|
i? |
■ r. < |
|
1 |
®he0ta0i^at Seminary,
No. Case, /t^y^^ No, Shelf,
No. Book, ^,
The John M. Krel^ O&»atioii.
J 077^
^ff2:LX1^M Wiia^lBlEmiFOlfvClE Jl^'S. 11.1?.
TJtD'i
^ (tiran^duiil
/A
I V
'.iM-H^m
n
r
^///> •/////// ^ ^<'^r/ r.. ,Y/r///
i^
A
PRACTICAL VIEW
OF THE
PREVAILING RELIGIOUS SYSTEM
OF
PROFESSED CHKISTIANS,
IN THE HIGHER AND MIDDLE CLASSES,
CONTRASTED ^VITH REAL CMRISTlAMTY*
—7^
BY WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, Esq.
FROM A LATE LONDOX EDtTIO^.
Search ihc Scriptures.— John, 5 : 39.
How charming is divine philosophy! Not harsh and crabbed, as dull tools supposot But musical as is Apollo's lute, And a perpetual feast of nectar'd sweet", Where ao crude surfeit reigiu. — Miltok.
PUBLISHED BY Tim
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY
150 NASSAU-STREET, NETf-YORK.
D. r«nihaw PriRMTk
INTRODUCTION.
The main object which the writer has in view is, not to convince the sceptic, or to an- swer the arguments of persons who avow- edly oppose the fundamental doctrines of our religion ; but to point out the scanty and erroneous system of the bulk of those who belong to the class of orthodox Christians, and to contrast their defective scheme with a re- presentation of what the author apprehends to be real Christianity. Often has it filled him with deep concern to observe in this descrip- tion of persons scarcely any distinct know- ledge of the real nature and principles of the religion which they profess. The subject is of infinite importance ; let it not be driven out of our minds by the bustle or dissipations of life. This present scene, with all its cares and all its gayeties, will soon be rolled away, and
IV INTRODUCTION.
*' we must stand before the judgment-seat of Christ." This awful consideration will prompt the writer to express himself with greater freedom than he should otherwise be disposed to use. This consideration, he trusts, also will justify his frankness, and will secure him a serious and patient perusal.
Let it only be further premised, that if what shall be stated should to any appear needlessly austere and rigid, the writer must lay in his claim not to be condemned without a fair inquiry whether or not his statements accord with the language of the sacred writ- ings. To that test he refers with confidence ; and it must be conceded by those who admit the authority of Scripture, that from the deci* sion of the word of God there can be no appeal.
CHAPTER r.
Inadequate conceptionM of the importance of Christicnitf,
Pag*
Popular notions of ihe importance of Christianity . 13 Scripture account of the same subject . . . .18 Two false maxims exposed 21
1. It signifies little what a man believes — look to his
practice 21
2. Sincerity is all in all 21
CHAPTER II.
Corruption of human nature.
Sect, I. — Inadequate conceptions of the corruption of
human nature 25
True account proved from reason and Scripture . 28
Sect. II.— Evil spirit 39
Natural state of man 40
Christianity affords hope to man in his lost and help- less state 44
Practical importance and uses of the doctrine of hu- man corruption 45
Practical advice respecting it, and its practical uses 46 Sect. III. — Corruption of human nature, — Objection . 47 Objection — That our corruption and weakness, be ing natural to us, will be excused and allowed for, stsiUd and considered 52
6 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.
Chief defects of the religious system of the bulk of professed Christians, in what regards our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. — With a dissertation concerning the use of the passions in religion.
Page
Sect. I. — Inadequate conceptions concerning our Savior
and the Holy Spirit 55
Scripture doctrines 55
Popular notions 57
Language of one who objects against the religious affections towards our Savior — Also against the operations of the Holy Spirit . . . .58
Objections discussed and replied to ... 64 Sect, II. — On the admission of the passions into religion 67
True test and measure of the religious affections . 71
The affections not merely allowable in religion, but highly necessary 75
Christ the just object of our warm affections . . 79 Sect. III. — Considerations of the reasonableness of af- fections towards an invisible Being . . .81
The affections denied to be possible towards an in- visible Being 81
This position discussed and answered . , .81
Special grounds for the religious affections towards our Savior 82
Unreasonable conduct of our objectors in the pre- sent instance 85
Appeal to fact in proof of our former positions . 86 Sect. IV. — Inadequate conceptions entertained by no- minal Christians of the terms of acceptance with God 88
Prevailing fundamental misconception of the scheme and essential principle of the Gospel . . .92
Some practical consequences of this fundamental error 95
CONTENTS. 7
Condemnation of those who abuse the doctrine of
free grace 98
Believing in Christ, what it really implies . . 99 The atonement and grace of Christ pressed as the subject of our habitual regard .... 104
CHAPTER IV.
Oh tht prevailing inadequate conceptions concerning the natvre and
»lrictne$$ of practical Christianity.
Skct. 1. — Strictness of true practical Christianity . 107 Its essential nature opened and stated . .114 Its precepts expressed in broad terms . . .119 Its precepts universal, because resulting from re- lations common to all Christians . . . 120 Strong practical precepts, and other confirmations 123 Extreme importance of these considerations . 124 Sect. II.— General notion of practical Christianity amongst the bulk of nominal Christians stated and illustrated 125
General consequences 127
Appeal to various classes of nominal Christians . 128
The idle and dissipated 130
The votaries of sensual pleasures . . . 131 The votaries of pomp and parade . . . 133 The votaries of wealth and ambition . . . 133
Conclusion from the review — and general fault of all the above classes 136
Effects of the fundamental error on our judgments and practice in the case of others . . . 137
Further effects — Religion degraded mto a set of statutes 139
Another effect — Religion placed in external actions 142
O CONTENTS
Page
Christian tempers not cultivated . . . .143 Most men forget that the Christian's life is a life of faith, and the true Christian's character in this
respect . • 145
Sunday, and hints for its employment . . . 150 Other internal defects noticed .... 153 Sect, III. — On the desire of human estimation and ap- plause. The generally prevailing opinions con- trasted with those of the true Christian . . 156
Universality of the passion 158
The common notions asserted .... 159 The vindication of common notions questioned . 160
Opinions of pagan moralists 161
Scripture lessons stated and illustrated . . . 162 Generally prevailing notions opposed to those of
Scripture 162
Various proofs of the truth of our representations of the opinions on this point of the bulk of nomi- nal Christians 169
Proof from the House of Commons, and from dueling 169 Wherein the guilt of dueling chiefly consists . . 171 Real nature of inordinate love of human estimation 172 The true Christian's conduct in relation to this
principle 175
Parting counsel to those who wish to bring this passion under due regulation .... 185 Sect, IV. — The generally prevailing error, of substitut- ing amiable tempers and useful lives in the place of religion, stated and confuted; with hints to
real Christians 189
Common language on this head .... 189 The worth of amiable tempers estimated by the
standard of unassisted reason .... 191 Many false pretenders to these tempers . . .191
CONTENTS. 9
P«g« Real nature of amiable tempers when not grounded
in religion 192
Their short and precarious duration . . . 193 Worth of useful lives estimated by the standard of
unassisted reason 195
Real worth of amiable tempers and useful lives, when not grounded in religion, estimated on
Christian principles 196
The true Christian really the most amiable and
useful 199
Admonition to true Christians .... 204 Admonition to the naturally sweet-tempered and
active 205
Admonition to the naturally rough and austere . 206 Their just praise given to amiable tempers and use- ful lives 209
Our araiableness of temper and usefulness of life
apt to deceive and mislead us . . . .211 Danger to true Christians from mixing too much
in worldly business 213
Advice to such as suspect that they are growmg
indifferent to religion 212
Exquisite sensibility — School of Rousseau and
Sterne 217
Sect. V. — Some other grand defects in the practical
system of the bulk of nominal Christians . . 218 Inadequate ideas of the guilt and evil of sin . . 219
Inadequate fear of God 221
Inadequate sense of the difficulty of gelling to hea- ven • . 227
Bulk of nominal Christians defective in the love of
God 233
Remarks on theatrical amusements . . . 235 Practical system of nominal Christians defective in what regards the love of their fellow-creatures . 338
10 CONTENTS.
Pag«
True marks of benevolence 239
Sect. VI.— Grand defect— Neglect of the peculiar doc- trines of Christianity — This evil pursued into its
eifects 245
Advice of modern religionists to such as are desi- rous of repenting 248
Advice given by the Holy Scriptures . . . 249 Extreme importance of the point now under discus- sion 250
The true Christian's practical use of the peculiar
doctrines of Christianity 252
Use of the peculiar doctrines in enforcing the im- portance of Christianity 253
Unconditional surrender of ourselves to God . 255
The guilt of sin and the dread of its punishment 256 In promoting the love of God .... 256
In promoting the love of Christ . . . .258 In promoting the love of our fellow-creatures . 258
In promoting humility 260
In promoting a spirit of moderation in early pur- suits, and cheerfulness in suffering . . . 261 In promoting courage and confidence in danger,
and heavenly mindedness .... 263 The place held by the peculiar doctrines of Chris- tianity constitutes the grand distinction between nominal and real Christians .... 266
CHAPTER V.
Om tke excellence of Christianity in certain important particulars. Ar gument which results thence inproof of its divine origin
Consistency between the leading doctrines and practicai precepts of Christianity . ; . . . .268
CONTEXTS. 11
Consistency betv\'een the leading doctrines of Chiisda- nity amongst each other 269
Consistency between the practical precepts amongst each other 269
A higher value set by Christianity on moral than on in- tellectual attainments 274
Excellence of Christianity's practical precepts . . 277
CHAPTER VI.
Brief inquiry into the present state of Christianity in this country, vith (tome of the canses which have led to its critical circumstances. Its importance to uf, as a political community ; and practical hints for Khich the foregoing considerations give occasion.
Preliminary consideration : general tone of moral prac- tice . ' 279
Present state of Christianity among us . " . . . 283
Causes from which the peculiarities of Christianity slide into disuse 285
Christianity reduced to a system of ethics, and a cause assigned which has especially operated in produc- ing this effect 290
Other bad symptoms as to the practical state of Chris- tianity 294
The objection, that the author's system is too strict, and that if it were to prevail the world could not go on, considered and refuted 297
Good effects to us as a political community from the prevalence of vital Christianity .... 300
Christianity not hostile to patriotism .... 302
We must either have vital Christianity or none at all . 310
Political good effects from the revival of Christianity ; and bad ones from its further decline . . . 314
Practical hints for the conduct of men in power in the case of religion 317
12 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
Practical hintg to variova descriptions ofper»on».
Sect. I. — Difference between nominal and real Chris- tians of the first importance . . . .321 Helps in self-examination. Frequent sources of
self-deception pointed out 324
Outgrowing or merely changing our vices mistaken
for forsaking of all sin 326
Uncharitableness and true charity .... 328 Women naturally more disposed to religion than
men 330
Innocent young people — Term much abused . 332
Hints to such as, having been hitherto careless, wish
to become true Christians 336
Base nature of the religion of the bulk of nominal
Christians 343
Falsehood of the objection, that we make religion
a gloomy service 346
Sect. II. — Advice to some who profess their full assent
to thp fundamental doctrines of the Gospel . 359 Sect. III. — Brief observations addressed to sceptics and
unitarians 357
Progress of infidelity 358
Unitarianism a sort of half-way house in the course
to absolute infidelity 363
Advantage possessed by deists and unitarians in
contending with their opponents .... 365 Half unbelievers — their system grossly irrational 367 Sect. IV. — Advice suggested by the state of the times
to true Christians 370
PRUTCBTOU
TH<SfttTEfl!lCSL
TANCE OF CHRISTIANITY.
Popular notions.-^ Serif ture account. — Ignorance in thxs cati criminal.-^ Two false maxims exposed.
Before we consider particular defects in the re- ligious system of the bulk of professed Christians, it may be proper to point out the very inadequate con- ception which they entertain of the importance of Christianity in general, of its peculiar nature, and superior excellence. If we listen to their conversa- tion, virtue is praised, and vice is censured ; piety, perhaps, is applauded, and profaneness condemned. So far is well. But let any one, who would not be deceived by " barren generalities," examine more closely, and he will find, that not to Christianity in particular, but, at best, to religion in general, perhaps to mere morality, their homage is paid. With Chris- tianity, as distinct from these, they are little acquaint- ed : their views of it have been so cursory and su- perficial, that, far from discerning its characteristic essence, they have little more than perceived those 2
14 INADEQUATE CONCEPllONS OF
exterior circumstances which distinguish it from other forms of religion. There are some few facts, and perhaps some leading doctrines and principles, of which they cannot be wholly ignorant ; but of the consequences, and relations, and practical uses of these, they have few ideas, or none at all.
View their plan of life and their ordinary conduct ; and, not to speak at present of general inattention to things of a religious nature, let us ask, wherein can M'e discern the points of discrimination between them and professed unbelievers ? In an age wherein it is confessed and lamented that infidelity abounds, do we observe in them any remarkable care to instruct their children in the principles of the faith which they pro- fess, and to furnish them with arguments for the de- fence of it ? They would blush, on their child's com- ing out into the world, to think him defective in any branch of that knowledge, or of those accomplish- ments which belong to his station in life; accordingly these are cultivated with assiduity. But the study of Christianity has formed no part of his education ; and his attachment to it, where any attachment to it exists at all, is merely the result of his being born in a Christian country. When such is the hereditary religion handed down from generation to generation, it cannot surprise us to observe young men shaken by frivolous objections and profane cavils.
Let us beware before it be too late. No one can say what may be the painful results, at a time when
IMPORTANCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 15
the free and unrestrained intercourse subsisting amongst the several ranks and classes of society, so much favors the general diffusion of the sentiments of the higher orders.
It cannot be expected, that they who are so little attentive to this great object in the education of their children, should be more so in other parts of their conduct, where less strongly stimulated by affection, and less obviously loaded with responsibility. They are of course, therefore, little regardful of the state of Christianity in their own country ; and still more in- aifferent about communicating the light of divine truth to the nations which " sit in darkness."
But religion, it may be replied, is not noisy and ostentatious ; it is modest and private in its nature ; it resides in a man's own bosom, and shuns the ob- servation of the multitude. Be it so.
From this transient and distant view, then, let us approach a little nearer, and listen to the unreserved conversation of their confidential hours. Here, if any where, we may ascertain the true principles of their regards and aversions; the scale by which they measure the good and evil of life. Here, however, you will discover few or no traces of Christianity. She scarcely finds a place amidst the many objects of their hopes and fears, and joys and sorrows. Grateful, perhaps, as well indeed they may be grate- ful, for health, and talents, and affluence, and other blessings, they scarcely reckon in the number this
16 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
grand distinguishing mark of the bounty of Provi- dence ; or if they mention it at all, it is noticed coldly and formally, like one of those obsolete claims to which, though but of small account in the estimate of our wealth or power, we think it as well to put in our title, from considerations of family decorum or of national usage.
Let\heir conversation take a graver turn : here at length their religion, modest and retired as it is, must be expected to disclose itself; here, however, you will look in vain for the religion of Jesus. Their standard of right and wrong is not the stand- ard of the Gospel: they approve and condemn by a different rule ; they advance principles and maintain opinions altogether opposite to the genius and cha- racter of Christianity.
The truth is, their opinions on these subjects are not formed from the perusal of the word of God. The Bible lies unopened ; and they would be wholly ignorant of its contents, except for what they hear occasionally at church, or for some faint traces which their memories may still retain of the lessons of their earliest infancy.
How different, nay, in many respects, how con- tradictory would be the two systems of mere morals, of which the one should be formed from the com- monly received maxims of the Christian world, and the other from the study of the holy Scriptures I
It were a waste of time to multiply arg^raenti m
IMPORTANCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 17
order to prove how criminal the voluntary igno- rance^ of which we have been speaking, must ap- pear in the sight of God. It must be confessed by all who believe that we are accountable, and to such only the writer is addressing himself, that we shall have to answer hereafter to the Almighty for all the means and occasions we have here enjoyed of im- proving ourselves, or of promoting the happiness of others. And if, when summoned to give an account of our stewardship, we shall be called upon to an- swer for the use which we have made of our bodily organs, and of the means of relieving the wants and necessities of our fellow-creatures ; how much more for the exercise of the nobler and more exalted fa- culties of our nature — of invention, and judgment, and memory ; and for our employment of all the in- struments and opportunities of diligent application, and serious reflection, and honest decision ! And to what subject might we in all reason be expected to apply more earnestly, than to that wherein our eter- nal interests are at issue ? When God has of his goodness vouchsafed to grant us such abundant means of instruction in that which we are most con- cerned to know, how great must be the guilt, and how awful the punishment of voluntary ignorance ! And why, it may be asked, are we in this pursuit alone to expect knowledge without inquiry, and success without endeavor ? The whole analogy of nature inculcate* on us a different lesson, and our 2*
18 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
own judgments, in matters of temporal interest and worldly policy, confirm the truth of her suggestions. Bountiful as is the hand of Providence, its gifts are not so bestowed as to seduce us into indolence, but to rouse us to exertion ; and no one expects to attain to the height of learning, or arts, or power, or wealth, without vigorous resolution, and strenuous diligence, and steady perseverance. Yet we expect to be Chris- tians without labor, study, or inquiry. This is the more preposterous, because Christianity, being a revelation from God, and not the invention of man, discovering to us new relations, with their corres- pondent duties ; containing also doctrines, and mo- tives, and practical principles, and rules, peculiar to itself, and almost as new in their nature as supreme in their excellence, we cannot reasonably expect to become proficients in it by the accidental intercour- ses of life, as one might learn, insensibly, the maxims of worldly policy, or a scheme of mere morals.
The diligent perusal of the holy Scriptures would discover to us our past ignorance. We should cease to be deceived by superficial appearances, and to confound the Gospel of Christ with the systems of philosophers ; we should become impressed with that weighty truth, so much forgotten, and never to be too strongly insisted on, that Christianity calls on us, as we value our immortal souls, not merely in general to be religious and moral, but specially to believe the doctrines, and imbibe the principles, and
IMPORTANCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 19
practice the precepts of Christ. It would be to run into too great length, and is quite unnecessary, though not difficult, to confirm this position beyond dispute, by express quotations from Scripture. And it may be sufficient here to remark in general, that Christianity is always represented in Scripture as the grand, the unparalleled instance of God's bounty to mankind. It was graciously held forth in the ori- ginal promise to our first parents ; it was predicted by a long continued series of prophets ; the subject of their prayers, inquiries, and longing expectations. In a world which opposed and persecuted them, it was their source of peace, and hope, and consolation. At length it approached — the desire of all nations — a multitude of the heavenly host hailed its introduc- tion, and proclaimed its character; " Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will towards men." It is every where represented in Scripture by such figures as may most deeply impress on us a sense of its value. It is spoken of as light from darkness, as release from prison, as deliverance from capti- vity, as life from death. " Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation," was the exclamation with which it was welcomed by the pious Simeon ; and it was uni- versally received and professed, among the early con- verts, with thankfulness and joy. At one time, the communication of it is promised as a reward ; at an- other, the loss of it is threatened as a punishment.
20 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
And, short as is the form of prayer taught us by our blessed Savior, the more general extension of the kingdom of Christ constitutes one of its leading pe- titions.
With what exalted conceptions of the importance of Christianity ought we to be filled by such descrip- tions as these ! Yet, in vain have we " line up- on line, and precept upon precept." Thus pre- dicted, thus prayed and longed for, thus announc- ed and characterized and rejoiced in, we scarcely accept this heavenly treasure poured into our lap in rich abundance ! We turn from it coldly, or, at best, possess it negligently, as a thing of no account or estimation. But a due sense of its value would be assuredly impressed on us by the diligent study of the word of God, that blessed repository of divine truth and consolation. Thence it is that we are to learn our obligations and our duty — what we are to believe, and what to practice. And surely, one would think, it could not be required to press men to the perusal of the sacred volume. Reason dictates, reve- lation commands: " Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God " — " Search the Scrip- tures " — " Be ready to give to every one a reason of the hope that is in you." Such are the declarations and injunctions of the inspired writers; injunctions confirmed by the commendations of those who obey the admonition. Yet, is it not undeniable, that, with the Bible in our houses, we are ignorant of its con-
IMPORTANCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 21
tents ; and that hence, in a great measure, it arises, that the bulk of the Christian world know so little, and mistake so greatly, in what regards the religion which they profess ?
This is not the place for inquiring at large, whence it is that those who assent to the position that the Bible is the word of God, and who profess to rest their hopes on the Christian basis, contentedly ac- quiesce in a state of such lamentable ignorance. But it may not be improper here to touch on two kindred opinions, from which, in the minds of the more thoughtful and serious, this acquiescence ap- pears to derive much secret support. The one is, that it signifies little what a man believes ; look to his practice. The other, of the same family, that siw cerity is all in all. Let a man's opinions and con- duct be what they may, yet, provided he be sincerely convinced that they are right, however the exigen- cies of civil society may require him to be dealt with amongst men, in the sight of God he cannot be cri- minal !
It would detain us too long to set forth the vari- ous merits of these favorite positions. The former of them is founded altogether on that grossly falla- cious assumption, that a man's opinions will not m- fluence his practice. The latter proceeds on this groundless supposition, that the Supreme Being has not afforded us sufficient means for discriminating ^ruth from falsehood, right from wrong ; and it im-
22 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
plies, that be a man's opinions ov conduct ever so wild and extravagant, we are to presume that they are as much the result of impartial inquiry and hon- est conviction, as if his sentiments and actions had been strictly conformable to the rules of reason and sobriety. Never, indeed, was there a principle more general in its use, more sovereign in its potency. How does its simplicity also, and brevity, give it rank before the laborious subtleties of Bellarmin ! Clement, and Ravaillac, and other worthies of a simi- lar stamp, from whose purity of intention the world has Jiitherto withheld its due tribute of applause, would here have found a ready plea, and full vindi- cation ! "These, however," it may be replied, "are excepted cases." Certainly they are cases of which any one who maintains the opinion in question would be glad to disencumber himself; because they clearly expose the unsoundness of his principle. But it will be incumbent on such a one, first to explain why they are to be exempted from its operation ; and this he will find an impossible task ; for sincerity in its popular sense, so shamefully is the term misapplied, can be made the criterion of guilt and innocence on no grounds which will not equally serve to justify the assassins who have been instanced. The conclu- sion cannot be eluded ; no man was ever more fully persuaded of the innocence of any action, than these men were, that the horrid deed they w^ere about to perpetrate was not lawful merely, but highly meri*
IMPORTANCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 23
torious. Thus Clement and Ravaillac being un- questionably sincere, they were therefore indubita- bly innocent ! Nay, the absurdity of this principle might be shown to be even greater than what has yet been stated. It would not be going too far to as- sert, that whilst it scorns to defend petty villains, those who still retain the sense of good and evil, it holds forth a secure asylum to those more finished crimi- nals, who, from long habits of wickedness, are lost alike to the perception and the practice of virtue ; and that it selects a seared conscience, and a heart become callous to ail moral distinctions, as the special objects of its care. Nor is it only in profane history that instances like these are to be found, of persons committing the greatest crimes with h sincere conviction of the rectitude of their conduct. Scripture will afford us parallels ; and it was surely to guard us against this very error that our blessed Savior forewarned his disciples : " The time com- eth, that whosoever killeth you will think that ho doeth God service.''
A principle like this must then be abandoned, and the advocates for sincerity must be compelled to ac- knowledge that it must imply honesty of mind, and the faithful use of the means of knowledge and of im- provement, the desire of being instructed, humble inquiry, impartial consideration, and unprejudiced judgment. It is to these we would earne&tly call vou ; to these, ever to be accompanied with fervent
24 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS, &«.
prayers for the Divine blessing, Scripture every where holds forth the most animating promises. •* Ask, and ye shall receive ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. " — " Ho I every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters." Such are the comfortable assurances, such the gra* cious encouragements to the truly sincere inquirer. How deep will be our guilt, if we slight all these merciful offers! How many prophets and king» have desired to hear the things that we hear, and have not heard them ! Great, indeed, are our op* portunities, great also is our responsibility. Let us awaken to a true sense of our situation. We have every consideration to alarm our fears, or to animate our industry. How soon may the brightness of our meridian sun be darkened 1 Or, should the long- suffering of God still continue to us the mercies which we so much abuse, it will only aggravate our crime, and in the end enhance our punishment* The time of reckoning will at length arrive. And when finally summoned to the bar of God, to give an account of our stewardship, what plea can we have to urge in our defence, if we remain willingly and obstinately ignorant of the way which leads to life, with such transcendent means of knowing it, and such urgent motives to its pursuit?
CHAPTER II.
CORRUPTION OF HUMAN NATURE,
SECTION I.
Inadequate conceptions of the corruption of hwruin natnir^.
After considering the defective notions of the importance of Christianity in general, which prevail among the higher orders of the Christian world, the particular misconceptions which first come under our notice, respect the corruption and weakness of human nature. This is a topic on which it is pos- sible that many of those, into whose hands the pre- sent work shall fall, may not have bestowed much attention. The subject is of the deepest import. It lies at the very root of all true religion : and, still more, it is emmently the basis and ground-work of Christianity.
The generality of professed Christians among the
higher classes, either altogether overlook or deny,
or, at least, greatly extenuate the corruption and
weakness here in question. They acknowledge.
3
26 CORRUPTION Off
indeed, that there is, and ever has been in the world, a great portion of vice and wickedness ; that man- kind have been ever prone to sensuality and selfish* ness, in disobedience to the more refined and liberal principles of their nature ; that, in all ages and coun- tries, in public and in private life, innumerable in- stances have been afforded of oppression, of rapacity, of cruelty, of fraud, of envy, and of malice. They own, that it is too often in vain that you inform the understanding and convince the judgment. They admit that you do not thereby reform the hearts of men. Though they know their duty, they will not practice it ; no, not even when you have forced them to acknowledge that the path of virtue is that also of real interest and of solid enjoyment.
These facts are certain ; they cannot be disputed ; and they are at the same time so obvious, that one would have thought that the celebrated apothem of the Grecian sage, •' The majority are wicked," would scarcely have established his claim to intellectual superiority.
But though these effects of human depravity are every where acknowledged and lamented, we must not expect to find them traced to their true origin. Prepare yourself to hear rather of frailty and infir- mity, of petty transgressions, of occasional failings, of sudden surprisals, and of such other qualifying terms as may serve to keep out of view the true source ofthe evil, and, without shocking the understanding.
HUMAN NATURE. 27
may administer consolation to the pride of human nature. The bulk of professed Christians speak of man as of a being who, naturally pure, and inclined to all virtue, is sometimes, almost involuntarily, drawn out of the right course, or is overpowered by the violence of temptation. Vice, with them, is rather an accidental and temporary, than a constitutional and, habitual distemper ; a noxious plant, which, though found to live, and even to thrive in the human mmd, is not the natural growth and production of the soil.
Far different is the humiliating language of Christianity. From it we learn that man is an apostate creature, fallen from his high original, de- graded in his nature, and depraved in his faculties ; indisposed to good, and disposed to evil : prone to vice, it is natural and easy to him ; disinclined to virtue, it is difficult and laborious: that he is tainted with sin, not slightly and superficially, but radically, and to the very core. These are truths which, how- ever mortifying to our pride, one would think (if this very corruption itself did not warp the judg- ment) none would be hardy enough to attempt to controvert. I know not any thing which brings them home so forcibly to my own feelings, as the consideration of what still remains to us of our prim- itive dignity, when contrasted with our present state of moral degradation.
" Into what depth thou seest, " From what height fallen 1"
28 CORRUPTION OF
Examine* first with attention the natural powers and facuhies of man; invention, reason, judgment, memory; a mind "of large discourse," "looking before and after," reviewing the past, and thence de- termining for the present, and anticipating the future ; discerning, collecting, combining, comparing. A mind capable not merely of apprehending, but of admiring the beauty of moral excellence ; with fear and hope to warm and animate : with joy and sor- row to solace and soften : with love to attach, with sympathy to harmonize, with courage to attempt, with patience to endure, and with the power of con- science, that faithful monitor within the breast, to enforce the conclusions of reason, and direct and re- gulate the passions of the soul. Truly we must pro- nounce him " m.ajestic, though in ruin," " Happy, happy world!" would be the exclamation of the inhabitant of some other planet, on being told of a globe like ours, peopled with such creatures as these, and abounding with situations and occasions to call forth the multiplied excellences of their nature.
But we have indulged too long in these delightful speculations ; a sad reverse presents itself on our survey of the actual state of man, when, from view- ing his natural powers, we follow him into practice, and see the uses to which he applies them. Take in the whole of the prospect, view him in every age, and climate, and nation, in every condition and pe- riod of society. Where now do you discover the
HUMAN NATURE. 29
characters of his exalted nature ? •' How is the gold become dim, and the fine gold changed!" How is his reason clouded, his affections perverted, his con- science stupified ! How do anger, and envy, and ha- tred, and revenge, spring up in his wretched bosom ! How is he a slave to the meanest of his appetites ! What fatal propensities does he discover to evil What inaptitude to good !
Dwell awhile on the state of the ancient world ; not merely on that benighted part of it where all lay buried in brutish ignoKince and barbarism, but on the seats of civilized and polished nations, on the empire of taste, and learning, and philosophy : )'et in these chosen regions, with whatever luster the sun of science poured forth its rays, the moral dark- ness was so thick " that it might be felt." Behold their sottish idolatries, their absurd superstitions, their want of natural affection, their brutal excesses, their unfeeling oppression, their savage cruelty ! Look not to the illiterate and the vulgar, but to the learned and refined. Form not your ideas from the conduct of the less restrained and more licentious ; you will turn away with disgust and shame from the allowed and familiar habits of the decent and the moral. St. Paul best states the foots, and furnishes the explanation; "Because they did not like to re- tain God in their knowledge, he gave them over to a reprobate mind."
Now direct your view to anothei quarter, to the 3»
30 CORRUPTION O*
aborigines of a new hemisphere, where the baneful practices and contagious example of the old world had never traveled. Surely, among these children of nature we may expect to find those virtuous ten- dencies for which we have hitherto looked in vain. Alas ! our search will still be fruitless ! They are represented by the historian of America, (whose ac- count is more favorable than those of some other great authorities,) as being a compound of pride, and indolence, and selfishness, and cunning, and cruelty ; fyll of a revenge which nothing could satiate, of a ferocity which nothing could soften ; strangers to the most amiable sensibilities of nature.* They appeared incapable of conjugal affection, or parental fondness, or filial reverence, or social attachments ; uniting, too, with their state of barbarism, many of the vices and weaknesses of polished society. Their horrid treat- ment of captives taken in war, on whose bodies they feasted, after putting them to death by the most cruel tortures, is so well known that we may spare the disgusting recital. No commendable qualities re- lieve this gloomy picture, except fortitude and perse- verance, and zeal for the welfare of their little com- munity, if this last quality, exercised and directed as it was, can be thought deserving of commendation. But you give up the heathen nations as indefensi- ble, and wish rather to form your estimate of man
♦ Reberlsoo, vol. u. pp. 130, 90, 91.
HUMAN NATURE. 31
from a view of countries which have been blessed with the light of revelation. True it is, and with joy let us record the concession, Christianity has set the general tone of morals much higher than it was ever found in the pagan world. She has every where improved the character and multiplied the comforts of society, particularly to the poor and the weak, whom, from the beginning, she professed to take under her special patronage. Like her Divine Author, '• who sends his rain on the evil and on the good," she showers down unnumbered blessings on thousands who profit from her bounty, while they forget or deny her power, and set at naught her au- thority. Yet, even in this more favored situation,we shall discover too many lamentable proofs of the depravity of man. Nay, this depravity will now become even more apparent and less deniable. For what bars does it not now overleap? Over what motives is it not now victorious ? Consider well the superior light and advantages which we enjoy, and then appreciate the superior obligations which are imposed on us. Consider in how many cases our evil propensities are now kept from breaking forth, by the superior restraints under which vice is laid among us by positive laws, and by the amended standard of public opinion. Consider, then, the supe- rior excellence of our moral code, the new principles of obedience furnished by the Gospel; and above all, the awful sanction which the dectrines and precepts
dxi CORRUPTION OF
of Christianity derive from the clear discovery of a future state of retribution, and from the annunciation of that tremendous day " when we shall stand be- fore the judgment-seat of Christ." Yet, in spite of all our knowledge, thus enforced and pressed home by this solemn notice, how little has been our pro- gress in virtue ! It has been by no means such as to prevent the adoption, in our days, of various max- ims of antiquity, which, when well considered, clearly establish the depravity of man. It may not be amiss to adduce a few instances in proof of this assertion. It is now no less acknowledged than heretofore, that prosperity hardens the heart ; that unlimited power is ever abused, instead of being rendered the instru- ment of diffusing happiness ; that habits of vice grow up of themselves, whilst those of virtue, if to be ob- tained at all, are of slow and difficult formation ; that those who draw the finest pictures of virtue, and seem most enamored of her charms, are often the least under her influence, and by the merest trifles are drawn aside from that line of conduct which they most strongly and seriously recommend to others; that all this takes place, though most of the pleasures of vice are to be found with less alloy in the paths of virtue ; whilst at the same time these paths afford superior and more exquisite delights, peculiar to themselves, and are free from the diseases and bitter remorse, at the price of which vicious gratifications are so often purchased.
HUMAN NATURE. 33
It may suffice to touch very slightly on some other arguments ; one of these (the justice of which, how- ever denied by superficial moralists, parents of strict principles can abundantly testify,) may be drawn from the perverse and fro ward dispositions perceiv- able in children, which it is the business and some- times the ineffectual attempt of education to reform. Another may be drawn from the various deceits we are apt to practice on ourselves, to which no one can be a stranger who has ever contemplated the opera- tions of his own mind with serious attention. To the influence of this species of corruption it has been in a great degree owing that Christianity itself has been too often disgraced. It has been turned into an engine of cruelty, and, amidst the bitterness of persecution, every trace has disappeared of the mild and beneficent spirit of the religion of Jesus. In what degree must the taint have worked itself into the frame, and have corrupted the habit, when the most wholesome nutriment can be thus converted into the deadliest poison ! Wishing always to argue from such premises as are not only really sound, but from such as cannot even be questioned by those to whom this work is addressed, little was said in representing the deplorable state of the heathen world, respecting their defective and unworthy conceptions in what regards the Supreme Being, who even then, how- ever, " left not himself without witness, but gave th«m rain and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts
84 CORRUPTION OF
with food and gladness." But surely to any who call themselves Christians, it may be justly urged as an astonishing instance of human depravity, that we ourselves, who enjoy the full light of revelation; to whom God has vouchsafed such clear discoveries of what it concerns us to know of his being and attributes ; who profess to believe " that in him we live, and move, and have our being ;" that to him we owe all the comforts we here enjoy, and the offer of eternal glory, purchased for us by the atoning blood of his own Son ; " thanks be to God for his unspeak- able gift;" that we, thus loaded with mercies, should, every one of us, be continually chargeable with forgetting his authority, and being ungrateful for his benefits : with slighting his gracious pro- posals, or receiving them, at best, but heartlessly and coldly.
But to put the question concerning the natural depravity of man to the severest test ; take the best of the human species, the watchful, diligent, self-de- nying Christian, and let him decide the controversy ; and that, not by inferences drawn from the practices of a thoughtless and dissolute world, but by an ap- peal to his personal experience. Go with him into his closet, ask him his opinion of the corruption of the heart, and he will tell you that he is deeply sen- sible of its power, for that he has learned it from much self-observation, and long acquaintance with the workings of his own mind. He will tell you,
HUMAN NATrRS. 86
that every day strengthens this conviction ; yea, that hourly he sees fresh reason to deplore his want of simplicity in intention, his infirmity of purpose, his low views, his selfish unworthy desires, his back- wardness to set about his duty, his languor and cold- ness in performing it : that he finds himself obliged continually to confess that he feels within him two opposite principles, and that " he cannot do the things that he would." He cries out, in the language of the excellent Hooker, " The little fruit which we have in holiness, it is, God knoweth, corrupt and unsound : we put no confidence at all in it, we challenge no- thing in the world for it, we dare not call God to reck- oning, as if we had him in our debt books ; our con- tinual suit to him is, and must be, to bear with our infirmities, and pardon our offences."
Such is the moral historj', such the condition of man. The figures of the piece may vary, and the coloring is sometimes of a darker, sometimes of a lighter hue ; but the principles of the composition, ihe grand outlines, are every where the same. Wherever we direct our view, we discover the me- lancholy proofs of our depravity ; whether we look to ancient or modern times, to barbarous or civilized nations, to the conduct of the world around us, or to the monitor within the breast ; whether we read, or hear, or act, or think, or feel, the same humiliating Jesson is forced upon us.
Now when we look back to the picture which was
36 CORRUPTION Of
formerly drawn of the natural powers of man, and compare this, his actual state, with that for which, from a consideration of those powers, he seems to have been originally calculated, how are we to ac- count for the astonishing contrast ? Will frailty, or infirmity, or occasional lapses, or sudden surprisals, or any such qualifying terms, convey an adequate idea of the nature, or point out the cause of the dis- temper ? Hov/ can we account for it, hut by conceiv- ing that man, since he came out of the hands of his Creator, has contracted a taint, and that this subtle poison has been communicated throughout the race of Adam, every where exhibiting incontestable marks of its fatal malignity ? Hence it has arisen, that the appetites deriving new strength, and the powers of reason and conscience being weakened, the latter have feebly and impotently pleaded against those forbidden indulgences which the former have soli- cited. Sensual gratifications and illicit affections have debased our nobler powers, and indisposed our hearts to the discovery of God, and to the conside- ration of his perfections ; to a constant, Avilling sub- mission to his authority, and obedience to his laws. By a repetition of vicious acts, evil habits have heen. formed within us, and have riveted the fetters of sin. Left to the consequences of our own folly, the under- standing has grown darker, and the heart more ob- durate ; reason has at length altogether betrayed her trust, and even conscience herself has aided the
HUMAN NATURE. 37
delusion, till, instead of deploring our miserable slavery, we have too often hugged, and even gloried in our chains.
Such is the general account of the progress of vice, where it is suffered to attain to its full growth in the human heart. The circumstances of indi- viduals will be found indeed to differ, but none are ahogether free ; all, without exception, in a greater or less degree, bear about them, more visible or more concealed, the ignominious marks of their captivity.
Such, on a full and fair investigation, must be confessed to be the state of facts ; and how can this be accounted for on any other supposition, than that of some original taint, some radical principle of cor- ruption? All other solutions are unsatisfactory, whilst the potent cause which has been assigned does abundantly, and can alone sufficiently account for the effect. Thus, then, it appears that the cor- ruption of human nature is proved by the same mode of reasoning as has been deemed conclusive in es- tablishing the existence, and ascertaining the laws of the principle of gravitation ; that the doctrine rests on the same solid basis as the sublime philosophy of Newton ; that it is not a mere speculation, and therefore an uncertain, though perhaps an ingenious theory, but the sure result of a large and actual ex- periment, deduced from incontestable facts, and still more fully approving its truth, by harmonizing with the several parts, and accounting for the various phe- 4
38 CORRUPTION OF
nomena, jarring otherwise and inexplicable, of tho great system of the universe.
Revelation, however, here comes in, and sustains the fallible conjectures of our unassisted reason. The holy Scriptures speak of us as fallen creatures ; in almost every page we shall find something that is calculated to abate the loftiness and silence the pre- tensions of man. " The imagination of man's heart is evil, from his youth." "What is man, that he should be clean ? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?" Job, 15: 14. ''How much more abominable and filthy is man, w^hich drinketh iniquity like water!" Job, 15: 16. "The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside ; they are altogether become filthy ; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." Ps. 14 : 2, 3. "Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sinC^" l^rov. 20 : 9. " The heart is deceitful above all things, nud desperately wicked: who can know it?" "Be- hold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me " " We were by nature the chil- dren of wrath, even as others, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind." " O wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Passages might be multiplied upon pas- sages, which speak the same language, and these again might be illustrated and confirmed at large by
HUMAN NATURE. 39
various other considerations, drawn from the same sacrea source: such as those which represent a thorough change, a renovation of our nature, as be- ing necessary to our becoming true Christians ; or as those, also, which are suggested by observing that holy men refer their good dispositions and af- fections to the immediate agency of the Supreme Being.
SECTION II.
Evil spirit. — Natural state of man.
In addition to all which has been yet stated, the word of God instructs us, that we have to contend not only with our own natural depravity, but with the power of darkness, the evil spirit, who rules in the hearts of the wicked, and whose dominion, we learn from Scripture, is so general, as to entitle him to the denomination of " the prince of this world." There cannot be a stronger proof of the difference ^vhich exists between the religious system of the Scriptures, and that of the bulk of nominal Chris- tians, than the proof Avhich is afforded by the subject now in question. The existence and agency of the evil spirit, though so distinctly and repeatedly af- firmed in Scripture, are regarded by many as a pre- judice, which it w^ould now be a discredit to any man of understanding to believe. But to be consistent with ourselves, we might, on the same principle, deny the
40 CORRUPTION OF
reality of all other incorporeal beings. What is there, in truth, in the doctrine, which is in itself im- probable, or which is not confirmed by analogy ? We see, in fact, that there are wicked men, enemies to God, and malignant towards their fellow-creatures, who take pleasure, and often succeed, in drawing in others to the commission of evil. Why then should it be deemed incredible that there may be one or more spiritual intelligences of similar natures and propensities, who may, in like manner, be permitted to tempt men to the practice of sin ? Surely we may retort upon our opponents the charge of absurdity, and justly accuse them of gross inconsistency, in admitting, without difficulty, the existence and ope- ration of these qualities in a material being, and yet denying them in an immaterial one, in direct con- tradiction to the authority of Scripture, which they allow to be conclusive, when they cannot, and will not pretend, for a moment, that there is any thing be- longing to the nature of matter, to which these quali- ties naturally adhere.
But to dilate no farther on a topic which, however it may excite the ridicule of the inconsiderate, will suggest matter of serious apprehension to all who form their opinions on the authority of the word of God ; thus brought as we are into captivity, and ex- posed to danger ; depraved and weakened within, and tempted from without ; it might well fill our hearts with anxiety to reflect, that the day will come,
HUMAN NATURE. 41
when " the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat ;" *' when the dead, small and great, shall stand before" the tribunal of *' God," and we shall have to give account of all things done in the body. We are na- turally prompted to turn over the page of revelation with solicitude, in order to discover the qualities and character o*f our Judge, and the probable principles of his determination ; but this only serves to turn painful apprehension into fixed and certain terror. First, of the qualities of our Judge. As all nature bears witness to his irresistible power, so we read in Scripture, that nothing can escape his observation, or elude his discovery; not our actions only, but our most secret cogitations are open to his view. " He is about our path and about our bed, and spieth out all our ways," Psalm 139 : 3. " The Lord search eth all hearts, and understandeth all the imagina- tions of the thoughts," 1 Chron. 28 : 9. " And he* will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make inanifest the counsels of the heart." Now, hear his description and character, and the rule of his award : " The Lord our God is a con- suming file, even a jealous God." *' He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity." " The soul that sin- neth, it shall die." " The wages of sin is death." These positive declarations are enforced by the ac- counts which, for our warning, we read in sacred history, of the terrible vengeance of the Almighty j 4*
42 CORRUPTION OF
his punishment of •' the angels who kept not their first estate, and whom he hath reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day:" the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah; the sentence issued against the idolatrous nations of Canaan, and of which the execution was assigned to the Israelites, by the express commant^ of God, at their own peril, in case of disobedience*: the ruin of Babylon, and of Tyre, and of Nineveh, and of Jeru- salem, prophetically denounced as the punishment of their crimes, and taking place in an exact and terrible accordance with the Divine predictions. These are, indeed, matters of awful perusal, suffi- cient, surely, to confound the fallacious confidence of any who, on the ground that our Creator must be aware of our natural weakness, and must be of course disposed to allow for it, should allege that, though unable, indeed, to justify ourselves in the sight of God, we need not give way to such gloomy appre- hensions, but might throw ourselves, with assured hope, on the infinite benevolence of the Supreme Being. It is indeed true, that with the threatenings of the word of God there are mixed many gracious declarations of pardon, on repentance and thorough amendment. But, alas! who of us is there, whose conscience must not reproach him with having tri- fled with the long-suffering of God, and with having but ill kept the resolutions of amendment which he had some lime or other formed in the seasons of re
HUMAN NATURE. 43
collection and remorse ? And how is the disquietude naturally excited by such a retrospect, confirmed and heightened by passages like these ! " Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded ; but ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my re- proof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear Cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind ; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer ; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me : for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord." Prov. 1 : 24-29. The apprehensions which must be excited by thus read- ing the recorded judgments and awful language of Scripture, are confirmed to the inquisitive and at- tentive mind, by a close observation of the moral constitution of the world. Such a one will find oc- casion to remark, that all which has been suggested of the final consequences of vice, is in strict analogy to what we may observe in the ordinary course, of human affairs, wherein God has established such an order of causes and effects as loudly proclaims the principles of his moral government, and strongly suggests that vice and imprudence will finally ter- minate in misery, however interrupted here below, by hinderances and obstructions apparently of a tern*
44 CORRUPTION OF
porary nature.* Not that this species of proof was wanted ; for that which we must acknowledge, on weighing the evidence, to be a revelation from God, requires not the aid of such a confirmation : but yet, as this accordance might be expected between the words and the w^orks, the past and the future ordi- nations of the same Almighty Being, it is no idle speculation to remark, that the visible constitution of things in the world around us falls in with the representations here given from Scripture, of the dreadful consequences of vice, nay, even of what' is commonly termed inconsideratenessand imprudence. If such then be indeed our sad condition, what is to be done ? Is there no hope ? nothing left for us " but a fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery in- dignation, which shall devour the adversaries ?" Heb. 10 : 27. Blessed be God ! we are not shut up irrecoverably in this sad condition : " Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope ; " hear one who proclaims his designation, " to heal the broken- hearted, to preach liberty to the captives, and reco- vering of sight to the blind. " Those who have formed a true notion of their lost and helpless state, will most gladly listen to the sound, and most justly estimate the value of such a deliverance. And this is the cause, which renders it of such pressing mo- ment not to pass cursorily over those important tc
♦ Vide Butler's Analogy.
HUMAN NATURE. 45
pics of the original and superinduced corruption and weakness of man ; a discussion painful and humili- ating to the pride of human nature, to which the mind lends itself with difficulty, and hearkens with a mixture of anger and disgust ; but well suited to our case, and, like the distasteful lessons of adversi- ty, permanently useful in its consequences. It is here, never let it be forgotten, that our foundation must be laid ; otherwise our superstructure, what- ever we may think of it, will one day or other prove tottering and insecure. This is therefore no meta- physical speculation, but a practical matter. Slight and superficial conceptions of our state of natural degradation, and of our insufficiency to recover from it of ourselves, fall in too well with our natural in- considerateness, and produce that fatal insensibility to the Divine warning to " flee from the wrath to come," which we cannot but observe to prevail so generally. Having no due sense of the malignity of our disease, and of its dreadful issue, we do not set ourselves to work in earnest to obtain the remedy as to a business, arduous indeed, but indispensable : for it must ever be carefully remembered, that this deliverance is not forced on us, but offered to us ; w^e ure furnished, indeed, with every help, and are always to bear in mind that we are unable, of ourselves, to will or to do rightly ; but we are plainly admonished to '• work out our own salvation with fear and trem- bling." Philippians, 2: 12. Watchful, for we are
46 CORRUPTION or
encorapassed with dangers ; " putting on the whole armor of God," for " we are beset with enemies."
May we be enabled to shake off that lethargy which is so apt to creep upon us ! For this end, a deep practical conviction of our natural depravity and weakness will be found of eminent advantage. As it is by this we must at first be roused from our fallacious security, so by this we must be kept wake- ful and active unto the end. Let us therefore make it our business to have this doctrine firmly seated in our understandings, and radically worked into our hearts. With a view to the former of these ob- jects, we should often seriously and attentively con- sider the firm ground on which it rests. It is plain- ly made known to us by the light of nature, and ir- resistibly enforced on us by the dictates of our un- derstandings. But, lest there should be any so obstinately dull as not to discern the force of the evidence suggested to our reason and confirmed by all experience, or rather so heedless as not to notice it, the authoritative stamp of revelation is superad ded, to complete the proof; and we must therefore be altogether inexcusable, if we still remain un- convinced by such an accumulated mass of argu- ment.
But we must not only assent to the doctrine clear- ly, but feel it strongly. To this end, let us accus- tom ourselves to refer to our natural depravity, as to their primary cause, the sad instances of vice and
HUMAN NATURE. 47
folly of which we read, or which we see around us, or to which we feel the propensities in our own hosoms ; ever vigilant and distrustful of ourselves, and looking with an eye of kindness and pity on the faults and infirmities of others, whom we should learn to regard with the same tender concern as that with which the sick are used to sympathize with those who are suffering under the same dis- temper as themselves. This lesson once well ac- quired, we shall feel the benefit of it in all our future progress ; and though it be a lesson which we are slow to learn, it is one in which study and experi- ence, the incidents of every day, and every fresh ob- servation of the workings of our own hearts, will gradually concur to perfect us. Let it not, after all, then, be our reproach, and at length our ruin, that these abundant means of instruction are possessed in vain.
SECTION III.
Corruption of human nature. — Objection,
But there is one difficulty still behind, more for- midable than all the rest. The pride of man is loth to be humbled. Forced to abandon the plea of in- nocAice, and pressed so closely that he can no long- er escape from the conclusion to which we would drive him, some more bold objector, endeavoring to justify what he cannot deny, " Whatever I am," he
48 CORRUPTION OP
contends, " I am what my Creator made me. If this plea cannot establish my innocence, it must excuse, or at least extenuate my guilt. Frail and weak as I am, a Being of infinite justice and goodness will never try me by a rule which, however equitable in the case of creatures of a higher nature, is alto- gether disproportionate to mine."
Let not my readers be alarmed ! The writer is not going to enter into the discussion of the grand question concerning the origin of moral evil, or to attempt at large to reconcile its existence, and con- sequent punishment, with the acknowledged attri- butes and perfections of God. These are questions, of which, if one may judge from the little success with which the acUtest and profoundest reasoners have been ever laboring to solve the difficulties they contain, the full and clear comprehension is above the intellect of man. Yet, as such an objection as that which has been stated is sometimes heard from the mouths of professed Christians, it must not be passed by without a few short observations.
Were the language in question to be addressed to us by an avowed sceptic, though it might not be very difficult to expose to him the futility of his rea- sonings, we should almost despair of satisfying him of the soundness of our own. We should perha?[)S suggest impossibilities, which might stand in the way of such a system as he would establish; we might, indeed, point out wherein (arguing from con-
HTMAN' NATURE. 49
cessions which he would freely make) his precon- ceptions concerning the conduct of the Supreme Be- ing had been, in fact, already contradicted, particu- larly by the existence at all of natural or moral evil ; and if thus proved erroneous in one instance, why might they not be so likewise in another? But though, by these and similar arguments, we might at length silence our objector, we could not much ex- pect to bring him over to our opinions. We should probably do better, if we were to endeavor rather to draw him off from these dark and slippery regions, and to contend with him on sure ground, and in tho light of day. Then we might fairly lay before him all the various arguments for the truth of our holy religion ; arguments which have been sufficient to satisfy the wisest, and the best, and the ablest of men. We should afterwards, perhaps, insist on the abun- dant confirmation Christianity receives from its being exactly suited to the nature and wants of man ; and we might conclude with fairly putting it to him, whether all this weight of evidence were to be over- balanced by this one difficulty, on a subject so con- fessedly high and mysterious, considering that we see but a part (O how small a part !) of the universal creation of God, and that our faculties are wholly incompetent to judge of the schemes of his infinite wisdom. This seems, at least in general, the best mode, in the case of the objection now in question, of dealing with unbelievers. To adopt the contrary
50 CORRUPTION OF
plan, seems somewhat like that of any oneAvho, hav- ing to convince some untutored Indian of the truth of the Copernican system, instead of beginning with plain and simple propositions, and leading him on to what is more abstruse and remote, should state to him, at the outset, some astonishing problems, to which the understanding can only yield its slow as- sent, when constrained by the decisive force of de- monstration. The novice, instead of lending him- self to such a mistaken method of instruction, would turn away in disgust, and be only hardened against his preceptor. But it must be remembered that the present work is addressed to those who acknowledge the authority of the holy Scriptures. And in order to convince all such that there is a fallacy in our objector's reasoning, it will be sufficient to establish, that though the word of God clearly asserts the jus- lice and goodness of the Supreme Being, and also the natural depravity of man, yet it no less clearly lays down, that this natural depravity shall never be admitted as an excuse for sin, but that " they which have done evil, shall rise to the resurrection of dam- uation,'* John, 5:29; ''That the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God." Psa. 9:17. And it is worthy of remark, that, as if for the very purpose of more effectually silencing those unbelieving doubts which are ever springing up in the human heart, our blessed Savior, though the messenger of peace and good will to man, has
HUMAN NATURE. 51
ag-ain aiid again repeated these awful denunciations.
