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Title5 The Literary Remains Of Samuel Taylor Coleridge
6uthor5 Edited By !enry "elson Coleridge
Release )ate5 Se%tember 7889 :EBook #;29<= :,es &e are more than one
year ahead of schedule= :This file &as first %osted on 6ugust >8 788>=
Edition5 $8
Language5 English
--- ST6RT O/ T!E PRO?ECT G@TE"BERG EBOOA L+TER6R,
REB6+"S 0OL( > ---
Produced by Clytie Siddall and )istributed Proofreaders
THE LITERARY REMAINS
OF SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE
VOLUME THE THIRD
COLLECTED AND EDITED BY
HENRY NELSON COLERIDGE.
$;>;
TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE JOHN HOOKHAM FRERE THE
THIRD AND FOURTH VOLUMES OF COLERIDGE'S REMAINS
ARE RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.
CONTENTS
Preface
/ormula /idei de SS( Trinitate
"ightly Prayer
"otes on CThe Book of Common PrayerC
"otes on !ooker
"otes on /ield
"otes on )onne
"otes on !enry Bore
"otes on !einrichs
"otes on !acket
"otes on ?eremy Taylor
"otes on CThe PilgrimCs ProgressC
"otes on ?ohn Smith
Letter to a Godchild
PREFACE
/or a statement of the circumstances under &hich the collection of Br(
ColeridgeCs Literary Remains &as undertaken the Reader is referred to the
Preface to the t&o %receding 0olumes %ublished in $;><( But the gra'er
character of the general contents of this 0olume and of that &hich &ill
immediately follo& it seems to justify the Editor in soliciting %articular
attention to a fe& additional remarks(
6lthough the 6uthor in his &ill contem%lated the %ublication of some at
least of the numerous notes left by him on the margins and blank s%aces of
books and %am%hlets he most certainly &rote the notes themsel'es &ithout
any %ur%ose beyond that of deli'ering his mind of the thoughts and
as%irations suggested by the te1t under %erusal( !is books that is any
%ersonCs booksDe'en those from a circulating libraryD&ere to him &hilst
reading them as dear friendsE he con'ersed &ith them as &ith their authors
%raising or censuring or Fualifying as the o%en %age seemed to gi'e him
causeE little solicitous in so doing to dra& summaries or to strike balances
of literary merit but seeking rather to detect and a%%reciate the mo'ing
%rinci%le or moral life e'er one and single of the &ork in reference to
absolute truth( Thus em%loyed he had fe& reser'es but in general %oured
forth as in a confessional all his mind u%on e'ery subjectDnot kee%ing
back any doubt or conjecture &hich at the time and for the %ur%ose seemed
&orthy of consideration( +n %robing anotherCs heart he laid his hand u%on
his o&n( !e thought %ious frauds the &orst of all frauds and the system of
economiGing truth too near akin to the corru%tion of it to be generally
com%atible &ith the ?obHlike integrity of a true ChristianCs conscience(
/urther he distinguished so strongly bet&een that internal faith &hich lies
at the base of and su%%orts the &hole moral and religious being of man
and the belief as historically true of se'eral incidents and relations found
or su%%osed to be found in the te1t of the Scri%tures that he habitually
e1ercised a liberty of criticism &ith res%ect to the latter &hich &ill
%robably seem objectionable to many of his readers in this country( :$=
!is friends ha'e al&ays kno&n this to be the factE and he 'indicated this so
o%enly that it &ould be folly to attem%t to conceal it5 nay he %leaded for it
so earnestlyDas the only middle %ath of safety and %eace bet&een a
godless disregard of the uniFue and transcendant character of the Bible
taken generally and that scheme of inter%retation scarcely less ad'erse to
the %ure s%irit of Christian &isdom &hich &ildly arrays our faith in
o%%osition to our reason and inculcates the sacrifice of the latter to the
formerDthat to su%%ress this im%ortant %art of his solemn con'ictions
&ould be to misre%resent and betray him( /or he thre& u% his hands in
dismay at the language of some of our modern di'inity on this %ointEDas if
a faith not founded on insight &ere aught else than a s%ecious name for
&ilful %ositi'enessEDas if the /ather of Lights could reFuire or &ould
acce%t from the only one of his creatures &hom he had endo&ed &ith
reason the sacrifice of fools4 )id Coleridge therefore mean that the
doctrines re'ealed in the Scri%tures &ere to be judged according to their
su%%osed harmony or discre%ancy &ith the e'idence of the senses or the
deductions of the mere understanding from that e'idenceI E1actly the
re'erse5 he disdained to argue e'en against Transubstantiation on such a
ground &ell kno&ing and loudly %roclaiming its utter &eakness and
instability( But it &as a leading %rinci%le in all his moral and intellectual
'ie&s to assert the e1istence in all men eFually of a %o&er or faculty
su%erior to and inde%endent of the e1ternal senses5 in this %o&er or faculty
he recogniGed that image of God in &hich man &as madeE and he could as
little understand ho& faith the indi'isibly joint act or efflu1 of our reason
and our &ill should be at 'ariance &ith one of its factors or elements as
ho& the 6uthor and @%holder of all truth should be in contradiction to
himself( !e trembled at the dreadful dogma &hich rests GodCs right to
manCs obedience on the fact of his almighty %o&erDa %osition falsely
inferred from a misconcei'ed illustration of St( PaulCs and &hich is less
humbling to the creature than blas%hemous of the CreatorE and of the
a&less doctrine that God might if he had so %leased ha'e gi'en to man a
religion &hich to human intelligence should not be rational and e1acted his
faith in itDColeridgeCs &hole middle and later life &as one dee% and
solemn denial( !e belie'ed in no God in the 'ery idea of &hose e1istence
absolute truth %erfect goodness and infinite &isdom &ere not elements
essentially necessary and e'erlastingly co%resent(
Thus minded he sought to justify the &ays of God to man in the only &ay
in &hich they can be justified to any one &ho deals honestly &ith his
conscience namely by sho&ing &here %ossible their conseFuence from
and in all cases their consistency &ith the ideas or truths of the %ure reason
&hich is the same in all men( .ith &hat success he laboured for thirty
years in this mighty cause of Christian %hiloso%hy the readers of his other
&orks es%ecially the 6ids to Reflection &ill judge5 if measured by the
number of resol'ed %oints of detail his %rogress may seem smallE but if
tested by the &eight and gras% of the %rinci%les &hich he has established it
may be confidently said that since Christianity had a name fe& men ha'e
gone so far( +f e'er &e are to find firm footing in Biblical criticism bet&een
the e1tremes Jho& often meeting4K of Socinianism and Po%eryEDif the
indis%utable facts of %hysical science are not for e'er to be left in a sort of
admitted antagonism to the su%%osed assertions of Scri%tureEDif e'er the
Christian duty of faith in God through Christ is to be reconciled &ith the
religious ser'ice of a being gifted by the same God &ith reason and a &ill
and subjected to a conscienceDit must be effected by the aid and in the
light of those truths of dee%est %hiloso%hy &hich in all Br( ColeridgeCs
&orks %ublished or un%ublished %resent themsel'es to the reader &ith an
almost affecting reiteration( But to do justice to those &orks and adeFuately
to a%%reciate the 6uthorCs total mind u%on any gi'en %oint a cursory
%erusal is insufficientE study and com%rehension are reFuisite to an accurate
estimate of the relati'e 'alue of any %articular denial or assertionE and the
a%%arently desultory and discontinuous form of the obser'ations no&
%resented to the Reader more es%ecially calls for the e1ercise of his
%atience and thoughtful circums%ection(
.ith this 'ie& the Reader is reFuested to obser'e the dates &hich in some
instances the Editor has been able to affi1 to the notes &ith certainty( Bost
of those on ?eremy Taylor belong to the year $;$8 and &ere es%ecially
designed for the %erusal of Charles Lamb( Those on /ield &ere &ritten
about $;$LE on Racket in $;$;E on )onne in $;$7 and $;72E on The
PilgrimCs Progress in $;>>E and on !ooker and the Book of Common
Prayer bet&een $;78 and $;>8( ColeridgeCs mind &as a gro&ing and
accumulating mind to the last his &hole life one of inFuiry and %rogressi'e
insight and the dates of his o%inions are therefore in some cases im%ortant
and in all interesting(
The Editor is dee%ly sensible of his res%onsibility in %ublishing this
0olumeE as to &hich he can only say in addition to a reference to the
general authority gi'en by the 6uthor that to the best of his kno&ledge and
judgment he has not %ermitted any thing to a%%ear before the %ublic &hich
Br( Coleridge sa& reason to retractE and further e1%ress his ho%e and belief
that &ith such allo&ance for defects inherent in the nature of the &ork as
may rightfully be e1%ected from e'ery really liberal mind nothing
contained in the follo&ing %ages can fairly be a ground of offence to any
one(
+t only remains to be added that the materials used in the com%ilation of
this 0olume &ere for the greatest %art communicated by Br( GillmanE and
that the rest &ere furnished by Br( .ords&orth the Re'( )er&ent
Coleridge the Re'( Ed&ard Coleridge and the Editor(
LincolnCs +nn Barch 7< $;>;
:/ootnote $5 See CTable TalkC %( $3; 7nd edit(=
FORMULA FIDEI DE SANCTISSIMA TRINITATE.
$;>8(
THE IDENTITY.
The absolute subjecti'ity &hose only attribute is the GoodE &hose only
definition isDthat &hich is essentially causati'e of all %ossible true beingE
the groundE the absolute &illE the adorable :Greek5 %rMN%rMoton= &hich
&hate'er is assumed as the first must be %resumed as its antecedentE
:Greek5 theOs= &ithout an article and yet not as an adjecti'e( See ?ohn i(
$;( :Greek5 theOn oudePs heMNrake %MN%ote= as differenced from ib( $
:Greek5 kai theOs aen o lNgos=
But that &hich is essentially causati'e of all being must be causati'e of its
o&nDCcausa suiC :Greek5 auto%QtMor=( Thence
THE IPSEITY.
The eternally selfHaffirmant selfHaffirmedE the *+ 6m in that + 6m* or the *+
shall be that + &ill to beE* the /atherE the relati'ely subjecti'e &hose
attribute is the !oly OneE &hose definition is the essential finific in the
form of the infiniteE Cdat sibi finesC(
But the absolute &ill the absolute good in the eternal act of selfH
affirmation the Good as the !oly One coHeternally begets
THE ALTERITY.
The su%reme beingE :Greek5 ho ontCos Con=E the su%reme reasonE the
?eho'ahE the SonE the .ordE &hose attribute is the True Jthe truth the light
the CfiatCKE and &hose definition is the C%leromaC of being &hose essential
%oles are unity and distinctityE or the essential infinite in the form of the
finiteEDlastly the relati'ely objecti'e Cdeitas objecti'aC in relation to the +
6m as the Cdeitas subjecti'aCE the di'ine objecti'ity(
"(B( The distinctities in the C%leromaC are the eternal ideas the subsistential
truthsE each considered in itself an infinite in the form of the finiteE but all
considered as one &ith the unity the eternal Son they are the energies of
the finificE :Greek5 %Qnta diC autou egRnetoDkaP ek tou %laerCNmatos autou
haemeis %Qntes elQbomen(= ?ohn i( > and $<(
But &ith the relati'ely subjecti'e and the relati'ely objecti'e the great idea
needs only for its com%letion a coHeternal &hich is both that is relati'ely
objecti'e to the subjecti'e relati'ely subjecti'e to the objecti'e( !ence
THE COMMUNITY.
The eternal life &hich is lo'eE the S%iritE relati'ely to the /ather the S%irit
of !oliness the !oly S%iritE relati'ely to the Son the S%irit of truth &hose
attribute is .isdomE Csancta so%hiaCE the Good in the reality of the True in
the form of actual Life( !oly4 !oly4 !oly4 :Greek5 hilQsthaetS moi=(
A NIGHTLY PRAYER.
$;>$(
6lmighty God by thy eternal .ord my Creator Redeemer and Preser'er4
&ho hast in thy free communicati'e goodness glorified me &ith the
ca%ability of kno&ing thee the one only absolute Good the eternal + 6m
as the author of my being and of desiring and seeking thee as its ultimate
endED&ho &hen + fell from thee into the mystery of the false and e'il &ill
didst not abandon me %oor selfHlost creature but in thy condescending
mercy didst %ro'ide an access and a return to thyself e'en to thee the !oly
One in thine only begotten Son the &ay and the truth from e'erlasting
and &ho took on himself humanity yea became flesh e'en the man Christ
?esus that for man he might be the life and the resurrection4DO Gi'er of
all good gifts &ho art thyself the one only absolute Good from &hom +
ha'e recei'ed &hate'er good + ha'e &hate'er ca%ability of good there is in
me and from thee good aloneDfrom myself and my o&n corru%ted &ill
all e'il and the conseFuents of e'ilD&ith in&ard %rostration of &ill mind
and affections + adore thy infinite majestyE + as%ire to lo'e thy transcendant
goodness4D+n a dee% sense of my un&orthiness and my unfitness to
%resent myself before thee of eyes too %ure to behold iniFuity and &hose
light the beatitude of s%irits conformed to thy &ill is a consuming fire to
all 'anity and corru%tionEDbut in the name of the Lord ?esus of the dear
Son of thy lo'e in &hose %erfect obedience thou deignest to behold as
many as ha'e recei'ed the seed of Christ into the body of this deathED+
offer this my bounden nightly sacrifice of %raise and thanksgi'ing in
humble trust that the fragrance of my Sa'iourCs righteousness may remo'e
from it the taint of my mortal corru%tion( Thy mercies ha'e follo&ed me
through all the hours and moments of my lifeE and no& + lift u% my heart in
a&e and thankfulness for the %reser'ation of my life through the %ast day
for the alle'iation of my bodily sufferings and languors for the manifold
comforts &hich thou hast reser'ed for me yea in thy fatherly com%assion
hast rescued from the &reck of my o&n sins or sinful infirmitiesEDfor the
kind and affectionate friends thou hast raised u% for me es%ecially for
those of this household for the mother and mistress of this family &hose
lo'e to me hath been great and faithful and for the dear friend the
su%%orter and sharer of my studies and researchesE but abo'e all for the
hea'enly /riend the crucified Sa'iour the glorified Bediator Christ ?esus
and for the hea'enly Comforter source of all abiding comforts thy !oly
S%irit4 O grant me the aid of thy S%irit that + may &ith a dee%er faith a
more enkindled lo'e bless thee &ho through thy Son hast %ri'ileged me to
call thee 6bba /ather4 O thou &ho hast re'ealed thyself in thy holy &ord
as a God that hearest %rayerE before &hose infinitude all differences cease
of great and smallE &ho like a tender %arent forekno&est all our &ants yet
listenest &ellH%leased to the humble %etitions of thy childrenE &ho hast not
alone %ermitted but taught us to call on thee in all our needsDearnestly +
im%lore the continuance of thy free mercy of thy %rotecting %ro'idence
through the coming night( Thou hearest e'ery %rayer offered to thee
belie'ingly &ith a %enitent and sincere heart( /or thou in &ithholding
grantest healest in inflicting the &ound yea turnest all to good for as
many as truly seek thee through Christ the Bediator4 Thy &ill be done4
But if it be according to thy &ise and righteous ordinances O shield me
this night from the assaults of disease grant me refreshment of slee%
un'e1ed by e'il and distem%ered dreamsE and if the %ur%ose and as%iration
of my heart be u%right before thee &ho alone kno&est the heart of man O
in thy mercy 'ouchsafe me yet in this my decay of life an inter'al of ease
and strengthE if so Jthy grace dis%osing and assistingK + may make
com%ensation to thy church for the unused talents thou hast entrusted to
me for the neglected o%%ortunities &hich thy lo'ingHkindness had
%ro'ided( O let me be found a labourer in the 'ineyard though of the late
hour &hen the Lord and !eir of the 'intage Christ ?esus calleth for his
ser'ant(
COur /atherC Tc(
To thee great omni%resent S%irit &hose mercy is o'er all thy &orks &ho
no& beholdest me &ho hearest me &ho hast framed my heart to seek and
to trust in thee in the name of my Lord and Sa'iour Christ ?esus + humbly
commit and commend my body soul and s%irit(
Glory be to thee O God4
NOTES ON THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER.
PRAYER.
6 man may %ray night and day and yet decei'e himselfE but no man can be
assured of his sincerity &ho does not %ray( Prayer is faith %assing into actE
a union of the &ill and the intellect realiGing in an intellectual act( +t is the
&hole man that %rays( Less than this is &ishing or li%H&orkE a charm or a
mummery( CPray al&aysC says the 6%ostleEDthat is ha'e the habit of
%rayer turning your thoughts into acts by connecting them &ith the idea of
the redeeming God and e'en so recon'erting your actions into thoughts(
THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST.
The best %re%aration for taking this sacrament better than any or all of the
books or tracts com%osed for this end is to read o'er and o'er again and
often on your kneesDat all e'ents &ith a kneeling and %raying heartDthe
Gos%el according to St( ?ohn till your mind is familiariGed to the
contem%lation of Christ the Redeemer and Bediator of mankind yea and
of e'ery creature as the li'ing and selfHsubsisting .ord the 'ery truth of
all true being and the 'ery being of all enduring truthE the reality &hich is
the substance and unity of all realityE Cthe light &hich lighteth e'ery manC
so that &hat &e call reason is itself a light from that light Clumen a luceC as
the Latin more distinctly e1%resses this fact( But it is not merely light but
therein is lifeE and it is the life of Christ the coHeternal son of God that is
the only true lifeHgi'ing light of men( .e are assured and &e belie'e that
Christ is GodE God manifested in the flesh( 6s God he must be %resent
entire in e'ery creatureEDJfor ho& can God or indeed any s%irit e1ist in
%artsIKDbut he is said to d&ell in the regenerate to come to them &ho
recei'e him by faith in his name that is in his %o&er and influenceE for this
is the meaning of the &ord CnameC in Scri%ture &hen a%%lied to God or his
Christ( .here true belief e1ists Christ is not only %resent &ith or among
usEDfor so he is in e'ery man e'en the most &ickedEDbut to us and for
us(
CThat &as the true light &hich lighteth e'ery man that cometh into the
&orld( !e &as in the &orld and the &orld &as made by him and the &orld
kne& him not( But as many as recei'ed him to them ga'e he %o&er to
become the sons of God e'en to them that belie'e in his nameE &hich &ere
born not of blood nor of the &ill of the flesh nor of the &ill of man but of
God( 6nd the .ord &as made flesh and d&elt among us(C
?ohn i( 2H$L(
6gain
C.e &ill come unto him and make our abode &ith him(C
?ohn 1i'( 7>(
6s truly and as really as your soul resides constituti'ely in your li'ing
body so truly really %ersonally and substantially does Christ d&ell in
e'ery regenerate man(
6fter this course of study you may then take u% and %eruse sentence by
sentence the communion ser'ice the best of all comments on the Scri%tures
a%%ertaining to this mystery( 6nd this is the %re%aration &hich &ill %ro'e
&ith GodCs grace the surest %re'enti'e of or antidote against the freeGing
%oison the lethargiGing hemlock of the doctrine of the Sacramentaries
according to &hom the Eucharist is a mere %ractical meta%hor in &hich
things are em%loyed instead of articulated sounds for the e1clusi'e %ur%ose
of recalling to our minds the historical fact of our LordCs crucifi1ionE in
shortDJthe %rofaneness is &ith them not &ith meKDjust the same as &hen
Protestants drink a glass of &ine to the glorious memory of .illiam +++4
True it is that the remembrance is one end of the sacramentE but it is C)o
this in remembrance of meCDof all that Christ &as and is hath done and is
still doing for fallen mankind and of course of his crucifi1ion inclusi'ely
but not of his crucifi1ion alone(
$L )ecember $;73(
COMPANION TO THE ALTAR.
/irst then that &e may come to this hea'enly feast holy and adorned &ith
the &edding garment Batt( 11ii( $$ &e must search our hearts and
e1amine our consciences not only till &e see our sins but until &e hate
them(
But &hat if a man seeing his sin earnestly desire to hate itI Shall he not at
the altar offer u% at once his desire and the yet lingering sin and seek for
strengthI +s not this sacrament medicine as &ell as foodI +s it an end only
and not like&ise the meansI +s it merely the trium%hal feastE or is it not
e'en more truly a blessed refreshment for and during the conflictI
This confession of sins must not be in general terms only that &e are
sinners &ith the rest of mankind but it must be a s%ecial declaration to God
of all our most heinous sins in thought &ord and deed(
Luther &as of a different judgment( !e &ould ha'e us feel and groan under
our sinfulness and utter inca%ability of redeeming oursel'es from the
bondage rather than haGard the %ollution of our imaginations by a
reca%itulation and rene&ing of sins and their images in detail( )o not he
says stand %icking the fla&s out one by one but %lunge into the ri'er and
dro&n them4D+ 'enture to be of LutherCs doctrine(
COMMUNION SERVICE.
+n the first E1hortation before the &ords Cmeritorious Cross and PassionC +
should %ro%ose to insert Chis assum%tion of humanity his incarnation and(C
Like&ise a little lo&er do&n after the &ord CsustenanceC + &ould insert Cas(C
/or not in that sacrament e1clusi'ely but in all the acts of assimilati'e
faith of &hich the Eucharist is a solemn eminent and re%resentati'e
instance an instance and the symbol Christ is our s%iritual food and
sustenance(
MARRIAGE SERVICE.
Barriage sim%ly as marriage is not the means Cfor the %rocreation of
childrenC but for the humaniGation of the offs%ring %rocreated(
Therefore in the )eclaration at the beginning after the &ords C%rocreation
of childrenC + &ould insert Cand as the means for securing to the children
%rocreated enduring care and that they may beC Tc(
COMMUNION OF THE SICK.
Third rubric at the end(
But if a man either by reason of e1tremity of sickness Tc(
+ think this rubric in &hat + concei'e to be its true meaning a %recious
document as fully acFuitting our Church of all Romish su%erstition
res%ecting the nature of the Eucharist in relation to the &hole scheme of
manCs redem%tion( But the latter %art of itDChe doth eat and drink the Body
and Blood of our Sa'iour Christ %rofitably to his soulCs health although he
do not recei'e the Sacrament &ith his mouthCDseems to me 'ery
incautiously e1%ressed and scarcely to be reconciled &ith the ChurchCs
o&n definition of a sacrament in general( /or in such a case &here is Cthe
out&ard and 'isible sign of the in&ard and s%iritual grace gi'enIC :$=
:/ootnote $5
CShould it occur to any one that the doctrine blamed in the te1t is but in
accordance &ith that of the Church of England in her rubric concerning
s%iritual communion anne1ed to the Office for Communion of the Sick5 he
may consider &hether that rubric e1%lained Jas if %ossible it must beK in
consistency &ith the definition of a sacrament in the Catechism can be
meant for any but rare and e1traordinary cases5 cases as strong in regard of
the Eucharist as that of martyrdom or the %remature death of a &ellH
dis%osed catechumen in regard of Ba%tism(C
AebleCs Pref( to !ooker %( ;9 n( 38( Ed(=
XI SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
E%istle(D$ Cor( 1'( $(
Brethren + declare unto you the Gos%el &hich + %reached unto you(
.hy should the obsolete though faithful Sa1on translation of :Greek5
euaggRlion= be retainedI .hy not Cgood tidingsIC .hy thus change a most
a%%ro%riate and intelligible designation of the matter into a mere
con'entional name of a %articular bookI
+b(
U ho& that Christ died for our sins(
But the meaning of :Greek5 u%Vr ton hamartiMon haemMon= is that Christ
died through the sins and for the sinners( !e died through our sins and &e
li'e through his righteousness(
Gos%el Luke 1'iii( $L(
This man &ent do&n to his house justified rather than the other(
"ot sim%ly justified obser'eE but justified rather than the other
:Greek5 ae ekeinos=Dthat is less remote from sal'ation(
XXV. SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Collect(
U that they %lenteously bringing forth the fruit of good &orks may of thee
be %lenteously re&arded( U
RatherD*that &ith that enlarged ca%acity &hich &ithout thee &e cannot
acFuire there may like&ise be an increase of the gift &hich from thee
alone &e can &holly recei'e(*
PS. VIII.
'( 7(
COut of the mouth of 'ery babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength
because of thine enemiesE that thou mightest still the enemy and the
a'engerC(
To the dis%ensations of the t&ilight da&n to the first messengers of the
redeeming &ord the yet lis%ing utterers of light and life a strength and a
%o&er &ere gi'en Cbecause of the enemiesC greater and of more immediate
influence than to the seers and %roclaimers of a clearer day5De'en as the
first reHa%%earing crescent of the ecli%sed moon shines for men &ith a
keener brilliance than the follo&ing larger segments %re'iously to its total
emersion(
+b( '( 9(
CThou madest him lo&er than the angels to cro&n him &ith glory and
&orshi%C(
Po&er W idea X angel(
+dea H %o&er X man or Prometheus(
PS. LXVIII.
'( >L(
C6scribe ye the %o&er to God o'er +srael5 his &orshi% and strength is in the
cloudsC(
The CcloudsC in the symbolical language of the Scri%tures mean the e'ents
and course of things seemingly effects of human &ill or chance but
o'erruled by Pro'idence(
PS. LXXII.
This Psalm admits no other inter%retation but of Christ as the ?eho'ah
incarnate( +n any other sense it &ould be a s%ecimen of more than Persian
or Boghul hy%erbole and bombast of &hich there is no other instance in
Scri%ture and &hich no Christian &ould dare to attribute to an ins%ired
&riter( .e kno& too that the elder ?e&ish Church ranked it among the
Bessianic Psalms( "(B( The .ord in St( ?ohn and the "ame of the Bost
!igh in the Psalms are eFui'alent terms(
'( $(
CGi'e the king thy judgments O GodE and thy righteousness unto the
kingCs sonC(
God of God Light of Light 'ery God of 'ery God the only begotten the
Son of God and God Aing of Aings and the Son of the Aing of Aings4
PS. LXXIV.
'( 7(
CO think u%on thy congregation &hom thou hast %urchased and redeemed
of oldC(
The Lamb sacrificed from the beginning of the &orld the GodHBan the
?udge the selfH%romised Redeemer to 6dam in the garden4
'( $9(
CThou smotest the heads of Le'iathan in %iecesE and ga'est him to be
meat for the %eo%le in the &ildernessC(
)oes this allude to any real traditionI :$= The Psalm a%%ears to ha'e been
com%osed shortly before the ca%ti'ity of ?udah(
:/ootnote $5 6ccording to Bisho% !orne the allusion is to the destruction
of Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea(DEd(=
PS( LYYY++( ''( <H3(
The reference &hich our Lord made to these mysterious 'erses gi'es them
an es%ecial interest( The first a%ostasy the fall of the angels is %erha%s
intimated(
PS. LXXXVII.
+ &ould fain understand this PsalmE but first + must collate it &ord by &ord
&ith the original !ebre&( +t seems clearly Bessianic(
PS. LXXXVIII.
''( $8D$7(
C)ost than she& &onders among the dead or shall the dead rise u% again
and %raise theeIC Tc(
Com%are EGekiel 111'ii(
PS. CIV.
+ think the Bible 'ersion might &ith ad'antage be substituted for this
&hich in some %arts is scarcely intelligible(
'( <(
Cthe &aters stand in the hills(C
"oE Cstood abo'e the mountainsC( The reference is to the )eluge(
PS. CV.
'( >(
CLet the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord(C
+f e'en to seek the Lord be joy &hat &ill it be to find himI Seek me O
Lord that + may be found by thee4
PS. CX.
'( 7(
CThe Lord shall send the rod of thy %o&er out of SionCE JsayingK
CRuleC Tc(
'( >( @nderstand5
CThy %eo%le shall offer themsel'es &illingly in the day of conflict in holy
clothing in their best array in their best arms and accoutrements( 6s the
de& from the &omb of the morning in number and brightness like de&H
dro%sE so shall be thy youth or the youth of thee the young 'olunteer
&arriors(C
'( 9(
C!e shall shakeC
concuss Cconcutiet reges die irZ suZC
'( <( /or
Csmite in sunder or &ound the headsEC
some &ord ans&ering to the Latin CconFuassareC(
'( 3( /or CthereforeC translate Cthen shall he lift u% his head againEC that is as
a man languid and sinking from thirst and fatigue after refreshment(
"(B( + see no %oetic discre%ancy bet&een ''( $ and 9(
PS. CXVIII.
To be inter%reted of ChristCs church(
PS. CXXVI.
'( 9(
C6s the ri'ers in the south(C
)oes this allude to the %eriodical rainsI :$=
6s a trans%arency on some night of %ublic rejoicing seen by common day
&ith the lam%s from &ithin remo'edDe'en such &ould the Psalms be to
me uninter%reted by the Gos%el( O honored Br( !ur&itG4 Could + but make
you feel &hat grandeur &hat magnificence &hat an e'erlasting
significance and im%ort Christianity gi'es to e'ery fact of your national
historyDto e'ery %age of your sacred records4
:/ootnote $5 See !orne in loc( note(DEd(=
ARTICLES OF RELIGION.
XX.
+t is mournful to think ho& many recent &riters ha'e criminated our
Church in conseFuence of their o&n ignorance and inad'ertence in not
kno&ing or not noticing the contraHdistinction here meant bet&een %o&er
and authority( Rites and ceremonies the Church may ordain Cjure %ro%rioC5
on matters of faith her judgment is to be recei'ed &ith re'erence and not
gainsaid but after re%eated inFuiries and on &eighty grounds(
XXXVII.
+t is la&ful for Christian men at the commandment of the magistrate
to &ear &ea%ons and to ser'e in the &ars(
This is a 'ery good instance of an unseemly matter neatly &ra%%ed u%(
The good men recoiled from the %lain &ords5
C+t is la&ful for Christian men at the command of a king to slaughter
as many Christians as they can4C
.ell4 + could most sincerely subscribe to all these articles(
Se%tember $;>$(
NOTES ON HOOKER. [1]
'LIFE OF HOOKER' BY WALTON.
%( <3(
Br( Tra'ers e1ce%ted against Br( !ooker for that in one of his sermons he
declared CThat the assurance of &hat &e belie'e by the &ord of God is not
to us so certain as that &hich &e %ercei'e by sense(C 6nd Br( !ooker
confesseth he said so and endea'ours to justify it by the reasons follo&ing(
There is + confess a shade of doubt on my mind as to this %osition of
!ookerCs( ,et + do not deny that it e1%resses a truth( The Fuestion in my
mind is only &hether it adeFuately e1%resses the &hole truth( The ground
of my doubt lies in my inability to com%are t&o things that differ in kind( +t
is im%ossible that any con'iction of the reason e'en &here no act of the
&ill ad'enes as a coHefficient should %ossess the 'i'idness of an immediate
object of the sensesE for the 'i'idness is gi'en by sensation( EFually
im%ossible is it that any truth of the su%erHsensuous reason should %ossess
the e'idence of the %ure sense( E'en the mathematician does not find the
same e'idence in the results of transcendental algebra as in the
demonstrations of sim%le geometry( But has he less assuranceI +n ans&er to
!ookerCs argument + sayDthat God refers to our sensible e1%erience to aid
our &ill by the 'i'idness of sensible im%ressions and also to aid our
understanding of the truths re'ealedDnot to increase the con'iction of
their certainty &here they ha'e been understood(
WALTON'S APPENDIX.
+b( %( $$<(
+t is a strange blind story this of the last three books and of !ookerCs li'e
relict the Beast &ithout Beauty( But Sara'iaID+f honest +saacCs account of
the tender confidential e'en confessional friendshi% of !ooker and
Sara'ia be accurate ho& chanced it that !ooker did not entrust the
manuscri%ts to his friend &ho stood beside him in his last momentsI 6t all
e'ents Sara'ia must ha'e kno&n &hether they had or had not recei'ed the
authorCs last hand( .hy &ere not Br( Charke and the other Canterbury
%arson called to account or Fuestioned at least as to the truth of Brs( ?oanCs
storyI 0erily + cannot hel% sus%ecting that the doubt cast on the
authenticity of the latter books by the high church %arty originated in their
dislike of %ortions of the contents(D+n short it is a blind story a true
Canterbury tale dear +saac4 :7=
OF THE LAWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY.
Pref( c( iii( 3( %( $;7(
The ne1t thing hereunto is to im%ute all faults and corru%tions &here&ith
the &orld aboundeth unto the kind of ecclesiastical go'ernment
established(
!o& readily &ould this and indeed all the dis%utes res%ecting the %o&ers
and constitution of Church go'ernment ha'e been settled or %erha%s
%re'ented had there been an insight into the distinct nature and origin of
the "ational Church and the Church under Christ4 :>= To the ignorance of
this all the fierce contentions bet&een the Puritans and the E%isco%alians
under EliGabeth and the Stuarts all the errors and e1orbitant %retensions of
the Church of Scotland and the heats and anti%athies of our %resent
)issenters may be demonstrably traced(
+b( 2( %( $;>(
Pythagoras by bringing u% his scholars in the s%eculati'e kno&ledge of
numbers made their conceits therein so strong that &hen they came to the
contem%lation of things natural they imagined that in e'ery %articular thing
they e'en beheld as it &ere &ith their eyes ho& the elements of number
ga'e essence and being to the &orks of nature5 a thing in reason
im%ossibleE &hich not&ithstanding through their misHfashioned %reH
conceit a%%eared unto them no less certain than if nature had &ritten it in
the 'ery foreheads of all the creatures of God(
+ am not so con'ersant &ith the 'olumes of )uns Scotus as to be able to
%ronounce %ositi'ely &hether he is an e1ce%tion but + can think of no other
instance of high meta%hysical genius in an Englishman( ?udgment solid
sense in'ention in s%ecialties fortunate antici%ations and instructi'e
foretact of truthDin these &e can she& giants( +t is e'ident from this
e1am%le from the Pythagorean school that not e'en our incom%arable
!ooker could raise himself to the idea so rich in truth &hich is contained
in the &ords
Cnumero %ondere et mensura generantur coeli et terraC(
O that !ooker had e'er asked himself concerning &ill absolute &ill
:Greek5 ho arithmOs hy%erarSthmiOs= Cnumerus omues numeros %onens
nunFuam %ositus4C :L=
+b( %( $;>(
.hen they of the C/amily of Lo'eC ha'e it once in their heads that
Christ doth not signify any one %erson but a Fuality &hereof many are
%artakers Tc(
+f the /amilists thought of Christ as a Fuality it &as a grie'ous error
indeed( But + ha'e my doubts &hether this &as not rather an inference
dra&n by their %ersecutors(
+b( $9( %( $2$(
.hen instruction doth them no good let them feel but the least degree of
most mercifullyHtem%ered se'erity they fasten on the head of the LordCs
'icegerents here on earth &hatsoe'er they any &here find uttered against
the cruelty of bloodHthirsty men and to themsel'es they dra& all the
sentences &hich Scri%ture hath in fa'or of innocency %ersecuted for the
truth(
!o& great the influence of the age on the strongest minds &hen so
eminently &ise a man as Richard !ooker could o'erlook the ob'ious
im%olicy of inflicting %unishments &hich the sufferer himself &ill regard as
merits and all &ho ha'e any need to be deterred &ill e1tol as martyrdom4
E'en &here the necessity could be %lausibly %retended it is &ar not
%uniti'e la&EDand then 6ugustineCs argument for Sarah4
+b( c( i'( $( %( $2L(
.e reFuire you to find out but one church u%on the face of the &hole earth
that hath been ordered by your disci%line or hath not been ordered by ours
that is to say by e%isco%al regiment sithence the time that the blessed
a%ostles &ere here con'ersant(
!ooker &as so good a man that it &ould be &icked to sus%ect him of
kno&ingly %laying the so%hist( 6nd yet strange it is that he should not ha'e
been a&are that it &as %relacy not %rimiti'e e%isco%acy the thing not the
name that the reformers contended against and if the Catholic Church and
the national Clerisy &ere Jas both %arties unha%%ily took for grantedK one
and the same contended against &ith good reason( Ano1Cs ecclesiastical
%olity J&orthy of LycurgusK ado%ted bisho%s under a different name or
rather under a translation instead of corru%tion of the name :Greek5
e%Qska%oi=( !e &ould ha'e had su%erintendents(
+b( c( '( 7( %( 78L(
6 la& is the deed of the &hole body %olitic &hereof if ye judge yoursel'es
to be any %art then is the la& e'en your deed also(
This is a fiction of la& for the %ur%ose of gi'ing to that &hich is
necessarily em%irical the form and conseFuence of a science to the reality
of &hich a code of la&s can only a%%ro1imate by com%ressing all liberty
and indi'iduality into a des%otism( 6s ?ustinian to 6lfred and
Constantino%le the Consuls and Senate of Rome to the Lord Bayor
6ldermen and Common Council of LondonE so is the im%erial Roman
code to the common and statute la& of England( The ad'ocates of the
disci%line &ould according to our %resent notions of ci'il rights ha'e been
justified in %utting fact against fiction and might ha'e challenged !ooker
to she& first that the constitution of the Church in Christ &as a congruous
subject of %arliamentary legislationE that the legislators &ere Cbona fideC
determined by s%iritual 'ie&s and that the jealousy and arbitrary %rinci%les
of the [ueen aided by moti'es of &orldly state %olicyDfor e1am%le the
desire of conciliating the Roman Catholic %otentates by retaining all she
could of the e1terior of the Romish Church its hierarchy its ornaments
and its ceremoniesD&ere not the substitutes for the !oly S%irit in
influencing the majorities in the t&o !ouses of Parliament( +t is my o&n
belief that the Puritans and the Prelatists di'ided the truth bet&een themE
and as halfHtruths are &hole errors &ere both eFually in the &rongEDthe
Prelatists in contending for that as incident to the Church in Christ that is
the collecti'e number :Greek5 tMon ekkaloumRnMon= or CecclesiaC &hich
only belonged but &hich rightfully did belong to the "ational Church as a
com%onent estate of the realm the CenclesiaCEDthe Puritans in reFuiring of
the CenclesiaC &hat &as only reFuisite or %ossible for the CecclesiaC(:9=
6rchbisho% Grindal is an illustrious e1ce%tion( !e sa& the &hole truth and
that the functions of the enclesiastic and those of the ecclesiastic &ere not
the less distinct because both &ere ca%able of being e1ercised by the same
%ersonE and vice versa not the less com%atible in the same subject because
distinct in themsel'es( The Lord Chief ?ustice of the AingCs Bench is a
/ello& of the Royal Society(
+b( c( 'i( >( %( 782(
God &as not ignorant that the %riests and judges &hose sentence in
matters of contro'ersy he ordained should stand both might and oftentimes
&ould be decei'ed in their judgment( !o&e'er better it &as in the eye of
!is understanding that sometime an erroneous sentence definiti'e should
%re'ail till the same authority %ercei'ing such o'ersight might after&ards
correct or re'erse it than that strifes should ha'e res%ite to gro& and not
come s%eedily to some end(
+t is difficult to say &hich most shines through this &hole %assage the
s%irit of &isdom or the s%irit of meekness( The fatal error of the Romish
Church did not consist in the ina%%ellability of the Councils or that an
acFuiescence in their decisions and decree &as a duty binding on the
conscience of the dissentientsDnot + say in contending for a %ractical
infallibility of Council or Po%eE but in laying claim to an actual and
absolute immunity from error and conseFuently for the unre%ealability of
their decisions by any succeeding Council or Po%e( !ence e'en &ise
decisionsD&ise under the %articular circumstances and timesD
degenerated into mischie'ous follies by ha'ing the %ri'ilege of
immortality &ithout any e1em%tion from the dotage of su%erannuation(
!ence errors became like glaciers or iceHbergs in the froGen ocean
untha&ed by summer and gro&ing from the fresh de%osits of each
returning &inter(
+b( <( %( 7$7(
6n argument necessary and demonstrati'e is such as being %ro%osed unto
any man and understood the mind cannot choose but in&ardly assent( 6ny
one such reason dischargeth + grant the conscience and setteth it at full
liberty(
+ &ould not concede e'en so much as this( +t may &ell chance that e'en an
argument demonstrati'e if understood may be adducible against some one
sentence of a &hole liturgyE and yet the means of remo'ing it &ithout a
%al%able o'erbalance of e'il may not e1ist for a timeE and either there is no
command against schism or &e are bound in such small matters to offer
the sacrifice of &illing silence to the %ublic %eace of the Church( This
&ould not ho&e'er %re'ent a minister from %ointing out the defect in his
character as a doctor or learned theologian(
+b( c( 'iii( $( %( 7H78(
/or ad'enturing to erect the disci%line of Christ &ithout the lea'e of the
Christian magistrate ha%ly ye may condemn us as fools in that &e haGard
thereby our estates and %ersons further than you &hich are that &ay more
&ise think necessary5 but of any offence or sin therein committed against
God &ith &hat conscience can you accuse us &hen your o&n %ositions
are that the things &e obser'e should e'ery of them be dearer unto us than
ten thousand li'esE that they are the %erem%tory commandments of GodE
that no mortal man can dis%ense &ith them and that the magistrate
grie'ously sinneth in not constraining thereuntoI
C!oc argumentum ad in'idiam nimis syco%hanticum est Fuam ut mihi
%laceat a tanto 'iroC( Besides it contradicts !ookerCs o&n 'ery judicious
rule that to discuss and re%resent is the office of the learned as indi'iduals
because the truth may be entire in any one mindE but to do belongs to the
su%reme %o&er as the &ill of the &hole body %olitic and in effecti'e action
indi'iduals are mere fractions &ithout any legitimate referee to add them
together( !ookerCs objection from the nobility and gentry of the realm is
unans&erable and &ithin half a century after&ards %ro'ed insurmountable(
+magine a sun containing &ithin its %ro%er atmos%here a multitude of
trans%arent satellites lost in the glory or all joining to form the 'isible
C%hasisC or diskE and then beyond the %recincts of this sun a number of
o%ake bodies at 'arious distances and ha'ing a common center of their
o&n round &hich they re'ol'e and each more or less according to the
lesser or greater distance %artaking of the light and natural &armth of the
sun &hich + ha'e been su%%osingE but not sharing in its %eculiar influences
or in the solar life sustainable only by the 'ital air of the solar atmos%here(
The o%ake bodies constitute the national churches the sun the churches
s%iritual(
The defect of the simile arising necessarily out of the incom%ossibility of
s%iritual %rerogati'es &ith material bodies under the %ro%rieties and
necessities of s%ace is that it does not as no concrete or 'isual image can
re%resent the %ossible du%licity of the indi'iduals the aggregate of &hom
constitutes the national church so that any one indi'idual or any number
of such indi'iduals may at the same time be by an act of their o&n
members of the church s%iritual and in e'ery congregation may form an
CecclesiaC or Christian communityE and ho& to facilitate and fa'or this
&ithout any schism from the CenclesiaC and &ithout any disturbance of the
body %olitic &as the %roblem &hich Grindal and the bisho%s of the first
generation of the Reformed Church sought to sol'e and it is the %roblem
&hich e'ery earnest Christian endued &ith com%etent gifts and &ho is at
the same time a %atriot and a %hilanthro%ist ought to %ro%ose to himself as
the Cingens desiderium %roborumC(
;th Se%t $;7<(
+b( c( 'iii( 3( %( 7>7(
Ba%tiGing of infants although confessed by themsel'es to ha'e been
continued e'er sithence the 'ery a%ostlesC o&n times yet they altogether
condemned(
C[uZreC( + cannot say &hat the fanatic 6naba%tists of &hom !ooker is
s%eaking may ha'e admittedE but the more sober and learned
6nti%aedoba%tists &ho differed in this %oint only from the reformed
churches ha'e all + belie'e denied the %ractice of infant ba%tism during
the first century(
B(?( c( ii( $( %( 7L2(
That &hich doth assign unto each thing the kind that &hich doth moderate
the force and %o&er that &hich doth a%%oint the form and measure of
&orking the same &e term a la&(
See the essays on method in the C/riendC( :<= !ookerCs &ords literally and
grammatically inter%reted seem to assert the antecedence of the thing to its
kind that is to its essential charactersEDand to its force together &ith its
form and measure of &orking that is to its s%ecific and distincti'e
charactersE in short the &ords assert the %reHe1istence of the thing to all its
constituent %o&ers Fualities and %ro%erties(
"o& this is eitherDfirst eFui'alent to the assertion of a C%rima et nuda
materiaC so ha%%ily ridiculed by the author of C!udibrasC :3= and &hich
under any scheme of cosmogony is a mere %hantom ha'ing its &hole and
sole substance in an im%otent effort of the imagination or sensuous fancy
but &hich is utterly %recluded by the doctrine of creation &hich it in like
manner negati'es5Dor secondly the &ords assert a selfHdestroying
absurdity namely the antecedence of a thing to itselfE as if ha'ing asserted
that &ater consisted of hydrogen X 33 and o1ygen X 7> + should talk of
&ater as e1isting before the creation of hydrogen and o1ygen(
6ll la&s indeed are constituti'eE and it &ould reFuire a longer train of
argument than a note can contain to she& &hat a thing isE but this at least
is Fuite certain that in the order of thought it must be %osterior to the la&
that constitutes it( But such in fact &as !ookerCs meaning and the &ord
thing is used C%role%ticeC in fa'our of the imagination as a%%ears from the
sentences that follo& in &hich the creati'e idea is declared to be the la& of
the things thereby created( 6 %roducti'e idea manifesting itself and its
reality in the %roduct is a la&E and &hen the %roduct is %hZnomenal Jthat
is an object of the out&ard sensesK it is a la& of nature( The la& is Cres
noumenonCE the thing is Cres %henomenonC :;= 6 %hysical la& in the right
sense of the term is the sufficient cause of the a%%earanceDCcausa subH
faciensC(
P(S( .hat a dee%ly interesting 'olume might be &ritten on the symbolic
im%ort of the %rimary relations and dimensions of s%aceDlong broad
dee% or de%thE surfaceE u%%er under abo'e and belo& right left
horiGontal %er%endicular obliFue5Dand then the order of causation or that
&hich gi'es intelligibility and the re'erse order of effects or that &hich
gi'es the conditions of actual e1istence4 .ithout the higher the lo&er
&ould &ant its intelligibility5 &ithout the lo&er the higher could not ha'e
e1isted( The infant is a riddle of &hich the man is the solutionE but the man
could not e1ist but &ith the infant as his antecedent(
+b( 7( %( 798(
+n &hich essential @nity of God a Trinity %ersonal ne'ertheless subsisteth
after a manner far e1ceeding the %ossibility of manCs conceit(
+f CconceitC here means conce%tion the remark is most trueE for the Trinity is
an idea and no idea can be rendered by a conce%tion( 6n idea is essentially
inconcei'able( But if it be meant that the Trinity is other&ise inconcei'able
than as the di'ine eternity and e'ery attribute of God is and must be then
neither the commonness of the language here used nor the high authority
of the user can deter me from denouncing it as untrue and dangerous( So
far is it from being true that on the contrary the Trinity is the only form in
&hich an idea of God is %ossible unless indeed it be a S%inosistic or
.orldHGod(
+b( c( i'( $( %( 7<L(
But no& that &e may lift u% our eyes Jas it &ereK from the footstool to the
throne of God and lea'ing these natural consider a little the state of
hea'enly and di'ine creatures5 touching angels &hich are s%irits
immaterial and intellectual Tc(
6ll this disFuisition on the angels confirms my remark that our admirable
!ooker &as a giant of the race 6ristotle C'ersusC Plato( !ooker &as truly
judiciousDthe consummate CsynthesisC of understanding and sense( 6n
am%le and most ordonnant conce%tionist to the tranFuil em%yrean of ideas
he had not ascended( Of the %assages cited from Scri%ture ho& fe& &ould
bear a strict scrutinyE being either
$( di'ine a%%earances ?eho'ah in human formE or 7( the imagery of 'isions
and all symbolicE or >( names of honor gi'en to %ro%hets a%ostles or
bisho%sE or lastly mere accommodations to %o%ular notions4
+b( >( %( 7<3(
Since their fall their %ractices ha'e been the clean contrary unto those
before mentioned( /or being dis%ersed some in the air some on the earth
some in the &ater some among the minerals dens and ca'es that are
under the earthE they ha'e by all means laboured to effect a uni'ersal
rebellion against the la&s and as far as in them lieth utter destruction of
the &orks of God(
ChildishE but the childishness of the age &ithout &hich neither !ooker nor
Luther could ha'e acted on their contem%oraries &ith the intense and
beneficent energy &ith &hich they JGod be %raised4K did act(
+b( %( 7<;(
Thus much therefore may suffice for angels the ne1t unto &hom in
degree are men(
St( 6ugustine &ell remarks that only three distinct CgeneraC of li'ing beings
are concei'able5
$( the infinite rational5 7( the finite rational5 >( the finite irrational5
that is God man brute animal( CErgoC angels can only be &ith &ings on
their shoulders( .ere our bodies trans%arent to our souls &e should be
angels(
+b( c( 1( L( %( >8>(
+t is no im%robable o%inion therefore &hich the archH%hiloso%her &as of(
There are and can be only t&o schools of %hiloso%hy differing in kind and
in source( )ifferences in degree and in accident there may be manyE but
these constitute schools ke%t by different teachers &ith different degrees of
genius talent and learningEDauditories of %hiloso%hiGers not different
%hiloso%hies( Schools of %silology Jthe lo'e of em%ty noiseK and misoso%hy
are here out of the Fuestion( Schools of real %hiloso%hy there are but t&oD
best named by the archH%hiloso%her of each namely Plato and 6ristotle(
E'ery man ca%able of %hiloso%hy at all Jand there are not many suchK is a
born Platonist or a born 6ristotelian( :2= !ooker as may be discerned from
the e%ithet of archH%hiloso%her a%%lied to the Stagyrite Csensu monarchicoC
&as of the latter familyDa com%rehensi'e 'igorous discreet and
discreti'e conce%tualistDbut not an ideist(
+b( ;( %( >8;(
Of this %oint therefore &e are to note that sith men naturally ha'e no free
and %erfect %o&er to command &hole %olitic multitudes of men therefore
utterly &ithout our consent &e could in such sort be at no manCs
commandment li'ing( 6nd to be commanded &e do consent &hen that
society &hereof &e are %art hath at any time before consented &ithout
re'oking the same after by the like uni'ersal agreement( .herefore as any
manCs deed %ast is good as long as himself continuethE so the act of a %ublic
society of men done fi'e hundred years sithence standeth as theirs &ho
%resently are of the same societies because cor%orations are immortalE &e
&ere then ali'e in our %redecessors and they in their successors do li'e
still( La&s therefore human of &hat kind soe'er are a'ailable by consent(
"o nobler or clearer e1am%le than this could be gi'en of &hat an idea is as
contraHdistinguished from a conce%tion of the understanding corres%ondent
to some fact or facts CFuorum notZ communes conca%iunturCDthe
common characters of &hich are taken together under one distinct
e1%onent hence named a conce%tionE and conce%tions are internal
subjecti'e &ords( Reflect on an original social contract as an e'ent or
historical factE and its gross im%robability not to say im%ossibility &ill
stare you in the face( But an e'er originating social contract as an idea
&hich e1ists and &orks continually and efficaciously in the moral being of
e'ery free citiGen though in the greater number unconsciously or &ith a
dim and confused consciousnessD&hat a %o&er it is4 :$8= 6s the 'ital
%o&er com%ared &ith the mechanicE as a father com%ared &ith a moulder
in &a1 or clay such is the %o&er of ideas com%ared &ith the influence of
conce%tions and notions(
+b($9( %(>$<(
U + nothing doubt but that Christian men should much better frame
themsel'es to those hea'enly %rece%ts &hich our Lord and Sa'iour &ith so
great instancy ga'e us concerning %eace and unity if &e did all concur in
desire to ha'e the use of ancient Councils again rene&ed rather than these
%roceedings continued &hich either make all contentions endless or bring
them to one only determination and that of all other the &orst &hich is by
s&ord(
This is indeed a subject that deser'es a serious consideration5 and it may be
said in fa'our of !ookerCs %ro%osal namely that the use of ancient
Councils be rene&ed that a dee% and uni'ersal sense of the abuse of
Councils %rogressi'ely from the "icene to that of Trent and our kno&ledge
of the causes occasions and mode of such abuse are so far %resum%ti'e
for its nonHrecurrency as to render it less %robable that honest men &ill
%er'ert them from ignorance and more difficult for un%rinci%led men to do
so designedly( Something too must be allo&ed for an honourable ambition
on the %art of the %ersons so assembled to disa%%oint the general
e1%ectation and &in for themsel'es the uniFue title of the honest Council(
But still comes the argument the blo& of &hich + might more easily blunt
than %arry that if Roman Catholic and Protestant or e'en Protestant
E%isco%alian and Protestant Presbyterian di'ines &ere generally &ise and
charitable enough to form a Christian General Council there &ould be no
need of one(
"(B( The reasoning in this note as far as it is in discouragement of a
recurrence to general Councils does not Cme saltem judiceC conclude
against the suffering our Con'ocation to meet( The 'irtual abrogation of
this branch of our constitution + ha'e long regarded as one of three or four
.hig %atriotisms that ha'e succeeded in deHangliciGing the mind of
England(
+b( c( 1i( L( %( >7>(
So that nature e'en in this life doth %lainly claim and call for a more di'ine
%erfection than either of these t&o that ha'e been mentioned(
.hene'er + meet &ith an ambiguous or multi'ocal &ord &ithout its
meaning being sho&n and fi1ed + stand on my guard against a so%hism( +
dislike this term CnatureC in this %lace( +f it mean the Clight that lighteth
e'ery man that cometh into the &orldC it is an ina%t termE for reason is
su%ernatural( "o& that reason in man must ha'e been first actuated by a
direct re'elation from God + ha'e myself %ro'ed and do not therefore
deny that faith as the means of sal'ation &as first made kno&n by
re'elationE but that reason is inca%able of seeing into the fitness and
su%eriority of these means or that it is a mystery in any other sense than as
all s%iritual truths are mysterious + do deny and deem it both a false and a
dangerous doctrine(
$9 Se%t( $;7<(
+b( <( %(>73(
Concerning that faith ho%e and charity &ithout &hich there can be no
sal'ationE &as there e'er any mention made sa'ing only in that la& &hich
God himself hath from hea'en re'ealedI There is not in the &orld a
syllable muttered &ith certain truth concerning any of these three more
than hath been su%ernaturally recei'ed from the mouth of the eternal God(
That reason could ha'e disco'ered these di'ine truths is one thingE that
&hen disco'ered by re'elation it is ca%able of a%%rehending the beauty
and e1cellence of the things re'ealed is another( + may belie'e the latter
&hile + utterly reject the former( That all these cognitions together &ith the
fealty or faithfulness in the &ill &hereby the mind of the flesh is brought
under ca%ti'ity to the mind of the s%irit Jthe sensous understanding to the
reasonK are su%ernatural + not only freely grant but fer'ently contend( But
&hy the 'ery %erfection of reason namely those ideas or truthH%o&ers in
&hich both the s%iritual light and the s%iritual life are coHinherent and one
should be called su%erHrational + do not see( /or reason is %ractical as &ell
as theoreticalE or e'en though + should e1clude the %ractical reason and
confine the term reason to the highest intellecti'e %o&erDstill + should
think it more correct to describe the mysteries of faith as C%lusFuam
rationaliaC than su%erHrational( But the assertions that %ro'oke the remark
arose for the greater %art and still arise out of the confounding of the
reason &ith the understanding( +n !ooker and the great di'ines of his age
it &as merely an occasional carelessness in the use of the terms that reason
is e'er %ut &here they meant the understandingE for from other %arts of
their &ritings it is e'ident that they kne& and asserted the distinction nay
the di'ersity of the things themsel'esE to &it that there &as in man another
and higher light than that of the faculty judging according to sense that is
our understandings( But alas4 since the Re'olution it has ceased to be a
mere error of language and in too many it no& amounts to a denial of
reason4
B( ii( c( '(>( %(>32(
To urge any thing as %art of that su%ernatural and celestially re'ealed truth
&hich God hath taught and not to she& it in Scri%tureE this did the ancient
/athers e'ermore think unla&ful im%ious e1ecrable(
E'en this must be recei'ed Ccum grano salis(C To be sure &ith the licences
of inter%retation &hich the /athers of the first three or four centuries
allo&ed themsel'es and &ith the CarcanaC of e'olution by &ord letter
allegory yea %unning &hich they a%%lied to detached sentences or single
%hrases of !oly .rit it &ould not be easy to imagine a %osition &hich they
could not Cshe& in Scri%ture(C Let this be elucidated by the te1ts e'en no&
cited by the Romish %riests for the truth of %urgatory indulgence imageH
&orshi% in'ocation of dead men and the like( The assertion therefore must
be thus Fualified( The ancient /athers anathematiGed any doctrine not
consentaneous &ith Scri%ture and deducible from it either C%ari rationeC or
by conseFuenceE as &hen Scri%ture clearly commands an end but lea'es
the means to be determined according to the circumstances as for e1am%le
the freFuent assembly of Christians( The a%%ointment of a Sunday or LordCs
day is e'idently the fittest and most effectual mean to this endE but yet it
&as not %racticable that is the mean did not e1ist till the Roman
go'ernment became Christian( But as soon as this e'ent took %lace the
duty of kee%ing the Sunday holy is truly though im%licitly contained in the
6%ostolic te1t(
+b( 'i( >( %( >27(
6gain &ith a negati'e argument )a'id is %ressed concerning the %ur%ose
he had to build a tem%le unto the Lord5 CThus saith the Lord Thou shalt not
build me a house to d&elt in( .heresoe'er + ha'e &alked &ith all +srael
s%ake + one &ord to any of the judges of +srael &hom + commanded to feed
my %eo%le saying .hy ha'e ye not built me a houseIC
The &isdom of the di'ine goodness both in the negati'e the not ha'ing
authoriGed any of the %receding ?udges from Boses do&n&ards to build a
tem%leDand in the %ositi'e in ha'ing commanded )a'id to %re%are for it
and Solomon to build itD+ ha'e not seen %ut in the full light in &hich it so
&ell deser'es to be( The former or negati'e or the e'ils of a s%lendid
tem%leH&orshi% and its effects on the character of the %riesthoodDe'ils
&hen not changed to good by becoming the antidote and %re'enti'e of far
greater e'ilsD&ould reFuire much thought both to set forth and to
com%rehend( But to gi'e any reflecting reader a sense of the %ro'idential
foresight e'inced in the latter and this foresight beyond the reach of any
but the Omniscient it &ill be only necessary to remind him of the
se%aration of the ten tribes and the breaking u% of the realm into the t&o
kingdoms of ?udah and +srael in the 'ery ne1t reign( .ithout the continuity
of succession %ro'ided for by this 'ast and s%lendid tem%le built and
arranged under the di'ine sanction attested by miraclesD&hat criterion
&ould there ha'e e1isted for the %urity of this la& and &orshi%I &hat
security for the %reser'ation and incorru%tion of the ins%ired &ritingsI
+b( 'ii( >( %( L8>(
That there is a city of Rome that Pius [uintus and Gregory the Thirteenth
and others ha'e been Po%es of Rome + su%%ose &e are certainly enough
%ersuaded( The ground of our %ersuasion &ho ne'er sa& the %lace nor
%ersons before named can be nothing but manCs testimony( .ill any man
here not&ithstanding allege those mentioned human infirmities as reasons
&hy these things should be mistrusted or doubted ofI ,ea that &hich is
more utterly to infringe the force and strength of manCs testimony &ere to
shake the 'ery fortress of GodCs truth(
+n a note on a %assage in SkeltonCs C)eism Re'ealedC :$$= + ha'e detected
the subtle so%hism that lurks in this argument as a%%lied by later di'ines in
'indication of %roof by testimony in relation to the miracles of the Old and
"e& Testament( 6s thus a%%lied it is a :Greek5 metQbasis eis allo gRnos=
though so unob'ious that a 'ery acute and candid reasoner might use the
argument &ithout sus%ecting the %aralogism( +t is not testimony as
testimony that necessitates us to conclude that there is such a city as Rome
Dbut a reasoning that forms a branch of mathematical science( So far is
our con'iction from being grounded on our confidence in human testimony
that it %roceeds on our kno&ledge of its fallible character and therefore can
find no sufficient reason for its coincidence on so 'ast a scale but in the
real e1istence of the object( That a thousand lies told by as many se'eral
and unconnected indi'iduals should all be one and the same is a %ossibility
e1%ressible only by a fraction that is already to all intents and %ur%oses
eFual to nought(
B( iii( c( iii( $( %( LL3(
The mi1ture of those things by s%eech &hich by nature are di'ided is the
mother of all error(
CThe di'ision in thought of those things &hich in nature are distinct yet
one that is distinguished &ithout breach of unity is the motherCDso +
should ha'e framed the %osition( .ill reason lifeDideas in relation to the
mind are instancesE CentiZ indi'ise interdistinctZCE and the main arguments
of the atheists materialists deniers of our LordCs di'inity and the like all
rest on the asserting of di'ision as a necessary conseFuence of distinction(
B( '( c( 1i1( >( 'ol( ii( %( ;3(
Of both translations the better + &illingly ackno&ledge that &hich cometh
nearer to the 'ery letter of the original 'erityE yet so that the other may
like&ise safely enough be read &ithout any %eril at all of gainsaying as
much as the least jot or syllable of GodCs most sacred and %recious truth(
!ooker had far better ha'e rested on the im%ossibility and the uselessness
if %ossible of a faultless translationE and admitting certain mistakes and
o'ersights ha'e recommended them for notice at the ne1t re'isionE and
then asked &hat objection such harmless trifles could be to a Church that
ne'er %retended to infallibility4 But in fact the age &as not ri%e enough
e'en for a !ooker to feel much less &ith safety to e1%ose the ProtestantsC
idol that is their Bibliolatry(
+b( c( 11ii( $8( %( $79(
Their only %ro%er and direct %roof of the thing in Fuestion had been to
she& in &hat sort and ho& far manCs sal'ation doth necessarily de%end
u%on the kno&ledge of the &ord of GodE &hat conditions %ro%erties and
Fualities there are &hereby sermons are distinguished from other kinds of
administering the &ord unto that %ur%oseE and &hat s%ecial %ro%erty or
Fuality that is &hich being no &here found but in sermons maketh them
effectual to sa'e souls and lea'eth all other doctrinal means besides
destitute of 'ital efficacy(
)oubtless !ooker &as a theological Talus &ith a club of iron against
o%%onents &ith %asteboard helmets and armed only &ith crabsticks4 But
yet + too too often find occasion to com%lain of him as abusing his
su%erior strength( /or in a good man it is an abuse of his intellectual
su%eriority not to use a %ortion of it in stating his Christian o%%onentsC
cause his brethrenCs Jthough dissentient and %erha%s erring yet still
brethrenCsK side of the Fuestion not as they had stated and argued it but as
he himself &ith his higher gifts of logic and foresight could ha'e set it
forth( But !ooker flies off to the general in &hich he is unassailableE and
does not as in candour he should ha'e done inFuire &hether the Fuestion
&ould not admit of nay demand a different ans&er &hen a%%lied solely
or %rinci%ally to the circumstances the condition and the needs of the
English %arishes and the %o%ulation at large at the %articular time &hen
the Puritan di'ines &rote and he !ooker re%lied to them( "o& let the
cause be tried in this &ay and + should not be afraid to attem%t the %roof of
the %aramount efficacy of %reaching on the scheme and in the line of
argument laid do&n by himself in this section( +n short !ooker freFuently
finds it con'enient to forget the homely %ro'erbE Cthe %roof of the %udding
is in the eating(C .hose %arishes &ere the best disci%lined &hose flocks the
best fed the soberest li'ers and the most a&akened and best informed
Christians those of the Gealous %reaching di'ines or those of the %relatic
clergy &ith their readersI +n &hose churches and %arishes &ere all the other
%astoral duties catechiGing 'isiting the %oor and the like most strictly
%ractisedI
+b( $$(
The %eo%le &hich ha'e no &ay to come to the kno&ledge of God no
%ro%hesying no teaching %erish( But that they should of necessity %erish
&here any one &ay of kno&ledge lacketh is more than the &ords of
Solomon im%ort(
But &hat &as the factI .ere those congregations that had those readers of
&hom the Puritans &ere s%eakingD&ere they + say eFually &ell
acFuainted &ith and %ractically im%ressed by the sa'ing truths of the
Gos%elI .ere they not rather %erishing for lack of kno&ledgeI To re%lyD
+t &as their o&n faultE they ought to ha'e been more regular in their
attendance at church and more attenti'e &hen there to &hat &as there
readDis to my mind too shocking nay antichristian(
+b( $<( %($>3(
"o& all these things being &ell considered it shall be no intricate matter
for any man to judge &ith indifferency on &hich %art the good of the
church is most con'eniently soughtE &hether on ours &hose o%inion is
such as hath been she&ed or else on theirs &ho lea'ing no ordinary &ay
of sal'ation for them unto &hom the &ord of God is but only read do
seldom name them but &ith great disdain and contem%t &ho e1ecute that
ser'ice in the church of Christ(
+f so they &ere much to be blamed( But surely this &as not the case &ith
the better and &iser %art of those &ho clinging to the tenets and feelings of
the first Reformers and honouring 6rchbisho% Grindal as much as they
dreaded his 6rminian successors &ere denominated Puritans4 They limited
their censures to e1clusi'e readingDto reading as the substitute for and
too often for the %ur%ose of doing a&ay &ith %reaching(
+b( l1'( ;( %(L$9(
Thus &as the memory of that sign &hich they had in ba%tism a kind of bar
or %re'ention to kee% them e'en from a%ostasy &hereinto the frailty of
flesh and blood o'ermuch fearing to endure shame might %erad'enture the
more easily other&ise ha'e dra&n them(
+ begin to fear that !ooker is not suited to my nature( + cannot bear roundH
abouts for the %ur%ose of e'ading the short cut straight before my eyes(
CE1em%li gratiaEC + find myself tem%ted in this %lace to ejaculate Psha4
some&hat abru%tly and ask C!o& many in t&enty millions of Christian
men and &omen e'er re'erted to the makeHbelie'e im%ression of the Cross
on their forehead in unconscious infancy by the &etted ti% of the
clergymanCs finger as a %reser'ati'e against anger and resentmentI CThe
&hole church of God4C .as it not the same church &hich neglecting and
concealing the Scri%tures of God introduced the adoration of the Cross the
&orshi%%ing of relics holy &ater and all the other countless mummeries of
Po%eryI Something might be %retended for the material images of the
Cross &orn at the bosom or hung u% in the bedHchamber( These may and
doubtless often do ser'e as silent monitorsE but this eyeHfalsehood or
%retence of making a mark that is not made is a gratuitous su%erstition that
cannot be %ractised &ithout serious danger of leading the 'ulgar to regard it
as a charm( !ooker should ha'e askedD!as it hitherto had this effect on
Christians generallyI +s it likely to %roduce this effect and this %rinci%allyI
+n common honesty he must ha'e ans&ered "o4D)o + then blame the
Church of England for retaining this ceremonyI By no means( + justify it as
a &ise and %ious condescension to the in'eterate habits of a %eo%le ne&ly
dragged rather than dra&n out of Pa%istryE and as a %ledge that the
founders and fathers of the Reformation in England regarded inno'ation as
C%er seC an e'il and therefore reFuiring for its justification not only a cause
but a &eighty cause( They did &ell and %iously in deferring the remo'al of
minor s%ots and stains to the time &hen the good effects of the more
im%ortant reforms had begun to she& themsel'es in the minds and hearts of
the laity(DBut they do not act either &isely or charitably &ho &ould
eulogiGe these CmaculZC as beautyHs%ots and 'indicate as good &hat their
%redecessors only tolerated as the lesser e'il(
$7th 6ug( $;7<(
+b( $9( %( L7L(
/or in actions of this kind &e are more to res%ect &hat the greatest %art of
men is commonly %rone to concei'e than &hat some fe& menCs &its may
de'ise in construction of their o&n %articular meanings( Plain it is that a
false o%inion of some %ersonal di'ine e1cellency to be in those things
&hich either nature or art hath framed causeth al&ays religious adoration(
!o& strongly might this most judicious remark be turned against !ookerCs
o&n mode of 'indicating this ceremony4
+b( l1'i( 7( %( L>7(
The Church had recei'ed from Christ a %romise that such as ha'e belie'ed
in him these signs and tokens should follo& them(
CTo cast out de'ils to s%eak &ith tongues to dri'e a&ay ser%ents to be free
from the harm &hich any deadly %oison could &ork and to cure diseases
by im%osition of hands(C
CBark 1'iC(
The man &ho 'erily and sincerely belie'es the narrati'e in St( ?ohnCs
Gos%el of the feeding of fi'e thousand %ersons &ith a fe& loa'es and small
fishes and of the raising of LaGarus in the %lain and literal sense cannot be
reasonably sus%ected of rejecting or doubting any narrati'e concerning
Christ and his 6%ostles sim%ly as miraculous( + trust therefore that no
disbelief of or %rejudice against miraculous e'ents and %o&ers &ill be
attributed to me as the ground or cause of my strong %ersuasion that the
latter 'erses of the last cha%ter of St( BarkCs Gos%el &ere an additament of
a later age for &hich St( LukeCs 6cts of the 6%ostles misunderstood
su%%lied the hints(
+b( l11ii( $9 T $<( %(9>2(
+f Richard !ooker had &ritten only these t&o %recious %aragra%hs + should
hold myself bound to thank the /ather of lights and Gi'er of all good gifts
for his e1istence and the %reser'ation of his &ritings(
B( 'iii( c( i1( 7( 'ol( iii( %( 9>3(
6s there could be in natural bodies no motion of anything unless there
&ere some &hich mo'eth all things and continueth immo'eableE e'en so
in %olitic societies there must be some un%unishable or else no man shall
suffer %unishment(
+t is most %ainful to connect the 'enerable almost sacred name of Richard
!ooker &ith such a s%ecimen of %uerile so%histry scarcely &orthy of a
court bisho%Cs trencher cha%lain in the sla'ering times of our Scotch
Solomon( +t is ho&e'er of some 'alue some interest at least as a striking
e1am%le of the confusion of an idea &ith a conce%tion( E'ery conce%tion
has its sole reality in its being referable to a thing or class of things of
&hich or of the common characters of &hich it is a reflection( 6n idea is a
%o&er :Greek5 d\namis noera= &hich constitutes its o&n reality and is in
order of thought necessarily antecedent to the things in &hich it is more or
less adeFuately realiGed &hile a conce%tion is as necessarily %osterior(
SERMON OF THE CERTAINTY AND PERPETUITY OF FAITH IN
THE ELECT.
0ol( iii( %( 9;>(
The follo&ing truly admirable discourse is + think the concluding sermon
of a series unha%%ily not %reser'ed(
+b( %(9;L(
+f it &ere so in matters of faith then as all men ha'e eFual certainty of this
so no belie'er should be more scru%ulous and doubtful than another( But
&e find the contrary( The angels and s%irits of the righteous in hea'en ha'e
certainty most e'ident of things s%iritual5 but this they ha'e by the light of
glory( That &hich &e see by the light of grace though it be indeed more
certainE yet it is not to us so e'idently certain as that &hich sense or the
light of nature &ill not suffer a man to doubt of(
!ookerCs meaning is rightE but he falls into a sad confusion of &ords
blending the thing and the relation of the mind to the thing( The fourth
moon of ?u%iter is certain in itselfE but e'ident only to the astronomer &ith
his telesco%e(
+b( %( 9;9H9;;(
The other &hich &e call the certainty of adherence is &hen the heart doth
clea'e and stick unto that &hich it doth belie'e( This certainty is greater in
us than the other U JCdo&n toCK the fourth Fuestion resteth and so an end of
this %oint(
These %aragra%hs should be &ritten in gold( O4 may these %recious &ords
be &ritten on my heart4
$( That &e all need to be redeemed and that therefore &e are all in
ca%ti'ity to an e'il5
7( That there is a Redeemer5
>( That the redem%tion relati'ely to each indi'idual ca%ti'e is if not
effected under certain conditions yet manifestable as far as is fitting for the
soul by certain signs and conseFuents5Dand
L( That these signs are in myselfE that the conditions under &hich the
redem%tion offered to all men is %romised to the indi'idual are fulfilled in
myselfE
these are the four great %oints of faith in &hich the humble Christian finds
and feels a gradation from trembling ho%e to full assuranceE yet the &ill
the act of trust is the same in all( Bight + not almost say that it rather
increases &ith the decrease of the consciously discerned e'idenceI To
assert that + ha'e the same assurance of mind that + am sa'ed as that + need
a Sa'iour &ould be a contradiction to my o&n feelings and yet + may ha'e
an eFual that is an eFui'alent assurance( !o& is it %ossible that a sick man
should ha'e the same certainty of his con'alescence as of his sicknessI ,et
he may be assured of it( So again my faith in the skill and integrity of my
%hysician may be com%lete but the a%%lication of it to my o&n case may
be troubled by the sense of my o&n im%erfect obedience to his
%rescri%tions( The sort of our beliefs and assurances is necessarily modified
by their different subjects( +t argues no &ant of sa'ing faith on the &hole
that + cannot ha'e the same trust in myself as + ha'e in my God( That
ChristCs righteousness can sa'e meDthat ChristCs righteousness alone can
sa'eDthese are sim%le %ositions all the terms of &hich are steady and
co%resent to my mind( But that + shall be so sa'edDthat of the many
called + ha'e been one of the chosenDthis is no mere conclusion of mind
on kno&n or assured %remisses( + can remember no other discourse that
sinks into and dra&s u% comfort from the de%ths of our being belo& our
o&n distinct consciousness &ith the clearness and godly lo'ingHkindness
of this truly e'angelical GodHtoHbeHthankedHfor sermon( But ho& large
ho& im%ortant a %art of our s%iritual life goes on like the circulation
absor%tions and secretions of our bodily life unre%resented by any s%ecific
sensation and yet the ground and condition of our total sense of e1istence4
.hile + feel ackno&ledge and re'ere the almost measureless su%eriority
of the sermons of the di'ines &ho labored in the first and e'en the first
t&o centuries of the Reformation from Luther to Leighton o'er the
%rudential morals and a%ologiGing theology that ha'e characteriGed the
unfanatical clergy since the Re'olution in $<;; + cannot but regret
es%ecially &hile + am listening to a !ooker that they &ithheld all light
from the truths contained in the &ords CSatanC Cthe Ser%entC Cthe E'il S%iritC
and this last used %lurally(
A DISCOURSE OF JUSTIFICATION, WORKS, AND HOW THE
FOUNDATION OF FAITH IS OVERTHROWN.
