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 Prefented to 
 The Cornell University, 1869, 
 
 BY 
 
 Goldwin Smith, M. A. Oxon.. 
 
 Regius Profeffor of Hiftory in the 
 Univerfity of Oxford. 
 
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The original of tliis 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/cu31924029358722 
 
SERMONS, 
 
 ON THE THEORY OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF, 
 
 PREACHED BEFORE THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN HENRY NEWMAN, B.D. 
 
 FELLOW OF ORIEL COLLEGE. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 FRANCIS & JOHN RIVINGTON, 
 
 ST. Paul's church yaed, & waterlog place ; 
 
 & J. H. PARKER, OXFORD. 
 
 1844, 
 
GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PBINTERS, 
 
 ST. John's square. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 Of the following Sermons, the First and Fifth were 
 preached by the Author in Vice-Chancellor's Preach- 
 ing Turns; the Second in his own; the Third, 
 Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth, in his turns as 
 Select Preacher. 
 
 The Six which close the Volume, since 1832, were 
 preached on such casual opportunities as the kind- 
 ness of private friends has afforded him. 
 
 Though he has employed himself for the most 
 part in discussing portions of one and the same 
 subject, yet he need scarcely say, that his Volume 
 has not the method, completeness, or scientific ex- 
 actness in the use of language, which are necessary 
 for a formal Treatise upon it- ; nor, indeed, was such 
 an undertaking compatible with the nature and cir- 
 cumstances of the composition. 
 
 LitOemore, Feb. 4, 1843. 
 
 a2 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL TEMPER, FIRST ENJOINED BY 
 THE GOSPEL. 
 
 Preached July 2, ,1826, Act Sunday. 
 
 John viii. 12. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the Light of the 
 world . . 1 
 
 SERMON II. 
 
 NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION COMPARED IN 
 POINT OF INFLUENCE. 
 
 Preached on Easter Tuesday, April 13, 1830. 
 
 1 John i. 1 — 3. 
 
 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which 
 we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and 
 our hands have handled, of the Word of life ; (For the Life 
 was manifested, and we have seen It, and bear witness, and 
 show unto you that Eternal Life, which was with the Father, 
 and was manifested unto us ;) That which we have seen and 
 heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship 
 with ug 17 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON III. 
 
 THE USURPATIONS OF REASON. 
 
 Preached December 11, 1831. 
 
 Matt. xi. 19. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Wisdom is justified of her children 39 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 
 PERSONAL INFLUENCE, THE MEANS OF PROPAGATING 
 THE TRUTH. 
 
 Preached January 22, 1832. 
 
 Heb. xi. 34. 
 Out of weakness were made strong 60 
 
 ^ SERMON V. 
 
 ON JUSTICE, AS A PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE 
 GOVERNANCE. 
 
 Preached April 8, 1832. 
 Jer. viii. 11. 
 They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, 
 
 saying. Peace, peace, when thereis no peace 86 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 
 CONTEST BETWEEN FAITH AND SIGHT. 
 Preached May 27, 1832. 
 
 1 John v. 4. 
 This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith . .108 
 
 SERMON VII. 
 
 HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY, AS INDEPENDENT OF 
 CIRCUMSTANCES. 
 
 Preached November 4, 1832. 
 
 Gen. iii. 13. 
 
 The serpent heguiled me, and I did eat ... ..... 125 
 
CONTENTS. VU 
 
 SERMON VIIL 
 
 WILFULNESS, THE SIN OF SAUL. 
 
 Preached December 2, 1832. 
 
 1 Sam. XV. 11. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 It repenteth Me that I have set up Saul to be king ; for he is turned 
 back from following Me, and hath not performed My com- 
 mandments 146 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 
 FAITH AND REASON CONTRASTED AS HABITS OF MIND. 
 
 Preached on the Epiphany, 1839. 
 
 Heb. xi. 1. 
 
 Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of 
 things not seen 167 
 
 SERMON X. 
 
 THE NATURE OF FAITH IN RELATION TO REASON. 
 Preached January 13, 1 1839. 
 
 1 CoR. i. 27. 
 God hath chosen the fooUsh things of the world to confound the 
 wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to 
 confound the things which are mighty 194 
 
 SERMON XI. 
 
 LOVE THE SAFEGUARD OF FAITH AGAINST 
 SUPERSTITION. 
 
 Preached on Whit-Tuesday, May 21, 1839. 
 
 John x. 4, 5. 
 
 The sheep follow Him, for they know His voice. And a stranger 
 will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not 
 the voice of strangers : 215 
 
VIU CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON XII. 
 
 IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. 
 
 Preached on St. Peter's Day, 1840. 
 
 1 Pet. iii. 15. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and be ready always to give 
 an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope 
 that is in you, with meekness and fear .' 246 
 
 SERMON XIII. 
 
 WISDOM, AS CONTRASTED WITH FAITH AND WITH 
 BIGOTRY. 
 
 Preached on Whit-Tuesday, June 1, 1841. 
 
 1 CoE. ii. 15. 
 
 He that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of 
 no man 275 
 
 SERMON XIV. 
 
 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS IN RELIGIOUS 
 DOCTRINE. 
 
 Preached on the Purification, 1843. 
 
 Luke iL ig. 
 
 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart .311 
 
SERMON I. 
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL TEMPER, FIRST ENJOINED BY 
 THE GOSPEL. 
 
 Preached July 2, 1826, Act Sunday. 
 
 John viii. 12. 
 
 " Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the Light of 
 the world." 
 
 Few charges have been more frequently urged by 
 unbelievers against Revealed Religion, than that it 
 is hostile to the advance of philosophy and science. 
 That it has discouraged the cultivation of literature 
 can never with any plausibility be maintained, since 
 it is evident that the studies connected with the 
 history and interpretation of the Scriptures have, more 
 than any others, led to inquiries into the languages, 
 writings, and events of ancient times. Christianity 
 has always been a learned religion ; it came into the 
 world as the offspring of an elder system, to which it 
 was indebted for much which it contained, and which 
 its professors were obliged continually to consult. 
 UNIV. s. B 
 
2 THE PHILOSOPHICAL TEMPER, [Seum. 
 
 The Pagan philosopher, on enrolling himself a mem- 
 ber of the Christian Church, was invited, nay, re- 
 quired, to betake himself to a line of study almost 
 unknown to the schools of Greece. The Jewish 
 books were even written in a language which he did 
 not understand, and opened to his view an account of 
 manners and customs very different from those with 
 which he was familiar. The writings of the ancients 
 were to be collected, and their opinions examined ; 
 and thus those studies which are peculiarly called 
 learned would form the principal employment of one 
 who wished to be the champion of the Christian 
 faith. The philosopher might speculate, but the 
 theologian must submit to learn. 
 
 It cannot, then, be maintained that Christianity 
 has proved unfavourable to literary pursuits ; yet, 
 from the very encouragement it gives to these, an 
 opposite objection has been drawn, as if on that very 
 account it impeded the advancement of philosophical 
 and scientific knowledge. It has been urged, with 
 considerable plausibility, that the attachment which 
 it has produced to the writings of the ancients has 
 been prejudicial to the discovery of new truths, by 
 creating a jealousy and dislike of whatever was con- 
 trary to received opinions. And thus Christianity 
 has been represented as a system which stands in 
 the way of improvement, whether in politics, edu- 
 cation, or science ; as if it were adapted to the state 
 of knowledge, arid conducive to the happiness of the 
 age in which it was introduced, but a positive evil 
 
I ] FIRST ENJOINED BY THE GOSPEL. S 
 
 in more enlightened times ; because from its claim 
 to infallibility, it cannot itself change, and therefore 
 must ever be endeavouring to bend opinion to its own 
 antiquated views. Not to mention the multitude of 
 half-educated men who are avowedly hostile to Re- 
 vealed Religion, and who watch every new discovery 
 or theory in science, in hope that something to its dis- 
 advantage may thence be derived, it is to be lamented 
 that many even of the present respectable advocates 
 of improvements in the condition of society, and 
 patrons of general knowledge, seem to consider the 
 interests of the human race quite irreconcileable with 
 those of the Christian Church ; and though they 
 think it indecorous or unfeeling to attack religion 
 openly, yet appear confidently to expect that the 
 progress of discovery and general cultivation of the 
 human mind must terminate in the fall of Christianity. 
 It must be confessed that the conduct of Chris- 
 tians has sometimes given countenance to these erro- 
 neous views respecting the nature and tendency of 
 Revealed Religion. Too much deference has been 
 paid to ancient literature. Admiration of the genius 
 displayed in its writings, an imagination excited 
 by the consideration of its very antiquity, not un- 
 frequently the pride of knowledge and a desire of 
 appearing to be possessed of a treasure which the 
 many do not enjoy, have led men to exalt the sen- 
 timents of former ages to the disparagement of 
 modern ideas. With a view, moreover, to in- 
 
 b2 
 
4 THE PHILOSOPHICAL TEMPER, [Serm. 
 
 crease (as they have supposed) the value and dig- 
 nity of the sacred volume, others have been induced 
 to set it forth as a depository of all truth, philoso- 
 phical as well as religious ; although St. Paul seems 
 to limit its utility to profitableness for doctrine, re- 
 proof, correction, and instruction in righteousness. 
 Others, again, have been too diligent and too hasty 
 in answering every frivolous and isolated objection to 
 the words of Scripture, which has been urged,— nay, 
 which they fancied might possibly be urged, from 
 successive discoveries in science ; too diligent, because 
 their minute solicitude has occasioned them to lose 
 sight of the Christian evidence as a whole, and to 
 magnify the objection, as if (though it were unanswer- 
 able) it could really weigh against the mass of argu- 
 ment producible on the other side ; and too hasty, 
 because had they been patient, succeeding dis- 
 coveries would perhaps of themselves have solved for 
 them the objection, without the interference of a 
 controversialist. The ill consequences of such a pro- 
 cedure are obvious : the objection has been recog- 
 nised as important, while the solution offered has too 
 often been inadequate or unsound. To feel jealous 
 and appear timid, on witnessing the enlargement of 
 scientific knowledge, is almost to acknowledge that 
 there may be some contrariety between it and Reve- 
 lation. 
 
 Our Saviour, in the text, calls Himself the Light 
 of the world ; as David had already said, in words 
 
I.] FIRST ENJOINED BY THE GOSPEL. 5 
 
 which especially belong to this place and this day, 
 " The Lord is my Light ;" and though He so speaks 
 of Himself as bringing religious knowledge to an 
 ignorant and apostate race, yet we have no reason 
 to suppose that He forbids lawful knowledge of any 
 kind, and we cannot imagine that He would promul- 
 gate, by His inspired servants, doctrines which con- 
 tradict previous truths which He has written on the 
 face of nature. 
 
 The objection to Christianity, to which the fore- 
 going remarks relate, may be variously answered. 
 
 First, by referring to the fact that the greatest Phi- 
 losophers of modern times — the founders of the new 
 school of discovery, and those who have most extended 
 the boundaries of our knowledge — have been forced 
 to submit their reason to the Gospel ; a circum- 
 stance which, independent of the argument for the 
 strength of the Christian evidence which the con- 
 viction of such men affords, at least shows that Re- 
 vealed Religion cannot be very unfavourable to scien- 
 tific inquiries, when those who sincerely acknow- 
 ledged the former, still distinguished themselves 
 above others in the latter. 
 
 Again, much might be said on the coincidence 
 which exists between the general principles which 
 the evidence for Revelation presupposes, and those 
 on which inquiries into nature proceed. Science and 
 Revelation agree in supposing that nature is governed 
 by uniform and settled laws. Scripture, properly un- 
 derstood, is decisive in removing all those irregular 
 
6 THE PHILOSOPHICAL TEMPER, [Serm. 
 
 agents which are supposed to interrupt, at their own 
 pleasure, the order of nature. Almost every reli- 
 gion but that of the Bible, and those derived from it, 
 has supposed the existence of an indefinite number 
 of beings, to a certain extent independent of each 
 other, able to interfere in the affairs of life, and 
 whose interference (supposing it to exist) being re- 
 ducible to no law, took away all hope of obtaining 
 any real information concerning the actual system 
 of the universe. On the other hand, the inspired 
 writers are express in tracing all miraculous occur- 
 rences to the direct interposition, or at least the per- 
 mission of the Deity ; and since they also imply that 
 miracles are displayed, not at random, but with a 
 purpose, their declarations in this respect entirely 
 agree with the deductions which scientific obser- 
 vation has made concerning the general operation of 
 established laws, and the absence of any arbitrary 
 interference with them on the part of beings exterior 
 to the present course of things. The supposition, 
 then, of a system of established laws, on which all 
 philosophical investigation is conducted, is also the 
 very foundation on which the evidence for Revealed 
 Religion rests. It is the more necessary to insist 
 upon this, because some writers have wished to con- 
 fuse the Jewish and Christian faiths with those other 
 religions and those popular superstitions, which are 
 framed on no principle, and supported by no pretence 
 of reasoning. 
 
 Without enlarging, however, on arguments of this 
 
I.] FIRST ENJOINED BY THE GOSPEL. 7 
 
 nature, it is proposed now to direct attention to the 
 moral character which both the Jewish and Christian 
 religions hold up as the excellence and perfection of 
 human nature ; for we shall find that some of those 
 habits of mind which are throughout the Bible repre- 
 sented as alone pleasing in the sight of God, are the 
 very habits which are necessary for success in scien- 
 tific investigation, and without which it is quite im- 
 possible to extend the sphere of our knowledge. If 
 this be so, then the fact is accounted for without diffi- 
 culty, why the most profound philosophers have ac- 
 knowledged the claims of Christianity upon them. 
 And further, considering that the character which 
 Scripture draws of the virtuous man as a whole is 
 (what may be called) an original character,— only 
 the scattered traces of it being found in authors un- 
 acquainted with the Bible, — an argument will almost 
 be established in favour of Christianity, as having 
 conferred an intellectual as well as a spiritual benefit 
 on the world. 
 
 For instance, it is obvious that to be in earnest in 
 seeking the truth is an indispensable requisite for 
 finding it. Indeed, it would not be necessary to no- 
 tice so evident a proposition, had it not been for the 
 strange conduct of the ancient philosophers in their 
 theories concerning nature and man. There seems to 
 have been but one or two of them who were serious 
 and sincere in their inquiries and teaching. Most 
 of them considered speculations on philosophical 
 
8 THE PHILOSOPHICAL TEMPER, [Sbrm. 
 
 subjects rather in the light of an amusement than of 
 a grave employment, — as ah exercise for ingenuity, or 
 an indulgence of fancy,' — to display their powers, to 
 collect followers, or for the sake of gain. Indeed, it 
 seems incredible that any men, who were really in 
 earnest in their search after truth, should have begun 
 with theorizing, or have imagined that a system which 
 they were conscious they had invented almost with- 
 out data, should happen, when applied to the actual 
 state. of things, to harmonize with the numberless 
 and diversified phenomena of the world. Yet, though 
 it seems to be so obvious a position when stated, that 
 in forming any serious theory concerning nature, we 
 must begin with investigation, to the exclusion of 
 fanciful speculation or deference to human authority, 
 it was not generally recognized or received as such 
 till a Christian philosopher forced it upon the atten- 
 tion of the world. And surely he was supported by 
 the uniform language of the whole Bible, which tells 
 us that truth is too sacred and religious a thing to 
 be sacriiiced to the mere gratification of the fancy, or 
 amusement of the mind, or party spirit, or the pre- 
 judices of education, or attachment (however amiable) 
 to the opinions of human teachers, or any of those 
 other feelings which the ancient philosophers suf- 
 fered to influence them in their professedly grave 
 and serious discussions. 
 
 Again : modesty, patience, and caution, are dis- 
 positions of mind quite as requisite in philosophical 
 
I] FIRST ENJOINED BY THE GOSPEL. 9 
 
 inquiries as seriousness and earnestness, though not 
 so obviously requisite. Rashness of assertion, hasti- 
 ness in drawing conclusions, unhesitating reliance on 
 our own acuteness and powers of reasoning, are in- 
 consistent with the homage which nature exacts of 
 those who would know her hidden wonders. She 
 refuses to reveal her mysteries to those who come 
 otherwise than in the humble and reverential spirit 
 of learners and disciples. So, again, that love of 
 paradox which would impose upon her a language 
 different from that which she really speaks, is as un- 
 pbilosophical as it is unchristian. Again, indulgence 
 of the imagination, though a more specious fault, is 
 equally hostile to the spirit of true philosophy, and 
 has misled the noblest among the ancient theorists, 
 who seemed to think they could not go wrong while 
 following the natural impulses and suggestions of 
 their own minds ; and were conscious to themselves 
 of no low and unworthy motive influencing them in 
 their speculations. 
 
 Here, too, may be mentioned the harm which has 
 been done to the interests of science by excessive 
 attachment to system. The love of order and regu- 
 larity, and that perception of beauty, which is most 
 keen in highly gifted minds, has too often led men 
 astray in their scientific researches. From seeing 
 but detached parts of the system of nature, they 
 have been carried on, without data, to arrange, sup- 
 ply, and complete. They have been impatient of 
 knowing but in part, and of waiting for future dis- 
 
10 THE PHILOSOPHICAL TEMPER, [Serm. 
 
 coveries ; they have inferred much from slender pre- 
 mises, and conjectured when they could not prove. 
 It is by a tedious discipline that the mind is taught 
 to overcome those baser principles which impede it 
 in philosophical investigation, and to moderate those 
 nobler faculties and feelings which are prejudicial when 
 in excess. To be dispassionate and cautious, to be fair 
 in discussion, to give to each phenomenon which 
 nature successively presents its due weight, can- 
 didly to admit those which militate against our own 
 theory, to be willing to be ignorant for a time, to 
 submit to diflSculties, and patiently and meekly pro- 
 ceed, waiting for further light, is a temper (whether 
 difficult or not at this day) little known to the 
 heathen world ; yet it is the only temper in which we 
 can hope to become interpreters of nature, and it is 
 the very temper which Christianity sets forth as the 
 perfection of our moral character. 
 
 Still further, we hear much said in praise of the 
 union of scientific men, of that spirit of brotherhood 
 which should join together natives of difierent coun- 
 tries as labourers in a common cause. But were the 
 philosophers of ancient times influenced by this 
 spirit ? In vain shall we look among them for the 
 absence of rivalry ; and much less can we hope to 
 find that generosity of mind which, in its desire of 
 promoting the cause of science, considers it a slight 
 thing to be deprived of the credit of a discovery 
 which is really its due. They were notoriously jealous 
 of each other, and anxious for their personal conse- 
 
I] FIRST ENJOINED BY THE GOSPEL. 1 1 
 
 quence, and treasured up their supposed discoveries 
 with miserable precaution, allowing none but a 
 chosen few to be partakers of their knowledge. On 
 the contrary, it was Christianity which first brought 
 into play on the field of the world the principles of 
 charity, generosity, disregard of self and country, in 
 the prospect of the universal good ; and which 
 suggested the idea of a far-spreading combination, 
 peaceful yet secure. 
 
 It cannot be denied, however, that the true philo- 
 sophical spirit did not begin to prevail till many 
 ages after the preaching of Christianity, nay, till 
 times comparatively of recent date ; and it has, in 
 consequence, been maintained that our own superi- 
 ority over the ancients in general knowledge, is not 
 owing to the presence of the Christian reUgion among 
 us, but to the natural progress of improvement in 
 the world. And doubtless it may be true, that though 
 a divine philosophy had never been given us from 
 above, we might still have had a considerable advan- 
 tage over the ancients in the method and extent of 
 our scientific acquirements. Still, admitting this, it 
 is also true that Scripture was, in matter of fact, the 
 first to describe and inculcate that single-minded, 
 modest, cautious, and generous spirit, which was, 
 after a long time, found so necessary for success 
 in the prosecution of philosophical researches. And 
 though the interval between the propagation of 
 Christianity and the rise of modern science is cer- 
 tainly very long, yet it may be fairly maintained that 
 
12 THE PHILOSOPHICAL TEMPER, [Serm. 
 
 the philosophy of the Gospel had no opportunity to 
 extend itself in the province of matter till modern 
 times. It is not surprising if the primitive Christians, 
 amid their diflSculties and persecutions, and being for 
 the most part individuals in the less educated ranks 
 of life, should have given birth to no new school 
 for investigating nature ; and the learned men who 
 from time to time joined them vrere naturally scholars 
 in the defective philosophies of Greece, and folloveed 
 their masters in their physical speculations ; and 
 having more important matters in hand, took for 
 granted what they had no means of ascertaining. Nor 
 is it wonderful, considering how various is the subject- 
 matter, and how multiform have been the develop- 
 ments of Christianity at successive eras, that the true 
 principles of scientific research were not elicited in 
 the long subsequent period. Perhaps the trials and 
 errors through which the Church has passed in the 
 times which have preceded us, are to be its experi- 
 ence in ages to come. 
 
 It may be asked how it comes to pass, if a true 
 philosophical temper is so allied to that which the 
 Scriptures inculcate as the temper of a Christian, that 
 any men should be found distinguished for discoveries 
 in science, who yet are ill-disposed towards those doc- 
 trines which Revelation enjoins upon our belief. 
 The reason may be this : the humility and teachable- 
 ness which the Scripture precepts inculcate are con- 
 nected with principles more solemn and doctrines 
 more awful than those which are necessary for the 
 
I] FIRST ENJOINED BY THE GOSPEL. 13 
 
 temper of mind in which scientific, investigation 
 must be conducted ; and though the Christian spirit 
 is admirably fitted to produce the tone of thought 
 and inquiry which leads to the discovery of truth, 
 yet a slighter and less profound humility will do the 
 same. The philosopher' has only to confess that he 
 is liable to be deceived by false appearances and 
 reasonings, to be biassed by prejudice, and led astray 
 by a warm fancy ; he is humble because sensible he 
 is ignorant, cautious because he knows himself to be 
 fallible, docile because he is curious. But Chris- 
 tianity, in addition to this confession, requires him 
 to acknowledge himself to be a rebel in the sight of 
 God, and a breaker of that fair and goodly order 
 of things which the Creator once established. The 
 philosopher confesses himself to be imperfect; the 
 Christian feels himself to be sinful and corrupt. The 
 infirmity of which the philosopher must be conscious 
 is but a relative infirmity — imperfection as opposed 
 to perfection, of which there are infinite degrees. 
 Thus he believes himself placed in a certain point of 
 the scale of beings, and that there are beings nearer 
 to perfection than he is, others farther removed 
 from it. But the Christian acknowledges that he 
 has fallen away from that rank in creation which he 
 originally held ; that he has passed a line, and is in 
 consequence not merely imperfect, but weighed 
 down with positive, actual evil. Now there is little 
 to lower a man in his own opinion, in his believing 
 ' Vide infra, pp. 86—91. 
 
14 THE PHILOSOPHICAL TEMPER, [Serm. 
 
 that there he holds a certain definite station in an 
 immense series of creatures, and is in consequence 
 removed, by many steps, from perfection ; but there 
 is much very revolting to the minds of many, much 
 that is contrary to their ideas of harmony and order, 
 and the completeness of the system of nature, and 
 much at variance with those feelings of esteem with 
 which they are desirous of regarding themselves, in 
 the doctrine that man is disgraced and degraded from 
 his natural and original rank; that he has, by sinning, 
 introduced a blemish into the work of God ; that he 
 is guilty in the cdurt of heaven, and is continually 
 doing things odious in the sight of the Divine 
 holiness. And as the whole system of the Christian 
 faith depends upon this doctrine, since it was to 
 redeem man from deserved punishment that Christ 
 suffered on the cross, and in order to strengthen him 
 in his endeavours to cleanse himself from sin, and 
 prepare for heaven, that the Holy Spirit has come to 
 rule the Church, it is not wonderful that men are 
 found, admirable for their philosophical temper, and 
 their success in investigating nature, and yet un- 
 worthy disciples in the school of the Gospel. 
 
 Such men often regard Christianity as a slavish 
 system, which is prejudicial to the freedom of thought, 
 the aspirations of genius, and the speculations of en- 
 terprise ; an unnatural system, which sets out with 
 supposing that the human mind is out of order, and 
 consequently bends all its efforts to overthrow the 
 constitution of feeling and belief with which man 
 
I.] FIRST ENJOINED BY THE GOSPEL. 15 
 
 is born, and to make him a being for which nature 
 never intended him ; and a pernicious system, which 
 unfits men for this life by fixing their thoughts on 
 another, and which, wherever consistently acted upon, 
 infallibly leads (as it often has led) to the encourage- 
 ment of the monastic spirit, and the extravagances of 
 fanaticism. 
 
 Although, then, Christianity seems to have been the 
 first to give to the world the pattern of the true spirit 
 of philosophical investigation, yet, as the principles of 
 science are, in process of time, more fully developed, 
 and become more independent of the religious sys- 
 tem, there is much danger lest the philosophical 
 school should be found to separate from the Christian 
 Church, and at length disown the parent to whom 
 it has been so greatly indebted. And this evil has 
 in a measure befallen us ; that it does not increase, 
 we must look to that early religious training, to which 
 there can be no doubt all persons — those in the 
 higher as well as in the poorer classes of the com- 
 munity — should be submitted. 
 
 To conclude. The ignorance of the first preachers 
 of Christianity has been often insisted on, particu- 
 larly by the celebrated historian of the Roman Em- 
 pire, as a presumption or proof of their hostility to 
 all enlightened and liberal philosophy. If, however, 
 as has here been contended from the precepts they 
 delivered, the best canons may be drawn up for 
 scientific investigation, the fact will only tend to 
 prove that they could not, unassisted, have originated 
 
 1 
 
16 THE PHILOSOPHICAL TEMPER, &c. 
 
 or selected precepts so enlarged and so profound ; 
 and thus will contribute something to the strength 
 of those accumulated probabilities, which on other 
 grounds are so overpowering, that they spoke not of 
 themselves, but as they were moved by the inspi- 
 ration of God Himself. 
 
SERMON II. 
 
 NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION COMPARED IN 
 POINT OF INFLUENCE. 
 
 Preached on Easter Tuesday, April 13, 1830. 
 
 1 John i. 1 — 3, 
 
 " That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, 
 which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked 
 upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life ; (For 
 the Life was manifested, and we have seen It, and bear wit- 
 ness, and show unto you that Eternal Life, which was with the 
 Father, and was manifested unto us ;) That which we have seen 
 and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellow- 
 ship with us." 
 
 The main purpose of our Saviour's incarnation, as 
 far as we are permitted to know it, was that of re- 
 conciling us to God, and purchasing for us eternal 
 life by His suiferings and death. This purpose was 
 accomplished when He said, " It is finished," and gave 
 up the ghost. 
 
 But on His rising from the dead, He extended to 
 us two additional acts of grace, as preparatory to the 
 future blessing, and of which, as well as of our resur- 
 
 UNIV. s. c 
 
18 NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION [Serm. 
 
 reaction, that miracle itself was made tlie evidence. 
 "Go ye, teach all nations, baptizing them in the 
 name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost." In this commission to His disciples was in- 
 timated, on the one hand. His merciful design of 
 "gathering together in one the children of God that 
 were scattered abroad," by the gracious operation of 
 the Holy Spirit ; and on the other hand. His intended 
 grant of a system of religious truth, grounded on that 
 mysterious economy of Divine Providence, in which 
 His own incarnation occupies the principal place. 
 
 It is proposed, in the following discourse, to treat 
 of a subject connected with the latter of these two 
 great Christian blessings — viz. to attempt to deter- 
 mine the relation which this revealed system of doc- 
 trine and precept bears to that of Natural Religion, 
 and to compare the two together in point of practical 
 efficacy. Those other and still greater mercies of the 
 Christian covenant have been mentioned only, lest, 
 in discussing the subject of religious knowledge, 
 any disregard should be implied of those funda- 
 mental doctrines of our faith, the atonement, 
 and the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in the 
 Church. 
 
 Now, in investigating the connexion between 
 Natural and Revealed Religion, it is necessary to ex- 
 plain in what sense religious doctrines of any kind 
 can with propriety be called natural. For from the 
 abuse of the term " Natural Religion," many persons 
 will not allow the use of it at all. 
 
"•] COMPARED IN POINT OF INFLUENCE. 19 
 
 When then religion of some sort is said to be 
 natural, it is not here meant that any religious system 
 has been actually traced out by unaided reason. We 
 know of no such system, because we know of no time 
 or country in which human reason was unaided. 
 Scripture informs us, that revelations were granted 
 to the first fathers of our race, concerning the nature 
 of God, and man's duty to Him ; and scarcely a people 
 can be named, among whom there are not traditions, 
 not only of the existence of powers exterior to this 
 visible world, but also of their actual interference 
 with the course of nature, followed up by religious 
 communications to mankind from them. The Creator 
 has never left Himself without such witness as might 
 anticipate the conclusions of reason, and support a 
 wavering conscience and perplexed faith. No people 
 (to speak in general terms) has been denied a reve- 
 lation from God, though but a portion of the world 
 has enjoyed an authenticated revelation. 
 
 Admitting this fully, let us s^esk oi the fact ; of 
 the actual state of religious belief of pious men in 
 the heathen world, as attested by their writings still 
 extant ; and let us call this attainable creed Natural 
 Religion. 
 
 Now in the first place, it is obvious that Conscience 
 is the essential principle and sanction of Religion in 
 the mind. Conscience implies a relation between the 
 soul and a something exterior, and that moreover 
 superior, to itself; a relation to an excellence which 
 it does not possess, and to a tribunal over which it has 
 
 c2 
 
20 NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION [Serm. 
 
 no power. And since the more closely this inward 
 monitor is respected and followed, the clearer, the 
 more exalted, and the more varied its dictates be- 
 come, and the standard of excellence is ever outstrip- 
 ping while it guides, our obedience, a moral convic- 
 tion is thus at length obtained of the unapproach- 
 able nature as well as the supreme authority of That, 
 whatever it is, which is the object of the mind's con- 
 templation. Here, then, at once, we have the ele- 
 ments of a religious system ; for what is religion but 
 the system of relations existing between us and a 
 Supreme Power, claiming our habitual obedience: 
 " the blessed and only Potentate, who only hath im- 
 mortality, dwelling in light unapproachable, whom no 
 man hath seen nor can see ?" 
 
 Further, Conscience implies a difference in the 
 nature of actions, the power of acting in this way 
 or that as we please, and an obligation of acting 
 in one particular way in preference to all others ; and 
 since the more our moral nature is improved, the 
 greater inward power of improvement it seems to 
 possess, a view is laid open to us both of the capa- 
 bilities and prospects of man, and the awful import- 
 ance of that work which the law of his being lays 
 upon him. And thus the presentiment of a future 
 life, and of a judgment to be passed upon present 
 conduct, with rewards and punishments annexed, 
 forms an article, more or less distinct, in the creed 
 of Natural religion. 
 
 Moreover, since the inward law of Conscience 
 
II] COMPARED IN POINT OF INFLUENCE. HI 
 
 brings with it no proof of its truth, and commands 
 attention to it on its own authority, all obedience to 
 it is of the nature of Faith ; and habitual obedience 
 implies the direct exercise of a clear and vigorous 
 faith in the truth of its suggestions, triumphing over 
 opposition both from within and without ; quieting 
 the murmurs of Reason, perplexed with the disorders 
 of the present scheme of things, and subduing the 
 appetites, clamorous for goods which promise an im- 
 mediate and keen gratification. 
 
 While Conscience is thus ever the sanction of 
 Natural Religion, it is, when improved, the rule of 
 Morals also. But here is a difference : it is, as such, 
 essentially religious ; but in Morals it is not necessa- 
 rily a guide, only in proportion as it happens to be 
 refined and strengthened in individuals. And here 
 is a solution of objections which have been made to 
 the existence of the moral sense, on the ground of the 
 discordancy which exists among men as to the ex- 
 cellence or demerit of particular actions. These ob- 
 jections only go to prove the uncertain character (if 
 so be) of the inward law of right and wrong ; but are 
 not, even in their form, directed against the certainty 
 of that general religious sense, which is implied in 
 the remorse and vague apprehension of evil which 
 the transgression of Conscience occasions. 
 
 Still, unformed and incomplete as is this law by 
 nature, it is quite certain that obedience to it is at- 
 tended by a continually growing expertness in the 
 science of Morals. A mind, habitually and honestly 
 
22 NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION [Serm. 
 
 conforming itself to its own full sense of duty, will at 
 length enjoin or forbid with an authority second only 
 to an inspired oracle. Moreover, in a heathen country, 
 it will be able to discriminate with precision between 
 the right and wrong in traditionary superstitions, 
 and will thus elicit confirmation of its faith even out 
 of corruptions of the truth. And further, it will of 
 course realize in its degree those peculiar rewards of 
 virtue which appetite cannot comprehend ; and will 
 detect in this world's events, which are but perplexi- 
 ties to mere unaided Reason, a general connexion 
 existing between right moral conduct and happiness, 
 in corroboration of those convictions which the ex- 
 perience of its own private history has created. 
 
 Such is the large and practical religious creed at- 
 tainable (as appears from the extant works of hea- 
 then writers) by a vigorous mind which rightly works 
 upon itself, under (what may be called) the Dispen- 
 sation of Paganism. It may be even questioned 
 whether there be any essential character of Scripture 
 doctrine which is without its place in this moral 
 revelation. For here is the belief in a principle ex- 
 terior to the mind to which it is instinctively drawn, 
 infinitely exalted, perfect, incomprehensible ; here is 
 the surmise of a judgment to come ; the knowledge 
 of unbounded benevolence, wisdom, and power, as 
 traced in the visible creation, and of moral laws un- 
 limited in their operation; further, there is some- 
 thing of hope respecting the availableness of repent- 
 ance, so far (that is) as suifices for religious support ; 
 
II.] COMPARED IN POINT OF INFLUENCE. 23 
 
 lastly, there is an insight into the rule of duty, in- 
 creasing with the earnestness with which obedience 
 to that rule is cultivated. 
 
 This sketch of the religious knowledge not im- 
 possible to Heathen Philosophy, will be borne out by 
 its writings, yet will be only obtained by a selection 
 of the best portions of them. Hence we derive two 
 conclusions ; that the knowledge was attainable — for 
 what one man may attain is open to another ; on the 
 other hand, that, in general, it was not actually attained 
 — for else there would be no need of so confined a 
 selection of them. And thus we are carried on to 
 the inquiry already proposed — viz. where it was that 
 Natural Religion failed in practical effect, and how 
 Revealed Religion supplies the deficiency. Out of the 
 many answers which might be given to this question, 
 let us confine ourselves to that which is suggested by 
 the text. 
 
 Natural religion teaches, it is true, the infinite 
 power and majesty, the wisdom and goodness, the pre- 
 sence, the moral governance, and, in one sense, the 
 unity of the Deity; but it gives little or no information 
 respecting what may be called His Personality. It fol- 
 lowed that, though Heathen Philosophy knew so much 
 of the moral system of the world, as to see the duties 
 and prospects of man in the same direction in which 
 Revelation places them, this knowledge did not pre- 
 clude a belief in fatalism, which might, of course, 
 consist in unchangeable moral laws, as well as physical. 
 And though Philosophy acknowledged an intelligent. 
 
24 NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION [Serm. 
 
 wise, and beneficent Principle of nature, still this too 
 •was, in fact, only equivalent to the belief in a pervad- 
 ing Soul of the Universe, which consulted for its 
 own good, and directed its own movements, by in- 
 stincts similar to those by which the animal world is 
 guided ; but which, strictly speaking, was not an 
 object of worship, inasmuch as each intelligent being 
 was, in a certain sense, himself a portion of it. Much 
 less would a conviction of the Infinitude and Eternity 
 of the Divine Nature lead to any just idea of His 
 Personality, since there can be no circumscribing 
 lineaments nor configuration of the Immeasurable, 
 no external condition or fortune to that Being who 
 is all in all. Lastly, though Conscience seemed to 
 point in a certain direction as a witness for the real 
 moral locality (so to speak) of the unseen God, yet, as 
 it cannot prove its own authority, it afforded no argu- 
 ment for aGovernor and Judge, distinct from the moral 
 system itself, to those who disputed its informations. 
 While, then, Natural Religion was not without pro- 
 vision for all the deepest and truest religious feel- 
 ings, yet presenting no tangible history of the Deity, no 
 -points of His personal character ' (if we may so speak 
 without irreverence) ; it wanted that most eflScient 
 incentive to all action, a starting or rallying point 
 
 ' The author was not acquainted, at the time this was written, 
 with Mr. Coleridge's works, and a remarkable passage in his 
 'Biographia Literaria, in which several portions of this Sermon are 
 anticipated. It has been pointed out to him since by the kind- 
 ness of a friend. — Vide Biog. Lit. vol. i. p. 199. 
 
II.] COMPARED IN POINT OF INFLUENCE. 25 
 
 — an object on which the affections could be placed, 
 and the energies concentrated. Common experience 
 in life shows how the most popular and interesting 
 cause languishes, if its head be removed ; and how 
 political power is often vested in individuals, merely 
 for the sake of the definiteness of the practical im- 
 pression which a personal presence produces. How, 
 then, should the beauty of virtue move the heart, 
 while it was an abstraction ? " Forma quidem hones- 
 tatis, SI oculis cerneretw, admirabiles amores excitaret 
 sapientise ;" but, till " seen and heard and handled," 
 it did but witness against those who disobeyed, while 
 they acknowledged it ; and who, seemingly conscious 
 where their need lay, made every eflTort to embody it 
 in the attributes of individuality, embellishing their 
 " Logos," as they spoke, with figurative actions, and 
 worshipping it as the personal development of the 
 Infinite Unknown. 
 
 But, it may be asked, was Heathen religion of no 
 service here ? It testified, without supplying the 
 need ; it bore testimony to it, by attempting to attri- 
 bute a personal character and a history to the Divi- 
 nity ; but it failed, as degrading His invisible ma- 
 jesty by unworthy, multiplied and inconsistent images, 
 and as shattering the moral scheme of the world into 
 partial and discordant systems, in which appetite and 
 expedience received the sanction due only to virtue. 
 And thus refined philosophy and rude natural feeling 
 each attempted separately to enforce obedience to a 
 religious rule, and each failed on its own side. The 
 
26 NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION [Sebm. 
 
 God of philosophy was infinitely great, but an ab- 
 straction ; the God of paganism was intelligible, but 
 degraded by human conceptions. Science and nature 
 could produce no joint-work ; it was left for an ex- 
 press revelation to propose the Object in which they 
 should both be reconciled, and to satisfy the desires 
 of both in a real and manifested incarnation of the 
 Deity. 
 
 When St. Paul came to Athens, and found the 
 altar dedicated to the Unknown God, he professed 
 his purpose of declaring to the Heathen world, Him, 
 " whom they ignorantly worshipped." He proceeded 
 to condemn their polytheistic and anthropomorphic 
 errors, to disengage the notion of a Deity from the 
 base earthly attributes in which Heathen religion 
 had enveloped it, and to appeal to their own literature 
 in behalf of the true nature of Him in whom " we 
 live, and move, and have our being." But, after thus 
 acknowledging the abstract correctness of the philo- 
 sophical system, as far as it went, he preaches unto 
 them Jesus and the Resurrection ; i. e. he embodies 
 the moral character of the Deity in those historical 
 notices of it, which have been made the medium of 
 the Christian manifestation of His attributes. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to enter into any formal 
 proof that this is one principal object, as of all reve- 
 lation, so especially of the Christian ; viz. to relate 
 some course of action, some conduct, a life (to speak 
 in human terms) of the One Supreme God. Indeed, 
 so evidently is this the case, that one very common, 
 
II.] COMPARED IN POINT OF INFLUENCE, 27 
 
 though superficial objection to the Scriptures, is 
 founded on their continually ascribing to Almighty 
 God human passions, words, and actions. The first 
 chapter of the book of Job is one instance which may 
 suggest many more ; and those marks of character 
 are especially prominent in Scripture, which imply 
 an extreme opposition to an eternal and fated system, 
 inherent freedom of will, power of change, long-suf- 
 fering, placability, repentance, delight in the praises 
 and thanksgivings of His creatures, failure of pur- 
 pose, and the prerogative of dispensing His mercies 
 according to His good pleasure. Above all, in the 
 New Testament, the Divine character is exhibited 
 to us, not merely as love, or mercy, or holiness 
 (attributes which have a vagueness in our concep- 
 tions of them from their immensity), but these 
 and others as seen in an act of self-denial — a 
 mysterious quality when ascribed to Him, who is 
 all things in Himself, but especially calculated (from 
 the mere meaning of the term) to impress upon our 
 minds the personal character of the Object of our 
 worship. " God so loved the world," that He gave up 
 His only Son ; and the Son of God "pleased not 
 Himself." In His life we are allowed to discern the 
 attributes of the invisible God, drawn out into action 
 in accommodation to our weakness. The passages 
 are too many to quote, in which this object of His in- 
 carnation is openly declared. " In Him dwelleth all 
 the fulness of the Godhead bodily." " He that hath 
 
28 NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION [Serm. 
 
 seen Him, hath seen the Father." He is a second 
 Creator of the world, condescending (as it were) to 
 repeat for our contemplation, in human form, that dis- 
 tinct personal work, which made " the morning stars 
 sing together, and all the sons of God shout for joy." 
 In a word, the impression upon the religious mind 
 thence made is appositely illustrated in the words of 
 the text, "That which was from the beginning, 
 which we have heard, which we have seen with our 
 eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands 
 have handled, of the Word of Life ; (For the Life was 
 manifested, and we have seen It, and bear witness 
 and show unto you that Eternal Life, which was with 
 the Father, and was manifested unto us ;) That which 
 we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye 
 also may have fellowship with us." 
 
 No thought is more likely to come across, and 
 haunt the mind, and slacken its efforts under Natural 
 Religion, than that after all we may be following a 
 vain shadow, and disquieting ourselves without cause, 
 while we are giving up our hearts to the noblest in- 
 stincts and aspirations of our nature. The Roman 
 Stoic, as he committed suicide, complained he had 
 worshipped virtue, and found it but an empty name. 
 It is even now the way of the world to look upon the 
 religious principle as a mere peculiarity of temper, a 
 weakness, or an enthusiasm, or refined feeling (as the 
 case may be), characteristic of a timid and narrow, or of 
 an heated or a highly-gifted mind. Here, then, Re vela- 
 
IL] COMPARED IN POINT OF INFLUENCE. 29 
 
 tion meets us with simple and distinct/«d5 and actions, 
 not with painful inductions from existing phenomena, 
 not with generalized laws or metaphysical conjectures, 
 but with Jesus and the Resurrection ; ani " if Christ 
 be not risen" (it confesses plainly), " then is our preach- 
 ing vain, and your faith is also vain." Facts such as 
 this are not simply evidence of the truth of the reve- 
 lation, but the media of its impressiveness. The life 
 of Christ brings together and concentrates truths 
 concerning the chief good and the laws of our being, 
 which wander idle and forlorn over the surface of the 
 moral world, and often appear to diverge from each 
 other. It collects the scattered rays of light, which, 
 in the first days of creation, were poured over the 
 whole face of nature, into certain intelligible centres, 
 in the firmament of the heaven, to rule over the day 
 and over the night, and to divide the light from the 
 darkness. Our Saviour has all those abstract titles 
 of moral excellence bestowed upon Him in Scripture 
 which philosophers have invented. He is the Word, 
 the Light, the Life, the Truth, Wisdom, the Divine 
 Glory. St. John announces in the text, " The Life 
 was manifested, and we have seen It." 
 
 And hence will follow an important difference in 
 the moral character formed in the Christian school, 
 from that which Natural Religion has a tendency to 
 create. The philosopher aspires towards a divine 
 principle; the Christian, towards a Divine Agent. 
 Now, dedication of our energies to the service of a 
 person is the occasion of the highest and most noble 
 
30 NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION [Serm. 
 
 virtues, — disinterested attachment, self-devotion, loy- 
 alty ; habitual humility, moreover, from the know- 
 ledge that there must ever be one that is above us. 
 On the other hand, in whatever degree we approxi- 
 mate towards a mere standard of excellence, we do 
 not really advance towards it, but bring it to us ; 
 the excellence we venerate becomes part of ourselves 
 — we become a god to ourselves. This was one 
 especial consequence of the pantheistic system of the 
 Stoics, the later Pythagoreans, and other philoso- 
 phers ; in proportion as they drank into the spirit of 
 eternal purity, they became divine in their own esti- 
 mation ; they contrasted themselves with those who 
 were below them, knowing no being above them by 
 whom they could measure their proficiency. Thus 
 they began by being humble, and, as they advanced, 
 humility and faith wore away from their character. 
 This is strikingly illustrated in Aristotle's description 
 of a perfectly virtuous man. An incidental and un- 
 studied greatness of mind is described as marking 
 the highest moral excellence, and truly ; but the ge- 
 nuine nobleness of the virtuous mind, as shown in a 
 superiority to common temptations, forbearance, gene- 
 rosity, self-respect, calm high-minded composure, is 
 deformed by an arrogant contempt of others, a dis- 
 regard of their feelings, and a harshness and repul- 
 siveness of external manner. That is, the philo- 
 sopher saw clearly the tendencies of the moral system, 
 the constitution of the human soul, and the ways 
 leading to the perfection of our nature ; but when 
 1 
 
II.] COMPARED IN POINT OF INFLUENCE. 31 
 
 he attempted to delineate the ultimate complete con- 
 sistent image of the virtuous man, how could he be 
 expected to do this great thing, who had never seen 
 Angel or Prophet, much less the Son of God mani- 
 fested in the flesh ? 
 
 At such pains is Scripture, on the other hand, to 
 repress the proud self-complacency just spoken of, 
 that not only is all moral excellence expressly re- 
 ferred to the Supreme God, but even the principle 
 of good, when implanted and progressively realized 
 in our hearts, is still continually revealed to us as a 
 Person, as if to mark strongly that it is not our own, 
 and must lead us to no preposterous self-adoration. 
 For instance, we read of Christ being formed in us, 
 and dwelling in the heart — of the Holy Spirit making 
 us His temple; particularly remarkable is our Sa- 
 viour's own promise : " If a man love Me, he will 
 keep My words ; and My Father will love him, and 
 We will come unto him, and make Our abode with 
 him." 
 
 It may be observed, that this method of persona- 
 tion (so to call it) is carried throughout the revealed 
 system. The doctrine of the Personality of the Holy 
 Spirit has just been referred to. Again, the doctrine 
 of original sin is centred in the person of Adam, 
 and in this way is made impressive and intelligible to 
 the mass of mankind. The Evil Principle is re- 
 vealed to us in the person of its author, Satan. Nay, 
 not only thus, in the case of really existing beings, 
 as the first man and the Evil Spirit, but even when 
 
32 NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION [Serm. 
 
 a figure must be used, is the same system continued. 
 The body of faithful men, or Church, considered as the 
 dwelling-place of the One Holy Spirit, is invested 
 with a metaphorical personality, and is bound to act 
 as one, in order to those practical ends of influ- 
 encing and directing human conduct, in which the 
 entire system may be considered as originating. 
 And, again, for the same purpose of concentrating 
 the energies of the Christian body, and binding its 
 members into close union, it was found expedient, 
 even in Apostolic times, to consign each particular 
 church to the care of one pastor, or bishop, who was 
 thus made a personal type of Christ mystical, the new 
 and spiritual man ; a centre of action and a living 
 witness against all heretical or disorderly j)roceedings. 
 
 Such, then, is the Revealed system compared with 
 the Natural — teaching religious truths historically, 
 not by investigation; revealing the Divine nature, 
 not in works, but in action ; not in His moral laws, 
 but in His spoken commands ; training us to be sub- 
 jects of a kingdom, not citizens of a Stoic republic ; 
 and enforcing obedience, not on Reason so much as 
 on Faith. 
 
 And now that we are in possession of this great 
 gift of God, Natural Religion has an use and im- 
 portance which it before could hardly possess. For 
 as Revealed Religion enforces doctrine, so Natural 
 Religion recommends it. It is hardly necessary to ob- 
 serve, that the whole revealed scheme rests on nature 
 for the validity of its evidence. The claim of mi- 
 
II.] COMPARED IN POINT OF INFLUENCE. 33 
 
 raculous power or knowledge assumes the existence 
 of a Being capable of exerting it; and the matter 
 of the revelation itself is evidenced and interpreted 
 by those awful, far-reaching analogies of mediation 
 and vicarious suffering, which we discern in the 
 visible course of the world. There is, perhaps, no 
 greater satisfaction to the Christian than that which 
 arises from his perceiving that the Revealed system is 
 rooted deep in the natural course of things, of which 
 it is merely the result and completion; that his 
 Saviour has interpreted for him the faint or broken 
 accents of Nature ; and that in them, so interpreted; 
 he has, as if in some old prophecy, at once the evi- 
 dence and the lasting memorial of the truths of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 It remains to suggest some of the conclusions 
 which follow from this view, thus taken, of the 
 relation of Revealed to Natural Religion. 
 
 1. First, much might be said on the evidence 
 thence deducible for the truth of the Christian sys- 
 tem. It is one point of evidence that the two systems 
 coincide in declaring the same substantial doctrines: 
 viz., as being two independent witnesses in one and 
 the same question; an argument contained by implica- 
 tion, though not formally drawn out, in Bishop Butler's 
 Analogy. It is a further point of evidence to find 
 that Scripture completes the very deficiency of nature; 
 and, while its doctrines of Atonement and Mediation 
 are paralleled by phenomena in the visible course of 
 things, to discern in it one solitary doctrine, which 
 
 UNIV. s. D 
 
34 NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION [Seum. 
 
 from its nature has no parallel in this world, an Incar- 
 nation of the Divine Essence, an intrinsic evidence 
 of its truth in the benefit thus conferred on religion. 
 
 2. Next, light is thus thrown upon the vast prac- 
 tical importance of the doctrines of the Divinity of 
 our Lord, and of the Personality of the Holy Spirit. 
 It is the impiety, indeed, involved in the denial of 
 these, which is the great guilt of anti-Trinitarians ; 
 but, over and above this, such persons go far to de- 
 stroy the very advantages which the Revealed system 
 possesses over the Natural ; and throw back the 
 science of morals and of human happiness into that 
 state of vagueness and inefficiency from which Chris- 
 tianity has extricated it. On the other hand, we 
 learn besides, the shallowness of the objection to 
 the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, grounded on its 
 involving a plurality of Persons in the Godhead; 
 since, if it be inconceivable, as it surely is, how Per- 
 sonality can in any way be an attribute of the infinite, 
 incommunicable Essence of the Deity, or in what 
 particular sense it is ascribed to Him, Unitarians, so 
 called (to be consistent), should find a difficulty in 
 the doctrine of an Unity of Person, as well as of a 
 Trinity ; and having ceased to be Athanasians, should 
 not stop till they become Pantheists. 
 
 3. Further, the same view suggests to us the pecu- 
 liar perverseness of schism, which tends to undo the 
 very arrangement which our Lord has made, for ar- 
 resting the attention of mankind, and leading them to 
 seek their true moral good ; and which (if followed to 
 
II.] COMPARED IN POINT OF INFLUENCE. 35 
 
 its legitimate results) would reduce the world to the 
 very state in which it existed in the age of the heathen 
 moralist familiar to us in this place, who, in opening 
 his treatise, bears witness to the importance of a 
 visible Church, by consulting the opinions of mankind 
 as to the means of obtaining happiness ; and not till 
 disappointed in sage and statesman, the many and the 
 educated, undertakes himself an examination of 
 man's nature, as if the only remaining means of 
 satisfying the inquiry. 
 
 4. And hence, at the same time, may be learned the 
 real religious position of the heathen, who, we have 
 reason to trust, are not in danger of perishing ex- 
 cept so far as all are in such danger, whether in 
 heathen or Christian country, who do not follow the 
 secret voice of conscience, leading them on by Faith 
 to their true though unseen good. For the preroga- 
 tive of Christians consists in the possession, not of 
 exclusive knowledge and spiritual aid, but of gifts 
 high and peculiar; and though the manifestation of 
 the Divine character in the Incarnation is a singular 
 and inestimable benefit, yet its absence is supplied 
 in a degree, not only in the inspired record of MoseS^ 
 but even, with more or less strength, as the case 
 may be, in those various traditions concerning divine 
 providences and dispensations which are scattered 
 through the heathen mythologies. 
 
 5. Lastly, a comment is hence afforded us on the 
 meaning of a phrase perplexed by controversy — that 
 
 d2 
 
36 NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION [Seem. 
 
 of " preaching Christ." By which is properly meant, 
 not the putting Natural Religion out of sight, nor the 
 separating one doctrine of the Gospel from the rest, 
 as having an exclusive claim to the name of Gospel ; 
 but the displaying all that Nature and Scripture 
 teach concerning Divine Providence (for they teach 
 the same great truths), whether of His majesty, or His 
 love, or His mercy, or His holiness, or His fearful 
 anger, through the medium of the life and death of 
 His Son, Jesus Christ. A mere moral strain of teaching 
 duty and enforcing obedience fails in persuading to 
 practice, not because it appeals to conscience, and 
 commands and threatens, (as is sometimes supposed,) 
 but because it does not urge and illustrate virtue in 
 the name and by the example of our blessed Lord. 
 It is not that natural teaching gives merely the Law, 
 and Christian teaching gives the tidings of pardon, 
 and that a command chills or formalizes the mind, 
 and that a free forgiveness converts it ; (for nature 
 speaks of God's goodness as well as of His severity, 
 and Christ surely of His severity as well as of His 
 goodness ;) but that in the Christian scheme we find 
 all the Divine Attributes (not mercy only, though 
 mercy pre-eminently) brought out and urged upon 
 us, which were but latent in the visible course oi 
 things. Hence it appears that the Gospels are the 
 great instruments (under God's blessing) of fixing 
 and instructing our minds in a religious course, the 
 Epistles being rather comments on them than in- 
 
II.] COMPARED IN POINT OF INFLUENCE. 37 
 
 tended to supersede them, as is sometimes main- 
 tained. Surely it argues a temper of mind but partially 
 moulded to the worship and love of Christ, to make 
 this distinction between His teaching and that of His 
 Apostles, when the very promised office of the Com- 
 forter in His absence was, not to make a new reve- 
 lation, but expressly " to bring all things to their 
 remembrance" which "ffe had said to them;" not 
 to " speak of Himself," but " to receive of Christ's, 
 and show it unto them." The Holy Spirit came " to 
 glorify Christ," to declare openly to all the world that 
 He had come on earth, suffered, and died, who was 
 also the Creator and Governor of the world, the 
 Saviour, the final Judge of men. It is the Incar- 
 nation of the Son of God rather than any doctrine 
 drawn from a partial view of Scripture (however 
 true and momentous it may be) which is the ar- 
 ticle of a standing or a falling Church. " Every 
 spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come 
 in the flesh, is not of God ; . . . . this is that spirit of 
 anti-Christ;" for, not to mention other more direct 
 considerations, it reverses, as far as in it lies, all that 
 the revealed character of Christ has done for our 
 faith and virtue. And hence the Apostles' speeches 
 in the book of Acts and the primitive creeds insist 
 almost exclusively upon the history, not the doctrines 
 of Christianity ; it being designed that by means of 
 our Lord's Economy the great doctrines of theology 
 should be taught, the facts of that economy giving 
 its peculiarity and force to the Revelation. 
 
38 NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION COMPARED. 
 
 May it ever be our aim thus profitably to use that 
 last and complete manifestation of the Divine Attri- 
 butes and will contained in the New Testament, 
 setting the pattern of the Son of God ever before us, 
 and studying so to act as if He were sensibly present, 
 by look, voice, and gesture, to approve or blame us in 
 all our private thoughts and all our intercourse with 
 the world! 
 
SERMON III. 
 
 THE USURPATIONS OF REASON. 
 Preached December 11, 1831. , 
 
 Matt. xi. 19. 
 " Wisdom is justified of her children." 
 
 Such is our Lord's comment upon the perverse con- 
 duct of His countrymen, who refused to be satisfied 
 either with St. John's reserve or His own condescen- 
 sion. John the Baptist retired from the world, and 
 when men came to seek him, spoke sternly to them. 
 Christ, the greater prophet, took the more lowly 
 place, and freely mixed with sinners. The course of 
 God's dealings with them was varied to the utmost 
 extent which the essential truth and unchangeable- 
 ness of His moral government permitted ; but in 
 neither extreme of austereness or of grace did it per- 
 suade. Having exposed this remarkable fact in th© 
 history of mankind, the Divine Speaker utters the 
 solemn words of the text, the truth which they con- 
 
40 THE USURPATIONS OF REASON. [Seem. 
 
 ■vey being the refuge of disappointed mercy, as well 
 as a warning addressed to all whom they might con- 
 cern. " Wisdom is justified of her children :" as if He 
 said, " There is no act on God's part, no truth of re- 
 ligion, to which a captious Reason may not find ob- 
 jections ; and in truth the evidence and matter of 
 Revelation are not addressed to the mere unstable 
 Reason of man, nor can hope for any certain or ade- 
 quate reception with it. Divine wisdom speaks not 
 to the world, but to her own children, or those who 
 have been already under her teaching, and who, 
 knowing her voice, understand her words, and are 
 suitable judges of them. These justify her." 
 
 In the text, then, a truth is expressed in the form 
 of a proverb, which is implied all through Scripture as 
 a basis on which its doctrine rests — viz. that there is 
 no necessary connexion between the intellectual and 
 moral principles of our nature ; that on religious sub- 
 jects we may prove anything or overthrow anything, 
 and can arrive at truth but? accidentally, if we merely 
 investigate by what is commonly called Reason, which 
 is in such matters but the instrument at best, in the 
 hands of the legitimate judge, spiritual discernment. 
 When we consider how commonit is in the world at 
 large to consider the intellect as the characteristic 
 part of our nature, the silence of Scripture in regard 
 to it (not to mention its positive disparagement of it) 
 is very striking. In the Old Testament scarcely any 
 mention is made of the existence of the Reason as 
 a distinct and chief attribute of the mind; the sacred 
 
III.] THE USURPATIONS OF REASON. 41 
 
 language affording no definite and proper terms 
 expressive either of the general gift or of separate 
 faculties in which it exhibits itself. And as to the 
 New Testament, need we but betake ourselves to 
 the description given us of Him who is the Only-be- 
 gotten Son and Express Image of God, to learn how 
 inferior a station in the idea of the perfection of 
 man's nature is held by the mere Reason. While 
 there is no profaneness in attaching to Christ those 
 moral attributes of goodness, truth, and holiness, 
 which we apply to man, there would be an obvious 
 irreverence in measuring the powers of His mind by 
 any standard of intellectual endowments, the very 
 names of which sound mean and impertinent when as- 
 cribed to Him. St. Luke's declaration of His growth 
 " in wisdom and stature," with no other specified 
 advancement, is abundantly illustrated in St. John's 
 Gospel, in which we find the Almighty Teacher re- 
 jecting with apparent disdain all intellectual display, 
 and confining Himself to the enunciation of deep 
 truths, intelligible to the children of wisdom, but 
 conveyed in language altogether destitute both of 
 argumentative skill, and what is commonly considered 
 eloquence. 
 
 To account for this silence of Scripture concern- 
 ing intellectual excellence, by afiBrming that the Jews 
 were not distinguished in that respect, is hardly to 
 the point; for surely a lesson is conveyed to us in 
 the very circumstance of such a people being chosen 
 as the medium of a moral gift. If it be further 
 
42 THE USURPATIONS OF REASON: [Serm. 
 
 objected, that to speak concerning intellectual en- 
 dowments fell beyond the range of inspiration, which 
 was limited by its professed object, this is no objec- 
 tion, but the very position here maintained. No one 
 can deny to the intellect its own excellence, nor de- 
 prive it of its due honours ; the question is merely this, 
 whether it be not limited in its turn, as regards its 
 range, so as not without intrusion to exercise itself 
 as an independent authority in the field of morals 
 and religion. 
 
 Such surely is the case ; and the silence of Scrip- 
 ture concerning intellectual gifts need not further 
 be insisted on, either in relation to the fact itself, 
 or the implication contained in it. Were a being 
 unacquainted with mankind to receive information 
 concerning human nature from the Bible, would hd 
 ever conjecture its actual state, as developed in society 
 in all the various productions and exhibitions of 
 what is called talent ? And, next viewing the world 
 as it is, and the Bible in connexion with it, what 
 would he see in the actual history of Revelation, 
 but the triumph of the moral powers of man over 
 the intellectual, of holiness over ability, far more 
 than of mind over brute force? Great as was 
 the power of the lion and the bear, the leopard, 
 and that fourth nameless beast, dreadful and terrible 
 and strong exceedingly, God had weapons of their 
 own kind to bruise and tame them. The miracles of 
 the Church displayed more physical power than the 
 hosts of Pharaoh and Sennacherib. Power, not mind, 
 
III.] THE USURPATIONS OF REASON. 43 
 
 was opposed to power ; yet to the refined Pagan in- 
 tellect, the rivalry of intellect was not granted. The 
 foolish things of the worid confounded the wise, far 
 more completely than the weak the mighty. Human 
 philosophy was beaten from its usurped province, but 
 not by any counter-philosophy ; and unlearned Faith, 
 establishing itself by its own inherent strength, ruled 
 the Reason as far as its own interests were concerned, 
 and from that time has employed it in the Church, 
 first as a captive, then as a servant ; not as an equal, 
 and in nowise (far from it) as a patron. 
 
 I propose now to make some remarks upon the 
 place which Reason holds in relation to Religion, the 
 light in which we should view it, and certain en- 
 croachments of which it is sometimes guilty ; and I 
 think that, without a distinct definition of the word, 
 which would carry us too far from our subject', I can 
 make it plain what I take it to mean. Sometimes, 
 indeed, it stands for all in which man differs from 
 the brutes, and so includes in its signification the 
 faculty of distinguishing between right and wrong, 
 and the directing principle in conduct. In this sense 
 I certainly do not here use it, but in a narrower sig- 
 nification, which it usually bears, as representing or 
 synonymous with the intellectual powers, and as 
 opposed as such to the moral qualities, and to Faith. 
 
