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for the fou^ag if a. ColUgi- in, tf^ Colony"

•¥^lLIE''¥]MH¥EI^SIir¥»

PUSEYISM TRACED TO ITS ROOT.

IN A VIEW OF THE

Papal antr ?^terarri)tcal Ssstem,

AS CCJIPARRD "WITH T7IE

RELIGION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

JOSEPH JOHN GURNEY.

"A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land. Tho Prophets prophecy
falsely, and the Priests hear rule by their means; and my people love to liave it so; and wliat
will ye do in the end thereof?'* — .Jer. v, ¦'JO, 31.

FOURTH EDITION.

NORWICH :
JOSIAII FLETCHER, H.\YMARKET.
LONDON; CHARLES GILPIN.
1848.

NORAAnCH:
PRINTED BY JOSIAH FLETCHER, tirPER HATMARKET.

INTRODUCTION.

When 1 speak of the Papal and Hierarchical system, I do
not mean to confine either my own view, or that of my
readers, to the church of Rome. I speak rather of the
system which places man under the rule of man, in matters
of religion — the laity, more particularly, under the rule of
the clergy ; so that human Avisdom and authority are found,
in A'arious degrees, to usurp the place of pure, divine truth.
So also by the religion of the Ncav Testament, I mean the
religion of him of whom the book testifies — even Jesus
Christ, the only Mediator between God and man ; who has
bought us with his blood, who is the sole High Priest of our
profession, Avho rules the universal church by his Spirit, and
Avlio Avill come again in glory, to render unto every man
according to his Avorks.
The Greek church has its hierarchy under the supreme
government of a patriarch. The episcopacy of the Anglican
church is of a far less superstitious character; yet it presents
to our view a fabric of the same kind, under the rule or
headship of a temporal monarch. The Scotch kirk is
governed by its synod of elders, under the direction of a
Moderator ; the Wesleyan Methodists, (a very useful body,
certainly,) are ruled by a similar council, composed of their
ordained ministers ; the congregations of the French re
formed church, are in no small degree of bondage to their
consistories ; and there are few Christian sects Avhich are
destitute of some form or other of ecclesiastical domination.
But it is in Rome that Ave are to seek for the system of
man's authority over man, in religion, carried out into its
full and legitimate results. The Romish church, seated in
temporal as Avell trs spiritual authority upon her seven hills,

IV INTRODUCTION.
professes to spread her arms over the Avhole earth ; she
arranges her hosts of ecclesiastical soldiers Avith a perfect
precision ; she rejoices in her army of monks, friars, and
priests, married only to herself; she clothes her hierarchy in
garments of beauty, and hesitates not to claim and usurp
the sacerdotal office. " Absolute and implicit obedience to
superiors," is the motto inscribed on her whole polity ; and
while she boasts herself in her long array of general councils,
her true rest is in the never-dying central authority of her
Pope, the successor of the chief of the apostles, the A'icar
and visible representative of Jesus Christ.
I propose in the following treatise, to take au account of
some of the principal features which mark the views and
practices of the Church of Rome, and to contrast them Avith
Avhat I believe to be pure Christianity; and in so doing I
shall probably have to disclaim many things which are far
from being exclusively Romish. These are still adhered to
by various classes of believers — by every one in its own Avay
and measure ; but they have nevertheless an affinity to the
Papal and Hierarchical System, in that large sense of the
terms, to Avhich I have already adverted.
To this task I venture to apply myself for the truth's sake,
but Avitliout the least feeling of jealously or ill-will towards
any denomination of my fellow-believers. I rejoice in the
conviction that there are many vital Christians among all the
orthodox denominations, Roman Catholics included, who are
drinking of the same Spirit ; and Avho therefore, even though
separated from each other in place or circumstances, are
"baptized" by that "one Spirit, into one body." And pos
sibly there may be some Avho disclaim all sectarian distinc
tions, Avho nevertheless do truly form a part of the mystical
body of Christ. As I am far fi'om confining my view of
antichrist to any one denomination of Christians — (I believe
antichrist may be found lurking in almost every existing sect)
so I do not hesitate to alloAv that under a vast variety of
names and conditions, Christ has a people of his own, Avho,
as they abide in the faith and patience of the saints, "shall
never perish," neither shall any man pluck them out of his
hands.

INTRODUCTION.

I beg it may be understood that I select the Romish
church in this discussion, because I consider her to present
the extreme case of the dependence of man on man, in the
things of God — a dependence which I hold to be the main
cause of the extent of her departure from simple Chris
tianity. I am Avell aware that many of the distinctive
errors of that church are opposed and rejected by all the
Protesant communities; nevertheless, we ought all to look
to ourselves, lest any thing of the same leaven should be
spreading its influence Avithin our own borders. "Know ye
not," said the apostle to the Corinthian church, and by impli
cation to all Christians in every age — " Know ye not that
ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God
dwelleth in you ? If any man defile the temple of God, him
shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy, which
temple ye are."

CONTENTS.

PAGE,

CHAPTER I. — On the holy scriptures . . i
CHAPTER II. — On antichrist, the iman of sin . . -28
CHAPTER III.— On the usurpation or temporal power by
the professing church of CHRIST . . .40
CHAPTER IV. — On the spiritual power of the priesthood .J4
CHAPTER V. — On divine worship . . . .78
CHAPTER VI. — On the christian ministry . . 98
CHAPTER VII.— On the sacraments . . ]21
CHAPTER VIH. — On justification and sanctification . 161
Conclusion .... . 19'2

THE

PAPAL AND HIERARCHICAL SYSTEM,
COMPARED AVTTH THE
RELIGION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
CHAPTER I.
ON THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
No one who has investigated the subject can seriously
entertain the notion that the canon of Scripture has
been arbitrarily fixed by the authority of man. When
our Lord Jesus Christ was upon earth, as a teacher
and preacher amongst the Jews, it was his constant
practice to refer to those books which were regarded
by that people to be divine; and while he never
failed to speak of them as such, he made no distinction
between one book and another, as it relates to their
authority. The law containing the five books of
Moses — the Prophets, including the historical books
as well as the major and minor Prophets, from
Joshua to Malachi— and the Psalms, or Hagiographa,
comprising the book of Job, the Psalms of David
and others, and all the works of Solomon, were alike
sacred in his view — an indivisible collection, from
which nothing might be taken, and to which nothing

2 Oji the Holy Scriptures,
might be added, except from the same immediate
and plenary inspiration. This collection of Avritings
— all in the Hebrew language,i and all studiously
preserved among the Jcavs from ancient times, and
guarded, since the coming of Christ, both by Jews
and Christians — is unquestionably the same as that
Avhich is now in our hands, and which is universally
known and accepted as constituting the Old Testa
ment. These are the writings, to the exclusion of all
others, to which the apostle Paul alludes, when he
says to Timothy, " From a child thou hast known
the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee
wise unto salvation, through faith which is in
Jesus Christ — all Scripture is given by inspiration
of God," &c.
The writings which comprise the New Testament
are individually established to be the genuine work
of the apostles and their companions, and therefore
of divine authority, by a variety of historical, critical,
and internal proofs, which have satisfied not merely
the Avisdom of the hierarchy, but the good sense
of the world. And now at the end of about eighteen
centuries from the time when these works were
written, there is less dispute, among men, respecting
the canon of the New Testament, than in any pre
ceding age of the church. Under the gracious super
intendence of a good Providence, the truth of that
canon has been established on so broad a basis,
both of learning and experience, as to be incapable

1 Except parts of the books of Daniel and Ezra, Avhicli are in
tlie Chaldaic dialect.

On the Holy Scriptures. 3
of being ever again shaken. So early as in the days
Eusebius (a.d. 315,) the four gospels, the book of
Acts, the thirteen epistles of Paul which bear his
name, and the first epistles of John and Peter, i. e.
about five-sixths of the whole volume, (very generally
diffused as these writings were, and freely read by
all descriptions of people,) were " universally acknow
ledged" as genuine compositions and Holy Scripture.
Some persons, indeed, in those days, doubted the
authenticity of the remaining books, viz., the second
epistle of Peter, the second and third epistles of John,
the epistles of James and Jude, and the Revelation ;
while some little shade was throAvn over the epistle
to the HebrcAVS, by the uncertainty of the question,
whether it was written by Paul.
But all these doubts have long since been cleared
away in the public mind of Christendom. It is now
generally understood, that the weight of evidence
in favour of the Pauline origin of that epistle is
not to be resisted. In the mean time, its apostolic
date is unquestionable ; and the scriptural ivisdom
and efficaci/ both of this and the other excepted
books, as contrasted with many spurious productions
of the first, second, and third centuries — false gospels,
false epistles, and false visions — are plainly such as
proclaim them to be, like the other Scriptures, the
work of God — given forth by inspiration, and stamped
with the seal of direct divine authority.
Let it be clearly understood, that in acknowledging
the list of inspired books, both of the Old and New
Testament, we do not follow the authority of any
particular church, or of any ecclesiastical council.
B 2

4 0)1 the Holy Scriptures.
With regard to the Old Testament, we follow the
example, and depend on the authority of Jesus Christ
himself and his apostles. With respect to the New
Testament, we abide, in the first place, by its own
testimony to the inspiration of its authors. Secondly,
we follow the general consent of the Christian public,
gradually developing itself from the first century
downward; fixed with wonderful unanimity by the
end of the fourth century ; and since that period,
unshaken by all the storms of infidelity, and con
firmed not only by the labours of a multitude of
critics, but by the common judgment and feeling of
mankind. Here, however, I would remark, that the general
unanimity of the Christian public respecting the
authenticity and divine origin of the Scriptures of
truth, is founded not so much on the testimony of
the ancients, and on those critical evidences with
which the learned only are familiar, as on an experi
mental and practical sense of the excellency, force,
and veracity of the book — on the wondrous harmony
of its several parts — on the entire suitability of the
moral and religious truths which it contains to the
need of mankind — and on its essential agreement
'with that measure of divine light in the soul and
conscience, which is bestowed on all men, as I believe,
through the mediation of that Sa'viour of whom the
Bible testifies.
There are few circumstances for which the friends
of Christianity ought to be more grateful than the
preservation of the text of Holy Scripture. We*
wiU not call it miraculous, but we may truly describe

On the Holy Scriptures. 5
it as the special provision of an ever-watchful Pro
vidence. Who was it that raised up the textual
doctors among the Jews, who devoted their livelong
hours to arranging the points and accents, counting
the letters, and fixing the middle words of the several
books of Hebrew Scripture "? To whom are we
to return thanks for the following important facts
— 1, that a most accurate version of the New Testa
ment was made into Syriac, so early as the second,
or probably the first century ; and that other versions
almost equally exact soon followed ; — 2, that the early
fathers of the church, even when animated with little
better than controversial zeal, were induced to rifle
the whole volume for quotations, which now, in their
abundance and uniformity, form one principal criterion
for the settlement of the text; and 3, that copies of
this sacred book were multiplied in every direction
with so little inaccuracy 1 Surely we have to thank
Him who is the Holy Head of his own church, and
whose gracious wiU it was to bestow upon her a
divinely authorized record of doctrines to be believed,
and duties to be performed, which should remain
unimpaired and indestructible to the end of time. It
would be difficult to calculate the amount of learning
and industry which have been applied to the investi
gation and settlement of the text of Scripture ; viz.
in the rigid and careful application of the three
criteria now mentioned — versions, quotations by the
fathers, and manuscript copies; and certainly the
Kennicotts and de Rossis, as it regards the Hebrew
books, and the Mills, Wetsteins, Griesbachs, «&c., as
it relates to the Greek Testament, have not laboured

6 On the Holy Scriptures,
in vain. So extensively and completely sifted have
been the various authorities which apply to the
subject, that we may consider ourselves to have noAV
arrived at the final result ; and what is it 1 Nothing
less than this— that both the HebreAV and Greek
Scriptures are cleared from every cloud of doubt;
that from amidst a vast multitude of various readings
of little importance, they have come forth uninjured,
because essentially unaltered — that they have not
been deprived of a single historical fact, of a single
doctrinal truth, of a single moral precept.
When Paul declared that " all Scripture is given
by inspiration of God," he made no distinctions be
tween the different kinds of writing of which the Old
Testament is composed. Independently of all con
siderations respecting the turiters — their individual
character or condition of mind, or the degree of
consciousness which they severally enjoyed of a divine
influence — he simply avers that the writings which
they produced, were " given by inspiration of God,"
— a view of the subject which is fully substantiated
by the example and authority of our Saviour himself.
We cannot for a moment doubt that the inspiration
of the apostles and evangelists had the same result;
and that their works also — whether historical, pro
phetical, or didactic — are, like the books of the Old
Testament, all divine, and all equal in point of autho
rity. It is matter of satisfaction and thankfulness,
that the attempts which have been made by many
modern critics to weaken the scriptural A'iew of the
inspiration of Scripture itself, the distinctions which
some have draAvn betAveen part and part, and the

On the Holy Scriptures. 7
notion that inspiration is more or less effective accord
ing to the nature of the subject in. hand — have very
much disappeared. All such wire-drawing has proved
itself to be a failure ; and Christians in the nineteenth
century are evidently brought to a confirmed agree
ment — that the Holy Scriptures, from the beginning
of Genesis to the end of Revelation — the actual
writings — the bulk and substance of the contents of
the book — are, as the early Quakers i used often to
express themselves, words of God.^
The divine origin of the Old and New Testament
is a point on which the Roman Catholics, and all the
orthodox denominations of Protestants, are (as far
as I know) in full accordance. I am not aware that
infidelity on this subject has ever been encouraged by
the authority of the See of Rome ; but it has often
sprung up, as the practical consequence of the super
stitious additions which have been made under that
authority — purely human as it is — to the fabric of
scriptural truth. These additions have arisen, as a
natural consequence, from those which the Romish
Church has made, in her own strength and wisdom, to
the Scriptures themselves.
That church, in the first place, has added to the
Old Testament a large proportion of the Apocryphal
books, not merely as works tending to edification, but
' While they regarded the title of " the Word of God," as
belonging exclusively to the Saviour himself, they were always
ready to confess their fuU behef in the divine authority of the
whole of the sacred volume.
2 See an excellent work by Gaussin, entitled " Theopneustie,"
1 vol. Svo.

8 On the Holy Scriptures.
as actually divine, and as forming part of their
canon. 1 Here then is a ground on which the hie
rarchy of Rome has found an opportunity of de-
ri-ving or supporting doctrinal opinions, from a source
additional to that of simple, authenticated Scripture.
But a far more dangerous addition to this store
house of truth has been made under the undefined
and comprehensive head of Tradition. Under this
head may be classed first, the voluminous Avritings
of the ecclesiastical fathers during tbe first six cen
turies after Christ, containing a variety of strange
notions and customs, wholly beyond the scape and
limits of Scripture, which have been gradually aug
mented in their course, and have ultimately found
an undisturbed seat in the bosom of the Romish
Church. Nor can it be denied that a divine autho
rity, practically tantamount to that of Scripture, has
often been claimed, among the members of that com
munion, for these writings — very much as the Jews
have regarded such an authority as belonging to
that ocean of trifles, the Talmud. In addition how
ever to this new and most cumbrous litera scripta,
is the ORAL TRADITION handed down from age to
age — from one generation of priests to another — and
even declared by the adherents of the Roman Pontiff,
to be of equal authority, that is, to be equally bind
ing on the consciences of all men, with the contents
of Holy Scripture itself.
This vast item of tradition gives to the Romish
church an undefined scope for superstitious additions
^ The Council of Trent included in their canon the books of
Tobias, Judith, Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, and Ecclesiasticus.

On the Holy Scriptures. 9
both to the creed and practices enjoined in the New
Testament. In the mean time, what becomes of the
Holy Scriptures themselves? They are according to
the principles of that church, in the keeping of the
hierarchy who alone are regarded as holding the true
keys to their meaning — alone gifted of God for the
purpose of interpreting them. So far, therefore, as
any parts of them are laid open to the people, it is
still with the virtual understanding that for the in
terpretation of that which they read, they must
depend, not on their own free judgment under a
divine influence, but on the teaching of their priests,
and on the decision of bishops, popes, and councils.
But alas! how small has been the extent to which
these keepers of the words of the Lord have per
mitted them to be circulated ! How studiously were
the Scriptures retained for many centuries in tongues
which the unlearned could not read, and how
uniformly has the general fact developed itself that
where the papal system prevails, there the Scriptures
are not! Exist in the libraries of the priests they
may ; but where have they been found in the hands
of the people % Since the clergy alone are supposed
to have the faculty of understanding them, so it fol
lows that the clergy alone may safely possess or read
them. Whatever is at any time given to the people,
must be doled out in such portions, and with such
oral or written additions, as their spiritual lords may
deem proper.
With these views and practices, Ave now proceed
to contrast what we apprehend to be simple truth —
even the truth of God — with regai-d to this great

10 On the Holy Scriptures.
subject. Great indeed it is, because fundamental. It
is to the foundation on which alone the church is
built, that the Scriptures lead us ; " Search the Scrip
tures," cried Jesus to the Jews, " for in them ye think
ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify
of ME."
The last verses of the sacred volume, although
referring to the Book of Revelation in particular,
develop a principle which must surely be applicable
to the whole divine record — namely, that nothing can
be added to the words of the Most High as therein
written, and nothing taken away from them, without
involving those who so offend, in the sin of presump
tion, and in aAvful peril to their souls. We do not
indeed mean to assert that God Avill make no addition
to the pages of Scripture. We pretend not to dive
into his hidden designs in this or any other respect ;
but Ave knoAv that hitherto he has not done so ; and
Avhen we take into 'vieAv the wonderful completeness
of the book, we have strong reason to believe that
he never will do so. In the mean time, ma7t, on his
own authority and wisdom, must abstain from all
tampering with the Book of the Lord. He must
take nothing from it, lest his OAvn name should be
taken out of the book of life ; he must add nothing
to it, lest the Lord should add unto him the "plagues"
which are appointed for those Avho transgress his Avill,
and rebel against his government. " If any man shall
add unto these things, God shall add unto him the
plagues that are Avritten in this book ; and if any man
shall take aAvay from the words of the book of this
prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the

On the Holy Scriptures. 1 1
book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the
things Avhich are written in this book." The principle
here set forth is, with equal force, insisted on in the
Old Testament, " Ye shall not add unto the word
which I command you, neither shall ye diminish
aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments
of the Lord your God which I command you:"
Deut. iv, 2. " What thing soever I command you,
observe to do it; thou shalt not add thereto, nor
diminish from it:" xii. 32. "Every word of God is
pure — add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove
thee, and thou be found a liar :" Prov. xxx, 5, 6.
I am not one of those who entertain violent pre
judices against the Apocrypha, nor should I feel
uneasy in contributing to those Bible Societies on
the continent of Europe, which circulate the sacred
volume with that addition— it being understood that
these ancient books are to be read not as divine,
but simply for general instruction and edification.
The fact is, that they vary exceedingly in their cha
racter — some of them contain puerile stories — others
record true history ; parts are bombastical and imagi
native; other parts so solid and instructive, that we
may surely conclude that the touches of divine grace
Avere resting upon the writers — a remark which par
ticularly applies to the wisdom of Solomon and Eccle
siasticus. But none of these books were written in
Hebrew ; they are the production of the last century,
or perhaps the last two centuries before the Christian
era, Avhen the Hellenistic language, in which they
were written, was prevalent in Egypt and Syria, and
when the prophetic gift seems to have scarcely existed

12 On the Holy Scriptures.
among the degenerate children of Israel ; i they were
never acknowledged by the Jews as of divine autho
rity, or included in their canon; and are not once
quoted in the New Testament, either by our Saviour
or his apostles. We must therefore conclude that it
is on the whole much safer to exclude them from the
Bibles which we read in our families, and circulate
in the world; but whether we so exclude them or
not, one thing is certain — that their contents cannot
be fairly cited as binding and conclusive, in support
of Purgatory or any other doctrine. Those who thus
cite them are guilty of adding to the words of the
Lord, and are in danger of being " found liars :" see
Prov. XXX, 6.
But if it is unsafe to add these ancient Hellenistic
books to the Old Testament, Avhat must be the peril
to the cause of truth, of ascribing divine authority
to the fathers of the first six centuries, whose mul
titudinous writings the world cannot contain — (in the
sense of reading, understanding, and digesting them)
— and who have been the instruments of palming
upon the church a vast mass of superstitions, to
which the religion of Jesus Christ gives no coun
tenance ¦? These fathers, various as they are in point
of talent, character, and mode of writing, do not ap
pear ever to have claimed a scriptural authority for
their own works; and any one who will take the
trouble of comparing them with the New Testament,
will soon find that in the simplicity, brevity, com-

1 Unless indeed some of them may be regarded as of a still
later date.

On the Holy Scriptures. 13
prehensiveness and weight of the latter, as contrasted
with the profuseness, bombast, and jejuneness of the
former, we are furnished with a powerful evidence
of the divine origin of the writings which are really
sacred — I mean those of the New Testament ; while
the others, so far as relates to the authoritative set
tlement of doctrine and practice in the church, may
be safely scattered to the winds, or for ever sleep
unheeded on the shelf of the schoolman.
Yet I am far from denying, that parts of these
works are worthy of an attentive perusal, and that
much advantage may arise from observing the sense
in which the fathers — generally Greeks themselves —
— were accustomed to cite the words of the Greek
Testament: their writings afford important critical
aids, and some sound theological instruction ; but
that they do not flow forth from the well of inspi
ration, themselves afford abundant internal evidence.
Those who are the most accustomed to dive into
them, will be the best prepared to acknowledge,
that whatever of piety and truth any of them may
breathe (so far as they are conformed to the doctrines
and precepts of Scripture) they are, as a whole, un
doubted part and parcel of the cumbrous, complex
works of man.
If we disclaim the addition to the Bible of the
works of the fathers, which, with all their faults, are
litera scripta, and therefore liable to the check of a
close, scriptural scrutiny, how much more evidently
does it become us to make a Christian stand against
that undefined and undefinable something which
glides down, unperceived in its course, (though mani-

14 On the Holy Scriptures.
fested in its unwholesome fruits,) from generation to
generation,— from spiritual father to spiritual son -to
the end of time— I mean oral tradition ! ''• The truth
and discipline of the Catholic church are compre
hended both in the sacred books and in the traditions
which have been received from the mouth of Jesus
Christ himself, or of his apostles, and which have
been preserved and transmitted to us by an uninter
rupted chain and succession." So declared the Conned
of Trent early in the sixteenth century, and so aver
the true friends of the Papal system (under whatso
ever guise or profession they may be acting) in the
present day.
In order to take a just view of this subject, we
must first examine the passages of Scripture which
speak of tradition in a favourable point of view. We
know that our Saviour communicated many things
to his disciples in private, which they were afterwards
to declare upon the house top ; and the apostles com
mitted the doctrine which they preached, to their
children and followers in the truth. Thus Paul not
unfrequently alludes to those matters which he had
himself received of the Lord, by divine inspiration,
and which he had delivered to the churches; and
sometimes he calls them by the name of traditions.^
" Now I praise you, brethren," said he to the Corin
thian Christians, " that ye remember me in all things,
and keep the ordinances (in the margin, as in the
Greek, traditions J as I dehvered them to you."
1 Cor. xi, 2. Again to the Thessalonians, — " But
1 ijra^adoffiii.

On the Holy Scriptures. 15
we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you,
brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through
sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth ;
whereunto he called you hy our gospel, to the obtain
ing of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore,
brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye
have heen taught, whether by word or our epistle :"
2 Thess. ii, 15 ; comp, iii, 6. By " traditions," in these
and other passages — i. e. matters handed down or
delivered to the churches — the apostle evidently de
notes the doctrines and precepts of Christianity.
These were the truths which he and his brethren
had proclaimed, as on the house-tops, for the con
version and edification of the people. " God be
thanked," says he, " that ye were the servants of sin,
but ye have obeyed ^ from the heart, that form of
doctrine which was delivered you,"^ Rom. vi, 17 :
and again, to the Corinthians, " Moreover brethren
I declare unto you, the gospel which I preached
unto you, unless ye have believed in vain ; for I
delivered unto you [vaQiiuxoi.) first of all that which
I also received, hoAv that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures ; and that he Avas buried,
and that he rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures:" 1 Cor. xv, 1 — 4.
It was of the highest importance that these precious
truths should be handed down from age to age, in
corrupt and uninjured. No wonder then that the
1 Or rather, " that although ye Avere the servants of sin, yet ye
have obeyed," &o. 2 s/j 01/ -rra^adoiriTi ruTov dida-^rji.

16 On the Holy Scriptures.
same apostle should say to one of his gifted followers
" O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust,
— avoiding profane and vain babblings, and opposi
tions of science falsely so called," 1 Tim. vi, 20 ; and
again, " Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the
grace that is in Christ Jesus ; and the things that
thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the
same commit^ thou to faithful men who shall be able
to teach others also:" 2 Tim. ii, 1, 2.
The trust committed to Timothy was, the gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ ; the truths of that gospel were,
" the things" which he had heard from the lips of
Paul before many loitnesses, and which it was to be
his high duty to commit, in his turn, to other faithful
brethren, who might be enabled still further to dis
seminate the joyful tidings. On a calm review of
these several passages, it is surely very clear that
they relate to communications which were open,
public, and notorious. They evidently contain no
allusion whatsoever to the secret, oral handing
down of certain articles in religion, besides those
which are contained in Scripture. Rather do they
relate to that mighty plan of redemption and salva
tion, in all its parts, which formed the subject of our
Saviour's instructions to his apostles, and of their
public teaching and preaching ; and of which a com
plete record — a record requiring no addition — was
graduaUy formed, in those days, through the special
providence of God, and is now to be found, exact
and uninjured, in the volume of the NeAV Testament.

On the Holy Scriptures. 17
providence of God, and is now to be found, exact
and uninjured, in the volume of the New Testament.
Thus are Ave placed in possession of a test, by which
all doctrines and practices in the church, from age
to age, may be safely tried; and not only are we
bound by the most sacred obligations to reject what
soever is contrary to this test; but no man living,
or any set of men, can have any right to impose upon
us any articles of belief, or principles of action, which
are not contained in the volume of inspiration. " To
the law and to the testimony," may the Christian
say in every age of the church, " if they speak not
according to this word, it is because there is no light
in them :" Isaiah viii, 20.
So far then as tradition is favourably mentioned
by the apostles, it is in effect, identical with Scrip
ture. But no sooner does it exceed this holy limit,
than it becomes intangible and imponderous. It has
neither shape nor substance, and being Avholly des
titute of any evidence of a divine origin, it soon
follows the course of this Avoiid, and becomes the
ready instrument of human error and pollution.
The history of the Jcavs furnishes us Avith an
example precisely in point. Not content with the
written law of the Lord, they invented the oral laio,
which they declared to have been given forth from
God to Moses, simultaneously Avith the written
code. They alleged that Moses delivered this law,
by Avord of mouth, to the elders of the people, and
that by these it Avas transmitted from generation to
generation of the spiritual guides and rulers of Israel.
Such were the pretensions of the Scribes and Phari.
c

18 On the Holy Scriptures.
sees at the Christian era. Soon after that period,
this oral law was reduced to Avriting in the work
called the Mishna — which, with the Gemara, or
commentary of one set of doctors, forms the Talmud
of Jerusalem, and with that of another school of
Rabbins, the Talmud of Babylon. Although these
Talmuds are regarded by the Jews of modern times,
as of an authority equal to that of Scripture itself,
it is certain that they abound in the most puerile
absurdities ; and when tried by the test of actual
Scripture, are found to be, in general, unAvorthy of
support. It was doubtless to this oral law that the
apostle Peter referred, when he spoke of " the vain
conversation" which the Jews " received by tradition
from their fathers," (1 Peter i, 18 ;) and Paul speaks
of the same tissue of error and falsehood, when he
warns the Colossian church against the arts of their
Judaizing teachers — " Beware lest any man spod you
through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition
of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not
after Christ :" Col. ii, 8.
And Avhat was the language of our Saviour himself
respecting these traditions, which the Jews had pre
sumed to add to their Holy Scriptures, as of equal
authority, because originating, as was supposed, with
God himself? Did he afford them the least degree
of countenance or support ] Far otherwise — he
freely spake of them as the mere invention of man,
and even as subversive of the true law of the Lord.
" Then came to Jesus Scribes and Pharisees, which
were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples
transgress the tradition of the elders ? for they wash

On the Holy Scriptures. 1 9
not their hands when they eat bread. But he
answered and said unto them, Why do ye also
transgress the commandment of God by your tra
dition"? For God commanded, saying, Honour thy
father and mother, &c. But ye say. Whosoever shall
say to his father or his mother, it is a gift, (or
temple-offering) by whatsoever thou mightest be
profited by me, and honour not his father and his
mother, (he shall be free.) Thus have you made
the commandment of God of none effect by your
tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophecy
of you, saying. This people draweth nigh unto me
with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips ;
but their heart is far from me. But in vain do
they worship me, teaching for doctrines the command
ment OF MEN ;" Matt. XV, 1 — 9.
This passage is of the most definite character, and
overturns the very principle of oral additions to the
written law of God. A similar recital is given in
the gospel of Mark, describing the traditions of the
JcAvs as relating to a variety of ceremonial particulars
of the most trifiing character, and as a base substitute
for the moral law. " Laying aside the commandment
of God," says the Lord Jesus in that gospel, " ye
hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots
and cups ; and many other such like things ye do.
Full well ye reject the commandment of God that
ye may keep your own tradition : Mark vii, 8, 9.
Human nature is the same in every age; it is far
too prone to error and deceit, to be entrusted with
the oral handing down of doctrines and precepts,
without the test, the check, the security, of Scripture.
c 2

20 On the Holy Scriptures.
The infallible consequence of such a systera is, that
the doctrines and commandments of men gradually
usurp the place of the revealed Avill and truth of
God. Errors of the most serious .character pervade
the professing church ; vital religion gives Avay to
countless forms and ceremonies, and the motto
which the Lord's professing servants wear on their
foreheads, is no longer Holiness, but Superstition.
It is now, I hope, sufficiently clear to the candid
reader, that the additions which have been made to
Holy Writ, under the influence of the Papal system,
are destitute of divine authority, and while they
open a door for error, have an obvious tendency
to lower the character of the Christian religion, and
to lessen its efficacy. These remarks are, to a certain
extent, applicable to the Apocrypha— due allowance
being made for the wisdom and piety of some of its
contents; they bear Avith far greater force on the
written works of the ecclesiastical fathers ; but above
all, they are unquestionably true of oral tradition. Re
garding these points as settled, we will advance to
the question. What use are we, on scriptural prin
ciples, permitted and bound to make of the Scriptures
themselves \
Are we to commit them to the hands of a hierarchy,
to be kept under its key, subjected to its sole inter
pretation, and doled out in fragments to the people,
in such a measure, and on such occasions, as the
priesthood may deem advisable ] or are Ave rather to
regard this precious gift of God, as being free as
the air which we breathe, to be disseminated, Avithout
hesitation or reserve, among the whole famdy of man ?

On the Holy Scriptures. 21
Is that blessed book, Avhich contains a clear revelation
of divine truth, and of the will of God towards man,
to be concealed from the fallen race on which that
revelation has been bestowed; or is it to be freely
opened, and read, and considered, by people as well
as priest ? Is it the peculiar possession of the clergy
of the church of Rome, or of the whole body of the
church universal]
It seems strange that any need should arise, in the
present day, for the consideration of such questions
as these. Yet it cannot be denied that very narrow
and dangerous views, plainly tending to the with
drawal and concealment of Scripture, have of late
been obtruded on the public, from unexpected quar
ters ; and Christians are again driven to Scripture
itself, in order that they may be fully assured in
what manner, and to what extent, the sacred volume
is to be used among the rational children of God.
Let us, then, in the first place, consider the subject
as it relates to the Old Testament. In Avhat way
did our Saviour and his apostles make their appeals
to it ¦? Ahvays in such a Avay as to mark it as divine ;
always in such a way also, as to shcAv that it was
open to the inspection and consideration of all Avhom
they addressed — the common property of the people
of God, and indeed of mankind in general.
The law and the prophets were publicly read in
the synagogues every Sabbath day, not only in the
Hebrew tongue, which Avas then understood by the
learned alone, but in the Chaldaic dialect, which was
spoken by the people at large. This part of the
synagogue- worship Avas sanctioned by our Lord, Avho

22 On the Holy Scriptures.
sometimes acted as public reader on these occasions.
So also, in his own discourses, (whether in the syna
gogues, or on the mountain's brow, or by the way
side, and whether he was addressing his own disciples,
or the Scribes and Pharisees, or the people in general)
he made his appeals, without the smallest reserve or
hesitation, to the Scriptures of the Old Testament.
He said, " Search the Scriptures, for they are they
Avhich testify of me." The proofs which they con
tained of his own divine mission were open to the
examination of all men, and he Avas accustomed to
adduce them on the ground of their being so. On
two occasions, he explained to his disciples the things
which were written respecting himself, in the Law,
the Prophets, and the Psalms — or, in other Avords,
in the whole of the Old Testament, of which these
were, at that time, the recognized divisions. He
never thought of holding back any part of the
sacred treasure. He used the whole of it in its true
character of the free gift of the God of light, to a
dark and fallen world.
Just similar Avas the practice of the evangelists
and apostles. Whether they were addressing the
Jews or the Gentiles, individuals or bodies of men,
particular churches or the AA'hole society of believers
Avho Avere scattered abroad, they never hesitated to
appeal to Holy Scripture, as an authority binding
upon all — the common property of all. The Bereans
Avere described as more noble than the people of
Thessalonica, because they searched the Scriptures
dady, that they might know whether the things
which Paul declared Avere indeed the truth. The

On the Holy Scriptures. 23
views of that apostle, on the present subject, were
of the most comprehensive character. When he
spoke of the use as well as authority of the sacred
volume, he excepted no part of the book itself; and
when he mentioned the effect which it was intended
to produce, he excluded from its operation no part
of mankind. " Whatsoever things were written
aforetime," said he to the Romans, " were Avritten
for our learning, that we through patience and com
fort of the Scriptures might have hope:" Rom. xv, 4;
and again to Timothy, " All Scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righte
ousness:" 2 Tim. iii, 16, 17. These are benefits of
which all mankind stand in need, even as they stand
in need of the gospel itself Therefore the Scriptures,
which contain the gospel, are intended for all men.
" Now to him that is of power to stablish you ac
cording to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus
Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery
which was kept secret since the world began, but
now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of
THE prophets, accoi'diug to the commandment of
the everlasting God, made known to all nations
for the obedience of faith : to God only wise, be
glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen:" Rom.
xvi, 25—27.
On the great day of Pentecost, when the mira
culous gift of tongues was poured forth upon the
infant church, " Parthians, and Modes, and Elamites,
and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and
Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pam-

24 On the Holy Scriptures.
phylia, in Egypt, and in parts of Lybia about Cyrene,
and strangers of Rome, Jews and Proselytes, Cretes
and Arabians" — all these heard, in their own
tongues, the wonderful works of God — all these
listened to the apostles and their brethren, whde
they adduced their proofs from the Old Testament,
that Jesus was the Christ. This marvellous display
of the riches of the bounty and liberality of God,
in spiritual things, sanctions the great principle of
the universal diffusion of Scripture, and of the free
translation of it into all languages ; that thus, " ac
cording to the commandment of the everlasting
God," the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ — the great
mystery of redemption — may be made known, on his
own authority, to the whole family of man.
The principles which are thus plainly recognised
by our Saviour and his immediate followers, respect
ing the use of the Old Testament, bear with redoubled
force on the New Testament itself. Most of these
sacred books were addressed to public bodies — such
as the churches of Rome, Corinth, &c. ; or to the
universal church ; or (as is the case, in effect, Avith
the four gospels) to mankind at large ; and even the
few epistles inscribed to individuals, are full of in
struction suited to the many. Nothing of reserve,
nothing of privacy, is indicated in any of these
writings. They were not committed as a private
treasure to the clergy, but as a public gift to the
church and to mankind.
For the most part, the contents of these writings
are simple, explicit, and intelligible; and if in the
epistles of Paul, as in some other parts of Scripture,

On the Holy Scriptures. 25
there are " some things hard to be understood, which
the unlearned (or rather indocile^) and unstable wrest
unto their own destruction ;"4 this was equally true
of the discourses of our Lord himself, by some of
which the Jews were offended, because they con
tained " hard sayings." So also the apostles, in their
character of preachers, Avere a savour of death unto
death to some, as Avell as of hfe unto life to others.
Indeed it is the inherent character of divine truth,
that it should often have this operation in a dark,
perverted, and fallen world. Nevertheless, the truth
(mysterious as it is to the indocile and unstable) must
go forth Avithout reserve all the Avorld over — and so
must the Scriptures which contain it.
The Apocalypse is by far the most obscure and
mysterious part of the New Testament. Yet it Avas
addressed not only to the angels of the seven churches,
but to the seven churches themselves, (Rev. i, 4;)
and it is prefaced by this truly anti-Romish motto — a
motto in which all men have their part — " Blessed
IS HE that readeth, and they that hear the words
of this prophecy, and keep those things which are
written therein ; for the time is at hand ! "
It is always to be kept in vieAV, that amidst all the
variety of information and instruction contained in
the Holy Scriptures, its main purpose from Genesis to
Revelation, is to testify of Christ. The words of the
Most High, written in the sacred volume, are still
found to point in various Avays and forms — by the
shadows of the law, by the types of the history, by
^a(i-6ihig. *2 Peter iii, 16.