+b( s( >$( %( <92H<<$(
But &e say our sal'ation is by Christ aloneE therefore ho&soe'er or
&hatsoe'er &e add unto Christ in the matter of sal'ation &e o'erthro&
Christ( Our case &ere 'ery hard if this argument so uni'ersally meant as it
is %ro%osed &ere sound and good( .e oursel'es do not teach Christ alone
e1cluding our o&n faith unto justificationE Christ alone e1cluding our o&n
&ork unto sanctificationE Christ alone e1cluding the one or the other as
unnecessary unto sal'ation( U 6s &e ha'e recei'ed so &e teach that
besides the bare and naked &ork &herein Christ &ithout any other
associate finished all the %arts of our redem%tion and %urchased sal'ation
himself aloneE for con'eyance of this eminent blessing unto us many
things are reFuired as to be kno&n and chosen of God before the
foundations of the &orldE in the &orld to be called justified
sanctifiedE after &e ha'e left the &orld to be recei'ed into gloryE Christ in
e'ery of these hath some&hat &hich he &orketh alone( Tc( Tc(
"o &here out of the !oly Scri%ture ha'e + found the root and %ith of
Christian faith so clearly and %urely %ro%ounded as in this section( God
&hose thoughts are eternal beholdeth the end and in the com%leted &ork
seeth and acce%teth e'ery stage of the %rocess( + dislike only the &ord
C%urchasedECDnot that it is not Scri%tural but because a meta%hor &ell and
&isely used in the enforcement and 'aried elucidation of a truth is not
therefore %ro%erly em%loyed in its e1act enunciation( + &ill illustrate
am%lify and divide the &ord &ith PaulE but + &ill %ro%ound it collecti'ely
&ith ?ohn( +f in this admirable %assage aught else dare be &ished other&ise
it is the di'ision and yet confusion of time and eternity by gi'ing an
anteriority to the latter(
+ am %ersuaded that the %ractice of the Romish church tendeth to make
'ain the doctrine of sal'ation by faith in Christ aloneE but judging by her
most eminent di'ines + can find nothing dissonant from the truth in her
e1%ress decisions on this article( Perha%s it &ould be safer to say5DChrist
alone sa'es us &orking in us by the faith &hich includes ho%e and lo'e(
+b( s( >L( %( <3$(
+f it &ere not a strong deluding s%irit &hich hath %ossession of their heartsE
&ere it %ossible but that they should see ho& %lainly they do herein gainsay
the 'ery ground of a%ostolic faithI U The 6%ostle as if he had foreseen
ho& the Church of Rome &ould abuse the &orld in time by ambiguous
terms to declare in &hat sense the name of grace must be taken &hen &e
make it the cause of our sal'ation saith C!e sa'ed us according to his
mercyC Tc(
+n all Christian communities there ha'e been and e'er &ill be too many
Christians in name onlyEDtoo many in belief and notion only5 but like&ise
+ trust in e'ery ackno&ledged Church Eastern or .estern Greek Roman
Protestant many of those in belief more or less erroneous &ho are
Christians in faith and in s%irit( 6nd + neither do nor can think that any
%ious member of the Church of Rome did e'er in his heart attribute any
merit to any &ork as being his &ork( :$7= 6 grie'ous error and a
mischie'ous error there &as %ractically in mooting the Fuestion at all of the
condignity of &orks and their re&ards( +n short to attribute merit to any
agent but God in Christ our faith as Christians forbids usE and to dis%ute
about the merit of &orks abstracted from the agent common sense ought to
forbid us(
A SUPPLICATION MADE TO THE COUNCIL BY MASTER
WALTER TRAVERS.
+b( %( <2;(
+ said directly and %lainly to all menCs understanding that it &as not indeed
to be doubted but many of the /athers &ere sa'edE but the means said +
&as not their ignorance &hich e1cuseth no man &ith God but their
kno&ledge and faith of the truth &hich it a%%eareth God 'ouchsafed
them by many notable monuments and records e1tant of it in all ages(
"ot certainly if the ignorance %roceeded directly or indirectly from a
defect or sinful %ro%ensity of the &illE but &here no such cause is
imaginable in such cases this %osition of Baster Tra'ers is little less than
blas%hemous to the di'ine goodness and in direct contradiction to an
assertion of St( PaulCs :$>= and to an e'ident conseFuence from our
Sa'iourCs o&n &ords on the %olygamy of the fathers( :$L=
ANSWER TO TRAVERS.
+b( %( 3$2(
The ne1t thing disco'ered is an o%inion about the assurance of menCs
%ersuasion in matters of faith( + ha'e taught he saith CThat the assurance of
things &hich &e belie'e by the &ord is not so certain as of that &e
%ercei'e by sense(C
6 useful instance to illustrate the im%ortance of distinct and the mischief of
eFui'ocal or multi'ocal terms( !ad !ooker said that the fundamental
truths of religion though %erha%s e'en more certain are less e'ident than
the facts of sense there could ha'e been no misunderstanding( Thus the
demonstrations of algebra %ossess eFual certainty &ith those of geometry
but cannot lay claim to the same e'idence( Certainty is %ositi'e e'idence
relati'eE the former strictly taken insusce%tible of more or less the latter
ca%able of e1isting in many different degrees(
.riting a year or more after the %receding note + am sorry to say that
!ookerCs reasoning on this %oint seems to me so%histical throughout( That a
man must see &hat he sees is no %ersuasion at all nor bears the remotest
analogy to any judgment of the mind( The Fuestion is &hether men ha'e a
clearer conce%tion and a more stedfast con'iction of the objecti'e reality to
&hich the image mo'ing their eye a%%ertains than of the objecti'e reality
of the things and states s%iritually disco'ered by faith( 6nd this Tra'ers had
a right to Fuestion &here'er a sa'ing faith e1isted(
6ugust $;7<(
SERMON IV. A REMEDY AGAINST SORROW AND FEAR.
+b( %( ;8$(
+n s%irit + am &ith you to the &orldCs end(
O ho& grateful should + be to be made intuiti'e of the truth intended in the
&ordsDC+n s%irit + am &ith you4C
+b( %( ;8;(
Touching the latter affection of fear &hich res%ecteth e'ils to come as the
other &hich &e ha'e s%oken of doth %resent e'ilsE first in the nature
thereof it is %lain that &e are not e'ery future e'il afraid( Percei'e &e not
ho& they &hose tenderness shrinketh at the least rase of a needleCs %oint
do kiss the s&ord that %ierceth their souls Fuite thoro&I
+n this and in sundry similar %assages of this 'enerable &riter there is
:Greek5 hMos emoige dokei= a 'ery %lausible but e'en therefore the more
dangerous so%hismE but the due detection and e1%osure of &hich &ould
e1ceed the scanty s%ace of a marginal comment( Briefly &hat does !ooker
com%rehend in the term C%ainIC .hatsoe'er the soul finds ad'erse to her
&ell being or incom%atible &ith her free actionI +n this sense !ookerCs
%osition is a mere truism( But if %ain be a%%lied e1clusi'ely to the soul
finding itself as life then it is an error(
+b( %( ;$$(
/ear then in itself being mere nature cannot in itself be sin &hich sin is not
nature but therefore an accessary de%ri'ation(
+ sus%ect a mis%rint and that it should be de%ra'ationC( But if not nature
then it must be a su%erHinduced and incidental de%ra'ation of nature( The
%rinci%al namely fear is natureE but the sin that is that it is a sinful fear is
but an accessary(
:/ootnote $5 The references are to Br( AebleCs edition J$;><(KDEd(=
:/ootnote 75 But see Br( AebleCs statement JPref( 11i1(K and the argument
founded on disco'eries and collation of BSS( since the note in the te1t &as
&ritten(DEd(=
:/ootnote >5 See Br( ColeridgeCs &ork COn the constitution of the Church
and State according to the idea of each(CDEd(=
:/ootnote L5 See E( P( +( ii( >( %( 797(DEd(=
:/ootnote 95 See the CChurch and StateC in &hich the CecclesiaC or
Church in Christ is distinguished from the CenclesiaC or national
Church(DEd(=
:/ootnote <5 See the essays generally from the fourth to the ninth both
inclusi'ely in 0ol( +++( >rd edition more es%ecially the fifth essay(DEd(=
:/ootnote 35 Part +( c( i( ''( $9$D<(DEd(=
:/ootnote ;5 See the essay on the idea of the Prometheus of ]schylus(
Literary Remains 0ol( ++( %( >7>(DEd(=
:/ootnote 25
CE'ery man is born an 6ristotelian or a Platonist( + do not think it %ossible
that any one born an 6ristotelian can become a PlatonistE and + am sure no
born Platonist can e'er change into an 6ristotelian( They are the t&o
classes of men beside &hich it is ne1t to im%ossible to concei'e a third(
The one considers reason a Fuality or attributeE the other considers it a
%o&er( + belie'e that 6ristotle ne'er could get to understand &hat Plato
meant by an idea( U 6ristotle &as and still is the so'ereign lord of the
understandingE the faculty judging by the senses( !e &as a conce%tualist
and ne'er could raise himself into that higher state &hich &as natural to
Plato and has been so to others in &hich the understanding is distinctly
contem%lated and as it &ere looked do&n u%on from the throne of actual
ideas or li'ing inborn essential truths(C
CTable TalkC 7d Edit( %( 29(DEd(=
:/ootnote $85 See the CChurch and StateC c( i(DEd(=
:/ootnote $$5 See C%ostC(DEd(=
:/ootnote $75 But see the language of the Council of Trent5
Si Fuis di1erit justitiam acce%tam non conser'ari CatFue etiam augeri coram(
)eo %er bona o%eraCE sed o%era i%sa fructus solummodo et signa esse
justificationis ade%tZC non autem i%sius augendZ causamCE anathema sit(
CSessC( 0+( CCanC( 7L(
U Si Fuis di1erit hominis justificati Cbona o%eraC ita esse dona )ei Cut non
sint etiam bona i%sius justificati meritaCE aut i%sum justificatum Cbonis
o%eribusC FuZ ab eo %er )ei gratiam et ?esu Christi meritum cujus 'i'um
membrum est fiunt Cnon 'ere mereri augmentum gratiZ 'itam Zternam et
i%sius 'itZ ZternZ si tamen in gratia decesserit conscecutionem atFue
etiam gloriZ augmentumC anathema sit(
C+b( Can(C >7(DEd(=
:/ootnote $>5 Rom( ii( $7(DEd(=
:/ootnote $L5 Batt( 1i1( ;(DEd(=
NOTES ON FIELD ON THE CHURCH. [1]
C/lyHleaf(D!annah Scollock her book /ebruary $8C $3;3(
This !annah Scollock4 may ha'e been the caseE
,our &riting therefore + &ill not erase(
But no& this book once yours belongs to me
The Borning PostCs and CourierCs S( T( C(ED
Else&here in College kno&ledge &it and scholerage
To friends and %ublic kno&n as S( T( Coleridge(
.itness hereto my hand on 6shly Green
One thousand t&ice four hundred and fourteen
,ear of our LordDand of the month "o'ember
The fifteenth day if right + do remember(
7; Barch $;$2( :7=
MY DEAR DERWENT,
This one 'olume thoroughly understood and a%%ro%riated &ill %lace you
in the highest ranks of doctrinal Church of England di'ines Jof such as no&
areK and in no mean rank as a true doctrinal Church historian(
"e1t to this + recommend Ba1terCs o&n Life edited by Syl'ester &ith my
marginal notes( !ere more than in any of the %relatical and 6rminian
di'ines from Laud to the death of Charles ++ you &ill see the strength and
beauty of the Church of England that is its liturgy homilies and articles(
By contrasting too its %resent state &ith that &hich such e1cellent men as
Ba1ter Calamy and the so called Presbyterian or Puritan di'ines &ould
ha'e made it you &ill bless it as the bul&ark of toleration(
Thirdly you must read EichornCs +ntroduction to the Old and "e&
Testament and the 6%ocry%ha and his comment on the 6%ocaly%seE to all
&hich my notes and your o&n %re'ious studies &ill su%%ly &hate'er
antidote is &antingEDthese &ill suffice for your Biblical learning and
teach you to attach no more than the su%%ortable &eight to these and such
like out&ard e'idences of our holy and s%iritual religion(
So ha'ing done you &ill be in %oint of %rofessional kno&ledge such a
clergyman as &ill make glad the heart of your lo'ing father
S. T. COLERIDGE.
"( B(DSee Book i' Cha%( 3 %( >9$ both for a masterly confutation of the
PaleyoHGrotian e'idences of the Gos%el and a decisi'e %roof in &hat light
that system &as regarded by the Church of England in its best age( Like
Grotius himself it is half &ay bet&een Po%ery and Socinianism(
B( i( c( >( %( 9(
But men desired only to be like unto God in omniscience and the general
kno&ledge of all things &hich may be communicated to a creature as in
Christ it is to his human soul(
Surely this is more than doubtfulE and e'en the instance gi'en is
irreconcilable &ith ChristCs o&n assertion concerning the last day &hich
must be understood of his human soul by all &ho hold the faith deli'ered
from the foundation namely his deity( /ield seems to ha'e e1cer%ted this
incautiously from the Schoolmen &ho on this %remiss could justify the
communicability of adoration as in the case of the saints( Omniscience it
may be %ro'ed im%lies omni%otence( The fourth of the arguments in this
section and as closely connected &ith it the first Jonly some&hat
differently statedK seem the strongest or rather the only ones( /or the
second is a mere antici%ation of the fourth and all that is true in the third is
in'ol'ed in it(
+b( c( 9( %( 2(
6nd began to s%eak &ith other tongues as the S%irit ga'e them utterance(
That is + humbly a%%rehend in other than the !ebre& and Syrochaldaic
languages &hich J&ith rare and reluctant e1ce%tions in fa'or of the GreekK
&ere a%%ro%riated to %ublic %rayer and e1hortation just as the Latin in the
Romish Church( The ne& con'erts %reached and %rayed each to his
com%anions in his and their dialectEDthey &ere all ?e&s but had
assembled from all the different %ro'inces of the Roman and Parthian
em%ires as the [uakers among us to the yearly meeting in LondonE this
&as a sign not a miracle( The miracle consisted in the 'isible and audible
descent of the !oly Ghost and in the fulfilment of the %ro%hecy of ?oel as
e1%lained by St( Peter himself( C6ctsC ii( $9(
+b( %($8(
C6liud est etymologia nominis et aliud significatio nominis( Etymologia
attenditur secundum id it Fuo im%onitur nomen ad significandum5 nominis
'ero significatio secundum id ad Fuod significandum im%onitur(C
This %assage from 6Fuinas &ould be an a%t motto for a critiFue on !orne
TookeCs )i'ersions of Purley( The best ser'ice of etymology is &hen the
sense of a &ord is still unsettled and es%ecially &hen t&o &ords ha'e each
t&o meaningsE 6XaHb and BXaHb instead of 6Xa and BXb( Thus reason
and understanding as at %resent %o%ularly confounded( !ere the CetymaD
ratioC the relati'e %ro%ortion of thoughts and thingsDand understanding
as the %o&er &hich substantiates C%hZnomena Jsubstat eisKCDdetermine the
%ro%er sense( But most often the CetymaC being eFui'alent &e must %roceed
Ce1 arbitrioC as Cla& com%elsC Creligion obligesEC or take u% &hat had been
begun in some one deri'ati'e( Thus CfancifulC and Cimaginati'eC are
discriminatedEDand this su%%lies the ground of choice for gi'ing to fancy
and imagination each its o&n sense( Co&ley is a fanciful &riter Bilton an
imaginati'e %oet( Then + %roceed &ith the distinction ho& ill fancy assorts
&ith imagination as instanced in BiltonCs Limbo( :>=
+b(
+ should rather e1%ress the difference bet&een the faithful of the Synagogue
and those of the Church thus5DThat the former ho%ed generally by an
im%licit faithED*+t shall in all things be &ell &ith all that lo'e the LordE
therefore it cannot but be good for us and &ell &ith us to rest &ith our
forefathers(* But the Christian hath an assured ho%e by an e1%licit and
%articular faith a ho%e because its object is future not because it is
uncertain( The one &as on the road journeying to&ard a friend of his
fatherCs &ho had %romised he &ould be kind to him e'en to the third and
fourth generation( !e comforts himself on the road first by means of the
'arious %laces of refreshment &hich that friend had built for tra'ellers and
continued to su%%lyE and secondly by antici%ation of a kind rece%tion at the
friendCs o&n mansionHhouse( But the other has recei'ed an e1%ress
in'itation to a banFuet beholds the %re%arations and has only to &ash and
%ut on the %ro%er robes in order to sit do&n(
+b( %( $$(
The reason &hy our translators in the beginning did choose rather to use
the &ord CcongregationC than CChurchC &as not as the ad'ersary maliciously
imagineth for that they feared the 'ery name of the ChurchE but because as
by the name of religion and religious men ordinarily in former times men
understood nothing but factitias religiones as Gerson out of 6nselme
calleth them that is the %rofessions of monks and friars so Tc(
/or the same reason the &ord CreligionC for :Greek5 Thraeskia= in St( ?ames
:L= ought no& to be altered to ceremony or ritual( The &hole 'ersion has by
change of language become a dangerous mistranslation and furnishes a
fa'orite te1t to our moral %reachers Church Socinians and other christened
%agans no& so rife amongst us( .hat &as the substance of the ceremonial
la& is but the ceremonial %art of the Christian religionE but it is its solemn
ceremonial la& and though not the same yet one &ith it and inse%arable
e'en as form and substance( Such is St( ?amesCs doctrine destroying at one
blo& 6ntinomianism and the Po%ish %o%ular doctrine of good &orks(
+b( c( $;( %( 73(
But if the Church of God remains in Corinth &here there &ere Cdi'isions
sects emulationsC Tc( U &ho dare deny those societies to be the Churches
of God &herein the tenth %art of these horrible e'ils and abuses is not to be
foundI
+t is rare to meet &ith so%histry in this sound di'ineE but here he seems to
border on it( /or first the Corinthian Church u%on admonition re%ented of
its negligenceE and secondly the objection of the Puritans &as that the
constitution of the Church %recluded disci%line(
B( ++( c( 7( %( >$(
CBiscreantC is t&ice used in this %age in its original sense of misbelie'er(
+b( c( L( %( >9(
C)iscourseC is here used for the discursi'e acts of the understanding e'en as
Cdiscursi'e is o%%osed to Cintuiti'eC by Bilton :9= and others( Thus
understand Shaks%eareCs *discourse of reason* for those discursions of
mind &hich are %eculiar to rational beings(
B( +++( c( $(%( 9>(
The first %ublishers of the Gos%el of Christ deli'ered a rule of faith to the
Christian Churches &hich they founded com%rehending all those articles
that are found in that Ce%itomeC of Christian religion &hich &e call the
6%ostlesC Creed(
This needs %roof( + rather belie'e that the so called 6%ostlesC Creed &as
really the Creed of the Roman or .estern church Jand %ossibly in its
%resent form the catechismal rather than the ba%tismal creedKDand that
other churches in the East had Creeds eFually ancient and from their being
earlier troubled &ith 6nti Trinitarian heresies more e1%ress on the di'inity
of Christ than the Roman(
+b( %( 9;(
/ourthly that it is no less absurd to say as the Pa%ists do that our
satisfaction is reFuired as a condition &ithout &hich ChristCs satisfaction is
not a%%liable unto us than to say Peter hath %aid the debt of ?ohn and he
to &hom it &as due acce%teth of the same %ayment conditionally if he %ay
it himself also(
This :<= %ro%riation of a meta%hor namely forgi'eness of sin and abolition
of guilt through the redem%ti'e %o&er of ChristCs lo'e and of his %erfect
obedience during his 'oluntary assum%tion of humanity e1%ressed on
account of the sameness of the conseFuences in both cases by the %ayment
of a debt for another &hich debt the %ayer had not himself incurredDthe
%ro%riation of this + say by transferring the sameness from the conseFuents
to the antecedents is the one %oint of orthodo1y Jso called + meanK in
&hich + still remain at issue( +t seems to me so e'idently a :Greek5
metQbasis eis allo gRnos(= 6 meta%hor is an illustration of something less
kno&n by a more or less %artial identification of it &ith something better
understood( Thus St( Paul illustrates the conseFuences of the act of
redem%tion by four different meta%hors dra&n from things most familiar to
those for &hom it &as to be illustrated namely sinHofferings or sacrificial
e1%iationE reconciliationE ransom from sla'eryE satisfaction of a just
creditor by 'icarious %ayment of the debt( These all refer to the
conseFuences of redem%tion(
"o& St( ?ohn &ithout any meta%hor declares the mode by and in &hich it
is effectedE for he identifies it &ith a fact not &ith a conseFuence and a
fact too not better understood in the one case than in the other namely by
generation and birth( There remains therefore only the redem%ti'e act
itself and this is transcendant ineffable and Ca fortioriC therefore
ine1%licable( Like the act of %rimal a%ostasy it is in its o&n nature a
mystery kno&n only through faith in the s%irit(
?ames o&es ?ohn ^$88 &hich Jto %re'ent ?amesCs being sent to %risonK
!enry %ays for himE and ?ohn has no longer any claim( But ?ames is cruel
and ungrateful to Bary his tender mother( !enry though no relation acts
the %art of a lo'ing and dutiful son to Bary( But &ill this satisfy the
motherCs claims on ?ames or entitle him to her esteem a%%robation and
blessingI +f indeed by force of !enryCs e1am%le or %ersuasion or any
more mysterious influence ?ames re%ents and becomes himself a good and
dutiful child then indeed Bary is &holly satisfiedE but then the case is no
longer a Fuestion of debt in that sense in &hich it can be %aid by another
though the effect of &hich alone St( Paul &as s%eaking is the same in both
cases to ?ames as the debtor and to ?ames as the undutiful son( !e is in
both cases liberated from the burthen and in both cases he has to attribute
his e1oneration to the act of anotherE as cause sim%ly in the %ayment of the
debt or as like&ise Ccausa causZC in ?amesCs reformation( Such is my
%resent o%inion5 God grant me increase of light either to renounce or
confirm it(
Perha%s the different terms of the abo'e %osition may be more clearly
stated thus5
$( Cagens causatorC 7( Cactus causati'us5C >( Ceffectus causatus5C L(
CconseFuentia ab effecto(C
$( The coHeternal Son of the li'ing God incarnate tem%ted crucified
resurgent communicant of his s%irit ascendant and obtaining for his
church the descent of the !oly Ghost(
7( 6 s%iritual and transcendant mystery(
>( The being born ane& as before in the flesh to the &orld so no& in the
s%irit to Christ5 &here the differences are the s%irit o%%osed to the flesh
and Christ to the &orldE the C%unctum indifferensC or combining term
remaining the same in both namely a birth(
L( Sanctification from sin and liberation from the conseFuences of sin &ith
all the means and %rocess of sanctification being the same for the sinner
relati'ely to God and his o&n soul as the satisfaction of a creditor for a
debt or as the offering of an atoning sacrifice for a transgressor of the la&E
as a reconciliation for a rebellious son or a subject to his alienated %arent or
offended so'ereignE and as a ransom is for a sla'e in a hea'y ca%ti'ity(
"o& my com%laint is that our systematic di'ines transfer the %aragra%h L
to the %aragra%hs 7 and > inter%reting C%ro%rio sensu et ad totum C&hat is
affirmed Csensu meta%horico et ad %artemC that is Cad conseFuentia a
regeneratione effecta %er actum causati'um %rimi agentis uem%e :Greek5
Logou= redem%torisC and by this inter%retation substituting an
identification absolute for an eFuation %ro%ortional(
Lth Bay $;$2(
+b( %( <7(
Personality is nothing but the e1istence of nature itself(
God alone had his nature in himselfE that is God alone contains in himself
the ground of his o&n e1istence( But &ere this definition of /ieldCs right
&e might %redicate %ersonality of a &orm or &here'er &e find life( Better
sayD%ersonality is indi'iduality e1isting in itself but &ith a nature as its
ground(
+b( %(<<(
6ccursing Eutyches as a heretic(
+t %uGGles me to understand &hat sense /ield ga'e to the &ord heresy(
Surely e'ery slight error e'en though %erse'ered in is not to be held a
heresy or its asserters accursed( The error ought at least to res%ect some
%oint of faith essential to the great ends of the Gos%el( Thus the %hrase
Ccursing EutychesC is to me shockingly unchristian( + could not dare call
e'en the o%inion cursed till + sa& ho& it injured the faith in Christ
&eakened our confidence in him or lessened our lo'e and gratitude(
+b( %(3$(
C+f ye be circumcised ye are fallen from grace and Christ can %rofit you
nothing(C
+t seems im%ossible but that these &ords had a relation to the %articular
state of feeling and belief out of &hich the an1iety to be circumcised did in
those %articular %ersons %roceed and not absolutely and at all times to the
act itself seeing that St( Paul himself circumcised Timothy from moti'es of
charity and %rudence(
+b( c(>( %(3<(
The things that %ertain to the Christian faith and religion are of t&o sortsE
for there are some things Ce1%liciteC some things Cim%licite credendaCE that
is there are some things that must be %articularly and e1%ressly kno&n and
belie'ed as that the /ather is God the Son is God and the !oly Ghost God
and yet they are not three Gods but one GodE and some other &hich though
all men at all times be not bound u%on the %eril of damnation to kno& and
belie'e e1%ressly yet &hosoe'er &ill be sa'ed must belie'e them at least
Cim%liciteC and in generality as that ?ose%h Bary and ?esus fled into
Egy%t(
Berciful !ea'en4 Eternal misery and the immitigable &rath of God and
the ine1tinguishable fire of hell amid de'ils %arricides and haters of God
and all goodnessDthis is the 'erdict &hich a Protestant di'ine %asses
against the man &ho though sincerely belie'ing the &hole "icene creed
and e'ery doctrine and %rece%t taught in the "e& Testament and li'ing
accordingly should yet ha'e con'inced himself that the first cha%ters of St(
Batthe& and St( Luke &ere not %arts of the original Gos%els4
+b( %(33(
So in the beginning "estorius did not err touching the unity of ChristCs
%erson in the di'ersity of the natures of God and manE but only disliked that
Bary should be called the mother of God5 &hich form of s%eaking &hen
some demonstrated to be 'ery fitting and una'oidable if Christ &ere God
and man in the unity of the same %erson he chose rather to deny the unity
of ChristCs %erson than to ackno&ledge his temerity and rashness in
re%ro'ing that form of s%eech &hich the use of the church had anciently
recei'ed and allo&ed(
6 false charge grounded on a misconce%tion of the Syriac terms( "estorius
&as %erfectly justifiable in his rejection of the e%ithet :Greek5 theotNkos=
as a%%lied to the mother of ?esus( The Church &as e'en then only too ri%e
for the idolatrous Chy%erHduliaC of the 0irgin( "ot less &eak is /ieldCs
defence of the %ro%riety of the term( Set aside all reference to this holy
mystery and let me ask + trust &ithout offence &hether by the same logic
a muleCs dam might not be called :Greek5 hi%%otNkos= because the horse
and ass &ere united in one and the same subject( The difference in the
%erfect God and %erfect man does not remo'e the objection5 for an e%ithet
&hich conceals half of a truth the %o&er and s%ecial concerningness of
&hich relati'ely to our redem%tion by Christ de%ends on our kno&ledge
of the &hole is a dece%ti'e and a dangerously dece%ti'e e%ithet(
+b( c(78( %($$8(
Thus then the /athers did sometimes &hen they had %articular occasions
to remember the Saints and to s%eak of them by &ay of Ca%ostro%heC turn
themsel'es unto them and use &ords of doubtful com%ellation %raying
them if they ha'e any sense of these inferior things to be remembrancers
to God for them(
The distinct gradations of the %rocess by &hich commemoration and
rhetorical a%ostro%hes %assed finally into idolatry su%%ly an analogy of
mighty force against the heretical Chy%othesis Cof the modern @nitarians(
.ere it true they &ould ha'e been able to ha'e traced the %rogress of the
Christolatry from the lo&est sort of CChristoduliaC &ith the same historical
distinctness against the uni'ersal Church that the Protestants ha'e that of
hierolatry against the Romanists( The gentle and soft censures &hich our
di'ines during the reign of the Stuarts %ass on the Roman Saint &orshi% or
hieroduly as an incon'enient su%erstition must needs ha'e alarmed the
faithful adherents to the Protestantism of Ed&ard 0+( and the sur'i'ing
e1iles of bloody [ueen BaryCs times and their disci%les(
+b( %($$$(
The miracles that God &rought in times %ast by them made many to
attribute more to them than &as fit as if they had a generality of %resence
kno&ledge and &orkingE but the &isest and best ad'ised ne'er durst
attribute any such thing unto them(
To a truly %ious mind a&fully im%ressed &ith the sur%assing e1cellency of
GodCs ineffable lo'e to fallen man in the re'elation of himself to the inner
man through the reason and conscience by the s%iritual light and
substantialityDJfor the conscience is to the s%irit or reason &hat the
understanding is to the sense a substantiati'e %o&erKE this conseFuence of
miracles is so fearful that it cannot but redouble his Geal against that
fashion of modern theologists &hich &ould con'ert miracles from a moti'e
to attention and solicitous e1amination and at best from a negati'e
condition of re'elation into the %ositi'e foundation of Christian faith(
+b( c(77( %($$<(
But if this be as 'ile a slander as e'er Satanist de'ised the Lord re&ard
them that ha'e been the authors and ad'isers of it according to their &orks(
O no4 no4 this the good man did not utter from his heart but from his
%assion( 6 'ile and &icked slander it &as and is( O may God ha'e turned
the hearts of those &ho uttered it or may it be among their unkno&n sins
done in ignorance for &hich the infinite merits of Christ may satisfy4 + am
most assured that if )r( /ield &ere no& ali'e or if any one had but said this
to him he &ould ha'e re%liedD*+ thank thee brother for thy Christian
admonition( 6dd thy %rayer and %ray God to forgi'e me my inconsiderate
Geal4*
+b( c( 7>( %( $$2(
/or &hat rectitude is due to the s%ecifical act of hating GodI or &hat
rectitude is it ca%able ofI
+s this a %ossible act to any man understanding by the &ord God &hat &e
mean by GodI
+b( %( $72(
+t is this com%licated dis%ute as to the origin and %ermission of e'il &hich
su%%lies to atheism its most %lausible because its only moral argumentsE
but more es%ecially to that s%ecies of atheism &hich e1isted in Greece in
the form of %olytheism admitting moral and intelligent sha%ers and
go'ernors of the &orld but denying an intelligent ground or selfHconscious
Creator of the uni'erseE their gods being themsel'es the offs%ring of chaos
and necessity that is of matter and its essential la&s or %ro%erties(
The LeibnitGian distinction of the Eternal Reason or nature of God
:Greek5 tO theion=Jthe :Greek5 nous kaP anQgkae= of TimZus LocrusK from
the &ill or %ersonal attributes of GodDJ:Greek5 thRlaema kaP bo\laesisD
agathou %atrOs agathOn bo\laema=KD%lanted the germ of the only %ossible
solution or rather %erha%s in &ords less e1ce%tionable and more likely to
be endured in the schools of modern theology brought for&ard the truth
in'ol'ed in BehmenCs too bold distinction of God and the ground of GodED
&ho yet in this is to be e1cused not only for his good aim and his
ignorance of scholastic terms but like&ise because some of the /athers
e1%ressed themsel'es no less crudely in the other e1tremeE though it is not
im%robable that the meaning &as the same in both(
6t least Behmen constantly makes selfHe1istence a %ositi'e act so as that
by an eternal :Greek5 %erichMNraesis= or mysterious intercirculation God
&ills himself out of the CgroundC J:Greek5 tO theionDtO hVn kaP %an=
DCindifferentia absoluta realitatis infinitZ et infinitZ %otentialitatisCKDand
again by his &ill as God e1isting gi'es being to the ground :Greek5
autogen_esDauto%hyl_esDuhios heautou=( CSolus )eus estEDitaFue
%rinci%ium Fui e1 sei%so dedit sibi i%se %rinci%ium( )eus i%se sui origo est
suZFue causa substantiZ id Fuod est e1 se et in se continens( E1 sei%so
%rocreatus i%se se fecitC Tc( of Synesius ?erome !ilary and Lactantius
and others in'ol'e the same conce%tion(
+b( c( 73( %( $L8(
The se'enth is the heresy of Sabellius &hich he saith &as re'i'ed by
Ser'etus( So it &as indeed that Ser'etus re'i'ed in our time the damnable
heresy of Sabellius long since condemned in the first ages of the Church(
But &hat is that to usI !o& little a%%robation he found amongst us the just
and honourable %roceeding against him at Gene'a &ill &itness to all
%osterity(
Shocking as this act must and ought to be to all Christians at %resentE yet
this %assage and a hundred still stronger from di'ines and Church letters
contem%orary &ith Cal'in %ro'e Ser'etusC death not to be Cal'inCs guilt
es%ecially but the common Co%%robriumC of all Euro%ean ChristendomDof
the Romanists &hose la&s the Senate of Gene'a follo&ed and from fear of
&hose re%roaches Jas if Protestants fa'oured heresyK they e1ecuted themD
and of the Protestant churches &ho a%%lauded the act and returned thanks
to Cal'in and the Senate for it( :3=
+b( c( >8( %( $L>(
The t&elfth heresy im%uted to us is the heresy of ?o'inian concerning
&hom &e must obser'e that 6ugustine ascribeth unto him t&o o%inions
&hich !ierome mentioneth notE &ho yet &as not likely to s%are him if he
might truly ha'e been charged &ith them( The first that Bary ceased to be
a 'irgin &hen she had borne ChristE the second that all sins are eFual(
"either this nor that is &orthy the name of o%inionE it is mere unscri%tural
nay antiHscri%tural gossi%ing( 6re &e to blame or not rather to %raise the
an1iety manifested by the great di'ines of the church of England under the
Stuarts not to remo'e further than necessary from the Romish doctrinesI
,et one &ishes a bolder methodE for e1am%le as to BaryCs %ri'ate history
after the conce%tion and birth of Christ &e neither kno& nor care about it(
+b( c( >$( %( $L<(
/or the o%inions &here&ith !ierome chargeth him this &e briefly ans&er(
/irst if he absolutely denied that the Saints de%arted do %ray for us as it
seemeth he did by !ieromeCs re%rehension &e think he erred(
,et not hereticallyE and if he meant only that &e being &holly ignorant
&hether they do or no ought to act as if &e kne& they did not he is
%erfectly rightE for &hate'er ye do do it in faith( 6s to the ubiFuity of
saints it is ?erome &ho is the heretic nay idolater if he reduced his
o%inion to %ractice( +t %er%le1es me that /ield s%eaks so doubtingly on a
matter so %lain as the incommunicability of omni%resence(
+b( c( >7( %( $L3(
Touching the second objection that Bucer and Cal'in deny original sin
though not generally as did `uinglius yet at least in the children of the
faithful( +f he had said that these men affirm the earth doth mo'e and the
hea'ens stand still he might ha'e as soon justified it against them as this
he no& saith(
0ery noticeable( 6 similar %assage occurs e'en so late as in Sir Thomas
Bro&n just at the da&n of the "e&tonian system and after Ae%ler( .hat a
lesson of diffidence4 :;=
+b( %( $L;(
/or &e do not deny the distinction of 'enial and mortal sinsE but do think
that some sins are rightly said to be mortal and some 'enialE not for that
some are &orthy of eternal %unishment and therefore named mortal others
of tem%oral only and therefore judged 'enial as the Pa%ists imagine5 but
for that some e1clude grace out of that man in &hich they are found and so
lea'e him in a state &herein he hath nothing in himself that can or &ill
%rocure him %ardon5 and other &hich though in themsel'es considered and
ne'er remitted they be &orthy of eternal %unishment yet do not so far
%re'ail as to banish grace the fountain of remission of all misdoings(
.ould not the necessary conseFuence of this be that there are no actions
that can be %ronounced mortal sins by mortalsE and that &hat &e might
fancy 'enial might in indi'idual cases be mortal and C'ice 'ersaC(
+b(
/irst because e'ery offence against God may justly be %unished by him in
the strictness of his righteous judgments &ith eternal death yea &ith
annihilationE &hich a%%eareth to be most true for that there is no
%unishment so e'il and so much to be a'oided as the least sin that may be
imagined( So that a man should rather choose eternal death yea utter
annihilation than commit the least offence in the &orld(
+ admit this to be Scri%turalE but &hat is &anted is clearly to state the
difference bet&een eternal death and annihilation( /or &ho &ould not
%refer the latter if the former mean e'erlasting miseryI
+b( c( L$( %( <7(
But he &ill say Cy%rian calleth the Roman Church the %rinci%al Church
&hence sacerdotal unity hath her s%ringE hereunto &e ans&er that the
Roman Church not in %o&er of o'erruling all but in order is the first and
%rinci%alE and that therefore &hile she continueth to hold the truth and
encroacheth not u%on the right of other Churches she is to ha'e the
%riorityE but that in either of these cases she may be forsaken &ithout
breach of that unity &hich is essentially reFuired in the %arts of the Church(
This is too large a concession( The real ground of the %riority of the Roman
see &as that Rome for the first three or %erha%s four centuries &as the
metro%olis of the Christian &orld( 6fter&ards for the 'ery same reason the
Patriarch of "e& Rome or Constantino%le claimed itE and ne'er ceased to
assert at least a coHeFuality( !ad the 6%ostolic foundation been the cause
?erusalem and 6ntioch must ha'e had %riorityE not to add that the Roman
Church &as not founded by either Paul or Peter as is e'ident from the
e%istle to the Romans(
6%%end( B( +++( %( 789(
+ do not think the attack on Transubstantiation the most successful %oint of
the orthodo1 Protestant contro'ersialists( The Fuestion is &hat is meant in
Scri%ture as in C?ohnC 'i( by ChristCs body or flesh and blood( Surely not the
'isible tangible accidental body that is a cycle of images and sensations
in the imagination of the beholdersE but his su%ersensual body the
CnoumenonC of his human nature &hich &as united to his di'ine nature(
+n this sense + understand the Lutheran ubiFuity( But may not the
*oblations* referred to by /ield in the old canon of the Bass ha'e meant
the alms offerings al&ays gi'en at the EucharistI +f by *substance* in the
enunciation of the article be meant Cid Fuod 'ere estC and if the di'ine
nature be the sole Cens 'ere ensC then it is %ossible to gi'e a %hiloso%hically
intelligible sense to LutherCs doctrine of consubstantiationE at least to a
doctrine that might bear the same nameEDat all e'ents the mystery is not
greater than if it be not rather the same as the assum%tion of the human by
the di'ine nature(
"o& for the %ossible conce%tion of this &e must accurately discriminate
the Cincom%ossibile negati'umC from the Cincom%atibile %ri'ati'umC( Of the
latter are all %ositi'e im%erfections as error 'ice and e'il %assionsE of the
former sim%le limitation(
Thus if CJ%er im%ossibleKC human nature could make itself sinless and
%erfect it &ould become or %ass into GodE and if God should abstract from
human nature all im%erfection it might &ithout im%ro%riety be affirmed
e'en as Scri%ture doth affirm that God assumed or took u% into himself the
human nature(
Thus to use a dim similitude and merely as a faint illustration all
materiality abstracted from a circle it &ould become s%ace and though not
infinite yet one &ith infinite s%ace( The mystery of omni%resence greatly
aids this conce%tionE Ctotus in omni %arteC5 and in truth this is the di'ine
character of all the Christian mysteries that they aid each other and many
incom%rehensibles render each of them in a certain Fualified sense less
incom%rehensible(
+b( %( 78;(
But first it is im%ious to think of destroying Christ in any sort( /or though
it be true that in sacrificing of Christ on the altar of the cross the
destroying and killing of him &as im%lied and this his death &as the life of
the &orld yet all that concurred to the killing of him as the ?e&s the
Roman soldiers Pilate and ?udas sinned damnably and so had done
though they had shed his blood &ith an intention and desire that by it the
&orld might be redeemed(
+s not this going too farI .ould it not im%ly almost that Christ himself
could not righteously sacrifice himself es%ecially &hen &e consider that
the Romanists &ould ha'e a right to say that Christ himself had
commanded itI But BellarmineCs conceit :2= is so absurd that it scarce
deser'es the com%liment of a serious confutation( /or if sacramental being
be o%%osed to natural or material as CnoumenonC to C%hZnomenonC %lace is
no attribute or %ossible accident of it Cin seCE conseFuently no alteration of
%lace relati'ely to us can affect much less destroy itE and e'en &ere it
other&ise yet translocation is not destructionE for the body of Christ
according to themsel'es doth indeed nourish our souls e'en as a fish eaten
sustains another fish but yet &ith this essential difference that it ceases not
to be and remain itself and instead of being con'erted con'ertsE so that
truly the only things sacrificed in the strict sense are all the e'il Fualities or
deficiencies &hich di'ide our souls from Christ(
+b( %( 7$;(
That &hich &e do is done in remembrance of that &hich &as then doneE for
he saith C)o this in remembrance of me(C
This is a CmetastasisC of Scri%ture( C)o this in remembrance of meC that is
that &hich Christ &as then doing( But Christ &as not then suffering or
dying on the cross(
+b( %(77>(
That the Saints do %ray for us Cin genereC desiring God to be merciful to us
and to do unto us &hatsoe'er in any kind he kno&eth needful for our good
there is no Fuestion made by us(
To ha'e %laced this Fuestion in its true light so as to ha'e allo&ed the full
force to the Scri%tures asserting the communion of Saints and the efficacy
of their intercession &ithout undue concessions to the ChierolatriaC of the
Romish church &ould ha'e im%lied an acFuaintance &ith the science of
transcendental analysis and an insight into the %hiloso%hy of ideas not to
be e1%ected in /ield and &hich &as then only da&ning in the mind of Lord
Bacon( The %ro%er re%ly to Brerely &ould be this5 the communion and
intercession of Saints is an idea and must be ke%t such( But the Romish
church has changed it a&ay into the detail of %articular and indi'idual
conce%tions and imaginations into names and fancies(
"(B( +nstead of the CRoman CatholicC read throughout in this and all other
&orks and e'ery&here and on all occasions unless &here the duties of
formal courtesy forbid say the CRomish antiHCatholic ChurchEC RomishDto
mark that the corru%tions in disci%line doctrine and %ractice do for the
&orst and far larger %art o&e both their origin and their %er%etuation to the
court and local tribunals of the city of Rome and are not and ne'er ha'e
been the catholic that is uni'ersal faith of the Roman em%ire or e'en of
the &hole Latin or .estern churchE and antiHCatholicDbecause no other
Church acts on so narro& and e1communicati'e a %rinci%le or is
characteriGed by such a jealous s%irit of mono%oly and %articularism
counterfeiting catholicity by a negati'e totality and heretical selfH
circumscri%tion cutting off or cutting herself off from all the other
members of ChristCs Body(
$7th Barch $;7L(
+t is of the utmost im%ortance &here'er clear and distinct conce%tions are
reFuired to make out in the first instance &hether the term in Fuestion or
the main terms of the Fuestion in dis%ute re%resents or re%resent a fact or
class of facts sim%ly or some selfHestablished and %re'iously kno&n idea
or %rinci%le of &hich the facts are instances and realiGations or &hich is
introduced in order to e1%lain and account for the facts( "o& the term
CmeritsC as a%%lied to 6braham and the saints belongs to the former( +t is a
mere Cnomen a%%ellati'umC of the facts(
+b( c( 9( %( 797(
The Pa%ists and &e agree that original sin is the %ri'ation of original
righteousnessE but they su%%ose there &as in nature &ithout that addition of
grace a %o&er to do good Tc(
"othing seems &anting to this argument but a %re'ious definition and
e1%lanation of the term Cnature(C /ield a%%ears to ha'e seen the truth
namely that nature itself is a %eccant J+ had almost said an unnaturalK state
or rather no State at all :Greek5 ou stQsis allC a%Nstasis=(
+b( c( <( %( 7<2(
6nd surely the &ords of 6ugustine do not im%ort that she had no sin but
that she o'ercame it &hich argueth a conflictE neither doth he say he &ill
ackno&ledge she &as &ithout sin but that he &ill not mo'e any Fuestion
touching her in this dis%ute of sins and sinners(
.hy not say at once that this antiHScri%tural su%erstition had already
begunI + scarcely kno& &hether to be %leased or grie'ed &ith that edging
on to&ard the Roman creed that e1ceeding almost Scri%tural tenderness
for the di'ines of the fourth fifth and si1th centuries &hich distinguishes
the Church of England dignitaries from EliGabeth inclusi'ely to our
Re'olution in $<;; from other Protestants(
+b( c( $8( %( 732(
)er&ent4 should this %age chance to fall under your eye for my sake read
fag subdue and take u% into your %ro%er mind this cha%ter $8 of /ree .ill(
+b( %( 7;$(
Of these fi'e kinds of liberty the t&o first agree only to God so that in the
highest degree :Greek5 to aute1o\sion= that is freedom of &ill is %ro%er to
God onlyE and in this sense Cal'in and Luther rightly deny that the &ill of
any creature is or e'er &as free(
+ add e1ce%t as in God and God in us( "o& the latter alone is &illE for it
alone is Cens su%er ensC( 6nd here lies the mystery &hich + dare not o%enly
and %romiscuously re'eal(
+b(
,et doth not GodCs &orking u%on the &ill take from it the %o&er of
dissenting and doing the contraryE but so inclineth it that ha'ing liberty to
do other&ise yet she &ill actually determine so(
This &ill not do( .ere it true then my understanding &ould be free in a
mathematical %ro%ortionE or the &hole %osition amounts only to this that
the &ill though com%elled is still the &ill( Be it soE yet not a free &ill( +n
short Luther and Cal'in are right so far( 6 creaturely &ill cannot be freeE
but the &ill in a rational creature may cease to be creaturely and the
creature :Greek5 a%Nstasis= finally cease in conseFuenceE and this neither
Luther nor Cal'in seem to ha'e seen( +n short &here omni%otence is on
one side &hat but utter im%otence can remain for the otherI To make
freedom %ossible the CantithesisC must be remo'ed( The remo'al of this
CantithesisC of the creature to God is the object of the Redem%tion and
forms the glorious liberty of the Gos%el( Bore than this + am not %ermitted
to e1%ose(
+b( %( 7;>(
+t is not gi'en nor is it &anting to all men to ha'e an insight into the
mystery of the human &ill and its mode of inherence on the &ill &hich is
God as the ineffable Ccausa suiCE but this cha%ter &ill suffice to con'ince
you that the doctrines of Cal'in &ere those of Luther in this %ointEDthat
they are intensely meta%hysical and that they are di'erse Ctoto genereC from
the merely moral and %sychologicalD tenets of the modern Cal'inists(
Cal'in &ould ha'e e1claimed Cfire and fagots4C before he had gotten
through a hundred %ages of )r( .illiamsCs Bodern Cal'inism(
+b( c( $$( %( 72<(
"either can 0ega a'oid the e'idence of the testimonies of the /athers and
the decree of the Council of Trent so that he must be forced to confess that
no man can so collecti'ely fulfil the la& as not to sin and conseFuently
that no man can %erform that the la& reFuireth(
The %aralogism of 0ega as to this %er%le1ing Fuestion seems to lurk in the
%osition that God gi'es a la& &hich it is im%ossible &e should obey
collecti'ely( But the truth is that the la& &hich God ga'e and &hich from
the essential holiness of his nature it is im%ossible he should not ha'e
gi'en man de%ri'ed himself of the ability to obey( 6nd &as the la& of God
therefore to be annulledI Bust the sun cease to shine because the earth has
become a morass so that e'en that 'ery glory of the sun hath become a
ne& cause of its steaming u% clouds and 'a%ors that strangle the raysI God
forbid4 CBut for the la& + had not sinnedC( But had + not been sinful the la&
&ould not ha'e occasioned me to sin but &ould ha'e clothed me &ith
righteousness by the transmission of its s%lendour( CLet God be just and
e'ery man a liarC(
B( i'( c( L( %( >L<(
The Church of God is named the CPillar of TruthEC not as if truth did
de%end on the Church Tc(
/ield might ha'e strengthened his argument by mention of the custom of
not only affi1ing records and testimonials to the %illars but books Tc(
+b( c( 3( %( >9>(
Others therefore to a'oid this absurdity run into that other before
mentioned that &e belie'e the things that are di'ine by the mere and
absolute command of our &ill not finding any sufficient moti'es and
reasons of %ersuasion(
/ield nor Count Birandula ha'e %enetrated to the heart of this most
fundamental Fuestion( +n all %ro%er faith the &ill is the %rime agent but not
therefore the choice( ,ou may call it reason if you &ill but then carefully
distinguish the s%eculati'e from the %ractical reason and the reason itself
from the understanding(
+b( c( ;( %( >9<(
C+llius 'irtuteC Jsaith heK Cilluminati jam non aut nostro aut aliorum judicio
credimus a )eo esse Scri%turam sed su%ra humanum judicium certo certius
constituimus non secus ac si i%sius )ei numen illic intueremur hominum
ministerio ab i%sissimo )ei ore flu1isse(C
Greatly doth this fine %assage need e1%lanation that kno&ing &hat it doth
mean the reader may understand &hat it doth not mean nor of necessity
im%ly( .ithout this insight our faith may be terribly shaken by difficulties
and objections( /or e1am%leE +f all the Scri%ture then each com%onent %artE
thence e'ery faithful Christian infallible and so on(
+b( %( >93(
+n the second the light of di'ine reason causeth a%%robation of that they
belie'e5 in the third sort the %urity of di'ine understanding a%%rehendeth
most certainly the things belie'ed and causeth a foretasting of those things
that hereafter more fully shall be enjoyed(
!ere too /ield distinguishes the understanding from the reason as
e1%erience follo&ing %erce%tion of sense( But as %erce%tion through the
mere %resence of the object %ercei'ed &hether to the out&ard or inner
sense is not insight &hich belongs to the Clight of reasonC therefore /ield
marks it by C%urityC that is unmi1ed &ith fleshly sensations or the CidolaC of
the bodily eye( Though /ield is by no means consistent in his Ce%ithetaC of
the understanding he seldom confounds the &ord itself( +n theological
Latin the understanding as influenced and combined &ith the affections
and desires is most freFuently e1%ressed by CcorC the heart( )oubtless the
most con'enient form of a%%ro%riating the terms &ould be to consider the
understanding as manCs intelligential faculty &hate'er be its object the
sensible or the intelligible &orldE &hile reason is the triHunity as it &ere of
the s%iritual eye light and object(
+b( c( $8( %( >9;(
Of the Pa%ists %referring the ChurchCs authority before the Scri%ture(
/ield from the nature and s%ecial %ur%ose of his contro'ersy is reluctant to
admit any error in the /athersDtoo much so indeedE and this is an
instance( .e all kno& &hat &e mean by the Scri%tures but ho& kno& &e
&hat they mean by the Church &hich is neither thing nor %ersonI But this
is a 'ery difficult subject(
+b( %( >92(
/irst so as if the Church might define contrary to the Scri%tures as she
may contrary to the &ritings of %articular men ho& great soe'er(
0erbally the more sober di'ines of the Church of Rome do not assert thisE
but %ractically and by conseFuence they do( /or if the Church assign a
sense contradictory to the true sense of the Scri%ture none dare gainsay it(
:$8=
+b(
This &e deny and &ill in due %lace Cim%ro'eC their error herein(
That is %ro'e against detect or confute(
+b( c( $$( %( ><8(
+f the com%arison be made bet&een the Church consisting of all the
belie'ers that are and ha'e been since Christ a%%eared in the flesh so
including the 6%ostles and their blessed assistants the E'angelists &e
deny not but that the Church is of greater authority antiFuity and
e1cellency than the Scri%tures of the "e& Testament as the &itness is
better than his testimony and the la&Hgi'er greater than the la&s made by
him as Sta%leton allegeth(
The Scri%tures may be and are an intelligible and real one but the Church
on earth can in no sense be such in and through itself that is its com%onent
%arts but only by their common adherence to the body of truth made
%resent in the Scri%ture( Surely you &ould not distinguish the Scri%ture
from its contentsI
+b( c( $7( %( ><$(
/or the better understanding &hereof &e must obser'e as Occam fitly
noteth that an article of faith is sometimes strictly taken only for one of
those di'ine 'erities &hich are contained in the Creed of the 6%ostles5
sometimes generally for any catholic 'erity(
+ am %ersuaded that this di'ision &ill not bear to be e1%anded into all its
legitimate conseFuences Csine %ericulo 'el fidei 'el charitatisC( + should
substitute the follo&ing5
$( The essentials of that sa'ing faith &hich ha'ing its root and its %ro%er
and %rimary seat in the moral &ill that is in the heart and affections is
necessary for each and e'ery indi'idual member of the church of Christ5D
7( Those truths &hich are essential and necessary in order to the logical and
rational %ossibility of the former and the belief and assertion of &hich are
indis%ensable to the Church at large as those truths &ithout &hich the body
of belie'ers the Christian &orld could not ha'e been and cannot be
continued though it be %ossible that in this body this or that indi'idual may
be sa'ed &ithout the conscious kno&ledge of or an e1%licit belief in them(
+b(
6nd therefore before and &ithout such determination men seeing clearly
the deduction of things of this nature from the former and refusing to
belie'e them are condemned of heretical %ertinacy(
Rather + should think of a nondescri%t lunacy than of heretical %ra'ity( 6
child may e1%licitly kno& that 9 W 9 X $8 yet not see that therefore $8 H 9
X 9E but &hen he has seen it ho& he can refrain from belie'ing the latter as
much as the former + ha'e no conce%tion(
+b( c( $<( %( ><3(
6nd the third of jurisdictionE and so they that ha'e su%reme %o&er that is
the Bisho%s assembled in a general Council may inter%ret the Scri%tures
and by their authority su%%ress all them that shall gainsay such
inter%retations and subject e'ery man that shall disobey such
determinations as they consent u%on to e1communication and censures of
like nature(
This &ould be satisfactory if only /ield had cleared the %oint of the
communion in the LordCs Su%%erE &hether taken s%iritually though in
conseFuence of e1communication not ritually it yet sufficeth to sal'ation(
+f so e1communication is merely declarati'e and the e'il follo&s not the
declaration but that &hich is truly declared as &hen Richard says that
/rancis deser'es the gallo&s as a robber( The gallo&s de%ends on the fact
of the robbery not on RichardCs saying(
+b( c( 72( %( >2$(
+n the $ Cor( $9( the Greek that no& is hath in all co%iesE Cthe first man
&as of the earth earthlyE the second man is the Lord from hea'enC( The
latter %art of this sentence Tertullian su%%oseth to ha'e been corru%ted and
altered by the Barcionites( +nstead of that the Latin te1t hathE Cthe second
man &as from hea'en hea'enlyC as 6mbrose !ierome and many of the
/athers read also(
There ought to be and &ith any man of taste there can be no doubt that our
'ersion is the true one( That of 6mbrose and ?erome is &orthy of mere
rhetoriciansE a flat formal %lay of CantithesisC instead of the &eight and
solemnity of the other( :$$= 6ccording to the former the scales are e'en in
the latter the scale of Christ dro%s do&n at once and the other flies to the
beam like a feather &eighed against a mass of gold(
6%%end( Part( +( s( L( %( 397(
6nd again he saith that e'ery soul immediately u%on the de%arture hence
is in this a%%ointed in'isible %lace ha'ing there either %ain or ease and
refreshingE that there the rich man is in %ain and the %oor in a comfortable
estate( /or saith he &hy should &e not think that the souls are tormented
or refreshed in this in'isible %lace a%%ointed for them in e1%ectation of the
future judgmentI
This may be adduced as an instance s%ecially of the e'il conseFuences of
introducing the CidolonC of time as an Cens realeC into s%iritual doctrines thus
understanding literally &hat St( Paul had e1%ressed by figure and
ada%tation( !ence the doctrine of a middle state and hence Purgatory &ith
all its abominationsE and an instance generally of the incalculable %ossible
im%ortance of s%eculati'e errors on the ha%%iness and 'irtue of manHkind(
:/ootnote $5 /olio $<7;(DEd(=
:/ootnote 75 The follo&ing letter &as &ritten on and addressed &ith the
book to the Re'( )er&ent Coleridge(DEd(=
:/ootnote >5 CP( L(C +++( L;3(DEd(=
:/ootnote L5 i( 73( See C6ids to ReflectionC( >d edit( %( $3( n(DEd(=
:/ootnote 95
U &hence the soul Reason recei'es and reason is her being )iscursi'e or
intuiti'e(
CP( L(C '( L7<(DEd(=
:/ootnote <5 The reader of the C6ids to ReflectionC &ill recogniGe in this
note the rough original of the %assages %( >$> Tc( of the >d edition of that
&ork(DEd(=
:/ootnote 35 See CTable TalkC 7d edit( %( 7;>( BelancthonCs &ords to
Cal'in are5
CTuo judicio %rorsus assentior( 6ffirmu etiam 'estros magistratus juste
fecisse Fuod hominem blas%hemum re ordine judicata interfecerunt(C
$Lth Oct( $99L(DEd(
:/ootnote ;5
*But to circle the earth Cas the hea'enly bodies doCC Tc( CSo &e may see
that the o%inion of Co%ernicus touching the rotation of the earth &hich
astronomy itself cannot correct because it is not re%ugnant to any of the
C%hZnomenaC yet Cnatural history may correctC(*
C6d'ancement of LearningC B( ++(DEd(=
:/ootnote 25 That Christ had a t&ofold being natural and sacramentalE that
the ?e&s destroyed and sacrificed his natural being and that Christian
%riests destroy and sacrifice in the Bass his sacramental being(DEd(=
:/ootnote $85
C/ides catholicaC says Bellarmine Cdocet omnem 'irtutem esse bonam
omne 'itium esse malum( Si autem erraret Pa%a %rZci%iendo 'itia 'el
%rohibendo 'irtutes teneretur Ecclesia credere 'itia esse bona et 'irtutes
malas nisi 'ellet contra conscientiam %eccare(C
C)e Pont( RomanC( +0( 9(DEd(=
:/ootnote $$5 The ordinary Greek te1t is5
:Greek5 ho de\teros anthro%os ho Ayrios e1 ouranou=(
The 0ulgate is5
C%rimus homo de terra terrenusE secundus homo de coelis coelestis(CDEd(=
NOTES ON DONNE. [1]
There ha'e been many and those illustrious di'ines in our Church from
EliGabeth to the %resent day &ho o'er'aluing the accident of antiFuity and
arbitrarily determining the a%%ro%riation of the &ords CancientC C%rimiti'eC
and the like to a certain date as for e1am%le to all before the fourth fifth
or si1th century &ere resolute %rotesters against the corru%tions and
tyranny of the Romish hierarch and yet lagged behind Luther and the
Reformers of the first generation( !ence + ha'e long seen the necessity or
e1%edience of a threefold di'ision of di'ines( There are many &hom God
forbid that + should call Pa%istic or like Laud Bontague !eylyn and
others longing for a Po%e at Lambeth &hom yet + dare not name
6%ostolic( Therefore + di'ide our theologians into
$( 6%ostolic or Pauline5 7( Patristic5 >( Pa%al(
E'en in )onne and still more in Bisho%s 6ndre&s and !ackett there is a
strong Patristic lea'en( +n ?eremy Taylor this taste for the /athers and all
the Saints and Schoolmen before the Reformation amounted to a dislike of
the di'ines of the continental Protestant Churches Lutheran or Cal'inistic(
But this must in %art at least be attributed to TaylorCs keen feelings as a
Carlist and a sufferer by the Puritan antiH%relatic %arty(
+ &ould thus class the %entad of o%erati'e Christianity5D
CProthesisC
Christ the .ord
CThesisC CBesothesisC C6ntithesisC
The Scri%tures The !oly S%irit The Church
CSynthesisC
The Preacher
The Pa%acy ele'ated the Church to the 'irtual e1clusion or su%%ression of
the Scri%tures5 the modern Church of England since Chilling&orth has so
raised u% the Scri%tures as to annul the ChurchE both alike ha'e Fuenched
the !oly S%irit as the CmesothesisC of the t&o and substituted an alien
com%ound for the genuine Preacher &ho should be the CsynthesisC of the
Scri%tures and the Church and the sensible 'oice of the !oly S%irit(
Serm( +( Coloss( i( $2 78( %( $(
+b( E(
.hat could God %ay for meI .hat could God sufferI God himself could
notE and therefore God hath taken a body that could(
God forgi'e meDor those &ho first set abroad this strange :Greek5
metQbasis eis allo gRnos= this debtor and creditor scheme of e1%ounding
the mystery of Redem%tion or both4 But + ne'er can read the &ords CGod
himself could notE and therefore took a body that couldCD&ithout being
reminded of the monkey that took the catCs %a& to take the chestnuts out of
the fire and claimed the merit of %ussCs sufferings( + am sure ho&e'er that
the ludicrous images under &hich this gloss of the Cal'inists embodies
itself to my fancy ne'er disturb my recollections of the adorable mystery
itself( +t is clear that a body remaining a body can only suffer as a body5
for no faith can enable us to belie'e that the same thing can be at once 6(
and not 6( "o& that the body of our Lord &as not transelemented or
transnatured by the C%leromaC ind&elling &e are %ositi'ely assured by
Scri%ture( Therefore it &ould follo& from this most unscri%tural doctrine
that the di'ine justice had satisfaction made to it by the suffering of a body
&hich had been brought into e1istence for this s%ecial %ur%ose in lieu of
the debt of eternal misery due from and le'iable on the bodies and souls
of all mankind4 +t is to this gross %er'ersion of the sublime idea of the
Redem%tion by the cross that &e must attribute the rejection of the
doctrine of redem%tion by the @nitarian and of the Gos%el Cin totoC by the
more conseFuent )eist(
+b( %( 7( C(
6nd yet e'en this d&elling fullness e'en in this %erson Christ ?esus by no
title of merit in himself but only CFuia com%lacuitC because it %leased the
/ather it should be so(
This in the intention of the %reacher may ha'e been sound but &as it safe
di'inityI +n order to the latter methinks a less eFui'ocal &ord than C%ersonC
ought to ha'e been ado%tedE as Cthe body and soul of the man ?esus
considered abstractedly from the di'ine Logos &ho in it took u% humanity
into deity and &as Christ ?esus(C )are &e say that there &as no selfH
subsistent though &e admit no selfHoriginated merit in the ChristI +t seems
%lain to me that in this and sundry other %assages of St( Paul Cthe /atherC
means the total triune Godhead(
+t a%%ears to me that di'iding the Church of England into t&o ZrasDthe
first from Ridley to /ield or from Ed&ard 0+( to the commencement of the
latter third of the reign of ?ames + and the second ending &ith Bull and
Stillingfleet &e might characteriGe their com%arati'e e1cellences thus5
That the di'ines of the first Zra had a dee%er more genial and a more
%ractical insight into the mystery of Redem%tion in the relation of man
to&ard both the act and the author namely in all the inchoati'e states the
regeneration and the o%erations of sa'ing grace generallyED&hile those of
the second Zra %ossessed clearer and distincter 'ie&s concerning the nature
and necessity of Redem%tion in the relation of God to&ard man and
concerning the connection of Redem%tion &ith the article of TriHunityE and
abo'e all that they sur%assed their %redecessors in a more safe and
determinate scheme of the di'ine economy of the three %ersons in the one
undi'ided Godhead( This indeed &as mainly o&ing to Bisho% BullCs
masterly &ork C)e /ide "icZnaC :7= &hich in the ne1t generation
.aterland so admirably maintained on the one hand against the
%hiloso%hy of the 6riansDthe combat ending in the death and burial of
6rianism and its descent and Cmetem%sychosisC into Socinianism and
thence again into modern @nitarianismDand on the other e1treme against
the oscillatory creed of Sherlock no& s&inging to Tritheism in the recoil
from Sabellianism and again to Sabellianism in the recoil from Tritheism(
+b(
/irst &e are to consider this fullness to ha'e been in Christ and then from
this fullness arose his meritsE &e can consider no merit in Christ himself
before &hereby he should merit this fullnessE for this fullness &as in him
before he merited any thingE and but for this fullness he had not so merited(
C+lle homo ut in unitatem filii )ei assumeretur unde meruitCI !o& did that
man Jsays St( 6ugustine s%eaking of Christ as of the son of manK ho& did
that man merit to be united in one %erson &ith the eternal Son of GodI
C[uid egit anteI [uid crediditCI .hat had he doneI "ay &hat had he
belie'edI !ad he either faith or &orks before that union of both naturesI
)r( )onne and St( 6ugustine said this &ithout offenceE but + much Fuestion
&hether the same &ould be endured no&( That it is ho&e'er in the s%irit
of Paul and of the Gos%el + doubt not to affirm and that this great truth is
obscured by &hat in my judgment is the %ostH6%ostolic CChristo%ZdiaC +
am inclined to think(
+b(
.hat canst thou imagine he could foresee in theeI a %ro%ensness a
dis%osition to goodness &hen his grace should comeI Either there is no
such %ro%ensness no such dis%osition in thee or if there be e'en that
%ro%ensness and dis%osition to the good use of grace is graceE it is an effect
of former grace and his grace &rought before he sa& any such
%ro%ensness any such dis%ositionE grace &as first and his grace is his it is
none of thine(
One of many instances in dogmatic theology in &hich the half of a di'ine
truth has %assed into a fearful error by being mistaken for the &hole truth(
+b( %( <( )(
GodCs justice reFuired blood but that blood is not s%ilt but %oured from
that head to our hearts into the 'eins and &ounds of our o&n souls5 there
&as blood shed but no blood lost(
+t is affecting to obser'e ho& this great manCs mind s&ays and oscillates
bet&een his reason &hich demands in the &ord CbloodC a symbolic
meaning a s%iritual inter%retation and the habitual a&e for the letterE so
that he himself seems uncertain &hether he means the %hysical lym%h
CserumC and globules that trickled from the &ounds of the nails and thorns
do&n the sides and face of ?esus or the blood of the Son of Ban &hich he
&ho drinketh not cannot li'e( ,ea it is most affecting to see the struggles
of so great a mind to %reser'e its inborn fealty to the reason under the
ser'itude to an acce%ted article of belief &hich &as alas4 confounded &ith
the high obligations of faithEDfaith the coHadunation of the finite
indi'idual &ill &ith the uni'ersal reason by the submission of the former
to the latter( To reconcile redem%tion by the material blood of ?esus &ith
the mind of the s%irit he seeks to s%iritualiGe the material blood itself in all
men4 6nd a dee% truth lies hidden e'en in this( +ndeed the &hole is a
%rofound subject the true solution of &hich may best GodCs grace
assisting be sought for in the collation of Paul &ith ?ohn and s%ecially in
St( PaulCs assertion that &e are ba%tiGed into the death of Christ that &e
may be %artakers of his resurrection and life( :>= +t &as not on the 'isible
cross it &as not directing attention to the bloodHdro%s on his tem%les and
sides that our blessed Redeemer said CThis is my bodyC and Cthis is my
blood4
+b( %( 2( 6(
But if &e consider those &ho are in hea'en and ha'e been so from the first
minute of their creation angels &hy ha'e they or ho& ha'e they any
reconciliationI Tc(
The history and successi'e meanings of the term CangelsC in the Old and
"e& Testaments and the idea that shall reconcile all as so many se'eral
forms and as it &ere %ers%ecti'es of one and the same truthDthis is still a
CdesideratumC in Christian theology(
+b( C(
/or at the general resurrection J&hich is rooted in the resurrection of
Christ and so hath relation to himK the creature Cshall be deli'ered from the
bondage of corru%tion into the glorious liberty of the children of GodE for
&hich the &hole creation groans and tra'ails in %ain yetC( JRom( 'iii( 7$(K
This deli'erance then from this bondage the &hole creature hath by Christ
and that is their reconciliation( 6nd then are &e reconciled by the blood of
his cross &hen ha'ing crucified oursel'es by a true re%entance &e recei'e
the real reconciliation in his blood in the sacrament( But the most %ro%er
and most literal sense of these &ords is that all things in hea'en and earth
be reconciled to God Jthat is to his glory to a fitter dis%osition to glorify
himK by being reconciled to another in ChristE that in him as head of the
church they in hea'en and &e u%on earth be united together as one body
in the communion of saints(
6 'ery meagre and inadeFuate inter%retation of this sublime te1t( The
%hiloso%hy of life &hich &ill be the Ccorona et finis coronansC of the
sciences of com%arati'e anatomy and Goology &ill hereafter su%%ly a fuller
and nobler comment(
+b( %( 2( 6( and B(
The blood of the sacrifices &as brought by the high %riest Cin sanctum
sanctorumC into the %lace of greatest holinessE but it &as brought but once
Cin festo e1%iationisC in the feast of e1%iationE but in the other %arts of the
tem%le it &as s%rinkled e'ery day( The blood of the cross of Christ ?esus
hath had this effect Cin sancto sanctorumC Tc( U CJtoKC Christ ?esus(
6 truly e1cellent and beautiful %aragra%h(
+b( C(
+f you &ill mingle a true religion and a false religion there is no
reconciling of God and Belial in this te1t( /or the adhering of %ersons born
&ithin the Church of Rome to the Church of Rome our la& says nothing to
them if they comeE but for reconciling to the Church of Rome for %ersons
born &ithin the allegiance of the king or for %ersuading of men to be so
reconciled our la& hath called by an infamous and ca%ital name of treason
and yet e'ery ta'ern and ordinary is full of such traitors Tc(
6 strange transition from the Gos%el to the English statuteHbook4 But + may
obser'e that if this statement could be truly made under ?ames + there &as
abundantly am%ler ground for it in the follo&ing reign( 6nd yet &ith &hat
bitter s%leen does !eylyn LaudCs creature arraign the Parliamentarians for
making the same com%laint4
Serm( ++( +saiah 'ii( $L( %( $$(
The fear of gi'ing offence es%ecially to good men of &hose faith in all
essential %oints &e are %artakers may reasonably induce us to be slo& and
cautious in making u% our minds finally on a religious Fuestion and may
and ought to influence us to submit our con'iction to re%eated re'isals and
rehearings( But there may arri'e a time of such %erfect clearness of 'ie&
res%ecting the %articular %oint as to su%ersede all fear of man by the higher
duty of declaring the &hole truth in ?esus( Therefore ha'ing no&
o'er%assed si1Hse'enths of the ordinary %eriod allotted to human lifeD
resting my &hole and sole ho%e of sal'ation and immortality on the
di'inity of Christ and the redem%tion by his cross and %assion and holding
the doctrine of the Triune God as the 'ery ground and foundation of the
Gos%el faithD+ feel myself enforced by conscience to declare and a'o&
that in my deliberate judgment the CChristo%ZdiaC %refi1ed to the third
Gos%el and concor%orated &ith the first but according to my belief in its
%resent form the latest of the four &as unkno&n to or not recogniGed by
the 6%ostles Paul and ?ohnE and that instead of su%%orting the doctrine of
the Trinity and the /ilial Godhead of the +ncarnate .ord as set forth by
?ohn i $ and by Paul it if not altogether irreconcilable &ith this faith doth
yet greatly &eaken and bedim its e'idenceE and that by the too %al%able
contradictions bet&een the narrati'e in the first Gos%el and that in the third
it has been a fruitful magaGine of doubts res%ecting the historic character of
the Gos%els themsel'es( + ha'e read most of the criticisms on this te1t and
my im%ression is that no learned ?e& can be e1%ected to recei'e the
common inter%retation as the true %rimary sense of the &ords( The se'erely
literal 6Fuila renders the !ebre& &ord :Greek5 neanis=( But &ere it asked
of me5 )o you then belie'e our Lord to ha'e been the Son of Bary by
?ose%hI + re%ly5 +t is a %oint of religion &ith me to ha'e no belief one &ay
or the other( + am in this &ay like St( Paul more than content not to kno&
Christ himself :Greek5 kat_ sQrka=( +t is enough for me to kno& that the Son
of God Cbecame fleshC :Greek5 s_r1 egRneto genNmenos ek gynaikOs= :L=
and more than this it a%%ears to me &as unkno&n to the 6%ostles or if
kno&n not taught by them as a%%ertaining to a sa'ing faith in Christ(
October $;>$(
"ote the affinity in sound of CsonC and CsunC CSohnC and CSonneC &hich is not
confined to the Sa1on and German or the Gothic dialects generally( 6nd
obser'e Cconciliare 'ersahnenXconfiliare facere esse cum filioC one &ith
the Son(
+b( %( $3( B(
+t is a singular testimony ho& acce%table to God that state of 'irginity is(
!e does not dishonor %hysic that magnifies healthE nor does he dishonor
marriage that %raises 'irginityE let them embrace that state that can Tc(
One of the sad relics of Patristic su%erHmoraliGation aggra'ated by Pa%al
ambition &hich clung to too many di'ines es%ecially to those of the
second or third generation after Luther( Luther himself &as too s%iritual of
too heroic faith to be thus blinded by the declamations of the /athers
&hom &ith the e1ce%tion of 6ugustine he held in 'ery lo& esteem(
+b( )(
6nd !el'idius said she had children after(
C6nnon Scri%tura i%saCI 6nd a CheresyC too4 + think + might safely %ut the
Fuestion to any serious s%iritualHminded Christian5 .hat one inference
tending to edification in the disci%line of &ill mind or affections he can
dra& from the s%eculations of the last t&o or three %ages of this Sermon
res%ecting BaryCs %regnancy and %arturitionI CanD+ &rite it em%hatically
Dcan such %oints a%%ertain to our faith as Christians &hich e'ery %arent
&ould decline s%eaking of before a family and &hich if the Fuestions &ere
%ro%ounded by another in the %resence of my daughter aye or e'en of my
no less in mind and imagination innocent &ife + should resent as an
indecencyI
Serm( +++( Gal( i'( L 9( %( 78(
CGod sent forth his Son made of a &omanC(
+ ne'er can admit that :Greek5 genNmenon= and :Greek5 egRneto= in St(
Paul and St( ?ohn are adeFuately or e'en rightly rendered by the
English Cmade(C
+b( %( 7$ 6(
.hat miserable re'olutions and changes &hat do&nfalls &hat breakH
necks and %reci%itations may &e justly think oursel'es ordained to if &e
consider that in our coming into this &orld out of our mothersC &omb &e
do not make account that a child comes right e1ce%t it come &ith the head
for&ard and thereby %refigure that headlong falling into calamities &hich
it must suffer afterI
The taste for these forced and fantastic analogies )onne &ith the greater
number of the learned %relatic di'ines from ?ames +( to the Restoration
acFuired from that too great %artiality for the /athers from +renZus to
Bernard by &hich they sought to distinguish themsel'es from the Puritans(
+b( C(
