/ /y / ^2- '^ '/ ^ z- y /y y,y y y / y yy y y y ^"i . ''/ "y ^?/ BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME PROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE QIFT OF , 1891 «."f I J\:^k0M , ^Z^' Cornell University Library BL 25.H62 1894 Via, Veritas, vita: lectures on "Christi 3 1924 008 788 436 The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924008788436 THE HIBBERT LECTURES. Now that the present series of Hibbert Lectures have been brought to a close, it may be of advantage to place on record a short account of their origin and purpose, and of the manner in v?hich the plan has been carried out. The Trust Fund was established on the most liberal and comprehensive baisis. It was to be applied in the manner deemed " most conducive to the spread of Christianity in its most simple and intelhgible form, and to the unfettered exercise of private judgment in matters of religion," and no dogmatic or denomina- tional test was imposed upon its administration. Such a fund seemed to offer an admirable opportunity for the establishment of a lectureship in which religious questions should be treated, by members of various churches, with reverent impartiality, and with no object in view but the investigation of truth, and the scholarly exposition of the best results of thought and study. Owing chiefly to the exertions of Dr. Martineau and the Eev. J. E. Carpenter, a letter was addressed to the Trustees by several scholars, some of them men of the highest eminence, requesting them to found a lectureship which should be free from "tra- ditional restraints," and should exhibit "clearly from time to time some of the most important results of recent study in the great fields of Philosophy, of Biblical Criticism and Comparative Eeligion." This proposal was warmly welcomed by the Trustees, as affording an unexampled -opportunity for illustrating the great principle of unfettered scholarship in matters of religion, and as enabling them to extend the benefits of the Trust to a wider public than had hitherto been possible. Accordingly, a scheme of lectures was carefully prepared, which was to be followed as far as circumstances would permit, but was necessarily subject to variation owing to the necessity of obtaining the services of competent lecturers. The scheme, however, was more coherent, and was carried out with more regard to a definite purpose than was immediately apparent to the public. It appeared to the Trustees that the sympathetic study of every form of religion would be a valuable preparation for understanding its highest and purest expression in Christianity, which would not occupy its true position till it was brought into friendly comparison with other forms of faith. Moreover, this larger survey, it was thought, would prepare the way for a philosophy of religion, without which it would be impossible to place Christianity on its true intellectual ground. Especially an exposition of the older Hebrew religion, as the root ou.t of which Christianity sprang, would aid the interpretation of its own richer and more spiritual development. It was further desirable that some of the great movements of Christianity, both near the time of its inception and at the epoch of the Reformation, should be exhi- bited from the point of view of the critical historian, so as to throw light on the genius of the religion in its most creative periods ; and that the influence of the Grjeco-Eoman world on Christian thought and practice should be carefully traced, so that the original essence of the religion might be separated from the accretions which it slowly gathered around it as it struggled for the mastery of the world. According to this scheme, which it was not possible to carry out with completeness or in systematic order, the lectures which were actually delivered fall into certain groups. First, a series of valuable contributions to the study of Comparative Eeligion, has been supplied by the lectures of Professor.Max Miiller on the Eeligions of India, of Mr. P. Le Page Eenouf on the Eeligion of Ancient Egypt, of Professor T. W. Khys Davids on Indian Buddhism, of Professor Albert Pteville on the Ancient Pteligion of Mexico and Peru, of Professor J. Ehys on Celtic Heathendom, of Professor Sayce on the Eeligion of Ancient Assyria and Babylonia, and of Mr. Montefiore on the Eeligion of the Ancient Hebrews. More philosophical in their conception and execution were the lectures of Professor Kuenen on National Eeligions and Universal Eeligions, and of Count Goblet d'Alviella on the Origin and Growth of the Idea of God ; while those of Professor 0. B. Upton on the Bases of Eeligions Belief were purely philosophical, and dealt with the most urgent questions of the present day. Connected with the history of Christianity were the lectures of M. Ernest Eenan on the Influence of the Institutions, Thought and Culture of Eome on Christianity, and the Development of the Catholic Church ; of the Eev. Charles Beard on the Eefor- mation in its Eelation to Modern Thought and Knowledge ; of Professor Pfleiderer on the Influence of the Apostle Paul on the Development of Christianity ; and of the Eev. Dr. Hatch on the Influence of Greek Ideas and Usages upon the Christian Church. The course was suitably closed by Dr. Drummond's lectures on Christianity in its rnost simple and intelligible form, which sought to deduce from the New Testament, under the illumina- tion of the various previous studies, the fundamental and essen- tial teachings of the Gospel, and to exhibit those permanent spiritual roots from which the various forms of theology and practice have sprung in accordance with the growing or declining culture and the predominant sentiment of successive ages. Thus the lectures, considered as a whole, constitute, if not a complete, nevertheless a regularly organised structure, all tend- ing to the realisation of a free and spiritual religion, under the still living inspiration which breathed in him whom Christians recognise as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and which he bequeathed as a permanent possession to mankind. Where all have been so conscientiously executed, none need be selected for special approval. The Trustees may justly feel that they have bestowed upon the public an important collection of volumes, and have illustrated the possibility of discussing religious themes with the same single-minded love of truth and the same freedom from doctrinal obligation as are brought to the study of science and of history ; and they have a well-grounded confidence that their pioneer effort has not been without its influence in pre- paring men for a larger and more discerning treatment of the things of faith. In providing for a lectureship of Ecclesiastical History at Oxford, which shall give special attention to those churches that have kept themselves free from the fetters of dogma, they believe that they are continuing the same work imder another name, and serving the cause of that pure and undefiled religion to which the Trust is dedicated. De. Williams's Library, December, 1894. THE HIBBERT LECTURES, 1894. THE HIBBERT LECTURES, 1894. YIA, VEEITA8, VITA: ON "CHRISTIANITY IN ITS MOST SIMPLE AND INTELLIGIBLE FORM." DELIVEEED IN OXFOED AND LONDON In April and Mat, 1894. JAMES DEUMMOI^D, M. A. (OxoN.), LL. D., Hon. Litt. D. (Dubiin) ; Pkinoipal op Manohestek. Colleoe, Oxford. WILLIAMS AND NORGATE, 14, HENRIETTA STKEET, CO VENT GARDEN, LONDON; And 20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBDRGH. 1894. [^ U Biffhts reserved. ] lONBON : FEINTED BY C. OEEBN AND SON, 178, 3XEAND. PREFACE. Of tlie inadequacy of the Lectures contained in this volume no one can be more fully aware than the author. I^umerous questions which are under dis- cussion at the present day have been passed over in silence, or alluded to only to be dismissed for want of space. All criticism of the primitive documents of Christianity has necessarily been omitted, and the exegesis of particular passages has not been accom- panied by the full and careful examination on which my own opinions have been baaed. I understood that the object of the Lectures was to give a general description of the spiritual teaching of Christianity, avoiding as far as possible the purely doctrinal con- troversies which have so often called off men's atten- tion from more fundamental matters. For this attempt I had at least one qualification, that in my early days I was not placed under the bias of any catechism or denominational formula, but was left to form ray ideas VI PREFACE. from repeated and independent reading of the New Testament. That I have succeeded in fathoming its deepest thoughts I do not for a moment pretend ; and I know full well that my exposition must bear the marks of personal limitation, and, it may be, of mis- apprehension. But man can live only by what he understands and appropriates ; and though my views are incomplete, and my statement of them can be little more than a summary of selected thoughts, I trust that these Lectures may at least call attention to some important, and too often neglected, aspects of Christianity. The limitations of space have likewise forbidden me to refer frequently or at any length to the writings of other students. Numerous writers have no doubt been helpful and suggestive ; but, for the substance of this volume, I am not conscious of any special indebtedness which I am bound to acknowledge. Wendt's Die Lehre Jesu I read with profound interest ; but my Lectures were already sketched out before I did so, and I do not think any portion of them is due to the iafluence of that valuable treatise. With this short explanation I send forth my work, hoping that it may do something to foster the growth PREFACE. Vll of pure and landefiled religion, and help to recall men from erections of wood, hay and stubble, to the one foundation, which is so highly extolled in words, so despised and rejected in practice. To all of every name and Church who love the Lord Jesus Christ ia sincerity I humbly dedicate these Lectures. JAMES DKUMMOND. OXFOED, September, 1894. TABLE OF CONTENTS. LECTUEE I. PAGE Essential Character op Christianity. The Christian Church 3—38 Purpose and method of the Course, pp. 3-6. The source of information, 6. Essential character of Chris- tianity, 7-13. Not limited to the teaching of Jesus, but embraces the total specific effect of his life and teaching, 13-15. The Christian Church. Its origin, 15-22 : In what sense Jesus was its Founder, 15-18; its early growth, 18-19; "the communion of the Holy Spirit," 19-20; missionary activity, 20-22. Its formative idea, 22-25. Conditions of membership, 26-27. Character of its government, 27-29. Obligations of its ritual, 29-33. Its living tradition, 33-35. Its teaching function, 35-38. LECTUEE II. The Bible. — I. The Earliest Christian View ... 41 — 78 The Church existed before the Bible was complete, 41-42. Nevertheless, the Old Testament formed a Christian Canon X CONTENTS. PAGE from the first, 42-44. Infallibility of the Bihle generally assumed, 44-45. Change of view in modern times, 45-47. Christ's use of the Old Testament, 47-71 : his view must be gathered from occasional utterances, 48. He accepted, in some sense, the authority of the Scriptures, 48-50. In appeals to prophecy he never dwells on minute details, 51-54. He places the moral above the ritual law, 55-57. His arguments based upon Scripture are opposed to the notion of a binding authority, 57-62. "Words of Scripture treated as a commandment of God, 62-64. Evidence afforded by the Sermon on the Mount, 64-69. Conclu- sion, 69-71. St. Paul's view, 71-77 : He looked upon the Old Testament as "holy Scriptures," 72-73 ; yet thought the old Covenant superseded by the new, 73-74. These two positions recon- ciled by his doctrine of the letter and the spirit, 74-75. This distinction applied to interpretation, 75-76. His difference from Philo, 76-77. Agreement with the view of Christ, 77. LECTUEE III. The Bible.— II. The Modern View 81—120 The ancient view and its modern adherents, 81-83. The change of view which is in progress, 84. Causes of the change, 85-95 : (i) Science, 85-87; (ii) Literary and his- torical criticism, 87-92; (iii) Moral and spiritual criticism, 92-95. Eesult, the Bible no longer a decisive authority, 95. Nevertheless, its religious value is attested by Chris- tian experience, 96-101 : (i) It holds up a mirror to the conscience, 98 ; (ii) It brings home spiritual truths to the mind, 98-99 ; (iii) It deepens devout feeling, 99-100 ; (iv) It gives comfort in sorrow, 100-101. Analogies in CONTENTS. XI PAGE otlier literature do not rob it of its unique position, 101-102. Eeconciliation of tlie critical and religious views, 102-120: — The Christian philosophy of the subject, 102-110: "The deep things of God" revealed in consciousness, 102-104; the highest form of life known to Christians as " the Spirit of Christ" (the " Christian consciousness"), 104- 105 ; truths involved in the Christian consciousness, 105-108 ; distinction in the kinds of truth, and limits of inspiration, 108-110. Mode in which the Bible reveals truth, 110-117 : The New Testament discloses the Spirit of Christ, 110-112; presents doctrines ready formed, 112-115; criterion by which to distinguish these, 115; the position of the Old Testament, 115-117. Eeason for the unique position of the Bible in Christen- dom, 117-119. Sources of its authority, 119-120. LECTUEE IV. The Kingdom of God 123 — 165 The Kingdom of God a fundamental thought in Christ's teaching, 123-125. Principles of interpretation, 125-128. The use of the phrase among the Jews, 128-131. The view of Jesus, 131-166 :—" The Kingdom of God is within you," 131-134. It is a present kingdom, 134-146. It comprises an indeterminate community, 146-155. Con- ditions of admission to it, 155-161. The kingdom not only present, but future, 161-162. The "coming of the Son of Man," 163-164. The slow and silent advent of the kingdom, 164-166. XU CONTENTS. LECTURE V. PAGE The Doctrine of God 169 — 206 Need of return to original spiritual experiences, 169-170. The fundamental idea that of Fatherhood, 170. Comparison with Philo, 171-172 J and with the Old Testament, 172-176. Essential character of the Christian ideal, 176-180. The way in which God is known, 180-189 : through reli- gious experience, 180-183 ; through the person of Christ, 1 83-1 87 ; through the divinity of human goodness, 187-188; from the action of God in nature, 188. General character of Christ's teaching about God, 189-190. His leading ideas, 190-201 : the unity of God, 190-192. His sovereignty, 192-193. His omnipresence, and omniscience, 193-195. The Hearer of prayer, 195-197. Forgiving, 197-198. Leaves man responsible, 198-201. Developments, 201-206: practical, 201-202 j intellectual, 203-206. LECTUEE VI. Ethics.— 1 209—243 Christianity profoundly ethical, 209-210. Its view of the supreme good, 210-212. Goodness, not in outward actions, but in the inward life, 212-215. Deductions from this principle, 215-225 : — freedom from the law, 215-216 ; sin inward as well as outward, 216-218; need of conversion, 218-221; practical duty insisted upon, 221-223; self- denial required, 223-225. Particular virtues, 225-243 : — "Want of system in Christ's teaching, 225-227. Summary of the Law, 227-228. CONTENTS. Xlll PAGE Love to God, 229-243 : Allegiance must be undivided, 229-230. The power of faith, 230-233. Faithfulness, 233-234. Vigilance, 234-235. Sincerity, 235-236. Humility, 236-239. Prayer, 239-243. LECTUEE VII. Ethics.— II 247—280 Particular virtues (continued) 247-269 : — Love to man, 247-258 : Love the supreme term, 247-248. Ground on which Love to man rests, 248-249. Un- limited in its range, 249-251. Inflicts no injury, 251-252. Eequires us to give, 252-254 ; and to help to heal the moral evils of the world, 254-256. The special relations of life to he regulated by love, 257. Christ's view of marriage, 257-258. Duties towards the lower animals, 258-261. Duties towards self, 261-269: Openness to truth, 261-262. Purity, 262-265. Swearing, 265-266. The possession of riches, 266-269. The future life, and its law of retribution, 269-278. Unity of moral conception in the New Testament, 278-280. LECTURE VIIL The Motive Power of Christianity 283—318 Statement of the question j Christianity a religion of redemp- tion, 283-284. Power of ideas, 285-292 : Christ as a Teacher, 285. Remarks on the phrase, " a mere man," 285-286. Saving efficacy of truth recognized in the New Testament, 286-288. Effect of Christian teaching on Jew and Gentile, 288-289. A Christianity without Christ might still have great power XIV CONTENTS, PAGE for good, 289-291. Nevertheless, the view which limits Christianity to the enunciation of truth is inadequate, 291-292. Power of Christ's personality, 292-317: Doctrine of his person, 292-312 : The spiritual fact in the experience of the first disciples, 293 ; interpreted through the philo- sophy and vocabulary of the time, 294. The doctrine of the Logos, 294-312: Meaning of the term, 294-297. Heraclitus ; and the Stoics, 297-300. The Jews of Alexandria (Philo), 300-304. The Scriptures as "the Word of God," 304-306. The Johannine view, 307-312. Its relation to Hebrew and Greek thought, 307-308. "The "Word made flesh" a fact of experience, 308-309. The Divine Thought in nature, 309-310; in man, 310-311; in the prophets, 311; "made flesh," 312. Bearing of this doctrine on the method of revelation of God and man, 312-315. The charter of spiritual freedom, 315-317. Power of the Church of Christ, as a community of brethren, who perpetuate the life of Divine Sonship among men, 317-318. Index op Subjects ... ... ... ... ... ... 321 Index of Passages of Scriptuee referred to ... ... 325 COEEIGENDA. P. 164, 1. 6, /or angel's read angels'. P. 195, heading, /or bearer read hearer. P. 231, 1. 14, for as its noMest read so its noblest. LECTUEE I. ESSENTIAL CHAEAOTER OF CHEISTIANITl^. THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH. Lecture I. ESSENTIAL CHAEACTEE OF CHEISTIANITY. THE CHEISTIAN CHUECH. The task to which. I have been invited by the courtesy of the Hibbert Trustees is one of no ordinary difficulty, and one which I would not have ventured spontaneously to undertake. It is to treat, within the limit of a short Course of Lectures, a large and complex subject, which bristles with controversy at every point, and to discuss with the impartiality of a critical historian a religion which not only pulsates all around us, and affects the mind with the varying feelings of agreement or dissent, but, as the chief power in my own life, commands a veneration which those who stand outside might regard as a blind survival from an antiquated past. In order to escape from the former difficulty I must b2 4 I. ESSENTIAL CHAEACTEE OF CHRISTIANITY. eschew all controversy, and confine myself to an expo- sition, necessarily from my own point of view, of some of the leading thoughts of Christianity; and indeed the title which has been assigned to these Lectures, "Chris- tianity in its most Simple and Intelligible Form," sug- gests the avoidance of the separating lines which divide the several sects, and the selection of those dominating features which might be supposed to present them- selves to the eye of a distant spectator. The matters about which we wrangle are not necessarily the most important, but rather help to divert the attention from what is really vital and essential. It was shown by the lamented Dr. Hatch, in his learned and valuable course of Hibbert Lectures, that the metaphysical systems with which Christianity has become associated were not part of the original Gospel, but resulted from the exercise of the human intellect upon the problems which Christianity presented ; and whatever may be the utility or the truth of these systems, it will be our duty to endeavour to get behind them, and ascertain the root -ideas of which they are the more or less imperfect expression. These ideas are the common heritage of Christendom, too often over- laid and forgotten amid piles of controversial dis- METHOD OF PROCEDTJEE. 5 quisition, sometimes denied and blasphemed by the rage of contending parties ; and it is the special work of our time to recover the fundamental spiritual facts which can alone justify any system of doctrine, to see and feel them in the simple beauty of their original presentment, and then, if need be, to re- translate them into forms of thought, not through the medium of Eabbinical lore or Greek philosophy, but in accordance with modem knowledge, and with the altered mental view which that knowledge has generated. The procedure thus indicated will to a large extent relieve us of the second difficulty. By avoiding con- troversy it will be possible to speak without the feel- ings of a partizan, and to look with a more judicial eye upon the various subjects which may come before us. But in trying to shun the controversial temper, we must not forget that the treatment of the subjects must be open to question, and kindly and suggestive criticism will be always welcome. The limitations of individual thought must make any exposition sadly defective; and I am deeply and even painfully con- scious that I can only sketch a few of the thoughts which Christianity has spoken to a single mind, and 6 I. ESSENTIAL CHAEACTER OF CHRISTIANITY. that goodly pearls of truth may have escaped the observation of too dim an eye. But in regard to an inherited veneration we need have no alarm. No system of life and thought can be understood by one who stands unsympathetically outside it ; and this, as we shall see, is peculiarly true of Christianity. Love is the great interpreter; and if to the shrewd critic it sometimes appears to press beyond the outward facts, it is only that it pierces to the divine ideal, and sees the imperishable truth behind the transient form. In entering on our subject, the first question which presents itself relates to the source of our information. Are we to confine ourselves to the teaching of Jesus, and believe that Christianity is to be found there complete and unalterable ? Or are we to include the Apostolic age, and maintain that Christ's immediate disciples were authorized exponents of his doctrine, but that the living word of God died with the last of the Apostles ? Or are we to cast our survey down the ages, and suppose that the original inspiration is still unexhausted, and brings new messages of truth and light to those who have ears to hear ? Our answer to these questions must depend on our conception of SOITECE OP INFORMATION. 7 the essential character of Christianity, whether it is primarily a doctrine, or a law, or a mode of interior and spiritual life. There are certain great sayings in the New Testa- ment which may help to determine this problem: — "Not every one that saith unto me. Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." ^ " Who- soever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother." ^ " By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."^ "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and death ; .... if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his, .... as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God."* "Now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love."^ "We all, with unveiled face reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit." ^ " Pure religion 1 Matt. vii. 21. 2 jjiatt. xii. 50. 3 John xiii. 35. * Eom. viii. 2, 9, 14, 5 1 Cor. xiii. 13. « 2 Cor. iii. 18. 8 I. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER OE CHRISTIANITY. and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." ^ "Ye may- become partakers of the Divine nature." ^ "Hereby know we that we abide in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit He that abideth in love, abideth in God, and God abideth in him."^ These are only samples of sayings with similar import, and have been taken, not from a single book, but from several writers of markedly different temperament and intellectual tendency. Their common underlying sen- timent is expressed with varying degrees of fulness and force; but they all point to something difierent from a law of duty or of ritual, which it would be possible mechanically to obey, and from a doctrine to which it would be possible to give a lifeless assent. They imply an inward experience of life with God of a peculiar and vivid kind ; the consciousness of a spirit breathed over the disordered passions and desires, and reducing them to the peace and harmony of love. Whatever may be its source, whatever its channel of communication, whatever the implicit thought on which it rests, whatever the duties or the worship 1 James i. 27. « 2 Peter i, 4, ^ 1 John iv. 13, 16. CHANGES IN DOCTRINE AND RITUAL. 9 which, it requires, I regard the presence of this mighty and transforming Spirit as the fundamental and per- manent fact in Christianity. The doctrine and ritual of Christendom have under- gone momentous changes, development or corruption, according to the point of view of the observer, and at this day present themselves in irreconcilable variety ; and nevertheless we recognize in Christianity a cer- tain self-identity running through the altered ages, and extending over the most discordant sects. The belief of the first generation that Jesus would speedily return as the triumphant Messiah to establish upon earth a kingdom of the saints, though it nerved the efforts of the missionary, gave point and force to the preacher's exhortation, and consoled the martyr amid the pangs of death, faded away under the teachings of history ; and yet the Gospel lost none of its earnest- ness and power. Justin Martyr assures us that those who were in all respects orthodox Christians knew that there would be a resurrection of the flesh, and a thousand years in a restored and adorned Jerusalem ; ^ but knowledge passes away, and this immature con- ception yielded to larger and more spiritual views. 1 Dial. 80. 10 I. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER OP CHRISTIANITY. Nevertlieless Christianity remained, and only increased in strength by adapting itself to changing intellectual conditions, and infusing itself into every variety of temperament. It refuses to be bound by the ignorance of man ; and when we have tied it up with the most ingenious knots of ceremony and dogma, it often slips away, leaving us in that arrogant self-righteousness which was and is its most deadly foe, and robing the heretic in the sweet simplicity and gracious lowliness of Christ. Where, then, are we to find that element which binds together Catholic and Protestant, Quaker and Eitualist, Calvinist and Arminian, Unitarian and Trinitarian, in the unity of a common name, and marks them as belonging to the same religious genus ? We can find it only in the quality of the inward life. We may describe this as the life of Christ within the heart, as a life of saintly fellowship with God, as the life of sonship, as the incorporation of the Divine life in humanity. This is what its greatest teachers have recognized as its essence. Whatever else might admit of dispute, it was an undeniable fact of experience that it had entered as a new power into their lives; and whatever importance they may have attached to sacrament or dogma, the end in view was always the A RELIGION OF THE SPIEIT, NOT OF THE LETTER. 11 inward holiness and love wHcli belong to the children of God.i Christianity, then, is, as St, Paul declared, a religion of the spirit, not of the letter ; and, though Christendom is still so blind to its own real glory, this is its grand and distinctive mark. "Spirit" and "life" are among the great words of the New Testa- ment ; and these do not suggest a dead deposit which, like a sacred mummy, must be wrapped in swathing bands, and guarded from attack, but vivid forces which find ever new expression in activity and thought, and reach their highest development by freely mingling in the progressive movement of mankind. If this view be correct, it is clear that we cannot regard Christianity simply as a truth or a system of truths, which, as Theodore Parker said, would be just as true if Herod or Catiline had taught them, and which, like the truths of astronomy or biology, when once discovered become the property of the race, rest- ing exclusively on their own evidence, and leaving to the discoverer, some religious Newton or Darwin, only an historical or antiquarian interest. He who ^ See a very striking description of Hs own change quoted from Cyprian, Ep. i. ad Donatum in Neander's Memorials of Christian Life, p. 15 : Bohn. 12 I. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER OF CHRISTIANITY. discovers a truth of science hands it over as an imper- sonal gift to mankind, and the value of the truth has no connection with the life of him who first propounded it. He might sink into as complete oblivion as the great astronomers of Chaldea ; but the science would remain with unimpaired vitality and value. But a special type of religious life cannot be so easily detached from him in whom it was first enshrined. It cannot be taught like a lesson in mathematics or chemistry, but must enter as a refining power into the mind, transmuting its dross into fine gold, and cleansing that inward eye by which spiritual truth is discerned. It spreads, not by the calculable process of the intellect, but, as it were, by a holy contagion of exalted feeling ; and hence he who introduces it into the world becomes at once its inspirer and its norm, giving life through the communion of faith and love, and restoring that life to pristine purity when it has strayed into extrava- gance and error. If conscious sonship be the essence of Christianity, then he to whom that sonship was such an absorbing reality that he made it a reality to the world, must stand in an undying relation to that spiritual movement of which he is not only the ancient source, but is still the source in multitudes NOT CONFINED TO THE TEACHING OF JESUS. 13 of hearts; and those who are within that movement cannot come to him with the cold curiosity of his- torians, but with the veneration and love of disciples. Nevertheless, as disciples they desire not so much to receive, on his authority, some truth of the intellect, as to be imbued, through his inflaenoe, with the same spirit. These remarks will enable us to answer the ques- tion with which we started. Christianity, as a living spirit in the world, does not begin and end with the oral teaching of Jesus himself, but must embrace the total specific effect of his life and teaching upon the human soul. We may expect, indeed, to find the fundamental principles of his religion enunciated in his recorded discourses, and we may apply these prin- ciples as a test to various ecclesiastical developments ; but we have no right to expect a completed system of thought or a final judgment upon the various ques- tions to which, in the course of time, his own teaching necessarily gave rise. His own teaching was couched in the language of the day, and addressed to the wants of the day ; and succeeding ages had their own problems, which had to be solved, not by the express words of the Master, but by his spirit working through 14 I. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER OF CHRISTIANITY. the imperfect intelligence and knowledge of the several periods. An excellent example is furnished by the earliest controversy which arose within the Church. Were the Gentiles to be admitted without imposing on them the observance of the Jewish Law? Here was a question which was vital to the future of Chris- tianity, and yet it was impossible to appeal to the decision of Jesus, for the question had not arisen in his time. St. Paul decided it by his clear perception of the spirit of Christ, in which the solution was virtually involved. His arguments, when stripped of their temporary form and colour, amount to this : that the spirit of Christ, the spirit of sonship, exempted men from subserviency to the Law, not by the lower- ing of duty or the abolition of moral distinctions, but by lifting them into the righteousness of God, where the eternal requirements of moral obligation were ful- filled with a spontaneous freedom and completeness that were not possible at any lower stage. To be in Christ was ipso facto to be independent of the Law, and therefore to impose it on the Gentiles was practi- cally to deny the faith. Here, then, was a momentous theological decision, which went clearly beyond the express teaching of Jesus. All will now admit that it THE CHRISTIAN CHUECH. 15 was a grand and wise decision, and that Paul, in stepping boldly forth into the freedom of the spirit, interpreted correctly the true genius of Christianity, rather than those who shut themselves up in the oldness of the letter, and maintained that a dead Christ, whom they had known after the flesh, had nothing more to teach the world. So to others like- wise the Spirit may have spoken words of truth, and some of the profound sayings of the Fourth Gospel, even if they were not actually spoken by the mortal lips of Jesus, may have been breathed in the inter- preting soul of a genuine seer, and be a true expression of his doctrine. And when the aged seer closed his dying eyes, the Spirit did not die, but continued, and still continues to bear witness ; and never has it been more active than in our own day, when it is engaged in the solution, not of speculative, but of practical problems. We are now prepared to deduce the idea of the Christian Church. In the view which we have taken, it is a question of comparatively small importance whe- ther Jesus himself founded and constituted a Church or not ; for a distinct society, with suitable organiza- tion, grew necessarily out of the movement which he 16 r. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. initiated. It is certainly remarkable that in three of the Gospels the word Church does not occur, and in the remaining one it is used only on two occasions,^ of which one alone has any bearing upon the subject. The celebrated declaration, " On this rock will I build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it," is omitted in the parallel accounts, and is therefore exposed to the suspicion of a later date ; for ^ Matt. xvi. 18, xviii. 1 7. Mr. W. H. Lowe shows that eKKXria-ia in the latter passage refers neither to the Christian Church nor to the Jewish Synagogue, hut simply to a body of ten persons, which in Hebrew is called T^'^'S, a congregation, ten being the number required by Eabbinic law for various more solemn religious acts. (TJie Fragment of Talmud Bahli, 1879, p. 65, note Cc.) The added words, " What things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven : and what things soever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven," have been understood as conveying to the Church the prerogative of forgiveness and condemnation. Yet the words are addressed, not to the Church, but to the disciples, who were desired to report to the Church the impenitence of an offending brother. If we interpret the words by the context, the meaning seems to be that if the disciples acted in the just and forgiving spirit which was inculcated, their binding and loosing would cor- respond with the verdict of heaven. To suppose that the state- ment was intended to confer even on the Apostles an arbitrary and unconditional power of forgiving or not at their discretion, would be quite contrary to the whole tenor of the chapter. I am arguing on the supposition that the words have been correctly attributed to Christ ; but some critics might show reason for doubt. THE CHURCH IN THE TEACHING OP CHEIST. 17 we can hardly suppose that two of the Evangelists would deliberately omit a saying which constituted the very basis of ecclesiastical authority.^ At all events, it would be impossible in any scientific treatment to regard this statement as an adequate foundation for the enormous superstructure of ecclesiastical assump- tion which has been built upon it. We must infer from these facts that the notion of a Church entered very little or not at all into Christ's teaching, and that in speaking of him as the Founder of the Church we express rather the unpremeditated consequence than the explicit purpose of his life and doctrine. He speaks, indeed, frequently of " the kingdom of heaven," or " the kingdom of God ; " but he nowhere identifies this with a Church, or ascribes to it any definite organization. From among his disciples he selected an inner group, to enjoy a closer intimacy with him- self, and to extend, through the medium of their word, ^ Professor A. B. Bruce accepts the saying as genuine on the ground that " it is far too remarkable to have proceeded from any one but Jesus." He thinks the third Evangelist may have omitted it owing to " a consciousness that the words were being used already for party purposes," and that Mark may have omitted it owing to the "modesty" of Peter, under whose influence he wrote. {Tlia Kingdom of God ; or, Christ's Teaching according to the Synoptical Gospels, pp. 260 sqq.) C 18 I. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. the area of Ms preacliing ; and this may slio-w ttat h.e contemplated a large movement of reform on lines peculiar to himself. But there is no evidence that he made his Apostles the nucleus of a society, which was to be constituted under fixed rules, and placed under the direction of a hierarchy. It seems to have been his immediate purpose to scatter his great spiritual principles broadcast on the world, and allow them to germinate freely where and how they would.^ Kevertheless, a distinct society of ''Brethren" appears to have grown up almost immediately after the departure of Jesus from the world ; and within twenty or thirty years we find "Assemblies" (com- monly translated "Churches") of these "Brethren" or " Saints " scattered over the Eoman empire, and the idea of the collective Church, united as a single organism, already formulated by St. Paul. We cannot enter into the question of the mode in which these Churches were constituted. The researches of Dr. Hatch and others have made it probable that the organization was based upon existing lines, and was slowly elaborated to meet the growing necessities of the movement; and there is really no evidence that ^ See, especially, the parable of the Sower. THE FOEMATIOJSr OF THE CHURCH. 19 the Clmrcli is a " divinely constituted society," in the sense that it owes all the details of its government to the express appointment of men acting under a divine sanction. Indeed, this kind of legal and inflexible constitution is inconsistent with the spirituality and freedom of primitive Christianity, when the general body of believers were " an elect race, a royal priest- hood," ''to offer up spiritual sacrifices;"^ and it was only through the intrusion of lower elements of thought, and the needs of a world-wide empire, which had ceased to be a kingdom of saints, that a vast organized autho- rity gradually asserted itself, and claimed to represent on earth the prerogative of God. But in another and higher sense the Church was of divine origin. As human society has arisen out of the nature which God has implanted in the heart of man, so the Christian society arose out of that new spirit which separated all who received it from the superstition and immo- rality around them. It may be sufficient to notice two elements in the Christian consciousness which led to the formation of a Church. " The communion of the Holy Spirit" is one of the great ideas of Christendom. These words came ori- 1 1 Peter ii. 9, 5, c2 20 I. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. ginally from the glowing heart of Paul, when he saw the Corinthian disciples wrangling about superficial questions, and forgetting the deep and inward life with God, without which Christianity was nothing but a name. The words have lived on, and passed into the devotions of the Church; and if they have too often degenerated into a heartless formula, which Christians honour with their lips and disown in prac- tice, still they bear witness to an ideal which has been never wholly lost. Nothing unites men so powerfully as common religious sympathies and aspirations, and those who share in any degree the communion of the Spirit are drawn together as brother to brother; for before the majesty of this hidden life of God in the soul all lower estrangements dwindle into insignifi- cance. Out of this life the Church arose, as a com- munity of brethren and children of God ; and the members met together to express their sense of brotherhood, to ofier common worship, and to give and receive the strength and encouragement which spring from the consciousness of common aims and hopes. Further, Christianity has always been a missionary religion. Christ himself was a "teacher;" and to THE FORMATION OE THE CHTTECH. 21 teach and reform the world, to go about doing good, to bring spiritual riches down into the abodes of poverty, to carry the torch of divine life and light into the darkest haunts of sin, — this has always been part of the duty of Christendom, and was a marked feature of the original movement. If the anticipation of a speedy judgment coming upon the world gave greater energy to the labours of the missionary, these labours were generated and sustained by the new philanthropy, which overleapt the barriers of wealth and class, of nation and sect, and saw in the most squalid of earth's sufferers a child of God whom the spirit of Christ could redeem. According to the splendid vision of the Apocalyptic seer, the kingdoms of the world would become the kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ, and the tabernacle of God would be with men, and he would wipe away every tear from their eyes.^ But before this could come to pass, the missionary had to travel, footsore, from land to land ; the Apostle had to become familiar with peril, and nakedness, and hunger; the martyr had to illumine the night with his flaming body, or to yield his blood under the claws of lions for the amusement of a brutal 1 Kcv. xi. 15, xxi. 3, ii 22 .1. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH^ mob. The dream has not been fulfilled ; but all over the Eoman empire arose an army of men and women who were ready to die at any moment for this new enterprize of love ; and though they were scorned by the wealth and culture of their day, and it is still the fashion in some quarters to deride their superstition and folly, I for my part cannot but venerate these steadfast champions of righteousness, and would hum-, bly lay a wreath of honour upon the tombs of that noble army of martyrs. The vast and dangerous task on which these men were engaged could not be accom- plished by individual effort. Association, method, organization, were essential to their purpose ; and thus the beneficence of Christianity was another element which led by a natural process to the formation of a Church. We must conclude, then, that even if Jesus did not constitute the Church by any express command, still its formation is a genuine and inevitable outcome of the Christian principle ; and in this sense we may speak of Christ as the Founder of the Church. We must now ask. What is the formative idea by which this association of brethren was governed, and by its appropriation of which it is to be judged? .- ITS FORMATIVE IDEA. 23 St. Paul compares it to a temple in which the Spirit of God dwells.^ What -was true of the individual was true in a fuller sense of the assembly. All had been baptized severally into the same spirit, and therefore all collectively formed one body, animated by one spirit. But a body is an organism controlled by one pervading life, and yet having a variety of functions which are allotted to different members. So the Church is an organism which finds the complete expression of its life only in its corporate unity, and manifests an endless variety of gift, and aim, and operation, through the individuals composing it.^ With this lofty idea, it was natural that the new society should be called " the Church of God ; " ^ for it was the living sanctuary ^ 1 Cor. iii. 16, said, in immediate reference to the Corinthian believers. ^ See this idea worked out in 1 Cor. xii., where we may remark in passing that instead of " bishops, priests and deacons,'' as we might expect in accordance with ecclesiastical theory, we have " apostles, prophets and teachers." 3 See 1 Cor. i. 2, x. 32, xi. 22, xv. 9; 2 Cor. i. 1; Gal. i. 13; 1 Tim. iii. 5, 15. In 1 Cor. xi. 16, 1 Thess. ii. 14, and 2 Thess. i. 4, the expression is used in the plural. See also the opening of Clem, ad Cor., of the Epistle of Polycarp, and of the Epistle on the Martyrdom of Polycarp. In some of the Ignatian Epistles the expression is used, with the addition of the name of Christ (Ad 24 I. THE CHRISTIAN CHUECS. where God revealed his Spirit, if not with greater depth and power, yet with greater richness and mani- fold fulness, than was possible to the solitary soul, Christ was the head of the body, the full receptacle of the divine life of love, from whom it was distributed to the several parts ;^ and we are therefor© justified in saying that the Christian Church, according to its idea, is a society for the extension and perpetuation of the spirit of life in Christ. As a man without his spirit is none of his, so a Church without his spirit is none of his ; and no assumption of Apostolical succes- sion, or of any other outward and material links, can alter the divine facts, and make lowliness, purity and love, anything but Christlike — hatred, worldliness and arrogance, anything but diabolical. In all the sects of Christendom there is some attempt to express this divine idea of the Church, and so far as they express it they are parts of the Church of Christ ; in all, I sup- pose, there is some admixture of selfish and degrading PhiladelpJi. and Ad Smyrn, The simpler expression is used in the plural, Ad Trail, xii.). 