26 On the Holy Scriptures.
the predictions of the prophets, by the narrations of
the evangelists, by the doctrines of the apostles, by
the figures of the Apocalypse— to Him who is the
Word. They reveal and portray Him Avho was with
God in the beginning, by Avhom God made the
worlds, who was incarnate in the flesh, died for our
offences, rose again for our justification, ascended up
on high, reigns above in glory, and will come again
to judge the quick and the dead. The words Avhich
the apostle John applied to his own gospel, are truly
descriptive of the Scriptures as a whole — " These are
written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God, and that believing ye might have
life through his name:" John xx, 31. Now the Son
of God was bestowed on the whole world ; " God so
loved THE WORLD that he gave his only begotten Son,
that WHOSOEVER believeth in him should not perish,
but haA^e everlasting life:" John iii, 16. Christ was
the " propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only,
but also for the sins of the whole world : " 1 John
ii, 2. Thus it appears that all men, the world over,
have to do with Him of whom the Scriptures testify,
and whom they are intended to make known. All
men, therefore, have their part in these Scriptures,
just as they have it in the gospel Avhich they contain,
and which is to be preached to every creature;
" God Avould have all men to be saved, and come to
the knoivledge of his truth." Therefore all men are
invited to possess, read, know, and understand those
writings, which are able to make us "wise unto
salvation, through faith Avhich is in Christ Jesus:"
2 Tim. iii, 15.

On the Holy Scriptures. 27
It may be hoped, that the scriptural view here
taken of the intended use and universal application of
the Holy Scriptures, will be found to accord with the
best judgment of all who love the truth as it is in
Jesus, and Avho long and pray for its universal diffu
sion. But what are we to say of the interpretation of
the bookl Are all men to explain it according to
their own wisdom and liking"? Certainly not; but
all men are invited to read and consider it, for them
selves, in a devout and humble disposition, and in
reverent dependence on the illumination and teaching
of God's Holy Spirit. The Comforter, Avhich is the
Holy Ghost — in his peculiar character of interpreter
— or of Him who takes of the things of Christ, and
shows them to his disciples, (John xvi, 14,) — is be
stowed not on the apostles alone, but on the servants
of Christ in every age ; and not on the hierarchy or
clergy alone, but on the church universal — on the
whole people of God.
The laws of grammar and philology, and the
science of exegesis, in all its branches, are open to
all mankind, and have actually led to the pouring in
of so much light on Scripture, as very much to fix its
meaning, for the permanent benefit of our race. In
the mean time, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, who
holds the key of David, is still pleased to " open the
hearts" of his followers, that they may understand
the Scriptures spiritually and savingly, and may thus
find their pardon and cure, their peace and deliver
ance, their full and final rest, in him.

CHAPTER II.
ON antichrist, the man of sin.
" Little children, it is the last time, and as ye have
heard that antichrist shall come, even noAV are there
many antichrists, Avhereby Ave know that it is the last
time  He is antichrist that denieth the Father
and the Son:" 1 John ii, 18, 22. Again, this apostle
says, " Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh, is not of God; and this
is that spirit of antichrist whereof ye have heard that
it should come, and even noAv already is it in the
Avorld : " iv, 3. This last testimony to the work and
character of antichrist, is repeated in his second
epistle ; " For many deceivers are entered into the
world, Avho confess not that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist:"
2 John 7.
It is clear, from these passages, that the term anti
christ is of very general application, as descriptive
of that spirit among men which rebels against the
dominion of the Son of God, invents false doctrine,
and corrupts good manners. Such Avas the spirit of
those spots in the believers' feasts of charity, of Avhom
the apostles Peter and Jude speak in their epistles — ¦
" clouds without water, carried about of winds ; trees
whose fruit withereth  raging Avaves of the sea,
foaming out their own shame ; wandering stars, to
whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever • "

On Antichrist, the Man qf Sin. 29
Jude 12, 13; comp. 2 Peter ii, 10 — 22. It appears
that these sons of error and dissipation professed a
peculiar degree of sanctity — " speaking lies in hypoc
risy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron
— forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain
from meats," &c.
There can be no doubt that even in apostolic times,
the seeds of heresy and corruption Avere sown in the
church, and that afterwards, these seeds produced a
vast and varied crop of bitterness, unbelief, and sin.
Here it ought to be confessed, that except in the arti
cles of forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain
from meats, there is nothing in these descriptions,
which bears, with any precise force, on the papal and
hierarchical system. But it is evident that in the
process of time, some great distinguishing antichrist
— at once the professor and enemy of Christianity —
was to come forth, in bold relief, pre-eminent among
all those spirits which are ranged in opposition to the
true kingdom of Christ.
Paul, in the spirit of prophecy, declares him to be
" the man of sin," and gives a vivid description of his
character, his work, and his end. It appears that the
Thessalonians were agitated by the expectation of the
early coming of Christ in judgment — a mistake Avhich
might easily arise from their ignorance of the fact,
that "the last days," which, as John asserts, were
then " indeed come," are nothing more than the last
dispensation; and that in these last days, the man of
sin must flrst be revealed, and must play his awful
part on the stage of ecclesiastical history, before the
Saviour would appear, " the second time, without sin

30 On Antichrist, the Man of Sin.
(or a sin offering,) unto salvation:" Heb. ix, 28. Nor
could the man of sin himself be revealed until he that
let and hindered him (probably the Pagan government
of Rome) was taken out of the way. " Let no man
deceive you by any means; for that day shaU not
come, except there come a falling away (or apostacy'^)
first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of
perdition ; who opposeth and exalteth himself above
all that is called God, or that is Avorshipped ; so that
he as God, sitteth in the temple of God, shoAving
himself that he is God  And now ye know
what Avithholdeth, (or restraineth^) that he might be
revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity
doth already work; only he who letteth^ (will let)
until he be taken out of the way. And then shall
that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall con
sume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy
with the brightness of his coming ; even him whose
coming is after the working of Satan, with aU power,
and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivable-
ness of unrighteousness in them that perish. And for
this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that
they may beheve a lie, that they all may be damned
(condemned) who believed not the truth, but had
pleasure in unrighteousness:" 2 Thess. ii, 3 — 12.
We have no reason to imagine that any individual
potentate is here described, but rather some system of
government — some unholy power — blaspheming
against God, by the presumptuous claim of divine
attributes, and deceiving mankind, after the working
I a-jroSraffia, 2 ^,5 xdn-^ov, 3 0 xaTeyvv.

On Antichrist, the Man of Sin. 3 1
of Satan, by a false shoAv of miracles. The thorough
ungodliness of this poAver is marked by the emphatic
words, " all deceivableness of unrighteousness."
For a further development of the history of anti
christ, we must have recourse to the Revelation.
There we first meet with him in the character of
the beast who slew the two witnesses.
"And I will give power unto my two witnesses,
and they shall prophecy a thousand two hundred and
three score days, clothed in sackcloth  and when
they shall have finished their testimony, the beast*
that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, shall make war
against them and kill them:" Rev. xi, 7. Here
antichrist is represented not as identical with Satan,
but as coming forth out of Satan's dominions, and em
ployed in Satan's work, (comp. ii, 13,) that of per
secuting the children of God, the witnesses for Christ
in the world.^ In the following chapter we have an
account of the true church, represented as a Avoman
clothed with the sun — that original source of light and
heat — and having under her feet the moon, by which
we may understand the borrowed light of man's intel
ligence, used and sanctified in every true Christian,
* 0JJJ/OU — a wild beast. It is to be regretted that our translators
have used the same version for turn, in chap, iv, 6, where some
angelic creature is spoken of. " Living creature " would there be
more just and descriptive.
5 These are called the two olive-trees, because it is the heavenly
unction Avhich qualifies them for their work, and flows through
them; and they are described as two, simply, as I beheve, to
express plurality; with reference to that well known principle of
Jewish jurisprudence, that out of the mouth of two witnesses
(i. e. two at least) shall every -word be estabUshed.

32 On Antichrist, the Man of Sin.
but always held in holy subordination to the Spirit
of God. She brings forth the man Christ Jesus, the
first and greatest of her sons, and after being per
secuted by the great red dragon, Avhich is Satan,
she files on eagle's wings into the wilderness. There
"she is nourished for a time, and times, and half
a time," or 1260 days (that is, as I suppose, 1260
years) " from the face of the serpent," who continues
to make Avar Avith " the remnant of her seed, which
kept the commandments of God, and have the tes
timony of Jesus Christ." And who Avere these"? — the
true disciples of Jesus— hidden, it may be, among the
rocks and valleys of Piedmont, and other Alpine
regions; simple people who placed no dependence
on ceremonies, but worshipped the Father and the
Son, in spirit and in truth.
Then foUoAVS, in chap, xiii, a remarkable display
of the antichristian powers. A beast is seen rising
out of the sea (coming it may be from the bottomless
pit, represented by the fathomless ocean) whose ten
horns are croAA^ned with as many crowns, and his
scA^'en heads inscribed with the names of blasphemy.
One of his heads had been wounded to death, but
that deadly wound had been healed. The deadly
Avound indicted on Rome by the Goths, Vandals, and
other barbarian poAvers, had been healed by her
becoming nominally Christian; and now she is a
spiritual ruler, having in subjection, for use, offensive
and defensive, her ten crovA^ned horns, the temporal
poAvers into which the Roman empire was divided.
It was the dragon (that is Satan) from whom this
beast — a terrible creature, leopard, bear, and lion

On Antichrist, the Man of Sin. 33
united — received his power, and seat, (probably in
Rome, the ancient capital of the empire,) and great
authority. Thus enthroned, he continues unmoved during the
whole time of the church's secession in the wilderness
— 1260 years. And how does he conduct himself"?
He opens his mouth in blasphemy against God —
makes war with the saints, and overcomes them ;
has power given to him over all kindreds, and
tongues, and nations ; and receives the worship of
mankind — true Christians excepted. In the mean
time another beast is seen coming up out of the earth,
(or out of the bottomless pit, supposed to be[^under
the earth,) having two horns like a lamb, yet speaking
as a dragon. This is the same power, as I believe,
under another phase — or rather the spiritual head
of that poAver, who assumes the visage of the lamb,
but is a wolf in sheep's clothing, and his voice is
like the voice of a dragon. It is he who " exercises
all the power of the first beast," of which he is in
fact the most essential part — even the head — making
a full use, for his own purposes, of those terrible
temporal poAvers, the ten crowned horns ; claiming
worship for the first beast; (i. e. the Avhole antichristian
power, including himself in his assumed character of
Lord of lords and King of kings ;) doing great Avon-
ders, comparable to the bringing down of fire from
heaven ; deceiving mankind by his sorceries and false
miracles; commanding them to perpetrate idolatry,
and to worship the image of the beast; placing his
mark on all men, rich and poor, bond and free;
(without bearing which they Avere not permitted any

34 On Antichrist, the Man qf Sin.
participation in this Avorld's traffic;) and inscribing
on their foreheads the name of antichrist with the
number of his name, which ever falls short of the
true sabbatical rest, even of the perfect number seven
— being six hundred and sixty and six — that is the
numeral six applied to each successive step in the
arithmetical numeration.
We have found occasion to observe that the anti
christian forces are ranged under three powers, the
dragon, or old serpent — fons et origo mali ; the beast
or temporal power under spiritual government; and
the spiritual ruler of the beast, who is one Avith him,
because his head — the lamb Avho speaks like a dra
gon. This second phase of antichrist — virtually the
same power — is soon afterwards called the " false
prophet," (chap, xvi, 13) and out of the mouths of
these three proceed unclean spirits — miracle-mongers,
who go forth unto all the kings of the earth to gather
them to battle against the Lord and his people.
This head of antichrist, or false prophet, is now
brought more fully into view in the character of the
" great whore," with whom the kings of the earth
and its intoxicated inhabitants have committed forni
cation, all which according to the knoAvn phraseology
of the Hebrew prophets, sets for idolatry— in that
they worshipped this spiritual deceiver, instead of the
Father and the Son, and were deeply imbued with
other idolatrous practices which she had introduced.
" So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilder
ness ; and I saw a Avoman sit upon a scarlet coloured
beast, (the head of the beast is now represented as his
rider) full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads

On Antichrist, the Man of Sin. 35
and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in
purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold, and
precious stones, and pearls, having a golden cup in
her hand, full of abominations and filthiness of her
fornication ; and upon her forehead was a name
written, mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of
harlots, and abominations of the earth. And I saw
the woman drunken with the blood of the saints and
with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus ;" xvii, 3 — 6.
Soon afterwards we find the following express infor
mation — " And the woman Avhich thou sawest, is that
great city which reigneth over the kings of the
earth:" ver. 18.
NoAv it appears that the ten crowned horns, or the
ten temporal powers — say, European nations, which
were under the power of this spiritual ruler — were
to be of " one mind," and were to give their power
and strength unto the beast — or rather to the head
of the beast — the lamb who has the voice of a dragon,
or in other words, to the whore who sitteth on the
waters, that is " on the peoples, and multitudes, and
nations, and tongues." Such Avas to be the state
of things for a time. But behold the Lamb against
whom they Avage impious warfare, and who is truly
Lord of lords and King of kings — Avho has the hearts
of all kings and potentates in his hands — and the
called, and chosen, and faithful, who are Avith him,
shall overcome these temporal poAvers, even by the
sword of the Spirit, the Avord of truth. And Avhat
shall be the consequence "? Instead of continuing to
be part of antichrist, these powers shall separate from
him, and oppose him. Kings shall become the
D 2

36 On Antichrist, the Man of Sin.
nursing fathers of the true church, and queens her
nursing mothers. (Thus the earth helps the perse
cuted woman Avho has retreated into the wdderness,
swaUowing up the stream of oppression and cruelty,
Avhich Satan is pouring forth out of his mouth against
her.) And now these ten horns shall be haters of
the " great whore," whom they once loved and fol-
loAved, and shall make her desolate and naked, and
shall eat her flesh, (i. e. seize her possessions,) and
burn her with fire: xvii, 12 — 18.
Soon follows the cry of the angel, Avhom John saw
in his visions " come doAvn from heaven, having great
poAver, and the earth Avas lightened Avith his glory" —
probably the Angel of the Covenant, the Saviour him
self " And he cried mightily with a strong voice,
saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is
become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every
foul spirit, and a cage of eveiy unclean and hateful
bird. For all nations have drunk of the Avine of the
wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth
have committed fornication with her, and the mer
chants of the earth are waxed rich through the
abundance of her delicacies. (Ecclesiastics become
merchants, and selling pardons to sinners, are en
riched by her abundance and luxuries.) " And I
heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out
of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her
sins, and that ye receive not her plagues." Then
follows the description of her being burnt with fire
— amidst the mourning and lamentation of all Avho
used to commit fornication Avith her, and trafiic with
her, and partake in her delicacies ; and this baptism

On Antichrist, the Man of Sin. 37
of fire — this desolating punishment, of whatsoever
nature it may prove — detects the evil things Avhich
are in her, the foul spirits and unclean birds that
haunt her, and the innocent blood which she has
shed. " And in her was found the blood of prophets,
and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the
earth ." xviii, 24.
In the folloAving chapter the prophetical account
of the conflict between these evil powers and the
Word of God, is brought to its close. The Son,
under that peculiar title, is seen in the opening
heavens sitting on a white horse, wearing many
crowns, the sharp sword going out of his mouth,
and his garments dipped in blood. On his vesture
and on his thigh his name is seen Avritten, King of
kings, and Lord of lords, and he is foUoAved by the
armies of his saints, all on Avhite horses, and clothed
in fine linen, Avhite and clean. " And I saAV the
beast, and the kings of the earth," says the apostle
"and their armies gathered together to make Avar
against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
And the beast was taken, and with him the false
prophet (his spiritual head) that wrought miracles
before him, with which he had deceived them that
had received the mark of the beast, and them that
worshipped his image. These both Avere cast alive
into a lake of fire burning with brimstone:" xix, 19,
20. Soon afterwards we read that the devil (after
one more unholy effort) "was cast into the lake of
fire and brimstone, Avhere the beast and the false
prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night
for ever and ever:" xx, 10.

38 On Antichrist, the Man of Sin.
The whole view thus given in Scripture of anti
christ, is calculated to impress us with an aAvful sense
of his wickedness and evil Avorking. The principal
features in the character of that ungodly power are
profaneness and blasphemy, falsehood and fraud,
pride, coveteousness, luxury, idolatry, malice, and
cruelty. This horrible personification of many evil things
assumes, in the first place, the attributes of deity —
he exalts himself above all that is called God — he
pretends to Avield the divine prerogatives — he is lord
over all mortal kings and potentates. The names of
blasphemy marked on his forehead, are of that pe
culiar kind, which designates his usurping the place
and functions of the Most High. If we suppose a
spiritual power Avhich pretends to dispose of all tem
poral kingdoms as he pleases, and who undertakes,
on his own authority, to forgive sins — however mul
titudinous, dark, or bloody they may be — we must
acknoAvledge that such a poAver blasphemes, in the
sense in which blasphemy is ascribed to antichrist.
If the same power enslaves kings and nations
under false pretences ; if he entices them by a shoAV
of superior sanctity, and by myriads of jugglers' tricks,
false relics, and lying wonders and miracles ; it must
be confessed, that he hereby fills up the scriptural
character of antichrist, as it relates to fraud and
falsehood. If he assumes the trappings of human splendour ;
if he sells his pardons for gold ; if the kings of the
earth boAv at his feet, and Avait upon him as his
servants ; if his eye is full of haughtiness ; if wealth

On Antichrist, the Man of Sin. 39
and luxury, and often the most unbridled licentious
ness, distinguish his annals — we cannot deny that
he answers to the character of antichrist, in the ar
ticles of pride, covetousness, and luxury.
If he not only demands the worship both of body
and soul, for those who are not God, but actually
gives to these false gods the outward form of images
before which his followers prostrate themselves, as
the heathen do before their idols — it is evident that
such a course falls in with the scriptural account of
the lamb who had the voice of a dragon, who made
an image of the beast and compelled all men to
worship it. Here is the friend and patron of spiritual
fornication, or in other words, of idolatry.
If, lastly, this supposed power makes use of the
temporal swords of the kings under his dominion^
for the cruel abuse and horrid persecutions unto
death, of myriads of the followers of the Lamb; if
he rejoices in his autos da fe, and delights in the
wreathing agonies of the saints who are consumed,
through his interference with the civil magistrate,
by sloAv fires ; if he invents every species of torture,
that he may torment all those who resist his reign
and deny his sanctity — it must surely be allowed that
here we have a practical representation of antichrist,
who wounds and slays the children of God ; and in
whose bosom is found the blood of his saints and
martyrs. All these things have marked the history of Rome
spiritual — the Babylon of tbe Apocalypse; and the
resemblance of the prophetic future Avith the historic
record, appears to me to afford some very strong

40 On the Usurpation of Temporal Power
indications, if not irresistible proof, that the antichrist
of the NeAV Testament and Rome spiritual (including
all that is found of the hke nature under other
names) are one and the same.

CHAPTER III.
ON the usurpation op temporal power by the
professing church op CHRIST.
In the preceding account of antichrist, abundant
evidence is afforded that the main feature of this
unholy poAver is the assumption, under spiritual pre
tences, of temporal authority, folloAved by an actual
mastery over the kings and nations of the world,
and by the practice of bloody cruelties, in the perse
cution of the chddren of God. This scriptural picture
of that which Avas foreknown of the Lord, and fore
told by his inspired servants in the apostolic age, has
at once filled and stained the page of history during
a long course of ages. Never Avas portrait more
frightful, and at the same time more accurate, than
that Avhich the pen of prophecy was impeded to draw
of that "spiritual wickedness in high places" which
has since developed its " working," to the astonish
ment of every reflecting observer, and to the distress
and degradation of mankind.
During the first three centuries of the Christian
era, the religion of Jesus found its way into the
world, without the compulsory influence of any tem-

By the Professing Church of Christ. 4 1
poral poAver. Neither the SAVord of the warrior, nor
that of the magistrate, was unsheathed for its pro
motion and support. On the contrary, the kingdoms
of the world — and more especially the iron poAver
of the Romans — were ranged on the opposite side,
and fought against the army of the Lamb. That
army used no carnal weapons in its defence; the
armour which every soldier in it wore, is detailed by
an apostle — the breastplate of righteousness, the shield
of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of
the Spirit. Truth was the banner of the followers
of our blessed Lord ; that banner was inscribed with
the motto of " Love to God and Man," and it Avas
upheld by multitudes of the meek of the earth, who
like their divine Master, Avere victorious only through
suffering. It was in the good fight of faith alone
that they displayed their fortitude and valour on the
earth ; and when earth Avas theirs no longer, they
joined, one by one, the glorified multitude whom
John beheld in his visions, clothed in Avhite robes,
and Avith palms of victory in their hands — those Avho
had " come out of great tribulation, and had Avashed
their robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb." Undoubtedly there were numerous corruptions
which, even in those early ages, had crept into the
life and character of professing Christians; yet the
description now given was justly applicable to very
many ; and thus in despite of all the raging of the
heathen, and all the buffetings of Satan, Christianity
sped its course, and at last, to an astonishing extent,
pervaded the civilized world.

42 On the Usurpation of Temporal Power
But noAv a vast change aAvaited the destinies of the
church. Early in the fourth century, the Emperor
Constantine adopted her as his own. The state
formed an alliance Avith her, and undertook, by the
intervention of secular authority and human power,
to defend her interests, and to promote her cause.
True indeed it is, that some of the emperors Avho
followed, adopted a different course ; but on the
whole, the Avorld smiled upon her. The professing
people of God gradually fell into the arms of the
civil magistrate, and learned to place their dependence
on the arm of fiesh.
As time floAved ouAvard, corruptions increased, and
under the gradually deepening shadows of a long and
dark night of apostacy, the assumption of temporal
power on the part of the nominal church of Christ,
became more and more daring. No longer was the
hierarchy satisfied with the support and protection
of the civil magistrate ; but kings and princes must
now fall under its dominion. The ten horns of
the beast, i. e. probably, the European states and
kingdoms, into which the Roman empire was divided,
boAved under the rod of the false prophet ; or in other
words, of the second beast Avho had the visage of
a lamb, but the voice of a dragon. Rome spiritual
not only obtained possession — unlike the Levites of
old — of a territory of her own ; but with the resistless
power of a magician, humbled the proudest monarchs
at her feet, employed them as slaves to hold her
stirrups, and pretended to have authority to dispose
of their dominions at her pleasure- — to set up kings,
and to bring them down — as being herself in the

By the Professing Church of Christ. 43
place of God, the Queen of all kings; the Lady of
all the lords of this terrestrial globe.
In the mean time, the true church had fied into
the wilderness, and Avas nourished with heavenly
manna, in the holes and caves of the earth. Few
in number, and scattered in place, the faithful fol
lowers of the crucified Jesus — themselves crucified
to the world, and the world to them — worshipped
God in privacy and retirement. But from age to age
they were the children of tribulation, and the rage
of their enemies pursued them into their most covert
retreats. Finally, after the truth had broken forth
and openly manifested itself in the Reformation, the
fiames of a most barbarous persecution were lighted
on every side — and the blood of the poor innocents
was poured forth in vast abundance into the lap
of antichrist. Here Avas the Avork, and here the
triumph of Satan, Avho was a liar and murderer from
the beginning. Kings and queens, with their sub
ordinate officers, kindled those flames, and kept them
burning for the destruction of the righteous, under
the resistless commands of their mother and supreme
ruler, Rome spiritual. By ruthless assassination, by
cruel Avarfare, by various kinds of torture, by the
sword and the fires of the magistrates, myriads of
sincere believers in Jesus, fell victims to the professing
church of Christ, in possession of temporal poAver.
That power has since become comparatively weak
and broken ; but were it fully restored, is there not
too much reason to believe that the same iniquities
Avould be re-enacted under the same pretence of
holiness and truth "? That there is to be observed

44 On the Usurpation of Temporal Power
a most extraordinary revulsion, in the present day,
toAvards the papal system is notorious. Many are
they, in various countries, and in different classes of
society, who have actually given in their adherence
to Rome spiritual ; and many more are they, in our
own land, and even in America, who, while they
profess to have no connection with her, have openly
adopted most of her tenets and principles, and seem
more than half disposed to find a resting-place in her
bosom. Let her once more become the dominant
church in Great Britain and Ireland— let the sword
of the magistrate be once more fairly under her com
mand — and who shall say that the blood of those who
bear a consistent testimony against her superstition
and idolatry, will not fioAV as freely and copiously as
in days of old"? The same principles, in possession
of the same poAver, may in all probability be pro
ductive of the same effects.
While I am one of those Avho, on this and other
grounds, consider the progress of popery to be highly
alarming, I am by no means disposed to underrate
the personal piety of many members of the papal
communion. The Roman Catholic church holds many
of the essential doctrines of the Christian religion,
and holds them with a firm hand : and independently
of the evangelical character of Jansenism, (Avhich can
hardly be classed with the papal system,) there can
be no doubt that there is much of devotional feeline,
and some true Christian faith and holiness, to be
found AA'ithin her borders. Great and numerous as
are her superstitions, and prevalent as is the infidelity
to Avhich they have led, the truth as it is in Jesus

By the Professing Church of Christ 45
has not been without its infiuence on the heart of a
Fenelon, and on the hearts of many other members
of the same communion, who have truly loved the
Lord who bought them. Again, when I speak of
that church in her character of mistress of the beast
of ten horns, Avhich wounds and slays the followers of
Christ, I do not forget, and have no Avish to conceal,
that so far as this is the peculiar characteristic of
antichrist, it is far from being confined to the Romish
hierarchy. The church, in possession of temporal poAver, and
abusing it by acts of persecution, has presented itself
to the attention of mankind, and has claimed its por
tion of the bloody page of history, under many forms
besides that of the papacy. The papists themselves
have suffered and died under the hands of their
religious opposers in power. King Henry VIII.
and Queen Elizabeth found their victims under the
notion of heresy, as well as Mary. Under the sway
of Kings Charles I. and II., the Nonconformists
suffered deeply from those, against some of Avhose
doctrines and practices they bore a righteous testi
mony. And Avhen they Avere themselves in power,
under Cromwell, they had little mercy on others who
dared to differ from their OAvn system. In Ncav Eng
land, they led the unoffending Quakers to the galloAvs,
who thus expiated their crirae of preaching the gospel
to the poor in a manner contrary to the notions of
the ruling church. There are indeed fcAv Christian
sects which have suffered so much from the fury of
religious persecution as the Friends. During the
reign of King Charles II. more especially, Avhen all

46 On the Usurpation of Temporal Poioer
assembling for public worship, except in the estab
lished church, was forbidden by laAV, the Quakers
alone, of all the Christian denominations, persevered
in holding their meetings ; at the same time, when
carried into courts of justice, they refused to take
the oath of allegiance, in obedience to the command
of Christ, "Swear not at all;" and they also refused
to pay tithes to the clergy, in remembrance of ano
ther of our Lord's precepts, " Freely ye have received,
freely give." In consequence of their faithfulness in
all these respects, and especially because of the hold
ing of their meetings for diA'ine Avorship, they were
cast, in great numbers, into filthy dungeons, and
Avere there mixed up with the vilest felons. In the
meantime their houses Avere ransacked, and their
goods spoiled ; and many of them died in prison, in
consequence of long confinement, and other harsh
treatment. But their patience did not fail them,
and often did those noisome prisons resound with
the praises of that Saviour on whose behalf they
were content to suffer.
It is the shame of Protestantism, that even in the
present day, religious liberty is sacrificed to the un
righteous attempt to enforce uniformity of worship,
in accordance Avith that vieAv of Christianity which
happens to be dominant in any particular country.
Within the last few years, while the Lutherans were
persecuted in Prussia, under the sanction of the re
formed church of that country (a persecution which
under the present benevolent monarch, has happily
ceased) the Lutherans themselves in Hanover, Ham
burg, and the kingdom of Denmark, being the estab-

By the Professing Church of Christ. 47
lished religionists, have been actively engaged in
persecuting others. The ideal notion of perfection
in the things of religion, in these states is uniformity ;
the actual effects produced are bonds, confiscation,
and imprisonment, on the one hand ; and on the other,
a prevailing religious lifelessness, with infidelity at
the bottom. Every one knows that this, to a
great extent, is a just description of the countries
Avhich range, on the plan of uniformity, under the
papal banner — for example, Italy and Spain. The
great hope of France, in matters of religion, is the
late dissolution of the alliance of the state with a
single form of Christianity. Yet popery is rampant
in that country ; and it is impossible to say hoAV soon
the degree of religious liberty Avhich noAv prevads
may be smothered, under the infiuence of a bigoted
priesthood, backed by the missionary zeal of a host
of Jesuits.
From the remarks which have now been made,
the reader will perceive that my vieAvs of antichrist
are far from being restricted to the Romish church.
Wherever any portion of the professing church of
Christ enters into alliance Avith the state, and avads
itself of the SAVord of the magistrate, in order to
enforce uniformity in religion and worship, and to
persecute and punish all who resist the decree, there,
in my opinion, antichrist is enthroned and operative.
In the several churches Avhich have pursued this
course, there may be upheld much of sound doctrine ;
and it is freely alloAved, that they contain many
members Avho are true disciples of our Lord Jesus
Christ: but as far as they Avield the SAvord of the

48 On the Usurpation of Temporal Power
magistrate in the work of persecution, so far they
embody the antichrist of Scripture, the man of sin,
the false prophet, who rules over the beast of ten
horjrs — being himself the head of the beast; even
of that beast which unites the natures of the leopard,
the bear, and the lion, and wounds and slays the
children of God. Yet unquestionably this character,
in a very especial and pre-eminent manner, has marked
the annals of the Romish hierarchy.
With the strange anomaly which we have now
been considering — the professing church of God in
possession of temporal power, and abusing it for the
affliction and destruction of the true foUoAvers of
Christ — Ave must uoav contrast the scriptural account
of the kingdom or reign ^ of God, of heaven, or of
Christ — by VA'hich several expressions, only one king
dom is intended. Many and various are the passages
of Scripture Avhich relate to this kingdom — in the
Prophets, the Psalms, the Gospels, the Epistles, the
Revelation. They are too numerous to quote ; but
from a general vicAv of them the rsader Avill scarcely
fail to draw the foUowing deductions: —
1. The kingdom of God is set up in this Avorld,
and perfected in the world to come, by divine power,
independently of all human authority. The Uttle
stone Avhich is destined to fill the whole earth, is
cut out of the mountain, " ivithout hands."
2. This kingdom is of a nature AvhoUy different
from that of the kingdoms of the world. " It cometh
not by observation." It is " Avithin us." It is in its
' Baff(Xf/a

By the Professing Church of Christ. 49
nature heavenly, spiritual, exercised over the hearts
of men, unseen in its action, but manifested in its
fruits. " The kingdom of God is not meat and drink,
but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost." 3. It is not to be either defended or promoted by
carnal weapons, or the arm of fiesh. " Our weapons,"
said one of the great ones in this kingdom — a very
prince in the Israel of God — " are not carnal, but
spiritual, and mighty through God to the pulling
doAvn of strong holds," &c. " My kingdom is not of
this world," said the Saviour himself to Pilate, " else
would my servants fight."
4. The subjects of this kingdom — the soldiers of its
standing army — are the meek and humble foUoAvers
of the Lamb ; all of CA^ery name, class, profession, dr
country — Jew or Greek, male or female, Scythian,
barbarian, bond or free — who are brought to repent
ance toAvards God, and faith toAvards our Lord Jesus
Christ — all Avho are delivered from the poAver of
darkness, and translated into the kingdom of the dear
Son of God.
5. Of this kingdom, Jesus, the risen and glorified
Saviour is, in the divine economy, the appointed Head
— the Lord of Glory, the King of kings, who is seated
on the heavenly antitype of David's throne, there to
rule and reign over the universal church to all
eternity. Now Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Abso
lute Sovereign as he is of his OAvn church, and of the
universe for the church's sake, he requires not the
interference of human monarchs, in the support and
maintenance of his kingdom : and the one grand