 This opposition between Faith and Reason takes 
 place in two ways, when either of the two encroaches 
 
 ' For an explanation of the word, vide infra, Discourses ix. and x. 
 
44 THE USURPATIONS OF REASON; [Serm. 
 
 upon the province of the other. It would be an 
 absurdity to attempt to find out mathematical truths 
 by the purity and acuteness of the moral sense. It 
 is a form of this mistake which has led men to apply 
 such Scripture communications as are intended for 
 religious purposes to the determination of physical 
 questions. This error is perfectly understood in these 
 days by all thinking men. This was the usurpation 
 of the schools of theology in former ages, to issue 
 their decrees to the subjects of the Senses and the In- 
 tellect. No wonder Reason and Faith were at variance. 
 The other cause of disagreement takes place when 
 Reason is the aggressor, and encroaches on the pro- 
 vince of Religion, attempting to judge of those truths 
 which are subjected to another part of our nature, 
 the moral sense. For instance, suppose an acute 
 man, who had never conformed his life to the pre- 
 cepts of Scripture, attempted to decide on the degree 
 and kind of intercourse which a Christian should have 
 with the world, or on the measure of guilt involved 
 in the use of light and profane words, or which of 
 the Christian doctrines were generally necessary to 
 salvation, or to judge of the wisdom or use of con- 
 secrating places of worship, or to determine what 
 kind and extent of reverence should be paid to the 
 Lord's Day, or what portion of our possessions set 
 apart for religious purposes ; questions these which 
 are addressed to the cultivated moral perception, or, 
 what is sometimes improperly termed, "feeling;'^' 
 improperly, because feeling comes and goes, and, 
 
in.] THE USURPATIONS OF REASON. 45 
 
 having no root in our nature, speaks with no divine 
 authority ; but the moral perception, though varying 
 in the mass of men, is fixed in each individual, and is 
 an original element within us. Hume, in his Essay on 
 Miracles, has well propounded a doctrine, which at 
 the same time he misapplies. He speaks of " those 
 dangerous friends or disguised enemies to the Chris- 
 tian Religion, who have undertaken to defend it by 
 the principles of human Reason." " Our most holy 
 Religion," he proceeds, " is founded on Faith, not on 
 Reason." This is said in irony ; but it is true as far 
 as every important question in Revelation is con- 
 cerned, and to forget this is the error which is at 
 present under consideration. 
 
 That it is a common error is evident from the 
 anxiety generally felt to detach the names of men of 
 ability from the infidel party. Why should we be 
 desirous to disguise the fact, if it be such, that men 
 distinguished, some for depth and originality of mind, 
 others for acuteness, others for prudence and good 
 sense in practical matters, yet have been indifterent to 
 Revealed Religion, — why, unless we have some mis- 
 conceived notion concerning the connexion between 
 the intellect and the moral principle? Yet, is it 
 not a fact, for the proof or disproof of which we need 
 not go to history or philosophy, when the humblest 
 village may show us that those persons who turn out 
 badly, as it is caiUed, — who break the laws first of 
 society, then of their country, — are commonly the 
 very men who have received more than the ordinary 
 
46 THE USURPATIONS OF REASON. [Serm. 
 
 share of intellectual gifts ? Without turning aside to 
 explain or account for this, thus much it seems to 
 show us, that the powers of the intellect (in that 
 degree, at least, in which, in matter of fact, they are 
 found among us) do not necessarily lead us in the 
 direction of our moral instincts, or confirm them ; 
 but if the agreement between the two be but matter 
 of accident, what testimony do we gain from the mere 
 Reason to the truths of Religion ? 
 
 Why should we be surprised that one faculty of 
 our compound nature should not be able to do that 
 which is the work of another ? It is as little strange 
 that the mind, which has only exercised itself on 
 matters of literature or science, and never submitted 
 itself to the influence of Divine perceptions, should 
 be unequal to the contemplation of a moral revelation, 
 as that it should not perform the office of the senses. 
 There is a strong analogy between the two cases. 
 Our Reason assists the senses in various ways, direct- 
 ing the application of them, and arranging the evi- 
 dence they supply; it makes use of the facts sub- 
 jected to them, and to an unlimited extent deduces 
 conclusions from them, foretels facts which are to be 
 ascertained, and confirms doubtful ones ; but the 
 man who neglected experiments and trusted to his 
 vigour of talent, would be called a theorist ; and the 
 blind man who seriously professed to lecture on light 
 and colours could scarcely hope to gain an audience. 
 Or suppose his lecture proceeded, what might be 
 expected from him? Starting from the terms of 
 
III.] THE USURPATIONS OF REASON. 47^ 
 
 science which would be the foundation and materials 
 of his system, instead of apprehended facts, his acute- 
 ness and prompt imagination might carry him freely 
 forward into the open field of the science ; he might 
 discourse with ease and fluency, till we almost forgot 
 his lamentable deprivation ; at length, on a sudden, 
 he would lose himself in some great and inexpres- 
 sible mistake, betrayed in the midst of his career by 
 some treacherous word, which he incautiously ex- 
 plained too fully or dwelt too much upon ; and we 
 should find that he had been using words without cor- 
 responding ideas : on witnessing his failure, we should 
 view it indulgently, qualifying our criticism by the 
 remark, that the exhibition was singularly good for a 
 blind man. 
 
 Such would be the fate of the ofiicious Reason, 
 busying itself without warrant in the province of 
 sense. In its due subordinate place there, it acts 
 but as an instrument ; it but assists and expedites, 
 saving the senses the time and trouble of working. 
 Give a man a hundred eyes and hands for natural 
 science, and you materially loosen his dependence on 
 the ministry of Reason. 
 
 This illustration, be it observed, is no adequate 
 parallel of the truth which led to it ; for the subject of 
 light and colours is at least within the grasp of scientific 
 definitions, and therefore cognisable by the intellect 
 far better than morals. Yet apply it, such as it is, 
 to the matter in hand, not, of course, with the ex- 
 travagant object of denying the use of the Reason 
 
 1 
 
48 THE USURPATIONS OF REASON. [Serm. 
 
 in religious inquiries, but in order to ascertain whafc 
 is its real place in the conduct of them. And in ex- 
 planation of it I would make two additional obser- 
 vations : — first, we must put aside the indirect support 
 afforded to Revelation by the countenance of the in- 
 tellectually gifted portion of mankind; I mean, in 
 the way of influence. Reputation for talent, learning, 
 or scientific knowledge, has natural and just claims 
 on our respect, and recommends a cause to our no- 
 tice. So does power ; and in this way power, as well 
 as intellectual endowments, is necessary to the main- 
 tenance of religion, in order to secure from mankind 
 a hearing for an unpleasant subject ; but power, when 
 it has done so much, attempts no more; or if it 
 does, it loses its position, and is involved in the fallacy 
 of persecution. Here the parallel holds good — it is 
 as absurd to argue men, as to torture them, into 
 believing. 
 
 But in matter of fact (it will be said) Reason can 
 go further ; for we can reason about religion, and we 
 frame its Evidences. Here, then, secondly, I observe, 
 we must deduct from the real use of the Reason in 
 religious inquiries, whatever is the mere setting right 
 of its own mistakes. The blind man who reasoned him- 
 self into errors in optics might possibly reason himself 
 out of them ; yet this would be no proof that extreme 
 acuteness was necessary or useful in the science 
 itself. It was but necessary for a blind man ; that 
 is, supposing he was bent on attempting to do what 
 from the first he ought not to have attempted ; andi 
 
111.] THE USURPATIONS OF REASON. 49 
 
 after all, with the uncertainty whether he would gain 
 or lose in his search after scientific truth, by his ex- 
 periment. Now, so numerous and so serious have 
 been the errors of theorists on religious subjects (that 
 is, of those who have speculated without caring to act 
 on their sense of right ; or have rested their cause on 
 mere arguments, instead of attempting a direct con- 
 templation of its subject-matter), that the correction 
 of them has required the most vigorous and subtle 
 exercise of the Reason, and has almost engrossed its 
 efforts. Unhappily the blind teacher in morals can 
 ensure himself a blind audience, to whom he may 
 safely address his paradoxes, which are sometimes ad- 
 mitted even by religious men, on the ground of those 
 happy conjectures which his acute reason now and 
 then makes, and which they verify. What an inde- 
 scribable confusion hence arises between truth and 
 falsehood, in systems, parties, and persons ! What a 
 superhuman talent is demanded to unravel the 
 checkered and tangled web ; and what gratitude is 
 due to the gifted individual who by his learning or 
 philosophy in part achieves the task ! yet not 
 gratitude in such a case to the Reason as a principle 
 of research, which is merely undoing its own mischief, 
 and poorly and tardily redressing its intrusion into a 
 province not its own ; but to the man, the moral being, 
 who has subjected it in his own person to the higher 
 principles of his nature. 
 
 To take an instance. What an extreme exercise 
 of intellect is shown in the theological teaching of 
 
 UNIV. s. ■ E 
 
so THE USURPATIONS OF REASON. [Seem. 
 
 the Church ! Yet how was it necessary ? chiefly, from 
 the previous errors of heretical reasonings, on subjects 
 addressed to the moral perception. For while Faith 
 was engaged in that exact and well-instructed devo- 
 tion to Christ which no words can suitably describe, 
 the forward Reason stepped in upon the yet unin- 
 closed ground of doctrine, and attempted to describe 
 there, from its own resources, an image of the In- 
 visible. Henceforth the Church was obliged, in self- 
 defence, to employ the gifts of the intellect in the 
 cause of God, to trace out (as near as might be) the 
 faithful shadow of those truths, which unlearned 
 piety admits and acts upon, without the medium of 
 intellectual representation. 
 
 This obviously holds good as regarJls the Evidences 
 also, great part of -which are rather answers to ob- 
 jections than direct arguments for Revelation ; and 
 even the direct arguments are far more eifective in 
 the confutation of captious opponents, than in the 
 conviction of inquirers. Doubtless the degree in 
 which we depend on argument in religious subjects 
 varies with each individual, so that no strict line can 
 be drawn : still, let it be inquired whether these Evi- 
 derices are not rather to be viewed as splendid phi- 
 losophical investigations than practical arguments ; 
 at best bulwarks intended for overawing the enemy 
 by their strength and number, rather than for actual 
 use in the war. In matter of fact, how many men 
 do we suppose, in a century, out of the whole body 
 of Christians, have been primarily brought to be- 
 
III.] THE USURPATIONS OF REASON. 51 
 
 lief, or retained in it, by an intimate and lively 
 perception of the force of what are technically called 
 the Evidences ? And why are there so few ? Be- 
 cause to the mind already familiar with the truths 
 of Natural Religion, enough of evidence is at once 
 afforded by the mere fact of the present existence of 
 Christianity ; which, viewed in its connexion with its 
 principles and upholders and effects, bears on the 
 face of it the signs of a divine ordinance in the very 
 same way in which the visible world attests to us its 
 own divine origin ; — a more accurate investigation, 
 in which superior talents are brought into play, 
 merely bringing to light an innumerable alternation 
 of arguments, for and against it, which forms in- 
 deed an ever-increasing series in its behalf, but still 
 does not get beyond the first suggestion of plain 
 sense and religiously-trained reason; and in fact, 
 perhaps, never comes to a termination. Nay, so 
 alert is the instinctive power of an educated con- 
 science, that by some secret faculty, and vrithout any 
 intelligible reasoning process, it seems to detect moral 
 truth wherever it lies hid, and feels a conviction of 
 its own accuracy which bystanders cannot account 
 for; and this especially in the case of Revealed 
 Religion, which is one comprehensive moral fact, — 
 according to the saying which is parallel to the text, 
 " I know My sheep, and am known of Mine^" 
 From considerations such as the foregoing, it 
 
 ' John X. 14. 
 E 2 
 
52 THE USURPATIONS OF REASON. [Sehm. 
 
 appears that exercises of Reason are either external, 
 or at least only ministrative to religious inquiry and 
 knowledge; accidental to them, not of their essence; 
 useful in their place, but not necessary. But in order 
 to obtain further illustrations, and a view of the im- 
 portance, of the doctrine which I would advocate, 
 let us proceed to apply it to the circumstances of 
 the present times. Here, first, in finding fault with 
 the times, it is right to disclaim all Intention of com- 
 plaining of them. To murmur and rail at the state 
 of things under which we find ourselves, and to pre- 
 fer a former state, is not merely indecorous, it is 
 absolutely unmeaning. We are ourselves necessary 
 parts of the existing system, out of "which we have in- 
 dividually grown into being, into our actual position 
 in society. Depending, therefore, on the times as 
 a condition of existence, in wishing for other times 
 we are, in fact, wishing we had never been born. 
 Moreover, it is ungrateful to a state of society, from 
 which we daily enjoy so many benefits, to rail against 
 it. Yet there is nothing unbecoming, unmeaning, or 
 ungrateful in pointing out its faults and wishing them 
 away. 
 
 In this day, then, we see a very extensive develop- 
 ment of an usurpation which has been preparing, 
 with more or less of open avowal, for some centuries, 
 — the usurpation of Reason in morals and religion. In 
 the first years of its growth it professed to respect 
 the bounds of justice and sobriety : it was little in 
 its own eyes ; but getting strength, it was lifted up ; 
 
III-X THE USURPATIONS OF REASON- 53 
 
 and casting down all that is called God, or worshipped, 
 it took its seat in the temple of God, as His repre- 
 sentative. Such, at least, is the consummation at 
 which the Oppressor is aiming : — which he will reach, 
 unless He who rids His Church of tyrants in their 
 hour of pride, look down from the pillar of the cloud, 
 and trouble his host. 
 
 Now, in speaking of an usurpation of the Reason 
 at the present day, stretching over the province of 
 religion, and in fact over the Christian Church, no 
 admission is made concerning the degree of cultivation 
 which the Reason has at present reached in the terri- 
 tory which it has unjustly entered. A tyrant need 
 not be strong ; he keeps his ground by prescription 
 and through fear. It is not the profound thinkers 
 who intrude with their discussions and criticisms 
 within the sacred limits of moral truth. A really 
 philosophical mind, if unhappily it has ruined its own 
 religious perceptions, will he silent ; it will under- 
 stand that religion does not lie in its way : it may 
 disbelieve its truths, it may account belief in them 
 a weakness, or, on the other hand, a happy dream, a 
 delightful error, which it cannot itself enjpy ; — any 
 how, it will not usurp. But men who know but a 
 little, are for that very reason most under the power 
 of the imagination, which fills up for them at plea- 
 sure those departments of knowledge to which they 
 are strangers ; and as the ignorance of abject minds 
 shrinks from the spectres which it frames there, the 
 
54 THE USURPATIONS OF REASON. [Sbrm. 
 
 ignorance of the self-confident is petulant and pre- 
 suming. 
 
 The usurpations of the Reason may be dated from 
 the Reformation. Then, together with the tyranny, 
 the legitimate authority of the ecclesiastical power 
 was more or less overthrown ; and in some places its 
 ultimate basis also, the moral sense. One school of 
 men resisted the Church ; another went further, and 
 rejected the supreme authority of the law of Con- 
 science. Accordingly, Revealed Religion was in a 
 great measure stripped of its proof; for the existence 
 of the Church had been its external evidence, and its 
 internal had been supplied by the moral sense. 
 Reason now undertook to repair the demolition it 
 had made, and to render the proof of Christianity 
 independent both of the Chui-ch and of the law of 
 nature. From that time (if we take a general view 
 of its operations) it has been engaged, first in making 
 difiiculties by the mouth of unbelievers, and then 
 claiming power in the Church as a reward for having, 
 by the mouth of apologists, partially removed them. 
 
 The following instances are in point, in citing 
 which let no disrespect be imagined towards such 
 really eminent men as were at various times con- 
 cerned in them. Wrong Reason could not be met 
 when miracle and inspiration were suspended, except 
 by rightly-directed Reason. 
 
 1. As to the proof of the authority of Scripture. 
 This had hitherto rested on the testimony borne to it 
 
III.] THE USURPATIONS OF REASON. 55 
 
 by the existing Church. Reason volunteered proof, 
 not different, however, in kind, but more subtle and 
 complicated in its form, — took the evidence of past 
 ages, instead of the present, and committed its keep- 
 ing (as was necessary) to the oligarchy of learning : 
 at the same time, it boasted of the service thus ren- 
 dered to the cause of Revelation, that service really 
 consisting in the external homage thus paid to it by 
 learning and talent, not in any great direct practical 
 benefit, where men honestly wish to find and to do 
 God's will, to act for the best, and to prefer what is 
 safe and pious, to what shows well in argument. 
 
 2. Again, the Evidences themselves have been ela- 
 borately expanded ; thus satisfying, indeed, the liberal 
 curiosity of the mind, and giving scope for a devo- 
 tional temper to admire the manifold wisdom of God, 
 but doing comparatively little towards keeping men 
 from infidelity, or turning them to a religious life. 
 The same remark applies to such works on Natural 
 Theology as treat of the marks of design in the 
 creation, which are beautiful and interesting to the 
 believer in a God ; but where men have not already 
 recognized God's voice within them, ineffective, and 
 this moreover possibly from some unsoundness in the 
 intellectual basis of the argument. 
 
 3. A still bolder encroachment was contemplated 
 by the Reason, when it attempted to deprive the 
 moral law of its intrinsic authority, and to rest it upon 
 a theory of present expediency. Thus, it constituted 
 
56 THE USURPATIONS OF REASON. [Serm. 
 
 itself the court of ultimate appeal in religious dis- 
 putes, under pretence of affording a clearer and 
 more scientifically-arranged code than is to be col- 
 lected from the obscure precedents and mutilated 
 enactments of the Conscience. 
 
 4. A further error, connected with the assumption 
 just noticed, has been that of making intellectually- 
 gifted men arbiters of religious questions, in the place 
 of the children of wisdom. As far as the argument 
 for Revelation is concerned, it is only necessary to 
 show that Christianity has had disciples among men 
 of the highest ability ; whereas a solicitude already 
 alluded to has been shown to establish the orthodoxy 
 of some great names in philosophy and science, as if 
 truly it were a great gain to religion, and not to them, 
 if they were believers. Much more unworthy has 
 been the practice of boasting of the admission of in- 
 fidels concerning the beauty or utility of the Christian 
 system, as if it were a great thing for a Divine gift 
 to obtain praise for human excellence from proud or 
 immoral men. Far different is the spirit of our own 
 Church, which rejoicing, as she does, to find her chil- 
 dren walking in truth, never forgets the dignity and 
 preciousness of the gifts she offers ; as appears, for 
 instance, in the warnings prefacing the Communion 
 Service, and in the Commination, — above all, in. the 
 Athanasian Creed, in which she but follows the 
 example of .the early Church, which first withdrew 
 her mysteries from the many ; then, when contron 
 
III.] THE USURPATIONS OF REASON. 57 
 
 versy exposed them, guarded them with an anathema, 
 — in each case, lest curious reason might rashly gaze 
 and perish. 
 
 5. Lastly, — Another dangerous artifice of the 
 usurping Reason has been, the establishment of 
 societies, in which literature or science has been the 
 essential bond of union, to the exclusion of religious 
 profession. These bodies, many of them founded 
 with no bad intention, have gradually led to an undue 
 exaltation of the Reason, and have formed an uncon- 
 stitutional power, advising and controlling the legiti- 
 mate authorities of the soul. In troubled times, such 
 as the present, associations, the most inoffensive in 
 themselves, and the most praiseworthy in their ob- 
 ject, hardly escape this blame. Of this nature have 
 been the literary meetings and societies of the last 
 two centuries, not to mention recently-established 
 bodies of a less innocent character. 
 
 And, further, let it be a question, whether the 
 theories on Government, which exclude Religion from 
 the essential elements of the State, are not also off- 
 shoots of the same usurpations. 
 
 And now, what remains but to express a confi- 
 dence, which cannot deceive itself, that, whatever be 
 the destined course of the usurpations of the Reason 
 in the scheme of Divine Providence, its fall must at 
 last come, as that of other proud aspirants before it? 
 " Fret not thyself," says David, " because of evil 
 doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of 
 
58 THE USURPATIONS OF REASON. [Sebm. 
 
 iniquity; for they shall soon be cut down like the 
 grass, and wither as the green herb ;" perishing as that 
 high-minded Power, which the Prophet speaks of, who 
 sat in the seat of God, as if wiser than Daniel, and 
 acquainted with all secrets, till at length he was cast 
 out from the holy place as profane, in God's good time'. 
 Our plain business, in the meantime, is to ascertain 
 and hold fast our appointed station in the troubled 
 scene, and then to rid ourselves of all dread of the 
 future; to be careful, while we freely cultivate the 
 Reason in all its noble functions, to keep it in its 
 subordinate place in our nature : while we employ it 
 industriously in the service of Religion, not to imagine 
 that, in this service, we are doing any great thing, or 
 directly advancing its influence over the heart ; and, 
 while we promote the education of others in all use- 
 ful knowledge, to beware of admitting any principle 
 of union, or standard of reward, which may practi- 
 cally disparage the supreme authority of Christian 
 fellowship. Our great danger is, lest we should not 
 understand our own principles, and should weakly 
 surrender customs and institutions, which go far to 
 constitute the Church what she is, the pillar and 
 ground of moral truth, — lest, from a wish to make 
 religion acceptable to the world in general, more free 
 from objections than any moral system can be made, 
 more immediately and visibly beneficial to the tem- 
 poral interests of the community than God's com- 
 
 ' Ezek. xxviii. 3. 16. 
 
III.] THE USURPATIONS OF REASON. 59 
 
 prehensive appointments condescend to be, we be- 
 tray it to its enemies ; lest we rashly take the Scrip- 
 tures from the Church's custody, and commit them 
 to the world, that is, to what is called public opinion ; 
 which men boast, indeed, will ever be right on the 
 whole, but which, in fact, being the opinion of men, 
 who, as a body, have not cultivated the internal 
 moral sense, and have externally no immutable rules 
 to bind them, is, in religious questions, only by acci- 
 dent right, or only on very broad questions, and to- 
 morrow will betray interests which to-day it affects to 
 uphold. 
 
 However, what are the essentials of our system, 
 both in doctrine and discipline ; what we may safely 
 give up, and what we must firmly uphold; such 
 practical points are to be determined by a more 
 mature wisdom than can be expected in a discussion 
 like the present, or indeed can be conveyed in any 
 formal treatise. It is a plainer and a sufiSciently 
 important object, to contribute to the agitation of 
 the general subject, and to ask questions which others 
 are to answer. 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 PERSONAL INFLUENCE, THE MEANS OF 
 PROPAGATING THE TRUTH. 
 
 Preached January 22, 1832. 
 
 Heb. xi. 34. 
 " Out of weakness were made strong." 
 
 The history of the Old Testament Saints, conveyed in 
 these few words, is paralleled or surpassed in its 
 peculiar character by the lives of those who first 
 proclaimed the Christian dispensation. " Behold, I 
 send you forth as lambs among wolves," was the 
 warning given them of their position in the world, 
 on becoming Evangelists in its behalf. Their mira- 
 culous powers gained their cause a hearing, but did 
 not protect themselves. St. Paul records the fulfil- 
 ment of our Lord's prophecy, as it contrasts the 
 Apostles and mankind at large, when he declares, 
 " Being reviled, we bless ; being persecuted, we sufier 
 it ; being defamed, we intreat ; we are made as the 
 filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all 
 
PERSONAL INFLUENCE, &c. 61 
 
 things unto this day'." Nay, these words apply 
 not only to the unbelieving world ; the Apostle had 
 reason to be suspicious of his Christian brethren, and 
 even to expostulate, on that score, with his own 
 converts, his " beloved sons." He counted it a 
 great gain, such as afterwards might be dwelt upon 
 with satisfaction, that the Galatians did not despise 
 nor reject him on account of the infirmity which 
 was in his flesh ; and, in the passage already referred 
 to, he mourns over the fickleness and coldness of the 
 Corinthians, who thought themselves wise, strong, 
 and honourable, and esteemed the Apostles as fools, 
 weak, and despised. 
 
 Whence, then, was it, that in spite of all these im- 
 pediments to their success, still they succeeded ? How 
 did they gain that lodgment in the world, which they 
 hold down to this day, enabling them to perpetuate 
 principles distasteful to the majority even of those 
 who profess to receive them ? What is that hidden 
 attribute of the Truth, and how does it act, prevail- 
 ing, as it does, single-handed, over the many and 
 multiform errors, by which it is simultaneously and 
 incessantly attacked ? 
 
 Here, of course, we might at once refer its success 
 to the will and blessing of Him who revealed it, and 
 who distinctly promised that He would be present 
 with it, and with its preachers, " alway, even unto 
 the end." And, of course, by realizing this in our 
 
 ' 1 Cor. iv. 12, 13. 
 
62 PERSONAL INFLUENCE, [Sbbm. 
 
 minds, we learn dependence upon His grace in our own 
 endeavours to recommend the Truth, and encourage- 
 ment to persevere. But it is also useful to inquire 
 into the human means by which His Providence acts 
 in the world, in order to take a practical view of 
 events as they successively come before us in the 
 course of human affairs, and to understand our duty 
 in particulars ; and, with reference to these means, 
 it is now proposed to consider the question. 
 
 Here, first of all, — 
 
 It is plain that we cannot rightly ascribe the in- 
 fluence of moral truth in the world to the gift of 
 miracles, which was entrusted to the persons who 
 promulgated it in that last and perfect form, in which 
 we have been vouchsafed it ; that gift having been 
 withdrawn with the first preaching of it. Nor, again, 
 can it be satisfactorily maintained that the visible 
 Church, which the miracles formed, has taken their 
 place in the course of Divine Providence, as the 
 basis, strictly speaking, on which the Truth rests ; 
 though doubtless it is the appointed instrument, in 
 even a fuller sense than the miracles before it, by 
 which that Truth is conveyed to the world: for, 
 though it is certain that a community of men, who, 
 as individuals, were but imperfectly virtuous, would, 
 in the course of years, gain the ascendancy over vice 
 and error, however well prepared for the contest, 
 yet no one pretends that the visible Church is thus 
 blest; the Epistle to the Corinthians sufiiciently 
 showing, that, in all ages, true Christians, though 
 1 
 
IV.] THE MEANS OF PROPAGATING THE TRUTH. 63 
 
 contained in it, and forming its life and strength, are 
 scattered and hidden in the multitude, and, but par- 
 tially recognizing each other, have no means of com- 
 bining and co-operating. On the other hand, if we 
 view the Church simply as a political institution, and 
 refer the triumph of the Truth, which is committed 
 to it, merely to its power thence resulting,-^then, 
 the question recurs, first, how is it that this mixed 
 and heterogeneous body, called the Church, has, 
 through so many centuries, on the whole, been true 
 to the principles on which it was first established; 
 and then, how, thus preserving its principles, it 
 has, over and above this, gained on its side, in so 
 many countries and times, the countenance and sup- 
 port of the civil authorities. Here, it would be 
 sufficient to consider the three first centuries of its 
 existence, and to inquire by what means, in spite of 
 unearthly principles, it grew and strengthened in the 
 world ; and how, again, corrupt body as it was then 
 as now, still it preserved, all the while, with such 
 remarkable fidelity, those same unearthly principles 
 which had been once delivered to it. 
 
 Others there are who attempt to account for this 
 prevalence of the Truth, in spite of its enemies, by 
 imagining, that, though at first opposed, yet it is, 
 after a time, on mature reflection, admitted by the 
 world in general, from a real understanding and con- 
 viction of its excellence ; that it is in its nature level 
 to the comprehension of men, considered merely as 
 rational beings, without reference to their moral cha- 
 
64 PERSONAL INFLUENCE, [SeRm, 
 
 racter, whether good or bad ; and that, in matter of 
 fact, it is recognized and upheld by the mass of men, 
 taken as individuals, not merely approved by them, 
 taken as a mass, in which some have influence over 
 others, — not merely submitted to with a blind, but 
 true instinct, such as is said to oppress inferior ani- 
 mals in the presence of man, but literally advocated 
 from an enlightened capacity for criticising it ; and, 
 in consequence of this notion, some men go so far as 
 to advise, that the cause of Truth should be frankly 
 committed to the multitude as the legitimate judges 
 and guardians of it. 
 
 Something may occur to expose the fallacy of this 
 notion, in the course of the following remarks, on 
 what I conceive to be the real method by which the 
 influence of spiritual principles is maintained in this 
 carnal world. But here, it is expedient at once to 
 appeal to Scripture against a theory, which, whether 
 plausible or not, is scarcely Christian. The following 
 texts will suggest a multitude of others' as well as of 
 Scripture representations, hostile to the idea that 
 moral truth is easily or generally discerned. " The 
 natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of 
 God ^." " The light shineth in darkness, and the dark- 
 ness comprehended it not'." " Whosoever hath, to 
 him shall be given *." " Wisdom is justified by her 
 children =." 
 
 On the other hand, that its real influence consists 
 
 ' 1 Cor. ii. 14. ' John i. 5. * Matt. xiii. 12. ' Ibid. xi. 19. 
 
IV.] THE MEANS OF PROPAGATING THE TRUTH. 65 
 
 directly in some inherent moral power, in virtue in 
 some shape or other, not in any evidence or criterion 
 level to the undisciplined reason of the multitude, 
 high or low, learned or ignorant, is implied in texts, 
 such as those referred to just now: — "I send you 
 forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye, there- 
 fore, wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." 
 
 This being the state of the question, it is proposed 
 to consider, whether the influence of Truth in the 
 world at large does not arise from the personal in- 
 fluence, direct and indirect, of those who are commis- 
 sioned to teach it. 
 
 In order to explain the sense in which this is 
 asserted, it will be best to begin by tracing the mode 
 in which the moral character of such an organ of the 
 Truth is formed ; and, in a large subject, I must beg 
 permission to be somewhat longer (should it be ne- 
 cessary) than the custom of this place allows. 
 
 We will suppose this Teacher of the Truth so cir- 
 cumstanced as one alone among the sons of Adam 
 has ever been, such a one as has never transgressed 
 his sense of duty, but from his early childhood up- 
 wards has been only engaged in increasing and per- 
 fecting the light originally given him. In him the 
 knowledge and power of acting rightly have kept pace 
 with the enlargement of his duties, and his , inward 
 convictions of Truth with the successive temptations 
 opening upon him from without to wander from it. 
 Other men are surprised and overset by the sudden 
 weight of circumstances against which they have 
 
 UNIV. s. P 
 
66 PERSONAL INFLUENCE, [Sebm. 
 
 not provided ; or, losing step, they strain and discom- 
 pose their faculties in the effort, even though suc- 
 cessful, to recover themselves ; or they attempt to 
 discriminate for themselves betvi^een little and great 
 breaches of the law of conscience, and allow them- 
 selves in what they consider the former ; thus falling 
 down precipices (as I may say) when they meant to 
 descend an easy step, recoverable the next moment. 
 Hence it is that, in a short time, those who started 
 on one line make such different progress, and diverge 
 in so many directions. Their conscience still speaks, 
 but having been trifled with, it does not tell truly ; it 
 equivocates, or is irregular. Whereas in him who is 
 faithful to his own divinely implanted nature, the 
 faint light of Truth dawns continually brighter ; the 
 shadows which at first troubled it, the unreal shapes 
 created by its own twilight-state, vanish ; what was 
 as uncertain as mere feeling, and could not be dis- 
 tinguished from a fancy except by the commanding 
 urgency of its voice, becomes fixed and definite, and 
 strengthening into principle, at the same time de- 
 velopes into habit. As fresh and fresh duties arise, 
 or fresh and fresh faculties are brought into action, 
 they are at once absorbed into the existing inward 
 system, and take their appropriate place in it. 
 Doubtless beings, disobedient, as most of us, from our 
 youth up, cannot comprehend even the early attain- 
 ments of one who thus grows in wisdom as truly as he 
 grows in stature ; who has no antagonist principles 
 unsettling each other — no errors to unlearn ; though 
 
IV.] THE MEANS OF PROPAGATING THE TRUTH. 67 
 
 something is suggested to our imagination by that 
 passage in the history of our blessed Lord, when at 
 twelve years old He went up with His parents to the 
 temple. And still less able are we to understand the 
 state of such a mind, when it had passed through the 
 temptations peculiar to youth and manhood, and had 
 driven Satan from Him in very despair. 
 
 Concerning the body of opinions formed under 
 these circumstances, — not accidental and superficial, 
 the mere reflection of what goes on in the world, 
 but the natural and almost spontaneous result of 
 the formed and finished character within, — two re- 
 marks may be offered. 1. That every part of what 
 may be called this moral creed will be equally true 
 and necessary ; and if, as we may reasonably suppose, 
 the science of morals extends indefinitely into the 
 details of thought and conduct, numberless particu- 
 lars, which we are accustomed to account indifferent, 
 may be in fact indifferent in no truer sense, than in 
 physics there is really any such agent as chance ; our 
 ignorance being the sole cause of the seeming vari- 
 ableness on the one hand in the action of nature, 
 on the other in the standard of faith and morals. 
 This is practically important to remember, even 
 while it is granted that no exemplar of holiness has 
 been exhibited to us, at once faultless yet minute ; 
 and, again, that in all existing patterns, besides actual 
 defects, there are also the infirmities and varieties of 
 disposition, taste, and talents, nay, of bodily organi- 
 zation, to modify the dictates of that inward light 
 
 F 2 
 
68 PERSONAL INFLUENCE, [Serm. 
 
 which is itself divine aiid unerring. It is important, 
 I say, as restraining us from judging hastily of opi- 
 nions and practices of good men into which we our- 
 selves cannot enter : but which, for what we know, 
 may be as necessary parts of the Truth, though too 
 subtle for our dull perceptions, as those great and 
 distinguishing features of it which we, in common 
 with the majority of sincere men, admit. And par- 
 ticularly will it preserve us from rash censures of the 
 Primitive Church, which, in spite of the corruptions 
 which disfigured it from the first, still in its collective 
 holiness may be considered to make as near an ap- 
 proach to the pattern of Christ as fallen man ever will 
 attain ; being, in fact, a revelation of some sort of that 
 Blessed Spirit in a bodily shape. Who was promised 
 to us as a second Teacher of Truth after Christ's de- 
 parture, and became such upon a subject-matter far 
 more diversified than that on which our Lord had re- 
 vealed Himself before Him. For instance, for what we 
 know, the Episcopal principle, or the practice of In- 
 fant Baptism, which are traceable to Apostolic times, 
 though not clearly proved by the Scripture records, 
 may be as necessary in the scheme of Christian truth 
 as the doctrine of the Divine Unity, or man's respon- 
 sibility, which in the artificial system are naturally 
 placed as the basis of religion, as being first in order 
 of succession and time. And this, be it observed, 
 will account for the omission in Scripture of express 
 sanctions of these and similar principles and observ- 
 ances ; provided, that is, the object of the written 
 
IV.] THE MEANS OF PROPAGATING THE TRUTH. 69 
 
 word be, not to unfold a system for our intellectual 
 contemplation, but to secure the formation of a 
 certain character. 
 
 2. And in the second place, it is plain, that the 
 gifted individual whom we have imagined, will of all 
 men be least able (as such) to defend his own views, 
 inasmuch as he takes no external survey of himself. 
 Things which are the most familiar to us, and easy 
 in practice, require the most study, and give the most 
 trouble in explaining; as, for instance, the number, 
 combination, and succession of muscular movements 
 by which we balance ourselves in walking, or utter 
 our separate words ; and this quite independently of 
 the existence or non-existence of language suitable 
 for describing them. The longer any one has perse- 
 vered in the practice of virtue, the less likely is he 
 to recollect how he began it ; what were his difficulties 
 on starting, and how surmounted ; by what process 
 one truth led to another ; and to elicit justly what 
 are the real reasons latent in his mind for particular 
 observances or opinions. He holds the whole assem- 
 blage of moral notions almost as so many collateral 
 and self-evident facts. Hence it is that some of the 
 most deeply exercised and variously gifted Christians, 
 when they proceed to write or speak upon religion, 
 either fail altogether, or cannot be understood except 
 on an attentive study ; and after all, perhaps, are 
 illogical and unsystematic, assuming what their read- 
 ers require proved, and seeming to mistake con- 
 nexion or antecedence for causation, probability for 
 
70 PERSONAL INFLUENCE, [Sebm. 
 
 evidence. And over such as these it is, that the minute 
 intellect of inferior men has its moment of triumph, 
 men who excel in a mere shortsighted perspicacity ; 
 not understanding that, even in the case of intellec- 
 tual excellence, it is considered the highest of gifts 
 to possess an intuitive knowledge of the beautiful in 
 art, or the effective in action, without reasoning or 
 investigating ; that this, in fact, is genius ; and that 
 they who have a corresponding insight into moral 
 truth (as far as they have it) have reached that es- 
 pecial perfection in the spiritual part of their nature, 
 which is so rarely found, and so greatly prized among 
 the intellectual endowments of the soul. 
 
 Nay, may we not further venture to assert, not only 
 that moral Truth will be least skilfully defended by 
 those, as such, who are the genuine depositories of 
 it, but that it cannot be adequately explained and 
 defended in words at all? Its views and human 
 language are incommensurable. For, after all, what 
 is language but an artificial system adapted for par- 
 ticular purposes, which have been determined by our 
 wants? And here, even at first sight, can we imagine 
 that it has been framed with a view to ideas so re- 
 fined, so foreign to the whole course of the world, as 
 those which (as Scripture expresses it) "no man can 
 learn," but the select remnant who are " redeemed 
 from the earth," and in whose mouth " is found no 
 guile®?" Nor is it this heavenly language alone 
 
 " Rev. xiv. 3. 5. 
 
IV.] THE MEANS OF PROPAGATING THE TRUTH. 71 
 
 which is without its intellectual counterpart. Moral 
 character in itself, whether good or bad, as exhibited 
 in thought and conduct, surely cannot be duly repre- 
 sented in words. We may, indeed, by an effort, re- 
 duce it in a certain degree to this arbitrary medium ; 
 but in its combined dimensions it is as impossible to 
 write and read a man (so to express it), as to give 
 literal depth to a painted tablet. 
 
 With these remarks on the nature of moral Truth, 
 as "viewed externally, let us conduct our secluded 
 teacher, who is the embodied specimen of it, after 
 his thirty years' preparation for his office, into the 
 noise and tumult of the world ; and in order to set 
 him fairly on the course, let us suppose him recom- 
 mended by some external gift, whether ordinary or 
 extraordinary, the power of miracles, the countenance 
 of rulers, or a reputation for learning, such as may 
 secure a hearing for him from the multitude of men. 
 This must be supposed, in consequence of the very 
 constitution of the present world. Amid its incessant 
 din, nothing will attract attention but what cries aloud 
 and spares not. It is an old provepb, that men profess 
 a sincere respect for virtue, and then let her starve ; 
 for they have at the bottom of their hearts an evil 
 feeling, in spite of better thoughts, that to be bound 
 to certain laws and principles is a superstition and a 
 slavery, and that freedom consists in the actual 
 exercise of the will in evil as well as in good ; and 
 they witness (what cannot be denied) that a man 
 who throws off the yoke of strict conscientiousness, 
 
72 PERSONAL INFLUENCE, [Serm. 
 
 indefinitely increases his producible talent for the 
 time, and his immediate power of attaining his ends. 
 At best they will but admire the religious man, and 
 treat him with deference; but in his absence they are 
 compelled (as they say) to confess that a being so 
 amiable and gentle is not suited to play his part in 
 the scene of life ; that he is too good for this world ; 
 that he is framed for a more primitive and purer age, 
 and born out of due time. MaKapiaavreg vfiuv to 
 oTTEtpoKOKov, says tho scoffing politician in the history, 
 oil IrtXovfiEv TO a(^pov ; would not the great majority 
 of men, high and low, thus speak of St. John the 
 Apostle, were he now living ? 
 
 Therefore, we must invest our Teacher with a cer- 
 tain gift of power, that he may be feared. But even 
 then, how hopeless does his task seem to be at first 
 sight! how improbable that he should be able to 
 proceed one step farther than his external recom- 
 mendation carries him forward ! so that it is a marvel 
 how the Truth has ever been spread and maintained 
 among men. For, recollect, it is not a mere set of opi- 
 nions that he has to promulgate, which may lodge on 
 the surface of the mind; but he is to be an instrument 
 in changing (as Scripture speaks) the heart, and mo- 
 delling all men after one exemplar ; making them 
 like himself, or rather One above himself, who is the 
 beginning of a new creation. Having (as has been 
 said) no sufiicient eloquence — nay, not language at 
 his command — what instruments can he be said to 
 possess ? Thus he is, from the nature of the case. 
 
IV.] THE MEANS OF PROPAGATING THE TRUTH. 73 
 
 thrown upon his personal resources, whether greater 
 or less ; for it is plain he cannot commit his charge 
 to others as his representatives, and be translated 
 (as it were) and circulated through the world, till he 
 has made others like himself. 
 
 Turn to the history of Truth, and these anticipa- 
 tions are fulfilled. Some hearers of it had their 
 conscience stirred for a while, and many were af- 
 fected by the awful simplicity of the Great Teacher ; 
 but the proud and sensual were irritated into oppo- 
 sition ; the philosophic considered His doctrines 
 strange and chimerical; the multitude followed for 
 a time in senseless wonder, and then suddenly aban- 
 doned an apparently falling cause. For, in truth, 
 what was the task of an Apostle, but to raise the 
 dead ? and what trifling would it appear, even to the 
 most benevolent and candid men of the world, when 
 such a one persisted to chafe and stimulate the limbs 
 of the inanimate corpse, as if his own life could be 
 communicated to it, or motion would continue one 
 moment after the external effort was withdrawn ! in 
 the poet's words, 
 
 Bpaaoe aKovatov 
 avlpaai dvrjaicovtn KOfill^iav. 
 
 Truly such a one must expect, at best, to be ac- 
 counted but a babbler, or one deranged by his " much 
 learning" — a visionary and an enthusiast, — 
 
 Kapr airojiovatOQ fiaQa yeypafifiivOQ, 
 
 tit for the wilderness or the temple ; a jest at the 
 
74 PERSONAL INFLUENCE, [Sbrm. 
 
 Areopagus, and but a gladiatorial show at Ephesus, 
 imOavario^, an actor in an exhibition which would 
 finish in his own death. 
 
 Yet (blessed be God !) the power of Truth actu- 
 ally did, by some means or other, overcome these vast 
 obstacles to its propagation ; and what those means 
 were, we shall best understand by contemplating it, 
 as it now shows itself when established and generally 
 professed; an ordinary sanction having taken the 
 place of miracles, and infidelity being the assailant 
 instead of the assailed party. 
 
 It will not require many words to make it evident 
 how impetuous and (for the time) how triumphant 
 an attack the rebellious Reason will conduct against 
 the long-established, over-secure, and but silently- 
 working system of which Truth is the vital principlew 
 
 I. First, every part of the Truth is novel to its 
 opponent; and, seen detached from the whole, be- 
 comes an objection. It is only necessary for Reason 
 to ask many questions ; and, while the other party is 
 investigating the real answer to each in detail, to 
 claim the victory, which spectators will not be slow 
 to award, fancying (as is the manner of men) that 
 clear and ready speech is the test of Truth. And it 
 can choose its questions, selecting what appears most 
 objectionable in the tenets and practices of the re- 
 ceived system; and it will (in all probability), even 
 unintentionally, fall upon the most difficult parts; 
 what is on the surface being at once most conspicuous, 
 and also furthest removed from the centre on which 
 
IV.] THE MEANS OF PROPAGATING THE TRUTH. 75 
 
 it depends. On the other hand, its objections will 
 be complete in themselves from their very minute- 
 ness. Thus, for instance, men attack the ceremo- 
 nies and discipline of the Church, appealing to com- 
 mon sense, as they call it; which really means, 
 appealing to some proposition which, though true in 
 its own province, is nothing to the purpose in 
 theology ; or appealing to the logical accuracy of the 
 argument, when every thing turns on the real mean- 
 ing of the terms employed, which can only be under- 
 stood by the religious mind. 
 
 2. Next, men who investigate in this merely intel- 
 lectual way, without sufficient basis and guidance in 
 their personal virtue, are bound by no fears or deli- 
 cacy. Not only from dulness, but by preference, 
 they select ground for the contest, which a reverent 
 Faith wishes to keep sacred ; and, while the latter is 
 looking to its stepping, lest it commit sacrilege, they 
 have the unembarrassed use of their eyes for the com- 
 bat, and overcome, by skill and agility, one stronger 
 than themselves. 
 
 3. Further, the warfare between Error and Truth 
 is necessarily advantageous to the former, from its 
 very nature, as being conducted by set speech or 
 treatise ; and this, not only for a reason already as- 
 signed, the deficiency of Truth in the power of elo- 
 quence, and even of words, but moreover, from the 
 very neatness and definiteness thereby required in 
 the handling of the argument. Truth is vast and 
 far-stretching, viewed as a system; and, viewed in 
 
76 PERSONAL INFLUENCE, [Sekm. 
 
 its separate doctrines, it depends on the combination 
 of a number of various, delicate, and scattered evi- 
 dences : hence it can scarcely be exhibited in a given 
 number of sentences. If it be attempted, its advo- 
 cate, unable to exhibit more than a fragment of the 
 vphole, must round off its rugged extremities, and 
 unite its straggling lines, by much the same process 
 by which an historical narrative is converted into a 
 tale. This, indeed, is the very art of composition, 
 which, accordingly, is only with extreme trouble 
 preserved clear of exaggeration and artifice; and 
 who does not see that all this is favourable to. the 
 cause of error, — to that party which has not faith 
 enough to be patient of doubt, and has just talent 
 enough to consider perspicuity the chief excellence 
 of a writer ? To illustrate this, we may contrast the 
 works of Bishop Butler with those of that popular 
 infidel writer at the end of the last century, who 
 professed to be the harbinger of an Age of Reason. 
 
 4. Moreover, this great, though dangerous faculty, 
 which evil employs as its instrument in its warfare 
 against the Truth, may simulate all kinds of virtue, 
 and become the rival of the true saints of God, whom 
 it is opposing. It may draw fine pictures of virtue, 
 or trace out the course of sacred feelings, or of serious 
 reflections. Nothing is so easy as to be religious on 
 paper ; and thus the arms of Truth are turned, as far 
 as may be found necessary, against itself. 
 
 5. It must be further observed, that the exhibi- 
 tions of Reason, being complete in themselves, and 
 
IV.] THE MEANS OF PROPAGATING THE TRUTH. 77 
 
 having nothing of a personal nature, are capable al- 
 most of an omnipresence by an indefinite multipli- 
 cation and circulation, through the medium of com- 
 position : here, even the orator has greatly the ad- 
 vantage over the religious man ; words may be heard 
 by thousands at once, — a good deed will be wit- 
 nessed and estimated at most by but a few. 
 
 6. To put an end to these remarks on the advan- 
 tages accruing to Error in its struggle with Truth, the 
 exhibitions of the Reason, being in their operation 
 separable from the person exerting them, possess 
 little or no responsibility. To be anonymous is 
 almost their characteristic, and with it all the evils 
 attendant on the unchecked opportunity for injustice 
 and falsehood. 
 
 Such, then, are the difficulties which beset the 
 propagation of the Truth : its want of instruments, 
 as an assailant of the world's opinions ; the keenness 
 and vigour of the weapons producible against it 
 when itself in turn is to be attacked. How, then, 
 after all, has it maintained its ground among men, 
 and subjected to its dominion unwilling minds, some 
 even bound to the external profession of obedience, 
 others at least in a sullen neutrality, and the inaction 
 of despair ? 
 
 1 answer, that it has been upheld in the world, not 
 as a system, not by books, not by argument, nor by 
 temporal power, but by the personal influence of 
 such men as have already been described, who are at 
 once the teachers and the patterns of it ; and, with 
 
78 PERSONAL INFLUENCE, £Serm. 
 
 some suggestions in behalf of this statement, I shall 
 conclude. 
 
 1. Here, first, is to be taken into account the 
 natural beauty and majesty of virtue, which is more 
 or less felt by all but the most abandoned. I do not 
 say virtue in the abstract, — virtue in a book. Men 
 persuade themselves, with little difficulty, to scoif at 
 principles, to ridicule books, to make sport of the 
 names of good men ; but they cannot bear their pre- 
 sence : it is holiness, embodied in personal form, which 
 they cannot steadily confront and bear down : so that 
 the silent conduct of a conscientious man secures for 
 him from beholders a feeling different in kind from 
 any which is created by the mere versatile and garru- 
 lous Reason. 
 
 2. Next, consider the extreme rarity, in any great 
 perfection and purity, of simple-minded, honest devo- 
 tion to God ; and another instrument of influence is 
 discovered for the cause of Truth. Men naturally 
 prize what is novel and scarce ; and, considering the 
 low views of the multitude on points of social and 
 religious duty, their ignorance of those precepts of 
 generosity, self-denial, and high-minded patience, 
 which religion enforces, nay, their scepticism (whether 
 known to themselves or not) of the existence in the 
 world of severe holiness and truth, no wonder they 
 are amazed when accident gives them a sight of these 
 excellences in another, as though they beheld a mi- 
 racle ; and they watch it with a mixture of curiosity 
 and awe. 
 
 1 
 
IV.] THE MEANS OF PROPAGATING THE TRUTH. 79 
 
 3. Besides, the conduct of a religious man is quite 
 above them. They cannot imitate him, if they try. 
 It may be easy for the educated among them to 
 make speeches, or to write books ; but high moral 
 excellence is the attribute of a school to which they 
 are almost strangers, having scarcely learned, and 
 that painfully, the first elements of the heavenly 
 science. One little deed, done against natural incli- 
 nation for God's sake, though in itself of a conceding 
 or passive character, (to brook an insult, to face a 
 danger, or to resign an advantage,) has in it a power 
 outbalancing all the dust and chaif of mere profes- 
 sion ; the profession whether of enlightened benevo- 
 lence and candour, or, on the other hand, of high 
 religious faith and of fervent zeal. 
 
 4. And men feel, moreover, that the object of 
 their contemplation is beyond their reach — not open 
 to the common temptations which influence men, and 
 grounded on a foundation which they cannot explain. 
 And nothing is more effectual, first in irritating, then 
 in. humbling the pride of men, than the sight of a 
 superior altogether independent of themselves. 
 
 5. The consistency of virtue is another gift, which 
 gradually checks the rudeness of the world, and tames 
 it into obedience to itself. The changes of human 
 affairs, which first excited and interested, at length 
 dismist the mind, which then begins to look out for 
 something on which it can rely for peace and rest ; 
 and what can then be found immutable and sure, but 
 God's word and promises, illustrated and conveyed to 
 
80 PERSONAL INFLUENCE, [Sbrm. 
 
 the inquirer in the person of His faithful servants? 
 Every day shows us how much depends on firmness 
 for obtaining influence in practical matters ; and 
 what are all kinds of firmness, as exhibited in the 
 world, but likenesses and offshoots of that true stabi- 
 lity of heart which is stayed in the grace, and in the 
 contemplation of Almighty God ? 
 
 6. Such especially will be the thoughts of those 
 countless multitudes, who, in the course of their trial, 
 are from time to time weighed down by affliction, or 
 distressed by bodily pain. This will be, in their case, 
 the strong hour of Truth, which though unheard and 
 unseen by men as a body, approaches each one of 
 that body in his own turn, though at a different time. 
 Then it is that the powers of the world, its counsels, 
 and its efforts (vigorous as they seemed to be in the 
 race), lose ground, and slow-paced Truth overtakes 
 them ; and thus it comes to pass, that, while the out- 
 ward course of things seems ever hastening onwards 
 to open infidelity and sin, there are ten thousand 
 secret obstacles, graciously sent from God, cumbering 
 its chariot-wheels, so that they drive heavily, and 
 saving it from utter ruin. 
 
 Even with these few considerations before us, we 
 shall find it difficult to estimate the moral power 
 which a single individual, trained to practise what he 
 teaches, may acquire in his own circle, in the course 
 of years. While the Scriptures are thrown upon the 
 world, as if the common property of any who choose 
 to appropriate them, he is, in fact, the legitimate in- 
 
IV.] THE MEANS OF PROPAGATING THE TRUTH. 81 
 
 terpreter of them, and none other; the Inspired 
 Word being but a dead letter, (ordinarily considered,) 
 except as transmitted from one mind to another. 
 While he is unknown to the world, yet, within the 
 range of those who see him, he will become the object 
 of feelings different in kind from those which mere 
 intellectual excellence excites. The men commonly 
 held in popular estimation are greatest at a dis- 
 tance ; they become small as they are approached ; 
 but the attraction, exerted by unconscious holiness, 
 is of an urgent and irresistible nature ; it persuades 
 the weak, the timid, the wavering, and the inquir- 
 ing; it draws forth the affection and loyalty of all 
 who are in a measure like-minded; and over the 
 thoughtless or perverse multitude it exercises a sove- 
 reign compulsory sway, bidding them fear and keep 
 silence, on the ground of its own right Divine to rule 
 them ; its hereditary claim on their obedience, though 
 they understand not the principles or counsels of that 
 spirit, which is "born, not of blood, nor of the will of 
 the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." 
 
 And if such be the personal influence excited by 
 the Teacher of Truth over the mixed crowd of men 
 whom he encounters, what (think we) will be his power 
 over that select number, just referred to, who have 
 already, in a measure, disciplined their hearts after 
 the law of holiness, and feel themselves, as it were, 
 individually addressed by the invitation of his ex- 
 ample ? These are they whom our Lord especially 
 calls His " elect," and came to " gather together in 
 
 UNIV. s. a 
 
82 PERSONAL INFLUENCE, [Serm. 
 
 one," for they are worthy. And these, too, are they 
 who are ordained in God's Providence to be the salt 
 of the earth, — to continue, in their turn, the succes- 
 sion of His witnesses, that heirs may never be 
 wanting to the royal line, though death sweeps away 
 each successive generation of them to their rest and 
 their reward. These, perhaps, by chance fell in with 
 their destined father in the Truth, not at once dis- 
 cerning his real greatness. At first, perhaps, they 
 thought his teaching fanciful, and parts of his con- 
 duct extravagant or weak. Years might pass away 
 before such prejudices were entirely removed from 
 their minds ; but by degrees they would discern more 
 and more the traces of unearthly majesty about him ; 
 they would witness, from time to time, his trial under 
 the various events of life, and would still find, whether 
 they looked above or below, that he rose higher, and 
 was based deeper, than they could ascertain by 
 measurement. Then, at length, with astonishment 
 and fear, they would become aware that Christ's 
 presence was before them; and, in the words of 
 Scripture, would glorify God in His servant'; and 
 all this while they themselves would be changing into 
 that glorious Image which they gazed upon, and be 
 in training to succeed him in its dissemination. 
 
 Will it be said, this is a fancy, which no experience 
 confirms ? First, no irreligious man can know any- 
 thing concerning the hidden saints. Next, no one, 
 
 ' Gal. i. 24. 
 
IV.] THE MEANS OF PROPAGATING THE TRUTH. 83 
 
 religious or not, can detect them without attentive 
 study of them. But, after all, say they are few, such 
 high Christians; and what follows? They are enough 
 to carry on God's noiseless work. The Apostles 
 were such men; others might be named, in their 
 several generations, as successors to their holiness. 
 These communicate their light to a number of lesser 
 luminaries, by whom, in its turn, it is distributed 
 through the world ; the first sources of illumination 
 being all the while unseen, even by the majority of 
 sincere Christians, — unseen as is that Supreme 
 Author of Light and Truth, from whom all good 
 primarily proceeds. A few highly-endowed men will 
 rescue the world for centuries to come. Before now 
 even one man' has impressed an image on the Church, 
 which, through God's mercy, shall not be effaced 
 while time lasts. Such men, like the Prophet, are 
 placed upon their watch-tower, and light their 
 beacons on the heights. Bach receives and transmits 
 the sacred flame, trimming it in rivalry of his prede- 
 cessor, and fully purposed to send it on as bright as 
 it has reached him; and thus the self-same fire, once 
 kindled on Moriah, though seeming at intervals to 
 fail, has at length reached us in safety, and will in 
 like manner, as we trust, be carried forward even to 
 the end. 
 
 To conclude. Such views of the nature and his- 
 tory of Divine Truth are calculated to make us con- 
 
 '' Athanasius. 
 
 g2 
 
84 PERSONAL INFLUENCE, ' [Serm. 
 
 tented and. resigned in our generation, whatevfer be 
 the peculiar character or the power of the errors of 
 our own times. For Christ never will reign visibly 
 upon earth; but in each age, as it comes, we shall 
 read of tumult and heresy, and hear the complaint 
 of good men marvelling at what they conceive to be 
 the especial wickedness of their own times. 
 
 Moreover, such considerations lead us to be satis- 
 fied with the humblest and most obscure lot ; by 
 showing us, not only that we may be the instruments 
 of much good in it, but that (strictly speaking) we 
 could scarcely in any situation be direct instruments 
 of good to any besides those who personally know 
 MS, who ever must form a small circle; and as to 
 the indirect good we may do in a more exalted sta- 
 tion (which is by no means to be lightly esteemed), 
 still we are not absolutely precluded from it in a 
 lower place in the Church. Nay, it has happened 
 before now, that comparatively retired posts have 
 been filled by those who have exerted the most ex- 
 tensive influences over the destinies of religion in the 
 times following them ; as in the arts and pursuits of 
 this world, the great benefactors of mankind are fre- 
 quently unknown. 
 
 Let all those, then, who acknowledge the voice of 
 God speaking within them, and urging them heaven- 
 ward, wait patiently for the end, exercising them- 
 selves, and diligently working, with a view to that day 
 when the books shall be opened, and all the disorder 
 of human affairs reviewed and set right ; when " the 
 
IV.] THE MEANS OF PROPAGATING THE TRUTH. 85 
 
 last shall be first, and the first last ;" when " all things 
 that offend, and they which do iniquity," shall be 
 gathered out and removed ; when " the righteous 
 shall shine forth as the sun," and Faith shall see her 
 God ; when " they that be wise shall shine as the 
 brightness of the firmament, and they that turn 
 many to righteousness as the stars for ever and 
 ever." 
 
SERMON V. 
 
 ON JUSTICE, AS A PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE 
 GOVERNANCE. 
 
 Preached April 8, 1832. 
 
 Jeb. viii. 11. 
 
 " They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people 
 slightly, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace.'' 
 
 Theee "will ever be persons who take a favourable 
 view of hTiman nature, as it actually is found in the 
 world, and of the spiritual condition and the pro- 
 spects of mankind. And certainly the face of things 
 is so fair, and contains so much that is interesting 
 and lofty, that the spectator may be pardoned if, on 
 the first sight, he is disposed to believe them to be 
 as cheerful and as happy as they appear, — the evils of 
 life as light and transitory, and its issue as satisfac- 
 tory. Such easy confidence is natural in youth ; nay, 
 it is even commendable at a time of life in which 
 suspicion and incredulity are unbecoming ; that is, 
 it would be commendable, did not Scripture acquaint 
 us from the very first (by way of warning, previous 
 
Ox\ JUSTICE. AS A PRINCIPLE, &c. 87 
 
 to our actual experience) with the deceitfulness of 
 the world's promises and teaching ; telling us of the 
 opposition between Sight and Faith, of that strait 
 gate and that narrow way, the thought of which is to 
 calm us in youth, that it may enliven and invigorate 
 us in old age. 
 
 Yet, on the other hand, it cannot be denied, that 
 even the information of Scripture results in a cheerful 
 view of human affairs, and condemns gloom and 
 sadness as a sin, as well as a mistake ; and thus, in 
 fact, altogether sanctions the conclusions gathered 
 from the first sight of the course of the world. But 
 here is an instance, such as not unfrequently is found, 
 of an opinion being abstractedly true, and yet the 
 person who holds it wrong in his mode of holding it ; 
 so that while the terms in which he conveys it ap- 
 proach indefinitely near to those in which the true 
 view is contained, nevertheless men who maintain the 
 very reverse may be nearer the truth than he is. It 
 often happens that, in pursuing the successive stages 
 of an investigation, the mind continually reverses its 
 judgment to and fro, according as the weight of argu- 
 ment passes over and back again from the one alter- 
 native of the question to the other ; and in such a case 
 the ultimate utility of the inquiry does not consist in 
 the conclusion finally adopted, which may be no other 
 than that with which the inquiry was commenced ; 
 but in the position in which we have learned to view 
 it, and the circumstances with which we have asso- 
 ciated it. It is plain, too, that the man who has 
 
88 ON JUSTICE, [Serm. 
 
 gone through many of these progressive alterna- 
 tions of opinion, but has for some cause or other 
 stopped short of the true view legitimately termi- 
 nating the inquiry, would be further from it in the 
 mere enunciation of his sentiments, but in the state 
 of his mind far nearer to it, than he who has not ex- 
 amined the subject at all, and is right by accident. 
 Thus it happens, that men are cheerful and secure 
 from ignorance of the evils of life ; and they are 
 secure, again, from seeing the remedy of the evils ; 
 and, on the other hand, they are desponding from see- 
 ing the evils without the remedy : so that we must 
 never say that an individual is right, merely on the 
 ground of his holding an opinion which happens to 
 be true, unless he holds it in a particular manner ; 
 that is, under those conditions, and with that par- 
 ticular association of thought and feeling, which in 
 fact is the interpretation of it. 
 
 That , superficial judgment which happens to be 
 right without deserving to be so, is condemned in the 
 text. The error of the prophets and priests there 
 spoken of consisted, not in promising a cure for the 
 wounded soul, but in healing the hurt of the daughter 
 of God's people slightly, saying, Peace, peace^ before 
 they had ascertained either the evil or the remedy. 
 The Gospel is in its very name a message of peace, 
 but it must never be separated from the bad tidings 
 of our fallen nature, which it reverses ; and he who 
 speaks of the state of the world in a sanguine way, 
 may indeed be an advanced Christian, but he may 
 
v.] AS A PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE GOVERNANCE. 89 
 
 also be much less even than a proselyte of the gate ; 
 and if his security and peace of mind be merely the 
 calm of ignorance, surely the men whom he looks 
 down upon as narrow-minded and superstitious, whose 
 religion consists in fear not in love, shall go into the 
 kingdom of heaven before him. We are reminded 
 of this important truth by the order of our ecclesias- 
 tical year. Easter Day, our chief Festival, is pre- 
 ceded by the forty days of Lent, to show us that 
 they, and they only, who sow in tears, shall reap in 
 joy. 
 