That no& they Jthe ?e&sK e1%ress a kind of conditional ackno&ledgment of
it by this barbarous and inhuman custom of theirs that they al&ays kee% in
readiness the blood of some Christian &ith &hich they anoint the body of
any that dies amongst them &ith these &ordsE *+f ?esus Christ &ere the
Bessias then may the blood of this Christian a'ail thee to sal'ation4*
+s it %ossible that )onne could ha'e gi'en credit to this absurd legend4 +t
&as + am a&are not an age of critical CacumenCE grit bran and flour &ere
s&allo&ed in the unsifted mass of their erudition( Still that a man like
)onne should ha'e im%osed on himself such a set of idle tales as he has
collected in the ne1t %aragra%h for facts of history is scarcely credibleE that
he should ha'e attem%ted to im%ose them on others is most melancholy(
+b( %( 77( )( E(
!e takes the name of the son of a &oman and C&anesC the miraculous name
of the son of a 'irgin(DChrist C&anedC the glorious name of Son of God
and the miraculous name of Son of a 'irgin tooE &hich is not omitted to
dra& into doubt the %er%etual 'irginity of the blessed 'irgin the mother of
Christ Tc(
0ery ingeniousE but like&ise 'ery %resum%tuous this arbitrary attribution
of St( PaulCs silence and %resumable ignorance of the 'irginity of Bary to
ChristCs o&n determination to ha'e the fact %assed o'er(
"(B( +s C&aneC a mis%rint for C&a'eC or C&ai'eIC +t occurs so often as to
render its being an CerratumC im%robableE yet + do not remember to ha'e met
else&here C&aneC used for CdeclineC as a 'erb acti'e(
+b( %( 7>( 6(
+f there &ere reason for it it &ere no miracle(
The announcement of the first comet that had e'er been obser'ed might
e1cite doubt in the mind of an astronomer to &hom from the %lace &here
he li'ed it had not been 'isible( But his reason could ha'e been no
objection to it( !ad God %leased all &omen might ha'e concei'ed :Greek5
aneu tou andrOs= as many of the C%oly%iC and C%lanariZC do( "ot on any such
ground do + sus%end myself on this as an article of faithE but because +
doubt the e'idence(
+b( %( 79( 6DE(
Though &e may think thus in the la& of reason yet Tc(
+t is and has been a misfortune a grie'ous and manifold loss and
hindrance for the interests of moral and s%iritual truth that e'en our best
and most 'igorous theologians and %hiloso%hers of the age from Ed&ard
0+( to ?ames ++( so generally confound the terms and so too often confound
the subjects themsel'es reason and understandingE yet the di'ersity the
difference in kind &as kno&n to and clearly admitted by many of themD
by !ooker for instance and it is im%lied in the &hole of BaconCs C"o'um
OrganumC( +nstead of the Cla& of reasonC )onne meant and ought to ha'e
said Cjudging according to the ordinary %resum%tions of the understandingC
that is the faculty &hich generaliGing %articular e1%eriences judges of the
future by analogy to the %ast(
Taking the &ords ho&e'er in their 'ulgar sense + most deliberately
%rotest against all the %aragra%hs in this %age from 6 to E and should cite
them &ith a host of others as sad effects of the confusion of the reason and
the understanding and of the conseFuent abdication of the former instead
of the bounden submission of the latter to a higher light( /aith itself is but
an act of the &ill assenting to the reason on its o&n e'idence &ithout and
e'en against the understanding( This indeed is + fully agree to be brought
into ca%ti'ity to the faith( :9=
+b( %( 7<( 6( B(
6nd therefore to be Cunder the La&C signifies here thus muchE to be a
debtor to the la& of nature to ha'e a testimony in our hearts and
consciences that there lies a la& u%on us &hich &e ha'e no %o&er in
oursel'es to %erform Tc(
This e1%osition of the term Cla&C in the e%istles of St( Paul is most just and
im%ortant( The &hole should be ado%ted among the notes to the e%istle to
the Romans in e'ery Bible %rinted &ith notes(
+b( %( 73( 6(
6nd this &as his first &ork Cto redeemC to 'indicate them from the usur%er
to deli'er them from the intruder to emanci%ate them from the tyrant to
cancel the co'enant bet&een hell and them and restore them so far to their
liberty as that they might come to their first master if they &ouldE this &as
Credeeming(C
There is an absurdity in the notion of a finite di'ided from and
su%eraddible to the infiniteDof a %articular CFuantumC of %o&er se%arated
from not included in omni%otence or allH%o&er( But alas4 &e too
generally use the terms that are meant to e1%ress the absolute as mere
com%arati'es taken su%erlati'ely( +n one thing only are &e %ermitted and
bound to assert a di'ersity namely in God and C!adesC the good and the
e'il &ill( This a&ful mystery this truth at once certain and
incom%rehensible is at the bottom of all religionE and to e1hibit this truth
free from the dark %hantom of the Banicheans or the t&o coHeternal and
coHordinate %rinci%les of good and e'il is the glory of the Christian
religion(
But this mysterious di'iduity of the good and the e'il &ill the &ill of the
s%irit and the &ill of the flesh must not be carried beyond the terms CgoodC
and Ce'il(C There can be but one good &illDthe s%irit in allEDand e'en so
all e'il &ills are one e'il &ill the de'il or e'il s%irit( But then the One
e1ists for us as finite intelligences necessarily in a t&oHfold relation
uni'ersal and %articular( The same S%irit &ithin us %leads to the S%irit as
&ithout usE and in like manner is e'ery e'il mind in communion &ith the
e'il s%irit( But O comfort4 the good alone is the actual the e'il essentially
%otential( !ence the de'il is most a%%ro%riately named the Ctem%terC and
the e'il hath its essence in the &ill5 it cannot %ass out of it( )eeds are called
e'il in reference to the indi'idual &ill e1%ressed in themE but in the great
scheme of Pro'idence they are only as far as they are good coerced under
the conditions of all true beingE and the de'il is the drudge of the 6llHgood(
Serm( +0( Luke ii( 72 >8( %( 72(
+b( %( >8( B(
.e shall consider that that %re%aration and dis%osition and acFuiescence
&hich Simeon had in his e%i%hany in his 'isible seeing of Christ then is
offered to us in this e%i%hany in this manifestation and a%%lication of
Christ in the sacramentE and that therefore e'ery %enitent and de'out and
re'erent and &orthy recei'er hath had in that holy action his Cno&CE there
are all things accom%lished to himE and his Cfor for his eyes ha'e seen his
sal'ationCE and so may be content nay glad Cto de%art in %eaceC(
O4 &ould that )onne or rather that Luther before him had carried out this
just conce%tion to its legitimate conseFuencesEDthat as the sacrament of
the Eucharist is the e%i%hany for as many as recei'e it in faith so the
crucifi1ion resurrection and ascension of Christ himself in the flesh &ere
the e%i%hanies the sacramental acts and C%hZnomenaC of the C)eus %atiensC
the 'isible &ords of the in'isible .ord that &as in the beginning symbols
in time and historic fact of the redem%ti'e functions %assions and
%rocedures of the Lamb crucified from the foundation of the &orldEDthe
incarnation cross and %assionDin short the &hole life of Christ in the
flesh d&elling a man among men being essential and substanti'e %arts of
the %rocess the total of &hich they re%resentedE and on this account %ro%er
symbols of the acts and %assions of the Christ d&elling in man as the S%irit
of truth and for as many as in faith ha'e recei'ed him in Seth and
6braham no less effectually than in ?ohn and Paul4 /or this is the true
definition of a symbol as distinguished from the thing on the one hand
and from a mere meta%hor or con'entional e1%onent of a thing on the
other( !ad Luther mastered this great idea this masterHtruth he &ould
ne'er ha'e entangled himself in that most mischie'ous Sacramentary
contro'ersy or had to seek a murky hidingHhole in the figment of
Consubstantiation(
+b( B( C(
+n the first %art then U Bore he asks not less he takes not for any man
u%on any %retence of any unconditional decree(
6 beautiful %aragra%h &ell &orth e1tracting aye and reH%reaching(
+b( %( >L( E(
.hen thou comest to this seal of thy %eace the sacrament %ray that God
&ill gi'e thee that light that may direct and establish thee in necessary and
fundamental thingsE that is the light of faith to see that the Body and Blood
of Christ is a%%lied to thee in that actionE but for the manner ho& the Body
and Blood of Christ is there &ait his leisure if he ha'e not yet manifested
that to thee5 grie'e not at that &onder not at that %ress not for thatE for he
hath not manifested that not the &ay not the manner of his %resence in the
Sacrament to the Church(
O4 + ha'e e'er felt and for many years thought that this Crem credimus
modum nescimusC is but a %oor e'asion( +t seems to me an attem%t so to
admit an irrational %ro%osition as to ha'e the credit of denying it or to
se%arate an irrational %ro%osition from its irrationality( + admit 7 W 7 X 9E
ho& + do not %retend to kno& but in some &ay not in contradiction to the
multi%lication table( To s%iritual o%erations the 'ery term CmodeC is %erha%s
ina%%licable for these are immediate( To the linking of this &ith that of 6(
&ith `( by CintermediaC the term CmodeCDthe Fuestion Cho&IC is %ro%erly
a%%lied( The assimilation of the s%irit of a man to the Son of God to God as
the )i'ine !umanityDthis s%iritual transubstantiation like e'ery other
%rocess of o%erati'e grace is necessarily modeless( The &hole Fuestion is
concerning the transmutation of the sensible elements( )eny this and to
&hat does the Cmodum nescimusC referI .e cannot ask ho& that is done
&hich &e declare not done at all( 6dmit this transmutation and you
necessarily admit by im%lication the Romish dogma of the se%aration of a
sensible thing from the sensible accidents &hich constitute all &e e'er
meant by the thing( To rationaliGe this figment of his church Bossuet has
recourse to S%inosism and dares make God the substance and sole Cens
realeC of all body and by this 'ery Chy%othesisC baffles his o&n end and
does a&ay all miracle in the %articular instance(
+b( %( >9( B(
.hen + %ray in my chamber + build a tem%le there that hourE and that
minute &hen + cast out a %rayer in the street + build a tem%le thereE and
&hen my soul %rays &ithout any 'oice my 'ery body is then a tem%le(
GoodE but it &ould be better to regard solitary family and tem%lar de'otion
as distinctions in sort rather than differences in degree( 6ll three are
necessary(
+b( E(
6nd that more fearful occasion of coming &hen they came only to elude
the la& and %roceeding in their treacherous and traitorous religion in their
heart and yet communicating &ith us dra& God himself into their
cons%iraciesE and to mock us make a mock of God and his religion too(
.hat then &as their guilt &ho by terror and legal %enalties tem%ted their
fello& Christians to this treacherous mockeryI )onne should ha'e asked
himself that Fuestion(
Serm( 0( E1od( i'( $>( %( >2(
+b( %( >2( C( )(
+t hath been doubted and dis%uted and denied too that this te1t CO my
Lord send + %ray thee by the hand of him &hom thou &ilt sendC hath any
relation to the sending of the Bessiah to the coming of Christ to
Christmas dayE yet &e forbear not to &ait u%on the ancient /athers and as
they said to say that Boses Cat lastC determines all in this CO my LordC Tc(
+t is a &ork ne1t to the great &ork of the redem%tion of the &hole &orld to
redeem +srael out of Egy%tE and therefore do both &orks at once %ut both
into one hand and Cmitte Fuem missurus es Send him &hom + kno& thou
&ilt sendCE him &hom %ursuing thine o&n decree Cthou shouldest sendCE
send Christ send him no& to redeem +srael from Egy%t(
This is one of the ha%%ier accommodations of the CgnosisC that is the
science of detecting the mysteries of faith in the sim%lest te1ts of the Old
Testament history to the contem%t or neglect of the literal and conte1tual
sense( +t &as + concei'e in %art at least this CgnosisC and not kno&ledge
as our translation has it that St( Paul &arns against and most &isely as
%uffing u% inflating the heart &ith selfHconceit and the head &ith idle
fancies(
+b( E(
But as a thoughtful man a %ensi'e a considerati'e man that stands still for
a &hile &ith his eyes fi1ed u%on the ground before his feet &hen he casts
u% his head hath %resently instantly the sun or the hea'ens for his objectE
he sees not a tree nor a house nor a stee%le by the &ay but as soon as his
eye is de%arted from the earth &here it &as long fi1ed the ne1t thing he
sees is the sun or the hea'ensEDso &hen Boses had fi1ed himself long
u%on the consideration of his o&n insufficiency for this ser'ice &hen he
took his eye from that lo& %iece of ground himself considered as he &as
then he fell u%on no tree no house no stee%le no such consideration as
thisDGod may endo& me im%ro'e me e1alt me enable me Fualify me
&ith faculties fit for this ser'ice but his first object &as that &hich
%resented an infallibility &ith it Christ ?esus himself the Bessias himself
Tc(
Beautifully imagined and ha%%ily a%%lied(
+b( %( L8( B(
That Cgermen ?eho'ZC as the %ro%het Esay calls Christ that offs%ring of
?eho'a that bud that blossom that fruit of God himself the Son of God
the Bessiah the Redeemer Christ ?esus gro&s u%on e'ery tree in this
%aradise the Scri%tureE for Christ &as the occasion before and is the
consummation after of all Scri%ture(
+f this &ere meant to the e1clusion or neglect of the %rimary senseDif &e
are reFuired to belie'e that the sacred &riters themsel'es had such thoughts
%resent to their mindsDit &ould doubtless thro& the doors &ide o%en to
e'ery 'ariety of folly and fanaticism( But it may admit of a safe sound and
%rofitable use if &e consider the Bible as one &ork intended by the !oly
S%irit for the edification of the Church in all ages and ha'ing as such all
its %arts syno%tically inter%reted the eldest by the latest the last by the
first and the middle by both( Boses or )a'id or ?eremiah J&e might in
this 'ie& affirmK meant so and so according to the conte1t and the light
under &hich and the immediate or %ro1imate %ur%oses for &hich he
&rote5 but &e &ho command the &hole scheme of the great dis%ensation
may see a higher and dee%er sense of &hich the literal meaning &as a
symbol or ty%eE and this &e may justifiably call the sense of the s%irit(
+b( %( L$( B(
So in our liturgy C&e stand u% at the %rofession of the creedC thereby to
declare to God and his Church our readiness to stand to and our readiness
to %roceed in that %rofession(
6nother Church might sit do&n thereby denoting a resol'e to abide in this
%rofession( These things are indifferentE but charity lo'e of %eace and on
indifferent %oints to %refer anotherCs liking to our o&n and to obser'e an
order once established for orderCs sakeDthese are not indifferent(
+b( %( L7( C(
This %aragra%h is e1cellent( 6las4 ho& %ainfully a%%licable it is to some of
our day4
+b( %( L<( C(
!o&soe'er all intend that this is a name that denotes essence being5
Being is the name of God and of God only(
Rather + should say Cthe eternal antecedent of beingEC C+ that shall be in that
+ &ill to beCE the absolute &illE the ground of beingE the selfHaffirming Cactus
%urissimusC(
Serm( 0+( +saiah liii( $( %( 97(
6 noble sermon in thought and diction(
+b( %( 92( E(
Therefore &e ha'e a clearer light than thisE Cfirmiorem %ro%heticum
sermonemC says St( PeterE C&e ha'e a more sure &ord of the %ro%hetsCE that
is as St( 6ugustine reads that %lace CclarioremC a more manifest a more
e'ident declaration in the %ro%hets than in nature of the &ill of God
to&ards man Tc(
The sense of this te1t as e1%lained by the conte1t seems to me thisEDthat
in conseFuence of the fulfilment of so large a %ro%ortion of the oracles the
Christian Church has not only the additional light gi'en by the teaching and
miracles of Christ but e'en the light 'ouchsafed to the old Church Jthe
%ro%heticK stronger and clearer(
+b( %( <8( 6(
!e s%ake %ersonally and he s%ake aloud in the declaration of miraclesE but
CFuis credidit auditui /iliiIC .ho belie'ed e'en his re%ortI )id they not call
his %reaching sedition and call his miracles conjuringI Therefore &e ha'e
a clearer that is a nearer light than the &ritten Gos%el that is the Church(
TrueE yet he &ho should no& 'enture to assert this truth or e'en contend
for a coHordinateness of the Church and the .ritten .ord must bear to be
thought a semiHPa%ist an CultraC highHChurchman( Still the truth is the truth(
Serm( 0++( ?ohn 1( $8( %( <7(
Since the Re'olution in $<;; our Church has been chilled and star'ed too
generally by %reachers and reasoners Stoic or E%icureanEDfirst a sort of
%agan morality &as substituted for the righteousness by faith and latterly
%rudence or Paleyanism has been substituted e'en for morality( 6 Christian
%reacher ought to %reach Christ alone and all things in him and by him( +f
he find a dearth in this if it seem to him a circumscri%tion he does not
kno& Christ as the C%leromaC the fullness( +t is not %ossible that there
should be aught true or seemly or beautiful in thought &ill or deed
s%eculati'e or %ractical &hich may not and &hich ought not to be e'ol'ed
out of Christ and the faith in ChristEDno folly no error no e'il to be
e1%osed or &arred against &hich may not and should not be con'icted
and denounced from its contrariancy and enmity to Christ( To the Christian
%reacher Christ should be in all things and all things in Christ5 he should
abjure e'ery argument that is not a link in the chain of &hich Christ is the
sta%le and sta%le ring(
+b( %( <L(
+n this %age )onne %asses into rhetorical e1tra'agance after the manner of
too many of the /athers from Tertullian to Bernard(
+b( %( <<( 6(
Some of the later authors in the Roman Church U ha'e noted JCin se'eral
of the /athersCK some inclinations to&ards that o%inion that the de'il
retaining still his faculty of freeH&ill is therefore ca%able of re%entance
and so of benefit by this coming of Christ(
+f this be assumedDnamely the freeH&ill of the de'ilDas a conseFuence
&ould indeed follo& his ca%ability of re%enting and the %ossibility that he
may re%ent( But then he is no longer &hat &e mean by the de'ilE he is no
longer the e'il s%irit but sim%ly a &icked soul(
+b( %( <;( C(
6s though God had said C[ui sumC my name is C+ amCE yet in truth it is C[ui
eroC my name is C+ shall beC(
"ay C+ &ill or shall be in that + &ill to beC( + am that only one &ho is selfH
originant Ccausa suiC &hose &ill must be contem%lated as antecedent in
idea to or dee%er than his o&n coHeternal being( But CantecedentC Cdee%erC
Tc( are mere C'ocabula im%ro%riaC &ords of accommodation that may
suggest the idea to a mind %urified from the intrusi'e %hantoms of s%ace
and time but falsify and e1tinguish the truth if taken as adeFuate
e1%onents(
+b( %( <2( C(
.e affirm that it is not only as im%ious and irreligious a thing but as
senseless and as absurd a thing to deny that the Son of God hath redeemed
the &orld as to deny that God hath created the &orld(
6 bold but a true saying( The man &ho cannot see the redem%ti'e agency
in the creation has but a dim a%%rehension of the creati'e %o&er(
+b( )( E( %( 38( 6(
These %aragra%hs e1hibit a noble instance of gi'ing im%ortance to the
single &ords of a te1t each &ord by itself a %regnant te1t( !ere too lies
the e1cellence the imitable but alas4 unimitated e1cellence of our di'ines
from EliGabeth to .illiam +++(
+b( )(
O that our clergy did but kno& and see that their tithes and glebes belong
to them as officers and functionaries of the nationaltyDas clerks and not
e1clusi'ely as theologians and not at all as ministers of the Gos%elEDbut
that they are like&ise ministers of the Church of Christ and that their
claims and the %o&ers of that Church are no more alienated or affected by
their being at the same time the established clergy than they are by the
common coincidence of being justices of the %eace or heirs to an estate or
stockholders4 :<= The Romish di'ines %laced the Church abo'e the
Scri%turesE our %resent di'ines gi'e it no %lace at all(
But )onne and his great contem%oraries had not yet learnt to be afraid of
announcing and enforcing the claims of the Church distinct from and
coordinate &ith the Scri%tures( This is one e'il conseFuence though most
unHnecessarily so of the union of the Church of Christ &ith the national
Church and of the claims of the Christian %astor and %reacher &ith the
legal and constitutional rights and re'enues of the officers of the national
clerisy( Our clergymen in thinking of their legal rights forget those rights
of theirs &hich de%end on no human la& at all(
+b( %( 3$( 6(
This is the difference bet&een GodCs mercy and his judgments that
sometimes his judgments may he %lural com%licated en&ra%%ed in one
anotherE but his mercies are al&ays so and cannot be other&ise(
6 just sentiment beautifully e1%ressed(
+b( C(
.hereas the Christian religion is as Gregory "aGianGen says Csim%le1 et
nuda nisi %ra'e in artem difficillimam con'ertereturC5 it is a %lain an easy
a %ers%icuous truth(
6 religion of ideas s%iritual truths or truthH%o&ersDnot of notions and
conce%tions the manufacture of the understandingDis therefore Csim%le1
et nudaC that is immediateE like the clear blue hea'en of +taly dee% and
trans%arent an ocean unfathomable in its de%th and yet ground all the &ay(
Still as meditation soars u%&ards it meets the arched firmament &ith all its
sus%ended lam%s of light( O let not the Csim%le1 et nudaC of Gregory be
%er'erted to the Socinian C%lain and easy for the meanest understandings4C
The truth in Christ like the %eace of Christ %asseth all understanding( +f
e'er there &as a mischie'ous misuse of &ords the confusion of the terms
CreasonC and CunderstandingC CideasC and CnotionsC or Cconce%tionsC is most
mischie'ousE a Surinam toad &ith a s&arm of toadlings s%routing out of its
back and sides(
Serm( 0+++( Bat( '( $<( %( 33(
+b( C(
Either of the names of this day &ere te1t enough for a sermon Purification
or Candlemas( ?oin &e them together and raise &e only this one note from
both that all true %urification is in the light Tc(
The illustration of the name of the day contained in the first t&o or three
%aragra%hs of this sermon &ould be censured as Fuaint by our modern
critics( .ould to hea'en &e had but e'en a fe& %reachers ca%able of such
Fuaintnesses4
+b( )(
E'ery good &ork hath faith for the rootE but e'ery faith hath not good
&orks for the fruit thereof(
/aith that is fidelityDthe fealty of the finite &ill and understanding to the
reason Cthe light that lighteth e'ery man that cometh into the &orldC as one
&ith and re%resentati'e of the absolute &ill and to the ideas or truths of
the %ure reason the su%ersensuous truths &hich in relation to the finite
&ill and as meant to determine the &ill are moral la&s the 'oice and
dictates of the conscienceEDthis faith is %ro%erly a state and dis%osition of
the &ill or rather of the &hole man the + or finite &ill selfHaffirmed( +t is
therefore the ground the root of &hich the actions the &orks the
belie'ings as acts of the &ill in the understanding are the trunk and the
branches( But these must be in the light( The dis%osition to see must ha'e
organs objects direction and an out&ard light( The three latter of these our
Lord gi'es to his disci%les in this blessed sermon on the Bount
%re%aratorily and as )onne rightly goes on to obser'e %resu%%osing faith
as the ground and root( +ndeed the &hole of this and the ne1t %age affords a
noble s%ecimen ho& a minister of the Church of England should %reach
the doctrine of good &orks %urified from the %oison of the %ractical
Romish doctrine of &orks as the mandioc is e'enomated by fire and
rendered safe nutritious a bread of life( To )onneCs e1%osition the heroic
Solifidian Bartin Luther himself &ould ha'e subscribed hand and heart(
+b( %( 3;( C(
6nd therefore our latter men of the Reformation are not to be blamed &ho
for the most %ursuing St( CyrilCs inter%retation inter%ret this uni'ersal
Clight that lighteneth e'ery manC to be the light of nature(
The error here and it is a grie'ous error consists in the &ord Cnature(C There
is there can be no light of nature5 there may be a light in or u%on natureE
but this is the light that shineth do&n into the darkness that is the nature
and the darkness com%rehendeth it not( 6ll ideas or s%iritual truths are
su%ernatural(
+b( %( 32(
Throughout this %age )onne rather too much %lays the rhetorician( +f the
faith &orketh the &orks &hat is true of the former must be eFually
affirmed of the latterEDCcausa causZ causa causatiC( Besides he falls into
something like a confusion of faith &ith belief taken as a con'iction or
assent of the judgment( The faith and the righteousness of a Christian are
both alike his and not hisDthe faith of Christ in him the righteousness in
and for him( C+ am crucified &ith Christ5 ne'ertheless + li'eE yet not + but
Christ li'eth in me5 and the life &hich + no& li'e in the flesh + li'e by the
faith of the Son of God &ho lo'ed me and ga'e himself for meC( :3=
)onne &as a truly great manE but after all he did not %ossess that full
steady dee% and yet com%rehensi'e insight into the nature of faith and
&orks &hich &as 'ouchsafed to Bartin Luther( )onne had not attained to
the reconciling of distinctity &ith unityDours yet GodCsE GodCs yet ours(
+b( )(
C0elle et nolle nostrum estC to assent or to disHassent is our o&n(
+s not this e'en &ith the sa'ing after&ards too nakedly e1%ressedI
+b(
6nd certainly our &orks are more ours than our faith isE and man concurs
other&ise in the acting and %er%etration of a good &ork than he doth in the
rece%tion and admission of faith(
.hyI Because )onne confounds the act of faith &ith the assent of the
fancy and understanding to certain &ords and conce%tions( +ndeed &ith all
my re'erence for )r( )onne + must &arn against the contents of this %age
as scarcely tenable in logic unsound in meta%hysics and unsafe sli%%ery
di'inityE and %rinci%ally in that he confounds faithD essentially an act the
fundamental &ork of the S%iritD&ith belief &hich is then only good &hen
it is the effect and accom%animent of faith(
+b( %( ;8( )(
Because things good in their institution may he de%ra'ed in their %ractice
DCergone nihil ceremoniarum rudioribus dabitur ad ju'andam eorum
im%eritiamIC
Some ceremonies may be for the conser'ation of order and ci'ility or to
%re'ent confusion and unseemlinessE others are the natural or con'entional
language of our feelings as bending the knees or bo&ing the headE and to
neither of these t&o sorts do + object( But as to the Cadju'andam rudiorum
im%eritiamC + %rotest against all such ceremonies and the %rete1ts for them
Cin totoC( .hatI Can any ceremony be more instructi'e than the &ords
reFuired to e1%lain the ceremonyI + make but t&o e1ce%tions and those
&here the truths signified are so 'ital so momentous that the 'ery
occasion and necessity of e1%laining the sign are of the highest s%iritual
'alue( ,et alas4 to &hat gross and calamitous su%erstitions ha'e not e'en
the 'isible signs in Ba%tism and the Eucharist gi'en occasion4
+b( %( ;$( E(
Blessed St( 6ugustine re%orts Jif that e%istle be St( 6ugustineCsK that &hen
himself &as &riting to St( !ierome to kno& his o%inion of the measure and
Fuality of the joy and glory of hea'en suddenly in his chamber there
a%%eared Cineffabile lumenC says he an uns%eakable an une1%ressible light
U and out of that light issued this 'oice C!ieronymi anima sumC Tc(
The gra'e recital of this ridiculous legend is one instance of &hat + ha'e
called the Patristic lea'en in )onne &ho assuredly had no belief himself in
the authenticity of this letter( But yet it ser'ed a %ur%ose( 6s to Baster
Conradus just abo'e &ho could read at night by the light at his fingersC
ends he must of course ha'e 'ery recently been shaking hands &ith
Lucifer(
+b( %( ;>( )(
E'eCs recognition u%on the birth of her first son CCain + ha'e gotten +
%ossess a man from the Lord(C
C+ ha'e gotten the ?eho'ahHmanC is + belie'e the true rendering and sense
of the !ebre& &ords( E'e full of the %romise su%%osed her firstHborn the
firstHborn on earth to be the %romised deli'erer(
+b( %( ;L( )( E(
Serm( +Y( Rom( 1iii( 3( %( ;<
6dmirable %assages( +b( %( 28( 6(
That soul that is accustomed Tc(
+b( %( 2L( 6( B(
Serm( Y++( Bat( '( 7( %( $$7(
+b( B( C( )(
The dis%osition of our Church di'ines under ?ames + to bring back the
stream of the Reformation to the channel and &ithin the banks formed in
the first si1 centuries of the Church and their alienation from the great
%atriarchs of Protestantism Luther Cal'in `uinglius and others &ho held
the /athers of the CanteCHPa%al Church &ith e1ce%tion of 6ugustine in light
esteem this dis%osition betrays itself here and in many other %arts of
)onne( /or here )onne %lays the ?esuit disguising the truth that e'en as
early as the third century the Church had begun to PaganiGe Christianity
under the %rete1t and no doubt in the ho%e of ChristianiGing Paganism(
The mountain &ould not go to Bahomet and therefore Bahomet &ent to
the mountain(
+b( %( $$9( 6(
6n e1cellent %assage(
+b( %( $$3( E(
6nd therefore &hen the %ro%het says C[uis sa%iens et intelliget hZcI .ho
is so &ise as to find out this &ayCI he %laces this cleanness &hich &e
inFuire after in &isdom( .hat is &isdomI
The %rimiti'e Church a%%ro%riated the name to the third Chy%ostasisC of the
TrinityE hence CSancta So%hiaC became the distincti'e name of the !oly
GhostE and the tem%le at Constantino%le dedicated by ?ustinian to the !oly
Ghost is called the ChurchDalas4 no& the mosFueDof Santa So%hia( "o&
this suggests or rather im%lies a far better and more %recise definition of
&isdom than )onneCs( The distincti'e title of the /ather as the Su%reme
.ill is the GoodE that of the onlyHbegotten .ord as the Su%reme Reason
JCEns RealissimumC :Greek5 !oMO "= the BeingK is the TrueE and the S%irit
%roceeding from the Good through the True is the .isdom( Goodness in
the form of truth is &isdom( .isdom is the %ure &ill realiGing itself
intelligently or the good manifesting itself as the truth and realiGed in the
act( .isdom life lo'e beauty the beauty of holiness are all CsynonymaC of
the !oly S%irit(
< )ecember $;>$(
+b( %( $7$( 6(
The 6riansC o%inion that God the /ather only &as in'isible but the
Son Cand the !oly GhostC might be seen(
!ere &e ha'e an instance one of many of the incon'eniences and
contradictions that arise out of the assumed contrary essences of body and
soulE both substances and inde%endent of each other yet so absolutely
di'erse as that the one is to be defined by the negation of the other(
Serm( Y+++( ?ob 1'i( $3 $; $2( %( $73(
+b( %( $72( 6( B( C(
+b( %%( $>L( $>9(
Truly e1cellent(
Serm( Y0( $ Cor( 1'( 7<( %( $LL(
+b( )(
.ho then is this enemyI an enemy that may thus far think himself eFual
to God that as no man e'er sa& God and li'edE so no man e'er sa& this
enemy and li'edE for it is death(
This borders rather too closely on the +rish /ranciscanCs conclusion to his
sermon of thanksgi'ing5 *6bo'e all brethren let us thankfully laud and
e1tol GodCs transcendant mercy in %utting death at the end of life and
thereby gi'ing us all time for re%entance4*
)r( )onne &as an eminently &itty man in a 'ery &itty ageE but to the
honour of his judgment let it be said that though his great &it is e'inced in
numberless %assages in a fe& only is it sho&n off( This %aragra%h is one of
those rare e1ce%tions(
"( B( "othing in Scri%ture nothing in reason commands or authoriGes us
to assume or su%%ose any bodiless creature( +t is the incommunicable
attribute of God( But all bodies are not flesh nor need &e su%%ose that all
bodies are corru%tible( CThere are bodies celestialC( +n the three follo&ing
%aragra%hs of this sermon &e trace &ild fantastic %ositions grounded on
the arbitrary notion of man as a mi1ture of heterogeneous com%onents
&hich )es Cartes shortly after&ards carried into its e1tremes( On this
doctrine the man is a mere %henomenal result a sort of brandyHso% or
toddyH%unch( +t is a doctrine unsanctioned by and indeed inconsistent &ith
the Scri%tures( +t is not true that body C%lusC soul makes man( Ban is not the
CsynthetonC or com%osition of body and soul as the t&o com%onent units(
"oE man is the unit the C%rothesisC and body and soul are the t&o %oles the
%ositi'e and negati'e the CthesisC and CantithesisC of the manE e'en as
attraction and re%ulsion are the t&o %oles in and by &hich one and the same
magnet manifests itself(
+b( %( $L<( B(
/or it is not so great a de%o%ulation to translate a city from merchants to
husbandmen from sho%s to %loughs as it is from many husbandmen to one
she%herdE and yet that hath been often done(
/or e1am%le in the !ighlands of Scotland in our o&n day(
+b( %( $L;( 6(
The ashes of an oak in the chimney are no e%ita%h of that oak to tell me
ho& high or ho& large that &as( +t tells me not &hat flocks it sheltered
&hile it stood nor &hat men it hurt &hen it fell( The dust of great %ersonsC
gra'es is s%eechless too it says nothing it distinguishes nothing( 6s soon
the dust of a &retch &hom thou &ouldst not as of a %rince &hom thou
couldst not look u%on &ill trouble thine eyes if the &ind blo& it thitherE
and &hen a &hirl&ind hath blo&n the dust of the churchyard unto the
church and the man s&ee%s out the dust of the church into the churchHyard
&ho &ill undertake to sift those dusts again and to %ronounceEDthis is the
%atrician this is the noble flour and this the yeomanly this the %lebeian
bran( :;=
0ery beautiful indeed(
+b( %( $L2( C(
But &hen + lie under the hands of that enemy that hath reser'ed himself to
the last to my last bedE then &hen + shall be able to stir no limb in any
other measure than a fe'er or a %alsy shall shake themE &hen e'erlasting
darkness shall ha'e an inchoation in the %resent dimness of mine eyes and
the e'erlasting gnashing in the %resent chattering of my teeth and the
e'erlasting &orm in the %resent gna&ing of the agonies of my body and
anguishes of my mindE &hen the last enemy shall &atch my remediless
body and my disconsolate soul thereDthere &here not the %hysician in
his &ay %erchance not the %riest in his shall be able to gi'e any assistanceE
and &hen he hath s%orted himself &ith my misery Tc(
This is %o&erfulE but is too much in the style of the monkish %reachers5
CPa%am redoletC( Contrast &ith this ?obCs descri%tion of death :2= and
St( PaulCs Cslee% in the LordC(
+b( %( $98( 6(
"either doth Cal'in carry those em%hatical &ords &hich are so often cited
for a %roof of the last resurrectionDCthat he kno&s his Redeemer li'es that
he kno&s he shall stand the last man u%on earth that though his body be
destroyed yet in his flesh and &ith his eyes shall he see GodCDto any
higher sense than so that ho& lo& soe'er he be brought to &hat des%erate
state soe'er he be reduced in the eyes of the &orld yet he assures himself
of a resurrection a re%aration a restitution to his former bodily health and
&orldly fortune &hich he had before( 6nd such a resurrection &e all kno&
?ob had(
+ incline to Cal'inCs o%inion but am not decided( C6fter my skinC must be
rendered Caccording to or as far as my skin is concerned(C CThough the flies
and maggots in my ulcers ha'e destroyed my skin yet still and in my
flesh + shall see God as my RedeemerC( "o& St( Paul says that flesh and
blood cannot J:Greek5 s_r1 kaP aimaDou dynantai=K inherit the kingdom of
hea'en that is the s%iritual &orld( Besides ho& is the %assage as
commonly inter%reted consistent &ith the numerous e1%ressions of doubt
and e'en of des%ondency in ?obCs s%eechesI :$8=
+b( B( C( JEGekielCs 'ision 111'ii(K
+ cannot but think that )r( )onne by thus antedating the distinct belief of
the ?e&s in the resurrection *&hich you all kno& already* destroys in
great measure the force and sublimity of this 'ision( Besides it does not
seem in the common %eo%le at least to ha'e been much more than a
mongrel Egy%tianHcatacomb sort of faith or rather su%erstition(
In fine( This is one of )onneCs least estimable discoursesE the &orst sermon
on the best te1t( ,et &hat a )onneHlike %assage is this that follo&s4
P. 1!. A.
Let the &hole &orld be in thy consideration as one houseE and then
consider in that in the %eaceful harmony of creatures in the %eaceful
succession and conne1ion of causes and effects the %eace of nature( Let
this kingdom &here God hath blessed thee &ith a being be the gallery the
best room of that house and consider in the t&o &alls of that gallery the
Church and the state the %eace of a royal and religious &isdom( Let thine
o&n family be a cabinet in this gallery and find in all the bo1es thereof in
the se'eral duties of &ife and children and ser'ants the %eace of 'irtue
and of the father and mother of all 'irtues acti'e discretion %assi'e
obedienceE and then lastly let thine o&n bosom be the secret bo1 and
reser'e in this cabinet and then the gallery of the best home that can be
had %eace &ith the creature %eace in the Church %eace in the state %eace
in thy house %eace in thy heart is a fair model and a lo'ely design e'en of
the hea'enly ?erusalem &hich is visio pacis &here there is no object but
%eace(
Serm( Y0+( ?ohn 1i( >9( %( $9>(
+b( C(
The Basorites Jthe Basorites are the critics u%on the !ebre& Bible
the Old TestamentK cannot tell us &ho di'ided the cha%ters of the Old
Testament into 'erses5 neither can any other tell &ho did it in the
"e& Testament( :$$=
!o& should the Basorites &hen the !ebre& Scri%tures &ere not as far as
&e kno& di'ided into 'erses at all in their timeI The ?e&s seem to ha'e
ado%ted the in'ention from the Christians &ho &ere led to it in the
construction of Concordances(
+b( %( $9L( E(
+f they killed LaGarus had not Christ done enough to let them see that he
could raise him againI
Balice abo'e all %artyHmalice is indeed a blind %assion but one can
scarcely concei'e the chief %riests such dolts as to think that Christ could
raise LaGarus again( Their malice blinded them as to the nature of the
incident made them su%%ose a cons%iracy bet&een ?esus and the family of
LaGarus a mock burial in shortE and this may be one though it is not +
think the %rinci%al reason for this greatest miracle being omitted in the
other Gos%els(
+b( %( $99( B(
Christ might ungirt himself and gi'e more sco%e and liberty to his %assions
than any other manE both because he had no original sin &ithin to dri'e
him Tc(
!o& then is he said to ha'e Ccondemned sin in the fleshCI .ithout guilt
&ithout actual sin assuredly he &asE but :Greek5 egRneto s_r1= and &hat
can &e mean by original sin relati'ely to the flesh but that man is born
&ith an animal life and a material organism that render him tem%tible to
e'il and &hich tends to dis%ose the life of the &ill to contradict the light of
the reasonI )id St( Paul by :Greek5 homoiMNmati sarkOs hamartiQs= mean a
dece%ti'e resemblanceI :$7=
+b( )(
+ can see no %ossible edification that can arise from these ultraHScri%tural
s%eculations res%ecting our Lord(
+b( %( $93( 6(
Though the Godhead ne'er de%arted from the carcase U yet because the
human soul &as de%arted from it he &as no man(
)onne &as a %oor meta%hysicianE that is he ne'er closely Fuestioned
himself as to the absolute meaning of his &ords( .hat did he mean by the
CsoulIC &hat by the CbodyIC :$>=
+b( )(
6nd + kno& that there are authors of a middle nature abo'e the
%hiloso%hers and belo& the Scri%tures the 6%ocry%hal books(
6 &himsical instance of the dis%osition in the mind for e'ery %air of
o%%osites to find an intermediateDa CmesothesisC for e'ery CthesisC and
CantithesisC( Thus Scri%ture may be o%%osed to %hiloso%hyE and then the
6%ocry%hal books &ill be %hiloso%hy relati'ely to Scri%ture and Scri%ture
relati'ely to %hiloso%hy(
+b( %( $92( B(
6nd therefore the same author JE%i%haniusK says that because they thought
it an uncomely thing for Christ to &ee% for any tem%oral thing some men
ha'e e1%unged and remo'ed that 'erse out of St( LukeCs Gos%el that C?esus
&hen he sa& that city &e%tC( :$L=
This by the by rather indiscreetly lets out the liberties &hich the early
Christians took &ith their sacred &ritings( Origen &ho in ans&er to
CelsusCs re%roach on this ground confines the %ractice to the heretics
furnishes %roofs of the contrary himself in his o&n comments(
+b( %( $<$( )(
That &orld &hich finds itself in an authumn in itself finds itself in a s%ring
in our imaginations(
.orthy almost of Shaks%eare4
Serm( Y0++( Batt( 1i1( $3( %( $<>(
+b( E(
The &ords are %art of a dialogue of a conference bet&een Christ and a
man &ho %ro%osed a Fuestion to himE to &hom Christ makes an ans&er by
&ay of another Fuestion C.hy callest thou me goodIC Tc( +n the &ords and
by occasion of them &e consider the te1t the conte1t and the %rete1tE not
as three eFual %arts of the buildingE but the conte1t as the situation and
%ros%ect of the house the %rete1t as the access and entrance into the house
and then the te1t itself as the house itself as the body of the building5 in a
&ord in the te1t the &ordsE in the conte1t the occasion of the &ordsE in the
%rete1t the %ur%ose the dis%osition of him &ho ga'e the occasion(
.hat a ha%%y e1am%le of elegant di'ision of a subject4 6nd so also the
Ccom%endiumC of Christianity in the %receding %aragra%h J)K( Our great
di'ines &ere not ashamed of the learned disci%line to &hich they had
submitted their minds under 6ristotle and Tully but brought the %urified
%roducts as sacrificial gifts to Christ( They ba%tiGed the logic and manly
rhetoric of ancient Greece(
+b( %( $<L( 6( B(
E1cellent illustration of fragmentary morality in &hich each man takes his
choice of his 'irtues and 'ices(
+b( )(
Ben %erish &ith &his%ering sins nay &ith silent sins sins that ne'er tell
the conscience they are sins as often as &ith crying sins(
,ea + almost doubt &hether the truth here so boldly asserted is not of more
general necessity for ordinary congregations than the denunciation of the
large sins that cannot remain Cin incognitoC(
+b( %( $<9( 6(
C0enit %rocurrens he came runningC( "icodemus came not so "icodemus
durst not a'o& his coming and therefore he came cree%ing and he came
softly and he came seldom and he came by night(
6h4 but &e trust in God that he did in fact come( The adhesion the
thankfulness the lo'e &hich arise and li'e after the ha'ing come &hether
from s%ontaneous liking or from a beckoning ho%e or from a com%elling
good are the truest CcriteriaC of the manCs Christianity(
+b( B(
.hen + ha'e just reason to think my su%eriors &ould ha'e it thus this is
music to my soulE &hen + hear them say they &ould ha'e it thus this is
rhetoric to my soulE &hen + see their la&s enjoin it to be thus this is logic
to my soulE but &hen + see them actually really clearly constantly do thus
this is a demonstration to my soul and demonstration is the %o&erfullest
%roof( The eloFuence of inferiors is in &ords the eloFuence of su%eriors is
in action(
6 just re%resentation + doubt not of the general feeling and %rinci%le at the
time )onne &rote( Ben regarded the gradations of society as GodCs
ordinances and had the ele'ation of a selfHa%%ro'ing conscience in e'ery
feeling and e1hibition of res%ect for those of ranks su%erior to their o&n(
.hat a contrast &ith the %resent times4 +s not the last sentence beautifulI
*The eloFuence of inferiors is in &ords the eloFuence of su%eriors is in
action(*
+b( B( and C(
!e came to Christ he ran to himE and &hen he &as come as St( Bark
relates it Che fell u%on his knees to ChristC( !e stood not then Pharisaically
u%on his o&n legs his o&n merits though he had been a diligent obser'er
of the commandments before Tc(
6ll this %aragra%h is an inde%endent truthE but + doubt &hether in his desire
to make e'ery %article e1em%lary to dra& some Christian moral from it
)onne has not injudiciously attributed quasi per prolepsin merits
inconsistent &ith the finale of a &ealthy &ouldHbe %roselyte( 6t all e'ents
a more natural and %erha%s not less instructi'e inter%retation might be
made of the sundry mo'ements of this religiously earnest and Gealous
admirer of Christ and &orshi%%er of Bammon( O + ha'e myself kno&n
such4
+b( )(
!e &as no ignorant man and yet he ackno&ledged that he had some&hat
more to learn of Christ than he kne& yet( Blessed are they that inanimate
all their kno&ledge consummate all in Christ ?esus Tc(
The &hole %aragra%h is %ure gold( .ithout being a&are of this %assage in
)onne + e1%ressed the same con'iction or rather declared the same
e1%erience in the a%%endi1 :$9= to the StatesmanCs Banual( O4 if only one
day in a &eek Christians &ould consent to ha'e the Bible as the only book
and their ministerCs labour to make them find all substantial good of all
other books in their Bibles4
+b( E(
+ remember one of the Panegyrics celebrates and magnifies one of the
Roman em%erors for this that he &ould marry &hen he &as youngE that he
&ould so soon confine and limit his %leasures so soon determine his
affections in one %erson(
+t is surely some %roof of the moral effect &hich Christianity has %roduced
that in all Protestant countries at least a &riter &ould be ashamed to assign
this as a ground of %anegyricE as if %romiscuous intercourse &ith those of
the other se1 had been a natural good a %ri'ilege &hich there &as a great
merit in foregoing4 O4 &hat do not &omen o&e to Christianity4 6s
Christians only it is that they do or ordinarily can cease to be things for
men instead of coH%ersons in one s%iritual union(
+b( %( $<<( 6(
But such is often the corru%t inordinateness of greatness that it only carries
them so much beyond other men but not so much nearer to God(
Like a balloon a&ay from earth but not a &hit nearer the arch of hea'en(
There is a %raise&orthy relati'eness and life in the morality of our best old
di'ines( +t is not a cold la& in brass or stoneE but *this + may and should
think of my neighbour this of a great man* Tc(
+b( %( $<3( 6(
Christ &as %leased to redeem this man from this error and bring him to
kno& truly &hat he &as that he &as God( Christ therefore doth not rebuke
this man by any denying that he himself &as goodE for Christ doth assume
that addition to himself C+ am the good she%herdC( "either doth God forbid
that those good %arts &hich are in men should be celebrated &ith condign
%raise( .e see that God as soon as he sa& that any thing &as good he said
so he uttered it he declared it first of the light and then of other creatures(
God &ould be no author no e1am%le of smothering the due %raise of good
actions( /or surely that man hath no Geal to goodness in himself that
affords no %raise to goodness in other men(
0ery fine( But + think anotherDnot ho&e'er a differentD'ie& might be
taken res%ecting our LordCs intention in these &ords( The young noble &ho
came to him had many %raise&orthy traits of characterE but he failed in the
ultimate end and aim( .hat ought only to ha'e been 'alued by him as
means &as lo'ed and had a &orth gi'en to it as an end in itself( Our Lord
&ho kne& the hearts of men instantly in the first &ords a%%lies himself to
this and takes the occasion of an ordinary %hrase of courtesy addressed to
himself to make the young man a&are of the difference bet&een a mere
relati'e good and that &hich is absolutely goodE that &hich may be called
good &hen regarded as a mean to good but &hich must not be mistaken
for or confounded &ith that &hich is good and itself the end(
+b( B( C( )(
6ll e1cellent and )( most so( Thus thus our old di'ines sho&ed the de%th
of their lo'e and a%%reciation of the Scri%tures and thus led their
congregations to feel and see the same( !ere is )onneCs authority JDeus
non est ens Tc(K for &hat + ha'e so earnestly endea'ored to sho&
that Deus est ens super ens the ground of all being but therein like&ise
absolute Being in that he is the eternal selfHaffirmant the + 6m in that +
6mE and that the key of this mystery is gi'en to us in the %ure idea of the
&ill as the alone Causa Sui(
O4 com%are this manhood of our Church di'inity &ith the feeble dotage of
the Paleyan school the CnaturalC theology or &atchmaking scheme that
kno&s nothing of the maker but &hat can be %ro'ed out of the &atch the
unkno&n nominati'e case of the 'erb im%ersonal fitet natura estE the CitC
in short in Cit rainsC Cit sno&sC Cit is coldC and the like( .hen after reading
the biogra%hies of .alton and his contem%oraries + reflect on the cro&ded
congregations on the thousands &ho &ith intense interest came to their
hour and t&o hour long sermons + cannot but doubt the fact of any true
%rogression moral or intellectual in the mind of the many( The tone the
matter the antici%ated sym%athies in the sermons of an age form the best
moral criterion of the character of that age(
+b( E(
!is name of ?eho'a &e admire &ith a re'erence(
Say rather ?eho'a his name( +t is not so %ro%erly a name of God as
God the "ameDGodCs name and God(
+b( %( $<2( 6(
Land and money and honour must be called goods though but of fortune
Tc(
.e should distinguish bet&een the conditions of our %ossessing goods and
the goods themsel'es( !ealth for instance is ordinarily a condition of that
&orking and rejoicing for and in God &hich are goods in the end and of
themsel'es( !ealth com%etent fortune and the like are good as the
negations of the %re'enti'es of goodE as clear glass is good in relation to
the light &hich it does not e1clude( !ealth and ease &ithout the lo'e of
God are %late glass in the darkness(
+b( %( $38(
Buch of this %age consists of %lay on &ordsE as that &hich is useful as
rain and that &hich is of use as rain on a garden after drouth( There is also
much so%histry in it( Pain is not necessarily an ultimate e'il( 6s the mean
of ultimate good it may be a relati'e goodE but surely that &hich makes
%ain anguish hea'iness necessary in order to good must be e'il( 6nd so
the Scri%ture determines( They are the wages of sinE but GodCs infinite
mercy raises them into sacraments means of grace( Sin is the only absolute
e'ilE God the only absolute good( But as myriads of things are good
relati'ely through %artici%ation of God so are many things e'il as the fruits
of e'il( .hat is the a%ostasy or fall of s%iritsI That that &hich from the
essential %erfection of the 6bsolute Good could not but be %ossible that is
ha'e a %otential being but ne'er ought to ha'e been actual did
ne'ertheless stri'e to be actualIDBut this in'ol'ed an im%ossibilityE and it
actualiGed only its o&n %otentiality(
.hat is the conseFuence of the a%ostasyI That no %hiloso%hy is %ossible of
man and nature but by assuming at once a Genith and a nadir God and
C!adesCE and an ascension from the one through and &ith a condescension
from the otherE that is redem%tion by %re'enient and then au1iliary grace(
+b( %( $3$( B(
So says St( 6ugustine C6udeo dicereC though it be boldly said yet + must
say it Cutile esse cadere in aliFuod manifestum %eccatumC Tc(
"o doubt a sound sense may be forced into these &ords5 but &hy use
&ords into &hich a sound sense must be forcedI Besides the subject is too
dee% and too subtle for a sermon( +n the t&o follo&ing %aragra%hs
es%ecially )r( )onne is too dee% and not dee% enough( !e treads &aters
and dangerous &aters( "( B( The /amilists(
Serm( Y0+++( 6cts ii( ><( %( $39(
+b( B(
+ &ould %ara%hrase or rather lead the &ay to this te1t something as
follo&s5D
Truth is a common interestE it is e'ery manCs duty to con'ey it to his
brother if only it be a truth that concerns or may %rofit him and he be
com%etent to recei'e it( /or &e are not bound to say the truth &here &e
kno& that &e cannot con'ey it but 'ery %robably may im%art a falsehood
insteadE no falsehoods being more dangerous than truths misunderstood
nay the most mischie'ous errors on record ha'ing been halfHtruths taken as
the &hole(
But let it be su%%osed that the matter to be communicated is a fact of
general concernment a truth of dee% and uni'ersal interest a momentous
truth in'ol'ed in a most a&eHstriking fact &hich all res%onsible creatures
are com%etent to understand and of &hich no man can safely remain in
ignorance( "o& this is the case &ith the matter on &hich + am about to
s%eakE Ctherefore let all the house of +srael kno& assuredly that God hath
made that same ?esus &hom ye ha'e crucified both Lord and Christ4C
+b( %( $3<( 6( B( C(
True Christian lo'e not only %ermits but enjoins courtesy( God himself
says )onne ga'e us the e1am%le(
+b( %( $33( 6( C( E(
6ll e1cellent and E( of dee%er &orth( 6ll that is &anting here is to
determine the true sense of Ckno&ing GodCDthat sense in &hich it is
re'ealed that to kno& God is life e'erHlasting(
+b %( $3;( 6(
"o& the uni'ersality of this mercy hath God enlarged and e1tended 'ery
far in that he %ro%oses it e'en to our kno&ledgeE CsciantC let all kno& it( +t
is not only CcredantC let all belie'e itE for the infusing of faith is not in our
%o&erE but God hath %ut it in our %o&er to satisfy their reason Tc(
6 Fuestion is here affirmati'ely started of highest im%ortance and of
dee%est interest that is faith so distinguished from reason CcredatC from
CsciatC that the former is an infused grace Cnot in our %o&erEC the latter an
inherent Fuality or faculty on &hich &e are able to calculate as man &ith
man( + kno& not &hat to say to this( /aith seems to me the coadunation of
the indi'idual &ill &ith the reason enforcing adherence alike of thought
act and affection to the @ni'ersal .ill &hether re'ealed in the conscience
or by the light of reason ho&e'er the same may contra'ene or a%%arently
contradict the &ill and mind of the flesh the %resumed e1%erience of the
senses and of the understanding as the faculty or intelligential yet animal
instinct by &hich &e generaliGe the notices of the senses and substantiate
their Cs%ectraC or C%hZnomenaC( +n this sense therefore and in this only +
agree &ith )onne(
C"o man cometh to Christ unless theC C/ather lead himC( The corru%t &ill
cannot &ithout %re'enient as &ell as au1iliary grace be uniti'ely
subordinated to the reason and again &ithout this union of the moral &ill
the reason itself is latent( "e'ertheless + see no ad'antage in not saying the
C&illC or in substituting the term CfaithC for it( But the sad nonHdistinction of
the reason and the understanding throughout )onne and the confusion of
ideas and conce%tions under the same term %ainfully inturbidates his
theology( Till this distinction of the :Greek5 nous= and the :Greek5
%hrNnaema sarkOs= be seen nothing can be seen aright( Till this great truth
be mastered and &ith the sight that is insight other truths may casually
take %ossession of the mind but the mind cannot %ossess them( +f you
kno& not this you kno& nothingE for if you kno& not the di'ersity of
reason from the understanding you kno& not reasonE and reason alone is
kno&ledge(
6ll that follo&s in B( is admirable &orthy of a di'ine of the Church of
England the "ational and the Christian and indeed %ro'es that )onne &as
at least %ossessed by the truth &hich + ha'e al&ays labored to enforce
namely that faith is the Ca%otheosisC of the reason in man the com%lement
of reason the &ill in the form of the reason( 6s the basinH&ater to the
fountain shaft such is &ill to reason in faith( The &hole &ill sha%es itself in
the image of God &herein it had been created and shoots on high to&ard
and in the glories of !ea'en4
+b( )(
+f &e could ha'e been in Paradise and seen God take a clod of red earth
and make that &retched clod of contem%tible earth such a body as should
be fit to recei'e his breath Tc(
6 sort of %un on the !ebre& &ord C6damC or red earth common in )onneCs
age but un&orthy of )onne &ho &as &orthy to ha'e seen dee%er into the
Scri%tural sense of the CgroundC the !ades the multeity the many CabsFue
numero el infra numerumC that &hich is belo& as God is that &hich
transcends intellect(
+b( %( $32( B(
.e %lace in the School for the most %art the infinite merit of Christ ?esus
U rather Cin %actoC than Cin %ersonaC rather that this contract &as thus made
bet&een the /ather and the Son than that &hatsoe'er that %erson thus
consisting of God and Ban should do should only in res%ect of the
%erson be of an infinite 'alue and e1tension to that %ur%ose Tc(
O this is sad misty di'inity4 far too scholastical for the %ul%it far too
'ague and un%hiloso%hic for the study(
+b( %( $;8( 6(
C[uis nisi infidelis nega'erit a%ud inferos fuisse ChristumIC says St(
6ugustine(
.hereI :$<= Pearson e1%ressly asserts and %ro'es that the clause &as in
none of the ancient creeds or confessions( 6nd e'en no& the sense of these
&ords C!e descended into hellC is in no Reformed Church determined as an
article of faith(
+b( %( $;7( )(
C6udacter dicamC says St( !ierome Ccum omnia %osset )eus suscitare
'irginem %ost ruinam non %otest(C
One instance among hundreds of the &antonness of %hrase and fancy in the
/athers( .hat did ?erome meanI CFuod )eus membranam hymenis
luniformem re%roducere neFuitIC "oE that &ere too absurd( .hat thenID
that God cannot make &hat has been not to ha'e beenI .ell then &hy not
say that since that is all you can meanI
Serm( Y+Y( Re'( 11( <( %( $;>(
The e1%osition of the te1t in this sermon is a li'ely instance ho& much
e1cellent good sense a &ise man like )onne can bring forth on a %assage
&hich he does not understand( /or to say that it may mean either Y or , or
` is to confess he kno&s not &hat it meansE but that if it be Y( then Tc(E if
,( then Tc(E and lastly if it be `( then Tc(E that is to say that he
understands Y , and `E but does not understand the te1t itself(
+b( %( $;9( B(
Seas of blood and yet but brooks tuns of blood and yet but basons
com%ared &ith the sacrifices the sacrifices of the blood of men in the
%ersecutions of the %rimiti'e Church( /or e'ery o1 of the ?e& the Christian
s%ent a manE and for e'ery shee% and lamb a mother and her child Tc(
.hoo4 !ad the other nine so called %ersecutions been eFual to the tenth
that of )iocletian )onneCs assertion here &ould be e1tra'agant(
Serra( YYY+0( Rom( 'iii( $<( %( >>7(
+b( %( >>9( 6(
But by &hat manner comes !e from themI By %roceeding(
+f this mystery be considered as &ords or rather sounds 'ibrating on some
certain ears to &hich the belief of the hearers assigned a su%ernatural
cause &ell and good4 .hat else can be saidI Such &ere the sounds5 &hat
their meaning is &e kno& notE but such sounds not being in the ordinary
course of nature &e of course attribute them to something e1traHnatural(
But if God made man in his o&n image therein as in a mirror misty no
doubt at best and no& cracked by %eculiar and inHherited defectsDyet still
our only mirrorDto contem%late all &e can of God this &ord C%roceedingC
may admit of an easy sense(
/or if a man first used it to e1%ress as &ell as he could a notion found in
himself as man Cin genereC &e ha'e to look into oursel'es and there &e
shall find that t&o facts of 'ital intelligence may be concei'edE the first a
necessary and eternal outgoing of intelligence J:Greek5 nous=K from being
J:Greek5tO on=K &ith the &ill as an accom%animent but not from it as a
causeDin order though not necessarily in time %recedent( This is true
filiation(
The second is an act of the &ill and the reason in their %urity strict
identities and therefore not begotten or filiated but %roceeding from
intelligent essence and essential intelligence combining in the act
necessarily and coeternally(
/or the coe1istence of absolute s%ontaneity &ith absolute necessity is
in'ol'ed in the 'ery idea of God one of &hose intellectual definitions is
the Csynthesis generati'e ad e1tra et annihilati'e etsi inclusi'e Fuoad seC
of all concei'able CantithesesEC e'en as the best moral definitionDJand O4
ho& much more godlike to us in this state of antithetic intellect is the moral
beyond the intellectual4KDis God is lo'e(
This is to us the high %rerogati'e of the moral that all its dictates
immediately re'eal the truths of intelligence &hereas the strictly
intellectual only by more distant and cold deductions carries us to&ards the
moral(
/or &hat is lo'eI @nion &ith the desire of union( God therefore is the
cohesion and the oneness of all thingsE and dark and dim is that system of
ethics &hich does not take oneness as the root of all 'irtue(
Being Bind Lo'e in action are ideas distinguishable though not di'isibleE
but .ill is inca%able of distinction or di'ision5 it is eFually im%lied in 'ital
action in essential intelligence and in effluent lo'e or holy action(
"o& &ill is the true %rinci%le of identity of selfness e'en in our common
language( The &ill therefore being indistinguishably one but the
%ossessi'e %o&ers tri%ly distinguishable do %erforce in'ol'e the notion
e1%ressed by a Trinity of three Persons and one God(
There are three Persons eternally coe1isting in &hom the one .ill is
totally all in eachE the truth of &hich mystery &e may kno& in our o&n
minds but can understand by no analogy(
/or *the &ind ministrant to di'ers at the same moment*Dthence to aid the
fancyDborro&s or rather steals from the mind the idea of Ctotal Cin omni
%arteCC &hich alone furnishes the analogyE but that both it and by it a
myriad of other material images do en&ra% themsel'es Cin hac 'este non
suaC and &ould be e'en no objects of conce%tion if they did notE yea that
e'en the 'ery &ords Cconce%tionC Ccom%rehensionC and all in all languages
that ans&er to them su%%ose this transHim%ression from the mind is an
argument better than all analogy(
Serm( YYY0( Bat( 1ii( >$( %( >L$(
+b( %( >L7( B(
/irst then for the first term CsinC &e use to ask in the school &hether any
action of manCs can ha'e Crationem demeritiEC &hether it can be said to
offend God or to deser'e ill of GodI for &hatsoe'er does so must ha'e
some %ro%ortion &ith God(
This a%%ears to me to furnish an interesting e1am%le of the bad
conseFuences in reasoning as &ell as in morals of the Ccui bonoI cui
maloIC system of ethicsDthat system &hich %laces the good and e'il of
actions in their %ainful or %leasurable effects on the sensuous or %assi'e
nature of sentient beings not in the &ill the %ure act itself(
/or according to this system God must be either a %assible and de%endent
beingDthat is not GodDor else he must ha'e no interest arid therefore
no moti'e or im%ulse to re&ard 'irtue or %unish 'ice(
The 'eil &hich the E%icureans thre& o'er their atheism &as itself an
im%licit atheism( "ay the &orld itself could not ha'e e1istedE and as it does
e1ist the origin of e'il Jfor if e'il means no more than %ain Cin genereC e'il
has a true being in the order of thingsK is not only a difficulty of im%ossible
solution but is a fact necessarily im%lying the nonHe1istence of an
omni%otent and infinite goodnessDthat is of God(
/or to say that + belie'e in a God but not that he is omni%otent omniscient
and allHgood is as mere a contradiction in terms as to say + belie'e in a
circle but not that all the rays from its centre to its circumference are eFual(
+ cannot read the %rofound truth so clearly e1%ressed by )onne in the ne1t
%aragra%hD*it does not only &ant that rectitude but it should ha'e that
rectitude and therefore hath a sinful &ant*D&ithout an uneasy &onder at
its incongruity &ith the %receding dogmas(
Serm( LYY+( Bat( i'( $; $2 78( %( 3$3(
+b( %(379( 6(
But still consider that they did but lea'e their nets they did not burn them(
6nd consider too that they left but nets those things &hich might entangle
them and retard them in their follo&ing of Christ Tc(
6n e1cellent %aragra%h grounded on a mere %un( Such &as the taste of the
ageE and it is an a&ful joy to obser'e that not great learning great &it
great talent not e'en Jas far as &ithout great 'irtue that can beK great
genius &ere effectual to %reser'e the man from the contagion but only the
dee% and &ise enthusiasm of moral feeling( Com%are in this light )onneCs
theological %rose e'en &ith that of the honest Ano1E and abo'e all
com%are Co&ley &ith Bilton(
Serm( LYY++( Bat( i'( $; $2 78( %( 37<(
+b( %(373( 6(HE(
+t is amusing to see the use &hich the Christian di'ines make of the 'ery
facts in fa'our of their o&n religion &ith &hich they trium%hantly battered
that of the heathensE namely the gross and sinful anthro%omor%hitism of
their re%resentations of the )eityE and yet the heathen %hiloso%hers and
%riestsDPlutarch for instanceDtell us as %lainly as )onne or 6Fuinas can
do that these are only accommodations to human modes of conce%tionD
the di'ine nature being in itself im%assibleEDho& other&ise could it be the
%rime agentI
Paganism needs a true %hiloso%hical judge( Condemned it &ill be %erha%s
more hea'ily than by the %resent judges but not from the same statutes nor
on the same e'idence(
C+n fine(C
+f our old di'ines in their homiletic e1%ositions of Scri%ture &ireHdre&
their te1t in the an1iety to e'ol'e out of the &ords the fulness of the
meaning e1%ressed im%lied or suggested our modern %reachers ha'e
erred more dangerously in the o%%osite e1treme by making their te1t a
mere theme or CmottoC for their discourse( Both err in degreeE the old
di'ines es%ecially the Puritans by e1cess the modern by defect( But there
is this difference to the disfa'or of the latter that the defect in degree alters
the kind( +t &as on GodCs holy &ord that our !ookers )onnes 6ndre&ses
%reachedE it &as Scri%ture bread that they di'ided according to the needs
and seasons( The %reacher of our days e1%ounds or a%%ears to e1%ound his
o&n sentiments and conclusions and thinks himself e'angelic enough if he
can make the Scri%ture seem in conformity &ith them(
6bo'e all there is something to my mind at once ele'ating and soothing in
the idea of an order of learned men reading the many &orks of the &ise and
great in many languages for the %ur%ose of making one book contain the
life and 'irtue of all others for their brethrenCs use &ho ha'e but that one to
read( .hat then if that one book be such that the increase of learning is
sho&n by more and more enabling the mind to find them all in it4 But such
according to my e1%erienceDhard as + am on threescoreDthe Bible is as
far as all moral s%iritual and %rudentialDall %ri'ate domestic yea e'en
%olitical truths arid interests are concerned( The astronomer chemist
mineralogist must go else&hereE but the Bible is the book for the man(
:/ootnote $5 The LYYY Sermons fol( $<L8(DEd(=
:/ootnote 75
*Br( ColeridgeCs admiration of Bull and .aterland as high theologians &as
'ery great( Bull he used to read in the Latin C)efensio /idei "icoenoeC
using the ?esuit `olaCs edition of $3;L &hich + think he bought at Rome(
!e told me once that &hen he &as reading a Protestant English Bisho%Cs
&ork on the Trinity in a co%y edited by an +talian ?esuit in +taly he felt
%roud of the Church of England and in good humour &ith the Church of
Rome(*
CTable TalkC 7d edit( %( L$(DEd(=
:/ootnote >5 Rom( 'i( > L 9(DEd(=
:/ootnote L5 ?ohn i $L( Gal( i' L( Ed(=
:/ootnote 95 See the &hole argument on the difference of the reason and
the understanding in the C6ids to ReflectionC >d edit( %%( 78<H773( Ed(=
:/ootnote <5 See the authorCs entire argument u%on this subject in the
CChurch and StateC(DEd(=
:/ootnote 35 Galat( ii 78(DEd(=
:/ootnote ;5 Com%are C!amletC 6ct 0( sc( $( This sermon &as %reached
Barch ; $<7;H2(DEd(=
:/ootnote 25 C( iii( $> Tc(DEd(=
:/ootnote $85 See ho&e'er the authorCs e1%ressions at + belie'e a rather
later %eriod(
*+ no& think after many doubts that the %assageE C+ kno& that my
Redeemer li'ethC Tc( may fairly be taken as a burst of determination a
CFuasiC %ro%hecy( + kno& not ho& this can beE but in s%ite of all my
difficulties this + do kno& that + shall be recom%ensed4*
CTable TalkC 7d edit( %( ;8(DEd(=
:/ootnote $$5 !o& soI +s it not admitted that Robert Ste%hens first di'ided
the "e& Testament into 'erses in $99$I See the testimony to that effect of
!enry Ste%hens his son in the Preface to his Concordance(DEd( =
:/ootnote $75 CRomC( 'iii( >( Br( C( after&ards e1%ressed himself to the
same effect5
*ChristCs body as mere body or rather carcase Jfor body is an associated
&ordK &as no more ca%able of sin or righteousness than mine or yoursE
that his humanity had a ca%acity of sin follo&s from its o&n essence( !e
&as of like %assions as &e and &as tem%ted( !o& could he be tem%ted if
he had no formal ca%acity of being seducedI*
CTable TalkC 7d edit( %( 7<$(DEd(=
:/ootnote $>5 See !ookerCs admirable declaration of the doctrine5D
*These natures from the moment of their first combination ha'e been and
are for e'er inse%arable( /or e'en &hen his soul forsook the tabernacle of
his body his )eity forsook neither body nor soul( +f it had then could &e
not truly hold either that the %erson of Christ &as buried or that the %erson
of Christ did raise u% itself from the dead( /or the body se%arated from the
.ord can in no true sense be termed the %erson of ChristE nor is it true to
say that the Son of God in raising u% that body did raise u% himself if the
body &ere not both &ith him and of him e'en during the time it lay in the
se%ulchre( The like is also to be said of the soul other&ise &e are %lainly
and ine'itably "estorians( The 'ery %erson of Christ therefore for e'er one
and the selfHsame &as only touching bodily substance concluded &ithin
the gra'e his soul only from thence se'ered but by %ersonal union his
)eity still unse%arably joined &ith both(*
E( P( 0( 97( L(DCAebleCs editC( Ed( =
:/ootnote $L5 1i1( L$(DEd( =
:/ootnote $95 JC(K &hich should be JB(K
*The object of the %receding discourse &as to recommend the Bible as the
end and centre of our reading and meditation( + can truly affirm of myself
that my studies ha'e been %rofitable and a'ailing to me only so far as +
ha'e endea'ored to use all my other kno&ledge as a glass enabling me to
recei'e more light in a &ider field of 'ision from the .ord of God(*
Ed(=
:/ootnote $<5 E%( 22( See Pearson 6rt( '(DEd( =
HENRY MORE'S THEOLOGICAL WORKS. [1]
There are three %rinci%al causes to &hich the im%erfections and errors in
the theological schemes and &orks of our elder di'ines the glories of our
ChurchDmen of almost un%aralleled learning and genius the rich and
robust intellects from the reign of EliGabeth to the death of Charles ++D
may + think be reasonably attributed( 6nd striking unusually striking
instances of all three abound in this 'olumeE and in the &orks of no other
di'ine are they more &orthy of being regretted5 for hence has arisen a
de%reciation of !enry BoreCs theological &ritings &hich yet contain more
original enlarged and ele'ating 'ie&s of the Christian dis%ensation than +
ha'e met &ith in any other single 'olume( /or Bore had both the
%hiloso%hic and the %oetic genius su%%orted by immense erudition( But
unfortunately the t&o did not amalgamate( +t &as not his good fortune to
disco'er as in the %receding generation .illiam Shaks%eare disco'ered a
mordauntC or common base of both and in &hich both the %oetic and the
%hiloso%hical %o&er blended in one(
These causes areD
/irst and foremostDthe &ant of that logical :Greek5 %ro%aidRia
dokimastik_e= that critiFue of the human intellect &hich %re'iously to the
&eighing and measuring of this or that begins by assaying the &eights
measures and scales themsel'esE that fulfilment of the hea'enHdescended
Cnosce tei%sumC in res%ect to the intellecti'e %art of man &hich &as
commenced in a sort of tentati'e broadcast &ay by Lord Bacon in his
C"o'um OrganumC and brought to a systematic com%letion by +mmanuel
Aant in his CAritik der reinen 0ernunft der @rtheilskrajt und der
meta%hysiche 6nfangsgrbnde der "atur&issenschaftC(
/rom the &ant of this searching logic there is a %er%etual confusion of the
subjecti'e &ith the objecti'e in the arguments of our di'ines together &ith
a childish or anile o'errating of human testimony and an ignorance in the
art of sifting it &hich necessarily engendered credulity(
SecondDthe ignorance of natural science their %hysiogra%hy scant in fact
and stuffed out &ith fablesE their %hysiology imbrangled &ith an
ina%%licable logic and a misgro&th of Centia rationaliaC that is substantiated
abstractionsE and their %hysiogony a blank or dreams of tradition and such
*intentional colours* as occu%y s%ace but cannot fill it( ,et if Christianity is
to be the religion of the &orld if Christ be that Logos or .ord that C&as in
the beginningC by &hom all things CbecameCE if it &as the same Christ &ho
said CLet there be lightCE &ho in and by the creation commenced that great
redem%ti'e %rocess the history of life &hich begins in its detachment from
nature and is to end in its union &ith GodEDif this be true so true must it
be that the book of nature and the book of re'elation &ith the &hole
history of man as the intermediate link must be the integral and coherent
%arts of one great &ork5 and the conclusion is that a scheme of the
Christian faith &hich does not arise out of and shoot its beams do&n&ard
into the scheme of nature but stands aloof as an insulated afterthought
must be false or distorted in all its %articulars( +n confirmation of this
%osition + may challenge any o%%onent to adduce a single instance in
&hich the no& e1%loded falsities of %hysical science through all its
re'olutions from the second to the se'enteenth century of the Christian Zra
did not %roduce some corres%onding &ar%s in the theological systems and
dogmas of the se'eral %eriods(
The third and last cause and es%ecially o%erati'e in the &ritings of this
author is the %resence and regnancy of a false and fantastic %hiloso%hy yet
shot through &ith refracted light from the not risen but rising truthDa
scheme of %hysics and %hysiology com%ounded of Cartesian mechanics
and em%iricism Jfor it &as the credulous childhood of e1%erimentalismK
and a corru%t mystical theurgical %seudoHPlatonism &hich infected the
rarest minds under the Stuart dynasty( The only not uni'ersal belief in
&itchcraft and a%%aritions and the 'indication of such monster follies by
such men as Sir B( !ale Glan'ille Ba1ter !enry Bore and a host of
others are melancholy %roofs of my %osition( !ence in the first cha%ters of
this 'olume the most idle in'entions of the ancients are sought to be made
credible by the most fantastic hy%otheses and analogies(
To the man &ho has habitually contem%lated Christianity as interesting all
rational finite beings as the 'ery Cs%irit of truthC the a%%lication of the
%ro%hecies as so many fortuneHtellings and soothsayings to %articular
e'ents and %ersons must needs be felt as childishDlike faces seen in the
moon or the sediments of a teacu%( But re'erse this and a Po%e and a
Buona%arte can ne'er be &antingDthe molehill becomes an 6ndes( On the
other hand there are fe& &riters &hose &orks could be so easily defecated
as BoreCs( Bere omission &ould sufficeE and %erha%s one half Jan
unusually large %ro%ortionK &ould come forth from the furnace %ure goldE
if but a fourth ho& great a gain4
EXPLANATION OF THE GRAND MYSTERY OF GODLINESS.