50 On the Usurpation of Temporal Power
means by which he secures these objects, is the
influence of the Holy Ghost. WHiile the Scriptures
contain a clear account of the principles on which his
reign is founded, and of the laAVS by which his people
are governed, he deals immediately Avith the hearts
and affections of men; he humbles their pride,
obliterates their sins in his own blood, leads them in
paths of righteousness, sanctifies them in body, soul,
and spirit, and spreads over them his own banner,
which is Love.
Such being the true character of the kingdom of
Christ (commenced and carried forward on earth and
perfected in heaven) it is evident that nothing can be
more foreign from its nature, or more opposed to its
principles, than the assumption of temporal power
for ecclesiastical purposes — much more the abuse of
that power in a work which is peculiarly marked in
Scripture as the work of Satan, (Rev. ii. 13.) — i. e.
persecution. To defend the cause of Christ against
even its enemies, by the sword, is forbidden to the
Christian ; to lay waste that cause by the persecution
of his faithful followers, is not only unlawful but
diabolical. It is to be hoped that the more reflecting and
moderate of all classes of professing Christians are
prepared to unite in these sentiments ; but this is a
subject, on which it is impossible to take up our rest
at any half-way house. The most important principles
are involved in the discussion, and these principles
must be fully fathomed, and their legitimate results
fairly developed.
If in any country, certain political privileges are

By the Professing Church of Christ 5 1
restricted to any one denomination of Christians; if
Christians of other names and sects are excluded from
these privileges by the law of the land ; and again, if
persons of one form of faith, conscientiously adopted,
or received by education, are constrained to make
pecuniary sacrifices, in order to support another form
of the same faith, from which they dissent — it must
be allowed that these are so many new types of com
pulsory, and therefore, of a persecuting system in
matters of religion ; and are in point of radical
principle, as much at variance with the true nature
and character of the kingdom of Christ, as the sword
or the fire of the magistrate, the gibbet or scaffold of
the executioner. It is the interference of the autho
rity of man with the prerogative of the Great Head
of the church — it is the cramping of the liberty of the
Spirit, and of the inalienable rights of conscience. As
long as the peaceable duties of the subject and citizen
are performed, and every practice avoided which is at
variance with the law of the land, in temporal matters,
or opposed to the welfare of the body politic — so long
it is evident that Christians of every name ought to be
in possession of equal political rights, and ought to be
permitted to pursue their own religious course, without
molestation or interference.
It is easy to perceive that the unjust provisions to
which we have now alluded are the natural conse
quence of the alliance of Church and State. When
one particular form of Christianity is adopted by the
state as its own — when a marriage takes place between
them, and each becomes pledged to support the other
— it inevitably follows that Christians of other
E 2

52 On tlie Usurpation of Temporal Power
denominations are placed under disadvantageous and
degrading circumstances. And in Avhatsoever degree
such circumstances are alleviated, these nonconformists
are stdl in some measure treated as " strangers and
foreigners," and not as " felloAV-citizens Avith the saints
and of the household of God." So also is it unques
tionable, that the higher grades of persecution have
arisen out of the same alliance betAveen church and
state. The state adopts the church, under some
particular form, as its OAvn ; and the church, on her
part, lays claim to all the powers of the state, for the
support of her cause, and for the punishment and
destruction of her opposers. To this alliance must be
ascribed all the horrors of the inquisition; all the blood
which flowed in the massacre of St, Bartholomew ;
all the martyr-fires which Avere lighted by Queen
Mary of England ; all the sufferings of the Quakers
in the 17th Century; all the bonds and vexations
Avhich are at this very time endured by dissentients in
many parts of Protestant Europe; and until the
system of marrying the church to the state is renounced,
there can be no security against the recurrence of
those direful scenes which peculiarly distinguish the
character of antichrist, and verify the portrait drawn,
in the Holy Scriptures, of the " man of sin."
Were the vicAvs which have now been advanced,
generally adopted among professing Christians, the
great Head of the church might surely be trusted for
conducting the affairs of his own kingdom — a kingdom
not of this world — in such a way as would best pro
mote the Avelfare of his subjects, and his own o-lory.
He Avould put it into the hearts of his followers (as

By the professing Church of Christ. 5 3
has already been the case) to unite in the general
dissemination of those Holy Scriptures, Avhich con
tain the only divinely authorized record of the doctrines
Avhich we are all bound to believe, and of the moral
principles Avhich ought to regulate our actions. In
the mean time, the gentle but constraining influences
of his Spirit Avould be moving, according to his oavii
good pleasure, on the hearts of men; convincing them
of sin, humbling them in the'very dust, breaking them
down into repentance towards God, and inspiring
them with a living faith towards the Saviour of men.
Thus would he enlarge the boundaries of his righteous
government, while those who already belong to it
would be built up in Him, and gradually prepared
for a translation to the inheritance of the saints in
glory. In carrying on this work, he would doubtless
employ, as he ever has done, the instrumentality of
men. He would raise up his servants for the purpose
according to his own Avisdom ; he Avould anoint them
with the oil of his kingdom ; and thus Avould not only
call them into his service, but qualify them for their
Avork. He Avould also secure in due season, for the
protection of his people, and for the furtherance of his
cause, the friendly countenance and fostering care of
the poAverful of the earth. Kings would become, not
by exclusive laws, but by influence and example, the
nursing fathers of the church, and queens her nursing
mothers. Yet all men Avould see and understand
that the AVork is the Lord's. All the glory Avould be
unquestionably due, and not only due, but rendered, to
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one God
blessed for evermore.

54 On the Spiritual Power

CHAPTER IV.
ON THE SPIRITUAL POAVER OF THE PRIESTHOOD.
In the preceding chapter, we have considered the
usurpation by the hierarchy of temporal power, and
the dreadful abuse which has been made by the
priesthood of the magistrate's sword. We may now
direct our attention to the spiritual power of the same
priesthood, gradually assumed as primitive Chris
tianity became corrupted, and advancing to a most
ext^vagant height under the papal system.
I conceive that there is no feature which so pro
minently marks the character of antichrist as the
former one now mentioned, viz., the usurpation and
abuse, by the ministers of religion, of temporal power.
If, however, Ave find those ministers usurping a spirit
ual authority over the church itself, which is foreign
from their calling; if we find them attempting to
exercise functions which belong only to Christ, the
great Head of the church — it must be confessed that
here is another feature of the power which interferes
with the righteous government of Christ, and there
fore stands opposed to Him.
The particulars of this subject, as they are de
veloped under the papal system, are familiar to most
persons. They may be divided into two parts ; first,
the sway of the hierarchy over the subordinate mem
bers of their own class; and secondly, the rule of

qf the Priesthood. 55
the priesthood over the laity. In both respects the
apostolic precept, "neither be ye lords over God's
heritage," is set aside, and the power of the clergy is
found to amount to despotism. There is, probably,
no institution in the world in which the system of
absolute rule on the one hand, and implicit obedience
on the other, is carried to so great a height as in that
of the Romish hierarchy. The inferior clergy are
completely subject to the superiors who are placed
over them ; these again to their superiors ; and all,
including the highest dignitaries, to the Pope, who
claims to be " successor of St. Peter" in the bishopric
of Rome, and sole vicar and representative of the
Lord Jesus Christ upon earth. This system of
absolute^rule not only applies to the regular clergy,
but to all the orders of monks, nuns, and friars. A
perfect obedience to superiors is the main law of all
these bodies ; and many of them are regulated on a
strictly military principle. There is no army in the
world more exactly arranged, more elaborately dis
ciplined, more absolutely governed, or more effective
in action, than the order of the Jesuits. Zealous,
steady, and unceasing are they in their operations,
which are ramified in a thousand different directions ;
ever opposed to all that is opposed to popery, ever
aiming at the reduction of the world under the
banner of Rome, ever pushing forward towards that
vast object; calling all the devices of human policy
into their service, weaving the web of the most
plausible sophistry, and casting this dangerous net
work over the souls of men ; unscrupulous as to the
means, (if we are to believe Pascal and the Janse-

56 On the Spiritual Power
nists,) because the end is, in their view, sanctified.
The great secret of their success, and of the success
of the whole papal systera, is contained in these
words, DESPOTIC RULE, IMPLICIT OBEDIENCE.
The more we refiect on this vast fabric of internal
government — a system to which the world presents
no parallel — the more we shall perceive that it is the
very masterpiece of human policy; nay, that it is
so far superhuman, that if Ave dare not trace it to the
wisdom which cometh from above — and this we can
not do — Ave are almost compelled to believe that some
dark poAver, stronger and more crafty than man, is
the true author of this professedly spiritual building.
If so, it Avill be found but frost-Avork after all, and
wdl melt aAvay, in due season, before the bright
beams of the Sun of righteousness, when He shall
again arise upon the earth, as the glorious and all-
sufficient Head of his own church, with healing on
his wings.
While Ave acknowledge the perfection of this policy
in a Avoiidly point of view, a close examination of
Scripture wdl serve to convince us that Christianity
contains no warrant Avhatsoever for any such system ;
but that, on the contrary, such a plan of church
government is in open opposition to the simplicity
of the gospel of Christ.
In the first place, it is the clear doctrine of Scrip
ture that Jesus Christ himself is the High Priest of
our profession; and that he actually governs his
church on earth as well as in heaven, by the gentle
touches of his love and power, by the immediate
influences of his Holy Spirit. He never appointed

of the Priesthood. 57
a representative or viceroy, on whom the office might
devolve of reigning over the visible church in his
stead ; one whose supreme will should be laAv to all
the subordinate orders of his servants or ministers.
Christ himself is represented in Scripture as the
antitype of Moses, the ruler of the household of
God. Moses was faithful in that household as a
servant of God, under whose authority he acted —
" Christ, as a Son, over his own house." When Ave
read of a spiritual potentate on earth, who assumes
the right of ruling the family of God, according to
his own good will and pleasure, yet as God's vice
gerent, Ave read of that which may have some faint
shadow of a resemblance in the Jewish high-priest
hood, but which is utterly at variance with the Chris
tian dispensation, under which Christ hiraself is the
sole absolute ruler, and ever present helper of his
people. Had it been the Avill of the great Head of the
church to appoint a supreme viceroy, such as the
Pope assumes to be, he would surely have invested
sorae one of the apostles with this vast function, and
Avould have defined the laAv of future succession.
But no such circumstance is recorded, or in the most
distant manner alluded to, in the Ncav Testament.
True, indeed, it is, that Peter, Avith all his faults,
Avas pre-eminent in faith and love ; and after our
Lord's ascension Avas foremost in pleading the cause
of his master, and in feeding the little flock of the
disciples of Jesus. But this apostle was invested by
his Lord Avith no supreme authority over his brethren,
nor is there the slightest ground for supposing that

58 On the Spiritual Power
he exercised any such authority after the ascension
of Christ.
In order to a full clearing of the subject, it may be
well to advert to the passage of our Lord's discourses
on Avhich the Roman Catholic church builds her faith
in the supremacy of Peter: see Matt, xvi, 13 — 20.
" Wlien Jesus came into the coasts of Cesarea Phi-
lippi, he asked his disciples, saying, AVhom do raen
say that I the Son of raan ara"? And they said,
Sorae say that thou art John the Baptist, sorae Elias,
and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He
saith unto thera, but whom say ye that I am "? and
Simon Peter answered and said. Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and
said unto him. Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona ; for
fiesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but
my Father which is in heaven. And I also say unto
thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock («a< sw/
ravT'/j rri Trirga.) I Avill build my church, and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it. And I Avill give
unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven : and
Avhatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound
in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his
disciples that they should teU no man that he was
Jesus the Christ." Almost immediately afterwards
we find Peter rebuked by his Master, for his carnal
and Avorldly views ; " Get thee behind me, Satan ; for
thou savourest not the things that be of God, but
those that be of men."
These words of severe rebuke afford a strong indi
cation that the preceding declaration is to be under-

qf the Priesthood. 59
stood in no sense which can involve the exaltation of
Peter above his brethren.
It appears to be wholly at variance with the scope
of the gospel, to imagine that our Saviour here repre
sented his poor erring servant, so zealous and yet so
weak, as the rock on which his church Avas to be
built. If, however, the expressions, " On this rock
or stone (wgrpa) I will build my church," have any
reference to Peter, it must surely be in a subordinate
sense, and must be understood as alluding to his
eminent services, in unison with the other apostles,
in preaching the gospel both to Jews and Gentiles,
and thus, through the power of the Holy Spirit,
estabhshing Christianity in the world. It is on this
ground, doubtless, that the twelve foundations of the
New Jerusalem are described in the Revelation, as
composed of precious stones, each of its peculiar
colour, and raarked with the names of the twelve
apostles of the Lamb. Paul, also, in his epistle to
the Ephesian converts, salutes them as persons who
were " no raore strangers and foreigners, but of the
household of faith — built on the foundation of the
apostles and prophets," &c. The preaching of the
apostles was, in its nature, fundaraental ; it had
respect to that Saviour, who is himself the only rock
on which is budt the superstructure of truth, and the
fabric of the true and living church: and no sooner
do we depart from the ground which was thus clearly
marked out by the apostles, than we are at sea in the
things of God, exposed to every wind of human
opinion, and liable to be wrecked in every storm
Avhich may be raised by the power and craftiness of

60 On the Spiritual Power
the enemy of our souls. In the proper sense of the
terras, Christ has no huraan partner or fellow, in his
character of the Foundation. The doctrine of Scrip
ture on this subject is raost explicit, " Other foun
dation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Christ
Jesus:" 1 Cor. iii, 11; comp. Isaiah xxviii, 16.
So far, then, as Peter was instrumental in founding
the Lord's church on earth, he Avas one in dignity
and function, (though a leader araongst thera in point
of loA^e, zeal, and success,) with the rest of the
apostles. But it is surely far raore consistent with
the whole tenor of the Ncav Testaraent to understand
the Avords of Jesus as applying to our Saviour hira
self Peter says, " Thou art the Christ, the Son of
the living God." Jesus answered, " On this rock I
will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it." The answer Avas explicit: and
that it was well understood by Peter, is evident from
the uniform tenor of his discourses and Avritings, in
all which he ncA^er directed the attention of the
people to hiraself, but ahvays to Christ, — " If so be
ye have tasted that the Lord is gi^cious, to whora
coraing as unto a a living stone, &c., ye also as
lively stones are built up a spiritual house, an holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable
to God through Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is
contained in the Scripture, Behold I lay in Zion (for
a foundation — Hebrew) a chief corner stone,
elect, precious, and he that believeth on Him shall
not be confounded:" 1 Peter, ii, 3 — 6.
With respect to the expressions Avhich foUoAV, I
conceive that to hold the keys of the kingdom of

of the Priesthood. 61
heaven, is perfectly synonymous Avith possessing the
power of binding or loosening. The blessed truths
which Peter preached were the means of opening
the door of the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
Thus the keys of that door were placed in his hands :
and in his capacity of an inspired apostle, the power
was given to him both of loosening and binding the
captive soul. The willing and obedient hearers of
these glad tidings Avere delivered from all their bonds.
On the contrary, those who resisted the truths of
Christianity, experienced the confirmation and aggra
vation of their spiritual captivity. The very dust
of the feet of the apostles was shaken off against
them. These inspired preachers, Avho were "a savour
of life unto life" to sorae, were thus to others " a
savour of death unto death." Such I apprehend
to be the true intent of this proraise ; but, whatever
was its raeaning, it raarked no peculiar authority or
dignity in Peter above his brethren. These functions
and privileges belonged to all the anointed servants
of Christ; and we soon aftei'AA'ards find the sarae
power committed to the disciples in a body; — "Verily
I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth,
shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever ye shall
loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven ; again I
say unto you. That if two of you shall agree on
earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it
shall be done for thera of my Father which is in
heaven; for where tAVO or three are gathered toge
ther in my narae, there ara I in the midst of them :"
Matt, xvin, 18—20.

62 On the Spiritual Power
Not a shadow of evidence remains that Peter was
invested with a vice-regal authority over the church.
That in point of fact he possessed no such superiority,
and exercised no such power, is evident from Paul's
declaration that he (Paul) was " not a whit behind
the very chiefest apostles :" 2 Cor. xi, 5 ; also from
the fact, elsewhere recorded, that AA'hen Peter failed
to raaintain the liberty of the gospel araong the con
verts at Antioch, Paul " withstood him to his face ;"
and reproved him without the smallest reserve or
ceremony: Gal. ii, 11 — 21. It was not Peter Avho
governed Paul ; nor can it be the supposed successors
of Peter who govern the rainisters of the Lord in the
present day ; it is Christ, the High Priest of our
profession, who was the only Master of Peter and
Paul, and of all the prophets, apostles, and evan
gelists of priraitive Christianity ; and who is still the
only Master of the living rainisters of his own gospel.
Nothing can be more to the point, in reference to the
present subject, than sorae of the conversations of our
Lord with his disciples. The question, " which of
them should be the greatest," or " the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven," Avas a subject of eager dispute
and discussion among the followers of Jesus; but
their divine Master gaA^e no countenance to any such
ambitious views as they in their weakness were prone
to entertain. He set a little child in the midst of
thera as a pattern ; and said, " He that is least araong
you all, the sarae shall be great :" Luke ix, 46, 48 ;
Matt, xvui, 1—4; Mark ix, 34—37. On another
occasion he gave thera explicit directions to the sarae

of the Priesthood. 63
effect — " Be not ye called Rabbi, (or Master,) for one
is your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren:"
Matt, xxiii, 8.
The view now taken of the imraediate rule of Christ
over his people, is confirraed by the well-knoAvn
circurastance, that the priraitive church, scattered as
it was over raany cities and countries, was never
arranged as a single united fabric, under a scale of
huraan officers — every one depending on his superior
— and all on a single supreme ruler on earth. On
the contrary, the congregations of Christians both
among Jews and Gentiles were severally independent
in the matter of government. They were under the
care of their own elders and overseers, and with the
help of this local governraent, conducted their own
affairs — yet always in subjection to the suprerae and
immediate rule of the risen and glorified Saviour.
He it was, who, having ascended up on high, and
having led captivity captive, poured forth the gifts
and graces of his Holy Spirit according to his own
will; and " he gave sorae apostles, and sorae prophets,
and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ :" Eph.
iv. 11, 12. And He it is who stiU selects, appoints,
qualifies, and governs his own rainisters, to whatsoever
grade, and whatsoever denomination they may belong.
We must now advert to the second point — the
power of the priesthood over the lay merabers of the
church of Christ. That this poAver, under the papal
system, has advanced to an intolerable height, cannot
be denied by those who have any acquaintance with

64 On tlie Spiritual Potcer
the condition of the people in Roman Catholic countries,
and especially in Ireland, where the will of the priest,
to a very great extent, is laAV to aU the raembers of
his congregation.
The discipline of the church is AvhoUy in the hands
of ecclesiastics, and that discipline is often exercised
with great severity. Confession and penance are
fearful Aveapons by Avhich the less educated part of
mankind, and not that part exclusively, are boAved
and broken under the hands of the priesthood. Yet
the terror of impending penance 'is nothing in com
parison with the assumption of the poAver of binding
and loosening, in the sense of retaining and forgiving
sins. On the priest alone rests the divine prerogative
of absolution ; and therefore, with the Papist, disobe
dience to the priest is death to the soul. Every act
of religious liberty, every effort of the mind after
a free inquiry into truth, CA^ery step toAvards an
independent exercise of the understanding and con
science in the things of God, is barred by the
consideration that if the priest be offended, absolution
cannot be obtained, and the soul raust therefore
be lost. Again, it is notorious that in the vieAv of
those deluded votaries of the sacerdotal office, there is
no safety for a departing soul, unless certain viatica
to heaven, (the sacramental wafer and extreme unc
tion, for example,) can be obtained frora the priest.
Who then shall dare resist the authority of his
ecclesiastical ruler, at the risk of being deprived of
these viatica"? Or if Ave take purgatory into view,
what sincere adherent of the Romish systera, Avould
venture, by disobeying his priest, to lose the benefit.

qf the Priesthood, 65
after quitting this mortal scene, of the sacrifice of the
mass for the dead ?
It is certain that all these superstitions have com
bined to throw a poAver over the laity more than
despotic, into the hands of the Romish clergy ; nor
will the calm and accurate observer fail to remark,
that both parties are deep sufferers frora such a system.
Its natural consequence, among the clergy, is bigotry
and arrogance ; araong the people, ignorance and
superstition. Having thus adverted to the facts of the case — facts
of the most notorious character, we may advance to
the question. What says the Scripture in reference to
this subject"? And in answering this question, we
cannot do better than adduce, in the first place, a
memorable passage from the catholic epistle of Peter
himself, in which he not only places himself on a
ground of perfect equality Avith his brethren, but
utterly repudiates the notion, that those whora the
Holy Ghost has appointed to be overseers of the
flock, are to exercise lordship, by which Ave raay
understand a despotic power — over those who are
thus coraraitted to their charge. " The elders Avhich
araong you I exhort, who am also an elder (o trufjuTgetr-
^vTsgog, an elder with thera) and a witness of the
sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory
that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God Avhich
is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by
constraint but Avillingly ; not for filthy lucre, but
of a ready mind ; neither as being lords over
(xccraxvgiivoi/rig) God's heritage ; but being ensamples
to the flock  Likewise ye younger submit your-

66 On the Spiritual Power
selves unto the elder, yea all of you be subject one to
another, and be clothed Avith humdity, for God
resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble :"
1 Peter v, 1—5.
From this passage it is evident that nothing analo
gous to the despotic spiritual power of the Romish
priesthood was alloAved in Primitive days ; that while
the chosen servants of the Lord, who were elders in
the truth, (whether they were so in years or not,)
Avere engaged in superintending and feeding the flock,
they were not permitted to exercise a mastership over
the body — but that all the members of the church
were to be subject one to another in love. On a
further investigation of the subject, I belicA'e we shall
find that the poAver of inflicting the discipline of the
church rested not with the overseers, elders, or
preachers, in their distinct capacity, but with the
church itself Of this fact we have plain scriptural
evidence in the following precept of Jesus, " Moreover
if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell
him his fault between thee and him alone ; if he shall
hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he
Avill not hear thee, then take with thee one or two
more, &c, ; and if he shall neglect to hear them, tell
it unto the church," &c. : Matt, xviii, 15 — 17. It was
the church therefore, not the apostles only — not the
preachers or elders alone — but the whole body or
congregation, to whom the final appeal was to be
made in a matter of discipline, and by whom (under
Christ) that matter was to be settled.
It is a satisfactory circumstance that, in the epistles
of Paul, Ave are furnished with an example, in which

of the Priesthood. 67
our Lord's precept was in this respect carried into
effect. A member of the Corinthian church had
committed an incestuous crime; and what says the
apostle on the occasion "? " For I verily, as absent in
body but present in spirit, have judged already, as
though I were present, concerning him that hath so
done this deed. In the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, when ye are gathered together, and ray spirit,
with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver
such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the
flesh, that the spirit raay be saved in the day of the
Lord Jesus  purge out therefore the old leaven,"
&c. Here Paul, in his apostolic character, directs,
and rightly directs, the action of the church. Never
theless it is the church itself, the asserabled body of
Christians at Corinth, who were to act in this affair of
discipline, in dependence on the poAver of Christ ; to
deliver up the offender to Satan, (for the infliction, I
suppose of sorae disease,) and to purge out the old
leaven, by excomraunication or disownraent. There
can be no doubt that the church at Corinth acted
according to the apostle's injunction in the case ; and,
in his second epistle, we find him calling on the same
body — not the overseers and elders alone, but the
church in its corporate capacity — to restore the now
penitent believer, to their unity and favour: see
1 Cor. v; 2 Cor. ii. According to the priraitive plan
therefore, the authority to inflict discipline rests not
with any priesthood, but with the body of Christ.
The sarae may be said of confession, Avhich according
to the apostolic plan, had nothing clerical in its
bearing — " Confess your faults one to another, and
F 2

68 On the Spirtual Power
pray one for another, that ye may be healed:"
James v, 16.
But it was not only in matters of discipline that
the authority, under Christ, rested Avith the whole
company of the believers. When regulations were to
be raade for the conduct of the Lord's people, it was
the people themselves, who, with due regard to the
judgment of their spiritual guides, enacted those
regulations. Thus the decree respecting the freedom
of the Gentile converts frora the yoke of the Jewish
cereraonial law, was agreed upon by the assembled
body of Christians at Jerusalera, and Avas issued in
the narae of " the apostles, and elders, and brethren :''
see Acts xv, 4, 12, 22, 23. The governraent Avas
essentially deraocratic, as it regarded the members of
the body; but it was a democracy, like that of
ancient Israel, under the immediate control and
guidance of the great Head of the church. The con
clusion to which the church arrived on this occasion,
seemed good to the apostles, and elders, and brethren,
for this simple reason, that it also " seemed good to the
Holy Ghost:" ver. 28.
In the case of the incestuous member of the
Corinthian church, we may observe that the assembly
of Christians which inflicted the disciplinary sentence,
was afterwards exhorted by the apostle Paul to forgive
the offender. This circumstance affords a clue to the
most probable meaning of our Lord's address to his
disciples recorded in John xx, 23. " Whosesoever sins
ye remit they are remitted unto thera, and whosesoever
sins ye retain, they are retained." There is no reason
to conclude that this commission was intended -to be

of the Priesthood. 69
confined to the apostles ; it is rather to be regarded
as declarative of the poAver which was to reside in
the church, or whole body of believers in any place —
that of remitting or retaining the sins of transgressing
members of the body, so far as related to discipline.
When the offender was excommunicated or otherAvise
punished, and during the continuance of the penalty,
his sin was retained by the church ; and Avhen again
he was restored to favour, it was remitted or forgiven
by his brethren; and thek decrees on the subject
were ratified by the sanction and fiat of their Divine
Master, under the guidance of whose Spirit it Avas
their privilege to act. But to apply this declaration
to that retaining of sins, of which the awful con
sequence is the fire never to be quenched ; and to
that forgiveness of them, through which the penitent
sinner, believing in the Lord Jesus, is delivered from
the pains of hell, and obtains an immortality of bliss,
is surely in the highest degree at variance with the
principles of divine truth. Who can forgive sins
but God alone "? was a question Avhich the Pharisees
asked, when Jesus forgave the palsied suppliant.
Nor could any man fail to ansAver, no one. Sin is
the transgression of the laAV of God ; and, in the very
nature of things, none but God can pardon it, and
absolve the sinner from its a^wful consequences. Jesus
" had poAver on earth to forgive sins," because he
was the Son of God — one with the Father. " I even
I ara he that blotteth out thine iniquities for mine
own sake," said Jehovah to Israel, " and will not
remember thy sins :" Isa. xliii, 25 ; and again, " I Avill
forgive their iniquity, and I Avill remember their sin

70 On the Spiritual Poiuer
no more:" Jer. xxxi, 34. An apostle, under the
imraediate inspiration of the Holy Spirit, might indeed
pronounce the forgiveness of sins ; but the act of
pardon is a divine prerogative, Avhich belongs exclu
sively to the Judge of all flesh, and raay well be
regarded as the brightest jcAvel in his croAvn of right
eousness and glory.
The assumption of a poAver to forgive sins, and all
the odious consequences which have followed from it,
form one of the principal antichristian features of the
papal hierarchy. Here is the blasphemy of the "man
of sin," in pretending to the possession of the most
sacred of the divine attributes. Here is that sitting
" on the throne of God, and that exalting of himself
above all that is called God," of which we read in
Scripture. Here too is the mercantile abomination of
Babylon, so vividly depicted in the visions of John.
Money is poured into her treasury by the kings of
the earth, and by their subjects and followers — and
the article received in return, is the Pope's pardon of
sins that are past, and the Pope's permission to sin for
the future. The gross and enormous traffic which
Rome has carried on in this article of indulgence to
the sinful propensities of man, is certainly one of the
strangest instances of human Avickedness under the
plea of religion, that ever disgraced the history of
our species. This professed angel of mercy, is surely
nothing better than Satan in transformation ; and yet
so transformed as to be scarcely concealed. That this
system which claims the power of absolution for man,
and even sanctions his selling that blessed boon, is at
once iramoral and impious, no reflecting Christian,

of the Priesthood. 7 1
whether Protestant or Roraan Catholic, can with any
reason deny.
But independently of the supposed power of abso
lution, there reraains the sacerdotal authority, arraed
with the propitiatory sacrifice of the raass, by which
to enthral the souls of raen, and bring thera under
slavery to their spiritual guides. What then says the
Scripture, first, on the subject of sacrifice, and
secondly, on that of the sacerdotal office in the church
of Christ "? It plainly indicates, that under the gospel
there is recognized no propitiatory sacrifice, but the
one offering of Jesus on the cross ; and no one who
holds the sacerdotal office, but the risen and glorified
Saviour hiraself
I. A calra review of the doctrine of the New Testa
ment, on the subject of propitiation, may soon satisfy
us, that the popish invention of the sacrifice of the raass
is not only without the shadow of support frora Scrip
ture, but is opposed to sorae of the fundaraental
principles of Christianity. Christianity declares in
the first place, that the sacrifices ordained by the
Jewish laAV, Avere simply ceremonial in their nature —
that " the blood of goats and of calves could not take
aAvay sin;" that they Avere the mere types of good
things to come; and that having now served their
purpose, in foreshadowing the sacrifice of Christ, they
form no part of the religion or Avorship of the disciples
of Jesus. In the mean tirae, the one great offering
of Christ on the cross, is everywhere insisted on, in
the New Testaraent, as the raeans of our reconcdia-
tion with God, and as the sole ground of our deliver
ance from punishment, and of our hope of heaven.

72 On the Spiritual Paiver
Our Saviour himself frequently alluded to this
great doctrine: (John iii, 14. &c.) and no one who
has the least acquaintance Avith the NeAV Testament,
can fail to be aware hoAV frequently the propitiatory
offering of Christ is dwelt upon by the apostles. 'I'he
subject is concentrated in the declaration of Peter, that
" Ave are not redeemed by corruptible things as silver
and gold, from our vain conversation received by tradi
tion frora our fathers,butby theprecious blood ofChrist,
as of a larab without bleraish and Avithout spot:"
1 Pet. i, 18, 19; and the universality of the applica
tion of this sacrifice to mankind, is set forth in the
epistle of John, " He was the propitiation for our sins,
and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole
Avorld :" 1 John ii, 2.
But in the Epistles to the HebreAvs more especially
are we taught, that the atoning death of Christ was
the end and fulfilment of the shadows of the laAv;
and that this propitiation having been made once for
all, all sacrifice for sin ceases. " For such an high
priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate frora sinners, and raade higher than the
heavens, Avho needeth not daily, as those high priests,
to offer up sacrifice first for their own sins and then
for the people ; for this he did once, having offered
up hiraself:" chap, vii, 26, 27. " For Christ is not
entered into the holy places raade with hands, Avhich
are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself, noAV
to appear in the presence of God for us: nor yet that
he should offer himself often, as the high priest
entereth into the holy place every year Avith the
blood of others, (for then must he often have suffered

of the Priesthood. 73
from the foundation of the world ;) but now once in
the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away
sin by the sacrifice of Hiraself; and as it is appointed
unto raan once to die, and after that the judgment;
so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many,
and unto thera that look for hira, shall he appear, the
second tirae, without sin, (or a sin offering) unto
salvation:" chap, ix, 24 — 28. Again, "And every
priest standeth daily rainistering, and offering often-
tiraes the sarae sacrifices, which can never take aAvay
sins ; but this raan, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins, for ever sat down on the right hand of God
 for by one offering he hath perfected for ever
thera that are sanctified:" chap, x, 11 — 14.
To conclude, it is the clear doctrine of this inspired
writer, that if we sin wilfully after we have received
the knowledge of the truth (and have thus belied our
faith in this one sacrifice) — " there reraaineth no more
sacrifice for sin:" the sacrifices of the Jewish law are
fulfilled, and in point of authority for ever abolished :
the one aA'ailing offering of Jesus Christ on the cross
is rejected by the apostate Avho falls frora grace ; and
there re?naineth no other sacrifice whatsoever.
When Ave aver on apostolic authority, that " there
reraaineth no other sacrifice Avhatsoever," Ave do not
forget that true Christians of every name and class
are " a holy nation, a royal priesthood," to offer up
"spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ :" 1 Peter, ii, 5. They present their bodies
and souls, even the Avhole man, " a liA'ing sacrifice,"
Avhich is certainly no raore than their "reasonable
serA'ice :" Rom. xii, 1. They can give ear to the

74 On the Spiritual Power
apostolic exhortation : " Let us go forth therefore
unto him Avithout the carap, bearing his reproach:
for here we have no continuing city, but we seek one
to come. By hira therefore let us offer the sacrifice
of praise continually, that is, the fruit of our lips,
giving thanks to his narae ; but to do good and com
municate forget not, for with such sacrifices God is
well pleased:" Heb. xiii, 13—16. Such and such
only are the sacrifices which Christianity recognizes:
First, the one propitiatory offering of Jesus on the
cross, by which alone we are redeemed, and to which
mankind, all the world over, and in every succeeding
age, are freely invited to look, in simple faith, and
without the mediation of any human priesthood, for
the forgiveness of their sins : and secondly, the grate
ful return, on the part of Christian believers, of a
loving and obedient heart, and of a life devoted to
the service and glory of God.
2. From this scriptural view of the subject, it is
abundantly evident that the Romish sacrifice of the
raass, perpetually offered up as it is, as a propitiation
for sin, is not only unauthorized by the gospel of Jesus
Christ, but is wholly opposed to its nature, character,
and spirit. Now Avhere there is no sacrifice, there is
no priest; for sacrifice is the essential characteristic
of the sacerdotal office. The continuance of that
office, under the papal and hierarchial systera, is
nothing better than a recurrence to the old plan of
JcAvish worship, and stands opposed to the siraplicity
of the truth and spirituality of the gospel dispensa
tion. A Priest (ispivg, sacerdos) is not only a minister
but a mediator; he stands between the people and

of the Priesthood. 75
their God; he offers up sacrifice first for his own sins,
and afterwards for those of the people. But, in this
glorious gospel day, as we know only one God, so we
know only one " Mediator between God and man, the
man Christ Jesus, who gave his life a ransom for aU:"
1 Tira. ii, 5. In the distribution of spiritual gifts
and offices, we read that the risen and glorified Sa
viour " gave sorae apostles, and some prophets, and
sorae evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for
the perfecting of the saints for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:"
we read also of presbyters or elders, of bishops
or overseers, of deacons or servants; but among
all these we hear nothing whatsoever of the priest,
— the kpiv^ or sacerdos. We raust therefore con
clude that Jesus is the only priest of the Chris
tian church. In Hira the shadows of the law, and
especially the whole sacrificial systera, are for ever
fulfilled. He has died, once for all, for the sins
of the whole world; he is ever present with his
people to bless thera in the name of his Father ; he is
their never-failing Advocate and Intercessor before
the throne of God; he carries the names of all the
tribes of the true Israel, as on his breastplate, before
the Lord ; like Aaron, he bears the iniquity even of
our "holy things." The Lord hath sworn and wdl
not repent, saith the Father to the Son, " Thou art a
a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek."
Uniting in himself the regal and sacerdotal offices,
he both mediates and reigns, and supplies, in both
respects, the whole need of his universal church.
Ecclesiastical systems, invented by raen, shall last

76 On the Spiritual Power
their season, and then vanish. The finest fabrics
of human policy, in the things of religion, shall
perish before the breath of the Lord Almighty ; but
Jesus Christ, our only High Priest, is " the same
yesterday, and to-day, and for ever," and " of the
increase of his government and peace there shall be
NO end."