Nor, it must also be remarked, are the holy Scrip- tures less clear and full in guarding us against sup- posing our sins, or the dreadful consequences of them, to be chargeable on God. " Let no man say, when he is tempted, I am tempted of God : for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." James, 1 : 13. "The Lord is not willing that any should perish." 3 Peter, 3 : 9. And again, where the idea is repelled as injurious to his character ; " Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die ? saith the Lord God ; and not that he should return from his w^ays and live?" Ezek. 18:23. " For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God." Ezek. 18 : 32.' Indeed, almost every page of the word of God contains some warning or invitation to sinners ; and all these, to a considerate mind, must unquestionably be proofs of our present position. .
It has been the more necessary not to leave unno- ticed the objection which we have been now refuting, because, when not avowed in the daring language in which it has been above stated, it may frequently be observed in an inferior degree; and often, when not distinctly formed into shape, it lurks in secret, dif- fusing a general cloud of doubt or unbelief, or low- ering our standard of right, or w^hispering fallacious comfort, and producing a ruinous tranquillity. Let us here remark, that though the holy Scriptures so
52 COPwRUPTION OF
clearly state the natural corruption and weakness of man, they, throughout, directly oppose the supposi- tion that this corruption and weakness will be ad- mitted as lowering the demands of divine justice, and in some sort palliating our transgressions of the jaws of God. Such a notion is at war with the whole scheme of redemption by the atonement of Christ. But perhaps it may be enough, when any such suo-o-estions, as those which we are condemn- ing, force themselves into the imagination of a Chris- tian, to recommend it to him to silence them by what is their best practical answer : that if our na- tural condition be depraved and weak, our tempta- tions numerous, and our Almighty Judge infinitely holy ; yet that the offers to penitent sinners of par- don, and grace, and strength, are universal and un- limited. Let it not however surprise us, if in all this there seem to be involved difficulties which we cannot fully comprehend. How many such every where present themselves ! Scarcely is there an ob- ject around us that does not afford endless matter of doubt and argument. The meanest reptile which crawls on the earth, nay, every herb and flower which we behold, baffles the imbecility of our limit- ed inquiries. All nature calls upon us to be hum- ble. Can it then be surprising if we are at a loss on this question, which respects not the properties of matter, or of numbers, but the counsels and ways of Him whose " understanding is infinite," Psalm
HUMAN NATURE. 53
147 : 5. " Whose judgments are declared to be un- searchable, and his ways past finding out ?" Rom. 11:33. In this our ignorance, however, we may calmly repose ourselves on his own declaration, that though "clouds and darkness are round about him," yet " righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne." Psalm 97 : 2. Let it also be remem- bered, that if in Christianity some things are difficult, that which it most concerns us to know, is plain and obvious. To this it is true wisdom to attach our- selves, assenting to what is revealed where above our faculties, (we do not say contradictory to them,) on the credit of what is clearly discerned and satis- factorily established. In truth, we are all perhaps too apt to plunge into depths which it is beyond our power to fathom ; and it was to warn us against this very error, that the inspired writer, when he has been threatening the people, whom God had selected as the objects of his special favor, with the most dreadful punishments, if they should forsake the law of the Lord, and has introduced surrounding nations as asking the meaning of the severe infliction, winds up the whole with this instructive admonition : •' Se- cret things belong unto the Lord our God ; but those which are revealed belong unto us and to our chil- dren for ever, that we may do all the words of this law." Deut. 29:29.
To any one who is seriously impressed with a sense of the critical state in which we are here 5*
54 CORRUPTION OF HUMAN NATURE.
placed, it is indeed an awful and an affecting specta- cle, to see men thus busying themselves in these vain speculations of arrogant curiosity, and trifling with their dearest, their everlasting interests. It is but' a feeble illustration of this exquisite folly, to compare it to the conduct of some convicted rebel, who, when brought into the presence of his sovereign, instead of seizing the occasion to sue for mercy, should even neglect and trifle with the pardon which should be ofTered to him, and insolently employ himself in pry- ing into his sovereign's designs and criticising his counsels. Our case, indeed, is, in another point of comparison, but too much like that of the convicted rebel. But there is this grand difference — that, at the best, his success must be uncertain ; ours, if it be not our own fault, is sure : and while, on the one hand, our guilt is unspeakably greater than that of 'duy rebel against an earthly monarch ; so, on the other, we know that our Sovereign is " long-suffer- ing, and easy to be entreated ;" more ready to grant, than we to ask forgiveness.
CHAPTER III.
CHIEF DEFECTS OF THE RELIGIOUS SYSTEM OF THE BULK OF PROFESSED CHRISTIANS, IN WHAT REGARDS OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT WITH A DISSERTATION CONCERN- ING THE USE OF THE PASSIONS IN RELIGION.
SECTION I.
Inadequate conceptions concerning ou/r Savior and the Holy Spiri'.
That God so loved the world, as of his tender mercy to give his only Son Jesus Christ for our redemption :
That our blessed Lord willingly left the glory of the Father, and was made man:
That " he was despised and rejected of men ; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:"
That " he was wounded for our transgressions ;" and " was bruised for our iniquities :"
That " the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all ;"
That at length he humbled himself even to the death of the cross, for us, miserable sinners; to the
56 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF OUR
end that all who, with heart)^ repentance and true faith should come to him, might not perish, but have everlasting life :
That he is now at the right hand of God, making intercession for his people :
That, " being reconciled to God by the death of his Son, we may come boldly unto the throne o\ grace, to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need :"
That our heavenly Father " will surely give hiy Holy Spirit to them that ask him :"
That "the Spirit of God must dwell in us :" and that *' if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his :"
That by this Divine influence " we are to be re- newed in knowledge after the image of Him who created us," and "to be filled with the fruits of righteousness, to the praise of the glory of his grace ;" that, •' being thus made meet for the in- heritance of the saints in light," we shall sleep in the Lord ; and that, when the last trumpet shall sound, this corruption shall put on incorruption ; and that, being at length perfected after his likeness, we shall be admitted into his heavenly kingdom : —
These are the leading doctrines concerning our Savior, and the Holy Spirit, which are taught in the holy Scriptures, and held by the church of England. The truth of them, agreeably to our general plan, will be taken for granted. Few of those who have
SAVIOR AND UOLY SPIRIT. 67
been used to join in the established form of worship, can have been, it is hoped, so inattentive as to be ignorant of these grand truths, which are to be found everj'- where dispersed throughout our excellent liturgy. AVould to God it could be presumed, with equal confidence, that all who assent to them in terms, discern their force and excellency in the un- derstanding, and feel their power in the affections, and their transforming influence in the heart ! What lively emotions are they calculated to excite in us, of deep self-abasement, and abhorrence of our sins ; and of humble hope, and firm faith, and heavenly joy, and ardent love, and active unceasing gratitude !
But here, it is to be feared, will be found the grand defect of the religion of the bulk of professed Christians : a defect, like the palsy at the heart, which, while, in its first attack, it changes but little the ex- terior appearance of the body, extinguishes the in- ternal principle of heat and motion, and soon extends its benumbing influence to the remotest fibers of .the frame. This defect is closely connected with that which was the chief subject of the last chapter: " They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." Had we duly felt the burden of our sins, that they are a load which our own strength is wholly unable to support, and that the weight of them must finally sink us into perdition, our hearts would have rejoiced at the sound of the gracious in- vitation, " Come unto me, all ye that labor and are
58 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF OUR
heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matt. 1 1 : 28. But in those who have scarcely felt their sins as any incumbrance, it would be mere affectation to pretend to very exalted conceptions of the value and acceptableness of the proffered deliverance. This pretence, accordingly, is seldom now kept up ; and the most superficial observer, comparing the senti- ments and views of the bulk of the christian world with the articles still retained in their creed, and with the strong language of Scripture, must be struck with the amazing disproportion.
To pass over the throng from whose minds reli- gion is altogether excluded by the business or the vanities of life, how is it with the more decent and moral ? To what criterion shall we appeal ? Are their hearts really filled with these things, and warmed by the love which they are adapted to in- spire? Then surely their minds are apt to stray to them almost unseasonably ; or at least to hasten back to them with eagerness, when escaped from the estrangement imposed by the necessary cares and business of life.
" And how," it may be perhaps replied, '• do you know but that the minds of these people are thus occupied ?" Let us appeal to a test to which we re- sorted in a former instance. •' Out of the abundance of the heait the mouth speaketh." Take these per- sons, and lead the conversation to the s'lbject of reli- gion. The utmost which can be effected is, to bring
SAVIOR AND HOLY SPIRIT. 59
them to talk of things in generalities ; there is no- thing precise and determinate, nothing which im- plies a mind used to the contemplation of its object. In vain you strive to bring them to speak on that to- pic, which one might expect to be ever uppermost in the hearts of redeemed sinners. They elude all your endeavors ; and if you mention it yourself, it is received wfth no very cordial welcome, if not with unequivocal disgust ; it is, at the best, a forced and formal discussion. The excellence of our Sa vior's moral precepts, the kindness, and simplicity, and self-denial, and unblemished purity of his life, his patience and meekness in the hour of death, can- not indeed be spoken of but with admiration, when spoken of at all, as they have often extorted unwil- ling praise from the most daring and malignant iu' fidels. But are not these mentioned as qualities in the abstract, rather than as the perfections and linea- ments of our Patron, and Benefactor, and Friend, " who loved us, and gave himself for us ;" of Him " who died for our ofTences, and rose again for our justification ;" " who is even now at the right hand of God, making intercecsion for ws?" Who would think that the kindness, and humanity, and self-de nial, and patience in suffering, which we so dryly commend, had been exerted towards ourselves, in acts of more than finite benevolence, of which we were to derive the benefit, in condescensions and la bors submitted to for our sakes, in pain and igno- miny endured for our deliverance ?
60 INADECIUAXE CONCEPTIONS OF OUR
The Unitarian and Socinian, who deny or explain away the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel, may be allowed to feel and talk of these grand truths with little emotion. But in those who profess a sincere belief in them, this coldness is insupportable. The greatest possible services of man to man must appear contemptible, when compared with " the unspeaka- ble mercies of Christ :" mercies so dearly bought, so freely bestowed — a deliverance from eternal mi- sery— the gift of " a crown of glory, that fadeth not away." Yet, what judgment should we form of such conduct as is here censured, in the case of any one who had received signal services from afellov/-crea- ture ? True love is an ardent and active principle : a cold, a dormant, a phlegmatic gratitude are con- tradictions in terms. When these generous affections really exist in vigor, are we not ever fond of dwell- ing on the value and enumerating the merits of our benefactor ? How are we moved when any thing is asserted to his disparagement ! How do we delight to tell of his kindness ! With what pious care do we preserve any memorial of him which we may hap- pen to possess ! How gladly do we seize any oppor- tunity of rendering to him, or to those who are dear to him, any little good offices, which, though in ,hemselves of small intrinsic worth, may testify the sincerity of our thankfulness ! The very mention of his name will cheer the heart, and light up the countenance! And if he be now no more, and if he
SAVIOR AND HOLY SPIRIT. 61
had made it his dying request that, in a way of his own appointment, we would occasionally meet to keep the memory of his person and of his services in lively exercise ; how should we resent the idea of failing in the performance of so sacred an obliga- tion!
Such are the genuine characters, such the natu- ral workings of a lively gratitude. And can we be- lieve, without doing violence to the most established principles of human nature, that where the effects are so different, the internal principle is in truth the same?
If the love of Christ be thus languid in the bulk of nominal Christians, their joy and trust in him cannot be expected to be very vigorous. Here again we find reason to remark, that there is nothing dis- tinct, nothing specific, nothing which implies a mind acquainted with the nature and familiarized with the use of the Christian's privileges, habitually solacing itself with the hopes held out by the Gospel, anima- ted by the sense of its high relations and its glori- ous reversion.
The doctrine of the sanctifying operations of the Holy Spirit appears to have met with still worse treatment. It would be to convey a very inadequate idea of the scantiness of the conceptions, on this head, of the bulk of the Christian world, to affirm merely that they are too little conscious of the inefficacy of their own unassisted endeavors after holiness of 6
62 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF OUR
heart and life, and that they are not daily employed in humbly and diligently using the appointed means for the reception and cultivation of the divine assist- ance. It would hardly be to go beyond the truth to assert, that for the most part their notions on this subject are so confused and faint, that they can scarcely be said to believe the doctrine at all.
The writer is prepared to hear it urged, that often where there have been the strongest pretences to religious affections, there has been little or nothing of the reality of them ; and that even omitting the instances of studied hypocrisy, what have assumed to themselves the name of religious affections, have been merely the flights of a lively imagination, or the working of a heated brain : in particular, that this love of our Savior dwells only in the disordered mind of the enthusiast. That religion is of a more steady nature ; and that she rejects with scorn the support of a mere feeling, indeterminate, trivial, and useless ; a feeling varying in different men, and even in the same man at different times, according to the accidental flow of the animal spirits ; a feeling of which it may perhaps be said, we are, from our very nature, hardly susceptible towards an invisible Being.
"As to the operations of the Holy Spirit," it may probably be further urged, that "it is perhaps scarcely worth while to spend much time in inquir- ing into tiie theory, when, in practice at least, it is
SAVIOR AND HOLY SPIRIT. 63
manifest that there is no sure criterion whereby any- one can ascertain the reality of them, even in his own case, much less in that of another. All we know is, that pretenders to these extraordinary as- sistances have never been wanting to abuse the credulity of the vulgar, and to try the patience of the wise. The doctrine, to say the best of it, can only serve to favor the indolence of man. It is, therefore, true wisdom to attach ourselves to Avhat is more solid and practical ; to the work of rectifying the disorders of the passions, and of implanting and cultivating the virtues of the moral character. You are contend- ing for that which not only is altogether unworthy of our Divine Master, but which, with considerate men, has ever brought his religion into suspicion and disrepute, and, under a show of honoring him, serves only to injure and discredit his cause." Our objector, warming as he proceeds, will perhaps as- sume a more impatient tone. " Have not these doc- trines," he may exclaim, " been ever perverted to purposes the most disgraceful to the religion of Jesus ? If you want an instance, look to the standard of the Inquisition, and behold the Dominicans tor- turing their miserable victims for the love of Christ.* Or would you rather see the effects of your prin- ciples on a larger scale, and by wholesale, (if the phrase may be pardoned,) cast your eyes across the
• This was the motto on their banner.
C4 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF OUR
Atlantic, and let your zeal be edified by the holy activity of Cortez and Pizarro, and their apostles of the western hemisphere. To what else have been owing the national persecutions, and religious wars and crusades ; whereby rapacity, and pride, and cruelty, sheltering themselves under the mask of this specious principle, have so often afflicted the world ?"
Objection discussed.
That the sacred name of religion has been too often prostituted to the most detestable purposes; that furious bigots, and bloody persecutors, and self- interested hypocrites, of all qualities and dimensions, have falsely called themselves Christians, are me- lancholy and humiliating truths, which, as none so deeply lament them, none will more readily admit, than they who best understand the nature, and are most concerned for the honor of Christianity. We are ready to acknowledge, also, without dispute, that the doctrines of religious affections and divine as- sistances have almost, at all times, been more or less disgraced by the false pretences and extravagant conduct of fanatics and enthusiasts. Ali this, how- ever, is only as it happens in other instances, wherein the depravity of man perverts the bounty of God. Why is it here only to be made an argument, that there is danger of abuse? So is there, also, in the case of all the potent and operative principles, whe-
SAVIOR AND HOLY SPIRIT. 65
ther in the natural or moral world. Take, for an instance, the powers and properties of matter. These were, doubtless, designed by Providence for our comfort and well-being ; yet they are often misap- plied to trifling purposes, and still more frequently turned into so many agents of misery and death. Suppose religion were discarded, then liberty re- mains to plague the world ; a power which, though, when well employed, the dispenser of light and hap- piness, has been often proved, and eminently in this very instance, to be capable, when abused, of becoming infinitely mischievous. Well, then, ex- tinguish liberty — blot out courage ; and so might you proceed to extinguish, one by one, reason, and speech, and memory, and all the discriminating prerogatives of man. But, perhaps, more than enough has already been urged in reply to an ob- jection so indefensible as that which would equally warrant our condemning any physical or moral faculty altogether, on account of its being occasion- ally abused.
As to the position, that there is no way whereby the validity of pretensions to the religious affections may be ascertained, it must partly be admitted. Doubtless, we are not able always to read the hearts of men, and to discover their real characters ; and hence it is that we in some measure lie open to the false and hypocritical pretences which are brought forward so triumphantlv. But then these pretences 6*
66 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS, &c.
no more prove all similar claims to be founded in falsehood and hypocrisy, than there having been many false and interested pretenders to wisdom and honesty would prove that there can be no such thing as a wise or an honest man. We do not argue thus but where our reason is under a corrupt bias. It is no more than our blessed Master himself taught us to expect ; and when the old difficulty is stated, ". Didst thou not sow good seed in thy field, whence then hath it tares?" his own answer furnishes the best solution, •* An enemy hath done this." Hypo- crisy is indeed detestable, and enthusiasm sufficiently mischievous to justify our guarding against its ap- proaches with jealous care. Yet we are apt to draw too unfavorable conclusions from unpleasant appear- ances. The mode and language in which a vulgar man will express himself on the subject of religion, will probably be vulgar ; and it is difficult for peo- ple of literature and refinement not to be unreason- ably shocked by such vulgarities. But we should at least endeavor to correct the rash judgments which we may be disposed to form on these occasions, and should learn to recognize and to prize a sound tex- ture and just configuration, though disguised beneath homely or uncouth drapery.
SECTION II.
On the admission of the passions into religion.
The objection, that by insisting on the obligation of making our blessed Savior the object of our reli- gious affections, we are degrading the worship of ihe understanding, and are substituting a set of mere feelings in its stead, deserves most serious conside- ration. If it be just, it is decisive ; for ours must be mquestionably a " reasonable service." Rom. 12: 1.
This notion of the affections being out of place in religion, is indeed an opinion which appears to be generally prevalent. Mankind are apt to be the dupes of misapplied terms ; and the progress of the persuasion now in question, has been considerably aided by an abuse of language not sufficiently check- ed in its first advances, whereby that species of reli- gion which is opposite to the warm and affectionate kind, has been suffered, almost without disturbance, to usurp- to itself the epithet of rational. But let not this claim be too hastily admitted. Let the position in question be thoroughly and impartially discussed, and it will appear, if I mistake not, to be a gross and pernicious error.
It cannot but afford a considerable presumption against the doctrine which we are about to com- bat, that it proposes to exclude at once from the ser- vice of religion, so grand a part of the composition
68 ON THE ADMISSION OF THE
of man ; that in this our noblest employment it con- demns, as worse than useless, all the most active and operative principles of our nature. One cannot but suppose that, like the organs of the body, so the ele- mentary qualities and original passions of the mind were all given us for valuable purposes by our all- wise Creator. It is indeed one of the sad evidences of our fallen condition, that they are now perpetually rebelling against the powers of reason and con- science, to which they should be subject. But even if revelation had been silent, natural reason might have, in some degree, presumed that it would be the effect of a religion which should come from God, completely to repair the consequences of our super- induced depravity. The schemes of mere human wisdom had indeed tacitly confessed that this was a task beyond their strength. Of the two most celebra- ted systems of philosophy, the one expressly confirm- ed the usurpation of the passions ; while the other, despairing of being able to regulate, saw nothing left but to extinguish them. Christianity would not be driven to any such wretched expedients ; it is her peculiar glory and her main office to bring all the faculties of our nature into their just subordination and dependence ; that so the whole man, complete in all his functions, may be restored to the true ends of his being, and be devoted to the service and glory of God. •' My son, give me thine heart ;" " Thou shr't love the Lord thy God with all thy heart ."
PASSIONS INTO RELIGION. 69
such are the direct and comprehensive claims which are made on us in the holy Scriptures. We can scarcely indeed look into any part of the sacred vo- lume without meeting abundant proofs that it is the religion of the affections which God particularly re- quires. Love, zeal, gratitude, joy, hope, trust, are each of them specified ; and are not allowed to us as weaknesses, but enjoined on us as our bounden du- ty, and commended to us as our acceptable w'orship. AVhere passages are so numerous, there would be no end of particular citations. Let it be sufficient, therefore, to refer the reader to the word of God. There let him observe, too, that as the lively exer- cise of the passions towards their legitimate object is always spoken of with praise, so a cold, hard, unfeel- ing heart, is represented as highly criminal. Luke- warmness is stated to be the object of God's disgust and aversion ; zeal and love, of his favor and de- light; and the taking away of the heart of stone, and the implanting of a warmer and more tender na- ture in its stead, is specifically promised as the ef- fect of his returning favor, and the work of his re- newing grace. It is the prayer of an inspired teach- er in behalf of those for whom he was most interest- ed, " that their love " (already acknowledged to be great) "might abound yet more and more." Those modes of worship are set forth and prescribed, which are best calculated to excite the dormant affections, and to maintain them in lively exercise ; if we look
70 ON THE ADMISSION OF THE
to the most eminent of the Scripture characters, we shall find them warm, zealous, and aflectionate. When engaged in their favorite Avork of celebrating the goodness of their Supreme Benefactor, their souls appear to burn within them, their hearts kin- dle into rapture : the powers of language are inade- quate ; and they call on all nature to unite with them in hallelujahs of gratitude, and joy, and praise. The man after God's own heart most of all abounds in these glowing effusions ; and his compositions appear to have been given us in order to set the tone, as it were, to all succeeding generations. Accord- ingly, (to quote the words of a late excellent prelate, who was himself warmed with the same heaven- ly flame,) "in the language of this divine book, the praises of the church have been offered up to the throne of grace from age to age." Again, when it pleased God to check the future apostle of the Gen- tiles in his wild career, and to make him a monu- ment of transforming grace, was the force of his af- fections diminished, or was it not only that their di- rection was changed ? He brought his affections entire and unabated into the service of his blessec Master. His zeal now burned even with an increase of brightness; and no intenseness, no continuance of suffering could allay its ardor, or damp the fer- vors of his triumphant exultations. Finally: the worship and service of the glorified spirits in hea- ven is not represented to us as a cold, intellectua.
PASSIONS INTO RELIGION. 71
investigation, but as the worship and a3rvice of gra- titude and love. And surely it will not be disputed that it should be, even here, the humble endeavor of those who are promised, \vhile on earth " to be made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light," to bring their hearts into capacity for joining in those everlasting praises.
But it may be advisable here to guard against a mistaken supposition, that the force of the religious affections is to be mainly estimated by the degree of mere animal fervor, by ardors, and transports, and raptures, of which, from constitutional temperament, a person may be easily susceptible : or into which daily experience must convince us that people of strong conceptions and of warm passions may work themselves without much difficulty, Avhere their hearts are by no means truly or deeply inte- rested. These high degrees of the passions bad men may experience, good men may want. They may be affected ; they may be genuine ; but, whether ge- nuine or affected, they form not the true standard by which the real nature or strength of the religious affections is to be determined. To ascertain these points, we must examine whether they appear to be grounded Id knowledge, to have their root in strong and just conceptions of the great, manifold excellen- ces of their objects, or to be ignorant^ unmeaning, or vague : whether they are natural and easy, or con- strained and forced : wakeful and apt to fix on their
72 ON THE ADMISSION OF THE
great objects, delighting in their proper nutriment, the exercises of prayer and praise, and religious contemplation ; or voluntarily omitting offered occa- sions of receiving it, looking forward to them with little expectation, looking back on them with little complacency, and being disappointed of them with little regret. We must observe whether these reli- gious affections are merely occasional visitants, or the abiding inmates of the soul : whether they have the mastery over the vicious passions and propensi- ties, with which, in their origin, and nature, and ten- dency, they are at open variance ; or whether, if the victory be not yet complete, the war is at least con- stant, and the breach irreconcilable. We must ob- serve whether they moderate and regulate all the inferior appetites and desires, which are culpable only in their excess, thus striving to reign in the bosom with a settled, undisputed predominance. We must examine whether, above all, they manifest themselves by prompting to the active discharge of the duties of life: the personal, and domestic, and re- lative, and professional, and social, and civil duties. Here the wideness of their range and the universa- lity of their influence will generally distinguish them from those partial efforts of diligence and self-denial to which mankind are prompted by subordinate mo- tive«j. All proofs, other than this deduced from con- duct, are in some degree ambiguous. This, this only, whether we argue from reason or from Scrip-
PASSIONS INTO RELIGION. 73
ture, is a sure, infallible criterionf From the daily incidents of conjugal and domestic life, we learn that a warmth of affection, occasionally vehement, but superficial and transitory, may consist with a course of conduct exhibiting incontestable proofs of neglect and unkindness. But the passion, which alone the holy Scriptures dignify with the name of love, is a deep, not a superficial feeling : a fixed and permanent, not an occasional emotion. It proves the validity of its title by actions corresponding with its nature, by practical endeavors to gratify the wishes and to promote the interests of the object of affection. " If a man love me, he will keep my sayings." " This is the love of God, that we keep his com- mandments." This, therefore, _is the best standard by which to try the quality ; qj-, the quality being as- certained, to estimate the strength of the religious affections. Without suffering ourselves to derive too much complacency from transient fervors of devo- tion, we should carefully and frequently prove our- selves by this less dubitabie test ; impartially examin- ing our daily conduct; and often comparing our ac- tual with our possible services, the fair amount of our exertions with our natural or acquired means and opportunities of usefulness.
We are perfectly ready to concede to the objector,
whose arguments we have so long been considering,
that the religious affections must be expected to be
more or less lively in different men, and in the same
7
74 ON THE ADMISSION OF IHE
man at different times, in proportion to natural tem- pers, ages, situations, and habits of life. But to found an objection on this ground, would be as un- reasonable as it were altogether to deny the obliga- tion of the precepts which command us to relieve the necessities of the indigent, because the infinitely varying circumstances of mankind must render it impossible to specify, beforehand, the sum which each individual ought, on the whole, to allot to this purpose, or to fix, in every particular instance, on any determinate measure and mode of contribu- tion. To the one case, no less than to the other, we may apply the maxim of an eminent writer ; ''An honest heart is the best casuist." He who every where but in religion is warm and animated, there only phlegmatic and cold, can hardly expect (espe- cially if this coldness be not the subject of unfeigned humiliation and sorrow) that his plea on the ground of natural temper should be admitted; any more than that of a person who should urge his poverty as a justification of his not relieving the wants of the necessitous, at the very time that he should bo launching out into expense without restraint, on oc- casions in which he should be really prompted by his inclinations. In both cases, " it is the willing mind which is required." Where that is found, "every man will be judged according to what he hath, and not according to what he hath not." 2 Cor. 8: 12.
PASSIONS INTO RELIGION. 75
After the decisive proofs already adduced from the word of God, of the unreasonableness of the objec- tion to the admission of the passions into religion, all farther arguments may appear superfluous to any one who is disposed to bow to scriptural authority. Yet, the point is of so much importance, and, it is to be feared, so little regarded, that it may not be amiss to continue the discussion. The best results of our understanding will be shown to fall in with what clearly appears to be the authoritative lan- guage of revelation ; and to call in the aid of the affections to the service of religion will prove to be not only what sober reason may permit, but to be that which she clearly and strongly dictates to our deliberate judgments, as being what the circumstan- ces of our natural condition indispensably require. We have every one of us a work to accomplish, wherein our eternal interests are at stake ; a work to which we are naturally indisposed. We live in a world abounding with objects which distract our attention and divert our endeavors ; and a deadly enemy is ever at hand to seduce and beguile us. If we persevere, indeed, success is certain ; but our efforts must know no remission. There is a call on us for vigorous and continual resolution, self-denial, and activity. Now, man is not a being of mere in- tellect.
Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor,*
• I see W'bat is right, and approve it, but practice what ii wroof .
76 ON THE AD5HSSI0N OF THE
is a complaint which, alas ! we all of us might daily utter. The slightest solicitation of appetite is often able to draw us to act in opposition to our clearest judgment, our highest interests, and most resolute determinations. Sickness, poverty, disgrace, and even eternal misery itself, sometimes in vain solicit our regards ; they are all excluded from the view, and thrust as it were beyond the sphere of vision, by some poor, unsubstantial, transient object, so minute and contemptible as almost to escape the notice of the eye of reason.
These observations are more strikingly confirmed in our religious concerns than in any other; because in them the interests at stake are of transcendent im- portance : but they hold equally in every instance, according to its measure, wherein there is a call for laborious, painful, and continued exertions, from which any one is likely to be deterred by obstacles, or seduced by the solicitations of pleasure. What then is to be done in the case of any such arduous and necessary undertaking? The answer is obvi- ous : You should endeavor not only to convince the understanding, but also to affect the heart : and for this end, you must secure the reinforcement of the passions. This is indeed the course which would be naturally followed by every man of common un- derstanding, who should know that some one for whom he was deeply interested, a child, for instance, or a brother, were about to enter on a long, difficult,
PASSIONS INTO RELIGION. 77
perilous, and critical adventure, wherein success was to be honor and affluence, defeat was to he contempt and ruin. And still more, if the parent were convinc- ed that his child possessed faculties which, strenu- ously and unremittingly exerted, would prove equal to all the exigences of the enterprise, but knew him also to be volatile and inconstant, and had reason to doubt his resolution and his vigilance ; how would the friendly monitor's endeavor be redoubled, so as to possess his pupil's mind with the worth and dignity of the undertaking, that there should be no opening for the entrance of any inferior consideration ! "Weigh well," he would say, " the value of the object for which you are about to contend, and contemplate and study its various excellencies, till your whole soul be on fire for its acquisition. Consider too, that, if you fail, misery and infamy are united in the alter- native which awaits you. Let not the mistaken nq'- tion of its being a safe and easy service, for a mo- ment beguile you into the discontinuance or remis- sion of your efforts. Be aware of your imminent danger, and at the same time know your true secu- rity. It is a service of labor and peril; but one wherein the powers which you possess, strenuously and perse veringly exerted, cannot but crown you with victory. Accustom yourself to look first to the dreadful consequences of failure ; then fix your eye on the glorious prize which is before you ; and when your strength begins to fail, and your spirits are well 7*
78 ON THE ADMISSION OF THE
nigh exhausted, let the animating view rekindle your resolution, and call forth in renewed vigor the fainting energies of your soul."
It was the remark of an unerring Observer, "the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light." And it is indisputably true, that in religion we have to argue and plead with men for principles of action, the Avisdom and expediency of which are universally acknowledged in matters of worldly concern. So it is in the in- stance before us. The case which has been just de- scribed, is an exact but a faint representation of our condition in this life. Frail and •' infirm of pur- pose," we have a business to executeof supreme and indispensable necessity. Solicitations to neglect it every where abound : the difficulties and dangers are numerous and urgent ; and the night of death com- eth, how soon we know not, " when no man can w^ork." All this is granted. It seems to be a state of things wherein one should look out with solicitude for some powerful stimulants. Mere knowledge is confess- edly too weak. The affections alone remain to supply the deficiency. They precisely meet the oc- casion, and suit the purposes intended. Yet, when we propose to fit ourselves for our great undertak- ing, by calling them in to our help, we are to be tOM that we are acting contrary to reason. Is this reasonable, to strip us first of our armor of proof, and then to send us to the sharpest of encounter ?
PASSIONS INTO RELIGION. 79
To summon us to the severest labors, but first to rob us of the precious cordials which should brace our sinews and recruit our strength ?
Let these pretended advocates for reason then con- fess their folly, and do justice to the superior wis- dom as well as goodness of our heavenly Instructor, Avho, better understanding our true condition, and knowing our frowardness and inadvertency, has most reasonably, as well as kindly pointed out and enjoined on us the use of those aids which may coun- teract our infirmities ; who commanding the effect, has commanded also the means whereby it may be accomplished.
And now, if the use of the affections in religion^ in general, be at length shown to be conformable to reason, it will not require many words to prove that our blessed Savior is the proper object of them. We know that love, gratitude, joy, hope, trust, (the affec- tions in question,) all have their appropriate objects. Now it must be at once conceded, that if these ap- propriate objects be not exhibited, it is perfectly un- reasonable to expect that the correspondent passions should be excited. If we ask for love, in the case of an object which has no excellence or desirable- ness ; for gratitude, where no obligation has been conferred ; for joy, where there is no just cause ot self-congratulation ; for hope, where nothing is ex- pected ; for trust, where there exists no ground of reliance ; then, indeed, we must kiss the rod, and
80 ON THE ADMISSION, &c.
patiently submit to correction. This would be in- deed Egyptian bondage, to demand the effects with- out the means of producing them. Is the case then so? Are we ready to adopt the language of the avowed enemies of our adorable Savior ; and again to say of him " in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily," that " he hath no form nor comeliness ; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him ?" Isa. 53 : 2. Is it no obligation, that he who " thought it not rob- bery to be equal with God," should yet, for our sakes, " make himself of no reputation, and take upon him the form of a servant, and be made in the like- ness of men ; and humble himself, and become obe- dient unto death, even the death of the cross ?" Phil. 2 : 6-8. Is it no cause of "joy, that to us is born a Savior," Luke, 2 : 10, 11, by whom we may "be delivered from the power of darkness, and be made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light?" Col. 1 : 12, 13. Can there be a "hope comparable to that of our calling," Eph. 1:18, " which is Christ in us, the hope of glory ?" Col. 1 : 27. Can there be a trust to be preferred to the reli- ance on "Christ Jesus, who is the same yester- day, to-day, and for ever?" Heb. 13 : 8. Surely, if our opponent be not dead to every generous emo- tion, he cannot look his own objection in the face without a blush of shame and indignation.
SECTION III.
Consideration of the Teasonabkness of affections towards an invisible Being.
Forced at last to retreat from his favorite position, and compelled to acknowledge that the religious af- fections towards our blessed Savior are not unrea- sonable ; he still, however, maintains the combat, suggesting that, by the very constitution of our na- ture, we are not susceptible of them towards an in- visible Being ; in whose case, it will be added, we are shut out from all those means of communication and intercourse which knit and cement the union between man and man.
We mean not to deny that there is something in this objection. It might even seem to plead the au- thority of Scripture in its favor — " He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen ?" 1 John, 4 : 20. We receive impressions more readily from visible ob- jects, we feel them more strongly, and retain them more durably. But though it must be granted that this circumstance makes it a more difficult task to preserve the affections in question in a heahhful and vigorous state, is it thereby rendered impossible? This Avere indeed a most precipitate conclusion : and any one who should be disposed to admit the truth of it, might at least hesitate, when he should
82 REASONABLENESS OF AFFECTIONS
reflect that the argument applies equally against the possibility of the love of God, a duty of which the most cursory reader of Scripture, if he admits its divine authority, cannot but acknowledge the indis- pensable obligation. But we need only look back to the Scripture proofs which have been lately ad- duced, to be convinced that the religious affections are therein inculcated on us, as a matter of high and serious obligation.
If the principles of love, and gratitude, and joy, and hope, and trust, are not utterly extinct within us, they cannot but be called forth by the various corresponding objects which the contemplation of our blessed Redeemer would gradually bring forth to our view. Well might the language of the apos- tle be addressed to Christians, " Whom having not seen, ye love ; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." 1 Pet. 1 : 8.
Our blessed Savior, if we may be permitted so to say, is not removed far from us ; and the various re- lations in which we stand towards him seem pur- posely made known to us, in order to furnish so many different bonds of connexion with him, and consequent occasions of continual intercourse. He exhibits not himself to us " dark with excessive brightness," but is let down as it were to the possi- bilities of human converse. We may not think that he is incapable of entering into our little concerns,
TOWARDS AN* INVISIBLE BEING. 83
and sj'mpathizing with them; for we are graciously assured that he is not one " wlno cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, having been in all points tempted like as we are." Heb. 4 : 15. The figures under which he is represented, are such as convey ideas of the utmost tenderness. " He shall feed his flock like a shepherd ; he shall g^aher the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." Isaiah, 40 : 11. *' They shall not hunger nor thirst, neithtr shall the heat nor sun smite them ; for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them." Isaiah, 49 : 10. "I will not leave you orphans,"* was one of his last consolatory declarations. John, 14: 18. The children of Christ are here separated indeed from the per- sonal view of him ; but not from his paternal affec- tion and paternal care. Meanwhile let them quicken their regards by the animating anticipation of that blessed day, when he " who is gone to prepare a place for them, will come again to receive them unto himself." Then shall they be admitted to his more immediate presence : " Now we see through a glass, darkly ; but then face to face : now I know in part ; bit then shall I know even as also I am known." 1 Cor. 13:12. Surely more than enough has been now said to
♦ The word ''comfortless" is rendered in the margin, orphans.
84 REASONABLENESS OF AFFECTIONS
prove that this particular case, from its very nature furnishes the most abundant and powerful conside- rations and mean« for exciting the feelings ; and it might be contended, without fear of refutation, that by the diligent and habitual use of those considera- tions and means, we might, with confident expecta- tion of success, engage in the work of raising our affections towards our blessed Savior to a state of due force and activity. But, blessed be God, we have A still better reliance ; for the grand circumstance of all yet remains behind, which the writer has been led to defer, from his wish to contend with his op- ponents on their own ground. This circumstance is, that here, no less than in other particulars, the Christian's hope is founded, not on the speculations or the strength of man, but on the declaration of Him who cannot lie — on the power of Omnipotence. We learn from the Scriptures that it is one main part of the operations of the Holy Spirit, to implant these heavenly principles in the human mind, and to cherish their growth. We are encouraged to be- lieve that, in answer to our prayers, this aid from above will give efficacy to our earnest endeavors, if used in humble dependence on divine grace. We may, therefore, with confidence take the mesns which have been suggested. But let us, in our tarn, be permitted to ask our opponents, have they humbly and perseveringly applied for this divine strength ?- or, disclaiming that assistance, perhaps as tempting
TOWARDS AN INVISIBLE BEING. 85
them to indolence, have they been so much the more strenuous and unwearied in the use of their own unaided endeavors ? or rather, have they not been equally negligent of both 1 Renouncing the one, they have wholly omitted the other. But this is far from being all. They even reverse all the methods which we have recommended as being calculated to in- crease regard ; and exactly follow that course which would be pursued by any one who should wish to reduce an excessive affection. Yet thus leaving un- tried all the means which, whether from reason or Scripture, we maintain to be necessary to the pro- duction of the end, nay, using such as are of a di- rectly opposite nature, these men presume to talk to us of impossibilities ! We may rather contend that they furnish a fresh proof of the soundness of our reasonings. We lay it down as a fundamental posi- tion, that speculative knowledge alone, that mere superficial, cursory considerations, will be of no avail. Nothing is to be done without the diligentjcontinued use of the appointed method. They themselves af- ford an instance of the truth of our assertions ; and while they supply no argument against the efficacy of the mode prescribed, they acknowledge at least that they are wholly ignorant of any other.
But let us now turn our eyes to Christians of a
higher order, to those who have actually proved the
truth of our reasonings ; who have not only assumed
the name, but v/ho have possessed the substance, and
8
86 REASONABLENESS <)F AFFECTIONS
felt the power of Christianity ; who, though often foiled by their remaining corruptions, and shamed and cast down under a sense of their many imper fections, have known in their better seasons what it was to experience its firm hope, its dignified joy, its unshaken trust, its more than human consolations. In their hearts, love also towards their Redeemer has glowed ; a love not superficial and unmeaning, (think not that this would be the subject of our praise,) but constant and rational, resulting from a strong impression of the worth of its object, and heightened by an abiding sense of great, unmerited^ and continually accumulating obligations ; ever mani- festing itself in acts of diligent obedience or of patient suffering. Such was the religion of the holy martyrs of the sixteenth century, the illustrious ornaments of the Christian church. They realized the theory which we have now been faintly tracing. Look to their writings, and you will find that their thoughts and aflfections had been much exercised in habitual views of the blessed Jesus. Thus they used the re- quired means. What were the effects ? Persecution and distress, degradation and contempt, assailed them in vain : all these evils served but to bring their af- fections into closer contact with their object ; and not only did their love feel no diminution or abatement, but it rose to all the exigencies of the occasion, and burned with an increase of ardor ; and when brought forth at last to a cruel and ignominious death, they
TOWARDS AN INVISIBLE BEING. 87
repined not at their fate; but rather rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ. By the blessing- of God the writer might refer to still more recent times. But lest his authori- ties should be disputed, let us go to the apostles of our Lord ; and while, on a very cursory perusal of their writings, we must acknowledge that they com- mend and even prescribe to us the love of Christ, as one of the chief of the Christian graces ; so, on a more attentive inspection of those writings, we shall discover abundant proofs that they were themselves bright examples of their own precept ; that our blessed Savior was really the object of their warmest affection, and what he had done and suffered for them the continual matter of their grateful remem- brance.
The disposition so prevalent in the bulk of nomi- nal Christians, to form a religious sj^-stem for them- selves, instead of taking it from the word of God, is strikingly observable in their scarcely admitting, except in the most vague and general sense, the doctrine of the influences of the Holy Spirit. If we look into the Scriptures for information on this par- ticular, we learn a very different lesson. We are in them distinctly taught, that " of ourselves we can do nothing;" that "we are by nature children of wrath," and under the power of the evil spirit, our under- standings being naturally dark, and our hearts averse from spiritual things ; and we are directed to pray
88 REASONABLENESS OF AFFECTIONS drc.
for the influences of the Holy Spirit to enlighten our understandings, to dissipate our prejudices, to purify our corrupt minds, and to renew us after the image of our heavenly Father. It is this influence which is represented as originally awakening us from slumber, as enlightening us in darkness, as " quick- ening us when dead," Eph. 2 : 1-5, as " delivering us from the power of the devil," as drawing us to God, as " translating us into the kingdom of his dear Son," Col, 1 : 13, as creating us anew in Christ Jesus," Eph. 2 : 10, as " dwelling in us, and walk- ing in us;" 2 Cor. 6: 16; so that "putting off the old man with his deeds," we are to consider our- selves as •• having put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him;" Col. 3 : 9-10, and as those who are to be •' an habitation of God through the ,Spirit," Eph. 2 : 22. It is by this divine assistance only that we can grow in grace, and improve in all holiness. So expressly, particularly, and repeatedly does the word of God inculcate these lessons, that one would think there were scarcely room for any difference of opinion among those who admit its authority. Sometimes* the whole of a Christian's repentance and faith, and consequent holiness, are ascribed generally to the Divine influence ; sometimes these
* See Dr. Doddridge's Eight Sermons on Regeneration, a most valuable compilation; and M'Laurin's Essay on Di- vine Grace.
INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS, Jcc. 89
are spoken of separately, and ascribed to the same Almighty power. Sometimes different, particular graces of the christian character, those which res- pect our duties and tempers towards our fellow-crea- tures, no less than those which have reference to the Supreme Being, are particularly traced to this source. Sometimes they are all referred collectively to this common root, being comprehended under the com- pendious denomination of "the fruits of the Spirit." In exact correspondence with these representations, this aid from above is promised, in other parts of Scripture, for the production of those effects ; and the withholding or withdrawing of it is occasionally threatened as a punishment for the sins of men, and as one of the most fatal consequences of the Divine displeasure.
SECTION IV.
Inadequate conceptions entertained by nominal Christians of the terms of acceptance with God.
If then it be indeed as now stated — that, in con- tradiction to the plainest dictates of Scripture, the sanctifying operations of the Holy Spirit, the first fruits of our reconciliation to God, the purchase of our Redeemer's death, and his best gift to his true disciples, are too generally undervalued and slight- ed ; if it be also true, as was formerly proved, that >ur thoughts of the blessed Savior are confused and 8*
90 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
faint, our afTections towards him languid and luke- warm, little proportioned to what those who at such a price have been rescued from ruin, and endowed with a title to eternal glory, might be justly expect- ed to feel towards the Author of their deliverance ; little proportioned to what has been felt by others, ran- somed from the same ruin, and partakers of the same inheritance : — if this, let it be repeated, be indeed so, let us not shut our eyes against the perception of our real state ; but rather endeavor to trace the evil to its source. We are loudly called on to examine well our foundations. If any thing be there unsound and hollow, the superstructure could not be safe, though its exterior were less suspicious. Let the question then be asked, and let the answer be returned with all the consideration and solemnity which a ques- tion so important may justly demand, whether, in the grand concern of all, the means of a sinner's accep- tance with God, there is not reason to apprehend, that the nominal Christians whom we have been addressing, too generally entertain very superficial and confused, and (to speak in the softest terms) high- ly dangerous notions ? Is there not reason to fear, that with little more than an indistinct and nominal reference to Him who "bore our sins in his own body on the tree," they really rest their eternal hopes on a vague, general persuasion of the unqualified mer- cy of the Supreme Being ; or that, still more errone- ously, they rely in the main on their own negative
TERMS OF ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD. 91
or positive merits ? " They can look upon their lives with an impartial eye, and congratulate themselves on their inoffensiveness in society ; on their having been exempt at least from any gross vice, or if sometimes accidentally betrayed into it, on its never having been indulged habitually ; or if not even so," (for there are but few who can say this, if the term vice be explained according to the strict requisitions of the Gospel,) "yet on the balance being in their favor, or, on the whole, not much against them, . when their good and bad actions are fairly weigh ed, and due allowance is made for human frailty." These considerations are sufficient for the most part to compose their apprehensions ; these are the cor- dials which they find most at hand in the moments of serious thought, or of occasional dejection ; and sometimes perhaps, in seasons of less than ordinary self-complacency, they call in also to their aid, the general persuasion of the unbounded mercy and pity of God. Yet persons of this description by no means disclaim a Savior, or avowedly relinquish their title to a share in the benefits of his death. They close their petitions with the name of Christ; but if not chiefly from the effect of habit, or out of decent conformity to the established faith, yet surely with something of the same ambiguity of principle which influenced the expiring philosopher, when he ordered the customary mark of homage to be paid to the god of medicine.
92 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
Others go farther than this ; for there are many shades of difference between those who flatly re- nounce, and those who cordially embrace the doc- trine of redemption by Christ. This class has a sort of general, indeterminate, and ill understood depen- dence on our blessed Savior. But their hopes, so far as they can be distinctly made out, (for their views also are very obscure,) appear ultimately to be founded on the persuasion that they are now, through Christ, become members of a new dispen- sation, wherein they will be tried by a more leni- ent rule than that to which they must have been other- wise subject. Their reasoning is this : " God will not now be extreme to mark what is done amiss ; but will dispense with the rigorous exactions of his law, too strict, indeed, for such frail creatures as we are to hope that we can fulfill it. Christianity has moderated the requisitions of Divine justice ; and all which is now required of us, is thankfully to trust to the merits of Christ for the pardon of our sins, and the acceptance of our sincere though imperfect obe- dience. The frailties and infirmities to which our nature is liable, or to which our situation in life ex- poses us, will not be severely judged ; and as it is practice that really determines the character, we may rest satisfied, that if, on the whole, our lives be tolerably good, we shall escape with little or no pun- ishment, and, through Jesus Christ our Lord, shall be finally partakers of heavenly felicity."
TERMS OF ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD. 93
We cannot dive into the human heart, and there- fore should always speak with caution and diffi- dence, when from external appearances or declara- tions we are affirming the existence of any internal principles and feelings ; especially as we are liable to be misled by the ambiguities of language, or by the inaccuracy with which others may express themselves. But it is sometimes not difficult to any one who is accustomed (if the phrase may be allow- ed) to the anatomy of the human mind, to discern, that generally speaking, the persons who use the above language rely not so much on the merits of Christ, and on the agency of Divine grace, as on their own power of fulfilling the moderated requisi- tions of Divine justice. He wi]l hence therefore discover in them a disposition rather to extenuate the malignity of their disease, than to magnify the excellence of the proffered remedy. He will find them apt to palliate in themselves what they cannot fully justify, to enhance the merit of what they be- lieve to be their good qualities and commendable ac- tions, to set, as it were, in an account the good against the bad ; and if the result be not very unfavorable, they conceive that they shall be entitled to claim the benefits of our Savior's sufferings as a thing of course. They have little idea, so little, that it might almost be affirmed that they have no idea at all, of the importance or difficulty of the duty of what the Scripture calls "submitting ourselves to the righ-
94 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OP
teousness of God ;" or of our proneness rather to jus- tify ourselves in his sight, than in the language of imploring penitents to acknowledge ourselves guilty and helpless sinners. They have never summoned themselves to this entire and unqualified renuncia- tion of their own merits and their own strength ; and therefore they remain strangers to the natural loftiness of the human heart, which such a call would have awakened into action, and roused to re- sistance. All these their several errors naturally result from the mistaken conception entertained cf the fundamental principles of Christianity. They consider not that Christianity is a scheme for "jus- tifying the ungodly," Rom. 4 : 5, by Christ's dying for them " when yet sinners,"* Rom. 5 : 6, 8 ; a scheme "for reconciling us to God, when enemies;"
* The writer trusts he cannot be misunderstood to mean that any, continuing sinners and ungodly, can, by believing, be accepted or finally saved. The following chapter, par- ticularly the latter part of it, (section vi.) would abundantly vindicate him from any such misconstruction. Meanwhile, he will only remark, that true faith (in which repentance is considered as involved) is in Scripture regarded as the radical principle of holiness. If the root exist, the proper fruits will be brought forth. An attention to this considera- tion would have easily explained and reconciled those pas- sages of St. Paul's and St, James' epistles, which have fui- nished so much argument and criticism. St. James, it may be observed, all along speaks of a man, not who has faith, but who says that he has faith. Vide James, 2 : 14, &c. &c.
TERMS OF ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD. 95
and for making the /ruits of holiness the effects,* not the cause of our being justified and reconciled : that, in short, it opens freely the door of mercy to the greatest and vilest of penitent sinners; that obeying the blessed impulse of the grace of God, whereby they had been awakened from the sleep of death, and moved lo seek for pardon, they might enter in, and through the regenerating influences of the Holy Spirit might be enabled to bring forth the fruits of righteousness. They rather conceive of Christianity as opening the door of mercy, that those who on the ground of their own merits could not have hoped to justify themselves before God, may yet be admitted, for Christ's sake, on condition of their having previously satisfied the moderated requisitions of Divine justice. In speaking to others also of the Gospel scheme, they are apt to talk too much of terms and performances on our part, on which we become entitled to an interest in the suf- ferings of Christ ; instead of stating the benefits of Christ's satisfaction as extended to us freely, "with- out money and without price."
The practical consequences of these errors are such as might be expected. They tend to prevent that sense which we ought to entertain of our own natural misery and helplessness ; and that deep feel- ing of gratitude for the sufferings, merits, and inter- cession of Christ, to which we are wholly indebted *Vide note, ch. 4, sec, 6.
96 1NADE(1UATE CONCEPTIONS Of
for our reconciliation to God, and for the will and the power, from first to last, to work out our own salvation. They consider it too much in the light of a contract between two parties, wherein each, inde- pendently of the other, has his own distinct condi- tion to perform ; man — to do what they account hia duty ; God — to justify and accept for Christ's sake : if they fail not in the discharge of their condition, assuredly the condition on God's part will be faith- fully fulfilled. Accordingly, we find in fact, that those who represent the Gospel scheme in the man- ner above described, give evidence of the subject with which their hearts are most filled, by their proneness to run into merely moral disquisitions, either not mentioning at all, or at least but cursorily touching on the sufferings and love of their Re- deemer ; and are little apt to kindle at their Savior's name, and, like the apostles, to be betrayed by their fervor into what may be almost an untimely des- cant on the riches of his unutterable mercy. In addressing others also whom thej'' conceive to be living in habits of sin, and under the wrath of God, they rather advise them to amend their ways as a preparation for their coming to Christ, than exhort them to throw themselves with deep prostration oi soul at the foot of the cross, there to obtain pardon and find grace to help in time of need.
The great importance of the subject in question will justify having been thus particular. On a ques-
TERMS OF ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD. 97
tion of such mao^itude, to mistake our meaning should be impossible. But after all which has been said, let it also be remembered, that except so far as the instruction of others is concerned, the point of importance is, the internal disposition of the mind. The great question is, where the dependence for par- don, and for holiness, is really placed ; not what the language is in which men express themselves.