1 Eph. iv. 15, 16, i. 22, 23 ; Col. i. 18, 19. Even if, as some critics suppose, these words are not Paul's, they are at all events not inconsistent with his thought, and they express one of the purest and noblest ideas of primitive Christianity. THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE CHURCH. 25 elements, for the Spirit of God takes little heed of the lines of human organization. Hence a distinction has been drawn between the visible and the invisible Church. The visible Church consists at present of a number of organizations, which include unworthy as well as worthy members, and, in their devotion to what is non-essential, regard one another with more or less of suspicion and hostility. The invisible Church consists of the men, wherever found, who make the spirit of Christ the sovereign guide of their lives, and exhibit, at least in some faint and trembling gleams, the love of the Father in the world. These men belong to one another, and form one sacred band, though their communion may not be known and realized till the dreams of earth are passed. Here they are kept apart by the subtilties of theologians, the pretensions of ecclesiastics, the false or limited aims of sectarian leaders; but even now they can see the barriers crumbling beneath the power of the Spirit, and surely the day must come when they shall step across the ruins, and, recognizing on one another's foreheads the new name, will find themselves side by side, a great army of brothers marching into the kingdom of God. If we proceed to inquire into the constitution of 26 I. THE CHEISTIAN CHTJECH. the Cliuvcli, we enter on a subject which has filled volumes of controversy, and cannot possibly be dis- cussed within our prescribed limits. I can only indi- cate in the briefest way the principles which seem to me to lie at the root of the question. The conditions of membership ought to correspond with the essential character of the reKgion ; and there- fore a sincere desire to live under the guidance of the Spirit of God ought to be a sufficient qualification. And so it practically was in the earliest times. Christ himself preached the necessity of repentance, of return- ing to the purity and simplicity of childhood, of taking up the cross daily and following him. As we have already seen, those who did the will of God were his spiritual kindred ; and we have not only no evidence that he insisted on the adoption of an elaborate theo- logical creed or a particular form of ritual, but such insistence is utterly remote from the whole tone and method of his teaching. Even when the Church was more fully constituted, the initial declaration of faith was of the simplest kind, and almost a startling variety of belief was to be found among the disciples ; and it was only by slow degrees that the opinions of majori- ties received the force of irreversible laws, and Paul's CONDITIONS or MEMBERSHIP. 27 principle that "knowledge passes away," and perma- nence is to be found only in the Spirit, was con- temptuously trodden under foot. From that time Christianity, though never without faithful witnesses, became less and less a religion of the Spirit, more and more a religion of the letter and the form, till things were done in the name of the Gospel which might have sent a tremor of shame through the denizens of hell.^ But the Spirit is slowly breaking its fetters, and Christ is rising from the tomb in which his pro- fessed followers have buried him. The intellect is re-asserting its rights, and finding that Christianity is not a spirit of bondage to fear, but a spirit of sonship which gives a free and exalted life to the noblest powers of the mind. In regard to the government of the Church, I can only express my own conviction that the idea of a sacred order, clerical or sacerdotal, is quite alien to the original principles of Christianity.^ The general ^ It is sufficient to mention the Inquisition, the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, and the doings of the Spaniards in the Netherlands. 2 I may refer especially to Lightfoot's admirable essay on "The Christian Ministry," in his Epistle to the PMlippidns. It may he worth while calling attention to the familiar, but disregarded, fact, that neither Jesus himself, nor, so far as we know, any of his 28 I. THE CIIEISTIAN CHURCH. body of believers were "kings and priests to God,"' enjoying, like the ideal Stoic, a royal freedom and prerogative, and, like the ideal servant of the sanc- tuary, an immediate communion with the Father. According to the record, Christ expressly forbade his disciples to have any titles of distinction, on the ground that they were all brothers;^ and Paid, declared that all were one man in Christ, for all were sons of God.^ Still every society requires officers for the direction and administration of its affairs, and at a comparatively early period the Church was organized agreeably to the system which has prevailed in its largest sections ever since. Such an organization, though I believe it arose out of practical necessities, and took form from existing usages, is perfectly legitimate, and runs counter to the primitive Gospel only when it lays claim to a special divine authority, and invests its officers with clerical or sacerdotal functions. This violation of the earlier idea stole in very naturally from older and less spiritual systems, but has con- Apostles, sprung from the sacerdotal line. Peter and John are expressly called iSttUrat, "laymen'' (Acts iv. 13). 1 Rev. i. 6 ; see also v. 10 and xx. 6. 2 Matt, xxiii. 8 sqq. 3 q^I. iii. 26 sqq. ORGANIZATION AND RITUAL. 29 tributed not a little to tte obscuring, if not the destruction, of some of the grandest principles of Christ's teaching. Its pretensions are refuted, not only by history and interpretation, but by experience ; for men of the noblest Christian character are found outside as well as inside the episcopal portions of Christendom. Organization, then, is a matter of con- venience, not of prescription ; and the Spirit, whose expression and organ it is, may freely adapt it to the wants of different times and places. A similar remark applies to the observance of ritual. "Not only is no particular form of worship enjoined in the earliest documents of Christianity, but principles are laid down which miKtate against the imposition of any rigid ceremonial. The controlling principle of the movement is expressed in the words, " JSTeither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father God is Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth." ^ Christians were not to " observe days, and months, and seasons, and years," 2 and were not to allow any man to judge them "in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast- day, or a new moon, or a Sabbath-day." ^ Christ's 1 John iv. 21, 24. ^ Gal. iv. 10. ^ Col. ii. IG. 30 r. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. own directions might almost seem to forbid the public services of religion : " "When ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites : for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret. .... When thou fastest, anoint thy head and wash thy face ; that thou be not seen of men to fast, but of thy Father which is in secret."^ Yet as he himself appears to have attended the services of the syna- gogue, we may fairly take these words, not as a proa hibition of all public worship, but as a protest against ostentation and insincerity, and a warning that we must reserve for the eye of God alone those acts of devotion and self -discipline in which we are not uniting with our fellow-men. Here, too, the instincts and requirements of human nature must have free play under the guidance of the Spirit. From the first, Christians have been drawn together in the communion of worship ; and thus time and place were necessarily pre-arranged, days and buildings were set apart, and some decorous order of service became requisite. E"o 1 Matt. vi. 5, 6, 17, 18. SACRAMENTS. 31 order is illegitimate that expresses and fosters the Christian life, and extends to every time and place the consecration which signalizes the Sabbath and the Church ; none is legitimate which substitutes the form for the spirit, or creates a sense of merit in scrupulous attention to a ceremonial. A few words must be said here about the obserr- ances which are known as sacraments. Whatever may be thought about other rites, there can be no doubt that Baptism and the Lord's Supper have been observed by the vast majority of Christians from the earliest times ; and it may therefore be contended, with some show of reason, that they were enjoined by Christ himself as an essential part of his religion. This long and wide-spread continuity of usage makes these rites peculiarly impressive symbols of the unity of Christendom ; and for my part I accept and deeply value them as venerable witnesses of a large and undying fellowship, and as helps, consecrated by the piety of ages, in our own dedication to that life which for so many centuries has been struggling against the evil in the world. But it is impossible to prove that Christ formally constituted them a part of his religion 32 I. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. for all time ;i and there is nothing whatever to justify the ascription to him of teaching which attaches value to the material elements, or attributes a sacramental efficacy to the mere performance of a rite. This, indeed, is quite contrary to the whole tenor of his teaching, which invariably lays the stress on that which is within, not on that which is without. He offended the Pharisees by saying that " there is nothing from without the man that going into him can defile him .... because it goeth not into his heart ;"2 and it is only analogous reasoning to say that nothing from ^ The injunction, " This do in remembrance of me," is not found in Matthew or Mark. In Luke the words are at least of doubtful authenticity. In Westcott and Hort's edition the conclusion is reached that there is " no moral doubt that the words in question were absent from the original text of Lc." The Fourth Gospel makes no allusion to the institution, and therefore its evidence is purely negative. The fact, however, remains, that this important precept, if Westcott and Hort are right, rests ultimately on the sole testimony of Paul. But even if the words were used, they were spoken simply to the disciples then present, and there is nothing to suggest their application to the followers of Christ for all time. I may refer the reader to an essay by Professor Percy Gardner on The Origin of the Lord's Supper (Macmillan and Co., 1893), though I am unable to accept its more important conclusions. 2 Mark vii. 15, 19 ; Matt. xv. 10 sqq. THEOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT. 33 without can sanctify a man, because it enters not his heart. Here, too, men must exercise the freedom of Christian judgment, and be fully persuaded in their own minds. There are one or two other questions on which we must touch before we conclude. From all that has been said it follows that the Church, so far as it answers to its idea, is the ever -living witness and organ of the life of sonship, and that Christians, there- fore, are not bound by a legal or dogmatic revelation incorporated once for all in ancient documents. The life which was brought into the world by Christ has remaiued as a permanent force, ever striviug for a fuller and larger realization, and applying present in- sight to the solution of new problems of thought and practice. It is indeed kept pure and true to its ideal by constant reference to its original source ; but that source fails of its intended object if the languid waters are allowed to sink into a stagnant marsh, and the living streams no longer flow over the wilderness, clothing it with freshness and verdure. There is, therefore, room in the Church for a true theological development. It is the business of theology to express in terms of thought the implicit contents of the spirit. 34 I. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Here, then, are two elements of growth. The contents of the spirit gradually unfold themselves in conscious- ness under the experience and discipline of life ; and from time to time men of higher spiritual power than their fellows arise, and, owing to exceptional gifts, bring new phases of the spirit to light, or clearly reveal what before was only dimly discerned. And, again, thought has its own law of development, and often requires centuries to work out its logical results ; and as every system of thought must correspond with the known facts of the universe, it is checked and controlled, and liable even to be completely reversed, by the advance of knowledge. Thus theology grew as men became more clearly conscious of the problems which their Christian experience suggested, and it necessarily took form from the knowledge and philo- sophy of the time. Unfortunately, the definitions of theologians, when ratified by the votes of a general council, were regarded as the infallible utterances of Divine wisdom, and an anathema was pronounced on all who questioned their validity. This, as it appears to me, was a complete departure from Christian princi- ple ; and it has plunged the Church into trouble and confusion, and perhaps more than anything else has ITS TEACHING FUNCTION. 35' imperilled the very existence of the religion. If Chris- tians all spoke with the free voice of untrammelled thought, their assertion of Christian truth would be a thousand-fold more impressive than it is ; and if thought could freely adapt itself to the vast changes in our knowledge, the oracles of the Spirit would not be silent amid the decaying walls of mediaeval dogma. This leads me, finally, to say a few words about the teaching function of the Church. In accordance with the view that the Church is not a dead mechanism, but a living organism, it is not simply to copy the earliest examples, and limit its instruction by the elementary wants of the first converts. Experience has widened; knowledge has increased; doubts and difficulties peculiar to the time are continually pressing upon the mind. In order to meet this condition of things, a body of men is required who are fitted both by natural gifts and by careful training for a position of high responsibility and of no ordinary difficulty. They ought to combine, at least in some humble fashion^ the functions of the prophet and the scholar. They ought themselves to be penetrated with that spirit of sonship, the meaning and contents of which they have to unfold, so that they may speak with authority of d2 36 I. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. what they have seen and known, and bring forth ancient truth with the originality of new experience. They ought to be equipped with the learning belonging to their own department of inquiry, and to be possessed of sufficient general culture to understand the position of theology in the circle of the sciences, and to appre- ciate the enormous growth in human knowledge, and the profound changes which have taken place, not only in men's formal belief, but even to a greater extent in the whole attitude of thought towards spiritual things. They would thus be saved from the feeble and queru- lous denials of new knowledge which only make reli- gion ridiculous, and be able to ofEer at least some little contribution towards that re -statement of religious truth which the intelligence of the age requires. On such a body of men twaobligations ought to be imposed. As teachers of religion, they ought to have no end in view but the ascertaining and enunciation of truth ; as teachers of ethics, they ought to view every question of practice from the side of the purest morality. They fall from the duties of their high office when they become the lifeless depositories of an ancient creed, and judge every political and social movement by its bearing on the interests of their own ITS TEACHING FUNCTION. 37 sect. It is not theirs to hand down unbroken the fossils of what was once a living faith, hut to guide the evolving life of their own time towards the reali- zation of that formative ideal which through the ages has been the divinest power of our growing humanity. They must have known in themselves the vivid play of intellect and soul, and have seen, at least in gleams of sympathetic light, the spirit of sonship illumining their own consciousness. For them Christianity must be living, and not dead, and possess all the variety and adaptability of life. They would then speak with the genuine authority of men competent to deal with their subject, and Christianity, expressing itself through a freer and nobler organ than ever before, would enter on a new career of beneficent activity. I do not indeed envy the man who can find no autho- rity in Christendom as it has existed hitherto, and is not impressed by its long and wonderful history. With all its errors, and weaknesses, and sins, it has borne a noble testimony to an unseen kingdom of truth and righteousness ; and if it has sometimes appeared to sink into the kingdoms of the world, yet, through its lowly saints and its daring preachers and martyrs, it has proved that the life of God in the soul of man is a 38 I. THE CHRISTIAN CHUECH. profound reality. It is these who speak to our hearts and rebuke our doubts. They come to us, a great throng, from every kindred and tongue and sect ; and if they do not bear a commission from a hierarchy, they have the seal of God upon their souls, and their names are in the book of Life, The Holy Spirit will not be bound by our human rules, but, paying no heed to our corporations and successions, "bloweth where it listeth," and now leaves the priest alone in his empty pride, and again kindles prophetic fire in some wanderer from the beaten ways. When this fact is frankly recognized, and it is seen that Christians give an unconstrained assent to the reality of things spiritual and eternal, that they are not the prejudiced upholders of an effete system, but the thankful guar- dians of a heavenly life, which with perennial youth adapts itself to ever new surroundings, the Church of God which is in Christ will have a word of greater and more convincing power, and, laying aside its bitter controversies, and its vain and unspiritual pretensions, unite its scattered forces, and march to new victories over ignorance, superstition and sin. LECTUEE II. THE BIBLE— I. Lecture II. THE BIBLE.— I. In the last Lecture we had frequent occasion to quote portions of the New Testament ; and while we treated Christianity as in its essence a spirit of life, with its own laws of growth and adaptability, and with its living word for each successive age, still we referred to the New Testament as containing the most authentic account of its large and governing ideas. The question is thus opened into the nature of the Christian Scriptures, and the place which they occupy in the religious life of Christendom. That sacred Scriptures have played a prominent part in the direc- tion of Christian thought and practice from the first, is simply an historical fact. It is not true that thfe Church existed before the Bible, except in this sense, that it existed before the Bible was complete. Churches 42 II. THE BIBLE.— I, were established in various countries before the books of the New Testament were written, and had become conscious of their corporate unity before these books were collected into an accepted Canon. This is un- doubtedly a weighty fact, and confirms the view already taken, that Christianity is not bound by its earliest expression, but seeks new forms of utterance as circumstances require. It is significant that Christ himself wrote nothing ; though, if it had been his purpose to promulgate a new law or to establish a dogmatic system, it would have been his natural course to write it down with all plainness, and demand the obedience or belief of his disciples. But instead of this, he enunciated large principles of life and thought, which were capable of various embodiment, and which he taught with greater clearness and power through the quality and force of his character than through his words. The personal impression of his own Sonship to God, an impression handed down by the living tradition of souls quickened by the same Spirit, is the most precious inheritance which he has bequeathed to mankind. . But while all this is true, iit is also true that the Old Testament is more ancient than the Christian Church, and formed an accepted EAELT USE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 43 canon of Holy Scripture before Christ and his Apostles began to disturb the traditional orthodoxy of the Jews.^ So far as our scanty records enable us to judge, it .seems probable that the first Christian missionaries went forth with these venerable writings in their hands. Not only did they appeal to their authority before Jews and proselytes, but St. Paul, in address- ing Gentile Churches, assumes that the disciples are familiar with their contents.^ Heathen philosophers were converted to Christianity by reading the Old Testament, especially the Prophets;^ and in the ear- liest account which we possess of the regular Sunday services, we are told that the memoirs of the Apostles or the writiugs of the Prophets were read.* It is a reasonable inference that before the books of the New Testament were written, and at a time when the ^ The fact that doubts existed about the precise limits of the Canon does not affect the truth of this general statement. 2 See Gal., 1 and 2 Cor., and I would add Eom., passim. 3 See Justin Martyr, Dial. 7 sq. ; Tatian, Orat. ad Grac. 29 ; Theophilus of Ant. Ad Aut I. 14 ; Clem. Al. Cohort ad Gent. i. pp. 3 and 8 (Potter) ; and for the inspiration of the Prophets, and the evidence they afford of the truth of Christianity, see Athena- goras, Supjplic. 9. * Justin Martyr, Ap. I. 67. 44 II. THE BIBLE. — I. Jewish element in the Chvirch was influential, the Old Testament was the Christian Bible, and that it stood in a relation to Christian life and thought, if not identical with, at least similar to, that which at a later time was fulfilled by the two Testaments in com- bination.