 Remarks such as these are scarcely necessary, as 
 far as we of this place are concerned, who, through 
 God's blessing, are teachers of His truth, and "by 
 reason of use have our senses exercised to discern 
 both good and evil." Yet it is impossible not to ob- 
 serve, and it is useful to bear in mind, that mankind 
 at large is not wiser or better than heretofore ; rather, 
 that it is an especial fault of the present day, to mis- 
 take the false security of the man of the world for 
 the composure, cheerfulness, and benevolence of the 
 true Christian ; while all the shades of character be- 
 tween these two, though indefinitely more deserving 
 of our respect than the former of them, I mean the 
 superstitious, the bigot, the intolerant, and the 
 fanatic, are thrust out of the way as inhuman and 
 offensive, merely because their knowledge of them- 
 selves is more exact than their apprehension of the 
 Gospel, and their zeal for God's honour more ener- 
 getic than their love of mankind. 
 
90 ON JUSTICE, [Sbrm. 
 
 This in fact is the fault incident to times of politi- 
 cal peace and safety, when the world keeps well toge- 
 ther, no motions stirring beneath it, to disturb the 
 continuity of its surface, which for the time presents 
 to us a consistent and finished picture. When the 
 laws of a country are upheld and olieyed, and pro- 
 perty secure, the world appears to realize that vision 
 of constancy and permanence, which it presented to 
 our youthful imagination. Human nature appears 
 more amiable than it really is, because it is not tried 
 with disappointments ; more just, because it is then 
 its interest to respect the rights of others ; more be- 
 nevolent, because it can be so without self-denial. 
 
 The warnings contained in the historical Scriptures, 
 concerning the original baseness and corruption of 
 the heart, are, in the course of time, neglected; or 
 rather these very representations are adduced as a 
 proof how much better the world now is, than it was 
 once ; how much more enlightened, refined, intellec- 
 tual, manly ; and this, not without some secret feeling 
 of disrespect towards the writers of the plain facts 
 recorded in the Bible, as if, even were the case so 
 bad as they make it appear, it had been more judi- 
 cious and humane to have said nothing about it. 
 
 But, feirly as this superficial view of human nature 
 answers in peaceable times; speciously as it may ar- 
 gue, innocently as it may experimentalize, in the rare 
 and short-lived intervals of a nation's tranquillity; 
 yet, let persecution or tribulation arise, and forthwith 
 its imbecility is discovered. It is but a theory; it 
 
v.] AS A PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE GOVERNANCE. 91 
 
 cannot cope with difficulties ; it imparts no strength 
 or loftiness of mind ; it gains no influence over others. 
 It is at once shattered and crushed in the stern con- 
 flict of good and evil ; disowned, or rather overlooked, 
 by the combatants on either side, and vanishing, no 
 one knows how or whither. 
 
 The opinions alluded to in the foregoing remarks, 
 when assuming a definite doctrinal basis, will be found 
 to centre in Socinianism or Theophilanthropism, the 
 name varying according as it admits or rejects the 
 authority of Scripture. And the spirit of this system 
 will be found to infect great numbers of men, who 
 are unconscious of the origin and tendency of their 
 opinions. The essential dogmas of Socinianism are 
 such as these; that the rule of Divine government 
 is one of benevolence, and nothing but benevolence ; 
 that evil is but remedial and temporary ; that sin is 
 of a venial nature; that repentance is a sufficient 
 atonement for it ; that the moral sense is substan- 
 tially but an instinct of benevolence, and that doc- 
 trinal opinions do not influence the character or pro- 
 spects, nor deserve our serious attention. On the 
 other hand, sentiments of this character are evidently 
 the animating principle of the false cheerfulness, and 
 the ill-founded hope, and the blind charitableness, 
 which have already been assigned to the man of the 
 world. 
 
 In order to illustrate the untenableness of such 
 positions as have just been adduced, and hence to 
 show, by way of instance, the shallowness and 
 
92 ON JUSTICE, [Serm. 
 
 feebleness of the minds which maintain them, — their 
 real feebleness in all practical matters, plausibly or 
 loudly as they may speak during the hour of tranquil- 
 lity in which they display themselves, — it may be 
 useful to make some remarks on what appears to be 
 the real judgment of God upon human sin, as far as 
 it is discernible by the light of nature; not as if 
 anything new could be said on the subject, but in 
 order to remind ourselves of truths which are pecu- 
 liarly important in these times. 
 
 The consideration chiefly adduced by the advocate 
 for the absolute, unmixed benevolence of the Divine 
 government, and for the venial nature of sin according 
 to the provisions of that government, is an a priori 
 argument, founded on an appeal to a supposed instinct 
 of our nature. It has before now been put familiarly 
 thus : — "Is there any man living who would not, if he 
 could", accomplish the final restitution and eternal 
 happiness of every individual ? and are we more be- 
 nevolent than God?" Or, again, the same general 
 argument is sometimes stated more cautiously as fol- 
 lows ; that " no man can be in a perfectly right state 
 of mind, who, if he consider general happiness at all, 
 is not ready to acknowledge that a good man must 
 regard it as being in its own nature the most desirable 
 of all objects; and that any habitual disposition 
 clearly discerned to be, in its whole result, at variance 
 with general happiness, is unworthy of being culti- 
 vated, or fit to be rooted out ; that accordingly, we are 
 compelled to attribute God's whole government to 
 
v.] AS A PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE GOVERNANCE. 93 
 
 benevolence ; that it is as much impossible for us to 
 love and revere a Being, to whom we ascribe a 
 mixed or imperfect benevolence, as to believe the 
 most positive contradictions in terms ; that is, as re- 
 ligion consists in love and reverence, it cannot subsist 
 without a belief in benevolence as the sole principle 
 of Divine government." 
 
 Now first, it is surely not true that benevolence is 
 the only, or the chief, principle, of our moral nature. 
 To say nothing of the notion of duty to an Unseen 
 Governor, implied in the very authoritativeness with 
 which conscience dictates to us (a notion which 
 suggests to the mind that there is, in truth, some 
 object more " desirable in its own nature" than " the 
 general happiness" of mankind, — viz. the approbation 
 of our Maker), not to insist on this, it may be confi- 
 dently asserted, that the instincts of justice and of 
 purity are natural to us in the same sense in which 
 benevolence is natural. If it be natural to pity and X, 
 wish well to men in general, without reference to 
 their character, or our personal knowledge of them, 
 or any other attendant circumstance, it is also natural 
 to feel indignation when vice triumphs, and to be dis- 
 satisfied and uneasy till the inequality is removed. 
 
 In order to meet this objection, it is maintained by 
 the writers under consideration, that the good of man- 
 kind is the ultimate end to which even the principle 
 of justice, planted in us, tends ; that the rule of re- 
 ward and punishment is a chief means of making 
 men happy ; and therefore that the feelings of indig- 
 
94 ON JUSTICE, [Serm. 
 
 nation, resentment, and the like, must be considered 
 as given us, not for their own sake (granting them 
 given us), but in order to ensure the general good of 
 mankind ; in other words, that they are no evidence 
 of the existence of justice as an original and absolute 
 principle of the moral law, but only of that infinite 
 unmixed benevolence of God, to which the feelings 
 in question are in our case subservient. But this is 
 nothing but an assertion, and will not stand exami- 
 nation ; for true as it is, that the instinct of justice, 
 implanted in us, tends to general good, — good on the 
 whole, — it evidently does not tend to universal good, 
 the good of each individual ; and nothing short of this 
 can be the scope of absolute and simple benevolence. 
 Our indignation at vice tends to the actual misery of 
 the vicious (whether such be many or few) — nay, to 
 their final misery, except indeed there be provisions 
 in the world's system, hitherto concealed, securing 
 the ultimate destruction of vice; for while it re- 
 mained, it and all connected with it would ever be 
 the natural objects of our abhorrence, and this natural 
 abhorrence evidently interferes with the hypothesis, 
 that universal good is the one end to which the 
 present system of Divine governance tends. 
 
 On the other hand, so far from its being " impos- 
 sible (as the theory under consideration affirms) to 
 love and revere a Being to whom we ascribe a mixed 
 benevolence," while undoubtedly benevolence excites 
 our love and reverence, so does a perfect justice too ; 
 we are under a natural attraction to admire and 
 
v.] AS A PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE GOVERNANCE. 95 
 
 adore the great sight, just as we are led on (to com- 
 pare small things with great) to dwell rapturously 
 upon some exquisite work of man's designing, the 
 beautiful and harmonious result of the highest and 
 most accomplished genius. If we do not habitually 
 thus search out and lovingly hang over the traces of 
 God's justice, which are around us, it is because we 
 are ourselves sinners; because, having a bad con- 
 science, we have a personal interest in denying them, 
 and a terror in having them forced upon us. In pro- 
 portion as we grow in habits of obedience, far from 
 our vision of the eternal justice of God vanishing from 
 our minds, and being disowned by our feelings, as if 
 it were but the useful misconception of a less ad- 
 vanced virtue, doubtless it increases, as fear is cast 
 out. The saints in heaven ascribe glory to God, 
 " for true and righteous are His judgments." " Great 
 and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty ; 
 just and true are Thy ways. Thou King of saints'." 
 If, then, the infinite benevolence of God wins our 
 love, certainly His justice commands it ; and were 
 we able, as the saints made perfect are able, to com- 
 bine the notion of both in their separate perfections, 
 as displayed in the same acts, doubtless our awe and 
 admiration of the glorious vision would be immeasur- 
 ably increased. 
 
 Moreover, that justice is a primary notion in our 
 minds, and does not admit of resolution into other 
 
 ' Rev. XV. 3. 
 
96 ON JUSTICE. [Serm. 
 
 elements, may be argued from its connexion with 
 that general love of order, congruity, and symmetry, 
 to which I have been alluding, — that very desire of 
 arranging and simplifying, which is made use of for 
 the purpose of denying its elementary nature, and 
 which must, in its essence, be considered, if any 
 thing is considered, an original principle of human 
 nature. 
 
 Nay, it may be doubted whether the notion of jus- 
 tice be not more essential to the mental constitution 
 of free agents, than benevolence can be. For our 
 very consciousness of being free, and so responsible, 
 includes in it the idea of an unchangeable rule of 
 justice, on which the judgment is hereafter to be con- 
 ducted ; or rather excludes, as far as it goes, the notion 
 of a simply benevolent Governor ; a simply bene- 
 volent end being relinquished (as we may speak) by 
 the Creator, so soon as He committed the destinies 
 of man to his own hands, and made him a first cause, 
 a principle of origination, in the moral world. 
 
 But even if the general happiness of mankind 
 could be assigned in hypothesis, as the one end to 
 which all our moral instincts tended, and though 
 ■nothing could be adduced in behalf of the intrinsic 
 authority of the notion of justice, it would not be 
 allowable thence to infer the unmixed benevolence 
 of the Divine Mind, seeing we have actual evidences of 
 His justice in the course of the world, such as cannot 
 be explained away by a mere argument from the 
 analogy of our own nature. Should any one attempt 
 
 1 
 
v.] AS A PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE GOVERNANCE. 97 
 
 here to repeat the process of simplification, and refer 
 in turn Divine justice, as seen in the world, to Divine 
 benevolence, as if reward and punishment were but 
 means to the one end of general good, let such a 
 venturous speculator bethink himself what he is es- 
 saying, when he undertakes to simplify such attributes 
 of the Divine mind, as the course of things happens 
 to manifest to him. Not to insist on the presump- 
 tion (as I may well call it) of the attempt, let him ask 
 himself, merely as a philosopher, whether there is 
 no diflFerence between referring phenomena to an 
 hypothetical law or system for convenience-sake (as, 
 for instance, he is accustomed to refer the movements 
 of the physical world to gravitation), and on the other 
 hand undertaking to assign and fix, as a matter of 
 fact, the real, primary and universal principles which 
 guide the acts of a Mind, unknown and infinite, and 
 that, from a knowledge of merely one or two cha- 
 racteristics of His mode of acting. After all, what 
 is meant by afiirming that God has, strictly speaking, 
 any end or design in what He does, external to Him- 
 self? We see the world, physical and moral, as a 
 fact ; and we see the Attributes of God, as they are 
 called, displayed in it ; but before we attempt to de- 
 cide whether or not the happiness of His creatures is 
 the solitary all-absorbing end of His government, let 
 us try to determine by the way of Reason what was 
 His particular view in creating us at all. What in-^ 
 deed Revelation has told us, that we are able to speak 
 confidently about, and it is our blessedness to be able ; 
 
 UNIV. S. H 
 
98 ON JUSTICE, [Serm. 
 
 but Revelation does not come into this question. By 
 the use of unaided Reason, we are utterly incapable 
 of conceiving, why a Being supremely blessed in Him- 
 self from eternity should ever commence the work 
 of creation ; what the design of creation is, as such ; 
 whether, if there be any end in it, it is not one dif- 
 ferent in kind, utterly removed from any which ear 
 hath heard or mind conceived ; and whether the crea- 
 tion of man in the first instance, and therefore his hap- 
 piness inclusively, may not be altogether subservient 
 to further ends in the scope of His purposes. Doubt- 
 less it is our wisdom, both as to the world and as to 
 Scripture, to take things as we find them ; not to bo 
 wise above what is written, whether in nature or in 
 grace ; not to attempt a theory where we must 
 reason without data ; much less could we frame one, 
 to mistake it for a fact instead of what it is, an arbi- 
 trary arrangemeiit of our own knowledge, whatever 
 that may be, and nothing more. 
 
 Considerations such as these are suflScient for the 
 purpose for which I have employed them ; sufficient 
 to repel with their own weapons and retort upon 
 those who would undermine our faith, little as they 
 may mean to do so; nay, rather who would lead us, not 
 merely to a rejection or perversion of Christianity, 
 but even to a denial of the visible course of things as 
 it actually exists ; that is, to that unreal and unprac- 
 tical view of human nature which was described in the 
 outset. And now, before concluding, let us observe 
 what the world teaches us, in matter of fact, con- 
 
v.] AS A PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE GOVERNANCE. 99 
 
 cerning the light ia which sin is regarded by our 
 great Governor and Judge. 
 
 Here it is usual to insist on the visible consequences 
 of single sins, as furnishing some foreboding of the 
 full and final judgment of God upon all we do ; and 
 the survey of such instances is very striking. A 
 solitary act of intemperance, sensuality, or anger, a 
 single rash word, a single dishonest deed, is often the 
 cause of incalculable misery in the sequel to the per- 
 son who has been betrayed into it. Our fortunes are 
 frequently shaped by the thoughtless and seemingly 
 inconsiderable sins of our early life. The quarrel of 
 an hour, the sudden yielding to temptation, will throw 
 a man into a disadvantageous line of life, bring him 
 into trouble, ruin his prospects ; or again, into cir- 
 cumstances unfavourable to his religious interests, 
 which unsettle his mind, and ultimately lead him to 
 abandon his faith. All through life we may sufifer 
 the penalty of past disobedience ; disobedience, too, 
 which we now can hardly enter into and realize, which 
 is most foreign to our present principles and feelings, 
 which we can hardly recognize as belonging to us, 
 just as if no identity existed between our present 
 and our former selves. 
 
 Should it be said that this does not in all or in 
 most cases happen, I answer, that were there but a 
 few such cases they would be sufficient to destroy the 
 hypothesis, already remarked upon, of the unmixed 
 benevolence of the Divine government. For they 
 are in many instances too definite and significant to 
 
 h2 
 
100 ON JUSTICE. [Serm. 
 
 be explained as remedial measures, or as any thing 
 short of judgments on sin ; and in fact, they have 
 been acknowledged as such by the common sense of 
 mankind in every age ; and on the other hand, it con- 
 stantly happens that they neither effect, nor evince a 
 tendency towards effecting, the moral benefit of the 
 individuals thus punished. But further, granting 
 they are but isolated instances of God's judgment 
 concerning the guilt of disobedience ; yet, if we be- 
 lieve that His Providence proceeds on any fixed 
 plan, and that all deeds are impartially recompensed 
 according to their nature, it seems to follow, that 
 since some sins evidently do receive an after punish- 
 ment, therefore all have the prospect of the like; 
 and consequently that those who escape here, will 
 suffer hereafter : that this is the rule ; and if there 
 be any additional law counteracting it, this has to be 
 proved. What measure of punishment is reserved 
 for us, we cannot tell ; but the actqal consequences 
 which we witness of apparently slight offences, make 
 the prospect before us alarming. If any law is trace- 
 able in this awful subject, it would appear to be this, 
 that the greater the delay, the greater the punishment, 
 if it comes at length ; as if a suspension of imme- 
 diate vengeance were an indulgence only to be com- 
 pensated by an accumulated suffering afterwards. 
 
 Then, as to the efficacy of repentance, which is so 
 much insisted on, — when repentance is spoken of 
 as being a sufficient substitute in itself, by a self- 
 evident fitness, though not for the consequences of 
 
v.] AS A PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE GOVERNANCE. 101 
 
 sin in this life, yet for the future punishment, let the 
 following remark be considered, which is a solemn 
 one. I ask, does death, which is supposed to termi- 
 nate the punishment of the penitent, terminate the 
 consequences of his sins upon others ? Are not these 
 consequences continued long after his death, even to 
 the end of time ? And do they not thus seem to be 
 a sort of intimation or symbol to survivors, that, in 
 spite of his penitence, God's wrath is hot against 
 him? A man publishes an irreligious or immoral 
 book ; afterwards he repents, and dies. What does 
 Reason, arguing from the visible course of things, 
 suggest concerning the efficacy of that repentance ? 
 The sin of the penitent lives ; it continues to dis- 
 seminate evil ; it corrupts multitudes. They die many 
 of them without repenting ; many more receive per- 
 manent, though not fatal injury to their souls, from 
 the perusal. Surely no evidence is here, in the 
 course of Divine Governance, of the efficacy of 
 repentance. Shall he be now dwelling in Abraham's 
 bosom, who hears on the other side of the gulf the 
 yoices of those who curse his memory as being the 
 victims of his guilt ? 
 
 Against these fearful traces or omens of God's visi- 
 tation upon sin, we are, of course, at liberty to set 
 all the gracious intimations given us in nature of His 
 placability. Certain as it is, that all our efforts and 
 all our repentance are often unable to rid us of the 
 consequences of previous disobedience, yet doubtless 
 they often alleviate these, and often remove them. 
 
102 ON JUSTICE, [Serm. 
 
 And this goes to show that His Governance is not 
 one of absolute unmixed justice, which, of course 
 (were it so) would reduce every one of us to a state 
 of despair. Nothing, however, is told us in nature 
 of the limits of the two rules, of love and of justice, 
 or how they are to be reconciled ; nothing to show 
 that the rule of mercy, as acting on moral agents, is 
 more than the supplement, not the substitute, of the 
 fundamental law of justice and holiness. And, let it 
 be added, taking us even as we are, much as each of 
 us has to be forgiven, yet a religious man would 
 hardly wish the rule of justice obliterated. It is a 
 something which he can depend on and recur to ; it 
 gives a character and a certainty to the course of 
 Divine Governance ; and, tempered by the hope of 
 mercy, it suggests animating and consolatory thoughts 
 to him ; so that, far from readily acquiescing in the 
 theory of God's unmixed benevolence, he will rather 
 protest against it as the invention of those who, in 
 their eagerness to conciliate the enemies of the Truth, 
 care little about distressing and sacrificing its friends. 
 Different, indeed, is his view of God and of man, 
 of the claims of God, of man's resources, of the guilt 
 of disobedience, and of the prospect of forgiveness, 
 from those flimsy self-invented notions, which satisfy 
 the reason of the mere man of letters, or the pros- 
 perous and self-indulgent philosopher ! It is easy to 
 speak eloquently of the order and beauty of the phy- 
 sical world, of the wise contrivances of visible nature, 
 and the benevolence of the objects proposed in thero ; 
 
 1 
 
v.] AS A PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE GOVERNANCE. 103 
 
 but none of those topics throw light upon the subject 
 which it most concerns us to understand, the cha- 
 racter of the moral governance under which we live ; 
 yet, is not this the way of the wise in this world, viz. 
 instead of studying that governance as a primary sub- 
 ject of inquiry, to assume they know it, or to conceive 
 of it after the truths of Natural Theology, or, at best, 
 to take their notions of it from what appears on the 
 mere surface of human society ? — as if men did not 
 put on their gayest and most showy apparel when 
 they went abroad ! To see truly the cost and misery 
 of sinning, we must quit the public haunts of busi- 
 ness and pleasure, and be able, like the Angels, to see 
 the tears shed in secret, — to witness the anguish of 
 pride and impatience, where there is no sorrow, — 
 the stings of remorse, where yet there is no repent- 
 ance, — the wearing, never-ceasing struggle between 
 conscience and sin, — the misery of indecision,— the 
 harassing, haunting fears of death, and a judgment to 
 come, — and the superstitions which these engender. 
 Who can name the overwhelming total of the world's 
 guilt and suifering, — suffering crying for vengeance 
 on the authors of it, and guilt foreboding it ! 
 
 Yet one need not shrink from appealing even to 
 the outward face of the world, as proving to us the 
 extreme awfulness of our condition as sinners against 
 the law of our being ; for a strange fact it is, that, 
 boldly as the world talks of its own greatness and its 
 enjoyments, and easily as it deceives the mere theo- 
 philanthropist, yet, when it proceeds to the thought of 
 
104 ON JUSTICE, [Sebm. 
 
 its Maker, it has ever professed a gloomy religion, in 
 spite of itself. This has been the case in all times 
 and places. Barbarous and civilized nations here 
 agree. The world cannot bear up against the Truth, 
 with all its boastings. It makes an open mock at 
 sin, yet secretly attempts to secure an interest against 
 its possible consequences in the world to come. 
 Where has not the custom prevailed of propitiating, 
 if possible, the unseen powers of heaven ? — but why, 
 unless man were universally conscious of his danger, 
 and feared the punishment of sin, while he "hated 
 to be reformed ?" Where have not sacrifices been in 
 use, as means of appeasing the Divine displeasure ? — 
 and men have anxiously sought out what it was they 
 loved best, and would miss most painfully, as if to 
 strip themselves of it might move the compassion of 
 God. Some have gone so far as to offer their sons 
 and their daughters as a ransom for their own sin — 
 an abominable crime doubtless, and a sacrifice to 
 devils, yet clearly witnessing man's instinctive judg- 
 ment upon his own guilt, and his foreboding of 
 punishment. How much more simple a course had it 
 been, merely to have been sorry for disobedience, 
 and to profess repentance, were it a natural doctrine 
 (as some pretend), that repentance is an atonement 
 for offences committed ! 
 
 Nor is this all. Not only in their possessions and 
 their offspring, but in their own persons, have men 
 mortified themselves, with the hope of expiating 
 deeds of evil. Burnt-offerings, calves of a year oldj 
 
V.J AS A PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE GOVERNANCE. 105 
 
 thousands of rams, and ten thousands of rivers of oil, 
 their first-born for their transgression, the fruit of 
 their body for the sin of their soul ; even these are 
 insufficient to lull the sharp throbbings of a heavy- 
 laden conscience. Think of the bodily tortures to 
 •which multitudes have gloomily subjected themselves, 
 and that for years, under almost every religious sys- 
 tem, with a view of ridding themselves of their sins, 
 and judge what man conceives of the guilt of dis- 
 obedience. You will say that such fierceness in self- 
 tormenting is a mental disease, and grows on a man. 
 But this answer, granting there is truth in it, does 
 not account for the reverence in which such persons 
 have usually been held. Have we no instinct of self- 
 preservation ? Would these same persons gain the 
 admiration of others, unless their cruelty to their 
 own flesh arose from a religious motive? Would 
 they not be derided as madmen, unless they shel- 
 tered themselves under the sanction of an awful, 
 admitted truth, the corruption and the guilt of 
 human nature ? 
 
 But it vdll be said, that Christians, at least, must 
 admit that these frightful exhibitions of . self-torture 
 are superstition. Here I may refer to the remarks 
 with which I began. Doubtless these desperate and 
 dark struggles are to be called superstition, when 
 viewed by the side of true religion ; and it is easy 
 enough to speak of them as superstition, when we 
 have been informed of the gracious and joyful result 
 in which the scheme of Divine Governance issues. 
 
106 ON JUSTICE. [Sehm. 
 
 But it is man's truest and best religion, before the 
 Gospel shines on him. If our race be in a fallen and 
 depraved state, what ought our religion to be but 
 anxiety and remorse, till God comfort us ? Surely, 
 to be in gloom, — to view ourselves with horror, — to 
 look about to the right hand and to the left for 
 means of safety, — to catch at every thing, yet trust 
 in nothing, — to do all we can, and try to do more 
 than all,— and, after all, to wait in miserable sus- 
 pense, naked and shivering, among the trees of the 
 garden, for the hour of His coming, and meanwhile 
 to fancy sounds of woe in every wind stirring the 
 leaves about us, — in a word, to be superstitious,— is 
 nature's best offering, her most acceptable service, 
 her most mature and enlarged wisdom, in the pre- 
 sence of a holy and offended God. They who are 
 not superstitious without the Gospel, will not be re- 
 ligious with it : and I would that even in us, who 
 have the Gospel, there were more of superstition 
 than there is ; for much is it to be feared that our 
 security about ourselves arises from defect in self- 
 knowledge rather than in fulness of faith, and that 
 we appropriate to ourselves promises which we can- 
 not read. 
 
 To conclude. Thoughts concerning the Justice of 
 God, such as those which have engaged our atten- 
 tion, though they do not, of course, explain to us the 
 mystery of the great Christian Atonement for sin, 
 show the use of the doctrine to us sinners. Why 
 Christ's death was requisite for our salvation, and 
 
v.] AS A PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE GOVERNANCE. 107 
 
 how it has obtained it, will ever be a mystery in this 
 life. But, on the other hand, the contemplation of 
 our guilt is so growing and so overwhelming a 
 misery, as our eyes open on our real state, that some 
 strong act (so to call it) was necessary, on God's part, 
 to counterbalance the tokens of His wrath which 
 are around us, to calm and reassure us, and to be the 
 ground and the medium of our faith. It seems, 
 indeed, as if, in a practical point of view, no mere 
 promise was sufficient to undo the impression left on 
 the imagination by the facts of Natural Religion; 
 but in the death of His Son we have His deed — His 
 irreversible deed — making His forgiveness of sin, and 
 His reconciliation with our race, no contingency, but 
 an event of past history. He has vouchsafed to evi- 
 dence His faithfulness and sincerity towards us (if 
 we may dare so to speak) as vie must show ours to- 
 wards Him, not in word, but by action; which, there- 
 fore, becomes the pledge of His mercy, and the plea 
 on which we draw near to His presence ; — or, in the 
 words of Scripture, whereas "all have sinned, and 
 come short of the glory of God," Christ Jesus is " set 
 forth as a propitiation for the remission of sins that 
 are past," to declare and assure us, that, without de- 
 parting from the just rule, by which all men must, in 
 the main, be tried, still He will pardon and justify 
 " him that believeth in Jesus." 
 
SERMON VL 
 
 CONTEST BETWEEN FAITH AND SIGHT. 
 Preached May 27, 1 832. 
 
 1 John v. 4. 
 " This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 
 
 The danger to •which Christians are exposed from the 
 influence of the visible course of things, or the world, 
 (as it is called in Scripture,) is a principal subject of 
 St. John's general Epistle. He seems to speak of 
 the world as some False Prophet, promising what it 
 cannot fulfil, and gaining credit by its confident tone. 
 Viewing it as resisting Christianity, he calls it the 
 " spirit of anti-Christ," the parent of a numerous 
 progeny of evil, false spirits like itself, the teachers 
 of all lying doctrines, by which the multitude of men - 
 are led captive. The antagonist of this great tempter 
 is the spirit of Truth, which is "greater than he 
 that is in the world;" its victorious antagonist, as 
 gifted with those piercing eyes of Faith, which are 
 
CONTEST BETWEEN FAITH AND SIGHT. 109 
 
 able to scan the world's shallowness, and to see 
 through the mists of error into the glorious kingdom 
 of God beyond them. "This is the victory that 
 overcometh the world," says the text, "even our 
 Faith." And if we inquire what are the sights which 
 our faith sees, the Apostle answers by telling us of 
 " the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit 
 is Truth." The world witnesses to an untruth, 
 which will one day be exposed ; and Christ, our Lord 
 and Master, is "the Amen, the faithful and true 
 witness," who came into the world "by water and 
 blood," to " bear witness unto the Truth ;" that, as 
 the many voices of error bear down and overpower 
 the inquirer by their tumult and importunity, so, on 
 the other hand, Truth might have its living and 
 visible representative, no longer cast, like the bread, 
 at random on the waters, or painfully gained from 
 the schools and traditions of men, but committed to 
 One " come in the flesh," to One who has an earthly 
 name and habitation, who, in one sense, is one of the 
 powers of this world, who has His train and retinue, 
 His court and kingdom, His ministering servants^ 
 bound together by the tie of brotherly love among 
 themselves, and of zeal against the Prophets of error. 
 " Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that 
 believeth that Jesus is the Son of God ?" St. John 
 then compares together the force of the world's testi- 
 mony, and of that which the Gospel provides. " If 
 we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is 
 gi-eater ; for this is the witness of God which he has 
 
110 CONTEST BETWEEN [Serm. 
 
 testified of His Son ;^' as if " the spirit, the water, 
 and the blood," spoke for God more loudly than the 
 world speaks for the Evil one. In the very opening of 
 the Epistle, he had set before us in another form the 
 same gracious truth, viz., that the Gospel, by afford- 
 ing us, in the Person and history of Christ, a witness 
 of the invisible world, addresses itself to our senses 
 and imagination, after the very manner in which the 
 false doctrines of the world assail us. " That which 
 was from the beginning, .... which we have looked 
 upon, .... that which we have seen and heard, de- 
 clare we unto you." 
 
 Now, here we have incidentally suggested to us an 
 important truth, which, obvious as it is, may give 
 rise to some profitable reflections ; viz., that the 
 world overcomes us, not merely by appealing to our 
 reason, or exciting our passions, but by imposing on 
 our imagination. So much do the systems of men 
 swerve from the Truth as set forth in Scripture, that 
 their very presence becomes a standing fact against 
 Scripture, even when our reason condemns them, by 
 their persevering assertions, and they gradually over- 
 come those who set out by contradicting them. In 
 -all cases, what is often and unhesitatingly asserted, 
 at length finds credit with the mass of mankind; 
 and so it happens, in this instance, that admitting, as 
 we do, from the first, that the world is one of our 
 three chief enemies, maintaining rather than merely 
 granting that the outward face of things speaks a 
 different language from the word of God ; yet, when 
 
VI.] FAITH AND SIGHT. Ill 
 
 we come to act in the world, we find this very thing 
 a trial, not merely of our obedience, but even of our 
 faith, that is, the mere fact, that the world turns out 
 to be what we began by confessing concerning it. 
 
 Let us now direct our attention to this subject, in 
 order to see what it means, and how it is exemplified 
 in the ordinary course of the world. 
 
 And let us commence with the age when men are 
 first exposed, in any great degree, to the temptation 
 of trusting the world's assertions, — when they enter 
 into life, as it is called. Hitherto they have learned 
 revealed truths only as a creed or system ; they are 
 instructed and acquiesce in the great Christian doc- 
 trines ; and having virtuous feelings, and desiring to 
 do their duty, they think themselves really and prac- 
 tically religious. They read in Scripture of the course 
 of the world, but they have little notion what it 
 really is ; they believe it to be sinful, but how it acts 
 in seducing from the Truth, and making evil seem 
 good and good evil, is beyond them. Scripture, in- 
 deed, says njuch about the world ; but they cannot 
 learn practically what it is from Scripture ; for, not 
 to mention other reasons. Scripture being written by 
 inspiration, represents things such as they really are 
 in God's sight, such as they will seem to us in pro- 
 portion as we learn to judge of them rightly, not as 
 they appear to those " whose senses are" not yet 
 " exercised to discern both good and evil." 
 
 Under these circumstances, men are brought to 
 their trial. The simple and comparatively retired 
 
112 CONTEST BETWEEN [Sebm. 
 
 life which they have hitherto enjoyed is changed for 
 the varied and attractive scenes of mixed society. 
 Its numberless circles and pursuits open upon them, 
 the diversities and contrarieties of opinion and con- 
 duct, and of the subjects on which thought and exer- 
 tion are expended. This is what is called seeing the 
 world. Here, then, all at once they lose their reckon- 
 ing, and let slip the lessons which they thought they 
 had so accurately learned. They are unable to apply 
 in practice what they have received by word of mouth ; 
 and, perplexed at witnessing the multiplicity of cha- 
 racters and fortunes which human nature assumes, 
 and the range and intricacy of the social scheme, they 
 are gradually impressed with the belief that the reli- 
 gious system which they have hitherto received is an 
 inadequate solution of the world's mysteries, and a rule 
 of conduct too simple for its complicated transactions. 
 AH men, perhaps, are, in their measure, subjected to 
 this temptation. Even their ordinary and most in- 
 nocent intercourse with others, their temporal call- 
 ings, their allowable recreations, captivate their ima- 
 ginations, and on entering into this new scene, they 
 look forward with interest towards the fixture, and 
 form schemes of action, and indulge dreams of happi- 
 ness, such as this life has never fulfilled. Now, is it 
 not plain, that, after thus realizing to themselves the 
 promises of the world, when they look back to the 
 Bible and their former lessons, these will seem not 
 only uninteresting and dull, but a theory too ? — dull, 
 colourless, indeed, as a sober landscape, after we have 
 
VI.] FAITH AND SIGHT. ' 113 
 
 been gazing on some bright vision in the clouds, — 
 but, withal, unpractical, unnatural, unsuitable to the 
 exigencies of life and the constitution of man ? 
 
 For consider how little is said in Scripture about 
 subjects which necessarily occupy a great part of the 
 attention of all men, and which, being there unnoticed, 
 become thereby the subject-matter of their trial. 
 Their private conduct day by day ; their civil, social, 
 and domestic duties; their relation towards those 
 events which mark out human life into its periods, 
 and, in the case of most men, are the source of its 
 best pleasures, and the material of its deepest affec- 
 tions, are, as if purposely, passed over, that they them- 
 selves may complete the picture of true faith and 
 sanctity which Revelation has begun. 
 
 And thus (as has already been said) what is pri- 
 marily a trial of our obedience, becomes a trial of 
 our faith also. The Bible seems to contain a world 
 in itself, and not the same world as that which we 
 inhabit ; and those who profess to conform to its rules 
 gain from us respect indeed, and praise, and yet strike 
 us vidthal in some sort as narrow-minded and fanci- 
 ful; tenderly to be treated, indeed, as you would 
 touch cautiously any costly work of art, yet, on the 
 whole, as little adapted to do good service in the 
 world as it is, as a weapon of gold or soft clothing on 
 a field of battle. 
 
 And much more, of course, does this delusion 
 hang about the mind, and more closely does it wrap 
 it round, if, by yielding to the temptations of the 
 
 UNIV. s. I 
 
114 CONTEST BETWEEN [Sebm. 
 
 flesh, a man predisposes himself to the influence of it. 
 The palmary device of Satan is to address himself to 
 the pride of our nature, and, by the promise of inde- 
 pendence, to seduce us into sin. Those "who have 
 been brought up in ignorance of the polluting fashions 
 of the world, too often feel a rising in their minds 
 against the discipline and constraint kindly imposed 
 upon them ; and, not understanding that their igno- 
 rance is their glory, and that they cannot really enjoy 
 both good and evil, they murmur that they are not 
 allowed to essay what they do not wish to practise, or to 
 choose for themselves in matters where the very know- 
 ledge seems to them to give a superiority to the chil- 
 dren of corruption. Thus the temptation of becoming 
 as gods works as in the beginning, pride opening a door 
 to lust ; and then, intoxicated by their experience of 
 evil, they think they possess real wisdom, and take a 
 larger and more impartial view of the nature and des- 
 tinies of man than religion teaches; and, while the 
 customs of society restrain their avowals within the 
 bounds of propriety, yet in their hearts they learn to 
 believe that sin is a matter of course, not a serious 
 evil, a failing, in which all have share, indulgently 
 to be spoken of, or riather, in the case of each indivi- 
 dual, to be taken for granted, and passed over in 
 silence; and believing this, they are not unwilling 
 to discover or to fancy weaknesses in those who have 
 the credit of being superior to the ordinary run of 
 men, to insinuate the possibility of human passions 
 influencing them, this or that of a more refined 
 
VI.] FAITH AND SIGHT. 115 
 
 nature, when the grosser cannot be imputed, and, ex- 
 tenuating at the same time the guilt of the vicious, 
 to reduce in this manner all men pretty much to a 
 level. A more apposite instance of this state of soul 
 cannot be required than is given us in the celebrated 
 work of an historian of the last century, who, for his 
 great abilities, and, on the other hand, his cold heart, 
 impure mind, and scoffing spirit, may justly be ac- 
 counted as, in this country at least, one of the mas- 
 ters of a new school of error, which seems not yet to 
 have accomplished its destinies, and is framed more 
 exactly after the received type of the author of evil, 
 than the chief anti-Christs which have, in these last 
 times, occupied the scene of the world. 
 
 The temptation I have been speaking of, of trust- 
 ing the world, because it speaks boldly, and thinking 
 that evil must be acquiesced in, because it exists, will 
 be still stronger and more successful in the case of 
 one who is in any situation of active exertion, and 
 has no very definite principles to secure him in the 
 narrow way. He was taught to believe that there 
 was but one true faith, and, on entering into life, he 
 meets with numberless doctrines among men, each 
 professing to be the true one. He had learned that 
 there was but one Church, and he falls in with count- 
 less religious sects, nay, with a prevalent opinion that 
 all these are equally good, and that there is no divine- 
 ly-appointed Church at all. He has been accustomed 
 to class men into good and bad, but he finds their 
 actual characters no how reducible to system ; good 
 
 i2 
 
116 CONTEST BETWEEN [Serm. 
 
 and bad mixed in every variety of proportion, virtues 
 and vices in endless combinations; and, what is 
 stranger still, a deficient creed seemingly joined to a 
 virtuous life, and inconsistent conduct disgracing a 
 sound profession. Further still, he finds that men in 
 general will not act on high motives, in spite of all 
 that divines and moralists profess ; and his experience 
 of this urges him, till he begins to think it unwise 
 and extravagant to insist upon the mass of mankind 
 doing so, or to preach high morals and high doc- 
 trines ; and at length he looks on the religious system 
 of his youth as beautiful indeed in itself, and practi- 
 cal perhaps in private life, and useful for the lower 
 classes, but as utterly unfit for those who live in the 
 world ; and, while unwilling to confess this, lest he 
 should set a bad example, he tacitly concedes it, 
 never is the champion of his professed principles 
 when assailed, nor acts upon them in an honest way 
 in the affairs of life. 
 
 Or, should he be led by a speculative turn of mind, 
 or a natural philanthropy, to investigate the nature 
 of man, or exert himself in plans for the amelioration 
 of society, then his opinions becorhe ultimately im- 
 pressed with the character of a more definite unbelief. 
 Sometimes he is conscious to himself that he is 
 opposing Christianity; not indeed opposing it wan- 
 tonly, but, as he conceives, unavoidably, as finding it 
 in his way. This is a state of mind into which bene- 
 volent men are in danger of falling, in the present 
 age. While they pursue objects tending, as they 
 
VI] • FAITH AND SIGHT. 117 
 
 conceive, towards the good of mankind, it is by 
 degrees forced upon their minds that Revealed Reli- 
 gion thwarts their proceedings, and, averse alike to 
 relinquish their plans, and to offend the feelings of 
 others, they determine letting matters take their I 
 course^ and, believing fully that Christianity must fall \ 
 before the increasing illumination of the age, yet 
 they wish to secure it against direct attacks, and to 
 provide that it no otherwise falls than as it unavoid- 
 ably must at one time or other ; as every inflexible 
 instrument, and every antiquated institution, crumbles 
 under the hands of the great innovator, who creates 
 new influences for new emergencies, and recognizes 
 no right divine in a tumultuous and shifting world. 
 
 Sometimes, on the other hand, while he takes the 
 spirit of the world as his teacher, such a one is drifted 
 away unawares from the Truth as it is in Jesus, and, 
 merely from ignorance of Scripture, maintains theo- 
 ries which Scripture anathematizes. Thus he dreams 
 on for a time, as loath to desert his first faith ; then, 
 by accident, meeting with some of the Revealed doc- 
 trines which he learned when a child — the Incar- 
 nation, or the eternal punishment of the wicked — he 
 stumbles. Then he will attempt to remove these, 
 as if accidentally attached to the Scripture creed, — 
 little thinking that they are its very peculiarities and 
 essentials, nor reflecting that the very fact of his 
 stumbling at them should be taken as a test that his 
 views coincide but in appearance with the revealed 
 system altogether; and so he will remain at the door 
 
118 CONTEST BETWEEN [Serm. 
 
 of the Church, witnessing against himself by his 
 lingering there, yet missing the reward bestowed 
 even on the proselyte of the gate in heathen times, 
 in that he might have "known the way of righteous- 
 ness," yet has " turned from the holy commandment 
 delivered unto him." 
 
 And some there are who, keeping their faith in 
 the main, give up the notion of its importance. 
 Finding that men will not agree together on points 
 of doctrine and discipline, and imagining that union 
 must be effected on any terms, they consent to aban- 
 don articles of faith as the basis of Christian fellow- 
 ship, and try to effect what they call a union of 
 hearts, as a bond of fellowship among those who differ 
 in their notions of the One God, One Lord, One 
 Spirit, One baptism, and One body ; forgetful of the 
 express condemnation pronounced by our Saviour 
 upon those who " believe not" the preaching of His 
 servants'; and that he who denieth the Son, the 
 same hath not the Father ^ 
 
 And others, not being able to acquiesce in the un- 
 importance of doctrinal truth, yet perplexed at the 
 difficulties in the course of human affairs, which fol- 
 low on the opposite view, accustom themselves 
 gratuitously to distinguish between their public and 
 private duties, and to judge of them by separate rules. 
 These are often such as begin by assuming some 
 extravagant or irrelevant test for ascertaining the 
 
 ' Markxvi. 16. » 1 John ii. 22. 
 
VI.] FAITH AND SIGHT. 119 
 
 existence of religious principle in others, and so are 
 led to think it is nowhere to be found, not in the 
 true Church more than in the sects which surround it; 
 and thus, regarding all men (to speak generally) as 
 equally far from the Truth, and strangers to that 
 Divine regeneration which Christ bestows on His 
 elect few, and, on the other hand, seeing that men, 
 as cast together in society, must co-operate on some 
 or other principles, they drop the strict principles of 
 Scripture in their civil relations, give no preference 
 to those who honour the Church over those who pro- 
 fess opinions disrespectful towards it ; perhaps take 
 up the notion that the State, as such, has nothing to 
 do with the subject of religion; praise and blame 
 according to a different standard from that which 
 Christianity reveals ; and all this while cherish, per- 
 haps, in their secret thoughts a definite creed, rigid 
 in its decisions, stimulating in its influence, in spite 
 of the mildness, and submissiveness, and liberality of 
 sentiment, which their public mode of speaking and 
 acting seems to evidence. 
 
 Nor are even the better sort of men altogether 
 secure from the impression of the world's teaching, 
 which is so influential with the multitude. He truly 
 is a rare and marvellous work of heavenly grace, 
 who, when he comes into the din and tumult of the 
 world, can view things just as he calmly contemplated 
 them in the distance, before the time of action came. 
 So many are the secondary reasons which can be 
 assigned for and against every measure and every 
 
IgO CONTEST BETWEEN [Sbrm. 
 
 principle, so urgent are the solicitations of interest 
 or passion when the mind is once relaxed or excited, 
 so diflScult then to compare and ascertain the relative 
 importance of conflicting considerations, that the 
 most sincere and zealous of ordinary Christians will, 
 to their surprise, confess to themselves that they have 
 lost their way in the wilderness, which they could 
 accurately measure out before descending into it, and 
 have missed the track which lay like a clear thread 
 across the hills, when seen in the horizon. And 
 it is from their experience of this their own un- 
 skilfulniess and weakness, that serious men have been 
 in the practice of making vows concerning purposes 
 on which they were fully set, that no sudden gust of 
 passion, or lure of worldly interest, should gain the 
 mastery over a heart which they desire to present 
 without spot or blemish, as a chaste virgin, to Christ. 
 Let the above be taken as a few illustrations out 
 of many, of the influence exerted, and the doctrine 
 enforced in the school of the world ; that school which 
 we all set out by acknowledging to be at enmity with 
 the school of Christ, but from which we are content 
 to take our lessons of practical wisdom as life goes 
 on. Such is the triumph of Sight over Faith. The 
 world really brings no new argument to its aid, — no- 
 thing beyond its own assertion. In the very outset 
 Christians allow that its teaching is contrary to Re- 
 velation, and not to be taken as authoritv : neverthe- 
 less, afterwards this mere unargumentative teaching, 
 which, when viewed in theory, formed no objection 
 
VI.] FAITH AND SIGHT. 121 
 
 to the truth of the Inspired Word, yet, when actually 
 heard in the intercourse of life, converts them, more 
 or less, to the service of the " prince of the power of 
 the air, the spirit which now worketh in the children 
 of disobedience." It assails their imagination. The 
 world sweeps by in long procession ; its principalities 
 and powers, its Babel of languages, the astrologers 
 of Chaldsea, the horse and its rider and the chariots 
 of Egypt, Baal, and Ashtoreth, and their false wor- 
 ship ; and those who witness, feel its fascination ; 
 they flock after it ; with a strange fancy, they ape its 
 gestures, and dote over its mummeries; and then, 
 should they, perchance fall in with the simple solemn 
 services of Christ's Church, and hear its witnesses 
 going the round of Gospel truths as when they left 
 them : " I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life ;" 
 " Be sober, be vigilant;" " Strait is the gate, nar- 
 row the way ;" " If any man will come after Me, let 
 him deny himself;" " He is despised and rejected of 
 men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief:" — 
 how utterly unreal do these appear, and the preachers 
 of them, how irrational, how puerile ! — how extrava- 
 gant in their opinions, how weak in their reasoning ! 
 ' — and if they profess to pity and bear with them, 
 how nearly does their compassion border on con- 
 tempt ! 
 
 The contempt of men 1— why should we be unwil- 
 ling to endure it? We are not better than our 
 fathers. In every age it has been the lot of Chris- 
 tians far more highly endowed than we are with the 
 
122 CONTEST BETWEEN [Sbrm. 
 
 riches of Divine wisdom. It was the lot of Apostles 
 and Prophets, and of the Saviour of mankind Him- 
 self. When He was brought before Pilate, the 
 Roman Governor felt the same surprise and disdain 
 at His avowal of His unearthly office, which the 
 world now expresses. " To this end was I born, 
 .... that I should bear witness unto the Truth. 
 Pilate saith, What is Truth?" Again, when Festus 
 would fexplain to King Agrippa the cause of the dis- 
 pute between St. Paul and the Jews, he says, " The 
 accusers .... brought no accusations of such things 
 as I supposed, but certain questions against him of 
 their own superstition, and of one JesuSi, which was 
 dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive." 
 
 Such, however, are the words of men, who, not 
 knowing the strength of Christianity, had not the 
 guilt of deliberate apostasy. But what serious 
 thoughts does it present to the mind, to behold 
 parallels to heathen blindness and arrogance in a 
 Christian country, where men might know better, if 
 they would inquire ! — and what a warning to us all 
 is the sight of those who, though nominally within 
 the Church, are avowedly indifferent to it ! For all 
 of us surely are on our trial, and, as we go forth into 
 the world, so we are winnowed, and the chaff gra- 
 dually separated from the true seed. This is St. 
 John's account of it. " They went out from us, but 
 they were not of us; for, if they had been of us, 
 they would no doubt have continued with us ; but 
 they went out that they might be made manifest 
 
VI.] FAITH AND SIGHT. 123 
 
 that they were not all of us." And our Lord stands 
 by watching the process, telling us of " the hour of 
 temptation which shall come upon all the earth," ex- 
 horting us to " try them which say they are apostles, 
 and are not," and to " hold fast that which we have, 
 that no man take our crown." 
 
 Meanwhile, it is an encouragement to us to think 
 how much may be done in way of protest and teach- 
 ing, by the mere example of those who endeavour to 
 serve God faithfully. In this way we may use against 
 the world its own weapons ; and as its success lies in 
 the mere boldness of assertion with which it main- 
 tains that evil is good, so by the counter assertions of 
 a strict life and a resolute profession of the truth, we 
 may retort upon the imaginations of men, that re- 
 ligious obedience is not impracticable, and that Scrip- 
 ture has its persuasives. A martyr or a confessor is 
 a fact, and has its witness in itself ; and while it dis- 
 arranges the theories of human wisdom, it also 
 breaks in upon that security and solitude into which 
 men of the world would fain retire from the thought 
 of religion. One prophet against four hundred dis- 
 turbed the serenity of Ahab, King of Israel. When 
 the witnesses in St. John's vision were slain, though 
 they were but two, then " they that dwelt on the 
 earth rejoiced over them, and made merry, and sent 
 gifts one to another, because these two prophets 
 tormented them that dwelt on the earth." Nay, such 
 confessors have a witness even in the breasts of those 
 who oppose them, an instinct originally from God, 
 
 1 
 
124 CONTEST BETWEEN FAITH AND SIGHT. 
 
 "which may indeed be perverted into a hatred, but 
 scarcely into an utter disregard of the Truth, when 
 exhibited before them. The instance cannot be 
 found in the history of mankind, in which an anti- 
 Christian power could long abstain from persecuting. 
 The disdainful Festus at length impatiently inter- 
 rupted his prisoner's speech ; and in our better regu- 
 lated times, whatever be the scorn or malevolence 
 which is directed against the faithful Christian, these 
 very feelings show that he is really a restraint on 
 vice and unbelief, and a warning and guide to the 
 feeble-minded, and to those who still linger in the 
 world with hearts more religious than their professed 
 opinions ; and thus even literally, as the text ex- 
 presses it, he overcomes the world, conquering while 
 he suffers, and willingly accepting overbearing usage 
 and insult from others, so that he may in some de- 
 gree benefit them, though the more abundantly he 
 loves them, the less he be loved. 
 
SERMON VII. 
 
 HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY, AS INDEPENDENT OF 
 CIRCUMSTANCES. 
 
 Preached November i, 1832. 
 
 Gen. iii. 13. 
 " The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." 
 
 The original temptation set before our first parents, 
 was that of proving their freedom, by using it without 
 regard to the will of Him who gave it. The original 
 excuse offered by them after sinning was, that they 
 were not really free, that they had acted under a con- 
 straining influence, the subtilty of the tempter. They 
 committed sin that they might be independent of 
 their Maker; they defended it on the ground that 
 they were dependent upon Him. And this has been 
 the course of lawless pride and lust ever since; to 
 lead us, first, to exult in our uncontrollable liberty of 
 will and conduct; then, when we have ruined our- 
 selves, to plead that we are the slaves of necessity. 
 
126 HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY, [Serm. 
 
 Accordingly, it has been always the office of Re- 
 ligion to protest against the sophistry of Satan, and 
 to preserve the memory of those truths which the 
 unbelieving heart corrupts, both the freedom and 
 the responsibility of man ; — the sovereignty of the 
 Creator, the supremacy of the law of conscience as 
 His representative within us, and the irrelevancy of 
 external circumstances in the judgment which is ulti- 
 mately to be made upon our conduct and character. 
 
 That we are accountable for what we do and what 
 we are, — that, in spite of all aids or hindrances from 
 without, each soul is the cause of its own happiness or 
 misery, — is a truth certified to us both by Nature and 
 Revelation. Nature conveys it to us in the feeling 
 of guilt and remorse which implies se^condemnation. 
 In the Scriptures, on the other hand, it is the great 
 prevailing principle throughout, in every age of the 
 world, and through every Dispensation. The change 
 of times, the varieties of religious knowledge, the 
 gifts of grace, interfere not with the integrity of this 
 momentous truth. Praise to the obedient, punish- 
 ment on the transgressor, is the revealed rule of 
 God's government from the beginning to the consum- 
 mation of all things. The fall of Adam did not 
 abolish, nor do the provisions of Gospel-mercy super- 
 sede it. 
 
 At the creation it was declared, " In the day that 
 thou eatest . . . thou shalt surely die." On the call- 
 ing of the Israelites, the Lord God was proclaimed 
 in sight of their lawgiver as " merciful and gracious, 
 
VII.] AS INDEPENDENT OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 127 
 
 long-suifering, and abundant in goodness and truth ; 
 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and 
 transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear 
 the guilty." And when Moses interceded for the 
 people, with an earnestness which tended to the in- 
 fringement of the Divine Rule, he was reminded that 
 he could not himself be really responsible for others. 
 " Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I 
 blot out of My book." The Prophetical Dispensation 
 enforced the same truth still more clearly. " With 
 the pure Thou wilt show Thyself pure, and with 
 the froward Thou wilt show Thyself froward.. " The 
 soul that sinneth, it shall die ; make you a new heart 
 and a new spirit, for why will ye die ? " And after 
 Christ had come, the most explicit of the inspired 
 expounders of the New Covenant is as explicit in 
 his recognition of the original rule. "Every man 
 shall bear his own burden ... Be not deceived : God 
 is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that 
 shall he also reap." Even in his Epistle to the Ro- 
 mans, where he is directly engaged in declaring 
 another, and at first sight opposite doctrine, he finds 
 opportunity for confessing the principle of account- 
 ableness. Though exalting the sovereign power and 
 inscrutable purposes of God, and apparently referring 
 man's agency altogether to Him as the vessel of His 
 good pleasure, still he forgets not in the very opening 
 of his exposition to declare the real independence 
 and responsibility of the human will. " He will 
 render to every man according to his deeds ; . . . tri- 
 
128 HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY, [Sebm. 
 
 bulation and anguish upon every soul of man that 
 doeth evil . . . but glory, honour, and peace, to every 
 man that worketh good ; ... for there is no respect 
 of persons with God ;" declarations, which I will not 
 say are utterly irreconcileable in their very structure 
 with (what is called) the Calvinistic creed, but which 
 it is certain would never have been written by an as- 
 sertor of it in a formal exposition of his views to his 
 fellow-believers. Lastly, we have the testimony of 
 the book which completes and seals up for ever the 
 divine communications. " My reward is with Me ; 
 to give, every man according as his work shall be. 
 Blessed are they that do His commandments, that 
 they may have right to the tree of life '." 
 
 Moreover, we have the limits of external aids and 
 hindrances distinctly stated to us, so as to guarantee 
 to us, in spite of existing influences of whatever 
 kind, even of our original corrupt nature, the essen- 
 tial freedom and accountableness of our will. As 
 regards external circumstances : " God is faithful, who 
 will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are 
 able ; but will with the temptation also make a way 
 to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." As regards 
 the corrupt nature in which we are born : " Let no 
 man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God ; 
 but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of 
 his own lust, and enticed ; then, when lust hath con- 
 
 ' Gen. ii. 17. Exod. xxxiv. 7; xxxii. 33. Ps. xviii. 26. 
 Ezek. xviii. 4. 31. Gal. vi. 6 — 7. Rom. ii. 6 — 11. Rev. xxii. 
 12, 13. 
 
VII.] AS INDEPENDENT OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 129 
 
 ceived, it bringeth forth sin ; and sin, when it is 
 finished, bringeth forth death." And as regards 
 Divine assistances : " It is impossible for those who 
 were once enlightened .... if they fall away, to 
 renew them again unto repentance ^" 
 
 Far be it from any one to rehearse triumphantly, 
 and in the way of controversy, these declarations of 
 our privilege as moral agents ; rather, so fearful and 
 burdensome is this almost Divine attribute of our na- 
 ture, that when we consider it attentively, it requires 
 a strong faith in the wisdom and love of our Maker 
 not to start sinfully from His gift ; and at the 
 mere prospect, not the memory of our weakness, to 
 attempt to transfer it from ourselves to the agents, 
 animate and inanimate, by which we are surrounded, 
 and to lose our immortality under the shadows of the 
 visible world. And, much more, when the sense of 
 guilt comes upon us, do we feel the temptation of 
 ridding ourselves of our conviction of our own respon- 
 sibility ; and, instead of betaking ourselves to Him 
 who can reverse what we cannot disclaim, to shelter 
 ourselves under the original unbelief of our first 
 parents, as if the serpent gave it to us and we did 
 eat. 
 
 It is my wish now to give some illustrations of the 
 operation of this sophistry in the affairs of life ; not 
 that it is a subject which admits of novelty in the 
 discussion, but with the hope of directing attention 
 to a mode of deceiving our consciences, common in 
 ' 1 Cor. X. 13. James i. 13—15. Hebr. vi. 4—6. 
 
 UNIV. S. K 
 
130 HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY, [Sehm. 
 
 all ages since the original transgression, and not least 
 successful in our own. 
 
 To find fault with the circumstances in which we 
 find ourselves, is our ready and familiar excuse when 
 our conduct is arraigned in any particular. Yet even 
 the heathen moralist saw, that all those actions are 
 voluntary, in which we ourselves are in any way ulti- 
 mately the principle of action ; and that praise and 
 blame are awarded, not according to the mode in 
 which we should have behaved, had circumstances 
 been different, but according as we actually conduct 
 ourselves, things being as they are. Commenting 
 on goods thrown overboard in a storm, he remarks 
 "that such acts must be considered voluntary, as 
 being the objects of our choice at the time when they 
 are done, for our conduct is determined according to 
 the emergency"." In truth, nothing is more easy to 
 the imagination than duty in the abstract, that is, duty 
 in name and not in reality. It is when it assumes a 
 definite and actual shape, when it comes upon us 
 under circumstances, (and it is obvious it can come 
 in no other way,) then it is difficult and troublesome. 
 Circumstances are the very trial of obedience. Yet, 
 plain as this is, it is very common to fancy our par- 
 ticular condition peculiarly hard, and that we should 
 be better and happier men in any other. 
 
 Thus, for instance, opportunity, which is the means 
 of temptation in the case of various sins, is converted 
 
 ' Arist. Eth. Nicom. iii. 17. 
 
VIL] AS INDEPENDENT OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 131 
 
 into an excuse for them. Perhaps it is very plain 
 that, except for some unusual combination of circum- 
 stances, we could never have been tempted at all ; 
 yet, when we fall on such an occasion, we are ready 
 to excuse our weakness, as if our trial were extra- 
 ordinary. 
 
 Again, the want of education is an excuse common 
 with the lower classes for a careless and irreligious 
 life. 
 
 Again, it is scarcely possible to resist the imagi- 
 nation, that we should have been altogether other 
 men than we are, had we lived in an age of miracles, 
 or in the visible presence of our Lord ; that is, we 
 cannot persuade ourselves that whatever be the force 
 of things external to us in modifying our condition, 
 it is we, and not our circumstances, that are, after all, 
 the main causes of what we do and what we are. 
 
 Or, again, to take a particular instance, which will 
 perhaps come home to some who hear me ; when a 
 young person is in prospect of ordination, he has a 
 conceit that his mind will be more fully his own, 
 when he is actually engaged in the sacred duties of 
 his new calling, than at present ; and, in the event 
 he is perhaps amazed and frightened, to find how little 
 influence the change of circumstances has had in 
 sobering and regulating his thoughts, whatever greater 
 decency his outward conduct may exhibit. 
 
 Further, it is the common excuse of wilful sinners, 
 that there are peculiarities in their present engage- 
 ments, connexions, plans, or professions, incompatible 
 
 K 2 
 
132 HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY, [Seem. 
 
 ■with immediate repentance ; according to the memo- 
 rable words of Feh"x, " When I have a convenient 
 season I will send for thee." 
 
 The operation of the same deceit discovers itself 
 in our mode of judging the conduct of others ; 
 whether, in the boldness with which we blame in 
 them what, under other circumstances, we allow in 
 ourselves; or again, in the false charity which we 
 exercise towards them. For instance, the vices of 
 the young are often regarded by beholders with an 
 irrational indulgence, on the ground (as it is said) that 
 youth ever will be wanton and impetuous ; which is 
 only saying, if put into plain language, that there are 
 temptations which are not intended as trials of our 
 obedience. Or when, as lately, the lower orders rise 
 up against the powers that be, in direct opposition 
 to the word of Scripture, they are excused on the 
 ground of their rulers being bigoted and themselves 
 enlightened ; or because they feel themselves capable 
 of exercising more power ; or because they have the 
 example of other nations to incite them to do so ; or 
 simply (the more common excuse) because they have 
 the means of doing so ; as if loyalty could be called 
 a virtue when men cannot be disloyal, or obedience 
 had any praise when it became a constraint. In like 
 manner, there is a false charity, which on principle 
 takes the cause of heresy under its protection ; and, 
 instead of condemning it, as such, busies itself in 
 fancying the possible circumstances which may, in 
 this or that particular instance, excuse it ; as if out- 
 
VII.] AS INDEPENDENT OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 133 
 
 ward fortunes could change the nature of truth or 
 of moral excellence, or as if, admitting the existence 
 of unavoidable misbelief to be conceivable, yet it 
 were not the duty of the Christian to take things as 
 they are given us in Scripture, as they are in them- 
 selves, and as they are on the whole, instead of 
 fastening upon exceptions to the rule, or attempting 
 to ascertain that combination and balance of cir- 
 cumstances, in the case of individuals, which is only 
 known to the Omniscient Judge. 
 