There is no point which more clearly betrays the
identity of the antichrist of Scripture with Papal
Rome, and none more raarked and conspicuous in the
history of her system, than her assumption of the
power of working miracles. It may safely be asserted,
that the Avonders pretended to be Avrought under the
authority of the Papacy are, practically speaking,
innumerable. This is the portentous evidence — so
overwhelming to the ignorant and superstitious mind
— on AA'hich the Romish hierarchy has mainly relied,
in the support of her pretensions to universal empire,
both temporal and spiritual. The legends of her
monasteries, and the stories of her saints (whether
suffering on earth, or beatified in heaven) are full of
these strange infractions of the order of nature. The
greater part of these anomalies are marked by such
obvious absurdity, as to excite only the smile of
derision ; yet they have served the purpose of deceiv
ing, and keeping in sore captiAdty, millions of ignorant
dcA'otees. Such delusions can be classed only Avith
the tricks of the juggler. Others, undoubtedly, are
more unaccountable in their nature, and more difficult
of detection ; and may perhaps serve to remind us,
that evil spirits may still have some power perraitted

of the Priesthood. 77
them over the laws of nature, as in the days of Moses
and the magicians.
Let no man suppose that there is any real simili
tude between the " lying wonders" of popery and the
miracles of the New Testament. The former are, as
a whole, lighter than vanity ; the latter fixed and
substantial as a rock. The difference between them
is to be observed in three essential particulars ; first,
the evidence of their reality — that of the Christian
miracles being overpowering, while that of the popish
Avonders is notoriously weak ; secondly, their intrinsic
nature — the Christian miracles being in every respect
truly great, and worthy of their Author, while most
of the popish wonders are puerile in the extreme;
and thirdly, the character of the system, which they
are respectively intended to maintain. The Christian
miracles are araong the irrefragable supports of a
religion of perfect benevolence, justice, and holiness.
The popish wonders are the Avretched props of false
and dangerous doctrine, and of usurped, unrighteous
power. It is on the raost rational grounds that the
forraer demand our sincere and hearty credence ; and
it is for reasons equally convincing, that the latter
must be calmly but resolutely disalloAved.

78 On Divine Worship.
CHAPTER V.
ON DIVINE WORSHIP.
I. The first grand point in reference to divine wor
ship, is the consideration of the Being or Beings
to whom it is addressed. Honour and reverence paid
even to human dignitaries, is soraetiraes included in
the idea of worship ; as it is said, that all the con
gregation of Israel bowed down and "worshipped the
Lord and the King:" 1 Chron. xxix, 20. But while,
under the fuU light of the gospel dispensation, the
irapropriety of such acts of reverence, addressed to
mortals, is very obvious, we are not to confound them
with " divine worship" in its proper sense ; for this is
such an adoration, as supposes the existence of some
divine attribute or attributes in the Being or Person
to whom it is offered. Thus the prostration both of
body and soul, which was frequently offered to our
Saviour when on earth, had an obvious reference to
the divine power which he possessed, of changing the
order of nature, in the working of stupendous mira
cles. The man born blind, on whom he had so
graciously bestowed perfect eyes and perfect vision,
worshipped him as the Son of God; the apostles
adored him in the same character, Avhen he had
displayed his control over the winds and waves, and
had made the storm a calm ; and the leper bowed
doAvn before him as truly divine, in the belief that,
by his fiat, Jesus could in a moment deliver him from
his otherwise incurable disease. So also the martyr

On Divine Worship. 79
Stephen prayed to Jesus to receive his soul into
heaven, and to forgive his persecutors. In aU these
instances the Son of God was visible to the worship
per; but other exaraples are recorded in the New
Testament, in which prayer was addressed to him as
an unseen Being : see Acts i, 21 — 25 ; 2 Cor. xii,
7 — 9. It does not appear to me that any sound
Christian can object to the adoration of the Son or of
the Holy Spirit, because the Scriptures afford abun
dant evidence of the subsistence of each of thera in
the essence and unity of the Godhead ; but if there
is any one principle raore clearly laid down than
another in the code of Holy Writ, it is, that God
alone is the proper object of spiritual or religious
adoration ; and that if such Avorship is offered to any
other Being, it is a deadly offence against the raajesty
of heaven, and a sin of the deepest dye.
Lst us take that virtuous and faithful handraaid of
God, the blessed raother of our Lord, as our first
exaraple. So far as her history is developed in the
gospels, we cannot but adraire her character. Her
simple belief in the angelic annunciation, and her
child-like devotion to the will of God, are indeed
exemplary. Her attendance beside the cross, during
the terrible sufferings of the dying Jesus, raarked the
triumph of affection and piety over all weakness and
fear; and even her too great zeal for the display of
his miraculous power at Cana of Galilee, although it
met with a timely reproof from her Son, may be
charitably ascribed to an ardent desire to behold his
glory. But the mother of Jesus is not once mentioned
in the apostolic epistles, or the Revelation. Honoured

80 On Divine Worship.
as she Avas among mortals, as the chosen vessel
through whora the Word becarae incarnate, she lived
as mortals live, and died as mortals die. There is not
the smallest hint in Scripture, that she never sinned ;
or that she entered heaven on any other ground than
redemption through the blood of the Saviour Avho
Avas born of her. In constituting her the queen of
heaven; in adoring her in psalms, hymns, and prayers,
as the mother of God ; in addressing her as an omni
present being, in order to implore her intercession
with the Father and the Son ; in calling upon her for
deliverance from a variety of evils, both temporal and
spiritual, (an unquestionably comraon practise among
the adherents of the papal system,) it is surely un
deniable that the church of Rome is guilty of ascrib
ing divine attributes, and of addressing divine worship,
to a creature — even a once fallen creature, like our
selves. Herein the name of Blasphemy is written on
the forehead of the false prophet ; or of the second
beast, who had the visage of the lamb with the voice
of the dragon.
The God of Israel is often described as a jealous
God. He Avill admit of no rival in the Avorship of
his people. Infinite is the distance, in point of dig
nity and power, betAveen him and the most exalted of
his creatures. " Before me," saith the Lord, " there
was no God forraed, neither shall there be after rae.
I, even I, am the Lord ; and beside me there is no
Saviour:" Isaiah xliii, 10, 11. If the worship of
Mary, Avho undoubtedly occupied an exalted place in
the plan of man's redemption, is utterly opposed to
this sacred principle, the same remark still more

On Divine Worship. 81
obviously applies to the invocation of saints, whether
they be apostles and evangelists of primitive times, or
Romish devotees of a later period. When the act of
bodily prostration was addressed by Cornelius to Peter,
and indignantly rejected by him because he was " a
man," little did the apostle imagine, that prayers and
invocations would afterwards be addressed to him,
and to a thousand other saints, real or supposed, as
to so many unseen and spiritual beings. This worship
is offered under the notion, in the first place, that
although dead and invisible, they can hear such
addresses; and, in the second place, that it is their
office to act as mediators or intercessors with the
Father; and are moreover endued with a divine
power, to fence off every kind of sorrow and danger
from those who trust in them. Among the more
ignorant of the Romish comraunion, these saints raay
truly be said to serve the purpose of tutelary deities
or derai-gods; or in other words, substitutes for
Jehovah, in whose stead they are so frequently in
voked as " raighty to save and able to deliver." But
even when they are called upon, for the sole purpose
of engaging their intercession, the fact of their being
freely addressed on all occasions which may appear
to require their advocacy, and in all places whereso
ever the lot of their suppliants may be cast, clearly
involves the imagination that they possess one of the
highest and raost glorious of the divine attributes —
omnipresence. Respecting the angels, the question is asked in
Scripture, "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent
forth to minister for them who are heirs of salvation"?"

82 On Divine Worship.
This question supposes its own answer in the affirma
tive ; nor is it unreasonable to believe, that the office
of kindness here ascribed to the angels, is shared by
the departed spirits of those who have died in the
Lord, and who are uoav for ever numbered araong his
saints in heaven. This is a cheering and comforting
doctrine; and we may gratefully acknowledge, that
there is a hidden tie of love and sympathy which binds
together, as in " the bundle of life," the merabers of
the church militant, with those of the church tri
umphant. But such a doctrine affords no ground
whatsoever for the invocation of saints. If we address
our petitions to thera, (be those petitions what they
may) we inevitably ascribe to them an ubiquity which
belongs only to God; and thus we involve ourselves
in a blasphemous offence against Him who is the
ONLY right object of divine worship.
It is well remarked by Bishop Butler, in his Analogy,
that under the gospel dispensation, new relations are
revealed to us, which demand the exercise of corres
ponding affections and feelings ; especiaUy the relation
to us of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the appointed Medi
ator between God and man. The worship of Christ,
recognized and enforced by Christianity, involves an
affiance of the soul on Him in this peculiar character ;
and it is an affiance which admits of no rivalry.
Hence it follows, that the worship of Mary and the
saints is not only blasphemy against the Father, inas
much as it ascribes to them attributes exclusively
belonging to God, (even omnipresence and a divine
control over events,) but blasphemy against the Son,
because it robs him of a large share of his mediatorial

On Divine Worship. 83
office ; for we are taught in Scripture, that as there is
One God, so there is One Mediator between God and
man, the man Christ Jesus; even the incarnate and
glorified Word. On both these grounds therefore the
adoration of Mary and the saints, as allowed and
practised among the votaries of Rome, involves such
an alienation of soul frora the truth, and from the
God of truth, as constitutes (so far as I am capable of
understanding the subject) the essence of impiety ; and
impiety, under the form of captivating devotional feel
ing and exercise, must surely be a masterpiece among
the iuA'entions of Satan !
Yet this is far from being the whole of the case.
Rome spiritual is gudty, not only of blasphemy and
impiety, as now set forth, but also, in the strictest
sense of the terms, of idolatry. No one can reasonably
dispute that the second commandment of the first
tablet of the law, although addressed specificaUy to
the Israelites, is practicaUy binding on the whole
family of man. " Thou shalt not make unto thee any
graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that
is in the water under the earth : Thou shalt not bow
down thyself to them, nor serve them ; for I the Lord
thy God am a jealous God," &c. : Exod. xx, 4, 5.
So far as the Israehtes obeyed this law, they abstained
from making any graven image, either of Jehovah
himself, or of any of his creatures in order to
worship them; and when they transgressed this
command, they never faded to be severely punished.
But Rome spiritual makes images of Jesus Christ
who is "in heaven;" and bows down in worship
G 2

84 On Divine Worship.
before them — a practice which evidently involves the
awful danger of a transfer of the aspiration of the
soul, from the Saviour Avhom the image (hlooXov)
represents, to the image itself She also makes idols
innumerable of Mary and the saints, carves them out
in wood, paints and adorns them after the supposed
likeness of the originals, dresses them up in all sorts
of finery, and then coraraands her votaries to bow
before them, in solemn prostration both of body and
soul. That this is genuine and frightful idolatry — an
idolatry which cannot, on any sound principle, be
distinguished from that of the heathen — must, as I
apprehend, be allowed by every calm and irapartial
observer. Here the professing church, apostate from
the truth, and rebelling against her Lord, justifies the
worst title bestowed on her in Scripture, even that of
the " Mother of harlots." She traraples on her raar-
riage covenant with the Bridegroom of souls, she
commits the raost open spiritual fornication, and she
iraplicates " aU nations " in her sin, her guilt, and her
sharae : Rev. xvii, 5 ; xviii, 3.
This reraark, however, is raore especiaUy verified
by the worship of the host ; i. e. hostia — the victim,
or sacrifice. The prostration of body and soul before
a WAFER, under the strange notion that this raorsel of
bread is itself the Deity incarnate, is an act of
frequent occurrence ; and one in which the potentates
''and nations of the earth have participated, during a
long course of ages, in a most public and undisguised
manner. That it is an act of gross and palpable
idolatry — such idolatry as would have been truly
worthy of ancient Egypt itself— must, I think, be

On Divine Worship, 85
knovra and felt by every reflecting Christian who has
witnessed the practice, whether he be Roman Catholic
or Protestant.
II. Prayer is an essential and principal part of the
worship of God ; and in order that we may perform
divine worship aright, we must not only address our
petitions to Him Avho alone is the legitimate object of
them; we must also confine the subject of thera, to
those things which are laAvful, and consistent with the
harraony of divine truth. Christians are encouraged
to pray not only for theraselves, but one for another.
" Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for
another that ye may be healed:" James v, 16. It is
indeed evident that the duty of intercession raust take
a wide range among the believing foUow.ers of Jesus.
If this is truly our character, we shall pray for those
who are near to us, and those that are afar off; for
our friends and for our enemies ; for the church and
for the Avorld ; but we shall not pray for the dead — ¦
for those who have already exchanged a life of trial
and probation, for one of eternal fixedness. Rome
spiritual however enjoins prayers for the dead; and
not only prayers, but the renewed sacrifice, daily
offered on their account, of the body and blood of
Jesus, in the raass ; and even seUs these performances
to the highest bidder.
It may well be supposed that the adherents of the
papal system Avould hardly have ventured on such a
preposterous course, had they not found some shoAv of
authority for it in Holy Scripture ; and such indeed
they have in AA'hat they so denominate — namely, the
second book of the Maccabees. In this apocryphal

86 On Divine Worship.
work, we learn that some of the Jews who fought
under Judas, against Gorgias, governor of Idumsea,
were slain in the battle, and that on examination after
wards, there were found under their coats, " things
consecrated to the idols of the Jamnites." Their
death was regarded by their brethren as the judicial
consequence of their transgression. " All men, there
fore," says the historian, " praising the Lord, the
righteous Judge, who had opened the things that
were hid, betook themselves unto prayer, and besought
him that the sin committed might wholly be put out
of remerabrance  And when he (Judas) had
raade a gathering throughout the corapany, to the
sum of two thousand drachms of silver, he sent it to
Jerusalem to offer a sin offering, doing therein very
well and honestly, in that he was mindful of the
resurrection. (For if he had not hoped that they
that were slain should have arisen again, it had been
superfluous and vain to pray for the dead.) And also
in that he perceived that there was great favour laid
up for those that died godly. (It Avas a holy and
good thought.) Whereupon he made reconciliation
for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin:"
chap xii, 41 — 45.
This certainly is a strange story ; and if we are to
rely upon the truth of the history, we must conclude
that Judas and his brethren not only prayed for the
dead, but did so under the peculiar notion that they
might receive forgiveness, and, be delivered from sin,
on the other side the grave ; and moreover, they
caused sacrifices for sin to be offered in the temple, in
furtherance of these prayers. Even if the history be

On Divine Worship. 87
regarded as untrue, it will still indicate that its
unknown author, who was probably a Jew, enter
tained the notion that departed souls may receive
forgiveness, through the intercession and sacrifices of
their brethren who are still alive. Sentiments of this
description appear to have found a place among raore
modern Jews, some of whom acknowledge a kind of
purgatory, which continues for one year after death.
This they call the upper Gehenna, and they believe
that all Israelites, (with a few fiagrant exceptions,)
have a portion in the world to come, or in a future
state of happiness, either immediately after death, or
after they have atoned for their sins in purgatory.
" The JeAvs," says Calraet, " offer up a great many
prayers and works of satisfaction on the day of solemn
expiation, for the comfort of such souls as are in the
upper Gehenna." — Leo of Modena, part 5, cap. x, &c.
The opinions which prevailed amongst the Jews at
the Christian era, often throw light upon the meaning
of passages in the New Testament, and are therefore
far from being unimportant to the biblical critic ; but
to receive them as of any weight or authority in
matters of doctrine, or any evidence in themselves of
divine truth, (except so far as they are founded on
Scripture,) would be wholly out of the question.
The passage in Maccabees shows nothing raore than
the opinion either of Judas himself, or of the author
who wrote his history. That history, although in
cluded by the Roman Catholics in the volume of
Scripture, lays no claim to divine inspiration, and
never belonged to the true canon of the HebreAvs.
As authority for the doctrine of purgatory, and prayers

88 On Divine Worship.
for the dead, the passage in question must therefore
be entirely discarded.
In the New Testament itself, however, there are
two passages, one of which has been sometimes
adduced as an authority for purgatory ; and the other
as a sanction for praying for the dead. The first is
1 Peter iii, 18 — 20, where we read that Christ was put
to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit,
(that is, probably " raised from the dead by his own
divine nature,") by which also he went and preached
to the spirits in prison which were " sometime dis
obedient" in the days of Noah. That purgatory
•cannot be intended by the " prison" here mentioned,
is evident from the fact, that this prison is spoken of
as the abode of those who Avere disobedient in the
days of Noah — not the " alraost innocent," to whora
purgatory is assigned by Rome spiritual ; but the
intensely wicked, whose imaginations were " only evil
continually in the sight of God" — the children of
wrath, who had trampled on the visitations of divine
grace, and had rejected all the proffered mercies of
the Lord. The passage probably means, as is gene
rally allowed by comraentators, that Jesus Christ, in
his divine nature, preached either immediately by his
Spirit, or instrumentally by Noah, to those rebellious
Antedelnvians who were destroyed by the flood, and
whose spirits were (when the apostle wrote) in prison,
reserved unto " the day of judgraent and perdition of
ungodly men."
The other passage has relation to Onesiphorus,
2 Tim. i, 16 — 18. "The Lord give mercy unto the
house of Onesiphorus, for he oft refreshed rae and was

On Divine Worship. 89
not ashamed of my chain ; but when he was in Rome,
he sought me out very diligently and found me ; the
Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the
Lord in that day." Again, in a subsequent chapter
the apostle salutes " Aquila and Priscilla, and the
household of Onesiphorus : iv, 19. From this re
peated mention of the farady of Onesiphorus, it is
concluded by some persons, that he, himself, was not
living, and that the apostle's ejaculation, " The Lord
grant unto him that he may find mercy," &c., is
nothing raore or less than a prayer for the dead.
That this argument is weak can scarcely be denied ;
that it is fallacious too, a little consideration Avill
evince. Were it clear that the "house" or "house
hold of Onesiphorus" Avas not intended to include
Onesiphorus himself, we have no reason on that
account to nuraber hira among the dead. Onesi
phorus was a traveUer ; it probably was not long
since, that he had A'isited the apostle at Rome; he
might be absent from his family for a season. But
we have no need to have recourse to the supposition
either of absence or death. It is a common idiom
among the Greeks to describe even an individual
under the appellation of his companions ; so that
01 TTspi (piXiTTou (the persons about Philip) would either
mean Philip only, or at raost Philip ivith his com
panions. So with Paul, " the household," or " they
of the household" of Chloe, of Narcissus, of Aris-
tobulus, of Stephanas, of Onesiphorus, &c., raust be
understood to raean, Chloe, Narcissus, Stephanas,
Aristobulus, and Onesiphorus, Avith their respective
farailies: see Rora. xvi, 10, 11; 1 Cor i, 11, 16.

90 On Divine Worship.
The reason why these persons are thus described,
Avhile others are mentioned by their siraple naraes,
is probably no more than this — that they had farai-
lies, who were merabers of the church of Christ, as
well as themselves.
The evidence which the adherents of the papal
systera adduce in favour of a purgatory, and therefore,
of the propriety of prayers for the dead, if evidence it'
may be called, is in point of fact as nothing, when
compared with the fulness and weight of the great
Christian doctrine of trial and probation here, (with
grace sufficient to obtain the victory,) and of happi
ness or misery, unmixed and unchangeable, in the
world to corae.
The adherents of Rorae seera to divide mankind
into three classes ; saints who, when they die, go at
once to heaven ; venial sinners who are sent from this
world into purgatory, and there are purified and
prepared for paradise; and desperate sinners Avho,
when they quit this mortal scene, are consigned to
the pains of hell itself, as their just and inevitable
punishment. Now I conceive that this notion of a
middle class, and of the means by Avhich it is per
fected, is nothing more than the invention of raen,
who are ever ready to find out a way to heaven which
shall be corapatible with their continuing to follow
their own corrupt inclinations.
True indeed it is that Scripture recognizes sins
" not unto death," and sins " unto death ; " by the
first of which Ave raay understand transgressions of
which the true penitent receives a free pardon through
faith in Christ ; and by the second, such a blasphem-

On Divine Worship. 91
ing against tlie Holy Ghost, such a confirmed rejection
of all that flows from his divine influence, and such a
persevering rebellion against God, as admit of no
remedy, but inevitably terminate in the destruction of
the soul. But it is surely a clear point, that the New
Testament recognizes only two classes of men in a
spiritual point of view — those who are of the world,
and those who are not of the world; those who reject
the gospel, and those who believe in it ; the children
of light, and the chddren of darkness; those who
continue in their natural state of sinfulness, and those
who, through timely submission to the grace of God,
put off the old man with his " deceitful lusts," and
become new creatures in Christ Jesus. All sin is a
transgression of the divine law, is mortal in its
nature, and will assuredly end in the death of the
soul, unless it is forsaken, and washed away in the
blood of Christ ; and further, it is the plain doctrine
of Scripture that the law of God is one harmonious
system which admits of no infraction, and that he
who offends in one point is guilty oiall : James ii, 10.
"All have sinned;" and are condemned to death by
the law; but for aU — if they will but believe and
obey the gospel — there is provided a free pardon and
full redemption, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Nor can it be questioned on any scriptural ground,
that the faith by which the ungodly are justified, is a
living faith, Avhich cannot fail to be productive of a
sober, righteous, and godly life. The Christian is
under a dispensation of grace, and " the path of the
just" is found to be " as the shining light, that shineth
more and raore, unto the perfect day."

92 On Divine Worship.
When the Son of raan shaU come in his glory, and
all his holy angels with him, these two great parties —
these only tAvo classes among all the nations of the
earth — shall be gathered together before him, and
shall find their respective places on his right hand, or
on his left. Then shall the righteous hear the words
of gracious invitation, " Come ye blessed of my
Father," &c.; but to the wicked of every narae and
nation, shall be addressed the aAvful sentence of
" Depart ye cursed," »&c. Not the slightest hint is
given us of any raiddle state in that day of final and
universal judgment. In the mean time the Christian
— whether it be the apostle who has long been run
ning the race of godliness, or the just converted and
now believing criminal — is safe and happy immedi
ately after death. " It is better to depart and be with
Christ," said Paul: " To-day thou shalt be with me
in Paradise," said the dying Jesus to the thief who
hung by his side. Lazarus, too, is described in the
parable as at once exchanging his miserable mortality
for a resting-place in Abraham's bosom. But what
becomes of the rich man who refused to comfort him "?
He dies, and is at once consigned to a place of punish
ment, from Avhich there is no escape. What becoraes
of the foolish virgins who Avere scarcely to be distin
guished from their companions while " they all slum
bered and slept," but who, when the Bridegroom
came, Avere found without oil in their vessels with
their lamps "? On them the door of mercy is shut —
and shut for ever.
It is indeed a truth to which Christianity bears a
strong and unquestionable testimony, that the present

On Divine Worship. 93
world is a state of trial and probation — one in which
the character of every raan is developed as a ground
for future righteous judgraent, and in which a
remedial system of moral discipline is bestowed upon
us all, to prepare us for a happy eternity. If we re
ject God's remedy — we perish ; if we avail ourselves
of it, in the obedience of faith, we shall be purified in
this world by the baptism of the Holy Ghost; and
without the dreadful intervention of purgatory, shall
enter at the very moraent of death, through the blood
of the everlasting covenant, into happiness and glory.
Away, then, with the unscriptural practice of praying
for the dead. Those who die in their sins are far
beyond the reach of any benefit from our prayers.
Those who die in the Lord are with him in glory ;
they need none of our sacrifices, none of our petitions !
So far, it may be hoped, the subject before us has
been cleared of its difficulties. Evidence has been
given, sufficient to satisfy every candid mind, first,
that prayers to the virgin and the saints are utterly
at variance with the Scripture precept, " Thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou
serve ; " secondly, that the worship of the images of
those servants of the Lord is simple idolatry, the very
same in its nature as that which the sacred writings
every where condemn ; thirdly, that the adoration of
the images even of our Saviour himself, involves a
breach of the second commandraent; and lastly, that
to pray for the dead, as if their condition was not one
of unchangeable fixedness, is wholly at variance with
the doctrine of our Lord and his apostles, respecting

94 On Divine Worship.
trial and probation here, and retribution in the world
to corae.
There are two raore points, on the subject of divine
worship, on which it raay be well for us to reraark the
contrast between the practice of the Roraish Church
and the precepts of the New Testaraent.
1. A great part of the service, in Roraan Catholic
worship, is perforraed in the Latin tongue, which the
people cannot understand. The priest speaks aloud,
as if for the benefit of the congregation ; but, in point
of fact, he speaks " to hiraself alone and to God ; " for
unless he happens to be as unlearned as his flock, he
is probably the only person present to whom the ser
vice performed is intelhgible — the only person, there
fore, to whom it is a " reasonable service." Tn what
way, or at what period of the history of the church,
this strange practice was adopted, I confess myself to
be ignorant; but it evidently appertains to the
peculiar notion that the church consists of the clergy
only; and that these form a distinct tribe, like the
Levites, who alone are required, and alone permitted,
to perforra the services of the temple. The people
among the Jews were slanders by — spectators, and
sometimes hearers, but not full participators in the
acts of divine worship ; and this is the place which,
with certain modifications, appears to be assigned to
the laity under the papal system. It is, I suppose, on
the sarae ground, that while the wafer, in the " sacra
ment," is given to the lay worshipper, the wine which
symbolizes the blood or actual natural life of the
Lord Jesus — that life which was laid down for the

On Divine Worship. 95
sins of all mankind, is quaffed only by the consecrated
lips of the clergy theraselves.
Whatsoever may have been the origin of the
practice in question, it is evidently opposed to two
principles which are strongly enforced in the New
Testament; first, the union of the whole society of
believers, as brethren and sisters in Christ, in the
worship and service of God, All are baptized by one
Spirit into one body — aU are made to drink of the
same Spirit; all are members one of another, under
one Holy" Head — all belong to the "royal priest
hood," whose duty and privilege it is to offer up
" spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God, through Jesus
Christ our Lord."
The second principle adverted to is so unquestion
able, on the ground of " right reason," that it scarcely
requires the confirmation of Scripture; yet it is
clearly laid down by the apostle Paul. It is, that
Christian worshippers who pray, sing, or exhort, in
the congregation of the Lord, are bound to speak not
only with the Spirit, but " with the understanding
also," i. e. in such a manner that all the worshippers
present may hear, understand, and be edified : 1 Cor.
xiv, 15, 19.
2. One other point remains to be considered. The
pomp of divine worship was maintained, under the
Jewish law, in all its splendour. The materials and
furniture, both of the tabernacle and the temple, were
of the most beautiful and costly description ; and the
art and nicety with which they were arranged were
consummate. The golden censers and candlesticks,

96 On Divine Worship.
the altar of brass, the ark of the covenant overlaid
Avith gold, the figures of the cherubim with their
wings extended, the magnificent curtains of purple,
blue, scarlet, and crimson, the knops and floAvers of
exquisite carving, the gorgeous robes, the jewelled
croAvn, the sparkling stones of the ephod, and a mul
titude of other seeraly and beautiful objects, were
charming to the eye of a people prone to dAvell on
the externals of religion ; and being appointed of the
Lord for a season, were, in their day, glorious; —
being all the while, with the whole system of sacrifice
and outward show, a mere preparation for a better
Avorship, and shadows or types of the superior glory
of a truly spiritual religion.
It is one of the leading errors of the Papal and
Hierarchical systera, that this Jewish principle of
outward beauty and glory in divine worship is fully
maintained, and even augmented under its sanction
and government. The splendid architecture, the
ornamental drapery, the dazzling colours, the em
broidered vestments resonant with bells, the lofty
candlesticks overlaid with gold, and a multitude of
other fascinations, are leading characteristics of papal
Avorship ; to Avhich may be added the pictures and
images which adorn the temples of the professing
church ; her pompous serAdces, her long processions,
and all the decorations of her many holidays. Nor
has the charming of the ear been less attended to
than that of the eye. The swelling notes of the
organ, the triumphs of Cecilia, the most exquisite
cultivation of the vocal powers, have aU been adopted

On Divine Worship. 97
by the enchantress of the nations ; and all combine
to lull mankind into a childlike sleep on the lap of
her sorceries.
But what is the language of our blessed Lord —
" The day is coming when neither on this mountain,
nor yet at Jerusalem, they shall worship the Father.
God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must wor
ship him in spirit and in truth." The temple of the
Lord is no longer the splendid edifice, decked with an
outward show of solemn rites, and glittering orna
ments. It is the church of the liAdng God, a spiritual
house, composed of lively stones, all joined to Christ
the chief corner-stone, all cemented together in love
— a building not made with hands, but raised by the
operation of the power of God, exalted and united in
Jesus, our Holy head, and filled, frora season to sea
son, with his glory.
The worship conducted in this temple is both indi
vidual and congregational, and no outward show or
splendour is required for it in either case. The indi
vidual worshipper, Avhether in his private life, or when
engaged with others in the pubhc adoration of God,
requires no gorgeous objects to attract his eye, no
elaborate music to enchain his ear. His heart is
filled with the melody of praise, and breathes the
sAveet incense of prayer. His worship consists of the
communion of his very soul with God his Father,
through the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The worship of the congregation assumes, on a larger
scale, the sarae character. Satisfied, as it regards
outward accommodation, with that which is simple,
convenient, and decorous, and divested of all depend-
II

98 On the Christian Ministry.
ence on those things which charm the senses, the
merabers of Christ's church draw near in spirit unto
God, Usten to his word of truth, offer their free-wiU
spiritual sacrifices, rejoice in the Lord who bought
thera, and, under the blessed influence of his life-
giving Spirit, are edified together in love. Such and
such only ought to be the worship of Christians ; such
are the genuine siraplicity and spirituality of the re
ligion of Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER YI.
ON THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
We have already found occasion to observe, that
Rome spiritual lays claim to the continuance, under
her auspices, of the sacerdotal system. No sooner
have the rainisters of religion, within her borders,
received fuU ordination at the hands of the bishop,
than they becorae priests, in the sense not of pres
byters only, but of raediators and sacrificers. That this
claim to the priesthood is utterly faUacious — that no
such office is recognized under the gospel dispensa
tion, except in the person of the risen and ascended
Saviour — has, I trust, been sufficiently demonstrated
on the authority of Holy Writ, and will probably be
allowed by the generality of Protestants. But there
are other parts of the system of ministry, adopted by
Rome spiritual, which are maintained, and that with
no small measure of zeal and determination, by Pro
testants theraselves.

