kingsley's Sermon,--"_Why should we pray for fair +Weather?_" + +[382] See at the foot of p. 53, note (a). [Our 330] + +[383] Jer. iv. 19. + +[384] The complaint is a very old one. See Pearson's _Minor Works_, vol. +i. pp. 429-30. + +[385] It becomes necessary to explain, that on the Sunday after the +delivery of the foregoing Sermon, a Sermon was preached _directly +contravening its teaching_. Next week, it became the present writer's +duty to address the same auditory,--which will explain as much of what +follows in the present Sermon, (including something at p. 79,) as may +seem to require explanation. It was impossible to proceed with the +argument, until what had been advanced of a directly opposite tendency +had been thus disposed of. + +[386] St. Luke xviii. 8. + +[387] Davison's _Discourses on Prophecy_,--p. 7. + +[388] _Ibid._ + +[389] Davison's _Discourses on Prophecy_,--p. 8.--The following passage +is from Bp. Horsley's _Primary Charge to the Clergy of Rochester_, +(1796,):--"The question in this case is not abstract,--what Reason _may +have_ the ability to do. The question is upon a matter of fact,--_what +she did_. Were these things, in point of fact, man's own discovery?--The +sacred history is explicit that they were not. And notwithstanding the +many useful lessons of Morality we find in the writings of the heathen +sages,--the many eloquent discourses upon providence, and the +immortality of the soul,--the many subtile disquisitions upon the great +questions of necessity and moral freedom, upon fate and chance,--I am +persuaded, that had it not been for the early communications of the +Creator with mankind, Man never would have raised the conceptions of his +mind to the idea of a God; he never would have dreamt of the immaterial +principle within himself; and he never would have formed any general +notions of Right and Wrong in the abstract; he would have had no +Religion, perhaps no Morality.... The prudent dispensers of the Word +will resort to Revelation for his first principles, as well as for more +mysterious truths. He will not trust to philosophy for any discoveries. +He will suffer philosophy to be nothing more than his assistant in the +study of the inspired Word. She must herself be instructed by those +lively oracles before she can be qualified to take part in the +instruction of men. To lay the foundation of Revelation upon any +previous discoveries of Reason, is in fact to make Reason the superior +teacher. It is not improbable, that Idolatry itself had its first +beginning in an early adoration of this phantom of Natural +Religion,--the idol, in later ages, of impolitic metaphysical +Divines."--_Charges_, pp. 50, 51.--Bp. Butler says the same thing, but +more briefly, in his _Analogy_, P. II., c. ii.: also P. I., c. vi. + + + + +SERMON IV.[390] + + * * * * * + +THE PLENARY INSPIRATION OF EVERY PART OF THE BIBLE, VINDICATED AND +EXPLAINED.--NATURE OF INSPIRATION.--THE TEXT OF SCRIPTURE. + + * * * * * + +ST. JOHN xvii. 17. + +_Thy Word is Truth._ + + +I thankfully avail myself of the opportunity which, unexpected and +unsolicited, so soon presents itself, to proceed with the subject which +was engaging our attention when I last occupied this place. + +Let me remind you of the nature of the present inquiry, and of the +progress which we have already made. + +Taking Holy Scripture for our subject, and urging, as best we knew how, +its paramount claims on the daily attention of the younger men,--who at +present are our hope and ornament; to be hereafter, as we confidently +believe, our very crown and joy;--even while we held in our hands that +volume which our Fathers were content to call the volume of Inspiration, +we were constrained to recollect that its claim to be inspired has of +late years been repeatedly called in question. It has even become the +fashion to cavil at almost everything which the Bible contains. We are +grown so exceedingly wise, have made so many strange discoveries, and +have become so clear-sighted, that the more advanced among us are kindly +bent on disabusing the minds of their less gifted brethren of that most +venerable delusion of all,--(for it is coeval with Christianity,)--that +the Bible is in any special sense the Word of GOD. I do not say that +Theologians talk thus. But pretenders to Natural Science, knowing +nothing whatever of Divinity, and therefore intruding into a realm of +which they do not understand so much as the language;--together with, +(sad to relate!) men bearing a commission in the Church of CHRIST, (and +who ought therefore to be building up, where they are seeking to +destroy,)--are employing the powers which GOD has given them, in this +direction. It becomes indispensable, in consequence, that we should say +somewhat on behalf of those Oracles which have been so vigorously +impugned; and it should not seem strange if we oppose to such +destructive dogmatism, the most uncompromising severity of counter +statement. + +The objections which have been raised against the Bible, although they +have been industriously gleaned from various quarters, will all be most +effectually met, I am persuaded, by getting men to acquaint themselves +with the contents of the deposit itself. And yet, inasmuch as it is the +nature of doubts, when once injected into the mind, to fester and to +spread; inasmuch also as the bold confidence of plausible assertion, +especially when recommended by men of reputation, and set off with some +ability and skill, is apt to impose on youth and inexperience;--we seem +reduced to a kind of necessity, to examine; and, as far as the limits of +a sermon will allow, to refute; the charges which have been so +industriously brought forward against the Bible. + +The favourite objections of the day come partly from without,--partly +from within. The classification is not exact, but it may serve to assist +the memory. One class of objections is, in a manner, destructive,--for +it results in entire disbelief of the Bible:--the other class, +suggesting imperfections, results in a low and disparaging estimate of +its contents. When exception is taken against certain portions of Holy +Scripture, on the ground of discoveries in Physical Science,--of the +dictates of the Moral Sense,--of the supremacy of mechanical Laws,--and +the like,--we consider that the supposed difficulties come _from +without_. As much as we care to say on this class of objections has +either been already offered, or must be reserved for a subsequent +occasion[391].--When doubts are insinuated, arising out of the +subject-matter of the Bible, we consider the difficulties to proceed +_from within_. The apparent contradictions of the Evangelists, are of +this nature. Supposed errors or misstatements, come under the same head. +Very imperfectly, yet sufficiently for our immediate purpose, we have +touched upon both subjects. Those portions of the Old Testament which +savour in the highest degree of the marvellous, must be reserved for +separate consideration[392]. To-day I propose to speak of another kind +of objection; but which arises, like the others, out of the +subject-matter of the Bible. Moreover, it is the kind of difficulty +which most readily presents itself to any who listened with unwilling +ears to my last discourse. Some here present may remember my repeated +and unequivocal assertion that Holy Scripture is inspired from the Alpha +to the Omega of it;--not some parts more, some parts less, but all +equally, and all to overflowing;--that we hold it to be, not generally +inspired, but particularly; that we see not how with logical consistency +we can avoid believing the words as well as the sentences of it; the +syllables as well as the words; the letters as well as the syllables; +every "jot" and every "tittle" of it, (to use our LORD'S expression,) to +be divinely inspired:--and further, that until the contrary has been +_proved_, we shall maintain that no misapprehension or misstatement, no +error or blot of any kind, can possibly exist within its pages:--that we +hold the Bible to be as much the Word of GOD, as if GOD spoke to us +therein with human lips;--and that, as the very utterance of the HOLY +GHOST, we cannot _but_ think that it must be absolute, faultless, +unerring, supreme. + +I. To this, it has been objected as follows:-- + +You cannot possibly mean what you say. You will not pretend to assert +that the list of the Dukes of Edom[393], is as much inspired,--inspired +in _the same sense_,--as the Gospel of St. John.--To which I make +answer, that I believe one to be just as much inspired as the other: and +before I leave off, I will endeavour to bring my hearers to the same +opinion. In the meantime, it is only fair to the objector, to hear him +out: to follow his guidance; and to see whither he would lead us. It +will be quite competent for us _then_ to retrace our steps; to point out +"a more excellent way;" and to entreat him, with all a brother's +earnestness, to reconsider the matter, and to follow _us_. + +The objection may, I believe, be fairly stated as follows.--It is +unreasonable to consider any part of Holy Scripture inspired which the +author was competent to write without the aid of Inspiration. Just as +you would not multiply miracles needlessly, and ascribe to special +Divine interference results which might be otherwise accounted for, so +neither ought you to call in the aid of Inspiration where it may clearly +be dispensed with. A genealogy,--a catalogue of names, whether of places +or persons,--whatever may reasonably be suspected to have been an +extract from public Archives;--nothing of this sort need you, nor +indeed, properly speaking, _can_ you, call "inspired." More than that. +All mere narratives of ordinary transactions,--or indeed of transactions +extraordinary;--whatever, in short, a writer, having first beheld it +with his eyes, appears to have simply described with his pen, it is +unreasonable to regard as the work of Inspiration. For it is plain to +common sense,--(so at least I have heard it said,) that there is much, +both in the Old and in the New Testament, the delivery of which required +no other than the ordinary gifts of men:--actual observation, good +memory, high intellect, clearness of statement, honesty of purpose. Look +at the preface to St. Luke's Gospel. It seems only to convey that the +author of it believed himself to be bringing out a superior edition of a +narrative which had already been attempted by many. I would apply, (it +is said,) to the whole of the Old Testament the same observations which +I apply to the New. There are parts which evidently required nothing but +opportunity of experience, or research, and the ordinary qualities of a +trustworthy historian.--This then is the way the case is put. There is +no intentional irreverence on the part of the objector: no conscious +hostility to GOD'S Truth. Very much the reverse. But having once +assumed that the catalogue of the Dukes of Edom is not to be regarded as +an inspired document, he has logical consistency enough to perceive that +he cannot exactly stop _there_. And so, he carries his speculations a +little further. He tries to take (what he calls) a "common sense" view +of the question. He says that he thinks it a dangerous proceeding on the +part of the preacher to insist on the infallibility of Apostles and +Evangelists. Meanwhile, I suspect that he is not by any means without a +suspicion that he is on a platform beset with _far greater dangers_, +himself. He has walked a little this way, and that way; and his "common +sense" has shewn him that there is an ugly precipice on every side. Nay; +he perceives that the ground trembles, and cracks, and shakes,--and even +yawns beneath his feet. + +For I request you to observe, that there is absolutely no middle state +between Inspiration and non-inspiration. If a writing be inspired, it is +Divine: if it be not inspired, it is human. It is absurd to shirk the +alternative. _Some_ parts of the Bible, it is allowed, _are_ inspired; +other parts, it is contended, are _not_. Let it be conceded then, for +the moment, that the catalogue of the Dukes of Edom is _not_ an inspired +writing; and let it be ejected from the Bible accordingly. We must by +strict parity of reasoning, eject the xth chapter of Genesis, which +enumerates the descendants of Japheth, of Ham, and of Shem, with the +countries which they severally occupied,--that truly venerable record +and outline of the primæval settlement of the nations! The ten +Patriarchs before, and the ten after Noah: the many enumerations +contained in the Book of Numbers: much of the two Books of Chronicles: +together with the Genealogies of our SAVIOUR as given by St. Matthew and +St. Luke. + +It is clear that the history of the Flood,--very much of it at +least,--is of the same nature: a kind of calendar as it were, and record +of dates. + +But we may go on faster, and use the knife far more freely. Every thing +in the Pentateuch of which Moses had been an eye or ear-witness, and +which he set down from his own personal knowledge, may be eliminated +from the Bible, as not inspired. According to the principle already +enunciated by yourself, I call upon you to excise from the Book of GOD'S +Law, Exodus, and Leviticus, and Numbers, and Deuteronomy: those passages +only excepted which are prophetical,--as the xxxiiird of Deuteronomy. +Joshua must go of course: for if the son of Nun did not write the Book +which goes under his name,--(as the wise men in Germany say, or used to +say, he did not[394],)--of course the narrative is not authentic; and if +he _did_, _you_ say that it ought not to be regarded as inspired. Judges +and Ruth cannot hope to stand; for they are mere stories,--narratives of +events which any contemporary author who enjoyed "actual observation, +good memory, high intellect, clearness of statement, and honesty of +purpose," was abundantly qualified--(according to _your_ view of the +matter)--to commit to writing. The Books of Samuel and of Kings cannot +be claimed as the work of Inspiration, of course. Chronicles we have got +rid of already. No imaginable plea can be invented for the Books of +Ezra, of Nehemiah, and of Esther; those writings having evidently +required nothing (to use your own phrase) but "opportunity of experience +or research, and the ordinary qualities of a trustworthy historian." The +prophetical books you spare; natural piety suggesting that since +"Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of GOD +spake as they were moved by the HOLY GHOST[395];"--the writings of +Isaiah and the rest, must be retained as inspired. We expunge those +portions only which are simply historical and moral; since to these, by +the hypothesis, the spirit of Inspiration cannot be thought to have +extended. + +We come now to the New Testament; and two of the Gospels are found to be +mutilated already, by the elimination of one chapter of St. Matthew and +one of St. Luke. But on the principle that personal observation, a good +memory, honesty of purpose, and so forth, are the only requirements +necessary, we may proceed to carry forward the work of excision with +spirit, so that we be but careful to use discernment. For example, we +may begin with the Call of St. Matthew, and the Feast which he made to +our LORD in his own house. _Who_ so competent to relate this, as the +Evangelist himself? Whenever, in short, the Twelve were present, St. +Matthew, (as one of the Twelve,) may be assumed to have written from +personal observation; and _that_ portion of his narrative is to be +rejected accordingly as uninspired. + +It is painful to anticipate what will be the fate of St. John's Gospel, +on this principle,--together with most of the Divine Discourses therein +recorded. Not, to be sure, that we shall lose the conversation with +Nicodemus, nor that with the woman of Samaria; because St. John was not +present when either of those conversations took place: but all, from the +xivth to the xviith chapter inclusive; as well as the discourse in the +vith chapter, must of course be dismissed. The matter of these +discourses, it will be urged,--(with more of logical consistency, alas! +than of essential truth,)--might have been faithfully handed down by St. +John without any extraordinary gift. He was bound to our LORD by more +than ordinary affection. He was ever nearest to Him. Is it not +conceivable, (we are asked,) that these two causes, aided by a retentive +memory, would at least _enable_ him to give us the record which he has +given? + +Quite superfluous must it be to state that the Acts of the Apostles, +under the expurgatory process which now engages our attention, will +cease to be regarded as an inspired Book; and therefore must be at once +disconnected from the confessedly inspired portions of Holy +Scripture.--St. Paul's Epistles, you say, on the contrary, are probably +inspired, and therefore are probably to be spared.... And I really think +we need go no further. If your own handling of Holy Scripture,--your own +method, by yourself applied,--be not a _reductio ad absurdum_, I know of +nothing in the world which is.... Look only at that handful of mutilated +pages in the hands of one who is supposed to be the impersonation of +"common sense;" turn the tattered and mangled leaves over and over, +which _you_ are pleased to call the Volume of Inspiration; and get all +the comfort and help out of it you can. But be not surprised to hear +that you are exposing yourself to the ridicule of the sane part of +Mankind,--even while haply you are acting a part which makes the Angels +weep.... How much of the Bible will remain, when _Science_, (Physical, +Moral, Historical,) has further done _her_ work, I forbear now to +inquire: but I shrewdly suspect that she will leave you very little +beyond the back and the covers. + +Let us not be told, (as we doubtless shall,) that the human parts of +Scripture need not be _ejected_ from the Canon because they are human: +that they may be allowed to stand with the rest, although uninspired; +and the like. About this, _we_ at least are competent judges. We are now +bent on discovering how much of Holy Scripture is _the Word of GOD_; and +we refuse, for the moment, to regard as such, and to retain, a single +passage which, being (as you say) uninspired, is simply _the word of +Man_. + +II. Let me now be permitted to lay before you a somewhat different view +of the office of Inspiration. Since the illumination of Science, falsely +so called, and the process of Common Sense, would seem to have resulted +in the extinction of the deposit, I ask your patience while I try to +shew, that common sense, informed by a somewhat loftier Theological +Instinct, may give such an account of the matter as will enable us to +preserve every word of the deposit entire. + +You call my attention to the catalogue of the Dukes of Edom, and tell me +that it required no supernatural aid to enable Moses to write it. How, +may I ask, do you ascertain that fact? No specimens of the documentary +evidence of the land of Seir in the days of Moses, are known now to +exist on the earth's surface. You therefore know absolutely nothing +whatever about the matter of which you speak so confidently. + +But, that we may grapple with the question fairly, let us come down from +an age concerning which neither of us knows anything beyond what the +Bible teaches, to a period with which all are familiar, and to documents +of which we know at least a little. It will suit your purpose far better +that you should instance the two Genealogies of our LORD,--of which you +also say that it is impossible to maintain that they exhibit the work of +Inspiration in the same sense as when some lofty statement of Christian +doctrine comes before us. Indeed, you deny that they are inspired at +all. I, on my side, am willing to admit that it is quite possible,--even +probable,--that the first and the third Evangelist had access to extant +documents of which they respectively availed themselves, when they +recorded our LORD'S descent. + +But, do you not perceive that the great underlying fallacy in all you +have been saying, is your own wholly gratuitous assumption that you are +a competent judge of what _did_,--what did _not_,--require supernatural +aid to deliver? that whatever _seems_ as if it might have been written +without Inspiration, _was_ therefore written without it?--I see so many +practical inconveniences, or rather I see such glaring absurdity, +resulting from the supposition that Inspiration goes and comes before an +authentic document, that I am constrained to think that you are +altogether mistaken in the office which you assign to Inspiration,--in +the kind of notion which you seem to entertain concerning its nature. + +An Evangelist, if you please, is inspired. It becomes necessary to +introduce a genealogy. Following the Divine guidance, (the nature of +which, neither you nor I know anything at all about,) he applies in a +certain quarter, and obtains access to a certain document. Or he repairs +to a well-known repository of public archives, and out of the whole +collection he is guided to make choice of one particular writing. He +proceeds to transcribe it,--omitting names (dropping three generations +for instance,)--or inserting names (the second Cainan for example,)--or, +if you please, neither omitting nor inserting anything. The document, +(suppose,) requires no correction whatever.--Well but, this man was +inspired a moment ago, in what he was writing; and no reason has been +shewn why he should not be inspired still. He has adopted a document, by +incorporating it into his narrative. By transcribing it, he has made it +his own. I am at a loss to see that its claim to be an inspired writing, +from that moment forward, is in any respect inferior to the rest of the +narrative in which it stands. + +You are requested to remember that when we call the Bible an inspired +book, we mean nothing more than that the words of it are the very +utterance of the HOLY SPIRIT;--that the Book is as much the Word of GOD +as if high Heaven were open, and we heard GOD speaking to us with human +voice. All I am contending for _now_, is, that this is at least as true +of one part of the Gospel as of another: that if it be true of anything +in the Gospel, it is at least _as_ true of the Genealogy of CHRIST. The +_subject-matter_ indeed is different; but it is a mere confusion of +thought to infer therefrom a different degree of _Inspiration_. Let me +try and make this plainer by a few familiar illustrations. + +1. When the Sovereign reads a speech from the Throne, does she speak the +words of it in any _different sense_ from the words of a speech which +she has herself composed?--Nay, are words of investiture, mere words of +form and state, in any _less degree spoken_, than words of confidence, +and private friendship? + +2. Again. The substance of paper and the substance of gold, are widely +different. And yet, when paper has been subjected to a certain process, +and stamped with a certain impress, there is practically _no difference +whatever_ between the value of what was, a moment ago, absolutely +worthless, and an ingot of the purest gold. + +3. Consider how the case stands with a merely human author. An historian +has occasion to introduce into his narrative the descent of a House, or +the preamble of an Act, or any other lifeless thing. Does his +responsibility cease when he comes to it, and recommence immediately +afterwards? Is he not responsible just to the same extent for _that_, as +for every other part of his story? + +That he did not _compose it himself_, is certain: but _neither did he +compose the sayings which he has recorded of great men_.--True also is +it that the edification to be derived from the pedigree is not so +great,--certainly, not so obvious,--as from certain of the events which +he describes. But it is nevertheless henceforth an integral part of his +history. He sought for it,--and he found it: he weighed it,--and he +approved of it: he transcribed it,--and he interwove it into his +narrative. In a word, he adopted; and by adopting, he _made it his own_. +Henceforth, it will be quoted as authentic, because it is found to have +satisfied _him_. + +The utmost praise which can be accorded to any creature is, that it +thoroughly fulfils the office whereunto God sends it. A genealogy is not +intended to make men wise unto Salvation: the threats and promises of +GOD'S Law are not intended to acquaint men with the descent of David's +Son. But because _their offices_ are different, it does not follow that +_their origin_ shall not he the same! Is a shoe-latchet in any sense +less an article manufactured by Man, than a watch? Is the Archangel +Michael, burning with glory, and intent on some celestial enterprise, +with twelve legions of glittering seraphs in his train;--is such a host +as _that_, one atom more a creation of the ALMIGHTY than the handful of +yellow leaves which flutter unheeded on the blast? + +None of these figures present a strict parallel; and yet, successively, +they seem to set forth different aspects of the same case, with +sufficient vividness and truth.... So bent am I on conveying to your +minds the strong sense of certainty, the clear definite view, which I +cherish for myself on this subject, that I take leave to add yet another +illustration. + +4. If I commission a Servant to deliver a message,--is not the message +which he delivers _mine_? If I give him words to deliver,--are not _the +words_ which he delivers _mine_? So obvious a proposition is no matter +of opinion. You _cannot_ deny it. Nor,--(to apply the illustration to +the matter in hand,)--nor _do_ you deny it, probably, so far as +_Prophecy_, (in the popular sense of the term,) is concerned: but you +begin to doubt, it seems, when any other function of the prophetic +office is in question. "Any other function," I say; for, (as all men +ought to be aware,) a prophet,--(_nave_ in Hebrew, =prophêtês= in +Greek,)--does not, by any means, of necessity imply one who describes +_future_ events. =Pro= does not denote futurity of time, but +vicariousness of office. The =pro-phêtês= is one who speaketh =pro=, "on +behalf of," "in the person of," GOD; whether declaring things +past,--(as when Moses describes the Creation of the World, the Fall of +Man, the Patriarchal Age): things present,--(as when St. Luke, "having +had perfect understanding of all things from the very first," writes of +them "in order"): things future,--(as when David, and Isaiah, and the +rest of the goodly fellowship, "testified beforehand the sufferings of +CHRIST, and the glory that should follow[396].") This is no arbitrary +statement, but a well-known fact, which modern unbelievers and ancient +heathen writers have declared with sufficient plainness[397]. So long +then as the message which the Servant delivers is prophetic, you do not +object to the notion that it is GOD'S message; nay, that the words +spoken are GOD'S words. You begin to doubt, it seems, when a collection +of genealogies, (as the two Books of Chronicles;) or when a story like +that contained in the Book of Esther is concerned. + +But what is this but very trifling, and mere childishness? The message +_may_ be mine, it seems, if it be of a lofty character: it may _not_ be +mine if it be of a homely, ordinary kind!--I send a message by my +Servant, and he delivers it faithfully: but whether it _is_ to be called +my message, or is _not_ to be called my message, is to depend entirely +on the subject-matter!... Thus, if a King, refusing to appear in person, +should issue a reprieve to prisoners under sentence of Death, a +proclamation of Peace or of War, an address to the representatives of +the constitution, (Clergy, Lords, and Commons,) in parliament +assembled,--the message would be _his_. But if, on the contrary, he were +only to send a few homely words, the expression of some wish or +intention which has nothing that seems particularly royal in it,--then, +the message would _cease_ to be his!... I protest that as I am unable to +see the reasonableness of such a method of regarding things human, so am +I at a loss to understand why men should so regard things Divine. + +5. This entire matter may be usefully illustrated by having recourse to +an analogy which was established on a former occasion: namely, the +analogy between the _Written_ and the _Incarnate_ Word[398]. That our +LORD JESUS CHRIST is at once very GOD and very Man, we all fully admit; +although _the manner_ of the union of GODHEAD and Manhood in His one +Person we confess ourselves quite unable to comprehend. Even so, that +there is a human as well as a Divine element in Holy Scripture,--_who_ +so blind as to overlook? _who_ so weak as to deny? And yet, to dissect +out that human element,--_who_ (but a fool) so rash as to attempt?... To +apply this to the matter before us. _Certain parts_ of Holy Scripture +you think, (for reasons to yourself best known,) are not to be looked +upon as inspired in the same sense as the rest of the volume. Just as +reasonably might you try to persuade me that our SAVIOUR was not _in the +same sense_ our SAVIOUR when He ate and drank at the Pharisees' board, +as when He cast out devils and raised the dead. Was He not equally the +Incarnate WORD at every stage of His earthly career; from the time that +He was laid in the manger, until the instant when He expired upon the +Cross? The degradation which He endured in Pilate's judgment-hall did +not affect the reality of the great truth that the GODHEAD was +indissolubly joined to the Manhood in His Person. He was not less very +GOD as well as very Man when some one spat upon Him, than at His +Transfiguration and at His Ascension into Heaven!... Why then should the +mean aspect and lowly office of certain parts of +Scripture,--(genealogical details and the narrative of what we think +ordinary occurrences,)--be supposed to disentitle those parts to the +praise of being _as fully inspired as any thing in the whole compass of +the Bible?_ + +I may remind you, in passing, that the narrative of Scripture, even in +its humblest, and (to all appearance) most human parts, has a perpetual +note of Divinity set upon it. The historical portions are throughout +interspersed with indications that the writer is beholding the +transactions which he records, from a Divine, (not a human,) point of +view. GOD is invariably, (sooner or later,) mentioned as the Agent; or +there is some reference made to GOD; or to GOD'S Word. As Butler +expresses it,--"The general design of Scripture ... may be said to be, +to give us an account of the world, in this one single view,--_as GOD'S +world_: by which it appears essentially distinguished from all other +books, so far as I have found, except such as are copied from it[399]." + +I entreat you therefore to disabuse your minds of the very weak,--aye +and very fatal,--notion that the catalogue of the Dukes of Edom is +_less_, or _in any different sense_, inspired, from the rest of the +narrative in which it stands. We may not multiply miracles needlessly, +it is true; but neither may we deny the miraculous character of certain +transactions, (as the two Draughts of Fishes,) which, apart from the +recorded attendant circumstances, would not have been deemed +miraculous.--In truth, however, Holy Scripture, in one sense, is a +miracle from end to end; and if we may not multiply miracles needlessly, +certainly we are not at liberty to dismiss the recorded details of a +single miracle, as of no account.--Consider also, I entreat you, whether +it is credible that Inspiration should be a thing of such a nature, that +it comes and goes,--is here and is gone,--once and again in the course +of a single page. What? does it vanish, like lightning, when the +Evangelist's pen has to record the title on the Cross,--to re-appear the +instant afterwards? + +This allusion to the title on the Cross of our Blessed LORD, variously +given by each of the four Evangelists, reminds me of the singular +perversity of mankind when this subject of Inspiration is being treated +of; and to this, I now particularly desire to invite your +attention.--When a document is simply transcribed by the Evangelist, or +may be _supposed_ to have been merely transferred to his pages, men +assert that so purely mechanical an act precludes the notion that +Inspiration has had any share in the transaction. Be it so!--Behold now, +four inspired writers exhibiting the brief title on our LORD'S Cross +with considerable verbal diversity; and you will hear the same critics +open-mouthed against the Evangelists' claim to Inspiration, for exactly +the opposite reason!--It is just so of places quoted from the Old +Testament in the New. Faithful transcription, (we are told,) is in the +power of all. What note of an inspired author have we here? But the +places are _not_ faithfully transcribed. On the contrary. They exhibit +every possible degree of deflection from the original standard. And lo, +the Apostles of CHRIST are thought not to have quite understood +Greek,--to have mistaken the sense of the Hebrew,--and to have been the +victims of a most capricious memory.--For the last time. Certain +narrative portions of Holy Scripture, (it is assumed,) could have been +written without the aid of Inspiration; and therefore it is +unphilosophical, (we are told,) to assign to them a divine original. But +the marvellous parts of Holy Scripture, which seem to claim a loftier +original than man's unaided wit,--_these_ you view with suspicion, or +you deny!... "Whereunto shall I liken the men of this generation?" + +Before dismissing the subject, I must ask you to observe, that this +arbitrary, irreverent method of approaching Holy Scripture, is +absolutely fatal; and can result in nothing but general unbelief. It +confessedly leaves the individual reader to decide what parts of the +Bible he thinks could, what parts could not, have been written without +Divine assistance;--a point on which I am bold to say that he is not +competent even to form an opinion. In other words, it constitutes every +man the judge of how much of the Bible he will retain,--how much he will +reject. To put the case yet more plainly, it makes every man a GOD to +himself, and the maker of his own Bible.--For, mark you, the exceptions +taken against a genealogy, or a catalogue of names, are just as +applicable to the account of our LORD'S Discourses as given by St. John. +Once convince me that the function of Inspiration ceases when a +genealogy has to be set down,--because (say you) it requires no +Inspiration to enable an Evangelist to copy _written_ words;--and I +shall have no difficulty in convincing myself that St. John's Gospel, +from the xivth to the xviith chapters inclusive, is not +inspired,--because I cannot _but_ infer that then neither can it require +Inspiration to enable an Evangelist to copy _spoken_ words.--The +original fallacy, I repeat,--the =prôton pseudos=,--consists in your +supposing yourself a competent judge of the nature and office of +Inspiration; concerning which, in reality, you know nothing. You can but +reverently examine the phenomena of the Book of Inspiration; remembering +that you have everything to learn. + +The Bible, it cannot be too often repeated, too clearly borne in +mind,--the Bible must stand or fall,--or rather, be received or +rejected,--_as a whole_. A Divinity hath over-ruled it, that those many +Books of which it is composed should come to be spoken of collectively +as if they were one Book. As it was formerly called =hê graphê=--"the +Scripture,"--so is it happily called "the Bible"--(the Book)--_now_. +"Moses--the Prophets--and the Psalms," was the recognized analysis of +the volume of the Old Testament. The Gospels, the Epistles, and the +Apocalypse, exhibits the sum of the contents of the New.--There is no +disjoining the Law from the Gospel. There is no disconnecting one Book +from its fellows. There is no eliminating one chapter from the rest. +There is no taking exception against one set of passages, or supposing +that Inspiration has anywhere forgotten her office, or discharged it +imperfectly. All the Books of the Bible must stand or fall together. +"Nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it[400]." It is a +fabric hard as adamant; and the gates of Hell will assuredly never +prevail against it. But remove in thought a single stone; and in +thought, that goodly work of Lawgivers and Judges--Kings and +Prophets--Evangelists and Apostles,--collapses into a shapeless and +unmeaning ruin[401]. + +Nor may it occasion perplexity, or breed mistrust in any thoughtful mind +to find this Book of GOD'S Law so complex in its character,--so various +in its contents,--so fruitful in its difficulties. Might it not, on the +contrary, have been expected beforehand, that some analogy would have +been recognizable between the general complexion of GOD'S Works and of +GOD'S Word? While I behold the creatures of GOD so various,--their +functions so marvellous,--their nature so little understood,--the very +purpose of their creation so great a mystery;--shall I think it strange +that _that_ Book which is but another expression of GOD'S Mind and Will, +proves diverse in texture, and difficult of interpretation?--Shall I +grow rebellious against the message, because the history of it is hid in +the long night of ages; say rather, in the counsels of GOD'S inscrutable +will? or shall I be incredulous that it comes from Heaven, because I see +the fingers of a Man's hand writing upon the plaister of the wall? or +shall I despise those parts of it of which I cannot detect the medicinal +value? As there are riddles in Nature, so are there riddles in Grace. +Anomalies too, it may be, are discoverable in both worlds.--Give me +leave to add, that as the microscope reveals unsuspected wonders in the +one, so does minute examination bring to light undreamed of perfections +in the other also; unimagined proofs of divine wisdom, and skill.... But +beyond all things, there is perhaps this further thing which it behoves +us to consider:--that the field of either is very vast; the +subject-matter very complex: and as, in one, many Professors are +needed,--(for the Animal kingdom and the Vegetable kingdom are realms +apart: the analysis of substances, and the structure of the Earth demand +the undivided attention of different minds;)--so does it fare with the +other also. The languages of Scripture are in themselves a mighty study; +and the collation of the Text is the portion of a long life. The Law of +Moses would abundantly engross the time of one who should undertake to +explain its depths; as the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST would assuredly fill +to overflowing the soul of another who should desire to appreciate its +perfections. The Prophetic writings are a distinct field of labour. The +same may well be said of the Epistles of St. Paul. It would be easy to +multiply departments--; for I have said nothing yet of Sacred History; +and above all, of Sacred Exegesis. But enough has been stated to +introduce the remark that considering how slenderly one man is able to +labour in all these various provinces, it behoves each one of us to be +humble; and certainly to be a vast deal more mistrustful of ourselves +than some of us unhappily seem to be; especially when the errand on +which we propose to come abroad is the assailing of the authenticity, or +the morality, or the integrity, or the Inspiration, of any part of the +Bible. Our own amazing ignorance,--our many infirmities,--our faculties +limited on every side,--might well keep us humble in the presence of +Him whose knowledge is infinite;--whose attributes are all +perfections;--whose very Name is ALMIGHTY!--Shall we, on the contrary, +presume to sit in judgment upon His Word, which claims to be none other +than the authentic record of His Providence,--the Revelation of His very +mind and will?... Truly, in this behalf, beyond all others, we seem to +stand in need of the solemn warning: "Dangerous it were for the feeble +brain of Man to wade far into the doings of the Most High: whom although +to know be life, and joy to make mention of His Name; yet our soundest +knowledge is to know that we know Him not as indeed He is, neither can +know Him. And our safest eloquence concerning Him is our silence, when +we confess without confession that His glory is inexplicable; His +greatness above our capacity and reach. He is above, and we upon earth: +therefore it behoveth our words to be wary and few[402]." + +And this brings me naturally back to the subject of my first Sermon from +this place; and enables me to conclude, as I began, with an earnest +entreaty to the younger men present, that,--whatever their future +destination in life may be,--but especially if the Ministry is to be +their high privilege, (and the blessedness of _that_ choice they can +have no idea of, until they prove it by experience!);--an entreaty, I +say, that they would _now_ be assiduous, and earnest, and regular, and +punctual, and devout, in their daily study of one chapter of the +Bible.--And while you read the Bible, read it believing that you are +reading an inspired Book:--not a Book inspired in parts only, but a Book +inspired in _every_ part:--not a Book unequally inspired, but all +inspired equally:--not a Book generally inspired,--the substance indeed +given by the Spirit, but the words left to the option of the writers; +but the words of it, as well as the matter of it, all--all given by GOD. +As it is written,--"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by _every +word that proceedeth out of the mouth of GOD_." + +I illustrated sufficiently, last time, in what way fulness of +Inspiration is consistent with the expression of individual character: +even while I availed myself of the ancient illustration that an inspired +writer is like an instrument in the harper's hand[403]. I did not, of +course, "intend thereby to affirm that the Writers of Holy Scripture +were _constrained_ to write, without any volition or consciousness on +their part.... ALMIGHTY GOD, while He _inspired_ the Writers of +Scripture, did not impair their moral and intellectual faculties, nor +destroy their personal identity[404]." Let me not be told therefore that +this is to advocate a mechanical theory of Interpretation. Theory I have +none[405]. The Bible comes to me as the Word of GOD; and, _as the Word +of GOD_, (the LORD being my helper!) I will receive it. I should as soon +think of holding a theory of Providence and Freewill, as of holding a +theory of Inspiration. I _believe_ in Providence. I _know_ that I am a +free agent. And that is enough for me.--The case of Inspiration seems +strictly parallel. I _believe_ in the Divine origin of the Bible. I +_see_ that the writers of the several books wrote like men.... _That_ +outer circle of causation, which, leaving each individual will entirely +free, so controuls without coercing, so overrules without occasioning, +the actions of men,--that all things shall work together for good in the +end, and the great designs of GOD'S Providence find free +accomplishment;--all this, far, far transcends your and my powers of +comprehension. It is as much beyond us as Heaven is higher than the +Earth. And, in like manner, we must be content to own that +Inspiration,--the analysis of which is so favourite a problem with this +inquisitive age,--is far, far above us likewise. To St. Luke "it seemed +good" to write a Gospel; and doubtless he held high communing on the +subject,--which may, or may not, have sounded like ordinary human +converse,--with St. Paul. St. Mark in like sort, beyond a question, +enjoyed the help of St. Peter, while he wrote his Gospel. But St. Peter +and St. Mark, and St. Paul and St. Luke, were all alike,--however +unconsciously,--held by the Ancient of Days within the hollow of His +palm; and, as Augustine says,--"Whatsoever He willed that _we_ should +read concerning His acts and sayings,--_that_ He commissioned the +Evangelists to write,--as though it had been _Himself_ that wrote +it[406]."