^ I think, therefore, that we are justified in affirming that not only were sacred Scriptures produced by the Church as a result of its own activity, and as a more exact expression of its own peculiar life, but that from the first a Bible was accepted as one of the foundations of the faith, as an authority in contro- versy, and as a source from which the religious spirit might derive nourishment and strength. It is hardly necessary to say that throughout the history of the Church a position has been assigned to the Bible which places it quite apart from all other religious literature. It has been customary to attri- bute to it a unique kind of inspiration, and to recog- nize it as the supreme source, or one of two co-ordinate sources, of saviug truth and moral discipline. The limits of this inspiration have not been precisely defined by ecclesiastical authority ; but practically the inf alli- * I may refer here to 1 Tim. iv. 13, where the connection suggests public reading of the Scriptures. VIEWS OP ITS INFALLIBILITY. 45 bility of Scripture has been generally maintained by Ckristians, and it has been commonly assumed till very recent times that attacks on the credibility of any portion of it could proceed only from infidelity. In the Roman Catholic Church the Council of Trent declared that God was the author of the Old and New Testaments ; "^ and this certainly seems to imply their miraculous origin and absolute perfection, as similar language would not have been used about any other collection of books. The sixth Article of the Church of England is much less explicit, because its object is to assert "the sufficiency," and not the authority, of Scripture; but in the acknowledgment of the books as " Canonical," and as the final court of appeal in all questions of faith, the view of their inspiration preva- lent at the time is virtually adopted. The ordinary Protestant view is clearly set forth in the "Westminster " Confession of Faith." God is there pronounced to be "the author" of the Bible, "the Word of God written," and its "infallible truth and Divine autho- rity," are accepted.^ At the present day an increasing number of men 1 Sessio Qaarta, Decretum de Canonicis Scripturis. 2 Chap. i. 46 11. THE BIBLE. — I. are becoming convinced that this doctrine is contrary to fact, and cannot be maintained; and among these men are not only opponents of Christianity in all its forms, but also believers who feel that Christianity is the breath of their life, and that in the rejection of this ancient doctrine they are only getting nearer to the heart of the religion. Among important groups of theologians the question is, not how they shall defend this dogma as the last stronghold of the Gospel against the swarming hordes of atheism and immorality, but how they shall rid Christianity of what has become an obscuration and an encumbrance, and still retaia all the spiritual value of the ancient creed. To them, as to their predecessors, the Bible has been a book of life, enrichiug their thought, puri- fying their hearts, strengthening their better purposes ; and it holds a place in their religious affections, and in the Services of the Church, which no other litera- ture can claim. It is one of the questions of our time whether this state of mind can be justified, and whether it will be possible finally to harmonize the encroaching demands of honest criticism with the inherited veneration of a devout heart. Can we have a new doctrine of the Bible, and still leave Christianity OPINIOIsr IX THE TIME OF CHE 1ST. 47 among the living forces of the world? Before sur- veying this question in its modern aspects, it may be well to turn to the New Testament, and see whether we can gain any light from the teaching and practice of Christ, or from the writings of the great Apostle of the Gentiles. As we have already observed, a body of sacred Scripture was in existence before the birth of Christ ; and the most rigid theory of its inspiration had become fully established. As the son of Sirach says, all the utterances of wisdom " are the book of the covenant of God most high, the Law which Moses commanded, an inheritance to the synagogues of Jacob." ^ From the decision of the Law and the Prophets there was no further appeal ; and even those who, with the help of allegory, extracted their own philosophy out of the Bible, assumed its inspiration down to the minutest details. Jesus grew up in the midst of this belief; and so far as mere critical opinions are concerned, we have no evidence that he ever examined them, or felt any difficulty in accepting the popular view. It was not his office to be a critic or a philosopher. His judgments were based on religion ; and where current 1 Ecclus. xxiv. 23. 48 II. THE BIBLE. — I. opinion did not wound his religious sensibility, he was content to let it pass. We need not be surprised, therefore, that there is no distinct statement of what he thought on the question of Biblical inspiration, and that we have to gather his view from occasional utter- ances, and from the use which he is said to have made of the Old Testament. That he accepted in some sense the authority of the Scriptures is apparent from his appeal to prophecy, and from some of his arguments with his adversaries. He seems to have placed himself clearly within the line of Hebrew development, and to have regarded his mis- sion as the fulfilment of an ancient providential plan. David had foreseen the times of the Messiah;^ and "Moses and the Prophets" were competent to teach men the way of life.^ To use his own comparison, Jesus brought forth out of his treasure things old as well as new.^ Nevertheless, he was conscious that his principles were new, and would require new forms of expression; for an old garment could not be safely patched with a piece of undressed cloth, and new wine 1 Mark xii. 36 ; Matt. xxii. 43 ; Luke xx. 42. 2 Luke xvi. 29. 3 Matt. xiii. 52. Christ's teaching not based on scripture. 49 would burst old skins.^ Accordingly, his teaching as a whole is not an exposition of Scripture ; nor does he commend Scripture as the one Divine authority by which he himself and his disciples were alike bound. If we were content to follow only the records in the Gospels, I do not suppose that any one would imagine that Christ intended a sacred book, either new or old, to be the permanent basis of his religion. A greater than Solomon, a greater than Moses and the Prophets, was close to every son of man who had ears to hear ; and those who knew what spirit they were of could reverently distinguish the Divine voice in the past from the human passion and error with which it was so often mingled. One passage, indeed, may seem to militate against this view. We are told that he " spake to the multitudes and to his disciples, saying. The Scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat : all things therefore whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe." 2 This, however, has not been received by any school of Christians as a commandment for all time, and it is one to which Jesus himself did not conform. It was intended to bring out vividly the 1 Mark ii. 21 sq. ; Matt. ix. 16 sq. ; Luke v. 36 sqq. 2 Matt, xxiii. 1—3. E 50 II. THE BIBLE. — I. contrast in ■worth, between profession and practice, and we must regard it as addressed" only to the people then present, and understand it in a large sense : — Do you, the people of Palestine, obey the authorized inter- preters of your ancient Law, but do not imitate their conduct. If we interpret it more strictly, it becomes quite inconsistent with the very speech of which it forms the beginning,^ and with the warning to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, which, according to Matthew, the disciples understood of the teaching of these sects. ^ We must turn, then, to other passages as indications of Christ's real position. ^ Especially verses 16 sqq. I am content to accept the saying as authentic, though it is found only in Matt., as I tliink these strong expressions must always he interpreted with some laxity, and with due regard to the context. As the words are the intro- duction to a tremendous indictment of the whole Pharisaic spirit and teaching, I cannot suppose that they are meant for a covert fling at St. Paul. An illustration of Christ's application of the rule is found in his direction to the leper to go and show himself to the priest, and offer for his purification what Moses commanded (Mark i. 44; Matt. viii. 4; Luke v. 14). He would not stir men up to revolt against innocent customs, or sanction their breaking the law without spiritual understanding. See the very suggestive interpo- lation in Oodex Bezm, after Luke vi. 4 : " On the same day, having observed a certain man working on the sabbath, he said to him, Man, if thou knowest what thou doest, thou art blessed ; but if thou knoTvest not, thou art accursed, and a transgressor of the law." ^ Mark viii. 14 sqq. ; Matt. xvi. 5 sqq. ; Luke xii. 1. cheist'is appeals to prophecy. 61 It is remarkable that in his appeals to prophecy he never dwells on minute details, such as would indicate a miraculous foreknowledge on the part of the writers, but refers to general expressions of spiritual insight which found in himself a marked fulfilment. Thus, when he announced to the people of Nazareth that the words of Isaiah were fulfilled, "the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor," he adopted words which admi- rably described the purpose of his mission, but are applicable to all who labour in the same spirit. In alluding to his own rejection, he cited the words, " The stone which the builders rejected became the head of the corner : this was from the Lord, and it is marvel- lous in our eyes."^ This was a statement strictly applicable, but by no means limited in its application. Again, when the children in the temple were shouting, " Hosanna to the Son of David ! " and the chief priests and scribes expressed their indignation, he replied, "Tea : did ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise ?"2 This quotation was extremely apt; but there is no evi- ^ Mark xii. 10 sq. ; Matt. xxi. 42 ; Luke xx. 17 sq. 2 Matt. xxi. 15 sq. B 2 52 II. THE BIBLE. — I. deuce either tliat it was a prediction, or that Jesus regarded it as such. There is a similar vagueness in relation to his suf- ferings. He finds support in the prophetic announce- ment of the providential law that the righteous must suffer for the benefit of the world, and perceives that he, more than any man, must exemplify that law : — *' The Son of Man goeth, even as it is written of him;"^ *'It is written, I will smite the shep- herd, and the sheep shall be scattered abroad j"^ "I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not : but this is done that the Scriptures might be fulfilled;"^ "All things that are written by the Prophets shall be accomplished unto the Son of Man;"* "This which is written must be fulfilled in me, And he was reckoned with transgressors ; " ^ 1 Mark xiv. 21 ; Matt. xxvi. 24. Luke changes "as it is written" into " as it hath heen determined," xxiL 22. 2 Mark xiv. 27; Matt. xxvi. 31. 3 Mark xiv. 49 ; Matt. xxvi. 55 sq. For the last words Luke substitutes, "This is your hour, and the power of darkness," xxii. 53. * Luke xviii. 31. ' Luke xxii. 37. Christ's appeals to prophecy. 53 " How, then, should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?"^ It is obyious that the well-known argument from prophecy could not be built on such quotations as these. They are of that general kind which a devout man naturally applies to his own case; and while they lend no sanction to the idea that the Prophets had a miraculous foreknowledge of particular events, they show that Jesus found in the Scriptures a support for the religious life, and valued the Prophets as the preachers of divine truth. One other passage remaros, which shows how ready he was to interpret the Prophets in the spirit, and not in the letter. '* His disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the Scribes that Elijah must fiirst ^ Matt. xxvi. 54. A similar remark will apply to Luke xxi. 22, if that be a genuine saying. Tor the meaning attached in Hebrew literature to the expression "fulfil," I may refer to a note by Mr. W. H. Lowe, The Fragment of Talmud Bahli, p. 69, in which he says that one of its uses is to denote doing "something which fits in exactly with (or practically illustrates) the words of Scrip- ture. ... In this latter usage .... the Scripture may even have been written long after the event, which is said ' to establish it,' e.g. 'Aboth d^ Eabbi Nathan, i. 5. It is said that Adam sinned in the seventh hour from his creation to establish what is written (Ps. xlix. 13), 'Man cannot live over a single night in honour.'" 54 II. THE BIBLE. — I. come ? And he answered and said, Elijah indeed Cometh, and shall restore all things : but I say unto you, that Elijah is come already, and they knew him not, but did unto hira whatsoever they listed. Even so shall the Son of Man also suffer of them. Then understood the disciples that he spake unto them of John the Baptist."^ The opinion of the Scribes was founded on the prediction of Malachi,^ and Jesus accordingly accepts it as true in a certain sense. But how completely he rationalizes it, bringing it within the domain of current events, and holding out no hope of a real return of the great prophet who had gone up to heaven in the chariot of fire. The literalists knew that John the Baptist was not Elijah, and, blind to the spirit of prophecy in him, rejected the only Elijah they were to have ; Jesus, unfettered by the hard rules of an outward authority, recognized the spiritual identity of the two preachers of righteous- ness, and drew from the ancient words a lesson which was contained in their substance rather than their form. We must now turn to some passages of a different ^ Matt. xvii. 11 sqq. ; Mark ix. 11 sqq. See also Matt. xi. 14. ^ iv. 5. CHRIST SETS MORAL ABOVE RITUAL LAW. 55 kind. In his deminciation of the Scribes and Phari- sees, he says : " Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! For ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the Law, judgment, and mercy, and faith : but these ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain out the gnat and swallow the camel." ^ The commandment to pay tithe is contained ia Leviticus;^ and therefore those who were under the obligations of the Levitical Law did well to observe it. But how vehement is Christ's indignation that such observance should be placed above, or on a level with, the moral law ! What blind guides he sees in men who can go wrong on such a point ! It is clear that he places the conscience above the written law, and requires it to discriminate, to pick and choose, and, instead of binding itself to the letter of commandments supposed to be all alike divine, to follow the healthy judgments of an uncorrupted moral nature. He thus blamed the Pharisees for not doing what in modern times men have been blamed by his supposed representatives for doing. A similar train of thought is found in his answer 1 Matt, xxiii. 23 sq. ^ xxvii. 30. 56 II. THE BIBLE. — I. to the lawyer who asked, " Which is the great com- mandment in the Law ? " He replied by repeating the commandments to love God, and to love one's neighbour, and added : " On these two commandments hangeth the whole Law, and the Prophets."^ Mark tells us further that the Scribe assented, and declared that such love was "much more than all whole burnt- offerings and sacrifices;" and Jesus was so pleased that he rejoined, " Thou art not far from the kingdom of God." 2 Here we have the same selection, the same distinction between the moral and the ritual, and the same approval of the former as constituting the sum and substance of the ancient Scriptures. Again, when one asked him what he should do to inherit eternal life, Jesus told him to keep the commandments: "Do not kill ; do not commit adultery ; do not steal ; do not bear false witness ; do not defraud ; honour thy father and mother;" and, Matthew adds, "thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;" an,d when the questioner ' Matt. xxii. 35 sqq. ^ Mark. xii. 28 sqq. See also the similar incident in Luke x. 25 sqq., and the saying in Matt. vii. 12 : "All things, therefore, whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them : for this is the Law and the Prophets." CHRIST SETS MORAL ABOVE RITUAL LAW. 57 wished for something further, he was desired to sell his goods and give to the poor, and come and follow Christ.^ Here there is the same insistence on the moral virtues ; and when these are not thought suffi- cient, they are only put to a severer test. There is not a word about studying the Scriptures, or attend- ing public worship, or believing certain statements, or offering sacrifices, or submission to the priest. The whole ceremonial law is quietly set aside, and Jesus picks out commandments which are not only engraven on stone, but on the universal conscience of civilized majildnd. Perhaps we shall best appreciate the sig- nificance of this fact if we reflect on the scorn with which most of the professed disciples of Christ would treat such an answer at the present day. We must next attend to some passages in which he bases an argument upon the Scriptures, On several occasions he deliberately broke the Pharisaic rules in regard to the observance of the Sabbath, and thereby gave great offence to the Sabbatarians, who knew that he was not from God because he kept not the Sabbath.^ It was necessary, therefore, to defend himself; and on ^ Mark x. 17 sqq. ; Matt. xix. 16 sqq. ; Luke xviii. 18 sqq. '^ John ix. 16, 58 II. THE BIBLE. — I. one occasion when hia disciples broke the Sabbath by plucking ears of corn, and so brought down on their Master the rebuke of the Pharisees, he' appealed to the example of David, who had eaten the shewbread, and thus under the stress of hunger had violated the Law. From this he drew a universal principle, only applying it to the case of the Sabbath : " The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath : so that the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." ^ I follow Mark's account because the other Gospels omit a most important clause, and thereby break the thread of the argument, and lose the universal principle. The con- nection of thought seems to be this, — the example of David proves that ritual observances must give way to human necessities, and therefore even the Sabbath is intended only for the furtherance of human welfare, and the mode in which it should be kept is amenable to human judgment. The appeal to an historical incident does not tell us much about Christ's view of the authority of Scripture ; but he gives it a startling application when he extracts from it a spiritual prin- ciple which is directly opposed to the notion of an external authority, before which the individual judg- 1 Mark ii. 23 sqq. ; Matt. ^ii. 1 sqq. ; Luke vi. 1 sqq. chkist's view of the sabbath. 59 ment must bow in servile obedience. Matthew adds a most interesting argument : " If ye had known what this meaneth, I desire mercy and not sacrifice,^ ye would not have condemned the guiltless." ^ The utterance of the Prophet is here treated as authorita- tive ; but it is precisely the kind of utterance that is ratified by the enlightened spirit of man, and veils its profound and far-reaching meaning from those who are blinded by their subservience to the letter. We must further remark that Jesus makes no allusion to the commandment respecting the Sabbath, although it was one of the ten. In referring to the command- ments, he invariably ignores it ; and when he has to defend himself, he does not complain that the Phari- sees have gone wrong in their interpretation, and assert that he himself is keeping strictly within the scriptural lines. While citing the Scripture as con- taining words which appeal to what is noblest in man, he never for a moment lays stress upon them as an over-ruling authority. It also deserves notice in this connection that he defends his violation of the Sabbath ^ Hosea vi. 6. "^ The same passage is quoted in Matt. ix. 13. "Was it a favourite text with Jesus ? 60 II. THE BIBLE. — I. by calling in the aid of reason. "Is it lawful," he asked, " on the Sabbath-day to do good or to do harm ? to save a life, or to kiU?" "What man shall there be of you, that shall have one sheep, and if this fall into a pit on the Sabbath-day, will he not lay hold on it and lift it out ? How much then is a man of more value than a sheep ! Wherefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath-day." And for once we hear of his anger as he looked round about upon the blind ritualists of his time.^ In the Fourth Gospel there is a yet higher flight : " My Father worketh even until now, and I work."^ The ancient story of rest on the seventh day is calmly set aside; the Divine activity in the perpetual processes of nature is recognized; and this natural revelation is placed above the written command, and turned into a rule for human action. Of course the orthodox Jews could see in this nothing but flat blasphemy and personal arrogance. In relation to another question, that of divorce, Jesus went so far as to say that Moses, for the hard- ness of the people's heart, had written a commandment 1 Mark iii. 1 sqq. ; Matt. xii. 9 sqq. ; Luke vi. 6 sqq. Compare also Luke xiv. 1 sqq., and xii. 10 sqq. 2 V. 17. CHEIST CONDEMNED THE LAW OF DIVORCE. 61 wMcli fell below the original Divine purpose : in other words, the Law of Moses did not come up to the requirements of ideal morality, and a more august law was written in the very constitution of our nature. He gave his own view in one of those grand and pregnant sentences in which his teaching abounds : " What God has joined together, let not man put asunder."^ Two other references to Scripture throw but little light upon bis views. " Is it not written," he asked in the temple, "my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations ? But ye have made it a den of robbers." ^ In his reply to the question of the Sadducees, he said that they erred from not knowing the Scriptures and the power of God, and he referred to what they might have "read in the book of Moses, in the place concerning the bush, how God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;" and then he added his own impressive comment: "He is not the God of the dead, but of the living." ^ These 1 Mark x. 2 sqq. ; Matt. xix. 3 sqq. 2 Mark xi. 17; Matt. xxi. 13; Luke xix. 46. 