Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

for doctrine, it loathed and neglected duty, and could only relish that ministration, which, instead of acting as a stimulus, acted as a soporific to human virtue. This we believe to be a very prevailing conception among the enemies of popular Christianity; and hence there are not a few who may resist its inroads as conscientiously as they would the inroads of any moral pestilence, regarding the character of the population as exposed to hazard from the currency of a favourite and high-sounding mysticism, that made no account of ordinary practice, and left the conduct of its disciples without restraint and without regulation. There is the imagination of a seducing Antinomianism in the creed of the vulgar, that enters into all this hostility against their opinion and their will in matters of religion, and often gives the tone of serious indignant principle to a distinct class of antagonists from the former-who, more disposed to fasten, on the alleged follies of the popular taste, regard it rather as a topic of light and airy ridieule than as a topic of earnest, solemn, and emphatic denunciation.

"Now, what we affirm is, that the very peculiar economy of the Gospel, devised as it has been for the recovery of a sinful race from a great aberration into which they have wandered, exposes its most honest and intelligent disciples to precisely these aspersionsand that, therefore, the misesteem in which the popular taste is held may be due to a misunderstanding of this economy. The Gospel, in the first instance, proclaims so wide an amnesty for transgression, that the most gross and worthless offenders are included; and there is none so far sunk in the depths and atrocities of moral turpitude, but that still the overtures of redeeming mercy may be brought down, even to his degraded level, and he be told of an open gate and a welcome admittance to Heaven's sanctuary. That blood of atonement which cleanseth from all sin is proclaimed of virtue enough to cleanse him from his sin; and he, without any deduction whatever on the score of his former iniquities, is not barely permitted, but entreated and urged to enter, through a Great Propitiation, upon the firm ground of acceptance with God.

"Now, it is not merely that such encouragement, held forth in the Gospel to the most profligate of our species,

But

has suggested the idea of an impunity held forth by it to moral evil. what serves still more, perhaps, to stir the imputation that it makes no account of moral distinctions whatever, is, that it appears to reduce the purest and most profligate to the same level of worthlessness before God, and, in pointing to the avenue of reconciliation, ad. dresses both of them in the same terms. It looks as if, under this new system, all the varieties of character were to be superseded; and it is, indeed, a very natural conclusion from the doctrine of the efficiency of faith without works, that works aré henceforth to be in no demand and of no estimation. The man who is deemed by society to have no personal righteousness whatever, is told to link all his hopes of acceptance with the righteousness of Christ; and the man to whom society awards the homage of a pure and virtuous character, is likewise told that it is a fatal error to ground his security on any righteousness of his own; but that he also must place all his reliance before God on the righteousness of Christ. This is very like, it has been said, to the entire dismissal of the personal virtues from religion, and the substitution of a mere intellectual dogma in their place. It is certainly a dogma that glares upon us as the most prominent feature of the popular or evangelical system; and we ought not to wonder if, on a partial and hurried contemplation, it should be apprehended that, instead of amending the people, its direct tendency is to vitiate and demoralise them.

"For the purpose of arriving at truth in this matter, it were well to reflect under what kind of moral impression it is that a believer, who hopes for acceptance through the Mediator, renounces all trust in his own righteousness. They who would malign his system affirin it to be, that it is because his moral sense is so far obliterated that the distinction between right and wrong has become a nullity in his estimation; insomuch that he looks on a man of double criminality to be no further, on that account, than his neighbour, from the friendship of God. But might it not rather be, because his moral sense is so far quickened and enlightened, that the differences between the better and the worse among men are lost in the overwhelming impression that he has of the fearful deficiency of all? The man whose conceptions have

been enlarged upward to the high measurements of astronomy, may know, that though one earthly object is nearer to the sun than another, yet the distance of both is so great as to give him the impression of a nearly equal remoteness with each of them. And the man whose conscience has been informed upon Heaven's law, may know, that though one of his fellows has, by an act of theft, receded further than himself, who never stole, yet that both are standing in their common ungodliness at an exceeding wide distance of alie nation from the spirit and character of Heaven. When one man's righteousness is placed by the side of another, it would argue a moral blindness, not to perceive the shade of difference that there is between them. When the bet ter righteousness of the two is placed by the side of the Saviour's, it would argue a still more grievous defect both of moral sight and moral sensibility, not to perceive the contrast that there is between the sacred effulgency of the one, and the shaded earthly ambiguous character of the other. And if, in the New Testament, the alternative be actually placed within the reach of all, of either being tried according to their own righteousness, or of their being treated according to the righteousness of Christ,-it may not be from a dull, but from a tender and enlightened sense of moral distinctions, when one renounces the former, and cleaves to the latter, as all his defence and all his dependence.