)edication( CSer'orum illius omnium indignissimus(C
CSer'us indignissimusC or Comnino indignusC or any other %ositi'e selfH
abasement before God + can understandE but ho& an e1%ress a'o&al of
un&orthiness com%arati'ely su%erlati'e can consist &ith the ?obHlike
integrity and sincerity of %rofession es%ecially reFuired in a solemn address
to !im to &hom all hearts are o%en this + do not understand in the case of
such men as !enry Bore ?eremy Taylor Richard Ba1ter &ere and by
com%arison at least &ith the multitude of e'il doers must ha'e belie'ed
themsel'es to be(
+b( 0( c($L( s(>(
This makes me not so much &onder at that %assage of Pro'idence &hich
allo&ed so much 'irtue to the bones of the martyr Babylas once bisho% of
6ntioch as to sto% the mouth of 6%ollo )a%hneus &hen ?ulian &ould ha'e
enticed him to o%en it by many a fat sacrifice( To say nothing of se'eral
other memorable miracles that &ere done by the reliFues of saints and
martyrs in those times(
Strange lingering of childish credulity in the most learned and in many
res%ects enlightened di'ines of the Protestant e%isco%al church e'en to the
time of ?ames ++4 The Po%ish contro'ersy at that time made a great
clearance(
+b( s( 2(
6t one time Professor Eichorn had %ersuaded me that the 6%ocaly%se &as
authenticE that is a )anielitic dramatic %oem &ritten by the 6%ostle and
E'angelist ?ohn and not merely under his name( But the re%eated %erusal
of the 'ision has sadly unsettled my conclusion( The entire absence of all
s%irituality %er%le1es me as forming so strong a contrast &ith the Gos%el
and E%istles of ?ohnE and then the too great a%%earance of an allusion to the
fable of "eroCs return to life and em%ire to Simon Bagus and 6%ollonius
of Tyana on the one hand Jthat is the Eichornian hy%othesisK and the
insurmountable difficulties of ?ose%h Bede and others on to Bicheno and
/aber on the other( +n short + feel just as both Luther and Cal'in feltDthat
is + kno& not &hat to make of it and so lea'e it alone(
+t is much to be regretted that &e ha'e no contem%orary history of
6%ollonius or of the re%orts concerning him and the %o%ular notions in his
o&n time( /or from the romance of Philostratus &e cannot be sure as to the
fact of the lies themsel'es( +t may be a lie that there e'er &as such or such
a lie in circulation(
+b( c( $9( s( 7(
/ourthly( The Clittle hornC )an( 'ii that rules Cfor a time and times and half
a timeC it is e'ident that it is not 6ntiochus E%i%hanes because this Clittle
hornC is %art of the fourth beastDnamely the Roman(
+s it Fuite clear that the Bacedonian &as not the fourth em%ireE
$( the 6ssyrianE 7( the BedianE >( the PersianE L( the BacedonianI
!o&e'er &hat a strange %ro%hecy that Ce confessoC ha'ing been fulfilled
remains as obscure as before4
+b( s( <
C6nd ye shall ha'e the tribulation of ten daysCDthat is the utmost e1tent of
tribulationE beyond &hich there is nothing further as there is no number
beyond ten(
+t means + think the 'ery contrary( C)ecent dierumC is used e'en in Terence
for a 'ery short time( :7= +n the same &ay &e say a nine daysC &onder(
+b( c( $<( s( $(
But for further con'iction of the e1cellency of Br( BedeCs &ay abo'e that
of Grotius + shall com%are some of their main inter%retations(
!ard to say &hich of the t&o BedeCs or GrotiusC is the more im%robable(
Beyond doubt ho&e'er the Cherubim are meant as the scenic ornature
borro&ed from the Tem%le(
+b( s( 7(
That this Crider of the &hite horseC is Christ they both agree in(
The C&hite horseC is + concei'e 0ictory or Trium%hDthat is of the Roman
%o&erDfollo&ed by Slaughter /amine and Pestilence( 6ll this is %lain
enough( The difficulty commences after the &riter is deserted by his
historical facts that is after the sacking of ?erusalem(
+b( s( 9(
+t &ould be no easy matter to decide &hether Bede %lus Bore &as at a
greater distance from the meaning or Grotius from the %oetry of this
ele'enth cha%ter of the Re'elationsE &hether Bede &as more &ild or
Grotius more tame flat and %rosaic(
+b( c( $3( s( ;(
The Old and "e& Testament &hich by a C%roso%o%oeiaC are here called
the Ct&o &itnesses(C
.here is the %robability of this so long before the e1istence of the
collection since called the "e& TestamentI
+b( 'i( c( l( s( 7(
.e may dra& from this %assage J$ CThessC( i'( $< $3(K the strongest su%%ort
of the fact of the ascension of Christ or at least of St( PaulCs Jand of course
of the first generation of ChristiansCK belief of it( /or had they not belie'ed
his ascent &hence could they ha'e deri'ed the uni'ersal e1%ectation of his
descentDhis bodily %ersonal descentI The only scru%le is that all these
circumstances &ere %arts of the ?e&ish CcabalaC or idea of the Bessiah by
the s%iritualists before the Christian Zra and therefore taken for granted
&ith res%ect to ?esus as soon as he &as admitted to be the Bessiah(
+b( s( <(
But lightHminded men &hose hearts are made dark &ith infidelity care not
&hat antic distortions they make in inter%reting Scri%ture so they bring it
to any sho& of com%liance &ith their o&n fancy and incredulity(
.hy so 'ery harsh a censureI .hat moral or s%iritual or e'en &hat
%hysical difference can be inferred from all menCs dying this of one thing
that of another a third like the martyrs burnt ali'e or all in the same &ayI
+n any case they all die and all %ass to judgment(
+b( c( $9(
.ith his CsemiCHCartesian CsemiCHPlatonic CsemiCHChristian notions !enry
Bore makes a sad jumble in his assertion of chronochorhistorical
Christianity( One decisi'e reference to the ascension of the 'isible and
tangible ?esus from the surface of the earth u%&ard through the clouds
%ointed out in the &ritings of St( Paul or in the Gos%el beginning as it
certainly did and as in the co%y according to Bark it no& does &ith the
ba%tism of ?ohn or in the &ritings of the 6%ostle ?ohn &ould ha'e been
more effecti'e in flooring Old "ic of 6msterdam :>= and his familiars than
'olumes of such *maybeCs* *%erha%ses* and *should be rendered* as
these(
+b( 'iii( c( 7( c( <(
+ must confess our Sa'iour com%iled no books it being a %iece of %edantry
belo& so noble and di'ine a %erson Tc(
6las4 all this is &oefully beneath the dignity of !enry Bore and
shockingly against the majesty of the !igh and !oly One so 'ery
unnecessarily com%ared &ith !endrick "icholas of 6msterdam mercer4
+b( 1( c( $>( s( 9 <(
6 ne& sect naturally attracts to itself a %ortion of the madmen of the time
and sets another %ortion into acti'ity as alarmists and o%%ugnants( + cannot
therefore %retend to say &hat Bore might not ha'e found in the &ritings or
heard from the mouth of some lunatic &ho called himself a [uaker( But +
do not recollect in any &ork of an ackno&ledged /riend a denial of the
facts narrated by the E'angelists as ha'ing really taken %lace in the same
sense as any other facts of history( +f they &ere symbols of s%iritual acts
and %rocesses as /o1 and Penn contended they must ha'e been or
ha%%enedEDelse ho& could they be symbolsI
+t is too true ho&e'er that the %ositi'e creed of the [uakers is and e'er has
been e1tremely 'ague and misty( The deification of the conscience under
the name of the S%irit seems the main article of their faithE and of the rest
they form no o%inion at all considering it neither necessary nor desirable( +
s%eak of [uakers in general( But &hat a lesson of e1%erience does not this
thirteenth cha%ter of so great and good a man as !( Bore afford to us &ho
kno& &hat the [uakers really are4 !ad the follo&ers of George /o1 or any
number of them collecti'ely ackno&ledged the mad notions of this
!endrick "icholasI +f notDD
IN"UIRY INTO THE MYSTERY OF INI"UITY.
P#$% II. &&. '. (.
Confutation of Grotius on the $3th cha%ter of the 6%ocaly%se(
!as or has not Grotius been o'erratedI +f Grotius a%%lied these &ords
JCmagnus testis et historiarum diligentissimus inFuisitorCK to E%i%hanius in
honest earnest and not ironically he must ha'e been greatly inferior in
sound sense and critical tact both to ?ose%h Scaliger and to Rhenferd(
Strange that to !enry Bore a %oet and a man of fine imagination it
should ne'er ha'e occurred to ask himself &hether this scene Patmos
&ith &hich the drama commences &as not a %art of the %oem and like all
other %arts to be inter%reted symbolicallyI That the %oeticDand + see no
reason for doubting the realDdate of the 6%ocaly%se is under 0es%asian is
so e'idently im%lied in the fi'e kings %receding Jfor Galba Otho and
0itellius &ere aborti'e em%erorsK that it seems to me Fuite la&less to deny
it( That :Greek5 Lateinos= is the meaning of the <<< Jc( 1iii( $;(K and the
treasonable character of this are both sho&n by +renZusCs %retended
rejection and his %ro%osal of the %erfectly senseless CTeitanC instead(
:/ootnote $5 /olio( $38;(DEd(=
:/ootnote 75 C)ecem dierum 'i1 mihi est familiaC( !eaut( '( i(DEd(=
:/ootnote >5 !endrick "icholas and the /amily of Lo'e(DEd(=
HEINRICHS'S COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE.
[1]
P. ().
+t seems clear that +renZus in'ented the unmeaning CTeitanC in order to sa'e
himself from the charge of treason to &hich the CLateinosC might ha'e
e1%osed him( See Rabelais C%assimC(
P.(!.
C"ec magis blandiri %oterit alterum illud nomen Teitan Fuod studiose
commenda'it +renoeusC(
"o4 Cnon studiose sed ironice commenda'it +renZusC( +ndeed it is ridiculous
to su%%ose that +renZus &as in earnest &ith CTeitanC( !is meaning e'idently
is5Dif not CLateinosC &hich has a meaning it is some one of the many
names ha'ing the same numeral %o&er to &hich a meaning is to be found
by the fulfillment of the %ro%hecy( By o&n con'iction is that the &hole is
an illHconcerted conundrum the secret of &hich died &ith the author( The
general %ur%ose only can be ascertained namely some test %artaking of
religious obligation of allegiance to the so'ereignty of the Roman
Em%eror(
+f + granted for a moment the truth of !einrichsCs su%%osition namely that
according to the belief of the 6%ocaly%t the line of the Em%erors &ould
cease in Titus the se'enth or com%lete number JGalba Otho and 0itellius
being omittedK by the ad'ent of the BessiahEDif + found my judgment
more coerced by his arguments than it isDthen + should use this book as
e'idence of the great and early discre%ance bet&een the ?e&ishHChristian
Church and the PaulineE and my %resent 'ery serious doubts res%ecting the
identity of ?ohn the Theologian and ?ohn the E'angelist &ould become
fi1ed con'ictions of the contrary(
P( 2$( Re'( 1'ii( $$(
6mong other grounds for doubting this inter%retation Jthat Cthe eighthC in
'($$( is SatanK + object $( that it almost necessitates the substitution of the
Co%tic :Greek5 aggelos= for :Greek5 ogdoos= against all the BSS( and
&ithout any Patristic hint( /or it seems a %lay &ith &ords un&orthy the
&riter to make Satan &ho %ossessed all the se'en himself an CeighthC and
still &orse if Cthe eighthC5 7( that it is not only a great and causeless
inconcinnity in style but a &anton adding of obscurity to the obscure to
ha'e first so carefully distinguished Jc( 1iii( $H$$(K the :Greek5 drQkMon=
from the t&o :Greek5 thQeria= and the one :Greek5 thaerSon= from the other
and then to make :Greek5 thaerSon= the a%%ellati'e of the :Greek5 drQkMon=5
as if ha'ing in one %lace told of "icholas CseniorC )ick and another )ick
his cousin + should soon after talk of )ick meaning old "icholas by that
nameE that is ha'ing discriminated "icholas from )ick then to say )ick
meaning "icholas4
Re'( 1i1( 2(
These &ords might &ell bear a more recondite inter%retationE that is
:Greek5 outoi= Jthese blessed onesK are the true :Greek5 lNgoi= or
:Greek5 tRkna Theou= as the Logos is the :Greek5 huiOs Theou=(
+b( $8(
6ccording to the la& of symbolic %oetry this sociable angel Jthe Beatrice of
the !ebre& )anteK ought to be and + doubt not is Csensu symbolicoC an
angelE that is the angel of the Church of E%hesus ?ohn the E'angelist
according to the o%inion of Eusebius(
P( 72L( Re'( 11( CBillenniumC(
C)ie 'orGbglichsten Bekenner ?esu sollen auferstehen die bbrigen
Benschen sollen es nicht( !iesse jenes sie sollen noch nach ihrem
Tode fort&brken so &cre das letGtere falsch5 denn auch die bbrigen
&brken nach ihrem Tode durch ihre schriften ihre 6ndenken ihre
Beis%iel(C
CEuge4 !einrichiC( O the sublime bathos of thy %rosaismDthe muddy eddy
of thy logic4 Thou art the only man to understand a %oet4
+ ha'e too clearly before me the idea of a %oetCs genius to deem myself
other than a 'ery humble %oetE but in the 'ery %ossession of the idea +
kno& myself so far a %oet as to feel assured that + can understand and
inter%ret a %oem in the s%irit of %oetry and &ith the %oetCs s%irit( Like the
ostrich + cannot fly yet ha'e + &ings that gi'e me the feeling of flightE and
as + s&ee% along the %lain can look u% to&ard the bird of ?o'e and can
follo& him and say5
*So'ereign of the airD&ho descendest on thy nest in the cleft of the
inaccessible rock &ho makest the mountain %innacle thy %erch and haltingH
%lace and scanning &ith steady eye the orb of glory right abo'e thee
im%rintest thy lordly talons in the stainless sno&s that shoot back and
scatter round his glittering shaftsD+ %ay thee homage( Thou art my king( +
gi'e honor due to the 'ulture the falcon and all thy noble baronageE and
no less to the lo&ly bird the skyHlark &hom thou %ermittest to 'isit thy
court and chant her matin song &ithin its cloudy curtainsE yea the linnet
the thrush the s&allo& are my brethren5Dbut still + am a bird though but
a bird of the earth(
*Bonarch of our kind + am a bird e'en as thouE and + ha'e shed %lumes
&hich ha'e added beauty to the beautiful and grace to terror &a'ing o'er
the maidenCs bro& and on the helmed head of the &arHchiefE and majesty to
grief droo%ing oCer the car of death4*
:/ootnote $5 Gattingen $;7$( The fe& follo&ing notes are something out
of order inserted here in conseFuence of their connection &ith the
immediately %receding remarks in the te1t(DEd(=
LIFE OF BISHOP HACKET. [1]
+b( %( ;(
,et he &ould often dis%ute the necessity of a country li'ing for a London
minister to retire to in hot summer time out of the se%ulchral air of a
churchyard &here most of them are housed in the city and found for his
o&n %art that by .hitsuntide he did Crus anhelareC and unless he took fresh
air in the 'acation he &as sto%t in his lungs and could not s%eak clear after
Bichaelmas(
6 %lausible reason certainly &hy 6( and B( should occasionally change
%osts but a 'ery &eak one methinks for 6(Cs ha'ing both li'ings all the
year through(
+b( %( L7H>(
The Bisho% &as an enemy to all se%aration from the Church of EnglandE
but their hy%ocrisy he thought su%erlati'e that allo&ed the doctrine and yet
&ould se%arate for mislike of the disci%line( U 6nd therefore he &ished
that as of old all kings and other Christians subscribed to the Conciliary
)ecrees so no& a la& might %ass that all justices of %eace should do so in
England and then they &ould be more careful to %unish the de%ra'ers of
Church Orders(
The little or no effect of recent e1%erience and sufferings still more recent
in curing the mania of %ersecution4 !o& &as it %ossible that a man like
Bisho% !acket should not ha'e seen that if se%aration on account of the
im%osition of things by himself admitted to be indifferent and as such
justified &as criminal in those &ho did not think them indifferentDho&
doubly criminal must the im%osition ha'e been and ho& tenfold criminal
the %erse'erance in occasioning se%arationE ho& guilty the im%risoning
im%o'erishing dri'ing into &ildernesses their Christian brethren for
admitted indifferentials in direct contem%t of St( PaulCs %ositi'e command
to the contrary4
HACKET'S SERMONS.
Serm( +( Luke ii( 3(
Boreo'er as the &oman Bary did bring forth the son &ho bruised the
ser%entCs head &hich brought sin into the &orld by the &oman E'e so the
0irgin Bary &as the occasion of grace as the 0irgin E'e &as the cause of
damnation( E'e had not kno&n 6dam as yet &hen she &as beguiled and
seduced the manE so Bary Tc(
6 Rabbinical fable or gloss on Gen( iii( $( !acket is offensi'ely fond of
these &orse than silly 'anities(
+b( %( 9(
The more to illustrate this you must kno& that there &as a t&ofold root or
foundation of the children of +srael for their tem%oral being5 6braham &as
the root of the %eo%leE the kingdom &as rent from Saul and therefore
)a'id &as the root of the kingdomE among all the kings in the %edigree
none but he hath the nameE and ?esse begat )a'id the king and )a'id the
king begat SolomonE and therefore so often as God did %rofess to s%are the
%eo%le though he &ere angry he says he &ould do it for 6brahamCs sake5
so often as he %rofesseth to s%are the kingdom of ?udah he says he &ould
do it for his ser'ant )a'idCs sakeE so that Cratione radicisC as 6braham and
)a'id are roots of the %eo%le and kingdom es%ecially Christ is called the
Son of )a'id the Son of 6braham(
6 'aluable remark and confirmati'e of my con'ictions res%ecting the
con'ersion of the ?e&s namely that &hate'er &as ordained for them as
C6brahamidZC is not re%ealed by Christianity but only &hat a%%ertained to
the re%ublic kingdom or state( The modern con'ersions are as it seems to
me in the face of GodCs commands(
+b(
+ come to the third strange condition of the birthE it &as &ithout tra'el or
the %angs of &oman as + &ill she& you out of these &ordsE Cfasciis
in'ol'itC that Cshe &ra%t him in s&addling clouts and laid him in a manger(
+%sa genitri1 fuit obstetri1C says St( Cy%rian( Bary &as both the mother
and the mid&ife of the childE far be it from us to think that the &eak hand
of the &oman could facilitate the &ork &hich &as guided only by the
miraculous hand of God( The 0irgin concei'ed our Lord &ithout the lusts
of the flesh and therefore she had not the %angs and tra'el of &oman u%on
her she brought him forth &ithout the curse of the flesh( These be the
/athersC com%arisons( 6s bees dra& honey from the flo&er &ithout
offending it as E'e &as taken out of 6damCs side &ithout any grief to him
as a s%rig issues out of the bark of a tree as the s%arkling light from the
brightness of the star such ease &as it to Bary to bring forth her first born
sonE and therefore ha'ing no &eakness in her body feeling no &ant of
'igor she did not deli'er him to any %rofane hand to be drest but by a
s%ecial ability abo'e all that are ne&ly deli'ered she &ra%t him in
s&addling clouts( CGra'ida sed non gra'abaturCE she had a burden in her
&omb before she &as deli'ered and yet she &as not burdened for her
journey &hich she took so instantly before the time of the childCs birth(
/rom "aGareth to Bethlem &as abo'e forty miles and yet she suffered it
&ithout &eariness or com%laint for such &as the %o&er of the Babe that
rather he did su%%ort the BotherCs &eakness than &as su%%ortedE and as he
lighted his BotherCs tra'el by the &ay from "aGareth to Bethlem that it &as
not tedious to her tender age so he took a&ay all her dolour and imbecility
from her tra'el in childHbirth and therefore Cshe &ra%t him in s&addling
cloutsC(
6 'ery different %aragra%h indeed and Fuite on the cross road to Rome4
+t really makes me melancholyE but it is one of a thousand instances of
the influence of Patristic learning by &hich the Reformers of the Latin
Church &ere distinguished from the reno'ators of the Christian religion(
Can &e &onder that the strict Protestants &ere jealous of the backsliding of
the 6rminian %relatical clergy and of Laud their leader &hen so strict a
Cal'inist as Bisho% !acket could trick himself u% in such fantastic rags and
la%%ets of Po%ish monkery4Dcould ske&er such fri%%ery %atches cribbed
from the tyring room of Romish Parthenolatry on the sober go&n and
cassock of a Reformed and Scri%tural Church4
+b( %( 3(
But to say the truth &as he not safer among the beasts than he could be
else&here in all the to&n of BethlemI !is enemies %erchance &ould say
unto him as ?ael did to Sisera CTurn in turn in my LordC &hen she
%ur%osed to kill himE as the men of Aeilah made a fair she& to gi'e )a'id
all courteous hos%itality but the issue &ould %ro'e if God had not blessed
him that they meant to deli'er him into the hands of Saul that sought his
blood( So there &as no trusting of the Bethlemites( .ho kno&s but that
they &ould ha'e %re'ented ?udas and betrayed him for thirty %ieces of
sil'er unto !erodI Bore humanity is to be e1%ected from the beasts than
from some men and therefore she laid him in a manger(
)id not the life of 6rchbisho% .illiams %ro'e other&ise + should ha'e
inferred from these Sermons that !acket from his first boyhood had been
used to make themes e%igrams co%ies of 'erses and the like on all the
Sunday feasts and festi'als of the ChurchE had found abundant nourishment
for this humour of %oints Fuirks and Fuiddities in the study of the /athers
and glossersE and remained a Cjunior so%hC all his life long( + scarcely kno&
&hat to say5 on the one hand there is a triflingness a she&manCs or reliFueH
ha&kerCs gossi% that stands in offensi'e contrast &ith the momentous
nature of the subject and the dignity of the ministerial officeE as if a
%reacher ha'ing chosen the Pro%hets for his theme should entertain his
congregation by e1hibiting a traditional sha'ing rag of +saiahCs &ith the
Pro%hetCs stubble hair on the dried soa%Hsud( 6nd yet on the other hand
there is an innocency in it a security of faith a fulness e'inced in the %lay
and %lash of its o'erflo&ing that at other times gi'e one the same sort of
%leasure as the sight of blackberry bushes and childrenCs handkerchiefH
gardens on the slo%es of a ram%art the %romenade of some %eaceful old
to&n that stood the last siege in the Thirty ,earsC &ar4
+b( Serm( ++( Luke ii( ;(
Tiberius %ro%ounded his mind to the senate of Rome that Christ the great
%ro%het in ?e&ry should be had in the same honour &ith the other gods
&hich they &orshi%%ed in the Ca%itol( The motion did not %lease them
says EusebiusE and this &as all the fault because he &as a god not of their
o&n but of TiberiusC in'ention(
!ere + o&n the negati'e e'idence of the silence of Seneca and Suetonius
Dabo'e all of Tacitus and PlinyDout&eigh in my mind the %ositi'e
testimony of Eusebius &hich rested + sus%ect on the same ground &ith the
letters of Pontius Pilate so boldly a%%ealed to by Tertullian( :7=
+b( Serm( +++( Luke ii( 2(
But our bodies shall re'i'e out of that dust into &hich they &ere dissol'ed
and li'e for e'er in the resurrection of the righteous(
+ ne'er could satisfy myself as to the continuance and catholicity of this
strange Egy%tian tenet in the 'ery face of St( PaulCs indignant CThou fool4
not that Tc(C + ha'e at times almost been tem%ted to conjecture that Paul
taught a different doctrine from the Palestine disci%les on this %oint and
that the Church %referred the sensuous and therefore more %o%ular belief of
the E'angelistsC :Greek5 kat_ sQrka= to the more intelligible faith of the
s%iritual sage of the other 6thensE for so Tarsus &as called(
6nd &as there no sym%tom of a commencing rela%se to the errors of that
Church &hich had eFualled the traditions of men yea the dreams of
%hantasts &ith the re'elations of God &hen a chosen elder &ith the la& of
truth before him and %rofessing to di'ide and distribute the bread of life
could %aragra%h after %aragra%h %lace such un&holesome 'anities as these
before his flock &ithout e'en a hint &hich might a%%riGe them that the
ge&Hga& comfits &ere not %art of the manna from hea'enI 6ll this
su%erstitious trash about angels &hich the ?e&s learned from the Persian
legends asserted as confidently as if !acket had translated it &ord for &ord
from one of the four Gos%els4 Salmasius if + mistake not su%%oses the
original &ord to ha'e been bachelors young unmarried men( Others
inter%ret angels as meaning the bisho% and elders of the Church( Bore
%robably it &as a %ro'erbial e1%ression deri'ed from the Cherubim in the
Tem%le5 something as the country folks used to say to children Take care
the /airies &ill hear you4 +t &as a common notion among the ?e&s in the
time of St( Paul that their angels &ere em%loyed in carrying u% their
%rayers to the throne of God( Of course they must ha'e been in s%ecial
attendance in a house of %rayer(
6fter much search and much thought on the subject of angels as a di'erse
kind of finite beings + find no sufficing reason to hold it for a re'ealed
doctrine and if not re'ealed it is assuredly no truth of %hiloso%hy &hich
as + ha'e else&here remarked can concei'e but three kindsE $( the infinite
reasonE 7( the finite rationalE and >( the finite irrationalDthat is God man
and beast( .hat indeed e'en for the 'ulgar is or can an archangel be but a
man &ith &ings better or &orse than the &ingless s%ecies according as the
feathers are &hite or blackI + &ould that the &ord had been translated
instead of 6nglicised in our English Bible(
The follo&ing %aragra%h is one of !acketCs s&eetest %assages( +t is really a
beautiful little hymn(
By this it a%%ears ho& suitably a beam of admirable light did concur in the
angelsC message to set out the majesty of the Son of God5 and + beseech you
obser'eDall you that &ould kee% a good Christmas as you oughtDthat
the glory of God is the best celebration of his SonCs nati'ityE and all your
%astimes and mirth J&hich + disallo& not but rather commend in moderate
useK must so be managed &ithout riot &ithout surfeiting &ithout
e1cessi'e gaming &ithout %ride and 'ain %om% in harmlessness in
sobriety as if the glory of the Lord &ere round about us( Christ &as born to
sa'e them that &ere lostE but freFuently you abuse his nati'ity &ith so
many 'ices such disordered outrages that you make this ha%%y time an
occasion for your loss rather than for your sal'ation( Praise him in the
congregation of the %eo%le4 %raise him in your in&ard heart4 %raise him
&ith the sanctity of your life4 %raise him in your charity to them that need
and are in &ant4 This is the glory of God shining round and the most
Christian solemniGing of the birth of ?esus(
SERMONS ON THE TEMPTATION.
6s the Tem%tation is found in the three Gos%els of Batthe& Bark and
Luke it must ha'e formed %art of the CProtHe'angelionC or original Gos%elE
Dfrom the 6%ostles therefore it must ha'e come and from some or all
&ho had heard the account from our Lord himself( !o& then are &e to
understand itI To confute the &hims and su%erstitious nugacities of these
Sermons and the hundred other comments and inter%retations Cejusdem
farinZC &ould be a sad &aste of time( ,et some meaning and that &orthy
of Christ it must ha'e had( The struggle &ith the suggestions of the e'il
%rinci%le first to force his &ay and com%el belief by a succession of
miracles disjoined from moral and s%iritual %ur%oseDmiracles for
miraclesC sakeEDsecond doubts of his Bessianic character and di'inity
and tem%tations to try it by some ordeal at the risk of certain deathEDthird
to inter%ret his mission as his countrymen generally did to be one of
conFuest and royaltyEDthese %erha%sDbut + am lost in doubt(
SERMON ON THE TRANSFIGURATION.
Luke +Y( >>(
C+ could &ish that myself &ere accursed from Christ for my brethren my
kinsmen according to the fleshC(
Rom( i1( >(
St( Paul does not say *+ &ould desire to be accursed* nor does he s%eak of
any deliberated result of his considerationE but re%resents a transient
%assion of his soul an actual but undetermined im%ulseDan im%ulse
e1isting in and for itself in the moment of its ebullience and not com%leted
by an act and confirmation of the &illDas a striking %roof of the
e1ceeding interest &hich he continued to feel in the &elfare of his
countrymen !is heart so s&elled &ith lo'e and com%assion for them that
if it &ere %ossible if reason and conscience %ermitted it CBethinksC says
he C+ could &ish that myself &ere accursed if so they might be sa'ed(C
Bight not a mother figuring to herself as %ossible and e1isting an
im%ossible or not e1isting remedy for a dying child e1claim COh + could
fly to the end of the earth to %rocure it4C Let it not be irre'erent if + refer to
the fine %assage in Shaks%eareD!ots%urCs ra%tureHlike re'erieDso often
ridiculed by shallo& &its( +n great %assion the crust o%ake of %resent and
e1isting &eakness and boundedness is as it &ere fused and 'itrified for the
moment and through the trans%arency the soul catching a gleam of the
infinity of the %otential in the &ill of man reads the future for the %resent(
Percy is &ra%t in the contem%lation of the %hysical might inherent in the
concentrated &illE the ins%ired 6%ostle in the sudden sense of the de%th of
its moral strength(
SERMON ON THE RESURRECTION.
6cts ++( L(
Thirdly the necessity of it5 Cfor it &as not %ossible that he should be holden
of deathC(
One great error of te1tual di'ines is their inad'ertence to the dates
occasion object and circumstances at and under &hich the &ords &ere
&ritten or s%oken( Thus the sim%le assertion of one or t&o facts
introductory to the teaching of the Christian religion is taken as com%rising
or constituting the Christian religion itself( !ence the dis%ro%ortionate
&eight laid on the sim%le fact of the resurrection of ?esus detached from
the mysteries of the +ncarnation and Redem%tion(
+b(
St( 6ustin says that Tully in his C> lib( de Re%ublicaC dis%uted against the
reuniting of soul and body( !is argument &as To &hat endI .here should
they remain togetherI /or a body cannot be assumed into hea'en( + belie'e
God caused those famous monuments of his &it to %erish because of such
im%ious o%inions &here&ith they &ere farced(
+ belie'e ho&e'er that these books ha'e recently themsel'es enjoyed a
resurrection by the labor of 6ngelo Bai( :>=
+b(
6nd let any eFual auditor judge if ?ob &ere not an 6ntiHSocinianE ?ob 1i1(
7<( CThough after my skin &orms destroy this body yet in my flesh shall +
see God &hom + shall behold for myself and mine eyes shall see and not
anotherC(
This te1t rightly rendered is %erha%s nothing to the %ur%ose but may refer
to the dire cutaneous disease &ith &hich ?ob &as afflicted( +t may be
merely an e1%ression of ?obCs confidence of his being justified in the eyes
of men and in this life( :L=
+n the &hole &ide range of theological CmirabiliaC + kno& none stranger
than the general agreement of orthodo1 di'ines to forget to ask themsel'es
&hat they %recisely meant by the &ord Cbody(C Our LordCs and St( PaulCs
meaning is e'ident enough that is the %ersonality(
+b(
St( ChrysostomCs judgment u%on it JCha'ing loosed the %ains of deathCK is
that &hen Christ came out of the gra'e death itself &as deli'ered from
%ain and an1ietyD:Greek5 Modike katRchon autOn thQnatos kaP t_ dein_
e%asche(= )eath kne& it held him ca%ti'e &hom it ought not to ha'e seiGed
u%on and therefore it suffered torments like a &oman in tra'ail till it had
gi'en him u% again( Thus he( But the Scri%ture else&here testifies that
death &as %ut to sorro& because it had lost its sting rather than released
from sorro& by our Sa'iourCs resurrection(
Bost noticeable4 See the influence of the surrounding myriotheism in the
Cdea Bors4C
+b(
Let any com%etent judge read !acketCs Life of 6rchbisho% .illiams and
then these Sermons and so measure the stultifying nugifying effect of a
blind and uncritical study of the /athers and the e1clusi'e %re%ossession in
fa'or of their authority in the minds of many of our Church dignitaries in
the reign of Charles +(
HACKET'S LIFE OF LORD KEEPER WILLIAMS. [)]
Prudence installed as 'irtue instead of being em%loyed as one of her
indis%ensable handmaids and the %roducts of this e1em%lified and
illustrated in the life of 6rchbisho% .illiams as a &ork + could &armly
recommend to my dearest !artley( .illiams &as a man bred u% to the
determination of being righteous both honorably stri'ing and selfishly
ambitious but all &ithin the bounds and %ermission of the la& the reigning
system of casuistryE in short an egotist in morals and a &orldling in
im%ulses and moti'es( 6nd yet by %ride and by innate nobleness of nature
munificent and bene'olent &ith all the negati'e 'irtues of tem%erance
chastity and the likeDtake this man on his road to his o&n &orldly
aggrandiGement( .inding his &ay through a gro'e of %o&erful rogues by
flattery %rofessions of de'oted attachment and by actual and Gealous as
&ell as able ser'ices and at length becoming in fact nearly as great a kna'e
as the kna'es J)uke of Buckingham for e1am%leK &hose fa'or and su%%ort
he had been conciliatingDtill at last in some dilemma some strait bet&een
conscience and fear and increased confidence in his o&n %olitical strength
he o%%oses or hesitates to further some too foolish or &icked %roject of his
%atron kna'e or affronts his %ride by counselling a different course Jnot a
less &icked but one more %rofitable and conduci'e to his GraceCs
ele'ationKEHand then is CflooredC or crushed by him and falls unkno&n and
un%itied( Such &as that truly &onderful scholar and statesman 6rchbisho%
.illiams(
P#$% 1. *. !1.
C6nd God forbid that any other course should be attem%ted( /or this liberty
&as settled on the subject &ith such im%recations u%on the infringers that
if they should remo'e these great landmarks they must look for 'engeance
as if entailed by %ublic 'o&s on them and their %osterity(C These &ere the
)eanCs instructions Tc(
!e deser'es great credit for them( They %ut him in strong contrast &ith
Laud(
+b( s( ;8(
Thus for them both together he solicits5DBy most noble lord &hat true
a%%lause and admiration the Aing and your !onor ha'e gained Tc(
6ll this &e in the year $;>> should call abject and baseE but &as it so in
Bisho% .illiamsI +n the history of the morality of a %eo%le %rudence yea
cunning is the earliest form of 'irtue( This is e1%ressed in ?acob and in
@lysses and all the most ancient fables( +t &ill reFuire the true %hiloso%hic
calm and serenity to distinguish and a%%reciate the character of the morality
of our great men from !enry 0+++ to the close of ?ames +DCnullum numen
abest si sit %rudentiaCDand of those of Charles + to the Restoration( The
difference almost amounts to contrast(
+b( s( ;$H7(
!o& is it that any dee%lyHread historian should not see ho& im%erfect and
%recarious the rights of %ersonal liberty &ere during this %eriodE or seeing
it refuse to do justice to the %atriots under Charles +I The truth is that from
the reign of Ed&ard + Jto go no farther back&ardK there &as a s%irit of
freedom in the %eo%le at large &hich all our kings in their senses &ere
cautious not to a&aken by too rudely treading on itE but for indi'iduals as
such there &as none till the conflict &ith the Stuarts(
+b( s( ;L(
Of such a conclusion of state CFuZ aliFuando incognita sem%er justaC Tc(
This %er'ersion of &ords res%ecting the decrees of Pro'idence to the
ca%rices of ?ames and his beslobbered minion the )uke of Buckingham is
some&hat nearer to blas%hemy than e'en the eu%huism of the age can
e1cuse(
+b( s( ;9(
U tuus O ?acobe Fuod o%tas
E1%lorare labor mihi jussa ca%essere fas est(
+n our times this &ould be %edantic &it5 in the days of ?ames + and in the
mouth of 6rchbisho% .illiams it &as &itty %edantry(
+b( s( ;2(
!e that doth much in a short life %roducts his mortality(
CProductsC for C%roducesEC that is lengthens out Cut a%ud geometrosC(
But &hy !acket did not say C%rolongsC + kno& not(
+b(
See &hat a globe of light there is in natural reason &hich is the same in
e'ery man5 but &hen it takes &ell and riseth to %erfection it is called
&isdom in a fe&(
The good affirming itselfDJthe &ill + amKDbegetteth the true and &isdom
is the s%irit %roceeding( But in the %o%ular acce%tation common sense in an
uncommon degree is &hat the &orld calls &isdom(
+b( s( 27(
6 &ellHs%irited clause and agreeable to holy assurance that truth is more
like to &in than lo'e( Could the light of such a Gos%el as &e %rofess be
ecli%sed &ith the inter%osition of a single marriageI
6nd yet !acket must ha'e li'ed to see the %ractical confutation of this
shallo& Gnathonism in the result of the marriage &ith the Pa%ist !enrietta
of /rance4
+b( s( 2<(
*/loud* says the Lord Aee%er *since + am no Bisho% in your o%inion
+ &ill be no Bisho% to you(*
+ see the &it of this s%eechE but the &isdom the Christianity the
beseemingness of it in a ?udge and a Bisho%D&hat am + to say of thatI
+b(
6nd after the %eriod of his %residency Jof the Star ChamberK it is too &ell
kno&n ho& far the enhancements &ere stretched( CBut the &ringing of the
nose bringeth forth bloodC( Pro'( >8H>>(
.e may learn from this and fifty other %assages that it did not reFuire the
factious %rejudices of Prynne or Burton to look &ith a'ersion on the
%roceedings of Laud( Bisho% !acket &as as hot a royalist as a loyal
Englishman could be yet Laud &as Callii nimisC(
+b( s( 23(
"e& stars ha'e a%%eared and 'anished5 the ancient asterisms remainE
thereCs not an old star missing(
+f they had been they &ould not ha'e been old( This therefore like many
of Lord BaconCs illustrations has more &it than meaning( But it is a good
trick of rhetoric( The 'i'idness of the image C%er seC makes men o'erlook
the im%erfection of the simile( *,ou see my hand the hand of a %oor %uny
fello&HmortalE and &ill you %retend not to see the hand of Pro'idence in
this businessI !e &ho sees a mouse must be &ilfully blind if he does not
see an ele%hant4*
+b( s( $88(
The error of the first ?amesDan e'er &ellHintending &ellHresol'ing but
alas4 illH%erforming monarch a kindHhearted affectionate and fondling old
man really and e1tensi'ely learned yea and as far as Fuick &it and a
shre&d judgment go to the making u% of &isdom &ise in his generation
and a %edant by the right of %edantry conceded at that time to all men of
learning JBacon for e1am%leKDhis error + say consisted in the notion that
because the stalk and foliage &ere originally contained in the seed and
&ere deri'ed from it therefore they remained so in %oint of right after their
e'olution( The kingly %o&er &as the seedE the !ouse of Commons and the
munici%al charters and %ri'ileges the stock of foliageE the unity of the
realm or &hat &e mean by the constitution is the root( Bean&hile the seed
is gone and rea%%ears as the cro&n and glorious flo&er of the %lant( But
?ames in my honest judgment &as an angel com%ared &ith his son and
grandsons( 6s .illiams to Laud so ?ames + &as to Charles +(
+b(
Restraint is not a medicine to cure e%idemical diseases(
6 most judicious remark(
+b( s( $8>(
The least conni'ance in the &orld to&ards the %erson of a Pa%ist(
+t is clear to us that this illegal or C%rZterCHlegal and desultory toleration by
conni'ance at %articular casesDthis %recarious de%ending on the
momentary mood of the Aing and this in a stretch of a Fuestioned
%rerogati'eDcould neither satisfy nor conciliate the RomanHCatholic
%otentates abroad but &as sure to offend and alarm the Protestants at
home( ,et on the other hand it is unfair as &ell as un&ise to censure the
men of an age for &ant of that &hich &as abo'e their age( The true
%rinci%le much more the %racticable rules of toleration &ere in ?amesCs
time obscure to the &isestE but by the many laity no less than clergy &ould
ha'e been denounced as soulHmurder and disguised atheism( +n factDand a
melancholy fact it isDtoleration then first becomes %racticable &hen
indifference has de%ri'ed it of all merit( +n the same s%irit + e1cuse the
o%%osite %arty the Puritans and Pa%a%hobists(
+b( s( $8L(
+t &as scarcely to be e1%ected that the %assions of ?amesCs age &ould allo&
of this &ise distinction bet&een Pa%ists the intriguing restless %artiGans of
a foreign %otentate and sim%le RomanHCatholics &ho %referred the
Cmum%simusC of their grandsires to the corrected Csum%simusC of the
Reformation( But that in our age this distinction should ha'e been
neglected in the RomanHCatholic Emanci%ation Bill4
+b( s( $89(
But this in'isible consistory shall be confusedly diffused o'er all the
kingdom that many of the subjects shall to the intolerable e1hausting of
the &ealth of the realm %ay double tithes double offerings double fees in
regard of their double consistory( 6nd if +reland be so %oor as it is
suggested + hold under correction that this in'isible consistory is the
%rinci%al cause of the e1hausting thereof(
6 memorable remark on the e'il of the double %riesthood in +reland(
+b(
)r( Bisho% the ne& Bisho% of Chalcedon is to come to London %ri'ately
and + am much troubled at it not kno&ing &hat to ad'ise his majesty as
things stand at this %resent( +f you &ere shi%%ed &ith the +nfanta the only
counsel &ere to let the judges %roceed &ith him %resentlyE hang him out of
the &ay and the Aing to blame my lord of Canterbury or myself for it(
Striking instance and illustration of the tricksy %olicy &hich in the
se'enteenth century %assed for state &isdom e'en &ith the com%arati'ely
&ise( But there must be a @lysses before there can be an 6ristides and
Phocion(
Poor Aing ?amesCs main errors arose out of his su%erstitious notions of a
so'ereignty inherent in the %erson of the king( !ence he &ould be a sacred
%erson though in all other res%ects he might be a 'ery de'il( !ence his
yearning for the S%anish matchE and the ill effects of his toleration became
rightly attributed by his subjects to foreign influence as being against his
o&n ackno&ledged %rinci%le not on a %rinci%le(
+b( s( $83(
+ ha'e at times %layed &ith the thought that our bisho%rics like most of
our college fello&shi%s might ad'antageously be confined to single men if
only it &ere o%enly declared to be on ground of %ublic e1%ediency and on
no su%%osed moral su%eriority of the single state(
+b( s( $8;(
That a rector or 'icar had not only an office in the church but a freehold
for life by the common la& in his benefice(
O4 if 6rchbisho% .illiams had but seen in a clear %oint of 'ie& &hat he
indistinctly aims atDthe essential distinction bet&een the nationalty and
its trustees and holders and the Christian Church and its ministers( :<=
+b( s( $$$(
+ &ill re%resent him Jthe archbisho% of S%alatoK in a line or t&o that he &as
as indifferent or rather dissolute in %ractice as in o%inion( /or in the same
cha%ter art( >9 this is his "icolaitan doctrine5DC6 %luralitate u1orum
natura humana non abhorret imo fortasse neFue ab earum communitate(C
!o& soI The &ords mean only that the human animal is not &ithholden by
any natural instinct from %lurality or e'en community of females( +t is not
asserted that reason and re'elation do not forbid both the one and the other
or that man un&ithholden &ould not be a ,ahoo morally inferior to the
s&allo&( The em%hasis is to be laid on CnaturaC not on ChumanaC( !umanity
forbids %lural and %romiscuous intercourse not ho&e'er by the animal
nature of man but by the reason and religion that constitute his moral and
s%iritual nature(
+b( s( $$7(
But being thro&n out into banishment and hunted to be destroyed as a
%artridge in the mountain he subscribed against his o&n hand &hich yet
did not %rejudice 6thanasius his innocency5D:Greek5 t_ g_r ek basQnon
%ar_ t_en e1 archaes gnMNmaen gignNmena tauta ou tMon %hobaethRntMon
alla tMon basaniGNntMon estP boulQemata(=
+ ha'e e'er said this of Sir ?ohn Cheke( + regret his recantation as one of the
cruelties suffered by him and al&ays see the guilt flying off from him and
settling on his %ersecutors(
+b( s( $9$(
+ conclude therefore that his !ighness ha'ing admitted nothing in these
oaths or articles either to the %rejudice of the true or the eFualiGing or
authoriGing of the other religion but contained himself &holly &ithin the
limits of %enal statutes and conni'ances &herein the state hath e'er
challenged and usur%ed a directing %o&er Tc(
Three %oints seem &anting to render the Lord Aee%erCs argument airHtightE
D
$( the %roof that a king of England e'en then had a right to dis%ense not
&ith the e1ecution in indi'idual cases of the la&s but &ith the la&s
themsel'es Cin omne futurumCE that is to re%eal la&s by his o&n actE
7( the %roof that such a toothHandHtalon dra&ing of the la&s did not
endanger the eFualiGing and final mastery of the unla&ful religionE
>( the utter &ant of all reci%rocity on the %art of the S%anish monarch(
+n short it is %ardonable in !acket but &ould be contem%tible in any other
%erson not to see this ad'ice of the Lord Aee%erCs as a black blotch in his
character both as a Protestant Bisho% and as a councillor of state in a free
and Protestant country(
+b( s( $97(
,et o%inions &ere so 'arious that some s%read it for a fame that Tc(
.as it not reFuired ofDat all e'ents usual forDall %resent at a Council to
subscribe their names to the act of the majorityI There is a modern case in
%oint + think that of Sir 6rthur .ellesleyCs signature to the Con'ention of
Cintra(
+b( s( $<L(
/or to forbid judges against their oath and justices of %eace Js&orn
like&iseK not to e1ecute the la& of the land is a thing un%recedented in
this kingdom( C)urus sermoC a harsh and bitter %ill to be digested u%on a
sudden and &ithout some %re%aration(
.hat a fine +ndiaHrubber conscience !acket as &ell as his %atron must
ha'e had4 Policy &ith innocencyC Ccunning &ith conscienceC lead u% the
dance to the tune of CCTantaraC rogues all4C
@%on my &ord + can scarcely concei'e a greater difficulty than for an
honest &armHhearted man of %rinci%le of the %resent day so to disci%line
his mind by reflection on the circumstances and recei'ed moral system of
the StuartsC age Jfrom EliGabeth to the death of Charles +K and its %ro%er
%lace in the s%iral line of ascension as to be able to regard the )uke of
Buckingham as not a 'illain and to resol'e many of the acts of those
Princes into %assions conscienceH&ar%ed and hardened by halfHtruths and
the secular creed of %rudence as being itself 'irtue instead of one of her
handmaids &hen inter%reted by minds constitutionally and by their
accidental circumstances im%rudent and rash yet fearful and sus%iciousE
and &ith casuists and codes of casuistry as their conscienceHleaders4 One of
the fa'orite &orks of Charles + &as Sanderson Cde ?uramentoC(
+b( s( 788(
.herefore he &ai'es the strong and full defence he had made u%on
sto%%ing of an original &rit and de%recates all offence by that ma1im of
the la& &hich admits of a mischief rather than an incon'enience5 &hich
&as as much as to say that he thought it a far less e'il to do the lady the
%robability of an injury Jin her o&n nameK than to suffer those t&o courts to
clash together again(
6ll this is a tangle of so%hisms( The assum%tion is it is better to inflict a
%ri'ate &rong than a %ublic one5 &e ought to &rong one rather than many(
But e'en then it is badly stated( The %rinci%le is true only &here the
tolerating of the %ri'ate &rong is the only means of %re'enting a greater
%ublic &rong( But in this case it &as the certainty of the &rong of one to
a'oid the chance of an incon'enience that might %erchance be the occasion
of &rong to many and &hich incon'enience both easily might and should
ha'e been remedied by rightful measures by mutual agreement bet&een
the Bisho% and Chancellor and by the Aing or by an act of Parliament(
+b( s( 78>(
CTruly Sir this is my dark lantern and + am not ashamed to inFuire of a
)alilah to resol'e a riddleE for in my studies of di'inity + ha'e gleaned u%
this ma1im Clicet uti alieno %eccatoCEDthough the )e'il make her a sinner
+ may make good use of her sin(C Prince merrily C)o you deal in such
&areIC C+n good faith SirC says the Aee%er C+ ne'er sa& her face(C
6nd !acketCs e'ident admiration and not merely a%%robation of this base
?esuitryDthis di'inity &hich had taught the 6rchbisho% Clicere uti alieno
%eccatoC4 But Charles himself &as a student of such di'inity and yet Jas
rogues of higher rank comfort the %ride of their conscience by des%ising
inferior kna'esK + sus%ect that the CmerrilyC &as the Sardonic mirth of bitter
contem%tE only ho&e'er because he disliked .illiams &ho &as sim%ly a
man of his age his baseness being for us not for his contem%oraries or
e'en for his o&n mind( But the &orst of all is the 6rchbisho%Cs heartless
disingenuousness and moonHlike nodes to&ards his kind old master the
Aing( !o& much of truth &as there in the S%aniardCs information
res%ecting the intrigues of the Prince and the )uke of BuckinghamI +f
none if they &ere mere slanders if the Prince had acted the filial %art
to&ard his father and Aing and the )uke the faithful %art to&ards his
master and only too fond and affectionate benefactor &hat more &as
needed than to e1%ose the falsehoodsI But if .illiams kne& that there &as
too great a mi1ture of truth in the charges &hat a co&ardly ingrate to his
old friend to ha'e thus curried fa'or &ith the rising sun by this base
jugglery4
+b( s( 782(
!e &as the to%sail of the nobility and in %o&er and trust of offices far
abo'e all the nobility(
?ames + &as no fool and though through &eakness of character an un&ise
master yet not an unthinking statesmanE and + still &ant a satisfactory
solution of the accumulation of offices on Buckingham(
+b( s( 7$7(
Prudent men &ill continue the oblations of their forefathersC %iety(
The danger and mischief of going far back and yet not half far enough4
Thus !acket refers to the %iety of indi'iduals our forefathers as the origin
of Church %ro%erty( !ad he gone further back and traced to the source he
&ould ha'e found these %artial benefactions to ha'e been mere restitutions
of rights coHoriginal &ith their o&n %ro%erty and as a national reser'e for
the %ur%oses of national e1istenceDthe condition Csine Fua nonC of the
eFuity of their %ro%rietiesE for &ithout ci'iliGation a %eo%le cannot be or
continue to be a nation( But alas4 the ignorance of the essential distinction
of a national clerisy the CEcclesiaC from the Christian Church( The
CEcclesiaC has been an ecli%se to the intellect of both Churchmen and
Sectarians e'en from EliGabeth to the %resent day $;>>(
+b( s( 7$L(
6nd being threatened his best mitigation &as that %erha%s it &as not safe
for him to deny so great a lordE yet it &as safest for his lordshi% to be
denied( U The king heard the noise of these crashes and &as so %leased
that he thanked God before many &itnesses that he had %ut the Aee%er
into that %lace5 C/orC says he Che that &ill not &rest justice for
BuckinghamCs sake &hom + kno& he lo'es &ill ne'er be corru%ted &ith
money &hich he ne'er lo'ed(C
Strange it must seem to usE yet it is e'ident that !acket thought it necessary
to make a mid something half a%ology and half eulogy for the Lord
Aee%erCs timid half resistance to the insolence and iniFuitous interference
of the minion )uke( .hat a %ortrait of the times4 But the dotage of the
Aing in the maintenance of the man &hose insolence in &resting justice he
himself admits4 ,et ho& many %oints both of the times and of the AingCs
%ersonal character must be brought together before &e can fairly sol'e the
intensity of ?amesCs minionism his kingly egotism his &eak
kindheartedness his 'ulgar coarseness of tem%er his systematic jealousy of
the ancient nobles his timidity and the like4
+b(
CSirC says the Lord Aee%er C&ill you be %leased to listen to me taking in the
PrinceCs consent of &hich + make no doubt and + &ill she& ho& you shall
furnish the second and third brothers &ith %referments sufficient to
maintain them that shall cost you nothing( U +f they fall to their studies
design them to the bisho%rics of )urham and .inchester &hen they
become 'oid( +f that ha%%en in their nonage &hich is %robable a%%oint
commendatories to discharge the duty for them for a laudable allo&ance
but gathering the fruits for the su%%ort of your grandchildren till they come
to 'irility to be consecratedC Tc(
.illiams could not ha'e been in earnest in this 'illanous counsel but he
kne& his man( This conceit of dignifying dignities by the Simoniacal
%rostitution of them to bloodHroyal &as just suited to ?amesCs foolH
cunningness(
P#$% II. *. +.
U To yield not only %assi'e obedience J&hich is dueK but acti'e also Tc(
C.hich is due(C .hat in the name of common sense can this mean that is
s%eculati'elyI Practically the meaning is clear enough namely that &e
should do &hat &e can to esca%e hangingE but the distinction is for
decorum and so let it %ass(
+b( s( 39(
This is the 'enom of this ne& doctrine that by making us the AingCs
creatures and in the state of minors or children to take a&ay all our
%ro%ertyE &hich &ould lea'e us nothing of our o&n and lead us Jbut that
God hath gi'en us just and gracious PrincesK into sla'ery(
6nd yet this just and gracious Prince %rom%ts sanctions su%%orts and
o%enly re&ards this en'enomer in flat contem%t of both !ouses of
ParliamentD%rotects and %refers him and others of the same %rinci%les
and %rofessions on account of these %rofessions4 6nd the Parliament and
nation &ere ine1cusable forsooth in not trusting to CharlesCs assurances
or rather the assurances %ut in his mouth by !yde /alkland and others
that he had al&ays abhorred these %rinci%les(
+b( s( $><(
.hen they sa& he &as not CselfishC Jit is a &ord of their o&n ne&
mintK Tc(
Singular4 /rom this %assage it &ould seem that our so 'ery common &ord
CselfishC is no older than the latter %art of the reign of Charles +(
+b( s( $>3(
Their %olitical a%horisms are far more dangerous that !is Bajesty is not
the highest %o&er in his realmsE that he hath not absolute so'ereigntyE and
that a Parliament sitting is coHordinate &ith him in it(
!acket himself re%eatedly im%lies as muchE for &ould he deny that the
Aing &ith the Lords and Commons is not more than the Aing &ithout
themI or that an act of Parliament is not more than a %roclamationI
+b( s($9L(
.hat a 'enomous s%irit is in that ser%ent Bilton that blackHmouthed
`oilus that blo&s his 'i%erCs breath u%on those immortal de'otions from
the beginning to the end4 This is he that &rote &ith all irre'erence against
the /athers of our Church and sho&ed as little duty to the father that begat
him5 the same that &rote for the Pharisees that it &as la&ful for a man to
%ut a&ay his &ife for e'ery causeDand against Christ for not allo&ing
di'orces5 the same O horrid4 that defended the la&fulness of the greatest
crime that e'er &as committed to %ut our thriceHe1cellent Aing to death5 a
%etty schoolboy scribbler that durst gra%%le in such a cause &ith the %rince
of the learned men of his age Salmasius :Greek5 %hiloso%hiQs %Qsaes
a%hroditae kaP lyra= as Euna%ius says of 6mmonius PlutarchCs scholar in
Egy%t the delight the music of all kno&ledge &ho &ould ha'e scorned to
dro% a %enHfull of ink against so base an ad'ersary but to maintain the
honor of so good a Aing U Get thee behind me Bilton4 Thou sa'ourest
not the things that be of truth and loyalty but of %ride bitterness and
falsehood( There &ill be a time though such a Shimei a dead dog in
6bishaiCs %hrase esca%e for a &hile U +t is no mar'el if this cankerH&orm
Bilton Tc(
6 contem%orary of Bisho% RacketCs designates Bilton as the author of a
%rofane and lasci'ious %oem entitled Paradise Lost( The biogra%her of our
di'ine bard ought to ha'e made a collection of all such %assages( 6 German
&riter of a Life of Salmasius ackno&ledges that Bilton had the better in the
conflict in these &ords5 C!ans J?ackK 'on BiltonDnot to be com%ared in
learning and genius &ith the incom%arable Salmasius yet a shre&d and
cunning la&yerC Tc( CO sana %osteritas4C
+b( s( $3;(
)are they not trust him that ne'er broke &ith themI 6nd + ha'e heard his
nearest ser'ants say that no man could e'er challenge him of the least lie(
.hat4 this after the %ublication of CharlesCs letters to the [ueen4 )id he not
&ithin a fe& months before his death enter into corres%ondence &ith and
sign contradictory offers to three different %arties not meaning to kee% any
one of themE and at length did he not die &ith something 'ery like a
falsehood in his mouth in allo&ing himself to be re%resented as the author
of the +con BasilikeI
+b( s( $;8(
+f an underHsheriff had arrested !arry Bartin for debt and %leaded that he
did not im%rison his membershi% but his Bartinshi% &ould the Committee
for %ri'ileges be fobbed off &ith that distinctionI
To make this good in analogy &e must su%%ose that !arry Bartin had
notoriously neglected all the duties &hile he %er'erted and abused all the
%ri'ileges of membershi%5 and then + ans&er that the Committee of
%ri'ileges &ould ha'e done &ell and &isely in acce%ting the underHsheriffCs
distinction and out of res%ect for the membershi% consigning the
Bartinshi% to the due course of la&(
+b(
CThat e'ery soul should be subject to the higher %o&ers(C The higher %o&er
under &hich they li'ed &as the mere %o&er and &ill of CZsar bridled in
by no la&(
/alse if meant Cde jureCE and if Cde factoC the %lural C%o&ersC &ould a%%ly to
the Parliament far better than to the Aing and to Crom&ell as &ell as to
"ero( E'ery e'en decently good Em%eror %rofessed himself the ser'ant of
the Roman Senate( The 'ery term C+m%eratorC as Gra'ina obser'es im%lies
itE for it e1%resses a delegated and instrumental %o&er( Before the
assum%tion of the Tribunitial character by 6ugustus by &hich he became
the re%resentati'e of the majority of the %eo%leDCmajestatem indutus est
DSenatus consulit Po%ulus jubet im%erent ConsulesC &as the
constitutional language(
+b( s( $28(
,et so much dissonancy there &as bet&een his tongue and his heart that he
trium%hed in the murder of CZsar the only Roman that e1ceeded all their
race in nobleness and &as ne1t to Tully in eloFuence(
There is something so shameless in this selfHcontradiction as of itself
almost to e1tinguish the belief that the %relatic royalists &ere conscientious
in their conclusions( /or if the Senate of Rome &ere not a la&ful %o&er
&hat could beI 6nd if CZsar the thrice %erjured traitor &as neither
%erjured nor traitor only because he by his Gaulish troo%s turned a re%ublic
into a monarchyD&ith &hat face under &hat %rete1t could !acket abuse
CSultan Crom&ellIC
:/ootnote $5 By Thomas Plume( /olio $<3<(DEd(=
:/ootnote 75
CEa omnia su%er Christo Pilatus et i%se jam %ro sua conscientia
Christianus CZsari tum Tiberio nuntia'it(C
6%ologet ii( <7L( See the account in Eusebius( !ist( Eccl( ii( 7(DEd(=
:/ootnote >5 See CB( T( Ciceronis de Re%ublica FuZ su%ersunt( `ell(
StuttgardtC( $;73(DEd(=
:/ootnote L5 See Csu%raC(DEd=(
:/ootnote 95 /olio( $<2>(DEd(=
:/ootnote <5 See The Church and State(DEd(=
NOTES ON JEREMY TAYLOR.
+ ha'e not seen the late Bisho% !eberCs edition of ?eremy TaylorCs C.orksCE
but + ha'e been informed that he did little more than contribute the CLifeC
and that in all else it is a mere London booksellersC job( This if true is
greatly to be regretted( + kno& no &riter &hose &orks more reFuire + need
not say deser'e the annotations aye and occasional animad'ersions of a
sound and learned di'ine( One thing is es%ecially desirable in reference to
that most im%ortant because J&ith the e1ce%tion %erha%s of the C!oly
Li'ing and )yingCK the most %o%ular of TaylorCs &orks CThe Liberty of
Pro%hesyingCE and this is a careful collation of the different editions
%articularly of the first %rinted before the Restoration and the last
%ublished in TaylorCs lifetime and after his %romotion to the e%isco%al
bench( +ndeed + regard this as so nearly concerning TaylorCs character as a
man that if + find that it has not been done in !eberCs edition and if + find a
first edition in the British Buseum or Sion College or )r( .illiamsCs
library + &ill God %ermitting do it myself( There seems something cruel in
gi'ing the name 6naba%tist to the English 6ntiH%ZdoHba%tistsE but still
&orse in connecting this most innocent o%inion &ith the mad ?acobin
ra'ings of the %oor &retches &ho &ere called 6naba%tists in Bunster as if
the latter had e'er formed %art of the Ba%tistsC creeds( +n short CThe Liberty
of Pro%hesyingC is an admirable &ork in many res%ects and calculated to
%roduce a much greater effect on the many than BiltonCs treatise on the
same subject5 on the other hand BiltonCs is throughout unmi1ed truthE and
the man &ho in reading the t&o does not feel the contrast bet&een the
singleHmindedness of the one and the CstrabismusC in the other isDin the
road of %referment(
GENERAL DEDICATION OF THE POLEMICAL DISCOURSES. [1]
0ol( 'ii( %( i1(
6nd the breath of the %eo%le is like the 'oice of an e1terminating angel not
so killing but so secret(
That is in such &ise( +t &ould be &ell to note after &hat time CasC became
the reFuisite correlati'e to CsoC and e'en as in this instance the %referable
substitute( .e should ha'e &ritten CasC in both %laces %robably but at all
e'ents in the latter trans%lacing the sentences Cas secret though not so
killingEC or Cnot so killing but Fuite as secret(C +t is not generally true that
TaylorCs %unctuation is arbitrary or his %eriods reducible to the %ostH
Re'olutionary standard of length by turning some of his colons or semiH
colons into full sto%s( There is a subtle yet just and systematic logic
follo&ed in his %ointing as often as it is %ermitted by the higher %rinci%le
because the %ro%er and %rimary %ur%ose of our sto%s and to &hich alone
from their %aucity they are adeFuateDthat + mean of enabling the reader to
%re%are and manage the %ro%ortions of his 'oice and breath( But for the
true scheme of %unctuation :Greek5 hMos emoige dokei= see the blank
%age o'er leaf &hich + &ill try to disblank into a %riGe of more &orth than
can be got at the E(O(Cs and little goes of Lindley Burray( :7=
+b( %( 1'(
But the most com%lained that in my &ays to %ersuade a toleration + hel%ed
some men too far and that + armed the 6naba%tists &ith s&ords instead of
shields &ith a %o&er to offend us besides the %ro%er defensiti'es of their
o&n U But &ise men understand the thing and are satisfied( But because
all men are not of eFual strengthE + did not only in a discourse on %ur%ose
demonstrate the true doctrine in that Fuestion but + ha'e no& in this edition
of that book ans&ered all their %retensions Tc(
"oE in the might of his genius he called u% a s%irit &hich he has in 'ain
endea'ored to lay or e1orcise from the con'iction(
+b( %( 1'ii(
/or e%isco%acy relies not u%on the authority of /athers and Councils but
u%on Scri%ture u%on the institution of Christ or the institution of the
6%ostles u%on a uni'ersal tradition and a uni'ersal %ractice not u%on the
&ords and o%inions of the doctors5 it hath as great a testimony as Scri%ture
itself hath Tc(
.e must make allo&ance for the into1ication of recent trium%h and final
'ictory o'er a trium%hing and 'ictorious enemyE or &ho but &ould start
back at the a&eless temerity of this assertionI "ot to mention the e'asionE
for &ho e'er denied the historical fact or the Scri%tural occurrence of the
&ord e1%ressing the fact namely Ce%isco%i e%isco%atusICI .hat &as
Fuestioned by the o%%onents &as
$ED.ho and &hat these Ce%isco%iC &ereE &hether essentially different from
the %resbyter or a %resbyter by kind in his o&n CecclesiaC and a %resident or
chairman by accident in a synod of %resbyters5
7EDThat &hate'er the Ce%isco%iC of the 6%ostolic times &ere yet &ere they
%relates lordly diocesansE &ere they such as the Bisho%s of the Church of
EnglandI .as there Scri%ture authority for 6rchbisho%sI
>EDThat the establishment of Bisho%s by the 6%ostle Paul being granted
Jas &ho can deny itIKDyet &as this done Cjure 6%ostolicoC for the uni'ersal
Church in all %laces and agesE or only as e1%edient for that time and under
those circumstancesE by Paul not as an 6%ostle but as the head and founder
of those %articular churches and so entitled to determine their bye la&sI
DEDICATION OF THE SACRED ORDER AND OFFICES OF
EPISCOPACY.