8 Mark xii. 26 sq. ; Matt. xxii. 31 sq. ; Luke xx. 37. The dif- ferences in tlie mode of reference are worth noticing, Luke ascribing 62 ir. THE BIBLE. — I. passages, however, exhibit the same disposition that we have akeady noticed, to appeal to Scripture in support of great spiritual principles which might be discovered within the soul itself, and to which the soul alone could furnish the interpretation. Another saying calls for careful consideration, because in it the Scripture seems to be accepted as "the word of God," in contrast with "the tradition of men." The Pharisees were shocked because the disciples of Jesus did not conform to a traditional rule about the washing of hands. Jesus, who never shows the least mercy to this kind of formal and external religion, immediately charges them with hypocrisy, and quotes against them the prophecy of Isaiah: " This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men." These words were singularly applicable to the case; but though Jesus treated them as a prophecy, we need not suppose that he looked upon them as intended by the Prophet to have this particular limitation. The words were true in Isaiah's time, and were a prophecy the words exclusively to Moses, Matthew to God, and Mark, with greater fulness, taking a position between the two. A COMMANDMENT OF GOD VERSUS TRADITION. 63 against hypocrites of all time. But what follows is of more importance: "FuU well do ye reject the com- mandment of God, that ye may keep your tradition. For Moses said (or as Matthew has it, God said), Honour thy father and thy mother ; and, He that speaketh evil of father or mother, let him die the death ;" but the Pharisees had made this void by their tradition. 1 Now here some words of Scripture are treated as a commandment of God ; but we have once more to remark that the commandment selected is one which the unperverted conscience emphatically con- firms, while a false religion set up the fancied obliga- tions of a supernatural authority above the divine claims of natural duty and afiection. Perhaps we may be allowed to conjecture that Jesus intended to limit *' the commandment of God " to the words taken from the Ten Commandments, and that he added the terrible penalty only to show the extreme importance which Moses attached to the duty in question ; for we cannot believe, consistently with the general tenor of his teaching, that he would himself have sanctioned this vindictive punishment. But be this as it may, the rebuke uttered against the Pharisees is followed 1 Mark vii. 1 sqq. ; Matt. xv. 1 sqq. 64 II. THE BIBLE. — I. by a declaration of principle, to which we have already alluded, whereby not only the teaching of the Phari- sees, but the teaching of parts of the Old Testament itself, is directly contravened : " There is nothing from without the man that going into him can defile him ; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man." To this principle we must give the utmost latitude ; for otherwise it would not cover the question at issue, which related, not to the nature of the food, but to the washing of the hands. It therefore repudiates not only the distinc- tion of kinds of food as religiously clean or unclean,^ but all reliance upon formal and external acts, and throws men back exclusively on the condition of the thoughts and affections which their conduct reveals. If we take this passage, then, as a whole, it confirms the indications which we have previously noticed, that Christ did not accept the Old Testament as a uniform utterance of divinely authenticated oracles, but dis- criminated as the word of God that alone which com- mended itself to the pure heart and conscience. "We are now prepared for the startling evidence afforded by the Sermon on the Mount.^ Jesus there 1 See Levit. xi. 2 M^tt. v. 21 sqq. OLD COMMANDMENTS SET ASIBE. 66 deals, not with, ritual, but with moral precepts, where we should expect to find his confidence in the Bible most strongly asserted. But no; he deals with one commandment after another, not as " the word of God," but as that which "was said to them of old time." Some of these he treats as insuflB.cient, and gives them a large extension, " Thou shalt not kill," is transformed into an injunction against the anger or contempt which may be the root of murderous passion. "Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths," becomes a prohibition against swearing at all, and an approval of the simple speech of plain veracity. " Thou shalt not commit adultery," is enlarged into a principle of inward purity. But the law of divorce, laid down in Deuteronomy,^ is condemned as immoral. The law of retaliation, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," is condemned with equal emphasis. "Thou shalt love thy neigh- bour and hate thine enemy, "^ is transfigured into a universal love which embraces enemies and persecutors. It seems clear that, to use the cant phrase of modern 1 xxiv. 1 sqq. 2 This expresses the sense rather than the exact words of the Law. 66 II. THE BIBLE. — I. disciples of the Pharisees, Jesus did not "believe in the Bible," but used it with a freedom and discrimi- nation which soon raised against him a swarm of implacable enemies, who, in the charitable judgment of Paul, had "a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge."^ How, then, it will be asked, are we to understand the words in which the permanence of the Law is asserted? — "Think not that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets : I came not to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the Law till all things be accom- plished." ^ Some writers have supposed that these words are so plainly directed against the teaching of St. Paul that they cannot be authentic, but owe their origin to the conflicts of the Apostolic age. This seems to me a needless criticism, partly because the words, if interpreted by their context, yield a sense which is agreeable to the rest of Christ's teaching, partly because their substance is given by Luke also,^ and partly because St. Paul himself writes as though he were acquainted with them, and understood them V 1 Eom. X. 2. 2 Matt. v. 17 sq. 3 xvi. 17. Christ's fulfilment of the law. 67 in a sense favourable to his own views. According to him, the very object of freedom from the Law through the sending of Christ was "that the ordinance of the Law might be fulfilled in us;" "He that loveth his neighbour hath fulfilled the Law ;" " The whole Law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, ' Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.'" ^ If Paul could use such language at the very time when he was proving that the Law had served its purpose, and that it contained "weak and beggarly elements" to which only the unspiritual could return, surely Christ might guard himself against suspicions of antinomianism by saying that he had no thought of relaxing the high obliga- tions which were laid upon men by the ancient reli- ^ It is well to notice the Greek words. Ovk '^\9ov KaraXva-ai dXXa TrXripwaai. . . . eav [li] Trepiacreva-ri vfiaiv rj SiKaLoorvvrj irXeiov Ttov ypafifiaTeoiu Kal ^apuxaiiov k. t. A. (Matt. V. 17, 20). Iva to SiKaLO)p,a Tov v6[iov 7r\Ti]po>9rf ev rjfj.'iv TOts p^r] Kara crapKa irepnra- Tova-iv dWa Kara Trveiipta (thus reaching the higher righteousness by reversing the Pharisaic method; Eom. viii. 4). 'O yap dyawwv TOV erepov vofiov TreTrX-qpoiKev. . . . TrXTjpoipa ovv vopov r) dyarrrj (Rom. xiii. 8, 10). Again, "Os tav ovv Xva-g piav twv IvtoXZv TovTOiv Twv eXaxiTTiav (Matt. V. 19), compared with ei tis Irepa ivToXrj, ev tm Xoycii Tovra avaKe Luke xxii. 42. 7 Ps. xxxi. 5; Luke xxiii. 46. « 2 Cor. xii. 9. h2 100 III. THE BIBLE. — II. yearnings, and falls upon the ear like some half- remembered melody, reminding us of our heavenly home, as of a native land where once we aspired and prayed. And, lastly, what comfort the Bible has poured upon stricken hearts, bringing trust and hope to assuage the bitterness of grief! " Eemember, Lord, thy tender mercies, and thy loving kindnesses ; for they have been ever of old."^ "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him."^ " Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee."^ "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God."* "All things work together for good to those that love God."^ " Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you ; not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."^ How many generations of weepers have treasured such words as these, and pondered them in their hearts ! How many baffled combatants for truth and righteousness have gained from them new strength to stand in the evil hour ! How many have passed tranquilly through the pain and stress of 1 Ps. XXV. 6. 2 ps ciii 13 3 Ps, ixxxiv. 12. * Isaiah xl. 1. ^ jjojn_ yiii_ 28. " John xiv. 27. THE BIBLE AND OTHER EELIGIOXJS LITEEATUEE. 101 life, because the peace of ancient prophets and martyrs has entered their souls, and breathed upon their pas- sions a holy calm ! Such are a few illustrations of the experience which compels Christians to attach such high value to the Bible. It may be said that such experiences are no isolated phenomena, but have their analogies in con- nection with all religious literature ; and I am far from denying that this is the case, or even that to certain individuals some modern writing speaks with greater power and authority than anything in the Bible. But it remains to be seen whether such writings will wear, whether they will last through the centuries, and spread over many lands, and be cherished among rich and poor, learned and unlearned, as a source of life and healing. There are a few works, such as the Confessions of Augustine, the Imitatio, and the Pilgrim's Progress, which have stood the test of permanence and wide diffusion ; but all these bear witness to the Bible, and are only fruitful branches of that vine, the roots of which go down into Hebrew prophecy, and the teaching of Christ and his Apostles. We cannot reverse the facts of history, and glorify the works of Emerson or Carlyle with the blood of 102 III. THE BIBLE. — II. martyrs, the faithfulness of confessors, the victorious purity of unnumbered saints, and the hallelujahs of ten thousand churches. And strange as it may appear to those who are under the influence of reaction, it is simply the fact that on the Christian soul, in its anguish of sorrow or of sin, words of the Bible drop as with the power of God ; and it listens entranced, as though the heavens were opened, and the Father's voice spoke to the very trial of the moment. How is this? In order to answer this question, to reconcile the two positions, the critical and the religious, and to see how the Bible, without being infallible, is nevertheless a source of truth of primary value, we must consider what may be called the Christian philosophy of the subject. Paul, whom we do not class among philosophers, because his penetrating and suggestive thoughts are the immediate utterance of the spirit within him, rather than the result of prolonged investigation and reasoning, has given in a few words the solution of our difficulty. "What man," he asks, ''knoweth the things of man but the spirit of man which is in him ? So a,lso the things of God knoweth none but the Spirit NEED OF THE SPIRIT. 103 of God. Now we received not the spirit of tlie world, but the spirit which is from God, that we may know the things that were graciously given to us by God."^ The hidden workings of the human mind can be revealed to us only in our own consciousness. Take away our imagination, and for us the oracles of poetry must be for ever sUent. Destroy our sense of humour, and the laughter of our neighbours will cease to exhi- larate us. Banish from us anger and pity, avarice and generosity, and the contrariety of men's actions towards one another, now inflicting injury, and now assuaging pain, will be a puzzle without a key. And in the same way, how can we know transcendent holiness, justice and love, if these things have never visited our consciousness ? Speak of them to a man who has never risen out of his selfishness and impurity, and he will not understand you. Place him in the society of angels, and he will find himself a foreigner, listening to a strange tongue. But let them come to us, as come they do, we know not how — let them enter the domain of consciousness — and they stand revealed as of heavenly lineage, expressions of that eternal life which alone, even upon earth, abides amid the schemes 1 1 Cor. ii. 11 sq. 104 III. THE BIBLE. — 11. and struggles of successive generations, through the rise and fall of empires, and the pride and decay of philosophies and religions, — the spirit, not of the "world, but of God. When once this life takes posses- sion of us ; when we find ourselves loving where once we hated ; when we honour all men, instead of cherishing contempt towards our supposed inferiors; when our hearts melt with pity towards the degraded and repulsive outcast ; when the war of passion yields to an unaccustomed peace, and the clamorous demands of self no longer trouble us ; when in every quiet moment the soul flies to God as to its home, and prayer is the most spontaneous language that breaks from the lips, — then we ask for no proofs ; the witness is in ourselves, and the spirit which has been given us tells us of the Giver. And if we cannot always live at this height, if sometimes clouds must gather around us, still the revelation once made remains with us, and it is impossible to doubt that the life which we then beheld is the divinest thing that ever rose in our consciousness. This highest form of interior life is, for Christians, the spirit of Christ, or "the spirit of life in Christ Jesus." It does not concern us at present how much THE CHRISTIAN CONSCIOUSNESS. 105 or how little of this spirit has been manifested else- where. God reveals himself in many ways, and sends some portion of light to every man born into the world. He has been leading on our race through all the ages by the attraction of spiritual ideals, and his formative thought has been slowly shaping a spiritual cosmos out of the chaos of our void and formless capa- bilities. But for Christians it is in Christ that these ideal relations of the soul with God, which philoso- phers and devotees have so often felt after with imper- fect touch, have received their true expression; and it is in fellowship of the spirit with him that they have become aware of that life of sonship which is thenceforward the goal of all their hope and striving. This inward and experiential knowledge of the spirit of life in Christ is sometimes described in theology as the Christian consciousness. Now this life contains certain implicit truths as its logical justification. To draw out these truths, and state them in precise form, requires an intellectual process, and is the work of the theologian. Some, through the very confidence of their faith, may be content with a vague and crude system of doctrine ; and a few, in whom the ethical nature is predominant, 106 III. THE BIBLE. — 11. may be so absorbed and satisjled ■with the ideal of goodness itself that they never question it, or pass behind it to its ontological ground. Others may go to the opposite extreme, and lose the simple purity of inward experience in the number and complexity of their dogmas, and their combative assertion that these dogmas alone can render possible the experience which they would interpret. Between these two extremes will be various forms of opinion, differences inevitably arising both from the imperfect measures by which the spirit is given, and from the varying power and knowledge of the intellect which is brought to the task of interpretation. Let me try to indicate, by way of example, a few of the truths and questions which are suggested by the Christian consciousness. There are some truths which it immediately implies. For instance, it involves a sense of filial relationship to God ; and this is formulated in the doctrines of the Fatherhood of God and the sonship of man — doctrines which will come under our consideration in a future Lecture. Again, it contains a feeling of trust, an escape from self and its cares into some higher dis- posal. Now trust cannot rest on anything lower than personality, and it accordingly implies in God the aUESTIONS OF CHRISTIAN EXPEEIENCE. 107 presence of wisdom, love and will, or at least attri- butes of which, these things in us are the highest known expression. Again, it raises many questions in regard to its own nature and origin. These questions receive diflerent answers according to the degree of spiritual and intel- lectual illumination ; but their test, in the present connection, is their power of satisfying the highest and most permanent Christian experience. Thus, we may ask, wherein did Christ's wonderful influence consist ? Was he man, or was he some heavenly being in the semblance of man ? Or was he truly man, but one in whom dwelt tbe fulness of the Divine nature, so far as it comes into spiritual relations with, humanity ? Out of these questions grows a doctrine of the Person of Christ (or a Christology), which must not only be agreeable to historical facts, but must explain and justify the inner witness of the soul. Whereas we were blind, now we see : why, and how ? We must further ask, in regard to the spirit which wrought in the disciples, and of which we are conscious in ourselves, what is it, and whence comes it? We must, in our minds, distinguish Holiness from Eeason or Thought ; yet both are alike divine, for they belong 108 in, THE BIBLE. — II. to our very notion of God, and we cannot think of God as having ever been without them, or as creating them. Is the distinction which is so clear to our thought a reality in Him, or do all distinctions vanish in the incomprehensible Unity of Being? Here we look into a land of mystery which might well seem too high for our feeble vision ; but the daring specu- lations of theology have sought to pierce the secrets of eternity, and have framed a precise doctrine of the Holy Spirit. These may serve as examples of the kind of truth that is attested by the Christian consciousness. And here a very important distinction comes into view. It is apparent that to ourselves, as weU as to Paul, it is "the deep things of God," and these only that are revealed by the Spirit. In other words, the Christian consciousness stands in relation to moral and spiritual truth, but has nothing to say in regard to merely scientific or historical questions. It may be true that the pure in heart shall see God ; and yet no degree of purity of heart can determine the date and authorship of a book, or the occurrence of a particular event. These must be investigated by intellectual methods ; and, being dependent on learning and carefully trained THE PROPHET AND THE CKITIC. 109 judgment, opinion respecting them, however compe- tent, must stand in some near connection with the knowledge and thought of the time. It might often happen that the Prophet would be the least qualified to pronounce an opinion upon such subjects ; for the whole of his mental tendency would lie in another direction, and he would have little taste for the minute investigations of the scholar and critic. In all these extraneous matters he would naturally accept the established opinion, and no amount of error in regard to them would affect the reality of his message, or the degree of his inspiration. Let us only try to imagine Isaiah devoting several years to investigating the authorship of the Pentateuch, or even Paul, with his Eabbinical training, producing a ponderous tome on the authenticity of the Book of Daniel, and we shall be at once struck with a sense of incongruity, and perceive how wide apart are the provinces of the inspired teacher and the laborious investigator. It is not surprising, therefore, that some have sought to rescue the infallibility of the Bible by limiting its range, and representing it as an unerring standard in everything relating to faith and morals, while scien- tific and historical statements reflect the opinions of 110 III. THE BIBLE. — II. the time. The distinction is true and valuable, and may teach us the folly of denying the reality of inspi- ration wherever we can detect a blunder. The rule, however, cannot save the doctrine of infallibility ; for we have seen that there is a progress in the moral and religious conceptions of the Bible, and that the older teaching is sometimes superseded and even contra- dicted by the newer. The reason is clear. The mes- sage of the prophet may be of limited range, even in the domain of religion. The Spirit is given in very different measures to different men, and the power of intellectual interpretation and expression varies inde- finitely. Hence we may see everywhere the working of the Divine Thought, and feel the power of truths found in immediate communion with God, and yet not be surprised that in its childhood the world thought as a child, and that tongues and prophecies and know- ledge continually pass away, while faith and hope and love abide, and unfold into richer beauty and more commanding power as the generations pass. We must next inquire how, in accordance with the view here presented, the Bible reveals truth. In the first place, the New Testament discloses the spirit of Christ, which is the foundation and norm of HOW IT REVEALS TRUTH. Ill the Christian consciousness. This spirit is disclosed, not only through the records of his acts and teaching in the Gospels, but also through the teaching of his disciples and the character of the early Church. As we proceed, we shall come upon traces of the same commanding spirit, of the same general type of_ life and doctrine, pervading the earliest documents. I say this in full view of the differences and developments which critics have, in recent times, been fond of point- ing out in the several writers of the New Testament. These writers were undoubtedly men of diverse tem- perament and spiritual gift ; but all alike express their unbounded reverence for Christ himself, and in their varying moods and tendencies we see only different phases of the same spirit.^ The pictures are indeed manifold ; yet they blend into one harmonious impres- sion, which, without this manifoldness, would be defi- cient in fulness and perfection. The spirit of life in Christ Jesus thus revealed, and received into ourselves, becomes within us the spiritual judge of moral and 1 It is impossible to work out this view in the present Lectures ; but the reader will at least find some hints and illustrations on the following pages. 112 III. THE BIBLE. — II, religious truth, discerning what is compatible, and what incompatible, with itself. Secondly, the New Testament goes beyond this, and presents, ready formed, numerous doctrines which are either the expression or the interpretation of the Christian spirit. Its nearest and most essential truths were inevitably the first to disclose themselves in thought, and to become the subjects of conversation and of teaching; while more remote and speculative ideas did not emerge till the original fervour cooled, and intellectual gained the precedence over spiritual interest. As examples of immediate expressions of the spirit of Christ, we may take such sayings as these : — " Blessed are the merciful ; " " Every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to the judg- ment;" "Not every one that saith unto me. Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Eather who is in heaven;" " There is one God and Father of all ; " " God is love;" "He that hateth his brother walketh in dark- ness." Such statements as these were vivid truths in the days when Christianity was young ; and however they have been obscured or forgotten in later times. HOW IT EEVEALS TEIJTH. 113 th.ey still shine with, a pure radiance, and bear witness to their own truth in every Christian heart. Doctrines which give an interpretation of the inward life do hot possess the same unerring authentication as the primary truths. Some, however, lay so close to the religious experience that they came with all the force of a primary conviction, such as these : — " Except a man be born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God ; " "I am the vine ; ye are the branches," — statements which gain in the clearness and fulness of their meaning through their figurative setting. Others were revealed distinctly to some, but not to all; for instance, that the Gentiles were fellow-heirs with the Jews, and partakers of the promise, — a truth which was as clear as daylight to Paul, but required argu- ment and discussion to bring it home to those who could not see so far into the meaning of the new life. Others, again, were more purely inferential, and there- fore mixed up to a greater extent with current modes of belief, such as the doctrine that Jesus was the Christ, who fulfilled the promises to Israel, — a doctrine which commends itself when spiritually interpreted, and serves to embody the truth that Christianity did not break, but consummated, the religious develop- I 114 III. THE BIBLE.^II. ment of Judaism ; but it required explanation, and could only be established by a comparison between tbe old and the new, and by scriptural and historical evidence. But we find also in the New Testament another class of doctrines, which are not the expression or interpretation of the Christian consciousness, but the result of local and temporary conditions of belief. For instance, the belief just alluded to, that Jesus was the Messiah, naturally carried with it an acceptance of those elements in the old belief which were not contra- dicted by Christian experience. The fact of the cruci- fixion made an impassable gulf between the old and the new views, and must have altered to the very core the conception of the Messiah's work ; but the expec- tations of his earthly glory could not immediately dis- appear, and hence arose the doctrine that Jesus was to return in person, and establish his kingdom in the world, and this before the first generation of disciples had passed away. It is obvious that a belief of this kind could not grow out of the new life with God; indeed, now that we know it to have been erroneous, I think we can see that it is inconsistent with the finer elements of Christian thought, though this was HOW IT REVEALS TRUTH. 115 not SO obviously the case as to be immediately per- ceived by those whose minds had been early imbued with the Messianic notions of the time. We are thus furnished with a criterion by which we can "try the spirits whether they be of God," a criterion which, though in us, is not of us, and is therefore not wholly subjective. Of course this crite- rion does not transfer to ourselves the infallibility which we have denied to the Bible ; for we suffer both from the limitation of the spirit and the imper- fection of our intelligence. Still it is for each man the ground of settled faith, and a principle by which, if he will trust it, he can distinguish doctrines, and separate the permanent from the transient — the spiri- tual verities which shine by their own light, from the shadows which are cast by the fleeting forms of partial thought and knowledge. From the New Testament we must turn for a moment to the Old. The Christian Church was sounder in its interpretation of spiritual facts than Marcion, when it insisted on accepting the ancient Scriptures, and recognized one God as operative through all the ages. Nevertheless, the great heretic had something to say for himself; and a theory of i2 116 in. THE BIBLE. — II. inspiration which places Esther on a level with Isaiah, and represents Ecclesiastes as written by the same spirit as the noblest of the Psalms, and exalts a page of imprecations to the rank of the Sermon on the Mount, would make it very difficult to defend the ecclesiastical position. Marcion perceived a true distinction ; but taking as his key the fashionable Gnosticism, he gave it a wrong interpretation. In accordance with the line of argument here advanced, we may say that the Old Testament discloses the gradual unfolding of that spirit of life which found its full expression in Christ, and exhibits it working through imperfect human instruments, and even at times allying itself with passion and cruelty. Conse- quently it presents a larger admixture of the earthly and temporary than the New Testament, and a much greater variety in the spiritual impressiveness of diffe- rent books. But if it contains much that belongs to an elementary stage of civilization, it abounds in passages which at once bring home to us truths that receive the sanction of the inward witness; and for some phases of religious feeling we find a richer expression in the Old Testament than in the New. Moreover, during the growth of the spiritual life in ourselves, the imper- ITS UNIQUE POSITION. 117 feet manifestations in the Old Testament often seem nearer to us.^ Our ctildliood wandered in imagina- tion with the heroes of the olden time, who seemed so close to God ; and in maturer years many who cannot soar to the heights of Paul and John, find their aspira- tions, their sorrows, and their trusts, made vocal in the Psalms. And so we can accept and be grateful for what comes home to us, and turn it into spiritual food, while we have no difficulty in rejecting that which does not commend itself to our riper Christian experience or our augmented knowledge. Sufficient, perhaps, has now been said to explain why the Bible, though not cut off by a miraculous infallibility from other religious literature, must never- theless continue to occupy a place by itself in the love and veneration of Christians. Creeds and confessions of faith, books of " Common Prayer," and collections ^ An interesting example is fumish.ed by the remarks of Mr. Lock upon the value of Esther, quoted in San day, Bamjoton Lec- tures, p. 222 sq. I well remember my own early delight in the Book of Joshua, which, if it appealed to the combativeness of the boy, and contains much that is alien to the spirit of Christ, never- theless taught lessons of courage and fidelity, in relianqe upon the Power above us. If not with the sword of steel, yet with the sword of the spirit, we must all learn to fight, and do valiantly for truth and righteousness. 118 III. THE BIBLE. — 11. of hymns, may satisfy wants more or less widely felt ; but they are all limited in use, and the Bible alone can be the universal book of Christendom. But this recognition of its solitary place in no way precludes the use in private, or on suitable public occasions, of the rich literature in prose or verse, which from age to age has expressed the living spirit of Christian devotion. I would that that literature were better known, and that we nourished and enlarged our inward life by words of truth or aspiration from every section of the Church. These, too, contain a word of God, and often speak with moving power to our souls ; and flowing as they did direct from the spirit in some hour of high communion, they have something of the same pregnant simplicity of diction and depth of spiri- tual insight as we find in the Bible. Yet dear as they may become to us under the pressure of our individual needs, how often they are but aids to the study of the Bible, and, through the illumination which they shed upon some Biblical saying, enable us to see more clearly into the heart of Psalmist or Prophet or Apostle. How often, too, is their influence transient, exciting a vivid interest during some crisis of our lives, and then, through their want of universality, ITS AUTHORITY. 119 retreating into a quiet memory of what they once accomplished for us. But to the Bible we turn with undiminished interest as life goes on, and, as we read it with more discriminating intelligence and larger sympathy, find in it continually fresh treasures of life and thought. Finally, we must ask, is any authority left to it? Say what we will, the mass of men crave the support of some authority; all but the very strongest souls seek the support of something that lies outside of their own feeble, partial and isolated lives. Does the Bible afford this ? We have seen that the artificial authority of an infallible standard is gone. But " the letter killeth," and we can only rejoice that the tables of stone are broken which forbade the free movement of intellect and conscience. " The spirit giveth life," and the law of that life is written " on fieshy tables of the heart." There is a natural authority which helps our weakness instead of cramping our strength. The highest authority is found when truths come straight to the soul, and receive that inward response without which religious truth is dead and useless. But this is deepened and confirmed by our veneration for Pro- phets and Apostles to whom the word of God came 120 III. THE BIBLE. — II. with unequalled power, and who gave up their lives to the delivery of their message, and above all by our faith and love towards the great Teacher in whom that word became flesh. And there is a yet further autho- rity, the witness which in all ages, in spite of corrup- tions of government and perversities of thought, the Church has borne to the great spiritual verities by which alone the soul of man can live; and the pas- sages in the Bible which appeal to our hearts come to us laden with the reverence and faith of many genera- tions, fragrant with the incense of innumerable prayers, and sealed with the blood of saints and martyrs, who found in them their strength, their joy, and their hope. LECTUEE IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. Lecture IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. To give even the most elementary account of Chris- tianity, and make no allusion to the " Kingdom of God," would be to overlook an idea which was fun- damental in Christ's teaching. The memory of this great idea is kept alive in Christendom by the Lord's Prayer, which has passed into universal use ; but the three Creeds which are supposed to embody the essen- tial features of the Christian religion, take no notice of it.'- The teaching of the Master appears to be the ^ The only apparent exception is the statement in the Constanti- nopolitan form of the Nicene Creed, that Christ's " kingdom shall have no end," which I cannot regard as in any way equivalent. This clause might seem to be directed against Paul's statement that there will be " the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, . . . that God may be all in all" (1 Cor. xv. 24 sqq.). The belief in the Church is the ecclesiastical substitute for Christ's doctrine. 124 IV. THE KIKaDOM OF GOD. last thing that occurs to the minds of many Christians; and if they can only pronounce some formula descrip- tive of his nature and person, they think it superfluous to dwell with loving reverence on the principles which he taught. But when from the strife of tongues we turn to the quiet study of the Gospels, we cannot but be struck with the constant recurrence of the phrase, " the Kingdom of God" or " the Kingdom of Heaven," and with the supreme place which the idea conveyed by it occupied in the mind of Jesus. It forms the subject of a number of parables. It is invariably assumed that the attainment of the kingdom of God is the highest end of human activity. It is said to have formed the substance of his preaching, not only at the beginning, when he took up the message of the Baptist, "Eepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," but also in the later period of his ministry.^ It is therefore incumbent upon us to inquire what he meant by this phrase ; for while we have admitted that there is a legitimate growth in Christian theology, we have also contended that this must be checked and * See Matt. iv. 17, Mark i. 15; Matt. iv. 23, ix. 35; Luke viii. 1. The disciples were to preach in the same strain, Matt. x. 7; Luke X. 9, 11. DIFFICULTY OF THE SUBJECT. 125 tested by reverting to its source ; and though Christ, in his popular teaching, may have used some ideas and images which no longer appeal to us, we can- not afford to overlook a conception which evidently coloured his entire view of life and its duties. The inquiry on which we are thus entering is not without its difficulties, for the Gospels do not give an absolutely consistent picture ; and it will be necessary for us to disengage, if we can, the original and domi- nant idea from various imaginative accessories, which may be due partly to Christ's own poetic adoption of popular figures in setting forth his own deeper thought, partly perhaps to his sharing in some anticipations which were not contrary to the spirit of his life, though not destined to be fulfilled by history, and partly to misunderstanding on the part of his hearers, occasioned by their full participation in the national hopes, and the eagerness with which they endeavoured to recollect any words of his that could Justify their confident belief in his second coming as a glorious Judge and King. It is only a reasonable rule of inter- pretation, in seeking to understand any original thinker, to separate the independent and governing thought from what may be owing to the accidents of time and 126 IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. place. Such, a thougM is (to use Christ's comparison) like a seed dropped into the ground, which grows by the silent operation of nature, appropriating what is suitable, rejecting what is hurtful to itself; but this process requires time, and centuries may pass away before it is complete. IsTo man, even though his thought is goiag to revolutionize the world, can dis- engage himself wholly from the associations of the age in which he lives ; indeed, it is one of the conditions of his success that he should start from these asso- ciations, and to a large extent adopt their language. But the men of a later age who would enter into his soul must understand him in the spirit, and not in the letter, and extract the fine aroma of his thought from the transient errors which once served as its vehicle, but which, if retained beyond their time, become superstitions, mischievous survivals from a lower state of intelligence or knowledge. Tinder the guidance of this rule we must assign quite a subordi- nate place to those long eschatological passages, which read like a Christian version of some Jewish apocalypse, and gather Christ's essential thought from sayings which bear a clearer mark of originality, and are opposed to the passion and prejudice of the hour. USE OF RELIGIOUS TEEMS. 127 It miglit be contended at the outset that if Jesus adopted a current phrase, he must have used it in the current sense, for otherwise his language would have been quite misleading. This, however, is true only within certain limits. Words which are expressive of great spiritual ideas or spiritual facts have, so to speak, a fluid meaning, settling down into the moulds of individual minds according to their several capacities. There must of course be some imderlying sense which is held in common, and the employment of the same term by a number of people shows that they refer to the same thing, however various may be their concep- tions of it. Thus, when we speak of God, there is an undefined meaning which makes our language intelli- gible, though one may rise to the highest spirituality of thought, another be sunk in the grossest anthropo- morphism. The phrase "the Kingdom of God" is no less flexible. It denotes some sort of Divine rule among men, but of what sort the expression itself does not determine. Every man will form his own picture, according to his power of spiritual imagination ; and one to whom the reign of God was the highest reality in human life might justly speak of it, although it presented to his inward eye a sublimer fprm and richer 128 IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. colours than were granted to ordinary apprehension. He would thus appeal to what was ideally best in each man's consciousness, seeking to clear it from the crust of prejudice, and to reveal it in its divine and imperishable beauty. These remarks receive confirmation from what little we know of the state of opinion in the time of Jesus. There is no evidence that the Kingdom of God was so clearly defined, and so intimately associated with the Messianic expectation, that it was impossible to attach to it a higher and a lower significance. It denoted simply the sovereignty of God. This sovereignty was perpetually exercised even upon earth. God was himself the King of the Jewish race, and his kingdom extended for ever over the Gentiles in judgment.^ Yet this kingdom was capable of a more glorious revelation, and the time was anticipated when it would be visibly established, and the whole creation would be brought under its rule.^ An expectation of this sort was naturally associated with the belief in the advent of a Messiah ; but the two expressions, the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Messiah, are not 1 Psalms of Sol. xvii. 1, 4, 51. ^ &ib. Or. iii. 47 sq. ; Assuinp. of Moses, x. 26. USE OF THE PHRASE BY THE JEWS. 129 identical. The former is the larger term. It was the chief function of the Messiah to reveal and establish the Divine sovereignty among men ; but that sovereignty was in itself independent of and prior to the Messianic reign. Hence the phrase might be used in quite a spiritual sense, as when the writer of the Wisdom of Solomon says that Wisdom showed to Jacob " the kingdom of God, and gave him a knowledge of holy things."^ Here the expressions are parallel, so that seeing the kingdom of God is equivalent to receiving a knowledge of holy things ; it is, in short, to appre- hend the reality and meaning of the Divine rule in oneself and in mankind. The equivalent phrase, the Kingdom of Heaven, which is preferred by Matthew, is of frequent occur- rence in the Eabbinical writers, by whom it is used in a spiritual sense to denote " the inward love and fear of God."^ Men were said to take upon themselves " the yoke of the kingdom of heaven and the yoke of the Law," or to "shake off from themselves the kingdom of heaven." Such expressions point to a present spiritual condition, and not to a future external 1 X. 10. 2 Lightfoot, Heb. et Talm. Exerc, Matt. iii. 2. 130 IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. institution. The Messiah was no doubt expected to establish this reign of God within the heart, and its universal prevalence would result in the constitution of an ideal society ; but these ideas are not included in the primary sense of the phrase, and there is no evidence that when the kingdom, of heaven was announced the people could think only of the visible reign of the Messiah, with all the accompaniments of earthly glory which an unspiritual fancy could suggest.^ It appears, then, that Jesus would not have been, guilty of paltering with the established meaning of a familiar term if by the kingdom of heaven he meant in the first instance the inward love and fear of Grod, 1 See the author's Tlie Jewish Messiah, pp. 319 sqq. The use of the term is investigated by Prof. Schurer in an article, " Der Begriff des Himmelreiches aus judischen Quellen erlautert," in the Jahr- hiiaher f. prot Tlieol., Vol. II. 1876, pp. 166 sqq. The article is especially useful in showing that " heaven " is only used by a reverent metonymy for " God." He treats it as accidental that the phrase is used only in its abstract sense in the Rabbinical literature. Still he declares it to be certain that the formula in the New Testa- ment must be understood in the abstract sense of "Herrshaft;" but then, by an apparent inconsistency, treats it through the rest of his article in the concrete sense of " Eeich." The former may involve the latter, but it is important to keep the primary idea in mind. ITS POSSIBLE MEANING. 131 the hidden power of religion in the heart. He may- have meant, and have been understood to mean, an invisible and spiritual rule, the ideal condition of the individual or of society in which God is reverenced and obeyed as the supreme Lord of life ; and then in regard to the laws and constitution of this kingdom he may have announced views of his own which dif- fered widely from those commonly entertained. He may, therefore, have referred to that which alone is eternal and true among men, and not, as is so often supposed, either to the evanescent dreams of a suffering and intolerant people, or to the visible organization of the Christian Church. Whether this is so we have now to inquire. The classical saying of Christ's upon this subject is contained in his answer to the Pharisees, who asked him when the kingdom of God should come. He replied : " The kingdom of God cometh not with observation : neither shall they say, Lo here ! or there ! For lo, the kingdom of God is within you," or, as perhaps we ought to translate the words, "in the midst of you." ^ It is clear that the Pharisees expected some outward and visible advent of the * Luke xvii. 20 sq. k2 13;^ IV. THE KIKGDOM OF GOD, Divine sovereignty, and they most probably connected that advent with the appearance of the Messiah, the chosen agent by whom the ideal rule was to be estab- lished. This kingdom was to be preceded by certain signs, a climax of misery and wickedness which would call for a Divine intervention; and the Pharisees by their question may have wished to ascertain how far Jesus agreed with the opinion of the schools respect- ing these "birth-pains" of the coming age. It was in answer to a very similar question on the part of his own disciples that he is said to have spoken that long apocalyptic discourse which is in such striking agree- ment with the popular view.^ We have here two representations which are not easily reconciled; but so far as they are inconsistent, we can have no hesita- tion in preferring the profound and original reply to the Pharisees, and especially when we observe that there are some interesting traces of the same view even in the longer answer to the disciples. That answer begins with a warning, as though Jesus felt that the disciples were on a false track : " Take heed that no man lead you astray ; for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall lead many ^ Matt. xxiv. ; Mark xiii. ; Luke xxi. 5 sqq. INWARD AND SPIRITUAL. 