 The following apology for the early profligacy of 
 the notorious French infidel of the last century is 
 found even among the respectable literature of the 
 present day, and is an illustration of the kind of 
 fatalism now under consideration. " It is certain," 
 the apologist says, " that a brilliant, highly-gifted, and 
 more than commonly vivacious young man, like Vol- 
 taire, who moved in the high tide of Parisian society, 
 must necessarily be imbued with the levity and laxity 
 that on every side surrounded him, and which has 
 rendered the period in question proverbial for profli- 
 gacy and debauchery, .... This is not observed in 
 defence of his moral defects, or of any one else, but 
 in answer to those who expect the virtues of a sage 
 from the education of an Alcibiades. His youthful 
 career seems to have been precisely that of other 
 young men of his age and station, neither better nor 
 worse. It is scarcely necessary to prove the tinge 
 which such a state of society must bestow upon every 
 character, however intellectually gifted, which is 
 
134 HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY, [Serm. 
 
 formed in the midst of it." No one can say that 
 the doctrine contained in this extract is extravagant, 
 as opinions go, and unfair as a specimen of what is 
 commonly received in the world, however boldly it 
 is expressed. Yet it vdll be observed, that vice is 
 here pronounced to be the necessary eflfect of a cer- 
 tain state of society, and, as being such, not extenu- 
 ated merely, as regards the individual (as it may well 
 be), but exculpated ; so that, while the actions re- 
 sulting from it are allowed to be intrinsically bad, 
 yet the agent himself is acquitted of the responsi- 
 bility of committing them. 
 
 The sophistry in question sometimes has assumed 
 a bolder form, and has displayed itself in the shape 
 of system. Let us, then, now direct our attention 
 to it in some of those fortified positions which at 
 various times it has taken up against the plain decla- 
 rations of Scripture and Conscience. 
 
 1. Fatalism is the refuge of a conscience-stricken 
 mind, maddened at the sight of evils which it has 
 brought upon itself, and cannot remove. To believe 
 apd tremble is the most miserable of dooms for an 
 immortal spirit ; and bad men, whose reason has 
 been awakened by education, resolved not to be 
 " tormented before their time," seek in its intoxi- 
 cation a present oblivion of their woe. It is 
 wretched enough to suffer, but self-reproach is the 
 worm which destroys the inward power of resistance. 
 Submission alone makes pain tolerable in any case ; 
 and they who refuse the Divine yoke are driven to 
 
VII.] AS INDEPENDENT OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 135 
 
 seek a sedative in the notion of an eternal necessity. 
 They deny that they ever could have been other than 
 they are. " What heaven has made me, I must be," 
 is the sentiment which hardens them into hopeless 
 pride and rebellion. 
 
 And it must be confessed, so great is the force of 
 passion and of habit, when once allowed to take pos- 
 session of the heart, that these men seem to have in 
 their actual state, nay in their past experience, long 
 before the time of their present obduracy, an infal- 
 lible witness in behalf of their doctrine. In sub- 
 duing our evil nature, the first steps alone are in our 
 own power ; a few combats seem to decide the solemn 
 question, to decide whether the sovereignty is with 
 the spirit or the flesh ; nisi paret, imperat, is become a 
 proverb. When once the enemy of our souls " comes 
 in like a flood," what hope is there that he ever 
 will be expelled ? And what servitude can be com- 
 pared to the bondage which follows, when we wish to 
 do right, yet are utterly powerless to do it ? whether 
 we be slaves to some imperious passion, hushed in- 
 deed in its victim's ordinary mood, and allowing the 
 recurrence of better thoughts and purposes, but 
 rising suddenly and sternly, in his evil hour, to its 
 easy and insulting triumph ; or, on the other hand, 
 to some cold sin which overhangs and deadens the 
 mind, sloth, for instance, or cowardice, binding it 
 down with ten thousand subtle fastenings to the earth, 
 nor suffering it such motion as might suffice it for a 
 renewal of the contest. Such, in its worst forms, is 
 
136 HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY, [Seem. 
 
 the condition of the ohdurate sinner ; who, feeling his 
 weakness, but forgetting that he ever had strength, 
 from the promise of aid from above, at length learns 
 to acquiesce in his misery as the lot of his nature, and 
 resolves neither to regret nor to hope. Next he 
 amuses his reason with the melancholy employment 
 of reducing his impressions into system ; and proves, 
 as he thinks, from the confessed influence of external 
 events, and the analogy of the physical world, that 
 all moral phenomena proceed according to a fixed 
 law, and that we are not more to blame when we 
 sin than when we die. 
 
 2. The Calvinistic doctrine, if not the result, is at 
 least the forerunner of a similar neglect of the doc- 
 trine of human responsibility. Whatever be the 
 fallacies of its argumentative basis, viewed as a cha- 
 racter of mind, it miscalculates the power of the 
 affections, as fatalism does that of the passions. Its 
 practical error is that of supposing that certain mo- 
 tives and views, presented to the heart and con- 
 science, produce certain effects as their necessary con- 
 sequence, no room being left for the resistance of the 
 will, or for self-discipline, as the medium by which 
 faith and holiness are connected together. It is the 
 opinion of a large class of religious people, that faith 
 being granted, works follow as a matter of course, 
 without our own trouble ; and they are confirmed in 
 their opinion by a misconception of our Church's 12th 
 Article, as if to assert that works " spring out neces- 
 sarily of a true and lively faith" could only mean that 
 
VII ] AS INDEPENDENT OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 137 
 
 they follow by a kind of physical law. When this 
 notion is once entertained, it follows that nothing re- 
 mains to be done but to bring these sovereign prin- 
 ciples before the mind, as a medicine which must work 
 a cure, or as sights which suddenly enlighten and win 
 the imagination. To care for little duties, to set 
 men right in the details of life, to instruct and refine 
 their conscience, to tutor them in self-denial, the 
 Scripture methods of working onwards towards higher 
 knowledge and obedience become superfluous, nay, 
 and despicable, while these master visions are with- 
 held. A system such as this will of course bring with 
 it full evidence of its truth to such debilitated minds 
 as have already so given way to the imagination, 
 that they find themselves unable to resist its impres- 
 sions as they recur. Nor is there among the theories 
 of the world any more congenial to the sated and 
 remorseful sensualist, who, having lost the command 
 of his will, feels that if he is to be converted, it must 
 be by some sudden and violent excitement. On the 
 other hand, it will always have its advocates among 
 the young and earnest-minded, who, not having that 
 insight into their hearts which experience gives, think 
 that to know is to obey, and that their habitual love 
 of the Truth may be measured by their momentarj' 
 admiration of it. And it is welcomed by the indo- 
 lent, who care not for the Scripture warnings of the 
 narrowness of the way of life, so that they can but 
 assure themselves that it is easy to those who are in 
 it ; and who readily ascribe the scantiness of those 
 
138 HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY, ^,[SEttM. 
 
 who find it, not to the difficulty of connecting faith 
 and works, but to a Divine frugality in the dispen- 
 sation of the gifts of grace. 
 
 Such are some of the elements of that state of 
 mind, which, when scientifically developed, assumes 
 the shape of Calvinism ; the characteristic error, both 
 of the system and of the state of mind, consisting in 
 the assumption that there are things external to the 
 mind, whether doctrines or influences, such, that 
 when once presented to it, they suspend its indepen- 
 dence and involve certain results, as if by way of 
 physical consequence ; whereas, on studying the New 
 Testament, we shall find, that amid all that is said 
 concerning the inscrutable decrees of God, and His 
 mysterious interposition in the workings of the human 
 mind, still everywhere the practical truths with which 
 Revelation started are assumed and recognized ; that 
 we shall be judged by our good or evil doings, and that 
 a principle within us is ultimately the cause of the one 
 and the other. So that it is preposterous in us to 
 attempt to direct our course by the distant landmarks 
 of the Divine counsels, which are but dimly revealed 
 to us, overlooking the clear track close before our 
 eyes provided for our need. This perverse substi- 
 tution in matters of conduct of a subtle argumenta- 
 tive rule for one that is plain and practical, is set 
 before us, by way of warning, in the parable of the 
 talents. " Lord, I knew Thee that Thou art a hard 
 man . . . and I was afraid, and went and hid Thy 
 talent in the earth." 
 
VII.] n AS INDEPENDENT OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 130 
 
 3. One more illustration shall be given of the sys- 
 tematic disparagement of human responsibility, and 
 the consequent substitution of outward events for the 
 inward rule of conscience in matters of conduct. 
 
 The influence of the world, viewed as the enemy 
 of our souls, consists in its hold upon our imagina- 
 tion. It seems to us incredible that anything said 
 everywhere and always can be false. And our faith 
 is shown in preferring the testimony of our hearts 
 and Scripture to its declarations, and our obedience 
 in acting against it. It is the very function of the 
 Christian to be moving against the world, and to be 
 protesting against the majority of voices. And though 
 a doctrine such as this may be perverted into a con- 
 tempt of authority, a neglect of the Church, and an 
 arrogant reliance on self, yet there is a sense in which 
 it is true, as every part of Scripture teaches. , " Thou 
 shalt not follow a multitude to do evil," is its uniform 
 injunction. Yet so irksome is this duty, that it is 
 not wonderful that the wayward mind seeks a release 
 from it ; and, looking off from what is within to what 
 is without, it gradually becomes perplexed and un- 
 settled. And, should it so happen that the face of 
 society assumes a consistent appearance, and urges 
 the claims of the world upon the Conscience as if on 
 the ground of principle and system, then still greater 
 is the difficulty in which it has entangled itself. 
 Then it is that acts which exhibited in individual in- 
 stances would have been condemned as crimes, ac- 
 quire a dignity from the number of the delinquents. 
 
HO HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY, [Sekm. 
 
 or their assumption of authority, and venture to claim 
 our acquiescence as a matter of right. What would 
 be insubordination, or robbery, or murder, when done 
 by one man, is hallowed by the combination of the 
 great or the many. 
 
 Thus, for instance, what is more common at the 
 present day, than for philosophers to represent society 
 as moving by a certain law through different stages, 
 and its various elements as coming into operation at 
 different periods ? and then, not content with stating 
 [the fact (which is undeniable), to go on to speak as if 
 Jwhat has been, and is, ought to be ; and as if because 
 at certain eras this or that class of society gains the 
 ascendancy, therefore it lawfully gained it ; whereas 
 in truth, the usurpation of an invader, and the de- 
 velopment (as it is called) of the popular power, are 
 alike facts, and alike sins, in the sight of Him who 
 forbids us to oppose constituted power. And yet the 
 credulous mind hangs upon the words of the world, 
 and falls a victim to its sophistry ; as if, forsooth, 
 Satan could not work his work upon a law, and op- 
 pose God's will upon system. But the Christian, 
 rejecting this external guide of conduct, acts on 
 Faith, and far from being perplexed to find the world 
 consistent in its disobedience, recollects the decla- 
 rations of Scripture which foretel it. 
 
 Yet so contrary to common sense is it thus to 
 assert, that our conduct ought to be determined 
 merely by what is done by a mixed multitude, that it 
 was to be expected that the ingenious and eager minds 
 
VII.] AS INDEPENDENT OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 141 
 
 who practically acknowledge the principle, should 
 wish to place it on some more argumentative basis. 
 Accordingly, attempts have been made by foreign 
 writers to show that society moves upon a law which 
 is independent of the conduct of its individual mem- 
 bers, who cannot materially retard its progress, nor 
 are answerable for it, — a law which in consequence is 
 referrible only to the will of the Creator. " Historical 
 causes and their effects being viewed, at one glance, 
 through a long course of years, seem," it has been 
 said, " from their steady progression, to be above any 
 human control; an impulse is given, which beats 
 down resistance, and sweeps away all means of oppo- 
 sition; century succeeds to century, and the philo- 
 sopher sees the same influence still potent, still un- 
 deviating and regular ; to him, considering these ages 
 at once, following with rapid thought the slow pace 
 of time, a century appears to dwindle to a point; 
 and the individual obstructions and accelerations, 
 which within that period have occurred to impede 
 or advance the march of events, are eliminated and 
 forgotten." This is the theory ; and hence it is argued, 
 that it is our wisdom to submit to a power which is 
 greater than ourselves, and which can neither be cir- 
 cumvented nor persuaded ; as if the Christian dare 
 take any guide of conscience except the rule of duty, 
 or might prefer expediency (if it be such) to prin- 
 ciple. Nothing, for instance, is more common than 
 to hear men speak of the growing intelligence of the 
 present age, and to insist upon the Church's supply- 
 
142 HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY, [Sbrm. 
 
 ing its wants; the previous question being entirely 
 left out of view, whether those wants are healthy 
 and legitimate, or unreasonable, — whether real or 
 imaginary, — whether they ought to be gratified or 
 repressed : and it is urged upon us, that unless we 
 take the lead in the advance of mind ourselves, we 
 must be content to fall behind. But, surely our first 
 duty is, not to resolve on satisfying a demand at any 
 price, but to determine whether it be innocent. If 
 so, well ; but if not, let what will happen. Even 
 though the march of society be conducted on a super- 
 human law, yet, while it moves against Scripture 
 Truth, it is not God's ordinance, — it is but the crea- 
 ture of Satan ; and, though it shiver all earthly ob- 
 stacles to its progress, the gods of Sepharvaim and 
 Arphad, fall it must, and perish it must, before the 
 glorious fifth kingdom of the Most High, when He 
 visits the earth, who is called Faithful and True, 
 whose eyes are as a flame of fire, and on His head 
 many crowns ; who smites the nations with a rod of 
 iron, and treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and 
 wrath of Almighty God, 
 
 My object in the foregoing remarks has been to 
 illustrate, in various ways, the operation of an all- 
 important truth ; that circumstances are but the sub- 
 ject-matter, and not the rule of our conduct, nor in 
 any true sense the cause of it. Let me conclude 
 with one more exemplification of it, which I address 
 to the junior part of my audience. 
 
 In this place, where the stated devotional services 
 
VII.] AS INDEPENDENT OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 143 
 
 of the Church are required of all of us, it is very 
 common with our younger members to slight them, 
 while they attend on them, on the ground of their 
 being forced upon them. A like excuse is some- 
 times urged in behalf of an unworthy participation 
 of the Lord's Supper, as if that Communion could 
 not be considered real, or dangerous to the impeni- 
 tent, which was performed under constraint. 
 
 Now, let such an apologist be taken on his own 
 ground. Let it be granted to him, for argument's sake, 
 though in no other way, that this general exaction 
 of religious duties is unwise ; let him be allowed the 
 full force of his objections to a system which he has 
 not yet experience to understand. Yet do these out- 
 ward circumstances change the nature of the case in 
 any practical respect, or relieve him of his responsi- 
 bility ? Rather, is it not his plain duty to take things 
 as he finds them, since he has not the power of 
 changing them; and, leaving to his superiors what 
 pertains to them, the task of deciding on the system 
 to be pursued, to inquire how he ought to act under 
 it, and to reflect what his guilt -will be in the day of 
 account, if week after week he has come into the 
 presence of God with a deliberate profanation in his 
 right hand, or at least with irreverence of manner, 
 and an idle mind ? 
 
 And, again, as regards the Holy Communion, how 
 
 do the outward circumstances which bring us thither 
 
 affect the real purpose of God respecting it? Can 
 
 we in earthly matters remove what we dislike, by 
 
 1 
 
144 HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY, [Sbrm. 
 
 wishing it away; — and shall we hope, by mere unbe- 
 lief, to remove the Presence of God from His ordi- 
 nance ? As well may we think of removing thereby 
 the visible emblems of bread and wine, or of with- 
 drawing ourselves altogether from the Omnipresent 
 Eye of God itself. Though Christ is savingly re- 
 vealed in the Sacrament only to those who receive 
 Him in faith, yet we have the express word of Scrip- 
 ture for saying, that the thoughtless communicant, 
 far from remaining as if he did not receive it, is guilty 
 of the actual Body and Blood of Christ, — guilty of the 
 crime of crucifying Him anew, as not discerning that 
 which lies hid in the rite. This does not apply, of 
 course, to any one who communicates with a doubt 
 merely about his own state — far from it! — nor to 
 those who resolve heartily, yet in the event fail to 
 perform, as is the case with the young ; nor to those 
 even who may happen to sin both before and after 
 the reception of the Sacrament. Where there is 
 earnestness, there is no condemnation ; but it applies 
 fearfully to such as view the Blessed Ordinance as a 
 thing of course, from a notion that they are passive 
 subjects of a regulation which others enforce ; and, 
 perhaps, the number of these is not small. Let such 
 persons seriously consider that, were their argument 
 correct, they need not be considered in a state of 
 trial at all, and might escape the future judgment 
 altogether. They would have only to protest (as we 
 may speak) against their creation, and they would no 
 longer have any duties to bind them. But what says 
 
VII.] AS INDEPENDENT OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 145 
 
 the word of God ? " That which cometh into your 
 mind, shall not be at all, that ye say. We will be as 
 the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve 
 wood and stone." And then follows the threat, ad- 
 dressed to those who rebel : — " As I live, saith the 
 Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a 
 stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I 
 
 rule over you And I will cause you to pass 
 
 under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of 
 the covenant." 
 
 And these words apply to the whole subject which 
 has engaged us. We may amuse ourselves, for a 
 time, with such excuses for sin as a perverted inge- 
 nuity furnishes ; but there is One who is justified in 
 His sayings, and clear when He judgeth. Our worldly 
 philosophy and our well-devised pleadings will profit 
 nothing at a day when the heaven shall depart as a 
 scroll is rolled together, and all who are not clad in 
 the wedding garment of faith and love will be speech- 
 less. Surely it is high time for us to wake out of 
 sleep, to chase from us the shadows of the night, and 
 to realize our individuality, and the coming of our 
 Judge. " The night is far spent, the day is at hand," 
 — " let us be sober and watch unto prayer." 
 
 UNIV. S. 
 
SERMON VIII. 
 
 WILFULNESS, THE SIN OF SAUL. 
 Preached December 2, 1832. 
 
 1 Sam. ~xv. 11. 
 
 " It repenteth Me that I have set up Saul to be king ; for he is 
 turned back from following Me, and hath not performed My 
 commandments." 
 
 The three chief religious patterns and divine instru- 
 ments under the first Covenant, have each his counter- 
 part in the Sacred History, that we may have warn- 
 ing as well as instruction. The distinguishing virtue, 
 moral and political, of Abraham, Moses, and David, 
 was their faith ; by which I mean an implicit reliance 
 in God's command and promise, and a zeal for His 
 honour ; a surrender and devotion of themselves, and 
 all they had, to Him. At His word they each re- 
 linquished the dearest wish of their hearts, Isaac, 
 Canaan, and the Temple ; the Temple was not to be 
 built, the land of promise not to be entered, the child 
 of promise not to be retained. All three were tried 
 
WILFULNESS, THE SIN OF SAUL. 147 
 
 by the anxieties and discomforts of exile and wander- 
 ing; all three, and especially Moses and David, were 
 very zealous for the Lord God of Hosts. 
 
 The faith of Abraham is illustrated in the luke- 
 warmness of Lot, who, though a true servant of God, 
 and a righteous man, chose for his dwelling-place the 
 fertile country of a guilty people. To Moses, who 
 was faithful in all God's house, is confronted the un- 
 true prophet Balaam, who, gifted from the same 
 Divine Master, and abounding in all knowledge and 
 spiritual discernment, mistook words for works, and 
 fell through love of lucre. The noble self-consuming 
 zeal of David, who was at once ruler of the chosen 
 people, and type of the Messiah, is contrasted with a 
 still more conspicuous and hateful specimen of unbe- 
 lief, as disclosed to us in the history of Saul. To 
 this history it is proposed now to draw your atten- 
 tion, not indeed with the purpose of surveying it as a 
 whole, but with hope of gaining thence some such in- 
 direct illustration, in the way of contrast, of the nature 
 of religious Faith, as it is calculated to supply. 
 
 It cannot be denied that the designs of Providence 
 towards Saul and David are, at first sight, of a per- 
 plexing nature, as implying distinctions in the moral 
 character of the two individuals, which their history 
 does not clearly warrant. Accordingly, it is usual, 
 with a view of meeting the difficulty, to treat them 
 as mere instruments in the Divine Governance of 
 the Israelites, and to determine their respective 
 virtues and defects, not by a moral, but by a political 
 
 l2 
 
H-8 WILFULNESS, THE SIN OF SAUL. [Serm. 
 
 Standard. For instance, the honourable title by 
 which David is distinguished, as " a man after God's 
 own heart," is interpreted with reference merely to 
 his activity and success in enforcing the principles of 
 the Mosaic system, no account being taken of the 
 motives which influenced him, or of his general 
 character, or of his conduct in other respects. Now, 
 it is by no means intended here to dispute the truth 
 of such representations, or to deny that the Church, 
 in its political relations, must even treat men with 
 a certain reference to their professions and outward 
 acts, such as it withdraws in its private dealings with 
 them; yet, to consider the difference between Saul 
 and David to be of a moral nature, is more consis- 
 tent with the practical objects with which we believe 
 Scripture to have been written, and more reverent, 
 moreover, to the memory of one whose lineage the 
 Saviour almost gloried in claiming, and whose devo- 
 tional writings have edified the Church even to this 
 day. Let us then drop, for the present, the political 
 view of the history which it is proposed to consider, 
 and attempt to discover the moral lesson intended to 
 be conveyed to us in the character of Saul, the con- 
 trast of the zealous David. 
 
 The unbelief of Balaam discovers itself in a love 
 of secular distinction, and was attended by self-decep- 
 tion. Saul seems to have had no base ends in view; 
 he was not self-deceived ; his temptation and his fall 
 consisted in a certain perverseness of mind, founded 
 on some obscure feelings of self-importance, very com- 
 
VIII.] WILFULNESS, THE SIN OF SAUL. 149 
 
 raonly observable in human nature, and sometimes 
 called pride, — a perverseness which shows itself in a 
 reluctance absolutely to relinquish its own indepen- 
 dence of action, in cases where dependence is a duty, 
 and interferes a little, and alters a little, as if with a 
 Tiew of satisfying its own fancied dignity, though it 
 is afraid altogether to oppose itself to the voice of 
 God. Should this seem, at first sight, to be a trifling 
 fault, it is the more worth while to trace its operation 
 in the history of Saul. If a tree is known by its 
 fruit, it is a great sin. 
 
 Saul's character is marked by much that is consi- 
 dered to be the highest moral excellence, — genero- 
 sity, magnanimity, calmness, energy, and decision. 
 He is introduced to us as " a choice young man, and 
 a goodly," and as possessed of a striking personal 
 presence, and as a member of a wealthy and power- 
 ful family'. 
 
 The first announcement of his elevation came upon 
 him suddenly, but apparently without unsettling him. 
 He kept it secret, leaving it to Samuel, who had 
 made it to him, to publish it. " Saul said unto his 
 uncle, He (that is, Samuel) told us plainly that the 
 asses were found. But of the matter of the king- 
 dom, whereof Samuel spake, he told him not." Nay, 
 it would even seem as if he were averse to the dignity 
 intended for him ; for when the Divine lot fell upon 
 
 ' Some sentences whicli follow have already been inserted in 
 the Author's Parochial Sermons, Vol. iii. Serm. 3. 
 
150 WILFULNESS, THE SLV OF SAUL. [Serm. 
 
 him he had hid himself, and was not discovered by 
 the people without Divine assistance. 
 
 The appointment was at first unpopular. "The 
 children of Belial said, How shall this man save us?" 
 Here again his highmindedness is discovered, and his 
 remarkable force and energy of character. He showed 
 no signs of resentment at the insult. They " despised 
 him, and brought him no presents. But he held his 
 peace." Soon the Ammonites invaded the country 
 beyond Jordan, with the avowed intention of reduc- 
 ing its inhabitants to slavery. They, almost in de- 
 spair, sent to Saul for relief; and the panic spread in 
 the interior, as well as among those whose country 
 was immediately threatened. The conduct of their 
 new king brings to mind the celebrated Roman story. 
 " Behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field ; 
 and Saul said, What aileth the people that they 
 weep ? And they told him the tidings of the men of 
 Jabesh. And the Spirit of God came upon Saul, 
 and his anger was kindled greatly." His order for 
 an immediate gathering throughout Israel was obeyed 
 with the alacrity with which, in times of alarm, the 
 many yield themselves up to the will of the strong- 
 minded. A decisive victory over the enemy followed. 
 Then the popular cry became, " Who is he that said, 
 Shall Saul reign over us ? Bring the men, that we 
 may put them to death. And Saul said, There shall 
 not a man be put to death this day : for to-day the 
 Lord hath wrought salvation in Israel." 
 
VIII.] WILFULNESS, THE SIN OF SAUL. 151 
 
 We seem here to find noble traits of character ; at 
 the same time it must not be forgotten, that some- 
 times such exhibitions are also the concomitants of 
 a certain strangeness and eccentricity of mind, which 
 are very perplexing to those who study it, and very 
 unamiable. Reserve, sullenness, headstrong self- 
 confidence, pride, caprice, sourness of temper, scorn 
 of others, a scoflSng at natural feeling and religious 
 principle ; all those characters of mind which, though 
 distinct from mental aberration, are temptations to 
 it, frequently take the form, and have in some degree 
 the nature, of magnanimity. It is probable, from the 
 sequel of Saul's history, that the apparent nobleness 
 of his first actions was connected with some such 
 miserable principles and feelings, which then existed 
 only in their seeds, but which afterwards sprang up 
 and ripened to his destruction ; and this in conse- 
 quence of that one fatal defect of mind which has 
 been already noticed, as corrupting the integrity of 
 his faith. 
 
 Sight prevailed over the faith of Balaam ; a more 
 subtle, though not a rare temptation, overcame the 
 faith of Saul ; wilfulness, the unaccountable desire of 
 acting short of simple obedience to God's will, a 
 repugnance of unreserved self-surrender and sub- 
 mission to Him. This, it will at once be seen, was 
 one characteristic of the Jewish nation ; so that the 
 king was but a type of the people ; nor, indeed, was it 
 likely to be otherwise, born as he was in the original 
 sin of that very perverseness which led them to 
 
]52 WILFULNESS, THE SIN OF SAUL. [Sbrm. 
 
 choose a king, instead of God. It is scarcely neces- 
 sary to refer to the details of their history for in- 
 stances of a like wilfulness, — such as their leaving the 
 manna till the morning, their going out to gather it 
 on the seventh day, Nadab and Abihu's offering 
 strange fire, their obstinate transgression of the Se- 
 cond Commandment, their presumptuous determina- 
 tion to fight with the Canaanites, though Moses fore- 
 told their defeat, and, when possessed of the pro- 
 mised land, their putting under tribute the idolaters 
 whom they were bid exterminate. The same was the 
 sin of Jeroboam, who is almost by title the Apos- 
 tate ; when God had promised him the kingdom of 
 Israel, he refused to wait God's time, but impatiently 
 forced a crisis, which ought to have been left to Him 
 who promised it. On the other hand, Abraham and 
 David, with arms in their hands, waited upon Him 
 for the fulfilment of the temporal promise in His 
 good time. It is on this that the distinction turns, 
 so much insisted on in the Books of Kings, of serving 
 God with a "perfect," or not with a perfect, heart. 
 "Ahaz went to Djamascus to meet Tiglath-pileser,^ 
 King of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damas- 
 cus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the 
 fashion of the altar, . . . and Urijah . . . built an altar 
 according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Da- 
 mascus." Here was a wanton innovation on received 
 usages, which had been appointed by Almighty God. 
 The same evil temper is protested against in Heze- 
 kiah's proclamation to the remnant of the Israelites : 
 
VIII.] WILFULNESS, THE SIN OF SAUL. 153 
 
 "Be ye not like your fathers, and like your brethren, 
 which trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, 
 ■who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see. 
 Now be ye not stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but 
 yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into His 
 sanctuary." It is indirectly condemned, also, in the 
 precept given to the Israelites, before their final de- 
 liverance from Pharaoh. When they were on the 
 Red Sea shore, Moses said, " Fear ye not, stand still, 
 
 and see the salvation of the Lord The Lord 
 
 shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." 
 Again, in the Book of Psalms, " Be still, and know 
 that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen, 
 I will be exalted in the earth ;" the very trial of the 
 people consisting in their doing nothing out of their 
 place, but implicitly following when the Almighty 
 took the lead. 
 
 The trial and sin of the Israelites were continued 
 to the end of their history. They fell from their 
 election on Christ's coming, in consequence of this 
 very wilfulness ; refusing to receive the terms of the 
 New Covenant, as they were vouchsafed to them, 
 and attempting to incorporate them into their own 
 ceremonial system. " They being ignorant of God's 
 righteousness, and going about to establish their own 
 righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto 
 the righteousness of God." 
 
 Such was one distinguishing sin of the Israelites 
 as a nation ; and, as it proved the cause of their 
 rejection, so had it also, ages before, corrupted the 
 
154 WILFULNESS, THE SIN OF SAUL. [Serm. 
 
 faith, and forfeited the privileges, of their first king. 
 The signs of wilfulness run through his history 
 from first to last; but his formal trial took place 
 at two distinct times, and in both cases terminated 
 in his deliberate fall. Of these, the latter is more 
 directly to our purpose. When sent to inflict a 
 Divine judgment upon the Amalekites, he spared 
 those whom he was bid slay ; their king Agag, the 
 best of the sheep and cattle, and all that was good. 
 We are not concerned with the general state of 
 mind and opinion which led him to this particular 
 display of wilfulness. Much might be said of that 
 profaneuess, which, as in the case of Esau, was a dis- 
 tinguishing trait in his character. Indeed, we might 
 even conjecture that from the first he was an unbe- 
 liever in heart ; that is, that he did not recognize the 
 exclusive divinity of the Mosaic theology, compared 
 with those of the surrounding nations, and that he 
 had by this time learned to regard the pomp and 
 splendour of the neighbouring monarchies with an 
 interest which made him ashamed of the seeming 
 illiberality and the singularity of the institutions of 
 Israel. A perverse will easily collects together a 
 system of notions to justify itself in its obliquity. 
 The real state of the case was this, that he preferred 
 his own ways to that which God had determined. 
 When directed by the Divine Hand towards the 
 mark for which he was chosen, he started aside like 
 a broken bow. He obeyecJ, but with a reserve, yet 
 distinctly professing to Samuel that he had per- 
 
VIIL] WILFULNESS. THE SIN OF SAUL. 155 
 
 formed the commandment of the Lord, because the 
 sheep and cattle were reserved for a pious purpose, 
 a sacrifice to the Lord. The Prophet, in his reply, 
 explained the real moral character of this limited and 
 discretionary obedience, in words which are a warn- 
 ing to all who are within the hearing of Revealed 
 Religion to the end of time : " Hath the Lord as great 
 delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying 
 the voice of the Lord ? Behold, to obey is better 
 than sacrifice ; and to hearken, than the fat of rams. 
 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stub- 
 bornness is as iniquity and idolatry." 
 
 The moral of Saul's history is forced upon us by 
 the events which followed this deliberate offence. 
 By wilful resistance to God's will, he opened the 
 door to those evil passions which till then, at the 
 utmost, only served to make his character unamiable, 
 without stamping it with guilt. The reserve and 
 mysteriousness, which, when subordinate to such 
 magnanimity as he possessed, were even calculated 
 to increase his influence as a ruler, ended in an over- 
 throw of his mind, when they were allowed full scope 
 by the removal of true religious principle, and the 
 withdrawal of the Spirit of God. Derangement was 
 the consequence of disobedience. The wilfulness 
 which first resisted God next preyed upon himself, as a 
 natural principle of disorder; his moods and changes, 
 his compunctions and relapses, what were they but the 
 convulsions of the spirit, when the governing power 
 was lost ? At length the proud heart, which thought 
 
156 WILFULNESS, THE SIN OF SAUL. [Serm. 
 
 it much to obey its Maker, was humbled to seek 
 comfort in a witch's cavern; essaying, by means which 
 he had formerly denounced, to obtain advice from 
 that Prophet when dead, whom in his lifetime he 
 had dishonoured. 
 
 In contemplating this miserable termination of a 
 history which promised well in the beginning, it 
 should be observed, how clearly the failure of the 
 Divine purpose which takes place in it is attributable 
 to man. Almighty God chose an instrument adapted, 
 as far as external qualifications were concerned, to 
 fulfil His purpose; adapted in all those respects 
 which He reserved in His own hands, when He created 
 a free agent ; in character and gifts, in all respects 
 except in that in which all men are, on the whole, 
 on a level,— in will. No one could be selected in 
 talents or conduct more suitable for maintaining 
 political power at home than the reserved mysterious 
 monarch whom God gave to His people ; none more 
 suitable for striking terror into the surrounding 
 nations than a commander gifted with his coolness and 
 promptitude in action. But he fell from his election, 
 because of unbelief, — because he would take another 
 part, and not the very part which was actually as- 
 signed him in the decrees of the Most High. 
 
 And again, considering his character according to 
 the standard of moral excellence, here also it was one 
 not without great promise. It is from such stern ma- 
 terials that the highest and. noblest specimens of our 
 kind are formed. The pliant and amiable by nature. 
 
VIII.] WILFULNESS, THE SIN OF SAUL. 157 
 
 generally speaking, are not the subjects of great pur- 
 poses. They are hardly capable of extraordinary dis- 
 cipline ; they yield or they sink beneath the pressure 
 of those sanctifying processes which do but mature 
 the champions of holy Church. " Unstable as water, 
 thou shalt not excel," is a representation true in its 
 degree in the case of many, who nevertheless serve 
 God acceptably in their generation, and whose real 
 place in the ranks of the unseen world we have no 
 means of ascertaining. But those minds, which na- 
 turally most resemble the aboriginal chaos, contain 
 within them the elements of a marvellous creation 
 of light and beauty, if they but open their hearts to 
 the effectual power of the Holy Spirit. Pride and 
 suUenness, obstinacy and impetuosity, then become 
 transformed into the zeal, firmness, and high-minded- 
 ness of religious Faith. It depended on Saul himself 
 whether or not he became the rival of that exalted 
 saint, who, being once a fierce avenger of his brethren, 
 at length became "the meekest of men," yet not losing 
 thereby, but gaining moral strength and resoluteness. 
 Or again, a comparison of him in this respect 
 with the Apostle who originally bore his name, is not 
 perhaps so fanciful as it may appear at first sight. St. 
 Paul was distinguished by a furiousness and vindic- 
 tiveness, equally incongruous as Saul's pride with the 
 obedience of Faith. In the first persecution against 
 the Christians, he is described by the sacred writer 
 as ravening like a beast of prey. And he was ex- 
 posed to the temptation of a wilfulness similar to 
 
158 WILFULNESS, THE SIN OF SAUL. [Serm. 
 
 that of Saul — the wilfdlness of running counter to 
 God's purposes, and interfering in the course of Dis- 
 pensations which he should have humbly received. He 
 indeed was called miraculously, but scarcely more so 
 than Saul, who, when he least expected it, was called 
 by Samuel, and was, at his express prediction, sud- 
 denly filled by the Spirit of God, and made to pro- 
 phesy. But, while Saul profited not by the privilege 
 thus vouchsafed to him, St. Paul was " not disobedient 
 to the heavenly vision," and matured in his after-life 
 in those exalted qualities of mind which Saul for- 
 feited. Every attentive reader of his Epistles must 
 be struck with the frequency and force of the Apostle's 
 declarations concerning unreserved submission to the 
 Divine Will, or rather of his exulting confidence in 
 it. But the wretched king of Israel, what is his 
 ultimate state, but the most forlorn of which human 
 nature is capable? "How are the mighty fallen!" 
 was the lament over him of the loyal though injured 
 friend who succeeded to his power. He, who might 
 have been canonized in the catalogue of the eleventh 
 of Hebrews, is but the prototype of that vision of 
 obduracy and self-inflicted destitution, which none 
 but unbelieving poets of these latter ages have ever 
 thought worthy of aught but the condemnation and 
 abhorrence of mankind. 
 
 Two questions must be answered before we can 
 apply the lesson of Saul's history to our own circum- 
 stances. It is common to contrast Christianity with 
 Judaism, as if the latter were chiefly a system of 
 
VIII.] WILFULNESS, THE SIN OF SAUL. 159 
 
 positive commands, and the former addressed itself to 
 the Reason and natural Conscience ; and accordingly, 
 it will perhaps be questioned whether Christians can 
 be exposed to the temptation of wilfulness, that is, 
 disobedience to the external word of God, in any way 
 practically parallel to Saul's trial. And secondly, 
 granting it possible, the warning against wilfulness, 
 contained in his history and that of his nation, may 
 be met by the objection that the Jews were a pecu- 
 liarly carnal and gross-minded people, so that nothing 
 can be argued concerning our danger at this day, 
 from their being exposed and yielding to the temp- 
 tation of perversity and presumption. 
 
 1. But such an assumption evidences a great want 
 of fairness towards the ancient people of God, in those 
 who make it, and is evidently perilous in proportion 
 as it is proved to be unfounded. All men, not the 
 Jews only, have a strange propensity, such as Eve 
 evidenced in the beginning, to do what they are told 
 not to do. It is plainly visible in children, and in 
 the common people; and in them we are able to 
 judge what we all are, before education and habit lay 
 restraints upon us. Need we even do more than 
 appeal to the events of the past year, to the conduct 
 of the lower classes when under that fearful visitation, 
 from which we are now, as we trust, recovering, in 
 order to detect the workings of that innate spirit 
 of scepticism and obduracy which was the enemy of 
 Jewish faith? Of course, all places did not afford 
 the same evidence of it ; but on the whole there was 
 
160 WILFULNESS, THE SIN OF SAUL. [Serm. 
 
 enough for my present allusion to it. A suspicion 
 of the most benevolent exertions in their favour, a 
 jealousy of the interference of those who knew more 
 than themselves, a perverse rejection of their ser- 
 vices, and a counteraction of their plans and advice, 
 an unthankful credulity in receiving all the idle tales 
 told in disparagement of their knowledge and pru- 
 dence ; these were admonitions before our eyes, not 
 to trust those specious theories which are built on the 
 supposition, that the actual condition of the human 
 mind is better now than it was among the Jews. This 
 is not said without regard to the difference of guilt in 
 disobeying a Divine and a human command ; nor, 
 again, in complaint of the poorer classes, of whom 
 we are especially bound to be tender, and who are 
 not the worse merely because they are less disguised 
 in the expression of their feelings ; but as pointing 
 out for our own instruction the present existence of 
 a perversity in our common nature, like that which 
 appears in the history of Israel. Nor, perhaps, can 
 any one doubt, who examines himself, that he has 
 within him an unaccountable and instinctive feeling 
 to resist authority as such, which conscience or tbe 
 sense of interest is alone able to overcome. 
 
 Or, again, to take the case of young persons who 
 have not yet taken their place in the serious business 
 of life ; consider the false shame they feel at being 
 supposed to be obedient to God or man ; their en- 
 deavours to be more irreligious than they really can 
 be; their affected indifference to domestic feelino-s. 
 
VIIL] WILFULNESS, THE SIN OF SAUL. 161 
 
 and the sanctity and the authority of relationship; 
 their adoption of ridicule as an instrument of re- 
 taliation on the constraints of duty or necessity. 
 What does all this show us, but that our nature likes 
 its own way, not as thinking it better or safer, but 
 simply because it is its own ? In other words, that 
 the principle of Faith is resisted, not only by our 
 attachment to objects of sense and sight, but by an 
 innate rebellious principle, which disobeys as if for 
 the sake of disobedience. 
 
 2. Now if wilfulness be a characteristic of human 
 nature, it is idle to make any such distinction of 
 Dispensations, as will deprive us of the profitableness 
 of the history of Saul, which was the second question 
 just now raised concerning it. Under any circum- 
 stances it must be a duty to subdue that which is in 
 itself vicious ; and it is no excuse for wilfulness to say 
 that we are not under a positive system of commands, 
 such as the Mosaic, and that there is no room for 
 the sin in Christianity. Rather, it will be our duty to 
 regard ourselves in all our existing religious relations, 
 and not merely according to some abstract views of 
 the Gospel Covenant, and to apply the principles of 
 right and wrong, exemplified in the Jewish history, 
 to our changed circumstances on the whole. 
 
 But to speak plainly, it may be doubted whether 
 there be any such great difference between the Jewish 
 system and our own, in respect of positive institutions 
 and commandments. Revealed Religion, as such, is 
 of the nature of a positive rule, implying, as it does, 
 
 UNIV. S. M 
 
162 WILFULNESS, THE SIN OF SAUL. [Serm. 
 
 an addition, greater or less, to the religion of nature, 
 and the disclosure of facts, which are thus disclosed, 
 because otherwise not discoverable. Accordingly, 
 the difference between the state of Jews and Chris- 
 tians is one simply of degree. We have to practise 
 submission as they had, and we can run counter to 
 the will of God in the very same way as they did, 
 and under the same temptations which overcame 
 them. For instance, the reception of the Catholic 
 faith is a submission to a positive command, as really 
 as was that of the Israelites to the Second Command- 
 ment. And the belief in the necessity of such re- 
 ception, in order to salvation, is an additional instance 
 of submission. Adherence to the Canon of Scripture 
 is a further instance of this obedience of Faith ; and 
 St. John marks it as such in the words with which 
 the Canon itself closes, which contain an anathema 
 parallel to that which we use in the Creed. More- 
 over, the duty of Ecclesiastical Unity is clearly one 
 of positive institution ; it is a sort of ceremonial ob- 
 servance, and as such, is the tenure on which the 
 evangelical privileges are chartered to us. The Sa- 
 craments, too, are of the same positive character. 
 
 If these remarks be well founded, it is plain that 
 instead of our being very differently situated from 
 the Jews, all persons who are subjects of Revealed 
 Religion, coincide in differing from all who are left 
 under the Dispensation of Nature. Revelation puts 
 us on a trial which exists but obscurely in Natural 
 Religion ; the trial of obeying for obedience-sake, or 
 
VIII.] WILFULNESS, THE SIN OF SAUL. 163 
 
 on Faith. Deference to the law of Conscience, indeed, 
 is of the nature of Faith ; but it is easily perverted 
 into a kind of self-confidence, namely, a deference to 
 our own judgment. Here, then. Revelation provides 
 us with an important instrument for chastening and 
 moulding our moral character, over and above the 
 matter of its disclosures. Christians as well as Jews 
 must submit as little children. This being considered, 
 how strange are the notions of the present day con- 
 cerning the liberty and irresponsibility of the Chris- 
 tian ! If the Gospel be a message, as it is, it ever 
 must be more or less what the multitude of self-wise 
 reasoners declare it shall not be, — a law ; it must be 
 of the nature of what they call a form, and a bond- 
 age ; it must, in its degree, bring darkness, instead 
 of flattering them with the promise of immediate 
 illumination ; and must enlighten them only in pro- 
 portion as they first submit to be darkened. This, 
 then, if they knew their meaning, is the wish of the 
 so-called philosophical Christians, and men of no 
 party, of the present day ; namely, that they should 
 be rid altogether of the shackles of a revelation: 
 and to this assuredly their efforts are tending and will 
 tend, — to identify the Christian doctrine with their 
 own individual convictions, to sink its supernatural 
 character, and to constitute themselves the prophets, 
 not the recipients, of Divine Truth ; creeds and dis- 
 cipline being already in their minds severed from its 
 substance, and being gradually shaken oiF by them in 
 fact, as the circumstances of the times will allow. 
 
 m2 
 
164 WILFULNESS, THE SIN OF SAUL. [Skrm. 
 
 Letus, then, reflect that, whatever be the trial of 
 those who have not a revelation, the trial of those 
 who have is one of Faith in opposition to self-will. 
 Those very self-appointed ordinances which are praise- 
 worthy in a heathen, and the appropriate evidence of 
 his earnestness and piety, are inexcusable in those to 
 whom God has spoken. Things indifferent become 
 sins when they are forbidden, and duties when com- 
 manded. The emblems of the Deity might be in- 
 vented by Egyptian faith, but were adopted by Jewish 
 unbelief. The trial of Abraham, when called on to 
 kill his son, as of Saul when bid slay the AmalekiteSj 
 was the duty of quitting the ordinary rules which 
 He prescribes to our obedience, upon a positive com- 
 mandment distinctly conveyed to them by reve- 
 lation. 
 
 And so strong is this tendency of Revealed Re- 
 ligion to erect positive institutions and laws, that it 
 absorbs into its province even those temporal ordi- 
 nances which are, strictly speaking, exterior to it. It 
 gives to the laws of man the nature of a divine autho- 
 rity, and where they exist makes obedience to them 
 a duty. This is evident in the case of civil govern- 
 ment, the forms and officers of which, when once 
 established, are to be received for conscience-sake by 
 those who find themselves under them. The same 
 principle is applied in a more remarkable manner to 
 sanction customs originally indifferent, in the case of 
 the Rechabites; who were rewarded with a promise of 
 continuance as a family, on the ground of their obser- 
 
VIII.] WILFULNESS, THE SIN OF SAUL. 165 
 
 vance of certain discomforts and austerities, imposed 
 on them by the simple authority of an ancestor. 
 
 With these principles fresh in the memory, a num- 
 ber of reflections crowd upon the mind in surveying 
 the face of. society, as at present constituted. The 
 present open resistance to constituted power, and 
 (what is more to the purpose) the indulgent toleration 
 of it, the irreverence towards Antiquity, the unscru- 
 pulous and wanton ■violation of the commands and 
 usages of our forefathers, the undoing of their bene- 
 factions, the profanation of the Church, the bold 
 transgression of the duty of Ecclesiastical Unity, the 
 avowed disdain of what is called party religion, 
 (though Christ undeniably made a party the vehicle 
 of His doctrine, and did not cast it at random on the 
 world, as men would now have it,) the growing indif- 
 ference to the Catholic Creed, the sceptical objections 
 to portions of its doctrine, the arguings and discuss- 
 ings, and comparings and correctings and rejectings, 
 and all the train of presumptuous exercises, to which 
 its sacred articles are subjected, the numberless dis- 
 cordant criticisms on the Liturgy, which have shot 
 up on all sides of us ; the general irritable state of 
 mind, which is every where witnessed, and craving 
 for change in all things ; what do all these symptoms 
 show, but that the spirit of Saul still lives ?^-that 
 wilfulness, which is the antagonist principle to the 
 zeal of David, — the principle of cleaving and breaking 
 down all divine ordinances, instead of building up. 
 And with Saul's sin, Saul's portion awaits his fol- 
 
166 WILFULNESS, THE SIN OF SAUL, 
 
 lowers, — distraction, aberration ; the hiding of God's 
 countenance ; imbecility, rashness, and changeable- 
 ness in their counsels ; judicial blindness ; fear of the 
 multitude ; the persecution of good men and faithful 
 friends ; subserviency to their worst foes, the kings 
 of Amalek and the wizards of End or. So was it 
 with the Jews, who rejected their Messiah only to 
 follow impostors ; so is it with infidels, who become 
 the slaves of superstition; and such is ever the 
 righteous doom of those who trust their own wills 
 more than God's word, in one way or other to be 
 led eventually into a servile submission to usurped 
 authority. As the Apostle says of the Roman 
 Christians, they were but slaves of sin, while they 
 were emancipated from righteousness. " What fruit," 
 he asks, " had ye then in those things whereof ye 
 are now ashamed ?" ' 
 
 These remarks may at first sight seem irrelevant 
 in the case of those who, like ourselves, are bound 
 by affection and express promises to the cause of 
 Christ's Church ; yet it should be recollected that 
 very rarely have its members escaped the infection 
 of the age in which they lived : and there certainly is 
 the danger of our considering ourselves safe, merely 
 because we do not go as far as others, but pro- 
 test against the extreme principles or measures to 
 which they commit themselves. 
 
SERMON IX. 
 
 FAITH AND REASON, CONTRASTED AS HABITS OF 
 MIND. 
 
 Preached on the Epiphany, 1839. 
 
 Heb. xi. 1. 
 
 " Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the eviJenee of 
 things not seen." 
 
 The subject of Faith is one especially suggested to 
 our miuds by the event which we this day commemo- 
 rate, and the great act of grace of which it was the 
 first fruits. It was as on this day that the wise men 
 of the East were allowed to approach and adore the 
 infant Saviour, in anticipation of those Gentile mul- 
 titudes who, when the kingdom of God was preached, 
 were to take possession of it as if by violence, and to 
 extend it to the ends of the earth. To them Christ 
 was manifested as He is to us, and in the same way ; 
 not to the eyes of the flesh, but to the illuminated 
 mind, to their Faith. As the manifestation of God 
 accorded to the Jews was circumscribed, and addressed 
 to their senses, so that which is vouchsafed to Chris- 
 
168 FAITH AND REASON, [Serm. 
 
 tians is universal and spiritual. Whereas the gifts of 
 the Gospel are invisible, Faith is their proper re- 
 cipient ; and whereas its Church is Catholic, Faith is 
 its bond of intercommunion ; things external, local, 
 and sensible being no longer objects to dw^ell upon 
 on their own account, but merely means of conveying 
 onwards the divine gifts from the Giver to their 
 proper home, the heart itself. 
 
 As, then. Catholicity is this note, so an inward 
 manifestation is the privilege, and Faith the duty of 
 the Christian Church ; or, in the words of the Apostle, 
 " the Gentiles " receive " the promise of the Spirit 
 through Faith." 
 
 I shall "not, then, be stepping beyond the range of 
 subjects to which this great Festival draws our at- 
 tention, if I enter upon some inquiries into the na- 
 ture of that special Gospel grace, by which Jews and 
 Gentiles apprehend and enjoy the blessings which 
 Christ has purchased for them, and which accordingly 
 is spoken of in the Collect for the Festival, as the pecu- 
 liarity of our condition in this life, as Sight will be'in 
 the world to come. And in so doing, I shall be pur- 
 suing a subject, which is likely to be of main import- 
 ance in the controversies which lie before us at this 
 day, and upon which I am not speaking now for the 
 first time from this place'. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to prove from Scripture, the 
 especial dignity and influence of Faith, under the 
 Gospel Dispensation, as regards both our spiritual and 
 
 ' Vide Sermon III. 
 
IX.] CONTRASTED AS HABITS OF MIND. 169 
 
 moral condition. Whatever be the particular faiculty 
 or frame of mind denoted by the word, certainly Faith 
 is regarded in Scripture as the chosen instrument 
 connecting heaven and earth, as a novel principle of 
 action, most powerful in the influence which it exerts 
 both on the heart and on the Divine view of us, and 
 yet in itself of a nature to excite the contempt or 
 ridicule of the world. These characteristics, its ap- 
 parent weakness, its novelty, its special adoption, and 
 its efficacy, are noted in such passages as the follow- 
 ing : — " Have faith in God ; for verily I say unto you, 
 that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou 
 removed and be thou cast into the sea, and shall not 
 doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things 
 which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have what- 
 soever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, what 
 things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye 
 receive them, and ye shall have them." And again : 
 " If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him 
 that believeth." Again : " The , preaching of the 
 Cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us 
 which are saved it is the power of God. Where is 
 the wise ? where is the scribe ? where is the disputer 
 of this world ? For after that in the wisdom of God 
 the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God 
 by the foolishness of preaching to save them that 
 believe." Aga:in: "The word is nigh thee, even 
 in thy mouth and in thy heart, that is, the word of 
 faith which we preach. . . . Faith cometh by hearing. 
 
irO FAITH AND REASON, ' [Seum. 
 
 and hearing by the word of God." And again : " Yet 
 a little while, and He that shall come will come, and 
 will not tarry ; now the just shall live by faith." . . . 
 And then, soon after, the words of the text : " Now 
 faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evi- 
 dence of things not seen^" 
 
 Such is the great weapon which Christianity em- 
 ploys, whether viewed as a religious scheme, as a 
 social system, or as a moral rule ; and what it is de- 
 scribed in the • foregoing texts, it is also said to be 
 expressly or by implication in other passages too 
 numerous to cite. And I suppose that it will not 
 be denied, that the first impression made upon the 
 reader from all these is, that Faith is an instrument 
 of knowledge and action, unknown to the world be- 
 fore, a principle sui generis, distinct from those which 
 nature supplies, and in particular (which is the point 
 into which I mean to inquire) independent of what 
 is commonly understood by Reason. Certainly, if 
 after all that is said about Faith in the New Testa- 
 ment, as if it were what may be called a discovery 
 of the Gospel, and a special divine method of sal- 
 vation ; if, after all, it turns out merely to be a be- 
 lieving upon evidence, or a sort of conclusion upon 
 a process of reasoning, a resolve formed upon a cal- 
 culation, the inspired text is not level to the under- 
 standing, or adapted to the instruction, of the un- 
 
 " Mark xi. 22—24 ; ix. 23. 1 Cor. i. 18—21. Rom. x. 8. 17. 
 Heb. X. 37, 38. 
 
IX.] CONTRASTED AS HABITS OF MIND. 171 
 
 learned reader. If Faith be such a principle, how is 
 it novel and strange ? 
 
 Other considerations may be urged in support of 
 the same view of the case. For instance : Faith is 
 spoken of as having its life in a certain moral temper, 
 but argumentative exercises are not moral; Faith, 
 then, is not the same method of proof as Reason. 
 
 Again : Faith is said to be one of the supernatural 
 gifts imparted in the Gospel. "By grace have ye 
 been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, 
 it is the gift of God;" but investigation and proof 
 belong to man as man, prior to the Gospel ; there- 
 fore Faith is something higher than Reason. 
 
 Again : — That Faith is independent of processes of 
 Reason, seems plain from their respective subject- 
 matters. " Faith Cometh by hearing, and hearing by 
 the word of God." It simply accepts testimony. 
 As then testimony is distinct from experience, so is 
 Faith from Reason. 
 
 And again : — When the Apostles disparage " the 
 wisdom of this world," " disputings," " excellency of 
 speech," and the like, they seem to mean very much 
 what would now be called trains of argument, dis- 
 cussion, investigation, — that is, exercises of Reason. 
 
 Once more: — Various instances are given us in 
 Scripture of an acknowledgment of Christ and His 
 Apostles upon Faith, which would not be considered 
 by the world as a rational conviction upon evidence. 
 For instance : The lame man who sat at the Beauti- 
 ful gate was healed on his faith, after St. Peter had 
 
172 FAITH AND REASON, [Sekm. 
 
 but said, " Look on us." And that other lame man 
 at Lystra saw no miracle done by St. Paul, but only 
 heard him preach, when the Apostle, "stedfastly 
 beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to 
 be healed, said with a loud voice. Stand upright on 
 thy feet." Again, St. Paul at Athens did no mi- 
 racle, but preached, and yet " certain men clave unto 
 him and believed." To the same purpose are our 
 Lord's words, when St. John Baptist sent to Him 
 to ask if He were the Christ. He wrought miracles, 
 indeed, to re-assure him, but added, " Blessed is he 
 whosoever shall not be offended in Me." And when 
 St. Thomas doubted of His resurrection. He gave him 
 the sensible proof which he asked, but He added, 
 " Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have 
 believed." On another occasion He said, "Except 
 ye see signs ;a,nd wonders, ye will not believed" 
 
 On the other hand, however, it may be urged, that 
 it is plainly impossible that Faith should be indepen- 
 dent of Reason, and a new mode of arriving at truth ; 
 that the Gospel does not alter the constitution of our 
 nature, and. does but elevate it and add to it; that 
 Sight is our initial, and Reason is our ultimate in- 
 formant concerning allknowledge. We are conscious 
 that we see; we have an instinctive reliance on our 
 Reason : how can the claims of a professed Revela- 
 tion be .brought home to us as Divine, except through 
 these? Faith, then, must necessarily be resolvable 
 
 ' Actsiii. 4; xiv. 9, 10; xvii. 34. Matt. xi. 6. John xx. 29. 
 Ib.iv.48. 
 
IX.] CONTRASTED AS HABITS OF MIND. 173 
 
 at last into Sight and Reason ; unless, indeed, we 
 agree with enthusiasts in thinking that faculties alto- 
 gether new are implanted in our minds, and that per- 
 ceptibly, by the grace of the Gospel ; faculties which, 
 of course, are known to those who have them with- 
 out proof; and, to those who have them not, cannot 
 be made known by any. Scripture confirms this re- 
 presentation, as often as the Apostles appeal to their 
 miracles, or to the Old Testament. This is an appeal 
 to Reason ; and what is recorded, in some insta»nces, 
 was, probably or certainly (as it is presumed from the 
 necessity of the case) made in the rest, even where 
 not recorded. 
 
 Such is the question which presents itself to rea- 
 ders of Scripture, as to the relation of Faith to 
 Reason : and it is usual at this day to settle it in 
 disparagement of Faith, — to say that Faith is but a 
 moral quality, dependent upon Reason, — that Reason 
 judges both of the evidence on which Scripture is to 
 be received, and of the meaning of Scripture; and 
 then that Faith follows or not, according to the state 
 of the heart ; that we make up our minds by Rea- 
 son without Faith, and then we proceed to adore 
 and to obey by Faith apart from Reason ; that, 
 though Faith rests on testimony, not on reasonings, 
 yet that testimony, in its turn, depends on Reason 
 for the proof of its pretensions, so that Reason is an 
 indispensable preliminary. 
 
 ]. Now, in attempting to investigate what are 
 the distinct offices of Faith and Reason in religious 
 
174 FAITH AND REASON, [Serm. 
 
 matters, aiid the relation of the one to the other, 
 I observe, first, that undeniable though it be, that 
 Reason has a power of analysis and criticism in all 
 opinion and conduct, and that nothing is true or 
 right but what may be justified, and, in a certain 
 sense, proved by it, and undeniable, in consequence, 
 that, unless the doctrines received by Faith are 
 approvable by Reason, they have no claim to be 
 regarded as true, it does not therefore follow that 
 Faith is actually grounded on Reason in the believ- 
 ing mind itself; unless indeed, to take a parallel 
 case, a judge can be called the origin, as well as the 
 justifier, of the innocence or truth of those who are 
 brought before him. A judge does not make men 
 honest, but acquits and vindicates them : in like 
 manner Reason need not be the origin of Faith, as 
 Faith exists in the very persons believing, though it 
 does test and verify it. This, then, is one confusion, 
 which must be cleared up in the question, — the 
 assumption that Reason must be the inward principle 
 of action in religious inquiries or conduct in the case 
 of this or that individual, because, like a spectator, it 
 acknowledges and concurs in what goes on ; — the mis- 
 take of a critical for a creative power. 
 
 This distinction we cannot fail to recognize as true 
 in itself, and applicable to the matter in hand. It is 
 what we all admit at once as regards the principle of 
 Conscience. No one will say that Conscience is 
 against Reason, or that its dictates cannot be thrown 
 into an argumentative form ; yet who will, therefore. 
 
IX.] CONTRASTED AS HABITS OF MIND. 175 
 
 maintain, that it is not an original principle, but must 
 depend, before it acts, upon some previous processes 
 of Reason ? Reason analyzes the grounds and mo- 
 tives of action : a reason is an analysis, but is not the 
 motive itself. As, then. Conscience is a simple ele- 
 ment in our nature, yet its operations admit of being 
 surveyed and scrutinized by Reason ; so may Faith 
 be cognizable, and its acts be justified, by Reason, 
 vpithout therefore being, in matter of fact, dependent 
 upon it ; and as we reprobate, under the name of 
 Utilitarianism, the substitution of Reason for Con- 
 science, so perchance it is a parallel error to teach 
 that a process of Reason is the sine qua non for true 
 religious Faith. When the Gospel is said to require 
 a rational Faith, this need not mean more than that 
 Faith is accordant to right Reason in the abstract, not 
 that it results from it in the particular case. 
 
 A parallel and familiar instance is presented by the 
 generally-acknowledged contrast between poetical or 
 similar powers, and the art of criticism. That art is 
 the soveireign awarder of praise and blame, and con- 
 stitutes a court of appeal in matters of taste ; as then 
 the critic ascertains what he cannot himself create, so 
 Reason may put its sanction upon the acts of Faith, 
 without in consequence being the source from which 
 Faith springs. 
 
 On the other hand. Faith certainly does seem, in 
 matter of fact, to exist and operate quite indepen- 
 dently of Reason. Will any one say that a child or 
 uneducated person may not savingly act on Faith, 
 
176 FAITH AND REASON, [Serm. 
 
 without being able to produce reasons why he so 
 acts ? What suflBcient view has he of the Evidences 
 of Christianity ? What logical proof of its divinity ? 
 If he has none. Faith, viewed as a habit of the mind, 
 does not depend upon inquiry and examination, but 
 has its own special basis, whatever that is, as truly as 
 Conscience has. We see, then, that Reason may be 
 the judge, without being the origin, of Faith ; and 
 that Faith may be justified by Reason, without mak- 
 ing use of it. This is what it occurs to mention at 
 first sight. 
 
 2. Next, I observe, that whatever be the real 
 distinction and relation existing between Faith and 
 Reason, which it is not to our purpose at once to de- 
 termine, the contrast that would be made between 
 them, on a popular view, is this, — that Reason re- 
 quires strong evidence before it assents, and Faith is 
 content with weaker evidence. 
 
 For instance: when a well-known infidel of the 
 last century argues, that the divinity of Christianity 
 is founded on the testimonyof the Apostles, in oppo- 
 sition to the experience of nature, and that the laws 
 of nature are uniform, those of testimony variable, 
 and sco^ngly adds that Christianity is founded on 
 Faith i^ot on Reason, what is this but saying that 
 Reason is severer in its demands of evidence than 
 Faith? 
 
 Again, the founder of the recent Utilitarian School 
 insists that all evidence for nliracles, before it can be 
 received, should be brought into a court of law, and 
 
IX.] CONTRASTED AS HABITS OF MIND. 177 
 
 subjected to its searching forms : — this too is to imply 
 that Reason demands exact proofs, but that Faith 
 accepts inaccurate ones. 
 