+b( %( 11iii(
But the interest of the Bisho%s is conjunct &ith the %ros%erity of the Aing
besides the interest of their o&n security by the obligation of secular
ad'antages( /or they &ho ha'e their li'elihood from the Aing and are in
e1%ectance of their fortune from him are more likely to %ay a tribute of
e1acter duty than others &hose fortunes are not in such immediate
de%endency on !is Bajesty(
The cat out of the bag4 Consult the &hole reigns of Charles +( and ++( and
the beginning of ?ames ++( ?eremy Taylor &as at this time Jblamelessly for
himself and most honourably for his %atronsK ambling on the high road of
%refermentE and to men so situated ho&e'er sagacious in other res%ects it
is not gi'en to read the signs of the times( Little did Taylor foresee that to
indiscreet a'o&als like these on the %art of the court clergy the
e1auctorations of the Bisho%s and the tem%orary o'erthro& of the Church
itself &ould be in no small %ortion attributable( But the scanty measure and
obscurity Jif not rather for so bright a luminary the occultationK of his
%referment after the Restoration is a %roblem of &hich %erha%s his 'irtues
%resent the most %robable solution(
+b( %( 11'(
6 second return that e%isco%acy makes to royalty is that &hich is the duty
of all Christians the %aying tributes and im%ositions(
This is trueE and it &as an e'il hour for the ChurchDand led to the loss of
its Con'ocation the greatest and in an enlarged stateH%olicy the most
im%olitic affront e'er offered by a go'ernment to its o&n established
ChurchDin &hich the clergy surrendered their right of ta1ing themsel'es(
+b( %( 11'ii(
+ mean the con'ersion of the kingdom from Paganism by St( 6ugustine
6rchbisho% of CanterburyE and the Reformation begun and %romoted by
Bisho%s(
/rom Paganism in %artE but in %art from %rimiti'e Christianity to Po%ery(
But neither this nor the follo&ing boast &ill bear narro& looking into +
sus%ect(
C+n fine(C
Like all TaylorCs dedications and dedicatory e%istles this is easy dignified
and %regnant( The ha%%iest CsynthesisC of the di'ine the scholar and the
gentleman &as %erha%s e1hibited in him and Bisho% Berkeley(
+ntrod( %(>(
+n all those accursed machinations &hich the de'ice and artifice of hell
hath in'ented for the su%%lanting of the Church Cinimicus homoC that old
su%erseminator of heresies and crude mischiefs hath endea'oured to be
curiously com%endious and &ith TarFuinCs de'ice C%utare summa
%a%a'erum(C
[uoereHs%iritualiter %a%a'eratorurnI
+b(
!is ne1t onset &as by ?ulian and Coccidere %resbyteriumC that &as his
%ro'ince( To shut u% %ublic schools to force Christians to ignorance to
im%o'erish and disgrace the clergy to make them 'ile and dishonorable
these are his artsE and he did the de'il more ser'ice in this fineness of
undermining than all the o%en battery of ten great rams of %ersecution(
.hat felicity &hat 'i'acity of e1%ression4 Bany years ago Br( Backintosh
ga'e it as an instance of my %er'erted taste that + had seriously contended
that in order to form a style &orthy of Englishmen Bilton and Taylor must
be studied instead of ?ohnson Gibbon and ?uniusE and no& + see by his
introductory Lecture gi'en at LincolnCs +nn and just %ublished he is
himself imitating ?eremy Taylor or rather co%ying his semiHcolon
%unctuation as closely as he can( 6musing it is to obser'e ho& by the time
the modern imitators are at the halfH&ay of the long breathed %eriod the
asthmatic thoughts dro% do&n and the rest isD&ords4 + ha'e al&ays been
an obstinate ho%er5 and e'en this is a CdatumC and a sym%tom of ho%e to me
that a better an ancestral s%irit is forming and &ill a%%ear in the rising
generation(
+b( %( 9(
/irst because here is a concourse of timesE for no& after that these times
ha'e been called the last times for $<88 years together our e1%ectation of
the great re'elation is 'ery near accom%lishing(
Rather a &himsical conseFuence that because a certain %arty had been
decei'ing themsel'es for si1teen centuries they &ere likely to be in the
right at the beginning of the se'enteenth( But indeed + Fuestion &hether in
all TaylorCs 'oluminous &ritings there are to be found three other
%aragra%hs so 'ague and mistyHmagnific as this is( +t almost reminds me of
the *'ery cloudy and mighty alarming* in /oote(
S( i( %( L(
+f there be such a thing as the %o&er of the keys by Christ concredited to
his Church for the binding and loosing delinFuents and %enitents
res%ecti'ely on earth then there is clearly a court erected by Christ in his
Church(
.e may &ithout any heretical di'ision of %erson economically distinguish
our LordCs character as ?esus and as Christ so far that during his sojourn
on earth from his ba%tism at least to his crucifi1ion he &as in some
res%ects his o&n Elias bringing back the then e1isting Church to the %oint
at &hich the Pro%hets had %laced itE that is distinguishing the CethicaC from
the C%oliticaC &hat &as binding on the ?e&s as descendants of 6braham and
inheritors of the %atriarchal faith from the statutes obligatory on them as
members of the ?e&ish state(
?esus fulfilled the La& &hich culminated in a %ure religious morality in
%rinci%les affections and actsE and this he consolidated and le'elled into
the groundHstead on &hich the ne& tem%le Cnot made &ith handsC &herein
!imself e'en Christ the Lord is the Shechinah &as to rise and be raised(
Thus he taught the s%irit of the Bosaic La& &hile by his acts sufferings
death resurrection ascension and demission of the Comforter he created
and realiGed the contents objects and materials of that redem%ti'e faith
the e'erlasting Gos%el &hich from the day of Pentecost his elect disci%les
:Greek5 tMon mystaeriMNn hierokQerykes= .ere Sent forth to dis%erse and
%romulgate &ith suitable gifts %o&ers and e'idences(
+n this 'ie& + inter%ret our LordCs sayings concerning the Church as
a%%lying &holly to the Synagogue or established Church then e1isting
&hile the binding and loosing refers immediately and %rimarily as +
concei'e to the miraculous gifts of healing diseases communicated to the
6%ostlesE and + am not afraid to a'o& the con'iction that the first three
Gos%els are not the books of the "e& Testament in &hich &e should
e1%ect to find the %eculiar doctrines of the Christian faith e1%licitly
deli'ered or forming the %redominant subject or contents of the &riting(
S( 'iii( %( 79(
+m%osition of hands for Ordination does indeed gi'e the !oly Ghost but
not as he is that %romise &hich is called Cthe %romise of the truthC(
6las4 but in &hat sense that does not im%ly some infusion of %o&er or
light something gi'en and in&ardly recei'ed &hich &ould not ha'e
e1isted in and for the reci%ient &ithout this immission by the means or act
of the im%osition of the handsI .hat sense that does not amount to more
and other than a mere delegation of office a mere legitimating acce%tance
and ackno&ledgment &ith res%ect to the %erson of that &hich already is in
him can be attached to the &ords CRecei'e the !oly GhostC &ithout
shocking a %ious and singleHminded candidateI The miraculous nature of
the gi'ing does not de%end on the %articular kind or Fuality of the gift
recei'ed much less demand that it should be confined to the %o&er of
&orking miracles(
/or *miraculous nature* read *su%ernatural characterE* and + can subscribe
this %encil note &ritten so many years ago e'en at this %resent time 7d
Barch $;7L(
S( 11i( %( 2$(
CPostFuam unusFuisFue eos Fuos ba%tiGabat suos %utabat esse non
Christi et diceretur in %o%ulis Ego sum Pauli Ego 6%ollo Ego autem
Ce%hZ in toto orbe decretum est ut unus de %resbyteris electus
su%er%oneretur cateris ut schismatum semina tollerentur(C
The natural inference &ould methinks be the contrary( There &ould be
more %ersons inclined and more likely to attach an ambition to their
belonging to a single eminent leader and head than to a bodyDrather to
CZsar Barius or Pom%ey than to the Senate( But + ha'e e'er thought that
the best safest and at the same time sufficient argument is that by the
nature of human affairs and the a%%ointments of GodCs ordinary %ro'idence
e'ery assembly of functionaries &ill and must ha'e a %residentE that the
same Fualities &hich recommended the indi'idual to this dignity &ould
naturally recommend him to the chief e1ecuti'e %o&er during the inter'als
of legislation and at all times in all %oints already ruledE that the most
solemn acts Confirmation and Ordination &ould as naturally be confined
to the head of the e1ecuti'e in the state ecclesiastic as the sign manual and
the like to the king in all limited monarchiesE and that in course of time
&hen many %resbyteries &ould e1ist in the same district 6rchbisho%s and
Patriarchs &ould arise C%ari rationeC as Bisho%s did in the first instance(
"o& it is admitted that GodCs e1traordinary a%%ointments ne'er re%eal but
rather %erfect the la&s of his ordinary %ro'idence5 and it is enough that all
&e find in the "e& Testament tends to confirm and no &here forbids
contradicts or in'alidates the course of go'ernment &hich the Church &e
are certain did in fact %ursue(
+b( s( 111'i( %( $3$(
But those things &hich Christianity as it %rescinds from the interest of the
re%ublic hath introduced all them and all the causes emergent from them
the Bisho% is judge ofU( Recei'ing and dis%osing the %atrimony of the
Church and &hatsoe'er is of the same consideration according to the
fortyfirst canon of the 6%ostles( CPrZci%imus ut in %otestate sua e%isco%us
ecclesice res habeatC( Let the Bisho%s ha'e the dis%osing of the goods of the
ChurchE adding this reason5 Csi enim animte hominum %retiosZ illi sint
creditZ multo magis eum o%ortet curam %ecuniarum gerereC( !e that is
intrusted &ith our %recious souls may much more be intrusted &ith the
offertories of faithful %eo%le(
Let all these belong to the o'erseer of the Church5 to &hom else so
%ro%erlyI but &hat is the nature of the %o&er by &hich he is to enforce his
ordersI By secular %o&erI Then the Bisho%Cs %o&er is no deri'ati'e from
ChristCs royaltyE for his kingdom is not of the &orldE but the monies are
CZsarCsE and the Ccura %ecuniarumC must be 'ested &here the donors direct
the la& of the land %ermitting(
+b(
Such are the delinFuencies of clergymen &ho are both clergy and subjects
tooE Cclerus )ominiC and Cregis subditiC5 and for their delinFuencies &hich
are Cin materia justiZC the secular tribunal %unishes as being a 'iolation of
that right &hich the state must defendE but because done by a %erson &ho is
a member of the sacred hierarchy and hath also an obligation of s%ecial
duty to his Bisho% therefore the Bisho% also may %unish himE and &hen
the common&ealth hath inflicted a %enalty the Bisho% also may im%ose a
censure for e'ery sin of a clergyman is t&o(
But &hy of a clergyman onlyI +s not e'ery shee% of his flock a %art of the
Bisho%Cs charge and of course the %ossible object of his censureI The
clergy you say take the oath of obedience( 6ye4 but this is the %oint in
dis%ute(
+b( %( $37(
So that e'er since then e%isco%al jurisdiction hath a double %art an e1ternal
and an internal5 this is deri'ed from Christ that from the king &hich
because it is concurrent in all acts of jurisdiction therefore it is that the
king is su%reme of the jurisdiction namely that %art of it &hich is the
e1ternal com%ulsory(
+f Christ delegated no e1ternal com%ulsory %o&er to the Bisho%s ho&
came it the duty of %rinces to God to do soI +t has been so sinceDHyes4
since the first grand a%ostasy from Christ to Constantine(
+b( s( 1l'iii( %( 7L;(
Bisho%s Cut sicC are not secular %rinces must not seek for itE but some
secular %rinces may be Bisho%s as in Germany and in other %laces to this
day they are( /or it is as unla&ful for a Bisho% to ha'e any land as to ha'e
a countryE and a single acre is no more due to the order than a %ro'inceE but
both these may be conjunct in the same %erson though still by 'irtue of
ChristCs %rece%t the functions and ca%acities must be distinguished(
TrueE but &ho &ith more indignant scorn attacked this 'ery distinction
&hen a%%lied by the Presbyterians to the kingshi% &hen they %rofessed to
fight for the Aing against CharlesI 6nd yet they had on their side both the
s%irit of the English constitution and the language of the la&( The Aing
ne'er diesE the Aing can do no &rong( Else&here too Taylor could ridicule
the Romish %relate &ho fought and sle& men as a ca%tain at the head of
his 'assals and then in the character of a Bisho% absol'ed his other
homicidal self( !o&e'er &hate'er St( Peter might understand by ChristCs
&ords St( PeterCs threeHcro&ned successors ha'e been Fuite of TaylorCs
o%inion that they are to be %ara%hrased thus5D*Simon Peter as my
6%ostle you are to make con'erts only by humility 'oluntary %o'erty and
the &ords of truth and meeknessE but if by your s%iritual influence you can
induce the Em%eror Tiberius to make you Tetrarch of Galilee or Prefect of
?udaea then :Greek5 katakyrSeue= Dyou may lord it as loftily as you &ill
and deli'er as Tetrarch or Prefect those stiffHnecked miscreants to the
flames for not ha'ing been con'erted by you as an 6%ostle(*
+b( %( 73<(
+ end &ith the golden rule of 0incentius Lirinensis5DCmagno%ere curandum
est ut id teneamus Fuod ubiFue Fuod sem%er Fuod ab omnibus creditum
est(C
6las4 this golden rule comes full and round from the mouthE nor do + deny
that it is %ure gold5 but like too many other golden rules in order to make it
co'er the facts &hich the orthodo1 asserter of e%isco%acy at least and the
cha%lain of 6rchbisho% Laud and Aing Charles the Bartyr must ha'e held
himself bound to bring under it it must be made to dis%lay another
%ro%erty of the so'ereign metal its malleableness to &itE and must be
beaten out so thin that the &eight of truth in the %ortion a%%ertaining to
each se'eral article in the orthodo1 systems of theology &ill be so small
that it may better be called gilt than goldE and if &orth ha'ing at all it &ill
be for its sho& not for its substance( /or instance the Caranea theologicaC
may dra& out the &hole &eb of the .estminster Catechism from the
sim%le creed of the belo'ed )isci%leDC&hoe'er belie'eth &ith his heart
and %rofesseth &ith his mouth that ?esus is Lord and ChristCDshall be
sa'ed( +f im%licit faith only be reFuired doubtless certain doctrines from
&hich all other articles of faith im%osed by the Lutheran Scotch or
English Churches may be deduced ha'e been belie'ed CubiFue sem%er et
ab omnibus(C But if e1%licit and conscious belief be intended + &ould rather
that the Bisho% than + should defend the golden rule against Semler(
APOLOGY FOR AUTHORI,ED AND SET FORMS OF LITURGY.
Preface s( 'i( %( 7;<(
"ot like &omen or children &hen they are affrighted &ith fire in their
clothes( .e shaked off the coal indeed but not our garments lest &e
should ha'e e1%osed our Churches to that nakedness &hich the e1cellent
men of our sister Churches com%lained to be among themsel'es(
O &hat con'enient things meta%hors and similes are so charmingly
indeterminate4 On the general reader the literal sense o%erates5 he shi'ers in
sym%athy &ith the %oor shiftHless matron the Church of Gene'a( To the
objector the ans&er is readyDit &as s%eaking meta%horically and only
meant that she had no shift on the outside of her go&n that she made a
shift &ithout an o'erHall( Com%are this si1th section &ith the manful
senseful irrebuttable fourth sectionDa folio 'olume in a single %aragra%h4
But ?eremy Taylor &ould ha'e been too great for man had he not
occasionally fallen belo& himself(
+b( s( 1( %( 7;;(
6nd since all that cast off the Roman yoke thought they had title enough to
be called Reformed it &as hard to ha'e %leased all the %ri'ate interests and
%ee'ishness of men that called themsel'es friendsE and therefore that only
in &hich the Church of Rome had %re'aricated against the &ord of God or
inno'ated against 6%ostolical tradition all that &as %ared a&ay(
6ye4 here is the Co'umC as Sir E'erard !ome &ould say the C%rotoCH%arent
of the &hole race of contro'ersies bet&een Protestant and ProtestantE and
each had Gos%el on their side( .hate'er is not against the &ord of God is
for itDthought the founders of the Church of England( .hate'er is not in
the &ord of God is a &ord of man a &illH&orshi% %resum%tuous and
usur%ingDthought the founders of the Church of Scotland and Gene'a(
The one %ro%osed to themsel'es to be reformers of the Latin Church that
is to bring it back to the form &hich it had during the first four centuriesE
the latter to be the reno'ators of the Christian religion as it &as %reached
and instituted by the 6%ostles and immediate follo&ers of Christ thereunto
s%ecially ins%ired( .here the %remisses are so different &ho can &onder at
the difference in the conclusionsI
+b( s( 1ii( ib(
+t began early to disco'er its incon'enienceE for &hen certain Gealous
%ersons fled to /rankfort to a'oid the funeral %iles kindled by the Roman
Bisho%s in [ueen BaryCs time as if they had not enemies enough abroad
they fell foul &ith one another and the Fuarrel &as about the Common
Prayer Book(
But &ho began the FuarrelI Ano1 and his recent biogra%her lay it to
)r( Co1 and the Liturgists(
+b( s( 1iii( %( 7;2(
!ere therefore it became la& &as established by an act of Parliament &as
made solemn by an a%%endant %enalty against all that on either hand did
%re'aricate a sanction of so long and so %rudent consideration(
Truly e'angelical &ay of solemniGing a %arty measure and sa%ientiGing
Cal'inCs Ctolerabiles ine%tiasC by making them Cine%tias usFue ad carcerem et
'erbera intolerantes4C
+b( s( 1i'( ib(
But the Common Prayer Book had the fate of St( PaulE for &hen it had
sca%ed the storms of the Roman See yet a 'i%er s%rung out of [ueen
BaryCs fires Tc(
6s Ano1 and his friends confined themsel'es to the ins%ired &ord &hether
'i%ers or no they &ere not adders at all e'ents(
+b( 11'i( %( 72<(
/or if &e deny to the %eo%le a liberty of reading the Scri%tures may they
not com%lain as +saac did against the inhabitants of the land that the
Philistines had s%oiled his &ell and the fountains of li'ing &aterI +f a free
use to all of them and of all Scri%tures &ere %ermitted should not the
Church herself ha'e more cause to com%lain of the infinite licentiousness
and looseness of inter%retations and of the commencement of ten thousand
errors &hich &ould certainly be conseFuent to such %ermissionI Reason
and religion &ill chide us in the first reason and e1%erience in the latter U
The Church &ith great &isdom hath first held this torch outE and though for
great reasons inter'ening and hindering it cannot be reduced to %ractice
yet the Church hath she&n her desire to a'oid the e'il that is on both hands
and she hath she&n the &ay also if it could ha'e been insisted in(
+f there &ere not at the time this Preface or this %aragra%h at least &as
&ritten or %ublished some design on foot or Csub linguaC of making
ad'ances to the continental catholicism for the %ur%ose of conciliating the
courts of 6ustria /rance and S%ain in fa'or of the Ca'alier and Royalist
%arty at home and abroad this must be considered as a useless and &orse
than useless a'o&al( The Pa%acy at the height of its influence ne'er
asserted a higher or more antiHProtestant right than this of di'iding the
Scri%tures into %ermitted and forbidden %ortions( +f there be a functionary
of di'ine institution synodical or uni%ersonal &ho &ith the name of the
CChurchC has the right under circumstances of its o&n determination to
forbid all but such and such %arts of the Bible it must %ossess %otentially
and under other circumstances a right of &ithdra&ing the &hole book from
the unlearned &ho yet cannot be altogether unlearnedE for the 'ery
%rohibition su%%oses them able to do &hat a fe& centuries before the
majority of the clergy themsel'es &ere not Fualified to do that is read
their Bible throughout( Surely it &ould ha'e been %olitic in the &riter to
ha'e left out this sentence &hich his Puritan ad'ersaries could not fail to
translate into the Church she&ing her teeth though she dared not bite( +
bitterly regret these %assagesE neither our incom%arable Liturgy nor this
full masterly and unans&erable defence of it reFuiring them(
+b( s( 1l' %( >8;(
So that the Church of England in these manners of dis%ensing the %o&er of
the keys does cut off all dis%utings and im%ertinent &ranglings &hether
the %riestCs %o&er &ere judicial or declarati'eE for %ossibly it is both and it
is o%tati'e too and something else yetE for it is an emanation from all the
%arts of his ministry and he ne'er absol'es but he %reaches or %rays or
administers a sacramentE for this %o&er of remission is a transcendent
%assing through all the %arts of the %riestly offices( /or the keys of the
kingdom of hea'en are the %romises and the threatenings of the Scri%ture
and the %rayers of the Church and the .ord and the Sacraments and all
these are to be dis%ensed by the %riest and these keys are committed to his
ministry and by the o%eration of them all he o%ens and shuts hea'enCs gates
ministerially(
"o more ingenious &ay of making nothing of a thing than by making it
e'ery thing( Omnify the dis%uted %oint into a transcendant and you may
defy the o%%onent to lay hold of it( !e might as &ell attem%t to gras% an
Caura electricaC(
6%ology Tc( s( ii( %( >78(
6nd it may be &hen + am a little more used to it + shall not &onder at a
synod in &hich not one Bisho% sits in the ca%acity of a Bisho% though +
am most certain this is the first e1am%le in England since it &as first
christened(
+s this Fuite fairI +s it not at least logically considered and at the
commencement of an argument too like a C%etitio %rinci%iiC or C%resum%tio
rei litigataeCI The .estminster di'ines &ere confessedly not %relates but
many in that assembly &ere in all other %oints orthodo1 and affectionate
members of the Establishment &ho &ith Bedell Lightfoot and @sher held
them to be Bisho%s in the %rimiti'e sense of the term and &ho yet had no
&ish to make any other change in the hierarchy than that of denominating
the e1isting English %relates 6rchbisho%s( They thought that &hat at the
bottom &as little more than a Fuestion of names among E%isco%alians
ought not to ha'e occasioned such a dis%uteE but yet the e'il ha'ing taken
%lace they held a change of names not too great a sacrifice if thus the
things themsel'es could be %reser'ed and E%isco%acy maintained against
the +nde%endents and Presbyterians(
+b( s( '( %( >7$(
+t is a thing of no %resent im%ortance but as a %oint of history it is &orth a
Fuestion &hether there &ere any di'ines in the .estminster 6ssembly &ho
ado%ted by antici%ation the notions of the Seekers [uakers and others
Cejusdem farin(C Ba1ter denies it( + understand the contro'ersy to ha'e been
&hether the e1aminations at the admission to the ministry did or not
su%ersede the necessity of any directi'e models besides those found in the
sacred 'olumes5Dif not necessary &hether there &as any greater
e1%edience in %ro'iding by authority forms of %rayer for the minister than
forms of sermons( Reading &hether of %rayers or sermons might be
discouraged &ithout encouraging un%remeditated %raying and %reaching(
But the &hole Fuestion as bet&een the %relatists and the 6ssembly di'ines
has like many others been best sol'ed by the trial( 6 'ast majority among
the )issenters themsel'es consider the antecedents to the sermon &ith
e1ce%tion of their congregational hymns as the defecti'e %art of their
%ublic ser'ice and admit the su%eriority of our Liturgy(
P(S(D+t seems to me + confess that the contro'ersy could ne'er ha'e risen
to the height it did if all the %arties had not thro&n too far into the back
ground the distinction in nature and object bet&een the three eFually
necessary s%ecies of &orshi% that is %ublic family and %ri'ate or solitary
de'otion( Though the 'ery far larger %ro%ortion of the blame falls on the
antiHLiturgists yet on the other hand too many of our Church di'inesD
among others that e1em%larC of a Churchman and a Christian the e'ery
&ay e1cellent George !erbertD&ere scared by the gro&ing fanaticism of
the Gene'a malcontents into the neighbourhood of the o%%osite e1tremeE
and in their dread of enthusiasm &illH&orshi% insubordination indecency
carried their %reference of the established %ublic forms of %rayer almost to
su%erstition by e1clusi'ely both using and reFuiring them e'en on their
o&n sickHbeds( This most assuredly &as neither the intention nor the &ish
of the first com%ilers( !o&e'er if they erred in this it &as an error of filial
lo'e e1cused and only not sanctioned by the lo'e of %eace and unity and
their keen sense of Cthe beauty of holinessC dis%layed in their mother
Church( + mention this the rather because our Church ha'ing in so
incom%arable a &ay %ro'ided for our %ublic de'otions and Taylor ha'ing
himself enriched us &ith such and so many models of %ri'ate %rayer and
de'otional e1erciseDJfrom &hich by the by it is most desirable that a &ell
arranged collection should be madeE a selection is reFuisite rather from the
o%ulence than the ineFuality of the storeEKD&e ha'e nothing to &ish for
but a collection of family and domestic %rayers and thanksgi'ings eFually
Jif that be not too bold a &ishK a%%ro%riate to the s%ecial object as the
Common Prayer Book is for a Christian community and the collection
from Taylor for the Christian in his closet or at his bed side( !ere &ould
our author himself again furnish abundant materials for the &ork( /or
surely since the 6%ostolic age ne'er did the s%irit of su%%lication mo'e on
the dee%s of a human soul &ith a more genial life or more %rofoundly
im%regnate the rich gifts of a ha%%y nature than in the %erson of ?eremy
Taylor4 To render the fruits a'ailable for all &e need only a combination of
Christian e1%erience &ith that finer sense of %ro%riety &hich &e may
'enture to call de'otional taste in the indi'idual choosing or chosen to
select arrange and methodiGeE and no less in the dignitaries a%%ointed to
re'ise and sanction the collections(
Perha%s another &ant is a scheme of Christian %salmody fit for all our
congregations and &hich should not e1ceed $98 or 788 %salms and hymns(
Surely if the Church does not hesitate in the titles of the Psalms and of the
cha%ters of the Pro%hets to gi'e the Christian sense and a%%lication there
can be no consistent objection to do the same in its s%iritual songs( The
effect on the morals feelings and information of the %eo%le at large is not
to be calculated( +t is this more than any other single cause that has sa'ed
the %easantry of Protestant Germany from the contagion of infidelity(
+b( s( 1'ii( %( >79(
Thus the !oly Ghost brought to their memory all things &hich ?esus s%ake
and did and by that means &e come to kno& all that the S%irit kne& to be
necessary for us(
6las4 it is one of the sad effects or results of the ensla'ing Old Bailey
fashion of defending or as &e may &ell call it a%ologiGing for
ChristianityDintroduced by Grotius and follo&ed u% by the modern
C6logiC &hose &ordless lifeless s%iritless scheme of belief it alone suits
Dthat &e dare not ask &hether the %assage here referred to must
necessarily be understood as asserting a miraculous remembrancing
distinctly sensible by the 6%ostlesE &hether the gift had any es%ecial
reference to the com%osition of the Gos%elsE &hether the assum%tion is
indis%ensable to a &ell grounded and adeFuate confidence in the 'eracity of
the narrators or the 'erity of the narrationE if not &hether it does not
unnecessarily entangle the faith of the acute and learned inFuirer in
difficulties &hich do not affect the credibility of history in its common
meaningDrather indeed confirm our reliance on its authority in all the
%oints of agreement that is in e'ery %oint &hich &e are in the least
concerned to kno&Dand e1%ose the sim%le and unlearned Christian to
objections best fitted to %er%le1 because easiest to be understood and
&ithin the ca%acity of the shallo&est infidel to bring for&ard and
e1aggerateE and lastly &hether the Scri%tures must not be read in that faith
&hich comes from higher sources than history that is if they are read to
any good and Christian %ur%ose( God forbid that + should become the
ad'ocate of mechanical infusions and %ossessions su%erseding the reason
and res%onsible &ill( The light Ca %rioriC in &hich according to my
con'iction the Scri%tures must be read and tried is no other than the
earnest C.hat shall + do to be sa'edIC &ith the in&ard consciousnessDthe
gleam or flash let into the inner man through the rent or cranny of the
%rison of sense ho&e'er %roduced by earthFuake or by decayDas the
ground and antecedent of the FuestionE and &ith a %redis%osition to&ards
and an insight into the Ca %rioriC %robability of the Christian dis%ensation as
the necessary conseFuents( This is the holy s%irit in us %raying to the S%irit
&ithout &hich Cno man can say that ?esus is the Lord5C a te1t &hich of itself
seems to me sufficient to co'er the &hole scheme of modern @nitarianism
&ith confusion &hen com%ared &ith that otherDC+ am the Lord J?eho'ahK5
that is my nameE and my glory &ill + not gi'e to anotherC( But in the
@nitarianCs sense of CLordC and on his scheme of e'idence it might &ith
eFual justice be affirmed that no man can say that Tiberius &as the
Em%eror but by the !oly Ghost(
+b( s( 11i1( %( >>$(
6nd that this is for this reason called Ca gift and graceC or issue of the S%irit
is so e'ident and notorious that the s%eaking of an ordinary re'ealed truth
is called in Scri%ture Ca s%eaking by the s%iritC $ Cor( 1ii( ;( C"o man can
say that ?esus is the Lord but by the !oly GhostC( /or though the &orld
could not ackno&ledge ?esus for the Lord &ithout a re'elation yet no&
that &e are taught this truth by Scri%ture and by the %reaching of the
6%ostles to &hich they &ere enabled by the !oly Ghost &e need no
re'elation or enthusiasm to confess this truth &hich &e are taught in our
creeds and catechisms Tc(
+ do not nay + dare not hesitate to denounce this assertion as false in fact
and the %aralysis of all effecti'e Christianity( 6 greater 'iolence offered to
Scri%ture &ords is scarcely concei'able( St( Paul asserts that Cno man can(C
"ay says Taylor e'ery man that kno&s his catechism canE but unless some
si1 or se'en indi'iduals had said it by the !oly Ghost some se'enteen or
eighteen hundred years ago no man could say so(
+b( s( 111ii( %( >>L(
6nd yet because the !oly Ghost rene&ed their memory im%ro'ed their
understanding su%%lied to some their &ant of human learning and so
assisted them that they should not commit an error in fact or o%inion
neither in the narrati'e nor dogmatical %arts therefore they &rote by the
s%irit(
6nd &here is the %roofIDand to &hat %ur%ose unless a distinct and %lain
diagnostic &ere gi'en of the di'inities and the humanities &hich Taylor
himself e1%ressly admits in the te1t of the Scri%turesI
6nd e'en then &hat &ould it a'ail unless the inter%reters and translators
not to s%eak of the co%yists in the first and second centuries &ere like&ise
assisted by ins%irationI
6s to the larger %art of the Pro%hetic books and the &hole of the
6%ocaly%se &e must recei'e them as ins%ired truths or reject them as
sim%le in'entions or enthusiastic delusions(
But in &hat other book of Scri%ture does the &riter assign his o&n &ork to
a miraculous dictation or infusionI Surely the contrary is im%lied in St(
LukeCs %reface( )oes the hy%othesis rest on one %ossible construction of a
single %assage in St( Paul 7 CTimC( iii( $<(I
6nd that construction resting materially on a :Greek5 kai JtheN%neustos kai
Mo%hRlimosK= not found in the oldest BSS( &hen the conte1t &ould rather
lead us to understand the &ords as %arallel &ith the other assertion of the
6%ostle that all good &orks are gi'en from GodDthat is CE'ery di'inely
ins%ired &riting is %rofitable TcC(
/inally &ill not the certainty of the com%etence and single mindedness of
the &riters sufficeE this too confirmed by the high %robability bordering on
certainty that GodCs es%ecial grace &orked in themE and that an es%ecial
%ro'idence &atched o'er the %reser'ation of &ritings &hich &e kno&
both are and ha'e been of such %reHeminent im%ortance to Christianity and
yet by natural meansI
But alas4 any thing &ill be %retended rather than admit the necessity of
internal e'idence or than ackno&ledge among the e1ternal %roofs the
con'ictions and s%iritual e1%eriences of belie'ers though they should be
common to all the faithful in all ages of the Church4
But in all su%erstition there is a heart of unbelief and C'ice 'ersaC &here an
indi'idualCs belief is but a su%erficial acFuiescence credulity is the natural
result and accom%animent if only he be not reFuired to sink into the de%ths
of his being &here the sensual man can no longer dra& breath( +t is not the
%rofession of Socinian tenets but the s%irit of Socinianism in the Church
itself that alarms me( This this is the dry rot in the beams and timbers of
the Tem%le4
+b( s( li( %( >L;(
So that let the de'otion be e'er so great set forms of %rayer &ill be
e1%ressi'e enough of any desire though im%ortunate as e1tremity itself(
This and much of the same im%ort in this treatise is far more than Taylor
mature in e1%erience and softened by afflictions &ould ha'e &ritten(
Besides it is in effect though not in logic a deserting of his o&n strong
and unshaken ground of the means and ends of %ublic &orshi%(
+b( s( s( l1i1( l11( %%( >92H<8(
These t&o sections are too much in the 'ague mythical style of the +talian
and ?esuit di'ines and the argument gi'es to these a greater ad'antage
against our Church than it gains o'er the Sectarians in its su%%ort(
.e &ell kno& &ho and ho& many the com%ilers of our Liturgy &ere under
Ed&ard 0+ and kno& too &ell &hat the &eatherHcock Parliaments &ere
both then and under EliGabeth by &hich the com%ilation &as made la&(
The argument therefore should be in'ertedEDnot that the Church J6( B( C(
)( /( L( Tc(K com%iled itE CergoC it is unobjectionableE but Jand truly &e
may say itK it is so unobjectionable so far transcending all &e &ere entitled
to e1%ect from a fe& men in that state of information and such difficulties
that &e are justified in concluding that the com%ilers &ere under the
guidance of the !oly S%irit(
But the same order holds good e'en &ith regard to the Scri%tures( .e
cannot rightly affirm they &ere ins%ired and therefore they must be
belie'edE but they are &orthy of belief because e1cellent in so uni'ersal a
sense to ends commensurate &ith the &hole moral and therefore the &hole
actual &orld that as sure as there is a moral Go'ernor of the &orld they
must ha'e been in some sense or other and that too an efficient sense
ins%ired(
Those &ho deny this must be %re%ared to assert that if they had &hat
a%%eared to them good historic e'idence of a miracle in the &orld of the
senses they &ould recei'e the hideous immoral doctrines of Bahomet or
Brahma and thus disobey the e1%ress commands both of the Old and "e&
Testament( Though an angel should come from hea'en and &ork all
miracles yet %reach another doctrine &e are to hold him accursed( CGal(C i(
;(
+b( s( l11'( %( >9<(
.hen Christ &as u%on the Bount he ga'e it for a %attern Tc(
+ cannot thoroughly agree &ith Taylor in all he says on this %oint( The
LordCs Prayer is an encyclo%edia of %rayer and of all moral and religious
%hiloso%hy under the form of %rayer( Besides this that nothing shall be
&anting to its %erfection it is itself singly the best and most di'ine of
%rayers( But had this been the main and %rimary %ur%ose it must ha'e been
thencefor&ard the only %rayer %ermitted to ChristiansE and surely some
distinct references to it &ould ha'e been found in the 6%ostolic &ritings(
+b( s( l111( %( >9;(
"o& then + demand &hether the %rayer of Banasses be so good a %rayer as
the LordCs %rayerI Or is the %rayer of ?udith or of Tobias or of ?udas
Baccabeus or of the son of Sirach is any of these so goodI Certainly no
man &ill say they areE and the reason is because &e are not sure they are
ins%ired by the !oly S%irit of God(
!o& inconsistent Taylor often is the result of the system of economiGing
truth4 The true reason is the in'erse( The %rayers of ?udith and the rest are
not &orthy to be com%ared &ith the LordCs PrayerE therefore neither is the
s%irit in &hich they &ere concei'ed &orthy to be com%ared &ith the s%irit
from &hich the LordCs Prayer %roceeded5 and therefore &ith all fulness of
satisfaction &e recei'e the latter as indeed and in fact our LordCs dictation(
+n all men and in all &orks of great genius the characteristic fault &ill be
found in the characteristic e1cellence( Thus in Taylor fulness o'erflo&
su%erfluity(
!is arguments are a %rocession of all the nobles and magnates of the land
in their grandest richest and most s%lendid C%ara%hernaliaC5 but the total
im%ression is &eakened by the multitudes of lacFueys and ragged intruders
running in and out bet&een the ranks(
6s far as the .estminster di'ines &ere the antagonists to be ans&eredD
and &ith the e1ce%tion of these and those &ho like Ba1ter Calamy and
Bisho% Reynolds contended for a reformation or correction only of the
Church Liturgy there &ere none &orth ans&eringDthe Fuestion &as not
&hether the use of one and the same set of %rayers on all days in all
churches &as innocent but &hether the e1clusi'e im%osition of the same
&as com%arati'ely e1%edient and conduci'e to edificationI
Let us not too se'erely arraign the judgment or the intentions of the good
men &ho determined for the negati'e( +f indeed &e confined oursel'es to
the com%arison bet&een our Liturgy and any and all of the %ro%osed
substitutes for it &e could not hesitate5 but those good men in addition to
their %rejudices had to com%are the li'es the con'ersation and the
religious affections and %rinci%les of the %relatic and antiH%relatic %arties in
general(
6nd do not &e oursel'es no& do the likeI 6re &e not and &ith abundant
reason thankful that ?acobinism is rendered com%arati'ely feeble and its
deadly 'enom neutraliGed by the %rofligacy and o%en irreligion of the
majority of its adherentsI
6dd the recent cruelties of the Star Chamber under LaudEDJ+ do not say
the intoleranceE for that &hich &as common to both %arties must be
construed as an error in both rather than a crime in eitherKEDand do not
forget the one great incon'enience to &hich the %relatic di'ines &ere
e1%osed from the 'ery %osition &hich it &as the %eculiar honor of the
Church of England to ha'e taken and maintained namely the golden meanE
DJfor in conseFuence of this their arguments as Churchmen &ould often
ha'e the a%%earance of contrasting &ith their grounds of contro'ersy as
ProtestantsKDand &e shall find enough to sanction our charity as brethren
&ithout detracting a tittle from our loyalty as members of the established
Church(
6s to this 6%ology the 'ictory doubtless remains &ith Taylor on the &holeE
but to ha'e rendered it full and trium%hant it &ould ha'e been necessary to
do &hat %erha%s could not at that time and by ?eremy Taylor ha'e been
done &ith %rudenceE namely not only to dis%ro'e in %art but like&ise in
%art to e1%lain the alleged difference of the s%iritual fruits in the
ministerial labors of the high and lo& %arty in the ChurchDJfor remember
that at this %eriod both %arties &ere in the Church e'en as the E'angelical
Reformed and Pontifical %arties before the establishment of a schism by the
actually schismatical Council of TrentKDand thus to demonstrate that the
differences to the disad'antage of the established Church as far as they
&ere real &ere as little attributable to the Liturgy as the &ound in the heel
of 6chilles to the shield and breastH%late &hich his immortal mother had
%ro'ided for him from the forge di'ine(
+b( s( l111'i( %( ><$(
That the 6%ostles did use the %rayer their Lord taught them + think needs
not much be Fuestioned(
C6d contraC see abo'e( But that they did not till the siege of ?erusalem
de'iate unnecessarily from the established usage of the Synagogue is
beyond rational doubt( .e may therefore safely maintain that a set form
&as sanctioned by 6%ostolic %racticeE though the form &as %robably settled
after the con'erts from Paganism began to be the majority of Christians(
+b( s( l111'ii( %( ><$(
"o& that they tied themsel'es to recitation of the 'ery &ords of ChristCs
%rayer C%ro loco et tem%oreC + am therefore easy to belie'e because + find
they &ere strict to a scru%le in retaining the sacramental &ords &hich
Christ s%ake &hen he instituted the blessed Sacrament(
"ot a case in %oint( Besides it assumes the contro'erted sense of :Greek5
ohutMos= as *in these &ords* C'ersusC *to this %ur%ort(* Grotius and
Lightfoot ho&e'er ha'e settled this dis%ute by %ro'ing that the LordCs
%rayer is a selection of %rayers from the ?e&ish ritual5 and a most ha%%y
and 'aluable inference against no'elties obtruded for no'eltyCs sake does
Grotius dra& from this fact(
.hen + consider the manner in &hich the ?e&s usually Fuoted or referred to
%articular %assages of Scri%ture it does not seem altogether im%robable that
the se'eral articles of the COratio )ominicaC might ha'e been the initial
sentences of se'eral %rayersE but + ha'e not the least doubt that by the loud
utterance of the CBy God4 my God4 &hy hast thou forsaken meIC our
blessed Redeemer referred to and recalled to ?ohn and Bary that most
&onderful and %ro%hetic t&entyHsecond Psalm(
6nd &hat a glorious light does not this thro& on the &hole scene of the
crucifi1ion and in &hat additional lo'eliness does it not %resent the godH
like character of the crucified Son of Ban4
.ith the 'ery facts before them of &hich the former and larger %ortion of
the Psalm referred to resembles a detailed history rather than a %ro%hecyD
&ith &hat force and &ith &hat li'ely consolation and infusion of stedfast
ho%e and faith &hen all human grounds of ho%e had sunk from under
them must not the ob'ious and ine'itable inference ha'e flashed on the
con'ictions of the holy mother and the belo'ed disci%le4
*+f all &e no& behold &as %reHordained and so distinctly %redictedE if the
one mournful half of the %ro%hecy has been so entirely and minutely
fulfilled after so great a la%se of ages dare &e can &e doubt for a
moment that the glorious remainder &ill &ith eFual fidelity be
accom%lishedI*
Thus to his 'ery last moments did our Lord Jsetting as it beseemed the sun
of righteousness to setK manifest &ith a &ider and &ider face of glory his
selfHobli'ious lo'e( +n the act he &as offering he himself &as a sacrifice of
lo'e for the &hole creationE and yet the cu% o'erflo&ed into %articular
streamsE first for his enemies his %ersecutors and murderersE then for his
friends and humanly nearest relati'eE C.oman behold thy son4C O &hat a
transfer4
"or does the %ro%osed inter%retation %reclude any in&ard and mysterious
sense of the &ords CBy God4 my God4CDthough + confess + ha'e ne'er yet
met &ith a single %lausible resolution of the &ords into any one of the
mysteries of the Trinity or the +ncarnation or the Passion( "ay &ere there
any necessity for su%%osing such an allusion &hich there is not the
ob'ious inter%retation &ould + fear too dangerously fa'or the heresy of
those &ho di'ided and se'ered the di'inity from the humanityE so that not
the incarnate God 'ery God of 'ery God &ould ha'e atoned for us on the
cross but the incarnating manE a heresy &hich either denies or reduces to
an absurdity the &hole doctrine of redem%tion that is Christianity itself
&hich rests on the t&o articles of faithE first the necessity and secondly
the reality of a RedeemerDboth articles alike incom%atible &ith
redem%tion by a mere man(
+b( s( l111'iii( %( ><7(
6nd + the rather make the inference from the %receding argument because
of the cognation one hath &ith the otherE for the 6%ostles did also in the
consecration of the Eucharist use the LordCs PrayerE and that together &ith
the &ords of institution &as the only form of consecration saith St(
GregoryE and St( ?erome affirms that the 6%ostles by the command of
their Lord used this %rayer in the benediction of the elements(
This section is an instance of im%olitic management of a cause into &hich
?eremy Taylor &as so often seduced by the fertility of his intellect and the
o%ulence of his erudition( 6n antagonist by e1%osing the im%robability of
the tradition Jand most im%robable it surely isK and the little credit due to
Saint Gregory and Saint ?erome Jnot forgetting a Biltonic sneer at their
saintshi%K might dra& off the attention from the unans&erable %arts of
TaylorCs reasoning and lea'e an im%ression of his ha'ing been confuted(
+b( s( l111i1( %( ><7(
But besides this &hen the 6%ostles had recei'ed great measures of the
s%irit and by their gift of %rayer com%osed more forms for the hel% and
comfort of the Church Tc(
.ho &ould not su%%ose that the first t&o lines &ere an admitted %oint of
history instead of a bare conjecture in the form of a bold assertionI O
dearest man4 so e1cellent a cause did not need such Bellarminisms(
+b( %( ><>(
6nd the /athers of the Council of 6ntioch com%lain against Paulus
Samosatenus CFuod Psalmos et cantus Fui ad )omini nostri ?esu
Christi honorem decantari solent tanFuam recentiores et a 'iris
recentioris memori editos e1%loserit(C
This SamHinHsatinHhose or Paul the sameHasHSatanHis might + think ha'e
found his confutation in PlinyCs Letter to Trajan( CCarmen Christo Fuasi
)eo dicere secum in'icem(C
+b( s( 1c( %( ><L(
.hich together &ith the :Greek5 t_ a%omnaemone\mata tMon %ro%hQeton=
the ClectionariumC of the Church the books of the 6%ostles and
Pro%hets s%oken of by ?ustin Bartyr and said to be used in the
Christian congregations are the constituent %arts of liturgy(
6n ingenious but not tenable solution of ?ustin BartyrCs :Greek5
a%omnaemone\mata tMon a%ostNlMon= &hich &ere %resumably a Gos%el
not the same and yet so nearly the same as our Batthe& that its history
and character in'ol'e one of the hardest %roblems of Christian antiFuity(
By the by one cause of the small im%ressionDJsmall in %ro%ortion to their
'ast su%eriority in kno&ledge and geniusKD&hich ?eremy Taylor and his
com%eers made on the religious %art of the community by their
contro'ersial &ritings during the life of Charles + is to be found in their
undue %redilection for Patristic learning and authority( This originated in
the &ish to baffle the Pa%ists at their o&n &ea%onsE but it could not esca%e
notice that the latter though regularly beaten &ere yet not so beaten but
that they al&ays ke%t the field5 and &hen the same mode of &arfare &as
em%loyed against the Puritans it &as sus%ected as Pa%istical(
+b( s( 1ci( %%( ><LH9(
/or the offices of %rose &e find but small mention of them in the 'ery first
time sa'e only in general terms and that such there &ere and that St(
?ames St( Bark St( Peter and others of the 6%ostles and 6%ostolical men
made LiturgiesE and if these &hich &e ha'e at this day &ere not theirs yet
they make %robation that these 6%ostles left others or else they &ere
im%udent %eo%le that %refi1ed their names so early and the Churches &ere
'ery incurious to s&allo& such a bole if no %retension could ha'e been
reasonably made for their justification(
6 rash and dangerous argument( $;$8(
6 manyHedged &ea%on &hich might too readily be turned against the
common faith by the common enemy( /or if these Liturgies &ere rightly
attributed to St( ?ames St( Bark St( Peter and others of the 6%ostles and
6%ostolical men ho& could they ha'e been su%ersededI !o& could the
Church ha'e e1cluded them from the CanonI
But if falsely and yet for a time and at so early an age generally belie'ed to
ha'e been com%osed by St( ?ames and the rest it is to be feared that the
difference &ill not sto% at the %oint to &hich Paul of Samosata carried itED
a fearful consideration for a Christian of the Grotian and Paleyan school( +t
&ould not ho&e'er shake my ner'es + confess(
The E%istles of St( Paul and the Gos%el E%istles and 6%ocaly%se of St(
?ohn contain an e'idence of their authenticity &hich no uncertainty of
ecclesiastic history no %roof of the freFuency and success of forgery or
ornamental titles Jas the .isdom of SolomonK mistaken for matter of fact
can &rest from meE and &ith these for my guides and sanctions &hat one
article of Christian faith could be taken from me or e'en unsettledI
+t seems to me as it did to Luther incom%arably more %robable that the
eloFuent treatise entitled an E%istle to the !ebre&s &as &ritten by 6%ollos
than by PaulE and &hat though it &as &ritten by neitherI +t is demonstrable
that it &as com%osed before the siege of ?erusalem and the destruction of
the Tem%leE and scarcely less satisfactory is the internal e'idence that it
&as com%osed by an 6le1andrian(
These t&o CdataC are sufficient to establish the fact that the Pauline doctrine
at large &as common to all Christians at that early %eriod and therefore the
faith deli'ered by Christ( 6nd this is all + &antE nor this for my o&n
assurance but as arming me &ith irrefragable arguments against those
%silanthro%ists &ho as falsely as arrogantly call themsel'es @nitarians on
the one handE and against the infidel fiction that Christianity o&es its
%resent sha%e to the genius and rabbinical CcabalaC of Paul on the other5
&hile at the same time it &eakens the more im%ortant half of the objection
to or doubt concerning the authenticity of St( PeterCs E%istles(
To this too + attach a high contro'ersial 'alue Jfor the beauty and
e1cellence of the E%istles themsel'es are not affected by the FuestionKE and
+ recei'e them as authentic for they ha'e all the circumstantial e'idence
that + ha'e any right to e1%ect(
But + feel ho& much more genial my con'iction &ould become should +
disco'er or ha'e %ointed out to me any %ositi'e internal e'idence
eFui'alent to that &hich determines the date of the E%istle to the !ebre&s
or e'en to that &hich lea'es no doubt on my mind that the &riter &as an
6le1andrian ?e&(
This my dear Lamb is one of the ad'antages &hich the %re'ious e'idence
su%%lied by the reason and the conscience secures for us( .e learn &hat in
its nature C%asses all understandingC and &hat belongs to the understanding
and on &hich therefore the understanding may and ought to act freely and
fearlessly5 &hile those &ho &ill admit nothing abo'e the understanding
J:Greek5 %hrNnaema sarkOs=K &hich in its nature has no legitimate object
but history and out&ard C%hoenomenaC stand in sla'ish dread like a child at
its house of cards lest a single card remo'ed may endanger the &hole
foundationless edifice( $;$2(
+b( s( 1cii( %( ><9(
"o& here dear ?eremy Taylor begins to be himself againE for &ith all his
astonishing com%le1ity yet 'ersatile agility of %o&ers he &as too good
and of too catholic a s%irit to be a good %olemic( !ence he so continually is
no& breaking no& 'arying the thread of the argument5 and hence he is so
again and again forgetting that he is reasoning against an antagonist and
falls into con'ersation &ith him as a friendD+ might almost say into the
literary chitHchat and un &ith holding frankness of a rich genius &hose
sands are seedH%earl( Of his contro'ersies those against Po%ery are the
most %o&erful because there he had subtleties and obscure reading to
contend againstE and his &it acuteness and omnifarious learning found
stuff to &ork on( Those on Original Sin are the most eloFuent(
But in all alike it is the digressions o'ergro&ths %arenthetic Cobiter et in
transituC sentences and abo'e all his anthro%ological reflections and
e1%eriencesDJfor e1am%le the inimitable account of a religious dis%ute
from the first collision to the s%ark and from the s%ark to the &orld in
flames in his C)issuasi'e from Po%eryCKDthese are the costly gems &hich
glitter loosely set on the chain armour of his %olemic Pegasus that
e1%ands his &ings chiefly to fly off from the field of battle the stroke of
&hose hoof the 'ery rock cannot resist but beneath the stroke of &hich the
o%ening rock sends forth a !i%%ocrene( The &ork in &hich all his %o&ers
are confluent in &hich dee% yet gentle the full stream of his genius &inds
on&ard and still forming %eninsulas in its &inding courseDdistinct %arts
that are only not each a %erfect &holeDor in less figurati'e styleDJyet
&hat language that does not %artake of %oetic eloFuence can con'ey the
characteristics of a %oet and an oratorIKDthe &ork &hich + read &ith most
admiration but like&ise &ith most a%%rehension and regret is the CLiberty
of Pro%hesyingC(
+f indeed like some Thessalian drug or the strong herb of 6nticyra
U that hel%s and harms
.hich life and death ha'e sealed &ith counter charmsD
it could be administered by s%ecial %rescri%tion it might do good ser'ice as
a narcotic for Gealotry or a sol'ent for bigotry(
The substance of the %receding tract may be com%rised as follo&s5
$( )uring the %eriod immediately follo&ing our LordCs 6scension or the so
called 6%ostolic age all the gifts of the S%irit and of course the gift of
%rayer as graces besto&ed not merely or %rinci%ally for the benefit of the
6%ostles and their contem%oraries but like&ise and eminently for the
ad'antage of all afterHages and as means of establishing the foundations of
Christianity differed in kind degree mode and object from those ordinary
graces %romised to all true belie'ers of all timesE and %ossessed a character
of e1traordinary %artaking of the nature of miracles to &hich no belie'er
under the %resent and regular dis%ensations of the S%irit can make %retence
&ithout folly and %resum%tion(
7( ,et it is certain that e'en the first miraculous gifts and graces besto&ed
on the 6%ostles themsel'es su%er'ened on but did not su%ersede their
natural faculties and acFuired kno&ledge nor enable them to dis%ense &ith
the ordinary means and instruments of culti'ating the one and a%%lying the
other by study reading %ast e1%erience and &hate'er else Pro'idence has
a%%ointed for all men as the conditions and efficients of moral and
intellectual %rogression( The ca%abilities of deliberating selecting and
a%tly dis%osing of our thoughts and &orks are GodCs good gifts to man
&hich the su%eradded graces of the S%irit 'ouchsafed to Christians &ork
on and &ith call forth and %erfect( Therefore deliberation selection and
method become duties inasmuch as they are the bases and reci%ients of the
S%irit e'en as the %olished crystal is of the light(
But if the Pro%hets and 6%ostles did not Jas Taylor demonstrates that they
did notK find in miraculous aids any such infusions of light as %recluded or
rendered su%erfluous the e1ertion of their natural faculties and %ersonal
attainments then Ca fortioriC not the %ossessors or legatees of the ordinary
graces beFueathed by Christ to his Church as the usufructuary %ro%erty of
all its membersE and he &ho &ilfully lays aside all %remeditation selection
and ordonnance that he may enter un%re%ared on the highest and most
a&ful function of the soulDthat of %ublic %rayerDis guilty of no less
indecency and irre'erence than if ha'ing to %resent a %etition as the
re%resentati'e of a community before the throne he %ur%osely %ut off his
seemly garments in order to enter into the %resence of the monarch naked
or in rags5 and e1%ects no less an absurdity than to become a %assi'e
CautomatonC in &hich the !oly S%irit is to %lay the 'entriloFuist(
>( +f then each congregation is to recei'e a %re%ared form of %rayer from
its head or minister &hy not rather from the collecti'e &isdom of the
Church re%resented in the assembled heads and s%iritual /athersI
L( This is admitted by im%lication by the .estminster 6ssembly( But they
are not contented &ith the e1isting form and therefore substitute for it a
)irectory as the fruits of their meditations and counsels( The &hole
Fuestion then is no& reduced to the com%arati'e merits and fitness of the
)irectory and the book of Common PrayerE and ho& com%lete the 'ictory
of the latter ho& glaring the defects ho& many the deficiencies of the
former ?eremy Taylor e'inces unans&erably(
Such is the substance of this Tract( .hat the author %ro%osed to %ro'e he
has satisfactorily %ro'ed(
The faults of the &ork are5
$( The intermi1ture of &eak and strong arguments and the freFuent
interru%tion of the stream of his logic by doubtful trifling and im%olitic
interru%tionsE arguments resting in %remisses denied by the antagonists and
yet taken for grantedE in short a%%endages that cumber accessions that
subtract and confirmations that &eaken5D
7( That he commences &ith a %ro%er di'ision of the subject into t&o
distinct branches that is e1tem%ore %rayer as o%%osed to set forms and
The )irectory as %rescribing a form o%%osed to the e1isting LiturgyE but
that in the seFuel he blends and confuses and intermingles one &ith the
other and %resses most and most freFuently on the first %oint &hich a 'ast
majority of the %arty he is o%%osing had diso&ned and re%robated no less
than himself and &hich though easiest to confute scarcely reFuired
confutation(
DISCOURSE OF THE LIBERTY OF PROPHESYING, WITH ITS
JUST LIMITS AND TEMPER.
E%istle )edicatory %( cccciii(
6nd first + ans&er that &hatsoe'er is against the foundation of faith is out
of the limits of my Fuestion and does not %retend to com%liance or
toleration(
But as all truths hang together &hat error is there &hich may not be %ro'ed
to be against the foundation of faithI 6n inFuisitor might make the same
code of toleration and in the ne1t moment light the faggots around a man
&ho had denied the infallibility of Po%e and Council(
+b( %( cccc11i1(
+ndeed if by a heresy &e mean that &hich is against an article of creed and
breaks %art of the co'enant made bet&een God and man by the mediation
of ?esus Christ + grant it to be a 'ery grie'ous crime a calling GodCs
'eracity into Fuestion Tc(
!o& can he be said to Fuestion GodCs 'eracity &hose belief is that God
ne'er declared itD&ho %erha%s disbelie'es it because he thinks it
o%%osite to GodCs honorI /or e1am%le5DOriginal sin in the literal sense of
the article &as held by both Pa%ists and Protestants J&ith e1ce%tion of the
SociniansK as the fundamental article of ChristianityE and yet our ?eremy
Taylor himself attacked and re%robated it( .hyI because he thought it
dishonored God( .hy may not another man belie'e the same of the
+ncarnation and affirm that it is eFual to a circle assuming the essence of a
sFuare and yet remaining a circleI But so it isE &e s%oil our cause because
&e dare not %lead it Cin totoCE and a half truth ser'es for a %roof of the
o%%osite falsehood( ?eremy Taylor dared not carry his argument into all its
conseFuences(
LIBERTY OF PROPHESYING.