"It seems to be on this principle that the publicans and the sinners, in the Gospel, are stated to be before the Pharisees, in coming to the kingdom of Heaven. The palpable delinquencies of the former seemed to have forced more readily upon their apprehension the need of another righteousness than their own. The plausible accomplish ments of the latter served to blind their consciences against this necessity. They were alive to the difference that obtained between themselves and others: but they were not alive to the deficiency of their own character from the requirements of God. And it is thus, perhaps, that the doctrine of human worthlessness still finds its readiest acceptance among the lower orders of society. Their besetting sins are of easier demonstration than either the voluptuous or ungodly affections of the rich, blended, as they often are, with

so much honour, and elegance, and sen. sibility. Still, it is not from the dulness, but from the delicacy of the moral sense, that it can penetrate its way through all these disguises to the actual character of him who is invested with them: and it is not because this power of the human mind is steeped in lethargy, but because it is of quick and vigorous discernment, that man renounces his own righteousness, and betakes himself to the righteousness of faith."-Chalmers, pp. 186-191.

"The doctrine of justification by faith alone, so far from laying any arrest on the practical influence of it, is felt by every genuine believer to give all its spirit and all its scope to the new obedience of the Gospel. Without this doctrine, in fact, there can be no agreement between God and mau, but by a degrading compromise between the purity of the one and the imperfection of the other; and the point at which this com. promise should be struck is left undetermined, and at the discretion of each individual, who will, of course, accommodate the matter to the standard of his own performances; and thus, under all the varieties of moral turpitude, as well as of moral accomplishment, will there be a fatal tranquillity of conscience, in a world where each may live as he lists; and Heaven's law, once brought down to suit the convenience of our fallen nature, may at length offer no disturbance to any degree either of ungodliness or unrighteousness in our species. But with the doctrine of justification by faith there is no such compromise. The rewards of the Divine government are still granted in consideration of a righteousness that is altogether worthy of them. The claims of the Godhead to the perfect reverence, as well as the perfect love, of his creatures, are kept unbroken; and when he proclaims his will to be our sanctification, the disciple, as he feels himself released from the vengeance of an unbending law, also feels himself to be placed in a career of exertion that is quite indefinite; where he will stop short at no degree of moral excellence

where he can be satisfied with no assignable fulfilment whatever-where his whole desire and delight, in fact, will lie in progress, and he will never cease aspiring and pressing forward, till he has reached his prize, and stands upon the summit of perfection.

"It is only under the impulse of such

principles as these, that the mighty host of a country's population can be trained either to the virtues of society or to the virtues of the sanctuary. The former may, to a certain extent, flourish of themselves, among the children of this world's prosperity. But, saving in conjunction with and as emanating from the latter, they never can be upheld amid the workshops and the habitations of industry. It is a frequent delusion, that the evangelical system bears no regard to the socialvirtues, because, in the mind of an evangelical Christian, they are of no religious estimation whatever but as they stand connected with the authority of God. But he cannot miss to observe that the sanctions of this authority are brought, in every page of the Bible, most directly and abundantly to bear upon them; and thus, in his eyes, do they instantly re-appear, strengthened by all the obligations and invested with a full character of deepest sacredness. The integrity of such a creed as he professes is the best guarantee for the integrity of his relative and social conduct. And it is only in proportion to the prevalence of this derided orthodoxy, that the honesties and sobrieties of life will spread in healthful diffusion over the face of the country."-Chalmers, pp. 198-200.