On the Christian Ministry. 99
The Romanists in the whole matter of ministry,
depend on what they call apostolical succession; and
the means which they adopt in order to secure this
succession, is episcopal ordination — i. e. an appoint
ment to the ministerial office by the laying on of the
hands of the bishop. Thus, from generation to gene
ration, there is provided a supply of persons who shall
be devoted to the service of the temple, and who are
regarded as a perfectly distinct class — constituting the
church itself, or at any rate, its essential life — its
living, acting, and governing head or soul. A large
proportion of the links of this sacred chain, and especi
ally the earlier links, are merely imagined or supposed.
History raakes no raention of them ; and some of them,
in all probability, have been entirely wanting ; but the
church decrees that the succession has been unbroken,
and her ipsa dixit is sufficient for her purpose.
On the other hand, history does afford the most
explicit evidence that raany of these links have been
coraposed of extremely base metal- that many of the
popes and prelates who have been the means of con
tinuing this succession, as Avell as multitudes of the
inferior clergy themselves — have been men of notori
ously corrupt and vicious lives. Nevertheless, eccle
siastical romance takes it for granted, that, through
this vitiated channel, the pure stream of the Holy
Spirit has quietly flowed on, from age to age, as the
true source of the clerical office. The Romish church
boldly assumes for herself the continuance of the well-
known apostolic miracle, and openly pretends that by
the laying on of the hands of the bishop, the Holy
Ghost, as the ever-flowing fountain of ministry, is
H 2

100 On the Christian Ministry.
bestowed on every approved candidate for sacred
orders. Here AA'e have, first, a recognition of the
promise of the Spirit ; secondly, a restriction of that
promise, so far as gifts are concerned, to the clerical
class; and thirdly, a practical mockery of sacred things,
in the notorious fact, that no such miraculous com
munication of spiritual gifts is believed in, or really
thought of, either by the supposed giver, or the sup
posed receiver — the ordainer or the ordained.
It is certainly a remarkable circumstance, that these
gross and dangerous superstitions did not perish under
the axe of the Reformers, and that they are still main
tained by the Protestant episcopal churches — at any
rate by the most reputable and powerful of those
bodies — the church of England. Like Rome herself,
that church pleads the apostolic succession as the
authority for her ministry ; and she does not hesitate
to confess, that this succession is derived to her through
the medium of that corrupt parent, frora whom she
separated herself. Like Rome also, the church of
England professes to convey to her ministers from
generation to generation, by the laying on of episcopal
hands, the gift of the Holy Ghost. Were such a gift
the true consequence of episcopal ordination, as it Avas
in priraitive days, of the laying on of the hands of
apostles, no sincere Christian could object to such a
method of ensuring a supply of Christian ministers.
But every one knows that this is not the case. Not-
Avithstanding all pretensions to the contrary, it is
universally understood among the members of the
church of England, that her rainisters are appointed
to their office by the siraple authority of the ordaining

On the Christian Ministry. 101
bishop, and Avithout the accompanying communication
of any spiritual gift.
It ought to be observed, that in thus raaking men
tion of the Holy Ghost as the true qualifier for the
ministry, the bishops of the churches of Rome and
England profess a sound and scriptural principle ; yet
they are evidently liable to the charge of irreverence,
in pretending to the exercise of a miraculous power,
of which they know themselves to be destitute. The
ceremony of the laying on of hands is also practised
by the generality of other Christian sects ; but they
lay no claim to the apostolic faculty of bestoAving
spiritual gifts. Among the Independents, Baptists,
and others, the ministers of the respective congrega
tions are chosen by the churches, and ordained by
their elder brethren in the Avork. Araong the Wes
leyan Methodists they are both chosen and ordained
by the already existing body of ministers — the clergy
of that denomination — Avho hold in their own hands the
power of discipline, together Avith the trusteeship of
all the property belonging to the society.
Thus it appears that not only the Romish church,
but alraost all the churches and sects which have been
formed since the Reformation, have given their coun
tenance to the sitting apart, by huraan authority, of
a particular class of men out of the Avhole coraraunity
of Christian believers, on Avhom alone are to devolve
the various functions of the Christian ministry. They
are separated from their brethren as much as the
Levites were in days of old ; they are ordained to be
preachers by their felloAV-men, and by them are ap
pointed to the care of particular congregations ; and

102 On the Christian Ministry.
wholly abstaining as they do from the pursuit of any
worldly calling for their OAvn support, they are main
tained either by compulsory ecclesiastical provisions,
under the law of the land ; or at the voluntary expense
of their brethren, Avho provide them with salaries.
For the most part they are distinguished by a par
ticular dress, and often by robes of office when they
are publicly engaged ; and under a variety of titles,
from The Right Reverend Father in God, down to
the simple Reverend, they are, Avith little exception,
even araong the Dissenters, called of raen. Rabbi,
Rabbi. A calm consideration of the subject may serve to
convince every refiecting mind, that the Protestant
clergy of various grades and denorainations, are a
modified type — and yet a type — of the Romish priest
hood. While the generality of them do not profess
to be priests in the sense of /sfs/?, or sacerdotes, they
nevertheless assume, in various degrees, (the degree
varying with the character of the denomination) an
authority over the fiock, a mediatorship betAveen God
and his people, an exclusive handling of sacred things,
and a claim on the temporal support of their brethren,
Avhich are all more or less connected Avith the notion
of an Aaronic succession, and all form integral parts
of the papal and hierarchical system.
The reader will of course understand, that I am
not attempting to sit in judgment on the individuals
Avho have constituted in past days, or who are noAv
constituting, this great clerical fabric. I rejoice in
the belief, that uotAvithstanding the obstructions Avhich
such a plan of ministry appears to rae to offer to the

On the Christian Ministry. 103
free course of a divine and saving infiuence, the Holy
Spirit has condescended to display his power in many
of these persons ; first, in truly calUng them to their
work ; secondly, in qualifying them for the perform
ance of it ; and thirdly, in winning souls to Christ
through their instruraentality. No one who knows
anything of the state of the churches in this country
and Araerica, and no one, more especially, who is
acquainted with the history of Protestant foreign
missions, can deny that such a work of grace has
been carried on, in and through many merabers of
this vast clerical body, to a considerable extent. Nor
are there wanting exaraples of Roman Catholic priests
who have laboured for the diffusion of evangelical
religion. Under whatsoever administration or particular form
of religion ray fellow-raen are at AVork in proraoting
the cause and kingdora of Christ — if they are but sin
cere in their love to hira, and faithful to that which
they believe to be their duty — I can, frora my heart,
bid them " God speed" in the name of the Lord.
The one thing needful is the life of religion — its vital
operation on the hearts of individuals ; and if this
necessary work is but experienced — if the leaven
which quickens the dead souls of responsible men
does but spread — all questions respecting modes of
worship, and all that comes under the head of reli
gious polity, raust be regarded as coraparatively un
important. Nevertheless, truth is truth, and principle
is principle, and it is by adhering to these that we shall
best promote, in the end, the diffusion of this leaven.
There can be little doubt that were they to have full

104 On the Christian Ministry.
SAvay on the subject of the Christian ministry — Avere
they to bear doAvn aU obstructions to their course, not
indeed by the hand of violence, but by their own
native efficacy — the result Avould be a far wider and
deeper floAving of the waters of life than has hitherto
been experienced since the days of priraitive Chris
tianity. The sacred stream which flows frora under
the throne of God and of the Larab, instead of being
bricked up in particular channels, and confined Avithin
certain precincts marked out by the caprice and pre
judice of man, Avould diffuse itself, by a divine and
unrestricted energy, on every side. " Where the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is liberty." The liberty of the
Spirit Avould be found a blessed freedom indeed,
fraught Avith happiness to mankind, and wonderfully
efficacious in promoting the reign of the Messiah, and
the glory of God.
What, then, is the truth, and what the recta ratio,
or right principle, in reference to this subject "? For
an ansAver to this question, we must apply ourselves,
Avith all diligence and simplicity, to the testimony of
Scripture, and particularly to that of the New Testa
ment. Now the NeAV Testament is so far from giving any
countenance to the division of the body of Christians
into the tAvo classes of clergy and laity, priests and
people, that it everywhere upholds a unity by which
any such division is AvhoUy precluded.
In the first place, it is ever to be remembered that
the church is not the select body of those Avho are
appointed to feed the fiock of Christ, but the flock
itself — either the assembly of believers in any par-

On the Christian Ministry. 105
ticular place; or in a wider sense, the whole com
raunity of true Christians all the world over. Thus the
apostle Paul salutes "all the saints in Christ Jesus Avhich
are at Phdippi, with the bishops (or overseers) and
deacons, (or servants.)" The " OA^erseers" here raen
tioned, formed part of the body. They might be, and'
probably ivere, its most important and influential mem
bers ; yet they were only merabers of that whole body
of which Christ is the head. This point is so obvious,
that it will not be disputed by any reasonable person,
and need not be further argued.
But we cannot stop here. Discarding frora our
view, for the present, the raere professor of Chris
tianity, whose raembership in the church of our blessed
Lord is purely norainal, we must consider the true
believers who constitute the living people of Christ,
as baptized by one Spirit into one body ; and although
all the merabers of that body have not the sarae office,
yet they all have some office ; and if any single mem
ber fails to perforra his own functions, or to perform
them aright, the health of the body is thereby affected,
and in proportion to the measure of the loss expe
rienced, its life languishes ; for the life of the body
depends on the healthy, vigorous, and united action
of all its parts. The Avhole subject is laid down, in
the most vivid and explicit manner, by the apostle
Paul. " Now there are diversities of gifts, but the
sarae Spirit. And there are differences of administra
tions, but the same Lord. And there are diversities
of operations, but it is the sarae God Avhich worketh
all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given
to every man to profit Avithal. For to one is given

106 On the Christian Ministry.
by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the
word of knowledge by the same Spirit ; to another
faith by the same Spirit ; to another the gifts of heal
ing by the same Spirit; to another the working of
miracles ; to another prophecy ; to another discerning
of spirits ; to another divers kinds of tongues ; to
another the interpretation of tongues ; but all these
Avorketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to
every man severally as he Avill. For as the body is
one, and hath many merabers, and all the raerabers of
that one body, being raany, are one body, so also is
Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into
one body, whether Ave be Jews or Gentiles, whether
we be bond or free ; and have been all made to drink
into one Spirit. For the body is not one member,
but many. If the foot shall say, Because I ara not
the hand, I ara not of the body ; is it therefore not of
the body "? And if the ear shall say. Because I am
not of the eye, I am not of the body ; is it therefore
not of the body 1 If the Avhole body were an eye,
Avhere Avere the hearing "? If the whole Avere hearing,
where Avere the smelling"? But now hath God set
the members every one of them in the body, as it hath
pleased him. And if they Avere all one meraber, Avhere
were the bodyl But now are they many members,
yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the
hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to
the feet, I have no need of you. Nay much more
those members of the body, which seem to be more
feeble, are necessary ; and those raerabers of the body,
Avhich Ave think to be less honourable, upon these we
bestow raore abundant honour ; and our uncoraely

On the Christian Ministry. 107
parts have raore abundant comeliness. For our comely
parts have no need : but God hath tempered the body
together, having given raore abundant honour to that
part which lacketh ; that there should be no schism
in the body ; but that the members should have the
sarae care one for another. And whether one mem
ber suffer, aU the members suffer with it; or one
member be honoured, all the raerabers rejoice Avith it.
Now ye are the body of Christ, and raerabers in par
ticular. And God hath set some in the Church, first,
apostles, secondarily, prophets, thirdly, teachers, after
that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, govern
ments, diversities of tongues. Are aU apostles'? are
all prophets "? are all teachers "? are all workers of
miracles "? Have all the gifts of healing "? do all speak
with tongues "? do all interpret "? But covet earnestly
the best gifts : and yet sheAv I unto you a more
excellent way:" 1 Cor. xii, 4 — 31; comjj, Rom. xii,
4 — 9; Eph. iv, 11 — 16. That raore excellent Avay,
is charity or love, which cements all these raerabers of
the body together, and is itself the " bond of perfect-
ness." It is evident from this description, ^rs?, that all the
members of the true church of Christ are partakers
of one and the same life, even as the Avhole body lives
by the circulation of the sarae blood ; and the life by
which every Christian lives unto God, is the influence
of the Holy Spirit. By this, and this alone, he is
quickened from dead Avorks to serve the living God,
in whora are his "springs." And, secondly, it is
clearly taken for granted by the apostle, that every
living raember of the church Avill be brought into

108 On the Christian Ministry.
usefulness, and under some administration or other,
Avill becorae profitable to the body. Thus it appears
that in the true econoray of the Christian systera, the
saving- grace of the Spirit of God, and his gifts for
particular services, although distinct, and not to be con
founded, are correlative and co-extensive ; and there
is surely every reason to believe that the liveliness of
any Christian body can never fail to be greatly aug
mented, Avhere the spiritual functions, instead of being
concentrated by force of huraan systems, in an indi
vidual, are suffered to diffuse themselves, under the
unfettered influence of the Spirit, through the Avhole
body. Such, at any rate, is the theory of the church,
and such the practical pattern of it, presented to us in
the Scriptures. It is to the whole of Israel, that the
prophetical promise is addressed — "Ye shall be named
the priests of the Lord ; raen shall call you the
ministers of our God :" Isaiah Ixi, 6. And it is to the
ivhole body of Christian believers that the apostle
Peter applies a corresponding language, "Ye also, as
lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to
God by Jesus Christ;" and again, "But ye are a
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation,
a peculiar people, that ye should shoAv forth the
praises of him Avho hath called you out of darkness
into his marvellous light:" 1 Peter ii, 5, 9.
It Avill probably be admitted by every reader, AA'hose
mind is free frora educational bias on the subject, that
this apostolic vieAV of the component parts of a Chris
tian church, Avhile it proclaims a Avonderful diversity
of administration and function under one and the

On the Christian Ministry. 109
same Spirit, is directly opposed to the customary
division of the body of Christ, into the two distinct
classes of clergy and laity. The setting apart of a
tribe, like that of Levi of old, to be supported by their
brethren, and to be devoted to the services of the
temple, belongs to the dispensation of the laAv. So
far as appears from the Ncav Testaraent, it is wholly
foreign from the nature and plan of Christianity.
Under the gospel, there is indeed a great variety
of gifts, but no division into classes or tribes ; no
formula of one tribe officiating for God, Avhde all the
rest of Israel, so far as relates to spiritual function, is
dead and passive. On the contrary, all belong to one
and the same great class, that of the servants, ministers,
and priests of the living God. In this character,
" the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many
people, as a dew from the Lord, as the showers
that water the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor
Avaiteth for the sons of raen :" Micah v, 7.
Yet we do not forget that all the raerabers of the
body have not the same office. On the contrary, the
distinctness of the service into which every raember is
called, must be maintained in its integrity ; for it
is thus alone that we shall preserve the order and
harmony of the Avhole body. Among such distinct
services, are those of pastorship, eldership, and over-
seership, aU which terms of spiritual office are nearly
synonymous, and represent that care and government
of the fiock, Avhich devolved, in priraitive days, on the
most experienced members of the body. These were
appointed to their office, with the laying on of the
hands of the apostles and their brethren, but always

110 On the Christian Ministry.
under the especial guidance and qualifying influences
of the Holy Spirit. They were probably, for the
most part, the older Christians, Avho exercised, under
Christ, a beneficent rule over the fiock, and whom the
younger and less experienced believers were exhorted
to obey. There is reason to believe, that in most of
the churches of the apostolic age, these guides of the
flock were nuraerous. In others they raight be few.
In others again the office of overseership or govern
raent might devolve on a single individual. But
whatsoever might be the circumstances of any particu
lar church in this respect, the office itself was the
result of a distinct gift or call of the Spirit, and not of
the setting apart of a separate tribe or class by the
authority of their fellow-raen.
As to the function of ministry, (as we now call it,)
it was soraetiraes exercised by those who also received
the gift of governraent ; and the elders who laboured
in word and doctrine were counted worthy of peculiar
regard. "Let the elders that rule well, be counted
Avorthy of double honour, especially they who labour
in the word and doctrine :" 1 Tim. v, 1 7. But there
was no official or necessary connexion, in primitive
days, betAveen the gift and office of government, and
the gift and office of preaching. The preachers of the
word, in that day Avere called prophets ; not because
they uttered predictions, but because they spake under
the immediate influence of the Spirit of God. The
gift of prophecy, although perhaps not of so high an
order as that of tongues, and other gifts of a directly
miraculous nature, is represented by the apostle
as peculiarly desirable because of its usefulness. " He

On the Christian Ministry. Ill
that prophesied," says Paul, " speaketh unto men
to edification, and exhortation, and comfort." The
prophets or preachers in the priraitive churches were
nuraerous, and exercised their gifts in the asserablies
of the saints, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Their
services were not only for the building up of God's
people, but also for the convincement of the ignorant
and unbelieving. "But if all prophecy, and there come
in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is
convinced of all, he is judged of all : and thus are the
secrets of his heart made manifest, and so falling
down on his face he will worship God, and report that
God is in you of a truth :" 1 Cor. xiv, 24, 25. When
however the anointed servants of the Lord were sent
forth among the heathen to declare the salvation
which is in Christ, to a dark and perishing world,
they probably received the name of Evangelists.
The apostles were enabled, by the laying on of
hands and prayer, to call down on others the gift
of prophecy, but the gift itself was in truth bestowed
only by the Great Head of the church, and as He
alone could appoint to this sacred office, so he alone,
by his Spirit, could qualify any man to perforra it.
The immediate influence of the Spirit was indeed
found to be necessary, not only for the original intro
duction to the functions of a preacher, but for every
successive act of speaking in the name of the Lord,
Whether the prophets were called into preaching
or prayer, in the priraitive assemblies for divine
worship, they spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost ; and at all times when that divine motion was
withheld, they must of course have kept silence.

112 On the Christian Ministry.
" Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the
other judge. If any thing be revealed to another
that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace; for ye may
all prophecy one by one, that all may learn, and
all raay be comforted:" 1 Cor. xiv, 29 — 31.
From the description Avhich the apostle gives of
the prophets and their functions, it is abundantly
evident that Avhile they possessed a distinct gift, they
were not, any more than the elders and rulers, a
separate tribe or class. All the living merabers of
the church were adraissible into these functions, pro
vided ahvays that the Lord Avas pleased to call
thera into the work. Neither did they require any
preparatory course of literary instruction to qualify
them for their service — the grace of Christ Avas suffi
cient for thera. There is every reason to believe that
these remarks are true, as it regards the sisters as Avell
as the brethren, in the church. When the apostle
coraraands the woraen to " keep silence in the
churches," the key to his raeaning appears to be given
in the words which follow, "And if they will learn
any thing, let they ask their husbands at home."
They might not interrupt the preachers of the word
by asking them questions, as was comraonly done
in the Jewish synagogues ; neither might they under
take the office of public teaching, which involved
an assumption of authority over the fiock : 1 Cor. xiv,
35; 1 Tira. ii, 12. But that Paul had no intention
to forbid their prophecying — i. e. their preaching
or praying under the iraraediate influence of the
Spirit — may be safely concluded, first, from his salu
ting many women, in his epistles, not only as his

On the Christian Ministry, 113
helpers, but as his co-workers (trvpsgyoi ;) and secondly,
by his giving directions, in what manner the Avomen
were to be attired, when they were engaged in the
public act of prophesying : see 1 Cor. xi, 1 — 16. The
plain fact is, as Grotius has observed, that the direct
influences of the Spirit of God are beyond positive
laAvs ; and the effusion of those influences on both
sexes, as a qualification for prophecying, was predicted
by Joel, and marked out by the apostle Peter, as one
of the distinguishing signs of the Christian dispensa
tion. When the spirit Avas poured forth, on the day
of Pentecost, upon the whole corapany of believers,
Peter said, " This is that AA'hich was spoken by the
prophet Joel. And it shall corae to pass in the last
days (saith God) I AviU pour out of my Spirit upon all
flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophecy
 and on my servants and on my hand-maidens,
I will pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they
shall prophecy:" Acts ii, 16 — 18; comp. Joel ii,
28, 29.
We have no .reason whatsoever for imagining that
a free and spiritual ministry, as it has now been
described on apostolic authority, was to be confined to
the primitive church. This raight be in a great degree
the case as it regards certain gifts of the Spirit, Avhich
were directly miraculous, and intended as resistless
evidences to an unbelieving Avorld — such as those
of healing and tongues. Nor can it be denied that
the large measure of inspiration, which qualified the
apostles for their peculiar calling, Avas in a very high
degree, pre-eminent and extraordinary — being accora
panied by the working of miracles. But the gift of

114 On the Christian Ministry.
prophecy, in a raore general sense, Avas for the use of
the church in all ages, being " profitable for edifica
tion, and exhortation, and comfort ;" and the blessed
influence under which alone it can be rightly exer
cised, was to be bestowed on the believing children of
God to the end of time. " The Holy Ghost" was to
"abide" Avith them "for ever:" John xiv, 16. " The
promise," cried Peter to the multitude of his hearers,
" is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are
afar off; even as raany as the Lord our God shall
call:" Acts ii, 39. Now this was the proraise of the
Spirit — as the Author not only of grace, but of the
gifts which were necessary for the edification and
enlargeraent of the church. " My Spirit that is upon
thee," says Jehovah to his Christ, " and ray words
which I have put into thy mouth, shall not depart
out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy
seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, from
henceforth and for ever:" Isaiah lix, 21.'
In this last most cheering passage of Scripture, is
unfolded the true secret of continuation and succes
sion, in the work of the Christian ministry. It was
aU well that a Timothy should commit those precious
truths which he had himself heard from the lips of
Paul, to faithful men, that they, in their turn, might
be able to teach others also; and it was stiU better,
that Paul and his inspired brethren should record
those truths in the volume of the New Testament,
which AA'as appointed to become an infaUible standard
of faith and doctrine — a test by which all human
preaching should afterwards be tried. But for the
continuation of the Avork of the ministry in the

On the Christian Miriistry. 115
church — for the actual succession of living preachers
of the gospel — our whole dependence must be placed
upon God; who, by his own power, puts his Avords
into the mouth of his servants, even those whom He
chooses, raises up, and ordains, from generation to
generation, in the church of Christ.
I am persuaded, that up to the present date, such
living witnesses to the truth of God have never failed
from the earth; and since the promises of God are
yea and amen for ever, we may rest assured that they
never wiU fad, while there is a church to be edified,
and souls to be saved. The golden oil will stdl fiow
from the olive trees of the Lord, which himself has
planted, and through the golden pipes which himself
has formed ; nor can it be doubted that persons have
been, and stdl are, truly called into the Avork, under a
great variety of naraes and administrations. Yet it is
not too much to assert, that if there was less of the
admixture of human wisdom, system, and authority
in some of these administrations, the work of the
Lord would go forward with greater clearness, greater
brightness, and greater effect. His own word of
truth would run and be glorified, and abundant would
be the joy of his people in Him.
In the systera of rainistry Avhich, on the siraple
authority of the New Testaraent, has uoav been
described and advocated, two evils, which have since
greatly perplexed the professing church of Christ, are
entirely avoided. The first is patronage, and the
second, the popular election of rainisters.
It is obAdous that in priraitive times, Avhen all exer
cised the function of preacher, Avho Avere called into
2 I

116 On the Christian Ministry.
the work by the great Head of the church, and
anointed for it by the Holy Ghost, there could, in the
very nature of things, be no secularities mingled with
the preaching of the gospel. It Avas exclusively a
spiritual office, and as it could not possibly be pro
cured by purchase or hire, so it required no pecuniary
remuneration. It was one of the Lord's free gifts to
his children, and was exercised on the basis of his
own precept, " Freely ye have received, freely give."
True indeed it is that the evangelists — the apostles —
the travelling preachers of the Avord — Avho had turned
their backs, in the love of Christ, on their customary
raeans of livelihood, had an undoubted claira, for
temporal support, on those for whose benefit they
were sent to labour. The workman was worthy of
his meat. But we find that Paul, AA^hen he tarried
any considerable length of time in one place, never
failed to recur to his handicraft business for his own
maintenance, that he might not be burdensome to the
churches which he had planted ; and he even minis
tered in temporals to those Avho Avere Avith him, being
Avell assured that it is "raore blessed to give than
to receive." A fortiori there can be no doubt that
the " prophets," who continued to occupy their OAvn
homes, pursued their various Avorldly callings for the
support of themselves and their families, and for the
help of those Avho needed their assistance. Their
spiritual office was accompanied by no temporal
emolument; it could not, therefore, be a matter of
patronage. For the very same reason, it could not be an object
Avhich any man Avould pursue in the Avay of canvass-

On the Christian Ministry. 117
ing the votes of the members of a congregation.
There Avas nothing in the functions of a prophet, Avhich
could gratify either the avarice or the ambition of
man, nothing Avhich could call any one into the strife
and turmoil of a popular election. The plain fact is,
that the prophets were chosen from their very birth,
by the Lord of life and glory, Avho reigns supreme
over his own church : and when ripened by his grace,
and called to his AVork, they rose up in the congrega
tions of his people, to declare of his goodness, or
knelt down in public vocal prayer; not at the com
mand or suggestion of man, but as the Holy Spirit,
on each successive occasion, led them into their service,
and qualified them for its performance. Yet Ave are not
to forget that the " spirits of the prophets" Avere sub
ject to the prophets. They were to maintain a
watchful regard for their brethren, to raake Avay one
for another, and to speak tAvo or three (in succession
of course) while the others judged. Among the
various gifts then bestowed on the church, Avas that of
the discernment of spirits ; there Avas the spiritually
instructed ear which tasteth words as the mouth
tasteth meat; there were the elders in the church,
whose duty it was to look to the preservation of the
quietness and harmony of the asserablies, that all
things might be done " decently and in order."
Finally, there was the body of the Lord's people,
who could not fail to compare the doctrine preached
Avith the testimony of Scripture, and to feel Avhether
it Avas so delivered in the life of the truth, as to reach
the AA'itness for God in their own bosoms. While,
therefore, the choice of the preacher could never

118 On the Christian Ministry.
be a matter of popular election, there can be no
question that it rested with the church, under the
guidance of its Holy Head, to try the pretensions of
the prophets ; to encourage or disalloAV their services ;
and publicly to acknoAvledge the validity of the gift,
when experience had afforded sufficient evidence that
it was indeed of God.
In order to bring our subject to a satisfactory
conclusion, we raust, in the last place, inquire what
was the priraitive plan of conducting congregational
worship. If the clerical systera which crept into
the church in tiraes of dirainished vigour and purity
and to which the generality of Christians are accus-
toraed in the present day, had been instituted by our
Lord, and practised by his earliest followers, there can
be no doubt that we should have found ample notices
of it in Scripture. We should have read of the con
gregations of the Lord's people, each under the
presidency, guidance, and teaching of some one ap
pointed preacher — Avho should act as the head, heart,
lungs, and tongue of the whole assembly ; on Avhose
lips all Avere to hang ; on whose doctruie aU were
to depend, to the utter exclusion of the rest of the
congregation. But so far are we from finding such a
pattern in the Ncav Testament, that a directly
contrary view is there presented to us. The apostle
Paul has given us, incidentally indeed, yet most
graphically, a living description of the Christian
assemblies for divine worship as they were held in his
own day — see 1 Cor, xiv. There we find that the
vocal ministrations, practised on these solemn occa
sions, Avere, in no degree, restricted to the individual

On the Christian Ministry, 119
tenant of a pulpit ; but where completely congrega
tional, conducted under the immediate infiuences of
the Spirit — in the liberty of the Holy Ghost. One
had a psalm, another a doctrine, another a tongue,
another a revelation, another an interpretation. On
all were poured forth, under different administrations,
the gifts of the sarae Spirit. Above all, the blessed
gift of prophecy, through which the word of truth
Avas freely preached, was liberally diffused by the
Great Head of the church — so that " all raight pro
phecy" (when rightly called to the work,) and all be
edified. Here the whole body is represented to us as alive
in the native power of truth — a joint and united
spiritual priesthood, prepared of the Lord to offer up
" spiritual sacrifices, acceptable unto God through
Jesus Christ." Now since all the vocal offerings of
priraitive congregational Avorship, Avere thus prorapted
by the moving of the Holy Spirit, it foUoAvs that
when no such divine motion Avas felt, the congre
gation must have remained in silence. Nor is it, as I
apprehend, possible that such a system of Avorship
could have been conducted in true decency and order,
on any other basis. " Keep silence before me, all ye
islands, and let the people renew their strength; let
them draAV near, then let them speak," «&c. — " The
Lord is in his holy temple : let all the earth keep
silence before him." These aAvful coraraands raust
surely have been found to have a virtual application
to the primitive assemblies of God's people; composed,
as they Avere, of persons who dared not speak aloud
in divine AVorship, except as the Holy Spirit gave

120 On the Christian Ministry,
them utterance. At such times of awful silence, the
Lord Jesus Clirist must have been felt to be present
Avith them, taking the office of Preacher into his OAvn
hands, and ministering to every member of the body,
according to his need. He is indeed " the Minister
of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, Avhich
God pitched and not man" — our Prophet as well as
our Priest, AA'ho still speaks, by his Spirit, " Avith
authority" — "as never man spake;" and it is only as
we are gathered to a living dependence upon his
teaching, that Ave can really groAV and flourish in
religion, and bring forth the fruits of righteousness to
the praise and glory of God. In the Avhole matter of
Christian ministry^ — as its author, conductor, inspirer,
and therae, and above all as Fie who teaches us
immediately by his Spirit — our Lord Jesus Christ is,
and ever Avill be, our all in all. Could Ave but
renounce our dependence on the systems, forms, and
contrivances of men, and put the fulness of our trust
in His Avisdom, love, and power, there is every reason
to believe that his truth Avould spread Avith Avondrous
energy ; and mightily AA'ould that blessed day be
hastened when "the kingdoms of this Avorld" shall
" become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ."

On the Sacraments. 121

CHAPTER VII.
ON THE sacraments.
The oath Avhich it was customary to administer to
every Roman soldier, on his joining the armies of the
empire, was called a sacrament — sacred words, accora
panied by a soleran interior raeaning, by Avhich the
ncAvly-enlisted Avarrior was bound to the service of his
general and his prince. No such terra is to be found
in the Holy Scriptures ; nor is it easy to discover at
AA'hat date, or on what occasion, it first found its Avay
into the vocabulary of Christians, Its theological
meaning, hoAA'ever, is ably developed by Flooker, as
foUoAvs : " As often as Ave mention a sacrament," says
he, " it is improperly understood ; for in the writings
of the ancient fathers, all articles Avhich are peculiar
to Christian faith, all duties of religion, containing
that ivhich sense or natural reason cannot by itself
discern, are raost coraraonly named sacraments. Our
restraint of the Avord to sorae feAV principal divine
ceremonies, importeth in every such ceremony, tAvo
things ; the substance of the ceremony itself Avhich is
visible ; and besides that, someAvhat else raore secret,
in reference Avhereunto Ave conceive that ceremony to
be a sacrament." See Johnson's Dictionary on the
Avord. From this passage it is evident, that the true
point which is necessary to make any thing a sacra
ment, is sorae internal and mysterious truth or

122 On the Sacraments,
operation, hidden both frora the outward senses and
natural reason of raan, and therefore an object of
religious faith. Thus the word is applied to certain
cereraonies, because they are outward and visible
signs of an inward grace, supp)osed to be annexed to
them, and properly inherent in tketn.
That there are, in the first and general sense of the
word as used by the ancient fathers, many sacraments
in the Christian religion, cannot be denied ; for all
the peculiar doctrines of our faith are mysterious in
the view of human reason — they contain a depth
which the unassisted wisdom of man cannot fathom.
So also the precepts of Christianity are many of them
peculiar, and have their foundation in Hira Avho is
hiraself the Word of God — the Wonderful One Avhom
man knoAvs not by nature, but in Avhom nevertheless
" are hid all the treasures of Avisdom and knowledge."
Again, if certain ceremonies are called sacraments in
consequence of sorae raysterious virtue, or powerful
operation, with Avhich they are supposed to be con
nected, it is certain, that this efficacious interior must
in itself be stiU raore a sacraraent — on the old logical
principle, " Quo quidvis tale fit, id magis tale est ;
That by ivhich any thing becomes such, is itself more
such," On this last point we shall have more to say here
after. In the mean time a aIcav must be taken of
those ceremonies, or ordinances which are called
sacraments, because of their supposed necessary con
nexion Avith a hidden or mysterious operation, or in
other Avords, an inward grace. The Romish church
insists on seven such ordinances — baptism, confirma-

On tlie Sacraments. 123
tion, the eucharist, penance, ordination, extrerae
unction, and raarriage. From this list, Protestants
have selected baptism and the eucharist, as the
only sacraments of Christianity; these therefore
wiU require our chief consideration. In the mean
time, in order to the clearing of our subject, it raay
be well to make a few remarks on the five remaining
articles. 1. Confirmation. That it is the duty of parents
and others who have the care of children to train
them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,
is an undoubted truth ; and when they corae to an
age approaching to raanhood, it is surely incurabent
both on their natural protectors and their spiritual
overseers, to confirm them, both by precept and
example, in a religious life and conversation, that
they raay not enter the callings of the world, or be
exposed to its manifold temptations, without the pro
tection of those Christian principles Avhich can alone
insure their virtue here, or their eternal happiness
hereafter. So far we are fully warranted by the acknowledged
principles of scriptural truth. With respect to con
firmation in its technical meaning, it may be defined
as the ceremony by which young people, Avhen they
come to years of discretion, take upon themselves,
under the laying on of the hands of the bishop, the
vows made for them at their baptism in infancy by
their sponsors — that they will renounce the world, the
flesh, and the devil, and lead a righteous and godly
life. It is alraost needless to say that such a ceremony
is never once mentioned or alluded to in Scripture.