If this so generally prevailing error concerning the nature of the gospel offer be in any considerable degree just, it will explain that so generally prevail- ing languor in the affections towards our blessed Savior which was formerly remarked, and that in- adequate impression of the necessity and value of the assistance of the Divine Spirit. According to the soundest principles of reasoning, it may be also adduced as an additional proof of the correctness of our present statement, that it so exactly falls in with those phenomena, and so naturally accounts for them. For, even admitting that the persons above men- tioned, particularly the last class, do at the bottom rely on the atonement of Christ ; yet on their scheme, it must necessarily happen, that the object to which they are most accustomed to look, from which they most habitually derive complacency, is rather their own qualified merit and services, though confessed to be inadequate, fhan the sufferings and atoning death of a crucified Savior. The affections to- wards our blessed Lord cannot be expected to flou* 9
'98 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
rish, because they receive not that which is necessary to their nutriment and growth. If we would love him as affectionately, and rejoice m him as triumph- antly as the first Christians did, we must learn like them to repose our entire trust in him, and to adopt the language of the apostle, " God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Gal. 6 : 14. "Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." 1 Cor. 1 : 30.
Doubtless there have been too many who, to their eternal ruin, have abused the doctrine of salvation by grace ; and have vainly trusted in Christ for par- don and acceptance, when by their vicious lives they have plainly proved the groundlessness of their pre- tensions. The tree is to be known by its fruits ; and there is too much reason to fear that there is no principle of faith, when it does not decidedly evince itself by the fruits of holiness. Dreadful indeed will be the doom, above that of all others, of those loose professors of Christianity, to whom at the last day our blessed Savior will address those words, " I never knew you ; depart from me, ye that work in- iquity." But the danger of error on this side ought not to render us insensible to the opposite error ; ; . error against which in these days it seems particu- larly necessary to guard. It is far from the inten- tion of the writer of this work to enter into the niceties of controversy ; but surely he may be per-
TERMS OF ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD. • 99
niitted to contend, that those who in the main be- lieve the doctrines of the church of England, are bound to allow that our dependence on our blessed Savior, as alone the meritorious cause of our ac- ceptance with God, and as the means of all its bless- ed fruits and glorious consequences, must be not merely formal and nominal, but real and substantial ; not vague, qualified, and partial, but direct, cordial, and entire. "Repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ," was the sum of the apostolical instructions. It is not an occasional in- vocation of the name, or a transient recognition ot the authority of Christ, that fills up the measure of the term, believing in Jesus. This we shall find no such easy task ; and if we trust that we do believe, we should all perhaps do well to cry out in the words of an imploring suppliant, (he supplicated not in vain,) " Lord, help thou our unbelief." We must be deeply conscious of our guilt and misery, heartily repenting of our sins, and firmly resolving to forsake them: and thus penitently "fleeing for refuge to the hope set before us," we must found altogether on the merit of the crucified Redeemer our hopes of escape from their deserved punishment, and of deliverance from their enslaving power. This must be our first, our last, our only plea. We are to surrender ourselves up to him to " be washed m his blood," Rev. 1 : 5, to be sanctified by his Spirit, resolving to receive him for our Lord and
100 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
Master, to learn in his school, to obey all his com- mandments.
We would still more particularly address our- selves to others who are disposed to believe that though, in some obscure and vague sense, the death of Christ, as the satisfaction for our sins, and for the purchase of our future happiness, and the sanctify- ing influence of the Holy Spirit, are to be admitted as fundamental articles of our creed, yet that these are doctrines so much above us, that they are not objects suited to our capacities ; and that, turning our eyes from these difficult speculations, we should fix them on the practical and moral precepts of the Gos- pel. " These," they alledge, " it most concerns us to know ; these therefore let us study. Such is the frailty of our nature, such the strength and number of our temptations to evil, that in reducing the gospel mo- rality to practice we shall find full employment : and by attending to these moral precepts, rather than to those high mysterious doctrines which you are press- ing on us, we shall best prepare to appear before God on that tremendous day, when ' He shall judge every man according to his works.'
" * Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy !' "
It will at once destroy this flimsy web, to reply in the word? of our blessed Savior, and of his beloved disciple — *' This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." John, 6 : 29. " This is
TERMS OF ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD. 101
his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ," 1 John. 3 : 23. In truth, if we consider but for a moment the opinions of men who argue thus, we must be conscious of their absurdity. This may be not inconsistently the language of the modern Unitarian ; but surely it is in the highest degree unreasonable to admit into our scheme all the grand peculiarities of Christianity, and having admitted, to neglect and think no more of them ! " Wherefore," (might the Socinian say,) " wherefore all this costly and complicated machine- ry ? It is so little like the simplicity of nature, it is so unworthy of the Divine hand, that it even offends against those rules of propriety which we require to be observed in the imperfect compositions of the human intellect."*
Well may the Socinian assume this lofty tone with those whom we are now addressing. If these are indeed the doctrines of revelation, common sense suggests to us that from their nature and their mag- nitude they deserve our most serious regard. It is the very theology of Epicurus to allow the existence of these " heavenly things," but to deny their con- nexion with human concerns, and their influence on human actions. Besides the unreasonableness of this conduct, we might strongly urge also in this con- nexion the profaneness of thus treating as matters of
♦ Nee Dens intersit, &c.
102 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
subordinate consideration those parts of the system of Christianity which are so strongly impressed on our reverence by the dignity of the person to whom they relate. This very argument is indeed repeatedly and pointedly pressed by the sacred writers.*
Nor is the profane irreverence of this conduct more striking than its ingratitude. When from read- ing that our Savior was " the brightness of his Fa- ther's glory, and the express image of his person, upholding all things by the word of his power," we go on to consider the purpose for which he came on earth, and all that he did and suffered for us ; surely if we have a spark of ingenuousness left we shall condemn ourselves as guilty of the blackest ingrati- tude, in rarely noticing, or coldly turning away, on whatever shallow pretences, from the contemplation of these miracles of mercy. For those minds, how- ever, on which fear alone can operate, that motive is superadded : and we are plainly forewarned, both directly and indirectly, by the example of the Jewish nation, that God will not hold them guiltless who are thus unmindful of his most signal acts of con- descension and kindness. But as this is a question of pure revelation, reasonings from probability may not be deemed decisive. To revelation therefore we must appeal ; and as it might be to trespass on the reader's patience fully to discuss this most important
♦ SeeHeb. 2:l,&c.
TERMS OF ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD. 103
subject, we must refer him to the sacred writings themselves for complete satisfaction. We would earnestly recommend i-t to him to weigh with the ut- most seriousness those passages of Scripture wherein the peculiar doctrines of Christianity are expressly mentioned * and farther, to attend with due regard to the illustration and confirmation which the conclu- sions resulting from those passages receive inci- dentally from the word of God. Those who main- tain the opinion which we are combating, will hereby become convinced that theirs is indeed an unscrip- tural religion; and will learn, instead of turning off their eyes from the grand peculiarities of Chris- tianity, to keep these ever in view, as the first prin- ciples whence all the rest must derive their origin, and receive their best support.*
* Any one who wishes to investigate this subject, will do well to study attentively M'Laurin's Essay on Prejudiceij against the Gospel. — It may not be amiss here to direct the reader's attention to a few leading arguments, many of them those of the work just recommended. Let him maturely estimate the force of those terms, whereby the apostle in the following passages designates and characterizes the whole of the Christian system. " We preach Christ crucified." " We determined to know nothing among you, sare Jesus Christ, and him crucified." The value of this argument will be acknowledged by all who consider that a system is never designated by an immaterial or an inferior part of it, but by that which constitutes its prime consideration and essential distinction. The conclusion suggested by this re- mark is confirmed by the Lord's supper being the rite by
104 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OP
Let us then, each for himself, solemnly ask our- selves, whether ice have fled for refuge to the ap- pointed hope ? And whether we are habitually look- ing to it, as to the only source of consolation? *' Other foundation can no man lay :" there is no other ground of dependence, no other plea for pardon ; bi'' ' ere there is hope, even to the uttermost. Let u& ,^oor then to affect our hearts with a deep con-
which our Savior himself commanded his disciples to keep him in remembrance ; and indeed a similar lesson is taught by the ordinance of baptism, which shadows out our souls being washed and purified by the blood of Christ. ObseiA'^e next the frequency with which our Savior's death and suf- ferings are introduced, and how often they are urged as practical motives.
" The minds of the apostles seem full of this subject. Every thing put them in mind of it ; they did not allow them- selves to have it long out of their view, nor did any other branch of spiritual instruction make them lose sight of it." Consider next that part of the epistle to the Romans, where- in St. Paul speaks of some who went about to establish their owTi righteousness, and had not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. May not this charge be in some degree urged, and even more strongly than in the case of the Jews, against those who satisfy themselves with vague, general, occasional thoughts of our Savior's mediation ; and the source of whose habitual complacency, as we explained above, is rather their being tolerably well satisfied with their own characters and conduct *? Yet St. Paul declares concerning those of whom he speaks, as concerning persons %vho3« sad situation could not be too much lamented, that he had Ifreat heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart.
TERMS OF ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD. 105
viction of our need of a Redeemer, and of the value of his offered mediation. Let us fall down humbly before the throne of God, imploring pity and pardon in the name of the Son of his love. Let us beseech him to give us a true spirit of repentance, and of hearty undivided faith in the Lord Jesus. Let us not be satisfied till the cordiality of our belief be con- firmed to us by that character of the apostle, " that to
adding still more emphatical expressions of deep and bitter regret.
Let the Epistle to theGalatians be also carefully examined and considered ; and let it be fairly asked, what was the par- ticular in which the Judaizing Christians were defective, and the want of which is spoken of in such strong terms as these ; that if frustrates the grace of God, and must debar from all the benefits of the death of Jesus 1 The Judaizing converts were not immoral. They seem to have admitted the chief tenets concerning our Savior. But they appear to have been disposed to trust, (not wholly, be it observed also, but only in part,) for their acceptance with God, to the Mo' saic institutions, instead of reposing wholly on the merits of Christ, Here let it be remembered, that when a compliance with these institutions was not regarded ajs conveying this inference, the apostle showed by his own conduct that he did not deem it criminal ; whence, no less than from the words of the epistle, it is clear that the offence of the Ju. daizing Christians whom he condemned, was what we have stated ; not their obstinately continuing to adhere to a dis« pensation, the ceremonial of which Christianity had abro- gated, or their trusting to the sacrifices of the Levitical law, which were in their own nature inefficacious for the blotting out of sin. See Heb. 7, 8, 9, 10.
106 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS Of
as many as believe Christ is precious ;" and let us strive to increase daily in love towards our blessed Savior ; and pray earnestly that " we may be filled with joy and peace in believing, that we may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." Let us diligently put in practice the directions for- merly given for cherishing and cultivating the prin- ciples of the love of Christ. With this view let us labor assiduously to increase in knowledge, that ours may be a deeply rooted and rational affection. By frequent meditation on the incidents of our Sa- vior's life, and still more on the astonishing circum- stances of his death ; by often calling to mind the state from which he proposes to rescue us, and the glories of his heavenly kingdom ; by continual in- tercourse with him of prayer and praise, of depend- ence and confidence in dangers, of hope and joy in our brighter hours ; let us endeavor to keep him constantly present to our minds, and to render all our conceptions of him more distinct, lively, and in tclligent. The title of Christian is a reproach to us, if we estrange ourselves from Him after whom we are denominated. The name of Jesus is not to be to us like the Allah of the Mohammedans, a talisman or an amulet to be worn on the arm, as an external badge merely, and symbol of our profession, and to preserve us from evil by some mysterious and unin^ telligible potency ; but it is to be engraven deeply on the heart, there written by the finger of God himself
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 107
in everlasting characters. It is our title known and understood to present peace and future glory. The assurance which it conveys of a bright reversion, will lighten the burdens and alleviate the sorrows of life; and in some happier moments it will impart to us somewhat of that fullness of joy which is at God's right hand, enabling us to join even here in the heavenly hosanna, " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." " Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb* ^or ever and ever." Rev. 5 : 12, 13.
CHAPTER IV.
ON THE PREVAILING INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS CONCERNING THE NATURE AND THE STRICT- NESS OF PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY.
SECTION 1»
One part of this title may, on the first view, excite surprise in any who may have drawn a hasty in-
108 tNADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS Of
Terence from the charges conveyed by the two pre- ceding chapters. Such a one might be disposed to expect, that those who have very low conceptions of the corruption of human nature, would be pro* portionably less indulgent to human frailty • and that those who lay little stress on Christ's satisfac- tion for sin, or on the operations of the Holy Spirit, would be more high and rigid in their demands of diligent endeavors after universal holiness ; since their scheme implies that we must depend chiefly on our own exertions and performances for our ac- ceptance with God.
But any such expectations as these would be greatly disappointed. There is in fact a region of truth, and a region of errors. Those who hold the fundamental doctrines of Scripture in their due force, hold also in its due degree of purity the practi- cal system which Scripture inculcates. But those who explain away the former, soften down the latter also, and reduce it to the level of their own defective scheme. It is not from any confidence in the supe- rior amount of their own performances, or in the greater vigor of their own exertions, that they re- concile themselves to their low views of the satisfac- tion of Christ, and of the influence of the Spirit ; but i* should rather seem their plan so to depress 'ihe required standard of practice, that no man need fall^short of it, that no superior aid can be wanted for enabling us to attain to it It happens, however,
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 109
with respect to tlieir simple method of morality, as in the case of the short ways to knowledge, of which some vain pretenders have vaunted them- selves to be possessed : despising the beaten track in which more sober and humble spirits have been content to tread, they have struck into new and un- tried paths ; but these have failed of conducting them to the right object, and have issued only in igno- rance and conceit.
It seems in our days to be the commonly received opinion, that provided a man admit in general terms the truth of Christianity, though he know not or consider not much concerning the particulars of the system ; and if he be not habitually guilty of any of the grosser vices against his fellow-creatures, we have no great reason to be dissatisfied with him, or to question the validity of his claim to the name and consequent privileges of a Christian. The title im- plies no more than a sort of formal, general assent to Christianity in the gross, and a degree of morality in practice, but little, if at all, superior to that for which we look in a good Deist, Mussulman, or Hindoo.
If any one be disposed to deny that this is a fair representation of the religion of the bulk of the Christian world, he might be asked, whether, if it were proved to them beyond dispute that Christian- ity is a mere forgery, would this occasion any great change in their conduct or habits of mind ? Would 10
110 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OS
any alteration be made in consequence of this dia- covery, except in a few of their speculative opinions, which, when distinct from practice, it is a part of their own system, as has been before remarked, to think of little consequence ; and in their attendance on public worship, which, however, knowing the good effects of religion upon the lower orders of the people, they might still think it better to attend oc- casionally for example's sake ? Would not their re- gard for their character, their health, their domestic and social comforts, still continue to restrain them from vicious excesses, and to prompt them to persist in the discharge, according to their present measure, of the various duties of their stations'? Would they find themselves dispossessed of what had been to them hitherto the repository of counsel and instruc- tion, the rule of their conduct, their habitual source of peace, and hope, and consolation ?
It were needless to put these questions. They are answered in fact already by the lives of many known unbelievers, between whom and these professed Christians, even the familiar associates of both, though men of discernment and observation, would discover little difference either in conduct or temper of mind. How little then does Christianity deserve that title to novelty and superiority which has been almost universally admitted ! that pre-eminence, as a practical code, over all other systems of ethics ! How unmerited are the praises which have been
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. Ill
lavished upon it by its friends ! praises, in which even its enemies, not in general disposed to make concessions in its favor, have so often been unwarily draAvn in to acquiesce !
Was it then for this that the Son of God conde- scended to become our Instructor and our Pattern, leaving us an example, that we might tread in his steps ? Was it for this that the apostles of Christ voluntarily submitted to hunger and nakedness, and pain, and ignominy and death, when forewarned too by their Master that such would be their treatment 1 That, after all, their disciples should attain to no higher a strain of virtue than those who, rejecting their divine authority, should still adhere to the old philosophy ?
But it may perhaps be objected, that we are for- getting an observation which we ourselves have made, that Christianity has raised the general stand- ard of morals : to which therefore infidelity herself now finds it prudent to conform, availing herself of the pure morality of Christianity, and sometimes wishing to usurp to herself the credit of it, while she stigmatizes the authors with the epithets of igno- rant dupes or designing impostors !
But let it then be asked, are the motives of Chris- tianity so little necessary to the practice of it, its principles to its conclusions, that the one may be epared and y«t the other remain in undiminished force 7 Still, then, its doctrines are no more than a
112 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
barren and inapplicable, or at least an unnecessary- theory, the place of which, it may perhaps be added, would be well supplied by a more simple and less costly scheme.
But can it be ? Is Christianity then reduced to a mere creed ? Is its practical influence bounded with- in a few external plausibilities 1 Does its essence consist only in a few speculative opinions, and a few useless and unprofitable tenets? And can this be the ground of that portentous distinction, which is so unequivocally made by the evangelist between those who accept and those Avho reject the Gospel : " He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him ?" This were to run into the very error which the bulk of profess- ed Christians would be most forward to condemn, of making an unproductive faith the rule of God's future judgment, and the ground of an eternal sepa- ration. Thus not unlike the rival circumnavigators from Spain and Portugal, who setting out in contra- ry directions, found themselves in company at the very time they thought themselves farthest from each other ; so the bulk of professed Christians ar- rive, though by a different course, almost at the very same point, and occupy nearly the same station as a set of enthusiasts, who also rest upon a barren faith, to whom on the first view they might be thought the most nearly opposite, and whose tenets they with
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 113
teason profess to hold in peculiar detestation. By what pernicious courtesy of language is it, that this wretched system has been flattered with the name of Christianity ?
The morality of the Gospel is not so slight a fa- bric. Christianity throughout exhibits proofs of its Divine original, and its practical precepts are no less pure than its doctrines are sublime. Can lan- guage furnish injunctions stricter in their measure, or larger in their comprehension, than those with which the word of God abounds ? " Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus " — "Be ye holy, for God is holy" — ''Be ye per- fect, as your Father which is in heaven is perfect?" We are commanded to ;?e?/£;c/ holiness, to go on un- to perfectio?i.
Such are the Scripture admonitions ; and surely we may not safely acquiesce in low attainments : a con- clusion to which also we are led by the force of the expressions by which Christians are characterized in Scripture, and by the thorough change represent- ed as taking place in any man on his becoming a real Christian. " Every one," it is said, " that hath this hope, purifieth himself even as God is pure :" true Christians are said to be "partakers of the Di- vine nature;" "to be created anew in the image of God ;" " to be temples of the Holy Ghost." The effects of which must appear "in all goodness an4 righteousness and truth."
10*
114 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
Great as was the progress which the apostle Paul had made in all virtue, he declares of himself that he still presses forward, " forgetting the things which are behind, and reaching forth unto the things which are before." He prays for his beloved disciples, " that they may be tilled with all the fullness of God ;" " that they may be filled with the fruits of righteousness ;" " that they might walk worthy oi the Lord umo all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work." Nor is it a less full and comprehen- sive petition, which, from our blessed Savior's insert- ing it in the prayer he has given as a model for out imitation, we may infer ought to be the habitual sentiment of our hearts ; " Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
These few extracts from the word of. God abun- dantly vindicate the strictness of the christian moral- ity ; but this point will be still more fully established when we proceed to investigate the nature, essence, and governing principles of the christian character.
It is the grand, essential, practical characteristic of true Christians, that, relying on the promises to repenting sinners, of acceptance through the Re- deemer, they have renounced and abjured all other masters, and have cordially and unreservedly de- voted themselves to God. Christians have become the sworn enemies of sin ; they will allow it in no shape, they will admit it to no composition ; the war they have denounced against it is universal, irre- concilable.
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 115
But this is not all : it is now their determined purpose to yield themselves without reserve to the reasonable service of their rightful Sovereign. They are not their own : their bodily and mental facul- ties, their natural and acquired endowments, their substance, their authority, their time, their influence ; all these they consider as belonging to them, not for their own gratification, but as so many instruments to be consecrated to the honor and employed in the service of God. This must be the master principle to which every other must be subordinate. What- ever may have been hitherto their ruling passion, whatever hitherto their leading pursuit, whether sen- sual, or intellectual, of science, of taste, of fancy, or of feeling, it must now possess but a secondary place ; or rather, to speak more correctly, it must exist only at the pleasure, and be put altogether un- der the control and direction of its true and legiti- mate superior.
Thus it is the prerogative of Christianity " to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." They who really feel its power, are re- solved, in the language of Scripture, " to live no longer to themselves, but to him that died for them :'* ♦Jiey know indeed their own infirmities ; they know that the way on which they have entered is strait and difficult, but they know too the encouraging as- surance, " They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength ;" and, relying on this animating de-
116 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
claration, they deliberately purpose that the govern- ing maxim of their future lives shall be, " to do all to the glory of God."
Behold here the principle, which contains within it the rudiments of all true virtue ; which, striking deep its roots, though feeble perhaps and lowly in its beginnings, silently progressive and almost insen- sibly maturing, yet will shortly, even in the bleak and churlish temperature of this world, lift up its head and spread abroad its branches, bearing abun- dant fruits, precious fruits of refreshment and consola- tion, of which the boasted products of philosophy are but sickly imitations, void of fragrance and of flavor. But,
Igneus est ollis vigor et coelestis origo.
At length it will be transplanted into its native re- gion, and enjoy a more genial climate and a kind- lier soil; and, bursting forth into full luxuriance,, with unfading beauty and unexhausted odors, shall flourish for ever in the paradise of God.
While the servants of Christ continue in this life, glorious as is the issue of their labors, they receive many humiliating memorials of their remaining im- perfections, and daily find reason to confess that they cannot do the things that they would. Their determination, however, is still unshaken, and it is the fixed desire of their hearts to improve in all holiness ; and this, let it be observed, on many ac
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 117
counts. They are urged on by the dread of failure ; they trust not, where their all is at stake, to lively emotions, or to internal impressions ; the example of Christ is their pattern, the word of God is their rule ; there they read, that " without holiness no man shall see the Lord." It is the description of real Christians, that they are gradually " changed into the image of their Divine Master;" and they dare not allow themselves to believe their title sure, except so far as they can discern in themselves the growing traces of this blessed resemblance.
It is not merely however the fear of misery, and the desire of happiness, by which they are actuated in their endeavors to excel in all holiness; they love it for its own sake : nor is it solely by the sense of self-interest (this, though often unreasonably con- demned, is but a principle of an inferior order) that they are influenced in their determination to obey the will, and to cultivate the favor of God. This determination has its foundations indeed in a deep and humiliating sense of his exalted majesty and in- finite power, and of their outi extreme inferiority and littleness, attended with a settled conviction of its being their duty as his creatures, to submit in all things to the will of their great Creator. But these awful impressions are relieved and ennobled by an admiring sense of the infinite perfections and in- finite amiableness of the Divine character ; animated by a confiding though humble hope of his fatherly
118 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OP
kindness and protection, and quickened by the grate- ful recollection of immense and continually increas- ing obligations. This is the Christian love of God I A love compounded of admiration, of preference, of hope, of trust, of joy ; chastised by reverential awe, and wakeful with continual gratitude.
The elementary principles which have been above enumerated, however, exist in various degrees and proportions. A difference in natural disposition, in the circumstances of the past life, and in number- less other particulars, may occasion a great difference in the predominant tempers of different Christians. In one the love, in another the fear of God may have the ascendancy ; trust in one, and in another gratitude ; but in greater or less degrees, a cordial complacency in the sovereignty, an exalted sense of the perfections, a grateful impression of the good- ness, and a humble hope of the favor of the Divine Being, are common to them all. Common — the determination to devote themselves without excep- tions, to the service and glory of God. Common — the desire of holiness and of continual progress towards perfection. Common — an abasing con- sciousness of their own unworthiness, and of their many remaining infirmities, which interpose so often to corrupt the simplicity of their intentions, to thwart the execution of their purer purposes, and frustrate the resolutions of their better hours.
But some perhaps, who will not directly and in
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 119
the gross oppose the conclusions for which we have been contendin.g-, may endeavor to elude them. It may be urged, that to represent them as of general application, is going much too far ; and however true in the <:ase of some individuals of a higher or- der, it may be asserted they are not applicable to ordinary Christians ; from these so much will not surely be expected ; and here perhaps there may be a secret reference to that supposed mitigation of the requisitions of the Divine law under the Christian dispensation, which was formerly noticed. This is so important a point that it ought not to be passed over : let us call in the authority of Scripture ; at the same time only a few passages shall be cited, and we refer to the word of God itself for those who wish for fuller satisfaction. The difficulty here is not to find proofs, but to select with discretion from the mukitude which pour in upon us.
In the first place, the precepts are expressed in the broadest and most general terms ; no persons are at liberty to conceive themselves exempted from the obligation of them ; and in any disposed to urge such a plea of exemption, it may well excite the most serious apprehension to consider how the plea would be received by an earthly tribunal. No weak argument this to any who are acquainted with the Scriptures, and who know how often God is there represented as reasoning with mankind on the principles which they have established for their dealing-s with each other.
120 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
In the next place, the precepts in question contain within themselves abundant proofs of their universal application, inasmuch as they are grounded on cir- cumstances and relations common to all Christians, and of the benefits of which, even our objectors themselves, though they would evade the practical deductions from them, would not be willing to re- linquish their share. Christians "are not their own," because " they are bought with a price;" they are not " to live unto themselves, but to Him that died for them ; they are commanded to do the most difficult duties, " that they may be the children of their Father which is in heaven;" and "except a man be born again of the Spirit" (thus again be- coming one of the sons of God) " he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven." It is " because they are sons," that God has given them what in Scrip- ture language is styled "the spirit of adoption." It is only of '' as many as are led by the Spirit of God " that it is declared " they are the sons of God ;" and we are expressly warned, as it were to prevent anj'' such loose profession of Christianity as that which we are here combating, " If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." In short, Chris- tians in general are every where denominated the servants and the children of God, and are required to serve him with that submissive obedience, and that affectionate promptitude of duty, which belong to ihose endearin? relations.
THE NATL'HE OF CHRISTIANITY. 121
Estimate next the force of that well known pas- sage— " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength." The injunction is multiplied on us, to silence the sophistry of the ca- viller, and to fix the most inconsiderate mind. And surely if the words have any meaning at all, the least which can be intended by them is that settled, pre- dominant esteem, and cordial preference, for which we are now contending. The conclusion which this passage forces on us, is strikingly confirmed by other parts of Scripture, wherein the love of God is positively commended to the whole of a Christian church; 2 Cor. 13 : 14; or wherein the want of it, (1 John, 3: 17, Rom. 16: 18. compared with Phil. 3 : 19,) or wherein its not being the chief and ruling affection, is charged on persons professing them- selves Christians, as being sufficient to disprove their claim to that appellation, or as being equivalent to denying it; 2 Tim. 3 : 4. Let not, therefore, any deceive themselves by imagining that only an abso- lute unqualified renunciation of the desire of the fa- vor of God is here condemned. God will not accept of a divided affection ; a single heart and a single eye are in express terms declared to be indispensa- bly required of us. We are ordered, under the figure of amassing heavenly treasure, to make the favor and service of God our chief pursuit, for this very reason, because " where our treasure is, there will U
122 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
our hearts be also." It is on this principle that, in speaking- of particular vices, such phrases are often used in Scripture as suggest that their criminality mainly consists in drawing away the heart from Him who is the just object of its preference ; and sins which we might think very different in crimi- nality, are classed together, because they all agree in this grand character. Nor is this preference as- serted only over affections vicious in themselves, and to which therefore Christianity might well be sup- posed hostile ; but over those also which in their just measure are not only lawful, but even most strongly enjoined on us. " He that loveth father and mother more than me," says our blessed Savior, '' is not worthy of me ; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me." Matt. 10 : 37. The spirit of these injunctions harmonizes with many commendations in Scripture of zeal for the honor of God, as well as with that strong ex- pression of disgust and abhorrence with which the lukewarm, (those neither cold nor hot,) are spoken of as being more loathsome and offensive than even open and avowed enemies.
Another class of instances tending to the same point, is furnished by those many passages of Scrip- ture, wherein promoting of the glory of God is com- manded as our supreme and universal aim, and wherein the honor due unto him is declared to be tlint in which he will allow no competitor to partici-
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITT. 123
pate. On this head indeed the holy Scriptures are, if possible, more peremptory than on the former ; and at the same time so full as to render particular citations unnecessary in the case of any one who has ever so little acquaintance with the word of God. To pat the same thing therefore in another light. All who have read the Scriptures must confess that idolatry is the crime against which God's highest resentment is expressed, and his severest punish- ment denounced. But let us not deceive ourselves. It is not in bowing the knee to idols that idolatry consists, so much as in the internal homage of the heart ; as in feeling towards them any of that su- preme love, reverence, or gratitude, which God re- serves to himself as his own exclusive prerogative. On the same principle, whatever else draws off the heart from him engrosses our prime regard, and holds the chief place in our esteem and affections, that, in the estimation of reason, is no less an idol to us than an image of wood or stone would be, before which we should fall down and worship. This is the language and argument of inspiration. The ser- vant of God is commanded not to set up his ido4 in his heart; and sensuality and covetousness are re- peatedly termed idolatry. The same God who de- clares— " My glory will I not give to another, nei- ther my praise to graven images," declares also — *' Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might ; let not the
124 TKADEQTTATE CONCEPTIONS OF
rich man glory in his riches." Jer. 9 : 23. " No flesh may glory in his presence ;" " he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." The sudden vengeance by which the vain-glorious ostentation of Herod was punished, when, acquiescing in the servile adulation of an admiring multitude, " he gave not God the glory," is a dreadful comment on these injunctions.
These awful declarations, it is to be feared, are little regarded. Let the great, and the wise, and the learned, and the successful, lay them seriously to heart, and labor habitually to consider their supe- riority, whether derived from nature, or study, oi fortune, as the unmerited bounty of God. This re- flection will naturally tend to produce a disposition, instead of that proud self-complacency so apt to grow upon the human heart, in all respects opposite to it ; a disposition honorable to God and useful to man ; a temper composed of reverence, humility, and grati- tude, and delighting to be engaged in the praises, and employed in the benevolent service of the uni- versal Benefactor.
It only remains to be remarked, that here, as in the former instances, the characters of the righteous and of the wicked, as delineated in Scripture, exactly correspond with the representations which have been given of the Scripture injunctions.
The necessity of this cordial unreserved devoted- ness to the glory and service of God, as indispen- sable to the character of the true Christian, has been
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 125
insisted on at tlie greater length, not only on ac- count of its own extreme importance, but also be- cause it appears a duty too generally overlooked. Once well established, it will serve as a fundamental principle both for the government of the heart and regulation of the conduct ; and will prove eminently useful in the decision of many practical cases which it might be difficult to bring under the undisputed operation of any subordinate or appropriate rule.
SECTION II.
Having endeavored to establish the strictness, and to ascertain the essential character of true prac- tical Christianity, let us investigate more in detail the practical system of the bulk of professed Chris- tians among ourselves.*
It was formerly remarked, that the whole subject of religion was often viewed from such a distance as to be seen only in the gross. We now, it is to be feared, shall find too much cause for believing that those who approach nearer, and do discover in
♦ It will be remembered by the reader, that it is not the object of this work to animadvert on the vices, defects, and erroneous opinions of the times, except as they are received iri-.o the prevailing religious system, or are tolerated by it, and are not thought sufRcient to prevent a man from being esteemed, on the whole, a very tolerable Christian. 11^
126 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
Christianity somewhat of a distinct form, yet come not close enough to discern her peculiar conforma- tion.
A very erroneous notion prevails concerning the true nature of religion. Religion, agreeably to vv^hat has been already stated, may be considered as the implantation of a vigorous and active principle ; it is seated in the heart, where its authority is recog- nized as supreme, whence by degrees it expels whatever is opposed to it, and where it gradually brings all the affections and desires under its com- plete control.
But though the heart be its special residence, eve- ry endeavor and pursuit must acknow^ledge its pre- sence ; and whatever does not, or will not, or cannot receive its sacred stamp, is to be condemned, and is to be at once abstained from or abandoned. It is like the principle of vitality, which communicates its influence to the smallest and remotest fibers of the frame. But the notion of religion entertained by many among us seems altogether different. They begin, indeed, in submission to her clear prohibitions, by fencing off from the field of human action a cer- tain district, which, though it in many parts bear fruits on which they cast a longing eye, they cannot but confess to be forbidden ground. They next as- sign to religion a portion according to their circum- stances and views, in which however she is to pos- sess merely a qualified jurisdiction, and having so
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 127
done, they conceive that without hinderance they have a right to range at will over the spacious remainder. Religion can claim only a stated proportion of their thoughts, and time, and fortune, and influence ; the rest they think is now their own, to do what they will with ; they have paid their tithes — say rather, their composition ; the demands of the Church are satisfied, and they may surely be permitted to enjoy what she has left without molestation or interference.
It is scarcely possible to state too strongly the mischief which results from this fundamental error. At the same time its consequences are so natural and obvious, that one would think it scarcely possi- ble not to foresee that they must infallibly follow. The greatest part of human actions is considered as indifferent. If men are not chargeable with gross vices, and are decent in the discharge of their reli- gious duties ; if they do not stray into the forbidden ground, what more can be expected from them ? In- stead of keeping at a distance from all sin, in which alone consists our safety, they will be apt not to care how near they approach what they conceive to be the boundary line ; if they have not actually passed it, there is no harm done, it is no trespass. Thus the free and active spirit of religion is checked. She must keep to her prescribed confines, and every at- tempt to extend them will be resisted.
This is not all. Since whatever can be gained from her allotment, or whatever can be taken in
128 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
from the forbidden ground, will be so much of addition to that land where men may roam at large, free from restraint or molestation, they will of course be constantly pressing upon the limits of the religious allotment on the one hand, and on the other will be removing back a little farther and farther the fence which abridges them on the side of the for- bidden ground. The space she occupies diminishes till it is scarcely discernible ; whilst, her spirit ex- tinguished and her force destroyed, she is little more than the nominal possessor even of the contracted limits to which she has been avowedly reduced.
This is but too faithful a representation of the gen- eral state of things among ourselves. The promo- tion of the glory of God, and the possession of his. favor, are no longer recognized as the objects of our highest regard, and most strenuous endeavors ; as furnishing to us a vigorous, habitual, and univer- sal principle of action. We set up for ourselves: we are become our own masters. The sense of continual service is irksome and galling to us ; and we rejoice in being emancipated from it. Thus the very tenure and condition by which life and all its possessions are held, undergo a total change. What- ever we have is regarded rather as a property than as a trust ; or if there still exists the remembrance of some paramount claim, we are satisfied with an occasional acknowledgment, as of a nominal riglit.
Hence it is that so little sense of responsibility
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 129
seems attached to the possession of high rank, or splendid abilities, or affluent fortunes, or other means or instruments of usefulness. The instructive admo- nitions, " Give an account of thy stewardship" — " Occupy till I come," are forgotten. Or if it be ac- knowledged by some men of larger views than ordi- nary, that reference is to be had to some principle superior to that of our own gratification, it is, at best, to the good of society, or to the welfare of our fami- lies: and even then the obligations resulting from. these relations are seldom enforced on us by any higher sanctions than those of family comfort, and of worldly interest or estimation. Beside, what multi- tudes of persons are there, people without families, in private stations, or of a retired turn, to Vv-hom they are scarcely held to apply! and what multitudes of cases to which it would be thought unnecessary scrupulosity to extend them ! Accordingly we find, in fact, that the generality of mankind among the higher order, in the formation of their schemes, in the selection of their studies, in the choice of their place of residence, in the employment and distribu- tion of their time, in their thoughts, conversation and amusements, are considered as being at liberty, if there be no actual vice, to consult their own grati- fication.
Thus the generous and wakeful spirit of Christian benevolence, seeking and finding every where occa- sions for its exercise, is exploded, and a system ofde-
130 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
cent selfishness is avowedly established in its stead ; a system scarcely more to be abjured for its impiety, than to be abhorred for its cold insensibility to the opportunities of diffusing happiness. " Have we no families, or are they provided for 1 Are we wealthy, and bred to no profession ? Are we young and live- ly, and in the gayety and vigor of youth? Surely w^e may be allowed to take our pleasure. We neglect no duty, we live in no vice, we do nobody any harm, and have a right to amuse ourselves. We have no- thing better to do ; we wish we had ; our time hangs heavy on our hands for want of it."
But no man has a right to be idle. Not to speak of that great work which we all have to accomplish, and surely the whole attention of a short and precari- ous life is not more than an eternal interest may well require ; where is it that, in such a world as this, health, and leisure, and affluence may not find some ignorance to instruct, some wrong to redress, some want to supply, some misery to alleviate? Shall am- bition and avarice never sleep ? Shall they never want objects on which to fasten ? Shall they be so observant to discover, so acute to discern, so eager, so patient to pursue, and shall the benevolence of Christians want employment?
Yet thus life rolls away with too many of us, in a course of " shapeless idleness." Its recreations con- stitute its chief businsss. Watering-places, the sports of the field, cards ! never-failing cards ! the assem-
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 131
biy, the theatre, all contribute their aid ; amusements are multiplied, and combined, and varied, " to fill up the void of a listless and languid life ;" and by the regulated use of these different resources, there is often a kind of sober settled plan of domestic dissipa- tion, in which, with all imaginable decency, year after year wears away in unprofitable vacancy. Even old age often finds us pacing in the samo round of amusements which our early youth had tracked out. Meanwhile, beins: conscious that we are not giving in to any flagrant vice, and it may be, that we are not neglecting the offices of religion, we persuade ourselves that we need not be uneasy. In the main, we do not fall below the general standard of morals of the class and station to which we belong; we may therefore allow ourselves to glide down the stream without apprehension of the con- sequences.
Some, of a character often hardly to be distin- guished from the class we have been just describing, take up with sensual pleasures. The chief happi- ness of their lives consists in one species or another of animal gratification; and these persons perhaps will be found to compose a large proportion. It be- longs not to our purpose to speak of the grossly and scandalously profligate, who renounce all pretensions to the name of Christians; but of those who, main- taining a certain decency of character, and perhaps being tolerably observant of the forms of religion,
132 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
may yet be not improperly termed sober sensualists. These, though less impetuous and more measured, are not less stanch and steady than the professed votaries of licentious pleasure, in the pursuit of their favorite objects. " Mortify the flesh, with its affections and lusts," is the Christian 'precept ; but a soft lux- urious course of habitual indulgence is the practice of the bulk of modern Christians : and that constant moderation, that wholesome discipline of restraint and self-denial, which are requisite to prevent the unperccived encroachments of the inferior appetites, seem altogether as disused as the exploded austeri- ties of monkish superstition.
Christianity calls her professors to a state of dili- gent watchfulness and active services. But the per- sons of whom we are now speaking, forgetting alike the duties they owe to themselves and to their fellow- creatures, often act as' though their condition were meant to be a state of uniform indulgence, and vacant, unprofitable sloth. To multiply the comforts of afHu- ence, to provide for the gratification of appetite, to be luxurious without diseases, and indolent without lassitude, seems the chief study of their lives. Nor can they be clearly exempted from this class, who, by a common error, substituting the means for the end, make the preservation of health and spirits, not as instruments of usefulness, but as sources of pleasure, their great business and continual care.
Others aj^ain seem more to attach themselves to
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 133
what have been well termed the " pomps and vani- ties of this world." Magnificent houses, grand equi- pages, numerous retinues, splendid entertainments, high and fashionable connexions, appear to consti- tute, in their estimation, the supreme happiness of life. This class, too, if we mistake not, will be found numerous in our days; for it must be considered that it is the heart, set on these things, which consti- tutes the essential character. Persons to whose rank and station these indulgences most properly belong, often are the most indifferent to them. Undue soli- citude about them is more visible in persons of in- ferior conditions and smaller fortunes, in whom it is detected by the studious contrivances of a misapplied ingenuity to reconcile parade with economy, and to glitter at a cheap rate. But this temper of display and competition is a direct contrast to the lowly, modest, unassuming carriage of the true Christian : and wherever there is an evident effort and struggle to excel in the particulars here in question, a mani- fest wish thus to rival superiors, to outstrip equals, to dazzle inferiors ; it is manifest the great end of life, and of all its possessions, is too little kept in view, and it is to be feared that the gratification of a vain ostentatious humor is the predominant disposition of the heart.
As there is a sober sensuality, so is there also a sober avarice, and a sober ambition. The commer- cial and the professional world compose the chief 12
134 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
sphere of their influence. They are often recog- nised and openly avowed as just master principles of action. But where this is not the case, they as- sume such plausible shapes, are called by such specious names, and urge such powerful pleas, that they are received with cordiality, and suffered to gather strength without suspicion. The seducing considerations of diligence in our callings, of suc- cess in our profession, of making handsome pro- visions for our children, beguile our better judg- ments. " We rise early, and late take rest, and eat the bread of carefulness." In our few intervals of leisure, our exhausted spirits require refreshment ; the serious concerns of our immortal souls are matters of speculation too grave and gloomy to answer the purpose, and we fly to something that may better deserve the name of relaxation, till we are again summoned to the daily labors of our employment.
Meanwhile religion scarcely occurs to our thoughts ; and when some secret misgivings begin to be felt on this head, company soon drowns, amuse- ments dissipate, or habitual occupations insensibly displace or smother the rising apprehension. Pro- fessional and commercial men often quiet their consciences by the plea, that their business leaves them no time to think on these serious subjects at present. " Men of leisure they confess should con- sider them ; they themselves will do it hereafter when they retire; meanwhile they are usefully, or at
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 135
least innocently employed." Thus business and plea- sure fill up our time, and the " one thing needful " is forgotten. Respected by others, and secretly applaud- ing ourselves, perhaps congratulating ourselves that we are not like such a one who is a spendthrift or a mere man of pleasure, or such another who is a notorious miser, the true principle of action is no less wanting in us, and personal advancement or the acquisition of wealth is the object of our supreme desires and predominant pursuit.
It would be too much to attempt the delineation of the characters of the politician, the metaphysician, the scholar, the poet, the virtuoso, the man of taste, in all their varieties. Of these and many other classes, suffice it to appeal to every man's own expe- rience for the truth of the observation, that they in like manner are often completely engrossed by their several pursuits. In many cases, indeed, a generous spirit surrenders itself wholly up with the less re- serve, and continues absorbed with the fuller con- fidence, from the consciousness of not being led by self-interested motives. Here therefore these men are ardent, active, laborious, persevering, and they think, and speak, and act, as those the whole happiness of whose life turns on the success or failure of their endeavors. Let not the writer be supposed to in- sinuate that religion is an enemy to the pursuits of taste, much less to those of learning and of science. Let these have their due place in the estimation of
136 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
mankind ; but this must not be the highest place. Let them know their just subordination. They de- serve not to be the primary concern, for there is another, to which in importance they bear no more proportion than our span of existence to eternity.
Thus the supreme desires of the heart are per- mitted without control to take that course, whatever it may be, which best suits our natural temper, or to which they are impelled by our various situations and circumstances. " Know thyself," is in truth an injunction with which the careless and the indolent cannot comply. For this compliance, it is requisite, in obedience to the Scripture precept, " to keep the heart with all diligence." Mankind are in general deplorably ignorant of their true state ; and there are few who have any adequate conception of the real strength of the ties by which they are bound to the several objects of their attachment, or who are aware how small a share of their regard is possessed by those concerns on which it ought to be supremely fixed.
But God requires to set up his throne in the heart, and to reign in it without a rival : if he be kept out of his right, it matters not by what competitor. The revolt may be more avowed or more secret ; it may be the treason of deliberate preference, or of incon- siderate levity ; we may be the subjects of a more or of a less creditable master ; we may be employed in services more gross or more refined ; but whether
THfi JfATtRE OF CHRISTIANITY. 137
the slaves of avarice, of sensuality, of dissipation, of sloth, or the votaries of ambition, of taste, or of fashion ; whether supremely governed by vanity and self-love, by the desire of literary fame or of military glory, we are alike estranged from the dominion of our rightful Sovereign. Let not this seem a harsh position ; it can appear so only from not adverting to what was shown to be the essential nature of true religion. He who bowed the knee to the god of medicine or of eloquence, was no less an idolater than the worshiper of the deified patrons of lewdness or of theft. In the several cases which have been specified, the external acts indeed are different, but in principle the disaffection is the same ; and we must prepare to meet the punishment of rebels on that tremendous day, when all false colors shall be done away, and, there being no longer any room for the evasions of worldly sophistry, or the smooth plausibilities of worldly language, " that which is often highly esteemed amongst men, shall appear to have been abomination in the sight of God."
These fundamental truths seem vanished from the mind, and it follo\vs of course, that every thing is viewed less and less through a religious medium. To speak no longer 'of instances wherein we our- selves are concerned, what are the judgments which men form in the case of others ? Idleness, profusion, thoughtlessness, and dissipation, the misapplication of time or of talents, the trifling away of life in 12*
138 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
frivolous occupations or unprofitable studies; all these thing^s we may regret in those around us, in the view of their temporal effects ; but they are not considered in a religious connexion, or lamented as endangering everlasting happiness. Excessive vani- ty and inordinate ambition are spoken of as weak- nesses rather than as sins ; even covetousness itself, though a hateful passion, yet, if not extreme, scarcely presents the face of irreligion. Is some friend, or even some common acquaintance sick, or has some accident befallen him ? How solicitously do we in- quire after him, how tenderly do we visit him, how much perhaps do we regret that he has not better advice, and' how should we reproach ourselves if we were to neglect any means in our power of contri- buting to his recovery ! But " the mind is diseased," is neglected and forgotten — " that is not our affair ; we hope, we do not perhaps really believe, that here it is well with him." The truth is, we have no so- licitude about his spiritual interest. Here he is treated like the unfortunate traveler in the Gospel ; we look upon him ; we see but too well his sad con- dition, but (priest and Levite alike) we pass by on the other side, and leave him to the officious tender- ness of some poor despised Samaritan.
Nay, take the case of our very children, when our hearts being most interested to promote their happi- ness, we must bo supposed most desirous of deter- mining on right principles, and where therefore the
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 139
real standard of our deliberate judgments may be indisputably ascertained : in their education and mar- riage, in the choice of their professions, in our com- parative consideration and judgment of the different parts of their several characters, how little do we reflect that they are immortal beings ! Health, learn- ing, credit ; the amiable and agreeable qualities ; above all, fortune and success in life, are taken, and not unjustly taken, into the account; but how small a share in forming our opinions is allowed to the probable effect which may be produced on their eternal interests ! Indeed, the subjects of our mutual inquiries, and congratulations, and condolences, prove but too plainly what considerations are in these cases uppermost in our thoughts.
Such are the fatal and widely spreading efiects which follow from the admission of the grand funda- mental error before mentioned, that of not consider- ing religion as a principle of universal application and command. Robbed of its best energies, religion now takes the form of a cold compilation of restraints and prohibitions. Considering, moreover, that the matter of them is not in general very palatable, and that the partiality of every man, where his own cause is in question, will be likely to make him construe them liberally in his own favor, we might before- hand have formed a tolerable judgment of the man- ner in which they are actually treated. Sometimes we attend to the words rather than to the spirit of
140 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
Scripture injunctions, overlooking the principle they involve, which a better acquaintance with the word of God would have clearly taught us to infer from them. At others, " the spirit of an injunction is all ;" and this we contrive to collect so dexterously, as thereby to relax or annul the strictness of the terms. They sa3^ "Whatever is not expressly forbidden cannot be very criminal ; whatever is not positively enjoined, cannot be indispensably necessary. If we do not offend against the laws, what more can be expected from us ? — The persons to whom the strict precepts of the Gospel were given, were in very dif- ferent circumstances from those in which we are placed. The injunctions were drawn rather tighter than is quite necessary, in order to allow for a little relaxation in practice. The expressions of the sa- cred writers are figurative ; the eastern style is con- fessedly hyperbolical."
By these and other such dishonest shifts, by which however we seldom deceive ourselves, except it be in thinking that we deceive others, the pure but strong morality of the word of God is explained away, and its too rigid canons are softened down with as much dexterity as is exhibited by those who practice a logic of the same complexion, in order to escape from the obligations of human statutes.
But when the law, both in its spirit and its letter, is obstinate and incorrigible, what we cannot bend to our purpose we must break. Hear excuses of this
THB NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 141
nature : " Our sins, we hope, are of the smaller order; a little harmless gallantry, a little innocent jollity, a few foolish expletives which we use from the mere force of habit, meaning nothing by them ; a little warmth of coloring and license of expression ; a few freedoms of speech in the gayety of our hearts, which, though not perhaps strictly correct, none but the over-rigid would think of treating any otherwise than as venial infirmities, and in which very grave and religious men will often take their share, when they may throw off their state, and relax without im- propriety. We serve an all-merciful Being, who knows the frailty of our nature, the number and strength of our temptations, and will not be extreme to mark what is done amiss. Even the less lenient judicatures of human institution concede somewhat to the weakness of man. It is an established maxim — ' De minimis non curat lex.' We hope we are not worse than the generality. All men are imperfect. We own we have our infirmities ; we confess it is so ; we wish we were better, and trust, as we grow older, we shall become so ; we are ready to acknow- ledge that we must be indebted for our admission into a future state of happiness, not to our own merit, but to the clemency of God, and the mercy of our Redeemer."
But let not this language be mistaken for that of true Christian humiliation, of which it is the very essence to feel the burden of sin, and to long to be
142 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
released from it : nor let two things be confounded, than which none can be more fundamentally differ- ent— the allowed want of universality in our deter- mination and our endeavor to obey the will of God, and that defective accomplishment of our purposes, which even the best of men will too often find reason to deplore. In the persons of whom we now have been speaking, the unconcern with which they can amuse themselves upon the borders of sin, and the easy familiarity with which they can actually dally with it in its less offensive shapes, show plainly that, dis- tinctly from its consequences, it is by no means the object of their aversion ; that there is no love of ho- liness as such: no endeavor to acquire it, no care to prepare the soul for the reception of this divine principle, and to expel or keep under whatever might be likely to obstruct its entrance, or dispute its sovereignty.
It is indeed a most lamentable consequence of the practice . of regarding religion as a compilation of statutes, and not as an internal principle, that it soon comes to be considered as being conversant about external actions, rather than about habits of mind. This sentiment sometimes has even the hardiness to insinuate and maintain itself under the guise of ex- traordinary concern for practical religion ; but it soon discovers the falsehood of this pretension, and betrays its real nature. The expedient indeed of attaining to superiority in practice, by not wasting
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 143
any of the attention on the internal principles from which alone practice can flow, is about as reasonable, and will answer about as well, as the economy of the architect Avho should account it mere prodigality to expend any of his materials in laying foundations, from an idea that they might be more usefully ap- plied to the raising of the superstructure. We know what would be the fate of such an edifice.
It is indeed true, and a truth never to be forgotten, that all pretensions to internal principles of holiness are vain, when they are contradicted by the conduct ; but it is no less true, that the only effectual way of improving the latter, is by a vigilant attention to the former. It was therefore our blessed Savior's in- junction, "Make the tree good" as the necessary means of obtaining good fruit ; and the holy Scrip- tures abound in admonitions, to let it be our chief business to cultivate our hearts with all diligence, to examine into their state with impartiality, and vratch over them with continual care. Indeed it is the heart which constitutes the man ; and external actions derive their whole character and meaning from the motives and dispositions of which they are the indications. Human judicatures, it is true, are chiefly conversant about the former ; but this is only because, to our limited perceptions, the latter can sel- dom be any otherwise clearly ascertained. The real object of inquiry to human judicatures is the internal disposition ; it is to this that they adapt the nature, and proportion the degree of their punishments.
144 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS Of
Yet though this be a truth so obvious, so es- tablished, that to have insisted on it may seem al- most needless ; it is a truth of which we are apt to lose sight in the review of our religious character, and with which the habit of considering religion as consisting rather in external actions than internal principles, is at direct and open war. This mode of judging may well be termed habitual ; for though by some persons it is advisedly adopted and openly avowed, yet in many cases, for want of due watch- fulness, it has stolen insensibly upon the mind; it exists unsuspected, and is practiced, like other habits, without consciousness or observation.
