and are instinct with a diviner life,-who love truth more than rest, and the peace of Heaven rather than the peace of Eden,to whom " a loftier being brings severer cares,' "Who know, Man does not live by joy alone, But by the presence of the power of God,"- such must cast behind them the hope of any repose or tranquillity save that which is the last reward of long agonies of thought';-they must relinquish all prospect of any Heaven save that of which tribulation is the avenue and portal; they must gird up their loins, and trim their lamp, for a work which cannot be put by, and which must not be negligently done. "He," says Zschokke, "who does not like living in the furnished lodgings of tradition, must build his own house, his own system of thought and faith, for himself."2 "O Thou! to whom the wearisome disease Of Past and Present is an alien thing, Thou pure Existence! whose severe decrees Clear-eyed, clear-hearted-lay thy loving wing In death upon me--if that way alone Thy great Creation-thought thou wilt to me make known." R. M. Milnes. 2 Zschokke's Autobiography, p. 29. The whole section is most deeply interesting. CHAPTER XVI. CHRISTIAN ECLECTICISM. CHRISTIANITY not being a revelation, but a conception-the Gospels not being either inspired or accurate, but fallible and imperfect human records-the practical conclusion from such premises must be obvious to all. Every doctrine and every proposition which the Scriptures contain, whether or not we believe it to have come to us unmutilated and unmarred from the mouth of Christ, is open, and must be subjected, to the scrutiny of reason. Some tenets we shall at once accept as the most perfect truth that can be received by the human intellect and heart;-others we shall reject as contradicting our instincts and offending our understandings;-others, again, of a more mixed nature, we must analyze, that so we may extricate the seed of truth from the husk of error, and elicit "the divine idea that lies at the bottom of appearance." 1 I. I value the Religion of Jesus, not as being absolute and perfect truth, but as containing more truth, purer truth, higher truth, stronger truth, than has ever yet been given to man. Much of his teaching I unhesitatingly receive as, to the best of my judgment, unimprovable and unsurpassable-fitted, if obeyed, to make earth a Paradise indeed, and man only a little lower than the angels. The worthlessness of ceremonial observances, and the necessity of active virtue-" Not every one that saith unto me, Lord! Lord! but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven;" "By their fruits ye shall know them;" "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice;" I Fichte. "Be not a slothful hearer only, but a doer of the word;" "Woe unto ye, Scribes and Pharisees, for ye pay tithes of mint and anise and cummin, and neglect the weightier matters of the Law, justice, mercy, and temperance: "-The enforcement of purity of heart as the security for purity of life, and of the government of the thoughts, as the originators and forerunners of action-"He that looketh on a woman, to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart;" Out of the heart proceed murders, adulteries, thefts, false witness, blasphemies these are the things which defile a man:"Universal philanthropy-"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;' Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, that do ye also unto them, for this is the Law and the Prophets: "Forgiveness of injuries-"Love your enemies; do good to them that hate you; pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you;" "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us;" "I say not unto thee, until seven times, but until seventy times seven;" "If ye love them only that love you, what reward have ye? do not even publicans the same:"-The necessity of self-sacrifice in the cause of duty-"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake;" "If any man will be my disciple, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me;" "If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee;" "No man, having put his hand to the plough and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God:"-Humility-"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth;" "He that humbleth himself shall be exalted;" "He that is greatest among you, let him be your servant:"-Genuine sincerity; being, not seeming "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them;" "When thou prayest, enter into thy closet and shut thy door;" "When thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast:"-All these sublime precepts need no miracle, no voice from the clouds, to recommend them to our allegiance, or to assure us of their divinity; they command obedience by virtue of their inherent rectitude and beauty, and vindicate their author as himself the one towering perpetual miracle of history. II. Next in perfection come the views which Christianity unfolds to us of God in his relation to man, which were probably as near the truth as the minds of men could in that age receive. God is represented as Our Father in Heaven-to be whose especial children is the best reward of the peace-makers—to see whose face is the highest hope of the pure in heart — who is ever at hand to strengthen His true worshippers-to whom is due our heartiest love, our humblest submission-whose most acceptable worship is a holy heart-in whose constant presence our life is passed—to whose merciful disposal we are resigned by death. It is remarkable that, throughout the Gospels, with the exception of a simple passage1, nothing is said as to the nature of the Deity:—his relation to us is alone insisted on:— all that is needed for our consolation, our strength, our guidance, is assured to us :-the purely speculative is passed over and ignored. Thus, in the two great points essential to our practical lifeviz. our feelings towards God, and our conduct towards manthe Gospels contain little about which men can differ-little from which they can dissent". He is our Father-we are all brethren. This much lies open to the most ignorant and busy, as fully as to the most leisurely and learned. This needs no Priest to teach it-no authority to indorse it. The rest is Speculation-intensely nteresting, indeed, but of no practical necessity. 1 God is a Spirit. 2 That, however, there must be some radical defect, or incompleteness, or inapplica bility, in our day and country, of the Gospel rule of life, appears from the fact that any one who strictly regulates his conduct by its teaching (putting aside the mere letter) is immediately led into acts which the world unanimously regards as indicative of an unsound or unbalanced mind; that in fact the very attempt indicates a mental constitution or condition so peculiar, so intrinsically unfit for the business of life, as to constitute what is universally admitted to be unsoundness. Most men, who profess to take the Gospel as their guide, escape this unsoundness, or keep it within permissible bounds, by inconsistency, or artificial interpretations. III. There are, however, other tenets taught in Scripture and professed by Christians, in which reflective minds of all ages have found it difficult to acquiesce. Thus :-however far we may stretch the plea for a liberal interpretation of Oriental speech, it is impossible to disguise from ourselves that the New Testament teaches, in the most unreserved manner, and in the strongest language, the doctrine of the efficacy of Prayer in modifying the divine purposes, and in obtaining the boons. asked for at the throne of grace. It is true that one passage (John xi. 42) would seem to indicate that prayer was a form which Jesus adopted for the sake of others; it is also remarkable that the model of prayer, which he taught to his disciples, contains only one simple and modest request for personal and temporal good'; yet not only are we told that he prayed earnestly and for specific mercies (though with a most submissive will), on occasions of peculiar suffering and trial, but few of his exhortations to his disciples occur more frequently than that to constant prayer, and no promises are more distinct or reiterated than that their prayers shall be heard and answered. "Watch and pray;" "This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting;" "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye shall receive them, and ye shall have them;" "Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he will give it you;" "Ask, and it shall be given you;" "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?" The parable of the unjust Judge was delivered to enforce the same conclusion, and the writings of the Apostles are at least equally explicit on this point. "Be constant in prayer;" "Pray without ceasing;" "Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering;" "The fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much." "It is a curious fact that the Lord's Prayer may be reconstructed," says Wetstein, "almost verbatim out of the Talmud, which also contains a prophetic intimation that all prayer will one day cease, except the Prayer of Thanksgiving." (Mackay's Progress of the Intellect, ii. 379.) |