124 On the Sacraments.
Both among Roman Catholics and sorae Protestant
churches, it forras part of a plan, Avhich, AAdiether
expedient or not, notoriously belongs to the inven
tions of man, and not to the law of God.
It is not my present business to inquire Avhat
benefit may accrue to individuals frora their entering
on such solemn engagements, or from the advice and
instruction Avith which the ceremony is usually accom
panied. I have only to remark, that whatsoever else
confirmation may be, it is not a sacrament ; because
it is not necessarily or properly connected with any
interior poAverful operation, with any inward grace.
Experience amply proves that thousands and tens of
thousands of those who are recipients, and (so far as
appears) honest and Avilling recipients, of this ordi
nance of the church, are by no means partakers of an
effective inward grace. On the contrary they groAV
up to manhood in the character of mere worldlings ;
and throng the broad and easy road which leads to
destruction. My lot Avas once cast in a foreign country, where
this result is notorious. The clergy of the church
there established, are officially engaged in training
the young of their flock, until the period arrives for
confirmation. When this ceremony has been per
formed, the young person is no longer considered to
be under any peculiar clerical care. The voav has
been exacted, and liberty is uoav given. This liberty
soon degenerates into licentiousness ; and " confirma
tion," so far from being the fastening of the principles
of Christian truth and virtue, is found, in very many
instances, to be a sort of signal for unrestrained

On the Sacraments. 125
entrance on the paths of vice. Who then can imagine
that there is any inherent sacramental virtue in the
cereraony of confirraation "?
2. Penance. That there is an extrerae danger of
confounding penance with repentance, is evident from
the fact that, in Roraan Catholic versions of the Ncav
Testaraent, the forraer is generally substituted for the
latter. Penance I understand to be disciplinary pun
ishment, inflicted by the Romish clergy on those AA-ho
have acknoAvledged any transgression at confession.
When some poor Irishman, for exaraple, is seen
creeping round one of the chapels on his bare knees,
over rough stones, or is heard repeating a thousand
Ave Marias, this is penance — a performance which
Rorae celebrates with the narae of sacrament. This
disciplinary infliction is considered, as I understand,
to serve the purpose of satisfaction for sin. That it
often takes the place of those grand essentials of
Christianity, " repentance towards God and faith
towards our Lord Jesus Christ," is, in my opinion,
highly probable. The suffering which reconciles the
offender to his priest, and procures him absolution as
its meed, is sufficient for the chddren of superstition
and ignorance ; they forget the necessity of a broken
spirit ; they forget the efficacy of the blood of Jesus
for the blotting out of sin. This tendency, in the
practice of penance, may possibly be at times coun
teracted by a watchful care on the part of the clergy ;
but no one can fail to perceive that it is at once
natural and highly dangerous. Be that as it may,
howcA'cr, penance, Avith its accompaniraents, is no
sacrament ; it is destitute of any necessary connexion

126 On the Sacraments.
with inward grace. Many of those Avho are thus
punished, and thus absolved, sincere though they be
in their submission to the infliction, pursue the path
of sin ; are punished and absolved again and again ;
and have, in the end, nothing to depend upon for
their salvation, but priestly discipline and priestly
absolution. 3. Ordination. Did the gift of the Holy Ghost
truly and necessarily accompany the ceremony of
ordination, that ceremony raight justly claim the
name of a sacrament. But as the fact is otherwise,
and is generaUy understood and alloAved to be so,
ordination is an outAvard form without any hidden or
mystical interior ; and therefore no sacrament.
4. Extreme Unction. "Is any sick among you"?"
says the apostle James, " let him call for the elders of
the church; and let them pray over him, anointing
him with oil in the narae of the Lord ; and the
prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall
raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they
shall be forgiven him." The apostle wrote during
the age of miracles ; when in answer to the prayers
of his saints, the sins of sick persons were freely
forgiven through faith in Jesus, and they were at the
same time restored to bodily health; the miracle
wrought on the body being the evidence of the
spiritual deliverance or cure. Just such was the
happy lot of the palsied sufferer, who, after Jesus
had forgiven his sins, was miraculously healed, and
took up his bed and walked. There is no reason to
suppose that even in that day, the anointing with oil
(a comraon oriental practice) was of any efficacy for

On the Sacraments. 127
procuring either the pardon of the soul, or the cure
of the body. That it has no inward grace connected
with it in the present day — that it is no means of
obtaining reconciliation with God, no means of admis
sion into heaven, as many a superstitious votary of
Rome ignorantly imagines — is evident from the fact,
that the old sign of the miraculous healing of the
body is totally wanting. Extreme unction, therefore,
whatever else it may be, is no sacrament.
5. Marriage. It is fervently to be hoped, not
withstanding all the legal facilities Avhich are, in the
present day, given to marriage, to the exclusion of
religious ceremony as a necessary accompaniment,
that this sacred tie will always be regarded by Chris
tians as a religious compact, honourable in the sight
of God and man, and bearing the stamp of a divine
sanction and authority. Nor can it be denied, that
this compact has been blessed to many souls — that
husband and wife, in very nuraerous instances, are
found to be each other's helpers in spiritual things,
and joint partakers of the " grace of life." But to
imagine that inward grace is connected with the
ceremony of marriage, in such a sense as that Avhen
the latter is performed, the former is thereby be
stowed, is to imagine a fiction, of Avhich experience is
constantly demonstrating the utter futility. Rich
blessing, therefore, as it is to man, and when rightly
entered into, truly a religious as weU as a civil
covenant, marriage unquestionably is no sacrament.
On a calm review of the fi^-e articles of ecclesiastical
practice or ceremony, which have noAv been briefiy
considered, it must be evident to every impartial

128 On the Sacraments.
inquirer, that there is no inherent mysterious virtue
in any one of thera. In making this assertion, it is
necessary for us to obserA^e the distinction betAveen
the blessing Avhich may rest on the sincere mind in
the conscientious performance of any supposed reli
gious duty, and a hidden power in the performance
itself, by which alone it is constituted a sacrament.
I presume that even the votaries of Rorae would
alloAV, that the reception of any of these ceremonies,
by the mere hypocrite, Avould avail him nothing ; and
the most zealous Protestants might willingly grant,
that the sincere and conscientious performance of
ceremonies, believed to be ordained of God, may be
accompanied by a blessing, even though the rights
themselves are destitute of any true divine authority.
But Rome asserts that there is in these ceremonies
an inherent power or virtue, by which grace is con
veyed to every sincere recipient. Protestants on the
contrary are of the judgment — in accordance with
the plainest dictates of reason and truth — that there
is no such inherent power or virtue in confirmation,
penance, ordination, supreme unction, or marriage;
and therefore that none of these cereraonies are sacra
ments. And now having briefly disposed of these five
articles, Ave must proceed to take a view of the two
remaining ceremonies, to Avhich the generality of
Protestants, as Avell as the merabers of the Church of
Rorae, ascribe such an inherent power, and therefore
apply the narae of sacraments — I mean Avater bap
tism, and the eucharist.
I. It is generally believed both by Roman Cathodes
and Protestants, that Avater baptism Avas instituted by

On the Sacraments. 129
our Lord Jesus Christ, as a standing ordinance in his
church. In this sentiment I cannot concur; but
whether it is correct or otherAvise, I believe it may be
easily shown that this ceremony is no sacraraent.
We have no reason to iraagine that it contains any
inherent power or virtue, by which grace is conveyed
to the soul of the recipient — whether that recipient be
the sincerely believing adult, or the harmless uncon
scious infant.
In order to unfold the subject with clearness, it
must in the first place be observed, that the inward
grace which is supposed to be contained in water
baptism, is the grace of regeneration — the grace by
which raan, naturally corrupt and dead to holiness, is
born again, or born spiritually unto righteousness.
Tn adults this grace raust be regarded as tantamount
to conversion.
The history of the New Testament furnishes no
clear instance of the baptism of infants. The
" household of Stephanas," and the farailies of Lydia,
and the jailer at Phdippi, may have included little
children, or they raay not ; we are in possession of no
evidence either way. In the raean time the exaraples
are nuraerous, in the Ncav Testaraent, of the baptism
of grown-up persons. Many were they AAho flocked
to the banks of Jordan, that they raight receive this
rite of purification at the hands of John. Even Jesus
himself, who needed no repentance, submitted to the
ceremony, because of the character Avhich it then un
doubtedly bore of a divine ordinance. And no sooner
had he commenced his own ministry, than his disciples
made use of the sarae rite in his name ; so that when
K

130 Om the Sacraments.
a dispute arose "between some of John's disciples
and the Jews, about purifying," it was said to John,
"Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to
whom thou barest witness, behold the same baptizeth,
and all men corae to him:" John id, 25, 26.
It is probable that the disciples of Jesus continued
to practice this rite, during the whole course of his
ministry. So also the historical fact is clear, that
after our Lord's resurrection and ascension, they made
frequent use of Avater baptism. The converts on the
day of Pentecost, the Samaritan converts, the Ethio
pian eunuch, Cornelius and his faraily, the jailer at
Phdippi, and Lydia, Avith their respective households,
the Corinthian and Ephesian believers, Avere all bap
tized with Avater, by the hands of the apostles, or
with their sanction and authority : see Acts ii, 38 ;
viii, 12, 38; ix, 18; x, 48; xvi, 15, 33; xviii, 8;
xix, 5,
Now I freely confess my own apprehension, that in
thus making use of water baptism, the apostles and
their brethren were not acting under any comraand
from their Lord and Master, but only foUoAving up an
old practice which was perfectly familiar to the Jews,
When the law was delivered to the Israelites from
Mount Sinai, they were comraanded to " wash their
clothes ; " and the Rabbins determine that this wash
ing was the immersion of their whole persons with
their clothes on; this being the baptism, or rite of
purification, appointed for the people, on their enter
ing into the covenant of the law. We are assured by
Maimonides, and other learned Jews, that the baptism
of proselytes to the Jewish faith, was a practice on

On the Sacraments. 1.31
Avhich their forefathers insisted from a very early
antiquity ; and that no proselyte could be considered
a partaker of the national privileges, who was not
both circumcised and baptized. If either cereraony
Avas wanting, the Judaism was incomplete.^
In point of fact, bathing or washing in Avater,
under some form or other, Avas the constant sign by
which the Israelites Avere accustomed, under the
Jewish law, to mark the change from defilement to
purity, or from one degree of purity to another.
Thus every new doctrine — every neAV subject of be
lief — was accorapanied by a corresponding cleansing
of the body in Avater. The proselyte from heathenism
was baptized on adopting the Israelites' faith, in the
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The disciple of
John was baptized, on a further stage of belief —
naraely, in the near approach of the Messiah. The
disciples of Jesus were baptized, in their turn, Avhen
they Avere converted to faith in the Messiah already
come. Each step in the process indicated an advance
in the law of holiness, and each step was accom
panied, as a matter of course, by a ncAV baptism.
Yet the rite of purification, in all these cases, Avas of
the same nature, and belonged to the peculiar raode
of thinking and acting, to Avhich the Israelites were
accustoraed. In other words, it belonged to the
system of divine AAorship established under the law —
a system Avhich " stood only in meats and drinks, and
divers washings, (^ot^ritrgbolg) and carnal ordinances,"
imposed on the Jews until the "time of reformation."
From such practices, so familiar to their thoughts
' Issure Biah, cap. xiii.
K 2

132 On the Sacraments.
and habits, the apostles of Jesus Avere emancipated
only by degrees. Neither did our Lord insist on any
sudden change in this respect ; but having promul
gated the great doctrine that, under the Christian
dispensation, God, who is a Spirit, Avas to be Avor
shipped only in spirit and in iYVii\i—worshipp>ed under
the influence of the Holy Spirit, and in the reality, as
distinguished from the shadow, type, or figure — he left
that grand principle to Avork its oavu Avay in the minds
and hearts of his foUowers. In the mean time his
example, on the subject of baptism, Avas very signifi
cant. Before he commenced his oath ministry, he
submitted to the baptism of John, Avhich was divinely
authorized, and forraed part of the righteousness
which then was; but as the raessenger of the New
Covenant, he personally abstained from the use of any
such rite. When the apostle John records " how the
Pharisees had heard that Jesus raade and baptized
more disciples than John," he adds, "though, or
hoAvbeit («a/ro;y£) Jesus /imse?/ baptized not, but his
disciples : " iv, 2.
Shortly or immediately before his ascension, and in
the course of his parting conversation with his dis
ciples, our Saviour raade repeated mention of baptism.
Then it Avas that he gave his apostles their comrais
sion to preach the gospel to the Gentiles-^ — " baptizing
thera in (or into) the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" Matt, xxviii, 19.
Were we to grant that water baptism Avas here in
tended, it obviously does not foUoAV that our Lord
instituted this ceremony for the use of his apostles ;
much less that he established it as a permanent ordi-

On the Sacraments. 133
nance in his church. The apostles, as has been
observed, were already in the practice of using this
rite ; and if the outAvard ceremony was here intended,
our Lord's Avords cannot (as I conceive) be fairly
understood as coraraanding it, but only as giving to
it (or rather to the ministry with which it Avas con
nected) a new direction. The apostles had hitherto
confined their labours to their fellow-countrymen,
who were believers in the Father and the Holy
Spirit ; and the faith into which they Avere the means
of bringing them, and into which they baptized, Avas
faith in Jesus the incarnate Son. Now they Avere to
go forth among the idolatrous heathen, and the faith
in Avhich they Avere to instruct their hearers — the
faith into Avhich their doctrine and baptism were to
introduce them, Avas faith in the true God — Jehovah
Elohim, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy
Ghost. In this point of vicAV, the Avords Doctrine
and Baptism Avere almost synonymous — it being, as
before remarked, the acknoAA'ledged principle of the
Jcavs, that Avhere there Avas a ncAV doctrine, there
also, as a matter of course, AA^as a ncAv baptism.
But Jesus was accustomed to speak of baptism in a
spiritual sense ; (Mark x, 39 ;) and another passage in
AA'hich, in his last conversation Avith his disciples, he
adverted to the subject, seems to afford a key to his
meaning here. " Being assembled together Avith
them," (immediately before his ascension,) he " com
manded them that they should not depart from
Jerusalera, but Avait for the proraise of the Father,
Avhich, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John
truly baptized Avith water; but ye shall be baptized

134 On the Sacraments.
with the Holy Ghost not raany days hence : " Acts i,
4, 5. On the day of Pentecost, the apostles, and
with them the whole infant church, Avere indeed
baptized Avith the Holy Ghost; and being thus
endoAved, they Avere made instrumental (under the
poAver of Hira Avho promised to be Avith them ahvays
unto the end of the world) in extending the same
baptism to others. Theirs was a living ministry ; the
Avords Avhich they spoke, like those of their divine
Master, were spirit, and they Avere life. Thus was
their preaching the raeans of bringing down a most
blessed spiritual influence on those who heard them .
as Avas tlie case Avith Peter, when he declared the
truths of the gospel to Cornelius and his friends, and
when he was reminded, by the effect of his own
preaching, of the promise of Jesus, just alluded to,
that his people should be baptized with the baptism of
the Spirit. Not by any form, not by any outward
element, but by the proclamation of the whole truth,
" in demonstration of the Spirit and of poAver," the
apostles baptized the Jews into the name of Jesus —
the Gentiles into the narae of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Such, therefore, as it appears to me, was the baptism
of which our Saviour spoke, Avhen he commanded his
servants to raake disciples of all nations, on that aAvful
parting occasion, with the solemnity of which the
appointment of a ceremony pertaining to the flesh
Avould appear to be so little congenial. This vicAV of
the subject derives a strong confirmation from the
case of Paul, Avho Avas undoubtedly a full partaker
by adoption, of the apostolic coraraission, and Avho

On the Sacraments. 135
could scarcely fail to have a perfect acquaintance
with the terms in which it was couched. He was
indeed engaged in evangelizing the Gentiles, to a far
greater extent, as we have reason to believe, than any
of his brethren. Did Paul then regard water baptism
as forming any part of that high coraraission "? Cer
tainly not, for he says expressly, " Christ sent me not
to baptize" — i. e. with water. Did he not rather
understand his Lord's command as relating solely to
the functions of an inspired ministry % " Yes, surely,"
we raay venture to answer, since he iraraediately adds,
" but to preach the gospel" — AVords on which the con
text supplies a most significant comraentary — " For
the preaching of the cross is to thera that perish fool
ishness, but unto us Avhich are saved it is the power
OF God:" 1 Cor. i, 17, 18.
Our Saviour's expressions in Mark xvi, 15, 16, are
evidently capable of a siradar interpretation — " Go ye
into all the Avorld, and preach the gospel to every
creature ; he that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved." They who believe the gospel, and by the
baptism of the Holy Ghost are truly joined to the
church of Christ, thus becoming " felloAV-citizens Avith
the saints, and of the household of God" — shall indeed
receive the " end" of their faith, " even the salvation"
of their souls : comp. 1 Pet. iii, 21, 22.
On the review of this statement, the unprejudiced
inquirer may perhaps agree with me in the sentiment,
that there is no sufficient evidence in the Ncav Testa
ment that water baptism was ordained by our Lord ;
or that we are required to observe this ceremony as of

136 On the Sacraments.
permanent obligation, under the Christian dispensa
tion. The more we refiect on the spiritual and vital
nature of the Ncav Covenant, the clearer (as I believe)
will be our apprehension that all types and shadoAvs,
in the Avorship and service of God, are by a general
laAV abolished, having received tlieir fulfilment in the
glorious realities of the gospel ; and being for ever
finished, in point of authority, first, by the sacrifice of
the Son of God on the cross; and secondly, by its
blessed consequence — the outpouring of the Holy
Ghost on the church of Christ.
To continue to observe such types and shadoAVS,
seems to me to be an adherence to the principles of
the Jewish laAV, and to be at variance Avith one of the
grand features of our common Christianity. But
Avhatever may be the conclusion deduced from our
premises on this point, one thing appears to be clear
— that the rite of baptism, as practised by John the
Baptist and the apostles, contained no hidden or
mysterious grace, no regenerating or converting
poAver, whereby the honest recipients of the ceremony
Avere made partakers of ncAA-ness of life. In other
Avords, it Avas no sacraraent. In order to substantiate
this reraark, Ave have only to recur to the plain
history of the subject.
When the multitudes from Jerusalem, Decapolis,
and other places, flocked to the banks of Jordan, to
be baptized by John, it may be presumed, that many
of them were sincere in the belief of his doctrine, and
Avere truly brought to repentance towards God. Now
of this repentance, if Ave may judge frora the analogy

On the Sacraments, 137
of Scripture, his preaching Avas the means, and the
baptism by which it was accorapanied, nothing raore
than the appointed sign.
Again, Avhen " Jesus raade and baptized more dis
ciples than John," (John iv, 1,) or rather when Jesus
made these disciples, and his foUoAvers baptized them
(see ver. 2,) there can be no doubt that the grace of
conversion Avent forth towards these new believers,
under the preaching of Jesus ; and that the ceremonial
act of the apostles, Avhich foUoAved their conversion,
was simply the visible sign and acknoAvledgnient of
that Avhich had already taken place. Just similar
Avas the case with the three thousand converts on the
day of Pentecost, (Acts ii, 38 ;) Avith the Ethiopian
who was convinced and converted under the preach
ing of Philip (viii, 38 ;) Avith Lydia and her house
hold, and the jailer and his faraily, at Phdippi (xvi,
15, 33;) Avith the believing Corinthians (xviii, 8) and
Ephesians (xix, 5.) All these Avere brought to a
knowledge and acceptance of the truth as it is in
Jesus, by raeans of apostolic preaching ; and Avere
afterwards baptized, by the hands or Avith the permis
sion of the apostles, as a public sign of that conversion
which had already taken place.
Paul himself is a notable example of the same cha
racter. Who can doubt that his regeneration took
place, by a singular and imraediate act of divine
grace, AA'hen the Lord Jesus arrested him on his jour
ney with an exceeding great light, and spake to him
with a voice frora heaven X His subsequent baptism
Avas clearly a ceremonial act, by Avhich was denoted
the washing away of his sins in the blood of Jesus,

138 On the Sacraments.
and the change of heart which God had already
wrought in him.
The account of the Samaritans who attended to the
preaching of Philip (Acts viii, 12,) and of Cornelius
and his family, Avho listened to the words of Peter (x,
48,) are both worthy of particular consideration, in
reference to this subject. The Samaritans, including
the sorcerer Simon, when they beheld the miracles
Avrought by Phihp, were unable to resist the evi
dence ; they gave credence to the Avord preached, and
" were baptized both men and Avoraen." Yet we find
that they had not then received the full grace of con
version, as is obvious in the case of Siraon ; for it is
expressly declared, that " the Holy Ghost was fallen
upon none of thera, only they were baptized in the
narae of the Lord Jesus;" (Acts viii, 16.) After
wards, AvhoUy apart from their baptism, that grace
was bestoAved .upon thera (Siraon excepted,) through
the laying on of the hands of the apostles Peter and
John. On the contrary, Cornelius and his friends
Avere raost remarkably baptized Avith the Holy Ghost,
under the preaching of Peter ; and after they had
received this divine gift, they submitted to the cere
mony of Avater baptism, which Avas the token and
recognition but not the means, of their conversion.
In all these cases it is surely A^ery clear that the
grace, virtue, or interior poAver of regeneration, was
not inherent in the ceremony of baptism, but was
the gift of God through other means; and that the
ceremony served its own purpose only, namely, that
of an outward, visible, and for the most part, public
sign. The same vieAv of the subject is obviously

On the Sacraments. 139
applicable to the baptisra of adult converts in the pre
sent day ; Avhether these converts are made frora
among nominal Christians, or in the heathen world.
They hear the words of truth; they receive, or are
supposed to receive, the grace of conversion, through
the instruraentality of the preacher ; and water bap
tism, a purely ceremonial practice, is afterwards added
as a public confession or sign. The grace of regene
ration is no way inherent in the ceremony itself, and
therefore, whatever else it may be, that cereraony is
no sacraraent.
Much less is that inward grace contained in this
rite, when applied to unconscious infants. These are
all equally worthy recipients of the Avater of baptisra.
The Roraan Catholic church, and not a few professing
Protestants, declare, that Avater, to be the water of
regeneration. They even alloAV of no regeneration,
but that Avhich they suppose to be inherent in the
drops which are sprinkled on the bodies of these inno
cents. But Avhat is the actual result — what the prac
tical fruit of this ceremony, which time and experience
develop "? A vast proportion of these children prove,
by their subsequent conduct and character, that they
have never been born again — born from above — born
of the Spirit. To the iuAvard grace of a true conver
sion, they are utter strangers, and while they " foUoAv
the multitude to do evil," they afford a palpable and
unanswerable argument to convince us, that whatso
ever may be the supposed advantage or authority of
the practice, infant baptism is destitute of any interior
grace, or power of regenerating the soul, and is there
fore no sacrament.

140 On the Sacraments.
II. And now we must advance to the one remaining
practice of professing Christians, which is not only
regarded by many Protestants, as well as by the
Roman Catholics, as a sacrament, but is looked upon
as sacred above all other ceremonies of the church,
and is often spoken of, par excellence, as the sacra
ment. UnAvilling as I ara to run counter to any
habitual feelings of reverence in ray felloAV Christians,
truth compels me to confess my OAvn judgment, that
this ceremony also, according to Hooker's definition
of the term, is destitute of any claim to such a title.
I cannot however alloAV that the Lord's supper, as
it was practised by the primitive Christians, came
under the head of ceremonies. A little attention to
the history of the practice Avill suffice to convince us
that it bore a different character.
It Avas a common custom among the Jcavs, at their
suppers or dinners, to break their loaf of bread in
order to distribute it among the company, and to take
this opportunity of returning thanks to that gracious
Being Avho so bountifully supplied all their need.
The cup of Avine also Avas handed round the table, to
be drunk of by each indiAadual, for the refreshment
of the body, yet in token, probably, of social and
religious felloAvship.i
There can be no doubt that this custom Avas observed
by the Lord Jesus and his disciples, as by other Jcavs,
when they partook of their daily social meals ; and
we have a distinct account of their doing so at the
last paschal supper, Avhich they ate together for the
• See lAghtfoot, Hor. Heb. in Matt.

On the Sacraments. 141
sustenance of the body, as Avell as in obedience to the
law of God on this particular subject. It Avas, how
ever, a most touching and solemn occasion. The
larab of the passover Avas an expressive type of Jesus
hiraself — the Larab of God who taketh aAvay the sin
of the Avorld ; and the hour Avas uoav at hand Avhen
he Avas to be offered up on the cross, as a propitiatory
sacrifice for the sins of all raankind. No AA'onder that,
at such a time, he saw meet to give to customs, other
wise familiar, a religious direction; to speak of the
bread Avhich he Avas breaking as a symbol of his oavu
body, so soon to be broken ; and of the cup of wine
Avhich he handed to his friends, as a token of his oavu
blood which was uoav about to be shed. No Avonder
that he should coraraand his immediate foUoAvers,
when they observed these customs, (Avhether at the feast
of the passover, or on other raore common occasions,)
to do so in remerabrance of Him. " Take, eat,
this is my body which is broken for you ; this do in
remembrance of rae," and again, " This cup is the
Ncav Testaraent in ray blood : this do, as oft as ye
drink it, in reraembrance of me."
In pursuance of this command, Ave find that the
primitive disciples were careful even at their social
meals, to keep the Lord, who died for them, ahvays
in remembrance. These believers had all things in
common ; and, " continuing daily Avith one accord in
the temple, and breaking bread from house to house,
did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of
heart :" Acts ii, 46. It was at their daily meals that
they broke their bread ; and then, doubtless, that they
called to mind that sacred body Avhich the bread

142 On the Sacraments.
symbolized, and which had been broken for the salva
tion of their souls. After a little time, however, when
the number of Christians became larger, and churches
Avere formed in various parts of the world, the daily
social meal Avas, naturally enough, exchanged for the
weekly love-feast — a moderate repast, of which the
believers in each place partook together, in token of
their mutual good-AAdll and religious fellowship.
It appears that these repasts Avere held on the first
day of the week ; but separately from their meetings
for worship. Paul and his companions partook of the
love-feast, on that day, at Troas, Avhere the disciples
" had corae together to break bread ;" and AA'hen he
" had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long Avhile,
so he departed:" Acts xx, 7, 11. Thus at the close
of the first century, vve find frora Pliny's celebrated
letter to the Emperor Trajan, that the Bithynian
Christians met, early in the morning, on a stated
(doubtless the .first) day of the Aveek, for the purpose
of worshipping Christ; and at a later hour of the
sarae day, assembled again in order to partake of a
moderate social meal. This Avas evidently the love-
feast, when the bread was eaten and the wine drunk,
in comraeraoration of the death of Jesus — the crucified,
but now living and reigning Saviour.
The love-feast is particularly mentioned by the
apostle Paul in his epistle to the Corinthians, Avhom
he sharply reproves for a most miserable abuse of this
practice. It appears that the Corinthians flocked to
this meal in a careless and irregular manner; that
many of them abused it for the sinful indulgence of
their appetites ; that while some were left to huno-er,

On the Sacraments. 143
others were feeding themselves luxuriously, and were
drunken with wine. Another subject of complaint
was, that persons who partook of this Christian meal,
which the apostle calls the Lord's supper, (probably
because of its resemblance to the last supper of which
the Lord partook with his disciples,) were also accus
tomed to unite in the feasts of the heathen, and to eat
meats which had been offered to idols. The apostle
sharply reproves both these abuses, which were indeed
utterly opposed to that devotional feeling, and that
holy moderation, which becorae the Christian cha
racter. " The cup of blessing Avhich we bless is it
not the coraraunion of the blood (xoivtiLii'ici. roii ai'i^urog)
of Christ"? The bread Avhich we break is it not the
communion of the body (zoii/mia rov trdifjutxrog) ofChrist"?
For we being many are one bread and one body ; for
we are all partakers of that one bread. Behold Israel
after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacri
fices, partakers of the altar "? (^ttoivuvo] roD dufftccgt^piov.)
What say I then "? that the idol is anything "? or that
which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything"?
But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacri
fice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God; and I
would not that ye should have fellowship Avith devils."
(fcoivctivovg rSiv huif/jovieov yspsadoci.^
As the priests who ate of the flesh of the sacrifices
which had been offered on the Lord's altar, were
united partakers (^xotvuvo)) of the altar — i. e. of those
things which appertained to the altar and the sacri
ficial service of God ; and as the heathen feasters were
united partakers of devils — i. e. of those things which
respected the worship of devils; so the Christian

144 On the Sacraments.
believers, who attended the Lord's supper, Avere united
partakers of the body and blood of Christ — i..e. of
those things which had respect to the body and blood
of Christ.
In making use of these expressions, the apostle
refers to the circumstance, that it was customary,
among the primitive Christians, to break their bread
and drink their Avine in commemoration of the body
and blood of Christ — or in other words, of his pro
pitiatory death on the cross. The religious direction
of the practice had indeed been grievously OA'^erlooked
by those persons who had abused it for their carnal
gratification. " When ye come together therefore,
into one place," says Paul, " this is not to eat the
Lord's supper ; for in eating, CA^ery one taketh before
other his own supper ; and one is hungry and another
is drunken. What, have ye not houses to eat and to
drink in; or despise ye the church of God, and shame
them that have not "? What shall I say to you "? Shall
I praise you in this"? I praise you not." The apostle
foUoAVS up this just rebuke Avith a brief description of
the Lord's last supper with his disciples, when he
broke the bread and handed round the cup of wine,
as symbols of his own body and blood — an account
which (either by immediate revelation or through
the medium of the other apostles) he had " received
of the Lord." He reminds them of the true intent
of the observance — " for as oft as ye eat this bread,
and drink this wine, ye do show the Lord's death tiU
he come ;" points out to them the danger of eating
and drinking unworthily, "not discerning the Lord's
body;" and exhorts them to a Christian and orderly

On the Sacraments. 145
conduct on these occasions of social enjoyment, and
solemn religious commemoration. " Wherefore, my
brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for
another. And if any man hunger, (that is, be very
hungry,2) let him eat at home, that ye come not
together unto condemnation :" 1 Cor. xi, 33, 34.
Now on a revicAV of this simple stateraent, it is
evident to my apprehension, that the love-feast, or
Lord's supper of the early Christians, ranged under
the head not of religious ceremonies appertaining to
the worship of God, but rather under that of pious
practices, in connexion with the social duties and
enjoyments of the present life. It was impressing
a religious tendency and direction on a particular
custom which naturally spread from the Jewish to the
Gentde believers. It was one instance of conformity
to the general principle — " Whether ye eat or drink,
or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" — and
again, " do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God and the Father by Him:" 1 Cor. x, 31;
Col. iii, 17. I cannot perceive that our Lord's in
junction can be reasonably understood to extend
beyond the liraits of the custom to which it refers —
"As oft as ye drink this cup, do it in remembrance of
me." Just so the washing of the feet of a neighbour
or a friend, was customary among the Jcavs, at the
Christian era. Our Saviour, therefore, enjoins his
disciples to wash one another's feet — the substance of
the command being obviously that they should be
kind and submissive one to another in love. The
2 viiva Vid. Schleusner Lex, et Grotii Comm, in he,
L

146 On the Sacraments,
practice has ceased, but the spirit of the command
ment reraains the same. So I apprehend that the sub
stance of the other injunction— that substance which
wiU ever continue, whether the custom to which it
related, be maintained or not — is neither more
nor less than this— that Christians should ever keep
in deep and haUoAved remerabrance, the dying love
of the Saviour of men.
TertuUian, at the end of the second century, speaks
of the celebration of the eucharist, in connexion Avith
the meals of the Christians — in tempore victus;^
but it was at a somewhat earlier date, as we learn
frora a AveU-known passage in the works of Justin
Martyr, (a. d. 147,) that the practice in question had
assumed the form, in some parts of the church, of a
directly ceremonial observance. The morsel of bread
was then eaten, and the wine tasted by the believers,
at the close of their assemblies for worship — not as a
social meal, but simply as a religious rite. Every
one knows that this is the character of the Lord's
supper, as it is noAV used among Christians. It has
become a purely ceremonial act, and is regarded,
especially among Roman Catholics, as the most
solemn part or article in the public Avorship of God.
Under this new character, it seems directly to inter
fere Avith the general laAv, that under the gospel
dispensation, God is to be Avorshipped spiritually —
that all types and figures in the Avorship of the Most
High, are now exchanged for the eternal reality and
substance of religion— that they are at once fulfiUed
'2 De Coron. Milit.

On the Sacraments, 1 47
and abolished by the coming in the flesh, and pro
pitiatory death of the Son of God.
In the mean tirae, Avhether Ave look at the practice
of the early Christians, or that which has prevailed
araong the professors of the truth in raodern days, Ave
are left without the shadoAv of an evidence, that the
participation of bread and Avine, in the "Lord's
supper," is a sacraraent — i. e. an outward observance,
properly containing an interior grace.
Tn order to render this point clear, Ave must advert
first to the Roman Catholic, and secondly, to the
Protestant view of this subject.
The inherent mystery, Avhich the advocates of Rorae
ascribe to the bread and wine, is an actual bodily
participation of that which the bread and wine
symbolize, even the body and blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ. They strangely imagine, that after the conse
cration, by a priest, of the wafer and the Avine, these
substances are miraculously converted into that body
and blood, which are truly and substantially eaten
and drunk by those who partake of the sacred
elements; and they further allege, that this corporeal
eating of Christ's body, conveys with it a spiritual
blessing to the soul, and is one appointed and neces
sary raeans of man"s salvation.
These preposterous notions have, in my judgment,
no other origin than the direful superstition Avhich,
not very long after the times of the apostles, began to
brood like a cloud over the professing church of
Christ, and involved it, by degrees, in gross and
perilous darkness. Yet the Romish church pleads as
authority for transubstantiation, the Avords of Jesus,
L 2

148 On the Sacraments.
when he brake the loaf and distributed it to his
disciples — "This is ray body which is broken for
you." The question then lies in the raeaning of
these AVords. Now there is a clear and all-sufficient
reason w'hy our Lord cannot be understood as
declaring that the bread whicli he had broken, Avas
actually his body — namely, that his body Avas then a
living frame, not yet broken — a veritable body —
which his disciples saAV and -handled, and Avhich was
occupying a portion of space, distinct from that Avhich
the bread occupied, while the very words which form
the subject of dispute, were flowing from his lips.
Christianity most justly requires us to believe many
mysterious truths which are beyond reason; but it
never yet claimed our faith in that which is contrary
to reason. It was indeed attested by many miracles,
suspensions and counteractions of the established
order of nature ; but here there is supposed, not
merely a miracle, but an actual, physical impossibility.
The sarae body or substance cannot possibly exist in
two places at once. To suppose the contrary, is to
suppose an absolute absurdity — that Avhich never
Avas, is not, and never can be.
Nor is the case at all different in the present day.
We raay rest assured that the glorified body of Christ
is in heaA^en — a place of infinite enjoyraent and glory.
It is not possible that it should at the same time be in
the hands of the priest' on earth, whether in the form
of a wafer, or under any other appearance — much less
in the hands of a thousand priests at once, in a
thousand different places.
That the passage does not afford any reasonable

On the Sacraments. 149
pretext for the fabrication of so enormous a fiction, a
little calm consideration raay be sufficient to evince.
It is surely raatter of common parlance to use the verb
to be, in the sense oi figuring or representing; as for
example, any one might say, when looking at figures
m a picture representing Christ and the apostle Paul,
that is the Saviour ! that is Paul ! We ought more
over to remember that our Lord spoke, as there is
every reason to believe, in the vernacular Syriac, in
which language the verb in the sentence " This is my
body," would not have been expressed at all ; as the
reader may satisfy himself by a reference to the old
Syriac version of the New Testament. " This — my
body," said our blessed Lord — as he held the bread in
his hands ; Avords which may, with perfect propriety,
be understood as conveying the idea that the bread
symbolized or represented his body.
As the corporeal eating of the body of Christ raust
therefore be regarded as fictitious, it Avould be ir
relevant to argue the second question, whether such
an eating conveys grace to the soul. That which has
no existence, can have no effects. But in the notion
that the body of Christ is actually eaten in the conse
crated wafer, and that this carnal act is necessary
to salvation, there is surely much that degrades the
cause of truth ; much that directs the minds of those
who are honestly seeking their salvation, into 'wrong
channels ; much that is calculated to divert from a
siraple reliance on the crucified, risen, and reigning
Saviour, and to substitute for hira an idol of man's
own imagining. How many poor bewildered sinners
have been taught, on their death-beds, to regard this

150 On the Sacraments.
ceremony, with its supposed hidden mystery, as their
viaticum to heaven, instead of casting themselves,
in deep repentance and lively faith, on Hira who died
for thera ; and through Avhose blood and righteousness
alone, Ave can enter the portals of heaven, and take
possession of the inheritance of the saints in light.
In so corrupt a superstition, so gross a perversion of
the great realities of the gospel, there can surely be
no inherent grace ; but rather loss, and danger, and
soraetiraes perhaps even death, to the immortal spirit.
HoAV then, in the second place, does this matter
stand Avitli those Protestants, Avho AA'hile they reject
the Romish doctrine of transubstantiation, and re
gard it as utterly unreasonable, nevertheless prac
tice the eucharist as a ceremony in divine Avorship,
and under the notion that it contains, within itself,
some mysterious poAver for the benefit of souls "? Is
such a notion founded on Scripture "? or is it justified
by experience % I apprehend that both these ques
tions m.ust be ansAvered in the negative. The precept
of Christ, to which Protestants as well as Papists refer
as their authority for the rite, makes mention of the
breaking of the bread and the handing of the
cup, only as a memorial — " Do it in remembrance of
me." Accordingly Ave find, that the early Christians,
without the slightest vieAv (as far as appears) to any
internal mystery, applied that practice to the purpose
of comraeraoration. This coraraemoration might be
blessed to the souls of the right-minded, who truly
desired to keep their Lord in reraembrance ; but we
have no reason to suppose that there Avas any peculiar
iiiAvard grace connected Avith it, any raore than

On the Sacraments. 151
with other acts of Christian piety. The true feed
ing on the body and blood of Christ by a living faith,
might or might not accompany the practice in ques
tion; and certainly this feeding might take place at
other seasons, when the outward symbol Avas far
removed from the Christian believer. Noav if there
was no inward grace inherent in the practice, and
inseparable from it Avhen honestly performed, that
practice was no sacrament.
Much less can it be regarded in that point of vicAv
in its present form, as a ceremony in the Avorship of
God. That this ceremony raay be overruled, as a
solemn remembrancer, to the benefit of some minds, I
ara by no raeans disposed to dispute ; but such an
effect affords no evidence that there is a raystical
interior attached to the rite, and properly contained
in it; and this could alone render it a sacrament.
On the other hand, there is surely a clanger, less the
rite in question should operate unfavourably, es
pecially in those persons who haAC the strongest sense
of devotion and mystery attached to it. To thera it
may often prove a diversion frora the very truth ;
a substitution of the lifeless form for the sacred reality
— a miserable exchange of Christ himself, for a
favourite symbol or shadow.
It is a singular confirmation of these remarks, that
raany of the clergy, in the present day, AAho have
departed frora their forraer simplicity in this raatter,
and are now laying an alraost popish stress on the
cereraony of the eucharist, have at the same time
divested their discourses to the people, of the cardinal
doctrine of Christ crucified. Thus, Avhile the symbol

152 On the Sacraments.
of the Saviour AA-ho died for us is inordinately
cherished, the Saviour himself, and his most precious
atoning sacrifice, are raade to retreat Avithin the vaii
of aAvful concealment — perhaps of absolute oblivion.