 The same thing is implied in the notion, which 
 men of the world entertain, that Faith is but credu- 
 lity, superstition, or fanaticism ; these principles 
 being notoriously such as are contented with in- 
 sufficient evidence concerning their objects. On the 
 other hand, scepticism, which shows itself in a dis- 
 satisfaction with evidence of whatever kind, is often 
 called by the name of Reason. What Faith, then, 
 and Reason are, when compared together, may be 
 determined from their counterfeits,— from the mutual 
 relation of credulity and scepticism, which no one 
 can doubt about. 
 
 In like manner, when mathematics are said to 
 incline the mind towards doubt and • latitudi- 
 narianism, this arises, according to the statement of 
 one* who felt this influence of the study, from its 
 indisposing us for arguments drawn from mere pro- 
 babilities. 
 
 Or, to take particular instances : — When the proof 
 of Infant Baptism is rested by its defenders on such 
 texts as, " Suffer little children to come unto Me V 
 a man of a reasoning turn will object to such an 
 argument as not sufficient to prove the point in 
 hand ; he will say that it does not follow that infants 
 ought to be baptized, because they ought to be 
 
 * Bishop Watson. * Matt. xix. 14. 
 
 UNIV. S. N 
 
178 FAITH AND REASON, [Sebm. 
 
 brought and dedicated to Christ ; and that he waits 
 for more decisive evidence. 
 
 Again, when the religious observance of a Christian 
 Sabbath is defended from the Apostles' observance 
 of it, it may be captiously argued that, considering St. 
 Paul's express declaration, that the Sabbath, as such, 
 is abolished, a mere practice, which happens to be 
 recorded in the Acts, and which, for what we know, 
 was temporary and accidental, cannot restore what 
 was once done away, and introduce a Jewish rite 
 into the Gospel. Religious persons, who cannot an- 
 swer this objection, are often tempted to impute it 
 to "man's wisdom," "the logic of the schools," 
 " the pride of reason," and the like, and to insist on 
 the necessity of the teachable study of Scripture as 
 the means of overcoming it. We are not concerned 
 to defend the language they use ; but it is plaiii 
 that they corroborate what has been laid down, as 
 implying that Reason requires more evidence for 
 conviction than Faith. 
 
 When, then. Reason and Faith are contrasted to- 
 gether. Faith means easiness, Reason difficulty of con- 
 viction. Reason is called either strong sense or scep- 
 ticism, according to the bias of the speaker ; and 
 Faith, either teachableness or credulity. 
 
 3. The next question, beyond which I shall not 
 proceed to-day, is this : — If this be so, how is it con- 
 formable to Reason to accept evidence less than Rea- 
 son requires ? If Faith be what has been described, 
 it opposes itself to Reason, as being satisfied with the 
 
IX.] CONTRASTED AS HABITS OF MIND. 179 
 
 less where Reason demands the more. If, then, 
 Reason be the healthy action of the mind, then Faith 
 must be its weakness. The answer to this question 
 will advance us one step further in our investigation 
 into the relation existing between Faith and Reason. 
 
 Faith, then, I have said, does not demand evi- 
 dence so strong as is necessary for what is com- 
 monly considered a rational conviction, or belief 
 on the ground of Reason ; and why ? For this 
 reason, because it is mainly swayed by antecedent 
 considerations. In this way it is, that the two prin- 
 ciples are opposed to one another: Faith is influ- 
 enced by previous notices, prepossessions, and (in a 
 good sense of the word) prejudices ; but Reason, by 
 direct and definite proof. The mind that believes is 
 acted upon by its own hopes, fears, and existing 
 opinions ; whereas it is supposed to reason severely, 
 when it rejects antecedent proof of a fact, — rejects 
 everything but the actual evidence producible in its 
 favour. This will appear from a very few words. 
 
 Faith is a principle of action, and action does not 
 allow time for minute and finished investigations. 
 We may (if we will) think that such investigations 
 are of high value ; though, in truth, they have a ten- 
 dency to blunt the practical energy of the mind, 
 while they improve its scientific exactness ; but, 
 whatever be their character and consequences, they 
 are impracticable in action. Diligent collection of 
 evidence, sifting of arguments, and balancing of 
 rival testimonies, may be suited to persons who have 
 
 N 2 
 
180 FAITH AND REASON, [Serm. 
 
 leisure and opportunity to act when and how they 
 will ; they are not suited to the multitude. Faith, 
 then, as being a principle for the multitude and for 
 conduct, is influenced more by what (in language 
 familiar to us of this place) are called eiKora than by 
 arifiiia, — less by evidence, more by previously-enter- 
 tained principles, views, and wishes. 
 
 This is the case with all Faith, and not merely 
 religious. We hear a report in the streets, or read 
 it in the public journals. We know nothing of the 
 evidence ; we do not know the witnesses, or any- 
 thing about them : yet sometimes we believe impli- 
 citly, sometimes not ; sometimes we believe without 
 asking for evidence, sometimes we disbelieve till we 
 receive it. Did a rumour circulate of a destructive 
 earthquake in Syria or the south of Europe, we 
 should readily credit it ; both because it might easily 
 be true, and because it was nothing to us though it 
 were. Did the report relate to countries nearer 
 home, we should try to trace and authenticate it. 
 We do not call for evidence till antecedent proba- 
 bilities fail. 
 
 Again, it ig scarcely necessary to point out how 
 much our inclinations have to do with our belief. It 
 is almost a proverb, that persons believe what they 
 wish to be true. They will with difficulty admit the 
 failure of any cherished project, or listen to a mes- 
 senger of ill tidings. It may be objected, indeed, 
 that great desire of an object sometimes makes us 
 incredulous that we have attained it. Certainly; 
 
IX.] CONTRASTED AS HABITS OF MIND. 181 
 
 but this is only when we consider its attainment 
 improbable, as well as desirable. Thus St. Thomas 
 doubted of the Resurrection ; and thus Jacob, espe- 
 cially as having already been deceived by his children, 
 believed not the news of Joseph's being governor 
 of Egypt. "Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed 
 them not . . . but when he saw the waggons which 
 Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob 
 their father revived." 
 
 The case is the same as regards preconceived 
 opinions. Men readily believe reports unfavourable 
 to persons they dislike, or confirmations of theories ■ 
 of their own. " Trifles light as air" are all that the- 
 predisposed mind requires for belief and action. 
 
 Such are the inducements to belief which prevail 
 with all of us, by a law of our nature, and whether 
 they are in the particular case reasonable or not. 
 When the probabilities we assume do not really exist, 
 or our wishes are inordinate, or our opinions are 
 wrong, our Faith degenerates into weakness, extrava- 
 gance, superstition, enthusiasm, bigotry, prejudice, as 
 the case may be; but when our prepossessions are 
 unexceptionable, then we are right in believing or 
 not believing, not indeed without, but upon slender 
 evidence. 
 
 Whereas Reason then (as the word is commonly 
 used) rests on the evidence, Faith is influenced by 
 presumptions ; and hence, while Reason requires rigid 
 proofs. Faith is satisfied with vague or defective 
 ones. 
 
182 FAITH AND REASON, [Sbrm. 
 
 4. It will serve to bring out this doctrine into 
 a more tangible form, to set down some inferences 
 and reflections to which it leads, themselves not 
 unimportant. 
 
 (1.) First, then, I would draw attention to the co- 
 incidence, for such it would seem to be, of what has 
 been said, with St. Paul's definition of Faith in the 
 text. He might have defined it "reliance on the 
 word of another," or " acceptance of a divine liiessage," 
 or " submission of the intellect to mysteries," or in 
 other ways equally true and more theological ; but 
 instead of such accounts of it, he adopts a definition 
 bearing upon its nature, and singularly justifying the 
 view which has been here taken of it. " Faith," he says, 
 " is the substance" or realizing " of things hoped for." 
 It is the reckoning that to be, which it hopes or 
 wishes to be ; not " the realizing of things proved by 
 evidence." Its desire is its main evidence ; or, as the 
 Apostle expressly goes on to say, it • makes its own 
 evidence, "being the evidence of things not seen." 
 And this is the cause, as is natural, why Faith seems 
 to the world so irrational, as St. Paul says in other 
 Epistles. Not that it has no grounds in Reason, 
 that is, in evidence ; but because it is satisfied with 
 so much less than would be necessary, were it not for 
 the bias of the mind, that to the world its evidence 
 seems like nothing. 
 
 (2.) Next it is plain in what sense Faith is a moral 
 principle. It is created in the mind, not so much 
 by facts, as by probabilities ; and since probabilities 
 
IX.] CONTRASTED AS HABITS OF MIND. 183 
 
 have no definite ascertained value, and are reducible 
 to no scientific standard, what are such to each indi- 
 vidual, depends on his moral temperament. A good 
 and a bad man will think very different things prob- 
 able. In the judgment of a rightly disposed mind, 
 objects are desirable and attainable, which irreligious 
 men will consider to be but fancies. Such a correct 
 moral judgment and view of things, is the very me- 
 dium in which the argument for Christianity has its 
 constraining influence ; a faint proof under circum- 
 stances being more availing than a strong one, apart 
 from those circumstances. This holds good as regards 
 the matter as well as the evidence of the Gospel. It 
 is difficult to say where the evidence, whether for 
 Scripture or the Creed, would be found, if it were 
 deprived of those adventitious illustrations which ^ 
 it extracts and absorbs from the mind of the in- 
 quirer, and which a merciful Providence places there 
 for that very purpose. Texts have their illuminating 
 power, from the atmosphere of habit, opinion, usage, 
 tradition, through which we see them. On the 
 other hand, irreligious men are adequate judges of the 
 value of mere evidence, when the decision turns upon 
 it ; for evidence is addressed to the Reason, compels 
 the Reason to assent so far as it is strong, and allows 
 the Reason to doubt or disbelieve so far as it is weak. 
 The blood on Joseph's coat of many colours was as 
 perceptible to enemy as to friend; miracles appeal 
 to the senses of all men, good and bad ; and while 
 
184 FAITH AND REASON, [Serm. 
 
 their supernatural character is learned from that 
 experience of nature which is common to the just 
 and to the unjust, the fact of their occurrence de- 
 pends on considerations about testimony, enthusiasm, 
 imposture, and the like, in which there is nothing in- 
 ward, nothing personal. It is a sort of proof which , 
 a man does not make for himself, but which is made 
 for him. It exists independently of him, and is ap- 
 prehended from its own clear and objective character. 
 It is its very boast that it does but require a candid 
 hearing ; nay, it especially addresses itself to the un- 
 believer, and engages to convert him as if against his 
 will. There is no room for choice ; there is no merit, 
 no praise or blame, in believing or disbelieving ; no 
 test of character in the one or the other. But a man 
 is responsible for his faith, because he is responsible 
 for his likings and dislikings, his hopes and his opinions, 
 on all of which his faith depends. And whereas un- 
 believers do not see this distinction, they persist in 
 saying that a man is as little responsible for his faith 
 as for his bodily functions; that both are from 
 nature; that the will cannot make a weak proof a 
 strong one ; that if a person thinks a certain reason 
 goes only a certain way, he is dishonest in attempting 
 to make it go farther ; that if he is after all wrong 
 in his judgment, lit is only -his misfortune, not his 
 fault ; /that he is acted on by certain principles from 
 without, and must obey the laws of evidence, which 
 are necessary and constant. But in truth, though 
 
IX.] CONTRASTED AS HABITS OF MIND. 185 
 
 a given evidence does not vary in force, the ante- 
 cedent probability attending it does vary indefinitely, 
 according to the temper of the mind surveying it. 
 
 (3.) Again : it is plain from what has been said, why 
 our great divines, Bull and Taylor, not to mention 
 others, have maintained that justifying faith is fides 
 formata charitate, or in St. Paul's words, mang St' 
 a-yaffjjc ivtpyovfisvri. For as Faith, which is not moral, 
 but depends upon evidence, is fides formata ratione, — 
 dead Faith which an infidel may have ; so that which 
 justifies or is acceptable in God's sight, lives in and 
 from a desire after those things which it accepts and 
 confesses. 
 
 (4.) And here, again, we see what is meant by saying 
 that Faith is a supernatural principle. The laws of 
 evideiice are the same in regard to the Gospel as to 
 profane matters. If they were the sole arbiters of 
 Faith, of course Faith could have nothing supernatural 
 in it. But love of the great Object of Faith, watch- 
 ful attention to Him, readiness to believe Him near, 
 easiness to believe Him interposing in human affairs, 
 fear of the risk of slighting or missing what may 
 really come from Him ; these are feelings not natural 
 to fallen man, and they come only of supernatural 
 grace ; and these are the feelings which make us think 
 evidence sufficient, which falls short of a proof in itself. 
 The natural man has no heart for the promises of the 
 Gospel, and dissects its evidence without reverence, 
 without hope, without suspense, without misgivings ; 
 and, while he analyzes it perhaps more philosophi- 
 
186 FAITH AND REASON, [Sbrm. 
 
 cally than another, and treats it more luminously, and 
 sums up its result with the precision and propriety 
 of a legal tribunal, he rests in it as an end, and 
 neither attains the further truths at which it points, 
 nor inhales the spirit which it breathes. 
 
 (5.) And this remark bears upon a fact which has 
 sometimes perplexed Christians, — ^that those philoso- 
 phers ^ ancient and modern, who have been eminent 
 in physical science, have not unfrequently shown a 
 tendency to infidelity. The system of physical causes 
 is so much more tangible and satisfying than that of 
 final, that unless there be a pre-existent and inde- 
 pendent interest in the inquirer's mind, leading him 
 to dwell on the phenomena which betoken an Intelli- 
 gent Creator, he will certainly follow out those which 
 terminate in the hypothesis of a settled order of 
 nature and self-sustained laws. It is indeed a great 
 question whether atheism is not as philosophically 
 consistent with the phenomena of the physical world, 
 taken by themselves, as the doctrine of a creative 
 and governing Power. But, however this be, the 
 practical safeguard against atheism in the case of 
 scientific inquirers is the inward need and desire, the 
 inward experience, of that Power, existing in the 
 mind antecedent and independent of their exami- 
 nation of His material world. 
 
 (6.) And in this lies the main fallacy of the cele- 
 brated argument against miracles already alluded to, 
 of a Scotch philosopher, whose depth and subtlety 
 
 ° Vide Bacon, de Augm. Scient. § 5. 
 
IX.J CONTRASTED AS HABITS OF MIND. 187 
 
 all must acknowledge. Let us grant (at least for 
 argument's sake) that judging from the experience 
 of life, it is more likely that witnesses should deceive, 
 than that the laws of nature should be suspended. 
 Still there may be considerations distinct from this 
 view of the question which turn the main probability 
 the other way, — viz. the likelihood, a priori, that a 
 revelation should be given. Here, then, we see how 
 Faith is and is not according to Reason ; taken to- 
 gether with the antecedent probability that Provi- 
 dence will reveal Himself to mankind, such evidence 
 of the fact, as is otherwise deficient, may be enough 
 for conviction, even in the judgment of Reason. But 
 it need not be enough apart from that probability. 
 That is. Reason, weighing evidence only, or arguing 
 from external experience, is counter to Faith ; but, 
 admitting the full influence of the moral feelings, it 
 concurs with it. 
 
 Hence it would seem as though Paley had hardly 
 asked enough in the Introduction to his work on the 
 Evidences, when he says of the doctrine of a future 
 state and of a revelation relating to it, " that it is not 
 necessary for our purpose that these propositions be 
 capable of proof, or even that, by arguments drawn 
 from the light of nature, they can be made out to be 
 probable ; it is enough that we are able to say con- 
 cerning them, that they are not so violently impro- 
 bable," that the propositions or the facts connected 
 with them ought to be rejected at first sight. This 
 acute and ingenious writer here asks leave to do only 
 
188 FAITH AND REASON, [Serm. 
 
 what the Utilitarian writer mentioned in a former 
 place demands should be done, namely, to bring his 
 case (as it were) into court ; as if trusting to the 
 strength of his evidence, dispensing with moral and 
 religious considerations on one side or the other, and 
 arguing from the mere phenomena of the human 
 mind, the inducements, motives, and habits, accord- 
 ing to which man acts. I will not say more of such 
 a procedure than that it seems to me dangerous. As 
 miracles, according to the common saying, are not 
 wrought to convince Atheists, and, when they claim 
 to be evidence of a revelation, presuppose the being 
 of an Intelligent Agent to whom they may be re- 
 ferred, so Evidences in general are grounded on the 
 admission that the doctrine they are brought to prove 
 is,, not merely not inconsistent, but actually accord- 
 ant with the laws of His moral governance. Miracles, 
 though they contravene the physical laws of the 
 universe, tend to the due fulfilment of its moral 
 laws. And in matter of fact, when they were wrought, 
 they addressed persons who were already believers, not 
 in the mere probability, but even in the truth of super-, 
 natural revelations. This appears from the preaching 
 of our Lord and His Apostles, who are accustomed to 
 appeal to the religious feelings of their hearers ; and 
 who, though they might fail with the many, did. thus 
 persuade those who were persuaded — not, indeed, the 
 sophists of Athens or the politicians of Rome, yet 
 men of very different states of mind one with ano- 
 ther, the pious, the superstitious, and the dissolute, 
 
IX.] CONTRASTED AS HABITS OF MIND. 189 
 
 different, indeed, but all agreeing in this, in the ac- 
 knowledgment of truths beyond this world, whether 
 or not their knowledge was clear, or their lives con- 
 sistent, — the devout Jew, the proselyte of the gate, 
 the untaught fisherman, the outcast Publican, and 
 the pagan idolater. 
 
 (7.) And last of all, we here see what divines mean, 
 who have been led to depreciate what are called the 
 Evidences of Religion. The last century, a time 
 when love was cold, is noted as being especially the 
 Age of Evidences ; and now, when more devout and 
 zealous feelings have been excited, there is, I need 
 scarcely say, a disposition manifested in various quar- 
 ters to think lightly, as of the eighteenth century, 
 so of its boasted demonstrations. I have not here to 
 make any formal comparison of the last century with 
 the present, or to say whether they are nearer the 
 truth, who in these matters advance with the present 
 age, or who loiter behind with the preceding. I will 
 only state what seems to me meant M'hen persons 
 disparage the Evidences, — viz. they consider that, as 
 a general rule, religious minds embrace the Gospel 
 mainly on the great antecedent probability of a reve- 
 lation, and the suitableness of the Gospel to their 
 needs ; on the other hand, that on men of irreligious 
 minds Evidences are thrown away. Further, they 
 perhaps would say, that to insist much on matters 
 which are for the most part so useless for any prac- 
 tical purpose, draws men away from the true view of 
 Christianity, and leads them to think that Faith is 
 
190 FAITH AND REASON, [Seem. 
 
 mainly the result of argument, that religious Truth 
 is a legitimate matter of disputation, and that they 
 who reject it rather err in judgment than commit sin. 
 They think they see in the study in question a ten- 
 dency to betray the sacredness and dignity of Reli- 
 gion, when those who profess themselves its cham- 
 pions allow themselves to stand on the same ground 
 as philosophers of the world, admit the same prin- 
 ciples, and only aim at drawing different conclusions. 
 For is not this the error, the common and fatal error, 
 of the world, to think itself a judge of Religious Truth 
 without preparation of heart? "I am the good 
 Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of 
 Mine." " He goeth before them, and the sheep follow 
 Him, for they know His voice." "The pure in heart 
 see God:" "to the meek mysteries are revealed;" 
 " he that is spiritual judgeth all things." " The dark- 
 ness comprehendeth it not." Gross eyes see not; 
 heavy ears hear not. But in the schools of the world 
 the ways towards Truth are considered high roads open 
 to all men, however disposed, at all times. Truth is 
 to be approached without homage. Every one is con- 
 sidered on a level with his neighbour ; or rather the 
 powers of the intellect, acuteness, sagacity, subtlety, 
 and depth, are thought the guides into Truth. Men 
 consider that they have as full a right to discuss re- 
 ligious subjects, as if they were themselves religious. 
 They will enter upon the most sacred points of Faith 
 at the moment, at their pleasure, — if it so happen, in 
 a careless frame of mind, in their hours of recre- 
 1 
 
IX.] CONTRASTED AS HABITS OF MIND. 191 
 
 ation, over the wine cup. Is it wonderful that they 
 so frequently end in becoming Indifferentists, and 
 conclude that Religious Truth is but a name, that all 
 men are right and all wrong, from witnessing exter- 
 nally the multitude of sects and parties, and from the 
 clear consciousness they possess within that their own' 
 inquiries end in darkness ? 
 
 Yet, serious as these dangers may be, it does not 
 therefore follow that the Evidences may not be of 
 great service to persons in particular frames of mind. 
 Careless persons may be startled by them as they 
 might be startled by a miracle, which is no necessary 
 condition of believing, notwithstanding. Again, they 
 often serve as a test of honesty of mind ; their 
 rejection being the condemnation of unbelievers. 
 Again, religious persons sometimes get perplexed and 
 lose their way ; are harassed by objections ; see diffi- 
 culties which they cannot surmount ; are a prey to 
 subtlety of mind or over-anxiety. Under these cir- 
 cumstances the varied proofs of Christianity will be 
 a stay, a refuge, an encouragement, a rallying point 
 for Faith, a gracious economy ; and even in the case 
 of the most established Christian are they a source 
 of gratitude and reverent admiration, and a means of 
 confirming faith and hope. Nothing need be de- 
 tracted from the use of the Evidences on this score ; 
 much less can any sober mind run into the wild 
 notion that actually no proof at all is implied in the 
 maintenance, or may be exacted for the profession of 
 Christianity. I would only maintain that that proof 
 
192 FAITH AND REASON, [Serm. 
 
 need not be the subject of analysis, or take a me- 
 thodical form, or be complete and symmetrical, in 
 the believing mind as such ; and that probability is 
 its life. I do but say that it is antecedent probability 
 that gives meaning to those arguments from facts 
 which are commonly called the Evidences of Reve- 
 lation; that, whereas mere probability proves nothing, 
 mere facts persuade no one ; that probability is to 
 fact, as the soul to the body; that mere presumptions 
 may have no force, but that mere facts have no 
 warmth. A mutilated and defective evidence suffices 
 for persuasion where the heart is alive; but dead evi- 
 dences, however perfect, can but create a dead faith. 
 
 To conclude: It will be observed, I have not yet said 
 what Reason really is, or what is its relation to Faith, 
 but have merely contrasted the two together, taking 
 Reason in the sense popularly ascribed to the word. 
 Nor do I aim at more than ascertaining the sense 
 in which the words Faith and Reason are used by 
 Christian and Catholic writers. If I shall succeed in 
 this, I shall be content, without attempting to defend 
 it. Half the controversies in the world are verbal 
 ones ; and, could they be brought to a plain issue, 
 they would be brought to a prompt termination. 
 Parties engaged in them would then perceive, either 
 that in substance they agreed together, or that their 
 difference was one of first principles. This is the 
 great object to be aimed at in the present age, though 
 confessedly a very arduous one. We need not dis- 
 
IX.] CONTRASTED AS HABITS OF MIND. 193 
 
 pute, we need not prove, — we need but define. At 
 all events, let us, if we can, do this first of all ; and 
 then see who are left for us to dispute with, what 
 is left for us to prove. Controversy, at least in this 
 age, does not lie between the hosts of heaven, Michael 
 and his Angels, on the one side, and the powers of 
 evil on the other; but it is a sort of night battle, 
 where each fights for himself, and friend and foe stand 
 together. When men understand what each other 
 mean, they see, for the most part, that controversy 
 is either superfluous or hopeless. 
 
 UNIV. s. 
 
SERMON X. 
 
 THE NATURE OF FAITH IN RELATION TO REASON. 
 Preached January 13, 1839. 
 
 1 CoE. i. 27. 
 
 " God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the 
 ■wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to 
 confound the things which are mighty." 
 
 It is usual at this day to speak as if Faith were 
 simply of a moral nature, and depended and followed 
 upon a distinct act of Reason beforehand, — Reason 
 warranting, on the ground of evidence, both ample 
 and carefully examined, that the Gospel comes from 
 God, and then Faith embracing it: on the other 
 hand, the more Scriptural representation seems to be 
 this, which is obviously more agreeable to, facts also, 
 that, instead of there being really any such united 
 process of reasoning first, and then believing, the act 
 of Faith is sole and elementary, and complete in 
 itself, and depends on no process of mind previous to 
 it: and this doctrine is borne out by the common 
 opinion of men, who, though they contrast Faith and 
 
THE NATURE OF FAITH, &c. 195 
 
 Reason, yet rather consider Faith to be weak Reason, 
 than a moral quality or act following upon Reason. 
 The Word of Life is offered to a man ; and, on its 
 being offered, he has Faith in it. Why ? On these two 
 grounds, — the word of its human messenger, and the 
 likelihood of the message. And why does he feel 
 the message to be probable ? Because he has a love 
 for it, his love being strong, though the testimony is 
 weak. He has a keen sense of the intrinsic excellence 
 of the message, of its desirableness, of its likeness to 
 what it seems to him Divine Goodness would vouch- 
 safe did He vouchsafe any, of the need of a Reve- 
 lation, and its probability. Thus Faith is the reason- 
 ing of a religious mind, or of what Scripture calls a 
 right or renewed heart, which acts upon presumptions 
 rather than evidence, which speculates and ventures 
 on the future when it cannot make sure of it. 
 
 Thus, to take the instance of St. Paul preaching at 
 Athens : he told his hearers that he came as a mes- 
 senger from that God whom they worshipped already, 
 though ignorantly, and of whom their poets spoke. 
 He appealed to the conviction that was lodged within 
 them of the spiritual nature and the unity of God ; 
 and he exhorted them to turn to Him who had ap- 
 pointed One to judge the whole world hereafter. 
 This was an appeal to the antecedent probability of 
 a Revelation, which would be estimated variously 
 according to the desire of it existing in each breast. 
 Now, what was the evidence he gave, in order to 
 concentrate those various antecedent presumptions, to 
 
 o2 
 
196 THE NATURE OF FAITH [Serm. 
 
 which he referred in behalf of the message which he 
 brought? Very slight, yet something; not a mi- 
 racle, but his own word that God had raised Christ 
 from the dead ; very like the evidence given to the 
 mass of men now, or rather not so much. No one 
 will say it was strong evidence; yet, aided by the 
 novelty, and what may be called originality, of the 
 claim, its strangeness and improbability considered as 
 a mere invention, and the personal bearing of the 
 Apostle, and supported by the full force of the ante- 
 cedent probabilities which existed, . and which he 
 stirred within them, it was enough. It was enough, for 
 some did believe, — enough, not indeed in itself, but 
 enough for those who had love, and therefore were 
 inclined to believe. To those who had no fears, 
 wishes, longings, or expectations, of another vrorld, 
 he was but " a babbler ;" those who had such, or, in 
 the Evangelist's words in another place, were "or- 
 dained to eternal life," "clave unto him, and be- 
 lieved." 
 
 This instance, then, seems very fully to justify the 
 view of Faith which I have been taking, that it is 
 an act of Reason, but of what the world would call 
 weak, bad, or insufficient Reason ; and that, because 
 it rests on presumption more, and on evidence less. 
 On the other hand, I conceive that this passage of 
 Scripture does not adjust at all with the modern 
 theory now in esteem, that Faith is a mere moral 
 act, dependent on a previous process of dear and 
 cautious Reason. If so, one would think that St. 
 
X-J IN RELATION TO REASON. 197 
 
 Paul had no claim upon the faith of his hearers, till 
 he had first wrought a miracle, such as Reason might 
 approve, in token that his message was to be handed 
 over to the acceptance of Faith. 
 
 Now, that this difference of theories as regards the 
 nature of religious Faith is not a trifling one, is evi- 
 dent, perhaps, from the conclusions which I drew 
 from it last week, which, if legitimate, are certainly 
 important : and as feeling it to be so, I now proceed 
 to state distinctly what I conceive to be the relation 
 of Faith to Reason. I observe, then, as follows : 
 
 We are surrounded by beings which exist quite 
 independently of us, — exist whether we exist, or 
 cease to exist, whether we have cognizance of them 
 or no. These we commonly separate into two great 
 divisions, material and immaterial. Of the material 
 we have direct knowledge through the senses; we 
 are sensible of the existence of persons and things, 
 of their properties and modes, of their relations to- 
 wards each other, and the courses of action which 
 they carry on. Of all these we are directly cogni- 
 zant through the senses; we see and hear what 
 passes, and that immediately. As to immaterial 
 beings, that we have faculties analogous to sense by 
 which we have direct knowledge of their presence, 
 does not appear, except indeed as regards our own 
 soul and its acts. But so far is certain at least, that 
 we are not conscious of possessing them ; and we 
 account it, and rightly, to be enthusiasm to pro- 
 fess such consciousness. At times, indeed, that 
 
198 THE NATURE OF FAITH [Serm. 
 
 consciousness has been imparted, as in some of the 
 appearances of God to man contained in Scripture : 
 but, in the ordinary course of things, whatever direct 
 intercourse goes on between the soul and immaterial 
 things ; whether we perceive them or not, and are 
 influenced by them or not, certainly we have no con- 
 sciousness of that perception or influence, such as 
 our senses convey to us in the perception of things 
 material. The senses, then, are the only instruments 
 which we know to be granted to us for direct and 
 immediate acquaintance with things external to us. 
 Moreover, it is obvious that even our senses convey 
 us but a little way out of ourselves, and introduce 
 us to the external world only under circumstances, 
 under conditions of time and place, and of certain 
 media through which they act. We must be near 
 things to touch them; we must be interrupted by no 
 simultaneous sounds to hear them; we must have 
 light to see them; we can neither see, hear, nor touch 
 things past or future. 
 
 Now, Reason is the faculty of the mind by which 
 this deficiency is supplied ; by which knowledge of 
 things external to us, of beings, facts, and events, is 
 attained beyond the range of sense. It ascertains 
 for us not natural things only, or immaterial only, 
 or present only, or past, or future; but, even if limited 
 in its power, it is unlimited in its range, viewed as 
 a faculty, though, of course, in individuals it varies 
 in range also. It reaches to the ends of the universe, 
 and to the throne of God beyond them ; it brings us 
 
X.] IN RELATION TO REASON. 199 
 
 knowledge, whether clear or uncertain, still know- 
 ledge, in whatever degree of perfection, from every 
 side ; but, at the same time, with this characteristic, 
 that it obtains it indirectly, not directly. 
 
 Reason does not really perceive anything ; but it 
 is a faculty of proceeding from things that are per- 
 ceived to things which are not; the existence of which 
 it certifies to us on the hypothesis of something else 
 being known to exist, in other words, being assumed 
 to be true. 
 
 Such is Reason, simply considered; and hence 
 the fitness of a number of words which are commonly 
 used to denote it and its acts. For instance : it is 
 usually considered a process, which, of course, a pro- 
 gress of thought from one idea to another must be; an 
 exercise of mind, which perception through the senses 
 can hardly be called ; or, again, an investigation, or 
 an analysis; or it is said to compare, discriminate, 
 judge, and decide : all which words imply, not simply 
 assent to the reality of certain external facts, but a 
 search into grounds, and an assent upon grounds. 
 It is, then, the faculty of gaining knowledge upon 
 grounds given ; and its exercise lies in asserting one 
 thing, because of some other thing; and, when its 
 exercise is conducted rightly, it leads to knowledge ; 
 when wrongly, to apparent knowledge, to opinion, 
 and, error. 
 
 Now, if this be Reason, an act or process of Faith, 
 simply considered, is certainly an exercise of Reason; 
 whether a right exercise or not is a farther ques- 
 tion; and, whether so to call it, is a suflSicient account 
 
200 THE NATURE OF FAITH [Serm. 
 
 of it, is a farther question. It is an acceptance of 
 things as real, which the senses do not convey, upon 
 certain previous grounds ; it is an instrument of in- 
 direct knowledge concerning things external to us, — 
 the process being such as the following : " I assent 
 to this doctrine as true, because I have been taught 
 it ;" or, " because superiors tell me so ;" or, " be- 
 cause good men think so;" or, "because very dif- 
 ferent men think so," or "because all men," or 
 "most men;" or^ "because it is established;" or, 
 " because persons whom I trust say that it was once 
 guaranteed by miracles;" or, "because one who is 
 said to have wrought miracles," or, "who says he 
 wrought them," "has taught it;" or, "because I 
 have seen one who saw the miracles ;" or, " because 
 I saw what I took to be a miracle ;" or, "for all," or 
 " some of these reasons together." Some such exer- 
 cise of Reason is the act of Faith, considered in its 
 nature. 
 
 On the other hand, Faith plainly lies exposed to 
 the popular charge of being a faulty exercise of 
 Reason, as being conducted on insufficient grounds ; 
 and, I suppose, so much must be allowed on all 
 hands, either that it is illogical, or that the mind has 
 some grounds which are not fully brought out, when 
 the process is thus exhibited. In other words, that 
 when the mind savingly believes, the reasoning which 
 that act involves, if it be logical, does not merely 
 proceed from the actual evidence, but from other 
 grounds besides. . 
 
 I say, there is this alternative in viewing the par- 
 
X.] IN RELATION TO REASON. 201 
 
 ticular process of Reason which is involved in Faith ; 
 — to say either that the process is illogical, or the sub- 
 ject-matter more or less special and recondite ; the 
 act of inference faulty, or the premises undeveloped ; 
 that Faith is weak, or that it is unearthly. Scrip- 
 ture says that it is unearthly, and the world says that 
 it is weak. 
 
 This, then, being the imputation brought against 
 Faith, that it is the reasoning of a weak mind, whereas 
 it is in truth the reasoning of a divinely enlightened 
 one, let me now, in a few words, attempt to show 
 the analogy of this state of things, with what takes 
 place in regard to other exercises of Reason also ; 
 that is, I shall attempt to show that Faith is not the 
 only exercise of Reason, which, when critically ex- 
 amined, would be called unreasonable, and yet is 
 not so. 
 
 1. In truth, nothing is more common among men 
 of a reasoning turn, than to consider that no one 
 reasons well but themselves. All men of course 
 think that they themselves are right and others wrong, 
 who diifer from them ; and so far all men must find 
 fault with the reasonings of others, since no one pro- 
 poses to act without reasons of some kind. Accord- 
 ingly, so far as men are accustomed to analyze the 
 opinions of others and contemplate their processes of 
 thought, they are tempted to despise them as illogical. 
 If any one sets about examining why his neighbours 
 are on one side in political questions, not on another ; 
 why for or against certain measures, of a social, 
 
202 THE NATURE OF FAITH [Serm, 
 
 economical, or civil nature ; why they belong to this 
 religious party, not to that ; why they hold this or 
 that doctrine ; why they have certain tastes in litera- 
 ture ; or why they hold certain views in matters of 
 opinion ; it is needless to say that if he measures their 
 grounds by the reasons which they produce, he will 
 have no difficulty in holding them up to ridicule, or 
 even to censure. And so again as to the deductions 
 made from facts which come before us. From the 
 sight of the same sky one may augur fine weather, 
 another bad ; from the signs of the times one the 
 coming in of good, another of evil ; from the same 
 actions of individuals one moral greatness, another 
 depravity or perversity, one simplicity, another craft ; 
 upon the same evidence one justifies, another con- 
 demns. The miracles of Christianity were in early 
 times imputed by some to magic, others they con- 
 verted ; the union of its professors was ascribed to 
 seditious and traitorous aims by some, while others 
 it moved to say, " See how these Christians love one 
 another." The phenomena of the physical world have 
 given rise to a variety of theories, that is, of alleged 
 facts, at which they are supposed to point ; theories 
 of astronomy, chemistry, and physiology ; theories re- 
 ligious and atheistical. The same events are con- 
 sidered to prove a particular providence, and not ; to 
 attest the divinity of one religion or another. The 
 downfall of the Roman Empire was to Pagans a refu- 
 tation, to Christians an evidence of Christianity. Such 
 is the diversity with which men reason, showing us 
 
X.] IN RELATION TO REASON. 203 
 
 that Faith is not the only exercise of Reason, which 
 approves itself to some and not to others, or is, in the 
 common sense of the word, irrational. 
 
 Nor can it fairly be said that such varieties do arise 
 from deficiency of logical power in the multitude of 
 men ; and that Faith, therefore, such as I have de- 
 scribed it, is but proved thereby to be a specimen of 
 such deficiency. This is what men of clear intellects 
 are not slow to imagine. Clear, strong, steady in- 
 tellects, if they are not deep, will look on these dif- 
 ferences in deduction chiefly as failures in the rea- 
 soning faculty, and will despise them or excuse them 
 accordingly. Such are the men who are commonly 
 latitudinarians in religion on the one hand, or inno- 
 vators on the other ; men of exact or acute but shal- 
 low minds, who consider all men wrong but them- 
 selves, yet think it no matter though they be ; who 
 regard the pursuit of truth only as a syllogistic pro- 
 cess, and failure in attaining it as arising merely from 
 a want of mental conformity with the laws on which 
 just reasoning is conducted. But surely there is no 
 greater mistake than this. For the experience of life 
 contains abundant evidence that in practical matters, 
 when their minds are really roused, men commonly 
 are not bad reasoners. Men do not mistake when 
 their interest is concerned. They have an instinctive 
 sense in which direction their path lies towards it, 
 and how they must act consistently with self-preser- 
 vation or self-aggrandisement. And so in the case 
 of questions in which party spirit or political opinion, 
 
204 THE NATURE OF FAITH [Serm. 
 
 or ethical principle, or personal feeling, is concerned, 
 men have a surprising sagacity, often unknown to 
 themselves, in finding their own place. However 
 remote the connexion between the point in question 
 and their own creed, or habits, or feelings, the prin- 
 ciples which they profess guide them unerringly to 
 their legitimate issues ; and thus it often happens 
 that in apparently indiiferent practices or usages or 
 expressions, or in questions of science, or politics, or 
 literature, we can almost prophesy beforehand, from 
 their religious or moral views, where certain persons 
 will stand, and often can defend them far better than 
 they defend themselves. The same thing is proved 
 from the internal consistency of such religious creeds 
 as are allowed time and space to develope freely ; such 
 as Primitive Christianity, or the Medieval system, 
 or Calvinism — a consistency which nevertheless is 
 wrought out in and through the rude and inaccurate 
 minds of the multitude. Again,.it is proved from the 
 uniformity observable in the course of the same doc- 
 trine in different ages and countries, whether it be po- 
 litical, religious, or philosophical ; the laws of Reason 
 forcing it on into the same developements, the same 
 successive phases, the same rise, and the same decay, 
 so that its recorded history in one century will almost 
 suit its prospective course in the next. 
 
 All this shows, that in spite of the inaccuracy in 
 expression, or (if we will) in thought, which prevails 
 in the world, men on the whole do not reason incor- 
 rectly. If their reason itself were in fault, they 
 
X.] IN RELATION TO REASON. 205 
 
 would reason each in his own way: whereas they 
 form into schools, and that not merely from imitation 
 and sympathy, but certainly from internal compulsion, 
 from the coustraining influence of their several prin- 
 ciples. They may argue badly, but they reason well ; 
 that is, their professed grounds are no sufficient mea- 
 sures of their real ones. And in like manner, though 
 the evidence with which Faith is content is apparently 
 inadequate to its purpose, yet this is no proof of real 
 weakness or imperfection in its reasoning. It seems 
 to be contrary to Reason, yet is not ; it is but inde- 
 pendent and distinct from what are called philoso- 
 phical inquiries, intellectual systems, courses of argu- 
 ment, and the like. 
 
 So much on the general phenomena which attend 
 the exercise of this great faculty, one of the charac- 
 teristics, of human over brute natures. Whether we 
 consider processes of Faith or other exercise of 
 Reason, men advance forward on grounds which they 
 do not, or cannot produce, or if they could, yet could 
 not prove to be true, on latent or antecedent grounds 
 which they take for granted. 
 
 2. Next, let it be observed, that however full and 
 however precise our producible grounds may be, how- 
 ever systematic our method, however clear and tan- 
 gible our evidence, yet when our argument is traced 
 down to its simple elements, there must ever some- 
 thing be assumed ultimately which is incapable of 
 proof, and without which our conclusion will be as 
 illogical as Faith is apt to seem to men of the world. 
 
THE NATURE OF FAITH [Serm. 
 
 To take the case of actual evidence, and that of 
 the strongest kind. Now, whatever it be, its cogency 
 must be a thing taken for granted ; so far it is its own 
 evidence, and can only be received on instinct or pre- 
 judice. For instance, we trust our senses, and that 
 in spite of their often deceiving us. They even con- 
 tradict each other at times, yet we trust them. But 
 even were they ever consistent, never unfaithful, yet 
 their fidelity would not be thereby proved. We con- 
 sider that there is so strong an antecedent probability 
 that they are faithful, that we dispense with proof. 
 We take the point for granted ; or, if we have grounds 
 for it, these either lie in our secret belief in the sta- 
 bility of nature, or in the preserving presence and 
 uniformity of Divine Providence, — which, again, are 
 points assumed. As, then, the senses may and do 
 deceive us, and yet we trust them from a secret in- 
 stinct, So it need not be weakness or rashness, if upon 
 a certain presentiment of mind we trust to the fidelity 
 of testimony ofiered for a revelation. 
 
 Again: we rely implicitly on our memory, and 
 that, too, in spite of its being obviously unstable and 
 treacherous. And we trust to memory for the truth 
 of most of our opinions ; the grounds on which we hold 
 them not being at a given moment all present to our 
 minds. We trust to memory to inform us what we 
 do hold and what we do not. It may be said, that 
 without such assumption the world could not go on : 
 true; and in the same way the Church could not 
 go on without Faith. Acquiescence in testimony, or 
 
 1 
 
X.] IN RELATION TO REASON. 207 
 
 in evidence not stronger than testimony, is the only 
 method, as far as we see, by which the next world 
 can be revealed to us. 
 
 The same remarks apply to our assumption of the 
 fidelity of our reasoning powers ; which in certain in- 
 stances we implicitly believe, though we know they 
 have deceived us in others. 
 
 Were it not for these instincts, it cannot be 
 doubted but our experience of the deceivableness of 
 Senses, Memory, and Reason, would perplex us much 
 as to our practical reliance on them in matters of this 
 world. And so, as regards the matters of another, 
 they who have not that instinctive apprehension of the 
 Omnipresence of God and His unwearied and minute 
 Providence which holiness and love create within 
 us, must not be surprised to find that the evidence 
 of Christianity does not perform an ofiice which was 
 never intended for it, — viz. recommend itself as well 
 as the revelation. Nothing, then, which Scripture 
 says about Faith, however startling it may be at first 
 sight, is inconsistent with the state in which we find 
 ourselves by nature with reference to the acquisition 
 of knowledge generally, — a state in which we must 
 assume something to prove anything, and can gain 
 nothing without a venture. 
 
 3. To proceed. Next let it be considered, that 
 the following law seems to hold in our attainment 
 of knowledge, that according to its desirableness, 
 whether in point of excellence, or range, or intricacy, 
 so is the vagueness of the evidence on which it is re- 
 
208 THE NATURE OF FAITH [Sbrm. 
 
 ceived. We are so constituted, that if we insist upon 
 being as sure as is conceivable, in every step of our 
 course, we must be content to creep along the ground, 
 and can never soar. If we are intended for great 
 ends, we are called to great hazards; and, whereas 
 we are given absolute certainty in nothing, we must 
 in all things choose between doubt and inactivity, 
 and the conviction that we are under the eye of One 
 who, for whatever reason, exercises us with the less 
 evidence when He might give us the greater. He has 
 put it into our hands, who loves us ; and He bids us 
 examine it, indeed, with our best judgment, reject this 
 and accept that, but still all the while as loving Him 
 in our turn ; not coldly and critically, but with the 
 thought of His presence, and the reflection that per- 
 chance by the defects of the evidence He is trying 
 our love of its matter; and that perchance it is a 
 law of His Providence to speak less loudly the more 
 He promises. For instance, the touch is the most 
 certain and cautious, but it is the most circumscribed 
 of our senses, and reaches but an arm's length. The 
 eye, which takes in a far wider range, acts only in the 
 light. Reason, which extends beyond the province 
 of sense or the present time, is circuitous and indirect 
 in its conveyance of knowledge, which, even when 
 distinct, is traced out pale and faint, as distant objects 
 on the horizon. And Faith, again, by which we get 
 to know divine things, rests on the evidence of testi- 
 monyj weak in proportion to the excellence of the 
 blessing attested. And as Reason, with its great 
 
X.] IN RELATION TO REASON. 209 
 
 conclusions, is confessedly a higher instrument than 
 Sense with its secure premisses, so Faith rises above 
 Reason in its subject-matter, more than it falls below 
 it in the obscurity of its process. And it is, I say, but 
 agreeable to analogy, that divine Truth should be 
 attained by so subtle and indirect a method, a method 
 less tangible than others, less open to analysis, re- 
 ducible but partially to the forms of Reason, and the 
 ready sport of objection and cavil. 
 
 4. Further, much might be observed concerning 
 the special delicacy and abstruseness of such reason- 
 ing processes as attend the acquisition of all higher 
 knowledge. It is not too much to say that there is 
 none of the greater achievements of the Reason, which 
 would show to advantage, which would be apparently 
 justified and protected from criticism, if thrown into 
 the technical forms which the science of argument 
 requires. The most remarkable victories of genius, 
 remarkable both in their originality and the confi- 
 dence with which they have been pursued, have been 
 gained, as though by invisible weapons, by ways of 
 thought so recondite and intricate that the mass of 
 men are obliged to take them on trust, till the event 
 or other evidence confirms them. Such are the 
 methods which penetrating intellects have invented 
 in mathematical science, which look like sophisms till 
 they end in truth. Here, even, in the severest of 
 disciplines, and in absolutely demonstrative processes, 
 the instrument of discovery is so subtle, that technical 
 
 UNIV. s. P 
 
210 THE NATURE OF FAITH [Serm. 
 
 expressions and formulae are of necessity substituted 
 for it, to thread the labyrinth withal, by way of 
 tempering its difficulties to the grosser reason of 
 the many. Or, let it be considered how rare 
 and immaterial (if I may use the words) is meta- 
 physical proof; how difficult to embrace, even when 
 presented to us by philosophers in whose clearness 
 of mind and good sense we fully confide ; and what 
 a vain system of words without ideas such men seem 
 to be piling up, while perhaps we are obliged to con- 
 fess that it must be we who are dull, not they who 
 are fanciful ; and that, whatever be the character of 
 their investigations, we want the vigour or flexibility 
 of mind to judge of them. Or let us attempt to as- 
 certain the passage of the mind, when slight indi- 
 cations in things present are made the informants of 
 what is to be. Consider the preternatural sagacity 
 with which a great general knows what his friends 
 and enemies are about, and what will be the final 
 result, and where, of their combined movements, — r 
 and then say whether, if he were required to argue 
 the matter in word or on paper, all his most brilliant 
 conjectures might not be refuted, and all his pro- 
 ducible reasons exposed as illogical. 
 
 And, in an analogous way. Faith is a process of the 
 Reason, in which so nauch of the grounds of inference 
 cannot be exhibited, so much lies in the character of 
 the mind itself, in its general view of things, its es- 
 timate of the probable and the improbable, its im* 
 
X.] IN RELATION TO REASON. 211 
 
 pressions concerning God's will, and its anticipations 
 derived from its own inbred wishes, that it will ever 
 seem to the world irrational and despicable ; — till, 
 that is, the event confirms it. The act of mind, for 
 instance, by which an unlearned person savingly be- 
 lieves the Gospel, on the word of his teacher, may be 
 analogous to the exercise of sagacity in a great states- 
 man or general, supernatural grace doing for the un- 
 cultivated reason what genius does for them. 
 
 5. Now it is a singular confirmation of this view 
 of the subject, that the reasonings of inspired men 
 in Scripture, nay, of God Himself, are of this recon- 
 dite nature; so much so, that irreverent minds 
 scarcely hesitate to treat them with the same con- 
 tempt which they manifest towards the faith of ordi- 
 nary Christians. St. Paul's arguments have long ago 
 been abandoned even by avowed defenders of Chris- 
 tianity. Nor can it be said surely that the line of 
 thought, (if I may dare so to speak,) on which some 
 of our Ever-blessed Saviour's discourses proceed, is 
 more intelligible to our feeble minds. And here, 
 moreover, let it be noted that, supposing the kind of 
 reasoning which we call Faith to be of the subtle cha- 
 racter, which I am maintaining, and the instances of 
 professed reasoning found in Scripture to be of a 
 like subtlety, light is thrown upon another remarkable 
 circumstance, which no one can deny, and which 
 some have made an objection, — I mean, the indirect- 
 ness of the Scripture proofs on which the Catholic 
 
 p 2 
 
212 THE NATURE OF FAITH [Serm. 
 
 doctrines rest. Perchance, such a peculiarity in the 
 inspired text is the proper correlative of Faith ; such 
 a text the proper matter for Faith to work upon ; so 
 that a Scripture such as we have, and not such as the 
 Pentateuish was to the Jews, may be implied in our 
 being under Faith and not under the Law. 
 
 6. Lastly, it should be observed, that the analogy 
 which I have been pursuing extends to moral actions, 
 and their properties and objects, as well as to intel- 
 lectual exercises. According as objects are great, the 
 mode of attaining them is extraordinary ; and again, 
 according as it is extraordinary, so is the merit of the 
 action. Here, instead of going to Scripture, or to a 
 religious standard, let me appeal to the world's 
 judgment in the matter. Military fame, for instance, 
 power, character for greatness of mind, distinction 
 in experimental science, are all sought and attained 
 by risks and adventures. Courage does not consist 
 in calculation, but in fighting against chances. The 
 statesman whose name endures, is he who ventures 
 upon measures which seem perilous, and yet succeed, 
 and can be only justified on looking back upon them. 
 Firmness and greatness of soul are shown, when a 
 ruler stands his ground on his instinctive perception 
 of a truth which the many scoff at, and which seems 
 failing. The religious enthusiast bends the hearts of 
 men to a voluntary obedience, who has the keenness 
 to see, and the boldness to appeal to, principles and 
 feelings deep buried within them, which they know 
 
X.] IN RELATION TO REASON. 213 
 
 not themeslves, which he himself but by glimpses and 
 at times realizes, and which he pursues from the in- 
 tensity, not the steadiness of his view of them. And 
 so in all things, great objects exact a venture, and a 
 sacrifice is the condition of honour. And what is true 
 in the world, why should it not be true also in the 
 kingdom of God ? We must " launch out into the 
 deep, and let down our nets for a draught ;" we must 
 in the morning sow our seed, and in the evening with- 
 hold not our hand, for we know not whether shall 
 prosper, either this or that. " He that observeth the 
 wind shall not sow, and he that regardeth the clouds 
 shall not reap." He that fails nine times and succeeds 
 the tenth, is a more honourable man than he who 
 hides his talent in a napkin ; and so, even though the 
 feelings which prompt us to see God in all things, and 
 to recognize supernatural works in matters of the 
 world, mislead us at times, though they make us 
 trust in evidence which we ought not to admit, and 
 partially incur with justice the imputation of cre- 
 dulity, yet a Faith which generously apprehends Eter- 
 nal Truth, though at times it degenerates into super- 
 stition, is far better than that cold sceptical, critical 
 tone of mind, which has no inward sense of an over- 
 ruling ever-present Providence, no desire to approach 
 its God, but sits at home waiting for the fearful 
 clearness of His visible coming, whom it might seek 
 and find in due measure amid the twilight of the pre- 
 sent world. 
 
 To conclude: such is Faith as contrasted with 
 
214 THE NATURE OF FAITH, &c. 
 
 Reason ; — how it is contrasted with Superstition, how 
 separate from it, and by what principles and laws 
 restrained from falling into it, is a most important 
 question, without settling which, any view of the 
 subject of Faith is of course incomplete ; but which 
 it does not fall within my present scope to consider. 
 
SERMON XI. 
 
 LOVE THE SAFEGUARD OF FAITH AGAINST 
 SUPERSTITION. 
 
 Preached on Whit-Tuesday, May 21, 1839. 
 
 John x. 4, 5. 
 
 " The sheep follow Him, for they know His voice. And a 
 stranger will they not follow, hut will flee from him, for they 
 know not the voice of strangers." 
 
 Faith, considered as an exercise of Reason, has this 
 characteristic, — that it proceeds far more on ante- 
 cedent grounds than on evidence ; it trusts much to 
 presumptions, and in doing this lies its special merit. 
 Thus it is distinguished from Knowledge in the 
 ordinary sense of that word. We are commonly said 
 to know a thing, when we have ascertained it by the 
 natural methods given us for ascertaining it. Thus 
 we know mathematical truths, whien we are possessed 
 of demonstrative evidence concerning them; we 
 know things present and material by our senses. We 
 know the events of life by moral evidence ; we know 
 
216 LOVE THE SAFEGUARD OF FAITH [Sebm. 
 
 things past or things invisible, by reasoning from cer- 
 tain present consequences of the facts, such as testi- 
 mony borne to them. When, for instance, we have 
 ascertained the fact of a miracle by good testimony, 
 the testimony of men who neither deceive nor are 
 deceived, we may be said to know the fact ; for we 
 are possessed of those special grounds, of that distinct 
 warrant in its behalf, which the nature of the case 
 assigns and allows. These special grounds are often 
 called the Evidence ; and when we believe in conse- 
 quence of them, we are said to believe upon Reason. 
 
 By Reason, indeed, is properly meant any process 
 or act of the mind, by which from knowing one 
 thing it advances on to know another ; whether it be 
 true or false Reason, whether it proceed from ante- 
 cedent probabilities, by demonstration, or on evidenced 
 And in this general sense it includes of course Faith, 
 which is mainly an anticipation or presumption ; but 
 in its more popular sense (in which, as in former Dis- 
 courses, I shall here for the most part use it) it is 
 contrasted with Faith, as meaning in the main such in- 
 ferences concerning fa.cts, as are derived from the facts 
 in question themselves, that is from Evidences, and 
 which lead consequently to Knowledge. 
 
 Faith, then, and Reason, are popularly contrasted 
 with one another ; Faith consisting of certain exer- 
 cises of Reason which proceed mainly on presump- 
 tion, and Reason of certain exercises which proceed 
 mainly upon proof. Reason makes the particular fact 
 which is to be ascertained the point of primary im- 
 
XL] AGAINST SUPERSTITION. 217 
 
 portance, contemplates it, inquires into its evidence, 
 not of course excluding antecedent considerations, but 
 not beginning with tbem. Faith, on the other hand, 
 begins with its own previous knowledge and opinions, 
 advances and decides upon antecedent probabilities, 
 that is, on grounds which do not reach so far as to 
 touch precisely the desired conclusion, though they 
 tend towards it, and may come very near it. It acts, 
 before actual certainty or knowledge, on grounds 
 which, for the most part, near as they may come, yet 
 in themselves stand clear of the definite thing which 
 is its object. Hence it is said, and rightly, to be a 
 venture, to involve a risk, to be against Reason, to 
 triumph over Reason, to surpass or outstrip Reason, 
 to attain to what Reason falls short of, to effect what 
 Reason finds beyond its powers; or again, to be a 
 principle above or beyond argument, not to be sub- 
 ject to the rules of argument, not to be capable of 
 defending itself, to be illogical and the like. 
 
 This is a view of Faith on which I insisted before 
 now ; and though it is a subject which at first sight 
 is deficient in interest, yet I believe it will be found 
 to repay attention, as bearing immediately on prac- 
 tice. It is, moreover, closely connected with the 
 doctrine laid down in the text, and with the great 
 revealed truth which we commemorate at this Season, 
 and with a view to which the Gospel for the day, of 
 which the text forms a part, has been selected. 
 
 To maintain that Faith is a judgment about facts 
 in matters of conduct, such, as to be formed, not so 
 
218 LOVE the safeguard OF FAITH [Seem. 
 
 much from the impression legitimately made upon 
 the mind by those facts, as from the reaching forward 
 of the mind itself towards them, — ^that it is a pre- 
 sumption, not a proving, — may sound paradoxical, 
 yet surely is borne out by the actual state of things 
 as they come before us every day. Can it, indeed, 
 be doubted, that the great majority of those who 
 have sincerely and deliberately given themselves to 
 religion, who take it for their portion, and stake their 
 happiness upon it, have done so, not on an examina- 
 tion of evidence, but from a spontaneous movement 
 of their hearts towards it? They go out of them- 
 selves to meet Him who is unseen, and they discern 
 Him in such symbols of Him as they find ready 
 provided for them. Whether they examine after- 
 wards the evidence on which their faith may be jus- 
 tified or not, or how far soever they do so, still their 
 faith does not originate in the evidence, nor is it 
 strong in proportion to their knowledge of the evi- 
 dence; but, though it may admit of being strengthened 
 by such knowledge, yet it may be quite as strong 
 without it as with it. They believe on grounds 
 within themselves, not merely or mainly on the ex- 
 ternal testimony on which religion comes to them. 
 As to the multitude of professed Christians, they in- 
 deed believe on mere custom, or nearly so. Not 
 having their hearts interested in religion, they may 
 fairly be called mere hereditary Christians. I am 
 not speaking of these, but of the serious portion of 
 the community; and I say, that they also, though 
 
XL] AGAINST SUPERSTITION. 219 
 
 not believing merely because their fathers believed, 
 but with a faith of their own, yet, for that very 
 reason, believe on something distinct from evidence, 
 — believe with a faith more personal and living than 
 evidence could create. Mere evidence would but 
 lead to passive opinion and knowledge ; but antici- 
 pations and presumptions are the creation of the 
 mind itself; and the faith which exists in them is of 
 an active nature, whether in rich or poor, learned or 
 unlearned, young or old. They have heard or recol- 
 lect nothing of " interruptions of the course of na- 
 ture," " sensible miracles," " meii neither deceivers nor 
 deceived," and other similar topics ; but they feel that 
 the external religion offered them elicits into shape, 
 and supplies the spontaneous desires and presenti- 
 ments of their minds : certain, as they are, that some 
 religion must be from God, though not absolutely 
 certain or able to prove, at starting, nay, or asking 
 themselves, whether some other form is not more sim- 
 ply from Him than that which is presented to them. 
 The same view of Faith, as being a presumption, 
 is also implied in our popular mode of regarding it. 
 It is commonly and truly said, that Faith is a test of 
 a man's heart. Now, what does this really mean, 
 but that it shows what he thinks likely ? — and what 
 he thinks likely, depends surely on nothing else than 
 the general state of his mind, the state of his convic- 
 tions, feelings, tastes, and wishes. A fact is asserted, 
 and is thereby proposed to the acceptance or rejec- 
 tion of those who hear it. Each hearer will have his 
 
220 LOVE THE SAFEGUARD OF FAITH [Sbkm. 
 
 own view concerning it, prior to the evidence ; this 
 view will result from the character of his mind ; nor 
 commonly will it be reversed by any ordinary varia- 
 tion in the evidence. If he is indisposed to believe, 
 he will explain away very strong evidence ; if he is 
 disposed, he will accept very weak evidence. On 
 the one hand, he will talk of its being the safer side 
 to believe ; on the other hand, that he does not feel 
 that he can go so far as to close with what is offered 
 him. That the evidence is something, and not every- 
 thing; that it tells a certain way, yet might be more; 
 he will hold, in either case: but then follows the 
 question, what is to come of the evidence,- being what 
 it is, and this he decides according to (what is called) 
 the state of his heart. I do not mean that there is no 
 extent or deficiency of evidence suflBcient to convince 
 him against his will, or at least to silence him ; but 
 that commonly the evidence for and against religion, 
 whether true religion or false religion, in matter of 
 fact, is not of this overpowering nature. Neither do I 
 mean that the evidence does not bear one way more 
 than another, or have a determinate meaning, (for 
 Christianity and against Naturalism, for the Church 
 and against every other body,) but that, as things are, 
 amid the engagements, the confusion, and the hurry of 
 the world, and considering the private circumstances 
 of most minds, few men are in a condition to weigh 
 things in an accurate balance, and to decide, after 
 calm and complete investigations of the evidence. 
 Most men must and do decide by the principles of 
 
XL] AGAINST SUPERSTITION. 221 
 
 thought and conduct which are habitual to them ; 
 that is, the antecedent judgment with which a man 
 approaches the subject of religion, not only acts as a 
 bearing this way or that,' — causing him to go out to 
 meet the evidence in a greater or less degree, and no 
 more, — but it practically colours the evidence, even in 
 a case in which he has recourse to evidence, and in- 
 terprets it for him. 
 