In what degree soever this pernicious principle prevails, in that degree is the mischief it produces. The vicious affections, like noxious weeds, sprout up and increase of themselves out too naturally ; while the graces of the Christian temper, exotics in the soil of the human heart, like the more tender productions of the vegetable world, though the light and breath of heaven must quicken them, require, on our part also, constant and assiduous care. But so far from their being earnestly sought for, or watch- fully reared, with unremitted prayers for that divine grace, without which all our labors must be ineffec- tual ; such is the result of the principle we are here condemning, that no endeavors are used for their at- tainment, or they are suffered to droop and die al- most without an effort to preserve them- Way being
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 145
thus made for the unobstructed growth of other tem- pers, the qualities of which are very different, and often directly opposite, these naturally overspread and quietly possess the mind ; their contrariety to the Christian spirit not being discerned, and even perhaps their presence being scarcely acknowledged, except when their existence and their nature are manifested in the conduct, by marks too plain to be overlooked or mistaken.
Some of the most important branches of the Christian temper, wherein the bulk of nominal Christians appear eminently and allowedly defective, have been already noticed in this and in the pre- ceding chapter. Many others still remain to be par- ticularized.
First, then, it is the comprehensive compendium of the character of true Christians, that " they are walking by faith, and not by sight." By this de- scription is meant, not merely that they so firmly believe in the doctrine of future rewards and punish- ments, as to be influenced by that persuasion to ad- here in the main to the path of duty, though tempted to forsake it by present interest and present gratifi- cation ; but farther, that the great truths revealed in Scripture concerning the unseen world, are the ideas for the most part uppermost in their thoughts, and about which habitually their hearts are most in- terested. This state of mind contributes, if the ex- pression may be allowed, to rectify the illusions of 13
146 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
vision, to bring forward into nearer view those eter- nal things which, from their remoteness, are apt to be cither wholly overlooked, or to appear but faintly in the utmost bounds of the horizon ; and to remove backward, and reduce to their true comparative di- mensions, the objects of the present life, which are apt to fill the human eye, assuming a false magni- tude from their vicinity. The true Christian knows from experience, however, that the former are apt to fade from the sight, and the latter again to swell on it. He makes it therefore his continual care to preserve those just and enlightened views which, through divine mercy, he has obtained. Not that he will retire from that station in the world which Providence seems to have appointed him to fill : he will be active in the business of life, and enjoy its comforts with moderation and thankfulness ; but he will not give up his whole soul to them, they will be habitually subordinate in his estimation to objects of .more importance. The awful truth has sunk deep into his mind, "the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal ;" and in the tumult and bustle of life, he is sobered by the still small voice which whispers to him, " The fashion of this world passes away." This circumstance alone must, it is obvious, consti- tute a vast difference between the habitual temper of his mind, and that of the generality of nominal Christians, who are almost entirely taken up with
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 147
the concerns of the present world. They know in deed that they are mortal, but they do not feel it The truth rests in their understandings, and cannot gain admission into their hearts. This speculative persuasion is altogether different from that strong practical impression of the infinite importance of etehial things, which, attended with a proportionate sense of the shortness and uncertainty of all below, while it prompts to activity from a conviction that " the night cometh when no man can work," pro- duces a certain firmness of texture, which hardens us against the buffets of fortune, and prevents our being very deeply penetrated by the cares and in- terests, the goods or evils of this transitory state. Thus this just impression of the relative value of temporal and eternal things maintains in the soul a dignified composure through all the vicissitudes of life. It quickens our diligence, yet moderates our ardor; urges us to just pursuits, yet checks any undue solicitude about the success of them, and thereby enables us, in the language of Scripture, "to use this world as not abusing it," rendering us at once beneficial to others and comfortable to our- selves.
But this is not all: besides the distinction be- tween the nominal and the real Christian, which results from the impressions produced on them re- spectively by the eternal duration of heavenly things, there is another grounded on their nature, no less
148 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
marked nor less important. They are stated in Scripture, not only as entitling themselves to the no- tice of the true Christian from considerations of in- terest, but as approving themselves to his judgment, from a conviction of their excellence ; and yet farther, as recommending themselves to his feelings by their being suited to the renewed dispositions of his heart. Indeed, v^^ere the case otherwise, did not their quali- ties correspond with his inclinations, hovt'ever he might endure them on principles of duty, and be coldly conscious of their superior worth, he could not lend himself to them with cordial complacency, much less look to them as the surest source of pleasure. But this is the light in which they are habitually regarded by the true Christian. He walks in the ways of religion, not by constraint, but willingly ; they are to him not only safe, but com fortable ; " ways of pleasantness as well as of peace." Not but that here also he is, from experience, aware of the necessity of constant support, and continual watchfulness : without these, his old estimate of things is apt to return on him, and the former ob- jects of his affections to resume their influence. With earnest prayers, therefore, for the Divine help, with jealous circumspection and resolute self-denial he guards against, and abstains from whatever might be likely again to darken his enlightened "udgment or to vitiate his reformed taste ; thus mak- hig it his unwearied endeavor to grow in the know-
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 149
ledge and love of heavenly things, and to obtain a warmer admiration and a more cordial relish of their excellence.
That this is a just representation of the habitual judgment, and of the leading disposition of true Christians, will be abundantly evident, if, endeavor- ing to "form ourselves after our proper model, we consult the Sacred Scripture. But in vain are Chris- tians there represented as having set their affections on things above, as cordially rejoicing in the service and delighting in the worship of God. Pleasure and religion are contradictory terms with the buVtc of nominal Christians. They may look back indeed on their religious offices with something of secret satisfaction, and even feel it during the performance of them, from the idea of being engaged in the dis- charge of a duty ; but this is altogether different from the pleasure which attends an employment in itself acceptable and grateful to us. The writer must here again guard against being understood to speak of a deficiency in the warmth and vehemence merely of religious affections. Are the service and worship of God pleasant to these persons ? it is not asked whether they are delightful. Do they diffuse over the soul any thing of that calm complacency, that mild and grateful composure, which bespeaks a mind in good humor with itself and all around, and engaged in a service suited to its taste, and con- genial with its feelings?
13*
150 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
Let us appeal to the day especially devoted to the offices of religion : Do they joyfully avail them- selves of this blessed opportunity of withdrawing from the business and cares of life ; when, without being disquieted by any doubt whether they are not neglecting the duties of their proper callings, they may be allowed to detach their minds from earthly things, that by a fuller knowledge of heavenly ob- jects, and a more habitual acquaintance with them, their hope may grow more "full of immortality?" Is the day cheerfully devoted to those holy exercises for which it was appointed ? Do they indeed " come into the courts of God with gladness?'' And how are they employed when not engaged in the public services of the day ? Are they busied in studying the word of God, in meditating on his perfection, in tracing his providential dispensations, in admiring his works, in revolving his mercies — above all, the transcendent mercies of redeeming love — in singing his praises, "and speaking good of his name?" Do their secret retirements witness the earnestness of their prayers and the warmth of their thanksgiv- ings, their diligence and impartiality in the necessa- ry work of self-examination, their mindfulness of the benevolent duty of intercession ? Is the kind purpose of the institution of a Sabbath answered by them, in its being made to their servants and de- pendants a season of rest and comfort ? Does the instruction of their families, or of the more poor and
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 151
ignorant of their neighbors, possess its due share of their time ? If blessed Avith talents or with affluence, are they sedulously employing a part of this inter- val of leisure in relieving the indigent, visiting the sick, and comforting the sorrowful — in forming plans for the good of their fellow-creatures, in considering how they may promote both the temporal and spiri- tual benefit of their friends and acquaintance ; or if theirs is a larger sphere, in devising measures whereby, through the Divine blessing, they may become the honored instruments of the more extend- ed diffusion of religious truth ? In the hours of do- mestic or social intercourse, does their conversation manifest the subject of which their hearts are full 1 Do their language and demeanor show them to be more than commonly gentle, and kind, and friendly, free from rough and irritating passions ?
Surely an entire day should not seem long amidst these various employments. It might well be deem- ed a privilege thus to spend it in the more imme- diate presence of our heavenly Father, in the exer- cises of humble admiration and grateful homage — of the benevolent, and domestic, and social feelings, and of all the best affections of our nature, prompted by their true motives, conversant about their proper objects, and directed to their noblest end ; all sorrows mitigated, all cares suspended, all fears repressed, every angry emotion softened, every envious, or re- vengeful, or malignant passion expelled ; and the
152 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
bosom thus quieted, purified, enlarged, ennobled, par- taking almost of a measure of the heavenly happi ness, and become for a while the seat of love, and joy, and confidence, and harmony.
The nature and uses, and proper employments of a Christian Sabbath, have been pointed out more particularly, not only because the day will be found, when thus employed, eminently conducive, through the Divine blessing, to the maintenance of the reli- gious principle in activity and vigor ; but also be- cause we must all have had occasion often to re- mark, that many persons, of the graver and more decent sort, seem not seldom to be nearly destitute of religious resources. The Sunday is with them, to say the best of it, a heavy day; and that larger part of it, which is not claimed by the public offices of the church, dully drawls on in comfortless vacuity, or without improvements, is trifled away in vain and unprofitable discourse. Not to speak of those who, by their more daring profanation of this sacred season, openly -^^iolate the laws and insult the religion of their country, how little do many seem to enter into the spirit of the institution who are not wholly inattentive to its exterior decorums ! How glad are they to qualify the rigor of their religious labors ! How hard do they plead against being com- pelled to devote the whole of the day to religion, claiming to themselves no small merit for giving up to it a part, and purchasing therefore, as they hope,
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 153
a right to spend the remainder more agreeably ! How dextrously do they avail themselves of any plausible plea for introducing some week-day em- ployment into the Sunday, whilst they have not the same propensity to introduce any of the Sunday's peculiar employment into the rest of the week ! How often do they find excuses for taking journeys, wri- ting letters, balancing accounts ; or, in short, doing something which, by a little management, might pro- bably have been anticipated, or which, without any material inconvenience, might be postponed ! Even business itself is recreation, compared with religion, and from the drudgery of this day of sacred rest they fiy for relief to their ordinary occupations.
Others again, who would consider business as a profanation, and who still hold out against the en- croachments of the card-table, get over much of the day, and gladly seek for an innocent resource in the social circle or in family visits, where it is not even pretended that the conversation turns on such topics as might render it in any way conducive to reli- gious instruction or improvement. Their families, meanwhile, are neglected, their servants robbed of Christian privileges, and their example quoted by others, who cannot see that they are themselves less religiously employed, while playing an innocent game at cards or relaxing in the concert-room.
But all these several artifices, whatever they may be, to unhallow the Sunday, and to change its cha-
154 INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF
Tacter, prove too plainly, however we may be glad to take refuge in religion, when driven to it by the loss of every other comfort, and to retain, as it were, a reversionary interest in an asylum which may re- ceive us when we are forced from the transitory en- joyments of our present state ; that in itself it wears to us a gloomy and forbidding aspect, and not a face of consolation and joy ; that the worship of God is with us a constrained, and not a willing service, which we are glad, therefore, to abridge, though we dare not omit it.
Some indeed there are who, with concern and grief, will confess this to be their uncomfortable and melancholy state ; who humbly pray, and dili- gently endeavor, for an imagination less distracted at devotional seasons, for a heart more capable of relishing the excellence of divine things ; and who carefully guard against whatever has a tendency to chain down their affections to earthly enjoyments. Let not such be discouraged. It is not these whom we are condemning ; but such as know, and even acknowledge this to be their case, yet proceed in a way directly contrary ; who, scarcely seeming to sus- pect that any thing is wrong with them, voluntarily acquiesce in a state of mind directly contrary to the positive commands of God, which forms a perfect con- trast to the representations given us in Scripture of the christian character, and accords but too faithful- ly, in one leading feature, with the character of those
THE NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY. 155
who are stated to be the objects of Divine displea- sure in this life, ard of Divine punishment in the next. It is not, however, only in these essential constitu- ents of a devotional frame that the bulk of nominal Christians are defective. This they freely declare, secretly feeling perhaps some complacency from the frankness of the avowal, to be a higher strain of pi- ety than that to which they aspire. Their forget- fulness also of some of the leading dispositions of Christianity, is undeniably apparent in their allow- ed want of the spirit of kindness, and meekness, and gentleness, and patience, and long-suffering ; and above all, of that which is the stock on which alone these dispositions can grow and flourish, that hu- mility and lowliness of mind, in which perhaps, more than in any other quality, may be said to con- sist the true essence and vital principle of the chris- tian temper. These dispositions are not only ne- glected, but even disavowed and exploded ; and their opposites, if not rising to any great height, are ac- knowledged and applauded. A just pride, a pro- per and becoming pride, are terms we daily hear. To possess a high spirit, to behave with proper spi- rit when used ill — by which is meant a quick feel- mg of injuries, and a promptness in resenting them, entitles to commendation ; and a meek-spirited dis- position, the highest scripture eulogium, expresses ideas of disapprobation and contempt. Vanity and "ain-glory are suffered without interruption to retain
156 ON THE DESIRE OF HUMAN
their natural possession of the heart. But here a topic opens upon us of such importance, and on which so many mistakes are to be found, both in the writings of respectable authors and in the commonly prevailing opinions of the world, that we must treat of it in a separate section.
SECTION III.
071 the desire of human estiination and applause. — The gene- rally prevailing opinions contrasted with those of the true Christian.
The desire of human estimation, and distinction, and honor, of the admiration and applause of our fellow-creatures, if we take it in all its various modi- fications, from the thirst of glory to the dread of shame, is the passion of which the empire is by far the most general, and perhaps the authority the most commanding. Though its power be most conspicu- ous in the higher classes of society, it seems to spare neither age, nor sex, nor condition ; and taking ten thousand shapes, insinuating itself, under the most specious pretexts, and sheltering itself, when necessary, under the most artful disguises, it winds its way in secret, when it dares not openly avow itself, and mixes in all we think, and speak, and do. It is in some instances the determined and declared pursuit, and confessedly the main practical principle ;
ESTIMATION' AND APPLAUSE. 157
but where this is not the case, it is not seldom the grand spring of action, and in the beauty and the author, no less than in the soldier, it is often the master passion of the soul.
This is the principle Avhich parents recognize with joy in their infant offspring, which is diligently instilled and nurtured in advancing years, which, under the names of honorable ambition and of laud- able emulation, it is the professed aim of schools and colleges to excite and cherish. The writer is well aware that it will be thought he is pushing his opinions much too far, when he assails this great principle of human action ; " a principle," its advo- cates might perhaps exclaim, " the extinction of which would be like the annihilation in the material world of the principle of motion ; without it all were torpid, and cold, and comfortless. We grant," they might go on to observe, "that we never ought to deviate from the paths of duty in order to procure the applause or to avoid the reproaches of men, and we allow that this is a rule too little attended to in practice. We grant that the love of praise is in some instances a ridiculous, and in others a mischievous passion ; that to it we owe coquettes and coxcombs, and, a more serious evil, the noxious race of heroes and conquerors. We too are ready, when it appears in the shape of vanity, to smile at it as a foible, or in that of false glory, to condemn it as a crime. But all these are only its perversions ; and on account of 14
158 ON THE DESIRE OF HUMAN
them to contend against it, were to give in to the error of arguing against the use of a salutary principle altogether, on account of its being liable to occasional abuse. When turned into the right direction, and applied to its true purposes, it prompts to every dig- nified and generous enterprise. It forces indolence into activity, and extorts from vice itself the deeds of generosity and virtue. When once the soul is warm- ed by its generous ardor, no difficulties deter, no dangers terrify, no labors tire. It is this which, giving by its stamp to what is virtuous and honora- ble, its just superiority over the gifts of birth and fortune, rescues the rich from base subjection to the pleasures of sense, and makes them prefer a course of toil and hardship to a life of indulgence and ease. It prevents the man of rank from acquiescing in his hereditary greatness, and spurs him forward in pur- suit of personal distinction, and of a nobility which he may justly term his own. It moderates and quali- fies the over-great inequalities of human conditions ; and reaching to those who are above the sphere ol laws, and extending to cases which fall not within their province, it limits and circumscribes the power of the tyrant on his throne, and gives gentleness to war, and to pride, humility.
" Nor is its influence confined to public life, nor is it known only in the great and the splendid. To It is to be ascribed a large portion of that courtesy and disposition to please,* which naturally producing
ESTIMATION AND APPLAUSE. 159
a mutual appearance of good will, and a reciproca- tion of good offices, constitute much of the comfort of private life. Nay, from the force of habit, it fol- lows us even into solitude, and in our most secret retirements we often act as if our conduct were sub- ject to human observation, and we derive no small complacency from the imaginary applauses of an ideal spectator."
So far of the effects of the love of praise and dis- tinction: and if, after enumerating some of these, you should proceed to investigate its nature — " We admit," it might be added, "that a hasty and mis- judging world often misapplies commendations and censures ; and whilst we therefore confess that the praises of the discerning few are alone truly valua- ble ; we acknowledge that it were better if mankind were always to act from the sense of right and the love of virtue, without reference to the opinions of their fellow-creatures. We even allow that, inde- pendently of consequences, this were perhaps in itself a higher strain of virtue ; but it is a degree of purity which it would be vain to expect from the bulk of mankind. When the intrinsic excellence of this principle, however, is called in question, let it be remembered, that in its higher degrees it was styled, by one who meant rather to detract from its merits than to aggravate them, • the infirmity of noble minds ;' and surely, that in such a soil it most na- turally springs up and flourishes, is proof of its ex- alted origin and generous nature.
160 ON THE DESIRE OF HUMAN
*' But were these more dubious, and were it no more than a splendid error ; yet, considering that it works so often in the right direction, it were enough to urge in its behalf, that it is a principle of real action and approved energy. That it is to be pre- ferred for general use, before those higher principles of morals which, however just and excellent in them- selves, you would in vain attempt to bring home to the ' business and bosoms of mankind/ at large. Reject not then a principle thus universal in its in- fluence, thus valuable in its effects; a principle which, by whatever name you may please to call it, acts by motives and considerations suited to our con- dition ; and which, putting it at the very lowest, must be confessed, in our present infirm state, to be an habitual aid and an ever-present support to the fee- bleness of virtue ! In a selfish world it produces the effects of disinterestedness ; and when public spirit is extinct, it supplies the want of patriotism. Let us therefore with gratitude avail ourselves of its help, and not relinquish the good which it freely offers, from we know not what vain dreams of impractica- ble purity and unattainable perfection."
All this and much more might be urged by tho advocates of this favorite principle. It would be, however, no difficult task to show that it by no means merits this high eulogium. To say nothing of that larger part of the argument of our opponents, which proceeds upon that mischievous notion of the inno-
ESTIMATION AND APPLAUSE 161
cence of error, the principle in question is manifestly as inconstant and variable as the innumerably di- versified modes of fashions, habits, and opinions in different periods and societies. What it tolerates in one age, it forbids in another ; what in one country it prescribes and applauds, in another it condemns and stigmatizes ! Obviously and openly it often takes vice into its patronage, and sets itself in direct opposition to virtue. It is calculated to produce rather the a'p'pearance than the reality of excellence ; and, at best, not to check the love, but only the commission of vice. Much of this indeed was seen and acknow- ledged by the philosophers, and even by the poets of the pagan world. They declaimed against it as a mutable and inconsistent principle ; they lamented the fatal effects which, under the name of false glory, it had produced on the peace and happiness of man- kind. They condemned the pursuit of it when it led its followers out of the path of virtue, and taught that the praise of the wise and of the good only was to be desired.
But it was reserved for the page of Scripture to point out distinctly wherein this is essentially de- fective and vicious, and to discover to us more fully its encroaching nature and dangerous tendencies ; teaching us at the same time, how, being purified from its corrupt qualities, and reduced under just subordination, it may be brought into legitimate exercise, and be directed to its true end. 14*
162 ON THE DESIRE OF HUMAN
In the sacred volume we are throughout reminded that we are originally the creatures of God's forma- tion, and continual dependants on his bounty. There too we learn the painful lesson of man's degradation and unworthiness. We learn that humiliation and contrition are the tempers of mind best suited to our fallen condition, and most acceptable in the sight of our Creator. We learn that these it should be our habitual care to cherish and cultivate, (to the repres- sion and extinction of that spirit of arrogance and self-importance which is so natural to the heart of man,) studiously maintaining a continual sense that, not only for all the natural advantages over others which we may possess, but that for all our moral superiority also, we are altogether indebted to the unmerited goodness of God. It might perhaps be said to be the great end and purpose of all reve- lation, and especially to be the design of the Gospel, to reclaim us from our natural pride and selfishness, and their fatal consequences ; to bring us to a just sense of our weakness and depravity; and to dispose us, with unfeigned humiliation, to abase ourselves, and give glory to God. " No flesh may glory in his presence ; he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." — •' The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted." Isa. 2:11.
These solemn admonitions are too generally dis- regarded, their mtimate connexion with this subject
ESTIMATION AND APPLAUSE. L63
has been often entirely overlooked, even by Chris- tian moralists. These authors, without reference to the main -spring-, and internal principle of conduct, are apt to speak of the love of human applause as being meritorious or culpable, as being the desire of true or of false glory, accordingly as the external actions it produces, and the pursuits to which it prompts, are beneficial or mischievous to mankind. But it is undeniably manifest, that in the judgment of the word of God, the love of worldly admiration and applause is in its nature essentially and radically corrupt ; so far as it partakes of a disposition to exalt and aggrandize ourselves, to pride ourselves on our natural or acquired endowments, or to assume to ourselves the merit and credit of our good qualities, instead of ascribing all the honor and glory where only they are due. Its guilt therefore, in these cases, is not to be measured by its effects on the happiness of mankind : nor is it to be denominated true or false glory, accordingly as the ends to which it is directed are beneficial or mischievous, just or unjust objects vi pursuit ; but it is false, because it exalts that which jught to be abased; and criminal, because it en- croaches on the prerogative of God.
The Scriptures further instruct us, not merely that mankind are liable to error, and therefore that the world's commendations may be sometimes mis- taken : but that their judgment being darkened and heir hearts depraved, its applauses and contempt
164 ON THE DESIRE OF HUMAN
will for the most part be systematically misplaced ; that though the beneficent and disinterested spirit of Christianity, and her obvious tendency to promote domestic comfort and general happiness, cannot but extort applause ; yet that her aspiring after more than ordinary excellence, by exciting secret mis- givings in others, or a painful sense of inferiority not unmixed with envy, cannot fail often to disgust and offend. The word of God teaches us, that though such of the doctrines and precepts of Chris- tianity as are coincident with worldly interests and pursuits, and with worldly principles and systems, may be professed without offence ; yet, that what is opposite to these, or even different from them, will be deemed needlessly precise and strict, the indul- gence of a morose and gloomy humor, the symptoms of a contracted and superstitious spirit, the marks of a mean, enslaved, or distorted understanding: that for these and other reasons the follower of Christ must not only make up his mind to the occasional relinquishment of worldly favor, but that it should even afford him matter of holy jealousy and sus- picion of himself, when it is very lavishly and very generally bestowed.
But though the standard of worldly estimation differed less from that of the Gospel ; yet, since our affections ought to be set on heavenly things, and conversant about heavenly objects ; and since, in par. dcular, the love and favor of God ought to be tha
ESTIMATION AND APPLAUSE. 165
matter of our supreme and habitual desire, to which every other should be subordinated ; it follows that the love of human applause must be manifestly in- jurious, so far as it tends to bound and circumscribe our desires within the narrow limits of this world; particularly that it is impure, so far as it is tinctured with a disposition to estimate too highly, and love too well, the good opinion and commendations of man.
But though the holy Scripture warns us against the inordinate desire or earnest pursuit of worldly estimation and honor, though it so greatly reduces their value, and prepares us for losing them without surprise, and for relinquishmg them with little re- luctance ; yet it teaches us that Christians in general are not only not called upon absolutely and volun- tarily to renounce or forego them, but that when, without our having solicitously sought them, they are bestowed on us for actions intrinsically good, we are to accept them as being intended by Providence, to be sometimes, even in this disorderly state of things, a present solace, and a reward to virtue. Nay more, we are instructed, that in our general deportment, that in little particulars of conduct other- Avise indifferent, that in the circumstances and man- ner of performing actions in themselves of a deter- mined character and indispensable obligation, guard- ing however against the smallest degree of artifice or deceit ; that by watching for opportunities of doings
166 ON THE DESIRE OF HUMAN
little kindnesses, that by avoiding singularities, and even humoring prejudices, where it maybe done with- out the slightest infringement on truth or duty, we ought to have a due respect and regard to the ap- probation and favor of men. These, however, we should not value chiefly as they administer to our own gratification, but as furnishing means and in- struments of influence, which we may turn to good account, by making them subservient to the im- provement and happiness of our fellow-creatures, and thus conducive to the glory of God. The re- mark is almost superfluous, that on occasions like these we must even watch our hearts with the most jealous care, lest pride and self-love insensibly infuse themselves, and corrupt the purity of principles so liable to contract a taint.
Credit and reputation, in the judgment of the true Christian, stand on ground not very difl^erent from riches ; which he is not to prize highly, or to desire and pursue with solicitude ; but which, when they are allotted to him by the hand of Providence, he is to accept with^ thankfulness, and to use with mode- ration ; relinquishing them when it becomes neces- sary, without a murmur ; guarding most circum- spectly, so long as they remain with him, against that sensual and selfish temper, and no less against that pride and wantonness of heart which they are too apt to produce and cherish ; thus considering them as in themselves acceptable, but, from the in-
ESTIMATION AND APPLAUSE. 167
I
firmity of his nature, as highly dangerous posses- sions ; and valuing them not as instruments of luxury or splendor, but as affording the means of honoring his heavenly Benefactor, and lessening the miseries of mankind.
Christianity, however, proposes not to extinguish our natural desires, but to bring them under just control, and direct them to their true objects. Whilst she commands us not to set our hearts on earthly treasures, she reminds us that " we have in heaven a better and more enduring substance" than this world can bestow ; and while she represses our so- licitude respecting earthly credit, and moderates our attachment to it, she holds forth to us, and bids us habitually to aspire after the splendors of that better state, where is true glory, and honor, and im- mortality ; thus exciting in us a just ambition, suited to our high origin, and worthy of our large capaci- ties, which the little, misplaced, and perishable dis- tinctions of this life, would in vain attempt to satisfy.
It would be mere waste of time to enter into any labored argument to prove at large, that the light in which worldly credit and estimation are regarded, by the bulk of professed Christians, is extremely different from that in which they are placed by the page of Scripture. The inordinate love of worldly glory, indeed, implies a passion which, from the na- ture of things cannot be called into exercise in the generality of mankind ; because, being conversant
168 ON THE DESIRE OF HUMAN
about great objects, it can but rarely find that field which is requisite for its exertions. But we every where discover the same principle reduced to the dimensions of common life, and modified and directed according to every one's sphere of action. We may discover it in a supreme Jove of distinction, and ad- miration, and praise; in the universal acceptableness of flattery; and above all, in the excessive valuation of our worldly character, in that watchfulness with which it is guarded, in that jealousy when it is ques- tioned, in that solicitude when it is in danger, in that hot resentment when it is attacked, in that bit- terness of suffering when it is impaired or lost. All these emotions, as they are too manifest to be dis- puted, so they are too reputable to be denied. Dis- honor, disgrace, and shame present images of horror too dreadful to be faced; they are evils, which it is thought the mark of a generous spirit to consider as excluding every idea of comfort and enjoyment, and to feel, in short, as too heavy to be borne.
The consequences of all this are natural and ob- vious. Though it be not openly avowed that we are to follow after worldly estimation, or to escape from disrepute, when they can only be pursued or avoided by declining from the path of duty; nay, though the contrary be recognised as being the just opinion ; yet all the effect of this speculative concession is soon done away in fact. Estimating worldly credit as of the highest intrinsic excellence, and worldly
ESTIMATION AND APPLAUSE. 169
shame as the greatest of all possible evils, we some- times shape and turn the path of duty itself from its true direction, so as it may favor our acquisition of the one and avoidance of the other ; or when this cannot be done, we boldly and openly turn aside from it, declaring the temptation is too strong to be resisted.
It were easy to adduce numerous proofs of the truth of these assertions. It is proved, indeed, by that general tendency in religion to conceal herself from the view; for we might hope that in these cases she often is by no means altogether extinct ; by her being apt to vanish from our conversations, and even to give place to a pretended licentiousness of senti- ments and conduct, and a false show of infidelity. It is proved by that complying acquiescence and participation in the habits and manners of this dis- sipated age, which has almost confounded every ex- ternal distinction between the Christian and the in- fidel, and has made it so rare to find any one who dares incur the charge of Christian singularity, or who can say with the apostle that " he is not asham- ed of the Gospel of Christ." It is proved (how can this proof be omitted by one to whose lot it has so often fallen to witness and lament, sometimes, he fears, to afibrd an instance of it?) by that quick re- sentment, those bitter contentions, those angry re- torts, those malicious triumphs, that impatience of inferiority, that wakeful sense of past defeats, and 15
170 ON THE DESIRE OF HUMAN
promptness to revenge them, which too often change the character of a christian deliberative assembly into that of a stage for prize-fighters : violating at once the proprieties of public conduct and the rules of social decorum, and renouncing and chasing away- all the charities of the religion of Jesus !
But from all lesser proofs our attention is drawn to one of a still larger size, and more determined character. Surely the reader will here anticipate mention ofthe practice of duelling; a practice which, to the disgrace of a christian society, has long been sufl^ered to exist with little restraint or opposition.
This practice, whilst it powerfully supports, mainly rests on that excessive over-valuation of character which teaches that worldly credit is to be preserved at any rate, and disgrace at any rate to be avoided. The unreasonableness of duelling has been often proved, and it has often been shown to be criminal, on various principles. But it seems hardly to have been enough noticed in what chiefly consists its es- sential guilt ; that it is a deliberate preference of the favor of man, before the favor and approbation of God, in articulo mortis, in an instant, wherein our own life and that of a fellow-creature are at stake, and wherein we run the risk of rushing into the presence of our Maker in the very act of offending him. It would detain us too long, and it were some- what beside our present purpose, to enumerate the mischievous consequences which result from this
ESTIMATION AND APPLAUSE. 171
practice. They are many and great ; and if regard be had merely to the temporal interests of men, and to the well-being of society, they are but poorly met by the plea, which must be admitted in its behalf by a candid observer of human nature, of a courtesy and refinement in our modern manners unknown to an- cient times.
But there is one observation which has been too much overlooked. In the judgment of that religion which requires purity of heart, and of that Being to whom, as was before remarked, "thought is action," he cannot be esteemed innocent of this crime who lives in a settled habitual determination to commit it, when circumstances shall call upon him so to do.* This is a consideration which places the crime of duelling on a different footing from almost any other; indeed there is perhaps no other, which mankind habitually and deliberately resolve to practice when- ever the temptation shall occur. It shows also that the crime of duelling is far more general in the higher classes than is commonly supposed, and that the whole sum of the guilt which the practice pro- duces is great beyond what has perhaps been ever conceived ! It will be the writer's comfort to have solemnly suggested this consideration to the con- sciences of those by whom this impious practice iT_lght be suppressed : if such there be, which he is
* As, " Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, liath committed adultery with her/' &c. Matt. 5 : 28
172 ON THE DESIRE OF HUMAN
Strongly inclined to believe, theirs is the crime, and theirs the responsibility of suffering it to continue.
In the foregoing observations it has not been the writer's intention to discuss completely that copious subject, the love of worldly estimation. Enough however may have been said, to make it evident that this principle is of a character highly question- able ; that it should be brought under subjection, and watched with the most jealous care ; that, notwith- standing its lofty pretensions, it often can by no means justly boast that high origin and exalted na- ture which its superficial admirers are disposed to concede to it. What real, intrinsic, essential value, it might be asked, does there appear to be in a virtue which had wholly changed its nature and character, if public opinion had been different? But it is, in truth, of base extraction and ungenerous qualities, springing from selfishness, and vanity, and low am- bition ; by these it subsists, and thrives, and acts ; and envy, and jealousy, and detraction, and hatred, and variance, are its faithful and natural associates. If it sometimes stimulates to great and generous enter- prises ; if it urges to industry, and sometimes to ex- cellence ; if in the more contracted sphere it produces courtesy and kindness ; yet to its account we must place the ambition which desolates nations, and many of the competitions and resentments which interrupt the harmony of social life. The former indeed has been often laid to its charge, but the latter have not
ESTIMATION AND APPLAUSE, 173
Deen sufficiently attended to ; and still less has its noxious influence on the vital principle and distin- guishing graces of the christian character been duly pointed out and enforced.
To read the writings of certain christian moral- ists,* and to observe how little they seem disposed to call it in question, except where it raves in the con- queror, one should be almost tempted to suspect that, considering it as a principle-of such potency and pre- valence, as that they must despair of bringing it into just subjection, they were intent only on compliment- ing it into good humor, like those barbarous nations which worship the evil spirit through fear ; or rather, that they were making a sort of composition with an enemy they could not master, and were willing, on condition of its giving up the trade of war, to suffe: It to rule undisturbed, and range at pleasure.
But the truth is, that the reasonings of christian moralists too often exhibit but few traces of the genius of christian morality. Of this position, the case be- fore us is an instance. This principle of the desire of worldly distinction and applause is often allowed, and even commended, with too few qualifications, and too little reserve. To covet wealth is base and sordid, but to covet honor is treated as the mark of a ge- nerous and exalted nature. These writers scarcely seem to bear in mind, that though the principle in
* See in particular a paper in the Guardian, by Addison, on Honor, vol. ii.
15*
174 ON THE DESIRE OF HUMAN
question tends to prevent the commission of those grosser acts of vice which would injure us in the general estimation ; yet that it not only stops there, but that it there begins to exert almost an equal force in the opposite direction. They do not consider how apt this principle is, even in the case of those who move in a contracted sphere, to fill us with vain con- ceits and vicious passions ; and above all, how it tends to fix the afTections on earthly things, and to steal away the heart from God. They acknowledge it to be criminal when it produces mischievous ef- fects, but forget how apt it is, by the substitution of a false and corrupt motive, to vitiate the purity of our good actions, depriving them of all which ren- dered them truly and essentially valuable. Thai, not to be too hastily approved, because it takes the side of virtue, it often works her ruin while it as- serts her cause, and like some vile seducer, pretends affection, only the more surely to betray.
It is the distinguishing glory of Christianity not to rest satisfied with superficial appearances, but to rectify the motives and purify the heart. The true Christian, in obedience to the lessons of Scripture, no where keeps over himself a more resolute and jealous guard, than where the desire of human esti- mation and distinction is in question. No where does he more deeply feel the insufficiency of his un- assisted strength, or more diligently and earnestly pray for Divine assistance. He may well indeed
ESTIMATION AND APPLAUSE. 175
watch and pray against the encroachments of a pas- sion, which, when suffered to transgress its just limits, discovers a peculiar hostility to the distin- guishing graces of the Christian temper ; a passion which must insensibly acquire force, because it is in continual exercise ; to which almost every thing without administers nutriment, and the growth of which within is favored and cherished by such powerful auxiliaries as pride and selfishness, the natural and perhaps inexterminable inhabitants of the human heart ; of which the predominance, if es- tablished, is thus so pernicious, and which possesses so many advantages for effecting its establishment. Strongly impressed therefore with a sense of the indispensable necessity of guarding against the pro- gress of this encroaching principle, in humble reli- ance on superior aid, the true Christian thankfully uses the means, and habitually exercises himself in the considerations and motives suggested to him for that purpose by the word of God. He is much occu- pied in searching out his own infirmities. He endea- vors to acquire and maintain a just conviction of his great unworthiness ; and to keep m-.continual re- membrance, that whatever distinguishes himself from others, is not properly his own, but that he is alto- gether indebted for it to the undeserved bounty of Heaven. He dili^ntly endeavors, also, habitually to preserve a just sense of the real worth of human distinction and applause, knowing that he shall covet
176 ON THE DESIRE OF HUMAN
them less when he has learned not to overrate their value. He labors to bear in mind how undeservedly they are often bestowed, how precariously they are always possessed. The censures of good men justly render him suspicious of himself, and prompt him carefully and impartially to examine into those parts of his character, or those particulars of his conduct, which have drawn on him their animadversions. The favorable opinion and the praises of good men are justly acceptable to him. But, even in the case of their commendations, he suffers not himself to be beguiled into an over-valuation of them, lest he should be led to substitute them in the place of conscience. He guards against this by reflecting how indistinctly we can discern each other's motives, how little enter into each other's circumstances ; how mistaken there- fore may be the judgments formed of us, or of our ac- tions, even by good men ; and that it is far from im- probable that we may at some time be compelled to forfeit their esteem, by adhering to the dictates of our own consciences.
But if he endeavors thus to sit loose to the favor and applause even of good men, much more does he to those of the world at large: not but that he is sen- sible of their worth as means and instruments of use- fulness and influence ; and under the limitations and for the ends allowed in Scripture, he is glad to pos- sess, observant to acquire, and careful to retain them. He considers them, however, as desirable, not simply
ESTIMATION AND APPLAUSE. 177
m their possession, but in their use. In this view, he holds himself to be responsible for that share of them which he enjoys, and as bound not to let them lie unemployed ; not to lavish them ; not imprudently to misapply them ; but as under an obligation to regard them as conferred on him, that they might be brought into action, and as what therefore he may by no means throw away, though ready, if it be required, to re- linquish them with cheerfulness ; and never feeling himself at liberty, in consideration of the use he in- tends to make of them, to acquire or retain them un- lawfully.
Acting therefore on these principles, he will stu- diously and diligently use any degree of worldly credit he may enjoy, in removing or lessening pre- judices ; in conciliating good will, and thereby mak- ing v/ay for the less obstructed progress of truth ; and in providing for its being entertained by those who would bar all access against it in a rougher or more homely form. He will make it his business to set on foot and forward benevolent and useful schemes ; and where they require united efforts, to obtain and preserve for them this co-operation. He will endeavor to discountenance vice, to bring mo- dest merit into notice ; to lend as it were his light to men of real worth, but of less creditable name, and perhaps of less conciliating qualities and manners. But while he strives to render his reputation, so long as he possesses it, subservient to advancing the cause
178 ON THE DESIRE OF HUMAN
of religion and virtue, and promoting the happiness and comfort of mankind, he will not transgress the rule of the scripture precepts in order to obtain, to cultivate, or to preserve it, resolutely disclaiming that dangerous sophistry of " doing evil that good may come." Ready to relinquish his reputation when re quired so to do, he will not throw it away ; and so far as he allowably may, he will avoid occasions of diminishing it, instead of studiously seeking, or need- lessly multiplying them, as is sometimes the prac- tice of worthy but imprudent men. There will be no capricious humors, no selfish tempers, no morose- ness, no discourtesy, no affected severity of deport- ment, no peculiarity of language, no indolent neglect, or wanton breach of the ordinary forms or fashions of society. His reputation, if sacrificed at all, shall be sacrificed at the call of duty. The world shall be constrained to allow him to be amiable, as well as respectable ; though, in what regards religion, they may account him unreasonably precise and strict. He will endeavor to reduce the enemies of religion, to adopt the confession of the accusers of the Jewish ruler, "We shall not find any fault or occasion against this Daniel — except concerning the law of his God:" and if he fall into disesteem, it shall not be chargeable to any conduct which is justly dishonorable, but to the false standard of estimation of a misjudgmg world. When his character is thus mistaken, or his conduct thus misconstrued, he will not wrap himself up in a
ESTIMATION AND APPLAUSE. 179
mysterious sullenness; but will be ready to clear up what has been dubious, to explain what has been im- perfectly known, and " speaking- the truth in love," to correct erroneous impressions. He may sometimes feel it his duty publicly to vindicate his character from unjust reproach, and to repel false charges ; but he will carefully watch against being led away by pride, or being betrayed into some breach of truth or of christian charity, when he is treading in a path so dangerous. At such a time he will also guard against any undue solicitude about his worldly reputation for its own sake ; and when he has done what duty re- quires for its vindication, it will be matter of no very deep concern to him if his endeavors should have been ineffectual. If good men in every age and na- tion have been often unjustly calumniated and dis- graced, and if, in such circumstances, even the dark- ness of paganism has been able contentedly to re- pose itself on the consciousness of innocence, shall one who is cheered by the Christian's hope, who is assured, also, that a day will shortly come, in which whatever is secret shall be made manifest, and the mistaken judgments of men, perhaps even of good men, being corrected, that " he shall then have praise of God ;" shall such a one sink ?" shall he even bend or droop under such a trial ? They might be more excusable in over-valuing human reputation to whom all beyond the grave was dark and cheerless. They also might be more easily pardoned for pursu-
180 ON THE DESIRE OF HUMAN
ing with eagerness and solicitude that glory which might survive them, thus seeking as it were to ex tend the narrow span of their earthly existence: but far different is our case, to whom these clouds are rolled away, and '* life and immortality brought to light by the Gospel." Not but that worldly favor and distinction are amongst the best things this world has to offer : but the Christian knows it is the very condition of his calling, not to have his portion here ; and as in the case of any other earthly enjoy- ments, so in that also of worldly honor, he dreads, lest his supreme affections being thereby gratified, it should be hereafter said to him, " Remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things."
He is required by his holy calling to be victorious over the world ; and to this victory, the conquest of the dread of its disesteem and dishonor is essentially and indispensably required. He reflects on those holy men who " had trial of cruel mockings ;" he remembers that our blessed Savior himself "was despised and rejected of men ;" and what is he, that he should be exempted from the common lot, or think it much to bear the scandal of his profession 1 If therefore he is creditable and popular, he considers this, if the phrase may be pardoned, as something beyond his bargain ; and he watches himself with double care, lest he should grow over-fond of what he may be shortly called upon to relinquish. He meditates often on the probability of his being involved in such circum-
ESTIMATION- AND APPLArSE. 181
Stances as may render it necessary for him to Bub- ject himself to the disgrace and obloquy of the world ; thus familiarizing himself with them betimes, and preparmg himself, that when the trying hour arrives they may not take him unawares.
But the cultivation of the desire of " that honor which cometh from God," he finds the most effectual means of bringing his mind into a proper temper, in what regards the love of human approbation. Chris- tian ! wouldst thou indeed reduce this affection un- der just control — sursum cor da ! lift up your heart ! rise on the wings of contemplation, until the praises and the censures of men die away upon the ear, and the still small voice of conscience is no longer drowned by the din of this nether world. Here the sight is apt to be occupied with earthly objects, and the hearing to be engrossed with earthly sounds ; but there thou shalt come within the view of that re- splendent and incorruptible crown which is held forth to thy acceptance in the realms of light, and thine ear shall be regaled with heavenly melody ! Here we dwell in a variable atmosphere — the pros- pect is at one time darkened by the gloom of dis- grace, and at another the eye is dazzled by the gleamings of glory: but thou hast now ascended above this inconstant region ; no storms agitate, no clouds obscure the air, and the lightnings play and the thunders roll beneath thee.
Thus, at chosen seasons, the Christian exercises 16
182 ON THE DESIRE OF HUMAN
iiimself; and when, from this elevated region, he descends into the plain below, and mixes in the bus- tle of life, he still retains the impressions of his more retired hours. By these he realizes to himself the unseen world : he accustoms himself to speak and act as in the presence of *' an innumerable company of angels, and of the spirits of just men made perfect, and of God the Judge of all ;" the consciousness of their approbation cheers and gladdens his soul un- der the scoffs and reproaches of a misjudging world, and to his delighted ear their united praises form a harmony which a few discordant earthly voices can- not interrupt.
But though the Christian is sometimes enabled thus to triumph over the inordinate love of hu- man applause, he does not therefore deem him- self secure from its encroachments. On the con- trary, he is aware, so strong and active is its princi- ple of vitality, that even where it seems extinct, let but circumstances favor its revival, and it will spring forth again in renewed vigor. And as his watch must thus, during life, know no termination, because the enemy will ever be at hand ; so it must be the more close and vigilant, because he is nowhere free from danger, but is on every side open to attack. *• Sume superbiam qucesitam mentis^ was the maxim of a worldly moralist : but the Christian is aware that he is particularly assailable where he really ex- cels ; there he is in especial danger lest his motives,
ESTIMATION AND APPLAUSE. 183
originally pure, being insensibly corrupted, he should be betrayed into anxiety about worldly favor, when he is endeavoring to render his virtue amiable and respected in the eyes of others, and in obedience to the Scripture injunction, is willing to let his " light so shine before men, that they may see his good works, and glorify his Father which is in heaven."
He watches himself also on small as well as on great occasions: the latter indeed, in the case of many persons, can hardly ever be expected to occur, whereas the former are continually presenting them- selves ; and thus, whilst they may be rendered highly useful in forming and strengthening a just habit of mind in the particular in question, so they are the means most at hand for enabling us to discover our own real character. Let not this be slightly passed over. If any one finds himself shrinking from dis- repute or disesteem in little instances, but apt to so- lace himself with the persuasion that his spirits be- ing fully called forth to the encounter, he could boldly stand the brunt of sharper trials ; let him be slow to give entertainment to so beguiling a suggestion; and let him not forget that these little instances, where no credit is to be got, and the vainest can find small room for self-complacency, furnish perhaps the truest tests whether we are ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, and are willing, on principles really pure, to bear reproach for the name of Jesus.
TJie Christian, too, i$ w^ll a»'are that the exce»«
184 ON THE DESIRE OF HUMAN
sive desire of human approbation is a passion of so subtile a nature that there is nothing into which it cannot penetrate ; and from much experience, learn- ing to discover it where it would lurk unseen, and to detect it under its most specious disguises, he finds that it is apt to insinuate itself into his very religion. Proud piety and ostentatious charity, and all the more open effects it there produces, have been often condemned, and we may discover the tendencies to them in ourselves, without difficulty. But let not the Christian suffer himself to be deceived by any external dissimilitudes between himself and the world around him, trusting perhaps to the sincerity of the principle to which they originally owed their rise ; but let him beware lest, through the insensible encroachments of the subtile usurper, his religion should at length have "only a name to live;" lest he should be mainly preserved in his religious course by the dread of incurring the charge of levi- ty for quitting a path on which he had deliberately entered. Or where, on a strict and impartial scrutiny of his governing motives, he may fairly conclude this not to be the case, let him beware lest he be in fluenced by this principle in particular parts of his character, and especially where any external singu- larities are in question ; closely scrutinizing his ap- parent motives, lest he should be prompted to his more than ordinary religious observances, and be kept from participating in the licentious pleasures
ESTIMATION AND APPLAUSE. 185
of a dissipated age, not so much by a vigorous prin- ciple of internal holiness, as by a fear of lessening himself in the good opinion of the stricter circle of his associates, or of suffering even in the estimation of the world at large, by violating the proprieties of his assumed character.
To those who, in this important particular, wish to conform themselves to the injunctions of the word of God, we must advise a laborious watchfulness, a jealous guard, a close and frequent scrutiny of their own hearts, that they may not too late find them- selves to have been mistaken as to what they had conceived to be their governing motives. Above all, let them labor, with humble prayers for the Divine assistance, to fix in themselves a deep, habitual, and practical sense of the excellence of "that honor which Cometh from God," and of the comparative worthlessness of all earthly estimation and pre-emi- nence. In truth, unless the affections of the soul be thus predominantly engaged on the side of heaven- ly, in preference to that of human honor, though we may have relinquished the pursuit of fame, we shall not have acquired that firm contexture of mind which can bear disgrace and shame. Between these two states there is a wide interval, and he who finds rea- son to believe he has arrived at the one, must not therefore conclude he has reached the other. To the one, a little natural moderation and quietness of temper may be sufficient to conduct us ; but to the 1$*
186 ON THE DESIRE OF HUMAN
Other we can only attain by much discipline and slow advances ; and we shall often find reason to confess, in the hour of trial, that we had greatly, far too greatly, overrated our progress.
When engaged, too, in the prosecution of this course, we must be aware of the snares which lie in our way, and of the deceits to which we are liable ; and we must be provided against these impositions, by having obtained a full and distinct conception of the temper of mind, with regard to human favor, which is prescribed to us in Scripture ; and by con- tinually examining our hearts and lives, to ascertain how far they correspond with it. This will prevent our substituting contemplation in the place of action, to the neglect of the common duties of life ; this will prevent our mistaking the gratification of an indo- lent temper for the Christian's disregard of fame ; for never let it be forgotten, we must deserve estima- tion, though we may not possess it ; forcing men of the world to acknowledge that we do not want their boasted spring of action ; but that its place is better supplied to us by another, which produces all the good of theirs without its evil ; thus demonstrating the superiority of the principle which animates us, by the superior utility and excellence of its effects. This principle, in order to be pure and genuine, though nerved with more than mortal firmness, must be sweetened by love, and tempered with humility. The former of these qualities will render us kind,
ESTIMATION AND APPLAUSE. 187
friendly, and beneficent, preventing our being no longer on the watch to promote the happiness or comfort of others, than whilst we are stimulated by the desire of their applause ; the produce of which passion, whatever may be vaunted of its effects on social intercourse, is often nothing better than selfish- ness, ill concealed under a superficial covering of exterior courtesy.
Humility, again, reducing us in our own value, will moderate our claims on worldly estimation. It will check our tendency to ostentation and display, prompting us rather to avoid than to attract notice. It will dispose us to sit down in quiet obscurity, though, judging ourselves impartiallj% we believe ourselves better entitled to credit than those on whom it is conferred ; closing the entrance against a proud, painful, and malignant passion; from which, under such circumstances, we can otherwise be hard- ly free, the passion of " high disdain from sense of injured merit."
Love and humility will concur in producing a frame of mind not more distinct from an ardent thirst of glory, than from that frigid disregard, or in- solent contempt, or ostentatious renunciation of hu- man favor and distinction, which we have some- times seen opposed to it. These latter qualities may not unfrequently be traced to a slothful, sensual, and selfish temper ; to the consciousness of being unequal to any great and generous attempts ; to the disap-
188 ON THE DESIRE, &c.
pointment of schemes of ambition or of glory ; to a little personal experience of the world's capricious and inconstant humor. The renunciation in these cases, however sententious, is often far from sincere ; and it is even made not unfrequently with a view to the attainment of that very distinction which it affects to disclaim. In some other of these instances, the over-valuation and inordinate desire of worldly credit, however disavowed, are abundantly evident, from the merit which is assumed for relinquishing them ; or from that sour and surly humor, which betrays a gloomy and a corroded mind, galled and fretting under the irritating sense of the want of that which it most wishes to possess.
But the Christian's is a far different temper : not a temper of sordid sensuality, or lazy apathy, or dog- matizing pride, or disappointed ambition : more truly independent of worldly estimation than philosophy with all her boasts, it forms a perfect contrast to epi- curean selfishness, to stoical pride, and to cynical brutality. It is a temper compounded of firmness, and complacency, and peace, and love ; manifesting itself in acts of kindness and of courtesy; a kindness not pretended, but genuine ; a courtesy not false and su- perficial, but cordial and sincere. In the hour of po- pularity it is not intoxicated or insolent ; in the hour of unpopularity it is not desponding or morose ; un- shaken in constancy, unwearied in benevolence, firm without roughness, and assiduous without servility.
AMIABLE TEMPERS, Ac. 189
SECTION IV.
l^he generally prevailing error, of substituting amiable tempers and useful lives in the place of rcligio7i, stated and confuted ; with hints to real Christians.
There is another practical error very generally prevalent, the effects of which are highly injurious to the cause of religion ; and which in particular is often brought forward, when, upon Christian princi- ples, any advocates for Christianity would press the practice of Christian virtues.
The error in question is that of exaggerating the merit of certain amiable and useful qualities, and of considering them as sufficient to compensate for the want of the supreme love and fear of God.
It seems to be an opinion pretty generally preva- lent, that kindness and sweetness of temper ; sym- pathizing, and benevolent, and generous affections ; attention to what, in the world's estimation, are the domestic, relative and social duties ; and, above all, a life of general activity and usefulness, may well be allowed, in our imperfect state, to make up for the defect of what in strict propriety of speech is termed religion.
Many indeed will unreservedly declare, and more will hint the opinion, that " the difference between the qualities above mentioned and religion, is rather a verbal or logical, than a real and essential differ- ence ; for in truth, what are they but religion in sub-
190 AMIABLE TEMPERS AND
Stance, if not in name ? Is it not the great end of re- ligion, and in particular the glory of Christianity, to extinguish the malignant passions ; to curb the vio- lence, to control the appetites, and to smooth the as- perities of man ; to make us compassionate, and kind, and forgiving, one to another ; to make us good hus- bands, good fathers, good friends ; and to render us active and useful in the discharge of the relative, so- cial, and civil duties ? We do not deny, that in the general mass of society, and particularly in the low- er orders, such conduct and tempers cannot be dif- fused and maintained by any other medium than that of religion. But if the end be effected, surely it is only unnecessary refinement to dispute about the means. It is even to forget your own principles, and to refuse its just place to solid, practical virtue, while you assign too high a value to speculative opinions."