S( i( %( LL>(
Of the nature of faith and that its duty is com%leted in belie'ing the articles
of the 6%ostleCs creed(
This section is for the most %art as beautifully &ritten as it &as charitably
concei'edE yet ho& 'ain the attem%t4 ?eremy Taylor ought to ha'e denied
that Christian faith is at all intellectual %rimarily but only %robablyE as
Ccoecteris %aribusC it is %robable that a man &ith a %ure heart &ill belie'e
an intelligent Creator( But the faith resides in the %redis%osing %urity of
heart that is in the obedience of the &ill to the uncorru%ted conscience(
/or take TaylorCs instancesE and + ask &hether the &ords or the sense be
meantI Surely the latter(
.ell then + understand and so did the dear Bisho% by these te1ts the
doctrine of a Redeemer &ho by his agonies of death actually altered the
relations of the s%irits of all men to their Baker redeemed them from sin
and death eternal and brought life and immortality into the &orld(
But the Socinian uses the same te1tsE and means only that a good and gifted
teacher of %ure morality died a martyr to his o%inions and by his
resurrection %ro'ed the %ossibility of all men rising from the dead( !e did
nothingEDhe only taught and afforded e'idence( Can t&o more di'erse
o%inions be concei'edI God hereE mere man there( !ere a redeemer from
guilt and corru%tion and a satisfaction for offended holinessE there a mere
declarer that God im%uted no guilt &here'er &ith or &ithout Christ the
%erson had re%ented of it(
.hat could ?eremy Taylor say for the necessity of his sense J&hich is
mineK but &hat might be said for the necessity of the "icene CreedI 6nd
then as to Rom( 1( 2 ho& can the te1t mean any thing unless &e kno&
&hat St( Paul im%lied in the &ords Cthe Lord ?esusC( /rom other %arts of his
&ritings &e kno& that he meant by the &ord CLordC his di'inity or at least
essential su%erhumanity( But the Socinian &ill not allo& thisE or allo&ing
it denies St( PaulCs authority in matters of s%eculati'e faith( 6s &ell then
might + say it is sufficient for you to belie'e and re%eat the &ords Cforte
miles reddensCE and though one of you mean by it *Perha%s + may be
balloted for the militia* and the other understands it to mean that *Reading
is forty miles from London* you are still coHsymbolists and belie'ers4
.hile a third %erson may say + belie'e but do not com%rehend the &ordsE
that is + belie'e that the %erson &ho first used them meant something that
is trueD&hat + do not kno&E that is + belie'e his 'eracity(
O4 had this &ork been %ublished &hen Charles + 6rchbisho% Laud &hose
cha%lain Taylor &as and the other Star Chamber inFuisitors &ere
sentencing Prynne Bast&ick Leighton and others to %unishments that
ha'e left a brandHmark on the Church of England the so%histry might ha'e
been forgi'en for the sake of the moti'e &hich &ould then ha'e been
unFuestionable( Or if ?eremy Taylor had not in effect retracted after the
RestorationEDif he had not as soon as the Church had gained its %o&er
most basely disclaimed and disa'o&ed the %rinci%le of toleration and
a%ologiGed for the %ublication by declaring it to ha'e been a Cruse de
guerreC currying %ardon for his %ast liberalism by charging and most
%robably slandering himself &ith the guilt of falsehood treachery and
hy%ocrisy his character as a man &ould at least ha'e been stainless( 6las
alas most dearly do + lo'e ?eremy TaylorE most religiously do + 'enerate
his memory4 But this is too foul a blotch of le%rosy to be forgi'en( !e &ho
%ardons such an act in such a man %artakes of its guilt(
+b( s( 'ii( %( >L<H3(
+n the %ursuance of this great truth the 6%ostles or the holy men their
contem%oraries and disci%les com%osed a creed to be a rule of faith to all
ChristiansE as a%%ears in +renZus Tertullian St( Cy%rian St( 6ustin
Ruffinus and di'ers othersE &hich creed unless it had contained all the
entire object of faith and the foundation of religion Tc(
?eremy Taylor does not a%%ear to ha'e been a critical scholar( !is reading
had been oceanicE but he read rather to bring out the gro&ths of his o&n
fertile and teeming mind than to inform himself res%ecting the %roducts of
those of other men( !ence his reliance on the broad assertions of the
/athersE yet it is strange that he should ha'e been ignorant that the
6%ostlesC Creed &as gro&ing %iecemeal for se'eral centuries(
+b( %( LL3(
6ll catechumens in the Latin Church coming to ba%tism &ere interrogated
concerning their faith and ga'e satisfaction on the recitation of this Creed(
+ 'ery much doubt this and rather belie'e that our %resent 6%ostlesC Creed
&as no more than the first instruction of the catechumens %rior to ba%tismE
and Jas + conclude from EusebiusK that at ba%tism they %rofessed a more
mysterious faithEDthe one being the milk the other the strong meat( .here
is the %roof that Tertullian &as s%eaking of this CreedI Eusebius s%eaks in
as high terms of the CSymbolum /ideiC and defending himself against
charges of heresy says *)id + not at my ba%tism in the CSymbolum /ideiC
declare my belief in Christ as God and the coHeternal .ordI* The true
Creed it &as im%iety to &rite do&nE but such &as ne'er the case &ith the
%resent or initiating Creed( Strange too that ?eremy Taylor &ho has in this
'ery &ork &ritten so di'inely of tradition should assume as a certainty that
this Creed &as in a %ro%er sense 6%ostolic( +s then the Creed of greater
authority than the ins%ired Scri%turesI 6nd can &ords in the Creed be more
e1%ress than those of St( Paul to the Colossians s%eaking of Christ as the
creati'e mind of his /ather before all &orlds Cbegotten before all things
createdIC
+b( s( 1( %( LL2(
This %aragra%h is indeed a com%le1ion as Taylor might call it of so%hisms(
ThusEDunbelief from &ant of information or ca%acity though &ith the
dis%osition of faith is confounded &ith disbelief( The Fuestion is not
&hether it may not be safe for a man to belie'e sim%ly that Christ is his
Sa'iour but &hether it be safe for a man to disbelie'e the article in any
sense &hich su%%oses an essential su%raHhumanity in ChristDany sense
that &ould not ha'e been eFually a%%licable to ?ohn had God chosen to
raise him instead of his cousinI
+b( s( 1i( %( L98(
"either are &e obliged to make these 6rticles more %articular and minute
than the Creed( /or since the 6%ostles and indeed our blessed Lord
himself %romised hea'en to them &ho belie'ed him to be the Christ that
&as to come into the &orld and that he &ho belie'es in him should be
%artaker of the resurrection and life eternal he &ill be as good as his &ord(
,et because this article &as 'ery general and a com%le1ion rather than a
single %ro%osition the 6%ostles and others our /athers in Christ did make it
more e1%licit5 and though they ha'e said no more than &hat lay entire and
ready formed in the bosom of the great 6rticle yet they made their e1tracts
to great %ur%ose and absolute sufficiencyE and therefore there needs no
more deductions or remoter conseFuences from the first great 6rticle than
the Creed of the 6%ostles(
Bost trueE but still the Fuestion returns &hat &as meant by the %hrase CtheC
ChristI Contraries cannot both be true( CThe ChristC could not be both mere
man and incarnate God( One or the other must belie'e falsely on this great
keyHstone of all the intellectual faith in Christianity( /or so it isE alter it and
e'erything altersE as is %ro'ed in Trinitarianism and Socinianism( "o t&o
religions can be more differentED+ kno& of no t&o eFually so(
+b( s( 1ii( %( L9$(
The Church hath %o&er to intend our faith but not to e1tend itE to make our
belief more e'ident but not more large and com%rehensi'e(
This and the %receding %ages are scarcely honest( /or ?eremy Taylor begins
&ith admitting that the Creed might ha'e been com%osed by others( !e has
no %roof of that most absurd fable of the t&el'e 6%ostles clubbing to make
itE yet here all he says assumes its ins%iration as a certain fact(
+b( %( L9L(
But for the %resent there is no insecurity in ending there &here the 6%ostles
ended in building &here they built in resting &here they left us unless the
same infallibility &hich they had had still continued &hich + think + shall
hereafter make e'ident it did not(
.hat a tangle of contradictions Taylor thrusts himself into by the attem%t to
su%%ort a true system a full third of &hich he &as afraid to mention and
another third &as by the same fear induced to denyDat least to take for
granted the contrary5 for e1am%le the absolute %lenary ins%iration and
infallibility of the 6%ostles and E'angelistsE and yet that their &hole
function as far as the consciences of their follo&ers &ere concerned &as
to re%eat the t&o or three sentences that C?esus &as ChristC Jso says one of
the E'angelistsK Cthe Christ of GodC Jso says anotherK Cthe Christ the Son of
the li'ing GodC Jso says a thirdK that he rose from the dead and for the
remission of sins to as many as belie'ed and %rofessed that he &as the
Christ or the Lord and died and rose for the remission of sins( Surely no
miraculous communication of GodCs infallibility &as necessary for this(
But if this infallibility &as stam%ed on all they said and &rote is it credible
that any %art should not be eFually bindingI + declare + can make nothing
out of this section but that it is necessary for men to belie'e the 6%ostlesC
CreedE but &hat they belie'e by it is of no conseFuence( /or instanceE &hat
if + chose to understand by the &ord CdeadC a state of trance or sus%ended
animationEDlanguage furnishing %lenty of analogiesDdead in a s&oonD
dead drunkDand so onEDshould + still be a ChristianI
CBorn of the 0irgin Bary(C .hat if as Priestley and others + inter%reted it as
if &e should say Cthe former Biss 0incent &as his mother(C + need not say
that + disagree &ith TaylorCs %remisses only because they are not broad
enough and &ith his aim and %rinci%al conclusion only because it does not
go far enough( + &ould ha'e the la& grounded &holly in the %resent life
religion only on the life to come( Religion is debased by tem%oral moti'es
and la& rendered the drudge of %rejudice and %assion by %retending to
s%iritual aims( But %utting this aside and judging of this &ork solely as a
chain of reasoning + seem to find one leading error in itE namely that
Taylor takes the condition of a first admission into the Church of Christ for
the fullness of faith &hich &as to be gradually there acFuired( The sim%le
ackno&ledgment that they acce%ted Christ as their Lord and Aing &as the
first lis%ing of the infant belie'er at &hich the doors &ere o%ened and he
began the %rocess of gro&th in the faith(
+b( s( ii( %( L93(
The great heresy that troubled them &as the doctrine of the necessity of
kee%ing the la& of Boses the necessity of circumcision against &hich
doctrine they &ere therefore Gealous because it &as a direct o'erthro& to
the 'ery end and e1cellency of ChristCs coming(
The ?e&ish con'erts &ere still bound to the rite of circumcision not indeed
as under the La& or by the co'enant of &orks but as the descendants of
6braham and by that es%ecial co'enant &hich St( Paul rightly contends
&as a co'enant of grace and faith( But the heresy consisted &holly in the
attem%t to im%ose this obligation on the Gentile con'erts in the infatuation
of some of the Galatians &ho ha'ing no %retension to be descendants of
6braham could as the 6%ostle urges only ado%t the rite as binding
themsel'es under the la& of &orks and thereby a%ostatiGing from the
co'enant of faith by free grace( 6nd this &as the decision of the 6%ostolic
Council at ?erusalem( 6ctsC 1'( Rhenferd in his Treatise on the Ebionites
and other %retended heretics in Palestine so grossly and so ignorantly
calumniated by E%i%hanius has &ritten e1cellently &ell on this subject(
?eremy Taylor is mistaken throughout(
+b( s( i'( %( L92(
6nd so it &as in this great Fuestion of circumcision(
+t is really &onderful that a man like Bisho% Taylor could ha'e read the
"e& Testament and ha'e entertained a doubt as to the decided o%inion of
all the 6%ostles that e'ery born ?e& &as bound to be circumcised(
O%inionI The 'ery doubt ne'er suggested itself( .hen something like this
o%inion &as slanderously attributed to Paul obser'e the almost ostentatious
%ractical contradiction of the calumny &hich &as ado%ted by him at the
reFuest and by the ad'ice of the other 6%ostles( JC6ctsC 11i( 7$H7<(K The rite
of circumcision + say &as binding on all the descendants of 6braham
through +saac for all time e'en to the end of the &orldE but the &hole la& of
Boses &as binding on the ?e&ish Christians till the hea'en and the earthD
that is the ?e&ish %riesthood and the stateDhad %assed a&ay in the
destruction of the tem%le and cityE and the 6%ostles obser'ed e'ery tittle of
the La&(
+b( s( 'i( %( L<8(
The heresy of the "icolaitans(
!eresy is not a %ro%er term for a %lainly antiHChristian sect( "icolaitans is
the literal Greek translation of BalaamitesE destroyers of the %eo%le( CRe'C(
ii( $L $9(
+b( s( 'iii( %( L<$(
/or heresy is not an error of the understanding but an error of the
&ill(
Bost e1cellent( To this Taylor should ha'e adhered and to its con'erse(
/aith is not an accuracy of logic but a rectitude of heart(
+b( %( L<7(
+t &as the heresy of the Gnostics that it &as no matter ho& men li'ed so
they did but belie'e aright(
+ regard the e1tinction of all the &ritings of the Gnostics among the
hea'iest losses of Ecclesiastical literature( .e ha'e only the account of
their in'eterate enemies( +ndi'idual madmen there ha'e been in all ages
but + do not belie'e that any sect of Gnostics e'er held this o%inion in the
sense here su%%osed(
+b(
6nd indeed if &e remember that St( Paul reckons heresy amongst the
&orks of the flesh and ranks it &ith all manner of %ractical im%ieties &e
shall easily %ercei'e that if a man mingles not a 'ice &ith his o%inionDif
he be innocent in his life though decei'ed in his doctrineDhis error is his
misery not his crimeE it makes him an argument of &eakness and an object
of %ity but not a %erson sealed u% to ruin and re%robation(
O admirable4 !o& could Taylor after this %reach and %ublish his Sermon
in defence of %ersecution at least against toleration4
+b( s( 11ii( %( L32(
Ebion Banes(
"o such man as Ebion e'er as + can see e1istedE :>= and Banes is rather a
doubtful CensC(
+b( s( 111i( %( L;3(
But + shall obser'e this that although the "icene /athers in that case at
that time and in that conjuncture of circumstances did &ell Tc(
.hat Bull and .aterland ha'e urged in defence of the "icene /athers is
Jlike e'ery thing else from such menK most &orthy of all attention( They
contend that no other term but :Greek5 homoousSa= could secure the
Christian faith against both the t&o contrary errors Tritheism &ith
sub'ersion of the unity of the Godhead on the one hand and creatureH
&orshi% on the other( /or to use .aterlandCs mode of argument :L= either
Eusebius of "icomedia &ith the four other dissenters at "ice &ere right or
&rong in their assertion that Christ could not be of the :Greek5 ousSa= of
the selfHoriginated /irst by deri'ation as a son from a father5Dif they &ere
right they either must ha'e disco'ered some third distinct and intelligible
form of origination in addition to CbegottenC and CcreatedC or they had not
and could not( "o& the latter &as notoriously the fact( Therefore to deny
the :Greek5 homoousSa= &as im%licitly to deny the generation of the second
Person and thus to assert his creation( But if he &as a creature he could
not be adorable &ithout idolatry( "or did the chain of ine'itable
conseFuences sto% here( !is characteristic functions of Redeemer
Bediator Aing and final ?udge must all cease to be attributable to ChristE
and the conclusion is that bet&een the !omoousian scheme and mere
Psilanthro%ism there is no intelligible CmediumC( +f this then be not a
fundamental article of faith &hat can beI
To this reasoning + really can discern no fair re%ly &ithin the s%here of
conce%tual logic if it can be made e'ident that the term :Greek5
homoo\sios= is really ca%able of achie'ing the end here set forth( One
objection to the term is that it &as not translatable into the language of the
.estern Church( Consubstantial is not the translation5 CsubstantiaC ans&ers
to :Greek5 hy%Nstasis= not to :Greek5 ousSa=E and hence &hen :Greek5
hy%Nstasis= &as used by the "icene /athers in distinction from :Greek5
ousSa= the Latin Church &as obliged to render it by some other &ord and
thus introduced that most unha%%y and im%ro%er term C%ersonaC( .ould you
kno& my o&n in&ard judgment on this Fuestion it is this5 first that this
%regnant idea the root and form of all ideas is not &ithin the s%here of
conce%tual logicDthat is of the understandingDand is therefore of
necessity ine1%ressibleE for no idea can be adeFuately re%resented in &ords5
Dsecondly that + agree &ith Bull and .aterland against Bisho% Taylor
that there &as need of a %ublic and solemn decision on this %oint5Dbut
lastly that + am more than doubtful res%ecting the fitness or e1%ediency of
the term :Greek5 homoo\sios= and hold that the decision ought to ha'e
been negati'e( /or at first all %arties agreed in the %ositi'e %oint namely
that Christ &as the Son of God and that the Son of God &as truly God *or
'ery God of 'ery God(* 6ll that &as necessary to be added &as that the
only begotten Son of God &as not created nor begotten in time( Bore than
this might be %ossible and subject of insightE but it &as not determinable
by &ords and &as therefore to be left among the re&ards of the S%irit to
the %ure in heart in in&ard 'ision and silent contem%lation(
+b( s( 1l( %( L29(
6ll that is necessary to gi'e a full and satistory im%ort to this e1cellent
%aragra%h and to secure it from all incon'enient conseFuences is to
understand the distinction bet&een the objecti'e and general re'elation by
&hich the &hole Church is &alled around and ke%t together JC%rinci%ium
totalitatis et cohZsionisCK and the subjecti'e re'elation the light from the
life JC?ohnC i( L(K by &hich the indi'idual belie'ers each according to the
grace gi'en gro& in faith( /or the former the 6%ostlesC Creed in its
%resent form is more than enoughE for the latter it might be truly said in
the &ords of the fourth Gos%el that all the books &hich the &orld could
contain &ould not suffice to set forth e1%licitly that mystery in &hich all
treasures of kno&ledge are hidden CrecondunturC(
/rom the 6%ostlesC Creed ne'ertheless if regarded in the former %oint of
'ie& se'eral clauses must be struck out not as false but as not necessary(
*+ belie'e that ?esus of "aGareth &ho &as crucified under Pontius Pilate
rose from the dead on the third dayE and + recei'e him as the Christ the Son
of the li'ing God &ho died for the remission of the sins of as many as
belie'e in the /ather through him in &hom &e ha'e the %romise of life
e'erlasting(* This is the sufficient creed( Bore than this belongs to the
Catechism and then to the study of the Scri%tures(
+b( s( 'i( %( 98<(
So did the ancient Pa%ias understand ChristCs millenary reign u%on earth
and so de%ressed the ho%es of Christianity and their desires to the longing
and e1%ectation of tem%oral %leasures and satisfactions( 6nd he &as
follo&ed by ?ustin Bartyr +renZus Tertullian Lactantius and indeed the
&hole Church generally till St( 6ustin and St( ?eromeCs time &ho first of
any &hose &orks are e1tant did re%ro'e the error(
Bisho% Taylor is + think mistaken in t&o %ointsE first that the Catholic
Billenaries looked for&ard to carnal %leasures in the kingdom of ChristED
for e'en the ?e&ish Rabbis of any note re%resented the CBilleniumC as the
%re%arati'e and transitional state to %erfect s%iritualiGation5Dsecond that
the doctrine of ChristCs reign u%on earth rested &holly or %rinci%ally on the
t&entieth cha%ter of the Re'elations &hich actually in my judgment
o%%oses it(
+ more than sus%ect that 6ustinCs and ?eromeCs strongest ground for
rejecting the second coming of our Lord in his kingly character &as that
they &ere tired of &aiting for it( !o& can &e other&ise inter%ret the third
and fourth clauses of the LordCs Prayer or %erha%s the :Greek5 en toi
kairoi to\toi= Cin hoc seculoC J1( >8K of St( BarkI +f the first three Gos%els
joined &ith the unbroken faith and tradition of the Church for nearly three
centuries can decide the Fuestion the Billenarians ha'e the best of the
argument(
0ol( 'iii( s( i1( %( 77(
One thing only + obser'e Jand &e shall find it true in most &ritings &hose
authority is urged in Fuestions of theologyK that the authority of the
tradition is not it &hich mo'es the assent but the nature of the thingE and
because such a canon is deli'ered they do not therefore belie'e the
sanction or %ro%osition so deli'ered but disbelie'e the tradition if they do
not like the matter and so do not judge of the matter by the tradition but of
the tradition by the matter(
This just and acute remark is in fact no less a%%licable to Scri%ture in all
doctrinal %oints and if infidelity is not to o'ers%read England as &ell as
/rance the same criterion Jthat is the internal e'idenceK must be e1tended
to all %oints to the narrati'es no less than to the %rece%t( The &ritten &ords
must be tried by the .ord from the beginning in &hich is life and that life
the light of men( Reduce it to the noetic %entad or uni'ersal form of
contem%lation e1ce%t &here all the terms are absolute and conseFuently
there is no C%unctum indifferens Din di'inis tetras in omnibus aliis
%entasC and the form stands thus( :9=
+b( s( iii( %( ><(
So that it cannot make it di'ine and necessary to be heartily belie'ed( +t
may make it la&ful not make it trueE that is it may %ossibly by such
means become a la& but not a truth(
This is a so%hism &hich so e'ident a truth did not need( 6%%ly the
reasoning to an act of Parliament %re'iously to the royal sanction( .ill it
hold good to say if it &as la& after the sanction it &as la& beforeI The
assertion of the Pa%al theologians is that the di'ine %ro'idence may
%ossibly %ermit e'en the majority of a legally con'ened Council to errE but
by force of a di'ine %romise cannot %ermit both a majority and the Po%e to
err on the same %oint( The fla& in this is that the Romish di'ines rely on a
conditional %romise unconditionally( To TaylorCs ne1t argument the Romish
res%ondent &ould say that an e1ce%tion grounded on a s%ecific e'ident
necessity does not in'alidate the rule in the absence of any eFually e'ident
necessity(
TaylorCs argument is a :Greek5 metQbasis eis allo gRnos=( +t is not the truth
but the sign or mark by &hich the Church at large may kno& that it is
truth &hich is here %ro'ided forE that is not the truth sim%ly but the
obligation of recei'ing it as such( Ten thousand may a%%rehend the latter
only ten of &hom might be ca%able of determining the former(
+b( 9(
So that no& Jthat &e may a%%ly thisK there are se'en general Councils
&hich by the Church of Rome are condemned of error U The council of
6riminum consisting of si1 hundred Bisho%s(
+t is the mark of a faction that it ne'er hesitates to sacrifice a greater good
common to them and to their o%%onents to a lesser ad'antage obtained o'er
those o%%onents( "e'er &as there a stranger instance of im%rudence at
least than the act of the 6thanasian %arty in condemning so roundly the
great Council of 6riminum as heretical and for little more than the
charitable &ish of the many hundred Bisho%s there assembled to a'oid a
&ord that had set all Christendom by the ears( They declared that :Greek5
ho agRnnaetos %at_er kaP ho achronMos gennaetOs uhiOs kaP tO %neuma
ek%oreuNmenon= &ere substantially Jhy%ostatikMosK distinct but
ne'ertheless one GodE and though there might be some incautious %hrases
used by them the good Bisho%s declared that if their decree &as indeed
6rian or introduced aught to the derogation of the SonCs absolute di'inity
it &as against their kno&ledge and intention and that they renounced it(
+b( s( 1( %( L<(
Gratian says that the Council means by a concubine a &ife married Csine
dote et solennitateCE but this is daubing &ith untem%ered mortar(
!ere + think Taylor &rong and Gratian rightE for not a hundred years ago
the 'ery same decree &as %assed by the Lutheran clergy in Prussia
determining that leftHhand marriages &ere to be discouraged but did not
e1clude from communion( These marriages &ere in'ented for the sake of
%oor nobles5 they could ha'e but that one &ife and the children follo&ed
the rank and title of the mother not of the father(
+b( s( 'ii( %( 9<(
ThirdlyE for C%asce o'esC there is little in that allegation besides the
boldness of the objectors(
+ ha'e e'er thought that the deri'ation of the Pa%al monarchy from the
thrice re%eated command C%asce o'esC the most braGen of all the Po%eCs
bulls( +t &as because Peter had gi'en too good %roof that he &as more
dis%osed to dra& the s&ord for Christ than to %erform the humble duties of
a she%herd that our Lord here strongly though tenderly reminds him of his
besetting tem%tation( The &ords are most manifestly a re%roof and a
&arning not a commission( +n like manner the 'ery letter of the famous
%aronomastic te1t %ro'es that PeterCs confession not Peter himself &as the
rock( !is name &as %erha%s not so much stone as stonerE not so much
rock as rockmanE and ?esus hearing this une1%ected confession of his
mysterious Sonshi% Jfor this is one of the 'ery fe& cases in &hich the
internal e'idence decides for the su%erior fidelity of the first Gos%elK and
recogniGing in it an immediate re'elation from hea'en e1claims *.ell art
thou the man of the rockE Cand u%on this rock &ill + build my churchC* not
on this man( 6dd too that the la& re'ealed to Boses and the confession of
the di'ine attributes are named the rock both in the Pentateuch and in the
Psalms(
Bark has sim%ly CThou art the ChristCE Luke CThe Christ of GodCE :<= but
that ?esus &as the Bessiah had long been kno&n by the 6%ostles at all
e'ents conjectured( !ad not ?ohn so declared him at the ba%tismI Besides
it &as included among the o%inions concerning our Lord &hich led to his
Fuestion the aim of &hich &as not sim%ly as to the Bessiahshi% but that
the Bessiah instead of a mere descendant of )a'id destined to reestablish
and %ossess )a'idCs throne &as the ?eho'ah himself Cthe Son of the li'ing
GodE God manifested in the fleshC( $ CTimC( iii( $<(
+b( s( 'iii( %( <7(
6nd yet again another degree of uncertainty is to &hom the Bisho%s of
Rome do succeed( /or St( Paul &as as much Bisho% of Rome as St( Peter
&asE there he %resided there he %reached and he it &as that &as the doctor
of the uncircumcision and of the Gentiles St( Peter of the circumcision and
of the ?e&s onlyE and therefore the con'erted ?e&s at Rome might &ith
better reason claim the %ri'ilege of St( Peter than the Romans and the
Churches in her communion &ho do not deri'e from ?e&ish %arents(
+ &onder that Taylor should ha'e introduced so 'ery strong an argument
merely CobiterC( +f St( Peter e'er &as at Rome it must ha'e been for the
?e&ish con'erts or convertendi e1clusi'ely and on &hat do the earliest
/athers rest the fact of PeterCs being at RomeI )o they a%%eal to any
documentI "oE but to their o&n arbitrary and most im%robable
inter%retation of the &ord Babylon in St( PeterCs first e%istle( :3= + am too
dee%ly im%ressed &ith the general difficulty arising out of the strange
ecli%se of all historic documents of all %articular e'ents from the arri'al of
St( Paul at Rome as related by St( Luke and the time &hen ?ustin Bartyr
begins to shed a scanty light to %ress any %articular instance of it( ,et if
Peter really did arri'e at Rome and &as among those destroyed by "ero it
is strange that the Bisho% and Church of Rome should ha'e %reser'ed no
record of the %articulars(
+b( s( 1'( %( 3$(
But &hat shall &e think of that decretal of Gregory the Third &ho &rote to
Boniface his legate in Germany CFuod illi Fuorum u1ores infirmitate aliFua
morbida debitum reddere noluerunt aliis %oterant nubere(C
Su%%osing the CnolueruntC to mean CneFueuntC or at least any state of mind
and feeling that does not e1clude moral attachment + as a Protestant
abominate this decree of Gregory +++E for + %lace the moral social and
s%iritual hel%s and comforts as the %ro%er and essential ends of Christian
marriage and regard the begetting of children as a contingent conseFuence(
But on the contrary tenet of the Romish Church + do not see ho& Gregory
could consistently decree other&ise(
+b( s( iii( %( ;7(
"or that Origen taught the %ains of hell not to ha'e an eternal duration(
6nd yet there can be no doubt that Taylor himself held &ith Origen on this
%oint( But Cnon licebat dogmatiGare o%%ositum Fuia determinatum fuerat(C
+b( %( ;L(
6nd e1ce%t it be in the 6%ostlesC Creed and articles of such nature there is
nothing &hich may &ith any color be called a consent much less tradition
uni'ersal(
+t may be &ell to remember &hene'er Taylor s%eaks of the 6%ostlesC
Creed that PearsonCs &ork on that Creed &as not then %ublished( "othing
is more sus%icious than co%ies of creeds in the early /athersE it &as so
notoriously the custom of the transcribers to make them sFuare &ith those
in use in their o&n time(
+b( s( i'(
Such as makes no in'asion u%on their great re%utation &hich + desire
should be %reser'ed as sacred as it ought(
The 'ision of the mitre da&ned on TaylorE and his recollection of Laud
came to the assistance of the /athersE of many of &hom in his heart Taylor
+ think entertained a 'ery mean o%inion( !o& could such a man do
other&iseI + could forgi'e them their nonsense and e'en their economical
falsehoodsE but their insatiable a%%etite for making heresies and thus
occasioning the neglect or destruction of so many 'aluable &orks OrigenCs
for instance this + cannot forgi'e or forget(
+b( s( i( %( ;;(
Of the incom%etency of the Church in its diffusi'e ca%acity to be judge of
contro'ersiesE and the im%ertinency of that %retence of the S%irit(
"o& here begin my serious differences &ith ?eremy Taylor &hich may be
characteriGed in one sentenceE ideas C'ersusC conce%tions and images( +
contend that the Church in the Christian sense is an ideaEDnot therefore a
chimera or a fancy but a real being and a most %o&erful reality( Su%%ose
the %resent state of science in this country &ith this only difference that the
Royal and other scientific societies &ere not founded5 might + not s%eak of
a scientific %ublic and its influence on the community at largeI Or should +
be talking of a chimera a shado& or a nonHentityI Or &hen &e s%eak &ith
honest %ride of the %ublic s%irit of this country as the %o&er &hich
su%%orted the nation through the gigantic conflict &ith /rance do &e s%eak
of nothing because &e cannot sayD*+t is in this %lace or in that catalogue
of namesI* 6t the same time + most readily admit that no rule can be
grounded formally on the su%%osed assent of this ideal Church the
members of &hich are recorded only in the book of life at any one moment(
+n TaylorCs use and a%%lication of the term Church the 'isible
Christendom and in re%ly to the Romish di'ines his arguments are
irrefragable(
+b( s( ii( %( 2>
So that if they read study %ray search records and use all the means of art
and industry in the %ursuit of truth it is not &ith a resolution to follo& that
&hich shall seem truth to them but to confirm &hat before they did
belie'e(
6las if Protestant and Pa%ist &ere named by indi'iduals ans&ering or not
ans&ering to this descri%tion &hat a 'ast accession &ould not the Po%eCs
musterHroll recei'e4 +n the instance of the Council of Trent the iniFuity of
the Em%eror and the Aings of /rance and S%ain consisted in their
kno&ledge that the assembly at Trent had no %retence to be a general
Council that is a body re%resentati'e of the Catholic or e'en of the Latin
Church( +t may be and in fact it is 'ery Fuestionable &hether any Council
ho&e'er large and fairly chosen is not an absurdity e1ce%t under the
uni'ersal faith that the !oly Ghost miraculously dictates all the decrees5
and this is irrational &here the same su%erseding S%irit does not afford
e'idence of its %resence by %roducing unanimity( + kno& nothing if + may
so say more ludicrous than the su%%osition of the !oly Ghost contenting
himself &ith a majority in Fuestions res%ecting faith or decrees binding
men to in&ard belief &hich again binds a Christian to out&ard %rofession(
Batters of disci%line and ceremony ha'ing %eace and tem%oral order for
their objects are %ro%er enough for a CouncilE but these do not need any
miraculous interference( Still if any Council is admitted in matters of
doctrine those &ho ha'e a%%ealed to it must abide by the determination of
the majority ho&e'er they might %refer the o%inion of the minority just as
in acts of Parliament(
+b( s( 1i( %( 2;(
Of some causes of error in the e1ercise of reason &hich are incul%ate in
themsel'es(
+t is a lamentable misuse of the term reasonDthus to call by that name the
mere faculty of guessing and babbling( The making reason a faculty
instead of a light and using the term as a mere synonyme of the
understanding and the conseFuent ignorance of the true nature of ideas
and that none but ideas are objects of faithDare the grounds of all ?eremy
TaylorCs im%ortant errors(
+b(
But men may understand &hat they %lease es%ecially &hen they are to
e1%ound oracles(
+f this sentence had occurred in !ume or 0oltaire4
+b( s( iii( %( $8>(
6nd then if e'er truth be afflicted she shall also be destroyed(
!ere and in many other %assages of his other &orks ?eremy Taylor 'ery
unfairly states this argument of the antiH%relatic %arty( +t &as not that the
Church of England &as afflicted Jthe Puritans themsel'es had been much
more afflicted by the %relatesKE but that ha'ing a%%ealed to the decision of
the s&ord the cause &as determined against it( But in fact it is false that the
Puritans e'er did argue as Taylor re%resents them( Laud and his
confederates had begun by incarcerating scourging and inhumanly
mutilating their fello& Christians for not acceding to their fancies and
%roceeded to goad and dri'e the Aing to le'y or at least maintain &ar
against his Parliament5 and the Parliamentary %arty 'ery naturally cited
their defeat and the o'erthro& of the %relacy as a judgment on their bloodH
thirstiness not as a %roof of their error in Fuestions of theology(
+b( s( i'( %( $89(
6ll that + shall say Tc( Cad finemC(
6n admirable %aragra%h( Taylor is ne'er more himself ne'er a%%ears
greater or &iser than &hen he enters on this to%ic namely the many and
'arious causes beside truth &hich occasion men to hold an o%inion for
truth(
+b( s( 'ii( %( $$$(
Of such men as these it &as said by St( 6ustin5 CCZteram turbam non
intelligendi 'i'acitas sed credendi sim%licitas tutissimam facit(C
Such charity is indeed notable %olicy5 sal'ation made easy for the benefit
of obedient du%es(
+b( s( ii( %( $$2(
+ deny not but certain and kno&n idolatry or any other sort of %ractical
im%iety &ith its %rinci%iant doctrine may be %unished cor%orally because
it is no other but matter of fact(
+n the ?e&ish theocracy + admitE because the fact of idolatry &as a crime
namely Ccrimen lZsZ majestatisC an o'ert act sub'ersi'e of the
fundamental la& of the state and breaking asunder the C'inculum et
co%ulam unitatis et cohZsionisC( But in making the %osition general Taylor
commits the Cso%hisma omissi essentialisCE he omits the essential of the
%redicate namely criminalEDnot its being a fact rendering it %unishable
but its being a criminal fact(
+b( s( iii(
Oh that this great and good man &ho sa& and has e1%ressed so large a
%ortion of the truthDJif by the Creed + might understand the true 6%ostlesC
that is the Ba%tismal Creed free from the additions of the first fi'e
centuries + might indeed say the &hole truthKDhad but brought it back to
the great original end and %ur%ose of historical Christianity and of the
Church 'isible as its e1%onent not as a Chortus siccusC of %ast re'elations
Dbut an e'er enlarging inclosed CareaC of the o%%ortunity of indi'idual
con'ersion to and rece%tion of the s%irit of truth4 Then instead of using
this one truth to ins%ire a des%air of all truth a reckless sce%ticism &ithin
and a boundless com%liance &ithout he &ould ha'e directed the belie'er to
seek for light &here there &as a certainty of finding it as far as it &as
%rofitable for him that is as far as it actually &as light for him( The 'isible
Church &ould be a &alled 6cademy a %leasure garden in &hich the
intrants ha'ing %resented their Csymbolum %ortaeC or admissionHcontract
&alk at large each seeking %ri'ate audience of the in'isible teacherD
alone no& no& in grou%sDmeditating or con'ersingDgladly listening to
some elder disci%le through &hom Jas ascertained by his intelligibility to
meK + feel that the common Baster is s%eaking to meDor lo'ingly
communing &ith a classHfello& &ho + ha'e disco'ered has recei'ed the
same lesson from the in&ard teaching &ith myselfD&hile the only %ublic
concerns in &hich all as a common &eal e1ercised control and 'igilance
o'er each are order %eace mutual courtesy and re'erence kindness
charity lo'e and the fealty and de'otion of all and each to the common
Baster and Benefactor4
+b( s( 'iii( %( $7L(
+t is characteristic of the man and the age TaylorCs highHstrained re'erential
e%ithets to the names of the /athers and as rare and naked mention of
Luther Belancthon Cal'inDthe least of &hom &as not inferior to St(
6ugustin and &orth a brigade of the Cy%rians /irmilians and the like(
6nd obser'e al&ays CSaintC Cy%rian4
+b( s( 1ii( %( $7;H2(
GibbonCs enumeration of the causes not miraculous of the s%read of
Christianity during the first three centuries is far from com%lete( This
ho&e'er is not the greatest defect of this celebrated cha%ter( The
%ro%ortions of im%ortance are not truly assignedE nay the most effecti'e
causes are only not omittedDmentioned indeed but CFuasi in transituC not
de'elo%ed or distinctly brought out5 for e1am%le the Gealous des%otism of
the CZsars &ith the conseFuent e1clusion of men of all ranks from the
great interests of the %ublic &eal other&ise than as ser'ile instrumentsE in
short the direct contrary of that state and character of menCs minds
feelings ho%es and fancies &hich elections Parliaments Parliamentary
re%orts and ne&s%a%ers %roduce in EnglandE and this e1tinction of
%atriotism aided by the melting do&n of states and nations in the one 'ast
yet heterogeneous Em%ireEDthe number and 'ariety of the %arts acting
only to make each insignificant in its o&n eyes and yet sufficient to
%reclude all li'ing interest in the %eculiar institutions and religious forms of
RomeE &hich beginning in a %etty district had no less than the Greek
re%ublics its mythology and :Greek5 thraeskeia= intimately connected &ith
localities and local e'ents( The mere habit of staring or laughing at nine
religions must necessarily end in laughing at the tenth that is the religion
of the manCs o&n birthH%lace( The first of these causes that is the
detachment of all lo'e and ho%e from the things of the 'isible &orld and
from tem%oral objects not merely selfish must ha'e %roduced in thousands
a tendency to and a cra'ing after an internal religion &hile the latter
occasioned an absolute necessity of a mundane as o%%osed to a national or
local religion( + am far from denying or doubting the influence of the
e1cellence of the Christian faith in the %ro%agation of the Christian Church
or the %o&er of its e'idencesE but still + am %ersuaded that the necessity of
some religion and the untenable nature and obsolete su%erannuated
character of all the others occasioned the con'ersion of the largest though
not the &orthiest %art of the ne&Hmade Christians( !ere though e1%loded
in %hysics &e ha'e recourse to the Chorror 'acuiC as an efficient cause( This
'ie& of the subject can offend or startle those only &ho in their %assion for
&onderment 'irtually e1clude the agency of Pro'idence from any share in
the realiGing of its o&n benignant schemeE as if the dis%osition of e'ents by
&hich the &hole &orld of human history from north and south east and
&est directed their march to one central %oint the establishment of
Christendom &ere not the most stu%endous of miracles4 +t is a yet sadder
consideration that the same men &ho can find GodCs %resence and agency
only in sensuous miracles &holly misconcei'e the characteristic %ur%ose
and %ro%er objects of historic Christianity and of the out&ard and 'isible
Church of &hich historic Christianity is the ground and the indis%ensable
conditionE but this is a subject delicate and dangerous at all e'ents
reFuiring a less scanty s%ace than the margins of these honestly %rinted
%ages(
+b( s( i'( %( $>>(
The death of 6nanias and Sa%%hira and the blindness of Elymas the
sorcerer amount not to this for they &ere miraculous inflictions(
One great difficulty res%ecting not the historic truth Jof &hich there can be
no rational doubtK but the miraculous nature of the sudden deaths of
6nanias and Sa%%hira is deri'ed from the measure &hich ga'e occasion to
it namely the sale of their %ro%erty by the ne& con'erts of Palestine in
order to establish that community of goods &hich according to a
Rabbinical tradition e1isted before the )eluge and &as to be restored by
the children of Seth Jone of the names &hich the ?e&ish Christians
assumedK before the coming of the Son of Ban( "o& this &as a 'ery gross
and carnal not to say fanatical misunderstanding of our LordCs &ords and
had the effect of reducing the Churches of the Circumcision to beggary and
of making them an unnecessary burthen on the ne& Churches in Greece
and else&here( See Rhenferd as to this(
The fact of Elymas ho&e'er concludes the miraculous nature of the deaths
of 6nanias and Sa%%hira &hich taken of themsel'es &ould indeed ha'e
al&ays been su%%osed but could scarcely ha'e been %ro'ed the result of a
miraculous or su%erhuman %o&er( There are for me + confess great
difficulties in this incident es%ecially &hen it is com%ared &ith our LordCs
re%ly to the 6%ostlesC %ro%osal of calling do&n fire from hea'en( CThe Son
of Ban is not come to destroyC Tc( 6t all e'ents it is a subject that
demands and deser'es dee% consideration(
+b( s( i( %( $L$(
The religion of ?esus Christ is Cthe form of sound doctrine and &holesome
&ordsC &hich is set do&n in Scri%ture indefinitely actually con'eyed to us
by %lain %laces and se%arated as for the Fuestion of necessary or not
necessary by the Symbol of the 6%ostles(
+ cannot refrain from again e1%ressing my sur%rise at the freFuency and the
undoubting %ositi'eness of this assertion in so great a scholar so %rofound
a Patrician as ?eremy Taylor &as( !e a%%ears Cbona fideC to ha'e belie'ed
the absurd fable of this Creed ha'ing been a %icHnic to &hich each of the
t&el'e 6%ostles contributed his CsymbolumC( !ad ?eremy Taylor taken it for
granted so com%letely and at so early an age that he read &ithout attending
to the 'arious %assages in the /athers and ecclesiastical historians &hich
she& the gradual formation of this CreedI +t is certainly %ossible and + see
no other solution of the %roblem(
+b( s( i1( %( $9>(
C?udge not that ye be not judgedC( The dread of these &ords is + fear more
influential on my s%irit than either the duty of charity or my sense of
TaylorCs high merits in enabling me to struggle against the strong
inclination to %ass the sentence of dishonesty on the reasoning in this
%aragra%h( !ad + met the %assage in Richard Ba1ter or in Bisho% !all it
&ould ha'e made no such unfa'ourable im%ression( But Taylor &as so
acute a logician and had made himself so com%letely master of the subject
that it is hard to concei'e him blind to so%histry so glaring( + am myself
friendly to +nfant Ba%tism but for that reason feel more im%atience of any
unfairness in its defenders(
+b( 6d( iii( and 1iii( %( $3;(
But then that God is not as much before hand &ith Christian as &ith
?e&ish infants is a thing &hich can ne'er be belie'ed by them &ho
understand that in the Gos%el God o%ened all his treasures of mercies and
unsealed the fountain itselfE &hereas before he %oured forth only ri'ulets
of mercy and comfort(
This is mere so%histryE and + doubt &hether Taylor himself belie'ed it a
sufficient re%ly to his o&n argument( There is no doubt that the %rimary
%ur%ose of Circumcision &as to %eculiariGe the ?e&s by an indelible 'isible
signE and it &as as necessary that ?e&ish infants should be kno&n to be
?e&s as ?e&ish men( Then humanity and mere safety determined that the
bloody rite should be %erformed in earliest infancy as soon as the babe
might be su%%osed to ha'e gotten o'er the fe'er of his birth( This is clearE
for &omen had no corres%ondent rite but the same result &as obtained by
the 'arious se'ere la&s concerning their marriage &ith aliens and other
actions(
+b( %( $;8(
6nd as those %ersons &ho could not be circumcised J+ mean the femalesK
yet &ere ba%tiGed as is notorious in the ?e&sC books and story(
,es but by no command of God but only their o&n fancies(
+b( 6d( i'( %( $;$(
C.hosoe'er shall not recei'e the kingdom of God as a little child shall not
enter thereinC5 recei'e it as a little child recei'es it that is &ith innocence
and &ithout any let or hinderance(
+s it not e'ident that Christ here con'erted negati'es into %ositi'esI 6s a
babe is &ithout malice negati'ely so you must be %ositi'ely and by
actuation that is full of lo'e and meeknessE as the babe is unresisting so
must you be docile and so on(
+b( 6d( '(
6nd yet not&ithstanding this terrible %aragra%h Taylor belie'ed that
infants &ere not a &hit the &orse off for not being ba%tiGed( Strange
contradiction4 They are born in sin and Ba%tism is the only &ay of
deli'eranceE and yet it is not( /or the infant is Cde seC of the kingdom of
hea'en( Christ blessed them not in order to make them so but because
they already &ere so( So that this argument seems more than all others
demonstrati'e for the 6naba%tist and to %ro'e that Ba%tism deri'es all its
force if it be celestial magic or all its meaning if it be only a sacrament and
symbol from the %resum%tion of actual sin in the %erson ba%tiGed(
+b( 6d( 1'( %( $;<(
6nd he that hath &ithout difference commanded that all nations should be
ba%tiGed hath &ithout difference commanded all sorts of %ersons(
E'en so our Lord commanded all men to re%ent did he therefore include
babes of a month oldI :;= ,es &hen they became ca%able of re%entance(
6nd e'en so babes are included in the general command of Ba%tism that
is as soon as they are ba%tiGable( But Ba%tism su%%osed both re%entance
and a %romiseE babes are not ca%able of either and therefore not of
Ba%tism( /or the %hysical element &as surely only the sign and seal of a
%romise by a counter %romise and co'enant( The rite of Circumcision is
&holly ina%%licableE for there a co'enant &as bet&een 6braham and God
not bet&een God and the infant( *)o so and so to all your male children
and + &ill fa'or them( Bark them before the &orld as a %eculiar and
se%arate race and + &ill then consider them as my chosen %eo%le(* But
Ba%tism is %ersonal and the ba%tiGed a subject not an objectE not a thing
but a %ersonE that is ha'ing reason or actually and not merely %otentially(
Besides ?eremy Taylor &as too sound a student of Erasmus and Grotius
not to kno& the danger of scre&ing u% St( PaulCs accommodations of
?e&ish rites meant doubtless as inducements of rhetoric and innocent
com%liances &ith innocent and in'incible %rejudices into articles of faith(
The conclusions are al&ays trueE but all the arguments are not and &ere
ne'er intended to be reducible into syllogisms demonstrati'e(
+b( 6d( 1'iii( %( $2$(
But let us hear the ans&er( /irst it is said that Ba%tism and the
S%irit signify the same thingE for by &ater is meant the effect of the
S%irit(
By the CeffectC the 6naba%tist clearly means the Ccausa causansC the Cact of
the S%irit(C 6s &ell might Taylor say that a thought is not thinking because
it is the effect of thinking( !ad Taylor been right the &ater to be an a%t
sign ought to ha'e been dirty &aterE for that &ould be the Cres effectaC( But
it is %ure &ater therefore Cres agensC(
+b( %( $27(
/or it is certain and e'ident that regeneration or ne& birth is here enjoined
to all as of absolute and indis%ensable necessity(
,et Taylor himself has denied it o'er and o'er again in his tracts on
Original SinE and ho& is it in harmony &ith the &ords of ChristDCOf such
are the kingdom of hea'enCI 6re &e not regenerated back to a state of
s%iritual infancyI ,et for such 6ntiH%Zdoba%tists as hold the dogma of
original guilt it is doubtless a fair argumentE but Taylor ought not to ha'e
used it as certain and e'ident in itself and not merely Cad hominem et %er
accidensC( 6s making a bo& is in England the understood con'entional
mark or 'isible language of re'erence so in the East &as Ba%tism the
understood out&ard and 'isible mark of con'ersion and initiation( So much
for the 'isible act5 then for the %articular meaning affi1ed to it by Christ(
This &as :Greek5 metQnoia= an ado%tion of a ne& %rinci%le of action and
conseFuent reform of conductE a cleansing but es%ecially a cleansing a&ay
of the carnal film from the mindCs eye( !ence the %rimiti'e Church called
ba%tism :Greek5 %hMos= light and the Eucharist :Greek5 GMo_e= life(
Ba%tism therefore &as %ro%erly the sign the C%recursorC or rather the first
act the CinitiumC of that regeneration of &hich the &hole s%iritual life of a
Christian is the com%lete %rocessE the Eucharist indicating the means
namely the continued assimilation of and to the )i'ine !umanity( !ence
the Eucharist &as called the continuation of the +ncarnation(
+b(
6nd yet it does not follo& that they should all be ba%tiGed &ith the !oly
Ghost and &ith fire( But it is meant only that that glorious effect should be
to them a sign of ChristCs eminency abo'e himE they should see from him a
Ba%tism greater than that of ?ohn(
This is e1actly of a %iece &ith that gloss of the Socinians in e'asion of St(
PaulCs &ords concerning ChristCs em%tying himself of the form of God and
becoming a ser'ant &hich all the &orld of Christians had inter%reted of the
+ncarnation( But no4 it only referred to the miracle of his transfiguration4
U Ccredat ?udZus 6%ella4 "on egoC(
St( ?ohn could not mean this unless he denied the distinct %ersonality of the
!oly Ghost( /or it &as the !oly Ghost that then descended Cas the
substitute of ChristE nor does St( Luke e'en hint that it &as understood to
be a Ba%tism e'en if &e su%%ose the Ctongues of fireC to be anything 'isual
and not as &e say 0ictory sate on his helmet like an eagle( The s%irit of
eloFuence descended into them like a tongue of fire and that they s%oke
different languages is + concei'e no &here saidE but only that being rustic
Galileans they yet s%ake a dialect intelligible to all the ?e&s from the most
different %ro'inces( /or it is clear they &ere all ?e&s and as ?e&s had
doubtless a Clingua communisC &hich all understood &hen s%oken though
%ersons of education only could s%eak it( E'en so a German boor
understands but yet cannot talk in !igh German that is the language of
his Bible and !ymnHbook( So it is &ith the Scotch of 6berdeen &ith regard
to %ure English( +n short TaylorCs arguments %ress on the 6naba%tists only
as far as the 6naba%tists ba%tiGe at allE they are in fact attacks on Ba%tismE
and it &ould only follo& from them that the Ba%tist is more rational than
the PZdoba%tist but that the [uaker is more consistent than either( To %ull
off your hat is in Euro%e a mark of res%ect( .hat if a %arent in his last &ill
should command his children and %osterity to %ull off their hats to their
su%eriorsDand in course of time these children or descendants emigrated
to China or some %lace &here the same ceremony either meant nothing or
an insult( Should &e not laugh at them if they did not inter%ret the &ords
into Pay re'erence to your su%eriors( E'en so Ba%tism &as the ?e&ish
custom and natural to those countriesE but &ith us it &ould be a more
significant rite if a%%lied as %enance for e1cess of Geal and acts of bigotry
es%ecially as s%rinkling(
+b( %( $2<(
But farther yet + demand can infants recei'e Christ in the EucharistI
Surely the &afer and the teaHs%oonful of &ine might be s&allo&ed by an
infant as &ell as &ater be s%rinkled u%on him( But if the former is not the
Eucharist because &ithout faith and re%entance so cannot the latter it
&ould seem be Ba%tism( /or they are declared eFual adjuncts of both
Sacraments( The argument therefore is a mere C%etitio %rinci%ii sub liteC(
+b( 6d( i1( %( $23(
The %romise of the !oly Ghost is made to all to us and to our children5 and
if the !oly Ghost belongs to them then Ba%tism belongs to them also(
+f this be not rank enthusiasm + kno& not &hat is( The S%irit is %romised to
them first as %rotection and %ro'idence and as internal o%eration &hen
those faculties are de'elo%ed in and by &hich the S%irit coHo%erates( Can
Taylor she& an instance in Scri%ture in &hich the !oly S%irit is said to
o%erate sim%ly and &ithout the coHo%eration of the subjectI
+b( 6d( 1i1( %( $22(
6nd &hen the boys in the street sang !osanna to the Son of )a'id our
blessed Lord said that if they had held their %eace the stones of the street
&ould ha'e cried out !osanna(
By the same argument + could defend the s%rinkling of mules and asses
&ith holy &ater as is done yearly at Rome on St( 6ntonyCs day + belie'e(
/or they are ca%able of health and sickness of resti'eness and of good
tem%er and these are all emanations from their Creator( Besides in the great
form of Ba%tism the &ords are not :Greek5 en onNmati= but :Greek5 eis tO
onoma= and many learned men ha'e she&n that they may mean Cinto the
%o&er or influenceC of the /ather the Son and the S%irit( But s%iritual
influences su%%ose ca%ability in act of recei'ing themE and &e must either
%retend to belie'e that the soul of the babe that is his consciousness is
acted on &ithout his consciousness or that the instrumental cause is
antecedent by years to its effect &hich &ould be a conjunction disjuncti'e
&ith a 'engeance( 6gain Ba%tism is nothing e1ce%t as follo&ed by the
S%iritE but it is irrational to say that the S%irit acts on the mere %otentialities
of an infant( /or &herein is the S%irit as used in Scri%ture in a%%ro%riation
to Christians different from GodCs uni'ersal %ro'idence and goodness but
that the latter like the sun may shine on the &icked and on the good on the
%assi'e and on those &ho by e1ercise increase its effectE &hereas the
former al&ays im%lies a coHo%erant subject that is a de'elo%ed reason(
.hen God ga'e his S%irit miraculously to the young child )aniel he at
the same time miraculously hastened the de'elo%ment of his understanding(
+b( 6d( 11'iii( %( 789(
But &e see also that although Christ reFuired faith of them &ho came
to be healed yet &hen any &ere brought or came in behalf of others
he only reFuired faith of them &ho came and their faith did benefit
to othersU(
But this instance is so certain a re%roof of this objection of theirs &hich is
their %rinci%al &hich is their all that it is a &onder to me they should not
all be con'inced at the reading and obser'ing of it(
So far from certainty + find no strength at all in this re%roof( )oubtless
Christ at a belie'erCs reFuest might heal his childCs or his ser'antCs bodily
sicknessE for this &as an act of %o&er reFuiring only an object( But is it
any &here said that at a belie'erCs reFuest he ga'e the S%irit and the graces
of faith to an unbelie'er &ithout any mental act or moral coHo%eration of
the latterI This &ould ha'e been a %roof indeedE but TaylorCs instance is a
mere Cad aliudC(
+b( 6d( 111i( %( 783(
6nd although there are some effects of the !oly S%irit &hich reFuire
natural ca%acities to be their foundationE yet those are the :Greek5
energQemata= or %o&ers of &orking5 but the :Greek5 charSsmata= and the
inheritance and the title to the %romises reFuire nothing on our %art but that
&e can recei'e them(
The Bisho% flutters about and about but ne'er fairly ans&ers the Fuestion
.hat does Ba%tism doI The Ba%tist says it attests forgi'eness of sins as
the re&ard of faith and re%entance( This is intelligibleE but as to the :Greek5
charSsmata=Dthe children of belie'ers if so taught and educated are surely
entitled to the %romisesE and &hat analogy is there in this to any one act of
%o&er and gift of %o&ers mentioned as :Greek5 charSsmata= &hen the &ord
is really used in contradistinction from :Greek5 energQemata= Ba%tism is
s%oken of many times by St( Paul %ro%erly as &ell as meta%horically and in
the former sense it is ne'er described as a :Greek5 chQrisma= on a %assi'e
reci%ient &hile in the latter sense it al&ays res%ects an :Greek5 enRrgaema=
of the S%irit of God and a :Greek5 synRrgaema= in the s%irit of the
reci%ient( 6ll that Taylor can make out is that Ba%tism effects a %otentiality
in a %otentiality or a chalking of chalk to make &hite &hite(
+b( %( 7$8(
6nd if it be Fuestioned by &ise men &hether the &ant of it do not occasion
their eternal loss and it is not Fuestioned &hether Ba%tism does them any
hurt or no then certainly to ba%tiGe them is the surer &ay &ithout all
%erad'enture(
"o& this is the strongest argument of all against +nfant Ba%tism and that
&hich alone &eighed at one time &ith me namely that it su%%oses and
most certainly encourages a belief concerning God the most blas%hemous
and intolerableE and no human &it can e1%ress this more forcibly and
affectingly than Taylor himself has done in his Letter to a Lady on Original
Sin( +t is too %lain to be denied that the belief of the strict necessity of
+nfant Ba%tism and the absolute uni'ersality of the %ractice did not
commence till the dogma of original guilt had begun to des%otiGe in the
Church5 &hile that remained uncertain and s%oradic +nfant Ba%tism &as so
tooE some did it many did not( But as soon as Original Sin in the sense of
actual guilt became the %o%ular creed then all did it( :2=
+b( s( 1'i( %( 77L(
6nd although they ha'e done 'iolence to all %hiloso%hy and the reason of
man and undone and cancelled the %rinci%les of t&o or three sciences to
bring in this articleE yet they ha'e a di'ine re'elation &hose literal and
grammatical sense if that sense &ere intended &ould &arrant them to do
'iolence to all the sciences in the circle( 6nd indeed that Transubstantiation
is o%enly and 'iolently against natural reason is no argument to make them
disbelie'e it &ho belie'e the mystery of the Trinity in all those niceties of
e1%lication &hich are in the School Jand &hich no&HaHdays %ass for the
doctrine of the ChurchK &ith as much 'iolence to the %rinci%les of natural
and su%ernatural %hiloso%hy as can be imagined to be in the %oint of
Transubstantiation(
This is one of the many %assages in TaylorCs &orks &hich lead me to think
that his %ri'ate o%inions &ere fa'orable to Socinianism( Obser'e to the
'ie&s of Socinus not to modern @nitarianism as taught by Priestley and
Belsham( 6nd doubtless Socinianism &ould much more easily bear a
doubt &hether the difference bet&een it and the orthodo1 faith &as not
more in &ords than in the things meant than the 6rian hy%othesis( 6 mere
conce%tualist at least might %lausibly ask &hether either %arty the
6thanasian or the Socinian had a sufficiently distinct conce%tion of &hat
the one meant by the hy%ostatical union of the )i'ine Logos &ith the man
?esusE or the other of his %lenary total %er%etual and continuous
ins%iration to ha'e any &ellHgrounded assurance that they do not mean the
same thing(
Boreo'er no one kne& better than ?eremy Taylor that this a%%arent soar of
the hooded falcon faith to the 'ery em%yrean of bibliolatry amounted in
fact to a truism of &hich the follo&ing syllogism is a fair illustration( 6ll
stones are men5 all men think5 CergoC all stones think( The CmajorC is taken
for granted the minor no one deniesE and then the conclusion is good logic
though a 'ery foolish untruth( Or if an o'al &ere demonstrated by Euclid
to be a circle it &ould be a circleE and if it &ere a demonstrable circle it
&ould be a circle though the strait lines dra&able from the centre to the
circumference are uneFual( +f &e &ere Fuite certain that an omniscient
Being inca%able of decei'ing or being decei'ed had assured us that 9 Y 9
X < Y > and that the t&o sides of a certain triangle &ere together less than
the third then &e should be &arranted in setting at nought the science of
arithmetic and geometry( On another occasion as &hen it &as the good
Bisho%Cs object to e1%ose the im%udent assertions of the Romish Church
since the ele'enth century he &ould ha'e been the first to ha'e re%lied by a
counter syllogism(
+f &e are Fuite certain that any &riting %retending to di'ine origin contains
gross contradictions to demonstrable truths Cin eodem genereC or commands
that outrage the clearest %rinci%les of right and &rongE then &e may be
eFually certain that the %retence is a blas%hemous falsehood inasmuch as
the com%atibility of a document &ith the conclusions of selfHe'ident
reason and &ith the la&s of conscience is a condition Ca %rioriC of any
e'idence adeFuate to the %roof of its ha'ing been re'ealed by God(
This %rinci%le is clearly laid do&n both by Boses and by St( Paul( +f a man
%retended to be a %ro%het he &as to %redict some definite e'ent that should
take %lace at some definite time at no unreasonable distance5 and if it &ere
not fulfilled he &as to be %unished as an im%ostor( But if he accom%anied
his %ro%hecy &ith any doctrine sub'ersi'e of the e1clusi'e )eity and
adorability of the one God of hea'en and earth or any seduction to a
breach of GodCs commandments he &as to be %ut to death at once all other
%roof of his guilt and im%osture being su%erfluous( :$8= So St( Paul( +f any
man %reach another Gos%el though he should &ork all miracles though he
had the a%%earance and e'inced the su%erhuman %o&ers of an angel from
hea'enDhe &as at once in contem%t of all imaginable sensuous miracles
to be holden accursed( :$$=
+b( s( 1'iii( %( 779(
6nd no& for any danger to menCs %ersons for suffering such a doctrine this
+ shall say that if they &ho do it are not formally guilty of idolatry there is
no danger that they &hom they %ersuade to it should be guilty U .hen
they belie'e it to be no idolatry then their so belie'ing it is sufficient
security from that crime &hich hath so great a tincture and residency in the
&ill that from thence only it hath its being criminal(
.ill not this argument justify all idolatersI /or surely they belie'e
themsel'es &orshi%%ers either of the Su%reme Being under a %ermitted
form or of some son of God Jas 6%olloK to &hom he has delegated such
and such %o&ers( +f this be the case there is no such crime as idolatry5 yet
the second commandment e1%ressly makes the &orshi%%ing of God in or
before a 'isual image of him not only idolatry but the most hateful s%ecies
of it( "o& do they not &orshi% God in the 'isible form of bread and
%rostrate themsel'es before %ictures of the TrinityI 6re &e so mad as to
su%%ose that the %ious heathens thought the statue of ?u%iter ?o'e himselfI
"oE and yet these heathens &ere idolaters( But there &as no such being as
?u%iter( "o4 .as there no Aing of Aings and Lord of LordsE and does the
name ?o'e instead of ?eho'ah J%erha%s the same &ord tooK make the
differenceI .ere Barcus 6ntoninus and E%ictetus idolatersI
UNUM NECESSARIUM- OR THE DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE OF
REPENTANCE.
$( The first great di'ines among the Reformers Luther Cal'in and their
com%eers and successors had thro&n the darkness of storms on an a&ful
fact of human nature &hich in itself had only the darkness of negations(
.hat &as certain but incom%rehensible they rendered contradictory and
absurd by a 'ain attem%t at e1%lication( +t &as a fundamental fact and of
course could not be com%rehendedE for to com%rehend and thence to
e1%lain is the same as to %ercei'e and thence to %oint out a something
before the gi'en fact and Standing to it in the relation of cause to effect(
Thus they %er'erted original sin into hereditary guilt and made God act in
the s%irit of the cruellest la&s of jealous go'ernments to&ards their
enemies u%on the %rinci%le of treason in the blood( This &as brought in to
e1%lain their o&n e1%lanation of GodCs &ays and then too often GodCs
alleged &ay in this case &as adduced to justify the cruel state la& of
treason in the blood(
7( +n %rocess of time good men and of acti'e minds &ere shocked at thisE
but instead of %assing back to the incom%rehensible fact &ith a 'ault o'er
the unha%%y idol forged for its com%rehension they identified the t&o in
nameE and &hile in truth their arguments a%%lied only to a false theory they
rejected the fact for the sake of the misHsolution and fell into far &orse
errors( /or the mistaken theorist had built u%on a foundation though but a
su%erstructure of chaff and stra&E but the o%%onents built on nothing(
6ghast at the su%erstructure these latter ran a&ay from that &hich is the
sole foundation of all human religion(
>( Then came the %ersecutions of the 6rminians in !ollandE then the
struggle in England against the 6rminian Laud and all his %artyDterrible
%ersecutors in their turn of the Cal'inists and systematic di'inesE then the
Ci'il .ar and the %ersecutions of the Church by the Puritans in their turnE
and just in this state of heated feelings did Taylor &rite these .orks &hich
contain dogmas sub'ersi'e of true Christian faith namely his C@num
"ecessariumC or )octrine and Practice of Re%entance &hich reduces the
cross of Christ to nothing es%ecially in the se'enth cha%ter of the same
and the after defences of it in his Letters on Original Sin to a Lady and to
the Bisho% of RochesterE and the Liberty of Pro%hesying &hich %utting
toleration on a false ground has left no ground at all for right or &rong in
matters of Christian faith(
+n the marginal notes &hich + ha'e &ritten in these se'eral treatises on
Re%entance + a%%ear to myself to ha'e demonstrated that TaylorCs system
has no one ad'antage o'er the Lutheran in res%ect of GodCs attributesE that
it is Cbona fideC Pelagianism Jthough he denies itE for let him define that
grace &hich Pelagius &ould not acce%t because incom%atible &ith free &ill
and merit and %rofess his belief in it thus defined and e'ery one of his
arguments against absolute decrees tell against himselfKE and lastly that its
ine'itable logical conseFuences are Socinianism and CFuZ seFuunturC( +n
Tillotson the face of 6rminianism looked out fuller and Christianity is
re%resented as a mere arbitrary contri'ance of God yet one &ithout reason(
Let not the sur%assing eloFuence of Taylor daGGle you nor his scholastic
retiary 'ersatility of logic illaFueate your good sense( 6bo'e all do not
d&ell too much on the a%%arent absurdity or horror of the dogma he
o%%oses but e1amine &hat he %uts in its %lace and recei'e candidly the
fe& hints &hich + ha'e admarginated for your assistance being in the lo'e
of truth and of Christ
,our Brother(
+ ha'e omitted one remark %robably from o'er fullness of intention to ha'e
inserted it(
$( The good man and eloFuent e1%resses his conjectural belief that if 6dam
had not fallen Christ &ould still ha'e been necessary though not %erha%s
by +ncarnation( "o& in the first %lace this is only a %lay thought of
himself and Scotus and %erha%s t&o or three others in the SchoolsE no
article of faith or of general %resum%tionE conseFuently it has little serious
effect e'en on the guessers themsel'es( +n the ne1t %lace if it &ere granted
yet it &ould be a necessity &holly Ce1 %arte )eiC not at all Ce1 %arte
!ominisC5Dfor &hat does it amount to but thisDthat God ha'ing destined
a creature for t&o states the earthly rational and the hea'enly s%iritual and
ha'ing chosen to gi'e him in the first instance faculties sufficient only for
the first state must after&ards su%erinduce those sufficient for the second
state or else God &ould at once and the same time destine and not destine(
This therefore is a mere fancy a theory but not a binding religionE no
co'enant(
7( But the +ncarnation e'en after the fall of 6dam he clearly makes to be
s%ecifically of no necessity( +t &as only not to take a&ay %ee'ishly the
estate of grace from the %oor innocent children because of the fatherD
according to the good Bisho% a %oor ignorant &ho before he ate the a%%le
of kno&ledge did not kno& &hat right and &rong &asE and ChristCs
+ncarnation &ould ha'e been no more necessary then than it &as before
according to TaylorCs belief( !ere again the +ncarnation is &holly a
contri'ance Ce1 %arte )eiC and no &ay resulting from any default of man(
>( ConseFuently Taylor neither sa& nor admitted any Ca %rioriC necessity of
the +ncarnation from the nature of man and &hich being felt by man in his
o&n nature is itself the greatest of %roofs for the admission of it and the
strongest %reHdis%osing cause of the admission of all %roof %ositi'e( "ot
ha'ing this he &as to seek Cab e1traC for %roofs in facts in historical
e'idence in the &orld of sense( The same causes %roduce the same effects(
!ence Grotius Taylor and Ba1ter Jthen as a%%ears in his Life in a state of
uneasy doubtK &ere the first three &riters of e'idences of the Christian
religion such as ha'e been since follo&ed u% by hundredsDnineHtenths of
them Socinians or SemiHSocinians and &hich taking head and tail + call
the GrotioHPaleyan &ay(
L( !ence the good man &as e'er cra'ing for some morsel out of the
almsbasket of all e1ternal e'ents in order to %ro'e to himself his o&n
immortalityE and &ith grief and shame + tell it became e'idence and
authority in +rish stories of ghosts and a%%aritions and &itches( Let those
&ho are astonished refer to Glan'ille on .itches and they &ill be more
astonished still( The fact no& stated at once e1%lains and justifies my
an1iety in detecting the errors of this great and e1cellent genius at their
fountain headDthe Fuestion of Original Sin5 for ho& im%ortant must that
error be &hich ended in bringing Bisho% ?eremy Taylor for&ard as an
e1aminer judge and &itness in an +rish a%%arition case4
+b( s( 111'iii( %( 73;(
6lthough God e1acts not an im%ossible la& under eternal and insufferable
%ains yet he im%oses great holiness in unlimited and indefinite measures
&ith a design to gi'e e1cellent %ro%ortions of re&ard ans&erable to the
greatness of our endea'our( !ell is not the end of them that fail in the
greatest measures of %erfectionE but great degrees of hea'en shall be their
%ortion &ho do all that they can al&ays and offend in the fe&est instances(
+t is not to be denied that one if not more of the %arables a%%ears to
sanction this but the same %arables &ould by conseFuence seem to fa'our
a state of Purgatory( /rom ?ohn Paul and the %hiloso%hy of the doctrine +
should gather a different faith and find a sanction for this too in one of the
%arables namely that of the labourer at the ele'enth hour( !ea'en bliss
union &ith God through Christ do not seem to me com%arati'e terms or
conce%tions susce%tible of degree( But it is a difficult Fuestion( The first
/athers of the Reformation and the early /athers of the %rimiti'e Church
%resent different systems and in a 'ery different s%irit(
+b( %( >7LH>7;(
)escri%tions of re%entance taken from the !oly Scri%tures(
This is a beautiful collection of te1ts( Still the %ious but uncon'erted ?e& Ja
Boses Bendelsohn for instanceK has a right to ask .hat then did Christ
teach or do such and of such additional moment as to be rightfully entitled
the founder of a ne& la& instead of being like +saiah and others an
enforcer and e1%lainer of the oldI +f Christianity or the Co%us o%eransC of
Redem%tion &as synchronous &ith the /all of man then the same ans&er
must be returned to the %assages here gi'en from the Old Testament as to
those from the "e&E namely that Sanctification is the result of
Redem%tion not its efficient cause or %re'ious condition( 6ssuredly
:Greek5 metanNaesis= and Sanctification differ only as the %lant and the
gro&th or gro&ing of the %lant( But the &ords of the 6%ostle Jit &ill be
saidK are e1hortati'e and dehortati'e( )oubtless4 and so &ould be the
&ords of a &ise %hysician addressed to a con'alescent( .ould this %ro'e
that the %atientCs re'alescence had been inde%endent of the medicines gi'en
himI The te1ts are addressed to the free &ill and therefore concerning
%ossible objects of free &ill( "o doubt4 Should that %rocess the end and
'irtue of &hich is to free the &ill destroy the free &illI But + cannot make
it out to my understanding ho& the t&o are com%atible(D6ns&erE the
s%irit kno&s the things of the s%irit( !ere lies the sole true ground of
Latitudinarianism 6rminian or SocinianE and this is the sole and sufficient
confutationE Cs%iritualia s%iritus cognoscitC( .ould you understand &ith your
ears instead of hearing &ith your understandingI "o& as the ears to the
understanding so is the understanding to the s%irit( This Plato kne&E and
art thou a master in +srael and kno&est it notI
+b( %( >>8(
C.ho hath trodden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the blood
of the co'enant &here&ith he &as sanctified an unholy thing and hath
done des%ite unto the S%irit of graceC(
By this %assage &e must inter%ret the &ords *sin &ilfully* in reference to
an un%ardonable sin in the %receding sentence(
Of the moral ca%acity of sinful habits(
+b( s( ii( %( L>7(
Probably from the holiness of his o&n life Taylor has but just fluttered
about a bad habit not fully described it( !e has omitted or rather described
contradictorily the case of those &ith &hom the objections to sin are all
strengthened the dismal conseFuences more glaring and al&ays %resent to
them as an a'enging fury the sin loathed detested hatedE and yet s%ite of
all this nay the more for all this %er%etrated( Both lust and intem%erance
&ould furnish too many instances of these most miserable 'ictims(
+b( s( 111i1( %( L9<(
/or e'ery 'icious habit being radicated in the &ill and being a strong lo'e
inclination and adhesion to sin unless the natural being of this lo'e be
taken off the enmity against God remains(
But the most im%ortant Fuestion is as to those 'icious habits in &hich there
is no lo'e to sin but only a dread and recoiling from intolerable %ain as in
the case of the miserable drunkard4 + trust that these e%ile%tic agonies are
rather the %unishments than the augumenters of his guilt( The annihilation
of the &icked is a fearful thought yet it &ould sol'e many difficulties both
in natural religion and in Scri%ture( 6nd Taylor in his 6rminian dread of
Cal'inism is al&ays too shy of this *grace of God5* he ne'er denies yet
ne'er admits it any se%arate o%erancy C%er seC( 6nd this + fancy is the true
distinction of 6rminianisrn and Cal'inism in their moral effects(
6rminianism is cruel to indi'iduals for fear of damaging the race by false
ho%es and im%ro%er confidencesE &hile Cal'inism is horrible for the race
but full of consolation to the suffering indi'idual(
The ne1t section is taken together one of the many instances that confirm
my o%inion that Cal'inism J6rchbisho% LeightonCs for e1am%leK com%ared
&ith TaylorCs 6rminianism is as the lamb in the &olfCs skin to the &olf in
the lambCs skin5 the one is cruel in the %hrases the other in the doctrine(
+b( s( l'i( %( L<2(
But if a single act of contrition cannot %rocure %ardon of sins that are
habitual then a &icked man that returns not till it be too late to root out
'icious habits must des%air of sal'ation( + ans&er Tc(
.ould not TaylorCs %ur%oses ha'e been sufficiently attained by %ressing the
contrast bet&een attrition and contrition &ith faith and the utter
im%robability that the latter J&hich alone can be efficientK shall be
'ouchsafed to a sinner &ho has continued in his sins in the flattery of a
deathHbed re%entanceE a blas%hemy that seems too near that against the
!oly GhostI By objection to Taylor is that he seems to reduce the death of
Christ almost to a cy%herE a contri'ance rather to reconcile the attributes of
God than an act of infinite lo'e to sa'e sinners( But the truth is that this is
the %eccant %art of 6rminianism and Tillotson is yet more o%en than
Taylor( /orbid me common goodness that + should think Tillotson
conscious of Socinianism4 but that his tenets in'ol'ed it + more than
sus%ect( See his )iscourses on Transubstantiation and those near it in the
same 'olume(
+b( l1i'( %( L3;(
"o& there is no %erad'enture but ne&Hcon'erted %ersons heathens ne&ly
gi'ing u% their names to Christ and being ba%tiGed if they die in an hour
and &ere ba%tiGed half an hour after they belie'e in Christ are heirs of
sal'ation(
This granted + should little doubt of confuting all the foregoing as far as +
object to it( + &ould rather be Cdurus %ater infantumC like 6ustin than Cdurus
%ater ZgrotantiumC( Taylor considers all Christians &ho are so called(
+b( s( l1'i( %( L;$(
6ll this %aragra%h is as just as it is fine and li'ely but far from confirming
TaylorCs doctrine( The case is as bet&een one indi'idual and a general rule(
+ kno& GodCs mercy and ChristCs meritsE but &hether your heart has true
faith in them + cannot kno&( CBe it unto thee according to thy faithC said
Christ5 so should his ministers say( 6ll these %assages ho&e'er are utterly
irreconcilable &ith the Roman doctrine that the %riestCs absolution is
o%erant and not sim%ly declarati'e( 6s to the decisions of Paulinus and
6sterius it is to be feared that they had the mortmain beFuests and
com%ensations in 'ie& more than the &ords of St( Paul or the manifest
%ur%oses of redem%tion by faith( ,ea Taylor himself has his Credime
%eccata eleemosynisC(
By the by + kno& of fe& subjects that ha'e been more handled and less
rationally treated than this of almsHgi'ing( E'ery thing a rich man
%urchases beyond absolute necessaries ought to be %urchased in the s%irit
of alms that is as the most truly beneficial &ay of dis%arsing that &ealth
of &hich he is the ste&ard not o&ner(
+b(
St( Paul taught us this secret that sins are %ro%erly made habitual u%on the
stock of im%unity( CSin taking occasion by the la& &rought in me all
concu%iscenceCE :Greek5 Ca%horm_en labousaC= Ca%%rehending im%unityC
:Greek5 Cdi_ taes entolaesC= Cby occasion of the commandmentC that is so
e1%ressed and established as it &asE because in the commandment
forbidding to lust or co'et there &as no %enalty anne1ed or threatened in
the sanction or in the e1%lication( Burder &as death and so &as adultery
and rebellion( Theft &as %unished se'erely tooE and so other things in their
%ro%ortionE but the desires God left under a bare restraint and affi1ed no
%enalty in the la&( "o& sin that is men that had a mind to sin taking
occasion hence Tc(
This is a 'ery ingenious and 'ery %lausible e1%osition of St( PaulCs &ordsE
but surely surely it is not the right one( + find both the meaning and the
truth of the 6%ostleCs &ords in the 'i'idness and conseFuently attracti'e
and adHJor inHKsorbent %o&er gi'en to an image or thought by the sense of
its danger by the consciousness of its being forbiddenD&hich in an
unregenerate and unassisted &ill struggling &ith or e'en e1citing the e'er
ready inclination of corru%ted nature %roduces a %er%le1ity and confusion
&hich again increase the %ersonCs susce%tibility of the soliciting image or
fancy so intensified( Guilt and des%air add a stimulus and sting to lust( See
+ago in Shaks%eare(
+b( s( 1i( %( 988(
+t &as not &ell &ith thee &hen thou didst first enter into the suburbs of hell
by single actions of sin Tc(
6ye4 this is e1cellent indeed and &orthy of a guardian angel of the Church(
.hen ?eremy Taylor esca%es from the Bononomian Romaism &hich
netted him in his too eager recoil from the 6ntinomian boar brought forth
and foddered Jas he imaginedK in Cal'inCs styeE &hen from this &iry net he
esca%es into the de'otional and the dietetic as into a green meado&Hland
&ith s%rings and ri'ulets and sheltering gro'es &here he leads his flock
like a she%herdEDthen it is that he is most himselfDthen only he is all
himself the &hole ?eremy TaylorE or if there be one other subject graced by
the same total heauto%hany it is in the %ouring forth of his %rofound
common sense on the &ays and &eaknesses of men and conflicting sects
as for instance in the admirable birth %arentage gro&th and
consummation of a religious contro'ersy in his C)issuasi'e from Po%eryC(
+b( s( 1iii( %( 987(
Let e'ery old man that re%ents of the sins of his e'il life be 'ery diligent in
the search of the %articularsE that by dra&ing them into a hea% and
s%reading them before his eyes he may be mightily ashamed at their
number and burthen(
+ dare not condemn but + am doubtful of this as a uni'ersal rule( +f there be
a true hatred of sin the %recious time and the s%iritual CnisusC &ill + think
be more %rofitably em%loyed in enkindling meditation on holiness and
thirstings after the mind of Christ(
+b( ss( 111iH111'( %%((9$3 9$;(
Scarce a &ord in all this but for formCs sake concerning the merits and
sacrifice of the +ncarnate God4 Surely Luther &ould not ha'e gi'en this
ad'ice to a dying %enitent but ha'e directed him rather to em%loy his little
time in agony of %rayer to Christ or in earnest meditations on the
astounding mystery of his death( +n Taylor man is to do e'ery thing(
0ol( +Y( s( 1i( %( 9(
/or God &as so e1as%erated &ith mankind that being angry he &ould still
continue that %unishment e'en to the lesser sins and sinners &hich he only
had first threatened to 6damE and so 6dam brought it u%on them(
6nd such a %hrase as this used by a man in a refutation of Original Sin on
the ground of its incom%atibility &ith GodCs attributes4 *E1as%erated* &ith
those &hom Taylor declares to ha'e been innocent and most unfortunate
the t&o things that most conciliate lo'e and %ity4
+b( %( <(
+f the seFuel of the %aragra%h com%aring God to )a'id in one of his &orst
actions be not blas%hemy the reason is that the good man meant it not as
such( C+n facto est sed nonC in agents(
+b( ss( 1'i( 1'ii( %%( ; 2(
/or the further e1%lication of &hich it is obser'able that the &ord CsinnerC
and CsinC in Scri%ture is used for any %erson that hath a fault or a legal
im%urky a debt a 'itiosity defect or im%osition Tc(
These facts instead of e1%laining a&ay Original Sin are unintelligible
nay absurd and immoral e1ce%t as shado&s ty%es and symbols of it and
of the Redem%tion from it( Obser'e too that Taylor ne'er dares e1%lain
&hat he means by *6dam &as mortal of himself and &e are mortal from
him5* he did not dare affirm that soul and body are alike material and
%erishable e'en as the lute and the %otentiality of music in the lute( 6nd
yet if he belie'ed the contrary then in his construction of the doctrine of
Original Sin &hat has Christ doneI St( ?ohn died in the same sense as 6bel
died5 and in the sense of the Church of England neither died but only sle%t
in the Lord(
This same system forced Taylor into the same error &hich .arburton
after&ards dressed u% &ith such tra%%ings and trammels of erudition in
direct contem%t of the %lain meaning of the ChurchCs articleE and he takes it
for granted in many %laces that the ?e&s under Boses kne& only of
tem%oral life and the death of the body( Lastly he greatly degrades the
mind of man by causelessly re%resenting death as an e'il in itself &hich if
it be considered as a crisis or %henomenal change incident to a %rogressi'e
being ought as little to be thought so as the casting of the cater%illarCs skin
to make room for the &ings of the butterfly( +t is the un'eiling of the
Psyche(
+ do not affirm this as an article of Christian faithE but + say that no candid
&riter ought to hide himself in double meanings( Either he should ha'e
used the term CdeathC JCe1 6damoCK as loss of body or as change of mode of
being and of its circumstancesE and again this latter as either e'il for all or
as e'il or good according to the moral habits of each indi'idual(
Obser'e ho&e'er once for all that + do not %retend to account for Original
Sin( + declare it to be an unaccountable fact( !o& can &e e1%lain a
Cs%eciesC &hen &e are &holly in the dark as to the CgenusCI "o& guilt itself
as &ell as all other immediate facts of free &ill is absolutely ine1%licableE
of course original guilt( +f &e &ill %er'ersely confound the intelligible &ith
the sensible &orld misa%%ly the logic a%%ro%riate to phnomena and the
categories or forms &hich are em%ty e1ce%t as substantialiGed in facts of
e1%erience in order to use them as the ProcrustesC bed of faith res%ecting
noumena5 if in short &e &ill stri'e to understand that of &hich &e can only
kno& :Greek5 hoti estP= &e may and must make as &ild &ork &ith reason
&ill conscience guilt and 'irtue as &ith Original Sin and Redem%tion(
On e'ery subject first ask +s it among the :Greek5 aisthaet_= or the :Greek5
no\mena=I
+b( s( 11iii( %( $7(
+t could not make us heirs of damnation( This + shall the less need to insist
u%on because of itself it seems so horrid to im%ute to the goodness and
justice of God to be author of so great calamity to innocents Tc(
"e'er &as there a more haGardous &ay of reasoning or rather of %lacing
human ignorance in the judgment seat o'er GodCs &isdom( The &hole
might be closely %arodied in su%%ort of 6theism5 rather this is but a
%ara%hrase of the old atheistic arguments( Either God could not or &ould
not %re'ent the moral and %hysical e'ils of the uni'erse including the
e'erlasting anguish of myriads of millions5 therefore he is either not allH
%o&erful or not allHgood5 but a being deficient in %o&er or goodness is not
God5DErgo, &c
+b( s( 11'( %( $>(
+ deny not but all %ersons naturally are so that they cannot arri'e at hea'enE
but unless some other %rinci%le be %ut into them or some great grace done
for them must for e'er stand se%arate from seeing the face of God(
But this is but accidentally occasioned by the sin of 6dam( ?ust so might +
say that &ithout the great grace of air done for them no li'ing beings could
li'e( +f it mean more %ray &here &as the grace in creating a being &ho
&ithout an es%ecial grace must %ass into utter miseryI +f Taylor re%lyE but
the grace &as added in Christ5 &hy so say the Cal'inists( 6ccording to
Taylor there is no fall of manE but only an act and %unishment of a man
&hich %unishment consisted in his li'ing in the kitchen garden instead of
the flo&er garden and orchard5 and Cain &as as likely to ha'e murdered
6bel before as after the eating of the forbidden fruit( But the 'ery name of
the fruit confutes Taylor( 6dam altered his nature by it( Cain did not( .hat
6dam did + doubt not &e all do( Time is not &ith things of s%irit(
+b( s( 11'ii( %( $L(
+s hell so easy a %ain or are the souls of children of so chea% so
contem%tible a %rice that God should so easily thro& them into hellI
This is an argument against the Csine Fua nonC of Ba%tism not against
Original Sin(
+b( s( l1'ii( %( L2(
Origen said enough to be mistaken in the Fuestion( :Greek5 !har_ tO 6d_m
koin_e %QntCon esti( AaP t_ kat_ taes gynaikOs ouk esti kath aes ou lRgetai(=
C6damCs curse is common to all( 6nd there is not a &oman on earth to
&hom may not be said those things &hich &ere s%oken to this &oman(C
OrigenCs &ords ought to ha'e %re'ented all mistake for he %lainly enough
o'erthro&s the %hantom of hereditary guiltE and as to guilt from a
corru%tion of nature it is just such guilt as the carni'orous a%%etites of a
&eaned lion or the instinct of a brood of ducklings to run to &ater( .hat
then is itI +t is an e'il and therefore seated in the &illE common to all men
the beginning of &hich no man can determine in himself or in others( !o&
comes thisI +t is a mystery as the &ill itself( )eeds are in time and s%ace
therefore ha'e a beginning( Pure action that is the &ill is a CnoumenonC
and irreferable to time( Thus Origen calls it neither hereditary nor original
but uni'ersal sin( The curse of 6dam is common to all men because &hat
6dam did &e all do5 and thus of E'e( ,ou may substitute any &oman in
her %lace and the same &ords a%%ly( This is the true solution of this
unfortunate Fuestion( The :Greek5 %rCoton %seudos= is in the di'iding the
&ill from the acts of the &ill( The &ill is CegoHagensC(
+b( s( l111ii( %( 97(
This %aragra%h though 'ery characteristic of the 6uthor is fitter for a
comedy than for a gra'e discourse( +t %uts one in mind of the %layD*Bore
sacks in the mill4 !ea% boys hea%4*
+b( s( l111i'( %( 9<(
CPrZ%osterum estC Jsaid Paulus the la&yerK Cante nos locu%letes dici Fuam
acFuisi'erimusC( .e cannot be said to lose &hat &e ne'er hadE and our
fathersC goods &ere not to descend u%on us unless they &ere his at his
death(
Take a&ay from me the kno&ledge that he &as my father dear Bisho% and
this &ill be true( But as it stands the &hole is *says Paulus the La&yerE*
and *.ell said La&yer4* say +(
+b( %( 93(
.hich though it &as natural yet from 6dam it began to be a curseE just as
the motion of a ser%ent u%on his belly &hich &as concreated &ith him yet
u%on this story &as changed into a malediction and an e'il adjunct(
!o&I + should really like to understand this(
+b( ch( 'ii( %( 3> Cin initioC(
+n this most eloFuent treatise &e may detect sundry logical la%ses
sometimes in the statement sometimes in the instances and once or t&ice
in the conclusions( But the main and %er'ading error lies in the treatment of
the subject Cin genereC by the forms and rules of conce%tual logicE &hich
deri'ing all its material from the senses and borro&ing its forms from the
sense J:Greek5 aisthaesis kathar_=K or intuiti'e faculty is necessarily
ina%%licable to s%iritual mysteries the 'ery definition or contraH
distinguishing character of &hich is that they transcend the sense and
therefore the understanding the faculty as 6rchbisho% Leighton and
+mmanuel Aant e1cellently define it &hich judges according to sense( +n
the 6ids to Reflection :$7= + ha'e she&n that the %ro%er function of the
understanding or mediate faculty is to collect indi'idual or sensible
concretes into kinds and sorts JCgenera et s%eciesCK by means of their
common characters JCnotZ communesCKE and to fi1 and distinguish these
conce%tions Jthat is generaliGed %erce%tionsK by &ords( .ords are the only
immediate objects of the understanding( S%iritual 'erities or truths of
reason Cres%ecti'e ad realiaC and herein distinguished from the merely
formal or so called uni'ersal truths are differenced from the conce%tions
of the understanding by the immediatcy of the kno&ledge and from the
immediate truths of senseDthat is from both %ure and mi1ed intuitionsD
by not being sensible that is not re%resentable by figure measurement or
&eightE nor connected &ith any affection of our sensibility such as color
taste odors and the like( 6nd such kno&ledges &e &hen &e s%eak
correctly name ideas(
"o& Original Sin that is sin that has its origin in itself or in the &ill of the
sinner but yet in a state or condition of the &ill not %eculiar to the
indi'idual agent but common to the human race is an idea5 and one
diagnostic or contraHdistinguishing mark a%%ertaining to all ideas is that
they are not adeFuately e1%ressible by &ords( 6n idea can only be
e1%ressed Jmore correctly suggestedK by t&o contradictory %ositionsE as for
e1am%leE the soul is all in e'ery %artEDnature is a s%here the centre of
&hich is e'ery&here and its circumference no &here and the like(
!ence many of Bisho% TaylorCs objections grounded on his e1%ositions of
the doctrine %ro'e nothing more than that the doctrine concerns an idea(
But besides this Taylor e'ery&here assumes the conseFuences of Original
Sin as su%erinduced on a %reHe1isting nature in no essential res%ect
differing from our %resent natureEDfor instance on a material body &ith
its inherent a%%etites and its %assi'ity to material agentsEDin short on an
animal nature in man( But this 'ery nature as the antagonist of the s%irit or
su%ernatural %rinci%le in man is in fact the Original SinDthe %roduct of
the &ill indi'isible from the act %roducing itE just as in %ure geometry the
mental construction is indi'isible from the constructi'e act of the intuiti'e
faculty( Original Sin as the %roduct is a fact concerning &hich &e kno&
by the light of the idea itself that it must originate in a selfHdetermination
of a &ill( That &hich &e do not kno& is ho& it originates and this &e
cannot e1%lainE first from the necessity of the subject namely the &illE and
secondly because it is an idea and all ideas are inconcei'able( +t is an idea
because it is not a conce%tion(
+b( s( ii( %( 3L 39(
6nd they are injurious to Christ &ho think that from 6dam &e might ha'e
inherited immortality( Christ &as the gi'er and %reacher of itE Che brought
life and immortality to light through the gos%elC( +t is a singular benefit
gi'en by God to mankind through ?esus Christ(
6nd none inherit it but those &ho are born of ChristE CergoC bad men and
infidels are not immortal( +mmortality is one thing a ha%%y immortality
another( St( Paul meant the latter5 Taylor either the former or his &ords
ha'e no meaning at allE for no man e'er thought or dreamed that &e
inherited hea'en from 6dam but that as sons of 6dam that is as men &e
ha'e souls that do not %erish &ith the body( + often sus%ect that Taylor in
Cabditis fideiC :Greek5 esMoterikaes= inclined to the belief that there is no
other immortality but hea'en and that hell is a C%Zna damni negati'a haud
%ri'ati'aC( + o&n myself strongly inclined to itEDbut so many te1ts against
it4 + am confident that the doctrine &ould be a far stronger moti'e than the
%resentE for no man &ill belie'e eternal misery of himself but millions
&ould admit that if they did not amend their li'es they &ould be
undeser'ing of li'ing for e'er(
+b( s( 'i( %( 33(
:Greek5 hina m_e %laemm\ra tOn en haemin kata%ontSsae logismOn eis tOn
taes hamartiQs buthNn(=
*Lest the tumultuous cro&d thro& the reason &ithin us o'er bridge into the
gulf of sin(* .hat a 'i'id figure4 +t is enough to make any man set to &ork
to read Chrysostom(
+b(
U C%eccantes mente sub una(C
"ote PrudentiusCs use of Cmente sub unaC for Cin one %erson(C
+b( %( 3;(
/or e'en no& &e see by a sad e1%erience that the afflicted and the
miserable are not only a%t to anger and en'y but ha'e many more desires
and more &eaknesses and conseFuently more a%tnesses to sin in many
instances than those &ho are less troubled( 6nd this is that &hich &as said
by 6rnobiusE C%roni ad cul%as et ad libidinis 'arios a%%etitos 'itio sumus
infirmitatis ingenitZC(
"o( 6rnobius ne'er said so good and &ise a thing in his lifetime( !is
Fuoted &ords ha'e no such %rofound meaning(
+b( s( 'ii( %( 3;(
That &hich remained &as a reasonable soul fitted for the actions of
life and reason but not of anything that &as su%ernatural(
.hat Taylor calls reason + call understanding and gi'e the name reason to
that &hich Taylor &ould ha'e called s%irit(
+b( s( 1ii( %( ;L(
6nd all that e'il &hich is u%on us being not by any %ositi'e infliction but
by %ri'ati'e or the taking a&ay gifts and blessings and graces from us
&hich God not ha'ing %romised to gi'e &as neither naturally nor by
co'enant obliged to gi'eDit is certain he could not be obliged to continue
that to the sons of a sinning father &hich to an innocent father he &as not
obliged to gi'e(
Oh4 certainly not if hell &ere not attached to acts and omissions &hich
&ithout these 'ery graces it is morally im%ossible for men to a'oid( .hy
&ill not Taylor s%eak outI
+b( s( 1i'( %( ;9(
The doctrine of the ancient /athers &as that free &ill remained in us after
the /all(
,ea4 as the locomoti'e faculty in a man in a strait &aistcoat( "either St(
6ugustine nor Cal'in denied the remanence of the &ill in the fallen s%iritE
but they and Luther as &ell as they objected to the flattering e%ithet CfreeC
&ill( +n the only Scri%tural sense as concerning the unregenerate it is
im%lied in the &ord &ill and in this sense therefore it is su%erfluous and
tautologicE and in any other sense it is the fruit and final end of
Redem%tionDthe glorious liberty of the Gos%el(
+b( s( 1'i( %( 27(
/or my %art + belie'e this only as certain that nature alone cannot bring
them to hea'en and that 6dam left us in a state in &hich &e could not ho%e
for it(
This is like&ise my belief and that man must ha'e had a Christ e'en if
6dam had continued in ParadiseDif indeed the history of 6dam be not a
CmythosCE as but for %assages in St( Paul &e should most of us belie'eE the
ser%ent s%eaking the names of the trees and so onE and the &hole account
of the creation in the first cha%ter of Genesis seems to me clearly to say5
D*The literal fact you could not com%rehend if it &ere related to youE but
you may concei'e of it as if it had taken %lace thus and thus(*
+b( s( $( %( $<<(
That in some things our nature is cross to the di'ine commandment is not
al&ays im%utable to us because our natures &ere before the
commandment(
This is &hat + most com%lain of in ?eremy TaylorCs ethicsE namely that he
constantly refers us to the deeds or C%henomenaC in time the effluents from
the source or like the Cs%eciesC of E%icurusE &hile the corru%t nature is
declared guiltless and irres%onsibleE and this too on the %rete1t that it &as
%rior in time to the commandment and therefore not against it( But time is
no more %redicable of eternal reason than of &illE but not of &illE for if a
&ill be at all it must be Cens s%iritualeCE and this is the first negati'e
definition of s%iritualD&hate'er ha'ing true being is not contem%lable in
the forms of time and s%ace( "o& the necessary conseFuence of TaylorCs
scheme is a conscienceH&orrying casuistical monkish &orkHholiness(
)ee%ly do + feel the difficulty and danger that besets the o%%osite schemeE
and ne'er &ould + %reach it e1ce%t under such %ro'isos as &ould render it
%erfectly com%atible &ith the %ositions %re'iously established by Taylor in
this cha%ter s( 1li'( %( $9;( CLastlyE the regenerate not only hath recei'ed
the S%irit of God but is &holly led by himC Tc(
+b(
+f this Treatise of Re%entance contain Bisho% TaylorCs habitual and final
con'ictions + am %ersuaded that in some form or other he belie'ed in a
Purgatory( +n fact dreams and a%%aritions may ha'e been the %rete1ts and
the immense addition of %o&er and &ealth &hich the belief entailed on the
%riesthood may ha'e been their moti'es for %atroniGing itE but the efficient
cause of its rece%tion by the churches is to be found in the %receding ?udaic
legality and monkHmoral of the Church according to &hich the fe&er only
could ho%e for the %eace of hea'en as their ne1t immediate state( The
holiness that sufficed for this &ould e'ince itself Jit &as belie'edK by the
%o&er of &orking miracles(
+b( s( lii( %( 78;(
C+t shall not be %ardoned in this &orld nor in the &orld to comeCE that is
neither to the ?e&s nor to the Gentiles( /or CsZculum hocC this &orld in
Scri%ture is the %eriod of the ?e&sC synagogue and :Greek5 mellon aion=
the &orld to come is taken for the Gos%el or the age of the Bessias
freFuently among the ?e&s(
This is + think a great and grie'ous mistake( The Rabbis of best name
di'ide into t&o or three %eriods the difference being &holly in the &ordsE
for the di'iders by three meant the same as those by t&o(
The first &as the Cdies e1%ectationisC or Choc sZculumC :Greek5 en touto
kairo=5 the second Cdies BessiZC the time of the Bessiah that is the
CmilleniumC5 the third the CsZculum futurumC or future state &hich last &as
absolutely s%iritual and celestial(
But many Rabbis made the Cdies BessiZC %art that is the consummation of
this &orld the conclusi'e Sabbath of the great &eek in &hich they
su%%osed the duration of the earth or &orld of the senses to be com%risedE
but all agreed that the CdiesC or thousand years of the Bessiah &as a
transitional state during &hich the elect &ere gradually defecated of body
and ri%ened for the final or s%iritual state(
)uring the CmilleniumC the &ill of God &ill be done on earth no less
though in a lo&er glory than it &ill be done hereafter in hea'en(
"o& it is to be carefully obser'ed that the ?e&ish doctors or Rabbis Jall
such at least as remained uncon'ertedK had no conce%tion or belief of a
suffering Bessiah or of a %eriod after the birth of the Bessiah %re'ious to
the kingdom and of course included in the time of e1%ectation(
The a%%earance of the Bessiah and his assum%tion of the throne of )a'id
&ere to be contem%oraneous( The Christian doctrine of a suffering
Bessiah or of Christ as the high %riest and intercessor has of course
introduced a modification of the ?e&ish scheme(
But though there is a seeming discre%ance in different te1ts in the first three
Gos%els yet the LordCs Prayer a%%ears to determine the Fuestion in fa'our
of the elder and %resent Rabbinical beliefE that is it does not date the Cdies
BessiaeC or kingdom of the Lord from his +ncarnation but from a second
coming in %o&er and glory and hence &e are taught to %ray for it as an
e'ent yet future(
"ay our Lord himself re%eatedly s%eaks of the Son of Ban in the third
%erson as yet to come( 6ssuredly our Lord ascended the throne and
became a Aing on his final de%arture from his disci%les( But it &as the
throne of his /ather and he an in'isible Aing the so'ereign Pro'idence to
&hom all %o&er &as committed(
6nd this celestial kingdom cannot be identified &ith that under &hich the
di'ine &ill &ill be done on earth as it is in hea'enE that is &hen on this
earth the Church militant shall be one in holiness &ith the trium%hant
Church(
The difficulties + confess are greatE and for those &ho belie'e the first
Gos%el Jand this in its %resent stateK to ha'e been com%osed by the 6%ostle
Batthe& or at &orst to be a literal and faithful translation from a !ebre&
JSyroHChaldaicK Gos%el &ritten by him and &ho furthermore contend for
its ha'ing been &ord by &ord dictated by an infallible S%irit the necessary
duty of reconciling the different %assages in the first Gos%el &ith each
other and &ith others in St( LukeCs is Cme saltern judiceC a most !erculean
one(
The most consistent and rational scheme is + am %ersuaded that &hich is
ado%ted in the 6%ocaly%se( The ne& creation commencing &ith our LordCs
resurrection and measured as the creation of this &orld JChujus sZculiC
:Greek5 toutou aiMonos=K &as by the doctors of the ?e&ish churchDnamely
as a &eekDdi'ided into t&o %rinci%al e%ochsDthe si1 se'enths or
&orking days during &hich the Gos%el &as gradually to be %reached in all
the &orld and the number of the elect filled u%Dand the se'enth the
Sabbath of the Bessiah or the kingdom of Christ on earth in a ne&
?erusalem(
But as the ?e&ish doctors made the day Jor one thousand yearsK of Bessiah
a %art because the consummation of this &orld :Greek5 toutou aionos
toutou kairou= so the first Christians re'ersely made the kingdom
commence on the first JsymbolicalK day of the sacred &eek the last or
se'enth day of &hich &as to be the com%lete and glorious manifestation of
this kingdom( +f any one contends that the kingdom of the Son of Ban and
the reHdescent of our Lord &ith his angels in the clouds are to be
inter%reted s%iritually
+ ha'e no objectionE only you cannot %retend that this &as the inter%retation
of the disci%les( +t may be the right but it &as not the 6%ostolic belief(
+b( s( $( %( 793(
/or this &as gi'ing them %ardon by 'irtue of those &ords of Christ
C.hose sins ye remit they are remittedEC that is if ye &ho are the ste&ards
of my family shall admit any one to the kingdom of Christ on earth they
shall be admitted to the %artici%ation of ChristCs kingdom in hea'enE and
&hat ye bind here shall be bound thereE that is if they be un&orthy to
%artake of Christ here they shall be accounted un&orthy to %artake of
Christ hereafter(
Then &ithout such a gift of reading the hearts of men as %riests do not no&
%retend to this te1t means almost nothing( 6 &icked shall not but a good
man shall be admitted to hea'enE for if you ha'e &ith good reason rejected
any one here + &ill reject him hereafter amounts to no more than the
rejection or admission of men according to their moral fitness or unfitness
the truth or unsoundness of their faith and re%entance( + rather think that the
%romise like the miraculous insight &hich it im%lies &as gi'en to the
6%ostles and first disci%les e1clusi'ely and that it referred almost &holly
to the admission of %rofessed con'erts to the Church of Christ(
C+n fineC(
+ ha'e &ritten but fe& marginal notes to this long Treatise for the &hole is
to my feeling and a%%rehension so Romish so antiHPauline so unctionless
that it makes my 'ery heart as dry as the desert sands &hen + read it(
+nstead of %artial animad'ersions + %rescribe the cha%ter on the La& and
the Gos%el in LutherCs CTable TalkC as the general antidote( :$>=
VINDICATION OF THE GLORY OF THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES
IN THE "UESTION OF ORIGINAL SIN.