133 astray." Farther on, the -warning is repeated : " Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the Christ, or, Here ; believe it not. ... If , therefore, they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the wilderness ; go not forth: Behold, he is in the inner chambers; believe it not." These words, taken by themselves, seem to point to a more silent and spiritual coming of the kingdom than the disciples anticipated ; and sentences which bear a different character may be due to a natural misunderstanding of highly figurative expres- sions, such as Jesus frequently used. Be this as it may, the answer to the Pharisees is unmistakable. It declares that the kingdom of God is not to come like some earthly pageant, to be gazed at with the bodily eye ; it is not to have its seat in any particular place ; it is not some future institution of worldly grandeur, but is here now in the midst of you, discernible by every spiritual eye, commanding the homage of every consecrated heart. I suppose there is nothing which more excites the contempt of the mean religious mind than to be told that all this common world is interfused with Deity, and that common men and women, the hard-handed children of toil, are sons and daughters of God. We cynically ask for a sign from heaven, 134 IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. and shake our conceited heads with scornful satisfac- tion when it cannot be given; and lo, the kingdom of God is in some humble cottage, and angels are ascending and descending upon some poor son of man, and God's anointed stands before us unknown in one whose father and mother we know to be very common people. We need not go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem or Mecca or Eome ; we have only to open the eyes of the soul, and we shall see the kingdom of heaven all around us, as when some sweet landscape appears through the dissolving mist; we shall dwell already in the celestial city, and earth's sordid ways will be paved with sapphire and gold. Thus Jesus confronted the Pharisees with a present kingdom of God; but they could not see it, for their eyes were blinded. We may briefly touch upon several other passages which point to a present kingdom of God. When the Pharisees charged Jesus with casting out demons by Beelzebub, he said in the course of his reply, " If I by the spirit of God^ cast out the demons, then is the kingdom of God eome upon you."^ Of course, there 1 In Luke, "the finger of God." " Matt. xii. 28 ; Luke xi. 20. This saying is not given in the parallel passage in Mark iii. 22 sqq. PRESENT IN THE POWER OF LOVE. 135 was not yet any " divine society," any Christian Church, any renovated earth. All things were going on as they had done since the foundation of the world, except that frenzied minds were growing calm under the subduing word of a soul filled with God. Jesus used no incantations or magical rites, such as were common at the time, but stilled the wild and passion- ate heart or the overwrought nerves by the simple authority of the Divine love within him ; and that was sufficient proof that the reign of God was present. But religious prejudice could see only the power of Satan in the work of the Holy Spirit. Was it not a perception of this ever-present kingdom, and of the blindness of heart which separated from it, that sug- gested the commandment, " Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness" ?^ We cannot seek a distant institution, which is to come at some unknown period with portents which will shake the earth and heaven ; but we can seek the inward love of God, the dominion of truth and purity, in the midst of which we walk, as in a paradise, though eyes dimmed with selfishness cannot see it, and hands paralyzed with sin cannot feel it. Accordingly, the kingdom of heaven 1 Matt. vi. 33; Luke xii. 31, simply "his kingdom." 136 IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. belongs now to the poor in spirit, and to those who have been persecuted for righteousness' sake,^ because their understanding is no longer darkened, and their conversation is in heaven. ^ Another very significant saying is given in answer to the question, "Who, then, is greatest in the king- dom of heaven?" The answer is, "Except ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven." And then, if we may venture to combine the narratives, he added : "If any man would be first, he shall be last of all, and minister of all;" and he took a little child in his arms, and 1 Matt. T. 3, 10. ^ It may be that the form of the Beatitudes in Luke is the more original. If so, we can hardly suppose Christ's meaning to be that the mere fact of poverty brought a man within the kingdom of God ; for he must have known perfectly well that there were bad poor men as well as bad rich men. But the poor who were shut out from earthly rule and power had free access to the heavenly kingdom, and their robe of virtue was more splendid than the imperial purple. Their poverty, moreover, which kept them low in worldly position, was a help rather than a hindrance in the spiritual realm. If the altered words in Matthew are a gloss upon the original Beatitudes, still they are a very early and very genuine utterance of the Christian spirit ; and some of the sayings which have no parallel in Luke must, I cannot but think, have come direct from Christ himself. THE GREATEST IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 137 said : *' Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."^ Here, again, the kingdom of heaven is something present; and it is evident that we are dealing with spiritual relations, and not with times and places. Very unchildlike people may enter a society, and one seems to have heard of some of this kind occupying high places within the Christian Church. But the desire for earthly greatness, the taint of earthly ambition, shuts us out of the kingdom of consecrated affections and crucified self-will. The mere question of the disciples, with its suggestion of rivalry and vainglory, proved that they had not yet entered ; but they had not to go to another place, or wait on the slow march of events, but to be themselves changed, and return to the simplicity of childhood. Not fo wear the trappings of earthly grandeur, and be waited on by obsequious crowds, but in humblest guise to do the greatest service, betokens the heavenly temper ; and if we have not that temper, and cannot discern its dignity and beauty, it is only by being born from above that we can see it or enter into it. The doctrine of a present kingdom, which men 1 Matt, xviii. 1 sqq. ; Mark ix. 33 sqq. ; Luke ix. 46 sqq. 138 IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. enter or leave in accordance with their spiritual dis- position, was taught on another occasion, when some people brought their children to Jesus that he might put his hands on them and pray. The disciples, moved apparently by false notions of the greatness of their Master, would have kept them away; whereupon, according to Mark, Jesus was moved with indigna- tion, and, calling the children to him, said : "Of such is (not will be) the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall in no wise enter therein." ^ Such words are true of the invisible empire of truth and righteousness, but they have never yet been true of any earthly institution. The same lesson is taught by another saying which excited amazement at the time, and has ceased to astonish us only because we are so accustomed to it, and have learnt to attach so little weight to the words of the speaker : " How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God ! ... It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."^ 1 Mark x. 13 sqq. ; Matt. xix. 13 sqq. ; Luke xviii. 15 sqq. ^ Mark x. 23 sqq. ; Matt. xix. 23 sq. ; Luke xviii. 24 sq. HAED FOR THE RICH TO ENTER IT. 139 As a rule, nothing is easier than for a rich man to enter the Christian Church ; and even when the Epistle of James was written, it had become necessary to complain of the undue deference which was paid to wealth. There have indeed been notable instances in which the door of the Church has been closed in the face of riches and power which came in the company of sin ; but generally the golden key can unlock the most forbidding gates. But no bribes will avail with the guardians of the spiritual kingdom. Eiches do not help us to enter there, but rather disqualify us by drawing away our hearts, and rendering us averse to the necessary sacrifices. We cannot serve God and mammon, though we have not yet given up trying to do so. To enter the Divine service is to enter the kingdom of God; and that kingdom is not afar off, so that neither rich nor poor can enter it, but its boundary-line is ever at our feet, as it was at the feet of the young ruler when the momentous choice was offered to him, and it needs only a firm and consecrated resolve to cross the border. We can now understand how the Scribes or lawyers could shut the kingdom of heaven against men, and neither enter themselves nor suffer them that were 140 IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. entering in to enter.^ Such words apply only to a kingdom "which is already here, and includes some and excludes others within the same physical space, thus proving that we are engaged with spiritual ideas, and not with anything subject to the limitations of place and time. In confirmation of this, it deserves remark that, instead of, " Ye shut the kingdom of heaven," Luke has, " Ye took away the key of know- ledge." Whichever may have been the original, we may fairly use one expression to interpret the other. What, then, was the error of these lawyers ? The key of Divine knowledge is, as we shall see, purity of heart ; and by substituting for the living action of the Spirit of God a superstitious regard for the letter of Scripture and mechanical rules of interpretation, they kept men bound in the heavy fetters of legalism, and did not allow the soul to rise on free wings into present communion with God. And when any caught glimpses of this higher realm, and began to move towards it, they were borne down by the weight of authority, and terrified by charges of blasphemy and infidelity ; but the real infidelity was in the Scribes and their empty formalism. ^ Matt, xxiii. 13 ; Luke xi. 52.. TAKING IT BY FOECB. 141 At an earlier period of Christ's ministry we meet with a sayiug which is far more hopeful in its tone. Towards the close of his career the forces of the oppo- sition seemed to be triumphant, and the determined resistance of the Scribes and Pharisees was turning back even willing listeners from the new teaching. But in the happier days in Galilee, when crowds hung upon his lips, it seemed to Jesus that men were storm- ing their way into the kingdom of heaven : it " suf- fereth violence, and men of violence take it by force," ^ so ardent was their desire to hear and appropriate his words. The expression, which is the hyperbole of exalted hope, may be compared with the enraptured declaration, " I beheld Satan falling as lightning from heaven." ^ But what is meant by this pressing iuto the kingdom of heaven ? It is generally assumed as a matter of course that the reference is to the Mes- sianic kingdom. This, however, can hardly be the case ; for even the disciples did not believe that Jesus was then and there establishing the kingdom of the Messiah, whatever expectations they may have had 1 Matt. xi. 12 ; Luke xvi. 16. I follow here tlie chronology of Matthew. 2 Luke X. 18. 142 IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. that he would do so in the future ; and in regard to the popular belief they could only say that some thought he was " John the Baptist ; some, Elijah ; and others, Jeremiah or one of the Prophets."^ "We are therefore driven by critical reasons to seek for another interpretation, and it is suggested by the remarks already made. Men were awakened to a more vivid consciousness of the reality and presence of God, and their old conventional religion was yielding to that baptism of the Holy Spirit which John anticipated, but was not able to administer. The veil between earth and heaven was rent, and it seemed for a time as though that love which is more than burnt-offer- ings and sacrifices would establish its throne among men. This interpretation, however, may appear to be inconsistent with a curious saying by which the words on which we have been commenting are preceded: "Among them that are born of women, there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist : yet he that is less in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."^ Was not John himself in the kingdom of heaven, if we 1 Matt. xvi. 14 ; Mark viii. 28 ; Luke ix. 19. 2 Matt. xi. 11; Luke vii. 28. JOHN THE BAPTIST. 143 give to this phrase a purely spiritual meaning ? He was, and he was not. Under the Law and the Pro- phets men could receive the kingdom of heaven, and in this sense John undoubtedly belonged to it ; yet he himself anticipated something higher that was still to come, and the higher must always be the kingdom of heaven, to which the lower must yield up its ancient prerogative. The Law and the Prophets cease to be the supreme and ideal rule as soon as Grace and Truth have come. Now Jesus, we cannot doubt, was fully conscious that he was proclaiming a new spiritual life, and was not walking in the beaten ways. He had a profound respect for John ; else he would not have gone to his baptism, and spoken of him as he did. But still with calm confidence he departed entirely from his conception of a religious life, and succeeded in combining with an enlarged humanity a deeper sense of the Divine presence and communion : having come after him, he had got before him, for his nature was the grander of the two. In this higher sense, then, the kingdom of heaven was unknown to John, and men of far inferior gifts, who truly apprehended it, were greater than he. This view is confirmed by another saying: "The 144 IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth, the fruits thereof."^ This implies that the Jews were already in possession of the kingdom of God, but were about to lose it through their unworthiness. We gather this meaning not only from the form of words, but from the context. They follow the parable of the vineyard, from which they are an inference. In this parable the vineyard represents the kingdom of God. The Jews had been its custodians, but had shamefully abused their trust ; and therefore the vineyard was to be taken from them, and let out to other husbandmen, who would render the fruits in their seasons. In more modern language, the Jews failed to rise to their opportunities, and consequently would lose their place as leaders of the world's religious progress. And so it proved. As in so many other cases, the very ardour of religions zeal created a blind conservatism, which could not discern the signs of the times, and the Jews became mere obstructives in the movement which they ought to have led. We may conclude this portion of our subject by referring to an incident which, as recorded by Mark,^ 1 Matt. xxi. 43. ^ xii. 28 sqq. NEARNESS TO IT IS SPIRITUAL, 145 is very suggestive. After tte discomfiture of the Sadducees, a Scribe asked Jesus, "What command- ment is the first of all ? Jesus answered, The first is, Hear, Israel; the Lord our God, the Lord is one;" and he then added the two commandments, to love God and our neighbour. The Scribe rejoined : " Of a truth. Master, thou hast well said that he is one ; and there is none other but he : and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is much more than all whole burnt-ofEerings and sacri- fices. And when Jesus saw that he answered dis- creetly, he said unto him. Thou art not far from the kingdom of God," It is clear that the Scribe's near- ness to it was a spiritual nearness, and that men, therefore, are nearer or farther away, within it or without, according to their state of mind, Now it is interesting to observe that one of the passages which Jesus quotes from the Old Testament was particularly associated with the kingdom of heaven, A Eabbinical passage which illustrates this is cited by Wetstein : ^ " "When any one prays while walking, it is necessary for him to take up the kingdom of heaven standing. 1 Nov. Test, Matt. iii. 2. I, 146 IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. What is that kingdom of heaven ? The Lord our God is one God." This was the great confession of faith among the Jews, and it would appear that its repe- tition was what was meant by taking on oneself the kingdom of heaven. Jesus accepts the confession, but could not feel that by itself it was adequate. He combines with it the commandment which, in its original connection, it was used to enforce. The unity of God involves the obligation of supreme love towards him ; and this, again, includes love to his children. The mere repetition of "Hear, Israel," might beget bigotry and pride instead of faith and love ; but one who admitted, even though with conviction still im- perfect, all that was spiritually involved in it, was really not far from the kingdom of heaven, and it might at least be hoped that he would join the forward movement, and commit himself to the present leading of the Spirit. The foregoing remarks sufficiently illustrate the spirituality of Christ's conception of the kingdom of God ; and we must now turn to some other aspects of the subject. Although the phrase under consideration does not in the first instance denote a society or a Church, nevertheless a kingdom implies a community IMPLIES A COMMUNITY. 147 over wliom the king exercises his rule, and the reign of God implies the existence of men whose minds are governed by the Divine will. These are "the sons of the kingdom," ^ or, in more figurative language, the labourers engaged to work in the vineyard ; ^ the ser- vants who make a faithful use of the talents entrusted to them ;^ the guests who are entertained at the mar- riage-feast.* It does not, however, follow that even in this sense of a community the kingdom of God is a kingdom of this world, occupying certain countries, controlled by a definite organization, and having its head-quarters in a certain city.^ From what we have learnt of its spiritual nature we should expect it to be quite indeterminate, and recognizable, not by the pro- fessions, but only by the character, of its citizens. This has certainly not been the ordinary Christian view. Christians have aimed at making the Church 1 Matt. xiii. 38. ^ j^jatt. xx. 1 sqq. ^ Matt. XXV. 14 sqq. ; cf. Luke xix. 12 sqq. * Matt. xxii. 2 sqq. ; Luke xiv. 1 6 sqq. ; Matt. xxv. 1 sqq. ^ In saying this, I do not mean (as is evident from what follows) that the kingdom of God is to he found only in heaven. A king- dom may he on earth, and yet " not of this world ; " and Christ's doctrine of a kingdom of God among men does not involve chiliastio dreams as a necessary part of it. l2 148 IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. coincident with, the kingdom of God ; and as long as the kingdom of God is an ideal which attracts to itself the aspirations of the Church, no aim can be more noble. But the moment we identify the two, and insist that, though, there may be unworthy members within the Church, there can be no kingdom of God outside it, we depress our ideal, and prepare the way for false and intolerant judgments. Nevertheless, a confusion of this kind is so easily made, and is in such apparent harmony with the deepest experiences of some of the greatest souls (for instance, of Augus- tine), that we are not obliged to regard it as inherent in Christian faith without bringing to it the test of the Master's teaching. Did he sanction a view which has caused so much bitterness and strife, and spilled so much precious blood upon the earth, or did he inculcate principles which are in direct opposition to it ? This question has already been answered by implication; but we must now view it a little more distinctly. We may begin our inquiry with the declaration made in the Sermon on the Mount : " iNot every one that eaith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that doeth. the will of my CHAEACTER OF ITS MEMBERS. 149 Father wlio is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy hy thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works ? And then will I pro- fess unto them, I never knew you ; depart from me, ye that work iniquity." ^ These are solemn words which Christendom has never yet taken to heart. It seems that the loud professions and miraculous zeal, which are just the qualities to ensure a man's worldly advancement, constitute no title to the kingdom of heaven. It is only by doing the will of God that men can find themselves within it ; by iniquity, although they may occupy the highest place in the Church, they are, ipso facto ^ excluded. We must not evade the force of this impressive declaration by saying that no one does the will of God perfectly, and therefore there must be some other principle of admission in the background. Such pleas are only an irreverent evasion of Christ's teaching. It is not his habit to go into minute distinctions, but he speaks in the large and generous sense which is intelligible to the common understanding. In this sense men do the will of God, who, in spite of imperfections and failings, deliberately 1 Matt. Tii. 21 sqq. ; cf. Luke vi. 46, xiii. 25 sqq. 150 IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. make it the law of their lives ; and if we remember the spirituality of the kingdom of heaven, we may say that just in proportion as a man does the will of God, he is within that kingdom; just in proportion as he works iniquity, he is remote from it. With this saying we may combine another, which teaches in eflect that one may be outside the Church and yet inside the kingdom of heaven. When Jesus was told that his mother and his brethren were seeking him, he said: "Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is ia heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother."^ Here, it is true, the kingdom of heaven is not mentioned ; but we may fairly sup- pose that Christ would have included within it those whom he acknowledged as his own spiritual kindred. It is true also that the remark was made in immediate relation to his own disciples, who were before him; but in itself it is quite unlimited, and lays down a universal principle. We may compare this enlarge- ment of its immediate application with Paul's use of a verse in Joel : ^ " Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." This was said in imme- 1 Matt. xii. 50; Mark iii. 35; Luke viii. 21. 2 ii. 32. CHARACTER OF ITS MEMBERS. 