Thus a fatal distinction is admitted between mo- rality and religion — a great and desperate error, of which it is the more necessary to take notice, be- cause many who would condemn, as too strong, the language in which this opinion is sometimes openly avowed, are yet more or less tinctured with the no- tion itself; and under the habitual and almost un- perceived influence of this beguiling suggestion, are vainly solacing their imaginations, and repressing their well-grounded fears concerning their own state; and are also quieting their just solicitude concerning
USEFUL LIVES NOT RELIGION. 191
the spiritual condition of others, and soothing them- selves in the neglect of friendly endeavors for their improvement.
There can hardly be a stronger proof of the curso- ry and superficial views with which men are apt to satisfy themselves in religious concerns, than the prevalence of the opinion here in question ; the false- hood and sophistry of which must be acknowledged by any one who, admitting the authority of Scripture, will examine it with ever so little seriousness and impartiality of mind.
Appealing even to a less strict standard, it would not be difficult to show that the moral worth of these sweet and benevolent tempers, and of these useful lives, is greatly overrated. The former involuntarily gain upon our affections, and disarm our severer judgments, by their kindly complying, and apparent- ly disinterested nature ; by their prompting men to flatter instead of mortifying our pride, to sympathize either with our joys or our sorrows, to abound in obliging attentions and offices of courtesy ; by their obvious tendency to produce and maintain harmony and comfort in social and domestic life. It is not however unworthy of remark, that from the commen- dations generally bestowed on these qualities, and their rendering men universally acceptable and po- pular, there is many a false pretender to them, who gains a credit for them which he by no means de- serves • in whom they are no more than the proprie-
192 AMIABLE TEMPERS AND
ties of his assumed character, or worn in public only the belter to conceal an opposite temper. Would you see this man of courtesy and sweetness stripped of his false covering, follow him unobserved into his fa- mily, and you shall behold, too plain to be mistaken, selfishness and spleen harassing and vexing the wretched subjects of their unmanly tyranny, as if they were making up to themselves for the restraint which had been imposed on them in the world.
But where the benevolent qualities are genuine, they often deserve the name rather of amiable in- stincts than of moral virtues. In many cases, they imply no mental conflict, no previous discipline : they are apt to evaporate in barren sensibilities, and tran- sitory sympathies, and indolent wishes, and unpro- ductive declarations : they possess not that strength and energy of character which, in contempt of diffi- culties and dangers, produce alacrity in service, vi- gor and perseverance in action. Destitute of proper firmness, they often encourage that vice and folly which it is their especial duty to repress; and it is well if, from their soft complying humor, they are not often drawn in to participate in what is wrong, as well as to connive at it. Thus their possessors are fre quently, in the eye of truth and reason, bad magis- trates, bad parents, bad friends ; defective in thoso very qualities which give to each of those several relations its chief and appropriate value. And this is a defect v/hich might well bring into question that
fSEFtTL LIVES NOT RELIGION. 193
freedom from selfishness which is so often claimed; inasmuch as there is too great reason to fear that it often arises in us chiefly from indisposition to submit to a painful effort, though real good-will commands the sacrifice, or from the fear of lessening the good opinion -which is entertained of us.
These qualities also, when they are not grounded and rooted in religion, are of a sickly and short-lived nature, and want that temperament which is requi- site for enabling them to bear the rude shocks and the variable and churlish seasons to which, in such a world as this, they must ever be exposed. It is only a Christian love of which it is the character that "it suffereth long, and yet is kind; that it is not easily provoked ; that it beareth all things, and en- dureth all things." In the spring of youth, indeed, we are flushed with health and confidence ; hope is young and ardent, our desires are unsated, and what- ever we see has the grace of novelty ; we are the more disposed to be good-natured, because we are pleased ; pleased, because universally well received. Wherever we cast our eyes, we see some face of friendship, and love, and gratulation: all nature smiles around us. Now the amiable tempers of which we have been speaking naturally spring up. The soil suits, the climate favors them. They ap- pear to shoot forth vigorously, and blossom in gay luxuriance. To the superficial eye, all is fair and flourishing ; we anticipate the fruits of autumn, and 17
194 AMIABLE TEMPERS AND
promise ourselves an ample produce. But by and by the sun scorches, the frost nips, the winds rise, the rains descend; all our fond expectations are no more. Our youthful efforts, let it be supposed, have been successful ; and we rise to wealth or eminence. A kind flexible temper and popular manners have produced in us, as they are too apt, a youth of easy, social dissipation and unproductive idleness ; and we are overtaken too late by the consciousness of having wasted that time which cannot be recalled, and those opportunities which we cannot now reco- ver. We sink into disregard and obscurity when, there being a call for qualities of more energy, indo- lent good nature must fall back. We ar€ thrust out of notice by accident or misfortunes. We are left behind by those with whom we started on equal terms, and who, originally perhaps having less pre- tensions and fewer advantages, have greatly out- stripped us in the race of honor ; and their having got before us is often the more galling, because it appears to us, and perhaps with reason, to have been chiefly owing to a generous, easy, good-natured hu- mor on our part, which led us to give place, without a struggle, to their more lofty pretensions. Thus we suffered them quietly to occupy a station to which originally we had as fair a claim as they ; but our awkward and vain endeavors to recover it, while they show that we want self knowledge and compo- sure in our riper years, as much as in our younger
USEFUL LIVES NOT RELIGION. 195
we had been destitute of exertion, serve only to make our inferiority more manifest, and to bring our dis- content into the fuller notice of an ill-natured world, which, however, not unjustly condemns and ridicules our misplaced ambition.
It may be sufficient to have hinted at a few of the vicissitudes and changes of advancing life. Now the bosom is no longer cheerful and placid ; and if the countenance preserve its exterior character, this is no longer the honest expression of the heart. Pros- perity and luxury, gradually extinguishing sympa- thy and puffing up with pride, harden and debase the soul. In other instances, shame secretly clouds, and remorse begins to sting, and suspicion to corrode, and jealousy and envy to imbitter. Disappointed hopes, unsuccessful competitions, and frustrated pur- suits, sour and irritate the temper. A little personal experience of the selfishness of mankind damps our generous warmth and kind affections ; reproving the prompt sensibility and unsuspecting simplicity of our earlier years. Above all, ingratitude sickens the heart, and chills and thickens the very life's-blood of benevolence ; till at length our youthful Nero, soft and susceptible, becomes a hard and cruel tyrant; and our youthful Timon, the gay, the generous, the beneficent, is changed into a cold, sour, silent mis- anthrope.
And, as in the case of amiable tempers, so in that also of what are called useful lives, it must be con-
196 AMIABLE TEMPERS AND
fessed that their intrinsic worth, arguing still merely on principles of reason, is apt to be greatly overrated. They are often the result of a disposition naturally bustling and active, which delights in motion, and finds its labor more than repaid, either by the very pleasure which it takes in its employments, or by the credit which it derives from them. More than this: if it be granted that religion tends in general to pro- duce usefulness ; and therefore that these irreligious men of useful lives are rather exceptions to the gene- ral rule ; it must at least be confessed that they are 60 far useless, or even positively mischievous, as they either neglect to encourage, or actually discourage that principle which is the great operative spring of usefulness in the bulk of mankind.
Thus it might well perhaps be questioned, esti- mating these men by their own standard, whether the particular good in this case, is not more than counterbalanced by the general evil ; still more, if their conduct being brought to a strict account, they should be charged, as they justly ought, with the loss of the good which, if they had manifestly and avow- edly acted from a higher principle, might have been produced, not only directly in themselves, but indi- rectly and remotely in others, from the extended ef- ficacy of a religious example. They may be com- pared to persons whom some peculiarity of constitu- tion enables to set at defiance those established rules of living which must be observed by the world at
USEFUL LIVES NOT RELIGION. 197
large. These healthy debauchees, however they may plead in their defence that they do themselves no in- jury, would probably, but for their excesses, have both enjoyed their health better, and preserved it longer, as well as have turned it to better account ; and it may at least be urged against them, that they disparage the laws of temperance, and fatally betray others into the breach of them, by affording an in- stance of their being transgressed with impunity.
But were the merit of the qualities in question greater than it is, and though it were not liable to the exceptions which have been alledged against it, yet could they be in no degree admitted as a com- pensation for the want of the supreme love and fear of God, and of a predominant desire to promote his glory. The observance of one commandment, how- ever clearly and forcibly enjoined, cannot make up for the neglect of another, which is enjoined with equal clearness and equal force. To allow this plea in the present instance, would be to permit men to abrogate the first table of the law, on condition of their obey- ing the second. But religion suffers not any such composition of duties. It is on the very self-same miserable principle that .some have thought to atone for a life of injustice and rapine by the strictness of their religious observances. If the former class of men can plead the diligent discharge of their duties to their fellow-creatures, the latter will urge that of theirs to God. We easily see the falsehood of the 17*
198 AMIABLE TEMPERS AND
plea in the latter case ; and it is only self-deceit and partiality which prevent its being equally visible in the former. Yet so it is ; such is the unequal mea- sure, if I may be allowed the expression, which we deal out to God, and to each other. It Avould justly and universally be thought false confidence in the religious thief, or the religious adulterer, (to admit for the sake of argument such a solecism in terms,) to solace himself with the firm persuasion of the Divine favor ; but it will, to many, appear hard and over- precise, to deny this firm persuasion of Divine ap- probation to the avowedly irreligious man of social and domestic usefulness.
Will it be urged here that the waiter is not doing justice to his opponent's argument ; which is, not that irreligious men of useful lives may be excused for neglecting their duties towards God, in conside- ration of their exemplary discharge of their duties towards their fellow-creatures ; but that in perform- ing the latter, they perform the former virtually and substantially, if not in name ?
Can then our opponent deny that the Holy Scrip- tures are in nothing more full, frequent, strong, and unequivocal, than in their injunctions on us supreme- ly to love and fear God, and to worship and serve him continually with humble and grateful hearts ; habitually regarding him as our Benefactor, and So- vereign, and Father, and abounding in sentiments of gratitude, and loyalty, and respectful affection ? Can
USEFUL LIVES NOT RELIGION. 199
he deny that these positive precepts are rendered, if possible, still more clear, and their authority still more binding, by illustrations and indirect confir- mations almost innumerable? And who then is that bold intruder into the council of Infinite Wisdom, who, in contempt of these precise commands, thus illustrated also and confirmed, will dare to maintain that, knowing the intention with which they were primarily given, and the ends they were ultimately designed to produce, he may innocently neglect or violate their plain obligations, on the plea that he conforms himself, though in a different manner, to this primary intention, and produces, though by dif- ferent means, these real and ultimate ends ?
This mode of arguing is one with which, to say nothing of its insolent profaneness, the heart of man, prone to deceive himself, and partial in his own cause, is not fit to be trusted. Here, again, more cautious and jealous in the case of our worldly than of our religious interests, we readily discern the fallacy of this reasoning, and protest against it, when it is at- tempted to be introduced into the commerce of life. We see clearly that it would afford the means of refining away by turns every moral obligation. The adulterer might allow himself, with a good conscience, to violate the bed of his unsuspecting friend, whenever he could assure himself that his crime would escape detection ; for then, where would be the evil and misery the prevention of which was
200 AMIABLE TEMPERS AND
the real ultimate object of the prohibition of adultery? The thief, in like manner, and even the murderer, might find abundant room for the innocent exercise of their respective occupations, arguing from the primary intention and real objects of the commands by which theft and murder were forbidden. There perhaps exists not a crime to which this crooked morality would not furnish some convenient opening.
But this miserable sophistry deserves not that we should spend so much time in the refutation of it. To discern its fallaciousness requires not acuteness of understanding so much as a little common ho- nesty. " There is indeed no surer mark of a false and hollow heart, than a disposition thus to quibble away the clear injunctions of duty and conscience."* It is the wretched resource of a disingenuous mind, endeavoring to escape from convictions before which it cannot stand, and to evade obligations which it dares not disavow.
The arguments which have been adduced would surely be sufficient to disprove the extravagant pre- tensions of the qualities under consideration, though those qualities were perfect in their nature. But they are not perfect. On the contrary, they are radically defective and corrupt; they are a body without a soul ; they want the vital actuating prin- ciple, or rather, they are animated and actuated by a false one. Christianity — let me avail myself of
♦ Seo Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments.
USEFUL LIVES NOT RELIGION. 201
the very words of a friend* in maintaining her ar gument — is " a religion of motives." That only is Christian practice which flows from Christian prin- ciples ; and none else will be admitted as such by Him who will be obeyed as well as worshiped " in spirit and in truth,"
This also is a position of which, in our intercourse with our fellow-creatures, we clearly discern the justice, and universally admit the force. Though we have received a benefit at the hands of any one, we scarcely feel grateful if we do not believe the inten- tion towards us to have been friendly. Have we served any one from motives of kindness, and is a return of service made to us ? We hardly feel our- selves worthily requited, except that return be dic- tated by gratitude. We should think ourselves rather injured than obliged by it, if it were merely prompted by a proud unwillingness to continue in our debt.f What husband, or what father, not absolutely dead to every generous feeling, would be satisfied with a wife or a child, who, though he could not charge them with any actual breach of their respective ob- ligations, should yet confessedly perform them from a cold sense of duty, in place of the quickening energies of conjugal and filial aflJection? What an
♦ The writer hopes that the work to which he is referring is so well known, that he needs scarcely name Mrs. H. More.
t See Smitli's Theory of Moral Sentiments.
202 AMIABLE TEMPERS AND
insult would it be to such a one, to tell him gravely that he had no reason to complain !
The unfairness with which we suffer ourselves to reason in matters of religion, is no where more striking than in the instance before us. It were per- naps not unnatural to suppose that, as we have no sure way of judging any one's internal principles but by his external actions, it would have grown into an established rule, that when the latter were unobjectionable, the former were not to be question- ed ; and on the other hand, that in reference to a Be- ing who searches the heart, our motives, rather than our external actions, would be granted to be the just objects of inquiry. But we exactly reverse these natural principles of reasoning. In the case of our fellow-creatures, the motive is that which we prin- cipally inquire after and regard. But in the case of our Supreme Judge, from whom no secrets are hid, we suffer ourselves to believe that internal principles may be dispensed with, if the external action be performed !
Let us not however be supposed ready to concede, in contradiction to what has been formerly contend- ed, that where the true motive is wanting, the ex- ternal actions themselves will not generally betray the defect. Who will not confess in the instance so lately put, of a wife and a child who should dis- charge their respective obligations merely from a cold sense of duty, that the inferiority of their ac-
rSEFUL LIVES NOT RELIGION. 203
tuating principle would not be confined to its nature, but would be discoverable also in its effects ? Who does not feel that these domestic services, thus robbed of their vital spirit, would be so debased and de- graded in our estimation, as to become not barely lifeless and uninteresting, but even distasteful and loathsome ? Who will deny that these would be per- formed in fuller measure, with more wakeful and unwearied attention, as well as with more heart ; where, with the same sense of duty, the enlivening principle of affection should be also associated?
The enemies of religion are sometimes apt to compare the irreligious man, of a temper naturally sweet and amiable, with the religious man of natural roughness and severity ; the irreligious man of na- tural activity, with the religious man who is naturally indolent; and thence to draw their inferences. But this mode of reasoning is surely unjust. If they would argue the question fairly, they should make their comparisons between persons of similar natural qualities, not in one or two examples, but in a mass of instances. They would then be compelled to con- fess the efficacy of religion in heightening the bene- volence and increasing the usefulnesss of men ; and to admit that, granting the occasional, but rare exist- ence of genuine and persevering benevolence of dis- position and usefulness of life \vhere the religious principle is wanting, yet that experience gives us reason to believe that true religion, while it would
204 AMIABLE TEMPERS AND
have implanted these qualities in persons in whom before they had no place, would have rendered the amiable more amiable, the useful more useful, with fewer inconsistencies, with less abatement.
Let true Christians meanwhile be ever mmdful that they are loudly called upon to make this argu- ment still more clear, these positions still less ques- tionable. You are every where commanded to be tender and sympathetic, diligent and useful ; and it is the character of that '• wisdom from above," in which you are to be proficients, that it " is gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good ftuits," Could the efficacy of Christianity in soften- ing the heart be denied by those who saw, in the instance of the great apostle of the Gentiles, that it was able to transform a bigoted, furious, and cruel persecutor, into an almost unequalled example of candor and gentleness, and universal tenderness and love? Could its spirit of active beneficence be denied by those who saw its Divine Author so diligent and unwearied in his benevolent labors, as to justify the compendious description which was given of him by a personal witness of his exertions, that he " went about doing good ? Imitate these blessed examples ; 60 shall you vindicate the honor of your profession, and " put to silence the ignorance of foolish men ;" so shall you obey those divine injunctions of adorn- ing the doctrine of Christ, and of "letting your light shine before men, that they may see your good works
tJSEFUL LIVES NOT RELIOIOK 205
and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Beat the world at its own best weapons. Let your love be more affectionate, your mildness less open to ir- ritation, your diligence more laborious, your activity more wakeful and persevering. Consider sweetness of temper and activity of mind, if they naturally be- long to you, as talents of special worth and utility, for which you will have to give account. Care- fully watch against whatever might impair them ; cherish them with constant assiduity ; keep them in continual exercise, and direct them to their noblest ends. The latter of these qualities renders it less difficult, and therefore more incumbent on you to be ever abounding in the work of the Lord ; and to be copious in the production of that species of good fruit, of which mankind in general will be most ready to allow the excellence, because they best un- derstand its nature. In your instance, the solid sub- stance of christian practice is easily susceptible ol that high and beautiful polish, which may attract the attention, and extort the admiration of a careless and undiscerning world, so slow to notice, and so backward to acknowledge intrinsic worth when con- cealed under a less sightly exterior. Know, then, and value as you ought, the honorable office which is especially devolved on you. Let it be your ac- ceptable service to recommend the discredited cause, and sustain the fainting interests of religion, to fur- nish to her friends matters of sound and obvious IS
206 AMIABLE TEMPERS AND
argument, and of honest triumph ; and if your best endeavors cannot conciliate, to refute at least, and confound her enemies.
If, on the other hand, you are conscious that you are naturally rough and austere, that disappoint- ments have soured, or prosperity has elated you, or that habits of command have rendered you quick in expression, and impatient of contradiction ; or if, from whatever other cause, you have contracted an un- happy peevishness of temper or asperity of manners, or harshness and severity of language, remember that these defects are by no means incompatible with an aptness to perform services of substantial kind- ness. If nature has been confirmed by habit till your soul seems thoroughly tinctured with these evil dis- positions, yet do not despair. Remember that the Di- vine agency is promised "to take away the heart of stone, and give a heart of flesh," of which it is the natural property to be tender and susceptible. Pray then earnestly and perseveringly, that the blessed aid of Divine grace may operate efTectually on your be- half Beware of acquiescing in evil tempers, under the idea that they are the ordinary imperfections of the best of men; that they show themselves only in little instances ; that they are only occasional, hasty, and transient effusions, when you are taken off your guard ; the passing shade of your mind, and not the .settled color. Beware of excusing or allowing them in yourself, under the notion of warm zeal for the
USEFUL LIVES NOT RELIGION. 207
cause of religion and virtue, which you perhaps own is now and then apt to carry you into somewhat over-great severity of judgment or sharpness of re- proof. Listen not to these, or any other such flatter- ing excuses, which your own heart will be but too ready to suggest to you. Scrutinize yourself rather with rigorous strictness ; and where there is so much room for self-deceit, call in the aid of some faithful friend, and unbosoming yourself to him without con- cealment, ask his impartial and unreserved opinion of your behavior and condition. Our unwillingness to do this often betrays to others, not seldom it first discovers to ourselves, that we entertain a secret dis- trust of our own character and conduct. Instead also of extenuating to yourself the criminality of the vicious tempers under consideration, strive to impress your mind deeply with a sense of it. For this end, often consider seriously that these rough and churlish tempers are a direct contrast to the "meekness and gentleness of Christ ;" and that Christians are strong- ly and repeatedly enjoined to copy after their great Model in these particulars, and to be themselves pat- terns of " mercy and kindness, and humbleness of mind, and meekness, and long-suffering." They are to "put away all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil-speaking ;" not only " being ready to every good work, but being gentle unto all men ;" " showing all meekness unto all men ;" " for- bearing, forgiving," tender-hearted. Remember the
208 AMIABLE TEMPERS AND
apostle's declaration, that " if any man bridleth not his tongue, he only seemeth to be religious, and de- ceiveth his own heart ;" and that it is one of the cha- racters of that love, without which all pretensions to the name of Christian are but vain, that " it doth not behave itself unseemly." Consider how much these acrimonious tempers must break in upon the peace, and destroy the comfort of those around you. Remember also that the honor of your Christian pro- fession is at stake, and be solicitous not to discredit it; justly dreading lest you should disgust those whom you ought to conciliate, and by conveying an unfavorable impression of your principles and character, should incur the guilt of putting an " of- fence in your brother's way ;" thereby " hindering the Gospel of Christ," the advancement of which should be your daily and assiduous care.
Thus having come to the full knowledge of your disease, and to a just impression of its malignity, strive against it with incessant watchfulness. Guard against its breaking forth into act. Force yourself to abound in little offices of courtesy and kindness ; and you shall gradually experience in the perform- ance of these a pleasure hitherto unknown. But take not up with external amendment ; and remem- ber that the Christian is not to be satisfied with the world's superficial courtliness of demeanor, but that his " love is to be without dissimulation." Examine carefully whether the unchristian tempers which
USEFUL LIVES NOT RELIGION. 209
you would eradicate, are not maintained by selfish- ness and pride; and strive to subdue them effectually. Accustom yourself to endeavor to look attentively up- on a careless and inconsiderate world, which, while it is in such eminent peril, is so ignorant of its danger. Dwell upon this affecting scene, till it has excited your pity ; and this pity, while it melts the mind to Christian love, shall insensibly produce a temper of habitual sympathy and softness. By means like these, perseveringly used in constant dependence on Divine aid, you may confidently hope to make con- tinual progress. Among men of the world, a youth of softness and sweetness will often, as we formerly remarked, harden into insensibility, and sharpen into moroseness. But it is the office of Christianity to reverse this order. It is pleasing to witness this blessed renovation ; to see, as life advances, asperi- ties gradually smoothing down, and roughnesses mellowing away; while the subject of this happy change experiences within, increasing measures of the comfort which he diffuses around him ; and feel- ing the genial influences of that heavenly flame, which can thus give life, and warmth, and action to what had been hitherto rigid and insensible, looks up with gratitude to Him who has shed abroad this principle of love in his heart ;
Miraturque novas frondes et non sua poma.
Let it not be thought that in the foregoing discua- 18»
210 AMIABLE TEMPERS AND
sion the amiable and useful qualities, where they are not prompted and governed by a principle of re- ligion, have been spoken of in too disparaging terms. Nor would I be understood as unwilling to concede to those who are living in the exercise of them, their proper tribute of commendation. Of such persons it must be said, in the language of Scripture, " They have their reward." They have it in the inward complacency which a sweet temper seldom fails to inspire ; in the comforts of the domestic or social circle : in the pleasure which, from the constitution of our nature, accompanies pursuit and action. They are always beloved in private, and generally respect- ed in public life. But when devoid of religion, if the word of God be not a fable, •' they cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven." True practical Chris- tianity, never let it be forgotten, consists in devoting the heart and life to God ; in being supremely and habitually governed by a desire to know, and a dis- position to fulfill his will, and in endeavoring, under the influence of these motives, to " live to his glory.'' Where these essential requisites are wanting, how- ever amiable the character may be, however credit- able and respectable among men ; yet, as it possesses not the grand distinguishing essence, it must not be complimented with the name of Christianity. This, however, must commonly be a matter between God and a man's own conscience ; and we ought never to forget how strongly we are enjoined to be liberal
USEFUL LIVES NOT RELIGION. 211
in judging the motives of others, while we are strict in scrutinizing and severe in questioning our own. And this strict scrutiny is no where more necessary, because there is no where more room for the opera- tion of self-deceit. We are all extremely prone to lend ourselves to the good opinion which, however falsely, is entertained of us by others ; and though we at first suspect, or even indubitably know, that their esteem is unfounded and their praises undeserved, and that they would have thought and spoken of us very dif- ferently if they had discerned our secret motives, or had been accurately acquainted with all the circum- stances of our conduct; we gradually suffer our- selves to adopt their judgment of us, and at length feel that we are in some sort injured or denied our due, when these false commendations are contradict- ed or withheld. Without the most constant watch- fulness, and the most close and impartial self-exami- nation, irreligious people of amiable tempers, and still more those of useful lives, from the general po- pularity of their character, will be particularly liable to become the dupes of this propensity. Men of real religion will also do well to watch against this delu- sion. There is, however, another danger against which it is necessary to warn them. In their en- deavors to fulfill this obligation, let them specially be- ware lest, setting out on right principles, they insen- sibly lose them in the course of their progress — lest, engaging originally in the business and bustle of the
212 AMIABLE TEMPERS AND
world, from a sincere and earnest desire to promote the glory of God, their minds should become so heat- ed and absorbed in the pursuit of their object, that the true motive of action should either altogether cease to be an habitual principle, or should at least lose much of its life and vigor — lest their thoughts and affections being engrossed by temporal concerns, their sense of the reality of " unseen things" should fade away, and they should lose their relish for the employments and offices of religion.
The Christian's path is beset with dangers. On the one hand, he justly dreads an inactive and un- profitable life ; on the other, he no less justly trem- bles for the loss of spirrtual-mindedness. Does then the Christian discover in himself (judging not from accidental or occasional feelings, on which little stress is either way to be laid, but from the perma- nent and habitual temper of his mind) a settled, and, still mor,e, a growing coldness and indisposition to- wards the considerations and offices of religion ; and has he reason to apprehend that this coldness and in- disposition are owing to his being engaged too much or too earnestly in worldly business, or to his being too keen in the pursuit of worldly objects ? Let him carefully examine the state of his own heart, and se- riously and impartially survey the circumstances of his situation in life ; humbly praying to the Father of light and mercy, that he may be enabled to seel hi9 way cl«arly in this difficult emergency. If he
USEFUL LIVES NOT RELIGION. 213
finds himself pursuing wealth, or dignity, or reputa- tion, with earnestness and solicitude ; if these things engage many of his thoughts ; if his mind naturally and inadvertently runs out into contemplations of them ; if success in these respects greatly gladdens, and disappointments dispirit and distress his mind; he has but too plain grounds for self-condemnation. " No man can serve two masters." The world is evidently in possession of his heart, and it is no won- der that he finds himself dull, or rather dead, to the impression and enjoyment of spiritual things.
But though the marks of predominant estimation and regard for earthly things are much less clear and determinate, yet, if the object he is pursuing be one which, by its attainment, would bring him a con- siderable accession of riches, station and honor, let him soberly and fairly question and examine whe- ther the pursuit be warrantable? here, also, asking the advice of some judicious friend ; his backward- ness to do which, in instances like these, should justly lead him to distrust the reasonableness of the schemes which he is prosecuting. In such a case as this, we have good cause to distrust ourselves. Though the inward hope, that we are chiefly promoted by a de- sire to promote the glory of our Maker and the happi- ness of our fellow-creatures, by increasing our means of usefulness, may suggest itself to allay, yet let it not altogether remove our suspicions. It is not im- probable, that beneath this plausible mask we con-
214 AMIABLE TEMPERS AND
eeal, more successfully perhaps from ourselves than from others, an inordinate attachment to the pomps and transitory distinctions of this life ; and as this at- tachment gains the ascendency, it will ever be found that our perception and feeling of the supreme excel- lence of heavenly things will proportionably subside. But when the consequences which would follow from the success of our worldly pursuits do not ren- der them so questionable as in the case we have been just considering ; yet, having such good reason to believe that there is somewhere a flaw, let us care- fully scrutinize the whole of our conduct, in order to discover whether we may not be living either in the breach or in the omission of some known duty, and whether it may not therefore have pleased God to withdraw from us the influence of his Holy Spirit ; particularly inquiring whether the duties of self- examination, of secret and public prayer, the reading of the Holy Scriptures, and the other prescribed means of grace, have not been intermitted at their proper seasons, or performed with precipitation or distraction ? And if we find reason to believe that the allotment of time which it would be most for our spiritual improvement to assign to our religious offices is often broken in upon and curtailed, let us be extremely backward to admit excuses for such interruptions and abridgments. It is more than pro- bable, for many obvious reasons, that even our world- ly affairs will ^ot go on the better for encroaching
USEFUL LIVES NOT RELIGION. 215
Upon those hours which ought to be dedicated to the more immediate service of God, and to the cultivation of the inward principles of religion. Our hearts, at least, and our conduct will soon exhibit proofs of the sad effects of this fatal negligence.
Let us, when engaged in this important scrutiny, impartially examine ourselves whether the worldly objects which engross us, are all of them such as properly belong to our profession, or station, or cir- cumstances in life, Avhich therefore we could not neglect with a good conscience ? If they are, let us consider whether they do not consume a larger share of our time than they really require; and whether, by not trifling over our work, by deducting somewhat which might be spared from our hours of re- 1 axation, or by some other little management, we might not fully satisfy their just claims, and yet have an in- creased leisure to be devoted to the offices of religion.
But if we deliberately and honestly conclude that we ought not to give these worldly objects less of our time, let us endeavor at least to give them less of our hearts ; striving that the settled frame of our desires and affections may be more spiritual, and that, in the motley intercourses of life, we may con- stantly retain a more lively sense of the divine pre- sence, and a stronger impression of the reality of unseen things ; thus corresponding with the scrip- t jre description of true Christians, "walking by faith and not by sight, and having our conversation in heaven."
216 AMIABLE TEMPERS AND
Above all, let us guard against the temptation, to which we shall certainly be exposed, of lowering down our views to our state, instead of endeavoring to rise to the level of our views. Let us rather de- termine to know the worst of our case, and strive to be suitably affected with it ; not forward to speak peace to ourselves, but patiently carrying about with us a deep conviction of our backwardness and inap- titude to religious duties, and a just sense of our great 'weakness and numerous infirmities. This cannot be an unbecoming temper in those who are command, ed to " work out their salvation with fear and trem- bling." It prompts to constant and earnest prayer. It produces that sobriety, and lowliness, and tender- ness of mind, that meekness of demeanor and cir- cumspection in conduct, which are such eminent characteristics of the true Christian.
Nor is it a state devoid of consolation : " They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength •" •' Be strong, and he shall comfort thy heart :" ** Blessed are they that mourn ; for they shall bo comforted." These divine assurances soothe and en- courage the Christian's disturbed and dejected mind, and insensibly diffuse a holy composure. The tint may be solemn, nay, even melancholy, but it is mild and grateful. The tumult of his soul has subsided, and he is possessed by complacency, and hope, and love. If a sense of undeserved kindness fill his eyes with tears, they are tears of reconciliation and joy ;
tSEFUL LIVES NOT RELIGION. 217
while a generous ardor springing up within him, sends him forth to his worldly labors "fervent in spirit," resolving, through the divine aid, to be hence- forth more diligent and exemplary in living to the glory of God, and longing meanwhile for that bless- ed time, when, "being freed from the bondage of corruption," he shall be enabled to render to his heavenly Benefactor more pure and acceptable ser- vice.
After having discussed so much the whole ques- tion concerning amiable tempers in general, it may be scarcely necessary to dwell upon that particular class of them which belongs to the head of generous emotions, or of exquisite sensibility. To these al- most all which has been said is strictly applicable ; to which it may be added, that the persons in whom the latter qualities most abound, are often far from conducing to the peace and comfort of their nearest connections. These qualities indeed may be render- ed highly useful instruments, when in the service Oi religion. But we ought to except against them the more strongly, when not under her control ; because there is still greater danger than in the former case, that persons in whom they abound may be flattered into a false opinion of themselves by the excessive commendations often paid to them by others, and by the beguiling complacencies of their own minds, which are apt to be puffed up with a proud though secret consciousness of their own superior acuteness 19
218 DEFECTS IN THE PRACTICAL
and sensibility. But it is the less requisite to eiv large on this topic, because it has been well discussed by many who have shown that these qualities often fail us when most we want their aid ; that their pos- sessors can solace themselves with their imaginary exertions in behalf of ideal misery, and yet shrink from the labors of active benevolence, or retire with disgust from the homely forms of real poverty and wretchedness. In fine, the superiority of Christian charity and of plain practical beneficence has been ably vindicated ; and the school of Rousseau or ot Sterne has been forced to yield to the school ol Christ, when the question has been concerning the best means of promoting the comfort of family life, or the temporal well-being of society.
SECTION V.
iiome other grand defects in the practical system of the bulk of nominal Christians.
In the imperfect sketch which has been drawn of the religion of the bulk of nominal Christians, their fundamental error respecting the nature of Chris- tianity has been traced into some of its many mis- chievous consequences. Several of their particular misconceptions and allowed defects have also been pointed out and illustrated. It may not be improper to close the survey by noticing some others, for the
SYSTEM OF NOMINAL CHRISTIANS. 219
existence of which we may now appeal to aUnost every part of the precea'ing- delineation.
In the first place, then, there appears throughout, both in the principles and allowed conduct of the bulk of Tiominal Christians, a most inadequate idea of the guilt and evil of sin. We every where find rea- son to remark, that, as was formerly observed, reli- gion is suffered to dwindle away into a mere matter of police. Hence the guilt of actions is estimated, not by the proportion in which, according to Scrip- ture, they are offensive to God, but by that in which they are injurious to societ}^ Murder, theft, fraud in all its shapes, and some species of lying, are mani- festly, and in an eminent degree, injurious to social happiness. How difTerent, accordingly, in the moral scale, is the place they hold; from that which is as- signed to idolatry, to general irreligion, to swearing, drinking, fornication, lasciviousness, sensuality, exces- sive dissipation ; and, in particular circumstances, to pride, wrath, malice, and revenge !
Indeed, several of the abovementioned vices are held to be grossly criminal in the lower ranks, be- cause manifestly ruinous to their temporal interests ; but in the higher, they are represented as " losing half their evil by losing all their grossness," as flow- mg naturally from great prosperity, from the excess of gayety and good humor : and they are accordingly •* regarded with but a small degree of disapproba
220 DEFECTS IN THE PRACTICAL
tion, and censured very slightly, or not at all."* These are the remarks of authors who have survey- ed the stage of human life with more than ordinary observation ; one of whom, in particular, cannot be suspected of having been misled by religious pre- judices to form a judgment of the superior orders too unfavorable and severe.
Will these positions however be denied? Will it be maintained that there is not the difference already stated, in the moral estimation of these different classes of vices ? Will it be said that the one class is indeed more generally restrained, and more se- verely punished by human laws, because more pro- perly cognizable by human judicatures, and more directly at war with the well-being of society; but that, when brought before the tribunal of internal opinion, they are condemned with equal rigor ?
Facts may be denied, but where the general senti- ment and feeling of mankind are in question, our common language is often the clearest and most impartial witness; and the conclusions thus furnish- ed, are not to be parried by wit, or eluded by sophis- try. In the present case, our ordinary modes of speech furnish sufficient matter for the determination of the argument, and abundantly prove our disposi- tion to consider as matters of small account, such sins as are not held to be injurious to the commu-
• Vide Smith on the Wealth of Nations, vol. iil
ststl:m of nominal cht^istians. 2-2 1
tiity. Wo invent for them diminutive and qnalifying: terms, which, if not to be admitted as signs of ap- probation and goodwill, must at least be confessed to be proofs of our tendency to regard them with palliation and indulgence. Free-thinking, gallantry, jollity,* and a thousand similar phrases, might be adduced as instances. But it is worthy of remark, that no such soft and qualifying terms are in use for expressing the smaller degrees of theft, or fraud, or forgery, or any other of those offences which are committed by men against their fellow-creatures, and in the suppression of which we are interested by our regard to our temporal concerns.
The charge which we are urgmg is indeed unde- niable. In the case of any question of honor, or of moral honesty, we are sagacious in discerning and inexorable in judging the offence. No allowance is made for the suddenness of surprise, or the strength of temptations. One single failure is presumed to im- ply the absence of the moral or honorable princi- ple. The memory is retentive on these occasions, and the man's character is blasted for life. Here even mere suspicion of having once offended can scarcely be got over: " There is an awkward story about that man, which must be explained before he
* Many more might be added, such as, a good fellow, a good companion, a libertine, a little free, a little loose in lalk, wild, gay, jovial, being no man's enemy but his own, &.C. &c. &c. &c. above all, having a good heart. 19*^
222 DEFECTS IN THE PRACTICAL
and I can become acquainted." But in the case ol sins against God, there is no such watchful jealousy, none of this rigorous logic. A man may go on in the frequent commission of known sins, yet no such inference is drawn respecting the absence of the reli- gious principle. On the contrary, we say of him, that "though his conduct be a little incorrect, his princi- ples are untouched ;" — "that he has a good heart: and such a man may go quietly through life, with the titles of a mighty worthy creature, and a very good Christian."
But in the word of God, actions are estimated by a far less accommodating standard. There we read of no little sins. Much of our Savior's sermon on the mount, which many of the class we are condemning affect highly to admire, is expressly pointed against so dan- gerous a misconception. There, no such distinction is made between the rich and the poor. No notices are to be traced of one scale of morals for the high- er, and of another for the lower classes of society. Nay, the former are distinctly warned, that their condition in life is the more dangerous, because of the more abundant temptations to which it exposes them. Idolatry, fornication, lasciviousness, drunkenness, revellings, inordinate affection, are, by the apostle, likewise classed with theft and murder, and with what we hold in even still greater abomination ; and concerning them all, it is pronounced alike, that " they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Gal. 5 : 19-21. Col. 3 : 5-9.
SYSTEM OF NOMINAL CHRISTIANS. 223
Tn truth, the instance which we have lately speci- fied, of the loose system of these nominal Christians, betrays a fatal absence of the principle which is the very foundation of all religion. Their slight notions of the guilt and evil of sin discover an utter want of all suitable reverence for the Divine majesty. This principle is justly termed in Scripture, *'the begin- ning of wisdom," and there is perhaps no one quality which it is so much the studious endeavor of the sa- cred writers to impress upon the human heart. Job, 28: 28. Psalm 111 : 10. Prov. 1: 7. 9: 10.
Sin is considered in Scripture as rebellion against the sovereignty of God, and every different act of it equally violates his law, and if persevered in, dis- claims his supremacy. To the inconsiderate and the gay this doctrine may seem harsh, while, vainly fluttering in the sunshine of worldly prosperity, they lull themselves into a fond security. " But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night ; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat ; the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up. Seeing, then, that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness ?" 2 Peter, 3 : 10,11. We are but an atom in the universe. Worlds upon worlds surround us, all probably full of intelli- gent creatures, to whom, now or hereafter, we may be a spectacle, and afford an example of the Divine
224 DEFECTS IN THE PRACTICAL
procedure. Who then shall take upon him to pro nounce what might be the issue, if sin were sufferea to pass unpunished in one corner of this universal empire ? Who shall say what confusion might be the consequence, what disorder it might spread through the creation of God ? Be this however as it may, the language of Scripture is clear and decisive: " The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."
It should be carefully observed, too, that these aw- ful denunciations of the future punishment of sin de- rive additional weight from this consideration, that they are represented, not merely as a judicial sen- tence which, without violence to the settled order of things, might be remitted through the mere mercy of our Almighty Governor, but as arising out of the established course of nature: as happening in the way of natural consequence, just as a cause is ne- cessarily connected with its effect ; as resulting from certain connections and relations which rendered them suhable and becoming. It is stated that the king- dom of God and the kingdom of Satan are both set up in the w^orld, and that to the one or the other of these we must belong. " The righteous have pas- sed from death unto life ;" " they are delivered from the power of darkness, and are translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son." Col. 1 : 13. They are become "the children" and *' the subjects of God " While on earth, they love his day, his ser-
SYSTEM OF NOMINAL CHRISTIANS. 225
vice, his people ; they " speak good of his name ;" they abound in his works. Even here they are in some degree possessed of his image : by and by it shall be perfected; they shall awake up after his " likeness," and being " heirs of eternal life," they shall receive " an inheritance incorruptible and un- defiled, and that fadeth not away."
Of sinners, on the other hand, it is declared that " they are of their father the devil;" while on earth, they are styled " his children," " his servants ;" they are said " to do his works," to be " subjects of his kingdom :" at length " they shall partake his por- tion," when the merciful Savior shall be changed into an avenging Judge, and shall pronounce that dreadful sentence, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."
Is it possible that these declarations should not strike terror, or at least excite serious and fearful ap- prehension in the lightest and most inconsiderate mind ? But the imaginations of men are fatally prone to suggest to them fallacious hopes, in the very face of these positive declarations. " We cannot persuade ourselves that God will, in fact, prove so severe." It was the very delusion to which our first parents listened ; " Ye shall not surely die."
Let me ask these rash men, who are thus disposed to trifle with their immortal interests, had they lived in the antediluvian world, would they have conceiv-
226 DEFECTS IN THE PRACTICAL
ed it possible that God would then execute his pre- dicted threatening? Yet the event took place at the appointed time: the flood came and swept them all away ; and this awful instance of the anger of God against sin is related in the inspired writings for our instruction. Still more to rouse us to attention, the record is impressed in indelible characters on the solid substance of the very globe we inhabit ; which thus, in every country upon earth, furnishes practi- cal attestations to the truth of the sacred writings, and to the actual accomplishment of their awful pre- dictions. For myself I must declare that I never can read without awe the passage in which our Sa- vior is speaking of the state of the world at the time of this memorable event. The wickedness of men is represented to have been great and prevalent ; yet not, as we are ready to conceive, such as to interrupt the course and shake the very frame of society. The general face of things was, perhaps, not very dif- ferent from that which is exhibited in many of the European nations. It was a selfish, a luxurious, an irreligious, and an inconsiderate world. They were called, but they would not hearken : they were warn- ed, but they would not believe — " They did cat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in mar- riage :" such is the account of one of the evangelists ; in that of another it is stated nearly in the same words; " They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, and knew not until the Hood came, and swept them all away."
SYSTEM OF ^0.'MI^AL CHRISTIANS. ^17
Again, we see throughout, in the system which we have been describing, a most inadequate concep- tion of the difficulty of becoming true Christians; and an utter forgetfulness of its being the great bu- siness of life to secure our admission into heaven, and to prepare our hearts for its service and enjoy- ments. The general notion appears to be, that, if born in a country of which Christianity is the established religion, we are born Christians. We do not there- fore look out for positive evidence of our really being of that number; but putting the onus probandi, if it may be so expressed, on the wrong side, we con- ceive ourselves such of course, except our title be disproved by positive evidence to the contrary. And we are so slow in givins: ear to what conscience urges to us on this side; so dexterous in justifying what is clearly wrong, in palliating what we cannot justify, in magnifying the merit of what is fairly com- mendable, in flattering ourselves that our habits of vice are only occasional acts, and in multiplying our single acts into habits of virtue, that we must be bad indeed, to be compelled to give a verdict against ourselves. Besides, having no suspicion of our state, we do not set ourselves in earnest to the work of self-examination : but only receive in a confused and hasty way some occasional notices of our danger, Avhen sickness, or the loss of a friend, or the recent commission of some act of vice of greater size than ordinary, has awakened in our consciences a more than usual dei^ree of sen-:ibi1i!v.
223 DEFECTS IN THE PRACTICAL
Thus, by the generality, it is altogether forgotten that the Christian has a great work to execute — that of forming himself after the pattern of his Lord and Master, through the operation of the Holy Spirit of God, which is promised to our fervent prayers and diligent endeavors. Unconscious of the obstacles which impede, and of the enemies which resist their advancement, they are naturally forgetful also of the ample provision which is in store for enabling them to surmount the one, and to conquer the other. The scriptural representations of the state of the Christian on earth, by the images of "a race," and ''a war- fare ;" of its being necessary to rid himself of every encumbrance which might retard him in the one, and to furnish himself with the whole armor of God for being victorious in the other, are, so far as these nominal Christians are concerned, figures of no propriety or meaning. As little, as was formerly shown, have they, in correspondence with the scrip- ture descriptions of the feelings and language of real Christians, any idea of acquiring a relish, while on earth, for the worship and service of heaven. If the truth must be told, their notion is rather a confused idea of future gratification in heaven, in return for having put a force upon their inclinations, and en- dured so much religion while on earth.
But all this is only nominal Christianit}^ which exhibits an infinitely more inadequate image of her real excellences, than the cold copyings, by some
SYSTEM OF NOMINAL CHRISTIANS. 22?
insipid pencil, convey of the force and grace of na- ture, or of Raphael. In the language of Scripture, Christianity is not a geographical, but a moral term. It is not the being a native of a Christian country : it is a condition, a state ; the possession of a peculiar nature, with the qualities and properties which be- long to it.
Farther than this ; it is a state into which we are not born, but into which we must be translated ; a nature which we do not inherit, but into which we are to be created anew. To the undeserved grace of God, which is promised on our use of the appointed means, we must be indebted for the attainment of this nature; and to acquire and make sure of it is that great "work of our salvation" which we are com- manded to " work out with fear and trembling." We are every where reminded, that this is a matter of labor and difficulty, requiring continual Avatchfulness, and unceasing effort, and unwearied patience. Even to the very last, towards the close of a long life con- sumed in active service or in cheerful suffering, we find St. Paul himself declaring that he conceived bodily self-denial and mental discipline to be indis- pensably necessary to his very safety. Christians, who are really worthy of the name, are represented as being "made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light ;" as " waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ;" as " looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God." It is stated as being 20
230 DEFECTS IN THE PRACTICAL
enough to make them happy, that " Christ should rd« ceive them to himself;" and the songs of the blessed spirits in heaven are described to be the same as those in which the servants of God on earth pour forth their gratitude and adoration.
Conscious therefore of the indispensable necessity and of the arduous nature of the service in which he is engaged, the true Christian sets himself to the work with vigor, and prosecutes it with diligence ; his motto is that of the painter — " Nullus dies sine linea." Fled as it were from a country in which the plague is raging, he thinks it not enough just to pass the boundary line, but would put out of doubt his es- cape beyond the limits of infection. Prepared to meet with difficulties, he is not discouraged when they occur ; warned of his numerous adversaries, he is not alarmed on their approach, or unprovided for encountering them. He knows that the begin- ning of every new course may be expected to be rough and painful ; but he is assured that the paths on which he is entering will ere long seem smooth- er, and become indeed " paths of pleasantness and peace."
Now of the state of such an one the expressions of pilgrim and stranger are a lively description ; and all the other figures and images, by which Christians are represented in Scripture, have in his case a de- terminate meaning and a just application. There is indeed none by which the Christian's state on earth
SYSTEM OF NOMINAL CHRISTIANS. 231
is in the word of God more frequently imaged, or more happily illustrated, than by that of a journey : and it may not be amiss to pause for a while in order to survey it under that resemblance. The Christian is traveling on business through a strange country, in which he is commanded to execute his work with diligence, and pursue his course homeward with alacrity. The fruits which he sees by the way-side he gathers with caution ; he drinks of the streams with moderation ; he is thankful when the sun shines, and his way is pleasant ; but if it be rough and rainy, he cares not much, he is but a traveler. He is pre- pared for vicissitudes ; he knows that he must expect to meet with them in the stormy and uncertain cli- mate of this world. But he is traveling to a " better country," a country of unclouded light and undis- turbed serenity. He finds also, by experience, that when he has had the least of external comforts, he has always been least disposed to loiter ; and if for the time it be a little disagreeable, he can solace him- self with the idea of his being thereby forwarded in his course. In a less unfavorable season, he looks round with an eye of observation ; he admires what is beautiful ; he examines what is curious ; he re- ceives with complacency the refreshments set before him, and enjoys them with thankfulness. Nor does he churlishly refuse to associate with the in- habitants of the country through which he is pass- ing. But he neither suffers pleasure, nor curiosity,
232 DEFECTS IN THE PRACTICAL
nor society to take up his time; and is still intent on transacting the business he has to execute, and on prosecuting- the journey he is ordered to pursue. He knows that to the very end of life his journey will be through a country in which he has many ene- mies; that his way is beset with snares; that temp- tations throng around him, to seduce him from his course, or check his advancement in it ; that the very air disposes to drowsiness, and that therefore to the very last it will be requisite for him to be cir- cumspect and collected. Often therefore he examines w^hereabouts he is, how he has got forward, and whether or not he is traveling in the right direction. Sometimes he seems to himself to make considera- ble progress; sometimes he advances but slowly; too often he finds reason to fear that he has fallen backward in his course. Now he is cheered w-ith hope, and gladdened by success ; now he is disqui- eted by doubts, and damped by disappointments. Thus, while to nominal Christians religion is a dull uniform thing, and they have no conception of the desires and disappointments, the hopes and fears, the joys and sorrows which it is calculated to bring into exercise ; in the true Christian all is life and motion, and his great work calls forth the various passions of the soul. Let it not therefore be imagined that his is a state of unenlivened toil and hardship. His very labors are " the labors of love ;" if " ho has need of patience," it is "the patience of hope ;" and
SYSTEM OF NOMINAL CHRISTIANS. 233
he is cheered in his work by the constant assurance of present support and of final victory. Let it not be forgotten, that this is the very idea given us of hap- piness by one of the ablest examiners of the human mind ; " a constant employment for a desired end, with the consciousness of continual progress." So true is the scripture declaration, that " godliness has the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come."
Our review of the character of the bulk of nomi- nal Christians has exhibited abundant proofs of their defectiveness in that great constituent of the true Christian character, the love of God. Many in- stances, in proof of this assertion, have been pointed out ; and the charge is in itself so obvious, that it were superfluous to spend much time in endeavoring to establish it. Put the question fairly to the test. Concerning the proper marks and evidences of af- fection there can be little dispute. Let the most can- did investigator examine the character, and conduct, and language of the persons of whom we have been speaking, and he will be compelled to acknowledge that, so far as love towards the Supreme Being is in question, these marks and evidences are no where to be met with. It is in itself a decisive evidence of a contrary feeling in those nominal Christians, that they find no pleasure in the service and worship oi (iod. Their devotional acts resemble less the free- will offerings of a grateful heart, than that constrain- 20*
234 DEFECTS IN THE PRACTICAL
ed and reluctant homage exacted by some hard mas- ter from his oppressed dependents, and paid with cold suUenness and slavish apprehension. It was the very charge brought by God against his ungrate- ful people of old, that, while they called him Sove- reign and Father, they withheld from him the re- gards which severally belong to those respected and endearing appellations. Thus we likewise think it enough to offer to the most excellent and amiable of beings, to our supreme and unwearied Benefactor, a dull, artificial, heartless gratitude, of which we should be ashamed in the case of a fellow-creature who had ever so small a claim on our regard and thankfulness !
It may be of infinite use to establish in our minds a strong and habitual sense of that first and great commandment, •' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength." This mo- tive, operative and vigorous in its very nature, like a master spring, would put and maintain in action all the complicated movements of the human soul. Soon also would it terminate many questions con- cerning certain compliances ; questions which, with other similar difficulties, are often only the cold off- spring of a spirit of reluctant submission, and cannot stand the encounter of this trying principle. If, for example, it were disputed whether or not the law of God were so strict as had been stated, in condemn-
SYSTEM OF NOMINAL CHRISTIANS. 235
ing the slightest infraction of its precepts ; yet when, from the precise demands of justice, the appeal should be made to the more generous principle of love, there would be at once an end of the discus- sion. Fear will deter from acknowledged crimes, and self-interest will bribe to laborious services ; but it is the peculiar glory and the very characteristic of this more generous passion, to show itself in ten thousand little and undefinable acts of sedulous at- tention, Avhich love alone can pay, and of which, when paid, love alone can estimate the value. Love outruns the deductions of reasoning; it scorns the refuge of casuistry; it requires not the slow process of laborious and undeniable proof that an action would be injurious and offensive, or another benefi- cial or gratifying, to the object of affection. The least hint, the slightest surmise is sufficient to make it start from the former, and fly with eagerness to the latter.
There has been much argument concerning the lawfulness of theatrical amusements.* Let it be sufficient to remark, that the controversy would be short indeed, if the question were to be tried by this criterion of love to the Supreme Being. If there were any thing of that sensibility for the honor of God, and of that zeal in his service which we show
♦ It is almost unnecessary to remark, that the word is tc be understood in a large sense as including the opera, &c.