+b( Obj( i'( %( >L<(
But if Original Sin be not a sin %ro%erly &hy are children ba%tiGedI 6nd
&hat benefit comes to them by Ba%tismI + ans&er as much as they need
and are ca%able of(
The eloFuent man has %lucked just %rickles enough out of the dogma of
Original Sin to make a thick and am%le cro&n of thorns for his o%%onentsE
and yet left enough to tear his o&n clothes off his back and %ierce through
the leather jerkin of his closeliest &rought logic( +n this ans&er to this
objection he reminds me of the reno&ned sFuire &ho first scratched out his
eyes in a Fuickset hedge and then lea%ed back and scratched them in again(
So ?eremy Taylor first %ulls out the 'ery eyes of the doctrine lea'es it blind
and blank and then lea%s back into it and scratches them in again but &ith
a most o%ulent sFuint that looks a hundred &ays at once and no one can
tell &hich it really looks at(
+b(
By Ba%tism children are made %artakers of the !oly Ghost and of the grace
of GodE &hich + desire to be obser'ed in o%%osition to the Pelagian heresy
&ho did su%%ose nature to be so %erfect that the grace of God &as not
necessary and that by nature alone they could go to hea'enE &hich
because + affirm to be im%ossible and that Ba%tism is therefore necessary
because nature is insufficient and Ba%tism is the great channel of grace Tc(
.hat then of the %oor heathens that is of fi'eHsi1ths of all mankind(
.ould more go to hell by nature aloneI +f so5 &here is GodCs justice in
TaylorCs %lan more than in Cal'inCsI
+b( Obj( '( %( >99(
6lthough + ha'e she&n the great e1cess and abundance of grace by Christ
o'er the e'il that did descend by 6damE yet the %ro%ortion and com%arison
lies in the main emanation of death from one and life from the other(
)oes ?eremy Taylor then belie'e that the sentence of death on 6dam and
his sons e1tended to the soulE that death &as to be absolute cessation of
being4 Scarcely + ho%e( But if bodily only &here is the difference bet&een
CanteC and C%ost ChristumIC
+b( %( >9<(
"ot that God could be the author of a sin to any but that he a%%ointed the
e'il &hich is the conseFuent of sin to be u%on their heads &ho descended
from the sinner(
Rare justice4 and this too in a tract &ritten to rescue GodCs justice from the
Su%raH and SubHla%sarians4 !o& Fuickly &ould Taylor ha'e detected in an
ad'ersary the absurd realiGation contained in this and the follo&ing
%assages of the abstract notion sin from the sinner5 as if sin &ere any thing
but a man sinning or a man &ho has sinned4 6s &ell might a sin
committed in Sirius or the %lanet Saturn justify the infliction of
conflagration on the earth and hellHfire on all its rational inhabitants( Sin4
the &ord sin4 for abstracted from the sinner it is no more5 and if not
abstracted from him it remains se%arate from all others(
+b( %( >9;(
The conseFuent of this discourse must needs at least be thisE that it is
im%ossible that the greatest %art of mankind should be left in the eternal
bonds of hell by 6damE for then Fuite contrary to the discourse of the
6%ostle there had been abundance of sin but a scarcity of grace(
6nd yet ?eremy Taylor &ill not be called a Pelagian( .hyI Because
&ithout grace su%eradded by Christ no man could be sa'ed5 that is all men
must go to hell and this not for any sin but from a calamity the
conseFuences of another manCs sin of &hich they &ere e'en ignorant( God
&ould not condemn them the sons of 6dam for sin but only inflicted on
them an e'il the necessary effect of &hich &as that they should all troo% to
the de'il4 6nd this is ?eremy TaylorCs defence of GodCs justice4 The truth is
Taylor &as a Pelagian belie'ed that &ithout Christ thousands ?e&s and
heathens li'ed &isely and holily and &ent to hea'enE but this he did not
dare say out %robably not e'en to himselfE and hence it is that he flounders
back&ard and for&ard no& u%%ing and no& do&ning(
+n truth this eloFuent Treatise may be com%ared to a statue of ?anus &ith
one face fi1ed on certain o%%onents full of life and force a &itty scorn on
the li% a bro& at once bright and &eighty &ith satisfying reason5 the other
looking at the something instead of that &hich had been confuted maimed
noseless and &eatherHbitten into a sort of 'isionary confusion and
indistinctness( :$L= +t looks like thisDaye and 'ery like thatDbut ho& like
it is too such another thing4
AN ANSWER TO A LETTER WRITTEN BY THE RIGHT REV. THE
LORD BISHOP OF ROCHESTER, CONCERNING THE CHAPTER
OF ORIGINAL SIN, IN THE .UNUM NECESSARIUM..
+b( %( ><3(
6nd they &ho are born eunuchs should be less infected by 6damCs
%ollution by ha'ing less of concu%iscence in the great instance of desires(
The fact ha%%ens to be false5 and then the 'ulgarity most un&orthy of our
dear ?eremy Taylor of taking the mode of the manifestation of the
disobedience of the &ill to the reason for the disobedience itself( St( ?ames
&ould ha'e taught him that he &ho offendeth against one offendeth against
allE and that there is some truth in the Stoic %arado1 that all crimes are
eFual( EFual is indeed a false %hraseE and therein consists the %arado1
&hich in ninetyHnine cases out of a hundred is the same as the falsehood(
The truth is they are all the same in kindE but uneFual in degree( They are
all alike though not eFually against the conscience(
+b( %( ><2(
So that there is no necessity of a third %laceE but it concludes only that in
the state of se%aration from GodCs %resence there is great 'ariety of degrees
and kinds of e'il and e'ery one is not the e1treme(
.hat is thisI +f hell be a state and not a mere %lace and a %articular state
its meaning must in common sense be a state of the &orst sort( +f then there
be a mere C%Zna damniC that is the not being so blest as some others may
beE this is a different state Cin genereC from the C%Zna sensusC5 CergoC not hellE
CergoC rather a third stateE or else hea'en( /or e'ery angel must be in it than
&hom another angel is ha%%ierE that is negati'ely damned though
%ositi'ely 'ery ha%%y(
+b( %( >38H$(
?ust so it is in infants5 hell &as not made for man but for de'ilsE and
therefore it must be something besides mere nature that can bear any man
thither5 mere nature goes neither to hea'en or hell(
6nd ho& came the de'ils thereI +f it be hard to e1%lain ho& 6dam fellE
ho& much more hard to sol'e ho& %urely s%iritual beings could fallI 6nd
nature4 .hatI so much of nature and no kind of attem%t at a definition of
the &ordI Pray &hat is natureI
+b( %( >3$(
+ do not say that &e by that sin JoriginalK deser'ed that death neither can
death be %ro%erly a %unishment of us till &e su%eradd some e'il of our
o&nE yet 6damCs sin deser'ed it so that it &as justly left to fall u%on us
&e as a conseFuent and %unishment of his sin being reduced to our natural
%ortion(
!o&I .hat is this but flying to the old Su%raHla%sarian blas%hemy of a
right of %ro%erty in God o'er all his creatures and destroying that sacred
distinction bet&een %erson and thing &hich is the light and the life of all
la& human and di'ineI Bercy on us4 +s not agony is not the stone is not
blindness is not ignorance are not headstrong inherent innate and
connate %assions dri'ing us to sin &hen reason is least able to &ithhold us
Dare not all these %unishments grie'ous %unishments and are they not
inflicted on the innocent babeI +s not this the result infused into the Cmilk
not mingledC of St( PeterE :$9= s%otting the immaculate begotten souring
and curdling the innocence C&ithout sin or maliceCI :$<= 6nd if this be just
and com%atible &ith GodCs goodness &hy all this outcry against St( 6ustin
and the Cal'inists and the Lutherans &hose &hole addition is a lame
attem%t to belie'e guilt &here they cannot find it in order to justify a
%unishment &hich they do findI
+b( %( >32(
But then for the e'il of %unishment that may %ass further than the action( +f
it %asses u%on the innocent it is not a %unishment to them but an e'il
inflicted by right of dominionE but yet by reason of the relation of the
afflicted to him that sinned to him it is a %unishment(
!ere the snake %ee%s out and no& takes its tail into its mouth( Right of
dominion4 "onsense4 Things are not objects of right or &rong( Po&er of
dominion + understand and right of judgment + understandE but right of
dominion can ha'e no immediate but only a relati'e sense( + ha'e a right
of dominion o'er this estate that is relati'ely to all other %ersons( But if
there be a Cjus dominandiC o'er rational and free agents then &hy blame
Cal'inI /or all attributes are then merged in blind %o&er5 and God and fate
are the same5
:Greek5 `eds kaP Boira kaP aeero%hoitis Erinn\s=
Strange Trinity4 God "ecessity and the )e'il( But TaylorCs scheme has far
&orse conseFuences than Cal'inCs5 for it makes the &hole scheme of
Redem%tion a theatrical scenery( ?ust restore our bodies and cor%oreal
%assions to a %erfect CeFuilibriumC and fortunate instinct and there being no
guilt or defect in the soul the Son of God the Logos and Su%reme Reason
might ha'e remained unincarnate uncrucified( +n short Socinianism is as
ine'itable a deduction from TaylorCs scheme as )eism or 6theism is from
Socinianism(
C+n fineC(
The &hole of TaylorCs confusion originated in thisEDfirst that he and his
ad'ersaries confound original &ith hereditary sinE but chiefly that neither
he nor his ad'ersaries had considered that guilt must be a CnoumenonCE but
that our images remembrances and consciousnesses of our actions are
C%hZnomenaC( "o& the C%hZnomenonC is in time and an effect5 but the
CnoumenonC is not in time any more than it is in s%ace( The guilt has been
before &e are e'en conscious of the actionE therefore an original sin Jthat
is a sin uni'ersal and essential to man as man and yet guilt and yet
choice and yet amenable to %unishmentK may be at once true and yet in
direct contradiction to all our reasonings deri'ed from C%hZnomenaC that is
facts of time and s%ace( But &e ought not to a%%ly the categories of
a%%earance to the :Greek5 ontos onta= of the intelligible or causati'e &orld(
This J+ should say of Original SinK is mystery4 .e do not so %ro%erly
belie'e it as &e kno& it( .hat is actual must be %ossible( But if &e &ill
confound actuals &ith reals and a%%ly the rules of the latter to cases of the
former &e must blame oursel'es for the clouds and darkness and storms of
o%%osing &inds &hich the error &ill not fail to raise( By the same %rocess
an 6theist may demonstrate the contradictory nature of eternity of a being
at once infinite and of resistless causality and yet intelligent( ?eremy Taylor
additionally %uGGled himself &ith 6dam instead of looking into the fact in
himself(
!o& came it that Taylor did not a%%ly the same %rocess to the congeneric
Fuestion of the freedom of the &illI +n half a doGen syllogisms he must
ha'e gy'ed and handHcuffed himself into blank necessity and mechanic
motions( 6ll hangs together( )eny Original Sin and you &ill soon deny
free &illEDthen 'irtue and 'iceEDand God becomes C6bracadabraCE a
sound nothing else(
SECOND LETTER TO THE BISHOP OF ROCHESTER.
+b( %( >28H$(
To this it is ans&ered as you see there is a double guiltE a guilt of %erson
and of nature( That is taken a&ay this is not5 for sacraments are gi'en to
%ersons not to natures(
+ need no other %assage but this to con'ince me that ?eremy Taylor the
angle in &hich the t&o Ca%icesC of logic and rhetoric meet consummate in
both &as yet no meta%hysician( Learning fancy discursi'e intellect Ctria
juncta in unoC and of each enough to ha'e alone immortaliGed a man he
hadE but yet :Greek5 ouden met_ %hysin=( +mages conce%tions notions
such as lea'e him but one ri'al Shaks%eare there &ereE but no ideas(
Taylor &as a Gassendist( O4 that he had but meditated in the silence of his
s%irit on the mystery of an C+ 6BC4 !e &ould ha'e seen that a %erson
CFuoadC %erson can ha'e nothing common or genericE and that &here this
finds %lace the %erson is corru%ted by introsusce%tion of a nature &hich
becomes e'il thereby and on this relation only is an e'il nature( The nature
itself like all other &orks of God is good and so is the %erson in a yet
higher sense of the &ord good like all offs%rings of the Bost !igh( But
the combination is e'il and this not the &ork of GodE and one of the main
ends and results of the doctrine of Original Sin is to silence and confute the
blas%hemy that makes God the author of sin &ithout a'oiding it by fleeing
to the almost eFual blas%hemy against the conscience that sin in the sense
of guilt does not e1ist(
THE REAL PRESENCE AND SPIRITUAL OF CHRIST IN THE
BLESSED SACRAMENT, PROVED AGAINST THE DOCTRINE OF
TRANSUBSTANTIATION.
Perha%s the most &onderful of all TaylorCs &orks( !e seems if + may so
say to ha'e transubstantiated his 'ast imagination and fancy into subtlety
not to be e'aded acuteness to &hich nothing remains un%ierceable and
indefatigable agility of argumentation( 6dd to these an e1hausti'e
erudition and that all these are em%loyed in the ser'ice of reason and
common senseE &hereas in some of his Tracts he seems to &ield all sorts of
&isdom and &it in defence of all sorts of folly and stu%idity( But these &ere
Cad %o%ellumC and by 'irtue of the Cfalsitas dis%ensati'aC &hich he allo&ed
himself(
E%ist( dedicatory(
The Fuestion of transubstantiation(
+ ha'e no doubt that if the Pythagorean bond had successfully established
itself and become a %o&erful secular hierarchy there &ould ha'e been no
lack of furious %artiGans to assert yea and to damn and burn such as dared
deny that one &as the same as t&oE t&o being t&o in the same sense as one
is oneE that conseFuently 7W7X7 and $W$XL( But + should most 'ehemently
doubt that this &as the intention of Pythagoras or the sense in &hich the
mysterious dogma &as understood by the thinking %art of his disci%les
&ho ne'ertheless &ere its %rofessed belie'ers( + should be %re%ared to find
that the true im%ort and %ur%ort of the article &as no more than thisEDthat
the one in order to its manifestation must a%%ear in and as t&oE that the act
of reHunion &as simultaneous &ith that of the selfH%roduction Jin the
geometrical use of the &ord C%roduceC as &hen a %oint %roduces or
e'ol'es itself on each side into a bi%olar lineK and that the Triad is
therefore the necessary form of the Bonad(
E'en so is the dis%ute concerning Transubstantiation( + can easily belie'e
that a thousand monks and friars &ould %retend as Taylor says to
Cdisbelie'e their eyes and ears and defy their o&n reasonC and to recei'e
the dogma in the sense or rather in the nonsense here ascribed to it by
him namely that the %henomenal bread and &ine &ere the %henomenal
flesh and blood( But + like&ise kno& that the res%ectable Roman Catholic
theologians state the article free from a contradiction in terms at leastE
namely that in the consecrated elements the CnoumenaC of the %henomenal
bread and &ine are the same &ith that &hich &as the CnoumenonC of the
%henomenal flesh and blood of Christ &hen on earth(
Let B re%resent a slab or %lane of mahogany and m its ordinary su%%orter
or underH%ro%E and let S re%resent a slab or %lane of sil'er and s its
su%%orter(
"o& to affirm that B X S is a contradiction or that m X sE
but it is no contradiction to say that on certain occasions JS ha'ing been
remo'edK s is substituted for m and that &hat &as Bem is by the
command of the common master changed into Bes(
+t may be false in fact but it is not a selfHcontradiction in the terms(
The mode in &hich s subsists in Bes may be inconcei'able but not more so
than the mode in &hich m subsists in Bem or that in &hich s subsisted in
Ses(
+ honestly confess that + should confine my grounds of o%%osition to the
article thus stated to its unnecessariness to the &ant of sufficient %roofs
from Scri%ture that + am bound to belie'e or trouble my head &ith it( + am
sure that Bisho% Bull &ho really did belie'e the Trinity &ithout either
Tritheism or Sabellianism could not consistently ha'e used the argument
of Taylor or of Tillotson in %roof of the absurdity of Transubstantiation(
+b( %( cccc1'i(
But for our dear afflicted mother she is under the %ortion of a child in the
state of disci%line her go'ernment indeed hindered but her &orshi%%ings
the same the articles as true and those of the church of Rome as false as
e'er(
O ho& much there is in these fe& &ordsDthe s&eet and comely so%histry
not of Taylor but of human nature( Bother4 child4 state of disci%line4
go'ernment hindered4 that is to say in ho& many instances scourgings
hindered dungeoning in dens foul as those of hell mutilation of ears and
noses and flattering the Aing mad &ith assertions of his di'ine right to
go'ern &ithout a Parliament hindered( The best a%ology for Laud
Sheldon and their fello&s &ill e'er be that those &hom they %ersecuted
&ere as great %ersecutors as themsel'es and much less e1cusable(
+b( s( ii( %( L77(
C+n Syna1i Transubstantiationem sero defini'it EcclesiaE diu satis erat
credere si'e sub %ane consecrate si'e FuocunFue modo adesse 'erum
cor%us ChristiEC so said the great Erasmus(
C0erum cor%usC that is Cres i%sissimaC or the thing in its actual self o%%osed
:Greek5 to %hainomenCo=(
+b( s( 'i( %( L79(
"o& that the s%iritual is also a real %resence and that they are hugely
consistent is easily credible to them that belie'e the gifts of the !oly Ghost
are real graces and a s%irit is a %ro%er substance(
But ho& the body of Christ as o%%osed to his S%irit and to his Godhead
can be taken s%iritually Chic labor hoc o%us est(C Plotinus says :Greek5 kai
hae hylae asCNmatos=E so &e must say here :Greek5 kaP tO sComa asCNmaton=(
+b( s( 'ii( %( L7<(
So &e may say of the blessed SacramentE Christ is more truly and really
%resent in s%iritual %resence than in cor%oralE in the hea'enly effect than in
the natural being(
But the %resence of Christ is not in Fuestion but the %resence of ChristCs
body and blood( "o& that Christ effected much for us by coming in the
body &hich could not or &ould not ha'e been effected had he not assumed
the body &e all Socinians e1ce%ted belie'eE but that his body effected it
other than as Christ in the body &here shall &e findI ho& can &e
understandI
+b( %( L73(
So &hen it is said C/lesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of GodC
that is corru%tion shall not inheritE and in the resurrection our bodies are
said to be s%iritual that is not in substance but in effect and o%eration(
This is in the first %lace a &ilful inter%retation and secondly it is absurdE
for &hat sort of flesh and blood &ould incorru%tible flesh and blood beI 6s
&ell might &e s%eak of marble flesh and blood( But in TaylorCs mind as
seen throughout the logician &as %redominant o'er the %hiloso%her and
the fancy outbustled the %ure intuiti'e imagination( +n the sense of St( Paul
as of Plato and all other dynamic %hiloso%hers flesh and blood is Ci%so
factoC corru%tion that is the s%irit of life in the mid or balancing state
bet&een fi1ation and re'i'iscence( C.ho shall deli'er me from the body of
this deathIC is a !ebraism for Cthis death &hich the body is(C /or matter
itself is but Cs%iritus in coaguloC and organiGed matter the coagulum in the
act of being restoredE it is then re%otentiating( Sto% its selfHdestruction as
matter and you sto% its selfHre%roduction as a 'ital organ( +n short Taylor
seems to fall into the 'ery fault he re%ro'es in Bellarmine and &ith this
additional e'il that his reasoning looks more like tricking or e1%laining
a&ay a mystery( /or &herein does the Sacrament of the Eucharist differ
from that of Ba%tism nay e'en of grace before meat &hen %erformed
fer'ently and in faithI !ere too Christ is %resent in the hearts of the faithful
by blessing and grace( + see at %resent no other &ay of inter%reting the te1t
so as not to make the Sacrament a mere arbitrary CmementoC but by an
im%lied negati'e( +n %ro%riety the &ord is confined to no %ortion of
cor%orality in %articular( *This Jthe bread and &ineK are as truly my flesh
and blood as the C%hZnomenaC &hich you no& behold and name as such(*
+b( s( i1( %( L72(
/rom this %aragra%h + conclude though not &ithout some %er%le1ity that
by Cthe body and blood 'erily and indeed takenC &e are not to understand
body and blood in their limited sense as contradistinguished from the soul
or Godhead of Christ but as a C%eri%hrasisC for Christ himself or at least
ChristCs humanity( Taylor ho&e'er has misconstrued Pha'orinusC meaning
though not his &ords( CS%iritualia eterna Fuoad s%iritum(C But this is the
'ery de%th of the %urified Platonic %hiloso%hy(
+b( s( 1( %( L>8(
But because the &ords do %erfectly declare our sense and are o&ned
%ublicly in our doctrine and manner of s%eaking it &ill be in 'ain to object
against us those &ords of the /athers &hich use the same e1%ressions5 for
if by 'irtue of those &ords CreallyC CsubstantiallyC Ccor%orallyC C'erily and
indeedC and CChristCs body and bloodC the /athers shall be su%%osed to
s%eak for Transubstantiation they may as &ell su%%ose it to be our doctrine
tooE for &e use the same &ords and therefore those authorities must signify
nothing against us unless these &ords can he %ro'ed in them to signify
more than our sense of them does im%ortE and by this truth many 'ery
many of their %retences are e'acuated(
6 so%hism dearest ?eremy( .e use the &ords because these early /athers
used them and ha'e forced our o&n definitions on them( But should &e
ha'e chosen these &ords to e1%ress our o%inion by if there had been no
contro'ersy on the subjectI But the /athers chose and selected these &ords
as the most ob'ious and natural(
+b( s( 1i( %( L>$(
+t is much insisted u%ou that it be inFuired &hether &hen &e say &e
belie'e ChristCs body to be really in the Sacrament &e mean Cthat body that
flesh that &as born of the 0irgin Bary that &as crucified dead and
buriedIC + ans&er that + kno& none else that he had or hath5 there is but one
body of Christ natural and glorified(
This may be true or at least intelligible of ChristCs humanity or %ersonal
identity as :Greek5 nNaeton ti= but a%%lied to the %henomenal flesh and
blood it is nonsense( /or if e'ery atom of the human frame be changed by
succession in ele'en or t&el'e years the body born of the 0irgin could not
be the body crucified much less the body crucified be the body glorified
s%iritual and incorru%tible( + construe the &ords of Clement of 6le1andria
Fuoted by Taylor belo& :$3= literally and they %erfectly e1%ress my
o%inionE namely that Christ both in the institution of the Eucharist and in
the si1th cha%ter of ?ohn s%oke of his humanity as a CnoumenonC not of the
s%ecific flesh and blood &hich &ere its C%hZnomenaC at the last su%%er and
on the cross( But ?eremy Taylor &as a semiHmaterialist and though no man
better managed the logic of substance and accidents he seems to ha'e
formed no clear meta%hysical notion of their actual meaning( Taken
notionally they are mere interchangeable relations as in concentric circles
the outmost circumference is the substance the other circles its accidentsE
but if + begin &ith the second and e1clude the first from my thoughts then
this is substance and the interior ones accidents and so onE but taken really
&e mean the com%le1 action of coHagents on our senses and accident as
only an agent acting on us( Thus &e say the beer has turned sour5 sour is
the accident of the substance beer( But in fact a ne& agent o1ygen has
united itself &ith other agents in the joint com%osition the essence of
&hich ne& comer is to be sour5 at all e'ents TaylorCs construction is a mere
assertion meaning no more than Cin this sense only can + subscribe to the
&ords of Bertram ?erome and Clement(C
+f a reHunion of the Lutheran and English Churches &ith the Roman &ere
desirable and %racticable the best &ay :Greek5 hMos emoige dokei= &ould
be that any remarkable number should offer union on a gi'en %rofession of
faith chiefly negati'e as &e %rotest against the authority of the Church in
tem%oralsE that the &ords agreed to by BeGa and Es%encoeus on the %art of
the Reformers and Romanists res%ecti'ely at Poissy used &ith im%licit
faith shall suffice( CCredimus in usu coentZ )ominicZ 'ere rei%sa
substantialiter seu in substantia 'erum cor%us et sanguinem Christi
s%irituali et ineffabili modo esse e1hiberi sumi a fidelibus
communicantibus(C
+b( s( in( %( L>L(
The other Schoolman + am to reckon in this account is Gabriel Biel(
Taylor should ha'e informed the reader that Gabriel Biel is but the echo of
Occam and that both &ere anteHLutheran Protestants in heart and as far as
they dared in &ord like&ise(
+b( s( 'i( %( L><(
So that if according to the Casuists es%ecially of the ?esuitsC order it be
la&ful to follo& the o%inion of any one %robable doctor here &e ha'e fi'e
good men and true besides Occam Bassolis and Bechior Camus to
acFuit us from our search after this Fuestion in Scri%ture(
Taylor might ha'e added Erasmus &ho in one of his letters s%eaking of
Oecolam%adiusCs &ritings on the Eucharist says C*ut seduci %osse 'ideantur
etiam electi*C and adds that he should ha'e embraced his inter%retations
C*nisi obstaret consensus EcclesiZE*C that is Oecolam%adius has con'inced
me and + should a'o& my con'iction but for moti'es of %ersonal %rudence
and regard for the %ublic %eace(
OF THE SIXTH CHAPTER OF ST. JOHN'S GOSPEL.
+b( %( L><(
+ cannot but think that the same mysterious truth &hate'er it be is referred
to in the Eucharist and in this cha%ter of St( ?ohnE and + &onder that Taylor
&ho makes the Eucharist a s%iritual sum%tion of Christ should object to it(
6 X C and B X C therefore 6 X B( :$;=
+b( s( i'( %( LL8(
The error on both sides Roman and Protestant originates in the confusion
of sign or figure &ith symbol &hich latter is al&ays an essential %art of
that of the &hole of &hich it is the re%resentati'e( "ot seeing this and
therefore seeing no CmediumC bet&een the &hole thing and the mere
meta%hor of the thing the Romanists took the former or %ositi'e %ole of the
error the Protestants the latter or negati'e %ole( The Eucharist is a
symbolic or solemniGing and Ctotum in %arteC acting of an act &hich in a
true member of ChristCs body is su%%osed to be %er%etual( Thus the husband
and &ife e1ercise the duties of their marriage contract of lo'e %rotection
obedience and the like all the year long and yet solemniGe it by a more
deliberate and reflecting act of the same lo'e on the anni'ersary of their
marriage(
+b( s( i1 %( LL3H;(
That &hich neither can feel or be felt see or be seen mo'e or be mo'ed
change or be changed neither do or suffer cor%orally cannot certainly be
eaten cor%orallyE but so they affirm concerning the body of our blessed
LordE it cannot do or suffer cor%orally in the Sacrament therefore it cannot
be eaten cor%orally any more than a man can che& a s%irit or eat a
meditation or s&allo& a syllogism into his belly(
6bsurd as the doctrine of Transubstantiation may thus be made yet Taylor
here e'idently confounds a s%irit Cens realissimumC &ith a mere notion or
Cens logicum(C On this ground of the s%irituality of all %o&ers :Greek5
donQmeis= it &ould not be difficult to e'ade many of TaylorCs most
%lausible arguments( Enough ho&e'er and more than enough &ould be
left in their full force(
+b( %( LL;(
Besides this + say this cor%oral union of our bodies to the body of God
incarnate &hich these great and &itty dreamers dream of &ould make man
to be God(
But yet not God nor absolutely( C+ am in my /ather e'en so ye are in me(C
+b( s( 11ii( %( L9<(
By this time + ho%e + may conclude that Transubstantiation is not taught by
our blessed Lord in the si1th cha%ter of St( ?ohn5 C?ohannes de tertia et
Eucharistica cZna nihil Fuidem scribit eo Fuod cZteri tres E'angelistZ
ante ilium eam %lene descri%sissent(C They are the &ords of Sta%leton and
are good e'idence against them(
+ cannot satisfy my mind &ith this reason though the one commonly
assigned both before and since Sta%leton5 and yet ignorant &hen &hy and
for &hom ?ohn &rote his Gos%el + cannot substitute a better or more
%robable one( That ?ohn belie'ed the command of the Eucharist to ha'e
ceased &ith the destruction of the ?e&ish state and the obligation of the
cu% of blessing among the ?e&sDor that he &rote it for the Greeks
unacFuainted &ith the ?e&ish customD&ould be not im%robable did &e
not kno& that the Eastern Church that of E%hesus included not only
continued this Sacrament but ri'alled the .estern Church in the
su%erstition thereof(
+b( s( i( %( 98>(
"o& + argue thus5 if &e eat ChristCs natural body &e eat it either naturally
or s%iritually5 if it be eaten only s%iritually then it is s%iritually digested
Tc(
.hat an absurdity in the &ord CitC in this %assage and throughout4
0ol( Y( s( iii( %( >(
The accidents %ro%er to a substance are for the manifestation a notice of
the substance not of themsel'esE for as the man feels but the means by
&hich he feels is the sensiti'e faculty so that &hich is felt is the substance
and the means by &hich it is felt is the accident(
This is the language of common sense rightly so called that is truth
&ithout regard or reference to errorE thus only differing from the language
of genuine %hiloso%hy &hich is truth intentionally guarded against error(
But then in order to ha'e su%%orted it against an acute antagonist Taylor
must + sus%ect ha'e renounced his Gassendis and other Christian CE%icuri(C
!is antagonist &ould tell himE &hen a man strikes me &ith a stick + feel
the stick and infer the manE but C%ari rationeC + feel the blo& and infer the
stickE and this is tantamount toD+ feel and by a mechanism of my
thinking organ attribute causation to %recedent or coHe1istent imagesE and
this no less in states in &hich you call the images unreal that is in dreams
than &hen they are asserted by you to ha'e an out&ard reality(
+b( %( L(
But &hen a man by the ministry of the senses is led into the a%%rehension
of a &rong object or the belief of a false %ro%osition then he is made to
belie'e a lie Tc(
There are no means by &hich a man &ithout chemical kno&ledge could
distinguish t&o similarly sha%ed lum%s one of sugar and another of sugar
of lead( .ell4 a lum% of sugar of lead lies among other artefacts on the
shelf of a collectorE and &ith it a label *Take care4 this is not sugar though
it looks so but crystalliGed o1ide of lead and it is a deadly %oison(* 6 man
reads this label and yet takes and s&allo&s the lum%( .ould Taylor assert
that the man &as made to s&allo& a %oisonI "o& this J&ould the Romanist
sayK is %recisely the case of the consecrated elements only %utting food and
antidote for %oisonE that is as far as this argument of ?eremy Taylor is
concerned(
+b( %( 9(
?ust u%on this account it is that St( ?ohnCs argument had been just nothing
in behalf of the &hole religion5 for that God &as incarnate that ?esus Christ
did such miracles that he &as crucified that he arose again and ascended
into hea'en that he %reached these sermons that he ga'e such
commandments he &as made to belie'e by sounds by sha%es by figures
by motions by likenesses and a%%earances of all the %ro%er accidents(
6 Socinian might turn this argument &ith eFual force at least but + think
&ith far greater against the +ncarnation( But it is a so%hism that actually
did lead to Socinianism5 for surely bread and &ine are less dis%arate from
flesh and blood than a human body from the Omni%resent S%irit( The
disci%les &ould according to Taylor Tillotson and the other Latitudinarian
common sense di'ines ha'e been justified in ans&ering5 *6ll our senses
tell us you are only a man5 ho& should &e belie'e you &hen you say the
contraryI +f &e are not to belie'e all our senses much less can &e belie'e
that &e actually hear you(*
6nd Taylor in my humble judgment gi'es a force and e1tension to the
&ords of St( ?ohn Fuoted beforeDCThat &hich &as from the beginning
&hich &e ha'e seen &ith our eyes &hich &e ha'e beheld and our hands
ha'e handled of the &ord of lifeC J$ E%($(KDfar greater than they either
can or &ere meant to bear( +t is beyond all doubt that the &ords refer to
and &ere intended to confute the heresy &hich &as soon after a %rominent
doctrine of the GnosticsE namely that the body of Christ &as a %hantom( To
this St( ?ohn re%lies5 + ha'e myself had e'ery %roof to the contrary5 first the
%roof of the sensesE secondly ChristCs o&n assurance( "o& this &as
unans&erable by the Gnostics &ithout one or the other of t&o %retencesE
either that St( ?ohn and the other kno&n and a%%ointed 6%ostles and
delegates of the .ord &ere liarsE or that the E%istle &as s%urious( The first
&as too intolerable5 therefore they ado%ted the second( Obser'e the
heretics &hom St( ?ohn confutes did not deny the actual %resence of the
.ord &ith the a%%earance of a human body much less the truth of the
&onders %erformed by the .ord in this su%erHhuman and unearthly C'iceH
cor%usC or CFuasi cor%us5C least of all &ould they assert either that the
assurances of the .ord &ere false in themsel'es or that the sense of
hearing might ha'e been %ermitted to decei'e the belo'ed 6%ostle J&hich
&ould ha'e been 'irtual falsehood and a subornation of falsehoodK
ho&e'er liable to dece%tion the senses might be generally and as sole and
%rimary %roofs unsu%%orted by antecedent grounds C%rZcognitis 'el
%reconcessis(C 6nd that St( ?ohn ne'er thought of ad'ancing the senses to
any such dignity and selfHsufficiency as %roofs it &ould be easy to she&
from t&enty %assages of his Gos%el( + say again and again that + myself
greatly %refer the general doctrine of our o&n Church res%ecting the
EucharistDCrem credimus modum nescimusCDto either TranH Jor ConHK
substantiation on the one hand or to the mere Csignum memoriZ causaC of
the Sacramentaries( But ne'ertheless + think that the Protestant di'ines laid
too much stress on the abjuration of the meta%hysical %art of the Roman
articleE as if e'en &ith the admission of Transubstantiation the adoration
&as not forbidden and made idolatrous by the second commandment(
+b( s( 'i( %( 2(
6nd yet no sense can be decei'ed in that &hich it al&ays %ercei'es alike5
CThe touch can ne'er he decei'ed(C
E'ery common juggler falsifies this assertion &hen he makes the %ressure
from a shilling seem the shilling itself( *6re you sure you feel itI* *,es(*
*Then o%en your hand( Presto4 CTis gone(* /rom this + gather that neither
Taylor nor 6ristotle e'er had the nightmare(
+b( %($8(
The %ur%ose of &hich discourse is this5 that no notices are more e'ident
and more certain than the notices of senseE but if &e conclude contrary to
the true dictate of senses the fault is in the understanding collecting false
conclusions from right %remises( +t follo&s therefore that in the matter of
the Eucharist &e ought to judge that &hich our senses tell us(
0ery unusually la1 reasoning for ?eremy Taylor &hose logic is commonly
legitimate e'en &here his meta%hysic is unsatisfactory( .hat Romanist
e'er asserted that a communicantCs %alate decei'ed him &hen it re%orted
the taste of bread or of &ine in the elementsI
+b( s( i( %( $<(
.hen &e discourse of mysteries of faith and articles of religion it is
certain that the greatest reason in the &orld to &hich all other reasons must
yield is thisDCGod hath said it therefore it is true(C
)oubtless5 it is a syllogism demonstrati'e( 6ll that God says is truth is
necessarily true( But God hath said thisE CergoC Tc( But ho& is the CminorC
to be %ro'ed that God hath said thisI By reasonI But it is against reason(
By the sensesI But it is against the senses(
+b( s( 1ii( %( 73(
/irstE for ChristCs body his natural body is changed into a s%iritual body
and it is not no& a natural body but a s%iritual and therefore cannot be
no& in the Sacrament after a natural manner because it is so no &here and
therefore not there5 C+t is so&n a natural body it is raised a s%iritual body(C
But mercy on me4 &as this said of the resurgent body of ?esusI a s%iritual
body of &hich ?esus said it &as not a s%irit( +f tangible by ThomasCs
fingers &hy not by his teeth that is manducableI
+b( s( 11'iii( %( LL(
So that if there &ere a %lain re'elation of Transubstantiation then this
argument &ere good U &hen there are so many seeming im%ossibilities
brought against the !oly Trinity U 6nd therefore &e ha'e found
difficulties and shall for e'er till in this article the Church returns to her
ancient sim%licity of e1%ression(
Taylor should ha'e said it &ould ha'e 'ery greatly increased the difficulty
of %ro'ing that it &as really re'ealed but su%%osing that certain then
doubtless it must be belie'ed as far as nonsense can be belie'ed that is
negati'ely( /rom the 6%ostlesC Creed it may be %ossible to deduce the
Catholic doctrine of the TrinityE but assuredly it is not fully e1%ressed
therein5 and &hat can Taylor mean by the Church returning to her first
sim%licity in this articleI .hat less could she say if she taught the doctrine
at all than that the .ord and the S%irit are s%oken of e'ery &here in
Scri%ture as indi'iduals each distinct from the other and both from the
/ather5 that of both all the di'ine attributes are %redicated e1ce%t selfH
originationE that the S%irit is God and the .ord is God and that they &ith
the /ather are the one GodI 6nd &hat more does she say no&I But Taylor
like S&ift had a strong tendency to Sabellianism(
+t is most dangerous and in its distant conseFuences sub'ersi'e of all
Christianity to admit as Taylor does that the doctrine of the Trinity is at all
against or e'en abo'e human reason in any other sense than as eternity
and )eity itself are abo'e it( +n the former as &ell as the latter &e can
%ro'e that so it must be and form clear notions by negati'es and
o%%ositions(
+b( s( 11i1( %( L9(
"o& concerning this it is certain it im%lies a contradiction that t&o bodies
should be in one %lace or %ossess the %lace of another till that be cast
forth(
So far from it that + belie'e the contraryE and it &ould %uGGle Taylor to
e1%lain a thousand C%hZnomenaC in chemistry on his certainty( But Taylor
assumed matter to be &holly Fuantitati'e &hich granted his o%inion
&ould become certain(
+b( s( 111ii( %( L2(
The door might be made to yield to his Creator as easily as &ater &hich is
fluid be made firm under his feetE for consistence or lability are not
essential to &ood and &ater(
!ere the common basis of &ater ice 'a%our steam CaFua crystallinaC and
J%ossiblyK &aterHgas is called &ater and confounded &ith the s%ecies &ater
that is the common base C%lusC a gi'en %ro%ortion of caloric( To the s%ecies
&ater continuity and lability are essential(
+b( %( 98(
The &ords in the te1t are :Greek5 kekleismRnMon tMon thyrMon= in the %ast
tense the gates or doors ha'ing been shutE but that they &ere shut in the
instant of ChristCs entry it says not5 they might of course if Christ had so
%leased ha'e been insensibly o%ened and shut in like manner againE and if
the &ords be obser'ed it &ill a%%ear that St( ?ohn mentioned the shutting
the doors in relation to the 6%ostlesC fear not to ChristCs entering5 he
intended not Jso far as a%%earsK to declare a miracle(
Thank God4 !ere comes common sense(
+b( ss( 1'iH1'ii( %%( 3$H3>(
6ll most e1cellentE but O4 that TaylorCs stu%endous &it subtlety acuteness
learning and ine1haustible co%iousness of argumentation &ould but tell us
&hat he himself )r( ?eremy Taylor means by eating ChristCs body by faith5
his body not his soul or Godhead( Eat a body by faith4
A DISSUASIVE FROM POPERY.
P#$% I.
+b( s( ii( %( $>3(
The sentence of the /athers in the third general Council that at
E%hesusEDCthat it should not be la&ful for any man to %ublish or
com%ose another faith or creed than that &hich &as defined by the
"icene Council(C
@%on &hat ground then does the Church of England reconcile &ith this
decree its rece%tion of the so called 6thanasian creedI
+b( s( i'( %( $L9(
.e consider that the doctrines u%on &hich it JPurgatoryK is %retended
reasonable are all dubious and dis%utable at the 'ery best( Such are U that
the taking a&ay the guilt of sins does not su%%ose the taking a&ay the
obligation to %unishmentE that is that &hen a manCs sin is %ardoned he may
be %unished &ithout the guilt of that sin as justly as &ith it(
The taking a&ay the guilt does not ho&e'er im%ly of necessity the natural
remo'al of the conseFuences of sin( 6nd in this sense + su%%ose the
subtler Romanists &ould defend this accursed doctrine( 6 man may ha'e
bitterly re%ented and thoroughly reformed the sin of drunkenness and by
this genuine CmetanoiaC and faith in Christ crucified ha'e obtained
forgi'eness of the guilt and yet continue to suffer a hea'y %unishment in a
schirrous li'er or incurable dys%e%sy( But &ho authoriGed the Po%es to
e1tend this to the soulI
+b( %( $9>(
St( 6mbrose saith that Cdeath is a ha'en of rest(C
Consider the strange and oftentimes a&ful dreams accom%anying the
%resence of irritating matter in the lo&er abdomen and the seeming
a%%ro%riation of %articular sorts of dream images and incidents to affections
of %articular organs and C'iscera(C )o the material causes act %ositi'ely so
that &ith the remo'al of the body by death the total cause is remo'ed and
of course the effectsI Or only negati'ely and indirectly by lessening and
sus%ending that continuous te1ture of organic sensation &hich by dra&ing
out&ard the attention of the soul sheaths her from her o&n state and its
corres%onding acti'itiesID6 fearful Fuestion &hich + too often agitate
and &hich agitates me e'en in my dreams &hen most commonly + am in
one of S&edenborgCs hells doubtful &hether + am once more to be a&aked
and thinking our dreams to be the true state of the soul disembodied &hen
not united &ith Christ( On a&aking from such dreams + ne'er fail to find
some local %ain CcircaHC or CinfraHCumbilical &ith kidney affections and at
the base of the bladder(
PART II./INTRODUCTION.
P. ((+.
But yet because + &ill humour ?(S( for this onceE e'en here also CThe
)issuasi'eC relies u%on a first and selfHe'ident %rinci%le as any is in
Christianity and that is C[uod %rimum 'erum(C
+ am sur%rised to meet such an assertion in so acute a logician and so
%rudent an ad'ocate as ?eremy Taylor( +f the CFuod %rimum 'erumC mean
the first %reaching or first institution of Christianity by its di'ine /ounder
it is doubtless an e'ident inference from the assumed truth of Christianity
or if you %lease e'idently im%lied thereinE but surely the truth of the
Christian system com%osed of historical narrations doctrines %rece%ts
and arguments is no selfHe'ident %osition still less if there be any tenable
distinction bet&een the &ords a %rimary truth( !o& then can an inference
from a %articular a 'ariously %ro'eable and %roofHreFuiring %osition be
itself a uni'ersal and selfHe'ident oneI
But if CFuod %rimum 'erumC means CFuod %rius 'eriusC this again is far from
being of uni'ersal a%%lication much less selfHe'ident( 6strology &as %rior
to astronomyE the Ptolemaic to the "e&tonian scheme( +t must therefore be
confined to history5 yet e'en thus it is not for any %racticable %ur%ose
necessarily or al&ays true( +ncrease in other kno&ledge %hysical
anthro%ological and %sychological may enable an historian of 6()( $;88
to gi'e a much truer account of certain e'ents and characters than the
contem%orary chroniclers had gi'en &ho li'ed in an age of ignorance and
su%erstition(
But confine the %osition &ithin yet narro&er bounds namely to Christian
antiFuity( +n addition to all other objections it has this great defectE that it
takes for granted the 'ery %oint in dis%ute &hether Christianity &as an
Co%us simul et in toto %erfectumC or &hether the great foundations only
&ere laid by Christ &hile on earth and by the 6%ostles and the
su%erstructure or %rogression of the &ork entrusted to the successors of the
6%ostlesE and &hether for that %ur%ose Christ had not %romised that his
S%irit should be al&ays &ith the Church(
"o& this gro&th of truth not only in each indi'idual Christian &ho is
indeed a Christian but like&ise in the Church of Christ from age to age
has been affirmed and defended by sundry Latitudinarian Grotian and
Sociman di'ines e'en among Protestants5 the contrary therefore and an
inference from the su%%osition of the contrary can ne'er be %ronounced
selfHe'ident or %rimary(
?eremy Taylor had nothing to do &ith these mock a1ioms but to ridicule
them as in other instances he has so effectually done( +t &as sufficient and
easy to she& that true or false the %osition &as utterly ina%%licable to the
facts of the Roman ChurchE that instead of %assing like the science of the
material hea'en from dim to clear from guess to demonstration from
mischie'ous fancies to guiding %rofitable and %o&erful truths it had
o'erbuilt the di'inest truths by the silliest and not seldom &icked forgeries
usur%ations and su%erstitions( ?(S(Cs 'ery notion of %ro'ing a mass of
histories by sim%le logic he &ould ha'e found e1%osed to his hand &ith
e1Fuisite truth and humour by Lucian(
$;$8(
+n the %receding note + think + took TaylorCs &ords in too literal a senseE the
remarks ho&e'er on the common ma1im C+n rebus fidei Fuod %rius
'eriusC seem to me just and 'aluable( 7( Barch $;7L(
+b( %( 723(
.hen he talks of being infallible if the notion be a%%lied to his Church
then he means an infallibility antecedent absolute unconditionate such as
&ill not %ermit the Church e'er to err(
Taylor himself &as infected &ith the s%irit of casuistry by &hich sa'ing
faith is %laced in the understanding and the moral act in the out&ard deed(
!o& infinitely safer the true Lutheran doctrine5 God cannot be mockedE
neither &ill truth as a mere con'iction of the understanding sa'e nor error
condemnEDto lo'e truth sincerely is s%iritually to ha'e truthE and an error
becomes a %ersonal error not by its aberration from logic or history but so
far as the causes of such error are in the heart or may be traced back to
some antecedent unHChristian &ish or habitEDto &atch o'er the secret
mo'ements of the heart remembering e'er ho& deceitful a thing it is and
that God cannot be mocked though &e may easily du%e oursel'es5 these
as the groundH&ork &ith %rayer study of the Scri%tures and tenderness to
all around us as the conseFuents are the ChristianCs rule and su%ersede all
books of casuistry &hich latter ser'e only to harden our feelings and
%ollute the imagination( To judge from the Roman casuists nay + ought to
say from TaylorCs o&n C)uctor )ubitantiumC one &ould su%%ose that a
manCs %oints of belief and smallest determinations of out&ard conductD
ho&e'er %ure and charitable his intentions and ho&e'er holy or blameless
the in&ard source of those intentions or con'ictions in his %ast and %resent
state of moral beingD&ere like the %erformance of an electrical
e1%eriment and &ould blo& a manCs sal'ation into atoms from a mere
unconscious mistake in the arrangement and management of the a%%aratus(
See Li'yCs account of Tullus !ostiliusCs unfortunate e1%eriment &ith one of
"umaCs sacrificial ceremonies( The trick not being %erformed Csecundum
artemC ?u%iter enraged shot him dead(:6= Before God our deeds &hich for
him can ha'e no 'alue gain acce%tance in %ro%ortion as they are e'olutions
of our s%iritual life( !e beholds our deeds in our %rinci%les( /or men our
deeds ha'e 'alue as efficient causes &orth as sym%toms( They infer our
%rinci%les from our deeds( "o& as religion or the lo'e of God cannot
subsist a%art from charity or the lo'e of our neighbour our conduct must be
conformable to both(
+b( %( >89(
Only for their comfort this they might ha'e also obser'ed in that bookD
that there is not half so much e1cuse for the Pa%ists as there is for the
6naba%tistsE and yet it &as but an e1cuse at the best as a%%ears in those
full ans&ers + ha'e gi'en to all their arguments in the last edition of that
book among the %olemical discourses in folio(
"ay dear Bisho%4 but such an e1cuse as com%ared &ith your after attem%t
to e'acuate it resembles a coat of mail of your o&n forging &hich you
boil in order to melt it a&ay into in'isibility( ,ou only hide it by foam and
bubbles by &a'elets and steamHclouds of ebullient rhetoric5 + s%eak of the
6naba%tists as 6ntiH%Zdoba%tists(
+b( s( i( %( >>3(
C!enceforth + call you not ser'ants for the ser'ant kno&eth not &hat his
Lord dothE but + ha'e called you friends for all things + ha'e heard from
the /ather + ha'e made kno&n to you(C
+ ne'er thought of this te1t before but it seems to me a stronger %assage in
fa'our of Psilanthro%ism or modern SocinianismDa doctrine &hich of all
heresies + deem the most fundamental and the &orst Jthe im%urities of
madmen out of the FuestionKDthan + ha'e e'er seen and far stronger than
that concerning the day of judgment &hich in its a%%arent sense is clearly
high 6rianism or teaching the su%erHangelical yet infraHdi'ine nature of
Christ( .e must inter%ret it :Greek5 katC analogSan %SsteMos= not as Call
thingsC absolutely but as Call thingsC concerning your interests Call thingsC
that it beho'es you to kno&( Else it &ould contradict ChristCs &ords C"one
kno&eth the /ather but the SonC that is truly and totally( /or Christ does
not %romise in this life to gi'e us the same degree of kno&ledge as he
himself %ossessed but only a CFuantum sufficitC of the kind( This is clear by
St( ?ohnCs Call thingsC &hich assuredly did not include either the disco'eries
of "e&ton or of )a'y(
$L 6ugust $;$$(
+b( s( iii( %( >L;(
The Churches ha'e troubled themsel'es &ith infinite 'ariety of Fuestions
and di'ided their %recious unity and destroyed charity and instead of
contending against the de'il and all his crafty methods they ha'e
contended against one another and e1communicated one another and
anathematiGed and damned one anotherE and no man is the better after all
but most men are 'ery much the &orseE and the Churches are in the &orld
still di'ided about Fuestions that commenced t&el'e or thirteen ages since
and they are like to be so for e'er till Elias come Tc(
+ remember no %assages of the /athers nearer to ins%ired Scri%ture than this
and similar ones of ?eremy Taylor in &hich Fuitting the acute logician he
combines his heart &ith his head and utters general and inclusi'e and
reconciling truths of charity and of common sense( 6ll amounts but to this5
D&hat is binding on all must be %ossible to all( But conformity of
intellectual conclusions is not %ossible( /aith therefore cannot reside totally
in the understanding( But to do &hat &e belie'e &e ought to do is %ossible
to all therefore binding on allE therefore the Cunum necessariumC of
Christian faith( Talk not of bad conscienceE it is like bad sense that is no
senseE and &e all kno& that &e may &ilfully lie till &e in'oluntarily
belie'e the lie as truthE but Ccausa causZ est causa 'era causati(C
+b( %( >L3(
But if you mean the Catholic Church then if you mean her an abstracted
se%arate being from all %articulars you %ursue a cloud and fall in lo'e &ith
an idea and a child of fancy(
!ere Taylor uses CideaC as o%%osed to image or distinct %hantasmE and this is
&ith fe& e1ce%tions his general sense and e'en the e1ce%tions are only
meta%hors from the general sense that is images so faint indefinite and
fluctuating as to be almost no images that is ideasE as &e say of a 'ery thin
body it is a ghost or s%irit the lo&est degree of one kind being e1%ressed
by the o%%osite kind(
+b( %( >;8(
CBiraclesC &ere in the beginning of Christianity a note of true belie'ers5
Christ told us so( 6nd he also taught us that 6ntiHChrist should be re'ealed
in lying signs and &onders and commanded us by that token to take heed
of them(
6n e1cellent distinction bet&een a note or mark by &hich a thing already
%ro'ed may be kno&n and the %roofs of the thing( Thus the %oisonous
Fualities of the nightshade are established by the %ro%er %roofs and the
marks by &hich a %lant may be kno&n to be the nightshade are the
number %osition colour and so on of its filaments %etals and the rest(
+b(
The Cs%irit of %ro%hecyC is also a %retty sure note of the true
Church and yetU+ deny not but there ha'e been some %ro%hets in the
Church of Rome5 ?ohannes de Ru%e Scissa 6nselmus Barsicanus
Robert
Grosthead Bisho% of Lincoln St( !ildegardis 6bbot ?oachim &hose
%ro%hecies and %ictures %ro%hetical &ere %ublished by Theo%hrastus
Paracelsus and ?ohn 6drasder and by Paschalinus Regiselmus at
0enice $9;2E but Jas 6hab said concerning BicaiahK these do not
%ro%hesy good concerning Rome but e'il Tc(
This %aragra%h is an e1Fuisite s%ecimen of gra'e and dignified irony
Ctelum Fuod cedere simulat retorFuentisC( +n contrast &ith this stands the
%aragra%h on note $9 J%( >;$(K &hich is a coarse though not unmerited
sneer or as a German &ould ha'e e1%ressed himself Can ofH?eremyHTaylorH
un&orthythough aHnotHofHtheHRomanHCatholicHPa%icolarH %olemicsH
unmerited sneer(C
+b( %( >;$(
U e1ce%ting only some Po%es ha'e been remarked by their o&n histories
for funest and direful deaths(
+n the ado%tion of this &ord CfunestC into the English language by Ca%oco%eC
of the final CusC Taylor is su%%orted by ChonestC and CmodestEC but then the
necessity of %ronouncing funest should ha'e e1cluded it the su%erlati'e
final being an objection to all of them though out&eighed in the others( 6
common reader &ould %ronounce it CfunestC and %erha%s mistake it for
Cfunniest(C
+b( %( >;7(
U sacraments C&hich to be se'enC is &ith them an article of faith(
The fastidious e1clusion of this and similar idioms in modern &riting
occasions unnecessary embarrassment for the &riter both in narration and
argumenting and contributes to the monotony of our style(
+b(
The /athers and Schoolmen differ greatly in the definition of a
Sacrament(
!ad it been in other res%ects ad'isable it &ould + think ha'e been
theologically con'enient if our Reformers had contraHdistinguished
Ba%tism and the LordCs Su%%er by the term Bysteries and allo&ed the
name of Sacrament to Ordination Confirmation and Barriage(
+b( s( iii( %( >;;(
6nd he did so to the ?e&s U tradition &as not relied u%onE it &as not
trusted &ith any la& of faith or manners(
This all the later ?e&s deny affirming an oral communication from Boses
to the Se'enty on as lame %retences as the Roman Catholics and for the
same 'ile %ur%oses as re%ro'ed by Christ &ho if he had belie'ed the story
&ould not ha'e condemned traditions of men generally &ithout e1ce%tion
and &ould not ha'e %ro'ed the immortality of the Patriarchs by a te1t
&hich seems to ha'e had no such %rimary intention though it may contain
the deduction C%otentialiterC(
But TaylorCs $st and 3th arguments follo&ing are the former &eak and
incorrect the latter Cdictum et 'ulgatum sed non %robatum ne dicam
im%robatumC( .ho doubts that all that is indis%ensable to the sal'ation of
each and e'ery one is contained in the "e& TestamentI
But is it not contained in the first cha%ter of St( ?ohnCs Gos%elI +s it not
contained in the ele'enth of the 6cts and in a score other se%arable
%ortionsI "ecessary indis%ensable and the like are multi'ocal terms(
)ogs ha'e sur'i'ed Jand &ithout any noticeable injuryK the e1cision of the
s%leen(
)are &e conclude from this fact that the s%leen is not necessary to the
continuance of the canine raceI .hat is not indis%ensable for e'en the
majority of indi'idual belie'ers may be necessary for the Church(
+nstead therefore of these terms %ut CtrueC Cim%ortantC and Cconstituti'eC
that is a%%ertaining to the chain JCad catenam aureamCK of truths
interde%endent and rendered mutually intelligible &hich constitute the
system of the Christian religion including not alone the faith and morals of
indi'iduals but the CorganismusC like&ise of the Church as a body s%iritual
yet out&ard and historicalE and this again not as an aggregate or sum total
like a cornHsheaf but a unity(
Let the Fuestion + say be thus restated and then let the cause come to trial
bet&een the Romish and the Protestant di'ines(
"( B( 6s a running comment on all these marginal notes let it be
understood that + hold the far greater %artDthe only not all of &hat our
great 6uthor urges to a%%ly &ith irrefutable force against the doctrine and
%ractice of the Romish Church as it in fact e1ists and no less against the
/amilists and Cistius farinZ enthusiastasC(
+ contend only that he himself in se'eral assertions lies o%en to attack
from the su%%orters of a scheme of faith as unlike either the Romish or the
/anatical as TaylorCs o&n and &hich scheme namely the coHordinate
authority of the .ord the S%irit and the Church + belie'e to be the true
6%ostolic and Catholic doctrine and that to this scheme his objections do
not a%%ly(
.hen + can bring myself to belie'e that from the mere %erusal of the "e&
Testament a man might ha'e sketched out by antici%ation the constitution
disci%line creeds and sacramental ritual of the E%isco%al Reformed
Church of EnglandE or that it is not a true and orthodo1 Church because
this is incredibleE then + may %erha%s be inclined to echo Chilling&orth(
6s + cannot think that it detracts from a dial that in order to tell the time the
sun must shine u%on itE so neither does it detract from the Scri%tures that
though the best and holiest they are yet Scri%ture and reFuire a %ure heart
and the conseFuent assistances of GodCs enlightening grace in order to
understand them to edification(
$;$7(
+ still agree &ith the %receding note and add that ?eremy Taylor should
ha'e cited the 6rians and Socinians on the other side( But the Romish
Pa%al hierarchy cannot for shame say or only from &ant of shame can
%retend to say &hat a Catholic &ould be entitled to urge on the tri%le link
of the Scri%ture the S%irit and the Church(
73 6%ril $;7<(
+b( s( 'i( %( >27(
/rom this %rinci%le as it is %romoted by the /anatics they deri'e a
&andering unsettled and a dissolute religion Tc(
The e'ils of the /anatic %ersuasion here so %o&erfully so e1Fuisitely
stated and enforced by our allHeloFuent Bisho% su%%ly no %roof or e'en
%resum%tion against the tenet of the S%irit rightly e1%ressed( /or catholicity
is the distincti'e mark the Cconditio sine Fua nonC of a s%iritual teachingE
and if men that dream &ith their eyes o%en mistake for this the 'ery
contrary that is their o&n %articular fancies or %erha%s sensations &ho
can hel% itI
+b( s( 'ii( %( >2L(
They affirm that the Scri%tures are full that they are a %erfect rule that they
contain all things necessary to sal'ationE and from hence they confuted all
heresies(
,es the heretics &ere so confuted + grantE because these &ould not
ackno&ledge any other authority but that of the Scri%tures and these too
forged or corru%ted by themsel'esE but by the Scri%tures that remained
unaltered the early /athers of the Church both demonstrated the omissions
and inter%olations of the heretical canons and the false doctrines of the
heresy itself( But so far from follo&ing the same rule to the members of the
true Church they made the a%%licability of this &ay of %roof the criterion
of a heretic(
+b( %( >2L(
C.hich truly they then %reached but after&ards by the &ill of God
deli'ered to us in the Scri%tures &hich &as to be the %illar and ground to
our faith(C
Lessing has sho&n this to be a false and e'en ungrammatical rendering of
+renZusCs &ords( The Ccolumen et fundamentum fideiC are the Creed or
economy of sal'ation(
+b( 'ii( %( >29( E1tracts from ClementCs CStromataC(
+t &ould reFuire a 'olume to she& the Fualifications &ith &hich these
Ce1cer%taC must be read( There is no one source of error and endless
contro'ersy more fruitful than this custom of Fuoting detached sentences( +
&ould %ledge myself in the course of a single morning to bring an eFual
number of %assages from the same J6nteH"iceneK /athers in %roof of the
Roman Catholic theory( One %al%able cheat in these transcri%ts is the
neglect of a%%reciating the &ords Cins%iredC Ca CS%iritu dictaCC and the like
in the Patristic useE as if the /athers did not freFuently a%%ly the same
terms to the discourses of the Bisho%s their contem%oraries and to
&ritings not canonical( +t is &onderful ho& so acute and learned a man as
Taylor could ha'e read Tertullian +renZus and Clemens 6le1andrinus and
not ha'e seen that the %assages are all against him so far as they all make
the Scri%tures subsidiary only to the S%irit in the Church and the Ba%tismal
creed the :Greek5 kanMOn %SsteMos= Cregula fideiC or CZconomia salutisC(
+b( %( >2<(
U that the tradition ecclesiastical that is the &hole doctrine taught by the
Church of God and %reached to all men is in the Scri%ture(
+t is only by the &hole conte1t and %ur%ose of the &ork and this too
inter%reted by the kno&n doctrine of the age that the intent of the
sentences here Fuoted can be determined relati'ely to the %oint in Fuestion(
But e'en as they stand here they do not assert that the CTraditio
EcclesiasticaC &as grounded on or had been deduced from the Scri%turesE
nor that by Scri%ture Clemens meant %rinci%ally the "e& TestamentE and
that the Scri%tures contain the Tradition Ecclesiastical or Catholic /aith the
Romish di'ines admit and contend(
+b( %( >22( E1tract from Origen(
6s our Sa'iour im%osed silence u%on the Sadducees by the &ord of his
doctrine and faithfully con'inced that false o%inion &hich they thought to
be truthE so also shall the follo&ers of Christ do by the e1am%les of
Scri%ture by &hich according to sound doctrine e'ery 'oice of Pharaoh
ought to be silent(
)oes not this %ro'e too muchE namely that nothing e1ists in the "e&
&hich does not like&ise e1ist in the Old TestamentI
One objection to ?eremy TaylorCs argument here must + think strike e'ery
reflecting mindE namely that in order to a fair and full 'ie& of the
sentiments of the /athers of the first four centuries all they declare of the
Church and her %o&ers and %rerogati'es ought to ha'e been like&ise
gi'en(
6s soon as + recei'e any &riting as ins%ired by the S%irit of Truth of course
+ must belie'e it on its o&n authority( But ho& am + assured that it is an
ins%ired &orkI "o& do not these /athers re%ly By the ChurchI To the
Church it belongs to declare &hat books are !oly Scri%tures and to
inter%ret their right sense( +s not this the common doctrine among the
/athersI 6nd ho& &as the Church to judgeI
/irst by the same s%irit sur'i'ing in herE and secondly by the accordance of
the Book itself &ith the canon of faith that is the Ba%tismal Creed( 6nd
&hat &as thisI CTraditio EcclesiasticaC( 6s to myself + agree &ith Taylor
against the Romanists that the Bible is for us the only rule of faithE but + do
not ado%t his mode of %ro'ing it(
+n the earliest %eriod of Christianity the Scri%tures of the "e& Testament
and the Ecclesiastical Tradition &ere reci%rocally tests of each otherE but
for the Christians of the second century the Scri%tures &ere tried by the
Ecclesiastical Tradition &hile for us the order is re'ersed and &e must try
the Ecclesiastical Tradition by the Scri%tures( Therefore + do not e1%ect to
find the %roofs of the su%remacy of Scri%ture in the early /athers nor do
&e need their authority( Our %roofs are stronger &ithout it(
+b( %( L8>(
.hich &ords + the rather remark because this article of the
consubstantiality of Christ &ith the /ather is brought as an instance Jby the
RomanistsK of the necessity of tradition to make u% the insufficiency of
Scri%ture(
!o& shall + make this rhyme to TaylorCs o&n assertion in the last
%aragra%h of sect( 1i1( of his E%isco%acy 6sserted :78= in &hich he clearly
refers to this 'ery Fuestion as relying on tradition for its clearnessI ?eremy
Taylor &as a true /ather of the Church and &ould furnish as fine a subject
for a Cconcordantia discordantiarumC as St( 6ustin himself( /or the e1oteric
and esoteric he &as a 'ery Pythagoras(
+b( %( L8<(
U for one or t&o of them say Theo%hilus s%ake against Origen for
broaching fo%%eries of his o&n and %articularly that ChristCs flesh &as
consubstantial &ith the Godhead(
Origen doubtless meant the Ccaro noumenonC and &as Fuite right( But ne'er
&as a great man so misunderstood as Origen(
+b( %( L8;( n(
CSed et alia Fuoe absFue auctoritate et testimoniis Scri%turarum Fuasi
traditione 6%ostolica s%onte re%eriunt atFue contingunt %ercutit gladius
)eiC(
*Those things &hich they make and find as it &ere by 6%ostolical
tradition &ithout the authority and testimonies of Scri%ture the
&ord of God smites(*
+s it clear that CScri%turarumC de%ends on CauctoritateCI +t may &ell mean
they &ho &ithout the authority of the Church or Scri%tural testimony
%retend to an 6%ostolical Tradition(
+b( %( L$$(
But lastly if in the %lain &ords of Scri%ture be contained all that is sim%ly
necessary to all then it is clear by BellarmineCs confession that St( 6ustin
affirmed that the %lain %laces of Scri%ture are sufficient to all laics and all
idiots or %ri'ate %ersons and then it is 'ery ill done to kee% them from the
kno&ledge and use of the Scri%tures &hich contain all their duty both of
faith and good lifeE so it is 'ery unnecessary to trouble them &ith any thing
else there being in the &orld no such treasure and re%ository of faith and
manners and that so %lain that it &as intended for all men and for all such
men is sufficient( *Read the !oly Scri%tures &herein you shall find some
things to be holden and some to be a'oided(*
6nd yet in the %reface to his 6%ology for authoriGed and set forms of
Liturgy :7$= Taylor regrets that the Church of England &as not able to
confine the laity to such selections of !oly .rit as are in her Liturgy( But
Laud &as then ali'e5 and Taylor %artook of his Ctre%idatiunculZC to&ards the
Church of Rome(
+b( %( L$7(
6nd all these are nothing else but a full subscri%tion to and an e1cellent
commentary u%on those &ords of St( Paul CLet no man %retend to be &ise
abo'e &hat is &ritten(C
!ad St( Paul anything beyond the La& and the Pro%hets in his mindI
+b( %( L$<(
St( PaulCs &ay of teaching us to e1%ound Scri%ture is that he that
%ro%hesies should do it :Greek5 katC analogSan %SsteMos= according to the
analogy of faith(
,et in his Liberty of Pro%hesying :77= Taylor turns this &ay into mere
ridicule( + lo'e thee ?eremy4 but an arrant theological barrister that thou
&ast though thy only fees &ere thy desires of doing good in CFuestionibus
singulisC(
+b( s( iii( %( L$2(
Only because &e are sure there &as some false dealing in this matter and
&e kno& there might be much more than &e ha'e disco'ered &e ha'e no
reason to rely u%on any tradition for any %art of our faith any more than &e
could do u%on Scri%ture if one book or cha%ter of it should be detected to
be im%osture(
.hat says ?eremy Taylor then to the story of the &oman taken in adultery
JC?ohn c( 'iii( >H$$C(K &hich Chrysostom disdains to comment onI +f true
ho& could it be omitted in so many and these the most authentic co%iesI
6nd if this for fear of scandal &hy not othersI 6nd &ho does not kno&
that falsehood may be effected as &ell by omissions as by inter%olationsI
But if falseDthenDbut Taylor dra&s the conseFuence himself(
+b( %( L73(
So that the tradition concerning the Scri%tures being e1trinsical to Scri%ture
is also e1trinsical to the Fuestion5 this tradition cannot be an objection
against the sufficiency of Scri%ture to sal'ation but must go before this
Fuestion( /or no man inFuires &hether the Scri%tures contain all things
necessary to sal'ation unless he belie'e that there are Scri%tures that these
are they and that they are the &ord of God( 6ll this comes to us by
tradition that is by uni'ersal undeniable testimony(
0ery just and yet this idle argument is the fa'ourite both shield and s&ord
of the Romanists5 as if + should %retend to learn the Roman history from
tradition because by tradition + kno& such histories to ha'e been &ritten by
Li'y Sallust and Tacitus4
+b( %( L>9(
The more natural conseFuence is that their %ro%osition is either mistaken or
uncertain or not an article of faith J&hich is rather to be ho%ed lest &e
condemn all the Greek Churches as infidels or %er'erse hereticsK or else
that it can be deri'ed from Scri%ture &hich last is indeed the most
%robable and %ursuant to the doctrine of those &iser Latins &ho e1amined
things by reason and not by %rejudice(
+t is remarkable that both Stillingfleet and Taylor fa'oured the Greek
o%inion( But BullCs C)efensio /idei "icZnZC &as not yet %ublished( +t is to
me e'ident that if the !oly Ghost does not %roceed through and from the
Son as &ell as from the /ather then the Son is not the adeFuate substantial
idea of the /ather( But according to St( Paul he isDCergo TcC( "(B( These
*Cergos TcC(* in legitimate syllogisms &here the CmajorC and CminorC ha'e
been conceded are binding on all human beings &ith the single anomaly
of the [uakers( /or &ith them nothing is more common than to admit both
CmajorC and CminorC and &hen you add the ine'itable conseFuence to say
*"ay4 + do not think so /riend4 Thou art &orldly &ise /riend4* /or
e1am%le5 CmajorC it is agreed on both sides that &e ought not to &ithhold
from a man &hat he has a just right to5 CminorC %ro%erty in land being the
creature of la& a just right in res%ect of landed %ro%erty is determined by
the la& of the land5D*agreed such is the fact5* Cergo5C the clergyman has a
just right to the tithe( *"ay nayE this is 'anity and tithes an abomination of
?udaism4*
+b( s( '( %( L27(
6nd since that 'illain of a man Po%e !ildebrand as Cardinal Beno relates
in his Life could by shaking of his slee'e make s%arks of fire fly from it(
+f this &as fact &as it an idiosyncrasy as + ha'e kno&n those &ho by
combing their hair can elicit s%arks &ith a crackling as from a catCs back
rubbed( +t is 'ery %ossible that the slee'e might be silk tightened either on
a 'ery hairy arm or else on &oollen and by shaking it might be meant
stri%%ing the silk suddenly off &hich &ould doubtless %roduce flashes and
s%arks(
0ol( Y+( s( 1( %( $(
6s a general remark suggested indeed by this section but a%%licable to
'ery many %arts of TaylorCs contro'ersial &ritings both against the antiH
Prelatic and the Romish di'ines es%ecially to those in &hich our
incom%arable ChurchHas%ist attem%ts not al&ays successfully to
demonstrate the difference bet&een the dogmas and disci%line of the
ancient Church and those &hich the Romish doctors 'indicate by themD+
&ould say once for all that it &as the fashion of the 6rminian court di'ines
of TaylorCs age that is of the !igh Church %arty headed by 6rchbisho%
Laud to e1tol and Jin my humble judgmentK egregiously to o'errate the
e1am%le and authority of the first four nay of the first si1 centuriesE and at
all e'ents to take for granted the E'angelical and 6%ostolical character of
the Church to the death of 6thanasius(
"o& so far am + from conceding this that before the first Council of
"icaea + belie'e myself to find the seeds and seedlings of all the &orst
corru%tions of the Latin Church of the thirteenth century and not a fe& of
these e'en before the close of the second(
One %ernicious error of the %rimiti'e Church &as the con'ersion of the
ethical ideas indis%ensable to the science of morals and religion into fi1ed
%ractical la&s and rules for all Christians in all stages of s%iritual gro&th
and under all circumstancesE and &ith this the degradation of free and
indi'idual acts into cor%orate Church obligations(
6nother not less %ernicious &as the gradual concentration of the Church
into a %riesthood and the conseFuent rendering of the reci%rocal functions
of lo'e and redem%tion and counsel bet&een Christian and Christian
e1clusi'ely official and bet&een dis%arates namely the %riest and the
layman(
+b( B( ++( s( ii( %( 9;(
Often ha'e + &elcomed and often ha'e + &restled &ith the thought of
&riting an essay on the day of judgment( 6re the %assages in St( PeterCs
E%istle res%ecting the circumstances of the last day and the final
conflagration and e'en St( PaulCs to be regarded as a%ocaly%tic and a %art
of the re'elation by Christ or are they like the dogma of a %ersonal Satan
accommodations of the current %o%ular creed &hich they continued to
belie'eI
+b( s( iii( %( $89(
6nd therefore St( Paul left an e1cellent %rece%t to the Church to a'oid
C%rofanas 'ocum no'itatesC Cthe %ro%hane ne&ness of &ordsEC that is it is fit
that the mysteries re'ealed in Scri%ture should be %reached and taught in
the &ords of the Scri%ture and &ith that sim%licity o%enness easiness and
candor and not &ith ne& and unhallo&ed &ords such as that of
Transubstantiation(
6re not then Trinity TriHunity Chy%ostasis %erichoresis di%hysisC and
others e1cludedI ,et .aterland 'ery ingeniously nay more 'ery honestly
and sensibly she&s the necessity of these terms C%er accidensC( The
C%rofanumC fell back on the heretics &ho had occasioned the necessity(
+b( %( $8<(
*The oblation of a cake &as a figure of the Eucharistical bread &hich
the Lord commanded to do in remembrance of his %assion(* These are
?ustinCs &ords in that %lace(
?ustin Bartyr could ha'e meant no more and the Greek construction means
no more than that the cake &e offer is the re%resentati'e substitute and
CfacHsimileC of the bread &hich Christ broke and deli'ered(
+ find no necessary absurdity in Transubstantiation( /or substance is but a
notion Cthought onC to the aggregate of accidentsDChinGugedachtC D
concei'ed not %ercei'ed and concei'ed al&ays in uni'ersals ne'er in
CconcretoC(
Therefore Y( ,( `( being unkno&n Fuantities ,( may be as &ell anne1ed
by the choice of the mind as the imagined CsubstratumC as Y( /or &e cannot
distinguish substance from substance any more than Y( from Y(
The substrate or Ccausa in'isibilisC may be the CnoumenonC or actuality Cdas
)ing in sichC of ChristCs humanity as &ell as the C)ing in sichC of &hich the
sensation bread is the a%%earance(
But then on the other hand there is not a &ord of sense %ossible to %ro'e
that it is really soE and from the not im%ossible to the real is a strange
CultraCHRhodian lea%(
6nd it is o%%osite both to the sim%licity of E'angelical meaning and
anomalous from the inter%retation of all analogous %hrases &hich all men
e1%ound as figuresDC+ am the gate + am the &ay + am the 'ineC and the
likeDand to ChristCs o&n declarations that his &ords &ere to be
understood s%iritually that is figurati'ely(
+b( s( 'i( %( $<L(
!o&e'er if you &ill not commit do&nright idolatry as some of their saints
teach you then you must be careful to obser'e these %lain distinctionsE and
first be sure to remember that &hen you &orshi% an image you do it not
materially but formallyE not as it is of such a substance but as it is a signE
ne1t take care that you obser'e &hat sort of image it is and then %ro%ortion
your right kind to it that you do not gi'e ClatriaC to that &here Chy%erduliaC is
only dueE and be careful that if CduliaC only be due that your &orshi% be not
Chy%erdulicalC Tc(
6 masterly s%ecimen of gra'e dignified irony( +ndeed ?eremy TaylorCs
C.orksC &ould be of more ser'ice to an English barrister than those of
)emosthenes ]schines and Cicero taken together(
+b( s( 'ii( %( $<;(
6 man cannot &ell understand an essence and hath no idea of it in his
mind much less can a %ainterCs %encil do it(
"oticeable that this is the only instance + ha'e met in any English classic
before the Re'olution of the &ord CideaC used as synonymous &ith a mental
image( Taylor himself has re%eatedly %laced the t&o in o%%ositionE and
e'en here + doubt &hether he has done other&ise( + rather think he meant
by the &ord CideaC a notion under an indefinite and confused form such as
Aant calls a CschemaCor 'ague outline an im%erfect embryo of a concrete to
the indi'iduation of &hich the mind gi'es no conscious attentionE just as
&hen + sayD*any thing* + may imagine a %oker or a %lateE but + %ay no
attention to its being this rather than thatE and the 'ery image itself is so
&andering and unstable that at this moment it may be a dim shado& of the
one and in the ne1t of some other thing( +n this sense idea is o%%osed to
image in degree instead of kindE yet still contraHdistinguished as is e'ident
by the seFuel *much less can a %ainterCs %encil do it5* for &ere it an image
Cindi'idui et concretiC then the %ainterCs %encil could do it as &ell as his
fancy or better(
A DISCOURSE OF CONFIRMATION.
