The Ethics of Conformity and Subscription |
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The Ethics of Conformity and Subscription (Classic Reprint) Henry Sidgwick No preview available - 2017 |
Common terms and phrases
Act of Uniformity admit Anglican privilege Anglican service Apostles appear assent association of persons avow believe Church of England clergy clergyman common understanding CONFORMITY AND SUBSCRIPTION congregation conscientious instinct COVENT GARDEN declaration definite discussion dissent distinction divergence doctrines dogma doubt duty ecclesiastical educated persons established Church ETHICS OF CONFORMITY evil excommunicate expression favour feel formula of worship formularies fully persuaded HARVARD COLLEGE HENRY SIDGWICK hold impossible individual inquiry laity layman legal obligation less maintain mean mediæval ment method minister moral question natural nonconformist nonconformity opinions orthodox perform ministerial functions perhaps positive science practical present principles Privy Council profession public worship recital of creeds reject relaxation relics of Anglican religion religious communities religious thought respect rigid Trinitarian rule sect secular seems selected as fundamental sense sentiment sincerity social spiritual strict theological thought tion TRINITY COLLEGE truth utterance veracity WOODFALL AND KINDER Αρμονία πᾶσα ἐξ σύγκειται
Popular passages
Page 16 - ... it is not expected that they should withdraw: they violate no common understanding in not withdrawing. And this is because feelings that every one must respect make it impossible for a man voluntarily to abandon a church as easily as he would withdraw from a scientific or philanthropic association. The ties that bind him to it are so much more intimate and sacred, that their severance is proportionably more painful.
Page 21 - ... the beliefs implied in the utterances of the worship, is a question which may properly be left to be decided by the varying sentiments of individuals ; the effect of public worship on the worshipper is so complex and so various, that it would be inexpedient to attempt to lay down a definite general rule. The minds of some are so constituted, that it would be a mockery to them to take part in a service not framed in exact accordance with their theological convictions ; to others, again, quite...
Page 12 - But it is true that we are more and more disposed to accept only authority of a particular sort; the authority, namely, that is formed and maintained by the unconstrained agreement of individual thinkers, each of whom we believe to be seeking truth with single-mindedness and sincerity, and declaring what he has found with scrupulous veracity, and the greatest attainable exactness and precision.
Page 31 - Christians, the belief is so important—the gulf that divides those who hold it from those who reject it seems so great, that the confidence of a congregation in the veracity of their minister would be entirely ruined, if he avowed his disbelief in this doctrine and still continued to recite the Creed. And it seems to me, that a man who acts thus, can only justify himself by proving the most grave and urgent social necessity for his conduct.
Page 21 - ... desirable that an individual should take any part in a social act of religious worship, while conscious of a certain amount of intellectual dissent from the beliefs implied in the utterances of the worship, is a question which may properly be left to be decided by the varying sentiments of individuals ; the effect of public worship on the worshipper is so complex and so various, that it would be inexpedient to attempt to lay down a definite general rule. The minds of some are so constituted,...
Page 22 - England service had become, to different degrees for different worshipers, a "ceremonial." But since, "if the religious life of the nation is to be in a healthy state, we ought continually to try and approximate to [the Protestant] ideal as far as possible" (ECS, 24), the Act of Uniformity ought to be modified, and each congregation be permitted some control over the services in which it participates, and dogmatic professions such as creeds be removed from formulas of worship and reserved for manuals...
Page 5 - It is very difficult for men in any political or social discussion to keep the ideal quite distinct from the actual, and not sometimes to prescribe present conduct on grounds which would only be valid if a distant and dubious change of circumstances were really certain and imminent. It is peculiarly difficult in discussing the conditions of religious union for in...
Page 12 - ... never was a time when the amount of beliefs held by an average educated person, undemonstrated and unverified by himself, was greater than it is now. But it is no less true — and it much concerns us here to note — that men are more and more disposed only to accept authority of a particular kind : the authority, namely, that is formed and maintained by the unconstrained agreement of individual experts, each of whom is believed to be seeking truth with unfettered independence, and declaring...
Page 37 - ... the actual state of opinion could be freely declared, and its consequences frankly faced; then we might fairly try what the spirit of compromise and conciliation, which, after all, is a virtue and not a vice of the Church of England, could do towards harmonizing the inevitable conditions of a national ministry with the inexorable demands of theological thought.