 This is the way in which judgments are com- 
 monly formed concerning facts alledged or reported 
 in political and social matters, and for the same 
 reason, because it cannot be helped. Act we must, 
 yet seldom indeed is it that we have means of ex- 
 amining into the evidence of the statements on which 
 we are forced to act. Hence statements are often 
 hazarded by persons interested, for the very pur- 
 pose of bringing out the public mind on some certain 
 point, ascertaining what it thinks, and feeling how 
 their way lies, and what courses are feasible and 
 safe. And, in like manner, startling or unexpected 
 reports are believed or disbelieved, and acted on in 
 this way or that, according as the hearer is or is not 
 easy of belief, or desirous of the event, or furnished 
 with precedents, or previously informed. And so in 
 religious matters, on hearing or apparently witnessing 
 a supernatural occurrence, men judge of it this way 
 or that, according as they are credulous or not, or 
 wish it to be true or not, or are influenced by such or 
 such views of life, or have more or less knowledge 
 on the subject of miracles. We decide one way or 
 
222 LOVE THE SAFEGUARD OF FAITH [Serm. 
 
 another, according to the position of the alleged 
 fact, relatively to our existing state of religious know- 
 ledge and feeling. I am not saying that such reli* 
 gious judgments are parallel to those which we form 
 in daily and secular matters, as regards their respec- 
 tive chances of turning out correct in the event. 
 That is another matter. Reports in matters of this 
 world are many, and our resources of mind for the 
 discrimination of them very insufficient. Religions 
 are few, and the moral powers by which they are to 
 be accepted or rejected, strong and correspondent; 
 It does not follow, then, because even the most 
 sagacious minds are frequently wrong in their ante- 
 cedent judgments in matters of this world, that there- 
 fore even common minds need be wrong in similar 
 judgments about the personal matters of another. It 
 does not follow, because, in the insignificant matters 
 of this world, a priori judgments run counter to judg- 
 ments on evidence, that therefore, in the weightier 
 matters of the next, a merciful Providence may not 
 have so ordered the relation between our minds and 
 His revealed will, that presumption, which is the 
 method of the many, may lead to the same conclu- 
 sions as examination, which is the method of the 
 few. But this is not the point. I am not speaking 
 of the trustworthiness of Faith, but of its nature : 
 it is generally allowed to be a test of moral character. 
 Now, I say that it is a test, as matters of this world 
 show, only so far as it goes upon presumptions, what- 
 ever follows from this as to the validity of its infer- 
 1 
 
XL] AGAINST SUPERSTITION. 
 
 ences, which is another matter. As far, then, as its 
 being a test of moral character is of the essence of 
 religious Faith, so far its being an antecedent judg- 
 ment or presumption is of its essence. On the other 
 hand, when we come to what is called Evidence, or, 
 in popular language, exercises of Reason, prejudices 
 and mental peculiarities are excluded from the dis- 
 cussion, we descend to grounds common to all ; 
 certain scientific rules and fixed standards for weigh- 
 ing testimony, and examining facts, are received. 
 Nothing can be urged, or made to tell, but what all 
 feel, all comprehend, all can put into words; cur- 
 rent language becomes the measure of thought ; only 
 such conclusions may be drawn as can produce their 
 reasons ; only such reasons are in point as can be ex- 
 hibited in simple propositions ; the multiform and 
 intricate assemblage of considerations, which really 
 lead to judgment and action, must be attenuated or 
 mutilated into a major and a minor premiss. Under 
 such circumstances, there is as little virtue or merit 
 in deciding aright as in working a mathematical pro- 
 blem correctly ; as little guilt in deciding wrongly as 
 in mistakes in accounts, or in a faulty memory in 
 history. 
 
 And, again :— As Faith may be viewed as opposed 
 to Reason, in the popular sense of the latter word, it 
 must not be overlooked that Unbelief is opposed to 
 Reason also. Unbelief, indeed, considers itself espe- 
 cially rational, or critical of evidence; but it criticises 
 the evidence of Religion, only because it does not like 
 
224 LOVE THE SAFEGUARD OF FAITH [Sbrm. 
 
 it, and really goes upon presumptions and prejudices 
 as much as Faith does, only presumptions of an oppo- 
 site nature. This I have already implied. It con- 
 siders a religious system so improbable, that it will 
 not listen to the evidence of it ; or, if it listens,; it 
 employs itself in doing what a believer could do, if he 
 chose, quite as well, what he is quite as well aware 
 can be done ; viz., in showing that the evidence 
 might be more complete and unexceptionable than it 
 is. On this account it is that unbelievers call them- 
 selves rational ; not because they decide by evidence, 
 but because, after they had made their decision, they 
 merely occupy themselves in sifting it. This surely 
 is quite plain, even in the case of Hume, who first 
 asks, " What have we to oppose to such a cloud of 
 witnesses," in favour of certain alleged miracles he 
 mentions, "but the absolute impossibility or mira- 
 culous nature of the events which they relate ? And 
 this surely," he adds, "in the eyes of all reasonable 
 people, will alone be regarded as a suflScient refuta- 
 tion ;" that is, the antecedent improbability is a suffi- 
 cient refutation of the evidence. And next, he scof- 
 fingly observes, that "our most holy Religion is 
 founded on Faith, not on Reason;" and that "mere 
 Reason is insufficient to convince us of its veracity." 
 As if his infidelity were "founded on Reason," in 
 any more exact sense ; or presumptions on the side 
 of Faith could not have, and presumptions on the 
 side of Unbelief might have, the nature of proof. 
 Such, then, seems to be the state of the case, when 
 
XI.] AGAINST SUPERSTITION. 225 
 
 we carefully consider it. Faith is an exercise of 
 presumptive reasoning, or of Reason proceeding on 
 antecedent grounds : such seems to be the fact, what- 
 ever comes of it. Let us take things as we find 
 them : let us not attempt to distort them into what 
 they are not. True philosophy deals with facts. We 
 cannot make facts. All our wishing cannot change 
 them. We must use them. If Revelation has always 
 been oiFered to mankind in one way, it is in vain to 
 say that it ought to have come to us in another. If 
 children, if the poor, if the busy, can have true 
 Faith, yet cannot weigh evidence, evidence is not 
 the simple foundation on wWch Faith is built. If 
 the great bulk of serious men believe, not because 
 they have examined evidence, but because they are 
 disposed in a certain way, — because they are Ttrayfuvoi 
 e'lg Zbyrjv a'lwviov, — ordained to eternal life, this must be 
 God's order of things. Let us attempt to understand 
 it. Let us not disguise it, or explain it away. It 
 may have difficulties ; if so, let us own them. Let 
 us fairly meet them : if we can, let us overcome 
 them. 
 
 Now, there is one very serious difficulty in the 
 view which I have taken of Faith, which most per- 
 sons will have anticipated before I allude to it ; that 
 such a view may be made an excuse for all manner 
 of prejudice and bigotry, and leads directly to credu- 
 lity and superstition ; and, on the other hand, in the 
 case of unbelief, that it affords a sort of excuse 
 for impenetrable obduracy. Antecedent probabilities 
 
 UNIV. s. Q. 
 
226 LOVE THE SAFEGUARD OF FAITH [Sehm. 
 
 may be equally available for what is true, and what 
 pretends to be true, for a revelation and its counterfeit, 
 for Paganism, or Mahometanism, or Christianity. 
 They seem to supply no intelligible riile what is to be 
 believed^ and what not ; or how a man is to pass from 
 a false belief to a true. If a claim of miracles is to 
 be acknowledged because it happens to be advanced, 
 why not for the miracles of India, as well as for those 
 of Palestine ? If the abstract probability of a Reve- 
 lation be the measure of genuineness in a given case, 
 why not in the case of Mahomet, as well as of the 
 Apostles ? How are we to manage (as I may say) 
 the Argument from Prfesumption for Christianity, so 
 as not to carry it out into an argument against it? 
 
 This is the difficulty. It is plain that some safe- 
 guard of Faith is needed, some corrective principle 
 which will secure it from running (as it were) to 
 seed, and becoming superstition or fanaticism. All 
 parties who have considered the subject, seem to 
 agree in thinking some or other corrective necessary. 
 And here reasoners of a school, which has been in 
 fashion of late years, have their answer ready, and 
 can promptly point out what they consider the desired 
 remedy. What, according to them, forms the foun- 
 dation of Faith, is also its corrective. Faith is built 
 upon Reason, and Reason is its safeguard. Culti- 
 A'ate the Reason, and in the same degree you lead 
 men both to the acknowledgment, and also to the 
 sober use of the Gospel. Their religion will be ra- 
 tional, inasmuch as they know why they believe, and 
 
XL] AGAINST SUPERSTITION. 227 
 
 what. The young, the poor, the ignorant, those 
 whose reason is undeveloped, are the victims of an 
 excessive faith. Give them, then, education ; open 
 their minds ; enlighten them ; enable them to reflect, 
 compare, investigate, and infer ; draw their attention 
 to the Evidences of Christianity. While, in this way, 
 you bring them into the right path, you also obviate 
 the chance of their wandering from it ; you tend to 
 prevent enthusiasm and superstition, while you are 
 erecting a bulwark against infidelity. 
 
 This, or something like this, is often maintained, 
 and, if correctly, it must be confessed, nothing can be 
 more extravagant than to call Faith an exercise or 
 act of Reason, as I have done, when, in fact, it needs 
 Reason ; such language does but tend to break down 
 the partition-wall which separates Faith from Super- 
 stition, and to allow it to dissipate itself in every 
 variety of excess, and to throw itself away upon the 
 most unworthy and preposterous objects. 
 
 This is what, perhaps, will be objected ; and yet 
 I am not unwilling to make myself responsible for 
 the difficulty in question, by denying that any intel- 
 lectual act is necessary for right Faith besides itself; 
 that it need be much more than a presumption, or 
 that it need be fortified and regulated by investi- 
 gation ; by denying, that is, that Reason is the safe- 
 guard of Faith. What, then, is the safeguard, if 
 Reason is not ? I shall give an answer, which may 
 seem at once common-place and paradoxical ; yet I 
 believe is the true one. The safeguard of Faith is 
 
 Q 2 
 
«28 LOVE THE SAFEGUARD OF FAITH [Serm. 
 
 a right state of heart. This it is that gives it birth ; 
 it also disciplines it. This is what protects it from 
 bigotry, credulity, and fanaticism. It is holiness, or 
 dutifulness, or the new creation, or the spiritual mind, 
 however we word it, which is the quickening and 
 illuminating principle of true Faith, giving it eyes, 
 hands, and feet. It is Love which forms it out of 
 the rude chaos into an image of Christ ; or, in scho- 
 lastic language, justifying Faith, whether in Pagan, 
 Jew, or Christian, is fides formata charitate. 
 
 " Verily, verily, I say unto you," says the Divine 
 Speaker, " I am the Door of the sheep .... I am 
 the good Shepherd, a,nd know My sheep, and am 
 known of Mine." 
 
 " Ye believe not, because ye are not of My sheep, 
 as I said unto you. My sheep hear My voice, and I 
 know them, and they follow Me ; and I give unto 
 them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither 
 shall any one pluck them out of My hand." 
 
 " He that entereth in by the door, is the Shepherd 
 of the sheep. To Him the porter openeth, and the 
 sheep hear His voice, and He calleth His own sheep 
 by name, and leadeth them out. And when He 
 putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, 
 and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice. 
 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee 
 from him, for they know not the voice of strangers." 
 
 What is here said about exercises of Reason, in 
 order to believing ? What is there not said of sym- 
 pathetic feeling, of newness of spirit, of love ? It was 
 
XL] AGAINST SUPERSTITION. 229 
 
 from lack of love towards Christ that the Jews dis- 
 cerned not in Him the Shepherd of their souls. " Ye 
 believe not, because ye are not of My sheep. My 
 sheep hear My voice, and follow Me." It was the re- 
 generate nature sent down from the Father of Lights 
 which drew up the disciples heaven-ward, — which 
 made their affections go forth to meet the Bridegroom, 
 and fixed those aifections on Him, till they were 
 as cords of love staying the heart upon the Eternal. 
 " All that the Father giveth Me, shall come to Me. 
 No man can come unto Me, except the Father which 
 hath sent Me draw him. It is written in the Pro- 
 phets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every 
 man, therefore, that hath heard and hath learned of 
 the Father, cometh unto Me." It is the new life, 
 and not the natural Reason, which leads the soul to 
 Christ. Does a child trust his parents, because he 
 has proved to himself that they are such, and that 
 they are able and desirous to do him good, or from 
 the instinct of affection? We believe, because we 
 love. How plain a truth? What gain is it to be 
 wise above that which is written? Why, O men, 
 deface with your minute and arbitrary philosophy the 
 simplicity, the reality, the glorious liberty of the in- 
 spired teaching? Is this your godly jealousy for 
 Scripture ? this, your abhorrence of human ad- 
 ditions ? 
 
 It is the doctrine, then, of the text, that those who 
 believe in Christ, believe because they know Him to 
 be the Good Shepherd ; and they know Him by His 
 
LOVE THE SAFEGUARD OF FAITH [Serm. 
 
 voice; and they know His voice, because tbey are 
 His sheep; that they do not follow strangers and 
 robbers, because they know not the voice of stran- 
 gers: moreover, that they know and follow Christ, 
 upon His loving them. " I am come, that they might 
 
 have life The hireling fleeth, because he is a 
 
 hireling, and careth not for the sheep." The divine^ 
 ly-enlightened mind sees in Christ the very Object 
 whom it desires to love and worship, — the Object cor- 
 relative of its own aifections ; and it trusts Him, or 
 believes, from loving Him. 
 
 The same doctrine is contained in many other 
 places, as in the second chapter of St. Paul's First 
 Epistle to the Corinthians. In this passage, doubt- 
 less, there are one or two expressions, which, taken 
 by themselves, admit, and may well be taken to in- 
 clude, a distinct interpretation : as a whole, however, 
 it distinctly teaches the nothingness of natural Reason, 
 and the all-suflficiency of supernatural grace in the 
 conversion of the soul. "And I, brethren, when I 
 came to you, came not with excellency of speech or 
 of wisdom," (with discussion, argument, elaborate 
 proof, cumulation of evidence,) " declaring unto you 
 the testimony of God. For I determined not to know 
 anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him 
 
 crucified And my speech and my preaching 
 
 was not with enticing words of man's wisdom," not 
 with the reasonings of the schools, " but in demon- 
 stration of the Spirit, and of power," with an inward 
 and spiritual conviction, " that your Faith should not 
 
XJ.] AGAINST SUPERSTITION. 231 
 
 stand in the wisdom of men," natural Reason, " but in 
 the power of God," His regenerating and renewing 
 influences. " But the natural man receiveth not the 
 things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness 
 unto him ; neither can he know them, because they 
 are spiritually discerned : but he that is spiritual 
 judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 
 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he 
 may instruct Him ? But we have the mind of Christ." 
 Here a certain moral state, and not evidence, is made 
 the means of gaining the Truth, and the beginning of 
 spiritual perfection. 
 
 In like manner St. John : " They went out from 
 us, but they were not of us ; for if they had been of 
 us, they would no dovJbt have continued with us; 
 but they went out, that they might be made manifest 
 that they were not all of us. But ye have an unction 
 from the Holy One, and ye know all things." If this 
 unction and this knowledge, which God the Holy 
 Ghost bestows, be a moral gift, (as who will deny?) 
 then also must our departing from Christ arise from 
 the want of a moral gift, and our adhering to Him 
 must be the consequence of a moral gift. 
 
 Again: — "The anointing which ye have received 
 of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man 
 teach you, but as the same anointing teacheth you of 
 all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it 
 hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him'." Surely 
 
 ' 1 Cor. ii. 1, 2. 4. 14—16. 1 John ii. 19, 20—27. 
 
LOVE THE SAFEGUARD OF FAITH [Sbrm. 
 
 the faculty by which we know the Truth is here 
 represented to us, not as a power of investigation, 
 but as a moral perception. 
 
 If this, then, is the real state of the case, (as I do 
 think would be granted by all of us, if, discarding 
 systems, we allowed Scripture to make its legitimate 
 and full impression upon our minds,) if holiness, 
 dutifulness, or love, however we word it, and not 
 Reason, is the eye of Faith, the discriminating prin- 
 ciple which keeps it from fastening on unworthy ob- 
 jects, and degenerating into enthusiasm or supersti- 
 tion, it now follows to attempt to analyze the process 
 by which it does so. I mean, let us examine how it 
 happens, what in the actual course of thinking and 
 determining is the mode, by which Love does regulate 
 as well as animate Faith, guiding it in a clear and 
 high path, neither enervated by excitement, nor de- 
 pressed by bondage, nor distorted by extravagance. 
 For till we have done this in some good measure, it 
 is plain that we have made little advance towards 
 grasping the meaning of the Scripture statements on 
 the subject. I will make an endeavour this way, as 
 far as time permits, and so bring my present remarks 
 to an end. 
 
 Right Faith is the faith of a right mind. Faith is 
 an intellectual act ; right Faith is an intellectual act, 
 done in a certain moral disposition. Faith is an act of 
 Reason, viz. a reasoning upon presumptions; right 
 Faith is a reasoning upon holy, devout, and enlightened 
 presumptions. Faith ventures and hazards; right 
 
XI-] AGAINST SUPERSTITION. 233 
 
 Faith ventures and hazards deliberately, seriously, so- 
 berly, piously, and humbly, counting the cost and de- 
 lighting in the sacrifice. As far as, and wherever Love 
 is wanting, so far, and there. Faith runs into excess or 
 is perverted. The grounds of Faith, when animated 
 by the spirit of love and purity, are such as these : — 
 that a revelation is very needful for man ; that it is 
 earnestly to be hoped from a merciful God ; that it is to 
 be expected ; nay, that of the two it is more probable, 
 that what professes to be a revelation should be or 
 should contain a revelation, than that there should 
 be no revelation at all ; that, if Almighty God inter- 
 poses in human affairs, His interposition will not be 
 in opposition to His known attributes, or to His 
 dealings in the world, or to certain previous revelations 
 of His will ; that it will be in' a way worthy of Him ; 
 that it is likely to bear plain indications of His hand ; 
 that it will be for great ends, specified or signified ; 
 and moreover, that such and such ends are in their 
 nature great, such and such a message important, 
 such and such means worthy, such and such circum- 
 stances congruous. I consider that under the guidance 
 of such anticipations and calculations as these which 
 Faith — not mere Faith, but Faith working by Love — 
 suggests, the honest mind may, under ordinary circum- 
 stances, be led, and practically is led, into an accept- 
 able, enlightened, and saving apprehension of divine 
 Truth, without that formal intimacy and satisfaction 
 with the special evidence existing for the facts believed, 
 which is commonly called Reasoning, or the use of 
 
23i LOVE THE SAFEGUARD OF FAITH [Seem. 
 
 Reason, and which results in knowledge. Some in- 
 stances will serve to explain how : — 
 
 1. Superstition, in its grossest form, is the worship 
 of evil spirits. What the Gentiles sacrifice is done 
 (we are told) " to devils, not to God ;" their table is 
 " the table of devils." " They offered their sons and 
 their daughters unto devils K" It is needless to say, 
 that the view above taken of the nature of Religious 
 Faith has no tendency towards such impieties. Faith, 
 indeed, considered as a mere abstract principle, cer- 
 tainly does tend to humble the mind before any thing 
 which comes with a profession of being supernatural ; 
 not so the Faith of a religious mind, a right religious 
 Faith, which is instinct with love towards God and 
 towards man. Love towards man will make it shrink 
 from cruelty ; love towards God from false worship. 
 This is idolatry, to account creatures as the primary 
 and independent sources of providence and the ulti- 
 mate objects of our devotion. I say, the principle of 
 Love, acting not by way of inquiry or argument, 
 but spontaneously and as an instinct, will cause the 
 mind to recoil from cruelty, impurity, and the as- 
 sumption of divinity, though coming with ever so 
 superhuman a claim, real or professed. And though 
 there are cases in which such a recoil is erroneous, 
 as arising from partial views or misconceptions, yet 
 on the whole it will be found a correct index of the 
 state of the case, and a safe direction for our con- 
 duct. 
 
 ' 1 Cor. X. 20. Ps. cva. 37. 
 
XI.] AGAINST SUPERSTITION. 235 
 
 2. Again: another kind ef Superstition, as the 
 word is usually understood, is the payment of reli- 
 gious honour to things forbidden. Such were some 
 of the idolatries to which the Israelites surrendered 
 themselves, as the worship of the golden calf. More- 
 over, when a ritual has directly been given from 
 heaven, what is not commanded may be accounted 
 forbidden, except a power of making additions has 
 been granted; it being the same undutifulness to 
 supersede or alter the revealed manner of approaching 
 God, as to adopt means actually unlawful. Such 
 might be the continued worship of the Brazen Ser- 
 pent, which, though at a certain juncture an ordained 
 symbol and instrument of God, nevertheless, in a rigid 
 system of rites, such as the Mosaic, could not be 
 honoured in continuance at the people's will, espe- 
 cially with self-devised rites, without great undutiful- 
 ness, or lack of love. On the other hand, Nebuchad- 
 nezzar's homage to Daniel, when the king " fell on his 
 face and worshipped him, and commanded that they 
 should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him," 
 was accepted by the Prophet, as coming from a 
 heathen, to whom such works of reverence had not 
 been forbidden by any imposed ritual, and who on 
 the other hand could not mean to acknowledge 
 Daniel as the source of prophetic knowledge, both 
 because the Prophet had himself just declared that 
 there was a " God in heaven that revealeth secrets, 
 and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what 
 shall be in the latter days," and also because he him- 
 
236 LOVE THE SAFEGUARD OF FAITH [Sbrm. 
 
 self, while commanding- the oblation, proceeds to say, 
 " Of a truth it is that your God is a God of gods, 
 and a Lord of kings, and a Revealef of secrets, seeing 
 thou couldest reveal this secret." Nebuchadnezzar 
 then (it would seem) did not stop short of God ; but 
 honoured Daniel as God's visible emblem, and that 
 without any revealed prohibition of his doing So. 
 And if so, his faith did not evince any deficiency of 
 love, or any superstition. 
 
 3. Here we may lay it down as a principle, that 
 what is superstition in Jew or Christian is not neces- 
 sarily such in heathen ; or what in Christian is not in 
 Jew. Faith leads the mind to communion with the 
 invisible God ; its attempts at approaching and 
 pleasing Him are acceptable or not, according as they 
 are or are not self-willed ; and they are self-willed 
 when they are irrespective of God's revealed will. It 
 was a superstition in the Israelites, and not faith, to 
 take the Ark to battle uncomraanded, and they were 
 punished with the loss of it. It was no superstition 
 in the Philistines, abundantly superstitious and wicked 
 as they otherwise were, to yoke the kine to the Ark, 
 and to leave them to themselves to see what they 
 would do ; thus making trial of the Ark's sacredness. 
 It was a trial which could but be unsuccessful, but 
 might give them assurance; and whatever of heathen 
 irreverence there was in the circumstances of the 
 action, yet still it was to a certain extent a tacit, or 
 (if we will) an unwilling, acknowledgment of the God 
 of Israel. Again, sacrifices of blood were not ne- 
 
XL] AGAINST SUPERSTITION. 237 
 
 cessarily superstitious in heathen; they would be most 
 superstitious and profane in Christians, as being super- 
 seded by the great Atonement made once for all, and 
 the continual Memory of it in Holy Communion. 
 On the other hand, the Sign of the Cross in Bap- 
 tism would be superstitious, unless the Church had 
 "power to decree rites and ceremonies in the worship 
 of God." 
 
 4. Again ; when the barbarous people of Melita 
 saw the viper fasten upon St. Paul's hand, first they 
 considered him a murderer, then a god. What is to 
 be said of their conduct ? Plainly it evinced Faith ; 
 but was it healthy Faith or perverted ? On the one 
 hand^ they had a sense of the probability of super- 
 natural interference, such as to lead them to accept 
 this occurrence as more than ordinary, while they 
 doubted and wavered in their interpretation of it ac- 
 cording as circumstances varied. Faith accepted it 
 as supernatural ; and in matter of fact they were 
 not wrong in the main point. They judged rightly 
 in thinking that God's presence was in some imme- 
 diate way with St. Paul; Reason, following upon 
 Faith, attempted to deduce from it. Their reasoning 
 was wrong, their faith was right. But did it not in- 
 volve Superstition? We must distinguish here. It 
 is no refinement, surely, to say that they were not 
 superstitious, though their conduct, viewed in itself, 
 was such. Their reasoning was superstitious in our 
 idea of Superstition; I mean, with our superior know- 
 ledge of religious truth, we are able to say that they 
 
238 LOVE THE SAFEGUARD OF FAITH [Serm. 
 
 were seeing in things visible what was not there, and 
 drawing conclusions which were not valid ; but it 
 needs to be proved that they acted preposterously or 
 weakly under their circumstances. I am speaking, 
 be it observed, of their incidental reasoning; and con- 
 cerning this I say that it does not become us, who are 
 blessed with light, which gives us freedom from the 
 creature by telling us definitely where are the paths 
 and dwelling-places of God in the visible world, to 
 despise those who were "seeking Him, if haply they 
 might feel after Him and find Him." Superstition 
 is a faith which falls below that standard of religion 
 which God has given us, whatever it is. We are ac- 
 customed naturally and fairly to define, according to 
 our own standard, what are abstractedly superstitions 
 and what are not ; but we have no right to apply this 
 standard, in particular cases, to other men whose cir- 
 cumstances are different. 
 
 5." The woman with the issue of blood, who thought 
 to be healed by secretly touching our Lord's garment; 
 may perhaps be more correctly called superstitious 
 than the barbarians of Melita. Yet it is remarkable 
 that even she was encouraged by our Lord, and that 
 on the very ground of her faith. In His judgment, 
 then, a religious state of mind, which is not free from 
 Superstition, may still be Faith, — nay, and high Faith. 
 "Daughter," He said, "be of good comfort; thy 
 faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be 
 whole of thy plague." I have said that she showed 
 a more superstitious temper than the people of 
 
XL] AGAINST SUPERSTITION. 239 
 
 Melita, inasmuch as what she did was inconsistent 
 with what she knew. Her faith did not rise to the 
 standard of her own light. She knew enough of the 
 Good Shepherd to have directed her faith to Him as 
 the one source of all good, instead of which she 
 lingered in the circumstances and outskirts of His 
 Divine Perfections. She in effect regarded the hem 
 of His garment as an original principle of miraculous 
 power, and thereby placed herself almost in the po- 
 sition of those who idolize the creature. Yet even 
 til is seems to have arisen from great humbleness of 
 mind : like the servants of the ruler of the syna- 
 gogue, who were then standing by, she feared 
 probably to "trouble the Master" with her direct 
 intercession; or like the Apostles on a subsequent 
 occasion, who rebuked those who brought children 
 for His touch, she was unwilling to interrupt Him ; 
 or she was full of her own unworthiuess, like the 
 centurion who prayed that Christ would not con- 
 descend to enter his roof, but would speak the word 
 instead, or send a messenger. She thought that a 
 little one, such as herself, might come in for the 
 crumbs from His table by chance, and without His 
 distinct bidding, by the perpetual operation and 
 spontaneous exuberance of those majestic general 
 laws on which He wrought miracles. In all this, — 
 in her faith and her humility, her faith tinged with 
 superstition, her abject humility, — she would seem to 
 resemble such worshippers in various ages and coun- 
 tries in the Christian Church, as have impaired their 
 
240 LOVE THE SAFEGUARD OF FAITH [Serm. 
 
 simple veneration of the Invisible, by an undue lin- 
 gering of mind upon the outward emblems which they 
 have considered He had blessed. 
 
 6. One more instance shall be added, — that of the 
 Prophet from Judah, who had a message brought him 
 by a lying Prophet in the name of the Lord, bidding 
 him go home with him. Had he not been a Prophet 
 himself, had he known the other to have been a 
 Prophet; nay, or even considering that he called him- 
 self such, and that prophets then were in Israel, there 
 would have been nothing very superstitious or wrong 
 in his yielding to his solicitations. But of course the 
 character of the act was quite changed, considering 
 his own commission, and the express directions which 
 had been given him how to conduct himself in the 
 apostate land. If he went back with his seducer 
 merely to refresh himself, as would appear, of course 
 neither Faith nor Superstition had anything to do with 
 his conduct, which was a mere yielding to temptation ; 
 but if he did suppose that he was thereby com- 
 mending himself to God, he showed credulousness', 
 not Faith. And here we see why it is not Faith, 
 but credulousness and superstition, to listen to idle 
 tales of apparitions, charms, omens, and the like^ 
 which may be current even in a Christian land ; viz. 
 because we have already received a revelation. The 
 miracles, we believe, indispose us to believe the report 
 of other miracles external to the revealed system. 
 We have found the Christ, we are not seeking. And 
 much more, if the doctrine put forth in the professed 
 
XI] AGAINST SUPERSTITION. 241 
 
 revelation of to-day contradicts or invalidates the doc- 
 trine of those revelations which have been received 
 from the beginning. Hence we are expressly warned 
 in Scripture, that though an Angel from heaven 
 preach unto us any other Gospel than that we have 
 received, he must be pronounced anathema. And this 
 was the sin of the Judaizers, that having received 
 the Spirit, they went back for perfection to the rites 
 of the Law then abolished. In like manner the Is- 
 raelites had been warned by Moses ; " If there arise 
 among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and 
 giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the 
 wonder come to pass whereof he spake unto thee, say- 
 ing. Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not 
 known, and let us serve them ; thou shalt not hearken 
 unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer of 
 dreams, for the Lord your God proveth you, to know 
 whether ye love the Lord your God with all your 
 heart and with all your soul." And hence it was a 
 point of especial moment with St. Paul, to prove 
 that the Gospel was not an annulling of the Law, but 
 its fulfilment, built upon it and intended by it ; and 
 that in the rejection of the Jews and the calling of 
 the Gentiles, the old Church as well as the old Com- 
 mandment was still preserved. And thus, even in the 
 case of the heathen, the Apostle was anxious to pay 
 due respect to the truths which they already admitted, 
 and to show that the Gospel was rather the purifi- 
 cation, explanation, development, and completion of 
 UNIV. s. R 
 
242 LOVE THE SAFEGUARD OF FAITH [Seem. 
 
 those scattered verities of Paganism than their abro- 
 gation". "Whom therefore ye ignqrantly worship," 
 he says, " Him declare I unto you." In other words, 
 it was not his method to represent the faith, to which 
 he exhorted his hearers, as a state of mind utterly 
 alien from their existing knowledge, their convictions, 
 and their moral character. He drew them on, not by 
 unsettling them, but through their own system, as 
 far as might be, — by persuasives of a positive nature, 
 and which, while fitted to attract by their innate truth 
 and beauty, excluded by their very presence whatever 
 in Paganism was inconsistent with them. What they 
 already were, was to lead them on, as by a venture, 
 to what they were not ; what they knew was to lead 
 them on, upon presumptions, to what they as yet 
 knew not. Neither of Jew nor of Gentile did he 
 demand Faith in his message, on the bare antecedent 
 ground that God was every where, and therefore, if so 
 be, might be with himself in particular who spoke to 
 them ; nor, again, did he appeal merely to his mi- 
 raculous powers ; but he looked at men stedfastly, to 
 
 ' Some admirable articles have appeared in the late num- 
 bers of the "British Critic," on the divinely appointed mode 
 of seeking truth where persons are in doubt and difficulty, viz. 
 No. Ix. art. 2 ; Ixii. art. 1 ; Ixiii. art. 2 ; Ixiv. art. 3 ; Ixv. 
 art. 7. As they appear to be but the first sketches of a deep 
 and important theory which has possession of the writer's mind, 
 it is to be hoped that they will one day appear in a more sys- 
 tematic form. 
 
XI.] AGAINST SUPERSTITION. 243 
 
 see whether they had « faith to be healed ;" he appealed 
 to that -whole body of opinion, affection, and desire, 
 which made up, in each man, his moral self; which, 
 distinct from all guesses and random efforts, set him 
 forward steadily in one direction, which, if it was what 
 it should be, would respond to the Apostle's doctrine, 
 as the strings of one instrument vibrate with another, 
 which, if it was not, would either not accept it, or 
 not abide in it. He taught men, not only that Al- 
 mighty God was, and was every where, but that He 
 had certain moral attributes ; that He was just, true, 
 holy, and merciful ; that His representative was in 
 their hearts; that He already dwelt in them as a 
 lawgiver and a judge, by a sense of right and a 
 conscience of sin; and that what he himself was 
 then bringing fulfilled what was thus begun in them 
 by nature, by tokens so like the truth, as to constrain 
 all who loved God under the Religion of Nature to 
 believe in Him as revealed in the Gospel. 
 
 Such, then, under all circumstances, is real Faith ; 
 a presumption, yet not a mere chance conjecture, — 
 a reaching forward, yet not of excitement or of pas- 
 sion,— a moving forward in the twilight, yet not 
 without clue or direction ; — a movement from some- 
 thing known to something unknown, kept in the nar- 
 row path of truth by the Law of dutifulness which 
 inhabits it, the Light of heaven which animates and 
 guides it, — and which, whether feeble and dim as in 
 
 R 2 
 
Mi LOVE THE SAFEGUARD OF FAITH [Sbhm. 
 
 the Heathen, or bright and vigorous as in the Chris- 
 tian ; whether merely the awakening and struggling 
 conscience, or the " minding of the Spirit ;" whether 
 as a timid hope, or in the fulness of love ; is under 
 every Dispensation, the one acceptable principle com- 
 mending us to God for the merits of Christ. And it 
 becomes superstition, or credulity, or enthusiasm, or 
 fanaticism, or bigotry, in proportion as it emancipates 
 itself from this spirit of wisdom and understanding, 
 of counsel and ghostly strength, of knowledge and 
 true godliness, and holy fear. And thus I would 
 answer the question how it may be secured from 
 excess, without the necessity of employing what is 
 popularly called Reason for its protection: I mean 
 processes of investigation, discrimination, discus- 
 sion, argument, and inference. It is itself an in- 
 tellectual act, and it takes its character from the 
 moral state of the "agent. It is perfected, not by 
 mental cultivation, but by obedience. It does not 
 change its nature or its function, when thus per- 
 fected. It remains what it is in itself, an initial 
 principle of action ; but it becomes changed in its 
 quality, as being made spiritual. It is, as before, a 
 presumption, but the presumption of a serious, sober, 
 thoughtful, pure, affectionate, and devout mind. It 
 acts because it is Faith ; but the direction,, firm- 
 ness, consistency, and precision of its acts, it gains 
 from Love. 
 
 Let these remarks suffice, insufficient as they are in 
 
XL] AGAINST SUPERSTITION. 245 
 
 themselves, on the relation and distinction between 
 Faith and Superstition. Other important questions, 
 however, remain, which have a claim on the attention 
 of all who would gain clear notions on an important 
 and difficult subject. 
 
SERMON XII. 
 
 IMPLICIt AND EXPLICIT REASON. 
 Preached on St. Peter's Day, 1840. 
 
 1 Pet. iii. 15. 
 
 " Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts ; and be ready always to 
 give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the 
 hope that is in you, with meekness and fear." 
 
 St. Petee's faith was one of his characteristic graces. 
 It was ardent, keen, watchful, and prompt. It dis- 
 pensed with argument, calculation, deliberation, and 
 delay, whenever it heard the voice of its Lord and 
 Saviour : and it heard that voice even when its ac- 
 cents were low, or when it was unaided by the tes- 
 timony of the other senses. When Christ appeared 
 walking on the sea, and said, "It is I," Peter an- 
 swered Him, and said, " Lord, if it be Thou, bid me 
 come unto Thee on the water." When Christ asked 
 His disciples who He was, " Simon Peter answered 
 and said," as we have read in the Gospel for this 
 day, " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living 
 
IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. 247 
 
 God," and obtained our Lord's blessing for such clear 
 and ready Faith. At another time, when Christ 
 asked the Twelve whether they would leave Him as 
 others did, St. Peter said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? 
 Thou hast the words of eternal life ; and we believe 
 and are sure that Thou art the Christ, the Son of 
 the Living God." And after the Resurrection, when 
 he heard from St. John that it was Christ who stood 
 on the shore, he sprang out of the boat in which he 
 was fishing, and cast himself into the sea, in his im- 
 patience to come near Him. Other instances of his 
 faith might be mentioned. If ever Faith forgot self, 
 and was occupied with its Great Object, it was the 
 faith of Peter. If in any one Faith appears in contrast 
 with what we commonly understand by Reason, and 
 with Evidence, it so appears in the instance of Peter. 
 When he reasoned, it was at times when Faith was 
 lacking. "When he saw the wind boisterous he 
 was afraid ;" and Christ in consequence called him, 
 " Thou of little faith." When He had asked, " Who 
 touched Me ?" Peter and others reasoned, " Master," 
 said they, "the multitude throng Thee, and press 
 Thee, and sayest Thou, Who touched Me ?" And in 
 like manner, when Christ said that he should one day 
 follow Him in the way of suflFering, "Peter said 
 unto Him, Lord, why cannot I follow Thee now?" — 
 and we know how his faith gave way soon afterwards. 
 Faith and Reason, then, stand in strong contrast 
 in the history of Peter : yet it is Peter, and he not 
 the fisherman of Galilee, but the inspired Apostle, 
 
248 IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. [Serm. 
 
 who in the text gives us a precept which implies, in 
 order to its due fulfilment, a careful exercise of our 
 Reason, an exercise both upon Faith, considered as 
 an act or habit of mind, and upon the Object of it. 
 We are not only to " sanctify the Lord God in our 
 hearts," not only to prepare a shrine within us in 
 which our Saviour Christ may dwellj and where we 
 may worship Him ; but we are so to understand what 
 we do, so to master our thoughts and feelings, so to 
 recognize what we believe, and how we believe, so to 
 trace out our ideas and impressions, and to contem- 
 plate the issue of them, that we may be "ready 
 dways to give an answer to mery man that asketh us 
 an account of the hope that is in us." In these words, 
 I conceive, we have a clear warrant, or rather an in- 
 junction, to cast our religion into the form of Creed 
 and Evidences. 
 
 It would seem, then, that though Faith is the 
 characteristic of the Gospel, and Faith is the simple 
 lifting of the mind to the Unseen God, without con- 
 scious reasoning or formal argument, still the mind 
 may be allowably, nay, religiously engaged, in reflect- 
 ing upon its own Faith ; investigating the grounds 
 and Object of it, bringing it out into words, whether 
 to defend, or recommend, or teach it to others. And 
 St. Peter himself, in spite of his ardour and earnest- 
 ness, gives us in his own case some indications of 
 such an exercise of mind. When he said, "Thou 
 art the Christ, the Son of the Living God," he cast 
 his faith, in a measure, into a dogmatic form ; and 
 
XII.] IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON, 249 
 
 when he said, " To whom shall we go ? Thou hast 
 the words of eternal life," he gave "an account of the 
 hope that was in him," or grounded his faith upon 
 Evidence. 
 
 Nothing would be more theoretical and unreal 
 than to suppose that true Faith cannot exist except 
 when moulded upon a Creed, and based upon Evi- 
 dence; yet nothing would indicate a more shallow 
 philosophy than to say that it ought carefully to be 
 disjoined from dogmatic and argumentative state- 
 ments. To assert the latter is to discard the science 
 of theology from the service of religion ; to assert 
 the former, is to maintain that every child, every 
 peasant, must be a theologian. Faith cannot exist 
 without grounds or without an object ; but it does 
 not follow that all who have faith should recognize, 
 and be able to state what they believe, and how. 
 Nor, on the other hand, because it is not identical 
 with its grounds and its object, does it therefore 
 cease to be true Faith, on its recognizing them ? In 
 proportion as the mind reflects upon itself, it will be 
 able "to give an account" of what it believes and 
 hopes ; as far as it has not thus reflected, it will not 
 be able. Such knowledge cannot be wrong, yet can- 
 not be necessary, while reflection is at once a natural 
 faculty of our souls, yet needs cultivation. Scripture 
 gives instances of Faith in each of these states, when 
 attended by a conscious exercise of Reason, and when 
 not. When Nicodemus said, " No man can do these 
 miracles thatThou doest, except God be with him,"he 
 
250 IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. [Sbbm. 
 
 reasoned or argued. When the Scribe said, " There 
 is One God, and there is none other but He ; and to 
 
 love Him with all the heart is more than all 
 
 whole burnt offerings and sacrifices," his belief was 
 dogmatical On the other hand, when the cripple at 
 Lystra believed, on St. Paul's preaching, or the man 
 at the Beautiful gate believed in the Name of Christ, 
 their faith was independent, not of objects or grounds, 
 (for that is impossible,) but of perceptible, recognized, 
 producible objects and grounds : they believed, they 
 could not say what or why. True Faith, then, adoiits, 
 but does not require, the exercise of what is com- 
 monly understood by Reason. 
 
 I hope it will not seem any want of reverence to- 
 wards a great Apostle, who reigns with Christ in 
 heaven, if, instead of selecting one of the many les- 
 sons to which his history calls our attention, or the 
 points of doctrine which might so profitably be en- 
 larged upon, I employ his Day to continue a subject 
 to which I have already devoted such opportunities 
 of speaking from this place as have from time to time 
 occurred, though it be but incidentally connected 
 with him. Such a continuation of subject has some 
 sanction in the character of our first Lessons for Holy 
 days, which, for the most part, instead of being appro- 
 priate to the particular Festivals on which they are 
 appointed, are portions of a course, and connected with 
 those which are assigned to others. And I will add 
 that, if there is a question, the intrusion of which may 
 be excused in the present age, and to which the mind 
 1 
 
XII.] IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. 251 
 
 is naturally led on the Days commemorative of the 
 first Founders of the Church, it is the relation of 
 Faith to Reason under the Gospel ; and the means 
 whereby, and the grounds whereon, and the subjects 
 wherein, the mind is bound to believe and acquiesce 
 in matters of religion. 
 
 In the Epistle for this Day we have an account of 
 St. Peter, when awakened by the Angel, obeying him 
 implicitly, yet not understanding, while he obeyed. 
 He girt himself, and bound on his sandals, and cast 
 his garment about him, and " went out and followed 
 him ;" yet " wist not that it was true which was 
 done by the Angel, but thought he saw a vision." 
 Afterwards, when he " was come to himself, he said, 
 Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent His 
 Angel, and hath delivered me." First he acted spon^ 
 taneously, then he contemplated his own acts. This 
 may be taken as an illustration of the difference be- 
 tween the more simple faculties and operations of the 
 mind, and that process of analyzing and describing 
 them, which takes place upon reflection. We not 
 only feel, and think, and reason, but we know that 
 we feel, and think, and reason ; not only know, but 
 can inspect and ascertain our thoughts, feelings, and 
 reasonings ; not only ascertain, but describe. Chil- 
 dren, for a time, do not realize even their material 
 frames, or (as I may say) count their limbs : but, as 
 the mind opens, and is cultivated, they turn their 
 attention to soul as well as body ; they contemplate 
 all they are, and all they do ; they are no longer 
 
252 IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. [Seem. 
 
 beings of impulse, instinct, conscience, imagination, 
 habit, or reason, merely ; but they are able to reflect 
 upon their own mind as if it were some external ob- 
 ject ; they reason upon their reasonings. This is the 
 point on which I shall now enlarge. 
 
 Reason, according to the simplest view of it, is the 
 faculty of gaining knowledge without direct percep- 
 tion, or of ascertaining one thing by means of another. 
 In this way it is able, from small beginnings, to create 
 to itself a world of ideas, which do or do not corre- 
 spond to the things themselves for which they stand, 
 or are true or not, according as it is exercised soundly 
 or otherwise. One fact may suffice for a whole 
 theory; one principle may create and sustain a sys- 
 tem ; one minute token is a clue to a discovery. The 
 mind ranges to and fro, and spreads out, and advances 
 forward with a quickness which has become a proverb, 
 and a subtlety and versatility which baffle investi- 
 gation. It passes on from point to point, gaining one 
 by some indication ; another on a probability ; then 
 availing itself of an association ; then falling back on 
 some received law ; next seizing on testimony ; then 
 committing itself to some popular impression, or some 
 inward instinct, or some obscure memory ; and thus 
 it makes progress not unlike a clamberer on a steep 
 cliff, who, by quick eye, prompt hand, and firm foot, 
 ascends how he knows not himself, by personal en- 
 dowments and by practice, rather than by rule, leav- 
 ing no track behind him, and unable to teach another. 
 It is not too much to say that the stepping by which 
 
XII.] IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. 253 
 
 great geniuses scale the mountains of truth is as 
 unsafe and precarious to men in general, as the ascent 
 of a skilful mountaineer up a literal crag. It is a 
 way which they alone can take ; and its justification 
 lies in their success. And such mainly is the way 
 in which all men, gifted or not gifted, reason, — not 
 by rule, but by an inward faculty. 
 
 Reasoning, then, or the exercise of Reason is a 
 living spontaneous energy within us, not an art. But 
 when the mind reflects upon itself, it begins to be 
 dissatisfied with the absence of order and method in 
 the exercise, and attempts to analyze the various pro- 
 cesses which take place during it, to refer one to 
 another, and to discover the main principles on which 
 they are conducted, as it might contemplate and in- 
 vestigate its faculty of memory or imagination. The 
 boldest, simplest, and most comprehensive theory 
 which has been invented for the analysis of the rea- 
 soning process, is the well-known science for which 
 we are indebted to Aristotle, and which is framed 
 upon the principle, that every act of reasoning is exer- 
 cised upon neither more nor less than three terms. 
 Short of this, we have many general words in fa- 
 miliar use to designate particular methods of thought, 
 according to which the mind reasons, (that is, proceeds 
 from truth to truth,) or to designate particular states 
 of mind which influence its reasonings. Such methods 
 are antecedent probability, analogy, parallel cases, 
 testimony, and circumstantial evidences; and such 
 states of mind are prejudice, deference to authority, 
 
254i IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. [Serm. 
 
 party spirit, attachment to such and such principles, 
 and the like. In like manner we distribute the Evi- 
 dences of Religion into External and Internal ; into 
 a priori and a posteriori ; into Evidences of Natural 
 Religion and of Revealed ; and so on. Again, we 
 speak of proving doctrines either from the nature of 
 the case, or from Scripture, or from history ; and of 
 teaching them in a dogmatic, or a polemical, or a 
 hortatory way. In these and other ways we instance 
 the reflective power of the human mind, contem- 
 plating and scrutinizing its own acts. 
 
 Here, then, are two processes, distinct from each 
 other, — the original process of reasoning, and next 
 the process of investigating our reasonings. All 
 men reason, for to reason is nothing more than to 
 gain truth from former truth, without the intervention 
 of sense, to which brutes are limited ; but all men 
 do not reflect upon their own reasonings, much less 
 reflect truly and accurately, so as to do justice to 
 their ovra meaning ; but only in proportion to their 
 abilities and attainments. In other words, all men 
 have a reason, but not all men can give a reason. 
 We may denote, then, these two exercises of mind as 
 reasoning and arguing, or as conscious and uncon- 
 scious reasoning, or as Implicit Reason and Explicit 
 Reason. And to the latter belong the words, science, 
 method, development, analysis, criticism, proof, system, 
 principles, rules, laws, and others of a like nature. 
 
 That these two faculties are not to be confounded 
 together would seem too plain for remark, except 
 
XII.] IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. 255 
 
 that they have been confounded. Clearness in argu- 
 ment certainly is not indispensable to reasoning well. 
 Accuracy in stating doctrines or principles is not 
 essential to feeling and acting upon them. The 
 exercise of analysis is not necessary to the integrity 
 of the process analyzed. The process of reasoning 
 is complete in itself, and independent. The analysis 
 is but an account of it ; it does not make the con- 
 clusion correct ; it does not make the inference 
 rational. It does not cause an individual to reason 
 better. It does but give him a sustained conscious- 
 ness, for good or for evil, that he is reasoning. How 
 a man reasons is as much a mystery as how he re- 
 members. He remembers better and worse on dif- 
 ferent subject-matters, and he reasons better and 
 worse. Some men's reason becomes genius in par- 
 ticular subjects, and is less than ordinary in others. 
 The faculty or talent of reasoning may be distinct in 
 different subjects, though the process of reasoning is 
 the same. Now a good arguer or clear speaker is but 
 one who excels in analyzing or expressing a process 
 of reason, taken as his subject-matter. He traces 
 out the connexion of facts, detects principles, applies 
 them, supplies deficiencies, till he has reduced the 
 whole into order. But his talent of reasoning, or the 
 gift of reason as possessed by him, may be confined 
 to such an exercise, and he may be as little expert in 
 other exercises, as a mathematician need be an ex- 
 perimentalist; as little creative of the reasoning itself 
 
256 IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. [Serm. 
 
 which he analyzes, as a critic need possess the gift of 
 writing poems. 
 
 But if reasoning and arguing be thus distinct, 
 what is to be thought of assertions such as the fol- 
 lowing ? Certainly, to say the least, they are very 
 inaccurately worded, and may lead, as they have led, 
 to great error. 
 
 Tillotson, for instance, says : " Nothing ought to 
 be received as a divine doctrine and revelation, 
 without good evidence that it is so : that is, without 
 some argument sufiicient to satisfy a prudent and 
 considerate man'." Again: "Faith ... is an assent 
 of the mind to something as revealed by God : now 
 all assent must be grounded upon evidence ; that is, 
 no man can believe anything, unless he have, or 
 think he hath, some reason to do so. For to be con- 
 fident of a thing without reason is not faith, but a 
 presumptuous persuasion and obstinacy of mind'." 
 Such assertions either have an untrue meaning, or 
 are unequal to the inferences which the writers pro- 
 ceed to draw from them. 
 
 In like manner Paley and others^ argue that mi- 
 racles are not improbable unless a revelation is im- 
 probable, on the ground that there is no other con- 
 ceivable way of ascertaining a revelation; that is, they 
 would imply the necessity of a conscious investigation 
 and verification of its claims, or the possession of 
 
 ' Serm. vol. ii. p. 260. ^ Serm. vol. iv. p. 42. 
 
 Prepar. Consid. p. 3 ; vid, also Farmer on Miracles, p. 539. 
 
XII.] IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. 257 
 
 grounds which are satisfactory in argument ; whereas 
 considerations which seem weak and insufficient in an 
 explicit form may lead, and justly lead, us by an 
 implicit process to a reception of Christianity ; just 
 as a peasant may from the look of the sky foretel 
 to-morrow's weather, on grounds which, as far as they 
 are producible, an exact logician would not scruple 
 to pronounce inaccurate and inconsequent. " In 
 what way," he asks, "can a revelation be made," 
 that is, as the context shows, be ascertained, " but 
 by miracles? In none which we are able to con- 
 ceive." 
 
 Again : another writer says, " There are but two 
 ways by which God could reveal His will to man- 
 kind ; either by an immediate influence on the mind 
 of every individual of every age, or by selecting some 
 particular persons to be His instruments .... and 
 for this purpose vested by Him with such powers as 
 might carry the strongest evidence that they were really 
 divine teachers *." On the other hand, Bishop Butler 
 tells us, that it is impossible to decide what evidence 
 will be afforded of a revelation, supposing it made ; 
 and certainly it might have been given without any 
 supernatural display at all, ; being left (as it is in a 
 manner even now) to be received or rejected by each 
 man according as his heart sympathised in it, that is, 
 on the influence of reasons, which, though practically 
 
 ■* Douglas, Criterion, pp. 21, 22, 
 UNIV. S. S 
 
258 IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. [Sbbm. 
 
 persuasive, are weak when set forth as the argu- 
 mentative grounds of conviction. 
 
 Faith, then, though in all cases a reasonaible pro- 
 cess, is not necessarily founded on investigation, ar- 
 gument, or proof; these processes being but the ex- 
 plicit form which the reasoning takes in the case of 
 particular minds. Nay, so far from it, that the op- 
 posite opinion has, with much more plausibility, been 
 advanced, viz. that Faith is not even compatible with 
 these processes. Such an opinion, indeed, cannot be 
 maintained, particularly considering the light which 
 Scripture casts upon the subject, as in the text ; but 
 it may easily take possession of serious minds. When 
 they witness the strife and division to which argu- 
 ment and controversy minister, the proud self-confi- 
 dence which strength of the reasoning powers fosters, 
 the laxity of opinion which often accompanies the 
 study of the Evidences, the coldness, the formality, the 
 secular and carnal spirit which may be united to an 
 exact adherence to dogmatic formularies ; and on the 
 other hand, when they recollect that Scripture re- 
 presents religion as a divine life, seated in the 
 affections and manifested in spiritual graces, no won- 
 der that they are tempted to rescue Faith from all con- 
 nexion with faculties and habits which may exist in 
 perfection without Faith, and which too often usurp 
 from Faith its own province, and profess to be a sub- 
 stitute for it. I repeat, such a persuasion is extreme, 
 and will not maintain itself, and cannot be acted on. 
 
XII] IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON, 259 
 
 for any long time ; it being as paradoxical to prohibit 
 religious inquiry and inference, as to make it impera- 
 tive. Yet we should not dismiss the notice of it, on 
 many accounts, without doing justice to it ; and there- 
 fore I propose now, before considering some of the 
 uses of our critical and analytical powers, in the pro- 
 vince of Religion, to state certain of the inconve- 
 niences and defects ; an undertaking which will fully 
 occupy what remains of our time this morning. 
 
 Inquiry and argument may be employed, first, in 
 ascertaining the divine origin of Religion, Natural and 
 Revealed ; next in interpreting Scripture ; and thirdly, 
 in determining points of Faith and Morals ; that is, in 
 the Evidences, Biblical Exposition, and Dogmatic 
 Theology. In all three departments there is, first of 
 all, an exercise of implicit reason, which is in its 
 degree common to all men ; for all men gain a cer- 
 tain impression, right or wrong, from what comes 
 before them, for or against Christianity, for or against 
 certain interpretations of Scripture, for or against 
 certain doctrines. This impression, made upon their 
 minds, whether by the claim itself of Revealed Reli- 
 gion, or by its documents, or by its teaching, it is the 
 object of science to analyze, verify, methodize, and ex- 
 hibit. We believe certain things, on certain grounds, 
 through certain informants ; and the analysis of these 
 three, the why, the how, and the what, seems pretty 
 nearly to constitute the science of divinity. 
 
 1. By the Evidences of religion I mean the syste- 
 matic analysis of all the grounds on which we believe 
 
 s '2 
 
260 IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. [Serm. 
 
 Christianity to be true. I say, " all," because the word 
 Evidence is often restricted to denote only such 
 arguments as arise out of the thing itself which is to 
 be proved ; or, to speak more definitely, facts and cir- 
 cumstances which presuppose the point under in- 
 quiry as a condition of their existence, and which 
 are weaker or stronger arguments, according as it 
 approaches to be a necessary condition of them. 
 Thus blood on the clothes is an evidence of a mur- 
 derer, just so far as a deed of violence is necessary to 
 the fact of the stains, or alone accounts for them. 
 Such are the Evidences as drawn out by Paley and 
 other writers ; and though but a secondary part, they 
 are popularly considered the whole of the Evidences, 
 because they can be exhibited and studied with far 
 greater ease than antecedent considerations, pre- 
 sumptions, and analogies, which, vague and abstruse 
 as they are, still are more truly the grounds on 
 which religious men receive the Gospel ; but on 
 this subject something has been said on a former 
 occasion. 
 
 2. Under the science of Interpretation is of course 
 included all inquiry into its principles ; the question 
 of mystical interpretation, the theory of the double 
 sense, the doctrine of types, the phraseology of pro- 
 phecy, the drift and aim of the several books of Scrip- 
 ture ; the dates when, the places where, and persons 
 by and to whom they M'ere written ; the comparison 
 and adjustment of book with book ; the uses of the 
 Old Testament ; the relevancy of the Law to Chris- 
 
XII.] IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. 261 
 
 tians; its relation to tlie Gospel, and the historical 
 fulfilment of prophecy. And previous to such in- 
 quiries are others still more necessary, such as the 
 study of the original languages in which the sacred 
 Volume is written. 
 
 3. Under Dogmatic Theology must be included, 
 not only doctrine, such as that of the Blessed Trinity, 
 or the theory of Sacramental Influence, or the settle- 
 ment of the Rule of Faith, but questions of morals 
 and discipline also. 
 
 Now, in considering the imperfections and defects 
 incident to such scientific exercises, we must carefully 
 exempt from our remarks all instances of them which 
 have been vouchsafed to us from above, and there- 
 fore have a Divine sanction ; and that such instances 
 do exist, is the most direct and satisfactory answer to 
 any doubts which religious persons may entertain, of 
 the lawfulness of employing science in the province 
 of Faith at all. Of such analyses and determinations 
 as are certainly from man, we are at liberty to dispute 
 both the truth and the utility: but what God has 
 done is perfect, that is, perfect according to its sub- 
 ject-matter. Whether in the department of evidence. 
 Scripture interpretation, or dogmatic teaching, what 
 He has spoken must be received, not criticised ; — and 
 in saying this, I have not to assign the limit or the 
 channels of God's communications. Whether He 
 speaks only by Scripture, or by private and per- 
 sonal suggesttbn, or by the first ages, or by Tra- 
 dition, or by the Church collective, or by the Church 
 
262 IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. [Serm. 
 
 in Council, or by the Chair of Saint Peter, are 
 questions about which Christians may differ without 
 interfering with the principle itself, that what God 
 has given is true, and what He has not given 
 may, if so be, be not true. What He has not 
 given by His appointed methods, whatever these 
 be, may be venerable for its antiquity, or authori- 
 tative as held by good men, or safer to hold as held 
 by many, or necessary to hold because it has, been 
 subscribed, or persuasive from its probability, or ex- 
 pedient from its good eifects; but after all, except 
 that all good things are from God, it is, as far as we 
 know, a human statement, and is open to criticism, 
 because the work of man. To such human inferences 
 and propositions I confine myself in the remarks 
 that follow. 
 
 Now the great practical evil of method and 
 form in matters of religion, — nay, in all moral 
 matters,— is obviously this: — their promising more 
 than they can eflfect. At best the science of divinity 
 is very imperfect and inaccurate, yet the very name 
 of science is a profession of accuracy. Other and 
 more familiar objections readily occur ; such as its 
 leading to familiarity with sacred things, and conse- 
 quent irreverence; its fostering formality; its sub- 
 stituting a sort of religious philosophy and literature 
 for worship and practice ; its weakening the springs 
 of action by inquiring into them ; its stimulating to 
 controversy and strife ; its substituting, in matters of 
 duty, positive rules which need explanation for an in- 
 
XII.] IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. 263 
 
 stinctive feeling which commands the mind; its 
 leading the mind to mistake system for truth, and to 
 suppose that an hypothesis is real because it is con- 
 sistent: but all such objections, though important, 
 rather lead us to a cautious use of science than to a 
 distrust of it in religious matters. But its insuffi- 
 ciency in so high a province is an evil v^hich attaches 
 to it from first to last, an inherent evil vi^hich there 
 are no means of remedying, and vrhich, perhaps, lies 
 at the root of those other evils which I have just 
 been enumerating. To this evil I shall now direct 
 my attention, having already incidentally referred to 
 it in some of the foregoing remarks. 
 
 No analysis is subtle and delicate enough to re- 
 present adequately the state of mind under which we 
 believe, or the subjects of belief, as they are pre- 
 sented to our thoughts. The end proposed is that of 
 delineating, or, as it were, painting what the mind sees 
 and feels ; now let us consider what it is to pourtray 
 duly in form and colour things material, and we shall 
 surely understand the difficulty, or rather the impos- 
 sibility, of representing the outline and character, the 
 hues and shades in which any intellectual view really 
 exists in the mind, or of giving it that substance and 
 that exactness in detail in which consists its likeness 
 to the original, or of sufficiently marking those minute 
 differences which attach to the same general state of 
 mind or tone of thought as found in this or that in- 
 dividual respectively. It is probable that given 
 opinions, as held by individuals, even when of the 
 
264 ' IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. [Serm. 
 
 most congenial views, are as distinct from each other 
 as their faces. Now how minute is the defect in imi- 
 tation which hinders the likeness of a portrait fron; 
 being successful ! how easy is it to recognize who is 
 intended by it, without allowing that really he. is re- 
 presented ! J Is it not hopeless, then, to expect that 
 the most diligent and anxious investigation can end in 
 more than in giving some very rude description of the 
 living mind, and its feelings, thoughts, and reasonings ? 
 And if it be difficult to analyze fully any state, or 
 frame, or opinion of our own minds, is it a less diffi- 
 culty to delineate, as Theology professes to do, the 
 works, dealings, providences, attributes, or nature of 
 Almighty God? 
 
 In this point of view we may, without irreverence, 
 speak even of the words of inspired Scripture as im- 
 perfect and defective ; and though they are not sub- 
 jects for our judgment (God forbid), yet they will for 
 that very reason serve to enforce and explain better 
 what I would say, and how far the objection goes. In- 
 spiration is defective, not in itself, but in consequence 
 of the medium it uses and the beings it addresses. 
 It uses human language, and it addresses man ; and 
 neither can man compass, nor can his hundred tongues 
 utter, the mysteries of the spiritual world, and God's 
 dealings in this. This vast and intricate scene of 
 things cannot be generalized or represented through 
 or to the mind of man ; and inspiration, in under- 
 taking to do so, necessarily lowers what is divine 
 to raise what is human. What, for instance, is 
 
XII.] IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. 265 
 
 the mention made in Scripture of the laws of God's 
 government, of His providences, counsels, designs, 
 anger, and repentance, but a gracious mode (the more 
 gracious because necessarily imperfect) of making man 
 contemplate what is far beyond him ? Who shall 
 give method to what is infinitely complex, and mea- 
 sure to the unfathomable ? We are as worms in an 
 abyss of divine works ; myriads upon myriads of 
 years would it take, were our hearts ever so religious, 
 and our intellects ever so apprehensive, to receive 
 from without the just impression of those works 
 as they really are, and as experience would con- 
 vey them to us : sooner, then, than we should know 
 nothing. Almighty God has condescended to speak to 
 us so far as human thought and language will admit, 
 by approximations, in order to give us practical rules 
 for our own conduct amid His infinite and eternal 
 operations. 
 
 And herein consists one gx'eat blessing of the Gos- 
 pel Covenant, that in Christ's death on the Cross, 
 and in other parts of that all-gracious Economy, are 
 concentrated as it were, and so presented to us, those 
 attributes and works which fill eternity. And with a 
 like graciousness we are also told, in human language, 
 things concerning God Himself, concerning His Son 
 and His Spirit, and concerning His Son's incarnation, 
 and the union of two natures in His One Person — 
 truths which even a peasant holds implicitly, but 
 which Almighty God, whether by His Apostles, or by 
 His Church after them, has vouchsafed to bring to- 
 
266 IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. [Sehm. 
 
 gether and methodize, and to commit to the keeping 
 of science. 
 
 Now all such statements are likely at first to strike 
 coldly or harshly upon religious ears, when taken by 
 themselves, for this reason if for no other, — that they 
 express heavenly things under earthly images, which 
 are infinitely below the reality. This applies espe- 
 cially to the doctrine of the Eternal Sonship of our 
 Lord and Saviour, as all know who have turned their 
 minds to the controversies on the subject. 
 
 Again, it may so happen, that statements are only 
 possible in the case of certain aspects of a doctrine, 
 and that these seem inconsistent with each other, or 
 mysteries, when contrasted together, apart from what 
 lies between them ; just as if one were shown the 
 picture of a little child and an old man, and were 
 told that they represented the same person, — a state- 
 ment which would be incomprehensible to those who 
 were unacquainted with the natural changes which 
 take place, in the course of years, in the human frame. 
 