236 DEFECTS IN THE PRACTICAL
in behalf of our earthly friends, or of our political connections, should we seek our pleasure in that place which the debauchee, inflamed with wine, or bent on the gratification of other licentious appetites, finds most congenial to his state and temper of mind 1 In that place, from the neighborhood of which (how justly termed a school of morals might hence alone be inferred) decorum, and modesty, and regularity retire, while riot and lewdness are invited to the spot, and invariably select it for their chosen residence ! where the sacred name of God is often profaned ! where sentiments are often heard with delight, and motions and gestures often applauded, which would not be tolerated in private company, but which may far exceed the utmost license allowed in the social circle, without at all transgressing theatrical deco- rum ! where, when moral principles are inculcated, they are not such as a Christian ought to cherish in his bosom, but such as it must be his daily endeavor to extirpate; not those which Scripture warrants, but those which it condemns as false and spurious, being founded in pride and ambition, and the over- valuation of human favor! where surely, if a Chris- tian should trust himself at all, it would be requisite for him to prepare himself with a double portion of watchfulness and seriousness of mind, instead of se- lecting it as the place in which he may throw off his guard, and unbend without danger ! The just- ness of this last remark, and the general tendency of
SYSTEM OF NOMINAL CHRISTIANS. 237
theatrical amusements, is attested by the same well- instructed master in the science of human life, to whom we had before occasion to refer. By him they are recommended as the most efficacious expe- dient for relaxing, among any people, that " precise- ness and austerity of morals," to use his own phrase, which, under the name of holiness, it is the business of Scripture to inculcate and enforce. Nor is this position merely theoretical. The experiment was tried, and tried successfully, in a city upon the conti- nent, Geneva, in which it was wished to corrupt the simple morality of purer times.
Let us try the question by a parallel instance.
What judgment should we form of the warmth of that man's attachment to his sovereign, who, at sea- sons of recreation, should seek his pleasures in scenes as ill accordant with the principle of loyalty as those of which we have been speaking are with the genius of religion? If for this purpose he were to select the place and frequent the amusements to which rebels should love to resort for entertainment, and in which they should find themselves so much at home as invariably to select the spot for their abiding habitation ; where dialogue, and song, and the intelligible language of gesticulation should be used to convey ideas and sentiments, not perhaps palpably treasonable, or directly falling within the strict precision of any legal limits, but yet palpably contrary to the spirit of the government! What
238 DEFECTS IN THE PRACTICAL
opinion should we form of the delicacy of that friend- ship, or of the fidelity of that love, which, in relation to their respective objects, should exhibit the same contradictions ?
In truth, the very different way in which we allow ourselves to act, and speak, and feel, where God is concerned, from that which we require, or even prac- tice in the case of our fellow-creatures, is in itself the most decisive proof that the principle of the love of God, if not altogether extinct in us, is at least in the lowest possible degree of languor.
From examining the degree in which the bulk of nominal Christians are defective in the love of God, if we proceed to inquire concerning the strength of their love towards their fellow-creatures, the writer is well aware of its being generally held, that here at least they may rather challenge praise than sub- mit to censure. And the many beneficent institu- tions in which this country abounds, probably above every other, whether in ancient or modern times, may be perhaps appealed to in proof of the opinion. Much of what might have been otherwise urged in the discussion of this topic, has been anticipated in the inquiry into the grounds of the extravagant esti- mation assigned to amiable tempers and useful lives, when unconnected with religious principle. What was then stated may serve in many cases to lower, in the present instance, the loftiness of the preten- sions of these nominal.Christians; and we shall here-
SYSTEM OF NOMINAL CHRISTIANS. 239
after have occasion to mention another consideration, of which the effect must be, still further to reduce their claims. Meanwhile let it suffice to remark, that a vigorous principle of philanthropy must not be at once conceded, on the ground of liberal bene- factions to the poor, in the case of one who, by his liberality in this respect, is curtailed in no necessary, is abridged of no luxury, is put to no trouble either of thought or of action ; who, not to impute a desire of being praised for his benevolence, is injured in no man's estimation ; in whom also familiarity with large sums has produced that freedom in the ex- penditure of money, which, thereby affording a fresh illustration of the justice of the old proverb, " Fa- miliarity breeds contempt," never fails to operate, except in minds under the influence of a strong prin- ciple of avarice.
Our conclusion, perhaps, would be less favora- ble, but not less fair, if we were to try the characters in question by those surer tests, which are stated by the apostle to be less ambiguous marks of a real spirit of philanthropy. The strength of every pas- sion is to be estimated by its victory over passions of an opposite nature. What judgment then shall we form of the force of the benevolence of the age, when measured by this standard ? How does it stand the shock, when i: comes into encounter with our pride, our vanity, our self-love, our self-interest, our love of ease or of pleasure, with our ambition, with our ds-
240 DEFECTS IN THE PRACTICAL
sire of worldly estimaijon ? Does it make us self-d6» nying, that we may be liberal in relieving others? Does it make us persevere in doing good in spite of ingratitude; and only pity the ignorance, or preju- dice, or malice which misrepresents our conduct, or misconstrues our motives'? Does it make us forbear from what we conceive may probably prove the occa- sion of harm to a fellow-creature ; though the harm should not seem naturally or even fairly to flow from our conduct, but to be the result only of his own ob- stinacy or weakness ? Are we slow to believe any thing to our neighbor's disadvantage? and when we cannot but credit it, are we disposed to cover, and as iar as we justly can, rather to palliate than to divulge or aggravate it? Suppose an opportunity to occur of performing a kindness to one who, from pride or vanity, should be loth to receive, or to be known to receive a favor from us ; should we honestly endea- vor, so far as we could with truth, to lessen in his own mind and in that of others the merit of our good offices, and by so doing dispose him to receive them with diminished reluctance ? This end, however, must be accomplished, if to be accomplished at all, by a simple and fair explanation of the circumstances, which may render the action in no wise inconveni- ent to ourselves, though highly beneficial to another ; not by speeches of affected disparagement, which we might easily foresee, and in fact do foresee, must pro- duce the contrary effect. Can we, from motives of
SYSTEM OF NOMliNAL CHRISTIANS. 241
kindness, incur or risk the charge of being defi- cient in spirit, in penetration, or in foresight 1 Do we tell another of his faults, when the communication, though probably beneficial to him, cannot be made without embarrassment or pain to ourselves, and may probably lessen his regard for our person, or his opinion of our judgment? Can we stifle a repartee which would wound another ; though the utterance of it would gratify our vanity, and the suppression of it may disparage our character for wit ? If any one ad- vance a mistaken proposition, in an instance wherein the error may be mischievous to him ; can we, to the prejudice perhaps of our credit for discernment, for- bear to contradict him in public, if it be probable that in so doing, by piquing his pride, we might only harden him in his error ? and can we reserve our counsel for some more favorable season, Avhen it may be communicated without offence? If we have recommended to any one a particular line of conduct, or have pointed out the probable mischiefs of the op- posite course, and if our admonitions have been neg- lected, are we really hurt when our predictions of evil are accomplished? Is our love superior to envy, and jealousy, and emulation ? Are we acute to dis- cern and forward to embrace any fair opportunity of promoting the interest of another ; if it be in a line v/herein we ourselves also are moving, and in which we think our progress has not been proportioned to our desert? Can we take pleasure in bringing his 2i
242 DEFECTS IN THE PRACTICAL
merits into notice, and in obviating the prejudices which may have damped his efforts, or in removing the obstacles which may have retarded his advance- ment 1 If even to this extent we should be able to stand the scrutiny, let it be farther asked how, in the case of our enemies, do we correspond with the scrip- ture representations of love ? Are we meek under provocations, ready to forgive, and apt to forget inju- ries? Can we, with sincerity, " bless them that curse us, do good to them that hate us, and pray for them which despitefully use us, and persecute us ?" Do we prove to the Searcher of hearts a real spirit of for- giveness, by our forbearing not only from avenging an injury when it is in our power, but even from tell- ing to any one how ill we have been used; and that too when we are not kept silent by a consciousness that we should lose credit by divulging the circumstance? And lastly, can we not only be content to return our enemies good for evil, (for this return, as has been remarked by one of the greatest of uninspired au- thorities,* may be prompted by pride and repaid by self-complacency,) but, when they are successful or unsuccessful without our having contributed to their good or ill fortune, can we not only be content, but cordially rejoice in their prosperity, or sympathize with their distresses?
These are but a few specimens of the characteris- tic marks which might be staled of a true predomi- ♦ Lord Bacon
SYSTEM OF NOMINAL CURISTIANS. 243
nant benevolence : yet even these may serve to con- vince us how far the bulk of nominal Christians fall short of the requisitions of Scripture, even in that par- ticular which exhibits their character in the most favorable point of view. The truth is, we do not enough call to mind the exalted tone of scripture mo- rality, and are therefore apt to value ourselves on the heights to which we attain, when a better acquaint- ance with our standard would have convinced us of our falling far short of the elevation prescribed to us. It is in the very instance of the most difficult of the duties lately specified, the forgiveness and love of enemies, that our Savior points out to our imitation the example of our Supreme Benefactor. After stat- ing that, by being kind and courteous to those who, even in the world's opinion, had a title to our good of- fices and good will, we should in vain set up a claim to christian benevolence, he emphatically adds, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
We must here again resort to the topic of theatri- cal amusements ; and recommend their advocates to consider them in connection with the duty of which we have now been exhibiting some of the leading characters.
It is an undeniable fact, for the truth of which we may safely appeal to every age and nation, that the situation of the performers is remarkably unfavora- ble to the maintenance and growth of religious and
244 DEFECTS IN THE PRACTICAL
moral principle, and of course highly dangerous ta their eternal interests. Might it not then be fairly asked, how far, in all who confess the truth of this position, it is consistent with the sensibility of cTiris- tian benevolence, merely for the entertainment of an idle hour, to encourage the continuance of any of their fellow-creatures in such a way of life, and to take a part in tempting any others to enter into it? how far, considering that, by their own concession, they are employing Avhatever they spend in this way in sustaining and advancing the cause of vice, and consequently in promoting misery, they are herein bestowing this share of their wealth in a manner agreeable to the intentions of their holy and benevo- lent Benefactor ? how far also they are not in this in- stance the rather criminal, from there being so many sources of innocent pleasure open to their enjoyment? how far they are acting conformably to that golden principle of doing to others as we would they should do to us ? how far they harmonize with the spirit of the apostle's declaration, that he would deny himself for his whole life the most innocent indulgence, nay, what might seem almost an absolute necessary, ra- ther than cause his weak fellow-christian to offend? or, lastly, how far they are influenced by the solemn language of our Savior himself; " It needs must b(i that offences come, but wo to that man by whom the offence cometh ; it were better for him that a mill- stone were hanged about his neck, and that he were
SYSTEM OF NOMINAL CHRISTIANS. 245
cast into the depths of the sea?" The present in- stance is perhaps another example of our taking greater concern in the temporal than in the spiritual interests of our fellow-creatures. That man would be deemed, and justly deemed, of an inhuman temper, who in these days were to seek his amusement in the combat of gladiators and prize-fighters ; yet Chris- tians appear conscious of no inconsistency in finding their pleasure in spectacles maintained at the risk, at least, if not the ruin of the eternal happiness of those who perform in them !
SECTION VI.
Grand defect. — Neglect of the peculiar doctrines of Chrislianity.
But the grand radical defect in the practical system of these nominal Christians, is their forgetfulness of all the peculiar doctrines of the religion which they profess — the corruption of human nature ; the atonement of the Savior ; and the sanctifying influ- ence of the Holy Spirit.
Here then we come again to the grand distinction between the religion of Christ and that of the bulk of nominal Christians in the present day. The point is of the utmost practical importance, and we would therefore trace it into its actual effects.
There are, it is to be apprehended, not a few who having been for some time hurried down the stream 21»
246 NEGLECT OF THE PECULIAR
of dissipation in the indulgence of all their natural appetites, except, perhaps, that they were restrained from very gross vice by a regard to character, or by the yet unsubdued voice of conscience ; and who, having al] the while thought little, or scarcely at all, about religion, " living," to use the emphalical lan- guage of Scripture, " without God in the world," become in some degree impressed with a sense of the infinite importance of religion. A fit of sickness, perhaps, or the loss of some friend or much loved relative, or some other stroke of adverse fortune, damps their spirits, awakens them to a practical con- viction of the precariousness of all human things, and turns them to seek for some more stable foundation of happiness than this world can afford. Looking into themselves ever so little, they become sensible that they must have offended God. They resolve ac- cordingly to set about the work of reformation. Here it is that we shall recognize the fatal effects of the prevailing ignorance of the real nature of Christiani- ty, and the general forgetfulness of its grand pecu- liarities. These men wish to reform, but they know neither the real nature of their distemper nor its true remedy. They are aware, indeed, that they must " cease to do evil, and learn to do well ;" that they must relinquish their habits of vice, and attend more or less to the duties of religion ; but having no conception of the actual malignity of the disease un- der which they labor, or of the perfect cure which
DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY. 247
the Gospel has provided for it, or of the manner in which that cure is lo be effected,
" They do but skim and film the ulcerous place, ••' While rank corruption, mining all within, '•Infects unseen."
It often happens therefore but too naturally in this case, that where they do not soon desist from their attempt at reformation, and relapse into their old habits of sin, they take up with a partial and scanty amendment, and fondly flatter themselves that it is a thorough change. They now conceive that they have a right to take to themselves the comforts of Christianity. Not being able to raise their practice up to their standard of right, they lower their stan- dard to their practice : they sit down for life con- tented with their present attainments, beguiled by the complacencies of their own minds, and by the favor- able testimony of surrounding friends ; and it often happens, particularly where there is any degree of strictness in formal and ceremonial observances, that there are no people more jealous of their character for religion.
Others, perhaps, go farther than this. The dread of the wrath to come has sunk deeper into their hearts ; and for a while they strive with all their might to resist their evil propensities, and to walk without stumbling in the path of duty. Again and again they resolve again and again they break
248 NEGLECT OF THE PECULIAR
their resolutions.* All their endeavors are foiled, and they become more and more convinced of their own moral weakness, and of the strength of their in- dwelling corruption. Thus groaning under the en- slaving power of sin, and experiencing the futility of the utmost efforts which they can use for effecting their deliverance, they are tempted to give up all in despair, and to acquiesce under their wretched cap- tivity, conceiving it impossible to break their chains. Sometimes, probably, it even happens that they are driven to seek for refuge from their disquietude in the suggestions of infidelity, and to quiet their trou- blesome consciences by arguments which they them- selves scarcely believe, at the very moment in which they suffer themselves to be lulled asleep by them. In the mean time, while this conflict has been going on, their walk is sad and comfortless, and their couch is nightly watered with tears. These men are pur- suing the right object, but they mistake the way in which it is to be obtained. The path in which they are now treading is not that which the Gospel has provided for conducting them to true holiness, nor will they find in it any solid peace.
Persons under these circumstances naturally seek for religious instruction. They turn over the works
* If any one would read a description of this process, en- livened and enforced by the powers of the most exquisite poetry, let him peruse the middle and latter part of the fifth book of Cowper's Task.
DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY. 249
of our modern religionists, and as well as they can collect the advice addressed to men in their situation, the substance of it is, at the best, of this sort: " Be sorry indeed for your sins, and discontinue the practice of them, but do not make yourselves so un- easy. Christ died for the sins of the whole world. Do your utmost ; discharge with fidelity the duties of your stations, not neglecting your religious offi- ces ; and fear not but that in the end all will go well ; and that having thus performed the conditions re- quired on your part, you will at last obtain forgive- ness of our merciful Creator, through the merits of Jesus Christ, and be aided, where your own strength shall be insufficient, by the assistance of his Holy Spirit. Meanwhile you cannot do better than read carefully such books of practical divinity as will in- struct you in the principles of a Christian life. We are excellently furnished with works of this nature; and it is by the diligent study of them that you will gradually become a proficient in the lessons of the Gospel."
But the holy Scriptures call upon those who art in the circumstances above stated, to lay afresh the whole foundation of their religion ; gratefully to adore that undeserved goodness which has awaken- ed them from the sleep of death ; to prostrate them- selves before the cross of Christ with humble peni- tence and deep self-abhorrence ; solemnly resolving to forsake all their sins, but relying on the grace of
250 NEGLECT OF THE PECULIAR
God alone for power to keep their resolution. Thus, and thus only, do they assure them that all their crimes Avill be blotted out, and that they will receive from above a new living principle of holiness. " Be- lieve in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt b« saved." " JAo man," says our blessed Savior, " Com- eth unto '.he Father but by me." " I am the true vine. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself ex- cept it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me." " He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit ; for without," or severed from "me, ye can do nothing." " by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God ; not of works, lest any man should boast : for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works."
Let us not be thought tedious, or be accused of running into needless repetitions, in pressing this point with so much earnestness. It is in fact a point which can never be too much insisted on. It is the cardinal point, on which the whole of Chris- tianity turns ; on which it is peculiarly proper in this place to be perfectly distinct. There have been some who have imagined that the wrath of God was to be deprecated, or his favor conciliated by austerities and penances, or even by forms and cere- monies, and external observances. But all men of enlightened understandings, who acknowledge the moral government of God, must also acknowledge
DOCTRINES OF CHRIIfTIANlTY. 151
that vice must offend and virtue delight him. In short they must, more or less, assent to the scripture declaration, " Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." But the grand distinction which subsists between the true Christian and all other religionists, is concerning the nature of this holiness, and the way in which it is to be obtained. The views en- tertained by the latter of the nature of holiness, are of all degrees of inadequateness : and they con- ceive it is to be obtained by their own natural unas- sisted efforts : or if they admit some vague indistinct notion of the assistance of the Holy Spirit, it is un- questionably obvious, on conversing with them, that this does not constitute the main practical ground of their dependence. But the nature of the holiness to which the desires of the true Christian are directed, is no other than the restoration of the image of God ; and as to the manner of acquiring it, disclaiming with indignation every idea of attaining it by his own strength, all his hopes of possessing it rest al- together on the divine assurances of the operation of the Holy Spirit in those who cordially embrace the Gospel of Christ. lie knows therefore that this holiness is not to precede his reconciliation to God, and be its cause ; but to folloio it, and be its effect. That, in short, it is by faith in Christ only* that he is to be justified in the sight of God ; to be
♦ Here again let it be remarked, that faith, where genu- ine at^v'ays supposes repentance, abhorrence of sin, &c, ,^^
^52 NEGLECf OF THE PECULIAR
delivered from the condition of a child of wrath and a slave or Satan ; to be adopted into the family of God ; to become an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ, entitled to all the privileges which be- long to this high relation; here, to the Spirit of grace, and a partial renewal after the image of his Creator ; hereafter, to the more perfect possession of the Divine likeness, and an inheritance of eternal glory.
And as it is in this way that in obedience to the dictates of the Gospel, the true Christian must origi- nally become possessed of the vital spirit and living principle of universal holiness ; so, in order to grow in grace, he must also study in the sanle school ; finding in the consideration of the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel, and in the contemplation of the life, and character, and sufferings of our blessed Savior* the elements of all practical wisdom, and an inex- haustible storehouse of instructions and motives, no otherwise to be so well supplied. From the neglect of these peculiar doctrines arise the main practical errors of the bulk of professed Christians. These gigantic truths, retained in view, would put to shame the littlenes.s of iheir dwarfish morality. It would be impossible for them to make these harmonize with their low conceptions of the wretchedness and danger of their natural state, which is represented in Scripture as having so powerfully called forth the ompassion of God, that he sent his only-begotten
^
DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY. 253
Son to rescue us. Where now are their low con- ceptions of the worth of the soul, when means like these were taken to redeem it ? Where now their inadequate conceptions of the guilt of sin, for which in the Divine counsels it seemed requisite that an atonement no less costly should be made than that of the blood of the only-begotten Son of God ? How can they reconcile their low standard of christian practice with the representation of our being "tem- ples of the Holy Ghost ?" their cold sense of obli- gation, and scanty grudged returns of service, with the glowing gratitude of those who, having been '* delivered from the power of darkness, and trans- lated into the kingdom of God's dear Son," may well conceive that the labors of a whole life will be but an imperfect expression of their thankfulness ?
The peculiar doctrines of the Gospel being once admitted, the conclusions which have been now sug- gested are clear and obvious deductions of reason. But our neglect of these important truths is still less pardonable, because they are distinctly and repeat- edly applied in Scripture to the very purposes in question, and the whole superstructure of christian morals is grounded on their deep and ample basis. Sometimes these truths are represented in Scrip- ture, generally, as furnishing Christians Avith a vigo- rous and ever-present principle of universal obedi- ence. And our learning the lessons of heavenly wisdom is still further stimulated, by almost every 22
254 NEGLECT OF THE PECULIAR
particular christian duty being occasionally traced to them as to its proper source. They are every where represented as warming the hearts of the people of God on earth with continual admiration, and thankfulness, and love, and joy; as triumphing over the attack of the last great enemy, and as call- ing forth afresh in heaven the ardent effusions of their unexhausted gratitude.
If then we would indeed be •' filled with wisdom and spiritual understanding ;" if we would " walk worthy of the Lord unto all well pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God ;" here let us fix our eyes ! " Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith; who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, des- pising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Heb. 12 : 1, 2.
Here best we may learn the infinite importance of Christianity. How little it can deserve to be treat- ed in that slight and superficial way in which it is in these days regarded by the bulk of nominal Chris- tians, who are apt to think it may be enough, and almost pleasing to God, to be religious in any way, and upon any system. What exquishe folly it must be to risk the soul on such a venture, in direct con- tradiction to the dictates of reason and the express
DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY. 255
declaration of the word of God ! " How shall wf» escape, if we neglect so great salvation ?"
LOOKING UNTO JESUS 1
Here we shall best karn the duty and reasonable- ness of an absolute and unconditional surrender of soul and body to the will and service of God. " We are not our own, for we are bought with a price," and must "therefore" make it our grand concern to " glorify God with our bodies and our spirits, which are God's." Should we be base enough, even if we could do it with safety, to make any reserves in our returns of service to that gracious Savior who " gave up himself for us ?" If we have formerly talked of compounding, by the performance of some commands for the breach of others, can we now bear the mention of a composition of duties, or of retaining to ourselves the right of practicing little sins ? The very sugges- tion of such an idea fills us with indignation and shame, if our hearts be not dead to every sense of gratitude.
LOOKING UNTO JESUS !
Here we find displayed, in the most lively colors, the guilt of sin, and how hateful it must be to the per- fect holiness of that Being who is of " purer eyes than to behold iniquity." When we see that, rather
256 NEGLECT OF THE PECULIAR
than sin should go unpunished, " God spared not his own Son," but " was pleased* to bruise and put him to grief" for our sakes ; how vainly must impeni- tent sinners flatter themselves with the hope of escap- ing the vengeance of heaven, and buoy themselves up with the desperate dreams of the Divine benigityl Here too we may anticipate the dreadful suffer- ings of that state " where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth ;" when, rather than that we should undergo them, "the Son of God himself, who " thought it not robbery to be equal Avith God," con- sented to take upon him our degraded nature, with all its weaknesses and infirmities ; to be •' a man of sorrows ;" " to hide not his face from shame and spit- ting ;" " to be wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities ;" and at length to endure the sharpness of death, " even the death of the cross," that he might '' deliver us from the wrath to come," and open the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
LOOKING UNTO JESUS.
Here best we may learn to grow in the love ot God ! The certainty of his pity and love towards
* It has been well remarked ihat the word used, where it is said that God " was pleased to bruise," and put to grief his only Son for us, is the same word as that wherein it was de- clared by a voice from heaven, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY, 257
repentinof sinners, thus irrefragably demonstrated, chases away the sense of tormenting fear, and best lays the ground in us of a reciprocal affection. And while we steadily contemplate this wonderful trans- action, and consider in its several relations the amaz- ing truth, that " God spared not his own, but deliv- ered him up for us all ;" if our minds be not utterly dead to every impulse of sensibility, the emotions of admiration, of preference, of hope, and trust, and joy cannot but spring up within us, chastened with rev- erential fear, and softened and quickened by overflow ing gratitude.* Here we shall become animated by an abiding disposition to endeavor to please our great Benefactor ; and by a humble persuasion, that the weakest endeavors of this nature will not be despised by a Being who has already proved himself so kindly affected towards us. Rom. 5 : 9, 10. Here we cannot fail to imbibe an earnest desire of possessing his favor, and a conviction, founded on his own de- clarations thus unquestionably confirmed, that the desire shall not be disappointed. Whenever we are conscious that we have offended this gracious Be- ing, a single thought of the great work of redemp- tion will be enough to fill us with compunction. We shall feel a deep concern, grief mingled with in- dignant shame, for having conducted ourselves so unworthily towards one who to us has been infinite
♦ Vide Chap. 3: where these -were shown to be the ele- mentarv principles of the passion of love. 22*
258 NEGLECT OF THE PECULIAR
in kindness ; we shall not rest till we have reason to hope that he is reconciled to us ; and we shall watch over our hearts and conduct in future with a renewed jealousy, lest we should again offend him. To those who are ever &o little acquainted with the nature of the human mind, it were superfluous to re- mark that the affections and tempers which have been enumerated, are the infallible marks and the constituent properties of love. Let him then, who Avould abound and grow in this Christian principle, be much conversant with the great doctrines of the Gospel.
It is obvious that the attentive and frequent con- sideration of these great doctrines must have a still more direct tendency to produce and cherish in our minds the principle of the love of Christ. But on this head so much was said in a former chapter, as to render any further observations unnecessary.
Much also has been already observed concerning- the love of our fellow-creatures, and it has been dis- tinctly stated to be the indispensable, and indeed the characteristic duty of Christians. It remains, how- ever, to be here further remarked, that this grace can no where be cultivated with more advantage than at the foot of the cross. No where can our Sa- vior's dying injunction to the exercise of this virtue be recollected with more effect ; " This is my com- mandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you." No where can the admonition of the apostle
DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY. 259
more powerfully affect us ; " Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you." The view of mankind which is here presented to us, as having been all involved in one common ruin; and the offer of deliverance held out to all, by the Son oi God giving himself up to pay the price of our reconciliation, produce that sympathy towards our fel- low creatures which, by the constitution of our nature, seldom fails to result from the consciousness of an identity of interests and a similarity of fortunes. Pity for an unthinking world assists this impression. Our enmities soften and melt away: we are ashamed of thinking much of the petty injuries which we may have suffered, when we consider what the Son of God, "who did no wrong, neither was guile found in his mouth," patiently underwent. Our hearts be- come tender while we contemplate this signal act ol loving-kindness. We grow desirous of imitating what we cannot but admire. A vigorous principle of enlarged and active charity springs up within us ; and we go forth with alacrity, desirous of treading in the steps of our blessed Master, and of manifesting our gratitude for his unmerited goodness, by bearing each other's burdens, and abounding in the disinte rested labors of benevolence.
LOOKING UNTO JESUS!
He was meek and lowly of heart, and from the
260 NEGLECT OF THE PECULIAR
Study of his character we shall best learn the lessons of humility. Contemplating the Avork of redemption, we become more and more impressed with the sense of our natural darkness, and helplessness, and mi- sery, from which it was requisite to ransom us at such a price ; more and more conscious that we arp "Utterly unworthy of all the amazing condescension and love which have been manifested towards us ; ashamed of the callousness of our tenderest sensi- bility, and of the poor returns of our most active ser- vices. Considerations like these, abating our pride and reducing our opinion of ourselves, naturally mo- derate our pretensions towards others. We become less disposed to exact that respect for our persons, and that deference for our authority, which we na- turally covet ; we less sensibly feel a slight, and less hotly resent it ; we grow less irritable, less prone to be dissatisfied; more soft, and meek, and courteous, and placable, and condescending. We are not lite- rally required to practice the same humiliating sub- missions to which our blessed Savior himself was not ashamed to stoop;* but the spirit of the remark applies to us, " the servant is not greater than his Lord:" and we should especially bear this truth in mind, when the occasion calls upon us to discharge some duty, or patiently to suffer some ill treatment,
* John, 13 : 13-17. *' If I 'chen, your Lord and Master, have washed vour feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet," &c.
DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY. 261
whereby our pride will be wounded, and we are likely lo be in some degree degraded from the rank we had possessed in the world's estimation. At the same time the sacred Scriptures assuring us, that to the powerful operations of the Holy Spirit, purchased for us by the death of Christ, we must be indebted for the success of all our endeavors after improve- ment in virtue ; the conviction of this truth tends to render us diffident of our own powers, and to sup- press the first risings of vanity. Thus, while we are conducted to heights of virtue no otherwise attaina- ble, due care is taken to prevent our becoming giddy from our elevation.* It is the Scripture characteris- tic of the Gospel system, that by it all disposition to exalt ourselves is excluded ; and if we really grow in grace, we shall grow also in humility.
LOOKING UNTO JESUS !
•' He endured the cross, despising the shame." While we steadily contemplate this solemn scene, that sober frame of spirit is produced within us which best befits the Christian militant here on earth. We become impressed with a sense of the shortness and uncertainty of time, and that it behoves us to be di- ligent in making provision for eternity. In such a temper of mind, the pomps and vanities of life are cast behind us as the baubles of children. We lose our re-
* See Pascal's Thoughts on Religion: a book abounding in the deepest views of practical Christianity.
262 NEGLECT OF THE PECULIAR
lish for the frolics of gayety, the race of ambition, or the grosser gratifications, of voluptuousness. In the case even of those objects which may more justly claim the attention of reasonable and immortal be- ings ; in our family arrangements, in our plans of life, in our schemes of business, we become, without re- linquishing the path of duty, more moderate in pur- suit, and more indifferent about the issue. Here also we learn to correct the world's false estimate of things, and to " look through the shallowness of earthly grandeur;"* to venerate what is truly ex- cellent and noble, though under a despised and de- graded form ; and to cultivate within ourselves that true magnanimity which can make us rise superior to the smiles or frowns of this world ; that dignified composure of soul which no earthly incidents can destroy or ruffle. Instead of repining at any of the little occasional inconveniences we may meet with in our passage through life, we are almost ashamed of the multiplied comforts and enjoyments of our condition, when we think of him, who, though "the Lord of glory," " had not where to lay his head." And if it be our lot to undergo evils of more than or- dinary magnitude, we are animated under them by reflecting that we are hereby more conformed to the example of our blessed Master : though we must ever recollect one important difference, that the suf- fermgs of Christ w^ere voluntarily borne for our be-
♦ Pope.
DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY. 263
nefit, and were probably far more exquisitely agoniz- ing than any which we are called upon to undergo. Besides, it must be a solid support to us amidst all our troubles to know that they do not happen to us by chance ; that they are not even merely the punishment of sin ; but that they are the dispensa- tions of a kind Providence, and sent on messages of meicy. "The cup that our Father hath given us, shall we not drink it ?" " Blessed Savior ! by the bitterness of thy pains we may estimate the force of hy love ; we are sure of thy kmdness and compas- sion ; thou wouldst not willingly call on us to suffer ; thou hast declared unto us, that all things shall final- ly work together for good to them that love thee ; and therefore, if thou so ordainest it, welcome disap- pointment and poverty, welcome sickness and pain, welcome even shame, and contempt, and calumny. If this be a rough and thorny path, it is one in which thou hast gone before us. Where we see thy foot- steps we cannot repine. Meanwhile thou wilt sup- port us with the consolations of thy grace ; and even here thou canst more than compensate to us for any temporal sufferings, by the possession of that peac© which the world can neither give nor take away."
LOOKING UNTO JESUS !
"The Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cros8»
'254 NEGLECT OF THE PECULIAR
despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of God." From the scene of our Savior's weak- ness and degradation we follow him, in idea, into the realms of glory, where "he is on the right hand of God; angels, and principalities, and powers being made subject unto him." But though changed in place, j'-et not in nature, he is still full of sympathy and love; and having died " to save his people from their sins," "he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Cheered by this animating view, the Chris- tian's fainting spirits revive. Under the heaviest bur- dens he feels his strength recruited : and when all around him is dark and stormy, he can lift up an eye to heaven, radiant with hope, and glistening with gratitude. At such a season no dangers can alarm, no opposition can move, no provocations can irritate. He may almost adopt, as the language of his sober exultation, what in the philosopher was but idle rant : and, considering that it is only the garment of mor- tality which is subject to the rents of fortune, while his spirit, cheered with the Divine support, keeps its place within, secure and unassailable, he can sometimes almost triumph at the stake. But it is rarely that the Christian is elevated with this "joy unspeakable and full of glory :" he even lends him- self to these views with moderation and reserve. Of- ten, alas ! emotions of another kind fill him with grief and confusion ; and conscious of having acted unwor- thy of his high calling, perhaps of having exposed
DOCTKINES OF CHRISTIANITY. 265
himself to the just censure of a world ready enough to spy out his infirmities, he seems to himself almost "to have crucified the Son of God afresh, and pat him tG an open shame." But neither his joys intoxicate, nor his sorrows too much depress him. Let him still re- member that his c/u'e/ business while on earth is not to meditate, but to act : that the seeds of moral cor- ruption are apt to spring up within him, and that it is requisite for him to watch over his own heart with incessant care: that he is to discharge with fidelity the duties of his particular station, and to conduct himself, according to his measure, after the example of his blessed Master, whose meat and drink it was to do the work of his heavenly Father ; that he is di- ligently to cultivate the talents with which God has intrusted him, and assiduously to employ them in doing justice and showing mercy, while he guards against the assaults of an internal enemy. In short, he is to demean himself, in all the common affairs of life, like an accountable creature, who, in corres- pondence with the Scripture character of Christians, is " waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.^' Often therefore he questions him.self, " Am I employ- ing my time, my fortune, my bodily and mental pow- ers, so as to be able to ' render up my account with joy, and not with grief?' Am I ' adorning the doctrine of God my Savior in all things ;' and proving that the servants of Christ, animated by a principle of filial affection, which renders their work a service 23
266 NEGLECT OF THE PECULIAR
of perfect freedom, are' capable of as active and as persevering exertions as the votaries of fame, or the slaves of ambition, or the drudges of avarice?"
Thus, without interruption to his labors, he may interpose occasional thoughts of things unseen: and amidst the many little intervals of business, may calmly look upwards to the heavenly Advocate, who is ever pleading the cause of his people, and obtain- ing for them needful supplies of grace and consola- tion. It is these realizing views which give the Christian a relish for the worship and service of the heavenly world. And if these blessed images, "seen but through a glass darkly," can thus refresh the soul ; what must be its state, when on the morning of the resurrection it shall awake to the unclouded vision of celestial glory ? when " to them that look for him, the Son of God shall appear a second time without sin unto salvation ?" when " sighing and sor- row being fled avv'ay," when doubts and fears no more disquieting, and the painful consciousness of remaining imperfections no longer weighing down the spirit, they shall enter upon the fruition of " those joys which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive ;" and shall bear their part in that blessed anihem — •' Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever ?"
Thus, never let it be forgotten, the main distinc- ion betu-een real Christianity and the system of the
POCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY. 267
bulk of nominal Christians, chiefly consists in the different place which is assigned in the two schemes to the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel. These, in the scheme of nominal Christians, if admitted at all, appear but like the stars of the firmament to the or- dinary eye. Those splendid luminaries draw forth perhaps occasionally a transient expression of admi- ration, when we behold their beauty, or hear their distances, magnitudes, or properties: now and then too we are led, perhaps, to muse upon their possible uses : but however curious as subjects of speculation, after all, it must be confessed they twinkle to the common observer with a vain and "idle" luster ; and except in the dreams of the astrologer, have no in- fluence on human happiness, or any concern with the course and order of the world. But to the real Christian, on the contrary, these peculiar doctrines constitute the center to which he gravitates ! the very sun of his system ! the soul of the world ! the ori- gin of all that is excellent and lovely ! the source of light, and life, and motion, and genial warmth, and plastic energy ! Dim is the light of reason, and cold and comfortless our state, while left to her unassisted guidance. Even the Old Testament itself, though a revelation from heaven, shines but with feeble and scanty rays. But the blessed truths of the Gospel are now unveiled to our eyes, and we are called upon to behold, and to enjoy "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ," in
2G8 EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY.
the full radiance of its meridian splendor. The words of inspiration best express our highly favored state: " We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Sph'it of the Lord."
Thou art the source and centre of all minds, Their only point of rest, Eternal Word ; From thee departing, they are lost, and rove At random, without honor, hope, or peace: From thee is all that soothes the life of man ; His high endeavor, and his glad success; His strength to suffer, and his will to serve. But O ! thou bounteous giver of all good ! Thou art of all thy gifts thyself the crown • Give what thou canst, without thee we are poor, And with thee rich, take what thou wilt away.
CHAPTER V.
ON THE EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY IN CER- TAIN IMPORTANT PARTICULARS. ARGUMENT
WHICH RESULTS THENCE IN PROOF OF ITS VI VINE ORIGIN.
Having now completed a faint delineation of the leading features of real Christianity, we may point
IN IMPORTANT PARTICULARS. 269
out some excellences which she really possesses; but which, as they are not to be found in that super- ficial system which so unworthily usurps her name, appear scarcely to have attracted sufficient notice; but by which she will appear to exhibit more clearly, than as she is usually drawn, the characters of her divine original.
It holds true, indeed, in the case of Christianity, as in that of all the works of God, that though a su- perficial and cursory view cannot fail to discover to us somewhat of their beauty; yet when, on a more careful and accurate scrutiny, we become better ac- quainted with their properties, we become also more deeply impressed by a conviction of their excellence. We may begin by referring to the last chapter for an instance of the truth of this assertion. Therein was pointed out that intimate connection, that perfect harmony, between the leading doctrines and the practical precepts of Christianity, which is apt to escape the attention of the ordinary eye.
It may not be improper also to remark, though the position be so obvious as almost to render the statement of it needless, that there is the same close connection and perfect harmony in the leading doc- trines of Christianity among each other. It is self- evident that the corruption of human nature, that our reconciliation to God by the atonement of Christ, and thai the restoration of our primitive dignity by the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit, are al 23*
270 EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY
parts of one whole, united in close dependence and mutual congruity.
Perhaps, however, it has not been sufficiently no- ticed, that in the chief practical precepts of Christiani- ty, there is the same essential agreement, the same mutual dependency of one upon another. Let us survey this fresh instance of the wisdom of that sys- tem which IS the only solid foundation of our pre- sent or future happiness.
The virtues most strongly and repeatedly enjoin- ed in Scripture, and by our progress in which we may best measure our advancement in holiness, are the fear and love of God and of Christ : love, kind- ness, and meekness towards our fellow-creatures , indifference to the possessions and events of this life, in comparison with our concern about eternal things; self-denial, and humility.
It has been already pointed out in many particu- lars, how essentially such of these Christian graces as respect the Divine Being are connected with those which have more directly for their objects our fel- low-creatures and ourselves. But in the case of these two last descriptions of Christian graces, the mors attentively we consider them with reference to the acknowledged principles of human nature and to indisputable facts, the more we shall be convinced that they afford mutual aid towards the acquisition of each other ; and that, when acquired, they all harmonize with each other in perfect and essential
IN IMPORTANT PARTICULARS. 271
union. This truth may perhaps be sufficiently ap- parent from what has been already remarked ; but it may not be useless to dwell on it a little more in detail. Take then the instances of loving-kindness and meekness towards others, and observe the solid foundation which is laid for them in self-denial, in moderation as to the good things of this life, and in humility. The chief causes of enmity among men, are pride and self-importance, the high opinion Avhich men entertain of themselves, and the consequent de- ference which they exact from other.s ; the over-va- luation of worldly possessions and of worldly honors, and in consequence, a too eager competition for them. The rough edges of one man rub against those of another, if the expression may be allowed; and the friction is often such as to injure the works, and disturb the just arrangements and regular mo- tions of the social machine. But by Christianity all these roughnesses are filed down ; every wheel rolls round smoothly in the performance of its appointed function, and there is nothing to retard the several movements, or break in upon the general order. The religious sj^stem indeed of the bulk of nominal Christians is satisfied with some appearances of vir- tue ; and accordingly, while it recommends love and beneficence, it tolerates, as has been shown, pride and vanity in many cases ; it even countenances and commends the excessive valuation of character, and at least allows a man's whole soul to be absorbed in
272 EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY
the pursuit of the object he is following, be it what it may, of personal or professional success. But though these latter qualities may, for the most part, consist with a soft exterior and courtly demeanor, they cannot accord with the genuine internal prin- ciple of love. Some cause of discontent, some ground of jealousy or of envy will arise, some suspicion will corrode, some disappointment will sour, some slight or calumny will irritate, and provoke reprisals. In the higher walks of life, indeed, we learn to disguise our emotions; but such will be the real inward feelings of the soul, and they will frequently betray them- selves when we are off our guard, or when we are not likely to be disparaged by the discovery. This state of the higher orders, in which men are scuf- fling eagerly for the same objects, and wearing all the while such an appearance of sweetness and com- placency, has often appeared to me to be not ill il- lustrated by a gaming-table. There, every man is intent only on his own profit ; the good success of one is the ill success of another, and therefore the general state of mind of the parties engaged may be pretty well conjectured. All this, however, does not prevent, in well-bred societies, an exterior of perfect gentleness and good humor. But let the same em- ployment be carried on among those who are not so well schooled in the art of disguising their feelings; or in places where, by general connivance, people are allowed to give vent to their real emotions j and
IN I3IP0RTANT PARTICULARS. 273
every passion will display itself, by which the " hu- man face divine" can be distorted and deformed The horrid name,* by which it is familiarly known among its frequenters, sufficiently attests the fidelity of its resemblance.
But Christianity requires the substantial reality, which may stand the scrutinizing eye of that Being " who searches the heart." Meaning therefore that the Christian should live and breathe in an atmos- phere of benevolence, she forbids whatever can tend to obstruct its diffusion or vitiate its purity. It is on this principle that emulation is forbidden : for, be- sid(;3 that this passion almost insensibly degenerates into envy, and that it derives its origin chiefly from pride and a desire of self-exaltation; how can we easily love our neighbor as ourselves if we consider him at the same time as our rival, and are intent upon surpassing him in the pursuit of whatever is the sub- ject of our competition 1
Christianity, again, teacher us not to set our hearts on earthl)'- possessions and earthly honors , and thereby provides for our really loving, or even cordially forgiving those who have been more suc- cessful than our3elves in the attainment of them, or who have even designedly thwarted us in the pur- suit. "Let the rich," says the apostle, "rejoice in that he is brought low." How can he who means
* The Hell, so called, be it observed, not by way of re- proach, but familiarity, by those who frequent it.
274 EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY
to attempt, in any degree, to obey this prerept, be ir- reconcilably hostile towards any one who may have been instrumental in his depression?
Christianity also teaches us not to prize human estimation at a very high rate; and thereby provides for the practice of her injunction, to love from the heart those who, justly or unjustly, may have at- tacked our reputation and wounded our character. She commands not the show, but the reality of meek- ness and gentleness ; and by thus taking away the aliment of anger and the fomenters of discord, she provides for the maintenance of peace, and the resto- ration of good temper among men, when it may have sustained a temporary interruption.
It is another capital excellence of Christianity, that she values moral attainments at a far higher rate than intellectual acquisitions, and proposes to conduct her followers to the height of virtue rather than of knowledge. On the contrar}'-, most of the false religious systems which have prevailed in the ■world, have proposed to reward the labor of their votary by drawing aside the veil which concealed from the vulgar eye their hidden mysteries, and by introducing him to the knowledge of their deeper and more sacred doctrines.
This is eminently the case in the Hindoo, and in the Mohammedan religion, in that of China, and, for the most part, in the various modifications of ancient paganism. In systems which proceed on this prin-
IN IMPORTANT PARTICULARS, 275
ciple, it is obvious that the bulk of mankind can never make any great proficiency. There was ac cordingly, among the nations of antiquity, one sys tern, whatever it was, for the learned, and another for the illiterate. Many of the philosophers spoke out, and professed to keep the lower orders in igno- rance for the general good ; plainly suggesting that the bulk of mankind was to be considered as almost of an inferior species. Aristotle himself counte- nanced this opinion. An opposite mode of proceed- ing naturally belongs to Christianity, which, with- out distinction, professes an equal regard for all hu- man beings, and which was characterized by her first Promulgator as the messenger of "glad tidings to the poor."
But her preference of moral to intellectual excel- lence is not to be praised, only because it is conge- nial with her general character, and suitable to the ends which she professes to have in view. It is the part of true wisdom to endeavor to excel, where we may really attain to excellence. This consideration might be alone sufficient to direct our efl^orts to the acquisition of virtue rather than of knowledge. How limited is the range of the greatest human abilities I how scanty the stores of the richest human know- ledge ! Those who undeniably have held the first rank, both for natural and acquired endowments, in- stead of thinking their pre-eminence a just ground of self-exaltation, have commonly been the most for»
276 EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY
ward to confess that their views were bounded and their attainments moderate. Had they indeed been less candid, this is a discovery which we would not have failed to make for ourselves. Experience daily furnishes us with examples of weakness and error, m the wisest and the most learned of men, which might serve to confound the pride of human wisdom. Not so in morals. Made at first in the likeness of God, and still bearing about us some faint traces of our high original, we are offered by our blessed Redeemer the means of purification from our cor- ruptions, and of once more regaining the image of our heavenly Father. Eph. 2. In love, the com- pendious expression for almost every virtue ; in for- titude under all its forms; in justice, in humility, and in all the other graces of the Christian charac- ter, we are made capable of attaining to heights of real elevation : and were we but faithful in the use of the means of grace which we enjoy, the opera- tions of the Holy Spirit, prompting and aiding our diligent endeavors, would infallibly crown our la- bors with success, and make us partakers of a Di- vine nature. Let me not be thought to undervalue any of the gifts of God, or of the fruits of human exertion ; but let not these be prized beyond their proper worth. If one of those little industrious in- sects, to which we have been well sent for a lesson of diligence and foresight, were to pride itself upon Us strength, because it could carry off a larger grain
IN IMPORTANT PARTICULARS. 277
of wheat than any other of its fellow-ants, should we not laugh at the vanity which could be highly gratified with such a contemptible pre-eminence? And is it far different to the eye of reason, when man, weak, short-sighted man, is vain of surpassing others in knowledge, in which, at best, his progress must be so limited; forgetting the true dignity of his nature, and the path which would conduct him to real excellence?
The unparalleled value of the precepts of Chris- tianity ought not to be passed over altogether unno- ticed in this place. It is by no means, however, the design of this little work to attempt to trace the va- rious excellences of Christianity; but it may not have been improper to point out a few particulars which have fallen under our notice, and hitherto perhaps may scarcely have been enough regarded. Every such instance, it should always be remem- bered, is a fresh proof of Christianity being a reve- lation from God.
It is still less, however, the intention of the writer to attempt to vindicate the Divine origin of our holy religion. This task has often been executed by far abler advocates. Anxious, however, in my little measure, to contribute to the support of this great cause, may it be permitted me to istate one argument which impresses my mind with particular force. This is, the great variety of the kinds of evidence Avhich have been adduced in proof of Christianity, 24
278 EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY
and the confirmation thereby afforded of its truth: the proof from prophecy — from miracles — from the character of Christ — from that of his apostles — from the nature of the doctrines of Christianity — from the nature and excellence of her practical precepts — from the accordance we have lately pointed out between the doctrinal and practical system of Christianity, whether considered each in itself or in their mutual relation to each other — from other species of internal evidence, afforded in the more abundance in propor- tion as the sacred records have been scrutinized with greater care — from the accounts of contemporary or nearly contemporary writers — from the impossibility of accounting, on any other supposition than that of the truth of Christianit)'-, for its promulgation and early prevalence : these and other lines of argument have all been brought forward, and ably urged by different writers, in proportion as they have struck the minds of different observers more or less forcibly , Now, granting that some obscure and illiterate men, residing in a distant province of the Roman empire, had plotted to impose a forgery upon the world; though some foundation for the imposture might, and indeed must have been attempted to be laid ; it seems, at least to my understanding, morally impos- sible that so many different species of proofs, and all so strong, should have lent their concurrent aid, and have united \\ieu joint force in the establishment of the falsehood. ., It may assist the reader in estimating
IN IMPORTANT PARTICULARS. 279
the value of this argument, to consider upon how different a footing, in this respect, has rested every other religious system, without exception, which was ever proposed to the world; and, indeed, every other historical fact, of which the truth has been at all contested.
CHAPTER VI.
BRIEF INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF CHRISTIANI- TY IN THIS COUNTRY. ITS IMPORTANCE TO
US AS A POLITICAL COMMUNITY, AND PRACTI- CAL HINTS FOR WHICH THE FOREGOING CON- SIDERATIONS GIVE OCCASION.
It may not be altogether improper to remind the reader, that hitherto our discussion has been con- cerning the prevailing religious opinions merely of professed Christians; no longer confining ourselves to persons of this description, let us now extend our inquiry, and briefly investigate the general state of Christianity in this country.
The tendency of religion to promote the temporal well-being of political communities, is a fact which
280 INdtriRY INTO THE STATE
depends on such obvious and undeniable principles, and which is so forcibly inculcated by the history of all ages, that there can be no necessity for entering into a formal proof of its truth. It has indeed been maintained, not merely by schoolmen and divines, but by the most celebrated philosophers, and mora- lists, and politicians of every age.
The peculiar excellence in this respect also of Christianity, considered independently of its truth or falsehood, has been recognized by many writers, who, to say the least, were not disposed to exagge- rate its merits. Either or both of these propositions being admitted, the state of religion in a country at any given period, not to mention its connection with the eternal happiness of the inhabitants, immediately becomes a question of great political importance : and in particular, it must be materia] to ascertain whether religion be in an advancing or in a declining state ; and if the latter be the case, whether there be any practicable means for preventing at least its far- ther declension.
If the representations contained in the preceding chapters, of the state of Christianity among the bulk of professed Christians, be not very erroneous, they may well excite serious apprehension in the mind of every reader, when considered merely in a political view.
When it is proposed, however, to inquire into the actual state of religion in any country, and in parti-
CHRISTIANITY IN THIS COUNTRY. 281
cular to compare that state with its condition at any former period, there is one preliminary observation to be made. There exists, established by tacit consent, in every country, what may be called a general standard or tone of morals, varying in the same com- munity at different periods, and different at the same period in different ranks and situations in societ3\ Whoever falls below this standard, and, not unfre- quently, whoever also rises above it, offending against this general rule, suffers proportionably in the ge- neral estimation. Thus a regard for character, which, as was formerly remarked, is commonly the grand governing principle among men, becomes to a certain degree, though no farther, an incitement to morality and virtue. It follows of course, that where the practice does no more than come up to the re- quired level, it will be no sufficient evidence of the existence, much less will it furnish any just measure of the force of a real internal principle of religion. Christians, Jews, Turks, infidels, and heretics, per- sons of ten thousand different sorts of passions and opinions, being members at the same time of the same community, and all conscious that they will be examined by this same standard, will regulate their conduct accordingly, and, Avith no great differ- ence, w^ill all adjust themselves to the required mea- sure.
It must also be remarked, that the causes which tend to raise or to depress this standard, commonly 24*
282 INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF
produce their effects by slow and almost insensible degrees; and that it often continues for some time nearly the same, when the circumstances by which it was fixed have materially altered.
It is a truth which will hardly be contested, that Christianity, whenever it has at all prevailed, has raised the general standard of morals to a height be- fore unknown. Some actions, which among the an- cients were scarcely held to be blemishes in the most excellent characters, have been justly considered by the laws of every christian community as meriting the severest punishments. In other instances, virtues formerly rare have become common ; and in particu- lar, a merciful and courteous temper has softened the rugged manners, and humanized the brutal ferocity prevalent among the most polished nations of the heathen world. But from what has been recently observed, it is manifest, that, so far as external ap- pearances are concerned, these effects, when once produced by Christianity, are produced alike in those who deny and in those who admit her Divine origi- nal ; I had almost said, in those who reject and those who cordially embrace the doctrines of the Gospel : and these effects might, and probably would remain for a while, without any great apparent alteration, however her spirit might languish, or even her au- thority decline. The form of the temple, as was once beautifully remarked, may continue when the dii iutelares — the tutelary deities — have left it. When
CHRISTIANITY IN THIS COUNTRY. 283
we iire inquiring therefore into the real state of Chris- tianity at any period, if we would not be deceived in this important investigation, it becomes us to be the more careful not to take up with superficial ap- pearances.