It appears then that whether we allow or disalloAV
the practices of Avater baptism and the Lord's supper,
as they are now used araong most Christian profes
sors, we are brought to a sound conclusion, that, like
the ceremonies of the Jewish laAV, they are destitute
of any interior mystery or grace, by Avhich the soul
can be affected ; and must be regarded only as shadows
or representations of those divine mysteries which
truly belong to the plan of our redemption, and are
absolutely necessary to salvation.
Now it is on all hands acknoAvledged, that had such
mysteries been inherent in the rites of baptism and
the eucharist, they Avould have imparted to those
ceremonies the true character of sacraments. On the
logical principle therefore already alluded to — Quo
quidvis tale fit, id magis tale (that by which any thing
becomes such, is itself more such) — we cannot refuse
to allow that these blessed realities are themselves
sacraments indeed. Yes, Christianity has her sacra
ments in very truth — not any oiitAvard form affecting
the bodies of men — but a spiritual baptism, and a
spiritual supper. Both these are clearly introduced
to our notice, and strongly insisted on as of vital ira-
portance, by our Lord himself and his apostles.
First, as to spiritual baptism ; it is divine in its
character, proceeding not by any natural law, but
immediately and supernaturally, from that God Avho

On the Sacraments. 153
is a spirit. It is that sovereign work of grace, by
which the dark, dead, sinful soul of raan is enlightened,
quickened, and converted to God ; so as to be trans
lated into the kingdora of Christ even in this world,
and to become a partaker of the divine nature, by a
new creation.
Sometimes it is described as a new birth — as in
John i, 12, 1 3. " As many as received him, to thera
gave he poAver to becorae the sons of God, which Avere
born not of blood, nor of the will of the fiesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God :" and still more at large
by our Saviour himself in John iii, 3 — 8 : " Except a
man be born again, (JLvu^iv, i. e. as in the margin, /rom
above ^^ he cannot see the kingdom of God 
Except a raan be born of water and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God." The latter
of these clauses is an enlarged repetition, or para
phrase of the former. To be born of water and the
Spirit, and to be born from above, are synonymous
terms. Hence it is clear, that the substantive water
is here used, as in many other passages of Scripture,
figuratively — to denote the cleansing influence of the
Spirit, which comes " from above ;" so that " water
and the Spirit" must here be regarded as expressing
only the Holy Spirit and his divine influence. This
view is confirmed by the immediate context in the
verses which foUoAV, " That which is born of the flesh
is flesh ; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that 1 said unto you, Ye must be born
again (or from above.) The wind bloAveth where it
¦* This is the sense in which the apostle John always uses the
Avord.

154 On the Sacraments.
listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst
not tell Avhence it cometh, nor whither it goeth ; so
is every one that is born of the Spirit."
This divine AVork is described by the apostle Paul
as a washing: see 1 Cor. vi, 9 — 11. "Be ye not
deceived ; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adul
terers, &c., &c., shall inherit the kingdom of God.
And such Avere some of you, but ye are washed," &c.
Again, Eph. v, 25, 26 : " Christ also loved the church
and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and
cleanse it with the washing of ivater by the Avord."
Here the AA'ord, even the preaching of the gospel, is
set forth as the appointed means by which Christ
Avashes or baptizes his church — a doctrine Avhich
proves that a truly anointed minister of the Lord Jesus
raay, through the power of his ever-present helper,
thus baptize his hearers into the narae of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. But this is
a Avork Avhich the Lord is soraetiraes pleased to effect
without the intervention of any huraan instrumentality,
as Avas the case with Paul himself The marvellous
change of heart which he had experienced, is else-
Avhere described by the apostle, under the same flgure :
see Tit. iii, 3 — 6, " For we ourselves also were some
times foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers
lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hate
ful, and hating one another. But after that the
kindness and love of God our Saviour toAvards man
appeared ; not by works of righteousness which we
have done, but according to his mercy he saved us,
by the Avashing of regeneration and rencAving of the
Holy Ghost." Like the water and the Spirit in

On the Sacraments. 155
John iii, the washing of regeneration and renewing of
the Holy Ghost, may be regarded as perfectly identical.
These terras appear to set forth one blessed and
necessary work, even the baptism of Christ — the
baptisra of the Spirit.
Under the gospel dispensation, Jesus Christ is the
true Baptizer. " I indeed baptize you with water unto
repentance," said John the Baptist, "but he that
coraeth after rae is raightier than I, whose shoes I
ara not Avorthy to unloose : he shall baptize you with
the Holy Ghost, and with fire :" Matt, iii, 11. In the
gospel of John, the Holy Ghost alone is raentioned.
As for the fire, like the water in John iii, it raay here
stand for that divine influence, by which the soul of
the believer is purified, and his very heart changed
within hira. When this baptisra is experienced, he
puts off " the old man, which is corrupt according to
the deceitful lusts," and puts on " the noAV raan, Avhich
after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
Lastly, that quickening, cleansing work, by which
the needful change is effected in us, frora death to
life, and from sin to righteousness, is the baptism ivhich
saves, mentioned by the apostle Peter. After speaking
of the ark, " wherein fcAv, that is, eight souls Avere
saved by Avater," the apostle adds, " The like figure
Avhereunto (or that Avhich answereth Avhereunto —
iS ocvrirvTov) doth also noAV save us; not the putting
away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a
good conscience toward God, by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ, Avho is gone into heaven; angels and
authorities and powers, being made subject unto
him:" 1 Pet. iii, 21, 22. The risen and ascended

156 On the Sacraments.
Saviour baptizes from above. He sends forth that
Uving influence of the Holy Ghost, by which sinful
man, quickened from his death in trespasses and sins,
is enabled savingly to believe in the one atoning
sacrifice, and to bring forth the fruits of righteous
ness. Thus are Ave made partakers of a conscience
void of offence in the sight of God and man : comp.
Heb. ix, 14.
There is surely much reason to believe that Paul is
speaking of this powerful internal work, when he
insists on the necessity of dying unto sin, and of rising
again with Christ, unto a life of righteousness. " What
shall we say then "? shall we continue in sin that grace
raay abound"? God forbid. How shall we that are
dead to sin, live any longer therein ? Know ye not,
that so many of us as Avere baptized into Jesus Christ,
were baptized into his death"? Therefore we are
buried with him by baptism unto death : that like as
Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of
the Father, even so we also should walk in ncAvness
of life:" Rom. vi, 1 — 4. And again, to the Colossians,
" And ye are complete in him, which is the head of
all principality and poAver ; in whom also ye are cir
cumcised with the circumcision made without hands,
in putting off the body of the sins of the fiesh by the
circumcision of Christ : buried with hira, in baptism,
Avherein ye also are risen with hira, through the
FAITH OF THE OPERATION OF GoD, Avho hath Taiscd
him from the dead:" Col. ii, 10 — 12.
So also when he assures us that there is " one body
and one Spirit, even as we are called by one hope of
our calling ; one Lord (Jesus Christ,) one faith, one

On the Sacraments. 157
baptism," — we may fairly conclude, either that " bap
tism" here takes the sense of " doctrine," of which
(as before-mentioned) it is evidently capable ; or that
the apostle is speaking of the one baptism of the one
Lord, which is with the Holy Ghost. This view of
his meaning is perfectly accordant with another
passage, in which he speaks of this spiritual baptism
as the means of introduction to a living membership
in the body or church of Christ; see 1 Cor. xii,
12, 13, " For as the body is one, and hath many
members, and all the merabers of that one body,
being raany, are one body ; so also is Christ. For by
ONE Spirit we are all baptized into one body; and
have been all made to drink into one Spirit." Happy
and Holy are they who drink at this sacred fountain ;
for ever blessed they who submit to the baptizing and
renovating power of the Holy Ghost. All these, and
these alone, are living members of the body of Christ,
chddren of grace, and heirs of glory.
But, secondly, if the sacrament of regeneration is at
once the only and the sufficient raeans of bringing us
into union with Christ our Head, and with all his
members the world over, and of imparting to us the
principles of a new and heavenly life, that union and
that life can be maintained only by our participation
(raay I not say our daily participation"?) in another
sacrament, even the spiritual supper of our Lord.
"Behold," says Jesus to the churches, "I stand at
the door and knock : if any raan hear my voice, and
open the door, I will come in to him, and Avdl sup
with him, and he with me:" Rev. id, 20. This
cheering promise is in exact accordance with some

158 On the Sacraments.
very remarkable expressions Avhich our Lord uttered
after he had broken the bread and handed the wine,
at the last paschal supper. " But I say unto you,
that I Avill not henceforth drink of this fruit of the
vine, until that day when I drink it ucav with you in
ray Father's kingdora:" Matt, xxvi, 29. On another
occasion he said to his disciples, " Ye are they which
have continued with rae in ray temptations. And I
appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath
appointed unto rae ; that ye raay eat and drink at my
table in my kingdom," &c. : Luke xxii, 28 — 30. Nor
can it be denied, that it is the same gracious Saviour
who, in the prophetic language of the Song of songs,
thus addressed his spouse, the church — "I am corae into
my garden, my sister, my spouse : I have gathered my
myrrh with my spice ; I have eaten my honey-comb
with my honey ; I have drunk my wine with my milk ;
eat, O friends ; drink, yea,, drink abundantly, O
beloved:" Cant, v, 1.
I should suppose that no evangelical Christian, of
Avhatsoever peculiar name, could for a moment
hesitate in accepting these beautiful passages in a
purely spiritual sense, as representing the communion
which true believers in Jesus, in times of refreshing
from the presence of the Lord, are permitted to enjoy
with their Holy Head, and one with another in Him ;
a communion which, from season to season, cheers
them on their journey to the promised land, and will
constitute their chiefest joy in heaven itself Here is
sustenance for the inmost soul ! here is the saving
supper of the Lord !
But Christ himself is the food of the Christian, and

On the Sacraments. 159
is to be eaten by his disciples in this true sacrament.
Nothing can be more affecting, and nothing raore
important, than his own doctrine on this subject, con
tained in that memorable discourse which the apostle
John has placed on record with the pen of inspiration :
see John vi, 35 — 63. "I am the bread of life: he
that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that
believeth on rae shall never thirst  I am that
bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the
wilderness and are dead ; this is the bread which
coraeth down from heaven, that a man may eat
thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which
carae down frora heaven ; if any man eat of this
bread he shall live for ever ; and the bread that I
will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of
the world. The Jews therefore strove among them
selves, saying. How can this raan give us his flesh to
eat"? Then Jesus said unto them. Verily, verily, I
say unto you. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of
man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath
eternal life ; and I will raise him up at the last day.
For my flesh is meat indeed, and ray blood is drink
indeed. He that eateth ray flesh, and drinketh ray
blood, dwelleth in rae, and I in him. As the living
Father hath sent rae, and I live by the Father ; so he
that eateth rae, even he shall live by me. This is
that bread which came down from heaven: not as
your fathers did eat manna, and are dead : he that
eateth of this bread shall live for ever. These things
said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard

160 On the Sacraments.
this, said, " This is an hard saying, who can hear it "?
When Jesus kncAV in himself that his disciples
murmured at it, he said unto them. Doth this offend
you"? What and if ye shall see the Son of man
ascend up where he was before "? It is the Spirit
THAT QUlCKENETH, THE FLESH PROFITETH NOTHING :
the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and
they are life."
The declaration with Avhich our Lord here con
cludes his discourse, is of incalculable weight and
importance. It seems to me virtually to undermine
and abrogate for ever all typical and carnal ceremonies
in divine worship. Most assuredly it affords the true
key to the preceding doctrine. We have our Lord's
own explicit authority for understanding it spiritually.
Those who under the iraraediate influence of the
Spirit, and by a living faith, appropriate the glorious
Saviour who carae down from heaven that he might
give Ufe to the world, truly feed on Jesus, the bread
of God, the bread of life. The Christian, whose sole
reliance is placed on the atoning sacrifice of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and who hves by that precious faith,
may justly be said to eat the flesh of the Son of man,
and to drink his blood. There is indeed no spiritual
life for any man, to whora the gospel is preached, on
any other terms; and all who, under the powerful
operation of the Holy Spirit, thus believe with the
heart, are nourished up by this heavenly food to aU
eternity. They dwell in Christ, and Christ dwells in
them. Furthermore, when the believers in Jesus are
assembled and united in solemn Avorship — when they
draw near to the Father, in one Spirit, through the

On Just'ification and Sanctification. 161
Son of his love — when they are livingly brought to
the remembrance of the body which was broken, and
of the blood which was shed for them — when "the
love of God" is " shed abroad" in their hearts "by the
Holy Ghost which he giveth us" — then are they rich
partakers of a true sacraraental coraraunion — then are
they honoured guests, even here, at the table of the
Lord, in his kingdom.

CHAPTER VIII.
ON JUSTIFICATION AND SANCTIFICATION.
A VERY slight knowledge of the papal and hierarchical
system, raay suffice to convince every honest inquirer,
that under its darkening and deadening influence, the
grounds of the Christian's hope of salvation have been
fearfully obscured, and the hope itself, to a very great
extent, placed in jeopardy. The greatest of all evils
is sin ; and Christianity teaches us that all men are
under condemnation, because all have sinned. The
awful penalty consequent on that condemnation, is
the death of the soul, or in other words, its eternal
separation from God, in a state of unutterable woe.
HoAV, then, in the first place, are we to experience
deliverance from this weight of condemnation; how
are Ave to make our escape frora this dreaded penalty "?
Under the dismal effects of moral and doctrinal
apostacy, the professing church answers. By plenary
indulgences from the pope ; by penance ; by priestly
absolution ; by the extraordinary mortifications of the
flesh ; by fastings frequent and severe ; by voluntary
M .

162 On Justification and Sanctification.
torture; by the repetition of prayers Avithout number;
by the hardships of monasticism and hermitage ; by
the magical influence of relics, and pictures, and
images ; by the intercession of Mary and the saints ;
by the sacrifice of the mass ; by the faithful obser
vance of all kinds of ceremonies ; and finally, by pur
gatory — that last resource for the cleansing aAvay of
those stains of sin, in the Christian, Avhich the other
means uoav alluded to have left untouched.
In Avhat measure and in Avhat proportions these
various modes of reconciliation Avith God are de
pended on by the votaries of Rome, we have no
means of forming an adequate judgment; but it is
CAddent that they are severally objects of faith, on
Avhich poor deluded souls are taught to rely for the
blotting out of their sins, and for securing their escape
from the pains of eternal death. There is a strong
tendency in the heart of man to rest on these delu
sions, instead of coming fully and unreservedly to
Jesus Christ and him crucified; for Christ crucified
continues to be " to the Jcavs a stumbling-block, and
to the Greeks foolishness." It is a fact, amply proved
by experience, that visible and tangible representa
tions of the crucified SaAdour, and ceremonies in wor
ship, which are intended to rencAv his sacrifice for
sin — Avith all other departures from simplicity in re
ligion — are so far frora truly leading the soul to
Christ as the only ground of the sinner's hope, that
they often operate as diversions frora the truth, and
let in a vast variety of ways of salvation, as they are
falsely supposed to be, instead of the Lord Jesus, who
is himself the way, the truth, and the Ufe. Well

On Justification and Sanctification. 163
may this strange medley of satisfactions for sin, be
described as a quicksand, iu Avhich many currents
meet, and hollow out a pit beneath the glowing sur
face, into which the children of superstition are prone
to fall, never more to rise — unless some peculiar
miracle of grace be wrought in their favour.
True, indeed, it is, that the Romish Church pro
fesses a firm faith in the divinity of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and in the doctrine of his propitiatory sacrifice
on the cross ; and that many pious adherents of that
church availingly believe in Christ as their Saviour,
and seek for the forgiveness of sin through his atoning
blood. Yet there can be no doubt, as I conceive,
that the superstitious notions and practices to Avhich
we have uoav alluded — these strange paths and by
ways to heaven — are fraught with peculiar peril to
the soul. They raay often be the means of prevent
ing an entrance through the door into the sheepfold ;
and therefore properly belong to the system and reign
of antichrist, the false prophet, or the second beast
who has the visage of a larab, and the voice of a
dragon. It is greatly to be feared, that there is a recur
rence, in the present day, even araong churches called
protestant, to many of these unauthorized and dan
gerous inventions. More than a few of the professors
of scriptural religion have lapsed into a disregard and
concealment of those cardinal truths which once
occupied their chief attention, and seem to have lost
the strength and clearness of their vision respecting
the way — the only way — of salvation.
In the meantime the truth of God remains un-
M 2

164 On Justification and Sanctification.
changed, and the very agitation and sifting of things,
Avhich is now abroad among professing Christians,
will doubtless be the raeans of confirming thousands
in their adherence to Christ. Well may we exclaim
Avith the poet : —
" Oh, how unlike the cumbrous Avorks of man.
Heaven's easy, artless, unencumbered plan !
No meretricious graces to beguile,
No clustering ornaments to clog the pile ;
From ostentation as from weakness free,
It stands, like the cerulean arch Ave see.
Majestic in its own simplicity.
Inscribed above the portals from afar.
Conspicuous as the brightness of a star,
Legible only by the light they give.
Stand the soul-quickening words, believe and live," — Coavpek.
Nothing can be more simple and decisive than the
doctrine of our Lord himself on the condition or
means of salvaation : " God so loved the world, that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoeA'er believ
eth in hira should not perish, but have everlasting
life:" John iii, 16. "Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that believeth on me hath everlasting life : " vi, 47.
" I am the resurrection and the life : he that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live : and
whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never
die:" xi, 25, 26. "Sirs, what raust I do to be
saved"?" said the jailer at Phdippi to Paul and Silas;
" and they said. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved, and thy house :" Acts xvi, 31.
From these, and many similar declarations, it is
evident that, in order to obtain salvation — even deli
verance frora the wrath to corae— Ave are required to
believe in Jesus, the Saviour of the world ; and that

On Justification and Sanctification. 165
all men of every name, age, or country, who truly
believe on him, will assuredly be saved. In these
simple, yet comprehensive declarations, nothing is
said of penance, and masses, and fastings ; nothing of
any ceremonial observance ; nothing of absolution,
indulgence, or satisfaction for sin, doled out by the
power or pity of raan. Faith in the Saviour is the
thing which God demands of us in order to the
forgiveness of our sins, and the salvation of our
iraraortal souls. Yet the devils believe and trerable.
It is not a mere knoAvledge of the truth, Avith the
conviction of the understanding, which Avill serve
this mighty purpose. It is the deep affiance of the
soul ; it is the leaning of the loving heart on Christ,
by the power of the Holy Ghost — a disposition which
can never fail to be accorapanied by repentance
towards God, and the unreserved surrender of the
Avhole man to his righteous Avill and service.
This, hoAvever, is a subject Avhich requires to be
somewhat more developed. We have " redemption
through the blood of Christ, even the forgiveness of
sins." Hence it follows, that the faith in him,
whereby, under the gospel, Ave obtain that forgiveness,
has a marked and peculiar respect to his blood-
shedding on the cross. Thus we find, that when
presenting hiraself to his hearers, as the object of
saving faith, our Lord repeatedly directed their atten
tion to this central point. "As Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, so shall the Son of man be
lifted up, (that is, on the cross, comp. John xii, 33,)
that whosoever believeth on him should not perish,
but have eternal life:" John iii, 14, 15. And again :

166 On Justification and Sanctification,
"Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh ray blood,
(Avhoso livingly believeth in me as the atonement for
sin) hath eternal life, and I Avill raise him up at the
last day:" vi, 54.
The pardon of sin through faith in Christ crucifled,
is often described by Paul ?is justification. All man
kind are sinners, guilty in the sight of a holy and
righteous God. Neither the tears of repentance, nor
the Christian virtues afterAvards implanted by Divine
grace, can possibly efface those stains of guilt.
Never can these be washed away, except in the foun
tain set open in Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness,
even the fountain of the blood of the Larab ; and this
blessed purpose is effected through the instruraentality
of faith. Therefore " Ave are justified by faith with
out the deeds of the laAV."
This subject is admirably set forth by the apostle
in various passages. " Be it known unto you there
fore, men, and brethren," said he, to the Jcavs of
Antioch, " that through this man is preached unto you
the forgiveness of sins: and by him, all that believe
are justified of all things, from Avhich ye could not be
justified by the laAv of Moses:" Acts xni, 38, 39.
To the Galatians, he says : " Knowing that a man is
not justified by the Avorks of the laAV, but by the faith
of Jesus Christ, even Ave have believed in Jesus Christ,
that Ave raight be justified by the faith of Christ, and
not by the Avorks of the law ; for by the works of the
laAV shall no flesh be justified." Soon afterwards he
adds, " Christ hath redeemed us frora the curse of the
laAV, being made a curse for us; for it is Avritten
Cursed is every one that hangeth on the tree : " Gal.

On Justification and Sanctification. 167
ii, 16; in, 13. "Being justified by faith, Ave have
peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ."
And again : " God commendeth his love toAvard us,
in that Avhile we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us. Much more, then, being now justified by his
blood, we shall be saved from wrath through hira : "
Rom. V, 1, 8, 9.
It is chiefly, however, in the preceding chapters of
this epistle, that the apostle insists on the fundamen
tal doctrine of justification by faith, traces it to its
root and unfolds the principles on Avhich it rests.
In the first place, he enters on an aAvful description
of the corruption and Avickedness of the heathen
nations, who sinned against the laAv of a righteous
God, revealed in the heart. He next shoAvs that the
Jews, on Avhora was bestoAved the written law, Avere
no better ; for while they raade a profession of godli
ness, they Avere deeply alienated frora God by their
sins. Thus he proves that all raankind, in the
fall, and in consequence of the transgression of our
first parents, are prone to iniquity, sinners in point of
fact, and guilty in the sight of a holy and omniscient
Creator. From this guilt, and from the condemnation and
punishment which are its inevitable consequence,
no huraan poAver or A'irtue, no works of the laAv,
either ceremonial or moral, can possibly deliver us.
It stands to reason that Ave cannot be justified by the
works of the law, because Ave have broken the law,
and it is the laAv that condemns us. The more clearly
it is revealed to us, the more marked and conspicuous,
the more aggravated also, is our guilt. "Therefore

168 On Justification and Sanctification,
by the deeds of the law there shaU no flesh be
justified in his sight; for by the law is the knoAvledge
of sin :" id, 20.
But God, who is rich in mercy, and whose love is
an unfathomable deep, for our sakes spared not his
own Son, but sent hira into the world to die for
sinners, that Avhosoever believeth in hira, and in the
blood of his atoneraent, raight receive the forgiveness
of sin, and live for ever. This is a simple sketch
of the apostle's views, as unfolded in this epistle.
"All have sinned," says he, "and corae short of the
glory of God; being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom
God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith
in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the
remission of sins that are past, through the forbear
ance of God. To declare, I say, at this time, his
righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier
OF HIM AVHICH BELIEVETH IN JeSUS."
The DiA'ine attributes of justice and mercy, each
perfect and absolute, and liable to no defalcation,
meet, unite, and blend in the doctrine of the atone
raent. The penalty of death has been exacted ; and
One of infinite dignity, virtue, and power, in his
OAvn voluntary love, as well as in obedience to the will
of the Father, has undergone that penalty. "He was
Avounded for our transgressions ; he was bruised for
our iniquities ; the chastisement of our peace was
upon him ; and with his stripes Ave are healed. All
we like sheep have gone astray ; and the Lord hath
laid on him the iniquity of us all." Thus the utmost
claims of the laAv of God — that unchangeable expres-

On Justification and Sanctification. 169
sion of his perfect righteousness — are fully satisfied.
" The righteousness of God," is declared and es
tablished in his own glorious plan " for the remission
of sins." And the Judge of all flesh is demonstrated
to be just, while he justifies " him which believeth in
Jesus." After this explicit enunciation of that cardinal
doctrine of Christianity, justification by faith, the
apostle proceeds to illustrate the subject by the ex
araple of Abraham, and the experience of David.
"For what saith the Scripture"? Abraham believed
God, and it was counted unto him for righteous
ness. Now to him that worketh, is the rcAvard not
reckoned of grace but of debt; but to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the
ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the
man unto whom God imputeth righteousness with
out works, saying. Blessed are they whose iniquities
are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the
man to whora the Lord will not impute sin:" iv. 3 — 8.
Two points of great interest and importance here
claim our attention.
We find, in the first place, that Abraham and David
are adduced as examples of that faith by which sinners
are justified in the sight of God; or, in other words,
receive the forgiveness of their transgressions, and are
dealt with as if they had never sinned. Now,
although these faithful men were far frora being desti
tute of sorae knowledge of their Redeemer, it cannot
be supposed that they enjoyed that clearness of view
respecting his coming in the fiesh, and his propitia-

170 On Justification and Sanctification.
tory sacrifice on the cross, Avhich is the priA'dege
of true Christians under the gospel dispensation. Yet
they believed in Christ according to the measure of
the Ught bestoAved upon them; and their faith was
counted unto them for righteousness. The same ob
servation unquestionably applies to all the saints of
the Old Testament. Nor can it be reasonably doubted
that even among nations which have no direct know
ledge of revealed religion, there have been many
persons in different ages of the world Avho have
believed in God, according to the measure of the light
of the Holy Spirit imraediately bestoAved upon them,
as a guide and rectifier to their consciences. These
also, as Ave may fully believe, have been justified by
faith, through the mediation and sacrifice of our Lord
Jesus Christ; for "in every nation, he that feareth
(God) and worketh righteousness is accepted of him:"
Acts X, 35. "For not the hearers of the law," says
the apostle to the Romans, " are just before God, but
the doers of the laAV shall be justified; for when the
Gentiles, Avhich have not the law, do by nature the
things contained in the laAv, these having not the laAv,
are a law unto themselves ; Avhich shoAv the Avork of
the law Avritten in their hearts, their conscience also
bearing Avitness, and their thoughts the raeauAvhile ac
cusing or else excusing one another:" Rom. ii, 13 — 15.
The mercies of God and the effectual operation of
his grace are, as I venture to believe, much more
comprehensiA'e than many persons suppose. Yet none
can be saved but "by grace, through faith;" and that
not of themselves — "it is the gift of God." In the
meantime, let all Avho enjoy the unutterable privdeo-e

On Justification and Santification. 171
of the noonday light of the gospel of Christ, never
fail to reraeraber, that " unto whomsover much is
given, of hira ranch will be required" — a faith corres
ponding to their knoAvledge, a conduct worthy of
their faith.
The second point alluded to is erabraced in the
words just quoted, " the doers of the law shaU be
justified." I conceive that this sentiment fully applies
to those persons whom the apostle elsewhere describes
as being "justified by faith without the deeds of the
law." The deeds of the law have no part whatsoever
in procuring the pardon of their sins ; for they have
broken the law, and the law condemns thera to death.
But now, under grace, they are becorae doers of the
law ; nor could they have been justified by faith, had
not their faith been so vital and divine in its nature
as to be necessarily productive of this practical result.
Such a view of the subject will explain the apparent
difficulty of the doctrine of James, as compared with
that of Paul. " Faith, if it hath not works, is dead,
being alone. Yea, a man may say. Thou hast faith,
and I have works: show rae thy faith without thy
works, and I will shoAv thee my faith by my works.
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest
well : the devils also believe and tremble. But wilt
thou know, O vain man, that faith Avithout works is
dead"? Was not Abraham our father justified by
works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the
altar "? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works,
and by works Avas faith made perfect"? And the
Scripture Avas fulfilled Avhich saith, Abraham believed
God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness :

172 On Justification and Sanctification,
and he Avas called the friend of God. Ye see then
how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith
only:" James ii, 17 — 24.
James, in the character of a consistent and fruitful
believer, here addresses sorae imaginary person who
professes faith in Christianity, without practising its
precepts. He chaUenges him to display his spurious
article to the best advantage, and offers to bring his
own belief to the test of the works which it produces.
Powerfully does he dlustrate his doctrine by compar
ing faith without works, to the body without the
Spirit ; and to the belief of devils who know God and
hate him. On the other hand, he justly dwells on
the example of Abraham, who proved the vitality of
his faith, by a meraorable and raost difficult act of
obedience. Thus is he brought to his general con
clusion, that " a man is justified by works, and not by
faith only."
On this subject we are competent to say, that as
sinners we are justified (i. e. we receive the pardon of
our sins) by faith in Christ Avithout the deeds of the
law ; and that as believers, we are justified by good
works ; for these alone afford a sufficient evidence that
our faith is vital, divine, and saving. This distinction
is, I trust, sound and clear. But if there be any doubt
of its critical exactness as an explanation of the
apostle's use of the word "justified," Ave may rest on
the obvious tendency and intent of the whole passage;
namely, that faith cannot be the means of our accept
ance with God, unless it be of such a nature as to
produce obedience in the believer. For it remains to
be an unquestionable truth, that without holiness no

On Justification and Sanctification. 173
man shall see the Lord. The plain fact is, that
neither faith nor obedience, hoAvever pure they may
be in their character, and however well pleasing to
God, are in their own nature justifying; but faith —
even that vital faith which works by love, and pro
duces the fruits of righteousness — is the appointed
instrument in the order of grace, whereby Av,e lay hold
on the mercies of God in Christ Jesus — that blessed
Mediator who truly and T^xo^exij justifies the sinner.
Most assuredly there is nothing in the doctrine of
the apostle James, which supports the opinion of the
Roraish church, that good works are raeritorious in
the sight of God, and actually give a title to the
reward of everlasting felicity. It appears to be an
opinion prevailing among the advocates of the papal
system, that almsgiving, and other acts of Christian
piety and mercy, deserve an eternity of bliss as their
just and equal reward. If, however, it is alloAved that
many good persons — faithful sons and daughters of
the church — are yet imperfect, the righteousness of
Christ may take its share in making up the supposed
deficiency in their deserts.
In the Roraish saints, however, there is iraagined to
be no such deficiency. Never probably was there so
anti-christian a notion propagated under the narae of
Christianity, as that which arose in the dark ages,
respecting works of supererogation. It Avas then first
openly declared, that the church was in possession of
an iraraense stock of raerit, accumulated in her keep
ing from age to age, by such sufferings and labours of
the saints, as exceeded the requireraents of the law of
God — a stock which she has the power of dealing out.

174 On Justification and Sanctification.
through her visible head the pope, in such times and
in such portions as she pleases, in order to secure the
favoured recipients of the boon, frora the punishraent
of their sins —a new raethod truly of escaping frora
the Avrath to corae, and of obtaining an entrance into
the kingdom of rest and purity !
It cannot for a moment be questioned, that bene-
*
ficence, and the exercise of other virtues and graces,
are sacrifices acceptable to God, through Jesus Christ.
As vice is abominable in his sight, so true virtue, in
all its lovely forras, and under every variety of cir
curastance, can never fail to be well-pleasing to a per
fectly pure and righteous being ; and when the sinner
is converted frora the error of his ways, the angels
reflect their Father's smile, and rejoice in his holy
presence. But Avhile this admission is raost freely to
be made respecting that glorious Being who is ever
found on the side of righteousness, the Christian must
distinctly deny that the best works of man — even those
Avhich are wrought under the immediate influence of
the Holy Ghost — have any merit; in such a sense as
justly to claim the roAvard of eternal life. Our sins
indeed deserve death — even the death of the soul : and
the death of the soul is their " wages." But eternal
life " is the gift of God, through Jesus Christ our
Lord" — a gift wholly unmerited and spontaneous;
flowing forth, through its one appointed channel, to
the fallen children of raen, from the fathomless abyss
of Jehovah's love.
We know that our first parents Avere created in the
image of Jehovah, and after his likeness ; a truth
Avhich probably had respect, first, to the intellectual

On Justification and Sanctification. 175
mind; secondly, to a perfect moral nature; and thirdly,
to the eternal continuance of life. There can be no
doubt, that had they remained in their pristine state
of innocence, an eternity of happy existence would
have been the consequence. But this consequence
would not have arisen in the way of wages gained by
good works, or because of any inherent merits in their
virtuous dispositions and conduct, but simply in the
appointment of infinite and gratuitous love. God is
not profited or placed under obligation by the obedience
of his own creatures, but obedience is his due; and
the creature who renders that obedience, does but pay
a debt already incurred. Well might the Temanite
ask, " Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that
is wise may be profitable unto himself"? Is it any
pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous (in
the sense of adding to that happiness AA'hich is already
infinite"?) Or is it gain to hira, that thou raakest thy
Avays perfect "? " Job xxii, 2, 3. " So likewise ye,"
said our Saviour to his disciples, " Avhen ye shall have
done all those things which are coramanded you, say,
we are unprofitable servants : we have done that
Avhich was our duty to do :" Luke xvii, 10.
But the fact, once clear and awful, is that we are
fallen creatures — that we have lost the moral image
of our Creator — that we are by nature corrupt and
prone to iniquity, and therefore children of wrath.
The golden chain Avhich connected our first parents
with an eternity of happiness, provided for them in
the wondrous love of God, is broken, destroyed, de
molished. Therefore our hopes are solely in Christ
through AA^hom our sins are forgiven, and we ourselves

176 On J ustification and Sanctification.
reconciled unto God. Repentance and amendment,
although the AVork of grace, approved of God, and
absolutely necessary to salvation, can never blot out
the stain of our past sins. Present virtue, the fruit
of that Spirit which is given to us in Christ, can do
no more than fulfil present obligation. Where then
is the child of piety and faith, who is not constrained
to cry out with the publican, " God be merciful to me
a sinner;" and Avhat can the best of men do, but cast
themselves on the infinite resources of the Love of
God, in Christ Jesus our Lord "?
" If any raan sin, we have an advocate Avith the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the pro
pitiation for our sins ; and not for ours only, but for
the sins of the whole world:" 1 John ii, 1, 2. Let a
Roraan Catholic poet tell us the simple truth on this
most iraportant of subjects ; and let all whether Pa
pists or Protestants, rally to that foundation of which
he so emphaticaUy speaks : —
But if there be a power too just and strong
To wink at crimes, and bear unpunished Avrong ;
Look humbly upward, see his will disclose
The forfeit iirst, and then the fine impose;
A mulct thy poverty could never pay,
Had not eternal wisdom found the way,
And with celestial wealth supplied thy store;
His justice makes the fine, his mercy quits the score.
See God descending in thy human frame.
The oiFended suffering in the offender's name.
All thy misdeeds to him imputed see,
And all his righteousness devolved on thee.
Deyden — Religio Laici,
To sum up the Avhole subject in a few sentences, it
is plainly the doctrine of Scripture, that righteousness

On Justification and Sanctification, 177
is imputed to the true believer. Thus Abraham is
declared to be the father of all them that believe, even
araong the Gentile nations, " that righteousness might
be imputed to thera also:" Rom. iv, 11. Again, the
apostle says, respecting Abraham, " Noav it was not
Avritten for his sake alone, that it Avas imputed to him ;
but for us also to whom it shall be imputed, if Ave
believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from
the dead, who was delivered for our offences, and Avas
raised again for our justification:" iv, 23 — 25. In the
following chapter he declares, that "they Avhich receive
abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness,
shall reign in life, by one, Jesus Christ." Now what
is this righteousness which is thus imputed, thus freely
given, to the believer "? If we are to take the Scrip
tures for our guide, we cannot fail to ansAver, It is the
righteousness of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
He is the branch who was to be raised up unto David,
the king Avho was to reign over Israel, whose name
was to be caUed " THE LORD OUR RIGtlTEOUS-
NESS :" Jer. xxiii, 5, 6. " Surely, shall one say, in
the Lord have I righteousness and strength. Tn the
Lord (that is in the divine Saviour) shall all the seed
of Israel he justified and shall glory :" Isa. xiv, 24, 25.^
" Christ Jesus" is " made unto us of God, righteous
ness :" 1 Cor. i, 30. God " hath raade him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin ; that we raight be made the
righteousness of God in Him:" 2 Cor. v, 21.
Not only are true Christian believers saved from the
awful penalty of their sins by his propitiatory death
5 The immediate context of this passage is twice quoted by the
apostle Paul, as applying to the Lord Jesus Christ. N

178 On Justification and Sanctification.
and sacrifice; not only are they delivered, for his sake,
on whom was the " chastisement of our peace," from
the bitter pains of eternal death; but in the free
mercy of God they are placed in possession of an in
disputable title to the joys of a glorious immortality,
in virtue of their union by faith Avith Him, whose
righteousness is, in its own nature, perfect, absolute,
ever-abounding, and infinitely meritorious in the sight
of the Father. That divine righteousness is the cloth
ing of Avrought gold, even of the purest gold of Ophir,
in Avhich the Bride, the Church, is invested : Psalm
xiv, 13 — the "robe of righteousness," wherein she
greatly exults and rejoices: Isa. Ixi, 10 — the best of
all robes, in which the penitent and returning sinner
is mantled by his Father's hand — the garment of sal
vation, the wedding garment, without which Ave can
never be accepted guests at the home of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the everlasting abode of rest and of glory.