--The guidance was remote, I grant you. The mechanism which +moved the pens of those blessed writers was far above out of their +sight; and complex beyond anything which the mind of man can imagine; +(so that the publican lisped of "gold, and silver, and brass[407];"--and +the companion of St. Peter, at Rome, wrote Latin words in Greek +letters[408];--and the Physician of Antioch withheld the statement that +the woman who had spent all that she had in consulting many physicians, +"was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse[409];"--and the beloved +disciple perhaps indulged his own personal love while he recalled so +largely the discourses of his LORD:)--but, for all that, the long +sequence of cause and effect existed; and the other end of that golden +chain which terminated in the man, and the pen, and the ink, and the +paper,--the other end of it, I say, was held fast within the Hand of +GOD.--The method of Inspiration is but another of the many thousand +marvels which on every side surround me; one of the many things I cannot +fully understand, much less pretend to explain. But I may at least +believe it in silence, and adore[410]. + +And,--(forgive me for keeping you so long; but I _cannot_ let you go +until I have emptied my heart a little more on this great, and most +concerning subject;)--mark you, Sirs, however reluctant some of you may +be to admit that you agree with me, you _do_ agree with me,--almost to a +man. For, what mean your reasonings on Holy Scripture,--your sermons, +and your dissertations, and your catechizings,--your formulæ of belief, +and your definitions of Faith,--except you believe in a vast deal more +than _the substance_ of Holy Scripture? How can you pretend to expound a +text, unless you hold _the words_ of that text to be inspired? What +inferences can you venture to draw from words, the Divinity of which you +dare not affirm? O, to what endless, hopeless scepticism are you +pointing the way! What a variety of most unanswerable questionings will +you provoke! How can you hope ever to convince or convict, if you begin +by acquainting your adversary that it is only for the substantial verity +of Scripture that you claim Inspiration; the verbal details being quite +a different matter! See you not that you put into his hands a weapon +with which he will infallibly slay _yourself?_ Did the Bishops and +Doctors of the Church, when they met in solemn Council,--did _they_ hold +such a theory concerning Holy Scripture, think you, as that the matter +of it alone is Divine,--the language human? More briefly, that _the +words_ of Scripture are _not inspired?_ What then mean their weighty +definitions of Doctrine;--GOD the FATHER, "Maker of Heaven and +Earth,"--GOD the SON, "by whom all things were made:"--the SON, "=Theos +ek Theou=,"--"being of _one substance_ with the FATHER:"--"incarnate by +the HOLY GHOST of the Virgin Mary:"--who "descended into Hell"--"whose +kingdom shall have no end:"--the HOLY GHOST, "=to Kyrion kai to +xôopoion=," "who proceeded from the FATHER and the SON?"--What means +every article of that Creed to which you and I have given our unfeigned +assent, and which Athanasius would have gladly subscribed to,--the most +precious jewel in the Church's casket!--Nay, what means St. Paul's +commentary on the history of Melchizedek, if the very words _omitted_ +from Holy Scripture are not a _Divine_ omission? + +You will perhaps be told hereafter, (I am speaking now to the younger +men,) that quite fatal to this view of the question, is the state of the +Text of Scripture: that no one can maintain that the words of Scripture +are inspired, because no one can tell for certain what the words of +Scripture _are_; or something to that effect. Now I will not stop to +expose the falsity of this charge against the text of Scripture; (which +is implied to be a very corrupt text, whereas, on the contrary, it is +the best ascertained text of any ancient writing in the world.) Rather +let me remind you, once and for ever, how to refute this silly +sophism,--the transparent fallacy of which one would have thought +unworthy of exposure before men of trained understandings; but that one +hears it urged so often and so confidently. See you not that the state +of the text of the Bible has no more to do with the Inspiration of the +Bible, than the stains on yonder windows have to do with the light of +GOD'S Sun? Let me illustrate the matter,--(though it surely cannot need +illustration!)--by supposing the question raised whether Livy did or did +not write the history which goes under his name. _You_, (suppose,) are +persuaded that he _did_,--_I_, that he did _not_. So far, we should both +understand, and perhaps respect one another. But what if I were to go on +to condemn your opinion as untenable, because of the corrupt state of +Livy's _text?_ Would you not reply that I mistook the question entirely: +that _you_ were speaking of the _authorship of the work_,--not about the +_fate of the copies!_ ... Suppose, however, I were to contend that Livy +may indeed have furnished the matter of his history, but that the form +of expression must needs have been supplied by some one else; _still_ on +the same ground of the corrupt state of the historian's text. What would +you think of me _then?_--a man who not only confounded two things +utterly dissimilar,--(the authorship of a book, and the amount of care +with which it had been transcribed and printed;)--but who was for +distinguishing the mind of the writer from the expression of that mind; +the _thoughts_, from the _words_ which are essential to their +transmission! A hopelessly illogical person, surely! + +O no, Sirs! Banish the fancy at once and for ever from your minds. You +cannot thus dissect Inspiration into substance and form. It is a mere +delusion of these last days,--prated of from man to man, until +respectable persons begin to give in to the fallacy; and persuade +themselves that they themselves believe it. They hope thus to avoid the +danger which is supposed to attach to hearty belief in the Bible as the +very Word of GOD; as well as to secure for themselves a side-door, (so +to speak,) by which to escape, whenever they are inconveniently hard +pressed. How much more faithful, to leave GOD to take care of His own! +How much more manly, to be prepared sometimes to confess ignorance!... +As for _thoughts_ being inspired, apart from the _words_ which give them +expression,--you might as well talk of a tune without notes, or a sum +without figures. No such dream can abide the daylight for a moment. No +such theory of Inspiration, (for a theory it _is_, and a most audacious +one too!), is even intelligible. It is as illogical as it is worthless; +and cannot be too sternly put down. The philosophical mind of Greece, +(far better taught!), knew of only one word for both Reason and the +expression of it. Lodged within the chambers of the brain, or put forth +into living energy,--it was still, with them, the =Logos=.--I invite +you, as the only intelligible view of the matter,--your only +alternative, unless you resolve to run the risk of the most irrational +rationalism,--to take this high view of Inspiration: to believe, +concerning the Bible, that it is in the most literal sense imaginable, +verily and indeed, _the Word_ of GOD. + +And do you,--(for I am still addressing myself to the younger +men,)--learn to put away from your souls that vile indifferentism which +is becoming the curse of this shallow and unlearned age. Be as forgiving +as you please of indignities offered to yourselves; but do not be +ashamed to be very jealous for the honour of the LORD of Hosts; and to +resent any dishonour offered to Him, with a fiery indignation utterly +unlike anything you could possibly feel for a personal wrong. Attend +ever so little to the circumstance, and you will perceive that every +form of fashionable impiety is one and the same vile thing in the +essence of it: still Antichrist, disguise it how you will. We were +reminded last Sunday that the sensualist, by following the gratification +of his own unholy desires, in bold defiance of GOD'S known Law, is in +reality setting himself up in the place of GOD, and becoming a GOD unto +himself[411]. The same is true of the Idolatry of Human Reason; and of +Physical Science: as well as of that misinformed Moral Sense which finds +in the Atonement of our LORD nothing but a stone of stumbling and a +snare. It is true of Popish error also;--for what else is this but a +setting up of the Human above the Divine,--(Tradition, the worship of +the Blessed Virgin, the casuistry of the Confessional, and the +like,)--and so, once more substituting the creature for the +Creator?--What again is the fashionable intellectual sin of the day, but +the self-same detestable offence, under quite a different disguise? The +idea of Law,--(_that_ old idea which is declared to be only now +emerging into supremacy in Science,)--takes the hideous shape of +rebellion against its Maker; and pronounces, now Miracles, now Prophecy, +now Inspiration itself, to be a thing impossible; or is content to +insinuate that the disclosures of Revelation are at least untrue. What +is this, I say, but another form of the self-same iniquity,--a setting +up of the creature before the Creator who is blessed for evermore; a +substitution of some created thing in the place of GOD! + +The true antidote to all such forms of impiety, believe me, is not +controversy of any sort; but the childlike study of the Bible, each one +for himself,--not without prayer.--Humble must we be, as well as +assiduous; for the powers of the mind as well as the affections of the +heart should be prostrated before the Bible, or a man will derive little +profit from his study of it. Humble, I repeat, for mysteries, +(remember), are revealed unto the meek[412]; and the fear of the LORD is +the beginning of Wisdom[413]; and he that would understand more than the +Ancients must keep GOD'S precepts[414]; and it is the commandments of +the LORD which give light unto the eyes[415].--The dutiful student of +the Bible is permitted to see the mist melt away from many a speculative +difficulty; and is many a time reminded of that saying of his LORD,--"Do +ye not therefore err, _because ye know not the Scriptures_, neither the +power of GOD[416]?" ... The humble and attentive reader of the Bible +becomes impressed at last with a sense of its Divinity, analogous I +suppose to the conviction of Eleven of the Apostles that the Man they +walked with was none other than the SON of GOD. _That_ similarity of +allusion,--_that_ sameness of imagery,--_that_ oneness of +design,--_that_ uniformity of sentiment,--_that_ ever-recurring +anticipation of the Gospel message;--_all_ goes to produce a secret and +sure conviction that every writer, under whatever variety of +circumstances, had access to but one Treasury,--drew from but one and +the same Well of living water. Marks of purpose, shewn in the choice or +collocation of single words, often strike an attentive reader; which, +singly, might be thought fortuitous; but which, collectively, can only +be accounted for on a very different principle. The beautiful structure +of the Gospels strikes him especially; and he could as soon believe that +a song harmonized for four Angel voices had been the result of accident, +as that the Evangelists had achieved their task without special aid, +throughout, from Heaven. A lock of very complicated mechanism, which +four keys of most peculiar structure will open simultaneously,--must +have been as evidently made for them, as they for it. + +It is almost treason, in truth, to the Majesty of Heaven to discuss the +Bible on the low ground which I have been hitherto forced to occupy. It +is quite monstrous, in the first University of the most favoured of +Christian lands, that a man should be compelled thus to lift up his +voice in defence of the very Inspiration of GOD'S Word. O that Divine +narrative, which is for ever rending aside the veil, and disclosing to +us the counsels of the presence-chamber of the ALMIGHTY!--O those human +characters, beset with all the infirmities of our fallen nature,--whose +words and actions yet are shadows of things heavenly and eternal!--O +that majestic retinue of types which, from the very birthday of recorded +Time, heralded the approach of the King of Glory!--O that scarlet +thread which runs through all the seemingly tangled web of Scripture, to +terminate only in the cross of CHRIST!--How do the features of the +Gospel struggle into sight through the veil of the Law! How do the holy +and humble men of heart ever and anon break out into speech, as it were, +before the time;--as if they felt the burden of silence too great to be +endured!... Whence is it that we dare to handle the pages of GOD'S Book +as if they were a common thing,--doubting, questioning, cavilling, +disbelieving, denying? Why choose for ourselves the soldiers' part, who +buffeted, reviled, smote, spat upon Him?... O my friends, far, far be +all this from you and from me! Never imagine, because this day we have +thus spoken, that such discussions are congenial to us; or that we deem +them the proper theme for addresses from the pulpit; although the +coincidence of this day's Collect seems, for once, to lend a kind of +sanction to our present endeavours. Look through the whole range of +patristic homilies, and you will not find _one_ of the kind, with which, +unhappily, our ears are grown so familiar in this place,--ingenious +attempts to evacuate Holy Writ of its fulness, on the one hand;--or +apologies of some sort for its Divinity and Inspiration, on the other. +You will take, if you are wise, far, far higher ground, in your private +study of its pages; remembering that "the most generous faith is +invariably the truest;"--nor ever stoop so low as _we_ have been this +day doing. Waste not thy precious time in cavil about the structure of +the casket which contains thy treasure; but unlock it once with the Key +of Faith, and make thyself rich indeed.--Already,--(as we were last week +reminded),--already the Judge standeth at the door; and assuredly, thou +and I, (to whom GOD hath entrusted so much!) shall have to render a very +strict account of the use we have made of the Bible,--when we shall +stand face to face with its undoubted Author. The season of the year +reminds us, as with a trumpet, of that tremendous hour when the veil +will be withdrawn from our eyes,--and the office of Faith will be +ended,--and we shall be confronted with One who hath "a vesture dipped +in blood, and whose Name is called THE WORD OF GOD." ... "I _have heard +of Thee_," (we shall, every one of us, exclaim),--"I _have heard of +Thee_, by the hearing of the ear; but _now_,--mine eye _seeth_ +Thee[417]!" + + +SUPPLEMENT TO SERMON IV + + +There is yet another view of the nature and office of +Inspiration,--another 'Theory' as it would perhaps aspire to be +called,--which limits _the extent_ of the Divine help and guidance which +the writers, confessedly inspired, may be supposed to have enjoyed. +According to this view, it is admitted that Inspiration was, from first +to last, a continuous influence; exerted equally throughout: but then, +it has been suggested that perhaps _its office_ was not to protect a +Writer against a certain class of errors. The office of the Bible, (it +is argued,) is to make men wise unto Salvation. It does not follow that +Inspiration, because it guided a sacred writer so long as he wrote of +Christian Doctrine, so as to make what he wrote unerringly true, should +have protected him against slips of memory; preserved him from +inaccuracies of statement; from inconclusive reasonings; from incorrect +quotations; from mistaken inferences; from scientific errors.--This is +what is said: and because this is a view of the question which is +observed to recommend itself occasionally to candid, and even to +reverential minds, it seems to deserve distinct and careful +consideration. + +But I must preface all I have to reply by remarking that "a Book cannot +[properly] be said to be inspired, or to carry with it the authority of +being GOD'S Word, if only _portions_ come from Him, and there exists no +plain and infallible sign to indicate _which_ those portions are; and +if the same Writer may give us in one verse of the Bible a revelation +from the MOST HIGH, and in the next verse a blunder of his own. How can +we be certain, that the very texts, upon which we rest our doctrines and +hopes, are not the _uninspired_ portions? What can be the meaning or +nature of an Inspiration to teach Truth, which does not guarantee its +recipient from error?"--So far a living sceptical writer. + +1. Now, the first thing which strikes one in this theory, is its extreme +vagueness. We hardly know what we have to consider; for nothing is +definitely stated. Neither are we informed how many of the phenomena of +Inspiration, this view is intended to explain. Again, does the theory +apply equally to the Old Testament and to the New? If it does apply +equally to the Old Testament, (and I can see no possible reason why it +should _not_,) then, I apprehend this theory will be found _practically_ +to run up into, and to identify itself with, that last described[418]. +For a guidance _which has failed to guide_, has been no guidance at all; +and since whole chapters of the Old Testament will occur to every one's +memory which may be thought to have no connexion whatever with +'Christian Doctrine,'--to conduce wondrous little to the 'making men +wise unto Salvation,'--it will follow that Inspiration is, according to +this theory, in effect, of the nature already described,--namely, a +quality which can never be predicated of any passage of Scripture with +entire certainty. The larger part of the Old Testament in fact, by this +theory, is exhibited in the light of a common book; having no pretension +to be regarded as part of the Inspired Canon. + +But if this theory simply shirks the question of the Old Testament, +then, those who are inclined to accept it, are bound to explain why +there should be one theory of Inspiration applicable to the Old +Testament, and another for the New:--in which difficulty, I must +candidly profess that I am not able to render any assistance at all. It +is clearly not allowable to overlook the intimate connexion which +subsists between the two great divisions of Holy Scripture; the habitual +references of the Writers of the New Testament to the writers of the +Old,--Moses, David, Isaiah, and the rest;--or rather, _to the utterance +of the_ HOLY GHOST, _speaking by the mouth of those writers_. Whatever +may have been the Inspiration of the Authors of the New Testament must +be assumed to have been that of the Authors of the Old Testament also. + +2. But further,--(to confine our remarks to the Scriptures of the New +Testament; which, it is manifest, the view under consideration specially +contemplates;)--however plausible in the abstract a theory may sound, +which would account for a Chronological difficulty,--the insertion of +what seems to be a wrong name,--a quotation made with singular +license,--an unscientific statement,--the apparent inconsistency of two +or more accounts of one and the same transaction, in respect of lesser +details,--a (supposed) inconclusive remark, or specimen of reasoning +which seems to be fallacious;--on the supposition that it is not the +office of Inspiration to enlighten the understanding on points like +these, or to preserve the pen from error;--however plausible, I say, +this theory, abstractedly considered, may appear;--it will be found that +it will not bear the searching test of a practical application. + +It would indeed be a great advantage to the cause of Truth, and a great +help to individual minds, as well as wonderfully promote the arriving at +a sound conclusion in this perilous department of speculative +Divinity,--if, instead of putting up with a vague theory, (like the +present,) regardless of its logical bearings and necessary issues;--men +would compel themselves to apply their view to the actual phenomena of +Holy Scripture: to carry it out to its legitimate consequences, and +steadily to contemplate the result. I venture to predict that the theory +which we are now considering, when submitted to such a test, would be +found not only inconvenient, but absolutely untenable. The inconsistency +and absurdity which results from it, can, I think, easily be made to +appear. + +For if any one who is disposed to regard it with favour,--instead of +idly, (as is the way with nine-tenths of mankind,) repeating the formula +in terms more or less vague and indefinite; and straightway wincing, +falling back on generalities, and in a word shirking the point, the +instant it is proposed to bring the question to a definite issue;--if a +favourer of the present theory I say, instead of so acting, would take +up a copy of the New Testament, and proceed, with a pen in his hand, to +_apply_ the theory, by running his pen through the places, (and they +_must_ be capable of individual specification!), which he suspects of +being external to the influence of Inspiration;--or, if you please, +which he thinks have been penned without that Divine help which makes +what is written infallible;--I venture to predict that such an one will +speedily admit that his erasures are either so very few, or so very +many, as to be fatal to the theory of which they are the expression. + +If they be confined to "the fifteenth year of Tiberius[419]; to the +names of the second Cainan[420], Cyrenius[421], Abiathar[422], 'Jeremy +the prophet[423];'" to "the sixth hour[424]," and so on;--no great +inconvenience truly will result. But the instant you go a step further, +the difficulty begins. Many of the quotations from the Old Testament may +be made to correspond with the Hebrew, doubtless, without sensible +inconvenience: but there are others which refuse the process. However, +let it be supposed that all such indications of imperfect memory, or +misapprehension of the sense of the Hebrew Scriptures, have been +removed; and here and there, that an irrelevant clause in the reasoning +has been lopped off, or an unscientific remark expunged.--After all this +has been done, I venture to say that the result will be the reverse of +satisfactory, even to the theorist himself. He will infallibly exclaim +secretly,--I seem to have gained wondrous little by this corrective +process. Was it worth while, in order to achieve _this_, to tamper with +the Divine Oracles? The great body of Scripture remains after all, in +all its strangeness, all its perplexing individuality. Meanwhile, piety +and wisdom modestly suggest,--Is it reasonable to think that Evangelists +and Apostles should have stumbled, like children, before dates, and +names, and quotations from their own Scriptures? Surely if _this_ be all +that can be objected against the Bible, the very slenderness of the +charge becomes its sufficient refutation!... _The erasures are so few, +in fact, that they refute the theory._ + +But if, on the other hand, the pen be freely used, then the result will +be fatal to the theory, _because it will be fatal to the record_. If +an 'Essayist and Reviewer' were to reduce the Gospels to consistency, +according to _his_ view of consistency, the Gospels would scarcely be +recognizable. If he were to reject from St. Paul's writings every +instance of what _he_ thinks fanciful exposition, illogical reasoning, +inexact quotation, and mistaken inference; the result would be +altogether unmanageable. For any one who attends to the matter will +perceive that such things run into the very staple of the Apostle's +argument; and therefore cannot be detached without destroying the whole. +The householder's reason for not removing the tares, ("lest while ye +gather up the tares ye root up also the wheat with them[425],") applies +exactly. If St. Paul's exposition of Melchizedek be fanciful and +untrustworthy, then does the proof of the superiority of our SAVIOUR'S +Priesthood over that of Aaron, fall to the ground. If his handling of +the story of Sarah and Hagar be an uninspired allegory, then does his +argumentation respecting the rejection of the Jews and the calling of +the Gentiles disappear. If the furniture of the Temple, and the +provisions of the Jewish ritual, were not dictated by the SPIRIT of +GOD[426], then will the Epistle wherein it is found be reduced to +proportions which make it meaningless. If Deuteronomy xxv. 4 has no +reference to the Christian Ministry, then the entire context (in two of +St. Paul's Epistles) must go at once[427].... It is useless to multiply +such instances. Any one familiar with the writings of St. Paul will know +the truth of what has been offered; and will admit that the erasures +required by the theory before us will become so numerous as to +prove,--(to a devout mind at least, or indeed to any one of sense and +candour,)--that the theory is altogether untenable. + +It cannot escape observation, therefore, that however plausible this +view of Inspiration may sound, as long as some few petty historical, +chronological, and scientific inaccuracies are all that have to be +accounted for;--the theory (unhappily) proves worthless when it comes to +be practically applied; inasmuch as in the writings of St. Paul, for +example, there is little or nothing of the kind just specified, to be +condoned. Erroneous dates, unscientific statements, wrong names, and the +like, form no part of the staple of the New Testament. Such instances +may be counted on one's fingers; and are to be sufficiently explained to +render any special theory of Inspiration in order to meet them, quite a +gratuitous exercise of ingenuity. + +3. On the other hand, if a wider class of phenomena is to be dealt with +by this theory, the reader is requested to observe that we involve +ourselves in a gross contradiction; for we forsake the very principle on +which it pretends to be built. The theory set out by reminding us that +"the office of the Bible is to make men wise unto Salvation,"--not to +teach physical Science, nor to deal with facts in chronology and the +like: and the plea was allowed. But the theory which was devised to +account for one class of phenomena is now most unwarrantably applied to +account for another. We have travelled into a widely different +subject-matter,--namely, _Divinity proper!_ Let it therefore be +respectfully asked,--If the Inspiration which the Apostles enjoyed did +not preserve them against unsound inferences in respect of _Holy +Scripture_; and illogical, inconclusive argumentation in _things +Divine_;--pray, of what use was it? We have not been reviewing a set of +_Geological_ mistakes on the part of the great Apostle. To Physical +Science, he has scarcely so much as a single allusion. He deals with +_Christian Doctrine_; with _Divinity_, properly so called; and _with +that only_. Pray, was not Inspiration a sufficient guide to him, +_there_? + +4. It is high time also to remind the reader that although the office of +the Bible, confessedly, is "to make men wise unto Salvation," it does +not by any means follow that _that_ is its _only_ office. In other +words, we have no right to assume that we know all the possible ends for +which the Bible was designed; and to lay it down, as if it were an +ascertained fact, that it was _not_ designed to enlighten men in matters +of Chronology, History, and the like; seeing, on the one hand, that all +the evidence we are able to adduce in support of such an opinion, does +not establish so much as a faint presumption that any part of Scripture +is uninspired; and seeing that, on the other, as a plain matter of fact, +historical details constitute so large a part of the contents of the +Bible; and that the sacred volume is _the sole depository_ of the +History and Chronology of the World for by far the largest portion of +the interval since that World's Creation. + +5. In passing, it may also be reasonably declared, that it is to take a +very derogatory view of the result of the HOLY SPIRIT's influence, to +suppose that imperfections and inaccuracies can freely abound,--nay, can +exist at all,--in a Revelation which the same HOLY SPIRIT is believed to +have inspired. They ought surely to be _demonstrated_ to exist, before +we are called upon to listen to the apologies which have been invented +to account for their existence! + +6. Let me also advert to a dilemma which seems hardly ever to obtain +from a certain class of critics the attention it deserves. If a writing +be not inspired, _it is of no absolute authority_. If a part of a +writing be not inspired, that part is of no absolute authority. If a +single word in the text of Holy Scripture be even uncertain,--(as, for +example, whether we are to read =OS= or =THEOS= in 1 Tim. iii. +16,)--_that word becomes without absolute authority_. We cannot venture +to adduce it _in proof_ of anything. Without therefore, in the remotest +degree, desiring to discourage the application of a _true_ theory of +Inspiration to the phenomena of Holy Scripture, through fear of the +necessary consequences,--may we not call attention to the manifest +awkwardness of a theory which no one knows how to apply, and about the +application of which no two men will ever be agreed?--the issue of the +discussion being, in every case, neither more nor less than +this,--whether the portion of Scripture under consideration is Human, +and therefore _of no absolute authority_; or Divine, and therefore +_infallible_! + +7. A far more important consideration remains to be offered, and with +this I shall conclude. Although, when St. Paul appears to reason +inconclusively, some of us do not hesitate to refer the Apostle's +(supposed) imperfect logic to his personal infirmity,--yet, common piety +revolts against the proposal to apply the same solution to the same +phenomenon when it is observed to occur in the Discourses of our Blessed +LORD Himself. It seems to have been providentially ordained, however, +that the discourses of CHRIST Himself should supply examples of every +one of those difficulties which it is thought lawful to account +for,--when an Apostle or an Evangelist is the speaker,--on the +hypothesis of partial, imperfect, or suspended Inspiration. Now, since +_I_, at least, shall not be permitted to be either vague or general, I +proceed to subjoin the proof of what has been thus advanced:-- + +=1=. The well-known difficulty about "the days of Abiathar," _is found +in one of our LORD'S discourses_[428]. Here then is a case of what, if +an Evangelist or an Apostle had been the author of the statement, would +have been called an historical inaccuracy. + +=2=. However unworthy of scientific attention the Mosaic account of the +descent of Mankind from a single pair may be deemed,--the universality +of 'the Noachian Deluge,'--the destruction of the Cities of the +plain,--the fate of Lot's wife,--Jonah in the fish's belly,--and so +forth;--to all these (supposed) unscientific statements our Blessed LORD +commits Himself unequivocally[429]. + +=3=. When the Holy One inferred the Resurrection of the Dead from the +words spoken to Moses "in the bush[430];"--when He proved that CHRIST is +not the son of David, because "David in spirit calls Him +'LORD[431];'"--and when He shewed from a clause in the 6th verse of the +lxxxiind Psalm, ("I said ye are gods,") that it was not unlawful for +Himself to claim the title of SON of GOD[432];--I humbly think that the +argumentation is of such a nature as would not produce conviction in +captious minds cast in a modern mould[433]. I desire not to dwell +longer upon this subject; and only hope in what I have ventured to say +concerning some of the recorded sayings of Him to whose creative Power +and Goodness I am indebted for the exercise of my own reason,--I have +not written amiss. But the point of what I am urging is, that I defy any +one to bring a charge of faulty logic against passages in St. Paul's +Epistles which might not, _with the same show of reason_, be brought +against certain of our LORD's recorded sayings. + +=4=. When the Chief Priests and Scribes remonstrated with our LORD +because of the children crying in the Temple; and asked Him,--"Hearest +Thou what these say?" He replied,--"Yea, have ye never read, 'Out of the +mouths of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise[434]?'" ... +Now, this quotation from the viiith Psalm is what an 'Essayist or +Reviewer' would have pronounced irrelevant. + +=5=. It seems clear from Gen. ii. 24, that _Adam_ was the author of the +words, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother," &c. And +yet, our LORD (in St. Matth. xix. 4, 5,) as unmistakeably seems to make +GOD the Speaker. An Evangelist or an Apostle would be thought here to +have made a slip of memory. + +=6=. In St. John viii. 47, the following words occur. "He that is of God +heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of +God." This passage (as already pointed out[435],) has been adduced by +one who now occupies an Archiepiscopal throne, as containing a logical +fallacy. + +Many more examples might be adduced: but these will suffice. It is plain +that when the like phenomena are observed in the writings of Apostles +and Evangelists, we need not, in order to account for them, have +recourse to any theory of partial or imperfect Inspiration; since +nothing of the kind is supposed necessary when they occur in the +Discourses of our LORD.--As much as I care to offer on the subject of +_Inspired Reasoning_ will be found in the course of the Sixth of these +Sermons, where the Doctrine of 'Accommodation' is considered. + + To say that the Scriptures, and the things contained in them, can + have no other or farther meaning than those persons thought or had, + who first recited or wrote them; is evidently saying, that those + persons were the original, proper, and sole Authors of those Books, + i.e. _that they are not inspired_: which is absurd, whilst the + authority of those Books is under examination; i.e. till you have + determined they are of no Divine authority at all. Till this be + determined, it must in all reason be supposed, (not indeed that + they have, for this is taking for granted that they are inspired; + but) that they may have, some farther meaning than what the + compilers saw or understood. + +BISHOP BUTLER, _Analogy_, P. II. ch. vii. + + As the Literal sense is, as it were, the main stream or river, so + the Moral sense chiefly, and sometimes the Allegorical or Typical, + are they whereof the Church hath most use: not that I wish men to + be bold in allegories, or indulgent or light in allusions; but that + I do much condemn that Interpretation of the Scripture _which is + only after the manner as men use to interpret a profane book_. + +LORD BACON, _Advancement of Learning_. + + The Book of this Law we are neither able nor worthy to open and + look into. That little thereof which we darkly apprehend, we + admire; the rest, with religious ignorance we humbly and meekly + adore. + +HOOKER, _Eccl. Pol._ B. I. c. ii. § 5. + + OPEN THOU MINE EYES THAT I MAY SEE THE WONDROUS THINGS OF THY LAW! + + =OY LOGOS ANTHRÔPÔN, ALLA KATHÔS ESTIN ALÊTHÔS LOGOS THEOY.= + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[390] Preached in Christ-Church Cathedral, Dec. 9th, 1860. + +[391] See Sermon VII. + +[392] Ibid. + +[393] Gen. xxxvi. + +[394] See the Hulsean Lectures for 1833, (_The Law of Moses viewed in +connexion with the History and character of the Jews, with a defence of +the Book of Joshua_, &c.) by Henry John Rose, B.D. + +[395] 2 St. Peter i. 21. + +[396] 1 St. Peter i. 11. + +[397] "With the idea of a Prophet," (says Gesenius in his Hebrew +Lexicon, on the noun,) "there was this necessarily attached; that he +spoke not his own words, but those which he had divinely received; (see +Philo, t. iv. p. 116, ed. Pfeifferi,--=prophêtês gar idion men ouden +apophthengetai, allotria de panta hypêchountos heterou=); and that he was +the messenger of GOD, and the declarer of His will. This is clear from a +passage of peculiar authority in this matter, (Ex. vii. 1,)--where GOD +says to Moses,--'I have made thee a god to Pharaoh; and Aaron thy +brother _shall be thy prophet_.'" ... Elsewhere, (speaking of the Hebrew +verb, 'to prophesy,') Gesenius has the following remarkable +statement:--"The _passive forms_, Niphal and Hithpael, are used in this +verb; from the Divine Prophets having been _supposed to be moved rather +by another's powers than their own_." (Just as if the Oracles of GOD +were not express on the subject! viz. "No prophecy ever came by the will +of Man; but, [because they were] borne along (=pheromenoi=) by the HOLY +GHOST, spake those holy men of GOD."--2 St. Pet. i. 21.) + +=Prophêtês=, in fact, means 'an interpreter' rather than 'a prophet,' +(for which, in our popular sense, the Greek is rather =mantis=:) hence +the use of the words =prophêtês, prophêteuô, prophêteia= in the New +Testament, e.g. 1 Thess. v. 20. 1 Cor. xi. 4: xii. 10. Rom. xii. 6, +(where see Wordsworth.) See also 1 Cor. xiv. 1, 3, 4, 5, &c.: in all +which places, the =prophêtês= was what we should rather now call _a +preacher_. But then, the expounding of GOD'S Word is the special +function of the preacher's office from which he takes this name.--The +reader is referred to Blomfield's Glossary, _Agam._ v. 399, and to +Liddell and Scott's _Lexicon_; (in both of which, some important +references are given:) also to Trench's _Synonyms of the New Testament_, +pp. 22-26. + +[398] See above, pp. 2-5.--The reader will find an interesting passage +based on this analogy, in the Appendix (F). + +[399] _Analogy_, P. II. c. vii.--The same thing has been more fully +expressed in a volume of Sermons which deserves to be far better known +than it is:--"I suppose that if there is one portion of the Old +Testament which a discriminator would set aside as less needing to be +reckoned inspired than other parts, it is the Historical; the books +which are strictly narrative. Now it may seem to have been +providentially ordered, in the purpose of meeting this view, that these +books are made to bear on them most peculiarly the stamp and the claim +of Inspiration. For they do not profess to be so much the account of +what Man did, as what GOD did in ruling men, and guiding human events. +They are a history of a providential course of events, and, (which is +the point,) as seen from the providential point of view. They are a +history written not on Earth, but above the skies. Events are spoken of +therefore in this view. A man's obduracy is recorded thus,--'GOD +hardened his heart.' A king numbers his people; it is recorded as a +thing suggested in the spiritual world. In fact, the historic volume of +the Old Testament is a history of the secret springs of things; it is a +narrative of things which none but GOD ALMIGHTY could know; not Man's +Word therefore at all, but GOD'S."--_Sermons_, by the Rev. C. P. Eden, +pp. 153-155. Several other extracts from the same suggestive volume of a +very excellent Divine, will be found in the Appendix. + +[400] Eccl. iii. 14. So Deut. iv. 2: xii. 32. Rev. xxii. 19. + +[401] See the Appendix (G). + +[402] Hooker's _Eccl. Pol._, B. 1. c. ii. § 2 + +[403] See above, p. 77. + +[404] _The Inspiration of the Bible, five Lectures_, by Chr. Wordsworth, +D.D. 1861,--p. 5. + +[405] For some remarks on Theories of Inspiration, see the Appendix (H.) + +[406] "Quicquid Ille de Suis factis et dictis nos legere voluit, hoc +scribendum illis tanquam Suis manibus imperavit." + +[407] St. Matth. x. 9. + +[408] E.g. =kentyriôn: spekoulatôr: xestês=. + +[409] Comp. St. Luke viii. 43, with St. Mark v. 26. + +[410] The reader will be grateful for a beautiful and highly suggestive +passage from Eden's _Sermons_, in the Appendix (I.) + +[411] Alluding to a sermon preached by the Provost of Queen's. + +[412] Ecclus. iii. 19. + +[413] Ps. cxi. 10. Prov. ix. 10. + +[414] Ps. cxix. 100. + +[415] Ps. xix. 8. + +[416] St. Mark xii. 24. + +[417] Job xlii. 5. + +[418] See above, p. 95-99. + +[419] St. Luke iii. 1. + +[420] Ibid. iii. 36. + +[421] Ibid. ii. 2. + +[422] St. Mark ii. 26. + +[423] St. Matth. xxvii. 9. + +[424] St. John xix. 14. + +[425] St. Matth. xiii. 29. + +[426] Heb. ix. 8. + +[427] 1 Cor. ix. 9 and 1 Tim. v. 18. + +[428] St. Mark ii. 26. + +[429] All will be found more fully insisted upon at the beginning of the +VIIth Sermon. + +[430] St. Luke xx. 37-8. + +[431] St. Matth. xxii. 41-6. + +[432] St. John x. 34-6. + +[433] 'Essayists and Reviewers' would reply, that in the first instance, +the supposed inference has no connexion with the premisses:--that in the +second, (1) it has to be proved that the person intended in Psalm cx. is +CHRIST; and (2) it does not follow, because David calls him "lord," that +the person so spoken of is not his "son:"--that in the third instance, +'gods' is used in Psalm lxxxii. of _earthly_ rulers; whereas, when our +SAVIOUR called Himself "the SON of GOD," He claimed to be "_of one +substance with the FATHER,--GOD of GOD_." + +[434] St. Matth. xxi. 16. + +[435] See above, p. 4. + + + + +SERMON V.[436] + + * * * * * + +INTERPRETATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE.--INSPIRED INTERPRETATION.--THE BIBLE +IS NOT TO BE INTERPRETED LIKE ANY OTHER BOOK.--GOD, (NOT MAN,) THE REAL +AUTHOR OF THE BIBLE. + + * * * * * + +ST. MATTHEW iv. 4. + + _It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every + word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God._ + + +It is impossible to preserve exact method in Sermons like these, +uncertain in number, and delivered at irregular intervals. It shall only +be stated that, having already spoken at considerable length, of the +INSPIRATION of Holy Scripture;--not, one part more, one part less, but +every part equally inspired throughout; not general, (whatever the exact +notion may be of a book _generally_ inspired,) but particular, by which +I mean that _every word_ is none other than the utterance of the Holy +Ghost[437]: having, moreover, explained the reasonableness,--(the +logical necessity, as it seems,)--of giving such an account of the +Bible;--I propose to-day to proceed to the subject of INTERPRETATION. +Really, it has become the fashion of a School of unbelief which has +lately emerged into infamous notoriety, to deal with both these +questions in so insolent a style of dogmatism, that the preacher is +compelled to halt _in limine_; and to explain that he begs that no +offence may be taken at the account which he has just given of the +Bible; for that really he means no more than Bp. Pearson meant when he +said that "_the Scripture phrase_" is "_the Language of the HOLY +GHOST_[438]:"--that he desires to say no other thing than what _He_ +said, by whose Spirit, (as St. Peter declares[439],) the prophets +prophesied;--the preacher, I say, wishes to explain that he desires to +mean no other thing than our LORD JESUS CHRIST Himself meant, when He +spoke of "_every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of GOD_." + +I. INTERPRETATION, then, in the largest sense of the term, I take to +denote the discovery of the method and meaning of Holy Scripture.