151 diate reference to Mount Zion and Jerusalem; but Paul infers from it tliat "there is no distinction between Jew and Greek : for the same Lord is Lord of aU, and is rich, unto all that call upon him." ^ This was interpreting the Prophet in the spirit, and not in the letter ; but we do not, I think, go beyond the letter of Christ's teaching when we say that we are to look for his spiritual kindred not only within the Christian Church, but among barbarians and Scythians, Indians and Chinese, the only test being whether they do the will of God.2 This is precisely the test that was laid down in the Sermon on the Mount; and from these two sayings combined we learn that the kingdom of heaven and the Christian Church are not coincident, but rather resemble two intersecting circles. Chris- tians in seeking, like the Jews of old, to monopolize the gift of God, are simply blinding themselves to the larger movements of his Spirit, and, by not rising to the height of their Master's thought, they will fail to ' Eom. X. 12. 2 This larger view was not forgotten in the second century. Justin Martyr says : ot fiera \6yov /Sida-avTes "Kpicmavoi elcri, Kav aOeoi £voiJ.i(r6r](rav, otov ev'EAAijcri [lev 2o)K/oaTijs kol SpaKXuTOi Kal ot o/iotot aiJTois. He includes men of his own time, oi Se /tera Xoyov y8iii5travT£9 Kal /Stovvres Xpttrrtavot . , . vTrdp)(ov(ri, Apol. I. 46. 152 IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. recognize the heavenly kingdom when it comes with some new and glorious manifestation upon the earth. The same lesson is taught, though without reference to the kingdom, by a little incident recorded by Luke. On one occasion a woman in the crowd lifted up her voice, and said, " Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the breasts which thou didst suck." But he said, " Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it."^ By these words Jesus brushes aside mere adventitious distinctions, and shows how spontaneously his thoughts reverted to the one test, fidelity to the word (or uttered will) of God. We may refer also to the figurative account of the final judgment,^ when all nations appear before the Son of Man. Here the sole test is the practice of simple and self-denying love. Those who have that distinction are the blessed of the Pather, who are called to inherit the kingdom ; those who have it not are sternly rejected, in spite of their plea that they never lost an opportunity of ministering to the Judge himself. Not a syllable is said of the requirements on which theo- logians delight to insist ; nationality, religion, church, and creed, are disregarded, and the Son of Man applies 1 xi. 27 sq. 2 ]\fatt_ ^xv. 31 sqq. AN INDETERMINATE COMMUNITY. 153 a universal human test. For a swift moment Christen- dom apprehended the truth and saw that God was no respecter of persons, hut in every nation he that feared him and worked righteousness was accepted of him ; ^ but soon a cloud of pride and intolerance obscured the splendid vision, and to this day, in the reading of the New Testament, a veil lies upon the heart of Chris- tians. And so men shall come from east and west, and north and south, and shall sit down with Christ and his Apostles in the kingdom of God; and there are last who shall be first, and first who shall be last. From the principles thus laid down, we may infer that the subjects of the kingdom of God form an indeterminate community scattered over the world, whose members are to be discovered only by spiritual, and not by theological, tests. But the same view is presented by Christ even more directly. In the para- ble of the Tares 2 two things seem to be laid down very distinctly. First, the wheat and the tares, the righ- teous and those that do iniquity, are represented as scattered over the whole field. The field, we are expressly told, represents "the world;" and this is what we should expect, for the "vineyard" is chosen 1 Acts X. 34 sq. ^ Matt. xiii. 24 sqq., 37 sqq. 154 IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD, to represent the more special province of the elect. The parable, therefore, tells us that the " sons of the kingdom," the followers of the " Son of Man," who as such possess a true humanity, are to be found in every region of the world, and are not limited to some fenced enclosure ; and similarly that there is no sacred spot where no sons of the Evil One can intrude. And secondly, these two classes of men cannot be dis- tinguished by any artificial test. By their fruits they are known, and only the final outcome of the life can justify a sharp separation. Thus beneath the eye of God our conventional distinctions disappear. There are children of the Devil within the Church; there are children of God outside it. All round the world the kingdoms of good and evil are indissolubly blended, and the one eternal distinction is that between the "righteous" and "them that do iniquity." The parable of the Good Samaritan^ is equally explicit. The object of the parable is not to show that " our neighbour is the suffering man," but that he is the good man, even though he be a heretic and an alien. The Priest and the Levite represent the purest blood of Israel, the conventional neighbours of the ^ Luke X. 30 sqq. LOVE THE BOND OF UNION. 155 wounded man ; but their cowardly selfishness deprives them of that honourable title. The Samaritan repre- sents what was religiously and nationally odious ; but then he was so good that the lawyer, who would not even name such a creature, has to confess that the man who showed mercy was the real neighbour. Jesus winds up the conversation by saying, " Go, and do thou likewise ;" that is, if you wish to inherit eternal life (for this was the subject of discussion), imitate the goodness of a Samaritan. If we wish to appreciate the full force of this teaching, and to apply it to our- selves, let us substitute for Priest and Levite, Priest and Deacon, and for Samaritan, Buddhist or Moham- medan. Love is the only bond of union which is recognized in the courts of heaven ; and wherever we find love, though it be in stranger or infidel, we find one on whom the approving eye of Christ would rest. If we inquire into the conditions upon which men would be admitted to the kingdom of God, we find only casual answers ; but they are in entire conformity with the foregoing view, and, if brief, are deeply suggestive. We have seen that the prime qualification was doing the will of God ; and that wherever Christ perceived a devout endeavour to do this will, he recog- 156 IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. nized a spiritual brother. In tMs sense we may- believe that many of those who were conscientiously opposed to him were included within the kingdom. But then the kingdom of God always means the highest that is known ; and in the mind of Jesus it expressed an ideal larger and higher than anything he saw in the religious character and institutions around him. The time had come for an onward movement into a spiritual faith, which should be of a world-wide comprehensiveness. His adversaries, blinded by an inveterate prejudice, could not see the signs of the times. They wanted a miraculous portent from Heaven to guarantee the worth and authority of a teacher, and could not discern the seething thoughts and struggling aspirations which were breaking down the ancient superstitions, and were preparing the way for a reli- gion which should bind together men of various races and of various culture in the communion of spiritual worship. But, for those who saw it, the new idea dimmed the ancient glories, and, as the heavenly radi- ance faded from the face of Moses, the kingdom of God passed from the Jewish Law and ritual, and became a new covenant of grace between the Divine Father and his human children. From this point of CONDITIONS OF ADMISSION. 157 view, even John the Baptist, with his grand reforming zeal, with his anticipation of one who would sweep clean the threshing-floor of Israel, and with his hatred of wickedness in high and low, was nevertheless excluded from the kingdom, owing to a want of intel- lectual breadth and enlarged spiritual discernment ; and if for a moment he beheld in Jesus the conquering Son of God, he afterwards found the wide and genial humanity of the new Teacher so unlike the mighty one of his imagination, with winnowing fan of judg- ment, and unquenchable fire for the chaff, that he never cast in his lot with him, but died in doubt whether his prophetic dreams were on the eve of ful- filment. Who, then, would listen to the call, and enter on the untrodden ways ? Not the wealthy ; for the self-denial was too severe, and treasure in heaven too intangible in comparison with present luxury and ease.^ Not the priests and rabbis; for in an ancient and established order the grooves of thought are cut too deep to allow a ready transference from the beaten road, and the voice of nature is stifled by the strict rules of conventionality. Por such as these the ascetic severity of an austere righteousness is a proof of 1 Matt. xix. 16 sqq. ; Mark x. 17 sqq. ; Luke xviii. 18 sqq. 158 IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. insanity; the wide and natural freedom of an inno- cent and tender humanity is fit only for a glutton and a wine-bibber. iSo they neither repented at the preaching of John, who simply emphasized the moral requirements of their own system, nor gave heed to the new teaching, which would have altered funda- mentally their conception of life and duty. Who, then, would listen? The publicans and the harlots, whom sin indeed had led astray, but whom self-right- eousness had not made deaf to the word of God, when it came to them in accents of sympathy and love.^ To such as these the kingdom of heaven presented itself unexpectedly, like a treasure which a man accidentally finds in a field ; and therefore it so filled them with joy that they were willing to part with everything else to secure it.^ They had not sought it; but it, in the person of Jesus, had come to seek and save them, conviacing them that they too might have forgiveness and hope. In their case the condition of entrance was a recipient mind, conscious of its need, and open to the natural claims of pity and goodness. Other men of different character sought for it, like a 1 Matt. xxi. 31. Cf. Luke vii. 29 sqq. ; Matt. xi. 16 sqq. 2 Matt. xiii. 44. CONDITIONS OF ADMISSION. 159 mercliant seeking for goodly pearls.^ These were con- scious of tlie higher denaands of truth and righteous- ness, and, knowing the limitations of human thought, kept their minds open heavenward, and were willing to sacrifice all for the most precious thing that they could find. The self-devotion of their search placed them already within the kingdom, ^ for the pure self- abandonment of a heart seeking after God and his righteousness raises man into the eternal realm, and makes him apprehend the light when some dividing truth rises newly upon the world. Christ, however, had no wish that disciples should join him rashly. If sometimes he gave a sudden invitation to follow him, at other times he discouraged those who volunteered their discipleship. All that was involved was first to be clearly understood. He was going on the way of self-denial, and the foxes and the birds were better off than he.^ Those who wanted to follow him must be prepared to sever the natural ties of affection, and to take up a daily cross ; and it was mere folly not to sit down, and count the 1 Matt. xiii. 45 sq. ^ " The kingdom of heaven is like a man seeking." 3 Matt. viii. 20 ; Luke ix. 58. 160 IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. cost, and take the measure of their moral strength, before casting in their lot with a homeless vanderer.^ Those who put their hand to the plough, and looked back, were not fit for the kingdom of God ; ^ and those who, from a timid regard to current practices, were ashamed of what was highest and most progressive in their own age, would be without honour in its vic- torious advent.^ Deliberation and resolve may be within our own power ; but a change in our point of view which will open before us the vision of a new world, is not a matter of will or of intellectual honesty. This depends on spiritual forces which are not under our direct control ; and if they work by some secret law of their own, it is a law which is incalculable by us. Spiritual susceptibility, delicacy of spiritual perception, are indispensable conditions of any profound alteration in our inward life ; and why these exist in so much larger measure in some than in others we cannot tell. The early Christians, who were most clearly aware of the contrast between their present and their past, felt that a new principle of life had taken possession of them ; ^ Luke xiv. 25 sqq. ' Luke ix. 62. 3 Matt. X. 32 sq. ; Mark viii. 38 ; Luke ix. 26, xii. 8 sq. CONDITIONS OF ADMISSION. 161 and this was so different from all that they had known before, that they could describe it only as a new birth. Jesus himself is reported to have said : " Except ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven j"^ and, in speech yet more searching, "Except a man be born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God."^ We can teach doctrines and prescribe commandments to every man of ordinary intelligence ; but " the vision and the faculty divine" we cannot shut up in a creed or a law, and hand on like a parcel to the unprepared, nor, when the eye of the soul is asleep, can we paint the heavenly glories on its retina. These thoughts give rise to many questionings on which we cannot enter now. We must be content with noting the fact that entering the kingdom of God implies, in the Christian view, the perception of a spiritual scene, as full of marvel, and beauty, and hope, as this material world when it reveals itself to the freshly-opened eyes and dawning intelligence of a child. The preceding remarks will enable us to understand how it is that a kingdom which is present in men's hearts is nevertheless spoken of as future. The pro- 1 Matt, xviii. 3. ' John iii. 3. M 162 IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. clamation, "The kingdom of God is at hand," with which Jesus began his preaching,^ and which he handed on to his disciples ; ^ the prayer, " Thy king- dom come;" the warning to watch, for we know not the day nor the hour,^ — point to something unfulfilled, some future crisis of our fate, which may come at any moment and find us unprepared. And so it is with all our ideals. They are here, but they are not yet realized. They are working powerfully among little groups, but centuries may elapse before they have permeated society and changed the face of the world. They may come as the lightning flash or as the trumpet's note, revealing to us new possibilities of nobleness, and summoning us to some new service of God, and find us unprepared, owing to the indolence of habit or the cowardice of self-indulgence. And then the high advantages and long laziness of culture shut us out, while fresh and buoyant life comes from east and west and north and south to take our forfeited place.* 1 Mark i. 14 sq. ; Matt. iv. 17. 2 Matt. X. 7; Luke x. 9, 11. 3 Matt. XXV. 13 ; Luke xii. 40. * Matt. viii. 11 sq. ; Luke xiii. 28 sq. THE COMING OF THE SON OE MAN, 163 The advent of the ideal time is described in the earliest Christian teaching as a coming of the Son of Man, who is to appear on the clouds, in the glory of the Father, and attended by a retinue of angels, to judge the world and establish his kingdom.^ This coming belongs to the eschatology of which 1 spoke in an earlier part of this Lecture, and is encrusted with the Messianic idea of the Jews. This is not the place to enter into a critical examination of the pas- sages where the coming of the Son of Man is alluded to ; but I may be permitted to observe that, to a large extent, they are expressed in the style of Oriental imagery, and readily lend themselves to poetical inter- pretation. We may look upon them as the pictorial drapery of aspiration and faith ; and we must not, owing to the altered figures of our own speech, forget the central thought which no accessories have oblite- rated from the vision of Daniel. Whatever else the coming of the Son of Man may have suggested, it 1 See Matt. x. 23, xiii. 41, xvi. 27 sq. ; Matt. xix. 28, Luke xxii. 28 ; Matt. xxiv. 30, Mark xiii. 26 ; Matt. xxiv. 37 sqq., Luke xvii. 22 sqq.; Matt. xxv. 13, 31; Matt. xxvi. 64, Mark xiv. 62, Luke xxii. 69 ; Mark viii. 38, Luke ix. 26, xii. 8 ; Luke xii. 40, xviii. 8, xxi. 27 sqq. ; Matt. xx. 20 sqq., Mark x. 35 sqq. Cf. Matt. xxvi. 29, Mark xiv. 25, Luke xxii. 18. M 2 164 IV. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. implied the advent of a true and divine humanity, and the final suppression of the inhuman and brutal forces under -which the world has groaned so long. And what if the reign of righteousness and truth is coming with the soft steps and silent splendours of a summer's dawn, and not with the rustling of angel's wings and the blare of trumpets in the sky ? Is it less real or sublime ? The glory of the Father is all around us in earth and heaven, and we are encom- passed by his angels, the men and women who serve the world iu love, and bring messages of brotherly kindness to our selfishness and strife. If we will receive it, the Son of Man has come, and the throne of his glory is the human heart. But turning from the language of Jewish Apoca- lypse, we find the deliberate thought of Jesus expressed in parables, iu which he clearly recognizes the slow and silent methods of Divine Providence, and the analogy which exists in this respect between the mate- rial and the spiritual creations. The kingdom of God is as if a man should fling his seed upon the ground, and sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, he knows not how. For the ground bears fruit spontaneously; first the blade, then ITS SLOW AND SILENT COMING. 165 the ear, then the full com in the ear.^ Or it is like a grain of mustard-seed, -which grows from such small beginnings into a great shrub.^ Or, again, it is like leayen, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until it was all leavened.^ Such language is unmistakable in its meaning, and is wholly inconsis- tent with the pageantry of a Messianic advent, with its procession of angels, and fearful portents in earth and sky. It accords with our experience of spiritual forces, which come not in the earthquake and the storm, but as the soft breath of evening, whispering messages of love within the soul. Steadfastly they work withia the recesses of the heart, slowly ripening the character of individuals, and bringing society, step by step, from its state of animal hatred and warfare into the peace and mutual kindness which mark a brotherhood of the children of God. The things which God has prepared for those who love him are not for the carnal eye and ear ; and if we would see his king- dom and his righteousness, we need not the heavens to be rent, but the eye of the spirit to be opened. > Mark iv. 26 sqq. ^ Matt. xiii. 31 sq. ; Mark iv. 31 sq. ; Luke xiii. 19. 3 Matt. xiii. 33 ; Luke xiii. 21. 166 IV. THE KINGDOM OP GOD. Thus the Christian prayer, " Thy kingdom come," when interpreted in accordance with the mind of Christ, is not a prayer for the outward pomp of a victorious Church, or for preternatural appearances in the startled heavens, but for the ever-growing realiza- tion, in ourselves and in the world, of the ideal king- dom of holiness, justice and love, those high attributes which, from their dwelling in the bosom of God, have been manifested upon earth, and constitute the eternal life of men. LECTUEE V. THE CHEISTIM DOCTEINE OF GOD. Lecture V. THE CHEI8TIAN DOCTEINE OF GOD. From the kingdom of God we pass naturally to its Euler, and enter on a consideration of the Christian doctrine of God. In doing so we must endeavour to forget for a time the elaborate metaphysical systems which theologians have reared as a splendid sepulchre for the teaching of Christ, and have recourse to the spiritual experience of the early Christians, and the recorded utterances of Christ himself. Nor are we to confine ourselves to what we may deem distinctive of Christianity : for Jesus was not one of those who pre- ferred originality to truth, but brought forth out of his treasure things old as well as new, only imparting to ancient truth the vivifying power of his own per- sonal thought and life. We must remember, moreover, that it is exceedingly difficult to determine how far 170 V. THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF GOD. any idea is really an advance upon everything that has gone before. It may have been anticipated by a few great thinkers, who nevertheless were unable to impress it upon the world ; or the word in which it is expressed may have been used, but in a far inferior sense; or the elements of which it is composed may have been vaguely present in men's minds, and wait- ing only for a touch of inspiration to fuse them together, and send them forth as a clear and life-giving faith. Bearing these qualifications in mind, we may say that the fundamental and characteristic idea of Chris- tianity on this subject is that God is our Father. This word is of course figurative, being derived from one of our human relations ; but it is on that account better adapted for religious purposes, being capable at once of the deepest significance and of the utmost lati- tude of application, simple enough for the heart of a child, and yet transcending the highest thought of a man. The Christian idea, however, while remaining sufficiently large and vague to adapt itself to a variety of culture, nevertheless has a distinctive complexion of its own which we must endeavour to disengage and understand. MEANING OF THE TERM "FATHER." 171 First, then, the Fatherhood of God does not imply- merely that he is the Author of our being. On this point a comparison of the New Testament with the writings of Philo is eminently instructive. Philo speaks of the relation between man and God, and of the indwelling of God in man, in language which might almost seem to anticipate Christianity ; ^ but this poetical and spiritual philosophy does not seem to create in him any sense of personal communion and love, as between a Father and his child ; and when he uses, as he frequently does, the term "Father," he foUows his Greek training, and extends the relation- ship to the entire cosmos. Thus God is the Father simply as the ultimate cause and supreme Euler of the universe. Now this philosophical language is absent from the New Testament, ^ while, on the other hand, the term " Father" becomes the constant expression of the personal relationship between God and man. This difference in the habitual use of the same word must be indicative of a deep-seated difference of senti- ment ; and I believe the difference lies in the vividness 1 See my Philo Judceus, II. pp. 262, 280 sqq. 2 The only apparent exception is James i. 17, aTro rov n-arpos Twv (}>u)T