Of all TaylorCs &orks the )iscourse of Confirmation seems to me the least
judiciousE and yet that is not the right &ord either( + mean ho&e'er that
one is %uGGled to kno& for &hat class of readers or auditors it &as intended(
!e announces his subject as one of such lofty claimsE he begins &ith
%ositions taken on such high ground no less than the su%erior dignity and
s%iritual im%ortance of Confirmation abo'e Ba%tism itselfD&hether
considered as a sacramental rite and mystery distinct from Ba%tism or as
its com%letory and cro&ning %art Jthe Cfinis coronans o%usCKDthat &e are
eager to hear the %roof(
But %roofs differ in their 'alue according to our %re'ious 'aluation of
authorities( .hat &ould %ass for a 'ery sufficient %roof because grounded
on a re'erend authority &ith a Romanist &ould be a mere fancyHmedal
and of no currency &ith a Bible Protestant(
6nd yet for Protestants and those too laymen Jfor &e can hardly su%%ose
that Taylor thought his E%isco%al brethren in need of itK must this
)iscourse ha'e been intendedE and in this %oint of 'ie& surely ne'er did so
&ise a man ado%t means so unsuitable to his end or frame a discourse so
ina%%ro%riate to his audience(
The authorities of the /athers are indeed as strong and decisi'e in fa'our
of the Bisho%Cs %osition as the &armest ad'ocate of Confirmation could
&ishE but this 'ery circumstance &as calculated to create a %rejudice
against the doctrine in the mind of a Gealous Protestant from the contrast in
&hich the uneFui'ocal and e1%licit declarations of the /athers stand &ith
the remote arbitrary and fineHdra&n inferences from the fe& %assages of
the "e& Testament &hich can be forced into an im%lied sanction of a rite
no &here mentioned and as a distinct and se%arate ministration utterly as +
concei'e unkno&n in the 6%ostolic age(
!o& much more rational and con'incing Jas to me it seemsK &ould it ha'e
been to ha'e she&n that &hen from 'arious causes the %ractice of +nfant
Ba%tism became general in the Church Confirmation or the
ackno&ledgment Cin %ro%ria %ersonaC of the obligations that had been
incurred by %ro1y &as introducedE and needed no other justification than its
o&n e'ident necessity as substantiating the %receding form as to the
intended effects of Ba%tism on the belie'er himself and then to ha'e she&n
the great uses and s%iritual benefits of the institution(
But this &ould not do( Such &as the s%irit of the age that nothing less than
the assertion of a di'ine originDof a formal and %ositi'e institution by
Christ himself or by the 6%ostles in their 6%ostolic ca%acity as legislators
for the uni'ersal Church in all ages could ser'eE and accordingly Bisho%s
liturgies tithes monarchy and &hat not &ere Cde jure di'inoC &ith
celestial %atents &ra%%ed u% in the &omb of this or that te1t of Scri%ture to
be e1forci%ated by the logicoHobstetric skill of !igh Church doctors and
ultraHloyal court cha%lains(
THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY TO THE DUKE OF ORMONDE.
+b( %( cc1'ii(
This 'ery %oor church(
.ith the e1ce%tion of S%ain the Church establishment in +reland is no& +
concei'e the richest in Euro%eE though by the most iniFuitous measure of
the +rish Parliament most iniFuitously %ermitted to acFuire the force of la&
at the @nion the +rish Church &as robbed of the tithes from all %asture
lands( .hat occasioned so great a change in its fa'our since the time of
Charles ++I
$;$8(
+b( %( cc1'iii(
6nd amidst these and 'ery many more incon'eniences it &as greatly
necessary that God should send us such a king(
Such a king4 O sorro& and shame4 .hy &hy O Genius4 didst thou suffer
thy darling son to crush the fairest flo&er of thy garland beneath a mitre of
CharlesCs %utting on4
+b( %( cc1i1(
/or besides that the great usefulness of this ministry &ill greatly endear the
E%isco%al order to &hich Jthat + may use St( !ieromCs &ordsK *if there be
not attributed a more than common %o&er and authority there &ill be as
many schisms as %riests* Tc(
On this ground the Romish di'ines justify the Pa%acy( The fact of the
Scottish Church is the sufficient ans&er to both( E%isco%acy needs not rash
assertions for its su%%ort(
+b( %( cc11(
/or it is a sure rule in our religion and is of an eternal truth that *they &ho
kee% not the unity of the Church ha'e not the S%irit of God(*
Contrast &ith this our 1i1th and 11th 6rticles on the Church( The +rish
Roman Catholic Bisho%s methinks must ha'e read this &ith delight( .hat
an o'er hasty sim%leton that ?ames ++( &as4 !ad he &aited and caressed the
Bisho%s they &ould ha'e taken the &ork off his hands(
+b( %( 772( +ntroduction(
+t has been my con'iction that in res%ect of the theory of the /aith
Jthough God be %raised4 not in the %ractical resultK the Pa%al and the
Protestant communions are eFuiHdistant from the true idea of the Gos%el
+nstitute though erring from o%%osite directions(
The Romanists sacrifice the Scri%ture to the Church 'irtually annulling the
former5 the Protestants re'ersed this %ractically and e'en in theory Jsee the
abo'eHmentioned 6rticlesK annulling the latter(
The conseFuence has been as might ha'e been %redicted the e1tinction of
the S%irit Jthe indifference or CmesothesisCK in both considered as bodies5 for
+ doubt not that numerous indi'iduals in both Churches li'e in communion
&ith the S%irit(
To&ards the close of the reign of our first ?ames and during the %eriod
from the accession of Charles + to the restoration of his %rofligate son there
arose a %arty of di'ines 6rminians Jand many of them LatitudinariansK in
their creed but de'otees of the throne and the altar soaring !igh
Churchmen and ultra royalists(
Buch as + dislike their scheme of doctrine and detest their %rinci%les of
go'ernment both in Church and State + cannot but allo& that they formed a
gala1y of learning and talent and that among them the Church of England
finds her stars of the first magnitude(
+nstead of regarding the Reformation established under Ed&ard 0+ as
im%erfect they accused the Reformers some of them o%enly but all in
their %ri'ate o%inions of ha'ing gone too farE and &hile they &ere &illing
to kee% do&n Jand if they could not reduce him to a %rimacy of honor to
kee% outK the Po%e and to %rune a&ay the inno'ations in doctrine brought
in under the Pa%al domination they &ere Gealous to restore the hierarchy
and to substitute the authority of the /athers Canonists and Councils of the
first si1 or se'en centuries and the least Pa%istic of the later )octors and
Schoolmen for the names of Luther Belancthon Bucer Cal'in and the
systematic theologians &ho rejected all testimony but that of their Bible(
6s far as the %rinci%le on &hich 6rchbisho% Laud and his follo&ers acted
&ent to reHactuate the idea of the Church as a coHordinate and li'ing Po&er
by right of ChristCs institution and e1%ress %romise + go along &ith themE
but + soon disco'er that by the Church they meant the Clergy the hierarchy
e1clusi'ely and then + fly off from them in a tangent(
/or it is this 'ery inter%retation of the Church that according to my
con'iction constituted the first and fundamental a%ostasyE and + hold it for
one of the greatest mistakes of our %olemic di'ines in their contro'ersies
&ith the Romanists that they trace all the corru%tions of the Gos%el faith to
the Pa%acy(
Beantime can &e be sur%rised that our forefathers under the Stuarts &ere
alarmed and imagined that the Bisho%s and court %reachers &ere marching
in Fuick time &ith their faces to&ards Rome &hen to take one instance of
a thousand a great and famous di'ine like Bisho% Taylor asserts the
inferiority in rank and efficacy of Ba%tism to Confirmation and grounds
this assertion so strange to all Scri%tural Protestants on a te1t of Cabasilas
Da saying of Ru%ertusDa %hrase of St( )enisDand a sentence of Saint
Bernard in a Life of Saint Balachias4Dfor no Benedictine can be more
liberal in his attribution of saintshi% than ?eremy Taylor or more re'erently
obser'ant of the beatifications and canoniGations of the Old Lady of the
scarlet %etticoat(
P( S( +f the reader need other illustrations + refer him to Bisho% !ackettCs
CSermons on the 6d'ent and "ati'ityC &hich might almost %ass for the
orations of a /ranciscan brother &hose reading had been confined to the
C6urea LegendaC( +t &ould be uncandid not to add that this indiscreet
traffickery &ith Romish &ares &as in %art o&ing to the immense reading of
these di'ines(
+b( s( i( %( 7L3( 6cts 'iii( $LH$3(
This is an argument indeed and one that of itself &ould suffice to decide
the Fuestion if only it could be %ro'ed or e'en made %robable that by the
!oly Ghost in this %lace &as meant that recei'ing of the S%irit to &hich
Confirmation is by our Church declared to be the means and 'ehicle(
But this + sus%ect cannot be done( The &hole %assage to &hich sundry
cha%ters in St( PaulCs E%istles seem to su%%ly the comment inclines and
almost com%els me to understand by the !oly Ghost in this narrati'e the
miraculous gifts :Greek5 tas dynQmeis= collecti'ely(
6nd in no other sense can + understand the sentence Cthe !oly Ghost &as
not yet fallen u%on any of themC( But the subject is beset &ith difficulties
from the %aucity of %articular instances recorded by the ins%ired historian
and from the multitude and character of these instances found in the
/athers and Ecclesiastical historians(
+b( s( ii( %( 79L(
Still they are all :Greek5 dynQmeis= e1hibitable %o&ers faculties( .ere it
other&ise &hat strange and fearful conseFuences &ould follo& from the
assertion Cthe !oly S%irit &as not yet fallen u%on any of themC(
That &e misunderstand the gift of tongues and that it did not mean the
%o&er of s%eaking foreign languages unlearnt + am strongly %ersuaded(
,ea but this is not the Fuestion( +f my heart bears me &itness that + lo'e
my brother that + lo'e my merciful Sa'iour and call ?esus Lord and the
6nointed of God &ith joy of heart + am encouraged by Scri%ture to infer
that the S%irit abideth in meE besides that + kno& that of myself and
estranged from the !oly S%irit + cannot e'en think a thought acce%table
before God(
But ho& &ill this hel% me to belie'e that + recei'ed this S%irit through the
Bisho%Cs hands laid on my head at Confirmation5 &hen %erha%s + am
distinctly conscious that + lo'ed my Sa'iour freely forga'e nay tenderly
yearned for the &eal of them that hated me before my ConfirmationD
&hen indeed + must ha'e been the most uncharitable of men if + did not
admit instances of the most e1em%lary faith charity and de'otion in
Christians &ho do not %ractise the im%osition of hands in their Churches(
.hat4 did those Christians of &hom St( Luke s%eaks not lo'e their
brethrenI
C+n fineC(
+ ha'e had too freFuent e1%erience of %rofessional di'ines and ho& they
identify themsel'es &ith the theological scheme to &hich they ha'e been
articled and + understand too &ell the nature and the %o&er the effect and
the conseFuences of a &ilful faithD&here the sensation of %ositi'eness is
substituted for the sense of certainty and the stubborn clutch for Fuiet
insightDto &onder at any degree of hardihood in matters of belief(
Therefore the instant and dee%Htoned affirmati'e to the Fuestion
*6nd do you actually belie'e the %resence of the material &ater in the
ba%tiGing of infants or adults is essential to their sal'ation so indis%ensably
so that the omission of the &ater in the Ba%tism of an infant &ho should die
the day after &ould e1clude that infant from the kingdom of hea'en and
&hate'er else is im%lied in the loss of sal'ationI*
+ should not be sur%rised + say to hear this Fuestion ans&ered &ith an
em%hatic
*,es Sir4 + do actually belie'e this for thus + find it &ritten and herein
begins my right to the name of a Christian that + ha'e e1changed my
reason for the !oly Scri%tures5 + ackno&ledge no reason but the Bible(*
But as this intre%id res%ondent though he may dis%ense &ith reason
cannot Fuite so easily free himself from the obligations of common sense
and the canons of logicDboth of &hich demand consistency and like
conseFuences from like %remisses Cin rebus ejusdem generisC in subjects of
the same classD+ do find myself tem%ted to &onder some small deal at
the unscru%ulous substitution of a fe& dro%s of &ater s%rinkled on the face
for the Ba%tism that is immersion or di%%ing of the &hole %erson e'en if
the ri'ers or running &aters had been thought nonHessential(
6nd yet &here e'ery &ord in any and in all the four narrati'es is so %laced
under the logical %ress as it is in this )iscourse by ?eremy Taylor and each
and e'ery incident %ronounced e1em%lary and for the %ur%ose of being
imitated + should hold e'en this haGardous(
But + must &onder a 'ery great deal and in do&nright earnest at the
contem%tuous language &hich the same men em%loy in their contro'ersies
&ith the Romish Church res%ecting the cor%oral %resence in the
consecrated bread and &ine and the efficacy of e1treme unction(
/or my o&n %art the assertion that &hat is %henomenally bread and &ine is
substantially the Body and Blood of Christ does not shock my common
sense more than that a fe& dro%s of &ater s%rinkled on the face should
%roduce a momentous change e'en a regeneration in the soulE and does
not outrage my moral feelings half as much(
P( S( There is one error of 'ery ill conseFuence to the re%utation of the
Christian community &hich Taylor shares &ith the Romish di'ines
namely the Fuoting of o%inions and e'en of rhetorical flights from the
&ritings of this and that indi'idual &ith CSaintC %refi1ed to his name as
e1%ressing the faith of the Church during the first fi'e or si1 centuries(
.hereas it &ould not %erha%s be 'ery difficult to con'ince an
un%rejudiced man and a sincere Christian of the im%ossibility that e'en the
decrees of the General Councils should re%resent the Catholic faith that is
the belief essential to or necessarily conseFuent on the faith in Christ
common to all the elect(
:/ootnote $5 The references are here gi'en to !eberCs edition $;77( Ed(=
:/ootnote 75 The %age ho&e'er remains a blank( But a little essay on
%unctuation by the 6uthor is in the EditorCs %ossession and &ill be
%ublished hereafter(DEd(=
:/ootnote >5 See Euseb( C!ist(C iii( 73(DEd(=
:/ootnote L5 C0indication Tc( [uer(C $> $L $9(DEd(=
:/ootnote 95 See the form %re'iously e1hibited in this 'olume %( 2>(
DEd(=
:/ootnote <5 CBarkC 'iii( 72( CLukeC i1( 78(DEd(=
:/ootnote 35 $ CPetC( '( $>(DEd(=
:/ootnote ;5 Lightfoot and .all use this strong argument for the la&fulness
and im%lied duty of +nfant Ba%tism in the Christian Church( +t &as the
uni'ersal %ractice of the ?e&s to ba%tiGe the infant children of %roselytes as
&ell as their %arents( +nstead therefore of ChristCs silence as to infants by
name in his commission to ba%tiGe all nations being an argument that he
meant to e1clude them it is a sign that he meant to include them( /or it &as
natural that the %recedent custom should %re'ail unless it &ere e1%ressly
forbidden( The force of this ho&e'er is limited to the ceremonyEDits
character and efficacy are not established by it(DEd(=
:/ootnote 25 The 6uthorCs 'ie&s of Ba%tism are stated more fully and
methodically in the C6ids to ReflectionCE but e'en that statement is
im%erfect and conseFuently o%en to objection as &as freFuently admitted
by Br( C( himself( The Editor is unable to say &hat %recise s%iritual
efficacy the 6uthor ultimately ascribed to +nfant Ba%tismE but he &as
certainly an ad'ocate for the %ractice and a%%eared as s%onsor at the font
for more than one of his friendsC children( See his CLetter to a GodchildC
%rinted for this %ur%ose at the end of this 'olumeE his CSonnet on his
Ba%tismal BirthdayC JCPoet( .orksC ii( %( $9$(K in the tenth line of &hich in
many co%ies there &as a mis%rint of CheartC for CfrontEC and the CTable TalkC
7nd edit( %( $;>( Ed(=
:/ootnote $85 C)eut(C 1iii( $H9( 1'iii( 77(DEd(=
:/ootnote $$5 CGalat(C i( ; 2(DEd(=
:/ootnote $75 P%( 78<H773( Ed(=
:/ootnote $>5 .ith reference to all these notes on Original Sin see
C6ids to ReflectionC %( 798H7;<(DEd(=
:/ootnote $L5 C6ids to ReflectionC %( 73L(DEd(=
:/ootnote $95 6nte( C0indication Tc(C %( >93H;(=
:/ootnote $<5 +bid(=
:/ootnote $35
C)u%liciter 'ero sanguis Christi et caro intelligitur s%iritualis ilia atFue
di'ina de Fua i%se di1it Caro mea 'ere est cibus Tc( 'el caro et sanguis
FuZ crucifi1a est et Fui militis effusus est lancea(C
+n CE%ist( E%hes(C c(i(=
:/ootnote $;5 See CTable TalkC %( 37 second edit( Ed(=
:/ootnote $25
C+%sum regem tradunt 'ol'entem commentaries "umZ Fuum ibi occulta
solennia sacrificia ?o'i Elicio facta in'enisset o%eratum his sacris se
abdidisseE sed non rite initum aut curatum id sacrum esseE nee solum
nullam ei oblatam CZlestium s%eciem sed ira ?o'is sollicitati %ra'a
religione fulmine ictum cum domo conflagrasse(C
L( i( c( 111i(DEd(=
:/ootnote 785
*This also rests u%on the %ractice a%ostolical and traditi'e inter%retation of
holy Church and yet cannot be denied that so it ought to be by any man
that &ould not ha'e his Christendom sus%ected( To these + add the
communion of &omen the distinction of books a%ocry%hal from canonical
that such books &ere &ritten by such E'angelists and 6%ostles the &hole
tradition of Scri%ture itself the 6%ostlesC Creed Tc( U These and di'ers
others of greater conseFuence J&hich + dare not s%ecify for fear of being
misunderstoodK rely but u%on eFual faith &ith this of E%isco%acy*
Tc(DEd(=
:/ootnote 7$5 S( 11'i(=
:/ootnote 775 S( i'( L(DEd(=
NOTES ON THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.
+ kno& of no book the Bible e1ce%ted as abo'e all com%arison &hich +
according to my judgment and e1%erience could so safely recommend as
teaching and enforcing the &hole sa'ing truth according to the mind that
&as in Christ ?esus as the PilgrimCs Progress( +t is in my con'iction
incom%arably the best CSumma TheologiZ E'angelicZC e'er %roduced by a
&riter not miraculously ins%ired(
?une $L $;>8(
+t disa%%ointed nay sur%rised me to find Robert Southey e1%ress himself
so coldly res%ecting the style and diction of the PilgrimCs Progress( + can
find nothing homely in it but a fe& %hrases and single &ords( The
con'ersation bet&een /aithful and Talkati'e :$= is a model of unaffected
dignity and rhythmical flo&(
SOUTHEY'S LIFE OF BUNYAN.
P( 1i'(
*.e intended not* says Ba1ter *to dig do&n the banks or %ull u% the
hedge and lay all &aste and common &hen &e desired the PrelatesC
tyranny might cease(* "oE for the intention had been under the %rete1t of
abating one tyranny to establish a far se'erer and more galling in its stead5
in doing this the banks had been thro&n do&n and the hedge destroyedE
and &hile the bestial herd &ho broke in rejoiced in the ha'oc Ba1ter and
other such erring though good men stood mar'elling at the mischief &hich
ne'er could ha'e been effected if they had not mainly assisted in it(
But the Fuestion is &ould these Cerring goodC men ha'e been either &illing
or able to assist in this &ork if the more erring Lauds and Sheldons had not
run riot in the o%%osite directionI 6nd as for the Cbestial herdCDcom%are
the &hole body of Parliamentarians all the fanatical sects included &ith
the royal and %relatical %arty in the reign of Charles ++( These &ere indeed
a bestial herd( See Ba1terCs un&illing and BurnetCs honest descri%tion of the
moral disci%line throughout the realm under Crom&ell(
+b( %( 1'(
They %assed &ith eFual facility from strict Puritanism to the utmost license
of %ractical and theoretical im%iety as 6ntinomians or as 6theists and
from e1treme %rofligacy to e1treme su%erstition in any of its forms(
CThey4C !o& manyI and of these ho& many that &ould not ha'e been in
Bedlam or fit for it under some other formI 6 madman falls into lo'e or
religion and then forsooth4 it is lo'e or religion that dro'e him mad(
+b( %( 11i(
+n an e'il hour &ere the doctrines of the Gos%el so%histicated &ith
Fuestions &hich should ha'e been left in the Schools for those &ho are
un&ise enough to em%loy themsel'es in e1cogitations of useless subtlety(
But &hat at any rate had Bunyan to do &ith the SchoolsI !is %er%le1ities
clearly rose out of the o%erations of his o&n acti'e but unarmed mind on
the &ords of the 6%ostle( +f anything is to be arraigned it must be the Bible
in English the reading of &hich is im%osed Jand in my judgment &ell and
&isely im%osedK as a duty on all &ho can read( Though Protestants &e are
not ignorant of the occasional and %artial e'ils of %romiscuous BibleH
readingE but &e see them 'anish &hen &e %lace them beside the good(
+b( %( 11i'(
/alse notions of that corru%tion of our nature &hich it is almost as
%erilous to e1aggerate as to dissemble(
+ &ould ha'e said *&hich it is almost as %erilous to misunderstand as to
deny(*
+b( %( 1li( Tc(
But the &ickedness of the tinker has been greatly o'erHchargedE and it is
taking the language of selfHaccusation too literally to %ronounce of ?ohn
Bunyan that he &as at any time de%ra'ed( The &orst of &hat he &as in his
&orst days is to be e1%ressed in a single &ord U he had been a blackguard
Tc(
6ll this narrati'e &ith the reflections on the facts is admirable and &orthy
of Robert Southey5 full of good sense and kind feelingDthe &isdom of
lo'e(
+b( %( l1i(
But the Sectaries had ke%t their countrymen from it Jthe Common Prayer
BookK &hile they had the %o&er and Bunyan himself in his s%here
laboured to dissuade them from it(
Surely the fault lay in the &ant or in the feeble and inconsistent manner of
determining and su%%orting the %ro%er %o&ers of the Church( +n fact the
Prelates and leading di'ines of the Church &ere not only at 'ariance &ith
each other but each &ith himself(
One %arty the more faithful and less modified disci%les of the first
Reformers &ere afraid of bringing anything into e'en a semblance of a coH
ordination &ith the Scri%turesE and &ith the terriculum of Po%ery e'er
before their eyes timidly and s%aringly allo&ed to the Church any e'en
subordinate %o&er beyond that of inter%reting the Scri%turesE that is of
finding the ordinances of the Church im%licitly contained in the ordinances
of the ins%ired &riters(
But as they did not assume infallibility in their inter%retations it amounted
to nothing for the consciences of such men as Bunyan and a thousand
others(
The o%%osite %arty Laud Taylor and the rest &ith a sufficient dislike of
the Po%e Jthat is at RomeK and of the grosser theological corru%tions of the
Romish Church yet in their hearts as much a'erse to the sentiments and
%roceedings of Luther Cal'in ?ohn Ano1 `uinglius and their fello&s and
%roudly conscious of their su%erior learning sought to maintain their
ordinances by a%%eals to the /athers to the recorded traditions and doctrine
of the Catholic %riesthood during the first fi'e or si1 centuries and
contended for so much that 'irtually the Scri%tures &ere subordinated to
the Church &hich yet they did not dare distinctly to say out(
The result &as that the 6ntiHPrelatists ans&ered them in the gross by setting
at nought their foundation that is the &orth authority and 'alue of the
/athers(
So much for their 'ariance &ith each other( But each 'indicator of our
established Liturgy and )isci%line &as di'ided in himself5 he minced this
out of fear of being charged &ith Po%ery and that he dared not affirm for
fear of being charged &ith disloyalty to the Aing as the head of the Church(
The distinction bet&een the Church of &hich the king is the rightful head
and the Church &hich hath no head but Christ ne'er occurred either to
them or to their antagonistsE and as little did they succeed in a%%ro%riating
to Scri%ture &hat belonged to Scri%ture and to the Church &hat belonged
to the Church(
6ll things in &hich the tem%oral is concerned may be reduced to a %entad
namely %rothesis thesis antithesis mesothesis and synthesis( So hereD
CProthesisC
Christ the .ord
CThesisC CBesothesisC C6ntithesisC
The Scri%tures The !oly S%irit The Church
CSynthesisC
The Preacher
:7=
+b( %( l1iii(
*But there are t&o &ays of obeying* he obser'edE *the one to do that
&hich + in my conscience do belie'e that + am bound to do acti'elyE and
&here + cannot obey acti'ely there + am &illing to lie do&n and to suffer
&hat they shall do unto me(*
Genuine Christianity &orthy of ?ohn and Paul4
+b( %( l1'(
+ am not conscious of any &ar%ing %o&er that could ha'e acted for so 'ery
long a %eriodE but from si1teen to no& si1ty years of age + ha'e retained
the 'ery same con'ictions res%ecting the Stuarts and their adherents( E'en
to Lord Clarendon + ne'er could Fuite reconcile myself(
!o& often the %en becomes the tongue of a systematic dreamDa
somniloFuist4 The sunshine that is the com%arati'e %o&er the distinct
contraHdistinguishing judgment of realities as other than mere thoughts is
sus%ended( )uring this state of continuous not singleHmindedness but oneH
sideHmindedness &riting is manual somnambulismE the somnial magic
su%erinduced on &ithout sus%ending the acti'e %o&ers of the mind(
+b( %( l11i1(
*They that &ill ha'e hea'en they must run for it because the de'il the
la& sin death and hell follo& them( There is ne'er a %oor soul that is
going to hea'en but the de'il the la& sin death and hell make after that
soul( CThe de'il your ad'ersary as a roaring lion goeth about seeking
&hom he may de'our(C 6nd + &ill assure you the de'il is nimbleE he can run
a%aceE he is light of footE he hath o'ertaken manyE he hath turned u% their
heels and hath gi'en them an e'erlasting fall( 6lso the la&4 that can shoot
a great &ay5 ha'e a care thou kee% out of the reach of those great guns the
Ten Commandments4 !ell also hath a &ide mouth* Tc(
+t is the fashion of the day to call e'ery man &ho in his &ritings or
discourses gi'es a %rominence to the doctrines on &hich beyond all others
the first Reformers se%arated from the Romish communion a Cal'inist(
Bunyan may ha'e been one but + ha'e met &ith nothing in his &ritings
Je1ce%t his 6ntiH%Zdoba%tism to &hich too he assigns no sa'ing
im%ortanceK that is not much more characteristically LutheranE for instance
this %assage is the 'ery echo of the cha%ter on the La& and Gos%el in
LutherCs CTable TalkC(
+t &ould be interesting and + doubt not instructi'e to kno& the distinction
in BunyanCs mind bet&een the de'il and hell(
+b( %( 1c'ii(
Bunyan concludes &ith something like a %romise of a third %art( There
a%%eared one after his death and it has had the fortune to be included in
many editions of the original &ork(
+t is remarkable that Southey should not ha'e seen or ha'ing seen ha'e
forgotten to notice that this third %art is e'idently &ritten by some Romish
%riest or missionary in disguise(
LIFE OF BUNYAN. [0]
The early %art of his life &as an o%en course of &ickedness(
Southey in the Life %refi1ed to his edition of the PilgrimCs Progress has in
a manner &orthy of his head and heart reduced this oft re%eated charge to
its %ro%er 'alue( Bunyan &as ne'er in our recei'ed sense of the &ord
&icked( !e &as chaste sober honestE but he &as a bitter blackguardE that
is damned his o&n and his neighbourCs eyes on slight or no occasion and
&as fond of a ro&( +n this our e1cellent Laureate has %erformed an
im%ortant ser'ice to morality( /or the transmutation of actual re%robates
into saints is doubtless %ossibleE but like the many recorded facts of
cor%oreal alchemy it is not su%%orted by modern e1%eriments(
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.
P#$% &. 1. II.
6s + &alked through the &ilderness of this &orld(
That in the 6%ocaly%se the &ilderness is the symbol of the &orld or rather
of the &orldly life Bunyan disco'ered by the instinct of a similar genius(
The &hole ?e&ish history indeed in all its details is so admirably ada%ted
to and suggesti'e of symbolical use as to justify the belief that the
s%iritual a%%lication the interior and %ermanent sense &as in the original
intention of the ins%iring S%irit though it might not ha'e been %resent as
an object of distinct consciousness to the ins%ired &riters(
+b(
U &here &as a den(
The jail( Br( Bunyan &rote this %recious book in Bedford jail &here he
&as confined on account of his religion( The follo&ing anecdote is related
of him( 6 [uaker came to the jail and thus addressed him5
*/riend Bunyan the Lord sent me to seek for thee and + ha'e been through
se'eral counties in search of thee and no& + am glad + ha'e found thee(*
To &hich Br( Bunyan re%lied
*/riend thou dost not s%eak the truth in saying the Lord sent thee to seek
meE for the Lord &ell kno&s that + ha'e been in this jail for some yearsE
and if he had sent thee he &ould ha'e sent thee here directly(*
C"ote in Ed&ardsC(
This is a 'aluable anecdote for it %ro'es &hat might ha'e been concluded
Ca %rioriC that Bunyan &as a man of too much genius to be a fanatic( "o
t&o Fualities are more contrary than genius and fanaticism( Enthusiasm
indeed :Greek5 o theOs en haemin= is almost a synonyme of geniusE the
moral life in the intellectual light the &ill in the reasonE and &ithout it
says Seneca nothing truly great &as e'er achie'ed by man(
+b( %( $7(
6nd not being able longer to contain he brake out &ith a lamentable cry
saying *.hat shall + doI*
Reader &as this e'er your caseI )id you e'er see your sins and feel the
burden of them so as to cry out in the anguish of your soul .hat must + do
to be sa'edI +f not you &ill look on this %recious book as a romance or
history &hich no &ay concerns youE you can no more understand the
meaning of it than if it &ere &rote in an unkno&n tongue for you are yet
carnal dead in your sins lying in the arms of the &icked one in false
security( But this book is s%iritualE it can only be understood by s%iritually
Fuickened souls &ho ha'e e1%erienced that sal'ation in the heart &hich
begins &ith a sight of sin a sense of sin a fear of destruction and dread of
damnation( Such and such only commence Pilgrims from the City of
)estruction to the hea'enly kingdom(
C"ote in Ed&ardsC(
Bost true( +t is one thing to %ercei'e and ackno&ledge this and that
%articular deed to be sinful that is contrary to the la& of reason or the
commandment of God in Scri%ture and another thing to feel sin &ithin us
inde%endent of %articular actions e1ce%t as the common ground of them(
6nd it is this latter &ithout &hich no man can become a Christian(
+b( %( >2(
"o& &hereas thou sa&est that as soon as the first began to s&ee% the dust
did so fly about that the room by him could not be cleansed but that thou
&ast almost choked there&ithE this is to sho& thee that the La& instead of
cleansing the heart Jby its &orkingK from sin doth re'i'e %ut strength into
and increase it in the soul e'en as it doth disco'er and forbid itE for it doth
not gi'e %o&er to subdue(
See LutherCs CTable TalkC( The cha%ters in that &ork named *La& and
Gos%el* contain the 'ery marro& of di'inity( Still ho&e'er there remains
much to be done on this subjectE namely to sho& ho& the disco'ery of sin
by the La& tends to strengthen the sinE and &hy it must necessarily ha'e
this effect the mode of its action on the a%%etites and im%etites through the
imagination and understandingE and to e1em%lify all this in our actual
e1%erience(
+b( %( L8(
Then + sa& that one came to Passion and brought him a bag of treasure
and %oured it do&n at his feetE the &hich he took u% and rejoiced therein
and &ithal laughed Patience to scornE but + beheld but a&hile and he had
la'ished all a&ay and had nothing left him but rags(
One of the not many instances of faulty allegory in CThe PilgrimCs ProgressCE
that is it is no allegory( The beholding *but a&hile* and the change into
*nothing but rags* is not legitimately imaginable( 6 longer time and more
interlinks are reFuisite( +t is a hybrid com%ost of usual images and
generaliGed &ords like the "ileHborn nondescri%t &ith a head or tail of
organiGed flesh and a lum% of semiHmud for the body( ,et %erha%s these
'ery defects are %ractically e1cellencies in relation to the intended readers
of CThe PilgrimCs ProgressC(
+b( %( L>(
The +nter%reter ans&ered *This is Christ &ho continually &ith the oil of
his grace maintains the &ork already begun in the heartE by the means of
&hich not&ithstanding &hat the )e'il can do the souls of his %eo%le
%ro'e gracious still( 6nd in that thou sa&est that the man stood behind the
&all to maintain the fire this is to teach thee that it is hard for the tem%ted
to see ho& this &ork of grace is maintained in the soul(*
This is beautifulE yet + cannot but think it &ould ha'e been still more
a%%ro%riate if the &ater%ourer had been a Br( Legality a %rudentialist
offering his calculation of conseFuences as the moral antidote to guilt and
crimeE and if the oilHinstillator out of sight and from &ithin had
re%resented the corru%t nature of man that is the s%iritual &ill corru%ted by
taking u% a nature into itself(
+b(
.hat then has the sinner &ho is the subject of grace no hand in kee%ing
u% the &ork of grace in the heartI "o4 +t is %lain Br( Bunyan &as not an
6rminian(
C"ote in Ed&ardsC(
+f by meta%hysics &e mean those truths of the %ure reason &hich al&ays
transcend and not seldom a%%ear to contradict the understanding or Jin
the &ords of the great 6%ostleK s%iritual 'erities &hich can only be
s%iritually discernedDand this is the true and legitimate meaning of
meta%hysics :Greek5 met_ t_ %hysik_=Dthen + affirm that this 'ery
contro'ersy bet&een the 6rminians and the Cal'inists in &hich both are
%artially right in &hat they affirm and both &holly &rong in &hat they
deny is a %roof that &ithout meta%hysics there can be no light of faith(
+b( %( L9(
+ left off to &atch and be soberE + laid the reins u%on the neck of my lusts
This single %aragra%h %ro'es in o%%osition to the assertion in the %receding
note in Ed&ards that in BunyanCs judgment there must be at least a
negati'e coHo%eration of the &ill of man &ith the di'ine grace an energy of
nonHresistance to the &orkings of the !oly S%irit( But the error of the
Cal'inists is that they di'ide the regenerate &ill in man from the &ill of
God instead of including it(
+b( %( L2(
So + sa& in my dream that just as Christian came u% &ith the Cross his
burden loosed from off his shoulders and fell from off his back and began
to tumbleE and so continued to do till it came to the mouth of the se%ulchre
&here it fell in and + sa& it no more(
C.e kno& that the Son of God is come and hath gi'en us an understandingC
Jor discernment of reasonK Cthat &e may kno& him that is true and &e are
in him that is true e'en in his son ?esus Christ( This is the true God and
eternal life( Little children kee% yoursel'es from idolsC( $( ?ohn '( 78 7$(
6las4 ho& many Protestants make a mental idol of the Cross scarcely less
injurious to the true faith in the Son of God than the &ooden crosses and
crucifi1es of the Romanists4Dand this because they ha'e not been taught
that ?esus &as both the Christ and the great symbol of Christ(
Strange that &e can e1%lain s%iritually &hat to take u% the cross of
Christ to be crucified &ith Christ meansEDyet ne'er ask &hat the
Crucifi1ion itself signifies but rest satisfied in the historic image(
That one declaration of the 6%ostle that by &ilful sin &e Ccrucify the
Son of God afreshC might ha'e roused us to nobler thoughts(
+b( %( 97(
6nd besides say they if &e get into the &ay &hat matters &hich &ay &e
get inI +f &e are in &e are in( Thou art but in the &ay &ho as &e %ercei'e
came in at the gate5 and &e are also in the &ay that came tumbling o'er the
&all5 &herein no& is thy condition better than oursI
The allegory is clearly defecti'e inasmuch as Cthe &ayC re%resents t&o
di'erse meaningsE
$( the out&ard %rofession of Christianity and 7( the in&ard and s%iritual
grace(
But it &ould be 'ery difficult to mend it(
$;>8(
+n this instance Jand it is + belie'e the only one in the &orkK the allegory
degenerates into a sort of %un that is in the t&o senses of the &ord C&ayC
and thus su%%lies /ormal and !y%ocrite &ith an argument &hich Christian
cannot fairly ans&er or rather one to &hich Bunyan could not make his
Christian return the %ro%er ans&er &ithout contradicting the allegoric
image(
/or the ob'ious and only %ro%er ans&er is5 "o4 you are not in the same
C&ayC &ith me though you are &alking on the same Croad(C
But it has a &orse defect namely that it lea'es the reader uncertain as to
&hat the &riter %recisely meant or &ished to be understood by the
allegory(
)id Bunyan refer to the [uakers as rejecting the out&ard Sacraments of
Ba%tism and the LordCs Su%%erI
+f so it is the only uns%iritual %assage in the &hole beautiful allegory the
only trait of sectarian narro&Hmindedness and in BunyanCs o&n language
of legality(
But + do not think that this &as BunyanCs intention( + rather su%%ose that he
refers to the 6rminians and other Pelagians &ho rely on the coincidence of
their actions &ith the Gos%el %rece%ts for their sal'ation &hate'er the
ground or root of their conduct may beE &ho %lace in short the sa'ing
'irtue in the stream &ith little or no reference to the source(
But it is the faith acting in our %oor im%erfect deeds that alone sa'es usE
and e'en this faith is not ours but the faith of the Son of God in us(
C+ am crucified &ith Christ5 ne'ertheless + li'eE yet not + but
Christ li'eth in meE and the life &hich + no& li'e in the flesh + li'e
by the faith of the Son of God &ho lo'ed me and ga'e himself for me(C
Gal( ii( 78(
+llustrate this by a simile( Labouring under chronic CbronchitisC + am told to
inhale chlorine as a s%ecific remedyE but + can do this only by dissol'ing a
saturated solution of the gas in &arm &ater and then breathing the 'a%our(
"o& &hat the aFueous 'a%our or steam is to the chlorine that our deeds
our out&ard life :Greek5 bSos= is to faith(
+b( %( 99(
6nd the other took directly u% the &ay to )estruction &hich led him into a
&ide field full of dark mountains &here he stumbled and fell and rose no
more(
This reFuires a comment( 6 &ide field full of mountains and of dark
mountains &here !y%ocrite stumbled and fell4 The images here are
unusually obscure(
+b( %( 38(
They sho&ed him BosesC rod the hammer and nail &ith &hich ?ael sle&
Sisera(
+ Fuestion &hether it &ould be %ossible to instance more strikingly the
%o&er of a %redominant idea Jthat true mental kaleidosco%e &ith richlyH
coloured glassK on e'ery object brought before the eye of the mind through
its medium than this conjunction of BosesC rod &ith the hammer of the
treacherous assassin ?ael and similar encomiastic references to the same
detestable murder by Bunyan and men like Bunyan good %ious %urelyH
affectioned disci%les of the meek and holy ?esusE yet the erroneous
%reconce%tion that &hate'er is uttered by a Scri%ture %ersonage is in fact
uttered by the infallible S%irit of God makes )eborahs of them all(
But &hat besides ought &e to infer from this and similar factsI Surely that
the faith in the heart o'er%o&ers and renders innocent the errors of the
understanding and the delusions of the imagination and that sincerely
%ious men %urchase by inconsistency e1em%tion from the %ractical
conseFuences of %articular errors(
+b( %( 3<(
6ll this is true and much more &hich thou hast left out Tc( This is the best
&ayE to o&n SatanCs charges if they be trueE yea to e1aggerate them also
to e1alt the riches of the grace of Christ abo'e all in %ardoning all of them
freely(
C"ote in Ed&ardsC(
That is to say &hat &e do not belie'e to be true4 C.ill ye s%eak &ickedly
for God and talk deceitfully for himIC said righteous ?ob(
+b( %( ;>(
One thing + &ould not let sli%5 + took notice that no& %oor Christian &as so
confounded that he did not kno& his o&n 'oiceE and thus + %ercei'ed it5
just &hen he &as come o'er against the mouth of the burning %it one of
the &icked ones got behind him and ste%%ed u% softly to him and
&his%eringly suggested many grie'ous blas%hemies to him &hich he 'erily
thought had %roceeded from his o&n mind(
There is a 'ery beautiful letter of 6rchbisho% LeightonCs to a lady under a
similar distem%erature of the imagination( :L= +n fact it can scarcely not
ha%%en under any &eakness and conseFuent irritability of the ner'es to
%ersons continually occu%ied &ith s%iritual selfHe1amination( "o %art of the
%astoral duties reFuires more discretion a greater %ractical %sychological
science( +n this as in &hat notI
Luther is the great modelE e'er reminding the indi'idual that not he but
Christ is to redeem himE and that the &ay to be redeemed is to think &ith
&ill mind and affections on Christ and not on himself( + am a sinHladen
being and Christ has %romised to loose the &hole burden if + but entirely
trust in him(
To torment myself &ith the detail of the noisome contents of the fardel &ill
but make it stick the closer first to my imagination and then to my
un&illing &ill(
+b(
/or that he %ercei'ed God &as &ith them though in that dark and dismal
stateE and &hy not thought he &ith me though by reason of the
im%ediment that attends this %lace + cannot %ercei'e itI But it may be
asked .hy doth the Lord suffer his children to &alk in such darknessI +t is
for his glory5 it tries their faith in him and e1cites %rayer to him5 but his
lo'e abates not in the least to&ards them since he lo'ingly inFuires after
them C.ho is there among you that feareth the Lord and &alketh in
darkness and hath no lightIC Then he gi'es most %recious ad'ice to them5
CLet him trust in the LordC and Cstay himself u%on his GodC(
,es4 e'en in the sincerest belie'ers being men of reflecting and inFuiring
minds there &ill sometimes come a &intry season &hen the 'ital sa% of
faith retires to the root that is to atheism of the &ill( CBut though he slay
me yet &ill + cling to him(C
+b( %( ;9(
6nd as for the other JPo%eK though he be yet ali'e he is by reason of age
and also of the many shre&d brushes that he met &ith in his younger days
gro&n so craGy and stiff in his joints that he can no& do little more than sit
in his ca'eCs mouth grinning at %ilgrims as they go by and biting his nails
because he cannot come at them(
O that Blanco .hite &ould &rite in S%anish the %rogress of a %ilgrim from
the Po%eCs ca'e to the E'angelistCs &icketHgate and the +nter%reterCs house4
$;><(
+b( %( $8L(
6nd let us assure oursel'es that at the day of doom men shall be judged
according to their fruit( +t &ill not be said then *)id you belie'eI* but
*.ere you doers or talkers onlyI* and accordingly shall be judged(
6ll the doctors of the Sorbonne could not ha'e better stated the Gos%el
CmediumC bet&een Pelagianism and 6ntinomianHSolifidianism more
%ro%erly named Sterilifidianism( +t is indeed faith alone that sa'es usE but
it is such a faith as cannot be alone( Purity and beneficence are the
Ce%idermisC faith and lo'e the Ccutis 'eraC of Christianity( Borality is the
out&ard cloth faith the liningE both together form the &eddingHgarment
gi'en to the true belie'er in Christ e'en his o&n garment of righteousness
&hich like the loa'es and fishes he mysteriously multi%lies( The images of
the sun in the earthly de&Hdro%s are unsubstantial %hantomsE but GodCs
thoughts are things5 the images of God of the Sun of Righteousness in the
s%iritual de&Hdro%s are substances im%erishable substances(
+b( %( $9L(
/ineHs%un s%eculations and curious reasonings lead men from sim%le truth
and im%licit faith into many dangerous and destructi'e errors( The .ord
records many instances of such for our caution( Be &arned to study
sim%licity and godly sincerity(
C"ote in Ed&ards on )oubting Castle(C
6nd %ray &hat does im%licit faith lead men intoI Transubstantiation and all
the abominations of %riestH&orshi%( 6nd &here is the Scri%tural authority
for this im%licit faithI 6ssuredly not in St( ?ohn &ho tells us that ChristCs
life is and manifests itself in us as the light of manE that he came to bring
light as &ell as immortality( 6ssuredly not in St( Paul &ho declares all
faith im%erfect and %erilous &ithout insight and understandingE &ho %rays
for us that &e may com%rehend the dee% things e'en of God himself( /or
the S%irit discerned and the S%irit by &hich &e discern are both GodE the
S%irit of truth through and in Christ from the /ather(
Bournful are the errors into &hich the Gealous but unlearned %reachers
among the dissenting Cal'inists ha'e fallen res%ecting absolute election
and discriminati'e yet reasonless grace5Dfearful this di'orcement of the
!oly .ill the one only 6bsolute Good that eternally affirming itself as
the + 6B eternally generateth the .ord the absolute Being the Su%reme
Reason the Being of all Truth the Truth of all Being5Dfearful the
di'orcement from the reasonE fearful the doctrine &hich maketh God a
%o&er of darkness instead of the God of light the /ather of the light &hich
lighteth e'ery man that cometh into the &orld4
This &e kno& and this &e are taught by the holy 6%ostle PaulE that &ithout
&ill there is no ground or base of sinE that &ithout the la& this ground or
base cannot become sinE Jhence &e do not im%ute sin to the &olf or the
tiger as being &ithout or belo& the la&EK but that &ith the la& cometh light
into the &illE and by this light the &ill becometh a free and therefore a
res%onsible &ill(
,ea4 the la& is itself light and the di'ine light becomes la& by its relation
and o%%osition to the darknessE the &ill of God re'ealed in its o%%osition to
the dark and alien &ill of the fallen S%irit( This freedom then is the free
gift of GodE but does it therefore cease to be freedomI
6ll the so%histry of the Predestinarians rests on the false notion of eternity
as a sort of time antecedent to time( +t is timeless %resent &ith and in all
times(
There is an e1cellent discourse of the great !ookerCs affi1ed &ith t&o or
three others to his Ecclesiastical Polity on the final %erse'erance of SaintsE
:9= but yet + am 'ery desirous to meet &ith some judicious e1%erimental
treatise in &hich the doctrine &ith the Scri%tures on &hich it is grounded
is set forth more at largeE as like&ise the rules by &hich it may be a%%lied
to the %ur%oses of su%%ort and comfort &ithout danger of causing
%resum%tion and &ithout diminishing the dread of sin(
6bo'e all + am an1ious to see the subject treated &ith as little reference as
%ossible to the di'ine %redestination and foresightE the argument from the
latter being a mere identical %ro%osition follo&ed by an assertion of GodCs
%rescience(
Those &ho &ill %erse'ere &ill %erse'ere and God foreseesE and as to the
%roof from %redestination that is that he &ho %redestines the end
necessarily %redestines the adeFuate means + can more readily imagine
logical conseFuences ad'erse to the sense of res%onsibility than Christian
conseFuences such as an indi'idual may a%%ly for his o&n edification(
6nd + am %ersuaded that the doctrine does not need these su%%orts
according + mean to the ordinary notion of %redestination( The
%redestinati'e force of a free agentCs o&n &ill in certain absolute acts
determinations or elections and in res%ect of &hich acts it is one either
&ith the di'ine or the de'ilish &illE and if the former the conclusions to be
dra&n from GodCs goodness faithfulness and s%iritual %resenceE these
su%%ly grounds of argument of a 'ery different character es%ecially &here
the mind has been %re%ared by an insight into the error and hollo&ness of
the antithesis bet&een liberty and necessity(
+b( %( $3;(
But ho& contrary to this is the &alk and conduct of some &ho %rofess to be
%ilgrims and yet can &ilfully and deliberately go u%on the )e'ilCs ground
and indulge themsel'es in carnal %leasures and sinful di'ersions(
C"ote in Ed&ards on the Enchanted GroundC(
But &hat %leasures are carnalD&hat are sinful di'ersionsDso + mean as
that + may be able to determine &hat are notI She& us the criterion the
general %rinci%leE at least e1%lain &hether each indi'idual case is to be
decided for the indi'idual by his o&n e1%erience of the effects of the
%leasure or the di'ersion in dulling or distracting his religious feelingsE or
can a list a com%lete list of all such %leasures be made beforehandI
PART III.
C+n initioC(
+ strongly sus%ect that this third %art &hich ought not to ha'e been thus
conjoined &ith BunyanCs &ork &as &ritten by a Roman Catholic %riest for
the 'ery %ur%ose of counteracting the doctrine of faith so strongly enforced
in the genuine Progress(
+b( %( LL> in Ed&ards(
6gainst all &hich e'ils fasting is the %ro%er remedy(
+t &ould ha'e been &ell if the &riter had e1%lained e1actly &hat he meant
by the fasting here so strongly recommendedE during &hat %eriod of time
abstinence from food is to continue and so on( The effects + imagine must
in good measure de%end on the health of the indi'idual( +n some
constitutions fasting so disorders the stomach as to %roduce the 'ery
contrary of goodEDconfusion of mind loose imaginations against the
manCs o&n &ill and the like(
C+n fineC(
One of the most influential arguments one of those the force of &hich +
feel e'en more than + see for the di'inity of the "e& Testament and &ith
es%ecial &eight in the &ritings of ?ohn and Paul is the uns%eakable
difference bet&een them and all other the earliest e1tant &ritings of the
Christian Church e'en those of the same age Jas for e1am%le the E%istle
of BarnabasK or of the ne1t follo&ingDa difference that transcends all
degree and is truly a difference in kind( "ay the catalogue of the &orks
&ritten by the Reformers and in the t&o centuries after the Reformation
contain many many 'olumes far su%erior in Christian light and unction to
the best of the /athers( !o& %oor and une'angelic is !ermas in com%arison
&ith our PilgrimCs Progress4
:/ootnote $5 P( 2; Tc( of the edition by Burray and Bajor $;>8 Ed(=
:/ootnote 75 See CanteC( Ed(=
:/ootnote >5 Prefi1ed to an edition of the PilgrimCs Progress by R(
Ed&ards $;78( Ed(=
:/ootnote L5 The second of t&o CLetters &ritten to %ersons under trouble of
mind(C Ed(=
:/ootnote 95 Sermon of the certainty and %er%etuity of faith in the elect(
0ol( iii( %( 9;>( AealeCs edit( Ed(=
NOTES ON SELECT DISCOURSES BY JOHN SMITH. [1]
+t &ould make a delightful and instructi'e essay to dra& u% a critical
and J&here %ossibleK biogra%hical account of the Latitudinarian %arty at
Cambridge from the close of the reign of ?ames + to the latter half of
Charles ++(
The greater number &ere Platonists so called at least and such they
belie'ed themsel'es to be but more truly Plotinists( Thus Cud&orth )r(
?ackson Jcha%lain of Charles + and 'icar of "e&castleHonHTyneK !enry
Bore this ?ohn Smith and some others( Taylor &as a Gassendist or Cinter
E%icureos e'angeliGantesC and as far as + kno& he is the only e1ce%tion(
They &ere all alike admirers of Grotius &hich in ?eremy Taylor &as
consistent &ith the tone of his %hiloso%hy( The &hole %arty ho&e'er and a
more amiable ne'er e1isted &ere scared and disgusted into this by the
catachrestic language and skeleton halfHtruths of the systematic di'ines of
the Synod of )ort on the one hand and by the sickly broodings of the
Pietists and SolomonCsHSong %reachers on the other(
.hat they all &anted &as a %reHinFuisition into the mind as %art organ
%art constituent of all kno&ledge an e1amination of the scales &eights
and measures themsel'es abstracted from the objects to be &eighed or
measured by themE in short a transcendental Zsthetic logic and noetic(
Lord !erbert &as at the entrance of nay already some %aces &ithin the
shaft and adit of the mine but he turned abru%tly back and the honour of
establishing a com%lete :Greek5 %ro%aideSa= of %hiloso%hy &as reser'ed for
+mmanuel Aant a century or more after&ards(
/rom the confounding of Plotinism &ith Platonism the Latitudinarian
di'ines fell into the mistake of finding in the Greek %hiloso%hy many
antici%ations of the Christian /aith &hich in fact &ere but its echoes( The
inference is as %erilous as ine'itable namely that e'en the mysteries of
Christianity needed no re'elation ha'ing been %re'iously disco'ered and
set forth by unaided reason(
U
The argument from the mere uni'ersality of the belief a%%ears to me far
stronger in fa'our of a sur'i'ing soul and a state after death than for the
e1istence of the Su%reme Being( +n the former it is one doctrine in the
Englishman and in the !ottentotE the differences are accidents not affecting
the subject other&ise than as different seals &ould affect the same &a1
though Bolly the maid used her thimble and Lady C0irtuosaC an CintaglioC
of the most e1Fuisite &orkmanshi%(
/ar other&ise in the latter( CBumbo ?umboC or the Ccercocheronychous
"ickHSeniorC or &hate'er score or score thousand in'isible huge men fear
and fancy engender in the brain of ignorance to be hatched by the
nightmare of defenceless and selfHconscious &eaknessDthese are not the
same as but are Ctoto genereC di'erse from the Cuna et unica substantiaC of
S%inosa or the .orldHGod of the Stoics(
6nd each of these again is as di'erse from the li'ing Lord God the creator
of hea'en and earth( "ay this eFui'oFue on God is as mischie'ous as it is
illogical5 it is the s&ord and buckler of )eism(
OF THE EXISTENCE AND NATURE OF GOD.
Besides &hen &e re'ie& our o&n immortal souls and their de%endency
u%on some 6lmighty mind &e kno& that &e neither did nor could %roduce
oursel'es and &ithal kno& that all that %o&er &hich lies &ithin the
com%ass of oursel'es &ill ser'e for no other %ur%ose than to a%%ly se'eral
%reHe1istent things one to another from &hence all generations and
mutations arise &hich are nothing else but the e'ents of different
a%%lications and com%lications of bodies that &ere e1istent beforeE and
therefore that &hich %roduced that substantial life and mind by &hich &e
kno& oursel'es must be something much more mighty than &e are and
can be no less indeed than omni%otent and must also be the first architect
and :Greek5 daemiourgOs= of all other beings and the %er%etual su%%orter
of them(
6 Rhodian lea%4 .here our kno&ledge of a cause is deri'ed from our
kno&ledge of the effect &hich is falsely J+ thinkK here su%%osed nothing
can be logically that is a%odeictically inferred but the adeFuacy of the
former to the latter( The mistake common to Smith &ith a hundred other
&riters arises out of an eFui'ocal use of the &ord Ckno&(C +n the scientific
sense as im%lying insight and &hich ought to be the sense of the &ord in
this %lace &e might be more truly said to kno& the soul by God than to
kno& God by the soul(
U
So the Sibyl &as noted by !eraclitus as :Greek5 mainomRnMo stNmati
gelast_ kaP akallMN%ista %htheggomRnae= Cas one s%eaking ridiculous and
unseemly s%eeches &ith her furious mouth(C
This fragment is misFuoted and misunderstood5 forD:Greek5 gelast_= it
should be :Greek5 amurist_=( un%erfumed inornate lays not redolent of art(
DRender it thus5
U "ot herCs
To &in the sense by &ords of rhetoric
Li%Hblossoms breathing %erishable s&eetsE
But by the %o&er of the informing .ord
Roll sounding on&ard through a thousand years
!er dee% %ro%hetic bodements(
:Greek5 StNmati mainomRnMo= is &ith ecstatic mouth(
U
+f the ascetic 'irtues or disci%linary e1ercises deri'ed from the schools of
%hiloso%hy JPythagorean Platonic and StoicK &ere carried to an e1treme in
the middle ages it is most certain that they are at %resent in a far more
grie'ous dis%ro%ortion underrated and neglected( The Cregula ma1imaC of
the ancient :Greek5 askaesis= &as to conFuer the body by abstracting the
attention from it( Our ma1im is to conciliate the body by attending to it
and counteracting or %recluding one set of sensations by another the ser'ile
de%endence of the mind on the body remaining the same( +nstead of the due
subser'ience of the body to the mind Jthe fa'orite language of our Sidneys
and BiltonsK &e hear nothing at %resent but of health good digestion
%leasurable state of general feeling and the like(
:/ootnote $5 Of [ueenCs College Cambridge $<<8(=
TO ADAM STEINMET, K///. [1]
MY DEAR GODCHILD,
+ offer u% the same fer'ent %rayer for you no& as + did kneeling before the
altar &hen you &ere ba%tiGed into Christ and solemnly recei'ed as a li'ing
member of !is s%iritual body the Church(
,ears must %ass before you &ill be able to read &ith an understanding heart
&hat + no& &riteE but + trust that the allHgracious God the /ather of our
Lord ?esus Christ the /ather of mercies &ho by his only begotten Son
Jall mercies in one so'ereign mercy4K has redeemed you from the e'il
ground and &illed you to be born out of darkness but into lightDout of
death but into lifeDout of sin but into righteousness e'en into the CLord
our RighteousnessCE + trust that !e &ill graciously hear the %rayers of your
dear %arents and be &ith you as the s%irit of health and gro&th in body and
mind(
By dear Godchild4D,ou recei'ed from ChristCs minister at the ba%tismal
font as your Christian name the name of a most dear friend of your
fatherCs and &ho &as to me e'en as a son the late 6dam SteinmetG &hose
fer'ent as%iration and e'erH%aramount aim e'en from early youth &as to
be a Christian in thought &ord and deedDin &ill mind and affections(
+ too your Godfather ha'e kno&n &hat the enjoyments and ad'antages of
this life are and &hat the more refined %leasures &hich learning and
intellectual %o&er can besto&E and &ith all the e1%erience &hich more than
threescore years can gi'e + no& on the e'e of my de%arture declare to you
Jand earnestly %ray that you may hereafter li'e and act on the con'ictionK
that health is a great blessingDcom%etence obtained by honorable industry
a great blessingDand a great blessing it is to ha'e kind faithful and
lo'ing friends and relati'esE but that the greatest of all blessings as it is the
most ennobling of all %ri'ileges is to be indeed a Christian( But + ha'e
been like&ise through a large %ortion of my later life a sufferer sorely
afflicted &ith bodily %ains languors and bodily infirmitiesE and for the
last three or four years ha'e &ith fe& and brief inter'als been confined to
a sickHroom and at this moment in great &eakness and hea'iness &rite
from a sickHbed ho%eless of a reco'ery yet &ithout %ros%ect of a s%eedy
reco'eryE and + thus on the 'ery brink of the gra'e solemnly bear &itness
to you that the 6lmighty Redeemer most gracious in !is %romises to them
that truly seek !im is faithful to %erform &hat !e hath %romised and has
%reser'ed under all my %ains and infirmities the in&ard %eace that %asseth
all understanding &ith the su%%orting assurance of a reconciled God &ho
&ill not &ithdra& !is S%irit from me in the conflict and in !is o&n time
&ill deli'er me from the E'il One4
O my dear Godchild4 eminently blessed are those &ho begin early to seek
fear and lo'e their God trusting &holly in the righteousness and mediation
of their Lord Redeemer Sa'iour and e'erlasting !igh Priest ?esus Christ4
O %reser'e this as a legacy and beFuest from your unseen Godfather and
friend
S. T. COLERIDGE.
?uly $> $;>L( :7=
:/ootnote $5 See CanteC %( 72$( Ed(=
:/ootnote 75 !e died on the 79th day of the same month(=
END OF VOL. III.
CORRIGENDA.
Pages >7 >> insert men bet&een the %ages(
Page L$( "( after see post add !ol I!
>>8 line 3 from bottom for result read rennet(
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Literary Remains Of Samuel
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