--I +exclude those critical labours which merely aim at establishing a +correct text.--I exclude also the learning which merely investigates the +grammatical force of single words. True, that even to translate is often +to interpret; but this results only from the imperfection of +language,--which can seldom represent the words of one idiom by the +words of another, without at the same time parting with the +associations which belong to the old words, and importing those which +are inseparable from the new.--Moreover, except occasionally, it is +presumed that the lore of the Antiquary, Geographer, and so forth, does +not aspire to the dignity of Interpretation.--To be brief,--whatever +simply puts us on a level with ordinary hearers of ancient days; does no +more than inform us what custom, locality, or date is intended by the +sacred writer; (things which once were obvious, and which _ought not_ to +be any difficulty now;)--all this, I say, seems external to the province +of Interpretation; the purpose of which is to discover _the method_ and +_the meaning_ of Holy Writ. And I find that every extant specimen of +this sacred Science is either (1) what GOD hath Himself revealed; or +(2) what the Church hath with authority delivered; or (3) what +individuals have thought themselves competent to declare. + +Of these three authorities concerning the sense of Scripture, it is +evident that the last-named is entitled to least notice. So unimportant +indeed is it, as scarcely to be of any weight at all. What one +individual asserts, on his own unsupported authority, another individual +may, with as much or as little authority, deny; and _who_ is to decide? + +But the authority indicated in the second place, clearly challenges very +different attention. When, for example, our own Hooker declares, +concerning the 5th verse of the iiird chapter of St. John, that "of all +the ancients _there is not one to be named_ that ever did otherwise +expound or allege this place than as implying external Baptism[440]," we +perceive at once that such consent, on the part of men in whose ears the +echoes of the Apostolic Age had not yet quite ceased to vibrate; and +who were themselves professors of that Divine Science which takes +cognizance of the subject-matter in hand:--such general consent of +Antiquity, I say, on a point of Interpretation, must evidently be held +to be decisive. + +"Religio mihi est, eritque, contra torrentem omnium Patrum, Sanctas +Scripturas interpretari; nisi quando me argumenta cogunt +evidentissima,--quod nunquam eventurum credo[441]." So spake one who had +read the Fathers with no common care, and who turned his reading to no +common account. "I persuade myself," he says, "that you will learn the +modesty of submitting your judgment to that of the Catholic Doctors, +where they are found generally to concur in the interpretation of a text +of Scripture, how absurd soever that interpretation may, at first +appearance, seem to be. For upon a diligent search you will find, that +_aliquid latet quod non patet_,--'there is a mystery in the bottom:' and +that which at first view seemed even ridiculous, will afterwards appear +to be a most certain truth[442]." "No man can oppose Catholic consent, +but he will at last be found to oppose both the Divine Oracles and Sound +Reason[443]." + +The distinction thus drawn between individual opinion and the collective +voice of the Church, was far better understood anciently than at +present. The interpretation of a Council, especially if oecumenical, +was accounted decisive. Even the generally consentient voice of Doctors +and Fathers, as far as it could be ascertained, was held to be of the +same authoritative kind. An interesting illustration occurs. Than +Eusebius, Bishop of Cæsarea, few Fathers of the fourth century were more +learned in Holy Scripture. He, commenting upon "the Captain of the +LORD'S Host," mentioned in the vth chapter of the Book of Joshua, +delivers it as his opinion that it was the same Personage who spoke to +Moses 'in the Bush;' viz. the Eternal SON[444]. On which opinion, a +learned man of the same age, in a scholion of singular beauty which has +come down to us, remarks as follows:--"Aye, but the Church, O most holy +Eusebius, holds a view on this subject altogether at variance with +thine[445]." He goes on to allege reasons why the =archistratêgos= of +Joshua must be held to have been not an _uncreated_, but a _created_ +Angel; the Archangel Michael, in fact. We will not now go into that +matter. You are but requested to observe, how profoundly unimportant the +opinion of a very learned individual was held to be, by one in whose +ears the Patristic "torrent" was yet sounding; although Justin Martyr is +known to have been of the same mind with Eusebius.--And thus much for +individual views as to the meaning of Holy Scripture; as contrasted with +the decisions of Councils and Fathers. To judge from the signs of the +Age, we have exactly reversed the ancient estimate; and expect that more +respect will be shewn to our own private fancies, than to a general +consensus of Divines, ancient and modern. It seems to have been +discovered that the supreme guide of Life is the individual +conscience,--"without appeal--except to himself[446]!" + +II. Before descending, however, to the _business_ of Interpretation, +there is clearly one preliminary question to be settled: namely, _the +principle_ on which Interpretation is to be conducted. And this is all +that can be discussed to-day. To seek for that principle in the +contradictory pages of solitary theorists, would of course be hopeless, +as well as absurd. To elicit it from Patristic Commentaries, would +obviously leave a door open for cavil. The ancient Fathers, (allowing +that they often speak with consentient voice,) singly, were but +fallible men,--however famous, as professors of Theological Science, +they may have been. _This_, however, I venture to assume without any +hesitation whatever,--that if, instead of either of these two ways of +ascertaining how Holy Scripture ought to be handled, we can be so +fortunate as to discover from the Inspired Writers themselves what +_their_ method was with respect to the Word of GOD,--in such case, I +say, we shall be in a position of entire certainty[447]. We shall then +have full warrant for disregarding the dicta of modern sciolists on this +great subject;--however arrogant their dogmatism, however confident +their unsupported asseverations. + +I desire to be very clearly understood. My position is this. All +Christian men allow that the Apostles and Evangelists of our LORD were +inspired. Before such an audience as the present, I will not condescend +even to _allude_ to the absolute claim of our SAVIOUR CHRIST, who, as +the Son of Man, enjoyed the gift of the Spirit without measure; who, as +very GOD, "in the beginning created the Heaven and the Earth,"--(for, +"In the beginning was THE WORD; and THE WORD was with GOD; and THE WORD +was GOD.... All things were made by Him, and without Him was not +anything made that was made[448]:")--I will not, I say, for every +utterance of our _SAVIOUR CHRIST_ pause even, to claim the entire +reverence of our hearts,--the prostrate homage of our understandings.... +Well then. If we _can_ but discover what the mind and method of these +several speakers and writers was, with regard to the Interpretation of +Holy Scripture; on what principle, and with what sentiments, _they_ +bandied the Book of GOD'S Law; we shall have discovered the thing of +which we are in search. For the _Author_ of a book must perforce be +allowed to be the best judge of the method and intention of that +book:--the HOLY SPIRIT _must_ be allowed to be the best authority as to +His own meaning! + +Now this method,--(of which, as I will presently remind you, we possess +a great many specimens,)--proves to be very extraordinary. It altogether +establishes the fact that the Bible _is not to be interpreted "like +any other book."_ That it _could_ not be so interpreted, might have been +confidently anticipated beforehand, from the very fact of its Divine +origin[449]. What I mean,--Since, "by the mouth of David," the HOLY +GHOST is expressly declared by CHRIST and by St. Peter to have "spoken;" +and since the Psalms collectively are described by St. Paul as the +utterance of the HOLY GHOST; since Jeremiah's witness is said to be the +witness of the HOLY GHOST; and the HOLY GHOST is actually said to have +spoken by Isaiah; while the Spirit of CHRIST Himself, (St. Peter says,) +dwelt in the Prophets:--in a word, since "holy men of GOD spake _as they +were moved by_ the HOLY GHOST," and the provisions of the Mosaic Law are +to the same HOLY GHOST by St. Paul emphatically ascribed[450];--stubborn +_facts_, you are requested to observe, which Essayists may prudently +suppress but which no Sophistry on earth can either evade or +deny:--seeing, I say, that Holy Scripture is declared by inspired men +to be the utterance of the Eternal God, it was to have been expected +beforehand that its texture would bear witness to its Divine origin; and +that, to interpret it "like any other book," would be to forget its +extraordinary character. Interpret Sophocles and Plato, if you will, +like any other book, for a very plain reason; but beware how you apply +your purely human notions to the utterance of the Ancient of Days; for +that utterance, enshrined in one particular volume, clearly makes that +one volume essentially unlike any other volume in the world. + +You are particularly requested to observe, further,--that singular pains +have been taken to mystify this entire subject. It has been a favourite +device to multiply difficulties,--real or imaginary,--and so, to create +a miserable sense of the dangers which fairly hem the subject in,--in +order to render more palatable a desperate escape from them all. Thus, +we are told of the risks to which Grammatical nicety, and Rhetorical +accommodation expose us; and again, the snares into which the Logical +method may betray. Metaphysical aid, we are assured, mystifies; and even +Learning, (would to Heaven we had a little more of it!) obscures the +sense[451]. Might we just take the liberty of suggesting that the study +of the exploded works of German unbelievers, (of which Germany herself, +thank GOD! is beginning to be ashamed,) on the part of men of very +moderate intellectual powers, however wise in their own conceit; and +with no previous Theological knowledge to guide them,--is another yet +more fruitful avenue to error?... Next, we are threatened with the +manifold inconveniences which would ensue from the discovery that there +is more than one sense in Holy Scripture,--(_that_ one sense being +assumed to be, _not_ the sense intended by its Divine Author, but the +sense which the first hearers may be supposed to have put upon it[452].) +"If words may have more than one meaning," (it is not very logically +argued,) "they may have _any_ meaning[453]." We are told a great deal +about "the growth of ideas;" and of human prejudices; and of "the +disturbing influence of Theological terms."--But all this kind of thing, +it will be perceived at once, is altogether foreign to the matter in +hand. _Ought Scripture to be interpreted like any other book,--or not_? +_That_ is the real question! _Has Scripture only one meaning_, or _more_? +_That_ is the point in dispute! Above all, _What is the true principle of +Scripture Interpretation_? _That_ is the only thing we have to discover! + +Now, as for _how_ the principles of Divine Interpretation are to be +discovered, it is undeniable that there can be no surer way than by +discovering _what is the method of the HOLY GHOST_; by inquiring, what +is the method of our SAVIOUR CHRIST, and of His Evangelists, and of His +Apostles? + +1. Surely it is needless to remind an audience like the present, _what_ +that method is! Turn the first page of St. Matthew's Gospel, and weigh +well the three famous cases of Interpretation which there encounter +you[454]:--namely, the assurance that Hosea's words, "Out of Egypt have +I called my son[455];"--that Jeremiah's declaration concerning the tears +of Rachel[456];--and that the many prophetic utterances concerning "the +Branch[457];"--found fulfilment, each, in CHRIST. The first,--when, at +Jehovah's bidding, He was carried up out of Egypt into Palestine; the +second,--when the bereaved mothers of Bethlehem wept for their murdered +offspring; the third,--when CHRIST, being bred up in Nazareth, was +called a "Nazarene,"--the root of which, etymologically, denotes "a +branch."--But look further, and your surprise will increase at +discovering how extraordinary the Divine method is. When our Saviour +cast out evil spirits and healed the sick, St. Matthew declares that He +fulfilled that prophecy of Isaiah, "Himself took our infirmities and +bare our sicknesses[458];" the language of the prophet in fact being, +"Surely He hath borne our _griefs_ and carried our _sorrows_[459];" +which, as far as the words go, is rather a different thing. + +2. But it is St. Paul who affords us the largest induction of instances. +When he would establish the right of the Clergy to have due provision +made for them, he finds his warrant in a most unexpected place of +Scripture. "Say I these things as a man? or saith not the Law the same +also? For it is written in the Law of Moses, 'Thou shalt not muzzle the +mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn.' Doth GOD care for the oxen +here alluded to[460]? (=mê tôn boôn melei tô Theô?=) or saith He it +altogether for our sakes? _For our sakes_, no doubt, this is +written[461]." I remind you of the entire passage, because it is so very +express.--Elsewhere, St. Paul adduces a few verses from the viiith +Psalm, the primary and more obvious meaning of which appears to assert +nothing more than the supremacy of Man's present nature over the +inferior races of animals; ("all sheep and oxen, yea and all the beasts +of the field[462].") The application of it, in a prophetic sense, to the +supreme dominion of our Redeemer over all created beings in Heaven and +Earth, is certainly not one which would naturally suggest itself to us; +yet is it for this purpose, and this only, that St. Paul adduces it; and +as confirmatory of the universal sovereignty of CHRIST, the place in +question is three times quoted by the same Apostle[463].--Elsewhere, +when he would warn persons who have been partakers of both Sacraments, +of the danger of final rejection, he cites the example of the Fathers of +Israel in the Wilderness. "The waters of the Red Sea were a wall unto +them, on their right hand and on their left[464]," and the watery Cloud +covered them above; whereby it came to pass that "all our Fathers were +under the Cloud, and all passed through the Sea; and were all therefore +_baptized_ unto Moses in the Cloud and in the Sea." Moreover, he +declares that they "did all eat the same spiritual meat;" (alluding to +the Manna;) "and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank +of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and _that Rock was +CHRIST_[465]." ... Our SAVIOUR'S emphatic application to Himself (in the +vith of St. John) of the Manna, "the bread which came down from +Heaven,"--none can forget[466]. + +3. But St. Paul further largely interprets the ordinances of the Mosaic +Law. Thus, the provision that the High-priest alone should enter, once a +year, into the Holy of Holies, not without blood, he interprets as +follows;--"the HOLY GHOST this signifying,"--("the _HOLY GHOST this +signifying!_)--that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made +manifest, while as the first Tabernacle was yet standing[467]." He +explains further that "CHRIST being come an High-Priest of good things +to come, by a greater and more perfect Tabernacle, ... by His own Blood +entered in once into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal Redemption +for us[468]."--The Veil of the Temple, (he says,) typified CHRIST'S +flesh[469]; and St. Paul intimates that he could further have spoken +particularly of the Golden Censer, and the Ark of the Covenant, and the +Pot of Manna, and Aaron's rod, and the Tables of the Covenant, and the +Cherubims of Glory[470].--Again, he says, that "the bodies of those +beasts whose blood is brought into the Sanctuary by the High Priest for +Sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that He might +sanctify the people with His own Blood, _suffered without the +gate_[471]."--_Who_ is not familiar with the same Apostle's declaration +that the words of our father Adam relative to Marriage, are expressive +of a great mystery, and set forth symbolically the union of CHRIST and +His Church; "For we are members of His Body,--of His Flesh and of His +Bones[472]?"--St. Peter is at least as remarkable in his Interpretations +as St. Paul; for he says of the Ark "wherein eight souls were saved by +water,"--"The like figure whereunto, even Baptism, doth also now save +us[473]." + +Now these samples of _Inspired Interpretation_ would be abundantly +sufficient for our present purpose. But before I proceed to make any use +of them, it is right to draw attention to a phenomenon, even more +extraordinary. + +4. It is found then, that besides vindicating for the Scriptures of the +Old Testament this unsuspected depth and fulness of prophetic and +typical meaning, the very Narrative itself teems to overflowing with +mysterious purpose. You have but to weigh well what the HOLY SPIRIT hath +delivered concerning Abraham and Melchizedek, Hagar and Sarah,--to +perceive that the texture of the Historical Narrative itself is of +supernatural fabric. All are familiar with what I allude to; but I +_must_ remind you of it, in detail. The Apostle is bent on shewing the +superiority of our SAVIOUR'S Priesthood to that of Aaron. How does he +proceed? He lays his finger, unhesitatingly, on a verse in the cxth +Psalm, ("Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of +Melchizedek;")--declares with authority that it is CHRIST whom the +prophet there alludes to,--or rather, whom GOD apostrophizes,--(for +_that_ is what St. Paul actually _says_; =prosagoreutheis hypo tou +Theou=[474]: although David undeniably wrote the Psalm;)--and proceeds, +without more ado, to draw out minutely the characteristics of our +SAVIOUR'S Priesthood, from the very brief narrative contained in the +xivth Chapter of Genesis. Do but hear him! + +The compound name "Melchi-zedek," being interpreted, denotes "King of +Righteousness:" while "King of Salem" denotes "King of Peace." These +titles, (it is implied,) are emphatically appropriate to CHRIST our +King; to Him who "is our Righteousness," and the very "Prince of Peace." +It happens that nothing is said in Genesis about the parentage of +Melchizedek, nor about the family from which he sprang: not a word as to +when he was born, or when he died. From this _silence_ of Scripture, St. +Paul collects the typical adumbration of One who, as very GOD, was +_without_ human parentage,--had _no_ earthly lineage;--"was before all +things," GOD from all eternity,--having _indeed_ "neither beginning of +days nor end of life."--Did not Abraham give to Melchizedek a tithe of +the spoils? Consider then, (St. Paul says,) how great an one Melchizedek +must have been! Nay, consider that the descendants of Levi are commanded +to take tithe of their brethren, although all are sprung from Abraham +alike; but here is one, altogether of a different family, taking tithes +of _Abraham_,--aye and _blessing_ Abraham too;--(=dedekatôke=, +=eulogêke=, "_hath_ tithed," "_hath_ blessed,"--the effect of the act +_remaining_ for ever in CHRIST typified by Melchizedek.)--This +mysterious King of Salem and Priest of the Most High GOD not only tithes +but blesses Abraham, who had received from ALMIGHTY GOD the promises, +which included all blessedness, earthly and heavenly. Now, this implies +Melchizedek's superiority,--for, of course, the less is blessed of the +greater.--Men who receive tithe here below are mortal; but the very +silence of Scripture respecting Melchizedek's death, symbolically +teaches that HE whom Melchizedek typified, yet liveth.--And indeed, (so +to speak,) the tribe of Levi who take tithes, _paid_ tithes to +Melchizedek in the person of their great progenitor; because Levi was as +yet in the loins of his father Abraham when Melchizedek met him[475].... +I do not ask your pardon for thus leading you in detail over one +unusually minute specimen of Divine Interpretation. I know well that +there are many persons to whom the Divine method is highly distasteful; +and who think their own method of Interpretation infinitely better. But, +unfortunately for those persons, the question in hand is not a question +of taste, but a dry _matter of fact_. We have to discover what is _the +Divine method_ of Interpretation, and no other thing. Its improbability +and its inconvenience,--its difficulty, and its strangeness,--its +seeming inconclusiveness, (apart from the authority on which it rests,) +and its certain uniqueness, (notwithstanding the many injunctions we +have met with that we must interpret the Bible like any other +book[476],)--all these considerations are all together irrelevant, and +beside the question. St. Paul himself admits that the Discourse now +before us is =polys kai dysermêneutos=,--long and of difficult +interpretation[477].--Some will perhaps be found to inquire how it +happens that while so many remote points of analogy are adduced, so +obviously typical a circumstance as Melchizedek's _bringing forth_ +"_bread and wine_[478]" obtains no notice from the Apostle? I +answer,--For the same reason that Isaac is nowhere spoken of, nowhere so +much as hinted at, in the Bible, as being a type of CHRIST. A blind man +may see it. It requires no Revelation from Heaven to teach such things +as _that!_ But the typical foreshadowing of the superiority of our +SAVIOUR'S Priesthood over that of Aaron, in the story of Melchizedek, +would infallibly have escaped mankind altogether, unless it had been +thus specially revealed. + +Some there may be so utterly wanting in Theological instinct, or so +depraved of taste; so utterly unused to the study of GOD'S Word, or so +unobservant of the characteristic method of it,--as to imagine that +there is something trifling in the specimens of Interpretation before +us. I am only concerned to maintain that they are Divine. You may think +what you please about them. They are the teaching of the HOLY GHOST. +Nay, if unfortunately any persons here present should think themselves +wiser than GOD, I would request them to observe that, singularly enough, +GOD has connected with this very exposition a short address _to +themselves_. It runs as follows:--"Concerning Melchizedek, we have to +deliver a long and difficult interpretation; difficult, however, _only +because ye have become dull of hearing_[479]." (The fault, you observe, +is _yours_. Whereas GOD made your spiritual senses sharp and quick, you +have blunted their edge, and are become stupid and obtuse. It +follows:)--"For when, by reason of the length of time that ye have +professed Christianity, ye ought to be Teachers," (pray mark +_that!_)--"ye have need that some one should teach _you_ the first +Principles of the Oracles of GOD; and ye have become such as have need +of milk, and not of solid food. For every one that useth milk, is +without experience in the Word of Righteousness; for he is an infant. +But solid food (=sterea trophê=) is for them that are of full age[480]." +Where you are requested to observe that a specimen of Interpretation +_you_ think trifling, the HOLY GHOST calls "_solid food_;" and +yourselves, who in your own conceit represent the World's Manhood[481], +He calls =nêpious=,--"_babes_." ... This discrepancy of opinion strikes +me as rather curious. + +5. The time would fail, were we to enter as particularly into the Divine +Interpretation elsewhere given of another story, apparently as little +fraught with mystery as any in the Bible. _Who_ would ever have imagined +that the brief narrative of Hagar's dismissal from the house of Abraham +at Sarah's instance, was the =allêgoria= of so Divine a thing as St. +Paul declares;--the two Mothers setting forth the two Covenants, (one, +bearing children unto bondage,--the other, the free Mother of us all: +Sinai symbolized by _that_, the heavenly Jerusalem by _this_:) and even +Ishmael's mockery not being without mysterious meaning?--Such however +is the Divine Interpretation.--Elsewhere, when St. Paul desires to +contrast the method of the Gospel with the method of the Law,--(_this_, +glorious; _that_, with the same glorious features concealed;)--and also +to illustrate the present unbelief of the Jewish nation;--the Apostle +finds a prophetic emblem of their blindness in the veiled countenance of +their great Lawgiver, as described in the xxxivth chapter of Exodus. The +mystical intention of that veil, (he says,) was to symbolize the +nation's inability to look steadfastly to the end of the dispensation, +and to recognize MESSIAH. Nay, to this hour, while they read their +Scriptures, that veil (he says) is upon their hearts. And yet, even as +Moses, when he returned to GOD, is related to have taken off the veil +from his face, so (St. Paul says) will it fare with the Jews, when +_they_ convert and turn themselves to CHRIST. The veil will be +withdrawn[482].--Now, I gather from all this, and many a hint of the +like kind,--that the whole of Scripture is of the same marvellous +texture, the Old Testament and the New, alike,--whether we have the eyes +to see it or not. + +6. But I cannot dismiss the typical character of the Scripture +narrative, until I have reminded you of one striking intimation of it +which you might easily overlook. "O fools and slow of heart," was our +LORD'S reproof to Cleophas and his companion on the evening of the first +Easter: "Ought not CHRIST to have suffered these things, and to enter +into His Glory? And _beginning at Moses_ and all the Prophets, He +expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning +Himself[483]." In like manner, St. Paul at Rome expounded to the +unbelieving Jews, "persuading them concerning JESUS both _out of the Law +of Moses_ and out of the Prophets, from morning till evening[484]." The +same thing is repeated elsewhere[485]: but the most express declaration +is that of our LORD Himself to the Jews:--"Had ye believed Moses, ye +would have believed Me; _for he wrote of Me_[486]," Moses therefore +_wrote concerning_ CHRIST. CHRIST Himself says so. But _where?_ Shew me +the places in the Pentateuch which prove that CHRIST was "to suffer +these things" and then to "enter into glory?" You cannot do it; unless +indeed in Isaac's Sacrifice you are content to find the adumbration of +the scene on Calvary. You cannot do it; unless in Joseph's betrayal for +twenty pieces of silver, (the deed of another Judas!) and his letting +down into the pit without water, you recognize the image of the death of +One by the blood of whose Covenant the prisoners of hope were set +free[487]. You cannot do it; unless in the same Joseph's exaltation to +the supreme power of Egypt, (when they "cried before him, Bow the +knee!") you behold MESSIAH'S session at the Right Hand of GOD. You +cannot do it; unless you notice how "Joseph, who was ordained to save +his Brethren from death, who would have slain _him_, did represent the +SON of GOD, who was slain by us and yet dying saved us[488]." You cannot +do it; unless in the Paschal Lamb, and the wave-sheaf, you discern +things Heavenly, and of eternal moment. You cannot do it; unless you +remember "that as, in order to consecrate the Harvest by offering to GOD +the first-fruits of it, a sheaf was lifted up and waved; as well as a +Lamb offered on that day by the priest to GOD; so MESSIAH, that +immaculate Lamb which was to die, that Priest which dying was to offer +up Himself to GOD, was upon the same day lifted up and raised from the +dead; or rather shook and lifted up, and presented Himself to GOD, and +so was accepted for us all; that so our dust might be sanctified, our +corruption hallowed, our mortality consecrated to eternity." Many who +hear me will perceive that I have been quoting from Bp. Pearson; and +will be constrained to admit that Isaac and Joseph,--the wave-sheaf and +the Paschal Lamb,--may well be types of CHRIST; and that, thus lightly +touched, there can be little objection to tracing in such histories and +provisions of the Law, the main outlines of the Life and Death and +Resurrection of our REDEEMER. But remember, we have handled wondrous +little of the patriarchal History and of the Law; and that little, +wondrous cursorily; more, as it seems to me, in the manner of children +in a Sunday-school, than as Divines in the first University of +Europe!... Now, _St. Paul_ entertained _his_ audience "from morning +until evening." Had he nothing to say about Paradise, think you, and the +mysterious parallel between the first and second Adam? nothing to say +about the Ark of Noah, and the waters of the Flood? What of the history +of the patriarch Jacob, and of Joseph "at the second time made known to +his brethren?" What of Moses, and the miracles of the Exode? What of the +many minute provisions, (all of them, no doubt, significant!) of the +Mosaic Law? What of Esau's posterity and Balaam's prophecies,--the Cloud +and the Flame,--the Manna and the Quails,--the riven Rock and Jordan +driven back?... + +I have already said enough to feel at liberty to gather out of it all, +the two chief propositions concerning Holy Scripture, which it is my +business this morning to establish. And first, I assert that it may be +regarded as a fundamental rule, that the Bible _is not to be interpreted +like any other book_. This I gather infallibly from the plain fact, that +_the inspired Writers themselves_ habitually interpret it _as no other +book either is, or can be interpreted_. + +Next, I assert without fear of contradiction that inspired +Interpretation, whatever varieties of method it may exhibit, is yet +uniform and unequivocal in this one result; namely, that it proves Holy +Scripture to be of far deeper significancy than at first sight +appears[489]. By no imaginable artifice of Rhetoric or sophistry of +evasion,--by no possible vehemence of denial or plausibility of counter +assertion,--can it be rendered probable that Scripture has invariably +one only meaning; and _that_ meaning, the most obvious and easy to those +who first heard or read it. + +I would not be misunderstood by this audience, nor do I fear that I +shall be. I am not denying (GOD forbid!) the literal sense of Scripture. +Rather am I, above all, contending for it. We may _never_ play tricks +with the letter. Those Six Days of Creation, depend upon it, were _six +days_: and the Tree of Life, and the Tree of Knowledge, and the Serpent, +were the very things they are called,--and no other things. So of every +other part of the Bible. The Temptation of our LORD was as matter of +fact a transaction as one of His walks by the sea of Galilee. _In what +form_ the Tempter came to Him, hath not been revealed. _After what +fashion_ the Prince of the power of the air contrived the dazzling +panorama "in a moment of time[490]," I do not pretend to understand. The +literal sense of what has been revealed, is, for all that, to be +depended on. All is sincere History: _nothing_ is ever +allegory,--_nothing_ may ever be evacuated or explained away! We have +our LORD'S own word for it. The speech in Paradise, and what happened at +the time of the Flood; the fate of Lot's wife, and what befel the cities +of the plain; the conduct of David (when he ate the shew-bread), and the +visit to Solomon of the Queen of Sheba; the history of the widow of +Sarepta, and of Naaman the Syrian:--all these stories of the Old +Testament are by our LORD Himself appealed to as veritable History[491]. + +But I am proving that Scripture itself, literally understood, compels us +to believe that _under_ the letter of Scripture, (which _of course_ is +to be _interpreted_ literally,) there lies a deeper and sometimes a far +less obvious meaning; occasionally a meaning so improbable, (as men +account improbability,) that, but for the finger of GOD pointing it out, +we could never by possibility have discerned it; so extraordinary, that +when it is shewn us, it needs an effort of the heart and of the mind to +embrace it fully. + +Cases of literal Interpretation are indeed of constant occurrence in +Scripture; but the principle on which they depend is obvious, and +common to all writings alike. I do not doubt, for a moment, that the +history of Joseph and Potiphar's wife, (which we heard read this +morning,) is a _bonâ fide_ narrative,--_truer_ and _more_ authentic in +details, than is to be found in any other book of History.--Neither do I +doubt that the obvious teaching, (the _moral_ Interpretation as it may +be called,) of that incident, is the proper one: viz. that even for the +most fiery of fleshly trials, GOD'S grace is sufficient:--that Joseph's +safety lay in refusing even to _be_ with her, joined to his holy fear of +sinning _against GOD_:--that lust is ever cruel, and will hunt for the +precious life[492]:--finally, that the way of purity, though it may lead +at first to sorrow, will infallibly conduct to blessedness at the last. +Considerations like these, which are obvious and easy, are also +unquestionably _true_; and especially precious, (_who_ ever doubted it?) +as helps to personal holiness.--But still, there may underlie this +narrative, for aught I see to the contrary, a mystical signification. +Potiphar's wife may, (as the best and wisest of ancient and modern +Divines have thought,) symbolize the Power of Darkness; and Joseph, our +Divine LORD. The garment Joseph left in the woman's hand, may represent +that fleshly garment of which the true Joseph divested +Himself,--(=apekdysamenos= as St. Paul speaks in a very remarkable +place,)--the mortal body which Satan apprehended (his sole triumph!) and +by which he was ensnared, when a greater than Joseph gat Him out from an +adulterous world[493]. Joseph in the prison, and CHRIST in the grave: +Joseph exalted, and CHRIST Ascended: Joseph at last feeding the families +of the World, and CHRIST becoming the Bread of Life to all:--let it not +occasion offence, Brethren, if I confess that, for aught I see to the +contrary, some such hidden teaching as this, may underlie the plain +historical narrative; and in no way interfere with a literal +interpretation. + +III. From the two foregoing negative positions, however, (which almost +need an apology, such obvious truisms are they,) I eagerly pass on to +something better and higher. + +1. And first, I boldly declare that the clue to all that has been +advanced concerning the marvellous method of Holy Writ is supplied by +the single consideration that the Bible is _the Word of GOD_,--that Holy +Scripture, from the Alpha to the Omega of it, is the language of the +HOLY GHOST. Incomprehensible and unmanageable on any other +hypothesis,--all the disclosures of inspired Interpretation, by the +hearty reception of this one revealed truth, are rendered perfectly +intelligible and clear. The HOLY SPIRIT may surely be assumed competent +to interpret what the HOLY SPIRIT has already delivered! His +disclosures therefore are beyond the reach of censure; however +marvellous they may happen to be. But they are all a hopeless riddle to +those who have blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts. + +Thus, to advert for a moment to the prophetic character (as it may be +called) of the historical parts of Scripture,--What is it which moves +secret unbelief, and prompts a reference to the human devices of +Allegory and Accommodation[494]? It is the profound conviction that no +merely human narrative could be handled as St. Paul handles Genesis, +except by indulging in rhetorical license, and giving to Fancy a very +free rein. But disabuse your mind of this lurking suspicion, so +derogatory to the honour of Him by whose Spirit the Bible is +inspired,--cease to suspect that the narrative of Scripture is a merely +human narrative,--and how different becomes the problem! Why should the +HOLY GHOST have spoken less by the mouth of Moses, than by the mouth of +David and Isaiah, Jeremiah and the rest of the prophets? But if _He_ +speaks in Genesis, then are the words of Genesis _His_;--and every word +of the narrative "_proceedeth_" (as our LORD phrases it,) "_out of the +mouth of GOD_." + +I am constrained to be thus express and emphatic, because it has been +lately "_laid down that Scripture has one meaning_;--the meaning which +it had to the mind of the Prophet or Evangelist who first uttered or +wrote,--to the hearers or readers who first received it[495]." The +original sense of Scripture, (says this writer,) is "the meaning of the +words as they first struck on the ears, or flashed before the eyes, of +those who heard and read them[496]." Now, I will not pause to remark on +the complicated fallacy involved in this. For (1), Why should a hearer's +first impression of a speaker's meaning be assumed _to be_ that +speaker's meaning[497]? And (2), Why may not Prophets and Evangelists +have _intended_ secondary meanings[498]? But I do not dwell on this, for +it does not touch the point. Let us hear the voice of one who adorned +this place many years before the present controversy arose, and who has +exactly anticipated the question now at issue. "Observe how this matter +really is," says Bp. Butler. "If one knew a person to be _the sole +Author_ of a book; and were certainly assured, or satisfied to any +degree, that one knew the whole of what he intended in it; one should be +assured or satisfied to such degree, that one knew the whole meaning of +that book: for _the meaning of a book is nothing but the meaning of the +Author_. But if one knew a person to have compiled a Book out of memoirs +_which he received from Another, of vastly superior knowledge in the +subject of it_; especially if it were a Book full of great intricacies +and difficulties; it would in no wise follow that one knew the whole +meaning of the Book, from knowing the whole meaning of the compilers: +for the original memoirs, (i.e. the Author of them,) might have, (and +there would be no degree of presumption, in many cases, against +supposing Him to have,) some farther meaning than the compiler saw. To +say then, that the Scriptures, and the things contained in them, can +have no other or farther meaning than those persons thought or had, who +first recited or wrote them; is evidently saying, _that those persons +were the original, proper, and sole authors of those books_, i.e. THAT +THEY ARE NOT INSPIRED: which is absurd, whilst the authority of these +books is under examination; i.e. till you have determined they are of no +divine authority at all. Till this be determined, it must in all reason +be supposed,--not indeed that they _have_, (for this is taking for +granted that they are inspired;) but,--that they _may_ have, some +farther meaning than what the compilers saw or understood[499]."--So far +Bp. Butler. + +2. Now, if GOD be in effect the Speaker, why need we hesitate to believe +that He has so framed the stories, that they shall be throughout +adumbrations of the things which concern our peace[500]? Let some +garment be shewn me of merely human manufacture, and however costly it +may prove, I look for nothing in it beyond the known properties of any +other earthly fabric. But give me the assurance that, on the contrary, +it was woven by Divine hands, and fashioned in a Heavenly loom, and do I +not straightway expect to find it a mystery and a marvel of Art? It is +even so with the language of Holy Writ. It is all framed and fashioned +after a Diviner model than men are able to imagine. It is instinct with +sublimest meanings. It is penetrated, through and through, with the +Spirit of the Most High GOD. It is of so celestial a texture, that, to +the eye of the soundest Reason, informed by the purest Faith, it +reveals, (when the Spirit of its Divine Author shines upon it,) the +glorious outlines of an imperishable Life! + +3. The strong root of bitterness out of which springs unbelief in this +supernatural character of the historical parts of the Bible, is an +unworthy notion of GOD'S Power. Because _human_ histories are perforce +barren and lifeless, it is assumed that the Book of GOD'S Law must be a +dead thing also. And then, the conceit of self-relying Reason glides in, +(like a serpent,) and remonstrates as follows:--"Yea, can GOD have +sanctioned a method of such subtlety and pliability as will make His own +Scriptures mean _anything_[501]? Is it not rather, an exploded fashion, +which the age has outgrown,--_that_ fashion of supposing that there is +sometimes a double sense in Prophecy, and that the Gospel is symbolized +in the Law? Were then the worthies of the Old Testament puppets in GOD'S +Hands, acting parts?--now, typifying remote personages; now, exhibiting +future transactions; now, symbolizing national events? Is it credible? +Not so! Accept one of two alternatives, and never dream of a third. +Believe either that the Evangelists, the Apostles, our SAVIOUR CHRIST +Himself,--partaking of the ignorance of their age, and speaking +according to the modes of thought then prevalent, were mistaken in their +interpretations of Holy Scripture; or else, deny boldly that there are +interpretations at all. Assume that they are mere allegory and +accommodation! Something must be allowed for the backwardness of the +Past;--and 'the time has come when it is no longer possible to ignore +the results of criticism[502].' A change of method 'is not so much a +matter of expediency as of necessity. The original meaning of +Scripture' is at last 'beginning to be understood[503].' Be persuaded, +and make it thy business to persuade others, that the Bible _is but a +common Book!_" + +4. To all of which, we make summary answer:--Passing by thy +self-congratulation on the enlightenment of the age,--of which, except +in certain departments of physical Science, _we_ see _no_ evidence;--the +whole of thy argument concerning Holy Scripture amounts to this;--that +it would be very distasteful _to thee_, to find that it contained any +sense beyond that which lies on the surface. Types, intended by the +Author of Scripture _to be_ types: Prophecy with sometimes more than a +single application: historical events foreshadowing remote +transactions:--all these _thou_ deniest, because _thou_ dislikest. +Observe, however, that while _thou_ art urging thine own private +opinion, _we_ are dealing with a revealed fact. _Thou_ talkest about a +probability, but _we_ are establishing a proof. "It is written" that +Scripture _is_ thus significant, _is_ thus mysterious in its historical +outlines. And thou canst not explain away one syllable, though thou +shouldest deny "_every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of GOD_." + +5. Let us, however, examine the question merely by the light of unaided +reason.