" Shall we then continue in sin that grace may
abound"? God forbid. How shall we that are dead
to sin, live any longer therein"?" Rom. vi, 1, 2.
It is the highest praise of Christianity, and its main
distinguishing characteristic, that it is a religion of
holiness — a religion which, by setting in action the
most infiuential motives, leads, with a resistless power,
to the abandonment of every sin, and the practice of
every virtue. The aAvful discovery which it raakes to us
of judgment to come, and of the perfect justice of God,
imbues the true believer with a salutary fear of the
Supreme Being. This fear is ever found to be " a
fountain of life, preserving from the snares of death."

On ./ustification and Sanctification. 179
The blessed prospect of eternal happiness animates
our hope, and this hope quickens our footsteps in the
race of righteousness. We run as those who have
the glorious goal set before us ; reaching forth unto
those things which are before, we press " toward the
mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus." This hope, moreover, sustains our patience,
and strengthens our fortitude; it is an anchor to the
soul, sure and steadfast. Above all, the mercy of God in
Christ Jesus, so paternal, so tender, so infinitely great,
produces love in our own bosoms ; and the heavenly
flame once kindled, is of such a nature, that it Avill
burn with ever-increasing brightness to all eternity.
Love induces, in the Christian believer, a holy decision
of character, an unreserved sacrifice of self, a constancy
of allegiance to the Shepherd of Israel, who bought
us with his own blood. Yet as the mechanical forces
(such as the wedge, the screw, and the lever) cannot
produce their effects unless they are applied with
power, so fear, hope, and love, strong motives as they
are, and capable of being raost beneficially excited
by the great truths of the gospel of Christ, will never
be made to move effectually, or move in the right
direction, unless those truths are accompanied, in their
application to the mind, by the Spirit of God. This
Spirit is itself the grand moving power — the very
spring of life, in the soul, and of all that is lovely, holy,
and heavenly, in the conduct and conversation of the
Christian. The word sanctification may be taken in two senses.
Sometimes it signifies the first dedication of the soul,
as a holy thing, to God, the author of our being. In
N 2

180 On Justification and Sanctification.
this point of view, it must be regarded as simultaneous
with justification, being the immediate result of that
change of heart which is wrought in the Christian
convert by the poAver of God. The sinner Avho comes
with a penitent and believing heart to Christ, deposits
his sins — that intolerable burden— at the Saviour's
feet ; he receives the free pardon of them through the
blood of Jesus, and without a raoraent's hesitation or
delay, renounces thera for ever.
But Avhere is the Christian, Avho truly knows him
self, Avho will not confess that even after this signal
change in his condition, he has a perpetual struggle
to maintain betAveen the flesh and the spirit — that
although sin may no longer have dominion over him,
it sometimes prevails, in word and deed, and especially
in thought and imagination, over his better mind"?
The lingering corruptions of his fallen nature require
raany baptisms under the waves of the " river of God,"
Avhich is " full of Avater," before they can be entirely
purged aAvay, so that nothing may be left — not even
one particle of the polluting mire of this world — to
interrupt his entrance, through the pearl gates, into
the new Jerusalera. It was to a company of Christian
converts, in their character of truly regenerate per
sons, that Paul addressed the Avords, " The very God
of peace sanctify you wholly :" 1 Thess. v, 23. " The
path of the just is as the shining light, which shineth
MORE AND MORE uuto the perfect day:" Prov. iv, 18.
Sanctification, then, in its secondary sense, is that
purifying Avork of the Holy Spirit, by Avhich regenerate
persons are gradually more and more Aveaned from the
world — more and more fitted for that glorious inheri-

On Justification and Sanctification. 181
tance, into which nothing that is impure, nothing that
worketh abomination, nothing that maketh or loveth
a lie, can ever enter. I have heard it remarked by a
wise and learned man, well instructed in the school
of Christ, that in order to enter on this inheritance,
there must be both "a right and a Tightness." Our
right of entrance — the only title which is clear and
indefeasible — is in Christ, our advocate Avith the Father,
and the propitiation for our sins. But there must be
a rightness also ; even that state of purity, without
which we can never be fitted for the society of saints,
and angels, and for the iraraediate presence of the
iraraaculate Lamb.
This rightness, or to adopt another and parallel
vicAV of the case, this ripeness, can be produced in the
dispositions and character of a man, only by the sancti
fying operation of the Holy Spirit of God. He Avho
has begun a good work in us raust " perfect it to the
end," or Ave shall never be presented faultless in Christ,
before the presence of his glory, with exceeding joy.
Sometimes, indeed, the work of regeneration, justifica
tion, and sanctification, are all effected Avithin a very
short period; for Avith God all things are possible.
The exaraple of the poor criminal on the cross, who
first railed on his Lord, and very soon afterAvards Avas
a true believer, and a ncAV creature in Christ, with
heaven imraediately before hira, is sufficient to preclude
despair, even in prolonged cases of sin and rebellion
against God.
But let no raan dare to depend on a death-bed re
pentance ; for according to the ordinary dealings of
DiAine Avisdom and love, the Avork of sanctification

182 On Justificatioji and Sanctification.
and preparation for heaven is very gradual. It is a
matter of spiritual education conducted by a Divine
hand ; and often one of severe discipline. The cross
must be endured by every Avarrior in the army of the
Larab ; Ave raust take it up in faith, hold it fast in
patience, and uplift it, Avith holy magnanimity, as our
standard in battle. "I am crucified with Christ;
nevertheless I live, and the life which I now live in
the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who
loved rae and gave hiraself for rae :" Gal. ii, 20.
Again, "God forbid that I should glory save in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whora the world is
crucified unto me, and I unto the Avorld :" vi, 14.
It was the declaration of the apostle who wrote
these things, when he confirmed the souls of the dis
ciples in many places, that " we must through much
tribulation enter the kingdom : " Acts xiv, 22— a
doctrine Avhich agrees with the fact recorded in the
Apocalypse, that the multitude around the throne of
God, who were clothed in white robes, and held in
their hands the ensigns of victory, had come " out of
great tribulation :" Rev. vii, 14. " Ye shall indeed
drink of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism
that I am baptized with," said our blessed Lord to his
disciples; and no one, as we may believe, has ever
raore largely experienced the truth of this saying than
Paul hiraself. In the first place, he was crucified
Avith Christ, Avhen he died to the laAV, renounced his
self-righteousness, sacrificed his reputation as a Jew
and a Pharisee, and gave in his adherence to that
once lowly and suffering, though noAV risen and
reigning SaA'iour, whom he had before despised and

On Justification and Sanctification. 183
persecuted— when he counted all things loss, and did
esteem them as dung and dross, that he raight Avin
Christ. And, secondly, in consequence of this self-
renunciation, and in connexion with his serAdce in
the gospel, he was himself exposed to mockery,
hatred, and persecution ; he underwent cruel scourg
ings, bonds, and imprisonments ; he fought with Avild
beasts ; hardships by sea and by land, and terrors of
impending death, met him, as it were, at every turn ;
and, finally, he sealed his testiraony to the truth, by
willing submission to a martyr's death. Add to all
these things his anxious care of the churches, his
vast exertions, the buffetings of Satan, his painful
exercises of spirit, the deep conflicts of his soul.
Nothing can be more admirable than the triumph
of a holy faith over all these trials : " We are troubled
on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not
in despair ; persecuted, but not forsaken ; cast down,
but not destroyed ; always bearing about in the
body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also
of Jesus might be made manifest in our body:" 2
Cor. iv, 8—10.
No one can reasonably doubt, that under the grace
of the Holy Spirit, this course of severe discipline
was, to the apostle, a most effective means of sanctifi
cation, and of preparation for a state of perfect purity
and unbounded joy. Thus, when death approached,
he could speak in triumphant language ; " I ara now
ready to be offered, and the tirae of ray departure is
at hand : I have fought a good fight, I have finished
ray course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the

184 On Justification and Sanctification.
Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that
day :" 2 Tim. iv, 6 — 8.
Undoubtedly the case of the apostle Paul Avas in
various respects peculiar, and even singular. But our
Saviour's declaration is absolutely universal : " Who
soever doth not bear his cross and come after rae,
cannot be ray disciple:" Luke xiv, 27. Hoav, then,
is the cross laid on Christians in general "?
In the first place, it remains to be a certain truth
that " all who Avill live godly in Christ Jesus, shall
suffer persecution." The world lying in vAdckedness
is still opposed to vital and decided Christianity; so
that, even in the present day, Avhen a high profession
of religion is more or less fashionable, they AA'ho yield
themselves, without reserve, to those humbling and
searching principles AA'hich our Lord and his apostles
promulgated, Avill find much to endure of contempt
and opposition. Even if the persons theraselves are
respected, their principles are often despised and ridi
culed. But independently of this fact, the cross of
affliction, in this state of probation, is laid on the
foUoAvers of Christ, as Avell as on the rest of mankind.
So far are they from being exempt from the general
law — " man is born to trouble, as the sparks fiy
upAvards" — that Ave often find the most devoted ser
vants of God disciplined, in an extraordinary degree,
in the school of adversity. Nor does the sincere
Christian fail to perceiA'e that his trials of faith and
patience are, for the most part, Avell adapted to his
peculiar dispositions or weaknesses — obviously in
tended as correctives suitable to his need. Thus does
he realize the truth of the declaration, that " Avhom

On Justification and Sanctification, 185
the Lord loveth he chasteneth ; " and that although
"no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous
but grievous ; nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the
peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them Avhich are
exercised thereby:" Heb. xii, 6—11.
A wise writer has declared that " gold is tried in
the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of adver
sity:" Ecclus. ii, 5. "Behold," saith the Lord to
Israel, " I have refined thee, but not with silver ; I
have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction : " Isaiah
xlviii, 10. Sustained by the uplifting arm of omnipo
tence, gifted with patient resignation, and comforted
by the reraembrance of the syrapathies which are in
Christ, the true hearted follower of the Lamb is
sometimes enabled to rejoice in his tribulations ; his
patience works experience of the Lord's tender loving-
kindness, and this experience confirms and animates
his hopes. Thus is he disciplined and educated for
heaven, and taught to look peacefully forAvard to the
quickly coming day of final deliverance and joy.
But far above all, in order to our progress in sanc
tification, there is a cross to be knoAvn, and felt, and
patiently borne within. In the strivings of grace
against nature ; in the secret monitions of the Lord
Jesus Christ dwelling in us by his Spirit, and directed
with undeviating certainty against all things Avhich
are defiled in his sight ; and in a thorough surrender
of the soul to these monitions — there is a cross to be
endured, which mortifies our carnal affections and
lusts, brings us into more and more of conformity to
the death of Christ, and so prepares us to rise Avith
him, into light, and life, and heavenly raindedness.

186 On Justification and Sanctification.
Thus is "our life hid with Christ in God;" and
" when Christ Avho is our life shall appear," we also
" shall appear with hira in glory : " Col. iii, 3, 4.
While, however, a subraission to the cross of Christ
is the necessary preparation for our sitting together
in " heavenly places," in hira, even during the course
of our raortal pdgriraage, it is far indeed from unfit
ting us for our citizenship in the world, and for the
duties which devolve on us, as Christians and as men.
" I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the
Avorld," said our Redeemer, " but that thou shouldest
keep them frora the evil:" John xvii, 15. Yes,
truly ; that laAv of the Lord Avhich is perfect, convert
ing the soul — written as it is in the page of Scrip
ture, and engraven by a raaster-hand of indubitable
authority on the regenerate mind — is an all-pervading
light. It follows the Christian with counsel and
instruction by night and by day, in public and in pri
vate, in sickness and in health ; in the pursuits of
agriculture, coraraerce, literature, and science ; in the
labours of philanthropy, in the services of religion, in
the senate, in the court, on the throne, in the cottage,
in the solitude of the closet, in the fireside circle, in
the vast assembly. It leads to the performance of
every relative duty in the fear and love of God. In
all places, and on all occasions, it bears testimony
to the absolute necessity of abstinence from evil.
Powerfully does it search our words and actions, as
well as our imaginations, motives, and affections.
Unfailingly does it proclaira the language, " cease to
do evil, learn to do well." "Touch not the un
clean THING, and I will receive you ; and will be a

Om Justification and Sanctification. 187
Father to you ; and ye shall be my sons and daughters,
saith the Lord Almighty : " 2 Cor. vi, 17, 18.
The Holy Scriptures promulgate, in a lively and
explicit manner, the general principles of the divine
law, and abound in precepts respecting our relative
duties. Yet in reducing these principles and pre
cepts to daily and hourly action — in applying them to
the endless diversity of occasion and circumstance, to
which we are exposed in life — we stand in need of
the iraraediate and perceptible guidance of the Holy
Spirit. This is a light which, as I believe, shines in
a raeasure, in the consciences of all men ; though
often very faintly, like a smaU candle, in a dark and
extensive cavern — " the light shineth in darkness, and
the darkness coraprehended it not." But to the true
Christian, it is a bright and steady larap which will
never fail hira ; a swift witness against all that is evil
in the sight of God ; a monitor within, which cannot
be silenced ; a guide to righteousness, which never
deceives. " 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 truth, and no lie, and even as it
hath taught you, ye shall abide in him :" 1 John ii, 27.
Nor is it to be forgotten, that in connexion with a
diversity of spiritual gifts, there is an equal diversity
of individual duty, to be performed by the living
members of the church of Christ. The manifestation
of the Spirit is given to every man to profit Avithal —
one is led into one duty, and another into another. In
all such raatters, the obedience oi faith in the church,
and its individual members, ought to adapt itself to

188 On Justification and Sanctification.
the scope and variety of divine administration ; and
the day's work, if we would Avitness the needful pro
gress in sanctification, raust keep pace with the day.
Thus the pure leaven of truth spreads raore and more
in the believing mind, and gradually pervades the
AA'hole inner man — softening, sweetening, and cleans
ing the iraraortal spirit — until it is fully prepared to
burst away frora the shackles of mortality, and to
enter on its ncAv habitation of perfect purity and bliss.
Thus also, through individual faithfulness, that leaven
shall diffuse itself through the church of Christ,
struggling and militant as she is on earth, until the
saying is fulfilled, " The king's daughter is all
GLORIOUS within" — fit for her final coalescence Avith
the " general assembly" of the " spirits of the just
made perfect."
I raake no question, that the view which has now
been taken of sanctification, is, in substance, erabraced
by raany a pious Roman Catholic, as aa'cU as Protes
tant. But how Avidely does it differ from those
notions respecting the cross of Christ, which during a
long night of ignorance and superstition, were palmed
on the Avorld, under the papal and hierarchical system
— notions which are still maintained and acted on to
a A'ast and terrible extent !
In the first place, Avooden or silver images of the
cross (such is the strength of our natural tendency to
idolatry) are, in thousands and tens of thousands of
instances, the AA'orthless substitutes for the all-impor
tant reality, both in its doctrinal character, and in its
practical operation on the heart. They are folded to
many a trembling bosom, and upheld before many a

On Justification and Sanctification. 189
bended knee ; embraced, trusted in, and worshipped,
with a multitude of other worthless relics and figures ;
as if there Avas any life for the soul, any efficacy for
the renovation of the heart, any virtue for the reforma
tion of character, in the works of men's hands, which
speak not, hear not, smell not, taste not — or in the
dead materials with which nature builds !
Yet not less dead for any spiritual or saA'ing pur
pose, are the forced celibacy of the clergy, the
splenetic solitude of hermits, the seclusion and im-
prisonraent of myriads of unmarried females, the
shorn heads, rough garments, and spare living of
friars, the formal and often-repeated fastings, the long
and painful vigils, the iron beds, the hair shirts, the
unpared nails, the voluntary filth and wretchedness,
the long and wearisome pilgrimages, the self-imposed
stripes — which Rome has invented for the mortifica
tion or torture of her votaries, in order to their
iraprovement and perfection in holiness.
" Forbidding to marry" was one of the earliest tokens
of a spirit, which under the guise of a high religious
profession, was utterly opposed to vital and saving
Christianity : 1 Tim. iv, 3. It must be considered,
on scriptural grounds, one of the peculiar character
istics of Antichrist ; and certainly there is no feature
which has more conspicuously raarked the professing
church in her apostacy, than this unrighteous inter
ference with the laAvs of God and nature.
The declaration of Jehovah, immediately before the
creation of woman, that " it is not good for man to be
alone," (Gen. ii, 1 8,) corresponds with that sacred seal
of sanction, which our Lord, in his discourses, im-

190 On Justification and Sanctification.
pressed on the matrimonial covenant, (Matt, xix,
4—6,) and with the apostolic doctrine that "marriage
is honourable in all:" (Heb. xiii, 4.) But as the
church became more and raore overshadowed with
darkness (even in very ancient tiraes) the notion that
celibacy formed an important part of sanctification,
made gradual progress, until it took deep root in the
bosom of popery. Thus it becarae a primary eccle
siastical law, that none of those who minister of holy
things, might have any part in this rich blessing,
which God has bestowed, in his bounty, on the AA^hole
human race.
Vast are the multitudes of men, in the thrift and
vigour of life, Avho have been devoted by this stern
decree of the raother of spiritual fornication, to a con
dition as ranch opposed to their moral welfare, as to
their temporal comfort ; and tens of thousands of
young females ha\'e been dooraed, under the sarae
dark rule, to perpetual celibacy, and incarceration.
What tongue can tell the secret raisery Avhich has
been endured by many an unhappy victim of rash
voAvs, under this iron yoke of despotism "? What pen
can adequately depict the moral and spiritual dark
ness which (under the profession of superior sanctity)
has brooded, from age to age, over the monasteries
and nunneries of perverted and degraded Christendora"?
There can be no question, that in nuraerous in
stances, the several practices now mentioned have
been a raere cover for iniquity ; that under these
disfigured and unsightly appearances, pride, raalice,
and evil concupiscence have very often lurked, and
have revelled abundantly in their day. But even

On Justification and Sanctification. 191
when adopted and adhered to, in all sincerity, they
are at variance with the laws of nature, subversive of
the social harmonies of society, destructive of that
usefulness which every man owes to the fellows of his
race, injurious to the happiness of the church, and
utterly opposed to the diffusive stream of divine
liberality and benevolence.
Persuaded as I ara that this is the native and
uniforra tendency of self-imposed crosses and mortifi
cations, far be it from me to deal superciliously with
any tender conscience. We are not to forget that a
variety of experience in this respect, in matters natu
raUy indifferent, is recognized in Scripture ; and the
great principle is plainly declared, that " Avhatsoever
is not of faith is sin." In the raean time, let not him
that eateth not, judge him that eateth ; and let not
hira that eateth, despise him that eateth not. Rather
than offend a weak brother, Paul was ready to abstain
from meat all his life long ; and circumstances some
times arise when abstinence even from the moderate
use of lawful things, may be required of us, on the
grand principle of Christian love, for the benefit of
those around us, and for the furtherance of the ever
blessed cause of truth and righteousness.
Nevertheless, there is nothing harsh, or unseemly
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in its genuine
practical application. His yoke is easy and his bur
den light. Vital religion to the soul and character of
a man, is what the soul itself is to his body. It per
vades the whole man ; it animates and enlivens every
part of his mental constitution, every part of his
character and conduct. There is no straining, no

192 Conclusion.
awkwardness, no unhealthiness in its operation. All
its effects are in unison with the true order of nature ;
all are embued with the influences of divine love ;
all tend to the Avelfare and comfort of our species,
and (though it may be through much of suffering and
conflict) to the highest enjoyment for ourselves, of
which man is capable. The more unreservedly we
obey the Avill of God, as it is declared in Scripture,
and manifested by his OAvn Spirit, in the secret of the
heart, the more tolerable will be our pains, the more
exquisite our pleasures, the larger the amount of our
happiness even here. " I am the Lord thy God
Avhich teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee in
the way that thou shouldest go. O that thou hadst
hearkened to ray commandments — Then had thy peace
been as a river, and thy righteousness as the Avaves of
the sea."

CONCLUSION.
Two systems of worship, ministry and doctrine, have
now been submitted to the deliberate attention of the
reader. They contain some important features of
truth in common, and experience proves, that under
either system, there may be spiritual life, and there
fore salvation for the soul. Indeed there are not
wanting instances of eminent attainments in grace,
araong the professed adherents of both these systeras ;
so that there has been developed, at times, among
persons belonging respectively to these opposite
classes, a unity of religious feeling and exercise, so
marked and peculiar, as to have become matter of

Conclusion, 193
common observation. The most simple and spiritual
of Christian believers — worshippers of God the most
divested of all dependence upon forms — may find
much to admire, and much to sympathize AAdth, in the
experience and sayings of a Fenelon, a Guion, a
Thomas a Kempis. The Jasenists, who openly pre
ferred evangelical religion to the errors of popery,
form a distinct class of themselves ; and it is probable
there might be more of a mental alienation from
many of those errors, in the individuals noAv men
tioned, than was known or apparent. Something
may also be ascribed to the prevalence of solitude
and silent devotion in the Romish communion, Avhich,
in the midst of abuses, may promote the formation
and growth of the spiritual mind.
But I conceive that these are rare exceptions to the
general rule. While genuine Christianity can never
fad to be productive of spirituality of soul, and of
sound practical fruits, the Papal and Hierarchical
system has produced the opposite effects, precisely in
proportion as it deviates from the religion of the Ncav
Testament. The objectionable features of that systera, as it has
been unfolded from a very early age of the church,
but especially during the last tAvelve centuries, may
be briefly recapitulated as foUoAvs : — -
First, and principally, it rests, to a very great
extent, and in a vast variety of particulars, on the
authority of man. While it acknowledges the divine
origin of the Holy Scriptures, it claims for a priest
hood ordained by man, the sole right of interpreting
their contents ; and it adds to Scripture, as an autho
ritative ground of doctrine and practice, Avritings,
o

194 Conclusion.
both ancient and modern, Avhich Avere not given by
inspiration, together with an undefined and undefin
able mass of oral traditions. Hinc ilia lacryma —
here is the fruitful fountain of other departures from
the truth.
Secondly, this system has not only claimed, from
an early age, the armed protection of states and
princes, but has humbled both under its feet, and has
involved, to an amazing and unparalleled extent, both
the usurpation and abuse of temporal power. That
abuse has been chiefly manifested in the cruel perse
cution of sincere Christians, Avho have not conformed
to the principles of the ruling hierarchy. Myriads of
these have fallen victims, under the tyrannical influ
ence of Rome, to the tortures of the inquisition, the
fires of martyrdora, or the sword of assassination.
Thirdly, the papal hierarchy, with its clergy,
assurae. and exercise a despotic spiritual power over
the subordinate grades of their own class, and over
the Avhole body of the laity, being truly " lords over
God's heritage." I'his poAver is raaintained Avithin
the clerical body itself, by an arrangement purely
military in its forra and action. The Bishop, or
General of the Roraish church, can say with the cen
turion, " I am a raan under authority, having soldiers
under rae, and I say to this man. Go, and he goeth ;
and to another. Come, and he coraeth ; and to ray
servant. Do this, and he doeth it." No liberty of
thought, no dictates of conscience, raay interfere with
this implicit obedience. As to the laity, they are
kept in servile subjection to the priesthood, by means
of confession, absolution, penance, and the sacrifice of
the mass — by the stern and awful fact, that their

Conclusion. 195
viatica to heaven (without a single exception) are
in the hands, or under the key, of their spiritual
guides. The power of the priesthood, in the apostacy, both
temporal and spiritual, has, moreover, been propped,
from age to age, by an incalculable multitude of
" lying wonders ; " raost of them so gross and ridi
culous as to be fit only to cheat the ignorant and
vulgar; others so artfuUy contrived, or so strange
and anomalous, as almost to deceive the very elect;
but taken as a Avhole, (AA'hether we look to the
evidence of their reality, or to their own nature, or
to the character of the system which they are in
tended to support,) as much in contrast with the
miracles of Christianity, as light is with darkness, or
life Avith death.
Fourthly, this system involves the religious adora
tion of Mary, the supposed queen of heaven, and
mother of God, and of a vast multitude of departed
spirits, saints in reality or imagination — thus trench
ing on the sacred prerogative of the true God, as the
only right object of divine worship. This spiritual
fornication, moreover, descends into gross and palpa
ble idolatry, the worship of images of Avood and stone,
gold and silver, and even of the consecrated Avafer.
Further than this— the Avorship of the true God is
defiled, and the Avhole doctrine of probation and
rcAvards, corrupted and confounded, by the invention
of purgatory, and by prayers and raasses for the dead:
not to mention those gaudy trappings, that worldly
splendour, those carnal fascinations, Avhich are AvhoUy
at variance Avith spiritual religion, and Avhich, in
destroying the native simplicity of Christianity, de-
o 2

196 Conclusion.
priA'e it of its Avholesorae infiuence, its sober practical
operation. Fifthly, Avhile it ascribes to the rainisters of religion
the sacerdotal character, it separates them, as a dis
tinct class or tribe, from the Avhole body of believers ;
provides for their ordination by the hands and autho
rity of man ; invests them Avith a Levitical claim on
the produce of the earth; and pretends to supply
them, through an unbroken succession from the
apostles, Avith the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Sixthly, it bids us return headlong to the old cove
nant of Judaism ; imposes on its votaries the yoke of
a multitude of ceremonies ; celebrates some of these
Avith the title of sacraments, as if the outAvard form
did actually and necessarily contain the iuAvard grace ;
and above all, promulgates the doctrine of transub
stantiation. Rorae does not blush to declare that her
priests have the poAver to convert the substances of
bread and Avine into the actual body and blood of
Jesus Christ ; and that these, while the risen Saviour
is glorified in heaven, are corporeally eaten on earth,
and eaten in a thousand different places at the sarae
moment — an amazing fiction, respecting which the
second beast, who has the visage of a lamb and the
voice of a dragon, has often been heard to cry.
Believe it and confess it, or burn !
Lastly, it Aveaves around the souls of raen an inex
tricable web of error ; injects false confidences into
the superstitious mind ; proposes a strange variety of
substitutes for Christ ; and, in undermining the Scrip
ture doctrine of justification by faith, saps the only
true foundation of the Christian's hope of salvation.
With equal rashness and perseverance it substitutes

Conclusion. 197
for that blessed work of the Spirit of God, by Avhich
every living member of the church must be prepared
for heaven, a long series of self-imposed crosses and
human ordinances — beginning with the " Touch not,
taste not, handle not," and going on to seclusion,
celibacy, imprisonment, and self-torture. By these
the feAV are supposed to be sanctified ; while the many
are left without any resource but the performances of
their priests, the merits of their brethren, and the
flaraes of purgatory.
It is delightful to contrast, with this anti-christian
system, the sweet and simple religion of the New
Testament, in its original force and efficacy.
In the first place, Christianity as it is there de
veloped, rests in all its parts on the authority of God,
and absolutely rejects the traditions of men. It up
holds the Holy Scriptures as the one divine record of
doctrines to be believed, and duties to be practised.
From this record (intended as it is for the use of
all mankind) no raan may take away, and to it no man
raay add. It is complete in its own harmony, strength,
and singleness.
Secondly, this holy religion admits of no dependence
for its support, on the arm of fiesh, or on any carnal
Aveapons. While it has a just claim on the princes of
the earth for a fostering influence and Christian ex
ample, it demands not the interference of human laAv,
or the forcible protection of human government. The
true church depends only on her oavu glorious ITead,
who governs her by his Spirit, and rules over the
universe itself for her sake.
Thirdly, it is proposed to the reason and consciences
of all men, and in its application, recognizes only tAvo

198 Conclusion.
parties — Almighty God and the rational responsible
soul. Thus no man living, and no body of raen, can
have any right to interfere Avith the religious convic
tions and practices of others (so long as these do not
interrupt the good order of society) except by the
diffusion of the Truth.
Fourthly, it gives no countenance to the continu
ance, under any forra, of the sacerdotal office ; or to
the setting apart of a distinct class or tribe, as minis
ters of holy things, who have a claim to live on
the temporalities of their brethren, and to exercise
dominion over thera. On the contrary, it leaves to
the people of God, under the supreme rule of Christ
himself, the right of self-government; it salutes all
the living merabers of the church as priests of the
living God ; acknowledges the capacity of all to receive
and use the gifts of the Spirit; and sanctions no
ministry in the churches, but that Avhich flows frora
the free and immediate operations of the Holy Ghost.
Fifthly, it alloAvs not for a moraent, on any plea
Avhatsoever, of any object of religious Avorship, but
Jehovah himself — ^Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; it
utterly rejects all false or subsidiary gods, and all boAv-
ing doAvn to graven images ; it proclaims that God is
a Spirit, and that they Avho Avorship him, must
AVorship him in Spirit and in truth; it annuls the
whole ceremonial system of the JeAvish law ; asks for
no fascinations for the eye or the ear ; enjoins simpli
city, sobriety, and order in all the assemblies of the
saints; and calls for the prostration of souls, before the
raajesty of heaven, in the silence of all flesh.
Sixthly, while it fulfils, and virtually abrogates all
types and shade avs in divine Avorship, it affords no

Conclusion. 199
support whatsoever to the notion, that any external
performance properly or necessarily contains an in
ward grace ; but it forcibly insists on two living and
essential sacraments— ihe washing of regeneration, or
baptism of the Holy Ghost; and a participation
by faith, in the body and blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Saviour of the world.
Lastly, it defines and settles the ground of the
Christian's hope — sole and simple as it is ; even this
— that whosoever believes in the Son of God shall
never perish, but shall have eternal life. It points out
the propitiatory sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross,
as the one appointed means of our reconciliation with
God; and freely offers to every penitent sinner who
comes to Jesus by faith, the spotless robe of his per
fect righteousness. At the same time, it demands the
purification of the soul, frora all the defilements of
the flesh and the world ; it lays upon the Lord's
chddren the cross of Christ, Avhich they raust patiently
bear both in doing and suffering their heavenly
Father's will ; it supplies the perpetual help and
unfailing guidance of the Holy Spirit; it offers
abundant qualification for all the duties which devolve
upon us in the world and in the church ; it commands
an absolute separation from all that is evil in the sight
of God; it proclairas our victory in Christ over all
our spiritual foes ; and finally, in the riches of the
grace of God, it provides for our becoraing fit for the
enjoyment of that perfectly pure inheritance, which
Christ has purchased for us Avith his oavu blood.
BetAveen the tAvo systems which have now been
developed — betAveen the fulness of the authority of
raan, and tbe fulness of the authority of God, in

200 Conclusion.
matters of religion — there is, as I belicA'C, no perma
nent resting-place. Mediums have been tried, in a
variety of forras, and on an extensive scale. But the
sentiraent AA'hich has now been expressed, appears to
be confirmed by the fact, that a large proportion of
the clergy of episcopal churches is, at this very time,
notoriously rushing back into the bosom of popery.
Retrograde movements of the sarae nature (though
different in degree) raay be traced in the decrease of
original siraplicity, and the increase of form and
splendour, in the worship of some of the nonconform
ing bodies. In the mean time, there can be no
doubt, that spiritual religion, in its native vdgour,
is more and raore diffusing itself araong the thousands
and tens of thousands of the Israel of God. With
these, under Avhatsoever narae, and in Avhatsoever
nation they raay be found, the writer of the pages
now about to be concluded, desires to be preserved in
living, heartfelt unity. May the favour of God be
upon his own children and followers all the world
over ! May the Sun of righteousness arise upon them
from day to day, and the dews of heaven rest all
night upon their branches! And finally, may the
law of peace, and purity, and love, Avithout any foul
admixtures, overspread this earth, "as the Avaters
cover the sea ! "

THE END.

NOR-\VICH : printed by JOSIAH I'LETCHER, DPPER HAYMARKET.

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