"If, then, evangelical Christianity be popular Christianity,-if its lessons are ever sure to have the most attractive influence upon the multitude,-if, whatever the explanation of the fact may be, the fact itself is undeniable, that the doctrine of our first Reformers, consist ing mainly of justification by faith and sanctification through the Spirit of God, is the doctrine which draws the most crowded audiences around our pulpits, and that this doctrine is,at the same time, the most powerful moralising agent that can be brought to bear upon them,

then does it follow that the voice of the people indicates most clearly, in this matter, what is best for the virtue of the people that the popular taste is the organ by which conscious humanity expresses what that is which is best fitted both to exalt and to console herand that, by the neglect and the defiance which are so wantonly rendered to its intimations, are our statesmen with holding the best aliment of a people's worth, and therefore the best specific for a nation's welfare.”—Chalmers, p. 201. ·

Dr. Chalmers's refutation of the

We

third objection currently alleged
against what is popularly denomi-
nated" evangelical" preaching, is
equally powerful; but we have not
space for further extracts.
trust, however, that bis truly able
work will not pass unheeded by
those to whom it falls to give, if
we may so speak, the prevailing
colour to the theology which is
disseminated from the established
pulpits of the united empire. We
are not advocates for the doctrine
of political expediency as the guide
of human conduct, where a safer
guide may be obtained; but if ec-
clesiastical patronage is to be sub-
ject to the controul of this princi-
ple, as to a large extent it usually
will be in every national church, at
least let the claim of expediency
be well made out. In the present
case, we believe that the voice of
expediency is, as Dr. Chalmers con-
tends, precisely on the contrary
side; and that nothing would tend
more to the popularity of the Es-
tablished Church, and to its potency
as an engine of civil benefit*, as

[ocr errors]

• A very intelligent foreigner, M. Lullin de Chateauvieux, who has recently published two very able and interesting political pamphlets, entitled, "Lettres de Saint James," and "Lettres de Saint James, Seconde Partie," has taken a juster view of this subject than most of our own politicians have had the sagacity to do. He is endeavouring to shew that the radical party in this country by no means includes the whole of the lower orders." Many of them,” he observes," do not experience that degree of distress which produces exasperation; many do not possess the courage which leads men to brave the hazards of an attack on public order; and a great number of them still respect the moral obligations which are the cement of society. In the very front of these last stand the numerous sect of the Methodists, who being the disciples of St. Paul, carry into literal fulfilment in their practice that passage in which he enjoins submission to the powers that be."-Now, we believe it to be perfectly true that the Methodists generally are actuated by their reverence for the authority of Scripture, in yielding a willing subjec

well as to its efficiency as an instrument of spiritual instruction, than the multiplication of instructors of that very stamp which the Bishop of Peterborough's Questions would go to exclude. We are not advo. cating the cause of any particular party in the church; much less holding up the popular taste as the criterion of scriptural truth; but we think it clear that whatever may be the correct line of doctrine in the minor disputes which divide the Christian church, it will not be found, judging from actual facts, that the tone of preaching which most coincides with the Bishop of Peterborough's Questions is that which has the most powerful and beneficial practical influence upon the community, or tends most to renovate the heart and to produce the fruits of holiness and virtue in the life. The judgment, however,

tion to the government under which they

on this point must be regulated by the previous question as to which system is most scriptural, and, we may add, most consonant to the tenets of the church. On this we forbear, at present, to say more, as we shall revert to it in our examination of the theological character of the Questions themselves.

We cannot forbear fortifying our remarks on the inexpediency of the Bishop of Peterborough's Questions by a few passages from the review of this controversy in the "Christian Remembrancer" for February, which touch upon some of the points which we have been obliged, from the extent of the subject, to pass over; and which, we think, must convince even those whose doctrinal views coincide with those of his lordship. In that review there is much to which we should most decidedly object; but, saving a few questionable clauses, we entirely coucur in the general tenor of the following extracts.

live. But we would extend the remark farther, and say, that if the government of the country were desirous of knowing where, among the lower classes, their real strength lies, where they may be sure to find friends who, generally speaking, will be opposed to every facLious attempt to disturb the peace of the country, and who will be ready strenuously to support the authority of the laws and the cause of good order, they must look to those who are cordially attached to what may be called an " evangelical" ministry, whether that ministry be exercised in the Church of England or the Church of Scotland, among Methodists or Dissenters of what. ever description. We mean not to say that there may not be found many individual exceptions to this remark. Still we are ready, with Dr. Chalmers, to maintain and to prove the general proposition, that the influence of what is called "evangelical" instruction is, in the highest degree, favourable to the stability of all our civil institutions. Nor should we stop even here; for we think it may be shewn almost to demonstration that many of our worst political evils may be traced to the too general want of this description of instruction, and to the marked discouragement under which those labour who are zealous in its diffusion.