--Consider then! If GOD made this world the particular kind of +world which He is found to have made it, in order that it might in due +time preach to mankind about Himself, and about His providence:--if He +contrived beforehand the germination of seeds, the growth of plants, the +analogies of animal life; all, evidently, in order that they might +furnish illustrations of His teaching; and that so, great Nature's self +might prove one vast Parable in His Hands:--_why_ may not the same GOD, +by His Eternal Spirit, have so overruled the utterance of the human +agents whom He employed to write the Bible, that their historical +narratives, however little their authors meant or suspected it, should +embody the outline of things heavenly; and, while they convey a true +picture of actual events, should _also_ after a most mysterious fashion, +yield, in the Hands of His own informing Spirit, celestial Doctrine +also? + +6. For let me remind you,--The very actions of men,--the complicated +transactions of our common lives,--are thus overruled by God's +Providence; and, without restraint, are so controlled that they shall +subserve to the ulterior purposes of His will,--after a fashion which +altogether defies analysis. Beyond this inner circle of comprehensible +causation,--external to the immediate sphere of cause and effect which +courts our daily scrutiny,--there is an outer circle, which rounds our +lives; and (as I said) overrules all we do; fashioning, by virtue of a +supreme fiat which is altogether beyond our comprehension, all our ends. +_Why_ then, I ask, may not the Bible be, what it purports to be,--the +authentic record of transactions which the marvellous skill of Him who +governeth all things in Heaven and Earth did so overrule, that they +should become foreshadowings of chief transactions in the Kingdom of +CHRIST? Shall prophecy, in the ordinary sense of the term, be admitted +by all,--and yet a _prophetic transaction_ be deemed impossible with +GOD? If Isaiah may prophesy of one "red in His apparel," after "treading +the winepress alone[504];" may describe Him as "despised and rejected of +men;" "a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief;" "wounded for our +transgressions and bruised for our iniquities;" "brought as a lamb to +the slaughter," and "making intercession for the transgressors;" and at +last destined to find "His grave with the wicked, yet with the rich in +His death[505]:"--if this may be _in words_ described minutely, and move +no doubt; shall we close our eyes that we may not see,--or seeing shall +we fail to recognize,--in the person of such an one as David, a +divinely-intended type of MESSIAH? What! when he who was born in +Bethlehem, overcomes the Philistine at the end of forty days, and takes +from him the armour wherein he trusted;--when he,--a prophet, priest, +and king,--is persecuted by his enemies, and betrayed by his own +familiar friend; when _he_ at last passes over the brook Kidron and +ascends Olivet, sorrowing as he goes;--yea, when he utters words which +our REDEEMER resyllables with _His_ dying breath[506];--wilt thou refuse +to discern in the person of David, the lineaments of David's Son? and +sneer at _us_, who herein have been better taught than thou; although +thou hast no better reason to give for thy unbelief than that the view +of Holy Scripture which the Church Catholic hath held in all ages, seems +to thee a thing impossible? + +7. Take once more, if thou wilt, the analogy of Nature; and thence infer +what is _probable_ concerning things Divine. Is it observed that _the +works_ of GOD are thus single in their office; or are they, on the +contrary, manifold in their virtues and uses? Than the metal Iron, what +substance more serviceable for every ordinary mechanical purpose of +daily life? Yet, ask the physician which of the metals _he_ could least +afford to forego as an instrument of cure: and he will tell thee that +_he_ finds Iron the fullest of healing virtues also. Shall then plants +and animals, yea, and the whole of the Animal Kingdom, be admitted to +subserve to manifold, and at first sight unsuspected uses,--so that the +wisest are ready to confess that the function of most remains to this +hour a secret:--and shall we be reluctant to allow that the _Word of +GOD_--"the Tree of Life," whereof "the leaves are for the healing of the +nations,"--may also be thus various in its purpose; fraught with other +teaching besides that which on its very surface meets the careless eye? + +8. To speak without a figure,--It is not of course to be supposed that +the inspired writers knew all the wondrous qualities of the message they +delivered, or of the narrative they were divinely guided to indite. +Altogether a distinct question _this_; although the two have been +sometimes confused together[507]. Nay, Revelation itself comes in to +help us here. St. Peter, in express words, declares that concerning the +mystery of Redemption "the prophets _inquired and searched diligently_; +... searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of CHRIST which +was in them did signify, when it,"--(not _they_, observe, but +_It_)--"testified beforehand the sufferings of CHRIST, and the glory +that should follow." That "not unto, themselves, but unto _us_ they did +minister,"--thus much, indeed, _was_ revealed to them; but no more. The +rest, to this hour, the very "Angels desire to look into!" + +9. But between the words which a man delivers _being_ full of Divine +significancy, and _himself knowing_ the full scope and purport of those +words,--there is surely a mighty difference! When Caiaphas foretold the +universal efficacy of CHRIST'S Death, _who_ less than Caiaphas suspected +the far-reaching truth of the words which fell from his unholy lips? +_He_ knew nothing about the triumphs of the Cross; and yet he could +prophesy very accurately concerning them. "This spake he not of +himself," (says the Evangelist,) "but being high-priest that year, he +prophesied that JESUS should die for that nation; and not for that +nation only, but that also He should gather together in one the children +of GOD that were scattered abroad[508]." ... It may safely be assumed +that the sacred writers no more knew the force and power of their own +words, than those Priests who lived and moved amid the shadows of the +Mosaic Ritual were able to discern therein, the substance of things +eternal in the Heavens. And yet we believe concerning those ritual types +that "they were a concealed prophetic evidence, the force of which was +made apparent by the presence of the Gospel[509]." I am prone to suspect +that the burning vehemence of their own language must many a time have +moved the Prophets of old to deepest astonishment; and that when there +broke from them words of more than mortal power,--or images of unearthly +grandeur,--or the outlines of a grief more than human; when they spake +of a betrayal for thirty pieces of silver[510], of blows and +spitting[511], and of pierced hands and feet[512]; of parted garments +and lots cast upon a vesture[513];--they must have felt, they must have +felt the awfulness of the message they were commissioned to deliver; and +longed, yea yearned unutterably to see and to hear the things which were +reserved to be witnessed in the days of the Son of Man! + +10. Enough, however, of all this. In reply to _à priori_ objections, I +have been content to argue the question as if the Bible were a +newly-discovered Book without a history; whereas the consentient +writings of all the Fathers and Doctors of every age, in every portion +of the Christian Church, is an overwhelming _fact_! Rather have I +reasoned as if the Bible were a book altogether silent concerning +itself. But the plain truth, as I have fully shewn, is the very reverse. +Scripture is _full_ of interpretations of Scripture;--and the constant +method of Scripture in such interpretations, is spiritual or +mystical;--and this witness of Scripture is the strongest proof possible +that the principle involved is correct. Meanwhile, the great underlying +truth which I now desire, more than any other to bring before you, is +this:--that it is the HOLY GHOST who, in the New Testament, interprets +what the same HOLY GHOST had delivered in the Old. This, believe me, is +the true key, the only intelligible solution, to all those difficulties +respecting places of the Old Testament, whether interpreted, or only +quoted, in the New, which have so exercised the ingenuity of learned +men. We are always to remember, in a word, that the _true_ Author of +either Testament,--the _real_ Author of every part of the Bible, is (not +Man, but) GOD! + +IV. Such then, (to conclude,) is _the Divine method of Interpretation_. +We are not concerned now to classify, and sort it out under different +heads. _To apply_, even to a small extent, the principles we have been +labouring to establish, would not only lead us much too far, but would +constrain us to travel out of our proper subject and prescribed +province. Our purpose has only been, to vindicate the profundity, or +rather _the fulness_ of Holy Writ[514]; and to shew that under the +obvious and literal meaning of the words, there lies concealed a more +recondite, and a profounder sense: call that sense mystical, or +spiritual, or Christian, or what you will. Unerringly to elicit that +hidden sense is the sublime privilege of inspired Writers; and they do +it by allusion, by quotation, by the importation of a short phrase[515], +by the adoption of a single word[516],--to an extent which no one would +suspect who had not carefully studied the subject. How that method of +theirs is to be _applied by ourselves_, it is impossible, I repeat, for +me even to hint at in a single discourse. But _this_, I will say; and +with _this_ I dismiss the subject;--that Interpretation would be a +hopeless task, but for the solemn circumstance that the whole of the +Bible is inspired by one and the self-same Spirit; so that one part may +always be safely compared with any other part of it, you please. Nay, +by no other method can you hope to understand the Bible, than by such a +laborious comparison of its several parts. "Non nisi ex Scripturâ +Scripturam potes interpretari." The more you study the Book, the more +you will feel convinced that its many authors all resorted to one and +the same Fountain of Inspiration. They all use the same imagery; they +all speak the same language; they all mean the same thing. St. John the +Divine, in the Book of Revelation, shuts up the Canon by reproducing the +combined imagery of all the ancient prophets,--by declaring that the +Song of Moses and of the LAMB is sung by the redeemed in Heaven,--by +marvellous words about "the Tree of Life," which is "in the midst of the +Paradise of GOD." The Inspired writers of either Testament all draw from +the same Treasury, and therefore all say the same things. The Heavenly +Jerusalem, (with her gates of pearl and streets of gold,) is the home of +the spirit of each one of them[517]; JESUS CHRIST, and He Crucified, is +the abiding theme of them all. And O, how their words do sometimes teem, +and their phrases swell, almost to bursting, with their blessed +argument[518]! You shall be troubled with only one example of what I +mean.--Moses having described the interview between Melchizedek and +Abraham, the mighty secret of MESSIAH'S priesthood which therein lay +enshrined was curtained all so close, that neither Angels nor Men could +possibly discern it. Must it then remain a mystery for 2000 years? Not +so! Midway between the day of Abraham and the day of CHRIST,--just +midway,--David, speaking by the HOLY GHOST,--(of _that_, our LORD +Himself assures us[519],)--David, I say, when a thousand years had +rolled by, utters the cxth Psalm; and in the fulness of his prophetic +fervour, the great secret bursts unexpectedly into light! A thousand +years had passed since Abraham returned from 'the slaughter of the +Kings.' It wanted yet a thousand years to the date of our SAVIOUR'S +Birth. And lo, midway, a voice is heard, shouting to Him across the gulf +of Ages,--"_Thou_ art a Priest for ever _after the order of +Melchizedek_!" + +"And let not Reason be alarmed. Her vocation is not gone. Yea rather, I +know not if Human Intellect ever had a loftier problem presented to her +than to follow out that deep Analogy which has been noticed above; and +to learn, (if it may be called Reason's learning,) how to deal with Holy +Scripture as Apostles and Evangelists deal with it. Let not Reason be +alarmed. She is only asked to listen, and to discern the nature and laws +of Sacred Study. She is asked but to discern the evidence which there is +of her being in a world which she imperfectly understands.... The +student of the Bible is advised so to address himself to the study of +that Book, so to deal with its language, as one should deal with THE +WORD OF GOD,--the measure of whose import is in the infinite, not in +the finite World.--Surely, by these things the LORD tries the spirits of +us all; tries other men by other means, but tries the intellectual man +by the Word of GOD[520], and watches him as he reads it; hardens the +obdurate; blinds the self-blinded; but pours into the humble mind the +riches of His divine Wisdom like showers into a valley; making it soft +with the drops of rain and blessing the increase of it[521]." + +V. Friends and brethren, it is not without reluctance that on a Sunday +in Lent, when penitential thoughts should rather occupy us,--and in this +place too, where the promotion of practical piety should rather be our +aim,--I have so addressed you. But indeed, I seem to have no choice. It +is idle crying "peace, peace," when there is _no_ peace. If the +Inspiration of Holy Scripture be a deceit, and the Divine meaning of +Holy Scripture a superstition,--then, farewell to all our hopes in Life +and in Death; farewell to peace in days of despondency and gloom. Our +faith is gone, and our teaching becomes a hollow heartless thing. Since, +under the name of freedom of discussion, unbounded licentiousness of +speculation is openly the fashion of the age, we are constrained to give +a reason for the hope which is in us; and to defend, without compromise +or hesitation, that Bible, which is the great bulwark of the Faith. It +shall not be said that we can condemn, but that we make no answer. It +must be seen that we put forth in reply the ancient Truths; and it will +be felt that before the majesty of those ancient Truths, the arts of the +enemy will prove weak and unavailing,--rather, will stand revealed in +all their native deformity. If English Clergymen, coming abroad in the +cast-off clothes of German unbelief[522], and decked out with the +exploded sophisms of the last century, are to declare openly that the +faith of our Fathers is already looked upon among ourselves as 'a kind +of fossil of the Past,'--then is it high time that voices should be +heard vindicating _that_ ancient method of our Fathers; and boldly +proclaiming that this imputation against the Clergy of England is a +disreputable untruth. The Church of England, (GOD be praised!) hath +_not_ left her first love; hath _not_ given up her ancient method; +Christianity is _not_ 'a difficulty to the highest minds.' The Christian +Religion embraces, as much as ever it did, "the thought of men upon the +Earth." "All the tendencies of Knowledge" are _not_ "opposed to it." The +Gospel is still immeasurably before the age. Intellect has not +gone,--the loftiest order of well-trained intellects will never go,--the +other way[523]. It is, on the contrary, none but a very shallow wit +which errs. Had it confined its speculations to the cloister, or come +abroad with sorrow and shame, we should have pitied in silence, and in +silence also have lamented. But when it comes insultingly abroad, and +sets up a claim to intellectual superiority even while it denies the +most sacred truths;--_then_ pity gives way before indignation and +disgust. Crown the whole with the iniquity of imputing these views +generally to the more thoughtful of the English Clergy[524],--and we are +constrained openly to resent the grievous wrong. We declare it to be an +unfounded calumny; a calumny which, in the name of the whole Church, I +solemnly repel before GOD,--and His Holy Angels,--and _you_! + +Vain, utterly vain,--worthless, utterly worthless,--must any +superstructure of intellectual, moral, or religious training be, which +is built up on the doctrine that the Bible is to be interpreted like any +other Book; in other words, that the Bible _is_ a common Book; in other +words, that _Inspiration is a fable and a dream_. We have no fear +whatever that _your_ high instincts, (with all your faults!),--_your_ +English manliness,--will, to any extent be led astray, by sophistry +worthless as that which we have been exposing. But we know you look to +your appointed Teachers from this place, (as well you may,) for advice, +and support, and encouragement, in your better aspirations;--and let +_me_, at least, in plain language, warn you that novelties in Religion +never _can_ be true. "Philosophia," says the great Bishop Pearson +speaking of Physical Science; "Philosophia quotidie progressu: Theologia +nisi _regressu_ non crescit[525]." "Ask for the old paths!" ... The +faith, remember, was =hapax=,--_once for all_,--delivered to the Saints. +There will be no new deposit. There can be no new doctrines. There has +been no fresh Revelation,--no new principle of guidance vouchsafed to +man. A new method of interpreting Scripture is _quite_ impossible. And +the true method,--the only _true_ method--_must_ be that which was +adopted by our SAVIOUR, by His Evangelists, and by His Apostles: a +method which _they_ taught to their first disciples, and which those +early Bishops and Doctors handed on in turn to the generation which came +after them. That method, by GOD'S great goodness, has descended in an +unbroken stream, even to ourselves; who have described it this morning, +feebly indeed and unworthily,--yet, in the main, as it would have been +described at _any_ time, by _any_ of the glorious company of the +Apostles, the goodly fellowship of the Prophets, the noble army of +Martyrs,--by any of the Doctors and Fathers of the Holy Church +throughout the world! O let it be our great concern,--yours and +mine,--to preserve with undiminished lustre the whole deposit of +Heaven-descended teaching which is the Church's treasure!... Like +runners in a certain ancient race of which we all have read, let it be +_our_ pride and joy,--yours and mine,--to grasp the torch of Truth with +a strong unwavering hand; to run joyously with it so long as the days of +this earthly race shall last; and dying, to hand it on to another, who, +with strength renewed like the eagle's, may again,--swiftly, steadily, +exultingly,--run with it, till he fails!... _So_, when the Judge of +quick and dead appeareth,--_so_ let Him find _you_ occupied,--O young +men, (many of you, my friends,) who are already the hope of half the +English Church! So faithfully may _we_, Brethren and Fathers, one and +all, be found employed, when He cometh,--whose answer to the Tempter is +emphatically _the_ text of the present solemn season, as well as a +mighty voucher for the Divine origin, and sustaining efficacy of that +Book concerning which I have been detaining you so long,--"It is +written, Man shall not live by bread alone; but by every word that +proceedeth out of the mouth of GOD!" + + Ut verum fatear, semper existimavi, allusiones istas, (ad quas + confugiunt quidam tanquam ad sacrum suæ ignorantiæ asylum,) + plerumque nihil aliud esse, quam Sacræ Scripturæ abusiones + manifestas. + +BISHOP BULL, _Harmonia Apostolica_, cap. xi. sect. 3. + + There would be no need to scruple the term, if it were not meant to + imply that this Accommodation was arbitrary on the part of the + Evangelist; or that the mind of THE SPIRIT that spoke by the + Prophet does not most fully include this application. + +DR. W. H. MILL. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[436] Preached at St. Mary-the-Virgin, on the Third Sunday in Lent, +March 3rd, 1861. + +[437] "It cannot be said that this, [viz. that _the Bible is the Word of +God_,] is always remembered. It cannot be said that they who write +respecting the Bible, even Christian writers who are looked up to, +always appear to have been in that frame of mind while contemplating the +statements of the Sacred Volume, which they, the same men, would have +been in if they had been listening _for a voice out of a cloud_; a word +reaching them which was simply, and in that sense, the Word of GOD. Yet +the Sacred Volume comes to us with no less claims than as conveying such +a message; and on every feature of it, it carries that claim. It +professes to be this,--an account of what went on in the secret +council-chamber of the MOST HIGH."--Eden's _Sermons_, pp. 150-1. + +[438] _Exposition of the Creed_, Art. II. ("Our LORD,")--vol. i. p. 183. + +[439] 1 St. Peter i. 11. + +[440] _Eccl. Pol._, B. v. c. lix. § 3. + +[441] Bp. Bull, _Defensio Fid. Nic._ I. i. 9, (_Works_, vol. v. i. p. +22.) + +[442] Disc. v. _The state of Man before the Fall._ Bull's Works, vol. +ii. p. 99. + +[443] "DEUS novit cordis mei secreta: in dogmatis theologicis a +novaturiendi prurigine (quam etiam supremi Judicis tribunal insiliens +fidenter mihi tribuit theologiæ professor) adeo alienus sum, ut +quæcunque catholicorum Patrum et veterum episcoporum consensu comprobata +sunt, etiamsi meum ingeniolum ea non assequatur, tamen omni reverentia +amplexurus sim. Nimirum non paucis experimentis monitus didiceram, cum +adhuc juvenis Harmoniam scriberem, (quod mihi jam confirmata ætate +persuasissimum est,) _neminem catholico consensui repugnare posse, +quin is_ (utcunque ipsi aliquantisper adblandiri videantur sacræ +Scripturæ loca nonnulla perperam intellecta, et levicularum +ratiuncularum phantasmata) _tandem et Divinis Oraculis et sanæ rationi +repugnasse deprehendatur_."--Bp. Bull's _Works_, vol. iv. p. 313. + +[444] In days of unbelief, one is tempted to add a note even on a +Theological truism like that in the text,--"Esto igitur, inquies; fuerit +Deus, qui in Veteri Testamento, sive per Angelum, sive sub angelicâ +repræsentatione sanctis viris apparuit et locutus est; at quâ demum +ratione adducti crediderunt doctores, fuisse DEI FILIUM? Respondeo: +_Ratione, ni fallor, optimâ, quam ex traditione Apostolicâ +edidicerant_."--_Def. Fid. Nicæn._ I. i. 12. Bp. Bull's Works, vol. v. +i. p. 27. + +[445] =All' hê ekklêsia, ô hagiôtate Eusebie, heterôs ta peri toutou +nomizei kai ouch hôs sy. ton men gar en tê batô phanenta tô Môysê +theologei· ton de en HIerichô tô met' auton ophthenta, ton tôn HEbraiôn +epistasian lachonta, machairan espasmenon, kai tô Iêsou lysai prostattonta +to hypodêma, touton de ge ton archangelon hypeilêphe Michaêl, +k. t. l.=--The entire passage may be seen in the best annotated editions of +Eusebius, (lib. I. c. ii. § 17.) since that of Valesius, who first +introduced it to notice. But to read it in a truly valuable context, +reference should be made to Dr. Mill's _Christian Advocate's_ publication +for 1841, p. 92. The note alluded to has been reprinted in Dr. Lee's +Discourses _On Inspiration_, p. 535. + +[446] _Essays and Reviews_, p. 31. + +[447] See Appendix (J). + +[448] St. John i. 1-3. + +[449] So Bp. Butler, in a passage which will be found below, at +p. 165-6.--Very different is the judgment of Professor Jowett, who is of +opinion that "it will be a further assistance in the consideration of +this subject, to observe that _the Interpretation of Scripture has +nothing to do with any opinion respecting its origin_."--_Essays and +Reviews_, p. 350. + +[450] See above, pp. 55-57. + +[451] Professor Jowett in _Essays and Reviews_, pp. 393-402. He +adds,--"Discussions respecting the use of the Greek article, have gone +far beyond the line of utility. There seem to be reasons for doubting +whether any considerable light can be thrown on the New Testament from +inquiry into the language.... Minute corrections of tenses or particles +are no good." (p. 393.) And this, from a Regius Professor of Greek! + +[452] See below, pp. 164-5. + +[453] _Essays and Reviews_, p. 372. + +[454] St. Matth. ii. 15:17, 18:23. + +[455] Hos. xi. 1. + +[456] Jer. xxxi. 15. + +[457] e.g. Is. xi. 1. Also Zech. iii. 8: vi. 12. Jer. xxiii. 5 and +xxxiii. 15. + +[458] St. Matth. viii. 17. + +[459] Is. liii. 4. + +[460] For consider Exod. ix. 19, Jonah iv. 11, &c. + +[461] 1 Cor. ix. 8-10, quoting Dent. xxv. 4. See also 1 Tim. v. 18.--"It +seems providentially appointed that texts of the Old Testament should be +called out into Christian meaning which are the very texts we might have +dismissed into a transitory interest. 'Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that +treadeth out the corn.' 'Humane provision!', modern observation might +say. 'Is it for oxen God careth? is an Apostle's interpretation of the +same text; 'or saith He it altogether _for our sakes?_'.... It is a law, +we find, prospectively set down for the Christian Church."--Eden's +_Sermons_, p. 189. + +[462] Ps. viii. 7. + +[463] Heb. ii. 6-8. 1 Cor. xv. 25, and Eph. i. 22.--See Shuttleworth's +_Paraphrase_ of the first place cited, p. 394. + +[464] Exod. xiv. 22, 29. + +[465] 1 Cor. x. 1-4. + +[466] St. John vi. 32-58. + +[467] Hebr. ix. 6-9. + +[468] Ibid. v. 11, 12. + +[469] =Dia tou katapetasmatos, toutesti tês sarkos hautou.= Hebr. x. 20. + +[470] Hebr. ix. 2-5. + +[471] Hebr. xiii. 11, 12. + +[472] Eph. v. 30-32. + +[473] =Hô kai hêmas antitypon nyn sôzei baptisma=. 1 St. Pet. iii. 21. + +[474] Hebr. v. 10. + +[475] Hebr. vii. 1-10. The student in Divinity will find it well worth +his while to inquire for a Latin Dissertation by the late learned Dr. W. +H. Mill on this subject. + +[476] _Essays and Reviews_, pp. 338, 375, 377, 419-20, 426, 428, 429, +&c. The advice is Professor Jowett's. + +[477] Hebr. v. 11. + +[478] Gen. xiv. 18. + +[479] =Nôthroi gegonate tais akoais=.--Hebr. v. 11. + +[480] Hebr. v. 12-14. + +[481] Dr. Temple in _Essays and Reviews_. + +[482] 2 Cor. iii. 12-16.--Take notice that in allusion to the place, +Exod. xxxiv. 34, (=hênika d' an eiseporeueto Môysês enanti Kyriou lalein +autô, periêreito to kalymma=,) St. Paul says,--=hênika d' an epistrepsê +pros Kyrion, periaireitai to kalymma=. The expression is altered in +order to bring out more clearly the allegorical meaning. + +[483] St. Luke xxiv. 25-27. + +[484] Acts xxviii. 23. + +[485] Acts xxvi. 22, 23. + +[486] St. John v. 46, 47. + +[487] Zech. ix. 11, 12. + +[488] Bp. Pearson. + +[489] Consider St. John ii. 17, 22: xii. 16. St. Luke xxiv. 8, 45. Acts +xi. 16. + +[490] =En stigmê chronou=.--St. Luke iv. 5. + +[491] St. Matth. xix. 5. St. Luke xvii. 27 and 32. St. Matth. xi. 23: +xii. 4 and 42. St. Luke iv. 25-27. + +[492] Prov. vi. 26. Consider v. 9. Eccl. vii. 26. Gen. xxxix. 20. 2 Sam. +xi. 15. St. Mark vi. 25. + +[493] The learned reader,--(and the unlearned reader too, who will bear +in mind that =apekdysamenos=, [in the E. V. 'having spoiled,'] certainly +means 'having stripped off from himself,')--is invited to consider with +attention those words of Col. ii. 15:--=apekdysamenos tas archas kai tas +exousias, edeigmatisen en parrêsia, thriambeusas autous= [not =autas=, +observe;] =en autô= [sc. =tô staurô=. See by all means Pearson _on the +Creed_, Art. v. note (_l_): (ed. Burton, vol. ii. p. 217-8.) Cf. Eph. +ii. 16. Consider St. Luke xi. 22.] To complete the teaching of the +passage, the reader is invited to study also, in connexion with what +goes before, 1 Cor. ii. 6-8; taking notice, that =hoi archontes tou aiônos +toutou= are not, (as the marginal references suggest,) the powers of the +visible, but of the _invisible_ World. See St. John xii. 31: xiv. 30: +xvi. 11, and Ephes. ii. 2: vi 12.--See Ignatius _Ep. ad Ephes._ c. xix., +(with the notes in Jacobson's ed.) See also Dr. Mill _on the +Temptation_, p. 165. + +[494] See Sermon VI. + +[495] Professor Jowett in _Essays and Reviews_, p. 378. + +[496] Professor Jowett in _Essays and Reviews_, p. 338. + +[497] Consider St. John xii. 16: x. 6: xi. 13. St. Luke xviii. 34. St. +Matth. xvi. 11, 12. St. John viii. 27, &c., &c. + +[498] See St. John xi. 49-52: vi:. 37-39. + +[499] _Analogy_, Part ii. ch. vii. + +[500] Augustine, speaking of the New Testament, says,--"Factum quidem +est, et ita ut narratur, impletum; sed tamen etiam ipsa, quæ a DOMINO +facta sunt, aliquid significantia erant,--quasi verba (si dici potest) +visibilia, et aliquid significantia."--_Opp._, tom. v. p. 421 F. + +[501] _Essays and Reviews_, pp. 368, 372. + +[502] Professor Jowett in _Essays and Reviews_, p. 374. + +[503] Professor Jowett in _Essays and Reviews_, p. 418. + +[504] Is. lxiii. 2, 3. + +[505] Is. liii. + +[506] Comp. Ps. xxxi. 5 with St. Luke xxiii. 46. + +[507] By Professor Jowett for example. "The time will come when educated +men will no more be able to believe that the words of Hos. xi. 1 _were +intended by the prophet_ to refer to the return of Joseph and Mary from +Egypt, than," &c.--_E. and R._, p. 418. _When_ did "educated men" ever +believe anything of the kind? + +[508] St. John xi. 50. Comp. xviii. 14. + +[509] Davison on _Prophecy_, p. 192. + +[510] Zech. xi. 12, 13. + +[511] Is. l. 6. + +[512] Ps. xxii. 16. Zech. xiii. 13. + +[513] Ps. xxii. 18. + +[514] "Adoro Scripturæ plenitudinem."--Tertullian _adv. Hermog._, c. 22. + +[515] Comp. St. Matth. ii. 20, with the LXX Version of Exod. iv. 19: St. +Matth. iii. 4, with the same version of 2 Kings i. 8: St. Matth. xxvi. +38 with Ps. xlii. 5. St. Luke i. 37, with Gen. xviii. 14,--i. 48, with 1 +Sam. i. 11, and with Gen. xxx. 13,--i. 50, with Ps. ciii. 17. St. John +i. 52, with Gen. xxviii. 12,--&c., &c. + +[516] A few examples may prove suggestive to a thoughtful +reader:--=exodos=, in St. Luke ix. 31 and in 1 St. Pet. i. +15:--=apokatastêsei=, in St. Matth. xvii. 11, (cf. Mal. iv. 5): +=sitometrion=, in St. Luke xii. 42, (cf. Gen. xlvii. 12): =paradeisos=, +in St. Luke xxiii. 43. The reference is of course always to the +_Septuagint_ version. + +[517] Ps. xlvi. 4: xlviii. 1, 8: lxxxvii. 3. Is. lii. 1: lx. 14. Ezek. +xlviii. Ephes. ii. 19, 20. Phil. iii. 20. Gal. iv. 26. Hebr. xi. 10: +xii. 22: xiii. 14. Rev. xxi. 2, 10: iii. 12, &c. + +[518] "Scriptores =theopneustoi=, de typo disserentes, divinius quiddam +ex inopinato pati solent, et ad antitypum vehementiore Spiritus afflatu +rapi et elevari. Assertionis hujusce veritas inde constat, quod verba +quædam haud expectata sæpius inferant, quæ MESSIÆ vel solum vel aptius +quam Illius typo congruant."--Spencer _De Legg. Hebr._, vol. ii. p. +1035. Consider such places as Ps. ii. 6, 7: xli. 9, 10: xlv. 10, 11: +lxi. 6: lxxii. 5, 7, 11, 16, 17: lxxxix. 29. Gen. xlix. 18. Is. lxi. 1, +2, 3. Zech. vi. 11, 12. + +[519] St. Mark xii. 36. + +[520] "And their manner of treating this subject when laid before them, +shews what is in their heart, and is an exertion of it." Bp. Butler's +_Analogy_, P. II. ch. vi.--See Appendix (C). + +[521] Eden's _Sermons_, pp. 192-5. + +[522] "With the exception of the still-imperfect science of Geology," +(says Dr. Pusey,) "the Essays and Reviews contain nothing with which +those acquainted with the writings of unbelievers in Germany have not +been familiar these thirty years." Even the Apologist for the volume in +question assures us that one who "had looked ever so cursorily through +the works of Herder, Schleiermacher, Lücke, Neander, De Wette, Ewald, +&c., would see that the greater part of the passages which have given so +much cause for exultation or for offence in this volume, have their +counterpart in those distinguished Theologians."--_Edinb. Rev._, Ap. +1861, p. 480. + +[523] Rev. B. Jowett in _Essays and Reviews_, pp. 374-5. + +[524] Rev. B. Jowett in _Essays and Reviews_, pp. 372, (_bottom_,) 340, +374, &c. + +[525] _Minor Works_, vol. ii. pp. 9-10.--"In Christianity, there can be +no concerning truth which is not ancient; and _whatsoever is truly new +is certainly false_."--Epistle Dedicatory prefixed to Pearson _on the +Creed_, p. x. + + + + +SERMON VI.[526] + + * * * * * + +THE DOCTRINE OF ARBITRARY SCRIPTURAL ACCOMMODATION CONSIDERED. + + * * * * * + +ROMANS x. 6-9. + +_"But the Righteousness which is of Faith speaketh on this wise,--'Say +not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into Heaven?' (that is, to bring +CHRIST down from above:) or, 'Who shall descend into the deep?' (that +is, to bring up CHRIST again from the dead.) But what saith it? 'The +word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thine heart:' that is, the +word of Faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy +mouth the LORD JESUS, and shalt believe in thine heart that GOD hath +raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."_ + + +It is quite marvellous in how many different ways different classes of +professing Christians have contrived to nullify the value of their +admission that the Bible is _inspired_. Some would distinguish the +inspiration of the Historical Book from that of those which we call +Prophetical. Others profess to lay their finger on what are _the proper +subjects_ of Inspiration, and what are not. Some are for a general +superintending guidance which yet did not effectually guide; while +others represent the sacred Writers as subject, in what they delivered, +to the conditions of knowledge in the age where their lot was cast. The +view of Inspiration which Scripture itself gives us,--namely, that God +_is therein speaking by human lips_[527]; so that 'holy men of GOD' +delivered themselves as they were 'impelled,' 'borne along,' or 'lifted +up,' (=pheromenoi=) _by the HOLY GHOST_[528];--_this_ plain account of +the matter, I say, which converts 'all Scripture' into something +'_breathed into by GOD_,' (=theopneustos=,)[529]--men are singularly slow +to acknowledge. The methods which they have devised in order to escape +from so plain a revealed Truth, are 'Legion.' + +Second to none of the enemies of Holy Writ, practically, are they who +deny its depth and fulness. It is only another, and a more ingenious +way, of denying the Inspiration of the Bible, to evacuate its more +mysterious statements. Those who are for eluding the secondary intention +of Prophecy, the obviously mystical teaching of Types, the allegorical +character of many a sacred Narrative,--are no less dangerous enemies of +GOD's Word than those who frame unworthy theories in order to dwarf +Inspiration to the standard of their own conceptions of its nature and +office. I say, it is only another way of denying the Inspiration of +Scripture, to deny what is sometimes called its mystical, sometimes its +typical, sometimes its allegorical sense.... And thus,--what with the +arbitrary decrees of our own unsupported opinion, or the self-sufficient +exercise of our own supposed discernment;--what with our insolent +mistrust; or our shortsighted folly and presumption; or, lastly, our +coldness and deadness of heart,--our slender appetite for Divine things, +which makes us yearn back after Earth, at the very open gate of +Heaven;--in one way or other, I repeat, we contrive to evacuate our own +admission that the Bible is an inspired Book: we fasten discredit on +its every page: we become profane men, like Esau: we despise our +birthright. + +But the most subtle enemy of all remains yet to be noticed. It is he, +who,--finding the plain Word of GOD against him: finding himself refuted +in his endeavour to fix one intention only on the words of the HOLY +GHOST, and _that_ intention, the most obvious and literal one; finding +himself refuted even by the express revelation of the same HOLY GHOST, +elsewhere delivered;--bends himself straightway to resist, and explain +away, that later revelation of what was the earlier meaning. It is a +marvellous thing but so it is, that the very man who contended so +stoutly a moment ago for the literal meaning of Scripture, _now_ +refuses, and denies it. Anything but _that_! If he allows that St. +Matthew, or St. Paul,--yea, or even our Blessed LORD Himself,--are to be +_literally_ understood; are severally to be taken to _mean_ what they +_say_;--then, Moses and David,--narrative, law, and psalm,--besides +their literal meaning, have, at least _sometimes_,--and they _may_ have +_always_,--a mystical meaning also. _Under_ the evident, palpable +signification of the words, there lies concealed something grander, and +deeper, and broader; high as Heaven,--deep as Hell. + +And this supposition is so monstrous an one; seems so derogatory to +their notions of the mind of GOD;--it is deemed so improbable a thing, +that the words of Him, whose ways are not like Man's ways, should span +the present and the future, at a grasp;--that He whose "thoughts are +very deep," should, with language thereto corresponding, be setting +forth CHRIST and His Redemption, while He tells of Patriarchs and +Lawgivers,--Judges and Kings,--priests and prophets of the LORD:--I +say, it is deemed so incredible a thing that Moses should have written +concerning CHRIST, (though our SAVIOUR CHRIST Himself declares that +Moses did write concerning Him)[530]; or that the occasional expressions +of the Prophets should really contain the far-reaching allusions which +in the New Testament are assigned to them; that the men I speak of,--men +of learning (sometimes), and of piety too,--will condescend to every +imaginable artifice in order to escape the cogency of the Divine +statement. St. Paul--was infected with the Hebrew method of +interpretation. (It is of course _assumed_ that this method was +essentially erroneous! It is overlooked that our LORD had recourse to +it, as well as St. Paul! It is either forgotten, or denied, that the +HOLY GHOST, speaking by the mouth of St. Paul, acquiesced in every +instance of such interpretation on the part of His chosen vessel!) ... +As for St. Matthew, he addressed his Gospel to the Jews, and therefore +reasoned as a Jew would. (St. Matthew's Gospel was not of course +intended for the Christian Church! The blessed Evangelist was also +deeply learned,--it is of course reasonable to suppose,--in the sacred +hermeneutics of the Hebrew Schools!) ... The other Sacred Writers, it is +pretended, all wrote according to the prejudices of the age in which +they lived.--In all these cases, it is contended that _merely in the way +of Accommodation_, is the language of the Old Testament cited in the +New. What was said of one thing is transferred to quite another,--to +suit the purpose of the later writer; to illustrate his reasoning, to +adorn or to enforce his statements.... And this brings me to a question +of so much importance, that I pause to make a few remarks upon it. In +the present discourse, it shall suffice to remark on the doctrine of +_Scriptural_ ACCOMMODATION; for which it is presumed that the text, +(selected not without reference to the present Sacred Season,) affords +ample scope, as well as supplies a fair occasion. + +Now, it is not to the _term_ "Accommodation," that we entertain any +dislike; but to the _notion_ which it seems intended to convey; and to +the _principle_ which we believe that it actually embodies. That the +HOLY SPIRIT in the New Testament sometimes accommodates to His purpose a +quotation in the Old,--is very often a mere matter of fact. In all those +places, for instance, where St. Paul inverts the clauses of a place +cited,--there is a manifest accommodation of Scripture, in the strictest +sense of the word. When two, three, or more texts, widely disconnected +in the Old Testament, are continuously exhibited in the New,--a species +of accommodation has, of course, been employed. The same may be said +when a change of construction is discoverable. Again, there is +accommodation, of course, when narrative,--legal enactment,--or +prophecy, is _so exhibited_ that the point of its hidden teaching shall +become apparent. Nay, in a certain sense of the word, there is +"accommodation," as often as a prophecy, however plain, is applied to +the historical event which it purports to foretel. The prophecy may be +said,--(with no great propriety indeed, but still, intelligibly,)--to +have been accommodated to its fulfilment.--Occasionally, a general +promise is made particular,--as in Hebrews xiii. 6; and perhaps _this_ +might be called an accommodation of the text to the needs of an +individual believer. Yet is it plain that in all these cases +'_application_' or '_adaptation_' would be a better word. + +But such ways of adducing Holy Scripture, we suspect, are not by any +means what is _meant_ by 'Accommodation;' and they do not certainly +correspond with the notion which the term is calculated to convey. The +place in the Old Covenant, seems, (from the term employed,) to have been +forced, against its conscience, as it were, to bear witness in behalf of +the New. It has been wrenched away from its natural bearing and +intention; and made to accommodate itself,--and, on the part of the +writer, quite arbitrarily,--to a purpose, with which it has, in reality, +no manner of connexion. This, I say, is the notion which the term +"Accommodation" seems to convey. + +I am supposing, of course,--(as the opposite school is, of course, +supposing,)--_not_ an _illustration_,--which obviously _any_ writer, +whether ordinary or inspired, has a right to introduce at will; but a +case where the cogency of the argument depends entirely on the place +cited. A sudden and unforeseen requirement arose;--nothing entirely fit +and applicable occurred to the memory: but by an arbitrary handling of +the ancient Oracles of GOD,--(altogether illogical and inconclusive +indeed, yet entitled to a certain measure of respectful consideration at +our hands, and certainly having a strong claim on our indulgence,)--the +later writer saw that he should be able to substantiate his position, or +to strengthen his argument, or to prove his point. And he did not +hesitate to do so. It is surprising that his hearers or his readers +should have accepted his statements, and admitted his reasoning;--very! +But they _did_. And it is for us, the heirs of the wisdom of all the +ages, to detect the time-honoured fallacy and to expose it.