It may perhaps help us to ascertain the advancing or declining state of Christianity in this nation at the present moment, and still more to discover some of the causes by which that state has been produced, to employ a little time in considering what might naturally be expected to be its actual situation ; what advantages or disadvantages such a religion might be expected to derive from the circumstances in which it has been placed among us, and from those in which it still continues.
Experience warrants, and reason justifies and ex- plains the assertion, that persecution generally tends to quicken the vigor and extend the prevalence of the opinions which she would eradicate. For the peace of mankind, it has grown at length almost into an axiom, that " her devilish engine recoils back upon herself." Christianity especially has always thriven under persecution. At such a season she has no luke- warm professors; no adherents concerning whom it is doubtful to what party they belong. The Chris- tian is then reminded at every turn, that his Mas- ter's kingdom is not of this world. When all on earth wears a black and threatening aspect, he looks up to hea ren for consolation ; he learns practically
284 INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF
to consider himself as a pilgrim and a stranger. He then cleaves to fundamentals, and examines well his foundation., as at the hour i death. When religion is m a state of external quiet and prosperity, the con- trary of all this naturally takes place. The soldiers of the church militant then forget that they are in a state of warfare. Their ardor slackens ; their zeal languishes. Like a colony long settled in a strange country, they are gradually assimilated in features, and demeanor, and language, to the native inhabi- tants, till at length almost every vestige of peculiari- ty dies away.
If, in general, persecution and prosperity be pro- ductive respectively of these opposite effects, this cir- cumstance alone might teach us what expectations to form concerning the state of Christianity in a country where her institutions have long been amply endowed, and the community long been enjoying great commercial prosperity. Let it also be sup- posed that they have been making no unequal pro- gress in all those arts, and sciences, and literary pro- ductions, which have ever been |;he growth of a polished age, and are the sure marks of a highly finished condition of society. It is not difficult to anticipate the effects likely to be produced on vital religion, both in the clergy and the laity, by such a state of external prosperity. And these effects must be infallibly furthered where the country in question enjoys a free constitution of government. We for
CHRISTIANITY IK THIS COUNTRY. 285
merly had occasion to quote the remark of an accu- rate observer of the stage of human life, that a much looser system of morals commonly prevails in the higher, than in the middling and lower orders of so- ciety. Now, in every country, of which the middling classes are daily growing in wealth and consequence by the success of their commercial speculations; and, most of all, in a country having such a constitution as our own, where the acquisition of riches is the possession also of rank and power ; with the com- forts and refinements, the vices also of the higher orders are continually descending, and a mischiev- ous uniformity of sentiments, and manners, and mo- rals, gradually diffuses itself throughout the whole community. The multiplication of great cities also, and above all, the habit, ever increasing with the mcreasing wealth of the country, of frequenting a splendid and luxurious metropolis, would power- fully tend to accelerate the discontinuance of the re- ligious habits of a purer age, and to accomplish the substitution of a more relaxed morality. And it must even be confessed, that the commercial spirit, much as we are indebted to it, is not naturally favorable to the maintenance of the religious principle in a vigo- rous and lively state.
In times like these, therefore, the strict precepts and self-denying habits of Christianity naturally slide into disuse ; and, even among the better sort of Christians, are likely to be softened, so far at least
286 INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF
as to be rendered less abhorrent from the general disposition to relaxation and indulgence. In such prosperous circumstances, men, in truth, are apt to think very little about religion. Christianity, there- fore, seldom occupying the attention of the bulk of nominal Christians, and being scarcely at all the ob- ject of their study, we should expect, of course, to find them extremely unacquainted with its tenets. Those doctrines and principles, indeed, which it con- tains in common with the law of the land, or which are sanctioned by the general standard of morals formerly described, being brought into continual no- tice and mention by the common occurrences of life, might continue to be recognized. But whatever she contains peculiar to herself, and which should not be habitually brought into recollection by the incidents of every day, might be expected to be less and less thought of, till at length it should be almost wholly forgotten. Still more might this be naturally expect- ed to become the case, if the peculiarities in question should be, from their very nature, at war with pride, and luxury, and worldly-mindedness, the too general concomitants of rapidly increasing wealth : and this would particularly happen among the laity, if the circumstances of their having been at any time abus- ed to purposes of hypocrisy or fanaticism, should have prompted even some of the better disposed of the clergy, perhaps from well intentioned though erroneous motives, to bring them forward less fre- quently in their discourses on religion.
CHRISTIANITY IN THIS COUNTRY. 287
When so many should thus have been straying out of the right path, some bold reformer might, from time to time, be likely to arise, who should not unjustly charge them with their deviation : but, though right perhaps in the main, yet deviating himself also in an opposite direction, and creating disgust by his violence, or vulgarity, or absurdities, he might fail, except in a few instances, to produce the effect of recalling them from their wanderings.
Still, however, the Divine original of Christianity would not be professedl}'- disavowed ; partly from a real, and more commonly from a political deference for the established faith ; but most of all, from the bulk of mankind being not yet prepared, as it were, to throw away the scabbard, and to venture their eternal happiness on the issue of its falsehood. Some bolder spirits, indeed, might be expected to despise the cautious moderation of these timid reasoners, and to pronounce decisively, that the Bible was a forgery : while the generality, professing to believe it genuine, should, less consistently, be satisfied with remaining ignorant of its contents; and when press- ed, should discover themselves by no means to be- lieve many of the most important particulars con- tained in it.
When, by the operation of causes like these, any country has at length grown into the condition which has been here stated, it is but too obvious, that, in the bulk of the community, religion, already sunk
288 INQUIRY INTO THE STATE 07
■very low, must be hastening fast to her entire disso- lution. Causes, energetic and active like these^ though accidental hinderances may occasionally thwart their operation, will not at once become slug- gish and unproductive. Their effect is sure; and the time is fast approaching, when Christianity will be almost as openly disavowed in the language, as in fact it is already supposed to have disappeared from the conduct of men ; when infidelity will be held to be the necessary appendage of a man of fa- shion, and to believe will be deemed the indication of a feeble mind and a contracted understanding.
Something like what have been here premised are the conjectures which we should naturally be led to form concerning the state of Christianity in this country, and its probable issue, from considering her own nature, and the peculiar circumstances in which she has been placed. That her real condition differs not much from the result of this reasoning from pro- bability, must, with whatever regret, be confessed by all who take a careful and impartial survey of the actual situation of things among us. But our hypo- thetical delineation, if just, will have approved itself to the reader's conviction as we have gone along ; and we may therefore be spared the painful and in- vidious task of pointing out in detail the several particulars wherein our statements are justified by facts. Every where we may actually trace the ef- fects of increasing wealth and luxury, in banishing^
CHRISTIANITY IN THIS COUNTRY. 289
one by one the habits, and new-modeling the phra- seology of stricter times ; and in diffusing through- out the middle ranks those relaxed morals and dissi- pated manners which were formerly confined to the higher classes of society. We meet, indeed, with more refinement, and more generally with those amiable courtesies which are its proper fruits : those vices also have become less frequent which natural- ly infest the darkness of a ruder and less polished age, and which recede on the approach of light and civilization: but with these grossnesses, religion, on the other hand, has also declined ; God is forgotten ; his providence is exploded ; his hand is lifted up, but we see it not ; he multiplies our comforts, but we are not grateful ; he visits us with chastisements, but we are not contrite. The portion of the week set apart to the service of religion we give up, without re- luctance, to vanity and dissipation.
But when there is not this open and shameless disavowal of religion, few traces of it are to be found. Improving in almost every other branch of know- ledge, we have become less and less acquainted with Christianity. The preceding chapters have pointed out, among those who believe themselves to be or- thodox Christians, a deplorable ignorance of the re- ligion they profess, an utter forgetfulness of the pe- culiar doctrines by which it is characterized, a dis position to regard it as a mere system of ethics, and, what might seem an inconsistency, at the same tirao 25
590 INQUIRY INTO THE STATE 6t
II most inadequate idea of the nature and strictness of its practical principles. This declension of Chris- tianity into a mere system of ethics, may partly be accounted for, as has been lately suggested, by con- sideffing the corruption of our nature, what Chris- tianity is, and in what circumstances she has been placed in this country. But it has also been consi- derably promoted by one peculiar cause, on which, for many reasons, it may not be improper to dwell a little more particularly.
Christianity in its best days (for the credit of our representations let this be remembered by those who object to our statement as austere and contracted) was such as it has been delineated in the present work. This was the religion of the most eminent reformers, of those bright ornaments of our country who suffered martyrdom under queen Mary ; of their successors in the times of Elizabeth ; in short, of all the pillars of our Protestant church ; of many of its highest dignitaries ; of Davenant, of Jewell, of Hall, of Reynolds, of Beveridge, of Hooker, of An- drews, of Smith, of Leighton, of Usher, of Hopkins, of Baxter, and of many others of scarcely inferior note. In their pages the peculiar doctrines of Chris- tianity were every where visible, and on the. deep antl solid basis of these doctrinal truths were laid the foundations of a superstructure of morals propor- tionably broad and exalted. Of this fact their writings^ ■still extant, are a decisive proof; and those who may
CHRISTIANITY IX THIS COUNTRY. 29 J
want leisure, or opportunity, or inclination, for the perusal of these valuable records, may satisfy them- selves of the truth of the assertion, that, such as we have stated it, was the Christianity of those times, by consulting our articles and homilies, or even by carefully examining our excellent liturgy. But from that tendency to deterioration lately noticed, these great fundamental truths began to be somewhat less prominent in the compositions of many of the lead- ing divines before the time of the civil wars. Dur- ing that period, however, the peculiar doctrines of Christianity were grievously abused by many who were foremost in the commotions of those unhappy ^ays ; who, while they talked copiously of the free grace of Christ, and the operations of the Holy Spirit, were by their lives an open scandal to the name of Christian.
Towards the close of the eighteenth century the divines of the established church began to run into a different error. They professed to make it their chief object to inculcate the moral and practical pre- cepts of Christianity ; but without sufficiently main- taining, often even without justly laying the grand foundation of a sinner's acceptance with God, or jpointing out how the practical precepts of Christian- ity grow out of her peculiar doctrines, and are in- separably connected with them.* By this fatal er-
* See chap. iv. sect. vi. where this most important truth is expressly and fully treated.
292 INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF
ror the very genius and essential nature of Chris, tianity imperceptibly underwent a change. She no longer retained her peculiar character, or produced that appropriate frame of spirit by which her follow- ers had been characterized. The example thus set was followed during the present century, and its ef- fect was aided by various causes already pointed out. In addition to these, it may be proper to mention as a cause of powerful operation, that for the last fifty years the press has teemed with moral essays, m-any of them published periodically, and most extensively circulated ; which, being considered either as works of mere entertainment, or in which at least enter- tainment was to be blended with instruction, rather than as religious pieces, were kept clear from what- ever might give them the air of sermons, or cause them to wear an appearance of seriousness incon- sistent with the idea of relaxation. But in this way the fatal habit of considering christian morals as dis- distinct from christian doctrines, insensibly gained strength. Thus the peculiar doctrines of Christianity went more and more out of sight ; and, as might na- turally have been expected, the moral system itself also began to wither and decay, being robbed of that which should have supplied it with life and nutri- ment. At length, in our own days, these peculiar doctrines have almost altogether vanished from the view. Even in many sermons scarcely any traces of them are to be found.
CHRISTIANITi' IN THIS COUNTRY. ^93
'But the degree of neglect into which they are re- ■-aily fallen may perhaps be rendered still more mani- fest by appealing to another criterion. There is a certain class of publications, of which it is the object to give us exact delineations of life and manners; and when these are written by authors of accurate observation and deep knowledge of human nature, and many such there have been in our times, they furnish a more faithful picture than can be obtained in any other way, of the prevalent opinions and feel- ings of mankind. It must be obvious that novels are here alluded to. A careful perusal of the most celebrated of these pieces would furnish a strong con- firmation of the apprehension, suggested from other considerations, concerning the very low state of reli- gion in this country ; but they would still more strik- ingly illustrate the truth of the remark, that the grand peculiarities of Christianity are almost vanished from the view. In a sermon, although throughout the whole of it there may have been no traces of these peculiarities, either directly or indirectly, the preach- er closes with an ordinary form, which, if one were to assert that they were absolutely omitted, would immediately be alledged in contradiction of the as- sertion, and may just serve to protect them from fall- ing into entire oblivion. But in novels, the writer is not so tied down. In these, people of religion, and clergymen too, are placed in all possible situations, and the sentiments and language deemed suitable IQ 25*
294 INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF
the occasion are assigned to them. They are intro- duced instructing-, reproving, counseling, comfort- ing. It is often the author's intention to represent them in a favorable point of view, and accordingly he makes them as well-informed and as good Chris- tians as he knows how. They are painted amiable, benevolent, and forgiving ; but it is not too much to say, that if all the peculiarities of Christianity had never existed, or had been proved to be false, the cir- cumstance would scarcely create the necessity of al- tering a single syllable in any of the most celebrated of these performances. It is striking to observe the difference which there is in this respect in similar works of Mohammedan authors, wherein the charac- ters, which they mean to represent in a favorable light, are drawn far more observant of the peculiari- ties of their religion.
If this be the state of things even in the case of sermons, and of the compositions of those whose sphere of information must be supposed larger than that of the bulk of mankind ; it must excite less wonder, that in the world in general, though Chris- tianity be not formally denied, people know little about it ; and that in fact you find, when you come to converse with them, that, admitting in terms the Divine revelation of Scripture, they are far from be- lieving the propositions it contains.
It has also been a melancholy prognostic of the state to which we are progressive, that many of the
CHRISTIANITY IN THIS COUNTRY. 295
most eminent literary characters of modern times have been professed unbelievers ; and that others have discovered such lukewarmness in the cause ol Christ, as to treat with especial good will, attention, and respect, those who, by their avowed publica- tions, were openly assailing-, or insidiously under- mining the very foundations of the Christian hope; considering themselves as more closely united to them by literature, than severed from them bj?- the widest religious differences.* Can it then occasion surprise, that, under all these circumstances, one ol the most acute and most forward of the professed unbelieversf should appear to anticipate, as at no great distance, the more complete triumph of his
* It is with pain that the author finds himself compelled to place so great a writer as Dr. Robertson in this class. But, to say nothing of his phlegmatic account of the Reformation, (a subject which we should have thought likel}'- to excite ih any one, who united the character of a Christiai divine with that of an historian, some warmth of pious gratitude for the good providence of God,) to pass over also other points, his letters to Mr. Gibbon cannot but excite emotions of regret in every sincere Christian. The author must be understood decidedly to condemn a hot, a contentious, much more an abusive manner of opposing or of speaking of the assailants of Christianity. The apostle's direction in this respect can- not be too much attended to. " The servant of the Lord must not strive ; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, pa- tient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves ; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the ac« jmowledging of the truth." 2 Tim. 2 : 24, 25. t Hume.
296 INdrlRY INTO THE STATE OF
sceptical principles j and that another author of dis- tinguished name,* not so openly professing those infidel opinions, should declare of the writer above alluded to, whose great abilities had been systemati- cally prostituted to the open attack of every principle of religion, both natural and revealed, '• that he had always considered him, both in his life-time and since his death, as approaching as nearly to the idea of a perfectly wise and virtuous man, as perhaps the nature of human frailty will permit ?"t
Can there then be a doubt whither tends the path in \vhich we are traveling, and whither at length it must conduct us ? If any should hesitate, let them take a lesson from experience. In a neighboring country, several of the same causes have been in ac- tion; and they have at length produced their full ef- fect : manners corrupted, morals depraved, dissipa- tion predominant, above all, religion discredited, and infidelity grown into repute and fashion, J terminated in the public disavowal of every religious principle which had been used to attract the veneration ot
♦ Dr. A Smith.
+ See, however, Bishop Home's letter to Dr. A. Smith re- specting Hume, under the signature of " One of the people called Christians."
t What is here stated must be acknowledged by all, be their political opinions concerning French events what they may ; and it makes no difference in the writer's view of the subject, whether the state of morals was or was not quite, or nearly as bad, before the French revolution.
CHRISTIANITY IN THIS COUNTRY. 297
mankind: the representatives of a whole nation publicly witnessing, not only without horror, but, to say the least, without disapprobation, an open un- qualified denial of the very existence of God, and at length, as a body, withdrawing their allegiance from the Majesty of Heaven !
There are not a few, perhaps, who may have wit- nessed with apprehension, and may be ready to con- fess with pain, the gradual declension, but who at the time may conceive that the writer of this tract is disposed to carry things too far. They may even al- ledge, that the degree of religion for which he con- tends is inconsistent with the ordinary business of life, and with the well-being of society ; that if it were generally to prevail, people would be wholly engrossed by religion, and all their time occupied by prayer and preaching. Agriculture and com- merce would decline, the arts would languish, the very duties of common life would be neglected ; and, m short, the whole machine of civil society would be obstructed, and speedily stopped.
In reply to this objection it might be urged, that though we should allow it for a moment to be in a considerable degree well founded, yet this admission would not warrant the conclusion intended to be drawn from it. The question would still remain, whether our representation of what Christianity re- quires be agreeable to the word of God? for if it be, surely it must be confessed to be a matter of small
29S INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF
account to sacrifice a little worldly comfort and prosperity, during the short span of our existence in this life, in order to secure a crown of eternal glory, and the enjoyment of those pleasures which are at God's right hand for evermore ! It might be added also, that our blessed Savior had fairly declared, that it would often be required of Christians to make such a sacrifice ; and had forewarned us, that, in or- der to be able to do it with cheerfulness whenever the occasion should arrive, we must habitually sit loose to all worldly possessions and enjoyments. And it might further be remarked, that though it were even admitted, that the general prevalence of vital Christianity should somewhat interfere with the views of national wealth and aggrandizement, yet that there is too much reason to believe that this general prevalence, to speak justly, could not be hoped for. But indeed the objection on which wo have now been commenting, is not only groundless, but the very contrary to it is the truth. If Chris- tianity, such as we have represented it, were gene- rally to prevail, the world, from being such as it is, would become a scene of general peace and pros- perity; and abating the chances and calamities •• which flesh is inseparably heir to," would wear one unwearied face of complacency and joy.
On the first promulgation of Christianity, it is true, some of her early converts seem to have been in danger of so far mistaking the principles of the new
CHRISTIANITY IN THIS COUNTRY. 299
religion, as to imagine that in future they were to be discharged from an active attendance on their se- cular affairs. But the apostle most pointedly guarded them against so gross an error, and expressly and repeatedly enjoined them to perform the particular duties of their several stations with increased alacrity and fidelity, that they might thereby do credit to their Christian profession. This he did, at the same time that he prescribed to them that predominant love of God and of Christ, that heavenly-mindedness, that comparative indifference to the things of this world, that earnest endeavor after growth in grace and perfection in holiness, which have already been stated as the essential characteristics of real Christiani- ty. It cannot therefore be supposed by any who allow to the apostle even the claim of a consistent instructor, much less by any who admit his Divine authority, that these latter precepts are incompatible with the former. Let it be remembered, that the grand cha- racteristic mark of the trlie Christian which has been insisted on, is his desiring to please God in all his thoughts, and words, and actions; to take the re- vealed word to be the rule of his belief and practice ; to " let his light shine before men ;" and in all things to adorn the doctrine which he professes. No calling is proscribed, no pursuit is forbidden, no science or art, no pleasure is disallowed, which is reconcilable with this prmciple. Christianity indeed will not favor that vehement and inordinate ardor in the pursuit of
200 INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF
temporal objects, which tends to the acquisition of immense wealth, or of widely spread renown : nor is it calculated to gratify the extravagant views of those mistaken politicians, the chief object of whose admi- ration, and the main scope of whose endeavors for their country, are extended dominion, and command- ing power, and unrivaled affluence, rather than the more solid advantages of peace, and comfort, and se- curity. These men would barter comfort for great- ness. In their vain reveries they forget that a nation consists of individuals, and that true national pros- perity is no other than the multiplication of particu- lar happiness.
But in fact, so far is it from being true that the prevalence of real religion would produce a stagna- tion in life ; that a man, whatever might be his em- ployment or pursuit, would be furnished with a new motive to prosecute it with alacrity, a motive far more constant and vigorous than any human prospects can supply : at the same time, his solicitude being not so much to succeed in whatever he might be engaged in, as to act from a pure principle, and leave the eve»nt to God, he would not be liable to the same disappointments as men who are active and labori- ous from a desire of worldly gain or of human esti- mation. Thus he would possess the true secret of a life at the same time useful and happy. Following peace also with all men, and looking upon them as members of the same family, entitled not only to the
CHRISTIANITY IN THIS COUNTRY. 301
debts of justice, but to the less definite and more libe- ral claims of fraternal kindness, he would naturally be respected and beloved by others, and be in him- self free from the tnnoyance of those bad passions by which those who are actuated by worldly princi- ples are so commonly corroded. If any country were indeed filled with men, each thus diligently discharging the duties of his own station without breaking in upon the rights of others, but on the con- trary endeavoring, so far as he might be able, to forward their views and promote their happiness, all would be active and harmonious in the goodly frame of human society. There would be no jarrings, no discord. The whole machine of civil life would work without obstruction or disorder.
Such would be the happy state of a truly Chris- tian nation within itself Nor would its condition with regard to foreign countries form a contrast to this its internal comfort. Such a community on the contrary, peaceable at home, would be respected and beloved abroad. General integrity in all its deal- ings would inspire universal confidence: difl^erences between nations commonly arises from mutual inju- ries, and still more from mutual jealousy and dis- trust. Of the former there would be no longer any ground for complaint; the latter would find nothing to attach upon. But if, in spite of all its justice and forbearance, the violence of some neighboring state should force it to resist an unprovoked attack, hosti- 26
o02 INQTTIRY INTO THE STATE OF
lities strictly defensive are those only in whicli it would be engaged, its domestic union would double its national force, while the consciousness of a good cause, and of the general favor of God, Avould invi- gorate its arm. and inspirit its efforts.
It is indeed the position of an author whose love of paradox has not seldom led him into error, that true Christianity is an enemy to patriotism. If by patriotism be meant that mischievous and domineer- ing quality which renders men ardent to promote, not the happiness, but the aggrandizement of their own country, by the oppression and conquest of every ocher ; to such patriotism, so generally applauded in the heathen world, that religion must be indeed an enemy, whose foundation is justice, and whose com- pendious character is ''peace, and good-will toward men." But if by patriotism be understood that quali- ty which, without shutting up our philanthropy with- in the narrow bounds of a single kingdom, yet at- taches us in particular to the country to which we belong; of this true patriotism, Christianity is the most copious source, and the surest preservative. The contrary opinion can indeed only have arisen from not considering the fullness and universality of our Savior's precepts. Not like the puny produc- tions of human workmanship, which, at the best, can commonly serve but the particular purpose that they are specially designed to answer, the moral as well as the physical principles of the great Author of all
CHRISTIANITY IN THIS COUNTRY. 303
things are capable of being applied at once to ten thousand different uses ; thus, amidst infinite compli- cation, preserving a grand simplicity, and therein bearing the unambiguous stamp of their divine ori- ginal. Thus, to specify one out of the numberless instances which might be adduced — the principle of gravitation, while it is subservient to all the mecha- nical purposes of common life, keeps at the same time the stars in their courses, and sustains the har- mony of worlds.
Thus also in the case before us ; society consists of a numberof different circles of various magnitudes and uses ; and that circumstance, wherein the prin- ciple of patriotism chiefly consists, whereby the duty of patriotism is best practiced, and the happiest ef- fects to the general weal produced, is, that it should be the desire and aim of every individual to fill well his own proper circle, as a part and member of the whole, with a view to the production of general hap- piness. This our Savior enjoined when he prescrib- ed the duty of universal love, which is but another term for the most exalted patriotism. Benevolence, in- deed, when not originating from religion, dispenses but from a scanty and precarious fund ; and there- fore if it be liberal in the case of some objects, it is generally found to be contracted towards others. Men who, acting from worldly principles, make the greatest stir about general philanthrophy or zealous patriotism, are often very deficient in their conduct
304 INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF
in domestic life ; and very neglectful of the opportu- nities, fully within their reach, of promoting the com- fort of those with whom they are immediately con- nected. But true Christian benevolence is always occupied in producing happiness to the utmost of its power, and according to the extent of its sphere, be it larger or more limited ; it contracts itself to the measure of the smallest; it can expand itself to thj amplitude of the largest. It resembles majestic rivers, which are poured from an unfailing and abun- dant source. Silent and peaceful in their outset, they begin with dispensing beauty and comfort to every cottage by which they pass. In their further pro- gress they fertilize provinces and enrich kingdoms. At length they pour themselves into the ocean, where, changing their names, but not their nature, they visit distant nations and other hemispheres, and spread throughout the world the expansive tide of their beneficence.
It must be confessed that many of the good effects of which religion is productive to political societies, would be produced even by a false religion, which should prescribe good morals, and should be able to enforce its precepts by sufficient sanctions. Of this nature are those effects which depend on our calling in the aid of a Being who sees the heart, in order to assist the weakness and in various ways to supply the inherent defects of all human jurispru- dence. But the superior excellence of Christianity in
CHRISTIANITY IN THIS COUNTRT. 305
this respect must be acknowledged, both in the su- periority of her moral code, and in the powerful mo- tives and efficacious means which she furnishes for enabling us to practice it, and in the tendency of her doctrines to provide for the observance of her precepts, by producing tempers of mind which cor- respond with them.
But, more than all this, it has not perhaps been enough remarked, that true Christianity, from her essential nature, appears peculiarly and powerfully adapted to promote the preservation and healthful- ness of political communities. What is in truth their grand malady? The answer is short, selfishness. This is that young disease received at the moment of their birth, " which grows with their growth, and strengthens with their strength ;" and through which they at length expire, if not cut off prematurely by some external shock or intestine convulsion.
The disease of selfishness, indeed, assumes differ- ent forms in the different classes of society. In the great and the wealthy it displays itself in luxury, in pomp and parade, and in all the frivolities of a sick- ly and depraved imagination, which seeks in vain its own gratification, and is dead to the generous and energetic pursuits of an enlarged heart. In the lower orders, when not motionless under the weight of a superincumbent despotism, it manifests itself in pride, and its natural offspring, insubordination in all its modes. But though the external effects may vary, 26*
S06 INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF
the internal principle is the same ; a disposition in each individual to make self the grand centre and end of his desires and enjoyments ; to overrate his own merits and importance, and of course to magni- fy his claims on others, and in return to underrate theirs on him ; a disposition to undervalue the advan- tages, and overstate the disadvantages of his con- dition in life. Thence spring rapacity, and venality, and sensuality. Thence imperious nobles and fac- tious leaders, and an unruly commonalty, bearing with difficulty the inconveniences of a lower station, and imputing to the nature or administration of their government the evils which necessarily flow from the very constitution of our species, or which per- haps are chiefly the result of their own vices and follies. The opposite to selfishness is public spirit ; which may be termed, not unjustly, the grand prin- ciple of political vitality, the very life's-breath of states, which tends to keep them active and vigo- rous, and to carry them to greatness and glory.
The tendency of public spirit, and the opposite tendency of selfishness, have not escaped the obser- vation of the founders of states, or of the writers on government ; and various expedients have been re- sorted to and extolled for cherishing the one, and for repressing the other. Sometimes a principle of inter- nal agitation and dissension, resulting from the very frame of the government, has been productive of the effect. Sparta flourished for more than seven hundred
CHRISTIANITY IN THIS COUNTRY. 307
years under the civil institutions of Lycurorus ; which guarded against the selfish principle, by prohibiting commerce, and imposing universal poverty and hard- ship. The Roman commonwealth, in which public spirit was cherished, and selfishness checked, by the principle of the love of glory, was also of long con- tinuance. This passion naturally operates to pro- duce an unbounded spirit of conquest, which, like the ambition of the greatest of its own heroes, was never satiated while any other kingdom was left it to subdue. The principle of political vitality, when kept alive only by means like these, merits the de- scription once given of eloquence: "Sicut fiamma, materia alitur, et motibus excitatur, et urendo clares- cit." But, like eloquence, when no longer called into action by external causes, or fomented by civil broils, it gradually languishes. Wealth and luxu- ry produce stagnation, and stagnation terminates in death.
To provide, however, for the continuance of a state, by the admission of internal dissensions, or even by the chilling influence of poverty, seems to be in some sort sacrificing the end to the means. Happiness is the end for which men unite in civil society ; but in societies thus constituted, little happi- ness, comparatively speaking, is to be found. The expedient, again, of preserving a state by the spirit of conquest, though even this has not wanted its ad- mirers, is not to be tolerated for a moment, when
303 INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF
considered on principles of universal justice. Such a state lives, and grows, and thrives by the misery of others, and becomes professedly the general ene- my of its neighbors, and the scourge of the human race. All these devices are in truth but too much like the fabrications of man, when compared with the works of the Supreme Being; clumsy, yet weak in the execution of their purpose, and full of contra- dictory principles and jarring movements.
I might here enlarge with pleasure on the unri- valled excellence, in this very view, of the constitu- tion under which we live in this happy country ; and point out how, more perhaps than any which ever existed upon earth, it is so framed as to provide at the same time for keeping up a due degree of public spirit, and yet for preserving unimpaired the quietness, and comfort, and charities of private life; how it even extracts from selfishness itself many of the advantages which, under less happily constructed forms of government, public spirit only can supply. But such a political discussion would here be out of place. It is rather our business to remark, how much Christianity in every way sets herself in direct hostility to selfishness, the mortal distemper of poli- tical communities ; and consequently how their wel- fare must be inseparable from her prevalence. It might indeed be almost stated as the main object and chief concern of Christianity, to root out our natural selfishness, and to rectify the false standard which it
CHRISTIANITY IN THIS COUNTRY. 309
imposes on us ; with views, however, far higher than any which concern merely our temporal and social well-being ; to bring us to a just estimate of ourselves, and of all around us, and to a due impression of the various claims and obligations resuUing from the different relations in which we stand. Benevolence, enlarged, vigorous, operative benevolence, is her master principle. Moderation in temporal pursuits and enjoyments, comparative indifference to the issue of worldly projects, diligence in the discharge of per- sonal and civil duties, resignation to the will of God, and patience under all the dispensations of his pro- vidence, are among her daily lessons. Humility is one of the essential qualities which her precepts most directly and strongly enjoin, and which all her various doctrines tend to call forth and cultivate : and humility, as has been before suggested, lays the deepest and surest grounds for benevolence. In whatever class or order of society Christianity pre- vails, she sets herself to rectify the particular faults, or, if we would speak more distinctly, to counteract khe particular mode of selfishness to which that class IS liable. Affluence she teaches to be liberal and be- aeficent ; authority to bear its facukies with meek- ness, and to consider the various cares and obliga- ions belonging to its elevated station as being con- iitions on which that station is conferred. Thus, >oftening the glare of wealth and moderating the insolence of power, she renders the inequalities of
SIO INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF
the social state less galling to those in the humbler walks of life, whom also she instructs, in their turn, to be diligent, humble, patient: reminding them that their more lowly path has been allotted to them by the hand of God ; that it is their part faithfully to discharge its duties, and contentedly to bear its in- conveniences ; that the present state of things is very short ; that the objects about which worldly men conflict so eagerly, are not worth the contest; that the peace of mind which religion offers to all ranks indiscriir.inately, affords more true satisfaction than all the expensive pleasures which are beyond the poor man's reach. Also, that in this view the poor have the advantage, and that if their superiors enjoy more abundant comforts, they are likewise exposed to many temptations from which the inferior classes are happily exempted ; that "having food and rai- ment, they should be therewith content," for that their situation in life, with all its evils, is better than they have deserved at the hand of God ; finally, that all human distinctions will soon be done away, and the true followers of Christ will all, as children of the same Father, be alike admitted to the possession of the same heavenly inheritance. Such are the blessed effects of Christianity on the temporal well- being of political communities.
The Christianity which can produce effects like these must be real, not nominal ; deep, not superficiah Such then is the religion we should cultivate, if we
CTiniSTIANITY IN THIS COUNTRY. SIl
would realize these pleasing speculations, and arrest the progress of political deray. But in the present circumstances of this country, it is a farther reason for endeavoring to cultivate this vital Christianit}-, still considering its effects merely in a political vieu-, that, according to all human appearance, we must either have this or none: unless the prevalence of this be in some degree restored, we are likely not only to lose all the advantages which we might have derived from true Christianity, but to incur ail the manifold evils which would result from the ab- sence of all religion.
In the first place, let it be remarked that a weakly principle of religion, (and even such a one, in a political viev.-, is productive of many advantages,) though its existence may be prolonged if all external circumstances favor its continuance, can hardly be kept alive when the state of things is so unfavorable to vital religion as it is in our condition of society. Nor is it merely the ordinary effects of a state of wealth and prosperity to which we here allude. Much also may justly be apprehended from that change which has taken place in our general habits of thinking and feeling concerning the systems and opinions of former times. At a less advanced period of society, indeed, the religion of the state will be generally accepted, though it be not felt in its vital power. It was the religion of our forefathers: with the bulk it is on that account entitled to reve-
312 lNQ.riRY INTO THE STATE OF "
rence, and its authority is admitted without question. The establishment in which it subsists pleads the same prescription, and obtains the same respect. But in our days things are very differently cir- cumstanced. Not merely the blind prejudice in fa- vor of former limes, but even the proper respect for them, and the reasonable presumption in their favor, has abated. Still less will the idea be endured of any system beinq- kept up, when the imposture is seen through by the higher orders, for the sake of retaining the common people in subjection. A sys- tem, if not supported by a real persuasion of its truth, will fall to the ground. Thus it not unfre- quently happens that, in a more advanced state of society, a religious establishment must be indebted for its support to that very religion which in earlier limes it fostered and protected, as the Aveakness of some aged mother is sustained, and her existence lengthened, by the tender assiduities of the child whom she had reared in the helplessness of infancy. So in the present instance, unless there be reinfused into the mass of our society something of that prin- ciple which animated our ecclesiastical system in its earlier days, it is vain for us to hope that the es- tablishment will very long continue ; for the anomaly will not much longer be borne, of an establishment, the actual principles of the bulk of whose members, and even teachers, are so extremely different from those which it professes.
CHRISTIANITY IN THIS COUNTRY. Sl3
If when the reign of prejudice and even of honest prepossession and of grateful veneration is no more, (for by these almost any system may generally be supported, before a state, having passed the period of its maturity, is verging to its decline,) if there are any who think that a dry, unanimated religion, like that which is now professed by nominal Chris- tians, can hold its place, much more, that it can be re- vived among the general mass of mankind, it may be affirmed, that, arguing merely on human principles, Liey know little of human nature. The kind of reli- gion which we have recommended, whatever opinion may be entertained concerning its truth, and to say nothing of the agency of Divine grace, must at least be conceded to be the only one at all suited to make impression upon the mass of the community, by strongly interesting the passions of the human mind. If it be thought that a system of ethics may regulate the conduct of the higher classes, such a one is al- together unsuitable to the lower, who must be work- ed upon by their affections, or they will not be work- ed upon at all. The ancients were wiser than our- selves, and never thought of governing the communi- ty in general by their lessons of philosophy. These lessons were confined to the schools of the learned ; while for the million, a system of religion, such as it was, was kept up as alone adapted to their gross- er natures. If this reasoning fail to convince, we may safely appeal to experience Let the Socinian 27
314 INQUir.Y INTO THE STATE OF
and the moral teacher of Christianity come forth, and tell us what efiects they have produced on the lower orders. They themselves will hardly deny the inefficacy of their instructions. But, blessed be God, the religion which we recommend has proved its correspondence with the character originally given of Christianity, that it was calculated for the poor; by changing the whole condition of the mass of so- ciety in many of the most populous districts in this and other countries, and by bringing them from being scenes of almost unexampled wickedness and barbarism, to be eminent for sobriety, decency, in- dustr}^ and, in short, for whatever can render men useful members of civil society.
If indeed, through the blessing of Providence, a principle of true religion should in any considera- ble degree gain ground, there is no estimating the effects on public morals, and the consequent influ- ence on our political welfare. These effects are not merely negative: though it would be much, merely to check the farther progress of a gangrene which is eating out the very vital principles of our social and political existence. The general standard of mo- rality formerly described, would be raised: it would at least be sustained and kept for a while from fur- ther depression. The esteem which religious cha- racters would personally attract, would extend to the system which they should hold, and to the church of which they should be members. These are all mere-
CIir.ISTIANITY IN THIS COUNTRY. 215
ly natural consequences. But to those who believe in a superintending Providence, it may be added, that the blessing of God might be drawn down upon our country, and the strokes of his anger be for a while suspended.
Let it not be vainly imagined, that our state of civilization must prevent moral degeneracy. A neighboring nation has lately furnished a lamenta- ble proof, that superior polish and refinement may well consist with a very large measure of depravity. But to appeal to a stiil more decisive instance; it maybe seen in the history of the latter years of the most celebrated of the pagan nations, that the high- est degrees of civilization and refinement are by no means inseparable from the most shocking depravity of morals. The fact is certain, and the obvious in- ference with regard to ourselves cannot be denied. The cause of this strange phenomenon (such it really appears to our view, for Avhich the natural corruption of man might hardly seem to account suf ficiently) has been explained by an inspired writer. Speaking of the most polished nations of antiquity, he observes : " Because when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, and were not solicitous* to retain him in their knowledge, he gave them over to a reprobate mind." Let us then beware, and take warning from their example : let us not sufl!er our
* Such seems to be the just rendering of the word which our Testament translates, " did not like to retain God in their Iniovviedge,"
316 INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF
self-love to beguile us: let us not vainly persuade ourselves, that although prosperity and wealth may have caused us to relax a little too much in those more serious duties which regard our Maker, yet that we shall stop where we are, or at least that we can never sink into the same state of moral deprava- tion. Doubtless we should sink as low if God were to give us up also to our own imaginations. And what ground have we to think he will not? If we would reason justly, we should not compare our- selves with the state of the heathen world when at its worst, but with its state at that period, when, for its forgetfulness of God, and its ingratitude towards him, it was suffered to fall, till at length it reached that worst, its ultimate point of depression. The heathen had only reason and natural conscience to direct them : we enjoy, superadded to these, the clear light of gospel revelation, and a distinct de- claration of God's dealings with them, to be a lesson for our instruction. How then can we but believe that if we, enjoying advantages so much superior to theirs, are alike forgetful of our kind Benefactor, we also shall be left to ourselves ? and if so left, what reason can be assigned why we should not fall into the same enormities ?
What then is to be done ? The inquiry is of the first importance, and the general answer to it is not difficult. The causes and nature of the decay of re- ligion an^ morals among us sufficiently indicate the
CHRISTIANITY IN THIS COUNTRY. 317
course which, on principles of sound policy, it is in the highest degree expedient for us to pursue. The distemper of which, as a community we are sick, should be considered rather as a moral than a political malady. How much has this been forgotten by the disputants of modern times ! and accordingly, how transient may be expected to be the good effects of the best of their publications ! We should endeavor to tread back our steps. Every effort should be used to raise the depressed tone of public morals. This is a duty particularly incum- bent on all who are in the higher walks of life.
Every person of rank, and fortune, and abilities, should endeavor to exhibit a good example, and to recommend it to the imitation of the circle in which he moves. It has been the opinion of some well- meaning people, that by giving, as far as they pos- sibly could with innocence, into the customs and practices of irreligious men, they might soften the prejudices frequently taken up against religion, of its being an austere, gloomy service ; and thus secure a previous favorable impression against any time when they might have an opportunity of explaining or enforcing their sentiments. This is always a questionable, and, it is to be feared, a dangerous po- licy. Many mischievous consequences necessarily resulting from it might easily be enumerated. But it is a policy particularly unsuitable to our inconsi- derate and dissipated times, and to the lengths at 27*
31 S INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF
which we are arrived. \n these circumstances, the most likely means of producing the revulsion which is required, must be boldly to proclaim the distinc- tion between the adherents of " God and Baal." The expediency of this conduct in our present situation is confirmed by another consideration. It is this — that when men are aware that something of difficulty is to be effected, their spirits rise to the level of the encounter ; they make up their minds to bear hard- ships and brave dangers, and to persevere in spite of fatigue and opposition : whereas in a matter which is regarded as of easy and ordinary operation, they are apt to slumber over their work, and to fail, in what a small effort might have been sufficient to ac- complish, for want of having called up the requisite degree of energy and spirit. Conformably to the principle hereby suggested, in the circumstances in which we are placed, the line of demarcation be- tween the friends and the enemies of religion should now be made clear ; the separation would be broad and obvious. Let him, then, who wishes well to his country, no longer hesitate what course of conduct to pursue. The question now is not, in what liberties he might warrantably indulge himself in another situation ? but what are the restraints on himself which the exigencies of the present times render it advisable for him to impose ? Circumstanced as we now are, it is more than ever obvious that the best man is the truest patriot.
CHRISTIANITY IN THIS COUNTRY. 319
Nor is it only by their personal conduct, though this mode will always be the most efficacious, that men of authority and influence may promote the cause of good morals. Let them in their several sta- tions encourage virtue and discountenance vice in others. Let them enforce the laws by which the wis- dom of our forefathers has guarded against the gross- er infractions of morals. Let them favor and take part in any plans which may be formed for the ad- vancement of morality. Above all things, let them endeavor to instruct and improve the rising genera- tion. But fruitless will be all attempts to sustain, much more to revive, the fainting cause of morals, unless you can restore the prevalence of evangelical Christianity. It is in morals as in physic, unless the source of practical principles be elevated, it will be in vain to attempt to make them flow on a high level in their future course. You may force them for a while into some constrained position, but they will soon drop to their natural point of depression. By all, therefore, who are studious of their country's welfare, every effort should be used to revive the Christianity of our better days. The attempt should especially be made in the case of the pastors of the church, whose situation must render the principles which they hold a matter of supereminent impor- tance. Wherever these teachers have steadily and zealously inculcated the true doctrines of the church of England, the happiest effects have commonly re-
320 INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF
warded their labors. The diit^r of encouraging vital religion in the church particularly devolves on all who have the disposal of ecclesiastical preferment, and more especially on the dignitaries of the sacred order. Some of these have already sounded the alarm, justly censuring the practice of suffering Christianity to degenerate into a mere system of ethics, and recommending more attention to the pecu- liar doctrines of our religion. In our schools, in our universities, let the study be encouraged of the writings of those venerable divines who flourished in the purer times of Christianity. Let even a con- siderable proficiency in their writings be required of candidates for ordination. Let our churches no long- er witness that unseemljr discordance which has prevailed between the prayers and the sermon which follows.
To all who have at heart the national welfare, the above suggestions are solemnly submitted. They have not been urged without misgivings lest it should appear, as though the concern of eternity were melt- ed down into a mere matter of temporal advantage or political expediency. But since it has graciously pleased the Supreme Being so to arrange the con- stitution of things as to render the prevalence of true religion and of pure morality conducive to the well- being of states and the preservation of civil order, and since these subordinate inducements are not un- frequently held forth, even by the sacred writers, it
CHRISTIANITY IN THIS COUNTRY. 321
seemed proper to suggest inferior motives to readers who might be less disposed to listen to considerations of a higher order.
Would to God that the course of conduct here suggested might be fairly pursued ! Would to God that the happy consequences which would result from the principles we have recommended could be realized; and, above all, that the influence of true religion could be extensively diff'used ! It is the best wish which can be formed for his country, by one who is deeply anxious for its welfare :
Lucem redde tuam, dax bone, patria) Instar veris enim vultus ubi tuns Afiulsit populo, gratior it dies, Et soles melius nitent.
CHAPTER VII.
PRACTICAL HINTS TO VARIOUS DESCRIPTIONS OP PERSONS.
Thus have we endeavored to trace the chief de- lects of the religious system of the bulk of professed Christians in this country. We have pointed out
S22 PRACTICAL HINTS TO
their low idea of tlie importance of Christianity in general, their inadequate conceptions of all its leading doctrines, and the effect hereby naturally produced in relaxing the strictness of its practical system ; more than all, we have remarked their grand funda- mental misconception of its genius and essential na- ture. Let not therefore the difference between them and true believers be considered as a minute differ- ence, as a question of forms or opinions. The ques- tion is of the very substance of religion ; the differ- ence is of the most serious and momentous amount. We must speak out. Their Christianity is not Chris- tianity. It wants the radical principle. It is mainly defective in all the grand constituents. Let them no longer then be deceived by names in a matter of in- finite importance ; but with humble prayer to the Source of all wisdom, that he would enlighten their understandings and clear their hearts from prejudice, let them seriously examine by the Scripture stand- ard their real belief and allowed practice, and they will become sensible of the shallowness of their scanty system.
If through the blessing of Providence on any thing here written, there should be any whom it has dis- posed, to this important duty of self-inquiry, let me previously warn them to be well aware of our natu- ral proneness to think too favorably of ourselves. Selfishness is one of the principal fruits of the cor- ruDtion of human nature: and it is obvious that sel-
VARIOUS PERSON'S.
fishness disposes us to overrate our good qualities, and to overlook or extenuate our defects. The cor- ruption of human nature therefore being admitted, it follows undeniably, that in all our reckonings, if we would form a just estimate of our character, we must make allowance for the effects of selfishness. It is also another effect of the corruption of human nature, to cloud our moral sight and blunt our moral sensibility. Something must therefore be allowed for this effect likewise. Doubtles^%the perfect parity of the Supreme Being makes him see in us stains far more in num- ber and deeper in dye than we ourselves can discover. Nor should another awful consideration be forgotten. When we look into ourselves, those sins only into which we have lately fallen are commonly apt to excite any lively impression. Many individual acts of vice, or a continued course of vicious or dissipated conduct, which, v^rhen recent, may have smitten us with deep remorse, after a few months or years leave very faint traces in our recollection. But the strong impressions which they at first excited, not the faded images which they subsequently present to us, fur- nish the true measure of their guilt ; and to the pure eyes of God this guilt must always have appeared far greater than to us. Now to the Supreme Being there is no past or future; as whatever will be, so whatever has been, is retained by him in present and unvarying contemplation, continuing always to ap- pear just the same as at the first moment of its hap-
324 PRACTICAL HINTS TO
pening. Well may it then humble us in the sight of that Being " who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity," to call to mind that unless our offences have been blotted out by our obtaining an interest in the satisfaction of Christ, through true repentance and lively faith, we appear before him clothed with the sins of our whole lives, in all their original depth of coloring, and with all the aggravations which we no longer particularly remember, but which, in gen- eral, we perhaps may recollect to have once filled us with shame and confusion of face. The writer is the rather desirous of enforcing this reflection, be- cause he can truly declare that he has found no consideration so efficacious in producing in his own mind the deepest self-abasement.
In treating of the sources ofthe erroneous estimates which we form of our religious and moral character, it may not, perhaps, be without its uses to take this occasion of pointing out some other common springs of self-deception. Many persons, as was formerly hinted, are misled by the favorable opinions enter* tained of them by others ; many, it is to be feared, mistake a hot zeal for orthodoxy, for a cordial ac- ceptance of the great truths of the Gospel ; and al- most all of us, at one time or other, are more or less misled by confounding the suggestions of the under- standing with the impulses of the will, the assent which our judgment gives to religious and moral truths with a hearty belief and approbation of them.
VARIOUS PERSONS. 325
There is another frequent source of seU'-deception, productive of so much mischief in life that it would be highly improper to omit the mention of it in this place. That we may be the better understood, it may be proper to premise that certain particular vices, and likewise that certain particular good and amia- ble qualities, seem naturally to belong to certain par- ticular periods and conditions of life. Now, if we would reason fairly in estimating our moral charac- ter, we ought to examine ourselves with reference to that particular " sin which does most easily beset us," not to some other sin to which we are not so much liable. And in like manner, on the other hand, we ought not to account it matter of self-complacen- cy if we find in ourselves that good and amiable quality which naturally belongs to our period or condition ; but rather look for some less ambiguous sign of a real internal principle of virtue. But we are very apt to reverse these lules of judging : we are very apt, on the one hand, both in ourselves and in others, to excuse *' the besetting sin," taking and giving credit for being exempt from others, to which we or they are less liable ; and on the other hand, to value ourselves extremely on our possession of the good or amiable quality which naturally belongs to us, and to require no more satisfactory evidence of the sufficiency at least of our moral character. The bad effects of this partiality are aggravated by the practice, to which we are sadly prone, of being con- 28
326 PRACTICAL HINTS TO
tented, when we take a hasty view of ourselves, with negative evidences of our state ; thinking it very well if we are not shocked by some great actual trans- gression, instead of looking for the positive signs of a true Ch*-istian, as laid down in the holy Scripture.
But the «;ource of self-deception, which it is more particularly our present object to point out, is a dis- position to consider as a conquest of any particular vice, our merely forsaking it on our quitting the pe- riod or condition of life to which that vice belongs, when perhaps also we substitute for it the vice of the new period or condition on which we are enter- ing. We thus mistake merely outgrowing our vices, or relinquishing them from some change in our worldly circumstances, for a thorough, or at least for a sufficient reformation.
But this topic deserves to be viewed a little more closely. Young people may, without much offence, be inconsiderate and dissipated ; the youth of one sex may indulge occasionally in licentious excesses; those of the other may be supremely given up to vanity and pleasure : yet, provided that they are sweet tem- pered, and open, and not disobedient to their parents or other superiors, the former are deemed good hearted young men, the latter, innocent young wo- men. Those who love them best have no solicitude about their spiritual interests : ajid it would be deem- ed strangely sirict in themselves, or in others, to aoubt of their becoming more religious as they ad
VARIOUS PERSONS. 327
vance in life ; to speak of them as being actually un- der the Divine displeasure ; or, if their lives should be in danger, to entertain any apprehensions con- cerning their future destiny.
They grow older, and marry. The same licen- tiousness which was formerly considered in young men as a venial frailty, is now no longer regarded in the husband and the father as compatible with the character of a decently religious man. The language is of this sort ; " they have sown their wild oats, they must now reform, and be regular." Nor perhaps is the same manifest predominance of vanity and dissi- pation deemed innocent in the matron : but if they are kind respectively in their conjugal and parental relations, and are tolerably regular and decent, they pass for mighty good sort of people ; and it would be altogether unnecessary scrupulosity in them to doubt of their coming up to the requisitions of the Divine law, as far as in the present state of the world can be expected from human frailty. Their hearts, how- ever, are no more than before supremely set on the great work of their salvation, but are chiefly bent on increasing their fortunes or raising their families. Meanwhile they congratulate themselves on having amended from vices they are no longer strongly tempted to commit, or abstaining from which ought not to be assumed as a test of the strength of the re- ligious principle, since the commission of them would prejudice their characters, and perhaps injure their fortune in life.
328 PRACTICAL HINTS TO
Old age has at length made its advances. Now, if ever, we might expect that it would be deemed high time to make eternal things the main object of attention. No such thing ! There is still an ap- propriate good quality, the presence of which calms the disquietude and satisfies the requisitions both of themselves and of those around them. It is now re- quired of them that they should be good natured and cheerful, indulgent to the frailties and follies of the young ; remembering that when young themselves the)'- gave in to the same practices. How opposite this to that dread of sin which is the sure characte- ristic of the true Christian ! which causes him to look back upon the vices of his own youthful days with shame and sorrow, and which, instead of conceding to young people to he wild and thoughtless, as a pri- vilege belonging to their age and circumstances, prompts him to warn them against what has proved to himself matter of such bitter retrospection ! Thus, throughout the whole of life some means or other are devised for stifling the voice of conscience. " We cry peace, while there is no peace ;" and both to our- selves and others that complacency is furnished which ought only to proceed from a consciousness of being reconciled to God, and a humble hope of our possessing his favor.