 Or doctrinal statements may be introduced, not so 
 much for their own sake, as because many conse- 
 quences flow from them, and therefore a great variety 
 of errors may, by means of them, be prevented. Such 
 is the doctrine that our Saviour's personality is in 
 His Godhead, not in His manhood ; that He has 
 taken the manhood into God. It is evident that such 
 statements, being made for the sake of something 
 beyond, when viewed apart from their end, or in 
 themselves, are abrupt, and may offend hearers. 
 
XII.]. IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. 267 
 
 Again, so it is, however it be explained, that fre- 
 quently we do not recognize our sensations and ideas, 
 when put into words ever so carefully. The repre- 
 sentation seems out of shape and strange, and startles 
 us, even though we know not how to find fault with 
 it. This applies, at least in the case of some per- 
 sons, to portions of the received theological analysis 
 of the impression made upon the mind by the Scrip- 
 ture notices concerning Christ and the Holy Spirit. 
 In like manner, such phrases as " good works are a 
 condition of eternal life," or " the salvation of the 
 regenerate ultimately depends upon themselves," — 
 though unexceptionable, are of a nature to offend 
 certain minds. 
 
 This difficulty of analyzing our more recondite 
 feelings happily and convincingly, has a most import- 
 ant influence upon the science of the Evidences. 
 Defenders of Christianity naturally select as reasons 
 for belief, not the highest, the truest, the most sacred, 
 the most intimately persuasive, but such as best 
 admit of being exhibited in argument ; and these are 
 commonly not the real reasons. 
 
 Nay, they are led, for the same reason, to select 
 such arguments as all will allow ; that is, such as de- 
 pend on principles which are a common measure to 
 all minds. A science certainly is, in its very nature, 
 public property ; when, then, the grounds of Faith 
 take the shape of a book of Evidences, nothing pro- 
 perly can be assumed but what men in general will 
 
2G8 IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. [SIbhm. 
 
 grant as true ; that is, nothing but what is on a level 
 with all minds, good and bad, rude and refined. 
 
 Again, as to the difficulty of detecting and express- 
 ing the real reasons on which we believe, let this be 
 considered, — how very differently an argument strikes 
 the mind at one time and another, according to its 
 particular state, or the accident of the moment. At 
 one time it is weak and unmeaning, — at another, it is 
 nothing short of demonstration. We take up a book 
 at one time, and see nothing in it ; at another, it is 
 full of weighty remarks and precious thoughts. 
 Sometimes a statement is axiomatic, — sometimes we 
 are at a loss to see what can be said for it. Such, 
 for instance, are the following, many like which are 
 found in controversy; — that true saints cannot but 
 persevere to the end; or that the influences of. the 
 Spirit cannot but be effectual ; or that there must be 
 an infallible Head of the Church on earth ; or that 
 the Roman Church, extending into all lands, is the 
 Catholic Church ; or that a Church, which is Catholic 
 abroad, cannot be schismatical in England ; or that, 
 if our Lord is the Son of God, He must be God ; or 
 that a Revelation is probable ; or that, if God is All- 
 powerful, He must be also All-good. Who shall 
 analyze the assemblage of opinions in this or that 
 mind, which occasions it almost instinctively to reject 
 or to accept each of these and similar positions ? Far 
 be it from me to seem to insinuate that they are hit 
 opinions, neither true nor false, and approving them- 
 
XII.] IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. 269 
 
 selves or not, according to the humour or prejudice 
 of the individual : so far from it, that I would main- 
 tain that the recondite reasons which lead each person 
 to take or decline them, are just the most important 
 portion of the considerations on which his conviction 
 depends ; and I say so, by way of showing that the 
 science of controversy, or again the science of Evi- 
 dences, has done very little, since it cannot analyze 
 and exhibit these momentous reasons; nay, so far 
 has done worse than little, in that it professes to 
 have done much, and leads the student to mistake 
 what are but secondary points in debate, as if they 
 were the most essential. 
 
 It often happens, for the same reason, that contro- 
 versialists or philosophers are spoken of by this or 
 that person as unequal, sometimes profound, some- 
 times weak. Such cases of inequality, of course, do 
 occur; but we should be sure, when tempted so to 
 speak, that the fault is not with ourselves, who have 
 not entered into an author's meaning, or analyzed 
 the implicit reasonings along which his mind proceeds 
 in those parts of his writings which we not merely 
 dissent from (for that we have a right to do), but cri- 
 ticise as inconsecutive. 
 
 These remarks apply especially to the proofs com- 
 monly brought, whether for the truth of Christianity, 
 or for certain doctrines from texts of Scripture. Such 
 alleged proofs are commonly strong or slight, not in 
 themselves, but according to the circumstances under 
 which the doctrine professes to come to us, which 
 
270 IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. [Sbrm. 
 
 they are brought to prove; and they will have a 
 great or small eflfect upon our minds, according as we 
 admit those circumstances or not. Now, the admis- 
 sion of those circumstances involves a variety of ante- 
 cedent views, presumptions, admitted analogies, and 
 the like, many of which it is very difficult to detect 
 and analyze. One person, for instance, is convinced 
 by Paley's argument from the Miracles, another is 
 not; and why? Because the former admits that 
 there is a God, that He governs the world, that He 
 wishes the salvation of man, that the light of nature 
 is not sufficient for man, that there is no other way 
 of introducing a Revelation but miracles, and that 
 men, who were neither enthusiasts nor impostors, 
 could not have acted as the Apostles did, unless they- 
 had seen the miracles which they attested ; the other 
 denies some one, or more, of these statements, or does 
 not feel the force of some other principle more re- 
 condite and latent still than any of these, which is 
 nevertheless necessary to the validity of the argu- 
 ment. 
 
 Further, let it he considered, that, even as regai:ds 
 what are commonly called Evidences, that is, argu- 
 ments a posteriori, conviction for the most part fol- 
 lows, not upon any one great and decisive proof or 
 token of the point in debate, but upon a number of 
 very minute circumstances together, which the mind 
 is quite unable to count up and methodize in an argu- 
 mentative form. Let a person only call to mind the 
 clear impression he has about matters of every day's 
 
XII.] IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. 271 
 
 occurrence, that this man is bent on a certain ob- 
 ject, or that that man was displeased, or another 
 suspicious; or that one is happy, and another un- 
 happy ; and how much depends in such impressions 
 on manner, voice, accent, words uttered, silence in- 
 stead of words, and all the many subtle symptoms 
 which are felt by the mind, but cannot be contem- 
 plated ; and let him consider how very poor an ac- 
 count he gives of his impression, if he avows it, and 
 is called upon to justify it. This, indeed, is meant 
 by what is called moral proof, in opposition to legal. 
 We speak of an accused person being guilty without 
 any doubt ; but still the evidences of his guilt being 
 none of them broad and definite enough in themselves 
 to admit of being forced upon the notice of those who 
 are not obliged to see them. 
 
 Now, should the proof of Christianity, or the 
 Scripture proof of its doctrines, be of this subtle 
 nature, of course it cannot be exhibited to advantage 
 in argument: and even if it be not, but contain 
 strong and almost legal evidences, still there will 
 always be a temptation in the case of writers on 
 Evidences, or the Scripture proof of doctrine, to 
 over-state and exaggerate, or to systematize in 
 excess; as if they were making a case in a court 
 of law, rather than simply and severely analyzing, as 
 far as is possible, certain existing reasons why the 
 Gospel is true, or why it should be considered of a 
 certain doctrinal character. It is hardly too much to 
 say, that almost all reasons formally adduced in moral 
 
272 IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. [Serm. 
 
 inquiries, are rather specimens and symbols of the 
 real grounds, than those grounds themselves. They 
 do but approximate to a representation of the gene- 
 ral character of the proof which the writer wishes to 
 convey to another's mind. They cannot, like mathe- 
 matical proof, be passively followed with an attention 
 confined to what is stated, and with the admission of 
 nothing but what is urged. Rather, they are hints 
 towards, and samples of, the true reasoning, and de- 
 mand an active, readys candid, and docile mind, 
 which can throw itself into what is said, neglect ver- 
 bal diflScialties, and pursue and carry out principles. 
 This is the true office of a writer, to excite and direct 
 trains of thought ; and this, on the other hand, is the 
 too common practice of readers, to expect everything 
 to be done for them, — to refuse to think, — to cri- 
 ticise the letter, instead of reaching forwards towards 
 the sense, — ^and to account every argument as unsound 
 which is illogically worded. Here is the fertile source 
 of controversy, which may undoubtedly be prolonged 
 without limit by those who desire it, while words are 
 incomplete exponents of ideas, and complex reasons 
 demand study, and involve prolixity. They, then, v?ho 
 wish to shorten the dispute, and to silence a captious 
 opponent, look out for some strong and manifest argu- 
 ment which may be stated tersely, handled conve- 
 niently, and urged rhetorically; some one reason, 
 which bears with it a show of vigour and plausibility, 
 or a profession of clearness, simplicity, or originality, 
 and may be easily reduced to mood and figure. Hence 
 
 1 
 
XIL] IMPLICIT AND EXPLICir REASON. 273 
 
 the Stress often laid upon particular texts, as if de- 
 cisive of the matter in hand : hence one disputant 
 dismisses all parts of the Bible which relate to the 
 Law,— another finds the high doctrines of Christianity 
 revealed in the Book of Genesis, — another rejects 
 certain portions of the inspired volume, as the Epistle 
 of St. James, — another gives up the Apocrypha, — 
 another rests the defence of Revelation on Miracles 
 only, or the Internal Evidence only, — another sweeps 
 away all Christian teaching but Scripture, — one and 
 all from impatience at being allotted, in the particular 
 case, an evidence which does no more than create 
 an impression on the mind ; from dislike of an evi- 
 dence, varied, minute, complicated, and a desire of 
 something producible, striking, and decisive. 
 
 Lastly, since a test is in its very nature of a nega- 
 tive character, and since argumentative forms are 
 mainly a test of reasoning, so far they will be but 
 critical, not creative. They will be useful in raising 
 objections, and in ministering to scepticism ; they will 
 pull down, and will not be able to build up. 
 
 I have been engaged in proving the following 
 points: that the reasonings and opinions which are in- 
 volved in the act of Faith are latent and implicit ; 
 that the mind reflecting on itself is able to bring 
 them out into some definite and methodical form; 
 that Faith, however, is complete without this reflective 
 faculty, which, in matter of fact, often does interfere 
 with it, and must be used cautiously. 
 
 UNIV. s. T 
 
274 IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT REASON. 
 
 I am quite aware that I have said nothing bttt what 
 must have often passed through the minds of others ; 
 and it may be asked whether it is worth while so dili- 
 gently to traverse old ground. Yet perhaps it is 
 never without its use to bring together in one view, 
 and steadily contemplate truths, which one by one 
 may be familiar notwithstanding. 
 
 May we be in the number of those who, with the 
 Blessed Apostle whom we this day commemorate, 
 employ all the powers of their minds to the service 
 of their Lord and Saviour, who are drawn heavenward 
 by His wonder-working grace, whose hearts are filled 
 with His love, who reason in His fear, who seek Him 
 in the way of His commandments, and who thereby 
 believe on Him to the saving of their souls ! 
 
SERMON XIII. 
 
 WISDOM, AS CONTRASTED WITH FAITH AND WITH 
 BIGOTRY. 
 
 Preached on Whit-Tuesday, 1841. 
 
 1 Cor. ii. 15. 
 
 " He that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged 
 of no man." 
 
 The gift to which this high characteristic is ascribed 
 by the Apostle, is Christian Wisdom, and the Giver 
 is God the Holy Ghost. " We speak wisdom," he 
 says, shortly before the text, " among them that are 
 perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world . . . but we 
 speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden 
 wisdom." And after making mention of the heavenly 
 truths which Wisdom contemplates, he adds : " God 
 hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit ... we have 
 received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit 
 which is of God." 
 
 In a former verse St. Paul contrasts this divine 
 Wisdom with Faith. " My speech and my preach- 
 ing was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, 
 
 t2 
 
276 WISDOM, AS CONTRASTED [Serm. 
 
 but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that 
 your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, 
 but in the power of God. Howbeit, we speak 
 wisdom among them that are perfect." Faith, 
 then, and Wisdom, are distinct, or even opposite 
 gifts. Wisdom belongs to the perfect, and more es- 
 pecially to preachers of the Gospel ; and Faith is the 
 elementary grace which is required of all, especially 
 of hearers. The two are introduced again in a later 
 chapter of the same Epistle : " To one is given by 
 the Spirit the word of Wisdom, to another the word 
 of Knowledge by the same Spirit, to another Faith 
 by the same Spirit." Such are the two gifts which 
 will be found to lie at the beginning and at the end 
 of our new life, both intellectual in their nature, and 
 both divinely imparted ; Faith being an exercise of 
 the Reason, so spontaneous, unconscious, and unargu- 
 mentative, as to seem at first sight even to have a 
 moral origin, and Wisdom being that orderly and 
 mature development of thought, which in earthly 
 language goes by the name of science and philosophy. 
 In like manner, in the Services of this sacred 
 Season, both these spiritual gifts are intimated, and 
 both referred to the same heavenly source. The Col- 
 lect virtually speaks of Faith, when it makes mention 
 of Almighty" God's "teaching the hearts of His 
 faithful people by the sending to them the light of 
 His Holy Spirit ;" and of the Wisdom of the perfect, 
 when it prays God, that " by the same Spirit" we 
 may " have a right judgment in all things." 
 
XIII.] WITH FAITH AND WITH BIGOTRY. 277 
 
 Again, in the Gospel for Whitsunday, the gift of 
 Wisdom is surely implied in Christ's promise, that 
 the Comforter should teach the Apostles " all things," 
 and " bring all things to their remembrance whatso- 
 ever He had said unto them;" and in St. Paul's ex- 
 hortation, which we read yesterday, " In malice be 
 children, but in understanding be men." Again, a 
 cultivation of the reasoning faculty, near akin to Phi- 
 losophy or Wisdom, is surely implied in the precepts, 
 of which we have heard, or shall hear, from the same 
 Apostle and St. John to-day, about " proving all 
 things," and " holding fast that which is good," and 
 about " trying the spirits whether they are of God." 
 
 Again, other parts of our Whitsun Services speak of 
 exercises of Reason more akin to Faith, as being inde- 
 pendent of processes of investigation or discussion. 
 In Sunday's Gospel our Lord tells us, " He that loveth 
 Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, 
 
 and will manifest Myself to him If a man love 
 
 Me, he will keep My words, and My Father will love 
 him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode 
 with him." This manifestation is doubtless made to 
 us through our natural faculties ; but who will main- 
 tain that even so far as it is addressed to our Reason, 
 it comes to us in forms of argument ? Again, in 
 the Gospel for yesterday, " He that doeth truth 
 cometh to the light," and on the contrary, " Light is 
 come into the world, and men loved darkness rather 
 than light, because their deeds were evil ; for every 
 one that doeth evil hateth the light." Men do not 
 
278 WISDOM, AS CONTRASTED [Serm. 
 
 choose light or darkness without Reason, but by an 
 instinctive Reason, which is prior to argument and 
 proof. And in the Gospel for to-day, " The sheep 
 hear His voice, and He calleth His own sheep by 
 name, and leadeth them out. The sheep follow Him, 
 for they know His voice, and a stranger will they not 
 follow, for they know not the voice of strangers." 
 The sheep could not tell how they knew the Good 
 Shepherd ; they had not analyzed their own im- 
 pressions or cleared the grounds of their knowledge, 
 yet doubtless grounds there were : they, however, 
 acted spontaneously on a loving Faith. 
 
 In proceeding, then, as I shall now do, to inquire 
 into the nature of Christian Wisdom, as a habit or 
 faculty of mind distinct from Faith, the mature fruit 
 of Reason, and nearly answering to what is meant 
 by Philosophy, it must not be supposed that I am 
 denying its spiritual nature or its divine origin. Al- 
 mighty God influences us and works in us, through 
 our minds, not without them or in spite of them ; as 
 at the fall we did not become other beings than what 
 we had been, but forfeited gifts which had been 
 added to us on our creation, so under the Gospel we 
 do not lose any part of the nature in which we are 
 born, but regain what we have lost. We are what 
 we were, and something more. And what is true of 
 God's dealings with our minds generally, is true in 
 particular as regards our reasoning powers. His grace 
 does not supersede, but uses them, and renews them 
 by using. We gain Truth by reasoning, whether im- 
 
XIII.] WITH FAITH AND WITH BIGOTRY. 279 
 
 plicit or explicit, in a state of nature ; we gain it in 
 the same way in a state of grace. Both Faith and 
 Wisdom, the elementary and the perfecting gift of 
 the Holy Spirit, are intellectual habits, and involve 
 the exercise of Reason, and may be examined and de- 
 fined as any other power of the mind, and are subject 
 to perversion and error, and may be fortified by rules, 
 just as if they were not instruments in the hands of 
 the Most High. It is no derogation, then, from the 
 divine origin of Christian Wisdom, to treat it in its 
 human aspect, to show what it consists in, and what 
 are its counterfeits and perversions ; to determine, 
 for instance, that it is much the same as Philosophy, 
 and that its perversions are such as love of system, 
 theorizing, fancifulness, dogmatism, and bigotry, — as 
 we shall be led to <io. And now to enter upon our 
 subject. 
 
 The words philosophy, a philosophical spirit, en- 
 largement or expansion of mind, enlightened ideas, 
 a wise and comprehensive view of things, and the 
 like, are, I need hardly say, of frequent occurrence 
 in the literature of this day, and are taken to mean 
 very much the same thing. That they are always 
 used with a definite meaning, or with any meaning at 
 all, will be maintained by no one ; that so many per- 
 sons, and many of them men of great ability, should 
 use them absolutely with no meaning whatever, and 
 yet should lay such stress and rest so much upon 
 them, is, on the other hand, not to be supposed. Yet 
 their meaning certainly requires drawing out and 
 
280^ WISDOM, AS CONTRASTED [Sbrm. 
 
 illustrating. Perhaps it will be best ascertained by 
 setting down some cases, which are commonly under- 
 stood, or will be claimed, as instances of this process 
 of mental growth or enlargement, in the sense in 
 which the words are at present used. 
 
 I suppose that, when a person whose experience 
 has hitherto been confined to our own calm and un- 
 pretending scenery, goes for the first time into parts 
 where physical nature puts on her wilder and more 
 awful forms, whether at home or abroad, as especially 
 into mountainous districts,^or when one who has 
 ever lived in a quiet village comes for the first time 
 to a great, metropolis, — he will have a sensation of 
 mental enlargement, as having gained a range of 
 thoughts to which he was before a stranger. 
 
 Again, the view of the heavens, which the tele- 
 scope opens upon us, fills and possesses the mindj 
 and is called an enlargement, whatever is meant by 
 the term. 
 
 Again, the sight of an assemblage of beasts of 
 prey and other foreign animals, their strangeness and 
 startling noveltyi.ithe originality (if I may use the 
 term,) and mysteriousness of their forms, and ges- 
 tures, and habits, and their variety and independence 
 of one another, expand the mind, not without its 
 own consciousness; as if knowledge were a real 
 opening, and as if an addition to the external objects 
 presented before it were an addition to its inward 
 powers. 
 
 Hence physical science, generally, in all its depart- 
 
XIII.] WITH FAITH AND WITH BIGOTRY. 281 
 
 ments, as bringing before us the exuberant riches, the 
 active principles, yet the orderly course of the uni- 
 verse, is often set even forth as the only true phi- 
 losophy, and will be allowed by all persons to have 
 a certain power of elevating and exciting the mind, 
 and yet to exercise a tranquillizing influence upon it. 
 
 Again, the knowledge of history, and again, the 
 knowledge of books generally — in a word, what is 
 meant by education, is commonly said to enlighten 
 and enlarge the mind, whereas ignorance is felt to 
 involve a narrow range and a feeble exercise of its 
 powers. 
 
 Again, what is called seeing the world, entering into 
 active life, going into society, travelling, acquaintance 
 with the various classes of the community, coming 
 into contact with the principles and modes of thought 
 of separate parties, interests, or nations, their opi- 
 nions, views, aims, habits, and manners, their religious 
 creeds and forms of worship, — all this exerts a per- 
 ceptible effect upon the mind, which it is impossible 
 to mistake, be it good or be it bad, and which is popu- 
 larly called its enlargement or enlightenment. 
 
 Again, when a person for the first time hears the 
 arguments and speculations of unbelievers, and feels 
 what a very novel light they cast upon what he has 
 hitherto accounted most sacred, it cannot be denied, 
 that, unless he is shocked and closes his ears and 
 heart to them, he will have a sense of expansion and 
 elevation. 
 
 Again, sin brings with it its own enlargement of 
 
282 WISDOM, AS CONTRASTED [Serm. 
 
 mind, which Eve was tempted to covet, and of which 
 she made proof. This, perhaps, in the instance of 
 some sins, to which the young are especially tempted, 
 is their great attraction and their great recompense. 
 They excite the curiosity of the innocent, and they 
 intoxicate the imagination of their miserable victims, 
 whose eyes seem opened upon a new world, from 
 which they look back upon their state of innocence 
 with a sort of pity and contempt, as if it were below 
 the dignity of men. 
 
 On the other hand, religion has its own enlarge- 
 ment. It is often remarked of uneducated persons, 
 who hitherto have lived without seriousness, that on 
 their turning to God, looking into themselves, regu- 
 lating their hearts, reforming their conduct, and 
 studying the inspired Word, they seem to become, in 
 point of intellect, different beings from what they 
 were before. Before they took things as they came, 
 and thought no more of one thing than of another. 
 But now every event has a meaning ; they form their 
 own estimate of whatever occurs ; they recollect times 
 and seasons ; and the world, instead of being like the 
 stream which the countryman gazed on, ever in 
 motion and never in progress, is a various and com- 
 plicated drama, with parts and with an object. 
 
 Again, those who, being used to nothing better than 
 the divinity of what is historically known as the non- 
 conformist school, — or, again, of the latitudinarian, 
 — are introduced to the theology of the holy Church, 
 will often have a vivid sense of enlargement, and will 
 
XIII.] WITH FAITH AND WITH BIGOTRY. 283 
 
 feel they have gained something, as becoming aware 
 of the existence of doctrines, opinions, trains of 
 thought, principles, aims to which hitherto they have 
 been strangers. 
 
 And again, such works as treat of the Ministry of 
 the Prophets under the various divine Dispensations, 
 of its nature and characteristics, why it was instituted 
 and what it has effected, the matter, the order, the 
 growth of its disclosures ; the views of divine Provi- 
 dence, of the divine counsels and attributes which it 
 was the means of suggesting ; and its contrast with 
 the pretences to prophetical knowledge which the 
 world furnishes in mere political partisans or popular 
 fortune-tellers ; such treatises, as all will admit, may 
 fitly be said to enlarge the mind. 
 
 Once more, such works as Bishop Butler's Analogy, 
 which carry on the characteristic lineaments of the 
 Gospel Dispensation into the visible course of things, 
 and, as it were, root its doctrines into nature and so- 
 ciety, not only present before the mind a large view 
 of the matters handled, but will be commonly said, 
 and surely, as all will feel, with a true meaning, to 
 enlarge the mind itself which is put in possession of 
 them. 
 
 These instances show beyond all question that what 
 is called Philosophy, Wisdom, or Enlargement of 
 mind, has some intimate dependence upon the acqui- 
 sition of Knowledge ; and Scripture seems to say the 
 same thing. " God gave Solomon," says the inspired 
 writer, " wisdom and understanding, exceeding mucli, 
 
g84 WISDOM, AS CONTRASTED [Serm. 
 
 and largeness of heart even as the sand that is on the 
 sea shore. . . , And he spake three thousand proverbs, 
 and his songs vrere a thousand and' five. And he 
 spake of trees, from the cedar-tree that is in Le- 
 banon, even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the 
 wall. He spake also of beasts and of fowl, and of 
 creeping things and of fishes." And again, when the 
 Queen of Sheba came, "Solomon told her all her 
 questions ; there was not any thing hid from the king, 
 which he told her not." And in like manner St. 
 Paul, after speaking of the Wisdom of the perfect, 
 calls it a revelation, a knowledge, of the things of God, 
 such as the natural man "discerneth" not. And in 
 another Epistle, evidently speaking of the same Wis- 
 dom, he prays that his brethren may be given to 
 " comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and 
 length and depth and height, and to know the love 
 of Christ which passeth knowledge, that they might 
 be filled with all the fulness of God." 
 
 However, a very little consideration will make it 
 plain also, that knowledge itself, though a condition 
 of the mind's enlargement, yet, whatever be its range, 
 is not that very thing which enlarges it. Rather the 
 foregoing instances show that this enlargement con- 
 sists in the comparison oi the subjects of knowledge 
 one with another. We feel ourselves to be ranging 
 freely, when we not only learn something, but also 
 refer it to what we knew before. It is not the mere 
 addition to our knowledge which is the enlargement, 
 but the change of place, the movement onwards, of 
 
XIII.] WITH FAITH AND WITH BIGOTRY. 285 
 
 that moral centre, to which what we know and what 
 we have been acquiring, the whole mass of our 
 knowledge, as it were, gravitates. And therefore 
 a philosophical cast of thought, or a comprehensive 
 mind, or wisdom in conduct or policy, implies a con- 
 nected view of the old with the new ; an insight into 
 the bearing and influence of each part upon every 
 other ; without which there is no whole, and could be 
 no centre. It is the knowledge, not only of things, 
 but of their mutual relations. It is organized, and 
 therefore living knowledge. 
 
 A number of instances might readily be supplied 
 in which knowledge is found apart from this analy- 
 tical treatment of the matter of it, and in which it 
 is never associated with Philosophy, or considered to 
 open, enlarge, and enlighten the mind. 
 
 For instance, a great memory is never made syno- 
 nymous with Wisdom, any more than a dictionary 
 would be called a treatise. There are men who con- 
 template things both in the mass and individually, 
 but not correlatively, who accumulate facts without 
 forming judgments, who are satisfied with deep learn- 
 ing or extensive information. They may be linguists, 
 antiquarians, annalists, biographers, or naturalists ; 
 but, whatever their merits, which are often very great, 
 they have no claim to be considered philosophers. 
 
 To the same class belong persons, in other re- 
 spects very different, who have seen much of the world, 
 and of the men who, in their own day, have played 
 
286 WISDOM, AS CONTRASTED [Serm. 
 
 a conspicuous part in it, who are full of informa- 
 tion, curious and entertaining, about men and things, 
 but who, having lived under the influence of no very 
 clear or settled principles, speak of every one and 
 everything as mere facts of history, not attempting 
 to illustrate opinions, measures, aims, or policy, — not 
 discussing or teaching, but conversing. 
 
 Or take, what is again a very different instance, the 
 case of persons of little intellect, and no education, 
 vv^ho perhaps have seen much of foreign countries, 
 and who receive in a passive, otiose, unfruitful way, 
 the various facts which are forced upon them. Sea- 
 faring men, for example, range from one end of the 
 earth to the other; but the multiplicity of pheno- 
 mena which they have encountered, forms no har- 
 monious and consistent picture upon their imagina- 
 tion ; they, as it were, see the tapestry of human life 
 on the wrong side of it. They sleep, and they rise up, 
 and they find themselves now in Europe, now in 
 Asia ; they see visions of great cities and wild re- 
 gions ; they are in the marts of commerce, or amid 
 the islands of the ocean ; they gaze on the Andes, 
 or they are ice-bound ; and nothing which meets 
 them carries them on to any idea beyond itself. No- 
 thing has a meaning, nothing has a history, nothing 
 has relations. Everything stands by itself, and 
 comes and goes in its turn, like the shifting sights 
 of a show, leaving the beholder where he was. Or, 
 again, under other circumstances, everything seems 
 1 
 
XIII.] WITH FAITH AND WITH BIGOTRY. 287 
 
 to such persons strange, monstrous, miraculous, and 
 awful ; as in fable, to Ulysses and his companions in 
 their wanderings. 
 
 Or, again, the censure often passed on what is 
 called undigested reading, shows us that knowledge 
 without system is not Philosophy. Students who 
 store themselves so amply with literature or science, 
 that no room is left for determining the respective 
 relations which exist between their acquisitions, one 
 by one, are rather said to load their minds than to 
 enlarge them. 
 
 Scepticism, in religious matters, affords another 
 instance in point. Those who deliberately refuse to 
 form a judgment upon the most momentous of all 
 subjects ; who are content to pass through life in 
 ignorance, why it is given, or by whom, or to what 
 it leads ; and who bear to be without tests of truth 
 and error in conduct, without rule and measure for 
 the principles, persons, and events, which they en- 
 counter daily, — these men, though they often claim, 
 will not by any Christian be granted, the name of 
 philosophers. 
 
 All this is more than enough to show that some 
 analytical process, some sort of systematizing, some 
 insight into the mutual relation of things, is essential 
 to that enlargement of mind or philosophical temper, 
 which is commonly attributed to the acquisition of 
 knowledge. In other words. Philosophy is Reason 
 exercised upon Knowledge ; for, from the nature of 
 the case, where the facts are given, as is here sup- 
 
288 WISDOM, AS. CONTRASTED [Sebm. 
 
 posed, Reason is synonymous with analysis, having 
 no office beyond that of ascertaining the relations 
 existing between them. Reason is the power of pro- 
 ceeding to new ideas by means of given ones. Where 
 but one main idea is given, it can employ itself in 
 developing this into its consequences. Thus, from 
 scanty data, it often draws out a whole system, each 
 part with its ascertained relations, collateral or lineal, 
 towards the rest, and all consistent together, because 
 all derived from one and the same origin. And 
 should means be found of ascertaining directly some of 
 the facts which it has been deducing by this abstract 
 process, then their coincidence • with its a priori 
 judgments will serve to prove the accuracy of its 
 deductions. Where, however, the facts or doctrines 
 in question are all known from the first, there, in- 
 stead of advancing from idea to idea. Reason does 
 but connect fact with feet ; instead of discovering, it 
 does but analyze ; and what was, in the former case, 
 the tracing out of inferences, becomes a laying down 
 of relations. 
 
 Philosophy, then, is Reason exercised upon Know- 
 ledge; or the Knowledge not merely of things in 
 general, but of things in their relations to one 
 another. It is the power of referring everything to 
 its true place in the universal system — of under- 
 standing the various aspects of each of its parts, — of 
 comprehending the exact value of each, — of tracing 
 each backwards to its beginning, and forward to its 
 end,^of anticipating the separate tendencies of each, 
 
XIII.] WITH FAITH AND WITH BIGOTRY. 289 
 
 and their respective checks or counteractions; and thus 
 of accounting for anomalies, answering objections, sup- 
 plying deficiencies, making allowance for errors, and 
 meeting emergencies. It never views any part of the 
 extended subject-matter of knowledge, without recol- 
 lecting that it is but a part, or without the associations 
 which spring from this recollection. It makes every- 
 thing lead to everything else ; it communicates the 
 image of the whole body to every separate member, 
 till the whole becomes in imagination like a spirit, 
 everywhere pervading and penetrating its component 
 parts, and giving them their one definite meaning. 
 Just as our bodily .organs, when mentioned, recal to 
 mind their function in the body, as the word creation 
 suggests the idea of a Creator, as subjects that of a 
 sovereign, so in the mind of a philosopher, the ele- 
 ments of the physical and moral world, sciences, arts, 
 pursuitSj ranks, offices, events, opinions, individua- 
 lities, are all viewed, not in themselves, but as rela- 
 tive terms, suggesting a multitude of correlatives, 
 and gradually, by successive combinations, converging 
 one and all to their true centre. Men, whose minds 
 are possessed by some one object, take exaggerated 
 views of its importance, are feverish in their pursuit 
 of it, and are startled or downcast on finding ob- 
 stacles in the way of it ; they are ever in alarm ,or 
 in transport ; and they, on the contrary, who have no 
 firm grasp of principles, are perplexed and lose their 
 way every fresh step they take. They do not know 
 what to think or say of new phenomena which meet 
 UNIV. s. u 
 
290 WISDOM, AS CONTRASTED [SeRM- 
 
 them, of whatever kind ; they have no view, as it may 
 be called, concerning persons, or occurrences, or facts, 
 which come upon them suddenly ; they cannot form 
 a judgment, or determine on a course of action ; and 
 they ask the opinion or advice of others as a relief to 
 their minds. But Philosophy cannot be partial, can- 
 not be exclusive, cannot be impetuous, cannot be 
 surprised, cannot fear, cannot lose its balance, cannot 
 be at a loss, cannot but be patient, collected, and 
 majestically calm, because it discerns the whole in 
 each part, the end in each beginning, the worth of 
 each interruption, the measure of each delay, be- 
 cause it always knows where it is, and how its path 
 lies from one point to another. There are men who, 
 when in difficulties, by the force of genius, originate 
 at the moment vast ideas or dazzling projects ; who, 
 under the impulse of excitement, are able to east a 
 light, almost as if from inspiration, on a subject or 
 course of action which comes before them ; who have 
 a sudden presence of mind equal to any emergency, 
 rising with the occasion, and an undaunted heroic 
 bearing, and an energy and keenness, which is but 
 sharpened by opposition. Faith is a gift analogous 
 to this thus far, that it acts promptly and boldly on 
 the occasion, on slender evidence, as if guessing and 
 reaching forward to the truth, amid darkness or con- 
 fusion ; but such is not the Wisdom of the perfect. 
 It is the clear, calm, accurate vision, and compre- 
 hension of the whole course, the whole work of God ; 
 and though there is none who has it in its fulness 
 
XIII.] WITH FAITH AND WITH BIGOTRY. 291 
 
 but He who " searcheth all things, yea, the deep 
 things of" the Creator, yet « by that Spirit" they 
 are, in a measure, " revealed unto us." And thus, 
 according to that measure, is the text fulfilled, that 
 " he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he him- 
 self is judged by no man." Others understand him 
 not, master not his ideas, fail to combine, harmonize, 
 or make consistent, those distinct views and principles 
 which come to him from the Infinite Light, and are 
 inspirations of the breath of God. He, on the con- 
 trary, compasses others, and locates them, and anti- 
 cipates their acts, and fathoms their thoughts, for, in 
 the Apostle's language, he " hath the mind of Christ," 
 and all things are his, " whether Paul, or ApoUos, or 
 Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things pre- 
 sent, or things to come." Such is the marvellous- 
 ness of the Pentecostal gift, wherein we "have an 
 unction from the Holy One, and know all things." 
 
 Now, this view of the nature of Philosophy leads 
 to the following remark : that, whereas no argu- 
 ments in favour of religion are of much account but 
 such as rest on a philosophical basis, Evidences of 
 Religion, as they are called, which are truly such, 
 must consist mainly in such investigations into the 
 relation of idea to idea, and developments of system, 
 as have been described, if Philosophy lie in these 
 abstract exercises of Reason. Such, for instance, is 
 the argument from analogy, or from the structure of 
 prophecy, or from the needs of human nature and 
 the fulness of time ; or from the Catholic Church. 
 
 u 2 
 
WISDOM, AS CONTRASTED [Serm. 
 
 From which it follows, first, that what may be called 
 the rhetorical or forensic Evidences, — I mean those 
 which are content with the proof of certain facts, 
 motives, and the like, such as, that a certain miracle 
 must have taken place, or a certain prophecy must 
 have been both written before, and fulfilled in, a 
 certain event ; these, whatever their merits, which I 
 have no wish to disparage, are not philosophical. 
 And next, it follows that Evidences in general are not 
 the essential ground-work of Faith, but its reward ; 
 since Wisdom is the last gift of the Spirit, and Faith 
 the first. 
 
 In the foregoing observations I have, in fact, been 
 showing, — in prosecution of a line of thought to which 
 I have before now drawn attention, — what is the true 
 office, and what the legitimate bounds of those ab- 
 stract exercises of Reason which may best be de- 
 scribed by the name of systematizing. They are in 
 their highest and most honourable place, when they 
 are employed upon the vast field of Knowledge, not 
 conjecturing unknown truths, but comparing, adjust- 
 ing, connecting, explaining facts and doctrines ascer- 
 tained. Such a use of Reason is Philosophy ; such 
 employment was it to which the reason of Newton 
 dedicated itself; and the reason of Butler; and the 
 reason of those ancient Catholic Divines, nay, in their 
 measure, of those illustrious thinkers of the middle 
 ages, who have treated of the Christian faith, on sys- 
 tem, Athanasius, Augustine, Aquinas. But where 
 the exercise of Reason much outstrips our Know- 
 
XIII.J WITH FAITH AND WITH BIGOTRY. 293 
 
 ledge; where Knowledge is limited, and Reason 
 active ; where ascertained truths are scanty, and 
 courses of thought abound; there indulgence of 
 system is unsafe, and may be dangerous. In such 
 cases there is much need of wariness, jealousy of self, 
 and habitual dread of presumption, paradox, and 
 unreality, to preserve our deduction within the bounds 
 of sobriety, and our guesses from assuming the 
 character of discoveries. System, which is the very 
 soul, or, to speak more precisely, the formal cause of 
 Philosophy, when exercised upon adequate know- 
 ledge, does but make, or tend to make, theorists, 
 dogmatists, philosophists, and sectarians, when or so 
 far as Knowledge is limited or incomplete. 
 
 This statement, which will not be questioned, per- 
 haps, in the abstract, requires to be illustrated in 
 detail, and that at a length inconsistent with my 
 present limits. At the risk, however, of exceeding 
 them, I will attempt so much as this, — to show that 
 Faith, distinct as it is from argument, discussion, in- 
 vestigation, philosophy, nay, from Reason altogether, 
 in the popular sense of the word, is at the same time 
 perfectly distinct also from narrowness of mind in all 
 its shapes, though sometimes accidentally connected 
 with it in particular instances. I am led to give atten- 
 tion to this point from its connexion with subjects, 
 of which I have already treated on former occasions. 
 
 It is as if a law of the human mind, ever to do 
 things in one and the same way. It is not various 
 in its modes of action, except by an effort ; but, if 
 
WISDOM, AS CONTRASTED [Serm. 
 
 left to itself, it becomes almost mechanical, as a 
 matter of course. Its doing a thing in a certain way 
 to-day, is the cause of its doing it in the same way 
 to-morrow. The order of the day perpetuates itself. 
 This is, in fact, only saying that habits arise out of 
 acts, and that character is inseparable from our morab 
 nature. Not only do our features and make remain 
 the same day after day, but we speak in the same tone, 
 adopt the siame phrases and turns of thought, fall 
 into the same expressions of countenance, and walk 
 with the sa,me gait as yesterday. And, besides, we 
 have an instinctive love of order and arrangement ; 
 we think and act by rule, not only unconsciously, 
 but of set purpose. Method approves itself to us, 
 and aids us in various ways, and to a certain point is 
 pleasant, and in some respects absolutely necessary. 
 Even sceptics cannot proceed without elementary 
 principles, though they would fain dispense with 
 every yoke and bond. Even the uneducated have 
 their own rude modes of classifying, not the less 
 really such, because fantastic or absurd ; children too, 
 amid their awe at all that meets them, yet in their 
 own thoughts unconsciously subject these wonders 
 to a law. Poets, while they disown philosophy, frame 
 an ideal system of their own ; and naturalists invent, 
 if they do not find, orders and genera, to assist the 
 memory. Latitudinarians, again, while they profess 
 charity towards all doctrines, nevertheless count it 
 heresy to oppose the principle of latitude. Those 
 who condemn persecution for reli^ous opinions, in 
 
XIIL] WITH FAITH AND WITH BIGOTRY. 295 
 
 self-defence, persecute those who advocate it. Few 
 of those who maintain that the exercise of private 
 judgment upon Scripture leads to the attainment of 
 Gospel truth, can tolerate the Socinian and Pelagian, 
 who in their own inquiries have taken pains to con- 
 form to this rule. Thus, what is invidiously called 
 dogmatism and system, in one shape or other, in 
 one degree or another, is, I.may say, necessary to the 
 human mind ; we cannot reason, feel, or act, without 
 it ; it forms the stamina of thought, which, when it 
 is remaved, languishes, and droops. Sooner than dis- 
 pense with principles, the mind will take them at the 
 hand of others, will put up with such as are faulty 
 or uncertain ; — and thus much Wisdom, Bigotry, and 
 Faith, have in common. Principle is the life of them 
 all; but Wisdom is the application of adequate prin- 
 ciples to the state of things as we find them. Bigotry 
 is the application of inadequate or narrow principles, 
 while Faith is the maintenance of principles, with- 
 out caring to apply or adjust them. Thus they 
 difier; and this distinction will serve to enable us 
 to contrast Bigotry and Faith with Wisdom, as I 
 proposed. 
 
 Now, certainly, Faith maybe confused with Bigotry, 
 dogmatism, positiveness, and kindred habits of mind, 
 on several plausible grounds ; for, what is Faith but 
 a reaching forth after truth amid darkness, upon the 
 warrant of certain antecedent notions or spontaneous 
 feelings ? It is a presumption about matters of fact, 
 upon principle rather than on knowledge ; and what 
 
296 WISDOM, AS CONTRASTED [Sebm. 
 
 is Bigotry also but this? And, further still, its 
 grounds being thus conjectural, what does it issue in? 
 in the absolute acceptance of a certain message or 
 doctrine as divine ; that is, it starts from probabi- 
 lities, yet it ends in peremptory statements, if so be, 
 mysterious, or at least beyond experience. It be- 
 lieves an informant amid doubt, yet accepts his in- 
 formation without doubt. Such is the prima fade 
 resemblance between two habits of mind, which never- 
 theless are as little to be confused as the Apostles 
 with their Jewish persecutors, as a few words may 
 suffice to show. 
 
 Now, in the first place, though Faith be a pre- 
 sumption of facts under defective knowledge, yet, be 
 it observed, it is altogether a practical principle. It 
 judges and decides because it cannot help doing so, 
 for the sake of the man himself, who exercises it, not 
 in the way of opinion, not as aiming at abstract truth, 
 not as teaching some theory or view. It is the act of 
 a mind feeling that it is its duty any how, under its 
 particular circumstances, to judge and to act, whether 
 its light be greater or less, and wishing to make the 
 most of that light and acting for the best. Its know- 
 ledge, then, though defective, is not insufficient for 
 the purpose for which it uses it, for this plain reason, 
 because (such is God's will) it has no more. The 
 servant who hid his Lord's money was punished; and 
 we, since we did not make our circumstances, but 
 were placed in them, shall be judged, not by them, 
 but by our use of them. A view of duty, such as 
 
XIII.] WITH FAITH AND WITH BIGOTRY. 297 
 
 this, may lead us to wrong acts, but not to act wrongly. 
 Christians have sometimes inflicted death from a zeal 
 not according to knowledge; and sometimes they 
 have been eager for the toleration of heresy from an 
 ill-instructed charity. Under such circumstances a 
 man's error may be more acceptable to God than his 
 truth ; for his truth, it may be, but evidences clear- 
 ness of intellect, whereas his error proceeds from con- 
 scientiousness ; though whence it proceeds, and what 
 it evidences, in a particular case, must be left to the 
 Searcher of hearts. 
 
 Faith, then, though a presumption, has this pecu- 
 liarity, that it is exercised under a sense of personal 
 responsibility. It is when our presumptions take a 
 wide range, when they affect to be systematical and 
 philosophical, when they are indulged in matters of 
 speculation, not of conduct, not in reference to self 
 but to others, then it is that they deserve the name 
 of bigotry and dogmatism. For in such a case we 
 make a wrong use of such light as is given us, and 
 mistake what is "a lantern unto our feet" for the 
 sun in the heavens. 
 
 Again, it is true that Faith as well as Bigotry 
 maintains dogmatic statements which go beyond its 
 knowledge. It uses words, phrases, propositions, it 
 accepts doctrines and practices, which it but partially 
 understands, or not at all. Now, so far indeed as these 
 statements do not relate to matters of this world, but 
 to heavenly things, of course they are no evidence of 
 Bigotry. As the widest experience of life would not 
 
298 WISDOM, AS CONTRASTED [Sebm. 
 
 tend to remove the mysteriousness of the doctrine of 
 the Holy Trinity, so even the narrowest does not de^ 
 prive us of the right of asserting it. Much knowledge 
 and little knowledge leave us very much as we were, 
 in a matter of this kind. But the case is very different 
 when positions are in question of a social or moral 
 character, which claim to be rules or maxims for po- 
 litical combination or conduct, for the well-being of 
 the world, or for the guidance of public opinion. 
 Yet many such positions Faith certainly does ac- 
 cept; and thus it seems to place the persons who 
 act upon it in the very position of the bigoted, theo- 
 retical, and unreal; who use words beyond their 
 depth, or avow sentiments to which they have no right, 
 or enunciate general principles on defective know- 
 ledge. Questions, for instance, about the theory of 
 government, national duties, the establishment of 
 Religion, its relations to the State, the treatment of 
 the poor, and the nature of the Christian Church: 
 these and other such may, it cannot be denied, be 
 peremptorily settled, on religious grounds, by persons 
 whose qualifications are manifestly unequal to so 
 great an undertaking, who have not the knowledge, 
 penetration, subtlety, calmness, or experience, which 
 are a claim upon our attention, and who in conse- 
 quence are, at first sight, to say the least, very like 
 bigots and partisans. 
 
 Now that Faith may run into Bigotry, or may be 
 mixed with Bigotry in matter of fact in this instance 
 or that, of course I do not deny ; at the same time 
 
 1 
 
XIII.] WITH FAITH AND WITH BIGOTRY. 299 
 
 the two habits of mind, whatever be their resem- 
 blance, differ in their dogmatism, in this : — Bigotry 
 professes to understand what it maintains, though it 
 does not ; it argues and infers, it disowns Faith, and 
 makes a show of Reason instead of it. It persists, 
 not in abandoning argument, but in arguing only in 
 one way. It takes up, not a religious, but a philo- 
 sophical position ; it lays claim to Wisdom, whereas 
 Faith from the first makes men willing, with the 
 Apostle, to be fools for Christ's sake. Faith sets out 
 with putting reasoning aside as out of place, and pro- 
 poses instead simple obedience to a revealed com- 
 mand. Its disciples represent that they are neither 
 statesmen nor philosophers ; that they are not deve- 
 loping principles or evolving systems; that their 
 ultimate end is not persuasion, popularity, or success ; 
 that they are but doing God's will, and desiring His 
 glory. They profess a sincere belief that certain 
 views which engage their minds come from God; 
 that they know well that they are beyond them ; that 
 they are not able to enter into them, or to apply them 
 as others may do ; that, understanding them but par- 
 tially themselves, they are not sanguine about im- 
 pressing them on others ; that a divine blessing alone 
 can carry them forward ; that they look for it ; that 
 they feel that God will maintain His own cause ; that 
 that belongs to Him, not to them' ; that if their cause 
 is God's cause, it will be blessed, in His time and 
 
 ' Dan. iii. 17, 18. 
 
300 WISDOM, AS CONTRASTED [Serm. 
 
 way ; that if it be not, it will come to nought ; that 
 they securely wait the issue; that they leave it to 
 the generation to come ; that they can bear to seem 
 to fail, but cannot bear to be "disobedient to a 
 heavenly vision ;" that they think that God has taught 
 them and put a word in their mouths; that they 
 speak to acquit their own souls ; that they protest, in 
 order to be on the side of God's host, of the glorious 
 company of the Apostles, the goodly fellowship of the 
 Prophets, the noble army of Martyrs, in order to be 
 separate from the congregation of His enemies. 
 "Blessed is the man that hath not walked in the 
 counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sin- 
 ners, and hath not sat in the seat of the scornful." 
 They desire to gain this blessedness; and though 
 they have not the capacity of mind to embrace, nor 
 the keenness to penetrate and analyze the contents 
 of this vast world, nor the comprehensive faculty 
 which resolves all things into their true principles, 
 and connects them in one system, though they can 
 neither answer objections made to their doctrines, nor 
 say for certain whither they are leading them, yet 
 profess them they can and must. Embrace them 
 they can, and go out, not knowing whither they go. 
 Faith, at least, they may have; Wisdom, if so be, 
 they have not ; but Faith fits them to be the instru- 
 ments and organs, the voice and the hands and the 
 feet of Him who is invisible, the Divine Wisdom in 
 the Church, — who knows what they know not, under- 
 stands their words, for they are His own, and directs 
 
XIII.] WITH FAITH AND WITH BIGOTRY. 301 
 
 their efforts to His own issues, though they see them 
 not, because they dutifully place themselves upon 
 His path. This is what they will be found to profess ; 
 and their state is that of the multitude of Christians 
 in every age, nay even in the Apostolic, when, for all 
 the supernatural illumination of such as St. Paul, 
 " God chose the foolish things of the world to con- 
 found the wise, and the weak things of the world to 
 confound the things which were mighty, and base 
 things of the world, and things which were despised, yea 
 and things which were not, to bring to nought things 
 that were, that no flesh should glory in His presence." 
 Such a view of things is not of a nature to be af- 
 fected by what is external to it. It did not grow out 
 of knowledge, and an increase or loss of knowledge 
 cannot touch it. The revolution of kingdoms, the 
 rise or the fall of parties, _ the growth of society, the 
 discoveries of science, leave it as they found it. On 
 God's word does it depend ; that word alone can alter 
 it. And thus we are introduced to a distinct pecu- 
 liarity of Faith ; for considering that Almighty God 
 often speaks, nay is ever speaking in one way or 
 another, if we would watch for His voice. Faith, while 
 it is so stable, is necessarily a principle of mental 
 growth also, in an especial way ; according, that is, as 
 God sees fit to employ it. " I will stand upon my 
 watch," says the prophet, " and set me upon the 
 tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto 
 me;" and, though since Christ came, no new reve- 
 lation has been given, yet much even in the latter 
 
302 WISDOM, AS CONTRASTED [Seem. 
 
 days has been added in the way of explaining and ap- 
 plying what was given, once for all. As the world 
 around varies, so varies also, not the principles of the 
 doctrine of Christ, but the outward shape and colour 
 which they assume. And as Wisdom only can apply or 
 dispense the Truth in a change of circumstances, so 
 Faith alone is able to accept it as one and the same 
 under all its forms. And thus Faith is ever the 
 means of learning something new, and in this respect 
 differs from Bigotry, which has no element of advance 
 in it, and is under a practical persuasion that it has 
 nothing to learn. To the narrow-minded and the 
 bigoted, the history of the Church for eighteen cen- 
 turies is unintelligible and useless ; but where there 
 is Faith, it is full of sacred principles, ever the same 
 in substance, ever varying in accidentals, and is a 
 continual lesson of " the manifold Wisdom of God." 
 Moreover, though Faith has not the gift of tracing 
 out and connecting one thing with another, which 
 Wisdom has, and Bigotry professes to have, but is an 
 isolated act of Reason upon any matter in hand, as it 
 comes ; yet on this very account it has as wide a 
 range as Wisdom, and a far wider one than can belong 
 to any narrow principle or partial theory, and is able 
 to take discursive views, though not systematic. 
 There is no subject which Faith working by Love may 
 not include in its province, on which it may not have 
 a judgment, and to which it may not do justice, though 
 it views each point by itself, and not as portions of 
 a whole. Hence, unable as Faith is to analyze its 
 
XIII.] WITH FAITH AND WITH BIGOTRY. 303 
 
 grounds, or to show the consistency of one of its judg- 
 ments with another, yet every one of these has its 
 own placej and corresponds to some doctrine or pre- 
 cept in the philosophical system of the Gospel, for 
 they are all the instincts of a pure mind, which steps 
 forward truly and boldly, and is never at fault. What- 
 ever be the subject-matter and the point in question, 
 sacred or profane, Faith has a true view of it, and 
 Wisdom can have no more ; nor does it become truer 
 because it is held in connexion with other opinions, 
 or less true because it is not. And thus, whereas 
 Faith is the characteristic gift of all Christians, a 
 peasant may take the same view of human affairs in 
 detail as a philosopher ; and we are often perplexed 
 whether to say that such persons are intellectually 
 gifted or not. They have clear and distinct opinions ; 
 they know what they are saying ; they have something 
 to say about any subject ; they do not confuse points 
 of primary with those of secondary importance ; they 
 never contradict themselves : on the other hand, they 
 are not aware that there is anything extraordinary 
 about their judgment ; they do not connect any two 
 judgments together ; they do not recognize any com- 
 mon principles running through them ; they forget the 
 opinions they have expressed with the occasion ; they 
 cannot defend themselves; they are easily confused 
 and silenced ; and, if they set themselves to reason, they 
 use arguments which appear to be faulty, as being but 
 types and shadows of those which they really feel, 
 
304 WISDOM, AS CONTRASTED [Serm. 
 
 and attempts to analyze that vast system of thought 
 which is their life, but not their instrument. 
 
 It is the peculiarity, then, of Faith, that it forms 
 its judgment under a sense of duty and responsibility, 
 with a view to personal conduct, according to revealed 
 directions, with a confession of ignorance, with a 
 carelessness about consequences, in a teachable and 
 humble spirit, yet upon a range of subjects which 
 Philosophy itself cannot surpass. In all these re- 
 spects it is contrasted with Bigotry. Men of narrow 
 minds, far from confessing ignorance and maintaining 
 Truth mainly as a duty, profess, as I observed just 
 now, to understand the subjects which they take up 
 andthe principles which they apply to them. They 
 do not see difficulties. They consider that they hold 
 their doctrines, whatever they are, at least as much 
 upon Reason as upon Faith ; and they expect to be 
 able to argue others into a belief of them, and are 
 impatient when they cannot. They consider that the 
 premisses with which they start just prove the con- 
 clusions which they draw, and nothing else. They 
 think that their own views are exactly fitted to solve 
 all the facts which are to be accounted for, to satisfy 
 all objections, and to moderate and arbitrate between 
 all parties. They conceive that they profess just the 
 truth which makes all things easy. They have their 
 one idea or their favourite notion, which occurs to 
 them on every occasion. They have their one or two 
 topics, which they are continually obtruding, with a 
 
XIII.] WITH FAITH AND WITH BIGOTRY. 305 
 
 sort of pedantry, being unable to discuss, in a natural 
 unconstrained way, or to let their thoughts take their 
 course, in the confidence that they will come safe 
 home at the last. Perhaps they have discovered, as 
 they think, the leading idea, or simple view, or sum 
 and substance of the Gospel : and they insist upon 
 this or that isolated tenet, selected by themselves or 
 by others not better qualified, to the disparagement 
 of the rest of the revealed scheme. They have, 
 moreover, clear and decisive explanations always 
 ready of the sacred mysteries of Faith ; they may deny 
 those mysteries or retain them, but in either case 
 they think their own to be the rational view and the 
 natural explanation of them, and all minds feeble or 
 warped or disordered which do not acknowledge this. 
 They profess that the inspired writers were precisely 
 of their particular creed, be it a creed of to-day, or 
 yesterday, or of a hundred years since ; and they do 
 not shrink from appealing to the common sense of 
 mankind at large to decide this point. Then their 
 proof of doctrines is as meagre as their statement of 
 them. They are ready with the very places of Scrip- 
 ture, — one, two, or three, — where it is to be found ; 
 they profess to say just what each passage and verse 
 means, what it cannot mean, and what it must mean. 
 To see in it less than they see is, in their judgment, 
 to explain away ; to see more, is to gloss over. To 
 proceed to other parts of Scripture than those which 
 they happen to select, is, they think, superfluous, since 
 they have already adduced the very arguments sufii- 
 UNIV. s. X 
 
306 WISDOM. AS CONTRASTED [Sbrm. 
 
 cient for a clear proof; and if so, why go beyond 
 them ? And again, they have their own terms and 
 names for every thing ; and these must not be touched 
 any more than the things which they stand for. Words 
 of party or politics, of recent date and unsatisfactory 
 origin, are as much a portion of the Truth in their 
 eyes, as if they were the voice of Scripture or of Holy 
 Church. And they have their forms, ordinances, and 
 usages, which are as sacred to them as the very Sacra- 
 ments given us from heaven. 
 
 Narrow minds have no power of throwing them- 
 selves into the minds of others. They have stiffened 
 in one position, as limbs of the body subjected to con- 
 finement, or as our organs of speech, which after a 
 while cannot learn new tones and inflections. They 
 have already parcelled out to their own satisfaction 
 the whole world of knowledge ; they have drawn their 
 lines, and formed their classes, and given to each opi- 
 nion, argument, principle, and party, its own locality ; 
 they profess to know where to find every thing ; and 
 they cannot learn any other disposition. They are 
 vexed at new principles of arrangement, and grow 
 giddy amid cross divisions ; and even if they make the 
 effort, cannot master them. Thesy think that any one 
 truth excludes another which is distinct from it, and 
 that every opinion is contrary to their own opinions 
 which is not included in them. They cannot separate 
 words from their own ideas, and ideas from their own 
 associations; and if they attain any new view of a 
 subject, it is but for a moment. They catch it one 
 
XIII.] WITH FAITH AND WITH BIGOTRY. 307 
 
 moment, and let it go the next ; and then impute to 
 subtlety in it, or obscurity in its expression, what 
 really arises from their own want of elasticity or 
 vigour. And when they attempt to describe it in 
 their own language, their nearest approximation to it 
 is a mistake ; not from any purpose to be unjust, but 
 because they are expressing the ideas of another 
 mind, as it were, in translation. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to observe upon the miscon- 
 ceptions which such persons form of foreign habits of 
 thought, or again of ancient faith or philosophy ; and 
 the more so, because they are unsuspicious of their 
 own deficiency. Thus we hear the Greek Fathers, 
 for instance, sometimes called Arminians, and St. 
 Augustine, Calvinistic ; and that not analogously, but 
 as if each party really answered to the title given it. 
 And again, an enquiry is made whether Christians in 
 those early days held this or that point of doctrine, 
 which may be in repute in particular sects or schools 
 now ; as, for instance, whether they upheld the union 
 of Church and State, or the doctrine of assurance. 
 It is plain that to answer in the affirmative or nega- 
 tive would be to misrepresent them ; yet the persons 
 in question do not contemplate more than such an 
 absolute alternative. 
 
 Nor is it only in censure and opposition that nar- 
 rowness of view is shown ; it lies quite as often in 
 approval and partisanship. None are so easily de- 
 ceived by others as they who are pre-occupied with 
 their own notions. They are soon persuaded that 
 
 x2 
 
SOS WISDOM, AS CONTRASTED [Serm, 
 
 another agrees with them, if he disagrees with their 
 opponents. They resolve his ideas into their own, 
 and whatever words he may use to clear his meaning, 
 even the most distinct and forcible, these fail to con- 
 vey to them any new view, or to open to them his 
 mind. 
 
 Again, if those principles are narrow which claim to 
 interpret and subject the whole world of knowledge, 
 without being adequate to the task, one of the most 
 striking characteristics of such principles will be, the 
 helplessness which they exhibit, when new materials or 
 fields of thought are opened upon them. True phi- 
 losophy admits of being carried out to any extent; 
 it is its very test, that no knowledge can be sub- 
 mitted to it with which it is not commensurate, and 
 which it cannot annex to its territory. But the 
 theory of the narrow or bigoted has already run out 
 within short limits, and a vast and anxious region lies 
 beyond, unoccupied and in rebellion. Their " bed is 
 shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it; 
 and the covering narrower, than that he can wrap 
 himself in it." And then what is to be done with 
 these unreclaimed wastes? — the exploring of them 
 must in consequence be forbidden, or even their 
 existence denied. Thus, in the present day, there are 
 new sciences, especially physical, which we all look 
 at with anxiety, feeling that our views, as we at pre- 
 sent hold them, are unequal to them, yet feeling also 
 that no truth can really exist external to Christianity. 
 Another striking proof of narrowness of mind among 
 
XIII.J WITH FAITH AND WITH BIGOTRY. 309 
 
 US, may be drawn from the alteration of feeling with 
 which we often regard members of this or that com- 
 munion, before we know them and after. If our 
 theory and our view of facts agreed together, they 
 could not lead to opposite impressions about the same 
 matters. And another instance occurs daily: true 
 Catholicity is commensurate with the wants of the 
 human mind ; but persons are often to be found who 
 are surprised that they cannot persuade all men to 
 follow them, and cannot destroy dissent, by preaching 
 a portion of the Divine system, instead of the whole 
 of it. 
 
 Under these circumstances, it is not wonderful 
 that persons of narrow views are often perplexed, 
 and sometimes startled and unsettled, by the diffi- 
 culties of their position. What they did not know, or 
 what they knew but had not weighed, suddenly presses 
 upon their notice. Then they become impatient 
 that they cannot make their proofs clear, and try to 
 make a forcible riddance of objections. They look 
 about for new arguments, and put violence on Scrip- 
 ture or on history. They show a secret misgiving 
 about the truth of their principles, by shrinking from 
 the appearance of defeat, or from occasional doubt 
 within. They become alarmists, and they forget that 
 the issue of all things, and the success of their own 
 cause, (if it be what they think it,) is sealed and 
 secured by Divine promise ; and sometimes, in this 
 conflict between broad fact and narrow principle, the 
 hard material breaks their tools ; they are obliged to 
 
310 WISDOM, AS CONTRASTED, &c. 
 
 give up their principles. A state of uncertainty and 
 distress follows, and, in the end, perhaps, bigotry is 
 supplanted by general scepticism. They who thought 
 their own ideas could measure all things, end in 
 thinking that even a Divine Oracle is unequal to the 
 task. 
 
 In these remarks, it will be observed that I have 
 been contrasting Faith and Bigotry as habits of mind 
 entirely distinct from each other. They are so ; but 
 it must not be forgotten, as indeed I have already 
 observed, that, though distinct in themselves, they 
 may and do exist together in the same person. No 
 one so imbued with a loving Faith but has somewhat, 
 perhaps, of Bigotry to unlearn ; no one so narrow- 
 minded, and full of self, but is influenced, it is to be 
 hoped, in his degree, by the spirit of Faith. 
 