--This, I +say, is the notion which the term "Accommodation" seems calculated to +convey; and it is to be feared, _does_ very often represent. + +And the introduction of this principle, as already explained, I cannot +but regard as the most insidious device of all. It admits fully all that +we have elsewhere laboured to establish. It freely grants that Apostles +and Evangelists were inspired. But then, it denies that much of what +they deliver in the way of interpretation of Scripture, is to be +regarded as _real_ interpretation. By a taste for Allegory; by +Rhetorical license; on _any_ principle, it seems, _but one_, is the +Divine method to be accounted for; and the plain facts of the case to be +obscured, or explained away. + +Now I _altogether reject_ this principle of arbitrary "Accommodation." I +hold it to be a mere dream and delusion. And I reject it on the +following grounds:-- + +1. It is evidently a mere excuse for Human ignorance,--a transparent +deceit. Men do not see how to explain, or account for, the apparent +license of the Divine method; and so they have invented this method of +escape. Most cordially do I subscribe to the opinion expressed by Bishop +Bull, in his discussion of the very text which we are now about to +consider:--"Atque, ut verum fatear, semper existimavi, allusiones istas, +(ad quas confugiunt quidam tanquam ad sacrum suæ ignorantiæ asylum,) +plerumque aliud nihil esse, quam sacræ Scripturæ abusiones +manifestas[531]." + +2. The "theory of Accommodation," (as it is called,) is attended with +this fatal inconvenience,--that, (like certain other expedients which +have been invented to get over difficulties in Religion,) it altogether +fails of its object. For even if we should grant, (for argument's +sake,) that some quotations from the Old Testament _can_ be explained +on this principle,--so long as there remain others which defy it +altogether, nothing is gained by the proposed expedient. Thus, so long +as attention is directed to certain of the places in St. Paul's writings +already referred to[532], there is certainly _no absurdity_ in adducing +them as instances of Rhetorical license. But how can it be pretended +that the text whereby St. Paul establishes, (on two distinct occasions,) +the right of the Christian Ministry to a liberal maintenance,--with what +propriety can it be thought that Deut. xxv. 4 lends itself to such a +theory? Those words _seem_,--and, apart from Revelation, might without +hesitation have been declared,--to have _nothing at all to do with the +matter_[533]! To talk of the "accommodation" of words so eminently +unaccommodating, is unreasonable, and even absurd. + +3. But, allowing the advocates of this theory all they can possibly +require, the result of their endeavours is but to make the Sacred +writers ridiculous after all. For it attributes to them a method, which, +if it be a _mere_ exhibition of human fancy, often seems to be but a +species of ingenious trifling,--scarcely entitled to serious attention +at our hands. There is no alternative, in short, between certain of the +expositions which we meet with, being Divine,--and therefore worthy of +all acceptation; or Human,--and therefore entitled to no absolute +deference whatever. + +4. On the other hand, learned research has hitherto invariably tended to +shew that the meaning claimed for Scripture by an Apostle or +Evangelist, _does_ actually exist there. Thus, it has been admirably +demonstrated that the Evangelical meaning attributed by St. Matthew, (in +the first chapters of his Gospel,) to certain places in the ancient +Prophetical Scriptures of the Jewish people, derives nothing but +corroboration from the inquiries of Piety and Learning[534].... It is +proposed on the present occasion, without pretending to bring to the +question any such helps as these, to examine the portion of Holy +Scripture already under our notice, with a view to ascertaining what +light it will throw on the main question at issue. To this task, I now +address myself. + +St. Paul's words, from the 6th to the 9th verse (inclusive) of the xth +chapter of his Epistle to the Romans, present probably, as fair an +example as could be desired of what is sometimes called "Accommodation." +To say the truth, I know not an instance of what, _in any uninspired +writing_, I should have been myself more inclined to stigmatize as such. +The Apostle begins an affectionate remonstrance with his countrymen by +declaring that they "did not understand the Righteousness of GOD;" (that +is, the Divine method whereby GOD wills that we shall be made righteous, +by faith _in CHRIST_;) but desired to set up (=stêsai=) a righteousness +of their own, on the worthless foundation of their own Works[535]. +"For," (he proceeds; with plain reference to _what_ "the Righteousness +of GOD" _is_;)--"_For_ CHRIST is the end" (aim, or object,) "of the +Law[536] to every one who hath faith" in CHRIST. St. Paul straightway +proceeds, (as his manner is,) to establish this latter proposition. How +does he do it? "_For_," (he begins again,)--"Moses describes the nature +of the righteousness which proceeds from the Law, when he declares [in +Leviticus xviii. 5,] that '_The man who hath done_ the deeds commanded +by the Law, shall live thereby.'--But concerning the Righteousness which +proceeds from Faith,"--[it was called before, 'the Righteousness of +GOD,']--"Moses writes as follows[537]:--'Say not in thine heart, Who +shall ascend into Heaven? (that is, to bring CHRIST down:) or, Who shall +descend into the deep? (that is, to bring CHRIST up from the dead.) But +what saith it? The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart: +that is, the word of faith, which we preach: because if thou shalt +confess with thy mouth the LORD JESUS, and shalt believe in thine heart +that GOD raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." + +Here then is a quotation from the xxxth chapter of the Book of +Deuteronomy,--a quotation introduced in the way of argument, in support +of a proposition: the remarkable circumstance being, that St. Paul +adduces the words of Moses with extraordinary license. For first, he +omits as many of the Prophet's words as make little for his purpose, +while he introduces a very remarkable alteration in some of the words +which he retains: amounting to a substitution of one sentence for +another. And next, there is one single word, which he expands into an +important phrase; and _that_ merely to suit his own argument. But the +strangest thing of all is the interpretation which he delivers of words, +which as we have just seen, are partly his own,--partly, the words of +Moses: by which interpretation, the most strikingly _Christian_ +character is fastened upon sayings pronounced by the ancient Lawgiver in +the land of Moab, to the Jewish people.--We do further, for our own +part, most freely admit, that the place,--as it stands in the Old +Testament,--neither at first, nor at second sight, seems to have any +such meaning as the Apostle assigns to it. I will remind you of the +words in Deuteronomy, by reading the entire passage:--"This commandment +which I command thee this day, ... is not hidden from thee, neither is +it far off. It is not in Heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go +up for us to Heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do +it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go +over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do +it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, +that thou mayest do it." ... Now, I say, one of ourselves might read +this passage in the Book of Deuteronomy over a hundred times, and never +suspect that Moses, when he so wrote, was writing concerning faith in +CHRIST: and yet we have the sure testimony of the HOLY SPIRIT to the +fact that he _was_.--The inquiry, "Who shall ascend into Heaven?", +signifies, we are told, "Who shall ascend,--_to bring down CHRIST from +above_?"--And just so, the other clause, "Who shall descend into the +deep?", is declared to be an incomplete expression: the full phrase +being,--"Who shall descend,--_to bring up CHRIST[538] from the dead_." +... Now we never desire to see a non-natural sense fastened on the +Inspired Word. With Hooker, we "hold it for a most infallible rule in +expositions of sacred Scripture, that, where a literal construction will +stand, the furthest from the letter is commonly the worst." We contend +therefore that whereas we have here the explicit assurance that Moses +wrote of none other than CHRIST,--though his words do not bear upon them +any evidence of the fact,--it is a mere trifling with holy things, to +call the fact in question. + +Here, however, we shall be reminded that the great Apostle,--though +professing to quote,--confessedly argues in part from _his_ own +language, which is _not_ the language of Moses. Moses says,--"Who shall +go _over the sea_ for us?" (=tis diaperasei hêmin eis to peran tês +thalassês?=) And since the version of the LXX is what the Author of the +Epistle to the Romans follows in this place, it is reasonable to expect +that he would adhere to that version, or at least to the sense of that +version, in the exhibition of so important a clause as the present. +Whereas, instead of "Who shall go _over the sea_," we find St. Paul +writing,--"Who shall _go down into the deep?_" (=Tis katabêsetai eis tên +abysson?=)--language evidently highly suggestive of the mysterious +transaction to which the same St. Paul says it contains a +reference[539]; but certainly _not_ the language of Moses. And we shall +be reminded that this is not merely phraseology rescued from vagueness, +and made definite; but it is the actual substitution of one thought for +another. This is what will be said; and if it be followed up by the +assertion that here, therefore, we have a clear example of Scriptural +Accommodation, it might seem, at first sight, impossible to deny the +fact. + +For our own parts, we are inclined to meet the present difficulty, and +every similar one, in quite another spirit; and dispose of the +objection, somewhat in the following way. The same GOD who gave us the +Scriptures of the Old Testament, gave us the New Testament also. The +Bible is _one_. He who inspired the Law, inspired the Gospel. The HOLY +GHOST pleads with us in both alike.--Surely, therefore, He who spake of +old time by the Prophets, may be allowed, when, in the last days, He +speaks by the Apostles of CHRIST,--to explain His earlier meaning, if He +will. Surely, He may tell the Israel of GOD,--if He pleases,--what He +meant by the language He held of old time to Israel after the flesh! +Yea, and if it seemeth good to Him to call in the wealth of His ancient +treasury, in order to recoin it that He may the more enrich us +thereby:--if it pleases Him to take His ancient speeches back again into +His mouth, in order that He may syllable them anew,--making them sweeter +than honey to our lips, yea, sweeter than honey and the honeycomb;--what +is _Man_ that he should reply against GOD? What should be our posture, +at witnessing such a spectacle, but one of Adoration? What, our becoming +language, but praise? + +It is easy to anticipate the answer that will be made to all this. We +shall be told that we are, in some sort, begging the question. The +Bible is an Inspired Book, indeed: but _what is Inspiration_?--Moses +wrote the Book called "Deuteronomy:" St. Paul wrote the Epistle to the +Romans. And St. Paul,--quoting a passage out of the older record,--has +substituted a sentiment of his own for a sentiment contained in the +writings of Moses. He does the same thing in other places; and +elsewhere, as here, he proceeds to reason upon the data he has so +obtained. _This_, it will be said, is the phenomenon which we have to +deal with. + +But, we reply, it is manifest that he who so argues,--with all his +apparent good sense, and fairness,--is entirely committed to a theory +concerning Inspiration; and _that_ a very unworthy one. The Bible comes +to us as an Inspired Book; claiming to be the very Word of GOD. The Holy +Church throughout all the World, doth acknowledge it to be so. Surely, +therefore, it is for _us_ to study its contents by the light of this +previous fact.--But quite contrary is the method of our opponents. They +treat the Bible as if it were an ordinary Book. They submit its contents +to the same irreverent handling as they would the productions of a +merely human intellect. They not only reason _about_ its claims from its +contents,--but they would even pronounce _upon_ its claims, from the +same evidence. They dare to sit in judgment upon it. Hence their lax +notions on the subject of Inspiration. They first run riot among +statements which are too hard for them; and when they have perplexed +themselves with these, till the field is strewed with doubts, and the +limits of unbelief and mistrust have become extended on every +side,--Inspiration, like an ill-defined boundary-line on a map, is +suffered faintly to hem in, and enclose the utmost verge of the unhappy +domain.--Whereas, we maintain that a belief in the Bible, as an Inspired +Book, should, at the outset, prescribe a limit to human speculations. + +Let this belief encircle us exactly, and entirely; and define, at once, +the area within which all our reasonings must be taught to marshal +themselves, and to find their full development. In brief, our opponents +meet our remonstrance by another; but, as we contend, an unreasonable +one;--at least, as proceeding from men who, no less than ourselves, +allow freely the Inspiration of Scripture. _We_ say,--The Bible is the +word of GOD. Fill your heart with this conviction, and then humbly +address yourself to the study of its pages.--It is argued on the other +side,--The pages of the Bible are full of perplexing statements. They +evolve strange phenomena, interminably. Convince yourself of this; and +then make up your mind, if you can, about the Inspiration of the +Bible[540].... I shall have occasion, by and by, to explain more in +detail the spirit in which the Divine Logic,--_Inspired reasoning_ as it +may be called,--is to be approached. For the moment, I am content to +waive the question; and to be St. Paul's apologist, almost as if I had +met with his words in an uninspired book. + +Solemnly protesting, then, that the ground we have just occupied is the +only _true_ ground on which to take our stand; but withdrawing from it +because we do not fear the appeal to unassisted Reason, even in matters +of Faith,--so that the proper limits and conditions of inquiry be but +observed;--we proceed to inquire whether,--apart from Revelation,--there +be not good ground for believing that the words of the ancient Hebrew +Lawgiver and Prophet contain and mean the very thing which the Christian +Apostle _says_ they do.--We change our language at this stage of the +inquiry. We no longer assert, (as before we did,) that the HOLY GHOST +speaking by the mouth of Moses, _must have meant_, what the same HOLY +GHOST, speaking by the mouth of St. Paul, declares that He _did_ mean. +We are willing to study the sacred text solely by the light which grave +criticism and patient learning have thrown upon it.--Our inquiry now, is +this;--Although the words in Deuteronomy, read over attentively by +ourselves, suggest no such Christian meaning as we find affixed to them +in the Epistle to the Romans,--is there no reason, traditional or +otherwise, for supposing that they _do_ envelope that meaning; yea, so +teem and swell with it, that the germ of the flower may be actually +detected in the yet unopened bud?... I proceed to this inquiry. + +1. And first, it is obvious, to any one reading the xxixth and xxxth +chapters of the last Book of Moses, that they contain _another +Covenant_, beside that of Horeb. This is expressly stated in the first +verse of the xxixth chapter:--"These are the words of the Covenant which +the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land +of Moab, _beside the Covenant which He made with them in Horeb_[541]." +Not to stand too stiffly thereupon, however[542], let it be at least +freely allowed that even if we choose to regard this chapter and the +next as a _renewal_ only of the Covenant made in Horeb, it is a +_distinct_ renewal;--both in respect of time and of place. Of time,--for +whereas the Covenant of Sinai belongs to the _first_ of the forty years +of wandering, the Covenant of Moab belongs to the _last_. Of place,--for +whereas the other was made at the furthest limit of the people's +wanderings, _this_ belongs to their nearest approach to Canaan.--And I +confidently ask, After _such_ an announcement, and at a moment like +_that_,--the forty years of typical wandering ended, and the earthly +type of the heavenly inheritance full in view, Jordan alone intercepting +the vision of their Rest;--shall we wonder, if here and there a ray of +coming glory shall be found to flash through the language of the dying +patriarch? if some traces shall be discernible, even in the language of +Moses, of the dayspring of the Gospel of CHRIST? + +2. We find that it contains not a few sayings in support of such a +presumption. The 10th verse opens the covenant, and in the following +solemn language:--"Ye stand, this day, all of you, before the LORD your +GOD: the Captains of your tribes, your Elders, and your officers, with +all the men of Israel;--your little ones, your wives, and the stranger +that is in thy camp,--from the hewer of thy wood, to the drawer of thy +water." And what was the _intention_ of this solemn standing before the +LORD? Even--"that thou shouldest enter into Covenant with the LORD thy +GOD, and enter into His oath, which the LORD thy GOD maketh with thee +this day."--The purport of the Covenant thus to be made, was, that GOD +might establish Israel that day for a people unto Himself, and that He +might be unto them a GOD,--(an expression elsewhere appropriated by the +Great Apostle to the Christian Church[543],)--as He had ... sworn unto +their fathers, _to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob_. So that we have +here the renewal of the _Evangelical Covenant_ made with Abraham, and +renewed to Isaac and Jacob,--which is clearly distinguished in Scripture +from the _Legal_ Covenant, made with their children 430 years after; and +which is declared ineffectual to disannul the earlier one, confirmed +before by GOD, and pointing entirely to CHRIST[544]. That earlier +Evangelical Covenant then, it was, which was renewed in the land of +Moab;--in the course of renewing which, the words of the text occur. + +3. And that it was indeed the Evangelical, (not the Legal Covenant,) +which is here spoken of, is abundantly confirmed by the subsequent +language of the passage: for Moses proceeds,--"Neither with you only do +I make this Covenant and this oath; but with him that standeth here this +day with us before the LORD our GOD, and _also with him that is not here +with us this day_[545]:" meaning, (as the ancient Targum expounds the +place,) "_with every generation that shall rise up unto the world's +end_." It was the same Covenant, therefore, which is made with +_ourselves_; "for the promise is unto" us, and to our "children, and to +all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our GOD shall +call[546]:" "_not_ according to the Covenant which GOD made with the +Fathers of Israel in the day that He took them by the hand to bring them +out of the Land of Egypt[547]." + +Yet more remarkably perhaps is this established by the language of the +ensuing chapter: for GOD therein promises that _Circumcision of the +heart_ whereby men should be enabled to love the LORD their GOD with +_all their heart_ and with _all their soul_. Now this seems clearly to +intimate not legal but Evangelical obedience,--the result of the free +outpouring of the HOLY SPIRIT of GOD; of which, in the Law, (properly so +called,) we find no promise whatever. Here then we discover another +anticipation of something which belongs to the times of the Gospel. + +And this Evangelical complexion is to be recognized in the entire +contents of the xxixth and xxxth chapters. They contain no single +mention of ceremonial rites or observances,--of which the Law is, for +the most part, full. But free obedience and perfect love are inculcated +as the condition of blessedness: while hearty repentance is made the +sole condition of forgiveness of sin. + +In connexion with this, I may call your attention to a curious +coincidence,--if indeed it be not something more. On the sincere +repentance of the people, it is promised "that then the LORD thy GOD +will turn thy captivity;" which the Targum of Jonathan +paraphrases,--"His WORD will receive with delight thy repentance:" while +the Septuagint even more remarkably renders the words--"will heal thy +sins;" that is,--"will be thy JESUS." Moses proceeds,--"and gather thee +from all the nations whither the LORD thy GOD hath called thee." And +what is this but one of the very places, if it be not _the very place_, +to which St. John alludes when he declares that Caiaphas prophesied that +JESUS should die for that nation; and not for that nation only; but that +He should gather together in one, the children of GOD that were +scattered abroad[548]? + +4. Nor is it, finally, a little remarkable that, by the general consent +of the Hebrew Doctors, this xxxth chapter has ever been held to have +reference to the times of MESSIAH. The restoration spoken, is referred +by them to the restoration to be effected by CHRIST: while the promises +it contains are connected with those prophetic intimations which clearly +point to the days of the Gospel[549]. So much, then, for the evidence, +_apart from Revelation_, which the general complexion of the place in +Deuteronomy affords to the reasonableness of the meaning affixed to it +by the voice of the later Scriptures. Before we proceed to examine a +little in detail the words of the text, we may be surely allowed to +remind ourselves of the Testimony which St. Paul bears to the +Evangelical character of what is here delivered. He asserts, in the most +direct and emphatic manner, that it is the Righteousness which is by +Faith which here speaks[550]. He is contrasting the spirit of the Law, +with that of the Gospel. He is setting the requirements of the one +against those of the other. To exhibit the former,--he quotes from +Leviticus. To enable us to judge of the latter,--he quotes this very +place in Deuteronomy. Having shewn the justification under the +Law,--which is by entire fulfilment of every enjoined work;--the Apostle +describes the Righteousness of the Gospel,--which is by Faith in CHRIST. +And he discovers its voice in the present chapter: nay, he calls our +attention to its language; and, lest the intention of it should escape +us, he proceeds to supply us, not only with an interpretation of it, but +with a paraphrase as well. + +Enough has been said, I trust, to render this proceeding on the part of +the Apostle no matter of surprise Let us see whether the particulars of +his interpretation are altogether novel and unprecedented either.--The +words of Moses which we have to consider, it will be remembered, are +these:--The "commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden +from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in Heaven, that thou +shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to Heaven, and bring it unto us, +that we may hear it and do it? Neither is it beyond the Sea, that thou +shouldest say, Who shall go over the Sea for us, and bring it unto us, +that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in +thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it[551]." + +Now, that all this denotes something close at hand and easy,--in place +of something supposed to be remote and difficult,--is obvious. The whole +of the earlier part of it, St. Paul affirms to be tantamount to the +following injunction,--"Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into +Heaven, to bring CHRIST down; or who descend into the abyss, to bring +CHRIST up from the dead." Concerning which words of caution, we have to +remark that there seems to have been no intention whatever on the part +of the Apostle, to warn _his readers_ against requiring a renewed +Revelation of CHRIST in the flesh, or a second Resurrection of the +Eternal SON from the dead. He is illustrating the nature of Legal and +Evangelical Righteousness, by the language of the Jewish Law. He +contrasts the two, in their respective requirements; finding the voice +of both in the writings of Moses: of the former,--in connexion with the +covenant of Sinai; of the latter,--in connexion with the covenant which +the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the +land of Moab, _besides_ the former Covenant. With characteristic fire +and earnestness, glancing, as usual, at every side of the question +before him,--having, a little way back, explained himself, without +explanation, when he inserted that remarkable parenthetical clause, +=telos gar nomou CHRISTOS=[552],--"for _CHRIST_ is the object of the +Law;"--in order now to shew how thoroughly this is the case,--how full +the Law is of _Him_, in whom alone it finds its perfect scope, end, and +completion,--he explains that the very phrase "Who shall ascend up into +Heaven?" pointed to nothing less than _the Incarnation_ of CHRIST: that, +"Who shall go over the Sea?" contained a wondrous far-sighted +allusion,--(not the less real because unsuspected,)--even to the +_Resurrection_ of our LORD from death. So true is it, "that both in the +Old and New Testament Everlasting Life is offered to Mankind by CHRIST, +who is the only Mediator between GOD and Man, being both GOD and Man. +Wherefore they are not to be heard, which feign that the old Fathers did +look only for transitory promises[553]." + +Moses then here warns the ancient people of GOD against an evil heart of +unbelief. "Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend up into Heaven?" for +such words on the part of Man would imply disbelief in the doctrine that +the SON of GOD should hereafter take upon Him human flesh. (Since "no +man hath ascended up to Heaven, but He that came down from Heaven, even +the Son of Man which is in Heaven[554].") "Neither say, Who shall +descend into the deep?" for such words on human lips must imply +disbelief in MESSIAH'S Descent into Hell, and Resurrection from the +Dead.--The mystery of Redemption might not be impatiently demanded; but +must be looked for in faith, until the fulness of time should come, and +the whole mystery of godliness should be revealed to the wondering eyes +of Men and Angels[555]. + +We shall perhaps be asked, whether it is credible that Moses can have +had any conception that such a meaning as St. Paul here ascribes to his +words, did really underlie them? To which we answer, first, that it is +by no means incredible[556]. And next, that whether Moses knew the full +meaning of the language he was commissioned to deliver, or not,--seems, +(as already explained[557],) to be an entirely separate question: the +only question before us, being, _whether his language contained that +meaning_, or not.... To what extent the Prophets,--who, (we know,) +studied their own prophecies[558],--were ever permitted to fathom their +depth, is a mere matter of speculation[559]; delightful indeed, but in +the present case quite irrelevant. In the meantime, we know for certain +that _Moses prophesied of CHRIST_[560]. + +And next, if it be said that really this is only a proverbial +expression,--a Hebrew phrase to denote something passing difficult, and +hard of attainment:--(as when, in the Book of Proverbs, it is +asked,--"Who hath ascended up into Heaven, or who hath +descended[561]?")--we answer, we see no ground whatever for supposing +that in the place just quoted, it _is_ a proverb, and no more,--although +from its use in the Talmud, the expression would certainly appear to +have become, at last, proverbial[562]. _If_ a proverb, however, it seems +to have been a sacred one; nor can any place be appealed to where it +occurs, nearly of the antiquity of _this_, in the writings of Moses. To +pretend therefore to explain away a certain mode of expression, in the +place where it _first_ stands on record,--and where it is declared to +have a deep and mysterious meaning,--simply because, _subsequently_, it +was (to all appearance) used _without_ any such pregnancy of +signification,--is, manifestly illogical. + +Nay, there is good ground for presuming, that the very place last +quoted, contains a reference to the Eternal SON: for Agur proceeds to +ask,--"What is His Name, and _what is His Son's Name_, if thou canst +tell[563]?" ... But the reference is far more obvious when the same +expressions occur in the Book of Baruch. "Who hath gone up into Heaven, +and taken her, and brought her down from the clouds? Who hath gone over +the sea, and found her[564]?" For _Wisdom_ is there spoken of; and +Wisdom, as we remember, is one of the names of CHRIST,--the name by +which He is discoursed of, in the Book of Proverbs. + +The uninspired evidence which completes the connexion of this place of +Deuteronomy with the second Person in the Blessed Trinity, is the +traditional interpretation assigned to it by the Hebrew Commentators. +The Targum of Jerusalem expounds the latter clause as follows:--"Neither +is the Law beyond the Great Sea, that thou shouldest say, O that we had +one _like Jonas the prophet_ that might go down to the bottom of the +Great Sea, and bring it to us." So that the very Jewish Doctors +themselves here become our instructors; and teach us that a greater than +Jonas must be here,--even while they guide our eyes to that especial +type of our SAVIOUR CHRIST in His Descent into Hell, and Rising again +from the dead. I say, the very Jewish Doctors themselves here contribute +their testimony; and yield a most unsuspicious witness to the inspired +exegesis of the Apostle: for, "as Jonas was three days and three nights +in the whale's belly,"--so, (they clearly mean to say), so should it be +with the man whom Moses here indicateth: and so,--(these are the words +of CHRIST Himself),--so was "_the Son of Man_ three days and three +nights in the heart of the Earth[565]." + +You will of course notice the facility with which the Jews themselves, +interpreting their own Scriptures, have here exchanged the notions of +going "_over_ the sea,"--("_beyond_ the sea," as it is in the +Hebrew,)--and "_going down to the bottom_" of the sea. St. Paul seems, +in this place, to have "accommodated" the words of Moses: but we cannot +fail to perceive that the Hebrew text must cry aloud for such supposed +"accommodation;" yea, cry aloud, even in the uncircumcised ears of the +Jewish people; that their own Commentators, as if divinely guided by the +good hand of GOD, should bear their own independent witness to the +correctness of the Apostolic interpretation. + +Nor may I fail to call your attention to the term employed by St. Paul +to denote the Sea:--a term, surely divinely chosen. He had just before, +(in the 6th and 7th verses,) employed the Version of the LXX: he was +about to use it again in the 8th verse: but in this, (the 7th,) he +departs from it. Instead of,--Tis diaperasei hêmin eis to peran +tês thalassês; he writes,--=Tis katabêsetai eis +ten abysson=. The term =abyssos=,--which is applicable to the +deep places of the Earth, _and_ to the depth of the Sea, with equal +propriety;--(being a more indifferent term even than our own expression +"the deep");--affords a memorable example of the fulness and pregnancy +of language on inspired lips. Adhering to the letter of the text he +quotes, the Apostle, by changing _the word_ expressive of that literal +sense, embraces the whole spiritual breadth and fulness of the +passage:--reminding us of Him, by the blood of whose covenant were sent +forth the prisoners of hope out of the pit _wherein is no +water_[566],--even before he names Him; our SAVIOUR CHRIST! + +I must also remind you, that there are many expressions used by our +LORD, or used concerning Him by His Apostles, which help to shew, that, +to have come down from Heaven,--and to have been brought up from the +deep of the Earth again,--may be regarded as the mysterious summary of +the SAVIOUR'S Mission[567].--"No man hath _ascended up_ to Heaven," +(saith our LORD,) "but He that _came down_ from Heaven[568]." "I am the +living Bread which _came down_ from Heaven.... Doth this offend you? +What and if ye shall see the Son of Man _ascend up_ where He was +before[569]?" In another place,--"I came forth from the FATHER and am +come into the World: again I leave the World, and go to the +FATHER[570]."--But the most remarkable place remains: "Now, that He +_ascended_, what is it but that He also _descended first_ into the +lowest parts of the Earth? He that _descended_, is the same also that +_ascended up_ far above all Heavens[571]." I say, this brief +summary,--given by CHRIST Himself, or by those who had seen Him,--of the +mystery of His manifestation in the flesh,--throws light on the language +of the Hebrew lawgiver. It shews that the language of Moses to Israel, +in the plains of Moab, fairly embraced the two great truths which Faith +even now can but be exhorted to lay fast hold upon, and to +appropriate:--"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth that JESUS is the +LORD,"--that is, confess that the man Jesus is the uncreated, Incarnate +JEHOVAH; "and believe with thy heart that GOD raised Him up from the +dead,--thou shalt be saved." ... Such is the form which the exhortation +_now_ assumes. More darkly, of old time,--(as was fitting,)--was the +same thing spoken: and, because reference was then made to an event not +yet accomplished, the impatience of Unbelief is there repressed,--rather +than the ardour of Faith stimulated. "Say not in thy heart who shall +ascend into Heaven? or, who shall go down into the deep place?" ... But +shall we deal so faithlessly with the Divine Oracles of the Old +Testament, as to deny them the deeper meaning assigned to them in the +New, because they speak darkly? Let us, from a review of all that has +been humbly offered,--let us at least admit that there is good +independent ground for believing that when Moses spake of ascending into +Heaven,--it was with reference to the future coming of CHRIST:--when he +made mention of descending into the Deep,--the Resurrection of the +SAVIOUR of the World was, in reality, the thing he spake of.--Let us +allow that _here_, at least, there is nothing in the language of the New +Testament, which, when studied by the light of unassisted Reason, does +not appear to have been fully included, contemplated, intended by the +language of the Old:--that the accommodation has not been +arbitrary;--say rather, that _here_ at least there has been _no +accommodation at all_! + +But I am impatient to leave this low rationalistic ground, and take my +stand again, on the vantage ground of Faith. The position, I trust, has +been established, that even in the case of words which seem least +promising,--least likely to enfold the deeply mysterious meaning claimed +for them by an Apostle,--the result of patient inquiry and research is +to shew that such a meaning really _does_ exist there, to the fullest +extent. We have discovered, from mere grounds of Reason, apart from +Revelation, that what St. Paul has cited in this place from Deuteronomy, +may very well contain all that he says it contains. But, were nothing of +the kind discoverable;--were it a most hopeless endeavour to reconcile +the meaning evolved by the inspired Apostle, with the text he professes +to interpret,--the claims of the sacred exegesis would remain wholly +unimpaired. We should still say that _this_, because it is an _inspired_ +Commentary, is entitled to our fullest acceptance. We have, anyhow, the +HOLY SPIRIT interpreting Himself. He surely must be the best judge of +His own Divine meaning. He does but enrich the Treasury of Truth, even +by His apparent departures from the original Hebrew verity. Shall not +the HOLY GHOST, the Comforter, be allowed to speak comfort to His people +in whatever way seemeth best to Himself? Is it not lawful for Him to do +what He will with His own? Is thine eye evil, because He is very good? + +Yes, it cannot be too emphatically insisted on, that the success which +may attend investigations of this nature, is not to be admitted for a +moment as the measure of the soundness of the principle on which they +proceed. The reasoning whereby Newton shewed that the diamond is a +combustible substance would have been no whit invalidated had the +diamond resisted to this hour every chemical attempt to reduce it to +carbon. We do not,--(what need to say?)--we do not discourage the +endeavour to enucleate the deep Christian significancy of passages for +which Inspired writers claim such sublime meaning. Rather do we think +that Human Reason could not find a worthier field for the employment of +her powers[572], than this. But we are strenuous to insist that the full +and sufficient, and only irrefragable proof that a mighty Christian +meaning does actually underlie the unpromising utterance of one of GOD'S +ancient Saints, is,--_that an Inspired Writer declares it to exist +there_. + +There is no _accommodation_ therefore, when an inspired writer adduces +Scripture. Human language _will_ sometimes require to be "accommodated:" +Divine language, never! May not the HOLY SPIRIT lay His finger on +whatever parts of His ancient utterance He sees fit? may He not invert +clauses, and (in order to bring out His meaning better) even alter +words? If He tells thee that the prophetic allusion of Isaiah to "our +griefs" and "our sorrows" comprehends "our infirmities" and "our +sicknesses" in its span[573],--is it for _thee_ to discredit His +assertion? If He is pleased to intimate that the providential +arrangement whereby CHRIST, though born at Bethlehem, grew up at +Nazareth,--had for its object the fulfilment of many a detached and +seemingly disconnected prophecy[574],--shall the unexpectedness of His +disclosure excite ridicule in such an one as thyself? When He tells thee +that besides the immediate scope of certain well-known words of Hosea +and of Jeremiah, there was the ulterior aim He indicates; if behind +Israel after the flesh, He shews thee the Anointed SON[575],--if behind +those captive Jews of the tribe of Benjamin whom Nebuzar-Adan led past +their mother's grave on their way to Babylon, He points to the +slaughtered infant of Bethlehem; assuring thee that when He spake by the +mouth of Jeremiah concerning the nearer event that remoter one was full +before Him also; and that the solemn and affecting utterance of the +Prophet was divinely intended by Himself to cover both[576];--wilt thou, +when He discourses to thee thus, presume to talk to Him of +"_accommodation?_" Is it not enough for thee to have cavilled at the +first page of the _Old_ Testament on "scientific" grounds? Must thou, +for Theological considerations, dispute the first page of the _New_ +Testament also? + +Scripture then, whether in its Historical or its more obviously +prophetic parts, has this depth of meaning for which I have been +contending. We must perforce believe it, for it is a matter of express +Revelation. We cannot pretend to deny the probability,--much less the +possibility of it; for we really _can_ know nothing of the matter except +from an attentive study of Scripture itself. And the witness of +Scripture, as we have seen, is ample, emphatic, and express.--Our LORD, +being indignantly asked by the Jews if He heard what the children, +crying in the Temple, said of Him,--made answer by quoting the 2nd verse +of the viiith Psalm: "Yea, have ye never read, 'Out of the mouth of +babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise'[577]?"--Pray was this +"accommodation," or what was it? It was deemed a sufficient answer, at +all events, by the Anointed JEHOVAH; whatever men may think!... When the +Sadducees, disbelieving in the Resurrection of the Body, assailed our +LORD with a speculative difficulty, He told them that they erred because +they did not understand the Scriptures. "Now that the dead _are_ raised, +even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the LORD, the GOD of +Abraham, and the GOD of Isaac, and the GOD of Jacob. For He is not a +GOD of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto Him[578]." How, by +the popular method,--how, by any of the new lights which have lately +been let in on Holy Scripture,--was the Resurrection of the dead to have +been proved by the words which the SECOND PERSON in the Trinity spake to +Moses "in the Bush?" And yet we behold _that_ same Divine Personage in +the days of His humiliation, proposing from those words, uttered by +Himself 1500 years before, to _establish_ the doctrine in dispute!... +Only once more. "In the last day, that great day of the Feast [of +Tabernacles,] JESUS stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him +come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me,--_as the Scripture hath +said, 'Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water_[579]!'"--But +_where_ does the Scripture say _that_? You will look a long while to +find it. You will never find it at all if you adhere to the method which +of late has been declared to be the method most in fashion. You will +never even understand what our Blessed LORD _means_, unless you attend +to the hint which immediately follows,--and which the Divine Author of +the Gospel would not surfer us to be without,--namely, that, "This spake +He of the SPIRIT, which they that believe on Him should receive:"--by +which is meant, that as many of the Prophets as discoursed in dark +phrase of that free outpouring of the SPIRIT which was to mark MESSIAH'S +Reign, did, _in effect_, say the thing which He here attributes to them. + +Inspired Reasoning, wherever found, may fitly obtain a few words of +distinct notice here; but I shall perhaps speak more becomingly, as well +as prove more intelligible, if,--(without further allusion to the +sayings of that Almighty One "in whom are hid all the treasures of +Wisdom and Knowledge[580];" sayings which it seems a species of impiety +to approach except in adoration;)--I confine my remarks to the logical +processes observable in the inspired writings of some of His servants, +the Evangelists and Apostles of THE LAMB. + +The difficulty which has been occasionally felt in respect of the +argumentative parts of St. Paul's Epistles, is considerable, and may not +be overlooked. His definitions, his inferences, his entire method of +handling Scripture, gives offence to a certain class of minds. His +reasoning seems inconsequential. There appears to be a want of logical +order and consistency in much that he delivers. But,--can it require to +be stated?--the fault is entirely our own. "The radical fallacy of any +attempt to analyze the reasoning of Scripture by the ordinary Laws of +Logic" requires to be pointed out. And the root of it all is our +assumption that an inspired Apostle must perforce argue like any other +uninspired man. + +But, in the first place, it is to be recollected that he did not collect +the meaning and bearing of the Old Testament Scriptures from induction, +and study _only_. He was,--by the hypothesis,--an _inspired Writer_. The +same HOLY SPIRIT who taught the authors of the Old Testament what to +deliver, taught _him_, in turn, how to explain their words. By direct +Revelation, he perceived the intention of a text, and at once bore +witness to it. Thus St. Paul says of our LORD,--"He is not ashamed to +call them brethren, saying,--'I will declare Thy Name unto My brethren, +in the midst of the Church will I sing praise unto Thee.' And +again,--'I will put my trust in Him.' And again,--'Behold I and the +children which GOD hath given Me[581].'" Now, "the Apostles quoted such +places as these from the Psalms and Isaiah, not as they were gathered by +any certain reason, but as revealed to them by the HOLY SPIRIT, to be +principally spoken of CHRIST. This understanding the mysteries of GOD in +the Old Testament, being a special gift of the HOLY GHOST[582],--of the +truth of which interpretations, the same SPIRIT, without any necessary +demonstration thereof, bore witness also to their auditors and converts; +and by miracles manifested the persons thus expounding them herein to be +infallible[583]." + +To quote the language of a thoughtful writer of more recent +date,--"Inspired teaching,--explain it how we may,--seems comparatively +indifferent to (what seems to us so peculiarly important) close logical +connexion, and the intellectual symmetry of doctrines.... The necessity +of confuting gainsayers, at times forced one of the greatest of CHRIST'S +inspired servants, St. Paul, to prosecute continuous argument; yet even +with him, how abrupt are the transitions, how intricate the connexion, +how much is conveyed _by assumptions such as Inspiration alone can +make_, without any violation of the canons of reasoning,--FOR WITH IT +ALONE ASSERTION IS ARGUMENT.... The same may be said of some passages of +St. John, supposed to have been similarly occasioned. Inspiration has +ever left to human Reason the filling up of its outlines, the careful +connexion of its more isolated truths. The two are, as the lightning of +Heaven, brilliant, penetrating, far-flashing, abrupt,--compared with the +feebler but _continuous_ illumination of some earthly beacon[584]." + +"In a train of inspired Seasoning," (as the same writer elsewhere +remarks,) "each new premiss may have been supernaturally communicated; +and thus, in point of fact, the inspired reasoner but connects the +different threads of the Divine Counsels; exemplifies how 'deep +answereth to deep' in the mysteries of Revelation; and presents, in one +connected train of argument, those words of GOD which had been uttered +'at sundry times and in divers manners[585]'" + +To conclude.