These sentiments will be termed uncharitable; but we must not be deterred by such an imputation. It is time to have done with that senseless cant of
VARIOUS PERSONS. 829
charity, which insults the understandings and trifles with the feelings of those who are really concerned for the happiness of their fellow-creatures. What matter of keen remorse and of bitter self-reproaches are they storing up for their future torment, who are themselves its miserable dupes ; or who, being charg- ed with the office of watching over the eternal inte- rests of their children or relations, suffer themselves to be lulled asleep, or beguiled by such shallow rea- sonings into sparing themselves the momentary pain of executing their important duty! Charity, indeed, is partial to the object of her regard ; and where ac- tions are of a doubtful quality, this partiality disposes her to refer them to a good, rather than to a bad mo- tive. She is apt also somewhat to exaggerate merits, and to see amiable qualities in a light more favora- ble than that which strictly belongs to them. But true charity is wakeful, fervent, full of solicitude, full of good offices, not so easily satisfied, not so ready to believe that every thing is going on well as a matter of course ; but jealous of mischief, apt to suspect danger, and prompt to extend relief These are the symptoms by which genuine regard will manifest itself in a wife or a mother, in the case of the bodily health of the object of her affections. And where there is any real concern for the spiritual in- terests of others, it is characterized by the same in- fallible marks. That wretched quality, by which the sacred name of charity is now so generally and so 28*
330 PRACTICAL HINTS TO
falsely usurped, is no other than indifference ; which, against the plainest evidence, or at least where there is strong- ground of apprehension, is easily contented to believe that all goes well, because it has no anxie- ties to allay, no fears to repress. It undergoes no al- ternation of passions ; it is not at one time flushed with hope, nor at another chilled by disappointment. To a considerate and feeling mind there is some- thing deeply afflicting in seeing the engaging cheer- fulness and cloudless gayety incident to youth wel- comed as a sufficient indication of internal purity by the delighted parents ; who, knowing the deceitful- ness of these flattering appearances, should eagerly avail themselves of this period, when once wasted never to be regained, of good humored acquiescence and dutiful docility : a period when the soft and duc- tile temper of the mind renders it more easily sus- ceptible of the impressions we desire ; and when, therefore, habits should be formed which may assist our natural weakness to resist the temptations to which we shall be exposed in the commerce of ma- turer life. This is more especially affecting in the female sex, because that sex seems to be more favora- bly disposed than ours to the feelings and offices of religion ; being thus fitted by the bounty of Provi- dence, the better to execute the important task which devolves on it, of the education of cur earliest youth. Doubtless, this more favorable disposition to religion in the female sex, was graciously designed also to
VARIOUS PERSONS. 331
make women donbly valuable in the wedded state: and it seems to niTord to the married man the means of rendering an active share in the business of life more compatible than it would otherwise be with the liveliest devotional feelings; that when the hus- band should return to his family, worn and harassed by worldly cares or professional labors, the wife, ha- bitually preserving a warmer and more unimpaired spirit of devotion than is perhaps consistent with being immersed in the bustle of life, might revive his languid piety, and that the religious impressions ot both might derive new force and tenderness from the animating sympathies of conjugal affection. Can a more pleasing image be presented to a considerate mind, than that of a couple, happy in each other and in the pledges of their mutual love, uniting in an act of grateful adoration to the Author of all their mer- cies: recommending each other, and the objects of their common care, to the Divine protection ; and repressing the solicitude of conjugal and parental tenderness by a confiding hope, that through all the changes of this uncertain life, the Disposer of all things will assuredly cause all to work together for the good of them that love and put their trust in him ; and that after this uncertain state shall have passed away, they shall be admitted to a joint participation of never-ending happiness. It is surely no mean or ignoble office which we would allot to the female sex, when we would thus commit to them the charge
332 PRACTICAL HINTS TO
of maintaining m lively exercise whatever emotions most dignify and adorn human nature; when we would make them as it were the medium of our in- tercourse with the heavenly world, the faithful repo- sitories of the religious principle for the benefit both of the present and of the rising generation. Must it not then excite our grief and indignation, when we behold mothers forgetful at once of their own pecu- liar duties, and of the high office which Providence designed their daughters to fulfill ; exciting instead of endeavoring to moderate in them the natural san- guineness and inconsiderateness of youth; hurrying them night after night to the resorts of dissipation : thus teaching them to despise the common comforts of the family circle; and, instead of striving to raise their views, and to direct their afl^ections to their true object, acting as if with the express design studiously to extinguish every spark of a devotional spirit, and to kindle in its stead an excessive love of pleasure, and perhaps a principle of extravagant vanity and ardent emulation !
Innocent young women ! Good hearted young men ! Wherein does this goodness of heart and this innocence appear ? Remember that we are fallen creatures, born in sin, and naturally depraved. Christianity recognizes no innocence or goodness of heart but in the remission of sin, and in the effects of the operation of divine grace. Do we find in these young persons the characters which the.holy Scrip-
VARIOUS PERSONS. 333
tures lay down as the only satisfactory evidences of a safe state ? Do we not, on the other hand, discover the specified marks of a state of alienation from God ? Can the blindest partiality persuade itself that they ?iTQ loving, or striving "to love God with all their hearts, and minds, and souls, and strength ?" Are they " seeking first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness ?" Are they " working out their salvation with fear and trembling?" Are they " clothed with humility ?" Are they not, on the con- trary, supremely given up to self-indulgence ? Are they not at least " lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God ?" Are the offices of religion their solace or their task ? Do they not come to these sacred ser- vices with reluctance, continue in them by constraint, and quit them with gladness ? And of how many of these persons may it not be affirmed in the spirit of the prophet's language : " The harp and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts ; but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither con- sider the operation of his hands ?" Are not the youth of one sex often actually committing, and still more often wishing for the opportunity to commit those sins of which the Scripture says expressly, *' that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God?" Are not the youth of the other mainly intent on the gratification of vanity ; and looking for their chief happiness to the resorts of gayety and fashion, to all the multiplied pleasures
334 PRACTICAL HINTS TO
which public places, or the still higher gratifications of more refined circles can supply?
And then, when the first ebullitions of youthful warmth are over, what is their boasted reformation ? They may be decent, sober, useful, respectable, as members of the community, or amiable in the rela- tions of domestic life. But is this the change of which the Scripture speaks ? Hear the expressions which it uses, and judge for yourselves — " Except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the king- dom of God." " The old man — is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;" an expression but too de- scriptive of the vain delirium of youthful dissipation, and of the false dreams of pleasure which it in- spires ; but " the new man" is awakened from this fallacious estimate of happiness; "he is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him" — " He is created after God in righteousness and true holiness." The persons of whom we are speak- ing are no longer, indeed, so thoughtless, and wild, and dissipated as formerly ; so negligent in their at- tention to objects of real value ; so eager in the pur- suit of pleasure ; so prone to yield to the impulse of appetite. But this is no more than the change of which a writer of no very strict cast speaks, as na- turally belonging to their riper age:
Conversis sludiis, aetas, animusque virilis Cluserit opes, et amicitias : inservit honori: Commisisse cavet, quod mox mutare laboret. HoR.
VARIOUS PERSONS. 335
This is a point of infinite importance ; let it not be thought tedious to spend even yet a few more moments in the discussion of it. Put the question to another issue, and try it by appealing to the princi- ple of life being a state of probation ; a proposition, indeed, true, in a certain sense, though not exactly in that which is sometimes assigned to it ; and you will still be led to no very different conclusion. Pro- bation implies resisting, in obedience to the dictates of religion, appetites which we are naturally prompted to gratify. Young people are not tempted to be churlish, interested, covetous ; but to be inconsiderate and dissi- pated, " lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God." People in middle age are not so strongly tempted to be thoughtless, and idle, and licentious. From excesses of this sort they are sufficiently withheld, particularly when happily settled in domestic life, by a regard to their characters, by the restraints of family connec- tions, and by a sense of what is due to the decencies of the married state. Their probation is of another sort; they are tempted to be supremely engrossed by worldly cares, by family interests, by professional objects, by the pursuit of wealth or of ambition. Thus occupied, they are tempted to " mind earthly rather than heavenly things," forgetting " the one thing needful ;" to " set their affections " on temporal ra- ther than eternal concerns, and to take up with "a form of godliness," instead of seeking to experience the power thereof: the foundations of this nominal
S36 PRACTICAL HINTS TO
religion being laid, as was formerly explained more at large, in the forgetfulness, if not in the ignorance of the peculiar doctrines of Christianity. These are the ready-made Christians formerly spoken of, who consider Christianity as a geographical term, proper- ly applicable to all those who have been born and educated in a country wherein Christianity is pro- fessed; not as indicating a renewed nature, as ex- pressive of a peculiar character, with its appropriate desires and aversions, and hopes, and fears, and joys, and sorrows. To people of this description, the so- lemn admonition of Christ is addressed : " I know thy works ; that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die : for I have not found thy works perfect before God."
If there be any one who is inclined to listen to this solemn warning, who is awakened from his dream of false security, and is disposed to be not only al- most but altogether a Christian — O ! let him not stifle or dissipate these beginnings of seriousness, but sedulously cherish them as the " workings of the Divine Spirit," which would draw him from the •' broad " and crowded " road of destruction, into the narrow " and thinly peopled path " that leadeth to life." Let him retire from the multitude — let him enter into his closet, and on his bended knees im- plore, for Christ's sake, and in reliance on his media- tion, that God would " take away from him the heart
VARIOUS PERSONS. 337
of Stone, and give him a heart of flesh ; that the Father of light would open his eyes to his true con- dition, and clear his heart from the clouds of preju- dice, and dissipate the deceitful medium of self-love. Then let him carefully examine his past life, and his present course of conduct, comparing himself with God's word, and considering how any one might reasonably have been expected to conduct himself to whom the holy Scriptures had been always open, and who had been used to acknowledge them to be the revelation of the will of his Creator, and Go- vernor, and Supreme Benefactor ; let him there pe- ruse the awful denunciations against impenitent sin- ners ; let him labor to become more and more deeply impressed with a sense of his own radical blindness and corruption ; above all, let him steadily contem- plate, in all its bearings and connections, that stupen- dous truth, the incarnation and crucifixion of the only begotten Son of God, and the message of mercy pro- claimed from the cross to repenting sinners. " Be ye reconciled unto God." " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."
When he fairly estimates the guilt of sin by the costly satisfaction which was required to atone for it, and the worth of his soul by the price which was paid for its redemption, and contrasts both of these with his own sottish inconsiderateness ; when he re- flects on the amazing love and pity of Christ, and on the cold and formal acknowledgments with which he 29
338 PRACTICAL HINTS TO
has hitherto returned this infinite obligation, making light of the precious blood of the Son of God, and trifling with the gracious invitations of his Redeem- er ; surely, if he be not lost to sensibility, mixed emo- tions of guilt, and fear,^nd sharr.e, and remorse, and sorrow nearly overwhelm his soul ; he will smite upon his breast, and cry out in the language of the publican, " God be merciful to me a sinner." But, blessed be God, such an one needs not despair: it is to persons in this very situation, and with these very feelings, that the offers of the Gospel are held forth, and its promises assured ; " to the weary and heavy laden " under the burden of their sins ; to those who thirst for the water of life ; to those who feel themselves "tied and bound by the chain of their sins ;" who abhor their captivity, and long earnestly for deliverance. Happy, happy souls ! whom the grace of God has visited, '' has brought out of dark- ness into his marvellous light," and "from the power of Satan unto God." Cast yourselves then on his un- deserved mercy; he is full of love, and will not spurn you : surrender yourselves into his hands, and solemnly resolve, through his grace, to dedicate henceforth all your faculties and powers to his service. It is yours now " to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling," relying on the fidelity of Him who has promised to "work in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Ever look to him for help : your own safety consists in a deep and
VARIOUS PERSONS. 339
abiding sense of your own weakness, and in a firm reliance on his strength. If you " give all diligence," his power is armed for your protection, his truth is pledged for your security. You are enlisted under the banner of Christ — fear not, though the world, and the flesh, and the devil are set in array against you. " Faithful is he that hath promised ;" " be ye also faithful unto death, and he will give you a crown of life." " He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved." In such a world as this, in such a state of society as ours, especially if in the higher walks of life, you must be prepared to meet with many difficulties : arm yourselves, therefore, in the first place, with a determined resolution not to rate human estimation beyond its true value ; not to dread the charge of particularity, when it shall be necessa- ry to incur it; but, as was before recommended, let it be your constant endeavor to retain before your mental eye that bright assemblage of invisible spec- tators who are the witnesses of your daily conduct, and " to seek that honor which cometh from God." You cannot advance a single step till you are in some good measure prepossessed of this comparative indifference to the favor of men. We have before explained ourselves too clearly to render it necessa- ry to declare that no one should needlessly affect singularity ; but to aim at incompatible advantages, to seek to please God and the world, where their commands are really at variance, is the way to be
340 PRACTICAL HINTS TO
neither respectable, nor good, nor happy. Continue to be ever aware of your own radical corruption and habitual weakness. Indeed, if your eyes are really opened, and your heart truly softened, " hungering and thirsting after righteousness," rising in your ideas of true holiness, and proving the genuineness of your hope by desiring " to purify yourself even as God is pure :" you will become daily more and more sensible of your own defects, and wants, and weaknesses; and more and more impressed by a sense of the mercy and long-suffering of that gra- cious Savior, " who forgiveth all your sins, and heal- eth all your infirmities."
This is the solution of what to a man of the world might seem a strange paradox, that in proportion as the Christian grows in grace, he grows also in humi- lity. Humility is indeed the vital principle of Chris- tianity ; that principle by which from first to last she lives and thrives, and in proportion to the growth or decline of which she must decay or flourish. This first disposes the sinner in deep self-abasement to ac- cept the offers of the Gospel ; this, during his whole progress, is the very ground and basis of his feel- ings and conduct, both in relation to God, his fellow- creatures, and himself; and when at length he shall be translated into the realms of glory, this principle shall still subsist in undiminished force; he shall •' fall down, and cast his crown before the Lamb ; and ascribe blessing, and honor, and glory and
VARIOUS PERSONS. 341
power to Him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and ever." The practical benefits of this habitual lowliness of spirit are too numerous, and at the same time too obvious, to require enume- ration. It will lead you to dread the beginnings, and fly from the occasions of sin ; as that man would shun some infectious distemper who should know that he was predisposed to take the contagion. It will prevent a thousand difficulties, and decide a thousand questions concerning worldly compliances, by which those persons are apt to be embarrassed who are not duly sensible of their own exceeding frailty, whose views of the christian character are not suffi- ciently elevated, and who are not enough possessed with a continual fear of " grieving the Holy Spirit of God," and of thus provoking him to withdraw his gracious influence. But if you are really such as we have been describing, you need not be urged to set the standard of practice high, and to strive after universal holiness. It is the desire of your hearts to act in all things with a single eye to the favor of God, and thus the most ordinary actions of life are raised into offices of religion. This is the purifying, the transmuting principle, which realizes the fabled touch which changes all to gold. But it belongs to this desire of pleasing God that we should be con- tinually solicitous to discover the path of duty ; that we should not indolently wait, satisfied with not re- fusing occasions of glorifying God when they are 29*
342 PRACTICAL HINTS TO
forced upon us ; but that we should pray to God for wisdom and spiritual understanding, that we may be acute in discerning opportunities of serving him in the world, and judicious in selecting and wise in im- proving them. Guard indeed against the distraction of worldly cares ; and cultivate heavenly mindedness and a spirit of continual prayer, and neglect not to watch incessantly over the workings of your deceit- ful heart ; but be active also, and useful. Let not your precious time be wasted " in shapeless idle- ness :" an admonition which, in our days, is rendered but too necessary by the relaxed habits of persons even of real piety ; but wisely husband and improve this fleeting treasure. Never be satisfied with your present attainments ; but " forgetting the things which are behind," labor still to "press forward" with un- diminished energy, and to run the race that is set before you without flagging in your course.
Above all, measure your progress by your im- provement in love to God and man. '' God is love." This is the sacred principle which warms and en- lightens the heavenly world, that blessed seat of God's visible presence. There it shmes with un- clouded radiance. Some scattered beams are gra- ciously lent to us on earth, or we had been benighted and lost in darkness and misery ; but a larger por- tion of it is infused into the hearts of the servants of God, who thus " are renewed in the Divine like- ness" and even here exhibit some faint traces of the
VARIOUS PERSONS. 343
image of their heavenly Father. It is the principle of love which disposes them to yield themselves up without reserve to the service of him " who has bought them with the price of his own blood."
Servile, and base, and mercenary is the notion of Christian practice among the bulk of nominal Chris- tians. They give no more than they dare not with- hold ; they abstain from nothing but what they must not practice. In short, they know Christianity only as a system of restraints. She is despoiled of every liberal and generous principle : she is rendered al- most unfit for the social intercourses of life. But true Christians consider themselves not as satisfying some rigorous creditor, but as discharging a debt of gratitude. Theirs is accordingly not the stinted re- turn of a constrained obedience, but the large and liberal measure of a voluntary service. This prin ciple, therefore, as was formerly remarked, and as has been recently observed of true Christian hu- mility, prevents a thousand practical embarrass- ments by which they are continually harassed who act from a less generous motive, and who require it to be clearly ascertained to them that any gratification or worldly compliance which may be in question, is beyond the allowed boundary line of Christian prac- tice.* This principle regulates the true Christian's
* Neither will I offer burnt-offerings unto the Lord my God," says David, "of that which doth cost me nothing." 2 Sam. 24 : 24.
344 PRACTICAL HINTS TO
choice of companions and friends, where he is at li- berty to make an option ; this fills him with the de- sire of promoting the temporal well-being of all around him, and still more, with pity, and love, and anxious solicitude for their spiritual welfare. Indif- ference indeed in this respect is one of the surest signs of a low or declining state in religion. This animating principle it is, which in the true Chris- tian's happier hour inspirits his devotions, and causes him to delight in the worship of God ; which fills him with consolation, and peace, and gladness, and sometimes even enables him "to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."
But this world is not his resting-place: here, to the very last, he must be a pilgrim and a stranger : a soldier whose warfare ends only with life, ever struggling and combating with the powers of
*' They " (the apostles) "departed from the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suflfer shame for the name of Jesus." Acts, 5 : 41. See also 1 Thess. 1 : 6. Heb. 10 : 34. James, 1 : 2. 1 Peter, 4 .13, 14.
Such are the marks exhibited in Scripture of a true love to God : and though our regard for our common Lord is not put to the same severe test as that of the apostles and first Christians was, yet, if the same principle existed in us also, it would surely dispose us to act in the spirit of that con- duct, and prompt us rather to be willing to exceed in self- denials and labors for Christ's sake, than to be so forward as we are to complain, whenever we are called upon to per- form or to abstain from any thing, though in an instance ever so little contrarv to our inclinations.
VARIOUS PERSONS. 345
darkness, and with the temptations of the world around him, and the still more dangerous hostilities of internal depravity. The perpetual vicissitudes of this uncertain state; the peculiar trials and dif- ficulties with w^hich the life of a Christian is che- quered; and still more, the painful and humiliating remembrance of his own infirmities teach him to look forward, almost with outstretched neck, to that promised day, when he shall be completely de- livered from the bondage of corruption, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. In the anticipation of that blessed period, and comparing this churlish and turbulent world, where competition, and envy, and ange>r, and revenge, so vex and agitate the sons of men, with that blissful region where love shall reign without disturbance, and where all being knit to- gether in bonds of indissoluble friendship, shall unite in one harmonious song of praise to the Author of their common happiness, the true Chris- tian triumphs over the fear of death: he longs to realize these cheering images, and to obtain admis- sion into that blessed company. With far more justice than it was originally used, he may adopt the beautiful exclamation — " O prseclarum ilium diem, cum ad illud divinum animorum concilium cc&tum- que proficiscar, atque ex hae turb^ et colluvione discedam!"
What has been now as well as formerly remarked concerning- the habitual feeling's of the real believer,
346 PRACTICAL HINTS TO
may suggest a reply to an objection common in the mouths of the nominal Christians, that we would deny men the innocent amusements and gratifica- tions of life; thus causing our religion to wear a gloomy, forbidding aspect, instead of her true and na- tural face of cheerfulness and joy. This is a charge of so serious a nature, that although it lead into a di- gression, it may not be improper to take some notice of it.
In the first place, religion prohibits no amusement or gratification which is really innocent. The ques- tion, however, of its innocence, must not be tried by the loose maxims of worldly morality, but by the spirit of the injunctions of the word of God, and by the indulgence being conformable or not conform- able to the genius of Christianity, and to the tempers and dispositions of mind enjoined on its professors. There can be no dispute concerning the true end of recreations. They are intended to refresh our ex- hausted bodily or mental powers, and to restore us, with renewed vigor, to the more serious occupations of life. Whatever, therefore, fatigues either body or mind, instead of refreshing them, is not fitted to answer the designed purpose. Whatever consumes more time, or money, or thought, than it is expe- dient, or rather necessary, to allot to mere amuse- ment, can hardly be approved by any one who con- siders these talents as precious deposits, for the expenditure of which he will have to give account.
VARIOUS PERSONS. 347
Whatever directly or indirectly must be likely to injure the welfare of a fellow creature, can scarcely be a suitable recreation for a Christian, who is " to love his neighbor as himself;" or a very consistent diversion for any one, the business of whose life is to diffuse happiness.
But does a Christian never relax? Let us not so wrong and vilify the bounty of Providence, as to al- low for a moment that the sources of innocent amuse- ment are so rare that men must be driven, almost by constraint, to such as are of a doubtful quality. On the contrary, such has been the Creator's goodness, that almost every one, both of our physical, and intellec- tual, and moral faculties, and the same may be said of the whole creation which we see around us, is not only calculated to answer the proper end of its being, by its subserviency to some purpose of solid use- fulness, but to be the instrument of administering pleasure.
Not content With every food of life to nourish man, Thou makest all nature beauty to his eye And music to his ear.
Our Maker also, in his kindness, has so constructed us that even mere vicissitude is grateful and refresh- ing— a consideration which should prompt us often to seek, from a prudent variation of useful pursuits, that recreation for which we are apt to resort to what is altogether unproductive and unfruitful.
348 PRACTICAL HINTS TO
Yet rich and multiplied are the springs of inno- cent relaxation. The Christian relaxes in the tem- perate use of all the gifts of Providence. Imagina- tion, and taste, and genius, and the beauties of cre- ation, and the works of art, lie open to him. He re- laxes in the feast of reason, in the intercourses of so- ciety, in the sweets of friendship, in the endearments of love, in the exercise of hope, of confidence, of joy, of gratitude, of universal good will, of all the bene- volent and generous affections : which, by the gra- cious ordination of our Creator, while they disin- terestedly intend only happiness to others, are most surely productive to ourselves of complacency and peace. O ! little do they know of the true measure of enjoyment, who can compare these delightful complacencies with the frivolous pleasures of dissipa- tion, or the coarse gratifications of sensuality. It is no wonder, however, that the nominal Christian should reluctantly give up, one by one, the pleasures of the world ; and look back upon them, when relin- quished, with eyes of wistfulness and regret ; because he knows not the sweetness of the delights with which true Christianity repays those trifling sacrifices, and is greatly unacquainted with the nature of that plea- santness which is to be found in the ways of religion. It is indeed true, that when any one who has long been going on in the gross and unrestrained practice of vice is checked in his career, and enters at first on a religious course, he has much to undergo.
VARIOUS PERSONS. 849
Fear, guilt, remorse, shame, and various other pas- sions, struggle and conflict within him. His appetites are clamorous for their accustomed gratification, and inveterate habits are scarcely to be denied. He is weighed down by a load of guilt, and almost over- whelmed by the sense of his un worthiness. But all this ought in fairness to be charged to the account of his past sins, and not to that of his present repen ■ tance. It rarely happens, however, that this state of suffering continues very long. When the mental gloom IS the blackest, a ray of heavenly light occa- sionally breaks in, and suggests the hope of better days. Even in this life it commonly holds true, " They that sow in tears shall reap in joy."
Neither, when we maintain that the ways of re- ligion are ways of pleasantness, do we mean to deny that the Christian's internal state is, through the whole of his life, a state of discipline and warfare. Several of the causes which contribute to render it such have been already pointed out, together with the workings of his mind in relation to them: but if he has solicitudes and griefs peculiar to himself, he has "joys also with which a stranger intermeddles not."
A little religion is, it must be confessed, apt to make men gloomy, as a little knowledge to render them vain : hence the unjust imputation often brought upon religion by those whose degree of religion is just sufficient, by condemning their course of con- 30
350 PRACTICAL HINTS TO
duct, to render them uneasy; enough merely to impair the sweetness of the pleasures of sin, and not enough to compensate for the relinquishment of them by its own peculiar comforts. Thus these men bring up an ill report of that land of promise which in truth abounds with whatever, in our journey through life, can best refresh and strengthen us.
We have enumerated some sources of pleasure which men of the world may understand, and must acknowledge to belong to the true Christian ; but there are others, and those of a still higher class, to which they must confess themselves strangers. To say nothing of a degree of exemption from those distracting passions and corroding cares, by which he must naturally be harassed whose trea- sure is within the reach of mortal accidents ; there is the humble,quiet-giving hope of being reconciled to God, and of enjoying his favor; with that solid peace of mind which the world can neither give nor take away, which results from a firm confidence in the infinite wisdom and goodness of God, and in the unceasing care and kindness of a gracious Sa- vior : and there is the persuasion of the truth of the Divine assurance, that all things shall work to- gether for good.
When flushed with youth, and health, and vigor ; when all goes on prosperously, and success seems almost to anticipate our wishes; then we feel not the want of the consolations of religion : but when
VARIOUS PERSONS. 351
fortune frowns, or friends forsake us, when sorrow, or sickness, or old age comes upon us, then it is that the superiority of the pleasures of religion is established over those of dissipation and vanity, which are ever apt to fly from us when we are most in want of their aid. There is scarcely a more melancholy sight to a considerate mind, than that of an old man who is a stranger to those only true sources of satisfaction. How afTecting, and at the same time how disgusting is it to see such a one awkwardly catching at the pleasures of his younger years, which are now beyond his reach ; or feebly attempting to retain them, while they mock his endea- vors and elude his grasp ! To such a one, gloomily indeed does the evening of life set in. All is sour and cheerless. He can neither look backward with com- placency, nor forward with hope: while the aged Christian, relying on the assured mercy of his Re- deemer, can calmly reflect that his dismission is at hand ; that his redemption draweth nigh : while his strength declines and his faculties decay, he can quietly repose himself on the fidelity of God : and at the very entrance of the valley of the shadow of death he can lift up an eye, dim, perhaps, and feeble, yet occasionally sparkling with hope, and confidently looking forward to the near possession of his heavenly inheritance, "to those joys which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive."
3$2 ADVICE TO PROFESSORS
Never were there times which inculcated more forcibly, than those in which we live, the wisdom of seeking happiness beyond the reach of human vicis- situdes. What striking lessons have we had of the precarious tenure of all sublunary possessions! Wealth, and power, and prosperity, how peculiarly transitory and uncertain ! But religion dispenses her choicest cordials in the seasons of exigence, in po- verty, in exile, in sickness, and in death. The essen- tial superiority of that support which is derived from religion is less felt, at least it is less apparent, when the Christian is in full possession of riches, and splendor, and rank, and all the gifts of nature and fortune. But when all these are swept away by the rude hand of time, or the rough blasts of adversity, the true Christian stands, like the glory of the forest, erect and vigorous ; stripped indeed of his summer foliage, but more than ever discovering to the observ- ing eye the solid strength of his substantial texture :
Pondere fixa suo est, nudosque per aera ramos Attollens, trunco non frondibus efficit umbram.
SECTION II.
Advice to some who profess full assent to the fimdamental doe- triTicsofthe Gospel.
In a former chapter wo largely insisted on what may be termed the fundamental practical error of
OF THE GOSPEL, 358
the bulk of professed Christians in our days; their either overlooking or misconceiving the peculiar method which the Gospel has provided for the reno- vation of our corrupted nature, and for the attainment of every Christian grace.
But there are mistakes on the right hand and on the left; and our general proneness, when flying from one extreme to run into an opposite error, ren- ders it necessary to superadd another admonition. The generally prevailing error of the present day, indeed, is that fundamental one which was formerly pointed out. But while we attend, in the first place, to this ; and, on the warrant both of Scripture and experience, prescribe hearty repentance and lively faith as the only root and foundation of all true ho- liness ; we must at the same time guard against a practical mistake of another kind. Those who, with penitent hearts, have humbled themselves before the cross of Christ; and who, pleading his merits as their only ground of pardon and acceptance, have resolv- ed henceforth, through the influences of the Holy Spirit, to bring forth the fruits of righteousness, are sometimes apt to conduct themselves as if they con- sidered their work as done ; or at least as if this were the whole they had to do, as often as, by falling afresh into sin, another act of repentance and faith may seenri to have become necessary. There are not a few in our relaxed age, who thus satisfy themselves with what may be termed general Christianity ; who feel 30*
354 ADVICE TO PROFESSORS
general penitence and humiliation from a sense of their sinfulness in general, and general desires of universal holiness ; but who neglect that vigilant and jealous care with which they s-hould labor to extir- pate every particular corruption, by studying its na- ture, its root, its ramifications, and thus becoming acquainted with its secret movements, with the means whereby it gains strength, and with the most effectual methods of resisting it. In like manner, they are far from striving with persevering alacrity for the ac- quisition and improvement of every Christian grace. Nor is it unusual for ministers, who preach the truths of the Gospel with fidelity, ability, and success, to be themselves also liable to the charge of dwelling al- together in their instructions on this general reli- gion : instead of tracing and laying open the secret motions of inward corruption, and instructing their hearers how best to conduct themselves in every dis- tinct part of the Christian warfare ; how best to strive against each particular vice, and to cultivate each grace of the Christian character. In too many per- sons, concerning the sincerity of whose general pro- fessions of religion we should be sorry to entertain a doubt, we see little progress made in the regulation of their tempers, in the improvement of their time, in the reform of their plan of life, or in ability to re- sist the temptation to which they are particularly exposed. They will confess themselves, in general terms, to be "miserable sinners:" this is a tenet of
OF THE GOSPEL. 355
their creeJ, and they feel even proud in avowing it» They will occasionally also lament particular fail- ings : but this confession is sometimes obviously made in order to draw forth a compliment for the very opposite virtue: and where this is not the case, it is often not difficult to detect, under this false guise of contrition, a secret self-complacency, arising from the manifestations they have afforded of their acute- ness or candor in discovering the ihnrmity in ques- tion, or of their frankness or humility in acknowledg- ing it. This will scarcely seem an illiberal suspicion to any one who either watches the workings of his own heart, or who observes that the faults confessed in these instances are very seldom those with which the person is most clearly and strongly chargeable. We must plainly warn these men, and the consi- deration is seriously pressed on their instructors also, that they are in danger of deceiving themselves Let them beware lest they be nominal Christians of another sort. These persons require to be reminded that there is no short compendious method of holi- ness; but that it must be the business of their whole lives to grow in grace, and continually adding one virtue to another, as far as may be, "to go on towards perfection." He only "that doeth righteousness is righteous." Unless "they bring forth the fruits of the Spirit," they can have no sufficient evidence that they have received that Spirit of Christ, without which thev are none of his. But where, on th«
356 ADVICE TO PROFESSORS
whole, our unwillingness to pass an unfavorable judgment may lead us to indulge a hope that " the root of the matter is found in them," yet we must de- clare to them, that instead of adorning the doctrine of Christ, they disparage and discredit it. The world sees not their secret humiliation, nor the exercises of their closets, but it is acute in discerning practical weaknesses; and if it observe that they have the same eagerness in the pursuit of weahh or ambition, the same vain taste for ostentation and display, the same ungoverned tempers which are found in the generality of mankind, it will treat with contempt their pretences to superior sanctity and indifference to worldly things, and will be hardened in its preju- dices against the only mode which God has provided for our escaping the wrath to come, and obtaining eternal happiness.
Let him, then, who would be indeed a Christian, watch over his ways and over his heart with unceas- ing circumspection. Let him endeavor to learn, both from men and books, particularly from the lives of eminent Christians, what methods have been actual- ly found most effectual for the conquest of every par- ticular vice, and for improvement in every branch of holiness. Thus studying his own character, and ob- serving the most secret workings of his own mind, and of our common nature ; the knowledge which he will acquire of the human heart in general, and especially of his own, will be of the highest utility
OF THE GOSPEL. 857
in enabling him to avoid or to guard against the oc- casions of evil ; and it will also tend, above all things, to the growth of humility, and to the maintenance of that sobriety of spirit and tenderness of conscience which are eminently characteristic of the true Chris- tian. It is by this unceasing diligence, as the apostle declares, that the servants of Christ must make their calling sure. Their labor will not be thrown away; for *' an entrance shall" at length "be ministered unto them abundantly, into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
SECTION III.
Brief observations addressed to Sceptics and Unitarians.
There is another class of men, an increasing class it is to be feared, in this country, that of absolute un- believers, with which this little work has properly no concern : but may the writer, sincerely pitying their melancholy state, be permitted to ask them one plain question ? If Christianity be not in their estimation true, yet is there not at least a presumption in its fa- vor sufficient to entitle it to a serious examination ; from its having been embraced, and that not blindly and implicitly, but upon full inquiry and deep con- sideration, by Bacon, and Milton, and Locke, and Newton, and much the greater part of those, who, by the reach of their understandings, or the extent
358 BRIEF OBSERVATIONS TO
of their knowledge, and by the freedom of their minds, and their daring to combat existing preju- dices, have called forth the respect and admiration of mankind ? It might be deemed scarcely fair to in- stance clergymen, though some of them are among the greatest names this country has ever known. Can the sceptic in general say with truth that he has either prosecuted an examination into the evidences of revelation at all, or at least with a seriousness and diligence in any degree proportioned to the impor- tance of the subject? The fact is, and it is a fact which redounds to the honor of Christianity, that infidelity is not the result of sober inquiry and deli- berate preference. It is rather the slow production of a careless and irreligious life, operating together with prejudices and erroneous conceptions concern- ing the nature of the leading doctrines and funda- mental tenets of Christianity.
Take the case of young men of condition, bred up by what we have termed nominal Christians. When children, they are carried to church, and there they become acquainted with such parts of Scripture as are contained in our public service. If their parents preserve still more of the customs of better times, they are taught their catechism, and furnished with a little further religious knowledge. After a while they go from under the eyes of their parents ; they enter into the world, and move forward in the path of life, whstever it may be, which has been assigned
SCEPTICS AND UNITARIANS. 359
to them. They yield to the temptations which assail them, and become more or less dissipated and licen- tious. At least they neglect to look into their Bible ; they do not enlarge the sphere of their religious ac- quisitions ; they do not even endeavor, by reflection and study, to turn into what may deserve the name of knowledge and rational conviction, the opinions which, in their childhood, they had taken on trust.
They travel, perhaps, into foreign countries ; a proceeding w^hich naturally tends to weaken their nursery prejudice in favor of the religion in which they were bred, and by removing them from all means of public worship, to relax their practical habits of religion. They return home, and common- ly are either hurried round in the vortex of dissipa- tion, or engage with the ardor of youthful minds in some public or professional pursuit. If they read or hear any thing about Christianity, it is commonly only about those tenets which are subjects of con- troversy ; and what reaches their ears from the Bible, in their occasional attendance at church, though it may sometimes impress them with an idea of the purity of christian morality, contains much which, coming thus detached, perplexes and offends them, and suggests various doubts and startling objections which a further acquaintance with the Scripture would remove. Thus growing more and m.ore to know Christianity only by the difficulties it contains ; sometimes tempted by an ambition of showing them-
360 BRIEF OBSERVATIONS TO
selves superior to what they think vulgar prejudice, and always prompted by the natural pride of the human heart to cast off subjection to dogmas imposed on them ; disgusted, perhaps, by the immoral lives of some professed Christians, by the weaknesses and absurdities of others, and by what they observe to be the implicit belief of numbers whom they see and know to be equally ignorant with themselves ; many doubts and suspicions of greater or less extent spring up within them. These doubts enter into the mind at first almost imperceptibly : they exist only as vague indistinct surmises, and by no means take the precise shape or the substance of a formed opinion. At first, probably, they even offend and startle by their intru- sion ; but by degrees the unpleasant sensations they once excited wear off; the mind grows more familiar with them. A confused sense, for such it is, rather than a formed idea of its being desirable that their doubts should prove well founded, lends them much secret aid. The impression becomes deeper ; not in consequence of being reinforced by fresh arguments, but merely by dint of having longer rested in the mind ; and as they increase in force, they creep on and extend themselves. At length they diffuse them- selves over the whole of religion, and possess the mind in undisturbed occupancy.
It is by no means meant that this is universally the process. But speaking generally, this might be termed, perhaps not unjustly, the natural history of
SCEPTICS AND UNITARIANS. 361
scepticism. It approves itself to the experience of those who have with any care watched the progress of infidelity in persons around them ; and it is con- firmed by the written lives of some of the most eminent unbelievers. It is curious to read their own accounts of themselves, the rather as they accord so exactly with the result of our own observation. We find that they once perhaps gave a sort of implicit heredi- tary assent to the truth of Christianity, and were what by a mischievous perversion of language the world denominates believers. How were they then awa- kened from their sleep of ignorance ? At what mo- ment did the light of truth beam in upon them, and dissipate the darkness in which they had been involv- ed t The period of their infidelity is marked by no such determinate boundary. Reason, and thought, and inquiry had little or nothing to do with it. Ha- ving for many years lived careless and irreligious lives, and associated with companions equally care- less and irreligious ; not by force of study and re- flection, but rather by the lapse of time, they at length attained to their infidel maturity. It is worthy of remark, that where any are reclaimed from infidelity, it is generally by a process much more rational than that which has been here de- scribed. Something awakens them to reflection. They examine, they consider, and at length yield their assent to Christianity on what they deem suffi- cient grounds.
31
362. BRIEF OBSERVATIONS TO
From the account here given, it appears plainly that infidelity is generally the offspring of prejudice, and that its success is mainly to be ascribed to the depravity of the moral character. This fact is con- firmed by the undeniable truth, that in societies, which consist of individuals, infidelity is the natural fruit, not so much of a studious and disputatious, as of a dissipated and vicious age. It diffuses itself in proportion as the general morals decline ; and it is embraced with less apprehension, when every infi- del is kept in spirits by seeing many around him who are sharing fortunes with himself.
To anjr fair mind this consideration alone might be offered, as suggesting a strong argument against in- fidelity, and in favor of revelation. And the friends of Christianity might justly retort the charge which their opponents often urge with no little affectation of superior wisdom, that we implicitly surrender ourselves to the influence of prejudice, instead of examining dispassionately the ground of our faith,, and yielding our assent only according to the degree of evidence.
In our own days, when it is but too clear that in- fidelity increases, it is not in consequence of the rea- sonings of the infidel writers having been much stu- died, but from the progress of luxury and the decay of morals ; and, so far as this increase may be traced at all to the works of sceptical writers, it has been produced, not by argument and discussion, but by
SCEPTICS AND UNITARIANS. 363
f?arcasms and points of wit, which have operated on weak minds, or on nominal Christians, by bringing gradually into contempt opinions which, in their case, had only rested on the basis of blind respect and the prejudices of education. It may therefore be laid down as an axiom, that infidelity is in general a disease of the heart more than of the understanding. If revelation were assailed only by reason and argu- ment, it would have little to fear. The literary op- posers of Christianity, from Herbert to Hume, have been seldom read. They made some stir in their day; during their brief span of existence they were noisy and noxious ; but, like the locusts of the east, which for a w^hile obscure the air and destroy the verdure, they were soon swept away and forgotten. Their very names would be scarcely found if Leland had not preserved them from oblivion.
The account which has been given of the secret but grand source of infidelity, may perhaps justly be extended, as being not seldom true in the case of those who deny the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel.
In the course which we lately traced from nomi- nal orthodoxy to absolute infidelity, Unitarianism* is,
* The author is aware that he may perhaps be censured for conceding this term to the class of persons now in ques- tion, since orthodox Christians equally contend for the uni- ty of the Divine nature ; and it perhaps may hardly be a sufficient excuse, that, it not being- his object particularly
S64 BRIEF OBSERVATIONS TO
indeed, a sort of half-way house, if the expression may be pardoned ; a stage on the journey, where sometimes a person indeed finally stops, but where, not unfrequently, he only pauses for a while, and then pursues his progress.
The unitarian teachers by no means profess to ab- solve their followers from the unbending strictness of Christian morality. They prescribe the predomi- nant love of God, and an habitual spirit of devotion : but it is an unquestionable fact, a fact which they themselves almost admit, that this class of religion- ist is not in general distinguished for superior purity of life; and still less for that frame of mind which, by the injunction '* to be spiritually, not carnally minded," the word of God prescribes to us, as one of the surest tests of our experiencing the vital power of Christianity. On the contrary, in point of fact, Uni- tarianism seems to be resorted to, not merely by those who are disgusted with the peculiar doctrines of Christianity, but by those also who are seeking a refuge from the strictness of her practical precepts, and who more particularly would escape from the obligation which she imposes on her adherents ra- ther to incur the dreaded charge of singularity, than fall in with the declining manners of a dissipated age.
to refute the errors of Unitarianism, he uses the term in its popular sense rather than give needless offence. He thus guards, however, against any false construction being drawti from his use of it.
SCEPTICS AND UNITARIANS. 365
Unitarianism, where it may be supposed to pro- ceed from the understanding- rather than from the heart, is not unfrequently produced by a confused idea of the difficulties, or, as they are termed, the impossibilities which orthodox Christianity is sup- posed to involve. It is notour intention to enter into the controversy :* but it may not be improper to make one remark, as a guard to persons in whose way the arguments of the Unitarians maybe likely to fall: namely, that one great advantage possessed by deists, and perhaps in a still greater degree by Unitarians, in their warfare with the Christian sys- tem, results from the very circumstances of their being the assailants. They urge what they state to be powerful arguments against the truth of the fun- damental doctrines of Christianity, and then call upon men to abandon them as posts no longer ten- able. But those who are disposed to yield to this assault, should call to mind, that it has pleased God so to establish the constitution of all things, that per- plexing difficulties and plausible objections may be
* The author of this treatise has, since its completion, pe- rused a work, entitled, Calvinism and Socinianisra com- pared, by A. Fuller ; and, without reference to the pecu- liarities of calvanism, he is happy to embrace this opportu- nity of Calvanism, the high obligation which, in common with all the friends of true religion, he owes to the author of that highly valuable publication for his masterly defence of the doctrines of Christianity, and his acute refutation of the opposite errors.
31*
366 BRIEF OBSERVATIONS TO
adduced against the most established truths; such, for instance, as the being of a God, and many others both physical and moral. In all cases, therefore, it becomes us, not on a partial view to reject any proposition, because it is attended with difficulties; but to compare the difficulties which it involves, with those that attend the alternative proposition which must be embraced on its rejection. We should put to the proof the alternative proposition in its turn, and see whether it be not still less tenable than that which we are summoned to abandon. In short, we should examine circumspectly on all sides ; and abide by that opinion which, on carefully balancing all considerations, appears fairly entitled to our pre- ference. Experience, however, will have convinced the attentive observer of those around him, that it has been for want of adverting to this just and ob- vious principle, that the Unitarians in particular have gained most of their proselytes from the church, so far as argument has contributed to their success. If the Unitarians, or even the deists, were considered in their turn as masters of the field, and were in their turn attacked, both by arguments tending to disprove their system directly, and to disprove it indi- rectly, by showing the high probability of the truth of Christianity, and of its leading and peculiar doc- trines, it is most likely that they would soon ap- pear wholly unable to keep their ground. In short, reasoning fairly, there is no medium between abso-
SCEPTICS AND UNITARIANS. 367
lute Pyrrhonism and Christianity ; and if we reject the latter on account of its difficulties, we shall be still more loudly called upon to reject every other system which has been offered to the acceptance of mankind. This consideration might, perhaps, with advantage be more attended to than it has been, by those who take upon them to vindicate the truth of our holy religion: as many, who, from inconside- ration, or any other cause, are disposed to give up the great fundamentals of Christianity, would be startled by the idea, that on the same principle on which they did this, they must give up the hope of finding any rest for the sole of their foot on any ground of religion, and not stop short of unqualified atheism.
Besides the class of those who professedly reject revelation, there is another, and that also, it is to be feared, an increasing one, which may be called the class of half-unbelievers, who are to be found in va- rious degrees of approximation to a state of absolute infidelity. The system, if it deserve the name, of these men, is grossly irrational. Hearing many who assert, and many who deny the truth of Christianity, and not reflecting seriously enough to consider that it must be either true or false, they take up a strange sort of middle opinion of its qualified truth. They conceive that there must be something in it, though by no means to the extent to which it is pushed by or- thodox Christians. They grant the reality of future
368 BRIEF OBSERVATIONS TO
punishment, and even that they themselves cannot akogether expect to escape it ; yet " they trust it will not go so hard with them as the churchmen state ;" and, as was formerly hinted, though disbe- lieving almost every material doctrine which Chris- tianity contains ; yet, even in their own minds, they by no means conceive themselves to be enlisted under the banners of infidelity, or to have much cause for any great apprehension lest Christianity phould prove true.
But let these men be reminded that there is no middle way. If they can be prevailed on to look into their Bible, and do not make up their minds absolutely to reject its authority, they must admit that there is no ground whatever for this vain hope of escaping with a slight measure of punishment. Nor let them think their guilt inconsiderable. Is it not grossly criminal to trifle with the long-suf- fering of God, to despise alike his invitations and his threatenings, and the offer of his Spirit of grace, and the precious blood of the Redeemer ? Far dif- ferent is the scripture estimate ; "how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation ? " It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of judgment," than for those who voluntarily shut their eyes against that full light which the bounty of Heaven has poured out upon them. These half-un- believers are even more reprehensible than down- right sceptics, for remaining in this state of careless
8CEPTICS AND UNITARIANS. S69
uncertainty, without endeavoring to ascertain the truth or falsehood of revelation. The probability which they admit, that it may be true, imposes on them an additional and undeniable obligation to in- quiry. But both to them and to decided sceptics it must be plainly declared that they are in these days less excusable than ever, for not looking into the grounds and proofs on which is rested the truth ot Christianity; for never before were these proofs so plainly, and at so easy a rate offered to the conside- ration of mankind. Through the bounty of Provi- dence the more widely spread poison of infidelity has in our days been met with more numerous and more powerful antidotes.
The infatuation of these unbelievers upon trust would be less striking, if they were able altogether to decline Christianity; and were at liberty to re- linquish their pretensions to its rewards, on condition of being exempted from its punishments. But that is not the case ; they must stand the risk of the en- counter, and their eternal happiness or misery is suspended upon the issue.* What must be the emo- tions of these men, on first opening their eyes in the world of spirits, and being convinced, too late, of the awful reality of their impending ruin ? May the
* This argument is pressed with uncommon force in Pas- cal's Thoughts on Religion, a work highly valuable, though not in every part to be approved ; abounding in particular with those deep views of religion which the name of its author prepares us to expecL
370 ADVICE TO TRUE CHRISTIANS.
mercy and the power of God awaken them from their desperate slumber, while life is yet spared, and there is yet space for repentance !
SECTION IV.
Advice suggested by the state of the times to true Christians.
To those who really deserve the appellation of true Christians, much has been said incidentally in the course of the present work. It has been main tained, and the proposition will not be disputed by any sound or experienced politician, that they are always most important members of the community. But we may boldly assert, that there never was a period wherein, more justly than in the present, this could be affirmed of them ; whether the situation, in all its circumstances, of our own country be atten lively considered, or the general state of society in Europe. Let them, on their part, seriously weigh the important station which they fill, and the various duties it now peculiarly enforces on them. If we consult the most intelligent accounts of foreign coun- tries which have been recently published, and com- pare them with the reports of former travelers, we must be convinced that religion and the standard of morals are every where declining, abroad even more rapidly than in our own country. But still the pro- gress of irreligion and the decay of morals at home are such as to alarm every considerate mind, and to
ADVICE TO TRUE CHRISTIANS. 371
forebode the worst consequences, unless some remedy- can be applied to the growing evil. We can depend only upon true Christians for effecting, in any de- gree, this important service. Zeal is required in the cause of religion; they only can feel it. The charge of singularity must be incurred ; they only will dare to encounter it. Uniformity of conduct and perseverance in exertion will be requisite; among no others can we look for those qualities.
Let true Christians then, with becoming earnest- ness, strive in all things to recommend their profes- sion, and to put to silence the vain scoffs of ignorant objectors. Let them boldly assert the cause of Christ in an age when so many who bear the name of Christians are ashamed of him : and let them con- sider as devolved on them the important duty of sus- pending for a while the fall of their country, and, perhaps, of performing a still more extensive service to society at large ; not by busy interference in poli- tics, in which it cannot but be confessed there is much uncertainty, but rather by that sure and radi- cal benefit of restoring the influence of religion, and of raising the standard of morality.
Let them be active, useful, generous towards others ; manifestly moderate and self-denying in themselves. Let them be ashamed of idleness, as they would be of the most acknowledged sin. When Providence blesses them with affluence, let them withdraw from the competition of vanity ; and, with-
372 ADVICE TO TRUE CHRISTIANS.
out sordidness or absurdity, show, by their modest demeanor and by their retiring from display, that, without affecting singularity, they are not slaves to fashion ; that they consider it as their duty to set an example of moderation and sobriety, and to reserve for nobler and more disinterested purposes that mo- ney Avhich others selfishly waste in parade, and dress, and equipage. Let them evince, in short, a manifest moderation in all temporal things ; as be- comes those whose affections are set on higher ob- jects than any which this world afibrds, and who possess, within their own bosoms, a fund of satisfac- tion and comfort which the world seeks in vanity and dissipation. Let them cultivate a catholic spirit of universal good will, and of amicable fellowship towards all those, of whatever sect or denomination, Avho, differing from them in non-essentials, agree with them in the grand fundamentals of religion. Let them countenance men of real piety wherever they are found, and encourage in others every at- tempt to repress the progress of vice, and to revive and diffijse the influence of religion and virtue. Let their earnest prayers be constantly offered that such endeavors may be successful, and that the abused long-suffering of God may still continue to us the invaluable privilege of vital Christianity.
Let them pray continually for their countjy. Who can say but that the Governor of the universe, who declares himself to be a God who hears the prayers
ADVICE TO TRUE CHRISTIANS. 373
of his servants, may, in answer to their intercessions, for a while avert our ruin, and continue to us the fullness of those temporal blessings which in such abundant measure we have hitherto enjoyed?* Men of the world, indeed, however they may admit the natural operation of natural causes, and may therefore confess the effects of religion and morality in promot- ing the well-being of the community; may yet, accord- ing to their humor, with a smile of complacent pity, or a sneer of supercilious contempt, read of the ser- vice which real Christians may render to their coun- try, by conciliating the favor and calling down the blessing of Providence. It may appear in their eyes an instance of the same superstitious weakness as that which prompts the terrified inhabitant of Sicily to bring forth the image of his tutelar saint, in order to stop the destructive ravages of ^tna. We are, however, sure, if we believe the Scripture, that God will be disposed to favor the nation to which his ser- vants belong ; and that, in fact, such as they have often been the unknown and unhonored instruments of drawing down on their country the blessings of safety and prosperity.
It would be an instance in myself of that very false shame which I have condemned in others, if I were not boldly to avow my firm persuasion, that to the decline of religion and morality our national difii-
♦ See some exquisitely beautiful lines in the last book of Cowper's Task, wherein this sentiment is introduced. 32
374 ADVICE TO TRUE CHRISTIANS.
culties must both directly and indirectly be chiefly ascribed ; and that the only solid hopes for the well- being of our country depend not so much on her fleets and armies, not so much on the wisdom of her rulers or the spirit of her people, as on the persua- sion that she still contains many, who, in a degene- rate age, love and obey the Gospel of Christ ; on the humble trust that the intercession of these may still be prevalent, that for the sake of these God may still look upon us with an eye of favor.
Let the prayers of the Christian reader be also of fered up for the success of this feeble endeavor in the service of true religion. God can give effect to the weakest effort ; and the writer will feel himself too much honored, if by that which he has now been making, but a single fellow-creature should be awakened from a false security, or a single Chris- tian, who deserves the name, be animated to more extensive usefulness. And if the office in which he has been engaged were less intimately connected Avith the duties of his particular station, the candid and the liberal mind would not be indisposed to par- don him. Let him be allowed to ofl^er in his "ex- cuse a desire not only to discharge a duty to his country, but to acquit himself of what he deems a solemn and indispensable obligation to his- acquaint- ance and his friends. Let him alledge the unafl^ected solicitude which he feels for the welfare of his fel-
ADVICE TO TRUE CHRISTIANS. 375
low-creatures. Let him urge the fond wish he glad- ly would encourage — that while, in so large a part of Europe, a false philosophy having been preferred before the lessons of revelation, infidelity has lifted up her head without shame, and walked abroad boldly and in the face of day; while the practical consequences are such as might be expected, and licentiousness and vice prevail without restraint — here at least there might be a sanctuary, a land of religion and piety, where the blessings of Christia- nity might be still enjoyed, where the name of the Redeemer might still be honored ; where mankind might be able to see what is, in truth, the religion of Jesus, and what are its blessed effects ; and whence, if the mercy of God should so ordain it, the means of religious instruction and consolation might be again extended to surrounding countries, and to the world at large
THE END.