 Let us ever make it our prayer and our endeavour, 
 that we may know the whole counsel of God, and 
 grow unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of 
 Christ ; that all prejudice, and self-confidence, and hol- 
 lowness, and unreality, and positiveness, and partisan- 
 ship, may be put away from us under the light of 
 Wisdom, and the fire of Faith and Love ; till we see 
 things as God sees them, with the judgment of His 
 Spirit, and according to the mind of Christ. 
 
SERMON XIV. 
 
 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS IN RELIGIOUS 
 DOCTRINE. 
 
 Preached on the Purification, 1843. 
 
 Luke ii. 19. 
 
 " But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her 
 heart." 
 
 Little is told us in Scripture concerning the Blessed 
 Virgin, but there is one grace of which the Evan- 
 gelists make her the pattern, in a few simple sen- 
 tences — of Faith. Zacharias questioned the Angel's 
 message, but " Mary said, Behold the handmaid of 
 the Lord ; be it unto me according to thy word." 
 Accordingly Elizabeth, speaking with an apparent 
 allusion to the contrast thus exhibited between her 
 own highly-favoured husband, righteous Zacharias, 
 and the still more highly-favoured Mary, said, on 
 receiving her salutation, " Blessed art thou among 
 women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb ; Blessed 
 is she that believed, for there shall be a performance 
 pf those things vphich were told her from the Lord." 
 
312 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Sbrm. 
 
 But Mary's faith did not end in a mere acquies- 
 cence in Divine providences and revelations : as the 
 text informs us, she " pondered" them. When the 
 shepherds came, and told of the vision of Angels 
 which they had seen at the time of the Nativity, and 
 how one of them -announced that the Infant in her 
 arms was " the Saviour, which is Christ the Lord," 
 while^ others did but wonder, " Mary kept all these 
 things, and pondered them in her heart." Again, 
 when her Son and Saviour had come to the age of 
 twelve years, and had left her for awhile for His 
 Father's service, and had been found, to her surprise, 
 in the Temple, amid the doctors, both hearing them 
 and asking them questions, and had, on her address- 
 ing Him, vouchsafed to justify His conduct, we are 
 told, " His mother kept all these sayings in her 
 heart," And accordingly, at the marriage-feast in 
 Cana, her faith anticipated His first miracle, and she 
 said to the servants, " Whatsoever He saith unto 
 you, do it." 
 
 Thus St. Mary is our pattern of Faith, both in the 
 reception and in the study of Divine Truth. She does 
 not think it enough to accept, she dwells upon it ; 
 not enough to possess, she uses it ; not enougb to 
 assent, she develops it ; not enough to submit the 
 Reason, she reasons upon it; not indeed reasoning 
 first, and believing afterwards, with Zacharias, yet 
 first believing without reasoning, next from love and 
 reverence, reasoning after believing. And thus she 
 symbolizes to us, not only the faith of the unlearned. 
 
XIV.] IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. 313 
 
 but of the doctors of the Church also, who have to 
 investigate, and v^^eigh, and define, as well as to pro- 
 fess the Gospel ; to draw the line between truth and 
 heresy; to anticipate or remedy the various aber- 
 rations of wrong reason ; to combat pride and reck- 
 lessness with their own arms ; and thus to triumph 
 over the sophist and the innovator. 
 
 If, then, on a Day dedicated to such high contem- 
 plations as the Feast which we are now celebrating, 
 it is allowable to occupy the thoughts with a subject 
 not of a devotional or practical nature, it will be 
 some relief of the omission to select one in which 
 St. Mary at least will be our example, — the use of 
 Reason in investigating the doctrines of Faith; a sub- 
 ject, indeed, far fitter for a volume than for the most 
 extended notice which can here be given to it ; but 
 one which cannot be passed over altogether in silence, 
 in any attempt at determining the relation of Faith 
 to Reason. 
 
 The overthrow of the wisdom of the world was one of 
 the earliest, as well as the noblest of the triumphs of the 
 Church ; after the pattern of her Divine Master, who 
 took His place among the doctors before He preached 
 His new Kingdom, or opposed Himself to the world's 
 power. St. Paul, the learned Pharisee, was the first 
 fruits of that gifted company, in whom the pride of 
 science is seen prostrated before the foolishness of 
 preaching. From his day to this the Cross has 
 enlisted under its banner all those great endowments 
 of mind, which in former times had been expended 
 
314 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Sbbm. 
 
 on vanities, or dissipated in doubt and speculation. 
 Nor was it long before the schools of heathenism 
 took the alarm, and manifested an unavailing jealousy 
 of the new doctrine, which was robbing them of their 
 most hopeful disciples. They had hitherto taken for 
 granted that the natural home of the Intellect was 
 the Garden or the Porch ; and it reversed their very 
 first principles to be called on to confess, what yet 
 they could not deny, that a Superstition, as they 
 considered it, was attracting to itself all the energy, 
 the keenness, the originality, and the eloquence of 
 the age. But these aggressions upon heathenism 
 were only the beginning of the Church's conquests ; 
 in the course of time the whole mind of the world, as 
 I may say, was absorbed into the philosophy of the 
 Cross, as the element in which it lived, and the form 
 upon which it was moulded. And how many cen- 
 turies did this endure, and what vast ruins still 
 remain of its dominion ! In the capitals of Christen- 
 dom the high cathedral and the perpetual choir still 
 witness to the victory of Faith over the world's 
 power. To see its triumph over the world's wisdom, 
 we must enter those solemn cemeteries in which are 
 stored the relics and the monuments of ancient Faith 
 — our libraries. Look along their shelves, and every 
 name you read there is, in one sense or other, a 
 trophy set up in record of the victories of Faith. 
 How many long lives, what high aims, what single- 
 minded devotion, what intense contemplation, what 
 fervent prayer, what deep erudition, what untiring 
 
 1 
 
XIV.] IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. 315 
 
 diligence, what toilsome conflicts has it taken to 
 establish its supremacy ! This has been the object 
 which has given meaning to the life of Saints, and 
 which is the subject-matter of their history. For 
 this they have given up the comforts of earth and the 
 charities of home, and surrendered themselves to an 
 austere rule, nay, even to confessorship and persecu- 
 tion, if so be they could make some small offering, or 
 do some casual service, or provide some additional safe- 
 guard, towards the great work which was in progress. 
 This has been the origin of controversies, long and 
 various, yes, and the occasion of much infirmity, the 
 test of much hidden perverseness, and the subject of 
 much bitterness and tumult. The world has been 
 moved in consequence of it, populations excited, 
 leagues and alliances formed, kingdoms lost and won; 
 and even zeal, when excessive, evinced a sense of its 
 preciousness ; nay, even rebellions in some sort did 
 homage to it, as insurgents imply the actual sove- 
 reignty of the power which they are assailing. Mean- 
 while the work went on, and at length a large fabric 
 of divinity was reared, irregular in its structure, and 
 diverse in its style, as beseemed the slow growth of 
 centuries; nay, anomalous in its details, from the 
 peculiarities of individuals, or the interference of 
 strangers, but still, on the whole, the development of 
 an idea, and like itself, and unlike anything else, its 
 most widely separated parts having relations with 
 each other, and betokening a common origin. 
 
 Let us quit this survey of the general system, and 
 
316 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Serm. 
 
 descend to the history of the formation of any Ca- 
 tholic dogma. What a remarkable sight it is, as 
 almost all unprejudiced persons will admit, to trace 
 the course of the controversy, from its first disorders 
 to its exact and determinate issue. Full of deep 
 interest, to see how the great idea takes hold of a 
 thousand minds by its living force, and will not be 
 ruled or stinted, but is " like a burning fire," as the 
 Prophet speaks, " shut up" within them, till they 
 are " weary of forbearing, and cannot stay," and 
 grows in them, and at length is born through them, 
 perhaps in a long course of years, and even successive 
 generations; so that the doctrine may rather be said to 
 employ the minds of Christians, than to occupy them. 
 Wonderful it is to see with what effort, hesitation, 
 suspense, interruption, — with how many swayings to 
 the right and to the left, — with how many reverses, 
 yet with what certainty of advance, with what preci- 
 sion in its march, and with what ultimate complete- 
 ness, it has been evolved ; till the whole truth " self- 
 balanced on its centre hung," part answering to part, 
 one, absolute, integral, indissoluble, while the world 
 lasts ! Wonderful, to see how heresy has but thrown 
 that idea into fresh forms, and drawn out from it 
 farther developments, with an exuberance which 
 exceeded all questi&ning, and a harmony which baf- 
 fled all criticism, like Him, its Divine Author, who, 
 when put on trial by the Evil One, was but fortified 
 by the assault, and is ever justified in His sayings, 
 and overcomes when He is judged. 
 
XIV.] IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. 317 
 
 And this world of thought is the expansion of a 
 few words, uttered, as if casually, by the fishermen 
 of Galilee. Here is another topic which belongs 
 more especially to that part of the subject to which 
 I propose to confine myself. Reason has not only 
 submitted, it has ministered to Faith ; it has illus- 
 trated its documents ; it has raised illiterate peasants 
 into philosophers and divines ; it has elicited a mean- 
 ing from their words which their immediate hearers 
 little suspected. Stranger surely is it that St. John 
 should be a theologian, than that St. Peter should 
 be a prince. This is a phenomenon proper to the 
 Gospel, and a note of divinity. Its half sentences, 
 its overflowings of language, admit of development ' ; 
 
 • " Practical Christianity, or that faith and behaviour which 
 render a man a Christian, is a plain and obvious thing ; like 
 the common rules of conduct, with respect to our ordinary tem- 
 poral affairs. The more distinct and particular knowledge of 
 those things, the study of which the Apostle calls ' going on unto 
 perfection,' and of the prophetic parts of Revelation, like many 
 parts of natural and even civil knowledge, may require very 
 exact thought and careful consideration. The hindrances, too, 
 of natural and of supernatural light and knowledge, have been of 
 the same kind. And as it is owned the whole scheme of Scripture 
 is not yet understood ; so, if it even comes to be understood, be- 
 fore ' the restitution of all things,' and without miraculous inter- 
 position, it must be in the same way as natural knowledge is come 
 at, — by the continuance and progress of learning and of liberty, and 
 by particular persons attending to, comparing and pursuing, inti- 
 mations scattered up and down it, which are overlooked and dis- 
 regarded by the generality of the world : for this is the way in 
 which all improvements are made ; by thoughtful men's tracing 
 
318 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Sbrm. 
 
 they have a life in them which shows itself in pro- 
 gress ; a truth, which has the token of consistency ; 
 a reality, which is fruitful in resources ; a depth, 
 which extends into mystery : for they are representa- 
 tions of what is real and has a definite location, and 
 necessary bearings, and a meaning in the great sys- 
 tem of things, and a harmony in what it is, and a com- 
 patibility in what it involves. What form of Pagan- 
 ism can fiirnish a parallel ? What philosopher has 
 left his words to posterity as a talent which could be 
 put to usury, as a mine which could be wrought? 
 Here, too, is the badge of heresy ; its dogmas are 
 unfruitful ; it has no theology ; so far forth as it is 
 heresy, it has none. Deduct its remnant of Catholic 
 theology, and what remains ? Polemics, explanations, 
 
 out obscure hints, as it were, dropped us by nature accidentally, 
 or which seem to come into our minds by chance. Nor is it at 
 all incredible, that a book, which has been so long in the posses- 
 sion of mankind, should contain many truths as yet undiscovered ; 
 for all the same phenomena, and the same faculties of investiga- 
 tion, from which such great discoveries in natural knowledge 
 have been made in the present and last age, were equally in the 
 possession of mankind several thousand years before. And pos- 
 sibly it might be intended, that events, as they come to pass, 
 should open and ascertain the meaning of several parts of Scrip- 
 ture." — Butler's Analogy, part 2, ch. 3. 
 
 This view of Butler's differs from the remark in the text so far 
 as this, that Butler is speaking of the discovery of new truths in 
 passages of Scripture, and the text speaks of a further insight into 
 ^e primitive and received sense of Scripture passages, gained by 
 meditating upon them, and bringing out their one idea more 
 completely. 
 
XIV.] IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. 319 
 
 protests. It turns to Biblical Criticism, or to the 
 Evidences of Religion, for want of a province. Its 
 formula end in themselves, without development, 
 because they are words; they are barren, because 
 they are dead. If they had life, they would increase 
 and multiply ; or, if they liye, and bear fruit, it is 
 but as " sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." 
 It develops into dissolution ; but it creates nothing, 
 it tends to no system, its resultant dogma is but the 
 denial of all dogmas, any theology, under the Gospel. 
 No wonder it denies what it cannot attain. 
 
 Heresy denies to the Church what is wanting in 
 itself. Here, then, we are brought to the subject 
 to which I wish to give attention. It need not surely 
 formally be proved that this disparagement of doc- 
 trinal statements, and in particular of those relating 
 to the Holy Trinity and the Incarnation, is especially 
 prevalent in our times. There is a suspicion widely 
 abroad, — felt, too, perhaps, by many who are unwill- 
 ing to confess it, — ^that the development of ideas 
 and formation of dogmas is a mere abuse of Reason, 
 which, when it attempted such sacred subjects, went 
 beyond its powers, and could do nothing more than 
 multiply words without meaning, and deductions 
 which come to nothing. The conclusion follows, that 
 such an attempt does but lead to mischievous con- 
 troversy, from the discordance of doctrinal opinions, 
 which is its immediate consequence ; that there is, in 
 truth, no necessary or proper connexion between in- 
 ward religious belief and scientific expositions; and 
 
320 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Sebm. 
 
 that charity, as well as good sense, is best consulted 
 by reducing creeds to the number of private opi- 
 nions, which, if individuals will hold for themselves, 
 at least they have no right to impose upon others. 
 
 It is my purpose, then, in what follows, to inves- 
 tigate the connexion between Faith and Dogmatic 
 Confession, as far as relates to the sacred doctrines, 
 which were just now mentioned, and to show the 
 office of the Reason in reference to it : and, in doing 
 so, I shall make as little allusion as may be to erro- 
 neous views on the subject, which have been men- 
 tioned only for the sake of perspicuity ; following 
 rather the course which the discussion may take, and 
 pursuing those issues on which it naturally opens. 
 Nor am I here in any way concerned with the 
 question, who is the legitimate framer and judge 
 of these dogmatic inferences under the Gospel, or 
 if there be any. Whether the Church is infallible, 
 or the individual, or the first ages, or none of these, 
 is not the point here, but the theory of develop- 
 ments itself. 
 
 Theological dogmas are propositions expressive of 
 the judgments which the mind forms, or the impres- 
 sions which it receives, of Revealed Truth. Revela- 
 tion sets before it certain supernatural facts and 
 actions, beings and principles ; these make a certain 
 impression or image upon it; and this impression 
 spontaneously, or even necessarily, becomes the sub- 
 ject of reflection on the part of the mind itself, which 
 
XIV.] IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE, 321 
 
 proceeds to investigate it, and to draw it forth in 
 successive and distinct sentences. Thus the Catholic 
 doctrine of Original Sin, or of Sin after Baptism, or 
 of the Eucharist, or of Justification, is but the expres- 
 sion of the inward belief of Catholics on these several 
 points, formed upon an analysis of that belief ^ Such, 
 too, are the high doctrines with which I am especially 
 concerned. 
 
 Now, here I observe, first of all, that, naturally as 
 the inward idea of divine truth, such as has been 
 described, passes into explicit form by the activity 
 of our reflective powers, still such an actual delinea- 
 tion is not essential to its genuineness and perfection. 
 A peasant may have such a true impression, yet be 
 unable to give any intelligible account of it, as will 
 easily be understood. But what is remarkable at 
 first sight is this, that there is good reason for saying 
 that the impression made upon the mind need not 
 even be recognized by the parties possessing it. It 
 is no proof that persons are not possessed, because 
 they are not conscious, of an idea. Nothing is of 
 more frequent occurrence, whether in things sensible 
 or intellectual, than the existence of such unperceived 
 impressions. What do we mean when we say, that 
 certain persons do not know themselves, but that 
 
 ' The controversy between our own Church and the Church of 
 Rome lies, it is presumed, in the matter of fact, whether such 
 and such developments are true, (e. g. Purgatory a true develop- 
 ment of the doctrine of sin after baptism,) not in the principle 
 of development itself. 
 
 UNIV. S. • Y 
 
THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Serm. 
 
 they are ruled by views, feelings, prejudices, objects 
 ■which they do not recognize ? How common is it 
 to be exhilarated or depressed, we do not recollect 
 why, though we are aware that something has been 
 told us, or has happened, good or bad, which ac- 
 counts for our feeling, could we recal it ! What is 
 iriferiiory itself, but a vast magazine of such dormant, 
 but present and excitable ideas ? Or consider, when 
 persons would trace the history of their own opinions 
 in past years, how baffled they are in the attempt to 
 fix the date of this or that conviction, their system 
 of thought having been all the while in continual, 
 gradual, tranquil expansion ; so that it were as easy 
 to follow the growth of the fruit of the earth, " first 
 the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in 
 the' ear," as to chronicle changes, which involved no 
 abrupt revolution, or reaction, or fickleness of mind, 
 but have been the birth of an idea, the development, in 
 explicit form, of what was already latent within it. Or, 
 again, critical disquisitions are often written upon the 
 idea" which this or that poet might have in his mind 
 in certain of his compositions and characters; and 
 we call such analysis the philosophy of poetry, not 
 implying thereby of necessity that the author wrote 
 upon a theory in his actual delineation, or knew 
 what he was doing ; but that, in matter of fact, he 
 was possessed, ruled, guided by an unconscious idea. 
 Moreover, it is a question whether that strange and 
 painful feeling of unreality, which religious men ex- 
 perience from time to time, when nothing seems 
 
XIV.] IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. 
 
 true, or good, or right, or profitable, when Faith 
 seems a name, and duty a mockery, and all endea- 
 vours to do right absurd and hopeless, and all things 
 forlorn and dreary, as if religion were wiped outfroni 
 the world, may not be the direct effect of the: tem- 
 porary obscuration of some master vision, which un- 
 consciously supplies the mind with spiritual life ahS 
 peace. 
 
 Or, to take another class of instances which are 
 to the point so far as this, that at least they are real 
 impressions, even though they be not influential. 
 How common is what is called vacant vision, when 
 objects meet the eye, without any effort of the judg- 
 ment to measure or locate them ; and that absence 
 of mind, which recollects minutes afterwards the oc- 
 currence of some sound, the striking of the hour, 
 or the question of a companion, which passed un- 
 heeded at the time it took place ! How, again, hap- 
 pens it, in dreams, that we suddenly pass from one 
 state of feeling, or one assemblage of circumstances, 
 to another, without any surprise at the incongruity, 
 except that, while we are impressed first in this way, 
 then in that, we take no active cognizance of the 
 impression ? And this, perhaps, is the life of inferior 
 animals, a sort of continuous dream, impressions 
 without reflections ; such, too, seems to be the first 
 life of infants ; nay, in heaven itself, such may be the 
 high existence of some exalted orders of blessed 
 spirits, as the Seraphim, who are said to be, not 
 knowledge, but all love. 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Serm. 
 
 Now, it is important to insist on this circumstance, 
 because it suggests the reality and permanence of in- 
 ward knowledge, as distinct from explicit confession. 
 The absence, or partial absence, or incompleteness of 
 dogmatic statements, is no proof of the absence of 
 impressions or implicit judgments, in the mind of the 
 Church. Even centuries might pass without the 
 formal expression of a truth, which had been all along 
 the secret life of millions of faithful souls. Thus, not 
 till the thirteenth century was there any direct and 
 distinct ecclesiastical decision upon the numerical 
 Unity of the Divine Nature, which the language of 
 some of the principal Greek fathers, prima facie, 
 though not really, denies. Again, the doctrine of 
 the Double Procession was no Catholic dogma in the 
 first ages, though it was more or less clearly stated 
 by individual Fathers; yet, if it is now to be received, 
 as surely it must be, as part of the Creed, it was 
 really held everywhere from the beginning, and 
 therefore, in a measure, held as a mere religious 
 impression, and perhaps an unconscious one. 
 
 But, further, if the ideas may be latent in the 
 Christian mind, by which it is animated and formed, 
 it is less wonderful that they should be difficult to 
 elicit and define; and of this difficulty we have 
 abundant proof in the history whether of the Church, 
 or of individuals. Surely it is not at all wonderful, 
 that, when individuals attempt to analyze their own 
 belief, they should find the task arduous in, the ex- 
 treme, if not altogether beyond them ; or, again, a 
 
XIV.] IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. 325 
 
 work of many years; or, again, that they should 
 shrink from the true developments, if offered to them, 
 as foreign to their thoughts. This may be illustrated 
 in a variety of ways. 
 
 It will often happen, perhaps from'the nature of 
 things, that it is impossible to master and express an 
 idea in a short space of time. As to individuals, 
 sometimes they find they cannot do so at all; at 
 length, perhaps, they recognize, in some writer they 
 meet with, the very account of their own thoughts, 
 which they desiderate ; and then they say, that " here 
 is what they have felt all along, and wanted to say, 
 but could not," or "what they have ever main- 
 tained, only better expressed." Again, how many 
 men are burdened with an idea, which haunts 
 them through a great part of their lives, and of 
 which only at length, with much trouble, do they 
 dispossess themselves ! I suppose most of us have 
 felt at times the irritation, and that for a long period, 
 of thoughts and views which we felt, and felt to 
 be true, only dimly showing themselves, or flitting 
 before us ; which at length we understood must not 
 be forced, but must have their way, and would, if it 
 were so ordered, come to light in their own time. 
 The life of some men, and those not the least emi- 
 nent among divines and philosophers, has centered 
 in the development of one idea ; nay, perhaps, has 
 been too short for the process. Again, how fre- 
 quently it happens, that, on first hearing a doctrine 
 propounded, a man hesitates, first acknowledges, then 
 
326 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Serm. 
 
 disowns it ; then says that he has always held it, but 
 finds fault with the mode in which it is presented to 
 him, accusing it of paradox or over-refinement ; that is, 
 he cannot at the moment analyze his own opinions, 
 and does not khow whether he holds the doctrine or 
 not, from the diflGiculty of mastering his thoughts. 
 
 Another characteristic, as I have said, of dogmatic 
 statements, is the difficulty of recognizing them, even 
 when attained, as the true representation of our 
 meaning. This happens for many reasons ; sometimes, 
 from the faint hold we have of the impression itself, 
 whether its nature be good or bad, so that we shrink 
 from principles in substance, which we acknowledge 
 in influence. Many a man, for instance, is acting on 
 utilitarian principles, who is shocked at them in set 
 treatises, and disowns them. Again, in sacred sub- 
 jects, the very circumstance that a dogma professes to 
 be a direct contemplation, and, if so be, a definition, 
 of what is infinite and eternal, is painful to serious 
 minds. Moreover, from the hypothesis, it is the 
 representation of an idea in a medium not native to 
 it, not as originally conceived, but, as it were, in 
 projection ; no wonder, then, that, though there be 
 an intimate correspondence, part by part, between 
 the impression and the dogma, yet there should be 
 an harshness in the outline of the latter; as, for 
 instance, a want of harmonious proportion ; and yet 
 this is unavoidable, from the infirmities of our intel- 
 lectual powers. 
 
 Again, another similar peculiarity in developments 
 
XIV.J IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. 327 
 
 in general, is the great remoteness of the separate re- 
 sults of a common idea, between which indeed at first 
 sight there seems to be no connexion. Thus it often 
 happens that party spirit is imputed to persons merely 
 for agreeing with one another in certain points of 
 opinion and conduct, which are thought too minute, 
 divergent, and various, in the large field of religious 
 doctrine and discipline, to proceed from any but an 
 external influence and a positive rule ; whereas an in- 
 sight into the wonderfully expansive power and pene- 
 trating virtue of theological or philosophical ideas 
 would have shown, that what is apparently arbitrary 
 in rival or in kindred schools of thought, is after all 
 rigidly determined by the original hypothesis. The 
 remark has been made, for instance, that rarely have 
 persons maintained the sleep of the soul before the 
 Resurrection, without falling into more grievous 
 errors ; again, those who deny the Lutheran doctrine 
 of Justification, commonly have tendencies towards a 
 ceremonial religion; again, it is a serious fact that 
 Protestantism has at various times unexpectedly 
 developed into an allowance or vindication of poly- 
 gamy ; and heretics in general, however opposed in 
 tenets, are found to have an inexplicable sympathy 
 for each other, and never wake up from their ordi- 
 nary torpor, but to exchange courtesies and medi- 
 tate coalitions. One other remark is in point here, 
 and relates to the length to which doctrinal state- 
 ments run, though before the attempt we fancied our 
 idea could be expressed in one or two sentences. 
 
328 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Serm. 
 
 Explanations grow under our hands, in spite of our 
 effort at compression. Such, too, is the contrast be- 
 tween conversing and corresponding. We speak our 
 meaning with little trouble ; our voice, manner, and 
 half words completing it for us ; but in writing, when 
 details must be drawn out, and misapprehensions an- 
 ticipated, we seem never to be rid of the responsibi- 
 lity of our task. This being the case, it is surprising 
 that the Creeds are so short, not surprising that they 
 need a comment. 
 
 The difficulty, then, and hazard of developing doc- 
 trines implicitly received, must be fully allowed ; and 
 this is often made a ground for inferring that they 
 have no proper developments at all ; that there is no 
 natural connexion between certain dogmas and cer- 
 tain impressions; and that theological science is a 
 matter of time, and place, and accident, though inward 
 belief is ever and everywhere one and the same. But 
 surely the instinct of every Christian revolts from such 
 a position ; for the very first impulse of his faith is to 
 try to express itself about the great sight which is 
 vouchsafed to it; and this seems to argue that a 
 science there is, whether that faith is equal to its 
 discovery or no. And, indeed, what science is open 
 to every chance inquirer ? which is not recondite in 
 its principles? which requires not special gifts of mind 
 for its just formation ? All subject-matters admit of 
 true theories and false, and the false are no prejudice 
 to the true. Why should this class of ideas be dif- 
 ferent from all other ? Principles of philosophy. 
 
XIV.] IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. 329 
 
 physics, ethics, politics, taste, admit both of implicit 
 reception and explicit statement; why should not 
 the ideas, which are the secret life of the Christian, 
 be recognized also as fixed and definite in them- 
 selves, and as capable of scientific analysis? Why 
 should not there be that real connexion between 
 science and its subject-matter in religion, which exists 
 in other departments of thought? No one would 
 deny that the philosophy of Zeno or Pythagoras was 
 the exponent of a certain mode of viewing things ; 
 or would affirm that Platonist and Epicurean acted 
 on one and the same idea of nature, life, and duty, 
 and meant the same thing, though they verbally dif- 
 fered, all because a Plato or an Epicurus was needed 
 to detect the abstruse elements of thought out of 
 which each philosophy was eventually constructed. 
 A man surely may be a Peripatetic or an Academic 
 in his feelings, views, aims, and acts, who never heard 
 the names. Granting, then, extreme cases, when 
 individuals who would analyze their views of religion 
 are thrown entirely upon their own reason, and find 
 that reason unequal to the task, this will be no argu- 
 ment against a general, natural, and ordinary corre- 
 spondence between the dogma and the inward idea. 
 Surely, if Almighty God is ever one and the same, 
 and is revealed to us as one and the same, the true 
 inward impression of Him, made on the recipient of 
 the revelation, must be one and the same ; and, since 
 human nature proceeds upon fixed laws, the state- 
 ment of that impression must be one and the same. 
 
330 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Sbrm, 
 
 SO that we may as well say that there are two Gods 
 as two Creeds. And considering the strong feelings 
 and energetic acts and severe sufferings which age 
 after age have been involved in the maintenance of 
 the Catholic dogmas, it is surely a very shallow phi- 
 losophy to account such maintenance a mere contest 
 about words, and a very abject philosophy to attribute 
 it to mere party spirit, or to personal rivalry, or to 
 ambition, or to covetousness. 
 
 Reasonable, however, as is this view of doctrinal 
 developments in general, it cannot be denied that 
 those which relate to the Objects of Faith, of which 
 I am particularly speaking, have a character of their 
 own, and must be considered separately. ,Let us, 
 then, consider how the case stands, as regards the 
 sacred doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation. 
 
 The Apostle said to the Athenians, "Whom ye 
 ignorantly worship. Him declare I unto you;" and 
 the mind which is habituated to the thought of God, 
 of Christ, of the Holy Spirit, naturally turns, as I 
 have said, with a devout curiosity to the contem- 
 plation of the Object of its adoration, and begins to 
 form statements concerning it, before it knows whither, 
 or how far, it will be carried.' One proposition ne- 
 cessarily leads to another, and a second to a third ; 
 then some limitation is required; and the combi- 
 nation of these opposites occasions some fresh evo- 
 lutions from the original idea, which indeed can never 
 be said to be entirely exhausted. This process is its 
 
XIV.] IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. 331 
 
 development, and results in a series, or rather body 
 of dogmatic statements, till what was an impression 
 on the Imagination has become a system or creed in 
 the Reason. 
 
 Now such impressions are obviously individual and 
 complete above other theological ideas, because they 
 are the impressions of Objects. Ideas and their de- 
 velopments are commonly not identical, the develop- 
 ment being but the carrying out of the idea into its 
 consequences. Thus the doctrine of Penance may 
 be called a development of the doctrine of Baptism, 
 yet still is a distinct doctrine ; whereas the develop- 
 ments in the doctrines of the Holy Trinity and the 
 Incarnation are mere portions of the original impres- 
 sion, and modes of representing it. As €rod is one, 
 so the impression which He gives us of Himself is 
 one ; it is not a thing of parts ; it is not a system ; 
 nor is it any thing imperfect, and needing a counter- 
 part. It is the vision of an object. When we pray, 
 we pray, not to an assemblage of notions, or to a 
 creed, but to One Individual Being ; and when we 
 speak of Him we speak of a Person, not of a Law 
 or a Manifestation. This being the case, all our at- 
 tempts to delineate our impression of Him go to bring 
 out one idea, not two or three or four ; not a philo- 
 sophy, but an individual idea in its separate aspects. 
 
 This may be fitly compared to the impressions 
 made on us by the senses. Material objects are real, 
 whole, and individual ; and the impressions which 
 they make on the mind by means of the senses, are 
 
332 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Serm. 
 
 of a corresponding nature, complex and manifold in 
 their relations and bearings, but considered in them- 
 selves integral and one. And in like manner the 
 ideas which we are granted of Divine Objects under 
 the Gospel, from the nature of the case and because 
 they are ideas, answer to the Originals so far as this, 
 that they are whole, indivisible, substantial, and may 
 be called real, as being images of what is real. Ob- 
 jects which are conveyed to us through the senses, 
 stand out in our minds, as I may say, with dimensions 
 and aspects and influences various, and all of these 
 consistent with one another, and many of them be- 
 yond our memory or even knowledge, while we con- 
 template the objects themselves ; thus forcing on us 
 a persuasion of their reality from the spontaneous 
 congruity and coincidence of these acconipaniments, 
 as if they could not be creations of our minds, but 
 were the images of external and independent beings. 
 This of course will take place in the case of the 
 sacred ideas which are the objects of our faith. Re- 
 ligious men, according to their measure, have an idea 
 or vision of the Blessed Trinity in Unity, of the Son 
 incarnate and of His Presence, not as a number of 
 qualities, attributes, and actions, not as the subject of 
 a number of propositions, but as one and individual, 
 and independent of words, like an impression con- 
 veyed through the senses. 
 
 Particular propositions, then, which are used to 
 express portions of the great idea vouchsafed to us, 
 can never really be confused with the idea itself, which 
 
XIV.] IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. 333 
 
 all such propositions taken together can but reach, and 
 cannot exceed. As definitions are not intended to 
 go beyond their subject, but to be adequate to it, so 
 the dogmatic statements used in our confessions of 
 the Divine Nature, however multiplied, cannot say 
 more than is implied in the original idea, considered 
 in its completeness, without the risk of heresy. 
 Creeds and dogmas live in the one idea which they 
 are designed to express, and which alone is substan- 
 tive ; and are necessary only because the human mind 
 cannot reflect upon it, except piecemeal, cannot use 
 it in its oneness and entireness, or without resolving 
 it into a series of aspects and relations. And in 
 matter of fact these expressions are never equivalent 
 to it ; we are able, indeed, to define the creations of 
 our own minds, for they are what we make them and 
 nothing else ; but it were as easy to create what is 
 real as to define it ; and thus the Catholic dogmas 
 are, after all, but symbols of a Divine fact, which, 
 far from being compassed by those very propositions, 
 would not be exhausted, not fathomed, by a thousand. 
 
 Now of such sacred ideas and their attendant ex- 
 pressions, I observe : — 
 
 1. First, that an impression of this intimate kind 
 seems to be what Scripture means by " knowledge." 
 " This is life eternal," says our Saviour, " that they 
 might know Thee the only True God, and Jesus 
 Christ whom Thou hast sent." In like manner St. 
 Paul speaks of willingly losing all things, "for the 
 excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus ;" and 
 
334 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Sbbm. 
 
 St. Peter of "the knowledge of Him who hath 
 called us to glory and virtue'," Knowledge is 
 the possession of those living ideas of sacred things, 
 from which alone change of heart or conduct can 
 proceed. This awful vision is what Scripture seems 
 to designate by the phrases " Christ in us," " Christ 
 dwelling in us by faith," "Christ formed in us," 
 and "Christ manifesting Himself unto us." And 
 though it is faint and doubtful in some minds, and 
 distinct in others, as some remote object in the twi- 
 light or in the day, this arises from the circumstances 
 of the particular mind, and does not interfere with 
 the perfection of the gift itself. 
 
 2. This leads me next, however, to observe, that 
 these religious impressions differ from those of ma- 
 terial objects, in the mode in which they are made. 
 The senses are direct, immediate, and ordinary in- 
 formants, and act spontaneously without any ■will or 
 effort on our part ; but no such faculties have been 
 given us, as far as we know, for realizing the Objects 
 of Faith. It is true that inspiration may be a gift 
 of this kind to those who have been favoured with 
 it ; nor would it be safe to deny to the illuminating 
 grace of Baptism a power, at least of putting the 
 mind into a capacity for receiving impressions ; but 
 the former of these is not ordinary, and both are 
 supernatural. The secondary and intelligible means 
 by which we receive the impression of Divine Veri- 
 ties, are such as the habitual and devout perusal of 
 
 ^ John xvii. 3. Phil. iii. 8. 2 Pet. i. 3. 
 
XIV.] IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. 335 
 
 Scripture, which gradually acts upon the mind; again, 
 the gradual influence of intercourse with those who 
 are in themselves in possession of the sacred ideas ; 
 again, the study of Dogmatic Theology, which is our 
 present subject; again, a continual round of devotion; 
 or again, sometimes, in minds both fitly disposed and 
 apprehensive, the almost instantaneous operation of 
 a keen faith. This obvious distinction follows be- 
 tween sensible and religious ideas, that we put the 
 latter into language in order to fix, teach, and trans- 
 mit them, but not the former. No one defines a ma- 
 terial object by way of conveying to us what we 
 know so much better by the senses, but we form 
 creeds as a chief mode of perpetuating the impression. 
 3. Further, I observe, that though the Christian 
 mind reasons out a series of dogmatic statements, 
 one from another, this it has ever done, and always 
 must do, not from those statements taken in them- 
 selves, as logical propositions, but as illustrated and 
 (as I may say) inhabited by that sacred impression 
 which is prior to them, which acts as a regulating 
 principle, ever present, upon the reasoning, and with- 
 out which no one has any warrant to reason at all. 
 Such sentences as "the Word was God" or "the 
 Only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the 
 Father," or " the Word was made flesh," or "the Holy 
 Ghost which proceedeth from the Father," are not a 
 mere letter which we may handle by the rules of 
 art at our own will, but august tokens of most simple, 
 ineffable, adorable facts, embraced, enshrined, accord- 
 
 1 
 
336 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Sebm. 
 
 ing to its measure, in the believing mind. For though 
 the development of an idea is a deduction of propo- 
 sition from proposition, these propositions are ever 
 formed in and round the idea itself (so to speak), and 
 are in fact one and all only aspects of it. Moreover, 
 this will account both for the mode of arguing from 
 particular texts or single words of Scripture, practised 
 by the early Fathers, and for their fearless decision 
 in practising it ; for the great Object of Faith on 
 which they lived both enabled them to appropriate 
 to itself particular passages of Scripture, and became 
 a safeguard against heretical deductions from them. 
 Also, it will account for the charge of weak reason- 
 ing, commonly brought against those Fathers; for 
 never do we seem so illogical to others, as when we 
 are arguing under the continual influence of impres- 
 sions to which they are insensible. 
 
 4. Again, it must of course be remembered, as 
 I have just implied, though as being an historical 
 matter it hardly concerns us here, that Revelation 
 itself has provided in Scripture the main outlines and 
 also large details of the dogmatic system. Inspiration 
 has superseded the exercise of human Reason in 
 great measure, and left it but the comparatively easy 
 task of finishing the sacred work. The question, in- 
 deed, at first sight occurs, why such inspired state- 
 ments are not enough without fiirther developments; 
 but in truth, when Reason has once been put on the 
 investigation, it cannot stop till it has finished it; 
 one dogma creates another, by the same right by 
 
XIV.] IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. 337 
 
 ■which it was itself created ; the Scripture statements 
 are sanctions as well as informants in the inquiry; 
 they begin and they do not exhaust. 
 
 5. Scripture, I Say, begins a series of developments 
 which it does not finish; that is to say, in other 
 words, it is a mistake to look for every separate pro- 
 position of the Catholic doctrine in Scripture. This 
 is plain from what has gone before. For instance, 
 the Athanasian Creed professes to lay down the right 
 faith, which we must hold on its most sacred sub- 
 jects, in order to be saved. This must mean that 
 there is one view concerning the Holy Trinity, or con- 
 cerning the Incarnation, which is true, and distinct 
 from all others ; one definite, consistent, entire view, 
 which cannot be mistaken, nor contained in any cer- 
 tain number of propositions, but held as a view by 
 the believing mind, and not held, but denied, by 
 Arians, Sabellians, Tritheists, Nestorians, Monophy- 
 sites, Socinians, and other heretics. That idea is not 
 enlarged, if propositions are added, nor impaired if 
 they are withdrawn: if they are added, this is with a 
 view of conveying that one integral view, not of am- 
 plifying it. That view does not depend on such pro- 
 positions ; it does not consist in them ; they are but 
 specimens and indications of it. And they may be 
 multiplied without limit. They are necessary, but not 
 needful to it, being but portions or aspects of that 
 previous impression which has now come under the 
 cognizance of Reason and the terminology of science. 
 The question, then, is not whether this or that pro- 
 
 UNIV. s. z 
 
338 .THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Serm. 
 
 position of the Catholic doctrine is in terminis in 
 Scripture, unless we would be slaves to the letter, but 
 whether that one view of the Mystery, of which they 
 are all the exponents, be not there; a view which 
 would be some other view, and not itself, if any one 
 of such propositions, if any one of a number of similar 
 propositions^ were not true. Those propositions imply 
 each other, as being parts of one whole ; so that to 
 deny one is to deny all, and to invalidate one is to 
 defiice and destroy the view itself. One thing alone 
 has to be proved from Scripture, the Catholic idea, 
 and in it they all are included. To object, then, to 
 the number of propositions, upon which an anathema 
 is placed, were altogether to mistake their use ; for 
 their multiplication is not intended to enforce many 
 things, but to express one,— to form within us that 
 one impression concerning Almighty God, as the 
 ruling principle of our minds, and that, whether we 
 can fully recognize our own possession of it or no. 
 And surely it is no .paradox to say that such ruling 
 ideas may exert a most powerful influence, at least 
 in their various aspects, on our moral character, and 
 on the whole man : as no one would deny in the case 
 of belief or disbelief of a Supreme Being. 
 
 6. And here we see the ordinary mistake of doc- 
 trinal innovators, viz. to go away with this or that 
 proposition of the Creeds instead of embracing the 
 one idea which all of them together are meant to 
 convey ; it being almost a definition of heresy, that 
 it fastens on some one statement as if the whole 
 
XIV.] IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. 339 
 
 truth, to the denial of all others, and as the basis of 
 a new faith ; erring rather in what it rejects, than in 
 what it maintains : though, in truth, if the mind de- 
 liberately rejects any portion of the doctrine, this is 
 a proof that it does not really hold even that very 
 statement for the sake of which it rejects the others. 
 Realizing is the very life of true developments ; it 
 is peculiar to the Church, and the justification of its 
 definitions. 
 
 Enough has now been said on the distinction, yet 
 connexion, between the implicit knowledge and the 
 explicit confession of the Divine Objects of Faith, as 
 they are revealed to us under the Gospel. An ob- 
 jection, however, remains, which cannot be satis- 
 factorily treated in a few words. And what is worse 
 than prolixity, the discussion may bear with it some 
 appearance of unnecessary or even wanton refinement; 
 unless, indeed, it is thrown into the form of contro- 
 versy, a worse evil. Let it suffice to say, that my 
 wish is, not to discover difficulties in any subject, but 
 to solve them. 
 
 It may be asked, then, whether the mistake of 
 words and names for things is not incurred by ortho- 
 dox as well as heretics, in dogmatizing at all about 
 the " secret things which belong unto the Lord our 
 God," inasmuch as the idea of a supernatural object 
 must itself be supernatural, and since no such ideas 
 are claimed by ordinary Christians, no knowledge of 
 Divine Verities is possible to them. How should any 
 
 z 2 
 
340 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Serm. 
 
 thing of this world convey ideas which are beyond 
 and above this world ? How can teaching and inter- 
 course, how can human words, how can earthly im- 
 ages, convey to the mind an idea of the Invisible ? 
 They cannot rise above themselves. They can suggest 
 no idea but what is resolvable into ideas natural and 
 earthly. The words " Person," " Substance," " Coii- 
 substantial," "Generation," "Procession," "Incar- 
 nation," " Taking of the manhood into God," and the 
 like, have either a very abject and human meaning, or 
 none at all. In other words, there is no such inward 
 view of these doctrines, distinct from the dogmatic 
 language used to express them, as was jiist now sup- 
 posed. The metaphors by which they are signified 
 are not mere symbols of ideas which exist inde- 
 pendently of them, but their meaning is coincident 
 and identical with the ideas. When, indeed, we 
 have knowledge of a thing from other sources, then 
 the metaphors we may apply to it are but accidental 
 appendages to that knowledge ; whereas our ideas of 
 Divine things are just co-extensive with the figures 
 by which we express them, neither more nor less, and 
 without them are not; and when we draw inferences 
 from those figures, we are not illustrating one existing 
 idea, but drawing mere logical inferences. We speak, 
 indeed, of material objects freely, because our senses 
 reveal them to us apart from our words ; but as to 
 these ideas about heavenly things, we learn them from 
 words ; yet (it seems) we are to say what we conceive 
 of them without words, as if words could convey 
 
XIV.] IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. 341 
 
 what they do not contain. It follows that our 
 anathemas, our controversies, our struggles, our suf- 
 ferings, are merely about the poor ideas conveyed to 
 us in certain figures of speech. 
 
 Some obvious remarks suggest themselves in 
 answer to this representation. First, it is difficult to 
 determine what divine grace may not do for us, if 
 not in immediately implanting new ideas, yet in re- 
 fining and elevating those which we gain through 
 natural informants. If, as we all acknowledge, grace 
 renews our moral feelings, yet through outward means, 
 if it opens upon us new ideas about virtue and good- 
 ness and heroism and heavenly peace, it does not 
 appear why, in a certain sense, it may not impart 
 ideas concerning the nature of God. Again, the 
 various terms and figures which are used in the doc- 
 trine of the Holy Trinity or of the Incarnation, surely 
 may by their combination create ideas which will be 
 altogether new, though they are still of an earthly 
 character. And further, when it is said that such 
 figures convey no knowledge of the Divine Nature 
 itself, but only of those figures, it should be con- 
 sidered whether our senses can be proved to suggest 
 any real idea of matter. All that we know, strictly 
 speaking, is the existence of the impressions they 
 make on us ; and yet we scruple not to speak as if 
 they conveyed to us the knowledge of material sub- 
 stances. Let, then, the Catholic dogmas, as such, be 
 freely admitted to convey no true idea of Almighty 
 God, but only an earthly one, gained from earthly 
 
342 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Serm. 
 
 figures, provided it be allowed, on the other hand, 
 that the senses do not convey to us any true idea of 
 matter, but only an idea commensurate vrith sensible 
 impressions. 
 
 Nor is there any reason why this should not be 
 fully granted. Still there may be a certain corre- 
 spondence between the idea, though earthly, and its 
 heavenly archetype, such, that that idea belongs to the 
 archetype, in a sense in which no other earthly idea 
 belongs to it, as being the nearest approach to it 
 which our present state allows. Indeed Scripture 
 itself intimates the earthly nature of our present 
 ideas of Sacred Objects, when it speaks of our now 
 " seeing in a glass da/rhly, iv a'lvly/jiari, but then face 
 to face ;" and it has ever been the doctrine of divines 
 that the beatific vision, or true sight of Almighty 
 God, is reserved for the world to come. Meanwhile 
 we are allowed such an approximation to the truth 
 as earthly images and figures may supply to us. 
 
 It must not be supposed that this is the only case 
 in which we are obliged to receive information need- 
 ful to us, through the medium of our existing ideas, 
 and consequently with but a vague apprehension of 
 its subject-matter. Children, who are made our pat- 
 tern in Scripture, are taught, by an accommodation, 
 on the part of their teachers, to their immature facul- 
 ties and their scanty vocabulary. To answer their 
 questions in the language which we should use to- 
 wards grown men, would be simply to mislead them, 
 if they could construe it at all. We must dispense 
 
XIV.] IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. 
 
 and " divide" the word of truth, if we would not 
 have it changed, as far as they are concerned, into a 
 word of falsehood ; for what is short of truth in the 
 letter may be to them the most perfect truth, that 
 is, the nearest approach to truth, compatible with 
 their condition *. The case is the same as regards 
 those who have any natural defect or deprivation, 
 which cuts them off from the circle of ideas common 
 to mankind in general. To speak to a blind man of 
 light and colours, in terms proper to those phenomena, 
 would be to mock him ; we must use other media of 
 information accommodated to his circumstances, ac- 
 cording to the well-known instance in which his ovra 
 account of scarlet was to liken it to the sound of a 
 trumpet. And so again, as regards savages, or the 
 ignorant, or weak, or narrow-minded, our representa- 
 tions and arguments must take a certain form, if they 
 are to gain admission into their minds at all, and to 
 reach them. Again, what impediments do the diver- 
 sities of language place in the way of communicating 
 
 * Hence it is not more than an hyperbole to say that, in cer- 
 tain cases, a lie is the nearest approach to truth. This seems the 
 meaning, for instance, of St. Clement, when he says, " He [the 
 Christian] both thinks and speaks the truth, unless when at any 
 time, in the way of treatment, as a physician towards his patients, 
 so for the welfare of the sick he will be false, or will tell a false- 
 hood, as the Sophists speak. For instance, the noble Apostle 
 circumcised Timothy, yet cried out and wrote, " Circumcision 
 availed not,". &c. — Strom, vii. 9. We are told that " God is not 
 the son of man, that He should repent ;" yet "it repented the 
 Lord that He had mad^ man." 
 
344 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Serm, 
 
 ideas ! Language is a sort of analysis of thought ; 
 and, since ideas are infinite, and infinitely combined, 
 and infinitely modified, whereas language is a method 
 definite and limited, and confined to an arbitrary se- 
 lection of a certain number of these innumerable 
 materials, it were idle to expect that the courses of 
 thought marked out in one language should, except 
 in their great outlines and main centres, correspond 
 to those of another. Multitudes of ideas expressed in 
 the one do not even enter into the other, and can only 
 be conveyed by some economy or accommodation, by 
 circumlocutions, phrases, limiting words, figures, or 
 some bold and happy expedient. And sometimes, 
 from the continual demand, foreign words become 
 naturalized. Again, the difiiculty is extreme, as all 
 persons know, of leading certain individuals (to use 
 a familiar phrase) to understand one another ; their 
 habits of thought turning apparently on points of 
 mutual repulsion. Now this is always in a measure 
 traceable to moral diversities between the parties ; 
 still, in many cases, it arises mainly from difference 
 in the principle on which they have divided and 
 subdivided that world of ideas, which comes before 
 them both. They seem ever to be dodging each other, 
 and need a common measure or economy to mediate 
 between them. 
 
 Fables, again, are economies or accommodations, 
 being truths and principles cast into that form in 
 which they will be most vividly recognized; as in 
 the well-known instance attributed to Menenius 
 
XIV.] IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. 345 
 
 Agrippa. Again, mythical representations, at least 
 in their better form, may be considered facts or nar- 
 ratives, untrue, but like the truth, intended to bring 
 out the action of some principle, point of character, 
 and the like. For instance, the tradition that St. 
 Ignatius was the child whom our Lord took in His 
 arms, may be unfounded ; but it realizes to us His 
 special relation to Christ and His Apostles, with a 
 keenness peculiar to itself. The same remark may 
 be made upon certain narratives of martyrdoms, or 
 of the details of such narratives, or of certain alleged 
 miracles, or heroic acts, or speeches, all which are the 
 spontaneous produce of religious feeling under im- 
 perfect knowledge. If the alleged facts did not occur, 
 they ought to have occurred (if I may so speak) ; 
 they are such as might have occurred, and would 
 have occurred, under circumstances; and they belong- 
 to the parties to whom they are attributed, poten- 
 tially, if not actually; or the like of them did occur; 
 or occur to others similarly circumstanced, though 
 not to those very persons. Many a theory or view 
 of things, on which an institution is founded, or a 
 party held together, is of the same kind. Many an 
 argument, used by zealous and earnest men, has this 
 economical character, being not the very ground on 
 which they act, (for they continue in the same course, 
 though it be refuted,) yet, in a certain sense, a repre- 
 sentation of it, a proximate description of their feelings 
 in the shape of argument, on which they can rest, to 
 which they can recur when perplexed, and appeal when 
 
346 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Serm, 
 
 questioned. Now, in this reference to accommoda- 
 tion or economy in human aflFairs, I do not meddle 
 with the question of casuistry, viz. which of such 
 artifices, as they may be called, are innocent, or where 
 the line is to be drawn. That some are immoral, 
 common sense tells us ; but it is enough for my pur- 
 pose, if some are necessary, as the same common 
 sense will allow; and then the very necessity of the 
 use will account for the abuse and perversion. 
 
 Even among men, then, constituted, as they are, 
 alike, various distinct instruments, keys, or calculi of 
 thought, obtain, on which their ideas and arguments 
 shape themselves respectively, and which we must 
 use, if we would reach them. • The cogitative method, 
 as it may be called, of one man is notoriously very 
 different from that of another ; of the lawyer from 
 that of the soldier, of the rich from that of the poor. 
 The territory of thought is portioned out in a hun- 
 dred different ways. Abstractions, generalizations, 
 definitions, propositions, all are framed on distinct 
 standards; and if this is found in matters of this 
 world between man and man, surely much more 
 must it exist between the ideas of men, and the 
 thoughts, ways, and works of God. 
 
 One of the obvious instances of this contrariety is 
 seen in the classifications we make of the subjects of 
 the animal or vegetable kingdoms. Here a very in- 
 telligible order has been observed by the Creator 
 Himself; still one of which we have not, after all, 
 the key. We are obliged to frame one of our own ; 
 
 1 
 
XIV.] IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. 347 
 
 and when we apply it, we find that it will not exactly 
 answer the Divine idea of arrangement, as it dis- 
 covers itself to us ; there being phenomena which we 
 cannot locate, or which, upon our system of division, 
 are anomalies in the general harmony of the Creation. 
 Mathematical science will afford us a more ex- 
 tended illustration of this distinction between super- 
 natural and eternal laws, and our attempts to repre- 
 sent them, that is, our economies. Various methods 
 or calculi have been adopted to embody those immut- 
 able principles and dispositions of which the science 
 treats, which are really independent of any, yet can- 
 not be contemplated or pursued without one or other 
 of them. The first of these instruments of investi- 
 gation employs the medium of extension ; the se- 
 cond, that of number; the third, that of motion; 
 the fourth proceeds on a more subtle hypothesis, that 
 of increase. These methods are very distinct from each 
 other, at least the geometrical and the differential ; 
 yet they are, one and all, analyses, more or less per- 
 fect, of those same necessary truths, for which we 
 have not a name, of which we have no idea, except 
 in the terms of such economical representations. 
 They are all developments of one and the same 
 range of ideas ; they are all instruments of discovery 
 as to those ideas. They stand for real things, and 
 we can reason with them, though they be but sym- 
 bols, as if they were the things themselves, for which 
 they stand. Yet none of them carries out the lines 
 of truth to their limits : first one stops in the analysis. 
 
348 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Serm. 
 
 then another ; like some calculating tables, which 
 answer for a thousand times, and miss in the thousand 
 and first. While they answer, we can use them just 
 as if they were the realities which they represent, 
 and without thinking of those realities; but at length 
 our instrument of discovery issues in some great im- 
 possibility or contradiction, or, what we call in reli- 
 gion, a mystery. It has run its length ; and by its 
 failure shows that all along it has been but an expe- 
 dient for practical purposes, not a true analysis or 
 adequate image of those recondite laws which are in- 
 vestigated by means of it. It has never fathomed 
 their depth, because it now fails to measure their 
 course. At the same time, no one, because it can- 
 not do everything, would refuse to use it within the 
 range in which it will act ; no one would say that 
 it was a system of empty symbols, though it be 
 but a shadow of the unseen. Though we use it with 
 caution, still we use it, as being the nearest approxi- 
 mation to the truth which our condition admits. 
 
 Let us take another instance, of an outward, and 
 earthly form, or economy, under which great wonders 
 unknown seem to be typified; I mean musical sounds, 
 as they are exhibited most perfectly in instrumental 
 harmony. There are seven notes in the scale ; make 
 them thirteen ; yet what a slender outfit for so vast 
 an enterprise ! What science brings so much out of 
 so little? Out of what poor elements does some 
 great master in it create his new world ! Shall we say 
 that all this exuberant inventiveness is a mere inge- 
 
XIV.] IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. 349 
 
 nuity or trick of art, like some game or fashion of 
 the day, without reality, without meaning? We 
 may do so ; and then, perhaps, we shall also account 
 the science of theology to be a matter of words ; yet, 
 as there is a divinity in the theology of the Church, 
 which those who feel cannot communicate, so is there 
 also in the wonderful creation of sublimity and beauty 
 of which I am speaking. To many men the very names 
 which the science employs are utterly incomprehen- 
 sible. To speak of an idea or a subject seems to be 
 fanciful or trifling, and o fthe views which it opens 
 upon us to be childish extravagance ; yet is it possible 
 that that inexhaustible evolution and disposition of 
 notes, so rich yet so simple, so intricate yet so re- 
 gulated, so various yet so majestic, should be a mere 
 sound, which is gone and perishes ? Can it be that 
 those mysterious stirrings of heart, and keen emotions, 
 and strange yearnings after we know not what, and 
 awful impressions from we know not whence, should 
 be wrought in us by what is unsubstantial, and comes 
 and goes, and begins and ends in itself? It is not so ; 
 it cannot be. No; they have escaped from some 
 higher sphere; they are the outpourings of eternal har- 
 mony in the medium of created sound ; they are echoes 
 from our Home ; they are the voice of Angels, or the 
 Magnificat of Saints, or the living laws of Divine 
 Governance, or the Divine Attributes; something 
 are they besides themselves, which we cannot com- 
 pass, which we cannot utter, — though mortal man, 
 
350 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Serm. 
 
 and he perhaps not otherwise distinguished above his 
 fellows, has the gift of eliciting them. 
 
 So much on the subject of musical sound ; but 
 what if the whole series of impressions, made on us 
 through the senses, be, as I have already hinted, but 
 a Divine economy suited to our need, and the token 
 of realities distinct from them, and such as might be 
 revealed to uSj nay, more perfectly, by other senses, 
 as different from our existing ones as they from 
 each other? What if the properties of matter, as 
 we conceive of them, are merely relative to us, so 
 that facts and events, which seem impossible when 
 stated concerning it in terms of those impressions, 
 are only impossible in those terms, not in themselves, 
 — ^impossible only because of the imperfection of the 
 idea, which, in consequence of those impressions, we 
 have conceived of material substances? If so, it 
 would follow that the laws of physics, as we consider 
 them, are themselves but generalizations of economi- 
 cal exhibitions, inferences from figure and shadow, 
 and not more real than the phenomena from which 
 they are drawn. Scripture, for instance, says that 
 the sun moves and the earth is stationary ; and sci- 
 ence, that the earth moves, and the sun is compara- 
 tively at rest. How can we determine which of these 
 opposite statements is the very truth, till we know 
 what motion is ? If our idea of motion be but an acci- 
 dental result of our present senses, neither proposi- 
 tion is true, and both are true ; neither true philo- 
 
XIV.] IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. 351 
 
 sophically, both true for certain practical purposes in 
 the system in which they are respectively found ; and 
 physical science will have no better meaning when it 
 says that the earth moves, than plane astronomy when 
 it says that the earth is still. 
 
 And should any one fear lest thoughts such as 
 these should tend to a dreary and hopeless scepticism, 
 let him take into account the Being and Providence 
 of God, the Merciful and True ; and he will at once 
 be relieved of his anxiety. All is dreary till we be- 
 lieve, what our hearts tell us, that we are subjects of 
 His Governance ; nothing is dreary, all inspires hope 
 and trust, directly we understand that we are under 
 His hand, and that whatever comes to us is from 
 Him, as a method of discipline and guidance. What 
 is it to us whether the knowledge He gives us be 
 greater or less, if it be He who gives it ? What is 
 it to us whether it be exact or vague, if He bids us 
 trust it ? What have we to care whether we are or 
 are not given to divide substance from shadow, if He 
 is training us heavenwards by means of either? Why 
 should we vex ourselves to find whether our deduc- 
 tions are philosophical or no, provided they are reli- 
 gious ? If our senses supply the media by which we 
 are put on trial, by which we are all brought to- 
 gether, and hold intercourse with each other, and are 
 disciplined and are taught, and enabled to benefit 
 others, it is enough. We have an instinct within 
 us, impelling us, we have external necessity forcing 
 us, to trust our senses, and we may leave the ques- 
 
352 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS [Serm. 
 
 tion of their substantial truth for another world, " till 
 the day break, and the shadows flee away." And 
 what is true of reliance on our senses, is true of all 
 the information which it has pleased God to vouch- 
 safe to us, whether in nature or in grace. 
 
 Instances, then, such as these, will be found both 
 to sober and to encourage us in our theological 
 studies, — to impress us with a profound sense of our 
 ignorance of Divine Verities, when we know most ; 
 yet to hinder us from relinquishing their contempla- 
 tion, though we know so little. On the one hand, it 
 would appear that even the most subtle questions of 
 the schools may have a real meaning, as the most in- 
 tricate formulae in analytics ; and, since we cannot 
 tell how far our instrument of thought reaches in the 
 process of investigation, and at what point it fails us, 
 no questions may safely be despised. "Whether 
 God was anywhere before creation ? " " whether He 
 knows all creatures in Himself?" "whether the 
 blessed see all things possible and future in Him ?" 
 " whether relation is the form of the Divine Per- 
 sons?" "in what sense the Holy Spirit is Divine 
 Love?" these, and a multitude of others, far more 
 minute and remote, are all sacred from their subject. 
 
 On the other hand, it must be recollected that not 
 even the Catholic reasonings and conclusions, as con- 
 tained in Confessions, and most thoroughly received 
 by us, are worthy of the Divine Verities which they 
 represent, but are the truth only in as full a measure as 
 our minds can admit it ; the truth as far as they go. 
 
XIV.] IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE. 353 
 
 and under the conditions of thought which human 
 feebleness imposes. It is true that God is without 
 beginning, if eternity may worthily be considered to 
 imply succession ; in every place, if He who is a Spirit 
 can have relations with space. It is right to speak of 
 His Being and Attributes, if He be not rather super- 
 essential ; it is true to say that He is wise or power- 
 ful, if we may consider Him as other than the most 
 simple Unity.. He is truly Three, if He is truly One ; 
 He is truly One, if the idea of Him falls under earthly 
 number. He has a triple Personality, in the sense in 
 which the Infinite can be understood to have person- 
 ality at all. If we know any thing of Him, — if we 
 may speak of Him in any way, — if we may emerge 
 from Atheism or Pantheism into religious faith, — if 
 we would have any saving hope, any life of truth 
 and holiness within us, — this only do we know, with 
 this only confession, we must begin and end our 
 worship — that the Father is the One God, the Son 
 the one God, and the Holy Ghost the One God ; and 
 that the Father is not the Son, the Son not the Holy 
 Ghost, and the Holy Ghost not the Father. 
 
 The fault, then, which we must guard against in 
 receiving such Divine intimations, is the ambition of 
 being wiser than what is written ; of employing the 
 Reason, not in carrying out what is told us, but in 
 impugning it; not in support, but in prejudice of 
 Faith. Brilliant as are such exhibitions of its powers, 
 they bear no fruit. Reason can but ascertain the 
 profound difficulties of our condition, it cannot re- 
 
 UNIV. s. A a 
 
354 THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTS, &c. 
 
 move them ; it has no work, it makes no beginning, 
 it does but continually fall back, till it is content to 
 be a little child, and to follow where faith guides it. 
 
 What remains, then, but to make our prayer to 
 the Gracious and Merciful God, the Father of Lights, 
 that in all our exercises of Reason, His gift, we may 
 thus use it, as He would have us, in the obedience of 
 Faith, with a view to His glory, with an aim at His 
 Truth, in dutiful submission to His will, for the 
 comfort of His elect, for the edification of Holy 
 Jerusalem, His Church, and in recollection of His 
 own solemn warning, "Every idle word that men 
 shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the 
 day of judgment ; for by thy words thou shalt be jus- 
 tified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." 
 
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