--There is no such thing as inconsequential Reasoning to be +met with in the writings of St. Paul[586]--no such thing as arbitrary +Accommodation of the Old Testament Scriptures, in the New:--though not a +few have thought it; and the language of many more writers, Papist as +well as Protestant, is calculated to convey the same mischievous +impression[587]. The hypothesis is as unworthy of ourselves,--with our +boasted critical resources and many appliances of varied learning,--as +it is derogatory to the Sacred Oracles to which it is applied. It is a +deadly blow, aimed at the very Inspiration of Scripture itself; for it +pretends to discover a human element only, where we have a right to +expect a Divine one: an irresponsible _dictum_, when we listened for the +voice of the SPIRIT; the hand of man, where we depended on finding the +very Finger of GOD! We come to the blessed pages, for Divinity, and we +are put off with Rhetoric. We come for bread, and the critics we speak +of offer us a stone. + +I will not detain you any longer. No apology can be needed for the +subject which has been engaging our attention[588]. Those who watch "the +signs of the times" attentively, will bear me witness that _unbelief_ is +one fearful note of the coming age. The self-same principle, working in +different classes of minds, produces results diametrically different: +but it is still the same principle which is at work. Unbelief is no less +the cause why so many have forsaken the Church of their Fathers, to run +after the blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits of the Church of +Rome,--than it is the parent of that shallow Rationalism which unhappily +is now so popular among us.... Intimations of what is to be hereafter, +may be every now and then detected. At intervals, hoarse sounds, from a +distance, are known to smite upon the listening ear; signals of the +coming danger,--sure harbingers of the approaching storm.--Holy +Scripture is the stronghold against which the Enemy will make his +assault, assuredly: nor can we employ ourselves better than by building +one another up in reverence for its Inspired Oracles: opposing to the +crafts of the Evil One the simplicity of a child-like faith; and +resolutely refusing to see less than GOD, in GOD'S Word! + +This must be the preacher's apology for disputing where he would rather +adore; for discussing the Revelations of Scripture, instead of _feeding_ +upon them; especially at this holy Season when the Apostle's exhortation +finds an echo in all our services:--the mouth, engaged in the constant +confession that JESUS is the LORD,--the heart, filled with the thought +of Him, who as at this time died for our sins, and rose again for our +Justification. + +GOD grant us grace,--at this and every other time,--so to put away the +leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may always serve Him in +pureness of living and truth: through the merits of the same His SON, +JESUS CHRIST our LORD! + +FOOTNOTES: + +[526] Preached at St. Mary-the-Virgin, April 27, 1851. + +[527] See above, pp. 55-7. + +[528] 2 St. Pet. i. 21. + +[529] See above, pp. 53-4. + +[530] See above, pp. 157-160. + +[531] _Harm. Apost._ Diss. Post., cap. xi. § 3. + +[532] See above, pp. 152-7. + +[533] Consider again the Divine exposition, (in 1 St. John v. 6,) of St. +John xix. 34. + +[534] See Dr. Mill's _Christian Advocate's_ publication for 1844, _The +Historical Character of the circumstances of our LORD's Nativity +vindicated against some recent mythical interpreters_,--especially p. +402 to p. 434. + +[535] Cf. Phil. iii. 7-9. + +[536] Consider St. John vi. 46, and all similar places. + +[537] On the words, =Hê de ek pisteôs dikaiosynê houtô legei=,--Theodoret +remarks:--=Anti tou, peri de tês ek pisteôs dikaiosynês, houtôs legei· ou +gar hê dikaiosynê tauta legei, alla dia Môseôs, ho tôn holôn Theos, peri +tou nomou tauta eirêke· didaskôn Ioudaious hôs dicha ponôn tên tôn +prakteôn didaskalian edexanto.=--Theodoret, _Cat._, p. 374. + +[538] Our E. V., following the translations since Cranmer's, here +inserts the word "again,"--which is certainly not implied by the Greek. + +[539] The expression is, of course, wholly dissimilar from that in Ps. +cvii. 23,--=hoi katabainontes eis thalassan en ploiois, k. t. l.= + +[540] I cannot forbear transcribing the following passage in an +elaborate apology which has recently appeared for _Essays and +Reviews_:--"Among the many proposals which are floating about for Essays +and Counter-essays to vindicate the Doctrines supposed to be combated in +this volume, let us be allowed to suggest this one:--'The Nature of +Biblical Inspiration, as tested by a careful examination of the +Septuagint Version with special reference to the sanction given to it by +the Apostles, and to its variations, by way of addition or omission, +from the revised Text of the Canonical Scriptures.' The conclusions of +such an investigation would be worth a hundred eager declarations on one +side or the other, and would be absolutely decisive of the chief +questions at issue." (_Edinburgh Review_, April, 1861, p. 483.).... Now +I scruple not to affirm that a well-informed, and faithful student of +the Scriptures would covet no better portion for himself than liberty to +accept, in the most public manner possible, such a challenge as the +foregoing. + +[541] See the valuable exposition of the text, by Bp. Bull, in the +Appendix (K),--to which I am very largely indebted. + +[542] Opposed to Bp. Bull in his opinion, on this matter, seem +Ainsworth, Patrick, Parker (_Biblioth. Bibl._), Cornelius à Lapide, the +_Critici Sacri_, &c. I cannot but think that the truth is with the +first-named Commentator. + +[543] See 2 Cor. vi. 16, (quoting Lev. xxvi. 12), where see Wordsworth's +note. Heb. viii. 6-13, especially ver. 10, (quoting Jer. xxxi. 33. Comp. +Jer. xxiv. 7: xxx. 22: xxxi. 1: xxxii. 38.) Compare Rom. ix. 25, 26, +(also 1 St. Pet. ii. 10,) with Hos. ii. 23: i. 10. See also Ezek. xi. +20: xiv. 11: xxxvi. 28: xxxvii. 27; and Zech. viii. 8: xiii. 9. Lastly, +consider Rev. xxi. 3; where "the types of the itinerant Tabernacle in +the Wilderness, the figurative ritual and festal joys of the Feast of +Tabernacles, celebrated in the literal Jerusalem, are consummated in the +Heavenly Jerusalem." (Wordsworth.) See also Rev. vii. 15, with the +annotation of the same Commentator. + +[544] =prokekyrômenên ... eis Christon.= Gal. iii. 17. + +[545] Deut. xxix. 14, 15. + +[546] Acts ii. 39: Compare iii. 25. + +[547] Jer. xxxi. 32. Consider verses 33-4 quoted in Heb. x. 16, 17. See +above, note (t, [our 544]). + +[548] St. John xi. 49-52. + +[549] "Diligenter observandum est, ex consensu Hebræorum, caput hoc ad +regnum CHRISTI pertinere. Unde etiam Bachai dicit, hoc loco promissionem +esse quod sub Rege MESSIAH omnibus qui de federe sunt, circumcisio +cordis contingat, citans Joelem, ii. 28."--Fagius, (in the _Critici +Sacri_,) on Deut. xxx. 11. + +[550] "Apostolus dicit hoc esse verbum fidei, quod ad Novum Testamentum +pertinet. Quæ ergo scripta sunt in libro legis hujus in figurâ dicta +sunt, pertinentia ad Novum Testamentum."--Augustinus, in Nic. Lyra, _ad +loc._ + +[551] Deut. xxx. 11-14. + +[552] Rom. x. 4. + +[553] Art. vii. + +[554] St. John iii. 13. + +[555] 1 Tim. iii. 16. + +[556] The reader is invited to consider Acts ii. 24 to 31,--attending +particularly to what St. Peter says in ver. 30-1. "Even without this +key," (says Dr. M'Caul,) "the Rabbis interpreted Psalm xvi. of the +Resurrection." + +[557] See above, pp. 171-2. + +[558] St. Pet. i. 11. + +[559] "Though I think it clear that the Prophets did not understand the +full meaning of their predictions; it is another question how far they +thought they did, and in what sense they understood them."--Butler's +_Analogy_, P. II. ch. vii. + +[560] See Acts xxvi. 22, 23: xxviii. 23. St. John i. 46: v. 46. St. Luke +xxiv. 27, &c. + +[561] Prov. xxx. 4. + +[562] e.g. "Si quis dixerit mulieri, Si adscenderis in firmamentum, aut +descenderis in abyssum, eris mihi desponsata,--hæc conditio frustranea +est."--_Nasir_ ix. 2, apud Wetstein, (in Rom. x. 6.) + +[563] "The whole passage (Prov. xxx. 2-5,) may be thus +paraphrased:--With my limited understanding I cannot attain the +knowledge of GOD; _for to know GOD, is to know Him who is omnipresent, +filling Heaven and Earth_; it is to know Him who is omnipotent, ruling +over the winds and the waters, the most unstable of all elements; it is +to know Him who created all things; it is to know His Name, and the name +of His SON. But this knowledge can be attained only by Revelation: and +he that would attain to it even from Revelation, must not pass over any +one word as insignificant, for every word is purified like silver: +neither must he add to Revelation, or he will be sure to go +astray."--From the Appendix (pp. 46-7) to a Sermon by Dr. M'Caul, on +_The Eternal Sonship of the Messiah_, 1838. (Interesting and precious as +this paraphrase is, I humbly suspect that the words _in italics_ contain +a vast deal more than the learned writer indicates.) + +[564] Baruch iii. 29. + +[565] St. Matth. xii. 20. + +[566] Zech. ix. 11. + +[567] Consider Ps. cxxxix. 7. Amos ix. 2, 3. + +[568] St. John iii. 13. + +[569] Ibid. vi. 33, 38, 51, 62. + +[570] Ibid. xvi. 28. + +[571] Ephes. iv. 9, 10. + +[572] See above, pp. 176-7. + +[573] St. Matth. viii. 17. + +[574] St. Matth. ii. 23. See above, p. 149. + +[575] Ibid. ii. 15. + +[576] St. Matth. ii. 18. + +[577] Ibid. xxi. 16. + +[578] St. Luke xx. 37. + +[579] St. John vii. 37, 38. + +[580] Col. ii. 3. + +[581] Heb. ii. 12, 13; quoting Ps. xxi. 23 and Is. viii. 17. + +[582] 1 Cor. xii., xiii., xiv. + +[583] Pseudo-Fell's _Paraphrase and Annotations_ on the New Testament, +(Jacobson's ed.), _in loc._ + +[584] Professor Archer Butler, quoted in Professor Lee's _Discourses on +Inspiration_, pp. 415-6. + +[585] _Ibid._, p. 586. + +[586] See above, pp. 132-7 + +[587] See the Appendix, (L). + +[588] In the earlier part of the present Sermon many passages have been +re-written. What follows stands exactly as it was preached in 1851. + + + + +SERMON VII.[589] + + * * * * * + +THE MARVELS OF HOLY SCRIPTURE,--MORAL AND PHYSICAL.--JAEL'S DEED +DEFENDED.--MIRACLES VINDICATED. + + * * * * * + +ST. MARK xii. 24. + +_Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the Scriptures, neither +the power of God._ + + +On a certain occasion, the Son of Man was asked what was thought a hard +question by those who, in His day, professed "the negative +Theology[590]." There was a moral and there was physical marvel to be +solved. Both difficulties were met by a single sentence. The Sadducean +judgment had gone astray from the Truth, (=planasthe= our SAVIOUR said,) +from a twofold cause: (1) The men did not understand those very +Scriptures to which they appealed so confidently: and, (2) They had an +unworthy notion of GOD'S power.--There are plenty of Sadducees at the +present day among ourselves. They are as fond as ever of finding +difficulties in the self-same Scriptures. They are to be met, I am +persuaded, exactly as of old; by shewing that their error is still the +fruit of their ignorance of Scripture; the consequence of their unworthy +conceptions of GOD. I propose to illustrate this on the present +occasion. My subject, (one certainly not unsuited to the day,) is _the +Marvels of Scripture_,--whether Moral or Physical. I would fain have +discussed them apart; but I shall not have another opportunity. I must +handle the whole subject therefore within the limits of a single Sermon: +and by consequence I must be extremely brief. + +Now, I venture to assume that whatever, from its extraordinary +character, perplexes us in Scripture, is a difficulty only _to +ourselves_; that moral Marvels and physical Miracles, alike, would cease +to create any difficulty if we knew more about GOD. The Morality of the +Life to come, I do believe will prove none other than the Morality of +the life which now is; and so I presume that it may be their Divine +Author's will, that the physical Laws of the Universe shall be eternal +likewise. And yet, as no thoughtful man will probably be found to say +that he thinks he knows as much about the nature of these last now, as +he expects to know hereafter,--so it is to be presumed that a sublimer, +and therefore a juster view of the relation in which the Creature stands +to the CREATOR, will disclose to us much which, at present, we should be +little prepared to admit, if it were speculatively presented to us, ("as +in a glass, darkly,") respecting the Moral Government of GOD. + +I. In the very fore-front, however, of what I have to say concerning +those phenomena which are generally cited as the _Moral Marvels_ of Holy +Scripture, I must freely declare my opinion that nothing is wanted but +that the whole of the _historical_ evidence should be before us, in +every case, in order that we might cease to look upon them as marvels at +all. But so it is, that Scripture is severely brief: takes no pains to +conciliate our good opinion: seems to care nothing either for our +applause or our censure. Scripture, in short, has been made _an +instrument of Man's probation_[591]. It is for _us_ to search curiously +into the record; to take an enlarged view of times and manners; and +finally, in the exercise of a generous Faith, to decide whether the +difficulty is such as ought to occasion us any real distress. I proceed, +in this spirit, to consider, as briefly as possible, the history of +Jael; simply because I have heard stronger things said against _her_, +than against any of the Worthies of old time who are mentioned with +distinct approbation in the Book of Life. + +1. Now, if you choose to consider Jael as one who lured a weary and +unsuspecting soldier into her tent,--shewed him hospitality,--and when +he was asleep, murdered him in cold blood,--you certainly cannot help +recoiling from the inspired decision that, "Blessed above women shall +Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be." But I take the liberty of saying +that this is quite the wrong way to read her story. You must begin it +from the other end. + +GOD pronounces this woman blessed, and distinctly commends her for her +deed. From this point you must start; remembering that _no action CAN be +immoral which GOD praises_. The Divine sentence, instead of creating a +difficulty, is, on the contrary, exactly the thing which removes +it[592]. To weigh the story apart from this, (which is the prime +consideration of all,) is like condemning the immorality of an +executioner without caring to hear that he is but carrying out the +sentence of the Lawgiver. Furnished with the clue of GOD'S approbation +of Jael's deed, we retrace our steps, and reconsider the narrative. If +all were still dark and hopeless, we might be sure that there are +circumstances withheld, which if known would have made GOD'S justice +clear as the light. But, as a matter of fact, it generally happens that, +when we "know the Scriptures," the difficulty in great measure +disappears; and I am going to shew that it is so on the present +occasion. + +I find that when the people of GOD were on their way out of Egypt into +Canaan, they were indebted to one family (the Kenites) for kindness and +help[593]. The head of that family was Jethro, the father-in-law of +Moses, high-priest of Midian,--in which land the LORD, from the burning +bush, had commissioned the future Lawgiver of Israel to redeem His +people from the bondage of Egypt. Jethro met them in the Arabian desert; +became their guide[594] till they reached the promised Land; and with +them entered the borders of their future possession. It was a covenant +between the two races that they should share the goodness of JEHOVAH. +Accordingly, the Kenites made their settlement amid the Royal tribe of +Judah; and it is easy to foresee how close a bond would spring up +between the alien family and their avowed protectors, when, to the +memory of past dangers shared together, was superadded the consciousness +of present blessings;--especially in an age when the law of hospitality +was held most sacred. How strong the bond became, the sequel of the +story convincingly shews[595]. The children of Israel, at the end of a +hundred and fifty years, find themselves cruelly oppressed by the most +powerful of the Kings of the conquered but not extirpated race. GOD +promises deliverance: and Deborah is raised up to organize the +resistance against Jabin, "the captain of whose host was Sisera." Now, +while Heber the Kenite is gone with the rest to the battle,--(for he had +pitched his tent, remember, by Kedesh; and it was from Kedesh[596] that +Deborah "sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam;")--while Heber, the +husband, I say, is gone to the battle, and Jael the wife is left alone, +distracted with anxiety, in the tent;--when, weak and unprotected woman +as she is, she beholds the Captain of the hateful oppressor of GOD'S +people hastening to her tent, slumbering at her feet, and unexpectedly +within her power:--will you pretend that _she_, a Midianitess, is to +blame if she yields to the strong impulse which prompts her to compass +the man's downfall, as speedily as she may? "There was peace between +Jabin the King of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite[597]," you +will remind me. True: (between _Jabin_,--not between _Sisera_, by the +way:) without this, the whole incident would not have happened. Sisera +presumed on the peaceful relations which existed between his lord and +Heber; and supposed that the sympathy of one alien race for another was +to outweigh every other consideration. Yet, how stood the case? Heber +had thrown in his lot, irrevocably, with the people of GOD; while Jabin +had already utterly violated the conditions of peace. For twenty weary +years, had Jael and her family shared the hardships of that sacred line +which Jabin had "mightily oppressed." All her life long[598], the +highways have been unoccupied; and travellers have had to walk through +by-ways; and the villages have been deserted by their inhabitants. +Archers have infested the very places of drawing water[599]. Meanwile, a +sure word has gone forth from the Prophetess who dwells under the +palm-tree between Ramah and Bethel on Mount Ephraim[600], to the effect +that GOD will give a mighty victory this day to His people[601]. +Moreover, Deborah, (to whom the children of Israel go up for judgment,) +has foretold that the LORD will "_sell Sisera into the hand of a +woman_[602]". How _can_ you marvel at the rest!... With a faith strong +and undoubting as Rahab's, Jael,--weak woman as she is,--seizes the +wooden tent-pin and the mallet, (the only weapons which are within her +reach!); and, (somewhat as David afterwards employed a stone and a sling +for the slaughter of the Philistine,) with these vile instruments, at +one blow, she smites to the earth the enemy of God's people.... O, it +was _not_ because she was treacherous, or because she was cruel! +Treachery and cruelty were not the vices to which a dweller in tents +(and she a woman!) was prone, when a thirsty soldier begged a draught of +water; and most assuredly, had she been either, she would not,--she +_could_ not, have won praise from God! (Witness GOD'S wrath against +David in the matter of Uriah, because _he_ had no pity[603]; as well as +dying Jacob's denunciations against Simeon and Levi because "instruments +of cruelty" were "in their habitations[604].") O no! It was because she +beheld in the slumbering captain at once the enemy of her own afflicted +race,--and of GOD'S oppressed people,--and above all of GOD Himself. +_That_ was why "she put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the +workman's hammer!" ... The fight, you are requested to remember, had +been a tremendous fight; and the battle, as she thought, was yet raging. +Reuben, and Dan, and Asher had kept aloof from the encounter;--the +first, in his rich pasture-land east of the Jordan, abiding "among the +sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks;" the two others, intent +on their maritime pursuits. Only some of Ephraim, Benjamin, and +Manasseh[605], had been found willing to throw in their lot with the two +northern tribes of Zebulun, and Naphtali,--who had "jeoparded their +lives unto the death." And the battle which these had fought had been +the LORD'S; and as many as had taken part with them, were considered to +have come "_to the help of the LORD_." Such then was the quarrel which +Jael had made her own; and such the spirit in which she had done her +wild deed of unassisted prowess! + +To appreciate her constancy and courage, you may not overlook how +fearful were the odds against the cause she was espousing: on the +oppressor's side, nine hundred chariots of iron; whereas, "was there a +shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?" It had been so +terrific a day, that if the LORD had not been on their side,--if the +stars in their courses had not fought for Israel,--how could Sisera have +possibly been overcome? But the very river was employed to sweep the +enemies of Israel away,--"that ancient river, the river Kishon!" ... Now +I boldly ask you, if the Angel of the LORD may curse bitterly the +inhabitants of Meroz, "because they came not to the help of the +LORD,"--(pray mark that phrase; for it shows exactly in what light the +conflict was regarded!)--"_to the help of the LORD_ against the mighty;" +shall we wonder if, by the Spirit of GOD, Deborah the prophetess +proclaims "blessed above women in the tent" Jael the wife of Heber the +Kenite to be;--the undaunted one by whose right hand the captain of all +that mighty host had been slain? Find me another "_woman in the tent_" +who may be compared with _her!_ ... Or rather, (for _that_ is the only +question,) shall these words embolden us to impeach the morality of Holy +Writ?... I am sure there is not one of you all who really thinks it. She +was--was she not?--a courageous, a faithful, and (according to her +light,) a strictly virtuous woman. She was content to risk _all_, "as +seeing Him who is invisible:" and to _believe_ that "they that be with +us are more than they that be with them[606]." From the unmistakeable +evidence of her uncompromising boldness in a good cause, her unwavering +faith, her readiness to cast in her lot with the people of GOD,--no one +but a hypocrite will turn away to criticize the details of her deed by +the Gospel standard of Grace and Truth. "He asked for water, and she +gave him milk." What would you have had her do? It is by no means +certain that she foresaw the deed which was to follow, and which +_cannot_, (from the nature of the case,) have been the result of a +preconcerted plan. The impulse to terminate the tyranny of Canaan, and +the sufferings of her adopted people, as well as to decide the fortune +of that critical day, by slaying one whom she regarded as the enemy of +GOD Himself, may have seized her while she stood in the door of the +tent,--weighing Sisera's petition against Deborah's prophecy. Be this +as it may,--would you have had the woman connive at Sisera's +escape,--the enemy of GOD'S people, when GOD Himself had unexpectedly +put him into her power? + +It will assist us to understand this story, that we should bear in mind +how it fared with Ahab, King of Israel, in the matter of Ben-hadad, King +of Syria, as recorded in the xxth chapter of the First Book of Kings. +"Thus saith the LORD," (was the Divine sentence,) "_Because thou hast +let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction_, +therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his +people[607]." It is quite evident that as the _enemy of GOD_, in the +strictest sense, each fresh oppressor of Israel was regarded; and that, +as the enemy of the LORD GOD of Israel, Sisera was summarily slain by +the Kenite's wife. + +Be so good as to remember also, that forgiveness of enemies is strictly +a _Christian_ duty. You have no right to expect to find the brightest +jewels of the kingdom of Heaven glittering on the swarthy brow of an +Arabian wife in the days of the Judges. "Grace and _Truth_ came by JESUS +CHRIST[608]." You cannot expect to find the wife of Heber the Kenite +more truthful than Sarah, and Rebekah, and Rachel,--or even than +Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and David: neither should you be so +unreasonable as to expect that the GOD of Truth will award praise and +blame to His creatures by a higher standard of Morality than He has seen +fit, at any given period, to allow. A perfectly enlightened conscience, +no doubt, will never consent to lie. A Christian woman in Jael's place, +ought not, of course, to be guilty of Jael's deed. But you are +forgetting the time of the world in which _your_ lot is thrown. I say +nothing of the circumstances of terror under which _she_ acted,--_she_ +was _forced_ to act. How could she tell that Sisera would not awake ere +she should strike the blow,--or at least before she could achieve his +death? What if a company of Jabin's host should come up to the +tent-door, the instant she had done the deed, and inquire after Sisera? +Suppose the issue of that day's encounter should prove disastrous, what +would be her own and Heber's fate?... Feel a little for the poor +wife,--for the lonely, helpless "woman in the tent,"--_not_ entirely for +the fierce soldier against whom you have heard the LORD'S decree of +death!... O ye, who, living in the full blaze of Gospel light, in cold +blood can reject the doctrine of the Atonement, and deny the LORD who +bought you, and teach that the Bible is "like any other book;" who can +make light of its Inspiration, and evacuate its Prophecy, and idealize +its Miracles; who with your lips can profess the Church's doctrines, and +with your pens can deny them;--go _ye_ and prate of Morality, and +Honesty, and Truth! _We_ shall heed mighty little your opinion of Jael's +conduct, and of the Divine Commendation which it met with. I believe +that, instead of suspecting the morality of the Bible in this instance, +there is hardly an honest Christian heart among us, but cries out, on +the contrary,--"_So_ let _all_ Thine enemies perish, O LORD! But let +them that love Him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might." + +2. There is no time to consider, as I fain would, any other story; that +of Jacob for example. It is quite amazing to hear the presumptuous +speeches concerning that great Saint, in which good men sometimes permit +themselves: as if the sum total of Jacob's history were _this_:--that +he once obtained an ungenerous advantage over his Brother, and then +shamefully deceived his blind and aged Father. Whereas those were the +two great blots in an otherwise holy life! actions which were followed +by severe, aye lifelong punishment.--But I must not enter on Jacob's +history,--even to shew you that a careless reader overlooks certain +circumstances which go a very long way indeed to excuse the actions just +alluded to. I prefer reminding you that since, at Bethel, GOD blessed +the exile's slumbers with a glorious vision, and most comfortable +promise, on his first setting out for Haran; and again at Jabbok, as +well as at Mahanaim, blessed him with a vision of Angels, and a renewal +of the blessing, on his return; _from this point_, as before, it will be +our wisdom to reason; and we shall reason backwards. Had Scripture been +quite silent in all other respects, such proofs of the Divine approval +ought to be enough to convince a believing heart that the only thing +wanting must be fuller details,--more evidence,--in order to shew us +that the Patriarch _deserved_ the SPIRIT'S praise. But in truth, in +Jacob's case, the details are abundant and the evidence decisive. + +3. Of all the other (so called) difficulties which occur to my +memory,--as the extinction of the Canaanites, (who yet were _not_ +extinguished,)--the Sacrifice of Isaac, (who yet was _not_ +sacrificed,)--the life of David;--I have only to say that before you can +pretend to have an opinion upon the subject you must be sure that you +"know the Scriptures:" else, I make bold to say, you will inevitably err +in your cogitations concerning them. Thus, men are heard to insinuate +astonishment that the King who so basely compassed Uriah's death should +have been "a man after GOD'S own heart:" whereas the Hebrew original, +(as they would know, _if they knew the Scriptures_,) conveys nothing of +the kind; while the murder of Uriah is found to have drawn down upon +David unmitigated wrath and terrible punishment from the right Hand of +Him who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. + +II. Turn we now, briefly, to the physical Marvels which are described in +the Bible; and chiefly those which occur in the Old Testament. + +I am about to speak of Miracles in general; but it may be convenient to +say a few words first about certain mighty transactions which eclipse, +by their vastness or their strangeness, most isolated events. Thus, as +the Nativity, Temptation, Transfiguration, Resurrection, Ascension, of +our LORD, together with the Coming of the HOLY GHOST, eclipse in a +manner the other Miracles of the New Testament,--so the Temptation of +our first Parents, the Flood, the destruction of Sodom and the fate of +Lot's wife, the burning bush, the Plagues which prepared the way for the +Exode, the crossing of the Red Sea, the Manna, and the brazen Serpent; +Balaam's ass, and the fate of the walls of Jericho; the history of +Jonah, and of Daniel among the lions:--events like these stand out from +the Old Testament narrative and challenge astonishment. + +Of all these latter events, viewed as difficulties,--(for it is as +difficulties _in the way of Revelation_ that we are now expected to look +on Miracles,)--you are requested to observe that they enjoy, one and +all, the confirmation of _express citation in the New Testament_. I am +saying that either St. Paul, or St. Peter, or St. James, or (above all) +our Blessed LORD Himself, appeal to, or else explain, every one of +these marvellous passages in Old Testament History. And this is the only +remark I propose to offer concerning any of them. It will certainly +prove unavailing to convince a certain class of persons of the +historical reality of the Deluge, to find that our SAVIOUR, that St. +Peter, and St. Paul, have all spoken of it as an actual event:--Men who +are disposed to reject the story of the dumb ass speaking with man's +voice, will not perhaps believe it one whit the more because they find +it appealed to by St. Peter[609]:--and the Divine exposition offered by +CHRIST Himself of Jonah, three days and three nights in the fish's +belly, will not, it may be feared, reconcile others to an event which +strikes them as being too improbable to be true. But _this_, at least, +will infallibly result from the discovery:--men will perceive that they +must positively make their election; and either accept the Bible as a +whole, or else reject it as a whole; for that there is no middle course +open to them. The New Testament stands committed irrevocably to the Old. +Every Book of the Bible stands committed to all the other Books. Not +only does our LORD quote the Canon in its collected form, and call it +"the Law and the prophets,"--or simply =hê graphê=, "the Scripture,"--and +so set His seal upon it, as one undivided and indivisible roll of +Inspiration; but He and His Apostles single out the very narratives +which the imbecility of Man was most likely to stumble at, and employ +them for such purposes, and in such a manner, that escape from them +shall henceforth be altogether hopeless. To eliminate the marvels of +Scripture, I say, is impossible; for a Divine Hand has been laid upon +almost every one of them. The subsequent references are not only most +numerous, but they run into the very staple of the narrative,--and will +not,--_cannot_ be eradicated. + +I question whether all students of the inspired page are aware of the +extent to which what I have been saying holds true. Let me only invite +you to investigate the structure of the Bible under this aspect, and you +will be astonished at the result. For you will find that the system of +tacit quotation and allusive reference is so perpetual, that it is as if +the design had been that the fibres should be incapable of being +disentangled any more. Balaam's story for example in the Book of +Numbers, is found alluded to in Deuteronomy, in Joshua, in Micah, in +Nehemiah; by St. Peter, by St. Jude, and by St. John in the +Apocalypse[610].--The Exodus, with its attendant wonders, is alluded to +in Joshua, and in Judges, and in Job, and in the Psalms; in Amos, and +Isaiah, and Micah, and Hosea, and Jeremiah, and Daniel; in Kings, in +Samuel, in Nehemiah; and in the New Testament repeatedly[611]. The +Evangelists quote one another times without number. In the Epistles, the +Gospels are quoted upwards of fifty times; and St. Peter quotes St. Paul +again and again. It is a favourite device of these last days to hint at +the allegorical character of the beginning of Genesis. But I find +upwards of thirty references in the New Testament to the first two +Chapters of Genesis[612]. Certain parts of Daniel have incurred +suspicion,--for no better reason, as it seems, than because certain +persons have found it hard to believe that Prophecy can be "an +anticipation of History[613]." Now it is strange certainly to find a +thing objected to for being what it is: and "Prophecy is nothing _but_ +the history of events before they come to pass,"--as Butler remarked +long ago[614]. Waiving this, however, you are requested to observe that +our SAVIOUR quotes from _those very parts of Daniel which have been +objected to_. You cannot get rid of those parts of Daniel therefore. You +are not to suppose that the Bible is like an old house, where a window +may be darkened, or a door blocked up, according to the caprice of every +fresh occupant. The terms on which men dwell there are that every part +of the structure shall be inhabited; and that every part shall be +retained in its integrity. What I am insisting upon is, that the sacred +Writers plainly say,--We stand or we fall together. They reach forth +their hands, and they hold one another fast. They rehearse comprehensive +Genealogies,--they furnish a summary view of long histories,--they +enumerate the various worthies of old time, and cite their deeds in +order. They recognize one another's voices, and they interpret one +another's thoughts, and they adopt one another's sayings. Verily the +Bible is _not_ "like any other Book!" The prophets and Apostles and +Evangelists of either covenant reach out one to another; and lo, among +them is seen the form of One like the SON of GOD.... How far it may be +rational _to reject the Bible_, I will not now discuss: but it is +demonstrable that a man cannot accept the Bible, and straightway propose +to omit from it one jot or one tittle of its contents. As for +abstracting from Scripture the marvels of Scripture, it is precisely +for the protection and preservation of _them_, as I have been shewing, +that the most curious and abundant provision has been made. + +1. The miracles, properly so called, whether of the Old or New +Testament, have lately been cavilled at with exceeding bitterness[615]. +That they are sufficiently attested, is allowed[616]; the objection is a +(so called) Philosophical one, and is briefly this,--that the Laws of +Nature being fixed and immutable, it is contrary not only to experience, +but also to reason, to suppose that they have ever been suspended, or +violated, or interrupted. Events "contrary to the order of +Nature,"--events which would introduce "disorder" into Creation,--are +pronounced incredible.--This is a very old objection; but it has been +lately revived. I will dispose of it as briefly as I can. + +You are requested to observe then, that this difficulty,--(such as it +is,)--is entirely occasioned by the terms in which it is stated. _Who_ +ever asserted that Miracles are "violations of natural causes[617]?" +"suspensions of natural laws[618]?" Who ever said that the effect of +Miracles is to "interrupt"--"violate"--"reverse,"--the Laws of Nature? +Why assume "contrariety" and "disorder" in a =kosmos= which seems to +have had no experience of either? + +But GOD is, I suppose, superior to His own Laws! He is not the creature +of circumstances,--even of His own creating. Supreme is He in +Creation,--albeit in a manner which baffles thought. He does not even +suspend His Laws, perhaps, so much as fulfil them after a Diviner +fashion;--somewhat as He was fulfilling the Mosaic Economy even while He +seemed to be violating one or other of its sanctions. He does not +reverse or disorder the fixed course of Nature, so much as rise above +it, and shew Himself superior to it. He does not disturb anything, but +our notions of His mode of acting. GOD coming suddenly to view in +Nature, (which is an essential part of the notion of a miracle,) +occasions perplexity, it is true; but only because we do not understand +fully either Nature or GOD. "We know Him not as He is, neither indeed +can know Him." While of Nature, we know nothing but a few Laws which we +have discovered by a long and laborious induction of phenomena. In fact, +this whole manner of speaking concerning the Creator of the Universe, +with reference to the Laws which He is found to have prescribed to +things natural, has, I suspect, some great foolishness in it: for, even +if we do not so far dishonour GOD as to imagine that He is subject to +Law, yet we seem to imply that we think ourselves capable of +understanding the relation in which He stands to Law. Whereas, the very +notion of Law may be utterly inapplicable to GOD,--who is not only its +first Author, (as He is indeed the first Author of all things,) but the +very source and _cause_ of it also. So that what are Laws to ourselves +may be not so much as Law at all to GOD; but, (if I may so speak,) +something which depends on "the counsel of His will," and which, +(considered as a restraining cause,) is to Him as if it were not. There +can be no miracles with GOD[619]! + +Briefly then:--That He who, (surely I may say _confessedly_,) is above +Law, when He manifests Himself in the midst of Creation, should act in a +manner which defies conception; and yet should disturb nothing, reverse +nothing, violate nothing;--(except to be sure, possibly, certain +preconceived notions of His rational creatures;)--in _this_, I say, +there is surely nothing either incredible or absurd. + +2. So much, to say the truth, seems to be admitted, by all but professed +Atheists. But then, certain formulæ have been invented to bridge over +the difficulty, which Miracles are supposed to occasion, which I cannot +but think are just as objectionable as unbelief itself. + +By way of saving the credit of "the Laws of the Universe," a kind of +compromise has been discovered; to which I do not find that GOD has been +made any party. + +The idea of Law, which has been falsely declared to be only now +"emerging into supremacy in Science[620]," seems to have usurped such a +dominion over the minds of a few persons, superficially acquainted with +Physical studies, that Miracles can be only tolerated on the supposition +that they are "the exact fulfilment of much more extensive Laws than +those we suppose to exist[621]." We are kindly assured that what we call +a Miracle is not "an exception to those laws which we know, but really +the fulfilment of a wider Law which we did not know before[622]." Men +are eager to remind us that this is the view of Bp. Butler[623], (whom +every one, I observe, is fond of having for an ally.) Thus, a very +recent writer says,--"What we call interferences may, (as Bp. Butler +observed long ago,) be fulfilments of general laws not perfectly +apprehended by us[624]."