"We judge these questions to be inexpedient. As a test of Calvinism they have their force: an honest Calvinist cannot answer them to the satisfaction of the Bishop. And they exhibit the Anti-Calvinistic interpretation of our Articles in a popular and convincing shape. But is it expedient that the practice of examining for a curacy, or for institution to a benefice, should not only be revived, but revived in this particular manner?

that the revival should take place in Is it expedient one diocese alone? Ought it not rather to have been the result of a combined and well-considered plan; in which shape it would have silenced the opposition of some, and increased the approbation of others?"

"We contend that the Articles are not Calvinistic; but we cannot think that the maintenance of an opposite opinion is the only fault which requires to be discountenanced. If persons who have received priest's orders, are again to be examined when they are nominated to a curacy, or presented to a living, the examination ought not to be confined to the mistaken, the fanatical, and the enthusiastic, but should reach the indifferent, the incompetent, and the latitudinarian.”

"If these questions are intended to embrace the whole examination [for holy orders], they are objectionable not from their extent, but from their deficiency. Anti-Calvinism is not the whole body of divinity with which the theologian should be acquainted, nor is it by any means the first point to which his attention should be directed. The evidences of Christianity, the authenticity and inspiration of the Scriptures, the curious modes and helps of scrip. tural interpretation, the grounds and authority of our faith, the principles of ecclesiastical polity, the records of ecelesiastical history, the peculiar con stitution of our own church and ministry and offices, all claim a prior attention from the ecclesiastical student."

"We are far from contending with Bishop Horsley, that voluminous treatises must be studied, before a judgment can be formed on the merit of Cal. vinism; but we are certain that a foundation must be laid, in the acquirement of scriptural knowledge for the connteraction of any unscriptural error. But we fear that these questions have a tendency to contract the range of a young aman's professional studies, to give him a wrong bias at his very outset, and to make him a polemic in his pupillage. Instead of leading him to the fountain of living waters-instead of making him acquainted with Hooker, Pearson, Bull, Barrow, Wheatley, and the other

worthies of the English Church-they invite him to a superficial investigation, and precipitate apprehension of things hard to be understood, and which the candidate for Orders is seldom prepared to discuss.

"There is another objection which ought not to be entirely overlooked. The Bishop of Peterborough's example may be followed in other quarters; and a Calvinistic exposition of the Articles, in the shape of question and answer, may perplex and mislead those by whom his lordship's queries will not be seen. The sectaries will thus be furnished with new weapon of offence, which they will not be able to wield with the Bishop's dexterity and strength, but which still may encourage them to persevere in their protracted struggle. Every circumstance which checks the syste matic study of theology, prolongs the existence and triumphs of Calvinism and the young student will be delayed, and often ultimately misled, if he wastes his strength in detecting the inconsis tencies of error rather than in building up and establishing his own knowledge of the truth. The ardour of the con troversialist requires to be moderated, not inflamed; and it is to be regretted that any deviation from the ordinary course of episcopal proceedings should not be calculated to produce that effect." Number for January 1821. (To be continued.)

REVIEW OF REVIEWS.

THE CHRISTIAN REMEM

BRANCER.

An individual, writing in the pages of the Christian Remembrancer, continues to assail us with a load of invective which we are the furthest possible from any wish to retaliate, and which we could almost have thought had been learnt, though not we trust as to its motive, from some of the Radical Journals of the day. At the same time, we must say, that to call an opponent by opprobrious and abusive epithets, however well adapted to give

life and pungency to a work, is no very clear indication of a love of truth. We have been accustomed indeed to receive vituperative ap pellations of old, from the legitimate predecessors of our present antagonist; we mean, the Antijacobin Reviewers; and that on the occasion of the very same controversy to which the Christian Remembrancer still invites us;-a circumstance on which we leave our readers to make their own comment. We refer them to our pages in former volumes, (for example, to pp. 700 and 763, in our

« AnteriorContinuar »