--But I cannot find that Bp. Butler anywhere +says anything of the sort. What Butler says, is,--that we know nothing +of the laws of storms and earthquakes,--tempers and geniuses;--yet we +conclude, (but only from analogy,) that all these seemingly accidental +things are the result of general laws. Now, (he proceeds,) since it is +only "from our finding that the course of Nature, in some respects and +so far, goes on by general laws, that we conclude this of the rest;"--it +is credible "that GOD'S miraculous interpositions may have been, all +along, in like manner, _by general laws of WISDOM_." Butler says that it +"may have been by _general laws_," "that the affairs of the world, being +permitted to go on _in their natural course_ so far, should, just at +such a point, have a new direction given them _by miraculous +interposition_." He does not say, you observe, that those "miraculous +interpositions" are "the exact fulfilment of _much more extensive Laws_ +than those we suppose to exist;" (as if _a larger induction_ were all +that was needed, in order to get rid of the obnoxious word +"Miracle:")--not, that Miracles may be "fulfilments of general laws _not +perfectly apprehended by us_;" (as if the only thing wanted, were an +enlargement of the human formula, in order to bring a miraculous +interposition within the definition of an extraordinary phenomenon.) +Such notions belong altogether to the inventors of calculating machines; +whose speculations, even concerning Divine things, clearly cannot soar +above their instrument[625]. It is called the "argument from laws +intermitting[626];" and evidently reduces a miracle to a phenomenon of +periodical recurrence. The aloe, watched for ninety-nine years and +observed to blossom in the hundredth, is (according to this view) an +emblem of the constitution of Nature at last interrupted by a Miracle. + +I will not waste your time further with this view of the subject, having +exposed its fallacy. Station yourself, in thought, at the grave of +Lazarus; and see him that was dead and had been four days buried, come +forth bound hand and foot with grave-clothes;--and then prate of any +"general Laws," except those "OF WISDOM," to as many as you can get to +listen to you. A "miraculous interposition," (as Butler phrases it,) has +given a new direction to affairs which, so far, had been permitted to go +in their natural course. That "general Laws" of inscrutable Wisdom +determined such a "_miraculous interposition_"--is a position which, so +far from objecting to, I embrace with both the arms of my heart[627]. + +3. Another favourite recipe there is for escaping from the bondage of +Miracles, which is so childish, that it would seem scarcely to deserve +notice: but that it has been largely resorted to by writers of whom the +world thinks highly. Those men, in a word, try to _explain them away_ +where they can: where they cannot, they _pare them down_ as much as they +are able, or rather as much as they dare. Demoniacal possession? +Symptoms like those described are known to accompany epilepsy. Manna? +Something like it falls in the wilderness of Sinai to this hour. The Red +Sea parted? Well, but a strong East wind blew all night. Stilling the +storm, and healing Peter's wife's mother? Every storm is stilled if let +alone; and a fever will burn out, often without occasioning death. The +miraculous draught of fishes, and the stater in the fish's mouth?... but +you can readily supply a suggestion for yourselves. + +Now, two remarks present themselves on this kind of handling, which may +be worth stating. (1) Those who so speak forget that the Devils are +related to have _conversed with CHRIST_[628]:--that the manna, (of which +so many miraculous properties are related[629],) fed 600,000 men for +forty years, _and then suddenly ceased_[630]:--that the waters of the +Red Sea were _a wall to the children of Israel, on their right hand and +on their left_[631]:--that when CHRIST said to the waves of the sea of +Galilee "Peace, be still," "there was _a great calm_[632]:"--that +Peter's wife's mother, cured of her fever, "rose and _ministered unto_," +(that is "waited upon,") her Benefactor[633].... It is worse than absurd +to explain away _part_ of a miracle, with a view to getting rid of the +whole of it: as if the essence of the miracle were not sure to reside in +the residuum,--in the very part which is left unaccounted for! (2) But +above all, what place have such explanations in the recorded cases of +feeding the multitudes, opening the eyes of one born blind, and raising +the dead? While you leave the chiefest miracles of the Gospel untouched, +you may not flatter yourself that you have got at the kernel of the +matter; or indeed that the real question at issue has been touched by +you, at all. + +4. There remains to notice one subtle and most treacherous method of +dealing with the marvels of Scripture,--(moral and physical alike,)--to +which I desire in conclusion to direct your special attention; and which +I would brand with burning words if I had them at command. I allude to +what is called "IDEOLOGY,"--the plain English for which term is, _a +denial of the historical reality of Scripture_. I will not waste time +with inquiring whether this method is old or new. It is certainly much +in fashion; and it is certainly finding advocates in high quarters. I +therefore make no apology for introducing the monstrous thing to your +notice. It requires, I should hope, only to be understood, to be +rejected with unqualified indignation. + +You and I, then, have been taught to believe that "the WORD was made +flesh and dwelt among us," in the way St. Matthew and St. Luke describe: +that our LORD was Baptized and Tempted of Satan; that He wrought +Miracles,--casting out Devils, and even raising the Dead; that He was +Transfigured on a mountain; that He was Crucified, died, and was buried; +that He rose again the Third Day, ascended into Heaven, and at last, (as +on this day,) sent down the PARACLETE to dwell with His Church for ever. +All this, I say, you and I,--with the whole Church Catholic for 1800 +years,--have been taught to believe as plain historical truths, mere +matters of fact; past telling wonderful indeed, but yet as _historically +true_, as that I am standing here and you are sitting yonder,--neither +more nor less. + +But you are to understand that we, and all mankind with us, have been +under a very curious delusion on this head. We are assured that every +one of these things, or at least that some of them, are only +_ideologically_ true: that _Historically_, they are false. In plain +language, we are requested to believe that they never occurred at all. +It is only a lively way of putting it,--no more! + +You will inevitably suppose that I must be trifling with you: I +therefore proceed to give you a sample of this kind of teaching. A +living dignitary of our Church writes as follows concerning the +Transfiguration of CHRIST. "It may be asked, of what kind was the +vision which we here call the Transfiguration? Was it an effect +produced within on the minds of the Apostles; or was it that an actual +external change came for the time over the person of our LORD? We cannot +say." I give you this as the mildest form of the poison. Quite evident +is it that the same suggestion is just as applicable to our LORD'S +Birth, or to His Death; to His Temptation, or to His Resurrection. But +to see whither all this _tends_, and what it really _means_, you must +have recourse to the pages of a more advanced proficient in the Science +of Ideology. He admits that its "application to the interpretation of +Scripture, to the doctrines of Christianity, to the formularies of the +Church, may undoubtedly be pushed so far as to leave in the sacred +records _no historical residue whatever_. An example of the critical +ideology carried to excess," (he says,) "_resolves into an ideal_" the +whole of our LORD'S Life and Doctrine; and "_substitutes a mere shadow_ +for the JESUS of the Evangelists." But for all that, (says the writer I +am quoting,) "there are traits in the Scriptural person of JESUS, which +are better explained by referring them to an ideal than an historical +origin: parts of Scripture are more usefully interpreted ideologically +than in any other manner,--as for instance, the history of the +Temptation by Satan, and accounts of Demoniacal possession." This +writer, (who is a clergyman of the Church of England, and a Graduate in +Divinity,) goes on to idealize the descent of Mankind from Adam and Eve, +together with the chiefest marvels of the Old Testament: insisting that +"the force, grandeur, and reality of these ideas are not a whit +impaired," although we discredit and reject the history, _as_ history. +So, our SAVIOUR, (he says,) "is none the less the Son of David, in idea +and spiritually, even if it be unproved whether He were so in historic +fact." "The spiritual significance is still the same," (he says,) "of +the Transfiguration, of opening blind eyes, of causing the tongue of the +stammerer to speak plainly, of feeding multitudes with bread in the +wilderness, of cleansing leprosy,--whatever links may be deficient in +the traditional record of particular events." + +"Whatever links may be deficient!" O that men would have the courage or +the honesty to _say_ what they _mean_! Why not say plainly, "_however +untrustworthy we may account the narrative to be_?" And this writer +cannot mean any other thing; for missing "links," assuredly, there are +_none_.--In truth this method of wrapping up a monstrous abortion in +"purple and fine linen," in order to make it look like "a proper child," +is so much in vogue, that plain men are obliged first to _translate_ a +fallacy in order to understand it. Thus, a recent Apologist for the very +writer I have been quoting,--after surrendering the beginning of Genesis +as "parabolic," (that is, _not historically true_,) is yet so obliging +as to contend that "there still remain events" in Scripture,--our LORD'S +Resurrection to wit,--"in which the garb of flesh,"--(pray mark the +phraseology!)--"in which _the garb of flesh_ seems to be so +indispensable a vehicle for the spirit within, that we can hardly +conceive how the one could have sustained itself in the world, unless it +had been from the beginning allied to the other[634]." In plain English, +the writer is so candid as to admit that if the Resurrection of our LORD +JESUS CHRIST from death be a mere fabrication,--in plain terms, a hoax +practised upon the credulity of an unscientific age,--it is hard to +understand how it can have _imposed_ upon mankind so completely for the +last eighteen hundred years. + +I will not insult the understanding of those who hear me so grossly as +to suppose that dreams like these,--(and really they are no +more!)--require answer or refutation. Such desperate shifts to elude the +meaning of plain words, as the whole theory of Ideology discloses, would +be even ludicrous, if the subject-matter were not so very sacred and +solemn. As in the case of certain acts of flagrant dishonesty which one +sometimes reads of,--one cannot forbear exclaiming, The man must +certainly have felt himself _very sore pressed indeed_ to have been +induced to resort to a step so utterly disgraceful to his character!... +Anyhow, since certain persons have adopted this course, I do but plead +for consistency. Only let them be sure that they apply this precious +method of Interpretation to the History of England, and to everything +their friend tells them: and let them not feel surprised if the same +kind of ideological handling is bestowed upon everything they tell their +friend. Idealize away, and be sure you stick at nothing! _Why_ be +outdone in logical consistency by such an one as Strauss? Let men also +make their election whether Scripture shall be a lie or not. And when +they have made up their minds, let them, in the Name of GOD, instead of +dealing in unmanly insinuations, and dark hints, and shuffling +equivocations,--let them declare themselves plainly, that we may know at +least _with whom_ and _with what_ we have to do. For while false +Brethren are thus playing fast and loose with Revelation, they are +trifling with the faith of thousands,--and imperilling other immortal +souls besides their own. + +But I shall be reminded that the subject-matter of daily life, and of +the Everlasting Gospel, is very different: and that the marvellous +character of certain events recorded in the Bible constrains us to +relegate those events to a distinct region. A child's plea, which was +effectually disposed of upwards of a century ago! What does it amount to +but this,--that what is _supernatural_, or even highly extraordinary, +must be also untrue?... When, however, the argument is shifted, and is +made an appeal _ad misericordiam_:--when I am entreated to remember that +though _I_ believe in the Resurrection of CHRIST from Death, the same +event is a "stumbling block" to many; and that I am "bound to treat with +tenderness those who prefer to lean on the other, and, as _they_ think, +_more secure foundation_[635];" (viz. on the hypothesis that the +Resurrection of the Son of Man is all a fable;)--I say, when I am so +addressed, really, friends and Brethren, I am constrained to cry out +that there is a limit beyond which Nature cannot endure; and that _that_ +limit has now been overstepped. Will men try to persuade us that _the +idea_ of our LORD'S Resurrection is a more secure basis for the Church's +faith than _the fact_ of our LORD'S Resurrection? Why, they might as +well try to convince the world that a broken reed is a better support +than an oaken staff;--or that a handful of waste paper is of more value +than the title-deeds of an estate. How _can_ a shadow,--how _can_ what +is confessedly an imagination,--be, in any sense, or for any body, a +"secure foundation;" or indeed, _any foundation at all_? how, above all, +can a fancy be a "_more_ secure foundation" than _a fact_?... Not only +will I _not_ treat men with tenderness who put forth such blasphemous +folly,--(men who, in their rashness, their recklessness, their +arrogance, shew no manner of tenderness or consideration for +others!)--but I will hold them up to ridicule, to the very utmost of my +power. Nay, I would make them objects of unqualified reprobation to all, +if I could, as they deserve to be reprobated; for they are the worst +enemies of the Gospel of CHRIST[636]. "If CHRIST be not risen, then is +our preaching vain, _and your faith is vain also_[637]!" "The Apostle +_rests the truth of the Christian Religion_ on the fact that CHRIST was +risen.... The whole system turns upon this central point; the several +doctrines gather round it, they depend upon it, they grow out of it; so +that without it, Christianity would have no coherence or meaning[638]." + +You and I know very well "that nothing could more effectually shake the +whole fabric of Revealed Religion, than thus converting its history into +fable, and its realities into fiction. For if the narratives most +usually selected for the purpose may thus be explained away; what part +of the Sacred History will be secure against similar treatment? Nay, +what doctrines, even those the most essential to Christianity, might not +thus be undermined? For are not those doctrines dependent upon the +_facts_ recorded in Scripture for the evidence of their truth? Does not, +for instance, the whole system of our Redemption presuppose the reality +of the Fall as an historical fact? And do not the proofs of the Divine +authority of the whole, rest upon the verification of its Prophecies and +Miracles, as events which have actually taken place? Allegory thus +misapplied is therefore worse than frivolous or useless; it strikes a +deadly blow at the very vitals of the Christian Faith[639]." Away then +with that very questionable form of liberality, which makes most free +with _what belongs to GOD_! The truths of Revelation are yours and mine, +I grant you: but only _so_ yours and mine that, to our eternal +blessedness, we embrace,--to our eternal loss, we let them slip! We add +to them, or we take away from them, under peril of GOD'S curse.... Away +too with that mawkish sentimentality which can find no better object for +its sympathy than the hardened blasphemer, and the confirmed sceptic! +_My_ sympathy shall be reserved for those who have never so offended, +but are, on the contrary, full of precious promise;--for the young and +as yet inexperienced;--for _you_, who will have the battle of CHRIST and +His Church to fight, when _we_ shall be mouldering in the grave. Let +those who do not know me, deem me uncharitable if they will. I care not. +The uncharitable man,--mark me, Brethren!--the truly uncharitable man, +is he, who shews no consideration for weak and unstable souls; who does +not regard the trials and perils of the young; who beguiles unsteady +feet to the edge of the precipice, and there forsakes them; whose +destructive method, (for constructiveness is no part of that man's +philosophy!)--whose destructive method leaves the young without chart +and compass,--aye, without moon or stars to sail by; who labours hard to +communicate the taint of his own foul leprosy to those who were before +unpolluted; who dims the eye, and deadens the ear, and defiles the +thoughts, and darkens the hope of as many as have the misfortune to come +in his way, and feels no pity!--Yes, yes! The man who sows his own vile +doubts broadcast over two continents,--doing his very best to destroy +the faith of those for whom CHRIST died,--he, _he_ is the uncharitable +man[640]! Not he who, forsaking the flowery fields of the Gospel, +(whither he would far, far rather lead you!) and foregoing the free +mountain air of imperishable Truth, for your sakes only keeps treading +these dreary stifling paths of speculation;--a friend of yours, I mean, +who with stammering eloquence, (the more's the pity!) clings thus to +you, Sunday after Sunday,--imploring you, with all a brother's +earnestness, not to venture where to venture is to die; and warning you +against the men who have conspired against your _life_;--even while he +labours hard to shew you what he _knows_ to be "a more excellent way;" +and implores you to come where CHRIST Himself hath promised that "ye +shall find rest to your souls!" + +This is all there is time for, to-day. Let me, in the fewest possible +words, gather up what has been spoken into a practical shape. + +Friends and brethren,--(I am still addressing the younger men +present!)--Divinity is not debate; and Religion is not controversy; and +Life is not long enough for perpetual disputings. "He that cometh unto +GOD must believe that _He is_." The heart dries up, and the affections +wither away, and the soul faints, amid an atmosphere of cloudy doubts, +and captious difficulties, and perverse disputations. You must rise +above it, if you would discern the colours on the everlasting hills, and +behold the beauty of the promised Land, and see objects as they really +are. O put away from yourselves, (if any of you are so unhappy as to +have acquired it,) a habit of mind which will effectually unfit you for +profiting by what you read in Holy Scripture: and you, who are free from +such dreadful bondage, beware lest, by the indulgence of some +sin,--whether of the flesh or of the spirit,--you darken that spiritual +eye by which alone spiritual things are to be discerned. It is like +talking about colours to the blind, or about sounds to the deaf, to +discuss with a certain class of persons the Inspiration, or the +Interpretation, or the Marvels of Scripture. The Bible is, with them, _a +common book_,--"to be _interpreted like any other book_." Prophecy is +denied, and Miracles are rejected or explained away,--on the plea that +they are alike incredible. These men lay claim to intellectual gifts +above their fellows; and know not that they are "wretched, and +miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Rebels are they against the +Most High; and find their exact image in those citizens who "sent a +message after Him, saying, We will not have this Man to reign over +us[641]." The gist of all they deliver, is _rebellion against GOD_. + +But it is not so with yourselves, who have yet everything to learn in +respect of Divine things. O beware lest it ever become your own dreadful +case! Begin betimes to acquaint yourselves with the wealth of that +celestial armoury which contains a weapon which must prove fatal to +every foe; but which it depends _on yourselves_ whether you shall have +the skill to wield or not. Suffer not yourselves to be cheated of your +birthright, the Bible, either by the novel fictions of unstable men, or +by the exploded heresies of a bygone age, revived and recommended by +living unbelievers. You, especially, who aspire to the Ministerial +office, and are destined hereafter to undertake the cure of souls, O do +you be doubly watchful! Give to the Bible the undivided homage of a +childlike heart; and bow down before its revelations with a suppliant +understanding also; and let no characteristic of its method by any means +escape you. Notice how it is indeed all one long narrative, from end to +end; and see therein GOD'S provision that nothing shall be idealized, +nothing explained away. Learn too that Man is thus called upon to look +outward, and to sustain himself by an external Law; _not_ to depend on +the promptings of his own conscience, and so to become a god unto +himself. The Bible, I repeat, is all severest history, from the Alpha to +the Omega of it. But then, underneath the surface there are meanings +high as Heaven, deep as Hell: and why? because _the true Author of it is +not Man, but GOD_! + +Let it quicken you in your desire to understand that Book out of which +you will have hereafter to preach, reprove, rebuke, +exhort[642],--sometimes to bethink yourselves of the flocks which +already are expecting you; and among which GOD already sees your future +going out and coming in; your faithful teaching, or (GOD forbid!) your +betrayal of a most sacred trust. Acquaint yourselves in due time, by all +means, with the scientific grounds on which the Bible is to be received +as the Word of GOD: but of a truth, hereafter, you will forget to +require that external testimony; for you will be convinced of its Divine +origin, when you have become the adoring witnesses of its Divine power. +Truly _that_ must be from GOD which can so change the life and affect +the heart; which can sustain the spirit under bereavement, and become +the soul's satisfying portion under every form of adversity! It has +already altered the aspect of the World; and it has still a mighty work +to do in India, and in China, and in Africa, and in the Islands of the +Sea. + +Difficulties there are in Scripture, doubtless: but I should be far more +perplexed by the absence of them, than I shall ever be by their +presence. Nay, they are a chief source of joy to a rightly constituted +mind; for they exercise the moral nature and the intellectual powers, in +the noblest possible way. It is the office of the highest Intellect to +know when to walk _by Faith_, and when _by sight_: and when, to "ask for +the old paths." It needs a mind of no common order fully to recognize +the distinctive difference between a system which comes from GOD; and +one which has been elaborated by human Reason: the latter +progressive,--the former incapable of progress; the one liable to +change,--the other, unchangeable for ever. There are certain indelible +characteristics of a Divine Revelation, I say, which it is the office +of the keenest wit to detect and hold fast,--which it is a prime note of +imbecility in a thoughtful man to overlook and let go.... The Bible in +truth, as one grows older,--(to me at least it seems so,)--becomes +almost the only thing in the world really deserving of a man's +attention. _Above_ Reason, many things in it confessedly are: but +_against_ Reason, I do not know of _one_. Meantime, is it not a glorious +anticipation for you and for me, that to understand those hard things +fully may be hereafter a part of our chiefest bliss? There is but a step +between us and death[643]; and assuredly when we wake up after His +likeness, we shall be satisfied with it[644]!... Already "the shadows of +the evening are stretched out[645]." Be patient, O my soul, "until the +day break, and the shadows flee away[646]!" + + + * * * * * + +THY STATUTES HAVE BEEN MY SONGS IN THE HOUSE OF MY PILGRIMAGE. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[589] Preached at St. Mary-the-Virgin, Whit-Sunday, May 19th, 1861. + +[590] Acts xxiii. 8. For the phrase in the text, see _Essays and +Reviews_, p. 151. Also p. 174. + +[591] See the Appendix (C). + +[592] Should one not as readily acknowledge a hint which was gathered +from the conversation of the thoughtful Vicar of Stanford-in-the-Vale, +as if it had been derived from some of his published writings? + +[593] 1 Sam. xv. 6. + +[594] Numb. x. 29-32. + +[595] A hint has here been taken from one of Dr. W. H. Mill's admirable +_University Sermons_, pp. 239-40. + +[596] Judges iv. 6. + +[597] Ibid. iv. 17. + +[598] Ibid. v. 6. + +[599] Judges v. 6, 7, 11. + +[600] Ibid. iv. 4, 5. + +[601] Ibid. v. 7. + +[602] Ibid. v. 5 and 9. + +[603] 1 Sam. xii. + +[604] Gen. xlix. 5. + +[605] Comp. Judges v. 14, 17, with Numb, xxxii. 39, 40, and Josh. xiii. +31.--Consider Ps. lxxx. 2. + +[606] 2 Kings vi. 16. + +[607] 1 Kings xx. 42. + +[608] St. John i. 17. + +[609] 2 St. Peter ii. 16. + +[610] Numb. xxii., xxiii., xxiv., xxv., xxxi. 8 and 16. Joshua xxiv. 9, +10: xiii. 22. Micah vi. 5. Nehem. xiii. 1, 2 (quoting Deut. xxiii. 3, +4.) 2 St. Peter ii. 14-16. St. Jude ver. 11. Rev. ii. 14. + +[611] Exod. xiv. 19-31, &c. is thus referred to in Josh. ii. 10: iv. 23. +Judges v. 4, 5. Job xxvi. 12. Ps. lxxiv. 13: cvi. 7-11: cxiv. 1-8: +lxxvii. 14-20: lxvi. 6: lxxviii. 12-31. Amos ii. 10. Hos. xii. 13. Is. +lxiii. 11-13: xliii. 16: li. 9, 10, 15. Micah vi. 4-5. Jer. ii. 6: +xxxii. 20-1. Dan. ix. 15. 2 Sam. vii. 23. 2 Kings xvii. 7. Neh. ix. +9-21. Acts vii. 30-41. 1 Cor. x. 1-11. 2 Tim. iii. 8. Hebr. xi. 29. Rev. +xv. 3. + +[612] Gen. i. 1, (Heb. xi. 3:) 3, (2 Cor. iv. 6:) 5, (1 Thess, v. 5:) 6, +9, (2 St. Pet. iii. 5:) 11, 12, (1 St. John iii. 9:) 14, (Phil. ii. 15: +Rev. xxi. 11:) 24, (Acts x. 12: xi. 6:) 26, (St. James iii. 9:) 26, 27, +(Col. iii. 10:) 27, (1 Cor. xi. 7: St. Matth. xix. 4: St. Mark x. 6:) +28, (Ps. viii. 6-8, commented on in Heb. ii. 5-9: 1 Cor. xv. 25: Eph. i. +22.)--Gen. ii. 2, (Heb. iv. 4, 10:) 7, (1 Cor. xv. 45, 47:) 9, (Rev. ii. +7: xxii. 2, 14, 19:) 18, (1 Cor. xi. 9:) 22, (1 Tim. ii. 13:) 23, (Eph. +v. 30:) 24, (Eph. v. 31: St. Matth. xix. 5: St. Mark x. 7: 1 Cor. vi. +16:) &c. + +[613] "It is a very misleading notion of Prophecy," says Dr. Arnold,--(a +writer to whom, more than to any other person, I conceive that we are +indebted for "Essays and Reviews;" _that_ unhappy production being the +lawful development and inevitable result of the late Head-master of +Rugby's most unsound and mischievous religious teaching:)--"It is a very +misleading notion of Prophecy, if we regard it as an anticipation of +History." (_Sermons_, i. p. 375.) "I think that, with the exception of +those prophecies which relate to our LORD, the object of Prophecy is +rather to delineate principles and states of opinion which shall come, +than external events. I grant that Daniel _seems to furnish an +exception_." (_Life and Correspondence_, p. 59.) This was written in +1825. In 1840, we are informed:--"The latter chapters of Daniel, _if +genuine, would be a clear exception to my Canon of Interpretation_.... +But I have long thought that 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 Grecia and Persia, and of the +North and South, is _mere history, like the poetical prophecies in +Virgil and elsewhere_.... That there may be genuine fragments in it, is +very likely." (_Ibid._, p. 505.)--In other words, Dr. Arnold, rather +than suppose "_my_ Canon of Interpretation" (!) worthless, is prepared +to eject the Book of Daniel from the Inspired Canon. Any thing is "very +likely," in short, except that God could foretell future events, and Dr. +Arnold be in error!... =Ar' ouch hybris tad'?= + +[614] Analogy, P. II. ch. vii. + +[615] _Throughout_ the volume entitled "Essays and Reviews;" while the +third Essay is simply an affirmation of their _impossibility_. + +[616] And yet, Bp. Butler says,--"The facts, both miraculous and +natural, in Scripture, appear in all respects to stand upon the same +foot of historical evidence:" ... "and though testimony is no proof of +enthusiastic opinions, or of any opinions at all; yet, it is allowed, in +all other cases, to be a proof of facts."--_Analogy_, P. II. ch. vii. +(ed. 1833, pp. 285 and 293.) + +[617] _Essays and Reviews_, p. 140. + +[618] _Ibid._, p. 104. + +[619] There are some admirable observations on this subject in the +'Preliminary Essay' prefixed to Dean Trench's _Notes on the +Miracles._--See pp. 10, 12, 15, 60, &c. + +[620] Dr. Temple. + +[621] Mr. Babbage's _Bridgewater Treatise_, (2nd. Ed. 1838,) p. 92. + +[622] "_Why we should pray for Fair Weather_: being Remarks on Professor +Kingsley's Sermon,"--by a Member of the University [of +Cambridge,]--12mo. Cambridge, 1860, p. 8. + +[623] "The view taken of Miracles in chapter viii., is the same as that +contained in the work of Butler, on _the Analogy_" &c.--Babbage (as +above), p. 191. + +[624] _Edinburgh Review_, for April 1861, p. 486. + +[625] How exactly, in this instance, has Dr. Whewell's anticipation +received fulfilment!;--"We may, with the greatest propriety, deny to the +mechanical Philosophers and Mathematicians of recent times any authority +with regard to their views of the administration of the Universe; we +have no reason whatever to expect from their speculations any help, when +we ascend to the first Cause and supreme Ruler of the Universe. But we +might perhaps go further, and assert that _they are in some respects +less likely than men employed in other pursuits, to make any clear +advance towards such a subject of speculation_."--(Whewell's +_Bridgewater Treatise_, p. 334.)--Scarcely less acute is the remark +which the late excellent Hugh James Rose has somewhere left on record, +concerning the chapter wherein the preceding remark occurs,--That the +world would not easily forgive Dr. Whewell for those two chapters on +"Inductive" and "Deductive Habits." + +[626] Babbage (as before), p. 92, (heading of ch. viii.) + +[627] See the _Analogy_, P. II. ch. iv. sect. iii. + +[628] St. Mark i. 24. St. Luke iv. 34: viii. 28, 30-32, &c. &c. + +[629] Exod. xvi. 18-21: 22-24:--25-27: 31: 33-34. Add Wisdom xvi. 20-1. + +[630] Exod. xvi. 35, and Josh. v. 12. + +[631] Exod. xiv. 22, 29. + +[632] St. Matth. viii. 26. St. Mark iv. 39. + +[633] St. Matth. viii. 15. + +[634] _Edinburgh Review_, (art. on 'Essays and Reviews,') April 1861, +p. 487. + +[635] _Edinburgh Review_, (art. on 'Essays and Reviews,') April 1861, +p. 487. + +[636] I have softened the expression originally employed in this place, +out of deference to the opinions of some wise and good men. But I do not +think that St. John, (the Evangelist and Apostle _of Dogma_,) would have +thought my language too strong: nor St. Paul either. =Ei tis ou +philei=,-- + +[637] 1 Cor. xv. 14. + +[638] From a Sermon by the pious and learned chaplain to the English +congregation at Rome, the Rev. F. B. Woodward,--_CHRIST risen the +Foundation of the Faith_,--preached on Easter Day, 1861. (Rivingtons.) + +[639] Van Mildert's _Bampton Lectures_ for 1814, ("An Inquiry into the +general principles of Scripture-Interpretation,")--pp. 242-3. + +[640] The reader is particularly requested to read what Dr. Moberly has +said on this subject in _Some Remarks on 'Essays and Reviews,'_ being +the _Revised Preface to the Second Edition of 'Sermons on the +Beatitudes_,'--p. xxii to p. xxv.--The _constructive_ value of the +'Remarks' of that excellent Divine will long outlive the occasion which +has called them forth. I allude particularly to the considerations which +occur from p. xxxii to p. lxiii. + +[641] St. Luke xix. 14. + +[642] 2 Tim. iv. 2. + +[643] 1 Sam. xx. 3. + +[644] Ps. xvii. 16. + +[645] Jer. vi. 4. + +[646] Song of S. ii. 17: iv. 6. + + + + +APPENDIX A. + +(p. 16.) + +[_Bishop Horsley on the double sense of Prophecy._] + + +"I shall not wonder, if, to those who have not sifted this question to +the bottom, (which few, I am persuaded, have done,) the evidence of a +Providence, arising from prophecies of this sort[647], should appear to +be very slender, or none at all. Nor shall I scruple to confess, that +time was when I was myself in this opinion, and was therefore much +inclined to join with those who think that every prophecy, were it +rightly understood, would be found to carry a precise and single +meaning; and that, wherever the double sense appears, it is because the +one true sense hath not yet been detected. I said,--'Either the images +of the prophetic style have constant and proper relations to the events +of the world, as the words of common speech have proper and constant +meanings, or they have not. If they have, then it seems no less +difficult to conceive that many events should be shadowed under the +images of one and the same prophecy, than that several likenesses should +be expressed in a single portrait. But, if the prophetic images have no +such appropriate relations to things, but that the same image may stand +for many things, and various events be included in a single prediction, +then it should seem that prophecy, thus indefinite in its meaning, con +afford no proof of Providence: for it should seem possible, that a +prophecy of this sort, by whatever principle the world were governed, +whether by Providence, Nature, or Necessity, might owe a seeming +completion to mere accident.' And since it were absurd to suppose that +the Holy Spirit of GOD should frame prophecies by which the end of +Prophecy might so ill be answered, it seemed a just and fair conclusion, +that no prophecy of holy writ might carry a double meaning. + +"Thus I reasoned, till a patient investigation of the subject brought +me, by GOD'S blessing, to a better mind. I stand clearly and +unanswerably confuted, by the instance of Noah's prophecy concerning the +family of Japheth; which hath actually received various accomplishments, +in events of various kinds, in various ages of the world,--in the +settlements of European and Tartarian conquerors in the Lower Asia; in +the settlements of European traders on the coasts of India; and in the +early and plentiful conversion of the families of Japheth's stock to the +faith of CHRIST. The application of the prophecy to any one of these +events bears all the characteristics of a true +interpretation,--consistence with the terms of the prophecy, consistence +with the truth of history, consistence with the prophetic system. Every +one of these events must therefore pass, with every believer, for a true +completion." + +BP. HORSLEY's _Sermons_, No. xvii. Vol. ii. pp. 73-4. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[647] Gen. ix. 25-7. + + + + +APPENDIX B. + +(p. 50.) + +[_Bishop Pearson on Theological Science._] + + +"Ad publicam Theologiæ professionem electus et constitutus sum; cujus +cum præstantiam dignitatemque considero, incredibili quadam dulcedine +perfundit mirificeque delectat; cum amplitudinem difficultatemque +contemplor, perstringit oculos, percellit animum, abigit longe atque +deterret. + +"Cum Artes omnes Scientiæque Athenis diu floruissent, cum novam sedem +Alexandriæ occuparent, cum ingenia Romana toto terrarum orbe +personarent, etiam tum dixit CHRISTUS ad Apostolos, _Vos estis lux +mundi_. Omnes aliæ Scientiæ, etiam cum maxime clarescerent, tenebris +sunt involutæ, et quasi nocte quadam sepultæ. Tum sol oritur, tum primum +lumine perfundimur, cum DEI cognitione illustramur; radii lucis non nisi +de coelo feriunt oculos; cætera, quæ artes aut scientiæ nominantur, non +Athenæ sed noctuæ. Quid enim? nonne animis immortalibus præditi sumus, +et ad æternitatem natis? Quæ autem Philosophiæ pars perpetuitatem +spirat? Quid Astronomicis observationibus fiet, cum coeli ipsi +colliquescent? Ubi se ostendet corporis humani peritus, et medicaminum +scientia præclarus, cum _corruptio induet incorruptionem_? Quæ Musicæ, +quæ Rhetoricæ vires, cum Angelorum choro et Archangelorum coetibus +inseremur? Si nihil animus præsentiret in posterum, e coævis sibi +scientiis aliquid solatii carpere fas esset, secumque perituris +delectari: sed in hoc tam exiguo vitæ curriculo, et tam brevi, quid est, +tam cito periturum, quod impleret animum, in infinita sæculorum spatia +duraturum? Sola Theologiæ principia, æternæ felicitatis certissima +expectatione foeta, auræ divinæ particulam, coelestis suæ originis +consciam, et sempiternæ beatitudinis candidatum, satiare possunt. + +"Cætera Scientiæ exiguum aliquid de mundi opifice delibant, norunt; hæc, +aquilæ invecta pennis, coeli penetralia perrumpit, in ipsum Patrem +luminum oculos intendit, et audaci veritate promittit, _DEUM nobis +aliquando videndum sicut et nos videbimur_. + +"Quantum igitur moli corporis [anima materiæ expers,] quantum operosæ +conjecturæ divina visio, quantum brevi temporis spatio æternitas, +quantum Parnasso Paradisus, tantum reliquis disciplinis Theologia +præferenda est. + +"Sed hanc severam rebus humanis necessitatem imposuit DEUS, ut quæ +pulcherrima sunt, sint et difficillima. Si Sacrarum Literarum copiam, si +studiorum theologicorum amplitudinem prospicias, crederes promissionem +divinam, sicut Ecclesiæ, ita doctrinæ terminos nullos posuisse. + +"Scriptura ipsa, quam copiosa, quam intellectu difficilis! historiæ quam +intricatæ! prophetiæ quam obscuræ! præcepta quam multa! promissiones +quam variæ! mysteria quam involuta! interpretes quam infiniti! Linguæ, +quibus exarata est, et nobis, et toti orbi terrarum peregrinæ. Tres in +titulo crucis consecratæ sunt; satis illæ erant, cum CHRISTUS moreretur; +sed pluribus nobis opus est ut intelligatur. Latina parum subsidii +præbet, originibus exclusa. Græcæ magna est utilitas, nec tamen illa, si +pura, multum valet; nam aliam priorem semper aut reddit, aut imitatur. +Hebræa satis per se obscura, nec plene intelligenda, sine suis +conterraneis, Chaldaica, Arabica, Syriaca. Non est theologus, nisi qui +et Mithridates! + +"Jam hæc ipsa oracula Ecclesiæ DEI sunt commendata, ad illam a CHRISTO +ipso amandamur; illa testis, illa columna veritatis. Nec est unius aut +ævi, aut regionis, Ecclesia DEI: per totum terrarum orbem, quo +disseminata, sequenda est; per Orientis vastissima spatia, per +Occidentis regna diversissima: antiquissimorum Patrum sententiæ +percipiendæ, quorum libri pene innumeri prodierunt, et nova tamen +monumenta indies e tenebris eruuntur. + +"Quid dicam Synodos, diversarum provinciarum foetus? quid Concilia, e +toto orbe coacta, et suprema auctoritate prædita? quid canonum +decretorumque infinitam multitudinem? quorum sola notitia insignem +scientiam professionemque constituit; et tamen Theologiæ nostræ quantula +particula est? + +"Quot hæreses in Ecclesia pullularunt, quarum nomina, natura, origines +detegendæ: quæ schismata inconsutilem CHRISTI tunicam lacerarunt; quo +furore excitata, quibus modis suppressa, quibus machinis sublata! + +"Jam vero, scholasticorum quæstiones, quam innumera! Ad hæc omnia +subtiliter disserenda, acute disputanda, graviter determinanda, quanta +Philosophiæ, quanta Dialecticæ necessitas! quæ leges disputandi, quæ +sophismatum strophæ detegendæ! + +"Hæc sunt quæ me a professione deterrent, hæc quæ exclamare cogunt, =tis +pros tauta hikanos?;" + +BP. PEARSON's _Oratio Inauguralis_, 'Minor Works,' (ed. Churton,) vol. +i. pp. 402-5. + + + + +APPENDIX C. + +(p. 71.) + +[_The Bible an instrument of Man's probation._] + + +"Multa enim _propter exercendas rationales mentes_ figurata et obscure +posita."--Aug. _De Unit. Eccl._ c. v.--"Obscuritates Divinarum +Scripturarum quas _exercitationis nostræ causâ_ DEUS esse voluit."--_Id. +Ep. lix. ad Paulinum_, tom. ii. p. 117. + +"The evidence of Religion not appearing obvious, may constitute one +particular part of some men's trial, in the religious sense: as it gives +scope, for a virtuous exercise, or vicious neglect of their +understanding, in examining or not examining into that evidence. There +seems no possible reason to be given, why we may not be in a state of +moral probation, with regard to the exercise of our understanding upon +the subject of Religion, as we are with regard to our behaviour in +common affairs. The former is as much a thing within our power and +choice as the latter." + + * * * * * + +"Nor does there appear any absurdity in supposing, that the speculative +difficulties, in which the evidence of Religion is involved, may make +even the principal part of some persons' trial. For as the chief +temptations of the generality of the world are the ordinary motives to +injustice or unrestrained pleasure; or to live in the neglect of +Religion from that frame of mind, which renders many persons almost +without feeling as to any thing distant, or which is not the object of +their senses: so there are other persons without this shallowness of +temper, persons of a deeper sense as to what is invisible and future; +who not only see, but have a general practical feeling, that what is to +come will be present, and that things are not less real for their not +being the objects of sense; and who, from their natural constitution of +body and of temper, and from their external condition, may have small +temptations to behave ill, small difficulty in behaving well, in the +common course of life. Now when these latter persons have a distinct +full conviction of the truth of Religion, without any possible doubts or +difficulties, the practice of it is to them unavoidable, unless they +will do a constant violence to their own minds; and religion is scarce +any more a discipline to them, than it is to creatures in a state of +perfection. Yet these persons may possibly stand in need of moral +discipline and exercise in a higher degree, than they would have by such +an easy practice of religion. Or it may be requisite for reasons unknown +to us, that they should give some further manifestation what is their +moral character, to the creation of GOD, than such a practice of it +would be. Thus in the great variety of religious situations in which men +are placed, what constitutes, what chiefly and peculiarly constitutes, +the probation, in all senses, of some persons, may be the difficulties +in which the evidence of religion is involved: and their principal and +distinguished trial may be, how they will behave under and with respect +to these difficulties."--BISHOP BUTLER's _Analogy_, P. II. ch. vi. (ed. +1833,) p. 266. and pp. 274-5. + +Further on, (p. 277,) Butler has the following note:-- + +"Dan. xii. 10. See also Is. xxix. 13, 14: St. Matth. vi. 23, and xi. 25, +and xiii. 11, 12. St. John iii. 19, and v. 44: 1 Cor. ii. 14, and 2 Cor. +iv. 4: 2 Tim. iii. 13; and that affectionate as well as authoritative +admonition, so very many times inculcated, 'He that hath ears to hear +let him hear.' Grotius saw so strongly the thing intended in these and +other passages of Scripture of the like sense, as to say, that the proof +given us of Christianity was less than it might have been for this very +purpose: 'Ut ita sermo Evangelii tanquam lapis esset Lydius ad quem +ingenia sanabilia explorarentur.' (_De Verit. R. C._ lib. ii. towards +the end.)" + + + + +APPENDIX D. (p. 72.) + +[_St. Stephen's Statement in Acts vii. 15, 16, explained._] + + +In a work like the present which purports to deal solely with the +grander features of INSPIRATION and INTERPRETATION, it is clearly +impossible to enter systematically into details of any kind. If, here +and there, something like minuteness has been attempted[648], it has +only been by way of sample of what one would fain have done,--of what +one would fain do,--time and place and occasion serving. In the same +spirit I will add a few remarks on the famous passage in Acts vii. 15, +16; for, confessedly, to a common eye it _seems_ to contain several +erroneous statements. The words, as they stand in our English Bible, are +these:-- + +"So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our Fathers; and were +carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought +for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor _the father_ of Sychem." + +For obvious reasons, it will be convenient to have under our eyes, at +the same time, the original of the passage:-- + +=Katebê de Iakôb eis Aigypton, kai eteleutêsen autos kai hoi pateres +hêmôn· kai metetethêsan eis Sychem, kai etethêsan en tô mnêmati ho +ônêsato Abraam timês argyriou, para tôn huiôn Emmor tou Sychem.= + +On this, Dr. Alford, Dean of Canterbury, delivers himself as follows:-- + +"There is certainly, and that not dependent upon any Rabbinical or +Jewish views of the subject, an inaccuracy in Stephen's statement: for +the burying-place was not at Sychem which Abraham bought, but at Hebron, +and it was bought of Ephron the Hittite, as you will find in the 23rd of +Genesis from the 7th to the 20th verses. It is not worth while for us +now to read the account, but so it is: Abraham bought a field at Hebron +of Ephron the Hittite. There is no mention at all made of its being for +a burying-place. But it was Jacob who bought a field near Shechem 'of +the children of Hamor, Shechem's father.' These two incidents, then, in +this case are confused together. And again I say, if it is necessary to +say it again, that there is no reason at all for us to be ashamed of +such a statement--no reason for us to be afraid of it, or in any way +staggered at it. It was not Stephen's purpose to give an accurate +history of the children of Israel, but to derive results from that +history, which remain irrefragable, whatever the details which he +alleged."--_Homilies on the former part of the Acts of the Apostles_, by +Henry Alford, B.D., Dean of Canterbury, London, 1858, p. 219. + +A northern Professor, (Patrick Fairbairn, D.D., Principal and Professor +of Divinity in the Free Church College, Glasgow,) also writes as +follows:-- + +"Now, there can be no doubt, that viewing the matter critically and +historically, there _are_ inaccuracies in this statement; for we know +from the records of Old Testament history, that Jacob's body was not +laid in a sepulchre at Sychem, but in the cave of Machpelah at +Hebron;--we know also that the field, which was bought of the sons of +Emmor, or the children of Hamor (as they are called in Gen. xxxiii. 19), +the father of Sichem, was bought, not by Abraham, but by +Jacob."--_Hermeneutical Manual, or Introduction to the Exegetical Study +of the Scriptures of the New Testament_, &c. Edinburgh, 1858, p. 101. + +Now when it is considered that the speaker here was St. Stephen,--a man +who is said to have been "full of the HOLY GHOST," so that "no one could +resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake," (Acts vi. 3, 5, 8, +10.)--there is evidently the greatest _primâ facie_ unreasonableness in +so handling his words. But let the adverse criticism be submitted to the +test of a searching analysis; and how transparently fallacious is it +found to be! + +First, we have to ascertain the _meaning_ of the passage. And it is +evident to every one having an ordinary acquaintance with Greek, that +the words =Emmor tou Sychem= _cannot_ mean "Emmor _the father_ of +Sychem." This is a mere mistranslation, as the invariable usage of the +New Testament shews. The genitive denotes _dependent_ relation. The +Vulgate rightly supplies the word "filii;" and there can be no doubt +whatever that what St. Stephen says, is, that Abraham bought the +burial-place "of the sons of Emmor, _the son_ of Sychem." + +Next, it is evident that "our Fathers," (=hoi pateres hêmôn=,) _exclusive +of Jacob_, form the nominative to the verb "were carried over" +(=metetethêsan=.) In English, the place ought to be exhibited as +follows:--"he and our Fathers; and _they_ were carried." But, in truth, +the idiom of the original is so easy, to one familiar with the manner of +the sacred writers[649]; and the historical fact so exceedingly obvious; +that it must have been felt by St. Luke, in recording St. Stephen's +words, that greater minuteness of statement was quite needless. Who +remembers not the affecting details of where Jacob was to be buried, as +well as the circumstantial narrative of whither his sons conveyed his +bones[650]? _Who_ remembers not also that the bones of Joseph, (and, as +we learn from this place, the rest with him,) were carried up out of +Egypt by the children of Israel, at the Exode[651]? + +_Where_ then is the supposed difficulty? Moses relates (in Gen. xxiii.) +that Abraham bought of Ephron the Hittite, the son of Zohar, the field +and the cave of Machpelah: and says that Machpelah was before Mamre, +otherwise called Kirjath-Arba, and Hebron. St. Stephen further relates +that Abraham bought the sepulchre at Sychem in which the Twelve +Patriarchs were eventually buried, of the sons of Emmor, (or Hamor.) +May not the same man buy two estates? + +True enough it is that Jacob, when he came from Padan Aram, "bought a +parcel of a field" at "Shalem a city of Shechem," "at the hand of the +children of Hamor, Shechem's father." But there is no pretence for +saying that these last two transactions are identical, and have been +here confused together: for the sellers, in the one case, were "the sons +of Emmor, _the son_ of Sychem;" and in the other, "the children of +Hamor,"--_father of that Shechem whose tragic end is related in Gen. +xxxiv._: while the buyer was in the one case, Abraham; in the other case, +Jacob. Not to be tedious however, let me in a few words, state what was +the evident truth of the present History. + +It is found that Jacob, in order to build an altar at Shechem with +security, judged it expedient to purchase the field whereon it should +stand. Who can doubt that the purchase was a measure of necessity also? +If, at the present day, one desired to erect a church on some spot in +India, where the value of land was fully ascertained[652], and where +there were many inhabitants[653],--how would it be possible to set about +the work, with the remotest purpose of retaining possession, unless one +first _bought_ the ground on which the structure was to stand? I infer +that when Abraham first halted at Sichem[654], and built an altar +there[655], (the Canaanite being then in the land,) _it is very likely_ +that _he_ bought the ground also. But when St. Stephen informs me that +the thing which _I_ think only _probable_, was _a matter of fact_; am I, +(with Dean Alford,) to hesitate about believing him? Abraham then, in +the first instance, bought Sichem, Shechem, or Sychar; and there built +an altar. To that same spot, long after, his grandson Jacob resorted. +What wonder, since the wells of Abraham were stopped during his +absence, and had to be recovered by his son, (as related in Gen. xxvi. +17-22,)--what wonder, I say, if Jacob, on coming to Shechem after an +interval of nearly 200 years, finds that he also must renew the purchase +of the cherished possession? The importance of that locality, and the +sacred interest attaching to it, has been explained in a _Plain +Commentary on the Gospels_, on St. John iv. 1-6, and 41. See also a +Sermon by the same author,--_One Soweth and another Reapeth_. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[648] As in the case of the healing of the two blind men at Jericho, +(p. 67.): 'Jeremy the Prophet,' (p. 70.): the type of Melchizedek, +(pp. 152-6.): a passage in Deut. xxx. (pp. 191-5.): the conduct of Jael, +(pp. 223-230.): &c., &c. + +[649] The nominative has, in like manner, to be supplied in the +following places:--Gen. xlviii. 10. Exod. iv. 26: xxxiv. 28. Deut. xxxi. +23. 2 Sam. xxiv. 1. 1 Kings xxii. 19. 2 Kings xix. 24, 25. Job xxxv. 15. +Jer. xxxvi. 23.--St. Matth. xix. 5. St. Mark xv. 46. St. John viii. 44: +xix. 5: xxi. 15-17. Acts xiii. 29. Eph. iv. 8. Col. ii. 14, &c., &c. + +[650] Gen. xlix. 29-32; l. 5-13. + +[651] Ibid l. 25. Exod. xiii. 19. Josh. xxiv. 32. + +[652] Gen. xxiii. 15. + +[653] Ibid. xxiii. 10 to 12, 18. + +[654] Ibid. xiii. 7. + +[655] Ibid. xiii. 7. + + + + +APPENDIX E. + +(p. 74.) + +[_The simplest view of Inspiration the truest and the best._] + + +"I suppose all thoughtful persons will allow that intellectual +licentiousness is the danger of this our intellectual age. For +speculation indulges our pride. Faith is an inglorious thing; any one +can believe, a cottager just as well as a philosopher: but not all can +speculate. The privilege of an intellectually advanced person is that. +And the more novel the view he offers, the more evident the proof it +gives of an independent mind. Therefore the danger of a highly advanced +state of society like our own, is Theory, as distinguished from Catholic +Truth. And the most inviting field of theory, is that high subject, the +intercourse which hath gone on between the Intellect above us, and our +own; the communications which have been made from the Creator to His +creatures. In a word, man is under a temptation to frame a theory of +Inspiration; whether his attempts to frame one have been successful, is +a matter of much interest to consider. + +"I am going to offer a few plain remarks on what the Bible professes to +be. I say, professes to be, because those whom I speak to will believe +that what it professes to be, it is. I mean they will not suspect the +writers of any dishonesty or ambitious pretence. But there may be some +readers of the Bible, among persons whose profession is the exercise of +the intellect, who are impatient at being left behind in the +intellectual race; who, when continental critics are going on into +theories of inspiration, do not like the imputation (so freely cast upon +us by foreign writers) of being unequal to such things, of having no +turn for philosophy. So they must have a theory, or go along with one; +they must receive the Bible,--for they do receive it,--in some +intellectual way; through some lens which they hold up; with a +consciousness of some intellectual action in receiving it, something +which not every one could practise, something beyond the mere simple +apprehension of terms, and simple faith in embracing propositions. + +"But in striking contrast with all such views and all such desires, +stands the singular character of the sacred volume itself. It manifestly +addresses itself to a mind in an attitude of much simplicity; to a mind +coming to receive a theory, not to hold up one; coming to be shaped, not +holding out a mould to shape a communication made. For it presents +itself as a document containing a message from on high; as conveying the +Word of GOD; nor can all that is ever said on the subject get beyond +this plain account of its contents, 'the Word of GOD.' Nor need any one +who desires to impress on his own mind and that of others the true +character of the sacred page, try to do more than to remind himself that +it professes to convey to him the Word of GOD."--_Sermons_ by the Rev. +C. P. Eden, pp. 148-150. + +"What I desire to impress upon myself and those who hear me is this, +that the words of GOD are always perfect, always complete; and that the +feeling with which a poor cottager sits down to his Bible is the right +one, and that the student hath the best hope of successful study who in +attitude of mind is most likened to him."--_Ibid._, p. 192. + +"The conclusion, then, is this; that Faith hath not been wrong through +these many years, in her simple acceptance of GOD'S Word. To come round +to simplicity, is what we have always had to do in the great questions +of Divinity. There have been great questions; they have agitated the +Church; but, as I said, to come round to simplicity hath ever been her +work first or last. When in the fourth century men refined upon the +doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and Arians and semi-Arians would be +telling us _how_ these things could be, the unity of GOD in three +Persons; to come round to the simplicity of the Athanasian doctrine, and +to disown the several explanatory statements which, offering to explain, +explained away, was the Church's work. I am not sure that since the +clays of the Arian dispute, a more important question has arisen than +that which seems likely to be ere long forcing itself upon us, of the +Inspiration of Holy Writ. I freely permit myself to anticipate that the +simplest possible view of the subject, that on which rich and poor may +meet together, is the one to which we shall come round."--_Ibid._, +pp. 172-3. + + + + +APPENDIX F. + +(p. 107.) + +[_The written and the Incarnate Word._] + + +"I suppose we all have learned from the language used by the Evangelist +St. John, always to look on each of these two employments of the +expression, (the WORD OF GOD,) with reference to the other; and to see +in each, the other also. I shall not attempt to express more definitely +this connexion; I only need to suppose that we all apprehend it as +existing. But I shall claim from it thus much to my present +purpose;--that as He whom the Evangelist saw riding in the heavenly pomp +on high, and who was revealed to him as bearing this title, 'The WORD of +GOD[656],' was the same who rode as at this time into Jerusalem; in +humiliation here, in glory there; here veiled, there in brightness +unveiled:--I would now associate the two, and would regard that sacred +volume which the poor cottager knows as the 'Word of GOD,' as placed +under the same dispensation; as veiled here, reserved for Revelation +hereafter. I say, as all the other circumstances of our condition are +certainly to be regarded in this aspect, viz., as things waiting for +development; so ordered by a Divine wisdom as that they shall sustain +faith and instruct piety now, but shall shew themselves for what they +are, (if ever to a created being, yet) only in a later stage than that +to which they were given as its present religious provision: as other +things, so the written page (I will assume) which speaks of GOD. I +assume that in this world we are using sounds which mean more than we +know. I assume that in our churches we are in the highest sense singing +the songs of Sion, of the future and heavenly Sion. If Saints in Heaven +shall sing (as we are told they shall) the song of Moses, then the song +of Moses is already a song for Heaven; only _there_ we shall know its +meaning, or more of it than now we do. And the use which I make of the +reflection is, to suggest (as I said) the frame of mind in which we +should approach the consideration of the sacred page; such a frame of +mind as that no future revelations of the import of that page shall have +power to reproach us as having dishonoured it by our interpretations +here, and having betrayed an inadequate feeling of what Inspiration +was."--_Sermons_, by the Rev. C. P. Eden, pp. 180-2. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[656] Rev. xix. 13. + + + + +APPENDIX G. + +(p. 112.) + +[_The volume of the Old Testament Scriptures, indivisible._] + + +"In regard of the Old Testament, it will be observed that the whole +volume stands or falls altogether. In whatever sense we understand the +falling or standing, the volume stands or falls together. Each page of +it is committed to the credit of the rest, and the whole book or +collection of books is committed to the credit of each page. For this +plain reason, that the book as we have it, is the book which, being +known in the Jewish Church as the volume of her authentic and sacred +Scriptures, our blessed SAVIOUR accepted and referred to as such. By +whatever marks the canonicity of the several books was in the first +instance attested,--marks which were sufficient for GOD'S purpose, and +which did His work,--_there_ is the volume. 'It is written,' said our +SAVIOUR; that is, in a book which all His nation knew of, and understood +to be inspired. The scrupulous care which the Jews shewed in preserving +their sacred writings intact, is one of the most remarkable facts in +history; it is a fact of which the Christian student can give perhaps +the right account, seeing it to have been so ordered in the good +providence of GOD, that we might have firm ground in calling the book, +as we have it, the Word of GOD. The volume stands or falls then +together; which we may with advantage bear in mind, because it makes an +argument which is available for any portion of the volume, available for +the whole; and no one can now say, 'You do not surely hold the +genealogies in the books of Chronicles, to be inspired: Isaiah and the +Psalms may be inspired; but do you mean the same of the long extracts +from mere annals?' No man, I say, can take this freedom, until he can +extract and remove those chapters from the book which our blessed +SAVIOUR unquestionably referred to as the canonical Scriptures of the +Church. If a verse stands, the Old Testament stands."--_Sermons_, by the +Rev. C. P. Eden, pp. 152-3. + + + + +APPENDIX H. + +(p. 115.) + +(Some remarks had been partially prepared for insertion in this place, +on Theories of Inspiration: but my volume has already been delayed too +long, and has extended to a greater length than was originally +contemplated. The paper in question is therefore reserved for the +present.) + + + + +APPENDIX I. + +(p. 117.) + +[_Remarks on Theories of Inspiration.--The 'Human Element_.'] + + +"It will be allowed by all persons accustomed to a calm and charitable +view of Theological differences, that in those differences there is +generally on each side some great truth wrongly held, because taken out +of its due place, and wrongly set. Applying this topic to the subject +before us, we are led to consider whether a mistake has not been made in +bringing forward the Human Element of Inspiration, instead of permitting +the eye to rest upon that which GOD presents to us,--the Divine. The +Human Element no doubt is there; no doubt our Maker acts through our +faculties in every respect; no doubt He is acting through laws when He +seems to suspend laws; and even in Miracles, employs the powers of +Nature instead of thwarting them; but then this is His machinery, which +He has not explained to us. He presents Himself to us, acting sometimes +supernaturally; i.e. in a way above nature as we understand nature. He +made the Sun to stand still for Joshua; what refractive cloud came in +and held the daylight that it should not go down is not made known to +us; GOD said that it should stay, and it stayed; there was the miracle. +To have set the Creation going two thousand years before in such a way +and train that in that hour a cloud should rise to refract the sun's +rays for a time, because in that hour the LORD's armies would need the +interference, the prolonging of the daylight,--that was miracle enough. +We say not that GOD interrupts His own laws; nay, rather we believe that +He hath them always in smooth and orderly operation. Similarly of +Inspiration; we know not the way in which GOD acts on human minds, the +Spirit on the spirit; for He hath not told us. But, as I said in the +beginning, in an age like the present, where analysis of process is the +work of men's minds, the way in which man is feeling his strength in +every direction, it is not very unnatural that the operations of this +philosophy should have been carried beyond their due line; into the +subject, namely, of the secret communication between the Divine Spirit, +and the spirit and apprehensions of Men, i.e. the Work of Inspiration. +To accept the Bible as the word of GOD, just as a cottager or a child in +a village school accepts it, is an inglorious thing. He whose intellect +is his instrument, that which he is to work with, wishes to feel his +intellect operating on any subject which he has to meet. He feels a +desire, in apprehending a thing as done, to have as part of his +apprehension, a view of how it is done, more or less. It is natural to +him to take what he feels to be an intelligent view of a subject. In +accepting the Bible therefore as the Word of GOD, he must have a view as +to _how_ it is the Word of GOD; the nature of the illapse which the +Spirit from on high makes on the spirit and faculties of the man. In a +word, he would get between the Creator, and man to whom the Creator +speaks; and _there_ would make his observations. But how little +encouragement have we to do this in the Word of GOD! When GOD sent +prophets to speak to men, to convey a message to them from their Maker, +or when He tells Apostles to speak to us, doth He invite us to come +within the veil with our philosophy, and examine? I shall offend the +piety of those who hear me by pursuing the thought. But I cannot but +think that something of this kind has been done by those who have +presented us with theories of Inspiration, setting forth to us that +which it cannot be shewn that GOD hath set forth to them, or to any one. +Yes, they are right; our Creator makes use of our faculties; and when He +hath given to one man faculties different from those given to another, +faculties of whatever kind, of intellectual power or of moral +temperament, He employs them all. Hath He a message of Love? He employs +a St. John to utter it, and to prolong the delightful note. Hath He a +message of freedom, that liberty wherewith CHRIST hath made us free? He +hath a Paul ready to accept and to fulfil the congenial errand. But GOD +speaks, not man; and they who would have us be dwelling on the Human +Element, when GOD invites us to be lost in the Divine, are doing not +well. Yes, GOD employs all our faculties: He hath made us different, as +He made the flowers of the field different, and Christianity shews us +why He hath so made us; because He hath a work for each of us to do,--a +work which none else could do so well. Doubtless He employs all our +faculties, doing violence to none. This doubtless is His glory, that He +can bring about His results by the means which He Himself hath made. Who +has not felt, in reading some sacred narrative, the history, e.g. of +Joseph, that the wonderful part of it was this, how naturally all came +about,--all by natural operation of human motives and man's free will? +So in Inspiration. No doubt GOD's instruments which He hath made are +enough for His work; no doubt He employs men as they are; not their +tongues only, but their minds and spirits, acting on them and employing +them as they are. Only in that great process, the point which I call +attention to is this,--GOD speaks of it as divine, and fixes the thought +of those who hear Him on the divine element: we, dropping our view on +the human, are not wise. He shews us providence; He condescends to shew +us His work: we do not well when we shew an interest rather in lower +parts of the scheme, especially when in those we may so greatly err, +having so little information."--_Sermons_, by the Rev. C. P. Eden, pp. +164-170. + + + + +APPENDIX J. + +(p. 145.) + +[_How the Inspired authors of the New Testament handle the writings of +the Inspired authors of the Old._] + + +"Let me repeat:--The question is, how we should address ourselves to the +study of the sacred page? For example, how am I to regard, and how to +deal with, the great diversities there are between the several sacred +writers? For there is the greatest diversity of mind appearing between +them. St. Paul is no more the same with St. John, than any two good men +now are perfectly alike in their constitution of mind. Nay, the +diversity seems especially great in the case of the sacred writers: as +if to forbid us to adopt any theory which should ignore or neglect that +diversity. It is striking. How shall I deal with these and like +circumstances?... Can it be suggested to me what a good and wise man +would do in this matter? + +"In answer; it can apparently be suggested; and through that which is +the best and safest of arguments, the argument from analogy. For there +has been a parallel case; the case of the _inspired writers of the New +Testament dealing with the Scriptures of the Old_. To this parallel I +now invite your attention. If we can observe how and upon what great +principles, piety and wisdom, guided by Inspiration, dealt with the +volume of the Holy Scriptures which were then its whole volume, namely +the Old Testament; we have so far forth a parallel case to the case of +Christians now. The first Christians looked back on the Old Testament as +their sacred Scriptures. If we can discern how they regarded their +sacred volume, and how they proceeded in interpreting it, we have a +pattern to guide us in regard of the question, how we shall regard the +sacred volume, and how proceed in the study and interpretation of it; +they with the Bible that they had,--we with the Bible that we have, the +completed volume.--In this point of view I cannot but regard it as most +distinctly providential that there are introduced in the pages of the +New Testament so many quotations from the pages of the Old. For they +furnish us with an answer applicable in every age of the Church to the +question, How shall piety and wisdom deal with a sacred volume; that +volume being from the pen of many writers; but with this aggravated +difficulty in the former case, that the writers there were widely +separated from one another in point of time, were in contact therefore +with most difficult forms of life and stages of society? How in +approaching a volume so originated, did the New Testament writers regard +and deal with its contents?"--_Sermons_, by the Rev. C. P. Eden, pp. +183-5. + +"And it is impossible for us to imagine,--I say the thoughtful reader of +the Holy Scriptures will find it impossible to imagine,--an Evangelist +or Apostle, evoking out of its grave the Human Element of the ancient +prophetic communications; disinterring it once more as if to gaze upon +it. I am sure the impression left on the mind by the passages in the New +Testament where the Old is referred to, is in accordance with what I +say. In other words,--(for it is but in other words the same,)--these +divinely instructed students,--these inspired readers of the sacred +page,--are aware of that which they read, being inspired; GOD its +author, and not Man. And they shew this consciousness, putting off their +shoes from their feet, as if on holy ground. A divinely instructed mind, +interprets a divinely indited Scripture; the Spirit His own interpreter; +and we are taught,--not by man but by the Author of Inspiration,--how +Inspiration is to be dealt with.--Let him who would deal aright with the +sacred pages of the New Covenant, observe in due seriousness what +instruction he may gain from the consideration now suggested to his +thoughts. Let him learn from the sacred page, how to deal with the +sacred page. And if he has observed these things; if he has seen how the +writers of the New Testament, discern in lines and words of the Old +Testament, that which speaks to _them_,--(for it speaks to CHRIST, and +in Him to His Church, i.e. to them:) ... how these utterers of +inspired sounds are found, when their words receive at length an +authentic interpretation, to have been speaking of the Christian Church, +its terms of Salvation, its spiritual gifts;--a reader of the Holy +Scriptures practised in these observations will have learned in some +measure _how_ to approach the sacred volume; with a sense not only of +its unfathomed depth, but also of its unity of scope; and a conscious +interest rather in its universal truths,--its ever present truths,--than +in those transitory imports which some of its pages can be shewn to have +had, over and above their Evangelical meaning."--(_Ibid._, pp. 186-9.) + + + + +APPENDIX K. + +(p. 199.) + +[_Bishop Bull on Deut._ xxx.] + + +"Jam hic etiam quæstionem unam et alteram solvendam +exhibebimus.--Quæritur, _An nullum omnino extet in lege Mosis SPIRITUS +SANCTI promissum?_ Resp. Legem, si per eam intelligas pactum in monte +Sinai factum, et mediatore Mose populo Israelitico datum, (quæ, ut modo +diximus, est maxime propria ac genuina ipsius in Paulinis Epistolis +notio atque acceptio,) nullum Spiritus Sancti promissum continere, +manifestum est. Si, inquam, per eam intelligas pactum in Sinai factum; +quia in hagiographis et Scriptis Propheticis, (quæ nomine legis et +Veteris Test. laxius sumpto non raro veniunt,) de SPIRITU SANCTO, tum ex +gratiâ Divinâ promisso, tum precibus hominum impetrato, passim legimus. +Imo et in Mosaicis scriptis, licet non in ipso Mosaico foedere, +promissum (ni fallor) satis clarum de gratia SPIRITUS SANCTI Israelitis +a DEO danda reperire est. + +"Ejusmodi certe est illud Deut. xxx. 6: 'Circumcidet JEHOVA DEUS tuus +animam tuam et animam seminis tui, ad diligendum Jehovam Deum tuum ex +toto corde tuo,' &c. Etenim circumcisionem cordis, præsertim ejusmodi +quâ ad DEUM toto corde diligendum homines præparentur, non sine magna +SPIRITUS SANCTI vi atque efficacia fieri posse, apud omnes, qui a +Pelagio diversum sentiunt, in confesso est. Sed hoc etiam ad Evangelicam +Justitiam pertinebat, quam sub cortice externorum rituum et ceremoniarum +latitantem primum Moses ipse, dein prophetæ alii, digito quasi +commonstrarunt. Justitia enim Fidei, quæ in evangelio =pephanerôtai= +olim erat =hypo tou nomou kai tôn prophêtôn martyroumenê=,--ut diserte +affirmat Apostolus. (Rom. iii. 21.) Dixi autem, exerte hanc SPIRITUS +SANCTI promissionem in ipso Mosaico foedere non haberi. Addam aliquid +amplius,--_partem eam fuisse Novi Testamenti_, ab ipso Mose promulgati. +Nam foedus cum Judæis sancitum, (Deut. xxix., _et seq._, in quo hæc +verba reperiuntur,) plane diversum fuisse a foedere in monto Sinai +facto, adeoque renovationem continuisse pacti cum Abrahamo initi, h. e. +foederis Evangelici tum temporis obscurius revelati,--multis +argumentis demonstrari potest. (1º) Diserte dicitur, (cap. xxix. 1.) +verba, quæ ibidem sequuntur, fuisse 'verba foederis quod DEUS præcepit +Mosi, ut pangeret cum Israelitis, _præter foedus illud, quod pepigerat +cum illis in Chorebo_.' Qui renovationem tantum hic intelligunt +foederis in monte Sinai facti, nugas agunt, quin et textûs ipsius +apertissimis verbis contradicunt. Neque enim verba foederis in Sinai +facti repetita ac renovata ullo sensu dici possunt verba foederis, +quod DEUS sancivit præter illud, quod in monte Sinai pepigerat. (2º) +Diserte dicitur, hoc foedus idem prorsus fuisse cum eo, quod DEUS +juramento sanciverat cum Israelitici populi majoribus, Abrahamo puta, +Isaaco et Jacobo, (ejusdem cap. ver. 12, 13,)--quod foedus ipsum +Evangelicum fuit, obscurius revelatum, ipso apostolo Paulo interprete, +Gal. iii. 16, 17. (3º) Nonnulla hujus foederis verba citat Paulus, ut +verba foederis Evangelici, quæ fidei justitiam manifesto præ se +ferant. (Vide Rom. x. 6. _et seq._ Coll. Deut. xxx. 11, _et seq._) _Haud +me fugit esse nonnullos, qui statuunt, hæc Mosis verba ab Apostolo ad +fidei justitiam per allusionem tantum accommodari_: sed fidem non +faciunt, cum Paulus verba ista manifesto alleget ut ipsissima verba +justitiæ fidei, h. e. foederis Evangelici, in quo justitia ista +revelatur. _Atque, ut verum fatear, semper existimavi, allusiones istas +(ad quas confugiunt quidam tanquam ad sacrum suæ ignorantiæ asylum,) +plerumque aliud nihil esse, quam sacræ Scripturæ abusiones manifestas._ +Sed non necesse erat, hoc saltem in loco, ut tali =krêsphygetô= +uterentur. Nam, (4º) quæcunque in hoc foedere continentur, in +Evangelium mire quadrant. (i.) Quod ad præcepta attinet, præscribuntur +hic ea tantum, quæ ad mores pertinent, et per se honesta sunt; illorum +rituum, qui, si verba spectes, pueriles videri possent, quorumque totum +foedus legale fere plenum est, nulla facta mentione. Addas, totam +illam obedientiam, quæ hic requiritur, ad sincerum sedulumque studium +Deo in omnibus obediendi referri. (Vid. cap. xxx., 10, 16, 20.) (ii.) Ad +promissa quod spectat, plenam hic omnium peccatorum, etiam +gravissimorum, remissionem post peractam poenitentiam repromittit +DEUS; (cap. xxx., 1-4.) quæ gratia in foedere legali nuspiam concessa +est, ut supra fusius ostendimus. Deinde, gratia SPIRITUS SANCTI, qua +corda hominum circumcidantur, ut JEHOVAM diligant ex toto corde atque ex +tota anima, hoc in loco, de quo agimus, (nempe prædicti capitis ver 6.) +clare promittitur. Hui! quam procul ab usitata Mosaicorum scriptorum +vena!... (5º) Foedus illud, de quo prædixit Jeremias, (xxxi. 31. _et +seq._) foedus esse Evangelicum, negavit Christianus nemo; cum Divinus +auctor Epistolæ ad Hebræos idipsum expresse doceat, (viii. 8, _et seq._) +Jam quæ de pacto isto prænuntiat propheta, omnia huic foederi +Moabitico ad amussim respondent. Appellat suum foedus Jeremias +'foedus novum; ab eo, quod cum majoribus populi Israelitici Ægypto +exeuntibus pepigerat DEUS, omnino diversum.' Idem etiam de Moabitico +foedere dicit Moses. Causam reddit Jeremias cur novum DEUS pactum, +Sinaiticum aboliturus, molitus fuerit; nempe, quod Israelitæ, +præpotentiore gratia destituti, Sinaiticum illud irritum fecissent, +præceptis ejusdem non obtemperando, (ver. 32.) Eandem causam et Moses +manifesto designat; 'Nondum,' inquit, 'dederat vobis JEHOVA mentem ad +cognoscendum, et oculos ad videndum, et aures ad audiendum, usque ad +diem hunc:' (Deut. xxix. 4.) h. d. Pactum prius vobiscum pepigerat DEUS, +in quo voluntatem suam præceptis, tum promissis tum minis, tum denique +miraculis omne genus satis superque communitis, vobis ipsis patefecerat. +Sed vidit foedus illud parum vobis profuisse; vidit vobis opus esse +efficaciore adhuc gratia, qua nempe corda vestra circumcidantur, &c. +ideoque novum foedus meditatur, in quo gratiam illam efficacissimam +vobis adstipulaturus sit. Eandem autem cordis circumcisionem procul +dubio designant verba Jeremiæ, v. 33, præd. cap.; 'Indam legem meam +menti eorum, et cordi eorum inscribam eam.' Porro remissio ista omnium +peccatorum, quæ poenitentibus promittitur a Mose, (Deut. xxx. 1. _et +seq._) a Jeremiâ etiam clare exprimitur prædicti cap. ver 34. 'Ero +propitius iniquitatibus eorum, et peccatorum ipsorum et transgressionum +ipsorum non recordabor amplius.' Denique Jeremias claritatem ostendit +adeoque facilitatem præceptorum, quæ in novo suo foedere +continebantur, ob quam Dei populo non opus esset laboriosa +disquisitione, aut exactiori disciplina, ut præcepta istius foederis +cognoscerent implerentque, (Ejusdem capitis, ver. 34.) Idem Mosen quoque +voluisse manifestum erit, (si verba ejus Deut. xxx. 11, _et seq._ cum +iis, quæ Apostolus ad eundem locum disserit Rom. x. 6, et seq. +accuratius perpenderis.) Mihi certe clara videntur omnia. (6º) Ac +postremo, ut res hæc tota extra omnem controversiæ aleam ponatur, +_ipsi Hebræorum magistri ea, quæ Deut. xxix. et deinceps continentur, ad +Messiæ tempus omnino referenda censuerunt_. Testem advoco fide +dignissimum P. Fagium, qui (ad Deut. xxx. 11,) hæc annotat; 'Diligentur +observandum est, ex consensu Hebræorum caput hoc ad regnum Christi +pertinere. Unde etiam Bachai dicit, hoc loco promissionem esse, quod sub +Rege Messiah omnibus, qui de foedere sunt, circumcisio cordis +contingat, citans Joelem, ii. 28.' Fagio consentit Grotius in ejusdem +capitis ver. 6. + +"In his ideo prolixius immorati sumus, tum, ut vel hinc manifestum +fieret, omnia, quæ in Mosaicis scriptis continentur, ad foedus +Mosaicum, proprie sic dictum, nequaquam pertinere; adeoque quam vera ac +prorsus necessaria sit distinctio Augustini, (de qua aliquoties jam +dictum est,) legem veterem =kyriôs= sumptam ad solum pactum in monte +Sinai factum restringentis; tum imprimis ut exinde etiam clare eluceret +optima ac sapientissima DEI =oikonomia=, quam in dispensando gratiæ suæ +foedere usurpare visum ipsi fuerit. Pepigerat DEUS cum Abrahamo +foedus illud gratiosum multis ante latam legem annis; cui postea +placuit ipsi superaddere pactum aliud, multis, iisque operosis, ritibus +ac ceremoniis conflatum, quibus rudem et carnalem Abrahami posteritatem, +recens ex Ægypto eductam, adeoque paganicis ritibus ac superstitionibus +nimis addictam, in officio contineret, i.e. ab ethnicorum idololatrico +cultu arceret. Quod optime expressit Tertullianus (adversus Marcion. 2.) +his verbis: 'Sacrificiorum onera, et operationum et oblationum +negotiosas scrupulositates nemo rcprehendat, quasi DEUS talia proprie +sibi desideraverit, qui tam manifeste exclamat, "Quo mihi multitudinem +sacrificiorum vestrorum?" et, "Quis exquisivit ista de manibus vestris?" +sed illam DEI industriam sentiat, qua populum pronum in idololatriam et +transgressionem ejusmodi officiis religioni suæ voluit adstringere, +quibus superstitio sæculi agebatur, ut ab ea avocaret illos, sibi jubens +fieri quasi desideranti, ne simulacris faciendis delinqueret.' (Conf. +Gal. iii. 19.) Sed prævidens sapientissimus DEUS, fore, ut hoc ipsius +propositum populus obtusi pectoris non intelligeret, post latam istam +carnalem legem, præcepit Mosi, ut Israelitis novum foedus promulgaret, +seu potius ut vetus illud, cum Abrahamo ante multos annos initum, (quod +spiritualem imprimis justitiam exigebat, et gratia ac misericordia +plenum erat,) renovaret: ut hinc tandem cognoscerent Judæi, pactum +Abrahamiticum etiam post latam legem ritualem adhuc viguisse, adeoque +pro foedere habendum fuisse, cui unice salus ipsorum inniteretur. +(Conf. Gal. iii. 17.) ... Quis hic cum Apostolo non exclamet, =Ô +bathos ploutou kai sophias kai gnôseôs Theou!= (Rom. xi. 33.) Sed hæc +obiter, etsi haudquaquam frustra. Pergo."--From Bp. Bull's _Harmonia +Apostolica_, cap. xi., sect. 3.--_Works_, vol. iii. pp. 197-201. + + + + +APPENDIX L. + +(p. 218.) + +[_Opinions of Commentators concerning Accommodation._] + + +Cornelius à Lapide, on this place, writes us follows:--"Licet Cajetanus, +Adamus, Pererius, Toletus, putent Mosem ad litteram loqui de Christo et +Christi justitiâ, referunt enim hæc ejus verba ad poenitentiam, de qua +eodem capite egerat Moses, ver. 1; (Poenitentia enim et dilectio Dei, +ac consequenter peccatorum venia, ipsaque justitia sine fide Christi +haberi non potest;) tamen _longe planius est, ut non litteraliter, sed +allegorice tantum alludat Apostolus ad Mosem. Moses enim ad litteram, +sive in sensu litterati loquitur, non de Christo ejusque Evangelio, sed +de lege data Judæis, ut patet eum intuenti_. Ita Chrysostomus, +Theodoretus, Theophylactus, Oecumenius, Abulensis, Soto.... Hæc, +inquam verba, Mosem ad suos Judæos literaliter loqui planè certum, +evidens, et manifestum est; ita tamen ut eadem hæc ejus verba +_allegorice Evangelio ejusque catechumenis et fidelibus optime +conveniant_. Æque enim, immo magis, ad manum est omnibus jam Evangelium +et fides Christi, quam olim fuerit lex Mosis: ita ut fidem hanc omnes +facillime corde, id est mente, complecti: et ore proloqui, itaque +justificari et salvari possint." + +Our own learned Hammond writes as follows:--"The two phrases of 'going +up into Heaven,' or 'descending into the deep,' are proverbial phrases +to signify the doing or attempting to do some hard, impossible thing.... +These phrases had been of old used by Moses in this sense, Deut. xxx. +12." [And then, the place follows.] "Which words being used by Moses to +express the easiness and readiness of the way which the Jews had to know +their duty and to perform it, are here by the Apostle _accommodated_ to +express the easiness of the Gospel condition, above that of the Mosaical +Law."--So far Dr. Hammond; whose notion that there was any accommodation +here, I altogether deny. As for his belief that the paraphrase in the +Targum of Jerusalem, ["Utinam esset nobis aliquis Propheta, Jonæ +similis, qui in profundum maris magni descenderet,"] is the "ground of +St. Paul's application" of the place to the Death and Resurrection of +Christ, I can but feel surprised to find such a view advocated by so +learned a man, and so excellent a Divine. But it is not Hammond's way to +write thus. In his "Practical Catechism," he often expounds similar +Scripture, (e.g. St. Luke i. 72-5,) after a very lofty fashion. + +Again:--"Hunc locum accommodavit ad causam suam B. Paulus, Rom. x. Nam +cum proprie hic locus pertineat ad Decalogum, transfertur eleganter et +erudite a Paulo ad fidem quæ os requirit ut promulgetur, et cor ut +corde credamus."--Fagius, ad Deut. xxx. 11, apud _Criticos Sacros_. + +Occasionally, however, we meet with a directly different gloss:-- + +"Locum hunc divinus Paulus divine de Evangelica prædicatione ac sermone +fidei est interpretatus, tametsi sensum magis, ut æquum est, quam textum +ad verbum expresserit; ut illius etiam alibi est mos. Satis enim fuit, +atque adeo magis consentaneum viris Spiritu Dei plenis significare quid +idem Spiritus in Scriptura intelligi vellet."--Clavius, ad Deut. xxx. +14, apud _Criticos Sacros_. + +Concerning the general principle of Accommodation, (as explained above, +p. 188,) the following passages present themselves as valuable. + +"Men have suggested that these things were accommodations of the Sacred +Writers; and that the New Testament Writers, in the interpretations they +gave of passages in the Old, meant to say, that the texts _might_ be +applied in such way as they applied them. But the suggestors of this +view can hardly have considered carefully those conversations of our +Blessed SAVIOUR with His disciples going to Emmaus; and afterward in the +evening of the same day, in which He distinctly reprehends them for +their dulness of heart in not seeing in the pages of the Old Testament +the predictions of His Death and of His Resurrection; though, of His +Resurrection the intimations are, in those ancient Scriptures, to our +view so scanty and obscure. He unfolds to them as they walk the +reference of the Old Testament Scriptures to Himself. Then in a later +interview He resumes the instruction and 'opens their understanding,' +(it is said,) to discover the same; the relation of the Old Testament +Scriptures (namely) to Himself.--He is a bold Commentator who having +seen the Disciples thus instructed,--having witnessed this scene,--then, +when he meets with these same Disciples' interpretations of the ancient +Scriptures in relation to CHRIST, calls them 'Accommodations,' and gives +them to a human original. But I ask leave to turn from this +theory."--_Sermons_ by the Rev. C. P. Eden, pp. 189--190. + +"If we believe that the Apostles were inspired, then all idea of +accommodation must be renounced.... The theory of Accommodation, i.e. of +erroneous interpretation of the Scripture, cannot be thought of without +imputing error to the SPIRIT of Truth and Holiness; or to Him who sent +the SPIRIT to recal to the minds of the Apostles all things which He had +said to them, and to guide them into all Truth."--From a Sermon by Dr. +M'Caul, _The Hope of the Gospel the Hope of the Old Testament Saints_, +(1854,)--p. 8. + + +=DIA TON LOGON TOU THEOU=. + + +_By the same Author_. + +A PLAIN COMMENTARY ON THE FOUR HOLY GOSPELS. 7 vols. Fcap. 8vo. + +NINETY SHORT SERMONS FOR FAMILY READING. 2 vols. Fcap. 8vo. + +THE PORTRAIT OF A CHRISTIAN GENTLEMAN: A MEMOIR OF P. F. TYTLER, ESQ. +(2nd. Ed.) 1859. Crown 8vo. + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + + * Italics and bold in the original have been represented by _..._ and + $...$ respectively. Greek has been transcribed and marked by =...=, + except where Greek letters have been used for enumeration. These are + represented by =1=, =2=, =3= for the original alpha, beta, gamma etc. + Increased letter-spacing in Greek (used for emphasis) has also been + represented by _..._. + * Footnotes have been renumbered to run from 1 through the book. Where + there is reference to a particular footnote in the text, the original + text has been left, but [our 330] inserted to advise what the reference + now is. + * The author's unusual punctuation style has been preserved, notably in + the following respects. + * Footnote markers appear before punctuation. + * Punctuation appears before closing parentheses. + * When a quotation is followed by a page reference, the page reference + is normally followed by the same punctuation as the quotation ended + with. + * The use of hyphenation in the book was inconsistent. Where words were + hyphenated at the end of a line, other examples in the text have been + followed. Cases where there was some doubt were "pre-existing" (p. li), + "co-extensive" (p. lxxvi), "frostwork" (p. cxxii), "overrule" (p. 20), + and "twofold" (p. 38). + * Roman numerals used for punctuation are sometimes followed by a period, + sometimes not. + * i.e., and e.g., have been standardised to have no space. + * The following words are either archaic spellings or typographical + errors and have been left as in the original. Those known to the + transcriber as valid archaic spellings have been marked [*] + * "Pourtrays/pourtrayed" (p. xxv), + * "recal" for "recall" (p. xxviii and others) + * "inuendo" (p. liv) [*] + * "præ-Adamic" (p. cvii) + * "Meanwile" (p. cxii) + * "expence" (p. cxxxiii) [*] + * "Poictiers" for "Poitiers" (p. cxlvi) [*] + * "tenour" (p. ccvi) + * "Analagy" (p. ccxv) + * A printing error in the Greek was corrected: "Apostolôn" in (our) + footnote 209 had the wrong breathing. + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Inspiration and Interpretation, by John Burgon + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INSPIRATION AND INTERPRETATION *** + +***** This file should be named 31090-8.txt or 31090-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/0/9/31090/ + +Produced by Colin Bell, Daniel J. 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